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"Greeting Cards"Written By: Kaeru Shisho Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Gundam Wing
or its characters, nor do I make any monetary profit off this story. Rating: NC 17 Warnings: Yaoi, funeral practices, AU, fluff Pairings: 1+4, 1x2x1, 3+H, 5xH, 3x4, 6x9 Summary: Each chapter is based on Heero’s
greeting cards and Duo's mortuary. "Greeting Cards " Chapter 33 -- April Showers, Part 1 of 6 Duo POV After the night I'd had with 'Ro, I was in an excellent frame of mind to start our adventure. "69" was our magic number. There was nothing like feeling him do to me what I was doing to him to drive us both crazy together. We even had time for a huddle under the sheets before breakfast, which helped put us both in a languid state of mind. Today was the day. I actually looked forward to the Zodiac Island Crypt Caper to begin, now that we'd taken the edge off. Zechs had arranged for airline limousine service to Zodiac Island. Grunt-level Preventers agents had already secured the boxed supplies and transported them to the plane. The van stopped at Trowa's first for loading, and since Quatre had "stayed over to save time," we banked twenty minutes. Next stop-- Wufei's apartment. Wufei carried out a backpack of clothing as well as a long gym bag, which was not filled with athletic gear. His treasured heirloom sword would not leave his sight, if he could help it. Due to weight and space limitations on the plane, we were each limited to a single, small carry-on bag, but Wufei was the exception. Hilde also had spent the night with him to "save time." So now we'd stored up forty minutes of time. And we were done because I had stayed with Heero, which also saved time because Heero's house was Zechs' place, but I gave no piddly excuse. "He's hot to sleep with," sufficed. My lover immediately made himself inaccessible for talking to, though. Heero submerged himself in the Ethernet, messing with his Datatron, "Wing", the moment he got in the limo, explaining that he wouldn't get a chance to touch it while he was flying later. I just let him go at it. I could watch the scenery go by in my mellowed state. "It appears that we'll have excellent visibility for our flight, which is very lucky for us," I heard Zechs say. "Early spring weather is so unpredictable. The best weather on the island is in the fall, isn't that right, Yuy?" "Yuy?" the agent-prince repeated. "Dry," Heero said with half a mind and hardly lessening his speed of typing. "Warmer and drier and with less fog." If 'Ro hadn't answered the man would have asked again. "And the fog's terrible," Zechs added, running with the fog. "Landings are close to impossible if the fog's dense." Zechs was excited or nervous or both and kept up a constant patter all the way to the airport. Maybe this being his first real Preventers mission had something to do with his mood. I think Hilde was impressed by his royal presence and encouraged him with leading questions while lavishing him with adoring eyes. I couldn't see the effect that was having on her boyfriend, but it couldn't be good. She irritated me, good friend that she was. I really had wished she'd changed her mind and not come. I had tried talking her out of it. I had tried to convince her how stupendously boring/dangerous it would be for her-- that she should think of the baby. I had even tried to blackmail her, saying I'd tell Wu-man what I knew, but she'd called my bluff and said she'd do it. But she hadn't yet. I could tell because she avoided me completely until I practically sat on her lap when Wufei got up to whisper something in Zechs' ear. She just "wasn't quite ready to tell him about her pregnancy." She'd agreed, though, to stay out of trouble at our "base camp" so I shut up. I wasn't happy, but I kept my mouth shut about it. And then 'Fei was hovering over me. "Move." "Sure, agent-man." I preferred the company of my "Wing" man to either Hil or the agent any time, even though I'm sure Heero hadn't even noticed I'd gotten up, gone and come back. Once I was settled back in my seat I had nothing to do but watch everyone again. Trowa was pretty quiet, but that was no surprise. He held Quatre's hand and looked out the window. I did notice one eyebrow twitch with irritation after a few more minutes. Was Zechs getting to him, too, I wondered? Quatre may have said a word or two, but the only person overflowing with conversation was Zechs Merquise, and he had been chattering pretty much non-stop, except for the few blessed minutes 'Fei had been chatting him up. Zechs filled us in on what to expect. "...This will take us directly to the private hangars, where, I understand, Agent Shari is waiting with