© June 07, 2002
Sequel to Mercy's Sacrifice
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or any of the characters or props affiliated with them. I do, however, own the plot.
~*~ Chapter 5 ~*~
Forced Mercy
Trowa sat once more by Heero's sleeping side, staring into the flames that danced between the walls of the hearth. The soft crackle of the fire as it licked and weaved between the pieces of wood was comforting and relaxing, giving a sense of security and content. "How can I help these guys? Sadly, it's usually Quatre that'd have most of the answers to this in such a last second type of dilemma. But it's Quatre who needs us now, and even Heero and his somewhat reckless plans can't help us." Looking around the room, he tried but couldn't spot a clock anywhere. Calling softly, he looked over to Duo. "Duo, do you have your watch with you this time?"
Duo's head leaned against this arms tiredly, but he tried to remain awake. "Yah, gimme a minute..." Squinting, he tried to see the numbers and the positions of the hands, but something that small just turned out as a big blur. Taking the watch off, he tossed it to Trowa and laid his head back down again. "That many o'clock."
Trowa gave a soft chuckle. Since when did his friend use "that many o'clock"? Shaking his head, he let a grin play over his lips. "Well, aren't we sophisticated today... it's almost 2:30 in the morning."
Duo smirked as he closed his eyes, a large yawn interrupting his features. "How can ya tell?"
"Duo, I can read a clock. It's not that hard."
"No, which part of the day it is..."
Trowa needed something to keep focused on and it was by far too quiet in the cabin. It gave him too much time to reflect on what has happened and everything that could happen, things he didn't want to have to acknowledge. "When we went out yesterday to get the venison, it was about noon, early in the evening. We've already had dinner about the right time, or at least you guys have," he wasn't really hungry at the time, "and it wasn't that long ago since we realized that we're trapped in here. That was about around midnight. It's all logical and common sense and..." Looking up, he realized that Duo was sleeping, not even listening to his explanation. Laughing softly, he rose from his seat and tossed the cushion from the large chair behind him. Pulling out the fold-out bed, he set it up before heading to his friend.
Duo's eyes quickly fluttered open as he realized that he was being spoken to and shaken awake. Glancing over his shoulder, he realized that it was Trowa. "I lost ya after the "early evening" part."
Shaking his head, he only smiled. "I'm sure you did. Come on, you're too tired to fight it off any longer. You need to get some sleep..." Helping the weary American up, he led him to the pull-out bed, all the while Duo followed but his mouth said otherwise.
"No, I'm not tired, I was just resting. I wasn't sleeping, I swear. I'm just easily confused..." Yawning, he sat on the bed and without help from Trowa, he laid down and took the small throw pillow. All the while, he tried to refuse, but he wasn't speaking to his peer any longer, but it was more of an argument with his mind and body, but he lost.
Trowa bit his tongue to keep from bursting into laughter as he watched his comrade argue with himself, his facial features depicting his two personalities that seemed to be feuding. In the end he fell asleep, curling into a ball as he tried to keep warm. How could he not keep warm? The cabin was actually getting rather hot now that he thought about it. That and it was taking a little more effort to breathe. Stepping into Quatre's room, he looked at both Sally and Wufei. "Is he doing any better?"
Wufei turned from Sally's side and shook his head, his eyes downcast. "He's not responding to anything and his fever just keeps going up."
Trowa nodded sadly, seeing the quilt and blankets cast to the floor, a thin sheet covering his pale and trembling form. Sighing, he began to cough himself. He forced himself to stifle the coughs when the others looked at him in warning and slight fear. "It's okay, I'm fine. Don't you guys think it's getting a bit hot in here? Maybe a little harder to breathe too?"
Sally watched Trowa in fear and confusion, wondering if he wasn't getting the fever too. "Come here Trowa..." She rose from her seat next to Quatre and bade Wufei to take over the relentless duty of trying to draw away the fever. Taking her hand and brushing away the youth's bangs, she pressed her lips against his forehead. "You don't have a fever, but you had me scared there for a minute." Standing where she was, now that the door was open and that she could feel the heat from the other room, she had to admit that it was rather hot and the oxygen around them seemed to disappear. "Now that you said something, I think you're right Trowa."
