Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Deceptions ❯ The Hospital ( Chapter 6 )

Deceptions Part 6: The Hospital

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing, but I do own some manga, DVDs, and this plotline.

WARNING: MAJOR HEERO-BASTARDIZATION!!!

Duo rubbed his eyes, trying to focus on the screen in front of him. "Sorry," He said groggily. "Could you repeat that?" He heard the other man sigh in frustration. "I said I'm sorry." Duo said defensively. "I'm tired, I need sleep. In case you haven't noticed, it's three in the morning!" The man held up his hands in mock surrender, and it was Duo's turn to sigh as he ran a hand through his bangs. "Sorry," He said for the third time. "I'm not having the best night."

"I need to talk to you."

"Man," Duo gave a small grin. "You don't waste any words, do you Trowa?" When there was no response, Duo continued. "Where?"

"Stay there," Trowa ordered. "I'll come to you, just try to wake yourself up a little before I get there." The screen went blank, and Duo stumbled into the tiny kitchen of his apartment, looking for coffee. He hadn't been here in over a month. He had been living with Hilde, and there was no reason to come around. The lease would be over in two months, and until then he had intended to leave the room empty. Duo smiled triumphantly when he found what he was looking for, and turned on the coffee maker.

He didn't know what to make of it. Hilde had just flipped. She had blamed Heero for everything. Had even gone so far to say that Duo didn't care about his friends. Well, she was right in a way. The fight had stemmed from Heero's actions, but it was Hilde's choice to react the way she did. He couldn't blame all his relationship problems on Heero. It wasn't Heero's fault that Hilde wasn't the person that he had thought she was.

He poured himself a cup of coffee, and sipped at it. What could have happened to Heero? Why was he doing this? He asked himself for the millionth time. He just couldn't understand it. It didn't make any sense that his best friend would suddenly turn, and destroy everything that he held sacred. He had worked so hard to create this peace so why would he try so hard to end it? It just didn't make sense.

Duo was pulled from his reverie by a knock on the door. "Coming!" He called, running to the door, and pulling it open. "Come on in." He gestured grandly towards the couch. "How are you?"

"You know that Heero was the one who bombed the Preventors Base, right?" Trowa asked.

"I'm glad to hear you're doing well." Duo said sarcastically. "I'm doing just fine. Thanks for asking!" He turned to Trowa angrily. "I haven't seen you in months, haven't heard from you in months, and the first thing that comes out of your mouth is about the bombing! Is that the only reason you came to see me?" Trowa nodded, and Duo's anger faded. "Fine, I'll talk, but afterwards I want to hear about how things are in your life. All right?"

Trowa nodded again, and Duo gestured towards the kitchen table. "Take a seat, man." He a cup and poured coffee into it. "You want some coffee?" He asked and pushed the mug towards Trowa, who took it gratefully. "So what's on your mind?"

"How much do you know about the bombing?" Trowa asked quietly.

"Not much," Duo shrugged. "Basically what's in the news. Heero was the one who bombed the base. There was a lot of people killed in the explosion, and the Preventors have no idea where he escaped to."

"There's more." Trowa said, and Duo looked at him with interest. "Heero was chased by the Preventors after he blew up the base, and he escaped from them by going to the circus. That's how Catherine got hurt. She was no where near the base. He was in her trailer, and she walked in on him. He threatened her, and was going to kill her when I walked in. He used her as a hostage, so I wouldn't kill him."

"I knew that already," Duo said smugly, and smirked when Trowa's head shot up. "I hacked into the Preventors database, and found out all about your sister. Hilde had a fit when I told her about that."

"Duo. . ." Trowa said in a frustrated tone. "That information is classified. How did you get in there?"

"That's a trade secret," Duo said, silently thanking Heero for teaching him how to hack into the database. "But if it makes you feel any better, it was pretty tough. Anyway, was that all you wanted to tell me?"

"No." Trowa sipped at his coffee. "I wanted to ask you about something. When I walked in on Heero and Catherine, he said a couple of things."

"What kind of things?" Duo asked, it hadn't mentioned anything like that in the database. "I never heard about that."

"No one else knows except for Zechs." Trowa supplied. "He said that Relena had betrayed us and that she deserved everything that he did to her."

"She doesn't deserved any of it!" Duo snapped, and Trowa smirked slightly. "What?"

