Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.
Chapter 1- Mission Accepted
Heero walked through the halls of the space port of the station he was currently living on. It was the nearest station to where the Peacemillion had fought the Libra and thus had been the station where all of the survivors of the battle had been taken. All of the other gundam pilots had left soon after they'd arrived. Heero hadn't had anywhere to go, and so he'd stayed on the colony.
He had just left the hangar where he had given Relena a birthday card and teddy bear, and was deep in thought. Relena was the only person he really knew on the colony, and she had just left as well.
He couldn't really call anything a home—he never had. Most of his other friends had a home or someone they could go to. Heero had lived in space most of his life, but really the only thing he had ever done in space was fight. He had done nothing but fight on earth as well. Even his very last action as a soldier in the war, although it was neither on earth nor in space, had taken place in the atmosphere between the two. All he'd ever done was fight, and now that there was no fighting to be done, he was quite useless. He had no home, no purpose, nothing he really wanted to do except to make up for his mistakes—namely his life itself.
He was relieved that the war was over, but he didn't have a clue what he was going to do with the rest of his life. Noin had taken his Gundam to have it repaired somewhere. He didn't care. It had been the only thing he could rely on for most of his life, but he never planned on using it again.
Was it possible for him to repair all the damage he'd caused and still have a chance at a normal life? Probably not, he figured. By the time he was finished, he would be old and grey.
But he would still try. The only problem was…he had no idea how to be normal. He didn't know how normal people acted, what they did, or anything necessary to be normal. How many 'normal people' did he know?
Well let's see… There are the other four Gundam pilots. Duo's kind of normal, but he's already got a life waiting for him. Wufei has completely disappeared. Trowa is a circus clown—scratch him immediately. And Quatre gave up a fortune to fight in a war. Noble, but stupid.
Moving on…
Relena Peacecraft—or Darlian as she still calls herself. A spoiled rich kid, who through only minimal effort on her part and a lot of influence from her brother and family was for a brief time Queen of the World. Normal? Nah. Although if I ever need a place to stay, she'd surely take me in. She's always been kind of weird like that.
Who else?
Sally Po? Noin? They have their hands full with trying to put the colonies and earth back together. I wouldn't mind cleaning up my mess, but dealing with delegates is not my thing. I don't want to be anywhere near that.
So I know no normal people. This is oddly unsatisfying at the moment.
What do normal people do? Well normal people my age go to school, but I have already surpassed everything they teach. College then? Forge a transcript? For what? What would I do? Put on a business suit and do paperwork all day?
This is pointless. I'm not fit to do anything but be a soldier. I don't know how to—
Heero was snapped out of his thoughts. He had just been walking through the door of the port and onto the street when he bumped into someone. The person who had run into him dropped her ticket and a small stack of other papers. "Sorry." She muttered, kneeling down quickly to pick them back up. "I wasn't looking."
Heero just stood there staring at her. She was familiar somehow. That girl. He thought, staring at her. She's the nurse. Heero thought back to the time he'd first seen her. He hadn't paid much attention to her because he'd been tired from stopping the Libra from falling onto the Earth. To further distract him, he'd had the rest of the gundam pilots, Noin, Sally, Lady Une, and a few other crew members crowded into medical bay at the time. They were all bustling about tending to people's wounds and getting theirs tended to as well. They were also celebrating and congratulating each other—and especially him—on a job well done. He'd hardly noticed the young honey blonde girl cleaning and stitching his injuries. He had noticed her, though the next morning when she'd come to check on him.
Heero snapped back to reality to see the girl still on the ground shuffling her papers into a stack.
"You're leaving?" He asked as if it weren't obvious.
"Huh?" She looked up in surprise. She had thought he'd gone. "Isn't everyone?"
Heero just shrugged.
"Well there aren't many people left here, and I'm not really good with living on a space station like this, so I figured I'd head back to earth. Where are you heading?"
He shrugged again.
"Is that an 'I don't know' shrug or an 'I don't feel like telling you' shrug?" She asked.
He didn't answer. Instead, he asked. "You have family?"
She grimaced. "Not really on good terms with them. I figured that I would go around to the towns that were hit the worst and help out where I'm needed. You know…rebuild things, get people back on their feet." Heero just stared at her. It was making her slightly nervous. "Uh…wanna come?" She asked.
