Another Murder of Crows
Title: Another Murder of Crows
Part: 18/?
Author: Karen
Disclaimer: Don't own them. If you think so...you've got issues.
Warnings: Whew, the usual. Yaoi/shounen ai, language to boot, OOC,
AU, horror, mystery, that kind of deal. Sorry it took so long for me
to post. Finals, and then I was on a Poltergeist/Psycho/Twilight Zone
spiel, so expect some interesting twists for the next few chapters!
You can cuss me out at KKChitown@aol.com
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Another Murder of Crows: Part 18
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"Do we have anymore gummi bears left, Odin?"
"Um, let me see....no, just some licorice and Twizzlers."
"Oh, um, let me have the Twizzlers then." He tossed me the pack of
Twizzlers and I practically leapt onto the package, ripped it open
and allowed several of them to fall out and along the bed. It doesn't
matter though, they're about to be eaten anyway. Heero was sitting in
a recliner next to the bed, balancing peanut M&M's on his nose before
eating them. My hotel room was a complete disaster area: half eaten
burgers and fries were sitting around the room, either on the floor
or on the bed, lettuce littered the floor, salad dressing clung to
the wall (we had a food fight earlier) my near devoured plate of eggs
and bacon sat on the television, and whatever area wasn't covered by
food was currently covered by candy.
After the incident in the lobby, and when I had calmed down a bit,
Heero carried me upstairs to my room. He managed to get me snuggled
up in bed when Duo finally broke free from Wufei and came pounding on
the door. Once that adventure was over with, meaning Heero had to
sedate Duo to calm him down, he and Wufei got him wrapped up in Wu's
room and Relena came by to talk briefly with Heero. I guess he told
her he wasn't going to be back in tonight, cause its 3:31 in the
morning and he's just here watching tv with me like he doesn't have a
care in the world.
We ended up ordering some food–well, a lot–had a
food fight (which HE started) and now we were totally relaxed and
full. Sometimes, being with Heero can be so calming. I swear, he's a
walking sedative.
I flicked a piece of tomato out of my hair and buried myself further
underneath the covers, trying, with some success, to keep my feet
warm. Heero had a blanket wrapped around him, and he seemed pretty
comfortable in the chair as we sat back and watched another episode
of `I Love Lucy'.
"She is annoying," he said, throwing a M&M at the tv. "How could
anyone stand her? No wonder they built the colonies. They were trying
to get away from her!"
I laughed, and threw the tomato at him, but missed. "Well, this was
made in the, uh, 1950s I think. At that time, they didn't even show a
married couple sleeping in the same bed! So of course their humor is
going to be a little, I don't know, degrading."
"How about just loud and annoying?"
I opened my mouth and he threw a M&M in it, right between the teeth.
Yum! Chewing, I shrugged. "I guess. If you say so."
"Hn. You think Duo is going to be mad at us for eating all of his
candy?"
He threw another M&M, which I caught between the teeth again. Man I'm
good. "Nah, this isn't his secret stash. I don't know where he has it
this time, so we should be okay. Hey, I'm thirsty."
Heero reached to the side of him and pulled out a black squirt gun,
and shot some cherry Kool–ade in my mouth. "Thanks."
He took three shots then sat it back on the night stand. "No problem.
So, how are you feeling?"
I wiggled further underneath the eight thousand covers Heero put on
me and sighed, toasty warm and comfortable. "I feel great and much,
much better. Thank you, and I'm sorry for reacting that way. It was
uncalled for."
"No need to apologize," he said, while putting the tv on mute, "how
were you suppose to react? I mean, how can you tell what's real and
what isn't?" He pulled the blanket up around his shoulders, covering
his entire body. He turned his head to the side, matching my gaze as
he leaned back in the chair. "We're in Oslo. He moved from Earth, to
the colonies, to your home, to Sanc, and then here. Where can you
hide? Where can you retreat to? He moves as fast as we do, if not
faster." He looked to the floor. "We can't keep doing this. You and
Duo can't live like this." He looked back at me. "Something has to be
done."
"Like what?" I asked curiously.
"I don't know."
I shook my head. "You have something in mind, but you're not telling
me."
