Chapter 15

Quatre let his thoughts roam as he drove home. He wondered how long it would be until they could get the girl to trust them. He wondered if she would even agree to look at the book Heero was going to bring by. What kind of reaction would she have to seeing the man who'd abused her for so long? Would she start talking if she knew he was out of the picture or would she revert to how she was when they found her? What if she refused to look at all? Heero would be annoyed at best. Quatre sighed. This wasn't going to be easy.

He supposed he should let Trowa know the plan since he was going to be on duty when Heero came by. He pulled out his cell phone.

"Hi, Trowa, how are you?"

"I'm fine. What's up?"

"Well…I had a talk with Heero today and he's going to bring by a book for the girl to look at tomorrow."

There was silence on the line. Quatre waited a minute.

"Trowa? Did I lose you?"

"No, I'm here. What does Heero hope to accomplish?"

"He said Sally asked him to bring it by."

"What is she thinking? How is that supposed to help anything?"

"I think she wants the girl to feel safe."

"You do realize that the chances of her finding our target in the book of suspects in custody are slim to none, right? The guy I plugged at the site didn't match anyone in our lists which means he's still out there."

"Calm down, Trowa. I think Sally wants the girl to realize that we're doing everything we can but we really need her to talk to us if we're going to catch him."

"This is still bullshit."

Quatre sighed. "Look, if it makes it easier I'll come by and talk to her and keep Heero from trying to force her to look at all the books in one go."

"You can come if you want but I don't see what difference it's going to make. She's not going to talk."

"She doesn't need to just yet. She just needs to point out who did this to her. We can go from there."

"Hmph. On the off chance she does find the guy or start talking, what then?"

"Then I guess we see what she can tell us. It's possible that once he's in custody she'll start talking."

Trowa sighed. "I hope you're right, Quatre. She's been through enough."

"I agree. That's why I insisted that Heero start with one book and let her set the pace. If it's too upsetting for her, we'll figure out another way to get the information from her."

There was silence on the line for a moment before Trowa answered, "Fine. But don't get your hopes up."

"I won't," Quatre promised even though he already had. He wanted to believe that something would help the girl sooner rather than later and he was willing to try anything. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Duo was yawning when Trowa came to relieve him in the early hours of the morning.

"Are you okay to drive?" Trowa asked with a frown.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Duo answered. "Heero told me he had Sally drug the kid so she should sleep for a couple more hours."

Trowa furrowed his brows. "Was that really necessary?"

"She was having nightmares," Duo said with a shrug.

Trowa rolled his eyes. If he was drugged every time he had a nightmare he'd be drugged almost every night. "Wait a minute, what was Heero doing watching the girl? I thought we agreed he wouldn't anymore."

"I needed to grab some grub so he watched her for a few minutes. He had her drugged before I got back.

Trowa frowned. He was sure Quatre wouldn't be too pleased about this, either.

"Whelp…I'm gonna head home. See ya later."

"See ya."

Trowa leaned against the wall. He had hours to sit in the chair. He watched the girl sleep for a few minutes. It was annoying that they'd drugged her. Who knew how long she'd be out?

He wondered how she'd deal with her nightmares once the drugs were no longer available. He supposed Sally could prescribe her a sleeping pill but even those would eventually prove inadequate. What if she became addicted to them? She had enough issues that drug dependency was a real danger. He knew too many ex-soldiers that relied on alcohol and drugs to kill the memories and numb the pain.

He sighed and sat in the chair, grabbing the remote from the table. He was tired of the silence. He found something to add a little background noise but made sure the volume wouldn't disturb the girl.

It was several hours of mind-numbing daytime soaps before the girl shifted in her sleep. She let out a soft moan and Trowa frowned. He turned off the television and grabbed the clipboard at the end of her bed. He pursed his lips as he read the list of drugs in the cocktail they gave her. He opened the door and waved down a nurse.

"Can I get a glass of ice, please?"

"Of course, sir."

He waited for the nurse to bring him the Styrofoam cup of ice before securing the door. He watched the girl for a few minutes as she came around. When he felt like she was awake enough he moved closer to her. Her eyes opened a little.

"Here. Open your mouth."

The girl followed his order and he placed a piece of ice on her tongue. She closed her mouth and sucked on it. He waited for a few minutes before talking.

"Heero said Sally drugged you so you could sleep last night. I expect your mouth feels like you've been sucking on cotton balls."

She nodded but still seemed to be out of it.

