A/N: Got a bunch of this done during Nano so now I have to connect some of the chapters. With any luck my muse will let me keep working on it like it did during November and we'll have a good long story!

Chapter 71

About an hour before Duo's shift was to end, Sally showed up.

"How is she this morning?" Sally asked as Duo let her in.

"Trowa got her to sleep before he left and she's slept all night. He told me she was upset about her eye last night so I'm not sure how she'll be when she wakes up."

Sally nodded. "I expected that. I have her surgery scheduled for this morning so don't let her eat when she wakes up."

"Surgery?"

"I can't fix her sight but I can try to fix her vocal cords. She agreed to it last night."

Duo nodded. "As long as she knows it's going to happen, I think she'll be okay with it."

"Thanks, Duo. Let me know if there are any issues this morning and I'll talk to her about it, okay?"

"Sure thing." Duo secured the door and turned back to look at Kiri, who was still snuggling with the lion Trowa had brought her.

Duo thought about how that lion could get Trowa into trouble. It was clear that Trowa and Kiri were developing feelings for each other and Une wouldn't be pleased if she found out. Duo and Heero having a relationship was way different than Trowa and Kiri having one. Duo and Heero had known each other before they were Preventers. They were consenting adults who knew what their relationship entailed.

Kiri was a victim of a horrendous crime. She'd been abused and subjected to some of the worst conditions Duo had ever seen. What if what she thought was love was really just a desperate need to be treated nicely? What if their relationship couldn't work because Kiri didn't understand what love really was? Duo knew Trowa wouldn't knowingly take advantage of Kiri but Kiri's previous experience with relationships wasn't the best and Trowa wasn't exactly the most balanced guy out there. He'd had his share of horrors during the wars and Duo knew he still struggled with bouts of PTSD and guilt like they all did. Was Kiri really in any position to help him with it? Did she have any idea what she was getting into? What about her own issues? Was she even capable of dealing with those at the moment?

Maybe he ought to stop this now, before either of them was involved enough to get hurt. No, it wasn't his place to make that call. He knew that. But he didn't want Kiri to accidentally out them to Colonel Une, either. Duo decided to have a talk with Kiri about it. He would make her promise not to tell Une about her feelings for Trowa or how Trowa had been so nice to her above and beyond the call of duty.

He grinned to himself as he found Kiri's pen and paper. He would hold them hostage until she agreed.

Kiri twitched in her sleep. Duo watched her carefully and decided that she was on the verge of waking up but he wasn't going to rush her. She wasn't allowed to eat before her surgery and the longer she slept the longer any hunger pangs would be kept at bay.

He watched as Kiri opened her eyes and stared at the lion in confusion. She sat up and looked around. He wasn't sure that she saw him, so Duo decided to greet her.

"Mornin' kid."

Kiri looked at him but didn't really react. Duo figured she wasn't 100% awake yet.

"I'd offer you some breakfast, but Sally said not to let you eat anything."

Kiri nodded and started to feel around her bed. She frowned as she searched for something. She got off the bed and looked in the drawer of the table. Her brow furrowed as she thought.

"Looking for these?" Duo asked with a smirk.

Kiri looked at him. She nodded and reached for the pen and paper but Duo held them out of her reach.

"Nope. I don't think so."

She scowled. She was cute when she was angry. He'd have to tell Trowa to tease her sometime.

Duo couldn't help but keep smirking at her, which seemed to make her even angrier.

"Tell you what…I'll give you these if you don't say anything to anyone about that lion."

Kiri frowned and raised an eyebrow.

"Ya wanna know why?" Duo guessed.

She nodded.

"Because you're not supposed to have it. I mean…you can have it but Trowa shouldn't have given it to you. He'll get in trouble."

Kiri frowned even deeper at that but she nodded after a moment. Duo gave her the pen and paper.

'Why will Trowa get in trouble?'

"Because…" Duo had to figure out how to explain it so Kiri could understand and not get upset. "Well, it's policy that Agents aren't supposed to fraternize with the people we help."

'Why? I like Trowa.'

Duo grinned. "Yeah, I figured. The only time you seem to sleep without screaming your head off is when he's on duty." It was pretty obvious that she liked Trowa the best of all of them.

Kiri rolled her eyes.

"The policy is in place to prevent Agents from taking advantage of vulnerable victims. Not that Trowa would ever do that but if anyone finds out, it'll look bad."

Duo knew that Trowa wouldn't ever do anything as dishonorable as taking advantage of Kiri and Duo didn't want Kiri to think that he ever thought Trowa would.

Kiri nodded and Duo was glad that she understood. She started writing again.

'Why can't I have anything to eat?'

"Oh yeah…Sally's got you scheduled for surgery in about an hour."

Kiri looked a little upset at this information. Duo wondered if he'd scared her or if she'd changed her mind about having the surgery.

"You okay?" he asked.

She nodded and wrote out, 'Just nervous.'

He smiled at her to help set her at ease. "Don't be. Sally's the best. She won't let anything happen to ya."

She gave him a small smile but she still looked nervous. Duo decided that he could at least try to distract her.

"Hey, wanna watch TV until Sally comes to get you?"

She nodded.

Duo grabbed the remote and flipped through channels. There wasn't much on but he found an old cartoon that he'd seen once or twice and he'd thought it was kind of funny. It was called "Animaniacs." It was made before the colonization of space and Duo wasn't entirely sure how it had managed to survive this long. But it was silly and that was what he wanted to keep Kiri's mind off of her surgery.

"I tried looking up some of the jokes on this show to see what they meant and some of them are spoofs of old movies but others still don't make any sense to me. I almost wonder if they're part of forgotten history or something."

