Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Fallen Angels, Broken Hearts ❯ Ch 9 ( Chapter 9 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: dark_liandrin 
Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Action / Romance / Suspense / Angst / Drama | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 07.10.2006 | Pages: 2 | Words: 3.9K | Visits: 141 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Action / Romance / Suspense / Angst / Drama | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 07.10.2006 | Pages: 2 | Words: 3.9K | Visits: 141 | Status: Work In Progress
They had managed to make it out of the apartment building alive, but not without broken bones. Kara, by some miracle, had come out only scraped and bruised, but mostly from the fact that Cody made sure to go easy on her. Li thought she had reinjured herself in a few places, but since the bones were already broken in the first place she ignored them. They had managed to make it to Cody's car and had taken off, Cody at the wheel and Li in the passenger seat. Kara was busy sitting stunned in the back.
They had not managed to escape unnoticed, though, and 3 cars had come tearing after them. Cody was now occupied using all of her skills to evade their pursuers, but even so the attackers were hot on their trail.
Li gave Cody a quick and worried glance, "Cody, you still okay?"
Cody nodded, "Yeah . . ."
Li frowned. Cody's seat was slathered in her blood, and the flow had not abated. If this continued she would pass out. They would soon be in trouble. She glanced behind them. One of the enemy cars had managed to close the distance between them, and a man leaned out of the passenger window. "Get down!"
With a loud crash the back window shattered, glass shards flying and bloodying their exposed skin. Kara had crouched at Li's warning and now cried out. "The-they're shooting at us!"
"Of course they are!" More gunshots followed in quick succession. "Cody, head for the bridge, if we get near this colony's military compound maybe they'll back off!"
Cody nodded grimly and swerved, narrowly avoiding a civilian car as she changed directions. She drove through an alleyway, knocking over trashcans and the like in her hurry, and at least one of their pursuers was thrown off and couldn't follow quickly. "We'll reach it in about five minutes."
"Let's hope they don't have backup . . ."
Lou sat wearily in the bed, Wufei dead to the world next to her. Duo brought in a cup of strong coffee and handed it to his sister.
"Thanks." Lou muttered and sipped the murky liquid straight black.
Duo smiled lightly, "Will he be okay?"
"Who knows. Will any of us be okay? This should have ended and stayed stopped, but it never does, does it?" She looked critically at Duo then shrugged, "Ryo is okay and I think Heero is healing. So some good will come out of it."
Wufei had started to shake some, so Lou pressed a button to release some more morphine and then gently rubbed a hand through his hair in soothing circular motions, "Shhh...you'll be okay Chang."
Duo grimly grinned at the sight before sitting next to Lou and staring at the sight. "This has gone downhill pretty quick."
Lou now looked up at him, her eyes full of grim disapproval and accusation. "Makes you wonder if Ryo had left it alone if any of this would have happened."
Anger clouded Duo's face, "Don't you dare try to pin this all on Ryo, Leigh Lou Cheng. She only did what any good sister would have." he crossed his arms. "And seeing as there are people after us, yes, it would have happened whether Ryo did anything or not."
Lou raised an eyebrow. "You aren't detached enough to see this Duo, and this is perfectly fine. She is your wife and is carrying your child. You should be on her side. Just think about it a little, alright? We were fine, missing Li, but fine. And then she and Cody went down hill and god forbid the Kamiya sisters not be the centers of attention. She had to go after Li for more than just her sister. She needed someone back to dote and protect her in the way Li only can. I did not ask for this. Wufei didn't, and neither did the rest of us. They are bringing us down with them, even after we promised to leave this all behind four years, eight months, and twenty six days ago."
Duo glared harder than Lou have ever seen him before, "Leigh Lou Rochelle-"
"Don't even start Shinigami. I swear to God and Allah I will beat you senseless. Ryo didn't mean to do this. It happens. It makes people bitter and it hurts people. But it wasn't just Ryo. Quatre did it by hiding. Li did it by running away. Cody did it by becoming all withdrawn. Trowa did it by running away to the circus. I did it by staying away. We all did it Duo, she just pushed the dominos over." Lou's voice had dropped softly, moving in rhythm with the hand that soothed Wufei. "You know it."
Duo shook his head, not believing what Lou was saying, his eyes were flaming and his fists were clenched. "No, Leigh Lou, you are wrong and I better not hear you ever say anything like that again." He turned and walked to the door. "If you EVER say anything like that to Ryo, I will personally throw you out." He left the room.
