Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing.
I wrote this a long time ago, and haven't have the time to look over it. If this is a really trashy fic, I apologize ahead of time. I'm going to revamp it sometime, maybe in the summer. Welcome to the wonderful world of laptops, right?
"Do you feel out of place around me?" he asked pointedly.
"No," Artax replied warily.
"Then, that's all that matters. We're the only people here," Wufei says, taking Artax's hand. "I don't like seeing you look so troubled. It doesn't fit you."
Artax barely smiled and sighed. "Then you promise me something?"
"What?"
"Be yourself more often. A soldier's face does not suit you."
"I don't understand."
"You're a kind person, Chang."
"Soldiers can't be kind?"
Artax grimaced, "I didn't mean it like that."
"I know. I just like teasing you," Wufei replied tauntingly.
"…I know."
--
Alexis managed to scoot off the bed and land with a jarring thump on the smooth, lacquered floor below. It seemed to take an eternity as he inched out of his bedroom and into the hallway, looking around desperately for something to cut himself loose on. His head ached as if he'd downed some of the most-vile alcohol in the galaxy. Dehydration was its own drug and it was working fast on unwinding Alexis's mind. He swallowed though his throat was parched. The grating of inflamed flesh caused him to cough and spurt blood that coated his throat a little soothingly. The taste was metallic and salty, disgusting but strangely comforting.
He entered the main room, which was in a severe state of disarray. To his relief, he spotted the fireplace tools scattered about the room. The edge of the shovel should be sharp enough to cut his binds on, provided that he might find a good place to wedge it so that he could push up against it.
In a sudden rush, he practically hurled himself the distance to the shovel and twisted himself onto his side so that he could take it in his hands. A fresh bruise was forming on his chin when he jarred it upon landing, but he couldn't feel it above the crushing pain of his cranium.
To abate his thirst, he swallowed his bloodied saliva while his eyes searched for somewhere to put the shovel. Using the shovel as a prop, he pushed himself up to his feet.
--
It had been about thirty minutes to an hour spent rubbing his bonds against the edge of the shovel balanced carefully between the cushions in the sofa and he could only feel that blade had gone just a little ways through. When he began to feel the shovel give way, he tried his best to save it, but it teetered back, tipping over the edge of the couch and landing with a deep rattle on the floor.
Alexis sat on the edge of the couch, aching from head to foot from strain on his already broken body. A deep cry of despair issued from his lips. In a fury, he fought to wrench his hands free, and was rewarded by the sound of cloth tearing. His hands flung out from his sides sending droplets of blood flying from his wrists. Too swept up in the euphoria of being half freed, he ripped the rag from his mouth and dove over the couch for the shovel to undo his ankle bonds.
--
"More salt?" Wufei asked, standing over a steaming pot of soup.
"Let me check," Artax replied as Wufei brought the ladle out of the soup and blew on it to cool it before holding it up to Artax's lips. He watched his face earnestly. Carefully, Artax sipped from the ladle and then took it from Wufei's hand, and held it in turn to his lips. "I think it tastes fine."
Reluctantly, Wufei took a sip and contemplated the taste for a minute or so. "…You're right," he said resignedly. They both smiled, small smiles, almost unnoticeable.
--
"Today, the second wave commenced off the shadowed side of Venus. Both sides suffered some heavy losses. There are a few soldiers M.I.A. searches for them will be underway by tomorrow afternoon. Many large campaigns to rally up more soldiers have started shortly after the battle ended today around two P.M. One of these such campaigns is expected to last for about-"
"Ready…set…" Wufei looked Artax in the eyes warily holding his chopsticks up to chin level tensely while his companion had his lifted to just below shoulder level. He looked very relaxed.
The television droned on in the background, as Wufei and Artax sat at the floor table they'd dragged into the main room. Half of the pomegranate fruit they'd been given earlier that day sat cutely in the center of the table, the goal of the tense moment.
