Life Goes On Part 18
"Well, I never thought that I would ever see you again," Doctor J chuckled deeply as he rounded his desk to exchange a firm hand with his visitor. "How are you, Howard?"
Smiling warmly at his old friend, the retired scientist shrugged, "Oh, quite well, thank you." He gazed around the elegantly decorated office and smirked, "You look to have been doing quite well for yourself over the years since Dekim's demise." He turned back to the older man and raised an eyebrow. "But then, you also left his practice before he was forced to shut down."
Doctor J waived with his metal hand and snorted, "That fool had it coming. Considering how arrogant and self-serving that man was, I can't say that I feel bad for him." Through his own glasses, the metal-armed doctor appraised the other man in a means of trying to read him. Why, after all of these years, would his long-lost friend be paying a sudden visit?
Rather than wondering, J decided to get to the point and asked, "Now, what really brings you here? You have been laying low for quite some time now to just decide to pay me a friendly visit."
There was something in the suspicious tone of that voice that tipped Howard into realizing that he'd been right to not be very forthcoming with everything. They had worked together long enough for him to know that Doctor J was very a calculating man- much like Dekim. And with so much at stake, the cards had to be played just right.
With a wide smile, Howard announced, "I have decided to end my retirement." At the look of surprise on the older man's face, he grinned, "And who better to end that retirement than with someone that I came to know so well? Someone that I know will ethically use his practice for the better of mankind?"
J's chest puffed up proudly as he grinned, "Who better, indeed." Howard kept the smirk to himself. Friend or not, something just told him that the man was not to be fully trusted in the way that he was not being very forthcoming with what he was doing with his own practice now.
Whatever the lab owner was up to, Howard intended to get to the bottom of it while working right under the doctor's nose. Silently, he was grateful that he did not just come out and ask for the chemicals that he needed. Such a specific list of items would have had J very curious to what he was up to.
For his part, Doctor J was just as leery about Howard. He knew how his old friend would react if he were to learn that there was a handful of nekos in his possession. It would not go well for him in the least.
Then again, he thought to himself, the cell and testing rooms were in the second basement level. Those with access to the nekos had a special access key for a hidden lock in the elevator that took them down to the cell and holding rooms. He could use his old ally's wealth of knowledge to assist his newest prodigies in some of the other divisions of his work and had Howard none the wiser of what he was hiding.
After a moment of consideration, the old doctor finally clapped his flesh and robotic hands together and laughed, "All right! Having you on board to help my chemists would help me greatly in our stem cell research department. How soon would you be able to start?"
Beaming, Howard answered, "Tomorrow if that's all right. Stem research, hm? My but it's been a time since I worked with that. It will be quite the treat!" He reached forward and took the metal hand offered to him. "Thank you, J," he nodded firmly. "You won't regret this."
"I will give you a tour when you arrive in the morning," Doctor J grinned. "It'll be good to have you on board."
With an exchange of farewells, Howard left the room to be escorted to the elevator. Stepping outside just as the sun began to set, the old scientist sighed deeply in relief of putting on that he thought to be a compelling performance. "Tomorrow," he smiled to himself before all but running to the parking lot across the street.
* * * * * *
Heero finished gliding the blade carefully along the top of Duo's right arm to remove the long fur that had grown since that morning's shave. As he worked, the braided neko used another blade to work at the left arm. "So what did Solo have to do today to earn tonight's lesson?" the Japanese teenager asked when the silence in the bathroom became too think.
Chuckling deeply, Duo replied, "I decided to take it easy on him today. He's gone through a lot the last four days." Lightly running the shaving cream from the blade in his hand under the running water of the sink, he grinned, "And I think he's actually been enjoying the things that I've had him do so far."
At that, Heero paused and raised an eyebrow. "Really?" he smirked to the reflection of the violet eyes watching him in the vanity mirror. Finishing up his work, he inquired, "What makes you say that?" As he lowered the blade onto the sink ledge, he reached for a towel and lightly ran it over the length of the arm that was smoothed down once again.
"I don't know," Duo admitted. "But, last night when we finished decorating the main hall, I couldn't help but think that he really enjoyed himself. He was pretty quiet for a time after we got a chance to see how the room looked when we were done, just watching the lights and all with wide eyes."
