In The End
Loki Weasley
Part One: I Hate My Job
Summary: War struck Peace with a wrath. Severing families- more particularly the ties of five certain Gundam pilots... Now, thirteen years after they sent their children to 'a better place', they find the very place those kids need to be is where they started in the first place. Funny how things work out...
Loki: Since I obviously just said what's happened there, I'll skip the 'farewell my darling child' mushy crap-o-la and just get on with marking my page in the 'Insanity Anonymous' History Books. So if you don't mind... ::walks away singing BeeGee's::
A tattoo of a golden halo with pure white wings stretched over her shoulder blades, visible with the way her trench-coat was styled. The coat was green, simply, and cut so that the back was cut off until about mid- back, as well as the front but cut so that it was just within 'good taste' and the collar was left on to form some sort of choker with the straps left from the dicing. She had no sleeves, one could assume. Her coat was buttoned down to just below her breasts and then a black belt kept it tight to her body. The rest of the green material fell down to drag the floor about an inch when she wasn't moving and reveal a pair of holey, faded, blue jeans and black boots with neon orange laces. She wore as well a pair of gloves. The first, on her right arm, came up to about the middle of her bicep and was tied on with another belt. It was fingerless, black, and down it had buckles that revealed bits of bare arm. The second on her left arm was simply a commonly seen wrist guard worn by most roller bladers, this one was a shocking purple. Her skin was the color of copper, and her eyes the color of a sky trying to figure out whether it should storm or not. Her hair was brown. Deep brown with stripes of strawberry fitting inside at random places. It was also cut short, so that some of it had to be shaved in the back, and then her bangs were let to hang longer, about to her shoulders, maybe a little longer. She wore tiny, circular, green sunglasses that was more framing then lenses (think Vash the Stampede's glasses) and she wore not make-up. She saw no reasoning to. And, to top off the look: she had braces. The bands were purple and green, if it means any never-no-mind to you. Oh, and her name was Nightingale.
No, not legally. It was more of a nick-name. With rather strange meanings hidden behind it, but hey, it sold so she kept it for more than sentimental reasons. For one: she had always had a bit of a connection with the word. She didn't know why, she just did. For two: she wasn't exactly the World's Most Attractive Teen, what with the normal build (small but muscular) and interesting amount of scars that scattered about her body. For a long time people suspected them to be bullet scars; at least something pertaining to a very dangerous hobby. For three: she could sing. Very well. She sold very well. The people who came to MoonLighter's were quite happy to return for her shows; every night, weekdays five till seven and weekends nine till midnight and whenever she damn well felt like getting up and performing. For four: her 'boss' liked the name so he made it her codename when he found her some three years ago. See, Nightingale's dangerous hobby was to work as a free-lance evil-beater-upper-and-super- heroine. The scars were bits of memories. Each one had a story... Well. All but a few were mock-war-wounds. The war had been subdued maybe ten years ago. Fires lit up often, though. And she was there to help. Not that the Preventers had any idea who she was, where she got her gear, or what she was at all. For all they knew her name was Bruce Wayne, she made her own gadgets, and was a guy in black tights and cape. For all she cared, she was named Bruce Wayne, made her own gadgets, and was a guy in black tights and cape to them. Let them have their own thoughts about whose kicking ass. She'd get her kicks and save a few lives while she was at it.
Where this begins, Nightingale was staring at her pet weasel, which was white with brown markings and named Gizmo- Gizzy for short, and wondering what she was going to do next. She had a mission in a few minutes. As soon as her good friend Mr.-Simulated-Voice-Bug-You-Cuz-It- Gives-My-Old-Self-Kicks Man called and told her the layout. He had learned early on that if he gave her all the information too soon, she'd start the mission the same day, not bothering to wait for the 'go-day'. Sometimes he just took all the fun out of life.
Her phone rang, actually, starting singing 'We Will- We Will- Rock You!' for all it was worth until she picked it up. The answer was a steady stream or 'you-are-to-do-here' which she took in quietly. After a moment, she hung up, grabbed a bag dropped carelessly on the floor some few hours before and left the house. Her current adopted father, Jack, knew well she was quite good at sneaking out and gave up. As long as she came back eventually, he didn't care. The only problem was telling this to the band and listeners of hers that she wasn't around to perform at the moment. People soon got used to it, and come whenever the sign read 'Nightingale Tonight'. People can get used to just about anything. Except onions. And a few other things... But that's another story, thank you very much.
Nightingale reached her destination about a week later. A base that was going to very soon try and take over the world. Nothing really out-of- the-ordinary. At least not to her. The base was disguised as some fancy, expensive hotel holding a 'convention' that weekend and all booked out. Getting in was easy. It was a matter of cunning; it was a matter of deceit... It was matter of getting a job as a waitress. Although she may not be the most beautiful girl in the world, she was attractive- so there!- and getting a job for someone with gods only know how many men roaming around, something's bound to give her the advantage.
Nightingale tugged on her short black skirt again and then cursed the male population. Her uniform was all that just screamed 'I Work For Ecchi Men'; short black skirt, fish-net stockings, shiny high heels, rather loose white shirt, and a tight red vest that only had three buttons on the bottom so any hope of comfort was gracelessly thrown out the nearest window. She glared at the nearest person making her work, being the 'convention' was in full swing, took the tray and walked back out into the crowd. Heads turned. She glared. They turned back.
Table One was the Head Table. Head Honcho's. Nightingale strode up, finding stalking too difficult in high heels and a tight skirt, and starting dishing out whatever it was these people ordered. They ignored her, the 'big men' they were, and kept talking.
"...What's the first plan, then?" asked the skinny man to her left.
"...She's coming next week..." said the man with the stupid hat in front of her.
"...Yuy..." muttered the stocky man to her right.
"...Will the plan work?" asked the first man.
Nightingale put down a greasy plate before the stocky man with no neck. He shoveled it in. She pulled a face and he noticed her for the first time. His eyes grazed her carefully. This- THIS- was the Second-In- Command?! She glanced at the Leader of All and pulled another face. He wasn't much better. Old, going bald- but what hair he had left was pulled into a not-so-flattering ponytail- and an ugly uniform (she started to appreciate hers) and hat. The Second-In-Command smiled just as greasily as his food. He nudged his Leader. "Pretty cute, huh?" he asked.
Nightingale tried very hard to take this as a compliment.
The Leader agreed. He smiled at her. She smiled back, faking the whole 'yeah-I-dig-you-too' look. The whole 'You've-got-money' kinda look, 'That's-why-you're-so-hot-right-now'. The Leader pulled her into his lap. She tried to play hard to get (VERY HARD). He pulled her back down before she could move and breathed into her ear. "When do you get off?"
