voidtreckerexpress | (no subject)

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(no subject)

Who: Duo and Trowa
What: DUO IS BACK, BB!
When: Fiddlesticks 5, few hours before mission prep.
Where: Luggage Carriage
Warnings: None I'm aware of!

It was dark.

This was definitely NOT what Duo had in mind when he'd been given the message to go to some control center. Though that memory was fading fast as he attempted to take stock of where he was.

He tried to move but there was little to no space to do that. He rocked his body and found he could move like that. So he continued to do so. He rocked. He rolled. And with a gasp he felt whatever container he was trapped within tip and then he landed.

On his shoulder.

Duo hissed in pain but pushed it aside when he realised the fall had popped open the lid of whatever he was trapped within and he could see light from that small crack. A little wriggling and near dislocating his shoulder to get his arm up, he managed to push two fingers through the gap and tried to widen it. And for a moment he did, just a bit... And then it caught on something. The thing that caught was a zipper, he realised. And what followed was the slowly dawning realisation that someone had stuffed him into some kind of suitcase.

Well didn't that just suck ass.

Duo sighed.

He sucked in a deep breath... and started yelling for help. No way he was getting out of the case alone.

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Amira had jumped out of Trowa's hood when he wasn't looking, leaving him chasing the tiny kitten. He followed her from the 4th sleeper car, all the way to the luggage car. The yelling was alarming, and too familiar. Dashing to the moving bag, Trowa pulled on the zipper to get it open all the way. "Duo! What the hell?" Amira was crouched a foot or so away, hissing at the suitcase.

How long had he been yelling? Long enough his voice had grown hoarse and the tips of his fingers had started to bleed from trying to get the damn case open. He was also getting very afraid he was going to die. And wouldn't that just suck? Of all the ways to go, he would die because he couldn't fight his way out of a suitcase.

But his luck hadn't ran out quite so soon. Just when Duo was starting to give up, he could hear movement beyond the walls of his stupid prison. And then the zipper was tugged and the lid was lifted and Duo sucked in a deep breath of mostly fresh air.

"Tro...!" He gasped as he struggled to get himself and his aching body out of the case, and then turned to give the thing a swift kick that sent it skidding under a shelf. "... Fucking thing, I'll come back and burn it!" He growled in a voice made rough from yelling for so long.

Trowa had helped Duo up out of the suitcase before scooping Amira up before she could be underfoot or run off again. "How the hell did you end up in here?" Frowning, he put a hand on the other pilot's shoulder while using his other to keep the kitten tucked to his chest. "We need to get you to the med car and get you checked out."

He was hauled up to his feet and Duo stumbled but grabbed ahold of one of the shelves before he went back down to his knees. Just how long he'd been stuck in that suitcase he had no idea.

"Nope." He shook his head, voice still rough and his throat feeling like he'd swallowed glass. "Dunno... but I'm fine. Just need outta here." And with that he pushed away from the shelf he was using for support and made his unsteady way out of the luggage carriage.

"Put your arm around my shoulders, I'll help you up the train. Do you know how long you were in there?" At the very least, he was worried that the braided teen was dehydrated. "I didn't see you at the platform, Quatre's here now."

Duo waved Trowa off as he moved, he pushed open the door of the luggage carriage and then the door to the dressing rooms and that's where he just sat himself down. Hard.

He was angry. He was trembling and he was livid... Because he had no idea what had happened. And he needed answers. He dropped his head into his hands and tried to calm himself down, but then hissed and pulled his hands away to look at them. The tips of his fingers were red raw and bloody from trying to claw open the suit case.

"... Why the hell was I in a fucking suitcase?"

Trowa set Amira down on the seat next to Duo and grabbed his friend by the wrists. "I haven't got a clue. But if someone drugged you and shoved you in there, I will help you dispose of the body." He wasn't going to offer to kill them, that would be an insult to Duo. The tiny kitten took a moment to get her balance before starting to groom herself, uncaring what the humans were going on about.

Duo blinked at Trowa... and then started laughing. Though when it started to get higher he quickly shut it off before it turned into something else... "No... I wasn't drugged." Of that he knew. There was none of that foggy, detached feeling that came with being drugged. It had happened enough to Duo he was very used to that feeling.

"I was getting ready for that platform event and I had a message to go somewhere... and then I woke up in that case." He looked at his hands, Trowa had him by the wrists so he tried to pull them back. "No one to kill... Just me for answering that message." And he would never ever do that again.

Trowa looked at Duo in concern before letting go of his wrists. "Can you make it to the medical car or should I go get some supplies? You've done a number on your fingertips." He was kicking himself for not having looked for his friend sooner. This was his fault for not being more aware of the other teen's status.

"They're fine..." Duo mumbled and once his hands were let go he folded his arms and shoved them under his armpits. Out of sight, out of mind. "Don't worry about em..."

