Descent of an Angel

Welcome to the next chapter! Please enjoy!

"Speach"
{Thoughts}
"*Voice in their head*"

Chapter 11

Trudging through the halls, the five boys walked slowly and carefully. Wufei, keeping close to Heero to make sure that he didn't do anything that they all would regret later, while keeping his pace slow and even. He didn't want to out flank the Japanese male, but he didn't want to let his guard down either. Despite what anyone else said, even the doctors, Heero was still unstable and could snap or let the Soldier take control at any moment. Trowa was holding Duo close to him, offering him protection and comfort as they walked since he was the only one that could get anywhere near the boy. Quatre was leading the way through the hospital, little glares from the blond promised certain death to anyone that would dare to try and stop them from leaving as Nurses rushed forward to redirect patients that were in the five's way. Duo was trying to put as much room between himself and Trowa as possible without the other acting like he was going to run away at every muscle twitch. He was extremely uncomfortable by the closeness that the other was showing him, and he couldn't seem to shake the other's grip. Heero was too out of it to really notice anything that was going on around him, or even care. He was still quelling the anger and frustration inside him at himself for calling the others when he had a chance to kill everyone in this facility himself.

Slowly raising his head, he watched a couple of the nurses that were always nice to him and helped him move closer to the wall to let them all pass. They were nice people, they weren't apart of Lareum's plan with Duo. They probably didn't know anything about it at all, but he wasn't so sure of that anymore. He wasn't sure of anything anymore. He knew that they were people that seemed to be willing to take care of him, but then again, it seemed like Lareum was the same way. Lareum always seemed willing to listen to what he had to say, and help him out, but in truth, the man was conspiring against all of them. For all Heero knew, that man could have been behind Duo's overdose last year, the one that was causing his seizures that throw him to and from mental statuses. He didn't know anymore. It was all so confusing now. Blue eyes winced at the assault of sunlight to his eyes, the rays glaring hard into his irises, making him groan a little as they tried to adjust to the sudden harshness of the light.

Outside, the blond heir had a large, black limo waiting to pick them up, the car that they had come in completely forgotten about through out the ride. It was uncomfortable to say the least as Duo was trying to keep as far away from all of them as possible, while they were trying to respect his wishes as well as try and keep close to him to offer support if he would need it. Quatra opened up another of his mansions for them, this one close to where Duo would need to go to do his physical therapy and his check ups for his heart. The five of them would be staying there for now, at least until one of them would get too tired of the living arrangement and would leave.

The Mansion was, actually, one of Quatra's smaller ones. There were three levels to it, in total. The very top of the stairs, the second floor, held the bathrooms and rooms as well as a rather small library. On the second floor had seven bedrooms, all of them were furnished the same way save for the Master Bedroom which was specially furnished and set up because that was the room that Quatra and Trowa used. The ground floor held the Living room to the left of the entrance way, the kitchen to the right and a set of stairs in front of a long hall way straight ahead from the door. The stairs lead to the second floor, and the hallway lead to the Ground floor Bathrooms, Training/Exercise room, the bigger Library, and a room that Quatra sometimes used as his office. The third level was under the house in the ground, which was where the men that stayed with Quatra from the Maguanac Corp. requested to stay so that they could be close to Quatra. Rashid was one of the many Maguanacs that lived under the house and took care of little things like repairs to the house and cars, or even driving Quatra to appointments when Trowa was working too late to take him. The third level looked like the ground and second floor moved down to be one level and then stuck under ground. There were no windows to the real outside, but they used special projection windows to show sunlight, grass and trees like they wanted during the day, and the same thing but in a night setting for when it was dark outside. The windows even had their own sunsets. It was one of the things that Rashid and his men invented for the hell of it and put to use.

Trowa lead Duo into the house, taking him to where his room would be upstairs. The thin male jerking at the slight indication towards the stairs, afraid of them, before he relaxed a little and allowed himself to be lead up them, but he was still jumpy at every stray sound, even the bedroom door being unlocked. His room was pretty close to the stairs, it was mostly there so he would have the ability to go downstairs and raid the kitchen when he wanted to. He was still underweight for his height and age, they wanted to be sure that he would gain some more weight. It wasn't a huge room so he wouldn't feel overwhelmed, but it wasn't a small room so he wouldn't feel trapped. A twin bed sat in the corner, covered in thick flannel sheets and comforter, the pillow wrapped in a white pillow case. Beside the bed, the bedside table had a large lamp on it and an alarm. The window blinds were left open, to make the room feel more open and warm, but also to show that there were no locks on the windows so he could open them if he wanted.

