Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Back In Your Own Backyard ❯ Chapter 2

Back In Your Own Backyard - Chapter 2
~There's a magic only two can tell
(In the dark night)
Ultra Violet is a wicked spell
The stars and planets taking shape
A stolen kiss has come to late
(In the moonlight)
Carry on, keep romancing
Carry on, carry on dancing...~

- Savage Garden, Carry On Dancing



**2 Months Prior**

"Quatre-niisan!" Kelly, the blonde boy's 4-year-old (and only) younger sister, zipped down the hallway in typical speeding toddler fashion. Giggling pseudo-insanely, the small child clutched the large white paper in her hands tighter as she reached her big brother's room, knocking erratically. Her summons received no apparent answer, and she banged louder, only to receive the same treatment over again. Where was her niisan? Kelly's eyebrows narrowed in the usual toddler exaggerated confusion, and she turned, lumbering down the hallway towards her sister Ireia's room, determined to locate her big brother. Sometimes Quatre- niisan hid out in Ireia-neesan's room, after all.

"Ireia-neesan?" the child questioned tentatively, pushing the partially open door further in. She found her big sister lying on her bed, reading, and Kelly smiled a devil-may-care grin, launching herself up onto the bed with an unearthly shriek of pure joy. Her big sister smiled at the girl's antics and set her book down.

"Kelly-chan. What have you got there?"

"A present! For you and niisan!" the little girl thrust it into her sister's hands. "Here! It's a drawing!" she smiled brightly as Ireia took the picture and studied it closely, gaze lighting upon the simple sketch.

It was a drawing, in brightly colored marker, of Ireia, Kelly and Quatre. Ireia herself was in the foreground, limbs one thin yellow line, her dress with an outline of fusia. She was holding a small figure that Ireia guessed to be Kelly, the small child showing an almost maniacal crimson grin and arms flailing wildly. Quatre was grinning in the background, and, now that Ireia was actually taking a closer look, she could make out a figure in gray next to her little brother, arm looped casually around his waste. Puzzled, she looked up at Kelly and pointed to this mysterious figure.

"Who's this?"

"Oh, that's niisan's Bond, silly! Don't you 'member Papa talking about him prob'ly gettin bonded 'cause he was special?" Kelly stated, plopping herself into a more comfortable spot on the bed and tugging at her oddly pointed ear, evidence that she was only part Sidhe, the Irish term for what the Americans call "Elf", or "Faerie". Of course, those of the Fae kind didn't particularly *like* being called Fairies.

A vaguely concerned look crossed Ireia's face for an instant, before it vanished in wake of a slight smirk. Setting the paper down, she carefully reached over and lifted Kelly off the bed, setting her gently on the ground, then resolutely handing her down the drawing. "Here. Go show this to Quatre now, okay?"

"She can't, sister dearest." came the smug reply from her doorway. Glancing up, she saw the figure of her older sister, Rila, resting casually against the doorframe, long white-blonde hair hanging into and concealing her eyes. "He's gone."

-----

"You have your orders."

"Yes, lady."

"Do you know where you will find him? He must not be able to escape, at any cost."

"Yes, lady."

"His presence threatens my future, you know. You must not fail me, or any of the others."

"No, lady. I will not fail you."

"Good. Go now, and do not return until your task has been completed. Make sure he knows that death is the only way out of his journey, and then grant him that one small relief, won't you?"

"Yes, lady."

-----

"You know what you must do?"

"Of course."

"You must not let him escape. You will find him?"

"Yes, lord."

"Of course you will. You have never failed in a job before, have you?"

"No, lord."

"Good. Make sure your task is completed quickly. I want to hear no disturbances about it."

"Yes, lord."

-----

"Father!" Ireia burst into her father's elaborate room, causing the tall, stately figure to turn towards her. "Quatre's missing!"

"What?!" Milan countered incredulously. "Where could the boy have gone?"

"I don't know." She stated, casting an uneasy glance at the dark-robed figure next to her father. This member of her father's hired group of assassins was always so... *silent* in her presence, though she was pretty sure he talked to Kelly and her father. "He wasn't in his room when Kelly went looking for him, and now we can't find him anywhere."

