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owned by people other than me, who must be disgustingly rich by now. But
anything after EW is mine! Don't steal my stuff please! I claim possession
of Xiran, Six, Saze and 57. And yeah, my chapters seem to just be on a
downward spiral lately…my laziness has finally caught up with me. Sorry
about that…Anyway, I worked hard on this chapter and I hope you enjoy it.
(And it's not as long as some other chapters! Yesss! ^^) Please give me
feedback! I really need it, especially after what goes on in this chap! And
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CHAPTER NINE: FACES OF SCARS
"Quatre!"
Trowa's green eyes were more wide than Duo had ever seen them. The relentless static over the earphones was as meaningless and numb as his mind. His one thought was, Not Quatre…
Trowa looked ready to wheel his motorcycle back around and burn rubber in the direction of Quatre's van. Heero yelled, "Wait!"
Trowa barely heard. Wufei, in a move Duo wouldn't have expected of the Chinese boy, moved parallel to Trowa's bike and laid a hand on his arm. "No."
Trowa's green eyes flared. Duo was sincerely glad he was not Wufei. He had never seen Trowa look that way.
Wufei shook his head, his brown eyes hard. "We can't go back for him now! What he was telling us to run from is probably right on our tails. If we go back now we throw away our chance at getting out of here."
Trowa's face had gone back to its normal state of blankness. He stared unflinchingly back at Wufei.
Duo blurted out, "Have faith in him Trowa!"
Trowa turned his eyes to him. For a moment Duo quailed, and then he glared at the green eyed boy. "You know he'd never let us down, Trowa." Their eyes locked as the streets flew by around them. Trowa nodded slowly. "I know."
They heard the sound before they saw the source of it. A huge booming roar that shook the night air. Orange light flared, followed by the tinkle of broken glass. The pilots all turned to look behind them.
The explosion and the thick black smoke was reflected in the glass panes of the buildings around the Gahlfman Center. They could hear the hollow roaring of fire.
Duo thought numbly, That wasn't the Center itself…that was a block down the street.
…That was where the van was parked.
[Saze]
"We are in pursuit of the pilots. It is certain that it is them. They have taken a side street away from the Center and are currently on motorcycles. Strike team A-5 is following on cars and motorcycles. The position of the rest of the men is Red 416."
"And the security at Gahlfman?"
"We have no confirmation of how many were killed, sir. The human security forces are moving out of the front of the building and are planning to cut the pilots off. That leaves them right in our hands."
"Excellent work, 21. Or should I call you Saze?" Saze could hear the leer in his voice. He kept his own voice calm.
"Call me whatever you wish, sir."
His superior chuckled. "Saze, then, because that's what she always called you."
Saze ignored a rush of anger. "Affermative."
Outside, there was a loud boom. Someone came up and quickly reported.
"Sir, a van parked down the street has been exterminated."
"For what purpose?"
"Unknown."
"Send half of Platoon Six after the pilots as well."
"Sir, Platoon Six is far below the caliber of A-5."
"Are you challenging me, 21?"
Saze's gold eyes flared for a moment. "No, Commander 57."
"Do as you were ordered."
"Yes, sir."
"Keep me informed." He heard the signal die.
Saze turned away from his men for a moment. The pilots were more formidable than 57 thought. Saze knew not to underestimate them. 57 was deliberately sending ten men to their deaths.
Saze's face remained impassive, but his thoughts were not of a calm sort. Six, he thought suddenly, you were never like him.
When he had been removed from his position of teaching the young hybrid, he had hoped Six would stop her rebellious ways. He had hoped that she would get a teacher who she could respect, because she had gradually lost her respect for him. But somehow, 57 had been assigned. 57. A male only four years older than her and an old fellow classmate. He had not thought that it was a good idea for Arcon to do this, just as he didn't think 57 should send Platoon Six.
But it was not his position to question orders.
[Trowa]
He barely heard the explosion. He only saw it, saw the bright, destructive flame. His mind thought, Quatre. It didn't seem to compute. Quatre…Explosion. Quatre…Destruction. Quatre…Dead. No.
Barely even thinking about it, he activated his communicator, ignoring the static.
"Quatre!"
Static.
There was nothing he could do. Numbly, he focused with all his power on the road ahead.
The static roared on, unnoticed, in his ear.
"Tr…a…"
"Trowa!"
Disbelievingly, he said, "Quatre?"
"I'm okay…" Another burst of static.
"What happened?"
"…I blew up the van as a distraction. Is everyone ok?"
"Yes. Where will you be in five minutes?"
"I'll be at the street corner of Greenwood Avenue and Wheelan."
Trowa paused. "Be careful, Quatre."
Static hummed in his ear. "…Thanks, Trowa."
[Heero]
"They're on our tails!" Duo yelled.
He turned.
Down the street and coming fast were the dark cars and motorcycles of the hybrids.
He shouted above the rush of wind, "Xi, will they shoot at us on a public street?"
Before she could speak several bullets ricocheted off the pavement ten feet behind them. Heero accelerated.
"Apparently so."
"Duo, Trowa, go get Quatre! Rejoin the main road at Sandy Peaks Ave!"
They nodded and peeled out. Heero smiled to himself viciously. He thought, now it's time to play.
Wufei took the lead as the hybrid motorcycles advanced. They pulled off a sharp turn and zoomed down a sidestreet. The streetlights flashed by above them like a slow frequency strobe.
With a screech of rubber they did a near ninety degree turn and accelerated up an alley, narrowly avoiding several dumpsters.
"Lost the cars!" Xi reported behind him. Then she swore. "Shit! Go go go! They're pulling out the heavy artillery!" Heero glanced behind. His mouth went dry. The car blocked at the entrance to the alley was equipped with something that looked like a bazooka. If they hadn't pulled down this alley, some bystanders would definitely have paid the price. The hybrid motorcycles were roaring behind them and closing the distance. Xiran pulled out her gun and twisted, trying to shoot at them. She fired off several rounds but missed. She cursed again. "Can't get a good shot off that way!"
Heero focused hard on the road ahead. Wufei squealed out into the main street. There was a blare of a horn as they pulled into the street. Headlights glared in Heero's vision. One way street! And they were going the wrong way!
Heero quickly steered into the sidewalk. Behind him, he heard the chatter of an automatic weapon. He swerved to avoid some pedestrians, a two young women holding hands.
"Don't they care about collateral damage?" He yelled to Xiran. She shook her head, her hair blowing in her face. "No. They'll hit them and they won't give a damn." She paused and said right in his ear, "They'd say, they're only human."
Heero gritted his teeth and moved back into the line of traffic. The bellow of a huge Mack truck caused him to jerk the bike hard and skid onto the shoulder. The hybrids opened fire again. Xiran made a sound of irritation. She said, "Just keep your eyes on the road, Heero. I'll take care of them."
He was about to say, what? When she moved and slid between the handlebars and his arms. His surprise must have shown on his face. She cracked a smile and said, "The road, Heero!"
He did as he was told. She continued shifting until she was facing him, straddling the bike in the opposite direction. Then she moved until she was pressed close, and he felt her arms come up behind his back. She peered over his shoulder and gripped her gun. The sound of gunfire exploded into the night.
Heero thought, Duo is going to have a field day with this…
[Duo]
Sandy Peaks. The main road out onto the desert hardpack. With Quatre on the back of Trowa's motorcycle, they were almost home free. If they could hold off the hybrids for another five kilometers, they would be in range of reinforcements.
With Trowa and Quatre in the lead, he cut off a side street and onto Sandy Peaks. They were 50 meters up from Heero and Wufei's headlights and the glare almost obscured them from view. They were pushing the bikes pretty hard.
A posse of about fifteen hybrids was hot on their tails.
Duo smiled to himself. 'This chase isn't about skill…it's about how good you are at finding good transportation. And I'm gonna bet those blackmarket bikes are way better than the ones the Preventers use. I guess this means we'll have to play this Shinigami style. And the first rule of my game is: there are no rules.' Duo reached into his backpack and drew out two high powered grenades. Both had an adjustable delay. Duo grinned.
He tossed one, and then the other over his shoulder, aiming very precisely. He heard the metal hit the pavement, heard them skitter.
He didn't have long to wait.
BOOM!
Two loud explosions roared over the desert, one right after the other. The fireballs sent motorcycles and hybrids flying. When the blaze of light and smoke cleared, the hybrid group consisted of five.
Duo turned back to the road in satisfaction.
'Ah, I love my work.'
He reduced his speed and fell back, for a moment parallel with Heero's bike. He turned to say something to his friend and stopped. Duo almost did a double take.
1 What the hell?
Heero's grey eyes flashed to his, his expression as controlled as ever. Duo sighed inwardly.
'Trust the Hee-man not to have any reaction when there's a hot girl straddling him. I mean really, what's he gonna say when he finally gets laid? Mission, accepted?' Then Duo recognized the look in his eyes that said: I am extremely uncomfortable with this current situation.
Duo grinned and motioned for Heero to move ahead to the front. Xiran shook her head. She shouted, "Hold steady!"
With a sudden roar, something exploded in the air ten feet behind them. Duo's head whipped around.
That was definitely a bomb.
Xiran smiled wryly at him.
"You are not telling me you shot that out of the air!" He yelled at her. She shrugged.
He waved a hand in defeat. "Okay, stay back here but be careful!"
[Wufei]
The woman was picking them off like flies.
She was back there in a good position to shoot, and even though Wufei disagreed with how she had gotten in that position, it seemed to be working. Although the hybrids still could get in range of her, the forward momentum of the bikes was making it hard for them to aim. But her aim was apparently still good. And so they were slowly diminishing in number. They were good fighters, but evidently not as good as the Gundam pilots.
He thought, And maybe Sally too, and immediately kicked himself.
[Heero]
There were two left.
The sound of her gun was almost common to him now. Her yell of, swerve! was just as normal. One more hybrid fell heavily to the pavement and began rolling like a tumbleweed. Heero's grey eyes noted the sharp curve ahead, the first they'd had in miles. Just as they neared it, the final report of her gun rang out. The last hybrid's motorcycle was disabled and he began to fall behind.
Heero thought, We did it. We just might get out of this unscathed.
That was about the time he felt the back tire explode.
[Quatre]
It seemed to happen too slowly. The hybrid's stray bullet found the tire and it exploded. The bike wavered as Heero lost control. They neared the inconveniently placed curve in the road.
Quatre himself at this point was thinking, oh no, oh no.
He saw what Heero was surely seeing at that moment: that the land on the outside of the curve of the road dropped away in a steep hill.
He saw the bike fly off the road. He saw Heero and Xiran bail.
As they fell towards the ground, he thought, Please, just let them be alright.
[Heero]
Stupid goddamn hill.
He was rolling down the slope, feeling much like lettuce inside a salad spinner. He thought with surprising calm, I really hate hills.
For a half second, he saw the rock ahead of him.
Then he hit it.
[Xiran]
Shit shit shit….
Xiran sat up. She was bruised and battered, and her head was spinning crazily, but she was fine. The problem now was Heero. She'd seen him go off, and then lost sight of him. Abruptly she saw him lying at the bottom of the hill, about fifteen feet from her. He wasn't moving.
