Mel: Ok guys, I know most of you are just about to kill me here…
Angry mob: Grrrrr!
Mel: Calm down! Calm down! I have chapter 17 already written. It just needs a few tweaks here and there…
Angry mob: …. *sits down to read story*
Mel: Sorry it took so long. I did have a lot of really good reasons though!
Tsuru: *rolls eyes* Like what?
Mel: Like school, dead computer, school, Kat, school, boyfriend….
Daichi: Oi….
Mel: But… the main reason for me not updating was my excessive--
Daichi/Tsuru: Laziness.
Mel: You didn't have to be that blunt!
Tsuru: *sighs*
Legal Crap: Mel no own GW. Mel no own lots of anime. Mel sad.
Daichi: o.O
Mel: That was the "Shampoo" disclaimer…. You know… Shampoo? From Ranma?
Tsuru: *shakes head*
Mel: *pouts* Anywhoots, on with chapter 16! You deserve it after that wait I put you through!
Images flitted through his mind, but not nearly as rapidly as before. He was relieved to be at the tail end of this torture. He felt a small wet tear trickle down his face as he watched Quatre break down and cry while remembering the loss of his father, then he watched that father be killed. The last of the images had come, and had been sorted into three persons. He just had to figure out which one he was.
Duo… Duo couldn't move. Duo was trapped. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around, then quickly shut them. It was too bright. He was in Duo's room, on the floor, but he could move. He couldn't be Duo. Carefully, he began to erase Duo from his mind. He wasn't sure how he was doing it, he just was. It was a relief to have one less mess to sort through. He felt himself slip away, and all he knew of were the images he was erasing.
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Trowa sat up in bed before he had completely woken up. He knew he had to be awake, but wasn't able to think enough to figure out why. He opened his eyes as he forced himself off of the bed, and began to walk out of the room. He paused as he felt a tiny hand on his, trying to hold him still.
"Are you okay?" Kate looked up at the much taller boy, concern evident in her emerald eyes. Trowa nodded slightly, then continued out of the room. "Are you sure?"
"Is Quatre alright?" Trowa completely ignored the girl's concern for him, more worried about his lover than himself. Kate sighted in surrender.
"He's still unconscious in Duo's room." Trowa took three strides to get to the door of Duo's room, while Kate, with her much smaller legs, had to hurry to keep up for the short distance. Trowa paused for a moment as his hand touched the doorknob. He was afraid of what he might see when he opened the door. Finally, his fear for Quatre's safety won over his temporary paralysis, and he entered the room.
"Oh my god… Quatre…."
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The boy tried in vain to move, to press against the heavy white haze that was holding him down, preventing him from remembering who he was. He felt fuzzy and lightheaded. The air he took in felt thick, like water. He knew his eyes were open because he could feel the sting of cold air on them, but he couldn't blink to get it to go away. Perhaps he was moving, but he was too numb to feel it. Everything disappeared into the white abyss he was trapped in, the thick blanket that covered his senses.
"Wake up….." The boy paused in his relentless efforts to move when he heard a voice. He couldn't place it, but he had definitely heard a voice. "Quatre…." The boy felt a hand placed on his shoulder, and that was enough to shatter the blank nothingness.
"W-who…" He gasped as colors flowed over him, slowly turning into blurry images. He had to close his eyes to keep from passing out from dizziness. When he opened them, he was looking up at a slightly tan face with long brown bangs that covered one of his emerald eyes. "Trowa?" He narrowed his eyes in confusion. His mind was in a state of utter paradox. Part of his mind told him he was looking at himself, while another part told him to trust the boy holding him with his life.
"Quatre? Are you alright?"
"…Quatre? Is that me?" The hand on his shoulder was removed, only to be replaced by a warm, tight embrace.
"Quatre, don't you remember?" Of course he remembered. He remembered everything. The problem was, he remembered more than just that. He needed to convince his mind that he was Quatre, not Trowa. Trowa was holding him, comforting him. However much he tried to believe it, though, the other part of his mind screamed at him that the boy holding him was an imposter.
"I remember…. I just… I need…." The boy sighed and pressed tighter against his lover. Quatre… he was Quatre… , now if only he could convince himself it was true…
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Kate ran down the steps, nearly missing one on the way. She had to catch herself on the banister to keep from tumbling down the other half of the stairs. After that, she forced herself to be more careful, though she barely slowed down at all.
"Kate?" Heero arched an eyebrow as the little girl ran into the room. She had to catch her breath for a moment before she could speak.
"Quatre's awake. You should go see him now." Heero stood up, then eyed the girl carefully.
"What else?" Kate looked surprised at the curt question. "I know something's wrong, now what is it?"
