Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Intruder ❯ Introductions... ( Chapter 5 )

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Intruder - Part Five
Introductions...


Quatre lay face down on his bed with his eyes shut.
~ Suppose I ought to get up really. ~
He rolled over and stared at the ceiling as his eyes focused.
~ Wonder what time it is ~ he looked at the clock.
It said 6:27. ~ I'll get up in a minute, I can't go back to sleep ~
He shut his eyes, and opened them again.
~ The last thing I remember was watching those screens in Duo's room. How did I get to bed? Oh, who cares anyway? ~
He sat up and untangled himself from the large black coat which had got itself tied around his ankles. He hopped off the bed and dropped it on the back of the sofa. Then proceeded to get changed out of yesterday's clothes and into some clean ones.
He then left for the Mess room to get something for breakfast. While he was walking down the corridor he realized he was wondering about what might happen next.
He found out as he almost walked into Wufei as he came around the corner.
"Good Morning"
Wufei nodded, waiting for the question. Quatre didn't disappoint.
"How are you feeling today?"
"Better"
"Good. Have you had breakfast yet?"
"No"
"Do you want me to get you some?"
"No" Quatre looked hurt. "Thank you, I'm not hungry." He added hurriedly.
"Ok, if you change your mind I'll probably be there later."
"Thank you." Wufei resumed his fast paced walk.
"Bye" Quatre said to the echo of Chang's disappearing footsteps.
~ He seems better today. ~


Duo came out of his door just as Wufei came up the hall. He didn't say anything, he knew that he didn't want to chat. Then he had an idea.
"Shall I leave this open?"
"...Why"
"Well incase you wanna check anythin' on the vidscreens. I know y've got a copy anyway, but I was just wonderin'"
"...Ok"
"Ok, see ya later"
"..."


Trowa was thinking about what Heero had said, when saw Wufei in the hallway ahead. He stepped to one side to let him through, but to his surprise he stopped. His eyes glinted slightly, almost as if in amusement.
"...Hi" Trowa said, suspicious.
"..."
"Um, how are you?"
"..."
"Is there a problem?"
"I found your pet last night."
"Pet?...Oh."
"Is Katherine aware there is a lion sleeping in her room?"
"Um, yeah."
"..."
"Well actually she asked me to keep him in there."
"..."
"Charlie doesn't get on well with the other lions."
Wufei raised an inquisitive eyebrow
"Well it's more that they don't get on with him. She rescued him from another circus, they had been treating him badly, and our lions don't like him much. And since she seems to think I'm so good with them that I could keep him here, temporarily, until he gets his strength up." He spoke fast, eager to explain.
"Hmm...Does anyone else know?"
"Other than Katherine and I, and you? No, I haven't told anyone."
"Maybe he could earn his keep and get his training at the same time."
"How?"
"Well, anyone thinking of coming in here could be dissuaded from prowling the corridors if there was already somebody doing so."
"You mean, Charlie? But what about the others?"
"You should ask them first, but I don't think they will disagree."
"Oh, ok."
"..." Wufei nodded and strode off.
Trowa shook his head in disbelief. Wufei had more to him that was often seen.
He would perhaps take up the idea with Heero later. Laughing silently to himself he went his own way.


Quatre heard footsteps running up behind him. He knew who it was without turning around. Duo Maxwell was obviously in a good mood this morning.
"Hi! Quatre, buddy, how 're y' doin'? Did ya have a good sleep last night?"
"Yes thanks to you, Duo. I'm sure I'd have a really bad neckache this morning if you'd have left me on the floor in your room yesterday."
"Glad t' hear it. So what's new? Anything good for food this mornin'?"
"Well that depends if you like a good cooked breakfast or not"
"Like it? Quatre pal, y' know it's my favorite! No tomatoes though, or mushrooms - "
"Duo, don't you think I know how you like your food? You tell me every- "
"Yeah, I know, I know, it's just that this morning I'm really hungry, s'pose its 'cause I didn't hardly have time to eat anything at all yesterday."
"Duo, you are always hungry."
"Yeah, maybe, but this mornin' I'm really starving!"
"Sounds like I'd better get started, here have some toast, your breakfast should be ready in about a half hour."
"What am I gonna do for half an hour?"