She forced herself to get up.
Xiran bent over him. He was frighteningly still. He was sprawled on his front, one arm thrown out to the side, and the other folded beneath him. Nothing broken, not at least from what she could tell.
'Sure, but what about spinal damage? He could be paralyzed if you move him. Yeah, but if I don't he'll be a dead paraplegic when the rest of the hybrid team gets here!' Xiran quieted her worrying mind.
"Heero," she said, one hand on his throat, checking his pulse. He didn't respond. Her mind supplied three quick curses. She bit her tongue.
"Heero," she said, a bit more insistently. Okay, he's breathing, that's good. Calm down.
'But he's still not RESPONDING,' her mind threw back. Xiran gritted her teeth. She quickly ran a light hand down the length of his spine. She steadied his neck and shoulders and carefully eased him onto his back.
'What if he got shot, got hit with some shrapnel then got a concussion and is now having horribly vicious internal bleeding? Oh shut up! You're just making this worse!'
"Heero!" She said. She bent her head over him, her cheek just above his mouth. His breath was steady, pulse normal. Something warm ran down her temple. Blood dripped on his cheek. His eyes were suddenly open.
"You're bleeding," he said quietly. They didn't move for a moment. His eyes were very close to hers.
"And you probably have a concussion."
"I'll be fine," he murmured.
His hand touched the cut on her head. His eyes seemed so flat at first, but…
"Someone told me you were like a machine once," she said softly. She paused, her gaze on his face. "I can barely see that in you now…" she broke off, her eyes suddenly distant.
"The road," she said.
She helped him to his feet, and slung one of his arms over her shoulders. They walked back to the hill in silence. They paused and Xiran closed her eyes for a moment, wiped the blood from her face. Heero watched her with his grey eyes.
"...you could have died back there."
She opened her eyes. "You could have too. Why tell me this?"
Silence.
She sighed, but it wasn't a sound of irritation.
"I suppose I could have. It's not an unfamiliar thought." She looked at him. "Death is no stranger to me, Heero, as I'm sure it's no stranger to you. Whether it's taking the lives of others or my own, I have not hesitated during my missions. Does this change your opinion of Xiran Ki'Era, Heero?" She looked up at him, her eyes dark.
Heero said, "No."
"Why? I have killed the innocent. Absolution is something I will never have. My purpose now is merely to stop this war from rising. I might have cared once about survival…but that died in me long ago."
"Then you say it's all nothing, that you truly don't value your own life." Heero uttered a mirthless laugh. "Well you're not far off from where I was once. I suppose we're more alike than we know."
"Maybe…"
"But being indifferent is not the same as not being able to care."
She looked up at him suddenly, her eyes unreadable. "I don't even think I know the meaning of the word."
"Do you want me to die?"
"What? I...no. Never. I would probably do something stupid like throw myself in front of you before I'd let you fall."
"Then you care. Don't give up before the end of the race. We're in this together now."
Long silence.
"Allright. For the race then. To the end. I've got your back if you've got mine."
"I've got it."
"Then we're set…and we're both screwed because there's no way you can stay out of trouble."
"Any more than you can."
"Heh. Yeah. Well, Heero Yuy…let's finish this."
[Duo]
He saw them go off. They seemed to fly for a moment, but Duo knew, with some well founded experience, that they would quickly drop like rocks. Gravity was only your friend in certain circumstances, and this was definitely not one of them. Duo swore and wheeled his bike around. He turned to Wufei, Trowa and Quatre. "Get to the base!" he yelled, with an unaccustomed note of steel coming into his voice. His hazel eyes narrowed.
"I'm going back for them."
They had managed to get halfway up the hill by the time he got there.
"You guys okay?"
Heero nodded, and Xi waved at him. He let out a sigh of relief.
"Jeez! I stressed myself over nothing. I should have known that you two would put your Superpowers to good use out here."
Xiran grinned at him. "What if I had X-ray vision, Duo?"
"Then I'd be Captain Underwear."
She laughed.
They finally reached the top. Duo straddled the motorcycle and then paused.
"Uh, Xi, you get on first," Duo said after a slight pause and a glance at Heero. Heero cocked an eyebrow at him as Xiran climbed on behind Duo. Duo responded with a sly grin. Xiran's arms locked around his waist, and then he felt the change of weight as Heero got on. Duo glanced back over his shoulder at the faintly embarrassed look on Heero's face.
"Everybody comfortable back there?" He inquired innocently. Heero gave him a profoundly irritated look.
Duo grinned at the both of them. "Aw, you know you like it."
She punched him, hard. He laughed and revved the motorcycle. As he screeched away, he began singing, "If you want my body…and you think I'm sexy…come on sugar let me know…"
"Just drive," Heero growled.
[Relena]
"And then we started playing the Penis Game. See, Xi had never played the Penis Game before. She was a Game virgin. So I just had to play it with her…ow! Was that intentional, Hilde? I think it was. I'm sorry you missed out on the Penis Game, but don't feel bad. Later we can go out on the roof and play the Vulva Game…Owch! I'm stopping, I'm stopping!"
Relena smiled to herself as her blue-haired friend went about dressing the numerous scrapes and bruises on Duo's body. The look on Hilde's face when Duo came through the door with the bullet holes in his clothes was enough to make the braided pilot babble constantly since he'd got home. Hilde, tight lipped, had said almost nothing, and Relena knew that Duo was in for some verbal abuse later. Duo himself knew it too, his chatter had a desperate edge to it. He had tried to convince her he was fine earlier, but Hilde hadn't stood for that. The vest had come off, the shirt underneath too, and the already yellowing bruises on Duo's chest had been quickly scrutinized in heavy silence. It was then and only then, that he had stopped talking.
Hilde had placed a hand on one of the bruises, and Duo had winced. Her eyes had held his for a long moment. The anger and worry there had caused Duo's face to become still. He'd taken her other hand and kissed the fingers in silent apology.
Hilde had said softly, "Baka." And then she'd gotten the bandages.
Relena looked over to where Heero sat with a bottle of antiseptic, dabbing at the scrapes obtained in the fall. She'd gotten much of the story from Duo, while he was filling the silence with his ranting. Heero was doing his task absently, his mind obviously somewhere else. Perhaps on someone else. Where was Xiran now?
Relena shook that thought off, and went to him. Something was different, something had happened on the mission. She didn't know what, but his eyes were slightly strange.
The other pilots had gone to their rooms quickly, and the only people up and about were Duo, Hilde, Heero and herself.
He looked up as she approached, his gaze steady. Wordlessly, she took another cotton swab and began doing the hard to reach cuts.
She felt his eyes on her, but didn't look up. She said quietly, "I'm glad you're safe."
There was a slight pause. "Were you worried?"
"A little…yes."
Relena finally looked up at him. His grey eyes seemed soft.
He said finally, "…Sorry." He turned his attention to his other arm.
She smiled.
Abruptly she felt the pressure of another gaze. Relena looked up. Curled in the big window at the far end of the room was Xiran. Her eyes were dark. Relena held her stare evenly. After a moment Xiran stood up and left.
Her suspicions had not been allayed by the mission's success. Xiran could still be hiding something, waiting, biding her time. Even though the girl had shown remarkable loyalty thus far, she still had her own motivations. Relena was sure of it. She only wondered why the others didn't see it. Or maybe they did…The Gundam pilots were the most subtle and calculating people she knew. But perhaps Xiran knew that too.
Relena banished the girl from her thoughts. It was no use speculating.
Relena thought of the bigger picture. No new terrorist attacks had occurred since Xiran's arrival. The Preventers were still tracking down leads but basically what the pilots had found was the only fruit of their labours. And they weren't even sure what was on the chip yet.
She could only hope that together they could stop this war before it could begin.
Relena sighed inwardly as she placed a bandage over a larger cut. What she was worried about was that the war could be avoided…but that it was the Gundam Pilots who would pay the price. The Preventers were too politically influential to stick their noses into strange business, but the pilots were not. They never had been.
Heero said quietly, "Whatever happens, don't worry."
She started. Had he been reading her thoughts? His eyes revealed nothing, as usual.
"It is just that…we don't know what's going on. We're playing a game, but we don't know all the rules. At least with Barton we knew what we were dealing with. I worry that you and the pilots will be alone in this fight."
He was silent for a moment. "We know that we aren't alone."
Relena didn't say anything, didn't trust herself to say anything. Finally she murmured, "Even with your strength, I don't know if this can be won easily." She heard the note of defeat in her voice and her gaze hardened. "But I have faith in you, Heero. I have faith in the ability of the people to hold peace. I have faith that they will fight to protect this peace."
His mouth curved in the faintest smile. "Inspire them. You have the power to sway even the coldest hearts."
She went still. He got up. "Stay here tonight. Several of us will be leaving on errands in the morning. We'll drop you off." She nodded numbly. He said, "The room down the hall." Then he disappeared.
Relena lay back and closed her eyes. She breathed out slowly.
2 'With you beside me, I find the strength to do anything…'
[Duo]
Hilde's eyes, usually full of laughter and amusement, were trained on his.
Those blue eyes had more in their depths than Duo could understand. But one thing he did know was that she was pissed.
Hilde's face was carefully blank. She said almost coldly, "Trowa told me what happened. He's very precise, you know." She fixed her intense blue gaze on him. Duo almost flinched.
"Well…I…"
"What were you thinking? Were you thinking at all? Standing on the sill with nothing holding you in! You baka, you—" Hilde turned away for a moment, muttering vicously in German. Duo was suddenly very glad he knew nothing about the language. She turned back to him, face composed.
"You said you would be careful." It wasn't an accusation, but it was close.
Duo rubbed a hand over his face. "Yes. I did, and I meant to be—"
"Then what the hell was that?"
"That was me being a dumbass!" His felt his own anger rising. "Don't stand there and tell me that throwing yourself in front of a bullet wasn't stupid too!"
"Not as stupid as that!"
"I never said I was intelligent!"
"I never said you were either! But I assumed you had the brains of at least a monkey and not a yam!"
They glared at each other.
Finally Duo sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"I'm sorry."
Hilde closed her eyes. "I'm sorry too." She opened them. "I was just worried…and then I got stressed, and then I got angry because I was stressed, and so on and so forth…" She shook her head. Her face fell. "I had a feeling you would get hurt tonight. I thought it was just my normal drug induced hallucinations but…"
Duo drew her into an embrace. She stiffened slightly, and then held him tight enough to make him wince. He said again, "Sorry."
He felt her sigh against him. "Don't do it again, please?"
"I'll try."
And in the end they curled next to each other in bed, a warm tangle of limbs, finding some solace in each other's arms. But they both knew that arms were not always protection enough. They shifted closer and drifted towards sleep, closing their eyes against the dark.
In the silence Duo whispered, "No matter what happens..." He faded off, and Hilde gently squeezed his hand.
"I know."
Duo let himself float towards the blackness of sleep. In the mists of his drowsy mind he heard his own voice whisper, Then I guess we're even…for now.
[Xiran]
Saze.
Her old hate rose up for a moment like bile in her mouth and subsided. Yes, she had hated him for a long time. For living life by the rules, for being such a perfect soldier. Saze had been the only person she knew who did not question Arcon's orders once. She had hoped that she would be free of the past now. She had wanted those days to be over.
