Disclaimer: Usually I write out a very specific disclaimer explaining exactly what it is I don't own but I find myself not really interested in doing so this time as it is very tedious. Suffice it to say I own nothing that was created by anyone else and I am not making any money off of this story or any of the other stories I have written.
Warning: This chapter contains a brief mention of implied rape (no details have been given).
AN: This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance.
Chapter 10: A Pact between Pilots
Two floors below the room where Harry was once more sleeping, four of the five Gundam pilots that had been sent to Earth in order to prevent a war had gathered together in Quatre's office. This would be their first official meeting as they had spent much of the last two weeks servicing and repairing their Gundams (or trying to in Duo's case), taking turns watching over the kid, and completing an assortment of missions that they'd been given by the five scientists that had trained them. The tension in the room was so thick you could cut it with a knife as Quatre finally joined the other four.
"I take it all four of you were listening in?" Quatre asked rhetorically as he sat down, logged into the laptop that had been waiting for him, and locked onto the hidden surveillance cameras he'd set up to monitor the sleeping child.
"What exactly is so important about the kid?" Wufei demanded with a frown before anyone could respond to Quatre's question. "Why aren't we shipping him off to some place where he'll be safe? Kids his age have no business being involved in a war."
"I doubt there is any place on earth he'd be safe for very long," Duo stated as he fiddled with his laptop for a moment in order to activate the laptop's projector. "What you're about ta see is a partial video of my first encounter with da kid that I managed ta recover from Deathscythe's surveillance cameras; it's maybe a ten minute sequence leadin' up ta da moment da systems were fried."
As one, the other four pilots turned to face the wall where the video output appeared and watched as Duo's first contact with Heero and Harry played out. More than one mouth dropped open or frowned when the kid faced off against the Gundam and successfully disarmed the mobile suit of its main energy weapon using what appeared to be nothing more than a beam of red light and a stick. The three pilots who were not there that day were further shocked (and more than a little troubled) when the next red light flew directly at the cameras before everything suddenly went black as the video ended.
"When da first light connected and tore my scythe from da suit's right hand, I lost all control of da right arm. Da second light shut da rest of da suit down da instant it hit," Duo explained as he typed away on his keyboard for a moment. "I just sent everyone da photos that were taken of da inner circuitry of Deathscythe and as ya can see every single circuit board was fried. Every single system in my suit was overloaded in da exact same instant and there was nothing I could have done ta stop it even if I'd known it was comin' except maybe dodge da attack. I didn't even have time ta do that though before I was hit. Then there's da fact that my suit is currently half of its actual size; which makes it impossible to fully repair at the moment let alone operate."
"So we destroy the weapon the kid used and be done with it," Wufei suggested impatiently.
Heero pulled out one of his pistols and slid it across the table so that it stopped right in front of Wufei before he leaned forward and coldly stated, "You want to destroy the weapon? Be my guest, he's sleeping right now. All you have to do is walk in that room and put a bullet in his head."
"Man you're such a drama queen, Hee-man," Duo barked in agitation. "What Mr. Antisocial here was tryin' ta say is that there is no weapon ta destroy because it was da kid who fried my Gundam's circuitry. At least that is what Heero told me when I was tryin' ta learn more about da weapon durin' my brief sojourn as a prisoner."
"You are referring to what Mr. Potter has been calling his magic, correct?" Wufei asked as he pulled up several frozen images of a trio of Leo suits exploding as they ran into an invisible wall on his laptop along with an image that had been captured from when the pillow Heero had been holding earlier exploded for seemingly no reason and projected all of the pictures onto the wall where Duo's video had played out.
"We've all seen evidence of an unseen energy field on the beach in Japan from the day when Maxwell's Gundam had reportedly gone missing and again to a lesser extent on the night we converged on that beach to search for both missing Gundams. Any suit that came into contact with that energy field malfunctioned and self-destructed, projectile weapons fired at it failed to penetrate the protective field but it didn't seem to have any affect beam weaponry. The last picture is, of course, from the incident earlier this evening when a pillow exploded much the same way that the suits exploded."
"We also lost two of the surveillance cameras in Harry's room (the ones closest to the bed) at the same time as the pillow exploded," Quatre added as he pulled up a digital diagram of the room with the two cameras in question marked in red. "Scanner readings taken during the incident indicated an influx of energy building up around Harry just seconds before it exploded outwards; destroying the pillow and the cameras within seconds of the outburst. Initial analysis of the energy field on the beach and of the child's outburst earlier this morning has confirmed that both occurrences have near identical spectrum signatures. Even with the slight differences, chances are high that Harry was the source of both anomalies; which we'll be able to easily confirm or refute by monitoring any future outbursts."
"He called them wards," Heero explained once Quatre had finished. "Based upon what I learned from the kid, he placed a ninety by forty foot stretch of the beach under a series of enchantments that hid the selected area, prevented those that wished him harm from crossing the spells, turned away those without magic, and hid the existence of the cave."
"Apparently, there was a flaw in the wards since Maxwell, the Alliance, and Chang were able to detect presence of the wards; if not the area hidden by the wards. Part of that was due to the explosions Harry created when he was excavating a second cave in which he planned to hide my Gundam and the Alliance Leo that he'd pulled out of the sea and the other part was due to the malfunctioning suits that came into contact with said wards. I don't have any explanation as to why the pillow exploded though, except that Harry had been extremely angry at Maxwell at the time."
