DISCLAIMER: Gundam Wing belonged to Sunrise and co. I'm not making any profits out of this, so don't sue. Oh, those you think you've never heard before belong to me. And feedback is very welcome, people! ☺
TIMELINE: The story takes place after Survival of the Fittest, I'd say almost two years. This is the second installment of the "Shattered" duology.
NOTE: To avoid confusion, I have italic-and-bold the clones' name. Hopefully, that could help you understand who's who.
SHATTERED WALLS X: THE HUNT.
By Arayelle Lynn.
He approached the shuttle cautiously. His eyes roamed around its surrounding, scanning for any sign of the passengers. But there was none. The lush forest around him was quiet and undisturbed, saved for the sounds that belonged to nature.
Satisfied, he took a few steps nearer, finally finding himself inside the small shuttle that was a stark contrast against the green organic atmosphere. His fists tensed as his eyes trailed along every corner of the shuttle's interior. He only relaxed once he reached the empty cockpit.
It seemed as if his quarry had abandoned the shuttle. 'The clone must've another form of transportation nearby' he thought, making his way outside the shuttle. Trowa's eyes wandered among the trees, hoping they could tell where his targets were. Then his eyes tracked two pair of footprints barely visible on the dry forest floor, leading into the thick of the woods. He silently commended his quarry. 'I should expect that from my clone. It's only logical to abandon an enemy's transportation as to avoid other form of detection. '
But that would make his job harder.
Throughout the journey, Trowa had been plague by two contradicting thoughts. Since he was the only one able to follow the clone undetected at the time, he couldn't throw away the golden opportunity of finding out Winteridge's whereabouts. And he was sure that his clone will eventually lead him there.
However, the disturbing thought of putting Dorothy in more danger than she already was kept nagging at him. He found himself loathe at the thought of using Dorothy's precarious predicament to their advantage. If he hadn't had any other concern, he would've gone and rescue her right away. But the thought of sacrificing more innocent lives for Winteridge's meaningless battles kept him at bay. He must not allow his emotions to get the better of him.
But that was not all he thought of. His other concern lied hundreds of miles away, in the form of a blond haired body, lying on top of a growing red pool, unmoving. If only he knew how Quatre was doing…
'Stop it, Barton!' he chastised himself, shutting his eyes to block out the image. 'He'll be alright. Heero and the others will take care of him. Dorothy, on the other hand, needs you.' Taking a deep breath, he set on his journey into the green mesh.
xxxXxxx
"He's going to be fine," Dr. Tricia Farrell-Burnet announced the moment she stepped out of the operation room. They released a sigh of relief but the troubled look failed to leave their features. Relena in particular was looking at the doctor, silently pleading for the complete prognosis.
She gave them one. "The bullet missed his vital organs, luckily but he's going to be out of action for quite some time." When Duo Maxwell opened his mouth, she cut him off. "Don't expect him to regain consciousness any time soon. The anesthetic ought to keep him down for a long time." With that she left to tend to her patient.
Lady Une turned to the others. "Well, that's that. Our prisoner managed to escape, with Dorothy as hostage and the real Trowa Barton is missing, most probably in pursuit of the clone."
"Have we managed to track down the shuttle yet?" Sally inquired.
Une nodded. "We had. But a few minutes later, the signal vanished. We assumed that the clone has disengaged the transponder in the shuttle so we wouldn't be able to track him down."
"Yeah, if I were him, I would've done the same," Duo agreed, there's a hint of bitterness in his voice.
"Anyway, I have a couple of agents working on it. They're charting a possible flight plan based on the clone's last known location."
"What about Trowa's shuttle?"
"The same." She shook her head. "As it stands, I would advise against keeping our hopes up on this."
"You're right," Heero agreed, much to everyone's surprise. "We can do nothing to remedy this."
"But Trowa might need back up," Noin protested.
"Only we don't know exactly where they've gone to," Duo pointed out. "They could be anywhere! And the fact that Trowa has disengaged his transponder as well tells us that he doesn't want to be followed." He frowned, grudgingly agreeing with Heero. "I hate to say this but Trowa's on his own. Again."
"But he's your friend. You must at least try," Relena argued.
Heero calmed her with an apologetic look. "Believe in him, Relena. Trowa will rescue Dorothy and bring her back safely. It's important for him to do so."