our jet. You'll see it beyond the repair sheds." "Would someone find him a magazine and distract him?" Trowa suggested. "Do you think he'd be interested in my Investor's Today?" Quatre asked. "It'll do. It only has to fit in his mouth." I laughed. "Trowa! That's not nice." Quatre didn't let him have his magazine, which was too bad because i wouldn't have paid hard-reaned money to see him do it. "We should all be much nicer to one another, don't you think?" Trowa rolled his eyes but actually helped by choosing something to talk about-- a big move for the usually withdrawn guy. He winked back at Heero, who was sitting next to me so I got part of the wink, too. He whispered behind a hand, "Zechs ought to go for this—give him a place to haunt." Heero looked up from his toy and blinked, having no idea what Trowa was up to. I caught on once he mentioned the words "for sale." "Hey, Merquise?" "—and... Yes, Barton?" "We got a call the other day. Seems like the cemetery at the top of the hill above town is for sale. It's pretty pricy, about in your market rather than mine. Nice bit of property. Interested?" "Am I interested in investing in an old cemetery, you ask? No, I don't think so." I had been certain Zechs would show more interest; Trowa must have, too, or maybe he was just humoring Heero. I mean, what vampire would not love to be in possession of his own land-of-the-undead property, right? Well, this one apparently. Oh, and Heero wasn't even paying attention. He was typing furiously. When I looked, he turned the screen a tad so I couldn't see what he was doing. I guessed that he was downloading games. He didn't want me to know about his game fetish. "Do they really do that?" Hilde asked. "Put up a "For Sale" sign and wait for an offer? On a graveyard?" "No." That gave me an interlude to explain the under-the-table negotiations, which went into delicate sales like that, covering the time it took to get us to the airport in no time at all. As promised and despite our being way ahead of schedule, Agent Shari stood waiting at the private hangar plane and greeted us in a professional manner. She directed us passengers to the steps leading to the cabin and showed us where to stash our belongings, while a two-man ground crew stowed the supply boxes in the underbelly hold. Heero squeezed my hand, murmuring, "later," released it, and parted. I took my time climbing into the plane to watch him take the co-pilot's seat. A couple minutes later, I heard his voice over the comm: "Fasten your seatbelts, everyone. We have clearance for take-off." I waved at 'Ro, sitting up there in the co-driver's seat, and wished he were sitting with me. Sitting? No riding... The sky opened before us, wide, blue, and clear. Sanc telescoped down to a toy town, then disappeared altogether as I pressed into my seat, and the plane rapidly gained altitude and distance. Hilde blanched dramatically and clung to Wufei's arm. Served her right. I passed her an annoyed look. She had started out that morning feeling queasy, another really unnecessary confirmation that she was indeed pregnant, and I bet the flight was only worsening it. Knowing that she hadn't confided her condition to the baby's father yet made me mad. It couldn't help but add to her anxiety, 'cause it was sure adding to mine. Everyone else gripped the armrests. "Steep climb," Wufei yelled. "Is this necessary?" Heero twisted around to face us. "Regulations are to clear the city with a minimum of noise," he shouted over the engine roar and then the engines cut out. "What's wrong?!" Hilde cried out. Again, Heero to the rescue. "Part of the quiet zone. The engines will regain full power when we have cleared that airspace." Or not... I grinned mostly to annoy Hilde and declared, "I love this part!" We cruised along on the momentum from the rapid acceleration, taking us far over the land. The ocean appeared on the horizon, the engines hummed to power again, and the plane leveled off. Heero gave us a 'thumbs up' sign as he clicked on the intercom. "We have reached cruising altitude and will be traveling for a few hours, so sit back and enjoy the view." "The scenery is remarkable, if you like endless expanses of blue sky and blue water," Trowa commented as dry as toast. Hilde took one look past her boyfriend's shoulders into the great blue beyond, and closed her eyes. I know she had never flown before, and when separated from the land with firm ground beneath her feet and no visual frame of reference outside, I imagined she'd feel a tinge of vertigo. Oh, yeah. She did. I watched as her face once again drained of color, and she confided, "Guess I'm not much for flying either." "As long as we abstain from flips, I'm cool with it," Trowa