Disclaimer: All of the usual long-winded claims to non-infamy apply as I sadly search for some way to cope with the misery of truth that reminds me on a day-to-day basis that NO!!! I DO NOT OWN GUNDAM WING!!! And guess what else...I NEVER WILL!!! How depressing...oh, well, I guess I'll just have to keep torturing Heero this way instead!

Author's Note: Hello...**echo** hello-hello-ello-ello-lo-lo! Is there anybody out there?...Where did everybody go? **Gundam Wing diehards flood out of the woodwork like angry cockroaches, carrying several implements of mass pain and destruction, and shaking them violently in the air..."THERE SHE IS!!!" can be heard emanating from the small lynching mob** Oh, ahhh, hiya everybody... **chuckles nervously** Nice weather we're having, huh? PERFECT TORTURING WEATHER, THAT IS!!! **Laughs maniacally**

Oh, sorry, about that...just the psycho half of my brain getting its ya-yas out, I guess. Anyhoo! I really hope you enjoy this one...it's kind of a roller coaster ride of angst and mayhem, but it's all for you! And please take a moment to drop me a review and tell me what you thought! I looooove all those great responses!

The hum of electricity filled the air around them as Sandrock shifted beneath the encumbering wire cables of Avenger's net. The more Quatre struggled to break free of it, the more powerful the surge that held their suits immobile.

Duo had managed to take cover beneath the massive left arm of the Deathscythe, careful to avoid actually touching the gundanium now serving as little more than a giant conductor, as Sandrock's movements sent sparks cascading down around him. He couldn't see much beyond the huge swells of terrain that surrounded them on all sides, and silently craved for the vantagepoint he would have had from inside the Deathscythe's cockpit. He could hear the sounds of battle in the not-so-far distance, and silently wondered if Trowa was all right.

Inside his own Gundam, Quatre couldn't help the pangs of guilt from assaulting his mind and body, certain that he was to blame for their current status. He was the one who had allowed Dasenya the opportunity to get too close to their Gundams, leaving them trapped and Trowa completely isolated, fighting on his own against far too great a number. To complicate matters further, his mistake left Hilde, Sally, and the others defenseless, with no way of knowing what had befallen him and the other pilots. Closing his eyes, he swallowed hard and did the only thing that he could under the circumstances...hope that they were safe.

Sally Po did her best to remain hidden, but the more troops that landed, the more exposed she was becoming. She fired several more rounds from the dober rifle, before the enemy trained their own weapons on her Leo suit.

"Damn..." She cursed, aloud, as the blasts ricocheted across the titanium, punching several holes into the surface of her mech. "There's just too many of them!"

Several more blasts sounded near her position, a number of them striking the hangar at her back, sending smoke and debris flying across the salvage yard. An explosion near the hangar entrance threw her Leo forward as part of the wall collided with the back of her suit, pinning it to the ground just as her enemy locked on to its target.

She surrendered to the certainty that her life was about to meet its end, closing her eyes in expectation of the blast that would finish her and the Leo off, when something heavy struck the flight suit in front of her.

Lifting her gaze, she was shocked to find that the Aries she had been fighting was now locked under the powerful death grip of a strangely familiar ally, one who had come to her aid so many times before.

"Wufei!" Sally screamed, both surprised and overwhelmed by the perfection of his timing.

With a casual toss, Nataku flung the Aries suit into the small abandoned warehouse to his left, where it exploded the moment it made contact with the surface.

"You still wasting your time fighting these weaklings, woman?" Wufei spat out, stealing a glance at her half-destroyed Leo still sprawled out on the ground.

"I knew you couldn't resist an opportunity like this..." She replied, quietly, as pain and fatigue overwhelmed her and she slumped forward against the controls, her exhaustion getting the best of her.

Wufei wasted no time, turning to his enemy with the suit's enormous thermal glaive in hand.

"Another Gundam has arrived at sector 314, Commander. It's a different suit, not one of the three we fought before..." The flight unit Lieutenant screamed, taking to the air as Wufei released the Altron's dragon attack, and flames split the sky.

