Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing, don't sue me, and no this has no Yaoi, there's nothing like that in the story so don't get any wrong ideas about anything going on. . .

Chapter 26

"Duo and Trowa are coming back to help, are you alright, Relena?" Chang stumbled a bit as he knelt by her. She looked down at his right calf and saw the broken bone sticking out a bit from the torn skin, causing her to become a bit nauseous.

"Oh Chang, your leg looks horrible! How can you still walk!" Relena covered her mouth as she looked away. He looked down at it and said quietly, "It's nothing, I'm fine. I would have just done all this on my own but I knew the way my leg was bleeding I wouldn't make it, so I had to ask for help."

"What do you mean? You. . .don't want help?" Relena looked up at him. He blinked and diverted his eyes to look at Zechs.

"Not really. . ." He answered quietly.

"Why?"

"I'm strong, I can handle things without people's help. Like I would have finished off those mobile suits if Rachel hadn't done it for me." Chang growled under his breath.

"Pardon?" Relena asked, somewhat confused by the contemptish remark Chang made.

"Nevermind, you weren't there. Oh, I'm sure Heero would want me to ask for him; are you hurt?" Chang changed the subject. She looked down and said, "My legs keep giving out on me, I'm not sure why. . .I feel a sharp pain in my ankle too." Chang waved for her to show him and she slowly brought her left foot forward, allowing Chang to take it. He gently felt it and she moaned.

"It's broken. You should stay off of it for the time being, Rachel can mend it later."

"Rachel? Are you mad, she's in no condition! She's barely breathing and you already have her playing nurse? What nerve you have. . ." Relena said angrily. He blinked in surprise and said, "Nerve? She has talents, and I hardly think we should let them go to waste-"

"Nothing's being wasted, Chang. She's a person, not a phone card that you have to use the minutes up on before it expires! Doesn't your honor code come with any respect for others!" He stared at her at this comment, curious at how much power she seemed to have hidden inside to point out such mistakes he could make. He bowed his head and said, "You are right, I was not thinking. How could I be so selfish, not thinking of her feelings."

"In case you didn't notice she's still bleeding and if someone doesn't do something she may die!" Relena stated, pointing to the small pool of blood forming by Rachel. Chang limped over and pulled off his shirt, ripping it into strips and using them to bandage Rachel's shoulder and stop the bleeding. He sat down in exhaustion and took a deep breath, trying to relax and ignore the nagging pain in his leg. Relena was about to make a comment when she heard plane engines and looked up to see Trowa and Duo coming to their aid.

"They're here, good." Relena said with a weak smile, relaxing while they waited for them to make their way over to them. Several quiet minutes later, Duo and Trowa came running over to them with worried faces.

"What the heck happened!" Duo yelled when he saw Rachel's deteriorated condition, the blood puddling around her pale and battered body. He fell to his knees by her side, his black pants soaking up the blood and giving them a reddish tint, but he didn't care. He lifted her limp head in his hands and said, "Chang, what happened. . .why's she like this?"

"She tried to rescue Relena and that man there from falling to their deaths but her wing broke and they crash landed, Rachel and him getting the brunt of the damage." Chang said. Duo looked desperate, looking from his fallen angel to the man to Relena and back again, shocked by how much had happened the brief minutes they were gone.

"How the heck did this guy get past our planes without us noticing him!" Duo asked angrily.

"His suit was extremely fast, he could have snuck around you before your radar could register his presence."

"I don't care, this shouldn't have happened. . ." Duo furiously looked at Zechs and pulled out his gun, saying, "I oughta kill him. . ."

"NO! You can't!" Relena shrieked, throwing up her hands with a fearful look on her face.

"Why the heck not!"

"Because, he's my brother!" They all stared blankly at her, mostly in shock by this information.

"Brother? You have a brother?" Trowa asked.

"Apparently; Rachel told me before she passed out. She ordered me to destroy his mask for some reason too, I don't understand why. . ." Relena commented, looking down at the shattered pieces of metal on the ground, then hugged her wounded hand against herself. Trowa noticed her cut and looked it over to make sure it wasn't infected, bringing over a medical kit from the plane that he figured might be useful.

"Trowa, toss me some gauze, please. . .and alcohol wipes. . ." Duo said, looking up sadly. Trowa threw him the supplies and Duo went to work tending to Rachel's wounds, gently wiping the scraps and cuts clean with the alcohol pads before bandaging some of the more severe wounds. Chang's eyes sagged a bit as he began to softly swoon, placing a hand firmly against the ground to remain upright. Relena tapped Trowa's shoulder and pointed to Chang's leg, commenting that he was more important at the moment than her cut. He stood and strode over to Chang, kneeling by his leg and reaching for it. Chang glared at him and said, "What are you doing!"

"In case you haven't noticed half your fibula is sticking out. I was going to set it for you, unless you're afraid of the pain. . ." Trowa said calmly, looking up at Chang. For a hesitant moment Chang looked scared but it soon disappeared as he said boldly, "Of course I'm not, do it." Trowa nodded and gently took Chang's leg, looking up to make sure he was ready. Chang nodded and looked away. Relena felt her stomach churn as Trowa snapped the bone back in place, causing Chang to scream in sudden unbearable pain. Duo felt like throwing up as well as he closed his eyes, turning his head away.

