The first thing Setsuna realized was the pain. His head felt as if it were going to explode. He slowly opened his eyes to slits to gaze at the room before him. It was dark, he realized. The room he was held in had thick grey walls, and were what looked like cement. As was the floor. He went to bring his hand up to his head to try and ease some of the pain, but found that he was unable. He glanced down, only to find himself strapped to a chair. His hands were bound behind his back and restraints pinned his torso to the back of the chair. His ankles and upper shins were also strapped down. A mask also occupied the bottom half of his face, effectively silencing him. He tested his restraints, seeing if there was any give to them. He was disappointed to find that there was none. He squeezed his eyes shut trying to make sense of what happened, and how he had gotten himself in this situation. He thought long and hard...

He was piloting the 00 as a wave of enemies approached. Lockon and Tieria's Gundams were still under maintanance from the last encounter, so he and Allelujah were sent out to buy more time. What started out as 4 or 5 flag ships soon turned to 10. 7 of them cornered 00 and fired electronic cords at the mobile suit, sending bolts of electricity through the suit's system. Allelujah had just finished off his last foe when he heard Setsuna scream in pain. He hurried to his aid, trying to intercept the enemy. Setsuna continued to scream as the enemy closed in on him. The bolts continued until he eventually blacked out. Allelujah got there just in time to see his fellow Gundam Meister being loaded into the enemy's ship. Had it not been for Kujo's orders to have him return immediately, he would have pursued them.

The engineers approached the 00, getting ready to extract it's pilot. The managed to open the pilot's deck after some difficulty. Two of the workers entered and seized Setsuna from the 00 and floated him back to the dock, where three other workers were waiting with a gurney and some IVs. They had just placed Setsuna on the gurney and removed his helmet when he started to come to. They quickly restrained his wrists to his sides with the straps from the gurney and placed a needle in his arm. He had now fully awaken, and was fighting furiously against his restraints. The IV soon began to take effect however, and he found himself losing consciousness once more.

So that's what happened... Setsuna thought. He was angry at himself for getting captured so easily. And worse yet, they now possessed 00. His Gundam. He would be dammed if they took it from him without a fight. He began to fight against his bonds, grunting at the effort it caused. He was still doped up, and he found it hard to keep his mind focused. Craning his neck, he attempted to remove the IV needle in his neck by rubbing it on his shoulder. All this did was cause him more pain. He sighed through his nose in defeat. There was no getting out of this.

He looked up as the door to his room opened. In walked a man dressed in a Union uniform. He glared at Setsuna angrily. Setsuna returned the glare. The man stood there for what seemed like hours before he finally spoke.

"So we finally meet," His voice was low and full of hatred. "You don't have any idea how much trouble you caused me." He approached Setsuna, stopping only a foot from where he sat. Then without warning he struck him. Setsuna's head snapped to the side, the pain in his head increasing. "Do you have any idea how many lives were lost because of you?" He asked. Setsuna continued to glare at him. "You know how many of my friend were LOST BECAUSE OF YOU?" The man's voice increased and became a yell as he readied himself to strike again. The blow to Setsuna's head made black spots dance in his vision. He let out a muffled cry as the man gripped him by the hair and pulled his head back, forcing him to look him in the eyes. "You're nothing but a murderer. Whatever you get will be too good for you. And until your judgment, I will have the pleasure of avenging those dear to me." He pulled at Setsuna's hair. He cried out in pain but it came out muffled from the gag. He brought his fist down on his head once again, only this time hitting him just below his left eye. The pain in Setsuna's head was unbearable, and he wished more than anything that the man would just kill him. It would be better then enduring this painful and embarrassing situation. He knew he wouldn't be so lucky though.

He sat there in the dark. For how long, he had no idea. It seemed like years to him, though it couldn't have been more than a few days. He was sure he was going to die there. All he could think about was how he let Celestial Being down, let his friends down, let his Gundam down. They enemy now possessed the 00, Celestial Being's secret weapon. The thought of someone else piloting his Gundam made him angry. He was defeated. There was absolutely nothing he could do. He sat there slumped in his chair, too exhausted and in too much pain to do anything else. The beatings came daily, at least twice. The whole left side of his face was caked in blood, both fresh and old. He had been given no food or water, or even let out of the chair. He remained strapped to it since day one. The drugs they kept injecting into his system kept him from doing anything more than breathing, and even that was difficult at times. He was sure these people meant to kill him, and he really wouldn't mind right about now...

