Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Mistaken Words ❯ An Answer Given a Friend Returned ( Chapter 28 )

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

Mistaken Words

To both my editors!!!! you guys rock!!!

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing! it's just that simple.

An Answer Given a Friend Returned

Luc growled in frustration as the day's hours crawled by without offering him any of the results he had envisioned. For the second day in a row now, Heero lay there completely unresponsive, as though he were dead despite the rise and fall of his chest. Luc had tried everything he could think of to gain even the slightest wince, but all to no avail. He was a stubborn man though, and refused to give up no matter how many defeats he suffered, he knew the traitor was in there somewhere, and not matter how long it took he'd reach him.

He had been surprised earlier in the day when John had left the room. He had half expected the older doctor to put up more of a fight, as had happened everyday since Luc had begun having his fun. But John had said nothing to him, had merely cast one last glance Heero's way before exiting the room. Something in his eyes had caught Luc's attention, but it had been such a fleeting light that he had been unable to place his finger on it. He almost thought now, that it might have been anticipation flashing through his eyes. Luc forced it all from his mind, at the moment it didn't matter, he had more important things to keep his mind focused on; mainly drawing Heero from where ever he had hidden himself.

Walking over to the Japanese man, Luc slowly made his way around him, eyes always watching Heero's face, even as he hand shot out to strike at a sensitive area of the wounded man's body. But as had happened every time before, nothing changed, Heero's eyes did not open, nor did his face contort with the pain Luc knew he had caused. He came to a stop behind Heero's head, a long suffering sigh escaping his barely parted lips. This was proving to be a most boring day, and from what he gathered no agreement had been reached yet on how to handle this entire situation. This gave him more time to play, but unless he could garner a reaction what was the point?

Luc's gaze strayed to the cameras watching the room. In the intensity of the moments where he knew he had been getting through to Heero, only days before, he had forgotten their presence. Now he found himself considering them, and all they had seen and recorded. What was their purpose? They had not stopped his from treating the Traitor the way he saw fit, and obviously they were not being used against him. His right hand slipped into the deep pocket of his lab coat, fingering the hidden contents. He had tired everything else from previous days, was it perhaps time to break into something new? Was that the only way he might get the desired reaction? Luc hated the idea of walking away for a second day without knowing that he had made Heero pay for the way he treated Relena. It was all for her that he was doing this after all.

It didn't take Luc long to reach his decision, he wasn't properly serving the one he cared for if Heero wasn't suffering. His hand gripped the cool steel item, and withdrew it from his pocket. Luc studied it closely as he walked away from Heero's head and came to rest behind his slightly opened right hand. Shifting his grip on the hilt Luc found the tiny switch in the side, and the blade flipped out. A half grin took his features as he drove the knife home, right into the center of Heero's hand. His eyes watched the blade just long enough to see his aim was true, and then they switched to Heero's face, shocked to find still no change.

How was it that Heero could remain distant, appearing completely unaffected, when Luc knew he should have been feeling something? Frustration overwhelmed him, and he nearly found himself wanting to tear the knife out. But that would have meant tending to the wound, while with the knife in, it was really only oozing blood. Restraining himself Luc turned his back on the Japanese man and made his way back to his chair. He felt like screaming, but kept himself contained. His eyes shifted to the clock, seeing that his time with the Traitor was slowly running out. Luc hated to think that Heero had won, that his ability to block out the world was something Luc would never be able to get past. But what was there left to try?

John had entered Heero's room with a great deal of excitement; tonight was the night, he had actually managed to convince Wufei to come in. That alone had taken a great weight off of his shoulders, and the thought that tonight might possibly be the last night that Heero was forced to remain in these horrid circumstances only helped to lighten his feet. But that bubble of relief and happiness that encircled him, was quick to burst when John actually laid eyes on the boy. He had been relaxed into a false sense of security by the two days he had entered the room only to find Heero relatively unharmed.

Moments passed, and John was unable to remove his eyes from Heero's left hand and the switchblade knife sticking out of it. He couldn't understand it, but somehow this seemed different from all the rest that Luc had done. For some reason this caused bile to rise in the back of John's throat as he wondered at what sort of man Luc truly was. He couldn't understand it; Luc had gone out of his way to torture Heero more than once, what made this so different? But it was different, the knife stood rigid in the center of Heero's palm, blood pooling around it and beneath his hand. It was right in front of him, seeming almost to mock, as John knew there was not a thing he could do about it right now. He was not fool enough to remove the blade right now, not when it was staunching the flow of blood. Besides that, Heero wasn't moving any time soon, and therefore wouldn't be causing further damage.

John strode over to the table his thoughts surrounded in a black cloud of disbelief and hatred, he wanted to better see what damage had been done. “Heero?” he voiced the boy's name softly, hoping for—but not expecting—a reaction. And so he was delighted when the boy's Prussian eyes opened a mere crack. Breathing a sigh of relief, John came a little closer to Heero's side. “Were you awake when Luc did this?” John questioned motioning to the knife. Heero's eyes travelled to it, and it looked to John as though he were seeing it for the first time, answering is question for him, before the boy even shook his head.

Turning his attention to the knife John moved closer to it, trying to better gage how bad it was, but as Heero was strapped down, it was not easy to tell. It looked to him as though it had penetrated the hand between the bones, but he wouldn't be able to tell for sure without x-rays. John was rather concerned about possible nerve damage, the longer the blade was in there the more potential for irreparable damage. The best thing for Heero right now was to have that injury looked at by a specialist, something John was not in a position to do at the moment. But he hoped at the end of this night he would be, at the very least that he would be able to move Heero to a proper room.

