Chapter Two: "The Message, the Mission, and the Messhall"
An annoying beeping penetrated Allie's dreamless sleep without mercy, and she slit her eyes open. She lay on her side, her favorite pistol cradled against her cheek.
"Shut the fuck up!" Mumbled Allie harshly, just before she shot the alrm clock in its face. Her eyes drifted shut as she begged for the return of merciful sleep.
"Fuck!" she screamed suddenly, shooting out of bed like a spooked rabbit and stumbling to the door. She flung open the door at the same instant as Steci, leaning out.
"The message!" they screamed in unison.
"Morning, girls," Milliyardo said; he sat lounging in a chair, his platinum blonde hair pulled over one shoulder.
Steci screamed wordlessly, and Allie let out a prolonged "Shit!" and both girls spun back into their rooms and slammed their doors behind them. Moments passed, and Milliyardo calmly took a slow sip from his (expensive) pure spring water bottle. The doors opened and both girls exited, forgetting their earlier humiliation.
"So, Milli," Allie said slowly. "What brings you here?"
"The message." He told them plainly.
"Aw.. But to have the man deliver it himself.." Beside Allie, Steci stood with her hand on her hip, sarcasm dripping from every word. "What an honor.."
"Yes, well." He shot both girls looks, and started off as if they hadn't been rude at all. It was their way, and he was well used to it by now. "To begin, a new uprising, possibly rebellion has begun to form. The source is located on LS, section C, structure 4654. I need you to eliminate it before it becomes a problem."
"And by what means?" smirked Allie.
"Any means necessary?" Steci asked, her eyes wide in anticipation.
"Yes. You will be transported at 0100 hours, civilian methods." He pulled two shuttle tickets out of his pocket, handing them to Steci. "Here."
She took them with a sweet smile, the tickets disappearing into the pocket of her jeans. Leaning back in his chair, Milliyardo looked carefully at the girls. Both folded their arms, eyebrows quirked, and waited for further instructions.
"That all?" Asked Steci finally.
-
"Well, if I added anything else, you'd ignore it." He shrugged, and Allie's smirk widened.
"Hell yeah."
"I'm not stupid, you know. I have learned a few things in our time...working together."
Rolling her eyes, Steci nudged Allie beside her, and the two shared a look at his tone.
"We'll get it done, Millie." Allie told him in a obviously falsely sweet tone, turning on cue with Steci to disappear, each into their rooms.
Milliyardo, alone again in the hall, snorted in annoyance and stood. Folding his chair and carrying it in the arm opposite from the one holding his water, he left.
*****
Digging through their rooms, the girls gathered all that they would need for their latest objective. They worked, each of them, in silence, managing to fit everything they needed in highly decorated, highly ordinary back-packs. It really was amazing how many times authorities could believe that a pair of giggling girls had "gotten lost." Young generation clothes enhanced this performance, every accessory carefully thought out (or, at least, that was supposed to be the way they did things). They met in the hall, opening their doors at the same time with grateful thanks to long practive. Waiting was hell, and neither girl could stand a single second more than they had to. The two strode through the empty hallway, Steci happily devouring an ice cream Snickers bar as Allie gulped at a grape soda.
"Gah, you love those things, don't you?" Asked the brunette, shaking her head; she'd pulled her hair into a pigtail to one side only, and it felt funny, even if it was cute and made her look innocent enough to fool anyone who didn't know her and quite a few who did.
"Murrgumph..!" ..and the reply again, after a swallow: "Mm-hm! And you love your 'coke,' right?"
"Hell yeah!" Allie drank again, grinning as they tread once more over the long familar banter. Snicker bars were Steci's addiction as coke was Allie's, both claimed that they could not live through the day without them. Feeling far more alert than the morning had first discovered them, their steps held a little bounce as they went along, given by sugar and the thoughts of today's business.
*****
An hour later they were settled in the shuttle, legs propped up on their bags as they waited for the shuttle to take off. It wasn't very crowded, the plushie seats mostly empty. Steci had snitched the window seat, Allie on her other side, an empty seat beside her. They were chatting animatedly (well, at least as animated as these two ever got), not really looking at each other.
"I tell you, the man is an absolute hentai!" Insisted Steci with some feeling.
Allie rose an eyebrwo over rose colored glasses, "I wouldn't go so far. It's not Milli's fault he's related to Relina." She pluched at her rose colored spagehetti strap underneath her jean jacket, and Steci grinned, blue eyes sparkling.
