Don't Cry

By Prink and ElfGirl

Disclaimer: We don't own Gundam Wing. If we did this would be an actual episode.

Prink: Hi again! Okay, I think that this would be a good time to explain a few things. Number one, the title of this fic has very little to do with the story, unless you read the lyrics to the song by Guns N' Roses. Also, please bear with us through the next two or three chapters, they're going to clarify quite a lot.

ElfGirl: Hopefully anyway… Ooh, a million, billion thanks to Neilia-Kay for being our first responder! Hopefully we won't disappoint!

Prink: Okay, we're done now… :P

Chapter 2: Time

It had been two hours since Heero had brought the girl back, and Duo was getting impatient. "Sheesh Heero," The braided ex-pilot groaned. "Why'd you hit her so hard?"

"I didn't," The young man in the next chair stated.

Duo rolled his eyes, "Fine, whatever." Rising from his seat he declared, "I'm getting a beer, either of you want anything?"

Hildie shook her head, and Heero didn't respond, so the violet eyed young man stalked off mumbling something about manners and responding to questions. After leaving the room, Duo went back to his usual, bouncy stride as he wandered into their tiny kitchen.

The room was painted bright blue, and there were stacks of dishes covering almost all of the minimal counter space. Duo wove his way to the fridge and pulled out three of the twenty beer cans which were packed into his shelf of the refrigerator. He shoved two into his pockets and popped the lid on the third, gulping down half of the can as he made his way over to the living room.

A loveseat, desk, and chair were the only furniture that could be stuffed into the small room. Duo plopped down in the latter of these and began plowing through the piles of spam in his e-mail account. The subject 'Re: the launch is tonight!' from caught his eye and the young man clicked it open.

Hello Duo!

I'm glad to hear that the time craft is done, hope the trip went smoothly!

How is the girl doing? I imagine she's pretty unnerved by the whole thing, kidnapping will do that. Chamomile or oolong tea may help her calm down. If neither of those works, drawing a bubble bath and letting her have some personal time could be just what she needs.

If you need help with anything please contact me, I would love to lend a hand in whatever way I can!

Quatre

Grinning, Duo finished his first beer and clicked 'Reply.'

Hey Q!

Yup, the trip went fine! Heero was going to kill the girl, but Hildie and I stopped him…Some things never change…

I have no idea how she's doing, Heero knocked her out and she still hasn't come around. The girl's not bad looking though, but I'm not a big redhead fan…Guess that's a good thing!

Hmmmm, I don't think we have tea or bubbles; would beer and an action movie work instead?

Thanks for the offer, we should be fine but we'll keep you in mind! (Especially since Heero's being all trigger happy…)

-The God of Death

The ex-pilot had downed his second can as he worked on his e-mail, and began on his third while trying to find another good e-mail in his inbox. He hadn't gotten very far when a yell from Hildie sent him darting back toward his room.

The girl shifted slightly and let out a faint moan, Hildie assumed it was because of her head. Duo returned to his chair just as the girl reached behind her to grab something and her knuckles scraped against the wall next to her bed. A look of sheer panic spread across her face as she froze for a moment then slowly opened her eyes.

"Desiree?" Hildie asked softly as the girl sat up and pressed back against the far wall, a hiss of pain escaping her lips as her head scolded her for moving. "Desiree calm down, we're not going to hurt you."

The redhead's shallow breathing became more rapid as Desiree searched the room for some way of escape. Hildie pitied the girl; the bars she and Duo had put up on the outside of his windows to make sure nothing happened to Desiree probably weren't helping to make her feel at ease.

"Who are you?" The girl finally whispered, staring at Hildie.

"That's Hildie," The braided boy to her right answered for her. "I'm Duo, and the moody silent guy is Heero. He's the one who kidnapped you."

Confusion momentarily replaced terror on Desiree's face, and Duo jumped at it. "It started with Heero, his girlfriend died because of this guy Dekim so he got all mopey and-"

Heero stood up and left the room.

"Duo," Hildie used the momentary distraction to cut in. "I think it might be better if I tell what happened. Go take a cold shower and then see what Heero's doing, okay?"

The young man sighed but wandered out into the hallway, closing the door behind him.

"I'm sorry," Hildie apologized, turning back to the girl. "Duo drinks to stay happy, and Heero's been on-edge since Relena died. You'll get used to them eventually, I promise."

Desiree just stared dully at the older girl, she hadn't moved since she sat up. Hildie watched her for a few minutes, before remembering the painkillers and water on the nightstand. Moving slowly so that the girl could see exactly what she was doing, Hildie grabbed the glass and plate, holding them out to her. Desiree didn't move.