He turned his attention back to the boy, Heero's eyes were opened but not much as he tiredly watched John. “Do you think you can stay awake for a while?” he asked, having up till now not considered the fact that Heero might not be in a position to speak to Wufei.

The boy looked at him, his face scrunching slightly as he forced his eyes to focus, “Why?”

“Because someone's coming in to speak with you…” John explained gently, watching closely for any reaction that Heero might give.

“Wha…” Heero's voice cracked as his eyes widened clearly showing his surprise. John thought he saw a brief flash of hope, but it had been crushed behind iron walls too quickly for him to be able to say for sure. “Who?” he brought himself to ask finally.

“Chang Wufei,” John told him, “He saved your life, when Luc had put Tylenol in your IV.”

Heero's face was clearly puzzled by this at first, but John could tell he was thinking back trying to remember what John had made reference to. Finally a light entered his eyes, and Heero's head gave a slight nod, “That's what…it…was…”

“Yes that was it,” John confirmed, “I want him to come in so you can tell him the same thing you told me.”

Silence was his response as Heero appeared to consider what he had been told, his eyes opened after several minutes, and John did not like what he saw there. “It won't matter…” his voice rasped with a barely perceivable wobble to it, “I shot…him…” his eyes feel closed at that.

“What?” the words had been hard to make out, and John could not be sure he heard them right. But the look in the boy's eyes and that near broken tone of his voice only confirmed that he couldn't have misheard. He looked deeply into Heero's eyes, remembering back two years ago, when the media had been inundated with news about Chang Wufei having been mysteriously shot, and no perpetrator had been found. “That was you back then?”

Heero gave his head the slightest nod of affirmation.

“Why?”

The boy's eyes closed, and John thought he was thinking back on the instance, “I didn't want to…wasn't supposed to…be seen…” Heero breathed after several minutes, eyes opening only a crack, and it looked to John as though he were staring at the knife. It felt to John like what little hope had been breathed back into Heero's body—however briefly—was now gone.

“Don't forget Heero, Wufei saved your life,” he reached out a hand to the boy's shoulder, feeling he needed some form of contact with Heero to help get his point across. “He wouldn't have done that if he utterly hated you.” Heero gave no outward reaction as to whether or not John's words had had any effect on him, he just lay there, hardly seeming to breathe. All John could do was hope Wufei would get there soon.

“I've…never hated…any of them…” the boy whispered.

Relena had been hard pressed to get through the meetings of her day, with a clear and focused mind, she continually found her thoughts drifting to Heero, knowing she would be seeing him tonight. Wufei was obviously concerned about the situation; that was why he had been so hesitant to tell her about the phone call. She felt her irritation rise at the memory. Who were they to decide what she could and could not cope with? Relena was no fool, she was not about to delude herself into thinking this meeting was going to be a walk in the park. Wufei had described to her what condition she'd be seeing Heero in, but she found it impossible to fit his words to an image, it was so unlike the Heero she had known and fallen in love with.

Despite her fears that the day would simply drag by, each second feeling as though an hour should have passed, Relena made it to the end with a relative speed that left her racing to catch up. She had thought she'd be given a little more time to mentally prepare for this moment. But it had managed to sneak up on her, and now here she was walking through the base with Wufei at her side. The halls were quiet at this late hour, but Wufei still insisted on taking less used halls to avoid being seen. She didn't blame him, the last thing either of them wanted was question they would be hard pressed to answer.

More than once Relena had wanted to break the silence, whether it had been on the long car ride over, or at some point through the softly echoing halls. But she just couldn't bring herself to speak the first word, and Wufei seemed just as content with the silence, so she left it alone. Relena focused in on where they were heading, for some reason the hallway's silence felt particularly oppressive, but she was pretty sure that had to be her mind playing tricks on her. Nothing about this place seemed all that different from any of the other halls they had passed through, however Relena soon found out what exactly set it apart.

“We're here…” Wufei announced onyx eyes searching out Relena's face to make sure she was ready to do this.

Staring at the door Relena noted it looked no different that almost any of the others, it bore its number in simple black, and other than that was a plain grey, a color that almost begged the mind to sleep. A standard key pad was set into the right side of the wall besides the door, Wufei reached for it, punching in the code while his eyes remained on her face. She paid the look no mind however, keeping her focus squarely on the door waiting for it to slide aside. The lock gave way with an audible click, and Relena couldn't seem to breathe.

Relena gasped in a sudden breath when her eyes finally came to land upon the unmoving form or Heero Yuy. The man who had threatened her life on more than one occasion, had shot her in cold blood only three years before, and despite all that, had managed to hold a strong place in her heart. Both hands shot to her gaping mouth, as her eyes began to water in disbelief. Wufei's hand came to rest gently upon her back as he guided them both into the room letting the door close and lock behind them. Relena only really had eyes for Heero, Wufei's words had done nothing to prepare her for the reality of what she was seeing. And that was a battered and broken man, merely a shadow of the one she had once known.

She had hoped herself prepared for this, she had watched Heero face great danger, near death encounters and always he had surprised her with his near inhuman resilience. But reality could not have come crashing home any faster for her. She hardly recognised Heero now. Wufei's hands were firmly holding both of her shoulders, and in the very back of her mind Relena realised that was probably all that was keeping her standing at the moment.

“Wufei,” and elderly man greeted with a relieved expression, “And Ms Peacecraft, I wasn't expecting you…” the man bowed forward ever so slightly.

