Author's note: Alrighty! Here's the next chapter! So sorry for the long delay, guys. Been rather busy recently with exams and what not. But, here's a longer than usual chapter to make up for the long wait! I'm just glad everyone's okay with the previous chapter. This chappie just carries on with the excitement, so hope everyone enjoys it just as much!

AAA: Hey, I'm glad you still enjoyed the previous chappie. I'm sorry, I wish I could produce these chapters faster, but these few weeks have been rather hectic. Hope you'll forgive me. I've tried to make it up with a longer chapter, so hope you'll love this one as much as the rest!

hardcoreGSfan: Heh, I'm sorry I'm always taking so long, it's been one hell of a few months! Hope things are going okay with you and that you're not so busy nowadays!

XienRue: You're right to a certain extent. This chapter was a little difficult because I had to summarise what the different characters know and put them together. As for Kira, I believe his self-searching should take place in the following chapter or so! So look out for it!

Cheeseries: Oh, I hope this chapter continues to keep you at the edge of your seat! So sorry that I took so long to update!

Ilovetralala: Hello, nice to hear from you. I'm glad you like this fanfic! Amazing how you read all of it in one sitting. How long did it take you?

October Lynx: Thank you. I really appreciate what you've said about loving every second of reading. I get what you're saying. I feel the same way when I read some of the fantastic fanfics out there too. I think this is what every writer aspires to achieve, to draw the reader into the story and make the reader love it. And I know, cliffhangers are a pain! You're going to hate me at the end of this chapter again!

Chanh: I'm glad you enjoyed the previous chappie! Really hope you'll enjoy this one as much as you did the previous!

Chapter 66

He was falling.

Down, and down, and down. Into a pitch-black void.

Darkness. Surrounded on all sides by darkness. Endless darkness. Endless falling. As if he had been thrust down the crater of a volcano, like the time he had jumped out of the helicopter into the night. The air rushing past him.

Falling.

He saw a flash of colour. Yellow… What was it? A streak of yellow. Lightning? No, a thread of yellow, then another, and another, and another. Hair, he realised dimly. It was hair. Blonde hair. Flowing hair. Stellar? But no. The eyes staring at him were amber. Not violet. A face oscillating into view. He knew who she was. She had a name. What was it? Who was she?

The name drifted into his clouded mind like a haze. Cagalli…

A little girl in his dreams. Cagalli…

He tried to form the name with his lips. Cagalli. Cagalli. The amber eyes and the blonde hair, the pale cheeks, the fine nose, the lips pursed. Cagalli. Why pursed? It made her look worried, even anxious. The eyes too. Narrowed with concern. Peering at him. He knew her name. Cagalli. There were voices. Talking. She was one of them. Her lips were moving. What was she saying? He tried to concentrate on her parting lips. "- he on the way? How long more?"

"Athrun, can you give him a call again?"

"I already did. He's on the way. He'll meet us at the Clyne Mansion."

"Drive faster, Athrun."

Too tired. He closed his eyes, and let the voices wash over him. Like a wave: swell of the tide, the first lick of the cold water, a surge of froth. The receding blanket of water, then again the swelling of the tide. The darkness closed in, folding over him like the blanket of water. Falling. He could feel himself falling again. Into endlessness.

He had been hovering in a void of dimness and hazy shadows, when a streak of pain lit up his world. He felt the bile rise in his throat as his body reacted to the agony. Pain. Terrifying pain. His world was being filled with pain. A sharp stabbing pain. In his shoulder. His right shoulder. As if something, or someone was burrowing through his flesh, ripping apart tendons and muscles, and reaching in with cruel fingers to grasp hold of his bone, crushing nerves in a ruthless fist. It hurt. God, it hurt so much. The pain was so unbelievable that he thought he was dreaming, because there could not be so much pain in real life. But no… it wasn't imagined. It was real. He could feel fingers touching him on the shoulder. Hurting him.

Kira's eyes snapped open. Instinctively, his hand shot out and grasped the hand hovering over his shoulder. He caught the wrist, and squeezed hard. There was a man bending over him, who gasped in surprise as the fingers tightened cruelly around his wrist. He tried to pull away but Kira only gripped harder, digging his fingers into the sensitive underside of the man's wrist, mounting on the pressure until he heard the man yelp. "Don't touch me," Kira tried to speak, but his throat was burning from the bile and the stomach acid threatening to back up and his voice rasped painfully through his parched lips.

