Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Black Queen ❯ Hello Dragon ( Chapter 11 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

LSE // 1-5-03
(The Black Queen - Chapter Eleven: Hello Dragon)
rated: PG13 - violence, language, content
shounen-ai/yaoi

Hello Dragon





I can't hear the operator's voice anymore. Am I sleep? Have I died...?
I'm sorry, Heero, I tried, but I guess...

"Duo."

Natasha, calling softly. I stir a little, mumbling something in reply.
She smoothes the hair off my forehead and speaks in a low voice, but
I can't make out the words. Oh. She's talking to someone else, not me.

"Duo," she whispers, almost right in my ear, "I brought a doctor."

I can hear the doctor, now, entering the room. Whatever was being
said cuts off, and I hear a loud, surprised, "Duo!"

Natasha shifts warily, her hand moving away as she stands. "You know
him? How do you know him?"

"Is it? No, can't be..."

Wait. Hold it, I recognize that voice. Eyes... open! Open! Blurry, but
I can see. Locating the doctor, ah, there. A woman, by the voice.
Yellow hair, off to either side of her face and-- Oh. My.

"Sally?"

"Duo? You know her?" Natasha asks, looking between us with a startled
look on her face.

"That is Duo!" Sally Po comes over and kneels beside me, staring at
Natasha while she quickly checks my pulse and feels my forehead. I
wish they just asked me, I could tell them I have a fever. But the
cool touch feels good, so I won't complain.

"What's going on here? I already fetched one bullet out from this
man's gut, and now you tell me he's gone and got himself another
one?" Sally sounds more annoyed than concerned, so I guess I'm not
dying. She wouldn't joke about something like that, would she?

Natasha doesn't answer, "Will you help him or not? I was told you
weren't one to ask questions."

"Yes, of course. Of course I'll help him. Duo," she says, speaking
slowly and carefully towards me, "Where is Heero?"

Good question. Relena's, I guess. Which what I'd like to say, but all
I can manage is to incoherently repeat, "Heero."

Sally doesn't say anything else, quietly and efficiently opening her
med-kit with a snap. I hope she's got something for pain in there,
and lots of it. "You said the bullet's still in him. How long ago was
he shot, and is the wound bleeding?"

"Shot five days ago, and I'm not sure on the bleeding."

"Five days? And you didn't think to get help until now? Good lord,
girl! Infection alone may kill him."

"He's been in a hospital until recently," Natasha says coldly.

Sally's hands still and as cautiously repeats, "Hospital?" She
lightly swats my shoulder, "Duo! You fool, don't you ever learn? Why
I ever let myself get involved with you pilots in the first place is
beyond me, really it is."

"I got a good look at the hospital's medical charts. Trust me, the
last thing that hospital was interested in was healing. That bullet,
the one still inside him, was no ordinary bullet. Poison," Natasha
declares, whispering in a conspirator's tone. "And they left it in to
slowly kill him."

"What?" my turn to speak. I shift my eyes over to stare at Natasha,
"Poison? Relena... what?"

Sally's eyebrows nearly fly right off her forehead, "Relena? Oh, Duo.
Don't tell me... You're the one they keep talking about on the news?"
She sighs, "That certainly explains a lot."

Natasha shifts slightly, still watching Sally warily. I wish I could
explain to her who Sally Po is, and that we can definitely trust her.
Heck, I'd trust her more than I would some underground doctor... wait,
I guess this means Sally IS an underground doctor. Which makes me
underground. I had expected theme music to announce this fact. But,
sadly, my life is apparently not a soap opera.

Crystalline-blue eyes don't move from Sally's face as Natasha nods
slightly, "Duo seems to trust you, thus, I will do the same."

"Ditto," Sally replies, but she relaxes slightly and leans over me,
"Duo? Here's something for the pain."

Finally. Took them long enough, with all that yammering on about
trust and 'do you know him' this and 'poison' that. Why would Relena,
a dead-set pacifist, use such extreme measures to make sure the
bullets were lethal? Of course, Relena seemed surprised to even know
she had guards with guns.

