Alone

DISCLAIMER: Nothing's mine. If it's yours... You're So Lucky!!!

AN: La la la... thanks for the reviews! They make me happy! Happy me writes lots more! (This is a blatant hint...)

CHAPTER SIX


Duo and Heero stood close together for a moment, just holding the unconscious boy in their arms. Both of them wished hard they could pour their strength into the small exhausted body they pressed close to their hearts. Heero forced himself to pull away from the sweet hug and lifted Wufei easily, cradling him like a child against his chest. Duo reach out a hand and brushed a few wisps that had escaped the makeshift ponytail out of ‘Fei’s face.

“He’s thin.”

“Very.” Heero agreed. He *could* have been cradling a child in his arms.

“No fever, though.”

“That’s good.”

“Yes.” Duo’s slim fingers traced a sharp cheekbone. “Should we check him for injuries?”

“Let’s get him back to that camp first. Call Trowa.”

Duo took the communicator from his belt and spoke softly into it. “T? Package acquired.”

“D?” The static voice replied, relief plainly audible even over the tiny speaker. “Good. Next phase?”

“Meet at the country club.”

“Roger.”

A new voice cut in. “D? Q. Package condition?”

“Full unknown. Suspect... poor.”

“Aware?”

“Was.”

“Roger. Out.” The communicator went silent. Duo exchanged a glance with Heero, and they both struck out through the undergrowth again, Duo going first and careful not to let wayward branches and leaves strike against either of the boys behind him. They deliberately avoided any paths, and got to the ‘country club’ camp much later than the other two. Wufei hadn’t stirred once, which caused them no small amount of concern. It was afternoon when they appeared in the campsite, and Trowa and Quatre shot to their feet. The other agent was nowhere in sight.

“He’s off on recon. Blundering about like a buffalo.” Quatre said, as he spread a blanket for Heero to lay his precious burden on. They all got their first really good look at Wufei in the clear sunlight, and all four faces were grim. Wufei’s own face was pale, heavy dark circles under his eyes, cheeks hollow and skin tight across his bones. They saw just how thin he was, and their hearts ached. Quatre slid to his knees next to him and started running practiced hands over his friend, checking arms and legs first for injuries, then moving on to his torso.

When he reached the left side of his ribcage Wufei moaned, and slender hands shoved at his without the Chinese boy waking up. Quatre eased the ragged shirt up to find three things they hadn’t known. First, Wufei was injured. His torso was wrapped in strips of dirty gray fabric, and the skin they could see was dark with bruises. Second, that he was beautifully muscled - they’d never seen him without at least the blue tank top. His body was sculpted with lean, ropy muscles that made him whipcord beautiful instead of bulky. Third... Wufei had a tattoo. They couldn’t quite tell what it was - bruising and dirt hid details from them. A snake, maybe, curled around his bellybutton and wrapped around his right side to his back.

“I didn’t know he had that.” Quatre stated the obvious as he flicked out a knife and quickly sliced away the bandages. They were tied on in some intricate fashion that he was unwilling to waste the time to puzzle out. Besides, he’d never wrap his friend back up in these disgustingly dirty things. The ribs revealed were achingly visible, the left side blue and swollen. A shallow bullet wound, little more than a graze, was burned along the top of his right side. It was at least a week old, perhaps more, caked with dried blood and looked slightly infected. Trowa turned to the supplies, came back with several bottles of distilled water and some clean cloths.

Quatre poured water onto one cloth, then lay it gently over the bloody wound. As soon as his hands were empty Trowa had them full of disinfectant wipes, and had turned away to start heating the rest of the water. Heero and Duo, knowing they weren’t needed, just crouched on their heels to watch as their friends took care of Wufei, wiping away the dirt and grime, gently loosening the dried blood and cleaning out the gash revealed. Quatre put on a tidy bandage while Trowa spread some ointment carefully over the swollen ribs on the other side, then Quatre wrapped him neatly back up in shining white gauze.

“Sally would be so proud of you two.” Duo said jokingly, reaching out a careful finger to stroke the edge of the tattoo. There was still too much yellow, purple and red bruising on ‘Fei’s stomach and sides to see what it really was.

