It had now been three months and Hilde had agreed to help the Preventers. Heero and she made alot of trips back and forth from L2 to the ship. This past month alone they had made at least one to two trips a week. Hilde was actually enjoying spending her time like this. Even if it was hectic and there was always alot of running around, she seemed to be preoccupied with her work. She was starting to act alot more like herself again and Heero didn't hear her crying at night nearly as much as before.
Things were definitely better now. Heero wasn't sure how much longer he'd be staying on L2 now. Hilde didn't need him as much although they had been traveling together so in a way he felt he was still needed. Things were beginning to get alot more busy on the Preventer's ship. In one way that was good and in another, it was bad. For one thing they had located the group that had attacked Trowa, Duo, and Hilde three months ago. They all worked hard on that case but were having a difficult time finding any proof other then two of their own people as witnesses.
Most of the staff remained onboard instead of travelling there every day. The case droned on for several days and everyone was beginning to get tired of it. But there was still no new evidence and without it there was no way these people would be held responsible. As a result of this everyone spent long hours searching and even lost sleep at times.
***
She wasn't expecting him to be awake when she came into the room but he was trying to sit up when she entered. He had woken up a couple times before but was never really awake. He wasn't sure how long he had been asleep but he still felt tired. He laid back since he was too tired to get all the way up. He recognized the nurse that had just come in as the lady from the shuttle.
"Where am I?" He asked, his voice almost didn't sound like his own. He swallowed, hoping that would help. The nurse went over to the bed.
"We're on L3." She answered him. "You've been asleep for quite awhile now."
"How long have I been here?" He remarked, rubbing the side of his head.
"It's been about three months." She finally told him. His eyes got wide when he heard that.
"Three months? I knew I liked to sleep but that's kinda too much even for me." He admitted. She sat down at the end of the bed.
"Do you remember what happened?" She asked looking at him. He looked back trying to think and then finally nodded his response.
"I have to make some phone calls." He decided trying to sit up again but still couldn't.
"Well I can bring the phone over to the bed, however we did try to contact the Preventers and had no luck." She explained.
"That's fine I have another number I can use." He said back. Once the nurse brought the phone over and was out of the room, he called headquarters. The phone started ringing.
"Come on someone has to be at their desk." He thought outloud. Finally an answering machine came on that had voice-mail options. He figured Heero would be there, in the near future since he was a work-a-holic so he chose to leave one for him.
"Hey where are you guys? This is Duo, I'm on L3. I just woke up in some hospital. Anyway I hope you get this soon. I'll try to call later." He ended the message. He sat there trying to think of how else he could get in contact with them. Then he realized he should call home. Being away for three months with no one knowing where he was probably wasn't such a good thing. Hilde was probably worried about him. She usually was when he disappeared and that was only for a few hours, this was alot longer. He waited while it rang but there was no answer. It finally just disconnected which never happened before to him. He decided to try her at their shop but no one was there either. Luckily they had an answering machine there.
"Hey Hilde, it's Duo. I know that you're probably finding this kinda weird. I'm on L3 and I'll try to call you later. Sorry this is so short. Bye." He ended it and hung up the phone. It had been three months afterall so did he really want her to find out he was alright from a message. He thought about deleting it but he also didn't know when he'd be getting out of the hospital. He had a feeling he was going to be there a little longer. Especially considering how bad he felt. 'Don't they believe in drugs here?' He thought to himself, putting the phone on the nightstand nearby. The stretch to do that alone hurt. He settled back down under the covers and tried to figure out how he was going to get out of this hospital. He could pull a Heero and escape but that idea didn't seem rational. The even better question here was how he was going to get back to L2.
***
A couple more weeks went by and the remaining evidence was discovered. What few mobile dolls the group had left were found along with their shuttle that Trowa and Hilde both identified as the same one they had been on. The case was now at an end, which had everyone relieved. Heero finished typing up the last piece of information for their files and shut down the computer. Hilde came into the room as he stood up and stretched.
"Are you ready to head home?" He asked her, picking his jacket up from the chair.
"Actually by the time we get back it's be around dinner time. Do you want to go out to eat tonight?" She suggested. He agreed that it was a good idea considering all the work they had been doing lately. They got to their shuttle and headed to L2. They found a pretty nice place to eat, L2 wasn't known for being very classy. Half way through dinner, Heero got a call from Sally.
"What do you need?" He asked her, hoping it didn't involve him having to come back in order to fix something. He wished he wasn't so easy to get a hold of now.
