My Sanctuary

Wufei sat in the center of the dock overlooking the lake, the wood beneath his body pleasantly warm against his bare feet, his hands resting lightly on his legs. The sun beat down on his face and filled him with sleepy content; with the water of the lake lapping lazily against the shore beneath him, it would be all too easy to slip from meditation into sleep.

The wind blew gently through the trees surrounding his little haven and Wufei had to admit…he was happy to be there. It was always this way with them. Both he and Heero balked at the idea of taking work off, balked at the idea of an entire week or two of nothing but relaxation, but always managed to get drawn into it…mostly because it wasn’t worth the argument with Duo that would ensue if they argued too hard. As always though…once he was with the others…Wufei felt himself relaxing, felt he was at home.

It was nice to walk into any room of the house and find one of his fellow pilots there, doing exactly what they had done in the past. For so long they had found companionship and later friendship in each other moving from one safehouse to the next, it was easy to fall back into habit with the other pilots, easy to find himself attuned to the emotional currents from his comrades, easy to relax in their presence in a way he never felt comfortable doing around anyone else. With his four friends by his side, he could save the world, could walk through hell and come back. It was good to be back again.

His eyes flew open and he yelped in shock as something hit the water and doused him in the backlash. Sputtering, he leaped to his feet and stared out over the now roiling lake, frowning. He fully expected Duo’s head to pop up in the center of the lake, probably laughing his ass off. It was moments like this that made Wufei wonder why he put up with the American in the first place.

The lake water slowly began to calm and no braided head came up. Wufei’s frown deepened. He could catch the shadow of SOMETHING in the water but it didn’t come up for air. The uneasy feeling in his stomach tightened. “Maxwell!”

No answer. Dimly he thought he could see the shadow moving but it didn’t move significantly. Slipping out of his pants, he allowed them to puddle at his feet as he cupped his hands around his mouth. “MAXWELL!” A cold feeling sliced across his heart.

“What?” Wufei whirled around to see Duo, safe, puzzled and DRY standing near the path to the house. The American was panting, as if he had ran at his first call. Duo stopped dead as he caught sight of Wufei in underwear and shirt. “Um…Wuffers…”

Wufei ignored him, turning to the lake again. The shadow remained. “Something fell into the lake.” He didn’t wait for the American’s response, diving off of the edge of the dock and swimming with strong strokes toward the shadow.

He could see cloth and swore under his breath, sucking in as much air as he could manage before ducking beneath the water. The impact had raised the sediment at the bottom and the water was extremely murky. It took him a long moment to get his bearings, to locate the figure floating gently. It was obvious that the cloak wrapped around the person’s body had not only weighed the figure down but also coiled around the body and made it impossible to break free from. Wufei grabbed the figure at the waist and hauled them both to surface, drawing in a large breath of fresh air the moment his head broke the surface. “Maxwell!” He gasped, awkwardly holding up the figure he had rescued with his left arm, treading water as best as he could manage with his right. He could see Duo watching him anxiously. The American pilot had taken off his own clothing and was clad in nothing but underwear, obviously ready to jump in after him if things got too hairy.

A wave of warmth for Duo spread across Wufei, though he knew he’d rather die than admit to it. Resolutely resigned, he flipped over onto his back and pulled the cloaked body against his chest, using his free arm to propel him back to shore. The swim to the dock never seemed so long to him, Duo’s form on the wood planks taunted him, always seeming to get farther and farther away.

He was relieved when hands came down and grasped the cloaked person, dragging them up out of the water and off of Wufei. “Thanks.” He gasped, taking half of a moment to catch his breath before throwing himself at the bank, not sure that his arms would hold him if he tried to boost himself onto the dock.

Duo knelt beside the figure, and Wufei saw that it was a boy their own age, maybe a little younger with pale, lifeless skin and messy black hair. Duo’s head rested on the boy’s chest, and he had the boy’s left wrist in his hand. “No pulse.” He sat up and tilted the boy’s head back, opening his mouth. “You do mouth to mouth, I’ll tell you when to breathe.” He ordered.

