Unconditional Gifts
Part 10
After Quatre had dutifully delivered coffee to Heero and Trowa, he went to
keep Duo company as they waited hopefully for Wufei to reawaken after the
morning's harrowing events.
Duo and Quatre sat quietly discussing a variety of non-essentials when the
others walked in. Heero looked resolved as Duo cast him a questioning glance
and knew in that instant he had broken the news to Trowa.
For his part, though, Trowa looked like a prizefighter who had been defeated
without ever setting foot in the ring to begin with. He approached the bed
and both Duo and Quatre rose silently, making room for him to sit beside
Wufei's sleeping body, allowing him some measure of closeness with the boy
that he loved.
One long-fingered hand cautiously reached out to stroke the black silk hair
away from the Chinese teen's face. Without words, Trowa apologized for his
actions and felt the weight of guilt sweep through him all over again despite
Heero's warnings.
Standing and observing the couple on the bed, Quatre noticed the warring
emotions on his former roommate's face and found the courage to step closer,
saying, "Talk to him, Trowa. He's doing better and maybe if he hears your
voice, Wufei might wake up."
Trowa shook his head and remained silent.
"Why not?" Quatre asked, insistent in his efforts to aid his friends. "He
needs you, can't you feel it?"
Duo had wrapped one arm around Heero's waist in unspoken support, but now
moved away to go over to the blond. Gently placing a hand on the blonde's
arm, he suggested, "Um, Q? Don't push it, okay? I think Tro just needs some
time to himself right now."
"Well, okay, if you say so, Duo." Quatre was confused by this. The American
teen had been desperate to get Wufei to wake up earlier and this made little
sense, but he nodded before glancing at Trowa again and saying quietly, "How
about I go get you some ice for that bruise, Trowa? I won't even ask what
happened, it's been too weird a day as it is."
The taller teen glanced up and nodded, a slightly self-deprecating look on
his face. Quatre sighed, then headed for the door, "I'll be right back."
As the Arabian boy went to get the ice, Duo flashed a look of inquiry at his
lover, curious as to the origin of Trowa's injury. Heero shrugged his
shoulders and the matter was settled as being something they could discuss
later alone if need be and then they both looked back at the pair on the bed.
Trowa had found the courage to move closer to Wufei and had gone so far as to
lay down beside him, one hand still idly stroking his hair while the other
almost tentatively reached out to touch one bare shoulder where the blanket
had slid down.
In a voice too soft to have been heard by the two young men that stood
nearby, Trowa apologized, "i am so sorry for all this, koi. i never meant to
hurt you or make you sad. please come back to me so i can tell you this,
fei-kun, please?"
A slight sigh came in response and shocked all three boys as Wufei cuddled
closer to Trowa.
"Tro?" Duo asked quietly, "What did you say to him?"
Frightened green eyes glanced up as Trowa suddenly recalled they weren't
alone and he admitted, "I told him I'm sorry."
Heero frowned and was about to intercede when another soft sound drew
everyone's attention back to the boy on the bed. Wufei was struggling to open
his eyes and this brought the needed response from his lover.
"Fei? Koi?" Trowa asked urgently, rubbing the bronze shoulder more firmly,
his hesitation lost as he tried to bring the other boy back to awareness.
"nnn...." Wufei moaned softly, even as the onyx orbs opened.
At first, his eyes seemed to be glazed over and confused, but as soon as
Wufei saw Trowa, he reached out and put his arms around the taller teen and
pulled him tightly to himself, quietly sobbing without explanation.
While glad that Wufei had awakened, Trowa immediately felt the guilt sweep
through him and he tried to move away but was stopped by a hand placed firmly
against his back.
Panic stricken, Trowa looked up, and saw Heero standing there regarding him
sadly as he said quietly, "Don't let go of him. Wufei needs this and Quatre
was right, he needs you. Hold him. Reassure him. We'll talk later, okay?"
Trowa trembled as he realized that he no longer had any control over the
situation, yet this somehow relieved him of the burden of choosing how to
respond and he finally relaxed back into simply holding the sobbing boy in
his arms.
Heero took only a single step backwards and crossed his arms while Duo walked
to the other side of the bed and sat down behind Wufei, adding his own gentle
touch to the efforts to calm the boy once more.
"Take it easy, Wu," Duo soothed as he rubbed the smaller teen's bare neck
gently, "Tro's here now. Everything's gonna be okay."
Getting himself under control somewhat, Wufei tried to look at Duo but
wouldn't release his death-grip on Trowa to do so, but he did ask quietly, in
a voice filled with confusion, "are you sure, duo? i'm so scared, something's
not right, something's changed. he's back and he's destroying me again,
killing me deep inside and i can't survive it a second time."
