Live Without You?

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shadowdragon58

Mikinyet

fyer

Kari Tamayori

eternalbright

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The mission had been a success. They had destroyed the Oz out-post and all the soldiers therein. That had been their mission. The building was gone, the troops were gone, that sicko Valin was gone, Heero was Alive. Heero. Was. Alive! He’d been taken from the raging inferno that had been his prisoner for months. It was now a smoking pile of rubble and he was safe…at least Duo hoped so.

*Heero is alive!!! I can’t believe this…I feel like…I can’t even…how? Oh gods look at him!! He’s so thin, he’s like a wounded bird. They fucked him over good…I think his cheek is broken…he’s been tortured, months of torture. How did he survive!? What if he dies because I can’t take him to a hospital!!* All these thoughts and more ran through Duo’s mind as the watched his lost love sleep. He hadn’t moved for three days. He simply lay in the bed they placed him in, his dirty naked frame covered to the waist with blankets, his harsh, rattling breath the only thing that attested to his continuing life. They were in enemy controlled territory and the heat was on them for destroying the compound. They couldn’t leave yet to a safe house that wasn’t a shithole, like the one they were in now, and couldn’t get medical supplies beyond what they had taken with them to do the mission. The power didn’t work half the time because of flooding in the basement, the roof leaked, they were all miserable and tense. They patrolled the perimeter of the house under the pretense of ‘cleaning up’ the dilapidated old building. *We can’t stay here this place is fucking condemned.* Had been Duo’s first thought on seeing the building, but they didn’t have neighbors and the location was secure.
Duo began to cry again, his eyes misting over as he looked at the boy he cherished. Bruises covered his entire body, his ribs were broken, cuts and gashes littered his frame. Duo cursed the god that gave humans a ribcage. *Damn thing is always the first thing to get broken! Hurts like hell and takes too long to heal! It really doesn’t make any sense to build something like that. Armadillo plating…now that would work.* He thought remembering the first time he’d seen the little gray, scaly creature. He’d nearly jumped out of his skin and had run in the other direction screaming when it had “jumped out of the bushes and attacked like a Virgo mobile-doll from Hell!” as he put it. *Damn things are tougher than Hell!* Why he was thinking about armadillos he didn’t know, but after three days of almost nonstop worrying over Heero, wondering weather he was going to die from internal wounds while he looked on, his mind kinda went off on it’s own while his heart bleed. *His hair is long…* He noted for the thousandth time. He started to sob. The once short chocolate-brown, sleep tousled haired now hung to his bony shoulders in matted, lanky strands.
Warm arms wrapped around Duo tightly from behind.

“I’ll watch him you get some sleep okay.” Wufei’s soft voice said as he held his lover.

“Wufei his hair is long!” Duo cried harder. He hated it! Hated it with every fiber of his being. It seemed to speak volumes to the time they’d lost, all the time they’d been apart. Just too much time. It was a glaring testament to the fact the Duo had failed his love in so many ways.

“I’ll be fine.” Duo said in reply after he gathered his emotions back together.

“I’ll sit with you.” Wufei offered and Duo nodded. Wufei snuggled Duo against his shoulder as he sat on the arm of the tattered chair they shared.

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Awareness came back slowly and the first thing he noticed was that he was someplace soft and warm. *Bed.* His mind placed. As soon as this revelation hit him, panic welled up in his chest and he scrabbled backwards with a moan of fear, wedging himself against the wall that the bed sat by. He lay pressed there for a moment waiting for blows to rain down upon him. When none came he slowly cracked his eyes to stare around him. The room was bright and the sunlight burned his eyes. He wasn’t alone as he’d first thought, four pairs of eyes sat watching him worriedly.

“Hey its alright ‘Ro.” A longhaired boy said in a soft voice. He was the one who’d killed his Master.

