Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ P.S I Hate You ❯ Three Thirty Three A.M ( Chapter 3 )
[ P - Pre-Teen ]
Three Thirty Three A.M
Chapter 3
x_x
"Arnold!" Noin shrieked, "have you called Zechs?"
She smoothed down her blue dress on her lap and lookied around anxiously at the large burgundy dinning room, making sure she didn't forgot anything romantic to add to the scenery.
She bit the tip of her finger nail nervously, "he was suppose to be here and hour ago." She mumbled dazed.
"Is everything alright Ma'am"
"Oh! Arnold" Noin yelped, "you scared me, don't sneak up on me like that?"
"Sorry Ma'am-."
Noin gave an impatient sigh and clasped her hands on her lap gaining back her composer. "It's alright" she told her butler.
"Is dinner ready yet?" she asked looking at the butler from the corner of her eye.
"I haven't checked yet Ma'am" The butler replied.
"Well…" Noin sharply turned her head, giving an impatient glare.
The butler stiffened a little and hastily headed towards the kitchen.
"God, the help these days…" she muttered rolling her eyes, she replaced her finger nail back between her teeth and began nibbling nervously.
Zechs was late for dinner…again.
It was either he was late for dinner, or he didn't come at all.
Every night he would give her the same bland excuse like - I was held back at the office- or - they extended the meeting- or - bad traffic-. Noin never really believed him, how many times do you need to stay back at the office in a week?
He could at least come up with a more original and exciting excuse like - I was stuck in line to get you these beautiful roses- Noin giggled to herself "Man that would be something" she thought dreamily.
Noin and Zechs rarely spent much time together these days; he was always busy with work and never had much time. She was beginning to think he loved the office more then he loved her.
Or he was cheating…but she refused to think of that possibility.
Noin took another big sigh and bit down harder on her finger nail "Oh Zechs…"
"Yes my Dear?"
"Zechs!" Noin shrieked jumping out of her chair andearly knocking it over.
She watched as Zechs waltzed towards her with his classic charming smile that always made her heart race. It almost tricked her into forgetting why she was upset…almost.
"You're late" Noin huffed plopping down in her chair, turning away from him. "Really late."
"I'm sorry my-"
"Again!" she shrieked crossing her arms.
"I know, I know" Zechs apologized, she felt him place a hand on her shoulder and shrugged it off, "I am so sorry I-"
"Was held back at the office, caught up in a meeting, stuck in traffic-"
"Was stuck in line-" She heard him say as a sweat aroma filled the air; she turned her head to see a bouquet of beautiful blue, purple and red flowers in front of her. "-to get you these"
"Oh Zechs" Noin gasped, she couldn't believe it, he finally had an original excuse, and even better it was one she fantasized. "You shouldn't have" she took the flowers and inhaled deeply.
"Sorry I am always late for dinner" She felt his warm hand cup her cheek and looked up into his ice blue eyes. "They're Gladiolus and For-Get-Me-Nots"
He bent down and gave her a kiss, she fell into it tasting his soft moist lips. She felt as he slowly pulled away from her ending the kiss which she was not yet ready to finishing.
"You know how work is" he said plainly slightly killing the mood. "I would expect you of all people to understand that."
"I-" Noin instantly felt guilty, of course she understood, Zechs was the CEO of a major weapon and new technology manufacturing company, he was also involved in funding all the colonies witness protection programs, and a key stakeholder in Preventers Agency, he practically own it.
So of course she understood that he was really busy, who wouldn't?
She leaned back a little as the butler put down there food and mumbled a Thank you.
"I know" She said nervously, she watched as Zechs took a seat on the opposite side of the dinning table.
It was always interesting to watch Zechs when he did things; it was like he carried out his actions in a step by step procedure akin to a ritual.
First; he would pull out his chair and straighten his back, then he would let his fingers gracefully graze the design on the top of the chair, like he was studying it or something.
Then, he would sit down, pull his chair in, then push it a little out, and then pause for exactly three second and pull it in again but only an inch.
