Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Black Queen ❯ Ashes ( Chapter 14 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Violet_Nyte 
Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Psychological / Drama / Angst | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 03.17.2003 | Pages: 5 | Words: 2.8K | Visits: 300 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Psychological / Drama / Angst | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 03.17.2003 | Pages: 5 | Words: 2.8K | Visits: 300 | Status: Work In Progress
LSE // 3-16-03
(The Black Queen - Chapter Fourteen: Ashes)
rated: PG13 - violence, language, content
shounen-ai/yaoi
Ashes
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|
|
|
One of the first things I notice, besides the fact I'm actually
conscious enough to be noticing things, is the fact the pain has
localized now. Instead of being all over my body in one constant
drone, it's now conveniently moved to central right in my side.
Where I'm assuming Sally Po took the bullet out from. Does this mean
I'm better now? Whereas better is a purely relative term I'm sure.
Waking up would be nice. I can't remember the last time I was
actually awake. Not just eyes open or alert enough to hear, but
actually physically and mentally awake. I wish I would open my eyes
and find Heero's cobalt blue eyes gazing back at me.
When I do figure out where my eyes are and how to open them, I'm a
little surprised to actually find blue eyes watching me. For one
disorientating minute, I think it must be Heero, but then the shapes
converge and my vision clears enough to where I can see it isn't him.
"So you are awake now," the owner of the pseudo-Heero eyes says
warmly in a familiar way, and I feel I should know him.
I give a very inarticulate and hopelessly incoherent response, but to
my surprise the man simply smiles reassuringly. "The doctor's asleep
in the chair over there, should I wake her for you?"
"No," I manage to rasp out. Why is my throat so sore? Almost
immediately after the question is posed my frazzled brain offers the
answer; my throat is sore from screaming at the pain killer-less
surgery performed however long ago. Lovely. Thank you frazzled brain.
The man nods slightly, "How are you feeling?"
"You're Natasha's father," I say instead, since I've finally placed a
name to the voice and accompanying face. He looks like Natasha,
especially in the eyes, only his are darker and not as crystalline.
Plus he lacks the cat-like slant. His features are sharper, more
defined. The skin is loose with age, but besides that and a few minor
wrinkles and creases, he's still a youngish man.
Early fifties, late forties. Going with what I've assumed Natasha's
age to be that seems about right.
"Oh, that's right. We haven't been introduced," he says with a
heavier accent that Natasha but one still too faint for
identification. "I am Sven Letoivsky. And you are Duo, yes?"
I nod, which is easier than speaking. I seemed to have gotten myself
a headache at some point. The frazzledly logical brain offers no
reason for the pain in my skull. Bastard brain. Consciousness seems
wasted.
"Who is Heero?" I'm guessing I must look surprised, because he
hurries to add, "you were calling to him earlier..."
How embarrassing. I'm not sure what to say, what lie or truth or
alias. Well, not alias because he knows my name already, which means
Natasha didn't bother to conceal my identity or he did some research.
Heero would research his daughter's companions. If he had a daughter.
He's not really the daddy type.
Saving me from straining my stupidly logical, frazzled brain is the
metallic clang of the door opening and starting to shut, but being
stopped from doing so at the last minute. Natasha's heated voice
calls out, "What are you doing in here?"
"You're friend is awake," Sven says calmly as he rises and moves out
of my range of vision. With him gone I can see Sally, who is now
awake and trying to look as if she wasn't sleeping on the job,
metaphorically speaking. For a moment I can't figure out who the
person walking over to her is, but then I realize it's Wufei.
...Wufei?
"Good for him," Natasha retorts, and I'm tempted to laugh. But
laughing would be painful.
With a defeated sigh, Sven leaves the room. I hear the door shut, and
it is as quiet as one could expect a steel door to be if the person
shutting it was trying to be quiet.
Natasha comes into my line of vision and nods thoughtfully seeing I
am actually awake. She shoots a wary glance to Wufei and Sally, who
casually get up and, muttering reasons, leave the room. I'm surprised
Wufei would obey such a glance from a woman, but I suspect Sally
might have something to do with it. Or maybe they are actually going
to find some cozy corner to... Wow. Wufei's sex life is so not
something I want to ponder.
