Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or its characters and I do not claim
to.
Author's Note: Gomen, I didn't mean for it to take this long to get this chapter out. I ended up getting distracted by writing a sequel to "I'm Movin' On" for the TWO people who reviewed. Anyway, I love reveiws!!! ( So go ahead and review! PLEASE!
Internal Warfare
Chapter 8: Extreme Exposure
Heero was panicking. Why did I leave him alone in there? he thought to himself in desperation as he hurriedly put his suit back on, Hold on Kent, I'm coming. He looked back at the glass momentarily. The stream of blood has ceased, either by Kent turning off the hose, or it having run empty. All of the sudden a hand smeared the blood from the glass, allowing Kent's face to be visible, though barely. His suit was covered from head to toe in blood, and the glass was smeared with it, obscuring perfect vision. He panted harshly, and looked at Heero with worried eyes. Heero said nothing, but continued to suit up. After putting the plastic part back over his face he turned toward Relena and pointed to something behind her. A role of tape lay on the table there, she turned and picked it up knowingly. Heero turned back around and she zipped his suit up. She then carefully covered the zipper with the tape, making sure that the hold was airtight. After a moment, Heero turned his air back on and looked at her. He didn't smile, but tried to make it look, with his eyes, as though nothing was wrong. He turned his eyes back to the glass where Kent was still looking through at them. He nodded again and turned away from Relena, reentering the Decon Zone.
A few moments later he reemerged in the Hot Zone. He walked up to Kent, who's breathing was still harsh, and now, he was visibly trembling. Heero put his hand softly on Kent's shoulder, then he moved away. He moved back to the closet they had found the bleach in, and retrieved more bottles. He moved back over to the hose. The tag on it did say bleach, but he knew better this time. Next to this hose was another one that read, CAUTION DO NOT USE! And Heero smirked. He motioned for Kent to move toward him and they both held this hose. Heero released the head and bleach poured out of it with as much force as the blood had from the other hose. They sprayed it over the entire room and the glass cleared, Relena could be seen on the other side, standing right up against it.
Next came the hose full of blood. Heero looked behind him at Kent, "Did you turn the other hose off or did it run out?"
"I turned it off." He said back. Heero nodded. They moved to the other hose and proceeded to once again let the blood flow from the hose. It flowed without interruption for another five minutes, before it stopped. The two moved back to the other hose and again washed the room down. Then they took the blood filled hose apart, and washed that out. After they felt the hose had been sufficiently drenched in bleach, they turned the bleach hose off.
Each then took a scrub brush and a gallon of bleach and inspected the room. Every nook and cranny that had been missed was thoroughly drenched and cleaned in bleach. When this had been successfully completed Heero and Kent met in the middle of the room.
"We have another problem." Kent said, yelling over both their respirators.
Heero eyes flashed in fear a moment, "And what would that be."
Kent sighed uneasily and his eyes betrayed his fear, "When we both dove to the ground for that container of blood, well, my suit ripped." Heero's eyes widened in fear, Kent had had extreme exposure to Marburg. "I didn't notice it until after I turned that hose off. When I felt liquid running down my back, in a steady stream, not like sweat." Heero's head was reeling, this was bad, very bad.
He pushed Kent toward the Decon Zone and they both entered together. After a seven-minute period of decontamination, they entered the Grey Zone. Heero inspected the back of Kent's suit immediately. Fear gripped his chest as he found the large split in the lining. Then he proceeded to remove the tape and unzip Kent's suit. Kent turned off his respirator and peeled his suit off. Blood was everywhere inside the suit. Heero motioned for Relena to move further away and she pressed her back against the exit. Kent turned his head back to Heero and nodded. Exiting that room through a side door. Heero checked his gloved hands to see if any blood had gotten onto his gloves. He didn't see any, but just to be safe he walked over to the sink full of Decon Soap and soaked his gloves in it for a moment. Then he looked at Relena. She approached and he turned away. Again she removed the tape from the back of his suit and unzipped him. She searched his features after he turned around for the motives to him having her move further away. He couldn't stand her concerned look and after peeling his suit down to his ankles, pulled her to him and held her. She leaned into him and reveled in his warmth.
After a minute or two Heero spoke. Realizing the respirator on his suit was still running, he released her and leaned down to turn it off.
"We've all been exposed to it now." He said as he sat on the bench that he had sat on before. Relena looked at him in confusion. He was, at present, unwrapping the tape that bound his waterproof footwear and his pant legs. "Kent's suit ripped when we dove for that container of blood. He has had an extreme exposure, and you and I have had limited exposure, to Marburg." Relena remained silent at his words. She was surprised that he maintained eye contact the whole time
He glanced momentarily at the door from which Kent had exited, then looked down at his surgical scrubs. "I'll be back in five minutes, I need a shower." He said as he walked passed Relena toward a control panel next to the door. Reading it, he pushed a button. "I've just activated the negative air pressure system," he paused, glancing at the now red light above the door. "Yell when that light turns yellow, but don't open the door."
