19: Disarm you with a smile

Just wild beat, communication
Standing in the lashing rain,
I want to show you my undying passionate feelings with my entire body tonight!

Heero and the others all stood over a comatose Duo's hospital bed with the grimmest of faces; he was covered down to his torso in bandages, he had stitches on the side of his head and somewhere underneath his hair due to gashes. An IV tube was inserted in his arm, and a monitor observed his heart beat. They could hardly recognize him when he was covered in mud and dried blood, his battered and torn uniform didn't make it any easier to tell who he was either. Sally stood at the far end of the room speaking with another doctor in a hushed tone. She stared at the unconscious American in the hospital bed worried about his condition. The other doctor excused himself and left the room quietly, Sally made her way over to the others unsure how explain their friend's condition without putting them in a panic, it that was possible.

"How's Duo?" Heero asked never taking his eyes of the bandages on his friend's body. Sally stepped into the light as she looked the chart on her clipboard over. "To be honest, we're unsure. We know he's comatose, but what we don't know is if he's in a permanent comatose state," Sally explained. Catherine felt like fainting at that very moment but thought it best not to because she would probably start a riot between everyone inside the room. "But------ Heero was like this, when he blew up Wing Gundam in Siberia. I took him to the circus I was traveling with and he was in a coma, but eventually he woke up," Trowa explained hastily. Quatre nodded in agreement despite the fact that he was never there when Heero woke up from his comatose state of mind.

Wufei said nothing, he studied Duo's facial expression; it seemed to be flinching. "That may be true Trowa, but Duo and Heero are completely two different people. Their wills are all the more different which means, if Duo didn't want to wake up or if he didn't have the will power he wouldn't wake up. Whereas if Heero wanted to wake up and a strong enough will to do so, he would and he did," Sally glanced briefly at the stoic Japanese teenager. "But will and strength are simply assumptions when it comes people in comas. It depends on the body and/or mind I guess. Only time will tell." Quatre's head bowed in defeat.

Sally sighed and stared curiously at Heero. He seemed almost upset, but there was no telling with him. "Anyway, I think you all need some rest, get outta here, find a place to stay for time being or go home. I'll let you know if he wakes up. I promise," She said. Everyone nodded and made their way out of the room. Sally stayed behind, she stared down at Duo's still body with look of indifference. "You better make it through this Maxwell, you don't know how miserable they're looking now without you around." Duo's hand twitched as though he were responding to her, but Sally knew it was just a reflex. Turning the lights off she left the room to report Jin's disappearance.

[Maxwell/Schbeiker home]:

Heero entered the house feeling worse than he had ever did in his entire life. In his arms was a sedated Hilde, wearing an oversized hoody overtop a "route 60" T-shirt, baggy pants, and Nike sneakers. Slipping out of his soggy shoes he made his way across the floor toward her bedroom careful not wake her up. She stirred in his arms causing to freeze in his tracks. Her eyes did not open and she made no indication that she was awake. Breathing of relief, he continued across the floor until he entered the bedroom where he then placed her on the bed. Heero kneeled down, grabbing her feet he removed her shoes then exited the room with giving her a second glance.

Shutting the door behind him he wondered how he was going to handle a grief stricken Hilde, he couldn't even handle himself after he killed half of an entire population inside a colony during one of his missions. Exhaling, Heero made his way over to the couch and flopped down onto the soft cushioned furniture, he then undressed himself down his boxers and undershirt. He fell onto his pillow fighting back hurt and pain that threatened to consume him, pulling his down comforter over his body Heero closed his eyes awaiting sleep to claim him. He would figure something out in the morning.

"Heero, Oi, Heero! Wake up!" Heero could feel himself being shaken roughly out of his slumber, although he tried to ignore the person trying to get up. He had just fallen asleep, now someone wanted to wake him up?? Cracking open one eye he felt the sunlight pour into his pupil, Heero snapped his stinging eye shut, the assailant that stood over him however did not vanish into thin air as he hoped. No sooner than he tried to fall back to sleep, he felt himself being shaken awake again.

Throwing himself into an upright position and prepared to punch the person's lights out when his fist stopped short. Standing beside the couch was none other than the supposed comatose Duo Maxwell smiling in all his glory. "Impossible......," Heero uttered frozen in his place. Duo laughed aloud at his reaction and pulled Heero out off the couch, he then ushered him into the kitchen. Heero was stiff with disbelief as Duo seated him at the table. "Impossible...," Was all that Heero could process in his mind. Duo turned in question holding a gun in his grasp. "What's impossible, Heero? Thick headed terrorists? Duo joked with a wink. Heero stared at what he thought was the chair, but found himself up against a large boulder in the middle of the desert with a gun in his hand pointing upward.

