Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Flirt ❯ Ouch ( Chapter 4 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

The Flirt: Chapter Four

Duo hit his head on a wall as he fell, swearing loudly. Standing, he brushed himself off and looked around. It was dark, as expected, and his flahslight provided little illumination. Duo shone the light into every corner and discovered a little hallway, and curiosity got the better of him, so he ventured down the corridor. It seemed to get narrower, darker, and the ceiling got lower as he went along, until there was a little door with a window slot on it.

He slid the window open to see what was beyond the door. Duo discovered the room was completely lit, and devoid of any furnishings except a table and two chairs. One chair was occupied. Duo strained to see who it was...

"Trowa!"

~*~**~*~

"They're only five minutes late, calm down," Heero said, not looking up from his computer.

Harriet was pacing furiously. "A lot can happen in five minutes Heero," she retorted. Obviously, Duo and Quatre had not returned, and Harriet had flown into worry.

Wufei muttered something derogatory towards Harriet, not intending for her to hear. But she did. He also didn't intend for her to fly into rage.

"You know what Wufei? I am sick of you being so incredibly rude," she said, "not mention sexist and pigheaded. Do you realise how people see you? And you wonder why I'm always so angry at you!" She seemed to tower over Wufei, and he was backing away slowly. "I am not just a stupid woman Wufei, in fact, I'll bet my IQ is higher than yours! And if it's not a question of intelligence quotient, I still think that you're the stupid one!"

"Go Harriet," Heero murmured.

Harriet decided she was finished chewing Wufei out and turned away. "I feel a lot better now," she sighed, smiling and walking towards Heero. Wufei was practically wedged into a corner, his face one of shock.

"I'm sorry."

Harriet whirled around. "Pardon?"

"I'm sorry Harriet," Wufei said. "It's a bad trait I have and I'll try to be better in the future."

"Aplogy accepted," Harriet said, shaking Wufei's hand. "I hope we can be friends."

Almost immediately, Quatre ran into the room.

"Where's Duo?" Wufei asked.

"I don't know," Quatre breathed.

"You don't know? Whaddya mean, you don't know?" Harriet shouted.

"He disappeared when we were on our way back," Quatre explained. "I looked for Duo but I couldn't find him anywhere."

"Great. Now we're looking for Duo too," Wufei sighed. "Could things get any worse?"

Harriet tensed up, her arm flew to her left shoulder and a cling was heard. "Yeah, it could," she answered. "I think I was just shot." Closer inspection of her shoulder revealed substanstial bleeding, and on the floor was the bullet.

"Yup," Heero said matter-of-factly, examinging the projectile.

"You'd better sit down Harriet," Quatre said. Harriet collapsed to the floor, unconscious. "Or you could fall." Quatre knelt beside her and pressed his hand over the wound. "We should take her to the infirmary."

Heero closed the laptop and without hesitation picked Harriet up and started out towards the infirmary. There were no words said, no questions asked, and Quatre and Wufei followed.

Meanwhile, in the shadows, the shooter lurked silently...

~*~**~*~

Heero put Harriet on a bed in the infirmary and set to work. He tossed Quatre a gauze pad. "Keep that on her shoulder," Heero instructed. Quatre pressed it to Harriet's wound and it immediately started absorbing blood. Heero continued looking throught drawers and cupboards for things, and Wufei slunk into a corner to stay out of the way. Where Heero learned what he was doing nobody knew, but he immediately took charge and put Quatre to work as an assistant.

Heero took the now soaked gauze away and cut open the shoulder of Harriet's shirt. He worked silently and quickly, cleaning the wound and binding it up. "Now she just has to rest," he declared, seemingly admiring his handiwork. "Under no circumstances is she getting up."

"Yes, Dr. Yuy," Quatre joked.

"Now what are we going to do about Duo and Trowa?" Wufei asked.

"Keep looking," Heero said simply.

"But someone's got to stay here with Harriet," Quatre said.

