Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing (you know, the ideas, characters...things like that) just Ni the pigeon...
Shinigami's Flock
By Stardark
Lost Wufei first.
We had all been pretty solitary after the first war had ended; Wufei most of all. Perhaps that was why he got a little carried away trying to create his place in the new order. I was determined to watch out for the others better than I had been doing, so after the Rebellion was squashed and I almost lost Wuffers again… Well, their reactions to me and the attitudes were just the same as during the war and if it was a bit disappointing, it didn't stop me before from befriending them and it won't even slow me down now.
A year of watching Heero struggle with his peace identity and his future direction alone, had me now prepared to offer him that place with me or beg for a place next to him. We'd been together as much as I could stand during the war; my past intruding under such high stress, but I'd spent some quality time with Dr. Janet since, getting a handle on it so I could be completely ready for him. I think half the reason Heero left to work with Relena, was that he didn't like that stress I was under. He was surprisingly patient for a man of drill sergeant mentality, so although he had written me periodically, he stayed away to let me work through my problems. Truthfully, he wasn't all 'there' either, and I know it bothered him when he accidentally held me too hard, or left bruises in his passion. His letters never mentioned it, but I know he was taking the time to do a little 'retraining' of his own.
After a few positive communications, he had disappeared from Relena's side about two months prior to the Rebellion and I'm fairly certain I had a Heero-stalker, because the Perfect Soldier might have what it takes to hide from Shinigami but Ni certainly doesn't. Yep, the way things were going, if White Fang hadn't tried to take blow up the world, I'm pretty sure we'd already be together…fuckers.
Ni, was the silly bird he found injured on one of his tours of duty as Relena's bodyguard. He'd found it in one of those large earth cities where tourists feed the pigeons like they're something special rather than the bane of most Earth mayors. It had been sickly and weak when Relena had taken her turn at pigeon feeding and for some reason the Perfect Soldier had scooped up the bird and brought it back with him when he noticed it had not been able to move to the scattering of grain that the other birds were eating.
It was a mangy black thing, with most of its feathers on its back gone, courtesy of other angry pigeons or a cat, but he couldn't leave it. He'd even called Trowa, to get help for the ailing bird and Trowa had told him to call me and see if a Sweeper medics was in the area and could write it a prescription he recommended for the bird. It had still been sick for weeks, but Heero was mission dedicated. He hand fed it for freaking weeks! It got so attached to him, Ni, stayed with Heero through all of his travel; once he even escaped his keeper and found his human during a tour of Earth Pre-colony art. I still have the footage of Relena admiring some naked statue and Ni winging down from wherever he'd managed to get in, and landing on the figure's shoulder. Apparently Ni was part homing pigeon, because it happened twice more before Heero just started to take him on all Earth travel with him. The bird is amazing and even manages space travel, I'm pretty sure he has help getting onto the shuttles, but I won't tell. I've even seen it outside Heero's hospital window and made sure it could get some food. Stupid bird… so maybe I was a bit jealous...
Regardless, Quatre got weekly e-mails from me reminding him to take it slow and go see that new movie with Trowa; Trowa got bi-weekly e-mails reminding him that not only would Quatre love to go see that new movie and that he could ask him to take the time to go out with him, but that I'd still love to work on bikes or go eat at the local burger joint and catch up. Those two could get so caught up in Quatre's work, the blond would neglect everything or everyone else and Trowa would still just suffer it in silence thinking he was doing the best for Quat, that a reminder of real life was needed more often than not.
Even with all my e-mailing, none of the others had really responded much to my overtures yet. Trowa and Quatre replied with e-mails but no offers to come visit and Heero seeming to be waiting for something in particular before he made his move, but I got no response from one Chang Wufei. So after a month, I tracked his justice fanatic ass down and forced him into the loop. He knew about Quatre's nieces, Trowa's sister's wedding, and Heero's pet pigeon, whether he wanted to or not.
This was all pre-Rebellion though, so after I'd spent all that time and effort keeping Chang with us, I was rather annoyed to find him being called back to his colony in the aftermath of the Rebellion and not telling any of us…again. He might have thought we would abandon him because of his 'dishonorable' behavior or that he owed this to someone. He was sent for by the remnants of his clan, through the new councils of elders they had acknowledged. L5 was filling out again from off colony families and those bloodlines that had bred into the Chang line over the centuries and Wufei was heir to not only all of that money and power but breeding as well. So apparently his duty was to go back and help it flourish; donate a few chromosomes to the cause... He also always wanted to restore his home and I understood that all too well; I decided to let him go… but not without an understanding.
And all that took was one lifted uniform, and I was asking Chang Wufei-sama if he wanted something to drink.