After that he would pick up each utensil and study them…for what?
She hadn't a clue.
Lastly, he would tap his fingers three times, pick up his napkin, re-fold it, unfold it, spread it on his lap, and then finally look up at her and smile sweetly and say…
"And what gossip do you have for me today my Love?"
Right on cue, Noin thought to herself, if she didn't know Zechs better she would have thought he was autistic or something.
"Well" Noin sang brightening up; Zechs was the only one who truly enjoyed her gossip. "Joan from graphic design just hand her fifth baby, can you believe it? Fifth, you would have thought she was some baby machine or something."
"Oh?" Zechs said with little enthusiasm. But Noin brushed it off.
"Oh!" Noin said excitingly.
"Oh?" Zechs questioned.
"Ben from accounting just bought a new Armani suit today."
"Really?" Zechs said dryly, he picked a piece of stake and slid it in his mouth looking off absently.
"Yeah a real nice one too, much like the silver one you're wearing now. Only he had a blue inside shirt, not violet" Noin continued starting at her meal "Which is weird…"
She waited for a response but got nothing, "You wanna know why?" she threw in.
"Why?" Zechs said dryly, chewing on another piece of stake.
Noin paused for a moment feeling a little shaken by Zechs sudden mood change, however common his mood changes were, they still were a little unsettling.
Noin saw Zechs look up at her expectantly and decided to continue. "Well, they say that Ben was going bankrupt, something about him having a huge gambling problem, I even heard his wife left him because of it, and now he has a suit?" She paused to shove more mash potatoes in her mouth "and not just any suit, like a five hundred dollar suit, so totally weird, do you think he got it on a sale?, it totally has to be a sale, it's a suit just like yours, don't you think?"
She paused anxiously waiting for an answer.
"Yes, it is weird, if he's gambling then there is no way he could have the money to get a suit from Armani" Zechs look up at Noin and smiled "And he most definitely doesn't have the same suit as me, my suit was one thousand eight hundred and is not mass produced to the general public"
"I knew it!" Noin sang "It's probably a fake."
Zechs brushed a lock of his long platinum blond hair behind his ear and looked up at Noin. "Anything else my dear?" Zechs asked.
Noin paused thoughtfully "Um, Oh! They found the hide out of the serial killer, Yuy and his partner Wufie did, apparently there was all these picture of some young naked man everywhere, isn't that creepy?"
"Yes it is, and I'm glad that Yuy found the hide out of the serial killer, guys like that need to be put out of there misery" Zechs said thoughtfully.
"I know right, what a sicko."
Noin sat there looking up at Zechs as the room slowly became silent, sometimes she couldn't tell if Zechs really cared about what she had to say, or if she if he just humouring her. She sat there for a while swinging her legs back and forth with the tip of her fork in her mouth thinking of something new to say.
"Oh, and I invited more guests to the fall party" Noin said brightly
"Its summer" Zechs said dryly "and really more people Noin? I'm sure we have enough, it's supposed to be a small party remember." He lifted his eyes from his plate in obvious annoyance, Noin knew he wanted a small party, but she couldn't help but invite people, she wanted this to be the party on everyone lips this year.
"Oh come on Zechs, I only invited a few people, like Jason from Customs and Carle from Finance…" She stopped swishing her mash potatoes around in her plate "Chang Wufei…"
Noin saw how Zechs instantly froze at the mention of the name and took note of it, there was definitely something going on between them and she was going to get to the bottom of it.
Zechs put some of the mash potatoes in his mouth and then stiffly put his fork down.
"You invited Wufei?"
"Yeah" Noin said "I thought it would-"
"Un-invite him" Zechs said coldly
Noin felt the temperature in the room drop and became uneasy "Why? I can't just do that it-"
"I said Un-invite him" She felt Zechs icy glare from across the dinner table and became tense.
