Moleman - already... 7?? How long have you been bugging us with this fic??

Lg - O_o; Matteo... Will you forgive me? ;_;

The holy disclaimer : NOT MIIIIIIIIIIIINE!! Booh.

Trick riding
Chapter VII : The darkest hours...

"Please! Say yes!"

"Aaaaww Duo, stop it! I..."

"I promise to be a sheer gentleman, a charming prince! Say yes say yes say yes say yes!!!"

"Okay."

"Really?"

"You can get up, now."

Duo Maxwell, who had been crawling on the floor of his own scrapyard for about twenty minutes, finally stood up, regaining a decent attitude, wiping his lost puppy look from his features, only to replace it by his trademark victorious grin.

He was happy. No. He was ecstatic. He had a date.

"Uhm, you know Duo..." Hilde began, while sorting out some pieces, "Gentlemen usually ask the girl out with a big bouquet of flowers..."

She barely had the time to repeat it, as he was already in the street, running, flying. She smiled softly, he was such a kid. But she had earned herself flowers.

Hilde hummed softly an old tune, rummaging through the shelves of their workshop. She couldn't help but beam. It had been so strange, they had been living together for almost two years, now, and though she had often longed for more than their 'undying friendship', though kisses on the cheek had often turned out to be the most frustrating experience she knew, they had never dared to tackle the heart of the matter :
The grocer's wife thought they were married, they always get the concessions for couple, and despite their official single status, none of them had been able to lead any serious relationship ever since they had moved into the scrapyard together.

And this afternoon, the dam had just broken. Without a single warning.

They had been working on repairing an ageless computer and suddenly, he had kicked the offendant machine wih his foot, dropped his pliers, fell on his knees and had begged her to go out with him tonight. She had been mute with surprise, unable to decide if she should laugh, cry, or yell at him for having kicked the computer.

She giggled, playing with his cap, trying it on, and froze at the sight of something all to familiar. This little red spot on the wall hadn't been there a few seconds ago.

She leaned out reflexively, but she could already hear the shot and she lost consciousness, without even knowing where she had been hit.

Midii entered the vast living room with catlike grace, to find Shaolin and Quatre still fussing about their lack of progress.

"I tell you, you're WRONG! you won't find anything in their hard disks! If anybody is trying to screw you, they're not stupid enough to leave such obvious tracks!!" Shaolin snapped.

"I know! I was talking about the temporary files, but when one can't listen correctly, of course..." Quatre barked.

"It's stupid anyway."

"It's not."

"It is."

"Have you found anything yet?"

"..."

"Then it's stupid."

"..."

"Shaolin : 2 / Quatre : 1. End of the first half."

They both turned to see a bemused Midii sitting on the farther edge of the huge wooden table.

"So, have you two found anything valuable?"

"I know that he was born as a left-handed brat, that he broke his wrist when he was seven and that he is allergic to groundnut and penicillin." Shaolin snarled, pointing to Quatre.

Midii cocked a surprised eyebrow.

Quatre took off his glasses, rubbing his temples grimly. "She hacked in my medical records. Don't ask."

She refrained the urge to burst out laughing at their antics and went back to the matter at hand. "What do we do?"

"Well... The intranet revealed nothing interesting, we are now checking all the personnal mails sent by my employees from their computer."

"And it seems that your sheeps cheat a lot... I can't believe it! they all use their connections to send their personnal stuff!!" Shaolin sighed watching endless lists of names appearing on the screen.

"How are you going to sort them out?" Midii asked, slightly worried too by the amount of names.

"We will have to read..." Quatre groaned, letting his head fall on the table.

"I'm... Not... So sure!" Shaolin giggled, typing at lightning speed on Quatre's laptop.

"Hey! Stop this! She's erasing them!" He squealed.

Midii gestured him to be quiet and watch, as the list was reduced to a few pages of mails.

"What did you do?" He asked sceptically.

"I suppressed all the messages containing the following words : Food, love, TV, Shopping, job and Quatre!" She grinned.

"Quatre?" He asked, his eyes like saucers.

"If someone uses your first name, it can only be fluffy ramblings from hopelessly romantic feminine employees." She stated.

