Nanashi

AN: Okay I hope you all haven't give up on this story I do fully intend to finish it, in fact I've started writing on it again, and we're nearing the end. Thank you so much for being so patient and I'm sorry this has been taking me so long.

Cmquietone: thank you for the review, and I'm sorry this has taken me so long

Midii: thank you for the editing and being so patient ^_^ couldn't have done this one without you!

Mendel Khushrenada: thanks for reading the story! I hope you continue to enjoy it!

Disclaimer: don't own!

Chapter 11

Midii woke slowly, her eyes feeling grainy, and they wanted to close the moment she opened them. Her room was still dark and she absently wondered what time it was. However she was too sleepy to look at her watch. Sitting up slowly Midii found she wanted nothing more than to fall back asleep, but something kept her from dropping back on her pillow. Running one hand through her long blonde hair Midii forced herself to her feet and walked towards the bathroom.

She turned on the hot water of the shower, and soon found herself under the spray, though it did little to wake her up. Fifteen minutes to a half-hour passed before she stepped from the beneath the hot water. She dressed quickly, adding to her clothing the guns and holster Heero had given her the night before. Running a comb through her damp hair, Midii walked from her room.

For a time she stood there, this house was not as large as Quatre's, but it was still a good-sized mansion. Turning left she headed towards the kitchen, where she was fairly sure Duo would be. Midii walked through the archway, and was surprised to see not Duo but Wufei sitting at the table, "Where's Duo?"

Wufei looked up, "So you're finally awake. He went to the spaceport to pick up Alex."

Midii looked out the kitchen window only to find blackness, her eyes fell upon the wall clock and she was stunned to find that it was seven o'clock at night. Midii started to laugh, drawing a strange look from Wufei, "What day is it?" she asked moving towards the door. "Excuse me, there's someone I need to talk to." She left the room.

Making her way slowly down the hall, Midii could not help but feel disoriented. At first she had thought it was just early morning, but to then find out it was the evening of the next day, she found it hard to grasp how much time she had missed while sleeping. She came to the living room and leaned on the arch frame, arms folded across her chest, eyes boring into Heero.

He looked up seconds later face unreadable, "You're finally wake." Heero's voice held nothing within it.

"What the hell did you put in that?" she asked with a half smile dancing on her lips. "Because when I went to sleep it was Thursday morning, and now if I'm not mistaken it's Friday evening?" She made it into a question, stepping into the room and towards the ex-pilot.

"Duo should be back with Alex soon," Heero came to his feet turning to face her fully.

"That's not what I asked," Midii pointed out.

"It was better that you got some rest during the wasted hours, where nothing could be done." He walked over to where a small table and two chairs sat off to one side of the room, Heero lifted a small device from the table, and motioned her to come sit in the chair. "While we're getting Trowa out, Alex will be integrating soldiers into the monitoring system, to cover our trails. However it would be easier if he simply slipped us into the system."

"Wait, what about security cameras?" she asked while taking a seat.

"They don't have very many, only a few in control rooms, only laser wires, which are tripped every day. The men monitoring the whole system simply find the heart beat to make sure it's one of their own."

Midii nodded seeing the logic in Heero's thoughts, "So if we're part of the system we'll go virtually undetected." It was an excellent idea, and she wondered why Draken or any of the men working for him never thought to cover for it. Midii watched silently as Heero put the device in place, and punched in a few keys on his computer, creating her a file and saving it. So, Alex would have no trouble integrating her into the system.

        ***

Duo, black hat firmly in place, and pulled low over his eyes, leaned calmly against one wall unnoticed by everyone. He was standing in a restricted area but no one seemed to care. He was waiting, and had been for the last half-hour, glancing down at his watch, he saw with some relief that Alex's shuttle should be landing even now.

He had left the house while Midii still slept, he wasn't entirely sure what Heero had given her but it certainly helped. Before he left Heero had hooked him up with on of the devices he had built, much the same as the one he had taken off the soldier. Duo could hardly remain standing still; they were so close to a second attempt of recovering Trowa. He knew that today had been a test of everyone's endurance, what with him having nothing to do all day long he had really been getting edgy, which was why he had been the one sent to meet Alex.

"Hey Duo!"

The former Gundam pilot brought his head up, his usual smile clearly evident, as his eyes fell on the red haired man. He carried one bag over his left shoulder and wore a perplexed look on his face. "Alex, long time no see!" Duo pushed himself off the wall and walked towards the other man.