Heero continued to stare at her. She's normal. He thought. Not too clingy. Talks a lot though.
"Uh…" She started walking around him. She figured his silence was a 'no.' "Well…bye then."
"Yeah." He said stopping her in her tracks.
"Huh?" She turned back to look at him.
"I'll come." He said.
That was unexpected. Wasn't this guy supposed to not like to be around anyone? She shrugged it off before saying. "Flight's in thirty minutes, then. You'd better hurry and get your stuff."
Heero was nodded and took off running down the street. His decision was unexpected to him as well, but he had a gut feeling that he should go with her. And his gut was never wrong.
Heero breezed into the docking room just as the boarding call was made. He noticed the girl already at the desk handing the flight attendant her ticket. There weren't many people on this particular flight. The girl turned when he approached. She looked surprised to see him again.
He didn't say anything and neither did she. She just shrugged and headed into the ship.
Heero handed the attendant the special pass he'd been given by Noin that allowed him free access to any ship at any time. The pass was signed by leader of the colony. The attendant looked at the pass oddly and then, turned the same look on him. Heero pulled out an ID to prove that the pass was really his. The attendant glanced at the card and then allowed him to pass.
Heero went down the aisle looking for the girl. He finally found her and took a seat across the aisle. She was sitting near the aisle as well and was looking nervous. The pilot came on the speaker announcing that the shuttle would take off shortly. The girl bit her lip and started to squirm and fidget nervously. Heero cocked an eyebrow in her direction, but didn't say anything.
The engines started the rev up, and Heero attached his seatbelt. He leaned back calmly in his seat and closed his eyes. He felt like a fool for running blindly into something, but he had an odd feeling that told him that he needed to go.
The shuttle suddenly lurched forward with a roar. Heero heard a light squeal beside him. He looked over to see the girl gripping the armrests with her eyes clenched shut. A few seconds later, the roar stopped and they were flying through space. The captain came over the intercom to inform them that the shuttle had safely left the station and was on its way to earth.
The girl opened her eyes and looked around confusedly. Her eyes settled on Heero for a moment before scanning the rest of the ship. Heero watched her with disinterest as she undid her seatbelt and scooted over to her window. She pressed her hands to the sides of the window and looked out. Then, she sat back in her seat and stared forward as though she were contemplating something. She seemed to come to some sort of conclusion because she nodded and turned to get back into her original seat. She froze when she saw that Heero was watching her, however. She chuckled embarrassedly and slid back into her seat.
"Hi." She said extending her hand to him. "I'm Audrey Harper. I think we kind of met but not really properly. I was—"
"The nurse." Heero interrupted her. He stared at her hand before clumsily taking it. He had only shaken someone's hand once and that had been with his rival, Zechs. "I'm Heero Yuy." He said.
"I guess I must seem like some kind of fool." She said chuckling self-consciously and leaning back into her seat. "You see the only other time I've ridden in a space shuttle, the take off was pretty terrifying. I was expecting this one to be turbulent too, but now that I think about it, I think it was just the different stages of the atmosphere and the air resistance that made the other flight so rocky."
Heero just stared at her.
She stared back for a few seconds before mumbling. "And you don't care." She got up and scooted back down to look out the window.
Heero stared after her for a while wondering what he'd gotten himself into. He decided that he would probably have been better off with Relena. Sure Relena was clingy and nosey, but she wasn't this talkative or senseless.
He leaned back and closed his eyes, eventually drifting off to sleep.
He was waken up a few hours later by the announcement that they were about to enter earth's atmosphere. He looked over at Audrey to see that she was curled up asleep against the window. She hadn't woken up at the announcement although she stirred a bit. Her seatbelt was dangling over the edge of the seat and there wasn't an attendant in sight. Heero sighed and got out of his seat. He realized that it was going to be hell living and working with this girl. She absolutely could not take care of herself.
He slid over to her and shook her. "Hey." He said when all she did was mumble and squirm. He shook her harder and eventually she snapped awake. She looked around groggily before her eyes rested on him. "Wha…"
At that moment, the pilot came on the intercom announcing that they were now entering earth's atmosphere, and the shuttle gave a jolt. Audrey was suddenly wide awake. She snapped her seatbelt and tightened it securely in less than a second. Heero figured that it wouldn't make any sense for him to go back to his seat, so he sat in the one he was standing in front of—which was right on the side of Audrey. After he'd buckled his own seatbelt, he looked over to find that Audrey was gripping the armrest in the same manner she had been earlier, except this time she was staring with a mix of wonder and terror out the window.