"I will."

Quatre was a little surprised that Heero volunteered. "All right. Wufei, let's go."

~*~**~*~

As far as Duo could tell, Trowa was alone in the room. "Trowa! TROWA!" he called quietly, in case someone was there.

Trowa's ears picked up on the sound and he lifted his head. "Hm? Duo?"

"Are you alone?" Duo asked.

"Yeah."

Duo tried the door. It opened too easily, and he scrambled through and over to Trowa. "Who's been keeping you here?" Duo asked as he worked on the knots of the rope.

"I don't know. I think he knows me though. He's been distorting his voice up until a little while ago and he wears a mask," Trowa said. Duo got him free and he stood up. "Much better. Thanks Duo."

"No problem. Now let's get outta here." Duo and Trowa ran for the little door, crawled through and shut it tightly. They ran along the corridor until they arrived at the room Duo had fallen into.

"Now what?" Trowa asked.

"I'm not sure. I landed in here, followed that hall and found you," Duo said. They looked upwards, hoping to find the hole Duo had fallen through.

"There it is!" Trowa exclaimed.

"Now how do we get up there?" Duo asked.

"I think I have an idea..."

~*~**~*~

Harriet blinked slowly. She'd been drifting in and out of consciousness, but never fully awoken. Now she realized she was in the infirmary and someone was in a chair next to her bed, keeping a close watch. Harriet tried to sit up and she was immediately ordered to lie down.

"Heero? What the-"

"You know you were shot," Heero said. "Wufei and Quatre are still looking for Duo and Trowa. You have to rest."

Harriet didn't object to that. She stared at Heero critically. "You should smile more."

"What?"

"Smile for me Heero. Come on, lemme see you smile," she coaxed.

"I-I-"

"Are you afraid to smile Heero?" she teased.

"What is there to smile about?" Heero asked. "Duo and Trowa are missing and you've been shot."

"Are you ever happy, Heero?" Harriet asked.

Heero was silent.

"It taked less muscles to smile than to frown," she said. Nothing. "Hey, remember what I did to Wufei earlier?" Harriet thought she saw the corner of Heero's mouth move up. "Ah ha! Come on Heero, show some teeth, or do I have to re-enact the whole thing? 'I am not just a stupid woman Wufei, in fact, I'll bet my IQ is higher than yours!'"

Amazingly, Harriet saw Heero's eyes close, his mouth open wide and heard a laugh ring through the room. Not only had she gotten him to smile, he was laughing! Heero had found the entire thing hilarious, and now Harriet was laughing along with him.

Harriet felt great. She'd gotten all the Gundam pilots to open up to her. (Well, she wasn't sure about Wufei, but Harriet knew he'd never change.) That would make finding Trowa a lot easier.

~*~**~*~

"This was where he disappeared," Quatre said, shining his flashlight along the cluttered floor of the room.

"You hear something?" Wufei asked.

"No... Wait a sec, yes, I do," he replied. Very faintly the two pilots could hear voices coming from below them. Quatre pressed his ear to the floor. "I think it's Duo."

"Maxwell! Where are you?" Wufei shouted.

"Down here!" came the reply. "Trowa's with me!... Hey, watch the hair!"

Trowa ignored Duo and groped for the edge of the hole. He was standing on Duo's shoulders, the plan being he could get up and find a rope for Duo. It wasn't quite working. "Stop moving Duo."

"Why aren't you on the bottom?" Duo grumbled.

"If you were to climb up here I'd make you use your hair as a rope," Trowa threatened. "Stand still."

Quatre and Wufei found the place where Duo and Trowa were struggling and couldn't help but laugh. "I wish I had a camera," Wufei chuckled.

"This isn't helping, you guys!" Duo shouted.

Still laughing, they grabbed Trowa's hands and pulled him up, then somehow managed to get Duo too. "Come on, let's get back before Heero and Harriet start to worry," Quatre said.