"So do you mind explaining to me why I was woken up in the early morning, and shoved on this shuttle, without any explanation?" Alex asked voice low, and sarcastic.

Duo started laughing as he led the man down the terminal hall, "What have you heard on Earth?"

"Almost nothing, only that the colonies changed hands three times, and that a group of terrorist took out one of the buildings on this colony. They say that although they found blood, they were unable to find any bodies, nor what caused the building to explode."

He laughed all the harder, "The blood, that would be mine, and as for the explosion, and how they did it, you'd have to ask Heero and Wufei."

A smile disseminated his features, as he watched Duo from one eye, "I had a feeling that that was you guys."

"Yeah well, what can I say," Duo shrugged. "Alright listen carefully 'cuse I'm not going to repeat this, Kain was the one who owned the building that was destroyed, we thought he was the one behind the disappearance of Trowa. Turns out that that was wrong it was Draken--"

"Wait, isn't he the one who took control of the colonies?" Alex stopped walking and turned to face Duo.

"Yes, but I won't be able to finish this story if you keep interrupting."

"Hey that was one time."

"Two times," Duo countered, as he continued to walk, he pushed open the doors and strode out into the parking lot, towards his car. "Anyway, Draken was the one who took Trowa, and by all accounts he's been preparing for this for years, though we still don't know why. He had Trowa placed in virtual reality, a lot happened after that, which doesn't need explaining, however, Trowa now believes he's Triton Bloom and tried to kill me."

"I took the bullet in the shoulder, Quatre however was not so lucky, even now he's fighting for his life. Not even Sally's sure he'll pull through. Alright now's the time to ask questions." By this time Duo was tearing down the streets of the colony, and he glanced over to his silent companion.

Alex simply stared at him, mouth hanging opened in sheer disbelief, "How do you Gundam pilots do this?"

"Hey in our defence none of us went looking for this, all Trowa was trying to do was protect a child, from Kain. We all kind of got sucked in after that, although none of us expected this, we're all just racing to keep up."

"So, why have I been brought in?"

"Well I was waiting for this question," Duo turned his eyes back to the road as he swerved in and out of traffic, as if the other cars were standing still. "Draken thinks he's really smart, he has very few cameras in his base, while the entire base is constantly being monitored by laser wires--"

"Would that not make it difficult for the soldiers to walk the halls without tripping the system?" Alex inquired.

"What did I say about interrupting?" Duo slid around a corner, eyes sparkling, he loved driving recklessly. "You would think that that would be the case but its not, the guards have another system, they monitor the heartbeats of all their soldiers. We found that out the hard way. Anyway what we need you to do is create fake soldiers to replace the ones we kill. Not to mention add our information to the system, so we can move freely."

"You've certainly thought this through well," the red haired man commented, climbing from the car, as Duo finally pulled to a halt outside the house.

"Heero will show you the program once we get inside, and you'll have about." Duo glanced down at his watch, "A half-hour to familiarise yourself with the system before we make another strike." He smiled as he held the door open.

Duo walked him to the living room where he knew Heero would be waiting, just as he came in sight of the door; the other pilot spoke up "You're late."

"How do you figure?!" Duo asked, incredulous.

"Go find Midii, we need her ready," Heero turned his back on Duo as he walked Alex over to the computer, and showed him the program.

The former DeathScythe pilot nodded silently to himself as he left the room, they would be leaving in under half an hour, everything would have to be ready by then. He stopped for a moment in a hall intersection, wondering where Midii might be, not wanting to search the whole house, he considered grabbing a computer and hacking his way into the security system. Duo shrugged not wanting to go through all that effort, he simply headed towards her room.

He knocked on wooden door and shortly after, was invited in. Midii sat in one chair seeming to have been in the middle of a conversation with Sally. Both women looked up and gave him a small smile. "Alex is here?" Sally inquired, coming to her feet.

"Yeah, Heero's just running him through the system now." He glanced at Midii for an instant then looked back to Sally, "Now's the time to get everything ready."

Sally nodded silently and reached into a backpack that rested at her feet, she spoke as she riffled through it. "It's absolutely necessary that we blend in, and to do that our heart rate has to remain normal, so I'm going to give you a light sedative," Sally pulled a syringe from the bag already filled with a yellowish liquid.

