The End of a Mystery
Chapter Two
Once again, I do not own Gundam Wing. I don't own any of the characters or the giant robots (I know, I know. Gundams) that they fly around in. If you think that I'm trying to take anything, please realize that I'm just writing this for the fun of it. It's not copyrighted. I'm not getting paid for it. I'm just bored.
Anyway, about that one dude who fixes things. Since I didn't get any e- mails concerning his name, (growls) he is going to remain "that one dude who fixes things". I'm sorry about that but I don't know everything. I'm only genius, not omnipotent. (smiles mysteriously) Well, I'm sure you haven't come here (and if you have I'd like to give you a kiss, but I wont because a) I don't usually kiss strangers b)I don't usually kiss anyone period and c)you're on the other side of the computer from me.) to listen to me, so, on to the second chapter.
Relena stood before her brother. Her eyes were concerned and her mouth was set in a small frown. Dorothy stood beside her and Relena was almost glad to have her there. Although her ideals about war and pain were totally backward, she had always treated Relena with respect and a certain amount of kindness.
"Milliardo, please be reasonable. Billions of people will die. Have a little compassion. They don't deserve to die for crimes they haven't committed."
Her voice was devoid of any fear that many people would have in the presence of the lightning count. "I can't let you do this."
"This has nothing to do with you Relena. I will not change my mind. Dorothy, will you take her somewhere please? But don't mistreat her; she is still my sister."
"Yes, Mr. Milliardo." With a small, mysterious smile, she dragged the protesting Relena out of the room.
"Dorothy! What are you doing? You can't be serious. Billions will die!"
"Oh Miss Relena. You know how I feel about war. To suppress our rage and pain and destructive tendencies would be to suppress our humanity, that very humanity which you ask us to have when it comes to taking lives. Here we are." They had stopped in a cellblock of the ship. Opening a door by pressing various unmarked buttons on a keyboard in the wall, Dorothy shoved Relena into the small compartment.
"Dorothy-"
"Goodbye Miss Relena."
"The Gundams will come if I'm not back in an hour. They'll destroy you, Dorothy!"
Dorothy listened, a slightly amused smile playing in her eyes and her mouth.
"Goodbye Miss Relena"
"Billions-"
The door shut on her argument. "No." Relena allowed herself to collapse to the floor. Her brother was insane, she couldn't persuade him or even relate to him. She didn't even know him. "No." It was all up to the Gundams now. She only hoped they could fight for her. She dragged herself over to the window, prepared to spend the next few hours waiting for a sign and trying to find some way out of this.
Dorothy strode down the hall confidently. She had only just come up with a brilliant plan, one that would perhaps both get rid of Treize and maybe-Her smile was joyful and malicious. If her suspicions were correct, it might also put the Gundam pilots themselves at her disposal. Before putting her plan into action, she would need to think about it. There were bound to be a few problems but those she would iron out presently. One must always be careful when concerning the Gundam pilots.
They were in a conference room. A long white table stretched for most of the length of it, chairs that could seat perhaps thirty people or more. There were glasses and pitchers of water all along it, and sandwich wrappers rested here and there. They'd been discussing what to do for a long time and nothing had been decided.
Only the important people actually spoke; Sally Po, that one dude who fixes things, and the Gundam Pilots. The crewmen had mostly been too timid to speak openly in front of five well-known killers, despite the fact that none of them had, as of yet, tried to kill anyone on board. Wufei had argued very well for simply blowing up the White Fang but Quatre had reminded him of the pacifist queen. Sally Po reasoned that they should rescue Relena and deactivate the cannons on the ship. Duo had slept through most of the conference.
Heero hadn't said a word. He sat next to the sleeping Duo, ignoring the soft snores that came frequently from his partner. He looked bored.
"If we attack the White Fang, all we will do is get ourselves killed. If we are going to do this, we need to plan. We need to be ready for everything. Otherwise we will die. We will not be of any use to anyone when we are dead." Spoke Quatre (not militaristically. He is speaking very reasonably and perhaps just a little over sensitively)
"But if we don't attack, then we cannot do anything at all. At least this way we have a chance. We can't just leave them to die." Replied Wufei.