Violet eyes swept over the room, taking everything in. The open closet, the couple of dressers against the wall for clothes when he got them. There was a second door near the foot of the bed that lead to the bathroom attached to it. The walls were pristine white, and the carpet was a slight sandy color. The room was rather lonely looking, no one had ever slept in it, no one had ever really lived here. He was sure of that. It was better than the room he had been in before but it still felt like a prison to him. It was somewhere they would keep him, force him into when all he wanted was to be free. He knew, without a doubt, that he would never be free. He would never be free of his fear, his memories, or his longing for this freedom.

"*They don't want you here. This is a cage, too.*"

{I don't have anywhere else to go... I'm so alone now. I don't have anyone or anything going for me.} Duo thought to himself, feeling the sadness creep into his soul again.

"This is your room, Duo. You can do what ever you want with it." Trowa explained the him, looking down at him, worried when he saw the distant look on Duo's eyes before life snapped back into them again, then fear clouded them over.

The brunette had his head lowered, wringing his hands uncomfortably. His whole form was shaking as he struggled to keep from bolting. He didn't like the fact that there were locks on the door, or the fact that he had no idea where he was. He didn't trust this place, or even the guys anymore. Everything was too far gone and corrupted to trust anyone anymore.

"Duo? Are you all right?" Trowa asked, taking a step back in case that was the problem.

His breathing felt constricted, like there was something wrapping around his chest. He could hear the slight whistling of his breathing as it turned into wheezing. The edges of his vision started to turn black, panic was rising higher and higher into him before he let out a startled scream when Trowa touched his shoulder.

"Duo!" Trowa gasped in surprise before he was pushed aside by a suddenly more down to Earth Heero.

Small hands grabbed fistfuls of Chestnut colored hair as Duo curled into himself, rocking back and forth as his panic grew. His knees gave out and he was suddenly sitting on his knees, hyperventilating. Heero went down with him, keeping his face close to the other's, to show that he was there and would protect him. Despite this, unknown to Heero, he was making everything worse. All Duo wanted was to be left alone, to be allowed to be free, but Heero had a hold on him and was way too close. He felt trapped, cornered. He wanted to run so bad, but he couldn't get anywhere.

"Duo, it's ok." Heero murmured softly, reaching out and gently taking a hold of the other's thin wrists, pulling them away, "Duo, breathe. Breathe."

"We're not going to hurt you, Duo. Look. There's lights all over the place in the room, and the locks are on the inside, you control if they are locked or not."

Duo shook his head, his hyperventilating starting to become more controlled as he gulped down air, "N-No... I-I don't... I don't w-want to... be here. I don't want to be here!" Duo gasped out.

"Why not? We're here, Duo. We'll protect you." Heero said.

"You couldn't protect me before, why should I trust you now?" Duo growled, still gulping down air but the feeling that he was drowning or being smothered by an invisible force, threatening to consume him.

"Duo, we didn't know." Trowa explained, shame filling him at the sight of what their friend had become, how far he had fallen.

Trowa could still remember the laughing, joking face turned to him with almost sparkling eyes. He could still feel the emotion he felt at the sight of that face, that smile. He thought it was dislike, or distrust. He hadn't known at the time that it was actually jealousy. He remembered watching the way Duo used to joke with Quatra, or play video games with him, wishing that he could join them. How he wished he could sit down and make the blond smile like that. It wasn't long after he watched Duo and Quatra play video games together, that he made it his own mission to get the blond's attention on him and him alone. He was subconsciously taking out his jealous rage on Duo by making sure that Quatra could have no time with him. Even then, Duo seemed to always find the time and the place to play with the blond heir. Trowa wasn't always around, he admitted that, and that was when he would come back to the hideout to see Duo keeping the sofa between him and Wufei, Quatra curled on said sofa laughing as hard as his little lungs would allow.

Looking at Duo now. He wished he could see that laughing face again. He wished he would make Quatra laugh like he used to. He wished he would see the other bolting behind him for protection against an irate Chinese male that was going after him because he put honey, or lemon juice in the man's shampoo.

"What the hell did you think happened to me? You think I would just disappear like that? Me? I told you what I was going to do with my life, and none of that entailed just disappearing! You all wanted me gone! Admit it! You all were glad that I was gone! You never wanted me around, and you were happy that I had disappeared! That way you could live your own damn lives happily without me making you all miserable when all I wanted was for you guys to be my friends! You never liked me!" Duo yelled at him, snapping his thoughts back to the harsh, unforgiving reality that this was Duo now. This emotional, scared little man with his face turning red in anger.

