Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Mistaken Words ❯ No Regrets ( Chapter 23 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Mistaken Words

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Gundam Wing….but I do have the DVDs manga, and a wall scroll…doesn't that count for something? no?

No Regrets

It was the beginning of a new day, and a new month on top of that, but no one present in Une's office was taking note of the warm near summer weather. They were all stuck in the past, minds reliving the last three years, and just now being able to see an end in sight. It had surprised Wufei that they were only now sitting down to discuss what was to be done about Heero. Une had quite quickly decided to try and wait hoping cooler heads would prevail, also the wait would allow Quatre a change to input his thoughts on the matter directly. He had found reason to make a brief trip to earth without raising question, and had arrived late the night before.

The young President of the colonies looked a little tired from the trip, and time change he had had to adjust. Nevertheless he was alert, and ready to discuss this rather difficult topic. Wufei's onyx eyes scanned the room slowly, taking in each person they came across and considering them for a moment, judging what their mind set was like, what he could expect from them. For the most part he didn't expect any real surprises; both Zechs and Duo were still livid over the matter, Zechs a little more so because Relena now knew what was being kept from her, and had demanded to see him. She had of course been denied, for the moment Wufei thought that was the best decision.

Trowa was, as always, unreadable, but Wufei could see the tension in the way he held himself. Even if Trowa managed to conceal most everything that would appear on a normal persons' face and eyes, Wufei could still read him. Sally and Une made up the last two people present in the room, and to Wufei's surprise silence reigned over the office, as everyone appeared to wait on someone else to voice the idea in their heads. Wufei already knew he would not be starting the conversation. It was no secret as to where he stood on the matter of what to do with Heero.

With a suddenness that caused Sally to jump slightly Duo stood from where he had been perched on the edge of his chair and began to pace, "What are we waiting for?!" he demanded breaking the silence finally, "Why are we even gathering to discuss this? Let's just give the bastard what he deserves and be done with it!"

"There is a problem with public knowledge," Une pointed out with surprising calm, she was not about to let her emotions run away with her during this discussion.

"What problem?! They don't even know he's here," Duo returned.

"Looking back through history, situations like this have a way of slipping out. Sooner or later the world will discover what happens here. I don't want to have to try and explain why someone was murdered within my agency without anyone being held accountable for it."

Wufei silently doubted such a decree from Une would stop more such suggestion. Death was simply the easiest way to deal with Heero. "Well, what's the point of a trial? There's no way they could find him innocent, death's going to be the end either way," Duo fumed.

"Personally I'd like his end to be at my hands," Zechs spoke up his anger barely contained in his voice. He sat in one of Une's leather chairs with an air of frightening calm about him. Wufei could see in his ice blue eyes the anger than had taken up a permanent residence. He had it very much under control, but Wufei had a feeling Zechs would like nothing more than to let it loose once more.

Une shook her head, "That's not an option and you know it."

"Then what the hell's the point of all this? I think we all want to avoid the trial but, according to you, we can't just kill him either!" Duo was fuming as he paced across the office, and Wufei had to resist the urge to tell him to just sit down.

:::::::

Quatre watched in silence as the debate began, it was a situation he had never thought they'd actually make it to. A part of him had always been sure Heero would be able to allude them forever, but finally the pieces had fallen into their favour. Quatre's feelings and thoughts on the matter were mixed at best. Having convinced himself that this would never happen, he hadn't been in the least bit prepared for when it did. But to now be able to face his one time comrade and friend, it stabbed at him like a dagger. His hands moved to clutch at his chest, a futile attempt to take away the pain.

At this moment Quatre hated the closeness he had shared with all the pilots; it had made accepting the betrayal so much harder, and sitting in this situation no easier. He had not yet seen Heero, so he only had what the others had told him to go on, and to his ears it sounded bad. According to Dante, Heero had already found suffering for his inexcusable actions, but was it enough? Could it ever be enough? Dante had said Heero had paid his price, but what could Dante possibly know of he price they had all paid at the former pilot's hands? He had nearly stripped away everything they had all sacrificed so much for. He had almost destroyed the peace; that in itself should have been unforgivable.

