Heero followed closely behind Dr. Kushrenada... but not too closely. As far as he could figure that was the reason J had sent him here, his refusal to let anyone touch him. Ever.

What kind of world is it when you flip out once in class and you get thrown into a nuthouse. Well, if you're rich you go to a nice private facility like Tall Pines. God, even he name was supposed to be soothing. Heero knew he was going to be sick.

"And here is your room."

Heero's attention snapped back to his current situation- touring the nuthouse errrr private facility that was to be his home until he was deemed no longer crazy.

Heero figured that he would be here a while.

"And your roommate will be Duo Maxwell. Now I'll give you time to settle in before dinner."

Heero's eyes narrowed at the word 'roommate'. "I thought I would be given a single."

Dr. Kushrenada shrugged eloquently. "It was necessary to give the single to another patient... his problems are such that... he should be kept away from other for the time being. Especially when those others are asleep."

Heero looked around the room that would be partly his... two of everything- beds, desks, chairs, dressers...He tossed his bag on the obviously unused bed and looked to Dr Kushrenada for instructions.

The doctor shrugged and walked out the door. "See you at dinner."

"Hn."

Heero surveyed the room, finally his gaze rested on the other bed- clothes lay scattered on the floor, mostly black with the occasional white.

"Hn. Maybe this Duo person will keep to himself and leave me alone."

Duo peered around the heavy wooden door as Dr. K walked the new guy through the dorm. Duo couldn't really see the boy, but he could tell he was about the same height with short messy brown hair. He almost danced when he saw that the new boy would be his roommate. ~Great! A new friend!~

He felt a gentle almost tug at the end of his braid. He whirled around to see Wufei holding the end of his braid in one hand, and a lit match in the other. "Aargh!" He jumped back away from the pyro. "I told you not to do that!" Wufei blew out the match and looked down at his feet a little ashamed.

"I'm sorry... it's just..."

Duo smiled and shook his head he knew Wu couldn't really help it. "Its ok man, come on! Lets got get a good look at the new guy!" He grabbed Wufei's hand and raced through the old halls of the dorm.

Little did he know that in the back of his head where he locked up the darkness there was sinister laughter.

Heero sat upon his bed and took another long look around the room. So this was to be his room, his sanctuary for the whole time he would be here. This would, essentially, be his prison. Freedom looked so far off from where he sits.

The soonest he'd have a chance at freedom would be when he finally turned eighteen. Eighteen looks far away when you are only sixteen. It looked like some unreachable dream. Made even more so by the fact that this was J's hospital. J was head of the board of directors. How very convenient.

Heero checked his watch irritably. ~Hn. Time for dinner.~

He walked to the door, and had his hand on the knob, when it was suddenly jerked out of his hands and a blur of black rushed past him into the room. He swiftly turned to face a boy of about his age and height.

Long hair. Looong hair in a thick braid that actually reached past his hips down to about mid thigh. He was dressed all in black from the hat on his head to his shoes. But Heero really paused when he reached the boy's face, wide violet eyes that shone with happiness.

That openness of expression seemed almost a punch to Heero's solar plexus. No one in all his sixteen years had ever looked at him with such… happiness and friendliness… he didn't know what to do.

"Hi!I'mDuoMaxwell,yourroommate!Pleasedtomeetyou!!BoyIhopeyou'renotaneatfreak,cuzI'maSLOB!!" The boy thrust out a hand in a welcoming gesture and almost bounced up and down in obvious excitement.

~Why does god hate me so?~

"Hn."

"So whatsyournamehuhuhuhuhuh???"

"MAXWELL!"

Heero quickly whirled to see an Asian boy standing in the door, how could he have missed him?

~Face it, you were staring at Mr. Sunshine over there. So you didn't notice the quiet guy, it happens.~

Heero shook his head. He couldn't afford to get sloppy. He couldn't let his guard slip.

"Maxwell, human speed, please."

Braid boy rolled his eyes and began again. "Hi, I'm Duo Maxwell. I'll be your roommate!"

Heero barely nodded in recognition. It would be better if Duo got the hint early.

Seemingly oblivious to Heero's obvious dismissal, Duo continued on. "So what is your name? I can't very well keep calling you 'strange kid'!" He sauntered over to Heero's desk and proceeded to rifle through some papers & even go so far as to open a drawer.

"Get away from there!!" Heero rushed over and slammed the drawer shut, uncaring if Duo removed his fingers in time or not. Fortunately… unfortunately… Duo jumped back in time and hid behind the Asian boy.

"Neee Wu-man, I dun think he likes me much." He wrapped his arms around the other boy's waist in a suggestive manner.

"'Ch… off me Maxwell." The other boy shook Duo off and walked forward. "I'm Chang Wufei. I am very sorry that you'll be stuck with this… Neanderthal."

Duo pouted for a moment then glomped Wufei once again. "Grrr… Me Duo. Me Club you and drag to cave by hair. You will cook and clean for Duo."

