A Gundam Wing/AC Fanfiction –When the War Will Always be Callous
Disclaimer: Usual disclaimer applies.
Character(s): Heero Yuy/Duo Maxwell
Pairing(s): None
Genre(s): Angst/Tragedy
A/N: Warning, possible AU and AR. And please note that English is not my native language, so please pardon me for any possible grammar and vocabulary mistakes.
January, AC 203
Dreiländereck Aachen, 0200 hours local time
The roaring sounds of faraway explosions vaguely blared in his ears. Heero Yuy glared at his wrist-watch, the blinking neo-green informed him it was already late – almost morning. He had instructed to one of his men on watch duty, Corporal Lance Wilde, to take turn on the rear border. Shifting his SA80 slightly, Heero cast his look to the further scenery ahead, scanning the perimeter with sharp, calculating eyes.
"Hey, buddy! What the hell is a general doing out here?" Duo Maxwell's cheerful voice greeted from his back, and he felt a gentle pat on his shoulder. Heero ignored the question, and walked forward to the small post a few metres ahead. Two other men were there, with coffee as their company in the chilly night.
"Do you copy which area was it?" Heero prompted the question coldly to the men. "Did you confirm what it was?"
"Possibly area G4, sir," one of the men saluted upon seeing Heero, followed by his colleague. "We are positive it was artillery."
More explosions assaulted their hearings; this time was much closer. Heero could feel the ground beneath his feet shook mildly. "Hn. Now explosives. Barrack, call in for my personal men. We're going to inspect it. Notice to all security posts and the whole unit to be ready for attacks. I want every single man to have their vests – shall I catch otherwise, be sure that punishment will come their way. Maxwell, you take the right wing."
"Aww, man," Duo whined. "I ain't get the fun parts? It's not fair!"
Heero ignored the braided man again and reached for a small paper on the wooden desk and wrote something quickly. He turned to the other soldier and ordered quickly, "Lloyd, send this to Commander Une and Lieutenant Chang in my private line. Only, only to them. Repeat that."
"Send only, and only to Commander Une and Lieutenant Chang," Lloyd recited dutifully.
Heero nodded curtly and squinted backward as footsteps approaching them. "We're here. Let's go."
They vanished into the woods, leaving trails of thin mist of their cold breath in their wake.
Another war.
From what Heero had learned, the Dreiländereck – also known as Three Country Border – was a neutral territory that connected three countries since centuries ago. The point where the countries meet was located in the Dutch province of Limburg, in a small city called Vaals. This was why the hill you have to climb to enjoy this meetings of border was called Vaalserberg and it's the highest point in mainland Netherlands. This Three-Country Point, known in German as Dreiländerpunkt, used to be a four country border between 1830 and 1919. This happened because Neutral Moresnet used to exist in them as well. Neutral Moresnet was a small Condominium between what used to be the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Kingdom of came to be after the fall of Napoleon, when the Congress of Vienna was redrawing the map of Europe; this where some problems started to appear. On the area that was later called Neutral Moresnet, a zinc mine used to exist and none of the two kingdoms wanted to give up control over it. This lasted until after the First World War when the territory was annexed by Belgium.
It was supposed to be a popular tourist spot. It was supposed to connect the three countries practically without boundaries – not having to be worried about visa, currency, immigration, and other bureaucracies thingy. It was supposed to give people insight of three different countries in one line and generalisation. One of the symbols of peace.
Damn new ESUN policies broke all the treaty, all because one stupid minister in his thirst for territories for his own fluke.
Damn bureaucrats. Damn politicians.
Dispute raged between the high-up officials. ESUN disassociated; and a new ESUN opposition consisted of Eastern Europe – calling themselves as Unity of New Eastern Europe – was formed. However, it backfired: interwar years that was the major result of the First World War was brought up again for natural resources now had elated even scarce. War broke through the countries of UNEE, entangling the ESUN as the newly established major government.
And Preventer, of course, was the front line of ESUN's policies barricade – and Heero Yuy found himself plummeting on the front line – again.
Much better than the paper works, actually, and it was his expertise.
It wasn't like that he was oppressed to do so. He plunged willingly; and his reputation among the Preventer was never doubted. He was one of Preventer's top agents – he was the best. Commander Une herself admitted the matter.
And Relena…
Well, she was another matter. She had asked him to consider, told him that it wasn't necessarily him; that Preventers had many other agents standing in his line – but Heero felt that it was necessary. It served him one purpose; he wanted to see by his own eyes the wickedness of humans – he didn't want to see the world he had fought so hard for fell into destruction. So he proposed a scheme, and he was sent along the ESUN's army as the Preventer's field general to investigate and to prevent the war spread across other continents.