Trowa thought silently for a minute, ignoring the others. Their only abundant source of air came from the chimney and the fire was still burning because of the air coming in, besides the wood. The flames were eating most of their oxygen before it could get into the rooms and they were using up the remaining air faster than it could be replenished. "We've got to put out the fire, it's killing off our air supply and the chimney's our only hope."
Wufei looked at him in confusion, feeling somewhat light-headed. "But then how will we get heat?"
Shaking his head, he crossed his arms in front of his chest, leaning against the door frame as he replied. "We won't, we either suffocate to death or try and fight off the cold. We have better chances trying to keep warm than try to breathe when we don't have any air, or at least hardly any."
Sally spoke at this. "But what about Quatre and Heero?"
Sighing, he looked up solemnly. "We'll have to keep them as warm as possible, the cold might draw away their fevers and cool them down, but it'll work against us in helping them with their illnesses. We don't much of a choice here Sally."
Wufei closed his eyes and tried to shake the dizziness from his vision. "Then you'd better hurry and put out the fire, I'm getting so light-headed right now that there are two of each of you." Rubbing his eyes, he tried to focus but still to no avail as he began to cough himself.
Without further hesitation, Trowa strode from the room. Taking a large, thick towel in hand he soaked it with some of the ice that had turned to water from the thick barricade and threw the towel completely over the dancing flames. The fire and wood sizzled, popped, and hissed as the flames died.
Duo bolted upright at the sound of the fire going out so fast, his eyes wide in confusion and alarm. "What the..... what happened to the fire?"
Trowa shrugged off the question and looked at the fireplace once more, the room becoming completely dark. Squinting slightly, he let his eyes adjust to the darkness. His response was short and blunt as he felt Keiha press her cold nose against his arm. Her whines were soft and troubled. "The fire was eating our air and killing us, so it had to go." Patting Keiha's head softly, he bade her to go and watch over Heero as she had been.
Duo looked about, but he couldn't see anything. A soft light came from inside Quatre's room and Wufei appeared with a small flashlight. "You okay Wu-man?" The young American watch his other friend sway slightly on his feet.
Wufei shook his head, one day he would teach Duo to call him by his rightful name. "I'm fine Duo, but you will learn one day that my name is Wufei. Here, Sally brought these along, we'll have to save the batteries when the sun comes up. If it does, we should be able to get enough light from the chimney, we've got one in here. Is Heero doing any better?" Tossing the flashlight to Trowa, he waited an update on his antisocial friend.
Trowa caught the flashlight with ease and returned to Heero's side, watching his pale features as he took the back of his hand and placed it against the second youth's forehead. An approving smile graced his lips. "His fever's gone down drastically since I last checked, now it's just more of a slight warmth. If it keeps going down like this, his fever should break within the next half hour or so."
Sally listened from inside Quatre's room, delicately tracing his soft features with the cold rag. Her fingers had already gone numb again, but the cold was at least giving a comfort to the suffering Arabian. She only hoped that time would give him back a life to live and take the fever with it.
~*~
Duo swung the smaller block of wood against the ice barricade but it only chipped the ice, making the dent deeper but still the ice wall stood. "Dang man, how thick is this thing?" He and Trowa were working for at least three hours and they only dented the ice wall, it only chipping down to, at most, an inch and a half. They were working near the top, but the ice went above the door frame.
Trowa wiped the sweat from his face with the back of his arm, his sleeve soaking it up. "Absolutely no clue. Sometimes I wish OZ wasn't so thick." Leaning against the ice, he put his hand on Duo's arm as he tried to hit the block again. "Don't waste your energy." Their only hope was that OZ would find them or they weren't getting out any time soon.
Duo leaned against the block of ice as well relishing the cold against his back. "How're we going to flag them down then?" Smiling, he tried to quell his breathing.