Midii looked slightly surprised at this, "I really don't think that's necessary, I've worked under tough conditions before."

"Midii, you may be a mercenary, but you're still human, and you love Trowa. There's no assurances that he will be in good shape."

"I know he won't," Midii responded darkly, "I still don't think this needs to be done."

"Still better safe than sorry," Sally shrugged, "What can I say? This was not my idea, but I have to agree with Heero." Midii glanced briefly at Duo before nodding her consent.

They had done a lot in the hours that she slept, and Duo didn't think for a minute that he would not have to answer for it later. He looked down at his watch, time was slowly ticking away, "Do you both have everything you'll need?"

Standing Sally shouldered her backpack, and walked towards the door, Midii came to her feet seconds later, guns clearly in place. "So how are we going to do this?"

Duo walked from the room before answering, "We'll go in two at a time, all except me that is, I'll be going in alone. Once inside, your first goal will be to kill at least one soldier so you can be integrated into the monitoring system. Until then you have to avoid all laser wires and pressure plates. Once you're in the system you'll be able to move freely so long as you keep your heart rate under control."

The corners of Duo's lips tugged up into an evil smile, he would be going in alone, as Heero, and Wufei infiltrated. Midii and Sally would retrieve Trowa, while he went to have a little conversation with Draken. Adrenaline pulsed through Duo veins as they neared the living room, if everything was ready now, they would leave. He crossed over the threshold, of the room, which had become their command centre, just in time to see Alex slipping his computer back in its case. "We're ready?" he asked, leaning against the doorframe.

"We leave in five minutes." Heero shrugged into a coat and swung his backpack over both shoulders, his eyes were distant, and face serious, they were going to bring Trowa back. And at the same time they would find the answers to the questions that had plagued them since the Bèovel family was killed.

        ***

Midii leaned against the van, waiting as patiently as she could for hers and Sally's time to enter the base. They had been left till last, Heero and Wufei had gone in first, needing the most time to complete their mission, as they planned to clear the women's path to Trowa. Duo had gone in an hour before, and only now had he found a soldier and was able to move freely. "So how does this system work?" Midii asked Alex, who now sat watching his computer head resting on one hand.

His eyes darted over to her for the briefest instant before returning to the screen, "I'm not surprised Heero missed it at first, at first they make it appear to be the medical records of all the soldiers, nothing important to break into the base. However if you enter the file you'll see that it's the on-going monitoring system. This whole system is based on recognition," Alex sounded less than impressed, "I almost wonder what made him decide to go with this?"

Crystal blue eyes swung over to where Sally sat, head down, elbows resting on her knees, one strap of her backpack was looped negligently around one arm, and rested on the seat beside her. Midii stood at the back of the van looking in the opened doors, the vehicle had five seats up front, two captain's chairs and one row. Behind that was the desk that Alex sat at and another bench seat, set perpendicular to the others, where Sally sat. She wondered briefly where the pilots had found this van; it seemed perfectly suited for anything they would need to do.

"Alright, they're in," Alex said with some relief.

Midii leaned into the van to get a better look at screen; Alex was fully into Draken's server and had accessed the few cameras that were around the base. One small screen displayed the images of Heero and Wufei as they disposed of the men monitoring the room and took over. Just before their guns fired Alex began madly typing, so that when the men died their hearts would still be 'beating'.

"Okay, that was your cue, from there they will be able to keep the path open for you. However you still need to kill off two soldiers, so I can put you into the system." Sally nodded as she jumped down from the van and moved deeper into the shadows along with Midii.

She could feel the sedative, coursing through her veins, she felt relaxed when she should have been running on adrenaline. Midii found that though she may have been able think clearer, she missed the feel of walking on the edge of a knife, but she had to admit she could understand where the others were coming from. They walked through doors undetected; Midii brought out a small computer and slowly began to lead the way. The screen displayed an image of the hall in which they stood showing her where every laser wire, and pressure plate was hidden. With this information they could slowly make their way towards where Trowa was being held.

On the screen a small light appeared leading the way when she came to a point where another hall crossed over the one she was in. this was either Heero or Wufei who had pinpointed Trowa's exact location. Midii flattened herself against the nearest wall as she heard the sound of footsteps coming towards her and Sally, drawing her gun Midii patiently waited.

