Walking tiredly next to the others, Heero was gladdened to be out of that
damned hospital bed and outside. He was still extremely sore and it was
still a little hard to breathe because of his broken and now healing ribs,
but he was doing a lot better. The bruises were slowly starting to
disappear and he wasn't in constant torment.
The others had told him what had actually happened to him, and slowly he began to recall where the pain had come from and the unwanted feelings. The pain of another being inside his body, all against his will or want and the feeling of the hands grabbing his body again made him shudder and pray never to experience it again. He hated it so. Following the others about the circus area, most still untouched from the destruction made by OZ soldiers, he stopped Trowa and quickly signed with his hands. He'd had to learn it as a child, it was part of his training. Trowa was the only one of the group that understood him and it saved him some frustration.
"Where are we going?"
With a saddened and exhausted smile, Trowa motioned over to Cathy's trailer. The inside was still slightly a mess, but the cushions and everything else that Faith's blood had stained had been removed. "You and Cathy should go ahead and rest. The others will stay with you, but I need to try and make something right." Leading them inside, he helped Cathrine to her bed and watched her rest tiredly underneath the blankets.
Heero looked about the trailer, placing his journal on the counter. Catching sight of a dog collar and leash, he picked it up and held if for a moment.
*Flashback*
"Can Faith come too?" Was his eager question as soon as he realized they were going.
"Well, I don't see why not. She's your dog after all..." Smirking, she listened to Heero's shocked silence while Trowa couldn't help it seemed but collapse to his knees in laughter. Looking up, she realized why. Heero looked at her as if she were crazy, his jaw dropped open, it almost touched the floor or so it seemed. A life flared in his eyes, but that was the only movement for he remained still. "Heero?" Her tone was playful and amused as she dabbed at the wounds, cleaning them skillfully before rewrapping them.
Heero finally found his voice and willed himself to speak. "You mean she's really mine now?" "Yep, if you want her that is." Quickly securing the bandage, she waited for his next reaction as the other two gundam pilots joined them, the hanger becoming eerily silent while everyone watched. Trowa struggled to stand in the background.
With a burst of energy, Heero jumped up from the chair, not caring that it clattered to the floor behind him. Crouching down, he hugged Faith tightly and smiled, his eyes closed as he whispered to *his* dog in joy. "You're my dog now Faith, you're finally mine now."
Opening his eyes and letting go of Faith, *his* dog, he beamed at seeing Quatre and Wufei standing next to Sally. "She's mine now, Faith's my dog. Sally said we can go to town and get her a new collar, she said you could come too!" Searching their uncertain faces, he hoped that they'd come with too, he wanted his friends to be there with him.
"Well Quatre, we've gotten quiet a bit done for today. We should probably take a break." He nodded toward Heero, smiling at his excitement.
*End Flashback*
Placing the leash and collar back on the counter, he watched Trowa exit and quickly signed his confusion. He remembered Faith, and he remembered watching her as she whined and blood seeped from her chest, but then he only remembered a burst of pain and a blinding white flashing before his eyes. Then everything was hazy again.
"What happened to Faith?"
Taking a deep breath, Trowa shook his head. "When we got here, no one had found her to help her. She's gone, she bled to death Heero."
Nodding and looking to the ground, he let himself be led over to the quickly made up couch and sat down, not really struggling or caring. Laying down, he realized how tired he was and didn't fight against the others coaxing him to sleep. Falling onto the pillow, he winced slightly in pain but calmed his breathing and fell into the warmth of the quilt being placed over him.
Duo backed up, having motioned for the others to take a seat as he finished covering his little brother. That's how everyone referred to him know, even if he was older than Duo or if he was his normal self. Turning back to the others, he took a seat on the floor. "Where you going off to Trowa?"
Stopping at the door, he looked out at the camp grounds but called back softly. "To make what wrong I've done right. Just relax and stay with Cathy and Heero, they should be fine but just incase." Stepping from the trailer, he headed toward where the great tent once stood.