Yet despite all this, Quatre's quiet and thoughtful nature insisted on getting in the way. Over the last three years he had often found himself thinking along the same lines Wufei seemed to be thinking now. As he found himself hoping that there was still something else to this that none of them knew. But as the time continued to pass so too went with it his previous confidence in Heero, a small voice within his head pointing out the illogic in his assumption that there had to be more to the story. It had slowly become more than obvious for a while now that Heero would have had no trouble getting in contact with any of them to set these matters straight, if there was indeed anything to explain. Even if he couldn't risk it right after the shooting, Quatre found it hard to believe that Heero was under such strict observation everyday for the past three years that he couldn't even send off a single email. And that was ignoring all the time he must have spent in the shadows watching as the built the cottage.

The way Quatre saw it now, there wasn't anything left to say, other than perhaps a brief goodbye. Heero had lost out on any opportunities to say anything short of who he was working for but, that was something Quatre doubted the traitor would ever give up. Slowly Quatre focused more closely on what was being said, quickly noting how the conversation was going to continually circle, and lead them nowhere. He could easily understand Duo's and Zechs' anger, but at the exact same time he knew what Une was speaking about; the quick clean kill they all wanted was not an option. So what did that leave?

"How bad off is he?" Quatre questioned, eyes staring at his hands as he spoke, within his mind his thoughts had started turning, formulating a potential plan. "Could we not just let his injuries do the work? We all know he can withstand more than most, but the rest of the world doesn't know that. If word were to slip out about him, it wouldn't take much to tell them there was nothing we could do." He found the words hard to say, but surprisingly the conviction was there. What other options did they have?

Wufei's face clearly showed his shock at hearing such a suggestion, "That's dishonourable!" Wufei said once he was able to find his words.

"So was shooting from the shadows…" Trowa commented in an emotionless voice.

"All the same--" The Chinese man began receiving incredulous looks from near everyone in the room. A part of Quatre admired Wufei for being able to stand in the face of everyone's anger, and continue to state what he believed. Yet at the same time the former pilot couldn't help but feel a small stab of betrayal that Wufei was not clearly on there side with this.

Duo halted in his pacing staring hard at Wufei, "I can't believe you! Why are you defending him?! He shot you! He's the enemy! Why can't you see that?!" The rest of the room stood by in silence watching and waiting to see where this would go.

:::::::

Under the harsh scrutiny of everyone present Wufei did not think it was the right time to reveal his true thoughts and feelings on this subject. He had been hoping for some rational thought on the others part, or at the very least that he might be able to guide their decision from the side lines. But matters had quickly gotten out of hand, as the former pilots made suggestion that he simply could not believe came from them. It would appear as thought Heero's actions had affected them all much deeper than any of them could have possible known at the beginning.

"Look I've said it before; I want to see him punished as much as you do," Wufei still felt that was true, but he wanted his answers before he exacted said punishment. "But I'm not about to take the road of dishonour to get it, and I won't sit by and watch as you do the same."

"Honour no longer applies to Yuy!" Zechs spat harshly.

"But it does to me!" Wufei said with an equal calm, he was not going to let himself be driven from this, nor was he just going to let them do as they pleased.

"What about what he did to my sister?! Isn't that the same?!" Zechs seemed beyond reasoning now, as sparks shone brightly in his ice blue eyes, "A life for a life!"

The first flames of anger began to lick at Wufei's emotional fuse, and he tried to suppress them before this got out of hand. "He never killed her!"

"It's bad enough he tried," All eyes once more turned to Quatre who had come to his feet, he made his way between Zechs and Wufei, and looked them each in the eye. "Let's end it here for today, we aren't getting anywhere with this."

Zechs opened his mouth to object but Une overrode him, "Quatre's right, we need a break." She stepped out from around her desk, "He'll still be here tomorrow, I just hope cooler heads will prevail then."

Wufei watched as the others slowly got up to leave, mixed emotions on all faces, but there was one that was uniformly shared by all, and that was hatred. The Chinese man didn't get up at the same time and follow them all out, instead he remained sitting, his mind lost in deep thought. He was not entirely sure how much time passed before Une came to stand before him, eyes watching with a speculative light. "We need him alive…" Wufei found himself saying.

"For information on this organisation you believe held him?" she phrased it as a question even though she already knew what he meant. "What if he was working for them?"

