Unusual Warnings: Hmmm…how to phrase it…let’s say…“hinting”. If your mind’s naughty (like mine), lots and lots of yaoi. If not, there’s still some there regardless.

 

Prodigy

 

Chapter 4

 

Conspiracy

 

x---x

 

Duo was genuinely impressed at their treatment in the Saparta University Lab Complex. It was rare when people-especially aging, uppity, department chair scientists-literally jumped out of your way.

 

But, they did. And seemed almost truly excited to do so. At one particular area, the doctor had smiled, and said, “Please, allow me!”

 

…Then again, it was downright scary at the same time. Anyone who received treatment like that was either terrifying, extremely well respected, or sadistic. He was beginning to think Dr. Heero Yuy was all three of these things. So, obviously it made sense that people would jump out of his way, since he could blow them up, calculate their decapitated head’s trajectory, and laugh about it at the same time.

 

Duo’s new “friend” turned another corner, and finally the boy knew where they were. A familiar bold sign that read “DESTRUCTION EXPERIMENTATION” kind of helped with that. The good doctor pulled out a keycard and zipped them in. But, as soon as Heero got a look around the room, he growled.

 

“Chang,” he snarled, and a pair of cool black eyes turned from the equation towards the two. He blinked.

 

“Yuy,” the other boy stated. His gaze slipped towards Duo, intrigued. “And you would be…?”

 

“No concern of yours,” Heero stated, and suddenly seemed to glow malice. Duo was genuinely intrigued by this turn of events, but any further thoughts were wiped clean as the scientist suddenly had the other boy slammed down on the tile floor, growling. “I told you to never come in here.”

 

“Get off me,” the boy snapped, and jerked his head upwards to land a hard blow on Heero’s chin. But, the brown-haired doctor didn’t move.

 

“I warned you,” Heero stated again. “I told you to never come back in. And what did you do?” Duo sat himself down on one of the nearby countertops to watch the boys. When Wufei didn’t say another word, Heero pushed him further into the floor, and hissed, “What did you do?”

 

With a wordless roar, the boy twisted himself around, and tried to smash Heero’s head into the tile, but before he got the chance to complete the motion, he found himself once more pinned on the floor. Except, this time, a grinning boy with shining violet eyes was straddling him.

 

“Well, you’re a naughty little thing, aren’t you,” Duo chuckled, and then turned his attention to the grumpy scientist. “You wanna explain this?” Heero glared at him.

 

“Chang Wufei, transfer student from China. He’s working on his masters in biochemistry,” Heero stated, and Duo nodded, standing up and offering Wufei a hand. Instead, the boy glared at him and stood himself up, brushing his lab coat off.

 

“What, no thank you?” Duo stared at Wufei incredulously. “I’m insulted!” The two boys ignored him, choosing to glare at each other.

 

“Next time, you won’t have your friend to protect you,” Wufei sneered. Heero smirked.

 

“Next time, you won’t have legs.” With one last venomous glare, Wufei stormed out of the room, slamming the now-slammable door on the way out.

 

“Ooookay,” Duo said, drawing the word out. “NOW want to explain?” Heero sat himself down in his rollie chair and crossed his arms.

 

“No.” The braided student rolled his eyes, and Heero frowned. “I suspect him of being a spy.” Duo stared at him.

 

“Please tell me you’re joking,” he said, and when the scientist merely met his gaze, Duo hopped off the counter, and headed straight for the door…only to find it locked by a convenient button on Heero’s desk. He twirled around, glaring at Heero as he strode forward. “It’s your fault all this even happened. I never wanted any of this. I just wanted to act smart for once-JUST ONCE! - and now you stick me in some fucking conspiracy theory to get your doom recipe! I’m DONE!” Heero just stared at him. “LET ME LEAVE!”

 

“I can’t,” Heero said calmly. “You’re in danger.” Duo screamed, and before he had even thought about what he was doing, slapped Heero hard. Hard violet eyes glared at him.

 

“Let. Me. Leave.”

 

Heero glared back. “No,” he snapped, and then cursed under his breath.

