Disclaimer: Still don't own them (pity). I receive no monetary compensation off this whatsoever.
Warning: Mild swearing, violence, yaoi of the 1X4 variety, right now in the form of, um, sexual situations.
Chapter 7Quatre opened his eyes and shut them just as quickly as little purple spots danced across his vision. Very cautiously he tried again, peeking through one, and then the other. His vision seemed back to normal as he stared at an unfamiliar ceiling. It was white and smooth. The ceiling at home was light blue, the one at his dorm was rough and cream colored. So where was he?
Memory suddenly came back to him with the jangled crash of out of tune violin music.
The cell. Eric. Red Thorn. Rai Setsuna and the hole in his head. The fact that he was inside Heero Yuy's bedroom.
Sleeping in his bed.
Quatre sat up very quickly and then groaned and held his head in his hands. Okay, now I know, fast movements are a Very Bad Idea. Head injuries are never fun. He slowly lifted his head and looked around.
Heero Yuy did not appear to be any where in the room. But when Quatre glanced at the other side of the bed, he noticed that the blankets had that particularly rumpled look that can only be achieved by another human being. I slept with Heero Yuy. Not that that's a particularly terrible thought, but still . . .by Allah. The blonde kicked the blankets off and glanced down at himself. The only thing he was wearing was a pair of boxers. Okay, so he undressed me. It least he left my underwear on. Crap, these are my boxers, right!? He studied them carefully. Yep. Navy blue silk with a black square pattern, he vaguely remembered putting them on, was it yesterday, or the day before? Time sure flies when your unconscious, he tried to ignore the slightly hysterical edge his thoughts were acquiring. How ridiculous is this? I survive being kidnapped, beaten, and almost raped, and still manage to keep my calm. But put me in Heero Yuy's bed and my thought processes get shot to hell.
Quatre very carefully moved his way to the edge of the bed, which for some reason seemed grotesquely huge, trying not to move his head more than absolutely necessary. Concussions hurt like a son of a bitch. He dangled his feet over the floor and then very slowly touched them down. He grabbed on to the bed's frame and managed to hoist himself into a standing position. Success! He crowed to himself, but thought it quietly in respect for the little men drumming a funeral dirge inside his skull.
The blonde seemed to remember that Heero had come out of a bathroom last night with medical supplies, and he looked for the door that led to it. In fact, he did more than just patch me up last night, didn't he? Quatre had a vague memory of being woken often so that Heero could check on his concussion and make sure he didn't slip into a fatal sleep. What does that mean? Does it mean he didn't betray us? Okay, time to review. I know that Heero didn't order the kidnapping of Eric and I. Setsuna did that. Quatre subconsciously shied away from the memories associated with the dark-eyed man. He didn't hurt me at all, but he refused to tell me anything about why he's with Red Thorn, and he certainly didn't offer to let me go. And Mia clearly thought killing me would be the easiest way to get rid of the problem I represent, but Heero didn't even acknowledge that possibility. Of course, he also took Eric away somewhere. Poor kid. I'm sure he's scared, and now he's confused too because he found out I was a gundam pilot. I can't let Heero use Eric as a pawn against his Senator father, and me against Winner Enterprises, if that's what he plans on doing. Is Heero really a threat to us or not?
Quatre let out a breath in annoyance. The only person who could answer these questions was Heero Yuy himself. The blonde continued on his very slow quest to get to the bathroom. He had to concentrate really hard on putting one foot in front of the other. He was dizzy and his equilibrium was off.
When he made it to the bathroom he was quite impressed. It was very luxurious, with a large, white, tiled tub and a separate shower stall. There was a huge vanity mirror in front of the counter with the sinks. Quatre moved to them so that he would have something to hold onto. He looked down at the gold faucets in bemusement. Somehow, this doesn't fit my image of Heero. It's way to grandiose and frivolous for him, this after all is the boy who was quite happy in just a green tank top and shorts for most of the war. It does how ever, fit my image of an Oz officer. He wasn't lying about what this place used to be.
Quatre's gaze suddenly fell on a thick blue robe hanging beyond the shower. He wasn't terribly comfortable walking around in his almost-all-together when anybody could just come in. An image of Rai rose into his thoughts and the blonde couldn't help but shudder. Using the wall for support he worked his way over to the robe, took it down, and put it on, tying it as securely as it would go. It was too big for him and had an unfortunate tendency to slip off one shoulder.
The ex-pilot glanced longingly at the shower. He felt disgusting, both inside and out. A shower would be heavenly, but the same reason still applied for wearing the robe. Plus, he had a bad feeling that he'd slip and crack open his skull. He really wanted to avoid any more head injuries.
There were other alternatives, however. Quatre snooped in a mahogany cupboard inlaid with gold and pulled out a washcloth and a towel. The blonde desperately wanted to get the dried blood off his skin. He wet the washcloth and picked up a bar of soap that smelled weirdly like pears. He shrugged, deciding at this point he didn't particularly care what kind of soap he used, and started scrubbing.
The blue robe was untied and slipping off his shoulder as he washed the area around the cut on his chest.
That's when Heero came in.
The blonde saw him out of the corner of his eye and whirled around quickly, startled. But he moved to fast for his messed up balance to handle and instead tripped and began to fall to the floor.
Heero dove forward, cat-quick, and caught the concussed blonde before he could finish his self-prophecy of cracking his head on the linoleum. The way they landed was not as smooth.
