Life Goes On Part 10

Opening the door to his home, Treize stepped aside for Howard to enter. The old man went right to the table in the dining room, lowered the laptop bag on the table there while his host set down his other bags. Quickly flipping his computer open, he diligently returned to his work, typing and accessing the tests he had been studying.

Treize sat beside him, frowning deeply at the screen. "This is what I had found," Howard told him as he pulled up the three-dimensional image of thousands of DNA strands. Crisscrossing each other, each strand spun slowly.

Quickly typing a theorized situation, the retired scientist stated, "Here is a cluster of strands from a blood sample taken from Duo before he took on his last transformation to become the neko that he is today. There is a crucial element to this reverting process that led me to my conclusion that we are looking at something far graver than I first suspected."

He tapped the screen as it displayed a single strand enlarged for a closer view. As the strand continued to spin, Treize's eyes widened as he realized out loud, "It has gaps." Pointing to the holes in the 'ladder rungs' that held the two long sides together, he blinked in surprise, "It's not a whole strand to begin with."

"Exactly," Howard nodded, a deep frown of concern on his face. "It took some searching, since the flaws are pretty spread out, but they're there. And every strand has the same imperfection at different places in their lengths. Some have more frequent gaps than others, but there is not one perfect cord in the lot."

Sitting back in the wooden chair, the old man shook his head, "In order to create a neko, obviously, his very make up needed to be shifted. I had concerns that something like this would come about. I had told Dekim that there would be little chance that, even if we were successful with our experiment, that it wouldn't be flawed. He just didn't care."

At the thought of the sinister man he had once considered a friend, Howard's eyes narrowed. "All that he wanted was the credit for being the first to create a new living creature," he hissed. What became of them after the fact never mattered to him."

Treize frowned, "From what I had learned of him from the media following Duo's trial, that somehow doesn't surprise me. That man treated him like nothing more than a lab rat and came close to killing him in the process."

Once again reminded how he had left the neko behind to that monster, Howard swallowed hard. Shaking his head again, he sighed deeply, "At any rate, it appears that during the initial experiments we had run, the flaws in the DNA began.

"They just weren't able to take the strain in the change they underwent. Obviously, there was enough to keep Duo in tack for all this time, but now they're finally starting to come apart and unravel."

He zoomed back out to the original image of the thousands of strands. "All it takes is for one line to finally snap under the pressure," the scientist said quietly.

Typing a few keys, the image changed so that one of the strands in the middle of the maze crumbled. Instantly, the five around it followed, then the ten around them and on. In mere few seconds, the thousands of lines came undone, disintegrating into nothing before the screen went black.

"My God," was all that Treize could whisper, his eyes wide and his skin pale. "How much time are we looking at?"

A sunken look fell on Howard's face as he shook his head and whispered, "I don't know. Days. Weeks. Months. There is no way of knowing for certain as this is uncharted grounds. But I must try and find a way to complete the strands, make them whole as they had been before they were altered, before Duo is beyond any help."

*   *   *   *   *   *

On their last night of their vacation, Heero, Duo and the friends gathered in the ice cream parlor that had become a regular hangout place since their high school days.

Even with snow on the ground outside with winter making an early start, it was the first place everyone suggested to meet at. As they talked about their experiences at their own colleges and some of their professors- both good and bad- it was just like old times.

"The break sure went quick enough," Relena sighed before taking another spoonful of her peanut butter ice cream. "I've been looking forward to this break to be around all of you again this whole semester and it's gone already."

Quatre smiled and lightly nudged her arm. "Only for a couple more weeks," he reassured her. "Then we'll have almost two months for our winter break."

Wufei stabbed his spoon into his mint sundae, glaring at it as he snorted, "Now we have finals for the semester to look forward to. I swear to God my Chemistry professor is incapable of giving any of her students anything better than a B minus." He folded his arms, still glaring at his treat and mumbled, "Miserable harpy." His friends only snickered and shook their heads in amusement.