 

Let me leave. Damn it. He’d almost forgotten.

 

“I-we- have to go.” Duo quirked an eyebrow up.

 

“…Huh? I thought I was being held captive,” he queried, and Heero grabbed his arm, pulling him out of the lab’s now-unlocked door.

 

“I’m late for a meeting.” Duo frowned, irked as Heero dragged him back out to the parking lot. Finally, he fake-pouted.

 

“You just love me for my car!” Heero nearly tripped when Duo yelled it out, and turned to glare fiercely at him, only to see Duo was grinning haphazardly regardless. He positioned himself right in front of the braided menace.

 

“You are in danger,” Heero stated coldly. “Whether you like it or not, it’s true.” Before Duo could bite out a witty comeback, he gasped as the annoying scientist pulled him forward and shoved his hand in the other boy’s pocket. The hand was quickly removed, holding a set of car keys as the rest of him continued towards Duo’s junky yet insanely fast black car.

 

Duo stood, choking and dazed, for a moment. Had Heero just…? He shook his head. No way Dr. You’re-In-Danger-But-I-Hate-You-So-Shut-Up could have had that look in his eyes. He couldn’t have possibly seen that eerily bright blue suddenly flare up in the scientist’s eyes…could he?

 

Logic finally kicked back in, and Duo ran after the annoyance commandeering his car.

 

x---x

 

At the precise moment the clock struck six o’clock, Trowa Barton grabbed the phone.

 

He dialed Quatre’s hurriedly scrawled but perfectly legible number.

 

The phone rang.

 

An older-sounding man answered. “Winner residence. Hello?”

 

Trowa Barton, panicking, hung up.

 

x---x

 

Duo broke the car’s silence, slouched in the passenger seat with his arms crossed moodily. “You could have just asked.” Heero turned another smooth corner at 80 miles an hour in a 35 mile an hour zone.

 

“You would have said no.” Duo shrugged, and blinked when he realized where they were.

 

“That is NOT funny,” he snapped, pointing at the local mental health facility. Heero glared at him, pulling into an insanely close parking spot without even looking, centering the vehicle perfectly.

 

“It’s not a joke,” Heero stated coolly, and carefully turned off the car, handing the keys back to Duo as he got out of the car. His softened blue eyes glanced over to the car’s owner. “I’d prefer if you didn’t come.” Duo frowned.

 

“I’m coming anyway,” he said. Heero just shrugged, and led the way into the mental hospital. A nurse was already waiting for them, and smiled at the sight of Heero striding up the stairs.

 

“Dr. Yuy! We’re so glad you made it. You’ve never been late before,” the nurse said, ushering the two boys inside.

 

“I was detained with business,” he said, almost apologetically. The nurse nodded understandingly.

 

“The best of us have that problem,” she reassured, and her eyes flicked over to Duo. “Will he be joining you?” Heero’s steps slowed, and finally he stopped, turning towards the extremely confused Duo Maxwell. He frowned, some of the sudden softness fading away.

 

“No. He may observe, but he is in no way permitted contact with Miss Peacecraft,” he said coldly, and Duo frowned minutely, figuring the scientist was pretty pissed at him for following. The nurse nodded, still smiling.

 

“I assume you know the way?” Heero nodded, and she smiled. “She’s waiting. I’ll take your friend to the observation room, then.” Again, he nodded, and strode away. The nurse’s beaming face turned to Duo. “First time here, right?” Duo nodded now.

 

“I didn’t know he had a friend here,” he said, striking up a conversation, and the nurse chuckled, leading him down another corridor.

 

“Oh, Dr. Yuy likes to keep it private. He feels awfully about it, and visits every week. He’s one of the only people to visit Miss Peacecraft,” the nurse chatted. “She’s very fond of him, even with their circumstances.” Duo’s eyebrows twisted around.

 

“What circumstances? They married or something,” Duo asked, and the nurse looked thoughtful, clearly trying to figure out the best way to respond.

