The Stylist
Summary: Absolution and Redemption and Wind Down
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Gundam Wing or its characters, nor do I make any monetary profit off this story.
Warnings: AU, male/male pairings, language
Chapter 11
Sally entered the downtown office of Treize Khushrenada, leading the pack. "Don't say anything," she told Hilde. "Leave it to me."
"Yes, ma'am!" Hilde said, snapping on her cocky smile and accommodating nod.
Wufei glided along at her side, lips pressed together in a thin line. When was the last time I saw this man? At that damnable fashion show. We shared a table and a drink—magical, until that foolish bet materialized out of thin air and proceeded to metastasize into something of monstrous proportions.
His man crush had vanished.
Today the bet would end.
Over.
Done with.
Fini.
It would end now.
There he was.
Khushrenada's golden hair looked freshly trimmed, the bright forelock curled just so on his forehead. Always well-groomed. He wore a pale blue shirt and gold tie that seemed to go well with his carefully practiced smile and somewhat studied manner.
"Mr. Khushrenada, my name is Sally Po—"
"I know who you are, Wufei's assistant, correct?" asked Treize, crinkling his eyes to imitate a smile.
"Yes, that's correct, and this is Miss Hilde Schbeiker, my assistant. We are here to bring a conclusion to the contest. I believe the bet was for Mr. Chang to take two 'street kids' and turn them into—"
"-into gentlemen," Treize completed, "I remember." He straightened his broad shoulders and looked Sally over with piercing eyes.
His was a handsome although slightly slick appearance, as Wufei studied him longer. Very slick. And I don't like the way he is inspecting my woman.
"Ahem." Wufei drew the attention onto himself. "Zechs Merquise added his own ambitious idea to turn them into models for his current 'street cred' inspired line and for me to achieve all this in a single week. And then you put in the safari line as well. I hoped to turn them into the most eligible bachelors in the kingdom in the process. That was our bet."
Hilde helped herself to a chair and desk space, opening her laptop and queuing up the material she had prepared.
"I have kept abreast of your progress. Most impressive." Treize leaned over Hilde's shoulder to better see the images, the articles, the trending numbers, which demonstrated beyond a shadow of a doubt that Wufei had achieved his goals and more. "Most impressive."
"What's more interesting," Sally announced, "is that in spite of the popularity of our magnificent models, OZ production numbers are falling. This comes in response to a drastic cut in sales due to the fashion notable, Khushrenada, taking a serious fall. You can read about that…here."
"Oh?" Treize steepled his fingers while his eyebrows formed twin arcs.
She showed how the crazy safari/street looks were not going over well when the fine young models showed how wearing the more conservative fashions from other clothing houses made them oh so much more sexy and appealing. Side by side, even Treize thought Merquise's designs were rather silly.
Falling sales, tanking orders, bad press—and they hadn't yet presented the Zechs abuse tapes and false accusations. Hilde's eyes twinkled in anticipation as she took over that demonstration. A few clips from the tapes, copies of the false accusation, Trowa's lips moving in silent "no."
Very effective.
Treize was appalled, just appalled at it all.
(o)
Zechs Merquise was showing his age and lack of sword practice, tiring first. They were no longer the teenagers they once were, caught up in the passions of their dreams and goals. Heero, virtually tireless, really wanted to move on and join his friends. He'd held off Zechs long enough, he felt, giving them a good head start on the mission, keeping Zechs from contacting OZ. Now, it is time to finish the fight.
Heero was about to put a stop to the nonsense with a sure fire blow, when he felt a nauseating wave of confusion hit him with the force of a fist. A hit at ZERO, at last! Duo and Trowa were making an impression!
Zechs, he could see, had felt the impact, too. He was staggering.
"AZEROCOM and the powerful ZERO connection is being destroyed!" Heero shouted at him. "Everyone will start remembering what they've had blocked from their pasts! OZ control of our memories and of our choices is over."
Zechs understood only part of what Heero had said, but as his memories continued to pop into his head, he had to quit. "That's enough," Zechs cried out, throwing down his sword.
"Truce then?" Heero asked, giving his sword a toss to join the other.
"This duel has no meaning. I see it now. I understand what OZ has done to the memories of everyone."
"That was quick," Heero muttered to himself. He allowed Zechs a moment or two to gather himself, but only that. When Zechs started talking, it was time for him to go.
He hadn't long to wait.
Zechs straightened his shoulders and looked directly into the video camera he had set up at the back of his SUV. A light wind picked up the tips of his hair, fluttering it silver-tipped against the white of the snow. Looking slightly ethereal, he proceeded to sacrifice himself to destroy the Khushrenada fashion industry, releasing a tape of himself admitting that fashions are superficial and meaningless.
Zechs held his arms aloft, dramatizing his next words. "Like a camera, I will take all the negativity and use it to develop."
