Toxic

Chapter Six: Freedom In Many Forms

Disclaimer:I do not own Sailor Moon or Gundam Wing

Duo turned, a confused expression claiming his features, as he heard steps mounting towards his holding cell. They were lighter than the queen's but no lively chatter accompanied them like when the servants brought his food. He turned from the dark window and looked over his shoulder towards the door. The sound ceased and whoever desired to visit him at that absurd hour had yet to speak. Duo threw an annoyed glance to the door. "Who are you?" he asked bluntly and sternly.

It was silent behind the door for a moment, a pregnant pause leaving only his own steady breaths to answer Duo's question. He heard someone sit against the door and turned fully to face it, sitting cross-legged on his bed. Still it remained silent, his visitor either opting to sit in quiet rumination or hesitant in their overall tarrying.

"I'm like you," he finally heard. It was a soft voice, obviously young though there was a hardness that rounded its tone. He raised an eyebrow at first, wondering precisely why his silent visitor would decide to open conversation with such an outlandish and, to him, contestable topic. Its relevance, as well, eluded him.

Duo thought about it and chortled. Who on crystal earth would risk such trouble to announce that they believed themselves, most likely incorrectly, to be like him? "Yeah," he said sarcastically, putting his hands behind his head and lying back on his bed. "Yeah, you're just like me."

He heard a girly grunt from behind the door. His smirk ebbed away as his eyes shifted towards the door's direction. "You may find it hard pressed to think we're alike, Duo, but we really are very similar."

Duo rolled his eyes, the interest in her words fading away. She'd had him captivated for a moment but his curiosity grew fainter with the small tinge of persistence that laced her seemingly steady and nonchalant voice. "How's that...what's your name?"

"Hotaru," she answered confidently and steadily.

"Alright, well how's that, Hotaru?"

"Hmm," she began and Duo could mentally imagine her counting off of her fingers. "We've both been locked up for a long time."

Duo raised an eyebrow, a skeptical look falling into place. "Really now? And where were you locked up?" She sounded far too young, too sweet to have committed a crime. But then again sounds, just like looks, could be deceiving.

"Mmhmm," she responded almost cheerily. "Inside my own body."

Duo looked confused. He sat up slowly, arms now crossed in front of his chest. He glared at the door as if daring her to continue...which she did.

"Both of our eyes are a strange shade of purple," she listed again conversationally.

Duo made a faux surprised face and pressed his hands to his cheeks, looking frighteningly like the cover of Home Alone. "Maybe we're related!" he said mockingly and derisive. He was actually becoming quite irritated with her nonsensical comparisons.

"No..." Duo imagined her to have puckered lips, eyebrows shoved downwards, and a finger to her chin. "No, my mom died a long time ago and my dad was turned into a demon."

At first he thought she was kidding but when Hotaru had yet to giggle at her own ingeniousness or announce her jest, Duo's mocking hands fell to his lap and he gave a strained chuckle. "And I thought I had it bad." He knew there were demons, something the queen had divulged in the first time she’d visited him; a pity ploy he’d always dubbed it. And yet here someone was announcing it, but Duo couldn’t help but find the passive tone of her voice a modifier to that presumption. For some reason the revelation that Hotaru’s dad had been transformed into a demon didn’t sit with him as fodder for his previous judgment.

"And there's another thing," she said, her voice seeping from between the crack in the floor and pulling him from his thoughts. "We've both watched people we care for die."

Duo's lips pursed and he looked serious for a moment, the lines of stress barely shading his features before letting it soften into a small, uncertain smile. "Something like that," he responded, leaning forwards with his arms on his knees. She paused in her list and Duo gave a yawn, scratching his head. Despite the fact that he found her slightly witty, easy to go along with, and her presence amused him, it really was quite early in the morning. "Is that it? Are we best buds now or something?" he joked.

"Well, there's one more," he heard her say and he looked at the door expectantly.

"Go on…" he said dramatically and in an epic, old movie type voice. He grinned at his own savvy and waited for her to reveal their last and most interesting tie.

