~~~~~
Someone to Watch Over Me
Zoi no miko
Quatre eyed the area from a distance, the computer sensors analyzing the
area, strengths, weaknesses... he frowned slightly. It shouldn't be hard to take out
the research facility, not for three Gundams. Heavy Arms, Death Scythe, Sandrock.
Wufei was off on his own again... some solo assignment he hadn't told them about.
And Heero... he wrinkled his nose slightly. Heero could be anywhere. But they didn't
need another pilot. From the look of it, two or even one could take it out by
themselves. OZ obviously thought this base so well hidden that they wouldn't find
it, that it needed no defence. It shouldn't be a problem. How, then, was he
supposed to explain that obscure cold knot in the base of his stomach.
"Ready, Sandrock?" The voice buzzed over the COM in the Sandrock. Quatre
nodded, the movement unseen by the other pilots. "Ready."
Fast, powerful, the three mechs closed in on their target, carrying out
the plan of attack. Trowa and Duo flanked the Sandrock, weapons drawn. Quatre
himself bore a modified rock-drill, and a carefully calculated amount of explosives.
From their careful monitoring of the centre, they'd been able to determine a rough
estimate of the size, supposing much of the facility to be safely hidden under
ground. But still possible to shut down.
The Sandrock's hands tightened on the drill as they reached the appointed
place, the building still in the darkness of midnight. Empty, he hoped. He perched
on the low roof, and the Deathscythe and Heavyarms took up positions to either
side of the complex, watching for anything that might interrupt his work.
The rock drill cut through the roof of the building with ease, extending
down, slicing through one, two, three floors. Then, without warning, the compound
flooded with light, alarm claxons sounding. Small buildings they had thought to be
storage sheds opened to reveal entrances to hangers, and a half-dozen Aries'
sprung out, weapons at the ready.
Duo and Trowa closed in closer to the centre. "Keep on with your work,
Sandrock," Duo's voice came over the COM again. "We'll cover you. Just get those
charges laid."
"Right." Quatre forced himself to focus on the task, not paying attention
as his guards were slowly drawn away from him. The Aries didn't seem to be firing
at him… maybe they were afraid to hit the building, or maybe Duo and Trowa were
providing ample distraction. But he didn't dwell on that. His weapons were all on
stand down, power directed to work the drill. He'd have to trust the others and
the stableability of the Gundanium to keep his mecha and himself relatively
unharmed.
The indicator on the drill flashed warning, the desired depth had been
reached. Quatre pulled it up quickly, attaching the pack of explosives to the
guideline that ran down the shaft and letting them fall into the uncertain
darkness. "Explosives set."
"Set the timer and get out of there."
"Right." Quatre looked up, suddenly surprised at how far away the other
pilots had been lead. This still didn't feel right. Setting the timer, he took a
step backwards. Whether it was because of the drill, or simply the roof, he didn't
know - but the firm material beneath him cracked and gave way suddenly, leaving
the Sandrock in a jumble of broken stone and iron framework.
Above him, a monitor bleeped, graphics whirling as they kept track of the
two Gundam outside, the third that had just come within short-com range.
"Get out of here!" Wufei's voice held tinges of fear underneath the usual
fighter's determination. "Baka! Don't you three know what you're doing?? Get out
of here! Get as far away as you can!"
"What's wrong?" Trowa's voice was almost dead calm compared to Wufei,
steady.
"The stuff they've been researching here reacts violently to heat and
energy! That building takes one hit and it goes sky high and takes this whole area
with it!" The Nataku was moving as Wufei spoke, as fast as it could, out of range.
Quatre moved as well, pushing aside rubble to pull the Gundam out of the
building. Six minutes on the timer - he'd have to be fast. Placing one foot on the
rubble, he tried to step up, only to hear a sickening screech of metal on metal,
his other foot not moving. Quickly, almost panicking, Quatre reached down and
began to push aside the rubble, finding an iron girder wedged tightly in the ankle
joint, keeping it from moving and keeping him from getting free. He seized the
girder and pulled - it gave slightly under the Sandrock's strength, but not much.
