Title: A Fishy Adventure 6 of ?

Author: Little Angel

Disclaimer: I own not GW…. Tis sad… tear!

Pairings: 1+2, 3+4, other?

AN: I know it's been a long time between updates, and I apologize for that. I had student teaching last semester which left little time for updates, and I also went through a couple drafts of this chapter before I was happy with it. There is still more to it, so be warned that while this is a long chapter, it'll be longer still!

Last Time…

Nobody spoke as they made their way out of the building, each team member trying not to get lost in their own thoughts, and questions of the impossible. At the moment they still had a mission to complete.

But later, when the mission was over, and the – creature… was safely tucked away at their safe house. Then they would start to think about what they had witnessed today and make an attempt to understand.

And there was also the fact that they would have to explain this to the other pilots and rebel leaders. Who may or may not notice what was going on.

However, as they made their get away, none of them realized there was a tall man in what appeared to be a commander's uniform watching them silently through the observation room glass. All of them assumed that there was no other way into the room and since Quatre had taken care of the guards there was no need to go check again.

A slow grin came unto the man's face as he discretely left the way he had come, through a secret passage many did not know about. He had a lot to plan, and people to see, all about one once mythical creature.

8-8-8

Team Alpha quickly made their way through the halls with everyone focusing as much as possible on their mission. The prisoner was still unconscious, with no large visual changes in its behavior. His eyebrows would occasionally twitch, as would his eyes – even though they remained tightly closed.

/We need to get to the jeeps, then the plain. Once on the plane Sally can check him over and possibly give him something for the burns. /

As they drew towards the exit created by Team Beta, Quatre pushed a button on his watch and looked on as it immediately started flashing red. A couple seconds later it flashed green. That was the signal to show the coast was clear. It also let Zechs and Rashid know to begin their attack.

The team was able to make it out of the base with almost no incidents. They ran into a couple of soldiers, who were surprised to see them, but they were quickly taken care of. At that point, the alarms were going off – signaling a Gundam attack.

When they reached the van, Team Beta was already present and accounted for. Everyone prayed that none of the mobile suits would notice their get away. And while the members of Team Beta were curious about the long haired bundle, they made no mention of him.

A collective sigh of relief went through everyone as the planes came into view. Surprisingly it was Sally who assigned everyone something to do.

"Okay people, let's get going. Wufei you and Abdul get us airborne ASAP. Snider put the prisoner on a table or something smooth so we can strap him down. Billings you are with Quatre. Snider that goes for you to when we are in the air. Noin, I need you with me. Quatre, do not move a muscle. Nobody touch the prisoner unless on my order."

Abdul's voice came over the speakers, "Everyone strap in. We're taking off in 3 minutes."

Three minutes later the engine's roared to life and the plane took off. Sally was next to her patient, taking his vitals as best she could.

As the plane steadied out to the right altitude Sally gave a sigh of relief. "There's no change in his breathing and heart rate – from what I can tell. Okay people! I have patients that need to be checked!"

A chorus of "Yes Major" rang out across the plane.

"Sally, I'm okay. I just need to rest some when we get back." Quatre didn't dare move from the seat he was occupying from the beginning of the flight.

Billings started checking the blonde's breathing, heart rate and pupils, "Any nausea, cramping or headaches?"

"I'm a bit dizzy, if I move around to much. And I a slight headache from having my shields up so high, but I don't want anything for it. Thank you."

Billings nodded, "You are right about the rest. Your heart rate is a little faster than I would like, but your eyes are not dilated and you don't have a fever. How about you don't move from that chair and we'll go from there when we land."

Quatre nodded but otherwise did not make a response. His thoughts were turned inwards, to his shields. He was slowly taking them down to a less stressful level. As he worked to bring down the barriers, his thoughts started to wonder to the reason for said shields.

/Is he a human? Pulled into some experiment? What if it's a real mer… maid? Merman? Do they even have genders? Allah, this is so confusing. Although we probably won't get any answers until it wakes up. Wait, can it even talk like us? What if that chemical did damage to his vocal chords? …well if he has any. I'm not going to get any answers by sitting here thinking up more questions. We'll have to have a big talk when he wakes up. /

Quatre did not think he could reach out to their patient again. He was already drained to a very dangerous level and without sleeping for the next twenty four hours he doubted he would be doing much of anything.

/Hmm… sleep. That sounds like a wonderful idea. / Quatre drifted into a light sleep. He felt a familiar presence sit down next to him, which let him relax a bit further. /Wufei can play lookout for a couple hours…/

As Wufei steadied out the plane to the right altitude, he gave the controls over to Abdul and went back to check on Quatre and the other patient. /So he was a human after all. /

He looked around the cargo area; Billings, Noin, and Sally, were all working as well as they could on the patient. He appeared to have serious burns all over his body and the longest hair he had ever seen. There was not much he could do to help the trio, his eyes scanned on. Quatre was tucked away in a chair with his eyes closed and Snider was sitting off to the side. His face had a look of mild shock and calculation twisted together, eyes distantly looking over at the prisoner.