said. "View's what sucks." "I don't know how you all can stand this," she muttered. Wufei pulled the shade over her window. "Now you can shut your eyes for a rest. I doubt we'll get much sleep from here on out until we leave." Without her to entertain me, my attention turned to the others. Quatre was jittery so he chattered to Trowa, who, in turn, looked enviously - my interpretation-- over at Wufei. The agent had put on a headset and had his head back and eyes closed with Hilde resting on his shoulder. He appeared perfectly happy in quiet repose. "Quatre, hey, leave some for later, okay?" Trowa said with a quick smile. Quatre clamped shut his mouth with a slight blush. "Here, you just try and get a little sleep now. We have a long day and night ahead of us." Trowa pulled him into his chest and whispered, "Sleep..." "Really, Trowa...,"Quat objected, saying he wasn't a weakling, but obeyed, because what his boyfriend had said was sensible. "If you insist, okay." And then there was one. Zechs seated across from me, lounging across two seats, was already sleeping. Scratch that one, too. That left just me and my thoughts. I had an unoccupied seat loaded with Wufei's sword for company. Since there was nothing else to do and extra sleep sounded good to me, I dumped the bag on the floor and stretched out across two seats with an arm flung over my eyes. I wanted to dream about flying to distant lands and starting a life of adventure. I could picture Heero at my side and smiled contentedly. Yes, I could fit him nicely into that schema, and with that pleasant thought, I drifted off into a light and pleasant doze. I awoke to a change in the engine roar and an uneventful landing. I looked around to see what was going on. Trowa and Quatre were still nestled together and hadn't appeared to even have moved. I could see a tuft of Hilde's dark hair cushioned by a folded jacket on Wufei's seat, so she'd fallen asleep, too. Wufei was sitting next to Zechs and deep in conversation. As the plane taxied to a stop, Shari ripped off her pilot's headset, flipped on a touring cap, and pulled on her driving gloves. "All up for the cottage tour? Okay then, please exit to the right and climb aboard the island van." Groggy from sleep, we passengers mostly staggered and tottered to the van like a souse of drunks. Then there was 'Ro. I admired my boyfriend as he sauntered over to join me. The stout breeze mussed his hair, more, and his eyes sought out mine, boring past my outer surface and targeting my heart. I was his, those eyes said. And as nice as it was to be so very wonderfully desired, it all culminated in the fact that he wanted to make me his—he wanted to marry me. And he'd been dancing around the topic lately like he wanted bring it up again. I wasn't so sure I could be what he needed. He scared me with his intensity. And I didn't want to disappoint him. I didn't want to fail! The littlest things could set Heero off, so I knew the bigger ones must upset him a lot more. Solo never'd had a problem letting me know which fuckups were big and which were little—they were all big. I say that now that I had a guy like Heero to compare him to, but at the time, I'd thought Solo was right. He had been the star, godlike. He'd reached down into the streets and picked me out, dragged me along into his world as he rose, up, up and up. He'd treated me like shit; I knew that now. Heero treated me like I was his world. I really wasn't ready, I guess, to be the center of another man's universe. If I failed to live up to that, I'd feel like a universal failure, heh, heh... yeah. That sounded magnificently stupid. Maybe I was reading a whole lot more into Heero's actions and words than was there. I didn't want to be responsible for all his happiness, though. I didn't want to play shrink to all his problems as well as mine. That was setting me up for failure! That had been more than enough heavy thinking for now. My boyfriend was looking at me like I'd spaced out on him. Time to reassure him. "Shari's in a good mood," I said when he snuggled in at my side. "She's not snarking at us and she's wearing that jaunty cap." "She's a trained agent and we're about to do most of her dirty work." "At least the dirtiest part," I added very quietly, but she must have overheard anyway. "I swept out the cobwebs and loaded the cabin with enough firewood for the weekend, Heero." How thoughtful! I could hear Quatre and Hilde muttering in back, one of them echoing "cobwebs." Oh, those delicate city-folk were gonna like this! "I assume you want to unload your gear at the cabin first," the agent observed. "The supplies have already been stashed there." "Yes," Heero said, "we want to see the cabin." "What do