"Besides, it'll be dangerous for both Barton and the girl if we are to track them down now," Wu Fei added, quietly.
Relena turned to him. "What does that mean?"
"Think about it. If we start searching for Trowa, we would risk compromising his exact location. Made his location known to any other spies we have yet uncovered," Duo explained, off-handedly. "And knowing the guy, he'd probably be tracking them down silently and hoping that the clone would lead him to… say, Winteridge's current location."
Heero stopped Relena's protest with a look and then regarded the others. "The only thing we can do right now is prepare for the worst."
"The worst?" Sally echoed him.
"Now that the clone has escaped, our present condition would be made known to the enemy," Zechs explained who had been silent the entire time. "I wouldn't be surprised if the clone even managed to spirit away a few of our classified files too."
Lady Une nodded grimly. "Agent Grant has reported a breach in our computer system. Someone has accessed the mainframe just before the clone escaped with the shuttle. No need to guess who." She looked at them. "The only thing we can do now is continue on as usual. Make repairs to the base and strengthen our defenses." She turned to Noin and Sally. "I want you two in charge of security. Run a complete security sweep to detect any other spies Winteridge planted in our base."
She turned to the Gundam pilots and Zechs. "And you people better make sure your Gundams are ready for the next battle."
"Got it," said Duo as he left with Wu Fei, Heero and Zechs. Sally and Noin left the opposite way, towards the control room, leaving Lady Une and Relena staring through the glass that revealed the activities inside the infirmary.
"Kylie," said Lady Une, turning to regard the girl who had been silent through the briefing. Earlier, she had requested to be released from the medical bay, much to the displeasure of Dr. Farrell-Burnet. Only after a series of heated arguments, the doctor finally agreed to release her. On one condition; Kylie was to report in everyday for a medical review.
At hearing her name called, Kylie met her eyes evenly. "Maybe it'll be better if you remained in sickbay," said the elder woman, but her eyes hinted something more than her concern for the girl's own physical health.
A strange look flashed on Kylie's face but her words betrayed none of her emotions. "I need access to all security networks on Jupiter," she requested, without even glancing at the infirmary. Her mind was already occupied with something else all together.
Une was surprised by the request. "Why?" she questioned. "What for?"
"To uncover the one who is hidden."
xxxXxxx
Dorothy stumbled over a tree root. Unable to catch herself in time, she landed on her knees, hard. A sharp pain jolted through her spine as she gritted her teeth from crying out. Before she even had the chance to recover, her bounded hands were pulled up as a strong arm wrapped itself around her.
"Now, now, none of that, Miss Catalonia," her captor whispered in her ear. "We still have a long way to go so we couldn't afford a short rest."
She glared at him. The sharp pain was subsiding but she could feel a throbbing ache in her right knee as something oozed down her foot. She immediately knew that the fall had cut her knee.
Seeing the glare, the clone laughed mirthlessly. "That's it, Miss Catalonia. That is what I was talking about," he smirked, surprising her. Instantly, her thoughts returned to the short exchange they had on the shuttle…
He towered over her. Dorothy, in her part, cringed back. A muffled whimper escaped her gagged mouth. She could only watch as he knelt, his hand reaching for her face. The gag was then removed but she was too scared to even take a deep breath.
The clone watched her, his eyes betrayed nothing. He then pulled her to her feet. "We're leaving," he said, pulling her with him.
"Where are you taking me?" she finally found the voice to speak. "Where am I?" Her eyes wandered around her wildly as they exited the shuttle. There was nothing much around them except for trees. A forest, she reckoned to herself. But where?
A ghost of a smile played on his lips as he regarded her. "Don't play the dumb hostage, Dorothy Catalonia. I know that you have more spunk than this." When she didn't reply, he smiled snidely. "Well, if you insist on playing the game then I shall indulge you. We're ditching the shuttle." Seeing her startled expression, he continued. "Come on, we have a long walk ahead."
"Why are you taking me? Why not leave me here?" she questioned, her voice was calmed, a far cry from the distraught girl a few moments ago.
There was a strange gleam in the clone's eyes as he looked at her. He smiled. "Why indeed..."
