Chapter Forty Four: Broken Wings of Fallen Angels

(A/N: SUGOI!!! I can upload again!!!)



"She hasn't come back yet." Mirek said flatly, staring out the window.

Wufei was leaning against the wall next to him. "I know. Give it time."

"It's been hours. She should have been back by now."

"She's capable." Wufei said.

The hosptal had become the meeting grounds for the former gundam pilots and their multiple associates. Heero and Chase had returned, meeting up with Wufei, Quatre, Cavel, and Mirek. Meg was doing the autopsy on Jack Avis, which was taking a remarkable amount of time.

Chase stepped up behind the two men. "She? As in Anna?"

Wufei's dark eyes met her green ones. "Yes. She was called out by Victor hours ago. She never came back."

Chase had to stop her jaw from dropping. "Why aren't you out looking for her?!" she shouted.

"Because we have no idea where to look for her! Tokyo is a huge city and she has no means of communication on her." Mirek replied.





Meg met Heero at the central desk on the floor they had Ryuujin on.

"You rang?" she asked.

"Yeah. Where is he?"

Meg shrugged. "Said he had a bad feeling and that'd he'd be back. He went above ground, I know that."

The Japanese man frowned.



Chase stormed above ground, Wufei and Mirek on her heels.



She was close; he could feel it. She was fighting slipping away for good; she was waiting for him. A knowing smirk crossed his pale features and violet glinted under the moonlight. His angel was waiting for him.

He found the alley without much effort. The familiar presence of Death filled it, but whether from the dead general on the ground or the promise of it over the girl he could not tell. She would not die tonight.

He knelt by her and warmth seeped through him. He ran his fingers over her cold lips and face. They were cold, but not frozen. The promise of life was still in her, because she had waited. He picked the rings up off the cement and pocketed them. They would have to discuss that later.

He slipped an arm under her knees and the other behind her back. He gently lifted her broken form off the ground and headed back to the Underground where they would be safe.



Shinigami had returned to claim his Angel.



Teal blue eyes flitted open and Quatre gazed around the waiting room from the chair he had dozed off in. Something didn't feel right, other than the loss of Trowa. Something had woken him up, but he didn't know what. He rubbed his arms through his shirt and stood to get the blood flowing in his legs.

He walked towards the emergency ward, not even realizing where he was going. He was mostly following the feeling in his heart. He slowed as he neared the doors leading into the emergency room. It was apparently a slow night, because there was no one there at the moment but him. That feeling was familiar, as if he'd felt it before. He inched closer.

The doors swung open and a cold breeze blew in. Quatre backed up a few steps as a figure imerged in the light.

"Duo!" Quatre gasped.

The American smiled grimly. "Hey, Quatre. Get help, and quick, would you?"

The pale Arabian was at first too shocked to do anything but stare at the scene before him. Duo -who was supposed to be dead- holding Anna, who looked like she was.

"Just go, Quatre," Duo said firmly.

Then he moved, running back down the hall as fast as his weary body could take him. He started shouting, trying to get someone's attention, and ran straight into Meg Collins.

She grabbed his shoulders and steadied him. "What's going on?" she demanded.

He pointed back towards the emergency wing. "It's Anna and Duo."

Meg looked that way sharply. "What happened? Is he all right?"

Quatre shook his head. "It's not him, it's her."

The young woman paled. "Oh crap." She grabbed the phone on the desk next to her and hit the intercom. "Doctor Ikeda and Doctor Tomino to emergency now!" she shouted.

Quatre watched as Meg ran towards where he had come from. He leaned against the wall and pulled out his cell phone.

"Wufei? We found Anna. And Duo's alive."



Wufei froze, causing Mirek to nearly collide with him. The Chinese man could say nothing, only grip the phone more tightly. Mirek waved a hand in front of his face and Wufei batted him away.

"Maxwell's alive?" he finally asked quietly.

"What?!" Chase and Mirek exclaimed.

"Yes." Quatre said, looking around the hospital corridor. "He's very much alive."

"Why were they at the hospital? Did they hear about Ryuujin?" Wufei asked. Asking that was easier than asking if one of them was injured. If Anna had lost to Victor.

"I don't think so. Anna looked pretty bad. There was a lot of blood on her shirt." Quatre replied.

Wufei cursed low under his breath. "We're headed back now." He said, hanging up. "Anna's been shot."



Heero found Quatre in the waiting room.

