Ok, just to prove I am not the heartless, evil cliffhanger queen you all think I am *hides behind desk as guns and various other weapons are drawn* - here is the last chapter to the All Day Long series. It's my Valentine to you all. Love, Stella.

Disclaimer: We've been through this! I don't own Gundam Wing OR the song Deliver Me, sung by Sarah Brightman

Deliver Me

"What the---?" The intern momentarily stopped in his tracks, dumbstruck by the picture of two people standing by his patient's bed in the midst of a giant mess of water and flowers. They were oblivious to the puddle they were standing in - they also seemed equally oblivious to his presence, even though the door had slammed behind him. "What happened?" he asked loudly, eyeing the broken vase, but neither one of them even acknowledged him. He trudged over to the bed, making as much noise as possible as he tried not to slip in the stream of water snaking its way across the room, and stared down at the man in the bed. No change, nothing remarkable, so he then looked up at the man and woman across from him. "Mr. Maxwell?" No answer. "Mrs. Maxwell?" 'Are they deaf?' The young man reached across the bed and nudged Duo in the arm. This seemed to shake him out of the trance, but instead of offering an explanation, he merely looked up and stared at the man in the white coat. The intern regarded him quizzically, and after some time, a question finally escaped Duo's lips.

"Who is this man?" The intern, whose name was Ripley by the way; was surprised by the wavering tone of the usually very jovial Mr. Maxwell, not to mention the look on his face, and his wife's. Hilde kept staring at the patient with her jaw dropped and Duo looked like he had food poisoning again.

"We don't know, sir," Ripley said carefully, still not quite sure of where this was going, or if the people standing across from him were altogether mentally stable. Duo made no reply, so he continued. "As far as I know he's been here in a coma for the last three years, after the final uprising. The chart says that some salvage ship found him amongst the debris of the detonated weapons colony and brought him in. We thought he was dead, but when he was hooked up to the monitors, he still had a heartbeat and a slight amount of brain activity. He's had just about every kind of surgery - his insides were torn apart, he was very badly burned... among other things," the intern added, flipping through the chart. "Three days ago he underwent a groundbreaking new procedure performed by Dr. Langley... and myself," Ripley said proudly, "that will repair and regrow his damaged neurological system. We expect him to wake up shortly." Suddenly, realizing he had probably just violated every measure of doctor-patient confidentiality with his boasting, it occurred to him that Duo Maxwell should have a good reason for wanting this information. "Why do you want to know?"

The braided man looked at Ripley, a shocked expression still on his face. For once in his life, Duo Maxwell was speechless. Hilde, whose eyes were still roving over the patient suddenly jumped and pointed, "Duo, it's him! Look!" Hilde lifted the sleeping man's right arm, and on the inside of his forearm was a small tattoo, an unmistakable "01." Duo's eyes widened and he pulled up his own sleeve, revealing a small "02" on the same place. The markings had been "gifts" from OZ when the gundam pilots had been their prisoners. Trowa was the only one of the five who had escaped without one, as the organization had never known he was 03.

At that moment Dr. Langley swept haughtily into the room, and began to bellow at Ripley as he took in the scene before him. Kicking aside soggy flower stems, he made his way to the bedside. "What is the meaning of this?" he blustered at his intern, and also at Hilde and Duo. Ripley had no explanation, as Duo had never given him one, but from what he could ascertain, the couple seemed to know their mysterious patient.

"I-I think they know him, sir," he stammered at his mentor, who raised an eyebrow in the direction of the Maxwells.

Without another word Duo threw his head back and started to laugh wildly, which he did for quite some time. Looking down at the man in the bed, he wiped tears away from his eyes as he shook his head and smiled. "You did it again, old buddy. What a guy!" Duo continued to chuckle, grinning down at his friend as Dr. Langley watched him, staring confusedly along with Ripley, thinking that this loud man with the braid must be quite mad. It was then that the figure in the bed stirred. His head moved from side to side and his eyes fluttered open, revealing the familiar Prussian blue. "Hiya, Heero!" Duo beamed.

***EARTH- the following morning***

Quatre's mouth moved, but no sound came out. Duo watched the image on the monitor. His eyes widened and the blood seemed to drain from his face. Quatre's only response was to shake his head in disbelief. He barely heard the sound of a door opening and closing, and when he finally looked up, Relena was standing in front of him, equally pale.

