Chapter 5

After sending Agent Walters in to take care of the attic, Wufei watched the girl sleep fitfully for a moment before deciding to get his bedroll set up for the night. He had already decided that he would examine the girl as soon as Quatre showed up. While it would be ideal if she stayed asleep, he hoped if she did wake, Quatre would be able to keep her calm.

Wufei started at a noise just outside the tent and instinctively went for his gun.

"Wufei? It's me…can I come in?"

Wufei put his gun away. "Yeah, Quatre."

Quatre unzipped the tent and peeked in. "I checked the medi-tent but you weren't there."

"Oh, Quatre…I'm sorry. I…"

"It's okay," Quatre quickly assured him. "It isn't like it's the first time I've seen a body."

"Well I wish someone would have warned you first."

Quatre shrugged. "Nothing to be done about it now. Who found the other girl?"

"Trowa. He said that you shouldn't go to the upper levels of the house. Apparently that's where the girls were assaulted and…and where the other bodies are." Wufei hated the sad expression that settled on Quatre's features.

"H-how…how's the girl doing?" Quatre asked, attempting to distract himself. He had learned during the wars to value life…they all had. It made him sad that anyone would be able to throw even one away, let alone more than one.

"She's about the same. Terrified, but too exhausted to stay awake. I need to look her over. I thought it might be better to check her while she was asleep. Trowa suggested that maybe you would be able to tell when she was about to wake up."

"I…I don't know. I might be able to." Quatre wasn't always sure what he could and couldn't do with his empathy until situations like this one arose. He would certainly try to tell when she was waking up if it would spare her pain or embarrassment.

Wufei nodded. "We weren't sure if it worked that way. But I also figured that if you were here maybe it wouldn't freak her out as much."

Quatre nodded. "Do you need help?"

"That would be great. I need to document her injuries and then let Sally know what to expect. I called her earlier and she asked me to do an initial check. However…I think I'll only document what we can see without removing her clothing. I don't want to upset her if I can avoid it."

The girl shifted in her sleep, a look of discomfort on her features as she settled.

"I think she will appreciate that. Where do you want to start?"

"Trowa thought her leg was injured. I think if we photograph her face and arms and then I can check her legs. Her jeans are loose enough I can just push the legs up."

"Sounds good. What would you like me to do?"

"First light the lantern. It's getting dark. Do you think you can pull the blanket off of her without waking her up?" Wufei asked as he got his camera ready. "If we see anything that needs immediate attention I'll fix it, but from what I saw earlier it was mostly bruising."

Quatre nodded and lit the lantern. "Ready?"

Wufei nodded and Quatre carefully pulled the blanket from the girl. She had uncurled and was now on her back, with her right leg out straight and her left bent slightly. She had the blanket clenched in her fist. Quatre didn't even attempt to take the blanket from her. She obviously needed the security. Wufei quickly set to work with his camera, zooming in on a number of the bruises and several small lacerations. Once he was satisfied he set down the camera and moved to her leg.

"Can you tell if she's waking up?"

"I don't think she is."

"Is she getting too cold?"

"I don't think so. But you should hurry, just in case."

"Wufei…I'm coming in," Trowa's voice reached them from outside the tent before the flap was unzipped.

"Hurry, before you let in too much of the night air," Wufei ordered as he started to push the girl's pant leg up. Her right leg was covered in bruises, which Wufei quickly documented as Trowa entered and closed up the tent again.

"Did either of you eat?" Trowa asked as he set about getting his bedroll.

"Not yet. I wanted to get this done before it got any later," Wufei answered, pulling the pant leg down and pushing up the other one.

Quatre gasped as the girl's knee came into view. "No wonder she didn't try to get up." The girl's knee was dislocated and swollen to the size of a softball. "Can you fix it, Wufei?"

"I think so. It's going to wake her up, though."

"But if it's in place it won't hurt as much, will it?" Quatre pressed.

"No…it shouldn't hurt as much. If I hurry maybe I can do it before the pain registers."

Wufei carefully picked up the girl's ankle but before he could do anything, she kicked him with her right leg.

"Shit!" He hadn't realized she'd woken up. "Quatre, hold her right leg still. I can't do this while she's flailing about."

The girl responded by curling into a ball…well as much of one as she could manage. Her left leg bent at an odd angle.

"Shhhh…it's okay," Quatre soothed. "Your knee is dislocated, we're just trying to set it, but we can't unless you relax."

The girl didn't relax. She stayed right where she was. Quatre shut his eyes against the onslaught of fear exuding from the girl. He wished he could get her to understand that she was safe now.