This time, it was different. If before he was one-man army and only responsible for one life, his own; then now he was responsible for hundreds lives of soldiers under his command; the heavy burden lingered in his mind. He was charged to provide best analysis and produce perfect tactics: for every fallen one of his men, then his decision was responsible for the family they left.
The day the soldiers officially finished with the extensive and strict training from him and then recruited into his unit, in his speech, Heero had given them fair warning. Eyes brushing over unfamiliar faces in front of him, he spoke flatly, with no emotion, "I suggest you take the one week time to say goodbye to your families. Under my command, you will be dead to them. From here on you will no longer be men, but swords to be wielded in battle and discarded when broken. But in return, you will be honoured with great power, and we will use that power to do all we can to end this bloody war."
He glanced over his partner's face across the hall, and continued detachedly. "You are the best soldiers selected for the ESUN has granted me the option of forming an elite unit. You will act under my direct command and will be under orders from no other part of ESUN's army force. That's all. Dismissed."
And thus he discarded his own humanity – for hundreds of lives and bloods laid in his own hand.
It had been always that way. He would continue to play that role as long as needed.
Duo Maxwell was a master of stealth, and he took pride on it.
So now, when the moon decided to apparently mock him with its mighty moonlight (well how dare it was, when even it literally wasn't moonlight for it was actually sunlight reflected from the parts of the moon's surface), Duo was pretty much annoyed. In the open area like this with no tree shadows to hide, the favour wasn't for both sides.
It just made his job no easier, to put it simply.
The moon light felt like blazing over him. With him were about 8 men, his squad. They marched through the bushes and concrete wreckage in the blowing, freezing wind of January. Duo scowled, "Well, I will certainly prefer to do those damn paper works than this. Sure it wouldn't freeze my poor ass off…"
"Sir," one of the man croaked dubiously, "you were General Yuy's partner in the Preventer, correct? Was he always like that?"
"Like what?" Duo wrinkled his nose, trying to ease the numb feeling.
"Uh…" the man, whose name was Kellberg, hesitated. "I mean, doesn't he have a family? A… partner?"
Duo stopped walking and turned around incredulously. "Heero? You mean woman? Hell, never once I imagined! No, he is… not like that. He's been through a lot, yanno, he avoids any kind of relationship in general. Big responsibility in him… he never talks about it, but I just can see. He doesn't want to get close to people because he doesn't want attachment. He says it 'a burden to the mission', but I know better. He can't bear the pain on losing someone, or can't let people get close to him because he's in danger on regular basis. He's an enigma, that tough guy."
"I just think that he deserves more than to be here," Kellberg said quietly. "It's a sad thought."
"That's why I hang around him," said Duo soberly. "Just rest assured that Heero is a very kind guy. He helped me lots, in his lousy way. Believe it or not, he saved my life times before. When he could just easily leave me for blotching the missions, heh, but he saved me. Nursed me back to health. I own my life that much to Heero. His life just has been too painful, it's expected of him to be like that. Life does that to you."
"General Yuy is perfect in everything. Two months we've been out here, and no casualties have emerged. He's the only and one general who always goes out to front line I have ever seen in my whole time in the army," Kellberg mused. The other men mumbled their agreement.
"If you're sharp enough, you'll notice that every missions he sent us, it tends to put away danger from ya' lot. He's directing the danger to himself," Duo snorted spitefully. "It's his job, completing the missions and keeping all of us from danger at the same time. So, boys, respect his every order. It shows much of his humanity."
The group fell silence, face shocked as they realised the truth in the braided man's words.
They certainly had just noticed it was true.
"Oh my God," another man whispered dreadfully, representing out loud what the whole squad was feeling.
Duo smirked dourly. Mission complete.
Heero listened furiously to the whole confab. Duo had opened the wide channel to the entire unit and everyone, including him, could hear every word Duo said. What the fuck?
"Maxwell," Heero said to his walkie-talkie, voice eerily cold, "come to my office after this whole shite done."
"Ouch," Duo chuckled over the communicator. "Easy, man. I'm just trying to show 'em the calibre within you. I just don't appreciate people talking behind your back, complaining this and that when they don't know the truth. It ain't fair for ya', 'Ro."
"I don't give a damn to what people talking behind my back," Heero spat back. "I do what necessary to make this operation successful. Now shut your damn mouth and concentrate. Failure will not be accepted."
He cut the line dead and continued to walk forward. He didn't have the courage face his squad now – he could hear vague murmurs behind him.