As he turned back to leave, he made eye contact with her again. The tears in her eyes shocked him. He again took her into his arms and cradled her form as she had, more than once, done to him. She put her head on his shoulder and cried.
"It will be all right." He whispered quietly into her ear.
************
"Are you sure that that place is clean?" Trowa asked Duo for the forth time.
"YES! Trowa it's clean." Duo said almost yelling at the image of Trowa on the screen in front of him. Trowa's eyes narrowed at Duo's tone, but calmed after a moment back to his normal impassive stare.
"Well, we found Marburg and Relena." He said, not really looking at Duo anymore. "Relena is fine, though a little malnourished, she's with Heero now. He and Kent were in the process of destroying the Marburg held here when I last saw them."
"So you don't really know if all went well?" Hews asked pushing Duo out of the way to look at Trowa. He didn't look back at her. Rather, he looked at something to his left.
"That would be correct, though I'm sure everything is under control." He paused and made eye contact with Hews. "However, I would like to know what it means that the light above the Grey Zone is red."
"It just means that the negative air pressure has been activated." She seemed to become nervous under his gaze as she aimlessly played with the fabric of her shirt. "It will make it so that, when the door to the outside world is opened, air will only travel into the room, not out." She paused again. "While it has not been proven that Marburg can or cannot be transmitted through the air, or even more unlikely that it would survive the Decon Chamber, it is just an extra safety precaution. When the pressurization is complete, and the whole process last about three minutes, the light will turn yellow. When this happens, the door is safe to be opened, however, it is not a good idea to never open a Grey Zone door from the outside when the air inside has a negative pressure. You would be sucked in so quickly you wouldn't know what happened to you."
"Thanks." He said, terminating the connection, the light on the door had been red for a minute and a half. He leaned up against the wall beside the door and waited.
**************
Charles Montgomery stood pacing in front of Dr. J's desk in his office at his secret base. Dr. J looked bored and was playing with a pencil on his desk, rolling it back and forth.
"Those stupid kids think they've beaten me." Montgomery growled.
"Haven't they?" Dr. J said, no amusement evident in his voice or demeanor.
"Oh coarse not. Now we go to plan B"
*************
Kent was already fully dressed when Heero walked over and sat next to him. He was wearing boxer shorts and had a towel hung over his shoulders.
"So," Kent began a little shaky, "I have to spend some time in the slammer?" It wasn't really a question, Kent knew he was going to the slammer.
"Yeah." Heero replied, his voice was soft and quiet, "Relena and I too."
Kent just nodded. Heero stood, pulling on a pair of khaki pants. "Have you told her?" Kent asked looking up at the other man.
"Have I told who what?" Heero asked in a disinterested tone as he reached for his shirt.
"Don't play dumb! Have you told Relena?" Kent said a small smile playing on his lips.
"Not yet." Heero said, remaining detached as he buttoned his white shirt.
"Why not?" Kent almost yelled.
Heero's eyes snapped to Kent in surprise. "When was I supposed to do this Kent? Before or after I told her we had all been exposed to Marburg?"
Kent's composer wavered at Heero's outburst. Tears welled in his eyes. He looked away for a moment, then back, not making eye contact. "Heero am I going to die?" he asked, his voice solemn and soft.
Heero sat back down beside Kent and put his hand on the younger man's shoulder. "I don't know." His tone was tender, caring and sympathetic.
"The light's yellow!" was the muffled yell that came from the other room.
Kent stood. "Let's get the hell out of here!" he said as he strode toward the door.
Heero quickly stood and followed. "Lets."
As they walked back into the main area of the Grey Zone they found Relena by the door leaned up against the glass. Kent smiled at her and nodded. As he passed her, he noticed, she fell in line next to Heero. At the door Kent turned to Heero and Relena. Heero nodded and turned to Relena.
"Relena, I've put this room on negative air pressure, which means when we open that door air is only going to flow in, not out." He began.
"This," Kent continued, "makes it difficult for virus particles to leave the Grey Zone, however…"
"It also makes it difficult for us to just walk out." Heero finished.
