I wasn't sure of how much time passed: Hours, minutes. Who knows.
God knew I didn't. What do you expect? I totally felt like shit.
I could still hear the loud crashing around me. It was so close, it
almost shocked me of how I was still alive. With how frantic it was
earlier, I should have been trampled. I left that question to ponder
about later when I remembered Quatre. He might have been knocked out or
worse. My spine was aching and I could feel a whole mess of bruises all
over my body. Quatre was a little bit more easy to injury than I was,
considering the many times I have been beat up before.
Ugh. Yes… many many times…Let's just leave it at that.
I quickly got to my feet as best I could. I spotted Quatre in the
middle of the road not too far away from me. I nearly crawled over to
him, but I got there nonetheless. I gave a quick scan for any injuries.
There was nothing serious that I could see.
Grabbing his collar with my good arm, the one that wasn't cut, I
slowly dragged him towards the sidewalk. It would be a hazard to be
lying in the middle of a clearing like that so near a battle.
Then
again, standing under a building wasn't really a good idea either. If
a mobile suit happened to come by and knock it, you'd get the works of
flying rubble and debris over the head.
"Hey Quatre, buddy…" I slapped his cheeks lightly,
coaxing him into wakefulness. It took him only a few seconds before his
eyes finally opened. He moaned and rolled over on to his side.
He was clutching his left arm tightly.
"Crap. Quatre. Let me see your arm." I guess I had missed
that when I had scanned for any wounds. I didn't know how, though. I
must have been the fact that I felt like a rag doll by then.
"Not just my arm..my leg." He used his other arm to
push off his cracked helmet. He must have hit the ground face first
because the front was shattered. There was a sliver of blood running
down his cheek. A broken piece of the visor on his helmet had probably
cut it. He looked horrible.
Then again, I bet if I had looked in the mirror, I would have realized I looked
even worse than Quatre. Scrapes all down my face, forehead bleeding,
bruises and such everywhere. I think I had a black eye, too. Everything
was aching and it hurt like hell.
"Damn, Quatre. You need help. Just how many limbs have you
managed to massacre??" I said. He blinked at me.
"Very funny, Duo. Very funny." He said, his voice a little
raspy. He struggled to his feet, but only managed to half push himself
up from the ground. He had to have some of my help to fully stand. That
wasn't very easy either because I could barely stand, myself.
"I can't believe you messed up that outfit…" I said,
trying to lighten the mood. He didn't seem to hear my comment. I
internally shrugged.
We both looked around for a way out. I was hoping to catch a glimpse
of one of the pilots, but they were nowhere in sight. Heero left long
ago to take care of Relena. The only person I
saw for quite a distance was a dead civilian.
I felt low. Dammit. More casualties
were coming in the future, I knew it. People should've have to die. If
anyone had to, I would want it to be me.
But what about Hilde? Would she even care?
Well-uh- of course she would! She's my friend... Erm... I dunno... I
knew she would care but, would it... I mean... Would she.... Would it
mean anything to... damn...
...Hilde...
"DUO!" Quatre yelled. I turned to him questioningly
for breaking my train of thought. My question was answered when a shadow
came over the two of us, blocking the sun from out view. I finally
registered that the shadow was a Serpent. Then my eyes widened as I
realized it was falling backwards- toward us. It was going to crush us under it as
it hit the ground.
"SHIT!" I cried. "No matter where we run, we won't
be able to get out of the way." A pain shot through my leg, zapping
me of half my strength. I fell to one knee and Quatre went down with me.
"Duo?"
"Yeah?" He hesitated before saying,
"We're not going to make it this time, are we?"
"..."
For some reason, I guess I wasn't really afraid I was going
to die. I seemed to be a little sad actually. In fact specific thoughts
were running through my mind. The
only one I can remember thinking was what I would say to Hilde if I had
found her before I-
********
Another Serpent went down. They were all the
same: Each one had
no chance, once pitched against my Gundam. It was so sure that we would
claim a victory today.
Then why were we falling back? Our reinforcements had already come
in, so I thought that maybe we would finish up this stupid battle and
go back home. I mean, home as in the facility. I was dead tired so maybe
I had a little more motivation to fight than I usually had. But
that still didn't change the fact that we were still losing.
And that's when something inside of me started screaming. Crying
out for something. I didn't know what it was crying for, but I knew it
was important to me. I blinked.
With a jab of my mech's fist, I finished off another Serpent.
A loud creak in the joint of my Gundam reminded me just how much it needed
repairs. Its
name, I learned, was Stormstriker. And it's system....