He wasn't wearing his underwear, instead he was wearing his preventer's uniform. "Nani?" He thought, just as Duo jumped from behind his cover and started firing his gun like a madman. Heero dropped his gun and dashed after Duo. Grabbing the braided American by the waist Heero pulled him down behind a larger boulder. Both men grunted in pain from what they thought was their back's hitting the ground, instead it more like a slap to the face from a gloved hand. Heero coughed up a trifle amount of blood doing his best to ignore the stinging pain his face. Heero found himself tied to a chair inside a bleak and dingy interrogation room accompanied by Duo who was also tied down to a chair, but with more restraints.

The floors were dingy, smelled of death and were wet. Heero could hardly focus on the man in front of him, his eyes were sore and refused to stay open. He shifted his line of sight toward Duo whose hair was no longer braided nor long, it was as short as his, but with a more "just cut" look to it. "This is nightmare, a simple nightmare I can wake up from.... I need to wake up! Someone wake me up!!" Heero though in a state of panic. He then was slapped again only this time harder. He grunted in pain as his chair fell over onto ground. "Now," Came a deep male voice. "I will not ask you again, where did you hide the Gundam, Wing Zero?" Heero shook his head, he had no idea how he had come to be here or why he was being beaten for information.

There was a long moment of silence that he knew was wearing on the figureless voice in the shadows, and all Heero wanted to wake up from his nightmare. However, the silence was broken by the sound of a gun being fired and the pained grunted of someone above him. Heero looked up only to find that Duo was shot through the heart, the short haired American fell forward in his chair bleeding to death. Heero found that he was unable to speak or shout out for his friend. Duo shifted his eye toward Heero with a weakest smile he could muster. "Wake up Heero, before you get shot......," Duo moaned before he died. Heero struggled to get lose of his bindings but to no avail, they were on his ankles and wrists so tight that they began to bleed. Heero's struggles were stopped by a sticky feeling on his chest. Looking down he saw his own blood running through the water on the ground. "I've been shot.....," He thought as the world around him became out of focus. He could feel his body growing numb after each passing minute..... "Wake up before your dead........ Heero, Heero, HEE-----!"

"----------RO!" Hilde shouted. Heero eyes snapped out and he bolted into upright position clutching his chest. Hilde fell off the couch head first. Heero immediately rolled off the couch pulling the down comforter along with him as he scooted across the floor in a blind panic. Hilde put herself into sitting position to rub her neck free of the pain. "Impossible....!" Heero blurted out scanning the area. "What? Heero are you all right?" Hilde asked walking toward him. Heero looked up at her with a disoriented expression as he pulled his legs up against his chest and rested his head on his knees trying to grip reality.

Hilde kneeled down beside him placing a hand on his head. "Must've been some nightmare. Worse than the first you've had since you were here," Hilde said, trying to lighten the mood. Heero glanced at her as his breathing slowly regressed to its normal state. Hilde messaged his neck for a good while doing her best to calm him down. There was not a doubt in her mind that he wouldn't talk about it to her. Not she wanted to be burdened with his demons, she had own to battle with now that Duo was gone. Hilde was taken by surprise when Heero's head shot upward and he jumped off the floor. She watched him dash into the bathroom and fall to his knees in front of the toilet. "It's worse than I thought," She mumbled heading toward the bathroom. "Heero?" Hilde stopped for a moment to take a look out of the window at the morning sun.

Heero felt his stomach lurch causing all that he had eaten (whenever that was) to return to surface. He vomited into the toilet what felt like the very inside of him. He moaned in pain as he felt his stomach lurch again, he vomited once again. After vomiting what felt forever, Heero slumped over onto the floor unable to shake the vivid images of his nightmare out of his head. The world was spinning around him, it wouldn't stop for a moment. "Help ... please.....," Heero moaned falling over. The world stopped spinning and everything around him went out of focus, he couldn't even hear Hilde's desperate pleas for him to stay awake.

When Heero awakened, he found himself back on the couch feeling more than a little drugged or maybe drowsy. He wasn't sure which of the two were affecting him. "Relena, he's awake!" He heard Hilde cry joy. The sound of footsteps coming in his direction alarmed him, he figured he was in that nightmare world again and he wanted to get out. He never wanted to go back there. He tried to move but couldn't his limbs would respond to his commands. A face that looked just like Relena's appeared in front of him, he felt her hand tuck itself under his head and the other dab his face with a damp washcloth. "Hey, Heero," She said with a smile.

