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Innocence Lost
by Ryoko 03
Part Two
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The silence in the waiting room was deafening. Wufei was seated in one
of the hard-backed chairs, both hands wrapped around a Styrofoam cup
filled with weak tea from one of the vending machines, sipping the
beverage and ignoring the fact that it had long since grown cold. [1]
Heero was leaning against the wall, plucking at his tank top nervously
and shivering slightly every time his gaze fell upon the pale scars on
his arms. Neither spoke, both lost in their thoughts as they remained
worried about Trowa.

The silence was broken by Duo Maxwell's arrival. The braided pilot of
the Gundam Deathscythe burst into the waiting room, pointedly
ignoring the nurse yelling that he wasn't allowed in without
permission from the administration, and quickly walked over to where
Heero was standing.

"I found your note," he said, drawing his friend into a quick embrace
before turning to sit down next to Wufei. "Almost missed it 'cause I
went to my room first, but when I glanced into Tro's...." He trailed off
as he shivered slightly and hugged Wufei tight. "I checked the laundry
room and found the rags used to clean up the living room, too. Got them
out before they had a chance to go through the whole cycle, so that
should give the cops somethin' to go on, too, ne?"

"Thank you, Duo," Wufei said softly, setting the cold tea on the
table beside him and sighing softly. "I can't *believe* this could
happen in one of our safe houses! No one's supposed to be able
to find us there! I swear, I am going to *kill* the scientists if he's
not okay!"

//Even a safe house isn't secure if Quatre was there,// Heero thought,
closing his eyes and shivering from an inner chill. He had kept his
silence for several reasons, the main one being that no one would
have believed him. Quatre played the innocent so well that the other
pilots would have accused him of lying. Also, the fact that Quatre
had threatened to do the same to one of the other pilots if the
Japanese boi didn't keep his silence about each encounter forced
him to remain quiet.

That was then, though. The blond had broken his own word to 'play'
with another, but Heero couldn't say anything. Not without talking to
Trowa, in private, first.

"Anou..." Wufei said, breaking into Heero's thoughts, "Duo, why did
you think to check the washing machine? I was too worried about
Trowa to even think of checking the house for anything that may
have been used to clean up after... after...."

Duo rubbed Wufei's shoulder, shaking his head. "I wasn't going to,
but it was in the note Heero left for me to check the laundry room,
'just in case'." Violet eyes turned to Heero, concern and curiosity
waging a war for dominance in their depths. "Why *did* you ask that,
Hee-chan?" the braided boy inquired.

To both the other pilots' shock, the Perfect Soldier lowered his eyes,
turning his face away from both of them. For a long time he was silent,
and his voice was strained when he finally chose to answer:

"I can't tell you yet. Not until I talk to Trowa. *Alone*."

Wufei nearly screamed in annoyance. From the moment they'd arrived,
Heero had been acting awfully distant; it was as if he were lost in his
own world, one that was nearly as pained as the one Trowa was
currently wrapped up in. And that was another thing plaguing the
Chinese youth; the instant the doctors saw the damage done to the
European teen, they ordered Wufei and Heero out of the room despite
Trowa's protests. For the first hour, he could still hear the pale boy
screaming for his friends, Wufei in particular, until they must have
finally given him a sedative to calm him enough for an examination.

Everything with Heero at the moment was making things worse.
Still, Wufei wasn't going to be cold in trying to get answers.

"Heero," he said gently, moving slightly so that he was directly
within the Japanese pilot's line of sight, "you're speaking in riddles.
Why can't you tell us how you knew where to check?"

Heero stubbornly shook his head, avoiding all eye contact. He
couldn't talk about it until after speaking privately with Trowa. As
horrible as it seemed, there was now a chance that the scientists
would believe his claims that Quatre Raberba Winner was too
dangerous to be part of Operation Meteor. But he couldn't
implicate the blond unless Trowa was willing to speak up. At the
moment Wufei'd found him, the brunette hadn't been in shape to do
much of anything.

"I can't tell you," Heero repeated. As he spoke, he self-consciously
crossed his arms in a manner to hide the scars there. The Japanese
boy silently prayed that he and the slender teen would both be
strong enough to work through this pain; there was little doubt
in his mind that the Arabian bastard had told Trowa about his past
encounters with the cobalt-eyed pilot.

Duo frowned. He was well familiar with that defensive posture. Many
a night he tried to get closer to the object of his unspoken affections,
only to see Heero assume his current position with arms wrapped tightly
around himself as if to warm some chill in his soul, or perhaps to hide
the scars that were barely visible on his arms.

Yes, the braided pilot had noticed the delicate scars, but he had
never mentioned them. He figured that Heero would explain them
when he was ready; and although nearly six months had passed
since the cuts appeared in the bronzed flesh, Duo Maxwell remained
patient and faithful. He loved Heero Yuy, and he would wait as long
as was necessary for his friend to find enough inner strength to
speak of the cuts.

Moving carefully, the American moved to take his place in front of
his loved one. With a gentleness not usually accustomed to him,
he took both of Heero's hands in his own and began to run his thumb
soothingly over the backs of them. The slight tensing of muscles did
not go unnoticed, and Duo barely bit back a dismayed sound. But he
kept his cool and merely continued his show of gentle comfort.

"Mmhmm. He screamed. A *lot*." The blond smiled again and
moved so that his captive was pinned against the wall. "Just like
you'll scream for me."

"Heero," Wufei said again, noting that the Japanese youth was
beginning to relax ever so slightly. "Please. Talk to us. What can't
you tell us? How did you know what Duo should look for? What is
causing you so much inner turmoil?"

The messy-haired pilot remained silent for a long time, gaze carefully
averted from either of his friends. Just about the moment Wufei and
Duo were about to pull away and leave him to his thoughts, he
spoke up in a tiny voice:

"Because... the same thing... happened to me."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Owari Part Two
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Author's Notes:

[1] This is my little homage to Dido's song "Thank You" (portions of
which also appear in Eminem's "Stan"): 'My tea's gone cold, I'm
wondering why I got out of bed at all.'

Kara's trying to up the angst level yet again. My apologies for taking
so long in getting Part Two out, it's been in the works for months
now.... oi....

~~part 3 coming soon!~~

comments so far? e-mail Ryoko