"No clue, we don't have any flare signals. Or we might..." He looked toward the kitchenette. "We might. Gimme a few seconds here." Pushing off of the wall and heading toward the cupboards, he rummaged hastily before giving an exasperated groan. "Well, that idea's gone, we don't have anything to work with."
Duo let his head fall once more against the ice, not the smartest thing in the world when he realized just how hard he hit his head. "Owe.... you know...."
Trowa took a seat at the kitchen table, lying his head on his hands as he let his eyes gaze over at Keiha. She had once again taken to digging furiously at the ice, shredding and chipping it now that it was weakened by the fire, but it was freezing again quickly. "Thanks for the help but it doesn't look like we're getting anywhere Keiha."
Duo looked toward the persistent creature before looking at Trowa. "Keiha? Now where'd you get that?"
Trowa smiled. "It's Japanese, it means, of life. I figured that I had to call her something and it was only suitable for her actions in helping Heero."
Duo looked at him, his eyebrow raised in curiosity and intrigue. "How many foreign languages do you know?"
Trowa only smirked and began to count away.
Looking at him in disbelief, the young American held up his hands. "Whoe, okay, let's just say a lot and not make me feel stupid here."
"That's one of the easiest things in the world to do, right next to breathing."
His jaw dropped open at this, his features comical but unbelieving. "That was just harsh...."
Laughing softly, Trowa only closed his eyes. "Well, glad to know you've still got enough attitude to get us through..." Yawning, he felt the cold of the cabin surround him, cooling him immediately and sending a shiver up and down his back. Trembling involuntarily, though it was something he hardly ever does, he disregarded Duo's gaze of compassion. They'd all sacrificed everything to Heero and Quatre in order to keep them warm without a fire, luckily Heero's fever had already broken. Quatre's still remained high while the rest of him froze, his pneumonia getting worse by the hour.
Duo ignored Keiha's whines and looked over Trowa as he began to tremble, no matter how he fought it. "Here, you can have my jacket, I need to cool down anyway..." Taking it off, he offered it to Trowa but he refused.
"I'm fine, keep it. You'll need it in a little while. It wasn't anything, I'm just a little tired, that's all..." Yawning again, Trowa closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. As much as he tried to fight the fact, he knew that time was drawing closer and closer to and end and soon all would be of no use when it came to helping Quatre. Damn OZ, why couldn't they just find out where they were like they always did? Why were they taking their sweet time? Sometimes, Trowa didn't even know how OZ could have survived this long in the war. Shivering again, he scolded himself mentally for doing it. A jacket being laid upon his shoulders made him sit up and look back. "Duo, I said..."
"Stop being so stubborn and take." Laughing softly, he watched Trowa lay his head back down in defeat. "Good."
Trowa drifted off into sleep, his energy too low to use in fighting exhaustion. Slowly the time ticked by, counting down the minutes they had left until all was hopeless. And they only seemed to go by faster, flying by with a teasing nature as their hope dwindled away.
~*~
Trowa awoke to the cold cabin, Heero still sleeping and Keiha sitting next to him, though Duo stood near the window with Wufei at his side. What was wrong? How much time had passed by? The light from the chimney was once bright, but now it was barely anything and the flashlight lit up the room. "W-what's wrong? What happened?"
Duo quickly dried his eyes, leaning his forehead against the wood of the cabin walls while he tried to steady his breathing. "We haven't gotten anywhere and it doesn't look like we're getting out. Sally says.... Quatre isn't getting any better and time's gone by way too fast."
Closing his eyes, Trowa rose from his seat, the time had come. They weren't getting out and OZ wasn't helping them any. It was his turn, his time to take care of things. "Then we can't let him suffer."
Duo turned to face him, watching his friend's eyes open as he reached for his gun. "Trowa, Sally says different, but we've made it this far through everything, we can't give up on him now. If he survived the lake, then...."
