Another Murder of Crows
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Title: Another Murder of Crows
Author: KKChitown
Part: 5/?
Feedback: Accepted
Warnings: Warnings: Language, more language, some arguing, and...an atttempt at
humor.
Disclaimer: I don't own them, and I never will. Damn I'm depressed
now.
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Another Murder of Crows: Part 5
By Karen
I was in a really good mood surprisingly. I mean in one morning, I
could've been bludgeoned to death with a pillow, by *two* people no
less, I learned about a mysterious encounter that occurred in my life
that I don't remember, (not that I'm complaining), we almost killed
each other in my room, and Relena stopped by with potentially bad
news. I feel like I'm on top of the world and the colonies.
Of course, all of that died instantly when I reached the bottom of
the stairs and noticed the hole Heero put in my wall the other day.
My world came crashing down. I'll fix it later, I suppose. I should
make him fix it but knowing Heero, I might end up missing the entire
wall. It's safer, and cheaper, if I do it myself.
Wufei finally came down the stairs, facing forward now, and headed
straight for the kitchen. I followed a step behind him, trying to
fingercomb my hair into some type of acceptable appearance. For all I
know, I look like I've been struck by lightening.
As I stepped into the kitchen, I noticed that Sophie still had
breakfast hot and fresh, even though it was almost one in the
afternoon. Not that I'm complaining. I'm in the mood for some bacon.
She was pouring the grease into the sink and placing the skillet back
on the eye when she noticed me. The smile jumped off her face and was
immediately replaced with a scowl. I shuffled to her slowly, kicking
at an invisible rock as I waited for my punishment.
In one swift move she picked up the skillet, hit me on the side of my
head with it, and keep in mind it was still *hot* when she did it,
and sat it back on the eye. "Sophie!" I cried, patting my head in an
attempt to stop the pain AND the burn, "couldn't you use something
else!"
"Master Quatre, you're lucky I'm not trying to kill you! If you and
Duo ever do something that ridiculous again, I won't be able to
control myself." She placed balled up fists on her hips, staring
squarely at me.
"We won't. We learned our lesson." Oh Allah, the burn!
"You better not. Now give me a kiss." She turned the side of her face
to me, where I promptly leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek.
Pulling back, she smiled at me and shoved a plate of eggs, bacon and
toast in my hand with tea in the other. I hurried to the table to put
my breakfast down so that I could continue to massage my burning head.
I sat in my usual place, but I noticed that across from me sat Wufei
in the seat where Duo usually sits. Heero, with his plate of toast
and a cup of coffee, sat with his back to the window, smirking at me
over the paper. I turned to the left to face Duo, where I noticed the
ice pack that sat on his head was in the same spot where I was hit.
At least I'm not the only one.
Rashid soon appeared with an ice pack similar to Duo's and place it
on my head a little rougher than what my head would have liked, but
at least it was something cold.
"Don't you think you owe me an apology?" Duo asked out of the blue.
"An apology? For what?" I tilted my head slightly, trying to get the
ice pack to lay somewhat flat against my skull.
"For yesterday in the conference room. When you walked in the first
thing out of your mouth was, `Duo, what did you do now?' But I didn't
do anything." He nodded his own head sharply in agreement.
"Duo, I said that because every time I get called into a conference
with Relena and you're sitting there with her, it has always meant
you did something."
"Like what?"
"Hmm....let's see." I rolled my eyes towards the ceiling, tapping my
index finger against my chin dramatically. "What about the time you
got spit balls stuck to the ceiling in my office?"
"Hey! Hilde helped!"
"And what about the time a skunk was trapped in the basement and you
set it loose in the laundry department?"
"Well....what else was I suppose to do? Take it outside?!"
"Or when you detonated stink bombs in the girls bathroom?" Wufei
added for good measure.
"And don't forget when that cop came in to arrest Zechs and he
actually turned out to be a stripper..."
"Alright! Alright! I get the point," he hollered. "I don't need a run
down okay? Sorry I brought it up. Geez, some people." Duo went back
to shoving eggs in his mouth. I glanced at Wufei who only winked at
me and smirked in his tea cup. Duo: 8,739,416, Quatre & Wufei: 3.
"So, what did Relena want?" Wufei asked, breaking the silence.
I almost choked on my tea when he asked that. If he doesn't know,
then apparently the information told to me was on a `some need to
know, some don't need to know' basis. "I can't tell you. If she wants
you to know, you will be contacted." I wasn't ugly about it at all. I
knew Wufei would understand. It is the same now as it was when we
fought during the war. Sure, we eventually started working together,
but we all had separate agendas that the others didn't know about.
