Eternal Flame

Disclaimer: I don\'t own the G Boys, I just borrow them from time to time and return them a whole lot happier ne? :) I do however own Shane, Paul, Colin, Mickey, Benny, Toby, Fayah and any other unfamiliar characters that crop up. I also own the plot if you can call it that.

Rating: NC 17

Warnings: Sap, angst, OC, Lemon, Lime, abuse, violence, language.

Pairings: 1x2x1, 3x4x3, 5xS, OC x OC and maybe some more... check each part to be sure ;)

Archive: http://gundam-wing-diaries.150m.com
http://sweetlysour.net
http://www.adultfanfictiet
et
http://www.theforsakenwk.com/

Status: Work in progress.

Beta: DBZVelena, Ryouga and Yami Tai... *huggles*

Author: ShenLong

Authors notes: *sigh* Well here I am again caving into pressure. I know it has taken a while to get to this and for that I apologize but I could not come up with a plot I deemed worthy enough.... until now. This is yet another sequel... this time to United Hearts. I did promise I would write the wedding for you all and I intend to do that. For those that haven\'t read United or Lost Souls I recommend that you do, otherwise this sequel will not make much sense. All of your favorite characters are back and up to as much mischief as possible.
This is set fourteen months after the end of United and all the children are older now. The Gundam Pilots are all 20yrs, Shane and Fayah are 16, Paul is 15, Colin is 14, Mickey is 12, Benny is 10 1/2 and not forgetting that little rascal Toby who is 10.
Thank you to all those who supported me through the writing of United, I hope you enjoy this just as much.


\"Eternal Flame\"

Started April 2003. ShenLong

Chapter 40

Zodiac and the carrier continued their flight towards Earth; the prisoners were all well behaved which pleased Howard as he really didn\'t want to deal with much more than he already had on his plate. Grant wouldn\'t cause them any trouble for a while either. Besides Trowa\'s \'sleeper\' tactics the medic had also administered a large dose of sedative, one that was sure to keep the man out of it until they had landed safely.

On board the carrier ship Wufei and Quatre had also eaten and were playing a game of chess to while away the time. Neither of them was particularly sleepy and with the ship on auto pilot there wasn\'t much for them to do. Quatre hated being bored and without his lover there to distract him from his boredom, Quatre had found himself pacing.

Wufei hadn trn trying to meditate but gave up as the blonde steadily wore a path into the floor of the ship. In exasperation he\'d raided the crew\'s social room and found a chess board and pieces, bringing his prize back to the bridge and challenging Quatre to a game. They were now on their fifth game, Quatre having won one and Wufei, three.

With all the different crew members of the other two ships busy with their various assigned tasks, no one noticed the mother ship adjust course slightly and by the time they might have noticed she had fallen too far behind for them to detect any change of flight path. Heero had been counting on the lack of speed of the ship to play a part in his plan; so far he\'d been lucky. He checked over the console, confirmed the flight path and then feeling quite smug, went in search of his lover and a few hours sleep.

~ * ~

Sally entered the Preventer hospital building and was immediately escorted to the administrator\'s office. She looked over the outlined plan for the treatment of the casualties, made a couple of small changes and then approved the proposed course of action. With her Preventer duties out of the way for the moment, she took command of one of the doctors offices to call Doctor Stokes. The call connected and she spoke to a young nurse, explaining who she was and that she wished to speak with the young doctor. The nurse put her on hold while she paged the doctor and Sally listened to the boringic pic play in her ear. She made a mental note to check the music used at the Preventer hospital and put it on the list of priorities for upgrade if it was anything as bad as this! If you weren\'t ill before hand, by the time you came off hold you would be more than ready for the psyche ward.

Fortunately for Sally the doctor responded pretty quickly.

\"Doctor Stokes here.\"

\"Ah, Doctor Stokes, it\'s Doctor Sally Po-Chang. You treated a young man by the name of Leith Martins for burns, fractures and lacerations a few weeks ago. He was left paralyzed from the waist down but your tests showed it would more than likely only be temporary paralysis.\"

\"Martins... Martins..… Ah, yes. I remember, young man with long reddish hair. He was accompanied by a couple of Preventer agents and another young Asian boy.\"

\"Yes, Doctor Stokes, that\'s him.\"

\"How is he progressing, Doctor Po-Chang?\"

\"That\'s why I\'m calling you. He said h get getting some tingling in his toes so I think it would be an idea for you to see him again and run some more tests, see if the swelling to the spinal cord is receding.\"

\"That\'s great news! By all means bring him in, I\'d love to see how he\'s doing and see what\'s happening in relation to the swelling. Bear with me one moment while I head back to my office and see when I can fit him in.\"

\"You dare put me back on hold with that god awful music, Stokes, and I promise you I\'ll have your hide,\" Sally growled.