"Send out a search party at once. He couldn't have gotten very far."

Ireia nodded and left, closing the door behind her. When he was completely sure she was gone, Milan turned to the dark shadow next to him.

"Apollyon."

"Yes, sir"

-----

**Present**

Duo whizzed by a struggling Quatre, laughing as the blonde sent him a vexed look. He flailed his arms wildly, leaning forward and trying to keep his tentative balance.

"Duo, wait up!"

And failing miserably. As Hirde shot by as well, Quatre's attention was brought off his own endeavors, and he tipped back, his eyes snapping shut in anticipation, only to feel a warm pair of hands grab hold of his shoulders and steady him. He tilted his head and gazed in gratitude up at Trowa, smiling his shy smile. At this angle, Quatre could view under Trowa's fall of reddish-brown hair, and actually see both of the taller youth's emerald eyes. He thought he caught a glimpse of a smile on Trowa's face before the taller youth let go of him.

Quatre had been in Tokyo for a week, and he couldn't have been happier. There had been no more attempts on his life by Dorothy, and the presence he had felt that night after the water balloon fight had almost been forgotten - almost. There *had* been a few times that week that Quatre had thought he had felt the power again...

But today was not a day for worries. With the sun bright, the sky a cloudless blue, and school out for the weekend, today was a day to relax and enjoy one's good fortune in life. So Duo had suggested they go roller- blading down the streets of Tokyo, and Quatre had borrowed a pair of skates from Heero, who happened to have two, and the group now found themselves outside, enjoying the day. Unfortunately, Quatre had forgotten one little thing- what with all the other duties he had had to learn during his childhood, he had never learned to skate. Duo had sent him an incredulous look at this statement, and had nearly opened his big mouth when Hirde beat him to the punch, offering to help Quatre as they went skating. The blonde had accepted her offer, but once the group actually made it out onto the streets, the girl had promptly forgotten her promise in lieu of Duo's taunting and teasing, and Trowa had become Quatre's unvoiced assistant.

Not that the blonde minded all that much, for it gave him an excellent chance to interact with Trowa, even if there wasn't a whole lot of conversation being put forth.

Duo spun around and skated back towards the two, an 'I-Know-Something-You- Don't-Know' look alighting upon his features.

"Hey, Q-man!" the braided boy yelled, reaching the blonde and pulling him suddenly away from Trowa. "C'mon! I got somethin' to show ya!" Duo tugged a slightly protesting Quatre along, Heero pulling up beside the two with a smirk on his face.

-----

It was a statue, but it was also much more than that. It towered over Quatre's head, the majestic figure of a woman with incredibly long hair and piercing eyes. Water flowed from the bowl she held in her right hand, as well as from the pedestal at her feet, into a large tile circle, with room on the edge for visitors to sit and rest. The lady put out such a noble air, yet her face was that of sadness, of sorrow running deep.

Hirde was already sitting and hurriedly removing her skates, and Duo motioned to Quatre as the others did the same. "Hurry up already! We don't got all day, ya know!" he grinned and slapped the blonde on the back as Quatre complied.

As Quatre stripped his second skate off, Hirde had already finished and flashed a grin at the others, jumping up. "Race ya!" she called, turning and sprinting off. Heero was not far behind, followed closely by Duo, who protested at Hirde's lead but didn't seem to mind all that much. Quatre and Trowa pulled in last, the taller youth waiting for Quatre as the boy's shorter legs kept him from quite catching up to the other three. Hirde, mostly due to her head start, reached the place they were heading to (whatever it was) first, laughing as she spun in erratic circles across the square marked off in 4 inch holes in the ground. An instant later, Duo and Heero caught up to her, the former sputtering as water splashed across his face. The source of the liquid was the holes, as they began to spout water, some pillars dying or starting up in turn, the pattern creating a scene in which a beautiful dance seemed to be mirrored by the airborne droplets emitted into the sky.

