Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Sandrock was no more ❯ Chapter 17 ( Chapter 18 )

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Chapter seventeen

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"Ohayo, Duo." Hiiro called, knocking lightly on the door as he opened it.

"Ohayo, Hiiro." The braided boy greeted, his carefree grin spread across his face.

"Are you up for some breakfast?" Quatre asked carrying a silver tray of pastries, orange juice and coffee and a package.

"Are you kidding?" Duo smirked, straining to sit up. He smiled at Hiiro as the boy gave him a hand. "I'm starved!" The blonde smiled as he handed the eager boy the tray.

The Arabian and Japanese boys watched in amusement as the American inhaled his food.

"You're going to make yourself sick." Hiiro frowned when Duo gagged. "Slow down, it's not going anywhere."

"I'm fine." The braided boy gasped out.

"Here." Hiiro handed him the glass of orange juice, "Drink it slowly." He ordered, rubbing the boy's back.

The braided boy nodded, taking small sips, "What's that?" He asked noticing the package on the tray.

"I don't know." Quatre answered, "It came for you in the mail a few days ago."

"Oh." Duo grimaced.

"Maybe you should lie back down?" Hiiro suggested, taking the glass back.

"Yeah." The braided boy agreed, allowing the other boy to help him.

"I'll go get some more meds for you." Hiiro ran his hand through the boy's chestnut bangs, "I'll be back soon."

"Hai."

Hiiro turned to leave, but noticed that Quatre was off in his own little world. "Quatre?"

"Hmmm?" The blonde looked up startled. Hiiro tilted his head towards Duo. "Oh, right, I'll stay with him." Hiiro eyed at the blonde for a moment longer before leaving.

"Hey, Q-man." Duo frowned, "What's bugging you?"

Quatre shifted his glance between Duo and the floor. With a heavy sigh, he walked over to the window and leaned against the sill, his fingers and face resting on the glass. His expression seemed lost.

"You're going to leave streaks, Q-man." Duo joked. But the blonde gave no response to the quirk. "Quatre?"

"I went with Trowa to the police station." Quatre frowned, "She was still in police custody."

"Catherine?" The blonde nodded, "Then she couldn't have been the person on the screen."

"I know."

"Quatre?"

"I know Catherine…or at least…I did…" The boy's frown deepened, "Even if she managed to gain access to the necessary systems…I highly doubt she'd have the know-how to hack into anything, let alone the Gundam's communications…"

"I couldn't tell ya…" Duo winced as he reached for the package. "Maybe she had an accomplice?-Do you have know who sent this?" He shook it by his ear.

"No, sorry, I don't." Quatre mulled over the idea, "That does make more sense, if Catherine was working with someone… But who?" He looked at his friend, who was trying to peal off some tape. "Duo, do you think that's wise?" The blonde asked, "What if it's another little black box?"

"Huh…" The braided boy paused as if that had never occurred to him, "Well, I guess the only way to find out is to open it." He shrugged, and continued to tear at the brown packing paper.

"Duo…" Quatre groaned, when he was ignored.

"Huh…" Duo's face scrunched up, "It's a video disk." He lifted the said disk and handed it to the blonde, who scrutinized it. "We won't know what's on it until we play it."

Reluctantly, Quatre walked over to Duo's large Vid screen and inserted the disk. Immediately a familiar face appeared and began to speak.

"I think the others should come look at this." Duo whispered, emotionally distraught.

"Hai." Quatre numbly whispered, ejecting the disk and leaving to find the others.

"Hilde…" Duo murmured, his eyes misting.

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/"Hi, Duo." / The smiling young woman greeted, her dark eyes gleaming. /"If you're watching this then I'm dead…sorry about that. I left this with a friend so that if something happened, before I could get to you, then you would still get my message."/ Hilde's face saddened, and then grew serious, /"You are all in great danger."/ She said, /"If you think what happened to Quatre was bad, you haven't seen anything yet. They've gone crazy…obsessed…The three of them have completely changed… Maybe you have noticed too, maybe you haven't. I don't know how close you all are anymore…" /She sighed, /"Duo, what happened to Quatre was not an accident. It was not an equipment failure; it wasn't even the bomb… at least not the one you found. By now, you have probably found the black boxes. If you haven't; look on the back of the right leg of your Gundams. They'll be there. Don't touch them! You'll have to destroy your suits somehow without using the verniay engines."/

"A little too late." Wu Fei grumbled, followed by a chorus of "Sshh" from the other boys.

