Warnings: Angst, violence, language, drug use, abuse, supernatural things, sex, yaoi, yuri, het. If you desperately need to know who is paired with who send me a message and I can tell you, but I'd rather you get to experience the evolution of the characters first.

A/N: Based on Misfits, but draws from X-Men, Smallville, and Heroes as well. These kids aren't the complete burnouts that the Misfits are, but they are NOT perfect angels. Be warned.

A/N #2: Thanks to the always amazing Cuzosu, more than a better and no less than a friend.

A/N#3: A special thanks to Snowdragon, who has been so encouraging and supportive since I first started writing here. Thank you for your advice, conversation, and general brilliance.

A/N#4: I'm sorry, very, very sorry that this is not ch. 19 of Umbra, but I'm kind of stuck and I don't want to ruin such an epic battle. Don't worry, it will be out soon.

Deviant

Chapter One

"Stop fidgeting."

Quatre winced at his father's sharp tone and then immediately tried to smooth out his features – he would just get yelled at for being weak if his father saw his reaction.

"My son," his father muttered. "MY son. My son."

"I'm sorry," Quatre said, not for the first time. He reached up and brushed his bangs out of his eyes. His father glared at the gesture. "Sorry," Quatre apologized again.

"Ridiculous waste of my time," Zayeed Winner said, also not for the first time that morning. "It goes without saying that I am beyond disappointed in you."

"Yes, father," Quatre said. He slunk down low in the passenger seat of his father's car as it pulled up to the police station. He looked out the window and saw that a ragtag group of young men and women were already assembled. He recognized a few of them, but several he had never seen before.

The day was bright and already, at nine in the morning, hot. If this was any other day Quatre would be preparing to spend the day at the lake, enjoying the weather.

"My son doing community service – I'm the laughing stock of the force."

"Father –"

"Do you have any idea how much trouble you have caused? For me? For the family? I have never been –"

"I'm sorry, Father, I have to go or I'll be late." He knew that interrupting his father would inevitably result in a harsher punishment, but at least it would be deferred.

"Hm. Very well. I expect to hear an excellent report on your behavior from Sergeant Une."

"Yes, Father." Quatre unfastened his seat belt and opened the car door. He got out and quickly closed it, not looking back as his father drove away.

"Who the hell has a cop drop them off for their community service?"

Quatre turned to see two people lounging on the grass lawn in front of the police station. They looked like they were sun bathing and not waiting to fulfill community service obligations. One, a petite, dark haired woman, regarded him over the rim of large sunglasses with amusement. She wore khaki shorts and a tight, faded t-shirt that looked like it came from the boy's section at a store. The other, a lanky, slender man with unruly bangs and a long braid of chestnut hair was dressed in light blue cargo shorts, sandals, and a short sleeved button up shirt that was unbuttoned, revealing tan skin and a gray wife beater. Quatre felt confident that he had seen the man before, but he was positive he wasn't a student at the college.

"It was my father," Quatre explained.

"Your Dad is a cop?" The man laughed. "Bet he's very proud of you!"

Quatre felt his face flush in shame.

"Leave him alone, Duo. He's delicate." The girl said with a smirk.

Quatre decided to ignore both of them and instead marched into the police station.

Clarkson was a college town, and it was a small, tight knit community. Quatre knew each of the police officers on staff and couldn't begin to count how many of their kid's birthday parties he had been to over the years.

When he walked in he had to fight the urge to duck his head when the officer on front desk duty that day, Dorothy Catalonia, looked up at him.

"Morning Quatre," she said brightly, but her smirk was tinged with disdain.

"Dorothy," he greeted her.

"Sergeant Une is gathering the… delinquents in the second briefing room. I'm sure you know the way."

"Thank you," Quatre bit out and walked away before she could taunt him further.

He took a seat in the middle of the still mostly empty briefing room. He had learned not to sit in the front – he would be accused of being a kiss ass - or in the back – he would be forced to move up closer.

Quatre was surprised to notice a few of his classmates at Clarkson College were seated in the briefing room.

