It was difficult to measure how long we had been there. My internal clock was beginning to fail after so long without a reference point. Wufei had preceded me by two days, by his word. We had agreed that my time in the cell was around the eighth day, for him the tenth. The times that the gruel they called meals were delivered varied, probably a conscious attempt to disorient us. It was beginning to have an effect, but I doubted it was working as quickly as they had intended. Aside from an altered sense of time and slight malnutrition, both of us had managed to keep our faculties about us.

In a way, I couldn't help but envy Wufei. He had spent the majority of his time here in meditation, half-unconscious, so the passage of time bore very little toll on his psyche. My mind, however, couldn't stop working.

Years of training had ingrained the need to plan for every eventuality, to analyze and re-analyze every speck of information I had gathered about my situation. There had been no change to this particular situation for several days now, and no amount of introspection was revealing anything I hadn't already considered. If anything, my mind going in circles would be what drove me mad.

It seemed they were keeping us for interrogation, waiting for our minds to deteriorate to the point that we would break easily under the influence of drugs or bribery. None of them could know our dedication to our cause. With Wufei's control over his own body, he would surely shut down his vital functions if he thought he was close to breaking. As for myself, there were few drugs in existence that could have a significant effect on me, and the only thing they could bribe me with was leverage they didn't have as of yet. At least they didn't to the best of my knowledge.

Trowa Barton was somewhere within the compound, posing as a soldier. I couldn't be sure if he was playing double agent, or if he had turned on us, though I hadn't seen any malice towards us. His eyes had been void of any recognition of me, either favorable or ill. Yet I couldn't rule out the chance that he had betrayed us. He had been the one to deliver me into their hands, after all. I could only hope that it was for the sake of keeping his cover and appearing loyal.

The depressurization of the cell door brought my eyes up. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Chang shifting his attention as well. Among the silhouettes at the door was Barton, his tall, slender frame and hair making him easy to pick out. Two other guards, the ones regularly outside our cell, and another, arms bound, being shoved into our cell forcefully.

A final piece of information registered as he fell forward; a long rope of hair that swung out against the momentum of the prisoner's fall. I strangled the urge to spring forward, to try to break the force of the impact of Duo Maxwell's fall against the unyielding metal floor with my body. The sickening crack of Duo's shoulder fracturing against the floor signaled that my opportunity had passed. Being too concerned about his safety without regard to my own would surely not go unnoticed. I couldn't put him at greater risk later by attempting to protect him now.

I gritted my teeth and stood, meeting Trowa Barton's eyes. As the cell door began to close, I almost didn't notice the quirk of his eyebrow, the sudden change of his eyes from cold and empty to something bright and fierce. It was a message, I realized, as I moved toward Duo. He couldn't do anything to help us directly, but being the one to deliver Duo as well as myself surely wasn't a coincidence. Anyone could have brought Duo down to the cellblock. He was planning something, and wanted the three of us ready when the time came.

In the return of the darkness, I gave myself a moment to readjust, then knelt beside Duo's body.

"Status, 02?" I made my voice colder than I wanted it to be. It was likely the room was tapped, as though we were foolish enough to openly reveal any information in discussion with each other whilst in captivity. I rolled him from his side onto his back, relieving the weight of his body from the break in his shoulder. The groan of pain that escaped him ate at me, but I tamped the feeling down.

"Like I just got stepped on by an MS, thanks." His response was shaky, but his humor remained intact. I felt strangely comforted by it, even as I probed the area of the break with my fingertips. The sharp hitching of his breath indicated the most painful points. I felt him take a slow breath, most likely he was trying to block out the pain. "Didn't think I'd run into you here."

I lifted him awkwardly against my chest, my arms still bound, and hauled him away from the door, towards the far wall where Wufei was waiting. It was difficult to tell just how badly he was injured; I felt his legs move in an attempt to help me move him, but the way they refused to do more than spasm as he tried to push against the floor told me that he'd been injected with something. Probably a muscle relaxant to make him easier to handle. They'd tried to inject me with something as well, though it was quickly nullified. Duo's genes hadn't been manipulated, however, and it was likely that after the drug's failure on me, they had increased the dosage with him.

I settled back down against the wall, gripping Duo as best I could, trying to prop him against my chest and legs. In the blackness, I doubted he could see Wufei yet -- for all he knew, I was the only one here.

"02, Try to stay still. 05 is going to set your shoulder."

Duo's head shifted against me, trying to gain sight of the other pilot. "You're here too, huh? So much for hope of getting rescued." He tried to push out a chuckle, but it came out as a bitter choking sound. I couldn't blame him for feeling so hopeless, if not for Trowa's hint, I might have been feeling similarly.

Wufei settled next to us, the heat of his body a sharp contrast to the chill of Duo's. I watched as the Chinese boy reached out and probed Duo's shoulder, similar to what I had done. I felt the shutter that ran through Duo at the pressure. The fear of the pain he was about to endure was understandable. I maneuvered my arms around, positioning the area of skin between my elbow and the manacles against his lips. "Bite down if you need it." I could feel his eyes searching out mine as Wufei positioned his hands to realign Duo's shoulder, felt the dry lips as they opened, and teeth pressed against the muscle and bone of my forearm. I relaxed my arm, and kept my gaze locked to Duo's.

Wufei braced Duo against me and shoved his weight against the break, the bones popping as they were repositioned, and a sudden, searing pain shot down to my hand and up through my arm as Duo's jaw clamped down on my forearm. Sticky, warm blood oozed around his mouth; my blood.

I kept still, waiting for him to pull his teeth out of the broken skin. He did, slowly, and I moved to wipe his mouth and cheek where it had trickled down with the back of my hand. His eyes were still trained on me, the light reflecting from the tiny window not quite enough to make the features of his face visible. His breathing was stilted, still wracked from the pain of Wufei's brutal setting.

I glanced up and Wufei, whose attention was still on the break, gently pushing with the tips of his fingers, testing to make sure it was set correctly. Satisfied, he nodded at me, then moved his hands towards Duo's torso.

"Are there any other breaks, 02?" Wufei's voice was low.

I felt Duo weakly shake his head before realizing it couldn't be seen. "Nah. Got a shitload of bruises, though. Don't think there's anything you can do about those."

"Afraid not." Wufei's soft response was meant as a comfort.

"Mind if I pass out, then?"

"Go ahead, 02."

Relief and anger were washing through me, thankful he was alive, but furious that he'd been captured. Nothing I can do now, I told myself. My mind began to churn through the past few minutes.

"03 is planning something." I kept my voice as low as I could, knowing they both could hear me, hoping OZ wouldn't pick up on it.

The reflection was in Wufei's eyes again. He was looking at me.

"You sure?" Duo asked quietly, barely a whisper.

"Yes. Now sleep."

With that, I let my legs slide down to the floor, Duo's weight still on them. I reached for him again, tugging him into a more comfortable position for us both. I could feel him shift onto his side, his bad arm across my thigh and his head on my abdomen. His breathing began to even out as he let himself relax against me. His jaw dug uncomfortably into my hip and his hips pressed awkwardly on my shin.

I gently pulled his braid towards me and wrapped it loosely around my hand. Closing my eyes, I let out a deep breath and tilted my head back against the hard metal of the wall, allowing myself to finally relax. We would be free soon.