Hotaru cleared her throat. "We both have the most beautiful and well kept masks." This, Duo was not expecting. He pressed his hands to what could barely be called his mattress and stood from his bed slowly, taking careful, decisive steps towards his door. He stopped a step away from it and pressed his calloused hand to the rough wood.

She continued. "Yours, perhaps, is even better than mine." Duo's look became more stone like, more hidden behind that defectless facade. He heard her stand from the ground and he leaned in close to the frame. "And we..." Her voice was just below his chin now, a short but respectable height. "...We both have something decidedly darker harbored within our bodies."

Duo pushed back slowly and crossed his arms, a look of contemplation falling into place. He heard something placed in the keyhole and stayed his ground, for some reason not surprised when his door crept slowly open. The revealing process was slow and movie-like, displaying his new visitor inch by inch, leg to hip to body to head. He had a face to match the voice now, a beautiful, round face that sported eyes a striking shade of purple, just like his. She was pale and thin, but there was a certain structure to her stance that read strong and confident. There was a different durability that made her intimidating and powerful, something more ethereal and ageless.

All of this, her mysticism, the fact that she'd just opened his door, the dangerous prospect of freedom, and all Duo could think of to say was, "You look hotter than you sound."

She gave a smile and that all-knowing look in her eyes faded, her face dissolving from disarming to teenager in seconds flat. He saw a small blush creep onto her cheeks. "I can't say I get that a lot," she joked.

Duo didn't smile back, all seriousness still plastered to his face. He stayed within the barriers of his room, confusion and skepticism overriding the dire desire to flee. "Why are you doing this?" he asked, not quite ready to ask how.

The seriousness returned to her and she took a step back, inviting him to leave his dank cell, to step out of the tower and into a world he’d been shut off from for many years. "Because I've been told that you're an integral part in a very important job."

"What job?" he asked, not taking her invitation and staying exactly where he stood. "And by whom?"

She waved him off as if it was nothing, ignoring the second half of his question. "To save the universe," she said.

Duo raised his eyebrow, frozen for a moment in a sense of brief disbelief. It washed away after a second and he waved his hands out in front of him, shaking his head. Was she being serious? When thinking about it Duo suddenly found the whole situation absolutely absurd. "Whoa, kid. You can't just throw that out there," he said, eyeing her garb. She could very well have been serious, seeing as how she was wearing the apparel of a Sailor Senshi. But wouldn’t that have meant that she worked for the queen? Why on crystal earth would the queen see it as imperative that he be freed from his cell when she put him there herself?

Hotaru blinked, confused, and cocked her head cutely. "Why not?"

He looked at her like she was crazy before placing a hand to his forehead and turning around, stalking hardheadedly back to his bed. "Why not, she says," he said theatrically, waving his hands in the air. He turned back around to face her and held his arms wide open. "How do you even--what are you--." Duo sighed, shooing her away. "No, no," he said, turning back around towards his bed. "No time for saving the world--oh excuse me, universe." He turned back to her and gave a childish and pompous look. "It's not as easy as it sounds, you know."

Unfazed by both his serious and childish actions, she sighed and nodded in agreement. "I know, I know, I've done it a couple of times myself." She rested her chin on her fist and gave a slightly regretful headshake. "Almost destroyed it myself, once. Boy, that one was not good," she said nearly to herself, eyes lifting to the ceiling as if remembering something from years long passed.

Duo looked at her as if she'd grown another head. "You're a lunatic," he said with such finality that she pouted. "Quick,” he made shooing motions with his hands, “lock me back up."

When he stepped forwards to push her back, Hotaru became serious once more. "Duo," she said sternly and quickly, sensing his attention dissipating, "You once dedicated your life to freeing people from what you deemed obsequiousness to a totalitarian regime." He looked her dead in the eye, surprised that she'd actually read something that he'd written. Hotaru recognized the intensity brimming in those indigo eyes. "You can push away all you want but you need to know that you're a vital piece in keeping them from falling into a more literal slavery."