"Doesn't matter," Wufei told her with a shake of his head. "They had him imprisoned in the worst conditions possible and forced him to build Zero. They might have been his allies at one time, but they've clearly been an enemy of the peace from the beginning."

"There is still a lot we need to know…" Une conceded quietly.

Wufei came to his feet then, for the moment content that Une was beginning to see a few matters at least from the same direction he was. This would give him a little leverage the next time through, as he highly doubted any of their conversations would get any better with time. He felt Une's eyes linger upon him in a contemplative way, a way that felt all too familiar, one that would lead to questions he'd rather not answer. But it was too late to escape, "What really happened Wufei?"

He repressed a sigh, and feigned innocence, "What?"

"You never told me, what transpired between you and Heero, that seems to be the point when your opinion turned." She studied him for any slight shift in his expression, "I want to know now, what happened back then."

"He shot me Une, what more could you possibly need to know?" he tried not to inch his way towards the door, but it was an effort.

"I know there's something that you haven't told anyone, but I can't imagine what could possibly happen that you would feel the need to hide it from us all."

"For the last time Une, nothing happened," Wufei told her vehemently his voice sounding tired to his own ears, before turning to leave the room. Trowa's reaction had been enough for Wufei to keep the memory firmly to himself, there was nothing in it that could help matters here, only inflame them.

:::::::

Heero let out a soft groan of pain, as his returned to the waking world, and he was once more surrounded with agony. Immediately he tried not to breathe, but even the way he was strapped down to the bed was enough to pull on each and every broken rib, making his simple existence agony unto itself. For a moment Heero remained lying with his eyes closed as he tried to assess his present situation. He could still feel the nausea, which was caused by the drug, but his body did not seem so awash with it, which lead the former pilot to believe they were finally keeping him hydrated permanently. That was a slight relief, though the condition he had been left in had him wondering what all was going to come of the next few days.

He couldn't blame any of them for acting in this manner; he had cultivated their anger over the years, had carefully done nothing to try and tell them the truth. Well he had tried at the beginning. He had left a file, carefully hidden—obviously too well hidden—on one of the computers, that explained his plan. He supposed it wasn't all that surprising that after his betrayal they didn't touch anything of his. He hoped now that if he was to die here by his only friends' hands, that they would never discover that file, never know how well he had played them.

Heero's dark thoughts were interrupted by a new presence walking towards him, and the former pilot flinched despite himself, causing skin to pull tightly across ribs, and tentative scabs to strain under the pressure. "So this is the mighy Heero Yuy," A nasally sounding voice seemed to sneer over top of him, "I didn't think you'd ever wake."

It took Heero several moments to open his eyes, and when he did the sudden brightness around him forced them to close right away. The light stabbed like daggers into his head, and seemed to burn itself into a single spot, where it was left to smoulder. But this pain was nothing to the shrieks of the rest of his body, and he was not going to remain laying there with his eyes closed while some unknown person stood over him. Finally with a monumental effort Heero was able to open both eyes, though he had to squint, and looked upon the man who had entered his space.

A doctor stood to his left, his features hard for Heero to make out, but that wasn't necessary at the moment, just being able to see him was enough. And Heero could see right away there was something about this man that made him uneasy, he didn't trust him, not like John. It amazed Heero how quickly he found himself relaxing around that old man, easily allowing him to enter his personal space to complete whatever task he felt needed to be done. Heero knew it had a lot to do with how John had first approached him, had always remained within eyesight, and had never made anything an ultimatum. He did not feel nearly so comfortable in the presence of this new man, something felt off, slightly sinister.

Heero watched them man warily, not liking having someone so deep within his personal space with not a damn thing he could do about it. The doctor took a step closer so he loomed over Heero's prone form, a dark sneer on his face. The expression was something Heero was just barely able to make out, as his eyes continued to adjust. "So you're the one who tired to take Relena's life…" The words sounded calm, and thoughtful, but Heero could feel a steely undercurrent, and the way he spoke Relena's name did nothing to lessen Heero's concerns about this man.

The mention of Relena sent Heero's mind spinning, was she aware that he was back? Had she come to see him? To voice her hatred to the 'traitor' who had 'tried' to take her life? He hoped not. Heero didn't want her to see him this way, but if she did come, the questions remained, would she let him explain and show her the truth of the last three years?.