That does it. Heero turned away, collected the M4 carbine, and messaged Rashid for a pickup. Zechs didn't sound like a man about to lead OZ to take over the world. Possibly lead them into the sunset. Off a cliff.
It is Duo who needs me now.
(o)
Waves of disorienting stimulus rolled over the four people in Treize Khushrenada's office. They all experienced varying amounts of shock as repressed memories returned. Wufei had a mild case of bewilderment. Years of meditative training quickly stepped in to ground his thoughts. Sally and Hilde braced themselves against the wall until the mild nausea passed.
For Treize, who was completely ill-equipped for dealing with the sudden influx of the confusing ideas, it was intense. He stood at the desk, holding onto the edge for support. His head was reeling with images from his past when his smartphone buzzed.
Nothing could have prepared him for Zechs' defection and admission of defeat. For a full minute, Treize received, read and re-read Zechs message and followed the link to his video self-sacrifice, where Zechs ended his role as Khushrenada's assistant.
"Superficial and meaningless…" Treize murmured, repeating Zechs' last words.
Treize struggled to stand and Wufei helped him to a comfortable leather chair and chose a matching one for himself. Sally and pulled up a desk chair beside Hilde and waited patiently for either man to talk.
"If you need more convincing," Wufei said, "We have this—" and then hit him with Howard's announcement to have Sweeper's Bank call in the OZ building loans. "And you should know that Winner is prepared to buy all the properties with defaulted loans if it comes to that."
They sat studying one another in silence.
The older man swept away the coiled lock of hair. He looked harried. Not the finely turned-out confident man who had greeted them earlier. He sank deeper into the soft, glove-like contours of his favorite chair, and considered all he had seen and heard. He was witnessing the demise of his company. After all, if the media said you were passé in the fashion industry, you were essentially dead.
Not to mention his past activities.
Possibly it was time to re-invent himself – again- and move on?
After the ZERO-caused effects had lessened, he was quick to recover his spirits. His swift grasp of the situation led to some prompt decision-making. He needed to determine what was and was not worth salvaging. After that it would be child's play to metamorphose into a new, better, Treize. His fluidity had served him well in the past and it would be very important to him now.
Time to find a new role.
Treize struck a more confident pose and said, "Listen, if I couldn't hold the entire world together based on my personality alone, well-"
Wufei charged into the monologue. "Don't mince words. You were only fighting for your ego. And so many died as a result!"
"Thousands, I admit, but then suddenly here I was head of a fashion house—"
"With new people to subjugate. Your past actions are unforgivable. But you're the one who must learn to live with that knowledge."
Treize shrugged as if to say "my problem, not yours."
"I think you can see now that your personality alone is not so powerful. Other fashion brands and designers are taking over, and your line has taken a nose dive."
"If I can't rule the fashion industry, I might as well martyr myself to it, you think?"
"It doesn't absolve you of your sins," Wufei reminded him. "Like so many other well-dressed, smooth talking narcissistic, power-hungry men, you are a loser."
"All right. I give up, dear, dear Mr. Chang. You win."
He had penetrating and intelligent eyes and that exquisite manner only enjoyed by royal princesses and the most expensive lawyers. Treize felt no reason to go over old ground, linger on the past. The sooner he accepted his fate, and he had, and created a new life, yet to come, the better.
He offered Wufei a hand and Wufei shook it. "You won. Well played. Have you given your travels plans for your paid vacation much thought?"
Without a pause, Wufei looked Sally in the eye and answered, "China. For two. But I also want you to agree to put an end to your part in the OZ syndicate."
His capitulation on that issue was instant, surprising Wufei that the man hadn't more fight in him.
"Very well. They weren't the right fit for my purposes—too domineering. Time for change, eh?"
Wufei led his posse out of the building and to Sally's Subaru. She automatically opened the driver's side door, so he went around to the passenger side. He had expected to feel more…elated, but instead he felt underwhelmed by the experience. "That's over."
"It is." Sally started the engine.
"How do you feel, Mr. Chang?" Hilde asked from the back seat. "Like you won big? I think we did, I really do."
"It's an important start, yes, a win, but only one. And I thank you both for the outstanding job you did preparing for this. You did it all, actually."
He flashed a quick smile, and then frowned as a disturbing idea occurred to him. "Hopefully, Treize hasn't triggered ZERO that there is a dangerous change coming that ZERO needs to combat. Defeating OZ is a lot harder and more complex. Let us hope the others have been equally successful—" Wufei broke off mid-sentence. "Just a moment- I have an urgent call coming from Howard."
He took the call, "Chang speaking. What is it?"
A garbled static-filled voice was all he heard.
Wufei repeated, "Chang speaking. Speak up! What is it?"
Howard's voice came from a large space with a slight echo. "Sorry, bad connection. Yeah, this is real serious. I dug up one more little thing the boys'll need—it's crucial - so stop by the garage main entrance and I'll tell you how to get it to them."