"What... what did Duo just say?" she asked hoarsely, leaning on the desk for support. The blond man seated across from her just stared, taking in quick shallow breaths as he looked from her to the man on the monitor.

Duo, having heard Relena's voice, jumped at the chance to be the bearer of the news. Quatre regained some semblance of composure, and looking vacantly at Relena, he wheezed out a few barely audible words. "They found him." His voice sounded so distant, and his features were ghostly white.

Relena returned the vacant look, still bewildered, but Duo cleared things up in short order. "Heero's alive, Relena!" The only sound Duo heard in response was a dull thud when she hit the floor. Quatre snapped out of his daze and rushed to her side.

"We'll be there as soon as we can," he yelled up to the monitor.

Quatre's private shuttle was readied immediately, and a group comprised of Trowa, Wufei, and Sally Po, Zechs and Noin, along with Quatre and Relena, all sat in the stunned silence of disbelief.

"I refuse to believe it until I see him," Wufei snapped, crossing his arms over his chest. No one replied; Sally only scowled at him.

Relena looked over at her little boy, who had fallen asleep in the seat beside her. She felt as though she were living through a dream. After all this time... She stiffened momentarily, thinking about Wufei's comment. He was right. She fought to keep up her defenses, to not let herself believe that Heero was there or that there was even the slightest possibility that the daydreams she mused over so often had the remotest prospect of coming true. Even if he were alive, there was a chance that he would not remember her - or not want her... But at least, at least she would get to see him, if it really was him. And her son would see... The tears sprang to her eyes, tears that just last night she swore would not come anymore. Taking her son's hand, Relena silently prayed with all the hope in her heart.

Deliver me
Out of my sadness
Deliver me
From all of the madness
Deliver me
Courage to guide me
Deliver me
Strength from inside me

"You can see him now," Ripley said, finding Duo and Hilde in the waiting room. They'd been hustled out of the way when Heero woke up, and had resigned themselves to the fact that this was going to be a long night. Duo was still wearing his hospital gown, as he had only managed to put on a pair of pants before Hilde dropped the vase. Following Ripley back down to the room, Duo peppered him with questions.

"How is he? Does he remember us? Can he talk yet? Not that Heero was ever much for talkin' so maybe you couldn't tell..." Ripley interrupted him.

"His brain seems to be functioning normally, but it will be a while before he will be able to walk on his own."

"Obviously, you don't know Heero," Duo joked. Ripley ignored the comment and continued.

"You'll have to be patient with him; I'm afraid his memory will seem a bit spliced at first. In time he should remember everything fully, I believe. But yes, he can speak. He started muttering something about a 'Relena.'" Hilde and Duo looked at each other and smiled.

All of my life
I've been in hiding
Wishing there were someone just like you
Now that you're here
Now that I've found you
I know you'll be the one to pull me through

"How could he have made it?" Quatre whispered to Trowa, eyeing Relena to be sure that she was asleep. Trowa shrugged slightly, and then looked up as Zechs and Noin moved in to join them. "I saw the explosion," Quatre continued, shaking his head.

"Nothing's impossible for Heero," Noin added, drawing a bit of a surprised look from Zechs.

"Well..." she trailed off, "He was always was one to beat the odds."

"I suppose the force of the blast could have launched him away from the colony," Zechs offered.

"But he self-detonated!" Quatre argued, his words coming out louder than he would have liked. He stole another sideways glance in Relena's direction. At that, Sally Po joined the group.

"I've learned not to question these things," she said sagely. "Instead," Wufei shot her a slightly disapproving look as she spoke, "just be grateful."

"Relena..." Quatre shook her shoulder gently. "Relena, we're here."

"Hmmm?" she asked sleepily, blinking at him. After a few moments she remembered what she was doing on the shuttle, and the zombie-like look of shock and disbelief washed across her face again.

She began to get up, and Quatre gently lifted the little boy who was still asleep beside her. A tiny arm flopped over his face, resting on his crop of dark brown hair. Her little version of Heero. "It's just a short ride to the hospital," Quatre whispered over his shoulder.