Audrey had been absolutely terrified the first, and only, time she'd flown on a space shuttle. At the time, she had thought she was heading towards a grand adventure. She hadn't really given a thought to the dangers of outer space or being involved in the war, although she'd been warned time and again. The only thing she'd been able think about was that she was going to do something. She'd figured that she would help on the mobile suits and be an engineer, but because of the shortage of medical staff on the Peacemillion, she had been trained in medicine instead. It was all fine with her as long as she wasn't stuck inside of a school.
The shuttle landed with a jolt at a space port on the southern coast of North America. Heero and Audrey quietly got off of the ship and headed toward the street to hail a cab.
"I don't suppose you have any money." Audrey said.
Heero looked at her and pulled out his wallet. "A little." He said.
"A little?" She asked shoving her hand in her own pocket. "Enough to get us to Europe?" She pulled out a small wad of cash and flipped through it, before waving a hand in the air.
"No." Heero said. "Why didn't we just take a shuttle to Europe?"
"Because the colony we were on was for the US, and tickets to the US were cheaper. Besides, my estranged family lives a few hours away from here. They're loaded."
Heero remained silent. Figures she'd be American. He was suddenly seeing a resemblance between his new companion's and Duo's attitude—and their tendency to always be talking.
A cab finally pulled up and both of them got in. Audrey handed the driver the whole roll of cash and gave him directions to where they were going. The taxi sped off.
Neither of them talked for the whole ride, and two and a half hours later, they were standing in front of a huge house. Audrey led him through the gate and up the long decorated driveway until they reached the house.
Audrey paused at the door and cast a pitiful glance back at Heero. He just stared at her nonchalantly from his place a few feet away. With a heavy sigh, she rang the doorbell. The door was opened a few seconds later by a neat looking woman in a black dress. The woman stared at Audrey for a few seconds before a spark of recognition lit her face.
"Mademoiselle Audrey!" She exclaimed in French. "You're alive! Your father will be so glad to-"
"He's here?" Audrey asked as if she really would have preferred it if he were gone.
"Yes. Come in! Come in!" The maid said motioning them inside before scurrying off to another room. "Monsieur! Madame! It's a miracle…" Her excited voice trailed off as she got out of their hearing range.
Audrey gave Heero a nervous glance. He was stoic as usual. "Maybe you should…hide or something." She suggested.
He merely glanced over at her before staring forward again. He didn't move.
Audrey sighed, just as a voice boomed through the foyer.
"YOUNG LADY!" A man in his early sixties rushed in, fury in his eyes. A lady in probably her forties scurried behind him looking both worried and angry. "How dare you return to this house after all the disgrace you put this family through?! Do you know what you've done? You just suddenly disappeared! No word! You left your fiancée, your family, your future! You didn't tell us a thing! How do you think that makes me look? How am I supposed to ensure people that I can run a government if I can't even keep control of my own household?"
"Can we, perhaps, not discuss this now?" Audrey suggested when he stopped to take a breath.
The man's face got a bit darker, and his voice rose a bit as he continued.
"Young lady, what you did was very irresponsible and thoughtless!" He said, pointing a finger into her face. "The entire Cetiret family detests us now, and that has caused me to lose prestige."
"So I suppose it would be a little hopeful to ask for a bit of cash, huh?" Audrey asked meekly.
Her father's face got very red and the woman placed a hand on his arm to calm him down. "Go to your room." He said in a low voice, taking deep breaths to calm himself. He scowled while taking in her choice of attire: an old pair of jeans and a t-shirt. "Put some decent clothes on. While you are in my house, you will act as a lady should. We will finish this discussion at dinner." He was about to leave, when he noticed Heero.
Heero had been standing silently by the door watching the entire exchange.
"Who the hell is that?" He rounded on Audrey pointing a meaty finger at Heero, but before Audrey could answer, he began speaking again. "Never mind." He said obviously trying to contain his anger. "I know you didn't like Eric, but to just run off and elope—"
"What?!" Audrey nearly shouted. "I did nothing of the sort!"
"I don't care!" He started walking away. The woman turned to follow him, but was stopped by his next command. "Lillian, take care of this."
