Only about four more chapters of old material!
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN (Me and Raliena)
Heero's fingers flew over the keys, his eyes racing over the screen as he dug deeper and deeper into OZ's security, hoping with desperation he had never felt before that Quatre had managed to stay with Harry. There was no way they would be able to stage two completely separate rescues successfully, and if it came to it, Quatre could not be left in OZ's hands.
And if the blond's captors realized that Harry was the same boy who had been with Duo, there was no telling what they would do. His connection to both the blond and braided pilots and his unusual abilities made it very possible that they would never let the child go.
The last line of protection fell, and he was in. After that, it was only a matter of seconds as Heero searched for the report he needed. Unable to hold in a quiet sigh of relief, he pulled it up.
"You find them?" The words were light-hearted, but the light in Duo's eyes was cold and frantic. Heero nodded shortly. "Well?..."
"They are being held together in the OZ bunker on colony D-6792. Winner is scheduled for interrogation and execution."
"What about Harry?"
Heero hesitated, "Harry... is being held as an accomplice. Due to his age, he is only to be kept in custody indefinitely. However... in the event that he is found to have been 'consorting with terrorists' on a regular basis they will no doubt interrogate him, regardless of his youth."
"And if anyone saw him with me, and then with Quatre..." Heero heard the unspoken question and nodded solemnly. Duo swore violently, nervously reaching for his braid. "We can't leave them there!"
"You are not fit to rescue anyone." Duo stiffened, as Heero continued, "You have not yet recovered from your own imprisonment. I will go." Pressing a few keys, he closed his computer with a click.
"But-"
"Would you rather OZ have all three of you?" The helpless silence was louder than any words, and Heero heard it. "You did not fail. There was no way you could have known this would happen, and even if you had, there was no way you could have prevented it." His harsh monotone was tempered by the determined light in his eyes, "All you can do now is rest and regain your strength, so that you can do what needs done. I will not leave your brother in their hands."
"What about Barton?" Wufei stood in the doorway, his eyes cold. Duo jumped, wincing as he recovered.
"Don't do that, 'Fei! Would it kill you to make some noise? Give a guy a little warning?"
"Possibly." Duo foux-pouted as Wufei ignored him, "Will his position in the Specials be a liability? Is there the possibility that he is not deep cover? That he will know Maxwell's connection to the boy and use it as a trap?"
"Possible, not likely. He'll keep his cover. Beyond that... Barton will not betray us."
"How can you be sure?"
Duo spoke up as Heero opened his mouth, "Forget Trowa! Either he's on our side, or he's not. Either way, we can't leave Harry or Quatre with OZ. Either you go now, or I will."
Nodding, Heero stood, Wufei following him. "You going too, 'Fei?" Both pilots turned to look at him.
"I have no mission at the moment. It would not be right to not... lend a hand?"
Grinning, Duo nodded. "Thanks, 'Fei."
The Chinese pilot gave a quick, half bow and left. Heero was quick to follow, only to hesitate in the doorway. Turning to look towards Duo, he spoke, "Maxw- Duo..."
"Yeah?"
"Winner will protect Harry. We will bring them back."
Duo's smile was small and genuine, "I know you will, Heero."
xx
Quatre lowered himself to the ground, as best he could, given his cuffed arms and bruised ribs. He had convinced the guards that it would be far easier to leave Harry with him for now then to have to deal with the wrath of an angry Gundam Pilot, but he hadn't escaped unscathed. Nor had he been able to prevent them from binding Harry's arms. But he could live with small victories. As long as Harry was at his side, relatively unharmed, they would be fine.
Harry's small form hovering over him worriedly, "Quatre?"
The blond winced as he responded, lifting his arms and separating his elbows to tuck the small boy into his embrace. "Yeah, Harry?"
"Why didn't you let them take me?" Harry twisted to look up into anxious blue eyes.
"Wha- I could never leave you behind like that! Why would you even ask that?"
