M.U.T.E.D. chapter 8
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What do I say now? Do I lie or should I tell the truth? Miguel thought as Tracii gave Commander Le Creuset a salute.
"She fell unconscious and I made the wrong choice of bringing her into battle with me," Miguel reasoned.
"I'm well aware of that. It can't be helped now," he replied before looking at Tracii, "It sees that you're well enough to pilot your machine. Am I right?" She gave a nod standing at attention.
"Sir, I don't think she's ready. I believe that she should have a job on the bridge," Miguel claimed putting his plan into action.
"Miguel you do understand that we are quite understaffed with pilots. The more we have the better off we are," The commander responded.
"I understand that Sir, but-" Miguel tried to say but was cut off by Commander Le Creuset's hand.
"It's her decision not your own," Le Creuset said before leaving. Tracii climbed out of the mobile suit offering her hand to Miguel. He paused looking at her face seeing that she was normal or seemingly normal. He took her hand climbing out of the mobile suit before pulling her to the floor.
"I'm going to change. Can I meet you in your quarters? I want to talk to you about something," Miguel told her. She nodded warmly leaving the hangar.
How can you be such a brutal killer? You're a beautiful woman, and a very kind one at that. How do you take the lives of others in gruesome ways? Miguel thought watching her leave. He sighed looking at her dark blue almost black mobile suit.
"Take good care of her okay?" Miguel told it before leaving. He walked to the locker room seeing that all of the pilots were in there.
"What is it?" Miguel asked the men.
"The way you fought out there. That was amazing!" One of the younger pilots said happily. Miguel sighed going to his locker.
"Is something wrong Miguel?" Maxwell asked concerned about his friends attitude.
"It's nothing, don't worry about it," Miguel said quickly.
"How did you do that!? I've never seen that before," Another pilot asked.
"Go away," Miguel mumbled angrily.
"He didn't do it," A senior pilot answered. The intrigued pilots looked at him wondering what he was talking about.
"What do you mean that he didn't do it?! He's the only one who was piloting that mobile suit," A younger pilot disagreed.
"That move is a signature move of the Bloody Dawn. That ace really specializes in long range attacks and hand to hand combat," the pilot reasoned.
"The Blood Dawn? Never heard of her," One of the pilots answered.
"I thought the Bloody Dawn was a man," Another replied.
"So that explains her mobile suit," Olor mumbled.
"If it's suppose to be bloody then why is the mobile suit black?" One of the younger soldiers asked.
"SHUT UP! TRACII COULD NEVER BE LIKE THAT!" Miguel yelled out of anger. He was fully dressed as he slammed his locker shut. He stormed out of the room angrily as the other soldiers stared at him silently.
That isn't Tracii. THAT WILL NEVER BE TRACII! Miguel thought going to her room. He reached the door noticing it was jammed. Angrily he kicked it trying to see if it would open. It opened briefly before closing again.
"DAMN DOOR!" Miguel yelled kicking it again. The door stayed shut due to the jam. Inside, Tracii was asleep on her bed. Her dreams were calm like the expression on her face.
"You'll never get the door open with that type of attitude," the senior pilot from earlier told her.
"Why?! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO TELL ME THAT?!" Miguel yelled at him.
"Calm down Miguel. She's a pilot like you and I. Nothing will ever change that," the pilot said calmly. Miguel took his anger out on the door one last time by giving it a couple of punches and kicks.
"What do you know about Tracii?" Miguel asked still slightly enraged.
"I've known her since she was a tiny tot. Sometimes her parents would hire me as her body guard but I've been carefully observing you two together. I've told her parents about you, they seem very pleased. Tracii wasn't always that killer. When she first became a pilot she would vomit after every mission from killing people," the pilot told him.
"But what happened? What happened to create Tracii into a killing machine?" Miguel asked leaning against the door.
"Her best friend since her younger childhood was captured and has been missing ever since. Tracii feels like her friend is dead and need to avenge her. After that she's been a mass killer of armed men. If they surrender she quickly becomes herself and goes back to vomiting after the mission," the man reasoned.
"…Tracii…" Miguel mumbled when the jammed door jerked open causing him to fall inside the room. The man laughed as Miguel cursed a loud before seeing the sleeping Tracii.
"Don't worry, she's a heavy sleeper when she's dreaming," the man laughed. Miguel nodded sitting on her bed. She yawned in her sleep grabbing her pillow cuddling it.
"Is there anyway to persuade her to stop fighting?" Miguel asked wiping her hair out of her face.
"No, I've tried multiple times. There's no way to dissuade her," the man said sadly.
