Chapter 11
At lunch the next day I sat twirling my soup. I wasn't hungry, but V was supposed to show up. He had talked to his dad and had gotten me out of trouble, but he hadn't had a chance to talk to me yet. I was in a back corner, my back against the wall. I was able to see the entire room, and glanced up every now and then to see if anyone unwanted was watching me. Nickolas had been around, but a glare from me sent him away. I wasn't going to let him watch me today.
V came in without the rest of his group. He didn't bother to get lunch as he headed for my table. He sat down without a word and just stared at me a moment. I stopped toying with my food and put my spoon down.
"So…" I started, not sure what to say.
V kept his face blank as he answered. "You tell your story, without lies. Say as much as you feel safe saying. I'll accept whatever you say as long as you don't lie. Dad knows I'm talking to you. He thinks I'm questioning about Duo."
I nodded, taking in what he said. Anything I felt safe with. That left out our entire conversation. But I owed V something. Even if it was only a little bit. Shaking my head I started.
"I was born into an important family, which I won't say much about. I grew up with a good friend very much like a sister or cousin. I'll leave her out a lot, too. But you should know our dad's were best friends. My dad is one of the reasons I am here, him and the rest of my friends. I needed to get away from everyone, to do something alone. I was trained by my dad and his friends in mobile suits. I've never stepped foot on colony 8412, and won't because it's gone.
"I've been trained to be a great pilot, along with wonderful at regular guns and hacking. I could probably get into any system you want. I can get past any password and if something's online I can get into it, too. I'm good with martial arts. One of my friends helped me learn. He is much better than me, though, and always will be.
"I don't know what all I should say, I don't know what would be too much. I'm afraid Mathew's starting to figure things out, though I don't know how. I've met and talked to all the gundam pilots, from Quatre to Julia. They all know me, but none would tell you at the moment. I don't know why I joined Oz. Probably just to do something my friends and parents would be mad at me for. I wanted to tick someone off, make him or her mad. It worked, all too well.
"I don't know what's going on at home. I know I've yelled at them to get out of my life but I wish someone were here to help me. I'm way over my head and I don't know how to deal with this." I stopped and laughed to myself. "Of course this would be where one of my friends might step in and help me.
"Which is kind of what you're doing," I finished as I looked at V. It was true, he was helping me, in much the same way the others had.
V smiled, very nicely, to me. "Well, I'm a friend. Strange as it is, you're kind of the only one I can trust at the moment. My group is either working with my dad or convinced nothing peculiar is going on."
That surprised me. "Who's working with Mathew?"
"Mike, Nat, and Max," V said accusingly.
I blinked, surprised. "Max? But… Max?" V nodded. "What about the others?"
"Pen's convinced Nathan would never do anything that stupid and Rob's too busy looking for suspicions people he doesn't see who's the real problem. The group has kind of been split in half, and I had no idea that it was happening. I don't know what my dad's up to, but I need to find out." He paused a moment. "Whatever it is, he has Alex and Rob watching you."
"How about Nickolas? Do you know if he's supposed to be watching me?" I asked.
"Nickolas? No, I don't even know if he's met my dad. If he's watching you he must be a good spy. But I'm pretty sure he's not working for my dad," V assured me.
I thought a moment, staring very hard into my soup, as if it could answer all the questions buzzing in my head. "Maybe he's working for someone else," I suggested without even thinking about it. Suddenly I looked up at V, who was staring as intently back at me.
"Who?" V asked.
I thought again, "Who would Mathew have something against? Who might his scheme involve? What do you know about it?"
V bit his tongue for a moment. "He… he's trying to get moved up in position, that I know. Trying to gain control of something. He's afraid you'll screw it up. Afraid you might help out the wrong person." Again he looked at me.
"Milliardo?" We said together.
I blinked as I looked around the room out of habit. "God, it would make sense. Milliardo pulled rank on him. He wants to get him back. And if something happened to Milliardo then he'd be up a bit in status. Especially if people found out he was protecting me."
V stared at me intently. "I'm going to ignore that, but still, you have a point. And if he's using you to get to Milliardo we have a problem," V insisted.
I nodded. "I need to talk to Zechs."
"How's he going to help?" V asked.
I looked at him. "I'm getting out of Oz, tonight. If you want to help when we're outside the base I'll tell you everything you want to know. If you don't help you won't see me for a while, well, sooner then you think. If you're going to help be at the club you took me to at nine, I'll be there and ready to talk. But I have to find Zechs and get out of here."
V nodded. "I'll see you there."
I stood and was about to leave when I stopped for a moment. "Find Zechs and tell him to be there. Make sure no one's listening." I paused, knowing Zechs wouldn't trust V. "Give him this," I took my dad's ring out of my pocket, glad I had kept it with me, and gave it to V. Then turned and left as fast as I could.
