"Run a scan on all communications channels, Gold through Grey."
"Diagnostic commencing…Please stand by."
Duo listened to the dulcet voice of the computer's automatic response system. Such diagnostics were routine there at the Alliance Headquarters, but it still had to be done by a trusted member of the Security staff. For the most part such checks were run by the head of security himself, Heero Yuy, but there had been an number of attacks on the Vice Foreign Minister of late so he was currently preoccupied. Thus matters of routine maintenece fell to the second in command, Duo Maxwell.
"Aww man! Why do I always get stuck with the really boring grunt work?" Duo demanded of the empty room. Right now security central was quiet, just him and the monitors.
"Scan on communications channels complete…One anomaly detected," the computer reported faithfully.
Duo frowned. One anomaly? There should be no anomalies.
"Let's hear it," he said, suddenly perking into interest now that he had something to concentrate on.
"Unauthorized access of Gold Channel, Priority One at oh twenty-hundred hours Earth Standard Time, on the date 04:07:03."
"Gold channel? Who could access Gold Channel without setting off the system?"
Gold Channel was a priority channel reserved for emergency transmissions or contacts. Only a very select few knew the codes for it, The Head of Security and one or two high ranking government officials, but they were only allowed access to the Gold channel with express permission from he head of security and the Governor of the Alliance Headquarters.
Duo tapped his link.
"Patch me through to Preventor security Chief Heero Yuy," said Duo.
"Searching," said the dulcet, melodious voice of the computer. "Subject found, establishing comunications."
The tousel-haired head of Heeo Yuy appeared on screen.
"What is it?" he asked with his usual bluntness. Duo didn't waste time with his usual 'well hello to you too' banter.
"Hey Heero, did you by any chance authorize an access to the Headquarters' Gold Channel about a day or so ago did you?"
"No. One was recorded?" Heero said with his usual focus.
"Yeah, system says one was recorded at about eight oclock."
"I made no such authorization, the system is by no means perfect it could be a computer error. However, you should run another check to see if the anomaly turns up again. If so, contact me but continue working. This is your case now, I'll expect a report."
"Roger that," said Duo, and signed off. He instructed the computer to run an in depth diagnostic of the Gold channel communications system and report any anomalies, then say back with his arms behind his head to wait.
"This sucks, how boring… Running communications diagnostics," Duo grumbled. While it might raise his ego just a little to know that Duo was the only one Heero trusted enough to monitor the sensitive system, it still did not change the face that the job was dull.
One Hour Later…
**snore**
"Communications system diagnostic complete," the dulcet voice was just loud enough to jolt Duo out of his nap.
"Well?"
"One anomaly detected."
"Can you track it to the source?" questioned Duo.
"Unable to comply, system lock and coded," the computer told him. That meant that whoever had hacked into and used the Gold Channel had known what they were doing, and had covered their tracks.
Duo tried running a few more programs on it, but it was useless. The only way they were going to catch the little culprit was if he or she made another call, they could intercept the signal and trace its origins. He logged it into a report.
* * *
"Hey Duo," said Hilde sitting at the table in the mess for lunch with him.
"Hey Hilde," he said leaning back with a burger in one hand. He looked over at the young ex-OZ officer, now a full time Preventor like him. He'd tried his damndest to keep her from joining but she wasn't about to be swayed. She dug her heels in and didn't budge an inch. If there was one thing Duo knew it was that one Hilde Shbiecker could be the most impossibly stubborn creature ever to grace the colonies. That was one of the things he found so attractive about her, that, and her sparkling personality. He'd given up tying to sulk at her when she'd ignored his attitude completely and shined her dazzling smile at him. She didn't give up, wouldn't retreat, and never surrendered.
"What's up? You look tired," she said showing some concern. "Is there something wrong?"
"It's nothin'. I'm just tired from a long day at trying to track down someone using the Gold Channel without permission. Who ever it is, they're good."
"Are you sure someone was hacking into them? It could have been a false reading or a computer error, the system's still a little quirky at times."
"I checked that. Nada."
