Okay, sorry it took so long, ff.net's temporary incapacitation was no help either. Anyway, here it is- the conclusion.... dum dum dum dum......
I don't own Gundam or anything, so get off my case.
Angel Wings: Eyes of Cinders
It was dark, the boy knew this. He also knew it was cold. The small boy shielded his eyes as a door opened and light flooded in.
"Good morning, No. 145. Sleep well?" An old man asked. He always asked the boy this. The young boy shook his head. He always did. "I had a nightmare." He said quietly. The old man didn't seem bothered, or interested for that matter. "Well, today you start your training." The old man said.
The boy didn't know what training was, but he didn't like the way the old man grinned and flexed his mechanical hand.
"T-training?" The boy stuttered.
The old man nodded. "From now on you will answer me 'understood', 'explain', or 'acknowledged'."
The boy stared up at the old man. "Understood." He said. He got up from the floor and stood before the old man.
"Now, come with me." The old man turned and walked through the door. The boy followed. Three hours later the boy was screaming in agony as his pain threshold was being tested with a machine that electrocuted him.
"Hmmmm, not bad. 75%. That's the highest so far." The old man said, reading a piece of paper.
The boy looked at the old man, now known to him as 'Doctor J', through tear filled eyes.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!" He screamed as another wave of pain assaulted him. The boy wished the old man and the others with guns never found him. He had been in total pain since Doctor J told him the training was starting. Doctor J stopped the machine and faced the boy. "Now it is time to test your endurance. This will hurt also." He added when he saw the boy's fearful inquisitive eyes. The boy went limp at this news. A minute later he was running on a treadmill with two broken ankles. The boy wondered if he had done some awful sin to deserve this. Never in all his nine years had he hurt another living being. He strained his legs as he neared his second hour of running. The boy wanted the pain to stop, he wanted to go back to living on the street with the dogs, and he wanted to wake up from this nightmare.
Heero was dreaming again. He sat up with a start, and looked around. Still in the Sanq Kingdom. Heero looked at his bed, with frilly pink lace and white sheets. He sighed as he remembered he was in Relena's room. After their return to the Sanq Kingdom Relena insisted Heero was tired and ushered him up to her room and told him to rest there, and that was that. Heero figured Relena had stayed in another room in the mansion. He walked to the large dresser across from his bed and opened the first drawer. Socks. The next drawer housed some under clothes and socks. Heero pulled open the next drawer to find some white button up shirts and some socks. The last drawer revealed running shorts and more socks. //I wonder if she has enough socks. // He moved to the closet next, and found five pink school uniforms, a white ambassador's uniform and..... and Heero's old uniform. //How did she get this? I thought I ditched it in the forest. // He shrugged and grabbed a towel as he entered the bathroom to bathe.
"Like this?" Rushina asked and held up the small porcelain teacup.
Relena smiled. "Yes, exactly. Remember to always extend your pinky." Another smile when the ten-year-old complied.
From the immense hallway Duo watched, a small smirk graced his face. He could hardly contain his giggling, the sovereign of peace was teaching a little girl proper etiquette. He rested his hands behind his head and turned-........ right into Quatre, making the black clad boy jump.
"Duo, have you seen Heero?" Quatre asked.
Duo shrugged. "Like I'd know where that guy is. Have you checked anything that would ensure one's death? I'm sure he's there."
Quatre ignored Duo dry humor and resumed looking for Heero.
"So..... this goes....." Rushina placed a small fork on a napkin. "Here?"
"Yes. You have very good manners, Unlike those who eavesdrop." Relena said over her cup of tea. Duo sagged and retreated to the large hangar under the Sanq Kingdom palace. He looked up at Wing Zero and the dozen or so white Taurus'. Heero had Noin go back and get his precious mobile suit as soon as he got to the palace. Duo began to miss Deathscythe right then. He'd left it in a hangar somewhere in Venice and now he was going to have to go back and get it.
"Hey, Heero. I heard you stayed in Relena's room, she any good?" Duo called out to the darkness.
A wrench flew from a corner and missed Duo's unflinching head by mere inches. Duo whistled and turned to the source of the flying tool. "I'll take that as a no." He grinned again.
Heero dropped from the mechanics of Wing Zero and landed in front of Duo. "Get lost." He said and headed for the hangar exit. Duo noticed Heero had abandoned his tight shorts and was wearing a pair of school uniform pants.
"Come on, Heero. Why are you so bland whenever you're here?" Duo antagonized. Heero continued walking, feeling no need to answer the annoyance. Duo was yet undeterred. "I mean, if you made more friends, then you'd have more allies to help you in your time of need." Still no response. "Oh, I forgot. You never need help and you don't need any allies. You soldier guys are all alike." Duo caught up to Heero and walked along side of him.
"And suppose I need allies, how would I trust them?" Heero said suddenly, making Duo jump. "Well?" Heero was quite pleased. After all, it took something major to surprise Duo like that.
