The Greatest Loss

Part VIII: The Fight of the Century

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam wing. The story was written for enjoyment purposes

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The fight went on with fists, feet, and bodies flying around wildly. They heard a crunch as Zechs Merquise punched Heero's jaw, and again as Heero hit the floor. Zechs attacked, not allowing Heero to even move. He started punching him in the stomach and didn't let up until he saw Heero cough up blood. He took a step back and allowed Heero to get up. He got up and staggered as he took a step back. He wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand, the other holding his stomach. "Had enough?" Zechs asked mockingly.

"Not until you bleed!" Heero Yuy shouted the last part as he threw his arm into Zechs face. Zechs turned back to Heero to show the damage. He spit out some blood, along with a tooth. They both stood in silence as they took in what they had done so far. Faces bloodied and bruised, cut and swelling. Clothes, ripped and torn, dyed a deep red from dripping blood. They stood straight and readied themselves for the next round.

Relena objected. "Stop fighting! Milliardo! Heero! Knock it off!" She yelled at them.

"Yeah, I'll knock his head off!" anger growing eminent in his voice, Zechs hurled himself at Heero and they both fell to the floor.

"KICK HIM IN THE NUTS! HEERO! KICK HIM IN THE NUTS!" Duo Maxwell chanted, thrusting his arms up and down for emphasis on the words. "KICK HIM IN THE NUTS! KICK HIM IN THE NUTS!"

"Will someone please shut him up?" Milliardo shouted as he continued his struggle with Heero. No one did anything to fulfill the man's request and Duo continued his chants, yells and catcalls. Sensing that nothing would be done, Zechs took matters into his own hands once again and hurled Heero at Duo knocking him over and silencing him.

"Ow, sonofabitch. That hurt you dumb fuck!" Duo yelled at Zechs as he was beginning to stand now that Heero had gotten off of him.

Heero lunged at Zechs knocking him off his feet. The battle continued for another 20 minutes or so, until Heero punched Zechs hard in the stomach, and jumped to his feet, standing a good six feet from the now standing Zechs. WuFei and Trowa jumped Zechs while Duo and Quatre jumped Heero, Noin jumped in too; the two guys couldn't quite handle Heero. The fight was stopped and Relena stood between them now. He looked first to her brother, then to Heero, then back to her brother. "Milliardo," she started, but came to a loss of words. She turned to look at Heero, but took a double take when she looked out the window. Her eyes went wide and everyone loosened their grips in confusion. Heero was the first to pull away, Zechs right after, and both ran over to Relena's side, all this happened in a matter of seconds.

"What's wrong?" her brother asked, not taking his time first to look out the window as Heero had and already pulled his gun and was aimed at the window; he stepped in front of Relena to shield her body with his. Zech's gaze went to Heero and then to the window. He too, then pulled his gun and the others joined him, pulling their guns, all focused at the same target. "How the hell did Gibson get here? Where is security? Someone go check it out!" The others all ran off to cover the different posts to see what went wrong and where.

"It's too late to worry about that now, Zechs," Heero chided as the others left, but none heard in their hurries.

"Oh shut up you jackass!" he shouted as he turned his attention, and gun, towards Heero.

Gibson took this opportunity to charge towards the window, pulling out his gun, and firing as he leaped through the window. Through sounds of shattering glass and Relena's scream, you could hear the sound of two gunshots going off. Two bodies fell to the floor. Relena stood still, in front of her stood David Gibson.

The others split up raced to the guards' posts to see what had caused the fail in security. They all found their answers as soon as they entered the posts. The bodies of the guards lay in crumpled piles on the floor surrounded by their own blood. They had not been shot, but brutally mutilated such horrid ways that the sight was hard to look at for even a short while. Some had been slashed through the throat and now drenched in blood; some had been stabbed repeatedly, even after death; some had been cut across the belly, their insides now on the out. One in particular stood out from the others-Chris. He had been hung over a beam in one of the posts. His throat was slashed, and his arms broken in numerous places. He had no doubt been tortured before he was hung and slashed. They others feared the worst for their friends back in the living room. After rejoining outside the main post, all but Duo headed back to the living room.

Duo had searched the post where Chris was found. He felt sick, and had to step out of the room- the stench of death and blood too great. As he was recovering, he heard the gunshots and darted as fast as his legs could carry him. He reached the living room, the sight before him overwhelming.

