BLACKBIRD'S CRY
# CAMIGWEN
CHAPTER ONE
"Demons."
The room went silent as the pilots exchanged looks of confusion and disbelief. Une smirked, fully expecting the Gundam Pilots to have the same reaction she did. However, Devlin had presented her with evidence that couldn't be ignored. She still disbelieved the idea that demons were behind the attacks, but evidence this strong couldn't be ignored.
They'd work with Devlin. For now.
Duo finally broke the silence, clearing his throat loudly as he propped his elbow up on the table and rested his head on his fist. "Um...dude? Check the calendar. It's AC 199, not some medieval story book. Even I know demons aren't real."
Devlin, seemingly amused by their disbelief, folded his arms and leaned back against the closed door. "Believe what you wish, but the fact remains: something is going on and you want to stop it. That is, unless you just want to sit back and watch as your world crumbles beneath you."
"Way to over dramatize," Trowa said simply. "If I may ask, Mr. Talen, how do you intend to assist us in the capture of these...terrorists?"
Devil sniffed the air, as if that simple gesture answered Trowa's question. "I know how to find them. A special sort of tracking device, for my use only." He looked to Une and she nodded, holding up a hand to silence Heero's oncoming questions.
"Indeed, he is the only one who knows and can use this particular tracking device. The way he's described it to me, it sounds like a primitive, unstable form of the..." She trailed off, meeting Quatre's gaze, then Heero's before letting out a long sigh.
"The Zero System," Quatre responded, frowning. All but Devlin knew of Quatre's dislike of the Zero System. He'd last used it during the final battle of the Eve War and he swore to himself that he'd never touch it again. It was now soley Heero's department now.
The Perfect Soldier scowled, not liking the idea of working so closely with a stranger. This meeting was a waste, no useful information was resulting from it. Heero stood from his chair, walking towards the door that Devlin was leaning against.
Une eyed him suspiciously. "Colonel?"
"I need to speak with Dr. Po," he stated and roughly removed Devlin from the doorway. A sound emitted from the detective's throat that Heero only seemed to hear. For a moment, anger flashed across Devlin's face, but it was quickly replaced with on of annoyance. Heero stared, confused by why the others weren't affected by the sound. After a few seconds, he shook his head and left.
Devlin scoffed, "What's his deal."
Duo gave a small laugh. "Believe me, you don't want to know."
"You're perfectly fine," Sally reassured him. "Shall I define 'perfect soldier,' as they like to call you, once more?"
Heero glared at her and sat up on the bio-bed. Something was wrong with him, he knew it. He was hearing and feeling things that others weren't. What was--
Zero.
Could his newfound paranoia be a side affect of the Zero System? It had caused Quatre to practically loose his mind... Heero had been using the Zero System for almost five years now, with little or no damage to his sanity. Part of his mind dismissed this idea, still believing that he was indestructible, even though he new that he was a mere mortal.
Just like everyone else.
He sighed, deciding that his mind was probably just creating an illusion of distress in attempt to create something that would be worth his time. Since the end of Mariemaia's attempt to overthrow the government and take control, he'd been doing minor missions, requiring little of the skills that he'd learned during his many years of training under Odin Lowe and Dr. J.
"Perhaps you need some--" Sally sighed as Heero roughly brushed past her and disappeared out the door. "...rest."
The sunlight crept in through the small openings between the leaves of the tree, drawing patterns on her face as the clouds moved by. She stirred, seemingly not scared nor shocked to awaken on the forest floor. A few leaves and twigs were entangled in her hair, but she did not bother to remove them. Her eyes moved to the tree top, where she skimmed the branches for something she hoped would be there.
She found nothing.
It was then that it dawned on her that the events of her dream had indeed been reality. Her eyes watered, but she refused to give into weakness and allow herself to cry. In times like this, one needed to be strong.
Where the hell she was, she needed to get home.
A heavy sigh escaped her and she drew her knees up to her chest, hugging them with--wait a minute. Puzzled, she drew her left hand into view - it was tightly clutched in a fist. She willed the hand to open, which was surprisingly hard, as if she had held that tight fist for an eternity.
Concentrating, she willed the hand to open once more. It did. She gasped.
Lying in the palm of her hand, was a large, round gem with a slight knick in it.
"Oh my..."
Heero's head whipped around, facing the southern most window in the large senior staff breakroom. It's back, he thought angrily as his eyes skimmed the skyline. That feeling...
