Ah yes... the beauty of words on paper. One of the things I love about being a writer is that the plot can change within the blink of an eye! And not only that but being the one who decides what will happen without being really sure of what -WILL- happen!! Too cool!
*Disclaimer* The characters and locations original to Gundam Wing do not belong to me, nor do I claim them! I only claim the ones that were conjured up by my very own imagination. I write cause I like it
and I can so nobody sue me...
DEALINGS IN CONFLICT
The room was silent. Wufei and Heero stared dead into each other's eyes. The opposition between the two of them was great.
Quatre sat in his chair rubbing his face. He could not believe the words he read and the information contained in the packet over took him.
Duo and Trowa stood quietly watching Wufei and Heero.
"If you -knew- about this, -why- did you keep it from us?"
Wufei stood at the edge of the desk peering over at Heero.
"This didn't come in until -Today-," he pointed out harshly.
"You said you knew since three weeks ago," Trowa yelled.
"Calm down," Quatre broke in. He was rubbing his head as though he were in severe pain.
"-NO-" yelled Duo.
"Shut- Up," called Wufei simultaneous to Duo's expression.
Heero and Trowa stared coldly at Quatre.
"If someone has staged war on us, then we -Need- to stick together!"
They all knew Quatre was right. He was the sensitive one and it was his sensitivity that always seemed to take the edge off the tension. Not so now, however.
"What the..." Trowa flipped through pages back and forth and then went through every one struck with bewilderment. "You -knew- about this?" He held the stack in his hand, anger burning in his eyes. Tears were beginning to build inside but he chose to push them back deep inside. He'd done enough "crying" he felt. "Look at this," he snarled as he flipped the pages in front of him. "-LOOK-! Everything there is to know about our Gundams, our back grounds..." he threw the packet down on the desk. "You're a Real -Pal-, Yuy."
Heero had looked through the whole packet when he first received it early that morning. There were pages with blueprints of each Gundam. Also entailed, along with full-scale data on each of the pilots, was information from their place of birth to their training periods. Information about their known families right down to their blood type. It was an objective that someone had taken great links to fill out. An objective obtained by someone -an ally unknown- who felt obligated to get this information to Heero. Someone who felt he and the other pilots deserved a chance to win this battle.
Duo felt the need to defend his friend, he'd seen the pages too.
"Come on, Trowa..."
"-WE- were attacked, Duo! Miss -Relena- was attacked!"
Duo stared at Heero who now wore the consumption of guilt.
"Heero... how could you have known? You said so yourself she wasn't a target!"
"-No-," Heero yelled. "I said it -appeared- that she was not who they were after and that she was the -least- of my concerns!"
"Yeah," Trowa sneered, "just like there were no others that we needed to worry about, right?"
"Shut -up, Trowa," Duo called.
"You guys are -Weak-! Enough already! It's no -wonder- they're after us! -We- can't even stage a retaliation we're at each other's throats!"
"Yeah and you're -soooo- strong, Mr. 'I take crap from no one'!"
In two short steps, Wufei was holding Trowa by the collar. "Well at least -I- don't cry like a little girl at the death of a soldier who open-fired on me!"
The emotion of tears Trowa had felt dissipated into rage but he remained as though he had been nothing but calm.
Wufei let him go and stepped away. "And you," he said to Heero, "we were supposed to work together. It's obvious that you know nothing of battling as a team."
"He--ey! Wa--it a minute!" Duo's expression met Wufei's eyes. "-You- were the one who always fought alone! What the hell do you know about 'team work'?"
Wufei glared at him, heartlessly. "I know enough that you don't keep stuff like this from your friends."
Finally there was silence. Quatre rubbed his head excessively. The others picked up on his pain.
"Regardless of Heero's actions- or any of ours-" he looked up, "the fact of the matter -IS- that someone wants us dead and right now," he looked at his watch. One twenty-three a.m. "Right now, we should just try and get some rest."
Each pilot retreated to his own room. The day had been long and difficult, what could be more inviting than a cool, soft bed?
~~~~~ * ~~~~~
Relena opened her eyes and squinted at the darkness. Light from the moon came in through her window.
"Mmmm," she winced and moved in pain of her splitting headache.
"Relena-" Lucrezia jumped up turning on the light.
Relena gave a startled cry and then held her head.
"What happened?"
Lucrezia handed her a cup of water and an aspirin. "We'll talk in the morning, get some -rest-," she spoke.
Relena drank down the aspirin and half the glass of water. "You mean I haven't 'rested' enough already?"
Lucrezia gave a wry smile.
"In the morning, Miss Relena."
Before she had to do more convincing Relena was back asleep.
Now that she'd been woken up, she was unsure of whether she'd be able to return. She walked back to her chair by the window in hopes that she'd be able to get back to her dreamland even though she could not remember her dreams. She looked out the window at the bright moon and then sank into the chair. Sleep became her instant best friend.
~~~
Sally watched the young soldier. He reminded her of when she first "met" Heero. -If you can call that a true meeting, she gathered. Only this child, for he was just that exactly, was not nearly as strong. He was going to die soon from the amount of blood loss. Seita was a good shot- if she'd have hit him two inches in either direction he would have been dead already. DOA.
"Woman."
Sally tensed at the sound of the voice but did not turn around. Wufei hadn't talked to her since she scolded him about training Relena.
"I'm talking to you."
Still she did not move to look at him. Instead, she got up to check on the vitals of her patient. She managed to acquire some help from the base. Off duty medics would often times volunteer their services to her and tonight was one of those nights.
"Major Sally," a young man spoke, "he's losing the battle, isn't he?"
Sally laughed inside, ignoring him as well. She wasn't a 'Major' anymore and hadn't been for some time. But it made the young medics comfortable to refer to her in such a manner declaring that to -them- it was a form of respect.
"Sal-?"
Sally walked out of the examining area quietly.
"James, just give me a few minutes, ok?"
The young man nodded and sat down at the previously occupied desk.
Sally walked out of her house and stood in the night air. It was almost dawn.
"Woman, are you going to look at me?"
She didn't. The moon was more appealing, she thought. "What do you want, Wufei?"
"For you to look at me."
She took in a deep breath. "Why are you here?"
He put his hands on her shoulders. She tensed but could not stay that way for long. His hands were much too warm and gentle on her shoulders. He stepped up close to her and kissed the back of her neck and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close to him.
"Wufei..." she protested but did nothing to stop him.
"Look at me."
She wouldn't.
"Woman! How hard is it to just turn around and look at me?"
-How hard is it to say you're sorry?
"Sally... I love you."
-Nope... not good enough.
"Please, Sal... I'm sorry that I hurt you... you hurt me too."
She turned around. His eyes were sad. The darkness of his features had been brought out by the events of the day.
"Perhaps I should have left you alone with her. She doesn't seem to mind training, does she?"
Wufei brushed a stray hair away from her face. "I love you and it should not have had to go that far."
"I'm sorry," she said.
"Don't be. -I- am the weak one."
"It's not my place to tell you what to do."
She stared at him wanting to be nothing more than held. Somehow she knew that a battle was coming. Her revelation went beyond the fact that there had been two attacks on them already. She had known nothing of Heero's information but by looking into the eyes of the man she was in love with- her man- she knew that there was definitely -something- going on. Soon he'd be off in Nataku fighting for some mission or belief or for his life or for hers... it didn't matter. Would war endeavor to leave them alone?
"Wufei..." she said as the tears came flooding uncontrollably.
He held her close to him knowing that somehow she knew. "I'm sorry, Sally." He could feel her tears as they ran down her cheek onto his shoulder. The tank top he wore did not soak up the wetness very well but he didn't care. He held her close anyway and let her cry.
~~~~~ * ~~~~~
Duo woke up for the last time. The sun had not risen yet. All through the night since they'd left the study he'd been caught with only minutes of sleep at a time. Every time he closed his eyes he felt a gun at the back of his head or saw a snake slithering around his feet. Several times he heard Dorothy's voice only to discover that when he turned around in the dream he was looking at Hilde. Other times he could hear the heartless voice of Heero telling him that he was mortal. He could not take it any longer. In his last bout for sleep, he saw the words from the packet. They jumped around before his eyes.
"Kill remaining Gundam pilots."
-Remaining Gundam pilots... -Kill pilots... -remaining pilots.... -remaining...
Duo opened his eyes. -THIS- was the last time. He had dreamed it again. This time he got out of bed. Putting on a pair of sweat pants over his boxers, he left the house for a morning run. He made it halfway down to the water when he passed Relena and Lucrezia.
Lucrezia whistled teasingly at him.
"Hey, Duo! Do you -always- run without a shirt?"
Relena elbowed her as she blushed enough for the two of them, pushing out of her imagination an image of Heero running without a shirt.
"It's hot," he yelled back irritably and continued his run in the early light.
"I'll say," Lucrezia smiled and then looked at Relena.
Relena began to blush again and turned away with a smile.
"Heero or Duo?" Lucrezia teased.
"Why would I imagine Duo when I just saw him and Heero would never..."
"Oh no?"
Relena stared at her friend and then looked away to protect herself of self-incrimination. Lucrezia laughed.
At the knock of the door, Trowa stood up from his place on the balcony and looked down.
"Quatre and Heero are at Sally's," he said and then stepped away.
~~~
"He died an hour ago," Sally said as she cleaned up the office. "Wufei and James took him down to the base morgue."
Heero was less than grim.
"So I take it he said nothing, then."
Sally shook her head. "Nothing."
Quatre had been standing on the porch staring out into the world as it got brighter with the rising sun. He watched as Wufei pulled up with three passengers. Seita, Relena and... he smiled... Lucrezia.
"Hi Quatre!"
Quatre barely acknowledged Seita's greeting and walked over to the other door helping Relena and Lucrezia out of the hummer.
"Where's Trowa?"
"Woman-child, give it a -rest-!" Wufei had slowly become irritated with her at first but now she was like a nemesis to him. First it was Quatre and since that went down the drain with his re-opened communication with Lucrezia, now she was after Trowa. Soon she'd realize that he was much too complex for her and would go after Duo since he was the other one who was seemingly available.
"What- ever," she chided.
"Hey!" he pointed his finger at her. Intimidating her was one of his strong points against her. It was something he did well and rather enjoyed.
"Respect, Seita." Lucrezia stared with a stern, -mean- look in her eyes.
"I know, I know... penalty run." She took off in a slight spring away from the rest of the group and world.
~~~
Duo stood on the beach, hands on knees trying to catch his breath. He'd run about eight or nine miles and felt to do more but something stopped him. Moments passed and he decided to head back. He hadn't realized that he'd run so far off from the road. Perhaps it had been more than what he thought the distance actually was.
Once he made it to the road it him, or rather -She- hit him. His thoughts collided with her force.
-Remaining pilots- is what he thought.
"Oh, Mr. Duo... I am so sorry..." is what he heard.
Seita had run smack into him knocking him to the ground and now frantically tried helping him but he ignored her assistance.
"What are you doing here?"
Seita bowed her head.
"Penalty run." She waved off Duo's questioning eyes. "Never mind," she said as she tried holding her tongue at the site of his bare naked upper body. His muscles rippled as he moved and sweat glistened on his skin. His hair was matted to his face and neck but the braid swung freely. "Want to finish your run with me?"
Duo looked up the hill. He realized that she was showing fascination in his build and knocked off more points for not wearing a shirt. -It's hot- he defended himself. "Nah, thanks. I gotta get back," he said and left her alone.
"He's still no Quatre," she sighed as she watched him easily run the hill, "but mmm, mmm, mmm."
~~~
Trowa stared suspiciously at the man. He had pinned the mail carrier to the wall in an angered fit. "Who did it -come- from," he growled demanding information.
"I... I... I don't know... please, Sir..." he was choking.
"Isn't it your -job- to know?"
"Please..." the man coughed trying helplessly to get the tiniest bit of air into his lungs. "It's my job to deliver..."
Trowa released him of the hold. The man rubbed his throat and stared viciously and confused at Trowa. "Look Mr. Barton..." he coughed some more, "I don't know what this is about..." a deep breath, "but whatever it is, you need to stop and pay attention to what you're doing."
Trowa glared at him. "Don't you have a job to do?"
Thanks to Trowa's temper, that job now consisted of picking up the hundreds of envelopes on the floor that had been knocked out of the bag from Trowa's rage.
"Whoa! What happened here?"
Duo looked down, astonished at the man's mission. He bent down and helped him pick up the letters.
"Mr. Maxwell... you really should talk to your friend... it's not his responsibility to concern himself with -your- mail."
Duo watched in confusion as the mail carrier left.
~~~~~ * ~~~~~
Quatre walked beside Lucrezia through the park. They hadn't had a lot of time to talk the night before and he wanted to say -something- to her. He couldn't figure out what exactly, or how.
"Quatre... why were you jealous in the first place?"
Quatre pondered the question with much thought.
-Because I love you, he wanted to say.
"I don't know. I saw you in the coffee shop... he had managed to make you smile..."
Lucrezia looked across her shoulder at her friend.
"Quatre... Quince and I have been friends and coworkers for a -long- time! You, of all people, should know that there is -Nothing- to our friendship beyond -that-"
He sighed.
"Feelings change, Lucrezia... people change."
"What's -that- supposed to mean," she demanded. "Are you saying that -I've- changed or that -You've- changed, Quatre?"
It was not supposed to go like this. The conversation was supposed to be sweet and lovely and full of words of love and romance. This was not what he had planned.
"No... that's not what I meant!"
His eyes were soft and sad.
"Then what, Quatre?"
He didn't know. "You were spending so much time with him and I knew that Marinova's death hurt you a lot--"
"Then -why- couldn't you go with me, Quatre? I -asked- you to go with me and what did you
-say-?"
--"I have stuff to take care of here,"-- he sighed defeated at his memory.
"Lucrezia..." he could see the hurt in her eyes. "I don't know."
"I don't believe you, Quatre. Wufei- yes! I can see -him- acting this way... but not you!"
"What? What do you mean -Wufei-?"
"I -mean- I can see him acting in a jealous manner..."
"Toward -who-?"
"Who else, Quatre! With Sally!" She became confused. "How... When did Wufei become part of this?"
"-You- mentioned him!"
Lucrezia's eyes widened and then narrowed. Complete and utter confusion wrote itself all over her expressions. "Quatre... you are so... -Dense-!"
"-WHAT-?"
He stood in front of her, visibly upset... -profoundly- upset.
"-Dense-? How can you say that? What is this about, anyway?"
Lucrezia began her self-defense but stopped herself more confused than before. "Wh... I..." she repositioned her stance and stared blankly at him.
The sun had risen completely and now shined through the trees. The air blew gently through the trees, rustling birds and other creatures from their hiding places.
"You," she finally blurted, "are jealous."
"Correction," he put his hand up in front of her, "I -was-jealous."
"Oh, and now you're not?"
"Do I have any -reason- to be?"
"Well then..." She had a theory about Quatre and was dying to test it. "If -that's- the case then you won't mind that I'm going out with Trowa tonight." Her eyes narrowed at him as she studied his reaction.
-Trowa? WHAT?
"-Fine-. Why would I be jealous of Trowa?"
-Damn, she thought. "Why would you be jealous of Quince?"
"Why was I jealous in the first place?"
"I don't know, Quatre! You tell me!"
"I'm telling you now. It was a stupid notion and I have no reason now- nor did I then to be jealous. Do what you want."
He walked off leaving her standing shocked and appalled at his words and actions.
"Quatre--" she called but he did not turn around. Perhaps her theory was wrong. She stood disarrayed at the situation.
"Wait a minute," she asked herself, "What just happened here?"
~~~
The day was passing quickly. It was already close to lunchtime when Heero made it back to the house. He walked in to find Trowa storming out of the kitchen.
"Yeah, well it's not your concern," he heard Duo yell.
Trowa ignored Heero and walked up the stairs. Duo came out of the kitchen and upon sight of Heero turned back around.
"Hold it, Duo," Heero called as he noticed a paper or envelope of sorts in his hand.
"Not -now-, Heero. Go..." he fumbled for word, "play with Relena or something."
For the briefest of moments, Heero actually entertained the idea and then mentally kicked himself for even considering the words. -Fool, he muttered at himself as he walked into the kitchen.
"Duo..."
Duo turned around, red with anger.
"What, Heero?"
Heero cleared his throat. Duo gave in to his friend's silent conviction. He shoved the envelope across the table feeling completely distraught and sat down.
Heero picked it up and read the words before opening it. "Death Consumes the Weak".
"Hmm," he opened the letter curiously staring at Duo's frustrated face. -Ahem- "Dearest My Lord," he contemplated Duo's reaction at his audible reading. "I have waited patiently but to no avail. I would have imagined that you would have had more consideration..."
"Heero... why are you antagonizing me with this? I've already read it!"
Heero glared at him and read on. "... more consideration for one who is so loyal. And since I have not had a suitable response from you, perhaps this will inspire you..."
Duo pushed away and stood up. Heero continued.
"... perhaps... think back to November 1 AC 199." Duo coughed uncomfortably. Heero remembered- as, obviously, had Trowa. He looked up at Duo. "I want my interview."
Duo stared out the window. "I can't take this any more! I'm losing sleep, Heero. Only now..."
"You're seeing Hilde."
Duo looked up, almost shocked. Did Heero know him -that- well?
"Yeah."
Heero put the letter back into the envelope.
"Let go, Duo."
"I can't."
Heero sighed. Would Duo become that threat again?
"Heero... what do the words 'Remaining pilots' mean to you?"
Heero fell silent. He, too, had been concentrating on those words. "Kill -remaining- Gundam
-pilots-."
"Hmmm. I've been thinking about that too."
* ~~~~~ * ~~~~~ *
Relena looked directly on the small speck on the wall as Sally flashed a small light into her eyes.
"Everything looks normal- where exactly are you feeling pain?"
Relena felt certain that Sally's concern would never reach Heero. It was the "patient-doctor privilege."
"Here," she said pointing above her eyes.
"It might just be sinus pressure, Relena." She eyed the young girl. "That's not why you're here, is it?"
Relena began to cry. Sally held her thoughts momentarily.
"Relena... you know its inevitable."
"I know," she cried, trying to compose herself. "I just don't understand why!"
Sally handed her a tissue and then another. "How did you find out?"
Relena dried her eyes. "I was attacked." She brushed away her sarcasm apologizing to Sally who stared un-offended at her reaction. "I didn't... I can feel it."
"I know... I did too."
"Sally... will we ever have a time without war? -Truly- a time of peace?"
Sally walked away from Relena and stared out the window.
"Relena... peace cannot come about unless war exists. Someone once said that people don't know how to live without war. And so... there is the endless circle of peace prevails over war which would not have come about without someone wanting to be in control of total pacifism."
It was a dizzying intellect.
Relena agreed.
"A senseless war started by senseless people."
Sally sighed.
11.
Ah yes... the beauty of words on paper. One of the things I love about being a writer is that the plot can change within the blink of an eye! And not only that but being the one who decides what will happen without being really sure of what -WILL- happen!! Too cool!
AUTHOR'S NOTE: "The Unknown Ally" is the next part in the series, however, for the purpose of explanation, I have subtitled it into two parts. I find that it works better this way. *teeheehee*
*Disclaimer* The characters and locations original to Gundam Wing do not belong to me, nor do I claim them! I only claim the ones that were conjured up by my very own imagination. I write cause I like it
and I can so nobody sue me...
THE UNKNOWN ALLY
Part I: Where Friends Come In
*Somewhere in the L3 Colony Cluster*
-So they wish to continue this battle, do they? Well, -I- intend to stay on top of this one to the end.
-It's been so long. Why couldn't they just leave well enough alone? Those five young men don't deserve to live a life of continual battle. They should be living peaceful lives with the ones they love...
-Love... what do I know of love? Have I -ever- loved? Am I capable?
"This just came in over the air, Commander. We intercepted it." The young man waited silently as he watched his CO stare out the window into the depths of the stars of space before them. It had been quite some time since the Commander spoke to anyone.
"Thank you, Lieutenant. Leave it on my desk."
"Yes, Commander."
-We have a new transmission. Well... they do keep up a standard procedure of persistence, do they not?
The CO turned to look at the stack of papers left by the young man. It was another order toward the pilots.
-So... it was -you- who took out the Deathscythe that most horrid first day-- or would it be more appropriate to say 'last' day?
-Well then... Lets' just see what we can do to alleviate you of this command, shall we?
* ~~~~~~~ * ~~~~~~~ *
Three days had past swiftly by. The five young men were able to put hostility aside that they might conjure up some sort of significant plan to retaliate against this nameless enemy.
The enemy who enticed Hilde into killing General Marinova, who managed somehow to elude the Federation and make their threat against the Gundam pilots.
"I have a feeling that if we get to the source -one way or the other- we will not only find out who is behind the warrant on our heads but we'll find out -also- where those letters are coming from."
Trowa still felt the tiniest bit of resentment toward Duo after the latest letter had arrived. But after a while it didn't matter anymore. Someone was after -him-; after -them-.
"Carter has asked that we bring this to himself and the military board in order that they may assist in whatever way they can."
Heero had thought this out rather thoroughly but had not responded back to the Commander in Chief.
"This is -our- battle, Heero! Those letters weren't addressed to the people of Repudiation! They were addressed to Duo! And this," Wufei shook the packet in mid air, "pertains to
-Us-!" He was infuriated. "This is not the time to be thinking like weaklings!"
"Did anyone stop to think about how -I- feel about any of this? Do you think I -LIKE- finding out that someone out there -knows- why and -how- I was shot down that day?"