She's moved on…

Heero reminded himself sadly, a frozen image flashing through his mind of a man kneeling before her, one hand held out for her to take. He couldn't remember where he had seen that image, his mind felt hazy, and clogged with memories that may or may not have happened. As it was he found it nearly impossible to discern between reality over the last several months and what he had lived in VR.

"Hey!" he felt a hand connect with the back of his head, the blow itself was not incredibly hard, but it came out of nowhere, and there was nothing he could do to defend himself. "Pay attention when I'm talking to you!" the doctor snarled. Heero's eyes narrowed into a glare, but the man just laughed, "Sorry, I don't find you all that intimidating right now."

He moved to walk to Heero's other side, but unlike John who had always taken the longer route down below his legs this man walked back behind his head. Heero jumped against his will hissing sharply in pain as his movements pulled at still fresh wounds. He could hear the other man laugh as he remained out of sight for several more seconds. And Heero tried best to stop his reactions, to not give this man the satisfaction, but that was as easy as trying not to breathe. They were such natural reactions for him; he hardly even considered it before he was done.

The doctor came back into view with slow strides, and an evil smirk upon his face. He came to a stop at Heero's right side, and rested one hand on the table while the other slipped into his coat pocket. There was nothing he could do to shift away from the other man's presence, even as his mind screamed at him to react. He knew this was a threat but he was helpless to do anything to stop it. Heero fought to control his shallow breathing not wanting to give this man the satisfaction of knowing just how much his presence was affecting him. "Tell me now!" the man said suddenly leaning in close, attempting to use intimidation, "Why didn't Relena deserve the right to live?!"

Heero stared at the man, nothing on his face changing. He was sliding deep within himself were he was safe from prying eyes. He wanted to speak, to explain what really happened, however somehow he just knew that anything he told this man would not make it past this room. No, if he wanted to explain the last three years he was going to have to do it directly to a pilot. Heero's internal thoughts were shattered as the doctor seemed to become impatient waiting for his answer. His hand had moved from just beside Heero's body to under the side of his damaged rib cage, where just its mere presence caused intense pain.

"Don't you dare ignore me, scum! There are hours left in the day," he leaned in closer applying more pressure as he did, causing Heero's breathing to halt altogether. "And I can think of some pretty persuasive ways of getting what I want." If the pain had allowed him to breathe Heero might actually have laughed. If this man thought he could throw anything his way that he had not already seen before and lived through, he was sadly mistaken.

Seeming to note the fact that Heero had stopped breathing altogether, the blond man backed off a little, allowing the white hot pain to subside so the wounded man could breathe. As he slowly brought oxygen back into his body Heero studied the man, noting the self-satisfied look that was on the other's face, "Who are you?" he asked speaking for the first time. His voice sounded no different that from when John was here, and he hardly even recognised it himself.

The man's face became a self-satisfied sneer as he stared down over Heero's wounded body, "Who am I?" he asked back the smiled only growing. "My name is Luc Carter I gave Relena her life back after you destroyed it," Luc leaned in close, "I showed her what love really is."

Luc's words struck Heero as hard as a blow to the gut would have, a gasp of air left his broken body, and all he could do was stare. Internally he hoped Luc could not see the effect of his words, he was not willing to give that man the satisfaction of a reaction. Was it true though? Had Relena truly moved on with her life, and been able to find happiness in the arms of this man? Heero desperately wanted not to believe, to be able to hold out that small hope for just a little longer. If he could explain what happened, Relena might actually still be there for him. A tiny voice, all to eager to share its opinion sprung to life, he should have known all along it was a foolish hope. Who could expect a woman to wait three long years, especially when your parting gift to was letting her think you had tried to take her life.

"I can tell you didn't want me to see," Luc started up again, a disturbing laugh escaping his lips. "I know you used to 'love' Relena. She now sees your love for the lie it truly is. You used her!" he accused angrily, "Then you shot her! Why did you shoot her?!" The hand was back on Heero's side driving pain deep into his body and the oxygen from his lungs, blackness began to swirl about his vision.

The doctor seemed to realise then what he was doing, and pulled his hand away, leaving Heero's trembling body to weakly draw breath. "You have no idea how your betrayal hurt her," the man continued this time keeping his anger in check, but only barely, "But then, I doubt you'd even care."

