Chapter 2
When he could sit up by himself Shiane moved her hand away and backed up a little to give him space. She still sat on her knees, and watched him as he attempted to stand. He was unstable on his feet and unable to stand upright very well. As he started to crumble back towards the floor, she rose quickly and tried to help him, but he held up his hand. Shiane halted in her tracks as she watched him make his way over to the machines and stop to look at each tube, including Duo's and his own. She never took her eyes off him as he performed his inspection of the room, wondering what he was thinking. Then he came back over and stood in front of her; taking a good look at her. This made Shiane nervous and she attempted to look elsewhere, so instead she looked down at Duo and noticed that unlike Heero he never moved.
"Did you take us out?" Heero asked keeping his emotions masked.
"Yes. The glass broke and flew so I used a hammer and chipped enough to get you two out," she replied looking back at Heero. Since he had a masked face, she couldn't read it, which made her all the more wonder what was going through his mind. He glanced back at the others still in their tubes.
"Do you know how long we've been asleep?" he inquired, his eyes meeting hers once again.
"No, I don't even know when you were put in the things."
At that moment, Duo started stirring and waking up behind her. She turned around and took the other bottle and gave some water to Duo just as she had with Heero.
Heero ignored Shiane while she did this and continued inspecting the room. She helped Duo sit up and then stand, though he leaned against her to get his balance. In one hand Duo had a water bottle, and the other was on her shoulder to keep his balance.
"Oh Duo, you need to rebraid your hair," she whispered pointing to his hair, "Hold on, I need to get something from my backpack."
He released her shoulder just as she bent down to pick up her backpack. Shiane searched in one of the side pockets until she found a hair tie.
Setting the bottle down, he reached back for his hair, and started to rebraid it as she watched. Shiane handed him the hair tie when he was finished, which he greatly appreciated. After tying it he flipped his long braid behind his head and gave a nod of thanks to her.
Shiane looked to see where Heero had gone and saw that he was examining the tubes with the sleeping people inside. Taking her eyes off of Heero she found Duo staring at her intently.
"Hey, you look like Une!" he exclaimed startling her, "But a whole lot younger," he added after a moment of consideration.
"Did he mean Lady Middie Une Collins? Because if he did, then he must have known my grandmother! I do look a lot like her!" she thought.
"She could be related to Lady Une, Duo!" Heero said coming up behind him.
"Heero!" Duo exclaimed very surprised looking around until he spotted his friend, "Are you related to Une?" Duo asked, turning to look at her once again.
"Um…Yes. I'm…her granddaughter," she replied looking from one to the other not really sure what to say. Duo's jaw dropped in complete and utter astonishment, but Heero's emotions were still masked, much to Shiane's growing frustration.
"How exactly did you know about us?" Heero asked changing the subject slightly. He looked directly at her.
"My grandmother, Lady Collins, as she goes by, used to tell me and two friends stories when we were little. She told us they were true, and that you two, Trowa, Quatre, Wufei, and Hilde disappeared long ago without a trace," she told them.
"But how did you know where to find us?" Duo asked keeping his eyes on her. He was still astonished at her announcement, but was now curious about several things.
"I don't really know. I was wandering around the building and I found this room behind a large stone broken from the wall itself," she told him uncertain.
"Hilde's here?" Duo asked scratching his head, a small puzzled frown on his face.
"Yeah, over there," she pointed across the room.
"Hilde, and Quatre, and Trowa! They're here too? Well let's go get them out!" he exclaimed walking unsteadily over to the machines.
Shiane followed him and glanced at Heero as she passed him. She knew he wasn't going to help, seeing as he leaned against the wall and watched the other two.
The girl went over to Quatre and Trowa while Duo went to Hilde on the other side of the broken tubes.
"Duo, do you know anything about these machines?" she called as she gazed down at the control board.
"Not really. I only know how to open and close them. I remember the guy made me stand there and he pulled a lever towards him that made the tube come down," he said walking over to her. He looked at the levers and choosing once he said,
"You go up there while I turn off the gas and make the tube go up." He told her holding his hand out. She took his hand and with his help climbed onto the machine. Shiane went up to the tube Quatre was in as the gas got shut off. Duo then moved the lever that opened the tubes towards her. She watched the tube fly up, exposing Quatre. She caught him as he slumped forward, but had to rebalance herself and adjust the blond against her. When she settled she looked at Duo again. The blond was actually pretty easy to allow his whole weight to settle against her for he was only a couple of inches taller than her and he was smaller in build than Heero, which was a relief.
"Umm…come down here and I'll take him," he said motioning with his hands.
She pulled Quatre with her until she reached Duo who took him and held his hand up so she could get down. She took his hand and slightly jumped down watching for any shattered glass.
Duo carried Quatre over to where Shiane had put him and Heero, and carefully laid Quatre down. She followed him and sank down beside the blond.
He turned his gaze to her and asked, "Do you have any more water?"