"Heero sat in Duo's room. He was looking at the camera recordings again. He sat there in silence as time after time he watched "Duo" sabotage the controls on the screen in front of him. Wufei came in and started to flick through other tapes, but said nothing. Eventually he found what he was looking for. The prisoner was in the cleaner's cupboard on the south side of the base. He stood up to leave, and Heero stopped him.
"He's still out cold. You hit him good."
"Humph..."
"Ok, I admit it. I've been watching him closely, and I think he's faking it, but if he wants us to think he's out of it he'll have to do better than that."
"Yes, but won't he realize that we know, without going down and checking on him."
"That's a good point, but already taken care of. I went down there to him this morning."
"When he decides he's ready we'll ask him then. He can starve for a bit first."
Heero's eyes were icy. ~ He deserves to for what he tried to do. ~
Wufei continued checking the vidscreens as Heero went out of the room. Looking at the picture in front of him. It was 'Duo' in the process of rewiring the main controls. He checked the time of this particular vidscreen. It said 14:56. He went to the computer in his room flicked it through on a search.
The monitor read: 'Please wait: Searching for all vidscreen views at 14:56 on
Thursday, March 22nd.'
Wufei sat down on the chair, closed his eyes, and waited.


Duo had been wandering around for the last fifteen minutes waiting for breakfast. He was getting restless. ~ How does Wufei do that stuff? He's so patient! He just sits there with his eyes shut and looks like he's asleep or something. But he's not asleep 'cause he can tell you exactly what was goin' on around him if you ask him. I think I'm gonna try it. I gotta try it. I can't just stand here waiting ~ As he started towards the hangar he saw Trowa just ahead, he was going the same way. He was just about to call out when he saw he went down the wrong corridor.
~ Well I s'pose it's not the wrong corridor if you're not going to the Hangar bay. ~
Duo followed quietly, and briefly wondered why he was sneaking around spying on Trowa. Reasons came unbidden into his thoughts.
~ Well maybe it isn't Trowa. If there's two of me out there, there could be two of him. ~ Trowa carried on down the hall, it seemed vaguely familiar.
~ The old pilot's wing! Why's he comin' down here? Catherine's at work. There's no one down here, well, there's not s'posed t'be anyway. ~


Trowa knew someone was following him, but he didn't turn around. It wasn't another uninvited guest, well he didn't think so anyway, and if it was they might attack if they knew that he knew he was being followed. And if it was one of the guys, which he thought it was, then they needed to meet "Charlie" anyway. Especially if Wufei's idea was to work. So he ignored his double shadow and went on. The corridor's lights had been lit now as it was day time, so the light which had attracted Wufei's attention and given away the secret was no longer noticeable.
Trowa decided it was Duo following him, through a process of elimination.
Wufei already knew so it wouldn't be him, Quatre was most likely making breakfast, and Heero was still watching the vidscreen recordings. Duo however was probably bored, waiting for breakfast and had seen him come down here.
The thought of it being Duo made him smile, as this would be his surprise for him, rather than the other way around, as was usual. Turning the corner and taking a glance behind, out of the corner of his eye, his suspicion was confirmed. Strolling down the hall towards him, as casual as ever, was Duo Maxwell. As he neared the door he heard a noise from inside the room.
'Charlie' was awake.