Alex would by now know two soldiers were walking her way, she gave him one more second to prepare himself, as she signalled Sally that there were two men. The rounded the corner as one, two silenced shots fired at once and hitting their marks dead on. Placing her gun back behind her belt and slipping the computer in her pocket, Midii moved forward taking hold of one soldier while Sally took the other. They dragged them into an empty room, and were quickly moving through the base once more.

Midii stopped walking down a long corridor leaning against the wall her eyes, scanning the roof; she glanced down at the screen of the small computer and looked to Sally, "He's in the next room."

"Are you ready?"

"About as ready as I'll ever be," Midii replied putting the computer away, she locked her eyes on the door, but could not make herself move. She was closer to having Trowa back than she had ever been since he had been taken, and now she was frozen. She could not even say what stayed her muscles; perhaps she feared what she would find, or not being able to bring Trowa back.

Sally gently rested one hand on her shoulder, "Come on, he's just through the next door." Midii nodded and pushed herself away from the wall, taking the first step towards Trowa.

"How do you want to take the room?" Midii flattened herself against one side of the door while Sally took the other.

"I'm thinking there's two soldiers max, in there, if we move quickly they should both be dead before anyone's the wiser." Sally locked eyes with her, gun raised, "One.two.three," Midii slammed her hand down on the keypad opening the door with a rush of air. Both women rushed into the room taking only an instant to find their targets and fire one bullet each.

It was over before it even had a chance to start, the two men lay in fast forming pools of blood. They had died without a sound or even an attempt to defend themselves, but then again as far as they knew, the base was secure. Midii tore her eyes away from the bloody mess and locked her eyes instead upon a monitor that displayed an image of Trowa in the adjacent room. She walked towards the computer terminal, tears coming to her eyes at the sight of him; he hardly seemed even to breathe.

        ***

Duo edged his way down the empty halls; he had made it to the desired floor without being detected, a result practically guaranteed because he was good, and, he hated to admit, because Heero and Wufei were in charge of the security systems by this time. He could no longer hear any voices moving down the side halls, it seemed to him as if this floor of the base was deserted. However he had made sure before coming in that this was were he would be able to find Draken.

At the mere thought of that man's name rage flared within Duo, but he soothed the flames, telling himself over and over that it would soon all be corrected. By this time he was fairly sure that Midii and Sally had made it to Trowa, and he silently prayed that things were alright with them. His shoulder ached in the back of his mind, and he tried to force the pain of the past injury from his thoughts.

Rounding what he hoped would be the final corner, Duo's patience was rewarded as his lavender eyes fell upon the final door, and a man standing before it. Instantly Duo knew him for the born soldier that he was, there was an air about him of danger, something very close to what he felt around Heero. Slipping his gun from the holster at his waist, Duo glanced once more, before stepping out into plane view.

The man leaning calmly against the door, did not seem the least bit surprised by the sight of Duo coming around the corner, gun aimed at his head. "Another Gundam pilot." was all he said, a half smile on his face, as he unfolded himself from the wall.

Duo nodded wearing his own smile, "Yeahand who might you be?" he asked in a jovial fashion, as easy and relaxed as ever.

"Argile," was the confident reply. The former pilot studied Argile carefully seeing that although the man was confident he was still wary of the adversary that stood across from him.

"Strange that there's so few guards on this floor," Duo said taking a slow step toward the smaller man.

Argile smirked, "Draken needs no other protection."

"And you would be what.a second rate guard?" The American chuckled as he fired his gun. Argile was faster than he appeared, and easily dodged to the side, pulling his own gun forward. The man was good Duo realised, his movements smooth and well balanced, but he was still no Gundam pilot.

They faced off, the ring of the single bullet fired, long since pasted, and its echo was only heard in the minds of those close enough to have heard. Duo readjusted his thinking, and approach to the other man, and they stared each other down. The hallway was not large, and so would hinder both of them, but Duo was used to working in close quarters. He wondered silently how his opponent felt about them, however he could glean nothing from the hard features.

Silence was the only sound within the hall, as they waited with bodies tense, to see who would make the first move. Duo balanced on his toes, eager to get this over with, but at the same time unwilling to make any mistakes. The former pilot began to tire of this seemingly endless game, and so lowered his gun ever so slightly, in an attempted to pull Argile into making a move. The ploy worked, the smaller man leaped into motion firing off a quick shot.

