Adult-FanFiction.org : Gundam, Beyblade, DBZ, FMA

Being Human	By : greengal48 Category: Gundam Wing/AC > Het - Male/Female Views: 1025 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don’t own Gundam Wing. Nor am I making money from publishing this! It’s purely for fun. I do, however, own Lea Zikamo and all the other original characters. Enough said.

Chapter List
- 15
- 16
- 17
Chapter 16: Picking Up the Pieces

Everything hurt, even the tips of her hair. There was a slight ring in her ears that was enough to bug her but not drive her insane. It was getting close though. Lea tested her fingers to see if they would move. They did but not without protest. Figuring that everything was in working order, Lea stopped trying to move.

“… are pulling it up. Don’t worry Lena. All the salvageable stuff was stashed away.” The voice was recognizable as Duo’s.

Along with his voice was heard several pairs of feet. They all filed around her bed. One pair came close to her head. “Ms. Zikamo?” a male voice called to her. “Can you hear me?”

Lea blinked open her eyes and rasped out, “Yes.” It took her eyes a few more blinks to adjust to the light. Standing over her was Pierce, the med agent who took care of Janis. She smiled at him. Her reaction smoothed out the worry wrinkles on his face.

“You’ve suffered a concussion and smoke inhalation,” Pierce explained in a calm, sympathetic voice. He quickly checked the machines that she was hooked up to. “Everything looks good.” He flashed her a bright smile.

Lea tried to return the smile but couldn’t. Far too many questions were popping up in her head. “Where’s Uncle Janis?” She remembered his unconscious form lying over her. It made her shudder. “Did he make it?” The terrified, sadden, sympathetic look on Pierce’s face was all the answer she needed.

But didn’t want.

Lea closed her eyes and turned her face from Pierce. What was left of her heart burst into powder. The pain that each sob produced wasn’t enough to stop her from crying. She was oblivious to the arms that held her or Relena’s soothing voice. All her mind would process was the fact that she lost everything: her parents, the house and land, Janis… Heero. After all that had happened, why would he stay?

“You’re not alone,” Relena’s voice was vaguely heard. “I’m right here.”

Too weak to push out of her arms, Lea just laid there with tears streaming down her face. No matter what Relena said, Lea didn’t feel better. She kept thinking the same thing she thought when her father died… ‘Why didn’t He take me…?’

~::*::~

Seeing him hooked up to so many machines chilled Quatre’s blood. Heero laid before him in peaceful slumber in spite of his condition. The visible areas like his face and arms were bruised and swollen. The blood and soot that he was covered in had been washed away. A bandage was wrapped around his head.

Quatre wrapped his arms around himself, “Allah…” He was standing at the foot of Heero’s hospital bed dressed in a hospital gown and robe with his eyes tearing up. Quatre was kept there for smoke inhalation and the minor cuts and bruises he suffered from the explosion and battle.

He was feeling emotionally tapped from dealing with Lea and her breakdown. The news that Janis had died in the explosion coupled with the house, barn and workshop burning down to ashes hit Lea pretty hard. Loosing everything she had left in one night was not the result that she was looking for. Lea cried on Relena’s shoulder for a long while.

When she finally settled down and her wits returned, Lea inquired about everyone else. Trowa, Duo, and WuFei faired well. They, too, were banged up but alive and recovering as well. Heero, on the other hand, had pushed himself to his body’s limit. Lea demanded to see him. She was too weak of course. ‘Just like he is now…’ Heero did look so fragile and broken. A far cry from the strong, indestructible persona Heero normally possessed.

“You shouldn’t worry, Quatre,” a deep, silky yet dangerous voice said calmly. Turning, Quatre watched the most beautiful man he had ever known walk into the room. He was tall with long waist length hair and stunning blue eyes. He was dressed in a dark blue uniform with a brown t-shirt under the jacket. The colors complemented his pale complexion. The tall blond stopped at her side, eyeing Heero. “We know quite well that he’s pulled through far worse.”

“That’s the truth,” a female voice said dryly. A woman dressed in the same uniform as the tall blond walked up to them. She seemed to be the color opposite of the man. Her hair was short, black and her skin was lightly tanned.

Lucrezia Noin and Zechs Merquise.

He had known them for a good portion of his life. True, their introduction was not the best but a good relationship was made out of it. The three of them gazed at Heero like he was a work of art for a few minutes.

Then Zechs broke the peaceful silence.

“I saw something rather interesting the other day, my dear brother,” he said as if they had been talking for a while. Quatre caught the underlining hint of anger in his voice. “There was a fair which had a contest, an archery contest. It looked like it was fun.” Zechs paused as if wanting a response from Quatre but cut him off before he could. “The odds were stacked in your favor, with your training and all. Congratulations on the win by the way.”