"Zechs said the exact same thing." Trowa informed him, and smirked again when Duo gaped at him. "Heero also mentioned you." Duo tensed. "His exact words were: 'Don't you care about what she did to Duo?' So Zechs sent me here to ask you what she did to you. He would've sent Quatre, but-"

"Yeah, I know, Iria's dead." Duo said sadly. "Anyway, Relena's done nothing to me." He paused. "Nothing serious anyway. A couple of pranks, but they were always after I did something to her. You don't think that Heero would kidnap her because of a couple of pranks, do you?"

Trowa shook his head. "I'm sure that he means something more important." He sighed. "So. We've reached a dead end. The only ones who can tell us what happened are Heero and Relena, and we can't find either of them."

"Sorry I couldn't help you, man." Duo said sincerely as Trowa stood up to leave. "Hold it. You said that you would talk." Trowa sat back down, and Duo leaned closer to him. "So," he said in a conversational tone. "How's Catherine doing?"

"She woke up from her coma yesterday, but she's not the same. I was allowed to talk to her today, and she's like a little child. She kept talking about dolls, and how she much she missed her mother. She doesn't even seem to know me."

"I'm sorry," Duo said softly. "I didn't know that it was that bad."

"I can't wait to get my hands on Heero," Trowa said vengefully. "We'll make him pay."

"It wasn't him." Duo snapped. "Something's wrong with him. Can't anybody else see it? Can you honestly believe that Heero Yuy would do all this? It goes against everything he was! He never taunted people when he blew up bases, he never kidnapped government officials. I can't see him doing this!"

"People change," Trowa shot back at him.

This was too close to the argument he'd had with Hilde. "I'm not going to argue about this with you Trowa!" He shouted. "I've already gone through this!" He seemed to deflate. "Hilde said the exact same stuff you did, and I don't want to hear it again..."

Trowa apologized, but Duo waved it off. "Not your fault." He said. "You couldn't have known. Is there anything that I can help you with?"

"I didn't think that you'd want to help us capture him."

"You've got it all wrong. I don't want to help you kill him, but I'll help you find him if I can." Duo ran a hand through his bangs. "He needs to answer a couple of questions, and we can find out what's wrong with him." Trowa opened his mouth to say something, but Duo didn't give him a chance. "I would look for him on L1. That's the most obvious place for him to be, so he knows that you won't put as much effort into searching there. He's probably hidden himself in plain sight. So search around there."

"You really think so?" Trowa asked. "It seems more likely that he'd be on a different colony."

"Trust me." Duo said confidently. "He knows L1 the best, that's where he'll be." He looked at his watch, and saw that it was 6:00AM. "Well! It's getting early! I've got to get some sleep." Trowa took a hint, and walked towards the door.

"Thanks," he said as he walked out, shutting the door behind him, but Duo didn't hear him. He was already fast asleep on the couch, dreaming about Hilde.

* * * * *

Heero was frustrated. The Preventors were scouring L1, and he had almost been caught twice already. He had been so sure that they wouldn't search this place thoroughly. He had been counting on it actually, and now he needed to make an escape. He had been forced to dye his hair and cut it. He now had short platinum blonde hair, and he hated it. The only good thing about it, was that no one recognized him now. He wondered idly if Relena would recognize him. She had always been able to point him out in a crowd.

He shook his head, as if that would get rid of his thoughts. He was punishing her. Selling her for money had only been part of the punishment, he'd wanted to kill her, but the doctors had needed the money. Besides, selling her would make her suffer more, but it still wasn't enough. To truly punish her he would tear down the fragile peace that she had struggled so hard to create. He would destroy her dream. He would let her owner have his fun with her, and when he was done, Heero would take her back, and he would kill her.

He had never stopped to consider that maybe he was going too far. Never stopped to consider that by striking out against her, he would be killing innocent people. Am I wrong? He asked himself. Am I doing the wrong thing by bringing others into this? He felt a wave of doubt wash over him. When he looked at it that way, it seemed that he had been doing the wrong thing for a long time. Am I wrong? He asked himself again.

//Never.// Heero relaxed at the sound of Zero's voice. It didn't bother him anymore that he was talking to a machine inside his head. Zero never lied to him, and could be trusted, unlike Relena. He had trusted her completely and she had betrayed him. Zero wouldn't die until he died. Would never leave him alone, like Duo had. Heero felt a tiny pang of resentment for his dead friend. Couldn't he have tried harder to escape? He didn't know what to think, he had been so alone... but now he had Zero, and he would never be alone again.

//The people who got hurt deserved it.// Heero nodded his head slightly. //They supported Relena. They knew that she was wrong, but they supported her. They cheered when Duo died.// Heero had to admit that Zero was right. They had done all that, so they deserved whatever he did to them. But what about the other pilots? Surely there was no reason for him to hurt them. He had probably killed Wufei, and had threatened Trowa. They were all in the same situation weren't they? So why had he gone out of his way to hurt them?