Wufei only put his hand on Duo's shoulder, knowing that what had to be done would be done. Trowa, like himself and Heero, didn't take to failure kindly and when they had a mission, it was done. "Duo, he's in too much pain, we can't let him go through that."
Duo looked at Trowa in utter shock, his breathing coming in short gasps as his friend headed toward the room. Sally had exited and looked away from all of their gazes, knowing what would happen. "...but...Trowa, no! You've got to give him more time, Quatre's strong enough to pull through! You're just gonna give up on the guy like that!?" Hugging himself, for the fire had long since been put out, he stood and looked at the others, but they avoided his gaze as well. "What's wrong with you guys!?"
Trowa sighed, not meeting his friend's eyes as he took his gun from his side, forcing himself to hold it steady. "Do you think I really want to do this Duo? We can't let him suffer, he's dying and it's just wrong. He'll slowly suffocate to death and he'll be in pain the entire time Duo, do you want him to have to go through that? I hate this just as
much, if not more than you do, but it has to be done..." Turning, he entered Quatre's room and closed the door behind him.
Wufei rose and walked to Duo's side, bidding him to sit down as he gave silent comfort to his friend. He only prayed that Quatre would finally be at peace. "He won't have to fight anymore Duo..."
Sally crossed over and sat by Heero's side, uncertain of what to do. She wanted to stop Trowa, but knew it had to be done. So she sat by Heero's sleeping form, trying to push the thoughts from her mind.
Trowa stood next to Quatre, slowly raising the gun to his head as he tried to steady his hand. He was shaking like a leaf in a hurricane. "I'm so sorry Quatre..."
With great effort, Quatre let his eyes flutter open at hearing someone else in the room with him. Blinking, he realized that it was Trowa and he held his gun. "...wh..what?"
Trowa looked with widened and saddened eyes at Quatre. And this was supposed to make him feel better? "Quatre, we're stuck in this cabin and can't find any way out, I-I..."
Quatre listened to Trowa, surprised to see how bad he was trembling and that he was scared himself. Trowa didn't need to speak any more, his actions were enough to tell the young Arabian that he wasn't going to make it out of this battle alive and that they were just going to show him mercy. "..i-it's okay...Trowa... I understand..." And closing his eyes, he waited for peace to come to his soul once and for all.
Trowa held the gun, now with both hands but he still couldn't steady his aim. "Please forgive me Quatre..."
Duo listened in the other room, hoping against all hope that Trowa would change his mind.
*Bang!*
"Oh God no..." Duo didn't care any longer about his pride, but let his eyes tear over and the tears fall from his blue eyes. Hiding his face in his hands, he felt Wufei's hand rest on his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze in understanding. Looking up, he watched Trowa exit the room and close the door, his eyes wide in sadness and fear as he forced himself to keep his balance.
Trowa dropped the gun, collapsing to his knees and hugging himself. He ignored Sally's movements as she crossed over to his side, offering him comfort. That image, Quatre's eyes staring back at him in question and sadness would forever be burned in his mind. "... I-I'm so sorry..."
Sally held Trowa in a soothing embrace, letting him lean into her. "It's okay Trowa, you did what you had to do..." With a stubbornness, she forced back her tears.
"I couldn't do it.... I just couldn't do it..." Trowa whispered, for he'd thrown his gun's aim to the wall just seconds before he pulled the trigger. Duo was right, they couldn't give up on their friend that easily, not after he'd been given back to them. He was meant to live and he would.
Author's Note:
Yah, I know this was kind of short but I wanted to finish it and this is the best place to leave it. I won't be on for a while, vacation, so the next updates will be in the beginning of July. Hope you enjoyed this. I need some help. When you review, please pick one of these. 1) They get out and get to Sally's base, help Quatre and Heero, and the story ends, or 2) OZ finds them and things go from there. #2 will make the sequel longer. It's all pending on you. Thanks for reading, love all of ya for being there with me. Thanxies! Adios hermanas and hermanos, gotta go pack! ~giggles, waves, hugs, and smirks~ Hope this was suspenseful enough!