"It was da unexplained seismic activity that led me ta that particular island," Duo confirmed as he pointedly ignored the part he'd played in annoying and upsetting the pint sized wizard earlier.
"You are implying that you believe Potter's claims that magic exists?" Trowa asked skeptically.
"I too was skeptical when he first told me about his magic. However, I saw him raise my Gundam suit two feet off the ground without touching it, create a safety bunker out of nothing but rock and sand, and watched him destroy roughly five feet of near solid rock wall using the stick he calls his wand," Heero interjected rationally as he tried to give them an idea of what he knew the kid was capable of achieving based upon his limited knowledge. "I then witnessed him drop a Gundam with two bursts of red light and stood beside him as he moved that same Gundam with a swish of his wand, cut its size in half, and sent it flying over our heads with merely a thought."
"I also watched him remove his left femur and knee cap, which was pretty badly damaged from when I'd shot him, and grow it back in a single night using some rather foul concoctions he called potions. And each one of you has seen with your own eyes the state of Maxwell's Gundam and I know each of you saw what happened earlier this afternoon. And while I suppose his abilities could be perceived as mere Newtype Talents; labeling them as such wouldn't fully explain the sheer potential the brat possesses. Newtypes with telekinetic abilities can't vanish and regrow bones, they can't make tons of solid rock vanish, and they can't shrink an object. Newtypes also very rarely ever exhibit more than one Talent and based upon what I have learned from the kid, I've only seen a small fraction of what he is capable of doing with his magic."
"If what you say is true; the child will be in danger the moment OZ learns of him and his abilities. They will either turn him into some kind of weapon or will use him as breeding stock in an attempt to breed hundreds of weapons; providing that they don't just attempt to recreate his ability through genetic experimentation," Wufei concluded, the young Asian teen accepting the idea of magic far easier than any of the others (due to his cultural background) with the exception of Quatre who found it believable due to his empathetic ability.
"How did a child with his abilities slip through the system in the first place though?" Quatre mused. "He seems to believe that he came from another world; do you think it possible that he was born on one of the Colonies before being abandoned here on Earth?"
"I doubt it, he seemed genuinely shocked to discover there were people living in space when I mentioned the Colonies in passing the night after he found me," Heero replied. "None of the names we've managed to glean from him or other sources (including his own) have turned up any positive matches either; which in some ways lends credence to his insistence that he isn't from this world or is an indication of a severe mental illness coupled with some rather realistic lies and exceptional acting skills."
"What other sources?"
"Medical records that cover a period of four years, several handwritten journals, and a letter addressed ta da kid that was supposedly written by his godfather," Duo replied as he reached down and lifted five thick file folders filled with numerous printouts from the chair beside him and passed one of them to each of the other pilots while keeping the last one for himself. "I spent much of my free time over da past two weeks scannin' and enlargin' everything we'd found onta an unconnected laptop and printed off hard copies for everyone since I can't exactly work on my Gundam at da moment. Da first printout is a copy of da letter that supposedly explains how and why da kid ended up where he did."
As the other three pilots skimmed through the letter, medical reports, and journal entries; Heero and Duo spent the time silently reflecting (Heero) or monitoring the video feed of Harry sleeping peacefully (Duo). It was easy to know when each of the three teens reached those medical reports and journal entries that confirmed the suspicions that the letter had raised about Harry being physically violated by one of the adults in his life. Much like Heero and later Duo, the remaining three pilots reacted quite strongly; either growing sick over revelation or swearing up a storm as they nearly ripped the printouts in half.
"I know it never came up in my earlier conversation with the child; but has Harry given any verbal confirmation that he remembers what was done to him by that… that monster masquerading as a teacher?" Quatre asked in a low voice laced with barely constrained rage. "I'd also like to know exactly what the child meant when he said you'd demanded that he swear an oath to you. I was more than a little disturbed and angered over the implication that you'd basically forced him to become your slave through such an the oath."
"Only once has Harry made any kind of reference to what that teacher had done to him and that was only in passing. His behavior lends credence to the information contained in both the medical records and in the journal entries though," Heero replied wearily as he blatantly ignored the matter of Harry's oath. "He is extremely uncomfortable with even partial nudity, doesn't like to be touched at all, and as you witnessed earlier he will lash out violently when his personal space is invaded. If he is placed in a vulnerable position he will descend into a full blown panic attack; this is most especially true if there is physical contact with him at the time."
"He also uses anger ta shield himself," Duo added. "He has a knack with sarcasm and seeks ta put ya off balance by his talk of death or by pushin' your buttons ta make ya angry enough ta forget what ya'd wanted in da first place. And while he is willin' to lash out physically; his attacks are, for the most part, ineffective unless he's lucky enough to catch you off guard and even then it is obvious that he lacks proper trainin' in self-defense."
Heero finished with, "Then there are the nightmares he suffers from, his constant mood swings, and I've found he has a tendency to rant out loud to himself at odd moments when he thinks he's alone or if he thinks it will throw you off balance. He also isn't afraid to use his magic to his advantage though despite his verbal threats he hasn't actually sought to harm anyone with his magic that I have seen."
Silence fell over the room as all of them considered everything they had learned and the implications of Heero's and Duo's brief analysis of Harry's skills (or lack there of) and mental stability until Wufei demanded, "And the matter of you turning Mr. Potter into your personal slave? I'm also curious as to why you felt the need to threaten a mere child, regardless of his true age, with brutal torture; his body never would have been able to withstand such physical torment. It is disgraceful to think that you would use such tactics on a civilian child; have you no honor?"