Duo's happy-go-lucky demeanor had left him. To the grave with Hilde they believed it went.
"Duo, no one is trying to rob you of your feelings! We're simply pointing out the facts," Heero replied calmly.
"Yeah, well I don't like it! The fact is..."
A knock at the door broke him of his train of thought. Weidam stood in the doorway.
"Master Heero, this just in for you, Sir."
Heero walked over to the young man and took the letter from the tray and sent him away closing the door. He opened it in front of the others and after scanning it, read it out loud.
"It is for my affection of peace that I send the following information. Unfortunately, my hopes for peace have been wiped clean by pressures of an upcoming war."
The "following information" was a detailed report of the damage Deathscythe Hell had endured in its descending fury to the earth from the sky.
"This proves it," Trowa said. "Find the source of this and you find the perps all together."
Duo inspected the information and fell to the ground. He was completely terror struck and awed at the same time. -Who- else would have the same information about his findings of the damage of his Mobil suit? He fell backward flat on his back and lay there in silence. The others watched likewise.
"I don't believe this," Duo muttered before closing his eyes.
--"I'm going in Heero. The god of Death strikes again."
"Be careful Duo."
-Hey! This is me! Since when has being 'careful' been a part of my work? Neat, perhaps.. careful? Ok, Heero... for Hilde.--
Duo thought back to the day, November 1 AC 199. He had just shut off all communications and began swiping his blade of death at enemy Mobil suits, destroying buildings and laid the final blow that set the base ablaze and sent him into the air.
-- "Hey, what do you know! Looks like they took the bait after all... -WHAT the Hell?"
A flash came so sudden and so bright that he was temporarily blinded. In his moment of darkness he fumbled for a switch and reopened communication but it was too late. He was plunging in a direct beeline for the earth. He could hear Quatre's voice, "-NO--------" and then another blast sent him into unconsciousness before he heard one last cry from his friend. "Death... (static)... down..."--
He never felt the impact of the machine hitting the earth nor of himself falling out of the suit and landing -from what he remembered- several hundred yards away from the wreckage.
~~~~~ * ~~~~~
Word had just come back to the Commander that its addressee had received the letter. The young soldier had radioed the message in saying he waited to see that one Mr. Heero Yuy received it and when he was certain departed the area.
-Well done.
"Make ready my shuttle."
"Commander?" The noncommissioned officer stared saluting the dress uniform.
"Are you questioning me, Sergeant Major Dox?"
Dox stared in obliterated fear at his CO, declaring that he was not and would not do such a thing as that.
"Will you be needing an escort?"
"Are you volunteering? Very well, then. Now get moving."
The CO turned around and once again stared through the confines of the glass into outer space.
-I have a need to visit the earth. Who else can take hold of matters for these young men. It will all take place soon enough, gentlemen... unfortunately, soon enough.
*~~~~~~~ * ~~~~~~~ *
Heero sat comfortably in a chair. Duo still lay flat on the floor. The others had gone out into the world. Trowa mentioned that he was going to visit Heavyarms, Wufei was going to see Sally and Quatre had just plain left. He hadn't said -anything- during their talk but Heero was sure he absorbed all that had gone on and now took this time to allow it to soak in.
"Heero..."
Duo finally sat up. He stared disoriented at his friend of all these years. Heero stared back without reply.
"Who sent those papers?"
Heero moved to stand and walked over to the desk. He flipped through the pages at his desk and found the very first letter he had received from this person... this unknown ally of theirs. He smoothed it out and handed it down to Duo.
Duo looked at it while Heero went through several other sheets of paper and pulled out two more, including one from the newest message.
The last two were signed with a hash and two letters. "-YF"
The first was signed out. "-Your Friend".
*******************
END PART I
12.
THE UNKNOWN ALLY
Part II: Come To Find Out
* Earth *
"What? How could they… -what do you -MEAN- they got shot?"
Akiera Tremma stared exasperated at the messenger.
"Um… well…" there was no other way to explain otherwise.
"They were… shot."
The look on Akiera's face was death.
"-Obviously-!" She screamed annoyed and turned away dismissing the
younger woman.
There was something wanting about the whole situation.
-How could they be shot? They were both so qualified…
After exiting the main deck she took a short cut to the Hall of
Records. She was going to re-evaluate the records of Brin Warden and
Alma Pitt. Perhaps they were -not- as qualified as they were thought
to be.
Minutes of searching revealed nothing. The files had been deleted
from the base computer.
-Uh oh… Her excellency is not going to like this at all… in
fact, she thought, -I- am not going to like this at all…
A moment later another soldier walked in.
"Oh, excuse me, Sergeant… I didn't realize you were all ready
here."
Akiera stared curiously at him.
"What do you mean?"
The soldier could not identify with her look of puzzlement. "Aren't
you looking for the files for Her Excellency? The new
missionaries…"
"Come again?"
The young man pulled out a sheet of paper with two names on it.
Akiera glanced at it, memorizing the names, and then averted her eyes
to the computer.
"Yes, I will deliver them myself," she replied.
"Yes Ma'am."
Akiera turned back to the computer.
-Damn!
Two more were going to be sent out and one of them was not her. She
burned inside but did as she said and searched for the files.
Minutes of scanning paid off when she was presented with two new
records and printed both of them out.
She studied the first page of them both, looking over them eagerly to
see what they had that she did not. The first one impressed her
highly and she could immediately see why -he- was chosen.
"Major Sentiel Robert Bordman, age twenty-two… blah, blah,
blah…-Oh!" She came across his training history causing her brow to arch with
sheer surprise. "Well then… a student at Lake Victoria Academy
under… Lieutenant Lucrezia Noin…" She smirked at the idea and
read on about his battle with Oz and WASP, making a comment about him not being in the White Fang battle to herself. Displayed in front of her were his achievements, awards, and other such information that he incurred in his time as an elite soldier. All the information
revealed a highly trained, exceedingly qualified warrior to accomplish the job he would be sent to do.
"Name: Kya Reider, age…" she gasped. Upon further inspection she
became more frantic about it not truly making it past the girls age.
Moments later she stood behind the closed doors of her superiors
office.
"Her Excellency would like to know what this is about, Sergeant."
Akiera stared blankly at the man who played the role of secretary.
"I have word back from Brin and Alma."
His gasp told her that she would soon be in trouble. He entered back
into the room and then came back out again. Clearing his throat he
reappeared stepping aside with an invitation for her to enter.
As she stepped cautiously past him she caught only a hint of the
words he spoke to her. It was a whisper, no more than a breath of
air; that rang loud and clear in her ears. "Life sentence…" and
he was gone.
Her heart pounded in her chest, she could feel her blood racing as
the woman in front of her turned slowly around in her chair. It was
painful for Akiera to watch the chair swivel around in such slow
motion.
"So… you have come to report news of Warden and Pitt, have
you…"
"Y-Yes… Your Excellency…"
The woman now stared point blank at the sergeant.
"Ha! Did you honestly think that I wouldn't have known by -now- that
both of them died… -Three and a half days ago-? And at the hands
of those pilots, no less."
-Uh oh…
Akiera stepped backward as her superior rose from her desk.
"What is this you've brought," she pointed at the stack of pages in
the young girl's hand.
"File… uh.. that is… Kya Reider's record, Ma'am."
"And what -of- it," the woman demanded.
"Well, Your Excellency… it states that… um…"
"Spit -it -out, Tremma."
Akiera formed the words in her mind but could not get them to escape
her mouth. The woman stormed toward her. Frightened, she stumbled
backward and fell to the floor.
The woman stared disgusted at her and took the pages from her hand.
She looked down at the page, scanning it and focussing in on the
circled number.
-What?
"I want this one re-evaluated. There has to be a mistake."
"There's no mistake, Highness… I checked it twice…"
The woman threw the pages at the soldier on the floor. "Then -I-
want it checked a -third and fourth- time! Don't question my
orders!" she yelled.
Akiera grabbed all the sheets that had been strewn all over the floor
and quickly exited.
Her Excellency stared out the window to a garden of Mobil suits.
-Those pilots will regret that day to -their- deaths. "Starting with
this one," she spoke aloud at her thought and looked down at a
picture of her first victim.
*~~~~~~~ * ~~~~~~~*
* L3 Cluster *
As the shuttle was being prepared for the CO, pages and pages were
being sent for the Commander's viewing.
"No," pause, "no," pause, "no," silence.
The commander stared at file after file. Someone was going to be
chosen to go to Repudiation. Their mission: to confirm the location
of the Gundam Mobil Suits. He or she would be the bearer of the
revealing of their "Friend".
With a tiresome sigh, the Commander continued. "No," pause, "no,"
pause, "no…"
With a quick flick of the wrist the files lay scattered all over the
desk.
"Is there no one qualified, Commander?"
A reluctant sigh gave the inquiring young woman the answer.
There was only one who was qualified enough in the commander's eyes
but would that one be willing to go?
-More over, am I willing to send her away from my side?
~~~
"Anything, Commander."
The young Special's soldier stood at attention to the Commander's
words and orders. There was -nothing- that would keep her from
complying with her Commanders given task.
"Then your mission is to confirm the location of the Mobil suit
Gundams. When you are found out- as I am sure you will be…" the
Commander stared directly into the soldier's eyes. "You will notify
me through Lieutenant Sierra. -YOU- are the messenger of
-Peace-, do you understand, Cervantes?"
"Yes, Commander."
"You will -need- to convince them that you are there to assist them.
It will be -your- job to announce my coming."
The commander stared curiously at the junior officer.
"-Do I make myself clear-?"
The harshness in the voice made others jump in the room but not this
one. Cervantes was unmoved.
"Yes, Commander," her hand went up saluting the officer.
"Dox- prepare Cervantes a shuttle."
"Destination, Commander?"
-Sigh. "Repudiation."
Minutes before Cervantes' departure the CO stood in front of her and
handed her a piece of paper.
"When you are found out, give them this."
Cervantes took the paper and put it inside her jacket. "Yes,
Commander."
* ~~~~~~~ * ~~~~~~~ *
Trowa sat on the ground looking up at his machine. He'd been coming
out to the hangar ever since the day that Duo's letter -and- the
information about Deathscythe had arrived. Heavyarms stood tall and
lifeless yet somehow managed to beam down at its owner.
--"Trowa…"--
He shook his head. Even on Repudiation Catherine would not leave him
alone. Silence consumed the hangar, engulfing it. It was almost as
though there had been created a vacuum. As he stared he could sense
movement in the area. Something was disturbing his solitude. He
waited; nothing. Slowly he rose and took a swift leap to one of the
lower beams of the high ceiling. This allowed him visible access to
the entire structure. Nothing moved but he could feel an
overpowering, unfamiliar presence. -Someone- was there. Another scan
of the grounds below revealed no one and suddenly the presence was
gone. Seconds later, Heero walked in.
"Trowa-," he called.
Trowa jumped down, landing easily onto the cement, as Heero turned
around. Duo walked in behind them looking up at the rafters.
"What were you doin' up there, Trowa?"
Heero looked around, he too had felt something upon entering.
"Someone's here," Trowa said looking around.
Duo immediately took hold of his gun. Heero picked up on Duo's
understandable tension but calmed him quickly.
"Relax, Duo," Trowa said. "Whoever it is won't be back for a little
while."
~~~~~ * ~~~~~
Lucrezia stared at her paperwork but could not concentrate. It had
now been another week since she and Quatre spoke.
"Captain Noin, there is a call on line two."
Lucrezia acknowledged the corporal's announcement and flipped on her
screen. In hopes that it would be him she set forth her best smile
but was greatly disappointed.
"Captain."
Lucrezia saluted. "Colonel."
He relieved her of the salute and sat back. "Lucrezia, I'm gonna be
there in a couple of days -for business, and I need someone to escort
me to the office of Commander in Chief Carter."
Lucrezia sighed. Was he not aware of the regulations concerning
fraternization? She -knew- that he did not "need" someone to escort
him.
-Escort you? Come on!
"Sir, with all due respect… I recommend that you find someone
else. I currently have orders to take care of other business."
She could see his disappointment apparent in his eyes. When did
their friendship take a turn? As far as she was concerned it hadn't.
-Besides, you're the one who got me in trouble with Quatre.
"Very well. Captain…" he saluted her and then signed off.
-Man!
She sat back in her chair feeling highly distressed.
~~~~
Quatre leaned against the rail guard phasing out the waters below.
Another day had passed causing this to be yet another week in which
he had not been back to see Lucrezia.
"Quatre?"
He came out of his self-battering mode and turned around to face the
sound of the voice. It was not her.
"Yeah?"
Relena walked up to the rail and peered over the edge. There were no
fish in the waters of Repudiation.
"Does this place ever remind you of earth?"
-WHAT?
He faced her, perplexed at her question.
"You sure know how to take one's mind off of things!"
Relena smiled. "Hmmm." -Yes, I've been told. "Quatre… why did
you leave the Winner Corporation?"
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
"You were -after all- the sole heir."
"Because, Relena… I couldn't stay where I wasn't wanted."
"Quatre-your family didn't reject you," she consoled sympathetically.
"No," he said, "but I couldn't stay there- I couldn't do that to my
family and I wouldn't do it to my friends."
-Huh… sensible enough, she thought.
"Quatre…"
"Yes, Relena?"
She put a decisive finger to her lip and thought briefly for a moment
before she spoke.
"If you had a friend-," she paused not looking at him, "that knew of
your hurt and anger but chose to leave well enough alone- even though
it was -far- from 'well enough'…" she could hear his growing
suspicion. "What would you do?"
Irritated and quite consumed with suspicion, he almost did not want
to ask.
"What are you getting at, Relena?"
She turned around and pushed away from the rail.
"Heero," she lied knowing full well that he knew exactly 'what she
was getting at'. "He won't talk to me but -I- know that something is
going on." This was not a lie.
"Relena… sometimes…"
-Why do they always start out with "sometimes"? This irritated her
some but she kept quiet.
"I don't know… I do know that you are -really bad- at parables,
though!" He smiled at her and walked away. "Thanks," he called back
over his shoulder.
Relena watched him go. He walked away oblivious to her tears.
"You're welcome," she returned. The waters invited her to look back
at them. She did, letting her tears fill them just a little more.
Quatre did not know what to say knowing that he would probably
embarrass her. He let her think that her tears went unnoticed.
~~~~~ * ~~~~~
Wufei stared down the field at the hangar. His room overlooked the
shelter for their Gundams. He could tell that something was awry.
"Nataku…"
He turned away from the window. He hadn't had a chance to see Sally
the other day. He truly missed her.
"Am I weak for missing her?"
He walked out of the room down two flights of stairs and met Quatre
at the door.
"Where's Heero?"
Wufei stared at the blond haired young man in front of him.
"At the hangar."
Quatre turned to face the walk and stared off into the direction of
the hangar. Trowa had been going there far more often than he'd been
sitting on the balcony. Now, instead of consuming the silence there,
he went off to be in the presence of his Gundam.
-Wouldn't that make matters worse for him?
Seconds later; interrupting Quatre's thoughts and Wufei's
distraction, the three that had been at the hangar now walked inside
the house.
"We've got a problem," Heero scowled. Duo and Trowa followed him to
the kitchen, Quatre and Wufei, eyeing each other with concern,
followed.
"I'm telling you someone was -there-!"
Duo sat in silence, Wufei leaned against the refrigerator, arms
crossed in front of him. Quatre and Heero leaned on opposite sides
of the breakfast bar regarding Trowa's behavior with great worry.
Trowa paced back and forth trying to remember the feeling he had, the
feeling of uneasiness and unfamiliarity. It was a sensation he had
not felt in quite some time.
"Did you actually -SEE- anyone, Trowa?" Wufei asked softly.
"Not exactly. I sensed someone."
Duo stood up abruptly. "-You- and your 'sensing'! What the hell is
that?"
"Duo, calm down," Heero interjected. "I felt something too."
Duo sat back down. He wanted to cry but was not willing enough to do
so in front of the others. So much was happening and so quickly.
"Guys, it's been -days- since the letter… s…" Quatre
remembered both of them, "came."
"Yeah and we still haven't devised a counter attack," Duo called as
he buried his face in the table.
Heero moved around the bar and walked to the window. Quatre suddenly
remembered Relena's tears as he watched his friend stare out at her
house.
"We need to set up a watch," Wufei suggested.
"Why don't we move them--,"
"To where, Quatre?"
Quatre smacked his forehead in frustration. He wasn't - and hadn't
been- thinking straight. That was about the dumbest idea he had had
in quite some time. He knew this was true by Duo's remark and the
others' glare at him as though he were some kind of moron.
"We'll each take a watch," Wufei stated and left the group. He was
really missing Sally.
"I'll take the first watch," Quatre said.
Duo sat up in his chair. "I'll join you-better yet," he stood up,
checked his gun and walked out leaving Quatre, Heero and Trowa alone.
"I saw Relena today," he said.
Heero seemed unmoved by his statement. "And?" He poured some water
into a cup and drank it down.
Trowa was agitated. He didn't know what to do.
"And-?" Heero half-heartedly demanded.
Quatre kept quiet a moment longer, knowing that at any second Heero
was going to blow some steam if he did not tell him.
"Yeah… down by the water."
Heero hesitated for only a moment before he decided that he didn't
care what they thought. Quatre pulled something out of a drawer and
stopped Heero with it. "You'll need these," he said handing him a
package of tissues.
Heero stared down at it, grabbing it from Quatre's hand, and walked
off. He was struck with an immense amount of guilt. - He- was the
reason she was crying.
As he left, Trowa stood up and glanced above Quatre's head at the
clock.
"In another hour or so, she'll be off. Why don't you go pick her up?"
Quatre's face reddened at Trowa's notion.
"I'll go with Duo."
~~~~
Wufei had left the group to go to a small temple where he chose to
meditate. He couldn't see Sally without making sure that he was at
peace with himself and his spirit. His pride was jumping in
continually and he did not want to make things worse for her or them.
Heero made it half way to the sidewalk from their house before he
decided that he needed to think about what he would say to her. He
took a walk in the other direction trying to discern what it was he
was feeling and how he would convey it.
Quatre watched Trowa leave the kitchen and then heard Duo claim that
he could go by himself, he didn't need Trowa. He laughed silently at
the two as they argued their way out of the house.
He didn't know if he could bring himself to see Lucrezia. He had
been such a fool these past days and could never think of the right
thing to say. Everytime he wanted to go, something came up and that
something was usually his own thoughts of cowardice.
-I can't go see her! She won't even look at me, much less talk to me!
He thought of his conversation with Relena. The time was moving
forward, she would be off soon… after pondering this thought he
brought himself to the conclusion that he could not go see her.
There was something amiss about the situation with their Gundams. He
chose to go to the hangar instead.
* ~~~~~~~ * ~~~~~~~ *
-Well… I haven't been caught yet! some mission -this- has been.
It only took me four days and I have yet to be spotted! This is
great.
"Yeah, this is Cervantes- I have confirmation of location for the
Mobil Suit Gundams. Do you copy-over?"
The reply voice came through with a crackle and sputter.
"…'oud…n…'lear…'ver…"
She waited but received nothing back.
"Do you copy, over?"
"…(static)… 'at…ur... xt… ve…. 'ver?"
-Damn! "Base… I'm not reading you, over."
There came more static and then the transmitter went dead.
There could only have been one thing that was blocking the
transmission from the base on L3. Looking up at the heavy machinery,
she knew what it was. Five Gundams, all of them peering down at her;
the intruder.
~~~~
Trowa pulled his gun slowly, motioning for Duo to go around the other
side. He placed his finger to his lips for silence and circled around
the back of a barrier.
Duo did the same on the other side, circling a barricaded unit and
peered out on the other side. He could see Trowa now on top of the
cement barrier that he chose and peered down at the soldier.
Cervantes was certain that they wouldn't come around but knew that
they had sensed something and so they'd probably be back sooner than
later.
-I have to get out of here before they do come back.
*click*
Cervantes could not move. A gun was resting at the nape of her neck.
-Boy are you gonna be angry when you find out that I'm a girl, she
thought.
Duo walked around with his gun pointed directly at her head. He
stared at the perpetrator and looked at Trowa for further instruction.
--"messenger of -Peace-," she remembered.- -
No one spoke. Trowa pulled off the hat covering the intruder's head.
It was as he suspected.
"Are you armed?"
Duo stared disbelieving at the girl in front of him.
-Why would a girl infiltrate our hangar?
"I come as a messenger of peace."
Trowa stared around her at Duo. Duo walked forward and frisked her
for any weapon but found none. He reached into her jacket and pulled
out the sheet of paper that was neatly folded and tucked away in its
hiding place. It was marked to "Mr. Heero Yuy".
At that moment, they were joined by the other three. All three had
guns pulled so that now this young -female- soldier had five guns
pointed directly at her head and chest. Duo handed the paper to
Heero never turning his eyes away from hers. Heero then handed it to
Wufei after looking at the name. It was a hope to throw her off.
"She claims to be a messenger of peace."
Heero heard Trowa's words and acknowledged it. Wufei opened the
letter and scanned it briefly before handing it back to Heero. He
took it and carefully unfolded it.
"Mr. Yuy," it read, "if you are reading these words then you have
caught my messenger. She has a message for you, I suggest you drop
your weapons and listen to what she has to say." He looked up at the
girl and down at the paper again. "-YF."
Heero dropped his weapon and told the others to follow.
"But she broke in…" Duo argued.
"Drop it, Duo."
All but one of the guns went down at Heero's use of Duo's name. If
it had been someone or something else he would have never said his
name out loud.
"Leave us alone," he spoke in an emotionless tone.