Kiri shrugged and went back to watching the show. Duo wanted to curse when a knock on the door made both of them jump. Kiri paled a little and hugged her lion so hard Duo wondered if she'd squeeze the stuffing out of it. He opened the door and Sally came in.

"Are you ready?" Sally asked as she came in.

Kiri nodded, but she didn't look Sally in the eye.

"Nervous?"

Kiri shook her head, again avoiding eye contact.

Duo smirked. "Liar."

Kiri's cheeks tinged pink and she stuck her tongue out at him. Sally knew she hadn't been being honest and she was grateful that Duo distracted Kiri from her funk, but she really needed to get down to business if they were going to get this done today. And Sally really didn't want to put it off any longer. She was afraid Kiri would lose her nerve and change her mind.

"All right. Duo leave her alone." Sally sat at the end of the bed and looked at Kiri. "I wanted to go over what is going to happen, okay?"

Kiri nodded, but she looked a little nervous.

Duo took that as his cue to leave. He told Hannah that Sally was almost ready for the procedure and she slipped inside with Wufei, who had volunteered to be security during the procedure.

Sally noticed the nurse and Wufei entering but she chose not to draw Kiri's attention to it. She didn't want to make Kiri more nervous than she already was.

"The first thing I'm going to do is put this small mask over your nose. It will allow you to breathe in a gas that will keep you unconscious while we perform the procedure. Once the gas takes effect, I'll start by using a special tool to open your windpipe a bit because it's been crushed one too many times."

She didn't mention that the trickiest part was making sure that Kiri could breathe while they worked on her throat. She didn't want to freak Kiri out or make her change her mind about doing this.

Sally continued to explain the procedure to Kiri, even though it was obvious that Kiri wasn't really focusing on what Sally was saying. Sally felt bad. Kiri was far more nervous than she admitted to being but Sally knew that the sooner they got the surgery over with the better off Kiri would be. If Sally was wrong and she couldn't help Kiri to speak again, at least they would know and they could help Kiri to communicate in other ways. Sally's backup plan was to use a DVD series to teach Kiri sign language.

Due to the need for secrecy when it came to handling Kiri's case, Sally would be performing the surgery in the room. She had gotten clearance for Hannah to assist her and Wufei would be staying as security and as an extra assistant if she needed it. Sally's biggest concern with this surgery was her own inexperience.

"Are you okay, Kiri?" Sally asked as she finished her explanation.

Kiri started a little but nodded. Sally knew she hadn't been listening but perhaps that was for the best. Maybe if Kiri didn't realize how dangerous this kind of surgery could be she wouldn't be as nervous about it. The more relaxed Kiri was, the better the gas would work and the sooner Sally could get the surgery done.

"Right then. First things first. I want you to lie down and I'm going to put this mask in place." Kiri complied and Sally fit the mask on her. "That's it. Just breathe normally through your nose."

Kiri still looked concerned but her expression relaxed as the gas took effect. Sally waited until Kiri's eyes closed.

"Kiri? Kiri can you hear me?" Sally waited a moment before snapping her fingers in front of Kiri's face and shaking her a little.

Kiri didn't respond at all.

"She's out," Sally announced. "Let's do this."

Sally wiped the sweat from her forehead. She was glad the surgery had gone well. She was still worried that it wouldn't work. Kiri had multiple problems with her throat. Her windpipe had been crushed and needed to be opened up again and once that was done, Sally had discovered that one of Kiri's vocal cords was torn. She'd never had to stitch together vocal cords before and everything she'd read on the subject said there was no guarantee it would work for every patient. On top of that, because Kiri had been living with these conditions for so long Sally had found polyps and an abnormal growth that had to be removed and tested for cancer. Sally prayed that Kiri didn't have cancer on top of everything else. It just wouldn't be fair. Basically, Sally had to be satisfied that she'd done all she could do for Kiri. It was frustrating, but there was nothing she could do to change it.

She cleaned up and told Hannah she could return to her duties. Wufei waited until they were alone in the room with Kiri before speaking to her.

"Do you feel okay?"

Sally frowned as she looked at him. "Why do you ask?"

"You look a little pale. I know that this procedure was stressful for you. Why don't you go lie down for a while and I'll stay here with Kiri while the anesthesia wears off."

Sally wasn't sure if she should be grateful or annoyed at his overprotectiveness. The wave of exhaustion that suddenly overtook her made her decide to be grateful for his concern.

"Thank you, Wufei. I'll have my pager so contact me if anything happens."

He nodded and secured the door after she left. He settled into the chair and opened a book, keeping an eye on Kiri as he read.

It wasn't long before someone knocked on the door. Wufei answered it, only mildly surprised to see Trowa standing there.

"I wondered when you'd show up," Wufei said as he let Trowa in.

"How is she doing?" Trowa asked as he made his way to the bed. He placed a hand on Kiri's cheek, noting that her temperature was normal.

"Sally said she should come out of the anesthesia soon. You're welcome to wait if you wish but I promised Sally I'd watch Kiri for her so if you have things you need to be doing I can alert you when she wakes up."

"I'll wait," Trowa said before going out to the hall to find a second chair.

When he returned, he had Duo in tow.

"Hey, Wufei. How's it goin'?"

"Everything is fine. Did you need me for something?"

"Naw. Just thought I'd check up on Kiri."

"She's still out."

Duo shrugged. "I take it you're both stayin' here with her?"

Trowa and Wufei nodded.

Duo grinned and pulled something out of his pocket. "Anyone up for a game of poker while we wait?"