Heero would understand too. The only person who also understands but
doesn't care is....
"What do you mean `if she wants you to know you will be contacted?'
How is she going to tell you and not Wufei, knowing she is going to
need him to cover both of your asses anyway? How are we," he pointed
to himself, Sophie, Rashid, and Wufei with his thumb, "suppose to
know where *you* are? Something could happen to either you or Relena
and I wouldn't have the foggiest clue in the universe as to where you
could be!" He then pointed his fork in Heero's direction, allowing it
to fling egg everywhere. "Heero, you better put Relena's ass in
check, pronto, and I'm not joking."
In half the time it takes to blink, Heero was on his feet and leaning
across the table, glaring at Duo. "Don't disrespect her again, or
I'll have YOUR ass." When Heero said that, Wufei backed up from the
table a bit, Sophie grabbed the skillet again, Rashid stood in front
of Sophie, perhaps preventing her from plowing someone else upside
the head, and I remembered that we were out of scotch. It can't get
much worse than that.
"Heero, let me tell you something." Duo stood up in a similar
position to Heero, leaning across the table. His ice bag was placed
on the table next to my plate, forgotten momentarily. His cross
dangled loosely from his neck, swinging back and forth from the
momentum. "This is the first time and the last time I'm going to say
this, so listen carefully, okay? I don't mean to disrespect her. Do
you want to know the truth?" Heero didn't answer, so Duo
continued, "I'm jealous of her. I am. I admit it. She has you, and it
pisses me off to no end. I loved you. I still do. Hell, if I could
grow tits I would! But from the word `go' it has always been a
competition between me and her for you. From the first day I met the
both of you, I was trying to save her and she took the side of the
man that was going to kill her!"
Duo straightened up and took a shaky breath. I've never seen him this
way before, and I was afraid that after all this he would do
something destructive, and I'm in no condition to do anything about
it.
Once he calmed back down, he continued. "Everything I love, I lose.
Solo, Father Maxwell, Sister Helen, and now you." When he said that
*I* almost cried. "I don't even have my god damn gundam anymore,
don't you understand?" He grabbed my arm with one hand and Wufei's
arm with the other, motioning at Heero to look at us. "You see them?
*They* are all I have, and I will do anything and everything to
protect them. I mean it. If I thought for half a second that someone
might threaten their well being, I would kill them."
He paused a moment to let the statement sink in, and who that someone
might be. "Let's make a deal shall we?" He plopped back down in his
chair, where he put his bare feet in Wufei's lap, crossing them at
the ankles. Heero sat down at this point, but continued to hover over
the table. "When we guarded Relena and Quatre for their speeches, I
was always on Relena's detail, and you were always on his. Wufei
covered for us both. And our positions remained that way even after
you and I broke up, and do you know why? Because she is important to
peace, yes, but more accurately, I did it because she is even more
important to *you*. And because I love you, I would protect her with
my life to keep you happy. Above all else I want you to be happy."
Sophie came to the table to refill everyone's glass with orange juice
or coffee, after she put the skillet away I presume, and lightly
kissed Duo on the head before disappearing further into the kitchen.
Wufei took this time to learn over and whisper something in his ear,
and Duo nodded. Rashid appeared a split second afterward and was also
whispered something from Duo. What is going on with all the secrecy?
After Rashid left he continued. "This is the deal. I would like for
you to do the same for me. Whatever is going on that you know about
that is going to involve Quatre, I want you to cover him personally,
not only for Quatre's sake, but for my own. If you ever cared about
me at all, you will do this. Agreed?"
Out of all the things that we all have fought through together, this
was the hardest. It was a simple request, but the act itself was
enormous. I've never heard Heero tell Duo that he loved him. I knew
it by the way he looked at him or when Heero went through extra
trouble for some video game or whatnot Duo wanted, so that he could
see him smile. But Duo doesn't know. He never knew. There is a
difference between following your emotions and *expressing* your
emotions. I could never get Heero to understand that.
"Agreed." I could feel my eyes try to bug out of my head, but I kept
my composure neutral as best as I could, considering the fact that I
was wearing pink pajamas with an ice pack on my head. Sure. Heero
agreed to Duo's bargain, and he was going to stick to it. So now I
will go to earth with Relena only to have Heero breathing down my
neck the entire time. I would have it easier if I surrendered to
White Fang.
