Title: Silence and the Soldier Valued Gateway Client Normal Valued Gateway Client 4 935 2001-10-28T17:38:00Z 2001-10-28T17:38:00Z 2001-10-29T02:58:00Z 5 2169 12364 103 24 15183 9.3821

Title: Silence and the Soldier
Author: Satsuki Kitsune
Category: yaoi
Rating: PG-13… for now.
Pairings: 3+1 (more later, I think.)
Warnings: the usual… boys with boys…. if you have a problem with that, don't read.

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing characters and universe are the property of the copyright owners. Plus whatever is mine, is mine (which is little or nothing). I don't make any money….
Feedback: Any and all comments and feedback is welcome!!!!!!!!! Please!!
Notes: Hmm… now I'm going back to more of the series' plot… as Trowa and Heero track down the Noventas! Also, don't forget to read "I Am", cause that's the prequel to this ficcie!!!

Thanks to: Katty (Yup! I knew that as soon as I read Trowa's ep. Zero that I had to have Midii play a part in my fic! ); Citlaminna (*dances around* hee-hee!!! I have done it! I have made an incredible angsty fic into a cute one!! ); Anime Princess (*winces* I don't know about the ASAP part… because I've been a very lazy writer… Sorry to keep you waiting…); lizzy b (*snorts* Dr. Doolitle complex??!! Oh god…); angelhereal (More cuteness!!! But now, I get to go into the actual PLOT of the story… heh… and yes, it DOES have one.); Wildfire's Flame (ahh yess… the "evil man"… *laughs insanely* what shall I do about him…. Heheheh…); Nataku's Child (*sighs* everyone has to feel sorry for poor Midii… but I have a good ending for her in store…); grinsandgigglez (3x1… I don't see many of those, so I decided to actually write one. Go me!!); Katie (*bows* Yes, I do believe that the lion part was a pure and random *winks* stroke of genius… *giggles* Thanks for your review!); and Xan Samurai (Well, I read enough cliffhangers elsewhere, so I spend all my day trying to figure which bad place to leave off next… EXCEPT NOT… Thanks for the review… and sorry for… everything…)

          Yeah, yeah, I know… you're saying "GET ON WITH THE FIC ALREADY, SATSUKI!!!!" heheh…

The Wing pilot was in the lion's cage, sleeping with a content look on his face huddled against the leader. Trowa gave a small smile. He walked over and tapped Heero on the shoulder softly.

"Heero… Wake up… The show's over, time to go." Upon reflex, the Prussian-eyed boy jerked and sat up abruptly, breathing hard

"What? Where am I?" He asked groggily, forcing his weary body awake.

"You fell asleep in the lion's cage. They must like you, or else you would be ripped to shreds by now," Trowa responded coolly, helping Heero stand. "Come on… I have hurry and help Catherine pack up the trailer. We're leaving for Earth."

The news jolted Heero back into reality. Earth? Reality was where he wandered this world as a soulless spectre with a useless and wounded body, with Trowa at his side. Trowa… The pilot of Heavyarms had always been there at his side, searching when he was lost, healing when he was sick, and strong when he had collapsed.

'What will he mean to me in this war? I care… about him… But what will he mean when I take the risk of death in battle?' Heero thought. Trowa hooked one strong arm around him and helped the weaker boy to stand and walk towards the trailer.

"Trowa?"

"Yes?"

"Can I borrow your computer?"

"Sure," Trowa replied, no questions asked. They both knew that each had their own secrets and didn't dare to press into them. "But Catherine will probably try to make you get some rest…"

Disgust immediately appeared on Heero's face,

"I'd like to see her try…" he growled. Trowa said nothing, shaking his head with a slight look of amusement. That all faded when his hand brushed up upon Heero's still healing arm, and came back with blood. Heero let out a small, choked sound of pain and refused to look up at Trowa. They were already at the trailer, so the green-eyed pilot quickly ushered Heero inside and motioned for him to sit on the bed.

"What…?" Trowa trailed off softly, unwrapping the dirty, blood stained bandage. The broken skin from Heero's broken arm stared red and bleeding at him. In a flash, he administered antiseptic and began to slowly and gently wrap another clean bandage upon it.

Heero at the time had allowed the emotion of pain creep by his barriers. He winced at the slightest touch of even Trowa's light fingers when they worked nimbly on his arm. The only sound in the room was the sound of Heero's breathing as he tried to keep it under control.

"You still haven't answered me." Heero knew this tone of voice. It was soft and caring, but all the same demanded an answer.