I hate it when people do that. . .it creeps me out. . .Duo thought as he tried to finish patching Rachel up. Trowa gingerly bandaged Chang's leg and tied a brace to it to keep it straight, being sure to not cause Chang any more pain than he was already in, which was a lot.

"Trowa, should we move them?" Duo asked, looking down at Rachel's limp body and staring at his blood stained hands and clothes.

"I don't see why not. You may want some help with Rachel, just to be careful since she's so weak already." Trowa stated, looking over at her. Duo nodded and Trowa walked over to him, kneeling next to Rachel and gently placing his hands under her back. Duo did the same and they gently lifted her up and carried her toward the elevator. Chang slowly stood, hopping toward the elevator to join them. Relena watched them, wondering if she should wait or follow. Looking over his shoulder, Trowa said, "Should I help Relena over?" They set Rachel down and Duo nodded to him. Running back to Relena, Trowa offered her his hand and she took it, wobbling to her feet.

"Be careful, her ankle's broken." Chang shouted back to them.

"Can you stand alright or do you need to be carried?" Trowa asked gently, keeping her steady.

"I. . .I think I can stand, but I might need some help." Relena admitted. Trowa supported her left side and started to slowly walk. Looking back, Relena said, "Will you help Milliardo?" Trowa nodded and they walked to the elevator. The group reached the top and they carried Rachel into her hut, laying her carefully on the bed. Relena limped into the hut behind them, leaning against everything she could to get there with Chang soon to follow. As soon as it was safe, Trowa went back to drag Zechs upstairs too.

"We should get her to a hospital, she won't make it out here without a transfusion." Chang stated, slowly easing down onto Relena's bed beside her.

"She's strong, don't worry about her. . .if she gets any worse I suppose we'll have to. . .but we shouldn't move her for now." Duo said quietly, making sure that no more blood was coming out.

"She's so pale. . .should we cover her up since she's lost so much blood?" Relena asked.

"Huh?" Duo looked back at Relena.

"Your blood's what keeps you warm, moving through your body, she's going to get cold with what little blood she has left."

"You're right. . ." Duo gasped, pulling the sheets over Rachel's clammy body and keeping her warm as much as he could. Chang closed his eyes, trying to forget the pain in his leg as he said, "You should be good at keeping her warm by now. . .it seems to be all you do lately." Duo looked down, leaning his elbows on the bed and placing his hands on his forehead as he prayed in his mind, God, please don't let her die. . .I don't know if you can hear me, but please. . .please. . .don't take her away from me.

"There's the army, we'll set down over there." Heero stated. Turning the plane, he headed for a quiet looking area a ways from the battle wave's outpost. They landed safely and got in their Gundams to investigate the scene. As they approached the settlement, they crouched in the shadows of some trees to watch the happenings of the fleet.

"There's hundreds of them, everywhere. . .Heero, this is not good." Quatre said, watching Mobile suits test fly and practice battling in the open field surrounding their base.

"We'll infiltrate the base on the south side, find out what's going on here from the inside. Follow me." Heero stalked quietly around to the southern corner of the building and parked his gundam, jumping out and waiting a moment for Quatre to follow suit. They dashed across the field to the building and snuck in while no one was watching, working into the air conditioning vents and making their way into the base. They stopped by a room filled with voices and listened in.

"Commander Treize, this is completely irrational! This battle wave idea is too dangerous and we could-"

"Mr. Korisama, I assure you, I have total control over my fleets. In this battle it has come to the point that we must take the necessary steps to eliminate the enemy, and this is the only way."

Treize. . .Heero thought, peeking through the slats in the vent to see who was in the room for him to kill. He saw a grown man in an OZ uniform sitting in a chair talking to a video screen, having a conference call with a group of politicians supporting him. He ran his hand through his neatly combed brown hair and said, "Don't worry about the civilians, they'll be dealt with as we see is proper."

"Proper! Your idea of proper is killing the lot of them!" Yelled another man on the screen.

"This is the last thing your organization needs right now, Khushrenada, we don't need more rebel fighters joining against you and stopping progress completely, if not destroying our armies!" The first man yelled.

"Calm down, senators, there's no need to panic. Leave it all to me, my best men are taking care of the situation very well. As we speak, my finest Lieutenant is out retrieving a valuable asset for our cause. Just sit back and relax, this will all be over soon."

That's what you think. Heero looked over at Quatre and pulled out his gun, motioning for him to do the same. They nodded to each other and Heero kicked the grate out, jumping down into the office and pointing his gun at Treize's head, saying, "Your vicious reign ends here, Treize." The senators all gasped as Heero appeared, watching on in amazement as Treize swiveled his chair around to meet Heero's cold hard gaze. With a confident and calm smile, Treize said, "Hello, did someone let you in?"