"But…"
Heero turned toward Quatre. His scowl sent chills through the young
man's body. Heero then turned to the others with the same eyes of
intimidation and returned his fixation on the girl. She stood
perfectly motionless, not even breathing it seemed, as Trowa's gun
was still at her head.
"Trowa… drop your gun."
-Trowa… do as your told and you won't get hurt, she thought. Her
urge was to turn around and let him have a piece of her that he
would not forget but the Commander's words echoed in her mind.
"Peace".
With reluctance he pulled his gun away and then took a step back.
She immediately turned around to view the eyes of the person she
never heard approach her and place his gun at her head.
Green eyes that stared down into her very soul stared back at the
hazel color of hers. She watched as he turned away and looked at
Heero. When he finally walked away he looked at Quatre.
"Didn't I tell you to go pick her up?"
Quatre flushed as the four left the building, doing as Heero had
asked.
Duo took one look back at him and the girl. He knew that she - or
someone that she was in representation of- was the "Friend."
******************
End Part II
*Author's Note: I am not sure if I want to end this 'chapter' like
this. I may subtitle the next part under "The Unknown Ally" but I am
not sure… so give me a moment and you will see what I have
done!!
13.
WARNING: There is not an -explicit- scene... but I guess it's called a lime/lemon scene? Well.. it does not go into full detail but I felt the need to place a warning anyway...ok!!:)
THE SIGN OF TROUBLE
Trowa sat in the hummer silently waiting Quatre's return. He had grown weary of Quatre's ever growing grief of regret and decided that he was going to take matters into his own hands. For that reason, he drove Quatre to the base himself and made him get out and go see Lucrezia.
As he waited, the episode at the hangar replayed in his mind. He and Duo's spotting the girl, Heero's words, the girl's words, Duo's acusation of her breaking in, the girl's reply, all of them with their guns at her, the girl... the girl. The girl.
He stared at the door of the unit Quatre walked into but did not see it. All he saw were her eyes. The hazel eyes that were quite mysterious and rather intriguing- if he thought to say for himself.
--"I come as a messenger of Peace."--
~~~~~ * ~~~~~
Heero circled the girl. Regardless of the words of the letter, he was still highly suspicious of her.
She stood at attention before this man whom her Commander greatly respected.
--"But why -him-, Commander? Why this... Heero Yuy?"
"Because he was the first of them and he has earned my undying respect. Since the beginning with Oz, During White Fang and his battle with the WASP, he has proved to be the Perfect Soldier. He is a soldier much like yourself- highly motivated to do nothing less than the maximum his job requires. He is dedicated to completing every given mission and has done nothing to show otherwise.
"Why -him- you ask? Because he is honorable, noteworty and a very respectable young man. -Him- because of his undying love for Miss Relena Peacecraft. A love so great that instead of fighting her orders to send them and all other soldiers of war off the earth, he complied.
"He deserves nothing but my highest respect and one day when you meet him, he will deserve nothing less than yours and I should expect that you would honor this request even if you hold only what -I- say to any amount of regard."--
Cervantes remembered the words clearly and could see truly that he was worthy of nothing but the highest respect. It would have been easier to talk back to her Commander than to not give this man the respect he deserved. It was a lesson she learned the hard way.
"Who are you and who do you represent?"
Heero's eyes narowed at her. He could see that she was not an ordinary soldier. Perhaps an understudy to someone as Seita was to Lucrezia. But unlike this young woman before him, Seita had trained some at an academy. This girl did not appear to have such military training. It was rather an odd thought. It was apparent that she had some military background but as far as the training went? She had a personal trainer.
-No... not your average soldier.
"Ah, but Sir... Before I give that I am under authorization to inform my Commander of my being captured."
His eyes were cold on her. They dug a hole into the very deepest part of her being. Even though she could feel a hostile rage building in him, she chose to stand her ground.
"Fair enough. Your name first, then."
"My call," she replied.
She made a swift move but was soon stilled by his menacing grip.
--"Peace"--
"You have penetrated our hangar with interest of whatever it is you wish to find. I think we deserve to know your -name-."
--"Highest respect"--
Heero let her go and stared at her with gripping coldness.
"Your -Name-," he demanded.
She met his glare and matched it with exceeding defiance.
"By what right do -you- keep me from my orders?"
Heero held up the piece of paper. He opened it and read it to her.
"She has a message for you. I suggest you... listen to what she has to say."
-These- were not her orders! Her orders were to inform the Commander through Lieutenant Sierra and then prepare the announcement of her CO's arrival. For some reason she chose to block out the rest of her orders... "You will -need- to convince them that you are there to assist them."
"Your -NAME-" he demanded once more.
"My -CALL- Sir."
She was failing miserably and felt certain that the CO would hear about it. This would not be a good thing.
Heero grabbed her by the arm and pushed her out of the bay and into the field.
"Sir..." her voice became shaky. She knew she had done wrong. "Mr. Yuy..."
Heero stopped and looked at her. "Where is the rest of your gear?"
She nodded toward a giant unit used for storing tools and other uses of mechanincs. Her single piece of gear -a small back pack- had been stashed into a compartment of the massive box. Behind a number of encased tools, Heero found what she had hidden. He pulled it out in her presence and dumped its belongings onto the ground. Nothing of consequence caught his eye so he left her there to pick it up.
Moments later she caught up with him.
"Mr. Yuy... please... I have acted with much disrespect toward you but it is my -duty- Sir, to obey my commands!"
Heero did not turn around. Her determination to settle the wrong was impressive but if she was such an obedient subordinate, her actions would have been different.
"I... Sir..."
He stooped dead in his tracks and brought himself to look at her.
"You are too late. Should have thought about that before you decided to disobey -my- commands. You are on my land now and -you- are overpowered here. Right now, your
'Commander' -has- no power here."
He turned away and continued his way back to the house. He could feel her close behind and could sense her struggling with herself concerning her behavior.
* ~~~~~~~ * ~~~~~~~ *
"Your Excellency... I have the file back on Kya Reider and I -assure- you... There is -No- mistake."
Her Excellency stared at the men outside who climbed all over the mobil suits, cleaning and inspecting them.
"Bring her to me."
"Yes, Ma'am."
-So they want to send another child, do they? We'll just see about that.
~~~~~ * ~~~~~
Commander, we are reaching earth's atmosphere and have also received word that Cervantes has lost communication."
The CO stared at the earth and reflected back on the previous four days. A stop on L4 gave them a brief meeting with the Widow Marinova and an even briefer still with General Gardina.
--"Send word to Carter that I will once again be by his side."
"Yes, Commander."--
A two day stay on L1 refreshed them for their mission, refueled them for safety and sent them on their way. The journey's movement so far brought them to this point in time.
"Commander, what should we do?"
"She will contact me when she figures out that the Gundams are blocking her transmission."
"Commander... do you think she's been captured?"
The view of the earth was breathtaking.
"I'm most certain of it. The appropriate question, however, is -not- if she has been captured, but more... is she doing what I have commanded and treating them with respect?"
Dox observed his commander, eager to understand. The word's spoken were more of a declaration than an interrogotory statement.
"But Commander... why should -she- treat -them- with respect if they have her captive?"
The Commander faced Dox with a look of high disregard. "Because those were my -orders-, Sergeant Major."
"Y- Yes... Commander..."
-Soon enough, Gentleman... sigh... soon enough.
~~~~~ * ~~~~~
Lucrezia and Quatre had been stnding in front of the hummer for some time. Trowa observed them carefully, listening to their words.
"Lucrezia... I -wanted- to see you but I didn't think you would see me..."
"Quatre... you are the one who walked away, -not- me! Why wouldn't I have seen you?"
Quatre sighed as he stared at the ground. "Because I'm a fool."
Lucrezia smiled. "Quatre Reberba Winner... that is about the -wisest- thing you have said to me throughout this entire thing!"
Quatre's blue eyes sparkled, Lucrezia's glimmered with tears and laughter. Trowa found himself pictureing the Winner children- blond hair and blue eyes. He laughed to himself.
"We have to get back," Trowa announced.
"Join us?" Quatre stared lovingly into Lucrezia's eyes.
"Honored."
~~~~~ * ~~~~~
Kya Reider stood before Her Excellency as requested. As others had been intimidated by the woman, she was not. She gathered that the others were frightened enough -for- her.
"Who gave you orders, Soldier?"
"-You- did, Highness."
Kya's tone was hard and highly disciplined yet in the same manner, rather recalcitrant.
"-I-? Not to mention that Warden was not much older, but do you think it would by -my- order to send a fifteen year old -child- to do a job that even a -twenty- year old could not complete?"
"Excuse me, Highness, but I dare say that Warden and Pitt lost concentration and sight of their mission. Had you sent me in the first place I would have been back by now with all -six- of their heads!"
"Six, you say?"
"Yes, Your Excellency. Do you think I would stop shy of taking the head of Relena Peacecraft?"
-Indeed, I do not! "Reider... what is this fancy you have with these men and Miss Peacecraft?"
"I have no such thing, Highness." Kya was irritated. "Now forgive me, but... are you going to let me go or not?"
The audacity of this child was great. And due to it's intensity, Her Excellency stepped up and slapped her in an effort to lessen the degree of arrogance the young woman imposed.
"You will hold your tongue in my presence, Young Woman. -And- you will show -respect- to my authority."
The girl was burning with anger at the words of this older woman... this authority.
"-My- family DIED because of them, Your Highness- and if I have to go on my own..." she took a deep breath, "- SO BE IT-!"
Kya stood her ground, not retreating, not surendering; only glaring at this woman who declared herself "Excellent" above all. Excellent above the rights of peace, above the rights of the law-- above -all- other military power. Excellent by the right given her by one man.
It was this woman, Her Excellency, that was going to bring war back to the nations of the world and colonies. Kya wanted to bring war to Repudiation and deprive the small rock of its most prized possession. Unknown to her was that the same desire was hled by Her Excellency
-and- the man who put her there.
"Dis- miss," Her Excellency insisted harshly.
Kya left the room in muffled silence. Her Excellency was distressed over the matter. It was time to call in the troops. Time now had come to call upon the one who gave her this title and position.
-This is a most unexpected turn around, I must say. -Most- unexpected.
14.
THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS:
SO MUCH TO UNDERSTAND
Two days came and went. Heero made no inquiry of the girl, nor did she of him. The others left her alone at Heero's request allowing for the maids to look after her. She hadn't been presented to any of the ladies as of yet but they were aware of her presence.
"I don't like it one bit and there's no rule in the books that says I have to!"
Lucrezia and Sally laughed at Relena's unsophisticated behavior.
"Relena... they don't even know her -name-! She's only there because her Superior sent a message with her saying she was someone of peace." Lucrezia replied to her statement of objection.
"And besides... from what Wufei tells me..." Sally gave a mischievous grin.
"What!" Lucrezia chided excitedly.
"It would appear that -she- has Quite the inclination to carry a desire for a certain -green-eyed- boy!" Sally arched her eyebrows revealing her mystery.
"Trowa?" Relena exclaimed.
Lucrezia was flabbergasted. -Trowa? "Well does he hold her in the same regard?"
Sally shrugged at Lucrezia's interrogation. "Wufei says he can't -stand- her!"
They all giggled at their little trail of gossip. It was somewhat of a cute thought to imagine Trowa finally having someone. But it was not a lasting thought.
* ~~~~~~~ * ~~~~~~~ *
Cervantes sat down at her window. Heero and the others were kind to her.
-If you can call ignoring me for two days kind, she thought. But they -did- let me stay here... and they haven't been... -un-kind to me...
Excepting her phone call, they had given her all that she desired. Space and a female -or two- companion. It had been two days since her capture. She had yet to inform her Commander. When she -did- notify Lieutenant Sierra, she knew things were not going to go over well at all.
The towel she used in drying her hair was soft. It reminded her of home. Home where she was under her Commander's lead and only had those orders to complete. It was hard being here in this gargantuan house. All the stairs and rooms and four floors and everything else- not to mention the fact that the two female maids came from one of their women's house because
-this- was a place for men! She missed the comfort of her CO's care.
Her thoughts dissipated at the sound of a knock on her door. Immediately she stood up to greet her visitor. The door opened halfway without revealing the occupant standing there.
"Your presence is requested down stairs."
The door closed leaving her staring bewildered at it. Trowa was always so distant to her. There was something that she could not pinpoint but was sure that it was as unfamiliar to her about him as it was to him about her. As far as his presentation toward her went, she contended that he was greatly lacking in the area of congeniality.
-Why thank you, Mr. Antisocial... Moth!
Only minutes had passed before she found herself standing on the first floor. She stood quietly waiting. Seconds passed... minutes... long minutes...
"Ahem..."
She turned around and looked up. Duo was standing at the top of the stairs. His stance demonstrated that she needed to be up there instead of where she stood. Hot cheeked and red faced she ascended the stairs and stepped past an annoyed Mr. Duo- as she had called him out of respect. The only one she called by name -without- a title was Trowa. Without hesitation she averted her eyes to anywhere but his.
Duo directed her into the study where the others awaited her arrival.
"Trowa," Duo snapped in reference to his directions to her.
"Humph. It's not my fault of she hasn't a clue," he replied snidely.
"Enough," Heero spoke as a warning.
Cervantes stared at Heero sitting behind his desk. He moved the phone toward her.
"Make your call."
She moved to do so but stopped shy.
"I can't."
Both Heero -and- Duo became further agitated with her. Wufei made his usual derogatory statement about females in the military and Quatre merely sighed; he too was becoming irritated with her.
"Why not," Heero questioned.
"Perhaps she doesn't feel presentable," Trowa sneered peering at her freshly braided, still wet hair.
"Trowa--"
Trowa stared at Heero and then placed his eyes on her. Her auburn hair was braided down to the small of her back. A French braid that held tightly enough to let even the shorter strands stay in place. It was almost as long as Duo's but shy of about half a foot. Her eyes were beautifully unwelcoming, he thought. The color was intense but the emotion hiding behind them was that of pure frigidness. He turned away.
"Why -not-" Heero inquired again.
"Because, Sir. I have failed to give you my name."
Heero folded his hands in front of him. It was hard, but he tried exceedingly anyway to not become incoherent with a grievous anger. He sighed. "Your -name- then."
Duo smacked his tongue in frustration. "Oh brother," he said. A sharp glance from Heero bottled the rest of his comment.
"My name is Karizma Delanie Cervantes and I come as a messenger of peace from my Commanding officer from within the L3 Colony Cluster."
-Charisma, thought Trowa. -How fitting a name for someone so... -uninspiring-.
"Your call... Karizma Delanie Cervantes of the L3 Colony Cluster. -NOW-!" Heero pressed her.
He was far more intimidating than her CO was. Unlike the Commander -whom she respected to a great degree- this Mr. Heero Yuy made her jump.
With deft fingers, she moved quickly in making the call to the Lieutenant. When he came on line the picture was a little fuzzy. When he began in on her, she wished his voice was fuzzy also.
"Cervantes... where have you been?"
Karizma looked at Heero and then back to the screen her eyes went. She was almost reluctant to say as the man had displayed obvious anger.
"Detained, Lieutenant."
"Very well. You have orders now to report to Commander in Chief Drake Carter." His eyes were cold on her and his tone was harsh.
She had almost begun to wish that she had asked for a private call. With -this- news, there was no keeping anything silent.
Heero and Trowa were the only ones unmoved by this man's announcement. Even Karizma seemed nervous, Heero noted.
"B- But.. Sir... I have..."
"-You- will do as you are -told-, Cervantes! And -He- is expecting you... so lets not keep him waiting, shall we?"
"Yes, Sir, Lieutenant."
When the screen went blank, Heero turned if off and sat back in his chair rubbing his chin.
"Quatre," he stared Karizma into a seated position. "Can you manage to bring Captain Noin here? It seems we have some business for her to assist us with."
Quatre rose form his chair and left the room. Soon after, Wufei followed as did Trowa. Duo and Heero stared at each other for a moment, both contemplating what they should do with her in the meantime.
Karizma suddenly found her finger nails enticingly interesting. She rubbed the smoothness and lined the edges carefully. She imagined having long fingernails and decided that it would add to the loveliness of her hands.
-Conceited indeed, she thought and looked up as she realized two pairs of eyes on her.
~~~~~ * ~~~~~
"Commander... Lt. Sierra is on the line."
The commander stared out the window of the hotel room. They'd been on earth for two days making plans to confront this nemesis to the Gundam pilots.
"Thank you, Dox. Leave me if you would."
Dox did just that without further delay.
"Yes, Lieutenant?"
"Cervantes called, Commander."
"I see. And did you give her my orders?"
"Yes."
"Very well then. Forward this message on to Commander in Chief, Drake Carter." The man on the screen stood ready to take down the message. "In exactly three days, twelve hours and forty-one minutes, I will be needing his assistance in protecting those five young men.
"Now, Lieutenant... this assistance -does- require -all- of you," in referrence to those on the base there near L3. "And, keep in mind that those pilots will -Not- stand aside and let you fight for them."
"Commander, I don't..."
"-Expect- them, Lieutenant. Expect them to defend themselves, whatever the cost," was the reply.
"What about... Miss Peacecraft, Commander?"
A look away from the computer delivered the words. "Do what you can but -remember-," the commander stressed, "She is -their- mission. Mr. Yuy will do his job in keeping up with his protection of her, -you- make sure your job is done in protecting -him- and the others."
"Yes, Commander."
-What a way to give thanks.
A picture of the five young pilots had been fixed onto a date of the calendar. The attack was
-made- to be at exactly twelve noon on Thanksgiving Day. It did not give them, or the Gundam pilots, or any of their other allies a great deal of time but ever since peace was being destroyed, everyone was training for this day yet to come.
~~~~~ * ~~~~~
"Where is she?"
"She's gone, Highness. And so is Tremma."
-Damn! Her Excellency slammed her fist on the table causing the pens and other objects there upon it to jump and rattle.
"Your Excellency..." the man stammered for words. He stared in awe and fear of the other officer who was now standing in the room.
"-What-?" she demanded of her secretary.
"Leave us, please."
The soldier did so immediately, not wanting to be in the middle of his reprimanding ceremony. Upon the departure of the man, the officer walked up to the young woman and held her face in his hands.
"Sir," she called.
He tilted his head in a less than formal manner. "Come now. We have been through too much to be so proper and formal, have we not?"
He sighed and stepped away to the window. "You called and I am here. Are things still set as planned?"
She sighed. "Reider is gone and I have yet to send Bordman."
"Ah yes..." he replied. "Reider... the child. Was not Warden but a year or so her senior?" He brushed off the question and sighed of great relief. "Take no worry. Worse comes to worse, our little battle begins earlier than planned- which is not entirely a bad thing. As for Bordman... I took liberty of sending him myself. I think -Captain- Noin should be delighted to see him."
* ~~~~~~~ * ~~~~~~~ *
At the end of the day, Quatre and Lucrezia sat in silence, observing Seita as she embarked on her test of fencing with one of the more experienced in Lucrezia's command. She'd become quite the valiant with a sword- as had Relena, Lucrezia pointed out.
"But only since Heero finally gave his 'blessing'," Quatre laughed.
It had only been a few days, but he gave her the "ok" to train with Wufei so long as she kept it to swordplay and not gunplay. Relena had protested that she could handle a gun rather well but lost her wits when -in a mock situation- Heero relieved her of it before she even realized what was happening.
Heero stood in the doorway of Relena's study. The room was quiet and dark. Relena had yet to return from wherever she was. He decided to walk down the hall to her room and wait there. To his surprise, and concern- rather, annoyance with the servants who had not noticed her return; she lay sleeping on her bed. She was lying across the comforter as though she had just plopped herself down and went right to sleep. The soft glow of her desk lamp gave off just enough light for him to gaze at her beauty.
He took quiet steps to her side and looked down. She'd been writing. As quietly as he could, he picked up the sheets of paper, board and pen and placed them on the desk. In so doing, he caught a glimpse of the words she wrote. "I love you, Heero Yuy."
A quick click of the lamp left him standing in the darkness of the fading light outside. He watched Relena move into a different position and then he took a blanket and covered her with it. After a moment of consideration, he took off his shoes, belt and watch and crawled underneath the blanket beside her. With great ease, he took her into his arms and closed his eyes, feeling her snuggle up to him as though she knew he were there and had been waiting for it.
Sally sat on her bed needing to cry but could not. Wufei squatted in front of her with his hands on her knees.
"Don't you know that I am doing this because I -have- to and not because I -want- to? I mean... yes, I want you to be safe but if this is the only way... I have to do it!"
Wufei tried to look into her eyes but she wouldn't allow it. At his every attempt, she either closed her eyes or looked away.
"Sal?"
"I don't understand," her voice wavered.
Wufei stood up. He was frustrated about everything. The upcoming battle that he -knew was inevitable, Sally's pain, as well as his own clouded his concentration.
"I don't know how to help you, Sally."
"Then go," she finally said and stood up.
"Sally..." he protested her command.
"No, Wufei. Just go."
He walked over to her where she stood in font of the window.
"Sal," he spoke as he grabbed her by the shoulders.
Her heart palpitated in her chest as he touched her. She tried to resist his drawing her near but could not. He wrapped her in his arms and held her close.
"Sally... I--"
"No, Wufei. Don't tell me because you are going to leave me and I can't take the thought of losing you."
He sighed. It wasn't that he was going to leave her or that she was going to lose him. It was that he needed to concentrate and the only way he knew how to do that was to leave her side. He would return when the time was right... he had to.
"Then I'll show you," he said and turned her around to face him.
