Notes: ummm //thinking or telepathy\\ it will probably get confusing later on but that's the fun part ^_~,

This Fic was Beta-ed by Ilyena _sylph and by Midgewood58. Also Titled by my good friend P_M (THANKIES ) Although any and all spelling and grammar mistakes are still completely my own.

Chapter 5

//Man that was seriously stupid.\\

When Duo woke up that morning, he realized how crazy he had been the night before. He had no business going in to Heero's room and he hadn't even gone in there with any specific goal or reason. He had just done it to do it, and he was probably lucky Heero hadn't blown off his head. It had been stupid, though he wasn't really surprised at his actions. He frequently used a glib attitude when in any sort of danger, and then he would find a suitable time to freak out later. But this time was different; he had really meant what he told Heero. He wasn't afraid of the other boy, even with a loaded gun to his head.

Duo considered telling Une about the attack from the previous night, leaving Heero out of it, of course, but he decided against it. He didn't want to upset everyone for no reason; he knew the guy wouldn't come back. Somehow, he just knew.

Fortunately, he didn't have time to dwell on that fact. His day was going to be busy, the first at his new school as well as the first day of testing. Une made the wake-up call a little too early for Duo's taste, but he got over it quickly. He was used to irregular sleeping hours from years of waking up in the dead of night, unable to get back to sleep.

The early morning bathroom situation was a bit of a mess. A bathroom with a shower connected the two rooms they shared; there was another bathroom in the hallway, the one Duo had used the night before, but everyone had tried to rush into the shower first and it caused a back up. They sorted things out eventually and managed to make it to breakfast on time, everyone one except Heero. Apparently, Heero's room had it's own bathroom and shower, so no one had seen him all morning and no one seemed starved for his company.

Heero finally showed up when Une called everyone to get in the Escalade for the drive to school. His mood had not improved overnight and he looked as surly as ever. He was pointedly ignoring everyone but he took special care to avoid Duo and Wufei.

Wufei couldn't have cared less. He had all but said that he'd be happier if he never laid eyes on Heero Yuy again, causing Duo to once again wonder at what sort of history those two shared. But, obviously, neither one of them was talking.

Before Une pulled out of the driveway she turned to face her charges. "Gentlemen, this will be your first day at your new school. I assure you; this is the best school in the area, one of the best schools in the country. I have your schedules here," she said, passing them to the back. "I took the liberty of registering your classes. A lot of consideration went into the selections and I realize that some of you have schedules that differ greatly from the schedule of your previous schools. Your new classes should be appropriately challenging and they will also tie into some of the work we will be doing in the lab. I also realize these classes may seem difficult at first but I believe you will be able to handle them. I ask that you try them for a week before you consider changing your schedules. Now, before we leave, do you have everything you need? Have I forgotten to mention anything? Do you have any questions?"

"Isn't Ms. Relena coming with us?" Quatre asked. The others were busy staring at their schedules, dumbstruck.

"Ms. Relena is a part time student at Saint Gabriel, the local community college. I don't believe she has any classes today so she will be here to assist me in the lab when you get back from school." Then she turned back around in her seat, started the SUV, and they were headed to school.

It was nearly impossible to talk on the short, uneventful trip because of the sense of nervousness surrounding the boys. When they pulled up, Une parked right at the front steps. It looked like classes hadn't started yet, there were a few students standing around and a few buses were pulling up and stopping behind where Une had parked. She told everyone to get out and wait.

"Someone is supposed to come out to meet us," she said as she got out to wait with them. The boys were hyper-aware of all the eyes watching them. The students seemed to have taken immediate notice of the curious group assembled.

Less than a minute later, a handful of people bustled their way down the steps. They moved with excitement as they shooed away the loiterers and then came to shake hands with Une and the rest of the group. Another short welcoming speech was made, then the woman who had introduced herself as the principal called over a student aide who had been standing off to the side watching the proceedings with moderate interest. The boys were sent away with the aide so the administrators could finish making complete sycophants of themselves.

The aide led them inside and gave them quick tour all around the building, which was fairly sizeable, three floors with an annexed auditorium at one end of the building and an annexed gymnasium at the other. They were shown the locations of all their classes and, as a personal touch from the aide, all the hang out spots where the cliques gathered within the halls. The tour ended when the aide dropped them off at the guidance office so they could get their school I.D.s and locker assignments. The aide wished them all luck and then ran off to catch the end of homeroom, as school had begun by that time.

Starting classes nearly a full month after the school year starts will draw attention to you, unwanted or not. Each of the boys dealt with it in their own way. Duo, being used to attention of a negative kind, was enjoying the social setting, which was a welcome change. Quatre was very friendly to everyone and seemed to fit in with his surroundings immediately with incredible ease. Wufei was not enjoying the attention but was courteous and respectful to all of those around him. Trowa was not outwardly rude or standoffish but he was not making an effort to be friendly. Despite how they handled their new surroundings, they seemed to be most comfortable around each other. Heero, on the other hand, was generally avoided by everyone, and he liked it that way.