Xiran stared into the darkness of her room and imagined the eyes that must surely be watching for Onyx Five.
The eyes of a powerful hybrid. The eyes of a predator.
Xiran knew all too well whose eyes they were.
Between the two of them was a vengeance promised but never fulfilled.
Some day it would be.
Eventually she drifted into a fitful sleep, into dreams of running in a shadowy maze. In them she was trying to get away from something, but she didn't know what.
[Duo]
The morning light was like something stabbing him repeatedly in the eyeballs. He really didn't like it. Rolling over in hopes of curling into a ball of blanket and dark, he realized too late that Hilde wasn't next to him anymore.
With a muffled cry he tumbled off the bed and onto the floor. His head hit the floor with a thwack. Duo moaned and pulled the comforter over his head. He'd decided in these last few moments that it was really too much effort to get up, and that the world was out to get him today anyway. It was best not to give it any more chances.
It was apparent in a few minutes, however, that he was wide awake. Whether from the light or the pleasant brain hemmorage so early in the morning, he was unable to go back to sleep.
With a lot of muttering Duo got up and fumbled his way into the shower. That was nice. Warm water was always welcome, especially when Wufei wasn't around to deliberately flush the toilet. Feeling decidedly mellow, he dressed and found his way to the kitchen.
Someone was clattering around in there. Duo brightened. Maybe it's Quatre, preparing all kinds of culinary delights!
He stepped into the brightly lit kitchen. Xiran's dark maroon head was at eye level with the oven door.
"What're you doing?"
She stood and put her hands on her hips. She had on an apron with a tulip pattern. "Don't--" she said, wagging an accusatory finger at him, "--say a word." Duo, in the process of opening his mouth, closed it.
He sat down at the kitchen table, grinning. "I was only going to comment that this was a new look for you."
"Yeah, right. I'm sure you really weren't thinking up some moronic chauvinistic statement."
"That's Wufei's job."
"You seem to have a fairly good helping of pig neurons in your brain too."
"In the words of the immortal Bart Simpson, eat my shorts."
She laughed and returned to her vigil at the oven door.
"Are you cooking?" Duo asked curiously. She gave him a wry look.
"Quatre left me a recipe for scones. They're almost done."
Duo stretched. "Have you ever cooked before?"
"…No. Not really."
"Oh." There was a long pause.
The timer went ding!
He watched her take them out of the oven and put them on the table, which was covered in a mess of cooking ingredients from the cupboard. He regarded the scones a little nervously.
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"Aren't you going to try one?"
"Uh… the cook has first dibs."
"I resent that."
Duo laughed and put his hands behind his head. "I don't want scones anyway. Come on woman, go make me some pie!"
Xiran, in the process of removing her apron, whirled around. "WHAT?"
Duo just laughed, finding her expression rather amusing. He made an attempt at eating a scone, and failed miserably. That only made him laugh harder.
Because he was laughing so hard, he didn't see what was coming next. Xiran smiled evilly, dumped some flour on his head and smushed it into his hair. Duo, who was gamely trying to take another bite, was so surprised he fell off his chair. Xiran started laughing and said, "How's that for some PIE?"
Duo picked himself up with dignity and then grinned mischievously.
"Watch it, Xi, I've got a deadly arsenal of scone rocks in front of me and I won't hesitate to use them."
"No one disses my scones and gets away with it! Prepare to be annihilated, Bat-Boy!"
The food began to fly. A hail of twinkies exploded on Duo's side of the room, and he fired back trails of pudding and dry cereal from the cupboards. Before he could duck for cover he was hit in the head with a twinkie and a bite sized brownie. She fell over laughing and pointed at the golden yellow pastry sticking out of Duo's ear.
*SPLAT*
An entire lemon meringue pie was suddenly all over her face. She sat up in surprise, wiping lemon innards out of her nose and hurling them at Duo, who was practically dying from laughter on the other side of the room. Xiran took one look at his face, covered in gobbets of pie and twinkie, and had a sudden vision of Mr. Potato Head. She started laughing hysterically.
They were both rolling around on the floor in the foot deep goo, holding their sides and laughing so hard tears were in their eyes. Duo regained his breath first, gasping, and immediately saw Xiran sitting in a puddle of melting whipped cream, still laughing her head off. The can of cream was now away from the carnage and under a chair. He grinned, revenge in his eyes. He sprayed her surprised face with cream, then said, "You're the marshmallow man!!" He collapsed back into hysterics.
She let out a cry of outrage and tackled him into a pile of detonated twinkies and frosted flakes.
"Ahhh!"
"I'll show YOU marshmallow!"
They wrestled in the goo, almost too weak to do anything except flail madly about. Finally they were so exhausted they collapsed on top of each other, giggling like idiots. Duo lay back in a disgusting combination of pudding, raisins and BisQuik, trying to catch his breath. Xiran did the same, her laughter slowly dying.
Ignoring the sludge on her smiling face, Duo thought to himself, I've never heard her laugh like that before. Hell, I've never seen her look so happy before. This is the first time she's really let loose.
He suddenly spotted a forgotten spatula and picked it up. He balanced a lumpy chunk of twinkie on it and launched it at the ceiling. It hit with a small squish, and doggedly clung there, which really wasn't all that amusing, but by this time, anything was funny. Xiran broke out into a fit of laughter so hard her legs looked like they were having involuntary spasms. Duo of course was set off again by the sight of her legs jiggling about and doing a Riverdance all their own. Both of them wriggled about rather foolishly on the floor for several minutes. Xiran gasped, "I'm going to burst!"
"My mouth hurts!" Duo choked.
"Mine too…but—Ahhaha!"
Finally they quieted themselves and began to consider the battle-scarred condition of the kitchen. Duo actually thought seriously about cleaning up.
That was until the next gob of food hit the ceiling fan.
***
"Do you think it'll hold one more?"
"Maybe. You won't know until you try."
"Sure. And it'll bring the whole thing down on top of us!"
"Good point."
There was a pause, then a small squck noise.
"Good shot."
"Thank you."
"My turn."
"Of course."
Gop.
"That one was iffy."
"Was not."
"You aimed it right at the middle and there's already quite a large amount of pudding there. Even though its mass is small, the accumulated net weight could bring it crashing down on our heads!"
"SO?"
"It wobbled!"
"Your point?"
"Just give me the spatula!"
***
(some time later)
"Wow."
"It really was an impressive shot, wasn't it?"
"Oh shut up. I'm wowing at the SIZE of it."
"I know you're just jealous."
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"I am NOT!"
"Oh you know you are. You just wish you were cool enough to be me."
"Give me the damn spatula!"
There was a distinct sound of a whack.
"Ow! Hey!"
"Now that was a good shot."
"NO!"
"Yah, probably not from your perspective." She grinned. "Oh gee."
"Grrrr!"
Xiran laughed and Duo pushed a large amount of chocolate pudding into her mouth. She gagged. Duo threw his head back and started making a muffled laughing noise very close to the sound of a pig oinking.
"That was uncalled for!" She sputtered through her mouthful of brown.
Duo struggled to compose himself, and smiled. "I'm sorry, what did you say?" He said sweetly.
"MMMPH!"
"That's what I thought."
"Shut up!"
"No you shut up!"
"Make me!"
They wrestled. Around the table, around the garbage, around the chairs, around anything that was remotely solid. They slid and squished all around the kitchen until they were interrupted by someone opening the door.
Heero paused in shock as he surveyed the battle-scarred kitchen. Then a flicker of a smile crossed his face. Duo and Xiran paused in the process of trying to shove each other's head into a pile of spray cheese, just in time to see Heero casually reach up and flip the switch to the fan.
"NOOOOOOOOO!"
The collection of Oreo, cheese, twinkie, brownie, scone, flour and cereal dislodged itself from the ceiling and plummeted towards their unprotected heads.
"AAAHH--" There was the sound of a hefty splat. In an instant, Duo and Xiran were buried in a mountain of disgusting gooiness. All those foods that weren't supposed to be mixed together were having a total social gathering on top of their heads.
"Ohh…gross, man!" Duo said.
Heero chuckled at the surprised looks on their faces and turned to walk away.
Duo turned and looked at Xiran.
Xiran turned and looked at Duo.
They looked at the food on the floor.
Grins slowly spread across their faces. With a glance at the back of Heero's head they gathered up as much as they could carry, and took off after him.
[Heero]
"You fought long and hard, Heero. I commend you on a valiant effort. But your defeat was inevitable. We rule!" Duo and Xiran exchanged a wet high five.
Heero wiped cream out of his ear. "What? I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you." He gave Duo an utterly blank stare. Duo only laughed and slapped him on the back.
"That won't work with me. I KNOW you."
"..."
"He's just being a sore loser," Xiran teased. Heero rolled his eyes. He was covered in a disgusting mixture of food. He'd discovered about a minute ago that he smelled funny, but that was expected, considering he'd been wrestled to the ground and splatted multiple times with half mushed food. Duo and Xiran were sitting next to him, and they were in a worse state than he was. But looking at the foolishly smiling faces of his two comrades, he couldn't think of any place he'd rather be.
[Quatre]
He sure was glad they'd stocked up in food earlier, or else they wouldn't have anything to eat for lunch. Even now, the dredges were all they could scrape together. And the kitchen was a disaster. It was still a mystery how it could have been destroyed so fast, but with Duo, anything was possible. Quatre smiled to himself.
Duo had been scolded by Hilde and sent to the shower to become human again. She had firmly resisted his attempts to give her a gooey hug.
Xiran had been sent to the local mainstreet with a large shopping list. Heero had gone with her, at Duo's urgings, so that she 'wouldn't get in any more trouble.'
Quatre, Trowa and Hilde were now cleaning up the remains of the kitchen. They didn't trust Duo not to throw anything left so invitingly on the ground.
Trowa was standing on a chair scraping food off the fan and the ceiling. Quatre looked up at him just as a gob of twinkie fell on his head. Trowa glanced down at him with a flicker of a smile. "Sorry."
Wiping the goo out of his hair, Quatre smiled and said, "I'd say 'It's okay' but I'm still not entirely sure it was an accident." Trowa gave him an enigmatic smile again and went back to his work.
Quatre wiped under the table and came up behind Trowa. He was going to say something, but then realized that Trowa's behind was right in front of his face. All immediate thought vanished. Quatre quickly turned away, hoping to God that Trowa hadn't seen the blush in his cheeks.
But when he looked again at the tall boy, that enigmatic smile was back on his face.
[Xiran]
"We'd like three pounds of fresh steak and some asiago, please."
The man behind the counter had thick black hair and clear green eyes. He grinned at them good naturedly, his face somehow reminding her of Duo. He said, "Ach well, I havena any of the American Asiago left now, but I do have some fresh Italian…even tha it's pricier." He had a Scottish accent, and Xiran smiled at him, liking him immediately.
"That'll do."
He nodded and went about his tasks. His eyes lingered slightly in Heero's direction and then passed.
Xiran felt her suspicions rise. Was he really as normal as he seemed?
