"Hang in there!" Relena told Heero strongly. Duo had been shot in the leg, but was forced to walk on it as Trowa half-dragged him. For soldier's, they had excellent aim. They were even better than the former Special's, a secret organization of soldier born for the battlefield h excellent skill.

Wufei turned a bit while running and let some shots flying, not hitting any of them but hoping to discourage the people following them.

They let some shots fly and one hit Trowa in the arm and same for Wufei, the one holding the gun. He let out a stifled cry of pain and dropped the gun while running.

"We have to make it out of here...alive!" Quatre shouted, pointing to a nearby shuttle that was ready for take off.

"Hurry!" Duo shouted, helping Sally and Wufei carry the extra weight that they were burdened with.

Quatre ran up the platform and opened the door quickly as the other's jumped into the darkness of the shuttle passageway.

"Are we all okay and safe?" Quatre asked with concern. He could make out everyone's faint silhouettes and he saw them nod at this. He let out the breathe he been holding surprisingly.

Little did they know they were far from harms way. With Heero utterly broken, it killed them to see him like that, but what would happen when he woke up? What would be install for them...

Into the Lion's Den

"I'll take care of the flying." Duo said hesitantly. "Sally, you-you should look after Heero, he looks really roughed up." Turning to leave, the door sounded as air escaping as the door opened then closed, the room with one less person in it.

Heero groaned which drew them out of their thoughts. Sally looked at the teenager, whose head was slumped, looking down at the floor if he was conscious. "I'll help." Relena stepped forward, getting a nod from Sally as she helped carry Heero to a compartment.

"I'll go help Maxwell with the coordinates. You should take over flying after an hour or so, Trowa, Quatre. Duo's leg is worse than yours and mine arm. We'll get Sally to get them treated after—"Wufei was interrupted by a scream laced with pain and fear from the room that they put Heero into.

"This isn't good." Trowa muttered, dashing with the others to the room. Heero was against the wall, his body tensed as he looked quite frightened.

"Stay away from me!" He yelled, not having enough strength to stand up any more as he fell still leaning against the wall.

"Heero, please it's me! Everything is going to be all right now!" She said, letting some tears fall down her complexion. Her lip was scabbed over, and her cheeks were slightly bruised.

His body tensed more than it already was, if that was possible, and he stopped screaming. "R-relena..." He managed to let out before falling forward on to the floor in a heap. Relena raced over and caught him in her arms, landing on the floor with his body on top of her small frame.

"Heero..." Relena whispered, crying out loud now as tears that she had been holding during this living hell all spilled out until she cried herself out of tears, still letting out soul-shattering cries that would break someone's heart.

Trowa didn't say anything as he turned to leave, feeling something odd inside him that he never felt, not used to emotions. He felt...sadness for his friend. Sadness was something he hadn't felt for a long time it seemed, having Katherine with him all the time... 'Why does he still have to fight battles even though the war is over? Why can't the world just forget about us?' He questioned his inner self and mind.

Quatre was next to leave (Duo not being there to hear the screaming from the cockpit), sorrow editable in his deep blue eyes and his sandy locks hiding most of his face in the shadows. He left without saying anything. His eyes speaking the concern he felt clearly enough.

Wufei didn't leave though, helping the restless form of Relena, whom had cried herself to sleep before her little audience, place her in a bed nearby. He picked up a warm heavy blanket and wrapped it around her tightly, giving the warmth back into her reddened cheeks and body.

"I don't understand how someone can do that to him. He's been through so much and he's been trying to make everything right." Sally said, shaking her head at this. "He's utterly broken." A lone tear streamed down her face.

Wufei winced at the sight of this. "S-stop it woman...he'll be fine he always is." He muttered, looking away and fighting the urge to wipe the tear off her face.

"That's another thing. He has to live up to so much. He's human yet he has to not be human." She said, shaking her head as she sniffled and wiped away the tear, which stopped on her lower cheek.