Those were the words that sent shivers down her spine. It was right then, Dorothy decided that although the clone possessed every aspect of Trowa's genes, he was a far cry from the quiet and subtle pilot. Trowa Barton may have killed many people during the war because he had to but this clone, he would kill innocents because he enjoyed it.
And right now, Dorothy felt that she was going to be one of the unlucky innocents.
"Now, let's move," Trowa-clone said, pulling her with him. "I want to be there before sundown."
xxxXxxx
"Ma'am."
"Agent."
"We heard what happened."
"How much have you heard?"
"Just about everything. But we, too, failed to track the shuttle in time."
"Nothing escapes you, is it? I should've known she would keep you well informed."
"It's tough having someone you married smacked right in the middle of ground zero. Are we being recalled?"
"No, I have another assignment for you. I want you to find Winteridge."
"That's a tall order, ma'am. You're not betting on Barton, I assume?"
"Oh, I'm betting on him alright. It doesn't take me years to realize that the Gundam pilots always have the knack of fulfilling what they set out to do."
"But…"
"But I won't be the one betting on him as well. The enemy would be expecting Barton or any of the boys to find them sooner or later."
"You're expecting a trap?"
"I just feel better if I have other… 'sources' looking out for them as well."
"What about our current mission?"
"Abort. I have another agent on it as we speak. And she's the only one who could get us closer to the Telrhani."
"Well, since you put it that way…"
"And be careful. Especially that brash younger brother of yours."
"Roger that."
As soon as the transmission was disconnected, Lady Une leaned back, rubbing the bridge of her nose. A headache was starting to plague her as she considered the events that had been happening these past couple of months. Truly, she had no doubt about the Gundam pilots' ability to track the enemy. But she wanted to make sure that they survived the whole ordeal. They were too valuable.
So thus, she turned to the other two former 'Gundam pilots'. The Burnet brothers.
xxxXxxx
She sighed. She had been staring at the screen for far too long that the images were starting to blur right before her. Leaning back, Kylie popped her knotted backbone and rotated her stiff shoulders to release the tension in her muscles.
After spending hours watching the security recordings taken from Jupiter, she had finally found something that caught her attention. An image of Winteridge and his clones in his private office. Only the thing that merited her attention was the image of an unknown person standing right behind Winteridge.
Then in other recordings, she would constantly catch a glimpse of the same person. He or she was always by Winteridge's side, seemingly the one who offers counsel to the power-hungry aristocrat. And when the person had appeared for the tenth times in the recording with Winteridge, Kylie knew that she had found the person that she was looking for.
The one who trained the clones.
However, whether it was intentional or not, Kylie found that the images in the recordings were too vague to make a possible ID. So, she decided to screen the image to make it clearer.
Only that could take some time.
A knock on the door broke her concentration. Annoyed by the intrusion, Kylie frowned as a head popped in. It was that busy-body doctor. "You missed your appointment," she reminded her, folding her arms expectantly.
Kylie bit back a curse, glancing at the chronometer on the screen. 'Dang it! Is it morning already?' she thought as it read eleven hundred hours.
"I take it, from the look on your face, you have missed more than your appointment," Dr. Tricia Farrell guessed, seeing the neat bed and the uneaten dinner on the tray. When she failed to respond, the young doctor sighed. "Kylie, you must get enough rest. Your body needs plenty of it in order to completely heal."
Kylie waved off her 'lecture', standing up. "Let's get this over with," she simply said, making her way towards sickbay. Sighing in surrender, the doctor muttered. "Why do I even try?"
xxxXxxx
"Quit squirming," the clone commanded, dragging Dorothy with him. After walking all day and night without sleep, Dorothy found that her legs were rendered numb, unable to support her body any longer.
Unlike her, the clone was as fresh as ever, thanks to the alteration made on his genes.
"Let go of me," she protested, as he dragged her towards an old, abandoned hut.
"You know I can't do that," he said but instead of dragging her into the hut, he brought them out the back where a jeep was waiting. He threw her on the passenger seat and looped the end of the rope which tied her hands together to the hand bar on the door. When he finished securing his prisoner, he took out the gun, giving her a nasty look.
"Now, let's welcome our little tail, shall we?"
Dorothy stared open-mouthed at him. Who? It was then she realized that the clone was implying that someone had been following them! She watched anxiously as the clone leaned against the wall, peering to look at the approaching silhouette of their 'tail'.