Duo disliked the thought of working with the people he'd strived to condemn. She was garbed in the ridiculous dress of Neo-Queen Serenity's once fabled warriors. He knew that what she so direly protected he absolutely abhorred. But he disliked the sound of the whole universe being destroyed on behalf of his potential stubbornness so he shrugged his shoulders and stepped from his room, noticing a guard slumped to the floor.

"Alright Hotaru," he said, keeping his eyes trained on the body crumpled to the ground, giving it a tiny nudge with his foot. He looked back up to her and noticed that she was smiling an unreadable smile. "How do we save the universe?"

Minako, or rather Sailor Venus, tore down the streets in search of Mars’s signature. She’d latched onto it earlier and ran with a speed she didn’t know her legs harbored towards the fire Senshi. She could hear Wufei behind her, surprised and almost proud of how he could barely keep up with her in her Senshi form.

She smiled gently despite the situation. He was so…

Something pulled tightly at the back mind and her head snapped around, having caught sight of Mars’s skirt on a rooftop to her left. Her blonde hair whipped around and cement grinded under her shoe as she spun to her left and leapt up to the top of the building.

She could hear Wufei’s annoyed grunt as she launched herself and grinned as she landed behind the Senshi of fire. Mars turned to face her and their eyes met in an unsure reunion. Though she was still wrought with overwhelming feelings towards her previous comrades, Venus pulled her guard down enough to let Mars know that Senshi business was more important than personal grudges. When Venus’s stance relaxed Mars almost seemed surprised.

“Mars,” Venus said sternly, taking slow step towards her. “Did you sense anything?”

Mars looked back over the building, her hair whipping in a grand arc in contrast to Venus’s perpetual golden wave. She looked ponderous for a moment, almost as if deciding whether or not she took Venus’s open statement as something good or bad. Without turning to face her reinstated leader she responded. “Not at first,” she said, eyes narrowing as if disappointed in her own sense of being out of practice. “But it came to me.” She turned to face Venus. “It’s Makoto.”

Venus nodded. “And something else.” She looked worried for a moment and only then wondered briefly at the Grand Canyon of gaps that gaped between them. Venus occupied one end of the roof and Mars the other, the two almost shouting over the length of the cement to communicate. The whole situation felt absurd but she couldn’t bring herself to walk any closer to Mars.

Mars nodded and it seemed as if she understood Venus in more ways than one as she took a step down from the ledge and faced her full frontal. One arm was situated under the other as she put a finger to her chin. “Not quite human,” she said as Venus crossed her arms, “but not quite demon.”

Venus nearly smirked, knowing that if anyone retained their Senshi abilities, it would be Mars. “A hybrid,” she divulged and Mars raised an eyebrow.

“You know this for sure?”

Venus shook her head, blonde strands disrupting her view and she lifted a finger to swipe them away. “No, not for sure,” she said, “it’s only an assumption but I have a gut hunch.”

Mars pursed her lips. “Do you think whoever’s creating these hybrids is linked to the serial killer?”

Venus nodded. “Most definitely,” was her only response.

Mars smirked at how easily they’d fallen into their old routine despite their slight contempt for one another. That personal battle would have to be fought later. The more literal, physical and dangerous one was to be taken care of now.

Venus opened her mouth to say something but shut it when she heard the howl of sirens rush past her and Mars below on the street. She looked down, barely surprised, and then made eye contact with Mars. “Where are Neptune and Uranus?” she asked, eyes impatiently roaming the rooftops.

“Still watching over the city,” was Mars’s silent reply.

Venus watched her grimly, nodding only after a few seconds. “Good. Let them continue with night watch. Me, you, and Ami should conference over this with the queen.” And with the final word spoken, Venus stepped to the ledge and leapt off.