Relena blinked several times trying without much success to tear her eyes from Heero, “This is something I need to do,” she managed to explain her pale blue eyes only briefly flickering to the old man's face.

“What is it you wanted to tell us John?” Wufei questioned, jumping right to the heart of the matter.

“I'd more like for Heero to--”

“Oh my goodness…” Relena gasped softly looking at Heero's left hand. There had been so much for Relena to take in at a first glance, that she had not been able to look any deeper than just the general appearance of Heero. Now however her eyes were locked upon the knife protruding from the palm of Heero's left hand.

John's eyes traveled in the direction Relena was staring at, “That would be a parting gift from Dr Carter.”

Her eyes managed to pull away from Heero then only to lock onto John's kindly old face, “Why hasn't something been done about it?” she asked, concerned by the blood pooled in his palm, and beneath his hand.

“At the present time it's better to leave it in,” John attempted to explain gently, “I don't have the needed skills to treat that properly, and at present I don't have the necessary access to the people who do.”

Wufei's hands gently squeezed her shoulders, “Is he in a position to speak?”

“I hope so…but he didn't seem to think you'd listen,” John explained eyes watching Heero, filled with a sad light.

Relena looked over to the old doctor, something in what he had said triggering a question in her mind. “You spoke to him a lot?” it seemed more than a little odd that Heero would confide in anyone. Least of all a man he had only met a few days before, she had never known him to be so trusting, especially considering the way he had acted at the cottage.

A sad smile took John's features, “It was more my speaking and his listening, but yes we have talked.” Silence fell between them for a moment, and John took a step towards Heero, but at the same time he squarely placed himself between them and the injured pilot. “Right now it doesn't matter what your feelings towards Heero are, all you need to do is here what he has to say with an open mind.”

“That's why we're here,” Wufei confirmed leading Relena closer to the table at the center of the room.

The feeling of shock had not entirely passed from when she had first entered the room, but Relena felt more in control of the situation, and more importantly, able to stand on her own. Gracefully she slipped from Wufei's comforting hands and made her way around the table so that she was standing opposite the others, on Heero's right side. For a long time she stared down at his face, seeing him clearly for the first time. It was hard to reconcile the differences that she was seeing now to what her memories of him continued to display in her mind.

“Heero…” the doctor called softly leaning a little closer to the former pilot. Relena noted the hand resting almost reassuringly on Heero's left shoulder, and it seemed odd to her that this man would feel comfortable enough to do that. But that's exactly how he looked, as though he had done it many times before, and it had gained him the right results. Had Heero allowed it? There wasn't much he could do if he didn't want it, however John had not struck Relena as the type to force something on his patient unless absolutely necessary. In either case, Heero gave no outward sign that he had either heard, nor that he was even awake.

Stepping a little closer, Relena wanted to reach out and touch Heero, as though to make sure he were actually there, but she feared hurting him and so kept her hands back. However she did call out his name, so softly it could hardly even be called a whisper. It had been unintentional slipping from her lips before she even realised the thought had formed in her head.

Heero gave an internal start at the sound of his name being called, it had not been John's voice to speak to him, he had forced himself not to respond. He, unlike the kindly doctor, was no longer willing to raise his hopes over any chances. But the voice that had called to him this time was different, he had not been paying enough attention to hear it clearly, but it rang to him with familiarity. It was something he should have known beyond any doubt. Yet he refused to let his hope rise, he was safe where he was, distanced from the outside world, no longer a part of anything that was going on there.

“Heero,” again his name was spoken, and he wondered how it had managed to reach him, nothing should have been able to penetrate that far. Only one person had ever managed to do that, and Heero did not want to let himself believe that it could be her.

“Don't do this…” the voice pleaded, and despite Heero's best efforts and intentions, he found his eyes opening, his mind coming fully back to his body, and all that that meant. Sucking in a shallow breath, Heero's eyes squinted against the harsh lights, and he had to wait several moments for them to actually be able to open. He was vaguely aware of more voices speaking softly, but he could not bring himself to focus upon them, it didn't matter, his eyes were only seeing one thing, and it had to be a dream.

“Re…lena…” his voice was a gravely rasp, as he stared fixedly at the figure that couldn't be more than a hallucination.

Her features were just as he had remembered them in his deepest dreams, beautiful but so sad. He had caused that, he had done exactly what Luc had said, he broke her. Guilt rose within him, as well as self hatred, he had thrown her away. Now seeing her face to face, how could he ever hope to be forgiven. It felt to Heero as though the world had suddenly stood still as he sat there facing Relena's accusing eyes, they burned him more than any of his other injuries, and had he been able to find the means to close them, he probably would have.

He wondered—only in the farthest reaches of his mind—how long they were there staring at each other, but it couldn't last forever. “Why…” her lips parted in question, but Heero could barely hear her, “Why did you try and kill me?” He could see the light of determination in her blue eyes; she was trying her hardest to be strong, to ask the question he knew had been playing through her mind these last three years.

“I didn't…” he whispered hoping the words would make it to her ears.

“We'd love to believe you Heero, but what proof is there?” Suddenly the world moved back into motion, at the clear sound of Wufei's voice. Heero's eyes managed to break away from Relena's face even as she looked to the Chinese man.

