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DISCLAIMER: Kumi, Sette and a handful of others are my only original characters. The others belong to other creative geniuses! (Hehe!)
Warnings: Violence and language!
Gundam Wing: The Second Chapter
Episode 9: Holocaust
by SkyLark
With help from Traci 14
Kumi lied sedated through medication in her hospital bed for the fifth straight day. Trowa walked into the room bearing a pink rose and placed it in a clear vase that waited by her bedside. Every day since the ordeal with Demetris, he brought a pink rose when he came as soon as he woke. Now, Trowa was pale and had dark circles under his eyes on account to his emotions being turned inside out. He fixed the display a bit before pulling a chair up next to the sleeping pilot. He took her left hand into his and said quietly, "Good morning." He took a moment to push back some hair that fell over her forehead, revealing the thick band of medical tape that covered the deep gash left from the previous fight.
The silver-haired pilot's bones had been set back in place by Heero when they arrived in Sally Poe's hospital on Peace Million. Under the Wing pilot's orders, she was to be drugged to keep from breaking out of the room before she was close to fully healing. No normal person would have lived through what happened to her. In a matter of days, her bones would no longer hurt when she moved and at the worst, she would get out with only a thin scar on her forehead. Trowa took a deep breath as he looked to the young woman he fell in love with. He whispered, "I tried to catch you. I'm sorry I had to hurt you like this." He placed a soft hiss on the back of her palm.
Just then, he heard the door open as he turned to see who was entering. Quatre peaked in before slowly walking in. "Hey," he quietly said. Trowa nodded and replied, "Hi." The Arabian walked to sit beside his friend as he grabbed a chair, not taking his eyes from the fallen pilot. Trowa forced a small smile and said, "The good news is this'll be the last time Kumi will have to be sedated like this." Quatre smiled and nodded, "I know. It'll be good to see her on her feet again." The blonde pilot looked to his tall friend and sighed, "You can't blame yourself, you know." His friend shook his head, "I could have gotten her out of there without getting her nearly killed."
The smaller pilot placed a hand on his shoulder and assured him, "No you couldn't have. There's no way you would have been able to. You saved her life." Trowa lowered his head, "Some hero I turned out to be." He lifted his head just as soon as he said this and turned to the Arabian, asked, "How is Heero holding up?" Quatre's face fell a bit as he answered, "Not too good. Duo's still trying to get him to eat and he still wakes up having nightmares." "And Sette?" his friend asked gently. Quatre sighed, "She's doing much better. She still blames herself for all of this happening, since she was the one that kept Kumi from killing Demetris years ago." Trowa fell back in his chair and rubbed his eyes as he said quietly, "This whole war is going to hell." Quatre chuckled, "War is always hell, Trowa."
The Arabian's friend asked, "Do you think it can get any better?" Quatre shrugged, "Can it get any worse?" The pilots looked to each other, hating even the thought of that possibility. After a pause, Quatre smiled, "Kumi will come through. I know you love her enough not to see her through this." Trowa replied, "I do love her...But will that really be enough to help her?" Quatre smiled, "Look at Heero and Duo and what love's done for them. You could be who Kumi needs, just as Duo is who Heero needs." Trowa chuckled, "Don't get my hopes up, pal." He thought of the word 'Hope' and rolled up Kumi's left sleeve to reveal her tattoo. He gently rubbed his fingers over the Japanese word 'Hope' that lied between the two rosebuds.
Quatre rose and said quietly, "If a person like Kumi believes in hope enough to have it tattooed onto them, then that must mean something." The blonde made his way to the door and turned back to his friend. Trowa gave him a small smile and said quietly, "I guess it does." Quatre nodded and made his way out of the room, waving good bye to his comrade. Trowa returned his gaze to Kumi and looked to the tattoo again. He whispered, "Hope is the only thing that pilots like us have, anyway."
* * * * * *
Duo walked quickly down the hallway to the room he and Heero shared. The American held a small paper bag carefully in his possession. He looked concerned and in a rush to get back. When he arrived, the bed was still a mess with the sheets and blankets tossed carelessly as they had been in the morning. He heard the shower water running and placed the paper bag on a dresser. Giving a knock to the door, he called, "Heero?" There was no answer from within. "Damn you, baka," Duo cursed himself. "You never should have left him alone." He kicked the door down and entered the bathroom.
The shower curtain was closed and steam from the hot water filled the small space. "Koi?" Duo called as he throw the curtain open. He gasped when he saw his lover huddled in the far end of the tub, fully clothed and legs drawn to his chest as he sat wrapped into a ball. "HEERO!" Not even bothering to turn the water off, the braided pilot jumped fully clothed before his lover. Duo finally got the Japanese pilot to slowly lift his head to look at him.
The Wing pilot's eyes were red due to a combination of lack of sleep and silently crying. "Oh, Heero," Duo sighed deeply as he felt a lump shoot into his throat. He took his love into his arms and got out of the tub. He sat Heero on the floor and quickly turned the water off as he grabbed two large towels. He wrapped one around Heero's shoulders and the other was used to dry his wet hair. Drenched himself and shaking a bit from the cold air, Duo whispered, "Take to me, koi...Please." Finally, his lover said so low that his partner barely caught, "I'm sorry, Duo." The American sighed in relief and wrapped his arms tightly around his lover. Heero rested his cheek on his shoulder and took a deep, broken breath.
"Shhhh," Duo whispered and kissed the Wing pilot' temple tenderly. "Don't be sorry, koibito. I'm here." A single tear made it's way down the Japanese pilot's cheek as he sighed deeply. Duo looked to him and held him at arm's length, drying the tear with a soft brush of his hand. Heero looked with to the other pilot and said with concern, "Look at you." Duo chuckled, "Look at you, hon." Heero looked to his wet form and finally let out a soft chuckle. The American smiled, "That's the first time I heard any laugh come from you in a while now." "Guess I just needed to get that out of my system," his partned replied. Duo wrapped him tightly to his chest and asked quietly, "Are you okay?" The Wing pilot nodded as he moved his head to fall under his lover's chin. "I'm fine now."
"Better get out of these clothes before we get sick," Duo suggested. Heero nodded as they broke to strip. Once they were naked, Heero wrapped one of the towels around his partner to keep him from getting cold as he took the other. They walked back to the bedroom and took out dry clothes. When they were changed, Duo took the paper bag he had brought with him as he walked over to the bed, where his partner was already sitting.
"I made this for you," the braided pilot said quietly as he joined him. Heero accepted the bag to find two sandwiches, just the way he liked them. He smiled warmly to his partner. Duo smirked, "Don't think that your sweet smile will get you from eating that easily. You haven't eaten anything in two days. I'm staying right here to see that you finish all of that." His lover pushed the bag aside for a moment and threw his arms around Duo in a tight embrace. "I don't deserve you," he whispered into the American's ear. "I love you, too, Heero," Duo whispered back. They pulled back to share a gentle kiss. Heero took the bag and took one of the sandwiches.
After he took the first bite, he realized how deprived his body was after he had starved himself as long as he had. After swallowing the second bite, he shook his head and chuckled. Duo's eyes began to regain their sparkle as he asked, "What is it?" Heero replied, "It still gets me that you have to watch after me once in a while. I used to be the one looking out for you all the time." Duo smiled and ran a hand through his lover's short hair. Caressing a cheek, he whispered, "You're only human, koi. You deserve to cry and laugh just as much as I do...And you deserve being looked after when you need it. I'm just thankful that you want me to be the one watching over you." Heero smiled and whispered, "There's never been and never will be another I'd want to do the job more than you."
The American bit his lip and swallowed a lump in his throat. A small cough escaped him as he fought back some tears. "If you keep this up, you're going to make me cry like a bitch," he chuckled. Heero laughed and hugged him again. The Wing pilot planted some soft, loving kisses on the braided pilot's face. When he was finished, he returned to his food. The couple sat in silence as the Japanese pilot finished his meal.
* * * * * *
On Colony L2, life was the usual. At a scraping yard, several people were working with the metal that they were recovering to build more suits that the Preventers could use. One young woman carried several sheets of steel to the truck that was to transport the load. Her short hair blew in a gentle breeze as she looked up to the driver with a warm smile and a wave. The young man there smiled and waved back to her. "That looks like all we can take for now, Ryan," she told him as she climbed into the seat next to him. Their coworkers jumped onto the back of the truck as they waited for them. "Nice work, Hilde," the driver smiled to her. "We never thought to check over here." "That's why you and I make a great team," Hilde winked and kissed his cheek. On their ring fingers, they wore matching wedding bands. The young man called, "Is everyone in?" There was a harmonic 'Yes' in response. The couple chuckled and they pulled out of the yard.