He paused for a second as he reached for the towel to dry the arm he'd just finished and frowned in thought. "It was almost like how I know I reacted the first time I saw a Christmas tree," the neko thought aloud. "I wonder if he ever really got to appreciate something like that before."
Folding his arms as he considered that, Heero thought aloud, "Maybe not. Considering how a lot of parents out here still live by my mother's old ways, I suppose there is a chance that he'd missed out on a lot. Even for myself, I never really appreciated a Christmas tree, or the season, until after you came along." He smiled warmly, "Your own enjoyment of it all was pretty contagious."
Duo blushed a bit as he lowered the towel in his hands and accepted the soft kiss that his lover gave him. Ducking his head a bit, his cat ears drooped shyly while he asked, "Does my excitement over even the little things embarrass you at all?"
"Of course not," Heero replied, his smile growing and warming all the more. "I think it's wonderful. Anything that makes you smile makes me happy." Lightly wrapping his arms around the smaller boy, he pulled him close and rested their foreheads together with their eyes locking. "You've helped me appreciate so many things that I take for granted. The sound of rainfall. Snow. Rainbows. Even the simplest of things like finding a penny on the ground with heads facing up. Things that I would have missed out on if it weren't for you."
The blush returned to the braided neko's face, but a bright smile tugged his lips. Reaching up to wrap his arms around the partner's neck, he purred deeply. His long tail came up to wrap around Heero's waist in just another means to get even closer. For a moment, they just stood there like that before the taller boy whispered, "You're my whole world, Duo. Nothing else in this life would mean anything to me without you."
Biting his lip and fighting the small tears that threatened to creep into his eyes, Duo breathed, "Love you, too." Slowly, they leaned in for a deep kiss. Before things could get any further, the doorbell rang.
Reluctantly pulling back with frustrated sighs, the two teenagers chuckled deeply. "That'd be Solo for his lesson," the neko said regrettably. Quickly giving his lover's lips a quick kiss, he leaned in close to his ear and suggested in a deep purr, "We'll have to pick this up where we left off when I'm finished tutoring."
Heero smirked, "I'm not inclined to argue there." Lowering his arms from the smaller boy's waist, he lightly smacked his rear and winked, "Get going. Sooner you get started, the sooner we can get back to this."
With a playful yelp at the hit, Duo stuck his tongue out before laughing and dashing off for the door just as the bell rung once more.
As the door slid open at his command, the braided teenager smiled to his guest, "Hey, Solo. Come on in."
Lifting the backpack from his shoulders, the blonde young man grinned, "Thanks." As he stepped into the living room with his teacher, Solo asked, "So which class will we be going over tonight, 'teach?" He chuckled deeply along with his tutor at the nickname.
Duo hummed in thought a moment while going through his own texts in the bookshelf before answering, "Probably Professor G's Basic Law Theory class. You seem to be picking up on the other classes pretty well. And G's exam will be the most difficult out of all of them, from what I can tell. The more time we spend on that one, the better."
Shuddering, Solo frowned deeply, "I was afraid that you'd say that. That's the one class that I'm doing the worst in, too. If I don't ace the exam, I fail his course for sure."
"Well, we'll just have to really work at going through these notes, then," Duo replied as he held up his notebook. "We'll start from the top and go from there." Already pulling out his own notebook and textbook, Solo joined his mentor at the table in the center of the room.
From around the corner, Heero peeked in to watch the pair for a moment. Chuckling deeply to himself in amusement, he smiled to himself, "Maybe there is hope for Solo yet." As he headed back to the bedroom, he smirked, "If there was anyone that could change a person for the better, it's my Duo."
* * * * * *
Late that evening...
It was a little known fact that the only security camera that watched the Main Hall after hours was nothing more than a prop to scare anyone who might think to try something. But then, having so many people that wanted to please them with such information always kept life interesting.
With nothing recording their actions, it was a simple matter of slipping into the building after the campus security car made its round. Once it moved on, it would take the officers inside nearly forty minutes to slowly drive around the remainder of the campus before it returned. More than enough time for the four of them to carry out their plan.
