Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Bruises ❯ Bruises ( Chapter 1 )

AN: Ok, kinda depressing but hey, please R&R

Rating: PG-13, abuse implied.

Summary: The dark side of love, 2x1 implied, Quatre's POV, warnings-abuse

Disclaimer: Hands up, who thinks I own Gundam Wing?

Bruises

Quatre's POV

We're all watching him as he enters the room. We don't look at him though, not properly. No matter how hard we try to avoid it though and no matter how many times we pretend we haven't seen it's impossible for us to ignore the bruises that litter his arms, some new, some littering with age.

We're all soldiers at heart, we're trained to see the weaknesses, to spot the flaws, to catalogue the injuries and figure out the best way to bring the enemy down. This isn't an enemy though, it's one of our own and this is one flaw I never dreamt that I'd see.

I wonder sometimes, how? How is it that J managed to miss something so simple, when broken bones and gashes inches deep take merely days to heal why is it that a split lip, a hand shaped mark or the clear, bruised imprint of fingers on his arm take much longer. The marks are worn, clearly visible badges on his otherwise flawless skin. Strange that so many wounds that should have been scars are lost forever by all but his deepest memories and yet the purple and green marks stand out, stark.

Maybe the fact that he can be bruised is accidental, maybe J just wasn't expecting that his weapon should be concerned with something as trivial as bruises if they were managed to be given to him in the first place. Maybe he knew that if anyone got close enough to him to inflict the injuries then bruises would be the last thing on his mind. Maybe it was simply the fact that it meant J could see when his perfect soldier had been careless… Or maybe it's something else. Something from when he was much younger, just something to remind him that he could always be hurt no matter how invincible he seemed, J would always have the power to hurt him.

Duo told me once that the second time they met that Heero broke free from his restraints and slit his wrists in the process, it was healing soon after along with his broken leg.

How is it that someone so strong can be so vulnerable?

He scans the room, as always, watching us avoid his gaze carefully but subtly, so I even doubt he knows that we do it internationally, he trusts us after all. He shouldn't. Even now I can't believe how badly we've let him down, I can't believe how badly we've betrayed him… but I still do nothing. He can't climb out of this on his own, all he needs is for someone to tell him that it isn't right, that he doesn't deserve this and I think he'd turn and run, run without regret from the one who causes the few smiles we are graced with to come from split lips and blackened eyes.

Without one of us backing him he won't do that though, he still believes that he deserves it after all. That this is his punishment for all the blood spilt by him, all the innocent blood spilt by him. Their vengeance exacted by another soldier though? How very fitting.

None of us are looking but we're all watching and so we all see his face pale as he registers the footsteps on the stairs, scanning the room hurriedly his face lighting up with a mixture of pain, desperation… and love as he realises who it is.

We turn away, both literally and metaphorically, we're leaving him to face another day and his American lover, alone.

What do you do when you know someone's being hurt? The answer is obvious, you get them out and stop it. But what do you do when you know and care for both of them, the abuser and the abused and in a twisted way you actually find yourself understanding their situation and relationship? The answer's not so clear anymore, is it?

Owari

AN: Yeah pretty dark but it came into my head and wouldn't leave me alone. Sorry about the lack of updates but college just started again and my workload has been sky high recently. Anyway please review.