* * * * * *
The next morning, Trowa walked into Sally Poe, who greeted him with a warm smile. "Good morning, Trowa." He smiled and nodded back, "Good morning, Sally." "I was just on the way to Kumi's room, myself," she said as she looked to the pink rose the pilot was holding. They began to walk down to her room together. Sally said wuietly, "She's lucky to have someone like you watching over her, you know." The tall pilot lowered his head and didn't respond. He still felt guilty for hurting the pilot so badly.
They reached the room and opened the door. The pair gasped when they found the room empty. The tubes that were in the silver-haired pilot's arms had been ripped out, the drops of blood on the needles lying on the white bed were proof of that. Kumi's pale green hospital green was removed and thrown across the bed. Her clothes were gone as well. The vase of roses were also left behind. Trowa sighed and took the vase, placing the rose he held with the others. Sally Poe shook her head, "She had enough sedative in her to knock out an elephant. I can't believe that she managed to get past that on her own."
* * * * * *
Sette was still asleep in her room. The door to her room opened and a slender figure walked in. The intruder made their way to her bed quickly. They covered the mouth of the sleeping pilot, who instantly woke up, shouting into the hand. Sette's eyes widened as they focused to reveal her friend. The 'Perfect Soldier' removed her hand from the tomboy's mouth and bent down to glare at her. There was a thin scar across her brow that went from one temple to the other that could only be seen up close.
The princess whispered in fear, "K-Kumi?" Her friend continued to glare at her. "Kumi, I...I'm sorry," Sette said quietly as she began to move back in almost a retreat from the other pilot. "Baka," Kumi hissed as she straightened and crossed her arms. "I'm not here to kill you. I just want to know what happened and how long I've been out." Sette looked up to her and narrowed her eyes, "You scared the hell out of all of us, that's what happened. You nearly got killed out there." "This is a war, Sette. People die. Now what happened?" her friend asked sternly. The tomboy sighed, "You and Demetris were about to collide and Trowa pushed you out of the way just in time. The force from Heavy Arms against Excalibur jolted you...Heero wanted you sedated until your bones were healed well enough for you to get around, since he knew you would try to move around before they were. It's been six days now since that incident."
Kumi sighed, "I see." She looked down to her friend and saw that she must have been going through a lot. Sette said quietly, "About Demetris-" "Stop right there," the silver-pilot interrupted. "That monster isn't going to live through this war. I'll see to that." "Well before you try anything, could you think of a better way to kill him that by a head-on collision like the last stunt you pulled?" Her friend smirked and walked to the door.
As soon as she walked outside, Kumi was face-to-face with Heero. They froze and looked to each other in silence. After a long pause, Kumi closed her eyes and lowered her head slowly. Heero wrapped his arms around her rightly as he sighed. His cousin's eyes widened as she felt him hug her. Then, she relaxed and returned the embrace, resting her head on his shoulder. The silver-haired pilot whispered, "Gomen, Heero." The Wing pilot sighed and held her at arm's length. Kumi's empty eyes looked into his, the same deep blue. Heero kissed her forehead an asked quietly, "Are you okay?" Kumi nodded and replied, "Yes. Thank you."
Heero looked to her sadly. "I lost myself," his cousin whispered. The young man nodded, "It's okay...Just please don't scare me like that again." Kumi looked to him in almost shock. Heeero took her arm gently and said quietly, "Come on. I have something I to show you." Hesitantly, his cousin nodded and allowed him to lead her to a small room.
Heero turn his back to her and removes his pale blue sweater. Kumi gasped and saw the tattoo that his cousin got over a year ago. On his right shoulder-blade was a silver cross with a rose wrapped around it, the bud falling in the center. A large pair of pure white angel wings coming from the two sides of the crucifix. It covered the whole shoulder-blade. Kumi couldn't help but run a finger around the edges, still in shock. The image was beautiful. Still, she never thought that his cousin would ever have gotten something permanently marked on him by his choice.
Heero replaced the sweater and turned to her. He smiled, "The cross represents Duo...The rose represents you." The young woman gasped again and her eyes became wide. "You're both my angels," he explained quietly. Kumi's face fell as she looked to him and lowered her head. She felt a lump in her throat and whispered, "I-I'm sorry that I did this to you." Heero cupped her face and shook his head, "Don't be sorry. You're still having a hard time getting past our training and the painful past that Demetris caused you, whatever he did to you." Kumi closed her eyes and nodded. Heero hugged her again and kissed her temple. "Just make sure you know when to ask for help when you need it." Kumi nodded as they hugged, "I will...I promise."
The Wing pilot motioned to the vase of pink roses that was waiting on the table. "From Trowa," he told her. Kumi sighed deeply and said quietly, "I figured." "He saved your life." She nodded in response. The young pilot took the vase into her hand and gently touched some of the buds with the other. She finally admitted, sadly, "I've loved before...I remember it being the best thing I ever felt." Her face fell again and she wrapped her free hand around her tattoo. Heero looked to her with sad eyes as he understood. "Then it was taken from me..." She felt Heero's hand on her shoulder as he shuddered at the thought of ever losing his Duo the way Kumi lost the one she had loved before.
Kumi turned to her cousin and asked, "Heero...What is love?...I'm starting to forget." "Love?" the young man echoed, taken back by the question. He tried to think of a good answer. "There's so much to it...Can I get back to you on that?" he chuckled finally. Kumi chuckled as well, "Sure." Heero wrapped an arm around the other pilot's shoulders and they walked out of the room together. "What do you say we catch up with the others?" the Wing pilot suggested. Kumi held onto the vase of flowers in one hand as her other arm wrapped around her cousin's shoulders as she nodded and smiled to him, "That sounds good."
* * * * * *
Back on Colony L2, the crews working on the Preventer suits were at business as usual in their plant. Hilde watched as her husband was working on one of the crafts. "Nice work," she called up to him as he put the finishing touches on the suit. Ryan smiled and joined her at his side. The young woman rested her head on his shoulder. They didn't have much time to enjoy the moment before the sounds of explosions came to their ears. They ran to the wide opening leading outside and found themselves in the middle of a massive attack. "How the hell did they get here?" Ryan growled as he and his wife ran quickly inside and took to the suits that were finished.
The crew members that were able to pilot as well took suits of their own as they went after the OZ soldiers. There was a good struggle in the beginning. At first, there were very few OZ pilots to take out. Hilde and her husband had managed to take down most of the opponents. "Can anyone radio Pease Million?" Hilde asked as she shot down an Aires. Another pilot shook his head, "I've been trying but we're too far." Ryan said grimly, "I have feeling that the pilots will hear about this soon anyway."
It was only a matter of time before the small fleet of crew workers were outnumbered and surrounded. "Shit!" one of the young pilots hissed as he looked all around at the soldiers. A voice from one of the suits ordered, "Lower your weapons and step out of your suits." The young men and women did as they were told, hesitantly. When they were on the ground, Hilde and Ryan held hands. Ground OZ soldiers came to round them all up at gunpoint.
* * * * * *
Back on Peace Million, Heero and Kumi were walking down one of the long hallways together after the silver-haired pilot put the roses in her room. They stopped when sirens rang throughout the ship. The Preventers that were in the halls and quarters ran to the control room along with onboard. Soon, the Gundam pilots were all gathered together as Lieutenant Keiser ran to them with Lady Une. "What's going on?" Heero asked. Lady Une replied, hesitantly, "OZ...They..." she couldn't finish as she was certain the news would be too great for them. The Lieutenant came to answer, "Colony L2 is under siege." Duo's eyes shot wide as he gaped, "W-What!?!" Heero looked at the commanders with fear and shock as well and he placed a shoulder on his lover's shoulder. "Everyone there has been taken hostage. And all ways for them to escape have been destroyed." The American took a few quick breaths and shouted, "What are we going to do!?! We can't just stay here!"
"We need a handful of you to go with a fleet of Preventers and the rest to stay here in the control room to guide the pilots where they're needed to cut through the OZ troops," Une told them. Kumi nodded, "Okay. Trowa, Novem, Wufei, Zes and myself will stay here and talk the rest through the fight." The other pilots understood as Duo led the charge to the suits with those who were to fly to L2. The pilots that remained ran to computers with monitors that scanned the Colony's areas and placed headphones with microphones over their heads.
Trowa sat beside Kumi. As they set up, Kumi said to him, "Thank you for the flowers, Trowa." The tall pilot stopped just a moment to look to her in shock. He then smiled and nodded, "Sure." He went back to getting set up and Kumi whispered, "And thank you...for catching me." Trowa looked to her and smiled warmly. He replied quietly, "You're welcome." They were all set up as they watched their friends fly off to L2. As their comrades made their way there, Relena saw that all of the prisoners were being gathered into the city. She whispered to herself, "I can't believe how quickly they moved everyone." Every citizen of the colony were rounded up and surrounded by countless soldiers.