Duo ran into the room and watched as Gibson grabbed Relena and pulled her to him and held the gun to her head. Relena screamed again and Duo took a second to look around the room at the damage that had been done, both Zechs and Heero lay on the floor near each other in a pool of blood. Oh God no, he thought. He looked at Gibson and the struggling Relena. "I can't believe you people thought that I wouldn't get my beloved back. You obviously don't understand that her and I were meant to be together. He," he motioned to Heero, " has taken her from me once, he paid his price for that and his betrayal to me. The other one, Chris, is also dead." He tightened his grip around Relena as she tried once again to get away. "You try that again and you'll be dead, bitch!" he shouted in Relena's ear, which only resulted in a wince from her.

The others finally came to the room, stopping in the doorway. They scanned the room and saw Heero and Zechs on the floor, and Relena in Gibson's clutches. Duo gave them a quick look and nodded as if confirming their presence. "Woah, hold on a minute. First of all, if you kill her, I'm gonna kill you. And second, if you kill her, you won't be able to be with her now will you?" Duo questioned, turning his attention back to Gibson. 'Trying to get him to spare Relena's life may be easier than I thought. This guy is a total nut!'

He could see Gibson looking down, debating with himself. He looked over to Heero and Zechs, and he watched silently as Heero raised himself to one knee and aimed his gun at Gibson. He gave a steady look to Duo, who nodded softly in return. He checked Relena out with his eyes to see if she had been injured. She hadn't but he noticed Gibson had a shot wound in his left leg, near Heero. He got Heero's gaze and motioned for him to look towards Gibson's leg. Heero knew he hadn't missed. Duo wanted to be sure about Relena so, silently, he asked, "Hey Relena, you ok?" She nodded back to him. "Ok, just do one thing quick okay?" he mouthed out to her so he wouldn't call Gibson's attention. She gave him a small smile to show she was willing. He nodded, and then mimicked his movements from during the fight. "Kick him in the nuts!" he mouthed. She understood and jerked forward slightly, Gibson momentarily lost his grip and Relena brought her foot up behind her and nailed him dead on, she fell forward and Duo caught her. The others ran in as Gibson doubled over in pain. Heero fired his gun and Gibson fell to the floor in a heap with a loud thud. Relena lurched from Duo's arms to Heero. She started crying as she stayed kneeling, with Heero next to her brother. Zechs had been shot in the chest, his heart pierced, and now dead. Heero wrapped his arms around her and held her to him as she cried for her brother, for him, and for all that happened.

The funeral for Zechs was held five days later. Heero, Relena, Noin, Quatre, WuFei, Duo and Trowa all attended and were pretty much the only ones there, save a couple of close family friends such as Pagan. The service was wonderful; Milliardo would have liked it, Relena thought. It has been a week now since the funeral, and Relena has been hidden away in her room. Noin has been solitaire also, but at least she still eats. The pilots roam around the house, grieving in their own ways. Remembering old battles and how brave and strong Zechs was. Heero realized that Zechs wasn't that bad, to others. He still hated Heero, but for why will never be known now. He was glad, though, that he got to have one last good fight with the man.

Today seemed sadder than other days, everyone seemed gloomy and depressed. The whole day so far had been silent and no one had spoken, not even at lunch. It was around six-thirty that evening that Heero decided to go check on Relena, whom he hadn't seen for over twenty-four hours now. He walked to her door and knocked softly. He heard a muffled 'go away' and smiled slightly as he thought, well at least she's still alive. He knocked again and another muffled 'go away' was heard. He knocked one last time; this time accompanied it with an "It's me, Heero." Inside the room, Relena sighed in relief. Good, I wanted to see Heero, she thought. She couldn't find the strength to get out of bed and go to the door so she called for him to come in. he opened the door and let his eyes adjust to the darkness of the room. He stepped in and closed the door. "You okay Relena?" he asked as he walked over to her bed. She rolled over off her side and onto her back and sat up shakily as she looked at Heero. He saw her and his face softened. She seemed so ghostly, her skin was so pale, and she seemed so thin. "You hungry?" She shook her head no. "Well, I'm sorry that you're not hungry, but I'm taking you downstairs anyways," he said matter-of-factly. She smiled sadly looked down at the floor. Heero came over and sat on the edge of the bed.

"How are your ribs?" she asked, referring to when Zechs and he fought.

"Huh? Oh, fine. I've had worse," he said proudly.

She smiled softly as she looked at his eyes. "Do I really look that bad?" she asked, sensing the origin of the sadness in his eyes. He couldn't find a way to nicely say that she looked like the undead so he turned his face away and nodded slowly. "Oh. Well, I don't feel that bad I guess because you look like shit, too." He let out a small laugh. His face had healed well in the last week, his stitches were still there, but the little cuts and swelling had diminished. She smiled, as did he, at her comment.