He smirked. "You know me too well. Yes, I do actually, but its
something...drastic."
"Like what?" I asked again.
He sighed. "You might have to walk away from your company."
I sat up. "That is something I will not do."
He raised an eyebrow. "You were willing to disinherit yourself for
the war, why not for your life?"
I rolled my eyes and sighed loudly. "I was doing that for peace. Why
sacrifice many lives for the sake of one? And now I have my sisters
to think about since my father is dead, and my son. The only thing
that is going to pull me away from my company is another war or my
death." I laid back down on the bed, trying to get into the same
comfort spot I was in before.
Heero only stared at me, pouting a little in thought. "Alright. I'll
think of something else. In the meantime, you and Duo should stick to
me and Fei until something else is figured out, okay?"
"Odin, I don't need a babysitter."
"Okay?"
"I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, and so is Duo."
"Okay?"
"Are you even listening to me? Are you even *trying* to listen?"
"No. Okay?"
I sighed. "Fine."
"Good." He stretched his legs and arms out quickly before scratching
his head and facing me again. "So, how did Duo twist his ankle and
dislocate his shoulder?"
My eyebrows shot up to my hairline, if not higher. How in..."What do
you mean `how?'"
He gave me a `you're so full of it' look. "Duo may be a loud,
talkative, long-haired pain in the ass, but he's not clumsy, stupid
or weak. He could keep up with Trowa on a high wire, and I'm supposed
to believe that he hurt himself jogging?" I could hear the
incredulousness rise in his voice. "And that you were with him? So
that means you went jogging," he did his fingers in quotation
marks, "right after you and I had our little disagreement."
I nodded. "Yeah."
He continued to stare at me, and I could feel my will to keep quiet
slip away. "Quatre, you're a terrible liar."
I threw my hands up in the air. "I know this! Everyone knows this!
Why do you and Duo keep bringing it up like its news to me?"
He laughed softly. "Because you keep trying to lie."
"AH! You're going to make me pull my hair out!"
"Tell me."
"No."
"Please?"
Oh no, now he has that hurt chibi–eyed puppy dog look on his
face. "Well, if I do, you have to promise me that you'll talk to him,
but act like you don't know anything."
"I promise."
"Here goes everything." I sat up in bed and turned my entire body to
face him, clasping my hands together as if I was praying. "Odin, when
you and I were having our...heated discussion," he snorted, I
smirked, "Duo overhead us. He was hiding in the bushes."
"What?!" He jumped out of the chair and walked towards me, losing his
footing a bit when his heel brushed against some ketchup. "Why didn't
you tell me to shut up or move or something if you knew Duo was
there?"
"I didn't know! I saw him after you left because I was sitting on the
bench, trying to calm down when I heard him crying."
"He was *crying*?!"
I started to open my mouth and clamped it shut when I realized what I
said. I admitted that Duo cried. Duo would never admit that he cried.
Never ever. Especially over Heero. I screwed up. Again. "Ah shit!"
"Why would Duo cry? What would make him do that?"
"You," I whispered.
"Me?"
"Yes!" Is he dense or what? "Odin, he loves you very, very much.
Things did not end well between you two, but it hasn't been righted
either. It's one thing to know that you and Relena are dating, but
its another when you want to marry her. That means he doesn't have a
chance. At all."
Heero grabbed the blanket he had earlier and sat on the bed, wrapping
himself up in it. He had his legs crossed, and leaned forward to dig
his elbows into this knees. It might've been the lighting of the moon
shining on his face, but Heero looked very pale, in a `not because of
the moon' kind of way. "Odin?"
"I didn't mean to hurt him," he said softly.
"I know you didn't–"
"I never meant to hurt him, but, damnit, he would provoke me."
I shut my mouth with an audible click, and decided to just stay quiet
until he said everything he wanted to say.
"I would never intentionally hurt him. I would die thousands of times
over before I hurt him. I didn't want him to find out this way.
He...he deserves better than me."
I decided to interrupt then. "No, he needs you. Odin," I took his
hand in my mine. He only stared at the bedspread, "you two are cut
from the same cloth, don't you understand? He fills in your
shortcomings, and you fill in his. I don't think that you and Relena
would work, not because of lack of love, I know you two love each
other, but because pacifism and war can't co–exist together. It's
either one or the other."