Opportunity always seems to knock just when you don't want it... Nightingale hissed to herself. She smiled wider, as if enjoying the idea. "In about an hour..." she purred, to sell the whole deal, and leaned into him. She really hated her job sometimes. This guy was, like, fifty! And hitting on HER, a sixteen-year-old! "What do you have in mind...?"
"Wine in my room... One-Twenty-Four... You know where that is?" he asked.
"I can find it." IhatemyjobIhatemyjobIhatemyjob-He's so dead, my boss!!
"Good. See you in an hour..." he trailed, waiting for a name...
Uhhhhh... "Kat." was the first name to come to her head. But he took it. For an ecchi name, at least. But he took it. He let her go and she stalked back to the kitchens. She REALLY hated her job just about now... But couldn't make a call to her boss to tell him off because that would be tracked. She'd have to wait until after her mission. She REALLY hated her job sometimes...
Infiltration sucked.
An hour later, 'Kat', walked up to 142 and knocked. She glanced at the "Please, do not disturb" sign and rolled her eyes in disgust. The old man hadn't changed from his uniform like she had, preferring her jeans and coat over that- that- THING any day. He led her into his room where a small table was set up with wine and other things. Nightingale wondered why this guy wasn't as big as his Second.
"Tell me about you, Kat." the Leader said while he poured wine, more for her than for him, and tried to act casual. He didn't want wine, she could tell, but wanted to get her good and drunk first. Men.
"Well..." Nightingale crossed her legs and chewed on a cracker instead of drinking, it had been a while since she got to eat, and thought up a good lie. "I live alone..." she smiled. The more she sounded like a slut the better. Maybe then she could get him to talk... "I don't usually do this kinda thing- waitressing, and all... I work at a few gentlemen's clubs from time to time... But I got fired."
"Why?" Ecchi.
"Too many men wanted me. Took all the attention from the other girls..." Nightingale purred, giving him a good, 'come-get-me' look, and uncrossing her legs.
"You were that good a dancer, then?"
"However they liked it... What about you... Surely someone like you leads an interesting life... Making up such skilled, careful plans and such..."
He grinned as his ego inflated more than Nightingale would have wished. Idiot. "I would suppose... But once we get control over the Former Queen of the World it'll all be easy..." His hand laid itself on her knee. She tried not to retch.
"How... I mean, she's got such tough security. Designed by a Gundam Pilot, they say." She tasted the wine. She hated wine. Nightingale pretended to drink.
"Gotta man on the... inside at Sanc... Good man, Jacobs, really..." he muttered, starting now to kiss her hand. That was all she wanted.
"Wait wait wait..." she said gently, and he looked up. She grinned. "You might want to know something first..."
"Yes, m'dear?"
"I think you're a disgusting old man!" she kicked up, being he was leaning over her legs, and caught his chest nicely. He fell back into his chair. She whipped out her gun from her back pocket. "And I am going to kill you now... Ta..." She fired.
Infiltration sucked... But sometimes it had its perks. The gun shot was bound to be heard. Which meant now she got to play hide-and-go-seek with other men. She jumped out the window and dropped the two stories to the ground. Escaping into the forest was easy. Keeping running and circling around to get to her motorcycle was the hard job. But she escaped with only minimal injury and little retaliation. Stupid people really, now she could see why they wanted to fight.
Nightingale fell back onto her bed, sighing. She thought a moment... Jacobs... The Inside Man was named Jacobs... Which meant she had to get to Sanc... Okay then.
She played one show before heading out, needing to hack into Preventer files before doing anything. This Jacobs man wasn't exactly going to announce himself to her. The day and a half it took to gain access to the Sanc files annoyed her. There was normally not a system she couldn't tap into outside an hour. Whoever designed this was way too good. That deflated the girl's ego a smidge.
Nightingale stared up at the castle in the distance. Getting into Sanc was easy, sure. Sanc was the tourist attraction of the millennia. Disney World didn't get out-of-towners this good and they were older than the monarchy. Nearly anyone could get into Sanc if they could hide weaponry well enough. And her good friend Mr.-Screw-With-Head was good at that kind of thing. The sun was setting.
Infiltration sucked.
She ruled that out. Spy work, crawling through air shafts- THAT was the way to go! Nightingale headed towards the castle. She couldn't stop for much. After all, that Jacobs guy could have heard about his Leader dying by now. And then what? Would he go ahead with the plan? Or just go the easy route and kill the Vice Foreign Minister? There was no room for taking unnecessary risks. So, ruling out all the boring paths, Nightingale just said 'hell with it' and went for the insanely entertaining direct route. Humming was fun.
Nightingale hummed to herself quietly while she skulked past camera's without worry, pretending to be part of the tour group. They were taking the tour of the lower level of the castle, listening to the history. Well, everyone ELSE was listening, Nightingale was humming the melody to 'Rhythm Nation' by Janet Jackson and reading name tags of any Preventer who happened to walk by. The tour was coming to the peak, the middle, where getting where she wanted to go would be easy... Now... How to find this Jacobs character...
Research said only one male Jacobs working in the facility. One of the men down in interrogation... Nightingale stopped humming, finally realizing what she was going to do. Plans were so boring sometimes. Improvising was the way to go. She ducked into a room while the crowd pressed by, finding it to just be an empty hall. Video cameras hadn't spotted her. No... They couldn't find her until later. A little later when they'd want to interrogate her, not just tell her she was going to wrong way.
Some twenty minutes later, after passing no-one in the hall and taking a few strange turns, Nightingale let herself be sighted on the third floor. Somewhere near the personal quarters of the Foreign Minister. Within seconds, a Chinese man was standing beside her, gun ready. "Efficient." Nightingale muttered approvingly. "Whoever designed this is good." She smiled and he only seemed to glower.
His name tag read Cheng. He wore the green uniform, carried the licensed gun given to them all. He also carried a bit of an attitude. "Who do you think you are?" he demanded shortly. "A Lady and a Warrior." Nightingale bowed deeply, with much flourish. That didn't help the situation, she knew, but it was fun all the same. "Here to see the sights."
Without answering, Cheng put her in hand cuffs and lead her to interrogation. Nightingale didn't resist. It was where she wanted to go, anyway. She simply strode in front of this Cheng guy, while he muttered curses under his breath, and smirked at anyone who stopped to stare.
Interrogation halls were cold. There was probably a reason. But she couldn't care.
There were four people besides herself and her new friend. The name tags read Marquis, Barton, and Jacobs. A woman and two men. All three were staring at Nightingale.
"Who's this, Wufei, new friend?" asked the woman with a sly smile.
Cheng snorted. "This onna was on the third floor."
"Took you that long to see her?" Barton asked in a rather subdued voice.
Again Cheng snorted. This time in a more 'shut-up...' kinda way...
"What's your name?" Marquis asked seriously.
