"Whispered Touches"

Written By: Zazu

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing, nor do I own the characters. I have borrowed them here for some fun and creativity, and this is not for profit. I do, however, own the plot mentioned here, and any instances that you may find similar to real life events are purely a coincidence.

Rating: PG-13 (for now)

Pairings: 1+2+1, 3+4+3, 5+M (may progress to 1x2x1, etc)

Notes: Beta-read by ShenLong Deb. Thank you!!

/blah/ denotes thoughts.

Summary: Heero moves to a new house and finds something odd going on, something he's not quite sure about.

Started: June 5, 2006 :

"Whispered Touches "

Chapter 1

"Heero?"

"Yea?" Heero looked up from the book he was reading in the living room. He lowered his voice, spotting his mother hold a finger to her mouth, then point towards the ground. In the middle of the living room, Naoko was sleeping on her side, pillowed by the stuffed bear that Heero had given her at her birth. Wing was curled just behind the child.

"Put her in her crib will you?" Heero noticed that the laundry basket occupied his mother's other hand. "Then can you run out to the store and pick up some eggs and a carton of milk?"

"Sure." Heero dropped the book lightly next to the phone at the table by the couch and stood. Taking a moment to stretch, he bent and gently picked up his baby sister. Wing lifted his head quickly, eyeing the person trying to take his baby. He judged that Heero was a safe person, then stood and stretched before following the two up the stairs. He then sat and watched as Heero deposited the baby lightly into her crib with the stuffed bear, then pulled the blankets up. The summer was very warm, but the air conditioning was on and he opted to keep the baby girl warmer than let her catch a cold. Satisfied that the girl was sleeping comfortably, he grabbed the edge of the crib and tugged it up, fixing the gate in place so the girl could not get out, or fall out. Checking to make sure the baby monitor was on, he touched the dog's nose lightly as a gesture to follow and went downstairs.

"Mom?" He spoke to the woman through the screen door where she was hanging some clothes out to sun. "I'm going to head to the store with Wing."

"Thanks." The woman answered with a smile before returning to the clothes. Heero reached into the loose change dish on the kitchen counter and fished out some money before checking that he had his keys as well and grabbing the leash.

"Come on, boy, let's go for a walk." As a second thought, he grabbed a spare plastic bag, just in case Wing decided to do some business on their walk.

Dressed in a loose white t-shirt and a pair of knee-length black shorts, Heero clipped the dog to the leash and exited the house, locking it behind himself. He had taken a walk to the store with his mother and sister the day before to look around the neighbourhood and taken note of where the store was. It was a couple blocks away and a couple streets down, but at a brisk walk, the distance could be travelled in fifteen minutes. He hesitated in front of it, eyeing the sign "Barton's Local Store" before he realized he had forgotten that pets may not be allowed in the store. He led Wing over to the side of the store and glanced around for a place to tie the dog for a moment.

"Can I get you something?" A tall teenager with auburn hair hanging over part of his face straightened from where he was unloading milk crates off a delivery truck and onto a small trolley.

"Is there somewhere I can tie my dog for a couple of minutes?" Heero asked.

"You can leave him with me if you want." The tall boy wiped his hands on his jeans and offered a hand. "Trowa Barton." He introduced himself nodding towards the store. "Family store." He said in explanation.

"Heero Yuy." Heero took the offered hand.

"New around the neighbourhood?"

"Just moved in yesterday." Heero answered. "Couple streets away."

"Ah." Trowa nodded in understanding. "And who are you?" He knelt and offered a hand to the inquisitive dog that was sniffing his feet.

"This is Wing." Heero answered. Trowa caught sight of the two patches of white fur and nodded.

"I can see why." He straightened as the dog licked his hand. "A lot of the locals around here have dogs, so you can take him inside, but you'll have to leave him at the cash with my sister Catherine. She doesn't mind."

"Great." Heero nodded. "I'll take him around then. Nice meeting you, Trowa." With a nod, he turned and led the dog through the front door.

"Hi." A red-head that Heero presumed was Catherine greeted him. "You look new here. Name's Catherine." She nodded with a smile.