When I left the base I went strait to where I had stashed everything. I pushed the chests of unwanted stuff out off my way as I went to Alex's things. First thing I pulled out was the anti-dye. I had dyed my hair with a special, expensive, dye. It wouldn't come out without a special formula, which I had in front of me. Next I took out a set of all black clothes. First a tank top that would hold closely to my body, followed by a pair of jeans. I pulled out my Nikes, which I greatly missed. They were well broken in and fit me perfectly. I grabbed a long sleeved button up shirt to put over the tank, red instead of black, followed by my black leather jacket. Folding them neatly I put most of it into a backpack, not having room for my shoes or coat. Then I moved on to the accessories, the guns.
I pulled out a set of laser guns. All of top quality and deadly. All of which I was very good at aiming, and rarely missed a target. I set them aside for use if I needed it later. I took out five knives. Two for my arms, on the left it was to be put so I could draw it from the wrist. On the right I had to take it out at the elbow. Another was for the small of my back, right next to where I put one of my guns. I had one where I could draw it at my left ankle and the last and smallest I didn't really have a spot for. It was like the chop sticks used for your hair, and I usually used it as such. Sadly I put it back into the chest, not having a place to put it. Last I pulled out two handguns and holsters for both of them, one for my shoulders the other for my back. Loading the weapons into the backpack along with my clothes I stood up. Next step, a hotel.
I found a cheap one with all the needed things. I paid for over night, though I'd only be there about two hours. It was fairly clean and had a shower, along with those little shampoo and conditioner things that so many people liked to steal. I didn't want them, but quickly hopped into the shower and started on my hair. I was tired of being blonde. It took half an hour to fully get rid of the color, but soon I was back to having dark brown hair. I smiled at my reflection as I took out the contacts. Staring to at myself in the mirror I seemed to change. It was as if I looked more like Alex, a girl instead of guy. My grin widened and I moved into the main room.
After drying off I got dressed in the clothes I had laid out. For the first time in a long while I didn't have to bandage my chest first, which made me rather happy. I relaxed into what had been my normal dress, letting myself come back. No longer would I be wearing uniforms or polo shirts. No longer would I have to play the part of Thomas Conway. I grinned to no one but myself.
Alex was back.
Hey all, I've put up I think three chapters within the last four days 'cause fanfiction had been screwing up for some reason. I'm putting up another chapter today and tomorrow, and maybe another next week, depends how fast I write. Thanks for reading :)
~Rave
At lunch the next day I sat twirling my soup. I wasn't hungry, but V was supposed to show up. He had talked to his dad and had gotten me out of trouble, but he hadn't had a chance to talk to me yet. I was in a back corner, my back against the wall. I was able to see the entire room, and glanced up every now and then to see if anyone unwanted was watching me. Nickolas had been around, but a glare from me sent him away. I wasn't going to let him watch me today.
V came in without the rest of his group. He didn't bother to get lunch as he headed for my table. He sat down without a word and just stared at me a moment. I stopped toying with my food and put my spoon down.
"So…" I started, not sure what to say.
V kept his face blank as he answered. "You tell your story, without lies. Say as much as you feel safe saying. I'll accept whatever you say as long as you don't lie. Dad knows I'm talking to you. He thinks I'm questioning about Duo."
I nodded, taking in what he said. Anything I felt safe with. That left out our entire conversation. But I owed V something. Even if it was only a little bit. Shaking my head I started.
"I was born into an important family, which I won't say much about. I grew up with a good friend very much like a sister or cousin. I'll leave her out a lot, too. But you should know our dad's were best friends. My dad is one of the reasons I am here, him and the rest of my friends. I needed to get away from everyone, to do something alone. I was trained by my dad and his friends in mobile suits. I've never stepped foot on colony 8412, and won't because it's gone.
"I've been trained to be a great pilot, along with wonderful at regular guns and hacking. I could probably get into any system you want. I can get past any password and if something's online I can get into it, too. I'm good with martial arts. One of my friends helped me learn. He is much better than me, though, and always will be.
"I don't know what all I should say, I don't know what would be too much. I'm afraid Mathew's starting to figure things out, though I don't know how. I've met and talked to all the gundam pilots, from Quatre to Julia. They all know me, but none would tell you at the moment. I don't know why I joined Oz. Probably just to do something my friends and parents would be mad at me for. I wanted to tick someone off, make him or her mad. It worked, all too well.
"I don't know what's going on at home. I know I've yelled at them to get out of my life but I wish someone were here to help me. I'm way over my head and I don't know how to deal with this." I stopped and laughed to myself. "Of course this would be where one of my friends might step in and help me.
"Which is kind of what you're doing," I finished as I looked at V. It was true, he was helping me, in much the same way the others had.
V smiled, very nicely, to me. "Well, I'm a friend. Strange as it is, you're kind of the only one I can trust at the moment. My group is either working with my dad or convinced nothing peculiar is going on."
