Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Orphan Stage ❯ Stage Plot ( Chapter 11 )

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Gundam Wing Characters, blah blah blah

Pairings: 1x2, 3+4, 5+?

Warning: Blood, death, angst. Sad stuff, but not sad stuff!

Summary: Duo Maxwell is put into a protection program after his father gets out of jail and goes missing. Duo finds himself in a situation where he can finally find his brother that was adopted ten years ago.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Stage Plot

I walked with Heero to my fifth hour English class, holding his hand tightly as we made our way through the door. People were giving us weird looks as we sat down next to each other, hands still linked. The day was dragging by slowly, maybe it was because I knew it was my last. I was no longer complaining about having to come… it was kinda nice… having a class with Heero… hmmm wasn't Hilde in this class also?

Speaking of Hilde, she came barging in the door late, as usual. She gave me a sad smile before going to her seat. Ugh, I felt horrible.

I didn't want class to end, surprisingly, because that meant it would be one hour closer to my leaving. I was content just sitting there holding Heero's hand and drowning out the lesson. The teacher, Mrs. Poe, had looked in my direction before she started class. She didn't look like she was pitying me… just concerned. I wonder if she knew I was to be leaving. I assumed that Kemp was taking care of all my file transfers, so the school most likely already knew.

Heero's hand squeezed against mine, getting my attention. I pushed my thoughts aside and looked sideways, towards him. He was smiling softly, really softly. Probably wouldn't notice if you didn't know Heero. He glanced at the piece of paper if front of us, where there was something written down.

Hmmm… when did he manage to do that? Wasn't he right handed? And I was holding his right hand… Guess he is multi talented, dang. I looked down to read his neat, perfectly lined handwriting.

Will you be able to call me? Or write me?

My heart twisted as I read over it again and again. I knew the answer, and I knew Heero would get depressed about my response. Sighing, I picked up his pencil and replied with:

I'm sorry, I wont be able to contact anyone… but I'll see about getting a letter to you. Oh! I almost forgot… I wanted to tell you th

"Duo Maxwell." The teachers voice stopped me from finishing my letter. I looked up to peer at her worried face. Did she catch me writing notes? Considering the way she was looking at me I figured she didn't call on me for that. Just then, my eyes caught site of something standing in the classroom doorway… it couldn't be…

Yup, Kemp was standing there, looking in my direction. How come I hadn't noticed when he first came in? And why was he here?!

My grip on Heero's hand grew tighter and I tried to force my mind to calm down. He said Tuesday! We were leaving on Tuesday right? So why was he here? Something must have happened… he's never come to my school before.

Kemp nodded his head to the side slightly, gesturing me to come with him. My hand reluctantly let go of Heero's, and it fell to his lap limply. I couldn't look at him as I stood up, too afraid that if I did I would lose the courage to follow Kemp. People were looking at me weird after seeing the tall dark haired man, fully dressed in his uniform. Maybe they thought I was getting arrested, heh. That'd be amusing.

As I made my way to the door, I finally glanced one last time at Heero, his blue eyes were downcast, staring at the paper on the table… I hadn't finished the note.

As I walked into the hallway, Kemp closed the door to the classroom and stood before me. "We have to go." He said. Although I think I heard wrong at first and made him repeat it. He just said we were leaving… and we were leaving now!

"What? I thought I wasn't suppose to go until Tuesday!" I said, kind of loud. I was just a little bit shocked over this. Well, I was more angry than shocked, but I knew Kemp was just doing his job so I tried my best not to show it.

"I know, but a situation has come up and we have to get out of here… soon. I already got your stuff from your apartment, and the car is running outside."

Eh? What situation? Kemp was acting kinda like Hall would jump out at us any minute… did they get something on him? My fears that had been forgotten for the day came back full blast and I had a little trouble finding my voice.

"What's happened?" I squeaked, hoping he would fill me in on why we were in such a rush.

"I cant tell you right now, but we really need to go, now." He took my hand and started leading me down the halls. That's when I realized that I hadn't said goodbye to Heero. I tried to struggle a little, wanting to go back and say something, anything… but Kemp wouldn't let go of my hand. His head was turning to each side as if he were scanning the school grounds suspiciously, which was making me feel a bit queasy.