Quatre blinked. Fluffy ramblings? Maybe when this was over, it would be time to discover what -exactly- his personnel saw him as.

"How will you sort out the rest?" Midii asked, leaning to watch the screen too.

"Well, we have something like fifty containing 'Winner', but it doesn't leave more than thirty-five different addresses. That's what we'll check. The ones with any kind of attachements first." Shaolin yawned.

Duo pushed the scrapyard's door precautiously, half hidden under a monstruous amount of flowers, tiptoeing to surprise his fr- No, from now on, she would be his girl.

He was surprised by the thick silence surrounding him, however, and laid the flowers on the nearest table, thinking.

'Maybe she went out or something...'

Then, he noticed it, his cap, on the floor. He picked it up, puzzled. "I forgot it? Oh W-"

His voice was abruptly caught in his throat, as he discovered dark stains on the black material.

'This smell... Blood!!'

He pushed the nearest pile of equipment, only to find her. He felt his eyes burning and his throat becoming dry. There was blood everywhere, on her clothes, her head... He knelt beside her still body, his stiff movements and his trembling hands betraying his terror.

'No. Not again!'

His mind was screaming in pain as the memories flooded back. He tried to turn her gingerly, and a wave of relief washed over him. She was ever so slightly breathing. A bullet had grazed her temple, missing her but soaking her forehead in blood. Still, she needed a doctor, now. he carried her to the car, and reflected on what had happened, dishonoring every single rule of the road he had ever heard about and comforting a dizzy Hilde all the while. 'My cap... Could it be?'

It wasn't long before most of the names had disappeared from the list, and when only a few addresses remained, the was verdict announced.

"I have one address!" Shaolin bawled, brandishing victoriously a listing.

Quatre overcame his annoyance and approached her, curious.

"The information about the Group Winner we found in Norway Tec's boss's computer where sent by a perfect nobody, one of your archivists, it seems..."

"Of course, they hadn't access to my files, but the older dossiers, my father's where probably easier to find..."

"I trust you to know how you've been fleeced." She shrugged. "We should call Midii and tuft boy."

"Tuft boy?? Anyway. So he copied them and sent them to this man?" Quatre pursued.

"No... Lemme see, actually, our mole sent the files to somebody else, who probably shared them with him."

"Who?"

"No name, but an address, they tried to erase the mail's traces in the system, from what it seems... That's it! Mr Raberba Winner, say hello to 'Doca549001@roma.uk'!"

Quatre's face paled noticeably. "You must have made a mistake. Try something else."

"I'll have you know I don't make mistakes. Try yourself."

Quatre typed feverishly, following the path that Shaolin had hacked into his system, only to find the same result. "No..."

"Okay. I'm going to look for a name, and possibly a face to decorate this address." She said, leaning back in her chair.

"Stop playing with me!" Quatre suddenly shouted.

Shaolin blinked and glared at him. "What's your problem?!"

"You know perfectly who it is! You put this address on purpose!" He bawled, resisting the urge to harm her.

"I... I didn't! What has gotten into you? All I can see is that YOU know who stole your files!"

"Don't dare accusing her like that!" Quatre screamed, his cheeks red with anger.

There was a considerable lull in their row, at his words.

"Her?" She blinked, a bit dazed.

Quatre didn't bother to answer, instead, he simply stormed off the room, leaving a completely bewildered Shaolin.

Midii went back, a few minutes later. "Where is he? Did you scare him??"

"No... I..." Shaolin stammered, "I think we found the mole."

"And...?"

"Well, I may be wrong, but..."

"Who?!" Midii urged, sensing the bad news.

"His 'lady'."

Duo paced back and forth in the dim hospital hall, like a caged lion. He was about to loose patience and molest the first doctor who would dare to cross his path, when a strong grab stopped him. He turned to find Heero gripping his arm almost painfully.

"Stop it and listen."

"I hope these are good news. Man... She... It was me. I'm sure it's my head they wanted. She had my cap, and she was shot!!"

Heero simply glared at a curious nurse. "Shut up. I had a call from Wufei. They found the suspects and Quatre, they're only part of something bigger. We are the targets."

