Gundam Wing/AC 1. Chapter 1

Duo sighed, finally shutting down his computer. Three A.M., and he had finally just finished mopping up the mess that was left to him. An entire week of putting out fires, small and large, working odd hours and frequent days. Doing office work. He hated office work. He supposed this was Une's punishment for his slight two weeks ago. Pulling a muscle in his leg two days before a major assignment. In training, no less. And that left Duo still on base while his partner and friends were off with a major assignment. He sighed again, wishing he was on L2 and not trapped in no-man's land on the Preventer main base.

The mission he was missing out on was one he had been looking forward to for a while. A terrorist cell that had threatened, and managed to hit, some major shuttle ports on earth. Intelligence had finally tracked them down, on L2. His home colony. Une had decided to send the former pilots, citing they were the best option to deal with a major terrorist cell. It was an assignment rife with subtlety and danger, his favorite kind. The kind he was the best at. He stared dully at the blank monitor, hating the damned thing.

With another sigh, he was getting awfully good at sighing, he forcefully shoved the keyboard tray back under the desk. Even with a pulled muscle, he would have been an asset on the assignment. Especially since they were looking at explosives, which tended to be his area of expertise. Even Heero could not boast the skill Duo had. Of course, Heero was a close second to him. Not that it bothered Duo, Heero was a man of many talents, it was how he was trained. While the other pilots had been trained in specific fields, Heero had been made the jack of all trades. Duo grinned to himself.

At least this time on his own had given him time to think. To think about things he really should have a long time ago. During the war, at the very least. A certain pilot had been the object of Duo's interest since the middle of the war. Of course, the damned man was impossible to approach, and Duo was uncertain if the pilot even swung that way, so to speak. In his off time, Duo had been taking to spending time with Quatre. Not that he did not usually spend plenty of time with the Arabian. Quatre was his best friend, after all. They had long since developed a deep rapport with each other, practically from the beginning of the war. But without the presence of the other ex-pilots, Quatre and he had gotten around to talking about some touchy subjects. Specifically, the fact that Duo still pined over that certain gundam pilot. After plenty of discussions with Quatre, Duo had decided to make his affections known. He had decided to up front confess to the man he had been coyly watching for four years.

And so Duo was especially looking forward to the next week, when the other pilots were scheduled to return. At the same time he was nervous and dreading it. But he had at least five days to worry about it, it was now three-thirty A.M. and he wanted his bed. He pushed his chair back and ran a hand over his face. Both he and Quatre had never really developed facial hair, like some of the others had, so his face was smooth. He stood, kicking the chair back in place with his foot. At least he had the privilege of an office. Well, an office he shared with his partner. Who was off on the assignment.

As he walked out, he flicked the light switch off. The main offices were fairly dead, a few bedraggled agents still working, and the janitorial crew were making their rounds. He briefly considered hitting the gym, but no, he was tired. He could do that in the morning. He turned towards the direction of the sky bridge that connected the offices to the parking garage. He had to go up one floor for it, but his office was situated fairly close to the elevators. He passed only one person on his way to the parking garage, an agent he frankly could not recall the name of. He had to ride the parking garage elevator up a few floors, he always parked on the second to highest level.

In all fairness, he could have claimed an official parking space on the first level, but he didn't want to run the risk of his car getting scratched. His car, that he had lovingly built from the inside out, borrowing the garage on base to do most of the work. She was sleek, black, and beautiful. He had named her Scythe, superstitions died hard to him. He climbed in and started her up, she purred to life in a way only a top notch car could. He went to reach for the seatbelt and snarled when the damn thing jammed. He really needed to fix that damned thing. Or replace it. It jammed up more often than it worked. He sighed once more, too tired to deal with the bullshit of the jammed seatbelt at that moment. He would be fine.

He pulled the car out of the parking garage, swiping his badge as he left. Another swipe at the exit gate to the compound, and he was finally on the desolate road into the city. He loved this road, though. It petered through a small forest before it reached the city, and Duo loved driving through that forest. He hit the stereo and it blared to life, satisfying the American with the sound of an old hard rock band. There was a stretch of the road that hugged the side of a cliff, the base being on the top, and the city below. Part of the road stretched out straight for a bit, and a road ran perpendicular to the main road, it led to some sort of packing facility. Duo hummed along to a song he recognized as he reached the straight away. He glanced to the side and the sight of truck high beams was the last thing he saw.

Quatre rolled over with a mutter, grabbing the cell phone sitting on the nightstand. He checked the clock and almost groaned. Four in the morning. He had an important meeting that morning, and frankly, he needed his sleep to deal with that particular CEO. The woman was a shark in a fish tank, and had _opinions_ about a nineteen year old running a corporation as big as Winner. Ones he did not need to hear, as he had heard them a thousand times before, from her and many others.

He did verbally groan this time. He could not sleep, which was not an unusual problem, but this was an uneasy feeling. Something was off, and he could not quite pinpoint what it was. He scooted upright in his bed and stared at the cell phone in his hands. Frankly, he was not sure why he had picked up the one in his hands over the one still resting on the stand. The one in his hands was a special one.

Maybe eight people had the number to this particular cell phone. It was his Preventer's phone, even though he wasn't an active agent, he did plenty of consulting work for them. His husband, however, was a full fledged agent. And out of town at that moment. Perhaps that was why Quatre was uneasy, it had been several months since Trowa had been sent away on an assignment. He was not used to sleeping alone, Une only pulled Trowa out on the more serious assignments. For all that she was, as Duo fondly called her, "crazypants", during the war, she was an excellent commander of the Preventers. She knew what her agents needed, sometimes before they themselves did.

Quatre felt bad for Duo, though. The braided man was clearly bummed out over being left behind, for all that he didn't talk about it. Quatre could tell, he always could tell. Especially with the ex-pilots, he was tuned to them in ways he wasn't with others. His empathy was a useful trait in most situations, and Quatre could read Duo like a book most of the time. He could even tell Duo's decision to make his feelings known to a certain pilot was a cover-up, in a way, for dealing with being grounded.

Quatre frowned at the phone in his hands, wondering once again why he had picked that one up. There were no new messages, no missed calls, it was silent. The screen lit his bedroom up slightly, and the phone's backdrop of the most recent picture of the pilots gathered together was staring back at him. He really should attempt to go back to sleep, he needed to be awake in two hours. He glanced down at the phone. Correction, one hour and forty-five minutes.

Suddenly the phone vibrated in his hands, and a cheerful melody rang out in his bedroom. He recognized the custom ring tone immediately. Une. One he did not hear often, and Duo often criticized his use of a cheerful tune to represent Lady Une. He quickly swiped a thumb across the screen to answer and held up the phone.

"Winner." Even through a phone, Lady Une upheld her presence. It marveled Quatre sometimes. Still, a call at four-fifteen in the morning meant something was up. Quatre's gut clenched. He honestly could not feel anything amiss, but that did not mean everything was fine.

"Commander Une, what do I owe the pleasure of an early morning call?" Quatre was always polite, it was so deeply ingrained in him. His gut would not unclench, and his worry only grew at the silence on the other side. Rarely did he find Commander Une at a loss for words, if that was what the silence was.

"There has been an accident, you need to come in." Was the reply a minute or so later. Quatre's gut clenched tighter. If he was being called in due to an accident, it meant one of the other pilots were involved. Or all of them.

"Who?" Quatre's voice cracked on that one word, and he was not ashamed of it. He almost did not want to hear the answer, though.

"Maxwell." It seemed they had devolved into one word answers, and Quatre detected a hint of an emotion in Une's voice he had never heard her express. Something was _very_ wrong.

"I'll be in as quickly as I can." He managed, his gut twisting and contorting in ways he hated.

"Affirmative," was Une's reply, and she hung up her end of the line. Quatre hadn't thought to ask for details, but frankly, he would rather have them presented in person. He pulled himself out of bed and quickly dressed, grabbing what ever came to hand first. He snagged his business cell phone from the bedside table. Finally dressed in a button down shirt and black slacks, he slipped into the first pair of shoes he could find. He glanced down at his second cell and sighed. Pausing in what he was doing, he fired off a text to his secretary, informing her to cancel all meetings and such things for that day. Whatever had happened, he could tell it was serious.

And now that he was looking for it, he could clearly feel the absence of Duo in his heart. That, of course, did not mean the other pilot had died. Une would have said that right away. Merely, it meant he was likely unconscious. Which still did not bode well. He shoved both cells in his pocket and reached for his personal car keys. He practically flew down the stairs and through the sizable house. He and Trowa had settled for an extremely large house over a mansion, mostly because Quatre wanted Trowa to feel at home, and he knew the other man never did at any of the Winner mansions. Quatre booked it to the garage and flung himself into his car. If he really pushed things, he could get to base in forty minutes. And frankly, speed limits were a non-issue at the moment. He pulled out of the garage and started down the road, quite possibly breaking every traffic law ever created. His gut would not unclench and he was absolutely terrified.

The ride to Preventer's base was horrid for Quatre, and if someone had asked him about it days later, he probably would not be able to say much about it. Besides the breaking of aforementioned traffic laws. He made it to base in under thirty minutes, and he bolted into Preventer's medical. At least, he hoped he was supposed to go there. It was fairly empty for the time of day, and Quatre surveyed the entrance way.

He found Commander Une standing off to the side, clearly watching the entrance. She nodded at him and motioned for him to follow, and her normally stoic face held an expression that Quatre could not recognize on her face. He obeyed, however, and fell behind her as she turned and twisted through the building. Eventually, they reached an office he easily recognized as belonging to Sally Po. The woman was head of Preventer's medical, and as such, had a large office. The office was missing the woman herself, and Quatre's gut twisted even more. Commander Une motioned for him to close the door and he obliged, turning to find the Commander leaning against the desk.

Quatre was not one to fidget, but he was very worried and it tended to express itself in strange ways. He shifted from foot to foot as he waited to Une to speak. And he would not rush things, he could see on her face she was trying to formulate how to say things. That did not soothe Quatre's worry. Finally, the Commander spoke.

"At zero three three hundred hours Agent Maxwell was involved in a vehicle accident." She started, and despite knowing some of that, it still churned Quatre's stomach.

"Doctor Po received the call and he was brought in. I have not received much more information, as Doctor Po has been busy with Agent Maxwell. The information I was given was that Agent Maxwell was brought in with head trauma, severe internal bleeding and several broken bones." As she finished, Quatre blanched. He had hoped, wished, maybe even prayed for something not quite so serious. They were all made of strong stuff, but that seemed like far too much. The knot in Quatre's gut twisted farther than he had imagined it possibly could get.

"Oh Allah." He uttered to himself. He slid down into a chair, not trusting his legs at that very moment. Quatre could not recall ever having to deal with something that serious with his friends. Yes, there was life threatening wounds at times, but head trauma? That scared Quatre more than anything. He looked back up at Une, checking to see if she had any more to say.

"That is all I know, I am sure Doctor Po will have more information later, if you plan to wait." For a brief moment the Commander looked as distressed as Quatre felt. And then it was gone, if Quatre were a different man, he might have believed he had imagined it. But for once, Quatre could read Une. She was almost as worried as Quatre was.

"Of course." He whispered, looking down. Of course he would stay. He looked back up to see Une pushing herself off of the desk and striding towards the door. She nodded once at him and slipped out the door, closing it behind her.

Quatre sighed to himself, he was alone with his thoughts. And he did not like where his thoughts were going. He knew enough about trauma to scare himself. He sincerely wished he had more information. He checked the clock on the wall, and frowned. It had reached five in the morning. He looked down at the floor, trying to not reach out for Duo's consciousness. He knew he would not find it, and searching only deepened his depression.

He heard the door open and he whipped his head around, only to come face to face with Julie McCall. She looked quite bedraggled, at least, compared to her usual fastidiousness. Julie was a head nurse at medical, and one of the few nurses who willingly put up with the agents and their regular visits. She treated them all like her children, and Quatre quite liked her.

"Une said she called you, and that you were waiting here." Julie said, blowing into the office like a strong breeze. Quatre nodded at her statement.

"Good, I am glad you are here. I can fill you in really fast, and then I need to go." She said quickly, bending down to dig through the desk for something. Quatre stayed silent.

"Duo was brought in with a traumatic brain injury, but Une said she informed you of that. Initial tests showed pressure and bleeding, Doctor Po called in Doctor Bracket, he is on his way in. On top of that, most of his ribs are broken and there was massive internal bleeding. We have curbed that, there is still more that needs to be done, but he is out of danger in that area. His arm is also broken in several places. He is still in surgery." Julie pulled out a folder from the desk and nodded at Quatre as she finished speaking.

"I need to go now, there should be more information later." Julie said with a nod, breezing right back out of the room. The nurse's words did nothing to set Quatre at ease. Quatre closed his eyes, the situation seemed to get worse and worse. And what had Duo been doing to end up that injured? Duo was overly careful with his car, and if Duo was in that state, his car was likely wrecked. There were too many unknowns, and too many ifs, and it unsettled Quatre further. What if it was foul play? Intentional? If it was an accident, how did Duo end up like he did. Quatre shook his head, there was no point going down dead ends. He would just have to wait, wait for more information. The wait was going to be terrible.


	2. Chapter 2

As a rule, Quatre did not fidget. He was able to sit still for long periods of time, he had to for board meetings and other official business. The polar opposite of Duo, actually. Duo, if he was not full engaged, never stopped moving. Quatre had seen Duo sit stock still on a stake out. And then, at Preventer meetings, he was always fiddling with whatever was in front of him. Or moving somehow. Quatre's face quirked into a small smile, even as he shifted nervously, at the remembrance of the meetings he had been in with Duo. Une would periodically pause in her speaking to reprimand Duo like one would an errant child. And every time he flashed Une a wide grin and proceeded to find something else to annoy the commander with. It had long since developed into a game for Duo, and Quatre suspected for Une as well.

The smile quickly faded in tandem with the memory. He pulled out his personal cell phone and turned it over in his hands. Normally, he did not need distractions to keep his mind occupied. But as he glanced at his phone, only a half hour had passed. Time was crawling, and it was becoming unbearable. A muttered curse and he finally gave in the need for a distraction. He had placed several books on his personal phone, not that he had ever really started any. A few classics that he had not gotten around to reading yet. He sighed and flicked open a random one, not really paying attention to the title. He found himself unable to really lose himself in it after several chapters, it was proving a very ineffective distraction. He glanced at the time again, it was approaching eight A.M. He was about to return to the ineffective book when the door behind him opened. He swiftly turned around, hoping that it was Sally or some more information in the form of someone else. His face fell when Noin and Zechs stepped into the room. They would not have the information he sought at that moment.

"Sorry, guess we are not who you were hoping to see." Noin said as she preceded Zechs into the room. The man behind her closed the door and turned to face Quatre. Pulling himself to his feet, Quatre shook his head.