Quatre watched the door close, feeling bad for Trowa. The others still shunned him and they didn't see that what he'd done was to protect them, not to hurt them. Yet to help make matters worse, Trowa believed that he'd hurt them as well, that it was in full, his fault. No matter how anyone else proved that he was innocent of such a thing. "He still blames himself when it wasn't his fault."
"He tried to protect them from the war and it hurt them anyway, his virtues tell him that he could have done more to prevent it." Wufei stood, heading toward the door.
"You leavin' us too Wufei?" Duo piped up, hopin' to slightly lighten the mood. It seemed like such a void time, but it wasn't any fun with everyone else so depressed. Besides, you couldn't do much if you're frustrated and depressed all the time.
"He's tired," he replied bluntly, "and he's not in the right state of mind. Someone has to look out for him."
Without a word, Quatre stood and crossed over to his side. "He'll hurt himself if he keeps going like this."
Sighing, Duo smirked. "Leaving me to baby-sit while you both go play psychiatrist. Have fun. As long as I get paid five bucks by the hour..."
Chuckling softly, Quatre faced Duo. "Talk about being selfless. Does it out of the goodness of his heart."
"Goodness?" Wufei added.
"I know, I'll be getting the Nobel Peace Prize or something for helping humanity. You'd better go find him." Laughing softly, he took the tv box and turned it on, keeping the volume down low and searching the channels.
Standing before the once grand tent, Trowa only took a deep breath and began to upright the fair booths and place the prizes back as they were, brushing the grass and dirt from them and setting aside the ones that needed more attention to be re-stitched or washed. If they couldn't be used by the circus, they could always be donated to charities for children.
"Why don't you just go away and leave us in peace? All you did was bring more pain and war to our home, you're not wanted here anymore." Zita glared at the youth, her voice cold and calm.
"You're right Zita, I am unwanted and I did bring this pain to you all, but at least let me make retributions for it. Let me fix things before I leave." Watching her wearily, he turned back to his work and grabbed the larger booth, pulling it up and standing it upright.
Not dropping it yet and feeling anger toward him, Zita continued. "We made it just fine without you before and we can do it ourselves. We don't need you. Just leave, we'll get this."
That was it, Trowa just had to let things go. "God damn it Zita, just stop already! Why the hell can't you see that I'm sorry for all the pain I've caused you and will leave, but I won't until I make amends for what I've done. This is the only place I ever could call a home, all of you, the only ones I could call a family. I never had nor knew one before, hell, I don't even know my name, I don't have a birthday, I don't have a family, nothing of my own! I just took Trowa Barton as my own name when its original owner was killed and I was there to witness it. They needed another pilot and all I'd ever known was fighting. I've envied all of you, because you never had to feel what it's like to lose everything, and never know who you are! And I'm glad you won't have to, but you don't realize how hard this is. Just please, let me make this right and then I'll never return to cause any of you more torment." Catching the manager walking up behind Zita, he knew that he'd heard. Closing his eyes and swallowing the uneasy feeling, Trowa turned to place the last of the prizes back in their spots before lifting another booth. This one was heavier than the others and he struggled with it, not helping him was the fact that he was drained and had missed out on a lot of sleep.
Zita watched the pain blaze within his emerald eyes and was sorry for bringing it up and not holding her tongue. She knew that Trowa always hid something from them, but she never would have guessed that. Biting her lower lip, she averted her gaze guiltily to the ground and held her hands before her.
Trying to force the booth up and digging his heels into the soft ground, Trowa shook the dizziness from is vision. Why couldn't he just do this? Feeling his legs give out and his body falling backwards, he stifled his cry as much as possible. His head hit the ground harshly, but that's not what caused him so much pain. The wooden booth had come down on top of him, the edge digging into his left side. He'd felt the bone of his left hip being chipped away and tear through the skin, blood spilling from the deep gash. It was growing so much harder to breathe, and as he tried to push the booth off of him, he felt light-headed and woozy, and didn't have the strength to do so. Screams and shouts echoed in his ears as he struggled to breathe, feeling the world spin around him.
