Silent Night
Part 10
By: Starlight – x1

Lady Une sat wearily in the room that passed for her office and general stopping place for all the information gathered. Behind her Sally slept while Bryan quietly worked at his computer. Nowadays this was the closest she ever came to being alone unless she was sleeping. The door opened and Une looked up to see Wufei. The young Preventer agent had begun spending most of his free time with his partner, quietly talking and planning. Une sighed as Wufei gave her a brief shake of the head in answer to her silent question. Her agents were doing their best but there just weren't any new leads. Nothing to tell them where Xousia was hiding. It didn't help matters that she wasn't able to question Dorothy. The doctor had confirmed Heero's suspicion that the young woman had been drugged slightly and had forbidden any form of interrogation until she was partly recovered.

Wufei had stopped to speak quietly to Bryan, pointing to something on the computer monitor in a questioning manner before moving to sit where he could watch until his partner woke up.

Even with all the confusion and stress tied to their efforts to locate Xousia Une had noticed both partners seemed more relaxed as if the normality of working together was enough to ease strained nerves.

Duo spent most of his time corralling Hilde. Une couldn't help but smile thinking of the perky German girl. Her spirit and enthusiasm was like a breath of fresh air to everyone who encountered her. Duo couldn't have looked happier. His eternal optimism seemed to have been restored as well.

As for the other three ex-pilots it really was anyone's guess how they were doing. Heero slipped through the halls as quietly as a ghost, occasionally stopping in to speak with Lady Une. Most of the time he kept his own counsel, content to silently keep what ideas he had to himself for the time being. Trowa was no longer in the infirmary but was restricted from active duty because of the injuries he had sustained from the explosion. Quatre had become a recluse as well, earning worried whispers from the more outspoken of his friends.

Noin, on the other hand, had made herself indispensable. The indigo haired woman worked almost feverishly, her hope flying to higher heights with the confirmation that Zechs was alive. She refused to consider that anything could have happened to him in the interim amount of time that had passed.

Lady Une fought down the urge to pace. It would only distract those attempting to work on their problem. It's only a matter of time before something turns up that we can use. Une looked up as the door opened and Duo poked his head in. She lifted an eyebrow questioningly.

"I was hoping Quatre would be in here." Duo entered the room with a dejected look on his face. "I haven't been able to find him anywhere. It isn't like him to be so reclusive, that's more Heero's style."

"What's more my style?" Heero had come in not far behind Duo and stood with his arms crossed, waiting for an answer.

"To hide out by yourself." Duo's reply was blunt.

Heero considered for a moment and then shrugged his shoulders slightly. "Something's been bothering Quatre since we got back to Central Command. When he's ready he'll tell us. Until then I suggest you don't bug him."

"Fine." Duo straddled an empty chair and leaned his arms and chin against the back. "But I'll feel better when he starts acting more like himself again."

"So will most of us." Une agreed. "Now, what are you all doing in my office?"

Before anyone could answer her question the door opened yet again and Quatre entered. "Lady Une, I think I know where Xousia is." Having gained the attention of every single person in the room he headed over to where Bryan sat staring at him. Leaning down he spoke to the technician, earning several nods in reply.

Une sighed and looked over to where Relena, Hilde and Trowa stood in the doorway, having obviously followed Quatre on his headlong rush to her office. "Come in and shut the door behind you." She instructed. Her order was swiftly obeyed. "Now Quatre, tell me what you know."

The blonde gave a nod and began. "When I was being held captive by Dorothy she mentioned the fact that my business had funded an organization that wasn't all it appeared to be. I spoke with Royle and had him look through some company files. We narrowed it down to this one." He pointed to the building that was visible on Bryan's monitor. "This is a hospital on earth that treats terminally ill patients. Winner Enterprises donated much of the funding that was required to build it. Nothing strange about that but Royle discovered that the area it was built on had originally contained a military base."

Bryan tapped a few keys and the picture on his monitor changed to show what the military base had originally looked like as Quatre continued to explain. "All of the buildings above ground were destroyed or leveled but there was an underground bunker."

Une leaned forward for a closer look and nodded. "I see."