"I'm going to dissuade her. She doesn't belong on the battle field," Miguel said with courage.
"I've tried at least 30 times, she's stood firm with her answer," the man said.
"I'm sorry what's your name?" Miguel asked sheepishly.
"My name is AJ Smith. I'm surprised you forgot my name, Miguel," AJ said with a laugh.
"I'm sorry Smith-senpai," Miguel said with a slight sheepish grin.
"Before I forget, Tracii's father would like to meet you. Well, once we dock at Junius 5," AJ told him.
"He would like to meet me?!" Miguel said surprised.
"Yes, but Tracii won't be with you. It's going to be a one on one talk with him," AJ said with a smile.
"But we dock in less than 2 weeks!" Miguel said still surprised.
"That's true but, he wants to meet the man who rescued her too. Do you know who that is by any chance?" AJ asked curiously.
"You don't know senpai? I thought it would be all over the ship," Miguel said as Tracii stirred slightly in her sleep.
"I've heard rumors that it was you or that it was Olor, Darien, or Max," AJ said with a sigh.
"It was me," Miguel said softly. Tracii opened her eyes weakly sitting up with a distant face.
"Sleeping beauty's finally awake," AJ murmured before leaving.
"Huh?" Miguel replied looking at the leaving figure. Tracii gave a yawn wrapping her arms around his neck. Miguel chuckled seeing her giving him a tired sheepish smile.
"Go back to sleep," Miguel said kissing her forehead. She shook her head no with another yawn pulling herself closer to him. Miguel chuckled again kissing her cheek softly.
"Mi (A/N: short I)," she mumbled weakly.
"Huh?" Miguel said looking at Tracii. Tracii gave him a distant look before giggling. Playfully Miguel nipped her neck causing her to laugh. Her eyes were still half way open as Miguel pulled her from the bed. She placed her feet on the ground wobbling weakly.
"Whoa, careful now," Miguel told her as she stumbled away from him. She tiredly fell against her bed before falling asleep again.
"It's only been about 5 minutes and you're asleep again?" Miguel asked the sleeping girl with a chuckle. Tracii stirred softly as Miguel laid her on the bed. He kissed her numb lips before sitting up. Quickly she grabbed the collar of his uniform pulling him down on her.
"What are you doing?!" Miguel asked as she hugged him tightly. She giggled going through his hair slightly. Miguel carefully picked up her writing pad and pen giving it to her. She wrote:
You need your rest "Doctor's" orders.
"Calling yourself a Doctor, huh?" Miguel said looking at her seeing that she was still half asleep. She giggled trying to cover him and herself with the blanket.
"No I can't sleep yet," Miguel said softly pulling away from her. She frowned grabbing his collar again. He gently pried her hand away before she wrote quickly:
Why can't you sleep now?
"I have too much on my mind right now," Miguel said covering her with the blankets. She reached for his collar again trying to pull him down but he quickly took her hand.
"To be truthful, I'm going to meet your father when we dock at Junius 5," Miguel said slightly worried. Tracii frowned with a slight giggle trying to hold him. He backed away trying to show her he wanted to be alone.
"M-Mi (A/N: Once again short I)" she mumbled barely above a whisper. She sat up kissing his cheek. He looked at his hands that were shaking like leaves. With all her strength she shoved him down on the bed. She giggled as she wrote on the pad:
Can I give you a massage?
"What?" Miguel asked trying to look at her face. Gently she massaged his neck seeing that he seemed to be extremely stressed. Why is he so stressed? I guess I have to do his whole back to loosen him up, Tracii thought. She quickly climbed above him gently massaging him neck and back. Her hands were calm as she worked on massaging his back. She smiled hearing him groan softly with relief. Using her writing hand she carefully wrote:
Um…Can you take off your uniform jacket and shirt? I can give you a better massage that way.
Miguel read the paper before looking back at Tracii. She was blushing bashfully looking at her hands. Miguel turned slightly red as he sat up taking off his uniform belt. Her face turned a deeper red as he took off his uniform jacket and shirt.
"You're okay," Miguel told her soothingly giving her a hug. She nodded as he laid down on his stomach again. She continued to blush as she massaged his back.
"You should go into business," Miguel told her softly. He sighed with relief feeling his eyes close. He tried to keep them open but within seconds he was asleep. Tracii smiled pulling him into the bed with her. I knew you would fall asleep, Tracii thought pulling him close to her. Soothingly she went through his hair keeping his asleep. She kissed his forehead before settling in for her own nap. She couldn't fall asleep though feeling that she needed to protect Miguel. Her thoughts became true as a seemingly angry Darien entered the room.