 

“Miss Peacecraft is delusional. She believes with every fiber of her being that she’s a princess from a made-up kingdom called Sanc, and that Heero Yuy is her fiancée, a visiting prince,” the nurse began conversationally, opening a door for them. They walked on as Duo, enraptured, listened to the crazy story. “She wasn’t always insane, but there was a trigger a year ago.

 

“At about that time, Heero showed up at Saparta University. Miss Peacecraft’s father was the dean, and she was immediately smitten with her father’s new prize scientist. And who can blame her? He’s smart, strong, and gorgeous. If I was a few years younger…anyway, she was in a car crash while their family was on their way to something or other, and her father died. She ended up like this.”

 

The nurse opened one last door, and Duo found himself in a dim room, a window on one side, where a young lady with honey hair sat primly at a table set with tea, decked out in a simple yet elegant pink dress. She sipped some of her tea, staring at the wall’s mural of a garden, until there was a knock at the door. The lady smiled, and the door opened to show Heero. He strode over, gave her a short bow, and sat in the other chair.

 

“Good afternoon, Heero! I hope your day wasn’t too trying,” she beamed at him. “I hope Yuyopia is well?” Heero held back a grimaced at the made-up country he was supposedly sovereign of. That was just wrong.

 

“Trade is struggling, but it will survive,” he said instead, pouring himself some tea. “I presume Sanc is well?” Relena smiled at him.

 

“Oh, yes. As you said, trade is struggling, but then again, where isn’t it? I’ve drastically dropped down tariffs, but no matter what I try, it simply won’t boost the economy enough,” she said, shaking her head. “However, we’ve struck gold in the mountains, so in a while all should be well!” She looked up at him hopefully.

 

“Has your brother visited recently,” Heero asked, and her face drooped a little, but she responded cordially. Duo looked back at the nurse.

 

“Are they talking in code or something,” he asked. There had been WAY too much emotion for that to just be made-up economics. The nurse smiled at him.

 

“Nobody knows, except them. I’ve asked Dr. Yuy, but he always just brushes it off,” she said, and then immediately grabbed Duo’s hand, and pointed to the window with the other. “Oh! She’s getting to it early! Watch this!” He did.

 

Relena set down her teacup with a muted clatter. “I believe it is time we got to the real issue,” she said coolly, a small smile still on her lips. As her smile got wider, Heero’s face darkened proportionally. “Why do you continue to delay the wedding? We both know it will drastically benefit not only our countries, but also ourselves!”

 

(“Oooh! That’s new!” The nurse said conversationally. Duo wasn’t paying attention to her, though.)

 

Heero frowned. “I’m at war.” Relena sighed.

 

“Again?! With who?” A small smirk appeared on his lips.

 

“The Isle of Maxwell recently invaded,” he said easily. “And, as we both know, marriage during a war is simply asking for assassination.” Relena nodded forlornly.

 

“Well, I hope that works itself out quickly,” she sighed, and stood. Heero stood at the same time, as any gentleman would, especially around royalty. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I will retire.” She held out her hand, and Heero gave it a chaste kiss. She smiled softly at him, and walked through the other door in the room, which led to her bedroom.

 

Heero looked straight up into the one-way glass, and walked out.

 

x---x

 

At six forty three, Trowa Barton picked the phone back up.

 

He dialed the number.

 

The phone rang.

 

It was picked up, and a cheery, familiar voice answered. “Winner residence. Hello?”

 

Trowa held back a sigh of relief. “Hi. It’s Trowa.”

 

“Oh! Hi! How are you?”

 

“Good. So, about dinner, I was wondering if you’d like-”

 

“I’m sorry Trowa, can you give me a minute? My father’s calling me.”

 

“But-”

 

The phone was set down delicately, and Trowa sighed. There were the sounds of people in the background. Speech turned to yelling, and something crashed to the floor.

 

Trowa lurched to his feet. “Quatre?” There was more yelling on the other side of the phone. “QUATRE?!”

 

Someone picked the phone up.

 

“He’s busy at the moment,” a deep, masculine voice said hesitantly.

 

“What’s going on over there?!”

 

“…”

 

The phone at the Winner residence hung up.

 

Trowa slammed his phone down on the kitchen table.

 

x---x