False Information
Story by: Icicle Raindream
Disclaimer: All credit is due towards the creators in Japan who thought up this wonderful show and made it so addictive. I'm not making any money off this at all.
Notes: Believe it or not, this story started out as one of my many Gundam Wing dreams. I was sleeping away, thinking this whole plot up subconsciously, when the phone wakes me up. While I engage in a conversation with my best buddy, Hayla, this whole idea comes shooting back through my brain and I nearly fall out of my bed. And so, voila! The iceman cometh, the fat lady sings, and this is the end result. Hope you enjoy!! Drop me a line!
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"Miss Relena, you cannot do this," Pagan pleaded with me.
I turned and faced him menacingly, my mind already made up. "If you won't help me, Pagan, that's fine," I told him. "But I will find my own way to get there."
"Miss Relena, it's a setup! You mustn't!"
"I'm not going to give up on him!" I told Pagan, my heart set. "It can't end this way, it just can't!"
"I understand, Miss Relena…but think of what you're doing! You're sacrificing yourself!"
"Yes," I agreed loudly, nodding my head. "Yes, I am. I am willing to give myself up to save him, and if you please, either take me to that base or let me alone so I can figure out my own way to get there."
Pagan sighed from where he stood in front of me, on the other side of my desk. He knew his side of the argument was in vain and he had already lost. Nothing was going to stand in my way, he could tell.
It was silent for a second, then he replied, "Very well. I am ready to leave when you are."
I nodded and managed a small smile. "Good. Let's be on our way then."
I walked around my desk and Pagan and I exited my conference room together. I pulled the door shut behind me quickly and we made our way outside. As I climbed into my limo and the engine started, I reached inside my jacket flap and pulled out three flimsy photos. My stomach felt like a deadweight inside as I gazed at them again. The car pulled away and we began our journey.
"Heero…"
* * *
I tried.
I tried to swallow my heart, which had risen into my throat, but it was too hard. It pounded rapidly, racing with my fiery nerves, making my breathing a bit difficult. I walked slowly, almost unsure, through the vast cemented open space outside in front of the base, eyeing it warily. I had no idea what to expect, but the wrinkled feeling of the pictures in my pocket kept me walking until I had walked through a heavy iron door and stepped into a dimly lit room. The walls looked as if they were made of iron, and so everything was colored gray, bringing the appearance of melancholy all over, the room large and empty. It almost looked like a hangar bay, with a top balcony lining the inside, furnished with a railing. I noticed there was a door on the far side of the wall, behind the balcony, and wondered what it was for.
Unfortunately, my thoughts were interrupted as a sinister voice cackled, "I see you received our little presents. It was very smart of you to come, Relena Peacecraft."
I spun on my heel and faced the voice. It came from a tall soldier, donned in the black military uniform that screamed Oz from head to foot. He was holding a big, thick looking gun, and I found my inner voice telling me not to overstep my boundaries, just say enough to get my information straight.
"Where's Heero?" I demanded, my voice tight, defying my nerves. "I want to see him."
"Now, now." The soldier shook his head, sandy-blonde hair falling out of place. "I don't believe you are in any position to be making requests."
"I'm not giving in to you until I know he's safe," I told him, my hands clenched at my sides.
"Oh, he's safe…all right." A sarcastic smile spread across the soldier's face. "Now if you'll just come with me…" He reached toward me and grabbed my arm.
"Ouch!" I yelled at his touch. "Let go of me!" I began to pull away.
"No struggling, now," he warned, pulling harshly on my sleeve.
His tone was really starting to get to me. I thought wildly, trying to come up with a plan that would get me out of this fix as I tried to tear my arm away, when suddenly a stern, low voice commanded, "Let go of her immediately!"
In a flash the soldier had dropped my arm and stepped away, his gun falling to his side, apparently recognizing the voice. He looked about madly, trying to locate the person it belonged to, and stumbled, embarrassed, "Oh, sir…we-we have an unexpected visitor…I was just about to bring her to you…"
"Save it," the voice snapped. I heard footsteps coming from my right, and turned my face to greet the person as they stepped inside the huge room.