"Destroy it at once, Lieutenant." Dasenya replied, with a cruel smile. "Our mission to escort the Vice Foreign Minister to the base is complete, but we cannot have anyone discovering its location. Do not return there unless you have succeeded in destroying that Gundam."

"Yes, Commander." He answered with a deliberate nod, knowing full well that he would die before ever setting foot on the base again. "All remaining troops attack the Gundam!"

Five of the remaining suits exploded, as delayed reaction left them caught in the path of flames unleashed by the Altron. The last three suits launched several missiles, which struck in close enough vicinity to his position that he could feel the shockwave push his Gundam back half a step.

"You are too weak to be a threat to Nataku. Surrender now, and I may spare your lives." Wufei called out to the remaining enemy suits, as he stepped out of the blast area, virtually unscathed.

Wufei's eyes narrowed as he was answered by only silence...

In a similar standoff, Trowa had met his match as the few remaining land troops were forced into hand-to-hand combat with the massive Heavyarms.

The mech had run out of firepower, much to the enemy's relief, but not before destroying the majority of their land troops and all but two of the Aries that had been left behind.

Now, they were locked in a desperate battle of wills.

Trowa could feel every bone in his body crying out for mercy, his breath coming in several quick, shallow gasps. Heavyarms had taken a fair amount of damage in the recent attacks, the downfall of fighting so many at once. Now, he was poised to strike down anything that approached him, his military blade gleaming against the fading sunlight.

As expected, the enemy regained its momentum before Trowa had, and the proximity alarm sounded as the two Aries performed a kamikaze dive at his suit. With a calculated swing, the two suits fell leaving twin trails of smoke in their wake.

His victory over their comrades seemed to ignite the other's determination, though, and Trowa took a brief moment to brace himself as the other troops moved to engage his suit. With an uncharacteristic smile, he ignited the thrusters and barreled into the wave of approaching Leo suits, ready to strike.

Hilde groaned loudly as she forced her eyes open, feeling the distinct, sticky sensation of blood flowing down her face. Easing her way out of the safety harnesses still holding her secure, she reached up to find the source of the bleeding, hissing in pain as her fingertips grazed the deep gash near her hairline.

A hollow cough escaped her lips as thick, black smoke curled around her from too many sources to trace, and spiraled out of the gaping hole in the suit's midsection.

She winced as she pulled herself free of the rubble, stumbling slightly as white, hot pain shot through her right leg. With a touch of apprehension, she glanced down, not surprised to find a large chunk of titanium protruding from her thigh. There was little blood, she noticed, as she stared down at the wound, which had undoubtedly been cauterized by the superheated metal at the moment of contact, but began to flow freely now, as she removed it from her leg.

Taking a minute to check her surroundings, she could barely make out the looming shadow of a Gundam through the unrelenting smoke in the salvage yard, and smiled at the thought that, for the moment, everyone had escaped with their lives.

The thought left her mind as she turned and caught sight of the familiar, slender outline of a body, lying amidst a spreading pool of blood...

The hatch gave way with a sharp creaking noise, and light flooded in all around her, but somehow, she couldn't find it in her, to lift her head.

"Sally..."

Her eyes fluttered open as the name reached her ears, spoken with a hint of concern.

Wufei Chang eyed her determinedly, desperate to find the reason for Sally's seemingly injured state. No visible wounds marred the surface of her body, though several small cuts and bruises had made their mark on her face and arms. The worst of them appeared on her right shoulder, which had left a good size tear in her flesh.

"Looks like you came to my rescue again, Wufei." Sally said, tiredly, as a smile greeted the bewildered pilot, still holding her gaze.

"Are you hurt, Sally?"

Her eyes flew open wide, as whatever response she was about to utter fell silent to the piercing scream that filled the air.

In an instant, she was on her feet and running, with Wufei quick on her heels, and their destination clear in her mind.

The spaceport was in a complete state of chaos, as the tiny shuttle came to a landing on L2. But Heero knew, even before then, that he was too late.

