Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Les Ombres Rebelles ❯ Chapter 5

A/N: OMG not dead! Sorry about the retarded wait between updates; that's just how we tend to roll here in danse-land. I was on a roll on my ficbeast etc etc. In the meantime, this fic that you are currently trying to read won a prize! Winner of the AU category in the Media Miner Maximum Challenge Contest for this year. So that's fun. Time for fic.

 

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing and am making no profit whatsoever off of this.

 

 

Les Ombres Rebelles - Chapter Five

 

by danse

 

~*~

 

Quatre was stretched out on his bed, reading a book by the dying light of the window, when the door suddenly opened and Duo stumbled into their room. He smacked the light switch on his way by and collapsed on his bed as the room illuminated. Quatre stopped squinting, realizing belatedly how dark it had been getting, and looked up at his roommate.

 

“Whatcha readin'?” Duo mumbled, glancing at the book.

 

“It's some extra stuff for Tactics class,” Quatre said dismissively, closing the book and sitting up to lean against the wall. “You look like you just got off the rack, Duo. What the hell happened?” He paused. “Tag?” he asked hesitantly.

 

Duo attempted to sit up, groaned loudly, and flopped back down again. “No, actually,” he responded lightly. “Today it was Weapons Training. I got matched up with Merquise because I was late. That workout didn't make sitting through Explosives Management a very pleasant experience, that's for sure,” he muttered.

 

Quatre just grinned, getting up and hauling Duo onto his feet. “Don't get too comfortable, it's dinnertime,” he said far too cheerfully. As they walked (well, Quatre walked and Duo shuffled a little bit theatrically) down the hall towards the cafeteria, Quatre picked up the thread of conversation once more. “So why were you late anyway?” he asked. “You always make an effort to be early to that class so that Merquise doesn't find a good reason to pick on you.”

 

Duo glanced around them, contemplating the moderately busy hallway. “I'll tell you all about it when we sit down,” he said softly.

 

Quatre raised his eyebrows but he knew Duo well enough to listen to what he said.

 

***

 

Quatre watched in amusement as Duo shifted immediately, despite his claims of exhaustion, into what Quatre had begun to call the 'Heero Lookout Mode' as he set foot in the teeming cafeteria. One could almost see his muscles tensing and his eyes settling into a searching pattern as he put himself on a hair-trigger waiting for an attack. Duo's roommate could only assume, after nearly two months of being around him all the time, that this state of high alert was more pronounced than it had been in previous years, when his life hadn't honestly been at stake. It was the only valid explanation for why Duo hadn't dropped dead from the strain a long time ago.

 

Leaving Duo to his paranoia, Quatre eased into the food line and grabbed a tray and utensils for each of them. Not five seconds after he handed Duo his tray, the other boy nearly dropped it on his foot. “Son of a bitch!” he cried. “What the fuck is going on here?”

 

Quatre stared. “What? What's wrong?” he asked, feeling alarmed.

 

Duo pointed at a table on the far edge of the dining hall. “That,” he growled. “What the hell, man?”

 

It took a few moments for Quatre to figure out what Duo was pointing at, and then he nodded in sudden understanding. The point of extreme interest was Trowa and Heero sitting at the same table, apparently eating together. He turned his head to look at his roommate, raising an eyebrow. “So why is the world ending? You didn't know they were friends?” he asked.

 

Duo looked at Quatre in shock. “No! I did not! Why?”

 

Quatre faced the front of the line again, trying to kill this conversation before it got out of hand. “They have classes together,” he said simply. “They're both in Tactics with me, actually. And I think they both take Russian, too.”

 

The braided teenager spluttered a bit, realizing that Quatre was ignoring him all of a sudden. “But you don't understand, Quatre! Trowa's fraternizing with the enemy!” he hissed.

 

Quatre stopped, mid-step, halting the advancing food line, and turned around slowly to face his roommate with a scary-looking smile on his face. “Which enemy?” he replied smoothly. “The guy who's trying to kill you, or the one who he's supposed to be killing?”

 

Duo tried a couple of times to respond to that comment, but no sounds would come out of his mouth. They moved through the line and then found an empty table that was closer to Heero and Trowa than Duo would have liked. He hadn't picked it, though.

