Seesh...
Try to put in a cliff hanger and people get all crazy.
Anywho, since I'm so awesomely nice, here's the next part already.
Enjoy!
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Chapter 4
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The air was thick with tension in the stark white corridor outside the ER. Sally had barked out orders and demands that instantly got fulfilled when the hospital staff saw who was on the stretcher that was rushed into the emergency wing. She even physically pushed away everyone that attempted to follow them back into the operating room. Words of too many people would hinder any chances of saving him. That everyone could only wait until they had a chance to do what they could.
So in the corridor everyone stayed. None of them knew how long they had been waiting for any kind of news, but time seemed to drag by agonizingly slow. The longer it took, the more conflicted they felt. If they were still in there that meant he still had to be alive, but they had no idea what the medical team was having to do in order to keep him alive.
Horrid images of their friend and comrade laid out on an operating table getting God only knew what cut open. And the blood. There was so much blood that all of them were afraid that he wouldn't even make it to the hospital. By whatever powers that be, he was still breathing, however just barely. That pale skin darkened with drying blood, and those ever smiling lips tinted a faint blue color.
None of them could believe it. It had to be a nightmare. He was supposed to be going out with his friends now. Laughing at Duo who had managed to launch the eightball off the pool table again while Trowa and Heero were challenging each other to shots of whiskey at the bar. That's where he was supposed to be.
Not in there...
Dying.
Each of them were barely holding themselves together as they awaited Quatre's fate. Duo was leaning heavily against Trowa as he tried to keep the tears at bay. Quatre was his best friend. The closest thing to a brother he ever had. He was nearly sick when he had seen what had happened to the Arabian, and since that moment he had clung to the tall Frenchman before he broke down completely. From how his face was buried against the strong unmoving shoulder he couldn't see how Trowa had lost that battle the moment Sally disappeared behind the swinging doors with Quatre.
As silent tears slipped down his expressionless face, Trowa held onto the trembling American firmly. He knew better than anyone what Duo was going through because he was feeling the same thing. Behind that calm mask that was only intact for Duo's sake. Quatre was his first real friend, even though it took him forever to realize that. Someone that was able to look beyond his nameless past, and even encouraged him to hold on to the one he had taken for the war. The moment Quatre had told him that he didn't have to be No-name anymore, and Duo had readily agreed he knew that the two of him would be his closest companions from that day on. 'If anything happens to Quatre... I don't know if Duo or myself will be able to handle it...'
He didn't want to think about it, but the longer they were left waiting the more he was forced to face that possible outcome. 'Not yet though...' Holding tighter to Duo, Trowa glanced around to see how everyone else was fairing so he could focus on something else.
Noin was leaning against a white wall with her face buried into her hands. 'She's probably just as heart broken as Duo...' Wufei was standing close to her with an arm wrapped around her for support, his somber expression telling just how worried he was. Although the Chinese man wasn't particularly close to Quatre, Trowa knew that Wufei had the utmost respect for the honesty and loyalty that Quatre readily gave him.
His attention then was drawn to the sound of steady footsteps walking by him yet again. Heero had taken to pacing the corridor stiffly within the past twenty minutes. The sound of Heero's heavy boots on the terrazzo floor was almost as hypnotic as the ticking of a clock. Every pass he made down the hall took exactly ten seconds, which was the only way Trowa had to keep track of the time that passed.
He could still remember the happy smile that had been on Quatre's face when he had informed him and Duo that Heero wanted to tag along for their night of boozing. 'Quatre was looking forward to the four of us going out tonight... And I think Heero was too...'
Trowa knew by the look of anger on his face that Heero was blaming himself for this. He had managed to stay calm long enough to ensure that Relena and the medics got out of the concert hall safely. But the moment they were gone Heero's fist had an abrupt encounter with the back window of one of the preventer vans parked out back. If they didn't need the sniper's corpse for evidence then Trowa was certain Heero would have put his boot through the bastard's cracked head. All that despite the fact that he wasn't head of the security detail.
That led him to turn his gaze to the man who was. To Trowa's surprise, Zechs was sitting on the floor several feet away from the rest of them. His back was pressed against the wall, and his head was tilted up towards the florescent lights that were humming softly above them. His paler than usual face had a distant look of exhaustion, and his hands and clothes were still covered with Quatre's drying blood.