Wufei raised an eyebrow at the expression, but didn't comment. He had no idea what transpired with the members of team Alpha, so it was not his place to pass any judgment. He walked over and sat next to the blonde strategist, silently watching over him and taking in the workings around him. Wufei also didn't comment about his partner's apparent need for rest. /He must have over done it. Trowa's going to skin us alive if he's not better by the time they get to the safe house. /

The pilot raised an eyebrow at the conversation he heard between Billings and Sally. /Gills/ As much as he wanted to investigate further, Quatre needed someone to look over him and if the choice was between satisfying his curiosity and possibly become the new puppet for Trowa's circus show…. /There is that saying about cats and curiosity…/

Sally worked diligently on the plane, in an attempt to help their patient. The only problem was, she didn't know how exactly to treat him. His body was full of burns, and without being able to analyze the sample of the chemical added to the tank, she wasn't sure what was used.

"Major, I have the feeling the scientists used a diluted type of chlorine. It seems like he ingested it through these… gills… since there is more damage around this part of the skin than anywhere else." Billings gestured to the gills, but was extremely careful not to touch them in case it did more harm.

Sally also continued to look over the patient, "I agree, but without actually testing the chemical we can't be completely sure. And if that is the case, then we have no idea to the type of internal damage done, if it was ingested through those gills."

Noin was as baffled as Wufei, but since she was in the process of assisting Sally and Billings, she was in a better position to take a look at what they were gesturing at. She took one look at the area of skin in question and gasped, "Oh my god! How in the world is that possible?"

Billings looked over at his Lieutenant, "He's either the result of some kind of twisted experiment, or this is something else entirely. Personally, I'm not sure which would be better at this point…" A sudden idea struck him, "Major, why don't we try a burn cream on the external wounds. At this point there is nothing we can really do for the internal ones, but this way we are at least doing something for him…"

Sally seemed to consider it, "This is going against every doctoral instinct I have, but I am going to agree with you. I don't like this sitting around waiting, especially if there is the chance we can help him."

She started going through the medical bag they had brought along. "It would have to be a chemical burn type of cream. Hopefully we have some in here…. A ha!" She pulled out a very small container of the cream in question. It's not a lot but it's a start."

Both Sally and Billings put on their rubber gloves and started applying some of the ointment onto the worst of the wounds.

"Let's not do the burns near his… gills… I am not sure how the two will react." Billings nodded in agreement.

Noin, realizing she would not be of assistance any further, moved to the cockpit of the plain, intent on checking the communications between Zechs and the Maquanacs as well as give Abdul a rest.

The rebels, for the remainder of the trip to the new safe house did not speak much. The members of the rescue team were trying to process what happened during the mission, the others decided to give them time to process said information since they wanted somewhat coherent answers to their many questions.

As the plain passed over the ocean, Snider spoke up from his strange trance like state, a sudden idea passing through him. "Sally, what about salt water?"

Sally, who was not catching onto what the younger rebel was talking about, just looked at him questioningly.

"I just had a thought. What if we put him back in salt water, it might help his recovery."

Billings and Sally both started to catch on, "You're saying the salt water may have healing properties or vitamins that we don't know about, which might be compatible with his physiology!"

"If it works, then we have a better chance of healing his internal injuries as well."

Wufei, who was more than mildly confused as to what they were talking about, but would never admit that out loud, spoke up to point out a minor flaw with their plan, "Where exactly are you going to get a large pool of water, and what are you talking about – how would it help him?"

Quatre, who everyone thought was dosing next to Wufei, answered his questions, "He's been tampered with Wufei. We think that OZ did some kind of genetic mutation experimentation on his genes. When we found him, he was in a huge tank, filled with salt water and they were putting some kind of chemical in with him."

Quatre's eyes became glassy and he rubbed a hand over his heart as he remembered, "He was in so much pain."

"Quatre! You should be resting. How are you feeling?" Sally moved to where the two Gundam pilots were sitting and started checking over Quatre.

"I'm doing better Sally, thank you. I finally can get my shields down to a manageable level." And he felt no need to mention the mild migraine forming from said shields…

"But Wufei is right. Where are we going to get a tank of salt water? We can't very well drop him into the ocean – we still need answers to questions only he can answer right now." Noin piped up on her way back from the cockpit.

Everyone thought that over and Billings suggested, "What about a bath tube? That might work."