It was interesting, because the
MindShift System made me feel so much like a machine. No wonder all my
emotions were gone. The MindShift system had gathered them and had
turned it into poise, judgement, anger and basically made me a…
Perfect Soldier, you could say.
I nearly laughed as an image of Heero popped
inside my head.
My thoughts were interrupted as the intercom went on and a picture of
Fay inside of her own Gundam came up on my screen. She looked stressed
and she sounded exasperated.
"Hilde, what the hell are you doing??" she hissed. "I
said fall back! Retreat, you idiot! The battle is lost. What do you
think Rolin would say?" I didn't flinch when another picture of
someone came up on the screen beside Fay's. It was Rolin.
"Rolin… would probably say for you two to stop
bickering and start running for your lives!"
"Hey, where are you, Rolin? Where have you been!?"
Fay screamed. Rolin sighed. "I've been worried to death about you
this whole time and suddenly, you decide to show your face once we're dying and retreating!?"
"Fay calm down. I tried to
contact you guys as soon as I could. I'm not even in my mobile suit. I'm at the nearest vid-phone. Luckily I stole the conversion
program from Lady Une that lets me tap into the mobile suit com channel. Now you two, listen to me… Stop fighting and
meet our team at the arranged rendezvous point."
"Rolin! We can't. It's swarming with serpents. The reason we're
running is because our whole team is dead! The rally point is
gone too. Rolin, we had no idea there was going to be so many! Me and
Missy are fighting for our lives."
"That's Schbieker. Not
Missy." I said flatly. I just didn't care. I couldn't feel anything. All my emotions
were just gone, like that.
My arm jerked on its own and I pushed forward the throttle. Rolin and
Fay began to yell at me, but I simply ignored them and blocked out their
voices. Before long, they faded away from my consciousness.
Someone was calling me. My instincts were telling me
where to go. I could see... everything. It was almost like those little
things Heero had told us about when he tried to describe piloting the
Zero.
But of course- I knew the Zero system was
much stronger than the Mindshift.
I ended up zigzagging throughout the skyscrapers, not really
knowing where I was going.
I stopped in front of an empty and
deserted street where there was a Serpent. It was damaged and on the
verge of exploding. A pilot jumped out and abandoned it and he ran off abruptly as the
mobile suit began to topple backward. My eyes shot
toward the ground where two figures stood frozen under its shadow.
I suddenly had a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that they
meant a lot to me.
My Gundam gradually sped up. I wasn't fast
enough to stop it from falling… I had to jump for it. I flipped on the
thrusters and I threw myself forward. I skid to a stop under the
Serpent, my Gundam on its hands and knees above the two civilians.
Then, that was when the Serpent fell onto my back. A wave of pain
washed over me.
A slow shock sunk in. I was feeling so much pain.
Hey! Hold on a second!!!-Since when did the
pilot feel what the mobile suit was experiencing? Was I supposed to feel
anything at all? Something wasn't right! Not like things were ever
really going right since the beginning... but this was dead wrong.
I was the only thing between the two of them and the Serpent. I
cursed the two civilians under my breath for not fleeing when the battle
had started in the first place. Who would have been stupid enough to
stay in the area??
I saw the two scramble, or at least scramble as best they could, out
of the way of danger. I smiled and proceeded to push the Serpent off my
back.
I had a little difficulty the first try, so I shrugged
off some of my worried thoughts and tried
again. I pushed off against the ground, trying to shake the mobile suit
off me… It didn't work. Panic began to cloud my thoughts when I
realized I couldn't. The Mindshift all seemed to disappear and I was
alone. I was scared. I wasn't able to get it off me. I cursed. A
creaking sound started coming from my mobile suit's arms. They were
giving out.
"No…" I whispered.
********
Okay. I didn't know who was in it, or where it came from, but a
Gundam had come from around a corner and had saved our lives. It dove
under the Serpent, thankfully preventing us from being crushed. And it
was especially comforting, for some reason, to find that it was the
Gundam I had seen before. The blue one. Yeah- the one that I thought
reminded me of Hilde: a lifesaver.
Well, obviously I wasn't going to just stand there, I ran like the
dickens. As easy as it sounds, I was having a lot of trouble getting out
of there. My legs were killing me. I'd kick myself if I had a twisted
ankle. Those suckers bother me the most. Its so small compared to other
injuries, but it makes people feel the need to keep me off my feet.
The last thing I expected happened next. An awesome corvette pulled
up beside us. And what's more, behind the wheel was none other that
Miss Dorothy Catalonia. Don't tell me you weren't shocked. She was the last person
who I thought would show up. Heh. Maybe she didn't show up for me…
I smirked at Quatre.