Wufei's voice faded away as something akin to hysteria tried to overtake him,
but both of the boys holding him refused to allow that even as the horrible
reality of his words sank in for all of them.
Duo leaned down and hushed Wufei gently, "Easy, babe. Just take it easy, Wu.
You're not yourself right now, but it's gonna be okay, I promise. Trowa's
holding you, I'm here, and Heero and Quatre are here for you, too, but
there's nobody else. No one's gonna get to you through us, so just relax."
"He's right, koi," Trowa answered with more confidence than he'd felt all
afternoon as he mentally reeled from the emotional blow of the words he'd
just heard. "I won't let anyone hurt you ever again, Fei, trust me. I'll stay
right here and protect you, if you'll let me."
"all right," a soft voice answered with a sigh, as Wufei calmed slowly in his
arms. "don't disappear this time when I wake up, 'kay?"
"When you wake up?" Trowa asked in confusion. "You're awake right now, love,
aren't you?"
There was no answer at first, then a shudder ran through Wufei's body and he
gained a wild look in his eyes before answering, "Nani? You mean I *am*
awake? This isn't another dream? You mean he really *isn't* here?!?"
"There's no one here but us, Wufei," Heero answered reassuringly even as he
clamped down on the overwhelming desire to demand to know who the mysterious
man was that the smaller pilot kept mentioning. "You're safe, just relax now
and rest a little. Trowa's not going to let anything happen to you now."
"promise?" Wufei asked in a small voice as his terrified eyes caught and held
Trowa's gaze.
Swallowing an unexpected lump of terror that formed as he realized the
magnitude of what was being asked of him, Trowa nodded, "Promise."
"arigatou," The Chinese teen breathed out softly and allowed his eyes to
drift shut once more before sighing and pulling his arms back to curl around
himself self-protectively.
Trowa loosened his embrace long enough for Wufei to rearrange himself then
held him once more, whispering softly, "relax, koi."
A very slight nod was his answer as Wufei drifted back into a light slumber,
slightly fitful, but clearly resting as much as could be expected.
Unnoticed, Quatre had returned midway through the conversation with the
confused ShenLong pilot, but he waited silently to deliver the ice to Trowa.
As the mood in the room darkened again with Wufei's return to silence, he
stepped forward. "Trowa? Here's that ice pack."
Sad emerald eyes gazed back at him and Trowa shook his head, "I'm not letting
go of Fei to hold onto that thing. Thanks anyway, Quatre."
"You need the ice, Trowa." Heero remarked without much vehemence.
Duo, however, reached one hand past the two boys reclining on the bed,
saying, "Give it to me, Q, okay? I'll hold it on him and he can take care of
Wu." Noting the look of confusion on the other teens' faces, the braided
pilot added, "Tro's right, he made a promise to Wu and he can't break it.
Just give me the ice."
"Okay," Quatre answered uncertainly, but did as he was told and soon Duo held
the cold compress against his friend's chin.
As Trowa's injured skin became numb, the four teens remained silently
regarding each other, each lost in thought and wondering how they might get
through this without further violence erupting in their midst.
*****
The quiet was finally broken by Trowa who said, "I think you were right,
Heero. Someone *did* hurt Fei the way you thought. What do we do about it?"
"First," Heero answered in evenly measured tones, "we need to get him
emotionally stabilized before we confront him with the fact that we know the
truth."
Duo nodded solemnly.
"Then," Heero continued, "we're going to let him call the shots on whether or
not he wants to try what happened between you two this morning again."
Emerald eyes flew wide with alarm and Trowa was about to refuse when Heero
added in a tone that clearly indicated he had no intention of listening to
any arguments on the matter, "You *have* to let him decide for himself,
Trowa. A lot of victims *need* that to recover fully and it's pretty damned
obvious he's got a long ways to go before he's even close to that!"
Quatre's eyes widened as a sudden realization hit him of the nature of the
secret that had been kept from him. In a voice that held the deepest sorrow
he could feel, the Arabian teen gasped, "No! Don't tell me that Wufei was…?"
Duo cut him off, knowing that even though he was asleep, Wufei might still be
able to hear on some level and the word "rape" was something they would try
to avoid until he could discuss it rationally. "We think so, yes, Quatre, but
don't say that out loud, okay? I'll explain downstairs, just don't say that
word right now."
His heart beating rapidly, Quatre felt ill as memories of the sexual assault
of one of his sisters flooded his mind and he began to tremble as he nodded
and remained silent.
"Is there anything else we can do, Heero?" Trowa asked, wondering if they
even had a chance any more. Quatre looked as if he might pass out, and Trowa
himself wished he would suddenly wake up and find that this had all been a
bad dream.
