~AC 197, March 8th, L4 – A001, Winner Mansion, 1:03pm~
Quatre was finally able to take a shower. He had insisted on having it before seeing everyone else, and Iria had complied on the sole condition that she would stay in the bathroom with him in case something happened. She had laughed out loud at the blush and the horribly embarrassed expression that had appeared on Quatre's face when he heard that.
"Oh, come on," she had said mockingly. "I almost raised you and I'm a doctor. You haven't got anything I haven't seen before."
This had only served to deepen the blush, but Quatre had accepted that it was the best solution. To be honest, he still felt lightheaded and dizzy, and since he hadn't eaten in quite a while hypoglycemia couldn't be ruled out.
He shook his head under the hot spray, happy to have his hair clean at last. It had felt all matted once he had been feeling well enough to realize that kind of thing. He ran a hand through his hair and turned around, ready to exit the shower. Iria was nice enough to get him a towel without watching, even if she made a show of posing as the shy, virgin girl who had never seen a boy naked before. Quatre just rolled his eyes at his sister's antics and dried himself off, before putting clean pajamas on.
He was about to get into the room again when Iria stopped him.
"Just a moment."
He looked at her quizzically, but before she spoke she made him sit on the edge of the bathtub and kneeled in front of him.
"Quatre… you are going to see all of your friends in a few minutes, along with two other people that will need to talk to you at some point. With Sally and me, it will make eight people in your bedroom."
Quatre winced, and Iria didn't miss it.
"I know," she said. "I don't want you to feel too uncomfortable, that's why I'm asking. Do you want me to use one of the safe words?"
"It would probably be for the best," Quatre mumbled, "but… I'm not sure how long I can hold. It's been a long time."
Iria smiled and brushed the long bangs away from his eyes.
"I think they're wearing off any way. I'll have to check, but… it may be better if I simply remove them a bit later. What do you think?"
"I think it's not careful. I would prefer you to change them. I cannot afford not to have anything to block it in case it gets out of hand… again."
"Yes, that's what I thought too. How about we try a level three, and just for half an hour? If it lasts less than that, then I will know for sure that the safe words are losing efficiency and we need to do something with them. And it will allow you a bit of time to catch up with your friends, and to have us explain what we know. I asked them to shield, but apart from the fact that they don't really know how to do it, I don't think it would be wise for anyone right now to put a lid on their feelings. They need you to know just how much they missed you too."
"I know," Quatre murmured absentmindedly. "Alright, then. Let's do it."
Iria took his face in his hand and looked into his eyes. Quatre forced himself not to blink, just watching his sister and concentrating on the color in her eyes the way he used to when he was a little kid and she was trying to teach him. It didn't really take long before his eyes lost focus.
"Quatre, shutdown level three."
"What's going on? Why can't we go in yet?" Duo asked.
Sally had been waiting outside of the room when Wufei had come back with Duo and Heero. In the meantime, Trowa had gone to fetch Dr. Carter and Shannon. Only for everyone to be told that they had to wait some more outside.
"Because your friend felt stinky and he wanted to wash up," Sally answered with a smile. "Which gives me the perfect opportunity for an impromptu briefing. Chang, you've been warned about those memory cards?"
Wufei nodded and turned to Heero.
"When can you work on them?" he asked.
"I'll start as soon as we're finished here."
"That's good," Sally cut in. "If possible, I would like you and Chang to come with Iria and me, so that we can bring Shannon and the Doc here up to date on the Zero system and the possible implications of it in the case. If it's alright with you," she added, just remembering that technically, Wufei was the senior officer in this inquiry.
Wufei shot a suspicious look at the two aforementioned people, but then shrugged and sighed.
"I guess we don't really have a choice anymore. We'll do that. Once Yuy gets more out of those cards, we will know where to go."
"Good. Another thing now. Iria is going to put Quatre under a kind of block using one of the safe words. It means we cannot stay in too long."
Heero frowned.
"Why not? If it blocks… oh…"
"Exactly," Sally said. "It will block the process of empathy, which is exactly why we shouldn't have him using those safe words for too long. As Iria explained, his brain needs the power to function, even at a low level. A total block is going to be strenuous for him. In fact, he'll probably go back to sleep after that, and I'd like someone to stay with him," she kept on with a long look to Trowa, who simply nodded. "Good. Now that it's settled, we have to tell Quatre all we know about what happened. Hearing his side of the story can wait a bit."
