Disclaimers: I don't own any of the Gundam Wing Universe. I'm not making any money off this story. It's written out of love, so please don't sue me.

Written: May-July, 2001
Overall Rating: NC-17
Overall Pairings: (3+5) (1x2/2x1) (?x5)NCS
Category: DARK Angst Yaoi/Shonen ai Friendship Rape-Memories Sap Lime AU-OOC
Enigma Story Categories: G-Boys High Adventure! & Gundam Nightmares
Warnings: DARK, angst, yaoi/shonen ai, friendship, remembrance of non-consensual sex, sap, lime, language, violence, fear, AU-OOC

Notes: The hidden gifts that Wufei discovered brought him a sense of joy at the time, but now shadows of a dark and painful past return and his world begins to shatter. Can Trowa find the strength to truly love him unconditionally and somehow keep the Chinese teen from being irrevocably destroyed?

//thoughts//


Unconditional Gifts
Part 26


While the different dramas were enacted in the upper floors of the beach house, Quatre Raberba Winner was alone in the living room, lost in thought as he wondered what else he could do to help change things for this unique family of five teenage boys. His search of the Winner Corporation databases for help for Wufei had lead to more questions than answers and he abandoned the indirect effort in favor of thinking of a more active solution.

//What can I do that the others can't? There just has to be something that I can do to help out more with all of this. Let's see, what're the things that need doing? Heero's been getting blown off by Doctor J about finding an opportunity to take Khushrenada down, maybe I can help with that since I've got contacts he hasn't got?//

Sending a request for reconnaissance to his devoted friend Rasid, leader of the Maganacs, Quatre felt slightly better about things.

The large bear of a man would never betray his request for secrecy since he had no connections with the five scientists that controlled the Gundam pilots lives. Furthermore, the only one of the five that Rasid had the least bit of patience with was Instructor H, the man having proven his own loyalty to the young Winner heir time and time again.

For his own part, Rasid had been content to remain in the background for the past few months, quietly available with a literal army of repair technicians that had assisted in the maintenance of all of the Gundams other than ShenLong, an omission that he had wondered about. How the Maganacs ended up with such a diverse set of skills was beyond Quatre, but he was grateful to them all the same.

Quatre sighed mentally as he thought about Rasid's inquiries as to why his people were never asked to work on the dragon-fisted mobile suit as well as why they had yet to meet the elusive Chinese pilot in the first place.

//Why, oh *why* did Master O do that to Wufei? Keeping him away from the rest of us was just plain stupid and maybe if he'd been part of the team all along maybe this wouldn't have happened? No, that's not fair, this isn't his fault anymore than it's ours, but it still bugs me! I hate wondering if there wasn't a way to avoid all of this pain in the first place. The best thing to do now, though, is to track down that Russian bastard and put an end to him.//

The one time pacifistic pilot growled in the back of his throat as anger swept through him yet again.

//I think that Heero's completely right about that, too. When it happened to my sister, we wanted the same thing but the guy who did it was arrested and sent to prison instead. Then again, he wasn't the leader of an army and he wasn't untouchable for all intents and purposes. I guess maybe that explains why Wufei didn't exact his own vengeance, maybe Khushrenada's just too damned powerful. And invisible! I swear, if Heero can't pinpoint a time and place for us to take him down, who can?//

Slowly, a dark smile crossed the usually happy blond's face as a "firing solution" began to form in his mind. If the four teens themselves couldn't find a way to locate the man from the outside, perhaps someone from the inside might be able to make the difference.

//Hmmm, wait a moment. I wonder if I might be able to charm a bit of help out of a certain enemy pilot. I have no idea where his morals lie, but even if he isn't interested in helping because it's the right thing to do, perhaps I can trick him into something.//

Standing for a moment, he drew out his wallet and pulled a certain white business card from its confines. The Arabian teen took a deep breath and then sat down, visage determined as he did something that smacked too much of treason for his own tastes, but he'd chosen his path and this opportunity was too good to waste.