"What is your deal with him anyway?" Noin said accusingly "Every time I mention his name or even make reference to his existence you get all weird and angry"
She was upset now, Zechs was hiding secrets from her and she wasn't used to not knowing everything. " You guys use to be such good friends before we were together, now every time I see you guys in the same room its like the Cold War, I don't see why you just can't tell me-"
"Noin!" Zechs harsh frigid voice cut Noin off "You should not concern yourself with matters that do not concern you."
Noin bit down on her lip angrily, they had this fight before, she named it the 'Secret Wufei past' fight, but this time Zechs seemed more upset than usual. Usually he would brush it off, or change the subject, but this time he was being cold, very cold.
"But I-"
"You what-?" Zechs mocked "Not minding your own business?"
Noin felt the tension in the room thicken and she became silent, Zechs was never this mean, he was always sweet and charming, never raising his voice, he was never this mean to her,
Never.
She heard as Zechs took a deep sigh "It is my birthday Noin, I should…" Noin looked up for a moment and looked down again when she caught his ice blue eyes.
" It's…fine, I'm sorry Love" Noin looked up again as she heard him slide his plate up further in front of him and get up from his seat. Noin smiled to herself, that's the Zechs she knew, always so sweat and apologetic, even when things weren't his fault.
"Oh and Noin?"
"Yes Zechs?" she answered brightly.
"Did you suggest the mash potatoes for dinner this evening?"
"Uhh, Yes" Noin answered confused.
"Because they are a little…" He looked down at the food and wrinkled his nose "…dry." And then turned and walked out the door.
Noin sat there a little shaken, she didn't understand, how one minute he was so charming, and the next minute so cold. And to top it off, she thought he loved mash potatoes, Zechs and Wufei would eat them all the time.
Heero levelled the gun to the center of Jackson's head.
"Don't think I won't injure you", Heero said testily, "if anything, this should be an indication of how I feel towards you". Heero gestured to the bruise he left on Jackson's face earlier that day with a nod. He noticed Duo's eyes trail there and tensed a bit.
"You did this to Jackson", Duo said in shock. He was wondering where Jackson got that bruise from.
Duo was torn, on one hand he had his boyfriend being overprotective and unreasonable and demanding that he leave. And on the other hand he had his best friend in the whole world, someone that had proved over and over again he would do anything for him, including risk his life. And now, this best friend now had a gun pointed to his boyfriends head.
Yes, Jackson was an asshole, but Jackson was still his boyfriend.
"You know that your only here to be a target right", Jackson asked tersely. "I'm just trying to protect you, how hard is that to see?" Jackson growled.
"Are you implying that I am incapable to taking care of Duo?" Heero said in a sturdy voice. From the pissed off look on Heero face Duo knew that he was trying to hold himself back from snapping.
Duo started to get annoyed. He wasn't a bargaining chip, and he could take care of himself. He proved this time and time again, if the wars taught them anything.
"Duo.", Jackson said, completely ignoring Heero's question, "Tell Heero to lower his gun, and-"
Thawack.
A knife embedded itself in the apartment buildings hallway wall, right beside Jacksons left ear. If Duo didn't still feel the air on his cheek from the knife, he wouldn't have realized that Trowa must have taught all the pilots the art of knife throwing.
"I missed on purpose", Heero stated dryly, and everyone knew he was right.
"You know where to find me", Jackson huffed and stepped back. "Duo", he said crossing his arms in defiance, "you know I love you, this guy doesn't even-"
The door slammed shut.
"Any attempts to open it will result in immediate bodily harm", Heero warned coldly through the door.
Heero spun around sharply, colbat eyes shot directly at Duo, who diverted his.
Duo watch as Heero went to the fridge and took out a half empty bottle of Jack Daniels and a cold beer.
"I know that talking about Jackson was uncharted territory before," Heero said gruffly as he tossed Duo the beer, Duo watched as he turned around and went into the cupboard pulling out a small liquor glass, "but now, consider it charted".
"Actually Heero it's not," Duo took the end of his shirt and cracked open his beer "Jackson is my issue and my boyfriend".