"No, Noin. I doubt you have the information I truly want to hear." He said softly, his mouth turning into a tired smile. He liked Lucrezia Noin, and her constant companion Zechs had grown on Quatre as well. Both had joined the Preventers before the ex-pilots, and after several years of working together, even Heero and Zechs could hold a civil conversation with each other. Zechs had not really changed outwardly much over the years, much to Quatre's silent amusement. The man still insisted on that mask, despite the higher end of Preventers knowing who he was. He was still silent and solemn. But compared to the man they fought in the war, Zechs was vastly different. Quatre had seen the officer smile on more than one occasion, and the Arabian found that he was a wonderful conversationalist. Quatre was not sure if Noin had changed much over the years, they had not really interacted during the war save for those few mobile suit battles. Still, where one found Zechs, they also found Noin, and he and Noin were the top agents of Preventers. The ex-pilots were close behind, and together the six agents formed the elites of the organization.

"I'm afraid not, Quatre. But we do have something." Quatre usually found Noin to do most of the talking, but that never surprised him. Zechs and Noin often seemed like one entity to the blond, and Noin was charismatic and pleasant to Zechs and his imposing nature. Quatre cocked his head to the side slightly. He was unsure why they were there.

"Une is not taking chances with this, she has placed Zechs and myself on investigating the incident." She offered Quatre a sympathetic smile. So the commander suspected foul play, Quatre's gut twisted again. He nodded to her.

"Do you know anything yet?" He asked, a little uncertain if he wanted to know right then or not. Noin shook her head sadly.

"Not a lot, I'm afraid. They have started trying to recover the wreckage, but that is going to take a while. Commander Une is having everything go through us, because of who Maxwell is. She has overruled local police." She said, propping herself up against a bookshelf. Quatre nodded, it was something. And the Preventers would be able to investigate much faster than the police.

"Is there any information on how it happened?" He questioned softly. He knew he did not have all of the pieces. Une had not told him anything about the accident itself, and frankly Duo's injuries sounded more like something he would have expected in the war, not during a time of peace.

"It happened on highway seven, on that stretch that hugs the ravine. A truck was pulling out from that packing facility up the road. It is looking like the truck slammed into Maxwell's car and pushed it off the road and down the ravine. That is all they have been able to tell us." Noin said quietly. Quatre flinched. He knew that stretch well, it was Duo's favorite route to his apartment. Duo's injuries made slightly more sense, at the very least.

"Maxwell's car is a loss." She added softly. It was well known how much Duo loved that particular car, he had built it himself. He would not take that well.

"Nothing salvageable?" Quatre feared he already knew the answer, but he needed to ask anyway. This time it was Zechs who spoke up.

"It was wrapped around a tree at the bottom of the ravine." The taller man said and Quatre flinched. The mechanic in him knew the implications of that.

"They had to cut him out of it." Noin added softly and the blond winced. He would, of course, assess the car himself. If the Preventers were handling it, they would bring the wreckage to base. Quatre made a mental note to at least go look at it. When, not if, Quatre was able to speak with Duo, he knew the braided pilot would want exact answers.

"Thank you." The Arabian said, flashing the two agents another tired smile. Zechs and Noin nodded and slipped out of the room. Quatre had more to think about, then.

If Duo's car was a total loss like Noin had said, and it was not that she did not believe him, but Noin was not a crack mechanic like all of the ex-gundam pilots were. During the war, the five of them worked with the bare minimum and often salvaged mobile suit parts to repair their gundams. And Duo was the best out of them at it. But if the car _was_ a total loss, Quatre knew it would devastate Duo. It had taken Duo two entire years to track down the parts necessary, and a good chunk of them, Duo had machined himself. The American's goal had been to recreate a pre-colonization car as best as he could. Quatre swore to himself he would help Duo rebuild that car.

After mulling things over for a bit, Quatre settled himself back into the chair he had been previously occupying. In the time he had been speaking with Noin, he had apparently received a text message. He glanced at the sender, it was Jason, his secretary. Jason was a year older than Quatre, and sometimes the fact that his secretary was older than he was unsettled Quatre. But Jason was the best one he had ever had, and was a very pleasant person to be around. He opened the text, it was simply a conformation that Jason had done as Quatre had asked, and a side note that shark CEO was throwing a fit at being put off. The parting line was a question, asking Quatre how long events needed to be canceled. Unfortunately, Quatre did not have an idea, and he refused to leave base until he knew Duo was going to be alright or one of the other pilots would be able to stay with him. To say that Duo reacted poorly to being injured, incapacitated, or stuck in medical for any reason, was a vast understatement. Of all of the ex-pilots, Duo was the worst. He had actually attempted to escape medical more than once, and Quatre grinned a little to himself. Duo's escape attempts were a well known thing in Preventer medical, and many of the staff refused to deal with Duo unless one of the other pilots was present. But that was not the main reason they usually took shifts and stayed with Duo.

No, the main reason was because they had figured out, and Duo refused to admit this, that Duo was actually terrified of medical. But if one of the other ex-pilots were there, and this even worked if they dozed off, as long as one of them was in the room with him, Duo calmed down and healed much faster. Only once before had they had to really field a situation with Duo that was serious. They had already figured out Duo's problem with medical and were taking shifts with him. Une had found out and ordered the active agent pilots on leave. Quatre suspected much of the same would happen when the rest of their group returned.

As Quatre had been consulted on planning the mission Heero, Trowa and Wufei were on, he knew that they would be unable to return until the mission had concluded. Had it been a mission any less serious, Quatre had no doubt Une would have pulled the other pilots immediately. And so, Quatre knew he would not, and could not, leave base until at least one of the other pilots returned. And with how serious Duo's injuries sounded, he expected to be staying until the other pilots were slated to return. And that was not for a week. Quatre sighed, he would need Jason for this. He needed things from his house for an extended stay on base, and to be able to take care of what business he could. Quatre had needed to stay on base before, there were facilities set up for that kind of thing. And it went without saying he could use them any time he needed to. Not that he really planned on leaving medical. He knew he could get Sally's cooperation with the situation. He glanced at the clock, it was ten thirty. He would have to send the text message right then.

He fired off a text message to Jason listing what he needed from his house. It was not much. Clothes, his laptop and chargers for his electronics. Jason had a key to the house in case of emergencies, and this certainly qualified. Jason would be able to leave the bags at guest entrance to the base, and Quatre hated to rely on the staff there, but he knew the bags would reach him. A sigh of relief when Jason replied back with a time frame. He would be there in two hours. Quatre hoped by then he would have a better time frame of things. Quatre could not just drop off the face of the earth for a week, but he could field the less important things to others and do light work and video meetings for the rest of it. If the absolute worst happened, he could turn running Winner Corp over to the board of directors. He did not want to do that, because he knew how it would be seen to others. His grip on Winner corp was a tenuous hold, due to his age, and former occupation. Not many were content with an ex-terrorist running one of the biggest corporations in the colonies. But he would would put his adopted family first.

Quatre spent the next hour and a half personally fielding certain business contacts through text messaging. He had managed to deal with most of what he had to, the rest could wait until he had an actual computer in front of him. Not that anyone was happy to be put off, but certain people came first in his life, and Winner Corp was not going to collapse in a week. He had fielded a lot of the work to the acting board of directors, because, frankly, they dumped far too many things on his shoulders. At least half of his workload for that week was easily within the range of work the board did. He finally looked up from his phone, he had managed to kill another hour and a half. But there was still no word from Sally, and it was approaching six hours since he had any word. The knot in his gut was so tight, and it had only increased over time.

He was about to look back down at his phone when the door opened for a third time. He turned to face the door and heaved a sigh of relief at the sight of Sally Po. She not only looked exhausted, but Quatre easily felt that vibe from her. Her face was solemn, but not the expression Quatre expected if anything had gone drastically bad.

Sally strode into her office and collapsed into her chair. The knot in Quatre's gut had not loosened, but it had not gotten any worse either. Again, he would have known right off the bat if the news had been the worst it could have been. He hesitantly offered a small smile to Sally, and maybe Quatre relaxed a little when she returned a small one back at him. He waited patiently for her to speak, he could tell she needed a moment to orient herself. Quatre had found Sally to be another person who considered the pilots hers, and while Quatre was positive it had been their initial age that had awakened those feelings in Sally, at least, he was sure other circumstances had caused those feelings to grow. Despite all five of them starting the war alone in the world, one way or the other, they had formed a close family within themselves and an extended one through the Preventers. Sally leaned back in her chair and pinched her nose, a habit Quatre had seen her express before.

"I'd love to know just exactly what those so called doctors did to you pilots, and at the same time, I would probably be sickened." She said with a sigh. It was common knowledge around the Preventers that all five of the ex-pilots were extraordinarily sturdy, but only Sally, Une and the pilots themselves were privy to just how sturdy they were. Not that any of the pilots had a clue what was done to them in their training, several ideas had been thrown around over the years. All five of them had come through situations that ordinary people most likely would have not, to varying degrees. Quatre knew he was not as sturdy, or altered, as the others. Heero and Duo had started their training far younger than the rest of the pilots, and as such, were stronger and more changed than the rest of them. Quatre waited for Sally to continue.

"I am sure Une filled you in, and Julie mentioned she spoke to you as well. I will not mince words, I am honestly surprised Duo pulled through. Between the severe TBI and the amount of blood he lost, it was extremely touch and go at first. He managed to pull through the surgery, and we have spent the last hour stabilizing him. It is still a bit rocky at this point, but I believe the worst is over." She pinched the bridge of her nose again, and Quatre's worry eased slightly. He recognized the term TBI, of course. Traumatic brain injury. He knew the question he had to ask, even if a part of him did not want to know the answer.

"Is there permanent damage?" His voice was quiet and hesitant, and his stomach clenched in anticipation of the answer. Sally sighed and released her hand, raising her head to look at Quatre.

"We're not sure. Duo has a remarkable healing ability, but we are still working on bringing down the swelling in his brain. There is damage now, but I do not know how much he will be able to heal. None of you have been brought in this badly injured, so I am unaware of the extents of your abilities. I am sure his internal injures will heal just fine, we have repaired the damage there. But I honestly cannot tell you about the other damage." Sally said, dropping her head a bit after speaking. It was not exactly what Quatre wanted to hear, but it was not the worst answer he could have received. He had more questions, and he knew he needed to ask them. Sally was clearly exhausted.

"Could you tell me the details?" He was again hesitant. The blond was unsure if Sally had not immediately shared them because she was tired, or if there was something she was hesitant in sharing. She lifted her head and perked up slightly.

"I am sorry, Quatre. I was heading home when Duo was brought in, I have not slept." She began and Quatre nodded. "The EMTs that were called in found Duo's badge on him and radioed in to us, as the base was closer than the hospital. I was on my way out when Une called me. We had them bring him here, he had been unresponsive at the scene and had coded once in the ambulance. Once I knew somewhat of what we were looking at, I called in Bracket. Duo went immediately into surgery, he had severe cranial swelling and hemorrhage, on top of severe internal bleeding from a lacerated liver and kidney. His left lung had been pierced by a piece of broken rib and his right one had collapsed from impact. We managed to correct the damage we were able to and reduce the swelling, but he coded twice on the table. He was given several transfusions to offset the blood loss. He is being set up in the ICU, and I know you agents too damn well, you will be able to go in to see him shortly." She paused, hesitant about something. Her entire facial expression changed, and Quatre could easily tell there was something she was not sharing.

"We had to shave his head for the surgery." She said quietly and Quatre blanched. Sally and Une were the only other people besides the agents themselves that knew the reason behind Duo's hair. Une usually set people straight when the length of Duo's braid came into question, and Sally was especially careful with the subject. Quatre knew Duo would not take the news well, and on top of everything else already happening, if Quatre or one of the other pilots handled the situation wrong, it could be disastrous.

"We had no choice, and part of it had already been severed when he was pulled out of his car." She added and Quatre nodded a little.

"I understand, and I am sure Duo will too, in time, at least." He said softly. Quatre fidgeted a bit in his seat. Yes, Sally had filled him in. But he needed to see Duo for himself, he needed to see his best friend. Sally looked up and checked the clock on the wall.

"I think they will have him settled now." She said, standing. Quatre swiftly followed, but Sally paused before she moved.

"He doesn't look good, Quatre. He will be in the ICU for some time, at the very least. We are keeping him sedated so that his body and brain can heal somewhat." Quatre acknowledged her words with a slight nod. It was as much as he expected, but he was thankful for Sally's warning. He followed her out of the room and down several hallways.


	3. Chapter 3

Quatre was familiar enough with Preventer's medical that he knew where Sally was leading him. He recognized the ICU from having to visit there are few times, but Sally led him into a part of the area he was unfamiliar with. The area was small, and Quatre noticed only a few rooms. Sally stopped in front of the only room with a closed door.

"We have him here so we can better monitor him, as well as being able to give some privacy." She said as she placed a hand on the door handle. Quatre steeled himself, taking a deep breath to orient himself. He already knew he was not going to like what he was about to see, but he could not leave Duo alone there. He lifted his head and set his jaw, and he noticed Sally nod slightly. She had been giving him time, for which he was grateful. But before she opened the door, she fished something out of her pocket and pressed it into Quatre's hands. He looked down to find Duo's cross in his hands, the chain broken, and, he was sickened to see, blood on the one side of it. He stuffed it in his own pocket, he'd get it cleaned and the chain fixed before he gave it to Duo. She finally cracked the door open a bit and turned away, heading back down the hallway. Sounds echoed from the crack in the door that were both familiar and unfamiliar to the blonde. He shook his head and stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. He took another moment before fully turning to face the inside of the room. He truly wished he could have said he had been prepared for the sight in front of him, but he was not. Not even a little. His knees went weak and he stood there, the sight before him searing itself into his mind.

Duo was pale, paler than his natural complexion, which was generally hard to do. He was still, which unnerved Quatre to no end. The brunette was always moving in some way. His chest was wrapped in bandages, and there were tubes trailing from his torso. His lower body, at least, was covered with a sheet. Not that seeing Duo nude would have bothered Quatre. He glanced up from Duo's form, the opposite side of the bed lined with monitors and machines. At least he could identify most of the sounds. The hiss and click of the ventilator was one sound he truly wished he did not recognize, and his line of sight followed the tubing to the place it was taped to Duo's face. His face. At least on his chest, Quatre could not see the marks, but there were bruises purpling on the brunettes face. And the fact that the crown of his friend's head was firmly wrapped in bandages as well. The lack of braid beside Duo churned his stomach, but he forced himself to move forward. As he closed in, he finally noticed the arm opposite to the door was firmly encased in a cast.