"Meet me here in four hours." Duo slapped Heero's hand and turned away. Heero stared at the faded and well-worn yellow sticky note that was stuck to the palm of his hand. There was an address written on it. "And better bring a change of clothes and some cash." Duo said as he retreated into the darkness of the hangar.
Heero walked through the door to a shabby apartment building. He looked at the address on the note, this was the place. Heero walked through the rotting door of apartment number 107, and immediately regretted it.
"Heero! Glad you could come." A man with long blonde hair greeted merrily. "Duo said you'd be by. Mentioned something about you wanting a free sample."
Heero stared, he noted the peeling wallpaper and the beer bottles scattered about. He felt a sinking in the pit of his stomach.
"What? Is Heero here already?" A muffled voice shouted from a closed door. The door flung open and Duo walked out tucking in his shirt. "Hey, Heero! Glad you came." He pushed Heero up to a woman- more like teenage girl- and smiled. "Meet Marian."
Heero's frown deepened and he started to turn away. "Not interested." He said. Duo smiled again as he stepped into Heero's way.
"Now, you can't leave without a sample, right Hiato?" He nodded to the blonde man. "Go on, at least give it a try." Duo grinned as he pushed Heero into the room with Marian.
"So. Heero is it?" She asked. Heero stared back, wondering why he didn't see this coming. "Come on...say something." She whined. Heero continued to stare.
"Heero not responding?" Duo called from the other room.
Marian nodded. "Yeah, he's just staring. I should be getting paid for this."
"Make the first move, he'll cave." Duo yelled back. Marian sighed and nodded. She turned to Heero.
"Look, I'm a working girl.... so I have to make this quick. Get your ass in gear or I'm outta here."
Heero was about to agree when she made the first move. Marian pushed Heero onto a ratty bed behind him and began stripping out of her already revealing clothes. It took everything Heero had to stop from forgetting his mission, the war, Relena, and just go with it. But Heero was a professional, and he had a mission. In a quick move he rolled Marian onto her back and pinned her arms above her head. That done he reached into his pocket and pulled free a length of cord.
"Ooh, a bad boy, huh?"
He was about to tie her up and make his escape through the window when he realized what he was doing could very likely be considered bad. And the look Marian was giving him through half-lidded eyes confirmed this. With a shake of his head Heero rolled off the bed and climbed onto the fire escape and dropped to the alley floor.
"It's been an hour, and not a peep." Hiato said amazed. "Either he's really bad at this or he's doing a good job of keeping her quite."
Duo smirked. "I bet he's keeping her quite. Heero always seems to be good at everything." Five minutes
later Duo knocked on the door. There was no answer, save the muffled yelps. "Yep....he's keeping her quite."
"Look," Hiato said, getting up. "this is taking way to long. Go get him." He nodded towards the room.
"Alright....." Duo whined. He flung the door open and stampeded in. "Heero! Time to.....uh...go?" The room was completely empty except for Marian, tied and gagged, but from the looks of it untouched.
"What the hell........" Duo noted the breeze that swept through the room. "Made a break for it, eh?"
Heero sat up quickly. He glanced at the clock next to him. //Eight o'clock!// He had never slept in in his life. He quietly started to get out of bed, when the huge oak doors swung open. Heero was expecting Relena's butler to tell him breakfast was ready, or Relena herself checking to see if he was okay. He closed his eyes as he yawned. When he opened them again his vision was filled with big green eyes.
"Rushina.....what is it?" He asked
Rushina smiled at him and held out a tray with some toast and orange juice. "Breakfast. I know you're hungry." She sat down on the edge of Heero's bed. "After the night you had." She added lecherously.
"Hnnnnn." Heero said not feeling up to explaining he had been set up by Duo. "Why are you up so early?"
Rushina shrugged. "I woke up when Duo ran into the wall this morning." She pointed to the hall. "Said he had someplace to be."
Heero looked up. "Did he tell you specifically?"
"Yeah. He said he was going to attack a train southwest of Siberia. Seems like a long way away." Rushina said taking a bite of Heero's uneaten toast. Heero knew where Duo meant. He was at the old boarding school he and Duo had stayed at before Heero self-detonated.
"I'll be gone for a few hours." Heero said and got out of the bed. Rushina gasped and blushed furiously as she hid her eyes.
"What?" Heero asked uninterested.
Rushina looked at her feet as she pointed at Heero. "Y-you're in your boxers!" She squealed. Heero sighed and pulled on his old school pants.
Heero set Wing Zero down in front of the ruined stone tower where he had saved Relena. Loose stones still littered the ground and the party tables remained turned over. //They must've abandoned the school.// Heero observed. Duo exited the cafeteria, some canned fruit in his right hand. His left hand carried a small black device. Duo looked up as if he just noticed Heero's huge mobile suit.
"Hey, guess you figured it out." Duo yelled.