Tieria ran down the hall as fast as he could. He had just arrived on the enemy's ship and was searching for Setsuna. Shortly after he had been captured, Kujo began to come up with a strategic plan to rescue him. She thought long and hard, barely getting any rest until her plan was completed. The plan's primary objective was to retrieve Setsuna, and then to reclaim 00. Tieria had been given to task of retrieving Setsuna. Once Setsuna is found, they will proceed to Phase 2, finding 00. When they've recovered the gundam, Phase 3 would initiate, in which Lockon and Allelujah would act as decoys and distract the enemy as they attempt to escape. It was a simple, yet incredibly dangerous mission, but had to be done.

Tieria skidded to a halt as he heard approaching footsteps. He ducked into a dark side-hallway was a dozen soldiers ran past him. Once he was sure he was gone he proceeded. He had discovered where the ship's prison was, and assumed Setsuna must be there. When he came to the door he realized it was locked. Looking around and making sure no one was around to hear, he brought out his gun and fired it through the door handle. He pushed the door open and stepped inside. It was a large room with a desk, chair, computer, and a number of doors. He tried every door and discovered that Setsuna was not in any one of them. Then he turned to the desk and found another door right behind it. He approached it and stepped inside, and almost wished he hadn't.

There in the center of the room was his fellow Gundam Meister, and friend, Setsuna F. Seiei tied to a chair. He had an awful looking needle sticking out of his neck and a mask covering his lower face, and wore nothing but his pants. Bloody gashes and bruises covered the young man's chest and arms. The amount of blood that covered his body was unbelievable. He walked up to Setsuna and knelt before him. He closed his eyes and placed his fingers on his neck. He gasped in surprise when he found a pulse.

Setsuna... you're alive! He quickly pulled the needle out of his neck and removed the mask that gagged him. That's when he heard him speak.

"T-tieria...?" His voice was barely a whisper. Tieria looked up at his friend and saw him looking right back at him. His eyes, that were once so full of fire and life, looked dull and dead to him

"Shh. Don't speak. We're getting you out of here." Setsuna closed his eyes and nodded. Once Tieria finished undoing his restraints, he appeared in front of his friend again, ready to help him up. However Setsuna weakly pushed him away.

"M'fine," he slurred. Tieria backed off as Setsuna got on his own two feet. He swayed where he stood just before his eyes rolled back into his head and he fell forward. Tieria expected this and was ready to catch him before he collapsed. Even after all of this, after all that he had been through, the kid still didn't want anyone's help. He lowered his friend on to the floor and gently patted his cheek.

"Setsuna, come on. Wake up. We need to get out of here. I need a little help here" He didn't have to wait long before Setsuna's eye slowly opened again. Tieria helped his friend sit up and let him adjust so that he wouldn't collapse again. "You ready?" Setsuna nodded. This time he allowed Tieria to help him up. He swayed on his feet again, but Tieria grabbed his arm and put it over his shoulder to help support him. They proceeded out the door and into the corridor. Tieria walked as fast as he dared given Setsuna's condition. The man was not doing well at all. He was panting from the exertion that his movements caused him. Sweat beaded his forehead, and many of his wounds that had begun to close up were now bleeding profusely. Tieria looked at his friend with a concerned expression. He didn't know how Setsuna was managing to stay conscious, but he was grateful for it. It would have been extremely difficult having to carry him the whole way, especially having to deal with and enemies that could show up.

Tieria paused briefly when he heard more footsteps coming from ahead of them. He noticed a small, poorly lit passageway that led to a correlating corridor just a few yards ahead of them. He hurried over to it and got a comfortable distance to let them pass without them being seen. He set Setsuna down carefully and moved farther to the opening with his gun drawn, just in case they were found out. He let out a sigh of relief when they passed by, unaware of their presence. He moved back over to Setsuna to check on his condition, and was not pleased with what he found.

He was losing too much blood, too fast. Already a small pool had begun to form where he sat. His head hung and his shoulders were slouched, the mere effort to sit straight being too much for his damaged body.