*You killed him. You killed my Master. Now I’ll die.* he thought to himself almost sad, *I was supposed to stay alive, but without Master I’ll die.* The longhaired boy stood from the chair he was in and moved slowly to the bed where Wings lay. Wings felt his panic rising rapidly as he looked at the young men around the room. They seemed to be hard and lethal and deadly, despite the softness in their eyes when they looked at him. *They…they’re soldiers!* He realized and shivered uncontrollable. *NonononoNONONONO!!* He screamed silently in his mind as the youth approached him. A low animal-like moan of fear breathed from his battered body as he curled himself into a tight ball again. The youth had taken his long braid over his shoulder and began to unravel it. Wings turned his face to the wall, bracing himself for the pain of what was about to happen, what always happened.
A gentle hand rested against his back and Wings flinched, crying out. He felt the young man lean closer to him and the heavy curtain of hair surrounded him. A tender kiss was laid on the top of his bony shoulder.

“Oh my poor sweet love. I wish…I wish it had been me.” the boy murmured brokenly. “I’m not going to hurt you. You’re safe now.” He whispered softly. Wings slowly turned to glance up at the person that held him so gently, as though he would break. The young soldier smiled kindly down at him and slowly raised a hand to brush the backs of his knuckles against Wings’ cheek. He pulled away in fear, but the soldier didn’t let him get far.

*Something’s wrong!* Wings felt a niggling feeling in the back of his mind.

“Hold on, hold on. I won’t hurt you.” He promised softly. Wings looked at him again, finally looking into the soldier’s eyes, and gasped in surprise. Glimmering violet gazed down at him in concern and caring. He felt himself start to relax as he peered into the depths above him, felt his tension begin to drain away. “I’m sorry…I feel like should have been able to save you sooner. Like if I’d just looked harder or faster or longer then you would have been safe and this wouldn’t have happened to you.” He began to cry, hot tears spilling over his cheeks and onto Wings unturned face. “I’m so, so sorry love please forgive me.” He begged softly. “My love…I’ll keep you safe.”

*I know him! I know him!! The violet eyes!! And…Love? Does he mean me?* he pondered silently as his breath came out in pants. *I…I don’t know. But this is violet eyes and I…I’m safe, here with him. This is Death, I must have died.* he concluded then looked around the room again. The room was painted a bright, light blue which peeled away in places to reveal an almost neon shade of green. The wall were cracked and filled with holes. The carpet was stained and threadbare in places. The bedroom door didn’t close properly. Condensation gathered on the ceiling. The tiny room was cramped with five people shoved in it. *This…this must be heaven.* he thought because he’d just come from hell. *Something is wrong……I can’t place what…He’s crying still. He must be sad…if he’s not happy he might send me away, he might…* a terrifying thought occurred to Wings just then. *I’m dead…Death killed my Master! He could be here! He could be coming to take me away!! I don’t want to go back with him!!* Wings clutched the front of the violet-eyed Death’s shirt tightly and pressed his face against the strong chest. *Please don’t let him take me away please don’t let him find me!* he silently begged, moaning softly. He turned his head to one side, his nose pressing against his wrist…his naked wrist. His slave cuffs were gone! He lifted a shaking hand to his throat. His collar was gone! He pulled away from Death frantically feeling around his neck as though he could be mistaken, as though he’d missed it.

*It must have fallen off!* he thought desperately and threw back the covers to search for it. *How could it have fallen off?!!* he screamed silently. Whimpering frantically he continued to dig around. *Under the bed!* the epiphany hit him suddenly and with a small surge of hope, he dove forward quickly, pushing away from Death as he tried to keep him still. He’d misjudged the height of the bed and a sharp squeak of pain cut out of his mouth as his wrist snapped. He toppled into a pile on the floor and cradled his injured arm against his body as he desperately scrabbled under the bed, hoping, praying that his fingers curled around the cool press of tattered leather, the jingle of metal tags. There was nothing.
*OHSHITOHSHITOHSHIT!!!* he screamed silently in panic. *He’s going to be pissed! He’s going to be so mad at me! WHY COULDN’T I BE GOOD!!?? Why am I so BAD all the time??* a wail of anguish seeped from him as he began to back himself under the bed. *Maybe I can hide…maybe for a little while. Why am I so bad? Why can’t I be good?* He sobbed brokenly as he slid backwards. *Bad, bad, bad Wings!!* he chastised angrily. *Stupid, bad, worthless, tainted, bad, bad Wings!!* He yelled silently at himself.