"Everyone has to talk one pilot through the fight," Kumi began. "Heero, I'll talk you through. Duo, Trowa will direct you. Wufei will speak for Delapan. Sette, follow Novem's orders and Zes will help Quatre." Just after saying this, Deathscythe was just moments away from making it to the Colony's skyline. Trowa directed, "Duo, get to the northern end of the city and start working your way down from there. Too many soldiers are gathered in the center." "Got it," the American replied as he followed everything his friend told him. Wing Zero was right behind him. Kumi said, "You're best off staying close to Duo. He'll need help where he's heading." Relena said, "Quatre, to the left of the city, there's almost a break in the soldiers. You'll have a better chance hitting there." Novem soon spoke, "Sette, work on taking out the Aires suits that are working their way over the prisoners." Finally, Wufei said, "Delapan, stay close with Sette. Those Aires suits are going to be a large threat to the captives." The suits broke off as their friends said.
Hilde and Ryan looked up to see Deathscythe and Wing Zero fly over them. The people gave a great cheer to the suits and the couple sighed with relief. "I knew that they would get here," Hilde sighed with a smile. The pilots worked their way to where they needed to be and went on with the attack. All the while, their friends back on Peace Million were the extra eyes and ears that they needed to get through unharmed. Ten minutes into the struggle, the pilots and their comrades were shocked to see that none of the panicked captives were being shot by the OZ soldiers who were not effected by the fight. This was something that had most of them worried. Trowa covered his microphone and looked to Kumi, asking, "What are they up to? If they spent all this time gathering the people of the Colony together, why aren't they attacking them?" Covering her microphone, his friend shook her head, "I don't know, but it has me concerned, too." They went back to talking their fellow pilots through the struggle.
Sette asked herself, "What is OZ up to?" She sliced through and Aires and groaned, "This isn't a good thing that they're not doing more than attacking us." All of the pilots began to fear that something was up. Hilde and Ryan were fighting their way to where Heero and Duo were. The braided pilot sighed with relief when he saw that the young woman he always considered a sister was safe along with his friend that she fell in love with. He managed to get close enough to them that the guards were distracted from seeing the couple make a break for it as they were too busy shooting the Gundam. Hilde and Ryan just managed to sneak through unnoticed. They went through a secret opening that led to the tunnels below the colony. Together, they made their way to the Colony's heart, filled with tanks of gasses and explosives that would send a chain reaction throughout the colony. They watched on a large monitor everything that was happening above.
The fight raged on as there was little change in the situation. The pilots were getting closer to the prisoners, and none of the soldiers were doing anything to the captives. Their only concern was keeping everyone gathered into one large circle and attacking the Gundams. Ten more minutes went by and still no change. "What are they waiting for," Quatre asked aloud. "Just worry about what you can fight now, Quatre," Relena said to try and calm him. "You're close to breaking through." The blonde pilot nodded and worked his Sand Rock. The Preventers who were aiding the Gundams found the same problems that their allies did, nothing was being done to the prisoners.
Lieutenant Keiser watched the monitors with Lady Une, Milliardo, Noin, Brain and Sally. "They have something else in store for those prisoners," Milliardo said gravely. His wife and Lady Une looked to him. "Get those pilots out of there," he told Keiser as he looked into his eyes with intensity. The Lieutenant looked to the young man with a look of rage. "Who are you to order me?" Milliardo looked to him with a cold stare and repeated sternly, "I said, get those pilots out of there." Keiser sneered and cut the power of the radios in the room off. "I hereby order that not a soul is going to communicate to the pilots. They are to stay and fight. They know what they're doing." The Preventer closest to him typed at his computer at the order to shut the transmission down. The Gundam pilots fighting were waiting for word on where they needed to be. There would be none.
Kumi ran to the back of the room, where the Lieutenant and Milliardo were fighting. Kumi intervened and looked to Keiser. "What the hell are you thinking!?!" Trowa and Wufei were about to punch the Lieutenant's lights out as a huge shouting match began between all of them. Relena looked to the large monitor in he front of the room. She saw something falling towards L2 that looked like a Flare Sphere. There was a large difference between this devise and the Flare Spheres, however. The Flare Spheres were golden and not large. This sphere was silver and twice the size of the Flare Spheres. Dorothy stood beside her friend and looked to the strange device in awe as well.
Relena ran to Kumi, who was still arguing with Keiser and grabbed her arm. The silver-haired pilot stopped to look at the queen. All of the fighting stopped when they saw the fear in her eyes. Relena pointed to the screen and asked, "Do you have any idea what that is?" Kumi stepped forward to get a better look at the monitors. The silver sphere was nearing the colony as it drifted fell through space. The pilot's eyes widened as far as they could as she gasped.
"No," she whispered hoarsely and ran as fast as she could back to where she was sitting when she was communicating to Heero. She placed her headphone set back on and without looking to Keiser, she ordered, "GET THE TRANSMISSION BACK UP!" Keiser shouted, "I gave a direct order-" His words were stopped when Kumi turned, pointing a gun at his head. She said sternly, "I'M OVERRIDING YOUR ORDER! NOW GET IT BACK UP!" Keiser's eyes widened at the gun barrel staring at him. He nodded to the Preventer who turned the transmission off and he worked quickly to get it back up. Seeing that it would take a moment to get the communication line up again, she hissed, "Fuck."
Kumi's friends stood behind her and watched her try desperately to get through to the other pilots. They were too frightened by her demeanor to ask what the sphere was. Kumi whispered to herself, "Comeoncomeoncomeoncomeon." Finally, her green light blinked on. "EVERYONE GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE RIGHT NOW! THERE'S A HOLOCAUST HEADING RIGHT FOR THE COLONY!" she screamed into her microphone. All of the pilots froze at the cry of their friend. Sette was the most taken back as she shouted, "A HOLOCAUST!?! WHERE!?!" "12 O'CLOCK, SETTE!" The princess looked up and could make out the glimmer of the silver sphere. "For the love of God," she whispered breathlessly. "What is that," a young man being held prisoner called as he pointed up. Everyone began to shout and scream as they feared the worse. "LET'S GO! WE CAN'T STAY HERE!" the tomboy screamed as she began to panic.
"WE CAN'T JUST LEAVE! WE CAN'T GET TO THE PRISONERS!" Duo cried as he went on fighting. "IT'S NOT GOING TO MATER IN ABOUT FIVE MINUTES! WE'LL ALL BE DEAD IF WE STAY HERE!" Sette shrieked. The people below continued to panic and scream as they began to fight the soldiers that held them. Only now did the OZ soldiers fire and kill those that approached them. A massive wave of terror ran on the Colony. The pilots on Peace Million watched with pale, frightened faces. Quatre was breathing heavily as he felt his Space Heart warn him of something horrible. "THEY'RE RIGHT!" he struggled to shout. "WE HAVE TO GO, NOW!" Catherine looked to the people below and bit her lip before lowering her head sadly. With that, she took off. Sette went off to aid Quatre in their escape.
"HILDE, RYAN! GET OUT HERE! YOU'RE COMING WITH US!" Heero screamed as he locked onto the monitor they stood before. Hilde and her husband held hands as the young woman replied quietly, "We're staying here. This is our home. You have to go and fight to win this war." "Hirde," Duo growled as huge tears were already present in his eyes. The sister answered sternly, "Get out of here. You don't have much time. Thanks for being the brother I never had, Duo. You and Heero take care of eachother." Ryan nodded, "We owe a lot to all of you after everything you've done." "Now go take care of OZ," his wife concluded as they turned their transmitter off.
"NO! I WON'T JUST LEAVE," the American cried as he looked to Wing Zero. Heero remained as calm as he could, but there was a note of concern on his voice, "We have to go, Duo." "YOU ONLY HAVE THREE MINUTES, GUYS!" Sette shouted as she, Delapan and Quatre watched from over the Colony. The Arabian felt tears in his eyes as he pleaded, "Please, Duo." Heero stayed calm as he said to his lover, "Duo, listen to me. Whatever you choose, I'll be right there with you. If you want to stay, I'm staying too." The American gasped as he looked to his love. "H-Heero," was all of could whisper hoarsely as more streams of tears rolled down. Hesitantly, he nodded, "Alright...Let's get out of here." Heero nodded as the two Gundams flew off together as fast as they could. The people continued to fight the soldiers as those closest to the OZ soldiers were cut by gunfire.
Just when Heero and Duo joined Sette, Quatre and Catherine, the Holocaust crashed a few hundred yards from the city. A spray of chemicals shot up as they spread like a white dome over the entire colony. Everything that the substance touched began to wither and crumble. All of the civilians fell to their knees as they began gasping for air and felt everything inside and out being eaten away. Under the city, Hilde and Ryan collapsed in pain as the chemicals seeped through the ground above them. The Gundam pilots, both in Peace Million and those in space watched in terror as every living person and thing began to die before their eyes.
