A/N: Just to let you know, there is no set posting schedule for this fic. It'll kind of be whenever I get a new chapter ready. Enjoy...

Chapter 3

Trowa took a deep breath at the top of the stairs. He needed to calm down before he went back downstairs. At first glance, the attic didn't seem to have anyone in it. However, it was full of boxes that would be easy to hide behind. There was a musty smell that he supposed went along with attic and storage spaces, but there was something else, too. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but the faint smell was familiar.

Trowa stood quietly, listening for any movement. After a few minutes he started to walk silently among the boxes. They were stacked neatly in rows. Someone had taken a lot of time to make them just so. Once he was certain there was no one upstairs, Trowa went over and looked out of the small window.

He watched Heero's team putting up perimeter tape and setting up tents. Based on the lateness of the hour and because this was not a dead lead, they would be staying the night. Had the lead turned out to be false, they would have had time to get back to the base tonight. As it was, the earliest they could get the necessary evidence and get out of here would be tomorrow morning, and that was if they worked in shifts to get everything done. Trowa figured they would gather what they could tonight, finish in the morning and head back tomorrow afternoon. If there was a lot of evidence, they would leave a team here to continue working while the initial reports were made and then they would come back up until the job was done.

Trowa sighed. He'd best get on with checking the boxes. He wouldn't have time to check all of them, that would be a job for after the initial house clearing when more agents were available to help, but he needed to check a couple. He figured that they would have old sweaters or antiques inside like most boxes left in a storage area.

Picking a large box at random, Trowa used his boot knife to slit the tape holding it shut and immediately regretted opening the box. He rushed to the window and sucked in fresh air, forcing his gag reflex under control. He had to quash the desire to dash down the stairs and into the bathroom to throw up. He knew as soon as he opened the box that they were dealing with a very sick individual. The faint smell he'd recognized was the putrid aroma of rotting corpses. That would have been bad enough. But the box contained pieces of corpses.

Trowa choked back bile, trying to banish the image of lifeless heads, some fresher than others, staring back at him with eyeless sockets and tongueless, toothless mouths open in grotesque silent screams. The rest of the boxes probably contained the other pieces and if not…that was a hell of a lot of heads. This was precisely why he wanted out of this line of work. It would have been one thing to know that there were bodies up there. To have it pop out like that was dangerous. He was afraid it would trigger a flashback. If it did, that would be hazardous for those around him. He had to report to Heero anyway and it would be safer if he stayed near the former Wing pilot until the sensation passed. Heero was the only one of their number that came close enough to matching his strength and fighting skill. Lieberman was strong, but still couldn't best Trowa in hand to hand combat. No, if he got out of control, Heero would be best suited to subdue him and if necessary, he could call one of the others for backup.

Once he was sure he wouldn't lose it, Trowa made his way down the stairs.

"Sir? Are you alright?" Cooper asked upon seeing Trowa's pale complexion.

Trowa took a deep breath. "Fine. Don't let anyone upstairs. Leave it for the forensics team."

"What…what did you find?" Cooper asked apprehensively. He'd seen his commanding officer deal with a lot of disturbing cases without coming close to having this kind of reaction. Even though he was young for an officer, the former Gundam Pilot had seen more than most of the agents.

"Let's just say I know where he hid the bodies…what's left of them anyway."

Cooper paled. "Y-yes, sir. I won't let anyone up without your clearance."

Trowa nodded. "I'm going out to speak with Agent Yuy. I shouldn't be too long."

Cooper nodded and went back to his post.

Trowa headed out to Heero's command tent, barely noticing Jameson and Lieberman. His only thought was to get to a safe place before he started flashing.

Wufei saw Trowa leave and realized immediately what was happening. He followed silently, not wanting to trigger Trowa's fight or flight reflex. Trowa's team hadn't reported anything to him, which meant something had been found in the attic. Wufei drew closer as Trowa approached Heero's command center, an old van that had been outfitted with several computers.

"Heero…I need…to report," Trowa choked out.

Heero looked up from a laptop and immediately nodded. "Come with me. You, too, Chang."

Wufei nodded and followed his comrades to a nearby tent. Heero motioned to a cot.

"Sit, Trowa. Drink this." Heero handed Trowa a bottle of water and stepped back, giving his friend some space but ready to move if Trowa had a violent flash. They'd all had them and were pretty good at seeing when the others were about to experience a flashback. Sometimes it was an outside trigger and sometimes the trigger was completely unexpected. Like the time they'd been roasting marshmallows at one of Quatre's cabins and something had made Duo flash. He spent the better part of an hour bawling in Heero's arms. When he came out of it he said it had been a combination of the fire and the aftershave Quatre was wearing. Apparently it was the same brand Father Maxwell used to wear and the combined scents had been too much for Duo to fight off. Quatre had immediately gone inside, bathed to rid himself of the scent and thrown away the bottle. None of them ever bought that brand again.

