LSE / 10-26-07
(Fly on Broken Wings - Chapter Thirty-Three: Collaboration)
rated: R - language, content, violence
shounen-ai/yaoi

Collaboration

With a clatter of utensils and plates, Duo's tray thumped on to the table, making Quatre flinch in his seat and Wufei coolly look in the other direction, a firm, stubborn set to his brow. Zechs, fork half-way to his mouth, froze and seemed to glare across the table at Duo's sudden presence. Amethysts swept first over Quatre, who battered up a shy smile and received a quick grin in return, and then to Wufei, resolutely staring at some distant point.

Duo's sudden intrusion on their lunch table was not unexpected, to Quatre, at least. Heero's brief visit that morning had drained some of the tense anger from Duo, causing the infectious good humor and Cheshire grins to swing back into full force. Wufei, sensing the change, had cloistered away in the library all morning, ostentatiously to avoid Duo, but Quatre uneasily sensed something else going on besides two stubborn friends fighting.

"So, I said some stuff I shouldn't have..." Duo began, faltering a little when Wufei's face remained firmly facing the other direction. "Some pretty mean stuff, uh," he glanced at Zechs, oddly enough, and seemed to switch tactics. "I was pretty much a bastard."

"Understatement," Zechs muttered.

Duo took the high road and ignored him, or else simply missed the remark. "So, you were totally right and I was way wrong," Duo cajoled, apology slinking into desperation as Wufei kept ignoring him. He hesitated, clearly wanting to sit down and start eating, but kept at bay by the cool anger radiating from Wufei.

"And, uh, I'll never do it again."

"Yes, you will," Wufei said quietly.

Duo opened his mouth, affronted, and clearly reconsidered as his mouth snapped close. "But I didn't mean it."

"Yes, you did."

Quatre lost interest in the lumpy mashed potatoes and bounced his gaze between the two of them, like watching a verbal tennis match.

"No," Duo started to protest, but a sharp look from Wufei cut him off. He fell silent, shoulders slumped like a puppy berated by its owner.

"But," Wufei said slowly, drawing the word out. Duo perked, sensing the sudden shift in his favor. "I am a fucking lunatic."

Duo, horrified, scandalized, stuttered out several halting apologies before settling on, "Don't say that! I shouldn't have said that. You're not—"

A raised brow cut him off, so sharply and quickly that he comically seemed to choke on the words. The corner of Wufei's mouth twitched. "That was a joke, you idiot."

Duo's features melted into relief, and he gave an odd, nervous laugh. He started to sit, but stopped when Wufei carefully set aside his fork and rose to his feet. Dark eyes stared up for a long moment, contemplating Duo's manic, hopeful grin. "Would you do me a favor?" Wufei asked suddenly, breaking his gaze. He glanced quickly around the cafeteria. Quatre mimicked him out of curiosity, but saw nothing of interest.

"Anything," Duo assured him, briefly flashing Quatre a victory thumbs-up.

Wufei hesitated, looking around once more. He bounced on the balls of his feet slightly and worked his hands, clenching and unclenching his fists. He looked up again, highly concerned. "Forgive me."

"For wha—" Duo started to ask, bemused, but was abruptly cut off by the sudden, dull smack of Wufei's fist connecting into his jaw. His head jerked to the side, eyes bulging with shock. Quatre gave a horrified gasp, Zechs a whooping cheer, and Wufei just stood there, eyes anxiously bright as Duo lifted fingers to feel the gush of blood from his swollen, split lip.

Orderlies descended, sweeping in with self-importance and numerous admonitions of "Nobody move!" One seized an unresisting Wufei above the elbow and jerked him roughly out of the cafeteria, met halfway by a flurry of white uniforms. Two nurses, plus an orderly who looked a little disappointed that nobody needing restraining, made a fuss over Duo's lip. Duo, for his part, turned round eyes on Quatre; they exchanged mutual "what the fuck" looks.

Duo tried to argue he was fine, that he just wanted to eat, that, no, he really honestly hadn't been fighting, a fact which Quatre eagerly nodded agreement on, but to no avail. The nurse bundled him off to the infirmary anyway, blotting a tissue at his face until Duo batted her hand away.

The commotion garnered curious questions from nearby tables, most of which Zechs cheerfully answered with "fuck off," except Relena, to whom he simply shrugged. Quatre gathered up his tray to leave, not liking the stares the two of them kept getting, and was only slightly surprised to have Zechs follow suit. "What do you think that was all about?" Zechs asked, once they were clear of the cafeteria.

"I think," Quatre said, biting his lip and searching around conspiratorially. "I think Wufei wanted to get in trouble."

