Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Patterns of Change ❯ Two Weeks Later ( Chapter 4 )

---------------- TWO WEEKS LATER ----------------

 

Kat was a nervous wreck this morning. Her body was reacting a lot slower than usual, and she knew that it was probably from fatigue. The evening out with Heero and Duo felt as if it had been years ago, but in reality it was only two weeks prior. With her reserves so low from being awake for forty-seven hours and only sleeping two hours before the problem arose, she knew that coffee wasn't going to help this time. Une had told their field that it would be a two day mission tops, but with the new information pouring in, their replacements could not allow the switch in case of bringing point of their location. Katrina knew that she was on borrowed time, and if Heero or Duo saw her now, she would be in more trouble than it was worth. The crew was tightly strung, and they all realized that she was putting extra hours on because the newest agent in the group had come down with a stomach virus, and she was doing most of his duties. Luckily Heero choose that particular time to enter, but she had yet to look in his direction. “Marx, where's that new lead you found? Johnson, I need those recordings and documents that you picked up.” Katrina's voice was low and firm, but Heero heard the tiredness in it, and he intervened. “Carter, go find Maxwell, I'll take over for now. Tell him to get here quickly, and get some rest. We'll wake you in five hours, and if there is an emergency we'll get you.” Nodding in consent, she said, “I'll get Maxwell. Oh, Phillips is on bed rest, he's got a stomach virus.” Accepting the information, Heero nodded, and Kat went to get Duo so she could pass out in a dreamless coma. “Maxwell, Yuy needs you in the main centre, and he told you to wake me in five hours unless there is an emergency.” Duo looked at her, and pushed her onto the bed. “Sleep, I'm going. How long you been awake for?” Letting loose a yawn that could swallow Manhattan, she said, “Forty-seven hours, I think. Just wake me in five, thanks.” She passed out before she saw the look of concern cross over Duo's face, and the agent he had posted next to her bed telling him that she was to get ten hours sleep, no questions asked.

 

“Yuy, tell me why Carter has been awake for forty-seven hours straight.” Duo's voice was cold and the whole room stopped working. “Forty-seven hours? She's been awake that fucking long? Why didn't one of you inform us?” Heero's voice escalated and the senior field agent said, “She told us that she was fine, and when ever we asked her to get some sleep, she brushed it off. If it helps any, even though she slowed down from super fast to fast, her work was still efficient.” The looks of surprise that he was getting form Heero and Duo kept the man going. “Not once did she make a wrong decision, and she forced Phillips into quarantine because of his condition and took on his work personally. We've taken most of Phillips' jobs, but she made sure that she typed up all the reports that he would have written.” Nodding at the man, Duo turned to Heero, “I gave her a guard, and told him that she was to get ten hours of sleep, that alright with you?” Giving a curt nod, Duo continued where Katrina left off in the report. The reports would have continued if a high pitched scream hadn't startled the crew. Duo recognized the scream as Katrina's and he ran to where she was bunked. When he entered the room, he had to control the urge to kill. Katrina had been chained to the bed, and on the floor was the guard he had posted. Phillips, who looked like he had seen better days was holding a pipe and was murmuring something. “…can't touch her. You can't touch her like that. She was sleeping and you broke the trust…” Duo took a step forward and said, “Good job Phillips, you can restrain him, and I'll unlock Agent Carter.” The pale man nodded, and Duo gave him a pair of hand cuffs to use. Taking his picks from his hair, Duo removed Katrina's swollen writs and ankles from the too tight cuffs and held her tight. “Your safe girl, I'm here. It's me, Duo. You want to sit with Heero and me in the main room. Nothing will hurt you there, I promise.” Nodding in consent, Duo picked up the shaking woman. “Phillips, good job; you can shackle him to the bed if you want, and Agent Yuy and myself want a report on what happened. When you're up to the task that is; understood?” Giving a weak salute Phillips agreed and Duo brought Katrina into the command room. Putting her in his lap as he typed, the tremors that rocked her body began to subdue, and Heero plucked her from Duo's lap once she fell asleep. Putting her on the makeshift bed, he bandaged her wrists and ankles, while making sure that everything kept running smoothly. Luckily, they had enough information to close the small terrorist group and called in for backup to make the arrest.

 

Katrina woke to the sound of murmurs and an angry voice. The words slowly registered and she realized that it was Relena. “What gave that man the right to try and rape her while she was suffering from exhaustion?” A sigh of suppressed anger came fourth, “It was Agent Jones.” Duo's voice was as cold as ice, and Katrina began to piece the puzzle of what had happened in her mind. “We thought he would have learned that a chance with Katrina was out of the question, but he decided to put matters into his own hands. Luckily Phillips was nearby, and managed to knock him out. If it wasn't for the fact that he was closest, she would have been raped.” The soft whimper brought Heero's attention to the bed, “Kat, can you hear me? We're at the apartment, and Relena was still here after feeding the cat and watering the plants.” Tired eyes opened, and a shaky hand clasped onto his arm, “Why did he try?” Kat's voice was scared and trembling, showing how damaging Jones' attack on her was. Pulling her into a safe and comforting hug, Heero replied, “He couldn't get over the fact that you didn't want him, and so he was going to force you to be with him, one way or another.” Another whimper came fourth, and within moments, she was crying softly into Heero's shoulder, missing the masks of pain flicker across the faces of the people in the room. The bed shifted again, and two more arms wrapped themselves around the shaking and crying woman. Murmurs and endearments were whispered in her hair, and soon Katrina feel back asleep just as Lady Une came into the room. More information was given, but when Katrina's wrists were touched, a muffled scream was heard. Duo woke up the depressed Katrina, and her sketchy tale was told. The rawness of her wrists and ankles caused most of her discomfiture, but the memory of waking up to being tied down to the bed caused her main dilemma. After the other members of the room left, Katrina told her main fear to Heero and Duo, and waited for their response. “Une gave us leave for a few days to catch up on sleep,” Duo began, “If you want, we could go out around town and go on a few picnics.” Thinking over the proposition, Katrina nodded and received two breath taking smiles from the two handsome men.