mean by 'first'?" Wufei asked, quickly picking up on that qualifier. A tightass like him didn't seem the type to me to appreciate a diversion from the plan, especially one of his plans. "I could take you out to the shrine." "That is a change in plans." Nope, he didn't look at all pleased with that suggestion. "No, we want to see the cabin first, as planned." Wufei took hold of Hilde's hand for the last few yards of the walk and stepped up his pace. Shari led us to a large van painted in camouflage. So far, I had avoided thinking about the dark reality of our adventure. The possibility that someone could be hurt or killed was too awful to consider. We were all far too young to die. But something had sent Wufei's mood into a downturn. He looked pretty grim when I sneaked a look at him and I was feeling the tension vibrating off Zechs. "Come with me," Heero said, diverting me to his waiting sports car, hidden from view by the larger van. "We'll meet you there," he told Shari. I heard grumbling from the peons behind us, but, it didn't stop me from taking him up on his offer and riding on deluxe wheels. So cool. And the ride wasn't too bad until he hit the rutted, gravel road. "Damned, bumpy ride," I complained. "It's worse for those in the van, if that makes you feel any better." I loved how my boyfriend smirked back at the van following us. "A little." The car lurched over a heavily pocketed stretch of roadway. "This cabin place is out of the way." "Which is good for us. This is the road to the shrine. It's where they bury all the island's dead." "For all that it doesn't see much traffic, or everyone drives a 4-wheel drive." "No one comes this way. There's access into the crypt from the labs, but it wouldn't be wise for us to try that route again." Right about that! "No lab visits." "Not with our friends." "Not with me." Last time I was there, I killed a man. And, yeah, it bothered me. I pushed bad things back, hiding them. Out of sight, out of mind. But this was BIG and kept slipping out at inconvenient times. "There it is- our cabin." The cabin was at best a neglected, rustic hut. We circled around and though it in about thirty seconds. It had running water, in one small sink; a bathroom, in a separate "outhouse"; and electricity to run a refrigerator and two lights, when a storm didn't shut it down. "We can take care of things here," Heero told the pretty Preventers agent, dangling his car keys where Shari could reach them. "You can go." Wufei stopped her with a hand to her shoulder. "Are there any updates since we last spoke?" Wufei asked. "Something I should know?" "Possibly." She looked uncomfortable to me and her tone made Heero turn and listen. "There are rumors, and that's all, nothing I've seen or know for a fact. But what I heard from a guard contact is that the labs created a clone of Treize." Wufei dismissed that idea with a wave of his hand. "A clone? That's not possible! That kind of research isn't ... isn't... They're years away from creating anything like that!" "Well, I said it was a rumor. The story goes that there are lots of clones working in the prison. Ones that were created as part of the other testing program--" "Their search for unending life," Heero put in. He could really put the hollow "heebee-jeebees" into "eerie" with stuff like that. "I'll bet that's what we saw. Those creepy things lying in those tubes. Clones," I said. "Could be." "But why him? Why Treize? I asked. "It's one way to live forever," Trowa pointed out. Wufei turned his attention to the cabin, and Shari traded keys with 'Ro, wishing us all good luck. As she drove away in the hot little sports car, she took away a bit of my heart along with it. I must have sighed hugely to draw Heero's attention, speaking of "stressed." He stood ram-rod straight, tense as I've ever seen him. And the day had started out so well. Heero nudged me in the ribs. "Another time." "Uh, huh. Were you thinking of a joyride after we defile the crypt?" It was a good question. "Idiot." I guess not. "Just stow the stuff as fast as possible," Wufei ordered. "We must locate our target objective while it's still light out." I could hear Trowa translating to Quatre behind me. "Next stop is the burial place." "Are we staying overnight—here?" Quatre asked. Us digging up corpses Quat could accept. Him waiting it out in a rustic cabin was subject to his rebuff. What a wuss! I translated "here" as: "in this bug infested, sleeping bags on the hard floor, cold, crowded, hovel my camel collection wouldn't spit at?" and got a few laughs. Not from Quat, but he smiled at my attempt, or in contempt... Before my fan club quieted down, Wufei cut the legs right out from under those poor camels, killing the