Title: And Ministers of Grace

Series: Nephilim

Author: Daeleniel Shadowphyre

Feedback: darkone2813 at mindspring dot com

Fandom: Gundam Wing

Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Supernatural, Romance, Spiritual

Rating: PG-13

Pairing: 1x2x4, 1+2+3+4+5 friendship

Summary:Slowly, Duo approached, eyes drinking in every detail of the prone figure before him. It was Quatre, all right, laid out on his side with his back up against the tree. What Duo had mistaken earlier for a glider, however, was actually something entirely different.

Warnings: Blood, injuries, wings... I think that covers it.

Disclaimer:Gundam Wing and related characters and themes belong to Yoshiyuki Tomino and Hajime Yatate, Bandai and Sunrise, and the Sotsu Agency. This is a non-profit work of fiction.

Notes: Once upon a time, a fanfic author called Shadow was high on caffeine and bored out of her skull. Feeling the desire to write, but knowing not what to write, she spoke unto her friend, Inanna, asking for something to write. The two spoke long, their discussion turning to talk of angels and of why Shadow could accept the fourth pilot as an angel when so many could not. Deeply curious, Inanna urged Shadow to write of this. Toiling long and hard, with many constant urgings from her friend, Shadow brought forth 5060 words in the space fourteen hours and still there was more. When at last the story was complete, she had written 8368 words. And, though her story now was finished, she knew the tale had yet to end.

Dedication: To Inanna-- because you goad me into the darn'dest things sometimes.

Distribution: Ask, and ye shall receive.

Okay, that looks like the last of them,' Duo said into his comm as the man he'd just shot went down. 'Status?'

'Clear,' came Wufei's curt reply, which was echoed by Sally a moment later. Duo waited a moment for Quatre to respond, frowning when the silence continued.

'04, status!' he repeated sharply. The comm crackled briefly before Quatre's voice was heard, tired and strained.

'Not... in danger,' he replied, causing Duo's gut to clench in fear. 'Targets... eliminated. Data... secured. We... going now?'

'Yeah, buddy,' Duo said hoarsely. 'Full retreat, mission accomplished and all that. What's your location, we'll come--'

'Negative... 02,' Quatre interrupted. 'Someone... set charges. Get out... now!'

'We're not leaving you, 04,' Wufei cut in shortly.

'Yeah, 01 would have our hides for that,' Sally added jokingly, but the humour fell flat.

'I can... get clear,' Quatre argued. 'You all... get out... before the place... collapses.'

'No offence, 04,' Duo said archly, 'but you don't sound like you're in any shape to be getting clear.' There was a breathless laugh over the comm.

'That's be... cause I'm running,' he replied. 'Go!'

'Shit, pull out, guys,' Duo said, already moving his MS to retreat. He felt a brief pang for the loss of his Gundam - no modified mobile suit could hope to compete with Deathscythe - but shoved it down. On his screen he saw Wufei and Sally taking their mobile suits up into the air, but he couldn't see Quatre anywhere. '04, where are you!'

'Airborne,' came the shocking reply. 'Don't ask... just go!'

'How much time is there?' Sally asked over the comm.

'None,' Quatre replied grimly. On his monitor, Duo could make out a strange figure that looked like Quatre with some kind of glider rising up from the far side of the compound near the tree line. Too late. Duo watched in horror as the compound exploded and the monitor's view was filled with fire and ash.

It had taken Duo precious minutes to argue with Wufei and Sally that they had to return without him and Quatre. Duo could look for Quatre on foot and get him back in his mobile suit - for once, he was glad it wasn't Deathscythe since the Gundams had never been meant to carry more than just one small-bodied person - but HQ had to be alerted and Medical on standby when he and Quatre returned. That had been half an hour ago.

Duo impatiently pushed aside a clump of shrubbery as he shoved his way deeper into trees. He was mostly sure he was headed in the right direction, but it was hard to say just how far Quatre's glider had been blown. He hoped Quatre'd had the sense to abandon the glider when he crashed. If he was stuck up in the trees, that would only put more stress on whatever injuries he had trying to get him down again.

Another looming bush was shoved harshly aside, and abruptly Duo's heart was in his throat. He could see Quatre now, a slim black-clad shape sprawled on the ground against a tree and pinned under something that must've been the soot-stained remains of his glider. Shit, this was going to be bad. Duo shoved his way through the undergrowth quickly, trying to reach Quatre and--

He stopped, staring. He couldn't help it. As he'd gotten closer to his fallen friend, he'd begun to notice things automatically, and as what his eyes were seeing caught up with his brain, it left him stunned. Because there was no logical way what he was seeing could be real.

Slowly, Duo approached, eyes drinking in every detail of the prone figure before him. It was Quatre, all right, laid out on his side with his back up against the tree. What Duo had mistaken earlier for a glider, however, was actually something entirely different. White feathers were covered in soot and ash, some of them broken and ragged. The right wing lay limply over his side and along the ground, bits of twigs and leaves scattered across it, but the left... Duo stared at the scrunched shape of the left wing, pressed up against the tree at what Duo assumed must be an unnatural angle, small spots of red staining the already-dirty white feathers.

Quatre had wings.

This did not compute in Duo's mind. He'd always thought Quatre was human. A little odd, and definitely freaky with that "space-heart" thing, but still human. A corner of his mind wondered why he was fixated on the wings so much. That corner also wondered if it was because the wings were in the way and preventing assessment of Quatre's other injuries. Duo wondered absently if it was because he was going mad.

He stopped thinking when Quatre shifted slightly and whimpered in pain, rushing forward on instinct to help his friend. 'Quatre? 04, status!'

'Ngk,' Quatre gasped. 'Damn... stupid... question... 02.'