Heero found himself reciting words that he had had memorized for three long years, though he had always held out a slim hope that the pilots would discover this information on their own. He gave Wufei the needed directions to lead him to the location of a well hidden file—in retrospect too well hidden—that explained his plan in detail. A plan formed over several months, every detail hammered out, a counter measure for any contingency that might have come up. His throat burned with a need for water, and he could feel the need to cough aching in his chest, but he had to get this information out. The impossible was finally happening, he was being given a chance to explain himself to set his life straight once more.

He watched through partially closed eyes as Wufei exchanged a glance with Relena before moving away from the table. Heero was able to track the former pilots movements as he made his way over to the door, “I'll call you with what I find,” he announced before leaving. Heero turned his attention back to the other two standing over him, his breaths coming in a raspy cough, he couldn't hold it off any longer. John quickly moved away coming back only seconds later with a water bottle in hand. Heero accepted the offered drink willingly relishing in the feel of the cool liquid extinguishing the fire in his throat.

“Heero…” Relena's voice sounded tearful as she leaned in just a little closer, trying to see his lidded eyes clearly. “Why? Why couldn't you tell me?” he hated watching the tears fall from her eyes.

Staring at her long and hard Heero longed to reach out and brush away those tears, instead he let his eyes fall closed trying to block them out altogether. “I couldn't…take the risk…” he told her simply, though the words hurt to speak, and for once it was not a physical pain.

“Do you have so little faith in me Heero?” There was a hurt anger emanating from her words, and they cut him as sharply as the knife sticking out of his hand.

“I…wanted to tell you…” he whispered not opening his eyes, he didn't want to see the tears he had caused. But in the darkness of his mind he was met with more frightening images, and a remembrance of the night after he had deceived them all. That was the first time he had found solace in alcohol, and the first time he had come close to death by it.

John had been watching silently from beside Heero as the conversation progressed, and he didn't like the path it was taking. Nothing could be gained from dwelling on past events, and it was clear to see from both their faces that it was only going to get worse. He was more concerned however for Heero in this matter, he didn't need to be dealing with this on top of everything else, yet he didn't blame Relena for reacting the way she did. She had just been forced to stare three years of her life—all of which had been a lie—full in the face. John was finding himself feeling increasingly more protective of Heero as more and more people showed their lack of caring. It wasn't hard for him to tell that Relena truly did care for this boy, but at the same time she was unintentionally making this very hard on Heero.

Shifting his hand briefly from Heero's shoulder to his forehead John was not only trying to gain the boy's attention, but also to check on his condition. Heero's eyes flickered at his touch but he didn't say anything. John could feel Relena's puzzled eyes watching him, and when he glanced to her face he found a strange incredulous light in her glassy blue eyes. Had the situation not been what it was John would have questioned her on it, but it didn't seem all that important right now. John made his way over to where Relena was standing, heading directly for the restraint holding down Heero's wrist.

“I don't think we'll need these any longer,” he directed the words to Heero with a gentle smile. Once he had the cuff undone John carefully took hold of the boy's arm, aware of the numerous injuries he did not want to aggravate. Slowly he shifted the arm to rest as Heero's side, and took a moment to study the boy's face. Heero didn't appear as though he was all that focused anymore, but at the same time John was fairly sure he was still conscious. His attention then turned to Relena, the young woman seemed almost frozen at Heero's side and that was doing neither herself nor Heero any good. Lightly touching her upon the shoulder, he caught her attention; she opened her mouth as if to speak but clearly had no idea what to say.

John just nodded his head, what could you possibly say in a situation like this? The phone rang out in the silence signalling Wufei had not had trouble finding what he was looking for now that he had direction from Heero. “Why don't you go see what Wufei's found,” he suggested, hoping she'd go with it, so at least she'd have something to occupy her mind. “I'd like to start preparing to move Heero out of here as soon as possible,” with both Relena and Wufei on his side John no longer felt the hopelessness of before.

Relena hesitated for a moment, obviously not wanting to leave the boy's side, but he was pleased to see she saw the subsequent good that would come from giving Heero a moment's time. She offered John a wan smile before making her way over to the still ringing phone. Leaning down towards the boy, John tried to look into the Heero's eyes, “Don't dwell on the past now Heero.” He continued on his way removing both the restraints that held Heero's legs before coming to a stop at the boy's left hand. And he stood there for several moments just staring at the knife wondered how he should deal with this. Glancing over to where Relena sat listening to Wufei, he wanted to know what progress had been made, and where this would take Heero now.

“He was able to find the information” he didn't make it a question, he had not known Heero would only tell Wufei about that. John had expected the boy to tell the Chinese man the same thing he had heard. Proof was not necessary for him, but if it took that extra step for Wufei to believe so much the better.

“Yes,” Relena answered for the Chinese man her eyes glancing towards Heero briefly, before returning to John, “He planned it all…”

John nodded his head, having already known this, “And where does that leave us now?”

“Wufei sent the information out, to the others,” she explained hanging up the phone and coming to her feet. “He also called for Une, Sally, Duo and Trowa, we'll need their help if we want to move Heero from this room.” Relena crossed the room the room to Heero's side once more her eyes glancing to John quickly, “Wufei said he'd be down as soon as he could.” The room fell almost completely still, everyone having something to say, but no way to express it.

“Is there really a need for secrecy anymore?” Relena question into the oppressive silence, “We know he's innocent now, there's no reason to keep his presence a secret any more.” She looked to John before her eyes returned to Heero.

John felt more than heard the boy stir behind him, and he turned in time to see Heero give a barely perceivable shake of his head. “Can't tell anyone…” he spoke in a hallow voice.

