Bishi Pile Challenge: Challenge response to Green and Elves and Crystal. Minor to Wind. Word count: 1,769

Series: Friends 14/??

Author: Karina

Pairings:

Ratings: M 15[In Australia Rated in the event of bad language and violence.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or the characters. That's the way it is.

Warnings: Not a death fic despite how it starts.

Chapter 14

Duo decided for the sake of sanity it was safer to move on to another topic. He found talking of Elves singing in the blizzard to be just too weird. Despite himself he found he was straining to hear something in the howling wind which might be ethereal voices. He assisted Marquise in relieving himself and went to empty the bottle safely away from their shelter, and found himself immersed in the sounds of the storm.

If anything the blizzard seemed worse. Daylight made little impression on the blizzard, perhaps lightening the gloom a little. Somewhere out there, though he could not see it from the window, sat the helicopter. He should, he knew, venture out to check on the machine, but should he fall and break a bone he placed his life, and that of Marquise, at risk.

There was no one to rescue him.

He became aware of another potential problem, a more immediate threat. Through the window he could see the snow had piled up, drifting beneath the overhanging roof. He estimated overnight the drift had grown to reach his thighs, and with the storm still raging he was concerned the cabin might be buried. Toilet breaks would permit him to check the security of the cabin without alarming his companion.

Returning to the pantry he propped up the door carefully, eyeing the diminishing pile of wood and deciding he needed to fetch more. Without an axe or saw his supply was limited to the pieces of the cabin he could manage to break off from the debris in the other room. He would need to keep the fire low to conserve fuel, but still give them some meagre warmth to ease their stay.

"So what were you saying when you woke up?"

"I'm sorry?" Zechs glanced up from the cup he held.

He had been pleased with his improvement overnight, waking to feel stronger. He even managed to hold his own cup, at least for a time. While Duo had attended to matters of hygiene he had settled himself on his side, hitched onto one elbow with his back propped against a pack. He did not need to lift the cup far, and was relieved not to trouble his rescuer for aid.

"When you woke up you said 'He called me Peacecraft.' Who did you mean?"

"Ah. I had not realized I spoke aloud." He sipped the soup, beef this time, and decided he preferred the chicken.

"Well?"

Sighing softly Zechs shrugged. "I remembered my attacker calling me Peacecraft that is all."

Duo settled back on his heels, nursing his mug of soup as he considered his companion. The attack had to be weighing on his mind, but Duo suspected it was more than that. Marquise, he suspected, had a keen analytical mind, and was likely to pick the bones of his memory for any hints which might assist to identify his assailant. Given how Marquise had orchestrated the battle of Libra, and particularly how he had used the mobile dolls and the Zero system, Duo suspected a genius lurked under all that blonde hair.

The man had made use of Zero, or rather the Epyon system, in a manner Duo would never have considered. Heero claimed the two systems, while fundamentally similar, were different. He remembered the night before, when Marquise had first woken and claimed Epyon did not lie. To his knowledge only the two men had used both systems. Heero largely refused to talk about Epyon, though he would speak of Zero. All he really would say about Epyon was that it lied.

Zechs, under the influence of Epyon, had acted insane. Quatrte seemed inordinately curious about the system, and Duo wondered what his fascination with Epyon meant. He, personally, did not like to think about Zero, and he knew Quatre did not like to discuss his time under the influence of the system, but Epyon intrigued his friend.

He needed to ask why Zechs claimed Epyon did not lie.

"You would have expected him to call you something else?"

Zechs stared into the cooling soup and after a moment shrugged.

"I was Zechs Marquise in Oz. That was my name from the age of six, and all through my military career. I became a Peacecraft again once I was 'dead'. It was Milliardo Peacecraft who joined White Fang, not Zechs Marquise. It was Zechs Marquise who took on Dekim Barton."

Duo wanted to ask who it was, Peacecraft or Marquise, who worked for Preventers. Deciding it was not the appropriate time to ask how Zechs defined himself between the two personas, he focused on the question at hand.

"This guy called you Peacecraft? It might have something to do with an incident involving White Fang. That could narrow down possibilities"

"Or it might have had something to do with my past career as an undercover operative."

"Eh?" That lifted Duo's attention. "I thought you were Marquise in Oz. You were a spy?"