Damn frazzled, logically stupid brain.
Natasha drags the chair Sally was occupying over to the bed. It
occurs to me maybe I should sit up. But I'm too lazy. Whatever.
"How are you feeling, Duo?" she asks with little real curiosity.
"Whatever," I reply, since I have a real fondness for that word right
now. It's so generic. So full of attitude, but if you soften it just
right it becomes a caress. Whatever.
"I suppose you'll want an explanation or... maybe an apology." It
isn't a question and Natasha keeps going with a sigh, "What first?
I'm not sure what all to say."
Where have you been? Why did you take so long to write? Are you really
crazy? Why are you so mad at your father? Where's Heero? Do you have
any idea what we're going to do? What I can do? Where am I?
The silence between us stretches and Natasha gives a tired sigh,
"I don't like staying here. We should think about moving on as soon
as you can be moved. Although, I have no fear of the police finding
us," she gives a rough laugh with little actual amusement held in
the tone.
"Where is this?"
"Seta prefecture. Sanc, still. The best place to hide," Natasha
laughs, almost harshly. Roughly, definitely, "is right under
someone's nose, hm?"
"Huh? Oh, under the police's nose?"
Natasha gives me a somber look and I instantly regret my words. I'm
not sure why I regret them, but just that they sound unbelievably
foolish. Perfect Baka words. Ah, baka... Heero... Natasha's look
softens and she murmurs, "This goes much deeper than the Sanc
authorities." She looks me, and starts to say something, but then she
pauses and only slowly shakes her head. I don't question. I know
better than to question.
And then, Natasha begins to speak. For a while, it's just her voice;
emotionless, soft, telling a story I'm having trouble listening to.
But, this is Natasha, and not even pain will keep me from hearing
what she has to say.
"It's not an easy thing to fake your own death these days.
Fortunately, none of the doctors at the institution actually checked
my pulse. I was breathing so slowly and shallowly it did look as if I
was surely dead, and there was so much chaos... A good trick, hm? I
couldn't fool the ambulance attendants or their machines, though.
So, I knocked them both out and took control of the vehicle. I did
not want to kill them, but I had no real choice. More of a
self-defense motivation you could say."
I'd done similar things in the war. Sometimes, civilians just have to
die no matter how innocent they may or may not be. I want to tell
Natasha as much, but she already knows.
"Where'd you go?" I ask instead.
Natasha goes silent, staring down at her hands. For a moment, I'm not
even sure she heard the question. Maybe I just imagined that I'd
spoken. I start to ask again, straining to speak louder, but the
words die on my lips as Natasha doesn't answer but, instead asks,
"Do you know who my father is, Duo?"
"Uh, Sven?"
"Have you ever heard of the Double Phoenix, Duo?"
"...is it a bar?"
Natasha gives a brief smile, then holds up her right arm, rolling
back the sleeve to nearly her shoulder. On the upper curve of her arm
is a swirling tattoo of reds, oranges and bold black script. It's a
strangely frightening thing, because I know that, when I first met
her, she had no such tattoo. It's faded a little, from time, so I
know it can't be a recent addition. "No," she says softly to the
un-asked question, "you're not suppose to recognize it. I used
bioskin to conceal it, before."
"It's pretty," I offer, a bit confused as to why she's showing me it.
And the tattoo really is quite pretty; two flaming birds back to back
with something written. It's twisted around the figures, but also in
a language I can't read. "What's it mean?"
"You fought in the war, Duo. You know of the fanatic groups. Those
foolish idealists who thought they knew how to curb the power
hungry," she laughs bitterly, "I'm not surprised you never heard of
Double Phoenix. They were all but destroyed before the war even
really got started. Their leader was a fool; he thought he could
take Oz."
"...I'm not following."
Natasha sighs, giving me the slightest look of annoyance. But, she
must have realized that it's fortunate I'm even around to be stupid,
so the look fades and she explains it carefully.