Heero Yuy was sitting at the back of the room, and the look on his face suggested that if he was asked to move forward he would do so – but only after he punched a few people on his way. Quatre didn't think the other man was violent, but he always wore such a pronounced scowl on his face that nearly everyone stayed away from him and left him to do his own thing. He was a sophomore math major, and one of the smartest people Quatre had ever met.

Quatre had no idea how or why Heero was in community service. As far as he knew, Heero devoted his life to homework, the cross country team, and his work study running computer labs at night.

He knew that recently there had been an incident involving several students and a few townies getting into a fight at a local bar, and that a few of those involved had been given court mandated community service, but he seriously doubted that Heero had been part of that.

Trant Clark, on the other hand, Quatre fully suspected had been involved in the bar fight. The junior played on the soccer team with Quatre, and he was legendary for his quick temper. Quatre remembered a game when Trant had disagreed with several of the calls made by one of the sideline refs. After the game Trant had keyed the man's car and slashed the tires.

The look on Trant's face now, as he turned in his chair and sneered at Quatre, made it clear that he had no intention of taking this in stride and would definitely make this a living hell for everyone else involved.

"Quatre."

He turned at the sound of his name and gave Sergeant Une a wan smile.

She stood at the front of the room, her hair back in her customary pinned braids, and regarded him with a mixture of amusement and exasperation.

"Sergeant Une."

"I was very surprised to see your name on the list of criminals this morning."

Quatre winced at that. Because, as his father had taken great pains to remind him – constantly – he was now a criminal. He had been convicted of a crime and he now had a permanent record.

"I hear from Ralph that you put on quite the show, however."

He winced again. Ralph Kurt had been the officer to arrest him after his… incident.

She shook her head but left him alone as the rest of the criminals filtered into the room.

"Good morning," she said once the small room was nearly full. "And welcome to the first day of your court mandated community service. Due to a rash of incidents involving both college students and locals, Chief Winner felt it best to mix your service. Hopefully you will be inspired to get over yourselves and not become a threat to society."

She looked out over the room, her green gaze sharp and a tight frown on her face indicating that she felt all of this to be a waste of her time.

"Over the next few weeks – months for some of you – you will meet here every Saturday morning at nine and you will work until five."

"We don't get a lunch break?" Demanded Duo, the loudmouth Quatre had previously encountered.

"Yes," Une corrected. "From noon until one. If you are late – either in the morning or after lunch – I have the right to add on additional hours to your existing sentence. If you fail to complete your assigned duties, I have the right to add on additional hours to your existing sentence. If you engage in any other criminal behavior while carrying out this sentence, I have the right to add on additional hours to your existing sentence. If –"

"What if I sneeze?" Duo interrupted.

Une's gaze turned icy, but she refused to answer the question.

"Today you will all be cleaning up the Maxwell Park. The entire thing is a disaster zone. The fountain, the playground, the sandbox, the picnic area – all of it will be spotless by the time you are done today." She looked at her watch. "Now –"

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry that I'm late!"

Quatre turned his head at the familiar voice.

Relena Darlian was standing at the back of the room. Her long hair was loose around her shoulders and she was wearing a light sundress that made it hard for Quatre to remember to breathe.

"Ms. Darlian, how good of you to join us," Une snapped.

Relena gave her a dazzling smile.

"Of course," she replied.

"As I was saying," Une continued and Quatre reluctantly turned away from Relena, "you have each been assigned work coveralls. Do not damage them. Do not deface them. They have been laid out in the men's and women's locker rooms. Quatre, please show the boys where to change. Ladies, please follow me."

Quatre stood with a sigh.

"Follow me," he said and started to walk out. He led the way to the men's locker room. Once inside he grabbed an orange coverall from the pile by the door and moved to the far corner of the room to change. Before he could get very far, however, a fight broke out.

"Fucking whore," Trant muttered.

"Fucking dip shit," Duo shot back.

Quatre turned towards them.

"Stay the fuck away from me, your worthless piece of ass," Trant said to Duo.

"Me? You stay the hell away from me you –"

"No one cares."

Wufei Chang pushed between the two men and grabbed a coverall from the pile.

"Both of you are idiots. Just shut up and let's get this over with."