"Okay! Now that that business is taken care of, on to better things.
Ha!" Duo jumped up from his seat and did a pose of Austin Powers,
which was pretty weird looking, since he was only wearing his boxers
and his hair was held in a bun by a pencil. I'm gonna have to burn or
bury that tape, burn preferably. But there was something in his voice
that bothered me. Duo's cheer seemed very strained. Maybe it was
Heero. I don't think so, but it could be.
"Oh Quatre! Me and Wu-babe are going to the library and will probably
be gone all day. Heero is off today, and it would be good if you two
went to the mall or something. Both of you need some new clothes. So
Heero, your first mission is to get Quatre laid."
"Duo!" I yelled clear across the colonies, I swear.
Heero didn't help the situation by giving me that cold, non-emotional
glare before he responded, "Mission accepted."
"Oh no, not you too!" I cried.
Wufei quietly stood from his seat, taking his plate to the
dishwasher. While taking the rest of our plates, he commented, "You
know Quatre, Heero never fails a mission."
That did it. I put the ice pack down on the table on top of Duo's.
With the remaining blood that was circulating in my hand, I flipped
off all three of them. I don't do things like that, they are rude and
vulgar to say the least, but an exception will be made this time.
Unfortunately for me, it didn't work. I was awarded with laughter
from all three boys. So much for vulgarity.
"Flippin' us off, Quatre?" Duo snickered. "That's the whole idea
behind the mission silly!"
That's it. That tape is as good as charcoal. "Well, I'm going to take
a shower now. And guys?" I stood up and tucked the chair back under
the table, gaining their attention. All three peered at me, eyebrows
slightly raised. "Do me a favor. Don't kill each other, don't
*attempt*," I had to emphasize this to Heero, "to kill each other,
and don't *break* anything." Again, for Heero.
"We'll try." Duo said with a smirk. I sighed. My house is doomed.
For a brief second I prayed to Allah, asking that I have a home when
I get out of the shower. Once that was done, I left the kitchen for
the indubitable safety of my bedroom.
***
I know why I'm so skinny. It's the stairs. Why I decided to live in
my father's home where it takes eight years to get up a flight of
stairs is beyond me. Must be sentimental. But anyway, I could've
taken the elevator, but from where I was in the house, the walk to
the elevator would take as much time as climbing the stairs, so here
I am, huffing and puffing up my white marble stairway, telling myself
that a trip to the gym every now and then wouldn't kill me.
I finally made it to my room where I promptly closed the door. I
decided against locking it, since if Duo really did want something
from my room, he wouldn't hesitate to break the door down, or the
lock. I know this from personal experience. The bird wasn't at the
window any more, but I figured I'd see him again. This was the second
time I've noticed him in the past two days.
I walked over to my closet where the mirror door easily slid aside to
reveal my wardrobe. The clothes to the left were things that I
usually wore: my slacks, vests, shirts and whatnot. On the right side
was some of the stuff Duo bought me, which were not
very....um....appropriate for daily events.
I selected one of my favorite sweaters, a burnt orange color, which
was thin, and the collar of the sweater came down to around my collar
bone, so it wasn't too warm. Some blue jeans were chosen, along with
my brown hiking boots. I don't know what it is, but I feel more
secure in boots. I can still run in them without them slowing me down
too much, but also I can fight better with them on, and because
they're boots you can do more damage. I know we live in a time of
peace, but there are certain things taught to you that can never be
undone. One of these days I intend to get Duo to sleep without a gun
under his pillow.
Next I went to my drawer and pulled out a pair of socks that I
immediately threw over my shoulder. They landed on top of my bed next
to my clothes. I couldn't decide on whether to wear boxers or briefs
today. I'm usually pretty comfortable with both, but since my jeans
are a little close fitting, I suppose I'll go with the briefs. That's
all I need is to have my boxers riding up and have to constantly dig
them out of my behind.
After that was over, I padded across the blond carpet and into the
bathroom. Wufei has never stepped foot in my bathroom because it's
pink. So what would happen if I painted the refrigerator pink? Too
bad something like that wouldn't stop Duo. Anyway, I don't consider
it pink. It's more of a mauve color. The tile of the walls are mauve,
where the sink is white but has the stains of mauve in it, if that
makes sense. The sink matches the three steps that lead up to the
shower stall, where the shower floor is also tile. I don't have a
curtain, but glass doors do just as well to keep the water from
spilling out. Above the toilet I have a little white cabinet where I
keep my extra towels and such, and that's it for my bathroom. Nothing
extravagant.