And then a face swam into his view. Blonde hair. Concerned amber eyes.

Cagalli.

She reached out and touched him, circling his own wrist with her gentle fingers. "Let go, Kira. He's a doctor. He's trying to help you." It took him a while to realise she was speaking to him. The pressure of her fingers was reassuring. Another face loomed into his vision. Flowing pink hair caressing his face, silky strands gracing his cheeks. Soft cerulean eyes. Lips parted and spoke. "It's alright, Kira. You're going to be alright."

He felt his grip loosen, even though it didn't seem as if he was the one working his fingers. The man pulled away hastily, and that was when Kira caught sight of the swinging stethoscope. Right, left, right, left. Then gone as the man drifted out of his line of vision.

There were hands coaxing him to lie back down. He did, and then he felt an icy coldness against his left shoulder. The faint stench of alcohol permeated his senses. And then the prick of a needle. He hissed.

There were men bending over him. White lab coats. Scientists. Rau's scientists. There were needles being slipped under his skin; there were things being pumped into his blood. There was pain. Somewhere. Everywhere.

He flinched as a gentle hand swept the sweat-soaked hair from his brow.

Pink hair. Long pink hair. A pink curtain. Reassuring cerulean eyes smiling down at him. Cagalli… No… Lacus. Yes, it was Lacus. Pale pink lips were moving. Whispering. Talking to… talking to who? Talking to him… "-sleep. It's alright. Go to sleep, Kira, you're going to be alright. Close your eyes, dear. Close your-"

The darkness was at the periphery of his vision. It stretched out towards him, screening off his vision like the shuttling lens of a camera. The last thing he saw before his world turned black, was Lacus bending over him, her lips parting and closing as she coaxed him into the darkness.

Cagalli watched as the doctor wiped his bloodied hands on a towel. The stench of blood in the air was intoxicating. It made her ill.

She glanced over at the stranger lying on the bed. Kira… Could that really be Kira? His face was deathly white, his eyes shut tight under the influence of the sedative. Matted brown hair framed his pale face. There was a streak of blood on his right cheek, and she felt a desperate urge to reach out and wipe it away. He didn't deserve to have it there. The Kira she knew, the brother she loved, had always been pure and untainted. It wasn't right, looking at him lying broken and damaged on the bed. But then again, was this really Kira? Cagalli remembered, with a shudder, the murderous glint that darkened the amethyst eyes when his hand shot out and grabbed the doctor's. It was as if he was going to snap the doctor's wrist right there and then. How could this… terrifying… man be Kira?

"Is he going to be alright?" She turned around when Athrun spoke. The blue-haired detective was leaning against the wall by the door, arms crossed over his chest in what seemed to be a defensive position, but Cagalli noticed how he was chewing on his lower lip. He tended to do that when he was anxious, like when there was a hostage situation, or someone in the team was injured.

The doctor scratched his head and shrugged in response. "The bullet passed clean through. We're lucky," he said, transferring the stethoscope around his neck into his medical bag. "At least we don't need to extract it. He's lost a lot of blood so it's a miracle that he's still alive right now. Anyone else would have been dead long ago." He paused to cast a thoughtful glance at Kira. "Yeah, anyone else would have been dead by now," he repeated himself again as if he couldn't quite believe what he was saying. Then turning back to Athrun, he added, "He's not out of the danger zone yet. We need to replenish the blood lost. I would suggest that he be sent to the hospital, Athrun."

"No," Athrun remarked firmly. "No hospitals. I told you on the phone."

"It's for the better, Athrun. I'll say the hospital would be the best place for him right now. There'll be proper monitoring equipment and nurses to care for him." He raised a hand hastily to stop Athrun when Athrun opened his mouth to protest again. "Alright, alright. It's your call. You must have your reason for keeping him here, but still…" He left the sentence to hang, then shaking his head, he zipped up his medical bag and picked it up. "Right now, all I can give him is a sedative and I've stopped the bleeding. But I'll need to head back to the hospital and get into the blood bank. He needs a blood transfusion."