"But you come from a pacifist family," he stated calmly.
"Yeah, I did, but guess what? I don't claim to be a pacifist anymore.
I leave all the peace talks and such up to Relena. It would be
contrary for me to deliver speeches about peace when I am responsible
for so many deaths. So are you. Relena is not. That's why you and Duo
are perfect compliments of each other. I don't get it. He understands
you more than anyone else, and you use to worship the ground he
walked on. What happened?"
"Things are bad between us, Quatre. They're bad between Duo and me."
"Then make them good."
"How?"
I shrugged. "Only you two can figure that out. Talk to Wufei, maybe
he can help you. He's more protective of Duo and I than anybody."
"I know," he said grimly. Then I remembered the argument between
Heero and Wufei. Oh yeah. He did say that, didn't he?
"Oh yeah, silly me."
"Quatre?"
"Hn?"
"Thank you."
I smiled and gently squeezed his hand. "It's my pleasure."
We sat there in a companionable silence before Heero finally broke
the mood by placing his hand on my forehand and with one thrust,
pushed me down on the bed. "It's after four. Go to sleep."
"Yes, daddy," I said playfully, which earned me a nuggie. "Ow! I'm
gonna have a bald spot by the time I'm twenty!"
"Well, it was either that or a wet willy, take your pick."
I mumbled something, but it was lost in the pillow as my eyelids
involuntarily started to close from being open so long. I forgot that
I didn't sleep the night before, and at that time my body completely
shut down and surrounded itself in the warmth of the blankets and the
softness of the mattress.
I did however, notice a sudden change in the room. The last thing I
remember was the soft touch of fingertips grazing my temple and hair,
and the faint scent of Cool Water as I finally left consciousness.
***
"Okay, everyone get on the plane! We're leaving in five minutes!"
Wufei stood on top of one of Dorothy's suitcases, which the rest of
us called a trunk, and hollered for everyone to get going. It was
around three in the afternoon or so, and the day was bright and
sunny, but cold. I know Dorothy and Relena are a little lost, the
rest of us didn't even roll over til about noon or so, and even then
it was obvious something happened. Of course, five of the most
secretive persons on Earth were together, so they knew pretty much
that whatever happened was going to stay a secret. Poor girls.
Sometimes, I wonder why they bother with us.
"Quatre, you okay?" I whipped around to see Wufei looking curiously
at me, even as he put Dorothy's `suitcase' in cargo.
"Yeah, why?"
"Oh no reason, just checking." He closed the door and locked it. "You
were really gone last night, and I was worried that I hurt you when I
hit you."
"Oh don't worry about it Wu, I needed it, and besides," I rubbed my
sore cheek, "I like the shade of blue the bruise is. I think it
really brings out my eyes, don't you?"
He scoffed. "Moron."
I smiled way too big for it to be natural, and blinked rapidly. "And
that's why you wuv me."
He exhaled, exasperated. "No matter how much I hate to admit it,
that's true. Now get your ass on the plane. We're leaving."
"Wait. Who's piloting?"
"Heero and Duo, I think."
I gawked at Wufei. "You've got to be kidding. Why don't you and I
pilot?"
He returned my look. "Us? With those two hogs on the wheel? Please.
We'll be lucky if we get to touch the control panels." He then turned
around and helped Relena on the jet, with Dorothy helped up by Trowa.
Then Wufei hopped up, doing something up there that I couldn't see,
when I noticed Trowa still standing there, waiting for him to move.
Clearing my throat, I walked up to Trowa and tapped him gently on the
shoulder. Even though he had on a light polyester jacket, my fingers
still tingled at the touch. "Trowa?"
He didn't seem surprised when he saw me standing next to him. Of
course, he and Heero are neck in neck over who can be the most
expressionless. "Yes Quatre?"
I can't believe I'm nervous. What do I have to be nervous for? "I
wanted to apologize for last night. It was uncalled for, and I know
its hard enough when you are called away from your home to help and
have to deal with, with what you saw last night..."
