Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Invisible Man ❯ Chapter 7 ( Chapter 7 )

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Duo asked worriedly as he looked at the cage in front of him. They had brought Wufei back into Heeros house and kept him unconscious "It is, believe me. Like that, Wufei can't break out again and Heero needn't worry about being attacked." Trowa tried to reassure his friend while pulling at the bars to be sure they're extra secure. Like the chains before, Trowa had got the material for the cage from a place where they wouldn't notice their missing too quickly.

"And what about Wufei himself? He won't be happy to find himself bound and locked up. We're more his tormentors than his friends…" The braided youth stated worried. He felt so sorry for having Wufei treated like he had, though knowing that there had been no other way to safe Heero. As he looked at his beaten friend, feelings of regret overcame him. Wufeis `face' looked so tired, tired from fighting against the instincts of his new self, tired of having two mentalities inside of him, tired of fighting against his own friends and tired of his changes.

Trowa noticed the seriousness and worry in Duo's eyes and decided to remain silent. There was nothing he could do or say to cheer the boy up for their situation was damn serious and since Trowa felt exactly the same, he was kinda feeling the regret together with Duo. Just as Trowa made himself ready to say something, The front door opened and Heero came in, coat wet from rain outside.

"Heero! Finally!! I was beginning to worry." As fast as Duo's face had saddened, it brightened up again at the sight of Heero. It made Trowa smile and change into Quatre. "How was your research, Heero? Found anything out?" Heero froze for a second when he heard that but decided quickly to hold up appearance.

"It didn't work too well, but I'm making slow steps forward into the direction of the goal." `Yeah, steps, small enough for an ant to tip-toe' Heero thought to himself while forcing himself to smile. Quatre didn't notice anything of Heeros show and just smiled back."Okay then. I'll go upstairs now and get some sleep. Sleep well, you two!" With that, the blonde boy hopped away and into his room, leaving Duo and Heero alone.

They just stared at each other for some time. Duo because he was feeling and noticing that Heero wasn't okay and Heero because he was feeling unsure whether he should tell Duo what was going on with his researches and what plan he had. But after some more minutes the silence was broken by Duo.

"So, are you going to sleep now? You look pretty tired. I mean, work must tire you out completely, does it?" It sounded like a normal question, but for Heero it was a push into the darkness of desperation, bringing back the memories of the past few days. But still he managed to bring up a faked smile.

"Yeah, but its not that bad." Too afraid to look into Duo's eyes, Heero turned away. But Duo knew all the time. "What did you really want to say?" Heeros eyes shot right back at Duo when he heard that sentence. Duo noticed what he had been feeling? That meant a lack of appearance.

"It's.. nothing.." was all he could come up with while bowing his head. And Duo didn't buy it. "Tell me, please." As Heero dared to look up again, he saw a … desperate face. Duo was desperate aswell, but for another reason. Heero sighed deeply before shaking his head slightly.

"It's nothing you should bother with. Just some little problems with the details really. It's nothing major. " Still, the other boy didn't believe any of the scientist's words. "If it was nothing, then you wouldn't have been so shocked when Trowa asked you about your research." Shot down. Heeros eyes widened in shock as he noticed how well Duo had seen the slightest changes of his form. No one had before. Not his parents, not his friends, his colleagues, his teachers, no one. Why was it a normal (well, quite normal) 16 year old that understood him so well, knew him so well?

"I just need to sleep some more and then I'll go on and find a resolution." Heero answered, his mind automatically in `defence mode'. "Heero, I don't buy it. I know that there's something wrong. Something major. You can tell me, Heero. Remember? I'm your friend. And friends are there to help each other." Duo replied in the most serious and at the same time most understanding tone Heero had ever heard. But still, he couldn't tell him what he had planned in case it didn't work. Could he?

"Heero, if you need help with it, then just get some. I mean, if that's the problem..." The scientist suddenly started at Duo. The boy thought that he wasn't encouraged enough to ask for help!? But …it did include a part of his problem, so he nodded slowly. "That's okay then, Heero. It's not that much of a problem now is it?" This time, there was a broad smile on Duo's face, and for once, Heero wished that Duo would be able to touch him.

Suddenly, out of nowhere appeared a feeling of darkness in Heero. Darkness that quickly blurred the boy's vision and made him tangle. He didn't understand why he suddenly had that strange dizzy feeling. His legs suddenly felt so heavy and his arms were like blocks of cement. He didn't know what to do, fight or give up. Then he suddenly saw Duo's worried face and in the centre of his heart spread a warm well, getting some of the darkness away. Duo was there. No matter how dark the rest was, Duo was still here. Duo would keep him safe in the darkness. Duo was his friend. Was he?

As Heero finally gave way to these mixed sensations inside of him, he fell down like a sack, and before complete blackness covered his eyes, he saw Duo shouting, Duo's worried face. Duo would keep him safe, Duo cares, Duo was his friend. Now was he?