“I hate the thought of the world thinking you shot me” Relena said with clear frustration “You don't deserve that…”

The tiny smile that touch Heero's features at that surprised John, it was the first pleasant expression he had ever seen touch the boy's pained face. “That would ruin everything…”

“I know,” she sighed, “You sacrificed so much to get on the inside,” her head dropped.

“He sacrificed everything to try and bring down this Inner Circle. Something he hasn't yet been able to do,” Wufei offered as he walked over, having picked up on the conversation as he walked in. Through the corner of his eye John saw Heero flinch at that, and he felt resentment flare up with in him. Could Wufei not have chosen a more tactful way to put it. “If they know he's alive and innocent,” the Chinese man continued, “That will ruin everything Heero worked so hard for these past three years.”

The door at the far side of the room slid open, and two people entered the room, Une leading the way, despite the late hour she was still in a business suit. She had apparently come directly from her office. The other, a man John recognised to be the one who broke Heero, Trowa, followed only a step behind. He looked like he had either just finished a rigorous workout or stepped from the shower. Both wore unreadable expressions as they came to a stop only a few feet from Heero.

“How could it possibly be that we never found this before?” Une demanded immediately.

Wufei being put on the spot so suddenly appeared hard pressed to find an answer to her legitimate question, something John himself wondered at. “It was well hidden…after the incident none of even wanted to look…” he shrugged, it was clear on his face that Wufei thought these were useless excuses.

Trowa's eyes were locked on Heero, and John watched him closely feeling more protective of Heero in the presence of this man than any other, aside from Luc. Trowa's one visible eye was difficult to read, it was clear he was not the sort of man to express himself openly. But John was fairly sure it must have been shock he was feeling, it was what they were all experiencing. He couldn't begin to imagine what it must have been like to stare three years of your life in a totally new light, to face the object of a long cultivated hatred only to see it was utterly unfounded.

John was about to interject, as that none of this introspection was helping Heero's present situation, and it would be just as easy to deal with it once the boy was made comfortable. But before he could the door opened once more, and a literal whirlwind stormed into the room. “You son of a bitch!” a new voice fumed, “You couldn't even tell me?!” John had no difficulty recognising Duo, only he wore a braid of that length, and the entire thing seemed to be bristling.

Heero coughed a dry laugh at that, “You can't act.”

“But I can,” it was Trowa who spoke up suddenly a fire in his eyes that John could not name, it puzzled him that even when this young man was displaying emotions it was done in such a way that you couldn't say for sure what you were looking at. John thought it almost spoke of a newness to such emotions, that he had not grown up learning to deal with them, but he had a hard time bringing himself to believe that.

“None of this however changes anything, and I think Heero's condition should be our first concern at the moment.” John had not realised the slight edge to his voice as he began to speak, but all eyes turned to him. And it struck John then that, while they might not know him, more than one pair of eyes was looking to him to lead them away from this awkward situation.

“Where is it you want to start?” Une asked stepping closer to look at Heero, who lay there eyes closed appearing to be asleep. It looked to John as though she were seeing him for the first time.

“I want him in surgery within the next three hours,” John didn't even like waiting half that long but he knew if he wanted this done right by the right people he have to be patience. Nobody made a move, and John drew in a calming breath knowing it wasn't their faults exactly, the whole situation was still to huge for all of them to fully comprehend. Stepping away from Heero, though he did not want to leave the boy's side, John reached for a piece of paper, lying on the table. Placing it on the back of one of the monitors John withdrew a pen from his pocket and began to quickly write down the needed information. When he had finished he handed it to Wufei, “These are the places I need to be in and for approximately how long. I'm assuming since Heero doesn't want anyone to know he's alive, so you'll need to make sure the halls are clear.”

Wufei's was not the only face to show relief at this, they had just been given something to do, and anything other than just standing there was going to make dealing with this situation a little easier. Taking hold of another piece of paper John made a second list, and handed it to Trowa who was the closest to him, “I need these doctors and nurses, ready to treat him within three hours, sooner would be better but no later than three.” They were the first names that popped into his head, they were all competent and trustworthy, experts in their fields and best able to help Heero.

“Is that really such a good idea?” Wufei voiced eyes looking to Heero, “We don't want him to be recognised.”

“Believe me,” John was quick to reassure, “With how he'll look in the operating theatre no one with recognise him. But if you are concerned, have a legal document written up that they have to sign.”

“That might not be a bad idea, just to be on the safe side,” Une concurred, arms folded across her chest, voice very business like. She was not letting it show, just how much the recent events were affecting her, but John didn't doubt it was much the same as the others.

John made his way back to Heero's side, the Japanese boy hadn't said anything nor had he opened his eyes since Duo entered the room. He wondered how best he might deal with Heero's hand. He would have liked a second opinion on the matter. John's head came up, “Where's Sally?” he inquired suddenly having realised that she was not present in the room.

Une's usually stern voice held the barest note of regret, “She won't be coming…” she looked like there was something more she wanted to say, but couldn't actually find the words for it.

Holding back a sigh John looked to the extra hands about the room, “If that's the case than I'm going to need one of you to help me secure his hand, so that knife doesn't do any further damage.”

“I'll help,” Relena volunteered, “It's the least I can do to start making it up to him…” she couldn't seem to make herself look at Heero as she spoke.

“Who did that to him?” Une inquired.

“A Dr Luc Carter,” John informed bitterly, “He was assigned by Sally to watch over Heero during the day…”

“This is my fault…” Relena gasped in realisation, her eyes narrowing suddenly, “I want to see him punished for this!”