"Done with that one? Open up."

He gave her more ice and watched as her eyes opened a bit more and she turned to look at him. He wanted to curse. She looked high. She probably was. Her pupils were constricted. How much did they give her? He'd have to talk to Sally about it.

"You're still feeling the effects, aren't you?"

The girl nodded and scrunched her eyes shut. She paled a little. Trowa wondered if she was going to throw up.

"Just relax, it should wear off soon."

The girl cracked her eyes open again and looked at the window.

"Would you like me to open the window?"

The girl looked a little confused. It was probably a side effect of the drugs. Maybe that wasn't what she wanted. He decided to guess.

"It's noon, if that's what you wanted to know."

The girl looked at him and gave him a small, lopsided smile. She was definitely higher than a kite. He hoped it wore off soon. He sat in the chair and handed her the cup of ice. She was awake enough to feed herself and it would let him analyze any physical effects of the drugs she was still feeling.

Her hands shook as she took the cup and placed a piece of ice in her mouth.

"Would you like something to eat?"

She didn't answer.

"It may help some of the effects to wear off faster," he explained. Drugs on an empty stomach were rarely a good idea.

She nodded. Trowa opened the drawer on the table and pulled out the cafeteria menu and Sally's suggested food list. He supposed he could order for her but he wanted her to make her own decisions. They were trying to give her her life back. She should be able to decide what she wanted to eat.

"Would you like soup again or something different?"

She didn't answer. He hoped he hadn't upset her. Maybe she just needed a bit more time for the drugs to wear off a bit.

"Sally said it should be fine for you to have soup or you can have toast." He frowned as he looked at the soup for the day. "There's not much of a selection for you, I'm afraid. The soup today is borsht, which I don't recommend. It's bad even by hospital food standards."

Trowa was able to handle most hospital food but the borsht turned his stomach. He figured she would eat it if that was what they gave her but he didn't want her to feel obligated to eat something just because she didn't have any other options.

He looked up from the list at her. She was watching him.

"Have you ever had rice pudding?"

She shook her head a little but didn't give him anything else to go on. Fine. If she wasn't going to make a decision, he would make this one for her.

"You might like it and it's on your list. Would you like toast?" Maybe asking direct questions would get a response.

She nodded. Good. He nodded to her and went to the phone to order food for her and something for himself. He watched her as she sucked more ice. She seemed to be doing a little better.

He hung up the phone and leaned against the wall. She watched him warily and he let her. He thought back to the wars. He had prided himself on being able to blend in and be completely invisible in plain sight. He didn't have to be invisible anymore but it was a little odd to let her analyze him. After a few minutes she tired of staring at him and looked down at her arms. She showed interest in the bandages on her wrists. He wondered if he should say something.

There was a knock on the door and Trowa opened it to an orderly with the girl's food. He took the tray and secured the door. He set the tray on her lap and stepped back. She looked up at him with confusion. Did she think he wouldn't really let her eat? The thought made him sick. Maybe it was something else.

"I ordered food for myself, but it will take longer to make. I didn't want you to have to wait."

She looked down at her tray and reached for the spoon. Trowa was relieved that he had guessed correctly what she wanted to know. She nearly dropped the spoon as she lifted a spoonful of the rice pudding to her mouth. She looked scared, as if she thought she was in trouble.

"I'll tell Sally to lower your dosage next time," he said softly as he reached out to steady her hand. "I don't think she realized how badly it would affect you."

It would have been faster for him to simply take the spoon and feed her, but he didn't want to embarrass her. Her cheeks had gone a little pink when he first started helping her and he knew he wouldn't have appreciated being treated like a baby. She wasn't a baby or an invalid, just unsteady. Besides, he figured once she got some food in her system the shaking would stop.

It wasn't long before there was another knock on the door. The girl jumped a little at the noise but Trowa waited for her to set down the spoon before heading to the door. He took his tray of food from the orderly and went back to his chair, satisfied to see that the girl had picked up a piece of toast and was nibbling on it. She seemed happy enough that she didn't need help with it so he elected to leave her to herself for a bit. He kept an eye on her as he started in on his own food. He wasn't sure if she would need help again or not but he knew she wouldn't ask for it.

He watched as she set down the toast and tried another bite of the rice pudding. Her eyes glowed with pride as she managed it by herself without spilling any in her lap. She took a few more bites before leaning back on the pillows and staring at her hands.