Quatre rushed over to Trowa's side, seeing the large booth having crushed his brother and trapped him beneath it. Quickly dropping to the ground as Wufei followed him, the young Arabian pulled his friend's head onto his lap and listened to his struggling gasps. He'd become deathly pale in a matter of seconds and his skin was frozen to the touch. "Trowa, come on, look at me Trowa. You've got to open your eyes and stay awake. Trowa, please." Catching the pooling blood, the youth tried to shake his friend awake.
Groaning and looking up, his eyes caught sight of the blurry outline of Quatre. Grimacing and forcing himself to speak, the youth disregarded the silent and gathering crowd. "It just... slipped..." Crying out, he felt Wufei grab the booth's edge and try and lift it.
"Stop a minute Wufei, it's just leaning to the side and hurting him more. We need to lift the entire thing up and get him out, we can't do it ourselves..." Taking off his jacket, he placed it over his friend and tried to calm him. "You've got to take in slow, deep breaths Trowa. You need to calm down." Becoming even more worried when his brother began to cough and blood seeped from the sides of his lips, the young Arabian looked about frantically.
Sitting bolt upright, Heero looked about himself and it took him a few minutes to realize that Duo was struggling to keep him calm.
"Hey, settle down buddy. It's okay, it had to be another nightmare. C'mon, you're safe now, take it easy." Holding his little brother's shoulders firmly, he catched and held his fearful gaze.
No, it wasn't a dream that had awakened him, something else was wrong. He could feel it. Looking about, he realized that the others weren't there in the trailer with him. Pushing past Duo, he stood and quickly made his way to the door but stopped and was spun around before he could exit.
"What's wrong with you man? We're fine, everyone's okay and so are you. Settle down."
Shaking his head vigorously, he quickly began to sign but it didn't really click in his mind that Duo didn't understand him. 'Where are the others?! They need help! Where are they?!'
Looking at him in confusion, Duo only bit his lower lip. "I don't understand ya buddy."
Throwing his hands into the air, he searched frantically for something to write on. Snatching up the pen and his journal, he flipped to the last few pages and scribbled down the questions.
Reading the sloppy handwriting, Duo looked back into Heero's determined yet fearful eyes. "Quatre and Wufei are with Trowa, he said he wanted to go and make whatever wrong he'd done right."
Slamming the pen down on the counter, he passed by the surprised American and ran out onto the fair grounds. Something wasn't right and he knew it, but Duo's answer didn't help him at all. Footsteps behind him told him that his outspoken friend was following; that was good, because they might just need his help.
Stripping off his jacket and placing it over Trowa's form, Wufei kneeled by his side. "Stay awake Trowa."
Forcing his eyes to flutter open again, Trowa tried to stay awake, but he was so tired and cold. Gasping, he looked up into the clear blue sky, soft wisps of clouds floating lazily in the sunlight. He was now losing feeling in everything from his waist down as his eyes became glossy and dazed, yet frightened. "I... I c-can't...."
"Trowa." Shaking the youth awake again, Quatre spoke firmly. His friend was running out of will power quickly. Glancing at the crowd, he was stunned as to why none had moved, they weren't helping them, nor were they talking or calling for an ambulance or anything! "Damn it, help us! He'll bleed to death if you don't help us!" Not seeing a one of the people so much as flinch, he turned back to Wufei.
Nodding, Wufei grasped the wooden frame once more and pulled it upward, but at hearing the splintering of wood, he stopped. "It's breaking and if it does, the heaviest part of it would crush his legs. We need..."
"Hang on guys!" Duo saw the large crowd of people and knew that what Heero was feeling earlier was what he was feeling now, dread and the knowledge that something was seriously wrong. Pushing with the determined, Japanese youth in front of him, they made their way through the mass of people. Stopping and inhaling sharply at seeing Trowa's barely conscious and ghostly white form, he was just as shocked as the rest of the people around. Blood pooled around his waist and on the ground beneath him, its deep crimson staining the green grass. His brother's emerald eyes were now dull and pained, no life within them as he struggled to live.