A chair had been left beside Duo's bed, for which Quatre was eternally grateful. He was not sure he could stand much longer. He sunk into the chair, his eyes still trained on his best friend. Without thinking, he reached out and ran his hand along the side of Duo's face that was not bruising. Duo had been the one to teach Quatre about casual physical contact, and it had been long figured out by the rest of the pilots that Duo craved touching, even the most casual kind. It had forced the rest of them to learn by proxy, if only to keep Duo happy. Duo's skin was cooler than Quatre was used to, and while the logical side of Quatre's mind could explain it, it just added to the sheer horror of the entire situation. He pulled his hand back and rested it on the hand laying on the bed.

He wrapped his fingers around the hand. While Duo had gained a little height at he grew, he had retained his delicate frame. Well, delicate was the wrong word. Slight perhaps was better. He had never quite filled out like the other pilots had. Quatre had grown more than the brunette, he was only half an inch shorter than Duo, and had filled out in muscle tone. Not that Duo was weak, no, Duo's body held a hidden strength that many did not care to notice. Quatre's fingers squeezed slightly, not that he expected a response. He hoped for one, but he knew it would not come.

He suddenly wished for something to drown out the noises the echoed in the room, anything so he did not have to listen to the hissing and beeping. He slumped in his seat, running a thumb unconsciously across the back of Duo's hand. He watched Duo's chest rise and fall, letting the movement of that and the EKG in his peripheral vision soothe the knot in his gut. Those two things reassured Quatre enough that he was able to relax slightly. He had been wound tight for so many hours that it had almost seemed like forever. His own body was making its needs known, for rest and food, at least. He was not ready to leave the room right then, though, so he pushed those out of his mind. He glanced around for a clock, and finding none, he pulled out his phone to check the time. It was twelve forty, his secretary should have left what he was requested at the front gate. And when he checked his phone again, he noticed the text message confirming just that. He would not worry about those items right then, if he had to, he could go pick them up in a bit. He returned his focus to the form on the bed.

Quatre loved Duo like a brother, and he knew that the other felt the same way. All of the pilots were close in their own ways, but Duo and himself had developed a deep friendship. And seeing the brother of his heart laid out in such a manner tore at him. It tore at him as much as it would if it were Trowa laying in that bed. His love for Duo was as deep as his for Trowa, albeit in a different manner. He heaved a deep breath and squeezed Duo's hand again, lightly. There was not much he could do for Duo at the moment, besides guard the other pilot and provide physical contact. And that, he supposed, was going to have to be enough.

Quatre sat there for several hours, unwilling to leave. He knew there were things he needed to take care of, but he could not bring himself to leave Duo's side. Despite the logic behind it all, he was afraid of Duo waking up alone. Or something worse happening. He held on to Duo's hand throughout the time, often just rubbing his thumb along the back of his friend's hand. The pseudo-silence soothed him a bit, he supposed. At least there, he could see Duo for himself, and in such close proximity, he was able to barely detect the presence of his friend in his heart.

When the door behind him cracked open, he did not jump, though he was clearly startled. He whipped around to see a nurse looking at him apologetically. She held up a black bag that Quatre was familiar with.

"I was told this was dropped off for you, Agent Winner. I decided to bring it when I did my rounds." Quatre offered the woman a small smile. Despite not being an acting agent, he was still referred to as such, and no amount of discussion with Une could reverse that. He had chosen to just get used to it. He barely recognized the nurse, he had seen her before, but it was not often that he was in the ICU area of medical. The nurse approached and handed him the bag, which he took gratefully. He opened the bag, distracting himself from having to watch the nurse examine things. Within minutes she was out of the room and Quatre could relax. He reached out and patted Duo's hand before returning to his bag. He should get some work done, at the very least. He opened his laptop and started.

He became so engrossed in his work that a hand landing on his shoulder nearly made him toss his laptop on the ground. He had been so tuned to both Duo and his laptop that he had completely ignored the entrance of another person. Not that the person was a stranger, he would have known and reacted instantly to that. No, it was Sally. Who was on his personal safe list. He looked up at the medical director and offered her a sheepish smile.

"Eat." She ordered, taking his laptop from him and pushing a sandwich in his hands. He quickly glanced at the time on the laptop. It was eight in the evening. He sighed and nodded while Sally pulled up a chair beside him.

"Have you made arrangements to stay?" She asked, indicating the bag at his feet. Quatre shook his head as he slowly ate.

"I don't want to leave Duo, even staying on base seems too far." He admitted after a moment. Sally sighed.

"I figured as much. I will let you stay here on several conditions." Was her answer, she indicated the couch on the far wall with her head. Quatre tilted his head curiously.

"I know you know your own limits, I know all of you do. You will take care of yourself. The couch in here pulls out, and you can use the nurses station down the hall. You will sleep, eat and take care of yourself, or I will take action." She said sternly, and Quatre only had to grin to himself. Sally was very mothering to all of them, and, he supposed, sometimes they needed that. They did all know their own limits, but more times than not, they all ignored them and pushed themselves. Sally was right to watch out for the agents. He finally nodded his acceptance of her terms. He caught her eying him carefully as he ate.

"Good. He will be sedated for at least a few more days, and with how deeply we typically have to sedate you five, I am keeping him on the ventilator." Quatre nodded, understanding. With the alterations to all of their bodies, there was added drug resistance. And once again, it was worse in both Duo and Heero. It had saved them more than once during the war, and a handful of times as agents, Quatre knew, but it also made dealing with them in medical harder. At least at Preventers, Sally was in charge, and she knew their physiology better than they did. But there had been several mishaps at other facilities. Quatre's memory flitted back to a certain incident.

They had been agents for little over a year, and not all of the staff in medical knew them or their needs well. Sally had been out of town, and the staff was mostly new, the building just having been finished. The mission had just been Heero and Duo, and Heero had been shot. It was not terribly serious, but enough that typical protocol would have Heero sedated. Quatre had been on base spending time with Trowa when both Trowa and Wufei were paged to medical. Quatre of course followed behind. The three of them had come in on the tail end of a ragged, dirty, and angry Duo dressing down one of the new doctors. Evidently the doctor had not consulted Heero's file and Heero had woken up. Quatre had never quite seen Duo so angry, and Trowa and Wufei were exchanging glances. Quatre had quickly diverted Duo and pulled him away, letting the calmer pilots handle the situation.

"God damn it, Qat. They don't listen to us. All they fucking see are a bunch of sixteen year old kids. I fucking told that moron about us. He didn't fucking listen. I've seen more action than that dipshit can even comprehend, and still, he sees me as a goddamn kid." Quatre had let Duo rant until the braided pilot had run out of steam and slumped into a chair. Upon her return, Sally had fired that particular doctor and instated new protocols specifically for the ex-pilots. He glanced back over at Sally, who was looking at him peculiarly.

"I was just recalling something." He said with a tired smile. Sally shook her head at him.

"Get some sleep, Quatre. I mean it." She said again with her stern voice and rose out of the chair. Quatre took quick stock of himself and nodded, sleep would probably be better. Especially considering he was probably going to have to put out several fires tomorrow.


	4. Chapter 4

Quatre quickly found that he would not be getting as much sleep as he probably should have. He had laid down, and made the attempt. And he had gotten a few hours in, but he was still in 'mission mode' as they used to call it. So he slept lightly, and each time a nurse came in to check on Duo, he would wake up. And then he would be awake for some time after that, mentally plotting the next day. He had not gotten nearly enough work done the day prior, he needed to field a lot of stuff over to the board, and do it personally. That meant, at the very least, video meetings. He refused to leave the base, he had made that very clear the day prior. And he was looking at a prolonged stay on base.

And so his sleep was interrupted and light. Not that he couldn't deal with it, he could. He could go several weeks at the current rate if he had to. He finally decided to give up on sleep around six in the morning, or so. A nurse had just made his rounds, and Quatre just could not slow himself down to sleep any more. He wandered off to shower and change, purposely not taking very long. On the way back, he snagged something unidentifiable from the cafeteria. It was some sort of burrito, not that he tasted it as it went down. Food was food, he had survived on worse. He breathed a sigh of relief when he re-entered Duo's room and found nothing amiss. He sat down beside his best friend and patted the still arm before wrapping his fingers around Duo's once more. He glanced down at his phone and chuckled a bit.

"I'm sure you would be proud to know you have the entire board of directors 'flipping shit' as you would call it." He said with a bemused tone as he flipped through his texts. The board was swarming like wasps, and Quatre sighed. Quatre had picked up many phrases and idioms from his friends, that he tended to use only around them. And one Duo and Heero particularly favored, and Quatre had no doubt Heero had learned it from Duo, was apt for that moment.

"I believe herding cats would be an easier task." He muttered to himself more than anything else, flicking emails into folders to sort through later. Grown men and women who acted like they could not function as a collective unit and bickered like schoolyard children. And then when anything even slightly broke down, all hell broke loose. He sorted quite a few emails that had been labeled urgent and really were not into a folder to read later. There few that did need tending to he took care of right on his phone. Video meetings could wait another day or two, at least until Quatre knew things were going to be all right. When he finally could do no more from his phone, he glanced at the clock on it. Half the day had gone by, he had barely noticed anyone that had entered or exited the room. He leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes, only to hear a bemused chuckle behind him.

"That bad, Quatre?" Noin said, the chuckle still evident in her voice. He turned his head and offered the agent a tired smile.

"The board of directors seem positively convinced that the company is going to go under because I have taken emergency leave." The blond said with an exasperated tone, rubbing at his eyes with his free hand. Despite slight adjustments for comfort and to accommodate the nurses, Quatre had not let go of Duo's hand. Noin nodded and strode into the room, settling down into the chair next to him. The Arabian was a little surprised to note the lack of Zechs, but they did operate separate when needed.

"I do not envy you your job, Quatre. The worst we deal with is training new recruits, and they are not ornery businessmen and women." She said with a wry grin, and Quatre noted her scanning her eyes over Duo in an appraising manner. Despite the fact that they had fought on opposite sides of the war, they had formed fairly close bonds over the years. Especially the ex-pilots who had become full time agents. "Anyway, we have some more information for you. Well, I do. Zechs is supervising the forensics on the vehicles, we are trying to rule everything out, even though we seem to have the full story now." She said, a solemnness to her tone that set Quatre a little on edge. He nodded for her to continue.

"Well, the driver of the truck was rather intoxicated, according to the workers at the plant, he shouldn't have even left in that truck. There was a breakdown of communications within the shipping department, and the company is willing to take full responsibility." She stopped, and turned to appraise Quatre.

"And?" he asked, there was an and in her statement. And it seemed like one she was hesitant to share.

"The driver of the truck died on impact, and we were able to find why Duo's injuries turned out so serious. He was not wearing his seatbelt …" She trailed off and Quatre flinched. They were all very careful these days, yes, they had lived dangerously during the war, but they all had found things and people to live for.

"He had been having problems with the seatbelt jamming, that I know of. He was planning on fixing that." Quatre answered softly and Noin looked surprised for a moment before nodding.

"We had been very confused about that." She spoke equally as soft, and closed her eyes for a moment.

"Pure bad luck, then." Quatre said after a moment. He squeezed Duo's hand in reaction and turned his attention back to Noin.

"As far as we know now. Like I mentioned, Zechs is overseeing the forensics breakdown of the vehicles, because of who Duo is, who we all are, we're not taking any chances." Quatre nodded again, relaxing his shoulders. Yes, they could still find something more, some sign of foul play, but it was unlikely. And it set him a bit at ease to know there was not someone, or someones, out there actively trying to get at Duo or other other ex-pilots.

"Thank you, Noin." He replied, offering her another tired smile. She nodded and smiled back.

"Get some sleep, Quatre. You look like you need it." She said as she stood and walked out. Quatre heaved a sigh and looked up at the ceiling. Sheer unluckiness had caused all of this, and Quatre sincerely wished there had been something he could have done to change it. He knew Duo's past, as much as the other man had been willing to share. They all knew bits and pieces of it, but he suspected only he knew just how terrible Duo's childhood had been. He looked down at his friend and sincerely wished Duo was awake and that he could just hold his best friend.

The next several days went by both far too quickly and far too slowly by Quatre's standards. Four days that Quatre wished to never revisit in his remaining life. Each day was taken up with the CEO of Winner Corp managing a group of men and women who seemed to think they could not run a company on their own. And then the video calls with people that refused to be pushed back schedule wise. By the evening of each day, Quatre was as exhausted as he would have been had he been in the office. Still, he was adamant about not leaving Duo's side, much to the chagrin of his board of directors. Quatre had lost count of how many times they had tried to coerce him into going in to the office.

Quatre leaned against the wall and stared at the empty shuttle port. The current situation was the only one where he had chosen to leave Duo's side. He needed to see his friends and they needed to hear the news from him, not from someone else. And frankly, between the lack of decent sleep and the company running him ragged, all Quatre wanted to do was collapse in his husband's arms. He crossed his arms over his chest and worked on composing his outward appearance. The pilots were not due for another half hour, but Quatre knew shuttles were unpredictable sometimes, and he wanted to be there to see his friends.

Frankly, the only bright side to the past four days had been the steady and slow improvements to Duo's condition. The ventilator had gone the day before, much to Quatre's relief, and Sally had remarked on how well he was healing. She suspected he would wake within the next couple of days, which set Quatre more at ease than anything else.

The door near Quatre slid open, and he whipped his head around to see who it was. The shuttle port on base was usually quiet. There was no need for much here anyway. A couple of shuttles, the smaller scale ones, as many of the agents were also pilots, there was barely a need for on staff pilots. There were a few, but they were only called in when needed. So the waiting area was small, attached to the shuttle hanger by a sky bridge. The person finally came into view and Quatre was not terribly surprised to see it was the Commander. He nodded to her and she nodded back.

"They will be arriving shortly." She said and Quatre inclined his head. Of course she would have better information than he did, well, he could have had gotten if he had really gone looking. But he was taking the time away to de-stress a little.

"You look like hell." The Commander said, assessing him quite openly. Sally had said much of the same earlier that day. Quatre sighed.

"Yes. So I have been told." He answered, returning his gaze to the large windows in front of him, overlooking the runway.

"They are going to know something is wrong, anyway, by the fact that we are both waiting for them." Quatre added, heaving a sigh. "How I currently look makes no difference. There _is_ something wrong, there is no hiding that. But once they are back, I know I can rest." He continued, watching the exact shuttle he was waiting for finally fly in. He relaxed visibly. Once the other pilots were filled in, he could relinquish his watch to one of his friends. They could return to that pattern of shifts they did for things such at this. He had no doubt Une was standing beside him to inform the pilots that they were on leave.