Quatre had to smirk at the looks of irritation on both Duo and Trant's faces.

Wufei had that effect on people. He had been in Quatre's English Composition course last year, and Quatre still remembered the day when Wufei stood up, called the professor an idiot, and proceeded to go up to the front of the room and correct all of the grammatical errors in the 'perfect' writing sample that the professor had just projected onto the chalkboard.

Everyone else managed to collect their coveralls without incident.

Quatre had to roll the sleeves of his own up several times, but otherwise his fit fairly well. He felt bad for the tall, silent man beside him. His orange coveralls were several inches too short and the fabric stretched tightly across his broad shoulders and fit snugly around his hips. He looked vaguely familiar to Quatre, but he couldn't place him.

"I swear to God, Trant, keep your fucking hands to yourself or–"

Quatre looked over to see that Duo and Trant were at it again. Duo had pulled off his shorts and shirt, and was standing there in only his boxers and the grey wife beater. Trant, however, was fully dressed and was actually leering at Duo.

Duo was slightly shorter than Trant, and definitely less muscled, but he shoved the other man back against the lockers when Trant moved towards him.

Quatre looked around and saw that everyone was staring at the two. Even Heero was scowling at them.

"Stay the fuck away from me," Duo hissed. He shoved Trant again and stepped away.

Trant lunged forward and punched Duo in the mouth.

"Don't tell me what to do, you stupid cunt."

Duo seemed frozen by the words. His face drained of color and his arms dropped down to his side. After a moment he turned away and angrily pulled on his coveralls. He zipped them halfway up, rolled the top down, and tied the arms around his waist.

"Don't touch me again," Duo warned, his voice quiet and serious. He walked out of the locker room.

"I do not deserve this shit," Wufei muttered. He stalked out of the dressing room.

Quatre followed behind him, the quiet man and Heero both leaving as well. A moment later Trant joined them out in the hall. The girls were already there.

"What happened to your face, Mr. Maxwell?" Une asked.

Quatre looked over to see Duo swipe at the blood on his lips.

"I tripped on my shoelaces," Duo muttered.

Quatre looked down to see that Duo was still wearing sandals. Une followed his gaze, but instead of calling Duo on it she just sighed and walked away.

"Very well, everyone, follow me to the bus."

The ride over to Maxwell Park was quick and mercifully without incident.

When they arrived at the park, Une passed out trash bags and rubber gloves.

"You have two and a half hours before the lunch break. I expect to see significant progress made in that time."

With that, she got back on the bus and drove away.

"Fucking ridiculous," Duo muttered before walking away. The girl he had been with earlier followed him.

Quatre looked around and spotted Relena moving towards the shaded picnic area. He walked in her direction.

"Hey," she greeted him when he stepped up to her side.

"Hi," he replied with a smile.

"I'm glad that I'm not the only one stuck doing this," Relena said with a sigh. Instead of moving to pick up the trash around the picnic tables she sat down on one of them.

Quatre looked over his shoulder at the other six men and women. It looked like only Wufei and Heero were making an effort to pick up trash. Trant was kicking a can around near the fountain, Duo and the girl were sitting on top of the monkey bars smoking, and the tall, quiet guy was just standing, staring at the duck pond.

"There are other people here," he pointed out.

"Not normal people," Relena pointed out. "You and I – God, Quatre, we shouldn't be here dealing with this! Ugh, I have such better things to do with my Saturdays than this. And so do you! What about soccer? Don't you and Trant have practice or something?"

Quatre shrugged.

"Coach H is making me come in on Sundays to make up for it – I guess he's doing the same with Trant. It won't really be a problem until the season starts in a few weeks. Two games overlap with my community service."

She shook her head.

"Completely lame."

"What did you do, anyway?" He asked her. "To get community service?" He had always pictured Relena as the perfect girl – smart, pretty, funny. He had a hard time looking at her in the orange coveralls. It just didn't fit his mental image of her. Although, she did manage to somehow make the coveralls look sexy. She had left them unzipped enough that he could see the curve of her breasts, and she had rolled the sleeves up to her elbows.

She shrugged and gave him a flirty smile.

