Author note: I do not own the rights to Full Metal Panic, I have the DVDs but that is it. This is my first story being put up; no flaming please, anything else is acceptable. This takes place about two years after TSR.
A Debt Repaid and a Sacrifice Made
'How long have we been locked up in here?' thinks a young woman with long blue hair. She looks over to the man sitting beside her, he was wearing fatigues, and his hair was in need of another cut.
"What's on your mind Kaname?" He asks catching her looking at him out of the corner of his eye. He turns to look at her; she was wearing fatigues, with eyes that were fearful.
"Sousuke, how long do you think it will be till help arrives?" Kaname asks him, pulling her knees to her chest. She looks into his steal grey eyes and at the 'X' shaped scar on his cheek.
"Who knows?" he replies putting one arm around her. "Kaname there is something that I want to tell you if we don't get out of this."
Kaname can feel her heart in her throat as she rest against him "What is it Sousuke?" she can hear his heart beating rapidly 'He's never like this.'
Sousuke gulps "Kaname Chidori…" he takes a breath 'God I don't know how to do this' he looks at her, she is staring up at him "Kaname I…"
She puts a finger on his lips and shakes her head, "You don't have to say it Sousuke, I already know, I feel the same" she leans in and kisses him, the spark that was burning inside of her grew into a white flame and was burning with tremendous power. He tasted like liquid fire in that kiss. She drew back out of the kiss, his sent rolled over her, and it was a heavy earth, mixed with a fresh rain.
Sousuke could not believe that had happened, he had always wondered what it would be like to kiss Kaname, but it was nothing like this. His own spark burst into a white blaze of it own. She tasted sweet and yet spicy, she was still close to his face. Her sent was that of a fresh mountain spring surrounded by cherry blossoms. He looked in to her warm brown eyes feeling like he could lose himself in them with one false step. Kaname was looking right back in to the eyes of the man that she trusted more than anything in the world to protect her, his eyes were calming to her, they looked like the clouds that you see before it rains, so you decide to stay in the house curled up with the one you love just listening to the rain.
'Love!' That word races through her mind, her heart skips a beat 'I love him, I LOVE HIM!' she smiles and pulls her self as close as possible to Sousuke.
Sousuke looks down at the woman curled into him. He could not believe it 'I swore to protect her, and now I want nothing more than to do that and spend the rest of my life with her,' he wraps his arms tightly around her. "I hope that they can find him soon," he whispers as he looks at Kaname.
Flashback ten hours
"This is Uruz 7 to command. Uruz 7 to command," says Sousuke into his head piece.
"This is Captain Testarossa, what is the situation Uruz 7?" Sousuke ducks as a bullet goes past his head as he hears the reply.
"Requesting immediate extraction, 'Angel' has been recovered, but we are pinned down by hostiles, I repeat 'Angel' has been recovered, but were pinned do by hostiles, Requesting immediate extraction," he says, he gets up and fires some more rounds for his rifle.
Kaname looks at Sousuke as she reloads the Glock 19, "Sousuke I'm almost out of ammo," she fires some more towards the enemy. She was glad that he had taught her how to shot when he had some down time.
"Same here Kaname, all we can do is hold out," he replies reloading.
"Uruz 7 we have you position, the enemy is flanking you," says Tessa.
"Shit!" both Kaname and Sousuke say.
"Lieutenant Commander," says Sousuke.
"Kalinin here Sergeant," he replies.
"They are most likely going to take us alive, they will want information," Sousuke says.
"That will most likely what they will do, what do you have planed?" he asks.
"The plan that I have is for you to locate him," says Sousuke, Kaname looks at him in confusion.
Back on the Tuatha De Danaan, the Lieutenant Commander has paled slightly, Tessa and Commander Mardukas look at him with curiosity, "Are you sure Sergeant?"
"Affirmative," is the reply that they receive, "He has dealt with this group before and knows the compound. Shit…" the communication is cut off.
"Sergeant, come in Sergeant!" says Kalinin
"Sorry sir but we've lost communication," says one the communication officers.
"Damn it!" swears Kalinin "I hope you know what you're doing Sousuke."
"Lieutenant Commander who was Uruz 7 referring to?" asks the Capitan.
"Someone who owes his life to Sousuke," he replies "Capitan I suggest that we speak privately of this matter and have Uruz 2 and Uruz 6 read for departure immediately"
"Agreed," says Tessa " Commander Mardukas you have the bridge, and send Melissa and Kurz to my room right away."
"Aye Ma'am!" replies the Commander.
In Tessa's room, Kalinin had just returned with a file in his hand, Melissa and Kurz were there suited up and waiting to here what had to be said. Tessa had already informed them of Sousuke and Kaname. Kalinin did not look pleased from what three of them could see, if anything it was border lined with rage and concern.
"Kalinin who was Sousuke referring to when he said to find 'Him', who is he?" asks Tessa.