"Quit dawdling and get it!" She yelled. "I went
through hell to get here!" I hopped into the back after Quatre
stumbled in. When I slammed the door shut, she put the petal to the
metal and we zoomed off.
I laid back against the leather chair.
Suddenly I had a sudden urge to turn around and look behind me. So I
did. And I turned around to look at the scene behind me. The Navy Blue
Gundam was still there. And it wasn't getting out from under the
Serpent. It seemed to be having trouble just keeping it up because its
arms were shaking violently. I shifted in my seat, and I started
whispering to it, almost as if I thought it could hear me.
"Get out. Get out from under there, you stupid fool." It
seemed so fragile, the mobile suit. It was almost hard to believe it was
built for battle. Sure, it was built for speed and agility. But it still
didn't excuse the fact that it seemed too innocent to be a killing
machine.
Both me and Quatre were glancing
behind us at the scene now. We looked at each other
once before our eyes were drawn to it again. As if on cue, it gave out
from under the serpent's weight. A cloud of dust and dirt flew up with
it. It was literally being crushed under the Serpent. But before I could
say anything, we turned the corner and it was out of sight.
"Oh my God," Quatre said aloud. I nodded.
"Tell me about it. I feel sorry for whatever guy was in there. I
don't care, enemy or not, that had to suck," I said to him.
"Well, buddy. Thanks." I gave a little salute. (Thanks... so
much.) I had just been given another chance to find Hilde again. (Heh.
Maybe there is a God) I thought half-serious and half-sarcastic.
"Dorothy. Where'd you come from? I mean, I appreciate you
coming and 'rescuing' us, but I kinda wanna know why. I doubt you'd
come and rescue little old me because you completely and utterly adore me." I was joking,
but I guess she took it literally. I made a note to myself to keep that
in mind when talking to any Catalonias in the future.
"I didn't. Relena sent me."
It didn't phase her one bit as she kept her eyes on the road ahead of
her.
"Oh right. And what about your sweetheart, Quatre? Am I to
believe you didn't come for him?" Suddenly I was thrown against
the door as she swerved violently onto another street to our right.
"Ow! You did that on purpose you stupid b-," And that's
when she swerved all over again and I once again found my shoulder
knocked against the door. Worse even, I turned to find Quatre grinning
like mad and trying to hide it.
"I bet you worship her, too you little puss!" I yelled
above the wind at the blonde. Then, I heard an inhuman growl that undoubtedly came
from the front of the car in the driver's seat.
********
Ugh. Let me tell you, that when I woke up that morning, I had one
hell of a headache. And I didn't know whether it was a miracle or a
curse that I woke up in the same bed as the first time I came there. The
only difference was the fact that I could hear some faint voices
discussing something from outside my door. I groggily sat up and rubbed
my head. Hopefully the throbbing and achy feeling would go away soon. If
it didn't, then I probably wouldn't make it through the whole day.
I yawned lightly, a little resentful that even yawning had hurt my
head. Stumbling toward the door, I suddenly heard my name. I paused and
took my hand away from the doorknob.
That was my chance to know what was going on, my intuition told me.
So I held my breath and pressed my ears against the door.
"I don't think we should let her use that system anymore. She
went berserk back there in battle. Who knows what she'll do the next
time she gets into that Gundam. I for one, do not want to take the
chance." The voice I heard was Rolin. I knew right away he was
talking to Fay. He was always with her. I felt there was a small fire
igniting from the bottom of my heart. I just hated her.
"Rolin. That was her match. The damn computer was supposed to
give her some second and third or even fourth best matches along with
the Mindshift system."
"But it didn't," said Rolin.
"That's exactly my point, stupid. Maybe there ARE no other
system matches for her. Maybe the Mindshift is her only match. Shh- shut
up. I know what you're going to say. Listen up until I finish. What I
think we should do about this, is test her with some other systems and
see which fits her. It doesn't have to be perfect, just match her up
with another one. She is a threat to the completion of our mission. Only
God knows why Lady Une chose her."
"Fay, don't be an idiot. You know the procedure for that
system. Once she uses the Mindshift, she can't be exposed to any
others."
"But all the other systems… once you expose them to the
system, you can still transfer them to a different one. And they were
always all right after."
"The Mindshift was different!" Rolin snapped. I was
surprised. I didn't think I had ever heard him use that tone before.