"Fine," Wufei said and put away his phone. "Change of plans," he told Sally. "Detour to Howard's. He found some vital thing our friends must have."
"Right-ho!" she chuckled and turned around, moving slowly, carefully picking her way through the icy, partially plowed streets.
Twenty minutes later, she parked in the garage's small parking lot. Howard was waiting for them. As Howard turned over a soft rifle case to Wufei, he explained what it was for, as far as he understood. The timing, the stupid tool itself, everything about the situation infuriated Wufei.
"You mean the shielding around the main ZERO components can't be penetrated by anything but this?! And you neglected to get it to them when they were standing here, right here, this morning?!"
"Of course not! What do you take me for?! I didn't know," Howard defended himself in a huff. "Doctor O withheld the information until the others convinced him he'd be sending them all to certain death if the mission wasn't successful, plus I think he became a little sentimental and wants to see you again. It's been sitting on a shelf for years and I didn't know what made it so special – thing doesn't work without codes. Now I have them. We are lucky to have it."
"Some luck." Wufei wasn't to be comforted. "We have it, all right, but we are not the ones that need it. And let's say I get it there. What I do with it? How are these…codes inserted, used? I need more information!"
"I wasn't gung ho about this mission in the first place," Howard groused in a bit of a pout.
Wufei wasn't getting happier. "I'm calling Rashid."
The conversation was brief and transmission broken up. Rashid was already engaging OZ security agents and unable to send someone back to Sanc. Sorry. Period. His last words, "Oh, Mr. Chang, I am reminded. You are to use Master Winner's helipad."
"What do you mean by Winner's helipad?" Wufei barked into the dead connection. "Dear ancestors help me."
He pocketed the phone and gathered his roiling emotions.
"So, it comes down to this. It's up to me, then," Wufei muttered. "It's a hard end to a hard day. I'll get this to Yuy…or do it myself."
"If you intend to drive, you'll be too late," Howard told the frustrated and cross Wufei. "I'll set you up real nice. C'mere. Did I ever tell you about how you flew helicopters? Real ace pilot. No? Well, you did and still can, I imagine."
Wufei was spurting infuriated invectives concurrent with being absolutely certain he wasn't flying a helicopter to some distant installation. He had no death wish to join his hallowed ancestors before his time.
"Now, now," Howard said soothingly- much like comforting a mad hornet. "Get into my car and I'll take you to see Winner's helipad. Then you can make up your mind."
Sally and Hilde followed along, Sally wearing her Alliance Major expression. "Chang Wufei, you realize we are going with you!" she shouted, "- and Howard! We'll need some firearms, which I am certain you have squirreled away somewhere!"
"You sound like Maxwell," Howard grumbled back, but did not object to the order to arm them.
Wufei didn't argue either. He was actually grateful for the company and the cover they could provide. He didn't want Sally or Hilde to risk their lives, and getting in a flying object with him would probably mean certain death, but everyone had a better chance of getting through the mission if it was successful. And, apparently, this ole buster rifle in its flea-bitten case is the weapon to guarantee it. I'll be the one to use it, if it comes to that. And it might.
"Don't worry, honey," Sally murmured in his ear. "I know you can fly this. I've seen you do it under battle conditions—missiles and explosions and smoke…We'll all get out okay. I'm not going to let anything interfere with our hard-won trip to China."
Hilde looked over the assortment of rifles and handguns. "I sure hope I have plenty of muscle memory to kick in, 'cause I haven't been training."
"You'll be fine," Sally assured her. "We all will. Like riding a bike."
"Heh, never had one of those, but I get the gist. Okay, let's kill us some bad guys!"
"You should be more concerned about my flying than your shooting," Wufei snapped.
Sally leaned in and hugged him lightly. "I have complete faith in you. You'll be fine once you get started."
The magic of love and confidence worked its charm. Once Wufei settled in and relaxed, the old drills kicked in. Wufei sat in the pilot's seat and took the controls in his hands—yes, it felt good. After taking a moment or two to become reacquainted with the dials, he ran through the safety protocols automatically. Both Hilde and Sally seemed to fall in smoothly with the preparations, putting on headgear, and assisting in safety checks. Howard had made certain that Sally and Hilde understood the AZEROCOM sitemap and directions to get there as well as Wufei knew them, and stowed a few water bottles and a fresh first aid kit.
"Fly straight," Howard called out and quickly backed away as the rotors started spinning faster and faster. "Lift off!" he cried into the sky as he waved them off.
Flying conditions were passable, better than the roadways below them, which they could see had been had been plowed, but not recently. Blowing wind churning up the dry snow and making visibility poor didn't slow them, however. They were soon above it all. Clear blue skies but icy, icy cold. Wufei pushed the speed to go as fast as possible.