"I don't see why we don't just blow her up with the damned ship! She hasn't been of any use to anyone, especially not ourselves. I know she's trying to save the world, but she should have left it to those who know how to fight. She was a weak fool to get involved."
"It was a noble act on her part, to confront her brother. And he is her brother. It is her right to try to dissuade him of this course and not only her right but also her duty. She could have left it to us, to leave the earth to live or die as fate decides, but she didn't. I don't know how you, Wufei, of all people, can argue against her when honor and duty are the things you value most!" There was silence all around at this impassioned speech from Quatre. Heero was watching this discussion with something almost like interest in his normally flat, dead eyes. He and Trowa alone had kept their faces devoid of surprise. Duo was still sleeping.
Wufei stood and, placing his hands on the table, leaned threateningly over to Quatre who was sitting across from him. His voice was soft and intense. "It was noble of her. I admit that. But you cannot sacrifice billions of lives for one. With one selfless, stupid act, she has compromised every single one of those lives that she was trying to save. If we don't attack, then we are as good as saying that we don't care for what happens to those innocents that you act so fond of. If we don't act immediately, then we are leaving them to a death that they may or may not deserve. If the earth is destroyed, what good will our struggles be? What good will our lives be when we can only fight and have failed to do even that for those who need protection most? I refuse to sit by and allow myself to become obsolete. I will be getting Nataku ready. If you ever come to a decision, let me know."
All watched as the Chinese boy left the room, with as much strength and grace as one can imagine from any legendary fighter.
"Oh." Quatre looked sorry and disappointed. He hadn't meant to make Wufei angry.
The room was silent.
"Now what?" asked that one dude who fixes things.
"Well-"
The blue screen on the wall suddenly lit up, drawing the attention of all. A face that they all knew, if only minutely filled the screen.
Quatre's eyes became wide with shock.
"Dorothy?!"
"Oh, hello Quatre. I've decided to send you guys a little message, concerning a certain pacifist princess."
Duo was awake with the sudden light of the screen. Squinting, he looked up at the huge image of Dorothy. "Dude, you have bizarre eyebrows."
Her strange, chilling laughter filled the conference room. Heero's eyes became focused chips of stone. His knuckles, unnoticed by any in the room, clutched whitely to the glass of water he'd been holding.
"Funny, Duo. My message is this. You, Heero" Heero eyes were colder than December as he glared at her. "will attack Treize Kushrenada's ship and challenge within the hour to a battle of mobile suits. A fight to the death. If you refuse, I will send you Miss Relena's bleeding heart and if you lose, I will send her to join you out in open space. This is not negotiable. If you win and do as I ask, I will have her escorted to your ship. From there it's up to you. Again, this is not negotiable. Have a nice day."
With a last sweet smile, her image vanished.
Every one in the conference room stared at Heero. He was sitting as before, slouched in his chair. The muscles in his face appeared relaxed and his eyes were still focused upon the blank screen. His eyes however were not their usual, passive blue. They burned; drops of liquid fire. His hand was clenched unmercifully around the glass, and Duo, staring at the white knuckles, wondered if they would ever be able to separate the two again. His arm, although appearing relaxed, shook uncontrollably. None in the room knew what to think or expect. The Crewmembers were nervous. Never before had they seen the most dangerous of the Gundam pilots so unstable. He was, generally, indifferent to everything that went on around him, so, although they feared him, they also acknowledged the fact that they had no reason to feel threatened by him. Quatre watched with wide eyes and Duo with concern and fear for his friend. Trowa alone was not visibly shaken by Heero's uncharacteristic behavior. Nothing surprised Trowa.
The hand shook. Heero's arm flexed and the glass shattered. The other Gundam pilots leapt to the aid of their ally and were ignored. Heero gazed, unshaken at his hand. Glass was imbedded into his fingers, his palm. Red, red blood dripped from his fingers and he only stared at it, contemplating, almost as though he couldn't understand that it was his own.