 

“So,” Quatre said, their conversation up to this point apparently forgotten, “are you going to tell me the sensitive secret of why you were late for your Weapons Training class?” He took a bite of his baked potato without breaking eye contact with Duo.

 

Duo shifted on his chair until he was in a more comfortable position, looking down and digging into his potato with his fork until the insides were fluffy, steaming, and all over the plate. He glanced around to make sure that no one else was close enough to overhear what he was about to say, and then he proceeded to eat his dinner as he casually related to Quatre everything that Hilde and Relena had told him in the empty classroom earlier that day, as if he was talking about normal gossip and not possibilities of mutiny occurring way over their heads.

 

“Okay, let me get this straight, see if I got all the facts,” Quatre said when Duo was done relating the story. “They supposedly overheard this conversation going on in the headmaster's office, and it turns out that apparently there's some kind of scheme going on where the administration's being controlled from above and we're being manipulated and sold and sent off to die, probably so that some rich people can make some more money. Have I got it all?” he asked as he reached for the half-empty juice glass on the side of his tray.

 

“Pretty much,” Duo snorted. “I was late for class and got the working-over of my life just to hear that, too!” he said, spreading his arms indignantly. “I'm pissed at Hilde now.”

 

Quatre sighed. “You should talk to her some more about this. It sounds kind of bad.”

 

Duo's eyes popped. “You saying you believe her?” he exclaimed. “That's, like, the worst story ever! She was clearly just trying to fuck with me, and I mean--shit, she didn't even do a very good job!”

 

“But with Relena Darlian?” Quatre asked. “They hate each other! Why would they be cooperating if Hilde's just 'fucking with you', as you so eloquently put it? That's grounds for taking her seriously, if anything is.”

 

“Which means it's the only part she got right,” Duo insisted. “Hilde pays attention to detail; she will go that extra mile when she's playing a trick on someone. Who knows, maybe she paid Darlian or promised her no beatings for a week if she cooperated! That girl is devious!”

 

“...Or she promised to introduce her to Heero,” Quatre muttered snidely.

 

“What?” Duo leaned forward, his braid swinging over his shoulder and landing on the table. He brushed it off impatiently. “Seriously, what did you just say, man?”

 

“Nothing. I was talking to myself,” Quatre insisted. “Anyway, the point is, if Hilde pays so much attention to details when she plays pranks on people, then why in the world would she tell such a half-assed story? If she puts so much effort into it, why would she set up a trick for you with a story so completely unbelievable with no details that would make it work?”

 

Duo froze as he was about to interrupt, thinking about that. Finally, he frowned. “So you're saying that it's such a shit job of screwing with me that she must be telling the truth. Huh.” He raised his eyebrow, silent for once.

 

Duo's thoughtful silence was quickly interrupted by the approach of two very familiar young men. Trowa, with Heero Yuy in tow, stopped suddenly on his way past their table, and slid abruptly but gracefully into the chair beside Duo, plunking his tray down in front of him and picking up his fork to start poking at a slice of cake. Heero sat down opposite Trowa, next to Quatre, and started peeling an orange. Duo, his eyes so wide with shock that Quatre could see the whites of them, abruptly started edging back from the table, surreptitiously grabbing the fork off of his plate as he tried to put a healthy amount of distance between himself and Heero. He was stopped after the first two inches by Trowa's restraining hand on his arm.

 

“Chill out, Maxwell, you're okay,” Trowa said softly, catching Duo's gaze and holding it with his own, fiercely calm one. “Heero promised not to bite. I want to talk to Quatre and this is a good time and place for it.”

 

Duo looked at Trowa's face, then at the hand on his arm, then at Heero—who was actually staring at him as he peeled his orange and he looked amused, that bastard—and then finally at the fork in his hand. Finally, looking back at Trowa, he licked his lips nervously and then slowly put down the fork. He didn't edge his chair back up to the table, though.

 

“Good thing for you we have a ceasefire, Maxwell,” Heero suddenly piped up, making all three of his tablemates look in his direction. “Otherwise you would have been dead before I got to the table. Your guard always goes down at dinnertime.”