“Hey, hey hold on there…” Indigo-eyed Death whispered softly. “Come on out. It’s safe.” Wings shook his head violently and wrapped his arm tighter across his chest, pulling his injured wrist closer. “Did you hurt yourself?” he asked gently. Wings eyes went wide as Death began to wedge himself under the bed. “It’s alright, you stay there, I’ll come to you.” He said reassuringly. “Well this is kinda interesting. I’ve never been under here before.” Death commented good-naturedly. “But wouldn’t you rather be sleeping on top of the bed?” he asked. Wings shivered violently and shook his head. “Well why not?” he asked. Wings shook his head again. “Would you like something to eat?” he asked softly. Wings froze. “How about you come out here with me and I’ll get you some food okay?” he said still soft. “Come on, come on…” Death beckoned his voice rising to a higher pitch and started backing out. Wings felt himself perk up a bit and he moved forward a few inches. Death moved back a bit more and Wings hesitated before following again slowly. “That’s it come on, come on…It’s okay.” He smiled slightly and Wings moved forward even more. *I’m going to get to eat.* he thought excitedly.

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“That’s it come on, come on…It’s okay.” Duo whispered softly, smiling. He heard the soft tread of Trowa entering the room again. He’d left as soon as Duo mentioned the word ‘food’.
Duo felt like shit, talking to Heero like he was an animal, but the tone and pitch were nonthreatening and Heero seemed to be responding to it well. He and Heero wiggled back a bit more. *How fucking big is this bed! Aren’t we out yet!* he bitched silently in frustration. “You can do it just a bit more, come on.” Duo encouraged. “That’s good.” Heero eyes snapped into focus and he froze staring at Duo a moment before moving forward more quickly. “Come on you’re doing good.” Duo said and Heero practically flew from under the bed. *That’s…that’s horrible.* Duo was either going to be sick or cry. “Good.” he said quietly, running a hand through Heero’s hair. He pushed his head against Duo’s hand enthusiastically with a high pitched whine. *Oh gods! He wants me to pet him!* he realized in horror. He pushed down his bile and his tears and ran a shaky hand over Heero’s tangled matted locks. “Lets get you some food okay.” He stated shakily and slowly reached to pick the smaller boy up, who cringed down on the floor slightly looking scared. “Its okay I gottcha.” He assured and set the boy gently onto the bed. For some reason this made him burst into frantic tears. “Don’t cry love, I’ve got you safe now.” He said and brushed a hand gently through the other’s hair. Heero pushed against the touch gently, hoping for more affection. *He’s acting like a dog…I…I wish I hadn’t killed that motherfucker…it should have been done much more slowly.* he thought bitterly. *A fucking DOG!!* He screamed silently. *MY Heero, acting like a fucking DOG!!*
“I swear, I’m going to help you. I’ll do anything I can to help you.” Duo declared his soft voice intense. Heero merely looked at him with large dark eyes. “Hey Heero lets get some food in you okay.” Duo said with mock cheerfulness and brushed away a stray tear.

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“Hey Heero lets get some food in you okay.” Death said smiling and wiped away a tear.

*Heero?…………He…he called me……I’m Heero?* he wondered. A scratchy voice from the past suddenly filled his mind.
// “You will be named after the martyred pacifist colony leady, Heero Yuy.”//
*I’m……I am Heero Yuy………That’s my name!* Wings, NO Heero began to laugh violently. *That’s me! I’m Heero! That’s my name, my name, “My name! I’m Heero! I’m Heero Yuy!! I was named after a dead guy! Haahahaha! I’m Heero Yuy!! That’s me, that’s MY name! I remember!! I remember!!! Haahahaa……” His laughter died off suddenly. “Who the fuck are you people?” He asked confused. He clamped his good hand over his mouth suddenly, his eyes going wide as saucers as he began to shiver violently. He curled himself into a tight ball and rocked back and forth as strong arms encircled him gently. He let out a whimper of fear and began to cry. *Bad, bad Wings! Bad, bad, bad!!* he screamed silently.

