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"Amanhã "Written By: Painted Smile Disclaimer: Not mine Rating: PG 13 Warnings: Some violence, yaoi, supernatural theme Pairings: 1x2, 3x4 Summary: Sudden storms, disappearances, murders.
Strange creatures and even stranger animals on the streets. Duo knows
something wierds happening, and he knows the other pilots know what
it is. But they won't tell him. Amanhã Part 3 A coragem não sabe o que é em torno do
canto, mas circunda-o de (Courage doesn't know what's around the corner, but goes around it anyway.) [1] * So here I am again. Back in the park. You’d think, after what happened last time, this would be the last place I’d want to go. But, since I found out who the others really are, this park is my refuge. At the apartment, they’ve stopped being discreet with their abilities. I’ll be watching TV, and suddenly Wufei will wander through the wall, or Trowa will leave me a note, telling me to avoid dogs today. Just plain creepy. I think Quatre ordered them not to use their powers on me again. I’m not sure though. I haven’t baited Wufei, or even Heero recently. In fact, I’ve kind of been avoiding them altogether. I’ve only known about their powers for a couple of days, and already, I’m drifting away. A twig snaps to my left. Automatically, I drop to the ground. Reflexes again. It’s just some drunk. As the guy staggers closer, I recognise him. Mark, who works at the local cop shop. Met him a few times when he was checking up on fire damage. The fire crews were so rushed off their feet, they didn’t have the time. Mark was drunker than drunk. He seemed to be about up to the ‘walls spinning and the concrete’s melting’ phase. Somehow, though, he recognised me. “Duo…. Watcha doin’ all da way ou’ ‘ere?” he slurred. I raised an eyebrow. “You off duty, Mark?” “You betcha…..heh…..” Slowly, Mark fell down. Shaking my head, I walked over to him. “Where do you live?” Mark pointed blearily. “Astur Street. 10.” As I bent to pick him up, his hair fell forward. And I saw his ears. His pointed ears. A few days ago, I would’ve shrugged it off, as cool and unusual, but nothing really important. Now, however, I knew better. Mark saw me looking. “Y’already know, doncha?” he guessed. I nodded. * Quarter of an hour later, I was still slogging up the street, part dragging, mostly carrying Mark. “Heard of the proph’cy?” he asked. I shook my head. “ ’S why all the….. the….. special folks, like me and stuff, ‘re comin’ here. ‘Cos of the baby see?” I stared at him. Or at his shoulder. It’s hard to stare someone in the face, when you’re trying to carry them. “The baby?” I queried. “Yep,” Mark nodded sagely. “ ‘S a real special brat. There’s this proph’cy thing, they say that lil bubba’s goin’ ta either….. uh….. blimey, can’t ‘member now. Wait….. oh yeah. Damn brat’s goin’ ta either kill all of us special people, or it’s goin’ ta save the lot of us from the humans. No’ that there’s anythin’ wrong with you, mate.” He added, as quickly as he could. “Yeah, thanks.” I muttered. Prophecy, hey? Great. I feel so much better now. Mark was still rambling on, oblivious. “Hear it’s living with the witches. The ones tha’ support it. Some ’f ‘em don’t, y’know. Some ‘f ‘em want ta kill it, no’ take the risk, y’know? An’ some ‘f ‘em want ta help it make sure we’re goin’ ta come ou’ on top.” “Really.” I murmured. Was he telling the truth, or was it just drunken ramblings? Did I care? I’d had more than enough of this paranormal shit. “Yeh….. baby’s parents ‘re fightin’ over it. A vampire an’ a witch goddess.” “Which side are they on?” I asked, trying to work out whether this was the truth. He really seemed to believe what he was saying. And I’ve found, it’s a bit hard to lie when you’re dead drunk. “Uh.....the vampire, he’s for the brat, an’ the witch’s against….. I think.” Changing the subject, I pointed. “That your house?” The man, or whatever he was, nodded. Soon as I’d gotten Mark home, and hopefully a little more sober, I phoned the apartment. The guys were used to me taking my night time walks now. I think they know, I really need my lone-time. “Hello?” Wufei answered the phone. “Hey Wufei, it’s Duo. I’m going to be a bit later than usual.” I could hear Wufei relaying that to the others. And then a clunk, as the receiver was snatched out of Wufei’s hand. “Duo, come home now. You know why.” Heero ordered. Geez, paranoia. But then again..... I was not interested in meeting a vampire. Or anything else, for that matter. I’d already met an elf, that was enough, thanks all the same. I called a cab, heading for home. Heero was waiting in the lobby for me. “What’re you doing down here?” I asked. “Hn.” He turned, and I followed. All the way up the stairs. “Hey, listen Heero,” I said, as we trudged up the never-ending stairwell. “I met this guy I know, a cop. He’s an elf.” Heero glanced at me over his shoulder. “And?” I rolled my eyes. Thanks for the interest, buddy. Still, I’m a sucker for those eyes. “He told me about this prophecy thing.” Heero stiffened, then turned to face me. “Not a word, Duo. In the apartment.” He began to hurry up the stairs. He reached the door before I did, I heard him exchanging soft words with Quatre. The blonde boy looked shocked, then apprehensive. Walking through the door, Heero steered me into the lounge room. Trowa and Quatre followed. Wufei did his ghost thing, and walked through the wall. “Duo?” Quatre asked carefully. He looked scared. Then again, he’d been treating me like I was made of spun glass since the whole vampire thing. “I told Heero, I met an elf cop, and he told me about a prophecy thing. And Heero told me to shut up until we got in here.” “What was the prophecy?” asked Wufei. I’d kind of assumed, from the way they were acting, they already knew. “Apparently there’s this super-baby, who’s going to either kill all of the.....y’know, like you guys, or save them from the humans.” They traded significant glances. Oh no. Not this again. “What?” I snapped. Trowa broke his silence. “We thought there had to be some reason why so many Specials were gathering here. But we didn’t know what. This makes sense. Specials hold prophecies in high regard.” You could just hear the capitalization. Specials. Prophecies. Vampires. Werewolves. Floating guys. Elves. It was all getting too much for me. Until a few days ago, the most supernatural thing I knew of was the tooth fairy. “Where is the baby?” Heero asked, getting straight to the point. I shrugged. “Some witches have it. Don’t know where. The parents are fighting over it.” Once again, those glances were exchanged. And, all at once, they stood. “We’re going to try and find out more. Duo, you can’t come. Sorry. It’s a Specials bar.” Fine with me. Duo-rella is getting used to waiting for his stepsisters to get their sorry asses back from the ball. As Wufei, Trowa and Heero headed out the door, Quatre flopped down next to me on the couch. “Quatre, I don’t need a babysitter. Go!” The blonde really obviously wanted to go with the others. Still, he made a token effort. “No, that’s ok Duo..... well, if you’re sure.” And he was out the door in a flash. Sighing, I rolled onto my stomach, staring blankly at the TV. Some soapie was playing. “Oh, Dan!” cried the blonde on the screen, sobbing heartbrokenly. Guess all that mascara must be waterproof. Suddenly, in the flat next door, a baby started howling. It just went on, and on, and on.
