Neko-Chan: *Looks dazed* Working to much... The beach... Must go out... *Jumps out of the nearest window*
T. K.: Neko-Chan! Get back here! Figures. Muses always run off when you need them most. That's okay, I'll get a new one. *Looks around her room and reaches for her phone* Heero's a little OOC in this story but you have to remember he has put his past behind him and is no longer the 'Perfect Soldier'. If you see /these/ around a word, it means it emphasized. ~These~ mean flashbacks. *These* are for names during thoughts and letters.
T.K.: Translations: Okiru: Get up. Oi: Hey; Konnichiwa: Hello. If you didn't know the last two you've never read fan fiction before and arigato (thank you) for letting my story be your first. I hope it doesn't permanatly scar you. See first chapter for a good laugh as well as the disclaimer.
______
The door to Heero's holding cell opened. "Okiru," a gruff voice said. The dim lights in the hall silhouetted a male figure.
"Hnnn." Heero rose to a standing position and walked towards the doorway, obviously favoring his left leg. Hearing handcuffs clink, Heero presented his arms and felt the cold steel close around them.
The man laughed. "What, you're not going to fight back?" Heero got a clear look at the guard. He had shaved black hair that seemed too short for his round, chubby face. Soulless brown eyes stared out at him from hollowed pits. His crooked, yellow teeth showed when he spoke. His belly hung over his belt. His right hand was missing the middle finger and the left one its ring and pinky. "... Kill you if you fought back," the man was saying as Heero realized he was speaking.
"Hnnn," Heero growled.
The man looked at Heero. "Is that all you can say?" A smile completely without humor crossed the man's face. "We'll see how long you stay this silent." Seizing Heero's arm in a crushing grip he hauled him down the corridor.
______
Ayame sat behind a wooden desk, the hum from the computer filling the room. Flipping a page she tapped something into the computer and then read through the other side of the page, occasionally circling an important bit of information with a pencil. Zechs paced the floor like a caged animal. "Enough, Zechs," Ayame said calmly, eyes never leaving the papers in front of her. "You're either going to walk a hole in the rug or in the soles of your expensive Italian shoes."
"Ayame, you're a civilian now," Zechs said standing in front of the desk. "You can't do this; I don't even know why Une offered you this job."
Ayame sighed and flipped another piece of paper over. "You know as well as I do; short of a Gundam Pilot, I am the best at stealth missions. I have broken into more places than I can remember. You know that's the only reason I was kept in OZ anyway."
She was right. He knew it, but he wasn't about to admit it. At least not to her. Zechs shook his head. "You know as soon as Lu gets here, she's going to object to this. And then she's going to tell Une about you and Yuy. /You/ /can't/ /do/ /this/. Besides, you heard what Une said, 'No Preventer back up'."
Ayame looked Zechs in the eye. "I need to do this," she said, her voice on the verge of pleading. "I feel completely useless... sitting in that apartment day after goddamned day. Just waiting for the call that says... that says Heero's been killed." Zechs had no response to that... he knew that feeling. He was sure Noin knew that feeling as well. Without another word Zechs started pacing again and Ayame typed something into the computer.
______
Heero was cold. Actually, he was more like freezing. Heero had been outside what appeared to be an old Alliance military base for half an hour and the snow had started to fall adding to the foot or more that was already on the ground. It had been snowing on and off since they had been outside and the sun had long since set.
Heero would have tried to escape but a pair a leg shackles had been placed on him no sooner than he had stepped outside. Shivering slightly, he wished he'd worn more clothes, his tank top and jeans just not cutting it. A scowl had settled over his face and his jaw was clenched in anger but also to keep his teeth from chattering. In front of him the guard burrowed deeper into his snow parka.
"Cold enough for you?" A voice asked, taunting him from behind. The voice belonged to a man who spoke with an American accent even though he was talking in Japanese. "Don't you know to look at someone when they speak to you?" Heero's back stiffened as he felt warm fingers on his shoulder but he refused to face the mocker. "You are so very rude. Isn't he Dwight?" The man asked Heero's guard in English.
"Yes, Sir, he is," Dwight said with the barest stammer; Heero wonder if it was from the cold or the fear.