“Its okay Heero its okay.” Death tried to comfort him to no avail. “Good Heero, good Heero.” He said softly and rubbed small circles over his back. Wings…Heero…He wasn’t very sure, he was Wings, but he was Heero as well. *I’ll go with Heero, its what he calls me.* Heero stopped crying and carefully wrapped his fingers in Death’s long, gold-tinted locks. “You can talk if you want to.” He said softly. Heero gasped and pulled back to look at the other’s face in shock. “You’re good Heero, you can talk if you want to. I like it when you talk. Understand?” Death said smiling down at him.
Heero nodded slowly, waited a few moments, then tried a hesitant “Yes?…” cringing back when Death raised a hand to his face.
“Good Heero.” He said still smiling and Heero felt himself relax. *I…I did good. He’s happy with me. I was good.* Relief flooded through him in torrents and he pressed Death’s longs hair against his face.
“Let’s get that food okay.” He stated and held a hand out to one of the other boy’s in the room. Heero had completely forgotten about them as they all sat still watching what went on. Heero stared up at the teen with wide, scared eyes. Death took something from him but Heero didn’t really notice.

“Here ya go Heero. Trowa made some soup for you.” Death said and held something towards Heero. It was a travel coffee cup with a lid on it and a wide straw poking out of it. “Drink this.” He instructed. Heero blinked at the cup a moment, blinked up at the teen with his hair covering most of his eye. He felt very confused. He wasn’t sure if ‘Trowa’ was the boy before him or if it was someone else. He didn’t want to get it wrong, he didn’t want to be bad. The boy before him sank fluidly and Heero shrank away in fear.

“Hello Heero, my name is Trowa.” He said his voice soft. He brushed a hand through his hair absently causing in to fall to either side of his face, instead of over just one eye. “I took care of you when you were injured once before.” he said smiling softly. “I used to make you soup then too, although this is just stuff out of a can.” Heero’s eyes glazed over as he recalled a brief moment much like this one when Trowa had indeed feed him soup. He couldn’t even hold the spoon by himself and Trowa had to feed him. Trowa seemed to see the sudden recognition in his eyes, because he smiled a little. “Heero can I see where you got hurt?” He asked still quiet.

*Hurt?* he thought to himself bitterly. He spread out his good arm, threw back his shoulders, and uncurled his legs slightly. Trowa looked at him sadly.

“I know…you got hurt all over.” Trowa said softly. Heero nodded slowly as tears trickled down his face. “Let me see your arm?” He asked. Heero let Trowa take his arm gently in hand as he curled back in on himself, Trowa prodded it a little, but wasn’t rough at all. “Hmm, you defiantly broke your wrist. We have a doctor on the way here to see you. Do you remember Sally?” He asked. Heero shook his head. “Well she’s very nice and she’s going to help you get better, but for now drink your soup okay.” He encouraged. “Duo hand that here would you.” He said. “You sit behind him to help him stay up and I’ll hold the cup if need be.” Violet-eyed Death moved to sit behind him carefully.
*Duo…* he thought that it should ring a bell but it didn’t. Heero pulled a large amount of the heavy hair over his shoulder and clutched it to his chest. Dea…Duo’s arms encircled his waist gently and Heero leaned back onto the other’s shoulder. The scent of lavender and sage drifted over him. *DUO!* His mind screamed. He remembered this suddenly, this smell. Running for days, never stopping for fear that THEY would catch him, finally meeting up with him, warmth spreading over his body, safety dragging him downward toward sleep, lavender and sage soothing away all that hurt him as DUO ran his hands slowly over every inch of Heero’s body, cleaning away all that hurt him.
“Duo…” the name came out as a small gasping sob. “Duo I want a bath.” He whispered softly clinging to the other’s hair.

“Sure thing sweetie, but you need to eat first.” He encouraged. Heero nodded and took the straw that Trowa offered into his mouth. After the first sip of that liquid heaven, nothing would have torn him away from the feast that lay before him. Nothing! In just a few moments the small cup of broth was gone. “Very good.” Duo congratulated. Heero beamed inside.

“I want a bath.” He repeated softly. “Please, like the last time.” He whispered and wrapped Duo’s hair tighter around himself. “I want you to make it all go away.” he cried softly. “Like last time, please.”

“Alright come on, we’ll take a bath together.” Duo assured him and lifted him gently from the bed with a small grunt of pain as his wounded arm was pulled. Just then a pounding knock sounded through the small, ratty apartment.