chummy atmosphere I was working toward. "Winner, Barton, and Hilde will remain here." "This" was not the cabin-in-the-forest, the resort-on-the-sand, or even the cottage-on-the-crypt that Quat or Hilde had anticipated. Over their objections, he went on, "You'll provide central communications for Zechs and me to agent Shari, agent Noin off-site, and Commander Une. If anyone comes up that road, you'll be able to give us ample warning. Zechs will be next in line to hold off any intruders. Heero, Duo, and I shall conduct the search." "That's a lot of manpower wasted here," Trowa grumbled. "Not at all. You'll have the van and transport us." Well, pooh. I could tell Trowa was steamed. I wouldn't have minded having him help in the crypt, either, but Wufei was the man in charge. Also, it was clear that Wu-man hadn't wanted Hilde to partake in the mission, but was afraid or just plain unable to leave her behind. I felt bad for Trowa, though. Quatre didn't seem to mind his minor function, but his lover wanted a bigger role. Little did I know what agreeable little Quat would be scheming later. The cartons of equipment had to be opened and the items organized. We used the 'kitchen' area of the cabin to spread out and re-sort the items into backpacks. I ran down our checklist, calling out directions as I went. "Heero, Wufei, since you're going inside the crypts, check that you're double-gloved and that you have a spare pair of gloves. Test your flashlights, and don't forget to put the spare battery pack where you can reach it. Same with your collection containers." "Here." Wufei handed out nifty little devices that could clip onto a belt loop. "I know these aren't as sexy as the datatrons, but we just discovered cell phones won't work on parts of the island, and are most doubtful for inside the mountainside." "And the datatrons?" Heero asked. He wasn't going to give his back. No sirree! Wufei shook his head. "We can test them, but I doubt they will work inside the tunnels." "Neglected to consider the thickness of the cave walls?" I asked. "The datatrons were mostly bribes to get you to do this mission," Wufei said. Well, shit. We all fell for that, didn't we? "Using these old-tech devices should enable us to communicate with one another at all times. Turn on your walkie-talkies and operate them like this." Wufei quickly ran through some instructions and had us test them out. "Trowa will run tests again from the burial destination after dropping us off." Tro' muttered something ending with, "...sure, Chang." I noticed Trowa was packing a backpack of his own with additional supplies, but since he'd been talking to Zechs moments earlier I figured he was helping him. Besides, the man-stuff was coming out and you could feel the macho-level cranking up. In addition to his family heirloom sword, Wufei had an assortment of supplementary Preventers issued arms to distribute. Quatre showed off his box of guns and ammo from his family's storage locker. Trowa had located his rifle and circus throwing knives. Heero was armed, but I hadn't gotten a look at what he was packing. Taken as a whole, I thought it was an impressive show of potential force. I brought my 'bread knife' along from the morgue. I'd made a nice-looking leather holder for it so I could strap it to my belt like Wufei's sword. I felt like a very ancient warrior. Hilde and I were excited to get a handgun and a rifle apiece; that is, until Heero showed off his 44 magnum- his weapon of choice. I demanded a trade: Wufei's 33-odd for it, but he refused in the nicest way possible. I tried one more time. "I'll offer you whatever you want." "Impossible." He turned up his nose. "I've already had everything I want." Zechs admitted to being an excellent target shooter, and accepted the assignment to watch Heero's back. I don't know why he put it that way. He'd be watching mine and 'Fei's as well. He must have been feeling his oats or something. Heero wasn't thrilled by the prospect, and told him in no uncertain terms, "I consider you to be in the way. In fact, Duo has standing orders to shoot you if you try to undermine my efforts." "Don't think you can intimidate me," Zechs responded. "I just offered my help and all you can do is to threaten me?" Oooh! You could cut the testosterone with a bread knife it was so thick from all the male posturing going on! Trowa broke them apart, telling Zechs, "He doesn't mean it. It's just his twisted sense of humor." I don't know what magic hat he'd pulled that out of, but it worked and Zechs backed off. "It's almost sunset, guys. We'd better hurry if we're going to get a look at this shrine," I pointed out, and for a moment Heero looked pleased with me again. "Can't we all go and see