Every pilot was shaken and frozen where they were, pale and wide-eyed. Milliardo whispered, "M-My God." Most of the Preventers and witnesses in Peace Million fell in their chairs on to their knees as they stared to the monitors. Relena almost collapsed, but was caught by her husband. She whispered, "This can't be happening." Sally and Wufei held hands along with Milliardo and Noin. Dorothy lowered herself to her knees, sick to her stomach. Trowa and Kumi remained frozen in shock as they looked to their screens. Catherine tore her eyes from looking to her monitors as she gasped and lowered her head. Quatre shook his head as tears continued to fall. Sette bit her lip and buried her face in her hands. Heero could only watch for a moment before his concern went to his lover. Duo just looked with an empty expression, but drenched by tears.
The OZ soldiers had been prepared as they brought special breathing gear for the explosion. Ryan held his dead wife and kissed her forehead. He was quickly fading as he struggled to climb to the huge generator's controls. He looked to the OZ soldiers that remained with their protective wear and said quietly, "You won't get away that easily." With his dying breath, he flipped a red switch, causing an explosion in the underground tunnels. The tubing brought about a chain explosion throughout L2. Duo whispered, "God, no. Please." Within a moment, the entire Colony was gone. The Preventers and Gundam pilots gasped and cried out at the Colony's destruction.
After a very long pause of complete silence, Heero fought the small tears that entered his eyes as he asked quietly, "Duo?" There was no response from the American. "Duo?" Heero called a bit louder. "C-Can we just go back now? Please?" the braided pilot pleaded quietly. Heero felt his heart breaking at his koi's voice. Kumi and Trowa lowered their heads sadly as they could only imaging what their friend was going through. Heero finally nodded, "Yea." With that, he lifted Deathscythe's right arm over Wing Zero's shoulder and aided his lover in returning to Peace Million.
* * * * * *
Back on Peace Million, the other Gundam pilots and their friends were in the hanger, watching their comrades return. Sette, Quatre and Catherine were the first to join all of them. Heero slowly got out of Wing Zero and walked to Deathscythe. His friends all watched in silence with heavy hearts as they looked to the quiet Gundam. Heero took a deep breath to get his composure before climbing to the cockpit. He pressed the latch that opened the cocoon. His lover was hunched over, face buried into his legs and shaking. Heero felt the small tears make their way again and managed to fight them, barely. He knelt before his lover and placed a gentle hand on the American's shoulder. His lover's head shot up with a gasp. Duo's reddened eyes were still pouring tears as he looked to the Wing pilot.
"Duo," Heero choked out in a whisper as he tried to find something to say. Duo threw himself into his lover as he wrapped his arms tightly around him. He sobbed with his face buried in Heero's chest. Heero closed his eyes and held his love close, stroking his back. He scooped his braided pilot into his arms and cradled him close. He managed to bring them to the ground and walked off with him. The pilots and their friends dried their eyes, hugged each other, but whatever they did, they never took their eyes from Heero and the pilot in his arms.
* * * * * *
The next day, on Colony L1, a memorial service was held for Colony L2 and all of the civilians there. Duo was the only one left now. Heero never left his side for a minute ever since the incident. They stood on the front of the massive crowd gathered before the large field where the plaque was placed in the memory of the souls lost. Their friends and comrades were to either side of them, everyone of them in black and very strained after the L2 incident.
When the Mass was over, Duo and Heero were the last to leave as they walked to the plaque that bore the hundreds of names of those killed. Duo placed the flowers that he brought with him before the memorial as he knelt before it. Thinking that his lover wanted this time alone, Heero sadly turned to give him a moment to himself. He stopped when the braided pilot grabbed his hand and held it tight. The Wing pilot looked to his partner, who was begging him to stay with his saddened eyes. Heero lowered himself to his knees next to him as they embraced.
Their friends watched from afar, in a thicket of trees. Sette and Kumi were behind trees that stood a bit apart as they looked to the couple. The princess dried her eyes as she whispered, "I-I never thought that they OZ would ever go as far as to use a Holocaust." Her friend replied as she growled, "Those bastards are going to pay, every last one of them." Quatre whispered, "Duo's lost so much in his life...I can't believe he has to go through this, too." Trowa said quietly, "At least he doesn't have to go through this alone. Heero will get him through this somehow." Relena and her husband were still close as they had an arm wrapped around each other. The queen asked, "How much of this are we going to have to take before it becomes too much?"
Catherine shook her head, "I can't take much more of this, that's for sure." Wufei looked to her and stated, "If you can't take it, give the right to pilot Slither to someone else." "Cut it out, Wufei," Dorothy intervened. "We're all shaken-up after what happened to L2." Milliardo and Noin were also close as they held hands. "It's been a long two days for all of you. Why don't you head back to Peace Million and get some rest?" Milliardo suggested with a deep sigh. The pilots all agreed that would be best as hey slowly walked to the ship.
Sally asked her friends, "How badly will this affect them when they fight OZ now?" Lady Une shook her head, "They're the only ones who have the answer to that." Noin lowered her head, "To think that OZ has actually reduced the value of human life enough to wipe a whole colony out the way they did...I never thought I would ever see them resort to such barbaric ways." She looked to the couple at the plaque as they stayed kneeling before the plaque, embracing. "These pilots still have had so much taken from them. I don't know how much more they can bare." Her husband wrapped a supportive arm around her and kissed her forehead. The four of them walked off to the ship together.
* * * * * *
That night, Heero and Duo sat in the bed silently. They were down to their boxers in the dimly lit room. Heero sat up with his back against the wall as he held the American against him. Duo was silent as ever as he had his arms around the Wing pilot's waist, listening to his partner's heartbeat. He looked off in a silent daze, not really seeing anything, just knowing that somehow, he was being protected. Something glittered a bit on his chest...Then he remembered...his cross that he always wore. Everything inside of him hurt and was screaming in agony. He soon felt a calloused, yet gentle hand stroke it's way through his loose hair. 'Heero,' he thought to himself as he closed his eyes.
The Wing pilot continued to stroke Duo's hair as he kissed his forehead. Just then, he felt something wet fall on his bare chest. He looked down to his lover's face to see streams of tears falling from his closed eyes. "Oh, Duo," he sighed sadly as he sat up more, pulling the American up with him so he could rock him gently. He rested his head on top of Duo's and kissed it several times before resting his cheek there. He heard the long-haired pilot sob and felt his body shake in his arms. Duo wrapped his arms around Heero as tight as he could.
Heero closed his eyes to fight back some tears of his own as he whispered, "It's so unfair, Duo." The American looked up to him as he held back the sobs. Heero dried his wet cheeks and whispered, "You've lost...so much in you life...I can't stand to see this happening to you." Tears began to fall from Duo's eyes as he looked to him. For the first time in two days, he spoke. In a small whisper, he said, "What happened on L2...It was meant to happen." Heero's eyes widened as he gave a confused and frustrated look. He shook his head and replied, "I used to believe that everything happens for a reason as well, but I can't after what happened...Not after all that's happened to you."
Duo sat up and looked to Heero with sad eyes. He sniffed and said faintly, "But I have to believe, that, Heero. I'll go crazy if I don't." Heero was struck speechless as he looked to his lover in awe. Duo lowered himself into the Wing pilot's embrace again as they held each other tightly. He felt Duo kiss his neck and looked down to him. "You amaze me," Heero whispered. "...You absolutely amaze me." Duo closed his eyes and pressed himself harder into his lover's chest. Heero lowered them so they lied on the mattress. He stroked Duo's hair again.
The Wing pilot just barely heard Duo whisper, "I'm so scared, Heero..." He looked down and saw the American rub small tears from his eyes. He began to shake again as he whispered, "I'm so scared." Heero pulled him up gently do they looked into eachother's eyes. "I'm right here, koibito," The Wing pilot whispered as he held his partner's waist. Duo bit his lip as a few more small tears escaped his eyes.
"I can't lose you," Duo whispered hoarsely. Heero felt a lump in his throat at these words and the look of fear in his lover's eyes. "I can't...I could never..." Unable to find the words to say, Duo just lowered his head and sobbed quietly. Heero instantly wrapped around him tightly. "Duo," he sighed deeply, feeling a small tear roll down his cheek. He wiped it from his face quickly and lifted Duo's chin gently so their eyes locked. "I'll die, Heero...I could never go on if anything happened to you...I just love you so much."
Heero kissed his tears away and whispered, "Shhhh. Ai shiteru, Duo. I always will." They looked to each other and Heero smiled, "Remember, I promised you I would never die on you. I never make a promise I don't intend to keep...You are my heart. I could never leave you." Duo felt his fears start to melt as he saw the conviction in his lover's eyes. He choked back a sob and gave a small smile. "...If we go, we go together," Heero said quietly, but sternly. "We go together," Duo nodded.
* * * * * *
That night, Lady Une walked to Lieutenant Keiser and said sternly, "We've waited long enough for that plan of yours." The young man looked to his in shock, "I-It's near completion, my lady." Une shook her head, "Three days...You have three days to complete that plan. Otherwise, I'll find someone else that'll do the job for you. We're taking the offensive before another week passes."