'Yeah, well, you know me,' Duo replied, feeling unaccountably light-headed. 'Can you list your injuries for me?'

'Think so,' Quatre panted, his voice barely above a whisper. 'GSW... graze... upper right arm... left thigh... Knife wound... right side--' He broke off, coughing hard enough to shake him. Duo flinched at the faintly wet sound that hinted at fluid in his lungs. 'Two... cracked... ribs!' Quatre continued when the coughing stopped. 'Bruising... Big damn... bruise... everywhere,' he added, cracking one eye open to peer up at Duo with something approaching a smile. The sight made Duo want to cringe. There was a hesitation, then Quatre added, barely audible, 'Left wing... broken... two places.' Duo swallowed. Hard.

'That is... a very impressive list of injuries, Q,' he said weakly. Quatre tried to laugh, but ended up coughing. Duo was alarmed to see faint spots of blood appear on Quatre's lips. Both his eyes were open now, unfocused and dilated with what Duo devoutly hoped was only pain and not a concussion. 'Q, that blood--'

'Bit my... tongue... when I... crashed,' Quatre wheezed. 'Help me... move away... from the tree?'

'No way, Q, I can't risk moving you,' Duo protested. Quatre managed a weak smile.

'I can... handle it... Duo,' he said. 'But I... can't breathe... too well... pressed up like... this.'

'O-okay,' Duo stammered. 'Um... shit. Okay.' He cautiously hooked his hands under Quatre's shoulders. 'This is gonna hurt,' he warned.

'No shit,' Quatre agreed, and then he screamed as Duo lifted him and pulled, moving him away from the tree. The left wing slid down the trunk and folded itself awkwardly in a feathered heap. Quatre's eyes rolled back into his head and he went limp.

'Aw, hell!' Duo swore as Quatre slipped from his grasp back onto the ground. Now that Quatre was away from the tree, he could see where the left wing was bent at angles that didn't match the right wing. A distracted part of him also noted where his flight suit had been ripped in the back, presumably when the wings came out, and that was a line of thought that Duo firmly clamped down on before his head started spinning trying to figure out how the hell that worked. Instead, he took his boot knife and started cutting the top of the flight suit off, talking as he worked. 'Come on, Q, don't do this to me, don't you dare fucking die on me, 'cause so help me if you do and Heero doesn't kill me first, I'm gonna shoot myself and come after you!'

'Don't... do that,' Quatre whispered, interrupting. 'Not... gonna die.' Duo stopped and just slumped, staring at Quatre.

'Shit, Quatre, don't fucking scare me like that, okay?' he said hoarsely. Quatre's lips twitched in something approximating a smile.

'I'll try,' he said, forcing his eyes open. He looked up at Duo through disarrayed blond hair and added wryly, 'No promises.' The smile faded and he said seriously, 'Need your... help now... Duo. Need you to... set my wing.'

'Yeah,' Duo said shakily. 'Yeah. You were eventually gonna get around to telling us how you have wings, right?' When Quatre flushed very faintly and looked guilty, Duo added hurriedly, 'Never mind, not the time. You're gonna have to talk me through it, though; I've never repaired a wing that wasn't made of metal.'

'Okay,' Quatre replied. He frowned, half in pain, half in concentration. 'Need to... get me on... my back first.' Duo opened his mouth to protest, but Quatre cut him off. 'Too much... pressure... on my lungs... like this. Plus... need the ground... to keep the... wing bones even.'

'You gonna pass out again if I move you?' Duo asked, only half joking. Quatre's answering smile was weak and rueful.

'Probably,' he admitted. 'Won't be long... though.' He winced then, and Duo started violently as the right wing shifted and folded itself up along Quatre's back and side. 'Roll me!' Quatre gasped.

Duo tucked his boot knife away again, then gripped Quatre's left shoulder and rolled him over onto his back, resolutely ignoring the way Quatre's short, high scream cut the air. The left wing now lay draped across his chest, bent at what was clearly one of the breaks in the bones. Duo hesitated, then reached out and shifted the wing, spreading it along the ground beside Quatre. Then he waited, watching the uneven and far too faint rise and fall of Quatre's chest.

After what seemed like far too long, Quatre's eyes fluttered open. He immediately closed them again, flinching. Hurriedly, Duo moved to block Quatre's eyes from the light filtering down through the tops of the trees. 'You with me again, Q?'

'Yeah, Duo,' Quatre said faintly, opening his eyes again slowly. 'Oh, ouch, that hurts!' Seeing Duo's alarm, he quickly added, 'Blood flow got restricted lying there. Left arm's all pins and needles now.'

'Sounds like you're breathing better, now,' Duo offered. Quatre's chin dipped slightly in a faint nod.

'Okay. Got your laser cutter?' Quatre asked. Duo checked his belt.

'Right here,' he said. 'Let me guess. Splints?'

'Got it in one,' Quatre agreed. 'Two straight pieces, both cut in half. The joint is okay, but the bones on either side...' He trailed off, looking unsure and worried.

'Snapped,' Duo supplied, a queasy feeling taking up residence in his stomach. Quatre nodded, for some reason looking reassured.

'Can't feel the breaks,' he said with a shadow of a grin. 'Whole thing just hurts.' He sighed shallowly. 'Might want to finish cutting off my suit,' he added. 'You'll need something to secure the splints.' Duo managed a small grin as he unsheathed his boot knife again.

'You know, this really isn't how I'd imagined playing out that particular fantasy,' he said inanely, cutting carefully so as to avoid accidentally injuring Quatre further. The top of the suit was even more in tatters than before and was quickly cut away.

'Sounds like fun,' Quatre said, holding himself still as the blade passed between skin and layered fabric. 'I'm guessing handcuffs are involved in this fantasy?'

