Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Mystery of DM ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: Don't own Gundam Wing

"yadda" speaking

`yadda' thoughts

`yadda' mind speech

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Heero woke instantly, his senses screaming at him. He held still, trying to figure out what had awoken him, his ears straining. Then he heard it; Duo was convulsing on the opposite bed, silently. Instantly by his side, Heero scanned Duo, trying to pinpoint the cause of the convulsion. The war had ended two months ago so it couldn't have been a new injury. If it was a nightmare then there would have been sounds to accompany the wild thrashing. This silence was unnerving. The look of pain on Duo's face finally snapped Heero into action. He swiftly climbed atop Duo, pinning him down and preventing most of his movement. "Duo! Wake up!" Heero yelled, hoping to startle the braided youth awake with his voice. From down the hall he heard two doors slam open as the other three raced to find out what was wrong.

Duo's thrashing continued, growing even wilder now that Heero was pinning him down. A corner of Heero's mind analyzed the situation, noticing a pattern in the convulsions. Duo acted as though his hands and feet were cuffed, forcing him open, spread eagle. With one massive shudder, Duo's eyes snapped open just as Trowa, Quatre and Wufei burst into the room. Heero started to lean back to allow Duo to sit up when the expression in his eyes stopped him. There was absolutely no recognition in them.

"Heero, what's wrong? Why are you holding Duo down?" Quatre asked as he approached the two teenagers. "What…" Quatre's voice froze as Duo glanced at him, his gaze then quickly taking in the others. Quatre felt a tiny spurt of fear; Duo had not recognized any of them. "Duo?" Quatre softened his voice, speaking as though to a frightened child. "Are you all right?" He slowly walked forward, trying not to scare Duo.

"Quatre, don't come any closer," Heero cautioned the blond Arab. Heero frowned as he looked down at Duo. The longhaired boy was trembling, face turned to the wall, eyes tightly shut. His mouth was moving, lips forming silent words, repeating the same phrase over and over. Heero's eyes narrowed when he read Duo's lips. [Big girls don't cry, big girls don't cry.] "We're not going to hurt you." Heero watched intently, looking for a reaction to his words. The trembling slowed but didn't completely stop. The silent chanting, however, continued. Heero slowly leaned back, releasing Duo's arms, still straddling the L2 boys upper thighs. The muscles in Duo's neck stood out, testament to the sheer amount of tension flowing through the boy. "What's your name?" Wufei snorted, starting to comment. Heero slashed a hand down, stopping the Chinese boy from saying anything, eyes never leaving Duo's face, watching intently for the reply.

Duo's arms had stayed in place after Heero released them. They twitched now, slowly rising until his hands hovered over his chest. The fingers flexed, moving in a strange pattern. Heero frowned; it was a form of sign language, one he wasn't familiar with.

Trowa cleared his throat. "Did you understand that, Heero?" The lanky teen kept his voice low.

Heero continued to frown. "No," he grudgingly admitted. "Did you?"

"Yes." Heero turned his head, looking shocked. "I suggest you join us over here. I doubt we'll have to worry about her hurting herself."

"What are you talking about, Barton? Maxwell just…" Wufei stopped talking at Trowa's head shake.

"Remember what his motto is? Never lie? Well, she just said her name is Diana." Heero froze in the middle of climbing out of the bed.

"Are you certain you got that correct?" Trowa nodded. Heero let out a sigh and ran one hand through his hair. "Then we have a problem." The four of them watched with various expressions as "Duo" curled up, clutching "his" knees close.

"Split personality?" Wufei suggested. "But why did his personality split now and not during the war?" He crossed his arms and leaned against a nearby wall.

Trowa shook his head again. "If it was a split or multiple personality then we should have seen other evidence by now. We ought to get someone with real medical training here. This is out of all of our depths."

Heero snorted. "Are there any doctors we can trust? Someone who won't take this story to the media? The uproar over finding out that the infamous Gundam pilots are all fifteen has finally started to die down. This will re-ignite it all."

"There is one doctor we can trust." Wufei spoke up. His gaze still rested on Duo's body. "Sally Po."

Quatre looked up, a smile of relief brightening his features. "Right. I'll contact her." Quatre moved over to the vidphone, his hand reaching out to start the call when the consol lit up. Someone was calling them. Someone who managed to get through their security. Quatre frowned before activating the voice, keeping the screen blank. He waited for the caller to talk, gesturing for the others to remain silent.

The faint clicking of metal gears came over the speakers, followed by a wheezing voice. "Well boy, aren't you going to turn on the video?" Four eyes widened. They knew that voice, a voice that one of them had, deep in his mind, prayed never to hear again.

Heero shook off his stupor and strode over. Leaning down, he activated the screen. Both he and Quatre could clearly see Doctor J. "What do you want?" Heero managed to ask between clenched teeth. "The war is over; there are no more missions!"

Doctor J frowned. "No effect, hmm? Do you feel alright, boy? No strange memories?"

Heero's eyes narrowed. "I'm fine. What have you done?"

Doctor J continued to frown. "Hmm. Someone was effected and if not you then who?"

A faint voice interrupted J. "I told you to check those co-ordinates!" Another familiar face joined J's on the screen. "Who else was in that room?" Professor G demanded.

A flurry of movement behind Heero and Quatre stopped their answer. The two then found themselves rudely shoved aside by … Duo? His hands were once more moving in that unfamiliar sign language. Heero alternated his glance between "Duo" and G, wondering what the scientist would make of his pilot.