I gasped. "Milliardo!" I cried. "What have you done with Heero?"
His face was stern and unwavering. "Relena," he responded. "I don't know what you're talking about. What are you doing here?"
I whipped the photos out of my pocket, taking a step towards my brother. "You know!" I exclaimed. "Look at these!" I thrust the pictures towards him, feeling sick at the sight.
He turned them over in his mind, taking in each detail as his eyes scanned the short yet quite to the point message scrawled on the back of one. "Hmm…" He glanced up at the soldier standing a few feet away from us.
His face turned beet red and he took a couple steps back, trying not to look at my brother in shame. "Uhm, we…sir…we thought that this would be what you wanted…"
Milliardo lashed out at him viciously with his words. "You thought I wanted my own sister kidnapped?" He straightened and advanced on the soldier, who was now taking fluid steps away from us.
"No, sir," the soldier managed to reply. "We were trying to lure Heero Yuy here…"
"Heero!" I cried, catching wind of their conversation as Milliardo continued to back the soldier down. "What have you done with him?" I stuffed the pictures back into my pocket.
"He hasn't done anything." The voice echoed through the desolate room, coming from behind me, over my head. I turned quickly, jolted by my sudden recognition of the voice.
"Heero!" I hadn't expected to see him so healthy so soon, and so…armed and free to walk around the base!
He stood with his hand over the balcony, clutching a shiny gun, his dark eyes locked on a figure down on the floor. It wasn't me.
"Zechs," Heero murmured.
Milliardo stopped in place where he was and faced the balcony. "So, you have come for me, have you?" he asked Heero. I didn't like the way his voice sounded, deep and evil and accepting.
"This is the end, Zechs," Heero proclaimed, and in a short movement, his body was leaping over the railing and sailing down towards us.
"No, Heero!" I called out in fear. He was going to hurt himself!
Apparently, Heero was very skilled at jumping from high distances, because he landed gracefully on his feet, still holding the gun, still triumphantly composed. The barrel of his weapon was trained on my brother, who now stood before us.
Milliardo shot a warning glance at the soldier next to us, who wore a cocky smile. The soldier clamped it down quickly and hefted his gun back up to attention.
"Wait a minute," I said, holding my arms out. "What is going on here?" I looked from my brother to Heero several times, awaiting an answer.
None came. I looked back to Milliardo.
"What are you doing with Oz?" I asked him. "I thought you were no longer a part of this organization?"
"All things and people change, Relena," was his response. It angered me.
I turned on Heero. "And what are you doing here, like this?"
"I have a mission to complete," he said. He stood like a statue next to me, pointing the gun straight for Milliardo's heart.
I was so confused!
But before anything else could happen, the room was suddenly bombarded with Oz soldiers, all filing in carrying various machinery and control buttons and small exploding devices and whatnot. I could tell my brother was taken aback as they filled the room, lining up around us on all sides.
"You are surrounded, drop your weapon!" a voice ordered, directed at Heero. He did as he was told, knowing he was definitely outnumbered, the metal gun clanging to the floor. He stood next to me with his hands at his sides, glaring at Milliardo.
"It can't be finished this way," Heero told him.
"Even though it must be settled," Milliardo said understandingly, "now is not the time." So he didn't understand the soldiers' intentions, either, at least not right now. I wasn't alone.
"Stop it, you two!" I shouted then. "There's nothing to settle!" I looked at my brother. "You're not honestly going to keep me here, are you?" I asked him.
"I'm sorry my disobedient soldiers have tricked you, Relena," he apologized, still puzzled. "You are free to go, if you wish." He glanced around at the soldiers, giving them glares to make sure they knew not to interfere with me.
"Good," I said curtly. "Then I'm taking Heero with me." I started to grab for his arm.
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that," Milliardo said, taking a tiny step closer. "Heero and I have something we need to finish."
"You just said now wasn't the time!" I shot at him. "There's no reason for any of us to be here anymore!"
"Even so, I can't let Heero escape now that he's here."
"Milliardo--"
"Capture him!" The order sent all the soldiers quickly striding in towards us, all pointing their artillery in Heero's direction. I guess that even if Milliardo was confused at their presence, he was still going to take advantage of the authority he had over them.
