Author's Note: Ok, this is the chapter that contains the angst. And please forgive me if it seems Quatre's mood turned so dark too fast. When I first wrote it, it made sense to me, but reading back through it I thought some readers might think it a bit odd. If so, the reasoning will become clear later.

Chapter 3

Meanwhile, Quatre was sitting in a cage made from tree branches. The snakes apparently had an ulterior motive in capturing him, but what he didn’t know. They just had knocked him unconscious, then brought him there and put him in that cage. Remembering what Zatana had said, he was careful about not letting them know he was an empath, although at that point he wasn’t all that sure it was worth it. That was how low in spirit his dark thoughts had led him. He didn’t even mind when a few smaller snakes, small enough to reach through the bard with their heads or tail, pulled his hair or hit him. He just sat there, oblivious to it all.

“Don’t none of you dare ssssssting him, kassssss,” one snake warned in his creepy, hissing voice. “If you do, you know what’ll happen, kasssssssssskassssssss.” That hiss they always put at the end when they spoke sent shivers down Quatre’s spine , but he didn’t show it. At least, not much.

“You ssssssure this plan will work, kassssssss?” another larger one asked.

“Yesssssssss, I’m sssssssssssure, kasssssss. Will you ssssssssstop asssssssssking me that, kassssss?” Just then, a gun rapport echoed overhead. There, standing on a rock, were the Gundam pilots, Zechs, and Zatana.

“Let him go, snakes,” Zatana ordered.

“Yeah, before we have to get rough on you,” Duo added. He glanced at the cage. “You okay, Poet?”

“Yeah,” was the listless reply. Duo blinked, and the snakes struck.

“Aim for the neck below the head!” Zatana cried, turning to her lion form and attacking. Gunshots rang out, but apparently did no damage.

Suddenly one smaller snake looped his tail around Quatre’s throat. Quatre gagged and struggled, then froze when he was the blade appear within his vision.

“Ssssssssssstand sssssssstill, kassssssss!” the snake commended. “Ssssssstand sssssssssstill if you want your friend to live, kasssssssss kassssssssss.” The rescuers all paused, trying to figure out what to do. The snake continued, “You! Humansssss with the loud weaponsssssssss! Drop them, kasssssssssss.” Heero, Duo, Trowa, and Zechs had no choice.

“You too, human, kasssssss,” another said to Wufei, meaning his katana. Wufei dropped it. Tears streamed from Quatre’s eyes.

First I keep putting them into danger, and now I’m being used against them! This couldn’t get any worse! They others were bound by two snakes who worked together with their very prehensile tails to tie their hands behind their backs, then Quatre was removed from the cage and bound similarly. They tossed him by the others.

“Are you okay?” Duo asked. Quatre nodded, the tears still visible in his eyes and on his face. Duo grinned reassuringly. “Don’t worry. We’ll get out of this situation. After all, we’ve been in worse.” Quatre looked past him and to the others. He suddenly noticed that Heero was sitting very, very still. That was odd. The blond-haired youth would’ve thought that if any of them could’ve broken the simple ropes, Heero could’ve.

“What are you doing, kassssssss?” a snake asked Heero.

“Just sitting here,” Heero answered in his usual monotone. The snake eyes him warily, then suddenly batted him to the side, revealing Relena, who had been trying to untie him. She was seized and bound with the others.

“It was a good try,” Zatana said to her. The Scavenger Serpents suddenly grabbed Zatana and carried her a little ways from the others and began to question her. Without much work Quatre could sense her fear and defiance.

They sat that way for hours, until the sun had nearly set. Quatre had been thinking all that time.

This is all my fault, he thought. If I hadn’t been so careless, I wouldn’t have been caught. They’re in danger because of me. All because of me... He looked over to the continuing drama of Zatana and the serpents. They were apparently asking her about something, and she wasn’t telling them what they wanted to hear. Suddenly they flung her back at the others so she collided with Zechs and Trowa.

“We know there isssssssss a full-power empath among that group, kasssssss,” the lead snake (or so it seemed) hissed, pointing with his tail to Duo, Heero, and Quatre. Apparently that was why they had been purposely placed side-by-side. “Who is he? Which one?”

“Empath?” Trowa echoed, confused.

“It means a person who can read the feelings of other people, and feel their emotions as his own, as well as send his emotions to others,” Quatre said. He knew with a dread certainty who they were searching for.

“Not that we have any idea what you’re talking about,” Duo said defiantly, “but even if we did we’d never give him to you. We’d never hand over one of our friends willingly.” Quatre felt his heart jump. Friends? his mind dimly echoed, the last little shred of his spirit. He scanned their emotions, and read their defiance to the snakes, and their worry over him for how he had acted earlier. That made him feel like weeping again. Here he’d been feeling sorry for himself, berating himself and putting himself down, forgetting what he’d learned from Rashid and the other Maguanacs: self-respect. In that moment, he remembered all he'd been through with these pilots - his friends - and what that word meant, and his soul ignited anew.

He was brought out of his thoughts as the snake suddenly lunged with its tail at the three in question. Duo dodged to the side, knocking Quatre over, and the snakes tail looped through the braided pilot’s bound arms and yanked him off of his feet. Duo cried out as his arms were wrenched painfully from being lifted off of his feet. Quatre gasped as a pain flared in his chest. His heart pounded inside him, and he panted for air.