'You're just guessing!' Duo demanded in mock-outrage, causing Quatre to grin.

'Right, silly question,' he said. He flexed his left hand tentatively then winced. 'Ouch. Okay, not moving for a while.'

'You know you start talking like me when you're injured?' Duo observed absently, his focus mostly on pulling off the top of the flight suit. 'Or like Heero, whichever of us is physically closest to you at the time.'

'Sorry,' Quatre said, looking abashed. Duo paused and brushed a finger across Quatre's cheek.

'Hey, now, that was just an observation, okay?' he said softly. 'It's a little odd, but I'm used to odd from you. And the rest of the guys,' he added when Quatre just frowned more. 'Odd just seems to be the Gundam pilot definition of "normal".'

'Hn,' Quatre replied in a distinctly Heero-esque manner, lips twitching up. Duo grinned back and kept working.

'That should do it,' Duo said after a moment, tucking the boot knife away again and pulling the sliced black fabric away. Running a finger down the centre of Quatre's chest, he added teasingly, 'I'll leave your pants on this time since I'm sure you don't have anything else on under there.'

'Peaking in the locker rooms again, Duo?' Quatre said with a fair approximation of a smirk. More seriously, he went on, 'Splints, Duo.'

'Right,' Duo said, not happy about having to leave Quatre alone to go look for suitable branches or - he glanced dubiously at the wing, which looked about two metres long - small trees. He nodded absently. 'Back in a bit,' he said, squeezing Quatre's uninjured shoulder. Quirking an eyebrow, he added, 'Don't run off, now.'

'Oh, very funny,' Quatre grumbled. Duo laughed and got up to go hunting.

It took Duo ten long minutes to find just one suitable tree. It was, however, about the right height that it could be cut in half and then sliced lengthwise. The laser cutter hummed loudly in the quiet of the woods. Duo worked quickly, fighting down the unease that continued to grow the longer he was away from Quatre. Stowing the laser cutter and gathering up his splints, Duo retraced his steps as quickly as he could manage.

Quatre was still on his back, staring up at the treetops with a far away expression. He turned his head to look at Duo as he approached, smiling tiredly. His eyes fell to the splints in Duo's hands and he took a deep breath.

'Good,' he said nodding. 'The bones need to be set and strapped into the splints before they have a chance to start healing. Duo,' he added, reaching up to grasp Duo's arm as he knelt beside Quatre, 'it's going to hurt like hell. I am going to pass out when you do this. I will likely stay unconscious for around an hour and a half.'

'Sure don't beat around the bush, huh?' Duo muttered. Quatre smiled faintly and squeezed Duo's arm. Then the smile was gone, replaced by the serious, solemn expression of the Preventers' best strategist.

'Do it, 02,' he said. Commanded. Duo nodded shortly.

'Roger, 04,' he said crisply. He moved around Quatre's head to the top of the wing, placing his hands on the outside of the first break. 'On three. One--' He pulled sharply on the bone, watching in morbid fascination as it snapped back into a straight line. Quatre didn't scream. Duo glanced at him and noted that he was out cold; the pain had apparently overwhelmed him before he could draw breath to scream at all.

Splinting a broken wing was a lot harder than splinting a leg bone. There was an extra span of flesh and a lot of feathers getting in the way, making it clumsy to bind the splints on either side of the bone. He managed, though, and turned his attention to the second break. Setting it was the same, but binding it was trickier because the bone itself was shorter than the outer edge of the whole wing. He ended up using the laser cutter to trim down the second splint before binding it into place.

Duo was a nervous wreck by the time he finished setting and splinting the wing. He really wanted to just curl up around Quatre and whimper for a bit, but he couldn't. The sun was going down and he had to get Quatre back to HQ where Wufei and Sally had Une, Heero, and Medical on alert for their return. Using the remaining strips from Quatre's flight suit, he wound makeshift bandages around the knife wound in Quatre's side, the only wound that was still bleeding very slightly.

Figuring out how to carry Quatre back to his MS took precious time. Folding the splinted wing made Duo wince and twitch, even though Quatre was unconscious and couldn't feel it. He managed to lift Quatre up with his left arm under Quatre's knees and his right arm wrapped around Quatre's wings and shoulders, cradling the injured wing between his body and Quatre's as he picked his way through the undergrowth back to where he'd left the mobile suit.

Getting Quatre strapped into the cockpit was another wonderful challenge. Even with the extra room to allow for emergency transport of a second person, the only other seat besides the pilot chair was a jump seat that clearly hadn't been designed with the idea of holding a man with wings, wounded or otherwise. Duo might have wondered when the idea of Quatre having wings had become normal to him, but he was more focused on getting said winged former Gundam pilot strapped in securely with crash webbing so he wouldn't get bounced around during the flight.

'Hang in there, Q,' he whispered as he slid into the pilot seat and powered up the mobile suit. The cockpit hatch slid closed as he strapped himself in. Moments later, they were airborne and flying at top speed back to Preventers HQ.

You're lucky I don't mind being tied up and at your mercy, Maxwell,' Quatre muttered drowsily from his position in the jump seat two hours later. Duo heard a faint rustle as Quatre shifted and the pained gasp that immediately followed. 'I suppose I'm back to not moving again.'

'Didn't want to chance you getting knocked around while we're in the air,' Duo said over his shoulder.

'Just as well,' Quatre answered wearily. 'I don't seem to have much energy at the moment. ETA?'

'Another hour, but we'll be within comm range inside of fifteen minutes.'

'Oh.'

'How do you want to handle it?' Duo asked. There was a pause.

'How... what?' Quatre asked.