 

Duo could probably have counted on one hand the number of times he'd actually heard Heero speak, let alone to him. He licked his lips again and glared fiercely as he willed himself not to go for the fork again. “Yuy, normal people have to eat once in a while. And relax once in a while. I don't know how well that stick up your ass acts as a suppository--” he saw Trowa nearly choke on a mouthful of cake out of the corner of his eye, “--so that you don't need to do these things, but I like to act normal and sane as often as possible.” Prudence hissed at him that he should shut up while he still could, but bravado at his momentary safety zone made his next words spill forward. “In fact, Yuy, if I didn't know better, I'd say you're actually stalking me. Must be that Maxwell charm, huh?” He grinned, his attention on Heero, watching as the words hit their mark and Heero shot him a deadly, frightening look. Duo watched Heero's fingers flex a little, and he leaned back in his chair as he stretched his hand out on the table, thinking of that fork again.

 

“Jesus Christ!” Trowa snapped, redirecting their attention once more. “Can we fucking have five minutes without bloodletting for once? It's getting old.” Quatre glared at Duo while Trowa glared at Heero, and eventually both teens sat upright in their seats, hands flat on the table at their friends' behest. They continued to glare at each other for a minute, but then Trowa turned slightly toward Duo and Quatre turned slightly toward Heero and they started debating a meeting time for something, apparently talking to the people beside them and ignoring each other although the words meant nothing to anyone but them.

 

Intrigued, Duo flicked a glance at Heero despite himself. Heero returned it, Duo's curiosity reflecting on his shadow's face. Duo looked away quickly, blinking in confusion. He saw Trowa grin and wink at him—a wink no one else could see—as he and Quatre finally settled on 9:30 p.m. as a meeting time (but what day? and where?), and then after he nodded at Heero and grabbed his tray, both boys were gone.

 

Quatre and Duo were left to look at each other in silence.

 

“Got a hot date tonight?” Duo grinned suddenly.

 

Quatre looked down at the table, but not before Duo saw his cheeks go slightly pink.

 

***

 

Duo was staring at his German textbook when Quatre suddenly started moving around the room. He flicked a glance at the clock and saw that it was ten after nine. He said nothing and went back to looking at the passage he was supposed to be translating for the next morning. Several minutes later, Quatre stood at the door, his hand on the knob, wearing his runners and a sweater suitable for going outside in the late autumn chill. Duo noted it without a word as his roommate stood there in silence for a few moments.

 

“You going to talk to Hilde again?” Quatre asked suddenly.

 

Duo looked up at him, tucking his pen behind his ear. He chewed his lip, wondering if he could sit there in silence long enough to make Quatre late for his little rendezvous. “I'll try and talk to her tomorrow either before or after Martial Arts,” he answered eventually.

 

The blond boy nodded without a word and opened the door. Duo waited until he was nearly through it to call after him. “Oh, and Q?” he said.

 

Quatre poked his head back in, looking annoyed by the nickname. “Yeah?” he asked, sounding a bit apprehensive.

 

Duo grinned a shit-eating grin. “Have a nice time on your date. I want you home by midnight,” he cooed.

 

His hyena-like laughter followed Quatre out the door and down the hall.

 

***

 

True to his word, the next day, during their warm-up time for Martial Arts, Duo broached the topic again with Hilde. As soon as he casually mentioned it, she abruptly dropped his leg, which she'd been holding up above his head by the ankle. Duo winced.

 

“Oh, suddenly decided you believe me now, have you? What brought this on?” she hissed.

 

He had the decency to blush. “Well, I talked to Quatre Winner about it, actually, and he--”

 

“Wait,” she interrupted him, holding up a hand as she glared at the floor. “Why the hell did you bring your roommate into this? Did it not occur to you that maybe some discretion would be appropriate here? I mean, who knows if someone's gonna go blabbing it all to the wrong people and get us in shit, or worse!” Her words smacked of Relena's concerns when they'd originally told Duo, which was ironic because she'd been completely ignoring what Relena thought at the time. Knowing Hilde, it was probably best not to bring that up.

 

Duo glared at her. “I happen to think that Quatre is very trustworthy. Besides that, in another month, he'll hold the world record for being my longest-lasting roommate.”

 

Hilde looked back up at him and raised an eyebrow. “Who has the record right now?” she asked.