He watched the shuttle pull into the hangar and he pulled himself upright. He was on the verge of breaking down, he could tell. He was not sure he would make it until he saw his husband. He tried to compose himself further as he waited. He needed to at least be composed enough to get out the news. He slumped a little as he stood. Finally, there was movement on the sky bridge, and the sounds of Wufei and Heero conversing echoed to them. The door opened, and Heero, who was still turned to face Wufei, continued to speak, while both Wufei and Trowa stopped in their tracks. Heero, though, quick on the draw, swiftly turned and stopped dead as well.

Quatre heaved a sigh and locked eyes with his husband, who swiftly moved around his two comrades and walked up to Quatre, wrapping his arms around the blond, who, by that point, was easily a head shorter. Quatre just let his husband's presence wrap around him and soothe him, burying his face in Trowa's chest. He was not ashamed to say he was crying.

"You are all on leave, effective immediately. Your reports were already turned in, I do not want to see any of you in the office until this situation has cleared." Une said, before neatly turning and exiting the waiting area. Out of the corner of his eye Quatre saw Wufei and Heero exchange glances before approaching he and Trowa.

"Quatre, what is going on?" Heero asked, his voice gentle. It had surprised all of them how gentle Heero had become over the years, at least, within their tight knit group. Trowa turned, taking Quatre with him and loosening his grip on his husband. Trowa always knew what Quatre needed, often without words being exchanged. Quatre took a deep breath and turned away from his husband, and Trowa's grip adjusted so that he was still holding Quatre.

"There was an accident…" Quatre began, and he knew the rest had figured out it was Duo. Wufei was stiff and Quatre wanted nothing more than to be able to reassure the Chinese agent. But he could not, at least, not very well.

"Duo was in a car accident six days ago, it … It was bad. He's still in medical. He's healing, but it is slow. Sally is positive he will recover, though. It's just … it was bad." Quatre said, letting his husband support him. Wufei looked stricken, and Quatre flinched internally, the feeling coming off of Wufei twisted his gut. Duo's doubts about the other man were clearly unfounded, the depth of emotion from Wufei alone was enough to lay Quatre out. Heero was stricken as well, Duo and Heero were very close, but Heero was still hard to read, after all of these years. Still, from the Japanese pilot, Quatre got enough to know the he was upset and concerned in vast quantities. Trowa's presence wrapped about Quatre was easy to read, the Prussian was just as concerned, but for both Duo and Quatre. The blond squeezed Trowa's arm in reassurance. He was not the one injured.


	5. Chapter 5

"How bad?" Heero asked quietly, glancing at Wufei for a moment. So Heero had figured it out too, and Quatre knew Trowa knew, then it seemed only Wufei and Duo had not figured things out for themselves. Quatre almost wanted to chuckle, but that was neither the time nor place for it.

"Sally can give you the specifics, we should head over to medical." Quatre said, pulling Trowa along with him to the exit. He spotted Heero nudging Wufei along beside him and had to smile a little at it.

"He had several broken bones and a severe head injury. On top of internal bleeding." Quatre said quietly as they walked down to the jeep Quatre had used to cross the base property. Each of the returning agents had a small duffel, as usual for such a mission, and they all collectively tossed the bags in the back. Quatre was tuning himself to Wufei specifically, in case the Chinese pilot especially needed to be looked after. Though, it seemed, Heero was doing that quite well, especially in herding the shocked Wufei around. Quatre let Trowa slide into the driver's seat and he climbed in the passenger, Heero herding Wufei into the back.

"The head injury is what has had us worried for the past week, but Sally says he is healing quite well. He should wake up in the next few days, according to her." Quatre added as they started off. He glanced behind him to Wufei and was pleased to note that the Chinese agent was much more aware than a few minutes ago.

"Have you been with him the entire time?" Trowa asked, his eyes on the road, but his attention clearly on Quatre. Quatre slumped a little and murmured an affirmative. "I am taking you home." Were his next words and Quatre turned swiftly to his husband.

"No! I want to stay here, on base, at least until he wakes up, Trowa." He protested. Trowa quickly glanced at him and shook his head. The Prussian could, at least, understand Quatre's reluctance. It was not like he wanted to leave base after finding all of that out himself, but Quatre looked worn down to the bone. He knew, of course, that Quatre had likely been keeping up with his company, in conjunction with staying on base, and that probably contributed to the blonde's exhaustion.

"Fine. But you are going to get some rest." Trowa conceded, briefly fixing Quatre with a look. During the war they had all been reckless with themselves, but these days, only Duo and Quatre really needed to be watched. Not out of childishness, and they knew their own limits, of course, but Duo and Quatre tended to go past those limits when it suited their needs. And Trowa could tell Quatre had passed those limits a while ago.

"After we see Sally, love?" Quatre asked, his tone a little petulant. Trowa had to smile softly, even just a little. He removed one hand from the wheel and laid it on Quatre's knee.

"Of course, my spirit." Pet names had quickly become a thing between them, even early on in their relationship. It was an easy way to place affection in words, and to convey affection when they could not exactly touch each other. Quatre nodded and placed his own hands over Trowa's. Appeased, the blond turned his attention to the back seat, and to the conversation he had been missing out behind them.

"… and I don't care, Wufei. This was not your fault, and you are not going to continue thinking it is." Heero said forcefully, staring down Wufei from his seat beside the Chinese man. Wufei was staring back just as forcefully.

"I insisted that he stay behind with his leg, if I had not insisted, this would not have happened!" Wufei shot back, his dark eyes glaring at Heero with a force Quatre had rarely seen.

"Damn it, Chang! You know damn well that has nothing to do with this. Regardless of what happened, of how it happened, it was chance. If there had been anything otherwise, Quatre would have told us. Chance, Wufei. Something none of us can outrun. Now get your head out of your ass and think straight." Wufei visibly flinched at those words, and pulled back like he had been physically struck. Heero's approach to things were not always the best, the Japanese man had the tendency to be blunt. But it looked like it was exactly what Wufei needed. Wufei's entire demeanor changed and the fifth pilot slumped in his seat. Without missing a beat, or anything that had happened around him, Heero turned to Quatre and spoke.

"There was no foul play, correct?" The brunette asked, part of him still trained on Wufei, Quatre could tell.

"No. Noin and Zechs did an entire investigation. It was like you said, Heero. Chance. His seatbelt jammed, he didn't take the time to fix it, and an intoxicated truck driver slammed into his car." Quatre answered sadly, he felt Trowa's hand squeeze his knee in response. Heero nodded jerkily. Outwardly, Heero seemed fine. But Quatre could tell, internally, he was just as startled and unsettled as the rest of them. The first pilot turned back to Wufei, fixing the other man with a look.

"What you spoke to me about, you are planning to go through with it, correct? He is going to need you more than ever now, and this is not the time for you to run." Heero said, his voice soft and gentle. Quatre could guess at what Heero had meant with his words, and it, at the very least, boded well for both Duo and Wufei.

"Yes, of course." Wufei answered, shaking his head a little to set himself to rights. "This does not change anything, Heero." He added, giving Heero a firm nod.

"Good." Heero said affirmatively, leaning back in his seat finally. Quatre turned back to face the road, at least one problem on its way to being solved.

The rest of the drive was a silent affair, probably because most of them were digesting the news in their own ways, and Quatre was really running on his last leg. The base was fairly large, so it took some time to go from the shuttle port to medical, on the complete other side. They did finally reach it, though. And they all piled out and followed Quatre into the building. Quatre was not sure if he should lead them directly to Duo's room or to Sally, but the question was soon taken out of his hands. Sally was waiting for them at the entrance, and she beckoned them to follow her. They were lead to her office, where Trowa ushered Quatre to a seat. The other pilots spread out around them.

"I am sure Quatre had filled you in, at least somewhat, yes?" She began, and Heero nodded for them. She sunk into her seat and nodded back.

"Then I can give you the details." She added, leaning back in her chair. Heero and Wufei leaned forward a bit in response.

"Duo was brought in with a severe brain injury, broken ribs, a broken arm and massive internal bleeding. The prognosis didn't look good, yet he pulled through surgery and we managed to stabilize him. The past six days have been rough, but he's slowly making improvements. We weaned him off of the ventilator yesterday, and with how his brain is healing, I would not be surprised if he woke up within the next few days." The medical director said, heaving a sigh at the end. She was as tired as Quatre, but she would not let herself rest until she knew for sure Duo was out of the woods.

"Regarding the head injury." Sally began, looking at each of them in turn carefully. "There is damage to the brain tissue. It is moderate, and we cannot really know how it will manifest until he regains consciousness, but I wanted to warn you ahead of time." She looked at them sadly, and watched as each pilot reacted to the grave news. Heero took it stoically, while Wufei visibly flinched and Trowa tightened his grip on Quatre. Quatre didn't have much of a reaction because he had already known.

"I am going to assume you are going to take shifts in sitting with him as you usually do for these situations, so I will tell you what I told Quatre, and he did not follow these instructions very well, but I want all of you to take care of yourselves. If you run yourselves down to the bone, I will see to it personally that you all are forced to rest and take care of yourselves." She added sternly, locking eyes with each of the pilots in turn. They each nodded. "Alright, I am sure Quatre can lead you to Duo's room." Quatre made an affirmative noise and pulled himself to his feet, heading out the door and down the hall, the rest of the pilots trailing after him. As he lead his friends down the winding hallways, he was glad, at least, Duo looked better than he did when Quatre first saw him. The bruising and swelling were going down a bit, and there certainly was not as much machines clustering around his friend's bed.

Within minutes they were all piling into Duo's room, each pilot taking the scene a different way. The collective shock from the lack of Duo's signature braid was palpable.

"They had to shave his head." Quatre said sadly, though that did not make the scene before them any better. Still, he zeroed in on the rest of the pilots and their reactions as the stood there in the room. Heero, Quatre could tell, just went silent and brooding. Wufei stood in a shocked silence, because, while Duo did look better, he still did not look good. Trowa looked for a moment, digested it, and steered both himself and Quatre to the couch where they both sat down. At least Quatre could let his guard down, the other pilots could take point, and he could rest. He sagged against his husband and watched the other pilots through heavy eyes.

He watched Heero steer the stunned Wufei to the seat and whisper something to the Chinese agent, effectively breaking the man out of his stupor. Wufei straightened himself and sat down, nodding assent to whatever was said to him. The Japanese agent then hooked a second chair with his leg and pulled it over beside Wufei's, sitting down in it. Quatre had to comment mentally to himself the united front Heero was putting up with Wufei. Though, he supposed, Wufei and Heero acted as partners as often as Heero and Duo did. Their collective partnership was very fluid, though it was Heero and Duo and Wufei and Trowa officially on the books. They sat there like that for some time, none of them wishing to move, really, and they had no need to be any place in particular. The sounds of the room wrapped around them, not terribly comforting, but at least it was not dead silence. Their little collective trance was broken when the door behind them opened and Noin walked in.

"Aha. Sally told me you boys were back. Excellent, I can give all of you this news." She said as Zechs walked in behind her and closed the door behind both of them. "I am not sure how much Quatre has told you, so I am just going to start from the beginning. Also, this is leading up to our news." She said, propping herself up against the wall.

"Duo was leaving the base, evidently his seatbelt had jammed and he had not bothered to take the time to fix it. As he was driving down the main road, he was plowed into by a truck, driven by a man who was very drunk. The truck pushed his car off of the road and down the ravine. To recover the wreck, the car had to be cut down, it is a total loss." Quatre made an affirmative noise, he had gone to see the wreck himself. The entire vehicle was trashed, even the crack mechanic in Duo could not recover anything significant from that mess.

"Zechs and I did a complete investigation, there was no sign of foul play. Just chance, which bothers me enough as it is. There is no one we can go after for this, I am not used to not being able to do much. I am sorry." Noin hung her head a little and Heero cleared his throat to get her attention once more.

"You did enough, Noin. What you did was a great help to us, we can now focus on Duo and not worry about whether someone is targeting us." Heero said softly, and Noin nodded slowly. Zechs, always the silent one, nodded to them all and preceded Noin out of the room.


	6. Chapter 6

Wufei stared at his feet, too afraid to look anywhere else. No matter where he looked in the room, he felt guilt. Immense guilt. When he looked at Quatre, he felt guilt for not returning sooner. Trowa, the same. Heero, he felt guilt for not being entirely truthful about losing the guilt. And he just could not look at Duo. So he stared at his feet.

He stared at his feet longer than he planned to, because when he did look up, still pointedly not looking at Duo, he found Quatre passed out against Trowa and Trowa looking at him oddly. Movement out of the corner of his eye caused him to turn to face Heero, and one look at the Japanese agent and he knew he was not fooling anyone. He sighed and tried to look away, back to his feet. Heero must have been closer than he thought, or the other man moved like lightning, which was not unusual, because he found his chin in an iron grip, keeping him from turning away. Slowly, the hand steered his face to meet Heero's, and Wufei knew at that very moment that Heero could read him like a book, the first pilot did not need Quatre's empathy or Trowa's insight. Wufei blinked, slowly, at Heero.

"Stop." Heero ordered, and while Wufei knew exactly what Heero wanted him to stop, he just blinked again. Heero would not have to force much out of him, Wufei's nerves were thrumming with tension, and he felt frayed at the edges. "I mean it, stop." He repeated himself, and Wufei tried to turn his head again, but that vice-like grip kept his head in place. He knew he could not match Heero in a match of strength, and Heero was being quite serious.

"It is my fault, Heero." Wufei said quietly, resigning himself to the fate of not being able to move his head until he had appeased Heero. Which he had no plans to do. It was a stalemate.

"Wufei, damn it. Stop being stupid about this. You know damn well none of this is your fault. We have talked about this." Heero's voice was stern, and Wufei almost crumpled beneath the other man's dark stare. But he did not.

"He is right, Wufei. None of us were at fault here. The accident happened by pure chance, and you know we could not have been pulled from that mission early." Trowa said quietly from the couch. Wufei would have turned to face the Prussian had he been able to. But he face was still locked in Heero's iron grip. But he buckled. Perhaps it was not his fault.

"Even if it was any of our, or your, fault, that changes nothing. We have to move forward, at least for Duo's sake. He is going to need all of us, and especially you, and we cannot let ourselves be eaten by guilt. And we all feel it, Wufei. It is not just you. Now, are you going to set yourself to rights?" Heero's voice was low, and had a dangerous tone to the last statement. Wufei had no doubt Heero would do what he needed to, to make Wufei see the logic of the situation. Wufei relented, and his shoulders sagged.

"Good." Heero said, releasing his chin. Wufei turned away, but not towards the floor. Instead he turned his gaze to Duo, finally taking in the man he loved. Unconsciously, he reached out towards Duo, meaning to run his hand against Duo's face. Just to touch him. To confirm he was there and with them. But he could not quite bring himself to make the full motion, and he aborted it halfway through. His hand just hanging there for a moment. He heard a disgusted sigh from next to his chair.

