Purple Grass
A Gundam Wing Alternate Continuation
Version 1.1
June 6, 2001
Author's Note: This takes place roughly ten years after Endless Waltz and thus about eleven years after Heero and Relena first met.
Heero held the gun in front of his face, absently running his eyes over its lines. Some hacker/terrorist was attempting to drop this colony on earth. Heero had traced the hacker to the colony's control room, the bodies of the guards lying outside its doors being an obvious clue. He could hear a person furiously typing on the other side of the closed door. From the sounds, the intruder's fingers must have been flying over the keyboard. Heero narrowed his eyes, his mind working over the details. Whoever had done these guards was an expert; there was not a mark on the bodies, and no smell of gas. The guards' guns were still holstered as well; they'd never had a chance. Heero braced himself and stepped through the doorway, the large metal doors automatically swooshing open. The room was a standard control room, the brain of any colony. It had a large view port that looked out on the sea of stars just outside the glass.
"Hold it right there." Heero calmly
growled out, instantly aiming his gun at the lone figures back. Whoever he was,
he didn't even slow his typing. He turned his head slightly, giving Heero a
view of the person's facial profile. He was wearing shades, the bug-eyed kind
that wrap around the head, covering the eyes from the cheekbone to the eyebrow.
His hair was black, streaked with purple die. When he smiled, Heero saw that
several of his teeth were crooked. He was dress in a long black duster that
hung nearly to the ground, his brown, scuffed sneakers being the only other
article of clothing visible.
"About time you showed up. Heero the hero, come to save the world and life as we know it."
"I said stop."
"No, you said, 'Hold it right there.' I was paying attention."
Something about the man infuriated Heero in the same way Duo often got to him. "I want you to stop typing, now." Driving the point home, he pulled back the hammer. Hearing the click, the man stopped typing, half turning towards Heero with his hands in the air.
"Oh like I can compete with 'the perfect soldier.' Seriously though, we've got to be a step ahead of this hacker if we're going to win, and I was barely able to keep even with him as is. Get over here and start typing."
"I traced the hacker here."
"Well duh. Was the hacker going to let you trace him back to wherever he is?"
"…."
"Would you just get over here? If I was going to shoot you, you're faster on the draw, and if I'm telling the truth, you're burning time. Move your ass, soldier boy."
Heero moved to another console. "So who are we up against?"
"Not sure, but he likes using virii rather than standard hack and slash."
"Sounds like a friend of mine."
"Oh so what would this friend of yours do?"
"He'd be hiding behind a cloak. Then he'd attack with a cut deep into our defenses."
"Gotcha. Bumping up our defenses now."
Almost instantly a direct hack began on the main encryptions around the central core computer. The two continued working at it. Attack after attack was launched against the main computer, but between the two of them, Heero and the stranger held them off. The two worked so well together, that Heero began wondering if they'd met before. Each had anticipated the others moves during this cyber battle, compensating for one another and backing each other up.
"So tell me about this friend of yours. What's he like?"
"Short, brown hair, braided."
"Female?"
"No."
"Bummer. I like his style."
"Is all you think about sex?"
"No. I think about other stuff."
"Like what?"
"The self destruct that was just initiated for this control room."
"Humph." Heero kept typing. "He's locked me out. You?"
"I'm still in."
"Any ideas on how we are going to stop the hacker then?"
"We aren't going to do anything. You're going to get the hell out of here, and hit the emergency ejection button for this room, letting it explode harmlessly away from the colony."
"You're going to sacrifice yourself then?"
The older man smiled over at Heero, flashing a lopsided grin with the crooked teeth. "Yeah, well, someone needs to keep the hacker at bay. With this control room destroyed, the colony's stabilization thrusters will switch to its default backups, which have remained protected. Keep those defaults safe, and the colony will be fine."
"What about the hacker?"
"I'd be more worried about who hired the hacker than the hacker's actual identity. Now get out of here and give this room the boot."
Heero looked at the other man a moment. He desperately wanted to ask this man his name, someone who was willing to give his life for the colonies. Closing his eyes, Heero turned away, and left the room, the question still on his lips. Standing outside the room, he waited as long as possible before pulling the manual release, ejecting the room into space.
As it listed in space and the self-destruct counted down, the figure inside the room pulled the dark shades from his eyes, allowing them to drop to the floor. Blinking his eyes against the lights that were now fading, he looked out at the stars. His eyes were the same that Relena had fallen in love with more than two years ago. Eyes that any of the other Gundam pilots would have recognized as belonging to Heero. He absently pulled his false crooked teeth out, allowing them to fall beside his glasses.
"Sorry I couldn't stay longer, bro. Be seeing you around."
The explosion dazzled Heero's eyes.
Trowa's Voice: Heero and Duo try to live out their normal lives in a world that no longer needs them. But they are interrupted by a disturbing turn of events. A new leader of the colonies has sprung up, and is demanding that Relena step down from her office. As the death count rises, Heero and Duo are forced to make a decision, which could alter the future. Next time, On Gundam Wing, Purple Grass: "A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing".