Disclaimer: Gundam wing is not mine. This is it, the final chapter! Yay! Thanks for being so patient with my Quatre experiment! And a big thank you to all the reviewers!!

......................................................................................................

"So then, Heero decides that he's had enough of waiting in line at this point..." I smiled at Duo. He and Heero had arrived early this morning in order to conduct Heero's tests. Heero and Trowa were setting up the equipment and Duo had apparently appointed himself in charge of keeping my mind off of what they were doing.

Sereh and Dr. Wong had also arrived only a little while ago, and they were watching the equipment set up. I don't know what it was, but it looked complicated.

"Quatre? Quatre!" I blinked and met Duo's eyes.

"Uh, sorry?" I tried and he chuckled at me.

"Didn't hear a word I said, huh?"

"I was trying to pay attention..." Duo waved his hand in the air.

"Don't worry about it. I know your mind is on other things." He looked over at Heero and Trowa who were muttering over something on the table in front of them. Duo smiled. "Cute, isn't he?"

"Huh?"

"Heero. He gets all scrunchy when he's trying to figure out a problem."

"Scrunchy?" I looked Heero over carefully. "Duo, I'm not really familiar with your slang, but I don't see how he's looking 'scrunchy'."

"You know," Duo furrowed his brow and frowned at me, his eyes narrowing. For a moment he did look uncannily like his lover. "His face gets all scrunchy."

I had to laugh. Duo joined in and Heero looked up at the two of us.

"Do I want to know?" He asked Duo with a lifted eyebrow.

"Nope," Duo replied with his cheery smile. I met Trowa's eye and he smiled at me, shaking his head a little.

"We're ready for you Quatre," Heero looked away from Duo and beckoned me over to the table. "Sit here."

I sat still as he attached various devices to me, his face 'scrunched up again.' I knew I'd never be able to keep a straight face now, so I kept my eyes on Trowa.

"Okay," Heero finally finished and went to stand behind me at the table with his equipment on it. "You can voluntarily use your spaceheart, right Quatre? Deliberately read people?"

"Sometimes."

"I want you to try it now. You don't have to tell me what you sense, just let me know when you manage to get it working."

I nodded and tried to focus my attention.

"Excuse me," I looked towards the door. Rashid was there. "There's a phone call for you Trowa. It's Cathy. She says it's urgent."

"Go," I told Trowa when he looked at me. He nodded and followed Rashid out of the room.

I shook myself. I needed to do what Heero had asked. I closed my eyes and concentrated.

Duo was worried. He was practically vibrating with it. I could feel the anxiety rising off of him in waves.

"It's working now, isn't it?" Heero said behind me.

"Yes." How did he know? What kind of tests was he running?

"Keep going."

Underneath his worry was hope and faith. Duo had such utter faith in Heero. His love was a layer underneath that, keeping the rest of his emotions in balance.

Heero was different. During the war his emotions were under tight control. It had been almost painful to try and read him. Now they swirled out from him. He was worried too, but more hopeful than Duo was.

Before I could dig deeper, Trowa came back into the room. I could read the emotions off of him too easily. Fear, concern... something was wrong.

I opened my eyes. Trowa was standing in front of me.

"Quatre," he dropped to his knees. "I have to go. The circus is in serious trouble, Cathy says. One of the lions got out and mauled someone- they'll have to put it down. The city is threatening to sue. They... need me right now."

But I needed him... I squashed that thought and felt the pain flare around my heart. I kept control of it. It wasn't an attack after all, just my own feelings.

Behind me, I heard Heero take a deep breath.

"Okay," I told Trowa, smiling for him. "Do what you need to do. If WEI's legal department can help..."

"Quatre," Trowa leaned forward, and I could see his distress. "I don't know when I can come back."

The pain flared more.

"It's all right," I told him. "I understand." The pain was more intense now, my chest felt like it was being squeezed, but I would NOT do this. I would not have an attack in front of Trowa and make him feel guilty for going. Not ever. I was not some little boy that needed my hand held! My anger suppressed the pain for a moment. "We can have one of the shuttles take you."

Trowa's eyes searched my face. He was frowning faintly. I saw him glance over my shoulder at Heero, but suddenly his eyes widened. "Quatre, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I managed. "Go pack. You'll want to get up there as soon as you can." Duo was suddenly next to me, one hand on my shoulder.

"I don't think Trowa should go," he said, his tone hinting at anger. "You need him right now Quatre."

"I'm fine," I said firmly, even as the pain intensified. "It's all right, Duo. Go on Trowa. The faster you go..." I didn't finish the sentence. Who knew when he would be back? If ever.

That thought made the pain nearly crush my chest. I drew in a gasping breath.

"Quatre?" Duo leaned over me.

"I'll be on my way then," a gentle hand touched my cheek.