Mars watched where she once stood, a frown marring her lips and a look of contemplation swimming in her eyes. She felt unnerved by the command shot in her direction but forced herself to be understanding and shook off the slight feeling of inferiority. Such a thing had rarely crossed her mind and sat heavy in her stomach like a churning sickness. But she wasn’t the one who was going to be foul first, oh no, she’d done nothing wrong and there was no reason to assure herself so.

Giving a nod only to Venus’s ghost she stepped to the ledge of the building and was prepared to jump off when the door to the roof opened. Surprise gripped her body but faded when she turned to acknowledge the presence. It was Neo-Queen Serenity’s other personal bodyguard. She’d seen him at the meeting.

His head swiveled and swept the roof as if looking for something in particular before his eyes finally rested on Mars. She smirked.

“Time to conference with the queen,” Mars said loud enough for him to hear.

She could hear his curses even above the whipping of the wind in her ears as she leapt from the ledge.

Ami awoke to the sound of a bouncing ball, a slow, rhythmic beat that contrasted against her own pulse. The oddity between them unnerved her and caused her eyes to open in mild distaste. They opened slowly, adjusting to the fact that there was little light in the room. Her head pounded with a ferocity she’d never experienced before and she reached a hand up to touch her temple. Only when she realized that she could not, in fact, touch her temple did Ami’s eyes truly open.

She looked down swiftly, head protesting with the quick movement and causing her eyes to close tightly in pain. She moved her body around noticing that her hands were bound behind her back and her feet were tied together as well.

Only after wondering how she got into this position did Ami remember what had happened. She remembered a man, a name, and a head wound…

Ami gasped. “Trowa!” she whispered, remembering the hurt man whom she’d been assisting. Flashes came back to her of his massive blood loss and his wound and her arms and legs struggled to free themselves.

This then became evidence of Ami’s lack of fieldwork as she had yet to assess the entire situation. She’d missed several crucial steps taught to agents in CS: observe your surroundings, remember how you got into the position you’re in, and make as little noise as possible being a few of them.

The beat that woke her up ceased and Ami froze.

“Yes?” she heard from the other side of the room.

Ami lifted her gaze from struggling to free herself and found herself staring into the startlingly beautiful eyes of Trowa. She smiled.

“Thank goodness you’re okay, Trowa—“ She paused for a moment, as if the entirety of the situation hit her full blast. She was tied and bound, sitting against the wall of a boarded off room, only slivers of moonlight cutting through the splits in the wood. One fell across her leg and another sliced directly across Trowa’s face, illuminating the almost emotionless gaze he threw her way. He held a fuzzy tennis ball in his hands, obviously the source of the beat she’d heard before. And he was bound in no way, shape, or form.

Ami’s vision narrowed, confused. “Trowa, why am I—“

“How do you know Setsuna?” he asked, cutting her off.

Ami looked surprised for a moment, not hiding it on her face. “That’s right,” she said. “You were with Setsuna.”

They sat across from each other in a moment of silence, Ami acknowledging his presence and Trowa waiting for his answer. It was as if there was a divide between them. On one side of the room there was Ami, sitting silently and patiently as if she’d been the one to ask Trowa the question, her posture proper now that she’d awoken. On the other side of the room sat Trowa, hunched and silent, waiting patiently for the answer to his question, eyes boring unnervingly into her.

“How do you know Setsuna?” he asked again, a cold twinge marring its otherwise emotionless tone.

“Why am I tied up?” she asked in rebuttal. Trowa’s face didn’t move from its emotionless state but his hands toyed idly with the tennis ball captured between them.

“How do you know Setsuna?” he asked again, the tone and body posture the same, as if telling her he could play this little game with her all night if she was up for it.

Ami frowned. She was patient but there was little to this game that she found necessary. She closed her eyes and sighed, wishing that the harsh pounding would simply cease. “She’s an old friend,” Ami replied tiredly, giving him a weary glance. “We’ve known each other for quite some time. We did…business together when I was younger.”

