When All Is Lost...

Chapter Five

Quatre shivered as he rubbed his gloved hands together in the frigid truck. He had left Coppermine behind him two days ago, and was now headed for…

"We're going to Inuvik right?" he asked in a chattering voice.

"That's right." the truck driver looked at him. "Are sure you're all right kid? You look like you're freezing to death."

"I'm fine. I just don't deal well with the cold." he went back to trying to warm his hands. 'I guess I'm lucky. I could still be walking…'

Silence filled the truck cabin as Quatre fell into his thoughts once more. The steady increase in coldness was starting to worry him. She must have been getting worse. He closed his eyes not even wanting to think about it. He stated out the window moodily for the rest of the trip, peering slightly as Inuvik started to come up from the distance. He got off at the truck stop, thanking his river before he made his way down to the shipyards.

"Hopefully it's not here or already is." he murmured to himself as he made his way through the crowded wharf. 'I know it has to be here somewhere.' His hand grasped the spider around his neck. He made his way down, combing through carefully with some innocent questions; who was a good captain, were they looking for hired help, so forth. He was making his way to the final slip when an all too familiar figure strode down the gangplank purposefully.

Quatre ducked behind a skid of fresh fish. He peered out watching as he walked all the way to the end of the wharf and disappeared. 'He's most likely going into town.' As soon as the way was clear he slipped back out and looked up at the ship's hull. 'The Griffon.' He looked around carefully before he made his way over to an office building.

"Excuse me Miss, could you help me?" he asked the secretary at the front; thankfully, that part of the place was empty for some odd reason.

"What with Sir?"

"I need some files. Your boss asked me to collect them for him. For that thing he was taking care of..."

The girl looked puzzled. "I don't know exactly what you're talking about Sir. But I'll go and check."

The minute the girl disappeared into the back, Quatre stole up to a computer. He quickly checked the registry before slipping back out again. With a frown he made his way over to a nearby payphone.

"Hello?" came the cheery voice on the other end.

"Duo, it's me."

"Q-man! Where are you?!"

"In Canada; the Northwest Territories."

"That's where she is?" Duo sounded puzzled. "So why are the search parties looking on the Atlantic?"

"Look, I can't answer all your questions now. I think the ship may be headed for Kavacha."

"Kavacha?"

"A small port on the Russia's eastern seaboard. I'm gonna try to sneak aboard the ship."

"Are you crazy?! What if you get caught? They just might throw you overboard!"

"I have no doubt." Quatre said wryly. "Can you meet me in Russia; the ship is leaving in a few hours. It's called the Griffon."

"I guess so. Hilde wants me to leave her be for a bit." Duo sounded somewhat subdued.

"All right. As soon as the ship docks, I'll come down with a…" he thought for a moment. "A rectangular crate. Do you think a specific crate handler could take care of that package?"

"Of course." Duo fell oddly quiet. "It's him again, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"I'll meet you there Q-man. That bastard is gong to regret everything he ever did to her."

Quatre hung up the phone, hearing an abrupt dead tone. He knew Duo wasn't trying to be rude, but when he was mad… He made his way back to the Griffon's slip, watching as the crewmembers passed on and off the ship. He started to move when a particular one caught his eye; they had roughly the same build, and with the last vestiges of brown dye in his hair, they could have looked like brothers. The man wandered down the wharf, slipping into an alleyway when he thought he wasn't noticed. The man led him on a long wandering path before he slipped into an abandoned old building.

"Um, excuse me?" Quatre asked as he slipped in.

The man looked up at him startled, the cigarette half dangling from his mouth. "What do you want?"

Quatre paused. "I was wondering if you need a light?"

"I could use one."

Quatre dug in his pocket, pulling out a book of matches. He lit one and held it out.

"Thanks." the sailor took a deep drag. "That bastard never lets us have a smoke, much less a tot."

"You don't like your captain much?"

"No. He's a bleeding sadist. I would give anything to leave that cursed ship."

"You know," Quatre began slowly. "We do kinda look the same."

The sailor took another drag, finishing off his cigarette before he pulled out another. "Yeah, so?"

Quatre held out another match. "I could take your place and no one would be the wiser."

