Konnichiwa Minna-san! I decided that because I left such an awful cliffhanger that I would get this chapter up as soon as I could. I don't have much to say about this chapter so you can get started right away, or you can read the disclaimer and have to wait an additional thirty seconds or so.
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam 00 or the characters, I'm just borrowing them for a while (With Veda's permission of course). But Destiny and Miracle (though she seems to have gone missing) are mine.
Happy reading!
Chapter fourteen: Fear and Chaos
Destiny was waiting on the side of the building where Tieria's signal was transmitting from. She looked up as she heard several gun shots and shattering glass. /Good, he's secured his escape route/ she thought, /Any minute now/ Then she heard a seventh shot and a feeling of dread washed over her and she subconsciously put her hand to her stomach. She then looked up, just in time to see Tieria as he fell out of the window.
"Tieria!" She cried as she hurried to catch him. "Tieria, what happened?" She asked as she prevented Tieria from falling to his death. "Did you trip in those shoes or something? Tieria…what's wrong, please answer me." She then felt something warm and sticky on her hand. She looked at it and found that it was blood, "Tieria," She called as she started to panic. Tieria's breathing was very heavy and he wasn't answering her at all. "Tieria! Tieria!" She then noticed the gunshot wound to his stomach. /Oh no…/ She though as she put her hand to Tieria's neck to get a pulse just as he stirred.
"Destiny…" Tieria whispered as he coughed up blood, "She…she…she shot me…"
"Who, Tieria?" Destiny asked as she removed her jacket and tie she was wearing, took out a small knife and started cutting strips of fabric, "Who shot you?" She then pressed a wad of fabric to the wound and fashioned a bandage.
"Hilling…" Tieria gasped as Destiny applied more pressure to his stomach.
"Take it easy," She said as she secured the bandage then carefully got Tieria on her back as he lost consciousness again. She didn't care about getting his blood on her, she needed to get him back as soon as possible. "Setsuna!"
"Destiny," He called "I've been discovered."
"So have we," Destiny said as she ran back to the Gundams, "But we have a more serious problem on our hands. Tieria was shot."
There was a bit of a pause as Setsuna digested what the girl had told him, "Sonna…" He gasped, "Destiny please tell me Tieria Erde is going to be alright."
"He's in and out of consciousness," Destiny said, "We need to get him back quickly, he's bleeding heavily."
"Ryoukai," Setsuna called.
"Seravee Gundam," She called, "Disengage repose! Set priority to Destiny Wish and Tieria Erde!" She quickly and carefully got into the cockpit and slipped into her maroon flight suit. She wasn't going to even try to get Tieria in his, she didn't want to disturb the stomach wound, "Control to Destiny Wish. Tieria…Tieria Erde is unable to pilot." The Gundam started up, "Destiny Wish and Tieria Erde, returning to Ptolemaios."
"Destiny…" Tieria whispered as he regained consciousness. The pain in his side was so bad he was almost numb, "I heard…that name…again…Jori…"
"Again?" Destiny asked, "Who said it?"
"Hilling…" Tieria mumble spitting up more blood in the process, "She…said how's…big sister…Jori doing…"
"We'll look into it later," Destiny said, "For now, don't talk."
"Destiny," Setsuna called, "How's Tieria?"
"He's not doing very well right now," She said. The makeshift bandages were working to slow the bleeding but Tieria was still losing blood at a steady pace. And every so often, Tieria would spit-up blood leaving a thin trail of crimson at the corner of his mouth, "This Gundam's not fast enough…"
"Use Trans-Am," Setsuna called. There was then a beeping that caught the attention of the two pilots, "Masaka…That Gundam...Ali-Al Saachez!"
"Ali-Al…Saachez…" Tieria muttered, "Neil's…"
"Destiny!" Setsuna yelled, "Get Tieria out of here, NOW!"
"Alright," Destiny said, "GN-Field!" She called as pushed the Seravee to full speed.