"Aye, bad genes!" The blonde laughed softly, cutting it off after a moment, eyes widening as she spotted the gun under Allie's coat. "Allie, for shame!"
"Nani?"
"You should have better self control!" Steci motioned to the brunette's jacket and the weapon hidden within.
"Oh, sorry! It's just that I feel so violated without my baby!" She said, patting the covered pistol fondly.
Steci scowled, shaking her head. But it's so freakin' obvious.. "You're too careless, A-chan. That's going to trip you up, one of these days.."
*****
"Welcome to Colony L5..." The captain's voice said, over the intercom, waking the girls from their dozing state.
"Welcome, my ass." Grumbled Allie as she stretched her arms over her head.
Bobbing her head in agreement, Steci yanked her bag off the floor, throwing it over one shoulder while expertly tossing her head to fling her pigtails out of the way, barely missing smacking one of the other passengers with the thick braids. The man glared at her, and Allie snorted in amusement.
"Why don't you just cut it? Your hair is forever getting in the way, baka!"
"It's not that much trouble, " Steci protested, dodging a toddler who was insistent on playing "Boy Tarzan" with the two golden ropes, causing Allie to snicker. Sniffing a bit, Steci lead the way off of the shuttle and into colony L5.
The first thing they did after exiting the shuttle and boarding area was to make their way through the press of people to a rest room. With quick efficeincey, they each stepped into a stall, locked the doors, and threw their bags on the floor in unison. They zipped open the bags and pulled out the bundles on the top, placed specifically there for this moment. The same quick effiency followed them as they changed into the navy blue military oufits, stuffed their other clothes into the bags, zipped them, and stepped out of the stalls at the same moment.
Their faces already wore the impassive masks of the devoted soldiers they used as their cover, and Allie slipped her gun into her pocket as Steci unbraided her hair and twisted it into a tight bun. Despite their masks, Steci's tone betrayed her amusement as she spoke.
"One would think that we had done this sort of thing before."
"What sort of thing?" Allie asked with feigned innocence. "We are nothing but soldiers, sworn to our brave and noble cause!"
"Your acting has improved." Said Steci in approval of Allie's "starry-eyed-green-rookie" tone, and Allie pulled her cap on, tilting it to one side, hair hanging smooth against her neck.
"Thanks, I've been practicing." She hitched her bag over one shoulder and made her way out of the bathroom, Steci not far behind, digging in her pockets for a small piece of paper.
"Our vehicle is in the parking garage, the note says 'Let A drive.'"
"So, it's time for code names?"
"It appears so," Steci said thoughtfully.
"Well, I don't want a name, so it's AJ."
Steci nodded and produced a hand held computer and imported the name.
"AJ Okashii." She said, looking up. "Is that satisfactory?"
"Hn." She answered.
Her partner was quiet for a moment, thinking. Hm. I'll just input the initial for now, as well.
"K. K Enjeru."
"Very good, K-chan, eh? Nice." Said Allie without looking back as the pair stepped into the elevator. The only other occupant was an older man, and Allie's hand fluttered to her pistol, but she withheld the urge to use it.
"A-chan.." Steci hissed when she saw where her friend's hand had gone, then said in a tone just as quiet but more commanding: "Wait!"
Not looking at her, Allie simply snarled and refused to remove her hand. The floresecent light reflected off of Allie's sky colored glasses, hiding her eyes from view, and when the doors opened, she followed Steci out. Steci lead the way to the spot, groaning when she saw what the vehical was.
Milliyardo.. I'll get you for this...
Even behind her sunglasses, Steci could see the wild eagerness in her friend's eyes, and the blonde shook her head in dismay. There in the spot was a shiny black Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle, silver spokes gleaming in the dim light.
"Oh yeah, baby.." Cooed Allie as she stroked the black leather seats affectionately, causing Steci to frown.
"Yep. No one will notice us now.." She watched as Allie retrieved a helmet from one of the side bags and put it on.
"Oh, please, S! Get over it." She tossed the extra helmet at the blonde and stuffed her bag into the bike pouch. "You can wear your bag."
Steci nodded and pulled on her helmet with reluctance. Steci nodded and pulled on her helmet, seating herself behind her trigger happy, and now motorcycle happy, friend. As soon as she could tell Steci was ready, Allie reeved the bike and skidded out of the spot, popping a wheelie as she went.