"But you got hurt. They wouldn't've hurt you if you hadn't stopped them."
"Would you have preferred it if I'd let them take you and hurt you?" Harry's eyes widened, though it was only a moment's pause before he slowly nodded. "Harry!"
Harry ducked out of Quatre's arms, backing away from the injured blond. His eyes shadowed with a sad, almost fearful guilt. "I don't like seeing you hurt. Not for me."
"Come here, Green-eyes." Quatre gestured for the boy to come sit in his lap. Harry approached slowly, the defeated look in his eyes enough to send a shiver of rage through the blond, though he hid it from the child. "Come on. I'm not going to yell. I just don't want you thinking it's better for me to break my promises, both the ones I made to Duo, and the ones I made to myself. I will keep you safe." Even if it costs me my life.
Harry smiled weakly, snuggling into Quatre's side. "Is Trowa a bad guy now?"
Quatre tensed, he had done his best to keep his thoughts away from the betrayal he had felt at seeing the boy he had come to have feelings for standing there in the uniform of an enemy soldier. With such cold eyes. If nothing else, those emotionless green eyes would haunt his dreams. "...I don't know, Harry. I wish I could say 'no', but I really don't know."
"I don't think he is. He was nice to me. He said I wasn't a freak, even though I was doing freakish things. Would a bad guy say that? Couldn't he be tricking the bad guys? Or maybe they washed his brain! I saw it in one of Dudley's shows; the bad guys turn the good guy bad. Couldn't that be it?" Harry was frantic, his eyes begging for Quatre to tell him that the kind boy who had been so nice to him in what little time they had known each other had not truly joined the men who wanted to hurt Duo and the others.
"I... I wish I could tell you he didn't join them. I really do, Harry, but I can't know."
"What about your... Heart Space? Didn't you say you could feel what other people feel? What did he feel?"
"He didn't. If he felt anything, it was locked away too deep for me to find it." Though, he hadn't exactly been trying. He had been far to preoccupied with keeping the shock at bay and Harry at his side. "For now, just treat him like the enemy. If he is still a friend, he'll understand. If he truly has turned his back on us... he will regret it." The words were a reminder for himself as much as for Harry.
Feelings or not, if the green-eyed pilot was an enemy, he would have to be taken out.
xx
"Harry," Quatre murmured to the small boy, "If you get a chance with free hands, run and hide. Just like you did in the jungle, when they wanted to cut your hair."
"I can't leave you." Harry protested.
"Harry, if you stay you won't see Duo or Heero again." Quatre pointed out. The blond knew that this was a low blow, but he knew that it was likely he would be executed… And due to Duo's aided escape, OZ wouldn't publicize the execution until after it had occurred.
Also the longer Harry stayed with him, the more time there would be for Trieze to find out about him. Harry had told Quatre about their last interaction, and Quatre knew enough about the General to know that he would have only increased his curiosity about the child.
Duo would never forgive him if he let the General get his hands on Harry. It wouldn't matter if Quatre was dead or alive. He wouldn't be forgiven.
"You have to run and hide." Quatre repeated, "Escape. You know where the Maganacs are. They'll look after you. I promise. Promise me."
"I promise I'll run and hide." Harry
*Damnit!* Trowa thought to himself, *Didn't Heero tell him? He doesn't know. It's going to kill me to do this. And Harry… He's just a kid.*
Outwardly Trowa didn't let a single scrap of his conflicted thoughts show. He accepted the praise he was receiving for helping to capture one of the infamous Gundam Pilots.
Inwardly he was trying to think of a way to help the pair escape. There had to be some way without compromising his mission… But he couldn't see it.
"Hey, Barton!" One of the men called out, "You alright?"
"Fine." Trowa responded automatically.
"You need to get some rest." The man grinned, "Didn't you hear? You've been ordered to interview the little kid."
"I thought he was to be left alone?" Trowa frowned slightly.