Wufei stepped forward resting a reassuring hand upon her small shoulder, “You know we can't do that.”

“But he tortured Heero! We can't just let that go.” Relena fumed, her anger still under tight control, she was well accustomed to remaining in command of herself, but this was testing her limits.

“We can't do anything for the same reason we can't tell the world Heero's alive,” Trowa's deep calming voice spoke up.

John glanced from face to face, a little irritated that they were standing talking about this when they should have been tending to Heero. What had happened to him should never have happened to anyone, no matter what they had done in their life, but discussing Luc was not going to make Heero any better. However looking into their eyes—as hard to read as they were—John thought he was still seeing a deep remorse, and in some cases even a self hatred. He didn't take comfort in that, it only told him they hadn't forgotten him, they were dealing with this as best they could. His eyes swept over to Heero's face, noticing that his eyes were open a crack as he followed the proceedings going on around him. To John's eyes it looked to him like the boy was more relaxed that he had ever been. There was a bright light of relief in Heero's eyes, that struck John deeply.

The sound of movement close to the door had John's eyes focused upon Duo who was making his way—with a slightly agitated stride the old doctor thought—towards the door. “Duo, where are you going?” Wufei asked after the retreating man.

“Standing here isn't going to get anything done,” the American responded matter-of-factly, his voice sounding as agitated as his stance looked.

“He's right,” Trowa agreed, “We'll get in touch with the people you need.” He reached a hand out to Wufei, “I'll also start working on securing the halls.”

“I can do that,” Wufei defended.

“He'll need other things than just that,” the taller man reasoned, and Wufei passed the paper over to him. With that the two men left the room, using rather hurried steps John thought.

Relena moved over to Une, looking up at the taller woman, “We're going to need to hold a press conference in the morning, informing the world that Heero Yuy died.” Her voice shook at the last, but at the same time there was determination there also.

“What?” Une blinked in surprise, but took a moment to think about it, and appeared to come to the same conclusion as Wufei had. She nodded her head, “I see I'll make sure it's arranged.”

John motioned for Wufei to come closer to him, “What I need right now is a gurney to move him, can you get me one?” The Chinese man mutely nodded his head and walked from the room, while John turned his full attention back to Heero.

“Thank…you…” the boy whispered, eyes only partially opened, and looking like he was forcing it.

Those two words melted a part of John's heart, and he smiled down at the boy, moving closer to Heero's head so he could offer him a drink of water. His mind was turning everything over, there was so much that needed to be done before John felt he'd actually be able to breathe a sigh of relief. John didn't look up when he heard Une clear her throat softly, “I'll leave you to this, there's a lot I need to arrange and research. Besides, I think I'd only be in the way here…” John heard the door close behind her but he was too deep in thought to really pay it all that much mind.

“Is he really going to be alright?” a soft worried voice wove it's way into John's thinking and he looked up to see Relena standing across from him eyes looking down at Heero's face, who's own were closed once more.

“In time…” John ventured slowly, he hadn't even begun to think beyond the next hour, but he felt, and knew from watching the boy that Heero was a fighter. He wouldn't give in without a fight, especially after making it this far. “He has a long way to go…and I'm not so sure he wouldn't be better of in a medically induced coma…” he was musing more to himself now than actually talking to Relena.

“No…” a voice spoke up, and though it was thin and faded, it demanded to be heard. “I don't want…that…” Heero breathed eyes locked on John's face.

“Heero when the withdrawal hits I don't think your body will be able to handle it,” John tried to reason.

“I…don't want to lose…more time…” his eyes seemed almost desperate at that, and John felt for the boy, but he was more than a little worried.

“I can understand that Heero, but you need understand your limits,” he sighed seeing the determination glinting in the boy's Prussian orbs. “About the only compromise I can make is that we wean you off of it.” If Heero was kept well hydrated there would be nothing to fear from the drug, so perhaps it was actually the best way to approach this. He smiled down at Heero, “Don't worry, just relax.”

John nodded his head to put the boy at ease and turned his attention over to Heero's left hand. With the restraints now gone, John gently raised Heero's hand, holding onto it at the wrist so as to not cause any more damage. His fingers brushed against something rough, and John bent over the boy's wrist to have a better look. A ragged callous surrounded most of Heero's wrist, a sign that he had been in restraints far longer than the few days he had been here. John's eyes strayed to Heero's face, eyes once more closed, exhaustion clear on his features.

“What are you going to do about that?” Relena questioned softly.

“For the moment, nothing beyond immobilising it,” he told her, gently lowering Heero's hand before making his, over to the far side of the room. He began searching through the cupboards for something he could use to secure the knife, so it couldn't cut any further.

Pulling the leather chair back from her desk Une lowered herself down behind her computer, feeling as though she were not quite a part of her body. The news that had been delivered to her just a little over an hour ago, still had not managed to sink in, and she found herself looking it all over once again. She wanted to understand everything to be back on top of the situation, anything else was foreign to her. And to now realise that she had been missing a vital piece of information for three years it was more than a little unsettling for her. The office about her was dimly lit, the monitor before her casting an eerie glow throughout the room.