The man chuckled. He knew what respect his underlings held him in. He spoke again in English, "Go inside and get warmed up, Dwight. And send someone in your place." Heero heard the metal door open and then slam shut as a hard wind swept across the Siberian Tundra. The man said in Japanese, "They are afraid of me. You surely must have noticed his hands, Gundam Pilot Heero Yuy. I took those fingers." The man laughed maniacally and stepped in to view. "My name is William Verhelst," he said. Looking at him, Heero realized Verhelst was probably only a few years older than he was. 6'2" and well built, Verhelst looked like he should have been a football player. His dirty blond hair was cut short and gelled down; his brown eyes held intelligence but was unstable at the same time.
"Well, you already seem to know who I am," Heero said in a monotone.
Verhelst looked at Heero. "Hai." Verhelst glanced at the door behind Heero. "I have a feeling the other pilots are out here somewhere. Well, at least three of them. I was disappointed that Duo Maxwell wasn't going to make it out here. But that was my fault. I should have known that the Preventers would have contacted you and your friends to protect that peace-loving wench. It was entirely her fault. But then again, this whole situation is her fault."
Heero was confused at the statement. "How is this her fault?"
"If it wasn't for her, we wouldn't be standing here. My father would be alive right now," Verhelst said. "If she hadn't disbanded the Romefeller Foundation, my father would have gained his position on council and kept his mind! Then he would have never killed himself and tried to take my dear mother with him. No, she didn't die... Father just took her mind with him to Hell!"
Heero was speechless for a few seconds at the outburst. "There was no one left in the Romefeller Foundation. They were all killed!" Heero pointedly explained.
Verhelst's eyes narrowed in anger; he backhanded Heero into the snow. "No! There were representatives who stayed on Earth. They were the smart ones. They knew what would happen."
Heero looked up from the snow but didn't attempt to get back on his feet. "Then why didn't they fight to keep Romefeller together?" The question earned Heero a swift kick in the stomach.
"Who would want to stand up to someone as powerful as a Peacecraft," Verhelst fairly spat. "All that girl would have had to do was call her precious friends the Gundam Pilots and the Preventers... and POOF the threat would be eradicated." The metal door to the prison opened and closed quietly and Verhelst looked up. "Ah, April. My dear, would you please show our guest back to his room?"
______
Ayame's butt was going numb as she sat in the empty office. Zechs had left the room to pace in the hall as well as wait for Noin. Ayame stared blankly at the computer screen waiting for a few emails from old friends of hers. The computer toned and Ayame quickly clicked the envelope icon that had popped up on screen, effectively shutting it up.
'To: Suisei ASuisei@excite.com
From: Adams BAdams@hotmail.com
Subject: Re: Information.'
'Suisei,' the letter started. 'Well, I'll be damned. I know you're in a hurry, so I'll tell you what I know and what I've heard.
'First, the people you're looking into aren't of the White Fang operation. It's a group of people looking to reorganize Romefeller, and they're ready, very willing, and not to mention more than able to start a war for their /cause/. It looks like White Fang because they're after a lot of the same people, you know, the ones that let pacifism take over earth and space. There are at least two-hundred-thousand soldiers and more than half of them are trained MS pilots from the Alliance and the evil twin of the Treize Faction,' the letter said, Adams referring to the part of OZ that had stayed loyal to the Romefeller Foundation. 'A few of the former Romies,' Romies had been the name a friend had come up with to further insult the foundation, 'have also started donating to a group called *The Aristocrats of Tomorrow*. It is /supposed/ to teach their future generations about the war and how not to let history repeat itself, or the cover up of our little group. Another thing, the name of this not-so-small army is *The Sable Wolfs*. Jesus, The Sable Wolfs? Ah-HAHAHA!!! ...Sorry. But while I'm on the subject of laughable, guess who is among the ranks of The Sable Wolfs... that's right --- my dear sister. God how could April do this?
'And brace yourself, Suisei, I'm not the only one with a traitorous sibling.'
"Bill?" Ayame asked herself before continuing.