"Setsuna?" Tieria whispered to him, trying to get his attention. When he didn't respond he reached out and grabbed his head with both hands to lift it up. His head lolled lifelessly in his hands, however miraculously, he was still conscious. His half closed eyes peered into Tieria's. "You have to stay awake. I know you can do it, just hold out a little longer. In the meantime, I have to try to stop some of the bleeding. Just bear with me, alright?" Without waiting for a response he gently released his head. His chin immediately fell to his chest again. Without wasting any more time Tieria ripped off a part of his shirt and began to bind it around Setsuna's arm, which seemed to be bleeding the worst. He hissed in pain as it was tightly secured. He wanted to do something about his chest, but didn't have anything he could use to stop it from bleeding.

"Okay, time to go," Tieria reached under Setsuna's arms and began to pull him up. He was met with a painful groan. After putting Setsuna's arm around his shoulder again he waited patiently for him to adapt. His eyes were squeezed tight from the pain. He slowly brought his free hand up to his head and attempted to ease some of the throbbing, but with no luck. "You ready?" Setsuna opened his eyes to slits and glanced at Tieria.

"'s just get the hell outa here..." He mumbled in response. Tieria smiled at that.

They walked for some time before more footsteps were heard. Luckily enough there was another side passageway, however it was as well lit as the rest of the corridor. He couldn't expect them to pass by without seeing them. But he wasn't about to just stand out here in the open. He hurried over to the passageway and once again set Setsuna down and drew his gun. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The footsteps were getting closer. He slowly brought his gun up and aimed straight ahead, waiting.

The first man never had a chance. As soon as he was in the clearing Tieria fired, shooting him straight through the skull. He was dead before he hit the ground. The next man realized what was happening too late and also ran into the clearing, resulting in getting a bullet in his skull.

"Get back! Don't get any closer, the intruders are in there!" He heard a man yell. Danm, He thought. I was hoping to get at least a few more before they realized. I wonder how many there are. He looked over at Setsuna and saw him attempt to sit up. He drew his second gun and handed it to him.

"I'm going to need your help, Setsuna." Setsuna lifted his head and Tieria was pleased to see some of his old spark come back. He grabbed the gun with shaky hands and held it close to his body. He scooted his body, sliding it sideways so he could face the clearing and leaned heavily on the wall.

"If you want to live, drop your weapons and surrender now!" One of them yelled. An unfortunate man tested his luck and peeked around the corner. Tieria was waiting for this and shot him right in between the eyes. He heard one of the other men swear loudly. "You bastards! I'll kill you!" With that three of them jumped out at once and began to open fire. Tieria dropped one of them before they could fire a shot, and even Setsuna managed to down another one. The third man got two wild shots out before he, too, was put down. They waited quietly for the next soldiers, wondering if there were even any left.

They were met with an answer when one of them flung his arm out, throwing something in their direction. Tierie's eyes widened in shock. No way! A smoke bomb! Sure enough, as soon as it connected with the ground an explosion of smoke was emitted into the air. Both Tieria and Setsuna were now coughing violently, and before either one of them could regain their composure Tieria felt something collide with him, knocking him to the ground. Strong hands made their way around his neck, but he expertly swatted the offender's hands away and responded with a kick to his midsection. He put a bullet in his head to finish him off. The smoke had cleared somewhat and how he could see that there were three offenders left. One of them was pursuing Setsuna, who amazingly enough, had gotten on his feet. He was slammed against the wall by his offender, too weak to really put up much of a fight. Tieria shot him down and watched as Setsuna slid to the ground. Setsuna reached out to grab his gun and aimed just past Tieria, shooting an offender who had managed to get within 4 feet of him, about to attack him with a sharp knife. Tieria stared wide-eyed in disbelief. It amazed Tieria that even in his condition, he can shoot as well as he can. Only one left... he thought as he looked around. The man was nowhere to be seen. I wonder where he- His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a cry of pain from behind him. He quickly turned around and was horrified to see one of the offenders holding Setsuna as a human shield. He had one of his arms pinned behind his back and a knife at his throat. Already there was blood dripping off the blade of the knife.