Sequel to Mercy's Sacrifice
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or any of the characters or props affiliated with them. I do, however, own the plot.
~*~ Chapter 5 ~*~
Forced Mercy
Trowa sat once more by Heero's sleeping side, staring into the flames that danced between the walls of the hearth. The soft crackle of the fire as it licked and weaved between the pieces of wood was comforting and relaxing, giving a sense of security and content. "How can I help these guys? Sadly, it's usually Quatre that'd have most of the answers to this in such a last second type of dilemma. But it's Quatre who needs us now, and even Heero and his somewhat reckless plans can't help us." Looking around the room, he tried but couldn't spot a clock anywhere. Calling softly, he looked over to Duo. "Duo, do you have your watch with you this time?"
Duo's head leaned against this arms tiredly, but he tried to remain awake. "Yah, gimme a minute..." Squinting, he tried to see the numbers and the positions of the hands, but something that small just turned out as a big blur. Taking the watch off, he tossed it to Trowa and laid his head back down again. "That many o'clock."
Trowa gave a soft chuckle. Since when did his friend use "that many o'clock"? Shaking his head, he let a grin play over his lips. "Well, aren't we sophisticated today... it's almost 2:30 in the morning."
Duo smirked as he closed his eyes, a large yawn interrupting his features. "How can ya tell?"
"Duo, I can read a clock. It's not that hard."
"No, which part of the day it is..."
Trowa needed something to keep focused on and it was by far too quiet in the cabin. It gave him too much time to reflect on what has happened and everything that could happen, things he didn't want to have to acknowledge. "When we went out yesterday to get the venison, it was about noon, early in the evening. We've already had dinner about the right time, or at least you guys have," he wasn't really hungry at the time, "and it wasn't that long ago since we realized that we're trapped in here. That was about around midnight. It's all logical and common sense and..." Looking up, he realized that Duo was sleeping, not even listening to his explanation. Laughing softly, he rose from his seat and tossed the cushion from the large chair behind him. Pulling out the fold-out bed, he set it up before heading to his friend.
Duo's eyes quickly fluttered open as he realized that he was being spoken to and shaken awake. Glancing over his shoulder, he realized that it was Trowa. "I lost ya after the "early evening" part."
Shaking his head, he only smiled. "I'm sure you did. Come on, you're too tired to fight it off any longer. You need to get some sleep..." Helping the weary American up, he led him to the pull-out bed, all the while Duo followed but his mouth said otherwise.
"No, I'm not tired, I was just resting. I wasn't sleeping, I swear. I'm just easily confused..." Yawning, he sat on the bed and without help from Trowa, he laid down and took the small throw pillow. All the while, he tried to refuse, but he wasn't speaking to his peer any longer, but it was more of an argument with his mind and body, but he lost.
Trowa bit his tongue to keep from bursting into laughter as he watched his comrade argue with himself, his facial features depicting his two personalities that seemed to be feuding. In the end he fell asleep, curling into a ball as he tried to keep warm. How could he not keep warm? The cabin was actually getting rather hot now that he thought about it. That and it was taking a little more effort to breathe. Stepping into Quatre's room, he looked at both Sally and Wufei. "Is he doing any better?"
Wufei turned from Sally's side and shook his head, his eyes downcast. "He's not responding to anything and his fever just keeps going up."
Trowa nodded sadly, seeing the quilt and blankets cast to the floor, a thin sheet covering his pale and trembling form. Sighing, he began to cough himself. He forced himself to stifle the coughs when the others looked at him in warning and slight fear. "It's okay, I'm fine. Don't you guys think it's getting a bit hot in here? Maybe a little harder to breathe too?"
Sally watched Trowa in fear and confusion, wondering if he wasn't getting the fever too. "Come here Trowa..." She rose from her seat next to Quatre and bade Wufei to take over the relentless duty of trying to draw away the fever. Taking her hand and brushing away the youth's bangs, she pressed her lips against his forehead. "You don't have a fever, but you had me scared there for a minute." Standing where she was, now that the door was open and that she could feel the heat from the other room, she had to admit that it was rather hot and the oxygen around them seemed to disappear. "Now that you said something, I think you're right Trowa."