Hey Heero? Relena would never say that to him, now he knew he was in a nightmare of some sort. "Wake me up...... please," He whispered desperately. "Heero you are awake, just not completely," The pretend-Relena told him. Heero shook his head as he tried to move away from her. "His temperature is over 190%. Hilde give me something that will cool him down," Relena cried. Heero struggled with all his might to get out of her grip, but he was far to weak to even put a resistance against her voice; she sounded too much like Relena. "Hey, I got the bath tub full of cold water ready," He heard the Pretend Hilde say. Heero felt himself being dragged off the couch and across the floor. Heero then drifted out of consciousness but not before he felt the sting of freezing water, after that the world became oblivious.

Air!

I need air! I suffocating! Pull me up! Heero's lungs felt like they were on fire, he couldn't breathe. He opened his mouth to try and breath out, but when he did the sound that he usually heard when someone was submerged in water assaulted his ears. Opening his eyes he looked around he surrounding area, it was a tub. As the memories flooded mind he pushed against the bottom of the tub and came up to the surface, he inhaled a large amounts of air until the burning in his lungs were gone. He laid his head against the tub before he felt someone's warm hand against his forehead, pulling his bangs back. Looking up he stared upon the angelic face of Relena Darlain. "Relena.....I," Heero felt so embarrassed for the way he acted. Relena smiled at him shaking her head. "Its' okay Heero, you had a fever, But its gone now," She said. "Didn't I tell you not to stand in the rain or you'll get sick?"

Heero's Prussian blue eyes averted downward remember her exact words. He nodded hesitantly. Relena sighed placing her chin atop his head. Heero didn't let her stay in that position long though, no sooner than he mentally picked up ever shard of his pride and dignity he lifted himself out of tub. Water fell out from ever fiber in his undershirt and boxers, as the water level slowly began to rise. "I thought you were home at the Sanc Kingdom," Heero said emotionlessly. Relena frowned knowing exactly what he was doing; shutting himself up again. Grabbing a towel she draped it over his shoulders for extra warmth.

"Yes, but Hilde called me and told me about your condition. I was worried, so I came to see you." Heero smirked ruefully stepping out of the tub onto the towel. "When I saw you, you were so pale and hot. You looked helpless almost," Relena pointed out. Heero frowned at her description of his condition as she dried his hair out. "Thanks for you concern," Heero yawned. Relena smiled removing the towel from off of his head. "You've already taken a bath. Might as well put one some clean dry clothes," She joked. Heero glanced at her before stepping out of the bathroom. Following him out she watched him pick up his duffle bag from off the floor and pull out a pair of jeans and a blue Tommy-hill figure T-shirt. Turning around she let him dress privately, Heero glanced at Relena's back as he pulled on his shirt followed by his pants last wondering if she had peeked or not. Pushing the thought out of his mind he pulled on a pair of clean socks, pulled them over his toes and lastly put his sneakers.

"Relena, do you need a ride home?" Heero asked. Relena turned with a frown across her face, Heero blinked in question. "What?" He wondered. Relena shook her head. It was obvious Heero didn't want her around. "Where's Hilde?" Heero said looking around the room. Relena turned her head to the bedroom door, her expression went to angry from sympathetic. "She's inside her bedroom. She thought you were going to die you know," Relena turned to Heero with a the sympathetic look. Heero said nothing which meant 'drop the subject.' Relena said no more about it. "Yes, I need a ride home, Heero. Would you take me please?" Relena responded to his question earlier. Heero grabbed his jacket and then the two headed out of the house leaving Hilde alone in the solitude of her bedroom.

[Hotel of heaven and earth]:

Trowa laid shirtless on his bed with a pair of sunglasses on in the middle of the sunlight coming through window. He slept like a stone all through the night. The same could not be said about Catherine, who was inside the bathroom giving herself a facial with one of free facial masks one of the hotel hostess gave her. She couldn't stop thinking Duo's condition; he was comatose. Probably forever. As a result, those thoughts kept her up all night. Catherine continued to poke the facial mask on her face.

"Catherine, are you done in there. I do have to wash up," Trowa complained. Catherine frowned at his constant badgering her for making sure her pores were clean. Catherine pulled the mask off her face before exiting the bathroom, Trowa lifted himself off the bed and removed his sunglasses from his face. "About time," He muttered. Catherine glared at him and proceeded to dress herself, once she knew Trowa was inside. Removing the towel from around her body she opened the drawer and pulled out a pink tank-top and shorts accompanied by matching yellow underwear. As she pulled her underwear over her bottom she wondered what Trowa was going to wear, all he brought with him was his green turtleneck and faded jeans.