'You have wings, 04,' Duo said patiently. 'The number of people who know this little fact is...?'

'You and my sister Ilea,' Quatre admitted. 'My father never knew. Not even Instructor H or the Maganacs ever found out.'

'Oh,' Duo said, feeling a little startled. Shit, this was... so not what he'd expected. 'Well, there you go,' he said at last. 'We're about to be within comm range of HQ and you've got wings. How do you want to handle it?'

Quatre was silent for several moments. Duo waited patiently, keeping an eye on the LED counting down the distance towards comm range. Finally, Quatre said hesitantly, 'Could... could you leave visual off... please? I... I don't want to hide this from the others, not anymore. But...'

'Okay then,' Duo agreed, nodding. He flicked the switch on the comm, cutting all video capability. 'Audio comm only. Say, no one to meet us but the guys and Sally?'

'Okay,' Quatre murmured. 'Thank you, Duo.' Duo smiled briefly, even though he knew Quatre couldn't see it.

'No sweat, Q,' he said softly.

The comm crackled to life just as the LED reached point zero two seconds. Duo made a mental note to get the system rechecked at some point.

'Approaching mobile suit, identify yourself,' the voice on the other end of the comm said in a no-nonsense monotone. Duo rolled his eyes, but tapped the switch to open the audio channel.

'Preventers HQ, this is Preventer Scythe with Preventer Sandrock,' he said, sparing a moment to smirk yet again over their codenames. 'Request permission to land.'

'Preventer Scythe, request visual identification,' came the response. Duo grimaced. He'd been expecting that and wasn't really looking forward to telling Heero "no".

'Negative, Preventer Wing,' he said shortly.

'Request visual identification,' Heero said again. Duo growled.

'Request denied!' he snapped. Breaking protocol completely, he added, 'Look, 01, I've got a damn good reason not to open visual, but I'm not going to explain it to half of HQ.' There was silence from the other end for several moments.

'Acknowledged, 02,' Heero said finally. 'Switching to secure band L2.'

'Roger,' Duo said tightly, adjusting the comm frequency to what had become known among the five of them as "L2".

'02, come in,' Heero said a moment later.

'02 here, 01,' Duo sighed.

'Good,' Heero said. 'Now what the hell is going on, 02!' Duo winced.

'Ow! Geez, 01, no need to shout!' he complained. Before Heero could go off on him again, he added, 'Visual would carry extremely sensitive data regarding the condition of 04 and is being denied at his request.'

'Confirm, 04,' Heero demanded.

'04 confirming 02,' Quatre spoke up from behind Duo. His voice sounded strained again and Duo resisted the urge to turn around and check on him. 'Visual denied per my request.' There was a sigh on the other end of the comm.

'Acknowledged, 04,' Heero said. He didn't sound happy. 'Status?'

'02 clear,' Duo said.

'04... not in danger,' Quatre answered, the hesitation barely noticeable to anyone who wasn't a former Gundam pilot.

'Listen, 01,' Duo said before Heero could reply. 'This is code red classified. Nobody but you, 03, 05, and Preventer Water should be at the hanger when we land.' At a whisper from Quatre, Duo added casually, 'The Director can come, too.'

'Stand by,' Heero said. Duo took a moment to send a smile back over his shoulder at Quatre that was meant to be reassuring, but probably just looked tense. Quatre looked far too pale and his pupils were still dilated. 'Acknowledged, 02, you are clear to land in Hanger 3.'

'Roger that, 01. ETA six minutes. 02 out,' Duo said, switching off the comm.

'Duo...' Quatre whispered. 'Sorry...'

'Nothing to be sorry about, Q,' Duo said grimly. There was no response. 'Quatre? 04!' Silence. Duo risked a glance back to see Quatre slumped forward against the crash webbing, completely limp. 'Fucking hell!'

The next six minutes were Duo's own private hell as he navigated the mobile suit onto the launch pad and into Hanger 3. The power-down sequence was barely engaged before Duo had the hatch open and was out of his seat. He tugged at the crash webbing around Quatre, cursing himself for being so thorough in securing the wounded blond. Running footsteps could be heard behind him, but he didn't look up until he heard Heero calling, 'Status, 02!'

'Not good, 01!' He called back. The crash webbing gave and Quatre slumped forward into Duo's arms. 'He's out cold again. I need you to help me get him down.'

'Roger!'

Duo shifted and twisted, carefully pulling Quatre around and hooking his good arm over Duo's shoulders. He looked up to see Trowa and Wufei running up with a stretcher, Sally ahead of them and Lady Une just a step behind. He couldn't see Heero, but Duo was trusting that he was at the foot of the mobile suit ready to help Quatre's descent.

As he stepped up to the edge of the cockpit hatch, however, he had the dubious pleasure of seeing everyone's initial reactions to Quatre's current appearance. Lady Une stopped short. Sally tripped and stopped. Trowa halted, eyes very wide, which pulled an open-mouthed Wufei to an abrupt stop. Only Heero looked unaffected, his gaze focused and tense, moving from Quatre's face to Duo's and back again. Duo managed a wan smile.

'Nice to see you guys, too,' he said tiredly.

Working carefully, Duo managed to lower Quatre as gently as possible down into Heero's waiting arms. Trowa and Wufei got over their shock enough to help settle Quatre onto the stretcher, although Trowa noticeably hesitated when confronted with touching the loosely folded wings. Sally snapped out of it when Duo began repeating back the list of injuries Quatre had given him, even checking the field dressing of the left wing before agreeing with Duo that it should be x-rayed again to be sure it had been set properly.

Lady Une stayed silent, standing off to the side and watching. She stepped forward only after Quatre had been whisked away to the Medical Wing, her expression curiously neutral.

