Heero Yuy, L6, and the Second Suit Wars | ELLE
To ColorCoated and Remsyk - Of course the end is the only part that matters hehehe. ;-P Determined Heero is so sweet. Can't say I don't love the word "perfect" ha! Thank you so much! =)
Tsukino - Haha yes this fic has kind of turned into a soap, although not my original intention, at least it's engaging, huh? ;-) And I love to read almost as much as I love to write so I would definitely read something you produced! It's great to have new authors breathing life into the fandom and I love reading work by people who are actually still active and able to chat about it. =P The only way to get better is to start so yeah, go for it! I'm not thrilled with my first few attempts after something like 8 years being out of the fandom - heck, even in this I feel like my writing is weak and I know I can do better - but it's been an enjoyable experience so far and that's what really matters most. :D
SnowDragon - Aww sorry for such an intense waltz down memory lane. =( I don't know if it's true or not but I do think there are just some people that leave an impression on you so deep it's inescapable. *hugs* Luckily this chapter is a bit less emotionally charged...! ;-P
PART TWO | A Former Life Reprised
2.8 The Former Colleague
Another uneventful week passed. Duo and I were back to our thin professionalism, which I accepted as a means to an end. Miguel mostly avoided me. Lennon however became some strange imitation of a Duo from the early part of the war – always engaging me in conversations I didn't want to have, initiating physical contact I didn't appreciate. It was unsettling. But I knew this behavior as an attempt at friendship and I let it pass without incident. It was easy to understand why Lennon and Duo became friends so quickly. They clearly had a similar disposition.
But Saturday night a stiff employee in uniform and obviously not from construction site Delta 2 broke the monotony when he came to inform us that we would be making special trips in rounds Sunday to place an outbound call to Edward.
So I wasn't surprised when Sunday after breakfast another uniformed employee came and requested Lennon, one of Edward's other picks who was housed in C-3, and I follow her to make the call. Duo gave us a dubious glance as we left him with the others. I didn't like the feeling of leaving him there, especially when I knew I was going to have to make a drastic and dangerous move to attempt to get additional information on the colony structure, but I reminded myself firmly that he would be fine.
She carted us almost fifteen minutes to the Alpha site, a more complete section of the colony closer to the docking bay. It was an area laid out in a grid pattern, rather ordinary looking although often half-complete office complexes were built into some squares and there were empty areas between the buildings where I assumed parks would one day be placed. Without a variable climate functioning, plant life was unsustainable and it would've been a wasted effort to start on parks. To say this area looked relatively normal would be an overstatement, but considering the L6 installation started only five years ago, the amount of progress that was being made was remarkable. But I figured that's what money like Winner Enterprises Interglobal and Nexxus International Group could provide.
Not to mention slavery.
She pulled up to a long building with a windowed façade and through the glare I could see long rows of cubicles with computers in each one. Perfect. I'm not sure about fun, but this plan seemed to be working well so far. Hopefully it would prove adaptable enough.
We were lead into the building and I noted the barebones staff. I guess techies were the same everywhere. Hated to be parted from their work, even on the weekend. She led us to a videoconference room with little preamble and dialed in to Earth. After a few minutes Edward appeared on screen. He was smiling and friendly as he and the employee talked for a minute, but when she exited the room his smile dropped and he seemed anxious.
"Okay, the truth – how's it been up there?" he asked brusquely. Lennon was quick to answer.
"Fuckin' boring as anything," he admitted with a grin, "but otherwise not too bad."
The other man from C-3, Nick I learned only a little while ago, corroborated Lennon's assessment. "We spend most of the day on the construction site. There's at least another two years' worth of work to be done up here before anyone could move in. Probably more. At least six months in our area. We haven't seen much of the rest of the colony."
"Yeah, didn't even know all this fancy stuff was here." Lennon grimaced and then amended his statement. "Fancy is too kind. Just... put together, really. Not sure when they're getting the weather functions up and running, but that'll help a lot."