"No!" I shouted, eyes ablaze with fear, trying to stop the advance on us.
"You have a choice, Relena!" I heard Milliardo say. "You may leave alone, stay with me, or be held with our prisoner, Heero Yuy!"
I started to yell something back as the troops grew nearer, but suddenly something shot up into the air, a big silver ball. I watched as it spun and then burst suddenly, sending pinkish purple sparks and grey smoke everywhere, all around us. I stood, staring in awe for a minute, when I felt my hand being snagged by someone else's and was yanked off my feet.
"Whoa--oh--!" I struggled to keep my legs moving as my body was hurled towards a door on my right I hadn't even known was there. It slid open as I passed through, the hand still clearly attached to mine, and I found myself in a dark carpeted corridor, being dragged down it with nothing right at hand to say.
*
I was pulled sharply around a corner and hit the wall, but the action wasn't intentionally trying to hurt me. In fact, it was just the opposite. I was being held back against the wall for protection instead.
I gasped for air and glanced at the figure next to me. "Heero, what are you doing?" I exclaimed.
"There's someone on our tail," he said, not once looking at me. "Stay back." He reached into his pocket and produced another gun, a silvery shiny one with white lining around the edges. He aimed where the two corners of the hall met. I could hear someone's rapid footsteps approaching, accompanied by ragged breathing. The person who was chasing after us.
"No!" I shouted, jumping in front of Heero. "Don't shoot!"
Without blinking, he pulled me to him, still aiming his gun, but I twisted around, trying to see what was happening before me. The soldier appeared quickly around the corner, and in an instant, Heero's other arm came up around the other side me, holding the gun, and I stared at it as Heero's finger squeezed the trigger. The soldier went down in front of us, doubled over and yelling in pain.
I covered my face with my hands. "No, Heero! Don't kill him!"
"Just a flesh wound," Heero snapped, his arms dropping, then he grabbed my arm again and began pulling me farther down the hall.
It was impossible to resist, and I found myself even more confused than I already had been. I came here to save him, so what was he doing rescuing me?
"Don't drag your feet," Heero ordered from ahead of me. "Keep running, and hurry it up!"
I made a face at his back. "Why are you doing this?" I asked.
He stopped abruptly and I crashed into him.
"Do you want to die at the hands of those soldiers?" he demanded, looking into my eyes.
I caught my feet and shook my head, feeling his harsh grasp around my wrist. "No."
"Then you have to keep moving, and stay with me. I can get you out of here alive."
"I was already going to get out of here alive!" I exclaimed. "If you hadn't grabbed me--"
"They would have shot you, too."
His tone shut me up and he glared at me for a second, then turned and began hauling me with him again. I sure hoped he knew where he was going, because I certainly didn't. I don't think I'd ever been inside a military base in my life.
"Quickly, in here!" Heero's destination changed in a nanosecond and he was throwing open a door to our right. Behind the door was a small closet that held a mop and a few cleaning buckets, and Heero tossed me inside and then slid the door closed behind him as he joined me in sitting on the floor.
"What is it?" I asked softly, wondering why were stuck in a janitor's closet.
Heero looked pointedly to the door, and in a few minutes I heard the pounding footsteps of at least twenty soldiers go thundering by outside. How had he heard them from so far away? I turned to him, searching for his eyes, his face dimly lit by the old yellowing light bulb hanging in the closet. He looked so young and fresh…
He finally noticed I was looking at him, after he placed his gun out of my sight. "What?" he asked, looking into my eyes.
I snapped out of my slight trance. "I'm just glad that you're safe," I told him, giving a small smile.
He lifted an eyebrow.
"Look." I wiggled around and pulled the pictures out of my pocket, holding them out to him, facedown. He read the scribbled message on the back of one out loud.
"'Relena Peacecraft, we request your presence here in twelve hours or less or the pilot gets it.'" He spouted off the location of the base, then flipped the pictures over. He studied them for a minute, then said, "Hmm…"
"Is that all you can say?" I asked. He didn't seem surprised by the photos at all! Didn't they traumatize him? Didn't he remember?
