Disclaimers: I don't own any of the GW Universe. I'm not making any money off this story. It's written out of love (care to guess love for whom?), so please don't sue me I need to send them flowers.

Written: February & March, 2001
Book 1 of the all-new "Gifts" Arc
Overall Rating: PG-13
Pairings: (3+5) (1x2) ([1 & 2] + 5)
Category: Angst Yaoi Shonen ai Violence Friendship Sap WAFF
Enigma Story Category: G-Boys High Adventure!
Warnings: Angst, yaoi, shonen ai, violence, intra-circle bloodshed, language, friendship, and a whole ton of yummy SAP & WAFF!!! plus "AU-OOC" for those who can't cope

Notes: Wufei had seemed like an outsider to the other four pilots until one dreadful day when Quatre allowed his jealousy over the love of a boy who was not his get the better of him with disastrous results. Heero and Duo try to hold the team together while Trowa does whatever he can to help Wufei recover. Can the five teens rebuild what was shattered in a moment's rage?

Special Note: This huge fic was inspired by a lovely pic that I hope you'll take a moment to go see it here.

//someone's thoughts//

<<flashback>>


Priceless Gifts
Part 9


In the uneasy silence, though, a fifth voice called uncertainly, "Trowa?"

"Fei?" Emerald eyes opened and Trowa moved quickly to check on the boy everyone was talking about, but no one was with. It was the first time since the incident that Wufei had been left unattended for more than a few minutes and as both Trowa and Duo rushed to check on him, the HeavyArms pilot felt a twinge of guilt for spending his time seeking revenge instead of watching over him.

"Wu? How ya' doing, buddy?" Duo asked, going to sit beside the boy a bit more restrained than he had been in the morning. He was still angry with Quatre and he didn't want any of that anger to carry over to the innocent victim of the other's misplaced aggression.

A slight smile appeared as Wufei felt Trowa settle into place beside him once more, a gentle hand caressing his uninjured cheek with a bit more sadness than he expected to see. Even groggy, Wufei could tell something had changed and he wondered what to make of it.

"Hey, you," Trowa said fondly, "Feeling any better yet?"

"I think so," Wufei answered with more strength to his voice than he had before, yet clearly nowhere near his usual levels. He sighed and asked "But what's going on? I thought I heard someone arguing. Is there trouble?"

"No, there's no trouble, Wufei," Heero interjected from the doorway where he stood with Quatre in tow. The blond was able to see the injured boy without being seen in return and the Japanese youth hoped the Sandrock pilot might learn a lesson simply from seeing the results of his irrational actions. "We'll talk about it later, all right?"

Wufei assumed that Heero was covering something up, but he was still hurting too much to worry over it.

"That's fine," the Chinese youth answered and let his eyes slide shut. After all, Trowa was still there and back beside him, he had few complaints worth the effort of mentioning them.

Duo cast a glare at both boys in the doorway and Heero nodded, turning Quatre away and heading back to the living room to see to it they stayed out of the two caregivers' way while they worked. Duo stood up and closed the door a bit more forcefully than he needed to, shocking Wufei enough to open his eyes wider than what was comfortable. "Itae," he groaned softly and then let them slide shut once more.

"Sorry, sorry," Duo winced at the angry look Trowa threw him. "Don't know my own strength at times, ya know?" He carefully made his way back to sit beside Wufei and hugged him apologetically. "Let me change the bandages, okay, Wu?"

"Sure," Wufei nodded as he tried to sit up under his own power and failed.

"Take it easy, Fei-kun," Trowa warned as he lifted the other gently and slid a pillow behind his back. He missed the little smile that crossed lips thinned with pain when Wufei heard the endearment but Duo didn't and he smiled happily as he pulled out the first aid kit and got to work.

"So, Wu, gonna try to eat anything any time soon? I brought you some stuff from Starbucks I thought you might like." He remarked, pulling the gauze away from the line of sutures on the bronze face and making a grimace as he wiped at the traces of the infection he had been fighting almost the entire time.

"Maybe," Wufei grimaced as he realized he had stitches in such a prominent place.

The Chinese pilot wasn't vain, but even he appreciated the lack of distinguishing characteristics necessary to be able to infiltrate enemy installations without being easily spotted. A scar across his cheek would render him less able to do the job he enjoyed most. Using explosives for the demolition of OZ facilities had always given him a sense of satisfaction and he hated to think he might not get a chance to do so any longer. Considering this possibility made him frown unhappily.

"What's wrong, Fei?" Trowa asked anxiously. "Is the pain bad again?"

Wufei paused to consider his answer as Duo shushed them both while applying a thin line of antibiotic ointment and a fresh gauze pad. Obviously the ShenLong pilot was more able to plan strategically when it occurred to him that saying "yes" might get a repeat of the "pills via kisses" he had found so very pleasant that morning. Then again, he realized as his stomach growled angrily at him, he *did* need to eat.

When Duo's work on his face was complete he answered truthfully, "Hai, Tro, it hurts, but I'm a little hungry, too." He gazed at the other with dark eyes nearly luminescent in the afternoon sunshine hoping that he wouldn't lose the other's presence as he recovered.

