A Silver Lining Part 2

Wufei waited anxiously at the entrance to the shuttle that would take everyone back to their large craft. Heero had yet to return after releasing the prisoners of their enemy and time was almost out. Looking to his watch, through the visor of his helmet, he hissed, "Where the hell is he?"

Only a second later, Heero came running into the hanger, cradling a bundle that was wrapped in a brown blanket. Sighing in relief, he called over to his team that secured the area, "Let's go!" On his word, the fifteen remaining Preventers ran back into the shuttle.

Heero was one of the last to enter, along with Wufei, the door closing behind them. Without taking a moment to relax, Wufei yelled towards the front of the long shuttle for the pilots to take off.

The people that they had rescued, all looking frightened and bewildered, gazed nervously at the armed men and women around them. A few of the children started crying and those captives ranging from their teenage years to their late forties, who were close enough, tried to calm them.

When the shuttle left rumbled back to life in preparation to leave the hanger, Wufei stepped to the center of the now cramped space and removed his helmet. Removing his badge, he held it up for all to see. Some seemed to recognize the gold shimmering emblem and gasped.

The Chinese soldier gave a small, reassuring smile to try and calm those children who were still crying as he announced, "You're all in safe hands. We're Preventers on a search and rescue mission." At those words, some of the released captives cried out in shock and others began to cry, most likely just from joy and disbelief that their nightmare was over.

Allowing them all a moment to let his words sink in, Wufei lowered his badge and continued, "We'll be taking you to our largest ship, Quasar. You'll be able to rest there as our guests before we take you to our headquarters on Earth. There, we'll be able to place your identities and locations in our database before taking you to a shelter on the Earth, or on a Colony of your choice."

At the display of emotions in all of the people they rescued, Wufei had to clear his throat, unable to imagine what these poor people had gone through during their captivity. All around, the people cried in relief or laughed almost hysterically.

"My name is Wufei Chang and my partner," he gesture over his shoulder to where Heero was sitting with his bundle held close. Already without his helmet, the Japanese young man gave a firm nod to those watching him. "Heero Yuy, along with our teams here, will be available if you have any concerns or questions-"

His words were cut off when a deafening explosion convulsed the air, shaking the shuttle for a moment. At the screams and cries of the prisoners, Wufei smiled reassuringly once more as he raised his arms to calm them. "Everything is all right. That was the transport ship that held you," he explained and once again, everyone calmed, their eyes widened in disbelief.

Satisfied that their guests were put at ease, Wufei walked to the back of the shuttle, where his partner was sitting. The look on his friend's face was a swirl of emotions as he clutched to the covered burden in his arms, as if he were afraid to let it go. Crouching before him, Wufei frowned as he asked, "What is it?"

Only then did Heero look up from the blanket into his comrade's dark eyes. Unable to trust his voice, he uncovered the hood that he had made out of the blanket. With a sharp gasp, Wufei's eyes widened as far as they could as he visibly paled. "M-my God," he breathed.

Tentatively, he reached a shaking hand forward to brush the chestnut bangs from the bruised, sleeping face before him. Pulling his hand away, as if it was burned, his eyes filled with tears and his breath hitched in his throat.

Wufei couldn't sort through his thoughts and emotions as he looked up to the cobalt eyes of his friend as tears streaked his face. "Can you contact Sally and tell her to be ready when we arrive at Quasar?" Heero suddenly asked quietly. Quickly rising to his feet, Wufei gave an affirmative before running off for the cockpit.

When he was alone again, Heero gazed back down to the long-haired friend whom he had been searching for so long. There was a large, nasty bruise that nearly covered Duo's entire right cheek. His left bore a long cut with dried blood keeping it closed. His skin was almost as white as a sheet, making the dark circles under his eyes stand out all the more.

Taking a shuddered breath, Heero pulled him as close as he could while being careful not to injure his best friend further. As he rested his chin atop the long-haired pilot's head, he closed his eyes and whispered, "Just hang in there a little longer, Duo."

*   *   *   *   *   *

"So what were your hopes and dreams during the war, Heero?" Duo asked as he sat up. Locked away in their cell, there was little more to do than talk. "I know that during that time, these kind of talks were off limits since we never knew if we would live through it."

