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Chapter eight

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He looked at the schematics for the palace and frowned. They should not have been able to escape from the hall during the attack, yet that is exactly what had happened. His employer will not be pleased. He might even reduce his pay considerably. His light blue eyes narrowed thoughtfully. 'If I find them and finish my mission, then I might be forgiven.' He chuckled to himself, "Forgiveness equals full pay…"

"Did you say something?" A soft gentle voice asked as slender white arms encircled around his neck.

"Ame, what are you doing here?" He frowned, "I thought I asked you to stay home."

"I know, I'm sorry." She smiled sweetly, "You had a phone call that sounded really important, and you left your cell phone on the table… I just thought you would like it." The girl handed him his cell phone. "You also forgot your lunch, I thought you might like that as well." Violet eyes glistened as the child offered the delicately packed meal.

He smiled at the little girl. "Arigato, Ame. Aren't you going to be late for your class?"

The girl giggled, her golden curls dancing around her face. "Iie, classes were canceled for today."

"Oh really? Why's that?" He asked an eyebrow raised towards her.

The girl shrugged, "I suppose that it had something to do with the Vice Foreign minister being found." His face darkened, "Anyway…" She continued. "I'm just a kid. What do I care?"

"Indeed." He agreed, stepling his fingers and resting them against his nose.

"Are you alright?" the little girl asked, her violet eyes blinking.

"Hai, little one, I'm fine." He offered the child a reassuring smile. "Why don't you call your friends? Spend the day with them while I work?"

"Hai!" The girl agreed happily before skipping away.

'Damn.' He frowned. "If Ame, a mere child knows of the failure of my mission, then so will the boss…" He groaned, "I'm screwed!"

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Trowa was woken by the sounds of soft whimpering. Slowly, he opened his eyes. It was dark. He glanced at the clock.

3:20.

'Wow…' He thought amazed, 'I was really out of it…" He rubbed his eyes tiredly.

The whimper turned into a moan.

"Quatre?" He called softly The curtain was still drawn, so the panged boy pushed himself into a sitting position. He was stunned at how he was feeling no pain, when earlier today, he had a hard time moving.

Quatre yelped.

"Koi?" There was still no reply. Gingerly, the taller boy pushed himself to his feet and walked over to the smaller boy's bedside, "Quatre?" he called gently.

The blonde was drenched in sweat. His hands were cold and clammy, yet his face was flush and burning with fever. Quatre was shaking and twitching at invisible phantoms, leaving him gasping for breath.

"Little one?" Trowa nudged the boy's shoulder, "Quatre…"

Slowly, glazed over aquamarine eyes forced themselves open. The blonde tried to speak, but the words didn't make it passed his chapped lips.

Trowa brushed away some of the blonde locks and kissed his forehead. 'His fever's gone up.' He frowned to himself. "Quatre… did the nurse ever come to give you pain meds?"

The boy weakly shook his head as his eyes drifted shut.

"Koi…Quatre…" The banged boy turned and limped to the bathroom. He found a cold cloth and soaked it in freezing water. Returning to the ill boy's side, he wiped off his koi's face and tried to cool him down. He then got a glass of water and gently lifted the blonde's head so that he could drink the refreshing liquid. Most of it dribbled down Quatre's chin. "Come on, Little one… Drink…please?"

The boy flinched and a tortured moaned escaped his lips.

"Quatre…" Trowa pleaded before noticing a phone on the other side of the blonde's bed. Desperately, he snatched it up and dialed the one person he felt could help. "Wu Fei…" He addressed when the line was answered, "I need to speak to Sally."

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Sally frowned as she looked at the thermometer. Trowa was sitting on his own bed watching her intently. Wu Fei stood by the window, arms crossed. The woman picked up Quatre's charts. "Damn…" She murmured.

"Sally?" Trowa asked.

"I'm not sure, Trowa… Aside from his fever he's healing rather well…" She shook her head, "I don't know why it won't go down…I don't know why it's even here."

"I don't understand." The banged boy frowned.

"There is no infection. There is no bacteria or viruses… nothing."

Trowa thought aloud, "Sally…could it be possible he's feeling someone else and it's making him sick?"

"I don't see how… unless his empathic sense has grown…"

"Sally, he'd react to my condition…If I was feverish, so was he…"

"If you stopped breathing, so would he… yes I know." She sighed thoughtfully. "But, Trowa, You are exceptionally close to each other."

"That's never been the case before." Trowa's emerald eyes were set and determined to figure out what was wrong with his koi.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't tell you." She apologized. She added some more meds to his I.V. as it dripped into the boy's arm. "This should help him relax. Though I'm not sure what to do about his fever."

"What about an ice bath or something like that?" Wu Fei suggested. "The important thing is that we get his temp back down to where it belongs."

"It could throw his system into shock." Sally declined, "THAT could kill him."

Trowa scowled, "Having a temp of a 105o will kill him too." He pointed out. "We have to do something…"

The small blonde moaned painfully. He forced his eyes open, but it was only a small crack, "T…Trowa…" He whimpered hoarsely.

"I'm here, Koi!" Trowa assured him getting off of his bed and gripping the boy's ice cold hand.

"D…Duo… Where's…"

"He's at our apartment, with Hiiro." Wu Fei said also coming to his friend's side.

"He…He's…" The boy was straining for his words.