Wufei looked at her, clearly hearing every word that she said, the last fragment drifting relentlessly through his mind. 'He's human and yet he has to not be human.' He saw truth in this statement, remembering everything. His nickname: The perfect soldier, the training to be a perfect weapon, everything that tied him down to humanity was broken now, noting more than a shattered human soul without a presence in a vacant and emotionless flesh that could bring destruction. He was their toy, a toy they used to do their every beck and will.

"Relena is the only thing that he can look at without having fear. He'll be over the shock by now. The medication I gave him was part of that whole thing. It really rattles your nerves, but we had to give it to him." Sally said, taking a blanket and placing it gently over Heero.

"Knowing the people who trained him will come back for them and they won't go without a fight, you know."

"He'll make sure that Relena will be nowhere to be found." Sally said, her eyes dropping a bit at the sight of the two. "If her and him get caught again and they use her against him...he won't be the same. I think it will be a lot for him to recovery anyhow. Relena seems special to him and she can do wonders. She gave him emotions he never felt before." Sally whispered, gingerly touching the side of his cheek, looking at its almost peaceful look.

"How would you know, woman?" Wufei asked teasingly.

"His body motion becomes completely different when she's around, and his eyes. They don't seem so emotionless, if even for a second." Tucking the blankets in lightly over his thin, but built form, "Relena gave him something to understand. Someone cared for him and he feels needed, but I think that that may change now."

"Why is that?" Wufei asked, glancing at Sally as he moved over to lean on the wall, arms crossed and ready to help out if she needed him.

"He couldn't protect her." She explained, turning around to face Wufei fully, making his heart beat somewhat faster at the hurt expression on her face.

"He'll be fine. He always is, so stop worrying." Wufei said nervously, turning away from facing her.

"I hope that you are right..." Sally whispered and looked sadly down at the two teenagers. "Their Gundam's shook the foundations of this world and the colonies. Even now, the war has ended but people are still after you and your Gundam's."

"That's why there is the Preventer's. Usually people who want us have some plot or scheme to take us and our Gundam's want world domination or a new war." Wufei looked back at her, turning around. "I'll go and check how the other's are." He turned around and spoke to her, stopping at the doorway. "I'll send Maxwell here for you to take care of his bullet wound."

"What about yours?" Sally picked up some medical supplies and arranged them neatly and check on Heero and Relena.

"Unlike Maxwell, I can take care of my own wounds." Wufei said bluntly, leaving the room before Sally could say anything.

There was shouting in the cockpit and Duo appeared rather angry about all of this and looked at Heero then to Relena with concern. "How are they?" He questioned, noting the door was shut by his escort, Quatre even though he argued he didn't need any treatment.

"So, tell me then Wufei, how come I have to get mine treated and you don't?" Duo pried further. "It's not fair." He crossed his arms and closed his eyes.

"Because unlike you, Maxwell...I can take care of my wounds." Wufei said bluntly yet again, only some anger behind his voice.

"That's not true at all, you just don't want to admit that you like her!" Duo said gleefully, bouncing up and down around Wufei saying things to annoy him.

"MAXWELL!" Wufei shouted, on the warpath as Quatre tried to be peacemaker and save Duo from the blood lust in Wufei's eyes, as he tried to separate the two. Trowa sat silently, driving the aircraft while shaking his head with agitation

"They are fine, just need a little bit of rest is all." Sally smiled heartily, though her eyes deceived this act.

"That's good to hear." Duo said as Sally began taking off his shirt and looked at the bullet wound in his arm to see if it was infected.

"Good news." Sally examined the wound further.

"What? You just saved a bunch of money on your car insurance?" Duo grumbled.

Sally looked at him out of the corner of her eye and it had a glint of laughter, which made Duo look away. "No," Sally regained her composure. "The wound isn't infected, which is good to know." Sally said, drawing out some bandages after cleaning the wound, making him wince at the contact of the alcohol on his laceration.

She wrapped the bandage tightly but comfortable enough for Duo to move around, the pain gone since it was treated fairly quickly. "You are free to go." Sally said, picking up her supplies and disposing some of the used and useless garbage around Duo like the bandage scraps.

"Thanks, Sal." Duo said happily. "We need ya up front to take care of Trowa's arm. He refuses to come back here, saying its just a scratch." He said, getting up and moving his arm in a circular motion as he let it crack. He let out a sigh, his arm moving more freely than it had before.