Heero opened Zero's hatch and leapt to the ground. "What do you want?"
Duo took a bite of canned fruit. "You know, this place has enough canned goods to last a few weeks." He slurped the last of the fruit out of the can and stretched. "Oh yeah. Relena's going to Romefeller again, thought you'd want to escort her."
Heero nodded slightly. He had already planned on following her, but he was stumped as to why Duo had called him here.
"And you're little girlfriend will be lonely without you." He said looking at the charred remains of a battle ship in the bay. Heero swore to himself. He had completely forgotten about Rushina. She had only been around himself, Relena and.....Duo.
"I figured I'd lend a helping hand, seeing as you'll be busy." Duo kicked a small rock.
Heero nodded. "Fine."
"That's it? Just 'fine' and no thanks or anything?" Duo fumed.
Heero chuckled. "Consider us even for the 'ally' you showed me." He rode the cable back into Zero and started it up. Duo swore a couple times, he had hoped Heero would let him use Zero for a mission he was planning. From the looks of it now, he was going to have to use Noin's Taurus. Not a total loss, Quatre said they handled quite smoothly.
Three hours later a battered old Cessna came to an abrupt stop in the forests of the Sanq Kingdom. Duo climbed out of the cockpit and stumbled to the ground. "I think those fruit cups were spiked....." He turned and felt a pair of small arms wrap around his legs. "Ack!" He shouted as he lost his balance
"Duo! Where have you been?" Rushina asked as Duo fell onto his back. "Heero called Mister Winner and said you'd play with me until he got back."
Duo sighed. The last thing he wanted was to be a surrogate father. //So much for 'ditch the kid and go on with my mission'...// "Yeah...fun."
Duo flung open the main doors to the Peacecraft mansion and strutted in, taking time to swoon the maids. He had to find Quatre, then it was off to blowing up some OZ bastards. "Winner! Hey, Quatre!"
"He's in the concert hall." Peagan said as he carried a tray of food from Relena's office. "Master Yuy left a while ago after Miss Relena."
"Thanks. Winner, Winner...always with your violin. Need to learn some rock or something." Duo muttered.
"Hehe.... What are we gonna do with Mister Winner?" Rushina asked.
"It's a secret." Duo whispered as he strolled into the concert hall dancing jovially with Rushina along with the music.
"Duo! What are you doing here. Didn't you say you had a mis-" Duo's wide eyed panic stopped Quatre. "I mean. How are you doing?" Duo nodded gratefully.
"Look Quatre......can I talk to you?"
Quatre gave him a disdainful look and walked to the corner. "You aren't going to abandon her with me." he said sternly.
"Quatre! I'm appalled you'd even think I'd do something like that." Duo waved around comically, causing Rushina to giggle.
"Okay, then what about you're mission?" Quatre asked, crossing his arms.
Duo had to think this one over. "I'll take her into town and let her go somewhere amusing whilst I excuse myself for a briefness."
"Come on, Duo. Is the mission that important." Quatre said. "You see how she looks at you? I've only seen her that happy when she'd around Heero." He smiled at Duo's groan.
"Oh, thanks for that great comparison of me to Evil Kinevil." Duo rolled his eyes. "Well, I might run and hide, but I'll never tell a lie. So you got me. I won't abandon her." Quatre nodded approvingly.
"Ahem... Miss Genitoma..." Duo said formally "you have been invited to a screening of the best film that this place has to offer." Rushina giggled some more. "So find your best dress, Miss, and I'll escort you." He held out his arm for Rushina to take.
Quatre had to smile as Duo skipped playfully with the little girl. When he was gone he turned and put the violin back to his shoulder.
"That was quite heart warming, wasn't it Quatre Rebaba Winner." Quatre whirled around to the source of the voice. "I just missed Heero Yuy and Miss Relena, but I'm sure you'll show me around. I'm Dorothy Katalonia."
"What movie are we going to see?" Rushina asked as she swished the pink and white dress she'd borrowed from Relena's old room.
"The great master-piece from that old guy......you know the one." Duo said nonchalantly.
They reached the movie theatre and Duo fished some money he 'borrowed' from Quatre's room. "Two please."
The old guy behind the ticket counter looked down at the well-dressed little girl and from the looks of it, the minister. "Awful young for a holy man, sir. And she's awful young for a date." He said as he pulled two tickets from the slot.
"Don't tell anyone, but.....I'm actually fifty-three. Herbs from the promised land you know. And she's a very mature young woman." He nodded convincingly as Rushina giggled into her hand.
"Right. You two have fun." The old guy said and tipped his hat.
Heero maneuvered Zero high above Relena's plane. If anything was going to attempt to shoot it down, he'd be on them before they knew it. Three thousand more miles and they would be at they're destination. Heero mentally groaned. It was going to be a long uneventful flight. How wrong he was.
"Popcorn?" Duo asked pointing the huge bag of popcorn at Rushina, who was busy sucking down a liter of soda.