Rolin had that type of voice that… it seemed like he wasn't allowed
to. He continued in a haughty, but calm enough voice. "The
Mindshift is the only exception. The others have one solid procedure and
one solid set of rules. The Mindshift is a whole new ballgame. And if
Lady Une ever finds out that we're even letting Hilde use it, then we'll
be in deep trouble. More than you can imagine. It's in the rules, Fay.
Ya gotta play by the rules."
I didn't want to hear anymore, but the conversation seemed to pull
me back. "Rolin. Its true. There are rules. And we do have to play
by them. And I know we can't break them. But the closest thing to that
is bending it. We can try it at dawn tomorrow when Lady Une will be out
on another meeting. She won't get out of it until noon."
"Fay, what if something happens to-,"
"Don't be stupid. As long as the girl keeps herself in line,
its fine with me…" Fay laughed. "You've really got it bad
for her, don't you?? This … girl… she's off limits, Rolin. And
you know duty comes first. You damn well know that duty will always come
first with this organization."
"I know... but I DO NOT like her. She's just a little cute,
that's all I said to you. I never said anything else about liking
her."
"You are one sad puppy, Rolin. One sad little puppy." There
a small pause and then she spoke again. This time her voice had changed
"Go wake her up. She's been laying around all morning. Time to
get off her butt and work." She walked away, the tapping of her
heels following her as she left.
My ear was pressed hard up against the door, straining to listen for
any sounds of what he was going to do next. What I got was Rolin
grabbing the doorknob and turning it.
I seriously didn't know how I did it, but I managed to rush over to
my bed, get under the covers and pretend to be asleep before he walked
in. Luckily, he fell for it and he shuffled over to the side of my bed.
He reached over and shook me lightly, not knowing I was already awake.
He hadn't known I had been listening. Or at least I hope…
"Hilde. Hey Hilde. Wake up…" Rolin waited. I started to
open my eyes, but when my intuition kicked in again, I shut them. Rolin
sighed, trying a few more times, and when that didn't work, he turned
and left me to myself. The door closed behind him, and I waited until I
couldn't hear his footsteps before I got up from bed.
I threw off my blankets and panicked. (Oh Jesus. What's going on!
If I don't get out of here, they're going to kill me!) she thought.
(Damn it. This is going too far. I don't give a crap whether the world
is at stake or not. If I die before I can fight, then what's the
use!?)
"Oh Duo…" I said unconsciously. "Please help me…"
I opened the door and poked my head out into the hallway. "If I don't
get out of here, then…. I just had better get out of here soon. Just a
little bit longer… just a little bit longer." I told myself.
********
"Serpents?" Asked Relena.
"Serpents and Gundams." I said. There was a little
murmuring as I finished. The group was again gathered in our private
meeting place: An old abandoned warehouse we had sort of doctored up so
that it didn't look as dreary. Well the girls had doctored it up,
anyway. It was evident from the various paintings of flowers and
rose-filled baskets.
Oooohhh the dreaded color pink surrounded me…the
horror- the horror…
Relena pulled the coat around her tighter and sniffled. It was chilly
in the room. I was pretty cold myself. So, I briefly took the time to
wonder how Heero survived in such cold weather in a tank top. Sure he
had suffered much worse atmospheres, but a guy could only handle so
much! Speaking of that, how did he survive that battle in Antarctica!?
I was shaken from my odd natured thoughts when Wufei spoke up.
"All of the Gundams, were self-destructed. All of
you saw to that. Not to mention, we all made sure that the documents
having anything to do with the construction and system-management were deleted
long ago. So, how could anyone possibly get their hands on them?" Wufei's
answer came from Heero who was working on his laptop that he had brought
when we first found the warehouse.
"Someone on the inside." Another batch of mumbling and
shocked, surprised replies.
"What?" Relena stepped up behind
Heero and placed her palm on his shoulder by ... let's just say by
reflex. And Heero suspiciously shifted in his chair. I smirked, but kept quite a sharp remark to
myself. "Heero, what do you mean by this?"
"Only someone with substantial power could take these. They knew
that the files were going to be destroyed and they acted in due time.
The files were stolen before we were able to get rid of them. I've
just accessed a local mainframe. Apparently someone had browsed through
the system and made a backup copy. Unfortunately, we were unable to find
the location of the back-up."
"So… the back-up copy's screwing us over. What about that
'someone.' Any info on that?" Heero nodded and he clicked on a
file on the computer. A picture file pulled up of a young woman with
fiery red hair. It was pulled up tightly in a pony-tail with bangs that
went past her chin.