I stepped in and surveyed the floor, making sure there weren't any
shards left that might have been missed during the night. I looked up
to see what was left of my mirror. There was a huge hole in the
middle of it, about the size of a basketball, but the rest of the
mirror held on to the wall for dear life.
Standing in front of what remained of the mirror, I unwrapped my hand
and let the gauze fall into the sink. I was fairly surprised. It
didn't look too bad at all. There were numerous cuts, but they were
short and clipped, hardly breaking the skin. The cuts that were of
concern were the ones between my knuckles, where I guess the glass
was smashed in between the bone. Those cuts were still bright red and
sore. Just moving my fingers made them hurt.
I walked over to the shower where I turned on the hot water, testing
it with my wrist. Once the temperature was where I wanted it, I took
off my pj's and tossed them into the hamper that sat beside the sink.
I entered the shower, moving in and out of the hot water until my
body adjusted. When the water completely drenched my hair, I popped
the top of my shampoo bottle and poured some into my palm. This one
was a Paul Mitchell brand, awaphi shampoo. Mostly I just liked the
smell, which was faintly of ginger.
After I conditioned my hair, I started with the rest of my body. I
love showers. They're great, and I don't mean in the sense that if
you don't shower you'll smell like a foot. For me, it gives me time
to sort out all of my thoughts and reflect on whatever is going on,
even daydream. I have complete privacy to be by myself and to be
myself. It's the only true peace I have.
All too soon my peace ended, and I turned off the shower before Heero
decided to come up here and get me out himself. I know that from
experience too. Before I opened the shower door, I felt a cool
breeze whip about me, dancing across the skin on my back and flowing
along my chest, causing the hairs on my arm to rise and my nipples to
harden. Yes, taking a shower is great, but the aftermath is not fun
at all. I'm going to freeze to death. Also, it's kinda weird to find
a breeze going through the bathroom, since the door is closed and
there isn't a window, but all I can do is shrug. Stranger things have
happened. [1]
I crossed my arms in front of my chest in a feeble attempt to keep
warm. My shivering hardly helped the situation. Anyway, it took me
maybe five minutes to open the shower door since I wouldn't unfold my
arms to use my hands. Elbows, I discovered, have several uses:
breaking windows, opening shower doors, closing car doors, nudging
your best friend when he falls asleep during a meeting, you know,
that sort of thing.
I finally got the shower door to open when I felt the cool breeze
swirl around me once again. I ignored it for the time being and
reached for a towel that hung on the wall and began to dry myself
off. Starting with my hair, I squeezed it with the towel to absorb
some of the extra water, then buried my face in it, inhaling the warm
fragrance of Downy. Ah, I love this stuff. As I continued to dry
myself off, I hummed one of the my favorite pieces, the great gate of
Kiev by Mussorgsky, and thought about what we should do at the mall.
I'd like to go to an arcade and play some air hockey, or maybe
skiball and win a Scooby Doo stuffed animal. Mariemaia would love the
stuffed animal.
I was standing on the top step of the shower stall with my hand
against the wall. Bending over, I started to dry off my left foot
when the breeze came one last time, except the whole situation wasn't
right.
Something pinched my cheeks, and I don't mean the ones on my face.
"Ah!" I yelped and bolted up straight, only to slip and fall.
Grabbing at the towel rack, I managed not to crack the back of my
head against the tiled stairs, but the rest of my body wasn't so
lucky. My back made an interesting sound as wet skin collided with
the dry, solid floor, knocking the wind out of me. The towel
fluttered lightly in the air for an instant before landing on my
face. I am stark naked and wet, laying on a cold, hard floor, with a
towel blinding me. I should've stayed in bed.
"Quatre, what the hell are you doing?!" That could only be one
person. Wufei.
"I'm getting out of the shower." I yelled through the towel.
"Since when did getting out of a shower require you shrieking?" He
shouted through the bathroom door.
"Sorry, I didn't realize I was that loud."
"You weren't. I came in to tell you that Duo and I are leaving now,
and won't be back until later on this evening. Of course now I'm
skeptical of leaving you alone since you feel the need to scream when
getting out of a shower."
I rolled my eyes–well–tried to roll my eyes since they were closed,
and sighed. He can certainly rub things in. "Next time I'll make sure
you aren't in the vicinity when I do this."