"Trowa!" Duo snapped.

I wanted to tell him not to be so angry, but I couldn't. The pain overwhelmed me completely and I passed out.

........................................................................

A heated argument was going on over my head somewhere. I identified the voices- Duo and Heero.

"I still say that was a lousy thing to do!"

"We had to Duo! I wanted to see what was triggering the attacks."

"Quatre's heart was malfunctioning BEFORE Tro moved in with him!"

"Because he wasn't using it anymore! You know what happens to machines when they just sit!"

"So you damn near overload his!"

"I didn't expect to have to go that far! He wasn't showing signs of pain!"

"But your machine was showing you what was happening! You could've stopped it!"

"Duo," that was Trowa now. "We didn't know what would happen. We misjudged it."

"And damn near killed him!"

"I know it!" Trowa snapped back.

"I'm amazed it's still beating," that was Sereh's voice.

"Of course it is," Heero's voice dropped. "Trowa didn't say he was leaving forever after all."

"Was that your first plan?" Duo still sounded pissed.

"Yes it was," Trowa's voice was as soft as Heero's. "But I didn't think I could do it."

"Good thing. Who knows how much damage you might've done. I can't believe you guys! His heart was fixing itself, the regeneration was reversing! Why did you have to muck around with it?"

"So that they knew why it was fixing itself," I decided to enter the conversation at this point before Duo ended up doing something he'd regret on my behalf. I blinked my eyes open. All I could see was the white ceiling, but it was an improvement.

"Quatre?" Duo leaned over me, his braid brushing my cheek. "You okay man?"

"I've been better." I smiled for him.

Trowa leaned over on the other side. "How are you feeling Quatre?"

"Fine," I met his eyes, feeling the worry and love pour out of him. "I'm fine now."

"If you don't mind," Sereh appeared in the range of my vision, pushing Duo to the side. "I need to examine him. Please gentlemen, a few minutes?"

Sereh raised the head of the bed after she checked my vitals. She had shooed the other three out into the hallway. Apparently Dr. Wong had left once I was stabilized in order to deal with his other patients.

"How are you feeling little brother?" She perched on the side of my bed after she finished.

"Fine, like I said." I met her eyes. "Was it really just that I wasn't using it anymore?"

"You had wrapped yourself up so firmly in WEI that you didn't have time for anything else," Sereh frowned. "I should've noticed sooner. Some things are meant to be used Quatre, they stagnate and die otherwise. Your heart was malfunctioning because H had altered it to... depend on your feelings."

"Can we come in now?" Duo was leaning in the doorway. "The nurses keep eyeing Heero and if they don't stop I'm going to have to molest him in the hallway to force them to."

"God forbid," Sereh laughed. "Yes, I'm all finished." She leaned down and kissed my cheek gently. "We'll let you out in a few hours, okay?"

"All right," I replied.

Duo took Sereh's place. "We gotta go too, we have some stuff to get back to," he hugged me for a moment. "I'm glad you're better Quatre. We'll see you soon, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks Duo," I hugged him back. He was replaced by Heero.

"Take care," Heero told me, also with a hug. "Trowa knows how to monitor things, he'll let me know if anything changes."

I hugged him back. "Thank you Heero."

"Nothing to thank me for Quatre. I nearly killed you."

"But you didn't and that's what's important." I frowned at Duo over Heero's shoulder. He looked a bit sheepish. I hoped he got my message. "You found out what was wrong, so it all worked out fine. Thank you."

"Okay," Heero stood up, a faint smile on his face. He grabbed Duo by the braid and hauled him out.

Trowa moved away from his place by the door and came to perch on the bed. "You sure you're feeling okay?" He reached out and brushed my bangs away from my eyes.

I rolled my eyes at him. "I'm fine now."

"I knew I should've come to see you sooner," Trowa sighed. "I might've noticed what you were doing to yourself." I had to smile at that.

I reached out a hand and touched his cheek. "Don't take this as an accusation, Trowa, but I started cutting myself off at the end of the second war. After I told you how I felt."

He blinked at me, and then understanding dawned. "After you told me? Oh. And I told you that I couldn't feel that way..." He looked stricken.

"Don't," I shook my head at him. "You did what you thought you had to. It's all right now, isn't it?"

"I nearly killed you Quatre- twice." His eyes were wide.

"And I nearly killed you twice," I retorted. "So we're even now, okay?" I tugged him towards me.

"Twice? You surrendered the first time we met."

"You put your hands in the air first." He smiled.

"But you said that you surrendered."

"Well, attacking you while on Zero counts for two then. Whatever."

"I'm still ahead."

"Then take it as you owe me. You'll just have to stick around for awhile." I leaned forward and kissed him.

"Believe me Quatre, there's no place I'd rather be."