TBC
DISCLAIMER: Kumi, Sette and a handful of others are my only original characters. The others belong to other creative geniuses! (Hehe!)
Warnings: Violence and language!
Gundam Wing: The Second Chapter
Episode 9: Holocaust
by SkyLark
With help from Traci 14
Kumi lied sedated through medication in her hospital bed for the fifth straight day. Trowa walked into the room bearing a pink rose and placed it in a clear vase that waited by her bedside. Every day since the ordeal with Demetris, he brought a pink rose when he came as soon as he woke. Now, Trowa was pale and had dark circles under his eyes on account to his emotions being turned inside out. He fixed the display a bit before pulling a chair up next to the sleeping pilot. He took her left hand into his and said quietly, "Good morning." He took a moment to push back some hair that fell over her forehead, revealing the thick band of medical tape that covered the deep gash left from the previous fight.
The silver-haired pilot's bones had been set back in place by Heero when they arrived in Sally Poe's hospital on Peace Million. Under the Wing pilot's orders, she was to be drugged to keep from breaking out of the room before she was close to fully healing. No normal person would have lived through what happened to her. In a matter of days, her bones would no longer hurt when she moved and at the worst, she would get out with only a thin scar on her forehead. Trowa took a deep breath as he looked to the young woman he fell in love with. He whispered, "I tried to catch you. I'm sorry I had to hurt you like this." He placed a soft hiss on the back of her palm.
Just then, he heard the door open as he turned to see who was entering. Quatre peaked in before slowly walking in. "Hey," he quietly said. Trowa nodded and replied, "Hi." The Arabian walked to sit beside his friend as he grabbed a chair, not taking his eyes from the fallen pilot. Trowa forced a small smile and said, "The good news is this'll be the last time Kumi will have to be sedated like this." Quatre smiled and nodded, "I know. It'll be good to see her on her feet again." The blonde pilot looked to his tall friend and sighed, "You can't blame yourself, you know." His friend shook his head, "I could have gotten her out of there without getting her nearly killed."
The smaller pilot placed a hand on his shoulder and assured him, "No you couldn't have. There's no way you would have been able to. You saved her life." Trowa lowered his head, "Some hero I turned out to be." He lifted his head just as soon as he said this and turned to the Arabian, asked, "How is Heero holding up?" Quatre's face fell a bit as he answered, "Not too good. Duo's still trying to get him to eat and he still wakes up having nightmares." "And Sette?" his friend asked gently. Quatre sighed, "She's doing much better. She still blames herself for all of this happening, since she was the one that kept Kumi from killing Demetris years ago." Trowa fell back in his chair and rubbed his eyes as he said quietly, "This whole war is going to hell." Quatre chuckled, "War is always hell, Trowa."
The Arabian's friend asked, "Do you think it can get any better?" Quatre shrugged, "Can it get any worse?" The pilots looked to each other, hating even the thought of that possibility. After a pause, Quatre smiled, "Kumi will come through. I know you love her enough not to see her through this." Trowa replied, "I do love her...But will that really be enough to help her?" Quatre smiled, "Look at Heero and Duo and what love's done for them. You could be who Kumi needs, just as Duo is who Heero needs." Trowa chuckled, "Don't get my hopes up, pal." He thought of the word 'Hope' and rolled up Kumi's left sleeve to reveal her tattoo. He gently rubbed his fingers over the Japanese word 'Hope' that lied between the two rosebuds.
Quatre rose and said quietly, "If a person like Kumi believes in hope enough to have it tattooed onto them, then that must mean something." The blonde made his way to the door and turned back to his friend. Trowa gave him a small smile and said quietly, "I guess it does." Quatre nodded and made his way out of the room, waving good bye to his comrade. Trowa returned his gaze to Kumi and looked to the tattoo again. He whispered, "Hope is the only thing that pilots like us have, anyway."
* * * * * *
Duo walked quickly down the hallway to the room he and Heero shared. The American held a small paper bag carefully in his possession. He looked concerned and in a rush to get back. When he arrived, the bed was still a mess with the sheets and blankets tossed carelessly as they had been in the morning. He heard the shower water running and placed the paper bag on a dresser. Giving a knock to the door, he called, "Heero?" There was no answer from within. "Damn you, baka," Duo cursed himself. "You never should have left him alone." He kicked the door down and entered the bathroom.
The shower curtain was closed and steam from the hot water filled the small space. "Koi?" Duo called as he throw the curtain open. He gasped when he saw his lover huddled in the far end of the tub, fully clothed and legs drawn to his chest as he sat wrapped into a ball. "HEERO!" Not even bothering to turn the water off, the braided pilot jumped fully clothed before his lover. Duo finally got the Japanese pilot to slowly lift his head to look at him.
The Wing pilot's eyes were red due to a combination of lack of sleep and silently crying. "Oh, Heero," Duo sighed deeply as he felt a lump shoot into his throat. He took his love into his arms and got out of the tub. He sat Heero on the floor and quickly turned the water off as he grabbed two large towels. He wrapped one around Heero's shoulders and the other was used to dry his wet hair. Drenched himself and shaking a bit from the cold air, Duo whispered, "Take to me, koi...Please." Finally, his lover said so low that his partner barely caught, "I'm sorry, Duo." The American sighed in relief and wrapped his arms tightly around his lover. Heero rested his cheek on his shoulder and took a deep, broken breath.
"Shhhh," Duo whispered and kissed the Wing pilot' temple tenderly. "Don't be sorry, koibito. I'm here." A single tear made it's way down the Japanese pilot's cheek as he sighed deeply. Duo looked to him and held him at arm's length, drying the tear with a soft brush of his hand. Heero looked with to the other pilot and said with concern, "Look at you." Duo chuckled, "Look at you, hon." Heero looked to his wet form and finally let out a soft chuckle. The American smiled, "That's the first time I heard any laugh come from you in a while now." "Guess I just needed to get that out of my system," his partned replied. Duo wrapped him tightly to his chest and asked quietly, "Are you okay?" The Wing pilot nodded as he moved his head to fall under his lover's chin. "I'm fine now."
"Better get out of these clothes before we get sick," Duo suggested. Heero nodded as they broke to strip. Once they were naked, Heero wrapped one of the towels around his partner to keep him from getting cold as he took the other. They walked back to the bedroom and took out dry clothes. When they were changed, Duo took the paper bag he had brought with him as he walked over to the bed, where his partner was already sitting.
"I made this for you," the braided pilot said quietly as he joined him. Heero accepted the bag to find two sandwiches, just the way he liked them. He smiled warmly to his partner. Duo smirked, "Don't think that your sweet smile will get you from eating that easily. You haven't eaten anything in two days. I'm staying right here to see that you finish all of that." His lover pushed the bag aside for a moment and threw his arms around Duo in a tight embrace. "I don't deserve you," he whispered into the American's ear. "I love you, too, Heero," Duo whispered back. They pulled back to share a gentle kiss. Heero took the bag and took one of the sandwiches.
After he took the first bite, he realized how deprived his body was after he had starved himself as long as he had. After swallowing the second bite, he shook his head and chuckled. Duo's eyes began to regain their sparkle as he asked, "What is it?" Heero replied, "It still gets me that you have to watch after me once in a while. I used to be the one looking out for you all the time." Duo smiled and ran a hand through his lover's short hair. Caressing a cheek, he whispered, "You're only human, koi. You deserve to cry and laugh just as much as I do...And you deserve being looked after when you need it. I'm just thankful that you want me to be the one watching over you." Heero smiled and whispered, "There's never been and never will be another I'd want to do the job more than you."
The American bit his lip and swallowed a lump in his throat. A small cough escaped him as he fought back some tears. "If you keep this up, you're going to make me cry like a bitch," he chuckled. Heero laughed and hugged him again. The Wing pilot planted some soft, loving kisses on the braided pilot's face. When he was finished, he returned to his food. The couple sat in silence as the Japanese pilot finished his meal.
* * * * * *
On Colony L2, life was the usual. At a scraping yard, several people were working with the metal that they were recovering to build more suits that the Preventers could use. One young woman carried several sheets of steel to the truck that was to transport the load. Her short hair blew in a gentle breeze as she looked up to the driver with a warm smile and a wave. The young man there smiled and waved back to her. "That looks like all we can take for now, Ryan," she told him as she climbed into the seat next to him. Their coworkers jumped onto the back of the truck as they waited for them. "Nice work, Hilde," the driver smiled to her. "We never thought to check over here." "That's why you and I make a great team," Hilde winked and kissed his cheek. On their ring fingers, they wore matching wedding bands. The young man called, "Is everyone in?" There was a harmonic 'Yes' in response. The couple chuckled and they pulled out of the yard.