Heero, however, did have one piece of advice that Duo had longed to hear
discussed openly. With a single word, the leader of the Gundam pilots brought
them back into focus, "Revenge."
Duo smiled darkly and added, "All we need is a name, and some bastard
somewhere will die within a very short period of time."
Quatre pulled himself together and nodded, his own resolve firming, "That or
go to jail." He shook his head as his realized that anyone powerful enough to
have raped a Gundam pilot most likely had the ability to get out of the legal
system's idea of punishment. "Never mind. You're right, if Wufei hasn't
already done the job, I'll be glad to help with *that* assassination!"
Duo frowned at the unusually blood-thirsty nature of his basically peaceful
friend but decided to get details later and only answered, "We'll see, that's
a ways into the future right now."
Trowa, who hadn't gotten that far in his thinking until now clenched his
teeth and growled quietly, "No, this is *my* fight. If someone hurt the one I
love, then it's my duty to avenge him! Once we get Fei back on his feet, I'm
going after whoever did this and I'll take care of it *my* way, understand?"
The coldly calculating tones were a far cry from the gentle teen the other
boys were more accustomed to lately, and it startled them. But "The
Mercenary", a side of Trowa's personality that had developed under the
training of the first group of mercenaries he had lived with as a child, was
coming through as it often did during battle. Cold fire seemed to fill the
emerald-eyed teen's face as he looked at the others but he found answering
heat that would not be denied in the American's gaze.
"You'll need backup," Shinigami growled softly.
"We shall see," The Mercenary responded, unwilling to admit he might need
help.
"Enough!" The Perfect Soldier interjected commandingly, as he saw the
escalation of the desire for vengeance distracting Trowa so badly that he had
released his hold on Wufei and the smaller teen seemed bereft without him.
Heero's voice modulated back to more normal tones as he advised, "For now,
let's go back to step one. Trowa? Pay attention to getting Wufei stabilized,
we need to be able to talk to him without losing him again."
"Sorry," Trowa answered contritely as the Mercenary personality submerged
once more and he gathered the sleeping boy back into his arms.
"And *we* need to talk," Duo added, moving off the bed and moving to take the
other two boys by the arm and tugging them from the room. "I'd assume that
Quatre's got some questions left unanswered and we *did* say we'd explain, so
come on, let's get that over with."
Alone once more with the boy that he loved, Trowa sighed sadly and pulled
Wufei close again. He placed a tiny, chaste kiss to the sleeping boy's
forehead and whispered, "we can get through this, my dragon, i'm sure of it.
the guys all love you and so do i. we're not going to let you slip away from
us."
Trowa remained where he was, silently keeping his promise, guarding Wufei and
loving him the only way he trusted himself to do after the disastrous
morning's failed attempt at seduction.
Full Author's Notes to Run at Conclusion.
End Notes for Parts 7-10:
Ah me. That was a long and painful installment, wasn't it? Can you believe
that it is only early afternoon in the story so far? My angst muse,
Melpomene, is really putting them through the ringer here, but it seems to me
that going through the sheer hell of such a situation would take time,
discussion, and someone as wonderfully supportive as Quatre is being. And
here so many people thought I no longer even liked the little blond! Gee,
would I set aside a handsome six-foot stud for a character I didn't like?
Now, since the migraine lightened up enough for me to get to go on-line for
awhile tonight, let me see who all I owe a thank you note to? Please allow me
to put forth the following worthy individuals as members of the "Hall of
Fame", keeping in mind that the evil forces of AOL and my Real Life tend to
loose names en route, so if you sent me a note and aren't listed here, a
thousand apologies! I hereby thank my friends and supporters, including:
Novea Rikuo, Lani, Eos the Goddess of Dawn!, bearilou, Nazarri, backslide57,
Rubious, SkyLark, Azzie, Francine, Danielle-the-Adorable-Yume, and -- of
course! -- my darling kitten for all that she does! I will *try* to get some
follow-up notes out soon, but if not, please accept my appreciation just the
same!
By the way, Thalia, my humor muse, got in on the act while I was writing and
the next posting run will include a humor spot as the arc-tradition of anime
poker cards returns! Which deck will it be and will it bring an answer to one
of the collectible questions? Find out tomorrow when a smile or two drops in
at the beach house with Part 11 of "Unconditional Gifts"!
Be Well and Enjoy Your Weekend!
~~~E-sama the Friday-the-13th Llama~~~
(who enjoys triskaidekaphilia, a word he made up meaning "to love the number
13 instead of fearing it" and invites you to use it, too, just to confuse the
hell out of other people!)
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