Looking up at the ceiling, from where he lied on the floor a couple feet away, Heero shrugged, "Just as we never discussed those things during the war, I never allowed myself to so much as think of those things." He turned his head to face the braided Preventer as he finished, "My life at that time was just following through one mission to the next."

A sad frown fell on his friend's face, only now after the time they had spent under the same room after the war was he comfortable enough to consider and call him a friend... his best friend. "I guess I suspected as much," Duo sighed, hugging his legs to his chest.

For whatever reason, anytime Duo's smile fell away, Heero found himself wishing it was back. Sitting up, the Japanese pilot found himself asking, "Well what kind of things did you hope for and dream of during the war?"

Much to his relief, Duo's smile returned at that question as he answered, "Just simple stuff. A roof over my head that I could call home, you and the others making it out in one piece - so that we could meet up once in a while and laugh over the things we went through, that kind of stuff."

Heero nodded, never ceasing to be amazed at how easy it was for him to communicate with the talkative American. Long past one-word responses and grunts of acknowledgement, he actually found that he liked talking with his braided companion. When they had joined the Preventers, only months prior to their capture, it only made sense that the two of them were placed on the same missions together.

After briefly serving as a bodyguard for Relena after the Mariemeia Incident, Heero knew that he needed to do something else in his life. Just as he started to seriously consider resigning from his position, he received an email from the braided American.

Duo went to work for Hilde and her growing salvage business on L2. Once her business was able to be run on its own after making many new clients, Duo contacted the stoic young man to ask what he was up to. Within weeks, they found residence together and joined the Preventers, finding the organization to be their best option of work at the time.

Over the course of their time working and living together, Heero lost a fair amount of his edge. He became more apt to opening a conversation and relating to emotions. Duo even seemed to calm a bit from his normally hyper behavior. He had become patient, when during the war the word was nonexistent in his vocabulary. They just seemed to rub off on each other and compliment each other's personalities.

Now, here they sat, in a cell together after their last mission had taken a wrong turn. How they ended up in this situation was still an enigma to them. They had used every precaution, followed every movement to the book. Any yet, somehow, things went awry and they ended up in the hands of the rebels they were looking to snuff out.

There was a long silence for a time between them before Duo started chuckling deeply. Tilting his head, Heero asked, "What's so funny?"

Duo's laugher grew all the louder, his eyes closing as he fell into hysterics. At the sound of his laughter, even Heero couldn't help but find himself grinning as his friend finally began to compose himself. That sound was infectious, he had come to learn not long after they started living together.

Finally, Duo managed to reply, "I was just thinking of the irony of it all. I mean we were terrorists during the war and now here we are, more or less a police unit that goes after none other than terrorists. Maybe I'm already going crazy being locked up like this for more than a few hours, but it just strikes me as pretty damn funny right now."

Actually finding the humor in the whole scenario, Heero found himself chuckling as well. At that, Duo's smile grew as he watched him. "You know," he said quietly, "it's good to actually hear you laugh. It's nice to hear."

Suddenly, the door to the cell opened, pouring in more light than what seeped through the cracks when it was closed. They both looked up at the two tall men glaring down on them as the first pointed to Heero with a single word: "You."

Without any argument, Heero rose to his feet and walked towards them. He looked over his shoulder, noting the look of concern that his friend was struggling to hide. With a wink and a small smirk to reassure him, the Japanese pilot turned and left the room as the guards slammed the door after him.

*   *   *   *   *   *

Heero shook himself from the memory, one that took place not long before Duo vanished. What had happened to him after their escape that brought him to be taken in by the White Out Organization? What happened to him during those two years of captivity? Who were the people responsible?

There were so many questions running through Heero's mind as he looked down to the bruised face of his partner. Gently, he ran a hand through Duo's long bangs and a small moan escaped the unconscious pilot.

When they finally docked within Quasar, the door opened and Heero quickly left the shuttle. Leaving the hanger in a very brisk, near-running walk, he made his way to the medical ward. Sally was already waiting past the swinging doors in the division's entrance with a stretcher and two aides, also in white doctor robes.