Not enough. It was so well-constructed… he wondered briefly about the odd
construction of the building, why this girder was so formidable when the roof had
been weak, but banished the questioning, turning completely to freeing himself. He
could rip it free from the joint, but not without damaging the power circuitry.
Back-up power would barely last two minutes.
Either way, he was dead.
Just as panic was beginning to set in, he realized another Gundam was
approaching. He glanced up just as the Heavy Arms settled beside him, spotting the
problem immediately. He seized the girder immediately. "Help me, Quatre."
Quatre grabbed the girder as bade and pulled, but that didn't stop him
from arguing. "Trowa! Get out of here! The timer - "
"Exactly. So we have to get out of here. Both of us." The Heavy Arms
straightened slightly, realizing the fruitlessness of the situation. "I'm going to
rip it free of you. If your power goes down, I'll carry you."
"You can't get both of us to safety in time! Trowa - "
The HeavyArms pilot tore the Gundam's leg free, ignoring Quatre's protests,
and pulled the Sandrock out of the building as it's power backup quickly spiralled
towards zero, systems shutting down one by one. "Run."
Quatre ran, being half-dragged by the Heavy Arms blindly away from the
building. "Trowa! We can't make it out! Leave me!"
Trowa answered nothing. The Heavy Arms moved, and then picked up the
Sandrock all together as the systems failed, Quatre's protests falling mutely on
the black inside of his Gundam. Quatre closed his eyes in the darkness, silently
continuing the countdown. Thirty seconds... twenty... they couldn't be nearly far
enough away. Three, two, one...
There was a deafening explosion behind them, the sensation of being thrown
forward, the world spinning amidst sounds of destruction, the clang of metal-on-
metal, then silence, hanging forwards, towards the ground.
Quatre was out of the cockpit immediately, manually forcing open the door
to the Gundam, then pausing on the threshold and taking his bearings. The Sandrock
was sprawled on the ground, face down, barely enough room between the body and
ground for the door to open. He crawled out.
They seemed to be at the edge of a huge crater, the ground around them
torn up, riddled with debris. Large chunks of rock and earth lay around, as if
picked up and thrown by some giant unseen hand.
Quatre turned back towards the Sandrock, eyes widening as he did so.
"TROWA!" The Heavy Arms rested still on top of the Sandrock, arms thrown around it
in an attempted protective gesture. The body, all ready riddled with damage from
what looked like Aries' fire, was twisted now, and crumpled by hits from the
flying debris. The Gundaminum armour, which would have protected it from such
abuse, was almost totally melted off the back of the Gundam...
Quatre was scrambling up the Sandrock Regardless of any further danger,
pulling at the crumpled door to the cockpit. The metal was hot, and he pulled back
with a cry, tearing off a large strip of his shirt and quickly wrapping the fabric
around his hands. "Trowa? Trowa! TROWA!!!" Bracing one foot against Heavy Arms, he
pulled, arms straining, until the door began to give way with a creaking screech.
"Trowa??"
Behind him he could hear another Gundam, the door opening and the pilot
exiting, a curse on his lips "What on earth happened?"
Quatre ignored Duo's question, still straining at the door. "Help me,
please! He pulled again, the door barely moving, tears of frustration and fear
pricking at his eyes. "Trowa!!"
Duo wrapped his hands as well, then grabbed hold of the door and added his
strength, the metal slowly giving way to open. "What happened?"
"I told him to leave me and he wouldn't, he wouldn't listen," Quatre
half-cried. "He wouldn't listen, he wouldn't leave me - he wouldn't - "
"Shh." Duo flung the door open finally, catching Trowa as he unexpectedly
tumbled from the cockpit, body battered, bleeding and limp. Quatre gave a cry,
immediately moving to help support him, struggling as they scrambled off the
Sandrock. A Helicopter landed between them and the Death Scythe as they reached
the ground.