Wufei stayed by the entrance to the tent. It wouldn't do for Barton to slip past them and run into someone who didn't know what was going on. Trowa wouldn't hurt any of the men on purpose, but the problem with some flashbacks was that you literally didn't know where you were. For all you knew, you were in the Oz base being fired on, not in the grocery store picking up a loaf of bread. Wufei had an embarrassing flash that only Heero knew about, being that he'd been with Wufei at the time. Fortunately, bread was not an effective weapon and it didn't explode when thrown at "the enemy" so there really wasn't any harm done, except to his pride. He'd switched grocery stores after that, unable to bring himself to go there anymore. Heero had sworn not to tell anyone, especially Duo.

Both men waited tensely to see if Trowa would truly flash or if it would pass.

Trowa sipped at the water and tried to focus. It wasn't working. Images of the wars assaulted his mind. Burning cities…lifeless bodies of helpless women and children…guerilla warfare with the mercenaries that raised him…he had to leave. Smells started permeating his senses…gunpowder…burning rubber…scorched flesh…the acrid tang of blood mixed with the cologne of the guy that just got his head blown off. He had to get away. It wasn't safe here. They were coming for him. He had to get back to his patrol. The rendezvous point…where was it? A league north of here? Two?

"Report."

Trowa frowned. Where was his communicator?

"Report Barton."

He had no idea where his communicator was. Still, it seemed to be working so he reported as ordered. "Sir…unsure of exact location. I think I'm about a league south of the rendezvous…a signal so I know of the direction would be appreciated."

"What of your situation?"

"Uncertain."

"Mission status?"

Trowa frowned again. "I think…"

"Mission status?"

Trowa closed his eyes and shook his head. "Mission…incomplete?"

"What were your orders?"

"Infiltrate and…and…" Trowa blinked and the tent came into focus. He looked up at Heero and Wufei. "I flashed, didn't I?"

Duo stopped Quatre at the door. "Don't go in there. I'll get someone else to get the body."

Quatre sighed. "Duo…it's okay. I can handle it. I don't get why you guys all feel the need to protect me."

"It isn't that we don't think you can handle it. We just know that you…ya know…feel things that we can't. We know it isn't easy on ya and we worry…that's all."

Quatre gave his friend a small smile. "Thank you, Duo, but I signed on for this and I'll be fine." Quatre strode into the room, giving it a once over as he headed toward the girl's body in the corner. The room was a small, filthy cement room with only a single, dull light bulb to provide light. No furniture, no windows…nothing but the girl.

Quatre frowned as he got closer to the girl. Something was off. He was suddenly filled with absolute terror. Stopping in his tracks he turned to Duo. "She's not dead," he said quietly.

"Huh? Of course she's dead…look at her."

"I'm telling you, she's terrified of us. She's not dead." Quatre turned back to the girl and inched forward. "Easy…it's okay…we're not going to hurt you."

The girl didn't move. Duo looked at her, still skeptical. Seriously? She had to be dead. She'd been beaten and starved, that much was obvious. She had black eyes, bruised cheeks, a split lip, her arms were covered in bruises of varying shades and from what Duo could see in this poor lighting, her legs were far too skinny in those jeans. She looked like a Halloween decoration you put on the porch to scare little kids. Duo shook his head. "Quatre…I think you're getting your hopes up. Come on, we'll get Heero to send someone for her and they can do an autopsy to see how she died."

Quatre glared at Duo from his position a few feet from the girl. "She isn't dead. She's alive and we're not going to just leave her here."

Duo scowled. "Fine then. Hey! If you're alive let's get a move on. We've got stuff to do."

"You don't need to yell at her, Duo. She's scared enough as it is." Quatre turned back to the girl. "Come on, we're friends. We're here to help you. Just come with us and you'll be safe. We've got food…are you hungry? All you have to do to get it is come with us."

Duo huffed. Even if the girl was alive she was being damned difficult. Duo was still angry at tripping in the garden and they hadn't found anything down here for him to beat the daylights out of so he was more than ready to head outside and hit a tree for a few minutes. Never mind that Heero was angry with him over something that wasn't exactly his fault. And now he was stuck in this creepy basement with a room of death only a few feet away trying to get a girl who (if she wasn't dead) obviously didn't want their help and it was all because of Quatre's damned bleeding heart.

Maybe he could try some reverse psychology on the girl. Duo cleared his throat and said airily, "I dunno…it seems to me that we should just leave her. She isn't coming willingly."