Wufei nodded and fell to his knees on the boy’s other side. Duo stacked his hands and held them in ready over the boy’s chest. “Breathe!” He ordered and Wufei locked his lips over the boy’s, breathing life deeply into the boy’s lungs. Duo pumped his hands. “One. Two. Three. Breathe!”

Wufei bent and breathed again, feeling the boy’s lungs expand and his chest move. Duo pumped once and the boy let out a hoarse and wracking cough, his back arching as water spilled from his parted lips. His body curled in on itself and toward Wufei. Wufei saw a flash of brilliant green eyes before the boy turned onto his stomach and threw up. Water gushed from his body and he shuddered, his head bowing before he passed out, missing the puddle by centimeters.

“Yech.” Duo shook his head and reached for his clothing. “Glad I didn’t have to jump in there after you.”

Wufei stared down at the unconscious boy before turning around to look at the lake again. He viewed the trees with a critical eye. They averaged about thirty feet, but the easily climbable branches at the bottom only reached about eight. If someone was to jump from one of those branches into the water, they couldn’t reach anywhere near the center of the lake, even if they got a running start. He looked down at the dock, the wood swollen from the backsplash of the impact. The boy had hit the water hard, sending a wave of water over the dock itself. No way he could have done it with only eight feet of leverage…hell, even if he had climbed to the TOP of the trees and jumped it wouldn’t have made that deep of an impact on the water. Frowning, Wufei stared up at the clear blue Irish sky and saw no hint of aerial vehicle.

Duo followed his gaze up. “What’s up?” He asked, pulling his shirt up over his head and holding out Wufei’s pants.

Frowning, Wufei accepted his clothing and found himself scanning the sky, eyes probing the trees. “He fell into the lake. Soaked me from the splash.”

Duo looked at him for a long moment before regarding the lake thoughtfully. In an instant Wufei knew that Duo had seen the same problem he had. “No way he could have doused you in the center of the lake from those trees. He would have had to fall from a MUCH higher point.”

“Hn.” Wufei agreed darkly. “Let’s get him up to the house and find out what he’s doing here.”

Duo nodded and looked reflexively down at the body before sighing. “You grab his legs, I’ll take his arms.”

Wufei scowled as they reached the path just outside of the ring of trees around the lake. “His cloak is weighing him down.”

Duo sighed, panting slightly. He gently lowered the boy and knelt, unclasping the silver hook keeping his cloak around his neck. Duo whistled appreciatively as they got a good look at the body beneath the heavy fabric. The boy was lanky and slim, wearing a pair of denim pants that hugged his trim form, a long sleeved shirt hugging his chest. He was quite obviously in good shape. “Wu-man, I can guarantee part of this weight isn’t the cloak.” Duo said, shaking his head and looping his arms beneath the boy’s armpits again, lifting him and beginning the long walk back to the house. “This boy’s ripped.”

Wufei didn’t bother to answer, filing away the observation for further analysis. They found Quatre first in the parlor as they hauled the boy’s body through the side door. The blond pilot had been going over paperwork at the desk and looked up with a smile as they walked in. The smile faltered and vanished almost instantly as he got a good look at the unconscious boy. “What happened?!” He leaped to his feet and hurried over. “Are you both okay?”

“We’re fine, Q-ball.” Duo hurriedly assured the Arab. “Just a little wet. Where do you want us to put Sleeping Beauty here?”

Quatre’s blue eyes widened slightly. He opened his mouth, then closed it again, obviously deciding that asking questions could wait until the problem was taken care of. “On the floor. Is he alive?”

Wufei nodded once. “Duo preformed CPR and brought him back.”

Quatre’s face paled slightly. “Right. Duo, go get a towel, a blanket and a bottle of water. Wufei, find Trowa and Heero.”