Beside the Chinese student, Trowa smirked, "Well that sparkling personality of yours certainly won't help you any." He yelled out sharply when Wufei kicked him hard in the shin. Glaring at the now smug raven-haired teenager, he nursed his leg and commented, "Too bad Sally's not here to examine this. You probably bruised the bone."

"And I'm sure that if Dorothy was here, she would defend my actions," Wufei retorted. The two continued to verbally spar, as they always would while the others rolled their eyes and turned their attention to each other.

Heero wrapped his arm around Duo's shoulder and spoke over the arguing, "You know, we don't have to head back to our dorms first thing in the morning. It might seem childish, but we could always stay overnight at one of our houses like we used to." Gesturing to his partner, he stated, "I'm sure that our parents wouldn't mind having us over."

Brightening at the suggestion, Duo's ears and tail perked as he cheered, "That's a great idea! We can stay together as long as possible!" Both Trowa and Wufei finally ended their feud and voiced their agreement to the notion along with Relena and Quatre.

Quietly excusing himself, Heero rose from his seat and removed his cell phone from his pocket. Speed dialing his home, he only waited a couple rings before his mother's voice greeted, "Heero. I was just about to call you."

His cobalt eyes widening in surprise at the urgency in her voice the Japanese teenager frowned deeply, "Is everything all right?"

"Your professor, Lady Une, just called for you. She said it's very important that you call her back as soon as you can," Danielle answered. "I'll give you her number if you're ready to take it down."

Taking out the pen from his pant pocket that he always carried on him out of habit 'just in case', Heero took up a napkin and wrote down the number his mother read from the caller id. "I'll give her a call as soon as we're finished here." He ran his thumb over the napkin, silently wondering the reason for his professor's call when he was going to be back in her class in just a of couple days.

He quickly remembered the reason for his call with a shake of his head and asked, "Mom, would it be all right if Quatre, Relena, Trowa and Wufei stay over for the night?"

There wasn't a moment of hesitation before Danielle exclaimed excitedly, "Of course! That's a lovely idea. I'll make sure that we have plenty of snacks and movies ready by the time you all get here."

Smiling warmly, Heero replied sincerely, "Thanks, mom. We'll be there soon, then." After a quick exchange of goodbyes, he disconnected and dialed the number etched on the napkin in his hand. While the 'phone rang, he looked back to the table and gave the violet eyes watching him anxiously a wink and nod to answer the unspoken question.

Tail swinging in the air, Duo smiled widely as he turned back to the group and told them that the sleepover was a go. Their friends quickly finished their treats before heading out to get their things for the night. On their way out, they waved to Heero, telling him that they'd be over at his house soon.

When he was the last one at the table, the braided neko rose to his feet and headed over to his lover. Just as his boyfriend reached his side, Heero straightened when the call was answered. "Hello," the familiar voice of his teacher greeted.

"Lady Une, it's Heero," the art student responded. "My mother informed me that you just called."

There was a gasp and an elated, "Oh, Heero! I simply could not wait until our next class to tell you the wonderful news!"

Duo's brown cat ears twitched towards the cell phone at the excitement in the professor's voice just before Heero held the 'phone from his ear enough that they could both listen. "Jeffrey Klein wants to meet with you next Saturday to look at the work you have done so far and discuss the Stellar Gala," Lady Une announced.

"S-Saturday!" Heero sputtered while Duo's violet eyes widened in surprise. He frowned deeply and shook his head, "But that's so soon. I don't think that I'll be ready for something like that in such a short time." The neko just held his tongue and bit his lip, even though he wanted to reassure the other boy that he was more than ready for the chance being handed to him.

Apparently, Lady Une agreed with Duo. She laughed, "Of course you'll be ready! I have total faith in you. Jeffrey is a terribly busy man, and so I wanted to be certain that you were one of the first hopefuls for his gala that he met with. All you simply have to do is meet him, talk to him about the artworks that you have made so far, and thank him for his time. Simple."