He knew that if Zechs hadn't been quick to attempt to stop the bleeding that the Arabian would have bled to death long before Sally reached him. It confused him, but somehow it made sense. 'Zechs was on the verge of tears when Quatre wouldn't answer him... Despite everything he's done to him... It's almost like Zechs loves him just as much as he hates him...' Trowa thought with a faint frown.
As if the blonde man had somehow heard his thoughts, Zechs met Trowa's analyzing gaze. There forest green met ice blue for a long tense moment. Zechs knew that Trowa worked closely together with Quatre throughout the war. The pair could come up with a plan and act on it without saying a single word between them. They seemed to have a silent code between them. Every gesture and glance a secret word or phrase. Zechs only discovered how crafty the silence could be when Quatre effortlessly signaled the proper contingency plan on a stage in front of thousands of people.
Any time he had attacked Quatre with his cruel remarks Trowa and Duo were the first ones to always either defend Quatre or hold the Arabian back from lashing out. They were the ones that always interfered with what he had wanted from Quatre, and briefly he had considered attacking them instead. Quatre had threatened him with indifference, so his plan had been to attack someone close to him instead. But now as he looked on at the way Trowa was holding protectively to the grief stricken Duo, Zechs felt as if he was the worst bastard to ever live.
The image of that blood stained smile flashed within his mind, which made Zechs wince inwardly. 'This is my fault... He's in here because of me... And Trowa knows it... They all do...'
Unable to take that steady tear filled gaze that Trowa had fixed on him, Zechs looked away and slowly forced himself to stand. The motion caught everyone's attention, but Zechs made no move to acknowledge any of their curious stares. He couldn't take the cramped space anymore, so he turned and moved down the corridor.
"... He'll live..."
As he disappeared past the double doors at the end of the hall, everyone found themselves taking a bit of comfort from that calm voice. Noin scrubbed at her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath to calm herself. "If Zechs believes it.. Then we all should..." she mumbled as she gave a grateful smile to Wufei for his support.
The Chinese man smiled in return. "I agree... We're not going to get anything accomplished just standing here... Une's probably overwhelmed with both Quatre's sisters and the Maguanacs all piling into the hospital... Maybe we should help her calm them down..."
"I'll go..." Duo finally pulled away from Trowa's comforting embrace and wiped his remaining tears on his sleeve. "I know Rashid and the guys pretty well.. Might help them if I go down there to talk to them.. But I wanna wait until Sal tells us something..."
Trowa readily nodded to that. "I'll go with you.. I know several of Quatre's eldest sisters... It might be best if the two of us relay any sort of news to them."
"Perhaps the rest of us should return to HQ once we're told his status..." Heero muttered as he stopped his pacing abruptly. He looked to Noin and Wufei as he continued. "We still have one member of the Beta team unaccounted for... We need to locate her to confirm if she was attacked or if she was in on the assassination attempt."
Both Wufei and Noin sobered quickly when they were reminded of that. "You're right... The rest of the teams may have been able to gather some more information on those two. We'll head back to HQ as soon as..." Wufei trailed off when he saw the doors to the operating room swing open.
Behind the door Sally was in blue blood stained scrubs and was taking off the cap that she had used to hold back her hair. She looked up to see the tense expectant faces lining the corridor, and the first thing she did was give a weary smile. "We were able to stop the bleeding..."
The five of them all let out the breath they had been holding on hearing those words. Quatre was still alive, just like Zechs had said.
Once he was able to calm himself Duo was quick to pull away from Trowa and faced the doctor fully. "How is he...? What all happened...?" he asked, fear still obvious in his eyes.
Sally took a deep breath and rubbed lightly at the back of her neck as she thought over what all they had discovered on the operating table. "The shot went in at an angle through his body and nicked his liver, stomach, and his right kidney before it exited through his back. Quatre's incredibly lucky. If it had been centimeter further in any direction it would have killed him." she informed them to let them know just how close they were to losing him.
Knowing that it had been that close made a heavy feeling in the pit of their stomachs. "What's the over all damage...?" Trowa asked as he moved to stand next to Duo.
"There was no serious damage to his liver. The way the bullet grazed his stomach burst a blood vessel inside it, so that explains why he was vomiting blood..." Her expression fell slightly as she forced herself to continue. "But the bullet tore through enough of his right kidney to give us all concern. We did what we could to save it, but we may need to remove it and transplant another one since the shock may overwhelm the left one. Hopefully the medication we put in his IV will keep that from happening."