Trowa thought silently for a minute, ignoring the others. Their only abundant source of air came from the chimney and the fire was still burning because of the air coming in, besides the wood. The flames were eating most of their oxygen before it could get into the rooms and they were using up the remaining air faster than it could be replenished. "We've got to put out the fire, it's killing off our air supply and the chimney's our only hope."
Wufei looked at him in confusion, feeling somewhat light-headed. "But then how will we get heat?"
Shaking his head, he crossed his arms in front of his chest, leaning against the door frame as he replied. "We won't, we either suffocate to death or try and fight off the cold. We have better chances trying to keep warm than try to breathe when we don't have any air, or at least hardly any."
Sally spoke at this. "But what about Quatre and Heero?"
Sighing, he looked up solemnly. "We'll have to keep them as warm as possible, the cold might draw away their fevers and cool them down, but it'll work against us in helping them with their illnesses. We don't much of a choice here Sally."
Wufei closed his eyes and tried to shake the dizziness from his vision. "Then you'd better hurry and put out the fire, I'm getting so light-headed right now that there are two of each of you." Rubbing his eyes, he tried to focus but still to no avail as he began to cough himself.
Without further hesitation, Trowa strode from the room. Taking a large, thick towel in hand he soaked it with some of the ice that had turned to water from the thick barricade and threw the towel completely over the dancing flames. The fire and wood sizzled, popped, and hissed as the flames died.
Duo bolted upright at the sound of the fire going out so fast, his eyes wide in confusion and alarm. "What the..... what happened to the fire?"
Trowa shrugged off the question and looked at the fireplace once more, the room becoming completely dark. Squinting slightly, he let his eyes adjust to the darkness. His response was short and blunt as he felt Keiha press her cold nose against his arm. Her whines were soft and troubled. "The fire was eating our air and killing us, so it had to go." Patting Keiha's head softly, he bade her to go and watch over Heero as she had been.
Duo looked about, but he couldn't see anything. A soft light came from inside Quatre's room and Wufei appeared with a small flashlight. "You okay Wu-man?" The young American watch his other friend sway slightly on his feet.
Wufei shook his head, one day he would teach Duo to call him by his rightful name. "I'm fine Duo, but you will learn one day that my name is Wufei. Here, Sally brought these along, we'll have to save the batteries when the sun comes up. If it does, we should be able to get enough light from the chimney, we've got one in here. Is Heero doing any better?" Tossing the flashlight to Trowa, he waited an update on his antisocial friend.
Trowa caught the flashlight with ease and returned to Heero's side, watching his pale features as he took the back of his hand and placed it against the second youth's forehead. An approving smile graced his lips. "His fever's gone down drastically since I last checked, now it's just more of a slight warmth. If it keeps going down like this, his fever should break within the next half hour or so."
Sally listened from inside Quatre's room, delicately tracing his soft features with the cold rag. Her fingers had already gone numb again, but the cold was at least giving a comfort to the suffering Arabian. She only hoped that time would give him back a life to live and take the fever with it.
~*~
Duo swung the smaller block of wood against the ice barricade but it only chipped the ice, making the dent deeper but still the ice wall stood. "Dang man, how thick is this thing?" He and Trowa were working for at least three hours and they only dented the ice wall, it only chipping down to, at most, an inch and a half. They were working near the top, but the ice went above the door frame.
Trowa wiped the sweat from his face with the back of his arm, his sleeve soaking it up. "Absolutely no clue. Sometimes I wish OZ wasn't so thick." Leaning against the ice, he put his hand on Duo's arm as he tried to hit the block again. "Don't waste your energy." Their only hope was that OZ would find them or they weren't getting out any time soon.
Duo leaned against the block of ice as well relishing the cold against his back. "How're we going to flag them down then?" Smiling, he tried to quell his breathing.