Sally's musing aloud over the same thing. "I use to assist Relena
with personal security, I know exactly what kind of bullets your
talking about. They were experimenting to find a new, non-lethal
kind, specially made to comply with Relena's pacifist ideas while
still keeping her pretty head attached to her pretty neck. I never
actually thought she had developed them to this point and was using
them..."

My head's getting fuzzy. So tired. Wait, can I sleep? Heero said to
stay awake, and I promised him that, because he loves me and I've
just got to keep awake!

Natasha's breath tickles my ear as she says, "Sleep now, Duo Maxwell."

Oh. Okay.

------------------------------------------------------------ ----------

Sally is speaking.

I can't make out the words. It all sounds like buzzing.

Sally again.

Someone else is speaking. Loud, brash.

Sally replies.

The other person speaks.

I recognize that voice.

Oh, my God.

"Onna! What foolishness....involving yourself...now?"

"Wufei, please! Not..." I snatch desperately at the words, trying to
keep them from sliding away and merging back into the darkness,
"loud, Duo's trying...sleep."

"Trying? Maxwell does not need to 'try' to sleep, he already is! And,
need I remind you that if soldiers were to burst in here, Duo would
be asleep and powerless to defend himself? A warrior does not sleep
when the enemy seeks him, unless he is a fool and his companions also
fools! Or onna. Same thing-- ouch! Why reason did you pinch me, you
crazed onna!"

"Get away from there before you wake him up. He needs to sleep as much
as he can."

"Does Yuy know of this?"

"I don't know where Heero is. That girl won't tell me anything."

"Girl?"

"What's all this? Who are you? Get away from him!"

Ah, there's Natasha. Maybe she can explain to these hallucinations to
go away and leave me in peace.

Sally's turn now, "This is a friend of mine," she says quickly, "and
he is a close friend of Duo, too."

"Onna child," Wufei mutters, clearly not remembering Natasha. Wait,
did Wuffie-chan ever see Natasha?

This is going to get ugly. I need to tell Natasha she can trust Wufei,
even though he is an obnoxious pig at times. I need to tell Wufei he
can trust Natasha, even though she's... crazy? I dunno, maybe she's
not. I mean, what proof have I that she is? Too tired.

"Get away from him, both of you. Now." Natasha orders, her hand
suddenly resting possessively on my chest.

"Come on, Wufei, don't start a fight. Okay, we'll stand over here.
Duo's sleeping, see?"

"Why have you not taken the bullet out yet? It will kill him!"
Natasha doesn't seem very happy.

Agh, open, eyes! Work, mouth! Speak, say, do SOMETHING before they
all kill another.

"They've stitched over the wound and it has healed around the bullet.
I can't perform that kind of surgery here, without proper sanitation,
anesthesia or equipment. All I can do is keep the poison from killing
him and let him sleep, but that's becoming difficult with you both
yelling in his ear!"

"And who is he?"

"I," Wufei says angrily, "am Chang Wufei. How come you have Maxwell,
and where is Yuy? Who are you, onna?"

"I 'have' Duo Maxwell because I rescued him from a sure death and
even though it endangers my own life, I intend to save his!"

Both Sally and Wufei speak at the same time, their questions melding
and over lapping. There's a pause, and then just Sally says, "Where
is Heero Yuy?"

Natasha's hand jerks, and the surprise in her voice is evident, "You
are friends of Heero Yuy? Then, you must know who I am."

"I do not know you," Wufei says, "and the only way Yuy would ever let
a stranger take Maxwell is if you either killed Yuy or kidnapped
Maxwell, so which is it?"

Surely Wufei remembers Natasha, from the institution?

"I can assure you no harm has befallen him on my behalf. Duo came with
me of his own free will. Heero Yuy has been informed as much as
possible and knows Duo is safe here with me."

"Yuy knows about this crazy onna?"