"C'mon, they're for your head. I can get an icepack for the bump if you want it."

The girl still wouldn't budge.

"Listen, it's basically a really small dose of morphine with other junk added to counteract the drowsy side effects. It'd only hurt you if you overdosed." Hildie explained.

Finally, Desiree accepted the offer. "Thanks," She mumbled, downing the two pills with resolution.

"Anytime," The older girl smiled. "You probably want to know where you are and why you're here, huh?" A slight nod from Desiree prompted her to continue. "At the moment you're sitting in my house on the outskirts of Wellington, New Zealand. The year is AC 201."

Desiree didn't react, so Hildie continued. "In the late AD 1900s, as you know, space exploration exploded. Suddenly, we weren't bound to the earth anymore, we could go as far as time and our crafts allowed. Elias Lee was the man to sell this idea to the masses; he created and launched the first civilian metropolis into space. The world went crazy over it, when the turn of the century rolled around they did away with AD and started After Colony year 1."

Hildie watched as dread crept back over Desiree's face, "That's impossible."

"It's true."

"No, it's 1995. Dr. Lee is all over the newspapers, that's how you know about him." The redhead still maintained her voice at a whisper, but the force behind it was growing stronger.

"Listen," Hildie tried to reason with her. "If you're okay with staying in here alone for a few minutes I'll go grab my laptop and show you."

Desiree nodded slightly, and the older girl slipped out of the room, reminding herself to lock the door behind her. She stepped across the hallway to her own room and wove through the stacks of Duo's stuff to get to her bed, regretting that she had told him to put it in there until she could make space for the boy in her living room. Then again, she had been the one to force him to relocate because of the girl.

Pushing it all to the back of her mind, Hildie swiped her laptop from her pillow and returned to the hall. She moved back to the first room, pressing her thumb against the fingerprint lock that Duo had installed earlier. A light at the top of the device flashed green, and she stepped in.

Nothing had changed from when she left; Desiree was still glued to her spot on the bed. Opening her computer, Hildie asked the girl, "What day did Heero kidnap you?"

"Saturday."

"No, date," The older girl clarified.

The girl thought for a moment, "February 19."

"1995?"

"Yes."

Hildie ran a search through some newspaper archives for the date. "Here," She said, opening the link and turning the computer toward the younger girl. "Is this what was going on?"

Desiree nodded, eyes scanning the page.

"Look," Hildie pulled up the next day's paper.

The younger girl relaxed slightly, "That's today's."

"Yep," Hildie agreed, pulling up another link. "But what's this?"

The girl stared at the screen for a moment, her face growing pale and ice-blue eyes widening with horror. "No," She murmured.

Heero was in the living room punching away at his computer when Hildie came running in. "She's in shock! What do I do?"

"Get Duo," The ex-pilot commanded, still staring at his screen.

Hildie let out an exasperated groan, darting back down the hall. "Duo!" Heero heard the girl shriek, as a door flew open. Milliseconds later, the door slammed close.

"Put some clothes on and get out here!" Hildie ordered, "Desiree's in shock!"

The door flew open a second time, and Heero glanced up momentarily as Duo appeared in the room wearing nothing but a towel.

"Where'd you put my clothes!" The braided boy hollered.

"They're somewhere in my room," Hildie responded. "Don't worry about it, she needs help now!"

Duo fled back up the hall, and the house returned to semi-silence.

The girl was frozen in place, her breathing rapid and shallow. Duo moved toward her, twisting her shoulders so she could lie down as Hildie jumped to rearrange her legs.

"Des?" The towel-clad boy asked gently. "Can you hear me?"

Desiree didn't stir.

Duo grabbed Hildie's wrist, watching the second hand as he checked the girl's pulse. "124," The ex-pilot muttered. "Shit."

"What does that mean?" Hildie demanded.

"She's going into panic mode and her heart's pumping like hell to try and fix it." After watching her for another minute he added, "If her breathing doesn't slow down she'll pass out.

"Shh," Duo tried to comfort the motionless girl. "Listen, you need to breathe. C'mon, no one's going to hurt you. Everything's going to be fine. Calm down."

Hildie began to massage the girl's hand, watching as her fluttering chest slowly calmed and Desiree sank into an exhausted sleep.

"Damn," The older girl muttered when she was sure her charge was asleep. "I didn't even tell her who she is."

"You might want to wait on that for a while," Duo responded. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm getting dressed."

Hildie nodded, her eyes following the young man out of the room. When he was gone, she turned back to Desiree, stroking the girl's hair and making sure she looked comfortable. It was going to be a long night.