She watched him through the glass of the deli counter, trying to be subtle. He glanced several more times Heero's way while he sliced the meat. Then he left to package their stuff. When he came back he grinned at her impishly, his green eyes knowing, and said, "Ach lassie, dinna fash now. I dinna have the intention of seducing your friend there, I assure ye, even though it's tempting."
Beside her, Xiran felt Heero stiffen slightly. She barely suppressed a laugh.
"Well, it's okay to look…but any more than that and I'd have to fight you for him," she teased.
He smiled back, but his eyes had a hint of seriousness. "Aye, I bet ye would."
She looked at Heero. A faint flush had risen in his cheeks. She smiled and took their bags.
"Thanks so much, Mr…?" She didn't know his name.
"James," He said simply. He waved as they left, and gave Heero a good -natured wink.
"All the best to ye!"
Xiran laughed out loud as they continued down the main street. "You should have seen your face…"
Heero made a noncommittal noise.
"Well, be like that if you want, but I liked him. He was funny. And that accent was new to me."
Heero made another noncommittal sound.
"Oh fine, I'm sorry, it really wasn't THAT funny…"
They continued down into the marketplace and into the crowd. In the stalls, booths, and carts, they would find everything they needed.
[Heero]
The smells of the marketplace assailed him. The rotten, salty smell of fish, the sweet perfume of flowers, the fresh earthy smell of fruit and vegetables. There were others mixed in there as well, but he couldn't put his finger on them. And he didn't really care anyway.
The sun was bright today, and he was aware of how he had missed it when he was in space. It was always good to return to the earth. And now that he wasn't under enemy fire, he could actually enjoy it.
Xiran walked next to him, her hair shining in the sun. Her keen eyes were darting about and taking in everything. She looked so engrossed that he smiled.
"What?" She said.
"Have you never been to a marketplace before?"
She chuckled. "No. I guess I was acting weird again. Sorry."
"It's fine."
They walked on a little longer in silence.
"How is it exactly that you know Relena?" She asked suddenly, her voice calm.
He paused. How to describe it? "We met on my first mission. After that we…just kept seeing each other."
She was watching him closely. "That's not entirely what I meant."
"Oh."
He must have looked uncomfortable because she dropped the subject. They discussed some musical tastes for a while.
Xiran looked off into the crowd. She said, "I know she's very special to you. She's one of the most unique people I've ever met. Selfless to the point of stupidity in some cases…but her faith and inner strength are what make her who she is." She paused uncomfortably. "We don't exactly see eye to eye."
"I know."
She still wasn't looking at him. He didn't really know what to say. What he felt for Relena…was something he couldn't describe. Heero sighed.
Xiran said nothing, and they moved into the heart of the place. Pushed about by the crowd, they separated. In a moment a stream of people had come between him and her. She was gone.
Heero felt something like a cold wind blow through him. Where was she? Turning, he saw two young men, dressed in khakis and jeans, about twenty feet away. He turned back nonchalantly, but his eyes had sharpened. Both of them had been there at James' shop.
They were being followed. Heero was sure of it. Inwardly, he swore.
Someone brushed up against him. Xiran, her navy eyes dark, grabbed his hand. "Behind us."
"Saw them."
"Maybe more?"
"Yes."
"The alleys?"
"Let's go."
They moved off quickly through the crowd. The men followed.
As soon as they reached the peripheral edge of the crowd, they made a sharp turn down an alley. They sprinted hard past a homeless man. Heero saw the three meter high wall blocking the alley and didn't slow.
"Wall!" Xiran said.
"Up!" Heero replied. He took position, cupped his hands, and she stepped unhesitatingly onto them. He threw her up. She turned and grabbed his hands as the first man entered the alley. The man whipped out his gun.
Xiran yanked him over and they dropped to the other side, gunshots echoing up the alley.
They turned tail and bolted, but not after throwing a large, flat piece of old roof over the wall.
They sprinted, trying to reach the end of the alley and the open street before the men could jump the wall.
Something ricocheted off the wall near Xiran. Heero knew that the two men had scaled the wall in mere seconds. They were hybrids for sure.
More ricochets. This time Heero saw one of them. But it wasn't a bullet, it was something else.
3 Tranquilizer?
They hit the open street. It was a busy road. They didn't slow down. Cars and trucks flashed by on either side. Heero barely had time to blink. He had Xiran's hand, and that was all he knew. Then there was a huge Mack truck. It had slowed to make a delivery somewhere up the street and was just now speeding up.
"Come on!"
They ran, caught up with it. Xiran was first. She leaped into the space between the cab and the trailer, among the cables and chains. He jumped on a few seconds later. The truck pulled away from the pursuing men and they disappeared in the whoosh of traffic.
He was watching her face. His mind was strangely numb. Even when they got off the truck several minutes later, he was still as unfeeling as he was in the days of Operation Meteor.
The alley they ran to was shadowed and empty. He thought he would still feel nothing but then she turned and looked him in the eyes.
[Xiran]
In a split second his face had changed.
Xiran suddenly understood. But it didn't help.
He slammed her up against the wall. His hands dug painfully into her shoulders. His blue eyes blazed at her. In an instant she saw the pain of betrayal there, and she would have done anything to erase it. But she could not; she had been the one to put it there. Xiran's eyes darkened.
"Those men were shooting at you with tranquilizers!" Heero said, his voice low and hard with anger.
She said, "Let go of me, Heero."
He drew her back and hit her hard against the wall again.
"Why?" He demanded, his voice cold.
Xiran felt her own eyes harden. She said, "Let go of me. Now."
They glared at each other, eyes blazing with cold fire, blue on blue.
He slowly drew back, his expression guarded. He released her. He stood only a few steps away, but the space between them was far larger than that.
Xiran felt something twist inside her chest. She drew in a slow breath and stared him straight in the face.
"I think you already know why, Heero Yuy."
[Duo]
"They've been gone longer than expected," Wufei mused. Duo waved it off.
"They're probably haggling with some unfortunate soul at the market. Can't you just see it? Relentless, the both of them." Duo grinned.
"I suppose," said Trowa.
Silence fell.
* * *
[Heero]
"What kind of mind game is this?" Heero said in a low voice, his eyes never leaving hers. She said nothing, just looked at him. Heero turned his face away. He had listened for five minutes with total concentration to her words. Now she stood across from him and her face was that of a stranger. But he knew her words to be true. Anger surged in him. He did not let it show. He turned back to her.
"You lied."
Xiran looked at him with dark, haunted eyes and said coldly, "Yes."
Heero's icy eyes flared and for a moment he said nothing.
"Why?" His voice was emotionless.
[Xiran]
She knew her eyes were the dangerous, uncaring ones of a soldier. She knew, because it was reflected in his eyes too. This time it was two people trained to show nothing facing each other.
But she was a soldier with nothing left to lose. She had lost it all already, and in these sinking moments she felt what she had so painfully gained back slipping away. Her face became sharp and blank.
"Why does anyone lie?" She said simply. "I did it to protect myself."
"From what? From us? From me? From yourself?"
She cut him off. "From all of it."
"Then all of this means nothing. You lied from the beginning."
[Heero]
Her face twisted slightly, and he was somehow glad.
"No, Heero," she said, shaking her head. "That would also be a lie. Everything I said…about the facilities, the testing, my emotions, how I cared for you and the rest of the pilots…that's all true. The only thing I lied about you know about now. I have nothing else."
"Why should I believe you?"
[Xiran]
She almost winced. That one cut deep.
"…I don't know. I've betrayed your trust. You have no reason to believe me." The silence was heavy. She said, "When I fell with you off the cycle…did you think you knew me?"
Heero stared at her for a long moment, his face inscrutable, and then he nodded. His voice was low, "I did."
She stared at him silently.
"Then I suppose you know me better than any other person living. But that means nothing now." She paused. "Get out of here, Heero Yuy." Her voice darkened. "I don't want to lay eyes on you ever again."
He clenched his fists.
"No. You stood next to us in battle and you lied, you helped us and you lied, you let us trust you. What gives you the right to do that, Xiran Ki'Era? What gives you that privilege?"
"There is no privilege!" she snapped. "All this was bought with blood!"
"Whose?"
"If you have to ask me that, Heero, you're nothing short of a fool."
"A gullible one, maybe, but at least I have my own soul."
"No! No, can't you see? I have nothing left, I am nothing! I'm just a cheap imitation! All this-"she held out her hands. "All this merely masks the remains of a well thought out experiment."
Heero's face was dark and his voice was low. "It's not true. You are just as human as I am, maybe more."
"How would you know?" She hurled back at him.
He didn't say anything.
[Heero]
4 'Where did this rage come from?'
He was full of it, full to bursting, and he didn't know what would happen if he let go. He never had…and he never would. Heero looked into her navy eyes, dark and full of anger. How much of it was directed at him, he didn't know. Some part of him hoped it was not as much as it seemed.
He tried to find words, mentally fumbled them, and finally said nothing.
His silence was answer in itself.
[Xiran]
"I'm leaving," she said. Her voice rang with a stony finality. She did not try to soften it.
She walked away. Her footsteps echoed hollowly. Eyes hard and remorseless, she looked straight ahead, to the busy streets and flow of traffic. She did not think, she just put one foot in front of the other. The alley stretched out ahead of her, the smell rising from the abandoned trash as bitter as the taste in her mouth.
"…I'm not letting you go."
Xiran stopped. She didn't want to, didn't mean to, but she did. Her mouth half opened but no words came out. 'This wasn't how it was supposed to be,' she thought. 'Damn him.'
His face was in her mind. She closed her eyes. When she turned slowly back to him, her countenance was as cold as it had ever been.
"How do you mean that, Heero?" She asked quietly. His expression did not change. He said again,
"I'm not letting you go."
***
[Duo]
A key turned in the lock. Duo looked up, immediately alert.
Heero stepped into the room. He looked as if he'd been in a scuffle; he was scraped and dirty. He raised his eyes to Duo's.
Duo immediately knew something had gone terribly wrong. He stood up, a cry dying on his lips as the look in Heero's eyes changed from weary to utterly cold. Heero moved slightly aside and said in a voice devoid of any expression, "We had an encounter with some dangerous people in the marketplace and now we have the truth about the Raven's whereabouts." He paused to draw breath, and Duo felt the tension thick in the air. The other pilots, all present, stood as silent as death.
Heero said, "We have finally found Six of Ten." He turned towards the door. The one who stepped through it, dark eyes blank and determined, was Xiran Ki'Era.
END
Yes, the secret has finally come out. Xiran and Six are one and the same. How many of you guessed? I swear, it felt like I was dropping hints sloppily and all over the place. Ah well, nothing more to be done about that. I had some real issues with bonding and meaningful dialogue in this one. Agh! But oh well, next chapter will likely contain the first part of Mission One, the pilots first space venture since the end of the war. And this means *grins gleefully* my first big mech fight! Score!
On a side note, I apologize for any random typos. I've been hanging by the seat of my pants for a while now, since my Microsoft word told me that there were too many errors in the document to continue checking it. I suppose I could begin a new fanfic file and continue writing there…but old habits die hard. It depends on how annoyed I get at the typos, I guess. If I get infuriated enough, then I'll relocate…but until then…gomen! ^^
No idea whatsoever what's gonna go on in the next chap…except that Sally will make her big appearance, and the plans for Mission One will be laid down. Any suggestions will be appreciated! Thanks!