"No!" Trowa snapped, "We didn't hate you! We never hated you! We looked for you after you disappeared, but we could never find you! We figured that you didn't want to be found!"

"I'm not fucking Heero! I don't disappear on a whim just because I can! I had things that I could've been doing! I needed your help and none of you were there for me! You left me there to rot for five years with them! You left me there and for all I know you could've known the whole time that I was there!"

"But we didn't know, Duo!" Heero plead with him, frowning at the comment about himself, "Please, Duo. We would never have let anything like that go one if we had kno-"

"Bullshit! The world's four greatest hackers couldn't find a little gutter rat like me after the war?! Why do I not believe that?!"

"Duo, it's true. We always thought about you, and you were all we ever wanted. You were one of us, and when you disappeared, it felt like there was something taken from us. Please, Duo, you have to believe us. We didn't know!" Quatra plead, his Space Heart screaming in pain and betrayal, "I swear, Duo, if we had known, we would have never let you stay there."

Shaking his head, he couldn't get the idea to stick. He didn't believe that they hadn't known about his suffering, his pain. Not when Quatra's Space Heart could feel everything else. How many times had he been in agonizing pain, yet the blond didn't feel any of that. The guy who apparently felt everything with that heart of his.

"*He didn't feel it because he was blocking you out. He didn't want you. He wanted you to disappear like all the others wanted. Your best friend didn't even want you.*" Shinigami hissed softly to him.

Sniffling, Duo lifted his head at Quatra, tears still streaming down his face. That had to be true, didn't it? The only reason Quatra wouldn't have been able to feel all the pain that he went through all those years was because he was blocking his emotions from his heart. He wanted him to go away. The thought attacked itself to his mind, and began to grow like a cancer. It infected his thoughts, his emotions and threatened to consume his actions. If it wasn't for the fear he had of the others, he would be running away right now. Running as far and as fast as he could. Where? Where would he be able to go? Who would take him in? He had nothing. He had no one.

"You need to rest, Duo. You'll be more clear headed when you wake." Trowa explained softly.

Chuckling bitterly, Duo shook his head, "No. I'm thinking more clear headed now than I have in a long time. I don't believe you, and I have no reason to want to, but you are right that I am tired. I'm going to bed."

Watching him go, Trowa couldn't help the forlorn sigh that escaped him when Duo closed the door and locked it tightly. He watched listened carefully as he heard the bathroom door open and a dresser being moved. Probably Duo using it to prop the door to the bathroom open. His trained ears could hear Duo's light but shuffling feet moving across the floor and to the window where he heard the sound of sliding, the window being forced open. Another few seconds, Duo probably enjoying the breeze and light before he heard springs creaking under a slight weight as Duo went to bed.

"Why doesn't he believe us?" Quatra asked softly, his hand pressing to his heart.

"I don't know, but we will learn it eventually and when we do, we'll work on fixing it. We can't do anything about it right now. Heero, you should go to bed, too. Do you need a pill before you go?"

Heero shook his head, sighing softly as he steadied himself a little, "I had some of them before you all took me out of there."

With that, he was lead to his own room by Wufei. Once his door was closed and locked as well, the Chinese male returned to the other two. They quietly made their way to the living room, taking up anything they could to sit on. Wufei threw himself onto the long couch facing the television set, his palms pressed to his face as he quelled the growing headache. Quatra curled himself into one of the arm chairs, pulling at his short hair and almost twirling it around his fingers as Trowa took the other arm chair and lounged in it.

"He doesn't trust us. He could attempt to run away." Wufei muttered softly.

"I thought of that. We'll have to take shifts sleeping until he trusts us again. We can't have him getting hurt by leaving because he doesn't trust us."

"Putting guards with him, even us, doesn't that show that we don't trust him?" Quatra asked softly.

"We don't have much of a choice."

"He would probably feel more at peace if we got the bastard who ordered this shit done to him." Wufei grumbled, his anger building as he remembered the man they had captured, the one that admitted to being Duo's jailer, and the mind behind all of Duo's torture.

"There's an organization that I have been looking into. They are fairly new compared to the other organizations in the works, but they're working their way into gaining strength. They first appeared a little under three years ago and they are already working their way into the senate. They seem to have Relena's attention pretty good, and if she sides with them, they might be able to gain and keep full power." Trowa said, running his fingers through his bangs.

"Which one?" Quatra asked, a frown now marring his own face.