He finished more of his food while he watched her ignore what was left on her tray. He wondered if she was actually full or just afraid to finish it.

"Did you get enough to eat?"

She nodded. He nodded back and continued eating his own food. He wasn't going to force her to eat if she wasn't hungry. He was about to ask her if she liked it when there was a bump on the door and it opened.

In a flash Trowa was on his feet with his gun drawn. No way in hell was anyone getting to the girl on his watch.

Quatre's head poked in. "Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to startle you."

Trowa rolled his eyes at Quatre's sheepish expression, he knew better. But Trowa nodded, accepting the apology, before sitting back down and slipping his gun into the holster.

Quatre came in and approached the girl.

"How are you feeling today?"

The girl didn't answer. Trowa frowned as she stared at the tray in her lap.

"She's doing better now than she was. The drugs are wearing off," he supplied before taking another bite.

The girl looked at him with an annoyed expression. Trowa resisted the urge to laugh. Her expression was priceless. He wasn't sure if he would hurt her feelings, though, so he took another bite and got himself under control.

Quatre felt the stab of annoyance from her and Trowa's mirth. He chuckled to ease the tension in the room. "You'll find that Trowa reads people very well. I think it's because he observes more than he talks."

Trowa couldn't help himself anymore. He chuckled but kept his thoughts to himself. Quatre noticed that the girl had no way to communicate and frowned. He moved to the table near the bed, ignoring the girl's slight cringe, and dug in the drawer for the pad of paper and the pen. He handed them to her and removed the tray from her lap.

"I'll try to remind everyone to make sure you have these in case there's something you want."

'Thank you,' she wrote.

Quatre smiled. She was getting better. She wasn't as afraid of them and he suspected her flinching and cringing was more of an ingrained response than an actual expression of fear. Perhaps all it would take was time. "You're welcome."

He pulled a chair over and sat next to Trowa, waiting for him to finish his meal. Quatre had asked Heero to wait outside until the girl was ready to look at the books. He was glad Trowa was on duty. He would help if Heero got out of control.

The girl wrote something and held it up for Quatre to read.

'What?'

Well, that was new. This was the first time she'd initiated conversation. Quatre didn't want to discourage her by ignoring her question. "It will keep until Trowa is done," he told her gently. He wasn't sure of the best way to broach the subject of the books without upsetting her and was grateful for a few more minutes to figure it out.

"I'm done," Trowa said, standing to put his tray on the side table with the other one.

"Of course." Quatre was out of time. He decided that being straight with her would be best. "Would you be feeling up to looking at some pictures? We need you to identify the man who took you."

The girl closed her eyes. Quatre felt the resurgence of fear in the girl. He wondered if they were pushing her too fast. Maybe he should tell her it was okay and she didn't have to. She took a few deep breaths before nodding and looking up at him. She was scared but was willing to work with them. Quatre hoped she found the guy in the first book. He really wanted her to be able to put the fear behind her.

"Right," he said quietly, standing up. He opened the door and beckoned to Heero, who followed him into the room.

Heero approached the girl, trying to keep everything Quatre said about not frightening the girl in mind.

"My name is Heero. Are you willing to tell us yours yet?"

The girl stared at him for a moment before shaking her head.

Heero grunted and was about to take out his frustration on her when Trowa pushed past him and knelt next to the girl. Heero glanced at Quatre and quashed his annoyance at the glare the blonde threw him.

Trowa's soft voice pulled Heero's attention back to the girl. She was cowering on the bed. He mentally berated himself. He needed to be in control before he scared the girl into noncompliance.

"It's okay," Trowa told the girl as he gently lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him. "You're not in trouble. Don't be afraid."

The girl stared into Trowa's eyes for a moment before giving a small nod. Trowa stood and moved back, allowing Heero access to the girl again. Heero set a large binder on her lap.

"Look through those pictures and see if you can identify any of them," he ordered, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice.

The girl stared at the book before reaching out a trembling hand and opening it. The men kept their silence as they watched the girl flinch her way through the book. It was as if she expected her captor to jump out of the book at each turn of the page. She was visibly relieved as she closed the book and shook her head.

"Did you see very many people in the house?" Heero asked. Maybe they could take that route. If she could find them another lead, they could track that instead of this dead end.

The girl shook her head.

Heero mentally cursed. Now what? "You said his name was Perdu?"

The girl nodded

Heero scowled. "Hidden."

"What?" Quatre asked.

