Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam, wish I did, but I don't, oh well
The Lost Girl
Part 6
*How was I going to do this?! * my mind screamed at me constantly as I lay on my stomach just hidden behind the top of a hill overlooking the OZ compound. I had gotten to San Francisco with relatively little trouble, flying into the city and immediately heading to the streets for information.
That had not been easy - there were very few ways to find out where an OZ base was from someone who was not going to immediately report to their superior that some kid was asking questions. I'd searched the bars and finally found someone drunk enough - or maybe just stupid enough - to explain to me his theory about the warehouse down by the bay. And how he thought it was an OZ base.
That was all I'd had to go on, and upon arriving near the water I'd realized that he was right. I couldn't remember ever having known anything about OZ bases, but something about this place told me that this was it. It just didn't feel abandoned - it felt like someone *wanted* it to feel abandoned.
That, and there was the mobile suit squad that I had seen leaving the area ten minutes earlier.
But my original dilemma remained - I didn't know how to sneak into an OZ base without getting my head blown off. In fact, I didn't know how to walk into one without getting my head blown off.
What the hell was I going to do?
I fingered the gun in my belt again, reminding myself it was still there. But it didn't give me much comfort - I couldn't shoot it because I didn't ever remember having shot one before, even if I had. That and the fact that one lousy handgun was not really going to be much good to me if I had to face down a mobile suit. I would be dead, and I knew that.
But I had to find Heero, and I had to get him out of there so we could get to the rest of the pilots and get to Duo.
Duo.
No, I couldn't think about him now - the others were in just as much trouble, and I had to get at least one of them out before I could even begin to think about getting to Duo.
I had to.
I took a deep breath, and headed over the hill. The base didn't seem to be all that occupied, but I was sure that was an illusion. They would've had to take down a Gundam.
Or maybe not. Not if Heero had believed them to be allies. But would he have? I knew he was the "perfect soldier" - that piece of a memory had come back to me - and maybe he wouldn't have given in
There seemed to be no signs of a fight, I noticed, as I approached the barbed-wire fence surrounding the area. Maybe he hadn't come.
There didn't appear to be any guards around, either.
My stomach twisting, I caught sight of a spot in the fence that I was small enough to crawl through. Still no sign of guards. I took off for the spot at a dead run, crawling through it so quickly that I grazed my arm and could feel the blood begin to drip down it as I stood, head whipping back and forth, searching for someone - anyone - who'd heard or saw me.
Nothing.
This was almost too easy, I realized, as I approached the main building, hugging the shadows. It was eerily silent, and there wasn't even a tower out here. How were they supposed to guard their base? OZ couldn't possibly be that stupid.
I didn't like this, but I had come this far and I wasn't about to turn back because of possibly the best luck in the world. I found a door in the side of the building - an old door with a key lock, and no entry keypad beside it.
Could I possibly be *this* lucky?
I closed my eyes, counted to three, and opened them. I pulled down on the handle.
And the door swung open.
I was inside in a flash, closing it silently behind me. It was dim in here, all metal, looking very much like the place I'd been held in. There were no guards.
I just had to find Heero before they found me.
I began left down the hall, wondering how in the world I was going to find Heero. And how in the world I hadn't run into any guards.
Wait - there was noise from down the hall. I frantically searched for somewhere to hide - anywhere
That vent. There was an air vent of some type close to the ground on my right - I pulled at the grating, and to my immense relief it came off easily in my hands. I threw myself into the duct and pulled the grating back on as quietly as possible, sitting there not daring to do much more than breathe.
A moment later two pairs of OZ uniform boots clanked by in the hallway.
Pieces of their conversation drifted down to me as I sat there in the darkness.
" prisoner sure put up a fight once he found out "
"Yeah, good thing they're holding him in maximum security makes me feel better he's on the lower level"
Lower level. I had to get down there.
I turned around in the vent, looking down the shaft. It went straight out, and then hit a junction just at the limit of my vision. I couldn't see anything much beyond that, and the light filtering from the hall through the vent didn't shed any light beyond there.
I cursed myself for not bringing a flashlight, but began crawling as quietly as I could down the air shaft. I stopped at the edge of the light, letting my eyes adjust to the darkness before going on.
Just as I came to the edge of the junction, I heard a noise - a very soft noise, just below me.
Someone else was in these air vents, I realized, and my blood froze. Was it someone looking for me? Did they know I was in here?
Was it Heero?
I sat there, peering over the edge, trying to see where the noise was coming from. It was barely audible, and I couldn't really tell if it was getting closer or not.
Suddenly I was face to face with Heero Yuy, and it took all the control I had in my body not to jump and scream.
That would have been bad.
His face remained impassive as if he had expected me to be in there, waiting for him.
He pointed behind me, back the way I'd come.
"Out."
I turned around and headed for the grate - I could hear him behind me, making the same soft noise, just barely audible, otherwise perfectly undetectable
He really was the perfect soldier. Why had I bothered coming in to rescue him - I probably could have waited outside for him to come find me,
We reached the grate and paused; I didn't hear anything, and I turned to see his face. He nodded his approval, face still impassive if not determined. I removed the grate and we crawled out; he replaced it and I pointed down the hall.