“What’s wrong with you?” Relena asked, seeing how Quatre was reacting.

“If you won’t tell,” the snake was saying, “then we’ll ssssssssssimply kill them all one by one. When you cry out, Princesssssss, we’ll know we got him, kassssssssss.”

“Leave him alone!” Quatre called. The snakes laughed at him.

“Than tell usssssssssssss who the empath isssssssssssss, kasssssssssss kasssssssss.”

“We don’t know anything about any empath!” Wufei insisted. Duo saw given a shake, causing him to cry out again from his arms being pulled backwards. Another snake gave Duo a quick nip, hard enough to hurt, and Quatre gasped again. He couldn’t just let him happen.

“WAIT!” he yelled. All looked at him. He panted for a moment more, fighting down his fear and anger as well as the emotions that bombarded him from the others, then said, “I’m the one you want.” The others looked at him in surprise. The snakes roughly pulled Quatre away from the others by one arm. Quatre began to feel terribly afraid of what he knew would happen to him, but struggled to suppress it so he wouldn’t unconsciously send it to his friends. The snake brought its face close to Quatre’s.

“You’re the empath?’ one questioned.

“Yes.”

“Then prove it.” They flung him next to Zatana. “Prove it, or we kill the others.” The two looked at each other--what else could they do but obey. Then, Quatre indicated for them to untie him. They did after a moment of murmuring amongst themselves, and he upzipped his diskman case.. Quatre knew what to do without ever having done anything like this before in his life. But now, to save his friends, he had to make himself do what he was born able to do.

He put the headphones on, took out a CD he knew would work, began to listen.

To the ones in the cage, it was as if they were feeling the music through Quatre. His emotions mixed with the songs. He concentrated his thoughts to certain ones with each song, even as he sent to the group as a whole. The first one he focused on Zechs, Heero, and Trowa. Feeling it through them, the pleading, tearful words, brought tears to their eyes. It was almost as if Quatre was showing them how he felt about war, and the deaths it caused. The next one was for Duo. It gave a feeling of hope, even behind the slightly heavy tone. He straightened as if it gave him strength. The third song went to Wufei, and struck him through his heritage, since it was in his native language. It made him think of home, and his culture. The last song he sent to them all, and its message was clear: No matter what happens to me, stay strong and brave for me.

That frightened them all.

The snakes suddenly smashed the CD player, and flung Quatre against a rock. His friends protested this treatment, and were ignored.

“Kill him,” the lead snake ordered.

“No!” Zatana cried, trying to go to his aid, and was knocked unconscious. Quatre looked at the snakes coming to finish him off, and found himself reaching out to his friends with his emotions, the very thing he’d been avoiding instinctively before. He hadn’t wanted his friends to know he was afraid, because he knew then they’d be afraid for him. But now, with death so close, he felt a need to let them know how much their friendship meant to him, through the good times and the bad. Tears burned his eyes and face as he read their emotions as well: horror, terror, and an immense sadness from every one of them, even Heero. That gave a little comfort. They’d cared about him. They truly were his friends. He realized that he never should’ve doubted.

Even though I don’t think I’ll survive this, he thought to himself, even as the Scavenger Serpents approached, I’ll never doubt my friends again.

The quick stab in the leg sent him to the ground, tears of pain streaming from his green eyes. He knew the snakes wouldn’t do anything else, just wait for the poison to take effect. When it was apparent that nothing could be done to save him in the snake’s minds, they freed Quatre’s friends as an act of cruelty and left. All were quick to his side.

He looked up at them, and tried to smile as their jumbled emotions hit him.

“Hey...you’ve got to stay strong...guys...so I can stay strong...” he got out. Even Heero was in tears. Their emotions still hit him, but all were making an effort to be strong. “You guys...were the best friends...I’ve ever had...I’ll never forget...any of you...” His eyes felt so heavy to him. Slowly, he gave into the temptation to close them. His body felt lighter and lighter, and he smiled softly. Death wasn’t so bad. It was rather peaceful. The pain in his leg was gone, and so was the pain in his chest. Well, the pain from the poison. His empathic abilities were still strong, and he could feel his friends grief over his passing. He wanted to tell them that he would be okay, but couldn’t make himself move. He felt as if he was between worlds, neither dead nor alive...

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Suddenly, he was in a white place, and a Half-Kin lioness was standing before him, saying,

“You made a noble sacrifice, Quatre Winner. But it’s not your time.” Quatre realized that he was standing before none other than Queen Zana.

“Not my time?” he echoed, literally. His voice echoed slightly in this place.

“No. Your friends need you still. You can’t leave them like this. In their own way, the each love you too much to let you die on them.” Suddenly, he felt a tugging on his soul.

“What’s that?” he asked.

“Your body is being healed. Your friends are trying fiercely to save you, even though in any other case it would already be too late. However, for you due to what you did, even though you knew you would die, the choice now becomes yours.” A bright light appeared. “Into the light, or back to life.”

“Will I still be part of the Soul of Outer Space no matter which way I go?” The Half-Kin smiled.

“Of course. That’s a part of you forever.” Quatre smiled. For him, the choice was simple.

“Then I choose...”