"How is he, exactly?" Carter asked.
Sally's brows furrowed a bit.
"He's amazingly coherent, actually. Not at all like the first time he woke. That last time, he didn't remember the date, or where exactly he was, or who the people around him were. This time, he didn't freak out at all, although he still has a bit of a problem to situate himself in time, but he knows roughly when we are and remembers destroying Sandrock. But he seems to have forgotten the last month, and to remember only fragments of his time at the clinic."
"That's interesting…" Carter mumbled. "Quite unusual."
"He remembers your name, in case you were worried about that," Sally joked, laughing out loud when the young psychiatrist reddened and began to splutter. She was interrupted by a small knock from inside the room.
"Okay, they're set. We can go in."
Nervousness was palpable in the air as the little group finally got into the room. Quatre was sitting in the bed, his back against some fluffy pillows, and Iria had put a chair near the head of the bed to sit down. Silently, Trowa went to Quatre and sat down next to him on the mattress, letting him snuggle down comfortably by his side. There was an awkward moment as Trowa turned to Wufei, but the Chinese chose to go sit on a chair near the foot of the bed, although he smiled wryly in Quatre's direction. Then, of course, Duo came in, and chaos came in with him.
Duo launched himself at his best friend, managing to pry him out of Trowa's embrace and enveloping him in a bear hug in the same movement. Quatre laughed as he closed his arms around Duo and returned the hug.
"Cat! Don't you dare do that kinda stunt again, do you hear me?!" Duo growled jokingly. "Tro woke me up in the middle of the night because of you, and I don't want nothing like that to ever happen again, understand?"
"Oh, Duo! I'm sorry! I must have made you worry so much…"
Duo scowled, then looked at Trowa.
"Well, no worries, it's our Cat they gave us back," he drawled. "What do you have to be sorry for, you dimhead?" he added, smacking Quatre lightly on the top of his head. "Last I heard, you're the one who got abducted and tortured!"
"But…"
"He's right on that one," Trowa agreed.
"I'm not going to win this time, am I?" Quatre sighed.
"Nope!" Duo said.
"Well, it doesn't matter, I'm still sorry."
Duo groaned and pretended to fall off the bed, rolling down on the carpeted floor and landing on his ass in front of Heero, who had been observing the scene from behind.
"You go tell him!" Duo told him, pointing a threatening finger towards his best friend. "I give up!"
"You say that every time," Heero answered as he came forward.
The atmosphere of the room seemed to change as Quatre opened his arms to him. Heero brought their foreheads together, gazing deeply in the green-blue eyes, and suddenly felt too choked to say anything. Quatre smiled to him, a sad little smile, and hugged him closer. Heero couldn't help the shiver that shook his body as he thought about the memory cards he had left in his room, and what they meant. If he was right… he brought his hand up, caressing the fine blond hair.
"I'll be okay," Quatre murmured.
"I know. I…"
"It's not your fault. It's not."
"Yeah, now make him believe it," Duo grumbled from the floor.
Wufei watched the scene from his seat. He didn't move as first Trowa, then Duo, and finally Heero hugged Quatre, somehow unable to take his eyes off the scene, but just as unable to do a single movement that could bring him to go and do the same as his friends. It just wasn't him. Yes, he was immensely relieved that Quatre felt better, but there were too much unresolved issues floating around in the air, and if there was one thing that fighting Treize had taught him, it was that you didn't reach your goals if you acted rashly.
'Now the only missing thing would be me figuring out what my goals are supposed to be,' he thought bitterly.
He wondered for a moment if it wouldn't look weird to the other people present in the room, before he remembered that he couldn't care less. He had never really cared what people thought of him, and he was certainly not going to start now. His friends knew that he wasn't really keen on public displays of affection, and since all of the Gundam pilots seemed to know about the state of his love life or lack thereof, he supposed that none of them would find it weird that he kept his distance. It was well-known to everyone who had ever been in contact with him that Chang Wufei needed his space. To those aware of the present situation it was probably obvious that he needed it now more than ever.