"The problem is that the hospital does appear to be functioning in a legitimate capacity." Quatre finished and stood quietly.

"That means Xousia has ready made hostages." Duo spoke next.

"If Xousia is actually hiding there in the underground bunker." Une pointed out firmly. She turned her attention back to Quatre. "The only one who can confirm or deny this is Dorothy and she's still off limits until the doctor gives the okay."

"What's the connection between Xousia and the hospital?" Hilde asked, puzzled. "I mean, I think it's bad that Xousia might use the patients and hospital staff for hostages but I don't see where you're to blame Quatre."

"Right now I don't know where the exact connection is." Quatre answered her. "My guess would be one of the committee heads. I gave Bryan all the information Royle had collected. He's going to keep checking up on some things and he'll keep us posted if he discovers anything new."

"Good." Une nodded. "Now if nobody else has anything to report I'd appreciate it if you would congregate somewhere else so I can concentrate on figuring out what to do next."

The group filed out leaving Une with Sally, Bryan and Noin. As they walked down the hallway in a straggled formation Hilde spoke up. "Why doesn't Lady Une just send a couple of agents to investigate the underground bunker and see if Xousia's really there?"

"I imagine she will eventually, babe." Duo answered his girlfriend. "But Lady Une likes to consider all her options first before she starts throwing orders around."

"That's what makes her a good leader." Trowa spoke quietly.

"You bet your life it does." Duo grinned. "Good to see you up and around Trowa. How ya feeling?"

"Much better, although Lady Une has informed me that I'm still on restricted duty."

"Well, with that busted wrist and bruised knee you couldn't do much anyway."

Trowa gave Duo a look that quickly silenced the braided youth who glanced over in time to see Quatre close his eyes briefly, a look of remorse crossing his face. "Ah, man, Quatre, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply… I… I mean…" Duo trailed off looking miserable.

Quatre immediately attempted to make his friend feel better. "Don't worry about it Duo. I know you weren't implying anything. You were just concerned about Trowa."

"You stop it too Quatre!"

Startled Quatre looked over at Relena who stood with her hands propped on her hips and a stern expression on her face. "Relena?"

"You blame yourself way too often. It's not your fault that someone took advantage of your generous nature. I wish to God we had more people like you willing to actually get off their butts and do something to help others instead of leaving it to everybody else."

Quatre blinked as Relena finished her rant. "Okay."

"Good." Relena nodded and then noticed all the stares directed at her. A faint blush colored her cheeks but she crossed her arms defiantly. "What? That's the way I feel."

"I guess they're just not used to you speaking so forcefully." Hilde slipped an arm around Duo's waist.

"Really?" Relena's frown increased.

"They've just never heard her at a E.S.U.N meeting." Heero murmured.

"And you have?" Duo laughed as he lightly hugged Hilde's shoulders.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I have." Heero's reply was accompanied by a look that could almost be termed a smirk.

"Why am I not surprised?" Duo smiled crookedly at his friend. "Leave it to you to watch her from the shadows."

Heero gave a miniscule shrug and leaned against the wall.

Wufei cleared his throat impatiently. "If you all would pardon me, some of us have things to do."

"Sure thing Wufei." Duo grinned irritatingly at his friend. "Don't take it out on us that Lady Une saddled you with another assignment. Take it as a compliment that she sees and appreciates your abilities."

"Shut up Maxwell." Wufei gave Duo a nasty look that lacked true venom.

"He likes me." Duo stated with certainty.

"Yes, Duo, everybody likes you. Come on you big goofball, I'm hungry." Hilde tugged on Duo's arm. "You can annoy everybody else later."

"All right." Duo allowed Hilde to lead him off. "I'll see you guys later. Maybe Lady Une'll have something for us to do." He winked.

"Hopefully." Wufei shook his head as he watched Duo leave. "That guy's too dangerous to be left running loose for long periods of time."

"Come on Wufei, he's not that bad." Relena protested.

"No." Wufei conceded. "He's just overwhelming at times."

"I'll agree with you there." Relena chuckled. She looked around and noticed the absence of another of their friends. "Quatre's gone. I hope I didn't hurt his feelings with what I said."