"Look," Sally says suddenly, and I can imagine she's forced herself
between Wufei and Natasha like a soccer referee, "why don't we just
go ask Heero about all this?"

"I can't let you do that," Natasha says dangerously. Threateningly.
Natasha, don't do anything stupid...! "What guarantee do I have that
you won't simply run and tell the cops about Duo? I can't have you
endangering our security."

Wufei makes an unattractive snorting sound, "I have more honor than
that!"

"If you Duo's friends you will understand. However, I am inclined to
trust you, so here's what I'll do. You may leave and I will take Duo
someplace else. I will call Heero in twenty-four hours with
instructions on how to find us again, if you truly want to help.
Otherwise, I will find a different doctor."

Sally and Wufei are whispering to each other. Finally, Sally speaks,
"I guess that's fine," she sounds so reluctant, "but what if just
Wufei goes, so I may stay with Duo? You already heard Duo confirm he
knows and trusts me.

"Duo was not very lucid when you first arrived. However... I don't
think it would be a problem for you to stay. It would probably be
best for Duo's health anyways."

"..."

I think they're still talking, but its becoming too much of an effort
to decipher the words already. I'm just so tired. So tired.

Ah, peace.

----------------------------------------------------------- -----------

Voices drifted in from the rooms beyond, and Heero looked up from the
screen of his laptop to better hear them, especially since he
recognized one of the voices. Relena's high pitched whining carried
far, unfortunately, but the calm tone that replied held far too much
command and authority to belong to any of Relena's people, or the
police. Or, for that matter, any resident of the Sanc kingdom.

He was about to simply go back to his work when the tell-tale, angry
snort came drifting to his ears. "Onna!"

Heero rose smoothly and separated himself from the laptop, soft
footsteps carrying him down the hall. He paused at the doorway and
shamelessly eavesdropped on the conversation, which was loud and
heated enough to carry to his ears even if he hadn't been trying to
listen.

"I don't think Heero's here right now," Relena lied, "but I can take
a message for you, if you like. He is eagerly assisting the police in
locating our rogue friend."

Before Wufei could reply, Heero pushed open the door and walked in,
carefully arranging his face to look as if he hadn't been listening.
"Yuy!" Wufei snorted, dark eyes narrowing suspiciously at Relena.

"Oh, Heero, you're home early."

The line was so domestic sounding it sent a chill down Heero's spine,
but he ignored it and pretended to look mildly surprised at Wufei's
appearance, "Wufei. What brings you here?"

Both sets of ex-pilot eyes fixed upon Relena, who tried her best to
smile pleasantly under the heat of the stares. She finally swallowed
and let out a weak sound of protest, "I'll be in the parlor if you
need me," she offered, turning and leaving with a longing look over
one should as if all she wanted to do was stay and have a chit-chat.

"Wufei," Heero repeated once the annoying young man had left. If it
wasn't for the police breathing down his neck, he would have long
since checked into a hotel in the city.

"Yuy," the Chinese man replied cordially, "I think you owe me an
explanation. Last time we met, I had thought everything was settled."
One dark eyebrow raised cautiously, needlessly warning Heero against
the dangers of speaking without thought.

Heero gave the faintest of nods, acknowledging he understood the
other man's warning. Crossing the room to stand over by the office
desk, he gestured Wufei over as he found pen and paper. "How much
have you heard from the media?"

"Very little," Wufei said for the benefit of anyone listening, eyes
intend on the words appearing on the pad of paper in Heero's neat,
orderly hand.

[Duo and I were searching for someone,] Heero wrote, [situation
leading to his injury unknown; I believe him innocent in the girl's
death, maid as well. I had no knowledge of his escape.]

"Well, I'm doing everything I can to help the police," Heero said
with an added sigh as if to express his discontent that the search
hadn't been more fruitful.

Wufei took up the pen and wrote beneath Heero's message, [Who were
you looking for, and have you had any contact from Duo?] Out loud, he
said, "I've come to lend my hand in the search as well. Maxwell is a
fool, but I think between us something can be done."