"As I said before Captain he is someone who owes Sousuke his life," he replies "He is similar to Sousuke in terms of background, he knows how to kill and fight, the only difference is that his parents, even his whole line were bread to be warriors, he was raised to be the perfect weapon," he hands her the file "There is not much on him, but I was able to find were he is at the moment and we will have to move fast he does not stay in one place for very long."
"Kalinin am I reading this right, that man that Sousuke referred to is that man," Tessa looks at him, she had paled a lot.
"You are Captain," he replies "He is to be considered highly skilled and dangerous as Sousuke if not more so," he looks at them, Melissa and Kurz were both pale as well, "Even though he has been inactive for the last few years do not underestimate him. He is absolutely ruthless and has zero fear that's why he has the title that he does."
"I can't believe that this man owes Sousuke," says Melissa.
"I always thought that he was just a rumour," says Kurz.
"No one is to know who he is that understood," says Tessa.
"Roger," both Melissa and Kurz say.
"Also be mindful of the smallest things you do, he's a reader, give him a minute and he'll know how to beat you in seconds," they give Kalinin a nod.
Back to the present, Tokyo Japan.
A man is lying by a stream, just listening to some music, he was well built, and his looks were not that bad, he had medium length brown hair. He was wearing a t-shirt and jeans, while using his jacket as a pillow. He yawns as he pushes his shades up his nose. It was a nice and sunny out, he was content on just lying here for a while. His foot was moving with the beat of his music, people were going about there daily lives leaving him in a quiet peace.
"Excuse me," says a young woman standing over him, when he doesn't respond she tapes him on the head "Excuse me."
"Huh," he slowly opens his eye "Gahah" his eyes snap open and he rolls away and onto his feet, the woman had fallen over when he moved, "Are you trying to give me a heart attack," he says taking out his head phones and walks over to help her up.
"Sorry about that, I didn't know you were sleeping," she apologizes.
He covers his mouth as he yawns "It's alright," he looks her up and down, she was not that tall, but not short either, black hair with a bit of red in it, kind chestnut brown eyes, her hips and breasts were not bad either. She was wearing a skirt and a t-shirt. 'Right its Sunday no school' he really would not mind spending the day with her "How can I help you?" he takes off his shades and smiles at her revealing his glacier blue eyes.
She looks at him, he looks like a kind enough person, not bad on the eyes either "Umm…Have you by chance seen a dog come by here?"
"Mmm…dog…dog…" He then remembers and big one walking up to him while he was resting and licking his face, "Is he about this tall?" he puts his hand to about his hip, she nods, "Really furry?" she nods again, "brown and white with patches of black?" again she nods "And finally really friendly?"
"Yes that's him," she says excitedly.
"I saw him he came and licked my face clean while I was lying down," he says.
"I so sorry about that," she bows while apologizing.
"Don't worry about it, I love dogs," he replies as she straitens up "I brought him to the shelter just down the road."
"Oh thank you so much," she says and bows again.
"No problem," he bows, "I can accompany you to the shelter if you want?"
"It's alright, it looks like your friends are here any way," she says "Thank you again," she then leaves.
"Friends?" he turns to see two people standing there, one male and the other female. They approach him as he puts his glasses back on and grabs his jacket, "Can I help you?" he tosses the jacket over his shoulder.
Flashback
"When you meet him be very careful of what you say," instructs Kalinin "Don't try to figure out his real name, not even I could find it, hell no one in his line has ever used there real name for anything unless it is someone close to them."
"What happens if someone that isn't close to them knows there real name?" ask Kurz.
"The last time I heard anything about someone outside of those that they trusted ended up dead a day later," Kalinin replies "So don't try, understood?"
"Roger," they reply even Tessa.
Present
"Are you Winter?" asks the one with black hair and violet eyes.
"Maybe," he looks her up and down, 'Defiantly not bad looking, nice chest, hips, and excellent curves. Lucky,' he glances at the male 'Blond hair, blue eyes, built fairly well could handle himself in a fight,' his eyes narrow noticing something 'I want to confirm something though, he's giving off a highly protective vibe and he's keeping close her' he looks at the both "Who's asking sexy?" he directed the question toward the female, but was watching the male and saw him tense up 'Confirmed.'
"The name is Melissa Mao and that is Kurz Weber," she replies slightly annoyed with the comment.
"Nice name, how about you and me go have a little one on one," he grins.
That was Melissa's final nerve, she goes to punch him and the next thing that she knows her arm is behind her head with a knife at her throat, and Kurz is staring down the barrel of a Browning Hi-Power, with is hand on his Browning BDA 9. She did not even register him moving. When the Lieutenant Commander said not to underestimate him he was right. Melissa shifts her eyes to Kurz, he would have no time to draw before this guy pulled the trigger and slit her throat at the same time, for the first time in her military life since she first because a solider she was truly scared of being killed, along with Kurz. Melissa winced as her heart reacted to the thought of Kurz being in front of her and nothing she could do to stop it.
"I will ask one more time," he said his voice was as cold as ice, sending chills down them, "Who is asking?" they did not have to see his eyes to know that lying was not a smart move, he was watching them and looking right into there souls.