The platform was crowded with civilians, all scrambling to get off the colony, while swearing to its unavoidable destruction. Others stood transfixed by the giant, theater-sized television screens all displaying reports that the colony was under some unknown attack.

The signs of battle left an unmistakable shadow on the horizon. Smears of black smoke and the undoubted devastation of war painted the sky in thick, swelling waves.

Pushing their way through the crowd, Beth almost lost sight of her traveling companion, but managed to keep up long enough to spot him jumping into a truck at the back of a nearby alley.

"Hey, wait a minute!" She yelled, as the engines roared to life, and she had to jump into the passenger seat to avoid being left behind.

"You were just gonna leave me back there, weren't you?!?" She screamed, near hysterics. "Did you ever stop to think that I have no friends here, no relatives...I've never even been off Colony C and you were just planning on dumping me off in the middle of nowhere?!? I thought we had a deal!"

"I agreed to take you with me when I left L1, I never promised you how far." He replied, callously, as he swerved the vehicle in and out of traffic that fortunately, seemed to be heading in the opposite direction.

"I thought you were going to protect me?" She retorted, angrily, clutching the dashboard as the truck lurched forward unexpectedly.

"That was your first mistake..." Heero growled in response. "Staying too close to someone like me will only end up getting you killed."

"But you're a Gundam pilot..." She argued, speaking the word as though it was the very definition of invincible.

"That only makes me a target." He stated, boldly, not really seeing the need to argue the point any further. "You'd be far better off on your own."

"Well, I'm not letting you off that easily, Heero Yuy. I'm keeping my end of the deal, so you better just get used to it. When I need a baby-sitter...I'll ask for one, all right?

With a nearly inaudible growl, Heero tightened his grip on the steering wheel, driving the rest of the distance to their destination in silence.

Most of the salvage yard was demolished, the hangar where Wing Zero had been stored, hit the hardest of any of the buildings in the immediate vicinity.

Beth eyed Heero cautiously as he leapt from the truck and raced across the salvage yard, leaving her lagging a short distance behind.

The door flew open with nearly enough force to throw it off its hinges, as Heero burst into the small, run-down apartment, his eyes sweeping over the half dozen faces now reacting to his unexpected arrival.

Duo was the first to find his voice, surprised as a young girl entered the room at Heero's back, obviously more than a little out of breath.

"Hey Heero...I never figured you the type to miss out on a battle, on account of picking up chicks." Duo joked with a faint chuckle, before wincing from the pain in his ribs.

Heero didn't seem to acknowledge him, though, his eyes clearly scouring the room for someone else.

Quatre could feel each agonizing beat of Heero's heart, realizing with a desperate certainty that he knew what, or rather who, Heero was looking for.

"Miss Noin did her best to stop them, but there were just too many...Heero!"

Heero knew the instant the words left Quatre's mouth that Relena was gone. Taken. The inferno of emotions that accompanied that feeling stemmed from the knowledge that his decision to leave had been masterfully undermined by Dasenya and that damned system. He bolted past Quatre, pushing his way into the room where Sally Po was hovering over Noin's semi-conscious form. He didn't bother to notice Wufei glaring at him from the other side of the room, as he made his way to her bedside.

"Heero?" Sally said, undoubtedly surprised to see that he had returned.

"What happened?" Heero asked in return, never removing his gaze from the former OZ Lieutenant, now struggling to open her eyes.

"Another attack..." Sally answered. "We did our best to hold them off, but..."

Her words were cut short as Noin stirred awake.

"Heero..." Noin interrupted, through clenched teeth. "They took her...Dasenya and her men. They took Relena..."

"Where?" Heero growled, barely keeping his rage from showing through.

"You were right when you said she'd return...She came back here to kill you..." Noin whispered, stopped short when the pain became too much. "She said that if you want Relena back you'll finish...what you started..."

Even through the pain, Noin could see the determination in Heero's eyes. A look that assured her that no matter what, Relena would be safe.

Sally knew she had missed something in the brief exchange, and turned to address Heero as he made his way out the door.

"Heero? What are you..."

Wufei could feel his anger erupt as Heero walked out of the room, and was quick to follow him.

