A Murder of Crows
Title: A Murder of Crows
Part: 4/12
Author: KKChitown
Status: Final
Category: Fic
Rating: PG
Pairings: None
Warnings: Colorful language, depressed Quatre, ass kicking Duo.
Feedback: Accepted
Disclaimer: Give me a break.
A Murder of Crows: Part 4
By KKchitown
"Step back or I will blow you a new asshole!" You got to love Duo's
way with words.
He did as he was told, and backed away from both of us. Whatever
force was holding me to him broke, and I ran to stand behind Duo. He
slowly started backing up, kicking his heels into my shins forcing me
to back up or get stepped on. He had that gleam in his eye that I've
only seen after he gets out of the cockpit of the Deathscythe. I
started to feel sorry for the guy. Duo was trying to figure out how
many holes to put in him.
"Don't be alarmed. I won't hurt you."
"Oh yeah? Then what are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere,
huh? Going for a walk? It's twenty degrees out here."
"Look, friend, I live out in this area. I am one of the locals
around here. I noticed that the snow down the road has been
disturbed and came up here to investigate....intruders."
"Is that right?" Duo lifted the shotgun higher to make sure he had a
good shot. This guy was not doing too good so far. The next trigger
happy person besides Heero was Duo, the only difference is when Duo
drew his gun, he used it.
"My name is Krahe, and I live down the road. I did not mean to scare
you or your.....companion." I did not like the tone he referred to me
when he said `companion'. He stopped looking at Duo and looked at me
through Duo, like he was made out of glass.
"Look `friend' I don't care what your name is or where you came from,
and if I don't like your answers, you die understand? Quatre, in the
house. Now."
With that I backed into the house, my eyes never leaving the sight of
the boy standing there, still smiling, and Duo's back to me holding
the shot gun. Once inside I shut the door. I didn't want to lock
it, in case Duo needed to get back in for some reason or another.
I stepped further back from the door, about a foot, looking at it
like I would find answers in the wood. That was him. He was in the
water with me, and in my dream. That is not possible, especially
since Duo said no one else was out them with them.
"Oh no, please no no no no no." I can't tell you who I was pleading
to, just that I was suddenly overwhelmed with fear. This is not the
least bit logical, but I know now that what I am seeing is true. I
felt his touch. I felt his kiss. He was real.
What scared me the most was the fact that it was completely quiet.
Duo and the boy....no...Krahe? Yes, that was his name, Krahe, were
still outside. I don't hear them talking anymore, and at the same
time I did not want to open the door to see what they were doing. I
assume still standing out there, but not for long because Duo didn't
have a coat on. He was just wearing a black sweatshirt and jogging
pants, with his military boots on. His hair wasn't even braided
yet. If he didn't hurry, he would start hyperventilating. Hurry
Duo, please hurry.
BANG.
I jumped at the loud noise. It was totally quiet until then.
BANG.
There it was again. I could feel my eyes widen at what I knew had
happened but I didn't want to believe it. He saved my life, and
probably came up here to see how I was doing, and I allowed him to be
slaughtered. I will never forgive myself.
The door violently flew open, Duo charging his way to the kitchen to
grab his coat. He brushed hard against me, causing me to stumble a
little bit. It didn't matter though, because I couldn't take my eyes
off the mess before me. He was shot twice; once in the head, or what
was left of it, and once in the chest. The blood was staining the
snow a dark scarlet, but strangely, I didn't feel any fear from him,
or pain.
Duo could be heard stomping his way back to where I was standing. He
did a once over on me again, and went outside to clean up
the `mess'. Grabbing the arm of the corpse, he started to drag the
body to a nearby tree to bury it. I closed the door behind him and
harshly took off my coat, allowing it to fall to the floor. As if my
feet were on fire, I ran upstairs, trying to run away from
everything; the war, the others, Trowa, but where could I go? Once in
my room I slammed the door and jumped onto the bed. I snatched a
pillow from under the neatly folded comforter and held it against my
chest like it was a lifeline, rocking myself back and forth. Looking
at the wall, I could see that the hole has been fixed. That was
fast. Duo is really quick. Then I turned my attention to the now
familiar tapping against the window pane of the missing crow that was
in question.
I wish I was a crow. How simple and clean their lives were. They
did not have to worry about war, about the innocent people that they
killed, about being discovered for what you really are and being
killed, about an inheritance that will forever rule your life. I
envy you, crow. I do. I even envy you Krahe, that you now know true
peace.
I buried my face into the pillow and cried.