“What bus—“

“How do you know her?” Ami asked, the drowsy look and the once fatigued posture righting to an annoyed posture. She’d divulged her information, now it was time for him to spit out his. He sat in silence, watching her with those cold, beautiful eyes in an air of quietude. It seemed as if he was analyzing her, every twitch of her muscle, the sound or waver of her voice, every sigh she took. A tickle of anger shimmied up her back at his blatant dismissal of her question and Ami let it run its course to her mouth. “Listen, I’ve really got some serious business to attend to that deals with matters far above your own head. If you’re done playing these juvenile games then I suggest you let me go. If you’re going to kill me, I dare you to try. Now, if you don’t want to chose option A or option B I’m afraid I’m going to have to hurt you, and I really don’t like hurting people.”

Trowa’s emotionless look seemed to slip slightly to reveal a brief flash of surprise. The line of his mouth curved upwards and he watched as she glared at him with a firm resolution. With a small shrug of his shoulders he used the wall as leverage and pushed himself up, reaching a hand into his pocket.

Crossing the borders of the room, Ami watched as the moon played slicing shapes across his body, one momentarily flashing across his head wound as if it were the blade that created it. From his pocket he pulled an object that Ami could barely decipher. It was small but long enough to fit into his entire palm. Only when he kneeled in front of her could she actually manage to see what exactly it was he held in front of her face. It was obvious. Very obvious, partially due to the fact that, with a flick of his wrist, a metallic blade was produced. In his hand, Trowa held a butterfly knife poised in front of Ami’s face.

She swallowed harshly and in a moment of pure instinct, flicked her wrist and secretly produced her wand in her hands. Trowa leaned in and he and Ami were face-to-face, nearly nose-to-nose. The only object that stood between them was his butterfly knife. Ami’s heart thudded in her chest and the words of her transformation begged to fly out of her mouth. And even so, despite the situation, she couldn’t help but blush at the closeness of his face.

He leaned over, and Ami closed her eyes, her mouth squeezing out the first syllable of her transformation. It would have finished, too, had she not felt a certain liberty regained by her arms. She realized that her hands had been freed.

Ami looked down in near astonishment, looking at her slightly chafed wrists and wondering just what the hell was going on in Trowa’s head. She looked up to ask him this question when she realized that his eyes were trained solely on her hands. Confusion and slight panic coursing through her veins, Ami looked down to realize that her wand was in a vice like grip in her left hand.

The blue and gold of mercury nearly startled her and the shiver that ran through her body was a welcomed one. Just by holding the case of her power she could feel its strength pouring into her. It was a sensation she hadn’t felt in far too long. But a momentary sense of terror gripped at her body. Trowa noticed this from a tiny gasp of air that she sucked into her body. Ami couldn’t tell what was going to happen next when Trowa cut the ties that bound her feet.

He stood. “It’s strange,” he said softly, and Ami could only watch in amazement as he reached down a hand to help her up. “She told me I’d come across one of you soon.” Ami took his hand and he hoisted her up. Such a feat, however, was too arduous for Ami’s hazy brain and she nearly collapsed again right then and there. Trowa caught her around the waist, still holding the arm he’d pulled her up with, and held her up, Ami closing her eyes in momentary pain. “You don’t…seem very strong to me,” he said.

Ami sighed, still not opening her eyes but relishing in the fact that she didn’t necessarily have to hold herself up. “It’s been awhile,” she deadpanned and used her strength to pull herself up.

Trowa nodded and let her go, watching silently as she got her bearings once again. “Setsuna said that you would need my help—“

He was cut off by an abnormal beeping sound coming from Ami’s pocket. She looked down, almost as surprised as he was to hear the familiar melody and hastily pulled it from her clothing. Flipping open the communicator, Trowa watched in interest as she pushed a button and her face was lit up with light.

“Ami?” a voice on the other side asked, a slight crackling disrupting the voice.

Ami glanced at Trowa before turning her eyes back to the screen. “Present, Minako.”

“Ami, we need you to return to the palace immediately. There’s been an emergency. Director Po told me that you’ve been working on the parchment, is that correct?”

“Affirmative,” Ami responded, only seconds later surprised at her highly militaristic response. Trowa raised an eyebrow at her.