"He is not made of glass, Wufei. You know that. And you know damn well your touch would be welcome." Heero said in an exasperated tone. Wufei flinched at the words, and allowed himself to make the full motion. It was true his touch, or any of them, really, would be welcome. Duo craved contact, something, as a whole, they all took it upon themselves to supply. Motion completed, he let his hand rest atop Duo's.

For now, he could just relax, and maybe not enjoy so much as embrace, the situation at hand. The difficult part would be when Duo woke up. And he had to have faith that things would work themselves out. Though, he would probably put on hold what he, Trowa and Heero had spoken about during the mission. He felt that currently, it just was not time for him to reveal his feelings to Duo. Duo would be far too vulnerable, and he did not need to dump such things on the other man's shoulders at the current time. Though, he had no doubt, things would be ushered along by the other pilots. He just hoped the others would give him time to breathe. He stroked him thumb over the back of Duo's hand without putting much thought into it.

Wufei supposed they sat there for some time longer, before he heard noise from the vicinity of the couch. He looked over to see Trowa standing and scooping up Quatre. Both Quatre and Duo had remained on the smaller side, while the rest of them had grown quite considerably. Even Wufei had grown, leaving both Duo and Quatre to be the shorter and more petite of the group. He watched as Trowa hiked the still passed out Quatre and started walking.

"We are going to stay on base, but I am taking him somewhere more comfortable." The taller man said, nodding to Heero. As Trowa approached them, he motioned with his free hand to a bag resting against the bed.

"Hand me that, please?" He asked, and Heero obliged. Belatedly, Wufei recognized it as one of Quatre's bags, and it made sense that it was there. Wufei turned to watch them leave, thus leaving he and Heero alone.

"I am going to rest now, too. And you will be resting eventually as well, correct?" The last part was phrased as a question but was clearly an order. Wufei nodded. He did not plan on leaving the room, but he would have to sleep eventually. Heero nodded, satisfied, and headed out of the room. Wufei slumped in his seat, exhausted in more ways than one. He supposed he could take the time to think about things, but he ended up just sitting there, dumbly.

Wufei must have dozed off at some point in the chair, because he was awoken to a nurse entering. He looked blearily at her and she did her rounds and stared blankly at the wall. He decided to finally check his phone, and the bright screen informed him it was six in the morning. He sighed, it had already felt like days, but had not even been twenty - four hours. He propped his head back and stared at the ceiling, wondering just how the hell they had all ended up in this mess in the first place. He must have spaced out for a while, because he had quite forgotten his hand was wrapped around Duo's. That is, until he felt his hand squeezed. Had he been any more alert, he probably would have shot out of his chair. Instead, he looked down to find Duo staring at him with a wry grin on his face.

"You look like shit, 'Fei." He rasped, and Wufei blinked at Duo. For a few moments he was pretty sure he was hallucinating, that he had finally reached his breaking point and he was just hallucinating. Until Duo chuckled at him dryly and his face twisted a little. Still slightly worried he was hallucinating, Wufei moved his hand to reach out and touch Duo's face, and was caught halfway by Duo's other hand, arm firmly encased in a cast.

"Pretty damn sure the fact that I'm vertical and you're not means something is up. Are you going to stop looking at me like I grew a second head and tell me just what the fuck is going on?" Duo's voice was nothing more than a rasp, and Wufei was still trying to digest the fact that he was actually staring at those violet eyes. Duo's free hand snaked up to tug at the nasal cannula wrapped around his face, and Wufei grabbed his hand.

"Don't touch that." He said without thinking, and it finally broke him out of his stupor. He heaved a sigh and squeezed Duo's hand.

"Well, at least you've stopped looking at me with that weird look. Now am I gonna get some info?" Was the next dry comment, but he dropped his hand back on the bed at tilted his head at Wufei.

"Seriously, 'Fei. I feel like I was hit by a goddamn semi and I'm pretty damn su …" Wufei's gut churned at Duo's first comment, and his face must have shown something, because Duo suddenly trailed off and looked at him oddly.

"That is because you were, and Wufei why the hell didn't you tell someone he was awake?" Sally said as she strolled in, fixing Wufei with a very distinct look.

"Well then. To be fair, Sally, I haven't been awake long, and I'm pretty sure I just broke Wufei anyway. He's had that funny look the entire time." Duo said, taking Sally's words in stride. Wufei made a strangled sound and looked to Sally for some sort of confirmation. So he was not hallucinating, at least. Sally looked between the both of them and sighed. She fixed Wufei with a stern stare.

"Out, Chang. Call the others, but get out for the moment." Sally ordered, pointing at the door.

"Awww, Sally. Broken Wufei is hilarious." Duo said in mock sadness, flashing Wufei a grin. Wufei sighed and removed himself from the room. At least Duo was awake. He wandered to Sally's office and pulled out his phone, texting Heero while still mostly in a stupor. He probably should have slept more. He slumped in one of the seats, and did not even acknowledge Heero's reply. He sat there trying to digest the fact that not only was Duo awake, but he sounded exactly like himself. Wufei was afraid to hope too much, afraid to believe that maybe, things would be alright. He did not bother turning when the door behind him opened.

"Wufei, what the hell?" Heero demanded, finally coming within Wufei's line of sight. "You send me a text message with 'He's awake and mouthing off.' And then do not reply to my message asking what the hell you mean." He added, staring Wufei down.

"He's awake. And sounding exactly like himself." Wufei found himself replying, sounding a hell of a lot calmer than he felt. He did not realize Quatre and Trowa had followed Heero in until Trowa chuckled.

"That's … good news, right?" Quatre asked hesitantly, and Wufei turned to him.

"I … don't know." The Chinese pilot replied, glancing downward.

"It is." Sally answered for him, strolling into the room. She headed for her chair and watched the gathered group carefully. Sitting down, she fixed Wufei with a look.

"I cannot find any sign of any cognitive impairment. There are other ways the damage could manifest, so I will be keeping him here for at least another week and a half. I have … left some things for you all to discuss with him, on the merit that you will do a better job handling the sensitive issues than I would. He … figured out about his hair, and he is putting up a front, that I can easily tell. I am sure you can figure that out, you know him best. I believe we are all going to have an interesting time keeping him down and keeping him here." Sally informed them briskly. She glanced at each of them in turn again. Wufei flinched back from her gaze, for some bizarre reason it felt like she was directing most of her comments towards him specifically. Or maybe he was just raw.

"Go, you have damage control to do." She said finally, turning to look down at her computer. Wufei felt Heero's hand descend on his shoulder, and the Chinese man nodded, starting to rise. As a collective, they exited the office and returned to Duo's room. The walk seemed longer to Wufei, but perhaps it was the situation more than anything. At least he had the solidarity of his friends, and together, they would see it through.


	7. Chapter 7

Now that the hole where Duo was supposed to be was filled once more, Quatre was able to zone in on his best friend's feelings. The closer they got to the room, the stronger the feeling got. Sally was most likely right, Duo would probably try and put up a front for them, but Quatre and the others would see through it. Quatre especially with his empathy. Quatre glanced behind him, somehow he had ended up in the lead, with Wufei trailing at the end, and checked to make sure everyone was with him. He had no doubt there would be a lot of damage control they, as a group, would need to do. Content that they were all together, he opened the door to Duo's room.

"Hey guys." Duo said, a grin on his face. Quatre did not need his empathy to see just how fake that grin was, and the hurt in Duo's soul that he could so easily detect just tore at him. He immediately went to Duo's side, perching on the edge of the bed. He knew, without thinking about it, he could at least help in the current situation. And he also knew, that the others would immediately defer to him in situations like the current one. He watched them fan out around the room, Trowa taking the couch, Heero the chair on the far wall, and Wufei stuck to the far corner. It was all him, Quatre mused. He returned his attention to his best friend.

"Oh, Duo …" He began, unsure exactly how to phrase what he wanted to say. But Duo's grin faltered for a moment and he sighed.

"I can't fool you, can I, Qat?" He said sadly, sagging a bit. The grin had completely faded from his face, and Quatre scooted closer on the bed, opening his arms to his friend.

"You can not fool any of us, Duo. We know you too well." Qautre said as Duo leaned forward to meet Quatre's embrace. Taking Duo's ribs into account, Quatre adjusted accordingly, moving so that there was the least strain on Duo's healing body. He wrapped his arms gently around his friend and felt Duo rest his head on Quatre's shoulder.

"It's gone, Qat. It's … it's gone. All of it." Duo said softly, the sadness clearly evident in his voice. Quatre felt Duo sag in his arms, and unconsciously Quatre started rubbing Duo's back gently.

"I know, Duo. But you're still alive. You're here with us. That's what matters." Quatre said softly, and his heart just bled as he felt Duo shake with small sobs in his arms. He wished nothing more at that very moment than to take Duo's pain, all of it, from the American and into himself.

"I just … you know why I kept it. It meant so much, for the longest time it was the only way I could honor him. And now … it's gone. And I … I'm not ready for it to be gone." Quatre's hand reached up and rubbing the back of Duo's neck instead, trying in every way he could to bring comfort to his friend. Quatre could tell a good part of the situation was due to how heavily medicated Duo was, but he was prepared to support his friend in any way that was needed.

"I understand, you know I do. But we would much rather have you here with us, alive, over everything else. We're here for you, Duo. No matter what. No matter whatever else comes, whatever else happens, we're in this together. We will work through it, somehow. You know we will." Quatre said gently, still rubbing the back of Duo's neck. At that point, Quatre was sure he was the only thing keeping his friend upright, and Quatre did not mind at all. He would support Duo in whatever way the American needed it. They sat there for some time, Quatre's shoulder growing damp, not that he minded, while Duo let it all out. The very fact that Duo was crying in front of them let Quatre, and he supposed, the others, know just how off kilter Duo was. And the Arabian knew that they would only ever speak of the situation if Duo brought it up, provided Duo remembered what was happening. Letting it out then would help, but Quatre knew they were not quite done dealing with that particular subject. Quatre would look into ways to ease the burden on his friend, even in the smallest of ways. After a bit, Duo raised his head and pulled back a little, so that he could look Quatre in the face.

"Thanks, Qat. Sorry I got you all wet." Duo said, a small smile on his face. Quatre counted the smile as a small victory. Duo's hand reached up to tug at the tubing on his face and Quatre batted his hand away. He strongly suspected keeping that in place was going to be a fight with the American. Especially since Quatre knew just how much Duo hated anything on his face.

"Hey. Where'd 'Fei go?" Duo asked suddenly, scanning the room over Quatre's shoulder. The blond twisted around, and sure enough, Wufei was clearly absent from the room. Quatre suddenly felt fear and doubt swell up within Duo and he squeezed both of Duo's hands. Quatre heard Heero make a disgusted sound and push himself off of the wall. Evidently all of their attention had been trained on Duo, and the other agent had slipped off during it. Heero walked out of the room, and Quatre detected determination and a slight hint of anger as the man departed.

"Qat, did I upset him? I was teasing him when I woke up, I'd never seen him make faces like that before." Duo said uncertainly. Quatre knew that there was more to Duo's worry than that, and he was going to address all of his friend's worry.

"No, Duo. He's been out of his mind with worry, we all have. He is just frightened. This shouldn't change your plans, alright?" Quatre said, squeezing Duo's hands again. Duo looked skeptical for a moment before, much to Quatre's surprise, Trowa spoke up.

"Heero and I had certain discussions with Wufei during and after the mission, Duo. We all see that you two care for each other, strongly, but you and Wufei don't. He feels very guilty over all of this, he pushed Une to have to stay behind because of your leg. He feels like all of this is his fault, when it's not. And he's terrified you'll blame him for it." Trowa said from his place on the couch, and Quatre internally relaxed a bit. He looked back over at Duo and smiled at his friend.

"You're not mad at him, though. Are you?" Quatre said with a bemused tone, because most of the doubt and worry within Duo had taken its leave and the blond could detect hints of amusement within his friend.

"Nope. Because I'd have done the same thing. You're not … you're not kidding, Tro'? Caring strongly is a mild way to put what I feel for 'Fei." Duo looked down as he finished. Quatre knew, at least somewhat, how deep Duo's feelings went for Wufei, and Quatre had tried to reassure Duo that Wufei felt just as strongly for him. But Duo was terrified of being hurt, and there was nothing Quatre could do to allay those fears. He patted his friend's hand.

"No, I'm not kidding, Duo." Trowa assured Duo, a smile tugging on the Prussian's lips. Quatre wrapped an arm around Duo to hold him steady, he could feel Duo's energy flagging.

"'Ro looked pissed, though." Duo said after a moment, looking at the door to the room.

"Heero was more disgusted than angry. He has been trying to get Wufei to see reason since we returned, and Wufei, in his typically stubborn way, has been refusing to see it." Trowa said, bemused. Duo nodded at Trowa and sagged against Quatre.

"Sleep, Duo. Wufei will be back when you wake up next." Quatre said gently, guiding his friend back against the bed. Duo nodded again and offered Quatre a tired smile. Quatre decided, finally, that things were going to be alright.

The door to the room opened just as Duo dropped off to sleep, and Quatre looked up to find Heero herding a sheepish Wufei back into the room. Quatre stood, and he felt Trowa standing behind him.

"Wufei, he needs you now more than ever. Just … talk to him, alright?" Quatre said as Heero once more herded Wufei to a seat. Quatre patted Wufei on the shoulder and the Chinese pilot nodded. Quatre then snagged Heero's hand and walked himself, Heero and Trowa out of the room. Things might go a bit smoother if Wufei and Duo did not have an audience.

Now that Wufei was alone, he was not quite sure what t do with himself. Duo was asleep, and he would rather shoot himself in the foot than disturb the American's sleep. He was healing, he needed that sleep to recover. On top of the drugs he was probably on, Wufei was not quite sure he could have disturbed Duo's sleep. Still, he sat stiffly in the chair, watching Duo carefully. Heero had given him quite a talk about leaving so abruptly, and the agent's mind wandered back to the discussion.

Heero had found him several hallways away, tucked in a corner on a bench with his head in his hands. It had all but destroyed him to see Duo so upset. Wufei had never seen the pilot so distraught, he had never seen Duo cry. He had no idea how to take such a scene in, no idea how to process the situation. And he wanted nothing more to make it better, to fix it for Duo. He knew he could not, and it ripped and tore at his insides. And he feared if he had tried, if he had tried to do what Quatre so easily could, he would screw it up. He would ruin it, he would hurt Duo more. And that was unacceptable. So he had fled, unable to process the situation, and not wanting to draw the attention away from Duo, who so clearly needed them. He had hidden himself, guilt tearing a gaping hole in his heart and soul. He knew he was a mess, and he knew he could not help. But he did not know, that by fleeing like he had, he had caused hurt. The complete opposite of what he had wanted. And Heero found him like that, head in his hands, soul ripped asunder, trying in vain to put himself back together so he could return to that room.