He looked from the photos to me. "These are definitely computer enhanced images." He gave the pictures back to me, my mouth hanging open.
"Computer enhanced…?" I glanced down at them again in disbelief, staring at the sight of Heero lying on his stomach with his hands cuffed behind his back and blood puddled around him, his clothes ripped to shreds and his faced distorted with pain. Each picture showed a different angle of his agony, and I found myself getting upset.
"They're fakes?" I almost yelled.
He simply nodded, looking away from my eyes. I shoved them back into my shirt pocket and folded my arms, huffing. False pictures had gotten me into this mess? How annoying, to be wasting my time like that, when I could be promoting peace worldwide.
It was silent for a while. Then,
"You did all this for me?"
Wha…? I looked back at Heero, where he sat not even two feet from me, and stared into his eyes earnestly. He seemed…well, surprised. Isn't that what I wanted him to be before with the pictures?
"You were going to give yourself up to Oz because you thought they captured me?" His voice was so very soft.
I nodded slowly. "I…the world needs you, Heero…I couldn't let you get killed before the war is over."
He didn't reply for a minute, just looked at me.
"Relena…"
"Heero…"
Silence.
"Quick, open that door! They might be inside!"
To our amazement, the door was suddenly wrenched open and flung aside. Before I could even think, Heero was on his feet, grasping my hand, and burying his shoulder into a soldier's stomach as he pushed his way through the throng of them, gathered around the door. I let out a screech as numerous bullets grazed the air above our heads, pinging against the side iron walls. Heero just kept running, the shots continuing after us, holding onto me, and as a bullet nearly caught my leg I felt my face heat up. I had to do something to get these guys off our backs!
"Heero, gimme your gun!" I shouted as we ran.
He didn't have time to reply to me. From behind I reached into his left pants pocket and felt around, praying I wasn't violating him too much, and closed my fingers over the cold metal. I tore the gun out of its hiding spot and swung myself around halfway, staring at the few soldiers who hadn't stopped chasing after us. Still running, I aimed the gun for the ceiling and pulled the trigger, and the bullet shot out and hit a light panel, making a loud buzzing noise. The soldiers yelled as sparks rained down on them and the lights went out in the hallway, and Heero pulled me to the safety of another hallway and then stopped to let us catch our breath for a second. I sheepishly held the gun up to him, inviting him to take it back.
He did, with a hard glance at my face, and then we began flying down that hall as well. And I still didn't know where we were going!
*
Unbeknownst to us, after the smoke had cleared out of the room, Milliardo had turned to the sandy-blonde haired soldier and demanded, "What is this all about?"
The soldier dutifully saluted him, having pulled himself somewhat together. "Sir! We, as the soldiers of Oz, thought that if we could entice Relena Peacecraft to come to the base, then we could use her as a decoy and lure Heero Yuy here. We know how much your battle with him means and--"
"Shut up!" Milliardo ordered. "I can see through your lies. You wanted my sister here to dispose of her because you knew I had a continuing battle with Heero. I am flattered that you entrusted me with your faith and believe that I will destroy Heero Yuy, but nothing will excuse the fact that you have endangered Relena's life!" With a swift punch, Milliardo lay the soldier on the cold metal floor and turned away from him.
"After them! I want Heero Yuy captured! And so help you all if anything happens to Relena…"
He waited until the mass salute from the lot of them was over, then watched as the huge group of soldiers barreled out of the room in pursuit of their targets.
"God damn arrogant Oz bastards…now I know why I left them." Milliardo turned and stalked out of the room.
*
"Heero, where are we going?" I asked breathlessly. I was going to have a huge red ring around my wrist from him, I knew, as he led me down yet another smoky shadowed hall.
"To the main computer system," he replied, pulling harder.
My feet caught on the thin carpet beneath us and I almost fell. "Why?" I cried.
"I have to locate Zechs."
I stopped short and tore my hand from his. "Now wait a minute!" I said, placing a hand on my hip. "You're still going to battle my brother?"