~Kywraith
CHAPTER NINE: FACES OF SCARS
"Quatre!"
Trowa's green eyes were more wide than Duo had ever seen them. The relentless static over the earphones was as meaningless and numb as his mind. His one thought was, Not Quatre…
Trowa looked ready to wheel his motorcycle back around and burn rubber in the direction of Quatre's van. Heero yelled, "Wait!"
Trowa barely heard. Wufei, in a move Duo wouldn't have expected of the Chinese boy, moved parallel to Trowa's bike and laid a hand on his arm. "No."
Trowa's green eyes flared. Duo was sincerely glad he was not Wufei. He had never seen Trowa look that way.
Wufei shook his head, his brown eyes hard. "We can't go back for him now! What he was telling us to run from is probably right on our tails. If we go back now we throw away our chance at getting out of here."
Trowa's face had gone back to its normal state of blankness. He stared unflinchingly back at Wufei.
Duo blurted out, "Have faith in him Trowa!"
Trowa turned his eyes to him. For a moment Duo quailed, and then he glared at the green eyed boy. "You know he'd never let us down, Trowa." Their eyes locked as the streets flew by around them. Trowa nodded slowly. "I know."
They heard the sound before they saw the source of it. A huge booming roar that shook the night air. Orange light flared, followed by the tinkle of broken glass. The pilots all turned to look behind them.
The explosion and the thick black smoke was reflected in the glass panes of the buildings around the Gahlfman Center. They could hear the hollow roaring of fire.
Duo thought numbly, That wasn't the Center itself…that was a block down the street.
…That was where the van was parked.
[Saze]
"We are in pursuit of the pilots. It is certain that it is them. They have taken a side street away from the Center and are currently on motorcycles. Strike team A-5 is following on cars and motorcycles. The position of the rest of the men is Red 416."
"And the security at Gahlfman?"
"We have no confirmation of how many were killed, sir. The human security forces are moving out of the front of the building and are planning to cut the pilots off. That leaves them right in our hands."
"Excellent work, 21. Or should I call you Saze?" Saze could hear the leer in his voice. He kept his own voice calm.
"Call me whatever you wish, sir."
His superior chuckled. "Saze, then, because that's what she always called you."
Saze ignored a rush of anger. "Affermative."
Outside, there was a loud boom. Someone came up and quickly reported.
"Sir, a van parked down the street has been exterminated."
"For what purpose?"
"Unknown."
"Send half of Platoon Six after the pilots as well."
"Sir, Platoon Six is far below the caliber of A-5."
"Are you challenging me, 21?"
Saze's gold eyes flared for a moment. "No, Commander 57."
"Do as you were ordered."
"Yes, sir."
"Keep me informed." He heard the signal die.
Saze turned away from his men for a moment. The pilots were more formidable than 57 thought. Saze knew not to underestimate them. 57 was deliberately sending ten men to their deaths.
Saze's face remained impassive, but his thoughts were not of a calm sort. Six, he thought suddenly, you were never like him.
When he had been removed from his position of teaching the young hybrid, he had hoped Six would stop her rebellious ways. He had hoped that she would get a teacher who she could respect, because she had gradually lost her respect for him. But somehow, 57 had been assigned. 57. A male only four years older than her and an old fellow classmate. He had not thought that it was a good idea for Arcon to do this, just as he didn't think 57 should send Platoon Six.
But it was not his position to question orders.
[Trowa]
He barely heard the explosion. He only saw it, saw the bright, destructive flame. His mind thought, Quatre. It didn't seem to compute. Quatre…Explosion. Quatre…Destruction. Quatre…Dead. No.
Barely even thinking about it, he activated his communicator, ignoring the static.
"Quatre!"
Static.
There was nothing he could do. Numbly, he focused with all his power on the road ahead.
The static roared on, unnoticed, in his ear.
"Tr…a…"
"Trowa!"
Disbelievingly, he said, "Quatre?"
"I'm okay…" Another burst of static.
"What happened?"
"…I blew up the van as a distraction. Is everyone ok?"
"Yes. Where will you be in five minutes?"
"I'll be at the street corner of Greenwood Avenue and Wheelan."
Trowa paused. "Be careful, Quatre."
Static hummed in his ear. "…Thanks, Trowa."
[Heero]
"They're on our tails!" Duo yelled.
He turned.
Down the street and coming fast were the dark cars and motorcycles of the hybrids.
He shouted above the rush of wind, "Xi, will they shoot at us on a public street?"
Before she could speak several bullets ricocheted off the pavement ten feet behind them. Heero accelerated.
"Apparently so."
"Duo, Trowa, go get Quatre! Rejoin the main road at Sandy Peaks Ave!"
They nodded and peeled out. Heero smiled to himself viciously. He thought, now it's time to play.
Wufei took the lead as the hybrid motorcycles advanced. They pulled off a sharp turn and zoomed down a sidestreet. The streetlights flashed by above them like a slow frequency strobe.
With a screech of rubber they did a near ninety degree turn and accelerated up an alley, narrowly avoiding several dumpsters.
"Lost the cars!" Xi reported behind him. Then she swore. "Shit! Go go go! They're pulling out the heavy artillery!" Heero glanced behind. His mouth went dry. The car blocked at the entrance to the alley was equipped with something that looked like a bazooka. If they hadn't pulled down this alley, some bystanders would definitely have paid the price. The hybrid motorcycles were roaring behind them and closing the distance. Xiran pulled out her gun and twisted, trying to shoot at them. She fired off several rounds but missed. She cursed again. "Can't get a good shot off that way!"
Heero focused hard on the road ahead. Wufei squealed out into the main street. There was a blare of a horn as they pulled into the street. Headlights glared in Heero's vision. One way street! And they were going the wrong way!
Heero quickly steered into the sidewalk. Behind him, he heard the chatter of an automatic weapon. He swerved to avoid some pedestrians, a two young women holding hands.
"Don't they care about collateral damage?" He yelled to Xiran. She shook her head, her hair blowing in her face. "No. They'll hit them and they won't give a damn." She paused and said right in his ear, "They'd say, they're only human."
Heero gritted his teeth and moved back into the line of traffic. The bellow of a huge Mack truck caused him to jerk the bike hard and skid onto the shoulder. The hybrids opened fire again. Xiran made a sound of irritation. She said, "Just keep your eyes on the road, Heero. I'll take care of them."
He was about to say, what? When she moved and slid between the handlebars and his arms. His surprise must have shown on his face. She cracked a smile and said, "The road, Heero!"
He did as he was told. She continued shifting until she was facing him, straddling the bike in the opposite direction. Then she moved until she was pressed close, and he felt her arms come up behind his back. She peered over his shoulder and gripped her gun. The sound of gunfire exploded into the night.
Heero thought, Duo is going to have a field day with this…
[Duo]
Sandy Peaks. The main road out onto the desert hardpack. With Quatre on the back of Trowa's motorcycle, they were almost home free. If they could hold off the hybrids for another five kilometers, they would be in range of reinforcements.
With Trowa and Quatre in the lead, he cut off a side street and onto Sandy Peaks. They were 50 meters up from Heero and Wufei's headlights and the glare almost obscured them from view. They were pushing the bikes pretty hard.
A posse of about fifteen hybrids was hot on their tails.
Duo smiled to himself. 'This chase isn't about skill…it's about how good you are at finding good transportation. And I'm gonna bet those blackmarket bikes are way better than the ones the Preventers use. I guess this means we'll have to play this Shinigami style. And the first rule of my game is: there are no rules.' Duo reached into his backpack and drew out two high powered grenades. Both had an adjustable delay. Duo grinned.
He tossed one, and then the other over his shoulder, aiming very precisely. He heard the metal hit the pavement, heard them skitter.
He didn't have long to wait.
BOOM!
Two loud explosions roared over the desert, one right after the other. The fireballs sent motorcycles and hybrids flying. When the blaze of light and smoke cleared, the hybrid group consisted of five.
Duo turned back to the road in satisfaction.
'Ah, I love my work.'
He reduced his speed and fell back, for a moment parallel with Heero's bike. He turned to say something to his friend and stopped. Duo almost did a double take.
1 What the hell?
Heero's grey eyes flashed to his, his expression as controlled as ever. Duo sighed inwardly.
'Trust the Hee-man not to have any reaction when there's a hot girl straddling him. I mean really, what's he gonna say when he finally gets laid? Mission, accepted?' Then Duo recognized the look in his eyes that said: I am extremely uncomfortable with this current situation.
Duo grinned and motioned for Heero to move ahead to the front. Xiran shook her head. She shouted, "Hold steady!"
With a sudden roar, something exploded in the air ten feet behind them. Duo's head whipped around.
That was definitely a bomb.
Xiran smiled wryly at him.
"You are not telling me you shot that out of the air!" He yelled at her. She shrugged.
He waved a hand in defeat. "Okay, stay back here but be careful!"
[Wufei]
The woman was picking them off like flies.
She was back there in a good position to shoot, and even though Wufei disagreed with how she had gotten in that position, it seemed to be working. Although the hybrids still could get in range of her, the forward momentum of the bikes was making it hard for them to aim. But her aim was apparently still good. And so they were slowly diminishing in number. They were good fighters, but evidently not as good as the Gundam pilots.
He thought, And maybe Sally too, and immediately kicked himself.
[Heero]
There were two left.
The sound of her gun was almost common to him now. Her yell of, swerve! was just as normal. One more hybrid fell heavily to the pavement and began rolling like a tumbleweed. Heero's grey eyes noted the sharp curve ahead, the first they'd had in miles. Just as they neared it, the final report of her gun rang out. The last hybrid's motorcycle was disabled and he began to fall behind.
Heero thought, We did it. We just might get out of this unscathed.
That was about the time he felt the back tire explode.
[Quatre]
It seemed to happen too slowly. The hybrid's stray bullet found the tire and it exploded. The bike wavered as Heero lost control. They neared the inconveniently placed curve in the road.
Quatre himself at this point was thinking, oh no, oh no.
He saw what Heero was surely seeing at that moment: that the land on the outside of the curve of the road dropped away in a steep hill.
He saw the bike fly off the road. He saw Heero and Xiran bail.
As they fell towards the ground, he thought, Please, just let them be alright.
[Heero]
Stupid goddamn hill.
He was rolling down the slope, feeling much like lettuce inside a salad spinner. He thought with surprising calm, I really hate hills.
For a half second, he saw the rock ahead of him.
Then he hit it.
[Xiran]
Shit shit shit….
Xiran sat up. She was bruised and battered, and her head was spinning crazily, but she was fine. The problem now was Heero. She'd seen him go off, and then lost sight of him. Abruptly she saw him lying at the bottom of the hill, about fifteen feet from her. He wasn't moving.
She forced herself to get up.
Xiran bent over him. He was frighteningly still. He was sprawled on his front, one arm thrown out to the side, and the other folded beneath him. Nothing broken, not at least from what she could tell.