The whole event wounded her professional pride. Had she not been at the top of her agency? Had not all the pilots reported to her? How then had Heero felt the only way to do with was by deceiving them all? Une knew that it would have been impossibly hard to live out three years of her life knowing Heero's innocence and not being able to reassure his one time friends. But still she would have liked to think she'd be up to the challenge. But beyond all this, what did it all mean? Heero had left them in pursuit of this Inner Circle, a group who was mostly stationed on Freedom's Point…Dante's colony…

It made her wonder if he knew about this, if it was his organisation? Had he been playing her a fool all this time? She wanted very much to believe this was not the case, and that he was not the head of this group. She thought there was a fair amount of evidence to say just that. Une thought she could believe Dante to be honest to her, but she couldn't very well ask him about it. According to the report Heero had made for them, members of the Inner Circle were branded on the left side of their chest. The thought of asking Dante to prove to her that he was not a member or perhaps even the leader of this organisation caused a blush to rise to Une's features, making her glad to be alone, but there was a certain appeal to the idea... Thinking of Dante now always seemed to cause a rush within her, that Une had not felt since Treize.

Blinking suddenly Une pulled the receiver of her personal phone away from her ear, and looked down to her hand half way through dialling Dante's number. She couldn't call him now what would she say? Anything would sound suspicious, and she could understand fully why for the moment at least Heero had to be dead to the world. There was a lot that needed to be done, information that had to be gathered, unfortunately mostly from Heero, and from the look of him Une was not sure when they'd be getting it. It shocked her that that was the first time she had been down to see him, fully aware that the `Traitor' was present, but feeling no need to see with her own eyes. Looking back on them moment now, Une had been rather stunned at the condition she found the former pilot in.

Une drummed her fingers upon the shinning oak finish of her heavy desk, she had always been a woman of patience, yet even now she felt it slipping. She had been in charged with the safety of the peace, a task she never took lightly. And now she knew there was a potential threat, something she should have been acting on right now, but she was compelled to remain silent, as this was a group like no other. Without Heero leading the way Une knew there was no furthering the mission. So her mind was beginning to turn over everything she'd have to contend with, once the announcement was made that Heero Yuy had died. They were going to have to keep him isolated, she trusted the men and women she worked with, but this would most definitely slip out if they did not make an effort to keep the number of people `in the know' low.

With the pilots having their own private wing of the base, Une knew that Heero having a private place to stay was not going to be an issue. But still anything could happened that might jeopardise this tenuous situation, and that's what Une really had to prepare for. Leaning back in her chair Une knew already she wasn't going to be getting much sleep tonight, her mind was spinning a mile a minute, with no chance of slowly down any time soon. Glancing down at her watch, Une gauged the time, mentally figuring out what time it would be where Dante was. Perhaps she would call him after all…it would not seem to out of the ordinary, besides speaking to him always helped her to think, even if it was not in reference to what they were actually discussing.

John stared at the x-rays with distaste, as he waited for the doctors he had asked for to arrive. The nurses were already there preparing Heero for surgery. It had been a difficult moment when they had walked into the room seeing their latest patient for the first time. There might have been no way they'd recognise Heero as anything other than a severely wounded boy. However there were more than enough questions as to how he got to be in this condition, not easy questions to answer. John knew it was more than obvious that only some of his injuries had been tended too, and the others ignored, it was also obvious that Heero had been neglected for a great deal of time.

Thankfully, however, John was handed his deliverance by Trowa, in the form of a `Non-Disclosure Agreement' something John had made the nurses sign before they even entered the room Heero was waiting in. It hadn't stopped the questions, but it had given John the freedom not to answer. Because how Heero got the injuries didn't change the fact that something needed to be done about them, and that demanded to be first priority.

“This is rather unusual wouldn't you say John?” A strongly nasal voice questioned from across the room, and John turned to see the surgeons he had requested.

More than you know… John thought silently to himself, but merely offered the newcomers a small smile, it was forced but he hoped it didn't look to obvious. “I wouldn't have thought there'd be anything odd about a late night surgery, you gentlemen do it all the time.”

“Well that's certainly true,” Dr Brodie Marks responded with a nod of his head as his arms crossed and he settled his slight weight back. He was a young man, considered a prodigy by most for his excellent work with repairing nerve damage. “But I can't remember the last time I was informed of a patient by one of Relena's bodyguards…” he trailed off a questioning look in his brown eyes.

The first man to have spoken nodded his greying head in agreement, a Dr Anthony Brown, a competent surgeon if not a might bit conceited. “Seems to me there's something more going on here than you'd all like to let on…what's with the hushed nature?”

John drew in a breath preparing himself for what was to come, “Well, that I can't answer, all I need right now is your services, if you don't want any part of this leave here now. If not sign these, and lets begin,” He passed a sheet of paper to each of them.

“What's this?” the third man questioned suspiciously, he was the oldest of the three doctor's John had asked for. He might have been old but he had several years of good service still left in him, processing a sharp tongue, and no patience for foolishness. John rather likes Keith Williams, they had known each other for most of their working lives, and had always managed to get on rather well together.

“A Non-Disclosure Agreement, in signing this document you were never here, we haven't met this night, and the patient you are about to see doesn't exist.” He told them all simply, watching as their expression became incredulous, “This is the way it has to be, don't ask me why I, obviously can't explain it to you. So will you help this patient or not?”

“This is rather unusual John,” Anthony seemed almost to mock as he made to had the paper back.

“And why do you think that is?” John was quick to return not reaching out to take the paper. He could see indecision on the other men's faces, and he spoke to comfort their fears, “I assure you, that in signing that and helping this patient you are in no way breaking the law. I called for the three of you specifically because this boy needs you,” the last he felt might be enough to tug at both ego and heart strings, and, as hoped pens, started moving, scrawling illegible signatures.

Brodie passed his paper back last, and looked John directly in the eye, “So who is this top secret patient?”

