The world has caught on fire from what I've been told.

[selfdetonation.livejournal.com]

[Heero kicks open the door to his apartment, not caring that the top hinge pops loose. He's carrying an unconscious Dorothy in his arms, who is covered in soot, ash, blood, dirt, scrapes, bruises... Heero isn't unscathed, but unlike Dorothy, he won't be needing stitches. Just a shower. But there are more important things right now...

He ignores the gun that falls out of his pocket as he goes to lay her down on the couch, kicking the door one more time to keep it open for Duo. The kick is enough to knock the top hinge a little bit looser.]

Comments

[maxwellian.livejournal.com]

[Duo would need bandages and a hell of an explanation to give to Howard — cuts on his arms and torso he could hide, but the one that went across his cheek would be easier to try to explain. He spared the door a tired look as he came in, actually taking a moment to try and keep it from totally giving up, but quickly gave in and followed Heero, ignoring the gun.

He gave Dorothy a look not unlike the one he gave the door, but pushing at her wouldn't fix anything.]

You going to keep her here? [To be honest, Duo didn't really expect an answer, but the silence was really getting to him.]

[selfdetonation.livejournal.com]

[It wasn't that Heero wasn't willing to talk earlier, he was just focused. Apparently, it was hard to portray the difference.]

Yeah. I'll get her to a hospital tomorrow. Won't be as difficult to get in as it will be today, with... everyone else caught inside the aquarium...

[maxwellian.livejournal.com]

[Duo wasn't paying attention to reasons right now, just that he'd much rather have words to focus on than his thoughts, which were circling around in unpleasant ways.]

Yeah. She should be fine 'til then. She'll probably get better attention that way, too. [He almost asked if Heero thought Dorothy would be irritated at staying at his place, but at this point? She should just be glad she got taken care of. If they hadn't seen her... Duo couldn't help a small shudder. Even if she was creepy as hell, she didn't deserve that.]

[selfdetonation.livejournal.com]

When she wakes up, we should ask her what she was doing there. [He spent most of the ride back mentally debating whether or not it would be appropriate or necessary to do so, and had finally settled on being safe rather than sorry that he hadn't asked later.]

... In the meanwhile, are you alright, Duo? [He looked up at Duo, allowing only some of the concern to show.]

[maxwellian.livejournal.com]

Good luck with that. Doubt she'll tell us anything. [Duo rubbed a hand over his face, hissing when he pressed on the cut across his cheek] Yeah, I'm fine. Need to clean up. Hell if I know what I'm telling Howard, though. [A soft, not-quite humorless laugh] Rough game of basketball isn't going to cut it this time.

[selfdetonation.livejournal.com]

[Heero shook his head, just barely cracking a smile that left just as quickly.] Probably not. You could always say a cat scratched you, I don't know.

[He looked down at Dorothy one last time, shook his head and then stood.] I'm going to get some ice for her shoulder. You can shower if you want. You know where everything is, right?

[maxwellian.livejournal.com]

That's true. He'd probably buy it, too, once he stopped laughing at me.

Yeah, I know. I may take you up on the shower. Gonna sit down for a little while, first. Catch my breath or whatever. [True to his word, he plopped down in front of the couch, closing his eyes and leaning his back against it after making sure that he wouldn't be leaning on top of anything Dorothy's]

[selfdetonation.livejournal.com]

... I wish we could tell him, man. I'm sorry that we can't.

[And with that, he made his way to the kitchen.]

[warbeauty.livejournal.com]

[A little mumbing, a little muttering, and a slight twitch of her hand... And then, Dorothy opens her eyes.]

What...? [they close again, but she's breathing and awake now. It hurts to move, though, not that she'll admit it aloud, so she tries to stay put.] Where am I...?

[maxwellian.livejournal.com]

[He flinched forward, wincing as a bruise he hadn't realized he had protested the movement.]

Goddamn, I thought you were out! [That outburst out of the way, he moved so that he could look at her full-on.

You're at Heero's, you got pretty banged up [Duo couldn't keep all of the concern out of his tone — seeing someone he considered a kind of halfways-rival (if not in the way that word made it sound) out cold had shaken him. Another level of reality had seeped its way into this end-of-the-world thing and he had a feeling it wouldn't stop going.]

[warbeauty.livejournal.com]

[She opened one eye to glance at Duo, and the corner of her lip twitched into a smile that was transient at best -- she was glad it was someone she knew, anyway.]