"Nah, I'm good." She resumed nursing the life out of the huge cup. Duo shrugged and popped a few more kernels into his mouth. //Five more minutes and I'm outta here. // He waited a little while longer before beginning to ease out of his seat. He was almost about to tiptoe away when Rushina took notice of his absence.
"Where are you going?" She asked.
Duo frowned. "The bathroom...I'll be back before you know it." He winced when he realized he'd lied twice since he told Quatre he didn't lie.
Duo made it out the back door of the theatre and broke into a run for the warehouse across the street where he'd hidden a Taurus an hour before. "I'm late. The carriers should be almost right over me." The Taurus stood up. "And now, the exit." Before Duo could leave discreetly a Virgo landed in front of the warehouses massive double doors. Duo's finger tightened on the trigger when a small pink form caught his eyes. "Rushina? Dammit!" The Virgo opened fire.
Heero hovered in the air as Relena's plane set down on a small tarmac in Romefeller. So far he'd nearly blasted a couple of geese out of the sky from sheer boredom. //This isn't like me. I need to concentrate. // He focused on the small blip that appeared on his radar. At first it seemed to be another passenger plane, but on closer inspection it was a small AWAC plane, headed south. "That's where the Sanq Kingdom is" Heero said as he saw Relena step from her plane. With a quick look to the west he confirmed eight mobile suit carriers headed after the AWAC plane. "They're up to something." Heero surmised. He decided to leave Relena on her own for a few hours and investigate. Weaving in and out of cloudbanks Heero tailed the nine planes. It wasn't long before they rendezvoused with ten other aircraft and continued headed in the direction of the Sanq Kingdom. Two hours later they were descending. "Going to land? In the middle of the forest? Ambush plan." Heero deduced.
Rushina looked up from her spot curled up on the warehouse floor. A giant metal hand covering her. "W-what?!
Duo rammed the beam cannon into the Virgo's camera lens and fired, blowing its head into non-existence. He brought the left hand up to the Taurus' cockpit hatch. "Get in!" He yelled at Rushina, who was cowering in the palm of the mech. "Hurry!" Rushina crawled into the cockpit just as the Virgo exploded. Duo took into the air and fired three shots into a receding carrier; each shot slicing cleanly through the bridge. The remaining Virgos targeted the Taurus and opened fire. Duo rolled the white suit upside down and fired a shot into the beam cannon the mobile doll carried, detonating its power supply. From the Taurus' calf Duo pulled a beam saber. "It's not a scythe, but it'll work." He hacked through the shoulder of the next Virgo and rammed the forearm fin into its back.
"That leaves two left." Duo turned the next Virgo's chest into a gaping hole with the beam cannon. The last mobile doll opened fire on the Taurus' back.
"Shit!" Duo dodged using every bit on maneuverability it had and flung the beam saber at the enemy. The green weapon arced through the air and carved into the Virgo's neck, cleaving its neck cleanly off. Duo sat in the cockpit panting. It had been a while since he piloted something that couldn't take a direct hit from a beam cannon. It was then he noticed the shivering body clutching him tightly. And the wetness seeping through his shirt.
"I-I'm sorry....." Rushina said. "I was...scared........and..."
Duo laughed. "Hey, no problem. How about we head back home. Heero should be back anytime.
The sky was filled with exploding mobile suits, Taurus', Virgos, Leos, Aires.... and Heero was on foot in the midst of it all.
"Rushina?!" He called out, desperate to keep the little girl safe. "Rushina?!" He tried again, his voice barely audible over the explosions.
"Heero?" She appeared behind him. "What are you doing here?" She was wearing a miniature version of Relena's old school dress and looking perfectly calm. A blast from above knocked Heero to his feet. He looked up as a demonic Wing Zero flew at them, covered in flames, it's armor peeling away under the heat, it's normal Gundam face a human skull. It drew a wicked beam scimitar from its shoulder and held it downward with both hands.
"Well, Heero? Aren't you going to save me? You said you protect me." Rushina asked in a tone of contempt.
" I am!" He ran at her, but his legs were no longer there, severed at the knee. "I'll protect you! You won't die!" He screamed before the demon Zero came down on her with the beam scimitar, her body melting away as the blade of pure energy reached her.
Heero sat up with a start. He looked around, still sitting in the forest watching the OZ mobile suit carriers, still nothing happening.
"Concentrate, Yuy." He said as he brought his attention to the gray aircraft in front of him. They did nothing, as they'd been doing for the past three hours. If this kept up he'd have to leave for the escort mission with Relena. He was starting the thrusters when the lead planes cargo door opened and a Virgo stepped out. The other planes followed it's lead. Heero frowned as they spread out around the forest.
The door to the Peacecraft mansion opened and a weary Heero walked silently in. In exactly four minutes Relena's plane would be landing. He looked through the slightly open door to Rushina's room and found her braiding Duo's hair.