This rambling sort of conversation about the colony and their apparent mental health went on for a few minutes before Edward looked pointedly at me. "Ron? You're being awfully quiet."
Lennon tried to stifle a laugh as he shot a glance at me. "I don't know what Ron you know," he quipped cheerfully at Edward's big face plastered on the screen. "He's always quiet!"
"Everything is fine," I offered, ignoring Lennon. Then I pulled up the agreed upon phrase indicating that we hadn't found anything alarming and that everything was, in fact, truly fine. "But they're right, it's pretty dull up here. You owe me dinner when I make it back to Earth."
Edward was smiling then and Lennon raised a curious eyebrow. I guess the idea of me going to dinner with Edward was outlandish to him – but I fought down irritation. I probably wouldn't ever willingly go out to dinner with Edward anyway. Duo would've laughed at me and told me I shouldn't be irritated at someone for being right.
They finished up whatever last minute comments they had to say to Edward and I got up, presumably to find our escort although my real intention was not quite so innocent. My rather short-sighted goal was just to slip out and head in the opposite direction for the most remote computer terminal I could find and hope that I could hide in a vacant cube for a good fifteen minutes before being discovered and that said fifteen minutes would be enough time for me to find some better blueprints and set them up in a hidden folder on their open access intranet.
I am quite aware how ridiculous that plan sounds. But I've extracted data in similar ways with less time in buildings rocked by explosions with gunshots whizzing past. Surely this would be a leisurely walk in the park by comparison.
But just as I opened the door for a furtive glance – helpfully noting my escort was fifteen feet away and talking to another employee escorting two of our guys from C-3 and Miguel – my eyes met with those of a young Asian man and I ground out a curse as my head began pounding with the tell-tale sign of an impending memory assault.
I had all these vague recollections of him laughing at some non-joke I'd made, sitting across from me, shoving food in his mouth, waving over his shoulder as we walked across a parking lot, arguing hotly over lines of code on a computer screen. And I knew I was totally, utterly, and completely fucked.
This was someone Jack knew. And he clearly recognized me. I stood frozen for a moment as events unfolded faster than even I could process. Our escort had noticed me and was heading in our direction. But this guy Jack knew intercepted her and they talked heatedly between themselves for a moment. I decided there was nothing else I could do. I turned around and sat back down, staring at Edward blankly on the tele-video screen.
What was that Duo always said? Flexible? Adaptable? Fun?
I calmed myself with great effort, trying to focus on Lennon and Nick's conversation to ease my tension while I considered my possible courses of action. I couldn't leave Duo. I simply wouldn't leave Duo. Which left very few options and none of them good – namely waiting for them to enter, knocking everyone unconscious, escaping this room, finding Duo, and executing plan make-a-mad-dash-to-the-lower-levels, hope-to-god-we-find-something, and get-the-fuck-out.
Yeah, when I thought about it that sounded nearly impossible and stupid as fuck. But then, all I could think was Duo would love it.
The door opened again and we all turned to look at our escort and the man standing with her. I tensed, ready to implement my foolhardy plan, and she pointed at me.
"You. Go with Yun. He wants to escort you back to Delta 2."
I forced myself to stand. Well, that was somewhat of a relief. I apparently wasn't going to have to knock out four people single-handedly. Not that I couldn't, it just complicated things. This was easier.
He – Yun, I supposed – lead me in silence to a two-seater NEV of his own and as we climbed in I figured this was pretty fortuitous. Sure, these dinky vehicles didn't have much horsepower but Duo and I could get across the colony much faster in a stolen NEV than we could our own two legs.
As soon as we were out of the vicinity of the Alpha site, Yun slowed the vehicle way down and gave me a look of what I figured was shock and relief – a ridiculous facial contortion I thought only Duo was capable of.
"Holy shit, Jack, what are you doing in construction?"
I didn't say anything as I groped for an acceptable answer, but luckily his own question didn't stop the ramble of words from his mouth.