"No clue, we don't have any flare signals. Or we might..." He looked toward the kitchenette. "We might. Gimme a few seconds here." Pushing off of the wall and heading toward the cupboards, he rummaged hastily before giving an exasperated groan. "Well, that idea's gone, we don't have anything to work with."
Duo let his head fall once more against the ice, not the smartest thing in the world when he realized just how hard he hit his head. "Owe.... you know...."
Trowa took a seat at the kitchen table, lying his head on his hands as he let his eyes gaze over at Keiha. She had once again taken to digging furiously at the ice, shredding and chipping it now that it was weakened by the fire, but it was freezing again quickly. "Thanks for the help but it doesn't look like we're getting anywhere Keiha."
Duo looked toward the persistent creature before looking at Trowa. "Keiha? Now where'd you get that?"
Trowa smiled. "It's Japanese, it means, of life. I figured that I had to call her something and it was only suitable for her actions in helping Heero."
Duo looked at him, his eyebrow raised in curiosity and intrigue. "How many foreign languages do you know?"
Trowa only smirked and began to count away.
Looking at him in disbelief, the young American held up his hands. "Whoe, okay, let's just say a lot and not make me feel stupid here."
"That's one of the easiest things in the world to do, right next to breathing."
His jaw dropped open at this, his features comical but unbelieving. "That was just harsh...."
Laughing softly, Trowa only closed his eyes. "Well, glad to know you've still got enough attitude to get us through..." Yawning, he felt the cold of the cabin surround him, cooling him immediately and sending a shiver up and down his back. Trembling involuntarily, though it was something he hardly ever does, he disregarded Duo's gaze of compassion. They'd all sacrificed everything to Heero and Quatre in order to keep them warm without a fire, luckily Heero's fever had already broken. Quatre's still remained high while the rest of him froze, his pneumonia getting worse by the hour.
Duo ignored Keiha's whines and looked over Trowa as he began to tremble, no matter how he fought it. "Here, you can have my jacket, I need to cool down anyway..." Taking it off, he offered it to Trowa but he refused.
"I'm fine, keep it. You'll need it in a little while. It wasn't anything, I'm just a little tired, that's all..." Yawning again, Trowa closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. As much as he tried to fight the fact, he knew that time was drawing closer and closer to and end and soon all would be of no use when it came to helping Quatre. Damn OZ, why couldn't they just find out where they were like they always did? Why were they taking their sweet time? Sometimes, Trowa didn't even know how OZ could have survived this long in the war. Shivering again, he scolded himself mentally for doing it. A jacket being laid upon his shoulders made him sit up and look back. "Duo, I said..."
"Stop being so stubborn and take." Laughing softly, he watched Trowa lay his head back down in defeat. "Good."
Trowa drifted off into sleep, his energy too low to use in fighting exhaustion. Slowly the time ticked by, counting down the minutes they had left until all was hopeless. And they only seemed to go by faster, flying by with a teasing nature as their hope dwindled away.
~*~
Trowa awoke to the cold cabin, Heero still sleeping and Keiha sitting next to him, though Duo stood near the window with Wufei at his side. What was wrong? How much time had passed by? The light from the chimney was once bright, but now it was barely anything and the flashlight lit up the room. "W-what's wrong? What happened?"
Duo quickly dried his eyes, leaning his forehead against the wood of the cabin walls while he tried to steady his breathing. "We haven't gotten anywhere and it doesn't look like we're getting out. Sally says.... Quatre isn't getting any better and time's gone by way too fast."
Closing his eyes, Trowa rose from his seat, the time had come. They weren't getting out and OZ wasn't helping them any. It was his turn, his time to take care of things. "Then we can't let him suffer."
Duo turned to face him, watching his friend's eyes open as he reached for his gun. "Trowa, Sally says different, but we've made it this far through everything, we can't give up on him now. If he survived the lake, then...."