Heero turned and faced me, folding his arms across his chest. "I have a mission, Relena."
"I thought you were going to get me out of here alive," I spat.
"I am," he retorted impatiently. "But not if you let us get killed first."
My ears picked up the muffled sound of shouting, coming from not too far away, and I reached for his hand again, letting go of the argument. I didn't really know what Heero had in mind, but I didn't have any time to think about it. I was out of options, and Heero knew the way. I had to stay with him. He began to run again, me trailing behind.
*
Heero clicked a few more buttons, and then I heard, "Got him." The squeal of the chair alerted me to Heero's getting up from it, and I looked back from the doorway where I'd been monitoring the hall. My heart had been pounding in my nose those few minutes it took Heero to fiddle around and play with the computer gauges, so I was relieved as I heard him come nearer to me. I turned away from the desolate hall thankfully, and walked into the room.
There were several screens pulled up on one enormous one, the one tacked to the wall above all the station buttons. On one of the smaller screens, a round purple circled blipped constantly at us, a small ear-piercing sound every time it appeared. That had to be Milliardo, and it amazed me at how efficiently Heero had found him in a matter of literal minutes. He walked up close to me and mumbled, "Come on," so as not to attract any attention from outside. We started for the doorway.
Before we reached it, I felt a disruption of air above my head, ruffling my hair a bit, and then something clanked down softly behind us, in the computer room. I turned slightly, trying to peer into the dark room, the only illumination coming from the computer screen. It wasn't light enough for me to deduce what the object was. Something started to beep rapidly and I knew it wasn't the indicator light for Milliardo. It was something else.
"Heero, did you hear--"
"Run!" he shouted, clamping his hand down on my arm. His fingers gouged into my skin as he tore brashly, trying to throw me ahead of him and run at the same time. My voice stuck in my throat and resisted my cry of anguish, and I felt Heero's hands on my back, pushing urgently, trying to get us away from the room as fast as possible. I gained control of my feet quickly and helped in the running process, not wanting Heero to lag behind or get caught.
"What--what is it?" I yelled, my legs pumping up and down.
Heero took a moment to reply, as if he were thinking about something. Then suddenly he cried, "Grenade!" and the whole computer room burst into fire. Heero shoved me around the corner to avoid the blasting air coming from the room, but it was too late for him. I watched as his body sailed over my head and he flopped mercilessly onto the floor, rolling onto his back with a loud groan. The air caught up with me then and I was sent shooting towards him on the ground, and then as quickly as it had happened, the explosion quieted and the air settled down, and I landed directly on top of Heero, the two of us completely devoid of any breath.
His arms were pinned out to the side of his body, and my face was stuffed uncomfortably into his shoulder, my hands smashed into the ground on either side of him. I lay for a minute, trying to assess what had really just happened to us, and sucked in a huge breath of air, lifting my face from his shirt. I glanced down at Heero beneath me.
He wasn't moving. His eyes were tightly closed and his face was turned to the side and as far as I could tell, he wasn't breathing. I held absolutely still for a few seconds and determined that I had been right the first time. I began to feel frantic as I gently slapped at his face.
"Heero?" I called, tapping harder. "Heero, wake up! Don't leave me alone, please! Heero!" Thinking I might have lost him, my eyes filled with tears.
Then he scared the living daylights out of me as his face suddenly moved to look back at me and his eyes opened. He took a gulp of air and a low moan emitted from his throat. "Relena…"
"Heero!" I cried happily, glad he was alive. "Are you okay?" I blinked back my unshed tears.
"I will be when you get off."
I gasped. Oh, my God, I forgot I was still toppled on him! Quickly, I moved my legs and used my arms to push myself up and back off, and that's when I noticed something.
My knee…had caught him in a very, very uncomfortable spot. I turned away from him in embarrassment as he rolled to his side and stood up, shaking his head to clear it.
"Come on, let's go," he said, reaching for my hand again.
"Heero…I-I--"
"Let's go, Relena. They're likely on our tail already." He brushed whatever he thought I was going to say to him off and we continued traversing through the darkly lit military base hallways. Me still having no idea where we were going.
I couldn't help it. Every hall looked the same!