'An explanation would be nice, Major Maxwell,' she said as Duo jumped down from the cockpit. Duo staggered slightly as he landed, and wasn't too surprised to find Heero's arms around him, supporting him carefully. Gratefully, Duo leaned into Heero, sending a worn and humourless smile in the direction of his friend and employer.

'Yeah, I know what you mean,' he said, suddenly finding it hard to keep his eyes open. He fought it, giving it his best shot to focus on Lady Une. 'Makes me... wish I had one.' His eyes slid shut and he lost the battle with consciousness.

He woke to the white walls and ceiling of HQ's recovery ward, flat on his back in one of the beds. A quick mental check told him that he had several overtaxed muscles in his shoulders, and that someone had removed his shoes and covered him with a light sheet. Turning his head to one side, he saw Quatre still unconscious in the next bed over, strapped in sitting up with his left wing situated into some rigged form of traction to keep it still. He was still too pale, but his breathing was the regular, familiar rhythm of sleep.

Heero sat in the chair between Duo's bed and Quatre's, arms crossed and head bowed almost to his chest. Duo could read the tension in his posture, though, and didn't make the mistake of thinking he was asleep. 'Hey, Heero.'

'You're awake,' Heero said, lifting his head and regarding Duo solemnly. 'How do you feel?' Duo felt his lips quirk upwards almost involuntarily.

'Like I tried to lift Deathscythe and carry him from New Edwards to Sank and back,' he said. With a groan, he pushed himself into a sitting position. 'How long?'

'Almost twelve hours,'

'Damn,' Duo sighed. 'How's Q?'

'Sally is confident he'll make a full recover,' Heero answered. He paused. 'She has some questions regarding his injuries.'

'Well, I'll do my best to give her some answers, but I'm running kinda short on those lately,' Duo said with a half-hearted shrug.

'I'm sure anything you can tell me will be helpful,' Sally said from the doorway. Duo gave a startled yelp and jumped.

'Christ on a cracker, Sal!' he said, clutching his chest. 'Warn a guy you're there next time!' Sally rolled her eyes, all too familiar with Duo's dramatics and knowing, just as Duo did, that he'd been aware of her presence and who she was the entire time or she would have had a knife through her throat. 'What'cha need to know, Doc?' he asked, resting his feet flat on the mattress and propping his arms on his raised knees.

'For starters, could you please run through that list of injuries you gave me in the hanger?' she asked. Duo repeated the list, and Sally frowned. 'You're sure about this? You're positive?'

'Quatre told me himself and I verified what I could,' Duo confirmed. Sally's frown deepened.

'I was afraid you'd say that,' she said crossly. She sat down in one of the visitors' chairs against the wall, elbows on her knees and resting her chin on her folded hands. Now it was Duo's turn to frown.

'Why, what's wrong?' he asked sharply.

'Nothing,' Sally said simply. At his uncomprehending look, she repeated, 'Nothing's wrong. I checked the wounds, took x-rays, everything. There's nothing wrong anywhere. Even the knife wound you mentioned looks like nothing more than a mostly faded scar. The only evidence of any severe trauma is in the... wing,' she said, stumbling over the name of the appendage. Absently, she added, 'You did an excellent job of setting it. The bones are healing evenly.'

'Q talked me through it up until I had to actually set the bones. He passed out then,' Duo said. Sally groaned and put her face in her hands. Duo blinked. 'Wait a minute,' he said slowly. 'You're saying that there's nothing wrong with Quatre except the fact that his wing's broken. Isn't that a good thing?'

'It doesn't make any sense!' Sally burst out. 'From the list of injuries you gave me, he should have been a step away from DOA when you landed! At the very least, he would have needed blood transfusions to replace what he lost from the bullet grazes and the knife wound! And yet when you show up, all he needs is a thorough bath and a sling for that bloody wing of his!

'And let's not forget the wings,' she went on, clearly working herself into a full-scale rant. 'Did you know he has a wingspan of four point two-six metres? I mean, look at them-' (and here she gestured at Quatre's strung-up wing) '-even bigger than he is! How did none of us notice before now that he even had them! And why would he have them, anyway? The muscles in his back and chest aren't built to handle wings and his bone structure is too dense to be supported by them, so he can't possibly use them to fly--'

'He did,' Duo broke in, remembering seeing Quatre lifted off the ground by a long span of white just before the compound had exploded. 'I saw him. It's how he got away from the majority of the explosion when the compound blew up.'

'This shouldn't be possible!' Sally wailed.

'She has a point,' Heero said quietly to Duo beneath Sally's ranting. 'Logic dictates that the entire scenario is a fallacy.' When Duo glanced at him, he shrugged. 'Logic doesn't seem to apply very well when it comes to Quatre. Or you,' he added with a very small grin. Duo smirked.

'Eh, logic's overrated, anyway,' he whispered back, causing Heero's grin to widen.

'--And I just want to know why!' Sally pleaded, drawing their attention back. She was looking at them, a lost expression on her face as if begging them to take her hand and show her back to the path where things made sense again. Duo floundered, turning to Heero for help. Heero shook his head; he didn't have any answers, either. Sally made a sound that was part way between a keen and a sob and buried her face in her hands again.

'Really, Yuy,' Wufei said from the doorway. 'Do you just enjoy seeing women cry?'

'It's not his fault Sally's upset!' Duo protested absently, still staring at Sally in bemusement.

'Maxwell!' Wufei exclaimed. 'Have you no honour, bringing a woman to tears for your own amusement?'

'It's not my fault, either!' Duo squawked indignantly. Wufei pinched the bridge of his nose.

'Then what is that foolish woman wailing about now?' he asked. Duo almost laughed; five years of working along side Sally Po and Wufei still didn't understand her, or women in general.

