Notes: First I don't own Gundam Wing. Not a single character. I don't even have the rights to those tin cans they call Leos. I also don't have enough money to be worth suing. Second this is not Yaoi, or Yuri. In fact it gives no romantic relationship suggestions at all. Thirdly it features Dorothy, yes Dorothy. I find it interesting that none of the fics I've found give Dorothy any character development. This should fix that problem... Oh and lastly I've kept the Gundam naming tradition. It should be fairly obvious but...

***

AC 197

Quatre sighed as he watched the numbers in the elevator slowly count to five. His appointment with Mr. Juni was going to be difficult. Juni ran most of the mass media on the L-4 colony, and he was decidedly unhappy that Quatre had assisted two rival start up stations. If he had simply attacked Quatre through normal business channels it wouldn't have been a problem, but Juni had decided to expand the conflict into the media by using his stations to attack the Winner family itself.

Quatre knew how effective such tactics could be. When he saw the first series of attacks on the news the memories of his father and sister's deaths rose like a bloody specter. But this time he couldn't use Wing 0 to escape. He wasn't a Gundam pilot anymore, he was head of the Winner family.

The doors slid open. A uniformed man waved him down the hall.

"This way, Mr. Winner."

***

Dorothy stepped off the shuttle into the artificial world of the colony. She had no idea why she had returned to space. Ever since the affair with Libra she had traveled aimlessly. The whole affair had given her back her will to live, but removed her clear sense of purpose. It wasn't as if she had to work, as she was a member of one of the richer families of the Romefeler foundation. Maybe she was just looking for something to do.

"So which floating hunk of steel did I end up on this time?" she asked herself. She looked around then froze when she saw the number.

L-4...

...that's the home of...

"Quatre Raberba Winner."

How strange she would end up here, she thought as she walked down the streets of L-4 colony. She smirked and wondered if she should drop by the estate. She could almost see it. "Oh hello Quatre. Sorry about stabbing you and everything. Mind if I drop in for tea?"

The guards would never let her in of course.

She sighed and continued to walk down the street.

At that very moment the five story building a block down decided to burst into a spray of glass and fire.

***

Mr. Tenma had been a faithful employee of Juni broadcasting. He had stood by them through thick and thin. He had even been a personal friend of Mr. Juni himself. However as a result of recent scandals a scapegoat had to be found. Tenma was chosen. The resulting black mark on his career caused him to sink into debt and depression. When his wife left him, he snapped.

This, at least, is the story the investigators of the bombing put together. Mr. Tenma was unable to comment as he had been driving the truck full of homemade explosives. No one questioned, however, that the results were catastrophic.

Dorothy was the first person on the street to snap out of shock. She immediately began to run towards the mangled wreckage. "Strange," the voice in her head muttered, "I thought I was done with running towards explosions." She reached the edge of what had been the building in moments.

Dorothy was used to the damage left by wars, but the carnage was still unsettling. She began looking through the rubble for survivors. Then her eyes fell on a blond kid lying unconscious under some loose rubble.

Her eyes opened wide in shock.

It couldn't be... It was too unlikely... but it was....

"Quatre Raberba Winner," she whispered.

Dorothy ran over and furiously pushed aside the rubble covering him, then assessed his injuries. Her studies of war had given her a good notion of first aid. Broken ribs, legs and probably a concussion. Didn't look like she'd kill him by moving him. She lifted him carefully on her shoulder and dragged him over to a taxi that had stopped.

She gently put Quatre in the back seat, then ran around and jumped in the other side. The driver had, all this time, sat staring at the ruined building with a dumb look on his face.

"The nearest hospital!" She snapped. "Now!"

"But Miss-"

"Do it you fool!" Dorothy yelled in her best command voice.

The driver snapped into "work" mode and immediately sped off. Dorothy tried to keep Quatre stable through the ride.

"Haven't used that tone since Libra," she muttered as the taxi screeched to a halt in front of the Winner Mercy Hospital.

"Figures" Dorothy muttered. She threw the driver twenty credits, ran out, then began to carry Quatre in.

"At least they won't need him to give proof of insurance."

***

Dorothy sat outside the ICU. Getting past the initial secretaries had been mildly difficult, but it had been easy once she told them who the patient was. After that she simply had to wait. Not that waiting wasn't difficult enough.

The door opened and a man in surgical scrubs stepped out.

"Hello miss. I'm Dr. Z," the man said. "You're the one who brought Mr. Winner here, correct?"

"Yes," Dorothy replied.

"I figure you should hear this first then," Dr Z said. "Mr. Winner's legs and 3 of his ribs were broken. Actually that damage isn't too severe, however he suffered massive head trauma. As far as we can tell he's in a coma. We stabilized everything but he still hasn't woken up yet. In this case the only thing we can do is wait and hope he comes out of it."

Dorothy looked surprised. "Just wait?" she asked. "You make it sound as if he might not wake up."

Dr. Z sighed. "That's a possibility."

Dorothy quickly cut off any emotions. "May I see him?" she asked in her eerily polite tone.

Dr. Z waved a hand. "Of course, just don't tire him if he does wake."

"Thank you so very much."

***

Dorothy looked down at Quatre's still form. Even two years after they first met he still looked like a child.