"Quatre, you don't owe him shit, therefore he doesn't need an
explanation." Wufei stood in the archway of the plane, arms crossed
and looking VERY unhappy. "Barton, if you don't like it, that's too
damn bad for you."
"Wufei!"
"It's okay Quatre." My head snapped around to see Trowa smirking, yes
*smirking* at me. "Wufei's right. You don't owe me an explanation.
I'm just glad you're okay now." And with that, he got on the plane
and disappeared behind Wufei.
"Fei!"
He tried to look innocent. Tried being the key word. "What?"
"Don't play dumb with me! You know what you were doing."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," he said flatly, even
though he was grinning from ear to ear. "And tell Yuy and Maxwell to
stop making out and get their butts over here."
"What?!" I heard Relena's shrill from where I stood, and I used that
as my cue to go find them. Spinning abruptly on my heels, I basically
ran from the runway of Oslo's small airport and to find the two
missing pilots in question. What I did find surprised me. Off to the
side of the runway, behind one of those metal staircases, Heero and
Duo were talking. And I mean talking, as in a conversation. Not
screaming, not shouting, not threatening bodily harm. I stayed behind
the staircase and tried my best to listen in. I know I know, that's
not right but what do you want? I wasn't nosey until I met Duo. Blame
him.
Anyway, the conversation, which I couldn't hear at all, lasted maybe
another half a minute before Duo wrapped his arms around Heero and
held him tightly, digging his fingers into Heero's back as he held
him. Heero returned the embrace somewhat, not nearly with as much
enthusiasm as Duo had, more like hugging an acquaintance, not an ex–
lover.
That hurt me, and I know for sure Duo's hurt too.
I was extremely surprised to see that Duo released Heero first and
stepped back to shake his hand. He said something, which I still
didn't hear, and Heero waved his hand in the air as if dismissing
something. Anyway, Heero swiftly turned around and walked away,
making a b–line for the plane. Duo stayed behind, bringing his hands
to his face as if he was about to cry. At that thought, I jumped from
behind the metal stairs and briskly walked to him. "Duo, are you
alright?"
He jumped, startled, but laughed when he saw it was only me. "Geez,
man, you scared me again. What is it about you trying to inflict
heart attacks?"
I could see that the humor was genuine, but his eyes were stained
pink around the rims, and it looked like he didn't sleep too well
last night. "Duo?"
He sighed out loud. "God, you're as persistent as Fei, I swear." He
wiped his face with his hands and took a deep breath. "Heero, pulled
me aside and said he wanted to talk to me. I said sure. Um, he told
me about his plans with Relena, and then he said that he was sorry
for ever hurting me." I could see the tears welling up in his eyes,
but I didn't say anything. "Then, damn this is hard, he told me he
wanted to be friends." He shrugged his shoulders. "I said I'd like
that, then I hugged him."
"Duo?"
"Its okay, its okay, I...I just needed to hold him one last time
before I let him go. Before he went, before he went back to her. Look
Cat, I don't want to talk about this right now. Let's just go, okay?"
I grabbed his hand and squeezed it hard. "Lead the way." Soon enough,
we were on the plane, the hatch closed, the runway cleared, and off,
35,000 feet in the air on our one and a half hour flight back to
Sanc. The first few minutes of the flight were quiet, except for a
startled gasp that came from where Relena and Dorothy sat every once
in a while, probably some gossip. Trowa sat diagonally from me, Wufei
sat in the seat across from me, and the girls were in the front row,
behind Heero. I only looked out the window at the landscape we were
passing over, completely lost in thought. Suddenly, there was a
hard `whap' on my arm and I turned to see Wufei holding a rolled up
magazine in his hand.
"Quatre, you okay?"
I smiled slightly. "Yeah, just a little tired."
"Alright. What about him?" He jerked his head in Duo's direction. Duo
only sat at the control panels, completely oblivious to us talking
about him.
I let out a slow breath. "I don't know Wu. He's not saying anything
to me."
"Hn. He's not saying much to me either. He must be pretty beat up
inside."
"He is," I said slowly. "I don't know what's going to happen when we
get back to Sanc."
"Shit, me neither, but I know it probably won't be pretty."