"AAAAH!!!" screamed Steci at the top of her lungs as she clutched Allie's navy shirt for dear life.
"WAAHOO!!" Allie whooped, her heart beating faster and her blood hot.
*****
"I am never riding one of those things ever again.." vowed Steci, standing on shaky legs as she yanked off her helmet. I miss my truck..
Allie, predictably, said nothing, and as Steci rid herself of her headache, she fingered her pistol impatiently.
*****
Duo twisted his cap in his hands, thinking. He had done well rebuilding that mecha for the new organization. He had a smudge of oil across his nose that he didn't realize was there, and stains of the same on his loose gray body suit that he just plain ignored.
"So, AJ, what.." He heard a voice say, and turned to see a blonde girl, talking to a taller brunette girl with blue sunglasses. As if his look had alerted her, the brunette turned her head, and he froze as her eyes met his, her sunglasses slipping to the end of her nose.
Holy shit, Duo thought, looking at her eyes.
*****
"What?" Steci followed her friend's gaze with a bit of a frown. No way..
There, not ten feet away, was a young man with a four foot braid.. Swiftly, Steci whipped out her pocket computer, checking the data.
I was right. Leaning toward Allie, she whispered quietly. "It must be Maxwell." She watched as Allie's hand strayed to her pistol, knew she must be thinking of the reputation of one of the famous five fighters, knew also her wish to fight them, among other things. She grabbed Allie's wrist, whispering harshly. "Don't."
Allie broke her gaze away from Duo's wide violet eyes, and looked at Steci's face. She nodded... hesitantly. For now. But later.. Frowning slightly, she glanced back to where Duo had been moments before, but no longer.
"Where is he..?" she looked around with hidden urgency, then turned to Steci when the blonde pulled at her sleeve.
"It doesn't matter. We have our mission, and as long as they don't get in the way, we will leave them alone. Remember, Zero..." 'Zero' was, perhaps, the only one they truly respected, and the mention of him did what Steci had intended it to - bring Allie to her senses.
"Hn." She nodded in agreement, letting Steci lead her to their room, where they tossed the bags down and updated their files. The room was mid-sized, with two single beds with white sheets and two desks, these being the only furnishings. Both girls frowned at the beds, wishing that they had their own rooms, though neither would verbly admit it.
"I need a coke."
"Snickers bar..." Moaned Steci. She looked around the room again and wrinkled her nose in distatse, then looked down at her stomach, which was making a whipering noise in helpless hunger.
"Let's go 'investigate' the mess hall." she suggested.
"Yeah, and if they don't have what we want, then we can blow 'em up!" Allie quipped, but something about the way she gestured with her gun suggested that the comment wasn't entirely meant as a joke. Laughter rang out in the sparse and lonely room, matching glints in both girl's eyes, glitters of malice that bore ill to those that they had been ordered to destroy.
*****
Heero was not a happy man. The story of Relina's death and the files he had found afterward bothered him; they told that someone knew about him and had preformed the kill specifically for him. Not only that, but they had known him well enough to know which files he would be able to hack into and what method he would use to do so. It was more than one person, at least, most likely just two, although it could be any number, even a large group.
'Love - A&S.' The phrase seemed to repeat over and over in his brain, bewildering and frustrating him.
A and S. Simply that and nothing more. What were those initials for? Why had they done what they did? He presumed that the two had been Relina's killers, but they could also have been someone who wanted to lead him to the killer. There were too many possibilities, no way that he could ever guess.
What angered him most was not the questions themselves, but the fact that there was no way he could find the murder, or muderers, unless he asked for help. Sure, he could go to the scene of the crime, but he was a fighter, not an investigative detective. He actually had tried to hack back into the file again later (After he had thrown a med-kit at Wufei and gotten over the rage and shock), but had not been able to reach it. Not only that, when he'd attempted to track it, there had been no traces. Nothing.
If the great Heero Yuy could ever have worried, now would have been the time. To get to that file, one would need more hacking talent then he currently posessed; and the one person that pointed to at the moment was one of the ones he would never admit to needing help: Wufei.
No matter what happened, Heero knew that his pride would never allow him to show weakness to the other pilots, and especially not Wufei. Which meant, basically, that he was stuck. Very, very stuck.
"Yuy." Wufei's voice broke through Heero's reviere, and he looked up across the table.
"Hn?"