Heero snorted with laughter at the last remark. “Sally would be fussing about limited gear and primitive conditions.”

“Too true.” Quatre giggled. A sudden crashing in the bushes brought them all to alert status, even Wufei, who blinked open hazy black eyes to stare around, then struggled to sit upright. Quatre put a hand on his shoulder to hold him down even as his other hand pulled out a gun, aiming it toward the bit of jungle that seemed about to explode with a dozen attackers.

A moment later and their former companion burst into sight, panting hard, little bits of twigs and leaves stuck all over him. “Oh, hello again!” He greeted Duo and Heero, brushing at his arms. “I got lost on the way back, ha ha!” His eyes fell on the blanket and turned cold. “Chang.” He said shortly, the sneer well on its way to finding its home again.

Wufei stared at him. “Osborne.” His voice was thin, tired. “How’d they get *you* out here?” Quatre nearly giggled. He hadn’t changed that much. Such a people person, their Wufei.

Osborne took offense. “Someone had to come out and finish *your* mission. You hadn’t contacted us in weeks.”

“Told you... radio was malfunctioning. Anyway... mission complete...” He trailed off, glanced around until he saw all four of the others were there, and closed his eyes again, relaxing back onto the blanket. Quatre got to his feet and went to help Trowa, who was packing away the medical supplies neatly. Duo and Heero took it upon themselves to settle on the edge of the blanket, between Wufei and Osborne. Trowa nudged his partner and jerked his head toward them. Quatre peeked and gave him a tiny smile.

“Knew it.” He whispered, and Trowa nodded.

Osborne continued to glare at as much of Wufei as he could see. “I can’t believe you really need him for a mission. What kind of expertise could *he* possibly have? Major Hernbeck says he barely makes it through his missions alive. If he wasn’t a pilot, he says they’d have let him go a long time ago. You know he’s gay, right?”

That got a reaction. The four pilots gaped at him.

“How - how do you know that?” Duo managed to keep the agonized hope out of his voice by the barest margin. Heero’s hands clutched the blanket so hard his knuckles turned white.

“Or at least bisexual. That’s what came out in his latest psych report.” Osborne nodded his head as if agreeing to some statement.

“Oh?” Quatre spoke up, his voice cool. “Your psych shares test results with everyone?” The other three kept their faces carefully bland as they waited for the response.

“No, of course not. But Major Hernbeck...” Four people were getting heartily sick of that name. “He thought we should know. In case Chang came onto someone who wasn’t interested, so they wouldn’t be afraid to report a Gundam pilot and he could take disciplinary action.”

“And did he?” Heero’s voice was supremely uninterested.

“No.” Osborne sounded almost regretful. “At least, not yet. But he’s gone a lot.”

“On missions.”

“No.” Osborne disagreed with Duo. “The Major doesn’t send him on many missions, since he doesn’t follow orders properly. Tillman - that’s the Major’s PA, he says Chang uses his war status to take extra leave. Just a lazy bugger.” He snorted with laughter, and Duo nearly gave up the charade. He started to his feet to punch the sniggering man’s nose down his throat, and only Heero’s quick, calming hand kept him in his place. Duo jerked around to glare at him, and he put a careful finger on his communicator. It was open and recording. Duo blinked, then stared over at Quatre and Trowa. They caught his look, followed his gaze to the little red light on the black box.

~Keep him talking. The more evidence, the better.~

“So - the Major told you Chang is just a lazy homosexual?” Quatre said, not even looking at Osborne. “Funny, he didn’t strike me that way during the war.”

The other agent snorted. “He was probably just smart enough to hide it. No way would they have let a gay guy pilot a Gundam. That’s a *man’s* job.” He puffed his chest up importantly, as if he would have been the one chosen if Wufei had been found out. Duo very nearly lost it - the Doctors had known full well of his own inclinations, and they had never been an issue. He was nearly overcome with mirth at the thought of this pompous windbag finding out that every man in the clearing with him preferred other men. He’d probably have a heart attack.