Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ On the Run ❯ Chapter 3

On the Run - part 2

by KatiKat

Note: My thank you goes to all the wonderful people who reviewed this story. You rock, folks! J

"We need help!" the man shouted, his voice harsh from the bitter cold outside.

Trowa pushed the door shut and patted Shinigami, who sat by him wagging his tail, on the head. "What happened?" he asked, regarding the newcomers warily.

The man looked at the bartender, who still stood behind the bar, mistrust written on his face, then back to Trowa. He reached up and pushed the hood of his expensive pelt coat from his head, revealing red-brown hair, forked eyebrows and a long aristocratic nose. "There was an avalanche. My men and I were riding through the pass when it came down. I don´t know how many of them are hurt. The horses ran away and our sleigh was destroyed. We need to gather people and go looking for survivors!" The tall man was panting, his cheeks red from the ice cold wind. The look in his clear blue eyes was urgent.

Trowa nodded and was about to speak when the bartender jumped in. "Well, of course, sir, but... there is a blizzard outside and people won´t risk their lives... for what may be nothing," he said, the greedy gleam in his eyes betraying the statement, though.

Trowa sent him a disgusted look.

The man´s eyes narrowed, and he squeezed the figure clinging exhaustedly to his side tighter. "I have money, bartender!" he spit out in rage. With that, he reached into his coat and threw a heavy pouch on the ground, letting the gold coins spill. "Now go and organize a search party."

Warrick threw himself at the fortune, but before he could touch the gold, the man continued, the threat clear in his voice. "But I would advise you not to fail because I will have your head if you do!"

The bartender stopped and looked up at his new guests, fear flashing in his eyes. Gathering the money quickly, he started to yell for his sons, then disappeared through the door behind the bar.

Shinigami´s panting was the only sound that broke through the silence that fell upon the room. The man, judging by his clothes was some sort of noble, looked at the black beast that stood by Trowa´s side. "This is your dog?" he asked.

Seeing no need to deny it, Trowa nodded.

"He saved our lives. If it hadn´t been for him, we would have never found our way here."

Before anything else could be said, the man clinging to the aristocrat´s side shuddered, gave out a moan and his knees buckled. The brown haired stranger immediately focused all his attention on his companion and sank to the floor with him.

"Is he hurt?" Trowa asked, moving closer.

"Not exactly," answered the aristocrat, then pushed the hood from the moaning man´s head, revealing long, pale blond hair, sickly white face and glassy blue eyes. "He is my mate...-" he shot Trowa a quick look "-... and is about to deliver our first born."

*-*-*-*-*-*

"What´s going on?" Heero asked, standing up as Trowa entered their room again.

"There was an avalanche and some riders got caught in it," Trowa said, heading towards the fireplace where they hung up their clothes to dry. "Warrick organized a search party, but they need a healer. Unfortunately the town´s healer died this summer in a shipwreck. I offered to go with them."

Heero frowned and step closer to his friend. "Is it a wise decision?" When Trowa looked at him, getting dressed, the Enforcer continued. "The blizzard is still raging. How do you plan to find the people?"

Trowa smiled. "Shinigami will help." Seeing Heero´s confused look, he added. "Your dog found the leader and his mate and brought them here safely. I´m sure he´ll be able to find the way back. After all, he is pretty used to such weather."

"The leader and his mate?" The Enforcer raised his eyebrows.

Trowa moved to the table and started to pull things out of the backpack he left sitting on the chair, to make place for bandages and other things they would need to take with them. "Yes, actually, they took the room next to ours. The leader´s mate is in labor. Fortunately, Warrick´s mate seems to be this town´s midwife. He promised to take care of him while we go to search for the men."

Heero nodded reluctantly. He didn´t like the idea of his friend going outside in this weather, but he understood his motives. If it wasn´t for Duo, he would have probably gone, too. But Heero´s priorities changed since he had taken a mate.

"Promise to be careful?" he asked, touching Trowa´s arm in concern.

The healer looked him in the eyes and nodded firmly. "I have no intention of dying yet. After all, I haven´t found my mate yet, have I?" He smiled slightly.

Heero frowned. That didn´t erase his concern. He knew the legends that said those who died without finding their chosen one would never find peace in the afterlife. Not that he believed it, but he knew that Trowa did. The idea of dying alone was probably the only thing that terrified the healer. And Heero knew that if he hadn´t met Duo first, they would have probably ended up together. As much as Trowa was happy for the Enforcer finding his chosen one, Heero could sometimes feel the longing emanating from his friend.

"Trowa..."

The healer waved his hand, stopping him before he could say more. "Don´t worry, Heero." He then turned to the pouches and small bottles he laid out on the table. "Here is the medicine Duo has to take every couple of hours." He lifted up the blue tanned bottle with white powder. "You´ll have to take a half of a tea spoon and mix it in a cup of water. Chicken broth would be even better. The next dose he has to take in two to three hours. The next one in five hours from that moment, okay?"

Heero took the bottle and nodded, listening to his friend´s instructions.

"It´ll make him really sleepy, but hopefully it´ll stop the bleeding. Did you check...?"

The Enforcer nodded. "Yes, just before you returned. The bleeding seems to have slowed down," Heero answered the unfinished question, trying not to sound excited about the fact. They still had a long way to go.

"That´s great." Although they still hadn´t won the battle, Trowa did seem relieved, too.