As the headlights of the security car vanished down the long street flanked by thick trees at either side, they moved. Dressed in black from head-to-toe, they smirked to each other before running up the front steps of the large facility.
The lock was pretty easy to deal with. Within minutes, they poured inside the darkened building and closed the glass door behind them. Turning their dimmed flashlights on, they headed into the large central room that had been decked out from top to bottom for the holiday. While not as impressive with the Christmas lights out, the dark-clad lot appraised the detail of the handiwork that had gone into decorating the large room.
A great deal of time had gone into setting such a display up. And it would only take moments for it to all come down.
Removing the crowbar that he had been in his black backpack to grip it tightly, Eric grinned to his accomplices, "This is going to be fun."
* * * * * *
It was early the following morning when the phone rang. Moaning, Heero and Duo stirred from their deep slumber. "Don't wanna get up," the long-haired neko muttered as he buried his head in the strong, bare chest beneath him. The phone rang once again. "Sleepy," he whined. "Too comfy to get up. And it's a Saturday! No waking on a Saturday before ten in the morning!"
Chuckling deeply, Heero lightly ran a hand over his lover's long hair. "Aw," he grinned, "Did I wear you out that much last night?" He laughed when the head against his shoulder nodded enthusiastically.
With a deep sigh, Heero reached for the phone sitting on the table at his side of the bed and placed the receiver to his ear. "Hello," he greeted while stifling a yawn. After a moment of listening to the frantic voice on the other line, his cobalt eyes widened. "Hang on, Sandra," he soothed, "He's right here."
Frowning deeply, the Japanese teenager rested the receiver against his free shoulder. "Duo," he called to the tall, furry ears peeking out of the mass of hair on his chest. "It's Sandra from the decorating committee. She's pretty upset about something."
Quickly raising his head, the smaller boy pushed back his loose hair behind his cat ears and reached for the phone. "Sandy? What's wrong?" he asked, fully awake now as worry filled his eyes. It took a moment for the frenzied girl to recant the news that she was given just moments before.
His violet eyes widening, Duo shouted, "What!? I'll be there in a few minutes!" In a blink, he reached over to hang the phone back up and was half-way across the room to open the top drawer to his dresser.
On his own feet in an instant, Heero reached his lover's side. "What's wrong?" he questioned as he opened his own dresser up to throw something over his nude form.
Pulling up a black pair of boxers, the neko slid his tail through the hole in the back. "Someone vandalized the main hall. Everything that we set up last night is ruined," he stated. "Why would anyone..." his voice trailed off and he shook his head while focusing on getting dressed as quickly as he could.
Heero paused in his own changing, his cobalt eyes widening at the thought of someone... or more than one person, for that matter, could be as cruel as to destroy a Christmas display. "I'd like to come and help, if it's all right with you."
"Yea," Duo replied with a small smile of gratitude as he buttoned the front of his jeans closed. "Thanks." That said, the pair quickly dressed in silence, grabbed their coats, and ran out of their apartment.
* * * * * *
The entire decorating committee was walking about the massive room at the center of the Main Hall. Dorothy and several other directors and staff were also present to survey the damage done. The huge tree had been knocked down with most of its lights and ornaments smashed into colorful dust particles on the floor.
All around, the garland, tinsel and lights from the ceiling were strewn about where they fell after being torn from their hooks. Spray paint of all shades and colors etched out horrible sayings and abstract designs in the tree and on the walls. 'Merry Fucking Christmas' was the largest of the phrases, greeting all on the wall at the back of the room so that it would be the first thing seen when a person entered.
In the center of the room, Dorothy wrapped her arms around her waist and shook her head with a sad frown as she gazed on the fallen tree. Heero, Duo, Solo and a very distraught head of the decorating committee walked up to her. Lightly wrapping her arms around the quietly crying red-head, the law director reassured her with a small smile, "Don't worry, Sandra. We'll get even more help to clear all of this up and decorate the hall to look even more wonderful."
Biting her lip, Sandra brushed back her short hair from her shoulder and sniffled, "I just don't understand. Who would do such a horrible thing? And why?"
With a deep growl, Solo's eyes that had been glaring at his surroundings since his arrival fell on the tree last. His hands clenched at his sides, he hissed, "I think I know."
TBC...
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