The two had claimed a table in the cafeteria, a round metallic affair held up by a middle pole, bolted to the floor. Bright florescent lights shone from the high ceiling of the room, illuminating the hundred or so tables scattered beneath them.
"You still brooding about The Bitch being asassinated, or are you thinking about that file?" the Chinese man asked.
"Mn." Heero frowned. They sat across from each other, occupying two of the four chairs that sat at each of the tables; both wore the false military uniforms they had stolen a day or so earlier when Duo had called, asking if they wanted to visit. The dark blue uniforms were fairly tight, escalating Heero's irritation and making him long for his familar loose tank and baggy pants.
"You-" began Wufei, but he stopped short and frowned, focusing on a point somewhere past Heero's shoulder. The other man turned, following gaze to where two people had just entered.
It was two young ladies in the selfsame uniform Heero and Wufei had stolen and was also worn by the others in the cafeteria, but even with the apathy posessed by Heero and Wufei, both men had to admit to themselves, that those two wore it better than any other in the room. The navy material was as tight as it was on the guys, providing the interested young men with a nice veiw of slim bodies and curves.
One was slightly shorter than the other, her hands folded behind her back, whisps of fair colored hair sticking out from beneath her cap and tucked behind her head in a bun. Violet eyes flickered quickly across the mess hall, landing on them. She nudged her taller partner, and the focus of their gaze shifted to her.
She was perhaps a good three inches taller, with shoulder length (slightly messy) brown hair, scattered with blonde highlights. The highlights were something of an oddity; hair dying was rather popular, but this was somewhat new. Blue eyes peeked out over opalescent sunglasses perched on the tip of her nose, looking over at them with cool disinterest. Turning thier heads to each other, the two girls conffered in a silent collquy before turning back to the room, false smiles plastered on their faces. Anyone else would have been fooled by their acting; Heero even reflected that they were pretty good, likely higher class spies or infiltrators.
Infiltrators! The thought jolted in Heero's mind, stopping him short. Were these two good enough to be the mysterious "A and S?" The same idea must have occured to Wufei, because he looked over at Heero quickly. However, Wufei shook his head with a tiny frown, black hair brushing lightly across his forehead.
It couldn't be them. The odds against it are far to great. No, it couldn't be them. Thought Wufei, looking back at the girls as Heero stayed silent, thinking as well.
..and we don't even know if they are girls! It's not them. Then again, no self-respecting man would have signed that "love." All right, maybe Quatre. But not as a message to me! Heero supressed a shudder at the thought, then snapped back to reality as the two girls started to walk towards them, head predictably turning to watch them pass.
*****
The door slid open, revealing the mess hall to Allie and Steci in all its sparsely decorated glory. They stood for a moment just inside the entrance, as if to choose a place to sit.
Dingdingdingding! Internal alarms went off in Steci's head as her eyes latched on to a pair of young men clad in the same uniforms she and Allie were, sitting at a table.
Bingbingbingbing! A nearly identical alarm went off in Allie's mind as Steci nudged her, their attention focusing on the main point of interesting in the room. (( AN: *both authors hyperventilate, mostly Allie* Ooooh.. *_* -*_*- ))
Breathe..breathe.. Steci thought, then leaned over to say something quietly to Allie.
"Two chairs empty... I know where I want to sit.. How about you?"
"Hell yeah!" she muttered back, looking over her sunglasses at the two. Four pairs of eyes locked across the room, and silvence reigned as the two women eagerly made their way over to the empty seats. They gifted the seated men with their most charming smiles, far more genuine than their previous ones had been.
"I don't suppose you would mind, kind-" and handsome "-sirs, if we shared your table?" purred the blonde, violet eyes sparkling.
The two looked at the girls, then at each other.
"Hn," was their coordinated reply, drawing laughter from the standing pair. One laugh rose quite high, tinkling like a bell, light; the other not quite as high, a shadow; strong.
"I'll take that as a yes, then." Allie grinned, plopping down casually as Steci took her seat slightly more carefully across from her. The two waited in silence for the boys to say something, looking at them as they did.
On Allie's right sat a Japanese man an inch or two taller than she; his brown hair jutted out in as many odd angles as her own, endearing him to her immediately. Deep blue eyes stared at her, and she imagined, she thought, a frown bearing down the edges of his lips. She studied him even as he did her, kicking her legs out beneath the table and leaning back in an unconcious mimic of his own position.
While Allie may not have noticed, the brunette crossing her arms and looking at Heero intently, Steci certainly did. Her eyes shone with quiet amusement; the two seemed to share a strong mutual attraction.