Once she saw Heero approaching, the tall woman called urgently to him, "Right here, Heero." Carefully, the young man lowered his partner onto the stretcher, careful to keep his naked body covered by the blanket.

Turning to meet the determined look in her eyes, Heero told her quietly, pleadingly, "Sally, I couldn't trust anyone else with him but you. Please take care of him."

For a split second, the tall woman had to fight her initial urge to gape at him in shock. Then, she had to remind herself that this was no longer the Heero that they all knew during the wars. The time that he spent in peace time really had changed him, the same boy who once had a hard time expressing anything further than his dedication to his missions.

With a firm nod of resolve, Sally kept her emotions in check for the task at hand as she replied sincerely, "I'll do everything in my power to help him, Heero." At that, she nodded to her aids as they quickly moved the stretcher off to the examination rooms.

Reminding himself to breathe, Heero ran his hands through his hair, locking them at the back of his head as he tried to sort everything that was coursing through him in that moment. It was all too overwhelming, being on the verge of tears, screaming, laughing, punching something, along with everything else that he wanted to do at that moment.

Several prisoners that had been rescued were now being ushered into the medical ward, some with the assistance of the Preventers on staff to be looked after. Those on the medical team went right to work, looking after all who came in for assistance. They went about it all quickly and efficiently, putting their guests at ease.

Once he was able to feel his legs again, Heero made his way to the waiting room, all but falling into the chair furthest inside. Leaning forward, he folded his hands together and propped his elbows on his legs. Outside, a few comets flew past the ship, streaking across the skies that filled the window beside him.

He wasn't sure how long he had been sitting there by himself before Wufei came walking in. he came to sit a couple seats away from the other Preventer, his gaze never rising from the floor and Heero's never looking down from the wall across the room. For a long time, not a word was spoken as they both dealt with their own private hells, unable to sort out everything going through their minds.

"You were right," Wufei finally said in a near whisper. Broken from his concentration, Heero looked to his comrade beside him as he continued quietly, "All this time, you knew that he was alive... that he was out there somewhere."

Licking his lips, Heero thought for a moment before he sighed deeply, "This isn't a matter of who was right or wrong, Wufei. All that matters right now is that Duo's safe now."

When he finally looked up from the floor to meet his gaze, Wufei's tear-filled eyes spoke volumes. "I know that, Yuy," he said quietly.

He looked away again, staring ahead as he continued, "All those times that we tried to convince you to give up the search, you never let anything sway you. With all of that and the little you had to go on, how did you know? Why didn't you just give up?"

"A silver lining," Heero replied softly, gazing out at nothing with a small smile on his lips.

Blinking in confusion, Wufei looked over at him and asked, "What?"

His comrade just shook his head, never looking back to meet his gaze as he answered, "Something that Duo told me a while back."

After a brief pause, Wufei wiped at his eyes and chuckled deeply, "You'll have to tell me more about it sometime. Whatever that means, I'm glad that it kept you from giving in like the rest of us." The last part of his statement trailed off as his head lowered.

Rising from his feet, the Chinese Preventer cleared his throat past the lump that formed there. "I'm going to contact Quatre, Trowa and the others. I'm sure that they would want to know about something like this right away, even if it will be a couple days before we return to Earth."

Heero nodded his agreement at that. Quatre would never forgive them if they kept such news from him for more than five hours if they had the power to contact him in the meantime. Wufei asked, "Can I get you anything before I go?"

"No, thank you," Heero replied sincerely. "I have enough going on right now to keep me occupied until Sally gets back with word on Duo's condition." Nodding, Wufei walked towards the door.

Before the Chinese pilot left the room, a woman - who looked to be in her late twenties - quickly walked up to him. Heero looked up, instantly recognizing the long-haired blonde as one of the prisoners that they had just released. In her hand was clutched the tiny hand of a boy no more than seven. The child's brown bangs were almost long enough to cover his green eyes. Noting the same shade of their eyes, Heero deducted that he was the son of the young woman who was still speaking quietly with Wufei at the moment. His friend pointed in his direction as he spoke back just as quietly with a nod of confirmation. With a smile of appreciation, the mother walked towards him. Wufei went off to carry out his task of contacting the others.