“Quatre would you let Sally in please.” Trowa prompted.

“Of course, I’d love to.” The blond boy said smiling and pulled a gun out of his vest. Heero remembered the blond usually being very happy.

*Colt M1903 .32 Pocket Hammerless. Single action, eight round mag. Blued finish.* Heero’s mind supplied. [1] He didn’t know how or why he knew that, but he did. Quatre walked leisurely out of the room. Heero could hear the sound of bolts being slid back, chains undone, locks being clicked as the door was opened.

“Hello Quatre, its good to see you again.” a pleasant feminine voice intoned.

“Hi Ms. Po. Thanks for coming so quickly. Sorry about the gun.” Quatre said apologetically as the locks were set back.

“Oh its no problem at all Quatre I understand, believe me. And call me Sally.” she said laughingly and brushed him off as her voice grew closer. A blond haired woman with two twisting braids on either side of her head walked through the open bedroom door. Her breath caught in her throat and her smile faded rapidly as she looked at Heero. “Oh God Heero! What did they do to you!” she exclaimed softly as tears sprang to her eyes. She wiped them away hurriedly.

“Heero this is Sally Po. She’s a doctor.” Duo said still holding Heero against his body.

“Memory loss?” she asked. Duo nodded. “Lets move him into the kitchen, there should be better light out there.” She turned away. “I have to get a few things from the car.”

“I’ll help you move them.” The dark haired boy offered. For some reason whenever Heero looked at the severe youth who kept his hair pulled tightly back from his face, the only thing that came to his mind were black and white dots on a field of brown with black lines connecting them. And he had no idea what it meant. His thoughts were interrupted at Sally’s words.

“Just have him sit on the table Duo.” She instructed. He placed Heero gently onto the garish yellow tabletop, with his legs hanging over the edge. Heero tried not to cry out in agony as pain lanced up his spine. He pushed back the tears that formed in his eyes and threatened to roll down his cheeks, but God it hurt! He gripped the edge of the table tightly with his good hand and pressed the other against the surface as well, uncaring of the pain in his arm. It was just a drop in the bucket. He willed himself to be strong. Sally and the dark-haired boy unpacked various items around the room.
*Duo wants me to sit here, I have to sit still, I have to be good.* He told himself moaning softly in pain.

“Alright Heero I’m going to use an ultrasound to check you for internal damaging. Go ahead and lie down on the table.” Sally said. Duo moved to help him lie back and Heero couldn’t stop the sob that left him as he was tilted back a fraction of an inch. “Duo stop.” She said quickly. “Heero does it hurt to lie back?” she asked. Heero shook his head quickly. “Heero I’m a doctor. I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s wrong. Does it hurt?” she asked again. Heero nodded hesitantly as large tears rolled down his face. “Does it hurt a lot?” she asked. Heero nodded again and sobbed aloud. Duo picked him up from the table quickly and Heero clung to him tightly. “Does it hurt to lie down or just sit?” she asked taping some wires to his body as Duo held him. Heero nodded. Sally chuckled softly. “Yes to which one?” she prompted. Heero nodded again.

“Does it hurt to sit?” Duo asked. Heero nodded his head with a small moan. “Does it hurt to lie down?” Heero shook his head silently. “He’s having a hard time talking really.” Duo said softly and laid Heero back onto the cold tabletop gently. He didn’t like this. He didn’t like being on this cold table. He didn’t want to be tortured anymore.

“Heero toady is Tuesday. Can you remember that for me?” Sally told him as she shone a light into his eyes. Heero nodded. “My favorite color is blue and my cat’s name if Fluffy. Remember that okay.” Heero nodded again. He jumped slightly as something started beeping near his head and the five of them gathered around the table he was laid out on. “This will monitor your heart.” She said as Duo stroked his good hand in reassurance. “This is going to pinch a little.” She warned before Heero felt something jab into his skin. He tried to pull away in fear, but she held him tightly. She secured the needle and plastic tube with a large piece of tape then took his blood pressure, frowning to herself. “Here Wufei, hold this, keep it above his body and apply a steady amount of pressure to it, but not too much.” She commanded handing a clear, fluid filled bag to the black-haired boy. She held a large oval machine over his body and moved it downward slowly, starting at his head. It emitted a faint humming noise, which completely unnerved Heero. “Holy Fucking Christ! Heero how are you still up!” she exclaimed softly to herself.