Hilde kept up a constant prattle and Sally commented intermittently, helping to keep him alert. Very quickly the landscape changed, mountains formed a dark smudge across the horizon. They could see lights on the ground from some sort of outpost that grew in size to be a huge installation as they flew closer.
"Look!" Hilde said, pointing out a window. "Looks like a train or something heading for that bunch of buildings."
"Those are military vehicles in formation," Sally said. "We haven't long to get this done before they get here." She didn't bother telling anyone that the military was most likely to be OZ troops; they could all figure it out as well as she could, or that an advance OZ force had already moved in.
"I'm getting a message from Rashid," Wufei said, glancing down at his device.
Sally picked it up. "Rashid picked us up on his locator and wants our ID confirmation. I'll do that." A moment later came another message. "He says to follow the beacon coming from a HUMVEE off road to our right. It will escort us to a landing area."
"I'll find my own. See if he knows where the others are."
"Okay," Sally typed and waited. "He says send coded message to contact them and make it short."
Hilde sent Rashid her own message and received a warning to be passed on to Wufei. "Hey, 'Sheed says not to land on the roof. It's mined. He's sending a favored site and will have a party to lead us inside. Isn't that nice and accommodating of him?"
"Mined." Wufei shook his head. What was this world coming to?
(o)
A member of the Maguanacs corps had collected Heero at the intersection Zechs had vacated. He was prepared to drop off Heero near Rashid's vehicle where the corps were gathering.
"Mister Yuy," Ali said, "We are taking an alternative route back to where there are reports of activity. Explosions."
"No. I'd like to enter at the main gate," Heero said. It was the same one Duo and Trowa had previously entered. "Go there first. Stay out of sight and I'll walk up. I'd like to follow the plan."
However, the situation had changed. Two armed guards stood by and a black jeep blocked passage. They look scared and about fourteen years old, although they're probably older. Maybe college kids trying to make a little money on winter break? Heero felt sorry for them. After a moment of indecision, he tucked the M4 carbine under his puffy, down coat, and then stepped out to meet the guards.
"I'm late, but I am here to see my Uncle J," Heero explained. "You can call him and he'll tell you I pose no threat."
Maybe it was his honest face or the fact that he appeared to have walked a long way to see his uncle and looked harmless, but after a confirmation call, he was given passage to the main door. No pat down. Amateurs. Heero opened the door, expecting another challenge, but there was no greeter or guard present. A pleasant start. He took up his smartphone and scanned his building map, choosing a route with alternatives, and jogged alone down the hallway. He heard a disturbance and ran faster.
He knew Duo and Trowa weren't far away. He had heard explosions as they blew buildings near the one he was currently leaving, and short time ago he'd heard their fighting, shouts, gun fire. Where is Doctor J and the others? He tried a door, found it unlocked, and disappeared inside the darkened room.
"01, J?" Heero sent to both Duo and Trowa, including his location code.
"02, steel door," Duo sent with a location code.
"03, cover U," came from Trowa a little later.
While dashing along the path leading to the steel door, to his surprise he received an unexpected message: "04, cover U".
"Way to go, Winner," he muttered under his breath.
Two more turns and a football field length sprint and he had arrived at an unremarkable steel door. Heero fired off round after round of ammunition at the door, but only chipped away a little debris when the ammo flew off and hit the walls. He dove out of the way of a spray of bullets coming from a tangential hallway, rolled to a stand and ran into an empty room. He took cover behind a desk and paused to read an urgent incoming message (this had better not be from you, Relena) and was surprised to find it was from Wufei.
Why did you come? Heero wondered.
"05, I have what you need." Wufei's message was followed by a location code.
"I hope that's true," Heero thought, although he was thinking of something to break through the door in front on him, and sent back his location as confirmation.
He had made certain the day Duo and Trowa got their smartphones that everyone had their phones well-secured, including tracking blocked. Also, he gave a tutorial on how they could send and receive information secretly. The application he'd installed on all the phones encoded every message they sent and properly decoded the ones received. He felt a glow of achievement seeing how the training came in handy and that everyone was using his system.
Checking Wufei's location, he realized it was outside the building and that there was no entrance or exit Wufei could use to get to him, so he called up a schematic of the building (thank you Doctor J) and located the closest wall to the outside. He hoped Wufei could get to that location. He had no idea what conditions were like outside.
"01, go here," he sent Wufei with a copy of a segment of the map. Now, all he had to do was blow a hole through the outer wall. He wasn't sure if the few explosives he'd pocketed would be enough.
Heero sent his location update to Duo and Trowa. Trowa must have been very close, because he showed up seconds later, and yanked him off his feet, pushing him around the corner moments before the wall that had been inches away exploded into shards and dust.
Before the dust cleared, Trowa indicated that they should go back. "Rashid broke through," Trowa told him.
"I see," Heero said tersely.
Trowa didn't miss his sarcastic tone, but ignored him. He had saved his life; he didn't owe him anything else, like a warning.