"Well I was wondering which file you put that last report in. Une wants a copy sent to her so I need to find it." She explained. Heero got up from the table and went into the lobby to give her the instructions to finding the file.
"Oh so there it is. Thanks, I wouldn't have been able to find it otherwise. Have you talked to Une lately by the way?" She asked him.
"No I haven't. Why was there something she wanted to tell me." He said back.
"Oh, it's nothing important, she was just going through the messages and noticed that you have two from last month and thought that you should know about it." She answered him.
"I'll be sure to check them." He promised her, not giving too much
thought to it. Everyone knew to call him either at Hilde's or on the Preventer's ship. He ended the conversation with Sally and called the other number to delete his messages.
"You have two new messages." The machine told him. Guess I should listen to them. They're probably stuff I already know about though. The first one was from Relena.
"Hey Heero, I was just checking to see if you were going to be in New York any time soon since I am going to be there for a few days. I was just going to have someone there relay the message to you. Guess I'll try to call you later." That wasn't very important. The next one came on.
"Hey where are you guys." It started out. Heero barely recognized the voice. "This is Duo, I'm on L3. I'm just woke up in some hospital. Anyway I hope you get this soon. I'll try to call later." Heero was so surprised that he couldn't move. At first he was so relieved that Duo was alright but then realized he's been alive all this time and this was the first time he had tried to make contact with them. And what about Hilde? Did he really want to tell her right away. He wasn't even sure how she'd take it or if she'd even believe him. Plus that message was from awhile ago so where was Duo now? All these questions went through his head as he went back to the table.
"Are you okay? What did Sally want?" Hilde asked him. He sat down not saying much and trying to get his thoughts together.
"She was just looking for that last report." He told her as he was about to eat his dinner.
"Oh is that all. From the look on your face I thought something bad had happened." She smiled and continued eating. I really hope Duo's alive and that that wasn't someone's idea of a bad joke. Heero thought as he finished eating. They got back to the house a little after seven o'clock. It had started raining outside now and was getting colder. Hilde put the kettle on for some tea. Heero was now in the living room with the news on. He was also talking to Relena. She was surprised he was calling so late, it was eleven o'clock in the Sanq Kingdom. He told her about the message he had received and made sure to keep his voice down so that Hilde couldn't hear him.
"So are you going to tell her?" Relena asked him curiously.
"I'm not sure how to. And I don't want to get her hopes up. What if it was a prank?" He asked her back.
"Do you honestly think it was a prank?" She said. "I know that your now stuck in the middle of this Heero but you put yourself there." She reminded him.
"I know I did. This is just going to have to take alot of thought." He admitted. He heard Hilde coming his way.
"So anyway we found all the proof we needed and now the case is over." Heero said in his monotoned way, that threw Relena completely off. Hilde had just come into the room with two mugs.
"What are you talking about now?" Relena said back into the phone.
"Hey Hilde's here, did you want to say hi?" He replied. Relena figured it out. Hilde perked up when she heard her name.
"Is that Relena?" She asked putting her mug down on the coffee table. He nodded once back.
"I have to go, tell her I'll talk to her next time. It is afterall late here." She reminded him. Their conversation ended and Heero explained to Hilde why Relena couldn't talk to her right then.
"I don't get why you called her so late anyway." She teased him. He just shook his head.
After the news was over they decided they should go to bed. Even though it was still kinda early, it had been a long couple of weeks. Hilde headed upstairs as Heero checked all the locks as he always did. About an hour later he could hear her crying in her room again. She hadn't done that the entire time they were on the ship. He grabbed his robe and headed down the hallway to her room. He opened the door and she was sitting up as usual with a tissue in her hand.
"Did I wake you up." She asked him as he came in.
"What's wrong?" He said, sitting down but already knew the answer.
"My feet are cold." She explained. Heero practically fell off the side of the bed.
"That's why you're so upset?" He replied. She shook her head almost laughing.
"This is the first time it's been really cold here since Du..since he hasn't been here." She said back. He thought it was strange how she avoided saying Duo's name but now that he thought about it, she hadn't said it for awhile now anyway. He also realized he had forgotten that the two of them were married for about a week before the accident. He really wanted to tell her about the message but wasn't sure if it was the best time. The rain was still pouring outside. It was definitely not a good night to be outside. Heero went over to her dresser and got some socks and handed them to her.
"I once told you that things were going to get better. Well do you think they have?" He asked her as she took the socks.