"We'd better hope to hell they don't."
"B-but why are y-you two being chased?" Kara whined from the back seat.
"Keep your head down," Cody ignored the question with a command and she jerked the car around the corner, sliding through traffic that piled up around the dangerous driving. Stunned faces and wide eyes were circling the happenings as she sped up through a red light and could see the slow ascend onto the bridge that led to the base.
Gun shots fire like echoed in Li's mind and they whizzed past her ear, the dark black hole sucking her face in and it was as if another person came upon completely in her body, another spirit. She grabbed the modified AK-47, a newer model and leaned her upper body out of the car window, firing some returning shots back. She hit the window of the second car and the driver was soon a face of bloody pulp. With a dark look of accomplishment, Li only gave a bare nod to Cody and the red-haired girl stepped on the gas.
The lone-soldier was in the process of taking a few more shots at the last car there whenever one shot found a nice place in one of the tires. Managing to jerk the car from spinning out of control, Cody reached over and with one hand grabbed Li by the collar, pulling her back down into her seat. They shared a milli-second intense glare before the tone in Cody's voice seemed to finalize the decision.
"Put your damn seat-belt on. Now."
Doing so quickly, she looked over her shoulder to gaze at Kara's whose entire posure had changed, no longer was she so afraid and scared but instead she looked frustrated and angered. Her speculation of the foreign woman was cut short when another bullet shattered the front window and she shook off the stinging glass. Gazing over, she saw a white-knuckled Cody concentrating solely ahead of her, her strength leaving her and her weakness beginning to show.
And that's when everything slowed down.
They were not even a mile from the compound when she heard the familiar sound behind her, close behind her, one that she had heard so many times before. Like a single black butterfly fluttering at her ear and then it was gone.
Cody lost control of the wheel and the car was sent spinning, in the process Li losing consciousness as her temple was crashed into the side of the inside panel. After that, neither one remembered much of what happened.
Smelling smoke around them, Cody awoke from her unconscious stupor and numbly looked around, gazing dumbly at her surroundings. Where...where was she?
Then it hit her.
Li.
The car chase.
Out of control...
Looking around, she found out by clicking her seat belt that she fell into a heap on the room of the overturned car. The smell of gasoline caught her senses and in her weakness and the feel of her own blood in her mouth, she almost wretched right there. Looking over, she saw Li not moving and neither was Kara. Looking at where the door had been, she found it bent out of place and open. Enough for a body to crawl through...enough to pull out bodies.
Reaching over, she eased Li's heavy body out of the car after unbuckling her and then went back in after Kara, struggling and cursing all the while. She hadn't heard a car stop or anything so that meant that they had left..but then...where had they went?
After getting the bodies out and laid down away from the car a good crawls way, she didn't even find the strength to check to see if they were alive. Reaching into her bruised and battered leather jacket that was stained with blood and ripped, she got her cell phone out that had somehow dialed Lou's phone number, the first she found.
It rang in her ear, buzzing against her head that was pounding the pain that it took to make each breath.
"Cody? Now is not the-" Lou started.
"Lou..." She whispered, her voice raspy, "Please...come. The highway outside the military base...Li and Kara...unconscious...severely injured..."
"Cody- Cody, listen to me right now," Lou commanded, her attention turning completely on the girl, "Cody?"
There was nothing, she had passed out and the cell phone had fell from her grasp.
"Shit," Lou cursed and slammed her cell phone shut, turning to Heero, fear shining on her face as she looked to him, telling him quickly, "This discussion can wait, Heero you need to go to the Brackenhurst Highway Bridge that gets into the military compound. Now."
Heero gave Lou a mild look of distaste.
"You want excitement? Li, Cody, and Kara were just chased into a car crash. All are unconscious." The look was serious as Lou only focused on Heero. She refused to look at Ryo.
Heero nodded curtly, "I'll go and take Barton. You stay here with Maxwell and Wufei." His head snapped toward Ryo, "And you too."
Ryo opened her mouth to spit venomous words.
"No. Stay. You act like a child, and you will be talked to as one." Heero's eyes were hard again, the old soldier back, as he nodded at Trowa and the two swept out.
Ryo looked at Lou, "Why are all of you against me."
Lou's smile was almost sadistic. "I can't say."
Ryo's glare came back full force at Lou. "You are being a real btch. What have you got against me?"
Lou's eyes were cool. "For once I decided not to be the perfect let's fix everything one, and look, it is a crime. I am normal." She shrugged, "Once again, that privilege of divulging you has been taken away from me, simply because I am not the only blamed btch."