Duo managed to bite back a laugh at this pitiful attempt to end his life, he had no trouble avoiding the bullet, he had been doing this for almost all of his life. Argile however, was not set off balance by his failure, but was ready for more. As each the two charged at one another, neither shouting nor making any unnecessary noise. Duo read the situation within a heartbeat, and made a decision. Argile was good, but he was not perfect, there were only so many places that he could go, with that in mind, Duo fired the gun rapidly, filling the space between them with deadly obstacles.

Argile as well realised this situation, and did the same thing that Duo had just done, however he was an instant too late; he only managed to get off two shots before one of Duo's tore through his chest. Dropping to the ground the Gundam pilot avoided the other man's shots, and watched as Argile fell, blood spraying the wall around him. Climbing to his feet Duo's eyes watched the unmoving body lying splayed before him, and with one shake of his head, moved on.

Without making a sound, Duo made his way passed the dead body, coming to a stop before the ornate double doors. Duo checked his clip, more out of habit than any fear that he might be running out of bullets, but once assured that he had more than enough for what he had to do now he boldly pulled the door opened. Crossing the threshold into the large room, Duo's eyes instantly focused upon Draken as he turned about in his chair to face the door.

"How good to see you again Duo," Draken said in a relaxed, almost conversational tone, as he climbed from his chair. "I'm going to assume you've already met Argile."

The man's calm demeanour infuriated Duo to the point of wanting to pull the trigger right now and kill him. "Why?" he demanded planting his legs and preparing for what could be a long answer. On second thought he changed his question, "Why did you have the Bèovel family killed?"

Draken studied him for a long moment before smirking, "Simple.I wanted Quatre to gain control of the colonies."

"That's it?!" Duo's finger tightened upon the trigger, "You had an entire family killed just for that reason?!" He could hardly believe what he was hearing, Duo had come to know a lot of different and stupid reasons for harming people, but this had to be one of the most vindictive.

"There's a little bit more to it than that, but you get the basic idea," the older man turned, completely unconcerned, to look out the window. "My goal for years has been to capture one of you, bend you to my purpose, then as you have seen, send the pilot to take out the rest." Draken glanced back over his shoulder, to where Duo stood in stunned silence, "My final goal was to kill Relena Peacecraft."

Dou could not say that he was surprised by what Draken had said, he had heard it so many times before. More it was the older man himself that surprised Duo, "I could never understand why you people keep thinking that killing her will somehow change things." If it were Heero in the room right now Draken would have been long dead.

Draken turned fully to face the former pilot; "It was not just killing Relena, that drew me into motion, but the chance to study you. To see what set you above all other solders, why OZ was at such a disadvantage." Leaning back against the window, he crossed his arms; "However we quickly realised that the only way we were going to get any information from you, was if you were working for our side." A dark smile overtook Draken's features, "Your friend Triton has survived us well."

"Fortunately you'll never put that information to use," Duo hissed, finger pulling back towards him ever so slowly.

"That may very well be true," Draken began face sober, but there was a sadistic glint in the deep recess of his eyes, "However I will die with the knowledge that you may never restore your friend back to a proper mental state. And won't that tear you up, to know that he's so close, but he believes you an enemy, that whenever he sees you, his first instinct is to kill. Yes knowing that will allow me to die with satisfaction."

Duo's hand clenched into a fist at his side "You Bastard!!!" he shouted feeling the deep hopelessness that was the truth in Draken's words. Without hesitation or regret he pulled the trigger, and for a satisfying moment time seemed to slow, as Duo watched the bullet reach it's target. With deadly aim, Duo took the older man right between the eyes, showering the window behind him with blood and grey matter. Draken collapsed to the ground having not uttered a sound, he had known his death had walked through the door with Duo. "But you still might have won," Duo spat bitterly.

Trembling with anger, Duo spun about leaving the silent room behind him. He brought the small communicator to his lips and spoke into it, his voice filled with venom, "I'm finished here, where is everyone?"

"Haven't heard from Sally yet, we're ready to leave as soon as they are," Heero's voice broke the silence of the hall that had now turned into a graveyard.

"Sounds as though things didn't go that well, what'd he say Duo?" Wufei questioned.

He shook his head, even though they could not see, "That he might have won." his hand clenched again, and he had to force himself to relax it. Before they could ask any more questions Duo spoke up, "I'll be down in a second, if Sally contacts you let me know." With that he stuffed the item into his pocket and continued down the halls, back the way he had come; now he wished for the resistance that he had not come across on the way up.