The sailor looked at him before he started laughing hard. "You want to get onto the ship?! You must be a different kind of person."

"I've been told that." Quatre said. "So are you up to it? I'll even throw in what I'm wearing now."

"Why do you want to get on the ship so badly?" the sailor's eyes became a bit shrewd.

"It's heading to Russia. And-"

"Oh, I see!" the man said with a loud guffaw and he clapped Quatre on the back. "Yeah, Kavacha does have its more memorable sights."

"So you agree?"

"Yeah, yeah. Soon enough I can be back home with my girl." the sailor smiled to himself.

"Thank you. You don't know how much this means to-"

"Come on already." the sailor said as he took off his shirt quickly. "This isn't going to happen by itself. Strip."

~*~

The breeze whipped over the deck briskly, his hair catching in his eyelashes. Quatre pulled the locks out of the way only to have them whipped back. The coldness was even cutting through the thick fur lined parka. He shoved his hands in his pockets, watching the white crested waves as they broke themselves against the hull. He felt odd again, now it was a sense of numbness that permeated his being. In addition to his aching legs and coldness, he wished to God that he were anywhere but here, with Jess.

"This wasn't supposed to happen." he whispered to himself.

"Hey Truston, come over here for a second!"

Quatre looked up and saw a man half standing in the doorway. He walked over, shoulders hunched against the wind. "Yes?"

"Aren't you on boiler room duty now?"

"That's not for another five minutes. I'll get going though." he said moving past the man.

The grey walls of the ship's interior didn't do much to improve his mood. He paused in front of a map, before he continued on downwards, the heat increasing steadily. When he finally found his way down to the room, the sight of bulky tanks greeted him, with large pipes running from and around the room. Spying the other man, he signalled him to leave. He hurried down the ladder, taking his seat in front of the control levers. 'This is going to be one hell of a boring trip.'

~*~

Quatre sighed as he dunked the brush into the bucket and brought it back to the floor with a wet slop; apparently this Truston was the lapdog of the entire ship's crew. Not that the captain did anything against it. First it was boiler room duty, then taking the night watch two nights in a row - at three a.m. and now, on the fourth day, he found himself on the officer's quarters level, scrubbing the already spotless floor.

"Hey Truston! You missed a spot!"

He looked up, seeing a man come tramping down the hallway with dirt caked shoes. With a heavy sigh, he got to work on cleaning up the fresh mess. 'I am never going in for military service.' He started scrubbing the floor again rather hard with a frown on his face. This hallway never seemed to end. He glanced up once, hearing a door open and shut abruptly before he resumed scrubbing. He didn't say anything as the shadow passed over him and down the next corridor.

Once the silence came back, he tossed the brush into the bucket and stole down to the doorway. He jiggled the doorknob, finding it locked. He pressed his ear to the door hearing a moan come from the other side. His heart clutched in fear; it sounded so faint. He dropped to his knees and looked through the slit underneath. He could see the floor, and a few carelessly discarded objects. Then he saw it - a bloodied hand lying motionless against the floor, almost out of sight .

He rose hastily and jiggled the door handle harder, wishing he had the key. It may have taken awhile, but he finally found the room. He paused as he heard the all too familiar sound of feet coming down the hallway. Rushing back to his bucket and brush, he started cleaning again as a bunch of sailors came by. He didn't say anything as the bucket was 'accidentally' knocked over. Once they left, he picked it up again and continued working. Everything was ready and waiting. There was little less than a day to Kavacha.

~*~

"Hey Truston! Wakey wakey!"

Quatre looked up groggily and staggered to the door. "Yes?"

"Captain says he wants you in the cargo hold, helping to load up the lifts. We've reached Kavacha and that cargo isn't going to unload itself."

"Where's the captain now?" he asked running a hand through his hair.

"Out on deck or shore most likely. Truston, I'd get my ass moving if I were you."

Quatre watched as the man hurried down the hallway before he closed the door and pulled a shirt on. He walked out into the hallway and up to the officer's quarters, making sure that no one saw him. Crouching in front of the door, he searched around in his pocket until he found a bobby pin and started to pick the lock. After a few minutes, the sound of the lock gave. He opened it and ducked in quickly, not wanting to be caught.