By now, both Noin and Quatre knew something was up. Noin was eyeing Zechs questionably, wondering what was up his sleeve. Quatre, on the other hand, wasn’t in the mood.

“Thank you,” Quatre managed with a genuine smile. Then, the smile faltered a little. “I’m sure that Heero needs his rest. So, how about we continue this conversation in the hall, hm?” Although Quatre’s tone was quite conversational and polite, the this-is-not-a-request look on his face made Noin snicker and Zechs lift an eyebrow. “After you,” he said motioning towards the door. His eyes never left Zechs.

After a glance back at Heero, Zechs lead the way out into the hall. Unknown to all of them was the smirk on Heero’s face as he heard the door shut behind them.

“Milliardo!” Relena exclaimed. The scowl on Zechs’ face softened as she hugged him. “When did you get in?”

“How are you feeling?” Zechs asked instead as he pushed her hair back to look at the bruise on the side of her face.

“I’m fine,” she assured him with her charming smile. Relena backed into Quatre’s arms and smiled at him with such love. “I’m in good hands.”

Zechs snorted, “Some hands. If you were properly handled, there would be no injuries on you. Now, would there, little sister?”

The smile on Quatre’s face faded in a heartbeat. It was replaced with unbridled anger. ‘After all these years… After giving his blessing… Despite the fact that all five of us were there, he has the nerve to…’

“You goddamn mother fuckin’ son of a bitch.” The words were uttered so soft that Relena, who was right beside Quatre, never heard it. Yet, Zechs barely heard it.

He moved faster than anyone there expected. No one saw Quatre throw the punch. However, Zechs landing on his ass was seen by all. Relena froze, mouth hanging open. Behind them, Duo and WuFei clapped while Trowa tried unsuccessfully to contain his laughter. It was clear by the look on Zechs’ face, he wasn’t expecting the punch nor hurt by it. The shock from the fact that Quatre threw it and was now standing over him red-faced and looking like he could blow steam out of his ears and nose had Zechs shell-shocked.

“If it were left up to you,” Quatre spat out between gasps, “Relena would be locked up and only let out when it suited you.”

“Quatre, please…” Relena begged as she tugged on his arm. He wouldn’t budge.

“That’s why you’re here, isn’t it?” He pointed an accusing finger at Zechs, “You don’t even trust us enough to keep her safe, do you? Do you honestly think I would let anything happen to my wife?”

Zechs slowly rose to his feet casually dusting himself off. The look of shock had worn off his face and was replaced with one of complete admiration. “Quatre,” he tried to sooth, “I’m merely…”

“Acting like an ass as usual!” Quatre snapped. “So keep your snide remarks to yourself.” He turned to leave but stopped. “Oh, and another thing. We’ll come home when we’re damn good and ready!” Quatre grabbed Relena by the hand and stormed back to their room slamming the door behind them.

All those in the hallway were either laughing, trying to look dignified or casting “I told you so” looks at a really flustered Zechs Merquise.

~::*::~

“Feeling up to a little exercise, Ms. Zikamo?” a cheerful nurse asked as she bustled into the room.

It had been two days since all hell had broken loose. At first, Lea was all ready to give up and die. She felt like she had nothing left to live for. Then friends dropped by. The first to do so were was Mitch, Orson, and Jacob. They showered Lea with so much kindness that it reminded her of what Heero had said.

“You say that no one can love you. What about Mitch, the Halstroms or Janis? Do they just tolerate you?”

Mitch offered to start the ball rolling with the funeral plans. Orson and Jacob both offered rooms at their homes for her to stay in while they helped to rebuild her home. Hana and Henry stopped by for a few minutes. Henry hated hospitals but not as much as Haydrian, who chose to stay at home. Henry said that they had set aside four sheep for Lea to have when she had room for them. “It’s about time you’ve learned how to raise sheep,” Hank decreed.

Kayhill showed up while Mitch, Orson, and Jacob were visiting. He was also sporting Band-Aids and bandages. He did so proudly. “I am honored that I was able to help you,” Kayhill had told her with tears in his eyes. A long time battle with his demon of guilt had been won with getting involved. Lea could see it in his eyes. It made her cry as well.

Once eyes were dry again, Kayhill revealed the second reason he had showed up. He produced three gold crowns with “Winner of the Twentieth Annual Mead Colony Founder’s Day Archery Contest” etched on the outside of the crown. Inside had Quatre, Trowa and Heero’s name with the contest they had won. Kayhill admitted that he couldn’t find Quatre or Trowa and wasn’t allowed to see Heero. Lea agreed to keep them for the guys.

