Hi, here's my first Bakugan fic! This is based on Ace and Mira (mostly Ace), and, living up to my trademark, putting my favourite character in pain. I don't know why I do it. Maybe it's because the worse the conflict, the happier the ending turns out to be. I mean, it's like if the conflict is a person can't find their keys, and they discover them later at the end, it's pretty much (sarcastically) "Whoop-de-doo. Found the keys." Whereas if someone goes through a near-death experience, and they survive, it's a huge relief.

So this is set after the destruction of the first Dimension Controller in New Vestroia.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Bakugan, plain and simple. Don't you get tired of putting these disclaimers up EVERY SINGLE TIME?

WORD COUNT: 3105

Ace's POV

He couldn't sleep. Even all the meds he was on couldn't numb his pain or make him drowsy. He'd lost track of how long he'd been lying there, wide awake. It had been mid-afternoon when his teammates had forced him into bed. He would've fought back - he was not one who enjoyed being babied - but he was in no condition to fight off even a little old lady. His throat was burning. He hadn't had a drink in hours, and judging from the silence, everyone else was already asleep.

Groaning, he sat up and gingerly swung his legs over the side of the bed. Ignoring the crutches on the floor, he limped to the door and quietly pushed it open. Seeing that no one was in the hallway, he stepped out and headed for the kitchen. He leaned against the wall on his right side, clutching his left arm close to his aching chest. His mind raced back to their last mission. Was it really only yesterday he'd gone through hell?

Beta City was easy to break into, much easier than Alpha City had been. No jumping down air vents, worrying about being decapitated by one of those huge fans. The six of them had made it into the lab undetected. Ace was just glad Mira had access to the floor plans, and Shun didn't have to go in there alone just to get them. Personally, Ace thought the team's resident ninja was a little disappointed he didn't get to go on one of his solo adventures.

"We're close," Mira announced. Ace glanced back at their leader. Her beautiful face was creased into the familiar frown she'd been wearing a lot lately. He could only imagine how horrible it was for her, having her own father working alongside everything she stood against. He remembered the look on her face, just last week, when he'd ordered Lync to destroy her and Wilda.

"I don't see why we don't just run in and grab all the Bakugan," Dan complained, bringing Ace back to the task at hand, "I mean, security's so loose we could've just walked in through the front door."

"We're trying to be sneaky anyway, remember?" Drago pointed out, "If we get caught because we're being careless, they might tighten up security, and it'll only make the big plan ever harder."

Oh, right. The 'big plan'. Was Ace the only one who realized they didn't have any actual plan? Right now, they were just grabbing some info from the lab's computers to figure out what the Vexos were up to.

Dan suddenly stumbled and fell. Unfortunately for them, he let out a loud "Ow!", and to make matters worse, a guard just happened to be walking by.

"Hey, you!" he cried.

"Uh-oh."

"INTRUDERS IN THE WEST HALLWAY! INTRUDERS IN THE WEST HALLWAY!" Ace and his fellow resistance fighters turned on their heels and ran. It was only seconds before the alarm sounded, and the footfalls of several more guards reached his ears.

He finally made it to the kitchen, and made a beeline for the sink. Grabbing a glass off the counter, not caring if it was clean or not, he filled it up and tried to take a drink, but it slipped from his bandaged hands and fell to the floor with a crash.

His legs felt wobbly as the sound of breaking glass echoed in his ears. He leaned against the counter for support, but got back up once he realized he was putting weight on his left arm.

As they passed an adjoining hallway, Ace, at the back of the pack, felt something heavy collide with him. The impact jolted him sideways, towards a window that showed one of the lab's experimentation rooms.

Glass shattered as he went through it headfirst. Sharp, stabbing pains erupted in his head and around his neck and shoulders. He hit the floor on the other side, hard. Ace stood up shakily, trying to grasp what had just happened. Did he really just go flying through a window?

The door to the room opened, and many guards came through. Without thinking, Ace vaulted back out the window, ignoring the new pain in his hand. Several more guards were waiting for him, and they wrestled him to the ground, hitting his head rather hard in the process.

Most of the others were out of sight, but Shun was still there, probably trying to give the others more time. Guards kept running his way, but they were knocked back, either by the young ninja or their own buddies as he sent them flying. He was trying to make his way over to Ace, but they were both outnumbered.

Struggling, Ace reached into his pocket and pulled out Percival. If he was going down, he wouldn't let his partner go down with him. "Shun!" he called, "Catch!" Wrenching an arm free, he tossed his Bakugan to his teammate, who caught it in the middle of kicking a guard in the face. "Take Percival and get out of here!" He saw Shun's eyes widen as the Ventus Brawler understood what he meant. "I'll be fine! Just go catch up with the others!" Shun hesitated. "GO!" The ninja turned and ran, several guards half-heartedly on his tail.