We didn't stop running until we'd made it back to the hill. I turned and looked up at him, and froze.
"What the hell was that?!" he yelled down at me, face now twisted in anger, eyes flaring blue and I thought I would die under that gaze
"That f**king traitor. And why are you here?!"
"He's not a traitor!" I yelled up into his face, my arms spread wide in exasperation now. I could feel the tears trying to well up in my eyes, but I was not going to cry in front of him now. "He was drugged and in pain and they were going to kill me or him or someone if he didn't send that message!"
"Then he should have died," Heero said coldly, softly, still looking down at me with that piercing blue gaze - one so different from the one he'd fixed on me that first morning that I wasn't sure if this was even the same person.
"He would have! I know he would have rather died!" I screamed at him; the world was getting fuzzy around the edges, distorted through the tears that I was not going to cry.
"Then why didn't he?"
"They they were going to kill me" I said through the tears that were now falling, silently, chilling my face as their trails coated my cheeks. "Then they were going to kill him. He's he's probably already dead. I I would have rather died"
Heero blinked, but his expression did not change, and neither did his gaze.
I swallowed, blinking, trying to make the silent tears stop.
"But he's your friend," I whispered. "He was forced to send that message, and now he's in trouble. We need to save everyone, and we need to save him."
"No, we don't."
"Fine," I said, cold fire burning my voice, staring up at his face. I could feel our glares lock and clash, but I wasn't about to back down now.
"I need to save him," I said softly, the tears finally slowing to a stop. "This is my fault, and if you want to kill me after all of this then I'm going to be the first one to beg you to do it. He gave in because they were going to kill me if he didn't, and I'm not worth all of you. I know that. But he gave in."
He was silent, looking at me.
"Will you help me? Please?"
"I need to get my Gundam back. Then we can talk."
I practically melted with relief. "Oh, Heero thank you. Thank you."
He turned back towards the base, and I knew it was better to let him go alone. I would be in the way - he knew what he was doing.
Then I thought of something. "Heero! Wait!"
He stopped and turned. I pulled the gun out, tossing first it and then the two clips to him. He caught them all perfectly as they arced toward him through the air.
Then he turned and was gone over the hill.
* * *
I sat there, waiting for him, staring up at the clear night sky as the starts twinkled into existence. I knew the names of the constellations - could name Orion, and Pegasus, and Cygnus.
So why couldn't I remember my past? The knowledge that it was all somewhere, hiding from me, had plagued me since I'd first woken up, first seen that braided boy who'd given me the water and sat me down, asking me if I was all right. I had friends, I was told; I was a mechanic and they were pilots. I had a relationship, or at least what could be loosely termed as one.
Why couldn't I remember it? The ghosts of the knowledge that had inhabited my mind for the briefest instant when I'd been shocked back at that base kept whispering at me, haunting my mind with dim recollections of things I had once known. Things I didn't even know I knew.
I didn't know if I knew how to fire a gun, or even where the light switch had been in my own bathroom. Well - it was Duo's bathroom, really, but I had a feeling it had been my own as well for some months.
Duo.
No. I shook my head, as if that would clear his name from the forefront of my mind, make the image of his face contorted in pain disappear from behind my eyelids each time I blinked. It didn't work, just as I knew it wouldn't.
And where was Heero? I checked my watch - he'd been gone for half an hour, and there had been neither a sign of him nor any sound whatsoever from the building. Was he all right? Had he gotten captured again? Wouldn't he have at least fired his gun if there had been a fight?
I didn't like waiting. I wanted him to come back, and I wanted him to help me find Duo. I wanted him to help me free the others, to help me right this wrong that had happened all because of me. Because there was no doubt in my mind that this was all my fault, and I was the one who had to fix it. But I did need help, and I needed Heero to come back so we could get out of here.
BOOM!
There was a violent explosion, and I was knocked on my back. I blinked, staring up at the sky for a moment, trying to grasp what had just happened.
Gunfire - I could hear gunfire now.
Heero.
I leapt up, scanning the area for the source of the explosion, for Heero's Wing Zero, for anything. The western side of the building - the farthest side form me - was lit with an orange glow. That must be where that explosion came from.
So where was Heero?
The gunfire continued, getting closer. I didn't know what to do - if I should run, or stay here until Heero showed up. *Would* Heero show up, my mind screamed at me over the din. He hated me now, and he hated Duo now. We were the reason he'd been captured. We -
"ALISON!"
I turned, startled, to see the Wing Zero standing behind me. I shuddered involuntarily, standing at the feet of the huge machine that I hadn't even heard coming.
The gunfire was getting closer.
The front panel leading to the cockpit opened just as the suit reached down and swept me off my feet into its hand. I blinked, dazed, rising fast until I was level with the cockpit. Heero stared at me from his seat, cold blue gaze just as harsh as it had been half an hour ago when he'd left to retrieve his suit.
"In," he said shortly, dumping me into the cockpit, the panel sliding shut behind me seconds later. Immediately the suit rose off the air, and took off into the night; I was still sprawled at his feet, but he took no notice of me, face hard as stone as he watched the radar.