It had taken most of the war and one drunken night of confessions for Wufei to tolerate my 'mangling' of his name. 'Wuffers' and 'Fei' now only got me growled at and maybe a half hearted 'Maxwell!' if he was feeling feisty, but bastardizing his beautiful Chinese with nonsense Japanese titles was beyond his ability to tolerate. Thus Wufei's head whipped around to his grinning steward as I holstered a drink and slipped the note in his pocket. He didn't say anything the entire time, probably not wanting to encourage my misplaced paranoia. What's the point of passing secret messages in disguise, the war is over Maxwell!
In the end I just wished him to 'have a nice flight' and walked off the plane. No need to hang around and get caught; my message was very simple anyway "Ten months." Chang had ten months to contact or invite me to L5 before Shinigami would be coming not to him but for him. The times were unstable and I needed to watch my friends more than ever, since they tended to play too nice.
I ditched the outfit in the laundry chute and sauntered out of the shuttleport. I sighed irritably on the way out to my car, I'd hoped that I was making progress but he's still as touchy as ever; he hadn't seen me in months and all he could do was stare. I mean sure, it was a flight attendant uniform and in puke green of all colors, but I know that skirt made my ass look great.
It's been three months and I've since heard how the L5 location is finally cleared of debris and an old resource satellite has been refurbished to serve as the base for the new colony. They shift it in two month's time to the L5 coordinates, and I have a ticket to the party; just a little check up.
But they dropped like flies after that; Trowa was next and after him I lost contact with Quatre as well. I hadn't heard from Wufei in a couple of months and Heero was still being sedated out of his mind to aid in healing his shattered body. Even for him, Sally Po told me during the week they'd allowed him to be conscious, it would be months before he could be fully allowed to become lucid.
It was four months into Heero's recuperation, when he was removed from the coma drugs for a time to prevent him from falling into a coma that had nothing to do with the medication. Heero had come out of deep coma as rapidly as always, but much to my disappointment, he couldn't focus much more than to grip onto my braid and whimper a bit when one of his many still broken and fractured bones was jostled. The coma allowed for rapid healing, but a pulverized bone can take a bit to heal up and some of his injuries were still tender. For my part, I just supported his hand, talked through his waking hours, and cared for him until they put him under again.
The lack of communication was very bad and I made plans, but between Heero and trying to track down the others, before I had a chance to do anything more… I was dead.
The people revolted toward the end of Mariemaia's Rebellion and Relena was their Lenin. Footage of Relena with a fallen Heero in her lap had miraculously survived and became a household icon. "Lady" Relena became the mother of all the UESN and space; touring and promoting her Peace, she was content and fulfilled in what she was doing and left more experienced heads to see to the day to day governing.
As always and in her defense it can be said she meant only the best but her trust was placed in the worst. Old snakes that survived the war, slithered into newly vacated or created posts; there was no more government, only the people and their Voice.
First, they began by providing jobs for the soldiers who were now without purpose in the new peace; many registered and were employed decommissioning their old tech. The armies of mobile suits needed to be dismantled and the 'soldier' was trained to do it, so many registered and found a place with the new way of things that the program swelled far bigger than originally intended but still was hugely successful.
This was at least after the first war.
After the Rebellion, files were opened and veterans were 'requested' to register with the new government, even if they did not choose to seek employ with them. This agency was called STOW, Soldiers to Warriors, and was tasked with rehabilitating the war scarred populace.
The Gundam pilots had before been tacitly off limits; friends of the Lady Relena and heroes, their files were destroyed and Chang, Wufei; Maxwell, Duo; Barton, Trowa; Yuy, Heero; and even Winner, Quatre were supposed to get new starts in the new peace.
But someone slipped. One of the pilots didn't clear his tracks or, and most likely, Relena kept something in her possession that left proof, because 6 months after the Rebellion Duo received a call from a frantic Quatre Winner saying Trowa had been arrested for failing to register with the STOW mandate and was under investigation. They had both thought it was a mix up, because no one could have their files and WEI could bury anyone trying to bother Quatre's people, so who would try? But after a week and he still hadn't gotten more word than Trowa was now under investigation for 'war crimes' and would be detained until the matter could be decided. This late in the program's history apparently, failing to register meant you had something to hide and ironically enough, Trowa actually did. However, I had gone over all of the pilot's work in erasing their pasts so I didn't know what they could possibly have on Trowa. Yeah, paranoid asshole, I know…I just…had to make sure they didn't miss anything. A third opinion and all that…
Anyway, Quatre of course had WEI lawyers on the case, but it was worrisome that they had even been able to prove that he had been a soldier much less hold him after all of this time.
A/N: Hey! This is pretty new to me, I read an awful lot of fiction, but never felt all that ready to venture over into the writing side. I'd love to hear if you think about anything I left out, or if I put in something that is just a bit much.