"They called themselves Guardians. I haven't been able to find the name of their leader, but the people that are representatives for the group are all paid from the company. I haven't seen anything on campaigns, or asking for money."

His frown deepening, Quatra sat up in his chair, "I don't think so. They are pretty new, but there is no way that The Guardians are the ones that did this to Duo. They are a Pacifist group."

"Just because they claim to be Pacifists, doesn't mean that they act that way. Their ideals is for the colonies and Earth to each have their own Gundam, to make the other think twice about starting a war with them."

"What's wrong with that?" Wufei asked, looking over to the tall European male.

"Relena made a treaty that says that no one may make a Gundam. To want a movement like this would go against this Order, but they are pushing for it. They are trying hard to make a legislator that will veto Relena's bill in favor of making 'protection' suits. Suits that it is rumored that this faction is the only ones that still have a ore refinery."

"Trowa, it is just an idea, the refinery is just a rumor and it is highly doubtful that anyone would ever go for it." Quatra said, frowning.

"But what if they are making, or trying to make Gundanium in order to make the Gundams? That whole organization has a specific amount of funds that disappear once a month to nowhere. No paper trail, nothing. It just disappears." Trowa explained.

Small arms folded over an equally small chest as the blond tilted his head, "and how in the hell would you know of this, Trowa?"

A light blush crept over the green eyes male's face before he shifted rather uncomfortably, "I... hacked into their accounts and looked at them."

"You did what?"

A small scoff could be heard from Wufei as the Chinese man as he leaned into the couch that was behind him, folding his arms over his chest, "You're surprised, Winner? I wouldn't doubt if he did that for everyone that you would ever happen to pass by while in your line of work."

Bristling, aquamarine eyes turned accusingly at the taller Latin, who didn't say anything and was trying to be more focused on the floor rather than the radiating anger coming from his lover, "You better not have!"

He didn't say anything. He didn't have to as Quatra shot to his feet, little fists clenched at his sides, fighting back the horrible urge to hit the man before him.

"You did! You asshole, what the fuck gives you the fucking right to do something like that?"

"I was just-"

"Just what? Don't you dare say you were trying to protect me, because that is a load of bullshit! You and I both know that!"

"I was trying to protect you, Quatra! I don't trust these people, and for some off reason, you do!"

"I never said I trusted anyone! Let alone one of those fucking politicians! I can take care of myself, Trowa! I am not something fragile that you have to take care of! I am Twenty-fucking-three years old! I've been doing this shit for a long time, and before that, I was doing the exact same damn thing you were! I was fighting a war! I was killing people, too! I was doing all of this right along side you, so don't give me any of this shit like I can't protect myself, because I can!"

Trowa watched silently as the blond stormed out of the room, thudding footsteps disappearing down the hall and the loud crash of the bedroom door slamming shut. The place was silent for a split second before Duo's terrified screams broke it up, sending both the men scrambling from their seats and vaulting to the room they had just left. Times were going to be hard and rough, but it was something they all knew that they would have to do in order to get their little family back to the way that it used to be.

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Across the country, a black car pulled up to a rather large, glass covered building. The building seemed to be sitting on a plaque the way the stairs rolled up to it, and then ended at a couple of pillars with writing worn away by time etched into it. From the inside of the building came men and women, all dressed in business wear, most of them sporting brief cases, or large computer bags that could double as briefcases. A couple people could be seen taking the stairs both up and down with papers held up in front of their faces as they read, showing that they either knew the route they were taking by heart, or the papers were extremely important.

The driver's side door swung open on the car, leaving itself open as the driver climbed out. The man had the slight roundness in his face of a teenager who has yet to loose all their baby fat, with an expression that would take decades to perfect placed on it. He wore a business suit in a dark navy color, the tie a solid color just like the rest of the suit, closely cut hair kept from spiking with a small bit of gel. Large hands grabbed the briefcase from the inside of the car. With that final item, the door was closed and the man began his trek up the large stone stairs to the building.

The inside was just as impressive as the outsides. A large fountain sat in the middle of the structure with a dual staircase starting at opposite ends of the fountain. The lobby was lined with plush looking furniture, and a large desk toward the front doors that was manned by a woman, also in a woman's version of the suit he was wearing, fielding phone calls, and looking up when someone entered. Seeing him, she nodded to him, not stopping her conversation over the phone while also typing something on the computer.