"Trowa, see if you can talk sense into this onna." Wufei snapped. He was frustrated with this whole situation. Yes, he had wanted them to find something but he didn't think anything they found would be this bad. He expected any girls they found to be afraid but he also thought they'd have sense enough to know that the Preventers were there to help them. He figured they'd be grateful, not too terrified to function.

"Wufei, your tone is not helping," Trowa gently reprimanded. He understood Wufei's frustration, but giving in to the irritation would only make matters worse. The girl reminded him of a lion that the circus had acquired a few years back. It, too, had been abused and starved. It lashed out from fear and was about to be put down. Trowa had convinced the Manager to let him try to train the lion anyway. It had taken a lot of work over several months, but Trowa had done it. The lion was now one of the circus' top acts. Maybe the same sort of thing would work on the girl. He leaned close to her so he could speak softly. "Come on, now, we're just trying to help you." The girl shook her head, her body tense and trembling. "Would it help if I let you hold onto me? You can squeeze my hand as tight as you need to."

The girl shook her head again. Quatre thought it was an improvement that the girl was actually responding to Trowa's questions.

"Oh for the love of—! Trowa, hold her. I don't care if she doesn't want you to; this needs to be set before she does any more damage to it," Wufei ordered. Enough was enough. The girl could be scared of them later. Wufei wasn't sure how extensive the damage already was, but with any luck he could get it set before it was damaged enough to require surgery.

Trowa almost refused, but decided that Wufei was right. He didn't want her hurt any more than she already was. And if she hated him for it, maybe they could still get her to talk to Quatre. He carefully wrapped his arms around her and felt her stiffen.

"I won't hurt you," he whispered. He carefully lifted her and sat her between his legs, holding her against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, pinning hers down so she couldn't strike out at him. He gritted his teeth as she struggled against his hold. He didn't want her to escape, but he didn't want to hold her tight enough to hurt her, either. She was persistent, he'd give her that. She pulled every way she could trying to break his hold. Fortunately, she didn't have the strength or the stamina to struggle for very long before going limp. Trowa could feel her panting as he held her.

Quatre bit his lip as he debated whether to call this off or not. It was obvious the girl didn't want Trowa to hold her, but she wouldn't hold still long enough for Wufei to fix her leg. Really, it should only take a second to fix and then they'd leave her alone again.

"Quatre…her leg?" Wufei reminded him, derailing his train of thought.

Quatre nodded and carefully but firmly held the girl's right leg down so she couldn't kick Wufei again. He watched her face to see if he was hurting her. She slowly opened her eyes and looked at Wufei and then at him. Quatre felt bad. She was still scared of them and he was picking up on pain as well as her fear. He didn't dare let her go until Wufei was done with her, though. She scrunched her eyes shut again and seemed to brace herself for what was coming.

Wufei picked up her ankle and quickly popped the knee back in, expecting the girl to scream. She didn't. Wufei looked at the girl in surprise and watched as she arched her back against Trowa and grabbed his arm, her face showing the pain she didn't verbalize.

Trowa held her as tightly as he dared as she started trembling. He silently cursed. She was going into shock. They'd have to elevate her feet and get her warm.

"Don't let her go," Quatre told him softly. "Keep her grounded." He felt bad telling Trowa to keep holding her when it was obvious she wanted them to let her go. He was afraid if she didn't have something to ground her, they'd lose her.

Trowa nodded and held her, feeling her nails dig into his arm. He didn't mind. He probably deserved it. She was gasping and her breathing was labored and erratic.

"Shhhh…it's okay," Trowa whispered, trying to calm her down as Wufei started splinting the girl's leg, impairing movement and decreasing the likelihood of it being dislocated again.

Quatre, sensing the fight leaving the girl, decided to let her leg go. Trowa felt her go limp and carefully moved from behind her and set her down, mindful that Wufei was still working on her leg.

"Oh Allah, Trowa! What happened to you?"

Trowa looked at Quatre's stricken face and then down at his chest, where the blonde's eyes were glued in horror. The front of his shirt was drenched in blood. Where had that come from? He hadn't been injured.

"This blood isn't mine," he assured his concerned friend. "I don't know where—" He broke off as he realized where it had to have come from. The stain on the wall and the carpeting upstairs came to mind as he carefully moved the girl onto her side. For once, the girl didn't bother to fight his touch. "Oh my God. Wufei, get the kit."

The girl's shirt was dripping blood. Quatre helped Trowa to move the limp girl onto her stomach.

"Move," Wufei ordered, brandishing a pair of scissors. He carefully cut up the side of her shirt, just outside the area soaked in blood. The girl squirmed as he pulled it away from her flesh.

"Allah…How could anyone do this?" Quatre asked mournfully.