"Heero! You back!" Rushina dropped Duo's hair and ran to greet him. Duo cursed under his breath and quickly finished the braid.
"Glad you didn't get shot to pieces like I almost did, man." He said and leaned against the wall. Heero shot him a look, a look Duo took as confused.
"You almost got shot down?" Heero asked. "I thought you were watching Rushina."
Duo choked, he hadn't meant to let Heero know about that fiasco. "Well....um...I....uh...Hey! I know....gotta get Deathscythe! " Duo called down the hall and hurried away.
"Heero, look at this!" Heero attention was brought to Rushina tugging at his leg. "Look what I found!" She held out a small locket with a picture of a member of the Peacecraft's executive cabinet. "It looks just like my mommy!" Heero took the locket and examined the photo. Indeed it did look like Rushina's mother, save for her dark hair. In small print in Latin were the words 'Genitoma-Savoir of Peace'
"Gimme it back! I wanna see!" Rushina jumped up and down trying to reach the locket. "Come on!" She whined.
"You want it?" Heero challenged. "Come and get it." He moved the locket from his left hand to his right as Rushina leapt at it. She recovered quickly and laughing, chased Heero around the large dining room.
"Gimme!" She giggled and skidded into a turn after Heero. Heero himself was laughing jovially and leaping over furniture to escape the little girl. She finally tackled him going up the stairs and pried at his hands, all the while laughing.
"Say cheese." A flash jolted Heero from the fun and he looked past Rushina to the foot of the stairs where Noin was standing with a freshly taken picture. "Here's a sight I thought I'd never see." She chuckled and gave the picture to Heero.
"Captain Noin!" An Imperial Guard soldier ran in and saluted. "We have multiple OZ carriers confirmed three miles south of the eighth defense border." He looked at Heero nervously. "And several mobile dolls moving through the forest.
"Right, get the others. Heero, you ready?" Noin asked. Heero nodded and took off to the hangars underground, Rushina following closely.
"Heero!" Rushina yelled as they reached the huge mobile suit. "Wait!" Heero stopped and turned around.
"What is it?" He asked.
Rushina stopped to catch her breath. "Who are you fighting? Why do you always say they are the enemy?"
Heero froze. He couldn't tell this little girl that OZ was the enemy, her father is- was a soldier. "These are the bad guys." He pointed to a monitor showing advancing Virgos. "They want to force people to follow them and their ideals. I'll stop them."
"Promise?" She held out her pinky.
Heero stared at the girl. "Promise. Now stay here, you'll be safe." With that he jumped into Zero's cockpit and turned toward the exit.
Sandrock pointed its beam machine gun at the forest and opened fire. As did forty Maganac suits.
"Try to barrage everything so they can't break through!" Quatre yelled. Noin and the other Taurus' let loose with their beam cannons too, blowing away a good deal of the forest and mobile dolls hiding there.
"Heero! Carriers coming in sea bound!" Duo shouted as he spotted the gray planes advancing from the ocean. He landed after the flight back from Venice. Heero nodded and fired three shots into the middle of the formation, taking out more than half of them.
"We have company! Platoon of Virgos coming in from the south! They're coming over the cliff!" A guard yelled before his Taurus was blown away.
"Hnnnnn, defense zone nine isn't responding." Zero turned towards the cliff side that encircled the Peacecraft mansion and saw at least a dozen Virgos open fire on the building. The beams sliced through the brick and wood and hit the bay in front of it.
"Rushina!" Heero yelled and engaged the Virgos head on.
Three seconds after the beams hit a gold plane took off from the hangar. Two seconds before that the building had exploded. Heero x-rayed the plane's interior; Relena and a girl he didn't know were there only passengers.
Rushina didn't know it, but a steel water pipe had saved her life. As the building above her exploded the basement hangar had caved in on itself, engulfed by the huge maw that was the mansion's power generator. She clung onto it like it was the secret to life. Unfortunately it wasn't the thickest or strongest pipe in the building, and it was beginning to bend.
Heero took out the first dozen Virgos easily, with them not expecting close combat. Zero had strafed them from not six meters above them, destroying the cliff in the process. Next he risked a glance down, the mansion was gone, charred ground proved that the explosion was very efficient. In it's place was a gaping hole, seemingly unending. Heero fired a shot at a trio of Virgos making a run on the Maganacs.
Rushina felt the pipe bend another few inches. "Heero!" She yelled at the light above her. "Help me!" An explosion rocked the shaft, sending debris raining down on Rushina. She covered her head with her spare arm and hung on for dear life. "Heero! Where are you Heero?!"
Heero sliced through a Virgo's head, and kicked it's chest, knocking it back into another cluster of them with the planet defensors up, exploding on impact of the energy field. "Quatre! Where are Relena and Rushina?" He yelled into the comm. He searched the ruins of the mansion.... nothing.
