The Uncanny G-boys

[Author's Note: Power modification: Heero specifically has "levitation", rather than "flying."]

The attack had been on Wednesday. On the following Monday, Trowa was thoroughly absorbed in a math lesson when the classroom door opened and Xavier entered accompanied by a stooped figure. The Professor motioned toward an empty desk and the figure, straightening though keeping his head down, went to the seat. Trowa finally recognized it as Quatre -- his usual vest and button-up shirt had been replaced by a black turtleneck and he wore a blue overcoat that reached to his knees. The blond boy carefully set his books on the desk but did not open them. His gaze remained cast downward, and he sniffled once. Trowa noticed that he was shivering.
Focusing on keeping himself visible -- he was having a bit of trouble with that lately -- Trowa went back to the lesson.

After class the disappearing boy attempted to catch up with Quatre, which turned out to be an easy task because Professor Xavier was waiting to escort the blond to his next class. Trowa phased out and walked along-side them in hopes of overhearing some conversation, but both were silent. The Professor was grim-faced. Quatre kept his chin on his chest, hugging his books without seeming to notice they were there.
Trowa was no expert on energies, since only the most powerful would have the slightest effect on him, but he began to sense that Quatre was currently in a state which could only be described as that of a marionette.

He didn't see Quatre for the remainder of the morning since the rest of his classes lay in other directions; neither did he mention the encounter to Heero in English Lit. He decided to wait and see if anything transpired at lunchtime. And so, for once, he was the first to reach their table, remaining visible so Catherine and Hilde could stare in disbelief. "Hey, Trowa, something going on?" the latter asked, trying to grin around the sincere concern that sprang up.
"Yeah, you're never here early." Catherine attempted a teasing giggle.
He shrugged. "We'll see."
The girls traded glances, confused by his odd remark. Duo ambled over to their table carrying a tray laden with food. "Hey gals -- whoa, Trowa! You feeling okay?"
The taller boy only nodded, crossing his arms.
"I see you got your appetite back," Catherine commented.
"Yup." Further hope of conversation was lost as the braided boy commenced scarfing. Again the girls traded looks, this time in disgust.
A few minutes later Heero and Wufei came into the lunchroom. Heero was trying to write a note and hold up his lunch at the same time, while Wufei seemed distracted in thought.
"How'd you guys do on the math test?" Catherine asked, scooting over to make room for them.
"C-minus," Heero grumbled. He tucked the note into his pocket. Wufei didn't answer.
Duo stopped eating long enough to yell at him. "Hey, Wufei! The lady asked you something!"
"Hmm?" The Chinese boy looked up apologetically.
"The math test," Hilde hinted.
"A-plus." He then went back to studying the tabletop, while Heero glared with envy.
Catherine reached a hand out to Wufei's free shoulder. "Something wrong--?" She immediately jerked her hand back by reflex when she felt the dampness of his dark gray sweatshirt. It had been light gray that morning...
Wufei gave a bitter smile. "Yeah, you could say that."
Duo burst out laughing. "You need to change clothes more often!"
"Shut up, Maxwell." The force of his anger made Duo's jaw close with an audible clack. Wufei scowled and the beginnings of a small raincloud swirled into existance over his head. Duo glanced at the starfish on his other shoulder then back at his face. "At least you don't yet have the problem of your powers growing faster than you can handle." Wufei pushed away from the table and roughly made his way out to the aisle, hissing as he passed behind Duo, "Better watch out, or I might pull a Dorothy on you."
He began to stalk away but didn't make it three feet before slaming to a halt when he saw who had just that moment entered the lunchroom. He backed up toward the table he had just vacated. The others still seated there were staring, as well -- all except one, that is. No one else in the room seemed to notice, and at least three of the group realized it probably had to do with the figure following behind the first.
Duo jumped up as the lead person came to a hesitant stop beside their table. "Quatre!! Nice outfit! Man, we were so worried about you! Good to see you're okay!" He reached to clap his friend's shoulder but Quatre flinched away, hugging those ever-present books tightly.
Then Professor Xavier caught up. "Quatre, these are your friends, remember?"
The blond boy took a moment to consider, then nodded slowly, relaxing. He then took a couple of minutes to study them shyly as if trying to place their faces. His voice sounded semi-mechanical when he finally spoke, and was softer than ever. "Duo...Hilde...Catherine, Heero...Wufei...T-Trowa." He swallowed and looked at the floor.
Wufei, who had still been standing from his attempted escape, sank down hard on a chair. He tried to ignore the squelching sound his clothes made but the blue-green blush came to his face involuntarily. Duo snorted down a laugh, trying to remain serious. The Chinese boy wanted to glare at him but instead his gaze went to the Professor, and Xavier bore witness to the fear there as he received the thought, How could someone do that to another person??