it?" Quatre asked. "Of course we can," Hilde said. "Unless someone wants to tie us up to make us stay?" "That won't be necessary." Chang swallowed his objections this time. "It is a good idea for you to know the way, just in case." In case we ordered pizza? In case we needed a fifth, sixth, and seventh at cards? In case something bad goes down, Du-o. No one was trying to lighten things up but me. Heero led us along the potholed, weedy path to the shrine. It hadn't rained in a day or two, which was nice or we'd have been jumping mudholes all the way. Terrible road. "I timed the walk," Heero said to Wufei. "You can get there in twenty minutes at this pace." I wondered when he'd been here "timing the walk". Probably as a kid. It was probably a fun place to play. Either that or I was strange... "Which means we can run it in ten or better." "Better." "Five?" Wufei tested. Round two! Which could run the fastest in his best one-track mind? I hadn't known Heero to be so damned competitive before. I kinda liked this macho guy as well as the sensitive arty guy. "Three. Max." Wufei wasn't convinced. 'We'll have to time ourselves later." "All right. Later." Heero smiled a gritted-teeth smirk. Sure they would, besides, I could beat them both hands down, but did you hear me bragging my skills? No. Heero checked his watch. "Which means, we had best walk faster now, if you want to see the shrine in the light." "Understood." The island shrine was an unimposing structure constructed from the same rock as the hillside into which it was built. A glimpse of slate roof could be seen over the surrounding stone wall. The wall was topped with black ironwork to discourage intruders, as was the solid-looking gate. We stood at the gate looking into the unattended garden beyond. "I suppose it was once pretty," Quatre said generously. "Good thing native plants are tough," Trowa said. "The rest of the place is mostly a tangle of weeds." "I guess I was expecting something grander." I stopped myself from saying anything more that sounded dispirited. I don't know exactly what I'd been expecting but it would have been a lot more colorful had I designed it. "I doubt anyone important is buried in that place." "No one visits, so nothing is maintained," Heero explained. "But everyone who dies on the island ends up somewhere here." "Or in a wolf," I said very quietly. Heero heard, though and smiled fractionally. He understood, but the others wouldn't have "got" my dark humor. "That could be thousands of bodies you'll have to look through!" Quatre cried out. "Not in the restricted burial area where the people living and working here were stored," Heero said. "I have no plans to go searching through the inmate tombs at all." "Still, it doesn't look very big." Quatre wasn't satisfied that we'd found the place, I guessed. "I said this was a crypt." Now Heero was getting downright defensive over his old stomping grounds. "The burial chambers are all underground. We have to enter the catacombs to find the vaults." "What else do you know about this place?" Hilde asked. "I once lived here," Heero clamped up immediately, and, man, did she want to hear more about that. "Not as much as I know," Zechs said with a smile and a casual swing of his hair. "I've spent weeks learning everything I could about these vaults, and I'm happy to supply you all with all the details." I don't know. I was more likely to hang with Heero's childhood memories of the place than Zechs' more recent investigations. Still, I listened to what he had to say. "Then do so," said Wufei. "The better, older coffins should have a lead component. Those might weigh more than a quarter of a ton, so we'd never be able to open them." "Wouldn't you expect Leia to be buried in one of those?" Wufei asked him. "Possibly, but at least I would except to find a real headstone and foot marker—" "Unless she wasn't supposed to be found," I remarked. "I'm counting on that, too. I don't think Treize ever intended anyone to trace her death to here," Zechs said. Zechs was not thinking like a villain, but I could, apparently. "In which case, he would have made her grave appear ordinary." Quatre asked, "So why bury her at all? Why not hide her body in a box or at sea or something that leaves no traces that can be brought back and traced to here?" Good point. "Because he's also a superstitious man who is unsure about the afterlife, and to be sure of his own future, would be afraid not to bury her here." "Zechs is the expert on Treize Khushrenada," Wufei said. "Hnnn," Heero murmured. I couldn't tell if he was unconvinced of Zechs' know-how or if he just didn't give a damn, or both. His eyes on the heavy chain and padlock holding the gate shut. "We'll need