"Heero Yuy. Pleasure" Heero answered. "I spoke with Trowa outside. He said I could leave Wing here with you while I pick up a couple of things?"

"Not a problem." Catherine nodded, stepping around the counter to take the leash. "Any problems if I feed him a milk bone?"

"That'd be great, thank you." Satisfied that the dog was in good hands, and was comfortable around the girl, Heero headed towards the back of the store to get the eggs and milk his mother requested. He browsed the store quickly, reminded by the girl to pick up some milk bones for Wing. When he returned to the counter, Trowa was also there, kneeling with the dog. Heero dropped his purchases on the counter.

"Use to live far from here?" Catherine asked as she scanned the products into the cash.

"Just a few hours away." Heero answered.

"Welcome to Berkeley." Catherine said with a smile.

"Summer's almost over." Trowa pointed out thoughtfully. "Will you be attending the local high school?"

Heero paused to dig the name of the school up from his memory. "Berkeley High School." He said after a moment.

"The only public school around here." Trowa nodded. "If you're entering your sophomore year, we just might be classmates."

"I am." Heero nodded as he paid Catherine. "I better head home."

"See you around." Catherine said.

"See you." Trowa gave Wing one last pat and handed the leash back to Heero. With a nod, Heero left the store to return home. The walk was uneventful, and he unclipped Wing's leash once the front door was closed. The dog shook itself out and walked ahead of Heero, sniffing his way to his water bowl. Heero placed the eggs and milk into the fridge, put the milkbones on the counter out of Wing's reach, and dropped the spare change back into the dish.

"Heero?"

"Yea Mom, I'm home." Heero entered the room by the kitchen. It was meant to be a study, but his mother had claimed it as her studio; the woman worked as an artist. She was sketching at her table despite the amount of unpacking that still needed to be done. "Inspired? Or taking a break?"

"Both." Kanoko smiled at her son. "The people at the store nice?"

"Yea. The Barton's own the place. Met someone who will be entering sophomore year at Berkeley High, named Trowa. And his sister works at cash, named Catherine."

"I'll keep that in mind."

A giggle and laugh caught their attention, and Heero reached over to the table to switch off the baby monitor.

"I guess she's up." Heero said. "I'll get her down here and feed us a snack all right?"

"Thanks Heero." Her attention was back at her pen, and Heero left the studio to jog up the stairs. He peeked into the room to see the baby girl clapping her hands and giggling, standing at the end of the crib staring at the walls decorated by teddy-bear wallpaper.

"You like teddy bears don't you." Heero said affectionately as he lowered the side of the crib and set the girl onto the floor. He took her hand. "Let's go get a snacky, okay?" The little girl smiled at him, still giggling, and Heero led her out of the room.

"Bye bye." Naoko waved at the wall. Heero stopped by the door and looked. For some reason, the strange feeling at the back of his neck had returned.

*****

The following two weeks passed by, relatively uneventful. Heero's father had settled the work back in he city they had used to live in, and had finally joined them in their new home, praising his son for helping out so much around the house when he was tied up with work.

Heero entered the kitchen early in the morning on the first day of school, sitting at the table as his mother handed him a plate with sausages and eggs and a glass of milk. Accepting the plate with a nod of thanks, he began his breakfast.

"You all right going to the school's office yourself?" Heero's father, Joseph Yuy, asked from the head of the table where he was sipping his coffee.

"Sure." Heero nodded. He gave the dog an absent pat on the head as he finished his breakfast. "See you after school Mom, and in the evening, Dad." He bent slightly to kiss Naoko on the forehead. "See you later baby."

"Bye bye." Naoko smiled, banging her plastic spoon against the table.

Heero shouldered his backpack and grabbed his biking, hoping on to make his way to school. Twenty minutes later, he was in the office registering for his classes and getting his locker number. Another fifteen minutes later, he was standing in front of his locker, glaring at the unyielding lock that had refused to open in the last three of his attempts.

"Need help?"

Heero turned to see Trowa. "Stubborn locker." He answered.

"Sometimes, you just got to give it a bang." Trowa advised.