"And how many civilians did your honor spare after they laid eyes upon your Gundam?" Heero countered emotionlessly as he calmly met Wufei's angry gaze. "I may not be proud of what I said and did that night but can you honestly say that you wouldn't have done the same thing if you had been in my place?"
"I don't kill women or children and those individuals that were unfortunate enough to have seen me have died a quick and painless death," Wufei retorted with a sneer. "I have tortured no one for there is no honor or justice in torture. Nor have I enslaved anyone."
"I did not enslave the brat; even if that is how he sees it," Heero sighed as he broke eye contact with the Asian teen and crossed his arms as he sat back in his chair. "I have no intention of ever forcing him to do anything demeaning nor would I order him to do anything that goes against his moral code. I also allowed him to dictate the basic terms of his oath and merely proofread them to insure that he didn't try anything underhanded before he swore the oath."
"So what did ya make him swear?" Duo asked with more then a hint of anger in his voice when Heero didn't say anything further.
"And why did you make him swear an oath at all? What purpose does that oath serve aside from binding the child to you unwillingly?" Quatre asked at the same time.
"Originally, it was to get the truth out of the kid and at the time I still hadn't believed that his abilities stemmed from what he was calling his magic. Once I had the answers I needed, that oath became the only guarantee I had that the kid would listen to me. In truth, the oath that Harry gave me is not much different than the oath one would give upon enlistment into any armed forces; if you ignore the part about his magic preventing him from breaking the oath. Like any common soldier, he is only required to follow orders; not labor away to fulfill my every whim."
"Are you certain that you aren't just using that as an excuse to feel better about yourself after you forced him to give you that oath?" Wufei demanded snidely. "While the penalty of questioning or disobeying one's orders under an oath of fealty can be quite severe; it is very rare for there to be any torture or pain involved in their punishment unless they turn traitor. We all witnessed what happens to Mr. Potter when he dared to disobey the order you give him earlier. How can you justify holding him to that oath knowing that your next command could cause him even more pain or end up killing him?"
"The oath he gave me was very specific in its wording and it allows him some control over which orders he is required to obey, within reason. He only suffers when he refuses to follow a reasonable order," Heero explained patiently. "If he were to refuse an unreasonable order, than he would not suffer at all. The order I had given him earlier was more than reasonable as I was ordering him to calm down so that he did not hurt himself further in his anger."
"I could have ordered him to never again get angry at Maxwell and he could have disobeyed that order without suffering any consequences because it would have been unreasonable of me to expect him to shut down his emotions completely when Maxwell does something stupid to antagonize him. The little brat is exceedingly stubborn and he has a tendency to disregard his own health; hence his tendency to disobey those orders that require him to be more careful. His act of defiance earlier was his third such act and I am guessing that more than half of the pain he felt at the time was due to his recent illness rather than just a result of his disobedience."
"Each of you witnessed his second act of disobedience less than an hour ago when you watched Maxwell's video detailing the incapacitation of his Gundam suit. Harry refused to obey my order for him to run twice. The first time, he clutched at his chest in pain much as he had earlier when he refused to calm down. The second time he refused to obey my command to run, he apparently felt nothing despite the fact that he was still disobeying. In other words, he interpreted my order to save himself as unreasonable because doing so could have potentially seen me dying; something he considered unacceptable at the time."
Heero paused as he leaned forward to look each of the other pilots in the eye before he continued, "Harry is not a slave and I have no intentions of turning him into one. I will not force him to become a soldier against his will and I will not use his oath to break him. The only thing I will use his oath to do is make certain that he takes care of himself and that he doesn't pull any stupid stunts that could get himself killed."
"Harry did admit that you haven't been abusing his oath," Quatre allowed after taking a few minutes to consider Heero's explanation and analyze the brunette's emotions. "That you have not taken him to task for insulting you, have not tried to control his attitude, or forbade him from speaking his mind lends credence to your proclamation that you do not intend to abuse the oath he gave you; even if the oath was given under duress."
"Irrelevant," Wufei interjected harshly. "I demand that Yuy immediately release the child from his oath. Just because he has not yet taken advantage of that oath does not mean that he won't at some point in the future."
"As much as I hate ta say it, I think releasin' da brat would be da worst thing ya could do for him right now," Duo countered grimly with great reluctance. "He might not be da street rat I took him for at first but it's obvious that da kid has not had an easy life. He has no sense of self worth and has on more than one occasion stated he'd prefer death ta acceptin' any help. He needs someone ta keep him from actively seekin' death 'cause da next person he asks ta kill him might not hesitate ta grant him what he thinks he wants."
"Potter is both mentally and emotionally unstable," Trowa agreed as he looked up from where he'd been hacking into the network of a medical supply company in France in order to purchase (steal) the equipment and supplies needed to run a complete scan of Harry's blood. "Not completely unexpected given his medical history; if those files that were found can be trusted. Without his oath to Yuy, Potter could do himself serious harm through sheer stubbornness; whether it was intentional or unintentional wouldn't really matter if the end result was his death."
"So, what, we're just going to let this injustice stand?" Wufei growled as he slammed his fist down on the table.
"At this point it would be the lesser of two evils," Trowa pointed out. "As much as I dislike the idea of limiting Potter's free will; it would be best to wait until he is mentally stable before tossing him to the wolves of society, so to speak. It would not require much effort on our part to monitor Yuy's interactions with Potter to insure that he does not start abusing said oath. At the same time, allowing the oath to stand allows us to keep Potter grounded until he is no longer a risk to himself."