Wufei Chang pushed a rifle through the gap and then knocked the hole bigger with a well-placed karate kick. "Yuy!"
"Here!" Heero watched Wufei emerge from the ragged opening.
Trowa pointed over their shoulders to an open hallway, and then led both Heero and Wufei in a dash back to the steel door. "The doctors are all in there, a clean room, reprogramming ZERO. But Master O just decided to tell us-"
"-I have it," Wufei interrupted, showing Heero a lackluster-looking buster rifle. "Gift from Howard which is guaranteed to totally disable ZERO—don't ask me how."
They caught sight of Duo as he made it to the steel door, his hair powdered with dust. He pounded on the door. "Yeah, just open the damn thing! Got the whole gang here!" he yelled at the doctors inside.
The steel door unlocked and opened wide, revealing all five men in their clean-room paraphernalia on the other side.
"My dear, dear Quatre! My best and favorite student!" Instructor H cried out, arms extended.
Quatre stepped forward nearly to the threshold. "Instructor H!"
Doctor J, the only one leaving on the clean-room goggles, ripped off his mask and called out to Heero, "How you have grown!"
Professor G jumped to the front and shouted, "STOP! DO NOT ENTER! We couldn't shut down containment entirely, just disable it partly. We have a limited time before these doors shut and we lose the window of opportunity to destroy the ZERO core. Plus, you do not want to be locked inside."
Doctor S and Trowa exchanged manly nods. Doctor S told him directly, "Do not think that you can blow through this door either. It is not made of steel, but a new, innovative metal we invented and call Gundanium."
"Don't press for more information. The secret of it must die with us," a disembodied voice intoned dramatically. Master O moved into view, and curled a lip into a sneer. "So you are little Chang. At least you no longer wear that scrawny pigtail down your back. Or do you?"
Wufei stood tall and said nothing, looking at his old master matching his air of distain with his own. "I've brought this," he raised the buster rifle, "at great peril to me and others."
"And you have no idea what to do with it, I suppose," Master O said, pleased to be superior in some way.
Wufei, having won the word games with Treize Khushrenada, a tougher opponent than this man, disregarded the spiteful, implication that he was weaker for not knowing the impossible. He owned the moment.
"That's true," Wufei agreed. "So then, since you've withheld the knowledge from everyone, kindly stun me with your insight."
Master O blinked. "Do you see that target? Like the eye of a camera."
It took Wufei a moment to see what the man was talking about. It was very far away.
"You must fire the buster rifle at that, hit it squarely, not wobble, and hold it for at least five minutes. I do not think you can do that," Master O said with satisfaction.
"That's correct. I cannot," Wufei agreed and handed it to Heero, "But this man can."
Heero gave him a curt nod and accepted the weapon, trading the M4 for it. Not wasting a moment, he aimed the scope at the center of the mark. "Ready?"
The doctors murmured "yes," and all was silent.
"Heero can hold that position without moving for hours," Doctor J said, glowing with pride. "His phenomenal strength still seems intact."
"Three, two, one…" Heero counted down, and then fired.
A laser-like beam issued from the buster rifle. The aim was dead on. The glass "eye" window into the core of ZERO glowed an ominous blood-red.
"Hold it, Heero!" Doctor J shouted.
"I was given some codes," Wufei said.
"In case the rifle required unlocking," Master O said. "The rifle was created encoded with the ZERO self-destruct instructions."
Heero didn't move. He looked like a statue. Not even a blink.
And then the red laser became overlaid with undulating blue-charged plasma. The gasps from the onlookers were drowned out by the whine of the rifle. The plasma crackled with energy and the whine grew louder.
Three minutes into the attack and the wall surrounding the camera-eye opening flashed brilliant white. It continued to radiate light, shooting stark, white rays out into the room when, suddenly, pulsing waves of otherworldly ruby-red material generated from the target center with a rhythm matching the rolling blue plasma of charged particles.
Mesmerizing and horrible.
"The light by which we seek is the fire by which we will be consumed," Doctor J intoned, prophetically.
A deep rumble arose from the ground beneath their feet.
Doctor J nodded his approval and Instructor H appeared to be agreeing with his assessment. The rifle, with the embedded coding, was making progress, destroying the remaining active fragment of the ZERO CORE. Instructor H pulled out from his pocket another instrument, which apparently, he was using to monitor something. He twiddled with a dial and then gave the others a thumbs up- the universal sign of success.
He leaned as close to the doorway as possible while staying out of the line of plasma fire. "One more minute. Already the core is dying and setting off a cascading failure throughout the remaining server blocks. You must all leave immediately! Go NOW!"
"The doors will shut automatically. Heero, 45 seconds then drop the gun and run. You others, leave! Go outside! Go! Hurry!" Doctor J shouted.
"Come with us," Heero pleaded, moving only his lips and eyes for a second. "We can get you to safety."