"Quatre, just rest. We'll talk later." Sally ordered gently.

The blonde looked horrified, 'Well,' Trowa thought, 'as much as he can with as weak as he is…'

"Iie… The boy shook his head, "Duo…He…he's…"

"Quatre, you must rest!" Sally insisted, "I'm giving you something to help you sleep."

"Iie…" He protested even as Sally inserted a needle into his arm, "P…please…"

He moaned, "Duo…needs…help…"

Trowa ran his fingers through the blonde bangs, "Easy, Little one… I'll look into Duo for you…okay?" Aquamarine eyes stared back at him, not really seeing the banged boy. "You just need to rest…please, Quatre? For me?"

Quatre opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Silently he nodded, as the drugs kicked in and he slipped into a dreamless sleep.

Trowa turned, "Let's get him cooled down."

"I'll start the bathwater…" Wu Fei said heading into the bathroom.

"We'll have to keep a close eye on him." Sally warned, all but collapsing in a nearby chair.

"Are you alright, Sally?" The banged boy asked as he pulled back Quatre's blankets and began to prepare him for the tub. "You look ill."

The woman sighed warily, "Hai…I'm just really tired lately." She smiled a little bit.

"I apologize for calling you out so late."

"Don't. Quatre needed help. I'm glad you felt you could call me."

Wu Fei came back into the room. "The water's ready." He informed them. He glanced at Sally, briefly resting his hand on her shoulder. Trowa bent to pick up the boy, but the Chinese boy stopped him. "I'll get him; you're still injured and should rest yourself." The banged boy frowned momentarily, but then he leaned over and kissed the sleeping boy before returning to his own bed.

"He'll be okay." The Chinese boy tried to reassure as he gathered the limp boy in his arms and headed towards the next room. Trowa merely nodded, his own fatigue catching up to him. "Sally," He called before disappearing and closing the door.

"Yes, Wu Fei?"

"Can you get some large towels and some clean pajamas for when he gets out?"

"Sure." She nodded, standing and heading towards the nurse's station.

"Sally…" Trowa called out after her. She paused in the door way. "Can you also see about getting us out of here? I think Quatre will do better in the medical wing at home."

"I can see." She agreed. "Would it be alright if Relena was brought to your medical wing too?"

"It wouldn't be a problem." Trowa granted, "I'd feel better with our security system anyway. Someone tried to kill us and once word gets out that they failed…"

"They're going to try again." Sally finished for him.

"Right." The banged boy nodded.

"I'll make it happen." She promised before leaving the room.

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The boy yelped as the frigid water enveloped his body, but he did not waken. His lips began to quiver as shivers ran up and down his thin and battered form.

"Come on, Quatre…" Wu Fei coaxed, "You need to pull through this." He found a washcloth and began to dampen the blonde's face, "For all of our sakes, but especially for Trowa…"

Aquamarine eyes opened slightly before closing again. The boy's pale skin grew goose bumps and his body quaked with cold.

"You know, Winner…" Wu Fei frowned, "I never thought you were a quitter. You're too strong for that." He splashed the blonde's face lightly with water. The aquamarine eyes opened again, and looked up into the Chinese boy's own dark eyes. 'He looks so tired.' The dark haired boy sighed. "So don't prove me wrong now… not after all you've survived? 'kay?"

Slowly, the smaller boy nodded, a faint smile on his bluing lips, "I…I'll try…" He whispered hoarsely through his chattering teeth.

Chang smiled, "Hey," He felt the boy's forehead, "I think your temp. may have gone down some. What do you say we get you out of this freezing water?"

"H…Hai…" Quatre stammered as his friend lifted him out of the tub and set him on the toilet wrapping a large towel around his thin form. "A…ari…ga...tou…"

"Not a problem. Come on, we'll get you dried off, dressed and back in bed before you fall back asleep."

Numbly the blonde nodded, his eyes slipping closed again.

"Quatre?"

"Hmmm?" He moaned.

"Open your eyes."

The blonde complied. "I…I want… to g-g-go h-h-home…"

"We're trying Quatre." Wu Fei told him helping him put on his pajama top.

"W-W-Where's…D-D-Duo?"

"He's at my apartment with Yui."

"I-I-Is he…"

"No, he's not okay." Wu Fei frowned, "But Yui's taking care of him and you need to worry about yourself." He picked up the boy and headed out the door, placing him in his bed. 'The sheets have been changed…' he noticed as the blonde sank deep into his pillows.

Sally stood nearby with a thermometer in her hand. "Quatre, I want to take your temp."

The boy opened his mouth and the instrument was placed under his tongue. "You've given us quite the scare Quatre. Especially, Trowa." She chided.

Quatre turned his head and met his koi's emerald gaze. The banged boy mouthed something causing him to smile faintly.

"Okay, let me see." Sally ordered. He handed her the instrument. "101.3o." She smiled, "It's not broken, but It's defiantly a great improvement."

"When can we go home?" Quatre asked in a quiet voice, his chattering teeth having stopped, now that he was warmed in blankets.

"Tomorrow morning." Sally announced.

"Really?" Trowa raised an eyebrow. Sally nodded. "Quatre! Did you hear that? You can be back in your own room!"

The blonde merely sighed, a smile on his face as he surrendered to the drugs once more; and sleep claimed him. A sleep that was more peaceful than any in the recent past.

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