Athrun frowned, "I'll prefer if this is kept out of the records."

"It's going to be difficult," the doctor's gaze narrowed, "getting into the blood bank itself will be tough enough; getting the blood out will be worst. It'll be impossible to keep this off the books, you know."

"I understand. But I'm sure you'll have your ways of doing it. And don't forget, you-"

"I owe you one. Yes, I know," the doctor snapped, "Or nothing would drag me all the way out here in the middle of the night, Athrun, tending to-" a half-hearted glance in Kira's direction. "-to… who is this? He's not a murderer, is he? But anyway, you have to understand. I don't have complete access to the blood bank. I need to approach the right people and get the right permission. You're a police officer, Athrun, you should know you're asking me to do something illegal! My license is at stake here."

The words were out of her mouth before she could stop it. "Use mine," said Cagalli. Both men turned to stare at her, and even Flay Allster, who had thus far been sitting quietly in an inconspicuous corner of the room glanced up, surprised. "Use my blood," Cagalli said persistently. "I have the same blood type as Kira."

"We haven't confirmed that it's Kira yet," Athrun shook his head, unfolding his arms to push himself off the wall.

"It is," said Lacus. She pulled her gaze away from Kira to look at them. "I'm sure of it."

"You're not helping, Lacus. This is just a conjecture," Athrun said gently. "It's too risky. And Cagalli's not the one taking the risk. Kira- No, this man will be the one at risk if the blood transfusion doesn't work."

"I'm sure it's Kira."

"So just use my blood," Cagalli interrupted quickly, before Athrun could interject again. "This is Kira, Athrun. I just know it is. We don't have much time. We'll just have to trust our instincts."

The blue-haired detective sank back against the wall with a disconsolate cry. "This is absurd!" Again, his arms crossed before his chest in a defensive stance, his emerald eyes glowering hard, but Cagalli noticed with a certain amount of triumph, that Athrun didn't seem to be putting up a fight anymore. Satisfied that she had won him over, Cagalli turned her attention to the doctor, who was staring at her with bewildered eyes. "Let's do it, Doctor. Where do you need me?"

He woke up when everything around him was a hazy shadow. Light and shadows were chasing each other in his vision. Nothing made sense. Nothing was clear. A prickly pain in his left hand. He glanced down as much as he could, and saw the faint outline of an IV line snaking down the bed towards the back of his hand. The line was red. Blood-red. He tried to move the fingers of his right hand, so that he could wrench the IV line out of his flesh.

He had had enough. The scientists were pumping something into him again. What was it? Blood? Who's blood? Could it be an animal's blood? He had heard from another assassin that a division of the faculty was experimenting with combining human and animal genes. He wondered if he was being experimented on. In any case, he had had enough of all those transfusions, and injections, and pulse monitors, and exercise regimes, and medical tests.

He tried to reach over for the IV line but he couldn't. His fingers were not responding.

"It's alright…"

A dark shadow swept past his vision, and he flinched instinctively.

"It's alright. Don't fight the sedative. Go back to sleep."

Sedative… So he was being experimented on… Those bastard scientists, they had knocked him out and they were doing something to his body. He wanted to scream, to lash out, to rip the medical devices off his body and jam them down the throat of those scientists, who strolled around in their white lab coats, manipulating other people's lives like chess masters nudging chess pieces along with their little fingers. He had had enough… he had had enough… what else could they do to him? What else could they take away from him…

The darkness was closing in, stealing across the bed, inching along steadily. He gave up trying to fight it and closed his eyes. He could almost feel the shadows crawling across his body, swallowing him within their depths.

Sub-consciously, Cagalli rubbed at the needle-wound on her forearm. It was tingling slightly, and she had to admit that she was feeling somewhat lightheaded from the blood donation. They had taken more from her than under normal circumstances, since Kira had lost a large amount of blood.

"Okay?" Athrun asked.