"We should have a large bath tube in the safe house. But I'm afraid that's it. I don't think he should go in a pool – even if it has been cleaned, because of the cleaning chemicals and whatever is left over from the chlorine used to keep it clean through the summer." Quatre sat back more in his chair after his contribution to the conversation. He started to doze off again.

"Okay! Here's the plan. When we land – Wufei, I want you to get Quatre situated in a bed. I don't care where, and I don't care how. But he is not to move until he's able to stay awake longer than five minutes. Billings, I want you, Snider and Abdul to get as much ocean water you can to that bathtub Quatre mentioned. Noin, I need you to help me move the patient into the house and get him to the bathroom. Then get the closest room available ready for him so we can get him bed ridden if this doesn't work."

Another chorus of "Yes Major!" and one snort rang out through the plane.

"I have news from Zechs and Rashid." Everyone turned to Noin as she spoke, "They finished demolishing the base and are heading to the rendezvous point. We suffered minimal casualties and I am happy to report that the base was completely leveled. They should be meeting us at the safe house at 0300 hours. I gave them a brief description of the prisoner, so they know what to expect when they arrive."

"That's great!" Exclaimed Snider.

"Did they say if there were any survivors?" Billings spoke up as well. The doctor in him not liking lose of life, but the soldier knowing it was all a part of war.

"No. As far as they know, anyone who was on the base at the time of the attack has been killed. The base itself has been pretty much leveled."

"I have a feeling we have missed something important." Quatre's quiet words broke the victorious silence that had overcome the rebels.

Sally, having misinterpreted Quatre's meaning, explained about the patient's condition. "Well, the prisoner isn't out of the woods yet. He seems to be stable right now, but that can change at any time and we don't have much to help him at the moment."

Quatre was not sure if the unconscious young man sitting next to them on the plain was the reason for his feeling, so he accepted Sally's explanation and remained quiet for the remainder of the trip. Maybe later, when he was more able to think properly, he would further examine this feeling. But at the present time, his mind was still not functioning up to its normal capacity, or potential.

Some might think something spectacular may have happened when the plain landed. Maybe some kind of joyous reunion in the form of a surprise return of the remaining two Gundam Pilots, or maybe even some of the Middle East soldiers welcoming them to the estate. However not even Quatre's sister, the one who was lending them her Earth side summer home, was present at the plane's landing. The landing itself was going to be extremely tricky, since they couldn't use the runways of an airport, and three quarters of the land surrounding the house was forest. The last quarter was the ocean and a long sandy beach.

The plane's break system was made for the water landings of lakes, which is part of the reason they had chosen this particular model. If anyone ran across the plane, they would believe it to be heading to the cold Tundra's of the north, or maybe the Tropical lands around the equator, dropping off supplies to the natives in those areas. However, the rebels were not going to the tundra's of the north, or the tropics around the equator. But they were going to need to land on the ocean and taxi up to the beach. The waves of the ocean in this area were not very high, but there were rocks, caves, coral, and all other types of ocean life and living areas to hinder the pilot.

Everyone sat tightly buckled and in suspense, as Abdul and Wufei attempted the landing of the plane. Carefully, they maneuvered over the waves and through the rocks and corals, onto the beach. Twice they were almost overturned by some of the higher waves, and barely managed to miss a hidden reef, being covered by the ocean's tide.

As solid land was felt by everyone on the plane, a collective sigh of relief washed over the rebels. Had Wufei and Abdul gone back to the cargo area at the same time as everyone exiting the plane, they would've gotten a standing ovation by their comrades.

Abdul and Wufei gathered the materials to camouflage the plane, while everyone else began getting the patient(s) ready to be moved.

The thought of letting their braided patient lose into the ocean, crossed the thought of all the rebels at one point or another, but it was dismissed since they didn't know enough about the situation surrounding his captivity or his condition. The chance that the ocean life would react badly to his presence was highly likely, and the chance that he might wake up while under the water and attempt to get away, leaving them all without answers; were the main reasons for dismissing that thought.

Quatre was also not up to the empathic task of "talking" with the patient in the water, which was another hindrance to letting him heal in the actual ocean.

It was best, the rebels conceded, to use the bathtub in the house; if it helps him, then he would be able to answer some of their questions, and if it did more damage, then they would already be in the position to handle damage control. If they were outside, they would still need to bring him back to the house, and moving him that far would probably do even more damage, possibly even taking his life or paralyzing him in the moving process.

Wufei and Abdul finished getting the materials for the camouflage and everyone moved from the plane. Billings helped Sally and Noin move the braided patient, and Wufei assisted Quatre into the house. Snider and Abdul began camouflaging the plane.