Doctor Stokes laughed. \"Don\'t worry, I won\'t subject you to that. It\'s really terrible, isn\'t it.\" It was a statement not a question.

\"Who ever is responsible for your music selection ought to be condemned.\"

\"Look, hold on a sec and I\'ll get thall all transferred to my office and get the secretary to keep you on line until I get there. It shouldn\'t be more than a couple of minutes.\"

\"Thank you, Doctor Stokes.\"

Sally\'s call was soon transferred and she found herself chatting to Doctor Stokes\' secretary, a lovely lady by the name of Sylvia. It was certainly much more pleasant than listening to the mind numbing music. All too soon Doctor Stokes was back and took charge of the call.

\"It would be beneficial to see the young man as soon as possible,\" he said as he flipped open his appointment diary.

Sally waited patiently while he checked his schedule, hoping he could fit Leith in pretty soon.

\"I\'m here at the hospital from eight tomorrow morning and once I\'ve done my rounds, which shouldn\'t take long, I can squeeze him in. Can you get him here for say... eight thirty?\"

Sally did a quick mental calculation. The ships were due back somewhere mid morning tomorrow. \"I should be able to make that okay, I will let you know though I have to attend to some Preventer business so may need to leave for a while, but as long as that isn\'t going to be a problem then I\'ll have him there for eight thirty.\"

\"No problem at all, Doctor. I\'ll expect you at eight thirty then. Just bring him directly to my consulting rooms on the second floor and I\'ll have all the tests scheduled from there. If you need to leave then that\'s fine, I can talk to you about thegnosgnosis and test results when you return.\"

\"Thank you, Doctor Stokes. I really do appreciate this.\"

\"No problem. I\'ll see you tomorrow. Good-bye.\"

\"Good-bye.\" Sally disconnected with a smile. Now all she had to do was let Une know the appointment time as well as Leith and Paul and see if Une had any indication of the ETA for the ships and casualties. Wishing she had a cup of coffee but promising herself one immediately after she\'d finished her calls she rang Paul and Leith first.

~ * ~

Paul answered the summons of the \'phone and after speaking with his foster mothent bnt back to sit with Leith and tell him the news.

Leith looked up eagerly as Paul came back into the room, a broad smile on his face. \"What\'s the news?\"

\"Sally\'s got yer an appointment wiv the doc tomorra at half eight in the mornin\'. They\'re gonna do some more tests an\' see what\'s going on wiv yer back.\"

\"That\'s great,\" Leith sighed. He noticed that Paul still had a big smile on his face, bigger than what was warranted for the news he\'d just imparted. \"Paul? Is there something else?\"

\"Yeah, there is.\" Paul leaned close, his eyes shining. \"Sally said ta tell yer that yer dad should be back sometime tomorra as well. Once he\'s back he\'s gonna be transferred ta the same hospital that yer gonna be at.\"

Leith lay there for a moment as the news sank in. \"Dad\'s going to be back tomorrow? He\'ll be at the hospital?\" he whispered, unable to believe that finally something good was happening in his life; well, other than Paul that was.

\"Yup. Sally seems ta think that by the time all yer tests and stuff are done yer dad should be there. She\'s gonna keep a check on what\'s happenin\' and let us know as soon as he gets there. She said if everythin\' was okay she\'d take yer ta see him.\"

Leith felt the tears begin to well in his eyes but he was powerless to stop them. They spilled over and ran down his cheeks in small rivers. Paul leant in close and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, stroking the long hair and murmuring soothing words into his ear.

Leith let his emotions run their course, feeling much better at having released the tide he\'d held in check for so long now. His tears slowed and he gently pulled away from Paul, muttering his thanks as he did so. A box of tissues found its way under his nose and he gratefully took a wad, wiping his eyes and then blowing his nose.

\"Feel better?\"

\"Yeah, thanks. Sorry about that, Paul. I guess everything just caught up with me.\"

\"It\'s okay, Leith. Yer don\'t hafta apologize.\"

They sat together for a while longer before Paul decided it was time to get something to eat and left Leith to his thoughts while he went and prepared them a snack.