Before she could answer or give any refusal, he kissed her fully on the lips. He pulled her closer still and then lifted her off her feet with gentle strength and carried her to the bed where he laid her down.
"Wufei..."
He gazed into her soft eyes, silencing her words. He leaned down and kissed her once, and then twice. A third time still and then she pulled him down to her and kissed him back. After only seconds of hesitation, all her former inhibited desires unloaded themselves into her hands. She immediately removed his shirt and watched as his bare chest came into view. She rubbed his soft, perfect skin and leaned up to kiss his chest and neck. He allowed her to flip him over and straddle him. He reached up ready to help her out of hers but she stopped him.
"Why are we doing this?"
He looked up at her with love in his eyes. She moved to lie down beside him. He leaned up on his elbow and looked at her. She watched as his finger traced the neck of her shirt.
"Because I love you and I don't know how else to show you other than by walking away."
She turned her head to look at him. Wufei pushed her hair aside.
"I love you, Chang Wufei. And I don't want you to do this because you feel obligated to somehow 'show me' that you love me."
Wufei rubbed the side of her face and then rested his palm on her cheek, letting her feel the heat that radiated from him.
"Do you think I feel obligated to make love to you, or do you think I just want to bed you to ease my own mind?"
She knew these were not fighting words and he was truly sincere. his eyes were incapable of lying or even hiding emotion.
"I think that there is nothing you want more than for me to know how much you love me."
"And you are right." He grabbed her hand and held it gently. "But please don't think that I think having sex with you is the only way I think -or- the only thing I want from you."
She smiled teasingly at him. "And why not?"
He took her into his arms and held her tight. Gently and passionately, he kissed her once again.
Trowa sat on the balcony staring out into the rising darkness. Duo lay back on the chair staring at the stars. He reveled at the fact that for once Trowa didn't go off to be near his Gundam.
"What're you thinking about, Trowa?"
"Nothing."
Duo laughed. "Too quick an answer, my man."
Trowa glared at him over his shoulder and then turned back around.
"What business do you think Cervantes... Kari---zma, had with Carter?"
Trowa tensed at the sound of her name. Duo's usage of dragging it out caused him to shutter. It was like hearing fingernails on a chalkboard.
"When it concerns me, I'm sure I will find out."
Duo held his thought. He could clearly understand that Trowa did not care for the girl.
-Yeah, right!
"Have you had any more nightmares, Duo?"
-Come to think of it... "Now that you mention it... I'm having -one- recurring dream."
Trowa stared off into the distance. "Is it about Hilde?"
There was a painful thought.
"No... not exactly. I mean... she's in it but..." he paused trying to figure out how to articulate his words. "Trowa..." he couldn't think of the right words to say.
Trowa sat silently, patiently waiting for Duo's words.
"I know this is going to sound -really- stupid... but I keep dreaming about Dorothy. Ever since that first letter came... there's something that keeps lingering." He looked over at Trowa.
"Like what," Trowa asked still not facing Duo.
-Like what? Hmmm... "Like the look on her face when Quatre took her away."
"Do you still blame yourself for that?"
Trowa finally turned to look at his friend. It had been too long for this to come up now.
"Sometimes... I think that if I hadn't have said anything to Quatre, she would still be alive... maybe still at Concord but still alive."
"And you blame yourself for Hilde, too... don't you?"
Duo could sense Trowa's disapproval at his feelings.
"No... she did that on her own. I sometimes feel responsible for Dorothy but I know that it was for the best..."
"Anyway, Duo... it was Quatre who made the decision to take her. You should not beat yourself up over it... it's been way too long to feel guilty about it now."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Anyway... I keep hearing this voice that calls my name saying 'Don't leave me' and sometimes I see a snake..." he shuttered, " or I can feel a gun at my head. But there is something new. Every time I hear Heero's voice remind me of how mortal I am, I see the words 'Kill remaining Gundam pilots'."
Trowa looked away momentarily and then turned back to Duo. That -was- kind of strange.
"I've only had one thought on that," Duo continued, "what does 'remaining' mean?"
It was an excellent question. None of them were able to decipher the meaning.
15.
WARNING: Again, there is not an -explicit- scene... it does not go into full detail but I felt the need to place a warning anyway...ok!!:)
A MATTER OF TIME
The Continuance of the Clock
Heero woke with a jump. Some time in the night he had lost his shirt and ended up under the covers. Relena lay beside him, still sleeping only she was now in her nightgown. Had he missed something in his moment of sleep?
-How could I miss something like that?
He stared down at her. She was beautiful. There was no way in all of Hell that he would have forgotten that he had made love to her. It was a moment that he was working up to slowly.
The time on his watch read four thirty-eight. He needed to get back to his place and start going through information he received from Cervantes and looking over the letters he -and- Duo received to see if there was something he was missing. Somehow, all that information seemed meaningless at this moment. He was reluctant to leave her side.
"Sweetness... I love you," he whispered softly.
He sat on the edge of the bed and strapped on his watch. As he latched it closed, he felt a soft warm touch on his back. It was enough to make him shiver.
"Are you leaving, Heero?"
Her voice enticed him to look at her. The glow of her skin and sparkle in her eyes called to him, inviting him to her.
"Yes, Love."
She smiled playfully.
"But, Heero," she giggled, "you're supposed to sneak out -after- we have sex!"
His face became bright red that she could even see it in the half-light of morning. It was so intense that she wished she could recall her words and make it so she had said nothing.
"Heero... I..."
He put his finger on her lips and then bent down and kissed her.
"One day," he said as he pulled away. "But not today."
She smiled at his respect for her. He was truly honorable.
"I love you," she whispered.
"And I love you... Relena Peacecraft."
~~~~~ * ~~~~~
Karizma had found her way back to the pilots' home late in the evening. Her meeting with Carter had left her feeling drained and depressed. She had knocked on the door for almost ten minutes before Weidam finally opened it.
Now she was waking up in the semi-warmth of this house made a home by five bachelors. It was not a comforting feeling. She would much rather have been in the home of Drake and Ellen Carter but the pilots were -her- mission.
After a half-hour of stretching exercises, she found herself in the kitchen looking in the refrigerator. She decided that a cup of milk would suit her just fine.
Quatre entered the kitchen, eyeing her thoughtfully, but hesitantly, before pouring himself a glass of his own. Neither said anything, though he was sure she was itching to and she was certain that he didn't want to engage in conversation.
Trowa stood in the doorway of Duo's room. Duo had been up half the night and now sat at his desk scribbling something onto a sheet of paper.
"What are you doing?"
Duo ignored Trowa's persistent bombarding of questions and continued to write.
"Duo... you have been up half the night... Scribbling... I could hear you down in -My- room!
-What- are you doing?"
Duo finally looked up. His face was clear and calm as Trowa's was smothered with annoyance.
Heero walked in to the kitchen, eyeing both the occupants inside. They felt relief upon his entrance but quickly lost it at his somewhat sardonic gaze. As he grabbed whatever he was after, the tension resumed upon his leaving. The silence manipulated the two young people once again.
Finally Karizma decided it would be best if she departed back to her room. She topped off her cup of milk and headed for the odor.
Trowa, finally exhausting himself at questioning Duo, made his way down the stairs. He stopped briefly to inform Heero that Duo was in serious need of a shaking and headed for the kitchen.
Karizma took a small glance at Quatre as she opened the door and ran directly into Trowa, spilling her milk all over his clothing.
Quatre did all he could to keep from lauging. Duo had just come out of his room and made it to the second floor where Heero stood. Both looked down at the commotion at the kitchen door. Weidam, Blake and the other servants came out of hiding to view also.
"Why don't you watch where you're going," Trowa yelled.
"Well put a window in the door and -next- time I'll see you coming," she returned with a fury.
"Go away," he grumbled as he removed his shirt. When he turned around he saw the others up stairs -and- the servants gaping at him. "What" he yelled, throwing his shirt at Weidam.
Duo looked at Heero and smiled.
"Well... looks like he needs more of a shaking than I do," he said cheerfully and finished his way to the first floor.
Heero stared somewhat bothered as he watched them.
Trowa brushed past him and took the stairs two at a time all the way to the third floor before disappearing into his room. Duo stepped far aside from Karizma as she had a fresh cup of milk in her hands.
She handed him a dirty look and fled back to her room. Heero watched as she ignored his glare at her.
"-What-?" She yelled at him and began taking the steps to the third floor.
Heero stared at her with indifferent eyes and said nothing.
"Ugh!" She stormed up the stairs, mumbling to herself and headed down the hall to her room. "Stupid men have no sense... staring at me..." she rambled on just as Trowa exited his room, clad now with a fresh pair of jeans and a clean shirt. He watched her, waiting for her to pass. "Show respect... I'll show them respect..." she took note of Trowa's eyes on her. "Is there a
-problem-?" she yelled at him.
Trowa almost flinched at her but suddenly became very cool. "You know... there are doctors to help with the voices in your head."
Quite composed and sure of himself, he stepped past her and headed for the stairs.
"Ugh!"
In her room she kneeled in front of the bed and cried.
~~~~~ * ~~~~~
Six Forty-Five a.m.
Wufei opened his eyes. He lay alone in Sally's bed. Preoccupied with the events of the night, he didn't notice her come in.
"Tea, Love?"
He sat up and stared at her, charmed by her beauty.
"Thank you."
He took the cup she offered and watched as she sat down. With a swift tug he pulled her near and kissed her gently. She smiled and laid down on the bed, resting her head in his lap. The touch of his hand on her hair was soothing but not enough to keep the tears from falling.
"Do you regret last night?" He stroked her hair gently, drinking from his cup as he waited for her reply. She shook her head. It was not her desire for him to see her crying.
"You?" she asked quietly.
"Not at all," he replied. It was not -his- desire for her to see him feeling so weak. "So why are you crying?"
She sat up immediately and stared into his dark eyes.
"I..." she wiped her tears and turned away.
Wufei put his cup down and reached for her. In an effortless move, she was now leaning against his chest flooding with tears.
"Sally?"
-Why are women so weak? The one thing I cannot do is help her to stop crying!
"Chang..." He melted at the sound of her voice. "I love you." She looked up at him with a tear-streaked face. "I love you."
He stared at her not knowing what action to take. He could feel tears in his own eyes.
"Marry me, Sally Po."
They were both taken aback by the words but he remained firm in his gaze at her.
"Why Wufei... where'd -that- come from?"
He took her hand and kissed it. Looking deep into her eyes, he placed her hand on his chest over his heart.
"Here."
She leaned up and kissed him softly on his cheek. "I love you," she said as she placed a hand on the side of his face. She kissed his forehead. "I love you," she looked into his eyes and kissed the tip of his nose.
Wufei closed his eyes and placed his hand on hers. He felt her move back as she straddled him. His eyes opened and he stared into hers.
"I love you," she whispered before kissing his lips with great tenderness, gently pulling him closer to her. Her lips on his sent him writhing in sweet agony. "I love you," she breathed again, "and I want to."
He opened his eyes and pushed her away ever so slightly.
"Marry me."
Their eyes met and locked. He held her in that position until she replied.
"Yes, Wufei! I want nothing more... I will marry you!" Her answer came through an array of tears and a smile.
With her words he pulled her close to him and led her into the act that she was reluctant to go through with during the night.
Last night it was a decision he respected. He fell asleep with her in his arms, leaving her sexually untouched. But this morning it was a decision they embraced together. In peace and in love they dived into this great sea of emotion once and again.
~~~~~ * ~~~~~
Sentiel Bordman sat on his bed. Late the previous evening he arrived on Repudiation and was assigned a room in the barracks by some unnoteworthy person.
He knew his mission but was distracted that he hadn't been sent out by her Excellency's orders. The room was silent accept for a small staticky rasping noise. It took him a moment to figure out that it was his Com unit.
-Who... no one is supposed to contact me here!
He scrambled to his bag and dug for the small device. The rasping got louder as it became nearer to the surface of his bag.
"... (static)... click click... Bordman! Do you copy- over?"
The voice was somewhat unfamiliar to him. No one knew that he was there- he was almost afraid to pick it up.
"... Bordman!... Sentiel... it's Reider... come in, over!"
-Reider? Didn't she... his eyes widened at the continued thought.
Quickly he picked up the call telling her to switch channels. Unaware that the frequency they chose was being picked up somewhere far away, he took her call.
After almost ten minutes of arguing with her, he disconnected from her. He was baffled at her display of action and wondered if he should report to earth about it. He decided that it would be best if he began his mission. It was already late in the morning and technically, he should have been half way over.
The battle was going to begin sooner than expected. It was not something he wanted to happen but he was involved. He would complete his mission as he was commanded but he would not like any bit of it. It had been almost seven years since he last saw Lucrezia Noin. She had been his idle and now... he sighed.
-Lets get this ball moving.
~~~~~ * ~~~~~
Ten Nineteen a.m.
Drake Carter stared at the message he received only twenty three hours ago. In two days those pilots were going to be attacked and he would have to initiate troops into battle. It was something he was training his soldiers to do, something Marinova and Gardina were training
-their- soldiers to do at the words of High Minister Tarran almost two years ago. Something that neither of the men involved in producing the militaristic power that now existed hoped would ever become a reality.
His meeting with Karizma Cervantes proved worthy of the information he received from the Commander and that of what he knew of the pilots. At the same time, it sent him into the terrors of pre war.
He prepared to call in Lucrezia Noin but was interrupted with a great surprise.
"Enter," he called in response to a hard knock on his door.
A young man stepped in dressed in attire fit for a prince.
~~~
Ten Twenty One a.m.
Lucrezia's eyes widened at the young man the corporal presented to her.
"Bordman! What are you doing here?"
He stood saluting her. "Captain."
"At ease," she said. She was surprised to see him still in military uniform. After WASP, she thought that he had retired the rank and had started a new life.
He dropped his hand and stood at parade rest handing her his orders. It was menacing to wait for the opportunity to begin his mission.
Lucrezia studied his record and billet and set it down on her desk.
"Very well, Major." She extended her arm to him. He took the offering. "Welcome aboard." She yelled for the young corporal to come in. Upon his entrance gave instructions that Bordman was to be led to a Special's unit under her command.
"Yes, Ma'am," the corporal replied and led Sentiel away.
At their departure she picked up her phone and called to the Men's place. "Come on..." she said tapping her fingers on the desk. She knew something was wrong. Sentiel Bordman was not a serious kind of person. Serious enough, as they all were, when it came to battle but to be so cold in checking in? It was not like him. Not to mention that it had been late in the day before he chose to make himself known.
"Duo here, what's your mission in life?"
Duo smiled affectionately when he saw her staring back.
"Duo... where's Heero?"
At first he thought her sedate appearance was nothing more than "up all night, can't wake up" tiredness. "Well! See if I greet -You- with a smile next time," he joked.
"Duo please! I don't have time for this... where is he?"
Duo snapped into business when he realized she was serious. "Hold on."
Heero had been in his room all morning, searching through papers, going over -all- the information he had, reading and re-reading and still again. There was nothing that told him what was about to happen. Nothing that gave him warning... nothing accept...
He took out an envelope from his desk and another and the last letter he received before Karizma showed up.
--"It is for my affection of peace that I send the following information. Unfortunately, my hopes for peace have been wiped clean by pressures of an upcoming war."
He looked down at the two envelopes. Both of them were envelopes that had contained one or another letter to Duo.
-Oh God...
A knock came to his door.
"What," he called.
Duo cleared his throat just as Heero opened the door most disturbed and obviously unpleased. But there was something more registering in his eyes. Something that caused him to look almost... weak.
"Captain Noin is on the line."
Duo stepped aside in concern and watched Heero quickly make his way to the study. They both entered only to face a blank screen. Immediately he dialed back to her office. When she came on screen, her expression was sheer and transparent.
"Mr. Yuy," she said in as cordial a tone as she could muster, "I will have to return your call... Sir."
Heero disconnected and walked over to the window.
"What's wrong, Heero?"
Duo walked up behind him observing the area as Heero was doing. There was nothing.
~~~
Karizma could sense that something was not right. She left her room unnoticed and made her way out of the house and across the hill to Relena's home.
Ten Twenty-Nine a.m.
Quatre watched Karizma cautiously make her way up the hill. He observed her moves as she continually surveyed the grounds around her.
-Hmm... what have we got, Miss Cervantes. Are you here to kill or protect?
He made a move for the door barely missing its swing when Heero entered followed by Trowa and Duo.
"Where's Wufei?"
Quatre shrugged, surprised at Heero's urgency.
"Where's the girl," Heero inquired.
Quatre pointed to Relena's.
"-Damn-!" Heero's sudden burst caused the others to jump slightly. "Quatre... go to Relena's, Trowa... get Sally on line and see if she knows where he is."
"Knows where who is," Wufei asked. "What's going on?"
They all stopped for a moment, forgetting -all- that was going on.
"What?" Wufei looked at them confused at their fixation on him.
"You Dog!" Duo smirked and patted him on the back. "Hope it was worth it, it may be the only chance you get," he chuckled.
-They know? How?
"It's ok," Heero said with a decisive tone. Just as he was about to go into detail about his information, he was interrupted.
"Yeah," Trowa added. "Heero always said it was ok to act on your emotions!"
Quatre could not believe his eyes. He had never seen a bit mark so big before.
"Now..." Heero began but again, was interrupted.
"So... did it hurt?" Quatre's eyes were full of question and sympathy pains at the sight.
Wufei choked on his breath. "-Excuse me-?" His eyes became relentless as did his voice.
-How -dare- they ask me such things!
Heero could see that he was not going to win this so he sighed and joined in the conversation that took precedence over his own news.
"He's referring to the bite on your..." it wasn't exactly on his neck or chest, more so on the shoulder. He improvised for a lack of better words. "Um... collar bone," he pointed.
"Yeah... I always heard that there were bats on this place," Duo jested.
Wufei became bright with embarrassment. His shirt did not cover it as he had hoped.
"Well," Heero began again. "Now that you're here..."
"Yeah and we all know where you've been," Duo still teased, dodging Heero's wayward glance.
"Ahem... now that you're here... we have another problem."
Heero went into explanation about Lucrezia's call and Quatre informed them of his spotting Karizma going to Relena's place.
Trowa stared out the window into the fields as he listened to Heero's instructions.
"Quatre... go to Relena's, see what the deal is there. Trowa, Wufei- you two go to the hangar and Duo, you come with me to the base."
Quatre objected. "Please, Heero... Let me got the base."
Heero looked at him and then faced Duo.
"I'll go," Trowa said.
Wufei was getting irritated. "This is not time to be picky! If what Heero says is true, we are -all- in trouble! Let's go!" he demanded.
"Fine! Trowa... to Relena's, Duo with Wufei... Quatre..." they all headed for their separate ways before Heero turned sharply to Trowa.
"Your -LIFE- Trowa!"
Trowa's green eyes reflected his word that regardless of what happened he would protect Relena with all he had to give.
-You better, Heero thought as he and Quatre ran to the hummer. Duo and Wufei were already on their way to the hangar.
Trowa had been highly suspicious of Cervantes. He didn't care about the appearance of peace she presented. It didn't even matter to him that Heero semi trusted her. All that mattered was that he was going to get to the bottom of the facade that he envisioned her carrying.
* ~~~~~ * ~~~~~ *
"Commander, we just got word that one Sentiel Bordman has been set up on the base on Repudiation and was sent by the orders of..."
"Let me guess," offered the Commander. "...Zechs-... Marquise..."
There was a brief silence.
"Y-yes... Commander. And I intercepted this transmission earlier today," Dox said as he pushed a button and waited for the speakers to produce the sound of his tape. Seconds later they were listening to a brief communication between two unknown soldiers.
There was a great deal of interference but the Commander managed to make a vital part of it out.
"Replay it Dox."
He did.
"...-ot...-et... -ait... -ders..."
"(static)... -o!...-scraft... -ies... -day..."
"Peacecraft dies today."
"Commander... are you sure?"
A pound on the desk assured him of the answer.
"Damn it! Get Carter -and- Gardina on the line!"
"B- but..."
"-NOW-!"
~~~~~ * ~~~~~
Ten Fifty-One a.m.
"Zechs... are we ready for this?"
Zechs Marquise was determined. His lust for total control ruled his every move. It had been
-far -too -long for them -not- to be ready.
"I have troops established where I want them, Highness. And now that Bordman is in place and should be in the middle of his mission, things should be moving rather quickly. If -that- is what you mean to inquire of."
The young woman had once proved herself highly worthy of this position. She had done an excellent job at taking over the role he made for her. now she was showing a great deal of doubt. In Zech's eyes, this was -much- cause for concern.
"What about Reider?" she asked.
Zechs stared out into the world. It pleased him to know that soon -so very soon- the garden of Mobil suits and dolls in his view would be moving into action.
"I think we know where she is. And its fine, because in exactly thirty eight minutes and fourteen seconds, the Peace Hall is going to come crumbling down. At the same time, Base Four will also be hit, resulting in the loss of a great deal of their resources."
"Base... Four?"
He turned around to face the young woman.
"Marinova's..." he chuckled sarcastically, "Oops," he covered his mouth... "I mean Gardina's base." He smiled wickedly at the thought.
"What about Tremma?"
Zechs' amusement rolled away. He stared at her, narrowing his eyes at her. "She was -your- soldier. That is your job to decide what happens to her."
He turned away from her and once again took in the view of the weapons he, himself, had designed. They would be the destruction of the Gundam pilots -and- the place they called home.
"So Base Four will be hit and then it's off to Repudiation we go." He turned back to face her. "There, we will provoke and conquer the Gundam pilots and the Rock will become ours. Commander in Chief Drake Carter will meet Antonio Marinova in -HELL-!"