'That's right, our very own William Verhelst is not only fighting for The Sable Wolfs but leading them. That's one Hell of an older brother you got there Ayame. Bill has relocated his band of not-so-merry men to a more northern part of Siberia. Longitude-150°, Latitude-86°. You can thank our good friend Sgt. Alan Reed for this information.'
"How did Alan Reed know where Bill was?" Ayame asked herself. Alan Reed was an old Alliance member who Ayame had met in China. She was there on a fact finding mission for Zechs; he was assigned to the local base and had been ordered to 'show her around'.
'Ayame, be careful if you pursue this... I don't need to lose anymore friends to the Gundam Pilots. Even if you are in love with this one. Oh, by the way... if he ever hurts or gets you hurt, I will kill him. Got me?
'Love Ya,
Brandy Adams'
Ayame stood up and stretched. 'This is gonna be tough,' she thought to herself. 'Battles, brothers, and boyfriends, oh my.'
______
Down the hall Zechs stepped out of the doors to the elevators as they opened. "Zechs," Noin said as she stepped out behind him, "are you sure that we are going to let her do this? For Christ's sakes she only nineteen; she isn't even a Preventer! She hasn't been part of an operation this scale since she was under your command."
"Lu, I know that this goes against every protocol, but Une's got her mind made up. She wants Ayame to do this and there is no chance in Hell that she's going to change her mind." Zechs sighed. "And besides," he said, his voice dropping to a confidential level, "Ayame's the best OZ ever had."
Noin glared at her husband. "Do you know when she wants to get started?"
Zechs shook his head and started walking. "She hasn't officially accepted this mission yet."
"But you know it's not really a question of if but when," she said.
"I know." Zechs sighed. "We could back her up," he suggested.
Noin rolled her eyes. "We'd just slow her down. She moves so quickly we'd just get left behind."
"Who wouldn't?" Zechs asked with a thin laugh.
"A Gundam Pilot," Noin said thoughtfully.
"We're all busy," a new voice deadpanned.
"Trowa!" Noin exclaimed with a jump as the tallest pilot walked up to them.
Zechs looked over Trowa's shoulder at the elevator. "I used the stairs," Trowa said catching Zechs' train of thought. "Now, what's this about Ayame going on a mission? And why would she need back up?"
"She's being an idiot!" Noin stated.
"Lu," Zechs growled in warning.
Noin continued, "Une contacted her today. She's going on a mission to rescue Heero."
Trowa arched his eyebrow. "What wrong with that? I've read her OZ personnel record; she was good. She isn't Duo, but she's close," he said nonchalantly.
Zechs' mouth was set in a grimace but his eyes lit up. 'Damn,' he thought in amazement. 'Ayame has Trowa's approval.'
"She may have /been/ good, but now she's a civilian," Noin said still doubting Ayame's chances for success. "And how did you get a hold of those records?" she asked taking Trowa, catching him off guard.
"I don't think it matters," Trowa said, undaunted by Noin's skepticism, "but training like she received is never truly forgotten. Still, if you think she shouldn't go alone, we remaining pilots will draw straws or something. Could you two take over with Relena; Quatre and I will go to the hospital and tell Duo and Wufei about Ayame. Since I'm already here, I want to talk to her and see how she feels about it."
"Why are you here?" Zechs asked as he started walking towards the office where Ayame was.
"I came to get Wufei's chess set," Trowa said. "Duo's going stir crazy at the hospital. He has too much energy to sleep."
Noin let out a small laugh. "So Wufei's going to bore him into unconsciousness?"
"You've played chess with Wufei, I see," Trowa said.
"Yeah, I almost fell asleep before we started," Noin said. Zechs turned into the office where Ayame was.
"Oi," Ayame said; she had received another email while he was gone. This one was from an old academy friend named Justin Wulff. It wasn't that much different from Brandy's letter, saying pretty much the same thing --- a few more names of members and a little more info on the 'Aristocrats of Tomorrow'. She had also just gotten off the phone with Une.
Ayame looked up and said, "Konnichiwa, Trowa... Noin. I suppose you've been told about what I'm going to do. And now it's official; I called Une and told her." Zechs and Noin scowled; Trowa looked impassive. Ayame ignored the couple's scowls and continued on, "I also have bad news and more bad news. Which do you want to here first?" Noin, Zechs, and Trowa exchanged glances and collectively sighed.