Taking the nod, he walked past the staircase, to a large, black pair of sliding elevator doors. He flicked out his wrist, making the cuff of his jacket ride up his arm, then pressed his thumb deliberately over the center of the button to call the elevator up. The button flashed green, a white-blue strip of light scanning over his thumb five times before the white light vanished and the green light remained. Pulling his hand back, he waited until the double doors slid open to let him in.

Stepping inside, he faced the doors, waiting until the doors were closed, he turned and faced the control board on the right hand side. At eye level, a little panel slid open, revealing a little round orb that was pushed out, and perched onto a metal rod. The ball released a stream of white light that went straight for the man's right eye and flattened into a small scanner that passed over his eye vertically then turned horizontally and passed over it again. The ball stayed suspended before a little green light flickered on the top of it, the ball retracting back into the panel that slid shut once again.

The elevator only went to two places, the lobby and then somewhere lower. After a long ride, it came to a halt and opened its doors and let its rider out into a dimly lit room. The room was a narrow walk way leading to where a large desk sat illuminated with only two electric torches on either side, the chair turned away from the elevator so only the back of it was visible. Sure steps took the man before the desk, the silence was almost deafening as he waited a few seconds to see if he would be acknowledged before he started in on his report. Not getting anything, he began.

"My Lord. I have the reports that you asked for. All of them."

The chair slightly shifting to the side let him know that the person in the chair was listening and waiting.

"I shall begin then. I took the liberty of checking on Agent 'S'. Even after a year, Preventers haven't released their hold on him, and he remains in their holding facilities. He has not given any more information to the Preventers since the attack from Heero Yuy." he began, setting down his briefcase and unlocking it and flipping it open.

"Agent 'S' is not my concern. I gave you a job to do for a reason, I do not want random tidbits that I do not need." a soft, almost mocking voice droned from behind the chair, which still hasn't turned around.

"My Lord." he said as if apologizing, removing papers from the case and setting them out to be easily gotten to.

"Continue, and do not waste my time again."

"Sir. Agent 'L' has failed in his mission, my Lord. Duo Maxwell has been removed from the mental facility and taken into the care of the other pilots."

"Hm. At least Yuy remains."

"No, My Lord. Heero Yuy has been removed from the facility as well."

Silence filled the room. The suited man began to feel nervous as the human only known as Lord fell silent, a sign that they was not at all happy.

"Continue."

Jerking in alarm, the man cleared his throat as he continued, "Our agent inside Preventers, and inside of the Winner Facilities are still within operation positions, and are ready for orders when ever the time is necessary."

"Is this all?"

"Yes, my Lord. Unless you have further orders for me."

"Hn. Dispose of 'L'. I want Duo Maxwell returned to me by the end of the month, is that clear?"

"Yes, my Lord."

"He still owes me information. I am not going to accept half payments."

Bowing his head, the man waited a full minute before packing his things, and leaving. Taking the new silence as a dismissal. He rode the elevator back up, eyes clouded with thought as he began to mull over how he was going to get Duo Maxwell back before the end of the month. He was barely paying attention as he walked out of the elevator and into the lobby when he was flagged down by the woman at the front desk.

"He sent this up for you." she said softly, her voice low as she handed him a small brown box.

Nodding, he took the box and left the building as quietly as he arrived. Once inside the car, he set his briefcase in the passenger seat, and opened the box. Inside, there was a disposable phone and a piece of paper wrapped in bubble wrap inside. Taking it up, he read the piece of paper, a phone number, which he input into the phone itself, and directions were on it. He pressed the phone to his ear, letting it ring three times before he hung the phone up and redialed the number again. He listened as the phone rang twice then hung it up once again. Dialing the number a third time, he heard one ring before the line was picked up.

"What?" a rather annoyed voice growled on the other line, the person's voice was deep and groggy, obviously being woken by the ringing phone.

"The attic no longer has any bats in it." the suit explained, leaning back into the seat, fingers running over the cover for the steering wheel.

"And this is my problem... how?" the voice growled in annoyance.

"The bugs have gotten bad."

"Call another exterminator." it grunted, the voice sounding dismissive.

"We want the bats back, and the bugs taken care of."

There was a long silence before, "... When?" was uttered from the other line.

"The bugs as soon as possible, the bats need to be back in the attic by the end of the month."

"Hn. Double."

"Regular."

"Triple."

"Double."

"Deal. The bugs will be gone soon. The bats will take some time."

"End of the month."

"Right."

The line went dead. Taking the phone from his ear, he laid it in his lap and began to drive. After driving for a few minutes, he rolled down his window, and tossed the phone from it, smiling a little as it shattered against the concrete.

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Augh... So short... The next one will be longer. I promise!