*Disclaimer* The characters and locations original to Gundam Wing do not belong to me, nor do I claim them! I only claim the ones that were conjured up by my very own imagination. I write cause I like it
and I can so nobody sue me...
DEALINGS IN CONFLICT
The room was silent. Wufei and Heero stared dead into each other's eyes. The opposition between the two of them was great.
Quatre sat in his chair rubbing his face. He could not believe the words he read and the information contained in the packet over took him.
Duo and Trowa stood quietly watching Wufei and Heero.
"If you -knew- about this, -why- did you keep it from us?"
Wufei stood at the edge of the desk peering over at Heero.
"This didn't come in until -Today-," he pointed out harshly.
"You said you knew since three weeks ago," Trowa yelled.
"Calm down," Quatre broke in. He was rubbing his head as though he were in severe pain.
"-NO-" yelled Duo.
"Shut- Up," called Wufei simultaneous to Duo's expression.
Heero and Trowa stared coldly at Quatre.
"If someone has staged war on us, then we -Need- to stick together!"
They all knew Quatre was right. He was the sensitive one and it was his sensitivity that always seemed to take the edge off the tension. Not so now, however.
"What the..." Trowa flipped through pages back and forth and then went through every one struck with bewilderment. "You -knew- about this?" He held the stack in his hand, anger burning in his eyes. Tears were beginning to build inside but he chose to push them back deep inside. He'd done enough "crying" he felt. "Look at this," he snarled as he flipped the pages in front of him. "-LOOK-! Everything there is to know about our Gundams, our back grounds..." he threw the packet down on the desk. "You're a Real -Pal-, Yuy."
Heero had looked through the whole packet when he first received it early that morning. There were pages with blueprints of each Gundam. Also entailed, along with full-scale data on each of the pilots, was information from their place of birth to their training periods. Information about their known families right down to their blood type. It was an objective that someone had taken great links to fill out. An objective obtained by someone -an ally unknown- who felt obligated to get this information to Heero. Someone who felt he and the other pilots deserved a chance to win this battle.
Duo felt the need to defend his friend, he'd seen the pages too.
"Come on, Trowa..."
"-WE- were attacked, Duo! Miss -Relena- was attacked!"
Duo stared at Heero who now wore the consumption of guilt.
"Heero... how could you have known? You said so yourself she wasn't a target!"
"-No-," Heero yelled. "I said it -appeared- that she was not who they were after and that she was the -least- of my concerns!"
"Yeah," Trowa sneered, "just like there were no others that we needed to worry about, right?"
"Shut -up, Trowa," Duo called.
"You guys are -Weak-! Enough already! It's no -wonder- they're after us! -We- can't even stage a retaliation we're at each other's throats!"
"Yeah and you're -soooo- strong, Mr. 'I take crap from no one'!"
In two short steps, Wufei was holding Trowa by the collar. "Well at least -I- don't cry like a little girl at the death of a soldier who open-fired on me!"
The emotion of tears Trowa had felt dissipated into rage but he remained as though he had been nothing but calm.
Wufei let him go and stepped away. "And you," he said to Heero, "we were supposed to work together. It's obvious that you know nothing of battling as a team."
"He--ey! Wa--it a minute!" Duo's expression met Wufei's eyes. "-You- were the one who always fought alone! What the hell do you know about 'team work'?"
Wufei glared at him, heartlessly. "I know enough that you don't keep stuff like this from your friends."
Finally there was silence. Quatre rubbed his head excessively. The others picked up on his pain.
"Regardless of Heero's actions- or any of ours-" he looked up, "the fact of the matter -IS- that someone wants us dead and right now," he looked at his watch. One twenty-three a.m. "Right now, we should just try and get some rest."
Each pilot retreated to his own room. The day had been long and difficult, what could be more inviting than a cool, soft bed?
~~~~~ * ~~~~~
Relena opened her eyes and squinted at the darkness. Light from the moon came in through her window.
"Mmmm," she winced and moved in pain of her splitting headache.
"Relena-" Lucrezia jumped up turning on the light.
Relena gave a startled cry and then held her head.
"What happened?"
Lucrezia handed her a cup of water and an aspirin. "We'll talk in the morning, get some -rest-," she spoke.
Relena drank down the aspirin and half the glass of water. "You mean I haven't 'rested' enough already?"
Lucrezia gave a wry smile.
"In the morning, Miss Relena."
Before she had to do more convincing Relena was back asleep.
Now that she'd been woken up, she was unsure of whether she'd be able to return. She walked back to her chair by the window in hopes that she'd be able to get back to her dreamland even though she could not remember her dreams. She looked out the window at the bright moon and then sank into the chair. Sleep became her instant best friend.
~~~
Sally watched the young soldier. He reminded her of when she first "met" Heero. -If you can call that a true meeting, she gathered. Only this child, for he was just that exactly, was not nearly as strong. He was going to die soon from the amount of blood loss. Seita was a good shot- if she'd have hit him two inches in either direction he would have been dead already. DOA.
"Woman."
Sally tensed at the sound of the voice but did not turn around. Wufei hadn't talked to her since she scolded him about training Relena.
"I'm talking to you."
Still she did not move to look at him. Instead, she got up to check on the vitals of her patient. She managed to acquire some help from the base. Off duty medics would often times volunteer their services to her and tonight was one of those nights.
"Major Sally," a young man spoke, "he's losing the battle, isn't he?"
Sally laughed inside, ignoring him as well. She wasn't a 'Major' anymore and hadn't been for some time. But it made the young medics comfortable to refer to her in such a manner declaring that to -them- it was a form of respect.
"Sal-?"
Sally walked out of the examining area quietly.
"James, just give me a few minutes, ok?"
The young man nodded and sat down at the previously occupied desk.
Sally walked out of her house and stood in the night air. It was almost dawn.
"Woman, are you going to look at me?"
She didn't. The moon was more appealing, she thought. "What do you want, Wufei?"
"For you to look at me."
She took in a deep breath. "Why are you here?"
He put his hands on her shoulders. She tensed but could not stay that way for long. His hands were much too warm and gentle on her shoulders. He stepped up close to her and kissed the back of her neck and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close to him.
"Wufei..." she protested but did nothing to stop him.
"Look at me."
She wouldn't.
"Woman! How hard is it to just turn around and look at me?"
-How hard is it to say you're sorry?
"Sally... I love you."
-Nope... not good enough.
"Please, Sal... I'm sorry that I hurt you... you hurt me too."
She turned around. His eyes were sad. The darkness of his features had been brought out by the events of the day.
"Perhaps I should have left you alone with her. She doesn't seem to mind training, does she?"
Wufei brushed a stray hair away from her face. "I love you and it should not have had to go that far."
"I'm sorry," she said.
"Don't be. -I- am the weak one."
"It's not my place to tell you what to do."
She stared at him wanting to be nothing more than held. Somehow she knew that a battle was coming. Her revelation went beyond the fact that there had been two attacks on them already. She had known nothing of Heero's information but by looking into the eyes of the man she was in love with- her man- she knew that there was definitely -something- going on. Soon he'd be off in Nataku fighting for some mission or belief or for his life or for hers... it didn't matter. Would war endeavor to leave them alone?
"Wufei..." she said as the tears came flooding uncontrollably.
He held her close to him knowing that somehow she knew. "I'm sorry, Sally." He could feel her tears as they ran down her cheek onto his shoulder. The tank top he wore did not soak up the wetness very well but he didn't care. He held her close anyway and let her cry.
~~~~~ * ~~~~~
Duo woke up for the last time. The sun had not risen yet. All through the night since they'd left the study he'd been caught with only minutes of sleep at a time. Every time he closed his eyes he felt a gun at the back of his head or saw a snake slithering around his feet. Several times he heard Dorothy's voice only to discover that when he turned around in the dream he was looking at Hilde. Other times he could hear the heartless voice of Heero telling him that he was mortal. He could not take it any longer. In his last bout for sleep, he saw the words from the packet. They jumped around before his eyes.
"Kill remaining Gundam pilots."
-Remaining Gundam pilots... -Kill pilots... -remaining pilots.... -remaining...
Duo opened his eyes. -THIS- was the last time. He had dreamed it again. This time he got out of bed. Putting on a pair of sweat pants over his boxers, he left the house for a morning run. He made it halfway down to the water when he passed Relena and Lucrezia.
Lucrezia whistled teasingly at him.
"Hey, Duo! Do you -always- run without a shirt?"
Relena elbowed her as she blushed enough for the two of them, pushing out of her imagination an image of Heero running without a shirt.
"It's hot," he yelled back irritably and continued his run in the early light.
"I'll say," Lucrezia smiled and then looked at Relena.
Relena began to blush again and turned away with a smile.
"Heero or Duo?" Lucrezia teased.
"Why would I imagine Duo when I just saw him and Heero would never..."
"Oh no?"
Relena stared at her friend and then looked away to protect herself of self-incrimination. Lucrezia laughed.
At the knock of the door, Trowa stood up from his place on the balcony and looked down.
"Quatre and Heero are at Sally's," he said and then stepped away.
~~~
"He died an hour ago," Sally said as she cleaned up the office. "Wufei and James took him down to the base morgue."
Heero was less than grim.
"So I take it he said nothing, then."
Sally shook her head. "Nothing."
Quatre had been standing on the porch staring out into the world as it got brighter with the rising sun. He watched as Wufei pulled up with three passengers. Seita, Relena and... he smiled... Lucrezia.
"Hi Quatre!"
Quatre barely acknowledged Seita's greeting and walked over to the other door helping Relena and Lucrezia out of the hummer.
"Where's Trowa?"
"Woman-child, give it a -rest-!" Wufei had slowly become irritated with her at first but now she was like a nemesis to him. First it was Quatre and since that went down the drain with his re-opened communication with Lucrezia, now she was after Trowa. Soon she'd realize that he was much too complex for her and would go after Duo since he was the other one who was seemingly available.
"What- ever," she chided.
"Hey!" he pointed his finger at her. Intimidating her was one of his strong points against her. It was something he did well and rather enjoyed.
"Respect, Seita." Lucrezia stared with a stern, -mean- look in her eyes.
"I know, I know... penalty run." She took off in a slight spring away from the rest of the group and world.
~~~
Duo stood on the beach, hands on knees trying to catch his breath. He'd run about eight or nine miles and felt to do more but something stopped him. Moments passed and he decided to head back. He hadn't realized that he'd run so far off from the road. Perhaps it had been more than what he thought the distance actually was.
Once he made it to the road it him, or rather -She- hit him. His thoughts collided with her force.
-Remaining pilots- is what he thought.
"Oh, Mr. Duo... I am so sorry..." is what he heard.
Seita had run smack into him knocking him to the ground and now frantically tried helping him but he ignored her assistance.
"What are you doing here?"
Seita bowed her head.
"Penalty run." She waved off Duo's questioning eyes. "Never mind," she said as she tried holding her tongue at the site of his bare naked upper body. His muscles rippled as he moved and sweat glistened on his skin. His hair was matted to his face and neck but the braid swung freely. "Want to finish your run with me?"
Duo looked up the hill. He realized that she was showing fascination in his build and knocked off more points for not wearing a shirt. -It's hot- he defended himself. "Nah, thanks. I gotta get back," he said and left her alone.
"He's still no Quatre," she sighed as she watched him easily run the hill, "but mmm, mmm, mmm."
~~~
Trowa stared suspiciously at the man. He had pinned the mail carrier to the wall in an angered fit. "Who did it -come- from," he growled demanding information.
"I... I... I don't know... please, Sir..." he was choking.
"Isn't it your -job- to know?"
"Please..." the man coughed trying helplessly to get the tiniest bit of air into his lungs. "It's my job to deliver..."
Trowa released him of the hold. The man rubbed his throat and stared viciously and confused at Trowa. "Look Mr. Barton..." he coughed some more, "I don't know what this is about..." a deep breath, "but whatever it is, you need to stop and pay attention to what you're doing."
Trowa glared at him. "Don't you have a job to do?"
Thanks to Trowa's temper, that job now consisted of picking up the hundreds of envelopes on the floor that had been knocked out of the bag from Trowa's rage.
"Whoa! What happened here?"
Duo looked down, astonished at the man's mission. He bent down and helped him pick up the letters.
"Mr. Maxwell... you really should talk to your friend... it's not his responsibility to concern himself with -your- mail."
Duo watched in confusion as the mail carrier left.
~~~~~ * ~~~~~
Quatre walked beside Lucrezia through the park. They hadn't had a lot of time to talk the night before and he wanted to say -something- to her. He couldn't figure out what exactly, or how.
"Quatre... why were you jealous in the first place?"
Quatre pondered the question with much thought.
-Because I love you, he wanted to say.
"I don't know. I saw you in the coffee shop... he had managed to make you smile..."
Lucrezia looked across her shoulder at her friend.
"Quatre... Quince and I have been friends and coworkers for a -long- time! You, of all people, should know that there is -Nothing- to our friendship beyond -that-"
He sighed.
"Feelings change, Lucrezia... people change."
"What's -that- supposed to mean," she demanded. "Are you saying that -I've- changed or that -You've- changed, Quatre?"
It was not supposed to go like this. The conversation was supposed to be sweet and lovely and full of words of love and romance. This was not what he had planned.
"No... that's not what I meant!"
His eyes were soft and sad.
"Then what, Quatre?"
He didn't know. "You were spending so much time with him and I knew that Marinova's death hurt you a lot--"
"Then -why- couldn't you go with me, Quatre? I -asked- you to go with me and what did you
-say-?"
--"I have stuff to take care of here,"-- he sighed defeated at his memory.
"Lucrezia..." he could see the hurt in her eyes. "I don't know."
"I don't believe you, Quatre. Wufei- yes! I can see -him- acting this way... but not you!"
"What? What do you mean -Wufei-?"
"I -mean- I can see him acting in a jealous manner..."
"Toward -who-?"
"Who else, Quatre! With Sally!" She became confused. "How... When did Wufei become part of this?"
"-You- mentioned him!"
Lucrezia's eyes widened and then narrowed. Complete and utter confusion wrote itself all over her expressions. "Quatre... you are so... -Dense-!"
"-WHAT-?"
He stood in front of her, visibly upset... -profoundly- upset.
"-Dense-? How can you say that? What is this about, anyway?"
Lucrezia began her self-defense but stopped herself more confused than before. "Wh... I..." she repositioned her stance and stared blankly at him.
The sun had risen completely and now shined through the trees. The air blew gently through the trees, rustling birds and other creatures from their hiding places.
"You," she finally blurted, "are jealous."
"Correction," he put his hand up in front of her, "I -was-jealous."
"Oh, and now you're not?"
"Do I have any -reason- to be?"
"Well then..." She had a theory about Quatre and was dying to test it. "If -that's- the case then you won't mind that I'm going out with Trowa tonight." Her eyes narrowed at him as she studied his reaction.
-Trowa? WHAT?
"-Fine-. Why would I be jealous of Trowa?"
-Damn, she thought. "Why would you be jealous of Quince?"
"Why was I jealous in the first place?"
"I don't know, Quatre! You tell me!"
"I'm telling you now. It was a stupid notion and I have no reason now- nor did I then to be jealous. Do what you want."
He walked off leaving her standing shocked and appalled at his words and actions.
"Quatre--" she called but he did not turn around. Perhaps her theory was wrong. She stood disarrayed at the situation.
"Wait a minute," she asked herself, "What just happened here?"
~~~
The day was passing quickly. It was already close to lunchtime when Heero made it back to the house. He walked in to find Trowa storming out of the kitchen.
"Yeah, well it's not your concern," he heard Duo yell.
Trowa ignored Heero and walked up the stairs. Duo came out of the kitchen and upon sight of Heero turned back around.
"Hold it, Duo," Heero called as he noticed a paper or envelope of sorts in his hand.
"Not -now-, Heero. Go..." he fumbled for word, "play with Relena or something."
For the briefest of moments, Heero actually entertained the idea and then mentally kicked himself for even considering the words. -Fool, he muttered at himself as he walked into the kitchen.
"Duo..."
Duo turned around, red with anger.
"What, Heero?"
Heero cleared his throat. Duo gave in to his friend's silent conviction. He shoved the envelope across the table feeling completely distraught and sat down.
Heero picked it up and read the words before opening it. "Death Consumes the Weak".
"Hmm," he opened the letter curiously staring at Duo's frustrated face. -Ahem- "Dearest My Lord," he contemplated Duo's reaction at his audible reading. "I have waited patiently but to no avail. I would have imagined that you would have had more consideration..."
"Heero... why are you antagonizing me with this? I've already read it!"
Heero glared at him and read on. "... more consideration for one who is so loyal. And since I have not had a suitable response from you, perhaps this will inspire you..."
Duo pushed away and stood up. Heero continued.
"... perhaps... think back to November 1 AC 199." Duo coughed uncomfortably. Heero remembered- as, obviously, had Trowa. He looked up at Duo. "I want my interview."
Duo stared out the window. "I can't take this any more! I'm losing sleep, Heero. Only now..."
"You're seeing Hilde."
Duo looked up, almost shocked. Did Heero know him -that- well?
"Yeah."
Heero put the letter back into the envelope.
"Let go, Duo."
"I can't."
Heero sighed. Would Duo become that threat again?
"Heero... what do the words 'Remaining pilots' mean to you?"
Heero fell silent. He, too, had been concentrating on those words. "Kill -remaining- Gundam
-pilots-."
"Hmmm. I've been thinking about that too."
* ~~~~~ * ~~~~~ *
Relena looked directly on the small speck on the wall as Sally flashed a small light into her eyes.
"Everything looks normal- where exactly are you feeling pain?"
Relena felt certain that Sally's concern would never reach Heero. It was the "patient-doctor privilege."
"Here," she said pointing above her eyes.
"It might just be sinus pressure, Relena." She eyed the young girl. "That's not why you're here, is it?"
Relena began to cry. Sally held her thoughts momentarily.
"Relena... you know its inevitable."
"I know," she cried, trying to compose herself. "I just don't understand why!"
Sally handed her a tissue and then another. "How did you find out?"
Relena dried her eyes. "I was attacked." She brushed away her sarcasm apologizing to Sally who stared un-offended at her reaction. "I didn't... I can feel it."
"I know... I did too."
"Sally... will we ever have a time without war? -Truly- a time of peace?"
Sally walked away from Relena and stared out the window.
"Relena... peace cannot come about unless war exists. Someone once said that people don't know how to live without war. And so... there is the endless circle of peace prevails over war which would not have come about without someone wanting to be in control of total pacifism."
It was a dizzying intellect.
Relena agreed.
"A senseless war started by senseless people."
Sally sighed.
11.
Ah yes... the beauty of words on paper. One of the things I love about being a writer is that the plot can change within the blink of an eye! And not only that but being the one who decides what will happen without being really sure of what -WILL- happen!! Too cool!
AUTHOR'S NOTE: "The Unknown Ally" is the next part in the series, however, for the purpose of explanation, I have subtitled it into two parts. I find that it works better this way. *teeheehee*
*Disclaimer* The characters and locations original to Gundam Wing do not belong to me, nor do I claim them! I only claim the ones that were conjured up by my very own imagination. I write cause I like it
and I can so nobody sue me...
THE UNKNOWN ALLY
Part I: Where Friends Come In
*Somewhere in the L3 Colony Cluster*
-So they wish to continue this battle, do they? Well, -I- intend to stay on top of this one to the end.
-It's been so long. Why couldn't they just leave well enough alone? Those five young men don't deserve to live a life of continual battle. They should be living peaceful lives with the ones they love...
-Love... what do I know of love? Have I -ever- loved? Am I capable?
"This just came in over the air, Commander. We intercepted it." The young man waited silently as he watched his CO stare out the window into the depths of the stars of space before them. It had been quite some time since the Commander spoke to anyone.
"Thank you, Lieutenant. Leave it on my desk."
"Yes, Commander."
-We have a new transmission. Well... they do keep up a standard procedure of persistence, do they not?
The CO turned to look at the stack of papers left by the young man. It was another order toward the pilots.
-So... it was -you- who took out the Deathscythe that most horrid first day-- or would it be more appropriate to say 'last' day?
-Well then... Lets' just see what we can do to alleviate you of this command, shall we?
* ~~~~~~~ * ~~~~~~~ *
Three days had past swiftly by. The five young men were able to put hostility aside that they might conjure up some sort of significant plan to retaliate against this nameless enemy.
The enemy who enticed Hilde into killing General Marinova, who managed somehow to elude the Federation and make their threat against the Gundam pilots.
"I have a feeling that if we get to the source -one way or the other- we will not only find out who is behind the warrant on our heads but we'll find out -also- where those letters are coming from."
Trowa still felt the tiniest bit of resentment toward Duo after the latest letter had arrived. But after a while it didn't matter anymore. Someone was after -him-; after -them-.
"Carter has asked that we bring this to himself and the military board in order that they may assist in whatever way they can."
Heero had thought this out rather thoroughly but had not responded back to the Commander in Chief.
"This is -our- battle, Heero! Those letters weren't addressed to the people of Repudiation! They were addressed to Duo! And this," Wufei shook the packet in mid air, "pertains to
-Us-!" He was infuriated. "This is not the time to be thinking like weaklings!"
"Did anyone stop to think about how -I- feel about any of this? Do you think I -LIKE- finding out that someone out there -knows- why and -how- I was shot down that day?"
Duo's happy-go-lucky demeanor had left him. To the grave with Hilde they believed it went.