'Sure, but what about spinal damage? He could be paralyzed if you move him. Yeah, but if I don't he'll be a dead paraplegic when the rest of the hybrid team gets here!' Xiran quieted her worrying mind.
"Heero," she said, one hand on his throat, checking his pulse. He didn't respond. Her mind supplied three quick curses. She bit her tongue.
"Heero," she said, a bit more insistently. Okay, he's breathing, that's good. Calm down.
'But he's still not RESPONDING,' her mind threw back. Xiran gritted her teeth. She quickly ran a light hand down the length of his spine. She steadied his neck and shoulders and carefully eased him onto his back.
'What if he got shot, got hit with some shrapnel then got a concussion and is now having horribly vicious internal bleeding? Oh shut up! You're just making this worse!'
"Heero!" She said. She bent her head over him, her cheek just above his mouth. His breath was steady, pulse normal. Something warm ran down her temple. Blood dripped on his cheek. His eyes were suddenly open.
"You're bleeding," he said quietly. They didn't move for a moment. His eyes were very close to hers.
"And you probably have a concussion."
"I'll be fine," he murmured.
His hand touched the cut on her head. His eyes seemed so flat at first, but…
"Someone told me you were like a machine once," she said softly. She paused, her gaze on his face. "I can barely see that in you now…" she broke off, her eyes suddenly distant.
"The road," she said.
She helped him to his feet, and slung one of his arms over her shoulders. They walked back to the hill in silence. They paused and Xiran closed her eyes for a moment, wiped the blood from her face. Heero watched her with his grey eyes.
"...you could have died back there."
She opened her eyes. "You could have too. Why tell me this?"
Silence.
She sighed, but it wasn't a sound of irritation.
"I suppose I could have. It's not an unfamiliar thought." She looked at him. "Death is no stranger to me, Heero, as I'm sure it's no stranger to you. Whether it's taking the lives of others or my own, I have not hesitated during my missions. Does this change your opinion of Xiran Ki'Era, Heero?" She looked up at him, her eyes dark.
Heero said, "No."
"Why? I have killed the innocent. Absolution is something I will never have. My purpose now is merely to stop this war from rising. I might have cared once about survival…but that died in me long ago."
"Then you say it's all nothing, that you truly don't value your own life." Heero uttered a mirthless laugh. "Well you're not far off from where I was once. I suppose we're more alike than we know."
"Maybe…"
"But being indifferent is not the same as not being able to care."
She looked up at him suddenly, her eyes unreadable. "I don't even think I know the meaning of the word."
"Do you want me to die?"
"What? I...no. Never. I would probably do something stupid like throw myself in front of you before I'd let you fall."
"Then you care. Don't give up before the end of the race. We're in this together now."
Long silence.
"Allright. For the race then. To the end. I've got your back if you've got mine."
"I've got it."
"Then we're set…and we're both screwed because there's no way you can stay out of trouble."
"Any more than you can."
"Heh. Yeah. Well, Heero Yuy…let's finish this."
[Duo]
He saw them go off. They seemed to fly for a moment, but Duo knew, with some well founded experience, that they would quickly drop like rocks. Gravity was only your friend in certain circumstances, and this was definitely not one of them. Duo swore and wheeled his bike around. He turned to Wufei, Trowa and Quatre. "Get to the base!" he yelled, with an unaccustomed note of steel coming into his voice. His hazel eyes narrowed.
"I'm going back for them."
They had managed to get halfway up the hill by the time he got there.
"You guys okay?"
Heero nodded, and Xi waved at him. He let out a sigh of relief.
"Jeez! I stressed myself over nothing. I should have known that you two would put your Superpowers to good use out here."
Xiran grinned at him. "What if I had X-ray vision, Duo?"
"Then I'd be Captain Underwear."
She laughed.
They finally reached the top. Duo straddled the motorcycle and then paused.
"Uh, Xi, you get on first," Duo said after a slight pause and a glance at Heero. Heero cocked an eyebrow at him as Xiran climbed on behind Duo. Duo responded with a sly grin. Xiran's arms locked around his waist, and then he felt the change of weight as Heero got on. Duo glanced back over his shoulder at the faintly embarrassed look on Heero's face.
"Everybody comfortable back there?" He inquired innocently. Heero gave him a profoundly irritated look.
Duo grinned at the both of them. "Aw, you know you like it."
She punched him, hard. He laughed and revved the motorcycle. As he screeched away, he began singing, "If you want my body…and you think I'm sexy…come on sugar let me know…"
"Just drive," Heero growled.
[Relena]
"And then we started playing the Penis Game. See, Xi had never played the Penis Game before. She was a Game virgin. So I just had to play it with her…ow! Was that intentional, Hilde? I think it was. I'm sorry you missed out on the Penis Game, but don't feel bad. Later we can go out on the roof and play the Vulva Game…Owch! I'm stopping, I'm stopping!"
Relena smiled to herself as her blue-haired friend went about dressing the numerous scrapes and bruises on Duo's body. The look on Hilde's face when Duo came through the door with the bullet holes in his clothes was enough to make the braided pilot babble constantly since he'd got home. Hilde, tight lipped, had said almost nothing, and Relena knew that Duo was in for some verbal abuse later. Duo himself knew it too, his chatter had a desperate edge to it. He had tried to convince her he was fine earlier, but Hilde hadn't stood for that. The vest had come off, the shirt underneath too, and the already yellowing bruises on Duo's chest had been quickly scrutinized in heavy silence. It was then and only then, that he had stopped talking.
Hilde had placed a hand on one of the bruises, and Duo had winced. Her eyes had held his for a long moment. The anger and worry there had caused Duo's face to become still. He'd taken her other hand and kissed the fingers in silent apology.
Hilde had said softly, "Baka." And then she'd gotten the bandages.
Relena looked over to where Heero sat with a bottle of antiseptic, dabbing at the scrapes obtained in the fall. She'd gotten much of the story from Duo, while he was filling the silence with his ranting. Heero was doing his task absently, his mind obviously somewhere else. Perhaps on someone else. Where was Xiran now?
Relena shook that thought off, and went to him. Something was different, something had happened on the mission. She didn't know what, but his eyes were slightly strange.
The other pilots had gone to their rooms quickly, and the only people up and about were Duo, Hilde, Heero and herself.
He looked up as she approached, his gaze steady. Wordlessly, she took another cotton swab and began doing the hard to reach cuts.
She felt his eyes on her, but didn't look up. She said quietly, "I'm glad you're safe."
There was a slight pause. "Were you worried?"
"A little…yes."
Relena finally looked up at him. His grey eyes seemed soft.
He said finally, "…Sorry." He turned his attention to his other arm.
She smiled.
Abruptly she felt the pressure of another gaze. Relena looked up. Curled in the big window at the far end of the room was Xiran. Her eyes were dark. Relena held her stare evenly. After a moment Xiran stood up and left.
Her suspicions had not been allayed by the mission's success. Xiran could still be hiding something, waiting, biding her time. Even though the girl had shown remarkable loyalty thus far, she still had her own motivations. Relena was sure of it. She only wondered why the others didn't see it. Or maybe they did…The Gundam pilots were the most subtle and calculating people she knew. But perhaps Xiran knew that too.
Relena banished the girl from her thoughts. It was no use speculating.
Relena thought of the bigger picture. No new terrorist attacks had occurred since Xiran's arrival. The Preventers were still tracking down leads but basically what the pilots had found was the only fruit of their labours. And they weren't even sure what was on the chip yet.
She could only hope that together they could stop this war before it could begin.
Relena sighed inwardly as she placed a bandage over a larger cut. What she was worried about was that the war could be avoided…but that it was the Gundam Pilots who would pay the price. The Preventers were too politically influential to stick their noses into strange business, but the pilots were not. They never had been.
Heero said quietly, "Whatever happens, don't worry."
She started. Had he been reading her thoughts? His eyes revealed nothing, as usual.
"It is just that…we don't know what's going on. We're playing a game, but we don't know all the rules. At least with Barton we knew what we were dealing with. I worry that you and the pilots will be alone in this fight."
He was silent for a moment. "We know that we aren't alone."
Relena didn't say anything, didn't trust herself to say anything. Finally she murmured, "Even with your strength, I don't know if this can be won easily." She heard the note of defeat in her voice and her gaze hardened. "But I have faith in you, Heero. I have faith in the ability of the people to hold peace. I have faith that they will fight to protect this peace."
His mouth curved in the faintest smile. "Inspire them. You have the power to sway even the coldest hearts."
She went still. He got up. "Stay here tonight. Several of us will be leaving on errands in the morning. We'll drop you off." She nodded numbly. He said, "The room down the hall." Then he disappeared.
Relena lay back and closed her eyes. She breathed out slowly.
2 'With you beside me, I find the strength to do anything…'
[Duo]
Hilde's eyes, usually full of laughter and amusement, were trained on his.
Those blue eyes had more in their depths than Duo could understand. But one thing he did know was that she was pissed.
Hilde's face was carefully blank. She said almost coldly, "Trowa told me what happened. He's very precise, you know." She fixed her intense blue gaze on him. Duo almost flinched.
"Well…I…"
"What were you thinking? Were you thinking at all? Standing on the sill with nothing holding you in! You baka, you—" Hilde turned away for a moment, muttering vicously in German. Duo was suddenly very glad he knew nothing about the language. She turned back to him, face composed.
"You said you would be careful." It wasn't an accusation, but it was close.
Duo rubbed a hand over his face. "Yes. I did, and I meant to be—"
"Then what the hell was that?"
"That was me being a dumbass!" His felt his own anger rising. "Don't stand there and tell me that throwing yourself in front of a bullet wasn't stupid too!"
"Not as stupid as that!"
"I never said I was intelligent!"
"I never said you were either! But I assumed you had the brains of at least a monkey and not a yam!"
They glared at each other.
Finally Duo sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"I'm sorry."
Hilde closed her eyes. "I'm sorry too." She opened them. "I was just worried…and then I got stressed, and then I got angry because I was stressed, and so on and so forth…" She shook her head. Her face fell. "I had a feeling you would get hurt tonight. I thought it was just my normal drug induced hallucinations but…"
Duo drew her into an embrace. She stiffened slightly, and then held him tight enough to make him wince. He said again, "Sorry."
He felt her sigh against him. "Don't do it again, please?"
"I'll try."
And in the end they curled next to each other in bed, a warm tangle of limbs, finding some solace in each other's arms. But they both knew that arms were not always protection enough. They shifted closer and drifted towards sleep, closing their eyes against the dark.
In the silence Duo whispered, "No matter what happens..." He faded off, and Hilde gently squeezed his hand.
"I know."
Duo let himself float towards the blackness of sleep. In the mists of his drowsy mind he heard his own voice whisper, Then I guess we're even…for now.
[Xiran]
Saze.
Her old hate rose up for a moment like bile in her mouth and subsided. Yes, she had hated him for a long time. For living life by the rules, for being such a perfect soldier. Saze had been the only person she knew who did not question Arcon's orders once. She had hoped that she would be free of the past now. She had wanted those days to be over.
Xiran stared into the darkness of her room and imagined the eyes that must surely be watching for Onyx Five.