"Allah…" he breathed in a weak voice as he took in the sight before him.

She lay there on the bed, unmoving and out cold, the dark purple and black bruises colouring her face and body. Her left hand hung at an impossible angle, while her legs had a somewhat similar look. Where all the caked blood on the bed came from, he didn't even what to think of; but he had a sinking feeling it had to do with why she was covered from head to toe in cuts and deep slashes.

"Jess?" he went over to the bed, taking the good clean blanket at the foot and started to wrap her up in it carefully. "Jess, answer me please. Jess?" nothing. "Koi?" he asked hopefully.

She still didn't reply, simply remaining limp in his arms. He swallowed hard as he bent forward; he could barely feel her breath move past her lips. His lips thinned out as he started for the door and walked out, thankful that the hallway was empty. Quickly, he made his way down to the cargo hold, avoiding the questioning looks of the other sailors as he hurried. Making it to the end of the hold, he slipped in between the crates, finding the box he had prepared. He nudged the cover open and laid her in, thankful that he had found a bunch of discarded clean old clothes.

"Don't die on me." he whispered as he laid her in.

He touched her discoloured face gently before he closed the lid and got it up on the trolley. Slightly breathless, he pushed it to the loading area. He watched as they loaded the crate on and it was lifted up. As soon as it started for the dock, he turned and left, hurrying up through the ship and down the gangplank as he shoved on his parka. Even now, he could see the flash of a long braid through the people milling around before it disappeared beneath a hood.

"Where are you going Truston?"

He turned around, swallowing as he faced him again. "Disposing of some waste Sir. Old rags and such fit for the trash."

"Which box?" the grey eyes took on a suspicious light.

"The one there Sir. Top, left corner."

"I think I shall take a look in this box. I don't recall pre-approving any action of this sort."

Quatre swallowed hard, waiting as the skid was lowered down with a thunk and the lines were released.

"You over there! Get that box down and opened."

Quatre breathed a sigh of relief as the trolley boy hurried over, giving him a shaded look under the hood. The box was brought down and loaded onto the trolley. Quatre felt his hand tighten into a fist as the captain reached for the lid and started to lift it off. He looked up to see Duo's violet eyes flashing between worry and anger. Quatre shook his head imperceptibly, hoping to God Duo didn't do anything too rash; not that he blamed him.

The lid was rising faster now, the bits of blanket visible when a loud snap came from the ship, followed by the cries of loud and panicked voices. The captain let the lid slam back shut, causing a soft groan to come from inside. Duo and Quatre looked at each other before the captain's words caught their attention.

"Take the trash away. Make sure you get back here soon, Truston. I don't need anyone abandoning me."

"Yes Sir. Let's go." he said to the trolley boy.

They weaved their way through their crowded dock until they reached a quieter, and much more deserted section. There stood a truck with the gate open, ready to be loaded.

"Nice acting job there." Duo said as he threw his hood back.

"Thanks. Let's get out of here before he realizes." Quatre said.

They quickly pushed the trolley up.

"You stay there Q-man." Duo said as he wheeled the trolley down and slammed the gate shut. "There's extra blankets and stuff there if it gets too cold. Shouldn't be though, I checked the heating before I borrowed this thing."

"All right. How far are we going?"

"Just to China."

"China?!"

"Yeah. Wufei owed me one. Turns out he has a small place in the Northern province. Guess where we're heading to."

"Can you get past the border?"

"Wufei arranged it all. Make sure you get her comfortable. This is going to be one hell of a bumpy ride." Duo said, pulling down the flap of cloth and securing it before he walked to the front and started up the truck.

Quatre grabbed some blankets and opened up the box, squeezing them in gently as the truck started rumbling its way down the street. He bent down closer and gazed down into her face, his heart feeling inordinately pained. Taking her right hand, he held it close, kissing it every once in awhile. 'Don't die. Please, don't die.'

"Quatre…"

He looked down, almost about to burst into tears. "Jess, I'm here. Say something."

"Quatre…" the words were faint barely heard over the truck wheels. "Ai…shi…" her words trailed off as she passed out again.

He kissed her hand again, fiercely almost, tears stinging his eyes. 'Don't die on me Jess. Don't leave me alone…'