Looking at his reflection in the window, Ace understood how wrong he'd been when he said he'd be fine. His right leg was in a cast, and so was his left arm; his chest was wrapped in gauze and plaster; both of his hands were covered in bandages, some of his fingers in splints; and the rest of his body was covered in dark bruises, contrasting with the uncharacteristic paleness of his skin. He hadn't bothered to put on a shirt, since the cast was too bulky to fit through the sleeves. He still had some small traces of dried blood on his face, along with plenty of scars he was sure would never fully disappear. His forehead and one cheek had five or six stitches each.

"So, what were you after?"

Ace continued to stare stubbornly at the wall in front of him, trying to ignore the pain in his head, neck, shoulders, arm, and the hand that still had a huge piece of glass sticking out of it. You'd think the Vexos organisation would at least notice one of their prisoners had just gone through a window. Those idiots were probably scratching their heads out in the hallway and wondering how the glass got broken.

"I said, what were you after?"

Still no response. These guys could ask him all the questions they wanted until they were blue in the face. They didn't know him. He didn't like being called 'stubborn as an ox', but he could live up to that description when he really wanted to. Besides, they'd already thrown him through a window. What more could they do to him? Threaten his family? Hah. They had no idea what his name was, let alone how to find his family. Claim they had his friends? He saw the rest of the Resistance getting away through another window as they dragged him past it. They had nothing to make him talk.

SMACK! A strong blow to the back of his head brought him back to the completely one-sided conversation. "Are you going to answer me? Or am I gonna have to make you talk?"

Ace just crossed his arms, not saying a word.

He heard a noise coming from behind him. He turned and saw Mira standing in the doorway. Before he could say anything, she ran up to him and wrapped her arms around him. Ace just then realised how dizzy he was feeling, and slumped into her embrace. He'd probably looked like he was going to faint, and she'd run up to catch him.

Which he was tremendously grateful for. He barely had enough strength to stand on one foot, and he felt himself gasping for breath. Was he going into shock without realizing it?

"The glass," he murmured. Mira's gorgeous blue eyes travelled to the floor and the remains of the cup that were scattered about. She helped him walk over to the table and sat him down. Ace was gripping onto her shirt so hard she had to forcibly pull herself away before grabbing a dustpan and broom.

The tinkling of the glass as she started sweeping it up was still audible, even from halfway across the room. Ace put his right hand up to his ear, but couldn't move the other arm because of his cast. "Stop," he pleaded weakly.

Mira looked up, confused. "Huh? Stop what?"

"The glass. I can still hear it from when I..." He trailed off, losing his ability to breathe properly again. Mira dropped the broom and dustpan and returned to his side, this time giving him a real hug. "I can still hear it."

Now they'd finally gotten his mouth to open, but all they got were cries of pain. He'd received several more blows to the face, to his chest, and plenty of kicks to his gut. His ribs were killing him now, too. "You're a stubborn kid, you know that? You don't know when to shut up and when to talk." Ace, curled up on the floor in his own blood, made a grab for the man's legs, but missed. The foot he'd been aiming for came crashing down on his fingers.

"Aaaaaaagh!" Ace cradled his hand, sick when he realised one finger was bending the wrong way.

"It's okay," Mira whispered to him, "You're here, you made it through all that. It's over. Now, what were you doing out here?"

"Wanted a drink. No one was up."

"We already told you, if you need something, just call any of us. We won't be upset if you have to wake us up in the middle of the night."

His captor went for his leg next. He stomped on it, hard. Ace instinctively reached out to his injury with his other hand, only to have it crushed as well. A loud snap could be heard as the bone cracked, followed by a fiery pain spreading through his whole leg. His shouts could probably be heard for miles outside the city.

Ace's hands were shaking as he put all his weight on Mira's shoulders. Slowly, they made their way back to Ace's room, and she sat him back down on his bed. A plate of half-eaten food was still on the floor.

Of all the things bugging him, what Ace hated the most was not being able to feed himself. The others had to hold the utensils and cup like he was a baby again. Dan in particular found amusement in making funny noises like he was feeding a toddler. Ace had responded by knocking the food into the Pyrus Brawler's face, to both his and Drago's amusement.

He was still hungry, so they decided he should finish it. Mira had a completely different strategy, one that Ace preferred. She let him hold the fork himself, and guided him by placing her own hand on top of his.

Ace had finally managed to strike back by kicking his captor's shin. However, he found that the price was just too much to bear. First was another fist to his face. Ace was coughing up blood and spitting out some knocked-out teeth when the final blow came.

The man grabbed him by the left arm and heaved him to his feet. Ace struggled to keep upright on one leg. Then his arm was twisted behind his back. Ace tried to pull free, but immediately regretted it. His captor was pulling in one direction, he was pulling in another, and a loud SNAP was clearly audible.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" It was just like what'd happened to his leg, but over a thousand times worse. He fell into the side of the table, catching the left side of his face on the sharp corner as he went down. Now blood was streaming from his cheek. Ace felt himself being picked up by the back of his shirt and then slammed into the table again, this time hitting his forehead. The world started spinning, and Ace could feel himself slipping into darkness.