The Wing pilot looked down at the floor, bangs shadowing his eyes,

"Nothing happened. I just rubbed it up against something," he stated flatly: a bold lie. But would Trowa fall for it? Would Trowa make him speak of the man who grabbed him roughly in his weakest state? Heero shuddered involuntarily and leaned back into the bed, his energy spent. He nearly jumped when the green-eyed pilot spoke again.

"Alright. I'm done fixing it, but for God's sake, be careful." He paused, "You still want that computer?" Heero nodded silently. Trowa turned and exited the room and before long, he was back with a laptop in his hands.

"Here," he said, setting it in Heero's lap. "Do what you want."

Instantly, Heero deft fingers began to type, hacking his way through databases of the net. He didn't even notice Trowa leave the room. It was if the mind of the soldier had clicked back on, with only one mission,

'Must find Silvia Noventa…'

"Trowa?" Catherine's voice's voice flooded into the trailer. "Trowa, are you there?"

"Yes."

"Oh, there you are. Thanks for helping me pack up the rest of the stuff." Cathy stepped in to find her brother sitting in the living area reading a book. She had changed out of her circus garb and was now wearing a pair of simple blue jeans and a light aquamarine top. Trowa looked up,

"No problem."  The girl suddenly gasped and let her hand fly to her mouth,

"Oh my god! Did you ever find Heero?! I was so busy with the show and all that I-"

"-I found him. He's in the other room," Trowa assured her emotionlessly, then stood. "I guess we should start driving to the transit center. I'll drive first." He walked to the front of the large trailer, got in the driver's seat, and started to drive. The rest of the circus, all packed up and ready, followed soon behind.

Heero's eyes darkened with fatigue. His eyelids refused to stay open and his vision blurred the words and numbers scrolling down the screen. Not to mention that the steady rumbling of the trailer beneath him had become a mantra of sleep, calling impossibly for his mind to give in and shut down for the night.

'What's wrong with me?' He had been asking this question of himself quite a lot lately. 'I should be able to pull this off through the night… Why is my body so weak?' Heero blinked hard, clearing the words yet again. The deep and dark pools widened at what they saw. He scanned the words underneath a simple picture of a light blond girl kneeling beside a grave, placing flowers upon it:

Silvia Noventa, granddaughter of the late Field Marshall Noventa, grieves with her grandmother, Iris Noventa, at the grave of her grandfather, a martyr of peace. It is said that the attack on the pacifists working for peace was…

That was all he needed to know. The rest was false truth covered up by the press. With a few clicks he had scanned the location, which was somewhere in Eastern Europe, and placed the necessary information on a document.

'I found her… Ninmu kanryou…' The Perfect Soldier leaned back in the bed and placed one arm at his side, but slowly and painfully brought the injured one up to his face. Heero let out a ragged breath as he clenched his fist and felt intense pain shoot up his arm. No doubt the tendons and bone had been severed and broken, and he would have to wait a while till he could use that arm fully again.

'It hurt like hell…' He thought with a small, dry laugh. Not of happiness, but of remorse and bitterness towards himself. He, himself, didn't really matter to the mission, but it all depended on his body and determination in fighting the war. The war was all that mattered… Simple soldiers didn't matter.

'And that is why I will give up my life. My life already belongs to the war and should belong in the hands of the ones whom I have wronged. That's right, isn't it?'

Heero's question was left unanswered as he suddenly drifted into the dream world, slumping forwards onto the laptop. The mask went away, leaving nothing but pure, unguarded innocence in the seemingly young boy whose wisdom surpassed more than just his mere fifteen years. So much for someone so young… It was the life of a soldier…

Trowa Barton allowed himself a small sigh of boredom as he still sat in the driver's seat. The trailer he and Cathy shared was sitting in the cargo-hold of a shuttle carrier, along with the rest of the circus trailers. He crossed his arms and let his head bow down a bit. Maybe he could get some sleep… No. He was too awake for that.

Leaving the engine running for the still-sleeping Catherine in the front seat, he hopped out and down off the large trailer. The holding area was rather large, for people with large vehicles, or for the poor who couldn't afford a seat in the public seating area. A pair of children dressed in poor clothing crossed his path to remind him of that fact.

The green-eyed pilot shoved his hands into his pockets and silently walked away from the trailer's spot. It was rather dark with dim lighting, and the atmosphere was poorly enhanced, but the gravity level, so he could tell that they were in space. Of course there were no windows, for if a fight broke out many would all be sucked out by the vacuum of space. It was so dark…

"I know what you are." Trowa stiffened. The hard, raspy voice was as it was right behind him. He moved to turn around and face the incomer.

"Don't move." A cold gun was pressed to the back of his head. "If you move I'll blow yer head into little bits, got it?"