"That's what Perdu means. It means hidden, concealed or obscured. Since it doesn't match anyone on record, I assume it's an alias." Heero didn't add that it meant they couldn't pin the guy down unless the girl was able to point him out.

"Sally seemed to think so, too."

Heero nodded. "Hn. I'll bring another book of pictures by later."

Trowa looked at Quatre with a raised eyebrow, asking if that was really a good idea.

"Um, okay, Heero. Just…" Quatre wasn't sure how to finish that sentence without making Heero angry.

"I won't push her too hard," Heero snapped and immediately regretted losing his cool.

The girl flinched and bit her lip as she looked at the three men, her eyes betraying her fear. Quatre wanted to yell at Heero for scaring her again, but knew it wouldn't do anything but escalate the problem. He could tell Heero felt bad about it and decided to let it drop for now. If it kept happening, though, he and Heero would have another talk. Instead he nodded and grabbed the book off the girl's lap, handing it to Heero, who turned and left before he did anything else to scare the girl.

Quatre turned to the girl and tried to give her a reassuring smile to help her relax. "Sorry that didn't turn anything up. I suppose I shouldn't have hoped it would be so easy," he said, keeping his voice light.

The girl picked up the pen and wrote 'How many?' before holding the paper up for Quatre to read.

How many what? "How many…books?" he guessed.

The girl nodded.

Quatre took a deep breath before answering. "There are seven books of suspects we've identified with this trafficking ring." He watched the girl's eyes grow large with surprise and hurried on with his explanation. "I hope it doesn't take going through all of them before your kidnapper can be identified. Everyone in the first six books is either dead or in custody. The seventh book is of suspects we have yet to apprehend, and it's much smaller than any of the other books. But don't worry about it right now. We only want you to identify him so that we can be sure we've caught him and charge him accordingly."

The girl looked down and wrote something else. 'He isn't dead?'

Quatre wasn't sure what to tell her. He didn't want to worry her but he couldn't lie to her, either. "I'm sorry. He might not be. That first book was entirely suspects who have been…" (How could he put this delicately?) "…permanently removed either by the Preventers or by other members of the ring. However, there are some in the other books who have been similarly…disposed of. He may be one of those."

The girl looked shocked. It was obvious she had no idea how many people had been involved. Quatre was glad because it meant he could change Heero's mind about her being voluntarily involved in some way.

"But don't worry about it. You're safe now. We won't quit hunting him until he's been stopped," Trowa told her. He didn't want her stressed out about the possibility of them giving up on trying to keep her safe. It seemed obvious to him that too many people had already given up on her.

Quatre raised an eyebrow in surprise at the feelings coming from Trowa. He knew the brunette had a protective streak and he tended to try to keep those weaker than himself safe. Quatre hadn't felt it come out much when it came to witnesses the Preventers spoke to so this was a bit of a rare occurrence indeed. It made him wonder if Trowa was planning on adopting the girl into his makeshift family. Trowa, like Duo, had grown up without a true family and seemed to "collect" family members out of those he came into contact with. The five pilots were part of that family, as were the members of the circus where Trowa worked part-time. The only person Trowa was related to by blood was Catherine, who was a star in the circus.

The girl seemed to relax and leaned back against her pillows. She looked exhausted. Quatre could feel the stress growing in her as she looked at the wall. Quatre reached out and brushed her bangs from her face, causing her to flinch and look at him.

"Try to get some rest and don't worry. We'll get him."

Quatre gathered up the cafeteria trays and left. He hoped the girl didn't continue to get upset but he was confident Trowa would be able to handle her for now. She seemed to be fairly comfortable around him. It made Quatre wonder if she would talk to Trowa first. Duo and Wufei seemed to be into betting; perhaps he should make a wager with them over it…just for fun, of course.

Back in the room Trowa turned on the television to help distract the girl. He flipped through the channels, pausing to see who was playing in the hockey game before continuing. Trowa remembered Duo mentioning that the girl liked the L.A. Kings. Unfortunately, it was a game between the L5 Dragons and the Sanq Peacekeepers. He wasn't sure she'd want to watch if the Kings weren't playing. There was nothing else on tonight. He wouldn't know unless he asked.

He put it back on the game asking, "Is this okay?"

The girl nodded and watched the game with him until she drifted off. Trowa turned down the volume on the game so he didn't disturb her and let his thoughts wander. He was grateful that she was responding so well. He only hoped they didn't run into any irreparable setbacks.