That's about all he wore, Catherine thought of buying him an entire new wardrobe but she knew how touchy he got when she mentioned shopping for him. He acted like she was going to buy clothes their ringleader wore he wasn't bossing them around or reminding them that they were up next. Clipping her bra together in the back Catherine pulled the pink tank top over her head onto her body. "Hey Trowa, would like to go shopping with me before you slide your way out of the hotel room?" She called. There was a grunt from inside the bathroom, it was Trowa's way of saying no to shopping. Catherine zipped and buttoned her shorts wondering what to do with all her free time while on Earth. There's no way I'm gonna get Trowa to go shopping with me. He always refuses to do so, what make's now so different? She thought sadly flopping onto Trowa's bed.

The 18-year-old peered into the bathroom out the window, the sky was blue as it was cloudless, the faint sounds of birds and people conversing with each other outside could be heard from all the way inside the hotel room. Earth's energy was much different from the energy felt in the colonies from which they traveled from frequently. The people were nothing like the prejudice-spoken persons on the colonies she traveled to said they were. The people were kind, caring and generous. Brushing her hair back behind her ears, Catherine rose from her place as Trowa came striding out of the bathroom with a toothbrush in his mouth and one hand holding his green towel around his waist, dripping wet from the head down.

Catherine admired at his sheer appearance, he was much more muscular than she remembered. It must've been all that time spent training in his spare time. Trowa caught her staring at her and immediately exited the room back into the bathroom unable to remember why he even went into the room to begin with. "Trowa, hurry up!" He heard Catherine shout. Scowling he finished up brushing his teeth and gulped a large amount of water into his mouth to rinse any left behind toothpaste or foam. Pushy dame, he thought spitting. Drying himself off, Trowa searched for his clothes he had hung on the door. What bothered him was that he knew he had put them there and they vanished anyway.

Poking his head into the room, he said; "Catherine, have you seen my---- clothes..?" Trowa blinked in confusion. Now Catherine was missing! Stepping out of the room Trowa scanned the room for any signs of a break-in. He found none, looking down on his bed and found a red T-shirt with in the front, black jeans and a new boots. Beside the wardrobe was a note, bending down he picked the note up and read it. [A present from Relena. Meet me in "I HOP" across from the hotel] was the message on the yellow sticky note. He suddenly realized had happened to his clothes; Catherine took them and hid them somewhere! Frowning at the clothes, he reluctantly began to dress himself in them. He had no objections to the boots, but he knew Catherine knew that he hated people dressing unless it came to a black tie or tux occasion. After getting the boots onto his feet Trowa grabbed his sunglasses and headed out of the room to I HOP.

[ I HOP]:

"So Quatre, what brings you here?" Catherine asked resting her hand against the line of her jaw. Quatre glanced up from his pancakes with a smile. "Oh, nothing. I figured spending time with you and Trowa was much better than lounging in my hotel room," He joked. Catherine laughed while Trowa was gnawing at his sausage that felt as tough as leather, he couldn't find any reason why to like I HOP.

The food sucked monumentally, everything was over or undercooked. Especially his sausage. Removing the food from his mouth he placed it on the plate and gulped down all his water. Quatre watched him in bewilderment as he finished off his waffles and sticky rice with a look of resentment, Catherine tried her best not to loose her appetite as she chewed her eggs in a polite manner. Quatre drank the last of his orange juice and placed the glass on the table beside his half-empty plate, he stared down at it wondering where his egg rolls went off to.

Glancing toward Trowa, he spotted the Latin American stuffing the last one into his mouth, the look of resentment remained on his face. It made Quatre wonder why his friend was eating them in the first place if he disliked the foot that much. Catherine jumped from her seat with a small bowl in her hand and chopsticks in the other, with a triumphant smile. "I'm done!" She cried happily. Quatre and Trowa continued to eat in an attempt to ignore the public eye.

[Apartment A-6]:

Wufei sat cross-legged in the middle of the living room in the dark, his hand rested on his ankle while the other one laid against the floor. He began to focus all his energy into one part of his body; his mind. Despite this, Wufei found himself in a board state of mind and Meditation was his favorite pastime, sighing he lifted himself off the ground scanning his dark living room. "I much rather be working than meditating at the present moment," He grumbled striding across the floor and into the kitchen. Turning on the kitchen light he found a bottle of water he had left on the counter nights before, passing the table he stopped in front of the counter and picked the water bottle off the counter. Unscrewing the cap, he placed the opening in his mouth hungrily guzzling it down his throat.