"Where do you think you're going?" Ali-Al Saachez called. He fired the fangs at Setsuna then fired several shots at the Seravee.
Tieria barely heard Destiny wince has the shots broke through the GN-Field. He was trying to keep himself conscious but with each hit, more pain shot through his abdomen and more blood surged to the back of his throat. He weakly cried out in pain as his consciousness threatened to fail him once again. He was beginning to gag on the metallic taste of his own blood and the pain in his stomach was adding to the nausea. But he couldn't vomit, not now, not on Destiny, she was under enough stress and pressure as it was and he didn't need to add to it.
"Tieria!" He knew that Destiny was right near him yet she sounded so far away.
Then a more horrifying realization that the pain was starting to subside and the numbing pain was starting to diminish as the loss of feeling was beginning to spread throughout his entire body, /No…/ he thought, /I can't be dying/ Breathing was becoming more difficult as the blood at the back of his throat was starting to drip down into his lungs /I can't die yet!/ His mind was starting to shut down on him, /There's too much to do…/ He heard Destiny start to panic as his senses were failing, /I WON'T LET MYSELF DIE YET!/
Destiny was having a hard time. She couldn't shake the red Gundam and Tieria was getting worse. "Setsuna!" she cried as Tieria lost consciousness again, "Where are you?"
"I'm a little busy," He said as he tried to destroy and avoid the fangs, "Use Trans-Am and get Tieria out of here! Don't let him die!"
Destiny was about to activate the Trans-Am when particle beams cut the Arche Gundam from the Seravee, /Good/ She thought, /The others are here/
"It seems I'm outnumbered," Saachez said, "I'll let you be for now."
"Tieria, Destiny, are you alright?" Allelujah called, "The Seravee's badly damaged."
"It is?" Destiny asked. She had been so preoccupied with Tieria's condition that she didn't notice all the alarms going off.
"You didn't notice?" Allelujah asked.
"I didn't," Destiny said, "I've been busy trying to take care of Tieria."
"What's wrong?" Allelujah asked, "Is he feeling sick again or something?"
"No Allelujah…" Destiny said, "Tieria was shot."
"No…no way…" Allelujah gasped, "Destiny is he…Tieria was shot…is he…"
"He's alive," Destiny said, "But I need you to bring him back to Ptolemaios. Your Gundam is much faster than his."
"Destiny," Allelujah said, "We're supposed to return together. Contact Sumeragi-san first."
"There's no time!" Destiny cried, "If we wait for a response he'll be in trouble. If we return together there's a possibility that he'll die from blood loss before we get there! Please Allelujah…"
"Alright," Allelujah said as he approached the Seraphim. He then set the Arios' hand so it was acting as a bridge between the two Gundams.
Destiny opened the cockpit and Allelujah walked over to it, "Be careful," She said, "His right arm was skimmed badly and he was shot in the stomach."
Allelujah nodded and gently took Tieria from Destiny. Tieria was unconscious and ashen. He was still wearing the dress but Allelujah couldn't blame Destiny for not wanting to remove it. There was also a makeshift bandage secured around Tieria's rather slim waist. He returned to his cockpit and gently rested Tieria on his lap, "Arios flight mode," He called as his Gundam transformed, "Allelujah Haptism and Tieria Erde returning to Ptolemaios."
"Sumeragi-san," Mileina called, "Arios has broken away from the others!"
"What?" Sumeragi asked, "What is that boy doing? Allelujah there had better be a good explanation for what you're doing."
"There was no time to explain back there," Allelujah said, "Tieria would have been in trouble if we did."
"What do you mean?" Sumeragi asked.
"Sumeragi-san," Allelujah said as he sighed, "Tieria was shot in the stomach. I broke away so that he would have a better chance to recover from this."
No one spoke for a while, "Allelujah," Sumeragi said, "Please tell me…he's…"
"He's still alive," Allelujah said, "The bullet didn't exit his body, but he's bleeding heavily."