By the time Wufei and Billings returned outside, with a bunch of large plastic buckets, Snider and Abdul were finished with the plane. They all moved to begin filling the tub with as much water as possible.

When they finished the first trip into the house, the four men found Sally and Noin leaning over the braided young man who was lying on a single size bed in the room closest to the bathroom turned swimming pool. Quatre was lying on another single bed next to the braided young man. His eyes were closed and he was sleeping very lightly, but everyone knew he was far from getting the type of sleep he needed for at least another couple of hours.

Many hours and trips later, there was enough ocean water to fill a good three quarters of the tub. All four men sat back, mostly exhausted from the task, waiting to see how long Sally would wait to put the patient into the water.

Quatre was getting more coherent and able to stay awake for longer periods of time, but was resting again as the rebels made their last few trips of water collecting.

"Man, I don't think I can move at all. If I never go near another tub again after this guy is healed, it will be far too soon."

"We are going to wait until Quatre is awake again to try putting him in the tub. He just went to sleep, so why don't you gentlemen follow his lead and get some shut eye. We haven't had much sleep in the past twenty four hours, it will do you all some good." No protests meet Sally's words, as the men pilled out of the room to find some solid object to fall onto. Couches or beds, it didn't matter to them at this point.

"So you're saying that the ocean water may have healing properties that we aren't aware of, which may help him with all the internal damage caused by the scientists?" After a solid four hours of sleep Quatre was almost up to his normal level of coherence and mental functioning. He was also prepared to "talk" to the man/creature if he needed to and would be up to the task of keeping his shields up as well.

The other soldiers were more awake as well, the time they spent sleeping helped get them more focused on their task at hand.

"That's the theory," said Billings as he carried the young man over to the tub. He, Sally, and Quatre were gathered around one side of the tub, while the others stayed off to one side. They were close enough to assist if needed as well as watch the proceedings, but far enough to not be in the way.

Billings carefully placed the boy into the tub, they made sure that the only things on his body were the anklet, and his swim trunks, which were present when he transformed the first time. The burn salve, and any bandages were taken off by Sally and Noin as the others were resting.

Everyone stood with baited breath, and mild skepticism (from those of team Beta), as the boy was lowered into the water. Billings carefully levitated the braided man's body over the water by an inch. He was unsure of how to put him into the water, and finally decided to tilt his body slightly to one side and pull his hands away.

There was a collective jaw dropping and odd gasp from the rebels, as the slim burned legs transformed into one big fin, complete with the burns from the other form. The creature's body was now turned onto its back, close to the bottom of the tub, but he never touched the bottom. It was like his body was floating in the water. The large fin occasionally flipped, as though to steady the creature in the water. The anklet, which was wrapped around one leg, was now encircling the fin where the human ankle used to be. It appeared to be glowing in the water, although, the rebels wanted to believe it was more light reflecting off the water than the thing actually glowing.

None of the rebels were quite sure what to expect when they put the young man into the water. The four rebels who had not witnessed this transformation the first time, where extremely shocked by what was transpiring. This defied all laws of any science known to man. Creatures like this were supposed to exist in folk lore, or fairy tales. Not OZ science lavatories, being experimented on.

After only a few minutes everyone gathered around the tube began to notice differences in the creature's multiple burns. "Look!" Noin was the one to point out the burns seemed to be fading.

Upon closer inspection, Sally and Billings agreed that the burns really were fading. "It seems the ocean water will be able to heal him after all."

"Sally, the redness around his gills is disappearing as well. Maybe that means the internal damage is being repaired also!"

Sally nodded in agreement, "Hopefully he will be able to wake up when we take him out of there, and tell us a little more about how he got to be this way. Quatre, are you picking anything up from him?"

The blonde pilot had a small frown and a look of concentration on his face. He did not seem to notice the conversation going on around him. Nor did he seem to notice the apparently healing of the braided being in the water, even though he was completely focused on him. "Something's not quite right. But I can not put my finger on it."

The quiet statement startled everyone in the room. Wufei moved closer to the blonde pilot to give him extra support if need be. "What is it?"

Quatre's frown deepened, "I'm not sure. He's not reaching out to me like he was before. But I know he is aware of our presence in the room with him. He seems slightly confused, and can't figure out why the water feels so dead… I attempted to reach out to him again empathically to reassure him we are not the enemy, but he isn't responding."

Everyone looked at each other then back down at the water. With the occasional flip of his fin, the creature made no movement what so ever. It did not seem like he was conscious, let alone aware of the people in the room with him. How was he able to tell? He had not opened his eyes once, since the rescue, so where was he getting his information?

"How long should he stay in there?" Billings' question startled the other rebels. "He's been under the water for about a half hour now. Yet he hasn't opened his eyes once. Quatre says he seems to be conscious, so maybe he is just pretending to still be hurt."