"Who are you?" Trowa demanded calmly. His dark, even, green eyes stared straight into the wall before him as he stood still.

The ugly tone of voice changed to laugh hoarsely.

"I'm an ex-Oz officer… Who else would know that you were a Gundam pilot?" There was silence as Trowa refused to speak.

"Speak up, kid.  I can't wait all day for you to explain yerself. What are you doing here and how is that ghost of a pilot still alive? How can he still be alive?!… Answer me, boy!" The voice grew angrier when Trowa continued his silence.

'He knows about Heero… How?'

"How do you know?" Trowa asked, keeping his surprise in his mind and careful not to express it in his voice. A laugh sounded again,

"Ah, well… they had me court-marshaled a few months ago. But even then, I was briefed on the legendary Gundam pilots, who had mysteriously gotten through all our defenses. I know that you are two of them… And besides, you didn't deny it or anything." The man paused before speaking again, "And I know your pretty little friend there is Pilot 01. Its obvious."

Through the awkward and dangerous moment, Trowa stood stock-still, staring a hole into the wall. Thoughts raced through his head like racecars on a high-speed motorway. They all were of different concerns, for their cover being blown, his position as of now, and most of all, Heero's safety. Now if only he had brought his gun… 

The part about this man that the pilot of Heavyarms could not tell was what he looked like and exactly where he was from. Indeed, it was the same man from before, the one Heero had lied about. From behind, the jean-clad, powerfully built man held Trowa at gunpoint, demanding him to speak.

"Go get 01. Then we can chat." There was an audible noise as the safety of the gun was clicked off. "Do it, dammit! I'm not afraid to shoot you here and now! And even if I did, you would be dead and I would find 01 anyways, only to kill him as well."

'No. I will not. This pompous windbag of an Ozzie will not order me around.' 

The answer of silence only edged the slightly crazed older man to the brink. The sound of a gun, muffled by a strong silencer, was heard. Blood dripped down the side of Trowa's shoulder.

"I made the bullet graze you on purpose. That was just a warning… Now, do as you're told, boy."

          'Dammit… What am I going to do…?' Trowa took a deep breath and slowly turned around, wary of the gun now pressing in his face. He looked the dark haired, beady-eyed man in the face calmly, as if it were death in the cockpit of his gundam. It was all the same, one expression that was hardly an expression at all. He and the pilot of Wing Gundam were so much alike… and so different.

          "Now walk," he commanded Trowa. The gundam pilot ignored the throbbing pain in his shoulder and the sticky, wet substance that ran down it. Unnecessary pain that could be tolerated… There were more important things on his mind… He found his legs moving in the direction of the trailer… Wufei was right… He was weak.

          "This yer trailer, clown-boy?"

          Trowa nodded slowly. He didn't move. He knew Heero was in the small room in the back, and his sister sleeping soundly in the front seat. The two closest people to him were in danger… The pilot tensed his body, ready to jump the ex-Oz and tackle him down.

          "Don't even think about it." Before he knew it, the pilot of Heavyarms had a burly arm wrapped around his neck and the gun pressed hard to his temple. The man was opening the door and dragging him inside with him.

          The beady eyes took in the place: A small kitchen with a living area connected to two doors. They frowned in confusion as the door slammed behind them,

          "Freeze if you value your life." The voice was not the raspy tone of the officer, or Catherine's feminine one, but the low, emotionless tone of Heero Yuy.

          The boy-soldier stood in the doorway, holding one of Trowa's guns in his right hand. The Prussian depths ran over the strong man holding Trowa and flickered with odd recognition. Trowa saw it.

          "You know… him?" he asked quietly. The arm tightened around his neck.

          Heero didn't respond. Not that he wanted to anyways.

          "01," the man spat out. "Heh. Found you, eh? Or rather, you've found us… Couldn't resist the chance to save your partner, huh? I didn't think you were that stupid…

          "Hmm… It seems you've gotten better since the last time I saw you. You must be indestructible… surviving through self-destruction like that."

          "Quit your talking," Heero ground out, finger tightening on the trigger. "Let him go."

          It was only then that Heero met Trowa's eyes. 

Author's Note: ACK!!!! BAD place to leave off… But hey, I, the great and powerful writer have decided to end the chapter there. *sniffs* I worked really hard to make it longer than the rest of the chapters, so enjoy it! *puppy eyes* please tell me what you think, because I had major writer's block for a while… I actually couldn't write in this!!! Aiiiiigh!!! Anyways, enough of my ranting… More to come soon, and I hope that you guys don't have to wait as long this time… *laughs nervously* heh… heh…