The girl's back was a mess. Broken scabs in various stages of healing oozed blood and puss that mixed with dirt and small bits of rock. Trowa shook his head. The scabs had broken open because he hadn't let her go. It was his fault.

Quatre wondered that he and Duo hadn't noticed any blood when they found her. He frowned. The room hadn't exactly been well lit and Duo had rushed them, but still…he reprimanded himself for being so oblivious.

"Hold her still. This needs to be cleaned," Wufei instructed tersely as he put the camera away. He'd gotten enough pictures to turn anyone's stomach. His mind was racing with ways he'd like to torture the bastard that did this. Chinese Water Torture was too good for anyone who would treat a helpless girl this way.

Trowa held the girl's left shoulder gently but firmly as Quatre tentatively touched her right shoulder. He hissed at the stab of pain that went through him.

"Quatre…are you okay?"

"Yeah, Trowa…she's just in a lot of pain," Quatre explained quietly. He didn't want to hurt her further.

"I need you to hold her, Quatre. The sooner I get this cleaned the sooner we can leave her alone."

"O-okay, Wufei." Quatre steeled himself as he held the girl's shoulder a bit more firmly.

Wufei ran a wet cloth over the girl's back. She tried to shy away from his touch, making it difficult for Wufei to thoroughly clean her injuries. He didn't blame her, it looked painful, but it was irritating him.

"Quit moving…it only makes it worse," Wufei ordered. He cursed as she immediately stiffened and started trembling. He didn't mean to scare her more, just get her hold still. He cursed the man who did this to her, especially since it was infected. That would definitely affect the healing time and given the girl's physical state, it would add a lot. "Hold her tight, I need to put an antibiotic on this and it's probably going to sting."

Trowa added a little more pressure to the girl's shoulder as Wufei straddled her legs and sat on them to keep her from moving. He was careful just to let enough of his weight settle to hold her in place so he wouldn't hurt her.

"Quatre…you need to hold her down."

Quatre closed his eyes and nodded. He added a little more pressure to the girl's shoulder and bit his lip as he paled. She was in so much pain he wasn't sure how she was able to handle it.

Wufei, noting Quatre's expression, quickly spread the antibiotic cream on a clean cloth and applied it as quickly as he could. The girl squirmed, trying to get away from his touch, but he kept at it. He had to get the medicine on this wound. The girl suddenly stopped squirming and let out an ear-splitting scream of pain and anguish.

Wufei refrained from yelling at her. It wasn't her fault she was hurt and he knew that he was adding to it. Instead he finished as quickly as he could.

"Okay, you can let her go! Just don't let her turn onto her back!" Wufei yelled above the din.

Trowa let go and gently rubbed the girl's arm, trying to comfort her and get her to stop screaming. Quatre let go and scuttled away from the girl, breathing heavily and trying not to pass out. He looked at Trowa, who seemed to be succeeding in getting the girl to calm because her scream died out and tears replaced it. Her whole body shook with sobs as Trowa tried in vain to tell her everything was okay.

Quatre was sure there was no way she'd trust them now. They'd hurt her after he promised that they wouldn't. He felt miserable as he watched tears flow down her cheeks, leaving tracks in the dirt. He wondered if it wouldn't have been kinder for her to have died.

Wufei was cursing under his breath as he dug in his pack for sterile bandages. Somehow they'd gotten moved from where he thought they were. He wanted to get this done so the girl could relax…well, relax as much as it was going to be possible for her to manage anyway. He wondered if he had a sedative he could give her but pushed the thought away as he decided it was better not to risk an accidental overdose. Besides, her body might not be able to process it in her current condition.

Trowa, Quatre and Wufei all jumped at the sound of the tent zipper.

"What the HELL are you doing to her?" Duo demanded. Then he saw the girl. "Ho-ly Shit. Heero needs to see this." Duo set off at a sprint to get Heero.

Quatre fought against tears as the desire for death washed over him. The stubborn determination that had kept the girl from breaking down before was gone, replaced by complete surrender to the pain that engulfed her.

"Quatre, are you alright?"

Quatre nodded. "I'll be okay, Trowa."

"Are you sure?" Trowa didn't like how pale Quatre was, which was saying something given the blonde's fair skin.

"Y-yeah…she's just in a lot of pain and honestly, I'm not sure how she's still conscious."

Wufei shook his head. "If you need to leave for a while, it's okay."

"No…no…I'm going to stay. I promised her that…that she'd be safe and I don't want to leave her."

Wufei grunted. "Suit yourself."

"What's going on?" Heero demanded as he ducked into the tent. Duo stayed out of the tent but poked his head in so he could hear what was going on. "Trowa, why is your shirt covered in blood?"