"_God damn it, Wufei." Heero had started at first, and Wufei had looked up, and his face must have shown something, because the Japanese pilot stopped dead in his tracks and looked at him peculiarly. It was at that moment Wufei found that he had been crying slightly, his face was a tad damp. He ducked his head in shame. They needed to be focusing on Duo, not him._

"_I failed him, Heero. And all I keep doing is failing him. I cannot fix this, as much I would give to be able to. I just keep failing him." Wufei had mumbled into his hands. After a moment, he felt Heero sit beside him._

"_You are only failing him by not being there, Wufei. He needs you. He needs us. But he needs you the most. You cannot seem to get it through your thick, stubborn skull, that he loves you. You keep trying to run, because you cannot see what the rest of us have known for years. Years, Wufei." Heero had stated rather forcefully, and bluntly. Before, both Heero and Trowa had tried to beat around the bush, tried to keep from being terribly blunt. But evidently at that moment, Heero had taken the gloves off. Wufei had looked up at Heero, blinking in confusion. How did they know that Duo loved him, how had they known he had loved Duo for years? Had it been that obvious._

"_And if I hurt him further, Heero? What then? What if I screw up so badly that none of us can pick up the pieces?" Wufei had said, glancing down at the ground._

"_You will hurt him, Wufei. And he will hurt you. And the both of you will work things out. Because that is how a relationship works, Chang. We have both witnessed Trowa and Quatre fight, it is going to happen, you cannot stop it. What matters is that you work things out together." Heero had said, his voice gentler. Despite the content of the words, Heero had managed to set him at ease, a little bit. They had sat in silence for a few moments, Wufei digesting Heero's words, before he looked up at the other man and nodded._

"_Ready to go back, then?" Heero had asked, and Wufei had nodded. And the both of them had returned to the room. Leaving Wufei where he was now. Sure, his guilt was not completely gone, and the fear of hurting Duo further had not left, but the gaping hole in his heart had started to close._

After sitting there for at least an hour by himself, he finally brought himself to reach out and gasp Duo's hand. He wrapped both his hands around that one, and used it to tether him to the present, to what he needed to do at that very moment. Which, clearly, was to get his head on straight. Heero had been right, Duo needed him. And if Heero _was_ right, and Duo did love him, well, then he truly needed to be there for the other agent.

And so Wufei spent the next several hours sorting himself out, because while he could have gone to Quatre, or Heero, if he could do it on his own, he should. Their attention needed to be on Duo, not himself. Nurses came and went, and Duo slept well into the evening. Wufei had considered himself mostly settled when he felt the hand beneath his twitch. He glanced up sharply to find Duo smiling hesitantly at him.


	8. Chapter 8

"Look, I'm sorr …" They both began, and then trailed off together, looking at each other. There was a short silence which was swiftly broken by Duo snickering.

"Go ahead, 'Fei." Duo said after he had managed to finish his snicker, and Wufei blinked, at a loss for words for a second.

"I'm sorry, Duo, for taking off. I … I'm terrified. I feel like all of this is my doing, my fault. And I'm terrified of hurting you. Even if … even if Heero is wrong, they're all wrong, and you … well, you don't return my feelings, that doesn't matter. I just want to see you safe, I want to protect you. I want to protect you like I was unable to do in the past for someone else …" Wufei trailed off, looking downward. He was unsure of what to say further. He looked up abruptly when he felt Duo's touch on his arm.

"God, 'Fei. You have no idea how long I've wanted you. How much I love you. I don't care if you hurt me, all I want is you. I want to give you everything, and I want to be by your side. That's all I've ever wanted. And, damn it, none of this is your fault. I should have been more careful, yes, but most of this is none of our faults. Chance, 'Fei. Something even I can't outrun." As Duo spoke, his voice grew more impassioned and stronger, until finally he finished and just yanked Wufei towards.

"If we love each other, that's all we need, 'Fei. That's all I've ever needed." He continued, leaning closer to Wufei's face. "Now, let's stop being a couple of lovesick idiots and do this right." He said, a devilish grin on his face. Wufei had no idea what was coming next, but the second their faces met, it no longer mattered. The kiss was awkward, they bumped into each other more than once, and had to adjust a bit for both of their awkward seating positions, but none of that mattered to either of them. And when they finally broke apart, gasping for air, Wufei couldn't have cared what came after that.

"So, us? Together?" Duo asked, that devilish grin returning.

"Us." Wufei replied, a grin of his own coming over his face.

They sat together, just holding hands, and enjoying the other's company, until Duo yawned and fixed a look at Wufei.

"'Fei. Get your ass in this bed and let's get some sleep. Because you still look like shit, and I feel like shit." Duo remarked, scooting over in the bed. Wufei was hesitant for a moment, afraid to hurt Duo if he even attempted that, but Duo fixed him with another look. Wufei relented, if it would make Duo happy, he would do anything. He pulled himself off of the chair and carefully settled himself behind Duo, arranging himself so that they both could be comfortable.

"Now this works." Duo said softly, nestling against Wufei. For a brief moment, Wufei was unsure where to put his arms, but he finally just settled on wrapping one around Duo and resting the other on the edge of the bed. Within moments, Duo was asleep once more, but Wufei could not manage sleep just then. He sat there in the quiet, just holding Duo, trying to wrap his mind around the fact that Duo loved him, and that he was going to be able to be with the man he had pined over for several years.

His thoughts were disturbed when Heero slid through the door and approached him. Wufei grimaced at the other man's knowing smile, but took it for what it was. Heero was happy for them, Wufei knew that much.

"Sally handed over Duo's keys, I'm here to get yours. I'm heading home for the night, Trowa has already taken Quatre home. Give me a list of what you need from your apartment, I know what I can grab for Duo." Heero said quietly, glancing at Duo to make sure he was not disturbing the other man's rest. Satisfied he was not, he held out an open hand to Wufei expectantly. Well, that solved one of the minor problems preying on Wufei's mind, he dug his keys out of his pocket and handed them to Heero.

"Clothes, mostly. My laptop, tablet, and there are two large books sitting on the coffee table. If you could grab those, too, as well. They're meant for Duo anyway. It might give him something to do." Wufei spoke just as softly, because he was damned if he was going to disturb Duo. Heero nodded. It was well known between them that Duo loved to read, and Wufei had found some interesting books at a small bookstore in the city that he thought Duo would like.

"We'll be back in the morning." Heero said, pocketing Wufei's keys. Wufei nodded and fidgeted for a moment to get more comfortable. If Duo was sleeping, he might as well do the same as well. He would know if Duo woke up before him. He watched with some amusement that Heero flicked off the lights as he left the room. Before the door closed, though, Wufei watched Heero stop and speak to someone. Sleep claimed Wufei quickly after, he no longer had a need to fight it.

Heero was closing the door behind him when he ran into Sally. She peered past him into the room and grinned.

"Finally, huh?" She said, amusement clear in her voice. Heero nodded, closing the door behind him. "At least they're both sleeping. I've spoken to the head nurse, Julie is on duty tonight and she'll handle everything." The nurse Julie was on the pilot's 'safe list', and her moving around would probably not disturb either Duo or Wufei. Well, it was unlikely Duo would be disturbed, as heavily medicated as he was, but Heero was concerned about Wufei getting enough rest.

"That will work well." Heero said, throwing one last glance at the closed door. Sally caught him and chuckled.

"They'll be fine for the night, Heero." Sally assured him, and Heero knew it was true. He was just hesitant to leave the two of them unguarded. And that came from back during the war, when they always guarded each other's backs. But here, carefully tucked away on a military base, surrounded by well over a dozen different methods of defense, well, he was being silly. He finally relented, forcing himself to nod and walk down the hallway, towards the exit. They would all return in the morning.

Wufei slept clear through the night, and thankfully, so did Duo. In fact, Duo woke before Wufei, and it was the other man's adjusting of positions that woke Wufei.

"Sorry, 'Fei. I was getting stiff." Duo said apologetically, looking up at Wufei with an apologetic smile. Wufei shook his head and adjusted positions himself. He glanced down at his phone, which he had placed on the bedside table the night before, and placed a gentle kiss on the top of Duo's head.

"It's fine, Heero and the others will be here soon, anyway." Wufei said, slipping out from behind Duo. He needed to relieve himself and figure out just what he was going to do for food. He padded into the bathroom, giving Duo one last look. The American was stretching to the best of his ability and settling himself better. That satisfied Wufei enough and he slipped into the bathroom to take care of business. He returned to find Duo attempting to untangle himself from all of the tubing and wires and all Wufei could do was sigh. It was so typical. So Duo.

"Duo, stop." He said, walking briskly over to the bed and pushing Duo back into it, gently.

"'Fei, come on. I can't just sit here forever." Duo protested, looking up at Wufei with wide, violet eyes. Much to his own shame, Wufei almost relented. Until he heard a snicker from behind him, and two exasperated sighs. He turned slightly and found the rest of their group standing in the doorway.

"Duo, you know you can't get away. And you know what Sally will do to you if she even catches you thinking about it." Quatre said, approaching the two of them. Wufei turned to find Duo looking horrified. Oh, he knew exactly what Sally would do, and Wufei remembered to file that threat away for later. He'd need it, he suspected.

Letting Quatre take the lead, Wufei pulled back a bit, not far, not fleeing, but he sat down in the chair nearby and pulled it up to the edge of the bed. Duo had flashed him a worried look when the Chinese agent had started to pull away, but Wufei knew better than that. He rested a hand atop Duo's and that seemed to soothe the American. Quatre perched on the edge of the bed and smiled at Duo, while Trowa went back to occupying the couch and Heero gently placed a duffel on the foot of Duo's bed and another one near Wufei's feet. Duo's attention swiftly turned to Heero.

"Please, please tell me that is stuff from my apartment. Stuff to do and stuff to wear." Duo said, making little grabby hand motions at the bag. Heero just grinned.

"Perhaps." He said, picking up the bag and holding it just out of Duo's reach.

"Come on, 'Ro. Don't mess with me like that, don't pick on the injured kid!" Duo said, reaching out with the arm encased in a cast. Heero chuckled. The whole scene was so typically Duo that it alone probably did more to set the rest of them at ease than anything Sally had told them. Heero finally placed the bag closer to where Duo could reach it and Duo flashed him a big grin.

"What clothes Sally approved, which is not much, I'm afraid. Your laptop, mp3 player, and e-reader." Heero informed Duo as the American looked down at the bag. As Heero spoke, Duo was rifling through the bag with his good arm.

"Boxers … really? That's it? I get underwear? Great. Excellent." Duo griped, ending in blatant sarcasm. "But the rest is perfect, 'Ro. Thanks. At least now I won't be bored out of my mind." Duo added, looking up to flash Heero a grin. Heero, satisfied that Duo was content, picked the bag back up and set in down on the floor next to the bed. Duo beamed at them, and while Wufei was sure Duo was not completely content, he was at least somewhat happy. Though, Wufei was sure they would be fielding more escape attempts. And Duo was known to charm new nurses into letting him escape, on top of his natural slipperiness and ability to escape, it was going to take all of them to keep Duo in bed. Duo, seemingly satisfied for the moment, leaned back into the bed. Companionable silence was not unusual for them, at least for short periods of time until Duo found a new subject to latch on to. Which, he did after a moment.


	9. Chapter 9

"So Sally filled me in, of course. But she wouldn't say a damned thing about my car. She just kept changing the subject. I'm a little afraid to ask, but just how bad is the damage?" He looked at them hopefully, and Wufei was not quite sure of the answer. Quatre, however, seemed to know.

"Duo, it's … a complete wreck. I doubt even you could salvage anything major from it. They had to bring it in in pieces, it was wrapped around a tree." Quatre said after a moment, patting Duo's hand. Duo frowned.

"Come on, Qat. You know me. I'm sure I can get something from it." Duo said, and Wufei could tell the American was not sure of his answer.

"Duo … I saw it. We'll help you build a new one, you know that." Quatre said, placing both hands on Duo's shoulders. Duo's face twisted for a moment before he sighed and placed his good hand atop Quatre's.

"Yeah … I know. That was a damn good car, though. Building another isn't going to be easy, that one took me a year and a half to get everything for it." Duo said, sighing again. They all had helped Duo put that car together, and Wufei knew that they would do it again. Quatre briefly hugged Duo and leaned back.

"So how'd the mission go? All successful?" Duo asked after a bit, glancing between his friends.

"Smooth. The explosives they had were child's play. You would have laughed, and they gave up without so much as a single shot." Heero answered, sitting down in the extra chair. "Most of it was recon and intel, you probably would have been bored out of your mind." He added, a knowing half-grin on his face.

"I was bored here! Une had me cleaning up botched mission statements and patching up Fredricks' last mission detail. I don't know why she even keeps that moron around, unless it's some kind of twisted source of amusement for her." Duo said, throwing Heero a mock glare. Heero chuckled, Trowa joining in with him. They all knew too well Fredricks' ability to botch missions.

"That was his last field assignment, Maxwell. Especially after your assessment." Duo's head turned so fast Quatre had to choke back a laugh. Une's entrance had surprised all of them, but Duo looked like he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He looked sheepishly up at the commander until he noticed her smile, and stopped dead. They did not see the commander smile often, and even Wufei could not tell if it was a happy smile or something more sinister.

"I am pleased to find you so lively, Maxwell." Commander Une said from just inside the doorway. Duo looked over at Quatre, and finding his friend calm, visibly relaxed.

"Like something like that could keep me down, Une." Duo fired back with a visible grin. Despite Duo's bravado, Wufei could easily tell Duo's energy was flagging, and he hoped Une did not stay long.

"Barton, Yuy. I expect you in an hour for the mission debrief." Une said before turning sharply around and leaving the room. Heero and Trowa looked at each other and then at Wufei. Wufei shrugged. The commander had not said for him to go, and frankly, he was relieved. He didn't want to leave Duo's side. The Chinese agent glanced over at Duo to find the him dozing off. Quatre carefully stood up, along with Trowa and Heero, and smiled at Wufei before following the other two out of the room.

Duo slept for the next several hours, not that Wufei was expecting anything else. Sally popped in once at during that time, as did Quatre, to check on things. At one point, when Duo was awake, and he and Wufei were alone, they had a small discussion.

"Fei?" Duo had started, looking up at Wufei from playing on the tablet. Wufei looked down at Duo and tilted his head in response.

"This … " He motioned to himself and Wufei and looked down at the bed. "This us thing, it's real, right? We're together? That's what you want, right?" Wufei could detect the doubt in Duo's voice, and he simply lay his hands over Duo's and smiled down at him.

"Yes, Duo. I want nothing more than you. And for you to be happy. If I make you happy, well, that's a bonus." Wufei said, the smile never leaving his face. Duo relaxed against Wufei's chest and Wufei breathed a sigh of relief. He had never found himself very good at the comforting another person thing, and he hoped he was doing right by Duo.