T. K.: Neko-Chan! Get back here! Figures. Muses always run off when you need them most. That's okay, I'll get a new one. *Looks around her room and reaches for her phone* Heero's a little OOC in this story but you have to remember he has put his past behind him and is no longer the 'Perfect Soldier'. If you see /these/ around a word, it means it emphasized. ~These~ mean flashbacks. *These* are for names during thoughts and letters.
T.K.: Translations: Okiru: Get up. Oi: Hey; Konnichiwa: Hello. If you didn't know the last two you've never read fan fiction before and arigato (thank you) for letting my story be your first. I hope it doesn't permanatly scar you. See first chapter for a good laugh as well as the disclaimer.
______
The door to Heero's holding cell opened. "Okiru," a gruff voice said. The dim lights in the hall silhouetted a male figure.
"Hnnn." Heero rose to a standing position and walked towards the doorway, obviously favoring his left leg. Hearing handcuffs clink, Heero presented his arms and felt the cold steel close around them.
The man laughed. "What, you're not going to fight back?" Heero got a clear look at the guard. He had shaved black hair that seemed too short for his round, chubby face. Soulless brown eyes stared out at him from hollowed pits. His crooked, yellow teeth showed when he spoke. His belly hung over his belt. His right hand was missing the middle finger and the left one its ring and pinky. "... Kill you if you fought back," the man was saying as Heero realized he was speaking.
"Hnnn," Heero growled.
The man looked at Heero. "Is that all you can say?" A smile completely without humor crossed the man's face. "We'll see how long you stay this silent." Seizing Heero's arm in a crushing grip he hauled him down the corridor.
______
Ayame sat behind a wooden desk, the hum from the computer filling the room. Flipping a page she tapped something into the computer and then read through the other side of the page, occasionally circling an important bit of information with a pencil. Zechs paced the floor like a caged animal. "Enough, Zechs," Ayame said calmly, eyes never leaving the papers in front of her. "You're either going to walk a hole in the rug or in the soles of your expensive Italian shoes."
"Ayame, you're a civilian now," Zechs said standing in front of the desk. "You can't do this; I don't even know why Une offered you this job."
Ayame sighed and flipped another piece of paper over. "You know as well as I do; short of a Gundam Pilot, I am the best at stealth missions. I have broken into more places than I can remember. You know that's the only reason I was kept in OZ anyway."
She was right. He knew it, but he wasn't about to admit it. At least not to her. Zechs shook his head. "You know as soon as Lu gets here, she's going to object to this. And then she's going to tell Une about you and Yuy. /You/ /can't/ /do/ /this/. Besides, you heard what Une said, 'No Preventer back up'."
Ayame looked Zechs in the eye. "I need to do this," she said, her voice on the verge of pleading. "I feel completely useless... sitting in that apartment day after goddamned day. Just waiting for the call that says... that says Heero's been killed." Zechs had no response to that... he knew that feeling. He was sure Noin knew that feeling as well. Without another word Zechs started pacing again and Ayame typed something into the computer.
______
Heero was cold. Actually, he was more like freezing. Heero had been outside what appeared to be an old Alliance military base for half an hour and the snow had started to fall adding to the foot or more that was already on the ground. It had been snowing on and off since they had been outside and the sun had long since set.
Heero would have tried to escape but a pair a leg shackles had been placed on him no sooner than he had stepped outside. Shivering slightly, he wished he'd worn more clothes, his tank top and jeans just not cutting it. A scowl had settled over his face and his jaw was clenched in anger but also to keep his teeth from chattering. In front of him the guard burrowed deeper into his snow parka.
"Cold enough for you?" A voice asked, taunting him from behind. The voice belonged to a man who spoke with an American accent even though he was talking in Japanese. "Don't you know to look at someone when they speak to you?" Heero's back stiffened as he felt warm fingers on his shoulder but he refused to face the mocker. "You are so very rude. Isn't he Dwight?" The man asked Heero's guard in English.
"Yes, Sir, he is," Dwight said with the barest stammer; Heero wonder if it was from the cold or the fear.
