Chapter Five: Strong Wills, Stubborn Spirits

The feelings of confusion were overwhelming, as Quatre and Lacus made their way to the Archangel's bridge.

"Quatre-san, don't you think you should slow down? Your wounds are bleeding even worse than before." Lacus murmured, worriedly, as the blond-haired boy stubbornly willed himself to stay on his feet. She could feel the blood soaking through the sleeve of her blouse, as she supported him as best as she could.

"We need…to get there….We might be….the only ones….who can save this ship….from the ambush…." Quatre gasped; grimacing slightly with every move he made, yet somehow maintaining a tight control over the pain itself….a strength that made even Lacus wonder.

"The more time I spend with him, the more I'm reminded of Athrun….There's so much spirit in his eyes, even though he's so badly hurt…." Lacus mused, as they arrived on the command deck, and took a good look around.

"What the…..? What're you two…..?" Badgiruel started to say, when she'd noticed them arrive on deck, and as the pair floated over to a better vantage-point, so they could see what was going on.

"My daddy…..my daddy's ship…..gone….." a girl's voice sobbed, piteously; prompting Quatre to look in the direction it had come from. From where he stood, Quatre could sense the horror and devastation the girl now felt over the loss of her father….and could remember very clearly when he had felt the same way, over the death of his own father. Without another word, he approached her, and held her close; settling her head on his chest, so she could hear his heartbeat.

"Let…..let me go…." Flay whimpered, as she tried to force her way out of his embrace, yet stopped when her struggles only seemed to hurt him further.

"I know how it feels…..I lost my own father in almost the same way." Quatre murmured, quietly.

"You did….?" Flay whispered, taken aback by this, for some strange reason. Quatre nodded.

"Yes. And it was a loss that drove me to madness…..I nearly killed a good friend of mine with it, as a result….." Quatre quietly said; remembering only too well what had happened then, and what it had taken to bring his humanity back…..his eyes getting an even more pained look in them, when he noticed one of the mobile suits in the distance.

"Quatre-san?" Lacus yelped, when the boy suddenly collapsed again; prompting both girls to try and catch him before his head hit the floor.

"Call sickbay and tell them to send a crash cart up here as fast as they can!" Murrue commanded, actually leaving her seat, when she noticed that Quatre's wounds were bleeding even worse than they had been before.

"S-so much blood….Why is he losing so much blood?" Flay asked, looking up with tears still in her eyes, when Lacus gently yet firmly moved her hands to where the blood-soaked bandages were, and helplessly watched as the Coordinator girl placed them there.

"I don't know, Flay-san, but we've got to try and slow it down….Put pressure on the wounds….it might help till the doctor gets here." Lacus said, doing all she could to keep Flay calm, despite what was happening before them.

"T-trowa…." Quatre somehow managed to think, as his consciousness faded from around him, and the doctors finally arrived on the scene; hurriedly picking him up, when they saw what condition the Eve War veteran was in, and rushing back the way they had come.

"You survived too…."

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And it was this barest whisper of thought, that almost made Trowa freeze in mid-motion; noticing when Duo also froze.

"Quatre…." Trowa murmured, sounding shocked that the other teen's thought had reached him.

"Anything wrong over there, Trowa?" Nikol asked, breaking the spell that one moment had cast over the HeavyArms' pilot, and bringing him back to reality.

"No. Nothing's wrong. Just focus on the battle at hand." Trowa coolly said, in response, before beginning his attack on the DeathScythe Hell.

"Right!" came the almost unanimous response from the trio, before they flew off away from them. And with everything he had, Duo just barely managed to hold the Heavyarms off.

"Shit! I never imagined that just trying to keep from being turned into mincemeat would be this difficult! Did they upgrade Heavyarms during the lull?" Duo wondered; hearing it when three more enemy fighters emerged and started flying towards the Archangel, and immediately pulling back from his fight with Trowa.

"Duo! Where are you going?" even Trowa himself had to ask, when he'd seen his usually fiery friend turn away and give chase to the trio of mobile suits that were getting closer to the ship.

"You may not think I have any business fighting in this war, Trowa, but while I've got an injured friend on that ship who can't fight for himself, I'll fight for 'im." Duo replied, coolly; his tone of voice telling his former comrade that there already was someone he would fight to protect in this time….and Trowa was only able to watch, as the Deathscythe Hell took down its' enemies with ease.

"Ensign Barton, what are you just standing around for? Have you taken any hits?" Rau asked, almost startling Trowa back into reality again.

"No sir." Trowa replied, immediately.

"Then keep your mind on what you're supposed to be doing." Rau commanded; his irritation easily heard, since he had also seen the destruction of the three mobile suits from his place on the Gamow.

"Yes sir…." Trowa almost reluctantly agreed, as he then turned to try and locate his former friend, and seeing him floating defensively in front of the other ship, "I suppose we'll soon see how long you'll be able to stand by your beliefs, Duo…."

Vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv(divider)

And the situation was just as uncertain on the main deck of the Archangel. Murrue and the rest could only stare for a few moments, as the Deathscythe Hell took up a position between them and the rest of the mobile suits; his speed and strength a surprise, considering how short a time that he had been with them.