//Well, Zechs Merquise, it would appear that we'll meet again after all.//

Typing quickly for fear that one of his teammates might walk into the room and catch him in the act, Quatre sent a message that would change all of their lives.

The Arabian teen asked the OZ officer for a meeting, a private conference of sorts between just the two of them on neutral territory even though he knew that it meant he risked being captured. Using all the cunning and skill of the Desert Prince, Quatre worded the request such that if Merquise had even a shred of honor their meeting would be far from the prying eyes of the military organization that the other man worked for.

Quatre suddenly wondered how much of the danger he was about to put himself into was truly and exclusively for Wufei's benefit, but he banished those thoughts as irrelevant. Totally focused, he had abandoned all thoughts about how much he'd been attracted to the TallGeese pilot. At that moment, the platinum blond was nothing more to him than a means to an end.

Growling low in his throat, Quatre found his own typed message too soft and rewrote much of what he'd intended to send.

//I am *not* going to take any chances with him! I won't promise to come unarmed and I don't give a damn if he finds that odd. I think I'd find it unbelievable if he promised me that, so to hell with it. The only concession I'm willing to give here is that the other pilots won't know about this. Frankly, they'd just get in the way, and I'm in a hurry. I'll give him a deadline and if he won't come to me, I'll track him down later. He's certain to know how to find Khushrenada and I'll do whatever it takes to get that information from him.//

He hit the "send" button with unnecessary force, then sat back and reflected briefly on his own actions.

//Well, Winner, now you've done it. You've either just done the single stupidest thing of your short life *or* you've just pulled off a brilliant piece of strategy. Either way, you'll probably know in a few days. This whole situation stinks on ice and its far past time to get something going to fix it!//

Nervous, he bit at his lip as he shut down the computer and tried to conceal his activities from the others. The last thing he wanted at that point was to have to explain why he was breaking cover so badly, but the guilt from his previous actions had never been fully resolved and this was something he could do to ameliorate that, too.

//But this just *has* to work! It just has to! Right now, Wufei's way too close to the edge and if we don't all start taking a few risks, we'll lose him permanently. I know my talking to Zechs may seem like a crazy thing to do, but here's hoping that it works. I'm all out of ideas and this is at least something that I can do to help.//

Exhausted, Quatre headed off to his room where he fell into a dark and troubled sleep. The seeds planted by his actions, though, would bear unpredictable fruit in the coming days and months, resulting in changes he could never have predicted at the time.

*****

Dripping wet, Trowa stepped through the door of his own bedroom and was not surprised in the least to find Duo asleep in bed with Wufei.

After changing for bed and toweling his hair dry, Trowa went and quietly awakened the American teen with a gentle shake, saying, "Duo? Wake up, please. You're in the wrong bed."

Violet eyes cracked open slowly and Duo peered up at him as he processed the words he'd just heard and then he smiled. "Welcome back, Tro. Feeling better, I take it?"

"Yeah, I think I needed to just think a few things through, that's all." A shy smile crossed Trowa's lips as he added, "Sorry about trying to trick you like that."

"No sweat," Duo remarked as he got to his feet. "If I hadn't figured it out in time and had gone ahead and pounded you, *then* I'd expect an apology, though! Don't do that again, okay?"

"Sure," Trowa answered sliding into the warm spot that opened up when Duo got up. He looked at Wufei before asking, "How's he doing? Any change?"

Duo shrugged unhappily, "I think there's no real change, but at least he isn't any worse."

Trowa frowned and moved to gently stroke Wufei's back, "I guess I'll take what I can get, then. He *is* asleep this time, isn't he? Not still out cold or anything?"

"To the best of my knowledge, yeah." Duo looked annoyed, then added, "I always thought knowing how to sew each other up was the most important medical thing to cover and now I'm starting to think maybe I need to bone up on mental health issues. He's sure gonna have one hell of a case of depression if we don't think of something soon."

