Wake in the Dream (3/5)
by Anne
Ratings/warnings: OK (Oz/Kiwi spelling/grammar etc) – PG13 – angst, drama, action.
Pairings: 3x4, 1x2, 5xR
Summary: Past and present merge after Quatre is kidnapped. Can his friends rescue him in time?
Archive: http/dryerspace. Gundam Wing belongs to Bandai, Sunrise and Sotsu Agency. I promise to return the characters in one piece, more or less, when I'm finished, but hold no liability for any physical injury or psychological trauma sustained by them in my fiction.
Author's notes: This is written for the 10 year anniversary contest at Gundam Wing Universe - http/ to: haraamis and Bast for beta reading, Misanagi for prodding for more as I was writing. Plus all those who made comments and encouraged along the way. You know who you are…
Comments to: anne Three
"Are you sure you're feeling all right, Trowa?" Relena placed a hand on his shoulder, and he managed to give her a smile.
"I should be asking you that," he replied. She looked tired, although she had insisted that she wasn't. Wufei glanced over at them, a resigned look on his face, and then continued talking to Heero and Duo.
"I'm fine," she told him. "Although Wufei seems to think I'm crippled, not pregnant." Relena smiled. "Quatre will be okay, we'll find him."
"We have to," Trowa said, grimly. The room spun momentarily and his stomach heaved. "Excuse me a moment, will you?" He wasn't about to alarm her, or the others. The empathic echoes had been growing stronger over the past few hours and were getting more difficult to ignore.
He barely made it to the bathroom in time before losing the contents of his stomach. "Quatre, where are you?" he whispered. Kneeling on the floor, bending over the toilet bowl, he closed his eyes and attempted to focus on his husband, trying to get a sense of him, any sense of him. For a brief moment Trowa thought he felt something or someone reaching out to him. He tried to grasp it, make a connection, but it disappeared again, sucked into a whirlpool he knew he'd never break free of if he dared follow.
Damn it! Quatre had always talked of experimenting further with their connection, but they had never managed to find the time.
Trowa forced himself to his feet, filled the wash basin with cold water and washed his face, hoping it would help to hide the way he was feeling. Catching sight of himself in the mirror, he noticed his eyes were red from lack of sleep. He had always prided himself in being able to hide his emotions and get on with the job, but this time it wasn't working.
"Trowa? Are you okay in there, buddy?" Duo banged on the bathroom door. "If you're not out in a few minutes I'm coming in."
Sighing, Trowa opened the door. "I'm fine, Duo."
"You don't look like it." Duo shoved him back into the bathroom and then shut the door. "Now, give," he said. "There's just us, so if there's something needed to be said, say it."
"I'm fine," Trowa repeated, giving him a glare.
"That's a load of crap, Tro, and you know it." Duo shook his head. "You're not fine, and if I let anything happen to you, Cat would kick my ass. You looked like you were about to pass out in there. What the hell is going on?"
"Nothing." Trowa tried to push past him, but Duo stood in front of the door and refused to move.
"You wouldn't be the first guy to puke his guts up under stress." Duo sighed. "I'm worried about him too, and I know how close you two are."
Trowa's shoulders sagged. "I can feel him, Duo. He's hurting, and I can't do a damn thing about it."
"Feel it?" Duo frowned. "Just how much /are/ you feeling?" He gave Trowa a look that said that he wasn't prepared to listen to anything less than the truth. "What else haven't you told us?"
"It's going to sound crazy but," Trowa didn't have the energy to argue with Duo, "this coldness, it's not just climate related. At least I don't think it is." He leaned back against the wall, using the action to hide his own agitation. "And I've felt it before."
Duo's eyes narrowed. "When?"
"During the war. When I was floating in space after ZERO." Trowa licked his lips; they were dry. "At Quatre's bedside after Libra, when I thought I'd lost him. He's in trouble, Duo, and I think we're running out of time. Whatever these bastards are doing to him, he's stuck somewhere cold and dark, and I'm not sure he's going to find his way back." He swallowed. "I don't want to lose him. I can't lose him."