Wufei huffed in agitation but said nothing further as he scowled at the table. Quatre sighed and pressed his hand to his chest as he glanced around at his fellow pilots. After another couple of minutes passed by in near silence, Quatre cleared his throat and stated, "While I personally abhor the idea of leaving Harry bound against his will, Trowa and Duo have given us legitimate reasons for allowing the oath to stand. Since the moment Harry regained consciousness yesterday afternoon, his emotions have been in a constant state of upheaval that could be equated to a maelstrom and it would not take much to push him over the edge at this point."
"We can always see to it that Harry's oath is released should it become detrimental to his health at any point down the line. In the mean time, I think we need to focus more on what we can do to help the child come to terms with his past and teach him how to survive on his own in order to bring him to the point where releasing him from his oath won't cause more problems than it will solve. We also need to come up with a way to prevent the Alliance or OZ from learning about Harry's abilities or, in the event that they do learn of his existence, prevent him from falling into their hands. That is presuming that we are all in agreement over the necessity of protecting Harry in the first place."
"I don't think we have much choice at this point," Duo declared as he propped his feet up on the table, leaned back in his chair, and laced his hands together behind his head. "Da only question that remains is; how are we going ta protect him?"
"Is he even going to allow us to protect him?" Trowa asked. "We all heard him as he poured his heart out to Winner; he doesn't want any one protecting him. Reading between the lines; he's terrified of others dying for him because he's witnessed far too many people get hurt or die and thinks each and every injury or death is his fault."
"Why don't we just train him to protect himself?" Wufei grudgingly suggested. "Pose the offer in such a way that he will not hesitate to accept it and while we are training him he will be close enough for us to watch over him without making him suspicious or resentful."
"Hello, Earth ta Wuff-man, in case ya hadn't noticed da kid is suspicious of everything and everyone."
"Not true," Trowa interjected. "He was surprisingly open with Winner; despite having only just met him."
"That's true, da kiddo did take ta our little Kumquat fairly quick like," Duo mused in amendment to his earlier statement.
"Must you insist on calling us by those ridiculous nicknames?" Wufei growled irritably.
"Sorry, long standin' habit and usually can't help myself."
"It would be sheer folly to use Harry's trust in Winner to manipulate him in any way," Heero firmly protested. "He would see it as a betrayal of the worst sort and we'd only drive him away and I have no doubt that if he really wanted, he could lead us on a merry chase all around the world and either go to ground where we can't find him or run straight into OZ forces and get caught by the very people we are trying to protect him from. Instead of tricking him, I will take care of getting him to cooperate. He already hates me so it will be no skin off my nose if he takes his anger out on me."
"That irritates ya, doesn't it, Hee-man?" Duo taunted with a hard grin, his eyes flashing violet as he sat up just enough to glare at the other teen. "It bothers ya that da little man hates your guts and blames ya for all of his troubles and then turns around and opens up ta someone else right off da bat."
"You're wrong," Heero replied softly as he turned his gaze downwards to stare at the palms of his hands, shocking the other four pilots as they had fully expected him to explode in anger over the audacity of Duo's taunts. "It's my own fault that Harry hates me and I can live with that because no matter how much he hates me he couldn't hate me more than I hate myself for what I did."
"Beating yourself up about the past isn't going to change it," Quatre interjected gently into the tense and uncomfortable silence that had fallen after Heero had spoken; his hand once again massaging his chest. "We were all told to allow no one to associate our faces with the Gundams; which translates into an order to kill those who see us with the Gundams. The real question is; are we all willing to work together? Not just to watch over Harry to make certain he doesn't fall into the wrong hands but also when it comes to stopping the war between the Earth and the Colonies. Because, let's face it; it was pretty arrogant and damn near stupid of us to expect to make a difference by ourselves. We were also desperate to do what we could no matter the risk."
"If we team up and work out of a centralized location we run a greater risk of getting caught," Wufei pointed out logically though he didn't actually sound as if he was opposed to the idea.
"Yet, if we continue to work alone we stand just as great a risk of failing spectacularly if we make even the smallest miscalculation," Trowa countered as he nodded at Quatre; openly acknowledging the blonde's timely intervention during the Corsica Base Mission. "Also, in regards to protecting the child; we need to limit the amount of contact he has with other people if at all possible until I can screen his blood for common antibodies to get an idea of which vaccines he still needs to receive."
"Why…?" Heero inquired with a small scowl.
"In order to prevent him from contracting yet another virus," Trowa replied as he frowned at his fellow pilot. "There is a high probability that either you or Maxwell was the one to introduce the Space Flu Virus to Mr. Potter's immune system based upon the fact that the two of you were the first people that he'd had contact with in almost two years according to everything we've learned about the kid. Space Flu takes anywhere from three to five days to incubate and you said he developed his fever within three days of Maxwell's arrival at the cave which was approximately forty-eight hours after you had first contact with the child."
"We also need to keep in mind that the child's immune system is still recovering from his recent illness; meaning that he will be far more susceptible to any new viruses or bacteria that are introduced into his system," Wufei added rationally as he drummed his fingers on the table. "His preference for avoiding physical contact will work in our favor in that regards. The five of us in this room and a small handful of the Maganac have already had some form of contact with the child so it would be a simple matter to restrict the number of individuals he has contact with for the time being."