"How long until you dock?" Sumeragi asked as she bit her lip.
"About three hundred," Allelujah said.
"Alright," Sumeragi said, "Please hurry." She turned to Neil and Mileina, "Mileina go inform your mother that we need a full prep of the medical room. Neil, contact Destiny. See how much time has passed since Tieria was shot." Neil and Mileina both nodded and did what they were told.
Sumeragi bit her lip harder. Tieria had been making progress and then this had to happen. /It is true…/ She thought, /Every time we think he's out of the woods something else happens to him…Is he ever going to catch a break? He's strong, but there's only so much he can take…/
"Ms. Sumeragi," Neil said, "Destiny said that it's been about thirty minutes since Tieria was shot."
"Dammit," Sumeragi said.
"Sumeragi-san," Allelujah called, "Tieria's getting worse. His blood pressure is dropping. It's not dropping quickly but it's definitely dropping."
Sumeragi gasped. That was the last thing see need to hear, "How long until you dock?"
"One twenty," Allelujah said, "Don't worry; I don't think he's going to get much worse in that span."
"Hurry, Allelujah," Sumeragi said, /I want that boy to live/ she didn't say out loud.
"Sumeragi," Feldt said, "Seravee is badly damaged."
"Dammit," Sumeragi said, "I don't need this right now. Neil head down to the medical room, see if Linda needs help with anything. Saji you take over for Neil, Mileina go to the hangar and help your father out please."
"Ryoukai!"
"Arios has docked," Ian called from the hangar, "Allelujah's heading to the medical room with Tieria…" Ian's voice dropped, "The kid's really not lookin' so good."
"Dammit!" Sumeragi cried, "Feldt you're in charge, I'm going to the medical room."
Linda was quite shocked at the condition that Tieria was in.
"Neil-kun, I need you to get him out of that outfit," She said, "Mileina, I need you to get an IV ready then start programming the capsule. Allelujah-kun, would you help Neil-kun?" She handed Allelujah a pair of scrub pants, "Put those on him for now."
The three did what they were told to do while Linda began hooking the critically injured pilot up to several machines, "Dammit, he's lost too much blood…" She muttered, "Neil I need you to do something else for me, Tieria needs blood, you and Destiny are the only suitable donors."
"Linda what's going on!" Sumeragi cried as she entered the medical room. She gasped. Tieria was a mess. His arm was still bleeding freely from where the first bullet skimmed him and the wound on his stomach was bleeding heavily.
"Don't worry," Linda said, "He'll be alright. The wounds are far from fatal. Once I get him on an IV drip I'll extract the bullet, stitch it up then get him in the capsule."
"Is he going to be alright?" Sumeragi asked.
"He's going to be fine," She said, "The bullet isn't in there deep and it didn't hit any internal organs. I'm just a little concerned about how close it is to the other wound. It shouldn't cause much of a problem I'm just wondering how it's going to affect the new tissue there." She turned to Neil, "Are you almost ready?"
"Just about," He said as he sat down on the bed next to Tieria.
"Let me know," Linda said.
"What's he doing?" Sumeragi asked.
Linda sighed, "The capsule can't handle the level of blood loss Tieria's suffered from," She said, "I need to get his blood level up a bit before we can put him in the capsule. Don't worry Sumeragi, the blood loss is something that we can keep up with."
"Sumeragi," Feldt called, "The others have docked."
"Send Destiny to the medical room." Linda said.
"She's already on her way," Ian called, "I'm going to get started on the damage to the Seravee. But I had an idea, I'm thinking of putting another cockpit in the Seravee for Destiny to pilot from. However we would need to head to Lagrange Three for that."
"That's fine," Sumeragi said, "I think that's a good idea."
"Alright, I'll get started," Mileina said, "Is Tieria going to be alright?"