Her father lead the Double Phoenix, that fanatic group I've never
heard of (I bet anything Heero would know. Where is Heero...?) in a
near-suicide attack against Oz. He escaped, dragging Natasha with
him. But, as I already understood, Natasha hates her father and
didn't want anything to do with him or the Double Phoenix. "Why do
you hate him?" I ask when she stops talking for a few moments.
Her face darkens, the crystalline blue eyes narrowing into a glare
that could challenge the Yuy Death Glare. "Sven killed my mother
because she wanted to leave. He's a monster," she says firmly, "he
only saved me from Oz because he hoped to train me... He wanted to
make me into the same sort of monster. This tattoo; he gave to me
after he killed my mother. Did he really think I could ever forgive
him for that?"
My only answer is an understanding silence. I know she doesn't want
my pity, so I don't give it. After a quiet minute, she continues, "He
realized I would never subject myself to his tyranny. But, I knew too
much, and I was old enough to rat him out. I'm not sure why he didn't
just kill me. Maybe he still hoped I'd prove useless," she says in a
disgusted tone. I'm finding it hard to connect her story of a cold,
heartless bastard with the man I met, but I don't doubt her. At
least... I mean, she's Natasha...
"I spent eight years being shuffled from hospital to hospital, and
Sven's signature and tearful stories convinced the doctors I was
crazy. When I grew older, I began to try for escapes. If I succeeded,
Sven would just find me and take me back. If I told the doctors about
the Double Phoenix they would just write it down as another delusion.
If they started to wonder about my sanity, or if Sven found out I was
talking about him... he would just transfer me some other hospital."
Natasha looks over to see if I'm still listening, which I am, before
continuing, "When you came to the hospital, I had just turned eighteen
the week before. That made me an adult. I was no long subjected to
whatever Sven decided was best for me. He knew it, too, but he
counted on the system. They don't like releasing crazy people about
into society. Especially those with 'delusions of paranoia and
grandeur living in 'a fantasy world of her own creation, beliefs
supported by delusions and a sense of persecution.' I had planned
originally to simply escape. But," she smiles, "you gave me an even
better plan."
"Sven had to have known I wasn't really dead. How could he not? I am
his daughter, after all.. I don't understand what he thinks he's
doing, acting all kind and gentle like this..." Natasha shakes her
head in genuine confusion. She's not the only one confused.
I can't believe Natasha was held against her will that long. Even the
stupidest of doctors should have been able to see that Natasha wasn't
crazy. When I first met her, yeah, she did seem a bit delusional with
all her talk of espionage, but still... Right now, she's being saner
than anyone I know. My head hurts from trying to think about.
But, I'm hardly one to judge a person's sanity.
"Be careful, Duo. Sven wants something, I can tell. That's the only
explanation why he hasn't turned us over to the authorities yet. But,
you just focus on recovering. I don't want to stay here long."
She stands and starts to leave, but I call her back, "Natasha, wait.
Do you know who killed Amy, and the maid?"
"Not yet. But I know it wasn't you. Trust me. Now, sleep."
Because she's Natasha, I believe her.
------------------------------------------------------------- ---------
Alone in the semi-sanctuary of his room, Heero swiftly committed
seven misdemeanors and two felonies as he hacked into databases he
hadn't so much as thought of since the war ended. Once a soldier,
always a soldier, he thought as a low tone signaled he'd successfully
bypassed the security. It was almost too easy.
He worked fast, mindful that, at any moment, Relena would come
strolling in under one pretense or another. Heero wasn't sure if she
still harbored some lingering crush on him, and he definitely did not
want to find out. Right now, though, he knew her to be across the
house dealing with public relations and the media.
A few keystrokes later, he brought up three different files from
three different hospitals. With Wufei gone, he lacked anyone to
bounce data off of, but that didn't matter. These files lacked the
classified status of the ones he'd earlier dug up, and, besides the
fact some of the doctors had horrible hand-writing, they were
surprisingly easy to read.
Letoivsky, Natasha. Age, twelve. Diagnosis... Heero raised an eyebrow
in mute shock. At least a paragraph of precise block lettering gave
the impression of a severely disturbed girl. Schizotypal personality
disorder? Heero wasn't even sure what that meant.
Rising up from the chair, Heero crossed over to the bookshelf and
quickly located the dictionary. R... S... there. Schizoid...