"That would also allow Harry plenty of time to get used to those people he has officially met so far before introducing him to a bunch of new people and overwhelming him to the point that he runs off in a blind panic," Quatre thoughtfully added. "There's still the matter of whether or not we're all willing to work together; both in our effort to prevent war from breaking out between Earth and the Colonies and to make certain Harry is protected."
"What exactly did ya have in mind, Quatre?" Duo asked as he dropped his feet and sat up properly; the long haired teen dropping his usual playful attitude in light of the seriousness of the topic.
"We pool our resources in order to complete our various missions with the least amount of risk," Quatre replied without hesitation. "We set up a series of decoy bases across the world in order to sew confusion and make it look like we are still working independently. All five of us undoubtedly excelled during our training or I doubt we would have been chosen to pilot the Gundams; at the same time I've noticed that each of us have different strengths, both in and out of the suit, which if utilized properly would increase our chances of success for each mission."
"And the kid?" Trowa asked casually.
"I don't like the idea of keeping the child around when there is a risk that he will get caught up in a war that is not his responsibility especially considering how young he is; or rather how young he appears to be," Wufei stated grimly. "On the other hand, there really isn't anyone out there that we can trust to protect him aside from ourselves nor is there a safe place we could send him until the threat of the looming war has been dealt with and to leave him incapable of protecting himself in the event that the worst should happen would be unwise. So, logically, the best thing is for each of us to offer to teach him something he wishes or needs to learn in order to protect himself."
"And what do we do if he should decide he wants to fight beside us after we've given him the skills to protect himself?" Heero inquired logically based upon what he'd observed of the kid personality to date. "The moment he grows attached to any one of you; he's not going to just sit quietly on the sidelines while we all head off to do battle."
The five Gundam pilots spent another four hours discussing various possibilities; tempers flaring more than once as beliefs and opinions clashed on several occasions. Despite their many disagreements, they eventually came to an accord as they all basically wanted the same things; to prevent the looming war and protect the innocent lives that would be lost should they fail. Their plans to train Harry to protect himself were actually far easier to reach an agreement on as they each had something specific in mind that they could offer him.
Wufei would teach him how to use a sword (after hearing the kid had one) and hand to hand combat. Quatre would focus on bringing him up to speed on current events and see to it his level of education met or exceeded the current standards as well as help him deal with his past. Trowa would teach him how to handle a gun, how to throw and fight with a knife, and keep a close eye on the kids health (including teaching him basic first aide).
Duo would teach him how to survive on the streets (building on Harry's current instincts) and how to be a kid. And Heero would teach him how to build, repair, and use a computer including how to create software programs and viruses as well as how to hack into other computers and networks. Additionally, all five of them would teach Harry everything he needed to know about the mobile suits on the off chance that the kid could come up with a way to protect their Gundams from his magic so that the kid wouldn't fry their circuitry on accident.
When they finished for the evening, they went their separate ways: Wufei staying in the office to do a bit of research and monitor the security network of the estate, Trowa to head to France to pick up the equipment and supplies he'd ordered and paid for electronically (from a random Alliance soldier's account naturally) after which he'd stop by the circus for a day or two, Quatre out into the desert to think, Heero to the underground facility to finish repairing his Gundam, and Duo to the bedroom where Harry was sleeping to watch over the child for a while.
Two days later, Harry was sleeping lightly, hovering in the place between sleeping and waking that allowed him to be aware of his surroundings while resting, when he heard someone enter the room. The moment he heard the door opening, he shifted into full awareness but kept his eyes closed as nervous tension filled him. His ears marked the footsteps lightly ghosting across the rug covered hardwood floors of the room and he had to consciously stop himself from hunching up his shoulders in trepidation when he sensed whoever it was stopping right beside the bed.
A soft sigh cut through the room as the person dropped down into the chair beside the bed and leaned forward to run their fingers through Harry's hair. Jerking away from the sudden touch, Harry bolted upright as he ignored the pained protest of his half healed wounds and made to flee before freezing as he caught sight of Heero sitting there studying him.
"I apologize for startling you, I did not know you were awake or I would have announced my presence first."
"What do you want with me now?"
"At the moment…? Nothing," Heero replied with a shrug as he critically eyed Harry for a moment. "I just came to check on you to see how you were doing and originally intended to just sit beside you while you slept. How are you feeling? Are you in any pain? Would you like me to get you anything?"
"I'm fine," Harry automatically declared as he curled in on himself and watched Heero warily.
"Why do you do that?"
"Do what?"
"Say you're fine even when it's obvious you are not?"
"Habit," Harry replied with a slightly startled expression on his face that quickly vanished. "No one has really ever cared whether I was fine or not and it is easier to pretend there is nothing wrong since that means no one will be burdened with my unimportant needs. Damn it… do you have to be so damn nosy all the time?"
"I was just curious why you always say you're fine; even if you are in pain or half dead at the time."
"Well, I wasn't in that much pain in the first place; nothing I couldn't handle at least. Now, I have a headache but asking you to leave is pointless apparently."
Harry huffed in exasperation when Heero just snorted in amusement over his pointed comment. The two of them stared at each for a few minutes until Harry looked away first, his eyes darting about the room nervously as he shifted uncomfortably. His bladder was beginning to feel uncomfortably full but he had no idea where the bathroom was and he didn't like the idea of needing to ask.
"What do you need, Harry?"
