Horrible Part 2
What was that? Trowa blinked, dragging his attention away from the device on the table in front of him. His eyes felt gritty- how long had he been at this?
Rubbing his eyes, he pushed himself away from the table a little and tried to get to his feet. His legs didn't cooperate. They felt rubbery and weren't inclined to hold him up. He ran his hand over the side of his face, feeling the stubble there. How long had he been...?
"Trowa?" The light at the top of the stairs flicked on. "Trowa? Can you hear me?"
Trowa turned a little in his seat and squinted at the stairs. "Uh..." he tried, his throat dry, voice cracking, "yes?"
Duo appeared beside him, frowning. "You've done it again, haven't you?" He poked Trowa in the shoulder. "You didn't start right after I left did you? That was days ago!"
"No," Trowa shook his head, tried to focus. "Day after. Went out to get my mail and the bastard was there."
"Golden Dragon? What did he want? You hadn't done anything had you?"
"That was the problem." Trowa swallowed hard, tried to ease his throat. "Hadn't done anything. He wanted some trouble, so I-"
"Came back here and built some trouble." Duo cast a glance at the device on the table. "What is it? Another version of the freeze ray?"
"Death Ray." Trowa rubbed his forehead and frowned at the device. "Sort of anyway..."
"Death Ray? Trowa- you've never- I mean, you always said-"
"I know." Trowa covered his eyes. "He just made me so mad! I wasn't doing anything! He was bored! So I... I was angry... and then I just sort of got carried away..."
Duo nodded. "Like always. All right. Up you go." He put a hand under Trowa's arm and levered him to a standing position. "You're going to take a shower, eat something and then get some sleep. Then we'll discuss the deadly weaponry, all right?"
"All right," Trowa followed Duo, pausing at the sight of another man on the stairs. "Who is that?"
"Solid Steel," said Duo and the man gave a little nod before reaching out a hand to brace Trowa's other side.
Trowa gave Duo a look. "You brought a superhero to my lab?"
"What? He's not suited up or anything."
"Heero," Solid Steel said in a soft tone. "It's Heero- when I'm not in the suit. Can you make it up the stairs? I think I could carry you if you can't."
"Uh, I think I'm okay."
"Just make sure he doesn't fall over," Duo advised, and between the two of them, Trowa got up the stairs and into the bathroom. "Shower," Duo said, pointing to it. "We'll check on you in 10 minutes, so try not to drown, okay?"
"Okay," Trowa took a firm hold of the wall and reached into the shower to turn it on. The door closed softly behind him.
Taking his clothes off was hard, but he finally managed it and all but crawled into the shower. Only Duo's warning that they'd be back in again to check kept him from just curling up in the stall.
That and the little voice running around screaming in the back of his head. Death Ray... I built a Death Ray... What was I thinking?
Though imagine the look on Golden Dragon's face when he saw it...
He shut that train of thought down quickly.
Showered, dressed in clean clothes, and feeling nearly human again, Trowa made his way down the hallway towards the kitchen. A little food and then sleep. That's what he needed.
He entered the kitchen and froze in his tracks.
"Not drowned, I see." Duo grinned, but Trowa was focused on the other person sitting at the table.
"Quatre?" Was he hallucinating?
"Trowa! I'm so glad to see you! I was worried- you hadn't picked your mail up in days! The postman gave it to me, but I hadn't seen you, and you didn't answer your door! So when I saw your friends go in, I grabbed your mail and came right over. Are you okay?"
Trowa blinked, still trying to process the flood of words. Heero, a plate in his hands, nudged him towards the table and pulled out a chair. "I think he's still tired," he said softly and put the plate down in front of Trowa.
"I had Heero make you one of his famous omelets." Duo tapped Trowa's fingers with a fork until Trowa took it from him. "Eat." He turned to Quatre and smiled charmingly. "What did I tell you? Guy gets so wrapped up in projects that he forgets to eat or sleep."
"I wish I had known," Quatre sighed. "I would've knocked harder or done something..."
"Well, you have a spare key now, so you can come over and check on him. Relief for me, let me tell you, knowing he has someone right next door."
Trowa shot a look at Duo. He had given Quatre a key?!