When she put it that way, it certainly seemed simple enough. But, being featured in the gala would only ensure Heero's future as an artist. The last thing that he wanted was to lose his chance before the possibility was even offered to him. In the end, whatever Lady Une- or anyone else for that matter- thought of his artwork, it all came down to what Mister Klein thought.

In a very patient and understanding tone, the art professor said, "Now, I cannot force you into this meeting, Heero. I just wanted to advise you that Jeffrey is available should you wish to try and be entered in his event. The decision is yours if you would like to go through with this and I will understand either way."

Practically bouncing on his feet, Duo was grinning from ear to ear mouthing, 'Say yes. Say yes.'

Smiling at his bouncing lover, the Japanese teenager replied, "All right. I'll meet with him." Nearly falling over when Duo threw his arms around his neck, he stumbled a bit to get his footing. His smile grew as he wrapped his free arm around the other boy's waist.

"Wonderful," Lady Une answered with a smile in her own voice. "I will call him back to confirm that the time is fine for you. We'll discuss this more after our class later this week. Enjoy the rest of your break." That said, the call ended.

Pulling back, Duo kissed Heero soundly and cried happily, "I'm so excited for you! You're going to do great!"

Heero closed his cell phone before replacing it. Wrapping his now freed arm around the neko's waist along with the one still resting there, he warned, "We'll see, little one. Let's just try not to get our hopes up. This is no where near a guarantee that I'll be entered."

Despite himself, he smirked, "Still, it'll be nice to meet with someone that I respect so much in my field."

Lightly hitting his love in the shoulder, Duo grinned, "Exactly. Even if he doesn't accept your work, it'll be a good experience for you to learn something from him."

Heero nodded, "Well, we better get back to the house before the others beat us there." They passed the table to gather the remainder of their ice cream as he said quietly, "I can't wait to tell my mom."

*   *   *   *   *   *

A black car with shaded windows pulled up to the front of Bradley Hall, a dorm just on the outskirts of the Howard University. Opening his passenger side door, Solo stepped out into the chilly air and threw his duffel bag over his shoulder.

Quickly readjusted his backwards baseball cap, the blonde teenager flinched at the deep voice from the driver seat warning him, "Be sure not to let us down again. You only have a couple of weeks to pull this off."

"Yes, sir," Solo answered, having to work hard to keep the bitterness out of his voice. With one good shove, he closed the car door. Watching the vehicle roll off into the distance, he sighed deeply in relief of at last being out of the presence of J and his henchmen.

Behind him, he heard one of his fraternity brothers call, "Hey, Solo! Good to see you, man." When he turned, the neko smiled at the four young men that quickly approached him with wide smiles on their faces.

For the briefest of moments, Solo tried to imagine that he was like any other normal student surrounded by his friends. He tried to forget what awaited him when his mission was finally over, leaving this blissful reprieve behind.

One of the 'brothers' gave a welcoming slap on the shoulder. Biting his tongue to keep from screaming when the touch irritated the half dozen puncture wounds there, Solo just nodded firmly in greeting.

"What's the matter, man?" the brunette asked in concern. "Duo caught your tongue?" It was just one of the many jabs that were commonplace amongst them to take shots at the neko by using his name in place of the word 'cat' whenever possible. The four teenagers laughed at the joke.

A smirk tugged the right side of Solo's mouth as he muttered, "Not for long." Shifting the weight of his bag, he was reminded once more of his aching joints and sensitive skin that was still healing from his return to the lab. His smile growing, he nodded, "I'm fine. It's just been a long trip."

The redhead of the bunch grinned, "Well, get settled back in and we'll meet you in the cafeteria for dinner in an hour." The group waved their brief farewells before heading out.

Gazing on his dorm, Solo chuckled deeply to himself. "It's good to be back," he said softly, not allowing himself to dwell on his own words too much. Before long, life would return to the way it'd been before he was sent out on this mission.

Hell was waiting for him. At least now, he would be satisfied in dragging down a certain neko into the flames with him.

TBC...

 

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