That surprised me. "Who's working with Mathew?"
"Mike, Nat, and Max," V said accusingly.
I blinked, surprised. "Max? But… Max?" V nodded. "What about the others?"
"Pen's convinced Nathan would never do anything that stupid and Rob's too busy looking for suspicions people he doesn't see who's the real problem. The group has kind of been split in half, and I had no idea that it was happening. I don't know what my dad's up to, but I need to find out." He paused a moment. "Whatever it is, he has Alex and Rob watching you."
"How about Nickolas? Do you know if he's supposed to be watching me?" I asked.
"Nickolas? No, I don't even know if he's met my dad. If he's watching you he must be a good spy. But I'm pretty sure he's not working for my dad," V assured me.
I thought a moment, staring very hard into my soup, as if it could answer all the questions buzzing in my head. "Maybe he's working for someone else," I suggested without even thinking about it. Suddenly I looked up at V, who was staring as intently back at me.
"Who?" V asked.
I thought again, "Who would Mathew have something against? Who might his scheme involve? What do you know about it?"
V bit his tongue for a moment. "He… he's trying to get moved up in position, that I know. Trying to gain control of something. He's afraid you'll screw it up. Afraid you might help out the wrong person." Again he looked at me.
"Milliardo?" We said together.
I blinked as I looked around the room out of habit. "God, it would make sense. Milliardo pulled rank on him. He wants to get him back. And if something happened to Milliardo then he'd be up a bit in status. Especially if people found out he was protecting me."
V stared at me intently. "I'm going to ignore that, but still, you have a point. And if he's using you to get to Milliardo we have a problem," V insisted.
I nodded. "I need to talk to Zechs."
"How's he going to help?" V asked.
I looked at him. "I'm getting out of Oz, tonight. If you want to help when we're outside the base I'll tell you everything you want to know. If you don't help you won't see me for a while, well, sooner then you think. If you're going to help be at the club you took me to at nine, I'll be there and ready to talk. But I have to find Zechs and get out of here."
V nodded. "I'll see you there."
I stood and was about to leave when I stopped for a moment. "Find Zechs and tell him to be there. Make sure no one's listening." I paused, knowing Zechs wouldn't trust V. "Give him this," I took my dad's ring out of my pocket, glad I had kept it with me, and gave it to V. Then turned and left as fast as I could.
When I left the base I went strait to where I had stashed everything. I pushed the chests of unwanted stuff out off my way as I went to Alex's things. First thing I pulled out was the anti-dye. I had dyed my hair with a special, expensive, dye. It wouldn't come out without a special formula, which I had in front of me. Next I took out a set of all black clothes. First a tank top that would hold closely to my body, followed by a pair of jeans. I pulled out my Nikes, which I greatly missed. They were well broken in and fit me perfectly. I grabbed a long sleeved button up shirt to put over the tank, red instead of black, followed by my black leather jacket. Folding them neatly I put most of it into a backpack, not having room for my shoes or coat. Then I moved on to the accessories, the guns.
I pulled out a set of laser guns. All of top quality and deadly. All of which I was very good at aiming, and rarely missed a target. I set them aside for use if I needed it later. I took out five knives. Two for my arms, on the left it was to be put so I could draw it from the wrist. On the right I had to take it out at the elbow. Another was for the small of my back, right next to where I put one of my guns. I had one where I could draw it at my left ankle and the last and smallest I didn't really have a spot for. It was like the chop sticks used for your hair, and I usually used it as such. Sadly I put it back into the chest, not having a place to put it. Last I pulled out two handguns and holsters for both of them, one for my shoulders the other for my back. Loading the weapons into the backpack along with my clothes I stood up. Next step, a hotel.
I found a cheap one with all the needed things. I paid for over night, though I'd only be there about two hours. It was fairly clean and had a shower, along with those little shampoo and conditioner things that so many people liked to steal. I didn't want them, but quickly hopped into the shower and started on my hair. I was tired of being blonde. It took half an hour to fully get rid of the color, but soon I was back to having dark brown hair. I smiled at my reflection as I took out the contacts. Staring to at myself in the mirror I seemed to change. It was as if I looked more like Alex, a girl instead of guy. My grin widened and I moved into the main room.
After drying off I got dressed in the clothes I had laid out. For the first time in a long while I didn't have to bandage my chest first, which made me rather happy. I relaxed into what had been my normal dress, letting myself come back. No longer would I be wearing uniforms or polo shirts. No longer would I have to play the part of Thomas Conway. I grinned to no one but myself.
Alex was back.
Hey all, I've put up I think three chapters within the last four days 'cause fanfiction had been screwing up for some reason. I'm putting up another chapter today and tomorrow, and maybe another next week, depends how fast I write. Thanks for reading :)
~Rave