"He… he's having trouble remembering who he is." Heero growled softly as he headed out of the room. Duo was putting too much at stake. They couldn't afford to loose any more pilots. If they couldn't come up with a way to save him, Heero was going to have to follow through with his orders…
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"Himitsu? Are you sure this is going to work? The helmet's too big…" Himitsu carefully placed the sensors onto his lovers body, then backed up. "You didn't put them all on…"
"I know. The right side won't work, Ukiyo was damaged in the last battle."
"But…"
"Normally, I wouldn't even think about taking it out in this condition, but we hopefully won't run into any battles. We just need to get to the nearest station." Nakushita sighed in defeat.
"Alright. Now, show me how to use this." Himitsu kneeled down and pressed a few buttons on the control panel in front of Nakushita.
"Hold on, this will feel odd…" Nakushita gasped as the machine turned on. He felt like feathers were reaching around his head, under his scalp. It tickled, but it didn't hurt like he expected it to. "Alright. Now, lift up your left arm." Nakushita did, after a few minutes of thought. The tickle made it difficult to process information quickly.
"Did--"
"Don't talk. You might set off a command accidentally. Now, I'm going to get us out of here. Just stand there for a minute." Himitsu hit some more controls, then the gundam began to move on its own. Nakushita gasped as his body moved on its own accord with the gundam, as if Ukiyo was piloting him. "It's alright. You're doing fine. The fact that we're moving means that Ukiyo has accepted you as a pilot. Don't worry. All you have to do is listen to me, and we'll be fine." Nakushita took a few moments to realize that Himitsu had said anything, and even longer to figure out what was said. The system was tiring his mind quickly, making it slow and sluggish. He was gaining more respect for his lover by the minute. He had always known that piloting a mobil suit with this type of system was exhausting, but it was something that had to be experienced first hand before it could be fully appreciated.
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Midii glared at the door out of Wufei's bedroom as if it were the source of all evil. Heero had locked her in when she wasn't looking. She had just been doing what was asked of her. Why did he need to be such an asshole? It wasn't her fault his damned friend wasn't strong enough to keep the virus from taking over his basic systems…
"It is my fault, isn't it?" she asked, though there wasn't anyone in the room to talk to, really. She sighed, then opened up her computer do the same thing she had been doing for the past three hours she had been locked in, Solitaire.
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Heero looked down at the two boys on the floor. Trowa had kneeled down to hold Quatre in his arms, while the blond boy's legs stretched out in front of him. His body jerked slightly every once in a while, but he seemed to be calm for the most part.
"Heero?" Quatre turned slightly to see the Japanese boy. "I'm alright now. Really."
"Good. I have something I need to talk to you two about." Kate looked up at Heero, silently asking for permission to stay. Heero nodded slightly, understanding, and the blond girl sat down on the floor at the foot of Duo's bed, cross-legged.
Trowa, on the other hand, was not in the mood to talk at all. "Are you crazy? Look at him! He needs to rest!" Quatre looked up at Trowa through his now pure white bangs. He shook his head, then turned back to Heero.
"Go on." Trowa glared at Heero, but did not say anything more. Heero tried to pretend that the piercing gaze hadn't bothered him in the least, even though it had made his blood run cold.
"Midii has concluded that the virus has taken over Duo's vital systems. If she tries to disable it, Duo's body will simply stop working. Unless she can finish in under three minutes, he's as good as dead." Quatre nodded, apparently not worried by this at all.
"I can keep him alive while she finishes. I'm sure I can hold up for at least half an hour."
"That may not be long enough. Depending on the nature of this virus, it could take hours, even days to get rid of it." Quatre stood up carefully, and walked over to Heero so he could look him in the eyes.
"If that's the case, I'll run out of energy and stop, and Duo will die. But if I don't try, you will kill him. I'm willing to take the risk. If there is only a 1% chance he will live, I'll take it. Do you understand?" Heero was shocked by Quatre's stubborn demeanor. He had never seen the boy this serious before. It was enough to unnerve him.
"Y-yes." Heero mentally smacked himself for stuttering. Even if he is scared, he can't let it show. It wasn't allowed.
"Good. We'll do that as soon as I get something to drink…. Where is Midii, anyway?"
"Hee-chan locked her in the bedroom downstairs so she couldn't get into trouble." The three boys turned to look at Kate. Her seriousness in combination with Heero's nickname was so funny, they couldn't help but smile. Quatre actually laughed before leaving the room.
"Kate? Could you come with me?" Kate nodded, and the two blondes left for the kitchen.