So this was it. This was how he'd go, fighting for the freedom of the Bakugan.

He thought he heard the door opening, and for once someone else's grunts of pain. Someone's hand touched his neck. "He's still alive!" He was flipped over onto his back, with someone's arms supporting him. "Ace? Can you hear me? Ace!" Huh. That voice... it sounded just like Baron. What was he doing here?

Slowly, he opened his eyes. Baron, Marucho, and Dan were all grouped around him. He looked behind them and saw Shun beating the crap out of the man who'd put him through this.

He saw Mira leaning over him, tears in her eyes. Now Ace was positive he was dying. She was an angel, come to take him away.

Blackness was creeping up from the corners of his vision. Mira was vanishing into it. Ace reached out to her, but she disappeared, along with everything else, into nothingness.

Mira's POV

As soon as he'd eaten, Ace gingerly laid his head on his pillow. Mira turned to leave, but she felt him awkwardly grabbing her wrist. She looked back down at him. "Don't go,' he whispered. Mira hesitated, then grabbed his desk chair and sat down, never letting go of his hand.

It tore her heart into pieces to see him like this. She'd always liked him, more than as a friend, but she'd been too nervous to tell anyone. Now she'd almost lost him forever.

He was asleep now, but Mira couldn't bring herself to leave. She shifted into a more comfortable position, just so that she could lay her head on the bed with the chair supporting her lower body.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Ace's voice was unmistakable. Mira followed Shun through the hallways as he followed the sound to the interrogation room. Why they had an interrogation room in a government laboratory was irrelevant to her right now.

They found the door in a matter of seconds, and Shun kicked it open. A man in uniform stood by the table, his back to them. Shun grabbed him and, despite his disadvantage in size, slammed the guard into the wall.

Then Mira spotted Ace.

He was on the floor, by where the man had been standing. Blood was spattered on the walls and smeared all over the floor. A separate pool was formed around his head.

Baron ran over to their fallen friend, checking for a pulse. Mira's heart nearly stopped. It hadn't occurred to her until just then that he could be... "He's still alive!" Baron's cry started her heart up again. The Haos Brawler turned Ace right-side up. "Ace? Can you hear me? Ace!"

His face was a bloody mess, mostly from the two ugly gashes on his forehead and left cheek. His clothes were stained dark red, and both hands looked as if they'd been crushed. Worst of all, his leg was bent a little funny, and his left forearm had an extra bend that shouldn't have been there at all. Pulling up the sleeve a little, the Resistance was shocked to see that the broken bones had ripped right through his skin.

But the expression in his eyes was what hit Mira the hardest. She'd never seen so much hopelessness and pain in anyone, especially not Ace. She got down by his side, tears spilling down her face. Ace gave her a tiny smile, which was quickly replaced by a look of desperation. He lifted his right hand to her face, but when his fingertips were just about to brush her cheek, his eyes rolled back into his head, and his hand dropped back to the ground.

Baron stood up, holding Ace's limp form. "We've got to get him to a hospital," he stated, his face almost as white as his shirt.

It took them an eternity to get out of the building and back to the transport. Ace was put in his room, and Baron immediately set course for Alpha City. Now that the city's entire population supported the Resistance, it was the only place they could go. Mira stayed by Ace's side the whole way. She heard Shun blaming himself, saying he could've gone back for Ace instead of leaving him behind. Mira couldn't bring herself to blame anyone for this, except for the Beta City guard who'd nearly killed her closest friend. Wilda spent the whole trip on her shoulder, trying to comfort her, and Percival sat on the other side, silent.

It was hours after they arrived that she was able to see him. The nurse had said he could only have one visitor at a time, and the team had unanimously decided she would go first. Several fans, who had gone from worshipping the Vexos to the Resistance, were clamoured outside, but the hospital staff was keeping them out. Even Dan, who loved the limelight more than anyone else, had made it clear that he didn't want to be bothered by fans right now.

Ace was still unconscious, this time due to all the pain medication and sleeping drugs he was on. Most of the blood had been mopped up, revealing the extensive bruising all over him. Mira sat down next to him and pushed some of his light sea-green hair out of his blackened eyes. She couldn't believe how someone as strong as him could become so... broken, in little over an hour. Mira gently took his hand, holding it lightly between her own two. If only they'd gotten there faster.

After half an hour of silence, a nurse poked her head in and said that her time was up, and that she should let one of the others have a turn to visit. Before leaving, Mira pulled out Percival and pressed the Bakugan into Ace's hand.

Baron's POV

He quietly opened the door to Ace's room, holding a tray of food. He doubted his friend would even be awake, but he still needed to eat at some point, right?

Baron was surprised to see Mira in there, curled up in Ace desk chair with her head resting next to him. Their faces were so close they almost touched.

All Baron could think was: 'Finally.'

THE END

OR IS IT?...

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