"Heero?"
Heero stood, still staring at his bleeding hand.
"Heero?!" Duo was concerned. Heero didn't hear him. Where was he? How far away had that single threat taken him from this world, where people watched him and waited for him, for a single reaction? "Heero, what are you thinking?"
The hand clenched into a fist and was then ignored, brought down to Heero's side, to his gun. "No, Heero. You can't go."
"I am going."
"And you'll do them a favor. They don't want to have to deal with us or Treize." Heero knew that, and Duo knew he knew that. If he could reach him through reason, he would. If he could reach Heero through force, he would do that too.
"I'll do what I will."
"Since when do you do what you want? I thought you lived for your missions. I thought you would do anything to accomplish them and nothing to compromise them." I gotcha there, Perfect Soldier. I know you too well for you to parry me so easily.
"I'll do what I want. And I want to fight. We've been waiting too long."
"You'll do what they tell you to? I can't believe I'm hearing this! You're going to work for the enemy?!" Duo waved his arms, beginning to get frustrated.
"I will do what I want and it is not up to you to decide, Duo."
"Please, calm down guys." Quatre was trying to be reasonable. He had been a little shocked to see Dorothy and to have her making demands of the most frightening person he knew. And so casually! Personally, he knew, or at least was pretty sure that Heero would not hurt any of the Gundam pilots, but Dorothy! Quatre shuddered to think what would happen if they were in the same room. They'd probably kill each other.
"Duo." Heero's voice was low and vaguely menacing. The crew members were leaving what they thought a private dispute. Sally Po and that dude who fixes things remained, waiting to hear the end of this historic argument. They had never heard Heero speak so much at one time.
"I don't care if this is a mission. I don't care if I'm fighting Treize; I've fought him before. We swore we would kill each other and we will. I don't care for your ethics, or your speeches. I simply believe that Relena is the only person alive who can actually bring peace to this time. I'm leaving. Whether I win or lose my battle with Treize, I want you to attack White Fang. Quatre," Quatre's attention redoubled, his eyes were wide but not with fear or innocence but perhaps a realization of pride. "Quatre, you are the best when it comes to strategy. I leave it to you. I'm leaving."
Duo lost his temper and finally shouted (humorously, since everything he does is funny), "Heero, you moron! You'd sacrifice yourself for some girl you hardly know. You don't agree on anything. She's your enemy, your rival, a major pain in the ass in my opinion. All she's ever done is get in the way and make corny speeches and yet you're going to go get yourself blown up, or self detonated probably, for her?! You call yourself the perfect soldier and yet you'll risk everything we fought for, for blond hair and blue eyes. Fine, deny every instinct, every habit, everything that you are for a chick and die before you even tell her why. As for me, I'm through with both of you!"
Heero's head was lowered, his eyes glittered, focused hatefully upon Duo. At the last, shouted, horrible word, his mask broke into a snarl and he leapt upon Duo. Duo uttered a cry and fell backward, Heero's powerful hands on his throat. Quatre started shouting and tried to pull them apart, but they were on the floor, rolling. Trowa entered but they couldn't get a grip. Duo couldn't breathe. Heero was muttering promises and curses that no one could hear. The whole ship seemed to be shouting. He couldn't hear his thoughts or feel the hands that tugged at his back, couldn't feel Duo's fists as they pounded uselessly at his face and shoulders. Forever, nothing existed but those horrible words. Forever, they struggled, their own battle ringing in their ears, voices, too distant to be real floating like a dream in the back of their minds.
"Get him off! I don't think Duo can breathe!"
"They're too fast. I can't-"
A single shot echoed throughout the ship. The silence was total but for the harsh breathing of the two pilots. Duo had quit struggling; Heero's face had returned to impassive but for those glittering eyes. Duo shuddered. What had happened? Heero stood slowly, gazing mutely down at the boy he'd left on the ground. His mouth was closed. All emotion was gone, all anger, all hatred. A distant expression touched his eyes, his mouth. And Duo watched his partner from his place on the ground, not trying to move, not bothering to get up. The struggle was over.