* * * * * *
The next morning, Trowa walked into Sally Poe, who greeted him with a warm smile. "Good morning, Trowa." He smiled and nodded back, "Good morning, Sally." "I was just on the way to Kumi's room, myself," she said as she looked to the pink rose the pilot was holding. They began to walk down to her room together. Sally said wuietly, "She's lucky to have someone like you watching over her, you know." The tall pilot lowered his head and didn't respond. He still felt guilty for hurting the pilot so badly.
They reached the room and opened the door. The pair gasped when they found the room empty. The tubes that were in the silver-haired pilot's arms had been ripped out, the drops of blood on the needles lying on the white bed were proof of that. Kumi's pale green hospital green was removed and thrown across the bed. Her clothes were gone as well. The vase of roses were also left behind. Trowa sighed and took the vase, placing the rose he held with the others. Sally Poe shook her head, "She had enough sedative in her to knock out an elephant. I can't believe that she managed to get past that on her own."
* * * * * *
Sette was still asleep in her room. The door to her room opened and a slender figure walked in. The intruder made their way to her bed quickly. They covered the mouth of the sleeping pilot, who instantly woke up, shouting into the hand. Sette's eyes widened as they focused to reveal her friend. The 'Perfect Soldier' removed her hand from the tomboy's mouth and bent down to glare at her. There was a thin scar across her brow that went from one temple to the other that could only be seen up close.
The princess whispered in fear, "K-Kumi?" Her friend continued to glare at her. "Kumi, I...I'm sorry," Sette said quietly as she began to move back in almost a retreat from the other pilot. "Baka," Kumi hissed as she straightened and crossed her arms. "I'm not here to kill you. I just want to know what happened and how long I've been out." Sette looked up to her and narrowed her eyes, "You scared the hell out of all of us, that's what happened. You nearly got killed out there." "This is a war, Sette. People die. Now what happened?" her friend asked sternly. The tomboy sighed, "You and Demetris were about to collide and Trowa pushed you out of the way just in time. The force from Heavy Arms against Excalibur jolted you...Heero wanted you sedated until your bones were healed well enough for you to get around, since he knew you would try to move around before they were. It's been six days now since that incident."
Kumi sighed, "I see." She looked down to her friend and saw that she must have been going through a lot. Sette said quietly, "About Demetris-" "Stop right there," the silver-pilot interrupted. "That monster isn't going to live through this war. I'll see to that." "Well before you try anything, could you think of a better way to kill him that by a head-on collision like the last stunt you pulled?" Her friend smirked and walked to the door.
As soon as she walked outside, Kumi was face-to-face with Heero. They froze and looked to each other in silence. After a long pause, Kumi closed her eyes and lowered her head slowly. Heero wrapped his arms around her rightly as he sighed. His cousin's eyes widened as she felt him hug her. Then, she relaxed and returned the embrace, resting her head on his shoulder. The silver-haired pilot whispered, "Gomen, Heero." The Wing pilot sighed and held her at arm's length. Kumi's empty eyes looked into his, the same deep blue. Heero kissed her forehead an asked quietly, "Are you okay?" Kumi nodded and replied, "Yes. Thank you."
Heero looked to her sadly. "I lost myself," his cousin whispered. The young man nodded, "It's okay...Just please don't scare me like that again." Kumi looked to him in almost shock. Heeero took her arm gently and said quietly, "Come on. I have something I to show you." Hesitantly, his cousin nodded and allowed him to lead her to a small room.
Heero turn his back to her and removes his pale blue sweater. Kumi gasped and saw the tattoo that his cousin got over a year ago. On his right shoulder-blade was a silver cross with a rose wrapped around it, the bud falling in the center. A large pair of pure white angel wings coming from the two sides of the crucifix. It covered the whole shoulder-blade. Kumi couldn't help but run a finger around the edges, still in shock. The image was beautiful. Still, she never thought that his cousin would ever have gotten something permanently marked on him by his choice.
Heero replaced the sweater and turned to her. He smiled, "The cross represents Duo...The rose represents you." The young woman gasped again and her eyes became wide. "You're both my angels," he explained quietly. Kumi's face fell as she looked to him and lowered her head. She felt a lump in her throat and whispered, "I-I'm sorry that I did this to you." Heero cupped her face and shook his head, "Don't be sorry. You're still having a hard time getting past our training and the painful past that Demetris caused you, whatever he did to you." Kumi closed her eyes and nodded. Heero hugged her again and kissed her temple. "Just make sure you know when to ask for help when you need it." Kumi nodded as they hugged, "I will...I promise."
The Wing pilot motioned to the vase of pink roses that was waiting on the table. "From Trowa," he told her. Kumi sighed deeply and said quietly, "I figured." "He saved your life." She nodded in response. The young pilot took the vase into her hand and gently touched some of the buds with the other. She finally admitted, sadly, "I've loved before...I remember it being the best thing I ever felt." Her face fell again and she wrapped her free hand around her tattoo. Heero looked to her with sad eyes as he understood. "Then it was taken from me..." She felt Heero's hand on her shoulder as he shuddered at the thought of ever losing his Duo the way Kumi lost the one she had loved before.
Kumi turned to her cousin and asked, "Heero...What is love?...I'm starting to forget." "Love?" the young man echoed, taken back by the question. He tried to think of a good answer. "There's so much to it...Can I get back to you on that?" he chuckled finally. Kumi chuckled as well, "Sure." Heero wrapped an arm around the other pilot's shoulders and they walked out of the room together. "What do you say we catch up with the others?" the Wing pilot suggested. Kumi held onto the vase of flowers in one hand as her other arm wrapped around her cousin's shoulders as she nodded and smiled to him, "That sounds good."
* * * * * *
Back on Colony L2, the crews working on the Preventer suits were at business as usual in their plant. Hilde watched as her husband was working on one of the crafts. "Nice work," she called up to him as he put the finishing touches on the suit. Ryan smiled and joined her at his side. The young woman rested her head on his shoulder. They didn't have much time to enjoy the moment before the sounds of explosions came to their ears. They ran to the wide opening leading outside and found themselves in the middle of a massive attack. "How the hell did they get here?" Ryan growled as he and his wife ran quickly inside and took to the suits that were finished.
The crew members that were able to pilot as well took suits of their own as they went after the OZ soldiers. There was a good struggle in the beginning. At first, there were very few OZ pilots to take out. Hilde and her husband had managed to take down most of the opponents. "Can anyone radio Pease Million?" Hilde asked as she shot down an Aires. Another pilot shook his head, "I've been trying but we're too far." Ryan said grimly, "I have feeling that the pilots will hear about this soon anyway."
It was only a matter of time before the small fleet of crew workers were outnumbered and surrounded. "Shit!" one of the young pilots hissed as he looked all around at the soldiers. A voice from one of the suits ordered, "Lower your weapons and step out of your suits." The young men and women did as they were told, hesitantly. When they were on the ground, Hilde and Ryan held hands. Ground OZ soldiers came to round them all up at gunpoint.
* * * * * *
Back on Peace Million, Heero and Kumi were walking down one of the long hallways together after the silver-haired pilot put the roses in her room. They stopped when sirens rang throughout the ship. The Preventers that were in the halls and quarters ran to the control room along with onboard. Soon, the Gundam pilots were all gathered together as Lieutenant Keiser ran to them with Lady Une. "What's going on?" Heero asked. Lady Une replied, hesitantly, "OZ...They..." she couldn't finish as she was certain the news would be too great for them. The Lieutenant came to answer, "Colony L2 is under siege." Duo's eyes shot wide as he gaped, "W-What!?!" Heero looked at the commanders with fear and shock as well and he placed a shoulder on his lover's shoulder. "Everyone there has been taken hostage. And all ways for them to escape have been destroyed." The American took a few quick breaths and shouted, "What are we going to do!?! We can't just stay here!"
"We need a handful of you to go with a fleet of Preventers and the rest to stay here in the control room to guide the pilots where they're needed to cut through the OZ troops," Une told them. Kumi nodded, "Okay. Trowa, Novem, Wufei, Zes and myself will stay here and talk the rest through the fight." The other pilots understood as Duo led the charge to the suits with those who were to fly to L2. The pilots that remained ran to computers with monitors that scanned the Colony's areas and placed headphones with microphones over their heads.
Trowa sat beside Kumi. As they set up, Kumi said to him, "Thank you for the flowers, Trowa." The tall pilot stopped just a moment to look to her in shock. He then smiled and nodded, "Sure." He went back to getting set up and Kumi whispered, "And thank you...for catching me." Trowa looked to her and smiled warmly. He replied quietly, "You're welcome." They were all set up as they watched their friends fly off to L2. As their comrades made their way there, Relena saw that all of the prisoners were being gathered into the city. She whispered to herself, "I can't believe how quickly they moved everyone." Every citizen of the colony were rounded up and surrounded by countless soldiers.