On the other hand, the braided boy didn't know what was going on in Heeros mind. He just knew that something was terribly wrong for the boy suddenly started swaying. But he couldn't do anything. If he tried to hold Heero, he would eventually kill the boy instead of helping him. And since he didn't know what was wrong, he could pretty much do nothing else. So he just shouted Heeros name, out of shock partly, when he saw that Heero was falling. And he himself could do nothing to stop it. So he watched Heero falling and hitting the ground, still shouting to get Heero out of his state. It was useless.

"Heero!!! Heero, please what's wrong!?" Duo rushed to the fallen boy's side and watched in horror how Heeros eyes fell shut and the whole body went slack. "No no no, what's wrong, Heero?" Duo knelt down besides the blackened out boy. There was a sudden noise and seconds later, Trowa was standing in front of him, out of breath.

"What happened? I've just heard you scream." Then he saw Heero lying on the floor. "What happened to him? Is he all right?" Worried, he quickly knelt down and checked if Heero was still breathing. Sighing in relief, he pulled back his fingers from Heeros throat. "Duo, I guess he's just knocked out then. He'll be okay. I'll get some salt from upstairs to get him awake." Trowa smiled before doing as he said, leaving Duo alone again with Heero and his thoughts.

He had been overly worried about his `friend'. Not that that was an abnormal thing, worry, but it was a different kind of worry than a worry about losing father or mother. It was the kind of worry you feel for … even closer person.

His train of thoughts were stopped as he suddenly heard a scream from the top floor, followed by a thump. "Trowa, Quatre? You okay?" But there came no reply. An uneasy feeling began to spread in Duo. `Not a good sign.' Carefully, so not to make any sounds, he went upstairs, unsure what would greet him. As he was farther upstairs, he noticed some rustling sounds and a few voices. Definitely not good. As he was closer to Heero's room, he could hear some of the talking from inside. And it made his blood turn cold and his anger rise. At the same time there was a little amount of fear in the back of his mind. Fear that they had been discovered.

"You sure that's the right boy? He looks strange." It was a deep, male voice. "Why do you think that G wants them back? This one wasn't finished yet." Came the answer. Not finished yet? Duo felt his anger rise again. Trowa and Quatre had to undergo so much pain, they suffered so much, and now they weren't even finished with them!? Clenching his hands so not to punch against the walls he crept forward a bit and looked through the little gap between the slightly opened door and its frame.

`Definitely Gs men' Duo noticed to himself. As he saw that one of them put Trowa over his shoulder, he noticed that Trowa did look very strange. `He must have tried to change into Quatre again, probably so that his scream was louder, but than they stopped him in the middle.' Some of Trowas normally brown hair was blonde and the face was slightly more female-like, like Quatre.

The men suddenly went to the door and Duo panicked downstairs. Crouching down besides the still unconscious Heero, he waited for the people to arrive. And just a few seconds afterwards they were standing in front of Heero, looking down. One pulled out a little plate-like thing in the form of a square and held it in front of him. "That's the other one. You, take him." That was enough for Duo. Not only did they want to capture Trowa, but if they got Heero, who knew what terrible things G could do to him.

Before one of them could even touch Heero, Duo quickly put his whole Arm through the men's abdomen and turned a bit so that he could get to the next one as well. The two suddenly choked and started to pant as they felt their oxygen fading. But one of them, definitely the chief, quickly took out his gun and shot into nowhere - missing Duo very closely. That, of course, confused the boy and he let off the two men.

"Listen, Project 0-2. We know that you are still here. We have been informed. So, attacking is useless. We might not see you, but we see your activities. And you haven't been built to be super flexible." The man stopped and grinned evilly. "You are still just some boy who is as woundable and as slow as any other one, so be careful what you are doing." Grinning widely, the man raised his gun again and aimed at Heero, shooting again and striping Heeros leg slightly. Duo's eyes widened in shock as he saw what they just did.

"This is just a demonstration, boy. I don't fear to shoot anyone. I don't care really. If I am told to shoot a baby in the head, I'll do it." And the mans grin widened even more. `Now what should I do? What can I do?!' Duo thought. The man sure wasn't told to kill Heero. If G wanted the boy, then he wanted him alive. And the brainless `soldier' wouldn't do something he wasn't told to do. Right. Duo didn't knew the mans exact orders, but he knew G a hell lotta better than other people did. And he was pretty sure that they were something like `Find 0-3 and 0-4, get the boy named Heero and kill 0-2 if he gets in the way.' So, Duo needed a plan. A good plan that wouldn't kill him. `So, they will probably shoot besides every attacked man, because they think I am there.' And then Duo had an idea.

"Just give up, boy. We're smarter, we're faster and we're more than you. Don't try to play hero. Heroes always die lonely." But Duo didn't listen to the stupid mans words but carefully took off his jacket and the shirt under it. He bound the jacket round his waist and tip-toed to one of the four guys. Without making any sounds at all, he quickly wound the, for other people invisible, shirt around the mans head and made a strong knot to secure the piece.