As they went through the day, whispers seemed to surround them and multiply. Five seemingly different boys, all from the same address, appeared one day out of the blue; the rumors spread like wildfire. However, this time, truth seemed to be stranger than fiction and all of the boys seemed content to let the stories stand; they allowed everyone to think what they wanted. By the end of the day, each boy had his own small fan club.

Une came back to pick them up at the end of school. She asked them what they had done and received the usual teenage response: "Nothing." For the answer she had expected, it was a little too brief to be accurate, but it wasn't too far from the truth. With all excitement surrounding them, they hadn't accomplished much schoolwork. Back at the Institute, she gave them two hours to themselves before the testing started which was to be used for doing homework. When Une was finally ready for them, they were ushered down the hall to the steps that led down to the basement.

The lab did not match their views of a conventional laboratory, there were sofas and recliners set up sporadically over the floor but there was also a noticeable amount of electrical equipment; it looked like a large, unorganized living room. There were three people standing in the center of the room, Relena and two others.

"This is Silvia and Nicol," Une introduced once she was at the bottom of the steps. "They will be helping us with today's round of experiments."

Silvia smiled and waved slightly, tossing her blonde hair. She was sitting in a wheelchair that looked like it was too large to move around the floor. Nicol, on the other hand, looked a bit arrogant with his face set in a grimace; his crisp military style cut only accentuated the image.

Une pointed Duo, Trowa, Quatre and Wufei each to different workstations, while Heero stayed at the bottom of the steps looking about as happy to be there as Nicol.

Duo was led to a corner behind a partition. Though the lab was well lit, the divider blocked most of the light.

"We're going to try some remote viewing today, just like we did back at your previous school. I want you to concentrate and see if any images come to you."

"Concentrate on what?" Duo asked sitting down in a chair by a small table.

"There is a projector on the other side of the partition projecting an image on to it..." she stopped and seemed to think better of what she was saying. "Though, I don't want you to think about the projector or even look at the partition. Just clear your mind and let the image come to you."

"But it usually doesn't happen like that." He was worried, //What if I can't do this, will I have to leave?\\

"Don't worry about that, this is just an experiment," she could see the anxiety on his face. "I'm just going to put this little electrode on your forehead for recording purposes. Don't worry about that either, just concentrate. I'm going to get the others set up then I'll be back to check on your progress." She slid around the partition and disappeared.

Duo was at a loss. Une had told him not to think about the image and to concentrate with a clear mind; he was thoroughly confused. He didn't know what he was supposed to be doing but he concentrated anyway.

He got nothing.

Une returned a few minutes later, "Any progress?"

"No," Duo answered, discouraged.

"It's ok, this is just the first test. Here," she removed the electrode from his head. Une reached behind her back and added something to it out of his sight and then she replaced it. "I just put some more electrode cream on, it should help the machine pick up readings."

"It's cold," he said resisting the urge to pull it from his head.

"Don't worry, it will warm up shortly. Just concentrate again."

But he didn't have to; his hand had already started drawing without him noticing. Une slipped out once again and he was left alone drawing. The cold spot on his forehead did not warm like Une had said; it seemed to get more irritating. Then the irritation turned to pain; the cold turned biting like it was eating through his skin. But his hand stayed in motion. He could no longer see what he was drawing as his vision started to blur and colors started to swim. Just as he thought he would pass out, a terrifying scream broke through his consciousness.

At that moment he was completely disoriented. He didn't know who he was, where he was, or even who was screaming. For a few startled seconds, he thought it might have been himself. When he realized it wasn't, he stood and wandered away from the partition towards the source of the scream. The electrode was still attached to his head but he didn't notice. His vision began to clear as the scream faded and he started to discern his surroundings.

"How long?" a calm, familiar voice asked. Mr. Treize.

"Forty-five seconds." a second, more excited voice answered. Une.

"Excellent," replied Mr. Treize.

Duo couldn't see where they were standing; instead his attention was drawn to a huge black tank in the center of the room against the back wall. Heero pulled himself out of the tank and sat on the top, he was dripping wet and covered with electrodes.

"Ms. Relena, please escort the young man upstairs and get him a taxi," Treize said.

Relena had her arm wrapped around Nicol, who was shaking. He looked terrified. As Relena struggled past, dragging Nicol, she saw Duo and gave him an odd look, almost like... anger. Her eyes flashed quickly in the direction of the tank before exiting, pulling Nicol with her.