A misplaced judgement we all must refrain from making. A faint frown passed over the Professor's face then he gave a mental nod to Wufei. I'll start working on your problem once...
He didn't have to finish. I understand. He is more important. Wufei glanced at Quatre before resuming his previously abandoned study of the table.
Xavier turned to his charge. "Quatre, do you feel like eating?"
"No," came the quietly sullen reply. The blond boy shifted his hold on his books, averting his eyes further from the table. Then he turned, heading for the door.
Xavier paused to pass a glance around the small group. "This is hard on you all, I can see. I'm doing my best...I'm grateful he has such friends to count on." He gave a warm smile. "I'm very proud of you."
Duo watched him leave then made a strange gulping noise, whispering hoarsely, "Sh-she really did trash him..."
Catherine placed an indignant glare on Trowa. "You knew he would be here today. Why didn't you tell us?"
He shrugged. "I saw him in only one class. I didn't know if he'd come to lunch."
"Bullshit," Hilde snorted. "You should have told us anyway."
Trowa glanced at Heero and Wufei for support but only met the former's disapproving gaze and no response from the latter. So he simply closed his eyes and began to fade from view. Duo snapped out of his shock and lunged across the table to grab him before he completely disappeared. "Oh no you don't!" The contact almost brought him back but then Trowa's eyes widened and his carefully crafted blank face slipped into an expression of uncertainty. He began to phase out again -- and Duo went with him. The braided boy yanked away, shaking his gloved hand as if he had touched something burning. "Shit, man! I've had enough of people using their powers on me!" He waited to see if he would continue to fade; he stayed perfectly visible.
However, Trowa was phasing in and out more rapidly by the moment. His standard indifference was completely gone now, replaced by a look of panic. "I -- I can't control it!"
"Shit...shit shit shit..." Duo stumbled back, appearing to be even more frightened than Trowa.
Heero's voice rang out above the rising tumult the incident was causing. "Someone call Ms Grey, or the Professor!" The latter was an afterthought. Xavier had enough to deal with already.
"On it!" someone nearby said with a faint trace of an accent. Heero caught a small flash of light and could have sworn he smelled sulfur. Moments later there was a similar flash and scent, and then Jean Grey was in their midst.
She took a moment to orient herself then approached the table. "Everyone, give him some breathing room." Trowa had already backed up until he was pressed against the wall, mostly in the hopes that he wouldn't touch anything organic that would fade out with him. Jean went still and focused on the boy's thoughts, needing to concentrate hard, for touching him to make the telepathic connection might only scare him more. You have to calm down. I can't help if you panic.
I never lose control. Why is this happening?!
I can't find out if you don't calm down.
Trowa attempted to recollect his composure, at once feeling embarrassed by his reaction. He steadied himself long enough to let Jean come close enough to touch his left temple -- he had to remind himself that she was a professional, and fading in and out of visibility wouldn't bother her overmuch. Except it bugged the hell out of him. And it didn't help that everyone was staring, either. Angering at what he considered was humiliation, he dropped what felt to Jean's mind like a shield around his thoughts -- and then he phased out for the last time. Jean released her hold on him, staggering back a step as she became visible again. "Trowa?"
"I'm here." His tone was flat and cold.
Heero suddenly levitated up to hover near the ceiling, much to the startlement of Hilde whom he had been sitting next to. "Hey! The bell just rang! We've all got classes to go to!!" He was tempted to swoop down at the other students to encourage them to leave but they did well enough on their own. He settled back on the ground a few moments later. Hilde stared at him but said nothing. He rarely used his second power, though when he did it often left people speechless.
The five friends were reluctant to leave their beleagered companion. They had already lost one of their number, and they weren't about to let an opportunity to help slip by. "Trowa?" Jean tried again.
"I've got it under control now, thank you."
"Are you all right?"
"What do you think caused it to go wild?" he countered, avoiding her question.
Jean frowned. "In the short time I had, I'll have to guess something gave you a power surge."
A shrill voice broke in behind her. "I -- I didn't do it!! I-It wasn't m-my fault!!"
She whirled in time to see Duo's braid streaming out the door as he fled the room so abruptly his friends were shocked. She attempted to follow his thoughts but only registered that he was terribly frightened for some reason. Then something occurred to her and she shifted her attention to the wall again. "Trowa, why can't I read your thoughts?"
"I turned them invisible."