"The bathroom," Harry muttered as he ducked his head to hide the embarrassed blush that was creeping up his cheeks.
"You could have just asked, brat. It's through the door just on the other side of your bed. You should probably take a bath while you're in there; might make you feel better if you have any lingering aches from your fever or if your other injuries are bothering you."
"I'll pass on the bath… I've never been fond of baths… though a hot shower would be nice," Harry countered as he slipped out from under the covers, slid down the side of the bed, and nearly ended up flat on his face when his legs buckled on him the moment his feet touched the floor.
"Are you alright, Harry? Do you need me to carry you?"
"I'm still fine and no I don't need or want you to carry me," Harry snapped back as he clung to the covers he'd latched onto in order to avoid letting his face become intimately acquainted with the rug beneath his feet.
He stood leaning against the mattress for several more minutes as his legs continued to protest the need to support his weight until the wave of weakness that had washed through him finally passed. When he no longer felt as if he'd fall flat on his face, he reluctantly released the death grip he'd had on the comforter and took a couple of tentative steps away from the bed. He was pleased to find that his left knee didn't hurt anywhere near as bad as he remembered (though it was still stiff and sore) and hoped that was an indication his innate healing ability was no longer being hindered by a near constant state of magical exhaustion (something he had noted during the brief moments he'd been awake over the past couple of days).
The thought of his magical core reminded him of his wand and he automatically reached back to take it out of his back pocket where he usually kept it in only to find the cotton pants he was wearing didn't have back pockets and his wand was missing. Panic shot through him over the mere possibility that his wand had been lost and he desperately searched through his clothes a second time before he darted back to the bed and began frantically searching through the covers. He was practically hyperventilating in frustration and fear when the other teen in spoke up and reminded Harry that he wasn't alone.
"What are you looking for, Harry?"
"My wand; what did you do with it?" Harry asked as he carefully backed out from under the covers and pinned Heero with a determined glare.
"I didn't wish for anything to happen to it while you were sick so I put it up in my room when we first arrived."
"Please give it back," Harry all but demanded as his eyes focused unwaveringly on Heero.
"What do you plan on doing with it? I thought you needed to use the restroom?"
"If I am going to take a shower, I'd at least like to have clean clothes to put on when I get out and I seriously doubt you were able to move, let alone access my supply trunk; which means I don't have any of my clothes here."
"Winner purchased a small handful of clothing for you when he learned that we were unable to retrieve the majority of your belongings; they are located in the armoire behind you."
"I will still need my wand to make adjustments to the clothes to make certain they fit properly," Harry insisted despite the fact that the well fitting pajamas he was wearing loudly proclaimed that someone had taken his exact measurements at some point while he'd been sick. Something his conscious mind was studiously ignoring least he send himself into a panic over the thought of someone having dressed and undressed him while he was asleep.
"I will go fetch your things then, they will be waiting for you when you get out of the shower."
Growling under his breath about annoying teens, Harry slipped back off the bed stalked away from the bed with his shoulders hunched. He tossed a glare back over his shoulder as he paused outside of the door before he entered the bathroom and closed the door with a sharp snap that wasn't quite slamming the door and promptly engaged the lock. Sighing, Harry relaxed marginally before glancing about the rather opulent bathroom as he stepped up to the shower to turn it on so that the water could heat up.
He nervously glanced about the bathroom a second time before he used the toilet and striped out of the borrowed pajamas he'd been wearing. He then carefully removed all of the bandages covering his back and side so he could check on the state of his back and side. A quick glance in the mirror revealed that the scraps on his side and back were still only partially healed and he frowned at his reflection since he knew it shouldn't have taken more than a week for those to heal on their own. Turning away from the mirror, Harry shivered a bit as he glanced about the bathroom a third time, feeling apprehensive and more than a little vulnerable without his wand while in unfamiliar territory.
Sighing again, Harry hesitantly dug through the cupboards until he found a towel and face cloth and checked the shower for soap and shampoo before stepping beneath the water and allowing the warmth to pour over him. He stood there for several minutes, just letting the water soak his hair and his skin before he began washing his hair; digging his fingers across his scalp to knock free any stubborn grains of sand he'd picked up since he'd last showered. After he rinsed the suds from his hair he washed it a second time to make certain he hadn't missed any dirt before he washed the rest of his body.
Once he was clean, he spent a couple of minutes cleaning the shower so as not to leave a mess before he turned off the water, shook out his hair, and climbed out so he could dry off. Harry then wrapped the towel around him, gathered up the dirty clothes, and unlocked the door before tentatively exiting the bathroom. He stumbled over his feet a bit when he saw Heero seated beside the bed still and half wondered if the teen had even left only for Heero to point to the end of the bed where his old rucksack was sitting before shifting the chair around so that his back was to Harry.
Keeping his eyes on Heero, Harry edged his way forward until he reached the bag. He smothered a happy cry when he saw his wand sitting beside the bag and promptly snagged the familiar handle and let out a sigh of relief when he felt his magic humming beneath his fingertips as it was drawn to the magic in the wand's core. Dropping the dirty clothes he'd been holding, Harry gave a sharp twist and a jab as he incanted, "Mundus Complico," and watched as the clothes jumped up and rippled in an unseen wind before they neatly folded themselves and dropped onto the bed.
