Racing With Secrets
Part 4
Reflecting on what he'd said to Heero, Trowa realized he had been too harsh. It was painfully obvious that the former Gundam pilot was
not rational when he had left the hospital or that he even had a complete set of memories of what happened. Glancing at his watch,
Trowa realized Heero had been in the air for around three hours and would be in Tokyo soon. Would he still actually steal a human
heart? From what he could tell from talking briefly to him, he was under the impression he was *supposed* to do this, perhaps the
conversation had snapped him back to reality, but he doubted it.
Trowa went over to Wufei's door and knocked lightly.
"Kisama!" The reply was followed by footsteps. Trowa smirked to himself, Wufei sounded like he was in the same "less than great"
mood that he himself was in.
"Barton, what has happened?" Wufei demanded his awareness snapping into place completely upon realization that Trowa wouldn't
have awakened him without good reason. Wufei shivered a bit, forgetting he'd slept in only the sweat pants he'd gotten through the hotel
instead of his uniform and now the hotel air conditioning seemed a bit too chilly.
"Yuy just called in, finally. It's worse than we thought, Wufei. He's gone completely insane from what I can tell. His memories of what
happened before he left the hospital have been rewritten to suit his own desires and he refuses to hear the truth." Trowa looked
disgusted with the Wing pilot's behavior and seemed to no longer care what became of him. This alone heightened Wufei's concern.
"What do you plan to do, then? Is Quatre back from the hospital yet?" Wufei tried to keep his tone neutral to avoid aggravating an
already bad situation.
Sighing, Trowa ran a hand through his hair; he was still wearing the same clothes from the eventful day before. It was this observation
alone that told Wufei there was even more trouble he was unaware of since Trowa had obviously not slept. "I'm going back over to the
hospital. I've got to tell this to Quatre, but there's not much we can do from here. Maybe I can convince him to come back here and rest
and I'll take watch over Duo."
"What about the girl, Laurel? Are you not concerned about her as well?" Again Wufei sensed trouble and attempted to approach it from
an angle that would not provoke his friend further than he already was.
Uncharacteristically, Trowa's shoulders slumped forward and he reached out a hand to steady himself. Wufei silently led him into the
room and got him to sit down at the writing table, then simply waited for an answer, cradling his broken arm to ease the pain and
stiffness which had awoken him earlier.
"Wufei, I don't know what to think about her. Quatre is totally fixated on the idea we are going to get married and adopt her as if all of
that was magically going to happen. It seemed easy at first, but now I have my doubts. I don't wish the child ill, but Quatre and I need
time to ourselves now that the war is over and we can get our lives started properly. I'm not interested in having the responsibility of a
child in our lives. I honestly doubt that I'm in any rush to get married just for the sake of adopting a child that I'm not even certain that I
want."
Wufei was shocked to hear so much out of his usually taciturn friend. No wonder he hadn't slept. Wufei gave voice to his concerns. "Do
you mean you are uncertain of your love for Quatre? Are you uncertain of his desires to care for the child?"
"Of course I love Quatre, Wufei. And, yes, I know what he feels about her, but it just doesn't seem right to me." Trowa seemed
confused and angry for some reason.
"Have you discussed your reservations about the situation with Quatre?" Wufei struggled to maintain a neutral tone.
"No, not really. He's got too much else on his mind."
"Then tell me, my friend, how do you propose to settle this if you do not discuss it with him? Keeping your concerns secret from him
aids neither of you." Wufei then decided to state what seemed glaringly obvious to him. "Are you afraid, Trowa, that Laurel has replaced
you in his affections?"
Trowa looked stunned. The truth, right between the eyes, so to speak. Even he had not admitted to himself this was his true concern.
Now that it was in plain view, it seemed so painfully obvious.
"Wufei, perhaps that is my concern even if I do not recognize it. I must discuss this with him myself." Trowa rose to leave, but Wufei
stopped him.
"Do you wish me to accompany you to the hospital?"
"No. I think I should do this alone. Go back to sleep, Wufei. Thank you, your insight has helped me a great deal. If anything changes, I'll
call you and Sally from the hospital."
"If you think that is best, then go ahead. Sally and I will join you in the morning and hopefully both you and Quatre will listen to reason
and get some rest." Wufei turned to escort Trowa to the door.
"Before I leave, is there anything you need?" Trowa asked hoping to repay his friend for his help.
"Actually," Wufei looked a bit embarrassed then grudgingly admitted, "my arm aches and I forgot to get the medication back from Sally
when she kept it for me at dinner. I know Maxwell's our resident thief, but any chance you could sneak into her room and get them for
me?" If Trowa had been paying attention, he might have noticed the faint blush on Wufei's cheeks when he spoke of Sally. He had more
than one reason to avoid sneaking into the room of the woman he'd finally admitted to loving.