"I'm the Artist Commonly Known as Nightingale." replied the girl. Her reddish-brown hair slipped a bit over her eye. She flipped it out of the way. She grinned too, just to add to the effect.
"What were you doing upstairs? You entered with the tour group, didn't you?" Cheng demanded from behind. His grip went rough.
"Easy, buddy, easy. I only got one right arm per life, 'kay?" Nightingale said over her shoulder. The grip tightened again in response, then calmed. She turned back to the group. "Did you know that a group calling themselves Seraphim was trying to take over the colonies?" she cocked her head to the left in an innocently curious sort of way. The two called Barton and Marquis looked suspiciously curious. Jacobs seemed to internally flinch. She grinned. "Did you know that I killed their leader not too long ago in order to prevent the old hentai from going ahead with his plans to capture Relina Yuy? AND that there's an inside man in this building as we speak?" She tensed as Jacobs' hand inched for his gun. Before any of the other three Preventers could ask another question, the girl broke from Cheng's grasp and karate-kicked Jacobs into the nearest wall. A second jump brought her hands from behind her to in front of her. "And did you know that that's him?" she asked, watching Jacobs as he lay sprawled and dazed on the floor. The other Preventers had their guns out and pointed at her. She had her own, which was nicely hidden in her coat, pointed at Jacobs. "Just go ahead and ask. Can call my boss too, he'd tell you all the information I collected on my last mission- to the convention where the Seraphim-echhi-men tried to converse on how to take over the Colonies..."
The Preventers took this in stride. First they locked her up, then Jacobs was taken to interrogation, and she was left alone. Nightingale passed the time by picking the locks to her cuffs and twiddling her thumbs. They had taken her gun. And her other gun... And her other gun... And her clips... And her knife... And her sai... And the other sai to form a matching set. After finally being sure she wasn't armed they left. All she had to her was her cell phone.
Another man came in the free interrogation room this time. In a symbol of cooperation, Nightingale tossed back the cuffs, crossed her legs, and folded her hands around her knee, smirking at him. THIS was the Big Guy- man, she was good! His tag read Yuy. And his friend's read Maxwell. The two men, along with the reappearing Cheng and Barton, stared at her. Nightingale took out her cell phone and held in while Yuy finally decided to talk.
"You were found with considerable weaponry on-hand... Nightingale..." he paused. "Excuse me if I don't take that as an offering of peace and non- violence..." he took a seat in a chair across from her. "Prove me wrong, if you want to get out of here and go back to being a normal teenager. This isn't the life for someone so young."
"Ah, but it's the drive, Yuy!" Nightingale pressed the speed dial while she talked; he looked curiously, trying to see through the shiny metal table at what she was doing. She slid the sparkly purple phone across the table and he stopped it. A voice on speaker came from it.
"My dear Nightingale, what do you have to sing about today?" Mr.-Boss asked. The men stared at the phone.
"Well, boss, I've killed the leader of Seraphim, as I told you, and escaped, and got to Sanc, and got in... and then got myself caught... Brought to Jacobs... Told my new friends the Preventers about what I've been up to these past few days and now they want proof I'm not trying to woolly them." She smiled as the Preventers looked bewildered.
"It's so good to hear you've finally made a few friends. Tell me, what are they're names?"
"Yuy, Maxwell, Cheng, and Barton, according to those nifty tags they wear." She paused. "I want one- why don't I get one?" He ignored that, her boss. The men, however, looked at her funny.
"Then may I announce, men, the teenager who's been assisting you without notice. She goes by Nightingale, yes, but her birth name would be Aubrie Yuy..." Even Nightingale didn't expect that.
Yuy was staring at her even more wide-eyed than the rest. "Aubrie..."
"Waitwait-WAIT!" Nightingale waved her arms in confusion as she finally processed what her boss had said. "Yuy? Since when was I a Yuy? A Jefferson, yes; Mathers, yes; Masters, yes- but YUY?! When in Hell-"
"Ever since you were born, my dear..." The voice, which normally sounded like a bad computer simulation, changed. Now it was real. Now it was an old man. Now she had no idea what was going on.
"J..." Yuy muttered. "J- What the HELL is going ON!?" he flew to his feet, glaring at an imaginary man standing on the phone. "You're a sick old man, you know that?!"
"I may be a sick old man, Heero, but I kid you not. This... kid... is your own. I've been tracking her after all files were destroyed thirteen years ago." the voice replied. It sounded way too amused for Nightingale to overlook.
"You've- what?! WHAT! You think... That I'm the daughter... of the Queen of the World...?"
"No, I know you are the daughter of the Queen of the World. It is why I sent you on this particular mission."
Nightingale stared at the phone a moment, and then started laughing hysterically. Her mirth was so hysterical that she fell out of her seat, lying on the floor laughing, clutching her sides. "You-have-GOT-to-be- kidding-me!!"
Yuy just sort of stared. He sat down slowly. "That laugh..." Nightingale heard him mutter as she finally regained some composure. She lay on the floor staring at the ceiling. Every once and a while she shook with giggles.
"You should believe me, Aubrie. After all, I never would have approached you before with my offer to fight. I wouldn't have cared. Wouldn't have recruited a fighter. But of course, you are Heero Yuy's child. You are his genetics- therefore- the best. The daughter of the Perfect Soldier and the Queen of the World."
"You're a sick man, J..." Yuy muttered.
"Not going to lock her up now, are you?" Silence. "Mission accomplished, then, on my part."
"What choice do we have? With a vouch like that..." Maxwell muttered finally as Nightingale pulled herself up to her knees to stare at the phone in amazement.
"Omae wa korosu- whatwasit?- J!" Aubrie hissed.
"Gee, that doesn't just prove it all, noooo." Maxwell smirked. "Well, Hee-man. We needed help and it seems we've found it. You might want to break the news to Relina, though, she might faint or something and need her assassin nearby." he clapped Yuy on the shoulder and lead Barton and Cheng out of the room.
Yuy said something along the same lines Aubrie had said to J to Maxwell. J had hung up. Heero Yuy was staring into Aubrie's eyes. "I find this hard to swallow..." Aubrie muttered. To her amazement, he nodded in agreement. "So uhhhhhh... now what?" she asked.
"J wouldn't lie about something like that. I know him too well to think he would." Yuy muttered, standing. "Follow me, Aubrie." he said in the same sort of 'I-can't-believe-I'm-actually-doing-this' kind of voice.
Aubrie followed obediently. What else could she do? She was just told who her birthparents were. And they weren't exactly who she even PLANNED them to be. Maybe a few middle-class people, stupid teenagers who couldn't handle a child at the moment- but the two most important people to the peace? Her mind flew in several hundred directions as she attempted idly to sort all this out. J did have a point; why else would he choose her other than if she were the child of some wonderful soldier? She wasn't exactly fighting or anything before he found her. In fact, she was simply trying to stay alive when he came to her through a purple cell phone (which she forgot in the interrogation room) that seemed to come from nowhere. Not only did interrogation sucked, J sucked too. And so did a lot of other things, but J was the suckiest of the sucky at the moment.