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"Nakushita…" At the sound of his name, he woke up, not realizing he had fallen asleep. "Nakushita, you need to rest for a while. Pay attention to me while I take these off." Nakushita nodded slightly as best he could. Moving was difficult because he felt so heavy. "You've done a great job, but now your mind needs to rest. If you fall asleep while connected to the system, you can get lost. With Ukiyo as damaged as he is, I don't know if I could find you again. That's why it's important you concentrate on me until I get you unhooked." Nakushita tried his hardest to listen to his lover's voice, but he couldn't make sense of any of it. The words seemed to meld together, making a soft melody playing in his head. He closed his eyes again, falling into the rhythm of the words. "Nakushita!" The harsh, recognizable word startled him, and his head snapped up. "Stay awake. I'm almost done." As the helmet was lifted off of his head, he fell to the floor. Himitsu kneeled down, and propped Nakushita up on his chest.
"How long… did I last?" Himitsu smiled lightly and shook his head.
"Half an hour. You lasted half an hour before you passed out, but you've been hooked up to the system twice that long." Nakushita looked ashamed that he hadn't been able to stay conscious longer than that. "You did great. On my first try, I couldn't stay up for five minutes." But Nakushita didn't hear the words of encouragement. He was already sound asleep.
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"What is it, Quatre?" Kate sat down on a chair and watched as Quatre opened three different cupboards before finding the glasses.
"It's time for you to go to bed." Quatre took a long drink of water, then put the glass down.
"Is that what you wanted me for?" Quatre shook his head, and ruffled Kate's hair.
"I want to put you to bed. Do you mind?" Kate bit her lip, then nodded. "Alright. Let's go upstairs." When the two entered Quatre's bedroom, Kate turned to wrap her tiny arms around Quatre's waist, just as she had when she first met him.
"Please… promise I'll see you again…" Quatre rubbed the girls back in slow, soothing circles.
"I'm sure you will. And I can promise that you'll see Duo alive tomorrow morning." Kate looked up with tears in her eyes threatening to come, but she held them back.
"How can you be so sure?"
"I know Duo. He's to strong not to survive this." Kate nodded, then reluctantly climbed into Quatre's bed. "But you need to promise me something now."
"What is it?" Kate was eager to do anything to help Quatre, after all he'd done for her.
"Promise me that you won't come into Duo's room until we're finished." Kate looked startled at the request, but nodded.
"I promise."
"Good. Now, you go to sleep now, and everything will be fine in the morning, neh?"
"Hai." Kate kissed Quatre on the cheek, then wrapped herself tightly in the blankets. Quatre smiled, then left the room, turning the light off as he did. He felt guilty for deceiving the girl, but everything he had said was true. Duo would be alive tomorrow, and she would see Quatre again… but possibly not in the way she had hoped…
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Quatre walked out of Heero's room, concealing a syringe in his hand. He tapped Heero lightly on the shoulder before entering Duo's room, and pulled him aside.
"Heero… if Duo is in pain, and there's nothing we can do to help him… that is… if I can't…" Quatre took in a shuddering breath and handed the Japanese boy the syringe. Heero nodded with a soldier's understanding, and put a hand on Quatre's shoulder, giving him slight encouragement before he entered the room. Quatre followed slowly, remembering what he had said to Heero when he found out about Dr. J's orders.
'I won't let you kill Duo. If I have to, I'll die trying to pull him out of there once and for all. I won't let you give up on him like that.' And for the first time, the harsh reality of the situation settled in…
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Nakushita slowly woke up for the second time that day, without knowing he had fallen asleep. He carefully sat up, stretching his stiff muscles as he did so. Himitsu was standing in front of him, attached to the system. It took him a moment to realize that they were moving.
"Himitsu, I thought we agreed that I would pilot Ukiyo." A few lights on the control panel blinked, and Himitsu's voice played over the speakers in the cockpit.
"I said I would teach you how. We needed to keep moving if we're ever going to eat." Nakushita was amazed by how many things his lover could think about at once. He could pilot Ukiyo, focus on what was being said to him, and access the speakers to talk over all at the same time. "We'll switch off in another hour. I'm starting to get tired, and you'll be rested enough to try again by then." Nakushita nodded, and leaned back against the wall, allowing his mind to drift. He would need all the energy he could get if he were to give Himitsu enough time to rest after his turn.
End of Chapter 16
Mel: ^_^ Yay! I didn't think I could write that much! I think this linking chapter turned out pretty well, don't you guys?
Daichi/Tsuru: O.O…..
Mel: Guys?
Daichi/Tsuru: O.O…..
Mel: Uh… heh heh… ^_^() Maybe I did a little too good of a job here…… But good news to my loyal fans! Only 2 more chapters to go!
Angry mob: O.O…..
Mel: I've rendered them senseless…..