She glanced up as he handed her a cup of water, which she reached for thankfully. "Yeah," she lied, "I'm alright." He didn't believe it. The sceptical look in his emerald eyes told her so. Nonethless, he turned away and handed two more cups to Lacus and Flay Allster. Athrun evidently had other things on his mind, and Cagalli was grateful that he wasn't making a fuss about her lying, although he did return to her side, bend over her and recline the lounger she was sitting in so that she could lean her giddy head back into the pillow. She gave him a weak smile in appreciation.

They were in the lounge on the second floor of the Clyne Mansion, several doors away from one of the guest rooms, where Kira was lying unconscious as Cagalli's blood drained into him. The lounge was furnished like a study, with floor to ceiling bookshelves flanking one side of the wall, and panelled glass windows on another, so that they had a perfect view of the gardens surrounding the Clyne Mansion. Cagalli noted the tall hedges that enclosed the Clyne Mansion grounds. It had seemed so long ago since she and Athrun had dug their way under the fence and snuck into the Clyne Mansion. Yet, that had only been several hours ago. Who would have thought that they would have found Kira so soon?

She glanced round the lounge at the grim faces. They ought to be celebrating – they had found Lacus, and along with her, Kira. But the sight of all that blood, the idea that she had nearly lost Kira again right after finding him, made her feel disheartened. And no doubt, the feeling was mutual. The drying tear-tracks along Lacus' cheeks, the swollen-red eyes of Flay Allster and the stiff set of Athrun's jaw only proved that the rest of them were equally upset. She watched Siegel Clyne run his fingers repeatedly and absently through Lacus' dishevelled pink hair, as if trying to soothe and calm the wild strands. There was a look of tenderness in his eyes and it made Cagalli wonder how her parents would react if she could just bring Kira home. Would they look upon this stranger with the same affection and tenderness? Or would they be appalled by what their son had beome? The thought made Cagalli feel worse, and she had to blink away the tears that were pricking at the corners of her eyes. When she glanced over at Dearka and Yzak, who had dutifully remained by Siegel Clyne's side, she noticed the solemnity on their faces. She knew that Kira's return meant nothing to them, since they had never known him, but the presence of the enemy probably reminded them of the friends they had lost in the ambush at the safehouse. In the back of her mind, Cagalli recalled how they had been trapped in the valley as gunfire rained down on them. Had it all been Kira's doing?

Movement across the lounge caught her attention and she raised her head to see Athrun sinking into an armchair. He balanced his elbows on his knees and gazed over steepled fingers at Lacus, who lowered the mug of hot chocolate she was drinking and met his gaze.

"You want to know what happened to me," she said.

Athrun merely nodded.

"I can't tell you much," Lacus said, shaking her head, her pink curls bobbing gently. She leaned back into the couch, and was silent for a moment, as if gathering her thoughts, and her strength to recount her experience. Athrun gave her time. Then her tired cerulean eyes rose up to meet his and she began to speak. "They knocked me out at the theatre. There was some sort of chemical on a handkerchief - maybe chloroform, I'm not sure - and when I came to, I was blindfolded. I don't know how long I was kept like that. Could have been hours, could have been a day. He was the first to come and see me."

"He?"

"Kira," Lacus nodded, her gaze sliding towards the closed door of the lounge, as if her eyes could see through the walls into the guest room where Kira was lying.

"Why are you so sure that he's… what's his name again? Kira Yamato?" asked Dearka, with a slight frown on his handsome features.

"I can't explain. He was the first person I saw when he undid my blindfold, but I didn't see his face then because he had a mask on. I tried to hit him; it didn't work. I thought he was going to kill me for attacking him, but he didn't." Lacus paused, and a distant gaze slid over her eyes as she recalled the warm body pinning her to the ground that day she swung her bound ankles at him, hoping to club him squarely on the head. He had deflected her attack so easily and flipped her onto her back so that she lay winded on the dusty floor. He could have killed her then, the same way he had killed the female assassin in Flay's house. But she remembered then how he had balanced himself on his forearms so that he didn't crush her with his weight. Even then he had been protecting her in his own subtle way. "He looked after me," she said slowly, "He gave me food, and water to drink. And aspirin to get rid of the headache. Gave me his jacket because it was cold. When one of his teammates tried to attack me, he fended him off."

"How many kidnappers were there in all?"

"Four," she replied. "Three men, including Kira. And a woman."