The effect followed immediately for the guy started to choke and pant, and as Duo had thought, the chief quickly aimed at the place where Duo stood. But the boy was faster than the guy thought and while the gunshot fell, Duo had moved over to the next guy and fastened his jacket around the guys head. Both men unable to breathe, they struggled some more before the first one broke down. And ever so slowly, the shirt became visible again, making the chief wonder what exactly was going on.

But when Duo moved over to the guy who held Trowa and began to touch through him, the chief didn't miss but hit Duo in the leg. A suppressed moan was heard and blood became visible on the floor, showing the chief that he had succeeded. Smirking widely, he ignored his dieing men and went over to where he was sure that Duo was. And indeed he was, for when he raised his gun again and moved it forward, he made contact with something firm and knowing Duo's size, he knew that the gun was now pressed to the projects forehead.

"You, go on and bring that boy to G, and be quick about it. I will follow in just a minute. " The chief ordered the remaining guy and as fast as it had been said the guy was away. There was silence for some time and Duo felt as if his fastened heartbeat could be heard in the whole room. He didn't feel the pain of his leg anymore for all that mattered now was the gun pressed against his head. `I don't want to die; I don't want to be killed like that.' These thoughts raced through his head as he heard a little sound from the gun, telling him that the guy now only needed to pull the trigger, and he would be dead. `Heero, I'm so sorry, I couldn't be a friend to you, I couldn't safe you from these guys.' But then, there was a sudden question appearing, and he dared to try to find out.

"Sir?" Duo asked weakly. The chief looked a bit confused for some seconds, but then he started laughing. "Sir, hu? You must be pretty scared of me. What do you want?" came the reply. That drove away Duo's fear a bit and he continued. "Well, normally people are allowed to have one last wish before they die, don't they? And I'd just like to ask one question." The man thought about it for a few seconds. Well, it couldn't hurt when the boy was going to die anyway, could it?

"Okay, boy. What do you want to know?" And Duo didn't wait a second to ask. "How did you find us?" The man started laughing again. "Ha ha ha, you really thought that G wouldn't find you again? You thought that you could hide from the great G? Ahahahaha!!!!" Duo's anger rose again as he heard the guy laughing. "G is a genius in any way, boy. He has connections to the whole science scene all around the world. And he heard that, lately, there had been a boy asking loads of questions and getting loads of info about possible invisibility, the mixture of human anatomy with animalistic anatomy, hormones and the mixture of two humans into one. So, G knew that it could only be the boy who tried to cure his projects. " The guy stopped to laugh once more.

"Curing the work of the great G!!! That's impossible. But the more information he got about the boy, the more interested he got. He was astounded that a boy of Heeros age was able to actually understand all these things. So he decided to find out where he lived and where his lab was. And voila, we found it." The man laughed again and Duo hated that laugh.

"We will capture and bring back the 2 greatest works of G, kidnap one of the most brilliant young scientists, and I will get you out of the way, saying that it was an accident." The mans glance suddenly became ice-cold and the familiar feeling of fear came back to Duo. That meant that G hadn't told the guy to get him out of the way. That was absolutely not good. A soldier, brainless and doing whatever he's told BUT additionally loving it to kill others. He had to get that guy out of the way somehow!!!

"So sad that I can't see your face right now. I love to see peoples faces full of fear, full of cold sweat and anxiety of what is going to come next." The chief licked his lips before pulling back his left shoulder so that he was standing sideward in front of Duo. "Say your last prayers, project 0-2." And then he pulled the trigger. Duo heard the shot, but he felt no pain. He didn't even feel the gun pressed to his head anymore. That's what people always say, that you can't feel the pain anymore when you're dieing. But he didn't fall, and he didn't feel weak. Was he already on his way to hell?

A loud roar and a shout brought him back to the real world and he noticed that his bangs on the right side of his head were a bit strange looking. It was then that he noticed Wufei in front of him, busy with the chief. He quickly looked away from the mass of blood and body pieces lying across the floor. That meant he wasn't dead! Wufei had freed himself and jumped onto the guy before he could shoot Duo. So the shot missed him. Wufei saved his life. But where was Heero???

Duo quickly noticed that the boy was still lying at the same place than before. Due to the noise Wufei was making while eating parts of the fallen man, Heero slowly woke up again and immediately screamed as he saw the bloody mess in front of him. Moreover, the cold, shocked eyes of the chief were staring at him.

The scream, however, distracted Wufei and he lifted his bloody snout, staring at the source of the scream. And like before, the former boy quickly let go off his bait and moved over to Heero. "Wufei!!" It was Duos voice that interfered. And to Heeros surprise, Wufei turned around to look at Duo. They stared at each other for some seconds before Wufei growled loudly and jumped through the next best window, running away into the darkness of the night, leaving Duo alone with one confused and shocked Heero and three dead bodies, one of them completely turned inside out and torn into pieces.

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