"Goodbye Duo." And Heero left the room. None chose to follow him. None dared. They stood where they had been left; all around the room. At length, Quatre approached Duo and gave him a hand up. "I can't believe-" he stopped, unsure of what to say. Trowa's expression was knowledgeable. He bowed his head and left the room. "Did Heero shoot you?" Quatre's voice shook with nerves and fear. For a moment he had thought--since Duo hadn't moved, that- "Heero didn't shoot me." Duo's voice was harsh and his eyes were fearful, and showed a desperate sort of hopelessness that Quatre found terrifying.
"then what-"
At that moment Wufei rushed into the room, breathless, but totally calm. "What has happened?" During the pregnant silence he looked from Quatre to Duo, his eyes resting on the dark bruises that were beginning to appear. He looked accusingly to Duo. "Heero has left. He took Zero and left."
"We know." Duo croaked and then closed his mouth. It was painful to speak.
Wufei's black eyes drilled into Duo. He wouldn't stop. There was something more; Duo knew it. He made a questioning gesture.
"He was bleeding. Very badly."
Quatre's face grew white. The silence was killing him. The dissent was hurting in his heart like a wound. He turned to the windows and watched a single yellow light as it left them. His gaze then turned to Duo's gun where it laid, silent testimony on the floor. There was blood, drops and streaks from Heero's scratched hand and also-- He turned back to the window. Duo's head bowed and Wufei glared at them all with new malice. He shook his head in anger, turned on his heel and left. The Perfect Soldier wasn't coming back.
That is the end of the second chapter. You probably won't read this, so I'll make it short. I need to get e-mails, otherwise I'm either going to think that no one likes this, or that I'm talking to myself; and maybe I am, it's just-- even if I am talking to myself-even if only one person reads this in all of the world-please. Please write. Say anything. Be an asshole. Be critical. Be caustic. Be insane-It doesn't matter! I don't care what you are or what you'll be. Just-be!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------Sincerely hopeful, ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------StarChild
Chapter Two
Once again, I do not own Gundam Wing. I don't own any of the characters or the giant robots (I know, I know. Gundams) that they fly around in. If you think that I'm trying to take anything, please realize that I'm just writing this for the fun of it. It's not copyrighted. I'm not getting paid for it. I'm just bored.
Anyway, about that one dude who fixes things. Since I didn't get any e- mails concerning his name, (growls) he is going to remain "that one dude who fixes things". I'm sorry about that but I don't know everything. I'm only genius, not omnipotent. (smiles mysteriously) Well, I'm sure you haven't come here (and if you have I'd like to give you a kiss, but I wont because a) I don't usually kiss strangers b)I don't usually kiss anyone period and c)you're on the other side of the computer from me.) to listen to me, so, on to the second chapter.
Relena stood before her brother. Her eyes were concerned and her mouth was set in a small frown. Dorothy stood beside her and Relena was almost glad to have her there. Although her ideals about war and pain were totally backward, she had always treated Relena with respect and a certain amount of kindness.
"Milliardo, please be reasonable. Billions of people will die. Have a little compassion. They don't deserve to die for crimes they haven't committed."
Her voice was devoid of any fear that many people would have in the presence of the lightning count. "I can't let you do this."
"This has nothing to do with you Relena. I will not change my mind. Dorothy, will you take her somewhere please? But don't mistreat her; she is still my sister."
"Yes, Mr. Milliardo." With a small, mysterious smile, she dragged the protesting Relena out of the room.
"Dorothy! What are you doing? You can't be serious. Billions will die!"
"Oh Miss Relena. You know how I feel about war. To suppress our rage and pain and destructive tendencies would be to suppress our humanity, that very humanity which you ask us to have when it comes to taking lives. Here we are." They had stopped in a cellblock of the ship. Opening a door by pressing various unmarked buttons on a keyboard in the wall, Dorothy shoved Relena into the small compartment.
"Dorothy-"
"Goodbye Miss Relena."