“Good. Bring it with you. We need to figure this shit out as soon as possible. As of tonight there’s been two other deaths besides Ernie Down and we need your help doing the autopsies.”

“Understood,” she said, and was about to hang up when Minako spoke up again.

“Oh, and just so it’s not a shock when you get here, Makoto and Heero were just released from urgent care. Both of them are—“

“Urgent care?” Ami’s body shook with an emotion she couldn’t quite place her finger on. Whether she was frightened for her friend or worried, or angered at Minako’s slightly dismissive tone, she couldn’t tell. Ami could only assume it was mostly the latter when she spoke next.

Minako sighed. “Don’t worry Ami, she’s fine, just please get here as soon as you—“

“Got it,” she said curtly and before she hung up she gave a few parting words. “Oh, and I’m bringing a companion. Some associate of Setsuna’s, not quite sure his function yet but he’s obviously here for a reason if she sent him my way,” Ami made eye contact with Trowa for a split second before turning her eyes back to the screen.

Minako looked confused for a moment and very hesitant. However, she nodded slowly and responded, “Understood.”

Ami nodded quickly. “Mercury out.”

Minako responded in kind and Ami shut her communicator. She turned to Trowa. “Hear that?” she asked and he gave her a look. “You’re coming with me to the palace Trowa, on official business that could possibly save the universe.”

For the moment, all Trowa could do was raise his eyebrow. “It seems almost pathetic to say, but that’s not the first time I’ve heard that.”

It was a reoccurring sound, a faint and muffled beep accompanied only by a similar, muffled beep. Everything was hazy for a moment when Makoto opened her eyes. The ceiling above her swam with white though the room was lit with a soft blue. For a brief moment she wondered just what she was doing and why she wasn’t in her apartment…when the night came rushing back to her.

Her body shot up from its lying position and Makoto immediately regretted the action. Her lower back thudded with an immense ache and her shoulder let loose a cascade of sharp pain that didn’t dissipate as soon as she’d hoped it would. Thinking she was alone Makoto shut her eyes tight and let loose a quick shout of pain, gritting her teeth and let a shaking hand hover over the wound. From that moment on it was as if she couldn’t lie down without a puncture of agony running through her body. Her hands fisted into balls, nails cutting harshly into her palms as she gritted her teeth and shut her eyes in a silent cry.

She hadn’t felt a pain like this in years, the sheer force of it able to knock her senses loose. So much so that she hadn’t noticed that there was someone else in the room.

“It hurts less if you don’t move.”

Makoto’s eyes shot open and she sat up again, alert and surprised. She was barely able to notice that it was a calm Heero who’d spoken before another shock of almost intolerable pain rippled through her body. “Ahh!” she cried in frustration, closing her eyes and gritting her teeth once more, though remaining in a sitting position, determined not to let her wounds decide how she would ordinate her body. The pain lasted longer however, and she spread her shaking fingers as if to strangle an invisible neck. “Fuck!” she cried when it died away slower. Her breathing was labored and Makoto could feel beads of sweat forming on her head and warmth beneath her bandages. Obviously her wounds had partially reopened.

She heard a tsk from the bed beside her. “I said don’t move,” he reiterated and Makoto turned a painful eye to him.

“You know, usually I’d let your snide remarks go due to your obvious inability to communicate with the human race but frankly I am in far too much pain to deal with your bull, so shut. The hell. Up,” she responded, slowing her breaths and watching as he turned his head to face her.

Heero was quiet for a moment. “Hn,” was his only response as watched the beads of surprised tears that were prickling at the corner of her eyes fade as she got used to the pain.

Now finding the throb that perpetuated in her shoulder and lower back more bearable, Makoto took the time to look around the room. She was on a small bed, upper body wrapped solely in bandages, as she’d seen Heero’s was. Her lower half was garbed in a pair of shorts that seemed blue only due to the eerie lighting. She was hooked up to a load of machines, the only one she was able to identify being the heart monitor, the source of the beeping. When she looked to the large glass window in front of her she could hardly believe what she was seeing.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she nearly whispered, eyes widening in partial shock and disbelief. “Are they serious?” she asked, turning her body very, very slowly to face Heero. If she didn’t see his heart monitor beeping she would have thought that he was dead, his whole body almost perfectly still.