"And? This, I could have guessed! Now tell me something interesting!" Duo yelled, causing a few patients to shiver.

"We are leaving. We're going to find them." Heero stated coldly.

"I prefer this... I need to have a talk with Trowa's chick and her associate." Duo retorted, dangerously close to his 'Shinigami mode'.

It was already dark when Heero and Duo entered the long and narrow alley, the hours of driving hadn't brought much answers, and though neither of them showed it, they were itching for a face to face with the thieves that had created this mess...

"Well... During the last twenty-fours hours, you two created more trouble than all of us ever did..." Duo stated, after having given them a brieve summary of the situation they were in, insisting on the fact that whoever was responsible for Hilde's state would pay dearly...

He glanced at Heero meaningly.

Midii fidgeted the blue disk nervously. It was true. So true. She had only meant to help him, and now, they were in the middle of a disaster. Winner Corp had already begun to look for its president, who had 'mysteriously' disappeared. Preventers wanted Shao and her dead or alive, more than ever, and though she absolutly didn't know him, she felt a pang of guilt for that preventer officer. What if Mr Maxwell's friend suffered from aftereffects? Would Trowa forgive her? No... Of course, she knew she would barely forget, herself.
Shaolin didn't look that much upset, but, then again, she never was one to show her real emotions, and trouble was as a indispensable as the air she breathed, for her.

And Quatre... Watching him slowly digest the information, she realized how Trowa might have felt, when she had betrayed him for the first time. He looked lost, sad and furious all the while. And seeing him, she understood how far they were from one another. She wasn't on the right side and would never be. Neither was Shaolin, and it almost looked like all those preventers refused to acknowledge it. They judged them and then considered that now that their crimes had been bawled out loud, they could try to atone for their sins. She smiled sadly, why was it that the first and only man she totally falled for was her ennemy?

"Pfff... Maybe our methods rippled the water a bit, but we found what you had missed." Shaolin remarked.

"There is no glory in what you did. Of course you discovered this operation easily. You were up to your necks in it." Heero retorted, tearing the disk of Midii's hand, earning himself a reprobative stare from Trowa.

"If glare-boy say so..." Shaolin sighed.

"But, what do we do know?" Midii asked timidly.

"You do nothing. We will find what those Kyuseishuu files hide, we'll get the data back and put a stop to this." Wufei growled, in a warning tone.

"The only questioning remaining," Duo began, casting a hard look to Shaolin and Midii, "Is to define whether we kill you immediatly or if we wait and send you all packed up to Preventers, to spent the next twenty years in a cell."

Midii's eyes narrowed at the last statement. Now she was sure that it was over. She had wanted to believe that they would have a chance, that she could be with Trowa... But it was time to wake up. Wake up and think. she left the 'men' discuss over the situation, leaving with Shaolin, watched by a very suspicious Heero.

"Well!" Shaolin sighed, leaning against her room's door.

"They're deciding what's in store for us..." Midii said grimly, her professionalism slowly coming back at its usual rate.

"We can't tolerate this, can we?" The cherry-haired girl stated more than she asked, "So we have to get out of here, five guys, it will be tough, but we can make it."

"Five Gundams pilots." Midii corrected.

"The Winner brat doesn't count, I say we have four and a quarter."

"I agree, he will be easy to neutralize... If you do it yourself." Midii smiled.

Shaolin stared at her with a look of complete uncomprehension on her features, and Midii couldn't help but think that it was better this way. She didn't want to be around when Shao would finally caught her meaning.

"Still... "Midii frowned, "We have to solve this thing, or we'll always be on the run."

"Aren't we already?" Shaolin smirked.

"You know what I mean." Midii huffed.

"Maybe... Remember what she said, when she gave us the job?" Shaolin asked, sorting her thoughts.

"About the bank?"

"No, when she said that if she couldn't take the data somebody else would pay us and take it!"

"But..." Midii winced, "It's too late, we've already sold it."

"Maybe, but if the answers exist, they're certainly there. Gimme the address."

Midii fished a little piece of pink paper in her pocket, reading it slowly. "L.W.P. Jalan Ampang Tower #9"

Shaolin took a deep breath, made up her mind and raised her head. "I don't wanna know what they'll do with us, so I choose to try this. The garden. Midnight." The last words were barely a whisper, as she left the room, leaving Midii to her thoughts.