Yuy lead her into a large room, apparently he had come from here originally because a woman in a chair, who was reading a book, looked up. "Where'd you disappear to?" she asked in a teasing voice. It was Relina Yuy. She glanced at Aubrie. "Who's this?"
"Aubrie." was all Yuy seemed to be able to articulate. He also looked like he had a good case of lockjaw.
"Au-" she stared at Aubrie now, eyes huge, and dropped her book. She somehow got to her feet and walked zombie-like to Aubrie and held her hands some inch from her face, as if scared to touch her. Like she'd disappear if she was touched. "A-aubrie- OUR Aubrie?"
"J wouldn't lie about something like that..." Yuy muttered.
Maxwell was right. Relina Yuy DID faint. Aubrie had to catch as she fell forward, and was relieved by Yuy, who took the woman and lay her down. He slid into a seat and stared at the floor, hands tangled in his untamable mane of brown hair. The same brown as her own...
J sucked.
Aubrie stared at the floor herself. "I'll admit I never saw that coming..." she laughed once and stopped. "J threw me for a bit of a loop there- so- exactly... uh... WHY am I just finding this out... I mean... I'm YOUR daughter right..."
"A war broke out when you were a child. The Gundam pilots had to send their children in secret into the world to keep them alive... Assassins would have killed you all if it had not been for that..." Heero Yuy's voice was a bit monotonous as he spoke. "J was tracking you without anyone knowing... How is he even still alive...?" That was more to himself than her.
Aubrie had a sudden vision of a boy with red hair. And heard a name.
"Tris." she muttered without realizing. She stared. "Tris... What? Who on earth is Tris?" she asked no one in particular.
This, however, seemed to disconfirm all of Heero's doubts. "Your best friend before you left..." he stood. "And you couldn't say Tristan-"
"So... I said... Oh man, it's true! That old geezer wasn't lyin'!" Aubrie flew to her feet. "This is messed up, man..." She shook her head. Then it flew up, meeting strangely hurt eyes. "Not that I'm... dissin'...ah ha... or anything... uh... It's just weird... Uhm... Dad...?" she trailed off. He smiled. It was rather reassuring in a 'this-is-SO- beyond-weird' kind of way. She giggled nervously. "What about... uh... what about her?" she pointed to her mother, who was still unconscious on the couch. But being acknowledged seemed to wake her anyway, and Relina Yuy's eyes fluttered open. She stared a moment. Aubrie took this into her own hands, a wave of silliness overcoming the whole fact that this was the most screwed up situation she had ever been in but- HEY! These were her ACTUAL, REAL LIFE parents! Not some foster family unable to put up with her, but her parents! "Hi, Ma, what's up?" she asked with a huge grin.
Relina Yuy screamed, sort of, and flew off the couch and onto the floor over the side.
This made Aubrie start laughing straight out.
Relina stared. "He-heero! What's going on...?"
"That's Aubrie. Like I said. J led her back. And just in time. We could use the help..." Heero helped Relina to her feet while Aubrie giggled over the situation.
"Screwed up as all Hell, but hey, ya take what Fate gives yeh." she said simply. "But... But, Aubrie was... Her hair... She didn't... WHY do you dress like that..." Relina stuttered out.
Aubrie lifted her arms and stared at her clothes. She shrugged. "I dunno... I just like it..." she shrugged again then peered at Relina. "Why...?"
"It's just- Aubrie- You- wore- But..."
"No offense, but can you speak WHOLE sentences? That's confusing..." Aubrie said with a frown. Her eyes betraying with a smirk.
"But- It's just- The Aubrie I remember- she wore cute-" ("Cute," Aubrie snorted.) "-dresses and wore a little crucifix and... And..." Relina sunk onto the couch, hands now tangled in her hair, much like her husband's had once been.
"Okay, lady, let's put it this way:" Aubrie ticked off with her fingers. "I don't do cute. I don't do frilly. I'm not gonna walk around with some crucifix when I'm a witch-" (Relina looked horrified.) "A white witch, thank you, but not along the lines of peace with the Almighty Mono- God followers." Aubrie narrowed her eyes at how amazed Relina was at this. "And if you can't handle it... well... Too bad. I change for nobody but myself. I'm a soldier first and lady last." She waved her index finger as Relina sputtered. "That's just the way the world works outside this place, Ma." she folded her arms. Then muttered. "Of course, harm none, do what thou wilt... Well I'm not a sinner, no, not at all... Well... I never exactly used a spell on them... Hn..." she stared at the ceiling sorting out her thoughts while Relina stared at her. "I'll have to purify myself or something... later o- Wait a minute- what about Jack?"
"Jack?" her parents echoed.
"My cu- uh... my foster father. What about him? I mean, he's used to me disappearing an' all- but ya know he's rather attached to me and would wonder if I was gone too long... The longest I've ever disappeared is two months... And Jack's the best-" she froze, glancing the two over. "I can't just leave forever without telling him, can I?" She flopped down on the floor, legs crossed, intentionally not sitting on the chair nearby. She bit her lip. Of all her foster fathers, Jack was the best, now she was going to have to leave...
Finding her family sucked- No! J sucked! This was his fault! Aubrie narrowed her eyes into a look that not even Heero himself could master. "Omae wa korosu, J..." she muttered. Her father's- that was so weird! Her father's- voice jarred her back into reality.
"It could be arranged, Aubrie, that you return to him and sort this out before returning for training. Explain to him that you've... well... whatever you see fit to tell him." he said gently, sitting next to his wife and gazing at her.
"When?" Aubrie said a little too quickly. The two looked slightly disturbed. Then they looked thoughtful.
"As soon as you want. You cannot spend two months there, however, and I think you could understand why. After all, you yourself informed us upon the situation at hand, Aubrie..." Heero looked away from Aubrie when this thought struck him. She was a soldier. "You are needed here as well." A soldier... Like him.
Aubrie nodded. "J wanted me to do something... A mission he told me about before I left for Sanc... I might as well do that first...." she muttered, standing, wanting to leave. "What kind of mission?"
"Information mission. The fun kind." Aubrie grinned. "Break in, grab the info, and get out. The one's that take more improvising than planning on my part." She folded her arms behind her head. Then turned and started walking away. "I'm not used to asking permission. Get used to it." she called over her shoulder as she disappeared.
Heero turned to Relina, who still looked shocked. She'd get used to it, he decided.