Zechs stared at him, mouth forming a small "o" of sudden understanding. Quatre could practically see the light bulb flare. "You think he's sabotaging his good reputation? So they won't release him?" Zechs said this with dripping tones of incredulity. "Why would he want to do that? It makes sense, though. I mean, if he really wanted to knock some of Duo's teeth in, he would have picked a better place for it."

The two of them picked out a quiet corner of the commons, which stayed quiet only until Duo hunted them down minutes later. "What the hell!" he said by way of greeting, slouching into a chair with a dejected air. He dabbed at his lip with a scowl. "Fortunately for me Wufei punches like a girl. Well, no, I take that back; Dorothy slugged two molars loose from a guy once. He punches like… a panda. (Are pandas very strong?)"

Quatre shrugged, wide-eyed.

"Not like you," he finished, with a nod to Zechs. Zechs huffed, clearly not sure if he'd been insulted or complimented. Duo seemed disinclined to clarify himself and continued poking at his lip, finger coming away tinged red when the delicate skin popped open again.

Quatre had to look away, and swallowed hard before he found words. "S-so we think-" Quatre started, but Zechs jumped in abruptly with, "Why do you think Wufei hit you?"

Duo snorted. "Isn't it obvious? He was pissed. We're cool, though, don't worry. It barely hurt and I deserved it so, fair play to Wufei."

Shooting Zechs a look he hoped was forceful, Quatre blurted out, "Wufei's getting released."

Zechs sunk back in his chair with a look that clearly reproached Quatre for ruining their trump card, which he tried to ignore. Duo stared stupidly at him. "What?"

Quatre quickly ran Duo through Wufei's odd behavior, their long wait in the library, and the reason for all the broken pencils. Duo's eyes grew rounder and rounder as the story unfolded, and he covered his mouth in horror when Quatre falteringly reached the point of the story where Duo had burst in to pick a fight with Zechs. Duo stroked his braid briefly and glared sideways at Zechs, a look the tall blonde returned in force.

"Oh, man," Duo slumped. "No wonder Wufei punched me. I had no idea..."

"He did it on purpose," Zechs studied the ends of his nails with cool, nonchalance. "To get in trouble. God knows why, but he wants to stay here."

"But, that's," Duo stammered, looking at Quatre. "That's crazy. He hates this place. We all hate it here."

Quatre thought of the clinic, and before that his home, and then looked at the open expression on concern on Duo's face. Wufei's words echoed, I'll have to leave or I'll have to stay and I don't know which one I want! Damn that Maxwell! Quatre remembered Trowa's warm smile, and even gentler touch, felt his cheeks heat pink, and suddenly thought he understood. But, Wufei's reasons were his own, and so instead Quatre just gave a wry shrug in return.

"Well, that's it then," Duo said firmly. He leaned in, brows knit together and voice low in a conspirator's whisper. "We're going to block Wufei's plan. No more troublemaking. For all the grief he gives me about it, especially!"

Zechs leaned forward as well, keenly interested. "I agree," he said.

"But..." Quatre objected. The older boys both stared at him, so abruptly and attentively that his mind went blank. He sunk down into his chair, shaking his head, until they ignored him and went back to plotting.

Wufei spent the rest of the afternoon in the quiet room, released just in time for supper, and if he found Duo's cheery dismissal of his cut lip disconcerting, he hid it well. Wary but relieved, Wufei sat stiffly with the rest of them during dinner and tolerated Duo's enthusiastic retelling of the fight to an eager Relena and Dorothy with minimal interjection. Quatre watched with a growing sense of unease, aware of the strained nerves between everyone despite apologies having been given and accepted. Except, notably, between Duo and Zechs, who seemed to have put animosity behind them and united under the common banner of keeping Wufei in the good graces of the doctors.

Duo and Zechs all but dragged Wufei to medicine checks after dinner, and their combined attentions forcing the younger boy to meekly submit to good behavior. When Wufei tried to stay in the commons past lights out, Zechs galvanized him into motion and shepherded the boy down their hall. Duo and Quatre went into the other room hall, sudden and awkward silence cropping up between them when Duo mistakenly pushed open the door from habit. He stood there, rooted in spot for a second, staring at the stark end of the room that use to be his.

"Well," Duo said after a moment, "I like what you've done with the place."

Quatre slid around him and into the room, shyly keeping his eyes rooted to the floor. Duo patted him briefly on the shoulder before leaving, the final gesture smoothing the some of nerves.

The fierce whispering ended abruptly when the focus of the talk, Wufei, came within earshot. Icy blue hues matched the wary challenge in bold amethyst, as both Zechs and Duo tried to look interested in the floppy bacon and runny eggs on their plates, to hide their covert stares. Quatre barely resisted the temptation to roll his eyes. "Good morning, Meiran," he said, with emphasis on the name.