"The Gundams will come if I'm not back in an hour. They'll destroy you, Dorothy!"
Dorothy listened, a slightly amused smile playing in her eyes and her mouth.
"Goodbye Miss Relena"
"Billions-"
The door shut on her argument. "No." Relena allowed herself to collapse to the floor. Her brother was insane, she couldn't persuade him or even relate to him. She didn't even know him. "No." It was all up to the Gundams now. She only hoped they could fight for her. She dragged herself over to the window, prepared to spend the next few hours waiting for a sign and trying to find some way out of this.
Dorothy strode down the hall confidently. She had only just come up with a brilliant plan, one that would perhaps both get rid of Treize and maybe-Her smile was joyful and malicious. If her suspicions were correct, it might also put the Gundam pilots themselves at her disposal. Before putting her plan into action, she would need to think about it. There were bound to be a few problems but those she would iron out presently. One must always be careful when concerning the Gundam pilots.
They were in a conference room. A long white table stretched for most of the length of it, chairs that could seat perhaps thirty people or more. There were glasses and pitchers of water all along it, and sandwich wrappers rested here and there. They'd been discussing what to do for a long time and nothing had been decided.
Only the important people actually spoke; Sally Po, that one dude who fixes things, and the Gundam Pilots. The crewmen had mostly been too timid to speak openly in front of five well-known killers, despite the fact that none of them had, as of yet, tried to kill anyone on board. Wufei had argued very well for simply blowing up the White Fang but Quatre had reminded him of the pacifist queen. Sally Po reasoned that they should rescue Relena and deactivate the cannons on the ship. Duo had slept through most of the conference.
Heero hadn't said a word. He sat next to the sleeping Duo, ignoring the soft snores that came frequently from his partner. He looked bored.
"If we attack the White Fang, all we will do is get ourselves killed. If we are going to do this, we need to plan. We need to be ready for everything. Otherwise we will die. We will not be of any use to anyone when we are dead." Spoke Quatre (not militaristically. He is speaking very reasonably and perhaps just a little over sensitively)
"But if we don't attack, then we cannot do anything at all. At least this way we have a chance. We can't just leave them to die." Replied Wufei.
"I don't see why we don't just blow her up with the damned ship! She hasn't been of any use to anyone, especially not ourselves. I know she's trying to save the world, but she should have left it to those who know how to fight. She was a weak fool to get involved."
"It was a noble act on her part, to confront her brother. And he is her brother. It is her right to try to dissuade him of this course and not only her right but also her duty. She could have left it to us, to leave the earth to live or die as fate decides, but she didn't. I don't know how you, Wufei, of all people, can argue against her when honor and duty are the things you value most!" There was silence all around at this impassioned speech from Quatre. Heero was watching this discussion with something almost like interest in his normally flat, dead eyes. He and Trowa alone had kept their faces devoid of surprise. Duo was still sleeping.
Wufei stood and, placing his hands on the table, leaned threateningly over to Quatre who was sitting across from him. His voice was soft and intense. "It was noble of her. I admit that. But you cannot sacrifice billions of lives for one. With one selfless, stupid act, she has compromised every single one of those lives that she was trying to save. If we don't attack, then we are as good as saying that we don't care for what happens to those innocents that you act so fond of. If we don't act immediately, then we are leaving them to a death that they may or may not deserve. If the earth is destroyed, what good will our struggles be? What good will our lives be when we can only fight and have failed to do even that for those who need protection most? I refuse to sit by and allow myself to become obsolete. I will be getting Nataku ready. If you ever come to a decision, let me know."
All watched as the Chinese boy left the room, with as much strength and grace as one can imagine from any legendary fighter.
"Oh." Quatre looked sorry and disappointed. He hadn't meant to make Wufei angry.
The room was silent.
"Now what?" asked that one dude who fixes things.
"Well-"
The blue screen on the wall suddenly lit up, drawing the attention of all. A face that they all knew, if only minutely filled the screen.
Quatre's eyes became wide with shock.
"Dorothy?!"