Kemp was scared.

"Duo?" I turned around to see Relena, head tilted to the side, eyes blinking at me in confusion. "Where ever are you going?" She asked, walking closer to me. I could see Kemp scowling from the corner of my eyes, but I didn't pay attention to it. He was just mad because we were wasting time… the time I was suppose to have left here… grrrr.

"Eh? Didn't I tell you? I'm moving today." Her face seemed to twist into something like shock as I said this, before coming to something like… panic?

"Bu… but you cant!" Her bottom lip stuck out as she said this. "You're suppose to go to Prom with me! You cant leave!"

WHAT?! When did I agree to that? I don't remember any discussion involving me going with her to the dance! As confused as I was, I didn't feel like making her mad by denying it. It would probably take too much time. "Sorry, sorry… it cant be helped." I apologized. Her arms crossed and she looked at me angrily. She wasn't even close to being as scary as Heero and his glares. Hmm… Heero… maybe I could… "Relena!" My lips twisted up as I came up with an idea. "Will you do me a favor?"

"Favor?" She looked at me suspiciously, probably thinking I wanted her to do something… laborious.

"Will you take Heero to the prom for me?" I asked, eyes pleading with her. Although… I already knew her answer would be yes.

"I wish… but I don't think I could get him to go with me! He's stood me up for five of our school dances before! And when I confronted him about it he said something like 'what dance'!" Her hands went up into the air with an exasperated sigh. I couldn't help but snicker as she continued her little rant. "I mean, really… he should have 'known' that we were going to the dance together. Wouldn't it be common knowledge and there was this time…"

"Relena." Placing my hands on both of her shoulders I successfully got her out of her rambling. "Tell Heero that I asked you to take him." My mouth twitched into a big grin as I thought of Heero's reaction to this situation I was putting him in. "He'll be 'sure' to go with you!"

Knowing Heero… he might lock himself in his room and mope around for months. Relena was a good opportunity for him to get out… live like a teenager and lighten up. Hmm, in these situations usually one doesn't send their boyfriends to a junior prom with someone else… but he should go, and if he couldn't go with me, then he should go with someone. Definitely not alone! Heh, he was really gonna hate me for this one!

Her eyes wandered to the side as she thought about what I had just said. She looked so funny when trying to think, maybe her head would explode in a minute like they do on cartoons! It took awhile before she snapped out of her little 'thinking session' and she smiled brightly at me.

"I'll give it a try! Thanks Duo! Oh… and hope you… uh, have a nice… leave." My eyebrow raised a little at her. I should have been mad at the way she had said that, like it didn't even matter anymore that I was leaving. But for some reason it was amusing, probably because it was Relena saying it.

Before I could comment or talk to her further, Kemp was grabbing my arms and started to pull me to the entrance of the school.

"Duo… we 'really' need to leave." He said while continuing to drag me through the school grounds.

"Kemp! Are you going to tell me what's going on?" My voice carried a sharp tone that made sunglass boy stop for a second.

"I'll tell you when we get going." Was the only thing he said… for the next half hour car drive.

His car, surprisingly, wasn't a police car. It was black with tinted windows… which was kinda creepy. I was feeling really uneasy by how Kemp was acting. We had been driving down back roads leading to nowhere! I was starting to think that we were never going to stop. The scenery outside was slowly turning into desert… deserted! And the worst part was that the whole time we were listening to some old guy singing on his banjo! Kemp wouldn't talk to me, but he could sing along to this crap? Ugh, it wasn't fair.

About forty minutes since we left the city we came to a small town and we stopped for gas. Kemp motioned me to follow him into the run down diner so we could get something to eat. Finally, he was ready to talk.

"So what is so important that you couldn't tell me then, but can now?" I snorted while taking a bite of my cheeseburger. The meat was really, really thick. The kind that no fast food restaurant will give you. Mostly because it was home made, those ones always tasted the best. Especially with bacon in them and mayonnaise… but that wasn't important right now!

"Actually," His hand came out to steal one of my fries off my plate. I growled and stole one of his sliced pickles to get back at him. "I could have told you on the trip here, but I thought I would let you suffer."

My mouth opened wide in disbelief and I gaped at him. "What?!"