The eyes of a powerful hybrid. The eyes of a predator.
Xiran knew all too well whose eyes they were.
Between the two of them was a vengeance promised but never fulfilled.
Some day it would be.
Eventually she drifted into a fitful sleep, into dreams of running in a shadowy maze. In them she was trying to get away from something, but she didn't know what.
[Duo]
The morning light was like something stabbing him repeatedly in the eyeballs. He really didn't like it. Rolling over in hopes of curling into a ball of blanket and dark, he realized too late that Hilde wasn't next to him anymore.
With a muffled cry he tumbled off the bed and onto the floor. His head hit the floor with a thwack. Duo moaned and pulled the comforter over his head. He'd decided in these last few moments that it was really too much effort to get up, and that the world was out to get him today anyway. It was best not to give it any more chances.
It was apparent in a few minutes, however, that he was wide awake. Whether from the light or the pleasant brain hemmorage so early in the morning, he was unable to go back to sleep.
With a lot of muttering Duo got up and fumbled his way into the shower. That was nice. Warm water was always welcome, especially when Wufei wasn't around to deliberately flush the toilet. Feeling decidedly mellow, he dressed and found his way to the kitchen.
Someone was clattering around in there. Duo brightened. Maybe it's Quatre, preparing all kinds of culinary delights!
He stepped into the brightly lit kitchen. Xiran's dark maroon head was at eye level with the oven door.
"What're you doing?"
She stood and put her hands on her hips. She had on an apron with a tulip pattern. "Don't--" she said, wagging an accusatory finger at him, "--say a word." Duo, in the process of opening his mouth, closed it.
He sat down at the kitchen table, grinning. "I was only going to comment that this was a new look for you."
"Yeah, right. I'm sure you really weren't thinking up some moronic chauvinistic statement."
"That's Wufei's job."
"You seem to have a fairly good helping of pig neurons in your brain too."
"In the words of the immortal Bart Simpson, eat my shorts."
She laughed and returned to her vigil at the oven door.
"Are you cooking?" Duo asked curiously. She gave him a wry look.
"Quatre left me a recipe for scones. They're almost done."
Duo stretched. "Have you ever cooked before?"
"…No. Not really."
"Oh." There was a long pause.
The timer went ding!
He watched her take them out of the oven and put them on the table, which was covered in a mess of cooking ingredients from the cupboard. He regarded the scones a little nervously.
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"Aren't you going to try one?"
"Uh… the cook has first dibs."
"I resent that."
Duo laughed and put his hands behind his head. "I don't want scones anyway. Come on woman, go make me some pie!"
Xiran, in the process of removing her apron, whirled around. "WHAT?"
Duo just laughed, finding her expression rather amusing. He made an attempt at eating a scone, and failed miserably. That only made him laugh harder.
Because he was laughing so hard, he didn't see what was coming next. Xiran smiled evilly, dumped some flour on his head and smushed it into his hair. Duo, who was gamely trying to take another bite, was so surprised he fell off his chair. Xiran started laughing and said, "How's that for some PIE?"
Duo picked himself up with dignity and then grinned mischievously.
"Watch it, Xi, I've got a deadly arsenal of scone rocks in front of me and I won't hesitate to use them."
"No one disses my scones and gets away with it! Prepare to be annihilated, Bat-Boy!"
The food began to fly. A hail of twinkies exploded on Duo's side of the room, and he fired back trails of pudding and dry cereal from the cupboards. Before he could duck for cover he was hit in the head with a twinkie and a bite sized brownie. She fell over laughing and pointed at the golden yellow pastry sticking out of Duo's ear.
*SPLAT*
An entire lemon meringue pie was suddenly all over her face. She sat up in surprise, wiping lemon innards out of her nose and hurling them at Duo, who was practically dying from laughter on the other side of the room. Xiran took one look at his face, covered in gobbets of pie and twinkie, and had a sudden vision of Mr. Potato Head. She started laughing hysterically.
They were both rolling around on the floor in the foot deep goo, holding their sides and laughing so hard tears were in their eyes. Duo regained his breath first, gasping, and immediately saw Xiran sitting in a puddle of melting whipped cream, still laughing her head off. The can of cream was now away from the carnage and under a chair. He grinned, revenge in his eyes. He sprayed her surprised face with cream, then said, "You're the marshmallow man!!" He collapsed back into hysterics.
She let out a cry of outrage and tackled him into a pile of detonated twinkies and frosted flakes.
"Ahhh!"
"I'll show YOU marshmallow!"
They wrestled in the goo, almost too weak to do anything except flail madly about. Finally they were so exhausted they collapsed on top of each other, giggling like idiots. Duo lay back in a disgusting combination of pudding, raisins and BisQuik, trying to catch his breath. Xiran did the same, her laughter slowly dying.
Ignoring the sludge on her smiling face, Duo thought to himself, I've never heard her laugh like that before. Hell, I've never seen her look so happy before. This is the first time she's really let loose.
He suddenly spotted a forgotten spatula and picked it up. He balanced a lumpy chunk of twinkie on it and launched it at the ceiling. It hit with a small squish, and doggedly clung there, which really wasn't all that amusing, but by this time, anything was funny. Xiran broke out into a fit of laughter so hard her legs looked like they were having involuntary spasms. Duo of course was set off again by the sight of her legs jiggling about and doing a Riverdance all their own. Both of them wriggled about rather foolishly on the floor for several minutes. Xiran gasped, "I'm going to burst!"
"My mouth hurts!" Duo choked.
"Mine too…but—Ahhaha!"
Finally they quieted themselves and began to consider the battle-scarred condition of the kitchen. Duo actually thought seriously about cleaning up.
That was until the next gob of food hit the ceiling fan.
***
"Do you think it'll hold one more?"
"Maybe. You won't know until you try."
"Sure. And it'll bring the whole thing down on top of us!"
"Good point."
There was a pause, then a small squck noise.
"Good shot."
"Thank you."
"My turn."
"Of course."
Gop.
"That one was iffy."
"Was not."
"You aimed it right at the middle and there's already quite a large amount of pudding there. Even though its mass is small, the accumulated net weight could bring it crashing down on our heads!"
"SO?"
"It wobbled!"
"Your point?"
"Just give me the spatula!"
***
(some time later)
"Wow."
"It really was an impressive shot, wasn't it?"
"Oh shut up. I'm wowing at the SIZE of it."
"I know you're just jealous."
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"I am NOT!"
"Oh you know you are. You just wish you were cool enough to be me."
"Give me the damn spatula!"
There was a distinct sound of a whack.
"Ow! Hey!"
"Now that was a good shot."
"NO!"
"Yah, probably not from your perspective." She grinned. "Oh gee."
"Grrrr!"
Xiran laughed and Duo pushed a large amount of chocolate pudding into her mouth. She gagged. Duo threw his head back and started making a muffled laughing noise very close to the sound of a pig oinking.
"That was uncalled for!" She sputtered through her mouthful of brown.
Duo struggled to compose himself, and smiled. "I'm sorry, what did you say?" He said sweetly.
"MMMPH!"
"That's what I thought."
"Shut up!"
"No you shut up!"
"Make me!"
They wrestled. Around the table, around the garbage, around the chairs, around anything that was remotely solid. They slid and squished all around the kitchen until they were interrupted by someone opening the door.
Heero paused in shock as he surveyed the battle-scarred kitchen. Then a flicker of a smile crossed his face. Duo and Xiran paused in the process of trying to shove each other's head into a pile of spray cheese, just in time to see Heero casually reach up and flip the switch to the fan.
"NOOOOOOOOO!"
The collection of Oreo, cheese, twinkie, brownie, scone, flour and cereal dislodged itself from the ceiling and plummeted towards their unprotected heads.
"AAAHH--" There was the sound of a hefty splat. In an instant, Duo and Xiran were buried in a mountain of disgusting gooiness. All those foods that weren't supposed to be mixed together were having a total social gathering on top of their heads.
"Ohh…gross, man!" Duo said.
Heero chuckled at the surprised looks on their faces and turned to walk away.
Duo turned and looked at Xiran.
Xiran turned and looked at Duo.
They looked at the food on the floor.
Grins slowly spread across their faces. With a glance at the back of Heero's head they gathered up as much as they could carry, and took off after him.
[Heero]
"You fought long and hard, Heero. I commend you on a valiant effort. But your defeat was inevitable. We rule!" Duo and Xiran exchanged a wet high five.
Heero wiped cream out of his ear. "What? I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you." He gave Duo an utterly blank stare. Duo only laughed and slapped him on the back.
"That won't work with me. I KNOW you."
"..."
"He's just being a sore loser," Xiran teased. Heero rolled his eyes. He was covered in a disgusting mixture of food. He'd discovered about a minute ago that he smelled funny, but that was expected, considering he'd been wrestled to the ground and splatted multiple times with half mushed food. Duo and Xiran were sitting next to him, and they were in a worse state than he was. But looking at the foolishly smiling faces of his two comrades, he couldn't think of any place he'd rather be.
[Quatre]
He sure was glad they'd stocked up in food earlier, or else they wouldn't have anything to eat for lunch. Even now, the dredges were all they could scrape together. And the kitchen was a disaster. It was still a mystery how it could have been destroyed so fast, but with Duo, anything was possible. Quatre smiled to himself.
Duo had been scolded by Hilde and sent to the shower to become human again. She had firmly resisted his attempts to give her a gooey hug.
Xiran had been sent to the local mainstreet with a large shopping list. Heero had gone with her, at Duo's urgings, so that she 'wouldn't get in any more trouble.'
Quatre, Trowa and Hilde were now cleaning up the remains of the kitchen. They didn't trust Duo not to throw anything left so invitingly on the ground.
Trowa was standing on a chair scraping food off the fan and the ceiling. Quatre looked up at him just as a gob of twinkie fell on his head. Trowa glanced down at him with a flicker of a smile. "Sorry."
Wiping the goo out of his hair, Quatre smiled and said, "I'd say 'It's okay' but I'm still not entirely sure it was an accident." Trowa gave him an enigmatic smile again and went back to his work.
Quatre wiped under the table and came up behind Trowa. He was going to say something, but then realized that Trowa's behind was right in front of his face. All immediate thought vanished. Quatre quickly turned away, hoping to God that Trowa hadn't seen the blush in his cheeks.
But when he looked again at the tall boy, that enigmatic smile was back on his face.
[Xiran]
"We'd like three pounds of fresh steak and some asiago, please."
The man behind the counter had thick black hair and clear green eyes. He grinned at them good naturedly, his face somehow reminding her of Duo. He said, "Ach well, I havena any of the American Asiago left now, but I do have some fresh Italian…even tha it's pricier." He had a Scottish accent, and Xiran smiled at him, liking him immediately.
"That'll do."
He nodded and went about his tasks. His eyes lingered slightly in Heero's direction and then passed.
Xiran felt her suspicions rise. Was he really as normal as he seemed?
She watched him through the glass of the deli counter, trying to be subtle. He glanced several more times Heero's way while he sliced the meat. Then he left to package their stuff. When he came back he grinned at her impishly, his green eyes knowing, and said, "Ach lassie, dinna fash now. I dinna have the intention of seducing your friend there, I assure ye, even though it's tempting."