"You see any of their faces?"

Lacus shook her head. "Only Kira's." There was a pause, and then she added, "there's something not quite normal about them, Athrun. They had these strange behaviours that came and went. Kira calls them side-effects. One of them… the one who attacked me? Kira says he looks for sex when he gets restless. And there was another man who'll look for a fight. And the woman, I don't know what's wrong with her. She came into my holding cell one day and she just sat there without looking at me. She had a small glass cylinder with her. Some sort of aquarium and she just kept staring at it. I talked to her about Kira, but I'm not sure if she was listening. After a while, she just stood up and left." She shook her head again, this time to indicate that she had no explanation for her observations. "There's just something not quite right about them," she repeated.

Cagalli felt her mind wandering back to her brother again. "What about Kira?" She whispered. For a second she regretted her question. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know the answer.

Lacus hesitated, then said, "Kira told me he enjoyed killing."

There was stunned silence in the room, broken only when Athrun cleared his throat. "We've found DNA samples. One of them was from the blood we found in the Clyne Mansion." A glance in Yzak's direction. It had been the day Yzak's face was scarred and as Athrun looked over at his silver-haired teammate, he could still see the scar, now a little more faint, but still there. "Miriallia Haw discovered some traces of chemicals and DNA anomalies in the blood sample. Which corroborated with the DNA sample we took from-" he tried to source for another name to describe the stranger lying in the guest room. He wasn't completely convinced that it was Kira. Maybe he didn't want to be convinced. But he could find no other name. He took a deep breath and let the words escape from his mouth. "-the DNA sample we took from Kira's apartment. Miriallia confirmed that there were similar chemical traces and genetic modifications in that blood sample too."

"And Miriallia also confirmed that it was Kira's blood," Cagalli chimed in.

Athrun frowned at her in disapproval. "Miriallia suggested that it was possible," he corrected.

Cagalli looked away.

"Regardless of the case, we'll clear it up in a little while," he nodded back at Lacus for her to carry on with her story. "What happened after that, Lacus? How did you get out?"

Lacus took a sip from her mug, and lowered it before continuing. "He was the one who rescued me. That day, he came into my holding cell again and he pointed his gun at me. I thought he was going to kill me, but after a while he just walked out. I don't know why. It was like he couldn't seem to get a good aim or he couldn't pull the trigger or something. He left the room and no one else came in for… maybe an hour, maybe more, I'm not sure. I didn't have a clue about time when I was kept confined in the holding cell." Her shoulders lifted in an apologetic shrug.

Athrun gave her a slight smile. "It's normal for kidnapping victims to lose track of time," he assured her.

That seemed to comfort Lacus because she lifted her eyes to meet his gaze again. "Kira came back after a while. He looked flustered and there was this… frightened… look in his eyes." The sight of those amethyst eyes slipped into her mind as she spoke. Bright, wary, and tinged with fear. Lacus remembered how it had been the very first time she had seen any semblance of fear in his visage. The quick scythe of his blade, the rustle of the ropes as they slithered to the ground, the firm grasp of his hand around her wrist as he pulled her to her feet. And that soft, persuasive voice that had whispered in her ear.

Trust me.

"Did he help you escape?" This time it was Siegel Clyne who spoke. It snapped her out of her thoughts and she rested her hand on his, which was still stroking the untameable strands of her pink hair.

"Yes. He helped me escape from the warehouse I was kept in. We were in a van, and he took me to Flay's." She cast a glance at the red-headed woman, who avoided her glance with the pretext of taking a sip from the mug of hot chocolate she had in her hands. "Flay and Sai allowed me to stay in their apartment for a few days. I didn't contact you-" She paused to glance at her father. The biggest regret that she had had in those few days she had been away was that she couldn't let her father know that she was safe and sound. Lacus knew it was a terrible and cruel act to her father, who had loved her and cared for her like a treasure since the death of her mother. "-because Kira warned me that I was still in danger; I couldn't let anyone know I was still alive."

"Doesn't matter," Siegel Clyne shook his head. For the first time in her life, Lacus saw the tears glistening in her father's eyes. "As long as you were safe. Doesn't matter if you didn't call."