A gentle laugh came from the doorway. There, leaning comfortably against the door frame, a certain Preventer doctor stood; holding a
bottle of pills and a smile playing gracefully across her lips.
"Onna! How long have you been spying on us?" Wufei demanded, then flushed upon realizing his state of undress.
"Me?" Sally asked trying to play the innocent. "Oh, I've just been here since the part about why Trowa's worried about Laurel, that's all.
And, Trowa, listen to Wufei's advice, talk to Quatre before this becomes a bigger issue than it already is, okay?"
"Certainly, Sally. I assume I no longer need to do any 'breaking and entering' to retrieve that medication you are holding?" Trowa
actually did smirk at this comment.
Sally just laughed. "It wouldn't have been breaking and entering, just entering. We're all 'family' here, why bother to lock the door?
Besides, I realized I had Wufei's medicine but when I came to give it to him *his* door was locked. I assumed sooner or later he'd need
it so I made it easier for him to get it. So, get going, Trowa, I'll take care of my patient from here." Sally smiled happily at both young
men.
"Very good, Dr. Po." And with that, Trowa left Wufei to his fate at the hands of his own beloved, whatever that was to be.
The Perfect Soldier checked his gun for ammunition and prepared for landing on a small private airstrip outside Tokyo. He'd already
confirmed with the Washio Tower that he was going to be there briefly and requested the jet be refueled while he was gone. Without a
second thought, he had automatically given them the credit code for an account that was closed weeks before the war ended.
Now all he needed was transportation. He looked around the cockpit and spotted a small compartment that looked like a promising
source of finances. Indeed it was, and he stuffed the wad of cash into a pocket of his jeans and readied for landing.
The jet handled beautifully and he was out and moving within moments of touching down. He totally neglected to double check on the
refueling, as he sought out a local taxi for the ride to Nambu Memorial.
Handing over enough cash to cover the ride there as well as waiting, the driver agreed to take him straight back to the airfield as soon as
his "emergency visit" was over. Heading in through the front door, he asked at the desk where surgery was. After getting the directions,
he headed off planning how to get in and back out with the heart and a minimum of additional bloodshed. He needn't have worried.
Arriving at the area where the organ procurement process was being held, the Soldier leaned back into the shadows instinctively
listening to a sudden burst of activity.
"Dr. Ishihara, the girl in Helsinki died a half hour ago, what are we going to do with the heart? There's very little time to get it to another
recipient before it is no longer usable!"
"I'm well aware of that, Ryu, we need to give the coordinators a chance to find a recipient. Be patient."
"Actually," Heero stepped out of the shadow, gun drawn and ready. "I've got a recipient waiting for it right now. Hand it over and you'll
have saved yourself a lot of trouble as well as a life."
"What the hell?!?" Ishihara was stunned. Never before had a human organ been hijacked from his hospital.
"You heard me, doctor. Kindly hand over the heart and no one will be injured. However, if I must use force I am more than willing to do
so." The Perfect Soldier's voice was colder than dry ice and his eyes glinted dangerously. Ishihara wisely pointed to the discolored
cooler on the floor labeled "Human Organ for Transplant" in several different languages. Heero went to snatch it up and run, when a tall
red haired man stepped in front of him.
"Allow me," he offered smiling. Gently, he picked the cooler up almost reverently.
"Hand it over, or I *will* shoot you!" Heero leveled the barrel at the man's temple. "I am running out of time."
"Hey, man, chill! I'm going with you. So, where are we headed to? You lead, I'll follow or you tell me where to go and you can keep an
eye on me. If you've got someone who can use this right now, then let's get going." Behind them, Ishihara was apoplectic.
Heero was shocked at this strange twist of events. "Who are you and what do you think you're doing?" he demanded of the stranger.
"The name's Starwind, Gene Starwind. I'm with the transplant transport team, hence the nifty threads." He laughed nodding his head at
his military style flight suit. "And I am serious. I'll go with you if you've got someone who needs this, otherwise it's not going to be used
and another life will be lost due to the damned red tape!"
"Wont this make you an accomplice? I don't automatically assume people tell me things at face value." Suspicious as always, the Soldier
hadn't hesitated in leading the red haired man towards the exit.
"Yeah, well, there is that. But, hey, you've got a gun in my back, right? That makes me a hostage and they can't very well lock me up for
trying to avoid getting shot!" He grinned over a shoulder. That huge, goofy grin reminded Heero just who this was all about and he
redoubled his speed.
"If you insist, Starwind." A few people had noticed the gun Heero held against his "hostage's" back and it would corroborate the story
later. They got into the cab waiting at the curb and took off.
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