The woman sputtered in indignation, before turning to the two teenagers. "Follow me." She said, nearly stomping toward the stairs. Audrey hoisted her bag higher on her shoulder and began walking dejectedly after her. Heero followed silently.
"I know where my room is, mother." Audrey said, causing the woman to turn.
"We removed all of your things a month after you left."
"Oh." She said. "Where exactly are they?"
"We gave them to charity."
"How kind of you." Audrey mumbled sarcastically. "So how exactly am I supposed to dress nicely for dinner if I don't have anything to wear?"
"We'll send one of the servants to fit you for new clothes." She said visibly trying to calm herself. Stopping in front of a door, she looked at Heero. "This will be your room. Dinner is at 7." She turned to continue down the hall. "One of the servants will cut your hair."
This finally got a reaction. "No."
"Pardon me?" Lillian turned to him with irritation.
Audrey quickly stepped in. "Uh…in his home…country…they take great pride in their hair. Therefore, he cannot cut it. It is against his customs." She looked at Heero, and motioned with her eyes for him to go into his room. "He will be sure to have it brushed neatly for dinner."
Lillian "hmphed" sending a superior look to Heero. She didn't like the fact that her daughter had been missing for months and then showed up with a punkish, insubordinate boy in tow, and she didn't hesitate to take out her displeasure on him. He didn't even acknowledge her. He just walked into his room and shut the door.
Lillian turned a disapproving glare back to Audrey before she continued down the hall. She stopped in front of another door. Her glare softened a bit. "It's not that we aren't happy to see you. We are just very disappointed at your actions. You behaved very irresponsibly, and that will not be tolerated in this house. Do you understand? You will stay here. And I mean stay. You are not to leave our property, and you are especially not to go anywhere near that boy's room."
Audrey just nodded dejectedly before entering her room.
Heero was typing on his laptop when he heard a knock at the door. He didn't acknowledge it in the slightest, but just continued what he was doing. Therefore, he was quite irritated, when the door opened quietly, and a man walked in.
"I am here to take your measurements sir." He said holding up a measuring tape.
Heero finally tore his eyes away from his computer to stare at him blankly.
"For your clothes sir."
"I've got clothes." Heero said and turned back to his computer.
The man chuckled and stepped forward, brandishing his measuring tape. "Master Harper will not stand for that. He insists that his guests be well dressed during their stay here. He will be paying for it, of course."
Heero looked down at what he was wearing: a uniform that he had borrowed from the space port in order to have access to Relena's hangar. The only other outfit he had was his green shirt, a pair of jeans, and spandex shorts. He could use some new clothes. And he wouldn't have to pay for them…
"Make it quick." He said standing and striding over to the man.
The servant immediately rushed over, and started measuring.
"That young man you brought here was really something." Jeanne, the maid that had greeted them, said putting a pearl studded barrette in Audrey's hair as she had done when Audrey was a child. "Very handsome! And you are quite a pretty young lady yourself."
Audrey didn't respond, but just stared at the image of herself in the mirror. She was wearing a conservative, light yellow dress, with pearl earrings, and a matching pearl necklace. Her hair was down, falling past her shoulders, natural curls held in check by barrettes on each side of her face, gave her an elegant, but innocent look.
"Where have you been all this time?" Jeanne asked. She had been Audrey's confidant for years.
Audrey smiled a little, before turning around. She stood and walked quickly to her bed, motioning Jeanne to sit beside her. Jeanne followed, excited to hear of her young friend's adventures.
"I went to space!" Audrey said, the smile still in place.
Jeanne gasped and then giggled in excitement. She had never been to space. "Was it exciting?" She asked.
"It was terrible!" Audrey said. "At least the part I saw of it. But I'm jumping ahead of myself."
Jeanne leaned forward confidentially.
"A woman in the army came to our school. I had met her with father once although she didn't remember me."
Audrey's eyes took on a glazed look as she recalled the events that had brought her into the war. The first time she had seen anything war-related, she had been sitting beneath a tree near the cliff on the edge of the Peacecraft estate reading a book. It was one of her favorite places to read, and she spent most of her weekends there. It was a pretty long hike from the Peacecraft mansion where she had been sent to school, but it had a great view.