"They're following us. How do they know where I'm going?" he muttered angrily to himself, then executed a maneuver that I couldn't follow, but that definitely made me want to lose my lunch.
With some effort, I managed not to get sick in Heero's cockpit. I was pretty sure he wouldn't have taken that too kindly.
"They're *still* following me," he growled as the miles sped by on his screen, which I could just read from my position on the floor. "How are they - *you*!" he yelled, staring down at me with a look that, if it wasn't meant to kill, it was definitely meant to maim for life.
"What?!" I asked desperately, gazing up at him, hoping he wasn't about to kill me, because it sure looked that way.
"They're tracking you!" he yelled, and I froze.
The doctor. What had he done? Had he put a tracking device
"You" he muttered, but a nearby explosion rocked the suit, and a panel began beeping and flashing red.
I craned my neck - it was the servo connecting the right leg to the rest of the suit. He wouldn't be able to fight on land now - we'd have to stay in the air.
Well, he'd have to stay in the air. At this moment I did not completely disbelieve that he would very likely just jettison me and let me fall to my death.
"Shit. I'm just gonna have to get rid of them," he growled, and the suit's flight suddenly halted and I was slammed into a side panel as he whipped the suit around.
"OW!" I yelled, not meaning to, but I had hit that bruise, and I could feel my eyes stinging.
If he even heard me, he made no indication that he had. He began warming up his cannon, and after ten minutes of hanging in the same spot in the sky, the gunfire and explosions had stopped, and his radar was no longer beeping.
The suit descended so rapidly that I felt like I was falling, and probably would've hit the top of the cockpit if I hadn't grabbed onto one of the chair supports. We landed with a thud and the cockpit hatch slid open.
And Heero kicked me out.
I vaguely remember falling, and even more vaguely remember hitting the ground. It was cold, and damp, and covered in grass that tickled the side of my face, although I couldn't get up. I could barely feel any part of my body, except to tell that everything hurt. A lot. I managed to somehow roll on my back just in time to see Heero hop gracefully out of the cockpit and land on his feet before me, pointing the very gun I had tossed him at my head.
His eyes were inhuman, and I was going to die.
"You. Traitor. You and Maxwell both. I'm going to kill you."
"" I managed to get out, coughing violently as I did so, and part of the world went black for a second.
When my vision returned he was kneeling beside me, the muzzle of the gun pressed firmly against my heart.
Right in the middle of my chest, where my heart really was. He was no fool - not in the head, not to die that quickly, but straight into the heart so I had at least a minute more of consciousness as the cold lead stopped the muscle from pumping.
"Traitor," he spat again, and I would've given anything to escape that gaze, that voice.
"I'm not"
"How else did they follow me unless they were tracking you? How'd you get in there so easily in the first place? It was crawling with guards when I went in. Why'd Maxwell tell me to go there in the first place? Traitor," he repeated.
"He was drugged!" I cried as loudly as I could, mustering what strength I could. If this was going to be my last breath, I was going to make it count. "I saw them do it! They operated on me and then they drugged him and said they would kill me and then him if he didn't send that message!"
I stopped, panting, but the expression in his eyes didn't change a bit.
"I'm not a traitor," I said, more softly this time, barely a whisper but I knew he could hear me. "And neither is Duo. He he wouldn't let them kill me, Heero. I wanted them to. So he wouldn't give in. But he wouldn't let them Heero, please.
"Listen to me," I panted. "Heero, listen. Duo is no traitor. Kill me, I'm the reason you got caught. He's not. He's *not*. I'm sorry."
The gun was pressing into my chest so hard that I could barely breathe; I could barely feel anything anyway, not even the pain seemed so bad now..
All I could feel was Heero's icy glare, pinning me down more firmly than the gun, killing me slowly from the inside out
"I'm going to take you to Relena," he said softly, in a monotone that very nearly convinced me, if nothing had before, that he just wasn't human, "and you're going to speak with her. Then I'm going to speak with her. If she believes you, I might not kill you."
The force of the gun was gone. He grabbed me and slung me over his shoulder, walking quickly back over to his Gundam and grabbing the rope that he'd thrown down from the cockpit.
I was very numb at this point - there was a kind of dull pain radiating from my body, but nothing more than that. I was as good as a rag doll, draped over his shoulder as he climbed hand over hand back up into the cockpit; we swayed slightly from side to side, but he just kept climbing and I watched the ground grow farther and farther away as we swung up to the open compartment.
I had to admit, somewhere in my clouded mind, I was impressed beyond belief. At
least, the part that wasn't scared to death was impressed.
He reached the cockpit and slid me off his shoulder onto the floor of the small space so that I had a rather good view of absolutely nothing but his orange sneakers as he sat down, sliding the outside panel closed and activating the Wing Zero's flight systems. We lifted off the ground, and he set us on our way.
AN: Parts may be coming out more slowly soon Seeing as I have to share Duo with a certain someone so I can't have him all the time to write about That, and I have to go do my laundry tonight! ;O