Loki: Wow, this was long. Any-way. What did you think? Review!! ::skips away singing Ordinary Day::
Summary: War struck Peace with a wrath. Severing families- more particularly the ties of five certain Gundam pilots... Now, thirteen years after they sent their children to 'a better place', they find the very place those kids need to be is where they started in the first place. Funny how things work out...
Loki: Since I obviously just said what's happened there, I'll skip the 'farewell my darling child' mushy crap-o-la and just get on with marking my page in the 'Insanity Anonymous' History Books. So if you don't mind... ::walks away singing BeeGee's::
A tattoo of a golden halo with pure white wings stretched over her shoulder blades, visible with the way her trench-coat was styled. The coat was green, simply, and cut so that the back was cut off until about mid- back, as well as the front but cut so that it was just within 'good taste' and the collar was left on to form some sort of choker with the straps left from the dicing. She had no sleeves, one could assume. Her coat was buttoned down to just below her breasts and then a black belt kept it tight to her body. The rest of the green material fell down to drag the floor about an inch when she wasn't moving and reveal a pair of holey, faded, blue jeans and black boots with neon orange laces. She wore as well a pair of gloves. The first, on her right arm, came up to about the middle of her bicep and was tied on with another belt. It was fingerless, black, and down it had buckles that revealed bits of bare arm. The second on her left arm was simply a commonly seen wrist guard worn by most roller bladers, this one was a shocking purple. Her skin was the color of copper, and her eyes the color of a sky trying to figure out whether it should storm or not. Her hair was brown. Deep brown with stripes of strawberry fitting inside at random places. It was also cut short, so that some of it had to be shaved in the back, and then her bangs were let to hang longer, about to her shoulders, maybe a little longer. She wore tiny, circular, green sunglasses that was more framing then lenses (think Vash the Stampede's glasses) and she wore not make-up. She saw no reasoning to. And, to top off the look: she had braces. The bands were purple and green, if it means any never-no-mind to you. Oh, and her name was Nightingale.
No, not legally. It was more of a nick-name. With rather strange meanings hidden behind it, but hey, it sold so she kept it for more than sentimental reasons. For one: she had always had a bit of a connection with the word. She didn't know why, she just did. For two: she wasn't exactly the World's Most Attractive Teen, what with the normal build (small but muscular) and interesting amount of scars that scattered about her body. For a long time people suspected them to be bullet scars; at least something pertaining to a very dangerous hobby. For three: she could sing. Very well. She sold very well. The people who came to MoonLighter's were quite happy to return for her shows; every night, weekdays five till seven and weekends nine till midnight and whenever she damn well felt like getting up and performing. For four: her 'boss' liked the name so he made it her codename when he found her some three years ago. See, Nightingale's dangerous hobby was to work as a free-lance evil-beater-upper-and-super- heroine. The scars were bits of memories. Each one had a story... Well. All but a few were mock-war-wounds. The war had been subdued maybe ten years ago. Fires lit up often, though. And she was there to help. Not that the Preventers had any idea who she was, where she got her gear, or what she was at all. For all they knew her name was Bruce Wayne, she made her own gadgets, and was a guy in black tights and cape. For all she cared, she was named Bruce Wayne, made her own gadgets, and was a guy in black tights and cape to them. Let them have their own thoughts about whose kicking ass. She'd get her kicks and save a few lives while she was at it.
Where this begins, Nightingale was staring at her pet weasel, which was white with brown markings and named Gizmo- Gizzy for short, and wondering what she was going to do next. She had a mission in a few minutes. As soon as her good friend Mr.-Simulated-Voice-Bug-You-Cuz-It- Gives-My-Old-Self-Kicks Man called and told her the layout. He had learned early on that if he gave her all the information too soon, she'd start the mission the same day, not bothering to wait for the 'go-day'. Sometimes he just took all the fun out of life.
Her phone rang, actually, starting singing 'We Will- We Will- Rock You!' for all it was worth until she picked it up. The answer was a steady stream or 'you-are-to-do-here' which she took in quietly. After a moment, she hung up, grabbed a bag dropped carelessly on the floor some few hours before and left the house. Her current adopted father, Jack, knew well she was quite good at sneaking out and gave up. As long as she came back eventually, he didn't care. The only problem was telling this to the band and listeners of hers that she wasn't around to perform at the moment. People soon got used to it, and come whenever the sign read 'Nightingale Tonight'. People can get used to just about anything. Except onions. And a few other things... But that's another story, thank you very much.
Nightingale reached her destination about a week later. A base that was going to very soon try and take over the world. Nothing really out-of- the-ordinary. At least not to her. The base was disguised as some fancy, expensive hotel holding a 'convention' that weekend and all booked out. Getting in was easy. It was a matter of cunning; it was a matter of deceit... It was matter of getting a job as a waitress. Although she may not be the most beautiful girl in the world, she was attractive- so there!- and getting a job for someone with gods only know how many men roaming around, something's bound to give her the advantage.
Nightingale tugged on her short black skirt again and then cursed the male population. Her uniform was all that just screamed 'I Work For Ecchi Men'; short black skirt, fish-net stockings, shiny high heels, rather loose white shirt, and a tight red vest that only had three buttons on the bottom so any hope of comfort was gracelessly thrown out the nearest window. She glared at the nearest person making her work, being the 'convention' was in full swing, took the tray and walked back out into the crowd. Heads turned. She glared. They turned back.
Table One was the Head Table. Head Honcho's. Nightingale strode up, finding stalking too difficult in high heels and a tight skirt, and starting dishing out whatever it was these people ordered. They ignored her, the 'big men' they were, and kept talking.
"...What's the first plan, then?" asked the skinny man to her left.
"...She's coming next week..." said the man with the stupid hat in front of her.
"...Yuy..." muttered the stocky man to her right.
"...Will the plan work?" asked the first man.
Nightingale put down a greasy plate before the stocky man with no neck. He shoveled it in. She pulled a face and he noticed her for the first time. His eyes grazed her carefully. This- THIS- was the Second-In- Command?! She glanced at the Leader of All and pulled another face. He wasn't much better. Old, going bald- but what hair he had left was pulled into a not-so-flattering ponytail- and an ugly uniform (she started to appreciate hers) and hat. The Second-In-Command smiled just as greasily as his food. He nudged his Leader. "Pretty cute, huh?" he asked.
Nightingale tried very hard to take this as a compliment.
The Leader agreed. He smiled at her. She smiled back, faking the whole 'yeah-I-dig-you-too' look. The whole 'You've-got-money' kinda look, 'That's-why-you're-so-hot-right-now'. The Leader pulled her into his lap. She tried to play hard to get (VERY HARD). He pulled her back down before she could move and breathed into her ear. "When do you get off?"