"I hope so Ian," Sumeragi said, "I really hope so…"
Lyle was rather surprised with all of the chaos that was going happening on the ship. He entered the bridge where he found only Saji and Feldt.
"What's going on?" Lyle asked, "What's all the fuss about?"
"Tieria was shot in the stomach during the infiltration mission," Feldt said.
"Tieria?" Lyle asked, "Oh that purple haired kid, huh? Oh well, he had it coming to him."
"You bastard!" Feldt yelled as she slapped him in the face, "I heard what you said earlier! Tieria is your comrade! And you don't give a damn do you! I'm sure that if you had been critically injured on a mission Tieria would be very worried about you and do you know why? Because he's not an ass like you are! Tieria would never feel any sort of malice towards you, so why do you hate him so much?" She paused. She needed to get Lyle to see that Tieria wasn't an enemy, "Tieria is fighting for his life again because he was shot by one of the people who captured him four years ago!"
Lyle recoiled. "Wait," he said, "That kid was shot by one of his comrades?"
"Those bastards aren't his comrades, they never were!" Feldt yelled, "They don't acknowledge Tieria as a comrade! Don't you understand? Those people never cared for Tieria, in fact Destiny told me that their intention was to leave him to die."
Lyle gasped, "But then why?" He asked, "Why did he say those things? And why did he attack Setsuna?"
"They were controlling him," Feldt said, "Did you happen to notice the color of Tieria's eyes when he pulled a gun on your brother?"
"How could I forget?" Lyle said, "That kid's eyes were this crazy yellow color."
"I thought so," Feldt said, "Tieria had no control over what he said, someone else had taken control of his body." She paused, "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to see if Sumeragi needs anything."
Lyle sighed as he tried to digest what he had been told.
"With any luck that fall killed him," Ribbons said as he peered towards the broken window, "And we'll never have to deal with him again. Good job Hilling."
"Y-You're welcome," She said as she tried to keep her cool. She was trying to remain calm and impassive but image of Tieria's face just before he fell was still burning in her mind and making her feel sick. The image of Tieria's garnet eyes widening, his already pale face growing white, then the sight of him falling backwards out the broken window was sickening to her.
"Hilling," Ribbons said, "Are you alright? You've been staring out the window for a long time."
"I…I fine," She said as the mental scene changed. And it was no longer a long-haired Tieria falling out the window. It was a small child with an uncanny resemblance to Tieria. Hilling gasped and the nausea she was feeling intensified. She knew who the child was. The child who had pin-straight shoulder length vivid purple hair, wore oval shaped wire-framed glasses to correct much less than perfect vision from narrow unnatural garnet eyes. It was a child she had once sworn to protect.
"Hilling?" Ribbons asked with perhaps a faint hint on concern to his normally deadpan voice.
"I'm going to be sick…" Hilling muttered as she ran from the room with her hand to her mouth and trying to keep her tears from sight.
She hurried to the only wash room on the floor and threw up. She couldn't believe she shot Tieria. The image would now be forever burned into her memory. She knelt down next to the toilet and sobbed. She needed to find out if Tieria was still alive, to find out if there was some possible way he survived the fall despite the gunshot wound to his stomach. She opened her connection to Veda and desperately searched for Tieria's quantum brainwave signature but she couldn't find it and it caused her to feel faint. Tieria may not have had access rights but she could always locate him, but today she couldn't and she knew it meant one terrible thing. Tieria Erde had not survived.
She leaned against the wall, "Sam…" She sobbed, "I'm so sorry…"
Whew, it seems as though Tieria is going to pull through just fine. Though, poor Sumeragi might worry herself to death. And what is up with Hilling? Who is the child? And more importantly, who is Sam? Hilling also seems to be stalking Tieria a bit. How are things going to play out in future chapter? (Dear Gundam, I'm asking a ton of questions today…) Well you're just gonna have to read to find out. Until next time minna-san.
Ex-Shark-V-005