Audrey had been adopted at five years old because her present guardians couldn't have children of their own. She had been raised in the traditional fashion for proper ladies, but had never quite grown accustomed to the glamour and etiquette that was required for her life. At fifteen, she was sent to the upstart school of Relena Peacecraft, to learn how to conduct a country's affairs peacefully, but mostly because sending one's daughter to the Peacecraft institute had become a surefire way for her father to gain votes.
Audrey was not very comfortable around all of the dignitaries' daughters and usually preferred to be alone or buried in her studies. This, combined with her adverse opinions of Relena Peacecraft's theology had made her become somewhat of an outcast at the school.
That was why she often came to sit under the tree. She would occasionally read in the library as well, but it was a nice day, and she'd preferred to be outside.
She had been pretty engrossed in her book when she heard the sound of a jet. After a few minutes, the sound was so loud that she couldn't ignore it. She looked up from her book, suddenly irritated at the distraction and looked back to the jet. It was much closer than before.
She had thought it was odd that the jet looked to be descending—and pretty quickly at that. The nearest airport was miles away. Audrey continued to watch the jet as it got nearer and nearer. The jet—which she could now see was a large deep blue mobile suit transporter—continued to lose altitude. She remembered panicking and thinking that it was going to crash. She'd jumped up from her position and started running to where she figured it would hit.
The plane landed on its belly on the water, but continued on towards the cliff, Audrey pushed herself to pick up her speed when she realized that it wasn't stopping. As the jet got nearer to the cliff, Audrey stopped and braced herself for the crash, watching the jet the whole time. No crash came. The jet had flown into the cliff wall and had continued going.
Shocked, she'd slowly walked towards the edge of the cliff and lay down on her belly. She stretched her neck out and looked toward the base of the cliff. There was a small hole at the bottom, and she could see ripples from where the jet had probably drifted in. She had decided not to tell anyone for the time being and had just gone back to her room.
A few days later, Noin had arrived at the Peacecraft mansion.
Audrey had been in the library at the time, and she hadn't paid any mind when the three other girls in the room suddenly abandoned their studies to look out the window. She could remember their conversation exactly.
"She's too old to be a student." One girl whispered to the two girls next to her. "She looks like she's a soldier—a high ranking one at that." Another said. The last statement finally caught Audrey's attention. She stood to look out of the window as well. She'd figured that the woman might explain the carrier.
"It's too late if you wanted to see her." The first girl said noting Audrey's interest. "She's already come inside."
The three girls stepped away from the window and went back to their table. They were still whispering to each other, although there was no one to disturb but Audrey. "If she's from the army, what's she doing here?"
"Maybe the war's finally reached this country." Audrey said without looking at the three girls. She just sat back at her table, separate from the other girls and continued reading.
"Don't be stupid!" The third girl yelled. "This is a pacifist country."
"Is that possible?" The second girl asked worriedly.
"Of course it's possible." Audrey said looking pointedly at the third girl. "We're a pacifist country, but all that that means is that we don't have an army to stop the mobile suits from attacking us. We rely on other people to do it for us. The war is going on no matter what kind of rhetoric Relena is spouting. I really don't see how she expects other people to fight so that she can say she's a pacifist."
"Audrey Harper! Don't talk about Ms. Relena that way!"
Audrey shrugged and turned back to her book. "Think what you want."
Audrey returned to the present and looked at Jeanne. "The woman was Lucrezia Noin. She was a former officer in OZ back before it split. She was smuggling mobile suits into the country. Anyways, I found out about it, and kinda blackmailed her into letting me help maintain them."
She chuckled remembering how bold she'd been.
It had been around 12:30 at night. Most other people in the Peacecraft mansion were asleep. Audrey's mind was troubled by the recent events and so she just sat by the window staring at the stars. She nearly jumped when she heard footsteps in the hall. Curious to see who would be up and about at this time, she got up and peeked through the door just in time to see the person disappear around the corner.
That's Lucrezia Noin! She thought. What's a woman like her doing here in a pacifist country? I wonder if it was her in the carrier today!
Audrey's curiosity was peaked and she knew that she was never going to be able to go to sleep. Quietly, she followed Noin down the hall. Noin stopped at a door and looked around. Audrey jumped back behind the corner and pressed herself against the wall. She heard the door open and leaned around the corner to see that Noin was no longer in the hall. Audrey looked around nervously and then followed her.
Audrey was surprised to see that Noin had gone into the basement, but she continued to follow her. She ducked behind a crate at the bottom of the stairs when she heard Noin address someone. Relena's butler, Pagan, was standing near the back wall and turned at Noin's approach.