"Yeah, it's a non-aggressive interview. Just talking. But as you're the youngest, the Brass thought he might respond to you better."
"Thank you for telling me." Trowa replied, "I'll head to bed."
*I've got one chance.* Trowa thought, *Maybe I can't get Quatre out. But Harry… It's worth a shot.*
xx
Quatre wasn't too surprised when he was taken away from Harry the next day for interrogation.
But Harry nearly jumped out of his skin when a pair of guards came to take him away, barely five minutes afterwards.
Trowa's heart nearly broke as he watched the small boy flinch away from him, once Harry had been put in the same room as him. The small signs of abuse he had seen before were so obvious now.
Trowa knew that it wouldn't take much to break the child. And he also knew that he couldn't let that happen.
"Hey," Trowa knelt down slowly, just in front of Harry. Taking care to make sure that Harry could keep his eyes on the taller boy at all times. "Let's get these off you, huh?" He tapped the cuffs.
"I'm not meant to talk to you." Harry retorted.
"Well," Trowa smiled slightly, "No harm me in removing them. They must weigh more than you do."
Trowa quickly removed the cuffs and placed them in the corner.
"Now, isn't that better?"
"Not meant to talk to you." Harry stated once again.
"You must be hungry," Trowa pointed at the table, "Come on. If you can't talk, you can at least eat. I brought breakfast."
Harry glanced at the table and licked his lips.
"What's the price?" The small boy asked.
"Just some conversation," Trowa shrugged, "You don't have to talk about anything you don't want to."
Harry skittered to the table and climbed onto a chair. Trowa moved slowly and cautiously, so as not to scare Harry.
"You should get your hair cut." Trowa stated as he sat down opposite the small boy, "It looks long enough to braid."
"Good." Harry fired back, "I want to braid it."
The corner of Trowa's mouth twitched upwards briefly. It was very clear to him just who was Harry's main hero.
Harry quickly claimed some toast and jam, while Trowa poured him some milk. The two sat in relative silence for a while, the only noise being the sounds of the pair eating some of the large breakfast on the table.
"What's your favorite animal?" Trowa asked.
"What?" Harry frowned in confusion.
"I like desert cats myself." Trowa announced, "I saw a beautiful one the other day. Golden fur and bright blue eyes. I've seen it before. Only twice before though."
"I haven't seen any cats." Harry stated, "Was the cat nice?"
"Very. But like every wild cat it has claws and will use them." Trowa smiled at his words, "I hope I can see him again, without getting hurt. But I'm not sure he knows I mean him no harm."
"I saw a mermaid."
"You did?" Trowa blinked.
"Uh-huh. I fell into the sea and some sharks tried to eat me. But the mermaid scared it away. She said the dolphins would look after me, until my brother rescued me… And they did!"
"What did the mermaid look like?"
"She had red hair. And green eyes. And a fin for legs. And scales on her hands."
"I met a dragon."
"Really?" Harry stared.
"Yes." Trowa nodded, "A proud and noble dragon. It had black eyes and black hair. Its fire was incredible."
"Wow." Harry breathed, "Weren't you scared?"
"It didn't want to harm me. Now when I healed a wolf… That was scary. I wasn't sure if it would realize I was a friend when it came round. It had dark brown fur and really blue eyes. But different from the cat's eyes."
Trowa continued making small talk with the child, careful not to mention anything that could lead to a discussion about the Gundams.
After about three hours, two guards came to the room.
"We're to escort him back to his cell." One announced.
"You are to report to Une." The other added.
"Understood," Trowa nodded, "I'll just put the cuffs back on."
"Don't bother. If we can't handle one scrawny little brat, we don't deserve to be part of OZ."
"I will see you soon, green-eyes." Trowa smiled at the child.
Trowa watched as Harry was lead away. He turned and walked towards Une's office.
*Good luck, green-eyes.* He thought, wishing that he could have said it to the tiny boy.