Ha! She thought. Ha, ha! The iceberg has thawed, the bird has landed, and other such phrases of victory! Al-lie's in looove! Turning her attention, then, away from her friend, she looked instead to the man that sat at her own right. He was silent, she saw, it seemed they had a long wait before them if they wanted either man to speak first. But that doesn't really matter. I'm not on full-flirt mode yet..hehe..jus' lookin'. Only long years of practice held back Steci's grin as she studied the slim and wiry Chinese man. His hair was down in that oh-so-entrancing messy-but-not style, bangs framing his face. Black eyes looked at her with great pride as he sat with his feet propped up on the table and his hands behind his head; she gussed that the stunning Aisian man was a fighter, knowledge that thrilled her mind and eyes as they glanced over him.
But despite his attractive physque, something halted her. Maybe it was the nearly sullen look in his eyes, or perhaps just his 'stately' demenor... but she didn't think that she liked this man. Thoughtfully, she put her hands behind her head and propped her feet up on the table.
Across from her, Allie chuckled softly and she looked up in puzzlement, about to lash out with a snapping remark, but was deterred from her revenge by the arrival of a giggling waitress in what was obviously a cadet uniform, one of muted grays.
"Can I take your order?" the pink haired girl chirped.
"Why didn't you come before?" One of the boys asked with a bit of a glare.
"You seemed to be waiting for them.." the girl gulped, flicking her fingers at Allie and Steci.
"Of course they were, dear." Allie smirked at her as a reassurance; one's food never did well when one frightened the servers and cooks. The waitress brightened, giggling again as she held out the customary pad and pen.
"May I take your order now, then?"
Steci ordered quickly, knowing without question what her friend would want.
"Two pizzas, an orange soda, a root beer, and a Snickers ice cream bar."
Okay.." looking bemused, the pink-haired girl bobbed her head and scratched something down on her note pad. She took the other's orders with little fuss, then made ready to leave.
"Thank you," The brown-haired man said tightly, more of an admonishment to leave than an expression of gratitude.
"Oh, of course! I hope you two have fun with your girlfriends.. Oh, it's such a shame that the cameras in the leasure section of area three-four are broken and the maintenence folk don't know." So saying, she winked and made no move to leave, as if waiting for thanks for her tidbit of knowledge.
Steci turned a bright red at this bit of advice; Allie looked ready to burst into laughter, while both men just looked annoyed.
"Thank. You. Now...leave!" Black eyes glaring, the second man's thanks were no more thankful then the first's, the cold and commanding tone sending the waitress scurrying away in a huff.
"Thank God she's gone.." muttered Steci in a rare burst of temper, glancing around at the others at the table.
Okay.. I really don't like this guy. The thought was directed at the slight arching of one eyebrow over a coal black eye. ..hot as he is..
"So.." She spoke up again, deeming herself the most likely to talk among this frustratingly silent group.
"..are you boys going to tell us your names?" Allie took over cooly, having reached the same conclusion that Steci had: You can't flirt if you aren't talking!
"Ein," said one, the cold blue-eyed man Allie had had her eyes on.
"C'per," said the other shortly, as if he had only just barely deemed them worthy of knowing his name.
"Yours?" asked Ein with a slight, almost suspicious curve of one eyebrow.
"AJ." Allie told them simply, no inflection marring her voice. "AJ Okashii." Ein's eyebrow's shot up, as did C'per's, and the two seemed to look at the young women in a new light.
"K Enjeru." Like Allie before her, the obvious separation of the monosybillic first 'name' and the symbolic last name chided C'per and Ein subtlely for not giving more than just their first. The scold passed by unnoticed; both had turned the stunned looks in their eyes into frowns.
*****
Not S, eh? Wufei thought to himself.
"K and AJ.." he said aloud. "Interesting names."
"The same could be said of yours," AJ retaliated, sounding almost bored.
"They stand for anything?" asked Heero, and in reply, both girls shrugged.
"No more, I am sure, than yours." commented K dryly.
"They aren't your real names," Heero said, then, the statement just that - a statement, no questioning tone about it.
"Ah," K said, not seeming surprised in the least. "And do either of you claim the truth of bearing the names of your birth? I think not."
Point to K, thought Heero grudgingly, and a tense silence fell, the kind present only in the calm before a battle, found no where but in the middle, or beginning, of a war.