"Her. Her alias is Leona Tiernan. I haven't been able to find
her real name. I'll be able to find who it is in about an hour or two.
These profiles are encoded with a program I've never seen before. So
far, all that we know is that she's from the Preventers." We were
all a little surprised at that. Especially Noin.
"Preventers?" Noin said. She shook her head. "No. It
couldn't be. Believe it or not, but I know each and every Preventer by
name. None of them are capable of such…"
"Well, whether you want to believe it or not, it's right
here." Heero said. Noin rubbed her forehead, as if a headache had
suddenly struck her. The shock was evident on her face.
"Shit." She walked up beside Relena. "Who could have
done this? I can't believe anyone from the Preventers could have done
this."
"I'll still need time to find who she really is."
"'Zat so?" I said. Heero grunted.
"That doesn't mean I won't be able to crack it. Give me
time." Our short-lived quarrel was interrupted by Relena. As soon
as she started speaking, both me and Heero gave her our whole attention.
Hm. I guess it must have been how urgent she sounded.
"Heero." He paused and turned to Relena who suddenly seemed
a little pale. She frowned and shook her left hand furiously.
"Quick. Do you have an expo marker, you know the one you can rub
off?" Heero sorted through the drawers of a cabinet to his left and
pulled out one. Relena abruptly grabbed it, popped off the cap and
started drawing on the screen.
The rest of the group stood in silence, slowly figuring out what
Relena was unfolding.
"Glasses?" asked Noin. Both her and Noin leaned in close
and realization began to seep in. The next person to speak was me and I
nearly fell out of my chair when I did.
"Lady Une!?"
********
I treaded silently down the hall. If I could just get out, I might be
able to find my way home and I'd finally be free. My choices were
limited. Stay, be experimented on and fight for peace. Or go home, live,
and go back to my apartment. I chose the second.
But the problem was, I didn't get very far. Before I knew what was
happening, I turned the corner and bumped into some guy. That
person, unfortunately, turned out to be Rolin. I went down and landed on
my hip bone. So I proceeded to rub my buttnot giving a care that I
looked like a complete idiot. Rolin barely seemed phased
by our little run in.
(Damn damn DAMN!) I yelled at myself for being so careless. I
had been in such a hurry to get away from that place that I had
forgotten to listen in for any suspicious noises. And that
included footsteps of the one person I was trying to avoid!!
"Hilde. I thought you were still asleep." Rolin reached out
his hand to help me up from the floor. I nervously stared at it for a
few moments before shakily grabbing it and letting him lift me up onto
my feed. My
voice was gone, so I just nodded. "Hm. I guess that's okay. You've
been scheduled for some additional training." I nodded again,
knowing that the 'additional training' meant the Mindshift system
and the matter with the rules and procedures.
"Come with me." He said. I cursed
silently and forced myself to follow Rolin into the next room. I felt a
sudden fear build up
in the bottom of my stomach. I knew that this wasn't going to be good.
Not at all.
Finally, we were back inside the simulation room where I had so
feared. I kept wondering. If I had waited a bit longer before sneaking
out… would I have been caught? If I had tried to sneak out earlier,
would I have been caught? What if I had pretended to sleep longer- would
there have been another opportunity? More 'If only I had' kind of
thoughts came to me during that short time we walked toward the
simulation room.
It felt almost as if I was on Death Row and
was walking the Green Mile.
And to make things worse, the room seemed a lot darker and so much
bigger than the first time I had been there. It must've been the fact
that I had the knowledge I might die in no more than a few minutes.
I started to unconsciously pray. I was scared as hell. Never really
prayed much before. But I guess I needed the comfort of something
definite, true and something I knew by heart. The only time I prayed was
once, when I was in the Vaye-eight. And that more like, 'If I don't
make it, please let Duo live.'.
I stopped the prayer when Rolin asked about my mechanical mumbling.
"Hey Hilde. Ya ready to go?" Fay came out from behind the
control panel. She wasn't looking me straight in the eye. But even so,
I was looking straight into hers. Her eyes had a maniacal glare within
them. And for once, I didn't resent or hate her. I was suddenly afraid
of her. And I didn't like it.
"Yeah, I'm ready." I whispered. The smile she had on her
face faded a bit when she got a good look at my expression. She knew.
That I knew. And it worried her.
It wasn't like I could do anything about it though, was there?
Everything happening was out of my power to stop. It was almost like
that time Duo had to leave to fight Mariemaea. Totally helpless…
Jesus. I had tried to forget that feeling for such a long time.
"C'mon." She said, her voice a little colder than usual.