Heero caught sight of Trowa, but unlike Duo, knew what had to be done and didn't hesitate to do so. Pulling the stunned youth back to his senses and over to the booth, he gripped the other corner and motioned for Duo to take the middle.
"Be careful guys, Wufei, you and Heero need to grab down lower on the frame. More towards its base or it'll break and just fall on him." Quatre held the weak boy, assuring him and forcing him to stay awake.
Repositioning his grip, Wufei nodded toward Heero and Duo, then without a word, the three began to lift it at once. Ignoring the stifled cries of their comrade and continuing, they righted the booth in moments and when turning back to his friend, he flinched at the sight of he wound. The upper part of pelvis had broken through the skin, its edges sharp and broken instead of rounded. The deep gash exposed muscle and bone, blood pouring out from the wound. The deep crimson liquid pooled around his lower body, soaking his shirt and pants.
"Oh God Trowa..." Turning his eyes from the wound, Quatre knew that the heavy bleeding had to be stopped or he wouldn't make it to a hospital. Glancing about quickly, he caught sight of Duo's belt and forced his voice. "Duo, take off your belt and give it to me now."
Staring in shock and feeling himself grow slightly queasy at the sight, especially the pain it was causing the teen who once had steel nerves, he didn't catch Quatre's order.
Growing impatient and seeing that he wasn't going to do it himself, Heero quickly undid the belt and handed it to Quatre, pushing the American slightly and watching him snap out of his daze. Kneeling, he helped Quatre sit the greatly weakened youth up and ignored Trowa's groans when the belt was tightened and secured around his waist, Wufei's T-shirt having been pressed against the wound to try and stop blood flow. Helping them up, he led them to the jeep where Quatre sat in the back with Trowa, Wufei taking the driver's seat.
"You guys get him to the hospital and take care of him..." Duo backed away from the jeep as it was started. There wasn't enough room for all five of them with that situation and he'd stay behind with Heero. That, and Cathy was going to freak out when she heard about her little brother.
Watching them disappear down the road, the Japanese pilot only turned from them and back to the booths where he picked up a stuffed tiger that needed its tail sewn back on and its coat washed. The crowd only turned their eyes to he and Duo, still not a word uttered. Sighing, he looked back at Duo and mouthed the words slowly as he signed them.
The others had told him what had actually happened to him, and slowly he began to recall where the pain had come from and the unwanted feelings. The pain of another being inside his body, all against his will or want and the feeling of the hands grabbing his body again made him shudder and pray never to experience it again. He hated it so. Following the others about the circus area, most still untouched from the destruction made by OZ soldiers, he stopped Trowa and quickly signed with his hands. He'd had to learn it as a child, it was part of his training. Trowa was the only one of the group that understood him and it saved him some frustration.
"Where are we going?"
With a saddened and exhausted smile, Trowa motioned over to Cathy's trailer. The inside was still slightly a mess, but the cushions and everything else that Faith's blood had stained had been removed. "You and Cathy should go ahead and rest. The others will stay with you, but I need to try and make something right." Leading them inside, he helped Cathrine to her bed and watched her rest tiredly underneath the blankets.
Heero looked about the trailer, placing his journal on the counter. Catching sight of a dog collar and leash, he picked it up and held if for a moment.
*Flashback*
"Can Faith come too?" Was his eager question as soon as he realized they were going.
"Well, I don't see why not. She's your dog after all..." Smirking, she listened to Heero's shocked silence while Trowa couldn't help it seemed but collapse to his knees in laughter. Looking up, she realized why. Heero looked at her as if she were crazy, his jaw dropped open, it almost touched the floor or so it seemed. A life flared in his eyes, but that was the only movement for he remained still. "Heero?" Her tone was playful and amused as she dabbed at the wounds, cleaning them skillfully before rewrapping them.
Heero finally found his voice and willed himself to speak. "You mean she's really mine now?" "Yep, if you want her that is." Quickly securing the bandage, she waited for his next reaction as the other two gundam pilots joined them, the hanger becoming eerily silent while everyone watched. Trowa struggled to stand in the background.
