Life Goes On Part 5
Lightly brushing off the snow from his long, brown suit coat, Trent entered the house to the voice of the electronic recording that greeted him. Danielle appeared from the living room with a wide smile as she chuckled deeply, "Just in time for dinner, as always."
After helping him to remove his coat, the red-haired woman's smile grew when her husband pulled her close to kiss her soundly. When he pulled back, Trent grinned, "You know I'm never late for that."
Just as his wife opened her mouth, he raised his hand and reassured her, "Everything is fine with the case. Just a few minor details that the team wanted to have worked out before the holiday weekend."
He finished with a wink, "So no worries." That said, he kissed her smirking lips once more. He kicked off his boots and sighed deeply in content, "I've been aching to get out of those all day." Finally shed of his suitcase and extra articles, Trent ran a hand through his blonde hair and asked, "Did Heero and Duo make it back yet? There doesn't seem to be a stop to this snow any time soon tonight."
Danielle nodded, "They're helping Noin and Zechs with setting the table now." With a relieved smile at that, the young man walked with his wife from the living room into the dining room.
When they entered, Zechs was just finished lowering the large ham amongst the bowls of vegetables and other side dishes. Heero and Duo looked up from their finishing setting the plates and forks. A wide smile tugging his lips, the Japanese boy stepped forward with an extended hand as he greeted with a firm nod, "Trent."
Taking the offered hand in a firm shake, the blonde man nodded with his own smile, "Heero." he glanced to the cat-ear boy and nodded the same, "Duo. Good to have you back home." The braided teenager's tail swished happily at that before quickly finishing with placing the napkins along with the silverware.
As Noin stepped in from the kitchen, Trent took a seat at one of the heads of the table and complimented warmly, "Dinner looks and smells wonderful. It looks as though you have outdone yourself once again, Noin."
"You always say that, Trent," the short-haired young woman chuckled deeply. She removed her white apron from her waist and moved to sit beside her tall husband while grinning, "But I certainly do appreciate it."
The head of the opposite end of the table was occupied with Danielle, Heero sitting at her right and Duo at his other side. In silence, the family went about passing around the bowls and platters of food and prepared to enjoy their meal.
Some time into their dinner, Danielle sipped from her water and wiped her mouth politely with her napkin. Turning to her son, she asked, "So, Heero, what is this announcement that you mentioned earlier that you wanted to make?"
All eyes focused on the unruly-haired boy as he sat up, nodding to his mother as he finished sipping from his own glass. Clearing his throat, he smiled to the faces watching him, "One of my professors, Lady Une, is going to be talking with the man in charge of the Stellar Gala about me. She wants to see if I might be featured for next year's event." Beside him, Duo's violet eyes filled with pride for his partner as he nodded excitedly to the shocked faces around them.
Her mouth snapping shut and her cobalt eyes widening, Danielle sputtered, "H-Heero... That's wonderful news." Leaning towards, she held onto him tightly, "I'm so proud of you."
"Congratulations, Heero," Trent smiled, raising his glass to him. "It's about time more people got to appreciate the work that you do. The Stellar Gala would serve you well in getting your name out there."
Noin and Zechs both smiled widely at the announcement. "You certainly must have impressed her if she was willing to go out of her way to suggest you to her friend," the tall man commented. "Good for you."
With a wistful look on her face, Noin said quietly, "Oh, I cannot wait to see what you come up with for the show. I'm certain that you'll make some beautiful artworks for the event. You're sure to be a success there."
Lightly pulling back from his mother's embrace, Heero waved his hands in the air and told them all, "Well, let's not get too excited, everyone. I mean, it's not a sure thing that I'll get into the gala to begin with.
"I still need to meet with this man first, so that he can see the things that I've come up with so far, before he decides whether or not he'll even give me a serious consideration to be one of the few featured in his gala." He shrugged, "There is stiff competition to be chosen, all with much more experience than I have. I'm just happy that Lady Une felt happy enough with my work to give a good word on my behalf."