~ * ~

Duo wasn\'t sure just how long they had slept for, but Heero wasn\'t in the bed with him when he woke up. The bed was still warm though so Heero hadn\'t been gone for long. Duo yawned and stretched, his shoulder reminding him not to push it too much and then swung his legs to the side of the bed and stood up. He grabbed his jeans and pulled them on, smoothed out as much of his messy braid as he could and then went in search of his missing lover. He found him on the bridge.

Heero looked up as Duo entered the bridge. He gave a smile at the sleepy form. \"Have a nice rest?\"

\"Yeah.\" Duo rubbed his eyes and strolled over to sit in Heero\'s lap. \"How long were we out fer?\"

\"Ten hours.\"

\"Shit! That long?\"

Heero chuckled. \"Well, it\'s not as if we\'re on a schedule here.\"

\"I know,\" Duo laughed. \"Guess I\'m just not used ta sleepin\' fer so long. Musta really needed it, hey?\"

Heero gave him a kiss. \"I\'d say we did.\"

Duo glanced at the control panel for a moment then a crease began to form between his eyebrows. \"Heero?\"

Heero swallowed. He had an idea of what was coming. \"Hai?\" he replied, his voice innocent.

\"I know yer a whiz with the electronic shit an\' all but these constellations don\'t seem ta be in the right place.\"

\"Pardon?\" Heero thought he would play dumb for the moment.

\"Look, if we\'re heading back ta Earth then these constellations should be over here, not here.\"

\"You sure?\"

Duo snorted. \"Yuy, yer ferget I was a Gundam pilot too? I think I knows my stellar maps.\"

Heero frowned. \"Really?\" he said and looked at the screen, mock surprise on his face.

The light dawned in Duo\'s head. \"Yuy?\" he growled. \"Yer up ta something.\"

\"I am?\"

Duo leaned in close and licked along Heero\'s bottom lip. \"I think it\'s about time yer spilled and tell me what\'s goin\' on. We get a new mission or somethin\'?\"

\"No.\"

\"Then what the hell is going on?\" Duo was beginning to get a little frustrated. He turned back to the navigation screen and studied it carefully, his mind ticking over as he registered the stars locations and other features for guidance.

\"I\'m making a little detour.\"

\"A little detour? Does Une know \'bout this?\"

\"No.\"

\"Well fuck me.\"

\"I\'d love to but I don\'t think I\'m in much shape for it right now,\" returned Heero with a smirk.

Duo gave him a *look* \"Heero Yuy, Mr. Perfect Agent is doin\' somethin\' sneaky behind the big bosses\'s back. Ohhh... this is kinda scary.\"

Heero simply gave a grunt.

\"So yer gonna fill me in or not?\"

\"No.\"

Duo looked suitably offended. \"Why not?\"

\"Duo, just trust me for once. Don\'t ask questions, just shut up and wait. All will be revealed once we get there, all right?\"

Duo didn\'t look too happy, in fact he looked downright pissed off but Heero wasn\'t going to budge on this one. Duo stared at the navigation system again and began to work things out. From what he could tell they weren\'t that far off the course for Earth, in fact it looked like they were heading for one of the Colonies... or rather L2 to be specific.

Duo\'s eyebrow quirked. / Why the hell would Heero want to go to L2? / He looked at his lover again, noting the determined set of the jaw. Once Heero was like that Duo knew there was nothing he could do to make the man tell him anything. Duo sighed. It looked like they would arrive at their destination in a couple of hours.

\"Well, if yer not gonna tell me anythin\' I\'m gonna go find somethin\' ta eat.\" Duo climbed off his lover\'s lap and went in search of the galley and sustenance. Heero watched him go. Despite his partner\'s obviouff wff with him he knew once they arrived and his plan was revealed, Duo would forgive him completely. Well, at least he hoped he would.

~ * ~

Sally contacted Une and made the final arrangements. There was still no word from the Zodiac so Une gathered they must have yet to reach a window where the signal could get through. She promised to call Sally as soon as she had any word from either ship.

Sally finished off the last bits she had to do at the Preventer hospital and with a tired rub at her temples, decided to call it a day and head home to the boShe She exited the building and got into her car, traversing the familiar streets. She called in at the local burger place on her way back to the apartment, she really didn\'t feel like cooking but they needed to eat and the occasional bite of junk food wasn\'t going to kill them; although the pickles might. Sally hated pickles with a passion.

One trip through the drive through later and Sally was once more on her way, the aroma of fries and beef wafting through the car and reminding her stomach of how long it had been since it was last fed. Ten minutes later she was pulling into the apartment block car park. She quickly got out and juggled her bag, the paper bag with the food in it and the small cardboard tray holding the drinks as she locked the car before walking to the elevator.