When that person was a few meters away, the clone cocked his gun and took aim. Dorothy's eyes widened in shock when she discovered who it was. "Trowa, look out!" she hollered.
The real Trowa took heed of her warning and leapt aside to take cover but it was all a ploy. Instead of aiming at Trowa like he appeared to be, the clone aimed at something on his left. He fired a shot and an explosion hit Trowa, smacking him right against a tree.
Seeing that his original was not moving, the clone kept his gun, climbed onto the jeep and drove away. All the while Dorothy stared horrifically at the limp figure lying so still, surrounded by the flaming forest.
xxxXxxx
As soon as he heard the sound of engine fading, Trowa lifted his head. Since he had twice being hit by explosives prepared by his clone, Trowa had been expecting the same form of attack. So, when the explosion happened, Trowa knew exactly where to dodge to avoid serious damage. He kept himself safely tucked on the ground to fool his clone into thinking that the force of the explosive rendered him unconscious.
When the coast was clear, Trowa jumped onto his feet, ignoring the protests of his aching muscles. Narrowing his eyes, he took off after the jeep. But instead of following the vehicle's tracks, Trowa ran downhill, determined to cut off the jeep through the shrubs and bushes to save time. His eyes scanned for the road path where the jeep might drove by and his ears listened for the vehicle's approach.
Suddenly, the jeep passed by just before he broke through some bushes. A moment later his ears detected the sound of another vehicle strolling down the road behind him. Turning, Trowa saw an approaching bike.
Sticking his gun onto the bike, he forced the rider to stop. "I need that bike," he demanded, his eyes tolerate no refusal. Whether the rider was afraid of the gun in his hand or the cold look on his face, he took off screaming, leaving Trowa with his bike.
"Thanks," Trowa muttered, before throwing his leg over the seat and revved up the bike. 'Hold on, Dorothy,' he thought before the chase continued.
xxxXxxx
After spending the whole morning talking to the President, Relena found herself walking along the hallway, contemplating over the issues that were discussed. Though she seemed calm and composed, her mind was in turmoil. It had been three months but still the Winteridge's conflict remained unresolved. And the other ministers were getting more concern over her progress. Some even voiced out the need to relieve her of duty. Only her deeds in the Eve War convinced most of the ministers to give her a chance. Which mean one thing…
She had to work fast.
'What am I to do?' she thought, almost pulling her hair in frustration.
"Relena?" a deep voice interrupted her thoughts, sending the all-too-familiar tingling through her body. She looked up to see Heero, staring at her with a kind of intensity that only he could manage.
Smiling, she banished the negative thoughts from her mind and entered the lounge. Though she was a little disappointed that he wasn't alone, she was also grateful when Wu Fei pointedly ignored them and kept his eyes glued on the news.
Relena made herself comfortable on the sofa, next to Heero. The Wing Zero pilot kept his appraising eyes on her as she moved. "What's wrong?" he asked, reading the slight tension on her lovely face.
The hint of concern in his voice touched her and Relena nearly hugged him for it. It reminded her that no one could ever read her as well as Heero could. Not even her brother. So, she mentally hit herself for trying to fool Heero Yuy.
"I'm going back to space," she told him; the decision surprised her even as the words left her lips.
Heero's eyebrows shot up before he looked away. Mistaken his reaction as a form of disagreement, she prepared to reassure him. "Don't worry about my safety. I'm sure Lady Une will appoint her best agents."
"I'm sorry."
Heero's words completely took her off-guard.
"Heero?"
"If I had been stronger, you wouldn't have to go to all this trouble," he continued, softly. "If I had moved a lot faster, I could've stopped all of this from happening. And you wouldn't be in great danger."
For a moment, Relena stared at him. She hadn't expected Heero to blame himself for all that had been happening! Surely, he should have known better than that!
However, one look at him told her otherwise. Although Heero Yuy may appear calm and sure to the others, yet for the first time since she met him Relena could see the uncertainty written behind his confident eyes.
"Heero, no," she turned to face him. "This is not your fault. You couldn't have known."
"No, I should. I put you in danger."