With a burst of energy, Heero jumped up from the chair, not caring that it clattered to the floor behind him. Crouching down, he hugged Faith tightly and smiled, his eyes closed as he whispered to *his* dog in joy. "You're my dog now Faith, you're finally mine now."
Opening his eyes and letting go of Faith, *his* dog, he beamed at seeing Quatre and Wufei standing next to Sally. "She's mine now, Faith's my dog. Sally said we can go to town and get her a new collar, she said you could come too!" Searching their uncertain faces, he hoped that they'd come with too, he wanted his friends to be there with him.
"Well Quatre, we've gotten quiet a bit done for today. We should probably take a break." He nodded toward Heero, smiling at his excitement.
*End Flashback*
Placing the leash and collar back on the counter, he watched Trowa exit and quickly signed his confusion. He remembered Faith, and he remembered watching her as she whined and blood seeped from her chest, but then he only remembered a burst of pain and a blinding white flashing before his eyes. Then everything was hazy again.
"What happened to Faith?"
Taking a deep breath, Trowa shook his head. "When we got here, no one had found her to help her. She's gone, she bled to death Heero."
Nodding and looking to the ground, he let himself be led over to the quickly made up couch and sat down, not really struggling or caring. Laying down, he realized how tired he was and didn't fight against the others coaxing him to sleep. Falling onto the pillow, he winced slightly in pain but calmed his breathing and fell into the warmth of the quilt being placed over him.
Duo backed up, having motioned for the others to take a seat as he finished covering his little brother. That's how everyone referred to him know, even if he was older than Duo or if he was his normal self. Turning back to the others, he took a seat on the floor. "Where you going off to Trowa?"
Stopping at the door, he looked out at the camp grounds but called back softly. "To make what wrong I've done right. Just relax and stay with Cathy and Heero, they should be fine but just incase." Stepping from the trailer, he headed toward where the great tent once stood.
Quatre watched the door close, feeling bad for Trowa. The others still shunned him and they didn't see that what he'd done was to protect them, not to hurt them. Yet to help make matters worse, Trowa believed that he'd hurt them as well, that it was in full, his fault. No matter how anyone else proved that he was innocent of such a thing. "He still blames himself when it wasn't his fault."
"He tried to protect them from the war and it hurt them anyway, his virtues tell him that he could have done more to prevent it." Wufei stood, heading toward the door.
"You leavin' us too Wufei?" Duo piped up, hopin' to slightly lighten the mood. It seemed like such a void time, but it wasn't any fun with everyone else so depressed. Besides, you couldn't do much if you're frustrated and depressed all the time.
"He's tired," he replied bluntly, "and he's not in the right state of mind. Someone has to look out for him."
Without a word, Quatre stood and crossed over to his side. "He'll hurt himself if he keeps going like this."
Sighing, Duo smirked. "Leaving me to baby-sit while you both go play psychiatrist. Have fun. As long as I get paid five bucks by the hour..."
Chuckling softly, Quatre faced Duo. "Talk about being selfless. Does it out of the goodness of his heart."
"Goodness?" Wufei added.
"I know, I'll be getting the Nobel Peace Prize or something for helping humanity. You'd better go find him." Laughing softly, he took the tv box and turned it on, keeping the volume down low and searching the channels.
Standing before the once grand tent, Trowa only took a deep breath and began to upright the fair booths and place the prizes back as they were, brushing the grass and dirt from them and setting aside the ones that needed more attention to be re-stitched or washed. If they couldn't be used by the circus, they could always be donated to charities for children.
"Why don't you just go away and leave us in peace? All you did was bring more pain and war to our home, you're not wanted here anymore." Zita glared at the youth, her voice cold and calm.
"You're right Zita, I am unwanted and I did bring this pain to you all, but at least let me make retributions for it. Let me fix things before I leave." Watching her wearily, he turned back to his work and grabbed the larger booth, pulling it up and standing it upright.
Not dropping it yet and feeling anger toward him, Zita continued. "We made it just fine without you before and we can do it ourselves. We don't need you. Just leave, we'll get this."