By the time she reached the apartment she\'d only managed to spill a little of one of the sodas. No mean feat when you considered the way she was carrying everything. Paul opened the door for her and quickly relieved her of the burger bag and sodas. Between the two of them they carried Leith out into the lounge room for a change of scenery and sat to enjoy their meal. Whilst eating Sally quizzed the pair on Leith\'s returning feeling.

\"When did you first notice the tingling?\" she asked as swallowed a bite of the chicken burger.

\"This morning when Paul brought breakfast in,\" Leith replied but didn\'t look at the woman.

\"Ahhh. Have you tried moving your toes?\"

\"Yes, I tried but there wasn\'t any real response, just the tingling.\"

\"I went ta help him up in the bed a bit an\' that\'s when he said he could feel the tingling,\" Paul added for good measure. Hopefully Sally wouldn\'t press for too many more details.

\"The tingling, is it like pins and needles?\"

\"Sort of.\" Leith took another bite of his burger.

Sally finished her food, put the trash in the bin and returned to the lounge where she knelt by Leith\'s feet. \"I just want to try a couple of things, Leith. Might make it a bit easier for Doctor Stokes tomorrow.\"

\"Okay.\"

Sally lifted Leith\'s left foot and pinched the big toe between her thumb and finger. \"Can you feel that?\"

\"A little. It\'s sort of like a bit of pressure, nothing else though.\"

Carey Say Sally worked her way over Leith\'s left foot, ankle and calf. Then she switched to his right foot and repeated the actions, noting down Leith\'s reactions to the various stimuli. When she had finished she went to the bathroom and washed her hands before returning with her thoughts.

Paul and Leith waited expectantly for her. \"So, what do yer think, Sally?\" Paul asked, comfortable now that the discussion had moved away from the \'how did they find out\' to the \'is the feeling returning?\'

\"From what I\'ve observed with the minimal tests I\'ve just done I\'d say that the nerves are starting to return to normal.\"

\"Yes!\" Paul punched the air.

\"However.\" Sally looked at the pair. \"How much feeling will return and how long it will take can only be determined by tests, tests which I\'m sure Doctor Stokes will be running tomorrow.\"

\"I\'ll be happy if I can walk again,\" said Leith quietly.

Sally smiled at him. \"I\'m sure that the results will show in a positive light, Leith,\" she said quietly. Given her knowledge and the examination she\'d just done it all pointed towards a complete recovery. The tests hopefully would confirm that. \"Who\'s up for a hot chocolate?\"

\"Yes, please!\" both boys echoed.

Sally laughed and went to the kitchen to make the drinks, returning a few minutes later and settling in the large armchair to watch a movie with the boys.

~ * ~

The mother ship continued to make its way through space, drawing ever closer to the Colony known as L2. Heero re-checked the navigation while Duo was busy feeding himself, the long haired man shooting small glares of irritation his way from time to time. Despite the looks, Heero refused to give an inch. He knew Duo wasn\'t happy with him but he was pretty sure that Duo would change his mind once Heero got him to where it was he wanted him.

Duo tried everything he could to get Heero to spill. He pouted, glared, tried the puppy eyes, even the seductive body language but the stoic pilot refused to speak a word of his intentions. Duo hated secrets; secrets were what could get you killed... or at least they use to. He finished his meal and tossed the empty food carton to the side, still sending glares in Heero\'s direction from time to time. He tried to get into the data base at one stage to see what Heero had programmed in there but all he got was the flight plan to L2 and then the plan from L2 to the Phoenix base on Earth. Either Heero hadn\'t fed the information in or he had one hell of a security blanket in place to prevent Duo from finding out what he was up to. Still pissed at his lover, Duo decided to take a walk around the ship to try to work off some of his frustration with physical exercise and not the \'beat-the-crap-outta-Yuy\' exercise that he really wanted to do.

Heero watched him leave and then turned back to the console. He smiled to himself as he hooked his laptop up and began to type.

Duo wandered the corridors of the ship for a good hour and a half, attempting to cool off as well as figure out just what Heero was up to. His mind ran in circles, always coming back to the same end. He didn\'t have a clue! A slight change in the ship\'s engines warned him that something was going on so he hastily made his way back to the bridge. When he got there he found Heero in contact with the flight controller of the L2 space port. Giving his lover another *look* he sat himself down and buckled the belt across his lap. It was obvious that they were about to dock.