Rolin grabbed my hand and pulled me over to one of the machines. And he
opened the small door, mentioning for me to get in. Rolin didn't
speak. He was completely silent. And so was I. And it was because I was
feeling desperate again.
"This is different from the usual simulator that I usually train
in. Why?" Rolin still didn't answer. He didn't even ask Fay to
answer. But Fay, sensing the atmosphere, did anyway.
"Just think of it as an an upgrade."
I got inside, my heart pounding so loud that I almost thought that
Rolin had heard it. And from the look on his face, I think he did.
As I sat down inside of the simulator, I reached over
to the visor on
my left and slipped it on, trying to hide how badly I was shaking. I saw
almost relieved when he closed the door. And I waited in the dark until
the first signs of the simulator starting up happened.
Voices outside continued a short discussion before the screen lit up.
At first, when the screen booted up, I felt nothing. It was the usual
energy that usually flowed through me when I used the MindShift. But
then, seconds after the screen lit up, my head spun and a dizzying
feeling began to flood into my head. It felt as if it was flowing from
my visor, so that odd feeling sort of took over my logic.
Excruciating shock waves started radiating from the visor and I was
yelling and screaming as I clawed at the visor. This left me panicked
and with all the pain, I was fumbling with detaching it from my head. I
began to kick at the door and I could hear Rolin struggling, trying to
open it from the other side.
"Roolliinn!" I screamed. Suddenly, I became confused and I
started babbling and mumbling about things I didn't even understand
myself. Worse yet, all of my thoughts were just as disfigured. I don't
think they expected such a reaction from me.
(Y.. Duo! Hel-uo! Free-om- hate yo- Rolin, back- free- get ou- Pleas-
help. Duo..? …I don't think I can't see you anymore…)
Then…just a light, soft feeling of happiness overtook the pain. The
door finally opened and I fell onto the floor. I laughed softly and
smiled as the pain faded. But so did the feeling in my fingers and my
toes. I was… numb. Just numb. But it was nice. The last clear image
was of Rolin mouthing some words.
"I'm sorry…" he said. I closed my eyes and fell asleep.
********
(Hilde?) I thought. I looked out of the window. It was raining, but
the sunlight still managed to penetrate through the dark clouds. Those
days were rare. But I didn't take the time to bask in it and enjoy it
because I had a horrible feeling again.
My reaction to that was to run outside, but I was only halfway when I
suddenly felt my ankle get caught on something. I hit the floor
face-first.
I sat up, only to find a sharp pain shooting through my ankle.
"Aw Ssshiii-eeetttt!" I hissed loudly, firmly grabbing my
foot. "Holy Crap that hurt!" Damn it. Now I knew I had
a sprained ankle! Damn damn damn damn damn!! This was exactly
what I knew was going to happen. Every time I had opened my big mouth,
something would always come true.
With all my strength, I hit the ground with my fist. I immediately
regretted it, because my knuckles started bleeding real bad. God, this
is all because of Hilde. Had she been here, I wouldn't have gone crazy
at all. It was insane.
I had never gone so long without her. Sure I had been away for a
while during the war, but I had always known where she was and if she
was okay or not. I had always felt that she was okay. Here, I wasn't
sure of anything anymore! Not even how I felt about her! God!! Wasn't
there anything I could do to help!?
Wait a minute… How I felt.. ??
"Duo! Stop it!" Noin came over to me and looked at my hand.
She pulled out her handkerchief and started dabbing off the blood. It
stung a little bit and I winced. Great. Just great. Me, a Gundam Pilot,
crying over a little cut. Things were just peachy.
The phone rang. Catherine nodded and jogged over to the telephone.
She picked it up. "Hello?"
"Damn it, I wish there was something I could do!!" I
said quietly. I think someone from up above heard me, because Catherine
held her hand over the receiver and called Noin over. Noin gave the
handkerchief to Catherine who took over taking care of me. I stood
impatiently as Catherine chastised me for being so careless with myself.
I grunted in reply.
Noin's expression in the midst of the conversation. Her eyes
widened and a smile nearly broke out. "Uh-huh. I understand. Yeah.
I'll call you in a few minutes…this is great. …No. You have my
full permission. I want you to confiscate those and bring them to the
hanger… yes… okay. Bye." Most everyone was looking at her as
she hung up the phone.
"That was Sally on the phone. She says that she's just
arrested an independent group of terrorists." Said Noin.
"Are those the ones who attacked the city last night?"