"Duo, no one is trying to rob you of your feelings! We're simply pointing out the facts," Heero replied calmly.
"Yeah, well I don't like it! The fact is..."
A knock at the door broke him of his train of thought. Weidam stood in the doorway.
"Master Heero, this just in for you, Sir."
Heero walked over to the young man and took the letter from the tray and sent him away closing the door. He opened it in front of the others and after scanning it, read it out loud.
"It is for my affection of peace that I send the following information. Unfortunately, my hopes for peace have been wiped clean by pressures of an upcoming war."
The "following information" was a detailed report of the damage Deathscythe Hell had endured in its descending fury to the earth from the sky.
"This proves it," Trowa said. "Find the source of this and you find the perps all together."
Duo inspected the information and fell to the ground. He was completely terror struck and awed at the same time. -Who- else would have the same information about his findings of the damage of his Mobil suit? He fell backward flat on his back and lay there in silence. The others watched likewise.
"I don't believe this," Duo muttered before closing his eyes.
--"I'm going in Heero. The god of Death strikes again."
"Be careful Duo."
-Hey! This is me! Since when has being 'careful' been a part of my work? Neat, perhaps.. careful? Ok, Heero... for Hilde.--
Duo thought back to the day, November 1 AC 199. He had just shut off all communications and began swiping his blade of death at enemy Mobil suits, destroying buildings and laid the final blow that set the base ablaze and sent him into the air.
-- "Hey, what do you know! Looks like they took the bait after all... -WHAT the Hell?"
A flash came so sudden and so bright that he was temporarily blinded. In his moment of darkness he fumbled for a switch and reopened communication but it was too late. He was plunging in a direct beeline for the earth. He could hear Quatre's voice, "-NO--------" and then another blast sent him into unconsciousness before he heard one last cry from his friend. "Death... (static)... down..."--
He never felt the impact of the machine hitting the earth nor of himself falling out of the suit and landing -from what he remembered- several hundred yards away from the wreckage.
~~~~~ * ~~~~~
Word had just come back to the Commander that its addressee had received the letter. The young soldier had radioed the message in saying he waited to see that one Mr. Heero Yuy received it and when he was certain departed the area.
-Well done.
"Make ready my shuttle."
"Commander?" The noncommissioned officer stared saluting the dress uniform.
"Are you questioning me, Sergeant Major Dox?"
Dox stared in obliterated fear at his CO, declaring that he was not and would not do such a thing as that.
"Will you be needing an escort?"
"Are you volunteering? Very well, then. Now get moving."
The CO turned around and once again stared through the confines of the glass into outer space.
-I have a need to visit the earth. Who else can take hold of matters for these young men. It will all take place soon enough, gentlemen... unfortunately, soon enough.
*~~~~~~~ * ~~~~~~~ *
Heero sat comfortably in a chair. Duo still lay flat on the floor. The others had gone out into the world. Trowa mentioned that he was going to visit Heavyarms, Wufei was going to see Sally and Quatre had just plain left. He hadn't said -anything- during their talk but Heero was sure he absorbed all that had gone on and now took this time to allow it to soak in.
"Heero..."
Duo finally sat up. He stared disoriented at his friend of all these years. Heero stared back without reply.
"Who sent those papers?"
Heero moved to stand and walked over to the desk. He flipped through the pages at his desk and found the very first letter he had received from this person... this unknown ally of theirs. He smoothed it out and handed it down to Duo.
Duo looked at it while Heero went through several other sheets of paper and pulled out two more, including one from the newest message.
The last two were signed with a hash and two letters. "-YF"
The first was signed out. "-Your Friend".
*******************
END PART I
12.
THE UNKNOWN ALLY
Part II: Come To Find Out
* Earth *
"What? How could they… -what do you -MEAN- they got shot?"
Akiera Tremma stared exasperated at the messenger.
"Um… well…" there was no other way to explain otherwise.
"They were… shot."
The look on Akiera's face was death.
"-Obviously-!" She screamed annoyed and turned away dismissing the
younger woman.
There was something wanting about the whole situation.
-How could they be shot? They were both so qualified…
After exiting the main deck she took a short cut to the Hall of
Records. She was going to re-evaluate the records of Brin Warden and
Alma Pitt. Perhaps they were -not- as qualified as they were thought
to be.
Minutes of searching revealed nothing. The files had been deleted
from the base computer.
-Uh oh… Her excellency is not going to like this at all… in
fact, she thought, -I- am not going to like this at all…
A moment later another soldier walked in.
"Oh, excuse me, Sergeant… I didn't realize you were all ready
here."
Akiera stared curiously at him.
"What do you mean?"
The soldier could not identify with her look of puzzlement. "Aren't
you looking for the files for Her Excellency? The new
missionaries…"
"Come again?"
The young man pulled out a sheet of paper with two names on it.
Akiera glanced at it, memorizing the names, and then averted her eyes
to the computer.
"Yes, I will deliver them myself," she replied.
"Yes Ma'am."
Akiera turned back to the computer.
-Damn!
Two more were going to be sent out and one of them was not her. She
burned inside but did as she said and searched for the files.
Minutes of scanning paid off when she was presented with two new
records and printed both of them out.
She studied the first page of them both, looking over them eagerly to
see what they had that she did not. The first one impressed her
highly and she could immediately see why -he- was chosen.
"Major Sentiel Robert Bordman, age twenty-two… blah, blah,
blah…-Oh!" She came across his training history causing her brow to arch with
sheer surprise. "Well then… a student at Lake Victoria Academy
under… Lieutenant Lucrezia Noin…" She smirked at the idea and
read on about his battle with Oz and WASP, making a comment about him not being in the White Fang battle to herself. Displayed in front of her were his achievements, awards, and other such information that he incurred in his time as an elite soldier. All the information
revealed a highly trained, exceedingly qualified warrior to accomplish the job he would be sent to do.
"Name: Kya Reider, age…" she gasped. Upon further inspection she
became more frantic about it not truly making it past the girls age.
Moments later she stood behind the closed doors of her superiors
office.
"Her Excellency would like to know what this is about, Sergeant."
Akiera stared blankly at the man who played the role of secretary.
"I have word back from Brin and Alma."
His gasp told her that she would soon be in trouble. He entered back
into the room and then came back out again. Clearing his throat he
reappeared stepping aside with an invitation for her to enter.
As she stepped cautiously past him she caught only a hint of the
words he spoke to her. It was a whisper, no more than a breath of
air; that rang loud and clear in her ears. "Life sentence…" and
he was gone.
Her heart pounded in her chest, she could feel her blood racing as
the woman in front of her turned slowly around in her chair. It was
painful for Akiera to watch the chair swivel around in such slow
motion.
"So… you have come to report news of Warden and Pitt, have
you…"
"Y-Yes… Your Excellency…"
The woman now stared point blank at the sergeant.
"Ha! Did you honestly think that I wouldn't have known by -now- that
both of them died… -Three and a half days ago-? And at the hands
of those pilots, no less."
-Uh oh…
Akiera stepped backward as her superior rose from her desk.
"What is this you've brought," she pointed at the stack of pages in
the young girl's hand.
"File… uh.. that is… Kya Reider's record, Ma'am."
"And what -of- it," the woman demanded.
"Well, Your Excellency… it states that… um…"
"Spit -it -out, Tremma."
Akiera formed the words in her mind but could not get them to escape
her mouth. The woman stormed toward her. Frightened, she stumbled
backward and fell to the floor.
The woman stared disgusted at her and took the pages from her hand.
She looked down at the page, scanning it and focussing in on the
circled number.
-What?
"I want this one re-evaluated. There has to be a mistake."
"There's no mistake, Highness… I checked it twice…"
The woman threw the pages at the soldier on the floor. "Then -I-
want it checked a -third and fourth- time! Don't question my
orders!" she yelled.
Akiera grabbed all the sheets that had been strewn all over the floor
and quickly exited.
Her Excellency stared out the window to a garden of Mobil suits.
-Those pilots will regret that day to -their- deaths. "Starting with
this one," she spoke aloud at her thought and looked down at a
picture of her first victim.
*~~~~~~~ * ~~~~~~~*
* L3 Cluster *
As the shuttle was being prepared for the CO, pages and pages were
being sent for the Commander's viewing.
"No," pause, "no," pause, "no," silence.
The commander stared at file after file. Someone was going to be
chosen to go to Repudiation. Their mission: to confirm the location
of the Gundam Mobil Suits. He or she would be the bearer of the
revealing of their "Friend".
With a tiresome sigh, the Commander continued. "No," pause, "no,"
pause, "no…"
With a quick flick of the wrist the files lay scattered all over the
desk.
"Is there no one qualified, Commander?"
A reluctant sigh gave the inquiring young woman the answer.
There was only one who was qualified enough in the commander's eyes
but would that one be willing to go?
-More over, am I willing to send her away from my side?
~~~
"Anything, Commander."
The young Special's soldier stood at attention to the Commander's
words and orders. There was -nothing- that would keep her from
complying with her Commanders given task.
"Then your mission is to confirm the location of the Mobil suit
Gundams. When you are found out- as I am sure you will be…" the
Commander stared directly into the soldier's eyes. "You will notify
me through Lieutenant Sierra. -YOU- are the messenger of
-Peace-, do you understand, Cervantes?"
"Yes, Commander."
"You will -need- to convince them that you are there to assist them.
It will be -your- job to announce my coming."
The commander stared curiously at the junior officer.
"-Do I make myself clear-?"
The harshness in the voice made others jump in the room but not this
one. Cervantes was unmoved.
"Yes, Commander," her hand went up saluting the officer.
"Dox- prepare Cervantes a shuttle."
"Destination, Commander?"
-Sigh. "Repudiation."
Minutes before Cervantes' departure the CO stood in front of her and
handed her a piece of paper.
"When you are found out, give them this."
Cervantes took the paper and put it inside her jacket. "Yes,
Commander."
* ~~~~~~~ * ~~~~~~~ *
Trowa sat on the ground looking up at his machine. He'd been coming
out to the hangar ever since the day that Duo's letter -and- the
information about Deathscythe had arrived. Heavyarms stood tall and
lifeless yet somehow managed to beam down at its owner.
--"Trowa…"--
He shook his head. Even on Repudiation Catherine would not leave him
alone. Silence consumed the hangar, engulfing it. It was almost as
though there had been created a vacuum. As he stared he could sense
movement in the area. Something was disturbing his solitude. He
waited; nothing. Slowly he rose and took a swift leap to one of the
lower beams of the high ceiling. This allowed him visible access to
the entire structure. Nothing moved but he could feel an
overpowering, unfamiliar presence. -Someone- was there. Another scan
of the grounds below revealed no one and suddenly the presence was
gone. Seconds later, Heero walked in.
"Trowa-," he called.
Trowa jumped down, landing easily onto the cement, as Heero turned
around. Duo walked in behind them looking up at the rafters.
"What were you doin' up there, Trowa?"
Heero looked around, he too had felt something upon entering.
"Someone's here," Trowa said looking around.
Duo immediately took hold of his gun. Heero picked up on Duo's
understandable tension but calmed him quickly.
"Relax, Duo," Trowa said. "Whoever it is won't be back for a little
while."
~~~~~ * ~~~~~
Lucrezia stared at her paperwork but could not concentrate. It had
now been another week since she and Quatre spoke.
"Captain Noin, there is a call on line two."
Lucrezia acknowledged the corporal's announcement and flipped on her
screen. In hopes that it would be him she set forth her best smile
but was greatly disappointed.
"Captain."
Lucrezia saluted. "Colonel."
He relieved her of the salute and sat back. "Lucrezia, I'm gonna be
there in a couple of days -for business, and I need someone to escort
me to the office of Commander in Chief Carter."
Lucrezia sighed. Was he not aware of the regulations concerning
fraternization? She -knew- that he did not "need" someone to escort
him.
-Escort you? Come on!
"Sir, with all due respect… I recommend that you find someone
else. I currently have orders to take care of other business."
She could see his disappointment apparent in his eyes. When did
their friendship take a turn? As far as she was concerned it hadn't.
-Besides, you're the one who got me in trouble with Quatre.
"Very well. Captain…" he saluted her and then signed off.
-Man!
She sat back in her chair feeling highly distressed.
~~~~
Quatre leaned against the rail guard phasing out the waters below.
Another day had passed causing this to be yet another week in which
he had not been back to see Lucrezia.
"Quatre?"
He came out of his self-battering mode and turned around to face the
sound of the voice. It was not her.
"Yeah?"
Relena walked up to the rail and peered over the edge. There were no
fish in the waters of Repudiation.
"Does this place ever remind you of earth?"
-WHAT?
He faced her, perplexed at her question.
"You sure know how to take one's mind off of things!"
Relena smiled. "Hmmm." -Yes, I've been told. "Quatre… why did
you leave the Winner Corporation?"
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
"You were -after all- the sole heir."
"Because, Relena… I couldn't stay where I wasn't wanted."
"Quatre-your family didn't reject you," she consoled sympathetically.
"No," he said, "but I couldn't stay there- I couldn't do that to my
family and I wouldn't do it to my friends."
-Huh… sensible enough, she thought.
"Quatre…"
"Yes, Relena?"
She put a decisive finger to her lip and thought briefly for a moment
before she spoke.
"If you had a friend-," she paused not looking at him, "that knew of
your hurt and anger but chose to leave well enough alone- even though
it was -far- from 'well enough'…" she could hear his growing
suspicion. "What would you do?"
Irritated and quite consumed with suspicion, he almost did not want
to ask.
"What are you getting at, Relena?"
She turned around and pushed away from the rail.
"Heero," she lied knowing full well that he knew exactly 'what she
was getting at'. "He won't talk to me but -I- know that something is
going on." This was not a lie.
"Relena… sometimes…"
-Why do they always start out with "sometimes"? This irritated her
some but she kept quiet.
"I don't know… I do know that you are -really bad- at parables,
though!" He smiled at her and walked away. "Thanks," he called back
over his shoulder.
Relena watched him go. He walked away oblivious to her tears.
"You're welcome," she returned. The waters invited her to look back
at them. She did, letting her tears fill them just a little more.
Quatre did not know what to say knowing that he would probably
embarrass her. He let her think that her tears went unnoticed.
~~~~~ * ~~~~~
Wufei stared down the field at the hangar. His room overlooked the
shelter for their Gundams. He could tell that something was awry.
"Nataku…"
He turned away from the window. He hadn't had a chance to see Sally
the other day. He truly missed her.
"Am I weak for missing her?"
He walked out of the room down two flights of stairs and met Quatre
at the door.
"Where's Heero?"
Wufei stared at the blond haired young man in front of him.
"At the hangar."
Quatre turned to face the walk and stared off into the direction of
the hangar. Trowa had been going there far more often than he'd been
sitting on the balcony. Now, instead of consuming the silence there,
he went off to be in the presence of his Gundam.
-Wouldn't that make matters worse for him?
Seconds later; interrupting Quatre's thoughts and Wufei's
distraction, the three that had been at the hangar now walked inside
the house.
"We've got a problem," Heero scowled. Duo and Trowa followed him to
the kitchen, Quatre and Wufei, eyeing each other with concern,
followed.
"I'm telling you someone was -there-!"
Duo sat in silence, Wufei leaned against the refrigerator, arms
crossed in front of him. Quatre and Heero leaned on opposite sides
of the breakfast bar regarding Trowa's behavior with great worry.
Trowa paced back and forth trying to remember the feeling he had, the
feeling of uneasiness and unfamiliarity. It was a sensation he had
not felt in quite some time.
"Did you actually -SEE- anyone, Trowa?" Wufei asked softly.
"Not exactly. I sensed someone."
Duo stood up abruptly. "-You- and your 'sensing'! What the hell is
that?"
"Duo, calm down," Heero interjected. "I felt something too."
Duo sat back down. He wanted to cry but was not willing enough to do
so in front of the others. So much was happening and so quickly.
"Guys, it's been -days- since the letter… s…" Quatre
remembered both of them, "came."
"Yeah and we still haven't devised a counter attack," Duo called as
he buried his face in the table.
Heero moved around the bar and walked to the window. Quatre suddenly
remembered Relena's tears as he watched his friend stare out at her
house.
"We need to set up a watch," Wufei suggested.
"Why don't we move them--,"
"To where, Quatre?"
Quatre smacked his forehead in frustration. He wasn't - and hadn't
been- thinking straight. That was about the dumbest idea he had had
in quite some time. He knew this was true by Duo's remark and the
others' glare at him as though he were some kind of moron.
"We'll each take a watch," Wufei stated and left the group. He was
really missing Sally.
"I'll take the first watch," Quatre said.
Duo sat up in his chair. "I'll join you-better yet," he stood up,
checked his gun and walked out leaving Quatre, Heero and Trowa alone.
"I saw Relena today," he said.
Heero seemed unmoved by his statement. "And?" He poured some water
into a cup and drank it down.
Trowa was agitated. He didn't know what to do.
"And-?" Heero half-heartedly demanded.
Quatre kept quiet a moment longer, knowing that at any second Heero
was going to blow some steam if he did not tell him.
"Yeah… down by the water."
Heero hesitated for only a moment before he decided that he didn't
care what they thought. Quatre pulled something out of a drawer and
stopped Heero with it. "You'll need these," he said handing him a
package of tissues.
Heero stared down at it, grabbing it from Quatre's hand, and walked
off. He was struck with an immense amount of guilt. - He- was the
reason she was crying.
As he left, Trowa stood up and glanced above Quatre's head at the
clock.
"In another hour or so, she'll be off. Why don't you go pick her up?"
Quatre's face reddened at Trowa's notion.
"I'll go with Duo."
~~~~
Wufei had left the group to go to a small temple where he chose to
meditate. He couldn't see Sally without making sure that he was at
peace with himself and his spirit. His pride was jumping in
continually and he did not want to make things worse for her or them.
Heero made it half way to the sidewalk from their house before he
decided that he needed to think about what he would say to her. He
took a walk in the other direction trying to discern what it was he
was feeling and how he would convey it.
Quatre watched Trowa leave the kitchen and then heard Duo claim that
he could go by himself, he didn't need Trowa. He laughed silently at
the two as they argued their way out of the house.
He didn't know if he could bring himself to see Lucrezia. He had
been such a fool these past days and could never think of the right
thing to say. Everytime he wanted to go, something came up and that
something was usually his own thoughts of cowardice.
-I can't go see her! She won't even look at me, much less talk to me!
He thought of his conversation with Relena. The time was moving
forward, she would be off soon… after pondering this thought he
brought himself to the conclusion that he could not go see her.
There was something amiss about the situation with their Gundams. He
chose to go to the hangar instead.
* ~~~~~~~ * ~~~~~~~ *
-Well… I haven't been caught yet! some mission -this- has been.
It only took me four days and I have yet to be spotted! This is
great.
"Yeah, this is Cervantes- I have confirmation of location for the
Mobil Suit Gundams. Do you copy-over?"
The reply voice came through with a crackle and sputter.
"…'oud…n…'lear…'ver…"
She waited but received nothing back.
"Do you copy, over?"
"…(static)… 'at…ur... xt… ve…. 'ver?"
-Damn! "Base… I'm not reading you, over."
There came more static and then the transmitter went dead.
There could only have been one thing that was blocking the
transmission from the base on L3. Looking up at the heavy machinery,
she knew what it was. Five Gundams, all of them peering down at her;
the intruder.
~~~~
Trowa pulled his gun slowly, motioning for Duo to go around the other
side. He placed his finger to his lips for silence and circled around
the back of a barrier.
Duo did the same on the other side, circling a barricaded unit and
peered out on the other side. He could see Trowa now on top of the
cement barrier that he chose and peered down at the soldier.
Cervantes was certain that they wouldn't come around but knew that
they had sensed something and so they'd probably be back sooner than
later.
-I have to get out of here before they do come back.
*click*
Cervantes could not move. A gun was resting at the nape of her neck.
-Boy are you gonna be angry when you find out that I'm a girl, she
thought.
Duo walked around with his gun pointed directly at her head. He
stared at the perpetrator and looked at Trowa for further instruction.
--"messenger of -Peace-," she remembered.- -
No one spoke. Trowa pulled off the hat covering the intruder's head.
It was as he suspected.
"Are you armed?"
Duo stared disbelieving at the girl in front of him.
-Why would a girl infiltrate our hangar?
"I come as a messenger of peace."
Trowa stared around her at Duo. Duo walked forward and frisked her
for any weapon but found none. He reached into her jacket and pulled
out the sheet of paper that was neatly folded and tucked away in its
hiding place. It was marked to "Mr. Heero Yuy".
At that moment, they were joined by the other three. All three had
guns pulled so that now this young -female- soldier had five guns
pointed directly at her head and chest. Duo handed the paper to
Heero never turning his eyes away from hers. Heero then handed it to
Wufei after looking at the name. It was a hope to throw her off.
"She claims to be a messenger of peace."
Heero heard Trowa's words and acknowledged it. Wufei opened the
letter and scanned it briefly before handing it back to Heero. He
took it and carefully unfolded it.
"Mr. Yuy," it read, "if you are reading these words then you have
caught my messenger. She has a message for you, I suggest you drop
your weapons and listen to what she has to say." He looked up at the
girl and down at the paper again. "-YF."
Heero dropped his weapon and told the others to follow.
"But she broke in…" Duo argued.
"Drop it, Duo."
All but one of the guns went down at Heero's use of Duo's name. If
it had been someone or something else he would have never said his
name out loud.
"Leave us alone," he spoke in an emotionless tone.