"What do you mean you can't call them? Both?" There was a pause as G read Diana's reply. "Damnit J! I told you not to put a lock on the new personality! Now Diana is stuck outside and can't call either of the other two to take her place! You are damnably lucky that the war is over; otherwise we'd be down a pilot." Diana's hands flew, forming a retort. "Yes Diana, I know you can access Duo's memories and knowledge, but you don't have the innate training that he does. Do you remember that safe house?" Diana nodded. "Good," G grunted. "If you start to feel overwhelmed head there immediately and contact me. J and I will work on repairing that machine of his. Meanwhile, you do what you can to call either of them." G looked thoughtful for a moment. "Although Duo would be preferred to Shinigami." Diana nodded again, still not speaking. "One more thing. The two who you pushed aside; one was J's pupil, the other was H's. Same as you and Duo were mine. You can trust those two, along with the other two pilots. Ask Duo, he'll vouch for them. I'll send the file to teach them this language." Diana's hands moved, interrupting G. "Oh? Alright then, have him teach the other three. Any changes let me know. Immediately. And Diana?" G's voice softened. "I meant it; you really can trust them." The screen went black as the call was terminated.

"Damnit!" Wufei suddenly cursed. "I almost had them."

Heero cleared his throat. "No luck with the trace?"

Wufei snarled. He had left the wall at one point and begun a trace program, trying to find out where the two scientists had called from. Wufei took a deep breath and slowly let it out, centering himself. "So, we know that Duo has multiple personalities, one of them is now in control due to a machine that J built and recently tested. G knew about these personalities yet still made Duo the pilot for Deathsythe. And Trowa here is the only one who knows the sign language that Diana uses. Did I miss anything?"

"I think that about sums it up," Quatre ruefully agreed. He glanced over at Diana. She was still facing the screen, her eyes vacant as they stared off into the distance. Quatre softly coughed. "Diana?" She visible jumped, her gaze instantly locked on Quatre. He kept his voice soft, falling back on the tone he used earlier. "What has Duo told you about us?"

Diana glanced at Trowa. He nodded, understanding her silent question. "I'll translate." Trowa glided over to stand behind Quatre. Diana's hands began to move, forming the word patterns of that strange language. "He said your name is …" Trowa translated. Diana paused, frowned, and then rolled her eyes. Quatre stifled a chuckle at her expression; even Trowa smiled when he read her next sentence, one he only mentally translated. (Christ Duo, just pick one!) She paused again before resuming her first sentence. "You are Quatre. Behind you is Trowa. The one at the computer is Wufei and the last one is Heero. Duo says that he trusts all of you. Were you the other pilots?"

"We are." Heero answered for them. "The Gundams still exist." Diana's eyes lit up, only to have them dull with Heero's next sentence. "We don't know where they are; we haven't found them. Yet."

Diana chewed her bottom lip as she thought, her eyes moving back and forth in time with the ideas flying through her mind. Her hands started to talk again, Trowa continuing his translation. "I could look for them. I just need to get my laptop out. Would," she paused before continuing. "Would you like me to look for them?"

Wufei leaned forward, hands resting flat against his thighs. "What makes you think you can find them when even Heero and Duo have been unable to locate them?"

Diana smirked. "Because I'm better than Duo when it comes to computers. My laptop was," she halted, searching for the correct word. "Was built by me. Duo knows not to touch it. Judging from that laptop over there, mine is at least four times more effective. So, would you like me to look for the Gundams?"

Quatre let out a breath, his bangs momentarily puffing up with the force of air. "I think this is something we should discuss," he watched Heero and Wufei as he spoke, trying to gauge their reaction. "Diana, would you please wait here?" He looked at her, hoping she understood why she wasn't included in the upcoming discussion.

Diana sighed and gave Quatre a small smile. "I'll wait here for a bit."

Quatre beamed. "Great! We'll be downstairs if you need anything." He jumped to his feet and headed out, followed almost immediately by Trowa and Wufei. After a few seconds Heero followed only to pause in the doorway. He looked back at Diana and, had she been looking, she would have noticed concern and acceptance flash across his face before it settled into its cold mask.

"My apologies for startling you." He left before Diana's head swung in his direction, closing the door after him. Heero debated telling the others that Diana would run but decided against it. `Duo is in there, somewhere. Hopefully that will give her the edge she'll need.' He squared his shoulders before heading down.

Diana stared at the closed door, stunned. `He apologized? And he understood that I'm going to leave? Just what kind of person is he?'

`The type that understands us. So are you still gonna run?' Duo's voice echoed inside their mind.

Diana snorted as she hurried over to their bedside cabinet. "Of course I'm gonna run," she whispered, using her voice for the first time since waking up. "That's what we do best." She knelt down and quickly jimmied the lock open. She eased her torso into the small opening, lying on her back. Her hands reached up and began to work at something stuck to the underside of the top. A faint click echoed in the room, followed by a mechanical voice.

"First alarm deactivated. Please state name."

Diana cleared her throat. "Diana Maxwell."

"Name and voice print verified. Second alarm deactivated. Please state age and birth date."

"I don't know."

"Third alarm deactivated. All alarms now offline." Another click echoed through the room. Diana quickly removed the slim machine that had been placed in the cabinet. Once out of the cabinet she ran over to the closet, grabbing the always packed duffle bag and securing the laptop inside. Shutting the bag, she double checked all the straps before swinging the bag onto her back. She made her way to the window and in almost no time found herself running to the garage where she knew Duo's bike rested. Diana walked the motorcycle until they were a safe distance from the house. Getting on the bike, she started the engine and speed away, leaving three very upset and angry and one resigned young man behind her.