"Captain! Enemy ship has been sighted!" one of the crew yelped, when something began to emerge from behind the debris of the shattered escort ship nearby. Immediately, the main deck seemed to come back to life, as something akin to panic emerged within some of the ensigns.

"Their guns are locking onto us!" the same crewman added, a few moments later; turning to his superiors for anything they could do in this situation.

"Kira Yamato, Duo Maxwell, come back at once!" Badgiruel shouted into a comm-link, once she had also noticed that the enemy ship was getting ready to fire on them.

"Oh shit! That thing had been hiding from us the entire time to lure us into this!" Duo shouted, once he was also aware of the ship, yet was unable to do anything, since he was still holding off the Heavyarms and at least two others.

"Emergency retreat!" Murrue finally shouted, "Get the Strike, Deathscythe, and Zero back on board!"

"There's no time for that!" Badgiruel replied, before hurriedly activating the communications system, tuning it to their enemy's frequency, and then calling out to the enemy ship, "Attention to ZAFT ship! We currently have Miss Lacus Clyne aboard this ship, the daughter of Siegel Clyne, Supreme Council Chairman of the Plant!"

Vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv(divider)

And the shock at these actions was even felt on board the Gamow, and the mobile suits, when those words had been heard.

"By chance, we happened upon her lifepod, and took her in for humanitarian purposes….If you continue with your attacks, there's no guarantee that she can be kept safe." Badgiruel's voice continued, almost desperately; her words getting some strong reactions from all who heard them.

"This is proving interesting….." Rau mused, as a slight smirk appeared on his masked face at this turn of events.

Vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv(divider)

Upon the announcement that Lacus was on board their enemies' ship, all of the ZAFT mobile suits seemed to freeze in place.

"Interesting hole the Badger-lady has just gotten us into…." Duo grumbled, his words unexpectedly getting some snickers from a few of the other pilots as well.

"Got that right…." One of the others agreed, most of them turning to look, when Athrun shouted angrily at Kira.

"It must be a dirty trick! And even if Lacus is on board that ship, is this what your sense of justice has become, Kira? You would fight alongside such treacherous company?" Athrun asked, furiously.

"I could ask you the same question, Duo." Trowa added, when it seemed that Kira wasn't going to answer Athrun's questions; giving his old friend a speculative look, from his seat in the Heavyarms' cockpit.

"Simple. These people rescued Quatre and me, I pay back my debt and protect Quatre who's still hurt." Duo replied, easily, even though his expression told them that the reason was much harder to explain than he would openly admit….

"So Quatre is on board! But what about this other presence I feel? There's another of us on board, but is Duo aware of him too?" Trowa wondered, as the tense standoff continued; barely feeling the other familiar presence as they sat there…

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Flay could only watch helplessly, as the sickbay personnel did what they could to help Quatre; not even noticing that the blood on her pale hands was starting to dry.

"Is he going to live?" Flay asked, her voice barely being heard, amidst the raised voices of the doctors, and the equipment they were using.

"He'll be fine, once we get that bleeding stopped, and the wound taken care of." One of the doctors replied; surprisingly having heard the softly-spoken question. After that, everything happened in what seemed to be a whirlwind; leaving the shell-shocked Flay standing there watching.

"He's a Coordinator, and yet….I feel scared for him….Why? It's not like I know him very well! But…." Flay mused, as her mind drifted back to what Quatre had told her back on the command deck, and remembered his efforts to comfort her….

"It hadn't seemed like he was lying…." Flay added, a few moments later; subconsciously stepping back, when a nurse rushed past her. It was then, that something seemed to reach out to her, almost a feeling that there was someone else there….Someone who didn't quite belong, yet had to be there nonetheless. With that eerie feeling traveling up and down her spine, Flay slowly turned around and looked. At first, all she noticed was an almost empty sickbay, then she saw the other occupied bed….Slowly, she started approaching it. From what she was able to see, aside from the bandages and IV drips, was that the man before her seemed to be in his early thirties, had pale skin, a handsome, aristocratic face, and tousled chestnut-brown hair. He also appeared to have been fairly athletic before whatever had happened to him, happened….at least, from what Flay could see under the sheets and bandages, at any rate….

"What…? Is the battle….over…? L-libra….Oh God…..Libra is about to fall!" the man painfully moaned, startling Flay out of her shock just enough to get her to reach out to the injured man in an effort to comfort him.

"N-no….no it isn't. Please, calm down!" Flay murmured, as the man began to become more aware of her, and his surroundings; his deep blue eyes finally settling on her face, and further captivating her.

"Who….are you?" the man asked, his voice soft and pained, as he struggled to calm down; shuddering at the memories that had rushed into his mind the moment he'd regained consciousness.

"M-my name is Flay Allster…." Flay answered, feeling some hints of shock, when the man didn't show any signs of recognizing her last name, "Who are you?"

"I….am called Treize….Kushrenada….and it is a pleasure….to meet you….Miss Allster." The man painfully replied, with a very slight smile and a polite nod, never once realizing that his own name had frozen Flay right in her tracks. Not only did the Archangel have the daughter of the Supreme Council Chairman, but the infamous leader of OZ had also somehow come to be there….but how had he survived?