Title: Written in Blood
Author: AstroKender
Pairings: 5x2, 3+4, 1+2 and various combinations there of.
Rating: action/mystery
Warnings: just some mild Trowa/Quatre angst in this part.
Spoilers: None.
Notes: Takes place after the Eve Wars of Endless Waltz. Everyone works for the Preventers.
Disclaimers: I own nothing...not even my computer. So obviously GW isn't mine. Don't sue.
He was floating. The darkness was warm and comfortable around him, like an old lover. He floated around happily, remembering nothing, not even his name. Names didn't matter here. It was a void. He felt no pain-
Duo...
Duo? Two...Two of what?
Duo...
No. Duo was a name...His name...my name. My name is Duo.
"Duo."
The darkness was receding, leaving him colder. He was aware of small things now. The pain in his hands, his back, and especially his head. Some one was shaking him gently.
"Duo, you need to wake up."
Reluctantly, Duo opened one eye, then the other. The room was dark, thankfully. The dim light from a nearby lamp wasn't bright enough to add to the pain in his head. He was aware of something on his face, right under his nose. An oxygen tube. He was in a hospital.
His eyes trailed down his sheet-covered body, taking notice of the IV, and the neat little glowing thing that covered one over his bandaged fingers, keeping track of his pulse. He was aware of one other thing. He had to go to the bathroom: bad. He finally looked up at the figure leaning over him.
"Tro-" His throat was sore and scratchy. They probably stuck a damn tube down it at some point while he'd been out. Trowa seemed to understand his meaning though. He reached for something behind him.
"You'll have to use this bedpan. You're not allowed up yet."
The American's eyes narrowed. "Y-ou've got to be k-" He protests were interrupted by a fit of coughing.
"If you'd rather have the nurse help you I can go get her..."
Shaking his head, Duo carefully turned on his side and relieved himself in the pan Trowa held up for him. His face burned with embarrassment. After he was done, Trowa helped him get comfortable and fed him a couple spoonfuls of ice chips.
"Look at it this way," Trowa gave him a small smile. "You took it better than WuFei did."
"Fei?"
Trowa nodded to the other bed in the room. Duo looked over at the Chinese boy's sleeping form. He looked pale, but he seemed to be breathing easily. His hair was out of its customary ponytail and hung down his face in charcoal waves. Duo breathed a sigh of relief that quickly became another cough.
"He's okay?"
The banged boy nodded. "He woke up a couple of hours ago and demanded to be moved into your room. The gunshot went cleanly through his shoulder. He sustained a lot of blood loss, and had a mild case of hypothermia, but otherwise his injuries were minor."
"How long was I out?"
Trowa's green eyes narrowed. "About fourteen hours. You had us really worried. Quatre and Heero both got sent home to get some sleep or Une said she was going to have them thrown in jail."
"We would have escaped in an hour."
Startled, Trowa turned to face the intruders. "Heero! Quatre? What are you both doing here? Une gave you explicit orders."
Quatre had the decency to blush. "Heero planted a bug in the room so we'd know when Duo woke up. We stayed in the car a few blocks away."
Trowa felt his face grow hot. He had spent many hours talking to Duo's sleeping form and none of those things were meant to be heard by anyone else. He turned to Duo.
"I've got to go take care of o few things. I'll check up on you later."
Duo nodded. "Thanks, Tro."
The Latin boy swiftly slipped past the other two boys and disappeared down the hall. After reassuring Duo that he'd be back, Quatre rushed to catch up with him.
"What was up with that?" Duo asked curiously.
Heero walked over and sat down beside the braided boy's bed. "Trowa isn't the kind of person to reveal his feelings willingly. The bug was a bad idea."
"Oh..." Duo felt his eyelids getting heavy.
"You can't go back to sleep yet. You have a concussion. We've had to wake you for at least fifteen minutes every hour. This is the first time you've been lucid enough to talk."
"Hn..." Because of his throat, there seemed to be a role reversal of sorts. Now it was the Silent ones who talked while Duo listened. "Status report?"
Heero lips turned upwards in a slight smirk before the stoic mask slipped back into place. "You suffered from severe head trauma, bruised ribs, a first degree burn to your upper back, mild hypothermia, and numerous lacerations to your hands and fingers."
Duo snorted softly. "S'at all?" Heero fixed him with a well placed glare.
"Combine that with all your previous injuries and you have quite a serious condition. It could have very well been fatal." Heero's voice broke slightly there at the end.
"Heero?"
"Hn."
"C'n I have s'more ice?"
"Hn...baka."
"Trowa wait up!" Quatre ran swiftly through the hall, dodging patients and doctors alike. Trowa turned on him furiously.
"I have nothing to say to you." He began walking again.
"Trowa! Stop!" The blonde quickly grabbed his lover's arm.
"I love Duo! Now you know. Now leave me alone."
But Quatre didn't let go. "What? You think that fact makes me think less of you?"
"You lover is in love with another man. You should despise me." Trowa's chin sank to his chest.
Quatre gently brushed aside the Latin boy's caramel colored bangs. "Do you still love me?" Trowa looked up, green eyes sparkling with unshed tears.
"Of course I do! Nothing could make me stop loving you."
The Arab smiled. "Then everything's alright." He gently led Trowa to sit down on a nearby bench.
"I don't understand..."
Quatre took a deep breath. "I love Duo too, Trowa. Everyone does. There is something about him that draws people. Even Rashid and the Maguanacs were spellbound by him. I love Duo, as much as I love Heero, and even WuFei. We've all been through so much together. It is impossible that we'd not have some sort of feelings for each other."
Trowa's brows drew together. "But what I feel for Duo is different than what I feel for Heero and WuFei. It's closer...to what I feel for you."
Quatre merely smiled and gave him a gentle hug. "Then I'd say Duo is a very lucky man."
Trowa pushed away from him and started pacing. "Why aren't you mad at me? Shouldn't you be jealous of the feelings I have for Duo?"
Quatre stood up also. "Trowa, Duo's been through so much, we all have. He deserves all the love we can give him. I would never be jealous when someone has that kind of love."
Trowa gave him a small smile. "You know you'll always be first in my heart, Novio*. " Quatre grinned and tackled him, nearly sending them both to the floor.
"I know, beloved. I know." When he pulled away, his eyes were suspiciously moist.
"Now. I think we have some patients to visit."
Trowa smirked. "Only if you can get past her." He gestured to a very furious looking Lady Une and laughed as Quatre meeped.
End Part Sixteen
*novio-Spanish for beloved. I know Trowa is of some unnamed Latin origin and I have the best grasp of the Spanish language, so that is what he speaks in my fics.
(:./astrokender/written16)
