Disclaimer:  The song in Letting the Cables Sleep by Bush and i don't own it.

The Three Trials for Power

By Lars the Goddess

Part VII

Chapter 12

Duo was standing in his third period class, talking with some friends or those people who were hopeful of being his friends. He occasionally turned his face to look for Cy, determined to see her since he hadn’t realized that she was in his class until she had told him the other dya. Apparently, she usually sits in the back and keeps to herself. Not that I blame her, not many people are nice to her. Turning his attention back to the boy talking to him, he didn’t notice her until she ran up to him and gave him a huge hug from behind.

Everyone stared at him in horror as they realized he was a friend of one of the witches. Duo immediately let out a grunt of pain and collapsed. The world slowed down as pain rushed through his burns and he faintly heard Cyanea scream his name.

"Duo!" she screamed frantically as she knelt down beside him and he felt her begin to shake him gently. "What’s wrong with him?"

Through slit eyelids, he saw the entire class stare as the bitch queen continued to show emotion. This was definitely a new thing for them. Duo'’ eyes flew open as she shouted his name again.

"Cy!" he exclaimed. "Why so worried?" he asked as he studied her in confusion.

Her eyes widened, she must be wondering if I hit my head. "You passed out and you’re lying on the floor of your third period class," she said.

He grew a little serious at this revelation. "Oh, I must not have got enough sleep last night, that’s all," he said as he tried to get up without hurting himself too much. Cy helped him and noticed a large bandage on his arm as his sleeve moved.

"What’s that?" she asked as she moved his school uniform sleeve aside.

"Uh, nothing," he said, hiding his arm behind his back.

"It doesn’t look like nothing to me!" Cy said, worry obvious in her eyes. Just then the dean came in the room with one of their classmates close behind him. "What’s all this I hear of someone passing out?" he asked and then spotted Duo. "You again."

Everyone started giving Duo weird looks. "What do you mean again?" Kerri asked, determined to get any information involving the witches and their newest prey.

"Why don’t you tell them, Mr. Maxwell," Mr. Runner demanded.

Duo panicked as he realized that he hadn’t gone over the cover story with the others. "Uh, well. Um…"

"He was attacked byt a gang," a voice said from the door. Mr. Runner turned to find the oby Heero Yuy standing there. He was very angry, after all, he almost had duo in a lie.

"Yeah, a gang. That’s it!" Duo said quickly.

"You were attacked by a gang!" Cy said with worry creasing her forehead. Duo began to wonder if she knew about that story he had told Montana and Anika about Heero’s past gang life to explain his gun. "You poor thing! Maybe I should take him to the nurse to make sure he’s ok," she said as she turned to the angry dean.

"Very well," the slightly balding man said as he turned to leave the young teacher to start class.

Cy took his arm and led him out of the room and toward the dormatories. "Aren’t we going to the nurse?" Duo asked confused.

Cy just shook her head and continued to walk. Once she had him sitting on her bed in her dorm, she turned to look at him. "Take your shirt off."

Surprise was obvious on his face. "Do what?!" he asked, alittle taken aback by her directness, although, after the closet incident, he shouldn’t have been surprised.

"Take your shirt off so I can look at your wounds," she repeated herself.

Duo decided to get everything he could out of it, "I don’t think I can do it on my own. Could you help me?" he asked with an innocent look on his face.

Cyanea looked at him with a raised eyebrow and then sat next to him shrugging. "If you insist." She looked only too happy to be helping him.

Her slender fingers made quick work of the button up shirt he was wearing. Sliding it gently off his shoulders, she gasped as she saw the extent of his injuries. "What happened, no gang could have done this to you."

Duo looked away, he didn’t want to lie to her, but he had to protect her. If Heero found out she knew…

"Duo, what are you hiding from me?" she asked as a look of hurt crossed her face.

"It’s nothing, babe. I’d rather nto talk about it," Duo said, his features downcast.

"Obviously, it’s not nothing. I’ve never seen you so…unhappy before. It scares me," cy said while puttin a hand on his injured shoulder.

The braided pilot winced in pain at the contact and she quickly drew her hand away and mumbled an apology. "It’s ok. Look, can we talk about this later. I promise I will."