Relena nodded in understanding and braced herself. Kent turned back around and reached for the door handle. Heero slipped his hand into Relena's, holding her tightly. She moved her eyes so that she looked at him. He made eye contact with her for a moment before turning back to the door, she did the same. Kent opened the door and pushed his weight against the air that flowed in. Relena and Heero began to move out together once Kent was out of the way. One of Relena's feet slipped and she almost fell, but Heero wrapped his arms around her waist quickly, pulling her out with him. Once outside the room, with the door sealed behind them, Kent, Heero and Relena sat on the floor. Heero had forgotten that he was holding Relena and continued to do so without thought. Though this action didn't go unnoticed to Kent, Relena or Trowa, who now stood over them.
"Have fun?" Trowa asked at the gloomy expression on Kent's face. He didn't look up, just remained staring at Heero and Relena, though it was obvious he heard. Relena's face was red with her blush, but Heero still hadn't noticed anything, his eyes were closed and his mind somewhere else. Trowa outstretched his hand to Relena, she took it and he gently pulled her out of Heero's arms and on her feet. It seemed, that with the act of moving her, Heero had realized what he had done. A faint blush stained his cheeks. Kent stood, not making eye contact with anyone, and soon after Heero followed.
Trowa took this opportunity to fill them in, "Well," he began, "all the people involved with Montgomery's investigation are positive for Marburg, except Dr. J, but I doubt he has it. And there is no sign of Montgomery himself any where here, or at his offices." Heero nodded, deep in thought.
"I think I know where he is." Heero said quietly.
((A/N: Sorry this took my awhile, and it is kind of short… I have no idea what's going to happen in the next chapter. It will all depend on my mood. Maybe, Heero will go to Dr. J and get Montgomery… Maybe he'll confess his feelings for Relena… And what, oh what is plan B? I know, ha ha ha! But I'm not going to give anything away. Okay, I'm going to add a warning, now that I know it's going to actually happen, one, or more, of the main characters is going to die. I know I know. Gomen in advance. Anyway, REVIEW!!! PLEASE!))
((Errors: I have made a few errors that I want to bring to people's attention. In chapter 7, I had forgotten that the Decon Chamber takes 7 minutes to decontaminate a suit. I remembered this time, but didn't make it take that long when Heero was entering because I didn't think he would care about bringing possible pathogens into the Hot Zone. Also, I don't think it's possible for the Grey Zone to be put on negative pressure in real life. I don't remember if it ever happened in the book, "The Hot Zone". I do know, however, that the suits they wear are on negative pressure, so I just took it a step further. I think that's it.))
Author's Note: Gomen, I didn't mean for it to take this long to get this chapter out. I ended up getting distracted by writing a sequel to "I'm Movin' On" for the TWO people who reviewed. Anyway, I love reveiws!!! ( So go ahead and review! PLEASE!
Internal Warfare
Chapter 8: Extreme Exposure
Heero was panicking. Why did I leave him alone in there? he thought to himself in desperation as he hurriedly put his suit back on, Hold on Kent, I'm coming. He looked back at the glass momentarily. The stream of blood has ceased, either by Kent turning off the hose, or it having run empty. All of the sudden a hand smeared the blood from the glass, allowing Kent's face to be visible, though barely. His suit was covered from head to toe in blood, and the glass was smeared with it, obscuring perfect vision. He panted harshly, and looked at Heero with worried eyes. Heero said nothing, but continued to suit up. After putting the plastic part back over his face he turned toward Relena and pointed to something behind her. A role of tape lay on the table there, she turned and picked it up knowingly. Heero turned back around and she zipped his suit up. She then carefully covered the zipper with the tape, making sure that the hold was airtight. After a moment, Heero turned his air back on and looked at her. He didn't smile, but tried to make it look, with his eyes, as though nothing was wrong. He turned his eyes back to the glass where Kent was still looking through at them. He nodded again and turned away from Relena, reentering the Decon Zone.
A few moments later he reemerged in the Hot Zone. He walked up to Kent, who's breathing was still harsh, and now, he was visibly trembling. Heero put his hand softly on Kent's shoulder, then he moved away. He moved back to the closet they had found the bleach in, and retrieved more bottles. He moved back over to the hose. The tag on it did say bleach, but he knew better this time. Next to this hose was another one that read, CAUTION DO NOT USE! And Heero smirked. He motioned for Kent to move toward him and they both held this hose. Heero released the head and bleach poured out of it with as much force as the blood had from the other hose. They sprayed it over the entire room and the glass cleared, Relena could be seen on the other side, standing right up against it.
Next came the hose full of blood. Heero looked behind him at Kent, "Did you turn the other hose off or did it run out?"
"I turned it off." He said back. Heero nodded. They moved to the other hose and proceeded to once again let the blood flow from the hose. It flowed without interruption for another five minutes, before it stopped. The two moved back to the other hose and again washed the room down. Then they took the blood filled hose apart, and washed that out. After they felt the hose had been sufficiently drenched in bleach, they turned the bleach hose off.