By the next day, Lea was determined to personally hand each of the crowns to their rightful owners. Yet, she was still too weak to move around on her own. Plus, Trowa and Quatre were still MIA and Heero’s door was locked. Lea begrudgingly returned to her room to wait and gain some more strength.

Now it was day two. The nurse was back to help her walk around. Lea’s resolve was stronger than ever. “A Zikamo never backs down,” Lea proudly announced and swung her feet over the edge of the bed.

“That’s the spirit.” The nurse helped Lea into her robe and stepped back. “All right, Ms. Thang. Which direction do I point you?”

“To Mr. Yuy’s room.” Lea picked up the boxes with the crowns in them. “I’m delivering these today.”

The nurse giggled at the resolve in Lea’s voice. “You just might do that. The door’s open.”

~::*::~

“Man!” Duo exclaimed with a huge grin. He was sitting on a stool at the foot of Heero’s bed dressed in the Preventer’s dark blue uniform. “You should have seen it!” A dreamy far-off look sparkled in his violet eyes.

“It was quite the display,” Trowa, also clad in the uniform, admitted calmly. He had found a spot of wall by the open window to lean against. He flashed Quatre an amused grin. The blond blushed.

WuFei shook his head looking rather annoyed as if the view outside didn’t please him. He had his back to everyone but knew very well what was going on. He, too, had the uniform on minus the jacket. “The brat had it coming.”

“He pushed me too far,” Quatre explained with a shrug. Unlike the others, Quatre was dressed in a gray three-piece suite with a pink shirt and blue tie. It looked odd to see him so well dressed lounging in a chair beside Heero’s bed with the few scratch marks and fading black eye on his face. “What was I suppose to do? Stand there and take it?”

Heero merely raised his eyebrow in response. He was propped up with pillows on his hospital bed with an uneaten tray of food before him. The guys had dropped by just when a nurse presented the tray to him. Duo had already helped himself to the bowl of applesauce. Under normal circumstances, Heero would have had the progress report detailed to him and then dismissed them. But Duo’s recount of Quatre’s outburst was far too entertaining.

“No,” Heero said dryly. “You should have followed with a left to the jaw.” His blank face and emotionless eyes made it impossible to tell if he was joking. Never the less, Duo nearly fell off the stool with laughter. Sighing to hide his own laughter, Heero asked, “How’s the extraction?”

“Give it about three weeks and we’ll be done,” WuFei replied. If there were any of them that wanted to get back to business, it was WuFei. He shrugged at Heero’s frown. “The thing’s huge and there’s a lot more than we’ve realized buried down there.” He was about to explain himself when there was a light knock at the door. WuFei sighed his annoyance and turned back to the view outside the window.

Quatre stood smiling brightly as he stood up. “Good morning, Lea. It’s good to see you out of bed.” He took over the nurse’s job of helping Lea and guided her to his vacant chair.

“It’s good to be seen.” Lea returned the smile with masked difficulty. She eased into Quatre’s vacant set. “Hello, fellas.” Heero could tell she was faking her well-being. The pained look in her eyes gave it away.

“Hey there, Lea babe,” Duo said slyly as he knelt beside her. He pointed to the boxes like a little kid would to unopened presents, “Whatcha got there?”

Lea’s smile brightened and gained a regal touch. “These, my dear good man, are the crowns that Quatre, Trowa and Heero won in this year’s archery contest.” Heero’s stomach twisted at the pride radiating from Lea. With great fan fare, she held up a box. “This one’s for you, Trowa. And here’s yours, Quatre.” Heero’s heart sped up as Lea turned to him. She had the same loving, joyous look as the one she had when she kissed his forehead on the archery field. “And yours…”

Grateful that Lea was right beside him – it made it easier to reach – Heero took the box from her. He made sure his fingers touched hers. Lea’s cheeks gained a rosy hue as she cleared her throat and looked anywhere else but him. Heero couldn’t hide the small smirk at the corner of his lips. Oblivious to what was going on, Quatre asked, “How did you get these?”

“Oh,” she shrugged, trying to look unaffected by Heero’s touch. “Kayhill dropped them off with me. He said he couldn’t find you or Trowa and Heero’s door was always closed.”

“Did he try knocking?” WuFei grumbled. He didn’t need to turn around to know Lea was suppressing the urge to toss something at him. She had a strong spirit. WuFei had to give her that much. Didn’t mean he was going to leave her in peace.

“Well,” sang Duo as he stood up and faked a stretch. “We’d best get back to work before oh-great-one tries to send lightning bolts up our asses.”

Trowa laughed, “What do we have to worry about? We have Quatre!” That one even gained a chuckle out of WuFei. Lea sat bewildered. To her, Towa said, “I’m sure Heero will explain.” With that, he said his goodbyes and followed the others out the door closing it behind him.