Nodding, she got to work on unwrapping his various burns and cuts. Starting with the cut on his arm, she lay her hand gently on it and concentrated. Duo felt a warmth and the skin began to tingle as the wound healed. Competely relaxed, he lay back on the bed as she continued her ministrations. As her hands moved to his chest, he tensed somewhat, feeling his face flush. Cy looked into his violet eyes with reassurance, he knew she was feeling the same as he was.

Reaching his hand up, he placed it at the back of her head and gently lowered her face to his. Her concentration broke as their lips met and he felt a sharp stabbing pain in his side, where a particularly bad burn was. He let out a soft groan both from pain and passion. His hands slid down her neck as she held herself above him and he began to unbotton her school uniform.

Mentally, he laughed. Never thought I would actually be making out with a girl in a school uniform, unless it was being used as a sex toy. Then she found a particularly sensitive spot as her lips began to explore his neck and his thought stopped all together as he was caught in a fit of pleasure. Removing her shirt, he pulled her down on top of him and reclaimed her lips.

She moaned his name in pure happiness. Suddenly, her eyes flew open as his hands moved to unhook her bra. "Uh, Duo," she mumbled against his lips. "Duo," she said again when he at first didn’t respond.

"Huh," he asked as he looked into her eyes. She’s so beautiful, he thought as he looked at her.

"We…we should get back to class," she whispered as she leaned back down to kiss him.

He unwillingly broke the kiss and looked at the clock. "Third block is over and we have 15 minutes before next period starts."

"Oh, in that case," Cy leaned down and kissed him, pushing her tongue between his lips to deepen it. he moaned softly, completely unaware of the door opening.

"And then Wufei’s hair caught on fire. I told him not to get too close…"

"Shut up, Anika," Montana said before turning to walk into the room. She stopped, taking in the scene before her, and then promptly turned and left.

Duo and Cy were staring wide eyed at the two girls having been alerted of their presence when Montana spoke. Anika returned the stare, unable to speak or move at the spectacle before her. A small squeak emmitted from her throat and the couple turned bright red. Suddenly, the short haired witch disappeared from the doorway having been yanked by her hair compliments of Montana.

Their saviors voice rang through the cracked door. "When you guys come to class, bring my science book." With that spoken, the door was shut securely and the couple heard the footsteps of the two girls echoeing down the hall.

Cyanea immediately moved off of Duo and pulled her shirt back on, bottoning it with shaky fingers. Duo leaned back and placed his hands behind his head as he waited for her to finish redressing. She looked at him, "Aren’t you gonna get dressed?" she asked, a look in her eye told him that she was ready to jump him any second.

"I was sort of hoping you could finish healing me first," he said, winking at her.

"Oh, of course I can. Sorry, I forgot," she leaned over him and concentrated. He was surrounded by a white light and he grew warm all over as the rest of his wounds healed. The feeling sent a thrill through his spine as he thought of the girl who was causing it. He looked up at her as she straightened back up and was quick to note her unsteady stance. Jumping up, he guided her to the bed and was surprised when he didn’t feel any pain.

"Thanks," he said. "Are you alright?"

"I’ll be ok. You should get dressed, class is about to start," she said as she geve him a meaningful ook.

"Right, I almost forgot again," he said as he reached fo rhis shirt and jacket. Once they both were presentable again, they grabbed Montana’s science book and headed back to the main building holding hands.

***  Montana looked up as Cy entered the class late. She rolled her eyes as she hurriedly sat in her seat while the teachers back was turned. Cyanea quickly slid the book onto her friend’s desk from the seat beside her. "So, did you have fun?" Montana asked sarcastically.

Cyanea blushed slightly and looked away, "Tons."

As class started, Montana scribbled something on a piece of paper and handed it to Cy. She read it, "What were you doing in the room anyway?"

Cy quickly wrote a return answer and passed it back to the axious girl beside her. Montana read it and grew pale. "Duo was hurt, Heero said that they were attacked by a gang last night."

"A gang? That must be the gang Duo told us about. The one that’s after Heero. That’s why he’s carrying a gun."

"Heero was in a gang? That explains a lot, including the gun, which I almost forgot about," Cy said, her face showing some of her surpise.

"Yeah, I know. Was Quatre with them during the attack, I haven’t seen him all day and now I think I should be worried."

"He had to be, they all went out together last night. Duo wouldn’t tell me where he was though. What if something happened to him?"

There was no way Montana could wait until the end of class to find out what had happened to Quatre. Raising her hand, she did something she had vowed never to do in her life, "May I go to the restroom."