Treize followed them out smiling at Duo as he walked by. "Good day, Mr. Maxwell." he said. Duo got the impression of a snake slithering by and became even more puzzled.

"DUO! You're not supposed to be back here." Une gasped, drawing Heero's attention to the braided boy looking lost in the entryway. Heero's eyes narrowed but the action went unnoticed because at that moment the pain in his forehead suddenly flared so intense it drove him to his knees. Duo started to swat blindly at the spot on his forehead but before he could do anything Une was beside him. She knocked his hands away, removed the electrode and strode out of the room quickly. It happened so fast and all Duo was left with was an odd gut feeling and a mild, but insistent, headache.

"Hn." Heero passed by still dripping in an oversized pair of swim trunks. Duo followed him out. Heero headed for the stairs after Treize, Duo hesitated in the center of the room, unsure of where to go.

Une was standing in front of the partition holding a piece of paper, his drawing. Duo could see she was looking from the drawing to the projection of a bowl of fruit. She called him and he walked over trying not to look as timid as he felt. There was no way he could have drawn the complex bowl of fruit that was being projected. His hand had been moving too fast and he hadn't gotten an impression of what he was drawing, not even a vague one, just blinding pain. It was probably just scratches.

"You did this in three minutes?" she asked slowly.

"I- I don't know. It was about that I guess."

"Duo. This is... this is perfect." She finally said with nothing short of amazement.

"What!?" He said so quickly he nearly choked. He stepped forward to look over her shoulder at the drawing; it was perfect. From the number of grapes to the textured shading, it looked exactly like the projection. He took a step back; never, in his entire life, had he ever drawn anything that detailed. Something like that would take? Days? Weeks? Not minutes. And the way it just ended; the whole top left corner of the drawing was not there, not even a mark.

He couldn't have done it; it was too perfect. He had done it; it was his style. He knew it was his just as surely as he knew the true fate of his parents.

"Too much."

Une hadn't heard his barely spoken words; she was having trouble containing her excitement. "This is excellent work. We need to try again, immediately!"

"NO!" He shouted.

Une had heard that, she recoiled from his shout.

He covered his mouth surprised at his own outburst. "What I mean is, I can't. I have a headache and I really should lay down or something," he finished weakly; he just wanted to get out of there. No way he would do ever that again.

"Yes," Une said slowly, still giving him an odd look. "You are, of course, correct. This was a perfect test result and there is no need to over exert you." Her tone had hardened and she was giving him a pointed look that was completely out of place on her normally cheerful face. Then she blinked and the expression was replaced with her ordinary dispositions like he had imagined the whole thing. "Oh dear, if you have a headache it's probably due to the busy day," she continued as if she didn't remember saying the previous sentences. "Go get some sleep, I'll get you for dinner."

Duo didn't even stop to think about all the weird occurrences, he fled the basement lab.

**********

Quatre looked up just in time to see the end of Duo's braid disappear through the door at the top of the stairs. He had felt rather than seen Duo go by and he frowned slightly at the wash of emotions he was getting from people exiting the lab. Duo's bothered him the most; Quatre knew something had disturbed the braided boy enough to make him feel like he had to run. He sighed and set himself to see what was wrong with his roommate when he had the time.

"Is everything alright?" Silvia asked Quatre. She had probably noticed his attention slip when Duo had run by. He was supposed to be examining her leg but he had actually been healing some of the minor muscle damage, until he had been distracted.

"Hmm? What did you say?" Quatre asked.

"Is everything alright?"

"Oh yes," he smiled, "everything is fine. Try moving your ankle."

"But? I haven't been able to..."

"Just try," insisted Quatre.

Silvia gasped when she felt her ankle move.

"You did it." He said.

"No, You did it," She chirped happily. "Thank you so much."

"It's not really?"

"It's everything. Just this little bit means so much. Grandfather will be so pleased!" she exclaimed. By that time her words had carried across the room and Une came to join them. Silvia told her an overly exciting account of how Quatre made her whole leg move and by the time she was finished both Une and Silvia were ecstatic.

"Would you like to come back to work with Quatre again?" Une offered.

"I would love to! That is, if Quatre would have me back." She was batting her eyelashes at him, receiving a polite smile in return.

"That would be fine," he said as his attention slowly wandered away. Quatre excused himself and followed his senses; he wound up next to Wufei and Trowa, the only people remaining in the room.

Wufei seemed deeply immersed in his activity at the computer and did not look like he would appreciate being disturbed. Trowa, on the other hand, was just sitting with his back to the table he had been working at, holding something in his hand.

"Hello, Trowa," Quatre said taking a seat next to him.

"Quatre," Trowa nodded in return.