"Are they back?" he asked.

"Not yet."

They were silent.

Quatre met Heero's gaze. "You knew he was alive."

Heero looked at the floor. "No. Not until yesterday."

"I don't understand, Heero. You said."

"It wasn't him. He was kidnapped almost a week ago and we didn't even know it." Heero said, looking none too pleased with the fact.

"You found him on the mission?"

"Yes."

They looked up as Chase, Wufei and Mirek entered the waiting area.

"Where are they?" Mirek asked.

"Where is she?" Chase asked at the same time.

"In surgery." Duo answered, following in behind them.

All the former pilots and Mirek turned at stared at him.

"She was shot in the lower right back." Duo added on.

"Maxwell.how." Wufei trailed off.

"Heero's the better one to explain." The American sighed, sitting down. He and Mirek stared at each other for a long moment.

The rest of them sat down as well.

"Explain." Chase demanded of her husband.

Heero shifted in his seat. "We found him in Victor's palace as it was burning in Germany."



*flashback*



Meg Collins stood in front of the computer pad on the first level of the prison wings. There were forty total, some OWN soldiers who failed to obey orders, some civilians whom had seen too much, some spies from the A.C. time, and some unknowns. Most of the people there were in good enough condition to walk -or run- out on their own. The upper floors were all ready burning; she and Heero were running out of time.

Heero came back supporting a young man who had received muscle contractions in his legs as 'incentive' to talk, and couldn't walk on his own. The Japanese man passed him off to a comrade who would carry him to safety outside.

"How many?" Heero asked, wiping sweat off of his forehead.

"Left or out?" Meg asked in reply.

"Out."

"Thirty. There are ten on the lowest level we need to get. I can't open the door locks from here."

"We'll have to use the stairs. The elevators have shut down." Heero said.

Meg nodded as they took off. They had been on the first level, and there were seven levels below that, totaling eight in all. They made it to the bottom without interference.

Heero surveyed they computer system on the floor. "They all have to be undone manually."

"Let's hope they're all conscious. We can't carry ten people out of here." Meg said.

They started on the separate doors. The two young people got lucky with the first six, all of them were able to get out on their own. Meg decrypted the seventh door and opened it.

The prisoner was on a metal table, attached to two IV's.

"Crap." Meg muttered. She went over to the table and grabbed the chart laying haphazardly on a nearby table. She scanned down the list of drugs and checked the cart. She found the necessary quantities, and administered them through one of the IVs. She unhooked the other IV and moved to the next room.

Heero had released two more, which left only one at the end of the hall. Meg had found her next room empty and she came back to the hall. Heero was heading for the last room when part of the building overhead exploded, sending shock waves down to their position.

Meg shrieked and they both covered their eyes from falling ceiling bits. Collecting her wits enough, she dashed back into the room with the unconscious prisoner in it. He was awake enough to move then.

She pulled him out into the hallway, only to see Heero moving back towards the last doorway.

"Forget it, Heero! We'll never make it at this point!" she shouted. Another part of the building exploded.

Heero paused at the door. She was right. This was a foolish endeavor. Yet.

"No. I'm not leaving anyone behind." He started the code processor.

Meg sighed. "You would have made a good doctor, Yuy." She said. The building shook again as the door slid open. Heero stepped inside, and the young coroner could hear his low gasp, even over the roar of the fire above them.

She leaned the man she was holding against the wall and jogged to his side. She frowned. "So, he is alive."

Heero gaped at her. "You knew? You did an autopsy on him! He died in front of me."

Meg blinked and patted his arm. "Breathe. No one told you? The person I did an autopsy on wasn't Duo Maxwell."

"Why wasn't I told?!?" he shouted.

Somewhere over their heads, they heard glass break. "Not now." Meg said.

Duo, like the man she had found before, was on a metal table, chestnut hair spilling out under his head. She grabbed the chart. She glanced at the medications littering the room around them. She looked to Heero, who was bent over the American, shaking his shoulder.

"I can't wake him up, Heero. They don't have the anti drugs here."

He met her gaze. "We'll worry about that later. Bring the chart. Let's go." He scooped Duo into his arms and ran back to the hall. Meg grabbed the man she had gotten earlier.

Unable to get back to the surface, they escaped through an underground tunnel on the first level. It came out at the edge of the forest across from the castle. They stood for several minutes, watching the once majestic building crumble.

"I don't know how you think we're going to wake him up, Heero. None of the drugs on the list are legal." Meg said.