Ryo stood up as Duo entered the room.
"Leigh Lou, where did Yuy and Barton go?" he asked.
Ryo looked at him. "They left. There has been an accident. Since I am such a 'child' I have been punished into staying here, like I planned. It's funny how the child is the only one with a real relationship around here." She walked out of the room.
Lou chuckled, "Lust isn't a relationship." She almost said the words aloud, but in her head even they were just too harsh. Instead she settled for a simple, "Lucky you."
Walking back to the room she was shocked and startled when Duo grabbed her arm harshly.
"I didn't say anything, no need to kick me out yet." Her eyes were actually now showing the weariness and pain the last few days had brought. Harsh reality and realization had tore Lou's world apart. All their worlds apart.
"You are both in the same situation and shouldn't be lashing out at each other. What's done is done and cannot be change. we go from where we are. Live in the present, don't dwell in the past." Duo let her go.
"Funny thing is, I am in the present, and it looks a hell of a lot like the past Duo. A hell of a lot." Lou let a single stray tear streak her cheek before wiping it away as Quatre walked up.
He immediately zeroed in, "Chel, you okay?"
"Fine Quatre. Just stressed." She waved her hand and turned and closed the door to the guest room behind her, leaving Duo and Quatre in her wake.
Duo looked at the door for a moment before shaking his head and going off to try and find Ryo. He hoped to undo any damage done there.
Quatre was left perplexed.
Ryo was outside sitting on the back porch, when Duo found her. She glanced at him then continued swinging back and forth on the porch swing.
"Mind if I join you?" he asked.
She shook her head.
He sat down beside her. "You okay?"
"No."
"Are you going to be okay?"
"Maybe later."
"Look, I know-"
"No, you don't know. Everyone is treating me like a spoiled brat, like everything is my fault, my fault, my fault. If I am so damn spoiled then why the hell isn't my sister sitting beside me? Why isn't Cody here? Why aren't Li and Heero together, or Lou and Quatre? I've been lost without Li for four years, forgive me if at the same time I'm trying to find a way to bring her home that all Hell breaks loose. I didn't do it on purpose, I didn't time it. I didn't want Wufei hurt. I may have wished it upon Kara once but that was a long time ago. I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't want things like this, I wanted everyone happy. No matter what anyone says, we weren't happy, we weren't living, we were surviving. I don't want to survive anymore, Duo, I want to live, raise a family, have fun... I want to see smiles again..."
Duo hugged her and kissed her temple, "I know angel. The others just are too wrapped up in all the pain and suddenness to see that."
Tears leaked as they wrapped up in a loving embrace, Duo hoping to love her anguish away.
Quatre knocked lightly before walking into the room and seeing Lou crying by the window.
"Chel-"
"Quatre, we haven't been anything but best friends for a long time, you know? And this is all messed up, so don't even start with the 'I can fix it's like Duo can with Ryo. We aren't anything anymore. All I want is that happy time back." She turned, "Isn't it ironic how we were all happy and together during the war and that period right after. It is like the minute we gave up the danger and chase we all stopped living, frozen in a moving time."
"But... the danger is back, Chel. I know I can't fix it, but at least let me be here for you. You don't have to carry the pain alone." Quatre looked her.
"I am not alone Quatre. None of us really are." She sighed, "Do you even know how to be there anymore?"
Quatre looked hurt and shocked, "When did you become so skeptical and hurtful?"
She shrugged again, a useless defeated motion. "Go see if Duo can answer that, he seems to be the most clear one right now."
"Duo, what isn't Lou telling me? Something she is keeping inside is making her really not like me. Tell me." Ryo rested her head against Duo's shoulder.
Duo shook his head, "It is nothing big angel. She is very worried about Wufei since he is in a coma."
About then Quatre walked out, looking defeated, "She has given up on us Duo. Leigh Lou told me to come ask you what she meant when she told me that I didn't know how to be there anymore." His eyes were pained and he sat in front of the couple, "It isn't your fault Ryo."
"What? So everyone knows but me? What's going on here?" Ryo sat up.
Duo put two fingers to her lips. "Shh. Let Quatre speak. He has been quiet through all of this. He needs his questions answered."
Quatre smiled sadly at Ryo. "She blames you. And mostly herself. She couldn't save it. That is how she is, having to be able to save and fix everything, this is simply beyond her grasp." His explanation was punctuated with a soft pat on the knee.