That was it, Trowa just had to let things go. "God damn it Zita, just stop already! Why the hell can't you see that I'm sorry for all the pain I've caused you and will leave, but I won't until I make amends for what I've done. This is the only place I ever could call a home, all of you, the only ones I could call a family. I never had nor knew one before, hell, I don't even know my name, I don't have a birthday, I don't have a family, nothing of my own! I just took Trowa Barton as my own name when its original owner was killed and I was there to witness it. They needed another pilot and all I'd ever known was fighting. I've envied all of you, because you never had to feel what it's like to lose everything, and never know who you are! And I'm glad you won't have to, but you don't realize how hard this is. Just please, let me make this right and then I'll never return to cause any of you more torment." Catching the manager walking up behind Zita, he knew that he'd heard. Closing his eyes and swallowing the uneasy feeling, Trowa turned to place the last of the prizes back in their spots before lifting another booth. This one was heavier than the others and he struggled with it, not helping him was the fact that he was drained and had missed out on a lot of sleep.
Zita watched the pain blaze within his emerald eyes and was sorry for bringing it up and not holding her tongue. She knew that Trowa always hid something from them, but she never would have guessed that. Biting her lower lip, she averted her gaze guiltily to the ground and held her hands before her.
Trying to force the booth up and digging his heels into the soft ground, Trowa shook the dizziness from is vision. Why couldn't he just do this? Feeling his legs give out and his body falling backwards, he stifled his cry as much as possible. His head hit the ground harshly, but that's not what caused him so much pain. The wooden booth had come down on top of him, the edge digging into his left side. He'd felt the bone of his left hip being chipped away and tear through the skin, blood spilling from the deep gash. It was growing so much harder to breathe, and as he tried to push the booth off of him, he felt light-headed and woozy, and didn't have the strength to do so. Screams and shouts echoed in his ears as he struggled to breathe, feeling the world spin around him.
Quatre rushed over to Trowa's side, seeing the large booth having crushed his brother and trapped him beneath it. Quickly dropping to the ground as Wufei followed him, the young Arabian pulled his friend's head onto his lap and listened to his struggling gasps. He'd become deathly pale in a matter of seconds and his skin was frozen to the touch. "Trowa, come on, look at me Trowa. You've got to open your eyes and stay awake. Trowa, please." Catching the pooling blood, the youth tried to shake his friend awake.
Groaning and looking up, his eyes caught sight of the blurry outline of Quatre. Grimacing and forcing himself to speak, the youth disregarded the silent and gathering crowd. "It just... slipped..." Crying out, he felt Wufei grab the booth's edge and try and lift it.
"Stop a minute Wufei, it's just leaning to the side and hurting him more. We need to lift the entire thing up and get him out, we can't do it ourselves..." Taking off his jacket, he placed it over his friend and tried to calm him. "You've got to take in slow, deep breaths Trowa. You need to calm down." Becoming even more worried when his brother began to cough and blood seeped from the sides of his lips, the young Arabian looked about frantically.
Sitting bolt upright, Heero looked about himself and it took him a few minutes to realize that Duo was struggling to keep him calm.
"Hey, settle down buddy. It's okay, it had to be another nightmare. C'mon, you're safe now, take it easy." Holding his little brother's shoulders firmly, he catched and held his fearful gaze.
No, it wasn't a dream that had awakened him, something else was wrong. He could feel it. Looking about, he realized that the others weren't there in the trailer with him. Pushing past Duo, he stood and quickly made his way to the door but stopped and was spun around before he could exit.
"What's wrong with you man? We're fine, everyone's okay and so are you. Settle down."
Shaking his head vigorously, he quickly began to sign but it didn't really click in his mind that Duo didn't understand him. 'Where are the others?! They need help! Where are they?!'
Looking at him in confusion, Duo only bit his lower lip. "I don't understand ya buddy."
Throwing his hands into the air, he searched frantically for something to write on. Snatching up the pen and his journal, he flipped to the last few pages and scribbled down the questions.
Reading the sloppy handwriting, Duo looked back into Heero's determined yet fearful eyes. "Quatre and Wufei are with Trowa, he said he wanted to go and make whatever wrong he'd done right."