“I'm afraid even after signing this I can't reveal that, it really isn't all that important though,” John stepped aside affording all three doctors a better view of the x-rays that had been posted up behind him. The backlit x-rays revealed the sorry state Heero's bones were in, and he saw each man react with surprise. They had all seen it before, broken bones were nothing new to them, but so many on one small body, and the knife were enough to draw a reaction from anyone.

“Well I can see why you need me…” Brodie mused stepping closer to the x-ray of Heero's left hand, “How long has that been in there?”

“Longer than I would have liked it to be,” He had not checked the tapes to find the exact time that Luc had done this, but it was most likely a fair number hours.

Anthony and Keith both stepped closer examining each one carefully, “How did all this happen?” Keith inquired looking back over his shoulder to where John stood waiting.

“Again that's not really necessary information…” he evaded shifting the papers in his hands without thinking.

“I can understand keeping the patient's identity a secret, and that this event never happened, but why is how it happened such an issue? What difference could that make?” Keith countered face as stern as John ever remembered seeing it.

John suppressed the need to sigh heavily, he understood where each of these men were coming from, and had no trouble putting himself in their shoes, but he was going to respect Heero's wishes. “Would you be satisfied with a car crash?” it obviously wasn't the truth, but his injuries were severe enough for that, and if they needed something it was the best John could do.

“If that's the best we're to get …” Keith did sigh then, turning his eyes back to the screen, “Well what are we waiting for? Is the boy prepped and ready?”

“Yes the nurses are already doing that all that's left is for us to scrub up, and see to him.”

Keith gave a start at that, “You're no surgeon John.”

“I know but I feel I should be there…” he didn't want to be sitting idly by while these men saw to Heero's needs.

“This one's special to you, John?” Keith asked, watching through the corner of one eye.

“Yes…”

“Well then let's not keep him waiting,” Keith was the first to move off towards the prep room, and John release a half breath he had been holding. It was finally happening. Heero was receiving the help that he needed, a once hopeless situation as completely turned around, and John couldn't have been more happy or relieved. Though he knew this wasn't the end, rather a new beginning, with more difficulties waiting for the boy. But those could be dealt with as they came, there was no sense worrying over them just now. John followed along behind, his steps feeling lighter than they had all week.

Thanks for reading!!

All Is Not Lost:

“…The colony is planning an evening shower for the end of the week other than that the week should be lovely the weather seasonably warm. Bill, back to you…” the weather lady said ending her section of the news. There was really little use for her now, what with the weather being controlled by someone on the colony. But it was still nice to know when the rain was coming.

Ash hardly paid any attention to the news, as the anchor started onto a story that they had already covered to death. His focus was never really on much other than one thing, Heero, and what had happened to him. It didn't matter that it had been a little over three months without word from the Japanese man, Ash was determined to find him. There was just no way he could ever being himself to believe that Heero had just up and left, as Dante seemed happy to accept. Every free moment he had was given over to his search, and he had noticed a steady decline in his free time as Dante seemed to always have more and more jobs for him to do. He didn't doubt that was done in an attempt to end his friends unhealthy obsession.

He knew Dante was only worried about him, and a part of Ash's mind could see and comprehend why. He had lost weight in the last few months more focused on his search that eating, but Dante was doing his best to rectify that now. And Ash knew he had become far more distant with the people around him, yet that was something that Dante couldn't change, despite his best efforts. From where he sat in his living room Ash kept half an ear on the morning news, and vaguely heard the anchor interrupt his interviewee.

“…Sorry to cut you off Mr. Kain, but we have just received word that Une, commander of the Earth Defence Corp, will be holding the press conference early, we go now live to earth where we await her arrival. We are told she should be there any moment. The purpose behind this conference is unknown to us at this moment…” The anchor man glanced down at his notes before starting into a recap of what he had just said for those who were just coming in.

The name Une caught Ash's attention but not enough for his to take his eyes off what he held in his hands. The pictures that he had put up in Heero's apartment, the ones that had mysteriously been torn down, something Ash knew Heero wouldn't do. If that had been his intention all along he would have done so the day Ash had first put them up. Ash couldn't stop himself from looking at them, and wondering. It eat away at him, he would have given anything to discover what had become of his friend.

A new voice breaking through the silence of his room, caught Ash's attention, and he half listened to what it had to say. “…I've called this meeting to announce the end of a dark chapter in the history of the peace. Heero Yuy, former bodyguard to Relena Peacecraft, and more recently traitor to the peace, has died.” Une's voice was indifferent to the words she was speaking.

Ash jumped forward in his seat, his mind shut down when he heard her words, unable to understand what Une had said, but she was not done. “For three long years Yuy had eluded us, however we were finally able to corner him. We had hoped to bring him to proper justice. Unfortunately the life he was forced to lead, remaining in hiding wore away at his heath, and he died early this morning, despite our best efforts.” Ash couldn't believe what he was hearing, dead? It didn't seem possible, he had watched as Heero eluded death, as easily as he eluded the people perusing him, how was it that death had managed to catch him now?

Falling back against his firm couch Ash stared at the ceiling without seeing, feeling like the life had been sucked out of him. This couldn't be the way his three long months of searching were to end, it wasn't a possibility. He wouldn't accept this as the answer he had been searching for. Ash felt his eyes prick with on coming tears, they were formed from endless frustration, and loss, but he would not let them fall, he would not be that weak, Heero would not have wanted that.

“How did it happen…?”

Morganeth Taren'drel