"Hn. You'd be the one more likely to be clubbed and drug by that ridiculous braid." Heero couldn't believe what he'd just said. ~What got into me?!!!~

Duo looked shocked for a moment then grinned lecherously. "You can club me anytime… mystery boy."

Heero shook his head. "Heero Yuy."

"Huh?" Duo paused in his lecherous grinning to instead look puzzled.

"My name is Heero Yuy."

"Well, you can club me anytime Heero Yuy." Duo winked.

"I hate to interrupt this touching moment, but are we going to go eat?"

"How true Wu-man!" Duo motioned Heero to follow them out of the room. "But FIRST! The 'Grande Tour'!!" Duo swept out of the room with a flourish.

Heero couldn't believe it. Not only did he have to room with this optimistic freak, but now that freak was giving him the grand tour so that he could meet some "friends". That's the last thing Heero wanted. 'It'll be over soon. Just keep telling yourself that.' The trio had arrived at their destination.

"K! Here we are!" Duo proceeded to rap on the door. *bum-budda-bum-bump. Bum-bump* A blond boy opened the door in pajamas with cows all over them. He face light with a look of utter happiness on his face when he saw them standing there.

"Hi!!" The boy noticed Heero, "Hi. You new here? What's your name? Mine's Quatre. Quatre Raberba Winner." He opened the door fully to let them in. Heero took in the room. One side was in bright colors, with stuffed animals everywhere: on the bed, the floor, on top of other stuffed animals. The main furniture was a dresser, desk, and a large, overstuffed armchair. Hand drawn pictures in crayon plastered the wall. Heero took a wild guess that this was Quatre's half of the room. He looked over at the other half. The bed was made (unlike Quatre's), with a dark navy bedspread and pillow. There was also another desk, with a simple wooded chair, and another dresser. The walls were blank. Towards the right side if the room, there was a large window with a window seat. Sitting against the frame on one side was a boy. Heero guessed the guy was probably the same age as he was. He was wearing white pants and a navy turtleneck. Heero could only see half his face: the features on the other side were hidden under his hair.

'Not asking…..' Heero decided to not bother contemplating how in the world someone could actually have hair like that. Besides, that the blond was positively gushing with energy. 'Man and I thought I had it bad. This guy might actually be worse off. Might.'

Duo butted in on his thoughts. "Oh yeah! That's 'The Kid with the Bizarre Bangs.' You can see why. You might actually get along with him, he's quiet: completely."

"You shouldn't call him that! He's gotta name!," Quatre quickly shouted back. "It's Trowa. Trowa Barton! You shouldn't be so mean!" Duo simple gave a smirk and replied, " Well, it's not like he's gonna complain or anything." Upon seeing the shocked and hurt look in the younger boy's face, Duo patted his head and gave a genuine smile. "I didn't mean it seriously. It's a joke. I know he can't help being the way he is."

Wufei, who had been behind the group the whole time, leaned towards Heero. In a low voice he explained, "Trowa has avoidant-personality disorder."

It made sense. He hadn't even budged since they came in. Hadn't even blinked.

"Say, Q, we're grabbing some grub. Want to come?"

Heero quickly stepped back as Quatre leaped out of the armchair, which he had been sitting in cross-legged. "That'd be great!!" He was literally jumping up and down with excitement. "C'mon, let's go!!" Wufei and Duo followed Quatre out the door, with the later almost dancing circles around them. Heero grabbed the doorknob and looked back into the room. Trowa was still in the exact same position. If Heero didn't know better, he would have questioned whether or not he was breathing. He waited one more moment before shutting the door.

Duo flopped down into the seat next to Heero and looked in utter disgust at the glop on his tray. "What is this?!?!" He began to poke it with his fork very tentatively, as if he thought it might detonate if he hit it to hard. "I think I hear something calling for its mother, and it's not me."

Heero simply stared down at the gelatinous mass on his own tray. 'They call this food? How can anyone survive on this?' Again, Heero was forced to come out of his thoughts as a tray was slammed down across from him.

"This is an outrage! Someone will pay dearly for this injustice!!!" Wufei clenched his utensils in his fist so tightly that his knuckles were turning an unnatural shade of white. After a pause he brought his fist down to the table. He sat down and began to slowly eat, the fire still not completely gone from his eyes. The knife was now permanently embedded in the tabletop.

Heero managed to somehow separate some of the mysterious substance onto his fork. He had to force his arm to lift the fork to his mouth. It took every ounce of willpower to keep himself from spitting the food out. 'Better get used to the taste. You're stuck here for a long time.' He glanced at the others. Duo was still making faces of disgust and muttering under his breath about radiation. Wufei was eating in a calculated manner, his mind preoccupied with revenge. Quatre ate mechanically, his dimmed eyes not seeing anything. Duo had finally given up bickering and had started to eat, making a grimace with every bite. After one particularly bizarre facial contortion, he noticed the melancholy look across the table.

"What's up, Q? Something still alive?" The blond simply shook he head. His voice almost sounded like a sigh, "It doesn't taste like at home." An awkward silence fell, one that lasted through the rest of dinner.

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