"Same old, same old," she said, which was no answer at all.

"What did you do?"

He blushed and looked away.

"Come on, out with it, Quatre!" She poked him in the side.

"I was convicted of public indecency," he muttered.

She arched an eyebrow at him.

"What does that even mean?"

He sighed. "I was drunk with some of my fraternity brothers and we went to the construction zone – where they bulldozed down the old Maxwell church and are building the new dorms? – and I climbed up the framework."

"How is this public indecency?"

"Well, I got to the top but I couldn't get down. So the cops had to ah, assist me down."

"Still missing the indecent part…"

"I was also naked."

Her blue eyes went wide and she looked at him disbelievingly for a minute before she burst out laughing.

"You – oh, Quatre! That's priceless! I wish I'd been there to see that!"

He shook his head at her mirth. He couldn't decide it he should be offended by how humorous she found the situation.

"Any chance of a repeat performance?" She asked with a wink.

"Um, not in public, no. My father made it very clear that I'm already a complete disgrace and that if I do anything like that again he will stop paying my tuition."

Relena frowned.

"It was just a prank… something kids do. He shouldn't take it so seriously. My father didn't care that I got arrested…"

"That's because you're perfect," Quatre pointed out and then instantly blushed. He had not meant to say that out loud.

"Oh really?" Relena asked with a smirk.

He shrugged.

"I don't know. I guess. I should… pick up some trash or something."

"Suit yourself." She pulled out her cell phone. "I'm going to catch up on Farmville."

He frowned but walked away, determined to fulfill his obligations – at least some of them.

He started to pick up the larger pieces of trash near the playground. As he neared Duo and the girl he sniffed the air. They were definitely not smoking cigarettes.

"Are you two getting high?" He demanded.

They looked down at him.

"Chill, Junior Deputy," Duo said around the joint in his mouth.

"But – we could get in trouble!" He realized, as he said it, just how pathetic he sounded.

The girl arched an eyebrow at him. Like Duo she wore her coverall top and arms tied around her waist.

"I think we already are in trouble," she pointed out. "Want a hit?" She took the joint out of Duo's mouth and waved it in Quatre's direction.

He instinctively backed away.

Duo laughed.

"Don't bother, Hilde, he's just going to say no!" He took it back from her and sucked in a quick drag before she jerked it away and put it between her own lips.

"We should be working," Quatre reprimanded them. "This park is a mess."

"Because you shit head rich kids get drunk and trash it," Duo pointed out.

Quatre frowned, but he couldn't argue the point. He knew that this park was a favorite late night hangout with several fraternities on campus.

"You can't blame everything on Clarkson College," Quatre said. He had met townies like Duo – who hated all college students on sight and would rather the town go back to being a poor mill town than have to deal with the students and professors who they viewed as snotty outsiders.

"Sure I can," Duo growled. "Thanks to Clarkson College I get the pleasure of dealing with assholes like Trant on a daily basis."

"You shouldn't provoke him," Quatre said. "Just ignore him. Bullies –"

"I didn't fucking provoke him! This isn't some playground fight. Trant is a fucking psycho and he needs to learn that no means fucking no."

Quatre frowned. He would be the first to admit that Trant had anger management issues, but surely Duo had done something to the soccer player. He was also confused about what Duo was saying – it was like what you said to a date who wanted to take things farther than you did.

His eyes widened in sudden realization. Suddenly the locker room fight made a lot more sense.

Duo snorted.

"Jesus Christ, now you get it."

"But – Trant isn't gay!"

"Um, yeah, he sure as fuck is. And he's a homophobe. Lovely combination."

"Not to mention he has the manners of a Nazi," Hilde chimed in.

"Too right you are," Duo agreed.

"Wait, he hit on you?"

"He hit me," Duo corrected, "after I told him that there was no way in hell I would ever sleep with him. Couldn't pay me enough to fuck that ape." He shuddered. "He's hot, sure, but I dunno… something about being called a cunt just isn't a turn on for me."

Quatre winced at hearing that word again and looked at Hilde. She looked back at him, clearly amused by his reaction.

"You really are a delicate little flower, aren't you?" She asked.