'Quatre's wings confuse her,' Heero answered matter-of-factly. Wufei's expression turned incredulous.

'That's it?' he demanded, walking further into the room to allow Trowa to slip in behind him. 'By Nataku! They confuse me, too, but you don't see me carrying on about them.'

'They defy logic,' Duo offered. This appeared to irritate Wufei.

'Since when do you pay attention to the dictates of logic, Maxwell?' he asked sceptically. Duo grinned, calling upon five years worth of practice to infuse that grin with a sufficient facsimile of manic energy.

'I always pay attention to logic, Fei!' he said, only slightly mocking. 'How else would I know just what to do to set it on its non-corporeal ears?'

'Logic has ears?' Trowa murmured, one eyebrow raised.

'Non-corporeal ones,' Heero murmured back. They shared a half-smile at the old joke and Duo gave himself the usual mental pat on the back for it. Wufei relented and smiled, crossing to sit on the edge of Duo's bed while Trowa took up a position against the wall behind Heero's right shoulder.

Sally's sobs had, by this point, reduced themselves to sniffles and one or two hiccups. While not nearly as disturbing as the wailing had been, it was clearing getting on Wufei's last nerve. Duo started a mental countdown as to when Wufei would crack. He'd started the countdown over twice before it happened.

'For the love of God, woman, pull yourself together!' he snapped. 'Winner has wings. Acknowledged. Move on, now.'

'But why does he have them?' she reiterated, gesturing expansively at the wing hanging in its makeshift sling. 'With his bone structure and muscle configuration, there's no way they could be of any use--'

'He was using them pretty damn well to get out of a building about to explode,' Duo muttered.

'It's impossible!' Sally said, throwing up her hands.

'Are you calling me a liar?' Duo demanded, planting his hands on his hips. Unfortunately, it occurred to him just after he'd done it that this probably looked more silly than imposing while sitting down. Sally ignored him, glaring at Wufei.

'Those wings,' she began hotly.

'Are beyond the scope of human comprehension,' Wufei interjected. 'Much like Winner himself, I believe.'

'You think Quatre's beyond human comprehension?' Trowa asked interestedly.

'Most assuredly,' Wufei said, nodding. 'Certainly how he can put up with Maxwell and Yuy on a regular basis individually without going mad is beyond my understanding, never mind how he manages to handle both of them at once!' Trowa laughed outright at that, while Heero and Duo shared a private smirk. They knew how Quatre handled them, and they weren't telling.

'While I'm sure this is a fascinating topic for discussion,' Lady Une said from the doorway, 'Dr Po's concerns are the focus of this meeting.'

As she came in, closing the door behind her, Duo glanced inquiringly at first Wufei then Trowa. Wufei grimaced slightly, clearly uncomfortable about something. Trowa just shrugged, his expression suspiciously blank. Uneasily, Duo turned the majority of his attention back to Lady Une, waiting.

'Now then,' Lady Une began, taking a seat next to Sally in one of the visitors' chairs, 'it appears that we have a situation on our hands. Major Winner apparently has a secret he has gone to great lengths to conceal, and while Major Maxwell's solution of barring contact worked temporarily, it is hardly a long-term solution.'

'Wait a minute,' Duo said, frowning. 'Are we actually about to have a meeting about Quatre - with him still in the room, mind - while he's asleep and can't have a say in any of this?'

'It is hoped that Major Winner will join the discussion when he wakes,' Lady Une said.

'Because discussing Winner as if he's not here is so much more honourable than discussing him behind his back,' Wufei muttered.

'Your objection to the proceedings has been noted, Major Chang,' Lady Une responded shortly. The look she shot Wufei was one of her 'I am a colonel who is rapidly losing patience with an infuriating lieutenant' expressions. Duo spared a moment in his silent thanks that he wasn't on the receiving end this time to feel a pang of sympathy for Wufei.

'Quatre obviously went to a lot of trouble to hide this,' Trowa mused. He glanced questioningly at Duo and Heero.

'I knew nothing of this,' Heero confirmed.

'Not a clue until this-- I mean, yesterday evening,' Duo said. He rested his chin on his folded arms, frowning absently. 'From what he said, the only other person to know about it was his sister Ilea, although how much she knew he didn't say.'

'I would really like to run some further tests,' Sally began, only to be cut off by a rather forceful chorus of 'No!' She blinked at the four conscious former pilots, nonplussed. 'What's wrong?'

'Quatre will not be turned into an experiment,' Heero said flatly. Lady Une frowned.

'I understand your aversion to the idea, Major Yuy,' she said, 'but surely you can see that his status as an experiment is out of our hands and has been for some time.'

'Why do you think that?' Duo asked. When Lady Une looked pointedly at the extended wings, Duo scoffed. 'Oh, come on! You think if those things were some kind of deliberate experiment then Quatre wouldn't be absolutely sure that Ilea was the only one to know about them?'

'The experiment would have started while he was still a foetus,' Sally said. 'Not terribly difficult to arrange with a test tube baby, but why they were trying to grow wings he couldn't possibly use...' She trailed off as she saw the former pilots exchanging glances. 'What now?'

'Um, Sally...' Duo began, but trailed off, not sure how to proceed.

'Quatre isn't a test-tube baby,' Heero finished.

'The records stating that he was created in a test tube were falsified by his father,' Trowa said quietly. 'His birth was natural.'

'Winner claimed he wasn't aware of this until certain things came to our attention and Yuy investigated,' Wufei went on. Fixing first Sally, then Lady Une with a dark glare, he added, 'He is no experiment.'

'I... see,' Lady Une said slowly. 'This changes things considerably.'