"Everyone has to talk one pilot through the fight," Kumi began. "Heero, I'll talk you through. Duo, Trowa will direct you. Wufei will speak for Delapan. Sette, follow Novem's orders and Zes will help Quatre." Just after saying this, Deathscythe was just moments away from making it to the Colony's skyline. Trowa directed, "Duo, get to the northern end of the city and start working your way down from there. Too many soldiers are gathered in the center." "Got it," the American replied as he followed everything his friend told him. Wing Zero was right behind him. Kumi said, "You're best off staying close to Duo. He'll need help where he's heading." Relena said, "Quatre, to the left of the city, there's almost a break in the soldiers. You'll have a better chance hitting there." Novem soon spoke, "Sette, work on taking out the Aires suits that are working their way over the prisoners." Finally, Wufei said, "Delapan, stay close with Sette. Those Aires suits are going to be a large threat to the captives." The suits broke off as their friends said.
Hilde and Ryan looked up to see Deathscythe and Wing Zero fly over them. The people gave a great cheer to the suits and the couple sighed with relief. "I knew that they would get here," Hilde sighed with a smile. The pilots worked their way to where they needed to be and went on with the attack. All the while, their friends back on Peace Million were the extra eyes and ears that they needed to get through unharmed. Ten minutes into the struggle, the pilots and their comrades were shocked to see that none of the panicked captives were being shot by the OZ soldiers who were not effected by the fight. This was something that had most of them worried. Trowa covered his microphone and looked to Kumi, asking, "What are they up to? If they spent all this time gathering the people of the Colony together, why aren't they attacking them?" Covering her microphone, his friend shook her head, "I don't know, but it has me concerned, too." They went back to talking their fellow pilots through the struggle.
Sette asked herself, "What is OZ up to?" She sliced through and Aires and groaned, "This isn't a good thing that they're not doing more than attacking us." All of the pilots began to fear that something was up. Hilde and Ryan were fighting their way to where Heero and Duo were. The braided pilot sighed with relief when he saw that the young woman he always considered a sister was safe along with his friend that she fell in love with. He managed to get close enough to them that the guards were distracted from seeing the couple make a break for it as they were too busy shooting the Gundam. Hilde and Ryan just managed to sneak through unnoticed. They went through a secret opening that led to the tunnels below the colony. Together, they made their way to the Colony's heart, filled with tanks of gasses and explosives that would send a chain reaction throughout the colony. They watched on a large monitor everything that was happening above.
The fight raged on as there was little change in the situation. The pilots were getting closer to the prisoners, and none of the soldiers were doing anything to the captives. Their only concern was keeping everyone gathered into one large circle and attacking the Gundams. Ten more minutes went by and still no change. "What are they waiting for," Quatre asked aloud. "Just worry about what you can fight now, Quatre," Relena said to try and calm him. "You're close to breaking through." The blonde pilot nodded and worked his Sand Rock. The Preventers who were aiding the Gundams found the same problems that their allies did, nothing was being done to the prisoners.
Lieutenant Keiser watched the monitors with Lady Une, Milliardo, Noin, Brain and Sally. "They have something else in store for those prisoners," Milliardo said gravely. His wife and Lady Une looked to him. "Get those pilots out of there," he told Keiser as he looked into his eyes with intensity. The Lieutenant looked to the young man with a look of rage. "Who are you to order me?" Milliardo looked to him with a cold stare and repeated sternly, "I said, get those pilots out of there." Keiser sneered and cut the power of the radios in the room off. "I hereby order that not a soul is going to communicate to the pilots. They are to stay and fight. They know what they're doing." The Preventer closest to him typed at his computer at the order to shut the transmission down. The Gundam pilots fighting were waiting for word on where they needed to be. There would be none.
Kumi ran to the back of the room, where the Lieutenant and Milliardo were fighting. Kumi intervened and looked to Keiser. "What the hell are you thinking!?!" Trowa and Wufei were about to punch the Lieutenant's lights out as a huge shouting match began between all of them. Relena looked to the large monitor in he front of the room. She saw something falling towards L2 that looked like a Flare Sphere. There was a large difference between this devise and the Flare Spheres, however. The Flare Spheres were golden and not large. This sphere was silver and twice the size of the Flare Spheres. Dorothy stood beside her friend and looked to the strange device in awe as well.
Relena ran to Kumi, who was still arguing with Keiser and grabbed her arm. The silver-haired pilot stopped to look at the queen. All of the fighting stopped when they saw the fear in her eyes. Relena pointed to the screen and asked, "Do you have any idea what that is?" Kumi stepped forward to get a better look at the monitors. The silver sphere was nearing the colony as it drifted fell through space. The pilot's eyes widened as far as they could as she gasped.
"No," she whispered hoarsely and ran as fast as she could back to where she was sitting when she was communicating to Heero. She placed her headphone set back on and without looking to Keiser, she ordered, "GET THE TRANSMISSION BACK UP!" Keiser shouted, "I gave a direct order-" His words were stopped when Kumi turned, pointing a gun at his head. She said sternly, "I'M OVERRIDING YOUR ORDER! NOW GET IT BACK UP!" Keiser's eyes widened at the gun barrel staring at him. He nodded to the Preventer who turned the transmission off and he worked quickly to get it back up. Seeing that it would take a moment to get the communication line up again, she hissed, "Fuck."
Kumi's friends stood behind her and watched her try desperately to get through to the other pilots. They were too frightened by her demeanor to ask what the sphere was. Kumi whispered to herself, "Comeoncomeoncomeoncomeon." Finally, her green light blinked on. "EVERYONE GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE RIGHT NOW! THERE'S A HOLOCAUST HEADING RIGHT FOR THE COLONY!" she screamed into her microphone. All of the pilots froze at the cry of their friend. Sette was the most taken back as she shouted, "A HOLOCAUST!?! WHERE!?!" "12 O'CLOCK, SETTE!" The princess looked up and could make out the glimmer of the silver sphere. "For the love of God," she whispered breathlessly. "What is that," a young man being held prisoner called as he pointed up. Everyone began to shout and scream as they feared the worse. "LET'S GO! WE CAN'T STAY HERE!" the tomboy screamed as she began to panic.
"WE CAN'T JUST LEAVE! WE CAN'T GET TO THE PRISONERS!" Duo cried as he went on fighting. "IT'S NOT GOING TO MATER IN ABOUT FIVE MINUTES! WE'LL ALL BE DEAD IF WE STAY HERE!" Sette shrieked. The people below continued to panic and scream as they began to fight the soldiers that held them. Only now did the OZ soldiers fire and kill those that approached them. A massive wave of terror ran on the Colony. The pilots on Peace Million watched with pale, frightened faces. Quatre was breathing heavily as he felt his Space Heart warn him of something horrible. "THEY'RE RIGHT!" he struggled to shout. "WE HAVE TO GO, NOW!" Catherine looked to the people below and bit her lip before lowering her head sadly. With that, she took off. Sette went off to aid Quatre in their escape.
"HILDE, RYAN! GET OUT HERE! YOU'RE COMING WITH US!" Heero screamed as he locked onto the monitor they stood before. Hilde and her husband held hands as the young woman replied quietly, "We're staying here. This is our home. You have to go and fight to win this war." "Hirde," Duo growled as huge tears were already present in his eyes. The sister answered sternly, "Get out of here. You don't have much time. Thanks for being the brother I never had, Duo. You and Heero take care of eachother." Ryan nodded, "We owe a lot to all of you after everything you've done." "Now go take care of OZ," his wife concluded as they turned their transmitter off.
"NO! I WON'T JUST LEAVE," the American cried as he looked to Wing Zero. Heero remained as calm as he could, but there was a note of concern on his voice, "We have to go, Duo." "YOU ONLY HAVE THREE MINUTES, GUYS!" Sette shouted as she, Delapan and Quatre watched from over the Colony. The Arabian felt tears in his eyes as he pleaded, "Please, Duo." Heero stayed calm as he said to his lover, "Duo, listen to me. Whatever you choose, I'll be right there with you. If you want to stay, I'm staying too." The American gasped as he looked to his love. "H-Heero," was all of could whisper hoarsely as more streams of tears rolled down. Hesitantly, he nodded, "Alright...Let's get out of here." Heero nodded as the two Gundams flew off together as fast as they could. The people continued to fight the soldiers as those closest to the OZ soldiers were cut by gunfire.
Just when Heero and Duo joined Sette, Quatre and Catherine, the Holocaust crashed a few hundred yards from the city. A spray of chemicals shot up as they spread like a white dome over the entire colony. Everything that the substance touched began to wither and crumble. All of the civilians fell to their knees as they began gasping for air and felt everything inside and out being eaten away. Under the city, Hilde and Ryan collapsed in pain as the chemicals seeped through the ground above them. The Gundam pilots, both in Peace Million and those in space watched in terror as every living person and thing began to die before their eyes.