Until about an hour of continuous crying later, I jumped up, turned off the TV, and stamped out of our flat, and began banging on the neighbours door. Which swung open. Peering carefully in, I looked around cautiously. A one room flat, nothing at all like ours. No one in. Except for the baby, who was squalling away in the corner. It was in one of those little cribs with the bars. I was disgusted. What kind of parents ups and leaves their baby home alone? Striding over to the cradle, I awkwardly picked up the infant. Immediately, it quietened. And smiled at me. Have you ever had a baby smile at you? It’s enough to melt Scrooge’s heart. Gorgeous. Even Heero’d be affected. Rocking the baby slowly, like they did on those TV shows, I wandered over to the fridge. “What do they feed you, anyway?” I asked the baby. Judging by the pink jumpsuit, it was female. Now that I looked at it, I could see a name embroidered on the front of her jumpsuit. Her name was Marny. My eyes were suddenly riveted to a bottle sitting next to the microwave. Inspecting it carefully, I decided it was probably safe to give milk to babies. That’s what they eat, right? I offered it to her, but she didn’t seem interested. Sticking it into the microwave, I heated it, and offered it again. This time she accepted. She finished it off pretty quickly, then looked at me, as though expecting something. I stared blankly back at her. Yep, that’s me. The All-Knowing Baby Caretaker. Suddenly, she burped. And gurgled happily. Ok, problem solved. I’m not sure how long I sat there. At some point, Marny drifted off to sleep. I was content just to sit there. Guess I must be getting sappy in my old age. I was thinking about the whole ‘Specials’ deal. The others clearly believed that this prophecy crap was important. But how could a baby make that much difference. Glancing down at Marny, I smiled. Not one of my joker’s grins, a real smile. Like I said, babies have the cute factor down pat. Hearing footsteps outside, I walked over and stuck my head out of the still-open door. Wufei, Trowa and Quatre were going into the apartment, all of them looking beat. I followed them. “Hey guys, what happened?” Wufei turned to answer, then stared at me. What? Oh yeah. The God of Death was cuddling a sleeping baby in a pink jumpsuit. * After I’d taken Marny, and put her back where I found her, I returned to our apartment. I didn’t want to leave Marny there alone, but her parents weren’t going to be happy to come home and find a teenage boy had stolen their baby. Even if they were crap parents. Wufei gave me an odd look as I came through the door, for the second time. Quatre, however, bounced right up to me. “Duo, where’d you get the baby?” he asked excitedly. Guess having 29 sisters would make you fond of babies. I hope that’s it. I jerked my thumb in the direction of Marny’s apartment. Changing the subject, I asked “What’s wrong? And..... where’s Heero?” I didn’t want to show it, but I was really worried about him. I know he’s a big boy, and he more capable than me, even. Still, I worry. Everyone I’ve ever loved has died. I don’t intend to let the same happen to Heero. Whether he returns the feeling, or not. “The Specials bar was ambushed.” Trowa said flatly. I frowned. “By who?” “The Ligue Humaine [2]. A Special hunter group. They think themselves the saviour of human kind.” Something clicked in my head. The prophecy. The exact words had been ‘.....or save them from the humans.....’ Why would Specials need saving from anything? Let alone humans? I voiced my doubts. Quatre shook his head sadly. “Think about it Duo. Specials have powers far, far beyond those of any human. Yet humans are the dominant race, and Specials must hide their existence. In a one-on-one fight, a Special would undoubtedly win. But race against race?” he shook his head. “There are around a million Specials. And billions of humans. We just don’t have the numbers.” “Alright..... now where’s Heero?” I asked urgently. Quatre smiled at me reassuringly. He knew about my little crush. “He’s fine Duo. He went to get the Ligue off our backs. He’s stronger than the rest of us combined. He’ll be alright.” Wufei stomped off to the shower, soon followed, as Trowa and Quatre drifted off to bed. I stayed, sitting on the floor, my back to the couch, and my eyes glued to the TV screen. I was going to wait up for Heero. Didn’t have a clue how to explain why to the Perfect Soldier, who wouldn’t know sentimentality if it jumped up and bit him on the nose. But I still love him. * Well that was a sappy ending..... And, all my wonderful reviewers, thankyou. I’m not going to mention you personally here, I’m going to do a ‘thankyou’ bit at the end of the fic. But thank you. [1] Don’t who this belongs to, but it’s not
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