'Fuck he's fast,' thought Kurz, he looks at Melissa 'Sorry Melissa that I wasn't faster, but I'm not going to let you die by doing something stupid' he returns his attention to the guy with the gun and lifts his hands "We're part of a unique group."
"Mithril I take it," they nod slowly, he let them go and moved back to where he was standing before.
They watch him grab his jacket and the weapons disappear as he picks it up. Melissa rubs her throat and rotates her shoulder, while Kurz exhales the breath that he was holding, and sits down. They look at him, he was good, really good, he could have killed them where they stood and not blinked. They would not have had any chance in a one on one fight. They were both wondering how Sousuke managed to beat him.
"Are you Winter?" ask Melissa again, 'Why did my heart hurt when I thought about Kurz dying?' the sharp pain that she felt before came back and her heart stopped for a second.
"I am," his voice was nothing but ice, "As I told the last people from Mithril who tried to recruit me, my answer is still the same, no."
"We're not here to recruit you," said Kurz "We need your help," he stands up.
"Why would I help you?" Winter asks.
"Because you owe someone your life," said Melissa, she watches him remove his shades revealing his eyes, they pierce right through her. They were cold absolutely freezing cold.
Kurz gulps "He is calling in that debt that you owe him," he is looking into Winter's eyes, there was a cold sweat running down his back. He knew that is Winter was serious Melissa and him would already be dead.
Winter was looking at them and sighs, it was time to pay him back, "Fine, lets go," Winter puts on his jacket and shades, "We need to stop some to pick up a few things first."
Back in the compound just north of Tynda
Sousuke was being dragged back into the cell, they had a gun on Kaname. She wanted to rush over to him but she was not going to move with the gun on her. As they drop Sousuke and leave Kaname quickly rushes over to his side. He had taken a sever beating from what she could tell. He would have burses once all of this was over and done with, if they lived that long.
"Sousuke are you alright?" asks Kaname as she lays his head on her lap.
He coughs "Not a problem," he says.
"Do you know who these people are?" asks Kaname as she wipes the blood away for a cut on his forehead.
"They are a radical terrorist group who wants to revive the USSR," he replies sitting up slowly.
"What did they want to know?" She asks helping him over to the wall.
"Who we work for and what we know," he replies as they sit down.
"Do you know anything else about this group?" she watches him shake his head no.
"The one that I told the Captain to get knows more about this group than I do," says Sousuke, "We should get some rest before they come back."
"Ok," Kaname replies. They both slowly go to sleep, liking there hands together as they do.
On the Tuatha De Danaan
Winter had just landed with Melissa and Kruz. Winter gives a whistle as he takes a look at the sub "Impressive, very impressive," he looks out the corner of his eye and grins, "It's been some time hasn't it Andrei Sergeivich Kalinin."
Melissa and Kurz turn and salute Tessa, Kalinin and Mardukas and they come walking up, "It has at the Winter, I was hoping that I would not have to deal with you again," say Kalinin.
"That hurts old man," Winter replies, they all turn to him with contempt in there eyes for the lack of respect. Kalinin just shrugged it off, he was like this before why should this be any different than back then. Before they can say anything Winters eyes go colder than when Melissa and Kurz saw them, it was like they were standing in the middle of the arctic during a blizzard "Then again I can say the same thing, I don't enjoy being in anyone's debt," his voice carried with it daggers, anyone within hearing range literally stops to look at him, the Captain actually gave a small squeak in fear.
"And I thought Gauron was bad," said Tessa in a low voice "But he is in a class of his own."
"I agree Ma'am," said Mardukas, Tessa looks at him and could see a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face.
"Who do we have here Captain?" Tessa turns to see Uruz 1 Belfangan Closeau walking towards them. He takes a good look at Winter and freezes in place, he reaches for his knife.
Winter rotates his neck cracking it "I would not do that if I were you," he says, nothing was escaping his glacier blue eyes, his finger crack as he flexes them; they look at Closeau.
"Uruz 1 stand down" orders Tessa "He is not the enemy."
He does but that does not help his tension, 'He has the eyes of a monster and a killer, of someone who has nothing to lose.'
"Now if you don't mind, I would like to know what trouble Sagara Sousuke has gotten himself into, last time I saw him he was with this girl by the name of Kaname Chidori," they all look and him is surprise "What we walked right past each other one day, I saw who was with and I did my homework on who she was."
"That saves some explanation," says Kalinin "If you'll follow us we will tell you the reason why you are here Reaper," Closeau looks at Winter and knows that he would have been killed if he challenged him when he had gone for his knife.
Winter starts laughing they all look from him to Kalinin and back. Once he calms down he is able to speak "You are the only one who calls me that with out running away, and god has it been a while since someone did," he straitens himself "Glad to hear that you have not forgotten that name Kalinin."
"How could I after seeing what you are capable of," he replies as he walks away.