"You have fifteen minutes between classes, you should have gone before class," the ageing teacher said as he paused in his explanation of how to identify different types of clouds.

"But it’s an emergency, Mr. Ticklme," she said.

"An emergency?" he asked with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah, I have to change my pad," she said bluntly.

The teachers wrinkled face grew bright red and he motioned for her to leave. Montana jumped up and rushed out of the room. By-passing the restroom, she headed to Duo’s class, good thing I noticed his schedule when we hacked into his file. She headed to room 534, the gym. Walking into the gymnasium, she located Duo playing basketball with a few other boys, some of them were actually participating. She stalked over, muder in her eyes and grabbed him by the front of his shirt, dragging him to a corner.

"Hey, babe! What’s wrong?" he asked with his normal smile spread across his face.

"Don’t you play games with me, Duo Maxwell. Now tell me where Quatre is," she demanded. The smile immediately fell from his face and he looked away. She became worried, "What happened to him?" she asked, a pleading look on her face.

"He’s in the hospital, it’s about two blocks from here," he replied.

Turning her back on him, she walked away. "Hey, where are ya going?" he called after her.

"To see Quatre," was all she said before disappearing into the hall.

***  Chapter 13

Unable to hear or have a completely uninhibited view of the scene that had played out before him, Heero didn’t know exactly what had been exchanged between Duo and Montana, their lips had been kept from view. However, it wasn’t hard to figure out what would draw the Indian girl to search out Duo in the middle of class. His eyes followed her lithe figure as she released Duo’s shirt and stormed into the hall. Heero immediately took action.

Approaching Duo, he ignored the American’s cheery greeting and got down to business. "She’s going to the hospital," he said, it was more a statement than a question.

The braided boy shrugged, "I guess so. She’s worried about Quatre."

Heero nodded once, "She’s gonna have questions. One of us should be there to answer them."

Duo showed his understanding. "Oi, man! You go, I’ll cover for ya. You’re the best person to do the explaining anyway. I’ll let the others know and we’ll stop by after school."

Nodding once, the Japanese pilot walked toward the boy’s dressing room and slipped in while the teacher’s back was turned. Quickly changing into his school uniform, he left his things for Duo to take care of and exited the dressing room throught he door leading to the main hall. Leaving the building throught eh doors by the nurses office, he set a quick yet casual pace in the direction of the hospital.

It took him a good 10 minutes to walk the two block distance. Entering through the main entrance, he headed to the hospital’s elevators and to Quatre’s room. Approaching the door, he stopped and watched silently in awe. Inside, Montana sat by the bed holding the unconscious boy’s hand.

***  Montana looked at the peaceful face of Quatre as he lay in a coma, ignoring the machinery that surrounded him and gave him a look of weakness that just didn’t fit him. She held his hand, stroking his palm gently with her thumb. She began to speak to him, wishing that he could hear her.

"What happened to you, Quatre?" she asked sadly. "you don’t deserve this. You’re so sweet and gentle. How could anyone hurt you so terribly?" tears formed in her eyes and she leaned forward to rest her head lightly on the young pilot’s chest.

You on the run

She satyed like this for what seemed like an eternity, just listening to his steady heartbeat. "I wish you could hear me. I wish you could talk to me," she mumbled as her head rose and fell with the steady movement of his breathing.

Living your end

Sitting up again, she placed her free hand on his cheek. "You know, you’re the only perosn who ever really knew me? You knew from the start that I’m not that mean person I appear to be," she whispered softly, leaning in close to his ear.

Lose the time to come

"Not even Anika and Cy know me, that well, although they understand me in a different way. I have a feeling that Heero and Wufei will never trust us, no matter how many times we try to prove ourselves," tears started to stream down her face quicker.

It’s alright

"You’ve gotta wake up! I miss you so much!" she said as her voice began to fail her.

Suddenly, she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder and she jumped up to find Heero standing there. His features were softer than usual and Montana easily relaxed into his arms when he pulled her into a hug. "He’ll be alright," he said in his normal monotone. "He’s been through worse."

If heaven is on the way

Montana looked at him in shock. "What do you mean worse?"

Heero just shrugged slightly, "His family is rich and he’s the only heir. People go after him often."