"You're wrong," she declared, with strong certainty. "Heero, I choose to be here." She tilted his chin up so his beautiful Prussian eyes faced hers. "If I wasn't the Vice Foreign Minister, I would still choose to be here." Her eyes glistened with tears as she recalled the pain she had endured when she thought he was dead. "I want to be by your side for every seconds of my life, even if we're not destined to spend the rest of our lives together."
"Relena…"
'…this is an appalling news to the people of Texas. Earlier today, the residents of a small town were shocked when an explosion killed a family of four and destroyed more than five properties. The firemen are still fighting to keep the fires at bay as the local authorities are investigating the source of the strange explosion. Here with me is the town's mayor…'
The sound of a gasp tore Wu Fei's concentration away from the news as all eyes turned towards Kylie who was standing by the door with a shocked look on her face. Her eyes were fixed on the news, as her whole body trembled for some unknown reason.
Before any of them could say anything, she recomposed herself as an unreadable expression replaced the shock on her face. They saw her jaw clenched as she turned around and left the room.
Exchanging puzzled expression, Wu Fei, Heero and Relena turned their eyes to the screen to see what had disturbed Heero's twin sister so. But all they could see was the journalist interviewing the town's mayor and a couple of its residents.
xxxXxxx
Kylie ran back to her room. Despite of having regained her composure in front of the others, her heart was still in a state of chaos. Words and faces jumbled up in her mind as she struggled to make sense of the new information.
Texas.
Explosion.
Him.
She reached her room in a speed that Dr. Farrell-Burnet might've frowned upon in her current state of health. But Kylie could care less. As soon as the door slid open, her eyes were already fixed on the database that she had been working on. There was a small light blinking on the screen indicating that the screening was finished.
Heart beating even faster, Kylie's eyes stared at the image that was revealed before her. She took a step back in shock; her eyes widened as she fully comprehend the whole situation.
What was it the clone had said?
'He is connected closely to you.'
That could only mean one thing…
He was back.
And he was responsible for all this.
For a moment, a painful memory resurfaced as a stab of fear filled her soul. Then, a cold and hard feeling washed over her as she recalled the news report. Her eyes narrowed, glaring at the image of a smiling man on the screen. She recalled the look in his eyes as he appeared on the news. It was still as evil as ever. And beckoning… she immediately understood.
He had come for her.
xxxXxxx
Trowa prepped the shuttle for take off. As expected, he had tailed Dorothy and his clone to an old space port. He had arrived just in time to see them took off in a space shuttle. Luckily, Trowa had enough time to hide under a tree.
As he watched the shuttle took off, Trowa contemplated over his doubts. Secretly, he had expected his clone to lead him to Winteridge's secret hiding place on Earth. He was sure that the aristocrat was hiding on Earth after the fall of Jupiter. What better place to hide if not under the enemy's own nose?
Obviously he was mistaken. When he saw the jeep pulled over to the old space port, Trowa had to admit that Lady Une was right. Winteridge and the clones were still hiding in space, most probably on Mars.
So, when the coast was clear, Trowa searched the whole area and found another shuttle tucked nicely in a hangar. Wishing he could somehow contacted the others to report his latest finding, Trowa lifted off, leaving everything and everyone he knew back on Earth and returned to oblivion.
xxxXxxx
He was trapped. The darkness surrounding him was everywhere, not stifling but not slacking either… Or was it due to the sensation of not being the master of your own movement that gave him this confining feeling. He felt like floating but was unable to propel himself anywhere.
Time. He had lost all sense of it while he was there. It felt as if he had been there in the darkness forever… Or was it yesterday? Time move strangely here. He was not able to tell exactly when these sensations came to him.
Then after an infinity of time, the darkness started to ripple around him. Attracted by the sudden change, he tried to locate its origin. It did not take him long to spot a tiny white light emerging from some unknown point in his black universe.
The light grew as it drew nearer. Voices came to him, filling him with all sorts of thoughts. He tried to make sense on what was being said to him. But he found the voices sounding gibberish… or had he damaged his brain enough to render it useless?
The light continued hovering over him. Its golden radiance brushed him tenderly. It was then a rush of strange feelings filled his core, washing him with pure, warm light. It was the most comfortable feeling he had ever had since being thrust into the black universe.
He opened himself to the light, basking in the glow. A feeling of familiarity touched him, making him gasp in astonishment. He knew this light! Or rather he knew the person this light representing. For this person had been in his dreams always.