"Well, sounds like you've got what we at the OZ space forces used to call a 'gremlin.' I'm sure they'll turn up again and when they do, you'll have them," Hilde said cheerfully.
"Yeah, I know. It's just the fact that they've managed to get by me. It irks me," said Duo.
Hilde looked at him in amusement. Duo liked it when she looked amused, it made her eyes sparkle. Hell, when she looked at him like that it almost made him forget that he was the source of her amusement.
His watch beeped.
"Soory Hilde-babe, but I've got to go back on duty."
"I'll catch up with you later, good luck with that gremlin!"
Duo waved and headed back to the security room.
~~Two Days Later~~
"Out going transmission detected," the computer alerted Duo in its melodious tones. "Gold Channel One."
"Okay!" said Duo, more than ready for it. "Lock onto signal and run code icebreaker."
"Locking on…"
"Locked on…uploading code…"
There was another pause then
"Transfer interrupted, unable to track. Primary tracking functions frozen…"
"Oh, so they're making counter moves eh?" said Duo, his eye lighting up at the challenge. "Record everything we have so far for analysis, link up to my console."
"Unable to comply," the computer informed him. "Primary and secondary tracking and recording functions have been shut down. Signal lost."
"Damn! This persons good," Duo grudgingly admitted. However, there was a secondary way to trace the signal. A manual console in Comand and Control. He could access the data directly from there.
Duo quickly jogged towards the control center, knocking people aside in his haste to get there. He reached the console that was his destination in record time and tried to access the data. His fingers flew across the key pad searching the recent digita-signal records for anything that might help him track his gremlin.
"Gold Chanel One records accessed…" the computer told him as soon as he'd managed to log into them.
"Well?" he demanded. Did he get the gremlin or not?
"No records of access recorded or detected in the last 360 hours."
"What?!" demanded Duo incedulously. "You mean to tell me that this person managed to devise a way to completely obliterate all records from the database on a Gold Channel Transmission?!"
"Affirmative," the computer confirmed unnecessarily.
Duo took a breath to calm himself. Damn, the gremlin got away again…whoever it was they were beginning to make Duo look bad. That was okay, he'd get them eventually.
~~One Day Later~~
"…Situation in sector Green-five," Heero told him, via the comlink on his arm. (standard equipment for anyone in Security.) "Heavy gunfire was reported in that area."
"Alright, I'll put a team on it right away. You sure you got everything okay chief?"
"Minor casualties, none of the assassins trying to harm the Vice Foreign Minister have survived," Heero informed him flatly.
Duo couldn't help the grin that stretched across his face. That boy had it bad.
"Now why ain't I surprised to hear that?"
Heero, of course, didn't dignify the comment with a response. He never did.
"Out." Heero said as he signed off his connection. Duo tapped his link and contacted one of the nearby security teams.
"We've got a code seven-R in sector Green-five, want you boys to go on down and check it out," Duo said.
"Rodger that, proceeding. Out," the security guard affirmed.
Suddenly his console beeped.
"Ah-ha!" He eclaimed in triumph and eagerly ran his modified tracking program. "I gotcha now my little gremlin!"
"Icebreaker successful," the computer told him.
"Patch it through to my screen," said Duo. He was eager to know just what could be so urgent that a person would violate half a dozen rules and regulations to hack into Gold Channel One just so they could get a clear signal.
The image appeared on screen. By all Duo could tell it was a hospital somewhere…There was a nurse in a white lab-coat facing the screen.
"It doesn't look good, at all lieutenant," the nurse said frankly. "We've been able to get him out o a coma, but his condition is rapidly deteriorating."
"Can I…Can I talk to him?"
Duo was astounded to recognise the voice. It sounded small and incredibly vulnerable, but it was undeniably Hilde's voice!
"Of course Miss Shbeicker, he's been asking for you."
Duo could hear Hilde mutter something that sounded like 'that's a change' as the screen was switched over to another veiw.
This screen was filled with the image of a man lying in a hospital bed. Although pale and drawn, the resemblence to Hilde was unmistakable. He had rich dark hair, but green eyes instead of Hilde's blue. An unshaven beard grew scraggly on his face and he looked tired, so incredibly weary.