Duo tapped him on the shoulder with his tail to bring his lover's face to turn in his direction. He grinned widely, "You shouldn't be so hard on yourself, or your work. I've been to the gala with you and while there were some beautiful artworks, I know that you could beat anyone of those artists that have been featured."
Nodding at that, Danielle smiled, "I firmly agree with that. I might be biased, but I would like to think that I have a good sense and taste of art from my visiting a great many museums and galas over the years. You have a wonderful talent, son." Noin, Zechs and Trent all nodded their own agreement to the sentiment.
Heero looked back to his boyfriend, their eyes meeting in a loving gaze. Taking up the neko's hand in his own, he squeezed it tightly with a warm smile. Not breaking their gaze, he addressed the lot, "Thanks, everyone."
Slowly turning his eyes to his family, he smirked, "To be honest, I am pretty excited to see what will come out of this. I always did like a challenge." That said, the lot finished their meal.
"Visitors at the front door," the mechanic voice from the entrance announced, echoing in each room as to be sure that whoever was home would get the message. The table had just been cleared and Heero and Duo were sitting in the living room watching the flat-screened television on the wall across from the couch where they were nestled.
As he sat up, the Japanese boy called into the dining room, "I'll get it." Duo followed after with a curious look at wondering who would be stopping over in the middle of a snow storm just after dark.
Opening the front door, Heero's cobalt eyes widened in surprise. A bright smile brightening his face, he chuckled deeply, "Well, this is a pleasant surprise."
Gently nudging his head over his lover's shoulder, Duo gasped sharply. His tail waving happily and his cat ears perked, he exclaimed excitedly, "Guys!" Standing on the large front porch, bundled and each with a sled at their side stood Trowa, Quatre, Wufei and Dorothy. The group all smiled at the two boys in the entrance.
Springing forward, a pink-clad Relena hugged Heero tightly before moving to do the same with Duo. "We've been worried sick about you ever since that news broadcast. Are you all right?" the blonde girl asked while keeping her hold on the braided teenager.
"I'm all right, Lena," Duo purred deeply in her ear, returning her embrace with all his own strength so that she could feel it through her extra layers of clothing. "I've missed you." he said softly just as they pulled back.
Heero was already on the porch, exchanging handshakes and one-armed hugs with the rest of their visitors. Looking at their sleds, he smirked, "I don't suppose I need to ask if you all want to step inside for a bit."
Lightly nudging Trowa's shoulder, Wufei replied, "Not after I managed to beat Trowa, here, in finding the best hills for sledding in town." The tall boy mentioned rolled his visible green eye with a snort. "It's well lit and ready with a new batch of snow that's just waiting to get annihilated."
After hugging his neko friend through his deep blue snow gear, Quatre frowned in concern, "We were hoping that you might be up for joining us."
Beaming with a bright smile, Duo's tail was moving in a near blur as he cheered, "Are you kidding!? It'll take me just a few minutes to get ready." With that, he was gone in the blink of an eye.
Relieved, Trowa grinned, "Oh yea, he's doing just fine." He looked to his Japanese friend and suggested with a grin, "You better hurry. We have a whole shit load of trouble to get into to make up for the time we've been away." With a snort, Heero quickly reentered the house and closed the door behind him.
Beside her tall lover, Dorothy adjusted her deep green ski cap that matched her coat and thick pants as she chuckled deeply, "Like you're all so well known for getting in a shit load of trouble."
"Depends how you define trouble and who you ask," the grey-clad Wufei commented with a mischievous grin and glint in his dark eyes. "If you asked someone like Mueller, I think that he'd tell you what a pain in the ass we all are." His friends just laughed, nodding their heads in agreement.
* * * * * *
The sound of the access code being punched into the door of the cell made Solo's white ears twitch. Slowly coming out of his deep slumber, his brown eyes blinked open. In his arms and draped against his chest, Cassie gave a small sound as her own spotted ears flicked a bit. Her green eyes widened a bit as the cell door opened.
Finally placing himself as being back in the holding room of Doctor J's lab, Solo carefully sat up from the floor along with his girlfriend. Not far from where they lied, Jena uncurled her tightly wrapped body to gaze up with a startled gasp. Springing to her feet, she ran to the entrance just as another neko was tossed into the room. He fell forward, barely managing to walk on his legs that would not support him.
