A/N: A few things. First, this particular one shot is based off a fanfiction that I'm currently working on. It's extremely AU and I suppose that this could count as a bit of a teaser fic, but it's not going to be in the fanfiction itself. It may be mentioned, but it's more of a "deleted scene" if you will. Second, GunEagle needs more love. D8 A lot more love, hence this one shot.
Guh, you can kind of take this just about any way you want to. Friendship, romance, or family. In my head, it's like some kind of, beating around the bush romance. But that's just me. Take it however you want. :)
Disclaimer: GunEagle and SD Gundam Force belong to Bandai, however, the idea for this Alternate Universe fanfiction, Nalia Volkov, and Matthias all belong to me.
"Come on Nalls; at least don't go out there alone!"
The dark haired woman shot the three story mech a dark look. "Watch me!"
"What is up with you today? You've been snappy at everyone all morning."
Nalia stopped and turned on a booted heel to glare up at the gundam that was her partner in crime. "Look, I just want to be alone for a while, alright? Is that so hard to ask for?"
Said mech met her glare without so much as a flinch, green optics staring straight into her dark blue eyes. "It is when the Dark Axis might attack. You know I couldn't live with myself if something happened to you and I wasn't around. At least let me go with you; I won't talk to you unless you want to."
The twenty-seven year old gave him a hard look. "No."
He gave her an equally hard look. "Yes."
The two of them stared at each other, not saying a word. That was how it was between them, they rarely fought over anything, and when they actually did fight, it was a silent battle of wills. Usually it would end up with the both of them relenting, declaring that the fight was stupid and move on. Now though, one of them was going to have to yield.
Nalia Volkov was the one that did.
She threw her hands up with a groan. "Fine. Whatever. You win. But not one word. Not one unless I ask, alright?"
He threw up his hands in mock surrender. "Alright, not one word. Got it."
She snorted and reached for her white flight jacket, zipping up the front as he reached down with one massive hand so that she could step onto it. Once she had, he lifted her up to his chest and with a hiss of hydraulics, opened up the area that held the cockpit that she normally sat in. Without one single word, Nalia hopped out of her partner's hand and into the cockpit, pulling down the harness as the armor on the outside closed around it.
As soon as she was secured, GunEagle stepped outside the hanger, spread his wings, ignited his thrusters, and took off into the bright blue sky.
They flew like that for a good thirty minutes, neither of them speaking, both of them simply taking comfort in the fact that they were flying across a wide open sky. As agreed, it was Nalia who eventually broke the hard silence between them as they flew over Neotopia for the second time, staying high enough so no one would see them.
"I'm sorry for snapping at you before."
As he flew into a cloud, GunEagle narrowed his optics at the sky before him. "I just wish you would tell me what's bothering you. You never act like this without a reason, and I hate not knowing what that reason is."
Inside the cockpit, Nalia tugged at the controls, causing the mech to go higher into the air and start to turn left. "It's stupid."
"Is it stupid because you think it's stupid, or because you think that I'll think it's stupid?"
She snorted, "When did you start making sense?"
Inside the cockpit, Nalia heard and felt his rumbling chuckle. "About when you started to not make sense. I think you're starting to rub off on me Volkov."
She rolled her eyes and pushed a strand of black hair from her face. "Oh yay."
He chuckled before he became serious again. "So what is it?"
Nalia's fists clenched around the controls and she started to chew on her lower lip. The reason for her being snappy wasn't something that she normally spoke about to anyone. Maybe, just maybe, it was time to change that.
"Let's find somewhere to land first, then..." She sighed, "Then I'll explain it to you."
With a nod, GunEagle pulled up the GPS and started to scan the area, searching for a place to land.
The spot that they ended up finding was a field about twenty minutes away from the base. After they landed, GunEagle clicked open the armor around the cockpit and held up a hand for Nalia to jump into, then placed her gently onto the ground as the armor closed with a hiss and a click. With a sound that sounded somewhere in between a groan and a sigh, Nalia collapsed onto the grass, putting her hands behind her head as she stretched out onto the soft green plants. While GunEagle wasn't about to stretch out onto the grass, he did take the liberty to stretch out his plated metal wings and sit next to her.
"So, I do believe explanations are in order."
Nalia seemed to look off into the distance. "Few more minutes Eag'…"
GunEagle's optics narrowed down at her. "Nalls…"
She sighed. "Not going to work huh?" She said quietly as she stared up at the clouds passing by in the sky. It was quiet between them for a few moments longer before she finally spoke up.
"Mom died two years ago today…"
He was quiet for a while. She never really spoke about her personal life, other than the fact that she hadn't been in a relationship for the last six years and that she used to take jets on joy rides. In a way, he should have been excited that she was even mentioning anything about herself. But this…this made him, sad.
He realized that he must have taken longer to process the information than she had anticipated when she sighed and said. "See, told you it was stupid…"
He shot her a hard look. "It's not stupid Nalls, she was your mother, and it makes sense that you would miss her."
"Doesn't give me an excuse to lash out at people though," she said, twisting a lock of black hair with her fingers. "I'm just so used to being left alone on this day…"
"I don't have anyone anymore," she said quietly.
His optics softened and for a moment he said nothing and looked away from her before he turned back to look into her dark blue eyes.
"You have me. You don't have to be alone anymore."
She shrugged. "Yeah I guess, but what about when all of this is over? With the Dark Axis I mean? Let's face it; the only reason that they recruited me was because they were desperate…"
He tilted his head at her, "You're not going to stay with the Force? After all this I mean."
"I don't know…maybe, maybe not. I don't exactly belong there after all."
"You don't have to be a soldier," he suggested, "You could be one of the mechanics, or an engineer. You're really good at that kind of stuff."
But then I'd have to deal with someone else piloting you instead of me…and I don't know if I can deal with that… She thought to herself, but there was no way that she was going to say that. "We'll see. Mom always said that she could see me in the military when I was younger."
"It sounds like the two of you really got along."
Nalia smiled gently as the old memories rose up to the surface. "Sometimes, we fought every now and then, but she was all that I had. My old boss, Guido, said that I'm a lot like her."
She grinned and sat up to look up at the huge white mech. "You two would have gotten along I think."
He would have grinned right back at her if it weren't for the mask covering up half of his face. "I have that way with people. I'm told that it's my charming personality."
She laughed, "Oh yes, you would have swept my mother right off her feet she would have been so smitten with you."
Nalia smiled up at him and laid back against the grass, soaking up the sun. "Did you really mean it?"
"Mean what?"
"That I had you. That I don't have to be alone anymore…"
He tilted his head at her. "Of course I meant it." He got quieter, more serious than he usually was. "You're all that I've got too Nalls."
"Oh." She said as she went back to twisting her hair around her fingers. "I'm glad. Really I mean it."
His optics met her eyes. "Good because I meant it too."
She smiled at him and all was quiet for a few minutes before she perked up. "How mad do you think Matthias would be if we took a two hour vacation away from the base?"
"Two hours including the time that we've already taken?"
She nodded, "Yup."
GunEagle was quiet for a moment or two, contemplating just how the resident commanding officer would react. "I think that he'd probably blow a gasket."
"Good, because it wouldn't be worth it if he didn't," she said with a grin as she got up and stretched her legs and back. "You up for a fly to the beach?"
He chuckled and lowered his hand as he opened up the cockpit. "Always. You know how stuffy that hanger gets? It's not fun, even for a gundam."
"Off we go then!" She exclaimed with a dramatic flourish of an arm.
GunEagle chuckled at his partner's enthusiasm, and realized that he never, ever wanted this moment right here, to change.