"It seems so strange for me to be here," she whispered to the comatose Quatre. "I nearly killed you what, twice?"

She gave a slight smile. "Hardly a good impression was it?"

"Why am I here anyway? I don't even know myself... Maybe because it was you and your friend Trowa who put my life back into place during Libra's death. Maybe because of that speech you gave. Perhaps because you could have finished me during that duel, but you didn't, and got stabbed as a result." She looked towards his side, where the rapier's mark would be.

"Damn it! Anyone who survives me shouldn't be stopped by something as weak as an exploding building!"

"Sorry, it's just that, well... remember on Libra... after I stabbed you... you said that I was kind... kinder then you. But the truth is, it was you who fought for the people of the colonies, even though they had forsaken you. You always put yourself at risk to help others, even your enemies, like me..."

"You said I was kinder then you. But really... the reverse is true..."

"You can't die Quatre. The world needs someone as kind as you..."

***

Quatre's mind was cluttered. He remembered the meeting hadn't been going well. Then he heard the explosion, felt the ground giving way.

His mind wandered. He saw the first meeting with Trowa played out again. He saw the argument he had with his father over Operation Meteor. Then he saw his father's death. Then it was the fight with Dorothy on Libra. He could swear he could almost hear Dorothy's voice. Something was different, but his mind was too scattered to pin it down. Then the full blackness of sleep claimed him.

***

Dorothy sat and waited. Sitting was another skill she had picked up over the course of the war. She looked around the large hospital room again.

"Dorothy?"

Dorothy's eyes snapped back to the bed. Quatre was still lying there, but this time his eyes were open.

Dorothy showed surprise for a brief second then snapped back into her eerily polite mode.

"It's good to see that a hero like yourself hasn't slipped," Dorothy said. "The great Heero Yue managed to survive self-detonation. I'd be disappointed if a mere building exploding did you in."

"What are you doing here Dorothy?" Quatre murmured.

"I was in the area when the building exploded. I thought it would be a waste if you were to up and die right then," Dorothy replied.

Quatre smiled weakly. "Thank you."

Dorothy looked away. "Why am I being so cold?" her inner voice asked. "Is it that hard to admit I have emotions?"

She stood and walked to the door, then paused. She looked back at Quatre and said quietly, "You should get some rest. Most people wouldn't have recovered at all, much less in one day."

She turned and stepped out the door. "Take care" was all she said before the door closed behind her.

"You too, Dorothy."

***

The door opened again. For a second Quatre thought Dorothy had returned but it was a man in a doctor's coat.

"Really Mr. Winner, you should stop being so paranoid. The brain wave scanner didn't even blip. The young lady who brought you in had to tell us you woke up."

Quatre smiled. "Sorry, force of habit."

"I suppose it doesn't matter now. I'm Dr. Z. I'm going to have to handle the press soon so I'll try to be brief. Aside from the head wound your injuries aren't serious. You'll have to stay a couple weeks so we can monitor you, and you'll have several casts for a while, but you should be OK. Any questions?"

"Yes," Quatre said, his smile growing. "Why does every doctor I know use a single letter for their name?"

Dr. Z laughed. "My name is Zacharias. It's just no one on staff can pronounce it right."

"I see. Thanks."

"No problem. Now get some sleep. And stop faking out the instruments!"

***

Quatre awoke to the smell of flowers. Lots of flowers.

"Well, well. You're finally awake. You gave us a little scare."

"Duo!" Quatre immediately looked up. "And Trowa! I'm so glad to see you."

"I convinced the ringmaster to drop by L-4 on our tours," Trowa stated. "It wasn't too hard to find out where you were staying from there."

"It was so nice of you to come out here," Quatre said. "Dr. Z told you about everything right?"

"Yeah." Duo nodded. "It seems you just got unlucky. He said you could leave in about a week, but considering the number of reporters outside you may want to stay."

Quatre laughed. "That's okay. I'll just send for my hellicopter."

Duo smirked. "Just as long as you stay inside the chopper instead of jumping out around the fifty story mark."

Trowa and Quatre stared blankly.

Trowa shook his head. "By the way, would you know who sent that flower?"

Quatre looked at what Trowa was pointing to. It was a single pink rose right next to his bed.

"Relena?" Quatre guessed.

"No," Duo replied, "Her's are there, next to Heero's card. Sally's are there, and I think Wufei signed the card. Those are from me and Hilde. That set's from Trowa and Catherine. Those are from Noin, and your sisters and the Maganac's all got sent to your estates because there wasn't enough room."

Quatre looked over. The rose and its vase sat atop a small paper. On the corner was an elegantly hand-written D.

Quatre smiled. "I see."

Duo blinked. Trowa looked up.

"Quatre?" Trowa queried.

Duo looked in astonishment. "You're hiding something aren't you?"

Quatre's grin got wider. "I don't know what your talking about."

***

I can't believe I actually wrote this. I guess Gundam Wing should never be combined with sleep deprivation. All in all I like the way everything turned out. I suck at making titles but that will never change. Yes, this is my idea on a non romantic fic. Trust me, I could have pushed things a lot more. Strangely I didn't think much of Dorothy + Quatre as a pair but now... Well it makes about as much sense as Quatre and Trowa. Ah well, I've done my bit. Thanks to my sister Nora who proofread my terrible spelling and grammar.