"No," Quatre interrupted him, "He's not pretending. Some of his internal injuries haven't completely healed yet. The chemical did more damage to him than I think we realized at first." Quatre suddenly clutched a hand to his heart and started to hyperventilate. Wufei quickly grabbed his arm to keep him upright.

"Quatre, what's wrong?" Sally also went to his side.

"Can't… breathe properly… but, it's not… me…. Him…"

"Shit!" Billings startled everyone with his loud curse, "Snider, give me a hand. We need to get him out of there now."

Everyone except Quatre looked over at the creature. It seemed to be having difficulty breathing, and looked like it was drowning.

Without being told further, Snider moved to help Billings remove the creature from the water. The young being seemed to be fighting them weakly, but his eyes remained closed tightly. Between the two men, the creature was pulled from the water. Everyone watched as the fin melted away into two legs, one of which still had the anklet. They put the, now human, on the ground and moved slightly away as he started coughing.

Everyone moved away from the braided man, as he rolled on to his side, and coughed up some of the ocean water. He groaned slightly and wearily opened his eyes.

Quatre, who had stopped hyperventilating the minute the creature was taken out of the water, shakily moved so he was kneeling next to the young man. Wufei stood behind him, watching with veiled curiosity, as well as weariness for what the boy… would do. Wufei also motioned for everyone else to stay farther back. Quatre was the one best connected with the strange prisoner and even though Sally and Billings were itching to make sure he was out of immediate danger, they realized that their presence would do more harm than good at the moment.

Clear bright purple eyes landed on Quatre and the young man pushed himself back up against the tub he was just taken out of, sitting up and pulling his legs close to his body. There was no fear in his eyes, only a fleeting moment of recognition, then nothing.

/That look… those eyes…/ Quatre was instantly reminded of Heero. /I think he remembers me from the lab, but I don't know if he even understands our languages. This might be interesting…/

Quatre reached out empathically to the young man, to reassure him they were there to help him, not hurt him. Going on a hunch, he also decided to see if the young man knew how to talk. "Are you alright?"

Nothing. The man did not respond, nor did he change his facial expressions in the least. Quatre was not deterred though, and tried again in English and Arabic. Again, he had no luck.

An idea struck. Without turning to look at Wufei, keeping his eyes squarely on the young prisoner, he asked the other pilot, "Wufei, do you know when Trowa and Heero will be returning?"

Wufei was also watching the wet young man as well, "I am not sure. They should probably be here within the week."

/Aha! Gotcha. / Quatre smiled to himself as he saw recognition and glimmer of hope pass through the braided man's eyes. /He understands what we are saying. I wonder if he can talk. /

Quatre smiled slightly at the young man, "You know of Heero and Trowa?" The blonde pilot was startled slightly be the panic he was feeling coming across from the young man. Fortunately the only exit from the room was being blocked by Abdul and Snider, because Quatre was under the vague impression the young man wanted to get away from them.

"You are safe here, and among friends. Maybe we should introduce ourselves. My name is Quatre, behind me is Wufei, over by the door are Snider and Abdul, the other man is Billings, the lady with the blonde hair is Sally. We are rebels fighting against the people who had you locked in that tank in the lab. Do you remember that?"

Duo, from the moment he could form a conscious thought, was extremely confused and unsure of what was going on. He knew he was submerged in water again, but the tank, or whatever it was, was much smaller than the tank at the lab. He remembered some kind of rescue attempt, and someone that seemed to know Heero. That same person seemed to be in the room with him, as well as six or seven other people, only a few of which seemed familiar to him. He felt he was being healed by the ocean water, but for some reason the water felt dead… or was dying. /Why is that? It's never happened before…/

And for the life of him, Duo couldn't feel Heero. /I am just weak from whatever that drug was… I refuse to believe he is dead…. /

Time did not have much meaning for Duo at this point. He knew the ocean water was healing him, for that he was grateful, but the water still felt like it was dying. He just didn't know why.

The why of that came when he began to find it difficult to breathe. /The oxygen! Of course, the water is healing me, but there is nothing replenishing the oxygen. Which means I am probably not anywhere near the ocean… Are these humans trying to kill me to? Gah! I need to get out of this tank…/

As if reading his thoughts, strong arms wrapped around his fin and his upper body. Duo fought weakly against them/I hate when the humans touch me…/ but there was nothing he could do to stop them. He felt himself leave the water and took in a big breath, or at least attempted to.

Some of the dead water was caught in his lungs. He was placed on the ground and quickly rolled on to his side in an attempt to cough up the water. He felt the water leave his system and groaned. He opened his eyes and sat up against the tank he was just in, pulling his legs close to his body and making himself as small of a target as he could muster.