"No. They're two completely different groups. But the good
news is that that particular group of people recently had purchased
illegal blueprints of mobile suits and had begun construction. And by
this I mean Leos, Serpents and-,"
"Wait a minute." I interrupted her. "Are you going to
say what I think you're going to say?" A grin, a smirk and a soft
laugh.
"Yeah. I am. Leos, serpents …and Gundams." I clenched my
good fist. Now we finally had a fighting chance. After that whole peace
revolution thing people did, I didn't think we'd be able to fight. Y'see,
before Relena had denounced her throne, she made an agreement with the
colonies and the various other corporations that all mobile suits with
the sole objective of hostile nature were to be destroyed. And
surprisingly, it worked. Until a while ago when those Serpents had run
loose and wreaked complete havoc.
Well it was about time we stopped sitting around like idiots and time
we started fighting.
********
I didn't really get the chance to know them. They were always a
mystery to me, seeing as they died before I turned six.
My parents, I mean. A lot of kids had the luxury of running home and
being spanked by mommy for bad behavior. Oz dished out a lot more than
the slap on the wrist. Things like breaking your wrist is more like it.
So you can definitely say that I grew up kind of independent. Sure… I
was just a cadet. But hey- who said getting promoted was easy. Most
recruits would quit before the higher rankers would even consider
promoting anyone.
I guess the only reason I really stayed in the army was because I
didn't really have anywhere else to go. I was just about to be
promoted, but that whole 'helping the gundam pilot escape thing'
really screwed me over. Heh.
It was kind o' nice to reminisce about my parents and all. It feels
nice to know I at least had them, once. And the reason I had time to
wonder about things was that I was too lazy and in too much pain to get
out of bed.
Once again… I was in the bed. Ruffled hair, bags under the eyes…
the works.
How long had I been out? There was never a time that I had ever felt
more like crap. My neck was aching and all my muscles were
excruciatingly sore. I had a headache. My ears hurt. Man. It was almost
like I had just finished one hell of a marathon.
I couldn't even remember what had happened with how bad it was.
Nothing. Everything was a complete blank. White spots everywhere. And
lemme tell you I was not in the mood to watch little white blurs
zip around in front of my closed eyes.
I guess you could say I felt a little loony, because I started
swatting at them.
"Go away, Goddammit!" I yelled. I didn't expect to
actually get one of those little white dots, so when my hand hit
something with a hard 'whap' my eyes definitely popped open. The dot
turned out to be a boy with soft amber eyes. It was Rolin.
Rolin held his cheek which was now turning completely red because of
me. I giggled and whispered an apology.
"I'm sorry…" I said and I reached out my hand and
placed it over his red cheek. He grabbed my hand halfway and leaned
closer.
"Are you feeling okay?" he asked. He looked really worried.
Hm… maybe he really did have a little crush on me. I didn't mind. He
was kinda nice. For a guy I mean. All the guys I've pretty much ever
known have been jerks, fakers or jokers. Rolin didn't seem to fit into
any of those categories. Hm. Maybe that's why he was so cool.
"I'm fine. Why?" I said.
"You… kind of panicked in the simulator," He said. I
frowned. What was he talking about? I couldn't recall anything
happening. I remembered using the simulator, but I couldn't remember
anything after the door closed behind me.
"I did?"
"Yeah. You did. And you really, really scared me. You started
screaming for someone," he said. "Me and Fay didn't know
what to do. This never happened before…oh… and Lady Une's gonna be
here in a few hours. And I need you to keep quiet about this okay?"
"Why?" My voice was a little raspy. Like I had been
yelling. I guess something like that really had happened. I really did
want to
remember it. But I dunno, because if it was as bad as Rolin made
it sound…
"Just do it," he said gently.
"I understand… but what were you talking about. Who was I
screaming for?" I asked. And then he replied with 'Some person
named Duo.' I laughed out loud. Duo… what a funny name.
"Duo? Naw… I don't think I've ever met anyone by that
name."
A single memory returned to me that afternoon. One I never knew I
lost. It was about that conversation Fay and Rolin had before they took
me to the simulator. And that's when I remembered just how much danger
I was being put in just being with those two.
They were curious about things. And it wasn't exactly the
healthiest thing to be around them, if you know what I mean. It was
downright scary to know how much influence Fay had over Rolin. And what
she said to him didn't even make any sense! Jesus.. I needed to get
out of there. If not for my physical well being then maybe for my
sanity. The creepy place was stating to fry my nerves.
I had finally gotten the break I
was waiting for when Lady Une returned from her
meeting. I managed to break away from the two as they made their way
downstairs to greet her. I slunk off into a dark hallway unnoticed, and
they both continued on their way to see her.