Quatre turned to Duo, "What did your sister mean when she said I didn't know how to be there anymore and we all are never really alone?"
Duo sighed and it was like his cobalt eyes seemed to span out, as if he were slowly detaching himself from them. The pain, all when they were supposed to have peace, when they were supposed to have lives.
Ryo reached over and grabbed his hand, and he snapped back, looking sadly at the floor. He didn't look up when he spoke, "Quatre...Lou's slowly doing what we've all done...disconnecting from everybody. She's..."
The blonde Arabian man stood up and walked away from them, not saying another word as he had to conceal the intense pain he was experience. Why was everything happening now? Why when they were almost happy?
Cody awoke to bright whitewashed walls and a room that smelled of antiseptic. Her head spun and her thoughts were fuzzy. Where was she?
She tried to sit up and a wave of pain hit her, knocking her back down and taking the breath out of her. Bright lights exploded behind her eyes and she groaned, feeling the many injuries fresh all over her body.
"Miss?" A woman wearing white approached her, concern etched across her face.
"Where am I?" Cody asked, her throat unusually dry.
The woman gave her a slight smile, "You're at St. Matthews Hospital. You were in a very serious car accident. We weren't sure you were going to pull through at first."
Cody didn't even try and sit up, she just laid there looking up. The nurse's face was pleasant but she was weary. That made the red-head shut her eyes, "How long have I been here?"
"Not but only twelve hours?"
"What about the other two?" She asked immediately.
The nurse smiled and put a hand on her arm, making the soldier twitch barely, "They are both fine, one is asleep in the room next to yours and the other has already checked out once she had the okay."
Kara was gone, the others hadn't gotten her. Cody internally groaned, taking a deep sigh, reminding to be pissed later when she had more energy.
"Has...has anybody came by yet?"
"No, not yet-" The nurse squeezed her arm before walking away, "But they will be honey. Just get some sleep."
"My ..." She murmured as she shut her eyes and began to drift into a weary sleep, dozing out of consciousness.
Ryo looked at Duo sadly. "Don't pull away. We need you. We need to all stick together through this."
Three hours after her cry fest Lou exited the dark room, confident Wufei had enough pain medication to be comatose quietly for a while.
Walking outside for some fresh air and last rays of sunlight she grimaced when she saw Ryo and Duo still curled up on the swing outside the door. Holding her head up strongly she walked over to the other side of the porch and jumped up to sit on the railing, her back leaning against a support beam.
Cell tittering she flipped it open with a weary "Cheng."
"We have Cody and Li. Li is still out of it." Heero's voice spoke back in angry clipped tones. "They obviously found something she wasn't immune too. We are on our way back."
"Yay." It was less than enthusiastic, knowing this could go wrong in .0002135434343 seconds. "Did you pick up more meds for Fei?"
"Yeah. I haven't told them yet. Cody is still pretty lost to the world as well. You will have your hands busy for a while."
"Did they fight you at all?" Lou's voice dropped when she realized Ryo and Duo were stealthily listening in.
"Fight me?" Heero's voice sounded almost hoarse, "They were barely conscious, Lou. And the hospital staff took one look at our Preventors badges and let us pass. They know who we are."
"Fun stuff." She muttered, curling tighter into a protective ball, "Don't bring them here. We need a separate safe house. For one, we don’t need Cody finding Wufei, two, we don't need Ryo getting worked up, and three, basic protection. Alright?" Her voice was also highlighted with thick accent and a horse quiet quality, preventing Ryo and Duo from hearing most of the conversation.
Heero nodded agreement, "This is already difficult enough as it is. I'll arrange for another spot and I'll call you when we're done. In the meantime, don't be so hard on yourself."
Lou sighed sadly. "I could say the same to you."
Heero froze, a fleeting look of pain flashing in and then out of his eyes. He only nodded once more, not trusting himself to speak.
"Oh 'Ro." Lou bit her lip, "don't cry or anything. I sound so childish, but you are making me start." She sighed, "We have been parents to these kids way too long you know? And now Duo and Ryo will have a kid, and we don't know what will happen..." She hugged her knees.
"Lou, don't-"
"Don't tell me don't." She sniffed lightly and turned so her head could rest on the support beam, "You and I, I think we need the most therapy, huh?"
"We all do, Lou, we all do." he heaved a deep and exhausted sigh and was quiet for a few moments. "Hang in there, I can't promise things will get any easier but I swear I will see us past this . . . goodbye . . ." There was a soft click as he hung up.