Duo gently lowered the boy’s body down to the floor and Wufei joined him. Color began to run back into the boy’s cheeks, giving him less of a look of death. “I saw Heero in the library this morning.” Duo offered. “I bet he’s still there.”

Wufei nodded, not surprised by the news. Heero was almost always in the library, his laptop in front of him, fingers flying over the keys. Heero looked up as Wufei walked in. “Someone breached Winner’s house. He’s unconscious in the parlor.”

Heero frowned ever so slightly and closed his laptop, sliding it beneath his arm and nodding. “Right.”

Wufei knew where to find Trowa as well, and wasn’t surprised when he located the green eyed pilot in the gym practicing his tumbling with careful precision, balanced lightly on a line of tape. Trowa straightened as Wufei entered, and Wufei saw the question in his friend’s eyes. “Winner and Maxwell are in the parlor with an unconscious boy.” He informed the pilot, watching as Trowa merely nodded before padding quietly from the room, Wufei falling into step beside him.

That was really what he liked about both Trowa and Heero, he didn’t have to explain himself to them when there was a problem. They didn’t ask a million questions. Neither pilot cared why he was soaking wet and dripping on Quatre’s floor, though he knew that both had noticed it.

Quatre was stripping the clothing off of the boy. “His clothes are soaked. He’s still unconscious and he’s shivering.” Quatre stopped as his fingers peeled the sleeves off of the boy’s arms, revealing a black sheath strapped to his lower arm just before the wrist.

“Weapon?” Heero demanded, walking closer to take a good look at the unconscious boy.

Quatre pulled the shirt entirely off of the boy and dabbed his skin with the towel, soaking up the excess moisture. Trowa knelt beside him and gently picked up the boy’s arm. He studied the mechanism, turning the boy’s right wrist. Obviously hitting a trigger, a slim wooden wand shot out of the sheath and into the boy’s unresponsive hand. It rested lightly against his palm, and Trowa frowned slightly. “Not any weapon I’ve ever seen.” He pulled the wand out carefully and studied it, examining it. “Even the tip isn’t sharp.”

“Let me see.” Duo took the wand from him and began a careful examination, poking it and turning it lightly in his hands, obviously searching for a hidden mechanism that might reveal a slender blade within. After a long moment he shook his hand. “Nothing.”

Quatre peeled the boy’s jeans off of his body and hesitated before pulling off his blue boxers, blushing slightly as he revealed the naked body beneath. “Nothing we haven’t all seen before, Q-ball.” Duo teased brightly, handing the wand to Heero to examine.

Quatre threw Duo a mild look before pulling the blanket up over the boy, covering his nakedness. Heero was going through his clothing, pulling out a tiny toy trunk that looked like it belonged in a doll house and a small bottle filled with a clear liquid. Uncorking it, Heero held it carefully two inches beneath his nose and sniffed cautiously. Nothing. He frowned and tried again. Still nothing. Shaking his head, he corked it again. “Water.”

Quatre pulled back the blanket again, exposing the boy from the waist up. He studied the smooth skin and located more than a few scrapes and bruises. “Doesn’t look like he’s had an easy time of it.”

“Which would make sense if he sneaked into the grounds. This place is walled off like a fortress.” Duo put in, settling down beside Quatre. His fingers located the boy’s face and slowly he smoothed back his black hair. A jagged scar crossed his forehead, shaped like a lightning bolt and cutting into the skin.

Wufei frowned beside him, sitting on his knees and accepting the towel Quatre handed him, wrapping it around his shoulders. “What kind of scar is this?” Duo asked, frowning as he pulled the blanket back up over the boy’s shoulders and tucking it in neatly.

Wufei reached out and brushed the scar with his fingertips.

0 0 0

Harry woke with a gasp feeling fingers on his head. With a cry he sat up, something that had been across his shoulders slipping down his chest to fall to his lap. He shuddered as he realized there was nothing keeping the blanket puddle in his lap from his skin and turned his wrist back, expecting the comforting feel of his wand fill his hand. Nothing.