'Not really,' Duo said. 'I mean, he's still Quatre. Granted if he can't make those wings disappear again, Heero and I will probably be waking up crowded off the bed with feathers in our mouths--'

'I did not need to know that, Maxwell,' Wufei interrupted, scowling. Duo smirked at him. Trowa had a hand over his mouth, shoulders shaking with laughter he couldn't quite suppress. Heero was staring at the wings thoughtfully, probably actually working out the logistics of waking up next to a 2.25 metre wing every morning.

'Make them disappear?' Sally asked, looking shocked. 'Have you looked at them? The idea is even more impossible than his having them in the first place!'

'You're thinking too logically, Sal,' Duo said patiently. 'Toss logic and just think about what you've seen. Up until I brought him back from the mission, none of us had ever seen Quatre with wings, right?' There were various nods. 'From how he acted about them, he's obviously had them for a long time, longer than we've known him. That's at least over six years of having wings and none of us the wiser about it.'

'Could he have implanted a mental suggestion to make people ignore them?' Lady Une asked.

'Ignoring for the moment the insinuation that Quatre would do something that invasive to a person,' Trowa said coolly, 'no. It's impractical at best because he would have had to reach each person individually. All it would take would be one person to reveal it.'

'As illogical as it may sound, Winner most likely has some method of drawing the wings into his body to conceal them,' Wufei said. Sally opened her mouth. 'It's no less logical than his having wings in the first place,' he stated, and she closed her mouth again, looking less than happy.

'This doesn't help with how we can handle the more immediate situation,' Lady Une said. 'As convenient as it would be, I cannot keep access to this wing restricted indefinitely. I'm open to suggestions.'

'Sally mentioned his injuries are healed,' Duo pointed out. 'Is there any reason Heero and I can't just take him home?'

'How would you go about extracting him?' Wufei asked. 'Those wings are rather difficult to ignore in their extended state.'

'Roll him up in a sheet and carry him out?' Duo asked, shrugging. 'Heero's glare would keep anyone from asking questions.'

'Wait until dark, then black out this wing and sneak out?' Trowa suggested. He didn't sound convinced it was even a good idea.

'Give me a few minutes to wake up and let me fold my wings up out of the way?' asked a sleep-muffled tenor voice. Sally started and Lady Une blinked as Quatre opened his eyes and peered at the group. 'How long...?'

'Twelve hours,' Heero and Duo chorused. Quatre made a face.

'Wonderful,' he muttered. Glancing around the room sheepishly, he added, 'I believe I owe you all an explanation.'

'Oh, I wouldn't say you owed us, Q, but it might be nice,' Duo said nonchalantly. 'How's the wing feel?'

'The breaks have healed, so there's just some minor bruising left,' Quatre said absently. 'And the sling itches.'

'Right, then,' Duo said, shoving the covers aside and standing. 'Heero, give me a hand?' He'd crossed to the other side of the bed and was unhooking the sling before Sally could even open her mouth to protest. Heero joined him, supporting the wing until Duo had the sling completely unhooked and unwound. He let go on Quatre's nod and the two stepped back.

The wing definitely looked the worse for wear, feathers bent and broken and still streaked in soot where the sling and bandages had been. Quatre grimaced at it, but only stretched it out as far as the dimensions of the room would allow before flicking it slightly and folding it back to an angle that allowed the edge to rest against the side of the bed.

'Right, then,' he said as Heero resumed his chair and Duo perched himself on the end of Quatre's bed. 'Where would you like me to begin?' His question was directed at all of them, but his eyes were on Lady Une.

'Perhaps,' she said carefully, 'you might explain how you, er...'

'How I came to have wings?' Quatre asked, not unkindly. He sighed. 'I was born with them, a legacy from my mother. Not that I knew any of this at the time, of course. I didn't even know I had wings until I was three.'

'How?' Sally asked, uncomprehending.

'Ilea was watching me and we were playing,' Quatre explained. 'She... I'm actually very ticklish along my spine between my shoulder blades. She started tickling me, and...' he trailed off, blushing.

'And pop went the wings, huh?' Duo finished for him, mentally filing away that titbit about Quatre's being ticklish. It could come in handy later on.

'Basically, yes,' Quatre nodded. 'It definitely surprised Ilea. She helped me learn how to draw them in and release them at will and taught me the importance of hiding them from others. I think she was afraid I'd end up in a laboratory somewhere as an Alliance experiment.'

Wufei shot Sally a look, which she studiously ignored.

'You mentioned your mother,' she said. 'Did she... er, was she...?'

'She died giving birth to me,' Quatre said flatly. 'Her mortal body was already frail, and she was weakened further by travelling between Earth and the Colonies during her pregnancy.'

'I'm sorry if this is bringing up unpleasant memories for you,' Lady Une began, but Quatre waved her words aside.

'I don't really remember her,' he said. 'This conversation would be uncomfortable even without bringing up my mother.' Glancing around, he sighed. 'Just ask, please. There is no easy way to ask questions like these.'

'What are you?' Sally blurted out, then looked chagrined. Wufei and Heero glared while Trowa raised an eyebrow and Duo snorted. Quatre, on the other hand, looked mildly amused.

'It's complicated, and not something that is at all explainable with logic,' he said. 'Although I seem to recall someone once said I'm beyond human comprehension.' He glanced slyly at Wufei as he said that, and the expression on the Chinese man's face made Duo want to burst out laughing.

'Would it help if we guessed?' Trowa asked. Quatre shrugged, an action that caused his wings to rustle distractingly. Duo found himself staring at the feathers, absently making note of every damaged or dirty feather. He almost missed it when Trowa said, 'You're an angel.'

'What!'