"Well, I suppose looking like your alive and semi-well is better than looking like the undead, ne?" he said, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. He saw her blush, "well now we know that you're not dead. You actually look a little more fleshy." This caused her cheeks to turn a deeper shade of red. "And, as long as you're alive, you should eat so you stay that way, " he commented, trying to persuade her to come eat with him and the others.

"I'll eat, but only if I can make it downstairs," she said softly.

Heero smirked. "I'll help you." She smiled her thanks and he pulled her up off the bed. He led her out of the room and downstairs, catching her when she was about to fall more than once.

They all gathered around the table and some talked about little things, asking how people where, and Duo who tried to lighten things up a bit made a crack about Heero's face which ended up in a chase around the house, finally ending when Heero caught Duo in the hallway outside the dinning room. The others had gathered in the doorway to watch. "Take it back," Heero commanded.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry Heero! I take it back! Now let me up!" Duo pleaded and grabbed his side when Heero removed his knee that was lodged in Duo's side.

They all went back to the table, a little more lively now, and made small talk about things. They talked about Gibson's Gundam, Nombre, and that it had gone missing from the base, they talked about Chris, and a little about Milliardo. But their discussion came back to the Gundam Nombre. "If we don't have our Gundams anymore, what will we do if this Gundam becomes a threat to us?" Quatre asked.

"Maybe we could create another Gundam to fight it?" Noin suggested. " I mean, after Heero disappeared, you destroyed your Gundams for a second time."

"Why not one for each of you?" Relena commented, which received strange glances from the others.

"Why are you agreeing with us? If we make Gundams, won't we be causing a problem? We could even end up starting another war," WuFei chided.

"But we have to stop it don't we? I mean if it becomes a threat. And if we only have one Gundam, what if it gets destroyed? Then we'll be fucked, we'll have no reinforcements and you all know how long it takes to create a Gundam anyway," Relena said, challenging WuFei at first.

Everyone was silent, until Heero spoke up on the matter. "Destroying our Gundams may not have been a good idea, but I'm the only one who had the right idea." Every one gave him either a questioning or confused look. He continued, "Although Wing Zero was practically destroyed when I blew open Mariemaya's base, it wasn't as bad as your guys' were. After I left, I salvaged Zero, and rebuilt it, as you probably all know. But I still have it, hidden away, ready for if it's needed."

"Heero!" the shout came from a few, in anger, astonishment, and disbelief. "How could you pose that threat to the peace between, between everyone?" Relena asked him. She looked hurt.

Heero gave a funny look at her for her sudden change of heart about the Gundams. "Just after the Mariemaya incident was over, I had already heard about this Gibson guy. I thought that it would be best to keep Wing Zero around for a while after this war was over."

"Heero," it was Trowa. "Have you made modifications to Wing Zero?"

"Yeah, I have. Stronger than ever now."

"Hey, then that means you could go destroy Gibson's Gundam as soon as we find it right, Heero?" Quatre asked. Heero nodded. "You may not need any help from us if Wing Zero is more powerful than before, considering it was the most powerful Gundam ever made."

"True, true."

"Hey! That reminds me! Anybody want a beer?" Duo asked. "Besides me?" They all complied, except for Quatre, who asked for a wine cooler.

"I'll be right back," Duo went to the kitchen, and came back with six beers and a wine cooler. "Enjoy!"

"Okay, back on track now. Heero, where is Wing Zero?" WuFei asked.

"Out back." They all looked at each other, trying to decipher Heero's words.

"Out back? You mean in the back yard out back?" Quatre asked.

Heero nodded, "Well, somewhat yeah."

They all stood up, save Heero and Relena, and went outside to find Wing Zero. After they all left Relena asked, "Heero, is it really outside?"

Heero nodded, "Well, outside and underground."

"In the old hangar where Milliardo used to keep suits sometimes?"

"Yeah, do they know about that?" she shook her head no. "Better go show them before they blow a nut." He took Relena's hand and pulled her up from the chair. He led her outside to where the others where.

"Heero! Where the hell is it?" Duo shouted to him. Heero walked over to a small building that could in no way hold a Gundam, and opened a control box that opened up the hangar. The ground shook and everyone ran over to where Heero was. The ground opened and revealed the hangar's location.

"Oh, down there." Noin, realizing how stupid she felt that she had forgotten the hangar, had said.

"Everyone, the new and improved, Wing Gundam Zero."

Angel Yuy