When the torrent of pain finished spinning in the Arabian's head he realized that he was laying with his head in Heero's lap, face down. He made a muffled sound, a combination of panic and embarrassment, and tried to yank his forehead away from its very interesting resting place. Heero grabbed his shoulders to keep him from swirling his brains around any more, slowing his movement and incidentally grabbing onto both of Quatre's now bare shoulders. In all the excitement the robe had decided to puddle at his feet instead of covering him decently.
Both boys froze and stared at each other, with equally wide eyes. Quatre knew he was blushing, he could feel the fair skin of his face getting hot, but he was terribly stunned to see Heero Yuy, Heero Yuy, begin to develop spots of pink on his cheeks.
Heero cleared his throat, and averted his eyes from the blonde abruptly. He stood back up slowly, bringing the other boy with him. "I'll just . . . I mean I'll . . . I'll be in the other room until you're done in here," the cobalt-eyed boy sounded flustered, and backed out of the doorway. Quatre was quite sure that he saw Heero stare at his soapy chest before slamming the door behind him.
Quatre stood in the middle of the bathroom, cheeks flaming. What, by Allah, just happened? Did Heero check me out? No, that's a ridiculous thought, and it sounds like something Duo would say. The blonde knelt down and retrieved the robe off of the floor. He moved back to the sink and washed the soap off his chest. He met his own eyes in the mirror. They looked as confused as he felt, and he was still blushing. He hid in the bathroom until his skin returned to its usual color. Then, making sure that the robe was secured as much as it was possible to secure something two sizes to big for him, he slowly emerged into the bedroom.
Heero sat on the one chair in the room, cleaning his gun. He looked up and met Quatre's eyes, earlier embarrassment gone like it had never been; his gaze was clear and unreadable.
The perfect soldier had moved back behind his mask.
Quatre broke eye contact first. He moved toward the bed. With Heero occupying the chair it was the only other place to sit in the room, and the blonde wasn't quite sure that his legs would hold him if he opted to stand.
He perched carefully on the edge, making sure his feet were firmly on the floor before looking up at the other boy again. Heero had watched him make his careful way to the bed, gaze never wavering, so when he looked up their eyes locked again. "So," Quatre began, "are you finally going to tell me what's happening?"
"I don't know if I can trust you."
Quatre's eyebrows raised clear up into his hair. "You, don't think you can trust, me? Who kidnapped who Heero?"
The dark-haired boy just looked at him.
The blonde decided to take a different tact. "You know Heero, I am at your mercy, if you tell me what's happening it's not like I can scamper off and share the information with any one else."
The logic made sense. Heero finally nodded his head. "True, ask your questions."
"What are you really doing with Red Thorn?"
"I'm using them to stop an unscrupulous company."
Quatre stared at him intently. "So you do believe in their goals? You believe that corporations are an evil that's destroying life as we know it?"
"No, not all corporations, just one."
"Which one, Heero," the blonde demanded.
The other boy looked at him intently. "Think Quatre, I thought you were smart. What have I been targeting?"
"Winner Enterprises . . . but, why?"
"Because your company is trying to destroy peace. Some of its branches are producing illegal weaponry, mobile suits, and even developing drugs to make people better killers."
Quatre was shocked. "Are you sure? You must be mistaken. My sisters and some of my father's partners are working on keeping Winner Enterprises running, they wouldn't support this . . .
Heero interrupted him. "I've seen some of these places myself Quatre. Hell, they even used to supply Red Thorn with weapons." His face hardened almost imperceptibly. "And they hired men to assassinate Relena. They did it in order to create an atmosphere of fear and suspicion, all so that they could make the market better for their weapons. They almost succeeded."
"Are you telling me the shot that hit Everett Orth was meant for Relena?"
He nodded. "I almost didn't get there in time. All I could do was make the bullet go wide."
So I was right. "Heero, why didn't you go to the Preventers? This is the kind of thing they're there for, to protect peace."
"The Preventers have been compromised. The very same people who are making weapons are giving funding to the people who should be trying to stop them."
It made an awful kind of sense. The puzzle pieces in his head finally began to fit together. The new Preventer offices. Winner Enterprises made an open donation to start a police force for L2 just a couple of days before. What if some higher up is funding the world's largest peace keeping force, but doing it behind the scenes? Some higher up? What am I talking about, I already know its Orth! Quatre couldn't help but remember the conversation he had with Ira after the bombings. Orth was in charge of those buildings that Heero destroyed, and he has my family pretty much wrapped around his finger. The way she talked about him, it sounded like he was practically running the company by himself!
Something else suddenly occurred to the blonde. "Heero, even with the Preventer force itself being compromised, you could have come to the individuals. If there's corruption there, don't you think Duo, Wufei, Sally, Une, and Trowa should know about it? They would have gladly helped you, you didn't need Red Thorn at all!"
"No, Quatre your wrong. Going to them would have been the biggest mistake I could possibly make."
"What are you talking about?"
"One of them is a traitor."
Notes: Well, another development. I just can't seem to leave it alone.
Well reviewers, thanks oodles again for your praise! Your flattery is what motivated me to get this chapter out so fast. Oh, and Kasra, I'm glad you don't think its to contrived, because frankly I've been worried. I know most writers tell you to plan out your story first, but this fic just won't let me do that. Sometimes I don't even know what's going to happen next. I swear to god it writes itself. Maybe little elves come out at night and dance on my keyboard . . .
Next chapter: More answers spawn new questions.