She had really thought things could change...

Heero watched Trowa leave and walk up the stairs in a pathetic attempt to look detached. Now that could be a problem, and that precise moment, he couldn't help but wonder who had been enough of a moron to tell him that he should act on his emotions.

If he had known about that blonde earlier, he knew he would have shut up.

Midii closed her eyes, letting herself fall on the vast bed, in the dark and bluish room. She needed time to think, and the night was welcoming. It had always been the only moments when she could concentrate herself totally, in the darkness, at the ungodly hours.

She sat up abruptly, however, as one of the heavy doors of the room creaked slowly open. she didn't need to ask to know who it was, and, somehow, she felt a dizzying sadness at the thought that he didn't know what she was actually feeling... And planning. He was willing to protect her, he couldn't understand. She couldn't say it and, anyway, she could feel the tension in the room, as the door closed, like a warm mist envelopping her.

She wouldn't tell him.
And it didn't matter anymore. Because he wasn't there to talk.

He moved across the room with a predatory grace, until he was a few inches away from the bed. She couldn't see his face, but she knew he was watching her, for having lived such a scene so many times. Sometimes it was just lust, sometimes they were in love... But it was always the same tension, the same respect and composure, until they couldn't wait or think anymore. And she let them lost themselves in their fantasies, their desires, their private heaven, while calculating rationally her next move.

She had always manipulated them.

All.

However, this time, she knew that if she gave in, she would be the one manipulated. Not by him, never... But by her own attirance for that forbidden fruit. That was her weakness, and would be her downfall. She would never be able to think rationally in the circle of those arms. And when the time to leave would come, it would hurt, both of them.

She watched him sit near her, feeling his gaze on her body and opted for stopping him as soon as they would slip too far. Her arms didn't cooperate, however, and when he closed the distance between their lips, pushing her slowly to lay on the bed, she felt like screaming for feeling so good and so weak.
Her lips seemed to taste his of their own volition, her body seeking his touch and when he stopped to bore into her soul with those incredible emerald pools, she lost the game for the first time. She could only gaze back, mesmerized.

"Don't worry, I won't let them put you in jail, nor kill you..." He breathed. "I..."

She silenced him with a passionate and explorative kiss, almost tearing his shirt in her haste. This was insane. She needed him so bad, she needed his warmth, his scent, his skin. To relieve her anguish. She needed him to relieve the anguish caused by his presence.

Her mind was spinning around and around. The sensations and the emotions had erased all logic. She felt her own clothes being feverishly peeled off from her body, his breathing in her ear, her neck, and she let herself being trapped, discovering this private heaven in her turn...

Quatre sighed tiredly and peeled his shirt from his body, tossing it hapazardly, as if to ease his frustration. After his belt, shoes and socks had received the same treatment, he plopped himself on the bed and stared at the ceiling, looking for answers, and satisfying ones, if possible.

"Dorothy..." He sighed, "What is it... Now?"

He was cut in his rêverie by a soft knock on the door, however.

"Come in..."

"My, my, my... Aren't we sleeping?"

He closed his eyes, recognizing the purr he knew so well, and sat up, only to find what he had expected, leaning against the doorframe. A headache.

"I suggest you leave now, Miss Hao. Heero hasn't mentioned anything about sparing you, yet." He said icily, reaching for his shirt.

She only smirked at his remark and walked in, swiftly and graciously, taking hold of the garment in the same time. Quatre glared at her with all the strenghth he could summon, and inhaled sharply to keep calm.

"Give it to me." He demanded, imitating the Yuy-coping-with-villains-method.

"Why? I've already seen it. Don't play shy with me..." She answered, playing with the collar of the white garment, "Besides," she said as sultrily as humanly possible, "I could keep it as my 'security blanket'... I love its... scent..."

He clenched his jaws and his fists, trying to remain unconcerned by the lovely demon smelling his shirt, but he found it was harder than expected. He didn't blink when she closed the distance between them and sat on the bed, near him, before lying down and stretching like a cat, or a streetwalker, whichever you choose.