He smirked and took a sip of his coke before speaking. "Joking, joking. Actually I just would rather hold off scaring you for awhile."

"Scaring me?" Obviously it was bad news since even Kemp had looked uneasy.

He sighed, running a hand over his curved chin. "Duo… I'm sorry we had to leave so suddenly, but we couldn't take any more chances by letting you stay there any longer."

"Chances?"

"Aa…" His head lowered and his expression turned grim. "Yesterday, we got another lead on your father. This one wasn't good. Some street vendor notified us that a man who looked like Hall was snooping around the outside of your apartment."

The palms of my hands were sweating slightly as I listened to him, nervous about what he was telling me. Hall… was near my apartment? "The man told us that he went east, towards the warehouse districts…"

"Wait…" I held up my hand, stopping his speech. "How did a street vendor know what Hall looked like?" I was really puzzled as to what he was trying to tell me. I really hated being confused, it hurt my head.

He smirked slightly, making me feel a little easier since his mood had lightened. "You didn't think that I would let you live in an apartment, alone, without informing your neighbors about the situation did you?"

"You! You told my neighbors about this?" I stared at him in disbelief.

"No." He took another drink of his soda, leaving me in my baffled state for a couple seconds. "I only notified some of them that we were looking for a man named Hall, and that if they saw him they were to contact us. And luckily one of them did."

"Gah! You are confusing you know that?" Rolling my eyes I realized I was starting to get a headache from listening to him. Ugh.

"Sorry, sorry… I just like to see you get worked up over nothing." He chuckled at me from across the table making me moan and start to rub my aching temples.

"So, are you going to get to the 'real' story yet? And don't bend the truth on me, ya here?" His good mood seemed to disappear entirely, making me think that maybe I shouldn't have asked. My curiosity was killing me, but Kemp seemed to be having a hard time getting it out. He was stalling.

"Aa…" He clasped his hands in front of himself before taking a deep breath in order to continue. "We sent an agent out to go investigate around the warehouse districts. He was suppose to report in an hour later…" He paused slightly, mind probably wandering to yesterday's events. "He never reported in, he went missing… we sent two others out after him. One was found dead, shot, and one beaten so bad they are now in comatose state."

The pounding in my chest grew louder as I listened to him… telling me that people he knew were just killed… recently. No wonder he was freaking out and wanted to leave right away! These people were probably friends of his, people he saw everyday at work… and now… was it really Hall? Did my father kill these men? How did he find me so fast?

"K-Kemp… why… why would Hall do that? Why would he kill other people… why…" My eyes drifted down to the table. For some reason I was having a hard time believing it was Hall. Sure, he was supposedly after me… because I put him in jail… but how would 'they' know that? And why would Hall kill other people… other than me? It was too confusing to think about and I found my headache starting to get worse.

I could here Kemp's sigh again and I would have looked at him but I couldn't get my eyes to move off the ketchup stain on the table. "You never heard the full story did you?" He asked. Seeing my head shake, he continued. "Recently after your father's parole a fellow inmate came to us with a confession."

The ketchup stain was really interesting now, it was moving, or maybe that was my eyes blurring from my lack of blinking. "He confessed that Hall Phelps had been talking… talking about murder. There was this big plan involving killing the governor that helped ban cigarettes and any other entertainments in the prisons. The informant said that Hall was going to kill the governor if he got out on parole… No one took his story seriously until we found the governor stabbed in his apartment with Hall Phelps finger prints all over him."

The ketchup stain disappeared as I closed my eyes, trying to convince myself that what Kemp had just said was true. It seemed that things were getting worse and worse. When would I ever get out of this running away sort of life?

"The other people Hall had said he was going to kill, was some other politicians and… his own son, who he claimed betrayed him." His voice grew soft and I could sense the quiver of uncertainty in his voice. He was having a hard time telling me this… and now I wished I wouldn't have forced him to. "Duo…"

I stood up, rubbing my hand on the back of my neck before looking at him. "Well, we better get going then, huh?" I forced a smile on my face before heading to the door. We were only forty minutes away from town, that was still dangerous… but I wonder why we were driving. Shouldn't Kemp go back home and let someone else handle me? Ah well, I was grateful it was him.