//They supported Relena.// Zero hissed, and Heero could feel the hate emanating from the voice. //They protected her, and they are searching for you right now, so they can bring you to justice.// Maybe they're misguided. Heero reasoned. Trowa didn't seem to understand what I was saying when I asked about Duo.

//He has hidden within organizations many times.// Zero replied. //He fooled them into thinking he was loyal. You of all people should know that he is a good actor. He knew exactly what you were talking about because he was the one who turned Duo over to Relena.//

Fine, Heero thought. I understand why we have to eliminate Trowa, but why should we try to kill Wufei and Quatre? Well, I already killed Wufei, but what about Quatre? He couldn't have done anything wrong could he? He's the pilot with the most innocence. I can't picture him doing anything against any of us pilots. //Quatre is the one who captured Duo.//

What! Duo would be able to overpower Quatre easily. He was the weakest of the pilots. How could this have happened? //You don't need to be strong to slip a tranquilizer into someone's tea.// Zero said dryly. //Even Quatre could manage that.//

Have they all abandoned me? Am I all alone? Heero asked desperately. Is there no one I can trust? He calmed down, as he felt Zero's presence grow, felt the familiar golden light surround him. He felt safe whenever Zero did this. All the problems of the world were far away whenever he was surrounded by the light. //Remember that you're never alone.// Zero said in comforting tone. //I will never abandon you.//

The light receded, and Heero blinked rapidly, trying to adjust to his surroundings. "What's my mission?" He asked aloud. //Assassinate Trowa Barton, and lead the Preventors away from the doctors.// Where's the target? He thought, and Zero answered immediately. //He's at the mental institution on this colony.//

"What?" Heero asked in a surprise voice, and Zero repeated what he had just said. "Is he insane?" //No, but his sister is.// "How?"

//When you hit her in her trailer, you did considerable damage to her brain. She now has the mental capacity of a six year old.// Zero supplied and Heero snorted. Serves the bitch right. He ran his fingers over the new scars he had acquired on his 'visit' to L3. They had taken out the stitches yesterday, and they were still tender to the touch.

Why isn't she in the hospital at L3? He wondered. //She was transferred here yesterday because the facilities are better here.// Zero informed him. Heero felt a strange pride for his colony, but pushed it away quickly. It didn't matter that L1 had a better hospital than L3. All that mattered was the mission, and this worked out to his advantage, because now he wouldn't even have to leave the colony.

He grinned slightly as he walked out of the alley, before the sun set, Trowa would be dead, and another part of Relena would be dead. He'd said that he would kill her when they met four years ago, and now he would fulfill his promise, but it wouldn't be quick, like a bullet to the head. No, that was too good for her. He would kill Relena Dorlian a little bit at a time, and avenge Duo's death.

* * * * *

Trowa sat in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs in the hospital. It's almost like they want to make your stay as unpleasant as possible. He thought bitterly. He had been waiting for three hours to see his sister, and was beginning to get impatient. He had told Zechs what he had learned from Duo, and now there were Preventors everywhere on L1.

He glanced at his watch. It was five o'clock, which meant that Quatre and Wufei would be here in thirty minutes. They had agreed to meet, and discuss what to do about Heero. Trowa had offered to meet them somewhere else, but Quatre had wanted to see how Catherine was doing. Trowa smiled slightly. He knew that Quatre had feelings for his sister, and he supposed that that should feel weird, but Trowa had no qualms with Quatre and Catherine together. At least if they were together, she would be with someone that could treat her like she deserved.

"Mr. Barton?" Trowa looked up at the young nurse who had spoken. "Miss Bloom will see you now." Trowa stood up and followed her through the winding hallways until they reached Catherine's room. Trowa stepped inside, and stood a couple paces from the bed, not sure how to act.

It was a nice enough room, he supposed, but it seemed so empty, so lifeless. There was no sign that his sister lived here and it bothered him. He was so deep in thought that he didn't hear her speak to him, he didn't even notice she was standing in front of him until she touched his arm.

"Mister?" She said in a childish voice. "What's your name mister?" Trowa looked down at his sister with sad eyes. He missed her so much. The way she always teased him, and tried to set him up with girls from the audience. The way her eyes flashed when she was angry. He missed everything about her because no matter how much she looked like his sister, the girl in front of him was not Catherine.