Once they reach the briefing room everything was told. Winter just sat there listening to the report. Melissa, Kruz and Closeau are as well. Everything from a simple recognisance mission to a rescue situation to a failed escape, and now a rescue mission. Kalinin explains that the organization that had Sousuke and Kaname was named Neo-USSR. That is what catches Winters attention, it had been a good solid four years since he was there. They are shown satellite photos of the base and it was the one that he was thinking of, this was going to be fun. The others hear a bit of chuckling coming from the back the turn to see Winter with a demonic grin on his face, they all shuddered at that.
"There you have it," says Kalinin.
"This is going to be fun," say Winter laughing demonically, then his face becomes serious "This is also a suicide mission," he put his elbows on the desk and links his hand together, they look at him "The M9s will only be able to go as far as the hanger, the rest of the compound is under ground, the cells are five floors down, and no AS can operate down there, the tunnels are only made for people. From what I've seen from the photos all three of you will need to focuses on taking out the enemy's AS and tanks. I will deal with the infiltration, I work better alone," he pause to catch his breath, "And don't even get me started on the communication problem," they are looking at him; he had the mind a strategist who has calculated every possible out come.
"What would that be?" asks Tessa.
"The entire facility has a jamming frequency surrounding it, and without the right codes for the frequency there will be no chance for the infiltration team to communicate with the outside," he said.
"Fuck!" both Kruz and Melissa say at the same time.
"We need not worry about that though," he says, they look at him "I told you that I had to get some things before we left," he reaches into his pocket and pulls out two head sets, "these will allow me to stay in contact with the AS team," he tosses one of them to Melissa while he puts on the other one. It had a visor on it and a mike "Once I get in there it will take a minute or two for it to find the right frequency after that I will keep in contact with Melissa, I have one more but I will be giving it to Sousuke once I retrieve him and Kaname."
"Sounds like a logical plan, but are you sure that you want to go it alone Winter?" asks the Captain.
"Positive," Winter replies "I can move faster that way," he had looked at every possible out come with the fewest casualties and this was it "We leave in the hour if that's alright with you Captain Testarossa?" his eyes are locked with Kalinin; they were having a conversation without saying anything.
The Lieutenant Commander nods, he does not say anything, but he could see that Winter will be going in, and only Sousuke and Kaname be the ones returning. After that Winter will be gone.
"Agreed," she replies, with that Winter walks out.
One hour later
Kurz and Melissa arrive in the hanger, they see that Closeau was going over the final preparations for his AS. They see Winter sitting on a crate with an envelope in hand, they look at each other knowing what that meant. They all did the same thing. Melissa looks back at Winter and watches him take two things from around his neck and placing them in the envelope sealing it. And puts it in his pocket. His eyes had a far off look to them. Kurz and Melissa had seen that look to many times before, it was the look of someone who was more than ready to die. Sousuke had that look often before Kaname came into the picture, he was always ready to die, and take as many people with him as he could. With Winter they were seeing not the cold eyes that he had when they had met him but something else, a kind of sadness to him, they could not really figure it out.
"Melissa can I talk to you for a minute?" ask Kurz, Melissa looks at him, seeing something other than the pervert he normally is.
"Sure," replies Melissa, she follows Kurz to a private area, "What are you thinking Kurz?"
"About what happened today," he says "I'm sorry that I couldn't react fast enough to stop him," Kurz is biting the inside of his cheek; he is wanting to wrap his arms around her.
"It's alright," she says, she could see that he was blaming himself, she holds herself back from wanting to caress his face, she is not sure why she has the urge to, "It's not your fault, he was just faster than I had anticipated, than either of us could anticipate... We should get going."
Kurz nods, they start walking towards there M9s little did they know that there was some one listening to there conversation, as they walk past Winter comes walking out from behind one of the crates. He looks at them as they keeping walking, he knows that they are dancing around there own feelings, Kurz wants to tell her yet he will not, and Melissa is just far too proud to admit to liking him. He shrugs and goes and prepares the rest of his equipment.
Back at the compound
Sousuke and Kaname are just waking up, they both have a feeling that something was going to be happening soon, and they needed to be fully alert and ready to move at any moment. Sousuke stands and starts to stretch, loosening his stiff muscles from the beating that he took, even Kaname was stretching, and you really don't want to pull anything during combat. It could cost you dearly. After they had finished, Sousuke stands and faces Kaname, it was now or never, just go with instinct that's what he told himself.
Kaname looks at him, there was something that was going through his head but she could not tell when, the only thing that she could tell was that his eyes had a fire to them. A hunger that could not be sated easily, she sees him starting to walk over to her, Sousuke grabs her hands and pins them to the wall, he close the gap between the pressing there bodies together and kissing passionately. Kaname eyes are wide with shock at the bold move that Sousuke just made, soon her eyes close as her own hunger is rising to the surface. She wraps one leg around him pulling her closer, the next thing that she know he has release her hands and placed them on her ass lifting her up, she lets a slight moan as there tongues fight each other, she wraps her arms and her other leg around him.
