| Heero opened his eyes to see darkness. He was beginning to believe that the room had no windows and was always kept dark, or he kept waking at night. He shifted carefully to get more comfortable in the stiff hospital bed.
“How are you feeling?” A soft voice spoke. It didn’t startle Heero; it was as if he expected his visitor. But even then, he was surprised when Trowa’s face appeared before him. But it wasn’t Trowa. His skin was too pale, and his eyes were haunted and completely dull. /Quatre gave them life./ Heero realized as he looked back at his friend. “B…better.” He stumbled slightly over his words as he noticed how dead the boy beside him looked. /Duo was right, you lost your life./ Heero swallowed. “I’m sorry Trowa. It’s my fault Quatre’s dead.” He whispered as a tear fell from his eye. Trowa shook his head. “It wasn’t your fault Heero. Quatre wanted to protect you and nothing would have been able to stop him.” He spoke softly, taking Heero’s hand. Heero looked at the Heavyarms pilot in silence before taking a slow breath. “Trowa, answer me truthfully.” He began. “Why did Quatre protect me?” He whispered. Duo, Wufei and even Relena had known. What had Heero missed that was so important? Trowa smiled softly. “He loved you. He was in love with you.” He finally confessed, then turned away, avoiding eye contact. “We both were. And we were both afraid to tell you or ask you to join because we, especially Quatre, were afraid that you’d reject us.” He explained as tears fell from his eyes as he remembered his dead lover. Heero squeezed Trowa’s hand as he cried for the dead. /I have a reason to cry for you now Quatre…my love, our love. We were both foolishly blind, that cost you your life./ “I loved…love him Trowa. You too.” Heero whispered as tears cascaded down his cheeks. Trowa looked at him startled. Heero bit his lip. “I didn’t say anything, I didn’t want to come between you.” He whispered. Trowa leaned forward in his chair and he stared at Heero’s hand. “That’s too bad. Quatre would have loved to have you cum between us.” Trowa couldn’t help but smile as he thought of the beautiful blonde boy. Then he cleared his throat. “Wufei said that you were curious about after the battle.” He said. Heero shook his head. “I know it must hurt to talk about him, so don’t.” He insisted. But Trowa continued anyway. “It’s alright. I want to tell you.” His thumb gently caressed Heero’s hand. Whether it was to comfort Heero or himself he didn’t care. “It happened almost two months ago – the battle I mean. We didn’t find out until about four days later. Duo was scanning OZ radio channels and we got the message. ‘Gundam 04 has been destroyed. Pilot dead, body being transferred to OZ facilities.’ They ran tests and took samples.” Trowa’s voice cracked. Heero squeezed his hand, trying to make him feel better. Trowa cleared his throat. “They at least looked after his body, probably figuring that this was a once in a life time opportunity. We got a mission. It took us a little more than a month before we were able to plan an attack, you were in a coma, anyway, one of us had to find the body while one got Sandrock. And the third destroyed all the evidence of the capture.” He breathed. “Who had to get Quatre’s body?” Heero asked quietly, afraid to harm the atmosphere in the room by talking too loudly. He already had a feeling of who had done what. Duo had destroyed the evidence because he wouldn’t have left anything that could be used again. Wufei had gotten Sandrock because he could sneak in without being noticed. That left… “Me.” Trowa swallowed as he remembered carrying the cold lifeless body. OZ had injected some kind of drug into Quatre’s dead corpse to make him easier to handle. The drug prevented the body from becoming stiff and rotting. So the body Trowa had carried was limp and in almost perfect condition. “His eyes were open when I carried him from the base. I found myself expecting him to start talking to me.” “You don’t have to say anymore.” Heero saw the pained look in Trowa’s eyes. He felt the other boy trembling and knew that enough had been said. They sat in complete silence until Heero began to grow tired and he knew it was because of the antibiotics he was on. Trowa saw this as well. “You need sleep. The funeral is tomorrow.” His voice was fading as Heero’s mind shut down. The last thing he remembered was the feel of Trowa’s hand in his own. *** The dream had been confusing. Heero had gone through memories, what seemed like thousands of memories, all the while chasing after, and trying to catch a laughing blonde angel. Now he was standing the middle of a plush green clearing, surrounded on all sides by healthy trees and bushes. He knew he wasn’t alone but there was no place for anyone to hide. He blinked and a boy was standing in front of him. He was wearing pale blue shorts and a shirt. His feet were bare and a smile brightened his face. “Quatre?” Heero whispered but couldn’t remember speaking it. The boy giggled then ran away through the thick greenery around them. Heero ran after him, but as soon as he exited the bright clearing he found himself in a dark room. It was an OZ lab. Heero didn’t even wonder why or how he knew it. But it wasn’t important and he gave it no thought. A metal lab table sat in the middle of the room and was surrounded by OZ doctors and OZ officials. Heero looked around the empty room and spotted the small blonde standing beside the table looking down melancholy. Heero joined him and looked at the table where Quatre’s body lay. The body was a clay color, except for the piercing aquamarine colors of the still open eyes. Heero stared at the eyes, willing the body to move, but it never did. One of the doctors administered a liquid into the body and then murmured to the other humans around him. They all nodded silently. Movement from beside him got Heero’s attention and he looked to find Quatre looking at him with empty eyes. Heero gasped when he realized that Quatre was crying, but they weren’t tears. He was crying blood. |