Quatre had paused to admire the beauty of the picture, but was suddenly jerked forward by a laughing Duo, into the resounding spray. With a slight push, the blonde found himself stumbling straight toward one of the watery towers, arms flailing a bit wildly as his body met with the pressure of the water. He heard Hirde laugh as he stepped back and wiped the water from his eyes, blinking rapidly to clear his vision. Suddenly, he whirled and shoved blindly, hoping to catch Duo off guard, but instead pushing an unsuspecting Hirde into the nearest fountain, where she landed unceremoniously on her butt, and got the strangest look on her face.

The girl muttered a, "*That's* an interesting feeling," and jumped up again, Quatre figuring out why as the fountain was still spouting water, and Hirde's butt had served as a plug for an instant. He laughed and grabbed hold of her hands, pulling her into a crazy and erratic swirling dance through the spouting fountains, droplets of water sparkling in a rainbow of colors as they seemed to hang in the air for an eternity. His laughter must have been infectious, for Hirde soon joined him, and out of the corner of his eye Quatre spotted Duo grinning and practically guffawing as the indigo eyed boy spread his arms wide and began to spin in wandering circles much like Hirde had done earlier, his braid flinging out behind him like a living thing, slicing through any nearby fountains shooting up.

Heero seemed content to simply stand in the wake of a fountain and inconspicuously watch Duo cavorting around like a small child- that is, until said braided youth made his way over to the quiet boy and seized Heero's hands, swinging him around once before letting go and sending Heero sprawling into an unsuspecting Quatre and Hirde. Hirde jumped up immediately, yelled a, "What'd you do THAT for?" for good measure, then rushed straight at Duo, eyes glittering mischievously. Quatre was totally unprepared, however, when, instead of getting payback on the longhaired boy, Hirde turned and shoved a surprised Trowa into him. The blonde was pushed off balance and went crashing to the ground, pulling Trowa with him, where the tall youth landed -*gulp*- on top of him.

Waitaminute - since when was he nervous about something like THIS? Sure, he liked Trowa and all, but-

-but what?

Quatre chose to ignore that thought, instead grasping the helping hand Trowa lent him once the taller boy stood up. He flashed a smile of gratitude at Trowa before shoving him back into Hirde.

And thus began an all-out, full-scale water war.

-----

For the second time in less than a week, Quatre was soaked from head to toe. At least he could find some comfort in the fact that the other four were as wet as he was.

Fully tired out from the strenuous day, the group made its way back to the fountain where their skates were. Quatre couldn't help but spare another glance at the regal figure of the woman in the center of the structure. It was almost as if she was calling to him, through some unnoticed part of his mind. The gentle sound of the water pouring from her ceramic bowl seemed to beckon to the blonde, and, unnoticed to the others who were already securing their blades, Quatre reached out a hand, straining slightly to reach the figure. Almost there... He could almost touch it...

That familiar, dark presence flared up in the trees nearby, and Quatre jerked back just as his fingers brushed the statue, but it wasn't soon enough to fully escape the blue sparks that flared up from the contact point. They burned! He winced and stuck his fingers in his mouth, losing his balance just as Duo said, "Hey, what's wro-" but the blonde didn't hear the rest of the question, as he fell with a great crash into the fountain.

Well, at least he was already wet.

-----

Monday night found the group, minus Hirde, having dinner at Trowa's house. The girl of the group had apologized profusely, but she claimed to have a previously arranged date with someone named Solo. Duo had teased her to no end about that, until Heero had silently reached down and yanked on the longhaired boy's braid, quieting him down instantly. All this had left Quatre a bit baffled, but, perhaps very wisely, he chose not to ask.

Duo had been quite persistent when it came to the happenings of the previous weekend, but his will had been contested by Quatre's own, who refused to admit it was anything but his own carelessness. The longhaired boy was convinced that it was a sneaky attack by Dorothy on Quatre's life, and Quatre secretly agreed with him, but he did not mention sensing the dark presence again, nor did he outwardly agree with Duo, for, though the others had offered to help him, Quatre knew some things would have to be handled by him and him alone. Duo had been a bit quieter than usual since then, almost as if he was contemplating something.

Trowa's older sister met the three at the door.