Opportunity always seems to knock just when you don't want it... Nightingale hissed to herself. She smiled wider, as if enjoying the idea. "In about an hour..." she purred, to sell the whole deal, and leaned into him. She really hated her job sometimes. This guy was, like, fifty! And hitting on HER, a sixteen-year-old! "What do you have in mind...?"
"Wine in my room... One-Twenty-Four... You know where that is?" he asked.
"I can find it." IhatemyjobIhatemyjobIhatemyjob-He's so dead, my boss!!
"Good. See you in an hour..." he trailed, waiting for a name...
Uhhhhh... "Kat." was the first name to come to her head. But he took it. For an ecchi name, at least. But he took it. He let her go and she stalked back to the kitchens. She REALLY hated her job just about now... But couldn't make a call to her boss to tell him off because that would be tracked. She'd have to wait until after her mission. She REALLY hated her job sometimes...
Infiltration sucked.
An hour later, 'Kat', walked up to 142 and knocked. She glanced at the "Please, do not disturb" sign and rolled her eyes in disgust. The old man hadn't changed from his uniform like she had, preferring her jeans and coat over that- that- THING any day. He led her into his room where a small table was set up with wine and other things. Nightingale wondered why this guy wasn't as big as his Second.
"Tell me about you, Kat." the Leader said while he poured wine, more for her than for him, and tried to act casual. He didn't want wine, she could tell, but wanted to get her good and drunk first. Men.
"Well..." Nightingale crossed her legs and chewed on a cracker instead of drinking, it had been a while since she got to eat, and thought up a good lie. "I live alone..." she smiled. The more she sounded like a slut the better. Maybe then she could get him to talk... "I don't usually do this kinda thing- waitressing, and all... I work at a few gentlemen's clubs from time to time... But I got fired."
"Why?" Ecchi.
"Too many men wanted me. Took all the attention from the other girls..." Nightingale purred, giving him a good, 'come-get-me' look, and uncrossing her legs.
"You were that good a dancer, then?"
"However they liked it... What about you... Surely someone like you leads an interesting life... Making up such skilled, careful plans and such..."
He grinned as his ego inflated more than Nightingale would have wished. Idiot. "I would suppose... But once we get control over the Former Queen of the World it'll all be easy..." His hand laid itself on her knee. She tried not to retch.
"How... I mean, she's got such tough security. Designed by a Gundam Pilot, they say." She tasted the wine. She hated wine. Nightingale pretended to drink.
"Gotta man on the... inside at Sanc... Good man, Jacobs, really..." he muttered, starting now to kiss her hand. That was all she wanted.
"Wait wait wait..." she said gently, and he looked up. She grinned. "You might want to know something first..."
"Yes, m'dear?"
"I think you're a disgusting old man!" she kicked up, being he was leaning over her legs, and caught his chest nicely. He fell back into his chair. She whipped out her gun from her back pocket. "And I am going to kill you now... Ta..." She fired.
Infiltration sucked... But sometimes it had its perks. The gun shot was bound to be heard. Which meant now she got to play hide-and-go-seek with other men. She jumped out the window and dropped the two stories to the ground. Escaping into the forest was easy. Keeping running and circling around to get to her motorcycle was the hard job. But she escaped with only minimal injury and little retaliation. Stupid people really, now she could see why they wanted to fight.
Nightingale fell back onto her bed, sighing. She thought a moment... Jacobs... The Inside Man was named Jacobs... Which meant she had to get to Sanc... Okay then.
She played one show before heading out, needing to hack into Preventer files before doing anything. This Jacobs man wasn't exactly going to announce himself to her. The day and a half it took to gain access to the Sanc files annoyed her. There was normally not a system she couldn't tap into outside an hour. Whoever designed this was way too good. That deflated the girl's ego a smidge.
Nightingale stared up at the castle in the distance. Getting into Sanc was easy, sure. Sanc was the tourist attraction of the millennia. Disney World didn't get out-of-towners this good and they were older than the monarchy. Nearly anyone could get into Sanc if they could hide weaponry well enough. And her good friend Mr.-Screw-With-Head was good at that kind of thing. The sun was setting.
Infiltration sucked.
She ruled that out. Spy work, crawling through air shafts- THAT was the way to go! Nightingale headed towards the castle. She couldn't stop for much. After all, that Jacobs guy could have heard about his Leader dying by now. And then what? Would he go ahead with the plan? Or just go the easy route and kill the Vice Foreign Minister? There was no room for taking unnecessary risks. So, ruling out all the boring paths, Nightingale just said 'hell with it' and went for the insanely entertaining direct route. Humming was fun.
Nightingale hummed to herself quietly while she skulked past camera's without worry, pretending to be part of the tour group. They were taking the tour of the lower level of the castle, listening to the history. Well, everyone ELSE was listening, Nightingale was humming the melody to 'Rhythm Nation' by Janet Jackson and reading name tags of any Preventer who happened to walk by. The tour was coming to the peak, the middle, where getting where she wanted to go would be easy... Now... How to find this Jacobs character...
Research said only one male Jacobs working in the facility. One of the men down in interrogation... Nightingale stopped humming, finally realizing what she was going to do. Plans were so boring sometimes. Improvising was the way to go. She ducked into a room while the crowd pressed by, finding it to just be an empty hall. Video cameras hadn't spotted her. No... They couldn't find her until later. A little later when they'd want to interrogate her, not just tell her she was going to wrong way.
Some twenty minutes later, after passing no-one in the hall and taking a few strange turns, Nightingale let herself be sighted on the third floor. Somewhere near the personal quarters of the Foreign Minister. Within seconds, a Chinese man was standing beside her, gun ready. "Efficient." Nightingale muttered approvingly. "Whoever designed this is good." She smiled and he only seemed to glower.
His name tag read Cheng. He wore the green uniform, carried the licensed gun given to them all. He also carried a bit of an attitude. "Who do you think you are?" he demanded shortly. "A Lady and a Warrior." Nightingale bowed deeply, with much flourish. That didn't help the situation, she knew, but it was fun all the same. "Here to see the sights."
Without answering, Cheng put her in hand cuffs and lead her to interrogation. Nightingale didn't resist. It was where she wanted to go, anyway. She simply strode in front of this Cheng guy, while he muttered curses under his breath, and smirked at anyone who stopped to stare.
Interrogation halls were cold. There was probably a reason. But she couldn't care.
There were four people besides herself and her new friend. The name tags read Marquis, Barton, and Jacobs. A woman and two men. All three were staring at Nightingale.
"Who's this, Wufei, new friend?" asked the woman with a sly smile.
Cheng snorted. "This onna was on the third floor."
"Took you that long to see her?" Barton asked in a rather subdued voice.
Again Cheng snorted. This time in a more 'shut-up...' kinda way...
"What's your name?" Marquis asked seriously.