* * *
"Ah, I see you have finally found me."
Milliardo stood up from the chair he had been sitting in behind a thick wooden desk and addressed us as the door slid open and allowed us to enter the room.
"Your soldiers are completely incompetent," Heero told him, taking out his gun. He held it towards Milliardo's head.
I had to fight to keep my jaw where it was and not on the floor where it should be. If Heero thought that these soldiers were incompetent, I'd hate to be trapped in a building with ones that weren't! But I added anyway, "Although they tried to kill us several times, Milliardo." I gave him my best stone-cold expression.
Milliardo's fist clenched by his side. "Both of you?" he asked lowly.
I nodded haughtily. "Yes. Both of us."
"And now it's time to end all this," Heero interrupted. "Say good-bye, Zechs."
I didn't know what I was doing, but as Heero's words registered in my mind, I jumped in front of his gun, shouting, "No! Heero!"
"Relena, get out of my way," he ordered through clenched teeth. "I have a mission."
"But what mission would that be?" I asked him, pushing the side of my neck up to his gun as I stepped nearer to his form. "Killing with no justifiable cause?" My throbbing heart was back again, in my throat.
He just stood, the glare back on his face.
"Go ahead, Heero," I said, my voice firm. "Kill me instead. It would be the same as shooting Milliardo anyway."
He glared some more, the gun unmoving from its place at my carotid artery. It was silent. Then,
"Relena, you are still free to go." Milliardo's voice came from behind my back.
"I know that," I responded, my chin making the barrel shift slightly underneath it. "But I'm not leaving unless Heero goes with me."
"That can't happen, as I've told you before," Milliardo told me gently. "He has to complete his mission, it's his duty as a soldier."
I ignored Milliardo's last comment. "You promised you would get me out of here alive," I whispered to Heero, allowing my eyes to fill with tears. "You have to come with me because I don't know where I'm going out there!" I let my voice fall to the pathetic level of damsel in distress as I stared at him.
He stared back, set in his stance with the gun to my throat. I blinked at him, sending a wave of tears washing over my cheeks.
Then, abruptly, Heero removed the gun from my neck and hurled it over my head, straight towards Milliardo. I was confused for a second, thinking that Heero figured he could just chuck the gun and knock my brother out, but then my thoughts cleared as everything came together.
Heero knew that as a soldier my brother had excellent reflexes, and so as the gun hurtled towards him, he ducked swiftly and the weapon crashed though the window behind him instead, breaking cleanly through the glass and sending shards to the floor, leaving a very large hole for us to escape through. Heero dove for the window and leapt onto the ledge, turning back at the last minute to shout at me, "You coming or not?"
I faced my brother with an apologetic expression, knowing he had heard my words to Heero about being totally lost out there, and then ran for the window. Before I latched onto Heero's form I shouted, "I'm sorry, Milliardo!"
Then Heero propelled us off the ledge and we zoomed down through the midday air. Just before we hit the ground, Heero pulled out some kind of handheld parachute and we landed softly together, having glided down the last few feet to the ground. I was grateful that he hadn't just let us tumble to our deaths, which I'm sure he might have tried had I not been there. But also, if I hadn't been there, he might have killed my brother. I was grateful for both my life and Milliardo's, I guess.
Heero turned and looked up at the window from where we'd just flung ourselves. I could see Milliardo standing there, staring down at us with a blank face. Staring at Heero with a blank face. They were confirming that one day they would meet again and finish what they had started, I could tell. I didn't like it one bit, but as Heero began leading me away from the base into the afternoon, I said nothing to him. Perhaps their fight was none of my business, and I had stuck my nose in too much trouble today as it was. I just walked silently next to Heero as he walked, the wind blowing against our faces.
Up in his study, Milliardo continued to watch us walk away, making sure that none of his harebrained, untalented soldiers gave chase. He heaved a defeated sigh.
"I understand, Relena," he said lowly to the glass shards on the floor. "Always follow your heart, my sister."
Then he turned and strode from the room, intent on giving his undisciplined officers the lecture of a lifetime…the kind that included physical interaction from their superiors.