The man chuckled. He knew what respect his underlings held him in. He spoke again in English, "Go inside and get warmed up, Dwight. And send someone in your place." Heero heard the metal door open and then slam shut as a hard wind swept across the Siberian Tundra. The man said in Japanese, "They are afraid of me. You surely must have noticed his hands, Gundam Pilot Heero Yuy. I took those fingers." The man laughed maniacally and stepped in to view. "My name is William Verhelst," he said. Looking at him, Heero realized Verhelst was probably only a few years older than he was. 6'2" and well built, Verhelst looked like he should have been a football player. His dirty blond hair was cut short and gelled down; his brown eyes held intelligence but was unstable at the same time.
"Well, you already seem to know who I am," Heero said in a monotone.
Verhelst looked at Heero. "Hai." Verhelst glanced at the door behind Heero. "I have a feeling the other pilots are out here somewhere. Well, at least three of them. I was disappointed that Duo Maxwell wasn't going to make it out here. But that was my fault. I should have known that the Preventers would have contacted you and your friends to protect that peace-loving wench. It was entirely her fault. But then again, this whole situation is her fault."
Heero was confused at the statement. "How is this her fault?"
"If it wasn't for her, we wouldn't be standing here. My father would be alive right now," Verhelst said. "If she hadn't disbanded the Romefeller Foundation, my father would have gained his position on council and kept his mind! Then he would have never killed himself and tried to take my dear mother with him. No, she didn't die... Father just took her mind with him to Hell!"
Heero was speechless for a few seconds at the outburst. "There was no one left in the Romefeller Foundation. They were all killed!" Heero pointedly explained.
Verhelst's eyes narrowed in anger; he backhanded Heero into the snow. "No! There were representatives who stayed on Earth. They were the smart ones. They knew what would happen."
Heero looked up from the snow but didn't attempt to get back on his feet. "Then why didn't they fight to keep Romefeller together?" The question earned Heero a swift kick in the stomach.
"Who would want to stand up to someone as powerful as a Peacecraft," Verhelst fairly spat. "All that girl would have had to do was call her precious friends the Gundam Pilots and the Preventers... and POOF the threat would be eradicated." The metal door to the prison opened and closed quietly and Verhelst looked up. "Ah, April. My dear, would you please show our guest back to his room?"
______
Ayame's butt was going numb as she sat in the empty office. Zechs had left the room to pace in the hall as well as wait for Noin. Ayame stared blankly at the computer screen waiting for a few emails from old friends of hers. The computer toned and Ayame quickly clicked the envelope icon that had popped up on screen, effectively shutting it up.
'To: Suisei ASuisei@excite.com
From: Adams BAdams@hotmail.com
Subject: Re: Information.'
'Suisei,' the letter started. 'Well, I'll be damned. I know you're in a hurry, so I'll tell you what I know and what I've heard.
'First, the people you're looking into aren't of the White Fang operation. It's a group of people looking to reorganize Romefeller, and they're ready, very willing, and not to mention more than able to start a war for their /cause/. It looks like White Fang because they're after a lot of the same people, you know, the ones that let pacifism take over earth and space. There are at least two-hundred-thousand soldiers and more than half of them are trained MS pilots from the Alliance and the evil twin of the Treize Faction,' the letter said, Adams referring to the part of OZ that had stayed loyal to the Romefeller Foundation. 'A few of the former Romies,' Romies had been the name a friend had come up with to further insult the foundation, 'have also started donating to a group called *The Aristocrats of Tomorrow*. It is /supposed/ to teach their future generations about the war and how not to let history repeat itself, or the cover up of our little group. Another thing, the name of this not-so-small army is *The Sable Wolfs*. Jesus, The Sable Wolfs? Ah-HAHAHA!!! ...Sorry. But while I'm on the subject of laughable, guess who is among the ranks of The Sable Wolfs... that's right --- my dear sister. God how could April do this?
'And brace yourself, Suisei, I'm not the only one with a traitorous sibling.'
"Bill?" Ayame asked herself before continuing.
'That's right, our very own William Verhelst is not only fighting for The Sable Wolfs but leading them. That's one Hell of an older brother you got there Ayame. Bill has relocated his band of not-so-merry men to a more northern part of Siberia. Longitude-150°, Latitude-86°. You can thank our good friend Sgt. Alan Reed for this information.'