"What are you doing?" He asked inquisitively, peaking over the other boy's shoulder to get a look at what was in his hands. He felt Trowa tense and he realized, belatedly, that he was making him uncomfortable. Quatre backed off.

Taking a relaxing breath, Trowa turned to Quatre with his hands opened wider, revealing a small mouse.

"Who is this?" Quatre asked smiling at the small creature.

"Her name is Oscar, she was part of my experiment."

"Oh, did she tell you her name?" Quatre knew he had said something wrong immediately. Oscar, who had been nibbling on a small piece of cheese in Trowa's hand, suddenly stopped and turned to look at Quatre. In turn, Quatre looked at Trowa who was staring at him blankly.

"It was on her cage." He said, dead pan. Trowa stood and placed the mouse back in the maze on the table and walked away, leaving the confused boy to wonder what he had done.

"He doesn't talk to animals."

Quatre turned to look at Wufei who was still facing a computer monitor just as he had been when Quatre walked by.

"He told me yesterday. He doesn't talk to animals; he can only influence them. Our," there was a slight pause while Wufei searched for the right word, "-talents- are a touchy subject to each of us."

"Thank you, Wufei," said Quatre as he stood up. He would find Trowa and apologize. //It was an honest mistake.\\

Quatre went upstairs to search for Trowa, but he found Duo first. He was sitting on the couch in the den with his head in his hands.

"Duo, what's wrong?"

"It's just a headache," he mumbled.

//He's lying,\\ Quatre thought with a slight frown. //There's something else bothering him. But first...\\ He gently pulled Duo's hands away from his head, "You'll have to sit still for a moment so I can concentrate."

Duo wanted to ask him what he was about to do but he felt as if he could trust Quatre, so he held his question.

Quatre's hands ran lightly around his head but he wasn't finding anything until he touched Duo's forehead. With a gasp he pulled his hand back as if it had been burned, "What happened?"

"What is it?"

"There's a build up of negative energy around your third eye."

Duo blinked, "There's what around my what?"

He shook his head, "It would take a while to explain and doesn't really matter at the moment. I think I can fix this."

Quatre placed his hands on the side of Duo's head and bent till their foreheads touched. It was a simple contact but Duo could feel a difference immediately. The pressure was lifted and replaced with what Duo could only describe as golden energy. He couldn't see it but he could feel it rush over him like it had when Quatre had healed his leg but in much greater amounts. About thirty seconds later, Quatre stepped back.

Duo took a deep breath. He felt completely invigorated, like he had just run a mile and could run ten more. "Thanks!"

Quatre smiled, then sat down, hard.

Duo was on the floor next to him in a second. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, that just took a lot of energy. How's your headache." He was breathing like he had run a couple of miles.

"It's completely gone. Are you sure I can't get you anything?"

"No." With one final deep breath he stood up. "I didn't know you could draw so well, Duo."

"I can't," he said sitting back with a frown.

"But?"

"I Really Don't Want To Talk About That Now." Duo said a little louder than necessary. He shook his head and apologized, "Sorry, man. Thanks for your help. Trowa went upstairs."

Quatre nodded and trekked upstairs, he found Trowa in the common room. Quatre knocked before pushing the door all the way open and entering.

Trowa looked up from the book he was holding. He hadn't been reading, he was thinking about Quatre. He knew walking away had been childish but he had done it anyway. The truth was that he wasn't even upset about the innocent comment, not even the mildly annoyed feelings he got when anyone else made the same mistake.

It was as if he couldn't act normally around Quatre. He wouldn't allow Trowa to be cool and aloof like he was with everyone else. Trowa was more upset with himself and his actions than he was at Quatre. In fact, he didn't think he could be upset with Quatre. The thought made him uneasy.

"Trowa, I wanted to apologize."

"It's alright, Quatre. You don't have to."

"But I should. I'm sorry I offended you. It was a silly thing to say on my part and I'm sorry."

"You said that twice," he said staring hard at the other boy, trying to figure him out.

Quatre smiled and extended a hand, "That's because I really meant it."

He looked from the hand to Quatre's face. Trowa was under the impression he was developing a weak spot for that smile; it was almost infectious. For whatever reason, whether it was the smile or the earnest look in those aqua eyes, he took the hand.

It was an odd feeling. Not the handshake, there was nothing extraordinary about that; it was what the shake was doing. Trowa had never been on equal footing before; he had never fit in with anyone. At the circus he preferred to stay with the animals rather than people, even his sister. Catherine meant well but she had always treated him as more of a beloved pet than her little brother. He knew she loved him and was doing the best she could, but it was still nowhere near the level of rapport he was getting from shaking the hand of Quatre Raberba Winner. And that was an odd feeling.

"Thank you." Trowa said softly.

"For what?"

"For saying sorry."

Contact the author at Apple_qb@hotmail.com

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