"But…"
Heero turned toward Quatre. His scowl sent chills through the young
man's body. Heero then turned to the others with the same eyes of
intimidation and returned his fixation on the girl. She stood
perfectly motionless, not even breathing it seemed, as Trowa's gun
was still at her head.
"Trowa… drop your gun."
-Trowa… do as your told and you won't get hurt, she thought. Her
urge was to turn around and let him have a piece of her that he
would not forget but the Commander's words echoed in her mind.
"Peace".
With reluctance he pulled his gun away and then took a step back.
She immediately turned around to view the eyes of the person she
never heard approach her and place his gun at her head.
Green eyes that stared down into her very soul stared back at the
hazel color of hers. She watched as he turned away and looked at
Heero. When he finally walked away he looked at Quatre.
"Didn't I tell you to go pick her up?"
Quatre flushed as the four left the building, doing as Heero had
asked.
Duo took one look back at him and the girl. He knew that she - or
someone that she was in representation of- was the "Friend."
******************
End Part II
*Author's Note: I am not sure if I want to end this 'chapter' like
this. I may subtitle the next part under "The Unknown Ally" but I am
not sure… so give me a moment and you will see what I have
done!!
13.
WARNING: There is not an -explicit- scene... but I guess it's called a lime/lemon scene? Well.. it does not go into full detail but I felt the need to place a warning anyway...ok!!:)
THE SIGN OF TROUBLE
Trowa sat in the hummer silently waiting Quatre's return. He had grown weary of Quatre's ever growing grief of regret and decided that he was going to take matters into his own hands. For that reason, he drove Quatre to the base himself and made him get out and go see Lucrezia.
As he waited, the episode at the hangar replayed in his mind. He and Duo's spotting the girl, Heero's words, the girl's words, Duo's acusation of her breaking in, the girl's reply, all of them with their guns at her, the girl... the girl. The girl.
He stared at the door of the unit Quatre walked into but did not see it. All he saw were her eyes. The hazel eyes that were quite mysterious and rather intriguing- if he thought to say for himself.
--"I come as a messenger of Peace."--
~~~~~ * ~~~~~
Heero circled the girl. Regardless of the words of the letter, he was still highly suspicious of her.
She stood at attention before this man whom her Commander greatly respected.
--"But why -him-, Commander? Why this... Heero Yuy?"
"Because he was the first of them and he has earned my undying respect. Since the beginning with Oz, During White Fang and his battle with the WASP, he has proved to be the Perfect Soldier. He is a soldier much like yourself- highly motivated to do nothing less than the maximum his job requires. He is dedicated to completing every given mission and has done nothing to show otherwise.
"Why -him- you ask? Because he is honorable, noteworty and a very respectable young man. -Him- because of his undying love for Miss Relena Peacecraft. A love so great that instead of fighting her orders to send them and all other soldiers of war off the earth, he complied.
"He deserves nothing but my highest respect and one day when you meet him, he will deserve nothing less than yours and I should expect that you would honor this request even if you hold only what -I- say to any amount of regard."--
Cervantes remembered the words clearly and could see truly that he was worthy of nothing but the highest respect. It would have been easier to talk back to her Commander than to not give this man the respect he deserved. It was a lesson she learned the hard way.
"Who are you and who do you represent?"
Heero's eyes narowed at her. He could see that she was not an ordinary soldier. Perhaps an understudy to someone as Seita was to Lucrezia. But unlike this young woman before him, Seita had trained some at an academy. This girl did not appear to have such military training. It was rather an odd thought. It was apparent that she had some military background but as far as the training went? She had a personal trainer.
-No... not your average soldier.
"Ah, but Sir... Before I give that I am under authorization to inform my Commander of my being captured."
His eyes were cold on her. They dug a hole into the very deepest part of her being. Even though she could feel a hostile rage building in him, she chose to stand her ground.
"Fair enough. Your name first, then."
"My call," she replied.
She made a swift move but was soon stilled by his menacing grip.
--"Peace"--
"You have penetrated our hangar with interest of whatever it is you wish to find. I think we deserve to know your -name-."
--"Highest respect"--
Heero let her go and stared at her with gripping coldness.
"Your -Name-," he demanded.
She met his glare and matched it with exceeding defiance.
"By what right do -you- keep me from my orders?"
Heero held up the piece of paper. He opened it and read it to her.
"She has a message for you. I suggest you... listen to what she has to say."
-These- were not her orders! Her orders were to inform the Commander through Lieutenant Sierra and then prepare the announcement of her CO's arrival. For some reason she chose to block out the rest of her orders... "You will -need- to convince them that you are there to assist them."
"Your -NAME-" he demanded once more.
"My -CALL- Sir."
She was failing miserably and felt certain that the CO would hear about it. This would not be a good thing.
Heero grabbed her by the arm and pushed her out of the bay and into the field.
"Sir..." her voice became shaky. She knew she had done wrong. "Mr. Yuy..."
Heero stopped and looked at her. "Where is the rest of your gear?"
She nodded toward a giant unit used for storing tools and other uses of mechanincs. Her single piece of gear -a small back pack- had been stashed into a compartment of the massive box. Behind a number of encased tools, Heero found what she had hidden. He pulled it out in her presence and dumped its belongings onto the ground. Nothing of consequence caught his eye so he left her there to pick it up.
Moments later she caught up with him.
"Mr. Yuy... please... I have acted with much disrespect toward you but it is my -duty- Sir, to obey my commands!"
Heero did not turn around. Her determination to settle the wrong was impressive but if she was such an obedient subordinate, her actions would have been different.
"I... Sir..."
He stooped dead in his tracks and brought himself to look at her.
"You are too late. Should have thought about that before you decided to disobey -my- commands. You are on my land now and -you- are overpowered here. Right now, your
'Commander' -has- no power here."
He turned away and continued his way back to the house. He could feel her close behind and could sense her struggling with herself concerning her behavior.
* ~~~~~~~ * ~~~~~~~ *
"Your Excellency... I have the file back on Kya Reider and I -assure- you... There is -No- mistake."
Her Excellency stared at the men outside who climbed all over the mobil suits, cleaning and inspecting them.
"Bring her to me."
"Yes, Ma'am."
-So they want to send another child, do they? We'll just see about that.
~~~~~ * ~~~~~
Commander, we are reaching earth's atmosphere and have also received word that Cervantes has lost communication."
The CO stared at the earth and reflected back on the previous four days. A stop on L4 gave them a brief meeting with the Widow Marinova and an even briefer still with General Gardina.
--"Send word to Carter that I will once again be by his side."
"Yes, Commander."--
A two day stay on L1 refreshed them for their mission, refueled them for safety and sent them on their way. The journey's movement so far brought them to this point in time.
"Commander, what should we do?"
"She will contact me when she figures out that the Gundams are blocking her transmission."
"Commander... do you think she's been captured?"
The view of the earth was breathtaking.
"I'm most certain of it. The appropriate question, however, is -not- if she has been captured, but more... is she doing what I have commanded and treating them with respect?"
Dox observed his commander, eager to understand. The word's spoken were more of a declaration than an interrogotory statement.
"But Commander... why should -she- treat -them- with respect if they have her captive?"
The Commander faced Dox with a look of high disregard. "Because those were my -orders-, Sergeant Major."
"Y- Yes... Commander..."
-Soon enough, Gentleman... sigh... soon enough.
~~~~~ * ~~~~~
Lucrezia and Quatre had been stnding in front of the hummer for some time. Trowa observed them carefully, listening to their words.
"Lucrezia... I -wanted- to see you but I didn't think you would see me..."
"Quatre... you are the one who walked away, -not- me! Why wouldn't I have seen you?"
Quatre sighed as he stared at the ground. "Because I'm a fool."
Lucrezia smiled. "Quatre Reberba Winner... that is about the -wisest- thing you have said to me throughout this entire thing!"
Quatre's blue eyes sparkled, Lucrezia's glimmered with tears and laughter. Trowa found himself pictureing the Winner children- blond hair and blue eyes. He laughed to himself.
"We have to get back," Trowa announced.
"Join us?" Quatre stared lovingly into Lucrezia's eyes.
"Honored."
~~~~~ * ~~~~~
Kya Reider stood before Her Excellency as requested. As others had been intimidated by the woman, she was not. She gathered that the others were frightened enough -for- her.
"Who gave you orders, Soldier?"
"-You- did, Highness."
Kya's tone was hard and highly disciplined yet in the same manner, rather recalcitrant.
"-I-? Not to mention that Warden was not much older, but do you think it would by -my- order to send a fifteen year old -child- to do a job that even a -twenty- year old could not complete?"
"Excuse me, Highness, but I dare say that Warden and Pitt lost concentration and sight of their mission. Had you sent me in the first place I would have been back by now with all -six- of their heads!"
"Six, you say?"
"Yes, Your Excellency. Do you think I would stop shy of taking the head of Relena Peacecraft?"
-Indeed, I do not! "Reider... what is this fancy you have with these men and Miss Peacecraft?"
"I have no such thing, Highness." Kya was irritated. "Now forgive me, but... are you going to let me go or not?"
The audacity of this child was great. And due to it's intensity, Her Excellency stepped up and slapped her in an effort to lessen the degree of arrogance the young woman imposed.
"You will hold your tongue in my presence, Young Woman. -And- you will show -respect- to my authority."
The girl was burning with anger at the words of this older woman... this authority.
"-My- family DIED because of them, Your Highness- and if I have to go on my own..." she took a deep breath, "- SO BE IT-!"
Kya stood her ground, not retreating, not surendering; only glaring at this woman who declared herself "Excellent" above all. Excellent above the rights of peace, above the rights of the law-- above -all- other military power. Excellent by the right given her by one man.
It was this woman, Her Excellency, that was going to bring war back to the nations of the world and colonies. Kya wanted to bring war to Repudiation and deprive the small rock of its most prized possession. Unknown to her was that the same desire was hled by Her Excellency
-and- the man who put her there.
"Dis- miss," Her Excellency insisted harshly.
Kya left the room in muffled silence. Her Excellency was distressed over the matter. It was time to call in the troops. Time now had come to call upon the one who gave her this title and position.
-This is a most unexpected turn around, I must say. -Most- unexpected.
14.
THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS:
SO MUCH TO UNDERSTAND
Two days came and went. Heero made no inquiry of the girl, nor did she of him. The others left her alone at Heero's request allowing for the maids to look after her. She hadn't been presented to any of the ladies as of yet but they were aware of her presence.
"I don't like it one bit and there's no rule in the books that says I have to!"
Lucrezia and Sally laughed at Relena's unsophisticated behavior.
"Relena... they don't even know her -name-! She's only there because her Superior sent a message with her saying she was someone of peace." Lucrezia replied to her statement of objection.
"And besides... from what Wufei tells me..." Sally gave a mischievous grin.
"What!" Lucrezia chided excitedly.
"It would appear that -she- has Quite the inclination to carry a desire for a certain -green-eyed- boy!" Sally arched her eyebrows revealing her mystery.
"Trowa?" Relena exclaimed.
Lucrezia was flabbergasted. -Trowa? "Well does he hold her in the same regard?"
Sally shrugged at Lucrezia's interrogation. "Wufei says he can't -stand- her!"
They all giggled at their little trail of gossip. It was somewhat of a cute thought to imagine Trowa finally having someone. But it was not a lasting thought.
* ~~~~~~~ * ~~~~~~~ *
Cervantes sat down at her window. Heero and the others were kind to her.
-If you can call ignoring me for two days kind, she thought. But they -did- let me stay here... and they haven't been... -un-kind to me...
Excepting her phone call, they had given her all that she desired. Space and a female -or two- companion. It had been two days since her capture. She had yet to inform her Commander. When she -did- notify Lieutenant Sierra, she knew things were not going to go over well at all.
The towel she used in drying her hair was soft. It reminded her of home. Home where she was under her Commander's lead and only had those orders to complete. It was hard being here in this gargantuan house. All the stairs and rooms and four floors and everything else- not to mention the fact that the two female maids came from one of their women's house because
-this- was a place for men! She missed the comfort of her CO's care.
Her thoughts dissipated at the sound of a knock on her door. Immediately she stood up to greet her visitor. The door opened halfway without revealing the occupant standing there.
"Your presence is requested down stairs."
The door closed leaving her staring bewildered at it. Trowa was always so distant to her. There was something that she could not pinpoint but was sure that it was as unfamiliar to her about him as it was to him about her. As far as his presentation toward her went, she contended that he was greatly lacking in the area of congeniality.
-Why thank you, Mr. Antisocial... Moth!
Only minutes had passed before she found herself standing on the first floor. She stood quietly waiting. Seconds passed... minutes... long minutes...
"Ahem..."
She turned around and looked up. Duo was standing at the top of the stairs. His stance demonstrated that she needed to be up there instead of where she stood. Hot cheeked and red faced she ascended the stairs and stepped past an annoyed Mr. Duo- as she had called him out of respect. The only one she called by name -without- a title was Trowa. Without hesitation she averted her eyes to anywhere but his.
Duo directed her into the study where the others awaited her arrival.
"Trowa," Duo snapped in reference to his directions to her.
"Humph. It's not my fault of she hasn't a clue," he replied snidely.
"Enough," Heero spoke as a warning.
Cervantes stared at Heero sitting behind his desk. He moved the phone toward her.
"Make your call."
She moved to do so but stopped shy.
"I can't."
Both Heero -and- Duo became further agitated with her. Wufei made his usual derogatory statement about females in the military and Quatre merely sighed; he too was becoming irritated with her.
"Why not," Heero questioned.
"Perhaps she doesn't feel presentable," Trowa sneered peering at her freshly braided, still wet hair.
"Trowa--"
Trowa stared at Heero and then placed his eyes on her. Her auburn hair was braided down to the small of her back. A French braid that held tightly enough to let even the shorter strands stay in place. It was almost as long as Duo's but shy of about half a foot. Her eyes were beautifully unwelcoming, he thought. The color was intense but the emotion hiding behind them was that of pure frigidness. He turned away.
"Why -not-" Heero inquired again.
"Because, Sir. I have failed to give you my name."
Heero folded his hands in front of him. It was hard, but he tried exceedingly anyway to not become incoherent with a grievous anger. He sighed. "Your -name- then."
Duo smacked his tongue in frustration. "Oh brother," he said. A sharp glance from Heero bottled the rest of his comment.
"My name is Karizma Delanie Cervantes and I come as a messenger of peace from my Commanding officer from within the L3 Colony Cluster."
-Charisma, thought Trowa. -How fitting a name for someone so... -uninspiring-.
"Your call... Karizma Delanie Cervantes of the L3 Colony Cluster. -NOW-!" Heero pressed her.
He was far more intimidating than her CO was. Unlike the Commander -whom she respected to a great degree- this Mr. Heero Yuy made her jump.
With deft fingers, she moved quickly in making the call to the Lieutenant. When he came on line the picture was a little fuzzy. When he began in on her, she wished his voice was fuzzy also.
"Cervantes... where have you been?"
Karizma looked at Heero and then back to the screen her eyes went. She was almost reluctant to say as the man had displayed obvious anger.
"Detained, Lieutenant."
"Very well. You have orders now to report to Commander in Chief Drake Carter." His eyes were cold on her and his tone was harsh.
She had almost begun to wish that she had asked for a private call. With -this- news, there was no keeping anything silent.
Heero and Trowa were the only ones unmoved by this man's announcement. Even Karizma seemed nervous, Heero noted.
"B- But.. Sir... I have..."
"-You- will do as you are -told-, Cervantes! And -He- is expecting you... so lets not keep him waiting, shall we?"
"Yes, Sir, Lieutenant."
When the screen went blank, Heero turned if off and sat back in his chair rubbing his chin.
"Quatre," he stared Karizma into a seated position. "Can you manage to bring Captain Noin here? It seems we have some business for her to assist us with."
Quatre rose form his chair and left the room. Soon after, Wufei followed as did Trowa. Duo and Heero stared at each other for a moment, both contemplating what they should do with her in the meantime.
Karizma suddenly found her finger nails enticingly interesting. She rubbed the smoothness and lined the edges carefully. She imagined having long fingernails and decided that it would add to the loveliness of her hands.
-Conceited indeed, she thought and looked up as she realized two pairs of eyes on her.
~~~~~ * ~~~~~
"Commander... Lt. Sierra is on the line."
The commander stared out the window of the hotel room. They'd been on earth for two days making plans to confront this nemesis to the Gundam pilots.
"Thank you, Dox. Leave me if you would."
Dox did just that without further delay.
"Yes, Lieutenant?"
"Cervantes called, Commander."
"I see. And did you give her my orders?"
"Yes."
"Very well then. Forward this message on to Commander in Chief, Drake Carter." The man on the screen stood ready to take down the message. "In exactly three days, twelve hours and forty-one minutes, I will be needing his assistance in protecting those five young men.
"Now, Lieutenant... this assistance -does- require -all- of you," in referrence to those on the base there near L3. "And, keep in mind that those pilots will -Not- stand aside and let you fight for them."
"Commander, I don't..."
"-Expect- them, Lieutenant. Expect them to defend themselves, whatever the cost," was the reply.
"What about... Miss Peacecraft, Commander?"
A look away from the computer delivered the words. "Do what you can but -remember-," the commander stressed, "She is -their- mission. Mr. Yuy will do his job in keeping up with his protection of her, -you- make sure your job is done in protecting -him- and the others."
"Yes, Commander."
-What a way to give thanks.
A picture of the five young pilots had been fixed onto a date of the calendar. The attack was
-made- to be at exactly twelve noon on Thanksgiving Day. It did not give them, or the Gundam pilots, or any of their other allies a great deal of time but ever since peace was being destroyed, everyone was training for this day yet to come.
~~~~~ * ~~~~~
"Where is she?"
"She's gone, Highness. And so is Tremma."
-Damn! Her Excellency slammed her fist on the table causing the pens and other objects there upon it to jump and rattle.
"Your Excellency..." the man stammered for words. He stared in awe and fear of the other officer who was now standing in the room.
"-What-?" she demanded of her secretary.
"Leave us, please."
The soldier did so immediately, not wanting to be in the middle of his reprimanding ceremony. Upon the departure of the man, the officer walked up to the young woman and held her face in his hands.
"Sir," she called.
He tilted his head in a less than formal manner. "Come now. We have been through too much to be so proper and formal, have we not?"
He sighed and stepped away to the window. "You called and I am here. Are things still set as planned?"
She sighed. "Reider is gone and I have yet to send Bordman."
"Ah yes..." he replied. "Reider... the child. Was not Warden but a year or so her senior?" He brushed off the question and sighed of great relief. "Take no worry. Worse comes to worse, our little battle begins earlier than planned- which is not entirely a bad thing. As for Bordman... I took liberty of sending him myself. I think -Captain- Noin should be delighted to see him."
* ~~~~~~~ * ~~~~~~~ *
At the end of the day, Quatre and Lucrezia sat in silence, observing Seita as she embarked on her test of fencing with one of the more experienced in Lucrezia's command. She'd become quite the valiant with a sword- as had Relena, Lucrezia pointed out.
"But only since Heero finally gave his 'blessing'," Quatre laughed.
It had only been a few days, but he gave her the "ok" to train with Wufei so long as she kept it to swordplay and not gunplay. Relena had protested that she could handle a gun rather well but lost her wits when -in a mock situation- Heero relieved her of it before she even realized what was happening.
Heero stood in the doorway of Relena's study. The room was quiet and dark. Relena had yet to return from wherever she was. He decided to walk down the hall to her room and wait there. To his surprise, and concern- rather, annoyance with the servants who had not noticed her return; she lay sleeping on her bed. She was lying across the comforter as though she had just plopped herself down and went right to sleep. The soft glow of her desk lamp gave off just enough light for him to gaze at her beauty.
He took quiet steps to her side and looked down. She'd been writing. As quietly as he could, he picked up the sheets of paper, board and pen and placed them on the desk. In so doing, he caught a glimpse of the words she wrote. "I love you, Heero Yuy."
A quick click of the lamp left him standing in the darkness of the fading light outside. He watched Relena move into a different position and then he took a blanket and covered her with it. After a moment of consideration, he took off his shoes, belt and watch and crawled underneath the blanket beside her. With great ease, he took her into his arms and closed his eyes, feeling her snuggle up to him as though she knew he were there and had been waiting for it.
Sally sat on her bed needing to cry but could not. Wufei squatted in front of her with his hands on her knees.
"Don't you know that I am doing this because I -have- to and not because I -want- to? I mean... yes, I want you to be safe but if this is the only way... I have to do it!"
Wufei tried to look into her eyes but she wouldn't allow it. At his every attempt, she either closed her eyes or looked away.
"Sal?"
"I don't understand," her voice wavered.
Wufei stood up. He was frustrated about everything. The upcoming battle that he -knew was inevitable, Sally's pain, as well as his own clouded his concentration.
"I don't know how to help you, Sally."
"Then go," she finally said and stood up.
"Sally..." he protested her command.
"No, Wufei. Just go."
He walked over to her where she stood in font of the window.
"Sal," he spoke as he grabbed her by the shoulders.
Her heart palpitated in her chest as he touched her. She tried to resist his drawing her near but could not. He wrapped her in his arms and held her close.
"Sally... I--"
"No, Wufei. Don't tell me because you are going to leave me and I can't take the thought of losing you."
He sighed. It wasn't that he was going to leave her or that she was going to lose him. It was that he needed to concentrate and the only way he knew how to do that was to leave her side. He would return when the time was right... he had to.
"Then I'll show you," he said and turned her around to face him.
Before she could answer or give any refusal, he kissed her fully on the lips. He pulled her closer still and then lifted her off her feet with gentle strength and carried her to the bed where he laid her down.