Schizotypal. A disorder characterized by oddities of thought and
behavior, but not involving bizarre psychotic behaviors. Delusions
and hallucinations may be present or absent.
Footsteps in the room beyond caused him to set the dictionary back on
the shelf and hurry back to the laptop. A few keystrokes caused all
the open windows to vanish as the door swung open wide. When Relena
walked in with a smile plastered on her face, Heero could easily let
her see what he was working on.
"Heero, what is that you're doing? Playing solitaire, again?"
"Hn."
Relena shifted nervously, fiddling with the sash of her dress.
"Heero... the police just called," she said with all pretense of
happiness gone. She looked merely worried, whether that concern was
for her own good name or for Duo, he didn't know.
Heero tried to remain passive, "Hn?" he asked, absently picking his
coffee cup off the desk. He frowned at the brown stain on his mouse
pad, as if by glaring would make it disappear.
"They found Duo."
The mug hit the floor.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Author's Notes: ***IMPORTANT!!!** If you joined my Update ML and did
not receive an email from me about this latest chapter it means I lost
your address! I had to reinstall AOL and lost my address book ;;_;;
Please email me again (ManzokuBiscuit@aol.com) and I'll simply re-add
you to the mailing list. Thank you!
Wow... been forever, huh? Over two months since the
last chapter... I hope you guys even still care. I'm on Spring Break
right now, and I feel real optimistic about *possibly* being able to
pull off the actual ending before school starts back up again.
I've got seven days of freedom left. Cross your fingers!
For those of you curious as to what happen to me, I hit a bit of a
ough spot in my life and the muses died. Many, many, many thanks to
Ebony for just being there and to also be my muse and beta. I love
that girl! Without her, I wouldn't have been able to write this.
And thank you to each and every person who left me some sort of
feedback or comment. Please, please try to either review or comment,
just something to let me know I still have people out there who want
me to continue this 'fic.
Thank you.
Feedback/reviews are very much appreciated!
copyright 2003 - Gundam Wing and characters copyright other people.
Email me to join my Update ML!
LSE - Violet Nyte (ManzokuBiscuit@aol.com)
shameless plug - visit my website for cool "shtuff"
http://violetnyte.fallenweb.net
(The Black Queen - Chapter Fourteen: Ashes)
rated: PG13 - violence, language, content
shounen-ai/yaoi
Ashes
|
|
|
|
One of the first things I notice, besides the fact I'm actually
conscious enough to be noticing things, is the fact the pain has
localized now. Instead of being all over my body in one constant
drone, it's now conveniently moved to central right in my side.
Where I'm assuming Sally Po took the bullet out from. Does this mean
I'm better now? Whereas better is a purely relative term I'm sure.
Waking up would be nice. I can't remember the last time I was
actually awake. Not just eyes open or alert enough to hear, but
actually physically and mentally awake. I wish I would open my eyes
and find Heero's cobalt blue eyes gazing back at me.
When I do figure out where my eyes are and how to open them, I'm a
little surprised to actually find blue eyes watching me. For one
disorientating minute, I think it must be Heero, but then the shapes
converge and my vision clears enough to where I can see it isn't him.
"So you are awake now," the owner of the pseudo-Heero eyes says
warmly in a familiar way, and I feel I should know him.
I give a very inarticulate and hopelessly incoherent response, but to
my surprise the man simply smiles reassuringly. "The doctor's asleep
in the chair over there, should I wake her for you?"
"No," I manage to rasp out. Why is my throat so sore? Almost
immediately after the question is posed my frazzled brain offers the
answer; my throat is sore from screaming at the pain killer-less
surgery performed however long ago. Lovely. Thank you frazzled brain.
The man nods slightly, "How are you feeling?"
"You're Natasha's father," I say instead, since I've finally placed a
name to the voice and accompanying face. He looks like Natasha,
especially in the eyes, only his are darker and not as crystalline.
Plus he lacks the cat-like slant. His features are sharper, more
defined. The skin is loose with age, but besides that and a few minor
wrinkles and creases, he's still a youngish man.