"Hi guys," she smiled, eyes alighting upon the addition to their usual group. "Ah, and you must be Quatre. It's nice to finally meet you. I'm Catherine Bloom, Trowa's older sister. I've heard so much of you from tall, dark and silent over there." She smiled and gestured for the small group to come in.

Dinner was nothing fancy, mainly stir-fry and rice, plus some okanomiyaki Duo had brought along, but it was enough to feed them all. Much to Duo's delight, the sake flowed freely, and the laughter was all but scarce. It seemed Heero was there mainly to keep Duo from making a fool of himself, for the sullen-looking youth neither talked much nor ate much.

Quatre caught himself glancing around many times during the course of their meal. The walls were so thin! Compared to what he was used to, they may as well be made of paper. They were probably amazingly durable, though.

He found that out up-close-and-personal soon after.

"Hey, Quatre!" Duo exclaimed once everyone had finished their meal. "You bring those clothes I gave you?" At the blonde's negative, Duo looked him over. "Aw, I think what you're wearing will do, anyway." The chestnut haired boy jumped up, circling around the table to haul Quatre to his feet. "C'mon. I got something to show ya," he grinned and led the blonde down a hallway to another sliding door, the others following closely. Behind lay a flat expanse of... well, nothing, really. It was just an empty room.

"What's this?"

"This... is the training area." Duo announced with an overdone sweep of his hand. "It's where Tro practices his martial arts stuff, and why I gave you those clothes." He winked and walked further into the room. "Why don't you guys have a match? You against Trowa and me against Heero, huh? I've been waiting to have a rematch with Heero ever since he ground my head into the ground that first time." Duo winced at the memory, still grinning. Behind him, Quatre saw Heero smirk before grabbing hold of Duo's braid and dragging him to the center of the room. The blonde smiled at the halfhearted protesting the indigo-eyed boy started, before realizing that Heero had already let go of his braid. It seemed Duo could find hints to romantic feelings in all his friends, but couldn't see them when they were right in front of his face. Of course, the fact that Quatre could sometimes sense emotions helped him to figure it out, but still...

Duo and Heero had already begun; the chestnut haired youth starting out by rushing straightforward at his sparring partner. Heero easily dodged it, of course; he landed one sharp blow to Duo's face as he whirled around. In retaliation, Duo swept a kick towards Heero's legs, attempting to knock him to the ground. The failure of that move seemed to be expected, as he swung one carefully aimed punch at Heero's stomach - which was blocked by the Prussian eyed boy's iron grip. In one swift, fluid motion, Duo was flipped over, landing solidly on his back, with Heero on top of him holding his wrists to the wooden floor.

It was finished.

Duo rolled his eyes and sat up, cursing. "Shoulda figured you'd still beat the shit outta me," He accepted the helping hand Heero offered, standing up with a slight groan.

"Hn. You didn't perform at maximum efficiency," Heero noted.

Duo shrugged, "So I was careless. Next time I'll get you, Heero Yuy," he replied playfully. It seemed to Quatre that Duo blew off Heero's remark too quickly, but he had no time to ponder it, as the braided boy was suddenly in front of him, urging the blonde to have a match with Trowa, "just to see if you're as good as you claim."

-----

He had been beaten.

In shock, Quatre took the offered hand. Trowa had actually beaten him. He, who had been trained practically from birth! Of course, it had been a close match till the end, but... If he had only not been mesmerized by the look in those emerald green eyes for that one second! That, for sure, had been his downfall. Really, though, how could someone *not* notice how Trowa's eyes seemed to blaze when he was concentrating really hard? Or how nimble the quite boy was? Or how he could bend in so many ways...?

No. Bad Quatre. Don't think like that. This was not the time to be thinking such things.

Duo was congratulating him. Quatre shook himself out of his trance in time to hear the longhaired boy exulting in how well he did against Trowa. He smiled and brushed his blue jeans and Linkin Park T-shirt, courtesy of Duo, of any dust or dirt, then followed the others to where Catherine called them for a desert of flavoured ice.