"Wufei..."
He gazed into her soft eyes, silencing her words. He leaned down and kissed her once, and then twice. A third time still and then she pulled him down to her and kissed him back. After only seconds of hesitation, all her former inhibited desires unloaded themselves into her hands. She immediately removed his shirt and watched as his bare chest came into view. She rubbed his soft, perfect skin and leaned up to kiss his chest and neck. He allowed her to flip him over and straddle him. He reached up ready to help her out of hers but she stopped him.
"Why are we doing this?"
He looked up at her with love in his eyes. She moved to lie down beside him. He leaned up on his elbow and looked at her. She watched as his finger traced the neck of her shirt.
"Because I love you and I don't know how else to show you other than by walking away."
She turned her head to look at him. Wufei pushed her hair aside.
"I love you, Chang Wufei. And I don't want you to do this because you feel obligated to somehow 'show me' that you love me."
Wufei rubbed the side of her face and then rested his palm on her cheek, letting her feel the heat that radiated from him.
"Do you think I feel obligated to make love to you, or do you think I just want to bed you to ease my own mind?"
She knew these were not fighting words and he was truly sincere. his eyes were incapable of lying or even hiding emotion.
"I think that there is nothing you want more than for me to know how much you love me."
"And you are right." He grabbed her hand and held it gently. "But please don't think that I think having sex with you is the only way I think -or- the only thing I want from you."
She smiled teasingly at him. "And why not?"
He took her into his arms and held her tight. Gently and passionately, he kissed her once again.
Trowa sat on the balcony staring out into the rising darkness. Duo lay back on the chair staring at the stars. He reveled at the fact that for once Trowa didn't go off to be near his Gundam.
"What're you thinking about, Trowa?"
"Nothing."
Duo laughed. "Too quick an answer, my man."
Trowa glared at him over his shoulder and then turned back around.
"What business do you think Cervantes... Kari---zma, had with Carter?"
Trowa tensed at the sound of her name. Duo's usage of dragging it out caused him to shutter. It was like hearing fingernails on a chalkboard.
"When it concerns me, I'm sure I will find out."
Duo held his thought. He could clearly understand that Trowa did not care for the girl.
-Yeah, right!
"Have you had any more nightmares, Duo?"
-Come to think of it... "Now that you mention it... I'm having -one- recurring dream."
Trowa stared off into the distance. "Is it about Hilde?"
There was a painful thought.
"No... not exactly. I mean... she's in it but..." he paused trying to figure out how to articulate his words. "Trowa..." he couldn't think of the right words to say.
Trowa sat silently, patiently waiting for Duo's words.
"I know this is going to sound -really- stupid... but I keep dreaming about Dorothy. Ever since that first letter came... there's something that keeps lingering." He looked over at Trowa.
"Like what," Trowa asked still not facing Duo.
-Like what? Hmmm... "Like the look on her face when Quatre took her away."
"Do you still blame yourself for that?"
Trowa finally turned to look at his friend. It had been too long for this to come up now.
"Sometimes... I think that if I hadn't have said anything to Quatre, she would still be alive... maybe still at Concord but still alive."
"And you blame yourself for Hilde, too... don't you?"
Duo could sense Trowa's disapproval at his feelings.
"No... she did that on her own. I sometimes feel responsible for Dorothy but I know that it was for the best..."
"Anyway, Duo... it was Quatre who made the decision to take her. You should not beat yourself up over it... it's been way too long to feel guilty about it now."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Anyway... I keep hearing this voice that calls my name saying 'Don't leave me' and sometimes I see a snake..." he shuttered, " or I can feel a gun at my head. But there is something new. Every time I hear Heero's voice remind me of how mortal I am, I see the words 'Kill remaining Gundam pilots'."
Trowa looked away momentarily and then turned back to Duo. That -was- kind of strange.
"I've only had one thought on that," Duo continued, "what does 'remaining' mean?"
It was an excellent question. None of them were able to decipher the meaning.
15.
WARNING: Again, there is not an -explicit- scene... it does not go into full detail but I felt the need to place a warning anyway...ok!!:)
A MATTER OF TIME
The Continuance of the Clock
Heero woke with a jump. Some time in the night he had lost his shirt and ended up under the covers. Relena lay beside him, still sleeping only she was now in her nightgown. Had he missed something in his moment of sleep?
-How could I miss something like that?
He stared down at her. She was beautiful. There was no way in all of Hell that he would have forgotten that he had made love to her. It was a moment that he was working up to slowly.
The time on his watch read four thirty-eight. He needed to get back to his place and start going through information he received from Cervantes and looking over the letters he -and- Duo received to see if there was something he was missing. Somehow, all that information seemed meaningless at this moment. He was reluctant to leave her side.
"Sweetness... I love you," he whispered softly.
He sat on the edge of the bed and strapped on his watch. As he latched it closed, he felt a soft warm touch on his back. It was enough to make him shiver.
"Are you leaving, Heero?"
Her voice enticed him to look at her. The glow of her skin and sparkle in her eyes called to him, inviting him to her.
"Yes, Love."
She smiled playfully.
"But, Heero," she giggled, "you're supposed to sneak out -after- we have sex!"
His face became bright red that she could even see it in the half-light of morning. It was so intense that she wished she could recall her words and make it so she had said nothing.
"Heero... I..."
He put his finger on her lips and then bent down and kissed her.
"One day," he said as he pulled away. "But not today."
She smiled at his respect for her. He was truly honorable.
"I love you," she whispered.
"And I love you... Relena Peacecraft."
~~~~~ * ~~~~~
Karizma had found her way back to the pilots' home late in the evening. Her meeting with Carter had left her feeling drained and depressed. She had knocked on the door for almost ten minutes before Weidam finally opened it.
Now she was waking up in the semi-warmth of this house made a home by five bachelors. It was not a comforting feeling. She would much rather have been in the home of Drake and Ellen Carter but the pilots were -her- mission.
After a half-hour of stretching exercises, she found herself in the kitchen looking in the refrigerator. She decided that a cup of milk would suit her just fine.
Quatre entered the kitchen, eyeing her thoughtfully, but hesitantly, before pouring himself a glass of his own. Neither said anything, though he was sure she was itching to and she was certain that he didn't want to engage in conversation.
Trowa stood in the doorway of Duo's room. Duo had been up half the night and now sat at his desk scribbling something onto a sheet of paper.
"What are you doing?"
Duo ignored Trowa's persistent bombarding of questions and continued to write.
"Duo... you have been up half the night... Scribbling... I could hear you down in -My- room!
-What- are you doing?"
Duo finally looked up. His face was clear and calm as Trowa's was smothered with annoyance.
Heero walked in to the kitchen, eyeing both the occupants inside. They felt relief upon his entrance but quickly lost it at his somewhat sardonic gaze. As he grabbed whatever he was after, the tension resumed upon his leaving. The silence manipulated the two young people once again.
Finally Karizma decided it would be best if she departed back to her room. She topped off her cup of milk and headed for the odor.
Trowa, finally exhausting himself at questioning Duo, made his way down the stairs. He stopped briefly to inform Heero that Duo was in serious need of a shaking and headed for the kitchen.
Karizma took a small glance at Quatre as she opened the door and ran directly into Trowa, spilling her milk all over his clothing.
Quatre did all he could to keep from lauging. Duo had just come out of his room and made it to the second floor where Heero stood. Both looked down at the commotion at the kitchen door. Weidam, Blake and the other servants came out of hiding to view also.
"Why don't you watch where you're going," Trowa yelled.
"Well put a window in the door and -next- time I'll see you coming," she returned with a fury.
"Go away," he grumbled as he removed his shirt. When he turned around he saw the others up stairs -and- the servants gaping at him. "What" he yelled, throwing his shirt at Weidam.
Duo looked at Heero and smiled.
"Well... looks like he needs more of a shaking than I do," he said cheerfully and finished his way to the first floor.
Heero stared somewhat bothered as he watched them.
Trowa brushed past him and took the stairs two at a time all the way to the third floor before disappearing into his room. Duo stepped far aside from Karizma as she had a fresh cup of milk in her hands.
She handed him a dirty look and fled back to her room. Heero watched as she ignored his glare at her.
"-What-?" She yelled at him and began taking the steps to the third floor.
Heero stared at her with indifferent eyes and said nothing.
"Ugh!" She stormed up the stairs, mumbling to herself and headed down the hall to her room. "Stupid men have no sense... staring at me..." she rambled on just as Trowa exited his room, clad now with a fresh pair of jeans and a clean shirt. He watched her, waiting for her to pass. "Show respect... I'll show them respect..." she took note of Trowa's eyes on her. "Is there a
-problem-?" she yelled at him.
Trowa almost flinched at her but suddenly became very cool. "You know... there are doctors to help with the voices in your head."
Quite composed and sure of himself, he stepped past her and headed for the stairs.
"Ugh!"
In her room she kneeled in front of the bed and cried.
~~~~~ * ~~~~~
Six Forty-Five a.m.
Wufei opened his eyes. He lay alone in Sally's bed. Preoccupied with the events of the night, he didn't notice her come in.
"Tea, Love?"
He sat up and stared at her, charmed by her beauty.
"Thank you."
He took the cup she offered and watched as she sat down. With a swift tug he pulled her near and kissed her gently. She smiled and laid down on the bed, resting her head in his lap. The touch of his hand on her hair was soothing but not enough to keep the tears from falling.
"Do you regret last night?" He stroked her hair gently, drinking from his cup as he waited for her reply. She shook her head. It was not her desire for him to see her crying.
"You?" she asked quietly.
"Not at all," he replied. It was not -his- desire for her to see him feeling so weak. "So why are you crying?"
She sat up immediately and stared into his dark eyes.
"I..." she wiped her tears and turned away.
Wufei put his cup down and reached for her. In an effortless move, she was now leaning against his chest flooding with tears.
"Sally?"
-Why are women so weak? The one thing I cannot do is help her to stop crying!
"Chang..." He melted at the sound of her voice. "I love you." She looked up at him with a tear-streaked face. "I love you."
He stared at her not knowing what action to take. He could feel tears in his own eyes.
"Marry me, Sally Po."
They were both taken aback by the words but he remained firm in his gaze at her.
"Why Wufei... where'd -that- come from?"
He took her hand and kissed it. Looking deep into her eyes, he placed her hand on his chest over his heart.
"Here."
She leaned up and kissed him softly on his cheek. "I love you," she said as she placed a hand on the side of his face. She kissed his forehead. "I love you," she looked into his eyes and kissed the tip of his nose.
Wufei closed his eyes and placed his hand on hers. He felt her move back as she straddled him. His eyes opened and he stared into hers.
"I love you," she whispered before kissing his lips with great tenderness, gently pulling him closer to her. Her lips on his sent him writhing in sweet agony. "I love you," she breathed again, "and I want to."
He opened his eyes and pushed her away ever so slightly.
"Marry me."
Their eyes met and locked. He held her in that position until she replied.
"Yes, Wufei! I want nothing more... I will marry you!" Her answer came through an array of tears and a smile.
With her words he pulled her close to him and led her into the act that she was reluctant to go through with during the night.
Last night it was a decision he respected. He fell asleep with her in his arms, leaving her sexually untouched. But this morning it was a decision they embraced together. In peace and in love they dived into this great sea of emotion once and again.
~~~~~ * ~~~~~
Sentiel Bordman sat on his bed. Late the previous evening he arrived on Repudiation and was assigned a room in the barracks by some unnoteworthy person.
He knew his mission but was distracted that he hadn't been sent out by her Excellency's orders. The room was silent accept for a small staticky rasping noise. It took him a moment to figure out that it was his Com unit.
-Who... no one is supposed to contact me here!
He scrambled to his bag and dug for the small device. The rasping got louder as it became nearer to the surface of his bag.
"... (static)... click click... Bordman! Do you copy- over?"
The voice was somewhat unfamiliar to him. No one knew that he was there- he was almost afraid to pick it up.
"... Bordman!... Sentiel... it's Reider... come in, over!"
-Reider? Didn't she... his eyes widened at the continued thought.
Quickly he picked up the call telling her to switch channels. Unaware that the frequency they chose was being picked up somewhere far away, he took her call.
After almost ten minutes of arguing with her, he disconnected from her. He was baffled at her display of action and wondered if he should report to earth about it. He decided that it would be best if he began his mission. It was already late in the morning and technically, he should have been half way over.
The battle was going to begin sooner than expected. It was not something he wanted to happen but he was involved. He would complete his mission as he was commanded but he would not like any bit of it. It had been almost seven years since he last saw Lucrezia Noin. She had been his idle and now... he sighed.
-Lets get this ball moving.
~~~~~ * ~~~~~
Ten Nineteen a.m.
Drake Carter stared at the message he received only twenty three hours ago. In two days those pilots were going to be attacked and he would have to initiate troops into battle. It was something he was training his soldiers to do, something Marinova and Gardina were training
-their- soldiers to do at the words of High Minister Tarran almost two years ago. Something that neither of the men involved in producing the militaristic power that now existed hoped would ever become a reality.
His meeting with Karizma Cervantes proved worthy of the information he received from the Commander and that of what he knew of the pilots. At the same time, it sent him into the terrors of pre war.
He prepared to call in Lucrezia Noin but was interrupted with a great surprise.
"Enter," he called in response to a hard knock on his door.
A young man stepped in dressed in attire fit for a prince.
~~~
Ten Twenty One a.m.
Lucrezia's eyes widened at the young man the corporal presented to her.
"Bordman! What are you doing here?"
He stood saluting her. "Captain."
"At ease," she said. She was surprised to see him still in military uniform. After WASP, she thought that he had retired the rank and had started a new life.
He dropped his hand and stood at parade rest handing her his orders. It was menacing to wait for the opportunity to begin his mission.
Lucrezia studied his record and billet and set it down on her desk.
"Very well, Major." She extended her arm to him. He took the offering. "Welcome aboard." She yelled for the young corporal to come in. Upon his entrance gave instructions that Bordman was to be led to a Special's unit under her command.
"Yes, Ma'am," the corporal replied and led Sentiel away.
At their departure she picked up her phone and called to the Men's place. "Come on..." she said tapping her fingers on the desk. She knew something was wrong. Sentiel Bordman was not a serious kind of person. Serious enough, as they all were, when it came to battle but to be so cold in checking in? It was not like him. Not to mention that it had been late in the day before he chose to make himself known.
"Duo here, what's your mission in life?"
Duo smiled affectionately when he saw her staring back.
"Duo... where's Heero?"
At first he thought her sedate appearance was nothing more than "up all night, can't wake up" tiredness. "Well! See if I greet -You- with a smile next time," he joked.
"Duo please! I don't have time for this... where is he?"
Duo snapped into business when he realized she was serious. "Hold on."
Heero had been in his room all morning, searching through papers, going over -all- the information he had, reading and re-reading and still again. There was nothing that told him what was about to happen. Nothing that gave him warning... nothing accept...
He took out an envelope from his desk and another and the last letter he received before Karizma showed up.
--"It is for my affection of peace that I send the following information. Unfortunately, my hopes for peace have been wiped clean by pressures of an upcoming war."
He looked down at the two envelopes. Both of them were envelopes that had contained one or another letter to Duo.
-Oh God...
A knock came to his door.
"What," he called.
Duo cleared his throat just as Heero opened the door most disturbed and obviously unpleased. But there was something more registering in his eyes. Something that caused him to look almost... weak.
"Captain Noin is on the line."
Duo stepped aside in concern and watched Heero quickly make his way to the study. They both entered only to face a blank screen. Immediately he dialed back to her office. When she came on screen, her expression was sheer and transparent.
"Mr. Yuy," she said in as cordial a tone as she could muster, "I will have to return your call... Sir."
Heero disconnected and walked over to the window.
"What's wrong, Heero?"
Duo walked up behind him observing the area as Heero was doing. There was nothing.
~~~
Karizma could sense that something was not right. She left her room unnoticed and made her way out of the house and across the hill to Relena's home.
Ten Twenty-Nine a.m.
Quatre watched Karizma cautiously make her way up the hill. He observed her moves as she continually surveyed the grounds around her.
-Hmm... what have we got, Miss Cervantes. Are you here to kill or protect?
He made a move for the door barely missing its swing when Heero entered followed by Trowa and Duo.
"Where's Wufei?"
Quatre shrugged, surprised at Heero's urgency.
"Where's the girl," Heero inquired.
Quatre pointed to Relena's.
"-Damn-!" Heero's sudden burst caused the others to jump slightly. "Quatre... go to Relena's, Trowa... get Sally on line and see if she knows where he is."
"Knows where who is," Wufei asked. "What's going on?"
They all stopped for a moment, forgetting -all- that was going on.
"What?" Wufei looked at them confused at their fixation on him.
"You Dog!" Duo smirked and patted him on the back. "Hope it was worth it, it may be the only chance you get," he chuckled.
-They know? How?
"It's ok," Heero said with a decisive tone. Just as he was about to go into detail about his information, he was interrupted.
"Yeah," Trowa added. "Heero always said it was ok to act on your emotions!"
Quatre could not believe his eyes. He had never seen a bit mark so big before.
"Now..." Heero began but again, was interrupted.
"So... did it hurt?" Quatre's eyes were full of question and sympathy pains at the sight.
Wufei choked on his breath. "-Excuse me-?" His eyes became relentless as did his voice.
-How -dare- they ask me such things!
Heero could see that he was not going to win this so he sighed and joined in the conversation that took precedence over his own news.
"He's referring to the bite on your..." it wasn't exactly on his neck or chest, more so on the shoulder. He improvised for a lack of better words. "Um... collar bone," he pointed.
"Yeah... I always heard that there were bats on this place," Duo jested.
Wufei became bright with embarrassment. His shirt did not cover it as he had hoped.
"Well," Heero began again. "Now that you're here..."
"Yeah and we all know where you've been," Duo still teased, dodging Heero's wayward glance.
"Ahem... now that you're here... we have another problem."
Heero went into explanation about Lucrezia's call and Quatre informed them of his spotting Karizma going to Relena's place.
Trowa stared out the window into the fields as he listened to Heero's instructions.
"Quatre... go to Relena's, see what the deal is there. Trowa, Wufei- you two go to the hangar and Duo, you come with me to the base."
Quatre objected. "Please, Heero... Let me got the base."
Heero looked at him and then faced Duo.
"I'll go," Trowa said.
Wufei was getting irritated. "This is not time to be picky! If what Heero says is true, we are -all- in trouble! Let's go!" he demanded.
"Fine! Trowa... to Relena's, Duo with Wufei... Quatre..." they all headed for their separate ways before Heero turned sharply to Trowa.
"Your -LIFE- Trowa!"
Trowa's green eyes reflected his word that regardless of what happened he would protect Relena with all he had to give.
-You better, Heero thought as he and Quatre ran to the hummer. Duo and Wufei were already on their way to the hangar.
Trowa had been highly suspicious of Cervantes. He didn't care about the appearance of peace she presented. It didn't even matter to him that Heero semi trusted her. All that mattered was that he was going to get to the bottom of the facade that he envisioned her carrying.
* ~~~~~ * ~~~~~ *
"Commander, we just got word that one Sentiel Bordman has been set up on the base on Repudiation and was sent by the orders of..."
"Let me guess," offered the Commander. "...Zechs-... Marquise..."
There was a brief silence.
"Y-yes... Commander. And I intercepted this transmission earlier today," Dox said as he pushed a button and waited for the speakers to produce the sound of his tape. Seconds later they were listening to a brief communication between two unknown soldiers.
There was a great deal of interference but the Commander managed to make a vital part of it out.
"Replay it Dox."
He did.
"...-ot...-et... -ait... -ders..."
"(static)... -o!...-scraft... -ies... -day..."
"Peacecraft dies today."
"Commander... are you sure?"
A pound on the desk assured him of the answer.
"Damn it! Get Carter -and- Gardina on the line!"
"B- but..."
"-NOW-!"
~~~~~ * ~~~~~
Ten Fifty-One a.m.
"Zechs... are we ready for this?"
Zechs Marquise was determined. His lust for total control ruled his every move. It had been
-far -too -long for them -not- to be ready.
"I have troops established where I want them, Highness. And now that Bordman is in place and should be in the middle of his mission, things should be moving rather quickly. If -that- is what you mean to inquire of."
The young woman had once proved herself highly worthy of this position. She had done an excellent job at taking over the role he made for her. now she was showing a great deal of doubt. In Zech's eyes, this was -much- cause for concern.
"What about Reider?" she asked.
Zechs stared out into the world. It pleased him to know that soon -so very soon- the garden of Mobil suits and dolls in his view would be moving into action.
"I think we know where she is. And its fine, because in exactly thirty eight minutes and fourteen seconds, the Peace Hall is going to come crumbling down. At the same time, Base Four will also be hit, resulting in the loss of a great deal of their resources."
"Base... Four?"
He turned around to face the young woman.
"Marinova's..." he chuckled sarcastically, "Oops," he covered his mouth... "I mean Gardina's base." He smiled wickedly at the thought.
"What about Tremma?"
Zechs' amusement rolled away. He stared at her, narrowing his eyes at her. "She was -your- soldier. That is your job to decide what happens to her."
He turned away from her and once again took in the view of the weapons he, himself, had designed. They would be the destruction of the Gundam pilots -and- the place they called home.
"So Base Four will be hit and then it's off to Repudiation we go." He turned back to face her. "There, we will provoke and conquer the Gundam pilots and the Rock will become ours. Commander in Chief Drake Carter will meet Antonio Marinova in -HELL-!"