"And now, he's our problem." Heero said, putting down his glass rather roughly beside the liquor bottle. "I can not sit by any longer and watch him treat you like shit". Heero paused "you know what I'm talking about". He started to pour the golden liquid in his glass stopping half way, Duo looked at the liquor and slightly raised a brow, he didn't understand how anyone could have that shit not on the rocks.
"What the fuck are you talking about", Duo hissed. He took another gulp of his beer. "I hold my own".
"You shouldn't have to" Heero argued, he watched as Heero walked across the kitchen to where he was sitting and grabbed his arm. "What the hell is this?"
"I wasn't being careful, is that a crime!" Duo yelled wrenching his arm out of Heero's grasp "you always call me baka anyway so you shouldn't be so surprised".
He could tell that comment stung.
Heero looked down for a split second, which Duo used to attempt to escape. He really couldn't handle another emotionally charged situation today.
He turned to leave the living room and walked directly into Heero. How did Heero do that he thought, he could have sworn Heero was on the other side of the table.
"You will talk about this to me", Heero demanded narrowing his eyes.
Who the hell-
"No", Duo said coldly. "I told you, this none of your business," Duo tried to move past Heero but Heero moved in his way "He's actually a pretty decent guy once you get to know him, why don't you put an effort to at least get along?"
"He's a nice guy according to what?" Heero countered, "definitely not his background check".
"You did a background check on him?" Duo clenched his fist at his side with frustration, doing a background check on his boyfriend was defiantly walking on un-charted territory.
"So you just wanted to fucking hate him!" Duo yelled "You've just been searching for a reason!" Duo felt that he was almost to the point of hysteria.
"Given the amount of reasons Jackson has given me in just today alone it would be incorrect for you to say I had to search!" Heero shoot back.
"You've got to be kidding me?" Duo through his hands up in frustration, "We were having some dumb fight, just like all couples do."
"Couples should never have fights like that" Heero stated.
"Oh, yeah, because you would know..." Duo said mockingly, but then though over what he said. "Oh right" he mumbled.
Heero look away from Duo and didn't say anything. Heero also had un-charted territory with his previous two year relationship with Relena, who still thought she and Heero were on some sort of break.
Duo felt his face flare up with anger at the thought, Relena being with Heero was a constant reminder of how he and Heero would never be together.
"Get the fuck out of my way" Duo growled shoving Heero to the side.
"Gladly", Heero growled back. Duo stormed past Heero heading for the guest bedroom slash office, he needed some solitude.
"Fuck you!" Duo screamed and slammed the door. Duo let his back fall against the closed door. He tiredly rubbed his face, he was exhausted. He couldn't believe how his day went, with all the shit going on he barely had time to think about the fact that there is a serial homo psycho stalking him.
He didn't even have to find distract, all the distraction just willing came to him.
"Duo?" He heard Heero ask.
Duo turned around and lightly banged his head on the door, why couldn't Heero leave him the hell alone.
"I treat my plants better than he treats you". Heero stated through the door.
Duo almost smiled. He remembered coming over to Heero's condo and making fun of his dying plants, then watering them. Duo single handily saved the life of Heero's Bonsai. He frowned, Relana had given Heero that plant.
He should of helped kill it come to think of it.
"Oh, I'm sorry if Jackson sense of emotion is not perfect enough for you!" Duo screamed back, his voice rising at every word. " I'm sorry we all can't be Heero Yuy, lack of emotion perfectionist" Duo threw open the door and met Heero face to face, he staggered back a bit surprised but then gained his composure.
"And that is why I'm friends with you," Heero said sarcastically "to fill in all those imperfections?"
"Well maybe we shouldn't be friends if I can't meet your standard of perfect!" Duo screamed, once he heard the words fly out of his mouth he instantly regretted it. That would be the worse thing that could ever happen to him.
Luckily, Heero ignored it.
"I hate Jackson not because I generally dislike him, I hate him for the way he treats you". Heero whispered fiercely. He was looking directly at Duo now, his cobalt blue eyes lighting up with an icy fire.