"Bye." She whispered and put the phone down on the ledge, looking out on the setting horizon. Another deep sigh rocked her body and she glanced over at Ryo and Duo, the blonde hardcore glaring, "Only I think you won't be the one doing the seeing buddy."
About that time Quatre walked out and gave Lou a look, a look of pain and need and sadness.
Having enough she jumped down and walked straight by everyone only to relock herself away in the small dim room with her patient and ignore the world.
They had not managed to escape unnoticed, though, and 3 cars had come tearing after them. Cody was now occupied using all of her skills to evade their pursuers, but even so the attackers were hot on their trail.
Li gave Cody a quick and worried glance, "Cody, you still okay?"
Cody nodded, "Yeah . . ."
Li frowned. Cody's seat was slathered in her blood, and the flow had not abated. If this continued she would pass out. They would soon be in trouble. She glanced behind them. One of the enemy cars had managed to close the distance between them, and a man leaned out of the passenger window. "Get down!"
With a loud crash the back window shattered, glass shards flying and bloodying their exposed skin. Kara had crouched at Li's warning and now cried out. "The-they're shooting at us!"
"Of course they are!" More gunshots followed in quick succession. "Cody, head for the bridge, if we get near this colony's military compound maybe they'll back off!"
Cody nodded grimly and swerved, narrowly avoiding a civilian car as she changed directions. She drove through an alleyway, knocking over trashcans and the like in her hurry, and at least one of their pursuers was thrown off and couldn't follow quickly. "We'll reach it in about five minutes."
"Let's hope they don't have backup . . ."
Lou sat wearily in the bed, Wufei dead to the world next to her. Duo brought in a cup of strong coffee and handed it to his sister.
"Thanks." Lou muttered and sipped the murky liquid straight black.
Duo smiled lightly, "Will he be okay?"
"Who knows. Will any of us be okay? This should have ended and stayed stopped, but it never does, does it?" She looked critically at Duo then shrugged, "Ryo is okay and I think Heero is healing. So some good will come out of it."
Wufei had started to shake some, so Lou pressed a button to release some more morphine and then gently rubbed a hand through his hair in soothing circular motions, "Shhh...you'll be okay Chang."
Duo grimly grinned at the sight before sitting next to Lou and staring at the sight. "This has gone downhill pretty quick."
Lou now looked up at him, her eyes full of grim disapproval and accusation. "Makes you wonder if Ryo had left it alone if any of this would have happened."
Anger clouded Duo's face, "Don't you dare try to pin this all on Ryo, Leigh Lou Cheng. She only did what any good sister would have." he crossed his arms. "And seeing as there are people after us, yes, it would have happened whether Ryo did anything or not."
Lou raised an eyebrow. "You aren't detached enough to see this Duo, and this is perfectly fine. She is your wife and is carrying your child. You should be on her side. Just think about it a little, alright? We were fine, missing Li, but fine. And then she and Cody went down hill and god forbid the Kamiya sisters not be the centers of attention. She had to go after Li for more than just her sister. She needed someone back to dote and protect her in the way Li only can. I did not ask for this. Wufei didn't, and neither did the rest of us. They are bringing us down with them, even after we promised to leave this all behind four years, eight months, and twenty six days ago."
Duo glared harder than Lou have ever seen him before, "Leigh Lou Rochelle-"
"Don't even start Shinigami. I swear to God and Allah I will beat you senseless. Ryo didn't mean to do this. It happens. It makes people bitter and it hurts people. But it wasn't just Ryo. Quatre did it by hiding. Li did it by running away. Cody did it by becoming all withdrawn. Trowa did it by running away to the circus. I did it by staying away. We all did it Duo, she just pushed the dominos over." Lou's voice had dropped softly, moving in rhythm with the hand that soothed Wufei. "You know it."
Duo shook his head, not believing what Lou was saying, his eyes were flaming and his fists were clenched. "No, Leigh Lou, you are wrong and I better not hear you ever say anything like that again." He turned and walked to the door. "If you EVER say anything like that to Ryo, I will personally throw you out." He left the room.
"We'd better hope to hell they don't."
"B-but why are y-you two being chased?" Kara whined from the back seat.
"Keep your head down," Cody ignored the question with a command and she jerked the car around the corner, sliding through traffic that piled up around the dangerous driving. Stunned faces and wide eyes were circling the happenings as she sped up through a red light and could see the slow ascend onto the bridge that led to the base.
