Hidden Part 5
"Awake at last."
Trowa groaned and tried to focus on the person beside the bed. "At last? How long...?"
"About 48 hours." Rashid smiled. "You managed to throw quite a scare into all of us, especially Dr. Po. She had told Master Winner that you'd be awake in less than 24."
Trowa squinted at him. "Why wasn't I?"
"Apparently you were more damaged than Dr. Po thought at first. The regen took longer than she anticipated."
Trowa sat up and squinted at his shoulder. "Yeah, that doesn't look too good."
"It's better than it was. Dr. Po said to remind you to be very careful- she'll be back to check on you after the press conference."
"Press conference?"
Rashid nodded. "Master Quatre is there as well-"
"What? That's not safe-"
"But it is. The Preventers caught the group responsible for the attacks." Rashid picked up a remote and flicked the screen over the bed on. "See?"
Trowa watched Une talk for a moment, trying to catch the thread. "How did they-?"
"The ones that attacked us talked."
"Really?"
Rashid nodded. "I understand they were a bit reluctant at first, but Master Winner went in to talk to them and suddenly they saw the light."
Trowa snorted. "So- they're all caught?"
"We believe so."
"Good." Trowa leaned back against the pillows and focused again on the broadcast. He could see Quatre over Une's shoulder, frowning at something Relena was whispering in his ear.
He was safe. Trowa didn't try to suppress the relief that swept through him- Quatre wasn't here after all... and then... he remembered...
The car. Quatre beside him. The feelings rising up... so sure he was dying...
Oh no. No, no, no.... Panic swept through him. Quatre knew...
Rashid's eyes widened as Trowa slid out of the bed. "You shouldn't-"
Yes he should. He could not be here when Quatre got back. Glancing at the screen, he was relieved to see that Une was still talking, Quatre sitting behind her. It looked like Preventers HQ- which meant Quatre was at least a good half-hour away- he had time... a small window maybe, but enough...
Brushing aside Rashid's concerns, he convinced the other man to take him up to the room that he'd never had a chance to sleep in. Quickly, he cleaned up and changed his clothes. Tossing his things into his bag, he made a fast phone call and hurried down the stairs.
Rashid had vanished when Trowa had insisted that he was just going to take a quick shower and then get his things together. He was now standing at the base of the stairs, talking to a dark-haired woman that Trowa didn't recognize.
"Mr. Barton," Rashid said as Trowa reached the bottom step. "I contacted Master Winner and he requested that you wait for him to return home- he should be here in about thirty minutes. I contacted the WEI shuttle- they can't be ready until much later this evening- so you-"
"I already called a cab to take me to the shuttleport," Trowa interrupted. "It should be here in about ten. There's a public flight back to L3 at the top of the hour. No need to make a fuss."
"Master Winner was most insistent-"
"I have to get back. The job's over, he doesn't need me here now."
The lady laughed. "Quatre said you were stubborn." She held out a hand to him. "I'm Suzanne."
Trowa inhaled sharply. He remembered the phone conversation in the car before the chaos. He took the hand she held out to him and bowed over it politely. Eyes the same shade as Quatre's twinkled at him. "Pleasure to meet you."
She gave him a smile of pure mischievousness. "Why are you trying to sneak away before he gets here?"
Damn it. Had Quatre said something to her? But she didn't seem upset- wouldn't Quatre's girlfriend be upset that someone else was in love with him?
"You did hear that I acted against his orders? Pushed him out of the way? Made him cancel meetings? Now that it's over I think it's safer for me out of range." He tried and she laughed again.
"He has been a little grumpy lately. Still, he won't be happy if we let you just run off. May I offer the use of my car to take you to the shuttleport? That way we can at least say we didn't just send you off in a cab." She slipped her hand over the crook of his elbow. "It's right outside- please?"
Ah. Maybe she was trying to get rid of him? Or maybe she was just being kind- he couldn't imagine Quatre dating someone who wasn't...
"All right. Thank you." It would be faster- and he had a feeling she'd argue if he said no- he couldn't waste time now. He allowed her to lead him out the door and down towards a silvery car with a frowning driver. Rashid hovered behind them, disapproving.
"Shuttleport, Richard," she said to the driver and squeezed Trowa's elbow. "Are you sure you should be going? You don't look well- and Quatre said you'd been badly injured. We can always claim that you're too ill to be scolded."
He managed a smile for her and opened the car door. "I'll be fine. I just need rest and I can always sleep on the shuttle. Thank you- this is very kind of you."
"Anything for one of Quatre's friends." Much to his surprise, she leaned up and brushed her lips over his cheek. "Travel safely."
~*~
Quatre took a deep breath. "What do you mean he left?" He shifted the phone closer to his ear and glared at the back of the Preventer in the seat in front of him.
"I tried," Rashid protested. "He'd called a cab when he was upstairs- he insisted that he had to leave-"
"He wasn't supposed to leave- you let him go off in a cab- to where?" Quatre forced himself to take another deep breath.
Before Rashid could answer, a familiar female voice cut in.
"He didn't go off in a cab. I had Richard take him to the shuttleport," Suzanne said tartly. "The poor man looked like he was going to fall over, but he didn't want to stay here and face you. Seemed to think you'd be mad at him for some reason." She sniffed. "Of course, listening to you I can see why. Really, darling, do you have to scare away every good looking man out there?"
Quatre reminded himself that he couldn't kill Suzanne. She was family after all and apparently had thought that she was helping. "Tell Rashid to have the shuttle crew get ready. I'll be leaving for L3 immediately."
TBC...
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