Duo felt his cheeks flare up. It's hard to stay focused when Heero looked at him like that, with such fiery passion, even if it was anger.
"That doesn't mean you have to punch him". Duo said looking down.
"He deserved it", was all Heero had to say to defend himself.
"He deserved it? That's all you have to fuckin' say for yourself? Why can't you guys just get the fuck along!" Duo yelled. "Honestly, it's stressing me out. I have some pervert psycho out to kill me, out to kill you, collecting hair and eyes and toes nails and shit and I have to deal with your guys shit like a fuckin side dish!"
"I never put you in the middle", Heero choose to remind him. "That's Jacksons doing".
Duo looked at Heero incredulously.
"I'm tired of always fucking breaking up fights between you too. Why can't you just pretend to like him? Why can't you give me some piece of mind."
"Are you implying that this is my fault?" Heero asked quietly, tension became so thick Duo started to find it hard to breath. Duo didn't answer; he didn't want to answer, some part of him believed on some small level it was true; the other part didn't want to think about it.
"Blame me if you choose but I will never accept him", Heero said bitterly. "If I am to like you, I can never like him".
"Fine!" Duo screamed frustrated. This whole fight was ridiculous, it was going nowhere and Duo could see that.
Heero turned on his heal and headed for the door. "I'm leaving", he said coldly. "We're targets now, try not to get yourself killed, I wouldn't want to compromise my perfection with your death somehow related to me."
"Oh! So you're leaving now" Duo yelled back "that's so apart of our objective, drawing out the serial killer by splitting up". He continued sarcastically. "At least Jackson does what he says he'll do, can't say the same for you right now can we".
"Well maybe I should hit you around a little bit too, I hear it's a great way of expressing yourself" He heard Heero state back, this time Heero actually raised his voice. If Heero was going to be low, Duo had no problems jumping down the hole.
"Well maybe you should try that tact on Relena, we all know your communication skills are so excellent…maybe after you break?" Duo hollered back.
"Were not dat-!" Heero started saying aggressively as he stormed down the hall, he cut himself off mid-sentence. "What I had with Relena is none of your Fuckin-"
"Go fuck yourself Heero!" Duo spat and slammed the guest room door shut. He heard the door to the condominium door slam as well. It didn't matter if Heero left; this petty fight had gone on long enough.
Trowa reached around for his ringing phone.
Who the hell was calling him at...three in the morning?
He leaned over and checked his phone.
Quatre.
As excited as he was that Quatre was calling him it was still three in the morning.
Trowa cleared his throat then answered groggily. "Hello?"
"Trowa, I", Quatre's angelic voice sounded rushed. "There's something I have to tell you".
It had to be bad, Trowa thought to himself, Quatre sounded more than a little upset.
"Are you safe?",Quatre suddenly asked, "is everything okay with you?"
"I'm fine", Trowa answered concerned, "your fine as well right, if you need me I will be there."
"No Trowa it's not that" Quatre continued, his voice still rushed. He paused for a moment. "What are you doing this morning?"
Now Trowa definitely knew something was strange. Quatre knew he had work in the morning. Trowa was about to answer when Quatre continued. "Because I know this great place where we can have breakfast and-"
"What's wrong?" Trowa interjected.
"Nothing, it has a great menu and-".
"What's wrong", Trowa interjected again.
"The drinks? Well yeah, I know you like a pineapple cranberry mix, and they don't have pineapple juice on-."
"Quatre", Trowa said sternly.
"It's just…", Quatre started then stopped again sighing deeply. Trowa knew that Quatre was a smooth speaker; he never stuttered or paused when he talked.
"Whatever it is I'm here for you", Trowa affirmed.
"It's not me", Quatre finally said. "It's you". He paused. "I've had another bad dream, a premonition of sorts; you can't go to work this morning Trowa". He sighed nervously.
"You just can't".
He knew it; he knew that Quatre was hiding something.