Fighting initial panic, Harry turned his head and met startled black eyes. “Calm down.” A quiet voice ordered him and Harry turned sharply to see a short blond looking at him with calm blue eyes. Beside him sat a boy with messy brown hair and sharp blue eyes, holding Harry’s clothing in his arms. On the blond’s other side knelt a teen with long light brown bangs hiding one eye. The other eye, calm and moss green regarded him intently. He held Harry’s wand.

Harry didn’t know what made him feel more naked, the loss of his clothing or the loss of his wand. He drew in a shuddering breath and realized that he was freezing. A young man with sparkling dark blue eyes and a damp brown braid smiled at him and Harry felt himself relax slightly at the smile. Slowly he pulled the blanket in his lap back up over his shoulder. “Where am I?”

“You’re on my land.” The blond replied calmly. A shuttered look crossed the face of the brunet with the blue eyes, but the expressions on the faces of the braided boy and the blond weren’t hostile.

Harry’s head hammered and he was having problems seeing any of them clearly. “My glasses…”

“Glasses?” Quatre glanced sideways at the person just behind Harry, and Harry turned, squinting slightly. The boy’s black eyes were sharp and fixed with disturbing intensity on Harry. His dark hair was pulled back, and it was impossible for Harry to tell how long it was. He looked Asian, but Harry openly admitted he was having problems seeing. “He didn’t have them on when I pulled him from the lake.” The voice that accompanied the dark eyes was cool and clipped.

“Lake…” Harry frowned and tried to remember. The last thing he could picture clearly was the ring and his father’s portkey. Frantically he touched his right hand and found the gold ring solidly anchored on his finger. Relaxing, he shook his head. He could remember falling, could remember turning his body to land on his feet…water…rushing at him. “The lake!” He turned and yelped as pain shot through his body.

“Calm down.” The blond ordered again. “You’re going to put more of a strain on your body.” Harry instinctively froze…there was something about the calm tone that reminded him acutely of Hermione.

“My whole body…hurts.” He shuddered, his body shaking with the effort of keeping him even sitting.

“Not surprising.” The icy voice of the black eyed teen replied. “You fell from a good distance.”

Something passed between the five youths clustered around Harry. Harry kept his body as loose as he could manage, sensing the danger. They were like a pack of wolves, they would attack if he wasn’t careful. “Right…I fell into the lake.”

“Fell?” The braided boy asked, his voice unreadable.

“Well I didn’t bloody well jump.” Harry snapped in spite of himself. His head was whirling with pain.

The boy with the dark hair and blue eyes was on his feet, walking to the door Harry could make out on the wall. “Don’t bother.” The black eyed boy advised. “There’s nothing there to see.”

Silence. “There has to be SOMETHING.” The blue eyed boy replied, his voice as cold as his companion’s. “He didn’t fall from thin air.”

Harry paused. There was no way out of this. He could hear the tension in the voices around him and even felt the tension in the blond with the kind voice and the braided teen beside him. Well…he supposed he would be tense too if someone appeared out of nowhere…especially if he wasn’t used to it. “May I have my wand?” He asked politely. These people were muggles…they would understand the waving of a wand far better than they would understand anything else.

Silence met this statement and Harry could feel gazes regarding him seriously as they exchanged a quiet communication. He waited patiently, not wanting to alarm them any more than he had to. “Will you take it by force?” A quiet voice belonging to the moss green eyes asked curiously.

Harry paused as he tried to come up with the right answer. “I won’t have to.” He finally replied. “It would be easier if you gave them to me. I really need my glasses.”

“I told you, you didn’t have them.” The black eyed boy insisted.

Harry sighed. “Please. I’m not here to hurt you.”

“Then what ARE you here for?” The blue eyed boy demanded.