***
I woke up, realizing that I had cried myself to sleep. It was almost
night now, maybe around seven in the evening. The crow was still
perched next to the window, watching me. At that point I didn't care
about anything. The world could have stopped turning, it would have
made no difference to me. The guilt was beginning to be too much. I
thought I was stronger than this, but I guess I was wrong.
Sighing deeply, I was going to allow myself to fall back asleep, when
a hand gently grabbed my ankle. I turned my head towards the foot of
the bed to see Wufei.
"Wufei!"
He just snorted, smiling slyly. Then his expression turned serious.
"We still couldn't reach the carriers. OZ is spreading further out
looking for us. Some residents outside the city of Prague reported a
vehicle stolen within the past two days, but I doubt they'll come way
out here. In any case we believe the carriers are safe, and we will
try again later on tonight. Heero and Duo will be going."
"No. Duo and I should go. Heero hasn't gotten a chance to rest
since we've been here. You three stay here, I'll go."
"Even after the incident this morning?"
I was taken back. "Duo told you, huh?"
"He told all three of us. In fact, they're out trying to find any
small towns between here and Wiesbaden. As far as I know, that's the
nearest city for a hour or two, and someone just happened to walk up
here? Don't think so. What's even more interesting, Duo can't find
the body."
"What?!"
"Yeah, he said he buried it underneath that one tree a few meters
from the house, but when we went there, it wasn't there. I think Duo
forgot or-"
"No, I saw him heading for that tree, and I saw him bury him there.
Duo is telling the truth."
Wufei nodded and added a slight "Aa."
I turned my vision from Wufei to the mysterious creature I feel is
beckoning me to him. Wufei's voice brought me back to reality.
"Quatre?"
"Yes?"
He licked his lips, eyes down, I think trying to say whatever he was
going to say as gently as possible. "I know you think that what Duo
did was....extreme. There wasn't any honor in it. But you have to
understand that we have to protect the missions, no matter what, even
if it means our lives. You know that. Don't tell me you are that
weak."
I was that weak. I can sacrifice myself, but I can't allow others to
sacrifice for me. I can't live with that. Krahe was sacrificed for
something he had no knowledge of, because he was in the wrong place
at the wrong time. I will never, forgive myself.
"Fine then."
Wufei got up from the bed and walked to the door. I could tell he
was mad at me, even though he was trying his best not to show it. He
didn't like it when one of us was upset either, but at the same time
he was frustrated as much as I was. The fact that we are gundam
pilots and that we are getting beaten out by snow was not productive,
nor the death any soldier would want for themselves. We have
survived every obstacle, to lose to a snowstorm? Or to freeze to
death in a broken down station wagon? No. But then Wufei said
something that brought my worst fears out.
"So how did you fix the hole? There isn't any plaster here."
"What do you mean? Duo fixed it."
"No, he said you did. He saw it when he came in here to check on
you, but he didn't want to wake you up, maybe because you would be
upset."
With that, Wufei and I just stared at each other at a loss for
words. This was VERY bad. If Duo and I didn't fix it, and I know
the rest of us could not have done it, then who did?
Any anger that Wufei had at that moment drained from his body. He
calmly took off his shoes, sat himself on the bed, folded his legs to
lean on his knees, and hunched forward nearly touching my forehead to
his.
"You better start from the beginning, Winner."
So I told him everything. He already knew that I saw the kid on the
pond, so I explained what happened under water and the crows and how
Krahe came this afternoon. How that ended he also knew. But when I
mentioned the crows, his expression changed a bit.
"I don't believe in ghost stories." I don't know if Wufei said that
to convince himself or me.
"I don't either, but how would you explain all of this."
"I can't say, but one thing is for sure, Duo was right about those
cheetos. When we came back, there must have been fifty crows
outside."
"What?!" Please don't say Duo was right. I'll never hear the end of
it.
"They're all over the place, all of them-surrounding-your-room." He
slowed down with every word, realizing that something is very wrong
with this picture. There are crow carvings everywhere in the house
and on the furniture. All of it was black. Even the bathtub had the
shape of crows in the marble. This did not add up. There are clues
everywhere, we would just have to find them. What scared me most was
what he said next.
"I am at a loss on what to do, Quatre."
Now I was VERY worried. Wufei didn't know what to do, and he
*admitted* it? No. If Heero did not have a clue on what to do, then I
will go outside and bury myself. There will not be any point in
fighting.
The door slammed shut, rattling the house a bit. They were back.
From the sound of it, someone was upset, most likely Duo, since he
and I are the only one's that seem to show our emotions. Wufei slid
off my bed, and put his shoes back on. Stretching his arms above his
arms, he laid out a plan.
"Okay, when Heero and Trowa settle down some, I will explain to them
what you told me. Then I will mention to Heero that you and Duo will
go, and I will tag along."