"I have to", Trowa whispered over the phone, "You know that Quatre, I'm lead in the dog training for the Preventers, I'm training nine new puppies".
"I know", Quatre said, his voice was low, "but Trowa I have a bad feeling, a really bad one, and I know that it has to do with you going to work. I'm sorry if it sounds silly."
"It doesn't", Trowa responded. "Your feelings have saved us many times in the past, it's just… those puppies need me too. They need to be walked and fed and-"
"Then promise me you will be careful?" Quatre asked his voice near pleading.
"Of course", Trowa agreed, "I will be careful for you."
Trowa thought the conversation was going to end their when Quatre suddenly asked,
"Can I come?" His voice sounded eager through the phone.
"Of course", Trowa said. He knew this was just because Quatre was worried about him. He preferred it this way though. It bothered him that Quatre would be worried, he wanted to avoid any additional stress on his angel.
"You're walking the dogs at 0600 right?" Quatre confirmed.
"Yes", Trowa affirmed, "meet me in the parking lot".
"Okay, see you there", Quatre still sounded worried, but not as much as when he first started the conversation. "Good night Trowa."
"Good night" Trowa said and hung up the phone. Their conversation had taken up more than a half an hour, but it didn't feel that long. He looked at his digital clock and sighed. He already knew that it was going to be a long day, and the fact that the last numbers he saw on the clock was 3:33, he felt it was going to be creepy day as well.
3:33am.
Something in the back of Heero's mind bothered him about the time, but he ignored it.
Opening his condominium door he noticed that things were just the way he left it, minus a chair from the kitchen table. Heero thought nothing of it, Duo probably took it for something or the other.
He hung up his jacket neatly in the closet by the door then proceeded to his room, noting that the door to the guest bedroom was still closed. Duo was still in there, Heero thought thankfully to himself, and probably still didn't want to talk. He decided he would attempt to resolve things in the morning and let the things die down.
He glanced at his alarm clock, 3:33am…still.
Weird.
He took off his shirt and began to fold it when he felt a chill on his bare chest, his muscles tensed and he started to feel goose bumps rise on his skin. He surveyed his room carefully. It was still completely in order except for one thing, the balcony door was slightly open.
He immediately reached for his gun that was tucked in the waistband of his pants at the back. He glanced through the glass window quickly, then quietly slid it open the rest of the way, gun in hand.
The first thing he noticed when he stepped on the balcony, besides his missing kitchen chair, was how cold it was outside now that his jacket was off. Almost instantly he noticed Duo curled up in a ball on the chair. The wind gently played with his chestnut hair, but more importantly Heero noticed that Duo was still wearing exactly what he left him in, his Preventers' uniform, shirt un-tucked, tie completely loosened.
"Duo", Heero called out tucking his gun in the waistband of his pants.
"What", he heard Duo grumbled. It disturbingly occurred to Heero that Duo must of fell asleep on the balcony. As soldiers they did have to learn to adapt in extreme conditions, but the fact that Duo was able to fall asleep outside without any real cause just showed Heero how troubled Duo's childhood was. They both never really talked about their childhood, giving bits of information here and there, but nothing too deep.
"Duo", Heero called out again gently, "come inside".
"No", Duo mumbled, obviously half asleep and still upset. "I'm fine, I wanna be here."
"Duo", Heero said, his voice more stern now. "Either you bring yourself inside or I will carry you."
"No", Duo mumbled again, sleepily and upset. "S'okay, go way".
"You were warned", Heero shrugged. He walked over to Duo's curled up form.
In another setting this would have been adorable.
With a sigh he bent down and scooped him off of the chair. Duo's cold face pressed against Heero's bare chest making Heero realise just how cold Duo must have been. For a second Heero thought he heard a moan and felt Duo snuggled close to him, but only for a second.
It was late, his mind was obviously playing games with him, he brought Duo inside and shut the balcony door behind them.