Duo skipped class. He simply ran and hid to avoid other students until they had all gone to their respective rooms. Then he just ran, not caring that his footfalls were very loud, nor that his breathing was also loud. He just needed to run. He came to the doors leading to the yard and shoved through them only to trip and go flying head-first over the stairs. He gasped, feebly throwing his arms up, and waited to feel his face splatter on the pavement.
Instead he jarred to a stop, settling down lightly on said pavement. When he realized he was in one piece he looked up, then tried to get up and immediately hit his head on something. He couldn't see it -- just what he needed, more invisible shit -- but as he felt around warily it took on the shape of a sphere. Then he saw the girl approching. She had blue eyes and brown-blond hair, and wore a white shirt with three-quarter length sleeves, a lavendar skirt that fell to her knees, and white tennis shoes with no socks.
He put his fists up against the boundary of the sphere, making a frantic face at her -- he would run out of air if he got stuck in that thing! She held up one finger to signal him to wait. She regarded the edges of the sphere that only she could see, then reached out and tapped it twice. There was the faint popping that soap bubbles sometimes make and then air came rushing into Duo's constricted lungs. "Thanks," he gasped out.
"You're welcome." She offered her hand to help him up, which he refused in an effort to regain his dignity. He pulled himself up, dusting off his clothes.
"Duo Maxwell. Nice trick you got there. Gotta work on not suffocating people, though."
Her face colored slightly. "I-It usually works differently. I had to modify it to catch you."
Duo grinned. "That's pretty impressive anyway. So you are..?"
"Relena Dorlian." She ducked in a half-curtsy. "Pleased to meet you."
"You new here?"
"Yes."
"Cool. Well, I gotta go. See ya around!" The urge to run was still with him. Before Relena could utter a farewell he was already jogging out toward the garden.
By coincidence that was where she had been heading before she stopped and saved his skull.

Duo came to a halt right in front of a stone bench; he was proud of himself for not tripping over it. He spun around and plopped down onto it with a hearty sigh. He hunched forward, staring at his hands. There were no holes in his gloves that he could see, and the sleeves of his shirt went over the end of the gloves. There was no way his skin could have made contact with Trowa, and the only time his power went through the material was when he willed it to. It was something he had to concentrate hard on for it to actually occur, so it couldn't possibly go wild.
Could it?
He buried his face in his hands and heaved another sigh. Then he uttered a sound which would have been a sob had he not so desperately wanted it not to be. It was followed by another, then another. He didn't want to cry, didn't want to admit that he was very scared right then. The only time he had felt even more frightened was when he had discovered his powers. And that had been a moment of mindless terror.
"Are you okay?
Duo jerked his head up, startled. Tears gleamed at the edges of his eyes for a second before he hastily scrubbed them away. He looked at the speaker with something close to resentment at having a witness. That girl, Relena. She returned the look with a faint blush, nervous. Duo sighed and put his head down again, not offering a reply. Relena hesitated then sat down beside him.
The braided boy opened his mouth merely to draw a deep breath but instead a rush of unsteady words came out, "One of my friends got his brain fried by an overpowerful bitch and now he's trashed and we can't do anything about it my other friend's powers are advancing and he can't control them too well but all I can do is make fun of him I think I almost short-circuited another friend and I don't want to kill anything anymore!!" He clamped his jaw shut, refusing to let another sob escape. He waited in suspense for a reaction, already starting to regret that he had said anything.
Relena didn't say a word, only clasped her hands on her lap. Duo blinked and realized he felt better simply from voicing his frustrations. A bright smile formed on his face. "Hey, thanks for listening!" He clapped her shoulder lightly and rose to leave.
"Hey -- ah, wait," She hopped up to follow.
"What is it?" Duo turned to look at her as if the last five minutes hadn't happened. He walked backward along the path, not missing a step. "Say, don't you have a class to get to?"
She was confused by his abrupt change of mood, altough she replied anyway, "I-I'm meeting with the Professor after classes end. He said he'd be busy the entire day." She suddenly recalled the timid-looking, blond-haired boy she had seen waiting in a corner of Xavier's office. "Y-Your friend..?"
Duo sighed. "Yup."
"I-I'm sorry..."
"S'all right." He folded his arms behind his head. He paused when he thought of something. "Hey, does that shield of yours hold up to energies, like, besides physical stuff like sidewalks?"
"I don't know, I've never tried it."
Duo grinned. "I think I can help with that." He then grabbed her hand. "C'mon, let me show you around!"