Early fifties, late forties. Going with what I've assumed Natasha's
age to be that seems about right.
"Oh, that's right. We haven't been introduced," he says with a
heavier accent that Natasha but one still too faint for
identification. "I am Sven Letoivsky. And you are Duo, yes?"
I nod, which is easier than speaking. I seemed to have gotten myself
a headache at some point. The frazzledly logical brain offers no
reason for the pain in my skull. Bastard brain. Consciousness seems
wasted.
"Who is Heero?" I'm guessing I must look surprised, because he
hurries to add, "you were calling to him earlier..."
How embarrassing. I'm not sure what to say, what lie or truth or
alias. Well, not alias because he knows my name already, which means
Natasha didn't bother to conceal my identity or he did some research.
Heero would research his daughter's companions. If he had a daughter.
He's not really the daddy type.
Saving me from straining my stupidly logical, frazzled brain is the
metallic clang of the door opening and starting to shut, but being
stopped from doing so at the last minute. Natasha's heated voice
calls out, "What are you doing in here?"
"You're friend is awake," Sven says calmly as he rises and moves out
of my range of vision. With him gone I can see Sally, who is now
awake and trying to look as if she wasn't sleeping on the job,
metaphorically speaking. For a moment I can't figure out who the
person walking over to her is, but then I realize it's Wufei.
...Wufei?
"Good for him," Natasha retorts, and I'm tempted to laugh. But
laughing would be painful.
With a defeated sigh, Sven leaves the room. I hear the door shut, and
it is as quiet as one could expect a steel door to be if the person
shutting it was trying to be quiet.
Natasha comes into my line of vision and nods thoughtfully seeing I
am actually awake. She shoots a wary glance to Wufei and Sally, who
casually get up and, muttering reasons, leave the room. I'm surprised
Wufei would obey such a glance from a woman, but I suspect Sally
might have something to do with it. Or maybe they are actually going
to find some cozy corner to... Wow. Wufei's sex life is so not
something I want to ponder.
Damn frazzled, logically stupid brain.
Natasha drags the chair Sally was occupying over to the bed. It
occurs to me maybe I should sit up. But I'm too lazy. Whatever.
"How are you feeling, Duo?" she asks with little real curiosity.
"Whatever," I reply, since I have a real fondness for that word right
now. It's so generic. So full of attitude, but if you soften it just
right it becomes a caress. Whatever.
"I suppose you'll want an explanation or... maybe an apology." It
isn't a question and Natasha keeps going with a sigh, "What first?
I'm not sure what all to say."
Where have you been? Why did you take so long to write? Are you really
crazy? Why are you so mad at your father? Where's Heero? Do you have
any idea what we're going to do? What I can do? Where am I?
The silence between us stretches and Natasha gives a tired sigh,
"I don't like staying here. We should think about moving on as soon
as you can be moved. Although, I have no fear of the police finding
us," she gives a rough laugh with little actual amusement held in
the tone.
"Where is this?"
"Seta prefecture. Sanc, still. The best place to hide," Natasha
laughs, almost harshly. Roughly, definitely, "is right under
someone's nose, hm?"
"Huh? Oh, under the police's nose?"
Natasha gives me a somber look and I instantly regret my words. I'm
not sure why I regret them, but just that they sound unbelievably
foolish. Perfect Baka words. Ah, baka... Heero... Natasha's look
softens and she murmurs, "This goes much deeper than the Sanc
authorities." She looks me, and starts to say something, but then she
pauses and only slowly shakes her head. I don't question. I know
better than to question.
And then, Natasha begins to speak. For a while, it's just her voice;
emotionless, soft, telling a story I'm having trouble listening to.
But, this is Natasha, and not even pain will keep me from hearing
what she has to say.
"It's not an easy thing to fake your own death these days.
Fortunately, none of the doctors at the institution actually checked
my pulse. I was breathing so slowly and shallowly it did look as if I
was surely dead, and there was so much chaos... A good trick, hm? I
couldn't fool the ambulance attendants or their machines, though.
So, I knocked them both out and took control of the vehicle. I did
not want to kill them, but I had no real choice. More of a
self-defense motivation you could say."