"Shit." Duo was silent for a moment. "Cat's strong. He knows you're looking for him. He'll hang in there, I know he will." He closed the distance between them, gave Trowa a quick hug and then headed for the bathroom door before Trowa had a chance to react. "Mission briefing in five minutes."
"I'll be there."
Quatre's breathing was ragged. "Someone has to fight or the war won't end," he muttered. "Father, why won't you listen to me?"
Sandrock was gone. Destroyed because of his incompetence. He wasn't fighting to gain recognition. He was fighting for the people. Why couldn't they see that? The Gundams weren't their enemy. His family wasn't their enemy.
He groaned aloud, wishing he could stop this. "Father, please don't. Please." Tears flowed down his face, he tried to wipe them, to hide them, but something or someone was holding him down. No! He had to appear strong, had to hide his weaknesses, or they could be used against him.
"Quatre, promise me you won't fight in those mobile suits. Aggression is not the answer."
It was a promise he couldn't make. Would never be able to make. Sitting back and watching others die as he did nothing was not an option.
Running away doesn't solve anything. Why couldn't his father see that?
The satellite disconnected, his father was ignoring Quatre's pleas. The colony aimed the beam cannons and readied them to fire. Quatre willed the shuttle to get there faster, ignored the fear Iria was trying to hide.
"Father!" No! His father couldn't do this. Parents weren't supposed to die. Parents weren't supposed to make mistakes. The Winners had always put the colonies first and their own needs second. What gave the colonists the right to do this? They had no right. No right.
"No!" The explosion rocked the shuttle. Quatre screamed his father's name again. His world spun, shattered. It hurt. Stop the pain. Someone stop the pain.
He was falling, unable to stop his descent. Iria, where was Iria?
"You're a kind person, Quatre," she told him. "Father was too." That kindness had brought death, had been repaid by death. There was blood all around him, all around him.
"Iria, be all right. Please be all right." He couldn't lose her as well, couldn't lose both of them.
Her eyes closed; they were filled with tears. He cradled her, willing her to stay with him. She had saved him, why couldn't he save her?
The darkness beckoned. Death a temptation he wasn't sure he could resist. Something snapped inside of him, and he screamed. He could never forget this. It haunted him, drove him. And if he wasn't able to forget, why should anyone else?
It was wrong all wrong. He had to fight this.
He didn't want to fight this.
Quatre heard himself laugh. Tried to stop and couldn't. Embrace the darkness. Embrace it and let it win. It would be easier that way. It was time to stop running, time to start fighting back.
No! It's wrong.
But it was what he wanted. What he needed.
Quatre cried out, screamed for the one person who might be able to help him, and when Trowa didn't answer, went limp against his restraints.
"I've narrowed the area down to this block." Heero indicated the map spread out on Quatre's desk. "If we split into two teams, we should be able to search building by building fairly quickly." He gave Relena a nod. "Are you okay with running communications for this?"
She nodded. "I want to help anyway I can. I just wish there was more I could do."
"It will be safer here too," Wufei interrupted. He had been watching her closely ever since their arrival. In any other situation, it would have been amusing to see him so overprotective. "If we're compromised you are to cut communications immediately and phone that number I gave you."
"Okay," Relena said. "Just make sure you're careful. Our baby needs his father and uncles." Her mouth twisted into a sad smile, her hand resting on her stomach. "All his uncles."
"Someone needs to show the kid how to play a mean hand of poker," Duo agreed, ignoring the glare Wufei shot his way. "And Cat's the guy for that."
"I'm going to ignore that comment," Wufei said. "You're worried about Quatre, and it's affecting your sense of judgement and self-preservation. Just make sure you remind those senses to come home when this is over."
Duo stared at him for a moment, then grinned. "Right." He leaned over Heero's shoulder. The other man was frowning. "What is it?"