"He was right," Lacus said, feeling the sorrow well in her chest, "There was a female assassin in the apartment tonight. It was Kira who saved me. He shielded me from a bullet; that was how he got wounded. I couldn't send him to the hospital without attracting the attention of the police. The only place I could go to was Flay's, and then you showed up. How did you find us, Athrun?"

"I received news from Detective Mu La Flaga that the Police Commissioner received a tip-off about my breaking-and-entering into Kira's apartment. The call was traced to Flay's diner." He turned to the red-headed woman who was perched at the corner of the sofa, her eyes staring at the floor, the mug he had handed her cradled in her lap. She looked like she wanted to be anywhere else but here. "I think you might have an explanation for that, Flay," he said. The woman glanced up with a startled expression. It seemed as if she was hoping that her silence would have made her forgotten.

"You were the one who tipped off the Commissioner." It was a statement, not a question. And Flay knew that she had no more reason to lie.

"Yes, I was the one who did it."

"Why? How are you involved in all this? Was it… Kira who asked you to do it?"

Flay surprised them by laughing. "Kira has no say in this. In fact, Kira has had no say in everything that has happened so far. Kira and I are just the many pawns in this game."

"What do you know about the people who kidnapped Lacus?"

The smile that graced Flay's lips was bitter. "They're not normal people, you're right. Based on what I know, they've been imbued with qualities that no ordinary man has. They're perfect assassins who do the dirty jobs that no one else can. They're everywhere; you'll never know who they are. And they've been trained by the best, locked up in the Facility like prisoners until they 'graduate'."

"Facility?"

"It's where they're taught all they know, where they're experimented on like animals. It's a cruel place," Flay concluded simply.

"And who is the mastermind behind all this?"

"I can't tell you."

Athrun narrowed his emerald eyes at her. "The police can protect you if you're worried about your safety."

That same sardonic smile. "They're everywhere," she said again. "Even your superiors aren't who you think they are. What makes you think your Witness Protection Program can keep me safe?" Silence enveloped the room as the implications of what Flay was saying began to set in.

"You're saying that the Police Commissioner is involved in this?" Dearka blurted out.

Flay said nothing.

"Tell us who the mastermind is."

Again, she simply shook her head.

"You're different from the people at the Facility," Flay glanced over at Lacus, who was speaking to her in a gentle voice. The pink-headed woman was watching her with observant cerulean eyes. "You care for Kira. I saw the way you talked to him, the way you looked at him. You don't want to hurt him. You're not like those at the Facility," she paused to let her words sink in. "Tell us who the mastermind is. If we know who we are dealing with, we will know what we ought to protect him from, Flay."

There was a glimmer in Flay's eyes and Lacus clung on to that seed of hope. For a second, it looked as if she was going to reveal the identity of the mastermind, but then her jaw clamped shut again. "You don't know what you are dealing with. The less you know, the safer you'll be."

"It's Rau, isn't it?" muttered Lacus, recalling the name she had heard in Kira and Flay's conversation.

Athrun and Cagalli sat up in their chairs. "Rau Le Creuset?"

"I don't know who you're talking about," Flay responded. Then as if she had had enough of the conversation, she rose from the seat and left her mug on the side table. "I can't tell you anything else. I've told you more than I should. You already know more than you should. I've got to go."

"Go?"

"I'm not your prisoner. You can't arrest me under any charges. You've got no evidence whatsoever."

"Stay here," Lacus urged, "Kira said you're in danger. Those people are everywhere, you said so yourself."

Flay shook her head, her blood-red curls brushing her shoulders. "I've been a part of the Facility's workings for a while. I know how to deal with them. I must warn Sai before he goes back to the diner. He doesn't know what is happening." Turning to Athrun, she rested her hard gaze on him. "Are you going to let me out, or are you going to keep me locked up in here?"

Athrun stared at Flay for a while, meeting her accusatory eyes with his own calm ones. Then nodding in Dearka's direction, he instructed, "Give her a lift back to the diner."

"Just get me a cab," Flay interrupted smoothly as the blonde-haired detective made a move to push himself off the wall and trawl through his trouser pocket for the car keys. As Dearka glanced at him for directions, Athrun raised a hand in a dismissing wave. "Get her a cab," he relented.