"I know," Trowa sighed. "If we have to, though, I think we could always track down Sally Po and ask her about it. Fei spent some time working with her group after the debacle at New Edward's and I'm sure she would be glad to repay the favor."

"Or we can talk to Iria," Duo counter-offered. "She's always willing to help us out and she doesn't ask as many questions as Sally does."

"This is true," Trowa nodded and then smiled tiredly, "Either way, I'll see you in the morning, okay, Duo? If we're not downstairs by a reasonable time, come up and check on us, please? I have no intention of leaving him alone again."

"Sure thing. Good night." The American teen closed the door quietly behind himself, leaving the other two alone once more.

"Koi?" Trowa said softly to the sleeping boy, "I want you to know we're going to get through this, one way or another. Nothing you said today changes how I feel about you and I won't leave you."

The soft voice trailed off and Trowa stopped to think about what he'd just said and then he changed his mind.

"No, that's not true. Actually, a lot of what you said today *does* change how I feel, just not in the way that I was thinking. After what you said in the kitchen, I feel like I understand you better and that's a very good thing. But the rest of what you said, well, that's different. It explains some things, it makes some things more confused, and it changes a few preconceptions I had about the rest of our lives, but it certainly doesn't make me love you any less."

A soft sigh left his lips and he brushed one hand across Wufei's forehead lovingly, stroking the loose black hair back so he could see his lover's face, relaxed in slumber.

"Rest well, dragon, and come back to me. I need you, koi, and I think you need me. I love you, Chang Wufei, make sure you give me a chance to show you, all right?" Trowa brushed a gentle kiss to his soulmate's undamaged cheek and then he snuggled down to fall asleep keeping the smaller boy in a protective embrace.

As the memories of the sexual assault in Berlin continued to come back to Wufei in fragmented pieces, more details would be revealed. Some of these would add both understanding and sorrow to the lives of the five bold young warriors whose new-found sense of family supported them all far more than they knew. Some of them, however, would remain inexplicable for many days to come since not even the victim of the crime knew the full truth.

Eventually the storm outside the beach house quieted leaving a false sense of calm in its wake.





Full Author's Notes to Run at Conclusion.

End Notes for Parts 23-26: There you have it, my friends, another day is complete in the G-Boys' lives and yet the foreshadowing is heavy enough that you can cut the angst-to-come with a knife! Or a dagger, if you prefer. You can always borrow Trowa's since he hasn't given his to Heero yet, now has he?

[snickers at self and wonders if that was more foreshadowing or just a Red Herring since there's only been a few of those swimming around in the story so far]

Now it's time for one more stroll down the "Hall of Fame" as I endeavor to thank those wonderful people who send me notes and tell me they're enjoying reading my latest angst! I think I might indulge myself and list a bunch of folks that may or may not have sent me a note lately since I am *still* eight miles behind at YahooGroups, but what else is new?

[flashing floodlights are added to the "Hall of Fame" for tonight since I seriously doubt that everyone's going to get the notes they deserve from me while I attempt to sleep before the trip instead of staying up all night]

Thanks go out to: dhuron (who's still the best!), Lani, Hana-chan, Trixie (huggle!!!), Nazarri, Danielle (tickle glomps), Rubious, bearilou, Jan (who is getting a fic dedication as soon as my lemon muse and I can work on another "101" fic after the trip! See what happens to nice people? Nice things happen to nice people in the Llama-verse!), Ashkara, Steppin' Razor, SkyLark (kisses flower child), Azzie, Bee-chan, Loopergirl, Rainbow, backslide57, Nanachan, Shea Maxwell, Babaca, Jana, SteelSong, dhuron, Jade, and everyone else at [1x2x1ML] and [3x5_5x3list], too, just for good measure!

on to part 27

back to fiction

back to enigma fiction


back home