"I mean, they told us you were transferred to L6 and I was like, what the fuck, that ain't right, Jack didn't give two shits about going to L6. Ya know how you always were, you were always so cool about never going. And anyway, what did they need you for anyway, right? An AI researcher? On colony? Made no sense, I mean, that's what I thought."
He took a deep breath then and let out a weak, nervous chuckle before continuing on his long-winded rant.
"I looked for you, man, ya know, we all missed you! It was so sudden like. It was like Aisha lost a son or sumthin'. I told her I'd look for ya but I couldn't find any records of the transfer. It was like you just up and fucking disappeared and with all the shit going on, I mean..." He paused and gave me a furtive glance. "You know some strange shit is going on up here, right? I mean, I don't know much, but it's just fucking –"
His flow of words stopped so abruptly I briefly considered that perhaps he'd passed out from lack of oxygen except his control of the vehicle never wavered. Then I was once again concerned I was going to have to say something and I began fumbling for some kind of explanation.
"You aren't fucking Jack, are you?" His a-ha! moment absolutely rocked me to the core. Did he know about the memory reconstruction surgery? Is that was he was referring to when he said there was some 'strange shit' going on? I could see how that would rattle a normal human being with certain expectations of morality.
"I mean, you're Jack, right," I felt instantaneous relief, and he continued, "but you're not an AI researcher. You work for fucking INTERPOL or Preventer or something, doncha, and you're here to investigate from the inside out? Awww, holy shit man! That's so fucking cool. You definitely came to the right damn place, I'll tell ya what. I don't know what they're doing down there but it's something big man, something real fucking big."
I had no idea how he drew these conclusions as his mind jumped even more rapidly than Duo's and Duo was really the only person I truly understood and fuck if I understood him even ten percent of the time.
"Yes," I finally said, figuring his speculation would only be enhanced by my simplicity.
"Damn anyway!" He let lose a long and somewhat fanatical laugh. "All this time, quiet old Jack, sitting on his computer, spying on NIG..." Shaking his head slowly he stared at me with something akin to admiration. "What do you need me to do?"
"What?" I asked incredulously. What did he even mean by that statement?
"Aw, come on Jack, you know you can trust me. You're over there in Delta 2 while I'm in the thick of things." Then he looked stricken. "I mean, don't take that the wrong way, I'm sure you have a great plan, ya know, far be it for me to question a damned secret agent, I'm not like that, it's just... Let me help you, man!"
I shook my head definitively even though I was actually considering his proposition. That was what Duo would do, right? This whole damn encounter should be taking place with Duo, not me. I had to think like him, right? Think like a man I only half understood on a good day.
"Come onnnnnn," he whined petulantly. "You know me! We worked together on encryption for the whole damned company. You know my shit is good." He whipped out puppy-dog eyes the size of Quatre's but unlike Quatre, Yun didn't know only one set of eyes worked on me. And there was nothing remotely 'puppy' about them.
It could be a trick. I was fully aware of that as I reformulated my Maxwell-style plan. They could've told people I was here just to try to draw me out. Hell, they probably knew I was here. They probably let us right through the front door just to see what we wanted. But if that was true, then we had no chance anyway and what risk was I really taking? We were already fucked.
I tried to make a big production of my change of heart but that wasn't really my style and my grand capitulation was really more of a sigh. But he clearly knew me because the look of triumph on his face was unmistakable.
"What do you need me to do? I'm your man! Anything, anything at all!"
Even my cold heart felt a bit of guilt at dragging someone so clearly naïve and innocent into a potentially disastrous situation. But despite that I didn't find it difficult to subjuct one man to death when we were facing a colony of fucking slaves. Moral relativism. Very useful in war.
"I need blueprints of the entire colony. Including the lower layers." The request was simple and hopefully not difficult for him to manage.
"That's it?" he asked, clearly skeptical.
"For starters." I hoped the lure of more potential tasks would keep him engaged.
"That's what you were trying to do there with all those computers, huh? Get into the system, am I right?"