"Sir," his lieutenant, Thompson, called out tentatively, "it was Lieutenant Maxwell – so the rumour was true – "
Heero pivoted sharply on his boot. His face was stoic, not betraying any emotion. His Prussian blue eyes were bright and sharp; ruthless, but when he spoke, his tone was soft and gentle, "Your order remains: but on a second thought, come back in one piece. Let's keep going. Keep alert, now."
"Yes, sir!" Thompson saluted, followed by the others. Now Thompson understood why Lieutenant Duo Maxwell was still sticking around General Heero Yuy despite the man's cold, detached, and reckless behaviour.
Duo Maxwell had simply seen the man through. It just happened to be that he got the chance earlier than any of them.
This world needs more people like General Yuy.
Est. 0330 hours
The blast escalated to visual from only sound. Heero had requested back-ups for every dispatched unit, from his quick survey it turned out that the situation wasn't in their favour. The enemy had sent their enormous number, but even though Heero was in the advantage in the premises of schemes and tactics, he knew when he had to acknowledge the enemy.
"Thompson," Heero called sharply, adjusting his SA80 into position, "3 o'clock, 45 degrees. Prepare to open fire. Lads, incoming in 45 seconds! Your visor! Wagner, Cochen, grenades on my count. The rest, provide cover!"
"45 seconds!" Thompson repeated. "Brace yourselves, soldiers! On your mark!"
Heero's sharp eyes caught something in the distance and he cussed loudly, "Shite."
"Sir?" Thompson called. "Remain order?"
"Change of plan," Heero's voice was tight, controlled; eyes focused on something the others couldn't see. "Thompson, Wagner, Kylkoff, Wegener, Aberchoen – spread to the west in 4 miles. Cochen, Howard, and the rest – right wing, 5 miles. Immobilise enemy troops ahead of you. Rendezvous at point A34 in approximately 0430 hours. Move."
He wasn't lieutenant for nothing, so Thompson protested, "Sir, of course you're not going to ambush the incoming force all by yourself – "
"I have backup on my way," Heero cut his lieutenant off. "And precautions that would at least delay them for half an hour. Now get bloody moving and don't make this more difficult for us. Now!"
There was something in the general's voice that made the men complied and scattered away to their tasks. Thompson threw back a last glance, his eyes were glimmering with indescribable emotions. He opened his mouth, but closed them again as he saluted firmly and took off. Heero nodded in acknowledgment and took a deep breath, taking out a small red switch from his pocket as he expertly and stealthily crawled forward; his knuckles white from clutching the switch so tightly; he was surprisingly calm. Relieved, even.
Not long now, he thought and his lips formed an ever so slightly, cynical smile as Relena and Duo's face flashed in his mind for seconds. The quiet ones are the flashiest, you say, Duo… now let me show you the real flash.
Heero closed his eyes and pushed the switch.
Est. 0400 hours
Duo gritted his teeth, running as fast as his feet possibly could. His whole chest burnt from short of breath and his leg muscles throbbed painfully from exertion, but he refused to slow down. Lieutenant Thompson had informed him about Heero's 'precaution plan' and Duo instantly knew what it had meant. The damn Perfect Soldier was trying to play fucking hero again: his strong view that his death could be valuable for others brought him endless mad and dotty stunts.
"Fuck you, Heero!" Duo screamed; he had caught from the corner of his eyes that enemy soldiers were approaching, their number was enormous. "Shit, shit! You keep pulling off these fucking dangerous stunts! You're just trying to kill yourself, you bastard!"
Duo took a sharp turn to the east where the area Heero was. Duo was panicking; for he didn't know what Heero's 'precaution' meant; but he had a sinking feeling it wasn't good. He got a feeling that it was something flashy. He struggled for breath; his every muscle protested against the strain of the sudden massive exercise. Even so, Duo didn't stop. He screamed mentally at his body to move faster, faster, before everything was too late.
Duo checked on his console. He was less than 2 miles to Heero's blinking position on the machine. Surge of relief slowly made its way to his whole body, giving him more energy to push harder. He frantically looked around, anxious of incoming attack –
Then the world exploded in bright, hot flame of orange and Duo was sent fly back a rough mile. He landed harshly on his back on the impact, his ears ringing painfully. Stars played before his eyes; his head spinning as he coughed. He groaned as he tried to get up; every joints hurt when he moved. Coughing and choking, Duo stood up shakily and wobbled on his weakened legs. He shook his head to clear his mind and regain his bearings, mouth agape at the gaudy pyrotechnics played in front of him.