"No, go! We have to stay and die along with ZERO. As long as we are alive, there will be those who will use us for their foul purposes."
Wufei led Trowa and Quatre back through the opening he had come through only minutes before—leaving Duo and Heero behind. Quatre ordered the Maguanacs to clear the complex immediately.
"C'mon, c'mon," Duo said under his breath, wishing away the seconds, wanting Heero to hurry, tapping out the countdown with a fingernail.
"Ready, 'Ro!" Duo cried out, grabbing at his friend's waist ready to yank him out of the doorway.
"Five, four, three, two…" Heero shouted and dropped the gun on the count of one.
Duo hauled him away from the slamming doors. They could feel the ground shaking under them as they dashed after their friends. It feels like an over-heating thermonuclear reactor under our feet!
Strong arms helped pull them through the jagged breach in the outer wall. Rashid was shouting directions, getting his men out of the area, clearing out. Hilde, strangely, was at his side, providing cover had any OZ personnel come that way. She shouted over to Wufei, "I'll get a ride back to Sanc with 'Sheed," she said and grinned. "Meet up at Long's?"
"All right," Wufei agreed. "Everyone hear that? We meet back at Long's tonight for dinner." He waved at Sally who'd stayed behind guarding the helicopter, picking off snipers. The rotors rotated slowly on ready. "Anyone coming with us?"
"Yes!" Trowa waved and pulled Quatre along, wrapping an arm around the slender waist and dragging Quatre's shaky arm over his shoulders. "We're coming with you," he told Wufei. He wanted Quatre resting as soon as possible, not bumping along the icy highway for four hours.
And the ground shook as deep underground explosions went off.
Heero leaned into Duo as they jogged the length of the building wreckage. "I'm going to warn the guards, if they are still there. You go ahead and bring the SUV around for me."
He didn't wait for Duo's reaction, but sped ahead at top speed, occasionally slipping and sliding on exposed black ice. The two young guards still manned the gate. Somewhere inside the building a siren went off, then croaked and died, probably one of many signaling a breach of the building and ZERO's last call for help. Heero didn't care why. He was grateful the noise was gone. When he engaged the men's attention, they looked scared to death, rooted where they stood and shaking.
"Go!" Heero shouted. "Where are your vehicles? Close? Then go, the place is falling apart and very dangerous. Save your lives!"
Despite Heero's plea, the men remained frozen in place, faces pale with fear.
"But the scientists-?" one croaked out.
"They are dead. Believe me. There's nothing you can do now. Just go!"
Some people don't react well in an emergency, despite their training. Heero understood this. He'd seen it happen many times, so he simply took charge. He couldn't save everyone, but he did what he could. He dragged the shocked men out of the guard booth and pushed them in the direction of the parking lot. Duo was bringing the SUV close, slowing, ready for him to get in. Heero waited until the guardsmen reached their cars and were driving out the gate before jumping into the passenger seat.
"I hope everyone else escaped," Heero said with a breathless sigh.
Duo murmured, "I'm glad you did."
(o)
AZEROCOM and the cloud that concealed it evaporated into the ether,
The vast nothing of outer space,
Up with the stars,
Where reside the constellations,
Amongst them, the constellations of the Zodiac.
Operation Zodiac (OZ) ended that day, just as the astrological charts predicted, according to the last gasp of ZERO. :)
(o) Re-grouping at the Long's Building
A look around the entry of the Long's building told a story of its own. It was almost completely filled with the coat racks, coat trees, and rolling clothes carts used for special showings. When you added in the half dozen bushel baskets set out for gloves, boots, and scarves, and not a few weapons, what had once been a gracious foyer now resembled the entrance to a thrift shop, albeit, a fashionable one.
Upstairs in Wufei's living quarters, a bruised air hovered over the entire room. Everyone had collected there following the mission, and had found a comfortable place to sit. A delicious aroma hung in the air, originating from the kitchen. Bowls of stir fry on rice were cradled with appreciation or still being distributed around.
Quatre wobbled back from the bathroom and eased painfully onto the couch, stretching his legs across the seat. Duo, perched at the opposite end just out of reach of the feet, shot him a querying look.
"Ready for this back?" Duo asked, handing Quatre his partially eaten dinner.
Duo winced at the movement to his knee, hiding it by burying his face close to his bowl. Duo had rammed his left knee into a steel girder while attempting a jump he had easily made a few years ago. He wasn't teenager any more or used to the lifestyle he once had. He'd gotten lax about his workouts.
"Yes, thank you. This is delicious, Wufei," Quatre said.
Trowa gracefully settled on the floor at Quatre's elbow, folding his legs beneath him, balancing his bowl of second helpings without dropping anything. He looked up with a toss of his bangs and stared at Quatre, probing his face for more signs of pain. If his lover hadn't the sense to take care of himself, no amount of nagging from him would make any difference. Maybe the prudent application of a little guilt would.