something to get past this." Wufei and Trowa both looked over the lock, which was rusted shut, and the chain was very thick. Trowa shook his head. "I'll have to look over the cabin and see what there is to break it. Cutters of some sort." "Tire iron?" Chang mused. "Do they still put those in cars?" "Not mine," Heero said, reminding everyone that the hot little sports car he'd been driving earlier was, indeed, his. I got it, but I don't think the others noticed or believed him. I was wrong about that. "So you lived here and drove around in that sports car?" Hilde asked. I wondered when someone would mention that car. "I covered all that at the meetings with Zechs," Heero snapped. "Not all..." "We can check the van," Wufei broke in. "Have you've all seen enough? Trowa, do you think you can get here in the dark tonight?" Trowa nodded. "I'll find it fine." Zechs cleared his throat, "Now, as I was getting to..." He had loads of stuff he wanted to tell us, I guessed. "Tell us on the way," Heero interrupted as he set off back toward the cabin. "We do not want to be out walking at night." "Why is that?" "Wolves." "WOLVES!" The outcry was unanimous. Everyone was excited by the notion of wolves-- hungry, snarling, toothy, wolves. Fairytales were loaded with them and they were always the villains. Now we could have some, too. Heero was pressed into explaining a bit about the animals. They ran wild here after being brought to the island to keep escapees at bay. They must have found plenty to keep at bay because the population had slowly grown over the years. Since no one visited the cabin any more, Heero told us, the wolves probably wouldn't show up, but he had a healthy regard for them. "I wanna get back," Hilde said. I agreed, and almost pointed out how lovely a place that cabin had become, but Wufei wanted to get a closer look at the crypt first. We all peeled away from the mysterious gate to fall in line for the next scenic view point. Zechs pushed beside Heero. "You have been inside the vaults." "I told you I had." Heero shrugged. "From what I could understand from the scanty maps of the tomb, the uppermost layer of coffins within vaults will be hard to examine because headroom is restricted." "How closed off are these vaults?" I asked. "I suspect some of the burial chambers may be sealed- as in airtight. Maybe not. Why?" "Once we break one open, the coffins are exposed to the air, and the decay processes rapidly affect both organic and inorganic materials, so we'll have to work fast." "I see. Yes, inhibiting decay is important. Where the coffins are sealed within a vault via a front wall, it would then be sensible to dismantle the front walls of the vaults a coffin's depth at a time, if we have the choice." Zechs seemed pleased with that decision. "If we have the time," I said. "Sounds like a lot of work and rubble to move," Wufei snapped. Heero looked thoughtful before answering. I could tell he was picturing the place from some long ago memory. "We ought to expect most of the vaults to be half full and partly walled or capped off. Which means we can get to them without tearing up the place." Quatre shivered, but only partly from the steadily cooling air, I suspected. The topic of exhumation was chilling to most people. "So, what kind of...shape do you expect to find...what you're looking for?" I embraced the moment, being the resident expert on the subject of burials, as was Trowa to some extent. "Soft tissue may be preserved in sealed lead coffins, but it can also survive wooden coffins in earth. In most crypts the majority of the individuals will be skeletonized, but some individual burials will retain soft tissue. This all means that what we will be getting into, well, the condition and completeness of the human remains will vary enormously." By the time I finished with my explanation, we'd determined that there was no other way in. We could go no further without breaking the lock or chain. "God, I don't know how you can talk about that stuff so casually. How can you stand the thought of digging around dead people like that?" Hilde asked. "I'm sorry that the processes of putrefaction and of human remains are physically repulsive to you. Just be glad that there are exceptional people like us willing and trained to do it for you," I said a bit defensively. I added a toxic smile to feel better. "It is his job," Wufei said and picked up his pace down the path. "We might as well go back now. It's getting dark." After that, everyone jogged back to the cabin. 'Ro and I tied for first, but I don't think anyone else was even trying. Trowa and Quatre weren't even running; they were even a little bit late.
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