Disclaimer: Much as I would like to, I do not own Gundam Wing

Disclaimer: Much as I would like to, I do not own Gundam Wing. :(

AN: I can't believe it – I just wanted to put in a MAJOR "Thank You!!!!!" to my best friend (who I think is on Fanfic.net under the name Prophesygirl, check her stuff out) for all the help she's given and continues to give me! How could I forget that?

Walking The Dividing Line

Part 12

There was a soft creak – somehow the sound reached my ears and pulled me from the black void in which I was floating; I was yanked back into pain as I opened my eyes to my dark room.

There was someone at the door –

I could hear my heart pounding in my ears, feel the churning sensation in my stomach as I peered into the darkness, trying to see who was there.

Please let it be Quatre, please let it be Quatre, please let it be Quatre…

A head poked in through the crack in the doorway, bathed in light from the hallway –

It was *Duo*.

My heart stopped. I couldn't think oh God keep him away just don't let him hurt me any more please I thought it was over please –

"Aly?" he whispered, squinting in the darkness of my room, and his blue eyes caught mine –

He took a step into the room and despite the immense pain it caused I felt myself curl up in fear – it was an involuntary reaction, seeing as my mind had been taken over by static, the same screaming static that had been throwing itself around my head before, when –

I couldn't see his hands, what if he had a knife, what if he had a lighter, what if he had a gun, what if he had something worse -?

He took another step into the room, then another. I could barely breathe.

Get him away from me please don't let him hurt me –

I wanted to scream at him, to feel only the anger that was rising instead of the intense terror that coated it. I wanted to get up and stand before him and punch him, kick him, scream at him, do anything but what I was actually doing, curling up into a ball and letting the fear screaming in my head take over.

But somehow that was all I could do, to roll up in a ball and pray that he would make this quick and let me fall.

The light from the doorway outlined his lean form from the back, casting sharp shadows about the edges of his body as his braid swung behind him. The moonlight from the window caught his features and made them pale as they burned themselves into my mind all over again. His chest was bare and his right shoulder had been bandaged, the crisp white tape reflecting the light off brighter than his face.

He looked concerned, but I had seen him look like that before. His eyes looked dark in the pale blue moonlight and I still couldn't see his hands –

He stopped next to my bed and looked at me, just standing there outlined in half-halogen half-moon light, dark eyes looking into mine and I just wanted him to leave me alone because I didn't care, I couldn't fight him anymore. The fear was too strong, winning over even my burning anger and hatred and I didn't want him to hurt me again. I couldn't take it. I hadn't broken before but I didn't know how much I had left.

I was too scared to even move. Too scared to even scream. How the hell was I this scared – I couldn't think, I couldn't hear anything but his laughter and the static growing in my ears. I wanted so badly to stand up to him, to throw him away from me and out of my mind – my life –

"Aly?" he whispered again; I flinched away from his voice, remembering its razor-sharp tone and laughing, singsong words. I didn't want to hear that again.

He raised his right hand gingerly, bringing it towards my face – I screwed my eyes shut, waiting for the sharp pain, the slap that would come and then he would tell me I couldn't fall away yet and I would open my eyes to that bright metal room and hear him laughing –

His palm touched my face where the red, vaguely handprint-shaped mark had burned itself into the skin, my cheek bruised and swollen and tender from being slapped so many times. His hand fit perfectly over the welt that he himself had raised.

I tensed even more, my broken limbs screaming out in pain from the movement but my mind somehow telling me that if there was less skin exposed, maybe he would make fewer cuts –

I bit my lip, feeling the barely-healed cut reopen under the pressure, tasting blood and memories in my mouth and knowing that it was all over again. He was going to kill me this time.

Only somehow, this time I cared.

"Aly," he repeated, and I felt his hand slide down to trace along my bottom lip, wiping away the blood, and I nearly screamed.

I wanted him to stop touching me.

"They cut your hair," he said, voice soft but flat, tone holding no recognizable emotion, just a stated fact.

I opened my mouth, tried to speak, trying to pull enough air into my lungs to muster the words that were screaming themselves in my head. I had to do something. I couldn't stand for this. I *wouldn't* stand for this.

Go away. Go away. Go away –

"Go away."

The hand pulled away from my chin so suddenly that I was sure he was going to slap me this time. My eyes were clenched shut so tightly that I could feel them stinging with tears. If only he would go away –

"Aly, I'm – I'm so – "
"Maxwell!!"

"Duo!"
"Alison!"

There was shuffling as I heard the door swing fully open, still too afraid to even open my eyes. I heard the lights click on, saw red through my closed eyelids, and heard more yelling and more noise as I sat drowning in fear-stricken static.

"Duo, what are you doing here?"

Something in my head registered the voice as "Trowa."

More shuffling. Protests – Duo was shouting protests.

"Wait! No – stop! It's not – I just wanted to see – *stop*!"

"Shut up."

Wufei.

"Alison?!"

Quatre –

Quatre. My eyes flew open and he was crouched before me, green eyes searching mine for recognition – for *sanity* - and I wanted nothing more than for him to make all the noise go away.

"Wait!" Duo was still screaming – past Quatre's shoulder I saw Wufei and Trowa drag him out of the room, his blue eyes panicked and voice frantic.

I didn't want to listen to him anymore. I didn't want him to hurt me anymore.

"Quatre – "

"Alison!" He leaned in and enveloped me in a gentle hug, attempting to comfort me and yet keep his – unwittingly painful – touch as light as possible.

Despite the lancing pain it caused, I lifted my arms to grab him for support.

He stiffened in surprise, then leaned closer, as if to let me know that it was going to be okay, if only I could believe him.

"I don't – I don't want him to – to hurt me – again – " I cried into his shoulder, painfully aware of the tears that were escaping my eyes, the saltwater stinging the cuts on my face and neck as they fell. I couldn't think about anything, couldn't feel anything but the immense relief that Duo was gone and that he couldn't touch me – couldn't hurt me – anymore. Even the anger was gone in the wake of such relief.

We sat there, like that, for a long time. Or maybe it only felt like an eternity – all I knew was that I was safe there, that Duo was gone, that Quatre wouldn't let him hurt me. And that was all I wanted – all I needed – to know.

Until Wufei's voice shattered it.

"He's back in his room," the Chinese pilot's voice rang out curtly, and I blinked as Quatre quickly released his delicate hold on me and stood to face the door where Wufei stood.

I blinked in the bright light, my eyes sore and still stinging from the tears that I suddenly found myself wishing I had not cried. My stomach churned – something about Wufei made me want to shrink away and die for having shed tears at all in the first place.

"What happened?" Quatre asked softly; whether he was addressing Wufei or myself I did not know, but it was Wufei who spoke first.

"He escaped his bindings and snuck out while I was trading watches with Barton. It will not happen again."

I could have sworn that last sentence was directed at me, but I was sure I had just imagined it.

Quatre nodded. "All right." He took a step towards the door, and I felt my stomach drop again.

I didn't want him to leave me alone. I didn't want to be left alone again with the darkness and the sound of Duo's voice, and the ghost of his touch on my cheek and mouth.

I didn't want him to leave me alone.

"Qua-"

He stopped and turned before I could finish; I fell silent, feeling suddenly silly having to ask him to stay with me.

But –

I didn't want him to leave me alone.

"Please," I whispered, begging, "don't leave me alone. Please."

Wufei stared at me.

"Of course," Quatre replied, swiftly taking his usual seat beside my bed. "Alison, I'm sorry – of course I'll stay."

"Th-thank you."

Wufei slammed the door behind him.