"That was quite an entrance you made today." Pagan said to Noin. "I believe the whole student body is talking about it."
"I'm sorry." Noin said. "I needed to talk to Miss Relena in person and I thought it would be better for me to arrive at the front door than to come up from the basement." Pagan chuckled, and Noin continued. "I really didn't try to be noticed. I made sure to arrive in a time that everyone would be in their studies and I came in a plain black car. I probably shouldn't have worn my uniform, but I needed Miss Relena to know that I was serious."
Pagan nodded. "I understand. I am just worrying for Miss Relena, I guess. First, Romefeller sends a student here, and the next day you show up. I believe that Miss Relena is worrying that you will try to push her towards war as well."
"We both know that's the last thing I want." Noin said. "I love that she is so peaceful. She is our hope in establishing a new peace after the war. I just feel that I need to protect her. I was actually relieved when she forbade us from using mobile suits although it makes defending her more difficult."
"I agree." Pagan said and turned toward the wall. He flipped open what looked like a breaker box, and Audrey heard a series of beeps. Audrey memorized the pitches.
Audrey gasped as wall slid open to reveal an elevator. Pagan and Noin walked in and the door closed.
Audrey waited a few minutes before venturing to the elevator. She punched in a series of buttons that she figured would match the pitches. She grinned when the door slid open. There was only one button on the elevator and so she pressed it. The elevator immediately started to descend, and a few seconds later, the doors slid open again. The door sliding open along with her small gasp effectively blew her cover.
Both Noin and Pagan whipped around, mouths agape. Noin ran back towards Audrey. "What are you doing in here?!" She yelled.
Audrey didn't answer. Her gaze scanned all of the mobile suits in the hangar and settled on 01. "Is that a gundam?" She asked.
"Miss Harper." Pagan admonished coming up beside Noin. "You should not be lurking about at this time of night."
Audrey tore her eyes away from the gundam and looked at Pagan. "I'm sorry Pagan. I couldn't sleep." She looked at Noin, who seemed to be panicking. "You see, yesterday, I saw a blue shuttle fly into a cave below the cliffs where I usually read." Noin's face turned from panicked to shocked.
"You shouldn't have been there." Pagan said.
"This is a school, not a penitentiary." Audrey said. "We can go where we like."
"Miss…" Noin started, her voice strained.
"Audrey." She supplied.
"Miss Audrey, I don't believe you understand the implications of what you're witnessing."
"Yes I do." Audrey said assuredly. "I heard you talking-"
"You were eavesdropping?" Pagan said astonished.
"-and I agree with you. I'm terribly sorry for listening in, but I just wanted to know what was going on. I think I am entitled to know of issues that concern my personal safety, don't you? I won't tell about this." She said. "And besides. There's not much that you can do to me aside from silencing me—although I don't think Relena would like it much if one of her students were murdered for knowing too much. And you can't really hand me over to her for punishment either because that would mean telling her your secret. It's pretty obvious that she doesn't know that these are here what with you two sneaking about like this."
"Are you blackmailing us?" Noin asked.
Audrey had the decency to look shocked. "No!" She said. "I was actually about to beg you to let me in on whatever you're doing. It's really boring here, and I'm not really much of a pacifist."
Pagan stepped up to her. "Miss Harper. This is not something for children-"
"What do you mean? You're placing the future of the world in the hands of Relena and she isn't much older than me."
Noin thought for a second. Some of the most amazing people she knew were nothing but kids. She was torn between saying yes and wanting to shelter this girl from the world. "Say we do decide to let you 'help us.'" Noin said. "What exactly can you do?"
Audrey thought for a few seconds. "Nothing really, but I learn fast."
"And if we say no?"
"I'll just sit down here until you change your mind."
Noin smiled slightly. She liked this girl's determination. "Just don't get in the way." She said.
Pagan looked shocked for a moment, but then deciding that he trusted Noin's judgment, gave Audrey a smile. Noin turned and started walking towards 01. Pagan and Audrey followed.
"This is 01." Noin said. "I pulled it out of the ocean with the help of an ally a few days ago. I am pretty certain that it is in near perfect working order, but I haven't run a diagnostic on it yet."