"You will?" That surprised me. Wufei was coming with me and Duo? If
he wasn't threatening to kill Duo then he was telling him to shut up.
He must have known what I was thinking, because he answered my
question. "The three of us should go together. You and Duo are more
aware of what's going on here than Heero or Trowa. Besides, if you
want to go, it might attract some attention from your `friends'
outside and backup might be needed."
"Sounds good." Usually, I'm the brains of the operation, but I'm glad
Wufei took charge. To be honest I did not want to deal with this.
There is so much I don't understand. Why is he after me? I must
have something he wants or did to him in a previous life, not that I
believe in reincarnation but with the way things are looking now,
I'll believe in the tooth fairy if it comes to that.
Wufei moved towards me and lightly squeezed my shoulder. He then
retreated from my room to talk with the others. He didn't get far, I
could hear him talking to someone in the hallway outside my door.
After almost a minute, the door creaked slowly open, Duo resting his
body against the frame. He wasn't angry, but he wasn't happy
either. He was perfectly neutral. I wish I had my camera, he isn't
like this very often.
"So, how are your nuts?" With that, he bursted out laughing. At
least someone was laughing.
"They are fine. How about you cat?"
I couldn't answer that. I had a terrible feeling, and it was eating
me up inside. Whatever it was, I wanted to throw it on the floor and
stomp it to pieces.
I slid off my bed, casually walking over to Duo. We just stood there
face to face for a moment, staring into each other's eyes. I could
see how innocent and pure he thought I was, and I wanted him to see
how important he was to me as a friend. I could feel the tears
forming behind my eyes, and I was failing miserably at preventing
them from rolling down my cheeks. I didn't want Duo to see me cry.
"Cat?" He managed to squeak that out. We were both on the verge of
tears, of course he wouldn't cry, because boys don't cry. I guess
I'm a girl.
"Oh, what the hell." With that he grabbed me and pulled me close. I
returned the hug, feeling like nothing else mattered. Duo will blow
someone to bacon bits to protect me. I understood killing for the
colonies, we were all fighting for them. But if all else fails we
have each other, and that's more than enough.
"Mission accepted." He pulled me back, straightened my hair and
patted me on the head. I wiped whatever tears were surfacing from
behind my eyes on the sleeve of my sweatshirt, which is very
undignified I know but what can I say? And smiled at Duo, waiting for
our next move.
"We leave in a hour."
"Yes sir!" I gave him a very poorly done OZ salute as I stomped my
foot standing at attention. He gave an even worse `at ease', with
his nose high in the air. Spinning around on his heels, he grabbed
his hair and threw it back over his shoulder like a cape, doing the
greatest impersonation of Treize that can ever be done. He proceeded
to walk stiffly down the stairs. At the last four, he slipped and
fell on his face. Ouch. He has to have a hard head. After laughing
at him, which couldn't be helped, honest, I stuffed all of my
belongings into my duffel bag. We were getting away from here. The
sooner, the better.
***
I managed to squeeze my duffel bag in between the pringles and the
infamous cheetos. With all of Duo's junk here, it's a wonder how any
of our things got here in the first place. Trowa had managed to talk
Wufei into letting him go in his place, so he was going to sit in the
back seat and sleep while Duo drove and I was on watch. I couldn't
contain myself. I was blushing already and Trowa wasn't even in the
car yet. Allah, help me.
I jumped in the passenger seat and put on my seatbelt. I have to
focus. Its dark and there aren't any street lights, so I have to
look for OZ, crows, witches, anything. Speaking of crows, I counted
to seventy two of them as I was trying to find a spot for my bag.
They all managed to fit on that little tree a few meters from the
house. They watched every move I made intensely, but I didn't care.
Soon, we would be leaving and they could stare into space or drift
off into never never land, so there. I like that fairy tale.
Soon afterwards Duo got in on the drivers seat and closed the door.
He turned to me and smiled. That sent me off on a rant like nothing
ever done before. I'm telling you, in ten seconds, I managed to tell
him in detail exactly what Wufei told me Trowa said to get him to
switch places with him, the argument that they had over who was going
to take which gun, and how Trowa convinced Heero to let us take the
laptop. I thought I had done Duo proud.
But Duo still smiled sweetly, like when you smile to a child so as
not to frighten them. Something is WAY out of kilter here. There is
nothing sweet or innocent about Duo. Sure, he always laughs and is
light hearted, but the smile he displayed did not belong on his face.
"So, your name is Quatre."
My breath caught in my throat. That voice wasn't Duo's.
© 2000 by KKChitown. Please do not remove without permission.