An uneasy silence hung between them for a few minutes. Heero couldn’t help but count the seconds in his head. Within those minutes, Lea sat mentally fighting her conscious. Heero inwardly prayed for her to not repeat what she had said in the camper. He didn’t think his heart could stand another rejection from her.

“Uncle Janis is dead.” The words were whispered. Lea didn’t even look at him. Just stared at her fidgety hands. “Mitch’s taking care of the funeral arrangements. And… Um…” Her voice broke. She looked up at the ceiling in an attempt to stop the tears.

Heero knew of Jains’ death, knew of the funeral plans. Quatre was helping with them as well. Lea was talking for the sake of talking. He wasn’t about to stop her. He needed to hear her vent as much as she needed to vent.

She laughed sadly at the tears she wiped away. With a sigh, she slowly moved from her chair to the edge of Heero’s bed. He moved to accommodate her as she sat facing him and snuggled against his chest. He ignored the pain it caused. She no longer smelled of flowers, wool, peppermint and/or whatever she had cooked. The sterile scents of the hospital stuck to her. He frowned. ‘We both have to get out of here…’

“Thank you,” Lea said, voice still shaky.

The frown intensified. This vulnerable version of Lea wasn’t to his liking… Never was. Heero stroked her hair and was about to say “your welcome” when his little voice took over. “Marry me.” The words shocked him as well as Lea. She froze.

“What?”

“Marry me,” he repeated firmly. Then, he added in a warning tone, “Don’t say yes if you feel obligated. Say yes if you still love me.”

Heero felt Lea tense up before she pushed away from him. Bracing herself with stiff arms on either side of his chest, Lea glared at him. “Still in love with you?! God damn it, Heero! Of course I’m still in love with you!”

“Oh?” he asked. Everything about him was blank, even the tone in his voice. Lea winced. “You’ve tried several times before to push me away. I understand why. You were afraid for my safety… my life. You didn’t want to loose a loved one again.”

“Still lost someone,” Lea sighed and plopped against Heero. He couldn’t contain the groan. “Oh!” She tried to sit up again but Heero’s arms held her firmly to him. “Oh, come on, Heero. I’m hurting you.”

“Leaving me hurts more.”

Slowly, Lea’s shoulders began to shake. She buried her face into his shoulder and sobbed. Heero always hated this part of any relationship. He had been taught that tears were a sign of weakness and should never be tolerated. His friendship with Relena, Hilde and Sally showed him a need for tears as a cleansing of sorts.

Despite all this, the sound and sight of Lea’s tears still bugged him to the point that he had to stop them. He tilted Lea so she was lying across his lap, then captured her lips with his. She accepted the sudden change whole-heartedly. The kiss itself was intense, fierce, and over before it could go too far. Heero was mindful of their current conditions. Lea, however, did protest with a soft whimper but said nothing else.

The two of them remained in each other's embrace in silence. Lea had closed her eyes and drifted off into lumber. Many things ran through Heero's head as he watched Lea sleep. He marveled at how wonderful it felt to hold her, to watch her sleep. He wondered if the feeling would be the same fifteen years later.

Little Voice answered, ‘Yes.’

Logic remained happily silent.

The sound of booted feet interrupted his pleasant thoughts. The foot falls sounded too even and sure to be any of the hospital staff's. It wasn't Quatre or Duo. Neither of them picked up on the Military March very well. Trowa's steps were lighter and almost non-existent. WuFei's steps were close but he had already visited, as did the others. The booted were at Heero's doorway when he realized who it was.

The lean, tall, blond form of Zechs Merquise marched in. Dressed in the dark blue uniform of the Preventers, Zechs stopped at the foot of Heero's bed. A pale blond eyebrow slowly rose as he regarded Lea resting peacefully in Heero's arms. A woman happily snuggled in the arms of Heero Yuy was an odd sight for Zechs. Although he had seen Relena in such a pose, it still never failed to surprise him. He still felt that Heero wasn't capable of doing anything but being a solider.

Heero watches Zechs eye them for a moment before asking softly, "What?"

It took Zechs a few seconds to find his voice. "You'll only be called in when needed." He placed the uniform on the bed and left.

Heero blinked at the uniform, then where Zechs was standing, then back to the uniform. " ‘When needed...’ " Heero echoed with a ghost of a grin.

~::*::~

A/N: I had batted this one around for a while trying to figure out the best way to introduce the last two problems that would have to be ironed out. You’ll understand what I mean in the upcoming chapters. Once again, thanks to all those who have been waiting for this chapter. ::blows kisses and passes out hugs::
- 15
- 16
- 17
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Being Human

Chapter 16: Picking Up the Pieces