"It isn't mine, Heero. It's hers."

Heero looked at the girl and swore. "What happened to her?"

"We don't know," Quatre answered. He looked at Duo. "But this explains why she didn't want us touching her."

Duo felt bad for being upset with her. She probably hadn't been difficult on purpose. He looked down in shame. He'd try to make it up to her later. Maybe once she wasn't in pain she'd be willing to forgive his poor behavior.

"Did you document this, Wufei?"

"Of course," the Chinese man snapped. He wasn't an idiot. He knew protocol and the girl's condition was considered evidence. "Just tell me, Heero, did you really kill the bastard?"

"We're awaiting DNA confirmation that it really is him, but we're almost 100% positive."

"Good. Because if you hadn't I'd have to strangle him with my bare hands. This is reprehensible. She needs medical attention as soon as we can get it. My training isn't enough."

Heero ran a hand through his hair. "We can't extract her until morning. Will you be able to keep her pain under control until then?"

Wufei crossed his arms. "Given the extent of her injuries, I doubt that we have anything that will keep her pain under control. However, I will do what I can."

Heero grimaced, but nodded. "I wish Sally had been sent with us. This girl needs to be checked thoroughly but I highly doubt she'll let you do it."

"I know, Heero. I've already sent word ahead to Sally about her."

"Have you identified the girl?"

Wufei shook his head. "No. The only sound she's made was that scream. Even when I set her leg, she didn't make a sound."

Heero ran a hand over his face and swore again. "See if you can get her to talk. We'll need to get her statement as soon as possible to prosecute the surviving members of the trafficking ring."

Heero stepped out of the tent and Wufei closed it up again. "Let's get her bandaged up and then we'll get some food. Maybe that will entice her to talk." Wufei placed the first strip of cloth on her back and shook his head as she flinched again. Trowa silently passed him supplies and between the two of them her back was bandaged in a matter of minutes. Quatre carefully placed the blanket over her. Even though the tent was fairly warm, the night was rapidly cooling and Quatre thought she might be more comfortable if she was a little less exposed. She was only wearing jeans at this point.

"Should we give her a shirt to wear?" Quatre asked softly as the girl started to settle.

"I don't think so," Wufei answered. "It might hurt her to move her arms enough to get the shirt on and they'll likely just cut it off once we get her to Sally tomorrow. That blanket looks warm enough to suffice for tonight."

"I'm going to get some food. Do you want any?" Trowa asked as he crawled for the tent flap.

Wufei nodded and Quatre hesitated for a second before nodding as well.

"See if there's a protein shake or soup for the girl. We don't know when she was allowed to eat last. I don't want to make her sick on top of everything else," Wufei said.

Trowa nodded and headed for the mess tent.

Quatre watched the girl for a minute, unsure if he ought to try and talk to her right now or not.

"Quatre, why don't you get your bedroll set up?"

Quatre looked at the far side of the tent where his things were waiting for him. With the way things were currently laid out, Quatre was against the side of the tent with Wufei next to him, then the girl and then Trowa on this side.

"Should I switch places with Trowa?"

"Hm?" Wufei glanced at the placement in the tent. "No," he said slowly. "Actually, I think it would be better if you weren't near enough to touch the girl tonight. Don't look at me like that. You already look exhausted and if you roll over and touch her in your sleep whatever she's feeling will likely wake you up. I need you capable tomorrow when we transport her. I expect she'll be more awake and since you technically saved her I'm hoping that she'll trust you enough to be cooperative."

Quatre sighed. "I don't know about that, Wufei. I've never felt so much fear and wariness in anyone before. She's so terrified I don't even know a word to describe it. I mean…she's been abused mentally and emotionally as well as physically. It's so disheartening to feel the depths of her distrust. I just…feel so inadequate to help her."

Wufei sighed. "Well maybe things will be better in the morning when she realizes we haven't actually hurt her and we're not going to."

Quatre nodded and set about getting his sleeping bag set up. He was just finishing when Trowa came back.

"Not much of a selection tonight, I'm afraid," Trowa said, handing Wufei and Quatre each a sandwich, a bottle of water and an apple. "The only thing they had that I thought wouldn't make her sick was some yogurt."

"That should be fine for now," Wufei said, taking the cup of yogurt from Trowa and moving slowly towards the girl. He didn't want to startle her. "We have some food if you want it," he said softly, careful not to let his tone make her think he was angry. He knew he came off that way sometimes and had promised Sally that he would work on it. Now seemed like a good time to be conscious of it. He shook his head and sat back on his sleeping bag. "I'm not going to wake her. She can eat in the morning." He tossed Quatre the yogurt. "You like huckleberry, don't you?"