The fire that was racing between them was intense, they were both relying on there instincts they had tossed all logic and plans out the window. As they separate from kissing both of them are breathing heavily. Kaname can feel him pressing against her, wanting out. With a slight adjustment Sousuke hears Kaname moan, that was enough for his instincts to tell him that she wanted him. Kaname grabs the front of his top and undoes it, revealing his bear chest, she takes it as far off as she could before Sousuke started to kiss her again she drags her nails over his chest and back. It is not till Sousuke lies Kaname down that her top was really bothering her. She watches Sousuke take off his jacket fully and toss it a side, she grins seductively and starts to unzip her jacket, and she slowly removes her arms from it. Sousukes growing erection was pressing against her, she moans as he presses himself against her. Sousuke literally growls at Kaname as she takes off her shirt, exposing her soft skin, and luscious breast being held by a white bra. Kaname pulls him into her and nips his neck causing another growl from him, Sousuke nips her neck which causes her to moan.
She feels his hand running her stomach, over her breast and slowly starts needing them. Her hands are traveling over his back as he kisses her neck, she is tracing the scars that are on him. She feels Sousuke grab her bra and tear it off. Tossing it away, Sousuke sits back to admire the beauty that is before him. To his surprise Kaname sits up and kisses him again, drawing the wild Sousuke back out. There bodies are pressed tightly together, Kanames legs are wrapped around him, they can feel there bodies demanding each other. Neither of them has ever felt this alive before, it was absolutely exhilarating for them.
Next thing they hear are gunshots from outside the door and two bodies hitting the floor. Sousuke instantly separates himself from Kaname, still in a more or less primal state of mind. When the door opens, Sousuke tackles the one who opened it pinning his one arm to the ground, and the other one was in a fist ready to ram in to his throat. Then he sees who it is, and feels a gun presses to his chest and a blade at his throat, and quickly gets off him.
"Good to see you too Sousuke," says Winter standing up and sheathing his blade, then starts rubbing the back of his head. He looks Sousuke up and down wondering why he was not wearing a shirt, he could see some bruises and scratch marks, then he sees Kaname holding a jacket over her breasts and puts two and two together, Winter grins "You two want me to give you some more time?"
Both Sousuke and Kaname blush "No I think we should get out of here while we can," says Sousuke as he goes and grabs his jacket.
While Sousuke and Kaname are putting back on there cloths and grabbing the guards guns Winter is resting on a wall holding his side, he can feel the blood running over his hand. Everything thing was going smoothly with the infiltration till one of the guards turned around and saw him, the guard did not have time to raise the alarm but he had time to draw his knife and get in a stab before Winter killed him. Damn this was going to slow him down some.
"Sousuke," Winter says, Sousuke looks at him "After we get out of here my debt to you is paid off, I no longer owe you anything."
"Affirmative," he replies cocking the AK, he looks at Kaname who was putting a 9mm into the back of her pants and cocking the other one "You ready Kaname?"
"Roger," she says grinning evilly.
"We're ready Reaper," says Sousuke, as he catches a headset similar to Winters and put it on."
"Sousuke just call me Winter, I left that other name behind" says Winter, Sousuke nodes. Winter taps the side of his head set "Uruz 2, I have Uruz 7 and 'Angel' we're on our way out."
"Copy that Shadow. Eta?" replied Uruz 2.
"Eta ten minutes" says Winter.
"Roger, hurry up," says Uruz 2
"Sousuke let's get going," they nod and start running down the hall that Winter had come from when the alarm went off, "Great, just fucking great."
They manage to make it to the fourth floor before the guards spotted them. Winter had always hated the set up of this place the put each individual stare well on the opposite side of the fucking compound. They had managed to cut there way through the guards with Winter taking point. This was the types of situations that his was bred for he was born a warrior and he would die as one that is his families' motto; he was the strongest in his line as of late, even the older ones did not challenge him, know he would beat them easy. He had taken a good haft a dozen shots by the time they reached the final floor, his breathing was heavy, only two had grazed him the others were embedded in him, one had just missed his stomach, another in one of his shoulders, then one was in his leg and the last was is his forearm, but this was nothing to him. Winter did not like it at all it was far to quiet for his liking, even Sousuke was uneasy.
"You two stay here," orders Winter "That is the last corner before the exit, I'll check it out."
Sousuke and Kaname nod. Winter slowly approaches the corner, every sense in his body was screaming trap. He looks around the corner that was when he sees it. There was a grenade flying at his face, his body acted on its own, he had to get rid of it fast. He moves from the cover of the wall and grabs the grenade from mid air and throws it back, but it was a late through just as it was two feet from him it explodes sending him flying into the wall behind him. Sousuke and Kaname see this; all they see from him is blood coming out of his mouth when he hits the wall. They rush to him, they see him get shot another three times while he is sliding down the wall, Sousuke throws two grenades towards the enemy then brings up his rifle and goes full auto on them. He then ducks behind the wall with Kaname and waits for the smoke to clear. Kaname is looking at Winter, he lets out a cough of blood and looks at her.
