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"Paranormal"Written By: The Plotting Housewife Disclaimer: Gundam Wing belongs to Bandai, Sotsu
and associated Parties. This work is written for pleasure not profit. Rating: R Warnings: Humor, crack, ghost hunters, AU Pairings: 1x2, 3x4, 5x6, 13xUne, RxD Summary: The gang gets together to investigate
a haunted house. The ghosts are ready to scare them silly. Too bad
they don't know who they're dealing with. "Paranormal " Relena Peacecraft stood in front of the dilapidated ruins of the aristocratic Khushrenada estate, her shoulders loaded down with various bags that were chock full of cameras and other sensitive equipment designed to pick up energy signatures from the other side. She sized up the large house with a critical eye as she waited for her lover to park the car and join her. Call it unbecoming of a junior investigator, but she was not going in there alone. As far as she could see, the other investigators had yet to arrive, which left her and Dorothy to begin the initial set up and get the ball rolling. She hated being the first to show up for a case. Moving with some effort, she waded through the tall grass of the front yard, which hadn't seen a lawn mower in God knew how long. Trudging through the thick weeds, shoulders aching from the excess weight she dragged along with her, she kept her eyes to the ground, half expecting to step on a rake and knock her own lights out before they even got started. Her boots sunk into the mucky ground, wet from melted snow. It was early spring in the kingdom of Sanq. The air slightly milder, but still with a nasty chill that could take your breath away. The trees were still bare, and the sky was overcast, making it feel more like November than April. She reached the porch, taking note of the missing and broken boards that made up its foundation. Treize wasn't kidding when he said the place needed a little TLC. She stepped up with some trepidation, wincing as the wood creaked and groaned under her weight. She bent forward, allowing the bags to slip down her arms and drop onto the decking. Heaving a sigh of relief, she rolled her shoulders and neck to loosen the aching muscles. There was a large window that ran along the length of the porch. It was filthy, framed by cobwebs on both sides, shutters barely hanging on with rusted hinges. Relena gingerly stepped around the questionable boards until she was close enough to try to peer through the layers of dust and grime. She couldn't see much. It was dark, only the dismal light shining in from windows of varying shapes and sizes allowing her to see bits and pieces. There was furniture, covered by sheets that were probably coated with decades of dust, and Relena wondered how the place hadn't been stripped bare of anything valuable by now. Maybe the furniture was worthless, who knew. She cupped her hands around her face, pressing against the cold glass to get a closer look, coughing slightly as she inhaled a cloud of disturbed dirt. Oh, it was the mother load! Not only was there furniture, but the place was still properly furnished. She caught a glimpse of paintings and mirrors on the walls. Vases and candlesticks stood in their places, dusty, covered in cobwebs, probably crawling with eight-legged vermin, but seemingly untouched otherwise. Relena's lips curled in a grin. So...maybe the legends were true. Movement caught her off guard and she pressed closer, trying to see what it was. She squinted through the hazy glass, straining her eyes. There. Again. What was that? The light that streamed in from outside dimmed, almost as if someone had passed in front of one of the windows, but there was no one there. She leaned back, dropping her arms. Huh. That was weird. She leapt out of her skin at a sudden deafening roar, yelping despite herself, as a flock of spooked black crows came out of their hiding spots with a flurry of flapping wings and frantic squawks. She laughed, holding a hand to her chest as she willed her heart to slow back down. At the edge of the yard, she spotted Dorothy approaching, mouth turned down in a scowl. She tripped over something and cursed loudly, her voice carrying across the expanse of weeds and grass. "- Stupid Treize...Of all the hare-brained ideas. Least he could have done was have someone come out and take a weed whacker to this shit..." The blonde woman muttered as she reached the porch. She dragged a large suitcase behind her, having to right it several times during her trek through the yard as the uneven ground kept tipping it sideways. She heaved it onto the porch with a groan. "Careful," Relena warned. "This porch isn't the most stable." Dorothy looked around, eyebrow raised. "Good Lord, what a hot mess this place is." She straightened her jacket and joined Relena on the porch, taking care to step around the worst of the boards. "Is the inside as bad as the outside?" Relena shrugged. "Maybe. It doesn't look as bad. It's dirty in there, but I can't tell you the state of the infrastructure until we get in there and get a look around." "Wonderful," Dorothy muttered. "If we're lucky, we won't kill ourselves the second we step foot through the front door." She pulled a tie out