The black car came into view and I got inside, a little surprised to see that the door was unlocked. I could have sworn I heard Kemp lock it… speaking of Kemp, I looked out the front window to see him talking to the waitress behind the cash counter. He seemed to be… flirting? Gah! What was he doing? We needed to go! The girls hair was in a tight bun and she had on a white outfit, kinda like a nurse would wear. Something Kemp said must have been funny because her hand came up to cover her mouth as she laughed. Hmm… maybe he would be in a better mood after talking to her.

Leaning my head back against the head rest, I yawned. I would have contemplated whether to take a nap or not but I suddenly felt a chill run down my spine. This wasn't a good kind, not like the shivers Heero makes me feel… this was the kind when you know something bad is going to happen. I think the last time I felt like this was when walking home and thinking someone was watching me.

Looking around outside the windows, I didn't notice anything suspicious… or anyone. Then why was I feeling so…

The driver side door opened quickly, startling me. Kemp entered and looked at me weird, probably because I had my hand clasped over my heart and was staring at him, wide eyed.

"Sorry… you just scared me." I mumbled, taking a deep breath and slouching down in my seat. I think I was over reacting a little, who would be able to find us in a dump town like this? My eyes wandered to outside and I noticed that there was only one other car in the customers parking slots. The other one was a new, red convertible, a car that someone here definitely wouldn't be able to afford. Quickly, I looked to the diner windows, I don't know why, but I felt the need to reassure myself that it was just some passerby's car. I looked in, trying to see if there was someone else eating in. I hadn't seen anyone come in, because I was too absorbed in Kemp's story, so I could have missed them. The windows showed that no one was there.

"Kemp? Who's car is that?" I asked, pointing a finger at the shiny red vehicle about two slots away from us.

He glanced over to it, then into the diner windows like I had a second ago. His bottom lip was being chewed on by his teeth nervously as he looked back to the car. "I'll go check it out." He mumbled before opening the door and exiting, leaving me alone with that weird, scared feeling again.

My heart stopped as I heard some sort of shuffling from behind me. I would have turned around if my body would let me, I was frozen… in fear of what the laughing sound was that I now heard. Something brushed against my shoulder, something that felt like a cold hand. My head snapped to the side and I stared right into the amused blue eyes of disheveled looking man. And I just sat there, eyes wide, not moving.

I could here yelling now… faintly I heard the voice of Kemp calling for me… then blood. A gun, a gunshot… more blood. What was going on? My limbs wouldn't move, my mind wandered as my eyes witnessed something that I couldn't process right away. I tried to focus… needed to focus. My head shook and I finally snapped out of my shock. Hall was standing over the limp body of…

"KEMP!" I screamed and launched myself over to him, pushing Hall out of the way. He was soaked with red… dark red blood and was gasping for breath as he clutched his stomach.

Cursing… Hall was yelling at me. There was a pain in my side from where his boot connected with me, but I just ignored it and stumbled over the blood soaked body laying in the dirt. I managed to push Kemp onto his back before someone grabbed me and hauled me away.

Screaming… I think I was screaming now… once again in shock from seeing the dead face of Kemp… the now motionless, soaked mass on the dirt floor. He shouldn't be left there… maybe he was still alive! He needed an ambulance!

My body jerked in pain as I was thrown into the back seat of the red convertible car. Head slamming hard on something, I could really tell what. My eyes were too blurry. But I didn't care about myself… I could care less about what Hall was going to do to me… all I could think about was that it was all my fault… that Kemp was shot. All my fault… he shouldn't have helped me! He wouldn't have been hurt… wouldn't have been… oh please don't be dead!

A wetness was running down my cheeks as the car finally stopped. Hall pulled me out shoving me onto the dirt road… we were in the middle of nowhere… and he was sneering at me. His yellow teeth showing as he said something to me… I couldn't make it out though. I think he was giving me my death speech.

Something was pulled out of his plaid shirt… a gun came into my view, yet I just stood there, motionless, staring at the barrel aimed at me. This was it… I was going to die. Shouldn't I be scared? Afraid? Why wasn't I fighting back? Maybe I deserved this… deserved it for what happened to Kemp…

"I wont be ok until you come back to me."