Wufei leaned out the window, regarding the scene with impassive eyes. "Get
him inside."
The monitors around the bed blipped, a steady, even pace. Mechanical, like
a clock, not like a heartbeat at all.
Quatre stared blankly at the stiff, white linen sheet that folded over the
course wool blanket, Trowa's chest rising and falling as rhythmically as the blips
of the monitors. He reached a hand out, tracing the edge of the oxygen mask,
moving one finger over cool skin. This wasn't right. It shouldn't be this way. Not
Trowa, not like this. He squeezed his eyes shut, a tear escaping and winding over
his pale skin like so many others had these past few days.
"You should go home and get some sleep, you know."
Quatre raised his eyes to where Duo stood in the room's doorway, concern
on the boy's face. His mind played the words back to him again, tired, half-
incredulous. "... Leave?"
Duo frowned slightly. "You haven't left here in three days? Quatre - "
Quatre set his mouth in a firm line. "I can't leave him. If he wakes up, I
have to be here - "
"So you can tell him you've made yourself sick? Sleep, Quatre!!"
Quatre shook his head slightly, stubbornly. "I won't leave him. It's my
fault that he's here. I won't leave."
Duo moved into the room, frown growing slightly. He looked at the two boys
for a long moment - Trowa sill unconscious on the bed, and Quatre sitting on a
hard chair beside it, half-wrapped in a blanket, circles under his eyes. He
touched his shoulder lightly. "I should have come back as well. I didn't know you
were trapped. I'm sorry."
"That's all right," Quatre said, automatically, not moving. "It doesn't
matter now."
Duo tried again. "If I stay with him, will you go home and sleep?"
Again, Quatre shook his head, looking dangerously close to tears again. "I
won't leave him," he repeated again.
"Because he wouldn't leave you."
"I - yes. And..." Quatre hesitated, as if to say something, then shook his
head slightly, stray wisps of golden hair falling around his face.
"...and?" Duo tried to prompt.
Quatre looked down at his hands, clenched tightly on the stiff, thick
linen. "They keep telling me that our lives are dedicated to this fight," he
started. " And I believed them. That winning should be the most important thing.
But..." He paused again, shook his head slightly. "I can't feel that anymore.
That's not important anymore."
"It isn't?" Duo asked.
"I never knew what I wanted out of life," Quatre continued, voice small
and tired. "Not until now."
Duo's mouth twisted slightly in some unplaceable emotion as he tried to
make sense of that last statement. He swallowed, daring again to speak again. "To
be with... Trowa?"
Quatre moved his eyes away from the folds of the sheet between his fingers,
looking on the still figure in the bed with such despair, such fear, and such
love... "I'll be damned if I let him slip away from me," he whispered.
Duo was silent for a long time, just watching the smaller boy. "Are you
sure you know what you're doing?"
The blue eyes closed, head nodding slightly. "Yes. I - out of everyone,
he's always been the nicest to me, taking time for me... I don't know why, even.
But I - I care for him. Even if he never feels that way for me, I want to tell
him, and I want to repay him for everything he's done for me."
Duo nodded slowly, then grinned, ruffling Quatre's hair. "Ah, I think
it'll turn out all right. I actually came in to tell you that the test results
came back. They're expecting a full recovery in under two weeks." He laughed as
Quartre stood and threw his arms around him. "Will you go home and sleep now?"
Quatre pulled back and shook his head slightly. "No. But I think I'll be
able to sleep here."
Night washed over the two pilots, bathing the hospital room in shades of
blue and gray, comforting shadows despite the blip of the monitors. Quatre, it
seemed, had finally let sleep overtake him, and was leaned forwards on his chair,
head and shoulders resting on the stiff linen sheet. Then, in the darkness of the
room, the mechanical blips became not quite so mechanical, and the hand of one
Gundam pilot reached up to tangle itself in Quatre's soft golden hair.
~Fin~