"Sousuke! He's alive!" yells Kaname.
Sousuke looks around the corner to see that all the guards are dead, "Kaname check on him."
"Right," she rushes over to Winter, she opens his jacket, blood was just running down his chest, and had a broken rib sticking out of his shirt. She looks at his face and sees that the left side is bleeding. "How are you feeing Winter?" even though she knows that he's dying.
"Had better days," he replies, and looks at her his vision was getting blurry, "Help me to the other wall."
"You shouldn't be moved," Kaname says.
"Put me on the other wall, I can't see the enemy if the come out of my left eye," he says, Kaname helps him up and moves him over to the other wall, she could see the pain the he was in, once she put him down he was facing the hallway that they just came from.
"How is he Kaname?" asks Sousuke, as he comes back from checking to see if any of the guards were still alive.
"He's dying," she looks at him with tears in her eyes, she feels her hand grabbed and looks at Winter and sees him holding it.
"Sou..su..ke," Winter says slowly, "Give me your hand," Sousuke does, Wither then places Sousukes and Kanames hands together. They look at each other, then back to him, he was looking at them with his one good glacier blue eye, "Take good care of each other," they nod "Good, now…" he reaches into his pocket and pulls out the envelope, "Sousuke I have one favour to ask of you, and that is to give this to the one that it is addressed to. Will you do that?"
"Affirmative," says Sousuke taking the envelop, Winter had put it in a plastic bag to stop the blood from getting one it. Kaname was crying.
"I will hold them off as long as I can before I collapse that hallway," says Winter slowly, he vision may be going and his ears ringing but he knew that more would be on the way.
"Huh?" Sousuke and Kaname look at him.
He grins "C-4 on key sections," Sousuke looks back and sees concealed blocks of C-4 on the walls and ceiling, he turns back to him and sees him holding the detonator "Now go."
The both nod and take off towards the exit; Winter can barely make out the guards when they come down the hall, he grips his gun as best as he can. He lifts his guns and unloads on them. Kaname and Sousuke make it to the lift and are on there way up, they hear shots being fired then a series of explosions from Winters direction.
"This is Shadow to Uruz 2," Both Sousuke and Melissa hear him "Uruz 7 and 'Angel' are on their way, they are on the lift now."
Sousuke realizes that they can track each other with the visor, he activates it and sees Melissa's dot moving to there position.
"Roger that Shadow, what about you?" she asks.
"I'll let them tell you," they hear him coughing on his end "Now get them out of here."
"Roger," she replies, she know that something is not right.
Sousuke and Kaname see Melissa's M9 waiting for them with is hand open, once they are seated in Melissa takes off. Inside the cockpit Melissa had found a way to wire the headset into the communication system making it easier for her to communicate with the others and with Winter.
"Hehe…" they hear over the communications, "I've had a good life, true there are some things that I regret that I could not fulfill but I could never accomplish them if I wanted to…" there is the sound of coughing again, Melissa, Kurz, Sousuke, Kaname, Closeau, along with the bridge of the TDD-1 was listening to this, it had seemed that Winter did not shut off my headset "It would have taken me a hundred life times to do the one thing that I wanted to. But that time has come and gone…" there was another cough "Damn that hurts...I hope that one day she will be able to forgive me for my choice that I made… I wonder did I make the right choice in leaving…to late now I guess, I hope she can forgive me, I'm sorry Saya, everyone…" there is a pause "That Chidori girl is a good match for Sousuke, maybe now he will be able to have a somewhat normal life," Sousuke and Kaname look at each other and smile, he was right about the match "Now as for Kurz and Melissa," Huh that goes through everyone heads at that "Why can those two fools be honest with each other…" another cough "Really Melissa is just to proud to accept and admit to herself that she has feelings for him, it's written all over her face when she's not paying attention and when he's not looking...And then there's Kurz he may act like a pervert but, that's all that is, it's an act, it's his way to tease Melissa, and the others," Winter laughs before violently coughing, no one had said a word they were all listening closely, "But the moment I hit on Melissa, it took a lot of restraint for him not to say anything…god I'm getting tired…And then when Melissa through her punch and I just reacted, it was written on both of them, they didn't want the other to die…I really hope one…of…them…says…some…thing…to …t…he… ot…her…so…o…n…" then it goes silent.
On the other side of the world (A few minutes before Winters death)
A young woman is working in the kitchen, she had long rose blond hair and teal eyes, she was just wearing a simple skirt and t-shirt. Her house full of guests, old friends and new ones, along with family. It was a very good day, they were celebrating her promotion with the company that she works for, and she had been working for years to get this position, now it was time to celebrate all the hard work that she put in. For once in a long time she was happy, everything was going right for once in a very long time. She was just getting some snacks for the young children that were that at the party. She was just turning around with a glass when she feels a stabbing pain rip through her body and squeeze her heart, she lets out a scream and drops to her knees clutching her chest in agonizing pain.