Duo noticed the blonde young man sitting close to him/that must be the empathic human that knows Heero./ He felt said young man reach out to him with reassurance and knew he was correct in his guess.

"Are you alright?" Duo was very careful not to respond to the human, he wasn't sure if he could completely trust them yet, even if they did know Heero.

However that plan was completely shot to Hades when the blonde mentioned Heero's return to wherever they were. /Heero's coming here/ Duo was not fast enough to clamp down on the hope that he felt soar through him with that thought. /Wait, what if this is some kind of trick…/ he started to panic as the blonde mentioned Heero again.

/I wonder if I can get out of here…no there are humans blocking the exit….great…. wait friends/

Duo took stock of the people in the room as the blonde, Quatre, mentioned their names. /The lab… of course I remember that lab…. / Duo forced himself to hold back a shudder at the memory, and hesitantly nodded at Quatre's question.

/They did help me… and they know Heero… so maybe I can trust them/

The rest of the conversation was momentarily put on hold as another female human enter the small room carrying a blanket. Duo was instantly on alert, even though he was still pretty sore, as the female came closer to him.

"Hi, my name is Lucretiza Noin, but everyone calls me Noin. I thought you might be cold, since you were just taken out of the water." She moved to hand Duo the blanket, although he wasn't about to take it ad leave his hands occupied. Noin noticed his hesitation and shrugged, putting the blanket on the floor next to the young man.

"Do you have a name?" Quatre's question brought the young man's violet eyes back to him. Even without his throat feeling sore from the chemicals then coughing, he wasn't going to tell them his name. He just shrugged/I don't know how much I can trust them, and I don't want to give them too much information if I can help it. /

"Can you talk?" Duo just looked at the blonde.

"Quatre," Sally interrupted the conversation, "I would really like to get him moved to the bedroom, or something and check him over, to see how much damage is left."

Quatre nodded and started to stand up, Wufei held his arm just in case. Once he could stand without feeling like he would fall over, he held his hand out to the braided young man. "We're going to have to think of a name for you, but until then let's go somewhere a little more comfortable."

Duo hesitated slightly then reached out to grasp the blonde's hand. As their hands touched, Duo felt a spark of something go through him and gasped, bringing his hand back to his chest. Quatre was also reeling back in slight alarm into Wufei.

"Quatre?" Wufei caught the other pilot, and helped stabilize him.

The blonde looked over at Sally, "That was strange, almost like static electricity, but more intense." He looked back at his hand in wonder. As their hands touched, the blonde pilot felt a connection to the young man, the feeling was gone now, but for a second he felt the other man's emotions and thoughts. Hope, hesitant trust, mild panic, confusion and a strong pull towards not being touched were among the most prominent emotions.

A growl pulled him out of his thoughts. He looked over to see Duo making himself even smaller than before, shielding away from Snider, who looked to be trying to help him up. Quatre realized at once that the young man had been the one to make that noise. /At least we know he has vocal chords, hopefully they weren't damaged to badly … /

"Snider stop, he doesn't want to be touched." Snider pulled away from the braided man who was looking at all of them wearily.

"Can he stand by himself though? Most patients don't usually get much say in getting help around you know…" Billings was curious, but completely serious with what he said. He was tempted to just go over to the purple eyed youth and bodily pick him up soon.

"Why don't you use the blanket, so he isn't touching your skin?" Noin piped in as the voice of reason.

Snider nodded and picked up the blanket. He addressed the patient, "look, Quatre says you don't want to be touched, which I can understand. However, I don't think you are well enough to be moving around on your own yet."

Duo sighed, that was as best as he was going to get, he knew, and there was no way the other humans were going to touch him as well. /I'm not taking the chance. Quatre must be some special breed of human. Who knows how many of the others here are like him/

Snider cover the blanket around Duo's shoulders, then slowly helped him to stand. He made sure he did not touch the braided boy's skin in any way. The boy took a second to gather his feet about him, and keep steady, but he was able to stand. Neither wanting him to be up any more than necessary, they began moving towards the door. Everyone standing their moved out into the main room standing by if the pair needed assistance.

Duo's steps were small, and he was having some trouble staying up right, but he was determined to get to their destination without being carried. /These humans keep referring to me as boy or young man. If they only knew…/ He resisted the urge to snort. /I guess Heero was right about that. Although, there is no need to let them know how old I really am….they might start calling me gramps or something… then I might have to kill them – allies or enemies. /

The braided patient didn't let his thoughts wonder any further, since a great deal of his concentration was on keeping upright long enough to make to a bed and even then, it was beginning to waver.