“So?” Duo asked worriedly as Sally finished moved the ultrasound away.

“Most of his ribs are broken, some in multiple places, his right shoulder is damaged, looks like it’s been dislocated a few too many times. His left wrist is broken, His pelvis is fractured on the bottom left side, his ankle is broken and his knee is out of place on the right. Massive amounts of internal bruising, but no bleeding to speak of luckily except…” She hesitated speaking as she began to put on a pair of latex gloves.

“What?” Duo asked anxiously.

“The only really bleeding is in the rectal area and…there appears to be a large piece of metal lodged inside his body, it needs to be removed. Like now. I can’t give him any pain relievers, his blood pressure it too low. He could go into a coma or seizures, I can only give him a topical numbing agent and that really won’t do him a lot of good.” She said tensely.

“Mother Fucker!” Duo swore loudly.

“I need him face down please, which is going to impede his breathing, Duo put that oxygen mask on him and depress the red valve to activate it.” She said.
Heero could feel how tense everyone else was. He didn’t know what was going on but he was scared by it. Most of the time if a sentence wasn’t spoken at him directly, he didn’t notice it. He lay very still as Duo fitted the plastic mask over his mouth.

“Lets turn you over okay Heero.” Duo said and lifted him off the table gently. Trowa took one side and between the two of them they got Heero facing downward on the table. His lungs felt like they were covered in fifty-pound lead weights.

“Duo, Quatre I need each of you to hold a leg. Trowa hold his hips up for me, you’re probably going to have straddle him on your knees. Wufei hold his arms cause this is going to hurt.” She said tensely.

“Um…that may not go over too well Sally.” Trowa said concerned.

“Right now we need to get his body fixed, then we can heal him inside okay. For now I just you guys to pin him down.” She said as she laid out the items she needed.

[2]Heero made himself stay relaxed as Quatre and Duo each cradled one of his legs. Wufei hung the IV bag on a rack Sally gave him and left coming back suddenly with a pillow, which he slid under Heero’s chest to ease some of the pressure on his lungs. Wufei held Heero’s arms firmly, but wasn’t hurting him. He still felt very confused and a little nervous, but he remembered all of them vaguely and wasn’t too concerned by the fact that they were all holding on to him. The table shifted slightly and Heero shifted his head back to see Trowa climbing on top of him. Heero twisted his head back around to stare up at Wufei in alarm. He began to shiver violently as Trowa wrapped his long fingered hand around his hips and gently tilted them upwards ever so slightly, shooting pain throughout his body. He felt a lube-slicked finger delve inside him and he jerked forward in panic. A second was added quickly after that and they began stretching him quickly. He tried to pull his legs away but couldn’t, he wrenched his hips wildly, trying to break free. Large tears rolled down his face as he stared up at the black-eyed youth that held his arms, struggling furiously to get away. He began to scream loudly, thrashing about, not caring how much pain he was in. He just couldn’t let them do this; he couldn’t stand to have this happen again! He kicked one leg free and almost collapsed from the pain of jarring his broken ankle against his captor, but it was grabbed again almost immediately. The fingers were removed and quickly replace with something larger and made of metal, which spread him even wider, a little at a time. Heero sobbed loudly and gripped the edge of the table and yanked himself forward sharply, pulling away from the intrusion and slipping halfway off the table and onto Wufei. Wufei wrapped his arms around Heero quickly, keeping him steady. Heero stared at Wufei, his large, tear-filled Prussian eyes pleading. He lay still and quiet a moment as Sally stopped stretching his body.

“Okay I think I see it, here goes.” She said evenly. He felt fingers slipping into his abused opening again and he whimpered. Wufei ran a soothing hand over his back as he held Heero tightly. The fingers brushed against the metal in his body and his world exploded. Every nerve humming in pain, every labored breath tore through him like daggers of glass. Scream after scream ripped from his throat.

“Please, please, I’ll be good!! Please!” He pleaded sobbing.

“Shh, its okay, almost done Heero, almost done.” Wufei whispered in his ear.