"I can't locate them. I've sent Rashid and Abdul to search through the rubble around the perimeter." Quatre's voice strained as he sliced the legs off three Virgos.
"Dammit!" Heero swung Wing Zero around and slashed through an attacking squad of Virgos, headed back towards the elevator that receded far underneath the Sanq Kingdom mansion. He flew over Duo, who was being circled by the enemy.
"Yo! Heero, some help here?" Duo's irritated voice came over the comlink.
Heero grunted as he swung low for a strafing run. He was almost upon the first Virgo when he noticed the shaft conductor shaft for the mansion's power supply. More specifically he noticed the bit of pink and white clinging feverishly to the side of it.
"Rushina!" He yelled and broke out of his dive, rolling onto his back and hurling the beam saber in his hand at the Virgo he was a second ago targeting. The saber dug into the Virgo's back up to the hilt, and by then Wing Zero was gone, screaming towards the power duct.
"Heero, above you!" Noin yelled, seeing a wave of Virgos descending upon Heero. She saw Zero pull up ninety degrees and draw it's second beam saber, slashing the lead Virgo at the same time.
Rushina whimpered as she felt the vibration of an explosion rock the pipe a few centimeters lower. She looked up and saw a rush of white feathers before a yellow explosion blinded her. "Heero......save me...." She whispered.
Heero slammed Zero's foot into the camera lens of the last Virgo in the wing that was attacking him; he found his bearing and turned south, heading towards the large gray shaft. The Zero system implanting images of Rushina falling down the duct and being impaled on jagged metal. He shook his head. //She's not going to die.... NOT going to die! // Heero spiraled upward, gaining altitude for a better look around him.
" Miss Noin! They have back up troops coming in from bearing oh-eighty-three!" Quatre yelled and turned Sandrock to face the mobile suit carriers. They dropped from the rear cargo door, and immediately opened fire on the black and white Gundam, knocking it on its back. "Arrrrrrrrg!" Quatre grunted and flung his heat shorter at the oncoming plane, slicing its wing clean off.
"I hear you, Quatre. But there isn't anything I can do, I have my hands full!" Noin blasted away the chest plate on a Virgo. "And I'm running out of ammo!" Her gun clicked dry and she threw it at an approaching Virgo, smashing its camera lens out.
The pipe bent down a few more inches, threatening to give way any second. Rushina screamed at the top of her lungs, hoping that Heero would hear her. "HEEEEROOOO!" She searched the sky for Zero, but instead found a demonic black suit slicing the arm off another black one. The arm fell rapidly towards the shaft, flaming and throwing shrapnel everywhere. It was seconds from hitting her when the first black suit dove from the sky and caught the arm and used it to beat the arm's owner's head in. A piece of the shrapnel scorched down the duct and buried itself into Rushina's chest. She almost let go from the shock, but her will to survive kept her iron death-grip locked tight on the ever-bending pipe. "Heero........." She murmured as red began to fill her vision.
Zero dove from the sky, slicing through mobile suits like they where made of tissue paper. He leveled out and impaled a Virgo's head on the end of Zero's saber, then rolled and dove towards the shaft. A Virgo above him fired at his back, but with a quick roll to the left, the shot missed. Heero watched in horror as the beam lanced down the length of the duct into its maw.
Rushina saw the beam coming through a haze of red. She knew it was the end, no way something that huge could miss her. She stared at it as the yellow blast blazed right past her, buffeting her with the shockwave as it pierced the power reactor. The explosion shook the whole duct as the cloud of dust swept past Rushina and formed a mushroom cloud above the shaft.
Heero twisted Wing around and fired his 100mm shoulder cannons at the Virgo, chewing its upper torso into shreds, before he kicked on the after burners and flung Zero at the fading blast. He grunted as the g-forces pushed him back into his seat, twisting his stomach and making his vision swim.
"Miss Noin! The power generator is going to explode!" Quatre yelled as he rammed the end of his heat shorter into the back of a Virgo.
"I know! With the amount of stored power that thing has, it's likely to go nuke!" Noin shouted and punched a Virgo's chest in, collapsing its reactor and causing it to explode. "We have to evacuate!"
Quatre searched the battlefield for Duo, who was in a ten on one fight with a squad of Virgos.
"Duo!" He called. "Can you hear me?"
Duo snarled and impaled the Virgo attacking him with his knee spike. " I read you, the reactor's gonna blow, right?" He let loose with a flurry of punches, using the forward wrist blades to penetrate the Virgo's armor.
"Yes, tell all the Sanq Kingdom Imperial guard soldiers to get out of here!" Quatre confirmed. He ducked as a Virgo attempted to vaporize Sandrock's head. "Rashid! Get out of here!"
Heero saw the reactor duct as it began to pulse with energy, it was going to explode any second. He flew straight at it, though, and annihilated anything in his way. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Noin, Quatre and Duo retreating, trying to get as far away from the impending blast as they could. Heero frowned and blasted onward, a few more meters.......
