Chapter 4 / 20
Written by Jessi Maxwell - send C&C to Megami_no_Remon@hotmail.com
Once they arrived, Wufei made an announcement over the com-link. "I shall go see if OZ knows anything. If they do, I'll duel with Treize and make him give me Quatre in exchange for his worthless life. This okay with you?" Heero gave his usual 'Aa', Trowa gave him a 'Hai', and Duo merely nodded. Shenlong lifted off, streaking away towards the OZ headquarters. They all knew that chances of Wufei doing exactly as he had said when he got there with Treize were slim...but even Duo held his peace and made no remark.
Wing Zero, Deathscythe, and Heavyarms began their search. They looked around, noting the obliterated buildings and the mobile suit bits strewn around. After hours of sifting through debris and chunks of mobile suits, they found no sign of Sandrock. This both relieved and worried Duo. It was a relief to know Quatre wasn't lying in pieces, but they weren't any closer to finding him. Who knew where he could be?
"Duo." Heero stated, fingers flying over buttons.
"Yeah, Heero?"
"Sandrock is not registering on any locators or scans. No contact can be established. It is either in a place specifically designed to prevent against even the most high tech of radars and such, or completely destroyed."
Duo's eyes filled with tears at the thought of the Arabian being destroyed, and Trowa gave Heero a reprimanding look. "Heero." The pilot of Wing Zero looked at Trowa for a few moments before realizing what Trowa meant. He mumbled an apology to Duo. The pilot of Shinigami smiled widely, tears glistening in his eyes.
"Hey, its okay, Heero! I'm just fine! Might as well be prepared for the worst? I mean, we could be walking through Quatre kibble, but hey, why worry about it?" he said in a cheery voice, tinged with hysteria. The accompanying half-crazed laugh made Heero wince. This was really beating up Duo. They were all worried for Quatre, yes, but Duo was a lot more sensitive than they allowed themselves to be.
They searched until it was too dark to see, for Sandrock, Quatre, or any clue to the whereabouts of either one. They came up empty-handed. Wufei returned, and sighed. "Tr...ahem...Khushrenada says that he has no clue as to either the whereabouts of Quatre or Sandrock. Have you found anything?"
Three heads shook negatively.
"Well," Heero stated, punching buttons and turning Wing Zero back in the direction of the safehouse, and then lifted off the ground. "We shall have to continue our search efforts in the morning. It is too dark. If he is captured, I pray he dies quickly without giving away information." Heero cursed silently as the words came unbidden out of his mouth. Wufei saw Duo's lip quiver, saw Deathscythe shaking slightly from the trembling of the pilot's hands gripping its controls...then Duo lost it. He broke down, wracked with sobs. As its pilot lost its composure, Shinigami fell to its knees with a loud crash. Wufei gave Heero a glare to rival Heero's worst.
"You just HAVE to say things like that, don't you!" he growled at the Japanese pilot. Heero looked at Wufei impassively, mentally cursing himself. Duo's communication had been shut off quickly as he lost his composure; he didn't want any of them to see him this way. He was the jester, the ray of sunshine on a cloudy day. He was supposed to take away everyone else's pain. Jesters don't cry. Boys don't cry...
The four pilots headed off for the safehouse.