Wufei was comforted in his choice by Trowa's attitude. For a moment, it had looked like he would have wanted him to come and sit near Quatre, but when Wufei had opted for a chair at a reasonable distance, an imperceptible smile had appeared on Trowa's face and he had nodded once, as if he understood exactly what was going through his friend's mind. Quatre had not really reacted, just answered to the grimace that had wanted to be a smile with a warm smile of his own, but his eyes seemed to speak volumes. Then Duo had jumped on the bed and the tension of the moment seemed to break. It was an effect Duo often had, Wufei absentmindedly mused, although he was equally skillful to create the exact opposite effect.
He suddenly felt eyes watching him and turned to meet the face of Iria Winner. The woman was looking at him with a knowing smile, and she shook her head in that manner mothers have when they think children are being impossible. She just smiled more when he frowned. A bit disturbed, Wufei turned back to look at Quatre. That's when he noticed it.
Quatre was not wincing, not really, but his face wasn't as relaxed as it should have been if he had been perfectly okay. Yet, Sally had said that Iria would use a mental block so that Quatre wouldn't be inconvenienced by their feelings. Clearly, something wasn't working here, because it appeared that some stuff managed to get through the block. Quatre was bravely holding up, and doing quite a good show of hiding it, but Wufei could see it anyway.
He looked at Iria again, and when she noticed the expression on his face, she looked at her brother and frowned. When she turned back to Wufei, he could see she had understood what was happening, but didn't know what to do. Telling everyone to go out again would only have made the others worry, but the mental block was wearing off.
Wufei's brain reacted faster than he could consciously fathom. It went through his meditation routine but it was different than what he usually did. When he was doing this consciously, Wufei could put himself in a kind of hypnotic trance. This time, he remained fully awake, but he could feel, somehow, that a part of his brain had relaxed and was sending out a pool of quietness to Quatre. For a moment, everything became white in front of his eyes and he had to shake his head to clear his vision, but he gradually got used to the feeling, although he had no idea what exactly was happening or how he was doing this.
/quietness calm/
/wufei/
/thank you/
Iria almost jumped out of her chair when she heard Wufei gasp. She saw his eyes lose a bit of focus, then regain it, but the young man still looked dazed. Then, he straightened up in his chair again, blinked several times, took a deep breath and looked at Quatre.
And Iria saw her brother relax. At first, he looked perplex about what was happening, then his eyes fell on Wufei and he seemed to understand something. He smiled at the Chinese before settling more comfortably in Trowa's embrace.
Iria opened her mouth to say something, but closed it immediately. If she needed any more proof that those boys were New Types, there it was. Wufei had done something, she had no idea what, and from the look on his face, he didn't know either. It seemed to have been triggered by him seeing Quatre in pain, that at least she understood. What it was, though… she had never heard about anything like this.
She just made a mental note to ask him about what had happened later, since apparently no one else but her and Quatre had noticed, and turned to the more pressing matters at hand. Carter and Shannon were coming closer to the bed, followed by Sally, who closed the door behind them.
"Quatre, here are Dr. Carter and Miss Shannon McCanaughey. They took care of you while you were at the clinic," Sally said as she went to take a chair near Iria.
"I remember… but only little bits," Quatre answered, looking apologetic.
"That's probably nothing to worry about," Carter assured him in a reassuring voice. "It may be an aftereffect of the lack of sleep and of the pressure your body has had to bear lately. I am sure it will come back eventually."
"How long will it take?"
"Do you really expect me to have an answer to that question?" Carter asked, smiling.
"No, I guess not," Quatre laughed. "It's just… disturbing to have those images of stuff that I know happened, but without knowing when or why."
"Well, filling the gaps is what we're going to do in the next days, right, Dr. Winner?"
"Absolutely," Iria confirmed. "But first, Cat, you need rest and sleep. That's the best cure."
"I feel like I just spent a month sleeping," Quatre almost whined.
"Well, in fact, you probably slept more in the last forty-eight hours than in the whole month before that," Shannon cut in.
Then, she blushed as if realizing that she had spoken out loud.
"Sorry," she said sheepishly.