"Drop your weapon, NOW." The man ordered. Tieria clenched his hands in anger and glared at the man. The offender pressed the blade harder against Setsuna's neck. "Do it now or your friend dies! Surrender your weapon and put your hands up!" Setsuna struggled against the man as much as his body would allow, but really didn't have any hope of escaping the man's hold. Tieria slowly raised his hand and dropped his gun. It clattered to the floor loudly. He then kicked it towards the enemy holding his friend hostage. The man cracked a cocky smile and began to approach Tieria, his hold still strong on Setsuna. Meanwhile Tieria calmly stood his ground, just waiting for his opportunity to strike. That opportunity presented itself when the man got within 5 feet of him. To quickly lunged at the man, knocking him and Setsuna down. He grabbed the man by the neck and began to squeeze as tight as he could, but the man used his momentum to flip him over, pinning Tieria to the ground and began to bring his fist down on his face. He got two or three good punches in before he made a grab for his neck. Tieria gasped as his air was immediately cut off. The man was very strong, and he couldn't seem to overpower him. Shit! This is bad, he's too strong... He was running on his last breath when suddenly a shot rang out. The hold on his neck immediately vanished and the man slumped on top of him. He let out an Ooomf! as all the man's body weight collapsed on him. That guy was damn heavy.

He heaved the body off of him and looked over to see Setsuna holding a smoking gun in his direction. He was panting heavily, sweat drenched his body. Tieria let out a sigh of disbelief as he got up to go tend to his friend. However he had just gotten to his feet when suddenly the gun fell from Setsuna's hands and clattered to the floor. His hands dropped lifelessly to his sides as his eyes rolled back into his head. He began to fall forward and would have collided with the cold, hard ground had it not been for Tieria, who caught him just in time.

"Setsuna? Hey... Setsuna? Come on! Open your eyes," He patted his friend's cheek in an attempt to rouse him. When he was met with no response, he felt his neck for a pulse. He was startled to find that it was barely there. Shit! We're out of time. We need to get out of here. NOW! He carefully lifted Setsuna into his arms and began to run towards the docking station. Luckily he made it there without any more encounters. Waiting for them was Setsuna's beloved Gundam. But before he could approach it he had to report in. It was time for Phase 3. That was the only way he could hope to approach 00 without being seen.

"Tieria, reporting in," He spoke into his transmitter. A brief period of silence was met before he got a response.

"Tieria, have you recovered Setsuna?" Kujo replied.

"Yes, I have him with me now."
"What is his condition?" Tieria paused at this.

"It's... it's critical. We need to proceed with Phase 3 immediately."

Silcence.

"Understood. Gundam Meisters, commence Phase 3 immediately!" A few minutes passed before the people working on the docking station began to run around frantically. It seems that the gundams have begun their attack. It wasn't long before there were few people left in the docking station, everyone having left to find a safe place. This was the opportunity to take back 00. Tightening his hold on Setsuna, he began to sneak his way around all the equipment to make his way over towards the gundam.

He grew more concerned with Setsuna by the minute. Already his face had gone extremely pale. His head lolled lifelessly against his shoulder as they walked and he no longer heard any noise come out of him, not even so much as a grunt of pain. He was grateful that the man wasn't very heavy, but at the same time he was deeply concerned by how light he had become. He had been extremely malnourished since he had been taken.

He was forced to stop half way as one of the workers ran past and took notice of him. Before he could do anything, however, Tieria quickly set Setsuna down and drew his gun, shooting the man dead. He only hoped that nobody was around to hear that shot. Turning his attention back to Setsuna, he decided it would be best to carry him over his shoulder. Then he would at least be able to defend himself. He was lucky that the worker was too in shock to respond properly, or else the outcome could have been very different. He knelt down to Setsuna and very carefully situated him over his shoulder. He was startled when he heard a small whimper come from him.

"Hold on Setsuna, we're almost there." He ran as fast as he could, trying not to jar Setsuna's injuries even further. They finally arrived in front of the gundam. Tieria pulled out his transmitter and pushed one of the buttons, which triggered the retractable ladder they would use to board the gundam. It retracted quickly, pulling them up into the cockpit. Once inside, Tieria moved behind the pilot's seat and gently laid Setsuna down. The man was still out cold, but his brow was furrowed with pain. Tieria grasped his head with both hands. "Just hang in there. I know you can hear me, so don't you even think about giving up now. We're almost home." With that he threw himself into the pilot's seat of the gundam and activated it. After engaging the switches he pulled out one of the beam sabers. He didn't have time to figure out their docking system, so he was just going to have to make his own exit.