Rushina felt the vibrating of the reactor duct loosen her pipe, inch by inch it bent a little more. Through her swimming vision she saw an angel descend from the black sky. This was it, she was dying. White feathers surrounded her as more sub-explosions engulfed the shaft, tearing most of the walls apart. "Heero?" She whispered. A giant white hand reached for her. With her free hand, Rushina reached to take it.
Wing Zero's hand was mere feet from reaching Rushina when the pipe she was clinging to gave way, throwing the little girl into the void. Heero's eyes widened as Zero's night-vision sensors picked up Rushina, reaching skyward as she fell, reaching for her savior. Giving no second thought to his own safety, Heero opened Zero's hatch and dropped after Rushina. He flew past Wing Zero's foot and as he neared it, used the solid object to push off on, propelling him faster down into the blackness. A few seconds later he caught site of Rushina, still reaching up for him. He extended his hand as far as his arm out would allow and tried to grab her out stretched hand. Three more feet and he would have her.
Rushina was barely conscious as she dropped. She knew she was falling, and she was going to die. The angel had made that clear. Then her vision cleared momentarily and she saw a thin form nearing her. "Heero." She noted with almost disinterest. He came closer to her, hand ready to grab hers. "I get it.....Heero...he's an angel."
Two more feet and Heero would be hold of Rushina, tears streaming from his eyes as the wind buffeted them. He grunted and tried to become more aerodynamic, straining with everything he had to catch the small child. One more foot. Heero's eyes locked with Rushina's as they dropped. Her eyes were pleading for him to save her, and at the same time accepting that her time had come. Heero's eyes narrowed, no way he was going to let her die...... six more inches.
She was ready. She was ready for Heero to take her away, away from the pain all around her, the deafening explosions, the sharp pain in her chest, the heat from the ever-growing explosion seemingly just yards away. She hoped Heero would get there before she hit that, se didn't want to be charred to a crisp when she reached heaven. Three more inches. She looked into Heero's eyes again, he was determined to catch her. She smiled softly as his hand reached hers and he pulled her to him. Closing her eyes Rushina felt the weight of all things living begin to lift off of her.
Heero pulled Rushina as close as he could to her and grabbed a grappling gun from his back pocket. He aimed it at the ever-receding Wing Zero and fired, the magnetic clamp latching onto one of its feathers. Heero's descent stopped abruptly as the motor began winding him towards the sky. He spared a glance down, the reactor was dissolving, and the explosion would overtake them in less than a minute. Heero slung Rushina over his shoulder and began climbing up the cable that was attached to Zero's wing. He reached his Gundam and scaled up the front of it into the cockpit. Heero set Rushina down gently and turned to sit in the pilot's chair. As he turned he got a view of the white blast, climbing rapidly to the top of the duct. With seconds left to spare Heero abandoned starting Zero up and flying safely away, instead he slammed the hatch shut and braced himself.
Sandrock turned as the speck in the distance that was the Peacecraft mansion erupted in a huge dome of energy and began fanning out. "Everyone! Get down!" Quatre yelled as the shockwave over took them. In an instant Duo had Noin's lesser-armored Taurus surrounded by Deathscythe's active cloak, protecting her from the enormous explosion. Duo looked up as Sandrock flew past him, unable to stay erect in the wave of destruction. A look left and he saw the four remaining Imperial Guard Taurus' dissolving under the pressure.
Heero brought Zero's wings around its torso, hoping to block the blast. As the first wave overtook him he fired his verniers and righted the upside down mobile suit. Debris and other bits of shrapnel pounded the hull of Wing Zero relentlessly. Heero surmised that being in the middle of a nuclear explosion was like being in a dryer, with the water on full boil and full of metal bolts. The blast died as it was channeled into the shock wave, and Heero's suit plummeted towards the earth, and slammed into the soft, slightly charred ground. Heero ejected the hatch and pulled the limp Rushina from the smoking cockpit. Heero set her down on the ground, resting her head on his lap.
"Rushina?" He asked quietly. No response. "Rushina?!" He shouted with growing fear. Still nothing. Heero sagged. He looked at her face and saw that a soft, content smile was on her face. Her eyes were closed and her hand was interlocked with Heero's own. Heero recalled the nightmares he had and then broke down, sobbing over the still body.
"Get that loaded!" Noin shouted as several men hoisted a large container of supplies. " I want the survivors outta here by noon!" It was the day after the OZ attack on the Sanq Kingdom, and Noin was busy getting much needed medical help and food to the few survivors of the brutal invasion.
"Miss Noin, have you seen Heero?" Quatre asked after hefting a box of goods into a truck.
Noin turned around, she looked at the ground. "No. He must feel horrible."
"What about Wing Zero? Can you salvage it?" Quatre asked, standing beside her.