I guess I did. I tried to get out of there... [She slowly moved to sit, but once she picked herself up to a certain point, the pain was too much. She actually cried out, in spite of her best efforts not to, and she even cut it short and abrupt when she'd realized what she'd done. No one was allowed to hear something like that... And she lowered herself back down to the sofa, one hand over her eyes.] I have you to thank, don't I?

[maxwellian.livejournal.com]

[Duo flinched, hands up and almost going to try and help support her, but relieved when she settled herself down.]

Not me. Heero. I mean, I helped Heero, but.. mostly just him. Don't move so much. We're— he's going to take you to a hospital tomorrow. They're probably busy. [When all else fails, there's nothing wrong with a good old word dump.]

[warbeauty.livejournal.com]

You still helped... Thank you, Duo. And I'll thank Heero later...

[She had a feeling she was going to have to explain herself. She settled back down into the couch, not wanting to attempt sitting again for a while. While she was down, she may as well start thinking of a good alibi...]

[selfdetonation.livejournal.com]

[It was Heero's luck that he'd forgotten to refill the ice trays that morning, so with a curse under his breath, he set to getting that ready. He was thinking as he did so... and realized that with the Aquarium now completely destroyed, it had to make national news...

He figured he would be waiting a while for the ice. So, he dug his phone out of his pocket, sat down at the table, and called Wufei.]

[pridefulscholar.livejournal.com]

[Wufei answered as soon as he heard the phone ringing, almost damaging the remote in his haste to mute the television. The reports had grown repetative in the last quarter of an hour, with little to no new information offered, but he refused to turn it off in hopes that they would find something new.]

Yuy. What is going on over there? [Even paying attention to his tone didn't help the fact that he was nearly shouting, and if he didn't get a reasonable answer soon he wouldn't bother to mind it any longer.]

[selfdetonation.livejournal.com]

They attacked the aquarium. One of the city's barriers. [He muttered something to himself, just quiet enough that it couldn't be understood by anyone nearby, especially over a phone line.]

We were there. We were late, as there was no warning that they were going to attack. ... It fell. We lost the fight.

[pridefulscholar.livejournal.com]

How did it fall? Who is "we"? Are you alright? [He almost regretted the question but after the vague taunts, Wufei almost felt that he would find out someone had been greatly wounded and it was his own fault for not returning home. He tried to banish such paranoid thoughts as soon as they occurred, but it had been getting harder since first hearing of the "unexpected accident" at the aquarium.]

[selfdetonation.livejournal.com]

They blew it the hell up. I assumed you saw on the news or something, the way you answered the phone.

I mean. Duo and me. And Dorothy, for whatever reason, was there, too. She was fortunate that we even found her. ... She's in the other room, unconscious. ... We're okay, though. Just cuts and bruises. Dorothy's worse than either Duo or myself. [He couldn't tell if he was making any sense. He didn't feel like carefully schooling his responses right now, he just wanted to tell Wufei what was going on. He felt he owed it to him, anyway...]

[pridefulscholar.livejournal.com]

They're trying not to release too much information too soon, I think. It's all so useless.. [He glared at the television, much as he had been since he first heard the report] Perhaps trying to keep the weaklings from panicking. [a pause and he refocused on what was bothering him even more than the inefficiency of the news]

Catalonia was there? That meddlesome woman!

[selfdetonation.livejournal.com]

Meddlesome...? [He frowned at that.] Wufei, do you know why Catalonia was there?

[pridefulscholar.livejournal.com]

Only that she is always at precisely where and when she shouldn't be. If she doesn't attract trouble, she causes it.

[selfdetonation.livejournal.com]

[Heero couldn't keep a quiet, amused "Hn" from coming.] I agree. Who knows what her story is this time. I'm taking her to a hospital in the morning. There are too many others there tonight, and for damage much worse than she suffered...

This victory for them is going to make them more active, and soon. [He wanted to add more to that, but he drifted into his own thoughts instead...]

[pridefulscholar.livejournal.com]

Them? Yuy, you're speaking in riddles. [Catalonia would be in the hospital tomorrow? And both Yuy and Maxwell were injured..]

[selfdetonation.livejournal.com]

[He massaged his temple with his free hand as he spoke, trying to fight off a headache. When he spoke, he wasn't angry, just firm and insistent. His voice was quiet. Tired.]

The Angels, Chang. I told you last time, they're the ones destroying the major cities around the world. Tokyo, Alexandria, London, Chicago... Shanghai defeated the Angels, but the rest of us... the outcome has yet to be determined.

[pridefulscholar.livejournal.com]

So you'll fight again. [And damn it if he would just leave them to it. Sally might know of somewhere he could find housing at such short notice...]