Harry paused. “I feel I’m at a disadvantage being naked and unable to see you.” He could almost hear his mentor Dumbledore’s words coming out through his voice and sighed as both a pang of amusement and pain shot through his heart. He didn’t want to think about Dumbledore.

He relaxed in relief when the wand slid through his fingers on his lap and picked it up. Though he didn’t speak, he focused on a charm to dull the pain in his head and breathed a sigh of utter bliss when the pain dampened away. “Merlin, that’s better.” Holding his wand, he glanced sideways at the blue eyed teen. “You might want to open the door.”

He could feel eyes narrowed on him and rolled his eyes. “I’m not in any position to run away.” He growled. “My whole body is in pain, I can barely move.” And it wasn’t even a lie. The charm dampened the pain in his body, but the effects on his body were not lessened. He could feel the tremors even through the charm.

The door slid slightly open and Harry let out a long breath, holding up his wand. “Accio glasses.”

There was silence and Harry could feel the gazes on him turn from curious and hostile to uneasy and tense. They all thought he was crazy. Harry sighed and heard something whizzing through the air. He heard the gasps even as his glasses fell into his lap. Reaching for them, he sighed when he felt the large crack in both lenses, the badly bent frames. “Bloody hell.” He whispered. “Reparo.”

The glasses repaired themselves and Harry sighed in relief as he picked them up and slid them up his nose. Instantly the world cleared and Harry got a good look at his companions for the first time. They all stared at him in shock. Harry forced a tense smile before looking down. He was utterly and completely naked. “Bloody hell!” He gasped again, turning red as he drew the blanket around his torso rather than having his back and butt entirely exposed.

His movements seemed to break the silence that had fallen on his companions, because the boy with the dark brown braid began to laugh. Covering his mouth, he shook his head. “I’m sorry.” He said, not looking as if he meant it. “But you should have seen the look on your face.”

Harry felt himself turning redder. “Well how would YOU like being naked in front of strangers?” he demanded and the boy laughed harder, shaking his head.

“Where the hell did you come from?!” Harry was pinned by the hostile blue eyes of the boy near the door. His jaw was tight. “What are you doing here?”

Harry paused. “Maybe it would be better if I introduced myself first…my name is Harry Potter…and I’m a wizard.”

Instantly he could tell that they thought he was insane. Inwardly he could remember Arthur Weasley, Ron’s father, speaking in loving tones about muggles. “They’ll try to come up with any explanation for magic, bless their souls.”

Yeah. Bless their souls. Harry snorted. His mouth tasted like the back end of a hippogriff. He winced and rubbed his lips, flinching as his fingers came into contact with a slimy substance. “You threw up.” The braided boy told him helpfully. “After Wu-man saved your life.”

“Maxwell!” Harry turned slightly and saw the boy with the black eyes looking livid, his lips tight. His features were chiseled, almond shaped dark eyes intense as he scowled at the braided teen. Harry could see that his clothing was still very wet, clinging to his slim frame.

Harry blushed scarlet when the black eyes fixed on him with startling intensity. Realizing he had been staring, Harry met the black gaze intently. “You saved my life?”

“CPR.” The Asian replied tightly. “Maxwell saved your life.”

“Yeah but you…” The braided boy started, stopping as the blond elbowed him in the ribs. He rubbed his side, and the blond frowned.

Harry paused. “Thank you.” He said awkwardly. That would be the ultimate irony…to die by drowning himself in a lake rather than at the hands of Voldemort. The name reminded him of what he was here to do and he let out a long breath. “I’ll show you what you need to see to prove it to you…” He said quietly. “…but I AM a wizard. Obviously I didn’t know there was a lake there…or I wouldn’t have chosen there to stop.”

Black eyes narrowed dangerously on him. “You’re trying to say you can fly.”

Harry paused. “Yes…” He replied cautiously. “But that wasn’t how I got here.”

“Prove it.” The dark eyed Asian replied coldly. “Fly.”