He tried to reach out to the light. But by then, the light was retreating back, taking along its warmth. He lunged forward, unwilling to let it go. He did not know why but he must not let the light go. Unfortunately, his limbs failed him and he found himself sinking further and further away from the light. His hands ceaselessly reaching out, calling for its return.
"Don't!"
The light paused. In those suspenseful seconds, he thought that it would return to him. Instead, the warm light burst into a red fiery inferno. Its rage was mighty and terrifying. He took a step back, startled by its ferocious heat and the horrible fury it radiated. Then before he could gather his thoughts together the light vanished, leaving an echo of audible words.
"Alonso, I'm going to kill you."
xxxXxxx
The door opened, allowing a man to enter. Winteridge and the clones turned their attention from the news feed to greet him. "Ahh, my good friend. From the news we're receiving I could tell that everything is in motion."
"It's all set," Instructor D reported, making himself comfortable on the sofa.
Duke Winteridge smiled, addressing his clones. "Clean up your rooms, kids. Looks like we're going to have a guest."
Watching the excited clones, he turned to his right-hand man. "Nothing is sweeter than revenge."
"I beg to differ, old friend. Not until you tasted her."
TO BE CONTINUED…
AUTHOR REPLIES: Finally! The long-awaited chapter is here! Sorry for the delay. Failed myself a couple of tests and needed the extra time to get back on track. And my full time job isn't helping either! Anyway, things are finally getting in motion. Trowa's getting into action and there was a sweet, tender moment between Heero and Relena. I hope everyone like that bit. As for Kylie, for those who have read Circle of Wishes, you might have guessed who got her so worked up. And I do hope you could tell who was trapped in the darkness. As for the other 'Gundam pilots' the Burnet brothers, if you've read Gundam Wing's Dual Story, you would have recognized them and the ever-overworked Dr. Tricia Farrell.
Anyway, I know that it was supposed to be 'Wings of Destiny's" turn for an update. I received a lot of e mails asking for one. Some even asking if I've given up on it! Never fear, I'm still working on the fic. I actually want to give more attention on "Shattered Walls" because the fic is like almost two years old already (something I promise myself NOT to let happen). So, I badly need to end this. But I am still working on "Wings of Destiny". It'll just take some time. So, sorry :-(
Ookami Kage: Thanks a bundle, Ookami. Your replies always kept me going. As you can see, Quatre survived but there's not much about him in this chapter since it's more Trowa-centered. Thanks again!
Wingshad0w: I don't know if Kylie would be piloting anything in this fic. But I do have big plans for her in the future. As for Mylin, yes, she might not be playing a big role here but I have bigger plans for her yet. Just you wait. I'm not letting her off that easily. Wargh…ha…ha… (evil laugh)
Galilean: I feel like blowing the clone's head off too. But I guess that could wait since I need him right now. I love Trowa-Dorothy pairing. Since there aren't many fics out there about the two I'm inclined to write one. I just want to see if it could really work between the two of them.
Let me put it this way. I LOVE QUATRE!!!!! There isn't one day when I don't think about him. Well, him and Yuki Sohma… and Ion Fortuna. I have a soft spot for the girly, innocent type. But that doesn't mean I love the other pilots any less. Heero is still my favorite pilot/soldier in the Gundam universe (or practically the whole anime universe) and Trowa is a totally cool dude.
As for Kylie, wow, you're absolutely correct! She just can't sit around long enough. Now, she's gone back into action. Let's just hope she survived the whole ordeal without the help of a Gundam (or she'll end up ramming another good MS to destroy an enemy!)
TK? Good guess…but as you can see in this chapter… it's not him. Looks like Treize is going to stay dead for now. If it had been him that would bring in a whole lot of conflict within Kylie since she's living solely on his philosophy and love for humanity. Anyway, if you have read "Circle of Wishes" you could've guessed who. Or you could just wait for the next chapter to find out.
JRosal: Hey, someone from Zero Tolerance wave wave Thanks for the compliments. Yeah, Quatre bleeding does tend to worry a lot of people as you can see. I'm just sorry that there aren't many about Quatre in this chapter. Not to worry, there will be more of him in the later chapters. Just you wait.
Alright. That's all folks. I'm going to go now and get on with the other life of mine.