"Oh, hello Quatre. I've decided to send you guys a little message, concerning a certain pacifist princess."
Duo was awake with the sudden light of the screen. Squinting, he looked up at the huge image of Dorothy. "Dude, you have bizarre eyebrows."
Her strange, chilling laughter filled the conference room. Heero's eyes became focused chips of stone. His knuckles, unnoticed by any in the room, clutched whitely to the glass of water he'd been holding.
"Funny, Duo. My message is this. You, Heero" Heero eyes were colder than December as he glared at her. "will attack Treize Kushrenada's ship and challenge within the hour to a battle of mobile suits. A fight to the death. If you refuse, I will send you Miss Relena's bleeding heart and if you lose, I will send her to join you out in open space. This is not negotiable. If you win and do as I ask, I will have her escorted to your ship. From there it's up to you. Again, this is not negotiable. Have a nice day."
With a last sweet smile, her image vanished.
Every one in the conference room stared at Heero. He was sitting as before, slouched in his chair. The muscles in his face appeared relaxed and his eyes were still focused upon the blank screen. His eyes however were not their usual, passive blue. They burned; drops of liquid fire. His hand was clenched unmercifully around the glass, and Duo, staring at the white knuckles, wondered if they would ever be able to separate the two again. His arm, although appearing relaxed, shook uncontrollably. None in the room knew what to think or expect. The Crewmembers were nervous. Never before had they seen the most dangerous of the Gundam pilots so unstable. He was, generally, indifferent to everything that went on around him, so, although they feared him, they also acknowledged the fact that they had no reason to feel threatened by him. Quatre watched with wide eyes and Duo with concern and fear for his friend. Trowa alone was not visibly shaken by Heero's uncharacteristic behavior. Nothing surprised Trowa.
The hand shook. Heero's arm flexed and the glass shattered. The other Gundam pilots leapt to the aid of their ally and were ignored. Heero gazed, unshaken at his hand. Glass was imbedded into his fingers, his palm. Red, red blood dripped from his fingers and he only stared at it, contemplating, almost as though he couldn't understand that it was his own.
"Heero?"
Heero stood, still staring at his bleeding hand.
"Heero?!" Duo was concerned. Heero didn't hear him. Where was he? How far away had that single threat taken him from this world, where people watched him and waited for him, for a single reaction? "Heero, what are you thinking?"
The hand clenched into a fist and was then ignored, brought down to Heero's side, to his gun. "No, Heero. You can't go."
"I am going."
"And you'll do them a favor. They don't want to have to deal with us or Treize." Heero knew that, and Duo knew he knew that. If he could reach him through reason, he would. If he could reach Heero through force, he would do that too.
"I'll do what I will."
"Since when do you do what you want? I thought you lived for your missions. I thought you would do anything to accomplish them and nothing to compromise them." I gotcha there, Perfect Soldier. I know you too well for you to parry me so easily.
"I'll do what I want. And I want to fight. We've been waiting too long."
"You'll do what they tell you to? I can't believe I'm hearing this! You're going to work for the enemy?!" Duo waved his arms, beginning to get frustrated.
"I will do what I want and it is not up to you to decide, Duo."
"Please, calm down guys." Quatre was trying to be reasonable. He had been a little shocked to see Dorothy and to have her making demands of the most frightening person he knew. And so casually! Personally, he knew, or at least was pretty sure that Heero would not hurt any of the Gundam pilots, but Dorothy! Quatre shuddered to think what would happen if they were in the same room. They'd probably kill each other.
"Duo." Heero's voice was low and vaguely menacing. The crew members were leaving what they thought a private dispute. Sally Po and that dude who fixes things remained, waiting to hear the end of this historic argument. They had never heard Heero speak so much at one time.
"I don't care if this is a mission. I don't care if I'm fighting Treize; I've fought him before. We swore we would kill each other and we will. I don't care for your ethics, or your speeches. I simply believe that Relena is the only person alive who can actually bring peace to this time. I'm leaving. Whether I win or lose my battle with Treize, I want you to attack White Fang. Quatre," Quatre's attention redoubled, his eyes were wide but not with fear or innocence but perhaps a realization of pride. "Quatre, you are the best when it comes to strategy. I leave it to you. I'm leaving."