"Yes, we have our best engineers on it now." She pointed towards a crane pulling a blackened mobile suit out of the crater that was once the Peacecraft mansion.
"Good. I'll see if I can find him." Quatre turned to leave.
"Quatre, wait. I think he needs to be alone right now." She put her hand on his shoulder and turned him towards the camp of trucks and aircraft taking people and supplies out. "Help me out here, will you?" Quatre smiled and nodded.
Heero stared at the photograph in his hands. The boy in the picture seemed so happy, so care free, as did the little girl. Heero frowned more as he recalled the day that picture was taken, when she chased his around the mansion until Noin had stopped them.
"Hey, Heero? What are you doing here?" A voice asked from the darkness of the forest. Heero didn't bother to look up. If he did he'd seen Duo drop from a tree and land in front of him. "I asked a question, Heero."
The sun briefly filtered through the forest canopy before returning to the dark. Heero slid the photograph into his pocket.
"Well, are you going to answer me, or give me the silent treatment like usual?" Duo leaned against a tree and waited for his friend to give some sort of response. "Well, anyway. Noin's got your Gundam all fixed up, so you can take off whenever you want to." He looked around. "Go off and fight Zechs some more or something."
"I'm not going back." Heero said simply. He waited for Duo to act confused or make some rude noise, but only silence ensued. "I'm going to end it." He said as he dug a pistol from his pocket and held it up. Duo looked over uninterested and nodded.
"I see. Taking the wussy way out, I shoulda known that hanging around normal people would soften you up." Duo walked to stand over Heero. "So, you going to do it or you want me to?" He snatched the pistol from Heero's hand. Duo knew Heero could probably kill him if he really wanted the gun back, but he also knew that Heero was in no condition to fight. "Just ask I'll blow your head off right here." He cocked the gun and pointed it at Heero. "If you want I could tell Relena you were murdered by OZ guerrillas." He tightened his grip on the trigger. "Why am I so willing to shoot you? Go ahead, ask. I know you want to. Maybe I work with OZ or White Fang." Duo waited, but Heero said nothing. "Ask!" He jammed the gun into Heero's throat.
"W-wha" Heero gurgled, causing Duo to ram the gun further into his neck.
"Ask me, dammit!" Duo fumed, his cobalt eyes blazing.
Heero coughed some more and struggled to his feet. "W-why?" He finally asked.
"Because this isn't the Heero I know. You're just a pathetic imposter of the guy that could kick any one's ass from here to the L1 cluster. I looked to you as a mentor as well as a friend, man. Now look at you, someone dies and you go mushy. 'Oh, I better kill myself'. At least when you self-detonated you had a good reason!" With the last word he swung the gun a few inches to the left and fired a shot, grazing Heero's throat. Duo watched as Heero collapsed and curled into a ball. "Man, here's your damn gun back. Shoot yourself if you want, but remember. The rest of us will still be out there fighting." He tossed the gun onto the ground and walked away.
Heero stared at the smoking gun in front of him. Images of Duo helping him after they'd escaped the OZ hospital flooded his mind. Then more images came. Images of him and Trowa traveling so he could apologize for killing Marshal Noventa. Images of him and Quatre returning from the moon. Images of Wufie and him riding the shuttle to the lunar prison. Heero discovered right then, that no matter what, he was going to have to find the others. Divided the Gundams always failed, but when grouped, they were unstoppable. Heero sat up and pulled the picture from his pocket.
"Rushina....I couldn't protect you." He looked at the happy little girl. "I'll keep my promise."
Sally Po set the huge transport plane down in a relatively clear area. Ahead of her she saw explosions. "Must be a Gundam." She guessed. A little while later Wing Zero flew over her position.
"Heero!" She yelled. The mobile suit turned sharply upward and flew back to the plane and set down.
"Heero, can you hear me?" She asked again. The Gundam made no move. "We found Heavyarms, see?" The crew unloaded a huge mobile suit from the plane's aft cargo door. "We're going into space, how about you come with us." She motioned towards the atmospheric clearance shuttles lined up on a launch pad. Three bright spots appeared on the horizon.
"Enemies. I'll get them. You get outta here." Heero said and took off after the new enemies.
Sally nodded. "Right, get that thing loaded up!" The crew started loading Heavyarms onto the shuttle as Heero obliterated the few remaining OZ suits. He landed Zero inside the shuttle before it launched. He was headed for space, where the others where. After Heero felt the zero gravity set in he opened the hatch to the bridge and sat down with Sally.
"So, Heero. Why did you decide to come along?" Sally asked.
Heero stared out the window, in his hand a well-worn picture of himself and a little girl.
End
Well? What did you think of the second part? I know, I know.....I made this a semi darkfic, but I didn't want to leave this with a loose end. Had to do something about Rushina. Well, send all of your weapons of mass destruction, grocery coupons, hate mail, love letters and feedback to mathis478@hotmail.com, or use the ubiquitous review box below this.