Heero rose from his seat as the blonde woman and the little boy approached. Their clothing had been torn in several places and there were bruises here and there on their arms and legs. Both she and her son neared him almost cautiously. When she was near enough she all but whispered, "You're Heero... right?"

Instantly, Heero thought back to when Duo told him that sometimes he can look intimidating if he didn't smile. Wanting to encourage them, he smiled reassuringly and nodded, "Hai. Can I help you?"

Taking her son up in her arms, the woman replied, "My name is Kayla and this is my son, Michael. We've known Duo for some time now. We have been on the same transport ship for months now, the one you pulled us from." At that, Heero's cobalt eyes widened.

Kayla bit her lip as tears filled her green eyes. She blurted out in a whimper, "He saved my son." As she struggled to catch her breath between her sobs, Heero carefully led her to one of the chairs and sat her down. Michael seemed at a loss himself as he buried his face in his mother's neck.

Heero took the young mother's hand, kneeling before her. When she was able to speak again, Kayla told him in a soft voice, "There was this guard who always had an eye out for little children." Her tone had changed to disgust at the thought of the man. Already, Hero could feel his own skin crawling.

"A few months back, he went after Michael," her voice cracked and she had to cover her mouth to keep back the sharp cry that threatened to break through.

Taking a deep breath, she finally lifted her head to look into the eyes of the pilot before her and went on, "Duo got in the guard's path and went after him. When the fight ended, the man's neck was broken and he lied still on the ground. The next thing any of us knew, four guards came running into the gathering room and tackled Duo to the ground. They took him off and we had never seen him before the rescue, when you carried him into the shuttle."

It was almost too much for Heero to listen to. It was something that Duo would do - he always looked out for children, ever since he was a child himself, on the streets of L2. His instinct to look after little ones who could not defend himself was what ended up leaving him in the state Heero found him.

Silence lingered for a long time between them before Kayla, staring out at nothing, finally said, "While I could never see Duo to thank him, I knew the door to the cell where he was held. There were many times when I went to try to visit. I don't know what kind of drugs and nerve serums they were using and testing on him, but I could hear the pain in his screams and it was a sound I'll never forget."

Kayla seemed to be lost in the nightmare that she had lived through. "There were times," she whispered, "when I would visit the door to his cell and he would be crying. Not just crying, wailing. In times like that, I made out the name 'Heero' being cried for." Heero couldn't prevent the sharp gasp that left his throat. It was as if someone had slammed a fist into his gut and knocked the wind out of him. He had to look away, afraid that he would lose his fight to keep the tears from springing up.

As if waking from a dream, Kayla blinked her green eyes and focused back on the Preventer, not paying any mind to the many tears running down her face. "I knew he was crying for you when I saw how you were looking after Duo on the shuttle. I had to come here to tell you what I knew. I had to come see if Duo was all right so that I could thank him for saving my child," he told him.

Sensing the distress from the young man, she gently placed a hand on his shoulder. When he looked back up to her gaze, she smiled sadly, "I also wanted to see the person who seemed to be the one that got Duo through his ordeal. Had it not been for you, I'm sure that he would have given up a long time ago." She squeezed his shoulder and asked quietly, "Please come and find us, when Duo is up for visitors."

Heero, finally able to force himself to breath again, nodded firmly to her and whispered the only words he could get past his throat, "I will." Nodding back to him, Kayla rose from her seat, holding her son close as she walked from the room silently.

When he was alone again, Heero had to practically pull himself into one of the chairs again. He bent at the waist, covering his face with his hands, as he allowed himself a few tears to fall.

*   *   *   *   *   *

About an hour later, Heero looked up as he felt someone new entering the doorway of the waiting room. Sally approached him quietly, moving a chair to sit before him. She looked into his cobalt eyes, just as her own began to fill with small tears. As much as he was able to hold his own emotions in check, Heero nearly broke down seeing that this normally strong woman was crying.

Taking a moment, Sally turned her head and whispered, "He woke up asking for you." Her voice hitched and she whimpered sharply. She shook her head and apologized, "I'm sorry. Normally, I'm better with holding back that this. It's just... it's still a shock." She wiped at her eyes and cleared her throat.