"…Go!" Wufei said plucking the red, meaty seeds from the fruit as quickly and neatly as he could. Artax matched his speed, his expression as serene as ever. Soon, every last red seed was plucked from the honeycomb like fruit and both opponents sat still for a while.
"…You got more," Wufei conceded. He swept the empty fruit shell off to the side and crossed his arms across his chest.
Artax studied his pile for a moment before equaling out the mounds with a decisive flick of his chopsticks. "Now we are even," he said as Wufei eased into a more comfortable sitting position, his eyes straying to the television for a minute and then back.
--
After a lazy afternoon of eating, sleeping was not hard to do. Artax, of course, preformed his normal nightly duty of checking on Hyejin before crawling into his bed. Wufei cast a threatened look in the direction of the locked room before turning over and drifting off to sleep listening to the animals creeping about just outside the house.
--
Almost the entire colony was jolted out of sleep by their vid screens flipping on. Wufei had curiously ended up encircled in Artax's arms when he woke up, blinking a few times. His guardian had been awake before him, probably only seconds before with his arm pinned under the other's body.
"Hallo Colony Shix-Shix-Shix," a familiar voice issued from the screen. "We would like to talk to the Gundam pilots, if you could spare them a few minutes. Thank you." The message was repeated over and over again rousing Wufei's consciousness slowly. On the other hand, Artax was already out of bed getting dressed, having slipped stealthily out from under his companion.
"Lets go, Chang."
--
The ride to the main systems building was unusually fast. Artax had no trouble pushing himself, while Wufei was still struggling to become fully awake. For some reason, his guardian seemed a little troubled, but that was easily dismissed as fatigue.
The interior of the building was almost identical to every other working building in the colony, so Wufei saw no point in examining his surroundings. He just let himself be led around twisting corridors and up stairs, then somehow winding up in a fairly large room with a screen taking up one of the walls. Upon entering the room, Artax relinquished hold of Wufei's hand and made his way hurriedly off to the far end of the room where he was a little off frame.
"What do you think this is about?" Quatre's soft, lilting voice asked arresting Wufei's attention.
"Hello Winner…Barton," Wufei said turning to face the pair. They nodded in return. "Heero and Duo are not here yet?"
"No," Quatre sighed. "They must be having trouble wrenching Heero away from his work. Last time I checked, his working hours on that duel program were from seven to four. It's two right now."
"I didn't realize…" Wufei said sleepily, faint sarcasm in his tone.
"Hi guys!" Duo's voice came from behind. Wufei cringed while Quatre turned a little to greet the newcomers.
Out of the corners of his eyes, Wufei watched the silhouettes of the couple come into view. Heero looked disgustingly alert for so early in the morning. Duo looked tired but talked as if it were mid-afternoon. His hair was disheveled, and his eyes were half closed, but he still had a smile plastered to his face.
"Maxwell…Yuy…" Wufei said, nodding in their general direction.
"Chang."
"Wuffie."
Before further comment could be exchanged, a low but commanding voice took precedent over the entire room. It was Erriji looking particularly sour and bedraggled, much like everyone else in the room, "Alright. We're going to open the comm. link. Gundam pilots, please stay in frame," He took a moment to yawn. "We want to make this as short and efficient as possible. Open the link in three, two…"
Three figures showed up on the screen, each taking an eerily familiar shape.
"Canine!" Duo exclaimed, waving lazily.
When the images cleared up, Ryoukai, Canine, and Wired stood in frame. "Oh dear," Canine said putting a hand over his mouth. "I think we've made it through. Good morning, all!"
Everyone back at the colony just stared stifling yawns, while Duo tried to be a little enthusiastic, "hi."
"We're glad to see that all of you seem to be in one piece. Are they treating you well?" Wired asked shoving his hands into the pockets of his pants.
"We are being treated well," Quatre replied before anyone else could.
"That's great!" Canine exclaimed clapping his hands together.