"What if it doesn't work...?" Duo asked quickly.
"I'm going to have his sisters tested to see who would be a good match for him just in case." Sally paused for a moment to pinch the bridge of her nose and collect her thoughts. "Quatre's always been a fast healer, but his body is still in a light state of shock. He's still critical right now, but the immediate threat is over. He'll need a blood transfusion, but he's O positive, and this hospital is low on that type. Do any of you know anyone that has that blood type?"
"Zechs is O positive..." Noin called out as she pulled away from Wufei.
That news left Sally feeling torn, but she shoved her personal feelings aside. "Could you find him and see if he'll be willing to donate at least a pint?"
Noin nodded. "I'll go look for him now."
"Me and Tro can go ask his sisters and the Maguanacs too. We're gonna go out to the main lobby and let them know how he's doin anyway." Duo added as he began tugging on Trowa's jacket sleeve to get him moving.
"Let them know I need to check them for donor matches just in case." Sally called out and got a thumbs up in reply from Duo.
When those two and Noin left the corridor Heero faced Sally and gave her a serious glare. "Now what's the real damage, Sally...?" he asked, which made Wufei's eyes widen in surprise.
"Real damage...?" he repeated slowly.
Not surprised Heero knew she was holding back, Sally bowed her head and wrung her hands in the blue cap she held. "We won't know until he wakes up... If he wakes up.. A great deal of the body's blood is filtered through the kidneys... Any injury to them can cause a person to bleed to death quickly... Quatre lost a lot of blood... But I'm hoping Zechs' quick work to stop the blood flow was enough to spare him from any brain damage.." she whispered solemnly.
The thought of their brilliant tactician surviving only to be a vegetable made Wufei's heart thud hard in his chest. "And if it wasn't...?" he asked hesitantly.
"It's better not to think about that now, Wufei..." Heero stated firmly. "We'll wait for Noin to return, then we'll go to HQ and hunt the bastards responsible for this down."
Understanding Heero's refusal to give the possibility thought in order to focus on the culprits, Wufei frowned and nodded quickly. "Agreed..."
This wasn't going to go unpunished.
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The first place Noin thought to look for the emotionally distant blonde was the roof. For some reason it was the main place Zechs would retreat to whenever he was trying to think. Which made it incredibly convenient if she needed to look for him. It also comforted her to know she could at least predict one thing about the emotionally distant man. 'Please let him be there this time...'
The moment she left the stair well and the metal door that led to the roof she immediately spotted him leaning against the chainlink fence that encircled the rooftop. His long pale fingers gripped at the links tightly, and it looked as if he was trembling in the fading evening light.
This left her hesitant to approach him, but she had to face him for Quatre's sake. "Zechs...?"
"Is he still alive..?" Zechs asked quietly.
Startled by the almost soft spoken question, Noin smiled sadly as she moved to stand behind him. "Yeah... He's still critical, but he's alive..."
When she saw the tension visibly melt from him as his shoulders slumped forward she became confused. She slowly reached out and placed a hand on his left shoulder. "Zechs... I don't understand... Yesterday you told me that you hated Quatre... Why did you try so hard to save him...? It looked like you were trying to protect him when the medics finally showed..." She could still remember the protective embrace Zechs had the Arabian locked in when she and Sally finally reached the stage. 'He looked so devastated...'
"Heh.. Quatre asked me the same question before he passed out... Like I told him, just because I hate him doesn't mean I want to see him dead..." Zechs repeated as he finally released the fence and turned to look at the woman behind him.
Noin gasped softly when she saw the tears that were streaming down from the bloodshot blue eyes. "Zechs... What's going on...? I... I've never seen you cry before..." She had to reach out and touch the flushed cheek just to see if they were real.
Zechs leaned into the touch slightly and let his eyes drift closed. "This is the first time I've ever had reason to... I almost lost the last shred of my past today..." he admitted quietly.
"The last shred of your past...?" Noin frowned deeply and had Zechs look into her eyes. When the still crying eyes focused on her she frowned deeply. "I want the truth, Zechs.. What's all this about..? What does Quatre have to do with your past?"
Now that it was out Zechs knew there was no sense in pretending any further. "I made a deal with Quatre... That if he lived I would tell him why I hated him... I guess I might as well tell you now..." He pulled away slightly and wiped at his eyes before he began. "Not many know this... But back before I was born my father and Quatre's were close friends... Almost like Quatre and Duo are now..."