"Don't be," Sally told her kindly. "We need your vision of things too. After all, you've been with Quatre almost all of the time while he was at the clinic. You've seen more stuff than the Doc, because it's your job. Do not feel obligated to stay silent because you're a nurse and we're doctors. We need you."
Shannon blushed some more under the compliment, but she nodded and smiled.
"Alright," Sally said. "Who goes first?"
They took turns to tell the story as briefly as possible. They kept the finer details out of it, Iria insisting that all of them could then brief Quatre with more in-depth info, provided it happened with only one person present in the room or after he would have restored his shields a bit. Trowa went first. He explained again how he had begun to worry not to see his lover come back and finally contacted Duo to launch some kind of search. Carter then did a summary of how Quatre had ended up at the clinic, or at least what he knew of it. Then, Wufei exposed their most recent finds up to the discovery of the shuttle on the resource satellite. No one brought up the computer memory cards.
At the end of the tale, Quatre was frowning.
"It's strange," he said slowly. "I… I don't even remember leaving. I just remember being at my desk, and signing some papers, and then… it's very sketchy… the white room at the clinic… Your face," he added, shooting a look to Shannon, whose cheeks reddened again, "some other doctor… a woman with curly hair…"
"That would be Dr. Hewley, our new head of clinic. She's the one who managed to… contact your family… in a manner of speaking," Carter said.
"Oh…"
The blond young man winced and rubbed his temple. In spite of what Wufei had been doing, whatever it was, he was beginning to feel a heavy pressure on his brain. It came both from the mass of feelings swirling around, which managed to seep through both the block and the strange mental pool that Wufei had created, and from the fact that his brain was not supposed to stay blocked for such a long time. The power was straining against the block, trying to catch the feelings floating around. It was only with great difficulty and concentration that Quatre managed to stay focused on Wufei.
"Okay, that's enough for now," Iria's voice cut through the fog that was beginning to cover his vision. "Everyone out. Please just wait outside. Trowa?"
"I'll be there," Quatre heard Trowa answer, then he felt a light kiss on his forehead and the familiar warmth at his side disappeared.
One by one, all of his friends said their good-byes, and even Wufei came and took his hand briefly before going out. He didn't really pay attention to it, too busy focusing not to lose control and fighting against his own will to just feel something. He didn't notice Sally practically pushing everyone out before closing the door again. Then, a cool hand touched his cheek, lifting his chin, and clear blue eyes bore into his, the only colored thing in a swirling sea of gray.
"Quatre, end of protocol."
It felt like he had been drowning and was suddenly surfacing again, taking in a delicious gulp of air. One minute, black was threatening to close in on him, and the next he was back in his room with his sister in front of him. He felt the power expand and latch onto the few, very few tendrils of feelings that Sally and Iria couldn't help letting out, even if they were shielding themselves, and sagged back on the pillows, exhausted.
"How are you feeling, honey?" Iria asked, checking his temperature.
"Drained."
"They're not working anymore, are they? The safe words…"
"They are, but… they soon won't be. It's pushing against them all of the time, and I just can't hold it in," Quatre said tiredly.
"I saw that… and…"
Iria stopped talking, thinking for a moment. She almost jumped when Quatre talked again.
"I can't tell you what Wufei did, if that's what you were wondering about."
Iria smiled, and Sally came closer, sitting on the bed.
"Wufei?" she asked. "What happened with Wufei?"
"I don't know," Iria answered. "Just that… something happened when he noticed that Quatre wasn't as shielded as I believed him to be. I'm not sure it was conscious of his part, or if he had ever done it before. But…"
"Definitely New Type," Sally said with a nod. "I wonder if he's aware of it or not. Apart from the fact that you kinda told them to their faces that they were probably all new Types anyway," she added with a smile to Iria.
"I think they are. It's just a matter of knowing if their abilities have actually developed and of what type they are, that's all."
"Excuse me…"
Both women turned to see a very puzzled Quatre looking from one of them to the other.
"What are you talking about?" he asked.
Iria took a deep breath and shook her head firmly.
"Not now. Now, we put another IV, and you get some rest. Trowa will stay with you."
Quatre grimaced at the mention of the IV, then held out his arm, a resigned expression on his face.
"Since you must, just stick the needle into me, but… why do I still need it, just out of curiosity?"