Heero's head lolled to the side, he did not have the strength to hold it up. There was no reason to hold on anymore besides it didn't even matter anymore if he held on or not. This man had what Heero had been hoping for from the very beginning, Luc had Relena's heart, but how had she fallen for such a sadistic person? It didn't matter, he dismissed the thought from his head, he deserved this pain. The battle had ended and the war was over, in his pain filled mind Heero vaguely remember witnessing a proposal. Had it been them he saw? Had Relena given herself fully to this man? Heero's eyes fell closed as what little fight had remained in his battered body drained away. He just wanted to fade away, leave this place for good.

"Hey!" Luc's hand shot out to grab Heero's head, and turned it back so it was facing him, "I didn't say you could sleep!"

The hand that still rested in his pocket slowly withdrew, and he held within it a small device, Heero was too tired and in too much pain to really care all that much about what it was, but already he knew it couldn't be good. Luc released Heero's head letting it fall to the side once more, as he began to uncoil the item in his hand, Heero now recognised it for what it was, and electrode. He took the circular head of the electrode and placed it firmly on Heero's right arm, right over the break in the bone. Heero hissed in pain, his half-glazed eyes watching Luc warily. He knew what was going to come, but he wouldn't give in. Not to this man, it wouldn't help him at all.

"For now at least they seem to be keeping you alive,' Luc continued eyes staring down at Heero's arm, "Probably for the answers you have, personally I see your existence as an unnecessary evil, but perhaps I can speed things up for them. No one really seems to want to come in and speak with you so I can get the answers for them."

"So tell me, Yuy, who do you work for?" Luc only waited a brief moment for Heero to potentially make a reply before his thumb compressed the small button on his hand held. Heero's muscles tensed in response to the electricity that was coursing into him, he bit back a groan, as his other injuries began to stab at him as he tensed away from this one.

Finally Luc released the switch, leaving Heero's weak body to shallowly gasp for breath. He fought to keep from passing out, didn't want to think of what this 'doctor' would do to his unconscious body. Still he was fairly sure he wouldn't be lasting much longer against the assault. While he had been fighting for consciousness, Luc had removed the electrode and had moved it to his leg, right below where a thick wad of bandage had been tied beneath the bloodied cloth of his pants.

"Why did you try to kill Relena?!" he didn't even give Heero a chance to answer, before he sent a shock into Heero's leg. He tried to fight against the tensing muscles but it was no use, and as the pain continued to build, Heero thought he felt something beneath the bandages tear. "Why did she not deserve to live?!" Luc demanded while jabbing his hand into Heero's side.

That was the limit. Heero's body could take no more, and despite his need to keep an eye on Luc whether he could do something about it or not, his body had the final say in the matter. Darkness claimed his mind, drawing him far from the pain and hatred he faced, to a place where he almost felt as though he didn't exist. It was a relief to fall into the abyss, though he couldn't help wondering with his last few seconds of conscious thought, what horrors he might wake to next.

:::::::

"John?"

The old doctor blinked, looking up from where he had been deep in thought to see the younger man standing before him. His mind had been completely focused on Heero, so much so that he had all but forgotten where he was. Coming back to himself now John recognised the man in front of him as the lab technician he had entrusted Heero's blood work to. The older doctor had come into the base a little earlier than was necessary to pick up the results, so he could hopefully give Heero something for the extreme pain he was in. Thoughts of Heero had distracted him for most of the day, as he tried to comprehend why Sally was doing this, while at the same time hoping the man watching over Heero during the day was compassionate.

"Are you with me John?" the tech man asked again, an amused smile on his face.

John chuckled softly, "Yes, sorry Nathan, I'm just a little distracted right now. Did you get the blood work done?" The file held in the other man's hand was answer enough.

"Yeah, I did a full work up just like you asked," Nathan handed the file over, and John quickly opened it up. "He's anaemic you know, he also lacking in most other nutrients, vitamin D especially."

"That's not unexpected," John assured, flipping through the folder eyes slowly taking in all that was there. "What about drugs? Did you find any in his system?" there was no doubt in his mind something would be found, what it was, was the question.

Nathan nodded his head, "There was just one, but it was so thick in his system--"

"What was it?" John asked looking up.

"Adnolprinaminophen."