Getting a bit apprehensive about what was about to be confessed, Noin took a slight step back. "Really...? I never knew they even met..."
The blonde head nodded, but he soon turned his attention to the purple and orange clouds that streaked across the sky. "Yeah... But all that changed when they fell in love with the same woman... My mother... They fought over her for fun at first, but my father took it more seriously as time passed... Quatre's father finally backed down when he saw how serious it had gotten and was even best man at the wedding... He was supposedly my godfather when I was born..."
"Your godfather...?" Noin repeated in surprise. "Why haven't you mentioned this before...?"
Zechs shrugged faintly as his first answer. "My father changed shortly after I was born..."
Not liking the faint edge to his voice, Noin frowned slightly. "Changed how...?"
"He became possessive... Demanded perfection from me even when I was a small child..." Just thinking of his father booming voice shouting at him when he was barely old enough to understand made him shudder, but he focused on continuing his tale. "It got to the point father drove Quatre's father away when his arrogance got the better of him... I still remember hearing them arguing in my father's study when I was about four... They were both so angry that it scared me... Quatre's father practically kicked down the study's door and said that my father would rot in hell for what he had done... He never came back."
"Quatre's dad said that in front of you...?" Noin whispered in alarm.
The blonde head nodded as a deep sigh left him. "Yeah.. I can't be for certain, but I think Quatre's father was having an affair with my mother... It's the only thing I can think of that makes sense... After that argument father became a monster towards my mother..."
Now clutching lightly at her own arms, Noin wasn't certain if she wanted to hear any more. "He abused her...?" It was almost too much to process. King Peacecraft? A beacon of peace secretly abusing his own family?
"He never hit her, but he was constantly degrading her and mocking her every misstep..." Zechs clenched his fists as the memories began to choke him. "And... And she always took it... She either smiled and apologized or cringed back in fear... She was always so terrified of him..."
"Psychological abuse is always more painful than physical..." Noin mumbled. "She never did anything about it...?"
Zechs readily shook his head. "She was too scared to even consider it. She never fought... Except for one time..." A faint smile appeared on his face as he recalled the day. "I was only about five or six years old, but I still remember it... My father was calling her the most horrible things... Mocked her fallen noble family from Germany, and kept telling her that if he hadn't been so benevolent as to marry her then she would have wound up pennyless in a brothel..."
It always hurt him recalling those words, but he took a deep breath and forced himself to continue. "I thought she was about to cry again when she suddenly faced him down.. She stood so much taller, and her eyes seemed to glow with this fiery look of defiance... She finally told him off... Called him everything imaginable and finally put him in his place... She was so beautiful and strong in that one moment... Then she disappeared..."
"Disappeared...?" Noin repeated in confusion. "What do you mean?"
Zechs shrugged slightly. "After she left the room I never saw her again... Father told me she committed suicide, but I always thought that he must have murdered her... Done something to her at least." he muttered, running a still blood stained hand through his hair.
Noin's eyes widened. "Then Relena...?"
"She's my half sister, but she doesn't know it."
That information actually made sense. "I... I did wonder why the two of you didn't look alike..." A frown formed when something occurred to her. "But what does any of that have to do with Quatre...?"
Tensing at the inevitable question, Zechs forced himself to answer. "My father always hated that Quatre's father had genetically engineered children made for him.. But he became furious when he saw Quatre had been born..."
"Why...?"
"He told me that Quatre's father engineered the boy to look similar to my mother to get revenge against him..." Zechs finally admitted. "To taunt the both of us... And he pushed that idea so far into my head that my anger towards Quatre is automatic... I can't control it..." he whispered almost shamefully.
Those words instantly cleared up a great deal of confusion, but it didn't answer one thing. "But why did you save him if you were taught to hate him...?"
"It's because he does look like her!" Zechs said sharply. He clutched lightly at his long hair as the Arabian's face hovered in his mind. "Eyes, hair, face, skin.. All of it looks exactly like her... I couldn't bring myself to do anything that would cause him real harm..."
"Zechs, you have been harming him!" the woman pointed out quickly. "All those horrible things you say to him hurts just as badly as when your father did it to your mother!"
Hearing that made a weak forced laugh escape Zechs' lips. "I know... That's the point, Noin... That's the entire point..."
"Zechs, that doesn't make any sense..."
"You don't understand!" Zechs snapped.