Opening one eye he noticed something stuck to the refrigerator he hadn't noticed before when he came inside. I'm suffering from memory relapse, he thought wearily. Removing the bottom from his mouth he screwed the top back onto the bottle and made his way toward the fridge. As he was he kept thinking Une's decision was an ill one; unless he was working he was mediating or practicing with his katana, but to relieved of duty until further notice was making it clearly obvious to even him that he was workaholic. Pulling the envelope off of the fridge, he opened it and pulled the note out of it. He began to read it.

Dear Wufei:

It's me Conner, one of your many if not clumsy Preventer in training students. I just wanted to drop you a line from all in the colonies (colony L1) where I'm visiting my parents, because I just found your apartment address from Miss Sally ; Don't get angry at her, I sorta pestered her until she blew her fuse, she punched me in the eye triggering a migraine of some sort. She proved you didn't have to be old to develop migraine. Anyway, afterward she apologized, I apologized and for extra measure she gave me your address and phone number so I could bother you instead of her. What a way to pass the stick eh? Anyway, I would really like it if you came to see my parents if you wanted to. Their really nice, and don't mind Preventers. Or at least that's what they told me, you never know with parents.

Drop me a line sometime!

Your friend,
Conner Finn.

Tears for fears! (Conner's way of saying bye)

Wufei placed the note on the table and headed toward his bedroom. He needed to sleep before he went and called an energetic Preventer-in-training. Turning off the kitchen light off Wufei thought for a moment about traveling to space as the perfect vacation spot away from Earth. Opening his bedroom door, he quickly made his way toward his bed and fell into the mess of covers. "If anyone calls, leave a message," He grumbled tiredly himself. "I have no intentions of getting up from my slumber." With that he closed his onyx eyes.

And as if on cue the phone rang. Wufei grabbed his pillow and placed it over his head. The phone continued to ring until the answering machine began to play. You've reached Chang Wufei's apartment. I'm currently unavailable, so please leave a message after the tone. [BEEP] "Wufei, it's Heero. Have you told anyone, namely Hilde or Relena that Duo was alive? If not you, me and the others are gonna have to tell them soon, or they'll think we played a cruel joke on them." There was click, indicating Heero had hung up. Wufei shifted in his bed mentally reminding himself to check his messages before he left the apartment.

Sally entered the Critical room, where Duo and Dorothy were stationed in to check up on Dorothy. She had recently had surgery on her leg that was now in a cast and elevated a few inches from the bed. She peeked into the sunlit room finding Dorothy reading a James Patterson novel by the name of 2nd chance out loud. Sally cleared his throat bringing the platinum blonde's nose out of the book. Dorothy smiled sheepishly placing the book down beside her. "Yes, Sally?" Dorothy said.

Stepping into the room Sally made her way over to Dorothy's bed never taking a second glance at Duo. "I was just wondering why you were reading out loud, is all," Sally replied lucidly with a wave of her hand. Dorothy nodded understanding. "I was just reading to our Magnanimous Duo Maxwell. He seemed to lonely," She said prudently. Sally's eyes widened slightly before turning to take a look at Duo; he laid still as ever.

She wondered if there was anything wrong with Dorothy that she missed in her examination. "Just don't do it anymore, some of the preventers are considering on sending you to a mental institute," Sally warned before leaving the room. Dorothy would have laughed if it wasn't the dull aching she recived from her leg when she moved or even chuckled. She blonde glanced up at Duo, noticing his eyes were moving underneath his eyelid and his hand was twitching. Picking her book up again she resumed her reading, but to herself trying to forget what she had seen.

Hilde found her herself on Duo's side of the bed underneath the covers. Yawning she climbed out of the bed slowly searching for her slippers. Deciding she didn't need them, she headed out of the room stratching the back of her neck before noticing the blinking light on the phone. Rushing over to the phone, she pressed the "repeat" button. Sally Po appeared on the small screen with somewhat of a smile on her face, Hilde's eyebrows raised in confusion, she never remembered wanting a house call from Sally. Shrugging she turned the volume up to listen to the 20-year-old's message.

"Hilde Schbeiker, in case Heero or the others forgot to tell you, a young boy named Jin and a woman brought in Preventer 02, Duo Maxwell very much alive. He's here at Preventer's HQ but there's something you should know about his condition...... he is currently in a comatose state, and we don't know when or if he'll wake up. I'm sorry. [Click!] The image vanished and the message ended. Hilde's heart felt like it had been cracked in two all over again, pulling herself over to the couch she fell onto it burrying her face in her arms weeping bitterly. "Wh-why didn't Heero tell me?" She whimpered.