Duo was dimly aware that he wasn't the only one to exclaim at Trowa's statement. Wufei was practically sputtering and Sally probably would have dropped whatever she was holding, if she'd been holding anything. Duo glanced at Quatre and was surprised to see him... blushing?

'I can only speculate on how you might have figured it out,' the blond muttered under his breath. At a more normal level, he said, 'Close enough. I don't suppose anyone here is familiar with the Nephilim?'

'Children of angels and mortal women, right?' Duo found himself saying. When everyone turned to look at him, he ducked his head. 'Maxwell church,' he muttered, hoping that would do for an explanation. It wasn't strictly accurate since Father Maxwell had never gone into detail about the first part of Genesis 6. Not like the old books in the third storeroom on Howard's ship had.

'Not just mortal women, but yes,' Quatre said, breaking the silence that had fallen. 'The Nephilim are the offspring of angels who take human form and ordinary humans. It's much more rare these days than it was five thousand years ago, but it still happens.'

'You're not a giant, though,' Duo couldn't help but point out. It was true. When he'd stopped growing at a height of 173 centimetres, Quatre was just barely taller than Heero and about eight centimetres shorter than Duo.

'Think about it,' Quatre said dryly. 'If the average height of a person was around a metre and a half, wouldn't all of us seem like giants in comparison?' Okay, he had a point. Back when he'd still been piloting Deathscythe, Duo had certainly thought Zechs Merquise was a giant. He'd been quietly thankful they'd ended up being the same height when Duo stopped growing, not that he'd ever tell anyone.

'Anyway,' Quatre went on, 'from a practical standpoint, I'm the same as any other human. Just with certain minor--' (he gestured at his wings with a wry smile) '--quirks.'

'Some quirks,' Sally muttered. Quatre chuckled.

'I won't argue,' he said. More seriously, he continued, 'Aside from the wings, I have an accelerated healing rate provided the injuries aren't complicated by infection. I can slow the healing down for a short amount of time if I need to, but not for long and only if I'm still conscious.'

'Diseases?' Sally asked.

'As vulnerable as any other human,' Quatre said, 'and I'm afraid I'm not the best patient when I'm ill.'

Sally bit her lower lip. Wufei snorted. Trowa coughed suspiciously. Heero muttered something under his breath. Duo couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes. Quatre sure knew the meaning of "understatement", no question about that.

'That's all, really,' Quatre said, ignoring the reactions of his friends. 'You are all aware of my empathy already, and anything else that isn't quite considered normal is just from training, or probably is. I'm not completely sure.'

'No flaming sword tricks?' Duo teased. Quatre raised an eyebrow at him.

'I never tried before,' he deadpanned. 'How about handing me your boot knife and we'll find out?'

'I think that can wait until there isn't a risk of burning down our headquarters,' Lady Une broke in smoothly. 'How are his injuries, Dr Po?'

'Completely healed,' Sally said. She was obviously torn between being professionally glad of this and personally unhappy that there was no logical explanation beyond "Quatre is half-angel". 'As soon as he--' (and here she made a face) '--puts the wings away, he can be discharged.'

'Thank you,' Lady Une said, nodding. Turning to Quatre, she lost some of her 'director of the Preventers' air and said with almost girlish curiosity, 'Would you mind if we watched you tuck your wings away?'

'Not at all,' Quatre said, smiling gently. Glancing around the room critically, he pushed the sheet covering his legs out of the way. The wings made it a bit difficult to get out of bed without knocking anything over or hitting someone in the face, and Duo had to duck when the right wing swept around as Quatre turned. Once he had his back to them, Quatre stripped off the open-backed hospital gown - left untied because of the wings, most likely - and stood still.

At first, it didn't seem like anything was happening. Then the wings shifted, folding up more closely. As they folded, it almost seemed as if they bent into Quatre's body, the high joints in the wings tucking down to his head. As Duo and the others watched in quiet astonishment, the wings seemed to shrink and almost melt into the skin of his back, folding and refolding themselves in ways that Duo just knew would be impossible with normal bird wings and should have been impossible with Quatre's wings.

Just when it seemed as if the wings couldn't fold up any further, the skin of Quatre's back stretched and parted around the base of each wing, opening up to allow the wings to tuck themselves inside before sealing again, leaving his back clear of anything but smooth skin between Quatre's shoulder blades and the small scar from a fencing foil's exit six years ago.

'Amazing,' Lady Une breathed. Duo could only nod in agreement. Aside from the spectacular defiance of logic that Quatre had just managed, Duo was equally aware that without the hospital gown or Quatre was very, very naked, and with the wings out of the way he couldn't stop himself from admiring the view of his lover's backside.

Without warning, Quatre collapsed. Duo had his arm around the blond's waist to support him before he could think about it, Heero up out of his chair and over the bed to support Quatre's other side at the same time.

'Ana asif... gomen... sorry,' Quatre gasped. He smiled weakly at first Heero and then Duo. 'Guess I... didn't quite have... enough energy for that.'

'Right, I think that concludes our meeting,' Lady Une said briskly, standing. She was back to being the Director. 'Major Maxwell, Major Yuy, take Major Winner home and make him rest. Major Barton, Major Chang, Dr Po, you three have the next two days off. I don't want to see any of you six here before Monday of next week, understood?'

'Yes, ma'am!' Duo said cheekily, even as the others were giving various forms of acknowledgement. Lady Une nodded.

'Dismissed,' she said, crossing to the door and opening it to let the room's occupants leave.

'Home sounds like a good idea,' Quatre admitted quietly. Heero smiled gently.

'Then let's go,' he said. With Duo and Heero supporting him, Quatre started for the door, then stopped.

'Um,' he said, blushing again. 'I don't suppose you have my clothes?'

- Owari -