Each then took a scrub brush and a gallon of bleach and inspected the room. Every nook and cranny that had been missed was thoroughly drenched and cleaned in bleach. When this had been successfully completed Heero and Kent met in the middle of the room.
"We have another problem." Kent said, yelling over both their respirators.
Heero eyes flashed in fear a moment, "And what would that be."
Kent sighed uneasily and his eyes betrayed his fear, "When we both dove to the ground for that container of blood, well, my suit ripped." Heero's eyes widened in fear, Kent had had extreme exposure to Marburg. "I didn't notice it until after I turned that hose off. When I felt liquid running down my back, in a steady stream, not like sweat." Heero's head was reeling, this was bad, very bad.
He pushed Kent toward the Decon Zone and they both entered together. After a seven-minute period of decontamination, they entered the Grey Zone. Heero inspected the back of Kent's suit immediately. Fear gripped his chest as he found the large split in the lining. Then he proceeded to remove the tape and unzip Kent's suit. Kent turned off his respirator and peeled his suit off. Blood was everywhere inside the suit. Heero motioned for Relena to move further away and she pressed her back against the exit. Kent turned his head back to Heero and nodded. Exiting that room through a side door. Heero checked his gloved hands to see if any blood had gotten onto his gloves. He didn't see any, but just to be safe he walked over to the sink full of Decon Soap and soaked his gloves in it for a moment. Then he looked at Relena. She approached and he turned away. Again she removed the tape from the back of his suit and unzipped him. She searched his features after he turned around for the motives to him having her move further away. He couldn't stand her concerned look and after peeling his suit down to his ankles, pulled her to him and held her. She leaned into him and reveled in his warmth.
After a minute or two Heero spoke. Realizing the respirator on his suit was still running, he released her and leaned down to turn it off.
"We've all been exposed to it now." He said as he sat on the bench that he had sat on before. Relena looked at him in confusion. He was, at present, unwrapping the tape that bound his waterproof footwear and his pant legs. "Kent's suit ripped when we dove for that container of blood. He has had an extreme exposure, and you and I have had limited exposure, to Marburg." Relena remained silent at his words. She was surprised that he maintained eye contact the whole time
He glanced momentarily at the door from which Kent had exited, then looked down at his surgical scrubs. "I'll be back in five minutes, I need a shower." He said as he walked passed Relena toward a control panel next to the door. Reading it, he pushed a button. "I've just activated the negative air pressure system," he paused, glancing at the now red light above the door. "Yell when that light turns yellow, but don't open the door."
As he turned back to leave, he made eye contact with her again. The tears in her eyes shocked him. He again took her into his arms and cradled her form as she had, more than once, done to him. She put her head on his shoulder and cried.
"It will be all right." He whispered quietly into her ear.
************
"Are you sure that that place is clean?" Trowa asked Duo for the forth time.
"YES! Trowa it's clean." Duo said almost yelling at the image of Trowa on the screen in front of him. Trowa's eyes narrowed at Duo's tone, but calmed after a moment back to his normal impassive stare.
"Well, we found Marburg and Relena." He said, not really looking at Duo anymore. "Relena is fine, though a little malnourished, she's with Heero now. He and Kent were in the process of destroying the Marburg held here when I last saw them."
"So you don't really know if all went well?" Hews asked pushing Duo out of the way to look at Trowa. He didn't look back at her. Rather, he looked at something to his left.
"That would be correct, though I'm sure everything is under control." He paused and made eye contact with Hews. "However, I would like to know what it means that the light above the Grey Zone is red."
"It just means that the negative air pressure has been activated." She seemed to become nervous under his gaze as she aimlessly played with the fabric of her shirt. "It will make it so that, when the door to the outside world is opened, air will only travel into the room, not out." She paused again. "While it has not been proven that Marburg can or cannot be transmitted through the air, or even more unlikely that it would survive the Decon Chamber, it is just an extra safety precaution. When the pressurization is complete, and the whole process last about three minutes, the light will turn yellow. When this happens, the door is safe to be opened, however, it is not a good idea to never open a Grey Zone door from the outside when the air inside has a negative pressure. You would be sucked in so quickly you wouldn't know what happened to you."
"Thanks." He said, terminating the connection, the light on the door had been red for a minute and a half. He leaned up against the wall beside the door and waited.
**************
Charles Montgomery stood pacing in front of Dr. J's desk in his office at his secret base. Dr. J looked bored and was playing with a pencil on his desk, rolling it back and forth.