Gun shots fire like echoed in Li's mind and they whizzed past her ear, the dark black hole sucking her face in and it was as if another person came upon completely in her body, another spirit. She grabbed the modified AK-47, a newer model and leaned her upper body out of the car window, firing some returning shots back. She hit the window of the second car and the driver was soon a face of bloody pulp. With a dark look of accomplishment, Li only gave a bare nod to Cody and the red-haired girl stepped on the gas.
The lone-soldier was in the process of taking a few more shots at the last car there whenever one shot found a nice place in one of the tires. Managing to jerk the car from spinning out of control, Cody reached over and with one hand grabbed Li by the collar, pulling her back down into her seat. They shared a milli-second intense glare before the tone in Cody's voice seemed to finalize the decision.
"Put your damn seat-belt on. Now."
Doing so quickly, she looked over her shoulder to gaze at Kara's whose entire posure had changed, no longer was she so afraid and scared but instead she looked frustrated and angered. Her speculation of the foreign woman was cut short when another bullet shattered the front window and she shook off the stinging glass. Gazing over, she saw a white-knuckled Cody concentrating solely ahead of her, her strength leaving her and her weakness beginning to show.
And that's when everything slowed down.
They were not even a mile from the compound when she heard the familiar sound behind her, close behind her, one that she had heard so many times before. Like a single black butterfly fluttering at her ear and then it was gone.
Cody lost control of the wheel and the car was sent spinning, in the process Li losing consciousness as her temple was crashed into the side of the inside panel. After that, neither one remembered much of what happened.
Smelling smoke around them, Cody awoke from her unconscious stupor and numbly looked around, gazing dumbly at her surroundings. Where...where was she?
Then it hit her.
Li.
The car chase.
Out of control...
Looking around, she found out by clicking her seat belt that she fell into a heap on the room of the overturned car. The smell of gasoline caught her senses and in her weakness and the feel of her own blood in her mouth, she almost wretched right there. Looking over, she saw Li not moving and neither was Kara. Looking at where the door had been, she found it bent out of place and open. Enough for a body to crawl through...enough to pull out bodies.
Reaching over, she eased Li's heavy body out of the car after unbuckling her and then went back in after Kara, struggling and cursing all the while. She hadn't heard a car stop or anything so that meant that they had left..but then...where had they went?
After getting the bodies out and laid down away from the car a good crawls way, she didn't even find the strength to check to see if they were alive. Reaching into her bruised and battered leather jacket that was stained with blood and ripped, she got her cell phone out that had somehow dialed Lou's phone number, the first she found.
It rang in her ear, buzzing against her head that was pounding the pain that it took to make each breath.
"Cody? Now is not the-" Lou started.
"Lou..." She whispered, her voice raspy, "Please...come. The highway outside the military base...Li and Kara...unconscious...severely injured..."
"Cody- Cody, listen to me right now," Lou commanded, her attention turning completely on the girl, "Cody?"
There was nothing, she had passed out and the cell phone had fell from her grasp.
"Shit," Lou cursed and slammed her cell phone shut, turning to Heero, fear shining on her face as she looked to him, telling him quickly, "This discussion can wait, Heero you need to go to the Brackenhurst Highway Bridge that gets into the military compound. Now."
Heero gave Lou a mild look of distaste.
"You want excitement? Li, Cody, and Kara were just chased into a car crash. All are unconscious." The look was serious as Lou only focused on Heero. She refused to look at Ryo.
Heero nodded curtly, "I'll go and take Barton. You stay here with Maxwell and Wufei." His head snapped toward Ryo, "And you too."
Ryo opened her mouth to spit venomous words.
"No. Stay. You act like a child, and you will be talked to as one." Heero's eyes were hard again, the old soldier back, as he nodded at Trowa and the two swept out.
Ryo looked at Lou, "Why are all of you against me."
Lou's smile was almost sadistic. "I can't say."
Ryo's glare came back full force at Lou. "You are being a real btch. What have you got against me?"
Lou's eyes were cool. "For once I decided not to be the perfect let's fix everything one, and look, it is a crime. I am normal." She shrugged, "Once again, that privilege of divulging you has been taken away from me, simply because I am not the only blamed btch."
Ryo stood up as Duo entered the room.
"Leigh Lou, where did Yuy and Barton go?" he asked.
Ryo looked at him. "They left. There has been an accident. Since I am such a 'child' I have been punished into staying here, like I planned. It's funny how the child is the only one with a real relationship around here." She walked out of the room.