The witches eyes widened at this and she hugged him tighter, "I had no idea." And Heero knew she hadn’t, having done research on who she was. Although, her true identity was carefully hidden by her parents, he had saw through it. The princess of India had lived a fairly sheltered and heavily guarded life. Her year and a half at this school the only true freedom she had ever experienced and even here was safe.

If heaven is on the way

"What happened?" a weak voice said from her side.

"Quatre!" Montana immediately released Heero and ran to the boy’s side. "I was so worried. What happened to you?"

"We were attacked by a gang," Heero’s monotone answered her question. Quatre only nodded as he looked down at the sheets.

Letting the cables sleep

Sighing, Montana brushed the boy’s blond hair from his face as she hovered over him worriedly. "At least you’re ok," she said.

It’s alright

"I’ll go get a doctor," Heero said before leaving. Montana nodded, thankful that he was giving them some time alone.

"I’m sorry if I worried you," Quatre said as he looked her in the eyes. He began to struggle to sit up, but the black haired girl held him down with a shake of her head.

"You shouldn’t move. You need rest," she said, studying the bandage around his head unhappily.

"I’m sorry to say that I don’t know…"Quatre trailed off as Montana interrupted him.

Heaven is on the way

"You should rest, I just came to make sure you’re ok," she said as she leaned forward.

If heaven is on the way

Without really knowing it, she brought her head closer to Quatre’s and then claimed his lips. Surprise showed on the oby’s face, but Montana diceded he wasn’t expecting her directness. She brought her hands up against his back and deepend the kiss, slipping her tongue between his lips. She never noticed the fact that he didn’t react.

I’m a stranger in this town

Montana!" a voice scolded from the door. "I had no idea you had a thing for taking advantage of the unconscious."

Jumping up, the black haired girl turned around with her sleeve to her mouth. Her face grew red at the thought of them sneaking up on her. "He is not unconscious," she said angrily.

"Oh, I see," Duo said with a smile as he looked around Montana. "Quatre! I’m glad to see you’re awake."

I’m a stranger in this town

Montana noticed Duo’s smile falter as he studied the injured boy. "What is it?" she asked as she turned to look at Quatre. At the sight of the ocnfused face, she became worried. "What’s wrong?"

I’m a strangerin this town

"Who are all of you?"

If heaven is on the way

Everyone stopped and looked at each other.

I’m a stranger in this town

***  Duo and Trowa emerged from the room they share with Quatre and shut the door. The Arabian had spent another night in the hospital under observation and then was sent back to the schoo. A letter, compliments of Heero, stated that his family wished for him to stay at the school. They had decided that it would be better for him to be around friends.

"How is he?" an anxious Montana asked.

"He’s resting," Duo said with a sigh, his unusal smile missing from his features. "The doctor said that in time his memory may come back. I just hope he’s right," he said as he exchanged looks with the other pilots.

"We should all rest too. Get our minds off of everything for a while," Heero said as he turned to go to his room. Wufei followed, completely happy to get a break from Montana’s questions.

"Duo, will you go for a walk with me?" Cy asked as she stepped up beside the braided pilot. Resting her head on his shoulder, she stroked his back comfortingly. He nodded and placed his arm around her waist, leading her down the dormitory hall.

***  The red haired witch was worried about Duo. He was extremely stressed about Quatre who was trying without success to remember who he was. It was almost Thursday and he had shown no imporvement. She sighed as she and Duo walked down the path in the direction of her dorm room. Cyanea had to admit that the violet eyed boy was dedicating himself to learning how to use his new powers even though he spent most of his time fussing over his friend. Over the past week, he had shown great progress and control over his powers, most of the time. Smiling, she remembered one past event that had Montana fuming.

[flashback]

The three girls were standing outside of their dorm room, giving Duo some time alone to work with his new found power. Talking outside the door, which was cracked in case the young adept got himself into any trouble, the three witches were completely unprepared for what came through the opening. None of them wold have even noticed their new company it it weren’t for a comment made by Anika.

"Do you smell something? It smells like something is burning," she said as she began to look around. Her gaze immediately focused on the door, then panned down to stare at the floor.

The other two girls were quick to follow her gaze. What they saw was a complete surprise. At their feet were many tiny dancing flames circling them in mesmerizing patterns. The sound of the sparks was almost like a sort of singing, the total effect left them in a trance-like state. The sight of smoke as they continued their dancing on the hallway carpet brought the girls back to reality. Montana was quick to react, dowsing the flames with summoned water.