"Sometimes it is better, just not now." She said after blowing her nose. "I should be okay now." She told him. He gave her a questioning look then decided he was too tired to make sure she was okay. So he headed out into the hallway and shut her door behind him. On his way to his room he heard something else in the house. It wasn't coming from Hilde's room but downstairs. An unsettling feeling came over him as he listened to this strange sound. Whatever it was he was going to find out.
Things were definitely better now. Heero wasn't sure how much longer he'd be staying on L2 now. Hilde didn't need him as much although they had been traveling together so in a way he felt he was still needed. Things were beginning to get alot more busy on the Preventer's ship. In one way that was good and in another, it was bad. For one thing they had located the group that had attacked Trowa, Duo, and Hilde three months ago. They all worked hard on that case but were having a difficult time finding any proof other then two of their own people as witnesses.
Most of the staff remained onboard instead of travelling there every day. The case droned on for several days and everyone was beginning to get tired of it. But there was still no new evidence and without it there was no way these people would be held responsible. As a result of this everyone spent long hours searching and even lost sleep at times.
***
She wasn't expecting him to be awake when she came into the room but he was trying to sit up when she entered. He had woken up a couple times before but was never really awake. He wasn't sure how long he had been asleep but he still felt tired. He laid back since he was too tired to get all the way up. He recognized the nurse that had just come in as the lady from the shuttle.
"Where am I?" He asked, his voice almost didn't sound like his own. He swallowed, hoping that would help. The nurse went over to the bed.
"We're on L3." She answered him. "You've been asleep for quite awhile now."
"How long have I been here?" He remarked, rubbing the side of his head.
"It's been about three months." She finally told him. His eyes got wide when he heard that.
"Three months? I knew I liked to sleep but that's kinda too much even for me." He admitted. She sat down at the end of the bed.
"Do you remember what happened?" She asked looking at him. He looked back trying to think and then finally nodded his response.
"I have to make some phone calls." He decided trying to sit up again but still couldn't.
"Well I can bring the phone over to the bed, however we did try to contact the Preventers and had no luck." She explained.
"That's fine I have another number I can use." He said back. Once the nurse brought the phone over and was out of the room, he called headquarters. The phone started ringing.
"Come on someone has to be at their desk." He thought outloud. Finally an answering machine came on that had voice-mail options. He figured Heero would be there, in the near future since he was a work-a-holic so he chose to leave one for him.
"Hey where are you guys? This is Duo, I'm on L3. I just woke up in some hospital. Anyway I hope you get this soon. I'll try to call later." He ended the message. He sat there trying to think of how else he could get in contact with them. Then he realized he should call home. Being away for three months with no one knowing where he was probably wasn't such a good thing. Hilde was probably worried about him. She usually was when he disappeared and that was only for a few hours, this was alot longer. He waited while it rang but there was no answer. It finally just disconnected which never happened before to him. He decided to try her at their shop but no one was there either. Luckily they had an answering machine there.
"Hey Hilde, it's Duo. I know that you're probably finding this kinda weird. I'm on L3 and I'll try to call you later. Sorry this is so short. Bye." He ended it and hung up the phone. It had been three months afterall so did he really want her to find out he was alright from a message. He thought about deleting it but he also didn't know when he'd be getting out of the hospital. He had a feeling he was going to be there a little longer. Especially considering how bad he felt. 'Don't they believe in drugs here?' He thought to himself, putting the phone on the nightstand nearby. The stretch to do that alone hurt. He settled back down under the covers and tried to figure out how he was going to get out of this hospital. He could pull a Heero and escape but that idea didn't seem rational. The even better question here was how he was going to get back to L2.
***
A couple more weeks went by and the remaining evidence was discovered. What few mobile dolls the group had left were found along with their shuttle that Trowa and Hilde both identified as the same one they had been on. The case was now at an end, which had everyone relieved. Heero finished typing up the last piece of information for their files and shut down the computer. Hilde came into the room as he stood up and stretched.
"Are you ready to head home?" He asked her, picking his jacket up from the chair.
"Actually by the time we get back it's be around dinner time. Do you want to go out to eat tonight?" She suggested. He agreed that it was a good idea considering all the work they had been doing lately. They got to their shuttle and headed to L2. They found a pretty nice place to eat, L2 wasn't known for being very classy. Half way through dinner, Heero got a call from Sally.
"What do you need?" He asked her, hoping it didn't involve him having to come back in order to fix something. He wished he wasn't so easy to get a hold of now.
"Well I was wondering which file you put that last report in. Une wants a copy sent to her so I need to find it." She explained. Heero got up from the table and went into the lobby to give her the instructions to finding the file.
"Oh so there it is. Thanks, I wouldn't have been able to find it otherwise. Have you talked to Une lately by the way?" She asked him.