The day was unusually long and exhausting. He looked at Duo in his arms, Duo was still sleeping, he must have felt safe, then again, if he didn't Heero realised, he would be close to dead by now.
Age old theory, you do not disturb a sleeping solider.
Duo looked much younger asleep, like a dangerous beauty. Heero suddenly felt the selfish urge to wake him up, just so he could see violet eyes look up at him. He ignored the idea; besides, they both needed to sleep.
Heero pulled back the covers and gently placed Duo onto his bed, stripped down to his boxers and laid beside him. He pulled the covers over both of them and went to sleep.
It was still cold, Quatre thought to himself at 05:50 in the morning. He threw on his white summer jacket over his beige business suit. He could see that the sun was starting to rise, but just barely. However, it did nothing to quell the ill feeling he had, something was horribly wrong. Quatre was edgy, he didn't want to be there, he didn't want anyone to be there, especially not Trowa, speaking of which…
"Good morning beautiful", Trowa said in what Quatre assumed was a joking voice.
Although how he wished that Trowa wasn't joking…he tightly folded his arms dismissing at the thought, he'd deal with his emotions another time.
As Trowa arrived the bad feeling had intensified.
"Hello Trowa", he said a little shyly. For some reason Quatre always found himself timid whenever Trowa looked at him with those emerald eyes.
"Shall we", Trowa gestured, as he lead the way to the back of the Preventers building where there was a field and the dog kennel. As Quatre walked to the kennels the bad feeling started to intensify almost to the point where he wanted to turn around and ask that they leave.
"What's wrong", Trowa asked calmly. Quatre knew that Trowa had noticed his obvious discomfort.
"I-", Quatre began, he didn't want Trowa to worry anymore than he already was. Quatre decided to keep his thought to himself, "never mind, it's nothing."
Trowa nodded, Quatre knew Trowa didn't believe him for a second. As they kept walking Quatre noticed that Trowa kept glancing back at him with concern, he always loved Trowa's caring nature.
The first thing Quatre noticed when they reached the kennels as Trowa opened the door and turned on the lights was the lack of puppies, in fact, the kennels were empty. He glanced at Trowa questioningly.
Trowa actually looked concerned.
Trowa ran out of the kennel calling out to the puppies, and Quartre followed, if the bad feeling wasn't present then, it was definitely present now.
Quatre had a horrible feeling; he was scared, had the puppies been stolen? Kidnapped? There was no sign of forced entry on the door; all the kennels seemed perfectly fine if not for them being empty.
A small wooded area lined the field, and while Trowa ran to the right side of it, Quatre ran to the left, following where his intuition was taking him, following the bad feeling.
He suddenly stopped with the feeling that he couldn't go further.
"Trowa!", he yelled, his voice shaking, "I think you should come over here."
Trowa was by his side within minutes.
"Did you find them?" Trowa asked desperately. He followed Quatres eyes.
There, around a bush, was a neat little display of eight collars. Trowa picked up one and examined it. Quatre did the same and noticed that each of them had scribbled on the inside said P.S. I hate you.
Quatre felt his heart drop. He remembered that Duo named each of those puppies after reindeer. Then Quatre dropped the collar shaking violently, he also remembered hearing gossip from one of his office assistants who was friends with Noin the day before about some serial killer who was seriously disturbed. In fact, now that Quatre pinpointed it, that's where the bad feeling had started. It got worse after his conversation with Duo.
Then even worse when Heero had called him and said that he had something important to tell him, but would tell him later.
Quatre looked up and suddenly noticed that Trowa had walked a little deeper into the woods.
"Trowa!" he called.
No response.
"Trowa!" he called out loud, his voice laced with worry.
"Quatre", Trowa responded, his voice sounded odd, almost broken, like his was struggling to find words. "Don't come."
That's all Quatre needed. There was no way he wouldn't be there for Trowa.
As if given an invitation, Quatre jogged quickly to where Trowa was standing.
And what he saw instantly made him vomit.
He took a deep breath, re-gain composer, then keeled over and vomited again.
TBC