"Adnolprina-what?" John shook his head in surprise, that was the absolute last drug he had expected to hear.

The technician laughed dryly, "Don't feel bad, I had to do some research on this one, there isn't all the much information available on it now. The drug first appeared about nine years ago, and the clinical studies quickly showed the it was highly addictive, with some nasty withdrawal symptoms, not to mention while on the drug patients felt ill the entire time." Nathan folded both arms across his chest and settled most of his weight on one leg, "This drug also works best when the patient is dehydrated, so it's rather dangerous to work with."

"What could they have possibly done with him on that?" John mused more to himself that Nathan.

"I can't think of any possible uses for this drug right now…" Nathan admitted.

John closed the folder looking up with a serious expression, "What can I expect when the withdrawal does hit?"

"Well a fever for starters," The younger man began, "He'll lose touch with reality, sort of fade in and out, that'll be partly because of the fever, but this drug elicits similar symptoms as Ecstasy."

The old doctor sighed, "This doesn't bode well…" he offered Nathan a smile, though he had to force it, "Thanks for all your help--"

"There's something else I need to tell you John," Nathan cut in suddenly, "You can't mix this drug with Tylenol, the reaction can be fatal."

"Good to know, though I don't think something as simple as that would help with his pain."

"Also, his white blood cell count seems to be on the rise. I don't know what condition your patient is in, but you might want to keep a closer eye on him, infection or withdrawal might be setting in." Nathan had no idea what he was giving advice on, and he couldn't know, Sally had stressed the secrecy necessary concerning Heero.

John offered him a smile, "Thanks for all your work Nathan."

"Hey no problem, have a good night."

"Thanks," John turned then to leave the room and make his way to Heero, where he had wanted to be from the moment he had stepped out of the room after his first shift. It had torn him up that he had to leave the boy in such a condition. But he had made himself trust Sally on this one; if she had chosen him for the midnight shift she must have chosen someone equally trustworthy for the daytime. And he was somewhat familiar with this Dr Luc Carter, a competent man, so he hoped that the day had worked out for Heero.

Coming to a stop just outside Heero's door, John was about to reach for the keypad when the smooth metal slid away before him, just as Luc was walking out. The younger doctor looked slightly disgruntled over something, and he barely offered John a glance before he was marching down the hall, back the way John had come. Watching him leave with a shrug of his shoulders, John stepped into the room, briefly stopping at the desk to drop off his meal and the folder Nathan had given him, before making his way to Heero's side.

At first glance the boy appeared to be asleep upon the table; nothing in his outward appearance seeming to have changed since John had last seen him. But as he came closer to the table, something seemed to change, and Heero's entire body went ridged like it had when he had first awoke yesterday night. "Heero?" John found himself asking, "It's just me," he assured, and watched with relief as the Japanese boy relaxed. But there was still tension in his face probably due to the pain he was feeling, thankfully there was something John could do about that now.

The boy's eyes opened slowly, and he watched John carefully. There was a wary glint in them, that had been there the first time he had awoke, but had left once John had gained a measure of his trust. That it was back now, worried John a little, but he tried to not let it show. He couldn't blame Heero for feeling threatened in his condition, he only hoped with time he'd be able to gain a complete trust. "Heero do you remember at all why you'd be on Adnolprinaminophen?" he inquired softly, hoping the boy was coherent enough to understand his question.

Heero stared at him obviously trying to think the whole matter through, and slowly his head gave the slightest of nods, "V…R…" he responded in a harsh voice. John's eyes widened at that unexpected answer, and he quickly made his way back to the desk and grabbed his water bottle. Returning he silently held it out to Heero waiting the few seconds it took for the boy to acknowledge that he did indeed want some, before he brought the water any closer.

Once he had given Heero a little bit of water, he asked for clarification; "What do you mean VR? As in Virtual Reality?"

The boy slowly nodded his head, "With enough…of the drug…and the…" Heero panted for breath, and winced each time at the strain it was putting on his wounded body.

"Shhh…it's alright, it doesn't really matter now," John cut in quickly, "What does matter is I can now give you something for the pain if you want." For some reason the boy seemed to hesitate for a brief moment then, as though he were actually considering whether or not he wanted something for the pain. John would have thought the whole matter would be a non-issue, but something was causing the boy to think it through. Finally he seemed to decide, and nodded his head. With much relief John moved over to the other side of the room, and began his search for the proper painkiller.