Duo sat down heavily on the bed as they came upon it, breathing heavily. The blonde woman, whose name Duo couldn't remember at the moment, was approaching with something around her neck that he couldn't identify – although he saw many of the doctors wearing them at that Oz lab, and a bag with a red cross on it. He eyed her warily as she continued to approach.

"Sally just wants to make sure you are alright." Duo did not turn from the lady, Sally's approach, even as he registered Quatre's words. He would have moved, had be been able to do much other than attempt to breathe deeply. But even that effort was affecting him somewhat negatively.

Sally seemed to notice his distress and stopped her approach a few feet away from the end of the bed. Billings, who was moving to check over Quatre, also stopped.

"The distress might be coming from his time at the lab. I remember a couple of the white coats had stethoscopes on while they worked there as well." Billings moved to get the young man's attention; purple eyes darted over to him briefly in acknowledgement but then returned to Sally again, since she was the one closest to him. "I am going to check over Quatre as well. Why don't I check him first, then Sally can check you the same way. We are not trying to hurt you, but we need to see the extent of your injuries."

The stand off between the two men continued, until Duo finally relented. His energy was beginning to leave him, and he needed what little strength he had left for the upcoming check up. He wanted to at least be conscious when they were near him with anything the human's considered medical, so it was better to just give in.

The braided man sighed and nodded, then attempted to get his breathing back under some semblance of control. /Damn, I need some water. I don't have time for a starring contest with these humans… / He could almost feel his body start to dehydrate.

Mer-people were creatures of the sea. They lived, breathed and talked with the ocean's currants, and watery oxygen supply. When they wanted to come to the surface, they never left the water long because it was such an important part of their lives. Even when they were in a human form, their bodies were used to the feel of the ocean, the water in and around their bodies, which meant that they needed to drink a lot of water, fresh or salt, in order to keep their bodies hydrated.

In their case, the fresher, wasn't always better either. The ocean contained large quantities of salt, which is just one factor making it different from the fresh water of the in-lands. It usually took twice the amount of fresh water to keep the human turned mer-people hydrated because of the differences found between the two types of water.

The injuries Duo sustained at the hands of the scientists and doctors, was another reason for him to stay as hydrated as possible. For reasons that were literally unknown to man, the ocean water had some healing properties for its occupants. Maybe it was the combination of salt and oxygen, maybe it was some kind of bacteria, or maybe it was something we would consider mythical. Duo's body was attempting to use the ocean water to help heal his injuries, however, since be was not submerged like he should've been, his body was not getting a steady supply of that "special something," which was helping him.

To a much lesser degree, (minimal really) fresh water could be used to heal his injuries; however, he was not near any kind of lake, or large body of fresh water to submerge in. He was stuck drinking enough water to keep his body hydrated and would have to let his body heal the human way. The damage would take longer to mend, and the chances of scarring, or long term issues with his breathing or walking/swimming were extremely high.

His anklet would help his chances of getting out of this scar free and as healthy as before he was caught, but it could only do so much.

Quatre seemed to pick up on something he was feeling, or maybe it was left over from their brief skin to skin contact from before, but he spoke up to Wufei, "Can you get us some tap water please; maybe a large jug and a couple glasses so the water is on hand for later."

The pilot of Nataku nodded and while he was reluctant to leave the room, he knew the request was more for their potential ally than him. At the moment, Quatre was the for-most authority figure on the man-fish (he refused to think mer-man at this point), so any suggestions he made were taken as orders.

Duo's shoulders relaxed a margin, and he sent a quick but grateful glance at the blonde pilot sitting in the other bed. Quatre knew he was right on with his suggestion and was relieved he would be able to further help their new friend.

Billings and Sally moved over towards the beds, careful to stay within the braided man's sights, yet not touch him yet. Billings began examining Quatre, explaining what he was doing and why, as if to help the patients understand why they needed to check them over. It was really more for the braided man than anything, but Billings thought it would be wise to give Quatre the same check up as he would be receiving from Sally so there would be fewer problems/misunderstandings.

"I'm going to start by checking your breathing Quatre. Take a deep breath in, now exhale. One more time. And again. This is to make sure your lungs are not clogged with anything harmful. Yours seem to be in fine shape. Now I'm going to check your ear drums, and eyes. Good, now follow the light with your eyes. Open up, and say 'ah.' This is to make sure your throat is not scratched up, swelling up, or overly irritated." He also quickly felt under his throat on the outside as well.

Billings nodded and as he stepped away asked, "Do you feel lighted headed, dizzy, nauseous, or have a headache?"

"Only when I stand up, or attempt to walk too far." Quatre nodded over to the other man sitting on the other bed. "That's the basics of the check up. Sally might want to check your ribs to make sure nothing is broken, and they might want to give you some more of that burn cream they used on the plane ride back, but other than that it's the same thing."