"Wufei!" Trowa called out, barely alerting Heero to the imminent attack, as both pilots brushed past him by the open doorway.

"You coward!" Wufei screamed, throwing a wild punch in Heero's direction, which was effortlessly dodged as he merely sidestepped the Chinese pilot, whose anger had clearly got the better of him.

He barely acknowledged Wufei's words, as he met the cold anger in his eyes, narrowly avoiding a fist to the jaw.

"You left them defenseless." Wufei yelled, lashing out repeatedly, and pushing Heero back with each step that he drew closer.

The others watched helplessly, as Wufei continued his relentless assault, landing a solid blow across Heero's right cheek, and were both shocked and surprised when Heero did nothing to retaliate.

"Cut it out you guys." Quatre screamed, angrily. "We shouldn't be fighting each other right now!"

Nevertheless, Wufei hadn't stopped, let alone hesitated at Quatre's words, and pulled back to strike again, stopped short as a determined Sally Po stepped in to intercept the blow.

Wufei's fist stopped mere inches from Sally's face as their eyes met briefly.

"Stop this right now, Wufei." Sally ordered, softly.

"Out of my way, woman. This does not concern you..."

"The hell it doesn't." Sally scoffed. "You want to sit here and kill each other, and expect the rest of us to stand by and watch. This isn't about justice, and it has nothing to do with integrity, Wufei. Heero's not your enemy. He's been fighting for the same things that you have."

"He's a coward...who left a woman to fight his battles for him..."

Sally was about to start an argument to the contrary, when Heero offered his own reply.

"He's right."

Duo couldn't help the outward expression of shock that sprung from his lips. "What!?!"

"I did exactly what she wanted me to do..." He answered, softly, as he brushed past Sally, ignoring the pained expression on her face.

Heero gritted his teeth as he felt Wufei suddenly grab his left arm, preventing him from passing while sending a fresh river of blood, coursing down his arm. It didn't go unnoticed by Sally as it seeped through the bandages, leaving a crimson stain on the fabric of his shirt.

"When this battle is over, we will finish this, Yuy." He seethed, releasing Heero's arm, before spinning abruptly to walk outside.

Without a word, Heero headed upstairs as the others stood in silence, still reeling from the attack, Heero's return, and now this.

"What the hell was all that about?" Duo asked, the moment Heero was out of earshot, seeming to voice the question on everyone's mind.

Sally watched Heero ascend the stairwell with an eye of concern.

...Had she imagined it?... She wondered, silently.

Without a word, she too, headed up the stairs, desperate to see if her mind was indeed playing tricks on her.

She reached the open doorway, just as Heero removed his blood stained flannel shirt, and couldn't help the faint gasp that spilled from her lips as she caught sight of the blood flowing down his arm. Ripping the once white bandages away from his skin with vengeful determination, he dumped the contents of a small medical kit across the top of the dresser, grabbing hold of a fresh roll to cover the wounds.

The heavy white bandages still wrapped around his shoulder and chest, bulged at an unnatural angle as she realized how drastically misaligned his left collarbone was, and immediately made her way to his side. He was doing his best to re-wrap his left arm, when he felt the softest of touches at his back.

"Let me help." Sally ordered, not missing the way his body seemed to shrink away from her touch. "It'll get infected if we don't clean it first."

"There isn't time..." Heero replied, sullenly, continuing to hastily wrap the wound, gripping the one end in his teeth, while pulling the knot tight with his free hand.

His body was trembling ever so slightly, hardly noticeable to an untrained eye, but Sally could tell that he was barely concealing the pain. She also knew that once he had his mind set on something, there was no talking him out of it, even at the expense of his health.

"Heero, whatever you plan on doing..." She started to say, before he cut her off with a determined scowl.

"I'm going to get her back." He insisted, before walking out the door.

Whew! **wipes sweat from brow** That sure was a doozy, wasn't it? Sorry it was so long, but you just can't break up a good battle sequence. Okay, well, I can't anyway! Sorry it took so long for me to finish...I applaud you patience! Hopefully it was worth the wait! Until next time! -Luvspook