One of her friends' rushes over to her "Saya you ok?" she kneels down beside Saya.
She lifts her head tears were streaming down her face "It hurts Jay, it hurts so much," the tears are streaming from her eyes as Jay wraps her arms around her.
"Calm down honey, calm down," she says soothingly, she feels Saya grab onto her shirt "Tell me what's wrong."
"It feels…like something grabbed…my heart and squeezed it…trying...trying to rip it out," she manages to choke out between sobs.
"It's alright, has this ever happened before?" Jay asks, she could feel Saya start to shake her head no then pauses, and nods "When was that honey?" she was severely worried now.
"It was when Ryion was in that accident," she leans back the tears had stopped, everyone was watching her, a few of them knowing who him, others hearing the stories of the two of them "He was in surgery, and the doctors said that he had flat lined, and at the same time I felt that same pain run through me, and I screamed. They said that heard the scream, and his heart started again. They couldn't explain it..." her eyes go wide "Wait do you think that something has happened to Ryion?" She is grabbing Jay's shirt and looks at her, fear clear in her eyes.
"I couldn't tell you Saya, none of us have heard from him since he disappeared years ago," says Jay, concern swept through her, Saya still held his heart after all these years "Come on lets get you up stairs so you can lay down." Saya just nods and lets Jay guide her.
Back on the Tuatha De Danaan (A few hours later)
They had just arrived at the debriefing of what had transpired earlier, it turned out that the head sets that Winter gave to them recorded everything that was said. So they had a recorded of the mission. They were watching everything that had transpired from start to finish. Everyone was a little down, even though Winter was not the best person, hell Winter was a heartless killer or so they thought, but after what had happened they had to rethink that. He had just sacrificed himself to complete the mission, just to keep Kaname and Sousuke alive and to by them time.
"Captain," says Sousuke standing up.
"What is it Sergeant?" asks Tessa.
Sousuke brings out the envelope that Winter had given him "I was asked by him to deliver this to someone, with your permission I would like to deliver it in person."
She sees the envelope and knows that Winter had known that he would not be coming back alive, "I don't see why that can not be done, I will have the information department locate the recipient," says Tessa "Is there anything else?"
Kaname stands up "I will go with Sousuke to deliver the letter," Tessa nods "And are we going to be sending are a team to recover his body, or are we just going to leave it behind?"
"That has already been taken care of, we were planning for this in case it did occur, we sent a team just after you were extracted," says Kalinin "We received word just before this that the body of Winter 'Reaper' had been recovered and is currently enroot to the Tuatha De Danaan as we speak." Kaname nods in satisfaction.
"If that is all then you are all dismissed," say Tessa, everyone leaves.
In Kurz's cabin
Kurz is pacing back and forth in his cabin, the word that Winter had spoken were running through his head 'I don't know what to do, do I stay here or do I go tell Melissa how I feel?'
"Damn!" yells Kurz "I'm no coward," he runs out of his cabin.
Meanwhile in Melissa's cabin
She is laying on her bunk thinking about everything that had happened from the pain in her heart when she thought that he was going to be shot. To Kurz blaming himself for not being fast enough to what Winter had said about him liking her and her being too proud to admit to herself that she has feelings for Kurz.
'It's not true, it can't be,' she thinks 'It's not like my world would fall apart if Kurz were to suddenly die…' her body is suddenly racked with pain that she rolls on to her side and clutches her chest drawing her legs up. She can hardly breath.
After a minute the pain passes, and she is able to stretch out again, she is still clutching her chest, her breath coming in heavy waves, 'Ok that hurt, but it has nothing to do with…' there's a sudden knock at her door, she sits up.
"Melissa you there?" it is Kurz's voice that she hears on the other side of the door, for the first time her heart stops and her voice is caught in her thought, "Please Melissa you there?"
Melissa takes a deep breath and walks over to the door, her hand freezing for a moment before opening it. She looks at Kurz, he's panting like he's been running all over the ship looking for her before coming her cabin. "What's up Kurz?" she asks trying to maintain her composer.
"Do you mind if I come it?" he asks, she lets him in and closes the door behind him.
They sit on opposite sides of the room, not saying anything. You could cut the tension with a knife. Kurz takes a deep breath and stands up, Melissa watches him. Next thing she knows Kurz is standing in front of her she looks up at him. That's when he makes his move. He kisses her and pushes her so she is lying down on her bunk. Melissa is going to push him away, but her body betrays her, her arms wrap around him pulling him closer to her, deepening the kiss, her eyes shut. She could believe this, she was kissing Kurz Weber and was enjoying it. Kurz knew the moment that he kissed Melissa had he loved her; that she was meant to be his. As they pull apart from the kiss, the both are breathing heavy, but neither one willing to move or speak.
"Umm…Kurz can you move please," asks Melissa, she could not believe that her voice sounded soft as it did, but her leg were stating to hurt from the angle they were at.
"Oh sorry," Kurz backs up almost tripping over himself.
