Fallen Hero's Rise
By Ammie Hawk
Disclaimer: Don't own
AN: Okay so this chapter is pretty much straight from the former RR, just mismatched. Original authors Dragonzanfire and Knoteach. Anyway, hope you enjoy.
Chapter 1
Zechs Merquise watched as the people exited the shuttle. Lady Une had called him only hours before, giving him little choice but to accept a new charge. He sighed as the crowd thinned and the last of the group trickled out. He was beginning to think he had the wrong shuttle when a lone boy stepped out.
His first impression was of Heero Yuy, his wayward lover. The teen had messy black hair, was short and held himself with a contained precision. Green eyes scanned the terminal, noting each person and potential exit points. Zechs smiled and gestured when those eyes fell on him. He watched the teen shiver before gathering a duffle and approaching.
As the teen drew closer, he noted several significant differences between the boy and Yuy. Other than the obvious coloring and ethnicity, the former Wing pilot had never been so thin, he'd been broad shouldered and muscular. Heero had also never had tattoos, and he'd certainly never looked so young surely.
"Agent Wind?" a polite, British voice questioned quietly.
"Please, call me Zechs. I only work for the Preventers on a contract basis. You are Harry Potter?"
"Yes, sir," dark green eyes studied him intensely for a moment. "You have no idea. I was just dumped on you."
"That is how it turned out, isn't it?" a small smile crossed the aristocratic features. "Why don't you tell me what I have no idea about while we fetch your other bags?"
"This is it," he gestured to the carry-on bag, and motioned for the blond to lead the way. "I am… was… a hero. The savior of the w-world. England at least," here he paused, he'd meant to tell them about magic, but he couldn't. "I stopped a terrorist group from genocide, except I stopped them by killing their leader. I don't really know what happened. One minute they are celebrating, the next they are pulling me out of bed and calling me a murderer. I was given a very speedy trial then… then I was exiled. Stripped of-of everything and sent to the Preventers' headquarters. I am here now, and you're my keeper until they are certain I am not going to—I don't know—start attacking people in the streets, or something," green eyes flashed with anger for a moment before fading back to grief.
"Hmm, well, fair is fair. I was called all of eight hours ago and informed that you were arriving," the teen gasped quietly at this pronouncement. "Yes, I know, that shuttle ride is several days long. Between you and me, Lady Une has control issues," the smile morphed into a smirk, but Harry only blinked in shock. "I will be your guardian for the next year, until you turn eighteen, and then I will be your probation officer until I have determined you do not need to be supervised any longer. That could be anywhere from one year to one hundred. I have not had a chance to see your full profile yet, but I would like to sit and discuss it when I do."
Harry nodded absently and Zechs held open the door to his jeep. He gazed out at the dusty red landscape that was the planet Mars, and sighed.
"Are you okay?" Zechs asked concerned.
"I-I am trying very hard not to be mad," Harry flushed slightly. "I don't know what to think about all of this. It hurts, but I don't want to be mad."
"Why not?" a blond brow rose in slight disbelief. "From what you say, you would be very justified in your anger."
"Maybe, but it wouldn't help anything, would it? I would just be angry all the time, and who would I get mad at, you? You weren't the one who did this. If I got angry it wouldn't go anywhere. Then, eventually, I'd be bitter, and then maybe I could become Dark-start lashing out at people. I don't want to be like that. I just…I don't know how I'm supposed to feel. I just—" Harry shook his head and suddenly looked up at him, seeming to notice his presence for the first time. The teen abruptly closed off, his face going blank and his body stiff, as he turned back towards the window.
Zechs bit back a response, knowing it wasn't the time, and settled in for the drive home. 'I'm going to kill Une if that report isn't in my box when I get home.'
When they finally arrived, Harry entered the apartment cautiously. He wasn't certain what to expect from the blond who had picked him up from the shuttleport. The Preventer had reminded him briefly of the Malfoys with his platinum blond hair and aristocratic looks, but Harry had quickly realized that looks were all they had in common. Zechs had a sense of fair play and honesty.
The flat wasn't like any home he'd seen before. It looked almost… militaristic, yeah, that was the best word for it. Even the Dursleys, with their obsession with perfection, and their neat and sterile house didn't have the same functional feel to it. It certainly didn't match the cozy comfort of the Burrow.
He studied the layout, noting the openness. The front part of the apartment was all one big room that included the kitchen, dining, and living room. The dining room table and the coffee table matched, a utilitarian square, grey piece with four sturdy legs and a solid build. The chairs around the table were a set, a metal and leather combination that looked more practical than comfortable.
The sofa and the two living room chairs looked a bit more comfortable, black, in some easy to wash fabric that resembled leather but wasn't.