Audrey and Pagan hovered beside Noin as she turned on a computer station. Noin began pointing out parts of the suit that she was worried about. She told Audrey to meet her in the basement after school the next day, and then, the three went back upstairs to get some sleep.
"She taught me the ins and outs of repairing mobile suits although she never actually let me touch one. I was no where near skilled enough to actually work on one, but Noin thought I had good potential and that I would make a good engineer given a little time.
"Then the war reached all the way up to the borders of the country, and they had to actually use the suits. The real fight was in space though. Noin was leaving to go to the main battlefield I begged her to let me come. She let me. I started off as an assistant doing technical work with the mobile suits and spacecraft, but they had better technicians and a shortage in doctors, so I ended up being a nurse instead."
"Did you see a gundam?" Jeanne asked bubbling with excitement.
Audrey nodded.
Jeanne's jaw dropped, and Audrey waited a few moments for her to recover. "Did you meet the pilots?"
Audrey paused. Jeanne was her best friend, and she was sure that she wouldn't tell anyone about their conversation—she never had. Still, it didn't seem right to tell her about Heero. "I might have talked to one once or twice." It wasn't a lie. Heero never talked.
"You lie!" Jeanne squealed.
"No I'm not!" Audrey protested good-naturedly. "I really did."
"Was he handsome?"
Audrey wiggled her hand in a "kind of" fashion. She did think that Heero was good looking, but she would never admit it out loud.
Jeanne stood and brushed her skirt to get the wrinkles out. "I'd better get back to work." She said sadly.
Audrey nodded and stood as well. "Never tell." She said, holding out her hand.
Jeanne grasped it and then placed her other hand on top. Audrey followed her motion to complete their special handshake—one that they'd used in promises since Audrey was a child. "Never." Jeanne promised, and then left.
Audrey just stood and stared at the door. It was almost time for dinner, and she supposed that she should be making her way to the dining room. She figured that she should probably get Heero as well. No one had actually shown him where any of the rooms were.
Only two hours after the last interruption, there was another knock on the door. Heero growled quietly, but didn't look up from his computer screen, upon hearing the door open.
"Why aren't you ready?" A semi-frantic voice squealed. Audrey. "Dinner is in ten minutes!"
"I'm not going." He stated simply without even looking at her.
"NO!" She nearly screamed before quieting her voice a little. "You can't not go! Not only would my father think that you were insulting him, but that would leave me alone with them!"
Heero just continued to stare at his computer screen.
"Come on!" She ran to his closet before pulling out one of the new suits that her kind relatives had supplied him. "Hurry! Put this on!" When Heero didn't move, she slapped her hands to her face and shook her head. "Please!" She wasn't too proud to beg.
"I didn't come here to have dinner parties with your estranged relatives. You were supposed to get money, and then we were supposed to leave to 'help those who were hurt by the war.'" He said finally looking at her. He offhandedly noticed that she looked like a girl in her shin-length yellow dress—especially so, since she had her hair down.
"Yeah. I know." She said in frustration. "But you can't just talk sense into these people. They're animals; they don't understand that. You have to scratch their ears and rub their bellies before they decide to listen to anything you have to say."
Heero was not amused. If anything, he was even more irritated. "How long will it take?" He asked.
Audrey shrugged. "Hopefully not long."
"How long?" He demanded.
"A few days maybe." She said. "Probably a week at the most." She held out the suit to him. "But until then we have to play nice and not try to get our fingers bitten."
"I'm not going to dinner." Heero said again.
"Did you not hear anything I just said?"
Heero proceeded to ignore her.
Audrey growled in frustration before throwing the suit onto his bed and storming out of his room.
Heero had no reaction at all. He was busy wondering how exactly he had gotten into the situation. He hadn't really known the girl at all, and he'd just left with her. Of course, he went to try to make up for the damages he'd caused—he'd done the same thing with Trowa after he'd killed the Alliance's pacifists. He just didn't know if going with her was the right decision.
She was inexperienced and completely useless in a battle—although the war was technically over, there was still bound to be trouble. Trouble seemed to follow him around. She couldn't even complete the simple task of getting money from her own father. If it hadn't been for the money issue, he would have gone off on his own.
He sighed and leaned back in his chair. Maybe he'd been wrong after all.
Whoo! Okay. This is the start of a much longer story. Audrey is my OC. Tell me what you think of her. Constructive input is always welcome, but please no flames. This is my first GW fic, so please be gentle.