There were faces swimming in and out of his vision, in and out of his dreams, so that he knew not whether they were real or imagined.

Once, he woke up to see a man with blonde hair peering at him. There was a smile on his face and then his lips parted and he was speaking. "So you're certain that this is the Kira that's been missing for fifteen years?" He was whisked away from his view, and replaced by the image of a silver-haired man, a faint thin line running across his face, ice-blue eyes watching him cautiously.

Kira closed his own and let the darkness wash over him.

The little blonde girl appeared in his dreams again. At times, she was laughing and giggling and patting his face with her little tiny hands. At times, she was crying, and there was blood running down her hairline. Then he saw her morph into a blonde woman with shoulder-length hair that brushed gently against his face when she bent over him. She reached out and smoothed back his sweat-soaked hair.

"What did the doctor say?"

"He's out of danger. The blood donation was successful."

"So he really is Kira then?"

Concerned amber eyes watching him. Light glinted, and he realised there were tears in her eyes. Bit by bit, she began to fade out of view, blending in with the inky darkness that was always brooding at the corner of his vision.

The next time he opened his eyes, he was faced with a dim grey wall of shadows. There was a glow emitting from the right. Lifting his head, he saw the moon. An orange moon. Shining with a warm orange radiance. How could there be a moon by his bed? No… it wasn't a moon. It was a lamp, which shed a yellowish blush across the wooden surface of the bedside table it was on. His amethyst eyes followed the shadows and light, tracking them until he saw the silhouette of a man standing against the wall.

As if sensing his gaze, the man walked out of the shadows into the orange glow. Midnight blue hair, sparkling emerald eyes. There was something familiar about him. Kira knew he had a name. What was it? He realised dimly that there was a haze swathing his mind. His eyelids felt heavy. He couldn't seem to remember the man's name. Maybe he had never known the man's name. As if watching through a curtain of gossamer lace, he saw the man approach his bed, then there were fingers reaching for him, and a blanket was drawn up to his chin. The warmth that suddenly enveloped him felt so good. He didn't realise that he had been shivering.

A shard of piercing white light emanated from behind the man, turning him back into a silhouette, Kira watched as the shadowy figure turned to gaze over his shoulder.

A voice speaking.

He saw the pink hair, the gentle eyes.

"How is he?"

"He's alright. Still a little feverish, but alright. Why don't you sleep a little longer? I'll be here."

"Why don't I take over? You ought to rest. Cagalli's told me everything that transpired over the past week. You need the rest more than I do."

He saw her step forward. Saw the light from the lamp paint her orange. She had a silk robe wrapped around her, her long pink hair flowed over her shoulders in two streams. She was beautiful. And then he saw her reaching towards him, and the gentlest fingers caressed his cheek. He closed his eyes, enjoying the feather-light touch, but when he tried to open his eyes again to see her, he couldn't. The darkness had swallowed him within its depths again.

Kira opened his eyes and gazed up at the dark ceiling. The orange glow of the table lamp continued to cast its light from its position by his bedside. There was a soft hum in the room, which Kira suspected was the hum of the radiator, struggling to expel the cold from the room. He laid awake, listening to the sounds around him.

Tilting his head to the right, he caught sight of Lacus Clyne curled in a couch, her feet tucked under her.

His mind was clearing, he could sense it. The haze and the dizziness that had been plaguing him were ebbing away slowly. The gears in his head were revolving again. Judging from the elegant furniture surrounding him, he had probably been brought to the Clyne Mansion.

He tried to move his fingers. First, his thumb, then his index finger, then he curled his right hand into a fist. His reflexes were switching back on again. Reaching over, he tugged at the IV line that was taped into the back of his left hand. The liquid draining into him was transparent, no longer the blood-red he had seen while he was weaving in and out of consciousness. A sharp pinch and the needle pulled free.

Mustering up his strength, he pushed himself into a sitting position and braced himself against the headboard. The action left his head swimming and his vision flashed black and red for several seconds, but it cleared up soon enough. He sat there in the silence and in the darkness, giving his senses time to revive again. And when they did, he knew what it was that had woken him up. There was something in the air.