"I am not delicate. I'm just –"

"Civilized. Rich. Sheltered. A virgin." Duo supplied when Quatre faltered.

"Look, I'm sorry that the park was wrecked by college students. But it is our job to clean it up." Quatre decided to change the subject quickly.

"It's our punishment," Hilde corrected.

"Either way, you two should get to work before Une comes back and sees the two of you just sitting here getting high."

"Damage is so already done, my friend," Duo said, but he rolled backwards and flipped off the monkey bars. Quatre was a little impressed by the smooth motion and the easy landing. Duo grinned at him.

He reached up and Hilde jumped down into his arms.

"C'mon, fancy face," Duo said to her, "let's clean out the damn fountain. Maybe we can score enough change to buy lunch."

Quatre opened his mouth to reprimand them – that change was usually collected once a month by the library – but decided that it wasn't worth the effort.

"I'm surrounded by delinquents," he decided.

By the time Une drove back up at noon, Quatre had bullied or cajoled everyone – even Relena – into picking up litter. They hadn't made much of an impact, but at least they were all working when Une stepped out of the bus and surveyed them with disdain.

"Found twelve dollars in change," Duo gleefully told Quatre as he and Hilde boarded the bus. "Thanks for the great idea."

"I did not tell you to –" Quatre snapped his jaw shut when Une looked his way.

Once all eight of them were aboard the bus Une drove them back to the police station.

"I expect to see each of you back here by one," she said sternly. "If you are late –"

"We get cookies, we know," Duo said.

Une glared at him but he just grinned back.

Quatre shook his head at the other man's antics.

"You can buy me lunch after I change," Relena said to him.

"Ah, thank you," Quatre responded.

He watched Hilde and Duo walk off, still half dressed in their community service coveralls. Everyone else went back inside the police station to change before dispersing to find their own lunches.

Relena met him out front a few minutes later, back in her very thin sundress.

"You look really nice," he told her.

"Well I had to dress up for community service in case I met any good looking bad boys," she flirted.

"And have you?" He couldn't help but ask.

"Hmhmm." She grinned at him and then nodded past his shoulder.

Quatre turned with a frown and saw her looking at Heero Yuy as the other man walked away from them.

"Heero?"

"Yeah. I've had him in a few of my classes but he never talks to me. I figure… here, with no competition, he will definitely see what he's been missing." She grinned at him. "Don't you think?"

Quatre didn't bother to respond.

"Come on, let's go to the Soda Shop."

The next forty-five minutes were torture for Quatre. He listened to Relena go on and on about Heero while she only picked at the salad she had ordered.

He noticed Duo and Hilde sitting in the front of the deli, and they carried on a continuous conversation as they ate, laughing loudly and stealing food off of each other's plates. He felt a spurt of envy. He wanted that – he wanted a girl friend that he could enjoy lunch with. Someone who liked him as much as he liked her.

He had thought Relena liked him, at least a little, and had been flirting with him.

"Why are you telling me all of this?" He finally interrupted her mid-sentence as she waxed poetic about the sight of Heero in spandex running shorts.

She blinked.

"I thought we were friends."

"Well, yeah." In truth they were little more than acquaintances. Relena's sorority often had mixers with his fraternity, and they usually hung out together during those, but it wasn't as though they had a lot of classes together or went to grab coffee on a regular basis.

"Well, you're gay, so I figured I could get your advice on –"

"I am not gay!"

She gave him a patronizing look.

"Quatre, it's okay."

"No, it's not okay, Relena. I am not gay. I like girls – I like you!"

She reached out and held his hand.

"And I like you, Quatre. I've always wanted a gay friend. If you don't want to come out to everyone else, I understand, but you don't have to hide who you are from me. I like you just the way you are."

Quatre opened his mouth, but realized that all he wanted to do was yell at her. He pulled his hand away, stood up, and walked out. He was furious, but had no idea how to work off his anger.

He started walking back to the police station, fuming every step of the way.

He was surprised to see Wufei sitting on the grass outside of the police station, but wasn't surprised to see Meilin Long, his girlfriend, sitting beside him. Ever since the two had started dating over winter break last year they were inseparable. They had moved off campus this year, into one of the new apartments near campus, and Quatre saw them around the small town all the time, always side by side. He would have thought it was the perfect relationship, except that they argued all of the time.