I nodded and realized that he wasn't taking us back to Delta 2 the way we had come. I brushed off my suspicions. He was probably taking the 'scenic' route so we could talk.
Then he was frowning. "Well, how am I gonna get them to you? The intranet is pretty damned risky, we can't print shit here and even if we could, programmers just don't waltz around construction sites, ya know, even if you were a long-lost buddy like I told 'em. This is pretty suspicious as is."
I contemplated that. And then it occurred to me.
"Can you get it on a jump drive and send it to the commissary?"
Yun seemed to be mulling this over and he nodded. "Yeah, I can do that."
"Okay. Address the package to Drake Johnson. Sal and Drake are friends. He'd overlook something strange if it were for Drake. Me, not so much." I fought a grimace as I threw Duo's alias out there. This was a risk. A risk I just included Duo in without his consent. Not that he wouldn't have done exactly the same to me...
I was glad Yun didn't ask if Drake was my partner. I didn't want to give him away like that. Instead, he just nodded, his crazy black hair bouncing around his head with the motion. Something about that made me wonder – were we friends because he reminded me of Duo? And that was the closest my battered, forgotten heart could get to him?
"Okay, I can do this." I was a little less than thrilled with his shaky pep talk. "I can do this." He was growing more confident, at least. And then he flashed me a big grin. "Fuck ya, I can do this!"
"You can." Being an encouragement wasn't my strong suite, but I hoped the words offered him some comfort. It seemed to work because his smile widened.
"I'm just glad you're okay, man. Aisha will –"
"No," I cut him off abruptly. "No one can know I'm here."
He swallowed and looked guilty. "Yeah, you're right."
We were silent for a moment and I realized I wouldn't have the opportunity to interrogate him further as we were heading up to the Delta 2 sector. He pulled up to the cafeteria – as the biggest building in the housing complex – and I immediately caught sight of Duo hovering around outside it anxiously. Lennon was with him and when they saw us pull up both of them wore relieved expressions.
Although it looked like Yun wanted to say something more to me, I glared at him and walked away as if I had never met the man before. Which was easy because I hadn't. But Jack had. Shit, this was fucked up. Not the first time I'd thought that.
"Christ, 'Ro, I thought –" Duo's words died in this throat and the worry in his eyes threatened to cross between us and draw me into his arms. But there was nothing either of us could say or do with Lennon standing right there. He was scared I was caught trying to get the blue prints, scared they took me, scared I wouldn't be me any more. And I didn't blame him. But I couldn't say a thing. I couldn't comfort him at all.
"I'm fine," I told him instead, my words easy and smooth but they offered him no relief. Instead a smirk broke across his face that was absolutely fake in every way, and he punched me in the arm.
"You wouldn't know ta look at him," Duo was joking with Lennon, winking a big eye over his concern, "but Ron can get himself into all kinds of trouble if he's left alone for too long." Lennon gave him a knowing nod and part of me wanted to punch him, but I didn't. I might've been Duo's charity case, but I wasn't fucking Lennon's.
But that just gave me all these negative thoughts and I stormed past them to our room, unable to look into those blue eyes any more. It was like when you notice two shades of black just don't quite match and suddenly you can't unnoticed it. In fact, you just keep staring, you can't draw your eyes away, and no matter how much I didn't want to think it I couldn't avoid it.
I was always just a charity case for Duo. From the very beginning. I was a fucked up kid who had no concept of normal. No concept of how to live. In the absence of war, I had no emotions, no direction, nothing to live for. And after the war he was there for me, just like always, holding out his hand, ignoring his pain to care for me. As I opened up it only made it worse. After the Mariemaia incident, he was so mad, so angry that all our progress had dissolved that he left me. Only to return two months later when he learned how hopelessly lost I was.
All to fucking care for me.
But I didn't want to be his charity case either. Not like that. I didn't want him to love me out of some strange obligation. Or fascination. Out of fucking pity.
And for the first time in weeks I was tired of fighting for him and thought maybe, just maybe, everything would have been better if things had just worked out between Duo and Jack.