Lou chuckled, "Lust isn't a relationship." She almost said the words aloud, but in her head even they were just too harsh. Instead she settled for a simple, "Lucky you."
Walking back to the room she was shocked and startled when Duo grabbed her arm harshly.
"I didn't say anything, no need to kick me out yet." Her eyes were actually now showing the weariness and pain the last few days had brought. Harsh reality and realization had tore Lou's world apart. All their worlds apart.
"You are both in the same situation and shouldn't be lashing out at each other. What's done is done and cannot be change. we go from where we are. Live in the present, don't dwell in the past." Duo let her go.
"Funny thing is, I am in the present, and it looks a hell of a lot like the past Duo. A hell of a lot." Lou let a single stray tear streak her cheek before wiping it away as Quatre walked up.
He immediately zeroed in, "Chel, you okay?"
"Fine Quatre. Just stressed." She waved her hand and turned and closed the door to the guest room behind her, leaving Duo and Quatre in her wake.
Duo looked at the door for a moment before shaking his head and going off to try and find Ryo. He hoped to undo any damage done there.
Quatre was left perplexed.
Ryo was outside sitting on the back porch, when Duo found her. She glanced at him then continued swinging back and forth on the porch swing.
"Mind if I join you?" he asked.
She shook her head.
He sat down beside her. "You okay?"
"No."
"Are you going to be okay?"
"Maybe later."
"Look, I know-"
"No, you don't know. Everyone is treating me like a spoiled brat, like everything is my fault, my fault, my fault. If I am so damn spoiled then why the hell isn't my sister sitting beside me? Why isn't Cody here? Why aren't Li and Heero together, or Lou and Quatre? I've been lost without Li for four years, forgive me if at the same time I'm trying to find a way to bring her home that all Hell breaks loose. I didn't do it on purpose, I didn't time it. I didn't want Wufei hurt. I may have wished it upon Kara once but that was a long time ago. I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't want things like this, I wanted everyone happy. No matter what anyone says, we weren't happy, we weren't living, we were surviving. I don't want to survive anymore, Duo, I want to live, raise a family, have fun... I want to see smiles again..."
Duo hugged her and kissed her temple, "I know angel. The others just are too wrapped up in all the pain and suddenness to see that."
Tears leaked as they wrapped up in a loving embrace, Duo hoping to love her anguish away.
Quatre knocked lightly before walking into the room and seeing Lou crying by the window.
"Chel-"
"Quatre, we haven't been anything but best friends for a long time, you know? And this is all messed up, so don't even start with the 'I can fix it's like Duo can with Ryo. We aren't anything anymore. All I want is that happy time back." She turned, "Isn't it ironic how we were all happy and together during the war and that period right after. It is like the minute we gave up the danger and chase we all stopped living, frozen in a moving time."
"But... the danger is back, Chel. I know I can't fix it, but at least let me be here for you. You don't have to carry the pain alone." Quatre looked her.
"I am not alone Quatre. None of us really are." She sighed, "Do you even know how to be there anymore?"
Quatre looked hurt and shocked, "When did you become so skeptical and hurtful?"
She shrugged again, a useless defeated motion. "Go see if Duo can answer that, he seems to be the most clear one right now."
"Duo, what isn't Lou telling me? Something she is keeping inside is making her really not like me. Tell me." Ryo rested her head against Duo's shoulder.
Duo shook his head, "It is nothing big angel. She is very worried about Wufei since he is in a coma."
About then Quatre walked out, looking defeated, "She has given up on us Duo. Leigh Lou told me to come ask you what she meant when she told me that I didn't know how to be there anymore." His eyes were pained and he sat in front of the couple, "It isn't your fault Ryo."
"What? So everyone knows but me? What's going on here?" Ryo sat up.
Duo put two fingers to her lips. "Shh. Let Quatre speak. He has been quiet through all of this. He needs his questions answered."
Quatre smiled sadly at Ryo. "She blames you. And mostly herself. She couldn't save it. That is how she is, having to be able to save and fix everything, this is simply beyond her grasp." His explanation was punctuated with a soft pat on the knee.
Quatre turned to Duo, "What did your sister mean when she said I didn't know how to be there anymore and we all are never really alone?"
Duo sighed and it was like his cobalt eyes seemed to span out, as if he were slowly detaching himself from them. The pain, all when they were supposed to have peace, when they were supposed to have lives.
Ryo reached over and grabbed his hand, and he snapped back, looking sadly at the floor. He didn't look up when he spoke, "Quatre...Lou's slowly doing what we've all done...disconnecting from everybody. She's..."