Melissa sits up and touches her lips, she could not believe what had just happened. She looks a Kurz and he is the same way. That when she decides to do something she never thought of ever doing, one cause it would get them into major trouble and court marshalled, and two she never wanted to admit that she had developed feelings for him. She gets up and takes Kurz's hand and brings him back to the bunk and lies down with him. She rests here head on his shoulder while Kurz's arm is wrapped around her, his hand on her stomach.
"Kurz how long have you felt this way?" she asks.
He thinks about it, "I think it might have been ever since you came to the recruitment camp," he replies, "Yeah that sounds about right."
She sits up and looks at him, "That long?" he just nods, she shakes her head and lies back down "What took so long?"
"I think I just needed a wake up call that's all," he replies, there is a pause, "We lost another good one today didn't we Melissa."
She thinks about it for a while 'His file showed him as a ruthless killer, he's killed so many it made me sick, but he went in alone to that base to save them, even though he said it was suicide, he died for to get them out. If he was heartless he wouldn't have done that, and he wanted someone to forgive him, could someone had changed him?' she nods "We did lose another good one to the patrol," saying that she closes her eyes and falls asleep in Kurz's arms.
One week Later Saya's house
It had been a week since she had felt that pain rip through her body, and now it felt like something was missing. There was a part of there that felt like it was stolen from her by an unknown thief. Jay had come by to check up on her today to make sure that she was alright, Jay had been putting in some time in trying to find any clues concerning Ryion. But there was nothing on him. Both Jay and Saya were sitting at the coffee table it was an early weekend morning, Saya had a far off look in her eyes like something was missing and she could not get it back. They were both sipping coffee when there is a knock at the door.
"Are you expecting anyone today Saya?" asks Jay.
"No one, maybe it's some damn sales man," she gets up from the table and goes to answer the door, when she gets there though it is the last thing she expected to see, a young man in military fatigues and a young woman in a skirt and t-shirt, "How can I help you?"
"My name is Sousuke Sagara and this is Kaname Chidori," they bow , Saya bows back "We're looking for a Miss Saya Danielles."
"That would be me," she says "But I think you have the wrong person, I don't know anyone in the military."
Sousuke looks at her "There is no mistake," he pulls out the envelope and hands it to her. Saya sees the writing on the envelope and knows the writing instantly.
Jay is just walking up wondering what is going on when she sees Saya drop her knees and starts to cry, Jay rushes over "Saya what's wrong?" she looks from her friend to the two standing there wearing solemn expressions.
"It's from him, it's from Ryion," she replies showing the envelope to Jay, even Jay knew his style of writing, Saya looks at Sousuke and Kaname, "Where is he?"
"He's out on patrol," replies Sousuke, they look at him confused.
"It took me a while to understand that as well," say Kaname, kneeling down and places a hand on Saya's shoulder, "Do you mind if we come in we will explain what we can," Saya nods and lets them in.
Two hours later
Both Jay and Saya are sitting there in shock of what they had just been told. Saya was looking at the envelope she still had not opened it. Now she was scared to. Slowly she tares the side open, the first things to fall out are a crystal pendant, that use to belong to Saya, and the second is a locket that she had gotten Ryion and had put there pictures in. Saya opens it and finds their pictures.
"He never took these off, ever," says Saya.
"From what two of our team mates told us they said that he had the look knowing he would die, knowing that this was the last time he would be going into battle," says Sousuke.
"Did he die like a warrior?" asks Jay looking at Sousuke.
"Affirmative," he replies "He could not have asked for a better death."
"Good," says Jay "He always wanted to die in a battle," she wipes the tears from her eyes; she could hear Saya forcing herself not to cry "He never wanted to die by accident, he was born a warrior and he would've wanted to die as one."
Saya is putting on the necklaces, "What about his body?" she was fighting so hard against crying, that was why she had not read the letter yet.
"The arrangements are being made as we speak all we require is where you would like him to be place," says Kaname.
Saya nods, "Do you have a number I could reach you at? We need sometime to process all of this."
"Of course, all the instructions are written on this," Sousuke hand Saya the piece of paper.
They stand up, "He was a good man, we will show our selves out," says Kaname, both her and Sousuke leave as they leave they hear both of them break down.
"Kaname what would you do if you ever receive a letter like that?" asks Sousuke.
"The same thing that they are doing right now, cry my eyes out," replies Kaname taking Sousukes hand "I just hope that I never get one of those letters, just you walking through that door."
Sousuke nods as he opens the door to the car for Kaname 'I hope that I never have to send one to you Kaname' And with that they leave.
The letter lay open on the table as both Saya and Jay are crying. The letter read:
Dear Saya
I hope you can forgive me, I'm sorry
I always loved you
I always will
Love Ryion
P.s. I have a feeling that Jay's there with you right now, sorry Jay, can you tell everyone that I'm sorry and that I'm not going to be coming home. Thanks.
Author note: I thank you for reading this, and I thank neoqueen24 for helping me get started here. And getting my first story up. This is only going to be a one shot, so do not expect any more for this story.