"I'm the Artist Commonly Known as Nightingale." replied the girl. Her reddish-brown hair slipped a bit over her eye. She flipped it out of the way. She grinned too, just to add to the effect.
"What were you doing upstairs? You entered with the tour group, didn't you?" Cheng demanded from behind. His grip went rough.
"Easy, buddy, easy. I only got one right arm per life, 'kay?" Nightingale said over her shoulder. The grip tightened again in response, then calmed. She turned back to the group. "Did you know that a group calling themselves Seraphim was trying to take over the colonies?" she cocked her head to the left in an innocently curious sort of way. The two called Barton and Marquis looked suspiciously curious. Jacobs seemed to internally flinch. She grinned. "Did you know that I killed their leader not too long ago in order to prevent the old hentai from going ahead with his plans to capture Relina Yuy? AND that there's an inside man in this building as we speak?" She tensed as Jacobs' hand inched for his gun. Before any of the other three Preventers could ask another question, the girl broke from Cheng's grasp and karate-kicked Jacobs into the nearest wall. A second jump brought her hands from behind her to in front of her. "And did you know that that's him?" she asked, watching Jacobs as he lay sprawled and dazed on the floor. The other Preventers had their guns out and pointed at her. She had her own, which was nicely hidden in her coat, pointed at Jacobs. "Just go ahead and ask. Can call my boss too, he'd tell you all the information I collected on my last mission- to the convention where the Seraphim-echhi-men tried to converse on how to take over the Colonies..."
The Preventers took this in stride. First they locked her up, then Jacobs was taken to interrogation, and she was left alone. Nightingale passed the time by picking the locks to her cuffs and twiddling her thumbs. They had taken her gun. And her other gun... And her other gun... And her clips... And her knife... And her sai... And the other sai to form a matching set. After finally being sure she wasn't armed they left. All she had to her was her cell phone.
Another man came in the free interrogation room this time. In a symbol of cooperation, Nightingale tossed back the cuffs, crossed her legs, and folded her hands around her knee, smirking at him. THIS was the Big Guy- man, she was good! His tag read Yuy. And his friend's read Maxwell. The two men, along with the reappearing Cheng and Barton, stared at her. Nightingale took out her cell phone and held in while Yuy finally decided to talk.
"You were found with considerable weaponry on-hand... Nightingale..." he paused. "Excuse me if I don't take that as an offering of peace and non- violence..." he took a seat in a chair across from her. "Prove me wrong, if you want to get out of here and go back to being a normal teenager. This isn't the life for someone so young."
"Ah, but it's the drive, Yuy!" Nightingale pressed the speed dial while she talked; he looked curiously, trying to see through the shiny metal table at what she was doing. She slid the sparkly purple phone across the table and he stopped it. A voice on speaker came from it.
"My dear Nightingale, what do you have to sing about today?" Mr.-Boss asked. The men stared at the phone.
"Well, boss, I've killed the leader of Seraphim, as I told you, and escaped, and got to Sanc, and got in... and then got myself caught... Brought to Jacobs... Told my new friends the Preventers about what I've been up to these past few days and now they want proof I'm not trying to woolly them." She smiled as the Preventers looked bewildered.
"It's so good to hear you've finally made a few friends. Tell me, what are they're names?"
"Yuy, Maxwell, Cheng, and Barton, according to those nifty tags they wear." She paused. "I want one- why don't I get one?" He ignored that, her boss. The men, however, looked at her funny.
"Then may I announce, men, the teenager who's been assisting you without notice. She goes by Nightingale, yes, but her birth name would be Aubrie Yuy..." Even Nightingale didn't expect that.
Yuy was staring at her even more wide-eyed than the rest. "Aubrie..."
"Waitwait-WAIT!" Nightingale waved her arms in confusion as she finally processed what her boss had said. "Yuy? Since when was I a Yuy? A Jefferson, yes; Mathers, yes; Masters, yes- but YUY?! When in Hell-"
"Ever since you were born, my dear..." The voice, which normally sounded like a bad computer simulation, changed. Now it was real. Now it was an old man. Now she had no idea what was going on.
"J..." Yuy muttered. "J- What the HELL is going ON!?" he flew to his feet, glaring at an imaginary man standing on the phone. "You're a sick old man, you know that?!"
"I may be a sick old man, Heero, but I kid you not. This... kid... is your own. I've been tracking her after all files were destroyed thirteen years ago." the voice replied. It sounded way too amused for Nightingale to overlook.
"You've- what?! WHAT! You think... That I'm the daughter... of the Queen of the World...?"
"No, I know you are the daughter of the Queen of the World. It is why I sent you on this particular mission."
Nightingale stared at the phone a moment, and then started laughing hysterically. Her mirth was so hysterical that she fell out of her seat, lying on the floor laughing, clutching her sides. "You-have-GOT-to-be- kidding-me!!"
Yuy just sort of stared. He sat down slowly. "That laugh..." Nightingale heard him mutter as she finally regained some composure. She lay on the floor staring at the ceiling. Every once and a while she shook with giggles.
"You should believe me, Aubrie. After all, I never would have approached you before with my offer to fight. I wouldn't have cared. Wouldn't have recruited a fighter. But of course, you are Heero Yuy's child. You are his genetics- therefore- the best. The daughter of the Perfect Soldier and the Queen of the World."
"You're a sick man, J..." Yuy muttered.
"Not going to lock her up now, are you?" Silence. "Mission accomplished, then, on my part."
"What choice do we have? With a vouch like that..." Maxwell muttered finally as Nightingale pulled herself up to her knees to stare at the phone in amazement.
"Omae wa korosu- whatwasit?- J!" Aubrie hissed.
"Gee, that doesn't just prove it all, noooo." Maxwell smirked. "Well, Hee-man. We needed help and it seems we've found it. You might want to break the news to Relina, though, she might faint or something and need her assassin nearby." he clapped Yuy on the shoulder and lead Barton and Cheng out of the room.
Yuy said something along the same lines Aubrie had said to J to Maxwell. J had hung up. Heero Yuy was staring into Aubrie's eyes. "I find this hard to swallow..." Aubrie muttered. To her amazement, he nodded in agreement. "So uhhhhhh... now what?" she asked.
"J wouldn't lie about something like that. I know him too well to think he would." Yuy muttered, standing. "Follow me, Aubrie." he said in the same sort of 'I-can't-believe-I'm-actually-doing-this' kind of voice.
Aubrie followed obediently. What else could she do? She was just told who her birthparents were. And they weren't exactly who she even PLANNED them to be. Maybe a few middle-class people, stupid teenagers who couldn't handle a child at the moment- but the two most important people to the peace? Her mind flew in several hundred directions as she attempted idly to sort all this out. J did have a point; why else would he choose her other than if she were the child of some wonderful soldier? She wasn't exactly fighting or anything before he found her. In fact, she was simply trying to stay alive when he came to her through a purple cell phone (which she forgot in the interrogation room) that seemed to come from nowhere. Not only did interrogation sucked, J sucked too. And so did a lot of other things, but J was the suckiest of the sucky at the moment.