"All right." Sally picked up her bag and threw in some items she would need and a sedative if she had to drug him.

They left the room quietly, Relena stirring a bit but not waking up from her deep slumber, which claimed her world...

"Don't hurt her! God, stop it!" Heero said angrily, shaking back and forth in the chains to get free and save Relena.

"Heero!" She wanted to scream but the commander's mouth against hers made her want to throw up as her scream was struck in her throat. "Help me!" She sobbed, gagging as the commander broke for air before returning to use his tongue and invade the recesses of her mouth.

"Stop!" Heero said, struggling even harder as blood poured down his wrists. "Don' hurt her!" He shook and tried to yank the chains from the metal hook on the ceiling, which suspended him from the ground. A small pool of blood was forming from the lacerations on his arms from struggling so hard.

It was too late for him to say to stop hurting her. She let tears fall down her cheek as she felt her strength begin to weaken. "Now the real fun begins..." The commander said, as Heero looked up, a wild flash of fear editable in his prussain eyes laced with horror.

After overcoming his shock, he struggled harder, yelling and screaming at the commander who grinned while kissing Relena and letting his arms draw her body closer to his...

"No!" Relena said, thrashing around on the bed. In her dreams, it never stopped and Heero had to live with what he was seeing, begging, praying and bleeding for the commander to stop. It was worse than any physical torture that he would ever have to endure.

He couldn't save Relena though, because in her dreams, the nightmare never ended and never would...

TBC

Excerpt from next chapter, 'Broken Wings':

Heero leaned against the wall with his back in a slumped upright position, thoughts that were like a whisp of wind slowly brushing his mind. 'No point...' His mind muttered over and over to himself as he felt the walls he built up raise higher and higher, his eyes vacant of everything. There wasn't even the slightest bit of twinkle in his intense blue eyes. They were dead. He was nothing and always would be...

'I'm sorry, Relena, I should have been able to...to protect you, but I can't even protect myself.' His mind said slowly, pulling himself from what little humanity he had. He couldn't enjoy the battlefield either...he had no happiness, no sorrow, everything seemed like a dream...or a nightmare.

Sally walked into the room after mending Trowa's arm and Wufei's, through his protests as the others helped hold him down.

Heero didn't look up, or even acknowledge her presence though he knew clearly that she was there. A happy expression came over her features as she smiled that Heero was up. "Hey, Heero...how are you feeling?" She asked, moving closer to him.

He didn't respond, he just blinked, still looking at the sheets that were on top of him. His eyes held no emotion, just a depression in them that could break someone's heart.

She looked at him as she bent down and her heart felt like someone had shot her. The look on his face was just so...there were no words she could think of how to describe it...

"No!" Relena cried, thrashing on the bed. Heero just blinked but didn't even look in her direction, not caring anymore...there was nothing he could do...he couldn't even protect a single woman from a man even though he was weaker than Heero was. He had lost and Navar had won...everything was over now...they would come back for him.

'Why should I care?' An inner voice told him. 'They wanted me to be like this. They say I still have a purpose to fulfill...' It whispered to him in a almost soothing way.

"Relena!" Sally shouted, looking back at Heero to see he hadn't even moved. 'No...' She whispered. It was as she thought...he had given up.

She rushed over to the bed to shake the girl from her dreams. Her baby blue eyes opened wide when she woke up and jerked herself up, gazing uncertainly around the room.

'Your free...' Something whispered happily to her, making her heart feel somewhat enlightened when she saw Sally. She let her gaze wander around the room, taking in everything, when she saw him...

"Heero!" She exclaimed happily, everything forgotten as tears of happiness streaked down her cheeks, washing away her fears. Gladness, like a wave, struck over her as she understood they escaped. He didn't look like he had any wounds but her lip was scabbed over, and bruises on her cheeks.

She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw that he didn't even turn to look at her, but kept his gaze fixed on the sheets. He hadn't moved at all. The look on her face made her walk backwards slightly, stumbling in her tracks as she tripped on a tile against her shoes. She let herself fall to the ground, which held as her despair...