The kitchen was done in chrome and black marble, spotless and neatly organized. There was an island separating the kitchen from the dining and living rooms, angled at an almost perfect forty-five degrees. Metal stools lined one side of the island. The floor was wood or laminate and all one piece with no edges between the sections.
Next to the door was a metal shoe rack and coat hook. There was a painting of the stars on one wall and a sturdy metal vase sitting on the coffee table with blue silk flowers that he imagined were supposed to be personal touches, but the whole place screamed military.
"Welcome home."
Seeing the politely blank expression on his new… ward? What was the boy really?... the boy's face, Zechs glanced around the apartment, mentally cringing at the stark functionality of the place. He'd never been particularly fond of military starkness either, but with the project only getting underway six months ago, they took what they could get.
"A bit sparse, I know," Zechs shrugged mentally when the boy just glanced up through his fringe of unruly bangs, but said nothing. He led the boy farther into the apartment, "This will be your room," he said opening a door. "We had been using it for storage, so there will be a few boxes in here until we can figure out where else to put them."
Harry looked around the room, trying not to shudder at the similarities he was seeing between this place and Number Four Privet Drive. The room was small, with only a simple twin bed, a dresser, and a desk with a chair. Boxes had been stacked in the corner, out of the way, but it was still obvious this room had been intended for storage only and then equipped for someone to live in. Still, while the furniture was simple, it looked new, not half fallen apart like the things he had lived with on Privet Drive. All in all, it was a step up, not a big one, but progress nonetheless.
The former Savior looked up at the now silent blond, only to find him staring at him expectantly.
"It… looks nice," he said finally.
Zechs gave him a confused sideways look, but led him off to show him the rest of the apartment.
Pointing to the right, the former OZ general said, "There's the bathroom. There's only one in the apartment so we're all going to have to work around each other. The master bedroom is on the end over there. You are not allowed to go into our bedroom without permission, except in the case of emergency. I expect you to respect our privacy," he said seriously.
"Yes, sir," Harry said immediately, his posture straightening a little in an almost instinctive reaction to the tone in Zechs' voice. "But sir," he hesitated slightly, but continued on, "you talk as if there's another person living here, but I haven't seen anyone else."
"Ah, yes," the blond nodded. "My spouse is off planet at the moment, he should be back within a few days and I'll make introductions then."
Harry nodded and Zechs headed off toward the kitchen, saying that he would get some lunch. Emerald eyes blinked as he watched him walk off. For half a second, Zechs had reminded him of Professor Snape. Not physically, obviously, but the tone of his voice and the air of command that had momentarily surrounded him. As Harry continued over to the sofa and sat down, his mind wandered back to those he had been forced to leave behind.
In the last year, he had seen and done many things he hated and, in so doing, had come to understand the dour black haired man. They would never be what could be called friends, but they had come to respect each other greatly. He would miss Snape, odd as it might sound.
There were many others he'd miss, but perhaps the one he would miss the most was Remus. Harry dropped his head and tightly closed his eyes as he felt his eyes start to burn. Remus had been the only thing to keep him sane after Sirius died, writing to him even against Dumbledore's orders, telling him stories about when they were at Hogwarts. Remus had been injured in the last battle, and while Harry knew he had survived, he had been forbidden from seeing him until he was released from St. Mungo's. Remus hadn't even been allowed to leave the hospital when Harry had been arrested. And now he would never see him again.
Struggling to control his emotions, Harry pulled his legs up and buried his face in his knees, wrapping his arms around his knees.
Zechs entered the living room to find his young charge sitting on the couch with his head buried in his knees and shoulders shaking as he suppressed his sobs. Sighing silently, he walked around the furniture to sit beside the shaking figure. Carefully, he rested a warm hand on the boy's back, only to have him shy away violently.
"Shhh, it'll be all right, it's just me," the blond said softly as he tried again, and when the teen didn't pull away again, he started rubbing comforting circles on the boy's back.
After a few more minutes of watching the boy silently sob, the former OZ lieutenant shook his head and gathered him into his arms, trying to comfort the tormented young man.
He didn't know much about the boy, apart from his name, but he didn't look more than fifteen. The same age as Heero and Relena had been when they had been forced into the war, and while they frequently didn't see eye to eye, Zechs loved his little sister.
There was also a… frailty… about the boy, as if a strong wind would cause him to shatter. As if he had been pushed to the limits of his strength, then someone had decided to push him farther.
Pulling the unresisting boy against his chest, Zechs tucked his head beneath his chin and started rocking just slightly, as he remembered his late father doing for him when he was scared or hurt. It had been a long time ago, but he remembered how it had helped. There might only be a few years difference in their ages, but the blond knew that at this moment, Harry needed someone to hold him together.
Ammie: Okay, now as I said, this is almost straight from the previous RR, I just tweaked it a bit. Anyway, let me know what you think.