"Can I keep it?" She giggled in a childlike and naughty tone.

"..."

He glanced sharply and was rewarded by the sight of her sensuously arched back, her long fingers caressing the fabric, her indecent position letting show a teasing strip of caramel skin and a perky navel. He swallowed and glared harder, to suppress any kind of inappropriate reaction.

"How could we... Proceed...." Her fingers traveled on the covers, "To relieve...." They pushed softly the bedspread, "This tension..."

Quatre's eyes widened, as her forefinger grazed his chest, and he pulled away sharply.

"Enough."

She glared at him and sat up abruptly, with an audible huff, and before he could even realize, took off her wrap top, throwing it aside, revealing a black lacy bra. He retreated further, at first.

"What.. Wait!!"

"Seeing how cooperative you are, I guess I'll have to do everything all by myself." She retorted casually, beginning to work on her jeans.

"Ah... Uh..."

Unable to voice his outrage, he took his shirt and handed it to her hastily, all the while thinking to a way of neutralizing her. She had been waiting just for that.

Shaolin smirked as she watched his hand. That was perfect. The show had passably "distracted" him, and he was close enough. Instead of taking the shirt, she grabbed his wrist as fast as she could and proceeded.

Quatre felt a tingle, barely painful, an injection...? It was too fast, blurry, then he noticed how heavy his limbs felt. Her features were fuzzy, was she still talking? Realization dawned way too late, and he sank almost instantly in a black, dreamless and thick fog.

Midii looked down at the sleeping form beside her, and a single tear made its way down her cheek. She had to convince herself that she could do this. But she would miss him so much. Already, the warm and silky feeling of his skin against her pulled her into a strange laziness. Never before had she experienced such a tiredness. She just wanted to stay like this, in the covers, in his arms.

Eventually, the tears threatened to overwhelm her and she summoned her strenghth, she kissed him lightly on the cheek and got up, reaching for her clothes. She crept silently to the door...

"I'm not asking you to forgive me this..."

Midii stopped the car a few blocks away from the imposing building and closed her eyes for a brief instant, reflecting on the day's events and what was left to do. she knew this was the time to act like a professional, but she wanted to be a child so much...

Shaolin's voice snapped out of her depressing thoughts, However.

"Fine! It's no big deal, your typical company building, it seems... I guess if they have secret stuff, they don't keep it there, so..."

"Still, I'd rather not go there naked." Midii stated, loading consciensiously a gun.

"Okay, but we can go armed to the teeth, even the lousiest sensors will detect so much metal." She remarked.

"Then we'll have to be imaginative!" Midii chuckled.

As expected, the security wasn't astounding, to say the least, and a half strip tease and a few pins were the downfall of three keepers and a few restive doors. One thing shocked Midii, though, as easy as it had been to enter the place, she was worried by the distinctive lack of paper in this firm... Wherever her gaze falls, there were empty shells and blanks sheets. As if in a new installation... Or as if everything had already been cleaned. Which meant...

"I've been waiting for you. What took you so long??" A silky and cold voice resounded.

The two thieves stopped dead in her tracks, the voice was so familiar...

"I still like her pumps." Shaolin blinked, as a slim and elegant black clothed figure, holding what seemed like a white cat, detached itself from the shadows.

Midii's eyebrows twitched, as she fought to remain calm. "What do we owe the pleasure?"

"You despicable... Traitors!" Dorothy hissed, "You know all too well why I'm here!"

"If you want information, I'm afraid we can't help you." Midii replied coldly. The door was too far, and since she held no gun, the building was over-trapped, for sure.

"You can ask your darling! The spy and the tax office fucker... That would make a great title, eh?" Shaolin snarled. She couldn't tell why, but that woman was awakening her agressivity, even more than diaper boy...

Dorothy hung her head in mock defeat, still caressing slowly the purring little creature all the while. "You two are so narrow minded... You're looking for money, and a subjective and emotionnal sense of justice. Can't you see that there's more to life than just that!"

The young girls cocked surprised eyebrows at her words, she seemed so sincere, inspired. She would be a challenger to be taken seriously, because she belived in what she was doing...