"Hilde…I never expected you to call," he said, looking over at the monitor. He was barely able to raise his head, and there was something like a wistful hope in the mans eyes.
"You are my father," was all she said. But Duo heard a sort of answering hope in her voice.
"I am not entirely certain that I deserve the title. I have not been the best of fathers to you Hilde…when your mother passed away and you were so young, then your brother died in the war trying to protect the colonies…"
"It's alri-"
"No!" he said forcefully. Well, with as much force as could be mustered in that frail body of his. "I did not love and protect you as I should have, I left you to fight on your own." He took a wheezing breath.
"Father don't-"
"I must say my peace," he insisted. "Please, my time grows short."
Hilde subsided into silence. Duo watched in mute sadness the tragedy unfolding itself before him.
"I had forgotten then and in all those years, that a father must give a child his love as well as discipline and in that respect I have failed you. I am sorry, my Little Kitten. Please forgive me, forgive me."
Duo couldn't see her answer and all he heard was the sound of a shuddering sob from behind his veiw.
"Little kitten…You haven't called me that since…"
Duo watched as the man in the bed slowly sank into himself. His form went limp and his eyes closed.
"Papa?…" Hilde sounded so lost. He voice sounded small, desperate, child-like. She sounded so close to weeping.
"Papa?" she tried again.
The nurse appeared again. Duo could see in her eyes that Hilde's father had passed on.
"I'm sorry Miss Shbeicker…"
"I know. Thank you for taking care of him."
Her voice was hollow, tone-less. The voice of a soldier.
"End transmission."
Duo sat there in shock at what he had just accidentally witnessed.
* * *
Hilde was working in Command and Control, working on patching up one of the leaks that had allowed the assassins into the Alliance Headquarters to attack the Vice Foreign Minister. She had pulled two shifts already, but she couldn't seem to stop. Anything to distract herself…
"Hello Hilde," said a familiar voice behind her. Privately she lived to hear that voice. The deeper but still laid-back and relaxed tones of Duo Maxwell could instantly brighten any horrible day for her. It could make her heart beat faster in anticipation of seeing his face again. But today, even his voice couldn't bring her out of her slump.
"Hey Duo," she said, trying to inject her voice with as much cheer and normality as possible. "How's it going?"
"Pretty good," he said casually. "I uh, tracked down the problem with the communications on Gold Channel…"
Hilde just barley managed to maintain her composure.
"And?"
"A program error, just like you said. A glitch in the system…I think we both know that it won't be happening again," his tone conveying without words that he knew. "Will it?"
"No," she whispered. Duo, who was watching her closely, saw her turn her back to hide the sight of her blinking away the tears in her eyes. Obviously she didn't want anyone seeing her cry.
The was another few minutes filled with silence, only Hilde working away on the console in front of her. Finally Duo said
"I could, ah, buy you a drink," he offered. It wasn't much, but she looked like she needed it.
"I'm on duty," she said, her voice was just barely quavering, but firm.
"Your shift ended well over twelve hours ago," Duo said.
He received no reply to that so after another few moments he said
"If I have to make it an order, I will."
"Duo," her voice sounded a mix of sadness and exasperation. It wasn't easy turning him down, even when she was grieving.
"Look, Hilde. I'm not leaving here until you say yes, and you know how annoying I can make myself. The God of Death does not take 'I'm busy' for an answer."
"I…Not right now, please." Hilde couldn't face the crowds in the zocalo or down at the bar, not right now.
Duo Maxwell could hear in her voice that she was almost about to lose what little control she had. He silently keyed in the lock on the door so they wouldn't be disturbed. She still hadn't turned to face him. Her head was bowed instead of being thrown back proudly as it usually was, she appeared to be trembling ever so slightly.
"I just don't feel like going out right now I…I can't. Please just leave me alone."
Hilde Shbiecker had never begged for anything in her life, she would rather crawl five miles over hot coals and broken glass than to have to ask for help, but she couldn't help the pleading note that crept into her voice.