"I was a spy." Zechs drained his cup and relaxed back against the pack. "I worked undercover for Treize, until it became necessary to focus on the Alliance. Crystal, the project was called. Whoever named it was an idiot. It was not work teenagers should have been doing, but I was not a child. Not after Sanc. You grow up quickly witnessing such butchery, and you determine to never permit it's like to repeat." He paused, watching Duo. "But you know that, don't you? For you there was Maxwell Church."

"Yeah." Duo stared at his clenched hands. "Yeah, you don't stay a kid after watching that."

They listened to the cheerful crackle of the fire and the howling of wind, each wrapped in their own memories. It was not mid day and Duo found himself listening for Elfish voices. He shook himself, throwing off the mood and gathered up Marquise's discarded cup

"I found an old pot when I had a look around. I thought I might gather some snow and give it a bit of a clean out. I'll melt some snow and then boil water. There are teabags in the survival kit and a bit of coffee. I would not recommend you drink the coffee, but tea would be okay."

"Tea would be good, thank you."

"I'll get to that shortly. If you think this attack might have something to do with your past as a spy, does that mean you were using the name Peacecraft?"

"One mission I was assigned as a Crystal operative required I impersonate the dead Prince of Sanc."

At Duo's wide eyed look he smiled and shrugged. Duo snorted softly and waved a hand for him to continue.

"A rebel faction needed to believe I was Milliardo Peacecraft. Unfortunately it was not the most successful mission I had undertaken for Crystal, and people died. Messily. The Intelligence from Crystal was in error on a number of points, and in pulling me out of the mess Treize had to kill a few people his superiors wanted to question. It is possible my abduction might be related to the incident at the Green Kettle."

"Green Kettle?"

"The Green Kettle Inn." He stifled a yawn, rubbing absently at the pale bristles marking the beginning of a beard. "A small Inn in the back country of Ireland. Ten people died who should not have died. Crystal was disbanded pending an enquiry into the affair, and control of the group passed to a new command structure. The revised Crystal operated for another two years before Specials was ready to move against the Alliance."

"We need to talk about Crystal, particularly the mission you impersonated yourself. It has to be a possibility." Duo refrained from commenting there were many possibilities behind the attack.

Blue eyes drifted closed. "It could be related to any one of dozens of incidents in my chequered career as a killer." The quiet voice dropped lower, deeper. "I would appear to be a throwback to long gone days, when it was not so unthinkable a Prince of the House of Peacecraft could wilfully kill. Some would say it was the Elf taint in our blood; others might cower in fear and claim it the Viking coming through."

Duo blinked. The man was half asleep and drifting deeper, his physical resources taxed to the limit. It would be days, perhaps a week or three, before he would be fit. It was odd, Duo reflected, the sort of rubbish that came out of utter exhaustion.

"Now you are part Elf?" He grinned, hoping to lighten his mood.

"So it was whispered. There might be something to the old story." Fine lips curved into the beginnings of a smile, but blue eyes remained closed. "Elfkin are supposed to be next to impossible to kill, and they say the blood comes out every so many generations. How many times do I have to die before I will stay dead, Duo? I'm tired."

Duo watched him succumbed to sleep and sighed. It was at a person's most vulnerable point where the truth came out, and Marquise was at that low point.

"You are as lost as I am, just in a different way."

Taking the dirty dishes and the pot Duo left the cave. He picked his way across the iced over cabin floor and man handled the door open, staring at the growing snow drift in surprise. Near equal in height to his waist, he could only hope the wind would change direction and blow the snow away from the front of the cabin.

"Damn."

He eyed the roof warily, listening to the creaks and groans. Quickly scrubbing out the pot, he stuffed it full of snow and repeated the process with the two cups. He wanted to conserve their bottled water, and given the snow melt would be boiled he was not concerned with health issues.

Straightening he stared at the white out before entering the hut, forcing the door closed and retreating to the cave. While he waited for the water to melt he studied the sleeping man and rubbed at the bridge of his nose, a small smile twisting his lips.

//I guess living in the mountains could give rise to all sorts of weird assed stories. Elves. Right. Mind you, I could see Zechs as an Elf. Not one of those little things that supposedly fix shoes, but as one of the tall and stately Elves from books like Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. Yeah, he's got the looks to be one of those. Just point the ears a bit and hey presto, Elf.//

End

Karina Robertson 2007