"Hey, Quatre," Meilin greeted him.

"Hi," he growled.

She frowned.

"Everything okay?"

"No, everything is not okay." He sat down on the grass across from them.

"What happened?" Meilin asked. Wufei rolled his eyes. "What? He's my friend. I want to know what happened."

"Maybe he doesn't want to talk about it," Wufei said to her.

"If he doesn't then he won't." She turned to him. "Well?"

"Relena thinks I'm gay."

They were both silent for a moment and then exchanged looks. Meilin, then Wufei, started to laugh.

"I'm not!" He practically shouted.

"I know," Wufei assured him.

"Yeah, it's okay, we know," Meilin added.

"Because it's obvious, right? That I'm straight?"

Meilin giggled.

"Yes, very obvious."

He glared at her.

"No, really. I never, not for one moment, thought you were gay. Okay – one moment. The Halloween party last year when you dressed up like William Shakespeare. But aside from that, never for one moment."

"What's wrong with dressing up like Shakespeare? It was a famous people in history themed party!"

"Right, but you wore tights."

Quatre looked to Wufei for support.

"I didn't think it was gay," Wufei assured him.

Meilin rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. Okay, I've got to get to work. You two manly men enjoy the rest of your community enslavement." She winked at them and then gathered up her lunchbox and left.

"I'm not gay," Quatre repeated, one last time, just to make it clear.

Wufei rolled his eyes.

"I know. Now come on, let's get back in to our oh-so fashionable orange coveralls."

By mid-afternoon Quatre's enthusiasm for cleaning up the park had waned. He had found countless used condoms and such an array of vomit and beer cans that he almost swore to never drink again. It was completely disgusting, and he was starting to agree with Duo's assumption that Clarkson students were to blame for everything wrong.

"It's too hot to work," Relena complained to him when he stopped to sit under the shade for a few minutes.

He glared at her. She had been lounging under a tree for the last hour and had no excuse to be complaining.

"We should go skinny dipping," she suggested.

"It's broad daylight," he pointed out, but she wasn't even looking at him. Her gaze was focused on Heero, who had stopped to wipe sweat from his forehead. At some point the math major had tied the top of his coveralls around his waist, and was now using the hem of his shirt to wipe his face, exposing his muscled abs.

Quatre rolled his eyes.

"So maybe just swimming," Relena corrected. She started to unzip her coveralls.

"Relena! That duck pond is only a few feet deep – and it's… it's filled with ducks!"

She smirked at him.

"Then I'll just cool off in the fountain." She stepped out of her coveralls and Quatre felt like passing out at the sight of her in nothing but her pink, lacy underwear.

Completely unashamed, she walked over to the fountain and stepped in to the two-feet of water and then danced under the spray of the water that fell from the large dish on top, several feet above her head.

She giggled loudly, clearly trying to draw the attention of someone.

Quatre shook his head. He wanted to look away, but he was completely transfixed by the sight of her.

"See, you aren't gay."

He turned to see Wufei standing beside him. The Chinese man smirked.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, you're the only guy watching her," Wufei pointed out.

Quatre looked around, and sure enough, Heero, Duo, Trant, and the silent guy were all completely uninterested in Relena. In fact, only Hilde and Quatre seemed to be paying her any attention at all.

"Why aren't you watching her?" Quatre asked.

Wufei scowled.

"I have a girlfriend. And Relena is completely ridiculous. I see no reason to encourage her with attention."

Quatre opened his mouth to defend her but then shrugged. Wufei was right, he knew.

"You should join the other whores and get naked in the fountain, Maxwell," Trant called out suddenly.

Quatre groaned when Duo dropped his trash bag and started towards the other man.

"You should join the other single-celled organisms and go drown in the fucking pond, asshole," Duo shot back.

Wufei and Quatre started forward. He saw Hilde move towards the two men as well, but Heero and the quiet man stayed back.

"I'm tired of having to deal with you, you faggot!"

Duo shoved Trant away from him.