With a little effort, John managed to track down something that he was fairly sure would at least dull the pain if it did not remove it altogether. He carefully prepared everything before returning to Heero's side, and all the while he could feel the boy's eyes watching him. The more he thought about it, and the longer he was around Heero, the more John felt something had happened to the boy during the time that he had been away. But what beyond what he was already dealing with could effect him? And that was another thing that was bothering John; a part of him had hoped that he would walk in here and at least find that Heero's injuries had been properly attended too. However this was not the case at all, he was just as John had left him.

Walking back over to the table John made his usual trek to Heero's left side, and brought the syringe into view, almost making its appearance another request to make sure this was what the boy wanted. Heero nodded mutely, and watched with that guarded look in his pain-clouded eyes, and the point of the needle entered his vein, and the drug was sent coursing through him. John waited patiently, watching as Heero's weak body slowly gave into the painkiller, and his eyes grew heavy and finally closed. The old doctor waited several moments longer before reaching out two fingers to press to the side of the boy's neck taking measure of his pulse.

John stood over the boy for several moments just looking him over. It was in those minutes of silence that Nathan's words came back to him 'his white blood cell count seems to be on the rise… infection or withdrawal might be setting in'. Instantly John's hand shot out to rest upon Heero's forehead, searching for any rise in his temperature. He did not allow himself to breathe a sigh of relief when he found none. There was no really way short of a full examination to tell honestly what all might be wrong with him, and according to Sally an examination was something he couldn't do, not if he wanted to remain along side this boy.

Despite that fact John made his way to the boy's right side, still taking the longer rout even though Heero was no longer aware of anything that happened around him. Coming to a stop just below the boy's outstretched arm John scanned his eyes over the limb, and even reached out his hands to gently touch the bruised and bloodied flesh. He moved his fingers as close as he could to the pressure bandage about the boy's upper arm, searching for any heat that might suggest there's an infection in the wound. He found no heat there but a little further down Heero's arm John found something that had not been there the night before. John studied the circular burn on Heero's arm just before his elbow, wondering at how it had come to be there.

Try as he might to think of a logical explanation for this mysterious burn John was left without an answer. Some of the possibilities that entered the old doctor's mind seemed too horrific to be conceived, and he felt ashamed to have even considered them. However Heero had been very jumpy when John had first come in, could Luc have done something? John shook his head in frustration. What did he have to safely say? That Heero was more jumpy than normal? He had only been around the boy for one night, that wasn't enough to know what was normal for the boy. However there was a way to set his mind at ease and hopefully discover the origin of the burn.

With slow purposeful strides John made his way back to the monitoring station where all Heero's vital stats were displayed, and took a seat. He only gave the screens a brief glance before he turned his attention to the singular screen off to his left that displayed a live image of Heero's sleeping body. His fingers hovered over the keyboard just below the screen, and slowly the worked his way through the archived files until he found the images from earlier that day. John sat there for sometime watching the screen at a slightly high speed searching for anything unusual. The moment he saw Luc walk back behind Heero's head, and the boy jumped, he began to wonder if his first thought were truly wrong. But he reminded himself that this small gesture didn't mean anything Luc may just have not known how to behave around so jumpy a young man.

Convincing himself that this was so John continued to watch, but he stopped suddenly in shock, and backed up the footage, playing at normal speed. What he saw left him speechless, with both disbelief and anger. He watched Luc remove the electrode from Heero's arm, and leave the boy gasping for breath, before he moved it to Heero's leg. John was on his feet instantly striding back to Heero's right side, hands parting the material of the boy's pant leg right above the gash in his leg. He was not at all surprised to find another burn there.

This was inexcusable. What could be possibly gained from torturing someone who was already clearly in such extreme pain? John stood there for several seconds eyes glancing about the room trying to decide what he could possible about this horrific discovery. His eyes landed on the vid phone attached to one wall, and he strode over to it. Without hesitation he dialled the number to Sally's apartments on another floor of the base, she had always found it just as easy to live on sight as somewhere else. The screen lit up after only two rings, and Sally's face appeared her hair wet and hanging loose from a shower.

"John?" she sounded more than a little surprised at the sight of him.