"I think I might have something regarding the identities of Quatre's kidnappers." Heero looked rather smug.
"They have to pay," Trowa said, surprised at the vengeance in his words. "It's time to stop running and fight back." He glanced down at his hands. They were shaking.
"Trowa, are you okay?" Duo was beside him in an instant.
Trowa laughed, it was a sound that scared him. "They can't be allowed to forget." He put his head in his hands. He had to focus. This wasn't him. Quatre was calling him, but he couldn't follow. He knew this darkness. Last time, a light had beckoned him, this time that same light was tempting him into Quatre's own personal hell.
"Tro?" Duo shook his friend by the shoulders.
"What?" Trowa glanced around the room, saw his friends' concerned faces. He shivered. "It's cold," he complained. "Cold and dark. Can't you feel it?"
"Breathe, Trowa." Wufei stood on Trowa's other side. "Breath slowly and focus on where you are." He muttered something under his breath. "Breath out the dark and the cold. Breath in light and warmth."
The pain eased, the fear chasing it, two tendrils intertwining to vanish as though a switch had been flipped. Trowa went limp, leaning on his friends for support.
"Quatre," he whispered, mourning the loss, but at the same time hating himself for the relief he felt in no longer being able to sense his partner.
What the hell had happened to their connection? Nothing had ever done this before. Usually they felt echoes of what the other was feeling but this was intense and disturbing. He needed to dampen it somehow, keep his composure, or he would be a hindrance to this mission and place Quatre in even more danger.
"I think we might have a problem." Heero always did have a talent for stating the obvious. "Trowa, you need to see this." He was glaring at the computer screen.
"Give him a moment," Duo said.
"I'm not sure we have the luxury of waiting." Wufei shook his head. "If what Trowa is experiencing is connected to Quatre's well-being, and only an echo of what he is feeling, imagine what Quatre must be going through."
"Since when did you become Mr. Expert on this whole empathic shit," Duo wanted to know.
"Quatre and I have been discussing it for some years now," Wufei admitted. "I'm curious to know more so I've been researching the subject. I thought it might be advantageous to both of them, especially considering they lack the time and inclination to do more with it."
"Whenever I mentioned it, it was never the right time, or Quatre was tired or busy," Trowa recalled.
"Or unable to admit his nervousness in delving into it further," Wufei said quietly. "It wasn't a side of himself he saw as an asset but rather as a weakness."
Trowa shook his head. "But Quatre also talked about experimenting with it."
"Talking is not the risk, action is," Wufei continued. "I suspect a part of him did want to do more with it, but he has issues with loss of control."
Trowa nodded slowly. "I know that." He tried to keep the bitterness out of his voice. "It appears that he's talked to you about things he didn't feel comfortable sharing with me. His empathy is something we both share." Trowa couldn't continue the thought aloud. /How can he consider something we share a weakness/
"The thought of unintentionally hurting someone he loved, because you do share it, might have been part of his fear," Relena said gently. "Now isn't the time to talk about this."
Trowa nodded, but wasn't convinced. He and Quatre needed to talk; there were too many issues they had been avoiding lately. He just hoped it wasn't too late.
"Relena's right," Heero said. "Now isn't the time to talk about this." He pointed to the screen. "There is a good chance that these people are the ones who have Quatre."
"Oh?" The discussion with Wufei shoved aside, Trowa read over Heero's shoulder quickly. "Fuck," he cursed, reading further. He was going to kill these bastards. No, death was too good for them.
Duo coughed behind them. "Mind sharing with the rest of the class, guys?"
"There was a break in at a local pharmaceutical laboratory four days ago." Heero's voice was a lot calmer than Trowa's would have been. "Drugs used for long term sedation were taken, and the equipment required to administer them." He paused.
"But?" Duo scowled. "I know there's a but. You never pause when you're relaying information unless there's a but."
"But," Heero continued, "the news article does not give the complete story. That I discovered from reading their classified files."