"Andrew!" Jena cried as she held onto him tightly just before he fully collapsed to the floor. Instantly, Solo, Cassie, Danny and Carson were by their friend's side to help carefully settled him on the floor. With tears in her clear blue eyes, the blonde girl whimpered, "Andrew, are you all right?"
Solo gave a look over the deep bruises that spotted the seemingly unconscious neko's pale arms. Wincing to himself, he tried not to think of what it was that had been used on him during his testing. Here and there, a few small blood dots marked where the needles had been roughly forced to puncture his skin.
With a deep moan, Andrew's grey eyes slowly blinked open. When his cloudy vision finally focused, he gazed on the frightened face of his girlfriend as tears rolled down her face.
Reaching up with a shaking hand to cup her face, he whispered in a voice hoarse from his screaming in agony, "Jena." Gently, he rubbed away a few tears with his thumb. "I'll be all right," he reassured her in his weakened tone. "I've had worse tests run before."
Jena took what little comfort she could at that, nodding to him and turning her head to his the palm of his hand.
A glance up at the other faces gazing down on him in concern, Andrew focused on one and his eyes widened with a small gasp. "Solo," he managed. "You're back." Already, his grey eyes were growing heavy. Fighting to keep them opened, he muttered, "You alright?"
Swallowing hard, Solo squeezed his friend's shoulder and nodded, "I'm fine, Andrew. You just get some rest now. We'll catch up when you wake up."
His hand reaching up to squeeze the one on his shoulder, the black-eared brunette smiled as best he could despite the pain. "Missed you, brother," his weak voice breathed as his eyes drifted closed on him despite his best efforts to see the others a bit more.
"Yea," Solo choked out through his tightened throat. "Missed you too, brother," he whispered as Andrew's hand fell away limply. The slow and steady rise and fall of his friend's chest confirmed that he was finally in a peaceful oblivion from the pain that was wracking him.
Whimpering, Jena leaned down to kiss her love's forehead and curled up beside him. Danny's young eyes had seen so many of these instances with his family before, but he could never get used to seeing any of the others hurt. The child let out a small sniffle, tears rolling down his face as Carson pulled him close in a one-armed hug for support.
Over the course of their existence, Solo has somehow been seen as the one that everyone looked to when they needed guidance. Gazing over the faces of the others, he told them gently, "We all best get some more rest. It's been a long day." A few nods were his only response before the other nekos finally returned to where they had been lying about on the floor to curl up.
Pulling Cassie close to him, Solo stared up at the ceiling as she drifted off once more. All around, he could hear the others settling back into their own slumbers. Nothing had changed while he'd been away. He'd been thrust back into the hell that he'd always known.
Finally, once again unable to think of a way to spare them all, Solo's brown eyes drifted closed and sleep took him into a dreamless abyss.
It was just another day in the lives of Doctor J's lab rats.
* * * * * *
The following morning, Duo was busy typing away at the computer in his own bedroom in the second half of the large estate that had been given to him and his parents. It had taken days of following the few trails that he had to finding the only person who would be able to get him the answers he needed.
Luckily, with Heero attending class while he was forced to rest, Duo had been able to use their dorm computer to cover most of his searching. Now it was just a matter of confirming that he was on the right track.
"Duo," Noin's voice called from downstairs. "Breakfast is almost ready."
Turning from the screen, the neko called to the closed bedroom door, "Thanks, Mom! I'll be there in just a bit!" Quickly, he looked back to the screen, his fingers flying all the faster over the keys to get the last bit of information. His violet eyes widening, he quietly smiled to himself, "There you are."
With a click of the access button, he waited for the call to take and watched as the screen went black. After a few rings that sounded through the speakers, the call was answered and the screen turned on to reveal the man on the other line. The familiar eyes widened in shock as the man whispered, "D-Duo?"
His shoulders slumping and a deep sigh escaping him, Duo smiled weakly, "You're sure a tough guy to track down, Howard."
TBC...
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