The blonde Arabian man stood up and walked away from them, not saying another word as he had to conceal the intense pain he was experience. Why was everything happening now? Why when they were almost happy?
Cody awoke to bright whitewashed walls and a room that smelled of antiseptic. Her head spun and her thoughts were fuzzy. Where was she?
She tried to sit up and a wave of pain hit her, knocking her back down and taking the breath out of her. Bright lights exploded behind her eyes and she groaned, feeling the many injuries fresh all over her body.
"Miss?" A woman wearing white approached her, concern etched across her face.
"Where am I?" Cody asked, her throat unusually dry.
The woman gave her a slight smile, "You're at St. Matthews Hospital. You were in a very serious car accident. We weren't sure you were going to pull through at first."
Cody didn't even try and sit up, she just laid there looking up. The nurse's face was pleasant but she was weary. That made the red-head shut her eyes, "How long have I been here?"
"Not but only twelve hours?"
"What about the other two?" She asked immediately.
The nurse smiled and put a hand on her arm, making the soldier twitch barely, "They are both fine, one is asleep in the room next to yours and the other has already checked out once she had the okay."
Kara was gone, the others hadn't gotten her. Cody internally groaned, taking a deep sigh, reminding to be pissed later when she had more energy.
"Has...has anybody came by yet?"
"No, not yet-" The nurse squeezed her arm before walking away, "But they will be honey. Just get some sleep."
"My ..." She murmured as she shut her eyes and began to drift into a weary sleep, dozing out of consciousness.
Ryo looked at Duo sadly. "Don't pull away. We need you. We need to all stick together through this."
Three hours after her cry fest Lou exited the dark room, confident Wufei had enough pain medication to be comatose quietly for a while.
Walking outside for some fresh air and last rays of sunlight she grimaced when she saw Ryo and Duo still curled up on the swing outside the door. Holding her head up strongly she walked over to the other side of the porch and jumped up to sit on the railing, her back leaning against a support beam.
Cell tittering she flipped it open with a weary "Cheng."
"We have Cody and Li. Li is still out of it." Heero's voice spoke back in angry clipped tones. "They obviously found something she wasn't immune too. We are on our way back."
"Yay." It was less than enthusiastic, knowing this could go wrong in .0002135434343 seconds. "Did you pick up more meds for Fei?"
"Yeah. I haven't told them yet. Cody is still pretty lost to the world as well. You will have your hands busy for a while."
"Did they fight you at all?" Lou's voice dropped when she realized Ryo and Duo were stealthily listening in.
"Fight me?" Heero's voice sounded almost hoarse, "They were barely conscious, Lou. And the hospital staff took one look at our Preventors badges and let us pass. They know who we are."
"Fun stuff." She muttered, curling tighter into a protective ball, "Don't bring them here. We need a separate safe house. For one, we don’t need Cody finding Wufei, two, we don't need Ryo getting worked up, and three, basic protection. Alright?" Her voice was also highlighted with thick accent and a horse quiet quality, preventing Ryo and Duo from hearing most of the conversation.
Heero nodded agreement, "This is already difficult enough as it is. I'll arrange for another spot and I'll call you when we're done. In the meantime, don't be so hard on yourself."
Lou sighed sadly. "I could say the same to you."
Heero froze, a fleeting look of pain flashing in and then out of his eyes. He only nodded once more, not trusting himself to speak.
"Oh 'Ro." Lou bit her lip, "don't cry or anything. I sound so childish, but you are making me start." She sighed, "We have been parents to these kids way too long you know? And now Duo and Ryo will have a kid, and we don't know what will happen..." She hugged her knees.
"Lou, don't-"
"Don't tell me don't." She sniffed lightly and turned so her head could rest on the support beam, "You and I, I think we need the most therapy, huh?"
"We all do, Lou, we all do." he heaved a deep and exhausted sigh and was quiet for a few moments. "Hang in there, I can't promise things will get any easier but I swear I will see us past this . . . goodbye . . ." There was a soft click as he hung up.
"Bye." She whispered and put the phone down on the ledge, looking out on the setting horizon. Another deep sigh rocked her body and she glanced over at Ryo and Duo, the blonde hardcore glaring, "Only I think you won't be the one doing the seeing buddy."
About that time Quatre walked out and gave Lou a look, a look of pain and need and sadness.
Having enough she jumped down and walked straight by everyone only to relock herself away in the small dim room with her patient and ignore the world.