Short fic time! This was originally a bunch of one shots that I realized are all really cohesive together. So it's going to be relatively short in length, maybe 5-8chapters. There's essentially the present (2012) and a whole lot of jump backs, so pay attention to the dates if your getting a little bit confused. Pairing are mainly AxC with small hints at other obvious ones (KxL). Athrun's 34years old here (ai carumba, older than usual for me), and Cagalli's 32 in present day. So if you really want to find the actual dates and what not you can math 'em. Anyway, that's all the chit chat for me, Enjoy!

Presence

An eerie silence covered the white washed room as mechanical blips and bleeps chimed in the background. Each one recording every detail to ensure the safety of the life it held in its hands. A young blue haired man lay tangled within the mass of wires. A thick mask of gauze was wrapped tightly around his head almost acting like a blindfold as it covered his eyes. Although the truth that hid behind it was nothing that could go unnoticed. Small spotty patches of red had already begun to seep through the dressing. Mangled blue hair was flared about, almost as if a toddler had taken scissors to it.

The slight ruffle of the starchy hospital blankets would be enough to give anyone a startle as the man began to stir. The hollowness of the room allowed every sound to echo and vibrate off the walls and sounded a lot louder than it actually was. Tentatively feeling around the edges of the bed he began to push himself upright. He couldn't understand the undefined darkness. He could see no form of light, not even the slightest of shadow. Trying to keep himself composed and afloat of the slow encroaching feelings of fear, he slowly brought his hands towards his head. He quickly snapped them back as he heard the door rattle and someone enter.
"Who's that?" he said with a slight tremble.

"Hi Athrun, I'm Dr. Adams, I was on your case when you were admitted to the hospital. Can you answer a few questions for me?" Came a calming feminine voice.

"Yes, no problem" he said with a slight cringe. Did she really have to talk so loud.

" Okay, can you tell me your name and what the date it is?" she said, as she begun to write furiously on the clipboard. Athrun winced as each pen stroke felt like it dug into the side of his brain, he could already feel a headache coming.

"Athrun Zala, January 23d 2012" he said, raising his hand to his head as if to protect it from the oncoming pain as her pen scratched against the side of his head. "Can this come off already?" Athrun said as his fingers tried to pry the blindfold off. Enough was enough, the loud noises and inability to remember what happened to land him in the hospital was slowly putting him on edge.

"I'm so sorry, we can't do that" the sadness in her voice was so present he was sure she was about to burst into tears.

"What happened" came the sudden growl. Coming off a whole lot more upset then was intended, but tension and panic was setting in as information began to connect itself. He could only remember the long nights work and a sudden void of time completely unaccounted for.

"We tried..everything we could.. really..." she said hesitantly.

"What happened" Athrun repeated, holding his head in his hands. Already he could feel the searing pain of his reality rip forth.

"We were unable.. to salvage the corneas in both eyes... you are blind... permanently" she said, getting quieter with each word. Athrun could instantly feel his whole body go numb from the verbal reinforcement. The numbness quickly left and was replace a coldness unlike no other. He would be left alone in the darkness to rot. Everything that he had worked on to this point would simply sink into the darkness with him. Never before had it him that he would someday regret not having built bonds with anyone. He lurch forward forward, his arm wrapping themselves around his torso, trying to anchor himself.

"Are you okay...can I call anyone for you?" the nurse said as her clipboard fell to the floor with a loud clang as she jump to her feet to try and calm him down. Beside her, the many instruments began to sing in a frenzy of hysterical beeps and alarm.

"Sir, please calm down!" she said, a tinge of panic in her voice. Immediately Athrun began to shake violently as if to contradict her.

"Damnit, he's going into defib" she said looking at the screens that were now blaring alarms. The door shot open once again, this time with several nurses pouring in to aid. "We're going to have to put him into a coma, his body can't cope with the physical and psychological. Charge the paddles to 350 volts!" Athrun could feel himself falling into a weightless and dark pit of nothingness. He heard the nurses work frantically over him, trying to keep him from the grasp of death. Death. Not even the word scare him. However the chance of being alone in the darkness frightened him more then anything. How he could wish over and over again just to have someone by his side. Slowly his consciousness faded out into the darkness.

May 10th 2000

Red waist length hair swung side to side as a tall women walked briskly down the hallway. Her tall frame looked disproportional from the large baby bump that protruded from her stomach. In her hand she had a hefty stack of files, which she quickly balanced on one hand as she used the other to twist open the door nob.

"Athrun, here is everything you asked for. Everything is already completed and ready to go" she said, placing the stack on the corner of his large desk. The blue haired man sat behind his desk completely immersed in a file, not bothering to look up in the slightest. "Is there anything else you wanted finished before I left?" she said with a slight chuckle, things never seemed to change. Athrun was always a workaholic. The boy was a savant, a genius of sorts, even through his years in school he was never comparable to any of the other students. Although the only thing he could ever talk about was work, it was understandable after the situation he had been placed in. Two year's earlier his estrange father had passed away from terminal cancer without leaving a will. Being his one and only son, it was only natural that he would assume control over over his father's software company. At the time it was a small local based company, and in two years he had made it into the thriving international success. All the work over the years had given him a feeling of lasting happiness and accomplishment.

"Have you heard anything from that women?" he said, continuing to read the papers in his hand.

"Ah, none at all. Actually, it looks she's fallen off the radar, not even the news station have gotten a hold of her for a comment" she said as she help herself to the seat across from him.

"I can imagine after an incident like that she'd be half way around the world by now" Athrun said, flipping to another page.

"Are you sure you didn't want me to hire someone else in the mean time, I mean you may never get a response from her and I don't need company falling to bits and pieces without a replacement" the red head said with a yawn, twisting her hair around her finger mindlessly as she watched Athrun.

"You know if I wanted a baboon for the job, I would just go to the zoo. Probably would save me trouble in the long run" he said with a sigh as he brushed a few stray hairs out of his face.

"As talented as she is, we have no leverage over her, she could have moved on to another company" she said doubtfully.

"It's worth the risk" he said, grabbing another file.

"Well your the boss, you know what's right" she said with a smile before standing up. "So that's everything then?"

" Ah, yea. Today's your last day isn't it?" he said, still continuing to flip through the pages of his file.

"Yes, then you'll have twice the amount of work until you can find the replacement" she said as a small laugh escaped, sharp as always.

"This is for you then" he said, opening his right drawer and placing an envelope on the edge of the desk. Immediately immersing himself in his file once again.

"What's this?" the red head said, tearing open one side of the envelope to discover the contents.

" Just a token of thanks" he said boredly, once again sighing as he flipped the page of his report.

"I can't accept this" she said, placing the piece of paper back in the envelope and holding it out for Athrun.

"Consider it wages for your child's 8months work, and unpaid gratitude. This job is quite the nuisance" Athrun said as he dropped the file onto the desk and sighed once again.

"Th..thank you" she said, not wanting to push it any further. It seemed like he was getting rather upset with the incoming reports.

"Thank you as well. You've done good work over the last two years" he said as he glanced at the clock in the corner, dully noting it was already 8o'clock at night already. With that the red head turned and walked out of the room, giving a slight wave as she reached the doorway. Although the blue haired man was already back searching through the mounds of papers on his desk, her departure was vaguely noticed. It was just another late night at the office for Athrun.

And that's that! I hope I didn't miss to many errors, editing really is my downfall. Comment to tell me if it's too bad or not. Other then that, hopefully I'll have another chapter out by next week if not sooner.