Beside her, Xiran felt Heero stiffen slightly. She barely suppressed a laugh.
"Well, it's okay to look…but any more than that and I'd have to fight you for him," she teased.
He smiled back, but his eyes had a hint of seriousness. "Aye, I bet ye would."
She looked at Heero. A faint flush had risen in his cheeks. She smiled and took their bags.
"Thanks so much, Mr…?" She didn't know his name.
"James," He said simply. He waved as they left, and gave Heero a good -natured wink.
"All the best to ye!"
Xiran laughed out loud as they continued down the main street. "You should have seen your face…"
Heero made a noncommittal noise.
"Well, be like that if you want, but I liked him. He was funny. And that accent was new to me."
Heero made another noncommittal sound.
"Oh fine, I'm sorry, it really wasn't THAT funny…"
They continued down into the marketplace and into the crowd. In the stalls, booths, and carts, they would find everything they needed.
[Heero]
The smells of the marketplace assailed him. The rotten, salty smell of fish, the sweet perfume of flowers, the fresh earthy smell of fruit and vegetables. There were others mixed in there as well, but he couldn't put his finger on them. And he didn't really care anyway.
The sun was bright today, and he was aware of how he had missed it when he was in space. It was always good to return to the earth. And now that he wasn't under enemy fire, he could actually enjoy it.
Xiran walked next to him, her hair shining in the sun. Her keen eyes were darting about and taking in everything. She looked so engrossed that he smiled.
"What?" She said.
"Have you never been to a marketplace before?"
She chuckled. "No. I guess I was acting weird again. Sorry."
"It's fine."
They walked on a little longer in silence.
"How is it exactly that you know Relena?" She asked suddenly, her voice calm.
He paused. How to describe it? "We met on my first mission. After that we…just kept seeing each other."
She was watching him closely. "That's not entirely what I meant."
"Oh."
He must have looked uncomfortable because she dropped the subject. They discussed some musical tastes for a while.
Xiran looked off into the crowd. She said, "I know she's very special to you. She's one of the most unique people I've ever met. Selfless to the point of stupidity in some cases…but her faith and inner strength are what make her who she is." She paused uncomfortably. "We don't exactly see eye to eye."
"I know."
She still wasn't looking at him. He didn't really know what to say. What he felt for Relena…was something he couldn't describe. Heero sighed.
Xiran said nothing, and they moved into the heart of the place. Pushed about by the crowd, they separated. In a moment a stream of people had come between him and her. She was gone.
Heero felt something like a cold wind blow through him. Where was she? Turning, he saw two young men, dressed in khakis and jeans, about twenty feet away. He turned back nonchalantly, but his eyes had sharpened. Both of them had been there at James' shop.
They were being followed. Heero was sure of it. Inwardly, he swore.
Someone brushed up against him. Xiran, her navy eyes dark, grabbed his hand. "Behind us."
"Saw them."
"Maybe more?"
"Yes."
"The alleys?"
"Let's go."
They moved off quickly through the crowd. The men followed.
As soon as they reached the peripheral edge of the crowd, they made a sharp turn down an alley. They sprinted hard past a homeless man. Heero saw the three meter high wall blocking the alley and didn't slow.
"Wall!" Xiran said.
"Up!" Heero replied. He took position, cupped his hands, and she stepped unhesitatingly onto them. He threw her up. She turned and grabbed his hands as the first man entered the alley. The man whipped out his gun.
Xiran yanked him over and they dropped to the other side, gunshots echoing up the alley.
They turned tail and bolted, but not after throwing a large, flat piece of old roof over the wall.
They sprinted, trying to reach the end of the alley and the open street before the men could jump the wall.
Something ricocheted off the wall near Xiran. Heero knew that the two men had scaled the wall in mere seconds. They were hybrids for sure.
More ricochets. This time Heero saw one of them. But it wasn't a bullet, it was something else.
3 Tranquilizer?
They hit the open street. It was a busy road. They didn't slow down. Cars and trucks flashed by on either side. Heero barely had time to blink. He had Xiran's hand, and that was all he knew. Then there was a huge Mack truck. It had slowed to make a delivery somewhere up the street and was just now speeding up.
"Come on!"
They ran, caught up with it. Xiran was first. She leaped into the space between the cab and the trailer, among the cables and chains. He jumped on a few seconds later. The truck pulled away from the pursuing men and they disappeared in the whoosh of traffic.
He was watching her face. His mind was strangely numb. Even when they got off the truck several minutes later, he was still as unfeeling as he was in the days of Operation Meteor.
The alley they ran to was shadowed and empty. He thought he would still feel nothing but then she turned and looked him in the eyes.
[Xiran]
In a split second his face had changed.
Xiran suddenly understood. But it didn't help.
He slammed her up against the wall. His hands dug painfully into her shoulders. His blue eyes blazed at her. In an instant she saw the pain of betrayal there, and she would have done anything to erase it. But she could not; she had been the one to put it there. Xiran's eyes darkened.
"Those men were shooting at you with tranquilizers!" Heero said, his voice low and hard with anger.
She said, "Let go of me, Heero."
He drew her back and hit her hard against the wall again.
"Why?" He demanded, his voice cold.
Xiran felt her own eyes harden. She said, "Let go of me. Now."
They glared at each other, eyes blazing with cold fire, blue on blue.
He slowly drew back, his expression guarded. He released her. He stood only a few steps away, but the space between them was far larger than that.
Xiran felt something twist inside her chest. She drew in a slow breath and stared him straight in the face.
"I think you already know why, Heero Yuy."
[Duo]
"They've been gone longer than expected," Wufei mused. Duo waved it off.
"They're probably haggling with some unfortunate soul at the market. Can't you just see it? Relentless, the both of them." Duo grinned.
"I suppose," said Trowa.
Silence fell.
* * *
[Heero]
"What kind of mind game is this?" Heero said in a low voice, his eyes never leaving hers. She said nothing, just looked at him. Heero turned his face away. He had listened for five minutes with total concentration to her words. Now she stood across from him and her face was that of a stranger. But he knew her words to be true. Anger surged in him. He did not let it show. He turned back to her.
"You lied."
Xiran looked at him with dark, haunted eyes and said coldly, "Yes."
Heero's icy eyes flared and for a moment he said nothing.
"Why?" His voice was emotionless.
[Xiran]
She knew her eyes were the dangerous, uncaring ones of a soldier. She knew, because it was reflected in his eyes too. This time it was two people trained to show nothing facing each other.
But she was a soldier with nothing left to lose. She had lost it all already, and in these sinking moments she felt what she had so painfully gained back slipping away. Her face became sharp and blank.
"Why does anyone lie?" She said simply. "I did it to protect myself."
"From what? From us? From me? From yourself?"
She cut him off. "From all of it."
"Then all of this means nothing. You lied from the beginning."
[Heero]
Her face twisted slightly, and he was somehow glad.
"No, Heero," she said, shaking her head. "That would also be a lie. Everything I said…about the facilities, the testing, my emotions, how I cared for you and the rest of the pilots…that's all true. The only thing I lied about you know about now. I have nothing else."
"Why should I believe you?"
[Xiran]
She almost winced. That one cut deep.
"…I don't know. I've betrayed your trust. You have no reason to believe me." The silence was heavy. She said, "When I fell with you off the cycle…did you think you knew me?"
Heero stared at her for a long moment, his face inscrutable, and then he nodded. His voice was low, "I did."
She stared at him silently.
"Then I suppose you know me better than any other person living. But that means nothing now." She paused. "Get out of here, Heero Yuy." Her voice darkened. "I don't want to lay eyes on you ever again."
He clenched his fists.
"No. You stood next to us in battle and you lied, you helped us and you lied, you let us trust you. What gives you the right to do that, Xiran Ki'Era? What gives you that privilege?"
"There is no privilege!" she snapped. "All this was bought with blood!"
"Whose?"
"If you have to ask me that, Heero, you're nothing short of a fool."
"A gullible one, maybe, but at least I have my own soul."
"No! No, can't you see? I have nothing left, I am nothing! I'm just a cheap imitation! All this-"she held out her hands. "All this merely masks the remains of a well thought out experiment."
Heero's face was dark and his voice was low. "It's not true. You are just as human as I am, maybe more."
"How would you know?" She hurled back at him.
He didn't say anything.
[Heero]
4 'Where did this rage come from?'
He was full of it, full to bursting, and he didn't know what would happen if he let go. He never had…and he never would. Heero looked into her navy eyes, dark and full of anger. How much of it was directed at him, he didn't know. Some part of him hoped it was not as much as it seemed.
He tried to find words, mentally fumbled them, and finally said nothing.
His silence was answer in itself.
[Xiran]
"I'm leaving," she said. Her voice rang with a stony finality. She did not try to soften it.
She walked away. Her footsteps echoed hollowly. Eyes hard and remorseless, she looked straight ahead, to the busy streets and flow of traffic. She did not think, she just put one foot in front of the other. The alley stretched out ahead of her, the smell rising from the abandoned trash as bitter as the taste in her mouth.
"…I'm not letting you go."
Xiran stopped. She didn't want to, didn't mean to, but she did. Her mouth half opened but no words came out. 'This wasn't how it was supposed to be,' she thought. 'Damn him.'
His face was in her mind. She closed her eyes. When she turned slowly back to him, her countenance was as cold as it had ever been.
"How do you mean that, Heero?" She asked quietly. His expression did not change. He said again,
"I'm not letting you go."
***
[Duo]
A key turned in the lock. Duo looked up, immediately alert.
Heero stepped into the room. He looked as if he'd been in a scuffle; he was scraped and dirty. He raised his eyes to Duo's.
Duo immediately knew something had gone terribly wrong. He stood up, a cry dying on his lips as the look in Heero's eyes changed from weary to utterly cold. Heero moved slightly aside and said in a voice devoid of any expression, "We had an encounter with some dangerous people in the marketplace and now we have the truth about the Raven's whereabouts." He paused to draw breath, and Duo felt the tension thick in the air. The other pilots, all present, stood as silent as death.
Heero said, "We have finally found Six of Ten." He turned towards the door. The one who stepped through it, dark eyes blank and determined, was Xiran Ki'Era.
END
Yes, the secret has finally come out. Xiran and Six are one and the same. How many of you guessed? I swear, it felt like I was dropping hints sloppily and all over the place. Ah well, nothing more to be done about that. I had some real issues with bonding and meaningful dialogue in this one. Agh! But oh well, next chapter will likely contain the first part of Mission One, the pilots first space venture since the end of the war. And this means *grins gleefully* my first big mech fight! Score!
On a side note, I apologize for any random typos. I've been hanging by the seat of my pants for a while now, since my Microsoft word told me that there were too many errors in the document to continue checking it. I suppose I could begin a new fanfic file and continue writing there…but old habits die hard. It depends on how annoyed I get at the typos, I guess. If I get infuriated enough, then I'll relocate…but until then…gomen! ^^
No idea whatsoever what's gonna go on in the next chap…except that Sally will make her big appearance, and the plans for Mission One will be laid down. Any suggestions will be appreciated! Thanks!
~Kywraith