Heero followed the guidance systems and instructions the controller relayed to him and five minutes later they had docked safely. He powered down the engines, checked the systems and then shut the craft down to standby mode. He unclipped his belt and stood up. Turning to Duo he quirked an eyebrow. \"You coming?\"

Now Duo could have answered that question with several different lines but opted not to. Instead he gave a curt nod. As pissed off as he was his curiosity was too much for him and he just had to know what Heero was up to. He unbuckled himself and followed his lover out of the bridge and exited the craft through the main hatchway.

Minutes later they were out of the port and walking along the sidewalk in one of the more affluent sections of L2. Duo had been here before, but not often. His main haunts had been on the other side of the Colony, the side that most wanted to or pretended didn\'t exist. His eyes wandered around, taking in the changes that had occurred since his last time here. There wasn\'t a great deal of improvement, but Duo could see the signs that things were slowly changing for the better.

They walked for several blocks before Heero stopped. \"I need to pop in here for a moment, Duo.\"

Duo looked at the shop. It was a jewelers. \"What yer going in there fer, Heero?\" Duo was clearly puzzled.

\"I promised to pick up something for Shane,\" Heero lied. He didn\'t want to lie but then again he didn\'t wans sus surprise ruined either. \"I won\'t be a sec.\" Heero disappeared inside the building leaving an even more puzzled Duo standing outside. True to his word, he was back out again within a matter of a couple of minutes.

Duo frowned at him. \"What was it yer had ta get?\"

\"Just something Shane spotted in a magazine that he wanted to get for Fayah. I thought I\'d stop and pick it up for him.\"

Duo didn\'t buy it for one second. \"Heero? I\'m not thick yanno. Now either yer tell me what\'s going on or I\'m headin back ta the port and callin\' up the guys.\"

Heero turned his cobalt eyes to his lover. \"Please, Duo. Just trust me for a few more minutes. Don\'t ask any questions just come with me and you\'ll find exacexactly what\'s going on.\"

Duo folded his arms across his chest as he weighed up Heero\'s words. He saw the look of desperation in Heero\'s eyes and caved. \"Okay,\" he sighed.

Heero\'s smile was a dazzling one and he turned around. \"Come on, it\'s just a couple more blocks down this way.\" Then he began to walk again.

Duo nearly had to jog to keep up with him. Curiously he glanced at Heero from the corner of his eye. Heero was looking... smug? So intent on figuring out his lover, Duo didn\'t take much notice of the building that Heero suddenly pulled him into. One minute they were on the street, the next inside a foyer and heading for an elevator. Duo stuck to his promise and didn\'t ask, even though his tongue was desperate to speak.

The doors opened and Heero stepped out, leading Duo by the elbow and along the corridor. At the end he paused for a moment, gave Duo a smile then opened the white doors and pushed Duo inside, following right behind.

Duo stood and stared around him. They were standing in some sort of waiting room. There was a desk to one side with the usual office items on it as well as a huge flower arrangement. Opposite the desk were a few chairs and to the left of the chairs another set of doors. These though were currently closed. With their entry so a young woman came out through the door behind the desk. \"Can I help you?\" she asked politely.

Heero stepped over to the desk. \"I have an appointment with Father O\'Brien. Yuy, Heero Yuy.\"

/ Father O\'Brien? / Duo thought. / Who the hell is Father O\'Brien? And more to the point, what did Heero want with a priest? /

\"Ah, yes, Mr. Yuy. Father O\'Brien is expecting you. If you would care to follow me I will take you straight through to meet him.\"

\"Arigato.\" Heero turned and once more placing a hand on Duo\'s elbow he steered them both to follow the woman through the doors and into the room beyond.

Duo\'s eyes were as wide as saucers as he stepped through into what he could only describe as being a chapel. It was tiny though, room for only half a dozen pews, three each side of the aisle and a small altar at the end. By the altar stood a priest, a priest they were now walking towards.

The priest turned around as he heard them enter and a smile lit up his face.

Duo suddenly felt light headed as his brain kicked in and he realized where he was. He dug Heero in the ribs and leaned close. \"Yuy, this is a fucking registry office,\" he hissed into his partner\'s ear.

\"No shit!\" Heero hissed back.

\"But...\"

\"Ahh, Mr. Yuy. It\'s a pleasure to finally meet you,\" the priest stated as he reached out to shake Heero\'s hand. Then he turned his eyes to Duo and gave an approving smile. \"And this must be Duo Maxwell, the one you\'re here to join with in matrimony.\"

~ * ~

tbc....