"You really think you can eat?" Trowa looked a bit concerned. "This morning you could barely get a pair of pain pills down. I think Duo might be rushing things a bit with solid food this soon."

Duo stuck his tongue out and grinned. "Well, the cinnamon buns at the coffee shop looked good to me this morning, Tro. But you're right, I'll pop those in the freezer for another day and get our patient a glass of milk, okay?" He hopped off the bed and walked out the door happily thinking about how good it was to hear Wufei sounding at least a little less out of touch.

"And I think that I'll stay right here," Trowa added, moving to lay closer to Wufei, not missing the look of gratitude the other shot him as he wrapped his arms around him once more. "I'm sorry I wasn't here when you woke up earlier, Fei."

"It's okay," Wufei sighed contentedly, "I was just a little disoriented, that's all."

As they quietly talked, Duo brought them both some milk along with a snack for Trowa which the tall boy just ignored and more pain medication for Wufei.

By the time the milk was only half-gone, the injured boy was drifting off to sleep yet again. Without eating any food, Wufei's energy levels would remain low and Trowa would try not to worry too much about that aspect since the Chinese boy's mental acuity had improved.

"Fei?" Trowa asked gently, pulling his companion back from the edge of slumber with his words as well as his actions as he helped the smaller boy settle back down into the bed more fully.

"Hmm?" Sloe eyes blinked at him as he drifted in that gentle state of near sleep that was becoming one of Trowa's favorite points of being for them both.

"Want to take some medicine before you rest again? You probably should."

Wufei nodded and smiled a little before parting his lips asking silently for Trowa to "assist" him as he had that morning. The other blushed ever so slightly and then gladly fulfilled the request, holding the second kiss a bit longer than any of the others, causing Wufei's eyes to flutter shut happily.

When the kiss broke, Trowa looked at the door and added in annoyance, "And I might not be here when you wake up again. There's some things I need to take care of."

A worried frown marred Wufei's face as his eyes opened fractionally, a pain that was not physical showing through clearly. "Are you leaving, Tro?" he asked quietly.

This is what Wufei had dreaded about recovering. He assumed that as soon as he felt better, Trowa would no longer feel any need to remain at his side and would leave. If the slender teen didn't leave the safehouse entirely, he might go back to the room he had shared with Quatre and Wufei hated the idea of going back to sleeping alone now.

Trowa looked at him in confusion. "'Leaving'? Me? No, not to my knowledge." He looked at Wufei with pain of his own as he asked, "Do you want me to go?" "No," Wufei answered almost too quickly and Trowa smiled warmly as he brushed a kiss to his forehead. "I like having you here."

"And I like being here," Trowa answered fondly. "Don't worry, I'll be back later on, there's something I need to talk to the others about, that's all. I'll check on you every so often and if I need to go out, Duo will still be here, okay?"

"Sure," Wufei agreed then yawned slightly, "gomen, Tro," he added softly as his eyes slid shut and remained that way.

Time slid past as Trowa just stayed and held him. As the rhythmic breathing of sleep filled the quiet room, he reluctantly moved to get up. He leaned back down to brush the wayward hair back yet again and murmured, "You're cute when you sleep, did you know that, Fei-kun?" He smiled at his own rhetorical question, then straightened once more.

Slipping his shoes on, he brushed a hand through his bangs allowing them to fall back into place.

Trowa found it amusing that when he stayed in bed with Wufei, the infamous unibang tended to disappear entirely and even Duo found it odd to have both of his eyes visible all the time. Tugging the turtleneck back into shape he took a breath and prepared to face the others for a more proper discussion of how to handle Quatre's return. He hadn't heard any loud voices while he had stayed with Wufei so he assumed that things had cooled off at least a little during his absence.

"I'll try not to kill Quatre," he remarked to himself then glanced at the sleeping boy in the bed, the gauze on one badly bruised cheek reminding him of a key issue. "But either way, that damned ring of his has got to go!"

Trowa closed the door behind himself, and never saw the single dark eye peep open as he left. Wufei had awakened ever so slightly at the sound of anger in Trowa's voice when he mentioned the blond boy.

A single tear slid down his cheek as Wufei realized that he couldn't do anything to stop any confrontations that might break out. He was not particularly worried that any of the others would be injured the way that he was, they weren't restrained from fighting back the way he had been. An honorable warrior does not return violence on someone who truly can't control their actions, as he had realized was the situation when Quatre had become irrational.

Wufei drifted back to sleep, fervently wishing that Trowa would change his mind and just come back to bed, but he knew that the time for such wishes was over. His job now was to get well and then find out if Trowa would choose to remain even if he was healthy.







Dedications:

Due to illness, I will keep the dedication simple tonight and plan to get a nice bright shiny set of white lights for my "Hall of Fame" list to go onto tomorrow's posting run (assuming the kids go to school and I get a chance to even *read* my e-mail!).

Tonight's run is dedicated to the lovely lady who helped to design the Trowa Barton you meet here, Ryoko 03! My adorable Ryo-kitten makes me VERY happy at the Game (long live the GW_yaoi-RPG, no da! Wanna come play? E-mail me and ask!) and she brightens my life all the way around! So, this one's for you, little neko-love, enjoy!

on to part 10

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