"I appreciate it," Heero mumbled, paying more attention to what he
was writing than maintaining conversation. On the paper, he was busy
scrawling down a lengthy paragraph, forsaking neatness for speed. [We
were looking for the girl from the institution: roommate. I have heard
from Duo. Situation grim, injury worse. Bullet not removed. Doctors
say without treatment...] Heero set the pen down abruptly, then
picked it back up and started a new line, [He's with her now.]

Wufei slowly raised his eyes from the paper to stare at Heero. Aware
the silence probably seemed suspicious, he filled it, "Any luck so
far trying to figure out where Duo might be?"

Without meeting Heero's eye, he carefully wrote down [Who is Duo
with? Her name.]

One chocolate eyebrow twitched slightly, but Heero gave away nothing
in his monotone reply, "No luck so far. I don't think he's tried to
leave the Sanc kingdom yet. It would be foolish to try."

[Natasha,] Heero wrote, [the roommate. She called me last night.]

[Black hair, young? Blue eyes?]

"You've seen her?!" Heero yelped out before he could stop himself
once he could see Wufei's words. "Wh-"

Frantically, Wufei punched Heero hard in the stomach to get the man
to shut up. "Yuy!" he hissed, low, "I'd rather you not discuss my sex
life in quite that manner!"

Heero wasn't sure which shocked him more, the punch or Wufei's words.
Belatedly, he realized him mistake and forgave the man for the punch,
which really hadn't hurt that badly to begin with. Grabbing at the
cover story Wufei had invented, he muttered, "My apologies. How is
she doing?"

"Fine. I came from her place, soon as I saw the news."

[Duo?]

[Bad. Sally Po is with him. Sleeping when I left. Girl did not
identify self, Duo was not able to identify me or Sally.]

"Are you staying at her place, a hotel or were you planning on taking
up residence at Relena's?" Heero asked as stared down at the words
Wufei had written before adding his own, [Not able as in unconscious
or delusional?]

[Unconscious. Might have been awake when Sally arrived. Girl will
call in twenty-three hours so I can rejoin them.]

"I was planning on staying with her, but unfortunately I need a place
for just tonight."

[What do you know of Duo's injury?]

"I'm sure Relena will let you stay here," Heero said, silently
turning to a new sheet of paper on the scribble-filled pad.

[Bullet near major organs, was not removed.]

"Thank you."

[Bullet also poison. You not know this?]

Wufei nudged Heero with his foot before the man could blurt anything
else out in his surprise. Fortunately, Heero gave a ghost of a shake
to his head but, before he could write a reply, a knock came to the
door. Hurriedly, he ripped the two sheets from the pad and stuffed
them into his pocket just as the door opened.

"More later," Heero whispered into the man's ear, eyes watching the
maid bustling importantly about the room as she pretended to dust.

"Don't do anything foolish, Yuy."

"Have I ever?"

"Not shooting Relena when you had the chance..." Wufei murmured back
at the pink-clad woman in question breezed into the room with a
cheerful smile. Heero grunted his agreement.



~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


Author 's Notes: Whew! After a couple of agonizing days stuck into a
formidable amount of writer's block, I finally regain the muses two
days before I have to go back to school. -_-;; Oh, well, I tried to
make up for that by making this chapter extra-lengthy instead of
cutting it off where I had originally intended. Fortunately, its only
midnight and the night is still relatively young, so I *might* be
able to squeak out another chapter before the weekend's over.
Unfortunately, I'm still crammed into the back office, but I have my
Duo-blanket to keep my company. The downside is the intense back-pain
from the uncomfortable seating arrangement. *sigh*
Oh, in case you care, I've started work on making a webpage for
"Wedding Vows" just like I did for "Completing the Silence." Yay,
I'm obsessive! ^_^() heh...

If you haven't checked out of my Holiday giftie thingie already,
please do so!
----------------------->http://violetnyte.fallenweb.net/xmas.htm l


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