"Trowa," He answered her. "My name is Trowa." She giggled slightly, and pulled him over towards her bed. She sat down on it, and gestured for him to do the same. He sat across from her, and smiled slightly at her happy expression.

"Trowa," she repeated his name a couple of times. "It's a nice name." She concluded happily. "I like it." Trowa pulled out two small parcels from his coat. "Are those gifts?" She asked, and squealed slightly when he nodded. "Are they for me?" She asked hopefully, and he nodded again, handing them to her.

She opened the bigger one first, and gave a tiny delighted scream. "A doll!" She exclaimed. "I've wanted one so badly!" She looked up at him. "How did you know I wanted one?" Trowa explained that her nurse had told him. "Really?" Catherine asked, and Trowa nodded again. "She's so nice. She does my hair all pretty, and gives me candy when I'm a good girl."

"Open your other present," Trowa urged her quietly. He was a little nervous to see what she would do with it. He wasn't supposed to bring things like that into the institution, but it had been a big part of her life, and he had to know if she remembered it. "Be careful." He warned her as she began to tear off the wrapping paper.

"A knife?" She stared at the gleaming dagger. "I'm not supposed to have sharp things, I could get hurt." Despite what she had said, she picked up the knife, tracing the patterns on the handle. "It's very pretty though." With exaggerated care, she picked up the knife and placed it on the dresser beside her bed. "What's wrong?" She asked innocently.

Trowa didn't know how to answer her. How could he tell her that had been her favourite knife, and that she had stabbed one of his friends with it? How could he possibly explain what she had been? How could he tell her that she wasn't who she was supposed to be? She was supposed to be a willful, outgoing woman, not an obedient, shy child. She was all wrong! But how could he tell her that?

"Don't be sad," Catherine crawled onto his lap. "I'll tell you a story to make you feel better okay?" Trowa looked down at her, and brushed a strand of hair back from her face.

"Okay," He whispered to her, and hugged her close. No matter what happened to her, he couldn't stop loving her, and despite all his worries, he knew that whether she acted like she was twenty-two or if she acted like she was six, he would love her just the same.

"Once upon a time," Catherine began softly. "There was a little mermaid, who had fallen in love with a human prince. She was terribly sad because she could not be with him, and she went to a sea witch to get legs, so she could be with her beloved. The sea witch agreed to help her, but there was one condition. She would have legs, but every time she walked, it would feel like she was walking on broken glass."

Trowa relaxed into the story, Catherine had told it to him once. To help him fall asleep after he'd had a nightmare of the war. If he closed his eyes, he could almost believe that they were in his trailer, and nothing was wrong with her. "The little mermaid accepted the witch's condition, and she turned into a human. She would weep at night because of the pain in her feet, but it was all worth it because she got to dance with the prince. . ." She trailed off, staring at the door, her eyes wide.

"What happened next?" Trowa asked in an attempt to get her to talk.

"The prince forgot her," a harsh voice came from the doorway, and Trowa gently placed Catherine on the bed before standing up to face the intruder. He turned to find a gun aimed at his forehead, and his eyes grew wide. An assasin! Trowa studied the man in front of him. He didn't know who he was, but they would've had to be good to get down the hall without making any noise. Platinum blond hair cut short. . . Trowa frowned. This man seemed familiar, but he didn't know where he had seen him before. He looked at the man's face, and recognised the cold blue eyes that stared back at him.

"Heero!" He cried, and stepped in front of Catherine to protect her. The assassin smirked, and walked further into the room, closing the door behind him. He locked it, never fully turning his back to Trowa. His smirk grew as he walked closer towards the siblings and Catherine whimpered in fear.

"Bad man," she whispered fervently. "He's a bad, bad man." She buried her face in her hands. "Make him go away Trowa," she pleaded. "He's scaring me."

Heero pretended to be hurt by her words. "I'm sorry for scaring you, little one." He said mockingly. "Finish telling Trowa your story, don't let me interrupt." Catherine was silent, so he continued in the same mocking tone. "No?" He pretended to be shocked. "Let me finish for you." He insisted, and Catherine backed away until her back hit the wall. "The prince forgot her, and married a different woman. And she became so sad that she threw herself into the sea, but since she wasn't a mermaid any longer, she drowned."

His expression became serious. "I always liked that story because it had a more realistic ending than any other fairytales. There's no 'happily ever after'." His finger twitched on the trigger, and Trowa stiffened slightly. Heero smirked at him. "No 'happily ever after'." He repeated, an insane look in his eyes. "Just like real life."

Author's Note: Loved it? Hated it? Wish that I would die a slow and painful death? Tell me!