“Got it.” Sally sighed in relief as she pulled the metal out. She set it aside and slipped a finger back into Heero gently. “Let me check the damage.” she instructed softly. Heero only then realized that the men holding him were each whispering soothing words to him and their hands brushed gently against his skin to comfort him, not hurt him. “He won’t need stitches, but it’s a close thing, just a Dermal Patch and he should be okay and…there. You can let him go now.” She said stepping back. Duo and Quatre released his legs and Trowa lowered him gently, but Wufei continued to hold him as he sobbed.

“That was inside him!!” Quatre declared horrified staring at the quarter-sized piece of spiked metal.

“As close as I can tell it was fitted over his prostate and jammed into his flesh.” Sally said in disgust and tossed the jagged metal into the trashcan. “Okay Heero let me look at your arm okay.” She said. Heero twisted his head to look up at her with wide eyes as Wufei turned him around gently. “Could someone get me a dish of warm soapy water.” She asked. She washed his arm with warm, soapy water, gently cleaning away all the grime. Heero felt himself start to relax against Wufei. “I need to set the bones in your arm Heero, it’s going to hurt and I’m sorry.” Heero nodded and braced himself against Wufei, who held him against his chest. The arm was quickly set as Heero’s fingers dug into Wufei’s thigh tightly, gritting his teeth. Sally fitted a hard plastic brace over his arm, tightened it with velcro straps, wrapped it in cellophane that was secured with duct tape. She did the same for his knee and ankle, cleaning it first then slipping a brace over it and wrapping it in plastic. “All I have left to do is put stints in his ribs and his pelvis and he’ll be good as long as he takes it easy. And they shouldn’t be too bad because the applicator sends out a numbing shock as it works.” She said. Heero could feel the long needle piercing his flesh and sliding into the bones of his ribs but it didn’t hurt even though he felt like it should have. The miniscule biodegradable rods fitted into the ends of his broken bones, causing them to line up and heal properly.
“There done. You did very well Heero. NO sitting up on his own for at least a month if not longer, he can lean against someone and he should be almost horizontal with a slightly upwards incline. Watch him for bleeding. He needs to eat every three to four hours, that means waking him up at night, at least four ounces of liquid, like soup or juice even, for the first four days, then float some bread or crackers in it if that goes well for about four or five days, then he can eat a few bits of solid food once or twice a day in addition to the liquid diet. Something like plain rice or mashed potatoes or soft bread for four or five days after that start cutting down on the liquid and increase the solid foods. Small sips of room temp. water whenever he wants.” Sally said turning to Duo. “Lets see to you now.” She quickly took care of Duo’s gunshot wound. Quatre had removed the bullet. It was already healing nicely, it just need to be bandaged properly.
“Heero I have to go but the guys will take good care of you.” she assured him and ran a gentle hand through his hair. Heero pressed against the touch whining softly, his liquid eyes begging for more. Sally gave him a wan smile and left the room suddenly. Trowa followed her quickly.

“Okay, me and Wufei will get you a bath now.” Duo, who had put his hair into a ponytail at some point, said gently taking him from Wufei.

“Trowa why would…how could someone…!!” Heero heard Sally crying in the living room as they passed by.

“Why is she crying?” Heero asked worried as he peered over Duo’s shoulder while Duo carried him.

“She’s alright Hee-chan don’t worry.” Duo assured him.

“But she’s crying! Duo she’s crying! What happened?!” Heero argued agitatedly.

“Its okay, its okay.” Duo soothed him as Wufei moved to block his view.

“NO! Why is she crying!! How did she get hurt!” Heero yelled and began to struggle in Duo’s arms.

“Heero, Heero its okay!” Sally said coming up from behind.

“Who hurt you! Why are you crying!” Heero demanded beginning to cry as well.

“Oh Heero I’m not hurt, I’m just sad because you got hurt and I’ve missed you.” she said placing her hands on either side of his face. “I just want you to get better. Can you do that for me.” She told him. Heero nodded his head seriously, sniffling soft. “Good. You go take a bath.” Sally said and waved goodbye.