"How did Alan Reed know where Bill was?" Ayame asked herself. Alan Reed was an old Alliance member who Ayame had met in China. She was there on a fact finding mission for Zechs; he was assigned to the local base and had been ordered to 'show her around'.
'Ayame, be careful if you pursue this... I don't need to lose anymore friends to the Gundam Pilots. Even if you are in love with this one. Oh, by the way... if he ever hurts or gets you hurt, I will kill him. Got me?
'Love Ya,
Brandy Adams'
Ayame stood up and stretched. 'This is gonna be tough,' she thought to herself. 'Battles, brothers, and boyfriends, oh my.'
______
Down the hall Zechs stepped out of the doors to the elevators as they opened. "Zechs," Noin said as she stepped out behind him, "are you sure that we are going to let her do this? For Christ's sakes she only nineteen; she isn't even a Preventer! She hasn't been part of an operation this scale since she was under your command."
"Lu, I know that this goes against every protocol, but Une's got her mind made up. She wants Ayame to do this and there is no chance in Hell that she's going to change her mind." Zechs sighed. "And besides," he said, his voice dropping to a confidential level, "Ayame's the best OZ ever had."
Noin glared at her husband. "Do you know when she wants to get started?"
Zechs shook his head and started walking. "She hasn't officially accepted this mission yet."
"But you know it's not really a question of if but when," she said.
"I know." Zechs sighed. "We could back her up," he suggested.
Noin rolled her eyes. "We'd just slow her down. She moves so quickly we'd just get left behind."
"Who wouldn't?" Zechs asked with a thin laugh.
"A Gundam Pilot," Noin said thoughtfully.
"We're all busy," a new voice deadpanned.
"Trowa!" Noin exclaimed with a jump as the tallest pilot walked up to them.
Zechs looked over Trowa's shoulder at the elevator. "I used the stairs," Trowa said catching Zechs' train of thought. "Now, what's this about Ayame going on a mission? And why would she need back up?"
"She's being an idiot!" Noin stated.
"Lu," Zechs growled in warning.
Noin continued, "Une contacted her today. She's going on a mission to rescue Heero."
Trowa arched his eyebrow. "What wrong with that? I've read her OZ personnel record; she was good. She isn't Duo, but she's close," he said nonchalantly.
Zechs' mouth was set in a grimace but his eyes lit up. 'Damn,' he thought in amazement. 'Ayame has Trowa's approval.'
"She may have /been/ good, but now she's a civilian," Noin said still doubting Ayame's chances for success. "And how did you get a hold of those records?" she asked taking Trowa, catching him off guard.
"I don't think it matters," Trowa said, undaunted by Noin's skepticism, "but training like she received is never truly forgotten. Still, if you think she shouldn't go alone, we remaining pilots will draw straws or something. Could you two take over with Relena; Quatre and I will go to the hospital and tell Duo and Wufei about Ayame. Since I'm already here, I want to talk to her and see how she feels about it."
"Why are you here?" Zechs asked as he started walking towards the office where Ayame was.
"I came to get Wufei's chess set," Trowa said. "Duo's going stir crazy at the hospital. He has too much energy to sleep."
Noin let out a small laugh. "So Wufei's going to bore him into unconsciousness?"
"You've played chess with Wufei, I see," Trowa said.
"Yeah, I almost fell asleep before we started," Noin said. Zechs turned into the office where Ayame was.
"Oi," Ayame said; she had received another email while he was gone. This one was from an old academy friend named Justin Wulff. It wasn't that much different from Brandy's letter, saying pretty much the same thing --- a few more names of members and a little more info on the 'Aristocrats of Tomorrow'. She had also just gotten off the phone with Une.
Ayame looked up and said, "Konnichiwa, Trowa... Noin. I suppose you've been told about what I'm going to do. And now it's official; I called Une and told her." Zechs and Noin scowled; Trowa looked impassive. Ayame ignored the couple's scowls and continued on, "I also have bad news and more bad news. Which do you want to here first?" Noin, Zechs, and Trowa exchanged glances and collectively sighed.