Quatre sighed. "I'm okay, just being…careful… squeezing through that hole in the wall was stupid on my part. I didn't strain my other injury—honest! I pulled muscles around my ribs, if you have to know."
"You're out of shape," Heero said. He had assisted Wufei in the meal preparations and was now eager to dive into his own helping. He scanned the room for a place to sit, observed Trowa's solution and proceeded to settle at Duo's feet—between his feet, actually, squirming backwards until Duo spread his legs to accommodate him.
Duo felt the heat of Heero's shoulders against his legs, his dark head rising in front of him, and seriously considered skipping dinner and hauling his ass to his bedroom. Duo's eyes were huge, the chopsticks frozen halfway to his mouth, when he noticed Quatre staring at him, forcing down a laugh. Duo wondered if Heero knew how suggestive a move he'd made sitting there. It was as possessive as hell.
"I know, I know," Quatre said, looking away. "I need to work out more."
"You are welcome to use my personal gym anytime," Wufei offered.
"Thank you. That's a very generous offer. I'll think about it."
"Yes," Heero agreed. "But I'd like a swimming pool and a basketball court. It would be nice if there was something convenient."
"It was a punk ass stupid idea to be part of the punk ass stupid mission at all," Duo grumbled, irritated by Quatre's knowing little smile and trying hard to sound casual and failing. He didn't care if Quatre thought he meant him or all of them or just his own punk ass stupid self. Damn, I hate pain.
"But I thank you for what you did," Wufei said to all of them, "You held off those OZ forces while Rashid blew the wall, the doctors de-fanged ZERO, and the rest of us did what we did." He was running out of steam now. Tired of talking. Thinking.
"I found out I'm a great shot!" Hilde said.
"I have made her an honorary member of the Maguanacs." Rashid smiled warmly.
Quatre did a double-take. He'd never seen Rashid looking so blissful, and Hilde seemed to be the cause. They looked cozy sitting side by side at the table with Sally and Wufei.
Howard sat a little apart and listened to the stories. He'd met them at the helipad and returned Sally and Wufei to his garage to retrieve her car. There, Wufei had talked him into dinner back at Long's.
"And if you drive us over, it will save having to move Quatre to another car," Trowa put in from the back seat, where he was cradling Quatre's head on his lap.
Howard agreed so that poor Quatre didn't have to be moved more than necessary. And he was getting to like hanging out with "the gang." And Chang is one hell of a cook!
"So, Wufei," Quatre asked, "how did your meeting go with Mr. Khushrenada?"
"It went as awkwardly as expected, but he got the point," Wufei said.
"He conceded gracefully," Sally said. "But it took a few metaphorical whammy-punches to the gut to get him to fall on its own sword and leave the fashion industry. I'm less certain of his intentions when it comes to the OZ operations he was involved with. He did seem willing to leave the past in the past."
"And he should," Hilde put in. "He's a rich dude. He can find something else to do without going broke. He sure ain't hurting for goods to redeem should he need a little ready cash. I mean, I'm pretty sure he was blinged out with a solid gold Rolex watch, right?"
"I'm sure he has plenty of money stashed away," Sally said.
"Humph," Wufei said. "As ZERO failed and memories started unlocking, he came around; although, he didn't regret his role in the colonial war it as much as I would have liked." He shook his head and a shadow of sadness fell across his eyes. "At one time I considered him to be my role model and admired him greatly. It was only an illusion I was following. I'm sad to have lost that, but glad to know we have taken the honorable path."
"True." Sally turned to Heero to divert the conversation. Wufei could wax melancholy, wistful for a past and wishing he had done things differently. It could be hard to get him out of his moods. "What did you do to Merquise to make him capitulate like that?"
"Not much," Heero said, finishing a bite of food. "He insisted on a duel with swords, which let me know ZERO was running the show. I played along until ZERO began failing and he became more rational."
"You could tell the difference?" Hilde asked, with a laugh.
Heero smiled back. "I may miss emotional subtleties, but not irregularities in lucidity." He caught Trowa's eyes studying him. "You and Duo did the critical job. Without ZERO losing its control over their minds, I'm not sure Treize and Zechs would have been defeated."
Trowa shrugged. "It was nothing. A little showmanship."
Duo slowly straightened and even more slowly re-bent his stiff, sore knee. "Old times, old times."
"I seriously doubt that," Sally said, but left them off the hook if they didn't want to share more. "I have to say, the helicopter ride was the highlight of my day. Thank you, Howard for helping us with that. And thank you, Quatre, for lending it to the cause."
Howard bowed but said nothing as he poured himself another glass of Wufei's excellent wine.
"At your service, whenever," Quatre muttered flapping his hand around. He was trying to remain awake, fighting the painkiller's resolve to knock him out.