"Sally we need to talk," John responded in a clipped tone, "In person," he added as an after thought, he wanted her to see what had been happening.

"What?" she glanced at her watch, "Do you realise the time?"

John's face fell into a glare despite his best efforts. He didn't want to direct his anger at Sally, it was not like she had knowingly put an evil man with the boy, knowing that he'd be tortured. He couldn't let himself believe that not for a second. Sally had been acting strangely where this child was concerned but even that seemed beyond her. "Just come down here, it's important," he glanced back in Heero's direction briefly before returning his steady gaze to Sally.

"Alright, I'll be down in a few minutes," with that her screen went black, and John was left wait in silence.

He went back over to the desk, and brought the surveillance footage back to the beginning of the torture, noticing this time as he did, that Luc's hand had also been applying pressure to Heero's broken ribs Was there no depth to which Luc would not sink? John couldn't help but wonder. He tore his eyes off the screen as the door to the room slide open and Sally stepped in looking none too pleased at having to be in the same room with the traitor.

"What's all this about John?" she questioned immediately, crossing over to where he still sat.

"You need to see this," John told her while coming to his feet so she could take the chair.

With a sigh Sally took his vacated seat, her eyes already trained on the screen as John reached down and stuck the key that would set the images moving. He watched over Sally's shoulder as the ten minutes of footage played itself out, and she saw who Luc actually was. Each second stung John, and helped to fuel the flame of anger within him. But he held out a strong hope that this would end the torture, and Heero would not be made to suffer more than he already was. When the relevant part of the recording had finished John stopped the player, and looked to the female doctor he had worked with for a number of years.

"I suggest you forget what you've seen…" she told him softly coming to her feet.

"Sally!" John exclaimed in total shock.

The female doctor would not look John in the eye as she moved away from the desk, "Forget what you've seen John, I have reason enough to remove you from watching over him, don't forget that."

"You knew!" he accused unable to believe what he was hearing, "And you let it happen?!"

"I also know you've been going against my direct order," Sally said finally looking John directly in the eye.

"I've only been helping him!" John asserted.

"Which, last I checked, is something I had told you not to do. You were only to watch," She turned back towards the door after casting a hate filled glance Heero's way.

John took a step after her, his anger boiling, "This isn't like you Sally!"

"John, don't forget, you can be replaced," Sally told him softly, and turned back just enough to fix one eye upon him. "If you want to keep helping him I suggest you forget what you saw, and just do your job." There was no mistaking the disgusted tone of her voice as she said 'him'. She turned her back fully to him, and walked from the room not bothering to look back.

John was left standing alone in stunned silence, unable believe what had just happened. His eyes strayed to Heero's sleeping form, was he going to have to leave this boy in the morning knowing he'd suffer through torture during the day? Was there nothing he could to put a stop to this? A shaky sigh escaped John's lips, as he came to realise how helpless he was in this whole matter. Walking with slow steps John came to a stop at Heero's side, and simply stared down at the boy. How can their hate for him be so strong? John wondered as he looked at the young man who was next best thing to dead already.

It was something he could see clearest when Heero's eyes were opened, clouded by pain it was still clear. Something deep within him had died, how long ago John couldn't say, but it was a gapping wound that was slowly bleeding the life from him. And yet despite all this John could not see regret in the boy's eyes, not for his actions or for the position he was now stranded in. It made John wonder if this boy was truly the heartless killer the media had played him up to be, or whether there was something more buried even deeper. How was it that a man who would attempt to assassinate Relena would not hate the people who now held him captive? Was there a side to this story that no one knew?

Thanks for Reading!

Clinging to The Edge:

A wide smile spread across Luc's face as the conference room door closed behind him, and he made to head back the way he had come. That little bit of conversation had given him more information than he could ever hope for. There was no question now what he was going to do when he got back to the room; it amazed him even that he had not thought of this sooner, he knew the information on the drug just as well as Sally. So why this had never occurred to him before was a mystery.

Luc rode the elevator down to the floor Heero was being held on, humming a soft tune to himself the whole way. He received more than one smile from the people he passed seeming to take his eager anticipation for a general good mood. Luc nodded without really looking at who he was acknowledging, his stride lengthening as he wanted to make it back to Yuy's room quickly.

Morganeth Taren'drel