"Don't worry. I'll go check on him." Trowa walked away, his limp less pronounced then it had been but still noticeable.

"Don't worry about hurting Quatre's feelings." Heero looked at Relena. "He's tougher then you think. He just has this tendency to shoulder everybody else's problems like someone else I know."

"I don't do that." Relena protested.

Heero cocked an eyebrow but didn't reply.

"Well maybe I do a little bit." Relena agreed a little reluctantly. "But you have to admit, it is part of my job."

"And I don't know anyone who would be willing to take all the responsibility you carry on a daily basis." Noin had exited Lady Une's office in time to catch the end of their conversation. Now she smiled at the young politician. "Lady Une would like to speak with you for a moment if you don't mind Relena."

"Of course not." Relena glanced at Heero before following Noin back into the office.

Trowa wandered slowly through Central Command as he attempted to find Quatre. He finally located his friend in the cafeteria. Looking in he noticed Duo and Hilde seated at a table with a few other off duty Preventers, the small group laughing and talking together. Duo caught his eye and gave a slight nod toward one of the back tables. Following the nod Trowa saw Quatre.

If Trowa hadn't suspected something was wrong with his friend before, he was now bombarded with that fact. Trowa began to make his way over to where Quatre had seated himself. As he drew closer the feeling that he should just turn around and leave well enough alone hit him. It was so strong that he actually stopped for a moment in indecision. Quatre continued to stare down at the tabletop, his right pointer finger tracing circles beside his coffee cup.

Understanding dawned and Trowa started forward again. He had wondered why the normally garrulous American hadn't seated himself with his friend. Duo must've run into the "don't talk to me; leave me alone" emotion Quatre was consciously or unconsciously manifesting to those who attempted to approach him. Trowa seated himself across from his friend. The feeling he was making a grave error washed over him.

"I'm not going away Quatre." Trowa spoke bluntly. "You might as well stop trying to make me."

Abruptly the pressure to leave vanished. Slowly Quatre peered up at Trowa through his bangs. For a moment he met Trowa's steady gaze then he glanced at where Trowa's left arm rested on the table; the cast a visible reminder of his friend's close brush with death.

Quatre let out a sigh. "What do you want Trowa?"

"I want you to stop brooding."

"I'm not brooding. I'm just considering all the possibilities…"

"Brooding." Trowa responded flatly.

A reluctant smile crept over Quatre's face. "Mostly I've been thinking about something Dorothy said."

Trowa waited for his friend to continue. After a moment Quatre did. "She said, 'Help him, please.'" He looked up at his friend.

Trowa mulled it over in his mind. No wonder Quatre was considering this so deeply. After all it was Dorothy they were discussing; strong, self reliant. Dorothy Catalonia didn't say 'please' to anybody.

"Who's the him?"

Quatre folded his hands and tapped his thumbs together. "I don't know. She didn't say more then that and I expect even that small sentence choked her. All I know is, it's vitally important we check out that underground bunker as soon as possible."

Trowa nodded. "We will. Trust Lady Une, she'll get the ball rolling soon enough."

Quatre shook his head. "No Trowa, that may not be soon enough. Don't you understand? It's something I know here." He tapped his chest impatiently. How could he explain the sense of urgency that gripped him?

Trowa had kept his eyes glued on his friend's face and now nodded slowly before leaning closer. "You can't go by yourself. You need back up." He watched Quatre's eyes drift down to his cast and gave an exasperated sigh. "I'm not dead yet."

"No but you would be if you tried to infiltrate Xousia headquarters in your condition." Quatre pointed out reasonably. "Don't worry Trowa, if I do decide to sneak into that bunker I'll be sure to take somebody along for back up."

Looking into his friend's eyes Trowa knew it wasn't an if so much as when. Quatre would wait as long he felt he possibly could for Lady Une to give her orders. After that he would go himself, led by a plea and his own sense of urgency. Trowa sat back in his chair, determined to keep a close eye on his friend.

Quatre downed the last of his now cold coffee with a grimace. "All I know for sure is that it's of monumental importance that we help him."

"It might help if we knew who 'he' was."

Now it was Quatre's turn to lean forward. "Perhaps we already do and we just don't know it."