"I'll give it a try." Again, Heero tried the combination, and failed. Taking Trowa's advice, he brought his fist down on the door by the lock, and then gave it another tug. The locker swung open to reveal an empty space, and Heero gave Trowa a half-hearted grin. "Thanks." He said as he emptied a couple of spare binders into the locker.

"Hey Trowa!"

Heero slammed the locker shut with another glare before turning to see where the voice had come from.

"Good morning, Quatre." Trowa greeted a blond teen that stepped up beside them. "This is Heero Yuy. New in the neighbourhood."

"Welcome to Berkeley High!" Quatre immediately said. "Quatre Winner." He offered his hand, and Heero shook it. Heero noticed that Quatre was standing rather close to Trowa, but made no comments.

"Pleasure." He answered as he shook the hand.

"How's your schedule?" Trowa asked Heero. Heero pulled out his schedule and consulted it.

"U.S History, American Lit, Structural Programming, Calculus, Bio, Chem and Physics." He reported.

"I've got American Lit with you, as well as calculus, and the three sciences." Quatre said, consulting the room numbers.

"And I've got programming, calculus and the three sciences with you both." Trowa said, crossing his arms. "See you at lunch then? Back here?" He nodded to Heero, gave Quatre a look, and vanished among the throng of students.

"See you in American Lit then, Heero." Quatre said with a smile. Heero nodded, and Quatre, too, vanished into the throng of students.

Much later in the day, the three left the school. The day had not been hard, mostly an introduction of courses, and the distribution of textbooks and course outlines. Heero had placed most of his books into his locker save his programming book, which he was eager to consult later on in the night.

"So where do you live, Heero?" Quatre asked.

"A couple streets away from Trowa's store." Heero assumed that since the two were friends Quatre would know where the store was. He nodded in understanding, and they walked their bikes, discussing teachers and the school in general. Passing by Trowa's store, they dropped off the taller teen before continuing on their way. Heero glanced at Quatre.

"I live down this street." Quatre said absently.

"So do I." Heero said. Quatre looked at Heero. "Really? I didn't notice that someone had moved in, but then again I had been out of town the last couple of weeks." He said sheepishly.

"I see." Heero nodded. They continued in silence for a few minutes before Quatre stopped.

"This is where I live." He gestured to the house they had stopped at. Heero looked down the street. "I live over there, that house with the attic window?" Heero had found it odd, but his house was the only one on the street with an attic window, at least, one that faced the street.

"I see..." Quatre faltered. "The attic window?" He repeated.

"Yes." Heero nodded. He studied Quatre's face; the teenager had light skin, but it now seemed pale in comparison to a couple minutes ago. "Are you all right, Quatre?"

"Um...yes." Quatre swallowed and looked away from the house. "Just..." He shrugged. "There are stories that...a ghost lives in that attic."

Heero stared at Quatre, not really knowing how to react. "A ghost?" He repeated almost stupidly. "What do you mean, a ghost?"

"There were rumours that a few years ago, there was a murder there, and no one has lived there since. Even the neighbours on either side have moved out, and since then, no one has lived in those three houses. It was before I moved here with my eldest sister Iria, so that's all I've heard. No one around here even mentions the murder-" Quatre faltered.

"Ah." Heero looked at his house. That would explain the lack of neighbours on either side of their house. "Well, nothing has happened so far-"

"I'm sure nothing will." Quatre laughed almost awkwardly. "Anyway, if you don't bother them, ghosts aren't supposed to bother you-"

"I don't really believe in ghosts." Heero said.

"Oh! Well, then there's no problem." Quatre laughed awkwardly again. "So, I'll see you tomorrow? We can meet in front of my house, then get Trowa and head to school together?"

"Sure." Heero nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow." With a nod, he hopped on his bike to coast his way home. But even has he exited the garage after putting his bike in place, he could still feel the eyes of the blond teenager on him.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Note: Berkeley High does exist, and those courses I named I also took off their website. It can be found here: http://www.bhs.berkeley.k12.ca.us/index.html for those who are interested in taking a peek at where Trowa, Quatre and Heero will be studying in this fic.

To Be Continued...

Chapter 2

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