"Because you're dehydrated," Sally said while inserting the needle deftly and hanging the pouch high enough for the flow to be continuous. "In fact you've been dehydrated for several weeks, so we need to get some fluids back into you. I'll have Shannon bring you some soup or light broth to settle your stomach a bit, and maybe some light tea too."
"Once you're a bit more rested, I would like you to have a conversation with Dr. Carter," Iria added. "Tomorrow would be good. Then he can help me remove those faulty safe words, program new ones, and help you begin the re-building of your shields. And maybe some memories will come back to you, too."
"What about the guys? What are they going to do?" Quatre asked.
"They have some leads to explore," Sally answered, not bothering to be more precise. "Once they know a bit more, and you feel better, we'll fill you in completely. But I know that if we do it now, you're not going to rest, so it's better for you to let them do the work for now. Even if you don't like it," she added when Quatre pouted in obvious displeasure. "You guys really have to learn when your body has had enough, really. Trowa will stay with you for a while, and they will take turns staying with you in here, too. See you!" she finished, mock-saluting, and getting out while holding her head and muttering about those damn colonists who couldn't make sure that magnetism was bearable for dirt-siders.
Once Iria, Sally and the others had gone to Quatre's office to fill Carter and Shannon in on the whole Zero thing, Trowa entered the room again. It was silent. Quatre was lying in the bed, eyes closed, breathing more freely than before, and overall looking fast asleep.
Trowa rolled his eyes and smirked. Silently, he stalked to the bed and sat on the edge. Then, very gently, he used his hand to caress a very soft cheek, and kissed the white forehead. His mouth then traveled down until it rested near Quatre's ear, and he nibbled at the earlobe before whispering "Quit pretending you're asleep."
Quatre chuckled and shivered at the same time, the hot breath tickling him. He opened his eyes and smiled, winding his arms around Trowa's neck.
"You can always tell," he said. "How come you can always tell? It's not fair!"
"I don't know," Trowa answered, "but I spent enough nights by your side to know how you breathe when you're really sleeping. Maybe your sister's fooled, but it won't work with me."
Quatre pouted.
"I will sleep… I will, because I am really tired, but right now, I… I would like to speak with you. It's the first time we're together alone ever since you brought me back."
"Actually, it's not," Trowa said very quietly, his hand resting on his lover's bandaged wrist. Quatre's eyes fell on it too, and he frowned.
"What's this? I…"
Then his eyes widened and he looked afraid.
"I did this to myself? I did?"
Trowa nodded, still not letting go of Quatre's wrist while Quatre absorbed the shock of suddenly remembering that he had tried to take his own life.
"Why?" he whispered. "Why did I do that?"
"Dr Carter explained that unshielded empaths who can't even feel their own emotions do this as an automatic reaction, just to make it stop. You did it once at the clinic, and they put you under more supervision after that."
"But this is fresh!" Quatre insisted. "I can feel it, the stitches are itching!"
"You woke up yesterday morning and managed to escape the room. We found you just as you were trying to scratch one of the scars open."
"Trying? From the look of it, I did more than try," Quatre said dejectedly. "God, I'm sorry to have made you worry so much."
Trowa let out an exasperated sigh.
"Will you stop apologizing already? Duo is right, it really gets annoying when you keep apologizing for things that are not your fault. It's not like you could have prevented yourself or anything, you know."
"Sorry…"
Trowa raised a sarcastic eyebrow, and Quatre backed away. He still looked sorry.
"I can't help it!" the blond boy said defensively. "All I know is that I made everyone worry and feel bad, and I'm…"
"Don't say it," Trowa cut in, just closing his arms around Quatre and bringing him closer. "I know. All that matters now is that you're back and you're going to get better."
There was a moment of silence before Quatre spoke again.
"No," he said. "You are back."
Trowa swallowed. There was no way to escape that discussion, and the truth was, he didn't want to escape it. They both needed it. Still holding Quatre close, he breathed in the scent of the freshly-washed hair, and closed his eyes.
"I'm sorry," he murmured.
He felt Quatre jump slightly in surprise in his embrace.
"What for?"
"Leaving. Doubting you. Doubting us."
"Trowa, I…"
"I had a very interesting conversation with your sister."