"Yeah, they're in my backpack, but I only have two bottles left," Shiane replied. Pulling her backpack to her she took the last two remaining bottles out. Setting them beside her, she opened one and pushed the bag away. She slid her hand under Quatre's head and lifting it off the ground and brought the water bottle up to his mouth and squeezed in a little water. It took a couple of minutes, but she felt him begin to stir as he let the water slide down his throat. She gave him a little more before setting the bottle back down. She watched as he opened expressive green eyes and stare briefly up into her brown ones. He blinked, trying to get into focus to look around him.
"Hello," Shiane said softly as she helped him sit up.
"Hey buddy! Long time no see!" Duo said cheerfully standing beside her.
"Duo!…Where's everyone else?" Quatre asked looking up at Duo. He hadn't really noticed Shiane sitting beside him yet, but that was because his whole attention was on his friend at the moment.
"Well Heero is over there," he said pointing to the other boy, "And the others, well except for Wufei, are still in the tubes over there," he finished pointing to Trowa and Hilde.
"Oh. Who is this?" he asked looking back at the girl.
"Shiane Collins," she told him.
"That's your name? You never told me that!" Duo exclaimed.
"You never asked me!" Shiane retorted turning her gaze up to him. There was a moment of silence before Quatre started laughing.
"What's so funny?" Duo and Shiane asked in unison. It was so contagious they couldn't help but grin themselves.
"You two! You sound like best friends…that or siblings." he laughed. Duo and her just looked at each other then they also started laughing along with the blond.
"Shiane will you help me up?" Quatre asked quietly after they all stopped and caught their breath.
"Sure," she said. She rose to her feet first and pulled Quatre up next to her, "Will you help me and Duo get the other two out?"
He nodded his head and gazed around the room. He was a little bit surprised when he spotted Heero, but he asked, "Will you help us Heero?"
"I guess," he replied. Pushing away from the wall, he walked past the three to the tube that Trowa was in. He stood there waiting for them until they followed and stood by him. When they got there Shiane quickly spotted the green button and pushed it, making the gas turn off. Duo held up a hand to again help her up. She got up there and waited at the tube until the lever was moved.
Shiane caught Trowa in her arms but just barely since he was so tall and it all took a little longer to drag him to the others because though he was lean and was muscled, his build was a bit more prominent than Heero's. She pulled him with her the best she could to Heero's and Quatre's waiting arms. They took him and carried him to the spot where everyone else was put. They laid Trowa down but waited for the girl and Duo to get Hilde so they could revive both of them at the same time. Quatre remained by Trowa's side but Heero went back to the wall and leaned on it where he watched them in silence from there.
Duo helped Shiane down and they went to the other side of the machines where Hilde was. Shiane shut the gas off but she still needed help getting onto the machine since she was no longer using the stool. She looked up slightly at Duo to see what was keeping him and found him was staring at Hilde, oblivious to all else around him, including Shiane beside him.
"Duo…a little help," Shiane said clearing her throat.
"Oh. Sorry," he helped her up and she got to where she needed to be to get Hilde. Duo moved the lever, but the tube didn't go up. Their gazes met and Shiane could see the worry in his blue eyes; he cared greatly for the friend still imprisoned.
"There might be an emergency lever. Look for one," Shiane suggested thoughtfully.
He looked at each of the other levers until he went back to a particular once and kept reading and rereading a label over to himself, half mouthing the words. A worried and concerned look crossed his otherwise cheerful face.
"Duo, what is it? What does it say?" she asked him taking a step down towards him.
He looked up at her, "It says 'Pull lever if in emergency'. But it doesn't say what it does! Shiane, what if it does something bad? Like…blow this whole room up?" he asked worriedly.
"Then don't pull that lever. Maybe there's something caught on the tube that won't let it go up. I'll go look," Shiane told him.
He started to say something in protest but she held up her hand stopping him. Whatever he had wanted to say, he kept it to himself. She searched carefully and a little slowly around the base of the tube but couldn't find anything.
"There's nothing! Try it again Duo," she finally called to him.
He tried again and this time it worked. The tube went up and Shiane got Hilde by her waist. Luckily she was light enough to not upset Shiane's delicate balance atop the machine. She made her way carefully down to Duo, where she gave her burden to young man and motioned to him to go on. She was going to jump down herself despite the scattered glass, but she was going to be careful. The girl watched him cradle Hilde in his arms as he walked over to Quatre. A warm smile crossed her lips as she watched him.
Just as Shiane was about to jump, she heard the distinct sounds of tiny explosions and she frowned because they were out of place. But they were gradually becoming louder and she could feel the machinery start to vibrate and tremble and even through her sandals she could feel the metal start to become a little warm. The mysterious equipment was starting to blow up! Doing the only thing she could think of, she jumped down and crouched with her back at its base; she didn't think she had enough time to make it to the others. The entire thing was blowing up right against her back!
She glanced over at Duo and the others (with the exception of Heero, since he was leaning against the wall) and found that they must have heard something too because they were all looking at the machine and Shiane very worriedly. It appeared that Quatre was about to go and get her but the explosion from behind her came and Duo had grabbed his arm, holding him back. Something struck her hard in the middle of her back and that was the last thing she knew.
TBC
Notes: Didn't you just LOVE Duo's reaction when he found out that she's Une's granddaughter?