Growling softly, Noin moved forward and gripped tightly at the man's broad shoulders. "Then make me understand!"
He wanted to be angry at this, but Zechs knew he couldn't. He was stalling from giving his true reason, and he knew he had to confess now before he felt too cornered. 'If I can't tell Noin there's no way I'd be able to confess to Quatre...'
His eyes closed tightly as he fought through his frustration to form the words he needed to say. "When I finally met Quatre... I realized that while he looks like my mother, I look like my father..." He trailed off for a moment when he finally admitted it out loud. Now that he had started, the rest of his words began tumbling from his lips much easier. "The reason I'm so horrible to him... The reason that I mock and demean him just like my father did to my mother... It's because I know Quatre will always fight back..."
Noin's frown quickly turned into confused concern when he saw more tears falling from Zechs' closed eyes. "Zechs...?"
Zechs was quick to shake his head as he pulled Noin's hands off his shoulders. "Let me finish..." He took another breath to calm himself before he opened his eyes to focus on the woman watching him warily. "It's that look he gets in his eyes... And that strength that's always in his stance... It looks exactly like my mother did when she finally stood up to my father.. Seeing that fire that lights up Quatre's eyes... It's like I'm giving my mother another chance to fight back..."
When she finally understood a sympathetic look fell over Noin's face. "So that's why you were so devastated... Seeing him like that... You felt like you were losing your mother all over again..."
"It's not just that..." Zechs dropped his gaze to the dark red smears on his hands, and his stomach felt like it was about to implode with his disgust. "This is all my fault... I ignored Quatre when he wanted tighter security... I laughed at him and taunted him... But when I was holding onto him after he had been shot.. He.. He was apologizing to me... Begging me to tell him what he had done wrong to me to have earned my hatred..."
"But he didn't do anything.." Noin whispered, now realizing the heartache that Zechs was going through.
"Exactly... If anything happens to him... If he dies.. His last thoughts would be thinking he had done something horrible to me... And I'll be the one responsible for his death..."
"Hey, cut that out right now." Noin quickly reached out and took hold of his trembling hands. "He's not going to die... Look at me..." She waited until those pain filled eyes locked onto her and smiled gently. "You said it yourself, Zechs.. Quatre's a fighter... He didn't make it this far just to be taken out by some random sniper..." She held on tighter to his hands to make sure she had attention. "He's going to recover, and you'll tell him the truth just like you told me. Quatre will forgive you then you both will move on."
Zechs frowned at how confident she sounded. "You think he'll forgive me just like that...? After everything I've done to him...?"
Noin's smile brightened as she nodded without hesitation. "You don't know Quatre as well as you think you do... You're the only reason he's still alive, Zechs... I think that in itself will prove to him how important he is to you..."
He hadn't thought of it like that before, but now that Noin had said it, Zechs couldn't deny it. 'He.. He is important to me... No matter what father told me... I couldn't let him die...' His mind thought back to that tired smile that had been on those blood covered lips, and couldn't stop his own lips twitching upward. "Perhaps... He smiled at me when he saw me at his side... I don't think he's ever looked at me like that before..."
"Hm.. Sounds like to me he may have already forgiven you..." She reached out with her right hand to gently brush the tears off his flushed cheeks. She then cupped his face and remembered what she had been sent out for to begin with. "You can start to make things up to him by helping him now... He needs a blood transfusion, and you have the same blood type... He needs you, Zechs..." she told him with her encouraging smile intact.
Although he was hesitant, Zechs forced himself to nod and gripped firmly at the smaller hand still holding on to his. "Alright..." he whispered before he was pulled back towards the stairs.
As he was led down the stair well, Zechs slowly felt his thoughts begin to clear. He had been catering to his father's wishes all this time by taking his father's anger out on a child that had done nothing. Although Quatre was no longer a child, Zechs had let that programmed anger turn into a hatred for something that the Arabian had no control over.
'He doesn't even know what our fathers had done... I can't let this continue... It's just an endless cycle of hatred that my father started.. And I've been passing it on towards Quatre... This has got to stop, or I'll run the risk of driving him away just like my father did to my mother and his father... I can't let myself turn into my father...'
That was probably what terrified him the most. The fact that he had been acting exactly like his hypocrite of a father, and his victim was practically a carbon copy of his mother. 'But it's stopping now... I can make amends for everything my father has done... I couldn't save my mother... At least I can still save him...'
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TBC
Hm...
Things are getting interesting.
Later