I'd done similar things in the war. Sometimes, civilians just have to
die no matter how innocent they may or may not be. I want to tell
Natasha as much, but she already knows.
"Where'd you go?" I ask instead.
Natasha goes silent, staring down at her hands. For a moment, I'm not
even sure she heard the question. Maybe I just imagined that I'd
spoken. I start to ask again, straining to speak louder, but the
words die on my lips as Natasha doesn't answer but, instead asks,
"Do you know who my father is, Duo?"
"Uh, Sven?"
"Have you ever heard of the Double Phoenix, Duo?"
"...is it a bar?"
Natasha gives a brief smile, then holds up her right arm, rolling
back the sleeve to nearly her shoulder. On the upper curve of her arm
is a swirling tattoo of reds, oranges and bold black script. It's a
strangely frightening thing, because I know that, when I first met
her, she had no such tattoo. It's faded a little, from time, so I
know it can't be a recent addition. "No," she says softly to the
un-asked question, "you're not suppose to recognize it. I used
bioskin to conceal it, before."
"It's pretty," I offer, a bit confused as to why she's showing me it.
And the tattoo really is quite pretty; two flaming birds back to back
with something written. It's twisted around the figures, but also in
a language I can't read. "What's it mean?"
"You fought in the war, Duo. You know of the fanatic groups. Those
foolish idealists who thought they knew how to curb the power
hungry," she laughs bitterly, "I'm not surprised you never heard of
Double Phoenix. They were all but destroyed before the war even
really got started. Their leader was a fool; he thought he could
take Oz."
"...I'm not following."
Natasha sighs, giving me the slightest look of annoyance. But, she
must have realized that it's fortunate I'm even around to be stupid,
so the look fades and she explains it carefully.
Her father lead the Double Phoenix, that fanatic group I've never
heard of (I bet anything Heero would know. Where is Heero...?) in a
near-suicide attack against Oz. He escaped, dragging Natasha with
him. But, as I already understood, Natasha hates her father and
didn't want anything to do with him or the Double Phoenix. "Why do
you hate him?" I ask when she stops talking for a few moments.
Her face darkens, the crystalline blue eyes narrowing into a glare
that could challenge the Yuy Death Glare. "Sven killed my mother
because she wanted to leave. He's a monster," she says firmly, "he
only saved me from Oz because he hoped to train me... He wanted to
make me into the same sort of monster. This tattoo; he gave to me
after he killed my mother. Did he really think I could ever forgive
him for that?"
My only answer is an understanding silence. I know she doesn't want
my pity, so I don't give it. After a quiet minute, she continues, "He
realized I would never subject myself to his tyranny. But, I knew too
much, and I was old enough to rat him out. I'm not sure why he didn't
just kill me. Maybe he still hoped I'd prove useless," she says in a
disgusted tone. I'm finding it hard to connect her story of a cold,
heartless bastard with the man I met, but I don't doubt her. At
least... I mean, she's Natasha...
"I spent eight years being shuffled from hospital to hospital, and
Sven's signature and tearful stories convinced the doctors I was
crazy. When I grew older, I began to try for escapes. If I succeeded,
Sven would just find me and take me back. If I told the doctors about
the Double Phoenix they would just write it down as another delusion.
If they started to wonder about my sanity, or if Sven found out I was
talking about him... he would just transfer me some other hospital."
Natasha looks over to see if I'm still listening, which I am, before
continuing, "When you came to the hospital, I had just turned eighteen
the week before. That made me an adult. I was no long subjected to
whatever Sven decided was best for me. He knew it, too, but he
counted on the system. They don't like releasing crazy people about
into society. Especially those with 'delusions of paranoia and
grandeur living in 'a fantasy world of her own creation, beliefs
supported by delusions and a sense of persecution.' I had planned
originally to simply escape. But," she smiles, "you gave me an even
better plan."
"Sven had to have known I wasn't really dead. How could he not? I am
his daughter, after all.. I don't understand what he thinks he's
doing, acting all kind and gentle like this..." Natasha shakes her
head in genuine confusion. She's not the only one confused.