After classes ended Duo went to meet up with his friends, Relena in tow. He was grinning, so the others said nothing about the incident at lunch. Trowa was visible again, leading the braided boy to assume he had recovered from the power surge -- no matter what had caused it. They all, in return, noticed the girl he was dragging along with him. "Hey, guys! Meet Relena! We have to help her with her power." He continued to grin, while the new girl blushed at being the center of attention in a group of total strangers.
A round of "Hi" and "Nice to meet you" and one "What the hell are you talking about, Maxwell?" followed. Duo verily bounced with excitement. "Come to the courtyard and I'll show you." He turned in the indicated direction, not waiting to see if anyone followed. Relena stepped back for a moment, then smiled shyly, motioning for them to join her. The others did so reluctantly. Trowa phased out altogether yet remained with them.
"Okay," Duo chirped when they caught up to him. "Here's what we're gonna do. Heero, you stand over there." He pointed to where the grass edged the stone tiles paving the courtyard. "And Trowa go with him. Uh, Trowa's still here, right?"
"Yes," answered a voice from behind Catherine.
"Okay, now, Hilde and Wufei stand over there." He pointed to a spot ten feet directly across from Heero. "Relena...here." He guided her to the side, between the two pairs. Then he stepped back.
"What about me?" Catherine piped up.
"I don't know if you'll be useful yet."
"Uhm...okay." She raised an eyebrow in doubt at whatever he was up to.
"Okay, Relena, do your thing."
The girl closed her eyes, bringing her hands up in front of her. She slowly moved them apart, tracing the shape of a rectangle in the air. Then she opened her eyes. "It's there."
"Good! Hilde, fire at Heero."
"Whaat?!" Both Hilde and Heero turned incredulous stares on Duo.
He grinned and said mostly for Relena's benefit, "Don't worry, if something goes wrong he can fix himself."
Heero folded his arms and glared. "I am not being a guinea pig."
"Just trust me!"
"And what about me?" Trowa asked, becoming visible long enough to show a sardonic scowl.
"Won't it miss you anyway?" Duo hinted innocently. The other boy phased out in answer.
Hilde leveled her hands at Heero, gritting her teeth. "You better know what you're doing, Duo." An orange glow flared along her fingers, forming into a long bolt that raced forward. It hit the shield with a ripple of pale pinkish-violet, showing them all the boundaries of the shield. The bolt dissolved in a shower of harmless sparks.
"See!" Duo hopped up and down. "Okay, Wufei, let's see if you can hit it."
Wufei concentrated for a moment then waved his hands out wide, bringing them closer in a slow twirl. In the air about four feet from where Hilde's bolt had struck a swirl of blue-green liquid took shape. Wufei threw his arms outward. Water from the swirl shot out with the force of a fire hose only to be deflected to the side by the shield.
Duo had them switch sides and repeat the actions once Hilde's power recharged. Satisfied, he sat down and tapped his chin while he thought aloud. "Blocks attacks no matter which side you're on..." Everyone looked at him, the same question on all their faces. He smirked in return. "We can use this strategy to pay back Dorothy."

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(c) 2001 - 2004 Autumn Loweck. This work may not be copied, distributed, or reprinted without the author's permission. Characters of Trowa, Quatre, Catherine, Hilde, Duo, Heero, Wufei, and Relena belong to the creators of the GundamWing series, Sotsu Agency, Sunrise, Bandai, and whoever else in Japan involved in this most cool anime. Professor Xavier, Jean Grey, and Nightcrawler belong to Marvel Comics, FOX/WB, and all those other cool people who created the X-Men.