"Master O deserved to die for keeping that secret to the last minute—or we wouldn't have needed helicopter service," Wufei said. "Although, I might like to take it out once in awhile." He smiled, revealing a secret longing to fly again.
"I put you on the flight list when I bought it," Quatre said.
"What did you do to your leg?" Trowa asked Duo, who was rubbing it without realizing it.
"Nothing. Banged it jumping over a wall."
Trowa didn't look convinced. "You're getting soft, too."
"Well, we can't all swing from ropes to stay in shape."
"And it's a good thing. You might hang yourself," Trowa said.
"Nice picture, that is," Hilde said with a cockeyed smile. "Has anyone wondered why the police or any authorities haven't been after us?"
Quatre answered, "I won't point out how the security cameras were taken out by certain individuals possibly sitting in this room…" he paused to smile, "… but all the recordings were destroyed in the decimation of ZERO. There are no records of that day. Most of the guards that saw any of us won't have survived."
Duo piped up, "The ones that saw us would be able to describe a couple snowboarders, but not significant features or hair color—the doctors' nephews. And the two guards that Heero talked to, well, they owe him their lives."
"They were too shook up to remember what I looked like," Heero said.
"Plus, it is hard to say who will trust their memories without ZERO at the helm," Duo said.
"Yeah, I guess no one was out on the roads and who would have seen a helicopter and be able to ID it?" Hilde tried, but couldn't find a way to track the AZEROCOM attack back to them.
"We can thank the nature of ZERO mind control and its total destruction for helping hide our roles in bringing it down," Quatre summarized.
"Heh!" Heero laughed, drawing everyone's attention. "AZEROCOM's competitors have already moved in on their customers. We have connectivity back."
"I hadn't missed my phone at all." Wufei took his out and stared at it. "Of course, messages piling up," he said before putting it back in his pocket.
"Communication without the brain washing," Duo said quietly ruminating over that idea.
"Yes, it is important that AZEROCOM destroyed itself after the ZERO core failed and that has brought an end to the AZEROCOM brain washing. This objective we accomplished, though it killed the original engineers of the system." Rashid cleared his throat. "No matter what we achieved, it was a sad end to some brilliant minds. We should have a moment of silence out of respect."
Howard stood and raised his glass in tribute. "To the doctors who have joined their maker in the stars!"
Quiet fell over the room, while everyone considered his words and privately mourned the loss of the doctors to the world.
Wufei broke the silence when he stood and looked to Sally for her opinion as to what to do next.
"I'm afraid to check our business messages," she began. "Last time I did old clients were begging to know when we'd re-open and the new clients were waiting to sign up! Phenomenal! I hadn't expected so much positive response to our social media activity, but I should have."
"We'll need to hire more employees. I need to contact Meiran… so much to do," Wufei mused.
"Getting back to work." Quatre sighed and then sighed again, but he didn't move to pick up his smartphone or PDA.
Heero was busy on his device, scanning messages, answering a few.
Duo felt this sudden urge to just grab his bag of old clothes and split. He was wrestling with a huge life decision and his first reaction was to run and hide.
Run and hide…but I don't lie. What a jerk. Sure, nestled together in this insulated place has been, let's face it, terrific. A dream come true. Comfortable, good food, fun, excitement, friends. And mostly, Heero. God, Heero… This time I really care. It matters what he thinks. I am totally besotted with the guy—be real! Face it! Damn it all! Was this just a moment in time of happiness for me? Shouldn't I just leave while I still have sweet, sweet memories? Before the big rejection.
Trowa caught Duo's somber glance and shook his head. "I'm not making decisions right now."
"Oh, of course," Wufei said. "Duo, Trowa, you should both consider the suites your home for as long as you need them. Please, don't rush into moving on my account. You are no inconvenience. In fact, when we are up and running—maybe tomorrow—you should all come through and treat yourselves to the spa." And he meant it.
Rashid took his leave at that time and Hilde walked him out.
Howard also called it quits for the night, He told Duo to take some time off—he was due some vacation time—and think about what he wanted to do.
"Yeah, sure," Duo said. "Oh, one question I didn't getta chance to ask the doc's."
"I'll do my best. What is it?" Howard asked, curious.
"What does ZERO stand for?"
"Oh, well, I think its Z for Zodiac and ERO for Extremely Red Object, an astronomical source of radiation with extreme redshift. Doesn't mean anything to me, though. Later, dudes." He found his safari jacket and hat on the rack and departed.
Duo looked down as Heero looked up. That red eye of ZERO that Heero shot out was something they'd never get out of their minds.
Soon after, Trowa carried a sleeping Quatre to their side of the suite and Heero, feeling his oats, swept up Duo and carried him to their side of the suite. Hilde had acquired her own key and could find her way to her couch bed whenever.
Sally took Wufei's hand. "I think it's time to unwind, don't you think?"
The stylist to the stars squeezed the warm hand. "Yes. I'm ready."
TBC