A hand closed on his shoulder and he whirled around, the feeling shoved to the back of his mind as his eyes came to rest upon a pair of soft blue ones. Relena glanced up at him, her eyes searching his, as if she were looking for something. A small smile appeared and she made a small "Hmm" sound, letting her hand drop from his shoulder.
"Your shift starts early today, I'm afraid." She glanced at the silver-banded watch around her wrist. "I was just informed of an urgent meeting I'm needed at on L3."
He noticed how she tensed slightly as she mentioned L3. He knew all too well that she didn't have too pleasant memories of visiting that particular Colony Cluster.
"I hope it doesn't conflict with anything Une's got you scheduled for today," she continued. "If you have prior arrangements, I could ask WuFei--"
"Today, I am not busy." He stated simply.
She nodded. "Alright, then. My shuttle leaves at 1400 hours. Am I to assume you'll meet me there, or will you randomly show up at the meeting?"
He snorted at her attempt at humor and she laughed. Smirking at him, the politician turned and walked away, leaving him to turn back towards the window.
What in all hells is this? It feels like something's...out there...calling to me...
A sigh of relief escaped Devlin as he raked a hand through his dark hair. That kid...that Heero Yuy, something about him caught his attention, made him do a double take where he would've normally just taken a glance. His nostrils flared as he breathed in, loving the sent of the fresh, morning air. It always seemed to calm him, being up this high, inhaling the--
He spun around, removing his sunglasses and blinking into the bright, morning sky. He laughed, putting his shades back on and shoving his hands in the pockets of his duster.
"Can't be. That was a long time ago."
Relena stepped onto the shuttle, gasping in surprise and nearly dropping her binder as Heero stepped out into view. She pressed a hand to her chest. "My word, don't do that. You know I don't like surprises."
He raised an eyebrow at her and moved to his seat. She could've sworn he did that on purpose. Perhaps.
Shoving her things into the compartment above, she took her seat next to Heero.
He'd been quiet throughout the duration of the flight. Quieter than usual. Normally he glared at the back of the pilots' heads, daring them to make an error, waiting for the moment when he would have to jump from his seat and take the controls. But now, he stared out the window, deep in thought about something.
"Heero..." Her arm lightly brushed his as she shifted in her seat, the small contact bringing him back down to reality.
"Hn?" He responded in his usual manor, half-glaring at her.
"Are you alright? Seems like something's on your mind."
Damn her, he cursed. She was getting too good at reading him. He was letting his guard down, allowing himself to become weak and neglect his training. Glaring at her more so, he fixed his gaze on one of the pilots who jumped almost instantly, but lucky for him, didn't allow the shuttle to mimic his movements. "I'm fine."
She sighed, noticing that he had thrown his emotional barrier back up. Why do I even try. I give up. "If you say so."
He closed his eyes and breathed out, now feeling guilty. Damn her... His head titled slightly towards her as he searched for a proper apology, as the shuttle touched the ground and came to a stop. "Relena--"
She screamed and leaped from her seat, clutching Heero's arm, eyes wide in fear. "What the hell!"
The Perfect Soldier stood and drew his gun from it's holster. He fired at the form, hearing Relena's gasp of terror as she watched the pilots fall dead at it's feet. The bullet, however, was deflected. Heero fired repeatedly until he was out of ammunition, but each time the bullet was either deflected or had no affect.
Having no other ammunition on him, as decreed by Preventer regulations, he dropped to the gun to the ground, now useless it was. He moved protectively in front of Relena, who seemed stunned, not understanding the situation they were currently in.
Neither did he.
The form before them appeared to be...almost bear-like, not like a human at all. It snarled at the two, liking it's blood-stained lips. A rough chuckled emitted from it's throat as it bared sharp claws.
Heero felt Relena's hands clutch the material of his Preventers jacket, her forehead coming to rest on his back. She shook it back and fourth as if trying to will the image before them away, whispering "it's a dream" repeatedly.
The being raised it's claws and sliced through the air towards them, but never got the chance to connect.
In a flash of colors, faster than Relena or Heero could comprehend, the arm fell from the bear-like creature.
Standing before it, unarmed, was Devlin Talen. "You're way out of your league."
TO BE CONTINUED...
Gundam Wing is © Yoshiyuki Tomino.
09.24.2004