I can't believe Natasha was held against her will that long. Even the
stupidest of doctors should have been able to see that Natasha wasn't
crazy. When I first met her, yeah, she did seem a bit delusional with
all her talk of espionage, but still... Right now, she's being saner
than anyone I know. My head hurts from trying to think about.
But, I'm hardly one to judge a person's sanity.
"Be careful, Duo. Sven wants something, I can tell. That's the only
explanation why he hasn't turned us over to the authorities yet. But,
you just focus on recovering. I don't want to stay here long."
She stands and starts to leave, but I call her back, "Natasha, wait.
Do you know who killed Amy, and the maid?"
"Not yet. But I know it wasn't you. Trust me. Now, sleep."
Because she's Natasha, I believe her.
------------------------------------------------------------- ---------
Alone in the semi-sanctuary of his room, Heero swiftly committed
seven misdemeanors and two felonies as he hacked into databases he
hadn't so much as thought of since the war ended. Once a soldier,
always a soldier, he thought as a low tone signaled he'd successfully
bypassed the security. It was almost too easy.
He worked fast, mindful that, at any moment, Relena would come
strolling in under one pretense or another. Heero wasn't sure if she
still harbored some lingering crush on him, and he definitely did not
want to find out. Right now, though, he knew her to be across the
house dealing with public relations and the media.
A few keystrokes later, he brought up three different files from
three different hospitals. With Wufei gone, he lacked anyone to
bounce data off of, but that didn't matter. These files lacked the
classified status of the ones he'd earlier dug up, and, besides the
fact some of the doctors had horrible hand-writing, they were
surprisingly easy to read.
Letoivsky, Natasha. Age, twelve. Diagnosis... Heero raised an eyebrow
in mute shock. At least a paragraph of precise block lettering gave
the impression of a severely disturbed girl. Schizotypal personality
disorder? Heero wasn't even sure what that meant.
Rising up from the chair, Heero crossed over to the bookshelf and
quickly located the dictionary. R... S... there. Schizoid...
Schizotypal. A disorder characterized by oddities of thought and
behavior, but not involving bizarre psychotic behaviors. Delusions
and hallucinations may be present or absent.
Footsteps in the room beyond caused him to set the dictionary back on
the shelf and hurry back to the laptop. A few keystrokes caused all
the open windows to vanish as the door swung open wide. When Relena
walked in with a smile plastered on her face, Heero could easily let
her see what he was working on.
"Heero, what is that you're doing? Playing solitaire, again?"
"Hn."
Relena shifted nervously, fiddling with the sash of her dress.
"Heero... the police just called," she said with all pretense of
happiness gone. She looked merely worried, whether that concern was
for her own good name or for Duo, he didn't know.
Heero tried to remain passive, "Hn?" he asked, absently picking his
coffee cup off the desk. He frowned at the brown stain on his mouse
pad, as if by glaring would make it disappear.
"They found Duo."
The mug hit the floor.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Author's Notes: ***IMPORTANT!!!** If you joined my Update ML and did
not receive an email from me about this latest chapter it means I lost
your address! I had to reinstall AOL and lost my address book ;;_;;
Please email me again (ManzokuBiscuit@aol.com) and I'll simply re-add
you to the mailing list. Thank you!
Wow... been forever, huh? Over two months since the
last chapter... I hope you guys even still care. I'm on Spring Break
right now, and I feel real optimistic about *possibly* being able to
pull off the actual ending before school starts back up again.
I've got seven days of freedom left. Cross your fingers!
For those of you curious as to what happen to me, I hit a bit of a
ough spot in my life and the muses died. Many, many, many thanks to
Ebony for just being there and to also be my muse and beta. I love
that girl! Without her, I wouldn't have been able to write this.
And thank you to each and every person who left me some sort of
feedback or comment. Please, please try to either review or comment,
just something to let me know I still have people out there who want
me to continue this 'fic.
Thank you.
Feedback/reviews are very much appreciated!
copyright 2003 - Gundam Wing and characters copyright other people.
Email me to join my Update ML!
LSE - Violet Nyte (ManzokuBiscuit@aol.com)
shameless plug - visit my website for cool "shtuff"
http://violetnyte.fallenweb.net