"Just... tell me this." Midii sighed, "Kyuseishuu... The savior is a Gundam...? But... Why did you involve Trowa!" Her voice cracked slightly, "Without his Gundam... He is helpless! Why do you still fear him?!"

She was lying, as well to Dorothy as to herself, but she needed to hear that if he gave up, he would be alright. He was far from helpless, but she needed hope, and as long as he would remain a preventer, there would be no hope...

Dorothy smiled sadly, her hands never leaving the rich diamond-like fur, "See how blind human can get, Matteo... You don't know your chance, I..."

Dorothy was about to say more, when a scream of genuine, unabashed, bone chilling terror tore the air. Shaolin barely had the time to blink, as, from her postion, she watched, for a second, a terrified shadow make the high dive in the dark sky. She stared at the window in morbid fascination for a few seconds, unable to react. Joined by a startled Dorothy and a horrified Midii.

"Say goodbye to 'L.W.P'..." Shaolin murmured.

Her daze prevented her from seeing the slight gesture of Dorothy, barely the move of a finger, but Midii caught the meaning and she scanned the dark area for any opponenents. Of course, she saw none, it had been well prepared.
Her heart almost exploded in her chest as she caught a glimpse of Dorothy's skirt fading in the darkness, and the first shots resounded. She barely felt Shaolin's shoulder pushing her out of the way, and failed to notice, amidst the confusion and the gunshots, the tiny gasp that escaped her partner's lips.

Then, suddenly, it was over. The deafening noise suddenly ceased, letting place to a terrifying silence. Marble eyes met lagoon ones, and the answer fell immediatly. They were gone. Only the two of them remained in the building. No one had bothered to kill them.

A bomb.

Never had she thought she could run so fast, Midii thought, as they went down the stairs at lightning speed. it was so strange, the speed, the exhaustion, the blurry surroundings... Her heart beat faster and faster and she didn't even feel tired, she felt like flying. Maybe it was because she was so scared. They had to make it.

They reached the huge glass doors protecting the main entrance and they stopped. everything was deceiptively silent. They stared at each other, in the same state of adrenalin rush and terror aftertremors daze, and leave the building quietly, completely giddy.

They hardly understood when the noise and the light blew everything away.

Midii watched the glass doors blankly, the flames caressing them, making them seem like crystal walls. It was an eerie sight, actually. And she barely even moved, when she heard tires screeching, doors slamming and heated footsteps on the sidewalk.

Shaolin didn't moved either and simply gritted her teeth as Heero spun her around roughly.

"Do you have an explanation to... This??" He hissed, gesturing to the remnants of the hall and the barely recognizable corpse adorning a long Limousine's hood.

Quatre and Wufei closed their eyes and sighed simultaneously, knowing all too well what came next. And reopened them in slight disbelief, as the cherry haired girl stared quietly at Heero, not blinking. "Kyuseishuu is the savior. It's a Gundam. No that he's dead, only Miss Catalonia can tell us where to find it."

As she finished her sentence, she pushed Heero out of her way softly, and walked to the car, where she sat obediently and silently, brushing past a belwidered Quatre and a wary Wufei. Midii watched her do so, sensing the obvious. Something was wrong. She turned to Trowa, hoping to find an answer, anything in those icy emerald pools, but she didn't expect to find more than disappointment and mistrust, and she did so.

Duo smirked slightly, as he observed the religious Shaolin in the rear-view mirror, "So... You don't plan on escaping? I'm very shocked!" He snorted.

"Not yet." She answered, her voice barely audible. "Midii, can we leave now?"

To the bypasser, it could easily have sounded like a cold and disdainful tone, but Midii didn't miss the silent plea in her words. They were caught, anyway. She let Heero push her inside the car, sitting near Wufei on the backseat, and swallowed a sob, as Trowa stepped inside their car, where Shaolin was still staring into nothingness, without a single glance to her.

"Do you feel any better?"

She turned her head, meeting Wufei's hard stare. "I cannot say that this little performance was totally useless. But you dishonoured Trowa. And you betrayed his trust."

She didn't answer and bit her lip as hard as she could.

Quatre gazed at the thief thoughtfully. She hadn't uttered a single word since they had left, and he could have swore she was pale, if one could say so, in her case.

