by AlleyQuat
Midnight arrived and I turned—only to find him gone. Glimpsing his lean form moving gracefully through the crowd, I silently cursed my inaction. When I arrived at my office the next morning, I received a message from Lady Une stating he would be in deep cover for an undetermined amount of time. I again cursed my inaction and settled in for the long wait.
Twelve months and thirty days passed before I received a call from a shaken Heero. The mission was a failure...and there were casualties. He asked me to meet him at the Alpha Hospital as quickly as possible. I ran from my office to my car at breakneck speed, one hand rubbing my chest as waves of fear, guilt, and uncertainly washed over me. I floored the pedal and arrived at the hospital ten minutes later.
I was met by a weary Heero and an exhausted Wufei. I hugged them tightly, thankful they were alive. I turned to Heero and asked him about Trowa and Duo. Before he could answer, an inner door opened and a wounded Duo staggered out. Heero led him to a chair, and sat next to him, their hands intertwined. I hugged Duo, but he shrugged out of my embrace, telling me he didn't deserve it. He refused to meet my gaze and the overwhelming feelings of fear and failure washed over me once more.
In a subdued voice, he told me that the mission he'd been in command of had gone to hell in a hand basket. They belatedly realized that it had been a trap and they were ambushed—50 to 4. The threat was neutralized, but his partner was missing. Wufei found him in a shallow pool of blood. Back-up and medical transports were called, and Trowa was brought here. I told him that he was not to blame—he couldn't have known about the sniper. We sat together and waited for news of Trowa's condition.
In the corner of the lounge, a television was tuned in to a local news station. Two hours left of the year—it reminded me of the promise I had made to confess my feelings to him. The last of the year dwindled down to one hour and I thought about the pros and cons of our situations. Heero leaned against Duo, their hands tightly clasped; Wufei looked at the closed inner door every few seconds and sighed. As the countdown diminished into twenty-five minutes, Sally entered the waiting room, her eyes dull with exhaustion.
The bullet had grazed his head--had it been any closer, it would have shattered his skull. Meeting my gaze, she said that he had been asking for me. I nodded and followed her-—a glance at the countdown told me I had thirty minutes left of the year. Left alone in the room, I couldn't do anything else but stare at the figure in the bed. He was so pale, his green eyes glittering in the dim light. "Quatre..." He beckoned to me, and I felt my feet taking me to his side.
"Trowa...I'm so glad..." The words left me and I found myself in his arms, wrapped in his embrace.