"And I'm tired of having to deal with you, you hypocritical idiot!" Duo growled in frustration. "Why can't you just leave me the fuck alone?"

"Because you annoy the shit out of me, you little –"

"Stop fighting!" Quatre yelled at them. "This is stupid! We're going to be stuck together for the next few weeks! You should both get over yourselves!"

They turned to glare at him.

"Listen, princess, mind your own business!" Trant shouted.

"Princess?" Quatre echoed.

"Yeah, princess. That's what me and the other guys call you!" Trant did a dainty little walk and then curtsied to Quatre. "Because that's how you act! Always whining about us getting along and sharing our emotions. It's fucking gay, princess!"

"Argh!" Quatre had had enough of being called gay today. He charged at Trant and tackled the other man to the ground. "I am not gay!" He punched Trant in the nose, feeling incredibly satisfied when the other man howled in pain. "And even if I was it wouldn't matter!" He punched his unprotected stomach. "You are such – " he trailed off.

The sky had been cloudless all morning and afternoon, with only the bright sun shining down on them. However, very suddenly, the sky had transformed into one massive, roiling storm cloud.

Trant used Quatre's distraction to push him away.

"What the fuck?" Duo said, looking up at the sky as well.

"We should get under some shelter," Wufei suggested when a bolt of white lightning leapt from the clouds and into the trees to the north. Thunder boomed immediately.

Another bolt struck, this time near the duck pond.

Relena, still in the fountain, shrieked in alarm and climbed out. Together all eight ran towards the covered picnic tables.

A few feet away from them, however, a bolt of lightning struck again, burning into the earth and momentarily dazing Quatre.

"Shit!" Duo shouted. He had tackled Hilde to the ground to keep her from being hit by it.

Everyone seemed frozen in place, terrified to go towards the picnic tables.

"What –" Trant started to say.

He never finished the sentence.

Quatre barely had time to breathe before a flash of blue light and intense heat struck them all. He thought he screamed – he thought he could hear the others scream – but it might have been the sound of his blood roaring in his ears as it boiled from the heat.

And then he felt nothing.

"Get up!"

Quatre reacted instantly, snapping his eyes open and jerking upright at the sound of Une's voice.

The police officer was standing in front of him, glaring down.

He looked around and saw that the others were also sprawled on the ground. The area around them was a large, burnt circle of grass, but none of them looked at all the worse for wear.

"What happened?" Relena asked. She was still clothed in only her underwear, and Une's gaze narrowed at her.

"Put your clothes on now. Nap time is over! Everyone gather your trashbags and get back on the bus. All of you are in severe trouble."

Quatre frowned and slowly got to his feet. Aside from feeling a little dazed, as though he had just woken from a nap, he felt normal. Not at all as though he had just been struck by lightning. He looked at the others.

Most of them were frowning or scowling in confusion, but no one spoke up as they gathered their things and piled back onto the bus.

Quatre wound up sitting at the back, sharing a seat with the tall, quiet man.

I should have died.

Quatre frowned and turned to the side. It sounded like the man beside him had spoken, but he was staring straight ahead.

"I'm sorry?" Quatre asked. "Did you say something?"

The man's eyes turned to him, but he didn't move his head.

"No."

Quatre frowned.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

The man looked away again.

My life is meaningless. Why didn't I just die?

"No one's life is meaningless," Quatre said, before he could stop himself.

The man jerked away, as though he had been slapped.

"What did you say?" The man asked.

"I said, no one's life is meaningless. You shouldn't say that yours is."

"I didn't," the man insisted.

Quatre frowned.

"You did. I heard you."

He shook his head, but his green eyes were wide with alarm.

"No."

I was thinking it.

Quatre's jaw dropped. He was looking straight at the other man, and he had definitely not opened his mouth. Unless he was the world's most skilled ventriloquist, there was no way that he had spoken.

But Quatre had heard him – it had been his voice and – Quatre suddenly felt sick. He had heard him. He had heard the other man's thoughts.

How did he know what I was thinking?

The other man moved closer to the window, away from Quatre.

"This is not good," Quatre muttered to himself. "So not good."