"We let ourselves in." Quatre said, keeping a watch out for guards in case they were ambushed.

"Your plan has been sabotaged, that soldier you sent has been apprehended and is now in our hands as a prisoner of war. Too bad." Heero snapped.

"How can you so completely underestimate the intelligence of my men? Do you honestly think I'd send someone incompetent if I wanted to get the job done? Really. . ." Treize seemed amused by their threats to his plans.

"And you underestimate us, he has been captured and the mobile suit is now ours." Treize frowned and said, "Are you sure about that? Because my Lieutenant would never let me down, even if the stakes cost him his life."

"They did, he's most likely dead by now. You'll never win, not when we have a secret weapon none of you could ever compare to. But I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise. Time for you to die." Heero started to pull the trigger when Treize said coldly, "I think not." The door suddenly caved in and soldiers burst into the room, guns drawn and trained on the two intruders. Treize smiled again and turned to the video screen, saying, "These two young men represent a force against us and shall be the first to die by the hands of my mighty army."

"Let's see your mighty army eat this." Heero commented. Like lightning, he shot down the guards in one clean sweep, ducking and rolling out of the way as they tried to stop him. Treize pulled out a gun and shot Quatre in the arm, causing the boy to scream in pain. Heero glanced at him in surprise and lost his gun, being kicked in the hand by Treize. He looked back as Treize stood over him, his sword drawn and at Heero's throat.

"You're a lively one, I admire your ambition." Treize said kindly.

"I have no ambitions, just my mission." Heero said, looking up into Treize's eyes.

"And what's that?"

"To keep her safe." Treize blinked and said, "Who?" Heero didn't respond. Doing a back flip, he kicked the sword out of Treize's hand and leapt at him, wrestling the gun from his hand.

"Quatre, run!" Heero shouted as bullets randomly discharged from the quarrel. With a nod, Quatre took off out of the room. Heero punched Treize in the face and hit his hand, knocking the gun free and picking it up. He didn't stop to kill the commander as he ran out after Quatre. With a moan, Treize stood up and pressed an alarm button on his desk.

"Pardon me, gentlemen, I have some business to take care of. We can continue this later." Treize said, composing himself before ending the transmission.

"He's set off the alarms, we have to move faster." Heero commented, looking up at the flashing red lights on the ceiling. Quatre grit his teeth as he held his arm, trying not to pass out from the pain. They ran quickly down the hallways and finally found a ventilation shaft, climbing inside to crawl the remainder of their journey.

"Quatre, you okay back there?" Heero looked over his shoulder at the boy a few paces behind him, trying to crawl on one arm.

"It's. . .a little difficult to do this with a bullet wound. . .but I think I'll make it. Go ahead, I'll find my way out." Quatre said, trying to smile in reassurance. Heero stopped in a large vent opening that split off in all directions except down. He waited for Quatre to catch up and whispered, "We can take a short rest, they won't figure out where we are for a few minutes."

"Okay." He stopped next to Heero and laid down on his stomach, letting his arm lay limp next to him as he huffed for air in exhaustion. Heero listened to the sounds around them for a moment before saying, "I think we're safe, just rest till you think you can start moving again." He looked down and saw that Quatre was starting to drift off to sleep. He put his hand on Quatre's shoulder and gently shook it, saying, "Don't fall asleep, I don't want to drag you the rest of the way." Quatre stirred and opened his eyes again, rolling to the side to look up at Heero, saying, "Sorry. . .I just feel so. . .faint. . ."

"You have been bleeding the whole way. Come on, you've rested long enough, let's go." Heero started to crawl again and Quatre tried to get up but his arms went limp and fell back down, making loud noises. Heero quickly went to his side and helped him up.

"Sorry. . ." Quatre muttered. Heero shushed him and said, "I'll help you, come on." He rested Quatre's wounded arm over his back and slowly started down the shaft. Quatre leaned heavily on him for a second, wobbling a bit. Heero stopped and looked at him, saying, "You alright?"

"Yeah, I just got a little dizzy."

"It's not much further, hold on." Heero reached the end of the passage and it went straight down after that. He looked over the edge and said, "All we have to do is go down here and we'll be outside." He looked over at Quatre and saw a nervous look on his face. He turned to him and said, "I know you're in a lot of pain but you have to do this, or else we'll never make it out. At least, not alive. . ." Quatre swallowed and tried to muster up the last bit of energy and endurance he had left, nodding and saying, "Okay, should I go first?"

"No, I will in case you slip I can stop you from falling. Wait till I'm in to follow." Heero swung his foot out over the edge and placed it against the side of the tunnel. He reached a hand out, placing it on the opposite wall. Quickly he put his back against the wall and braced himself. Nodding to Quatre, he started down the shaft. Quatre nervously watched him descend, thinking, This is crazy, I can't do this. . . Heero looked back up at him and stared at him, waiting for him to follow. Finally, Quatre put his foot out, doing as Heero did. He was doing alright at first but his loafers weren't designed for good traction and grip. His feet slipped and he started falling down toward Heero. Heero's eyes widened as he thought, Oh crud. . .