I heard him snort, then nothing else. He must've left. I'm curious
though as to why, of all people, Duo would go to a library, and even
more curious as to why he would stay there all day. He must have
something up his sleeve. And if that is the case, so does Wufei. Oh
well.
I was tempted to stay there until Heero came up to see what was
taking me so long, but after another minute of freezing my behind
off, I decided that I couldn't wait. I forced myself to a sitting
position, where the towel promptly fell off my face and into my lap.
With shaky hands I pushed myself up to my feet, mindful of the slick
floor, and made it to the safety of a carpeted room.
Once to my bed I laid face down on it, tossing the towel on the
floor, trying to will the pain away from my back and behind. /What
was that?/ My mind kept replaying the incident over and over again,
trying to make sense of what occurred. I know I didn't pinch myself.
One hand was on the wall and the other was drying off my foot. I
don't think I grew a third one. It doesn't make sense. I felt it. Not
only did I feel it, but it HURT. That was a hard pinch. A little
prick or something I could brush off as a muscle spasm, but this? I
don't get it.
There was a gentle knock at my door, and I turned my head to face
it. "Yes?"
"Master Quatre, Master Heero-"
"Abdul, tell him I'll be down in T minus five minutes."
"Yes Master."
I quickly rolled on my back and stood up to get dressed. Soon I was
done and looking at ten of me in the mirror as I brushed my teeth and
combed my hair. In four minutes and forty five seconds I was hurrying
down the stairs with a wallet in one hand and the nitroglycerine
tablets for my heart condition in the other. Heero waited at the door
for me, staring at something in the wall.
"Odin?" I approached him but left about a foot between us in case I
needed to run for some reason. I know that's a cruel thing to think
about him, but this is Heero. He can accidently kill with you with
his hands as much as he can intentionally.
He glanced to me for a brief second before he faced the wall and then
me again. "I'm. Sorry."
I was taken back when the words hit me. "Sorry? For what?"
He glanced back to the wall and stuck his finger in the hole, tracing
the inner edges of it. "I'm sorry for this."
I shook my head and tucked the hair that escaped back behind my
ear. "Don't worry about it. Rashid will have it fixed while I'm away.
I'm afraid the smell of fixing it will aggravate my condition. But
you will make it up to me."
One of his eyebrows raised to his hairline as he crossed his arms in
front of his chest. "Oh really? And how am I making this up to you?"
I tried to smile sweetly and batted my lashes. "Play air hockey with
me."
His arms dropped to his sides while the growl tore away from his
throat. "Air hockey? You know how much I hate that game."
"Come on, Odin! It'll be fun."
"No."
I didn't want to do this, but looks like I have no choice. I started
out with a small pout. Heero just crossed his arms and gave me a hard
look. I pouted some more and added the lost puppy dog eyes, then made
my lip tremble a bit. The hard look he gave me softened, and I moved
in for the kill. "P-p-please play air hockey with me?"
His resolve crumbled like the Berlin wall. I am good. "Fine. But if
you tell anybody-"
"I know I know you'll kill me blah blah blah let's go already!" I
beamed.
Heero only smirked at me then opened the door, ushering me out. Once
the door was firmly closed and locked, we began the twenty foot
journey to the car. "Is Relena going to meet us there? It would be
nice if we could all spend some time together."
Heero seemed to consider this. "I don't know. I can give her a call
once we get to the mall, see if she'll meet us in the food court or
something."
"Yeah. She needs some down time too."
"That would be nice. She would appreciate that, Quatre." He gave me a
genuine smile and mussed my hair. He always does that. I think he has
a thing for blondes, who knows. But anyway, as much as I could talk
about Relena or the weather, I couldn't shake the feeling that we
were being watched. I can feel eyes burning into my back, and the
itching between my shoulder blades was enough to make me want to jump
out of my skin. I tried not to quicken my pace or run back into the
house for Duo's gun. This feeling is driving me nuts.
Suddenly, Heero wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me
close. He tilted his head towards me as he whispered in my ear, "It's
okay, Quatre, I feel it too."
I calmed down immediately and fell into his embrace. It wasn't
romantic by any means, just one of brotherly love. He is my friend,
and wouldn't let anything happen to me. Still, I immediately became
worried for Heero. I felt the steel gaze shift from me to him.
It felt like jealousy.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Does anybody else have this problem? Every time I get ready to
get out of the shower, this breeze comes out of nowhere, and I'm
like `okay, there is NO window, NO air conditioning duct, what the
hell? Just wondering if I am the only one.
© 2001 by KKChitown. Please do not remove without permission.