Duo cradled him gingerly in his arms as Wufei ran the water warm in the tub and began to take off his clothes. After he tossed the clothing to the tiled floor of the small bathroom, he took Heero carefully from Duo’s arms. Heero wrapped his arms around Wufei’s neck and laid his head on the other boy’s shoulder tiredly. Duo threw off his clothes and stepped into the tub, warm water pooling around his calves. He took Heero back from Wufei, gently facing him away from his body and sinking slowly into the water. Heero leaned back against Duo, as Duo leaned back against the cold edge of the tub. Wufei turned the faucet off and climbed into the tub as well, sitting to one side of the faucet and facing towards the others, his knees pulled up to the planes of his chest. Heero was a little disappointed that the water was turned off, it was barely covering their thighs and it had been a long time since he’d seen real water or felt it on his skin.
Wufei splashed water over Heero with a plastic cup, dumping the liquid over his hair and letting it trickle over his shoulders and down his body. Wufei looked at Heero looking out at him from tangled matted bangs. He smiled slightly, “How about a haircut?” he asked softly. Heero hesitated a moment then nodded nervously. Wufei climbed out of the tub and stood dripping before the medicine cabinet. He rummaged around on the shelf for a moment and came out with a pair of gleaming scissors.

“Yes, cut it!” Duo stated vehemently.

“It can’t get any worse can it.” he forlornly commented stepping back toward the tub. “It may not look very good, but it’ll be easier to clean and I’m sure Heero will feel better to have short hair again. Won’t you?” Wufei asked. Heero nodded again. “Okay now be still.” Wufei instructed. He grasped a thick wad of hair and cut it off with a quick snip before moving on to the next. In a short time Heero once again had short hair, uneven, jagged looking, crooked, short hair, with some thick ragged bangs hanging in front of his face, but short hair nonetheless.

“Hey, that’s not so bad Wu-wu.” Duo said smiling. Heero looked up at Wufei expectantly…then looked a little confused, then the moment passed. Wufei was a little perplexed by the look, but nothing more.
Wufei climbed back into the bathtub and poured more water over Heero’s head. He looked up at the shampoo, conditioner, and soap, sitting just out of reach, tsked, and half stood up to grab it.
They washed Heero’s hair four times before finally conditioning it, this was the first time they’d had a chance to wash his hair. Wufei and Duo both ran soap-covered washcloths gently over his body to rid him of the grime and filth that they didn’t get when he’d been sponge-bathed after they’d first arrived at the safe house/shithole. Heero looked at Wufei as the dark eyed boy bathed him. He was being very careful and gently. Talking pleasantly to Heero about some book he’d read. Smiling kindly whenever he noticed Heero staring at him. He was being nice. Duo was being nice. They were all beings nice to him. Heero closed his eyes lightly and enjoyed the scent of the soap of his skin, the feeling of water lapping around him, and warmth seeping into his bones. Before he knew it he was watching the last of the water flow down the drain and a small sad whine escaped his throat as it went. Wufei smiled at him and turned the water back on.

“Alright, we can soak a bit longer.” He said filling the tub with clean water. Duo wrapped his arms around Heero gently and Wufei settled back against the edge. Heero stared at him in disbelief and he chuckled. “Don’t give me that look. You are going to get very spoiled. Duo isn’t going to let you out of his sight and he’s going to wait on you hand and foot.” Wufei commented. Heero let himself relax against Duo’s chest, his head tossed back onto Duo’s shoulder. The water around him made his chest feel lighter and made it easier for him to breath. His eyelids grew heavy and he found himself wanting to sleep, actually wanting to. Not just dropping from exhaustion, he wanted to sleep. He knew he could, he didn’t have to stay awake to guard himself against a visit from his Master, he didn’t have to be awake anymore. He could finally rest. He didn't have a Master now. Just Duo and Wufei and the others. He was Heero. Heero Yuy and he was safe.

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[1] Thank Wikipedia.com for the gun info. Because I don’t know anything about them, but I do know how to use a search engine. Hehehe.

[2] I am not a doctor, most of this ‘medical’ scene is just BullShited, I am a Taurus and yes I did basically pull it out of my ass, therefore BullShited. Do not try ANY of this at home, go see a friggin’ doctor. Most of it is completely improbable anyway, but hey it’s fiction.