Duo had now followed Trowa to Katherine's room. He was getting restless. Trowa wasn't talkative at the best of times, and Duo knew Trowa had seen him. He wasn't used to being ignored by his friends, well not like this anyway.
~ He's up to somethin'. I can't tell what, but he's definitely tryin' to...~
Duo's train of thought stopped as he heard a crash. He raced around the corner to see a lion leaping towards him.
~ What the...?! ~
He couldn't see Trowa. He waited till it was almost on him, the sprung to the right as the lion flew past him. He felt its fur brush his arm. Not that he couldn't handle the situation, but he wasn't exactly trained for this, although he knew someone who was.
'Trowa!' he breathed. "Trowa? Gimme a hand with this little kitty will ya?"
The lion came growling quietly back down the tunnel. Duo stared into its big brown eyes and said nothing.
~ Oh, well this is just great. I know he's in there...~
In Duo's mind something clicked.
~ Hiding something? This lion. Man! What's this place comin' to when y' keep lions in...~ His thoughts were interrupted by the lion's growl.
~ Great, just great, I'm just walkin' around waitin' for my breakfast, and now if I'm not careful I'll end up as his breakfast. What would Hilde think of that? Trowa 'd rob'ly...Hey, Trowa, that's it. What did he do when...~
His memory raced back to when he had sneaked into one of Trowa's performances. Afterwards he had been sitting in the lion's cage, rewarding it for good behavior. Katherine had come out and seen him, she was worried about it but he said something...
~ 'they won't harm those who mean them no harm' ~
It hadn't made much sense back there, but now it was so clear.
Duo continued to stare into its eyes, as he slowly made his way to the floor. The lion cocked his head, and padded closer.
~ No, it's OK you can stay over there, go, go on, over there, if you want you can just...~ Duo was sitting on the floor against the wall. The lion was so close now. It growled again and opened its mouth Duo shut his eyes tightly.
~ Where the hell is Trowa? This is so - Huh? ~
He opened his eyes, only to shut them again as the lion's tongue came across the face for the second time. ~ Whoa, big teeth and bad breath! ~
Duo looked at the lion. It was sitting back on its haunches, right in front of him, just like a big dog. He slowly held up his palm to the lion, and the smile returned to his face as he felt the sandpaper rasp across it. He reached across and stroked its nose. The resulting noise was like an unbalanced air fan. He got to his knees and stroked it between the ears, then down into that thick dark mane.
~ I think he likes it. He's not gonna have me for breakfast! ~
'Prob'ly get indigestion anyway.'
Duo stood up and the lion followed,
"Alright big fella, where's y' pal, huh?"
The lion nudged Duo's thigh.
"Yeah, I know, I know." ~ Well I might as well make the most of it. ~
He thought as he continued to rub the lion's back.


Trowa came round the corner, expecting to see either Duo lying on the floor with Charlie standing over him, or nothing, because Duo had run off down the corridor. Neither of his expectations reached reality. He heard noises and as he came around the corner into view it was his turn to be ignored as both Duo and Charlie were play-fighting on the floor.
Trowa coughed. They didn't hear him. He coughed again, louder.
"Oh, hi Trowa, where've y' been?"
"I was in Katherine's room."
"Yeah, I know but what's the deal with the cat?"
"Oh, the cat, well...you see..."
"Yeah, I see, and, hey" he pushed the lion off "I feel too."
"If you'll wait till he's formally introduced to the other two I'll explain later"
"Other two? Who already knows?"
"Chang"
"Yeah, I thought as much, y' should know y' can't hide much from him."
"..."
"So what's his name?"
"Charlie"
"Charlie! Y' can't call him Charlie!"
"Why not?"
"I don't know, it just doesn't sound right."
"Oh...Well what would you call him?"
"...uh, Max." he decided.
"Max? Why Max?"
"Well."
"What do you mean "well"?
"I mean, Max-well. It's what Wufei often calls me."
"What Max?"
"No, Maxwell"
"But you said call him Max"
"Yeah, why not? It's a good name for a lion."
"Oh, and how many lions have you named?"
"Only one."
"Oh, and which ones that then?"
"Max." he beamed at him.
"But..."
Their conversation faded away as they left Charlie/Max behind in Katherine's room.