The healer threw the grey backpack over his shoulder, then went to the bed where Duo was sleeping quietly. The lifebearer´s cheeks were glowing red and perspiration gathered on his forehead. But for the first time in a week, his sleep seemed quiet and undisturbed.

Trowa touched Duo´s face. "The fever doesn´t seem to be any higher. That´s a good sign. It seems that his body is finally reacting to the medication. But watch him closely. Should his fever get higher, you have to cool him down."

Heero stepped to his friend´s side, then set the bottle down on the night table next to the bed. "Yes, don´t worry about us," he said, seeing the dilemma in Trowa´s eyes. The injured men would need him, but to leave his patient... "He won´t be alone. We will be okay until you return."

The healer looked at his friend, then down at his patient. Finally, sighing deeply, he hefted his backpack higher on his shoulder as he crossed the room and opened the door. There he stopped and looked back at his friends.

"Return safely, Trowa," Heero said.

The healer nodded sharply, stepped outside and closed the door.

*-*-*-*-*-*

Trowa went a couple of steps down the corridor, where the door to the room next to theirs was left gaping open, yellow light spilling into the darkness. He stopped in the doorway, waiting for the nobleman to notice him.

The brownhaired stranger was sitting on the large bed where his blond mate was lying, dressed only in a long white shirt, his round stomach creating a big bulge in the white, soft looking material. The lifebearer was obviously in pain, his face contorted, eyes screwed tightly shut. His hands were gripping the bed covers tightly and he was biting his lip so as not to scream.

"Shh, it´ll be okay... it´ll pass, Mil," whispered the nobleman, caressing the blond, sweat soaked hair. "I´m so sorry that I got you into this. We should have stayed at home and tell the king to go to..."

Whatever he wanted to say, it got cut off by a loud, painful scream that finally tore through the pregnant man´s throat. His body went completely taut and still, before relaxing into the soft mattress. The contraction was over. The blond man was panting harshly through his blood smeared lips. The brownhaired stranger was caressing him, trying to comfort him in any way possible, knowing that this is something the lifebearer has to go through alone.

Trowa cleared his throat to make them notice him. Immediately, the nobleman´s head snapped in his direction, eyes wary. Recognizing the healer, he relaxed a bit, then turned back to his mate.

"Beloved, I have to go," he said quietly. The pregnant man´s eyes snapped open immediately and he gripped his mate´s hand tightly. "Shh, it´s okay, Mil. I´ll be back as soon as possible. I promise. But our men are in trouble. You remember the avalanche?" The lifebearer nodded slightly, exhausted. "So you see, we have to go back and help them. If we wait, they could all die."

Mil, the lifebearer, looked at his mate with resignation. "I... understand..." he said, his voice hoarse from screaming.

The brownhaired stranger smiled, then lifted the lifebearer´s hand to his lips and kissed it. "I´ll come back as soon as possible, I swear. Until then, Tosten, the owner´s mate will take care of you. He works as midwife in this town," he explained, seeing the questioning look on his mate´s face.

As if knowing that they were talking about him, Tosten, a short man with a hard face and watery eyes appeared in the door and pushing Trowa to the side a bit, he stepped into the room. "Warrick says that everything is ready," the man said with a bit of a lisp in his voice.

The nobleman nodded and with a last kiss, he got up and crossed the room to where Trowa stood. There he turned around to look at his mate, who at the same moment cried out and dug his fingers into the bed covers as another unexpected contraction seized his lower body.

"Go, go," Tosten waved them off impatiently. "He is in good hands. I helped with at least a dozen births already and all the kids are alright. There is nothing I can´t handle here."

Trowa watched as the nobleman sighed, forced himself to tear his eyes from his suffering mate and stepped outside the room. When the door closed and he and Trowa were left in the darkness of the corridor, the stranger sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"Okay, let's go. The sooner we leave, the sooner we come back," he said finally with a weary voice. His desire to stay was unmistakeable, though.

Trowa nodded but before he could move forward the man stopped him with his outstretched hand. "Since you´re willing to risk your life for us, maybe I should introduce myself. I´m Count Khushrenada, first general of the King´s army... but Treize is enough."

*-*-*-*-*-*

In a dark corner of the inn´s main room, Warrick pulled one of his sons to the side. Looking around his gathered neighbours, he made sure that no one was listening, then whispered. "Go find Howard. Try it in Dartmoore first. Tell him that his boy is here along with a rich hostage to take."

The young man blinked at his father stupidly. "But father, the blizzard... the waves´ll be..."

Warrick hissed angrily. "It´s only a couple of miles up the shoreline. The town will be empty, which means Howard´ll never get a better opportunity to snatch his prey and the pregnant one, too. I´m sure the noble bastard would be ready to pay a fortune to get him back!" He smiled wickedly. "But don´t forget to remind him who sent the message. I want a piece of the pie, too!" When his son nodded somewhat reluctantly, Warrick pushed him a bit. "Now go. You don´t have much time."

When the inn´s owner´s son headed for the kitchen and the back door, Shinigami, who was until now lying silently by the fireplace, lifted his head from his paws and rumbled deeply in his throat.

Warrick shot the dog a dark glare, hissing. "Shut up, beast!"

Shinigami bared his sharp teeth. He didn´t like that man and he would not allow him to hurt his humans!

TBC