 

“My first roommate back when I was a freshman, Han. You remember him? He actually left the school at Christmas that year—said he was sick of the whole place or something. That was also kinda before Heero and I really got into Tag,” he explained, “so to me, that makes Quatre special. I would go so far as to say he's my best friend here, as a matter of fact. Plus, he's a smart guy and I needed to get it off my chest—decide if what you were saying had any merit in it. So if that's not acceptable discretion....”

 

“Okay, then, fine,” Hilde said, reaching out for his other leg to stretch it out. They were silent for a minute, and then she said, “So he believed me, huh?” There was a slight emphasis on the 'he', Duo noticed.

 

“Yeah,” he answered reluctantly. “Anyway, he wanted me to talk to you some more about it. If he believes you, then I'm not sure what to think. He had some pretty convincing reasons to believe what you said was true.” At her look, he blurted, “I'm not going to repeat them all for you; it's complicated.”

 

Hilde frowned at him but let it drop. “So,” she said slowly, drawing out the word, “what was it you wanted to discuss about it, then? Neither one of us has really remembered anything more than what we already told you, you know.”

 

“Well, we were thinking we should probably try and collect more information. You know, do a little more reconnaissance or whatever. Get more of the facts nailed down before we decide what needs to be done about it.”

 

“And who do you propose should be doing this extra reconnaissance? Darlian and me again? Or you this time? They won't let you in the girls' washroom, you know,” she informed him with a grin.

 

Duo stuck out his tongue at her. “I don't know,” he said. “Just somebody. We need to get our shit together before we start pointing fingers at anyone.”

 

“All right,” she said reasonably. “I'll chat with Darlian about this again—somehow—and we'll figure out a battle plan. How's that?”

 

“Works for me,” Duo said, just as Treize blew his whistle for class to properly start. The two teens separated to go line up in front of him.

 

***

 

As Hilde made her unhurried way to the middle of the dojo to join the rest of the group, she was suddenly stopped by a hand on her arm. She turned in surprise, her fist already clenching at her side to pop whoever it was in the face, and stopped short when she saw Heero's intense gaze glaring her down. Her mouth moved soundlessly, and she risked a glance back over her shoulder to see that Duo was facing the other way, his attention focussed on the beginning of class.

 

Heero headed off the words she was trying to form, speaking in a hurried whisper. “What were you two talking about?” he said.

 

Hilde felt a blush creep up her neck. “I... um... what do you mean?” she tried.

 

“I heard most of it,” he snorted. “You know, it's rude not to drop specific details when people are trying to eavesdrop.”

 

It took a few seconds for the realization to settle in that Heero Yuy had just made a joke. She kept up her bewildered look, saying nothing.

 

“Look,” Heero said, glancing up at everyone else as if gauging how much time he had left, “you can tell me or I can find out the hard way, and people might get hurt if we choose the hard way, because I will find out regardless of obstacles.”

 

She could just tell that he was obliquely threatening Duo, although probably Quatre Winner wouldn't be exempt from 'the hard way' either, considering. And Winner didn't deserve that because of her, she thought. “We were discussing something that I overheard the other day. Look, it's complicated. Can we talk about this later?”

 

His grip on her arm relaxed a bit, and Hilde realized that there was a good chance his hand would leave a mark. She bit back a frown. “You have a class next period?” he asked her.

 

“I have lunch,” she said.

 

“Good, so do I. We'll discuss it then. I'll see you in the cafeteria,” he said, and walked away without another word.

 

She blinked and then shook her head as if there were cobwebs in it that needed clearing out. Now she had an unwanted lunch date with one of the most disturbed people she'd ever met. And on top of that, she'd already lectured Duo about discretion! This was just perfect.

 

It was funny though; he'd implied with his 'people might get hurt...' threat (and she was sure he'd meant Duo) that he wouldn't hurt him otherwise. And yet they were Tag partners....

 

God help anyone who underestimates Heero Yuy for any reason, Hilde thought with chagrin.

 

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A/N: I don't know how long the wait will be for the next one. Hopefully somewhat less than seven months. ;) Subscribe for updates, is what I suggest. Or go check my fandom LJ (link in my profile somewhere) for bits and pieces and evidence that I haven't abandoned it all to go and live as a hermit in Tibet. Later days, folks.