Quatre said nothing, for once waiting for Trowa to speak instead of listen, and somehow feeling that it was what he needed right now.
"She said we needed the time apart," Trowa kept on. "She said that it was as good a way as any to be sure of our feelings and that we needed that to be sure. Both of us."
"She was right," Quatre answered to the unspoken question.
"Why did you never tell me?"
Quatre sighed.
"Because… because I had almost lost you several times, and I was afraid… that you'd take my need for space as rejection. I didn't want to scare you off and… maybe it's selfish, but I wanted you just to myself for a while longer. I just… needed you here by my side, and I thought if anything was wrong with me, I didn't need to bother you with it."
"You never bother me, Quatre. But… I'll be the first to admit I haven't been really honest with you on that issue either. I was… scared."
This time, it was Quatre who tightened his hold on Trowa.
"Am I that scary?" he asked lightly.
"Not you, just… It was all so new for me. It was something good, and it didn't seem to want to stop anytime soon. I just… I've had too many good things taken away from me. I guess I just thought if it kept on and on like this, it would just come crashing down at some point. It seemed easier to leave before that."
"So… what happens now?"
Trowa shrugged and kissed Quatre's lips lightly.
"I was wrong," he said simply.
"About what?"
"About us coming crashing down. It was leaving that tore me apart. But… I didn't know how to come back. Even after you came to see me and we spent such wonderful moments together, I wasn't sure…"
"That I'd welcome you with open arms?" Quatre said angrily. "Do you just have any idea how much I missed you?! I…"
He shook his head, and took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry, it's unfair for me to say that to you. I know you missed me too, I could feel it all the time, and… well I must say I worried not to see you come back, but…"
"Why did you let me go, Quatre?"
Quatre blinked.
"What?"
"Why did you let me go?"
"Because you wanted to!"
"And that was enough? You just said that you wanted me to yourself…"
"But I also wanted you to want to be there with me! If you don't, then what's the point? I didn't want to cage you, Trowa! I love you too much for that, and I knew that trying to hold you back would only have made things worse. If you wanted to find yourself somewhere else and were happy with your decision, who was I to come in between and forbid you to go?"
"Cat…"
Quatre's eyes were bright with tears now, and the blond boy was twisting the sheets in his hands.
"I just… I hoped you would just find the will to come back by yourself… But I couldn't ask you to stay… not when it was so obvious something was wrong…"
"I should have talked to you, Cat! Why do I always seem to mess things up when talking could just… I don't know, it's just like every time I tried to say something, nothing would come out. I just couldn't bring myself to say it and see you hurt. And then, I just left, and hurt you more…"
Trowa sounded defeated. He let go of Quatre and looked down. And he was surprised to hear Quatre's laugh. Looking up, he saw Quatre wiping the tears off his face, then proceeding to launch himself at his neck like his life depended on it. Trowa had to summon all his balance not to fall over the edge of the bed as he received an armful of blond pilot.
"Cat?!"
"I love you," was the only answer he got, and for a moment, he just savored the feeling of it.
"I love you too," he finally answered. "What exactly just happened?"
"I think we survived our first major couple crisis," Quatre said quietly. "Now that we've established that we're both to blame for the lack of communication and we need to be more open with each other, I think we can safely come to the part of what happens next."
"I'm not going anywhere," Trowa said firmly.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. I won't make the same mistake twice. I need you. I can't breathe if you're not with me. The only logical conclusion I see to this is me coming back here to live with you."
"But you know I wanted to…"
"We know. We kinda had to go through all your papers to find leads, so…"
"And you don't mind?"
"Any particular reason I should? I'm an operative too, after all."
"Then it's good," Quatre sighed happily.
"Yes… for us two."
Quatre sat up abruptly, almost knocking Trowa over for the second time in less than five minutes.
"Oh, God! Wufei! I forgot… how could I forget that?!"
Trowa chuckled.
"You've had other things on your mind. Don't worry, I… talked to him."
"You did? But I thought we had agreed…"
"To talk to him together, I know. But… he… he was a great help, and I just couldn't…"
Trowa's voice trailed away, but comprehension gradually dawned on Quatre's face.
"Oh… Oh! You mean…"
Trowa nodded.