Duo smiled back, sweetly. "Eat," he said to Trowa. "Food's getting cold."
Trowa took a cautious bite. It was good. "Thanks," he murmured, looking first at Heero and then back at Quatre. "Thank you."
Heero nodded, and Quatre beamed. "Are you sure you're okay? I mean, if you need to go see a medic or something-"
"I'm fine. Just need food and sleep." Trowa managed a smile and Quatre beamed more.
"Oh good. I was getting really worried. I mean, Golden Dragon keeps saying that you never know where evil's lurking- and I wouldn't think it would be in this neighborhood, but then he's always patrolling here and then you sort of disappeared... it was worrisome!"
The omelet suddenly didn't taste so good. Trowa put down his fork.
Quatre glanced at his watch and got to his feet. "I have to get to work. It was nice meeting you two-"
"Ditto," Duo smiled back. "Any friend of Trowa's is a friend of ours."
Quatre reached out and squeezed Trowa's shoulder. "I'm glad you're okay! Can I come by tomorrow? Make sure you're okay?"
"Yes," Trowa answered, surprised.
"Great! I'll see you then!" He squeezed Trowa's shoulder again and vanished down the hall.
Trowa waited until they heard the front door close. "You gave him a key?"
"Dude, you were down there for nearly a week. Someone needs to check on you when you get like that- you know it." Duo sighed and shook his head. "If I hadn't gotten so wrapped up with other stuff..." He hunched his shoulders and looked guilty.
"Duo-" Trowa started.
"I know, I know. It's the job. Speaking of which- what exactly did Golden Dragon say to you? What made you build that thing?"
"He said I hadn't done anything for a while. He was tired of petty crime. I needed to do something so he could thwart me."
"What?" Heero looked startled. "It's not like he couldn't volunteer to help someone else."
"Did you say no?" Duo asked.
"I told him I was working on something. He said since he had so much time he'd... well, you heard Quatre." Trowa put his head in his hands. "It was stupid of me- but I got so angry... it's not like he cares about Quatre... or even that I'd have a chance with him... but I was so angry..."
"Wait a minute- so he's patrolling here on purpose? Flirting with Quatre to get you to do what he wants?!" Heero stormed and Trowa looked at him in shock. "That's not right! We aren't supposed to be encouraging the villains to go out and commit crimes just to make us look good! That's just...evil!"
"Shh." Duo patted his lover's hand. "Righteous anger later. So, Trowa- is the Death Ray finished?"
"Nearly," Trowa looked up, his eyes dark-rimmed. "I didn't mean... you know what happens..."
"I do. Why don't you go get some sleep? We'll come back tomorrow too and see what we can do, okay? Just rest and forget about it for now."
Trowa nodded. He was really tired. He levered himself out of the chair and headed for the bedroom, aware that the other two were behind him hovering like anxious parents over a sick child.
The bed was welcoming, soft and warm, and his eyes closed the moment his head hit the pillow. Tomorrow... he'd figure it all out tomorrow.
Duo watched his friend collapse and then turned to face his angry lover. "Why am I glad I didn't let you bring the suit?"
"Because I'd go stomp on Golden Dragon with it?" Heero huffed out a breath and lifted his eyebrows. "You don't look happy either."
"Oh, I'm not. Trust me, the urge to go out and make things less boring for The Golden Dragon is pretty high at the moment." Duo frowned. "Trowa is going to hate himself when he wakes up and really realizes what he's built."
"How did he end up a villain anyway?"
"Whoever heard of a good mad doctor? That's what he is, you know. Mostly sane, most of the time- but at other times..." Duo shrugged. "Not so sane. You know how it goes. I should've checked on him earlier."
"It was my fault." Heero ran his fingers through his hair and gave him a sheepish smile. "Trying to keep you out of trouble. Didn't realize I was getting someone else in trouble."
"How could you?" Duo smiled back, leaning a little closer. "Besides, I know you'll make it up to me..."
"What did you have in mind?"
"Oh, just a little bit of evil... directed at a certain superhero. Feel like helping?"
"Can I use the suit?"
"Of course."
"I'm in."
TBC...
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