When she had made sure the last of the sparks had flickered out as they emmitted small protesting sounds, she raised her head, allowing her friends to behold her furious features. Both stepped back as she passed, unwilling to come in physical contact with their irate companion. Montana entered the room with an indignant air, then stopped.

"Duo!" she shrieked, no longer able to control her growing anger.

Cyanea grabbed Anika’s arm and quickly rushed in after Montana, fearing for Duo’s safety. What met her eyes caused her to stop and stare in slack jawed shock. All over the room, on the bed around the confused boy and on various other pieces of furniture, were tiny dancing flames. Recovering from her shock, Cyanea took action.

Shutting the dorm room door before any passers by could see this display, she turned on the boy she loved. "What the fuck did youdo?" she asked as she took in her home away from home.

Duo just shrugged, "I tried to stop them, but they kept multiplying. They won’t go away."

"They will if I have anything to say about it," Montana said as she summoned water once more, using just enough liquid to put out the flames and not damage their belongings

Cyanea looked aorund frantically as Montana continued her self-proclaimed job. Turning back to Duo, her eyes widened as she witnessed on of the happily bouncing sparks nestling itself comfortably in his braid. "Duo! In your hair," she cried out as she pointed, unable to make her way through the swarm of lights populating the dorm room floor.

Letting out a horrified shreik, the braided pilot jumped up and started to bat frantically at the content flame. The sparking light quickly became agitated at being upset by its host and started to let of larger amounts of heat. The smell of buring hair filled the room and Montana finally turned her attention to the boy who continued to save his pride and joy from imminent defiling.

Her face hardened for a moment and Cyanea thouhgt for sure that her fried would let the boy’s hair cath fire. However, something must have changed the black haired witches mind as she quickly sent a spurt of water to eliminate the flame. Quickly finishing off the last of the hyperactive sparks, she turned her eyes back to the boy on the floor. "Next time, we’re working outside," she said with her hands planted firmly on her hips.

Cyanea followed her gaze and saw Duo sitting crosslegged and cradling his braid protectively close to tears. She let a look o fconfusion cross her face before pushing her thoughts to the back of her mind and helping him up.

[end flashback]

The red haried girl’s brow furrowed as she contemplated why Duo had reacted so stronly to the harming of his hair. Shakign the thought from her head once more, she looked up at the sky to find black clouds gathering quickly over the campus. Grabbing his hand in her own, she picked up th epace, tugging gently for him to follow.

"What’s the hurry?" he asked as he gave her his traditional grin. Cyanea hadn’t missed the fact that no matter how terrible he was feeling, he always had a smile.

Using her other hand to point at the sky, she responded, "It’s gonna start pouring any minute and I have a feeling if we don’t walk a little faster, we’re gonna get soaked."

She never noticed the sly grin that crossed his face, "Is that all?" he asked as he stopped in his tracks, keeping a strong hold on her hands.

She turned around with mischeif in her eyes and tried to pull him into motion again, to no avail. Raising her eyebrow in question, understanding quickly showed on her face. Laughing, she walked up colse to him, "Oh, I get it. You want to et wet, and me along with you," she said as she struggled to get him to walk again or at least let go of her hand.

He woudn’t have it as he pulled her close to his body and kissed her on the lips, slow and sweetly. Falling into the kiss, she forgot completely about the coming sormand surrendered to the floating feeling of pleasure that entered her very soul. Suddenly, the clouds let loose the torrents of rain on the couple, causing Cy to moan in dismay.

"Damn, you win," she said as she looked at him with laughter in her eyes. "Now come on, before we get sick or something."

Duo nodded and let her head him to the dormitiories that grew in size as they approached them.

***  Kerri watched from under the safety of the girl’s dormitory porch as the couple kissied in the school yard. Her face flushed with jealousy as she saw the man that she had lay clain to in the arms of the witch. With each second she watched, she became even more determined to prove that the red haired slut and her friends were witches. After all, she had to cast a spell on Duo to win the heart of the most popular boy in school.

Her eyes narrowed as the rain let loose, drenching them as they pulled away from each other. She couldn’t take it anymore as she continued to watch the two walking in her direction, hand in hadn while playing in the quickly forming mud puddles. With a huff, she quickly turned and entered the building.