Duo's head jerked up and swiveled around as the alternate personality took the empty seat beside him. "Meiran," he echoed, a hint of disappointment across his face.

"Well, don't all cheer at one," she replied, giving Duo a funny look. "Your lip isn't nearly as puffy as I thought it'd be."

"Hell, hate to break it to you, princess, but I bet you could give a harder punch than Wufei." Duo waved his fork in a wild gesture. "You'd think that was the first time he'd ever hit anyone."

Dark eyes made an exaggerated roll. "Damn right I could punch harder; don't tempt me." Meiran bit off a chunk of biscuit and mushed her words through it. "Ish was 'es firsh."

"No shit?" Duo ruefully rubbed at his jaw. "That's something of an honor, I suppose."

Quatre studied Meiran between the gold veil of his bangs. He could only assume she knew the looming release date; he had seen the carefully kept notebooks, and her handwriting took up the most room. Was she opposed to Wufei's plan, or even know about it? Quatre chewed thoughtfully before realizing with a start that she was returning his stare with equal curiosity. Hastily, he dropped his eyes. The hot heat of a blush spread over his cheeks and burned red hot throughout the remainder of the meal.

Duo volunteered to take their trays, and the moment he drifted out of earshot Meiran all but shoved Zechs aside to get in close to Quatre. "What happened?" she hissed. "Wufei said he hit Duo 'as planned;' what the hell does that mean? What did Duo do to him?"

"Uh?" Quatre answered stupidly, stomach clenching.

Zechs swooped in to the rescue, shamelessly having eavesdropped. "You should know," he shot back. "Why's Wufei—"

"You butt out!" Meiran said sharply. Her back was stiff, shoulders set, and she gave Zechs a look of completely distaste. "What are you doing here? I thought Wufei told you to stay away."

"From Treize—"

"You," Meiran started, but Duo's return cut off whatever ferocious insult she had ready. "Later," she said shortly, giving Quatre a heavy look. He squirmed under the appraising gaze, and felt a small relief when she stalked out of the cafeteria.

Duo caught up with them after morning pill-checks, practically bouncing with enthusiasm. "Let's have a Connect Four Tournament of Champions! Quatre, go find a suitable battleground. Zechs, go find Relena and Dorothy, and one other person to make an even number. I'll get a copy of the game! Okay, let's go!" He pumped his fist into the air.

Quatre took a few faltering steps into action, but Zechs remained rooted in place. "Connect Four sucks," he sneered. Duo, scandalized, made a swooning motion. Zechs ignored the theatrics. "Let's play poker instead."

"But… I wanted to do a Tournament of Champions," Duo protested, emphasizing the capitals. "Poker's boring if there's nothing to bet with."

"I like Connect Four," Quatre offered.

"Well, that settles it," Duo announced. "Two against one; you're out-voted. Okay! Remember, we need an even number. Rendezvous where Quatre's at! Quatre, try to be taller or something so we can find you. Let's go!" Duo threw a hand up for a high-five, which after a long, awkward pause Quatre meekly batted. "Yeah!" Duo gave him a thumbs-up.

The resulting tournament anti-climatically involved only the three of them plus Relena, Dorothy having morning therapy. Relena, more obsessed with keeping things even than strategic placement of the red discs, lost to Quatre in the first round. He went on to defeat Zechs, was declared Champion, and then promptly lost the title to Duo after a "loser's bracket challenge." Amid Duo's victory celebration, which seemed to consist entirely of telling Zechs how much he sucked, Quatre quietly withheld that he'd thrown the match. It seemed unsporting to ruin Duo's good fun.

They held a rematch, to pass time, with some shuffling of tournament contestants as Wufei and Dorothy came back from therapy and Zechs left for his. The final showdown, this time between Quatre and Wufei, ended in two draws before Quatre eked out a victory just before lunch. Only through increasingly insistant protests was he able to talk Duo out of an on-the-shoulders victory march into the cafeteria.

Quatre slid his tray along the line to receive a square of lasagna, which promptly slid sideways and mushed into his bread, and, entranced with watching his meal decompose, nearly collided into Wufei. People behind Quatre protested at the sudden halt of the line, and Quatre pushed gently on his friend's back to galvanize him into action. "Wufei?"

After tucking away Wufei's glasses into his pocket, Treize smacked Quatre's hand away with a peevish "Stop that!" Duo's head jerked around and, ahead of him in line, Zechs fumbled his tray and nearly dropped it. With sudden haste, the tall blonde snatched a carton of milk from the server and then stalked across the cafeteria to sit far removed from their table. Treize's eyes followed him.