After using the beam saber to create an exit big enough to go through, he flipped a few more of the switches and pulled the throttle, allowing the gundam to go through the hole he made without any complication. Once he was clear of the spacecraft, he proceeded out into open space. He entered a few things into the gundam's computer screen, setting an auto-pilot course back to their own ship. Once he completed his coordinates, he activated his transmitter again.

"Tieria reporting. We have successfully carried out Phase 3. Headed back to base. Pull back."

"Roger," Allelujah and Lockon replied. "Headed back to base."
"Good work team, job well done. Hurry back so we can assess Setsuna's condition," came Kujo's reply.

Tieria let out a sigh of relief. It was finally done, and it seems that everyone got out unscathed.

Well, everyone except Setsuna.

He glanced back at the unconscious man and got up to check on his condition. He paused when he glanced down at himself and discovered how much of Setsuna's blood and covered him. It was beyond frightening. He returned to Setsuna's side while the gundam made it's way through space. There was more blood pooled underneath the young man. His brow was still furrowed and his eyes squeezed shut. Tieria went and grabbed one of the spare jackets that was kept under the pilot's seat and threw it over Setsuna's body. Having lost this much blood, and taking in the fact that he was still without his shirt, it was probably a good idea to keep him warm. After he moved over to Setsuna's head and gently placed it in his lap.

"We did it Setsuna, we're going home." He ripped off another piece of his shirt to wipe away some of the blood and sweat from his face. He sat there in silence for a time before he heard a pained sound come from the man. He looked down to discover that he had once again opened his eyes. They were glazed over from pain and couldn't seem to focus on anything. "Are you awake?" He only grunted in response. "I know you're in a lot of pain, but try to stay conscious until we get back to base. We're almost there." He continued to wipe away the sweat that beaded the young man's head.

"...T-thanks...," came a hoarse whisper. Tieria looked down at him dumbfounded. Setsuna seemed to focus on his eyes for a bit and spoke again. "Thank you... 'm sorry." He mumbled again.

Did... did he just apologize? Tieria couldn't believe what he was hearing. "What on earth are you sorry for?"

"...s-screwed up..."

He blamed himself. He thought he was solely responsible. Despite the fact that his and Lockon's suits weren't ready for combat because of their carelessness from the previous engagement. He was once again taking everything out on himself. Tieria clenched his fists in frustration and grit his teeth.

"Don't you dare start that shit right now!" Setsuna looked at him with a confused expression. "You did what you could. If we had been more careful this never would have happened. We would have been there fighting along side you. So don't even think about taking this all out on yourself." Setsuna's eyes softened and smiled ever so slightly. "You just stay quiet. Save your strength, or whatever you have left of it. We'll get you fixed up in no time." With that, Setsuna let his eyes close as he waited for this nightmare to be over.

"Auto-pilot docking initiated," came a voice over the speaker. Good, we're finally there, Tieria thought, relieved. Once the gundam was properly docked, he opened the hatch and was pleased to see Kujo and Lockon waiting for him.

"Where is he? Is he okay?" Lockon blurted out, floating over to the cockpit. Tieria went back to retrieve Setsuna, picking him up and slinging one of his arms over his shoulder. Lockon stopped in his tracks at the sight of the man. "Oh, God..." Setsuna looked up at him and smiled.

"...Good t' s-see you, man..." he croaked. Lockon shook his head and snapped out of his daze and went to sling his other arm over his shoulder.

"Yeah, you look like shit, man!" He laughed nervously, trying to lighten the mood. Setsuna exhaled a small laugh as they proceeded out of the cockpit of his gundam. When they reached the corridor that would lead to the infirmary, Setsuna once again passed out, his body going limp in their arms. Tieria cursed, but Kujo placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry about him. It'll take a lot more than this to kill him. We'll fix him up good as new." She smiled at him, and he half-heartedly returned one. Kujo took Tieria's place as she and Lockon carried Setsuna down the corridor. Tieria remained in the docking station, contemplating the events that had occurred in just the last two hours. He closed his eyes and let out a sigh of relief. It was finally all over. He glanced over at 00, taking in it's condition. It needed minimal repair. Thankfully they hadn't begun to take it apart, probably focusing mainly and how to pilot it. Well it was back where it belonged, as was Setsuna. Everything can finally go back to the way it should be.

END