After the sweet treat, Quatre found himself wandering the house, by chance coming upon a room filled from end to end with books, much to his delight. Ever since he was a little child, he had loved to read. Books took him away, away from the real world and all his real problems, away from the noise of everyday life, and just away from everything. From fantasy books to science fiction, from mystery to horror, Quatre enjoyed many kinds of books. His favorite series was most likely the Xanth novels, by Piers Anthony [1], but his all-time favorite novel would have to be possibly the best ghost story Quatre had ever read: The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson [2]. The psychological thriller was by far the best overall story he had seen. The characters were interesting and fun, ranging from skeptical Luke to Theo, most definitely a woman of the world. However, the person Quatre most connected with was Eleanor, Nell for short. The woman at first seemed so timid and shy, locked in her own self- constructed shell, but in fact she possessed a very strong spirit underneath the fragile exterior, and that's what drew Quatre to her especially; her inner strength.

Aha! And Trowa had it! He smiled and took it off the shelf. It had been so long since he had read it...

He jumped, startled, as Duo bounded noisily into the room.

"Hey, Q! Whatcha got there?"

The blonde turned the cover so it was facing his friend. "Arguably the best psychological thriller ever written," he explained. "It's also my favorite book ever." He couldn't help but grin at the silly way that sounded when said aloud, but Duo didn't seem to notice.

"Ah, cool. Maybe Tro'll let ya borrow it, huh?" the longhaired boy winked and snatched the book from Quatre's hands, turning and sprinting out of the room. "Hey, Tro! Q-man wants to borrow one of your books!"

"Duo, come back here with that!"

The braided boy laughed and continued running, his long rope of hair trailing behind him. He led Quatre through most of the house before coming upon the others again and throwing the book onto the table in front of Trowa with much ado. Quatre skidded up behind him, almost running face first into his back, but stopping himself just in time. Or maybe not -it would've served the joker right for them both to have fallen to the floor in a tangle of arms and legs.

Pause.

Oh. Bad, rampant, raging hentai mind.

Trowa reached for the book, whose cover was flat against the surface of the table. Catherine, however, beat him to it, snatching it up just out of his reach.

"Oh, *this* one! I'd forgotten we had it. It was Mother's favorite." She smiled and handed the book back to Quatre, who unconsciously almost cuddled it to his chest. Geez, protective much? The blonde smiled gratefully at Catherine, and Trowa stood up, motioning for Quatre to follow him.

"If you're interested in those types of books, I think we have some others you may like."

-----

He had listened to drums off somewhere in the black. He had slid into dark caverns to feel tarantulas and snakes running over or striking his boots; he had once awakened with a moccasin slithering out from under his top blanket; he had mocked at curses; he had once taken a cane knife from a drunken native-

A sigh.

"Why?"

A whimpering complaint.

"Where?"

Fear's sadistic fingers reached in and found his heart and aped its regular rhythm to send his blood coursing in his throat. Just the moan of the wind under a door and the protest of the curtain and the rattle of the sash and the moon's cold blue light upon the bottom of his bed-

The door opened slowly and the curtain streamed straight out as the wind leaped into the room from the window. The door banged and the wall shivered. And a white shape was moving slowly towards him on soundless feet and a white face gleamed dully above a glittering knife. Nearer and nearer-

-----

A hand on his shoulder.

Quatre jerked upwards, crying out in fear and surprise.

But it was Duo, grinning knowingly at him. The blonde set down his book, turning to face his friend with a pout upon his features. "What do you want? You know you... startled me."

"Oh, I think I did more than 'startle', Q. I can see you're all hyped up from the adrenaline rush of.. hm... fear, is it?" he smirked as Quatre glanced guiltily at one of the books he had borrowed from Trowa. It was entitled, appropriately enough, 'Fear', by L. Ron Hubbard [3]. And Quatre was drinking it in like water to a man dying of thirst. He loved to scare himself.

Silly. Most everyone does. That was why the horror genre was so popular. Though he had been surprised to learn that Trowa had or knew of so many ghost- and demon-filled novels. The martial artist just didn't seem to Quatre like the type to stay up late at night, enraptured with devils and demons, jumping in fright at the merest sound for hours afterward.