Realisation dawned slowly to Duo. He was trembling terribly, and subconsciously took a step forward, shocked. Chain bombs, Duo thought in horror, a damn chain bombs along the front line. He foresaw it. He planted chain bombs. That was why he sent away every single unit and call for back-up to notice us of the enemies' position. Those bombs were trigger to the enemies' estimated marching line of firebombs. Chain bombs to disengage the firebombs and artilleries. Making the enemies' weapons backfired at them.
Fuck. Fuck, fuck.
Duo jerked as he heard shouts coming from his back. It was Heero's personal back-up team, and all of them looked dauntingly devastated at the view in front of them. Duo noticed one of the men, Lance Wilde, who turned to look at him with shock and fear.
"Duo?" Wilde asked shakily. "Was it…?"
"Damn it!" Duo yelled, frantically began running to the line of fire, to where Heero was supposed to be. The blinking dot of Heero's signal had gone from the screen. "Heero! Come on! You're not gonna die on me now! Fuck you! HEERO!"
Duo's shout brought the stupefied back-up team back to their senses. They scattered to sift along the fire, and Wilde ordered harshly, "Medics! Follow Lieutenant Maxwell! Prepare the morphine ahead! Secure the line of explosion! Expect countermeasure act for the enemies! Look for them too for any sign of their loss!"
Duo didn't even need his flashlight. The fire roared mercilessly; blaring, making the whole area as bright as daylight. He looked around for any sign of body; and in a few metres, he saw a blotch of blood. His heart gripped in fear. No. Please no. Jesus, no, please…
A messy lock of dark brown emerged between the bushes. Duo's heart dropped painfully to his stomach. He knew very well of that sight. He saw it every day in the bunker.
Somehow, Heero Yuy and Duo Maxwell found themselves constantly lingered around each other.
Both of them had agreed to join the Preventer after the Mariemaia incident. They were first stationed in the CIA department, Lady Une took their computer and hacking skills into full account. Heero was responsible for building a database system for the Preventer with his own program, and Duo was paired with the ex-Wing Zero pilot to build the compound system from scratch. Their role was then escalated into maintaining the systems and to work on highly confidential files to be stored in the systems.
They grew closer in time. Heero was not an easy person to deal with; his nature was difficult and tenacious: one had to be careful not to push him too far. While he seemed cold and emotionless on the outside, Duo knew that Heero was sensitive inside. The callous visage he put on as his mask didn't do the trick to Duo. Duo had experienced himself, during the war: that one event when he and the Deathscythe was captured by Oz; how Heero had rescued him and risked his life, breaching the securities – not to mention that the Perfect Soldier had gone far to the point giving him aid and even nursed him back to health. That one particular incident had brought Duo around to reality that Heero had the quality that other people failed to see: Heero valued life higher than anyone. One had simply to hang around him long enough to see the real Heero Yuy behind his soldier mask. Quatre had phrased Heero correctly, the heart of the universe.
They served in the CIA for 2 years before Lady Une promoted both of them to a senior special agent. They found themselves still partners and were sent to highly risky kindling operations around the world, before Lady Une trusted Heero to command his own unit for fire disasters uprisings; based on his extraordinary performance. Duo was anointed by Heero himself as the unit's intelligence informant, doing undercover missions. Heero had simply said, rather indifferently, "You are my partner, Duo."
It meant that Heero simply trusted him. Had considered him as his friend, even. Gradually, the stoic young man opened up, little by little. Duo's extravert nature did both of them good balance. Heero was the calm and calculated mind, complementing with Duo's impulsive behaviour. Duo found comfort around Heero, strangely enough. They bantered each other, often fought, but they cared and concerned for each other.
They watched and trusted each other backs. It was both as simply and complicated as that.
"Heero!" Duo lurched and dropped beside the battered figure. Sobs escaped his throat as his eyes inspected the damage on the body. The medics shouted indistinct orders around him; their voices drowned out in a distant space. He reached a finger – it was trembling so badly – to the face obscured by the dark bangs. His breath stopped momentarily at the sight of the face.
Heero's eyes were opened, he was miraculously conscious – blood sipping out from his scalp, ears, and nose. The bleeding hadn't even stopped. The dark crimson liquid had already made a massive pool around them. Duo surveyed the whole body to assess better judgment on it. He felt nauseous and ill.
Heero's left leg was torn, the flesh and bones beneath the skin were crushed. His arms were broken; the bones on the right one were sticking out in a strange angle. A large and deep cut from shrapnel marred the left one. The right shoulder suffered large burnt; as well as many other parts of his skin. What horrified Duo so much was the abdomen.
It was ripped open; it was gruesome. Blood gushing out freely, Duo could see the organs inside – some bleeding and visibly damaged. Duo stared numbly, too appalled to say anything. His eyes slowly ran above, meeting his partner's eyes.