Duo lost his temper and finally shouted (humorously, since everything he does is funny), "Heero, you moron! You'd sacrifice yourself for some girl you hardly know. You don't agree on anything. She's your enemy, your rival, a major pain in the ass in my opinion. All she's ever done is get in the way and make corny speeches and yet you're going to go get yourself blown up, or self detonated probably, for her?! You call yourself the perfect soldier and yet you'll risk everything we fought for, for blond hair and blue eyes. Fine, deny every instinct, every habit, everything that you are for a chick and die before you even tell her why. As for me, I'm through with both of you!"
Heero's head was lowered, his eyes glittered, focused hatefully upon Duo. At the last, shouted, horrible word, his mask broke into a snarl and he leapt upon Duo. Duo uttered a cry and fell backward, Heero's powerful hands on his throat. Quatre started shouting and tried to pull them apart, but they were on the floor, rolling. Trowa entered but they couldn't get a grip. Duo couldn't breathe. Heero was muttering promises and curses that no one could hear. The whole ship seemed to be shouting. He couldn't hear his thoughts or feel the hands that tugged at his back, couldn't feel Duo's fists as they pounded uselessly at his face and shoulders. Forever, nothing existed but those horrible words. Forever, they struggled, their own battle ringing in their ears, voices, too distant to be real floating like a dream in the back of their minds.
"Get him off! I don't think Duo can breathe!"
"They're too fast. I can't-"
A single shot echoed throughout the ship. The silence was total but for the harsh breathing of the two pilots. Duo had quit struggling; Heero's face had returned to impassive but for those glittering eyes. Duo shuddered. What had happened? Heero stood slowly, gazing mutely down at the boy he'd left on the ground. His mouth was closed. All emotion was gone, all anger, all hatred. A distant expression touched his eyes, his mouth. And Duo watched his partner from his place on the ground, not trying to move, not bothering to get up. The struggle was over.
"Goodbye Duo." And Heero left the room. None chose to follow him. None dared. They stood where they had been left; all around the room. At length, Quatre approached Duo and gave him a hand up. "I can't believe-" he stopped, unsure of what to say. Trowa's expression was knowledgeable. He bowed his head and left the room. "Did Heero shoot you?" Quatre's voice shook with nerves and fear. For a moment he had thought--since Duo hadn't moved, that- "Heero didn't shoot me." Duo's voice was harsh and his eyes were fearful, and showed a desperate sort of hopelessness that Quatre found terrifying.
"then what-"
At that moment Wufei rushed into the room, breathless, but totally calm. "What has happened?" During the pregnant silence he looked from Quatre to Duo, his eyes resting on the dark bruises that were beginning to appear. He looked accusingly to Duo. "Heero has left. He took Zero and left."
"We know." Duo croaked and then closed his mouth. It was painful to speak.
Wufei's black eyes drilled into Duo. He wouldn't stop. There was something more; Duo knew it. He made a questioning gesture.
"He was bleeding. Very badly."
Quatre's face grew white. The silence was killing him. The dissent was hurting in his heart like a wound. He turned to the windows and watched a single yellow light as it left them. His gaze then turned to Duo's gun where it laid, silent testimony on the floor. There was blood, drops and streaks from Heero's scratched hand and also-- He turned back to the window. Duo's head bowed and Wufei glared at them all with new malice. He shook his head in anger, turned on his heel and left. The Perfect Soldier wasn't coming back.
That is the end of the second chapter. You probably won't read this, so I'll make it short. I need to get e-mails, otherwise I'm either going to think that no one likes this, or that I'm talking to myself; and maybe I am, it's just-- even if I am talking to myself-even if only one person reads this in all of the world-please. Please write. Say anything. Be an asshole. Be critical. Be caustic. Be insane-It doesn't matter! I don't care what you are or what you'll be. Just-be!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------Sincerely hopeful, ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------StarChild