"Partners, then, 'Fei?" Duo asked with a grin, and Wufei nodded to that.

"Partners." He confirmed, and found Duo tugging his face downward to embrace him with a kiss. This, Wufei did not object to at all.

Wufei ended up fielding one more escape attempt that day, and finally managed to drag a promise out of Duo to stay put. Well, Wufei decided, it was more of a bribe. He had handed over the two books he had Heero bring, and that seemed to placate Duo for the moment. Wufei was secretly very pleased at how well Duo recieved the books, they had been more of an impulse buy than anything else. A two volume set of ancient myths from Wufei's clan's homeland. Wufei knew of Duo's love for myths and legends, but still Wufei had been uncertain at how the books would be receieved. But they had gone over well, and with Duo's promise, Wufei felt he could leave briefly to take care of himself.

The night went much of the same way the day had, Duo mostly sleeping and Wufei resting when Duo did and waking when the other did. Duo had once again coerced Wufei into the bed, not that Wufei strongly objected. The Chinese pilot strongly suspected Duo slept better that way, at least, it seemed that way. And it comforted Wufei as a by-product. The night went very uneventful, Duo kept his promise, and Wufei was able to sleep better than he had in days.

The following morning found he and Duo curled up, reading a particular favorite legend of Wufei's in the book. They were interrupted by Sally. Wufei suspected Sally's regular check-ins were to make sure both of them were behaving, not that Wufei would misbehave in the typical sense. But he would let things slide to take care of Duo, and he was sure Sally knew that. The day was quiet, Duo continued to sleep a lot and the other pilots stopped in for several hours. Wufei felt like things were getting back to normal, at least a little. Heero and Trowa had been reinstated to light duty, nothing abroad. Wufei was grateful for that, he suspected he was going to need their help with keeping Duo down even after the American returned home. It was not that Duo did not know his limits, it was that he pushed them above and beyond what he needed to during the shared time of peace. Wufei took the time the other pilots were around to fully take care of himself, as long as someone was with Duo, he could feel safe. He would only slip out for no more than a half hour at a time, and he only did it three times, but he needed to get his own things sorted and take care of himself. The final time he had returned to the room, Trowa and Heero had left and Quatre was sitting in the spare chair flipping through one of the books.

"Wufei, where did you find these? They're wonderful." Quatre spoke softly and Wufei lowered himself into his usual chair. By that point in time, it was late evening, and Duo had already fallen asleep. Wufei shrugged at Quatre's question.

"There's a small used bookstore in the city that I visit frequently. These caught my eye and I hoped Duo would like them." Wufei said, picking up the other book. They really were beautiful books, leather bound and clearly pre-colonization. But sturdy, and well taken care of. And Wufei knew Duo had two bookshelves with physical books, and he took excellent care of them. Duo's love of reading had really surprised them during the war, though, looking at Duo now, he supposed they just did not know enough about him back then.

"I think you chose right." Quatre said with a smile and stood to leave. Wufei nodded. "The couch pulls out into a bed, so you don't have to sleep in the chair." He added, indicating the couch in the far corner with his head and a knowing smile. Wufei blushed slightly, he supposed he really could not hide how he and Duo had been sleeping for very long. And he was grateful for the information. Quatre turned and left the room. Wufei glanced over at his phone, he supposed he should sleep then in case Duo woke during the night. He walked over to the couch, pulled it out, and laid down. He had another week and a half of keeping Duo in one place and from over-exerting himself. It was going to be a long week and a half.

Wufei was not sure how long he had actually been asleep, the lights in the room were dimmed, and he did not recall doing that. And he was not sure what exactly had woken him, maybe Duo had stirred. So he sat up to check on things, and did find Duo awake. But something was very, very wrong. Duo caught the movement and turned to face him.

"'Fei, I don't feel right …" He said, and his voice sounded off. Again, Wufei got that horrid feeling that something was horribly wrong. He slid out of the bed and approached Duo's, hitting the call nurse button as he walked over to Duo. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, he laid his hand atop Duo's. He could not tell what was wrong, only that something was. And his gut instinct had kept him alive thus far.

"Duo …" Wufei began, and that was as far as he got. Something … happened. Wufei was not sure what, and he shot up off of the bed like he had been burned. Wufei backed up, the image before him searing itself into his brain. He did not know what was happening, and he started backing up, terrified. Duo was twitching and convulsing and Wufei had no idea what to do, all he could do was stand there, his breath caught in his throat, terrified.

"Get him out of here." He was fairly sure that was Sally's voice, but it sounded so damned far away. He felt himself steered out of the room and down the hall. Clearly, it was someone who he knew well, because his first instinct was not to lash out at them, but he let himself be led to a seat. He looked up to find Quatre staring down at him, and he blinked, because Quatre was the last person he expected to see. He was not aware enough to tell he was borderline hyperventilating and everything seemed like it was happening far away, or below water.

"Wufei, are you with me?" the blond asked, and Wufei just stared at him, he was not even aware he was shaking. Quatre sighed.

"Come on Wufei, look at me." He prompted again, trying to get Wufei's attention on him. The attempt failed and there was an exasperated sigh behind Quatre.

"Quatre, move." Heero said, nudging the blond pilot aside. Quatre complied and Heero knelt in front of their friend.

"Wufei, pay attention." Heero demanded, fixing the Chinese agent with a look. Wufei looked at him with a dazed expression, still hearing and seeing everything as if it was far away. He continued to look dazedly at Heero. The Japanese agent grabbed Wufei's chin and jerked him forward a bit.


	10. Chapter 10

"Wufei, damn it." Heero snarled, and after a minute, released Wufei's chin. Wufei's expression did not change, and with a snarl again, Heero raised his hand.

Wufei found his face snapped sideways and the right side of his face tingling. And everything seemed clearer at that moment.

"… You didn't have to slap him!" Wufei could hear Quatre protesting.

"It gave him something to anchor to, and look, it worked." Heero replied, tilting his head at Wufei.

"You slap like a girl, Heero." Wufei found himself saying, touching the side of his face. He looked up at his friends, suddenly very grateful for their presence.

"Can you walk?" Heero asked, standing and extending a hand down to Wufei. Wufei snorted and rose on his own, he was not some invalid that needed toting around.

"I'm not going to fall apart from a little shock." He muttered, glaring at Heero. Heero just gave a light chuckle and led them on. Wufei found Heero leading them to Sally's office, their apparent go-to place to wait on news. He supposed it was a good place, but he was getting sick of seeing the office in such a bad light. He found Heero steering him to a seat, and he could not bring himself to care. They sat quietly for a few moments, and Wufei found himself under scrutiny. He supposed they were expecting him to break down or something, but he had his head on right, now. He was steady. It took a few minutes, but it seemed, finally, the general consensus was that he was fine.

"Quatre, what happened?" Wufei heard Heero ask. The Chinese agent was not sure why Quatre had entered the room with Sally, or how the other pilots had arrived so soon. Either he had not been asleep very long or the others had stuck around longer than they had said they would. Wufei glanced to the side to find the blond shaking his head.

"I don't know, Sally told me to get Wufei out of there, so I did." The blond said quietly, ducking his head in an apologetic way. Trowa laid a hand on Quatre's shoulder and turn his gaze to Wufei. Wufei could feel the others turn to him as well, and he was not sure he would be able to give them an idea as to what happened. He was not sure himself.

"I … " Wufei began, unsure how to phrase what he had seen. He found he just could not dredge up the words. He looked downward, still feeling the gazes of the other pilots on him. He was the only one who could tell them, and they had a right to know.

"It looked like … it looked like a seizure." He found himself saying, and he was unsure how he had found the words for that. The images kept flashing by in his mind, he probably would never be able to forget the grotesque picture that had played out before his eyes. He looked up a bit too late to catch the others initial expressions, but worry was clearly evident on all of their faces. Wufei slumped in his seat, exhausted from the entire ordeal. There was silence, none of the other pilots knew what to say, he supposed. They sat like that for some time, or so it seemed to Wufei.

Finally, the door opened, and all four heads swiveled to face the door. They were greeted with a solemn Sally, her expression was enough to tell them that it was not as drastic as they feared, but not as good as they had hoped. At least, that is how it seemed to Wufei. He tracked her as she moved to her desk and her chair there. None of them spoke, too afraid to breach the subject, too afraid of the answers. They all watched her sit down and look at them in turn, before she slumped in her seat and pinched the bridge of her nose with her right hand. It was a few moments before she spoke.

"Well, it's what I feared, but honestly hoped would not come to pass." She began, vaguely, and they all waited with bated breath for her to elaborate. They sat in silence for another few moments. Wufei, and the others, could clearly tell Sally was trying to find the right words. She lifted her head and looked Wufei over, and clearly satisfied, she locked gazes with him.

"What happened was he had a seizure. When he didn't exhibit signs of cognitive damage, I was afraid of this. He had a seizure when he was initially brought in after the accident, but that could have been easily attributed to trauma. The one just now could also be an isolated incident, but I'm afraid at this point, that's quite unlikely." She said, turning to look each of them over.

"Post traumatic seizures are not uncommon when a person has suffered a traumatic brain injury. But more than one can mean post traumatic epilepsy, which is what I'm afraid may happen with Duo. If he has another seizure, that will confirm it." She continued, finally looking down at her desk.

"Epilepsy?" Quatre asked, and Wufei could detect the fear in his voice. The fear, he could tell, they all shared. Sally nodded.

"Yes. But it can be managed with medication, given time." She answered, and while that allayed some of their fears, it did not allay all of them. Duo would not take such news well, Wufei knew. It would take all of them to see Duo through this, and Wufei had no doubt he had the support of the other agents.

"You should go see to him now, he likely won't take the news well." Sally added, echoing his thoughts while she flicked on her computer. Wufei suspected she would not go home for some time, at least until Duo was in the clear. Quatre thanked Sally and stood, the rest of them following suit. They trudged along back to Duo's room as a unit, working like they used to in the war. Heero taking point, the rest of them fanning behind him. The door to Duo's room was open, but Heero, and the rest of them, paused at the entrance. They looked at each other for a moment before making the silent consensus to enter. They entered quietly, afraid to disturb Duo if he was resting. But Duo was awake, and he looked up and directly at Wufei. Wufei could read that expression, and he immediately broke away from the group and went to Duo's side. He frowned at the EKG having made a re-appearance, Duo hated the sticky pads and was prone to peeling them off in frustration. At least the sound was turned off, Wufei counted that as a positive.

"'Fei." Duo said quietly and Wufei knew exactly what the other man needed, even as Duo scooted over a little in the bed. Wufei climbed in behind his partner and wrapped his arms around Duo. Duo leaned up against him and Wufei just rubbed Duo's good arm.

"'Fei, what happened?" Duo asked, softly. Wufei could tell Duo was unsettled and confused, and he wanted nothing more than to take that away from him. He gently squeezed Duo and looked down at his partner. Partner, he was starting to refer to Duo that way, though, there had not been much more discussion about them together since the other day. He closed his eyes, trying to figure out how to word his answer.

"You … had a seizure." Wufei answered softly, and while the other pilots were in the room, it seemed to him it was just he and Duo. Duo's head jerked up and he stared up at Wufei. That had really caught Duo's attention, and in the brunette's eyes Wufei could see fear. Fear and a hint of something else, something Wufei could not quite figure out. Wufei did what he could to calm Duo down, because he could see the American start to work himself up. Wufei laced his fingers through Duo's hand and squeezed, keeping eye contact with his partner.

"Duo, calm down. It's going to be alright, Sally will figure this out." Wufei found himself saying, cupping the unbruised side of Duo's face with his other hand. The positioning was awkward, but Wufei made it work. He ran his thumb along Duo's cheek and waited for the American to calm down some before he continued.

"Are you ready to hear more?" The Chinese pilot asked, and Duo reluctantly nodded. Wufei gave Duo a reassuring smile, at least, he hoped it was. He could feel how tense Duo was, and he really wanted nothing more than to relieve that tension.

"Sally called it a post traumatic seizure, and she's unsure if there will be more. She said it may be what is called post traumatic epilepsy, but she also mentioned that it can be controlled with medication. No matter what, Duo, I am here for you. We are here for you. Never doubt that." He ended his statement with a kiss to the top of Duo's head. That rewarded him with a small smile and Wufei felt Duo nestle up close to him. Wufei finally looked up, unsurprised to find the rest of the group fanned out around the room. He caught Duo looking too.

"You guys should go home. I'm just gonna sleep anyway." Duo said with a wry grin, and a yawn to emphasize his point. Wufei found Heero looking him over and Wufei returned the look with a discreet nod. That seemed to satisfy Heero, and the rest of the group, because as Duo was nodding off in Wufei's arms, the rest of them were standing and quietly making an exit. As he left, Quatre placed Wufei's tablet next to him, within easy reach for the agent. Wufei watched them leave, then glanced back down at Duo, only to find the other asleep. A soft smile came over Wufei's face as he watched Duo rest. At least like this, he could attempt to protect Duo.

And while Duo slept, Wufei had homework. He knew Sally could inform him as much as he wanted about epilepsy and related topics, but why bother her when he had the Internet at his fingertips. For the next several hours he ended up reading several articles and journals on the topic, mostly about how to care for someone with it. Because he trusted Sally's judgment, and if that's what she believed it to be, then he would learn all he could on it. He ended up dozing off with the tablet in hand. Again, he was not sure how long he had been asleep, but he was swiftly awoken to Duo in the throes of a seizure. He hit the nurse call button and did his best to hold Duo. He wasn't sure he could extricate himself safely with Duo seizing against him, he was so focused on Duo, he did not notice Sally enter until had her hands on Duo. Wufei found himself almost lashing out, until he realized it was her.

"Don't move." She ordered him, and he nodded. It was not like he could, anyway. He let his focus become Duo and keeping Duo from hurting himself. He could see Sally moving around, along with another nurse he did not recognize, but his focus was Duo. And then, as quickly as it started, it ended. Wufei breathed a sigh of relief and just held Duo, much like he had wanted to but had been afraid to. He felt rather than saw Sally sit on the edge of the bed.


	11. Chapter 11

"Well, that confirms my fears. We've already started him on some medication, but we'll work on suppressing the seizures and getting him on a regimen." Sally said, and Wufei could just hear the exhaustion in her voice. He knew she felt it was much as the rest of them, probably even more so with what she was handling. Wufei nodded, carefully rubbing Duo's shoulder with his free hand. He felt Duo stir against him, and he looked down fondly at his partner.

"Fei?" Came the quiet question, and Wufei could hear the exhaustion in Duo's voice as well.