A nervous tension. A hint of danger.

He swung both legs over the edge of the bed and let his bare feet get used to the cool flooring. Then he stood up and padded across the room, steps silent. He was in loose pyjamas, and there was a bandage wrapped tight around his shoulder. His wound protested in agony, but the pain was kept at bay by the painkillers coursing through his blood. His own clothes were slung over the back of a chair and he rummaged through them. He found the pocket knife he had always kept sewn into the inner linings of the right trouser leg. He snagged the blade in his right hand and kept the cool steel against his wrist.

Then approaching the couch Lacus was lying asleep in, he shook her shoulder gently.

Lacus woke with a start. "Kira?" she exclaimed. "How're you? You shouldn't-"

He clamped his fingers over her mouth. "Quiet," he whispered, "they're here."

Easing Kira's hand away from her face, she stared in bewilderment, "Who?"

Kira didn't explain. He drew her to her feet, then padded over to the door. The brass knob felt ice-cold under his grip, and he wrapped his fingers firmly around it. Took a deep breath. Then another. And he turned the knob and inched the door open. He peered out into a corridor shrouded in darkness. There was no one.

He slipped the door farther open and slipped out into the silent hallway, beckoning to Lacus who followed him obediently.

"Where's Athrun Zala?" He whispered.

For a second, Lacus looked astounded that he knew Athrun's name, but then she snapped out of her reverie and glanced up. "His room is on the third floor," she murmured back.

"Wake him up and tell him there are intruders in the house." He didn't wait for her reply, only pushed her in the direction of the stairs leading to the upper floors. Without a backward glance, he edged down the stairway that led to the first level of the Clyne Mansion. Below, he could see darkness. All the lights in the house were shut off. The only sound he could hear was the humming of the radiators.

Slowly, he took one step after another, descending down the stairs. The blade felt cool against his skin, a reassurance to him.

The end of the stairs opened up into a small foyer. Straight ahead was the doorway that led out into the large hall where he had met Lacus Clyne for the first time, and they had twirled across the floor amongst the numerous couples. He stepped lightly through the passage and immediately dropped to the ground as a knife scythed past, slicing the air where his chest had been.

He ducked and rolled sideways, adjusting the grip he had on his own blade so that he could attack the intruder if his adversary lunged at him, but a sudden movement caught his eye and he danced aside, just in time to avoid a bullet that whistled past his ear with a soft hiss. Floundering in the darkness, he found himself pressed up against a wall, and when he passed his hand over the light switch, the foyer flooded with blinding white light which stabbed into his eyes with a brutal vengeance. He shielded them from the piercing glare, and when he lowered his forearm, saw the whiteness of a blade flash before his eyes.

Kira leapt back just in time to avoid the downwards stab of the intruder's knife.

As his vision cleared up and he raised his head, he saw the intruders. Not one, but three. And he recognised them all.

It had been Stellar who had dove towards him with the knife, and she was now hunkered down in a corner of the room, watching him with steady eyes.

"Stellar," Kira rose from his crouch, a sudden burst of relief flooding him. The incident at the hotel had been resting at the back of his mind like a festering disease. He had thought that his team would betray him, but he had been wrong. Instead, they had helped him escape and he had regretted leaving them behind, leaving them to Rau's mercy, but it seemed that they had made it out alive.

His relief was replaced by sheer surprise when Stellar straightened and came at him, her blade darting towards his neck. Kira evaded the attack and caught her outstretched wrist with his free hand. Something collided into him from behind as Stellar twisted round and sank her elbow into the small of his back. He fell, but he didn't release his hold on her wrist, and he ended up hauling her after him as he landed heavily onto his knees. The movement apparently stunned Stellar. It gave him just enough time to press his own blade up against her throat.

"It's me, Kira!" He snapped out, breathing heavily. Sweat trickled down the sides of his face and he had to blink them out of his eyes.

The look on Stellar's face didn't change into one of recognition. In fact, her violet eyes hardened as she gazed up at him, and then she asked, "Who's Kira?"

Author's note: I know everyone's hating me right now for the cliffie, but I just couldn't resist! Overall, I kind of enjoyed writing this chapter. What do you think? Review, review, review and let me know!