"Better to get the information from the horses' mouth," Duo nodded.
"Do you want me to continue or not?" Heero glared at him and continued without waiting for an answer. "The drugs stolen were experimental. This organisation has been conducting unauthorised research into effects of sedation on newtypes. These drugs, instead of dampening a newtype's ability, enhances it."
"So you think they've kidnapped Quatre because he's a newtype?" Duo clenched his fists.
"No," Heero shook his head. "Why steal their own drugs and equipment? Those responsible were after sedatives and got more than they anticipated. I doubt they are even aware of what they have or the effect it is having on Quatre."
"No one knows that he is empathic," Trowa confirmed. "He's always been very careful to hide his ability and has only trusted a few with the knowledge. Even of his sisters, only Iria and Alimah knew."
"I've managed to access the security tapes for the time period of the robbery." Three faces appeared on the screen. "The tapes were tampered with so that they played in a loop and didn't capture what really happened, but with the right program it wasn't difficult to recover the information. I'm surprised Reaper Industries didn't think of it themselves."
"Maybe they decided that exposing their own activities wasn't worth the risk," Wufei said. "After all, the chance of these idiots using the drugs on a newtype was extremely slim. If the person in question isn't a newtype I presume that there are no side effects?"
"That's correct," Heero confirmed. "Or at least according to their research to date."
"Hold up," Duo said. "So who the hell has Quatre and why have they kidnapped him?" He peered at the screen. "I've seen these guys somewhere before, I'm sure of it."
It was Relena who answered. "There were several articles on their organisation in the papers a few months ago. Their identities were withheld but," she glanced at Heero, "when you have friends with useful skills that isn't a problem. Wufei was working on the case at the time, and I seem to recall Heero sending this information to all of you. I requested a copy because their objections threatened to destroy a project Quatre and I were working on together. When they disappeared it never occurred to me that they would target him directly."
"Gundanium can be used for other things besides building Gundams," Heero continued. "Winner Enterprises is negotiating with a company on Earth who wishes to use it for building, to improve standards of living and resolve certain safety issues in certain areas where, until now, nothing has been available to do the job. These people do not wish to see Earth and the colonies cooperating. They do not trust those from Earth and believe that the authorities on Earth will use the gundanium to build weapons to use against the colonists."
Duo snorted. "That whole them and us mindset is so out of date. We've been at peace for years now."
"It's still a very fragile peace, Duo," Relena said sadly. "People like this are the very ones who could put us back where we were when the Gundams were originally sent to Earth. These negotiations were very important, and not just because they would be worth a great deal to WEI. The money was the least of Quatre's concern."
"Yeah, I remember them now." Duo rolled his eyes. "They wanted to erect monuments to the Gundams, demanded to know our identities so that they could honour us properly. We fought so that others didn't have to, not to further the ideals of idiots like this." He stopped. "Oh shit. What if these guys find out Cat's a Gundam pilot?"
"I doubt they'll react well." Wufei placed an arm around Relena to comfort her as he spoke. "In their minds he would have betrayed them, sold them out to those he fought against. I can see them wanting to make an example of him at the very least."
"That's not going to happen," Trowa said. He couldn't bring himself to consider the possibility. "We need to move now. Quatre's running out of time. Theories are great, but they aren't going to save him."
"It's no wonder these files were encrypted," Heero said grimly, his brow furrowing as he scrolled down the page. His voice was flat, as though he was trying to distance himself emotionally from the information in front of him. "Reaper Industries have experimented before, but those experiments were put on hold after the subjects died. Apparently the strain on the nervous system becomes too great after a short time. To put it bluntly, those who took them reported enhanced abilities, but the cost was too high. Their bodies couldn't cope and began to shut down after thirty six hours. Some even sooner."
"Thirty six hours?" Trowa stared at him, his words coming out in little more than a whisper.
"Yes," said Heero. "We may already be too late."
End of Chapter Three
TBC