        ***

"How close are you?" Midii questioned, voice tense, she was just barely hanging on, forcing herself to focus on the task at hand; and not the image of Trowa up on the wall.

"I'm getting there," Sally responded with a sigh, "In retrospect we should have kept those men alive."

They had been working steadily for the last ten minutes together to get the door to Trowa's room opened. It had clearly been especially designed to keep him in; there was no handle, or lock. No hinges to tamper with, in fact there was nothing just the door blocking them from the man that she loved. It was even made of a bullet proof material, shooting it down had been the first thing Midii had tried.

Her hands were shaking as she typed furiously, working as fast as she could to get through the last firewall. She could hardly believe she was here, within reach of Trowa, they were going to get him back. Midii held no doubts now. Swallowing, she wiped the sweat from her forehead, Midii could not help feeling the tension, the sedative that Sally had given her was clearly wearing off. The block of the base that they were in was completely secured. However the idea was to get in and out as fast as they could, and the longer that she and Sally struggled with the door, the longer the others had to hold matters in the rest of the base.

Endless minutes passed in the dead silence that surrounded both herself and Sally, not even the sound of the keys typing could break the stillness, it was incredibly unnerving. She tried to shake off the feeling and focus entirely on the task at hand, but that was simply impossible. Thankfully she was almost done, and soon the mission would be at an end. "Last one." Sally muttered even as her fingers flew across the keys, they were no Gundam pilots but they were making do.

Midii could hardly breathe as she finished hacking the last command code, she spun around instantly as the door slid to the side leaving the way opened. She wasted no time getting to her feet and crossing the room, coming to a stop at Trowa's side. Black goggles covered his eyes, and wires ran everywhere, to and from the black suit that clothed him almost like a second skin. Midii moved to take hold of the goggles, but Sally stopped her.

"Hold on," she said sharply, walking over to a small computer terminal "We have no idea what removing him too quickly might do." Leaning closer to the screen, Sally quickly began accessing what information she could.

Turning back to face Trowa, Midii took hold of his gloved hand, it rested limp in her grasp. It was a wonder to her that they even felt the need to shackle him to the table, it seemed to her that there was not life within him, only the shallow rise and fall of his chest, told her that he was still living. Midii looked up to his face, seeing that the exposed flesh was flushed as though he was taken with a fever, reaching over she touched his cheek lightly feeling the burning skin beneath her slim fingers.

She half turned to see the other woman, "Sally he's sick," her voice was laced with deep worry for the man she loved.

"Yeah I noticed, I'm just looking at his read-outs now. He's running a temperature of one hundred and two degrees; it's some form of infection, but there's nothing I can do about it right now." Sally struck a few more keys, "We have to get him out of here first."

"How do we get him out of this?" she asked looking back at the black suit, which was keeping Trowa in the depths of VR.

Sally did not respond for a second, too busy working, "I have to shut the system down, then we can unhook him, but it's going to take me a few more minutes. Look we can't carry him out of here by ourselves; there must be a gurney around her somewhere, or something that will work just as well. Can you go look?"

Midii nodded silently, though Sally was not looking at her, and gently squeezed Trowa's hand, hoping to give what comfort she could, before turning to leave the room. She moved off at a brisk jog, intent on finding the item needed as quickly as possible, wanting to be there when Trowa was brought out.

        ***

The fire was burning; its all consuming flames overtaking Triton. He knew that the gunshot he had received at some point was infected, but he had nothing that he could use to treat it. Sitting up on his bed Triton brought his wounded arm close beside him wrapping his free hand around the bloody bandage, quite easily feeling the heat through the thick cloth. He could not remember when he had come to be back in his room, but he was there now, and to his mind at that moment it really made no difference.

The lights in his room were dimly lit lending dark shadows to every corner of his small quarters. They made him uneasy, making him feel as though there were others there with him, and his skin began to crawl. He blamed that feel upon the fever that was wracking his body, and no matter how he tried to shake it, the sense would not leave him. At one point he thought he could feel a ghost like hand touch his cheek, and yet another apparition grip the hand of his wounded arm.

Unable to take it any longer he jumped to his feet, forcing himself to pace the length of the room, in the hopes that that would take his mind off the sensation of another's presence. His right arm throbbed painfully with each step, but he pushed on, not feeling comfortable enough to stop. Triton's body was exhausted, and he shivered in a cold that touched only him, however still he continued to walk; though his steps were short, and terribly slow.