"I'm here, Duo. You're alright." Wufei assured the American, continuing to rub Duo's shoulder. He received a quiet 'mmm' before he felt the other man relax against him and doze back off. Wufei smiled down at Duo before looking back up at Sally. He was rewarded with a tired smile, which he returned.

"We'll see this through, Wufei. He'll be alright." She assured him, a quick glance at the monitors before standing and leaving. Wufei settled in for the long haul, positive that now he would not be able to sleep. At least, not right away. He rubbed circles on Duo's good arm, for both of their comfort. He sat there, wracking his brain for questions Duo would ask, so that he would have the answers. He really wished he knew what this meant for Duo's position in the Preventers, but he had little doubt that would be solved quickly. Une knew her people well, and she knew what they needed. Duo would not be left out in the cold, Wufei was sure of that. He eventually drifted off thinking.

Wufei woke to quiet and calm, for which he was grateful, but he could not find the immediate cause of his waking. He looked around the room, there was nothing and no one, and then he looked down at Duo, who happened to have a very sheepish expression.

"Sorry, 'Fei. Didn't mean to wake you up." Duo said apologetically, but Wufei shrugged. He glanced down at his tablet, it was around eight in the morning, so the rest of the night had been uneventful.

"It's alright Duo." Wufei said, placing a kiss on Duo's head, for which he was flashed a wide grin. Wufei carefully scooted out from under Duo, he needed to relieve himself and stretch out. He would wait until Duo slept again to take care of himself, there was no rush. He returned as quickly as he could, sitting down beside his partner on the edge of the bed.

"I'm fucking sore. I'm gonna take a wild guess and say it happened again?" Duo left the statement open ended as a question, and Wufei nodded. Duo sighed and slumped back against the bed.

"Fucking hell. This is gonna ruin everything, isn't it? Une's definitely not gonna let me go back to being a full agent with this shit. Guess Shinigami's luck finally ran out." He chuckled at bit at the end of his words, but Wufei could tell the chuckle was forced. He placed a hand on Duo's knee and met the other man's eyes.

"What ever comes, Duo, we'll get through it. Together. This isn't the end all that you're thinking it is, it will get back to normal. You just need to be patient." Wufei said, patting Duo's knee again. He meant what he said, they would get through it. And Wufei would stand by Duo no matter what.

"And you have us, too, Duo." Quatre said as the rest of the group strolled in, fanning out around the bed in their usual positions. Quatre sat on the other side of Duo's bed and beamed at Duo. Without a word he picked up Duo's hand and placed something in the American's palm. Duo glanced down at it and flashed Quatre a wide grin.

"I was hoping one of you had it, but I was too afraid to ask about it in case … in case it was gone." Duo said, holding up his cross. He passed it over to Wufei, and for a moment, Wufei was a little flustered. The rare occasions Duo took it off, he put it back on himself. Still, Wufei took the cross and placed it around Duo's neck. He was rewarded with another large grin.

"The chain needed to be fixed and it … needed to be cleaned." Quatre said, pausing in the middle of his statement. Duo looked confused for a moment before it dawned on him and he nodded.

"Thanks, Qat!" Duo piped up, beaming at his friend. Duo picked at the cross for a moment, getting it to settle better. The conversation turned to other things after that, Duo and Wufei catching up with what was going on in the world around them, and specifically Preventers itself. They had not been chatting very long before Sally entered the room. Conversation died very quickly, because following her was none other than Commander Une. Wufei, and he guessed the others, did not know what to think.

"Agent Maxwell." Une started, and Wufei watched Duo visibly relax. Had he lost his position in the Preventers, she would not have addressed him as an agent.

"Yes, ma'am?" Duo piped up, flashing her a grin. Wufei watched in amazement as the corner of Une's mouth tugged a little upward. She was back to stoic so fast Wufei was not sure he saw it, but Duo poking him in the ribs confirmed that Duo had seen it too.

"When your convalescence is up, I want you back on 'desk duty', until Doctor Po clears you, am I understood?" The way she said desk duty made Duo chuckle a little, but he nodded at her.

"Clear as day, Commander!" He returned with a bigger grin, if that was even possible at that point. Une nodded and turned, leaving the room. Wufei watched with amusement as both Heero and Trowa relaxed. Sally smirked at them and moved deeper into the room.

"I'm afraid I don't have as good of news, Duo." Sally said, and Wufei could detect the apologetic tone in her voice. Duo tilted his head and Wufei could feel Duo bracing himself.

"It will take a few days for us to sort out the medication and get your seizures controlled. After that, you can go home. But … I don't like the idea of you living alone. Medication only suppresses the seizures, they can still happen. I know you love your independence, but I'm not releasing you unless something changes." She said, and again Wufei could detect the apologetic tone. Still, she was right. It would be dangerous for Duo to live alone. And Wufei was not sure how to solve that particular issue. He caught Duo eying him, though, so he turned to face his partner.

"'Fei?" It was a question, and Wufei was not sure what Duo was asking. He blinked in confusion at Duo. "I mean, I know it's pretty quick and all, but. I do have that super huge apartment, and, well, it would happen anyway." He elaborated, and comprehension flashed across Wufei's face. Now he understood. Wufei smiled a little and nodded.

"If that's what you want, Duo, then of course I'll move in with you." Wufei answered, squeezing Duo's knee. Duo flashed him a grin and leaned forward, kissing him boldly in front of everyone. Wufei felt his face heat up, and as Duo pulled away, the American was laughing. And holding his ribs.

"You're blushing, 'Fei! That's adorable. I'm going to make you do that more often." Duo proclaimed, and poked Wufei in the chest with a grin on his face. Wufei could only sigh, knowing Duo would keep his word on that, and frankly, he kind of enjoyed it. He looked up to find Sally had quite the bemused expression on her face. She patted Duo's other knee.

"Well, with that declaration, we should have you out of here within a week, if all goes well." She said, smiling at Duo and then turning away and walking out the door. Duo was practically beaming, Wufei was not sure he would be able to keep Duo contained in the bed at that moment. But eventually Duo calmed down, though still happy, his energy was flagging hard, and squeezed Duo's knee once more before the other pilot drifted off. Wufei found himself facing the rest of the group.

"Go, take care of yourself. We'll stay here with him." Heero assured Wufei, and Wufei ducked his head in thanks. He really needed a shower and to snag something else to eat. He had been eating when Duo did, but it just was not enough to keep him going. He slipped out of the room without another word.


	12. Chapter 12

Clean and fed, Wufei returned to the room to find Heero and Quatre in deep discussion in hushed tones. He quirked an eyebrow at them, but Quatre simply motioned for him to join them.

"Wufei, I've been doing some research, as I'm sure we all have. But they train service dogs for people with epilepsy, the dogs can even detect seizures before they happen. We all know he's always wanted a dog anyway. He just couldn't justify keeping one with the schedule you usually keep. But, I think it would help. Having one of those dogs. I've discussed it with Sally, she thinks it's a wonderful idea. I was wondering how we should present the idea to Duo. There's a group in the city who trains them, so we wouldn't even have to go very far." Quatre began, and Wufei peered at him for a moment. He was not going to ask just how thoroughly Quatre had been searching to find that information, but he had to agree, it sounded perfect for Duo.

"Well, you could start by just telling me." Came the sleepy reply from the bed, and Wufei almost laughed at how fast Quatre turned to face Duo.

"How … how long have you been awake?" The blond asked, looking at Duo skeptically.

"Long enough!" Duo chirped, giving Quatre a lopsided grin. There was a chuckle from Heero's direction, and Wufei had to smile too.

"The idea sounds wonderful, Qat. I'm just … not sure how it would work. I don't think my apartment allows dogs, and it's not like I could bring a dog here." Duo said, ending his words with a skeptical look.

"Actually, Duo. It would be a service dog, they can't actually refuse you. And you would bring it here with you, that's the point of a service dog. To help you and be there when you need it. They're not quite like regular dogs, Duo. They're specifically trained in certain areas, especially how to behave in public." Quatre said, the smile returning to his face. Duo blinked at him and tilted his head sideways.

"Seriously? That's … pretty damn cool. But … that sounds like they'd be pretty expensive and stuff." Again the skeptical expression came over Duo's face and Wufei flinched inside, he could hear the disappointment in Duo's tone. But Quatre never lost his smile.

"You are not going to worry about that, Duo. We'll take care of it. If it's what you want." Quatre said, reaching out to pat Duo's leg. Duo lost a bit of skepticism.

"Qat … but … I mean, I do want it, but I can't let you …" He trailed off, clearly conflicted with himself. Quatre squeezed his leg and just beamed at Duo.

"Of course you can, Duo. Let me do this for you, please?" Duo ducked his head and nodded, looking down at the bed for a moment. "Great! I'll speak to Sally and we can get everything set up." Quatre added. Duo nodded, ducking his head again. Wufei laid a hand on Duo's leg, giving him a small smile. With that said, Quatre stood, nodding to Trowa and Heero.

"Well, if we are going to get your apartment packed up in time, we had better get started." Quatre said, as Heero and Trowa rose to meet him.

"There's not much to pack. But you know that." Wufei said and Heero gave a wry grin and nodded. Both he and Heero tended to keep sparse apartments, compared to Duo and Quatre's homes.

"I'll get everything set up with Sally, Duo." Quatre said, patting Duo on the hand before all three turned and left the room.

The rest of the day went mostly uneventful. Wufei ended up back in the bed with Duo, and had his tablet out while Duo dozed against him. Wufei was doing more research, there were gaps in his knowledge that he deemed unacceptable. Also, it gave him something to do. Duo had a short seizure in the late afternoon, and after Duo picked up one of the books Wufei had bought for him and read a bit out of it. It was, for the most part, a relaxing and calm rest of the day.

That was how he and Duo spent the rest of the week, with the other agents popping in to give updates and the state of Wufei's apartment and just to visit. Duo mostly napped, and the seizures eventually dwindled down to near nothing. Quatre said no more about the dog in front of Duo, but he kept Wufei updated in private. Wufei suspected Quatre wanted it to be as easy as possible on Duo, and kind of a surprise. Between the two of them, they had arranged to take Duo to the place the day of his discharge, Quatre had quite neatly arranged everything. Wufei's apartment was packed and sitting neatly boxed up in Duo's spare room. Wufei had slipped out at one point to tie up the loose ends about his apartment.

The most amusing part of the rest of that week was the two hours Sally spent lecturing Duo on caring for himself. And lecturing Wufei by proxy. The threats leveled against them by the medical director were not idle, and Duo's commentary afterward caused a few chuckles. Wufei knew Duo bristled at the stipulations Sally laid against him, but he also knew that Duo would follow them. The next day he was discharged, Wufei drove them back to the city in his car, Duo wasn't allowed to drive for a while yet and he lacked a car, though, that was being rectified. Duo had no clue, but both Heero and Trowa had been trying to track down a car that Duo would like until he could build a new one. Wufei knew they were being picky, because they definitely wanted something Duo would like.

Wufei deviated from the usual route to Duo's apartment, and he could tell Duo noticed. But he was keeping quiet, and Wufei wasn't exactly sure why. He finally did speak up when Wufei pulled into a driveway and parked.

"Okay, 'Fei. What's up? You're keeping something from me, Qat is. I know 'Ro and Trowa are as well." He said in a rush, and Wufei chuckled. He could tell Duo had been keeping that in for a while. Duo's first question, however, was quickly answered by Quatre as the blond walked up to Wufei's car.

"Duo!" Quatre began, and Duo turned to face him. The car door was already opened but Duo was still in the car.

"Qat, what is going on?" Duo asked, very upfront. Wufei could hear the worry in Duo's voice, but this was Quatre's to explain and handle. Quatre just beamed at Duo.

"Remember when we talked about a service dog? Everything has been arranged, you're going to meet some today." Quatre answered, and Wufei could actually watch as Duo relaxed. Wufei wasn't sure what Duo had been thinking, but it probably hadn't been good. But Duo's entire demeanor had changed. He had gone from worried to just bubbling with excitement. Something that never failed to make Wufei smile to himself. Quatre extended a hand down to Duo to help him out of the car, and the two of them walked into the building. Wufei pulled back, letting Quatre have the moment at hand. He took his time locking up the car, and turned as he was finished to find Trowa standing beside him. The taller man gave him a knowing smile and Wufei could only shrug. He ended up following Trowa into the brick building.

"I think Quatre might be more excited than Duo." Wufei commented as he followed Trowa. Clearly, Trowa had been there before, as the man was navigating the hallways with ease.

"Quite possibly." Trowa replied, amusement clear in his voice. The Prussian agent stopped right before a large window looking into a room. Wufei walked a bit past him so he could see through the window. There was a woman and Quatre speaking to Duo, who was, unsurprisingly, sitting on the floor next to a large white and cream colored dog. Wufei peered at the dog, he wasn't an expert on dog breeds, but something was vaguely familiar about the breed of that dog.

"She's a German Shepard." Trowa answered him before he could even ask, and he peered at Trowa for a moment. Wufei hadn't even heard of white German Shepards before, but he realized why he knew the breed. There were several of them employed within Preventers, the breed tended to be favored for police and military dogs. Still, Duo looked quite enamored with the dog, and from what Wufei could tell, the dog liked him.

"I figured Duo would pick that one, we had a small bet going on it. Quatre was convinced he was going to pick the chocolate Labrador." Trowa added, a wry grin crossing his face. "She's a sweet animal, very mild-tempered. But she can be fierce if she needs to be. And she has a playful streak. Perfect for him." He added. Wufei knew he could trust Trowa's judgment on animals, the man was amazing with them. Wufei nodded slowly in response, and then turned back to the window. Duo seemed to be signing some papers with Quatre peering over his shoulder. The dog was leaning up against his legs, which amused Wufei to no end. Already they seemed to hit it off. After a few moments, Duo, Quatre and the dog were joining them outside of the room.

"'Fei! Meet Duchess!" Duo piped up happily, reaching down to scratch behind the dog's ears. Wufei smiled and extended his hand down to let the dog smell him.

"Shall we go home, Duo?" Wufei could tell, despite Duo's exuberance, that his energy was flagging hard. Duo nodded, wrapping the leash of Duchess around his hand. Duo turned to wrap Quatre in a big hug before starting to walk back out to the car. Quatre approached Wufei as the rest of them started out.

"Everything he'll need for her is already at the apartment." Quatre said and Wufei nodded, grateful. That saved them a stop on the way home. As Wufei walked out to the car, he kept one thought in his mind. At the very least, the past few weeks had led to opening a chapter in both his and Duo's lives that he was looking forward to.

**A/N: **There will be at least one sequel and two prequels to this. The sequel is plotted and titled Knock At Tomorrow's Door. I'll be working on that next, but I have a few one shots I want to get out in the meantime. But yeah, there will be a sequel, at that very least. Thank you for reading!


End file.

Gundam Wing/AC, Angst, Hurt-Comfort