They sat, Duo and Quatre exchanging nervous glances whenever Treize wasn't looking, which was often, as Treize launched into a lengthy critique of the hospital's interpretation of Italian food. Quatre leaned back in his seat to see that Dorothy and Relena had taken up positions on either side of Zechs; the older boy looked less than thrilled about it, especially as Relena frequently leaned over to straighten his shirt collar and smooth out the fabric from around the buttons.

"—tre. Quatre! Hey, blondie!"

"Wha?" Quatre jerked his attention back around.

Treize snatched the tray out from under him. "Your welcome," he sneered, taking Duo's as well. Duo stuck his tongue out behind the boy's back, but Treize saw and flipped up a finger in retaliation

"What got up his ass and died?" Duo grumbled. "C'mon, let's get to Dickie's room early and mess up all the chairs before Relena gets there."

Somehow, Relena had beaten them there and was straightening the last folding chair when they walked in. Duo's shoulders fell in palpable disappointment before he slouched into a seat. Quatre sat between him and Zechs. He watched the door anxiously; if Treize stayed around for group, Zechs couldn't just leave. He looked over and saw Zechs briefly chew his nails, stop, and then chew them again. Was he worrying as well?

Doctor Richards came into his office and spent a few minutes chiding Relena for rearranging his desk. Quatre watched the clock move past one, and beside him Duo gave a low, quiet groan. Zechs leaned over Quatre to whisper, "You think…?"

Richards finished with Relena and, looking first at the empty chair beside Duo and then to Duo directly, spoke sharply. "Where is Wufei?"

"Hell if—" Quatre stepped on his foot, and Duo quickly rephrased himself. "I dunno."

"He is late," Richards said. Duo, under his breath, muttered something rude. Richards got up and moved away from their circle of chairs, thumbing on his radio.

"Shit," Duo whispered. "Either Treize is playing hookey or—"

"Do you think Treize is in on 'the plan?'" Zechs waved bunny ears over the words.

"Possible, but—" Duo broke off as the doctor sat back down.

"Let's get started anyway, shall we?" Richards glared suspiciously at Duo. "I was going to announce a special treat I had planned, but now I don't know…" He paused, waiting expectantly until Relena, unable to resist, whined out a plea. "Oh, all right," he beamed at her. "Wednesday I'm traveling to a conference, so we will not be able to have our normal meeting. Since many of the other doctors are also attending the same conference, most of your individual therapies have also been cancelled for that day."

"Woohoo!" Duo cheered.

"Some of you," the doctor explained, leveling a meaningful look at Duo, "can take the opportunity to go on a special day trip into the city. Those who remain here will watch a movie and enjoy popcorn. Obviously your behavior will influence which—"

The door flew open with a bang, startling Quatre, as a pair of orderlies dragged a passively-resisting Treize into the office. Richards coolly gestured to the empty chair. "Have a seat, Wufei, and stop interrupting. You're being rude to the others."

"Yeah, what- fucking-ever," Treize snarled, jerking his arm free of the orderly's grip briefly before the big man snagged his shoulder and marched him over to the chair. Quatre stared with horrified fascinating at the red welt on the side of Treize's neck before realizing with a flush of embarrassment it was a love bite. Next to him, Zechs was similarly pink-faced, and looking furiously everywhere but at Treize. Duo, oblivious, seemed intent on picking a thread free from the hem of his black t-shirt.

Author's Notes: Whew, this took longer than I expected. Midterms, work, illness, Ian's car breaking – ah, life! Anyway, I lucked out and ended up with some free time here recently so I was able to get some writing done. Right after I post this I'm going to start the next chapter and hopefully make some sizeable progress. However, exams are about to roll around, plus I still haven't settled on a Halloween costume! Oh well.

I'm so excited to see all the continuing readers, and new ones!
Sir Gawain, thank you! Psychology is my secret passion. I own the DSM IV (the bible of psychiatric diagnosing) plus numerous other reference books on the subject. I love doing research… I'm pretty obsessive with it, so it's very flattering to be praised for it! I slam the shrinks because the characters hate them. It's a bureaucratic dumping ground for sick teens, so things aren't all peaches and sunshine, but Richards and the lot mean well. I've taken a few classes on psychology, but other than that I'm actually a history major (psychology may be my passion, but history is my one true love!).
Jin, I also spend my time thinking of this 'fic! Hehe. Thanks for your kind words. Really, google? I've always wondered how people find my stories!

Well I've rambled on long enough. Till next time, my wonderful, fantastic readers!

Feedback/reviews are very much appreciated!
copyright 2007 - Gundam Wing & Co. (c) Sotsu/Sunrise
LSE - Violet Nyte (violetnyte dot livejournal dot com)