of her jeans pocket and twisted her long hair into a quick bun, securing it against the back of her head. She rested her hands on her hips and looked at Relena expectantly. "Shall we?" Relena gestured towards the front door, mouth twisted in a wry grin. "After you." Dorothy shot her girlfriend a sideways glance and grumbled as she made her way through the maze of floorboards until she reached the door. She fished around her jacket pocket and pulled out a key ring. Sifting through the various keys until she found the one Treize had given her the previous week, in preparation of this assignment, she slid it into the keyhole and turned it. There was an echoing click as the deadbolt slid free and Dorothy grasped the brass handle and pushed the door open. It took a few shoves with her shoulder before it would give. There was a loud groan as the door creaked open and Dorothy was met with a burst of musty air. She coughed and covered her nose and mouth with the collar of her jacket, squinting as dust and cobwebs swirled around her face. "Jesus." She blinked at Relena, her voice muffled behind the black leather. Relena giggled and pressed her hand against the small of her lover's back, using the other to shield her face with her own coat. They carefully stepped inside the large foyer, waving dust particles away from their faces. "Wait," Relena grasped Dorothy's jacket. "What about the equipment?" "Don't worry about it. We'll get it in a few minutes." Dorothy stepped further into the house, looking around. "No one is stupid enough to come up here and take it. I want to see what we're dealing with first." The floor was marble. At least they didn't have to worry about where they stepped, but their boots left distinctive prints in the thick coating of dust and dirt. Little clouds rose around their legs as they walked further into the house. To the right, there was a long staircase that wound up to the second story. An intricate railed landing crossed the high ceiling of the foyer in both directions. At the bottom of the stairs, a hexagon shaped, stained glass window streamed in light from the outside in reds, oranges, greens, and blues. There was a small hallway that led to a sitting area, then more hallways in three different directions. Dorothy turned to Relena. "Okay, let's see what's up. You go down that hall, I'll go down this one. We'll meet back here in twenty. Sound good?" "Yeah, okay," Relena agreed. They'd cover more ground that way. There were several doors on either side as Relena followed the length of the hall. She tried the first door on the right. It was a powder room. It was femininely decorated, bordering on indulgently frilly. There was a small, pedestal sink against one wall, and Relena raised an eyebrow as she watched water, dirty as it was, drip from the gold-colored faucet. That was odd. The water had been shut off for years. She eyed it warily for a minute, then left the room. She shut the door, making a mental note to herself about the dripping water, and continued on to the next door. The second room was a parlor. An opulent bar stood in the corner. Hand-built from what looked like wood from cherry trees, though it was hard to tell with all the dirt and cobwebs covering it. On the opposite wall, a huge stone fireplace stood. In between sat two love seats that faced each other. Relena could barely make out the pinstripe pattern, so faded and dirty it was. The frames of the couches were hand-carved out of wood, in ornate scrolling patterns. Such styles hadn't been popular for centuries. She was about to head back out of the room when movement caught her eye. There, in the corner adjacent to the bar, something...like a dark shadow, or mist. It seemed to shimmer, or wiggle, then it disappeared. Relena felt her pulse accelerate and reached for her cell phone. By the time she got the camera pointed at the area, it was gone. She pouted, but snapped the picture anyway, just in case. She pulled the photo up and examined it, but it was difficult to see if it picked anything up. She'd have to look at it later under some better light, or on the computer. She left the room, closing the door behind her. Back in the hall, her heart stopped dead in her chest for an instant as a loud thump reverberated through the ceiling above her. It was so powerful, it shook the walls, raining dust and God knew what else, on top of her. She crouched instinctively, arms flying up to protect her head should the ceiling cave in. After a moment of silence, she breathed a sigh of relief and stood up, brushing herself off. "Relena!" She turned as Dorothy's voice echoed off the walls, loud as a bullhorn. She listened to the stomping of her lover's boots and waited for her to catch up. Dorothy appeared a moment later, skidding across the floor before she regained her balance. She ran towards Relena at full speed, an excited gleam in her eyes. "What was that?" She shrieked in Relena's face. Relena winced, rubbing her buzzing ear. "I don't know. It was right above my head." She glanced up at the ceiling, then back down at Dorothy. The blonde woman was practically bouncing up and down. "C'mon, let's go check it out."
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