He then dug through the rucksack in order to see what Heero had managed to collect from his cave only to freeze when he pulled out the wooden case from his desk; his gaze turning diamond sharp as he glanced from the box to Heero's back. He scowled at the teen, knowing instinctively that the pilot had been snooping through his things as he set the box on the bed. Gripping his wand handle, Harry was half tempted to hex the teen and only Heero's earlier order to not use magic on him (unless he had permission or it was to save his or another's life – completely unaware of the silent permission Heero had already given him) stayed his hand.
Cursing up a blue streak beneath his breath as he gave the teen one last glare, Harry dug back into the bag and grabbed one of the three long sleeved shirts out of the bag (uncomfortable with the idea of wearing clothes someone else had purchased for him).
Irritated, Harry roughly pulled on the shirt and gave a particularly sharp jab of his wand to shrink the shirt down to a more manageable size before changing the blinding yellow color of shirt to a more tolerable dark gray that bordered on black. The process was repeated with the blue jeans and underwear he dug out of the bag (minus the color changing charms) before he cleaned the towel he used (Harry using the bed to hide himself from Heero as he dressed as he hadn't trusted the teen not to look). Once he was dressed, Harry opened the box and sighed in relief when he found nothing missing even as he noted that someone had riffled through the folder containing his medical reports. Shooting yet another glare at Heero, Harry spun the tip of his wand over the box and tapped it twice which caused it to glow yellow.
"The next person who tries to open my box is going to be in for a nasty shock," Harry stated blandly. "You had no business snooping through my things and you bloody well had no damn business reading through any of the stuff inside there. You're lucky you didn't mess with Sirius's memories, his motorbike, and my broom or order or no order I'd have hexed you six ways from Sunday."
"I won't apologize for snooping," Heero replied without any remorse as he finally turned the chair back around to face the bed and Harry. "I'd found the box that first day when you left me to my own devices and gave me leave to make myself at home. I was looking to find out more about you because I had no idea what kind of person you were and what you wanted with me. For that matter, I still believed there was an adult taking care of you at that point and I had hoped to find information on him or her."
"How many people have you showed it to since then?"
"Technically no one," Heero answered carefully and Harry narrowed his eyes. "Maxwell found the files while we were trapped inside of your cave despite my efforts to keep him out of your things and he might have made copies of your medical records, the letter, and several rather informative journal entries and shared that information with the other pilots."
Harry closed his eyes and pinched his nose with his left hand as he tapped his wand against his thigh in an effort not to give into the urge to blow something up. Humiliation and rage warred with each other as he thought about who knew how many perfect strangers reading about what amounted to his greatest shame. Fear gripped his heart suddenly as he recalled the very detailed records of everything that Snape had done to him during his four years at Hogwarts and he felt the blood drain from his face as he began hyperventilating before he stumbled backwards away from the bed.
"You have nothing to be afraid of, Harry," Heero murmured and Harry jumped as he unexpectedly found the teen kneeling right in front of him. "We will not show that information to anyone else and we will never use what we learned to hurt you in any way. We only want to help you."
"I don't need any help."
"Is that the truth or is that what you want to believe?" Heero asked softly. Harry closed his eyes, averted his face, and pressed his lips together; unable to lie and unwilling to admit the truth. Heero gave a dry laugh that held no humor before he continued, "I thought as much. I'm going to pick you up now and set you back on the bed because you and I need to have a long discussion about what is going to happen and I would like it very much if you didn't fight me this time. I don't want you pulling your scabs open now that the infection has been cleared from your wounds and they are finally starting to heal properly."
Heero followed through a moment later and Harry couldn't help the tremor that raced down his spine as Heero picked him up, set him on the bed, and tucked him beneath the covers. Harry's eyes then warily tracked the teen as he walked around the bed and returned to the chair he'd been sitting in earlier.
"I know Maxwell told you that your cave is not safe for you right now because that stretch of beach is crawling with Alliance and OZ troops. It would be far too dangerous to sneak in with all of the surveillance equipment they've probably got set up there by now. Until they give up monitoring the area you will be staying here with us; where you will be safe."
"You aren't going to give me any choice, are you?"
"No. Would you like to know why?" Heero inquired and Harry shrugged listlessly; the wizard figuring the teen would tell him whether he wanted to know or not. "It is because if anyone in the Alliance (especially those that are part of OZ) learns about your abilities they are going to force you to fight for them, use you to create an army of children in the hopes that your ability is genetic, or perform hundreds of experiments on you in the hopes of recreating your abilities in others. There are people that work for OZ that could make some of those you have dealt with in the past seem like saints in comparison."
"I'm not telling you this to frighten you; I'm telling you so that you know the risks and so you can understand why we wish to help you. The other Gundam pilots and I are trying to stop people like that in order to protect the Colonies out in space and the innocents here on Earth. I refuse to lie and I'm sure as hell not going to sugar coat things because that won't do any one any favors; least of all you."
"You are afraid that they will use me to stop you because my magic can stop your robots which means you will fail to do what you came to do," Harry whispered as he pinned Heero with knowing eyes.
"Yes."
"I understand. All I ask is that you make it quick and painless."
"Don't be an idiot; we're not killing you."
"Why not…? That would be the surest way to remove the threat I represent."
"I really wish you'd stop asking for death."
"There is no pain in death," Harry replied with a negligent shrug. "I'm tired… tired of fighting shadows, tired of living with my memories, and tired of being both a burden and a danger to those around me. In death, I will be free in a way that I can not be in life."
"You would dishonor you're godfather's last wish by giving up so easily?" Heero coldly demanded.