Harry sighed softly and paused as he looked down at himself. His body was shaking violently now and he was naked. Not exactly optimal flying conditions. Shaking his head ruefully, he gazed at the boy with the light brown hair and green eyes who held his clothing. “Did you find a small charm? A trunk?”

“This?” The blond held up Harry’s miniaturized trunk.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief that it hadn’t broken when he hit the water and nodded, reaching for it. “Get back.” He advised and waved his wand, watching it grow. He pulled the smaller trunk out of the first and expanded it as well, pulling out his broomstick. He paused. “I might need help…” He said quietly, not bothering to cling to his pride. Now wasn’t the time, and he wasn’t about to make even more of an idiot of himself by falling off the end of his broom because he couldn’t keep himself up.

“You really fly on that thing?” The braided teen demanded.

Harry nodded. “I fly well when I’m not shaking like a leaf. I think I’m going to bruise.” He looked at his body ruefully. He was SURE he was going to bruise.

“You can’t do something to stop that? The blue eyed boy demanded.

Harry sighed, trying not to lose his temper. “I could, but that would require wasting provisions I might need later. I don’t need it yet. I’m used to pain.” He closed his eyes to keep the shadow from creeping over them.

Silence greeted this statement.. “How do we know you’re not going to try flying away?”

Harry felt his hold on his temper fray and he shoved the trunk at the blue eyed teen. “Everything precious to me is in that box.” He snapped. “The pictures of my parents and friends, my potions, my favorite book. Everything important is in that box. Keep it as collateral. I WILL come back for it.” He paused. “…and I’ll need someone to go with me anyway.”

“Why?” The braided teen demanded.

Harry sighed. “Because I’m weak as a kitten and I don’t want to fall from 20 feet onto the ground. I hurt enough falling into the water.”

“I’ll…” The braided teen began.

“Duo, NO.” The blue eyed boy snarled at the same time.

“I’ll go.” The Asian’s voice was as cold as his dark eyes. There was something challenging in his gaze. “No use risking the rest of you.”

The blond opened his mouth, obviously upset by the slight bitter note in the black eyed boy’s words, but then closed it again as the green eyed boy touched his arm.

Harry nodded and stood slowly, swaying on his feet. An arm snaked around his waist and he found himself pressed against the Asian’s chest. Harry paused for a long moment before turning slightly and slipping the broomstick between both his legs and the Asian’s. “Hold onto me carefully.” Harry warned. “And lean forward. I don’t want you to fall off the end.”

The arm around his waist tightened considerably and Harry felt relief when the broom raised into the air and he didn’t automatically fall off. He heard gasps and shot toward the open door. His initial reaction when he reached the open air was to keep it slow and simple, do a few laps around the house and drop back down. He could hear the teen behind him draw in a sharp breath and he didn’t want to alarm the muggle on the back of his broom.

The wind, even on his half naked and blanket clad body felt like heaven. It had been months since Harry had gotten a chance to fly recreationally, and he could feel his spirits lifting. The arm around his waist loosened ever so slightly and the muggle behind him no longer sounded panicked. “Do you think you can go a little faster?!” The muggle demanded.

Harry found himself laughing as he turned the firebolt and shot high into the sky. It took all of his concentration to keep the broom steady with the extra weight on the back, and he didn’t trust himself to try any large dives, but he shot through the air with all of the speed of the Firebolt series, turning in midair to cut through the late summer air on the way down. He could see the infamous lake on the other side of some trees as they made their way down to the others, who had crowded around outside.

Harry cursed as he landed and sent both himself and the muggle to the ground. “Bloody…sorry!” Harry said quickly. He turned to make sure that his passenger was all right and met the black eyes of the Asian, their legs intertwined from the fall.

“You CAN fly.” He said slowly, his eyes wide. They narrowed slightly. “Who ARE you?!”

Harry let out a long breath and ran a hand through his hair. “I told you.” He said evenly. “My name is Harry Potter…and I came to ask for your help.”