"I know where we can get them."

"I really don't want to.What?"

"I know where we can get them. Let's go."

They left the last prisoner with a group of them that had assembled outside of the city.

Heero took them to a private shuttle launch that he knew of in the area. He directed them to L2.

"What are we going to find on L2?" Meg asked.

"Dr. J's old laboratory." Heero answered, almost smugly.

True to his word, that's what they found when they landed two hours later. It was a huge warehouse in the middle of no-man's-land.

Heero carried the drugged Duo inside, Meg following behind. She switched on the lights, and stood in awe of what was displayed. The place was tall enough to hold a gundam, and wide enough to store three of them. It had a second story that ran around the edge of the building, almost like a track in a gym.

Meg wandered around aimlessly as Heero found a medical table and laid Duo on it. The young woman stood in front of a cylinder shaped tube labeled 'Particle Transporter.' She picked up the file on it that was next to the contraption. At the bottom in big red letters it read 'NON-FUNCTIONAL.'

"What's this?" Meg asked, looking at Heero.

The ex-Zero pilot smiled grimly. "You'd have to ask Anna. She'd tell the story better. Let's get this over with, shall we?"

Meg nodded and moved over to the case that housed over a thousand differently labeled drugs. "He didn't take all these, did he?"

"I doubt it." Heero said. Meg consulted the papers she'd brought with her on what they had administered. "Idiots. A mix like this could kill someone." she mumbled.

"Trust me. He's probably immune from any poisoning." Heero said dryly.

Meg either didn't hear or chose to ignore the comment. She looked over the cabinet and picked out the drugs she needed to wake the former Deathscythe pilot up. "They were going to have a family and everything." She said softly. She gave Duo three shots, and a few minutes later he began to stir. Meg nodded in absent approval and wandered away again to look around.

Duo's eyes opened and he blinked, unsure -again- of his surroundings. He was surprised to see Heero standing over him.

"Heero?" he asked groggily.

The somber pilot actually smiled. "Hey."

Meg sat at a computer that was still running, which was surprising to her since the place was obviously abandoned and only Heero knew about it. She turned on the monitor and an expression of shock played over her face. "In the name of Jude."

"We can go now." Heero announced. He had one arm over Duo's shoulders, steadying the still shaky man.

Meg grinned. "Sure thing. You get him out to the shuttle. I'm going to grab a few medications just in case he has any side effects."

Heero glared at her suspiciously, but did what she suggested. *end flashback*

"And that's the way it went." Heero said.

"You really can't be killed, can you?" Chase asked Duo flatly.

The old grin returned briefly. "I told you, didn't I?"

Meg appeared in the doorway, blood on her hands and smock. Everyone stiffened slightly.

"She's a lot better off than Ryuujin, let me tell you. The bullet didn't do any damage to her spine. Blood loss was the major factor." The doctor said. "I'm just glad I learned med terms in Japanese from Anna. Otherwise they wouldn't have let me assist."

"Can we see her?" Duo asked.

"As soon as they've moved her."



The next two days went by without much change, save the fact that Cavel joined them at the hospital and Meg became highly secretive. Duo often sat quietly with his former wife, wondering why their wedding bands had been on the cement beside her. Ryuujin stirred every once in a while, but mostly slept. Quatre's spirit was troubled, and for once no one could cheer the usual optimistic young man up.

It was well after midnight the third day that Anna had been in the hospital when she awoke to a mostly darkened room. She blinked several times to orientate herself, and noticed that it was raining steadily outside the window.

"Welcome back."

Anna turned her head in the direction of the familiar voice. "Meg." She rasped.

Her friend handed her a cup with a straw.

"How long?" Anna asked after she'd taken a sip.

"Three days."

"Victor?"

"Dead."

"Who found me?"

Meg hesitated. "A passing priest."

Anna frowned. "In an alley?"

"You were near his church, he heard the gunshots." Meg said.

Anna looked suspicious, but was too tired to argue with the woman. "Chase?"



"Is back with Heero and fine."

Anna smiled. "Good. What about everyone else?"

"Wufei, Mirek, and Cavel are fine. Quatre is going through a little bit of depression. Ryuujin is recovering."

The frown appeared again. "Trowa?"

Meg hesitated again before sighing. "He's dead."

Anna said nothing but returned to staring out the window.

"In the morning, I want to show you something." Meg said quietly.

Anna nodded.