Heero… something Heero had said. I told him I would come back to him… and now I wasn't going to be able to… I was going die out here… someone might not be able to find my body. Heero might never even know I died. He would wait for me…

Tears ran down my cheeks as I thought about him… I… wanted to go back. But how could I? What could I do against a man with a gun. A scary looking man with a gun!

Hall's hair was long and he had grown a rather gross beard during his jail time. But the thing that had changed the most… was his eyes… now hard, and screamed murderer. And that's what he was, he was a killer, and I was to be killed.

Weak. Once again I felt disgusted with myself. Disgusted with the sniveling boy who was just going to sit there without a fight… and die.

I watched slowly as the trigger to the gun squeezed and there was a loud bang. Blood splattered as it pierced my shoulder. Oddly I didn't feel any pain, but the impact sent me sprawled backwards, causing me to fall onto my back, hard. The man who was said to be my father walked over to me. Smirk set in place as he stood above me, gun poised at me head. He was speaking again… something… I couldn't make it out. Why couldn't I hear anything? Why was I having a hard time focusing? This wasn't suppose to happen like this…

I didn't want to die!

As he pulled the trigger for the second time, I moved… pushing myself sideways, I kicked him in the legs. His hands faltered and he ended up shooting the cold dirt and falling on his side.

"Damn brat!" I heard him say softly… but it looked like he was yelling. There was something definitely wrong with my hearing.

He was quickly back on his feet and soon a fist was smashed into my face. My vision blackened and I was having trouble getting the world to come back into view. As my eyes focused again, I could faintly make out the gun, pointed once again towards my face. My feet shot me up and I started to make a run for it. Desperate to live… and go back to Heero, but my arm was grabbed by a strong grip and pain lanced through my right leg. I was twisted harshly around to see a laughing Hall.

It looked funny, seeing him laughing like that, but not being able to hear it. Kind of surreal. Like I was in my own silent film… a film with a horrible ending. Where the protagonist dies. Though I wouldn't think myself to be a hero of a story, I didn't do anything worthy of the title.

I could hear the faint laughter now, sound was slowly coming back to me. I think it helped, being able to hear again, I didn't feel as scared… more like one step towards mad. The insane sort. He was enjoying my pain, my torment, my crying. I was giving him a good time. He was laughing! The realization of it made my blood start to boil and my hands twitched slightly against my sides.

Somehow, I was able to feel anger over my fright. "Shut up!" I yelled and sent my foot out to kick him in the stomach. He made a gasping sound and keeled slightly over as my foot hit hard. I must had caught him by surprise, I could see that by the way his eyes widened as they looked back up to me. But they were soon replaced with the hate he must have been building up over the years. His fist shot back out and slammed into the side of my head, causing me to black out.

I mustn't have been out for very long, because I was still alive. Hall hadn't killed me yet. I wish I could have felt relieved.

My body slowly rose from the ground, head in my hands, trying to get everything back into focus. The laughing started again… then it stopped abruptly… There was a choking sound and I looked up to see Hall with wide eyes and staring at his chest.

There was… blood… slowly seeping through his plaid shirt. From behind him, I finally noticed another person, standing there with a shot gun aimed at Hall's back. It was the waitress from the diner… her gun fired again and I winced as I saw blood splatter from a head wound. Hall… fell down… not moving… dead… he was…

"… alright?" Someone was talking to me now. My head turned slowly away from the body lying a few feet away to stare into the worried eyes of a young girl. She didn't look more than twenty-five. "Are you alright.?" The girl repeated. I could only nod my head slightly before I felt the pain in my shoulder again. Wincing, I stood slowly up and let her lead me to her car.

I cant really remember anything after that… I think I passed out on the way to the towns medical center. My dreams consisted of blood splattered plaid shirts and hamburgers. I know, disturbing. But as I lay in my dreams, I realized something. I had stood up to Hall… I had fought to live. That's what counted… and if I was truly as strong as I wanted to be… I wouldn't let him haunt me.

Hall had made me frightened by living… but I wouldn't let myself be haunted by his dead ghost. Forgetting him would not be possible… but I was no longer afraid of him. There is nothing left to be afraid of… he lost, I won.

That was the end of the story.

TBC.

121212121212121212121212121212121212121212

%-%-%-%-%-%-%+ô.ô+%-%-%-%-%-%-%