It took all types, he supposed. Especially since he had thought Duo for the more action-packed stuff, but instead the longhaired boy had expressed a delight in fantasy novels, whenever he had the chance to read them. Which wasn't much, considering he was managing his own restaurant, not to mention spending so much time with him- Quatre was instantly stabbed with guilt at distracting Duo from his dream. Particularly since he didn't know how long he'd actually be staying here in Tokyo.

He felt the guilt well up inside of him. He really shouldn't have stayed. If Dorothy hadn't appeared at that particular moment, he would have been long gone before Duo even knew he left.

But sometimes Fate likes to try her hand at the game of life, and things go awry. Whether for good or bad, one wouldn't know until much later.

Duo settled himself next to Quatre, the couch tilting downward as he did so.

"So..."

Strange. Duo was a bit tongue-tied, it seemed. It was definitely a side of the longhaired boy Quatre hadn't seen, or even glimpsed, before.

"So..." he replied in turn, waiting for Duo to continue. He wasn't disappointed, but it was several moments before the dark silence was broken.

"So. About that strange energy that's been following us around for the past couple of days."

So indeed. "Mm-hmm?"

"... You know anything about it?"

"You felt it too?"

"Mm,"

"Oh. Not really. It seems familiar, but-... Have you told anyone else about it?"

"No. Haven't gotten the chance. You?"

"Nope."

"Okay."

"Good."

And with that, Duo stood, stretching and yawning. "Well, I think I need to get myself to bed. G'night, Q."

"'Night."

Curiouser and curiouser.

Well, back to reading.

-----

Laughing, Duo fell into the water with a great splash, courtesy of a push from Quatre.

Unlike the others, this soaking was deliberate.

Quatre giggled and joined Duo in the deeper end of the pool, making sure to accidentally-on purpose dowse his indigo-eyed friend with water as he entered. Hirde had once again joined their group for another rousing outing, Duo teasing her about not inviting her boyfriend. The shorthaired girl had just blushed and whapped him upside the head in response.

Heero and Trowa were here, too, but, being the antisocial reclusives they were, both had chosen to lounge on the cheap chairs the pool place provided.

It seemed Duo would have none of that, however. With a mischievous grin, he turned to wink at Quatre, before creating a tsunami of a killer splash- wave- straight at tall, dark and silent times two. Trowa had had the good sense to position himself just out of Duo's splashing range, but it seemed like Heero was just waiting for a reason to come in after Duo, for he jumped up almost before the chilling water touched his skin. Duo backed up quickly, turning to swim away, all the while calling an, "Aw, shit, man! Don't kill me, Heero!" over his shoulder. Quatre found the whole thing funny. Duo must have known what his actions would cause, of course. He just seemed to love to find a reason to be near Heero, although Quatre wondered if such thinking was on an unconscious level of Duo's mind.

As Hirde made her way over to try and 'rescue' her friend from Heero's wrath, Quatre aquamarine eyes traveled to Trowa, who lay basking underneath the golden sun. Clad only in a forest green swimsuit.

Gulp.

He had to forcibly remove his eyes from the sight, dropping his head underwater to hide his blush, the hushed conversation he and Duo had had on the way to the pool rushing to the front of his mind.

~"...you like him... don't you?"~

~Blush.~

~"...should tell..."~

~"...noticed...?"~

~"...can tell... no way... talk to him... understand..."~

Yeah, right. *He* didn't understand it himself, so how in the world could Trowa begin to understand?

~"... worth a try..."~

Damn. Duo was right, of course. He just didn't want to face the proverbial music so soon. It wasn't like he could just waltz up to the taller boy and produce a conversation along the lines of, "I'm gay! I love you! I love you too! SNOG!" [4]

Ew. That was... not normal. Where did *that* come from?

He sighed and lifted his head for a breath of air. Quatre would contemplate just NOT coming up for air at all, but he doubted it would really get him out of this mess. With his luck, Duo would follow him into the afterlife as some sort of bat-winged creature and demand that he confess to Trowa, or prepare to be poked into a second death by way of his sharp black prong-thing!

Another one. WHERE were these ideas stemming from? Was he oxygen deprived or something?

He was evading the inevitable, and he knew it. But it was so much easier to evade that to confront.

Quatre caught Duo's eye, and the chestnut haired boy gave him an encouraging wink, before being dunked by Heero again.