"Don't let go of her Q-man!"

Duo's voice made him snap back into reality, and he tightened slightly his grip on her wrist. They had agreed that she was susceptible to try to jump out of the car, so he had been given the mission of keeping her under control, until they were back at the house.
It made him realize that he found her wrist cooler than what he had thought it should be, and he rubbed it unconsciously with his thumb, softly. When he realized his familiar gesture, he stopped immediatly, and glanced at her, as a silent apology.

His eyes narrowed imperceptibly, though.

She hadn't flinched, hadn't blinked. He seemed to him that she was trembling ever so slightly, but he couldn't tell if it was his imagination, or the truth.

Midii entered the vast hall, led by Wufei and followed extremely closely by Heero. Now wasn't the time to try to escape, for sure.

She looked worriedly at Shaolin, led in by a smirking Duo. She didn't look well. Definitively Not. The young girl pulled slightly, freeing her wrist from the God of Death's grasp, and immediatly headed towards the stairs, silently and hurriedly.

Trowa grabbed her by the shoulder, as she was grazing him, and stopped her, clutching her small form painfully. "You're not going anywhere."

Shaolin bit back a tear and and pushed forward, approaching the stairs a little more. "I need to go to the bathroom." She murmured, her voice strangled.

Her statement was greeted by three glares, a smirk, Midii's anxious gaze and Quatre's more and more confused expression.

"She stays here." Heero warned, as Shaolin was still walking with a dazed determination towards the stairs, approaching the next rampart, Quatre.

"Girlie things?" Duo chuckled, somewhat amused by her unusual uneasiness.

Midii casted him her best imitation of Heero's death glare, trying to figure out what could be so wrong with her friend.

"I'll keep a close eye on her." Quatre pleaded, not trying to stop her.

Shaolin balled her fists, the tears threatening to roll freely. He was defending her. This was the humiliation supreme. She said nothing and followed him. As they stood in front of the door, he laid a hand on her shoulder, giving her a warning look, "Don't try anything... Please."

She bowed her head, hiding her face from his piercing gaze, her eyes wide with the effort of not crying, and entered.
Once in, she hastily took off her black coat, letting it fall heavily on the floor, and let herself slide down against the door, sobbing quietly.
God... It hurt. More than anything she had ever imagined. She watched her bloody shoulder and winced as she felt the flash of pain and the grounding feeling in her ribs. She stood up, leaned on the washbowl and turned the water on, cleaning the wound to have a better view. The bullet had passed right through her shoulder, but it wasn't inside, this was already good news. She cursed as she remembered that moron crushing her shoulder. Next time, she would make him eat his bangs.
She fumbled for antiseptic and whined inwardly as she only found a bottle of alcohol. Sniff. She took it gingerly, it would have to do, and as for her ribs... She had better trust time and rest, because there was nothing useful in here, except an aspirin tube. She took it anyway, and began to apply the biting liquid on her wound with a towel.

Now that hurt even more. No doubt.

Quatre sighed impatiently as he heard her fumble and make tiny sounds. What the heck was she up to? He couldn't help but worry, she had really looked strange, weak. He pondered those thoughts and darker ones, fishing in his pockets for something to open the door, when he noticed something, why did his hand feel so sticky...? Did she had sirup on her coat or something?? He held out his fingers under the lamp to observe them and his expression turned from surprised to furious. What did she think she was doing?!

Shaolin put her coat on hastily as the door burst open with a loud cracking sound.

"You... Are you sick?! Can't you just knock?!"

"No." Came the cold and irate reply.

Duo peeked quickly from the stairs and blink at the sight before him. "Uh... Q-man? Did she try to escape or something??"

"No." The tone was even merrier, as Quatre grabbed her good arm, careful not to shook her too much, well, before her teeth rattled, at the least.

"Then... Uh... Why did you break the whole thing down?" Duo asked, still a bit stunned. Quatre Winner breaking doors down, that was new, for sure.

I hope you didn't find it boring or anything... Dorothy is back in the next part! ^_^

Pleez, R&R!

Moleman - That sucked.

Quatre - How come I'm always fleeced??

Heero - Hn.

Lg - ;___;