/ "Duo, I know who's behind all of this."/ Hilde's recording continued, talking fast, /"I know why they're doing this, and I was probably killed in order to keep from telling you. I know…because they wanted me to help them… and for a little while I did, until I found out their true motivations…Mainly Her true motivation. The others are merely misguided pawns, and although they deserve your wrath, they also deserve your pity. Duo, I just want you to know that I had absolutely nothing to do with Quatre's death…I pulled out way before that happened… Honestly, it wasn't supposed to happen… I thought that if I pulled out, then they wouldn't be able to continue…I was wrong…I'm so sorry…"/ The recorded voice chocked, and the girl on screen struggled to stifle her emotions.

Wu Fei frowned, "When is she going to tell us who `they' are?"

Duo threw his pillow at the impatient boy, "SHUT UP." He hissed.

/"They are three women."/ The disk played, /"One is obsessed over her long lost brother. Catherine has become delusional, and very dangerous. She'll stop at nothing to get what she wants… really none of them will. Catherine believes full heartedly that Quatre was responsible for keeping her brother from coming home. Actually, she held you all responsible. She hated him more than anything. She wanted him dead, she wants you all dead and she is willing to do it."/

Trowa's face fell back into its mask, as he glared, his entire body tense, at the screen. Quatre winced as the taller boy's negative emotions bombarded the sensitive boy. "Easy, Trowa…" He whispered, hugging his koi. "She can't hurt us anymore…" Trowa looked down at the smaller boy, and relaxed somewhat.

/"Catherine was the one responsible for Quatre's death."/ The picture wavered slightly, /"There's the will, and the way is Dorothy. She's the mastermind behind this. She's the dangerous one you have to really watch out for… Dorothy did this completely for sport. She wanted to make your lives miserable…I'm sorry to say, but I think she succeeded. Dorothy wants another war. She figured that if your Gundams were attacked then you'd think it was a new faction and rise up to fight. I don't know what she thinks you'll do without your Gundams…but that was her main goal." The figure on the screen took a deep breath. "Dorothy had the way, but not the means…Relena Peacecraft, however, does."/

Hiiro sent a futile death glare at Vid screen, "Relena wouldn't do something like that." He muttered, "It goes against everything she believes…"

/"Hiiro, I know what you're thinking."/ The girl sighed, shaking her head, /"I'm not mistaken about this. Relena only agreed to do this because Dorothy assured her that no one would get hurt. She tried to put an end to it after Quatre…But I don't think Dorothy would let her. Dorothy can be a very vindictive Bitch. What Relena wanted was to destroy the Gundams. She felt that keeping them was hypocritical, and a danger to the peace that she was trying to maintain." / The girl frowned, her eyes finally giving in to the tears that had threatened to fall. /"As for the part I was to play… They needed supplies and someone who could follow design specs. They came to the salvage yard for supplies and had me build the black box. I didn't know what it was for and at first they wouldn't tell me anything, but when they did… Duo, I just wanted you to be happy… really I did. Duo, they promised me that I'd be freeing you, and the others. That you'd be able to live a normal life…I was soo tempted… but I knew that you'd never forgive me…Your Deathscythe means more to you then anything or anyone…"/

"Anything…but not anyone…" Duo whispered, idly playing with the end of his braid, his head resting on Hiiro's shoulder. His violet eyes were tearing. Betrayal was never something he dealt well with. Hiiro took his hand and gave it a squeeze, a silent reassurance that it would be okay.

/"I…I just want you to know… I am so sorry, Duo. If I could have stopped it, I would have…I tried, believe me, I tried…But some things are just not stoppable. I pray that you find it in your heart to forgive me, although, I know I don't deserve it…I pray this gets to you in time… and that you believe me…"/ Hilde offered a small smile, /"I love you, Duo. Hiiro better take good care of you or I'll haunt him for the rest of his life… Goodbye."/

Five pairs of eyes stared at the screen, dumbfounded.

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To be continued…