Oh well. Here goes nothing. He pulled himself out of the pool with small effort, making his meandering way towards Trowa, who now had his eyes closed. Oh, he hoped Trowa wasn't asleep. Or maybe he hoped he was. Whatever.

The blonde leaned his arms on the top of the reclining chair, trying to decide whether to wake Trowa if he really WAS asleep, when the emerald eyes slid open to stare up at him.

Well, so much for that.

"H-Hey."

"Hi."

He was suddenly nervous.

Scratch that, he had already BEEN nervous; now he was a wreck.

Breath, Quatre. Just breath.

He turned and sat suddenly in a lawn chair next to Trowa. "Trowa, I... have somethin...¦ I need to confess..."

"I know."

The head of blonde hair jerked up in surprise. WHAT?

Screw it, he was asking if it killed him. "What...?"

"I'm gay."

Oh, god. If the word "SNOG" was inserted anywhere NEAR the end of this conversation, Quatre would kill something. Literally. And he wasn't even a killer.

"You... are?"

"Yeah."

Well. *That* was a relief. He smiled, and noticed Trowa had sat up. When had they gotten so close to each other?

No matter. He could feel himself begin to lean towards the taller boy, his eyes sliding shut as Trowa did the same-

He almost kissed cold steel as a sword was inserted right between their faces; his eyes snapped open as he jerked back.

"Freeze, halfling."

Dorothy!

He jumped up, falling into his fighting stance. She wasn't going to catch him off guard this time, not if he could help it!

Quatre heard Duo and the others halt their play, and he suddenly realized they were the only ones at the pool. Stupid. He should have realized she'd attack where there weren't too many witnesses!

That infernal smirk was playing across the assassins' features as she leveled the sword at Quatre.

"You're time has come. I told you I would return, and I don't play games. You must die."

She lunged, and he ducked, landing a solid blow to her side, but it didn't even faze her. Think! She's full Sidhe; of course the normal methods wouldn't work nearly as well! The blonde grimaced as Dorothy lashed out, catching him on the side of his face with her long, pointed nails. At least it wasn't the sword, though. Then it would have all been over.

He struck, trying to do her at least *some* damage- and reeled back as a shadowy figure flitted past. A long line of blood appeared on Dorothy's arm, and she cursed, turning to face this new arrival. The move was also very insulting to Quatre, for it showed that she did not believe he was a threat.

The black-robed figure handled his sword menacingly at Dorothy. "Leave, woman. You're presence, and you're mission, is not welcome here. Go tell your superiors of your second failure, and beg for their forgiveness."

Dorothy's eyes were riveted to the sword. "Apollyon." She hissed, seemingly undecided between a frontal attack or fleeing.

"Yes."

She turned and fled. For now.

The robed figure approached Quatre, who relaxed out of his attack stance but still looked overly depressed. He knew now who had been following him this whole time.

Duo, Hirde and Heero left the pool, coming to stand behind Quatre as the one called Apollyon came to kneel in front of the blonde, pulling back his hood to reveal raven hair pulled back into a tight ponytail, and eyes of deepest onyx. His name was Wufei, and he was one of the best of the King's Guard.

"I have come to take you back home, Prince Quatre."

-----

[1] Xanth series - I love it! It's a magical mix of puns, fantasy, and romance! Check it out if ya haven't already!

[2] The Haunting of Hill House - I confess, I haven't yet read the book, because it was checked out when I went to the library to get it. But I HAVE seen the movie, which was awesome, I might add. So any and all information was taken from my observations on the movie.

[3] L. Ron Hubbard's 'Fear' - It's not really one of my favorite books, but I was on the horror genre, and needed something for Quatre-sama to read, and since it's one of the only horror stories I have...

[4] The words, "I'm gay! I love you! I love you too! SNOG!", (which are, in themselves, quite humorous to me) came from a reply to a reader review in the Megami Kouhosei (Candidate for Goddess/ Pilot Candidate) fic known as "29 Seconds to Drown" by Beck on ff.net. It's a great Hiead/Zero story, with just a dash of lime into the mix. My favorite. ^.^