"He's considering the idea. He wants to talk with you. He was… worried that he would come between us…"
"But didn't you explain…"
"I tried, but we were in a stressful situation, and he wasn't expecting it at all. He's… shocked, but he promised to consider all options with an open mind."
"And… he was there for you? He stood by your side, even after you told him?"
Trowa nodded again, and Quatre smiled.
"I'm glad, then. I'll speak with him. You told him it was up to him, right?"
"Yes, Cat, I did," Trowa said, sounding a bit bored. "In fact, I pretty much told him everything I had planned to tell him, and I think he just needs to be convinced that he belongs here with us."
"I'm sure we'll find a way," Quatre said matter-of-factly. "But still… I was right, wasn't I? He's just someone wonderful who doesn't know he is wonderful. I'm going to show him."
"But right now, you're going to sleep."
Quatre was about to protest, but a yawn interrupted him and he smiled sheepishly.
"Yes, that may be a good idea," he admitted. "You're staying with me?"
"I am kinda tired too…"
Quatre smiled more and made some room for Trowa to lie down by his side. Once enveloped in that familiar warmth again, it only took seconds for him to fall asleep.
Trowa woke instantly when a pained moan reached his ears. He just took the time to look at his watch, noticing that he had slept for little more than an hour, before turning to Quatre.
The blond young man was sleeping restlessly, tossing his head left and right, one hand gripping the covers and sweat covering his brow. He was muttering some things under his breath, but too low for Trowa to understand. Trowa held out a hand to touch Quatre's face, but in spite of the sweat, he wasn't feverish. Frowning, Trowa wondered what to do. He knew from experience that waking Quatre up from a nightmare could be a very bad idea. He had tried it only once, and he had sported the bruises for several weeks afterwards. But then, it was partly his own fault. He had underestimated Quatre's reaction time, and that even after he had been through exactly the same with Heero when he had taken care of the Wing pilot at the circus. The only difference between the two was that when woken up abruptly, Heero aimed for the head, while Quatre just hit whatever he could reach.
Trowa just watched helplessly as Quatre moaned again, too taken in the nightmare.
/flash/
/sandrock looming over him/me in the huge bay/
/i know a place not far from here where you can continue your research…/
/do you want to take that responsibility?/
/if you think i'm worthy… i want to be proud of myself/
/sandrock/
Quatre sat up with a scream, startling Trowa. He clutched at his head, breath too short and ragged, and moaned once again. When he eventually raised his head, Trowa looked at him deep in the eyes to be sure he was awake before he approached and put an arm around Quatre's shoulders, trying to soothe him.
"Quatre? It's okay, it was just a bad dream, I'm right here…"
"The satellite…"
Trowa scowled, not understanding what was going on. All that he knew was that Quatre felt panicked. He was projecting his feelings again, apparently without really wanting to, and Trowa didn't know if it was good or not. He knew that he was able to feel Quatre almost at all times, although there was no reason for him to be able to do that that he could think of, but the feelings rarely went as high as they did now. In fact, it only felt that poignant when they were making love, or when Quatre was feeling very bad or was very scared.
"The satellite…" Quatre repeated, a bit more firmly, putting his hands on his face and taking deep, shuddering breaths. "The one they found the shuttle on… where is it?"
"It was destroyed."
"No, I mean…" Quatre snapped, frustrated.
It was enough of an indication that he was truly irritated and scared and tired, because he didn't even think to apologize. Trowa grew a bit worried.
"What's the number of the satellite? The coordinates?" Quatre asked impatiently.
Trowa had to think for a second before he remembered the exact number.
"XR-367F5," he said.
"They found the mobile suit bay, right? And the flight simulator? It was still there?"
Now Trowa was really worried, because he distinctly remembered that it was a thing that neither Duo nor Heero had mentioned while explaining their discoveries on the satellite. They had just said that they had found the shuttle and some clues and the satellite had been destroyed. That, and Quatre had just said the mobile suit bay. The flight simulator.
"Quatre, do you know who modified the structure of the satellite?" Trowa asked, keeping his voice carefully neutral, and not really sure he wanted to hear the answer.
"Oh yes, I know," Quatre answered in a whisper. "I know who made that place a mobile suit factory. I did."