Every pilot was shaken and frozen where they were, pale and wide-eyed. Milliardo whispered, "M-My God." Most of the Preventers and witnesses in Peace Million fell in their chairs on to their knees as they stared to the monitors. Relena almost collapsed, but was caught by her husband. She whispered, "This can't be happening." Sally and Wufei held hands along with Milliardo and Noin. Dorothy lowered herself to her knees, sick to her stomach. Trowa and Kumi remained frozen in shock as they looked to their screens. Catherine tore her eyes from looking to her monitors as she gasped and lowered her head. Quatre shook his head as tears continued to fall. Sette bit her lip and buried her face in her hands. Heero could only watch for a moment before his concern went to his lover. Duo just looked with an empty expression, but drenched by tears.
The OZ soldiers had been prepared as they brought special breathing gear for the explosion. Ryan held his dead wife and kissed her forehead. He was quickly fading as he struggled to climb to the huge generator's controls. He looked to the OZ soldiers that remained with their protective wear and said quietly, "You won't get away that easily." With his dying breath, he flipped a red switch, causing an explosion in the underground tunnels. The tubing brought about a chain explosion throughout L2. Duo whispered, "God, no. Please." Within a moment, the entire Colony was gone. The Preventers and Gundam pilots gasped and cried out at the Colony's destruction.
After a very long pause of complete silence, Heero fought the small tears that entered his eyes as he asked quietly, "Duo?" There was no response from the American. "Duo?" Heero called a bit louder. "C-Can we just go back now? Please?" the braided pilot pleaded quietly. Heero felt his heart breaking at his koi's voice. Kumi and Trowa lowered their heads sadly as they could only imaging what their friend was going through. Heero finally nodded, "Yea." With that, he lifted Deathscythe's right arm over Wing Zero's shoulder and aided his lover in returning to Peace Million.
* * * * * *
Back on Peace Million, the other Gundam pilots and their friends were in the hanger, watching their comrades return. Sette, Quatre and Catherine were the first to join all of them. Heero slowly got out of Wing Zero and walked to Deathscythe. His friends all watched in silence with heavy hearts as they looked to the quiet Gundam. Heero took a deep breath to get his composure before climbing to the cockpit. He pressed the latch that opened the cocoon. His lover was hunched over, face buried into his legs and shaking. Heero felt the small tears make their way again and managed to fight them, barely. He knelt before his lover and placed a gentle hand on the American's shoulder. His lover's head shot up with a gasp. Duo's reddened eyes were still pouring tears as he looked to the Wing pilot.
"Duo," Heero choked out in a whisper as he tried to find something to say. Duo threw himself into his lover as he wrapped his arms tightly around him. He sobbed with his face buried in Heero's chest. Heero closed his eyes and held his love close, stroking his back. He scooped his braided pilot into his arms and cradled him close. He managed to bring them to the ground and walked off with him. The pilots and their friends dried their eyes, hugged each other, but whatever they did, they never took their eyes from Heero and the pilot in his arms.
* * * * * *
The next day, on Colony L1, a memorial service was held for Colony L2 and all of the civilians there. Duo was the only one left now. Heero never left his side for a minute ever since the incident. They stood on the front of the massive crowd gathered before the large field where the plaque was placed in the memory of the souls lost. Their friends and comrades were to either side of them, everyone of them in black and very strained after the L2 incident.
When the Mass was over, Duo and Heero were the last to leave as they walked to the plaque that bore the hundreds of names of those killed. Duo placed the flowers that he brought with him before the memorial as he knelt before it. Thinking that his lover wanted this time alone, Heero sadly turned to give him a moment to himself. He stopped when the braided pilot grabbed his hand and held it tight. The Wing pilot looked to his partner, who was begging him to stay with his saddened eyes. Heero lowered himself to his knees next to him as they embraced.
Their friends watched from afar, in a thicket of trees. Sette and Kumi were behind trees that stood a bit apart as they looked to the couple. The princess dried her eyes as she whispered, "I-I never thought that they OZ would ever go as far as to use a Holocaust." Her friend replied as she growled, "Those bastards are going to pay, every last one of them." Quatre whispered, "Duo's lost so much in his life...I can't believe he has to go through this, too." Trowa said quietly, "At least he doesn't have to go through this alone. Heero will get him through this somehow." Relena and her husband were still close as they had an arm wrapped around each other. The queen asked, "How much of this are we going to have to take before it becomes too much?"
Catherine shook her head, "I can't take much more of this, that's for sure." Wufei looked to her and stated, "If you can't take it, give the right to pilot Slither to someone else." "Cut it out, Wufei," Dorothy intervened. "We're all shaken-up after what happened to L2." Milliardo and Noin were also close as they held hands. "It's been a long two days for all of you. Why don't you head back to Peace Million and get some rest?" Milliardo suggested with a deep sigh. The pilots all agreed that would be best as hey slowly walked to the ship.
Sally asked her friends, "How badly will this affect them when they fight OZ now?" Lady Une shook her head, "They're the only ones who have the answer to that." Noin lowered her head, "To think that OZ has actually reduced the value of human life enough to wipe a whole colony out the way they did...I never thought I would ever see them resort to such barbaric ways." She looked to the couple at the plaque as they stayed kneeling before the plaque, embracing. "These pilots still have had so much taken from them. I don't know how much more they can bare." Her husband wrapped a supportive arm around her and kissed her forehead. The four of them walked off to the ship together.
* * * * * *
That night, Heero and Duo sat in the bed silently. They were down to their boxers in the dimly lit room. Heero sat up with his back against the wall as he held the American against him. Duo was silent as ever as he had his arms around the Wing pilot's waist, listening to his partner's heartbeat. He looked off in a silent daze, not really seeing anything, just knowing that somehow, he was being protected. Something glittered a bit on his chest...Then he remembered...his cross that he always wore. Everything inside of him hurt and was screaming in agony. He soon felt a calloused, yet gentle hand stroke it's way through his loose hair. 'Heero,' he thought to himself as he closed his eyes.
The Wing pilot continued to stroke Duo's hair as he kissed his forehead. Just then, he felt something wet fall on his bare chest. He looked down to his lover's face to see streams of tears falling from his closed eyes. "Oh, Duo," he sighed sadly as he sat up more, pulling the American up with him so he could rock him gently. He rested his head on top of Duo's and kissed it several times before resting his cheek there. He heard the long-haired pilot sob and felt his body shake in his arms. Duo wrapped his arms around Heero as tight as he could.
Heero closed his eyes to fight back some tears of his own as he whispered, "It's so unfair, Duo." The American looked up to him as he held back the sobs. Heero dried his wet cheeks and whispered, "You've lost...so much in you life...I can't stand to see this happening to you." Tears began to fall from Duo's eyes as he looked to him. For the first time in two days, he spoke. In a small whisper, he said, "What happened on L2...It was meant to happen." Heero's eyes widened as he gave a confused and frustrated look. He shook his head and replied, "I used to believe that everything happens for a reason as well, but I can't after what happened...Not after all that's happened to you."
Duo sat up and looked to Heero with sad eyes. He sniffed and said faintly, "But I have to believe, that, Heero. I'll go crazy if I don't." Heero was struck speechless as he looked to his lover in awe. Duo lowered himself into the Wing pilot's embrace again as they held each other tightly. He felt Duo kiss his neck and looked down to him. "You amaze me," Heero whispered. "...You absolutely amaze me." Duo closed his eyes and pressed himself harder into his lover's chest. Heero lowered them so they lied on the mattress. He stroked Duo's hair again.
The Wing pilot just barely heard Duo whisper, "I'm so scared, Heero..." He looked down and saw the American rub small tears from his eyes. He began to shake again as he whispered, "I'm so scared." Heero pulled him up gently do they looked into eachother's eyes. "I'm right here, koibito," The Wing pilot whispered as he held his partner's waist. Duo bit his lip as a few more small tears escaped his eyes.
"I can't lose you," Duo whispered hoarsely. Heero felt a lump in his throat at these words and the look of fear in his lover's eyes. "I can't...I could never..." Unable to find the words to say, Duo just lowered his head and sobbed quietly. Heero instantly wrapped around him tightly. "Duo," he sighed deeply, feeling a small tear roll down his cheek. He wiped it from his face quickly and lifted Duo's chin gently so their eyes locked. "I'll die, Heero...I could never go on if anything happened to you...I just love you so much."
Heero kissed his tears away and whispered, "Shhhh. Ai shiteru, Duo. I always will." They looked to each other and Heero smiled, "Remember, I promised you I would never die on you. I never make a promise I don't intend to keep...You are my heart. I could never leave you." Duo felt his fears start to melt as he saw the conviction in his lover's eyes. He choked back a sob and gave a small smile. "...If we go, we go together," Heero said quietly, but sternly. "We go together," Duo nodded.
* * * * * *
That night, Lady Une walked to Lieutenant Keiser and said sternly, "We've waited long enough for that plan of yours." The young man looked to his in shock, "I-It's near completion, my lady." Une shook her head, "Three days...You have three days to complete that plan. Otherwise, I'll find someone else that'll do the job for you. We're taking the offensive before another week passes."
TBC