Harry flinched as if struck and felt heat pricking the back of his eyes as his bottom lip trembled in his effort to hold back the pain those words had shot straight into his heart. Blinking back the burning tears, Harry glanced away from Heero's blazing blue eyes and wrapped his arms around his stomach as shame flooded through him.
"He risked everything to set you free and you've continuously tried to throw away the precious gift he gave to you; your life. Don't you think you should at least make an effort to respect his last wishes? Or are you really that determined to piss all over the sacrifices he made to ensure that you lived?"
"A choice between what is right and what is easy," Harry croaked before he began chuckling darkly without an ounce of humor and more than a little bitterness as he glanced back up to meet Heero's gaze once more. "The only worthwhile piece of advice Dumbledore ever gave me. Fine; you win… but if you ever throw my godfather back in my face like that again I will make you live to regret it."
"So long as you don't go wallowing in self pity again I won't have to."
The two of them held a short staring contest for several long minutes before Harry finally dropped his eyes to stare down at his hands as he twisted his fingers in the hem of his shirt as he asked, "What happens to me now?"
"The way I see it, you have two choices," Heero answered after a brief minute of silence in which Harry felt the teen's gaze steadily boring a hole in the top of his head. "You can either allow us to protect you until we've dealt with the threat or you can learn how to protect yourself."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked hesitantly as he snapped his eyes up to Heero's face once more feeling more than a little confused about exactly what it was he was being offered and why he was even being offered a choice in the first place. He was also more than a little leery about what choosing would mean for him.
"The other pilots and I sat down to discuss your situation and we came to the conclusion that the best thing we can do is to protect you ourselves or teach you how to protect yourself."
"What could you possibly teach me?"
"We can teach you quite a bit actually; everything you'd need in order to survive in this world including several forms of self defense, how to handle various weapons, how to use the technology you'd run across in this world, recent history so you won't stand out and can better keep up with current events, and anything else you think you might need or want to know."
"And what would you want from me in return? Nothing is free."
"We would like you to help us find a way to protect the Gundams from your magic and for you to place some of the same protections you had around your cave around the estate where we are currently living in order to provide us an extra measure of protection in the event that we are discovered by our enemies."
"If I agree… what will happen to me when you have nothing left to teach me? Or if the suits can't be warded?"
"If, after trying your best, the suits can't be protected, then they can't be protected. And once you can adequately protect yourself, you will be free to go your own way… and I will release you from your oath."
"And if I refuse…?"
"Then you will be our guest until the threat of war has ended and we can be certain that you and your abilities can't be used against us. Also, in the event that you don't wish to be trained, I will use your oath to insure that there was no way you could harm us in the event you do fall into OZ's hands despite our best efforts."
"I see. Do I have to give you an answer right this minute?"
"No, you can take as long as you need to decide," Heero replied. "Do you have any other questions? No? If you think of any you may ask any one of us. There are a few things I need to take care of right now, would you like me to have some one bring you something to eat?"
"No thank you, I'm not hungry right now. Although… um… could I maybe get some tea? Or at least some water?"
"I will see what can be found for you."
Harry nodded and watched Heero leave the room before he slumped back on the bed and threw his arm over his face, the tears of frustration and hopelessness he'd been holding back since Heero had first given him what amounted to an ultimatum flowing freely now that he was alone. After a few minutes he wiped his face off and crawled out of the covers so he could grab the box of things Sirius had given him and lifted out his three inch Firebolt.
He set the box off to one side then and lay down on his belly with his head propped up on one hand as he set the broom on the top of the bed and ordered it up so that it hovered about five inches off the comforter. A sad smile played at the corner of his mouth as the broom lazily spun in circles each time he gave it a gentle nudge with a finger.
After a few minutes, the pint-sized wizard hoarsely whispered, "I wish you would have come with me, Sirius. I miss you so much."
Spells translations:
Mundus Complico – Mundus = to Clean, Complico = to fold together; non-canon spell used to wash and fold clothes.
AN: Whew, what a chapter. That first bit with all five pilots kept trying to descend into a brawl the first few times I wrote it and at one point even had bullets flying. I needed them on more friendly terms, despite their differences of opinions, and so nixed the fight scene and completely erased the gunfire. There was still plenty going on and Harry even got a metaphorical kick in the hind end from Heero to get him to stop searching for a quick death. I did manage to get a justice rant in there for Wufei though and I was quite proud of the way it turned out since I think I avoided making him look like a toddler throwing a temper tantrum. I also managed to let the characters explain my reasoning for not making Heero immediately release Harry from his oath since that oath will be important in later chapters.
I had one anonymous reviewer complain that Harry seemed to have opened up to Quatre too easily in the last chapter, especially considering how confrontational he'd been with everyone else but I did explain that at the end of the chapter in Harry's own mind. He had intended to give Quatre the same cold shoulder he'd been given everyone else and he had not meant to pour his heart out to Quatre but there is something about Quatre that draws others to him and makes him easy to trust; and yes, it is related directly to his empathy. That connection he felt with the blonde pilot will be touched on in more depth in later chapters as Harry slowly comes to understand it himself.
Finally, Wufei was originally supposed to be introduced in this chapter but I had to bump that bit to the beginning of the next chapter when this chapter reached the 10,000 word mark since it was getting a bit long. The next chapter will be posted sometime this week, I hope, but I couldn't tell you when because I'll be busy trying to get a few things done. I also plan to get the last of the chapter edits and the next chapter for Haunted up this week but make no promises. ~ Jenn