"No I haven't. Why was there something she wanted to tell me." He said back.
"Oh, it's nothing important, she was just going through the messages and noticed that you have two from last month and thought that you should know about it." She answered him.
"I'll be sure to check them." He promised her, not giving too much
thought to it. Everyone knew to call him either at Hilde's or on the Preventer's ship. He ended the conversation with Sally and called the other number to delete his messages.
"You have two new messages." The machine told him. Guess I should listen to them. They're probably stuff I already know about though. The first one was from Relena.
"Hey Heero, I was just checking to see if you were going to be in New York any time soon since I am going to be there for a few days. I was just going to have someone there relay the message to you. Guess I'll try to call you later." That wasn't very important. The next one came on.
"Hey where are you guys." It started out. Heero barely recognized the voice. "This is Duo, I'm on L3. I'm just woke up in some hospital. Anyway I hope you get this soon. I'll try to call later." Heero was so surprised that he couldn't move. At first he was so relieved that Duo was alright but then realized he's been alive all this time and this was the first time he had tried to make contact with them. And what about Hilde? Did he really want to tell her right away. He wasn't even sure how she'd take it or if she'd even believe him. Plus that message was from awhile ago so where was Duo now? All these questions went through his head as he went back to the table.
"Are you okay? What did Sally want?" Hilde asked him. He sat down not saying much and trying to get his thoughts together.
"She was just looking for that last report." He told her as he was about to eat his dinner.
"Oh is that all. From the look on your face I thought something bad had happened." She smiled and continued eating. I really hope Duo's alive and that that wasn't someone's idea of a bad joke. Heero thought as he finished eating. They got back to the house a little after seven o'clock. It had started raining outside now and was getting colder. Hilde put the kettle on for some tea. Heero was now in the living room with the news on. He was also talking to Relena. She was surprised he was calling so late, it was eleven o'clock in the Sanq Kingdom. He told her about the message he had received and made sure to keep his voice down so that Hilde couldn't hear him.
"So are you going to tell her?" Relena asked him curiously.
"I'm not sure how to. And I don't want to get her hopes up. What if it was a prank?" He asked her back.
"Do you honestly think it was a prank?" She said. "I know that your now stuck in the middle of this Heero but you put yourself there." She reminded him.
"I know I did. This is just going to have to take alot of thought." He admitted. He heard Hilde coming his way.
"So anyway we found all the proof we needed and now the case is over." Heero said in his monotoned way, that threw Relena completely off. Hilde had just come into the room with two mugs.
"What are you talking about now?" Relena said back into the phone.
"Hey Hilde's here, did you want to say hi?" He replied. Relena figured it out. Hilde perked up when she heard her name.
"Is that Relena?" She asked putting her mug down on the coffee table. He nodded once back.
"I have to go, tell her I'll talk to her next time. It is afterall late here." She reminded him. Their conversation ended and Heero explained to Hilde why Relena couldn't talk to her right then.
"I don't get why you called her so late anyway." She teased him. He just shook his head.
After the news was over they decided they should go to bed. Even though it was still kinda early, it had been a long couple of weeks. Hilde headed upstairs as Heero checked all the locks as he always did. About an hour later he could hear her crying in her room again. She hadn't done that the entire time they were on the ship. He grabbed his robe and headed down the hallway to her room. He opened the door and she was sitting up as usual with a tissue in her hand.
"Did I wake you up." She asked him as he came in.
"What's wrong?" He said, sitting down but already knew the answer.
"My feet are cold." She explained. Heero practically fell off the side of the bed.
"That's why you're so upset?" He replied. She shook her head almost laughing.
"This is the first time it's been really cold here since Du..since he hasn't been here." She said back. He thought it was strange how she avoided saying Duo's name but now that he thought about it, she hadn't said it for awhile now anyway. He also realized he had forgotten that the two of them were married for about a week before the accident. He really wanted to tell her about the message but wasn't sure if it was the best time. The rain was still pouring outside. It was definitely not a good night to be outside. Heero went over to her dresser and got some socks and handed them to her.
"I once told you that things were going to get better. Well do you think they have?" He asked her as she took the socks.
"Sometimes it is better, just not now." She said after blowing her nose. "I should be okay now." She told him. He gave her a questioning look then decided he was too tired to make sure she was okay. So he headed out into the hallway and shut her door behind him. On his way to his room he heard something else in the house. It wasn't coming from Hilde's room but downstairs. An unsettling feeling came over him as he listened to this strange sound. Whatever it was he was going to find out.