Duo crept up behind her. He knew that she was stubborn, he knew that she was independent and that she had a backbone made of pride and detirmination. She had not ever once shown any sort of vulnerability, even when she'd been wounded in the Taurus by the Mecurius and the Veyeate trying to get her pilfered information to Peacemillion she had not wavered. She was a fighter, a soldier with a heart. He knew all of this and he couldn't help but want to be the one whom she finally let close enough to comfort her.
"I think we both know that you don't really want to be alone right now," he said quietly, right by her ear. He wrapped his arms around her waist, trying to convey his support as well as his true feelings.
That did it. The floodgates burst open. Hilde turned around in his arms and buried her head in his shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably.
He caught snatches of some of the things she babbled
"…He's always been so distant. Always been alone. I don't need anyone, I can make it by myself!
"…Ran away when I was fourteen and joined the space force as soon as I reached fifteen. I wanted to protect the colonies like my big brother did. I wanted to prove I could make my father proud of me, force him to open up his eyes and see that I was still there. Force him to love me.
"…All my life I've searched for something I could hold onto, something I could believe in. I thought I'd found it in OZ, the spaceforces were supposed to be like one big family. But it was a lie, just like my own was a lie."
"Duo, I don't know what to believe in anymore. Can you tell me? Can you give me something to believe in? I'm so lost. I've always been lost. I'm so glad you're here."
"Hilde," he said quietly, with as much tenderness as he could permit in his voice without scaring her away with its intensity. "I can't give you something to believe in, only you can do that. But I can tell you about something I believe in. Something it feels like I've always believed in and something I've drawn strength and courage from…"
"Yeah? What's that?" she asked curiously, looking up at him through watery, red-rimmed eyes.
"You," he said simply.
Hilde took a minute to digest what he'd said. How is it that he drew strength from her? He was so strong. Well if that were the case then she'd better start standing on her own again. It was time to leave the warm comforting haven of his embrace and take up her place on her own two feet out in the cold again. Most of her wanted nothing more than to stay there, safe and cared for. But her pride reared its head once more and Hilde found herself pulling away from him, almost against her will.
Duo felt her stiffen in his arms in preparation for disengaging herself from his embrace. He found that he didn't want to let her go. He didn't want to release her from his arms knowing that he probably wouldn't get another chance to be close to her like this. He couldn't make his arms release, instead they seemed to insist on tightening around her slim body.
Hilde, for once, lay pride and independence that she had grown out of need in her lonely childhood aside. Why shouldn't she have this? Why shouldn't she let herself be happy with someone who accepted her for herself, who knew she could be stubborn and proud and willful but loved her all the same? Why couldn't she let herself find the happiness she'd been denied as a child? Her father was gone now, they had made their peace with each other and his emotional distance no longer loomed over her, shadowing her every action with a desperate need to be loved. She'd craved his approval more than food and drink when she'd been a child…But she was a woman now. And the woman in her told her that there was a wonderful man whom she adored with all the battered remnants of her heart standing there with his arms around her, silently asking her not to go.
So she wouldn't. She didn't need to.
To Duo's surprise and delight she relaxed into his embrace and let him hold her up. She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes in exhaustion. Then she wrapped her arms around his own waist and squeezed ever so gently, just enough.
Acceptance.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. There, I said it. You can all go back to your homes now, there's nothing more to see. Move along. Move along.
Authors Notes: My first Duo and Hilde fic. Personally, I like the couple, I think they're cute. I got the idea for this fic from watching Babylon Five today (Don't ask me which show I like better, I don't think I could answer you) and it was originally supposed to be an HYRP, but it just wouldn't have worked out at all, so I thought Why not make it a Duo and Hilde fic, tha'd be cute. So here it is. I hope you liked it! Don't forget to tell me what you think. Oh, and for those of you who are curious, Chapter six of A Gathering of Dragons is halfway finished. I anticipate another two to three days, depending on if I can get any good writing time and if my muse cooperates with me. It's coming along fine, little by little. Until next time…
~Nightheart.