"They aren't fine." Trowa spoke softly, looking at Duo with concern. "You need water and food, and some attention to your hands." Nothing about this situation was fine at all.

"... Just need some bed rest. That's all." Being fussed over was making him antsy, he didn't know where he'd been and it was bothering him. "I'm just tired, Tro. That's all."

Trowa sighed softly, understanding that Duo wanted to be left alone. He didn't want to do it, though. "I can leave you for a bit and get you some water. Mind if I leave the furball with you?" Amira was curled up next to Duo's pillow, washing her paws.

"Uh, yeah... sure..." What else was he supposed to say? He eyed that cat, not sure how he felt about it being so close to where he put his head. Duo liked animals well enough but he'd never had one of his own, or really had much interaction with them. Aside from the feral cats that lived near a safe house one time... He'd leave food out for them but they never ever came close enough for him to actually pet them.

"Thanks." Trowa stood and headed out the door, jogging toward the front of the train. He needed to get something for Duo to eat, a bottle of water, and some basic first aide skills. It'll take him almost half an hour to get it all and get back without dropping anything.

Amira, on the other hand, decided to investigate the person she'd been left with. After washing her paws, she crept over to sniff delicately at Duo's thigh.

Duo wasn't paying attention, his eyes were on the door after Trowa had left, and then his thoughts had turned inward. What the hell had happened? It was almost laughable. He'd disappeared and then he was suddenly in a suitcase. A suitcase...! Why the hell was that even a thing? Why had he disappeared? What had happened to him for those days?

He turned to look at the ICP and the date and paled. Five days. Five days he'd been gone and... no one had noticed? Damn. Well, he did his best to go mostly unnoticed. He supposed that had worked a little too well.

It was the little touch of a nose to his thigh that had Duo jumping, he made a soft sound of surprise and looked down at the kitten sniffing at him. "Uh... hi..."

After half an hour, Trowa came back in. He had water in one hand, a sandwich on a plate in the other, and a first aid kit under his arm. He set the plate and the water down, making sure the sandwich was on the far side of Duo from Amira. "Let me see your hands?"

Duo hadn't been sure what to do with the cat and hadn't really wanted to pet her, not with blood on his hands. He wondered if he could get himself a pair of gloves... But belatedly realised he didn't have the points for that. Maybe next time?

When Trowa returned, Duo frowned at everything his friend had brought back with him and held back a sigh. He knew there was no fighting this so when asked he just silently held out his hands. Nails broken, the tips of his fingers torn and bloody with scrapes along them and his knuckles. It probably looked worse than it actually was...

Very gently, Trowa cleaned and dressed the tips of Duo's fingers. "I'm sorry, Duo." He felt like this was somehow his fault. Like if he'd paid more attention it wouldn't have happened.

"Nothing you should be sorry about, man. Shit happens." And always seemed to happen to him somehow. One day he'd get some good luck. And on that day he'd be so stunned by it it would probably pass him by before he had a chance to enjoy the novelty.

As soon as he'd finished dressing the wounds on Duo's fingers, Trowa cracked the seal on the water bottle and handed it to his friend. "Here. Your lips are really pale, you're dehydrated."

He took the bottle and repressed a sigh. Duo was only drinking the water because Trowa asked him to, he really wasn't that interested in it. It made him feel a bit sick if he was honest. But he managed to get a good quarter of the bottle down before he had to hand it back.

"Thanks, Tro."

Taking the bottle back, Trowa screwed the cap back on and set it on the small excuse for a nightstand. "Do you think you can manage a little food? We aren't in starvation conditions, and I don't know how many meals you've missed."

"I'm not hungry, Tro. Honest." Duo sighed and lifted his bandaged fingers to lightly rub at his forehead. "Don't know where I was... limbo or somewhere, but I was either fed or it just didn't matter."

Trowa moved the sandwich to the nightstand. "I'll leave it for you for later, then. So you won't have to go all the way to the kitchen when you do get hungry."

"Thanks, Tro." Duo didn't want to seem ungrateful for Trowa's help, he really didn't. The guy was being so nice and trying to look after him. "I'll have it later, promise." It was just that he couldn't stomach the idea just then. Not only was he not hungry, but he was feeling unsettled and weird. His hands ached. His head ached. He just wanted to lie down and forget everything had happened.

Nodding at that, Trowa scooped up Amira and put her in his hood. "Get some rest, Duo. And let me know if you need anything, okay?"

"Promise I will." Duo said and lied down on his bunk now the cat had been removed. An hour or two's sleep is all he needed. That was all. Then he'd be fresh as a daisy and ready for the upcoming mission.

Rising to his feet, Trowa moved to the door. "Alright. I'll check on you again later." Mostly for his own conscience.

"Thanks, man. You're the best." Duo just sounded so damn tired. He turned to face the wall and closed his eyes. Just a few hours. That's all he needed. Things would look brighter after that.

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