“They’re serious,” was his only response as his eyes opened. Slowly he sat up and faced her, Makoto noticing with envy that it seemed almost effortless. She knew it hurt him but the fact that Heero could move without showing emotion was an impressive feat.

“This is—“

“Smart.”

Makoto nearly gaped. “Smart?! How can you say this is smart? We go out to save somebody and this is the treatment we get?”

“Don’t get so riled up,” Heero responded and gave her a look that made her feel so beneath him. “I’ll assume the fact that you’re in immense pain is clouding your judgment.”

“Listen you—“

“Think about it,” Heero said curtly, cutting her off. She looked down to see his hands gripping the side of the bed harshly and was at least a little relieved that he felt some physical pain too. “You were bitten, correct?”

Makoto, confused at where this was leading, raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, how did you—?”

“Because I was bitten in the same place,” Heero acknowledged, looking down towards the apex of his neck and shoulder.

Makoto looked confused. “Okay, but what does that have to do with us—“

“Think about it,” he said, voice fluctuating very little. “If there’s one creature, one mythical being that bites its victims, what it is?”

Makoto still wasn’t getting it. “A vampire?”

“And what happens when someone gets bitten by a vampire?”

Makoto was quiet for a moment, and then it was as if everything started to click. “Holy shit,” she said, turning her widening eyes towards Heero’s less startled ones. “Holy shit, Heero, they think we’re going to turn into vampires?!” Makoto couldn’t believe it. Sure their wounds gave leeway to an idea as ludicrous as that, but did they honestly believe that they were going to turn into monsters?

“Not necessarily,” Heero responded. “But something could happen, and it’s smart to be cautious.”

“But Heero,” Makoto contested. “That…that thing…” she could hardly get it out, flashes of white and blood sliding through her mind. “That thing was hardly a vampire.”

Surprisingly, Heero nodded. “You know that,” he said, “ and I know that. And the blood samples they took to analyze will confirm so.”

The two were quiet for a moment, the only sound echoing in the room being the heart monitor’s steady beeps, reminding them that they were both lucky to be alive. But then, feeling less hurt and shunned, Makoto began sniffing the air. Heero looked at her as if she were a misbehaving child.

Makoto grinned. “Well, I can’t smell your blood or hear your heart beat so I guess that’s a good sign, right?” she joked, assuming that he’d just brush off her gag like he usually did. But she couldn’t help it, she needed to lighten her own mood and the only outlet seemed to be shifting into their usual statures; her the jokester, him the annoyed monotonic agent. Needless to say she was thoroughly thrown off when Heero actually smiled. It wasn’t one of his usual smirks, one of those, “sure, I’ll give you that one”, but a smile that actually broke through his lips and showed his teeth. He looked down as if to hide it but Makoto saw it.

Her face filled with a rouge blush when the beeping on her heart monitor sped up, the sound once rhythmic with his now accelerating to a much faster rate. Heero looked at her with an amused glance as Makoto turned away and coughed into her hand, thoroughly embarrassed by her body’s actions. It was embarrassing enough that her heart had sped up, but she chastised herself even more for actually finding his smile more likable than his usual stoic frown.

She cleared her throat. “So!” she said loudly, trying to drown out the sound, mentally reprimanding her heart and demanding that it slow down. She could still feel a slight warmth in her cheeks as she dared a look back at Heero. “What do we do now?”

Heero pursed his lips, all remnants of his smile gone, and Makoto could feel her heart slow back down. “We wait for the blood tests to confirm that there’s nothing wrong with us and then we continue with our jobs.”

“We wait,” Makoto repeated, as if in confirmation. Heero nodded. Makoto sighed. “In quarantine.”

