A/N: I began posting this in the LiveJournal community a few weeks ago and decided to share it here too. It was originally planned as a three part series, but I kind of got carried away (I blame all the wonderful readers of LJ), so it's gotten a bit longer. Anyways, it is an AU, and there will be some spoilers for those who have not yet seen the latest episodes of Gundam 00 Second Season.
Of Lies and Living with it
It was well passed midnight by the time Lyle Dylandy returned to his apartment in one of the shabbier areas of the city. Other than the striped cat of his next door neighbour, sat perched on the stairs and watching him with gleaming eyes, he met no one on his way from the garage to his door. Deftly, he unlocked it and stepped inside into a blackness darker than the night.
He didn't feel like turning on the lights. There was nothing new to see anyways. No one had tampered with his door and the security chip that he always kept concealed in the entrance remained deactivated. Slipping out of his shoes, he made his way into the combined kitchen and living room, shrugging off the coat and leaving it draped over the back of his well-worn couch. Side-stepping a bin, he opened the fridge door, momentarily casting a dull light on the furniture of the room, and took out a bottle of beer.
With the fridge once again closed, Lyle padded back to the couch and sat down, popping open the lid of his drink and taking a long draught. He sighed, briefly closing his eyes and rubbing his brow with a free hand as he thought over the unexpected events of the day.
Celestial Being. Gundam Meister. Neil.
In a battle four years ago.
He tipped the bottle up again and let the cold liquid run down his throat. It wasn't that he didn't believe the kid. Considering how they had parted and how little contact they had made ever since the terrorist bombing, it wouldn't have been surprising if one or the other no longer lived.
After all, Lyle had always doubted that his twin would continue to receive a normal education and go on with a normal life in a normal company in a normal environment. If he had, Lyle would have laughed.
But no, Neil had learned to fight – well enough to be chosen by the Celestial Being as a Gundam Meister. He had fought and he had died. To change the world, as the kid had put it. For what purpose? To avenge their family?
After a third draught, the bottle was empty. He got up and fetched himself another. This time, he didn't return to the couch, and instead, walked passed it, to the door that led him to his quarters and his work station. He visited the latter first, fishing into his pocket for the data stick the kid had given him.
The computer started up with a few switches and passwords, and Lyle settled down in the seat. The screen was bright in the dark room, but nothing his eyes didn't adjust to within seconds. He plugged the data in and waited.
True enough, after running a number of powerful scans, all that came up was the data of Celestial Being. So he opened it.
Two hours later, Lyle leaned back and reached for his forgotten beer, only to find it lukewarm. He drank it anyways. The information was interesting. Far more complex and multi-dimensional than anything he had seen in any military organisation, and yet, somewhat simpler than what he had imagined to come from the infamous Celestial Being.
He had paid special attention to Lockon Stratos, as that was what the kid had called him. Neil's former codename. It still left questions unanswered, though. Why him? Just because he was Neil's twin? Or did it have to do with him being a member of Kataron? Did they know what he was capable of doing? His strengths and weaknesses?
"Huh," he muttered, pushing away from the desk. Not that it mattered much. What interested him more was his twin's death. It was mentioned that he was killed by one Ali-Al-Sachez, former leader of KPSA, and responsible for the bombing in Ireland. So his brother's act had been out of revenge.
Neil had always been straight-forward. He could smile and grin and pretend that nothing was wrong, and yet inside, there had always been a core that could never be swayed. He could lie through his teeth and convince even their parents to believe what he said was true, but Lyle knew better. Because there had always been a hard look in his eyes whenever he thought no one was watching. A look that said he knew the implications of lies and his actions and would receive whatever punishment there was to take, alone. Lyle had always pretended not to notice.
He knew that Neil would not have been able to live life knowing that things were wrong, that the world was twisted and corrupt – that innocent people were still dying in indiscriminate terrorist bombings.
"Foolish brother," Lyle mumbled as he rose from his seat and made his way to the door. "Sometimes, living in lies is the best way to go about things. If you'd have been able to accept that…"
He trailed off, his hand hovering over the wall. He wasn't really in the mood to see it tonight. Nor any other night for that matter. But his fingers still found the light switch and flicked it on.
For a moment the sudden onslaught of light blinded his expanded irises, but he squinted, and patiently waited for them to adjust. When they did, they landed square on the narrow bed pushed into the far corner of the room. A dim monitor hanging over the bed silently showed the steady, if not relatively slow, heartbeats of the figure occupying it.
Lyle placed the empty beer bottle on the floor by the door and walked reluctantly over to the bed. A man lay motionless, tucked in by a heavy duvet, with only his face and left arm exposed. An IV line was connected to a needle in the crook of his elbow, and another one just below his neck. The minimal rise and fall of his chest was almost imperceptible – something most people would probably miss.
Two years ago, when he had first been dumped with this…thing, Lyle had spent several minutes every morning trying to see if he had died yet. It wouldn't have been surprising at all. The man had been in a coma ever since he had first seen him, worse for wear than half the corpses he had seen in his life, and missing half his left leg and the whole of his right arm to boot.
God knew what the Kataron medics had thought handing him such a luggage. What was he supposed to do with a piece of vegetable? The fact that the man looked like an identical replica to Lyle had nothing to do with it.
Lyle chuckled. "Nope, it's got nothing to with it," he claimed. Then he sighed, glancing at the data stick still sitting on the desk.
"They think you're dead, Neil," he informed the comatose man. "What do they want me to do, fall on my knees and mourn, eh, Nii-san?"