"It never is when it comes to us," I murmured under my breath. I saw
out of the corner of my eye that Wufei nodded, hearing me, and I also
saw Trowa looking at me out of the corner of his eye. I wasn't going
to say anything though. Nope. I'll ignore him. Yeah, that's it. Even
though I can't get the image of how he looked in his tuxedo out of my
head, I'll still ignore him, and be stronger for it.
Half an hour later (and slightly horny), the flight to Sanc was still
quiet, but now the image of Trowa wearing just the bow tie from his
tuxedo danced in front of my eyes. I shifted in my chair, restless,
upset, irritated, and trapped. I wanted off of this plane and I
wanted it yesterday. Several times Wufei asked, quite loudly, what
Trowa was looking at. I don't know if he embarrassed him, but he sure
did embarrass me. Trowa only said he was looking at the seats, or
some other mundane item that's the same on all planes. How can things
get any worse?
"Oh shit!"
Alarms and sirens went off immediately, and red lights flashed all
over the control panel. Without even thinking, I unbuckled my
seatbelt and made my way as quickly as I could to Relena and Dorothy.
Wufei was a step behind me, and I saw Trowa head towards the back. We
unbuckled the girls and made our way to the back of the plane, where
Trowa had already set up the crash area. In these planes, since they
are so small, Heero and Zechs had a little area built in the back
with padding and such that offered some protection from glass and
other objects that could fly around and hit you. They were little
seats, on the floor, with a seatbelt like a car's, and a balloon type
object surrounds you and zips closed to keep you protected from
shrapnel. It's been tested, but never used before. Oh joy.
We got the girls buckled in, then the three of us went back up to the
front.
"What the hell happened?!" Wufei yelled. I could barely hear him over
the sirens.
"There was a group of crows that were flying by, then they made a U–
turn and plowed right into the engine!" Heero hollered back.
"Which engine?"
"1 and 2."
Wufei blanched. "But there's only two engines for this plane!"
"No fuckin' duh Fei!" Duo supplied helpfully.
"It's useless, everyone to the back! Heero, Relena's scared!"
Heero gave me a curt nod and got up, fumbling his way to the back on
the unsturdy plane. Wufei was right behind him, and then Trowa. I
started to go, but stalled when I saw that Duo didn't get up from his
seat.
"Duo!"
"You go!" He hollered. "I'll stay! If there's a chance to get this
thing going, I'm gonna find it!"
"But Duo!"
"Damnit Quatre, just do it!"
I quickly turned around and started to run towards the back, and
Trowa started to walk again when he saw that I was coming. Looking
back, I saw Duo frantically trying to restart the plane.
We made it to the back, the `bubble' unzipping as Wufei hopped
inside. Heero was already seated next to Relena, holding her hand,
and Trowa held the bubble still, waiting for me to get in. Of course
I had to screw that up.
Instead of getting in, I pushed Trowa in, causing him to splay all
over Wufei and Dorothy's lap. Zipping up the bubble, I twisted the
zipper and broke it, making sure no one could get out of it after me.
Of course, that meant that Duo and I couldn't get back in either, but
I figured that he didn't have any intention of getting in the bubble.
He was going to fight to the death. I was not going to let him fight
alone.
I stumbled to the front and hopped in the co–pilots seat. He looked
up sharply at me, and I smiled, flipping switches to restart the
engines. He smiled back and continued with what he was doing,
scanning the frequencies for help. I chanced a look out of the window
and saw the engines, and both of them were on fire.
There was no possible way to restart them. Duo knew that.
I buckled my seat belt and took control of the wheel, trying to keep
the nose of the plane up. So far we weren't having any luck, and I
could see the snow on the ground coming closer at an alarming rate.
The blood tasted harsh in my mouth as I gritted my teeth, pulling the
wheel up as hard as I could, my muscles feeling like they would rip
apart at any second. Duo scanned desperately at the frequencies,
trying again and again to restart an engine, or at least to slow our
descent.
"Brace yourself for impact!" I opened my eyes at Duo's hoarse shout
to see the white background reach up before I closed my eyes again.
Silence.
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©2001 by Karen. Please do not remove without permission.