        ***

Sally smiled in satisfaction, as she hacked her way through the last blockade stopping her from shutting the virtual reality down; bringing them that much closer to freeing Trowa. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Midii walk back in pushing a gurney right beside the table that Trowa was strapped too. Her face looked really worried, as though she was just barely managing to hold herself together. Sally was glad that Heero had insisted on the sedative, though by now it was more than likely wearing off, however it probably did not matter.

Standing Sally crossed the short distance to Trowa's side, where Midii stood anxiously, "We can shut it down now," she almost whispered, feeling that raising her voice, would shatter the moment stealing Trowa away from them.

"How?" she asked looking up, face showing more hope than Sally had seen in a long time.

"Just one second, I want to sedate him if I can," Sally glanced about the room, looking for the supplies that she needed before they could continue forward. She found it quickly, knowing that the men of the base would have been truly foolish not to have something strong around, when dealing with Gundam pilots.

Midii shook her head, "Is that really necessary?"

"We have no idea how he's going to react, I'd prefer to have him in a controlled environment, when he wakes," she searched quickly though the cabinet, finding the drug that she needed. Taking the small jar and a syringe, she moved back over to the wounded pilot's side. "Alright, you can turn the system off, by flipping the switch by his head," Sally instructed Midii, as she calmly prepared the syringe, she herself feeling anything but calm.

The small blond woman, did as she had been told, coming to a stop by Trowa's head, and without a moment of hesitation, flipped the switch. Nothing seemed to change outward, and Sally waited not realising that she was holding her breath, as she motioned for Midii to remove the goggles that blinded Trowa.

        ***

Everything had gone black, it had come on suddenly with no warning, and no explanation for what had happened. For an instant he thought that he had gone blind, but that simply did not make any sense, besides it was not like his vision had failed, more it felt that the entire world had fallen away, as though it never existed. He fought against the panic that threatened to over take him, as the world in which he lived merely disappeared, as though it had never been.

Slowly he became aware of something beyond the blackness, something of substance, a world that had been hidden from him before. He could sense the presence of others, as he could before the world had been destroyed. But it was more definite this time, no longer did they have the feel of ghosts, quite the opposite, he could hear the sound of them breathing, so very close by. He tensed at that feeling, the need to defend himself from these unknown assailants, however he became aware of shackles holding both his wrist and ankles in place.

Forcing himself not to panic, Triton could only wonder what had happened, he wanted desperately to see, and understand, but still the blackness covered his eyes. He could feel one of those present lean closer, "You're back." came a whispered voice from the blackness, sounding like an angel's song in his ears. It was then he felt cool fingers brush against his head as the darkness was removed and light filled his vision.

Triton squinted against the brightness that filled his vision, feeling just as vulnerable in the light as he had in the shadow. Several moments passed before he could see clearly what was around him. Now true confusion over took his fevered mind, he was not within his room, but some strange place he knew he had never been before, nor did he have any idea how he had come to be in this place. His eyes focused in on one of those present, seeing her for the first time, though for some reason her features seemed familiar to him, but he could not say from where.

He wanted to demand information, who were they, where was he, but his throat would not respond, he could only watch as the woman moved in. It was then that he noticed she held within one hand a syringe, the sight of that hated object caused him to tense even further. He wanted to struggle against the bonds that held him, but he already knew they would not give, he just was not strong enough to break them. The woman seemed to notice his distress, and spoke in a reassuring voice, "It's alright, just relax, I just need to run a few tests," her voice sung within his mind, reaching, trying to draw up memories that he did not have.

It was not the voice that he had heard at first, and he did not fully trust what it said, however the look that the woman directed towards him, and the way in which she carried herself-in a very non-threatening manner-did help him to relax a little. His eyes watched her warily as she took hold of his arm and inserted the needle's point through the material of his clothing and into his shoulder.

Almost instantly he could feel the drug flow through his system, and as it began to take its effect, the other woman entered his fast blurring vision. Her features were brilliant before his eyes, like a blond angel she smiled down at him with a gentle, heart-warming smile that seemed reserved for him and him alone, something that seemed reserved for him and him alone. Though how that could be he did not know, he had never met her before. "I'm so glad you're back." she whispered for him alone to hear, her smile becoming dazzling. It was the last thing that he saw before his body gave in to the drug.

Thanks for reading ^_^

Morganeth Taren'drel