Heero took one of her hands in his and squeezed it. He wouldn't allow himself to process the fact that Duo woke up asking for him. He could only imagine what his friend had felt when he woke in a strange place, the fear and panic that he must have felt.

So his name was the first he called for. All that he wanted at that time was to check on him, to comfort him and see that he really was back after all this time. Still, he knew that he needed to wait and hear more of Duo's condition and how to help him before he went running into the room.

He swallowed hard and reassured her quietly, "It's all right. These next couple weeks will probably be emotional for all of us as this all sinks in."

The squeeze of his hand nearly broke the dam all over again for Sally in recognition of how she and their friends all swore that Duo was long dead for some time now. When she looked up into his eyes again, she smiled warmly and squeezed his hand back as she replied faintly, "Thank you, Heero."

Now that she was able to control herself, she took a deep breath and began, "All of the tests have been run and I have examined every x-ray taken. He's suffered several broken and bruised ribs. Many other bones had to be set back, since they never would have healed on their own otherwise."

Heero nodded to let her know that he was still taking everything she said in, not worrying about his rage right now as much as were the details of his partner's condition. There would be time for revenge later.

Their hands still clasped, Sally went on, "When you found him, he was unconscious from a hard blow to the head." That explained the terrible bruise on the side of his face. "Duo's suffering from a concussion from that, but there is no further internal damage to the brain. The deep scars on his chest will remain after they've healed, but the bleeding has stopped at least."

The braided woman straightened in her seat as she ordered politely but firmly, "He is also not to be out of bed for more than having to relieve himself and shower. Even then, he'll need help with his hair to braid it. Between his bone and muscle healing, I don't want any unnecessary strain on him for the next two weeks at the very least. That will be another reason for my regular visits. He's lost a fair amount of weight that I want to see gained back along with proper nutrition before he tries to exert himself."

Closing his eyes for a moment to store everything, Heero gave himself a moment, not prepared to as the next question. "Are there any... other injuries?" He was still unable to just come out and ask the question, even if it was evident that the answer would be yes. 'Was he raped?' his mind kept screaming.

Sally, ever observant, could see the true nature of his question. Her careful reply was meant to try and give him closure, as much as to calm him, without coming right out and saying it. "There are no further physical injuries, but they're not the only injuries I am worried about." she answered, stressing the word 'physical' with a saddened frown.

Then the answer to his question was 'yes' after all. The other injuries she was worried about were the emotional ones. It was one thing to assume that by the state Duo was in that he had been raped. It was another to actually have a medical examination prove it that was something all together different. Suddenly, he needed to get out of that room.

"May I see him?" he asked quietly, surprised at how steady his voice managed to stay despite his urge to stop holding back his emotions.

Without hesitation, Sally nodded insistently, "Of course. I'll take you to his room." Releasing their hands, she rose and led him into the hallway.

Once they stopped before the last closed door at the end of the hall, Sally gestured to it before saying, "I'll need to keep Duo here overnight to monitor him. You can stay with him for as long as you like. I've already given clearance for you, so that no one of the staff here will ask you to leave after hours. If you need anything, just call for me. I'm going to look for Wufei and see if he needs help contacting the others."

Noting the flight suit that Heero had never changed out of, she added, "I'll bring a change of clothes for you in about an hour. Other than that, I'll see to it that neither of you are disturbed tonight," she stated. "After everything that you went through to find him, it's only right you get to spend time with him first."

While that was not really necessary, Heero still appreciated it nevertheless.

As she started to walk away, she halted when a hand fell on her shoulder and squeezed. Turning, she looked back to Heero as he gave her a small smile of gratitude. "Thank you, Sally," he told her in a near whisper, not able to trust his voice to speak much louder without cracking at that moment.

She returned the smile and placed her hand over his to squeeze it in return as she replied softly, "Anytime." With that, she turned back and gave the young man his privacy.

Heero turned to stare at the closed door for a moment, breathing in slowly and deeply as he focused on keeping his emotions in check. Releasing the breath, he managed to lift his arm to and pushed the door open before stepped inside.

TBC...

 

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