It seemed that Heero could no longer feel the agitating pain throughout his wounds. His senses had went numb, Duo suspected. The deep, vibrant Prussian blue eyes stared back at him, blank and not understanding. Something clicked inside Duo upon the eye contact and he snapped back into reality.
"Jesus Christ, morphine here, now! Quick, you bastard!" Duo barked to the medics. "The bleeding – his head, stop the bleeding! And do something with his stomach – move, you idiots! We need to move him somewhere warm and sterile! Call the command centre – "
"Duo, calm down!" Wilde squeezed his shoulder hard. "A helicopter is already en route, Thompson did it. We're – we're gonna save him. Let the medics get their job done. Duo – "
Duo jerked back to Heero, and grabbed the left hand into his. Duo gripped the limp hand tightly, and let his tears pour down. This can't be happening… this can't be happening…
"Heero, buddy," Duo choked, touched the injured man's cheek to get his attention. Heero averted his eyes to him slowly, apparently had regained some of his senses as he grimaced slightly. "Stay – stay with me. We're gonna save you. Stay with me, buddy. Hang on. You're gonna be alright. I promise, Heero. Stay with me. I'm here. It's alright. Heero, man, you hear me? Stay with us, Heero. Just fucking stay with me."
"Sir," Wilde crouched beside Duo, voice cracking; resting a hand over the unscathed shoulder. "Stay with us. Help is on the way, we're gonna fix you just fine. It's alright, sir, we're here. Stay with us."
"Duo…" Heero managed to croak out; his chapped lips trembling. "Don't – it's alright. The enemy… they might be…"
"Fuck 'em! They're blown to smithereens – your doing, you bastard! What the hell you've done?! Damn it – there should be other way than this, this suicidal thingy you keep doing, you bastard! Jesus Christ – Heero, what have you done?!"
"Flashy," Heero rasped weakly, his breath shallow and strained. Duo could feel the hand in his was becoming cold. "It did the trick. You… will know when it's done. It's necessary."
"Not like this, of course!" Duo hissed desperately, trembling with colad - and mostly fear. "You told me to come to your office after this whole shit done, you said that, are you going to break that order?!"
"It's on the paper works," Heero pulled off a thin smirk. He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again, sighing. "Duo…"
"Yeah?" All of Duo's energy apparently had left him, for he suddenly felt so weak and he slumped forward. Heero's eyes were gleaming, his expression relaxed. A sharp pang of emotion jabbed Duo's heart painfully. He's not… no, he's not… not yet…
"Tell Relena… that I'm sorry," Heero whispered, and Duo felt the cold hand clutched his weakly. "I'm sorry I can't… fulfil my promise. Tell her… that I'm sorry… I didn't do it earlier. She – she has to move on with life. She deserves… a better man. Tell her that… I'm thankful for her feelings."
"Shit," Duo sobbed shakily, squeezing back the scrapped hand. "You're not going anywhere, Yuy. She wants you. You're going back to her. You hear me? You're going back to her! Shit, just fucking stay with us!"
"Thank you." The single phrase shattered Duo's world. The light on the deep blue eyes dimmed; Heero smiled. A genuine smile, Duo noticed, it was his first time seeing a true smile on Heero's usually cold façade. "You're a great friend… Duo. I'm glad I know… you. It's – an honour…"
Duo's heart stopped beating a moment when the eyelids closed. The breathing ceased into a slower and wheezed one before stopping completely. The pale and chapped lips parted slightly, and as Duo could tell so far, the expression on his friend's face was peaceful. Pain pulsed in his chest as a sob escaped Duo's throat, and he didn't hold back his agonised cry as torrent of tears dropped to the ground. Wilde took a deep breath as he cried silently, and chokes and sobs from the remaining soldiers howled into the chilly night.
It was snowing again.
When they laid his wooden coffin in the ground, it wasn't only Duo and Relena who burst into tears. Duo looked around, stunned, watching in awe at the people cried. Seeing all these random people he didn't know at Heero's funeral told him that Heero Yuy was only human; and he would be missed just as much if he tried something similar. Quatre had been the one who went through the toughest time for his empathy – Trowa looked solemn, and Wufei looked bitter and angry. Duo knew well that the Chinese man would never forgive his fellow comrade for sacrificing himself.
Duo knew what it had meant. It saddened and pained of all the ex-pilots that they hadn't seen it in time to let their fallen comrade knew that he mattered to them – to people; to the world.
Heero Yuy was only human, just like the rest of them, and he would be missed.