The hallway seemed to go one forever. They passed through door after door until they came to the observation room where Duo and Hilde were waiting. Upon seeing them, Duo bounded down the hallway like an excited puppy. "Is it really him?" Quatre blurted out in spite himself. Duo nodded frantically, smiling all the time as he led them back to the room.

"He can talk a bit - can't move much yet, doc says that'll come in time. He should remember everything, too." Relena kept walking, though her feet felt like lead weights. She still wouldn't let herself believe it, still wouldn't let herself... Duo turned to her. "The first thing he said was your name."

Deliver me
Loving and caring
Deliver me
Kindness and sharing
Deliver me
This cross that I'm bearing

Allowing herself to be dragged along by Duo as his last statement echoed in her mind, Relena finally arrived at Heero's room. She could see a man in a bed through the darkness, sleeping while machines were measuring his brainwaves and heartbeat. "Is it really?"

"YES!" Hilde answered, smiling though her tears. "Go on - go in there!"

Relena's hand was trembling so fiercely that she was unable to turn the doorknob. Duo did it for her. She stepped into the dimly lit room, advancing slowly towards the bed in the center. The heels of her shoes made a slight clicking noise against the floor tiles, and after what seemed like the longest walk of her life, Relena was standing at his bedside. Bandages were wrapped around his head, but his thick brown hair stuck out in all directions just as she remembered. Her eyes traveled to his face - those same features, marred by only a few small jagged scars. His chest rose and fell gently, and Relena noticed the slick pink marks that covered it. What he must have been through! Her mind replayed the tape she had seen just last night... the pain in his eyes. But this was the past. And there he was, her Heero back from the dead! Relena collapsed into a nearby chair, never taking her eyes off him. At first she was not aware of the fact that she was crying, but she felt the tears running from her eyes. She reached out for his hand and held it in hers. It was still so cold, but it was him! The sobs shook her body violently as she leaned over buried her face in the sheets, letting the agony of three long years escape her soul.

All of my life
I was in hiding
Wishing there were someone just like you
Now that you're here
Now that I've found you
I know you'll be the one to pull me through

She knew that she was crying loudly, but there was nothing she could do to stop herself. A sudden movement took her by surprise, and she felt the sensation of a hand gently running through her hair.

"Don't cry, Relena."

Deliver me
Oh, deliver me

"Heero!" she choked out, barely able to speak as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. He turned his head towards her, and seemed to make an attempt to sit up. Realizing that it was useless, he gave up and his body relaxed while she stood transfixed, looking into the eyes so like her son's - the eyes she thought she would never see again. With what seemed like a great effort, Heero slid his hand along the sheets, searching for hers. As Relena looked at him, a million thoughts raced through her mind; where to start, what to tell him - how would he ever know what the last three years had been like for her. "Do you remember?" she began to ask.

"Some things," he answered, his voice raspy and dry. "The important things," he added, speaking very slowly, having to search for each word. "You."

All of my life
I was in hiding
Wishing there were someone just like you
Now that you're here
Now that I've found you
I know that you're the one to pull me through

Relena smiled in response, and it occurred to her a crowd of people were gathered in the hallway waiting to see him as well. She turned around and waved them in. A glint of recognition flashed in Heero's eyes as they all stood before him. But there was someone else... He cast his glance downwards to a little figure peeking out from behind Quatre's legs. Relena caught sight of him and smiled.

"Heero," she said clearly, having won her battle with the tears. "I'd like you to meet your son, Orion Peacecraft-Yuy."

Relena held out her hand and the little boy crept out from his hiding place and walked to her, all the while fixing his little blue eyes on the man he had only seen in a picture. Heero couldn't stop staring back at his son; the son he thought he would never see. He watched the smaller version of himself move past Relena. Orion climbed up on the bed and faced his father. Cocking his head to one side, he reached out and touched Heero's hair, his nose, and his cheeks - to be sure that this was a real person. When he was satisfied, he smiled widely and said, "Hello, Daddy."

Deliver me...
Won't you deliver me...

AN: The name Orion means "son of a star" or "son of light" - I couldn't help but think it was appropriate. And there may be an epilogue, just to wrap things up a little better, but I hope this made everybody happy.