"Those stupid kids think they've beaten me." Montgomery growled.
"Haven't they?" Dr. J said, no amusement evident in his voice or demeanor.
"Oh coarse not. Now we go to plan B"
*************
Kent was already fully dressed when Heero walked over and sat next to him. He was wearing boxer shorts and had a towel hung over his shoulders.
"So," Kent began a little shaky, "I have to spend some time in the slammer?" It wasn't really a question, Kent knew he was going to the slammer.
"Yeah." Heero replied, his voice was soft and quiet, "Relena and I too."
Kent just nodded. Heero stood, pulling on a pair of khaki pants. "Have you told her?" Kent asked looking up at the other man.
"Have I told who what?" Heero asked in a disinterested tone as he reached for his shirt.
"Don't play dumb! Have you told Relena?" Kent said a small smile playing on his lips.
"Not yet." Heero said, remaining detached as he buttoned his white shirt.
"Why not?" Kent almost yelled.
Heero's eyes snapped to Kent in surprise. "When was I supposed to do this Kent? Before or after I told her we had all been exposed to Marburg?"
Kent's composer wavered at Heero's outburst. Tears welled in his eyes. He looked away for a moment, then back, not making eye contact. "Heero am I going to die?" he asked, his voice solemn and soft.
Heero sat back down beside Kent and put his hand on the younger man's shoulder. "I don't know." His tone was tender, caring and sympathetic.
"The light's yellow!" was the muffled yell that came from the other room.
Kent stood. "Let's get the hell out of here!" he said as he strode toward the door.
Heero quickly stood and followed. "Lets."
As they walked back into the main area of the Grey Zone they found Relena by the door leaned up against the glass. Kent smiled at her and nodded. As he passed her, he noticed, she fell in line next to Heero. At the door Kent turned to Heero and Relena. Heero nodded and turned to Relena.
"Relena, I've put this room on negative air pressure, which means when we open that door air is only going to flow in, not out." He began.
"This," Kent continued, "makes it difficult for virus particles to leave the Grey Zone, however…"
"It also makes it difficult for us to just walk out." Heero finished.
Relena nodded in understanding and braced herself. Kent turned back around and reached for the door handle. Heero slipped his hand into Relena's, holding her tightly. She moved her eyes so that she looked at him. He made eye contact with her for a moment before turning back to the door, she did the same. Kent opened the door and pushed his weight against the air that flowed in. Relena and Heero began to move out together once Kent was out of the way. One of Relena's feet slipped and she almost fell, but Heero wrapped his arms around her waist quickly, pulling her out with him. Once outside the room, with the door sealed behind them, Kent, Heero and Relena sat on the floor. Heero had forgotten that he was holding Relena and continued to do so without thought. Though this action didn't go unnoticed to Kent, Relena or Trowa, who now stood over them.
"Have fun?" Trowa asked at the gloomy expression on Kent's face. He didn't look up, just remained staring at Heero and Relena, though it was obvious he heard. Relena's face was red with her blush, but Heero still hadn't noticed anything, his eyes were closed and his mind somewhere else. Trowa outstretched his hand to Relena, she took it and he gently pulled her out of Heero's arms and on her feet. It seemed, that with the act of moving her, Heero had realized what he had done. A faint blush stained his cheeks. Kent stood, not making eye contact with anyone, and soon after Heero followed.
Trowa took this opportunity to fill them in, "Well," he began, "all the people involved with Montgomery's investigation are positive for Marburg, except Dr. J, but I doubt he has it. And there is no sign of Montgomery himself any where here, or at his offices." Heero nodded, deep in thought.
"I think I know where he is." Heero said quietly.
((A/N: Sorry this took my awhile, and it is kind of short… I have no idea what's going to happen in the next chapter. It will all depend on my mood. Maybe, Heero will go to Dr. J and get Montgomery… Maybe he'll confess his feelings for Relena… And what, oh what is plan B? I know, ha ha ha! But I'm not going to give anything away. Okay, I'm going to add a warning, now that I know it's going to actually happen, one, or more, of the main characters is going to die. I know I know. Gomen in advance. Anyway, REVIEW!!! PLEASE!))
((Errors: I have made a few errors that I want to bring to people's attention. In chapter 7, I had forgotten that the Decon Chamber takes 7 minutes to decontaminate a suit. I remembered this time, but didn't make it take that long when Heero was entering because I didn't think he would care about bringing possible pathogens into the Hot Zone. Also, I don't think it's possible for the Grey Zone to be put on negative pressure in real life. I don't remember if it ever happened in the book, "The Hot Zone". I do know, however, that the suits they wear are on negative pressure, so I just took it a step further. I think that's it.))