Heero nodded in affirmation. “In quarantine.”

Sooo…it’s been awhile. But I feel like it’s legitimized solely because school has started and I swear nobody has updated anything either. The chapter is a little boring, I know, but it’s calm before the storm. I can safely say some serious shit is going down next chapter.

Requiem of Fire: You know, I really appreciate your continuous positive feedback. Thank you for complimenting my Trowa characterization, he really is the toughest character for me to write. And you’re right, Rei and Heero are the same as Trowa, that sort of strange stoicism that makes all three of them so captivating is what’s really hard to write. For example, when to make Rei seem ethereal, or mad, or girlish. Ah, it’s so tough! But yet, that’s the joy of writing; interpreting these things and putting them down in your own way. I’ve absolutely fallen in love with Minako and Wufei. How their whole relationship turned out surprised me as well, I was not expecting it to turn out this well. It, in turn, has made me like Wufei, a character I used to have little interest in. The reason behind the rift is going to be revealed in next chapter, for sure. Absolutely for sure, I can’t wait for you to read the scene between Usagi and Rei. There are a lot of flashbacks too that will show some things. I know Makoto and Heero got a lot of the last chapter but I promise that’s not going to be a reoccurring habit. I used most of it to describe the monster who will actually become a big part in the story. Thank you for your feedback! It inspires me to finish it when I know there are at least some people out there who read it :)

TristaDin: I know, craziness was in order. Big surprise, right? Haha, well I like to throw things at people they wouldn’t expect. Ahh…you see, you’re right about it being a fusion (kudos to you my friend!) but it’s not necessarily the monster that’s trying to take over the universe… for that, you’ll just have to wait and see :) I’m glad it was at least somewhat scary, frightening things are always so hard to write. Thank you for your compliments on my character portrayal, I hope I was as good in this chapter. I think I brought out a little more of Makoto’s irrational side which she sort of needed. I hope I did Trowa justice, he’s just such a toughy…but thanks for your pointers! I like how you refer to him as an animal…that’s so true. Hope you liked the little snippet with Duo. He’s finally free! I wonder what’s going to happen…thank you so much for your review, it means a lot!

TopazDragon: Yeah, the typos were a product of my pure laziness. I wrote the end of the chapter one evening and was just like, “ah screw it, just put it out”. I’m glad it didn’t distract from the reading though, I would hate for my laziness to screw up the flow of the story. Ah, I’m glad the scene with the monster was at least a little bit frightening! I worked pretty hard on that, hoping that it would at least give some suspense. Yeah, with Makoto I tried to reinforce the fact that it has been a really long time since she’s used her powers and that she’s used to using other mediums instead. Plus, the monster is no ordinary youma…no sassy outfits and multicolored hair—this is something more out of a horror movie.

Yes, things are really starting to add up with the whole rift between the Senshi. Next chapter will be full of mayhem, so much will be going on at once. All of the separate stories will combine and everyone will come together in a big confrontation. Mamoru confronting Usagi, Usagi confronting Rei, Rei confronting Minako, Minako confronting Wufei, Wufei confronting Duo, Duo confronting Heero and etc…I still can’t express to you how happy I am that you like my Minako/Wufei pairing. I know that Minako is one of your favorite characters and I think I’ve molded them both into a pretty functional/dysfunctional relationship. I thought when Wufei was concerned it was quite cute as well…that’ll play out a bit more too, his unwillingness to display that he actually cares for her, that is.

Yes, Trowa was a bit harsh, but while he may have been physically rough, I think Ami lashed back with her tongue in this chapter. After I wrote it I was like…you go girl. I totally love writing Ami with attitude because it could totally happen and it would just seem so in your face because she rarely does it. Not too much romantic interaction but perhaps later on in the story (after the next chapter or so) there might be some serious romance going on. You never know…

Thank you too for your constant, helpful feedback. I really enjoy seeing when you’ve reviewed and what you have to say. As well I love your stories! I can’t wait for you to update them :)