Since the lobby was probably blocked off by a couple of guards, I
took it into notice that I would have to find another way out of the
building. A back entrance maybe. But after that, it would be chaos
because I didn't even know where this place was. For all I knew, area
51 could be right smack dab next to this place! Man…
I sort of wandered a little bit, hoping something
would look familiar. But of course, nothing did. Everything was unfamiliar and
to make it worse, just about everything looked exactly the same no
matter which way I turned.
I hissed at myself for not thinking things over before I decided to
split. Argh… sometimes I could be so...so...so stupid!!
In the midst of my self criticism, I noticed a partly open door. My
curiosity got the best of me and I tiptoed over to the door and peeked.
It was a cozy little room. A bedroom, almost. There was a beautifully
finished vanity on the left wall. And of course, there was the bed. On
that bed was a young girl, reading a book. A guard was standing over
her, watching her. She didn't look too happy with him hovering over
her.
"You can't keep me here forever you know. I don't know who
you people are, but you can bet you'll be charged with kidnapping! You're
all going to jail!" She said to the guard. The guard laughed at
her. You know… that kid sounded a lot like me when I first came to
this place. Then, I realized something.
(Wait a minute!) I thought. (That must be Mary Anne!)
Mary Anne Peacecraft... I don't
really know what possessed me to do so, but I suddenly felt an urge to
help her out. She didn't deserve to be cooped up here like I was. Who
knew what those bastards were going to do to her. Just look at what they
did to me.
I silently opened the door and crept up behind him. Mary Anne noticed
me and her eyes widened. And obviously the guard saw this and turned
around. As his eyes fell over me, I froze.
"Hey – I haven't seen you around before. You new?" he
asked. I stopped in my tracks and stood up stiffly to face him. I
hesitated a moment, and then nodded, trying to play it down as one of
their soldiers. Technically I was, so I didn't need to worry about
that.
"They recruited me few weeks ago. Today's my first day."
I said. My voice was shaking. Crap. I was hoping he wouldn't notice.
The turned away and sneezed. I gave a quick wink at Mary Anne. I thought
she had gotten the hint because she had eyed me a little closer.
The soldier frowned. "This is a tight organization. We don't
recruit." I cursed as he pointed his gun at me, knowing that I wasn't
there to take the next shift.
"Shit!" I cried and I darted forward, tackling him to the
ground. A loud shot ran out and I winced as I realized people were
probably going to check it out in a few minutes. But thankfully, in a
tangle of arms and legs, the gun flew out of his hands and landed at
Mary Anne's feet. Unfortunately, he got the upper hand, got on top of
me and he hit me a couple of times in the jaw. Okay… so the rescue
attempt didn't go as planned. It just wasn't my day.
Suddenly the thought of having to face Lady Une, Rolin and Fay again
sort of gave me a little bit more strength than I thought I had. I
couldn't face them again. I think… I think I hated them all…
I managed to pull my wrist out from under his grasp and I hit him
with a right hook. Then, I did the next most painful thing I could think
of. I threw out my leg and hit him low. Bingo, the guy went down.
I took this time to run over to the gun- which turned out to be a rifle.
He attempted to get up from the floor, but I didn't give him the
chance. But neither did I have the heart to kill anyone at that point,
so I simply knocked him out with the butt of the gun.
He hit the floor with a heavy thud. He didn't get up.
"Ugh… dipshit…" I
muttered to unconscious the guard. I got myself to my
feet, and wiped away the blood that was trickling down my face on my
stiff uniform sleeve. There was an incredible silence as Mary Anne stared at me
blankly. She had no idea who I was, so I couldn't really blame her for
her loss of words.
"Er… uh… Hey," I said. It sounded stupid, but what the
hell else was I going to say? Hi, I was just trying to escape and I
decided to drop in and save your ass? I don't think so…
"Hey." She replies cautiously. "Thanks.. I think. But
if you don't mind me asking-Who are you?"
"All you need to know is that I'm getting you out of here and
that you don't need to stay here any longer," I said to her, and
she somehow managed to accept my answer. She threw down the book and I
took her hand, leading her out of the room. We were practically home
free…
… But uh…Hehe… Now...
...Of I could only find my way out…
Soooo? Whadda ya think??
Oh.. Yes- the Green Mile was that long hallway that people on Death Row
walked down when doing to the electric chair in the old days. They call
it that because the people who walked it had thought said that seemed
like they were walking a mile instead of a few hundred yards. So yeah.
(That made no sense at all) O well. Take care! AND REVIEW!!!