Yuy lead her into a large room, apparently he had come from here originally because a woman in a chair, who was reading a book, looked up. "Where'd you disappear to?" she asked in a teasing voice. It was Relina Yuy. She glanced at Aubrie. "Who's this?"
"Aubrie." was all Yuy seemed to be able to articulate. He also looked like he had a good case of lockjaw.
"Au-" she stared at Aubrie now, eyes huge, and dropped her book. She somehow got to her feet and walked zombie-like to Aubrie and held her hands some inch from her face, as if scared to touch her. Like she'd disappear if she was touched. "A-aubrie- OUR Aubrie?"
"J wouldn't lie about something like that..." Yuy muttered.
Maxwell was right. Relina Yuy DID faint. Aubrie had to catch as she fell forward, and was relieved by Yuy, who took the woman and lay her down. He slid into a seat and stared at the floor, hands tangled in his untamable mane of brown hair. The same brown as her own...
J sucked.
Aubrie stared at the floor herself. "I'll admit I never saw that coming..." she laughed once and stopped. "J threw me for a bit of a loop there- so- exactly... uh... WHY am I just finding this out... I mean... I'm YOUR daughter right..."
"A war broke out when you were a child. The Gundam pilots had to send their children in secret into the world to keep them alive... Assassins would have killed you all if it had not been for that..." Heero Yuy's voice was a bit monotonous as he spoke. "J was tracking you without anyone knowing... How is he even still alive...?" That was more to himself than her.
Aubrie had a sudden vision of a boy with red hair. And heard a name.
"Tris." she muttered without realizing. She stared. "Tris... What? Who on earth is Tris?" she asked no one in particular.
This, however, seemed to disconfirm all of Heero's doubts. "Your best friend before you left..." he stood. "And you couldn't say Tristan-"
"So... I said... Oh man, it's true! That old geezer wasn't lyin'!" Aubrie flew to her feet. "This is messed up, man..." She shook her head. Then it flew up, meeting strangely hurt eyes. "Not that I'm... dissin'...ah ha... or anything... uh... It's just weird... Uhm... Dad...?" she trailed off. He smiled. It was rather reassuring in a 'this-is-SO- beyond-weird' kind of way. She giggled nervously. "What about... uh... what about her?" she pointed to her mother, who was still unconscious on the couch. But being acknowledged seemed to wake her anyway, and Relina Yuy's eyes fluttered open. She stared a moment. Aubrie took this into her own hands, a wave of silliness overcoming the whole fact that this was the most screwed up situation she had ever been in but- HEY! These were her ACTUAL, REAL LIFE parents! Not some foster family unable to put up with her, but her parents! "Hi, Ma, what's up?" she asked with a huge grin.
Relina Yuy screamed, sort of, and flew off the couch and onto the floor over the side.
This made Aubrie start laughing straight out.
Relina stared. "He-heero! What's going on...?"
"That's Aubrie. Like I said. J led her back. And just in time. We could use the help..." Heero helped Relina to her feet while Aubrie giggled over the situation.
"Screwed up as all Hell, but hey, ya take what Fate gives yeh." she said simply. "But... But, Aubrie was... Her hair... She didn't... WHY do you dress like that..." Relina stuttered out.
Aubrie lifted her arms and stared at her clothes. She shrugged. "I dunno... I just like it..." she shrugged again then peered at Relina. "Why...?"
"It's just- Aubrie- You- wore- But..."
"No offense, but can you speak WHOLE sentences? That's confusing..." Aubrie said with a frown. Her eyes betraying with a smirk.
"But- It's just- The Aubrie I remember- she wore cute-" ("Cute," Aubrie snorted.) "-dresses and wore a little crucifix and... And..." Relina sunk onto the couch, hands now tangled in her hair, much like her husband's had once been.
"Okay, lady, let's put it this way:" Aubrie ticked off with her fingers. "I don't do cute. I don't do frilly. I'm not gonna walk around with some crucifix when I'm a witch-" (Relina looked horrified.) "A white witch, thank you, but not along the lines of peace with the Almighty Mono- God followers." Aubrie narrowed her eyes at how amazed Relina was at this. "And if you can't handle it... well... Too bad. I change for nobody but myself. I'm a soldier first and lady last." She waved her index finger as Relina sputtered. "That's just the way the world works outside this place, Ma." she folded her arms. Then muttered. "Of course, harm none, do what thou wilt... Well I'm not a sinner, no, not at all... Well... I never exactly used a spell on them... Hn..." she stared at the ceiling sorting out her thoughts while Relina stared at her. "I'll have to purify myself or something... later o- Wait a minute- what about Jack?"
"Jack?" her parents echoed.
"My cu- uh... my foster father. What about him? I mean, he's used to me disappearing an' all- but ya know he's rather attached to me and would wonder if I was gone too long... The longest I've ever disappeared is two months... And Jack's the best-" she froze, glancing the two over. "I can't just leave forever without telling him, can I?" She flopped down on the floor, legs crossed, intentionally not sitting on the chair nearby. She bit her lip. Of all her foster fathers, Jack was the best, now she was going to have to leave...
Finding her family sucked- No! J sucked! This was his fault! Aubrie narrowed her eyes into a look that not even Heero himself could master. "Omae wa korosu, J..." she muttered. Her father's- that was so weird! Her father's- voice jarred her back into reality.
"It could be arranged, Aubrie, that you return to him and sort this out before returning for training. Explain to him that you've... well... whatever you see fit to tell him." he said gently, sitting next to his wife and gazing at her.
"When?" Aubrie said a little too quickly. The two looked slightly disturbed. Then they looked thoughtful.
"As soon as you want. You cannot spend two months there, however, and I think you could understand why. After all, you yourself informed us upon the situation at hand, Aubrie..." Heero looked away from Aubrie when this thought struck him. She was a soldier. "You are needed here as well." A soldier... Like him.
Aubrie nodded. "J wanted me to do something... A mission he told me about before I left for Sanc... I might as well do that first...." she muttered, standing, wanting to leave. "What kind of mission?"
"Information mission. The fun kind." Aubrie grinned. "Break in, grab the info, and get out. The one's that take more improvising than planning on my part." She folded her arms behind her head. Then turned and started walking away. "I'm not used to asking permission. Get used to it." she called over her shoulder as she disappeared.
Heero turned to Relina, who still looked shocked. She'd get used to it, he decided.
Loki: Wow, this was long. Any-way. What did you think? Review!! ::skips away singing Ordinary Day::