Quatre gave Duo an incredulous look. "Duo, we can't leave her. We don't know what could happen to her if we do."

"So what, we just grab her and see how well that goes over?" Duo was getting annoyed again. Why did this stupid girl have to be so damned difficult? She just had to agree to go with them and everything would be hunky dory but nooooo….

"If we have to. Let me see if I can get her to come with us. If not, I'll let you grab her and we'll deal with it, okay?"

Duo could tell Quatre was trying to placate him, and he decided that it wouldn't be fair to keep upsetting Quatre. His friend was already stressed out enough with how scared the girl supposedly was. Duo sighed. "Whatever, Quatre. But make it quick, Heero won't appreciate it if we make him wait all day."

Quatre nodded and knelt next to the girl. Duo's eyes widened as the girl flinched. So she really wasn't dead. Duo watched as Quatre flinched as well. Not for the first time, Duo wondered what it must be like to feel how everyone around you felt. The girl kept her eyes scrunched shut as Quatre knelt near to her and started to reach a hand out.

"We won't hurt you," Quatre tried to assure the girl. He thought that if he could get her to look at them maybe it would help. She curled up on herself in the corner as Quatre reached towards her. "Please come with us. It isn't safe here. I promise no one will hurt you."

Duo watched as the girl curled up tighter in an attempt to keep Quatre from touching her and his patience was wearing thin. "Come on, Quat, this isn't working. She's obviously got a serious case of Stockholm's. Either I grab her or we leave her. I don't care which anymore."

"Shut up Duo," Quatre ordered, now annoyed himself. He silently cursed as the girl pulled herself as tight into the corner as she could manage. He took a calming breath and carefully said, "Please come with us. It really isn't safe." Quatre lightly brushed her shoulder with his fingers and jerked his hand back, his eyes wide. He'd never felt so much terror, hurt, and distrust at once before. It broke his heart to think that anyone would ever have any reason to feel that way. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

Quatre watched as the girl slowly opened one eye. It killed him to see so much wariness in her. It only bolstered his resolve to help her. Her eye roved over to Duo, who was obviously annoyed and pointedly not paying attention to her. No doubt she was wondering if they would really help her or if they were there to harm her. Quatre decided in that moment that no matter what, he would earn her trust. It was a bit selfish, he knew, but he wanted to prove that not everyone was going to hurt her.

"Can you stand up?" Quatre asked, pulling her attention back to him. She stared blankly at him. Quatre wasn't sure if she was refusing to answer him on purpose or not. It was hard to discern any emotions beyond fear and suspicion.

"Quatre, come on! We don't have time for this." Duo had reached the end of his patience. The girl could be left to rot for all he cared. He was getting claustrophobic and he swore the smell of death from the butcher room was starting to fill the hall. He needed out. Now.

Quatre picked up on Duo's distress and made a command decision. He looked the girl in the eye and said, "I'm going to pick you up. I will do my best not to hurt you, okay?"

Quatre reeled from the fresh wave of terror that crashed over him. He forced himself to ignore it but couldn't ignore the burning hatred that suddenly radiated from the girl. What was that about? Had he done something? As quickly as it came on, the hatred was replaced by a sense of determination and then again by fear. Quatre frowned as he tried to puzzle out the girl's reaction. No…maybe she didn't hate him but…she definitely hated something or someone. It was frustrating. As long as she refused to tell them anything, he couldn't help her. Quashing the girl's onslaught of emotions, Quatre reached out and lifted her off the cold cement floor.

He hated that she weighed barely anything. He hated that she was freezing and going outside wouldn't make her any warmer. He hated that she flinched at his touch. He hated that she was afraid of him. He hated that she didn't trust him. And he hated that someone had done this to her.

He hated she was wearing only threadbare jeans and something that he supposed still qualified as a shirt, though the thin fabric was barely holding together. Not to mention that it was rather filthy. The back was stiff with something dark. The floor in that room was covered in filth. It was probably rat feces. Quatre suppressed a shudder at the thought of something so disgusting getting on his uniform. It would wash and he didn't want to jar her any more than absolutely necessary. He was trying to be gentle with her; she was hurt enough as it was. Maybe once they got her injuries treated she would see that they meant her no harm. Quatre signaled with his head for Duo to lead the way and quickly followed his braided companion out the door.

Duo grumbled about how much time they'd wasted, but Quatre knew he didn't mean it. Deep down, he was just as concerned about the girl as Quatre was. Closer to the surface, however, Duo was still annoyed about the garden and Heero's response. Quatre shook his head, knowing his friend would feel bad later for being so impatient with the girl. Quatre glanced down at the still figure in his arms and hoped they weren't too late.