Wufei only put his hand on Duo's shoulder, knowing that what had to be done would be done. Trowa, like himself and Heero, didn't take to failure kindly and when they had a mission, it was done. "Duo, he's in too much pain, we can't let him go through that."
Duo looked at Trowa in utter shock, his breathing coming in short gasps as his friend headed toward the room. Sally had exited and looked away from all of their gazes, knowing what would happen. "...but...Trowa, no! You've got to give him more time, Quatre's strong enough to pull through! You're just gonna give up on the guy like that!?" Hugging himself, for the fire had long since been put out, he stood and looked at the others, but they avoided his gaze as well. "What's wrong with you guys!?"
Trowa sighed, not meeting his friend's eyes as he took his gun from his side, forcing himself to hold it steady. "Do you think I really want to do this Duo? We can't let him suffer, he's dying and it's just wrong. He'll slowly suffocate to death and he'll be in pain the entire time Duo, do you want him to have to go through that? I hate this just as
much, if not more than you do, but it has to be done..." Turning, he entered Quatre's room and closed the door behind him.
Wufei rose and walked to Duo's side, bidding him to sit down as he gave silent comfort to his friend. He only prayed that Quatre would finally be at peace. "He won't have to fight anymore Duo..."
Sally crossed over and sat by Heero's side, uncertain of what to do. She wanted to stop Trowa, but knew it had to be done. So she sat by Heero's sleeping form, trying to push the thoughts from her mind.
Trowa stood next to Quatre, slowly raising the gun to his head as he tried to steady his hand. He was shaking like a leaf in a hurricane. "I'm so sorry Quatre..."
With great effort, Quatre let his eyes flutter open at hearing someone else in the room with him. Blinking, he realized that it was Trowa and he held his gun. "...wh..what?"
Trowa looked with widened and saddened eyes at Quatre. And this was supposed to make him feel better? "Quatre, we're stuck in this cabin and can't find any way out, I-I..."
Quatre listened to Trowa, surprised to see how bad he was trembling and that he was scared himself. Trowa didn't need to speak any more, his actions were enough to tell the young Arabian that he wasn't going to make it out of this battle alive and that they were just going to show him mercy. "..i-it's okay...Trowa... I understand..." And closing his eyes, he waited for peace to come to his soul once and for all.
Trowa held the gun, now with both hands but he still couldn't steady his aim. "Please forgive me Quatre..."
Duo listened in the other room, hoping against all hope that Trowa would change his mind.
*Bang!*
"Oh God no..." Duo didn't care any longer about his pride, but let his eyes tear over and the tears fall from his blue eyes. Hiding his face in his hands, he felt Wufei's hand rest on his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze in understanding. Looking up, he watched Trowa exit the room and close the door, his eyes wide in sadness and fear as he forced himself to keep his balance.
Trowa dropped the gun, collapsing to his knees and hugging himself. He ignored Sally's movements as she crossed over to his side, offering him comfort. That image, Quatre's eyes staring back at him in question and sadness would forever be burned in his mind. "... I-I'm so sorry..."
Sally held Trowa in a soothing embrace, letting him lean into her. "It's okay Trowa, you did what you had to do..." With a stubbornness, she forced back her tears.
"I couldn't do it.... I just couldn't do it..." Trowa whispered, for he'd thrown his gun's aim to the wall just seconds before he pulled the trigger. Duo was right, they couldn't give up on their friend that easily, not after he'd been given back to them. He was meant to live and he would.
Author's Note:
Yah, I know this was kind of short but I wanted to finish it and this is the best place to leave it. I won't be on for a while, vacation, so the next updates will be in the beginning of July. Hope you enjoyed this. I need some help. When you review, please pick one of these. 1) They get out and get to Sally's base, help Quatre and Heero, and the story ends, or 2) OZ finds them and things go from there. #2 will make the sequel longer. It's all pending on you. Thanks for reading, love all of ya for being there with me. Thanxies! Adios hermanas and hermanos, gotta go pack! ~giggles, waves, hugs, and smirks~ Hope this was suspenseful enough!