Slamming the pen down on the counter, he passed by the surprised American and ran out onto the fair grounds. Something wasn't right and he knew it, but Duo's answer didn't help him at all. Footsteps behind him told him that his outspoken friend was following; that was good, because they might just need his help.
Stripping off his jacket and placing it over Trowa's form, Wufei kneeled by his side. "Stay awake Trowa."
Forcing his eyes to flutter open again, Trowa tried to stay awake, but he was so tired and cold. Gasping, he looked up into the clear blue sky, soft wisps of clouds floating lazily in the sunlight. He was now losing feeling in everything from his waist down as his eyes became glossy and dazed, yet frightened. "I... I c-can't...."
"Trowa." Shaking the youth awake again, Quatre spoke firmly. His friend was running out of will power quickly. Glancing at the crowd, he was stunned as to why none had moved, they weren't helping them, nor were they talking or calling for an ambulance or anything! "Damn it, help us! He'll bleed to death if you don't help us!" Not seeing a one of the people so much as flinch, he turned back to Wufei.
Nodding, Wufei grasped the wooden frame once more and pulled it upward, but at hearing the splintering of wood, he stopped. "It's breaking and if it does, the heaviest part of it would crush his legs. We need..."
"Hang on guys!" Duo saw the large crowd of people and knew that what Heero was feeling earlier was what he was feeling now, dread and the knowledge that something was seriously wrong. Pushing with the determined, Japanese youth in front of him, they made their way through the mass of people. Stopping and inhaling sharply at seeing Trowa's barely conscious and ghostly white form, he was just as shocked as the rest of the people around. Blood pooled around his waist and on the ground beneath him, its deep crimson staining the green grass. His brother's emerald eyes were now dull and pained, no life within them as he struggled to live.
Heero caught sight of Trowa, but unlike Duo, knew what had to be done and didn't hesitate to do so. Pulling the stunned youth back to his senses and over to the booth, he gripped the other corner and motioned for Duo to take the middle.
"Be careful guys, Wufei, you and Heero need to grab down lower on the frame. More towards its base or it'll break and just fall on him." Quatre held the weak boy, assuring him and forcing him to stay awake.
Repositioning his grip, Wufei nodded toward Heero and Duo, then without a word, the three began to lift it at once. Ignoring the stifled cries of their comrade and continuing, they righted the booth in moments and when turning back to his friend, he flinched at the sight of he wound. The upper part of pelvis had broken through the skin, its edges sharp and broken instead of rounded. The deep gash exposed muscle and bone, blood pouring out from the wound. The deep crimson liquid pooled around his lower body, soaking his shirt and pants.
"Oh God Trowa..." Turning his eyes from the wound, Quatre knew that the heavy bleeding had to be stopped or he wouldn't make it to a hospital. Glancing about quickly, he caught sight of Duo's belt and forced his voice. "Duo, take off your belt and give it to me now."
Staring in shock and feeling himself grow slightly queasy at the sight, especially the pain it was causing the teen who once had steel nerves, he didn't catch Quatre's order.
Growing impatient and seeing that he wasn't going to do it himself, Heero quickly undid the belt and handed it to Quatre, pushing the American slightly and watching him snap out of his daze. Kneeling, he helped Quatre sit the greatly weakened youth up and ignored Trowa's groans when the belt was tightened and secured around his waist, Wufei's T-shirt having been pressed against the wound to try and stop blood flow. Helping them up, he led them to the jeep where Quatre sat in the back with Trowa, Wufei taking the driver's seat.
"You guys get him to the hospital and take care of him..." Duo backed away from the jeep as it was started. There wasn't enough room for all five of them with that situation and he'd stay behind with Heero. That, and Cathy was going to freak out when she heard about her little brother.
Watching them disappear down the road, the Japanese pilot only turned from them and back to the booths where he picked up a stuffed tiger that needed its tail sewn back on and its coat washed. The crowd only turned their eyes to he and Duo, still not a word uttered. Sighing, he looked back at Duo and mouthed the words slowly as he signed them.