Duo looked between Quatre and the two doctors standing at the end of his bed. /I really don't have much choice in this. I might as well get it over with. /

Duo nodded and Sally stepped up to him smiling slightly. "We really need to think of something to call you. Any suggestions?"

Duo shrugged. He couldn't talk with his throat burning any more than it was, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to give them his name unless Heero was there with him.

"Hmm, we'll think about it and get back to you then. For now, I'm going to do the same things Billings did with Quatre, and I'm going to try to touch you as little as possible."

Duo nodded and braced himself. The stethoscope was cold against his skin, but in a refreshing sort of way. He took the obligatory deep breaths, and had to stop himself from coughing up a lung.

"Woah, try a smaller breath. You're lungs are still healing from that chemical and the water from before. Good. Now I'm going to check your ears." Sally was careful to not touch the gills behind his ears. She wanted to study them, but now was definitely not the time for that.

Wufei came back into the room as Sally was finishing with Duo's ears. He had two glasses full of water, as well a large pitcher also full. He set the pitcher down on the night stand between the beds and handed both Quatre and Duo their cups. Quatre took a sip of his first, and smiled at Duo, encouraging him to take a sip. Duo did, but mostly because he definitely knew his body was in serious need of some kind of water, he wasn't going to be picky at the moment.

Sally stepped away from him as he downed the entire glass and reached for the pitcher. She intercepted his hand, and refilled his glass. Duo downed about half of the second glass before letting Sally back over to finish the examination. He was going to sip the rest of the glass at a more sedate pace since he wasn't sure how much water the humans were going to let him have. It was better to attempt to pace his water in take, until he could get up and move around. He saw a sink in the bathroom he would be able to use later that night if need be.

Sally turned on her pen light and moved closer to her patient to examine his eyes. She barely had the light up at his eyes, before his pupils contracted to dots and red began to encircle the small dots that were his pupils, over riding the violet color they were out of the water. He hissed and pushed Sally away from him, covering his eyes with the hand not holding the glass of water.

/Ow, ow, ow, ow! It's burning! Crap! It hurts/ Duo lifted the glass up to his eyes, and very carefully poured some water into his eyes, almost like he was wearing contacts that were dried out. He looked at the ceiling for well over a minute, not blinking or removing the water from his eyes, yet occasionally he would add more water.

Everyone watched, transfixed, as the water seemed to be absorbed into his eyes. When the braided man finally looked down, his pupils were back to their normal size, with absolutely no red surrounding them. He glared mildly at Sally.

Sally held up her hands in a surrender position, "I'm sorry, I didn't realize your eyes would react that way to the light. I still need to check them – but I'll see what I can do without the light. Is that alright?"

Duo kept his shoulders tense, but nodded to allow Sally closer to him so she could finish her exam. The blonde doctor kept her word though, and was very careful to not use the pen light around his eyes again.

The rest of the exam went surprisingly well considering the circumstances. Duo didn't have any more adverse reactions to any of the method's Sally used to finish her exam, and the results were more expected to the doctor than anything else. Sally reapplied the burn cream to his exterior wounds, and wrapped his chest, in an effort to help stabilize his lungs and ribs. Duo was not too comfortable with the contact, but knew it was necessary if the humans were to leave him alone or at least sleep.

Sally also noticed how quickly his body seemed to dehydrate, which didn't puzzle her as much, considering his reaction to the pen light. Whether his condition was from genetic enhancements, or just some myth turned real, the boy's body needed a lot of water to stay hydrated when in his present form. She ordered bed rest and a couple more jugs of water brought up to the room.

Duo, upon hearing those orders, relaxed even more. It was becoming clearer to him that they were attempting to help him, even with their lack of information on his condition. It could've been some kind of elaborate OZ plan, but at this point he didn't care as much as he probably should have. Sally had kept her word after the pen light incident, and had ordered for more water to be brought up for him. Maybe he was too tired to think straight, but he seemed more inclined to trust them.

At least until he got more sleep and was thinking more coherently. Duo finished his second glass of water and laid his back against the bed. He was vaguely aware of many of the people leaving the room and a quiet conversation going on near the bed next to him, but it was all of little relevance to him. The last thought he had before sleep consumed him was centered on his missing soul mate. /I can't tell if I felt him, or if it was Quatre…. Heero where are you/

-8-8-8-8-8-

Chapter 6 is being split into two parts, because this seemed like a good noncliff hanger ending type place... the next chapter will be out sooner rather than later... i again apologize for the delay in this one.

Also to come are some edits in previous chapters, so when I post the rest of this chapter be on the look out for those as well... (an AN will be left at the bottom of the chapter with specific changes made to earlier chapters.)