Erriji stepped into frame, then, already tired of the tedium, "Are you with the Alliance?"
"Yes and no," Wired replied.
"Pick one, " Erriji said mustering up all the self-control he could to keep his voice level.
"No, then," Canine said.
"Is there a point in here?"
"We didn't really think of a script for right now…we just wanted to see how the pilots are doing."
"How long will this take?"
"Longer if you keep talking," Canine growled.
"I'm giving you ten minutes," Erriji replied with the same amount of venom before walking off frame.
"Anyway…" Canine sighed. "What have each of you been doing lately? How are your suits?"
"Our suits, we don't know. As for what I've been doing…nothing," Duo said stretching a little.
"Working," Heero said.
"Quatre?" Trowa asked.
"We've been working," Quatre said, taking Trowa's hand.
Wufei pretended he didn't hear the question. He would not tell the entire colony that he'd been indulging in domestic chores for the past month.
Luckily, no one noticed and continued talking. Barely noticeable, Wufei heard his guardian's name being called out quietly. He snuck a look at Artax, who was shaking his head "no" staring at Erriji. It was confusing to see, Artax wasn't normally so uncooperative. After a few minutes, Artax broke away from the small group of guardians and domestic workers he'd been with to walk across the room to his superior.
"Kafka!" Canine exclaimed in mid-sentence. Automatically, Artax's head whipped in the direction of the screen. He looked like someone had just torn out his guts or something, his eyes were wide like a doe's and he stood poised as if ready to run. Of course, only Wufei could see this for what it was while everyone else in the room just saw Artax pause on his way across the room.
"It is you!" Canine squealed, and all eyes fixed on Artax, who stared dispassionately at the screen. "Guys! Guys!" Canine exclaimed waving out of frame. "It's him! It's our baby!" Sounds of about half a dozen mobile bodies filled the room, and soon, all eight scientists were crammed into frame. A few smiled, not being able to help themselves and others just closed their eyes to weather the shock.
Wufei felt like he was being choked, he could feel Artax's emotions like a storm cloud around his head. He stared fearfully at his guardian who glanced at him.
Trowa, also, looked back at Artax incredulously, a thousand emotions playing in his eyes.
"Hold it!" Duo exclaimed. "You know each other!?"
"Kafka ish owur baibyee!" Canine almost cried, leaning heavily on Shiva. "He's been gone for so long! He's grown to be so pretty!"
Artax bowed his head as if he were about to be hit. "You'll not contact him," he said quietly. "You'll not tell his friends. All of you will keep this to yourselves."
"There is still a big bounty out there for you and your friend, Kafka," Wired said almost tauntingly. Artax shrugged his shoulders and stole another look at Wufei, who looked about ready to jump out of his skin.
"Everyone, out. Wufei, go home with Titien," Artax ordered. "Erriji, you stay."
No one moved. Erriji shrugged himself off his resting place on the wall, "You heard him! Get moving!"
Mindlessly, everyone filed out like cattle, including Wufei. Once the door closed behind them, Quatre fainted.
I wrote this a long time ago, and haven't have the time to look over it. If this is a really trashy fic, I apologize ahead of time. I'm going to revamp it sometime, maybe in the summer. Welcome to the wonderful world of laptops, right?
"Do you feel out of place around me?" he asked pointedly.
"No," Artax replied warily.
"Then, that's all that matters. We're the only people here," Wufei says, taking Artax's hand. "I don't like seeing you look so troubled. It doesn't fit you."
Artax barely smiled and sighed. "Then you promise me something?"
"What?"
"Be yourself more often. A soldier's face does not suit you."
"I don't understand."
"You're a kind person, Chang."
"Soldiers can't be kind?"
Artax grimaced, "I didn't mean it like that."
"I know. I just like teasing you," Wufei replied tauntingly.
"…I know."
--
Alexis managed to scoot off the bed and land with a jarring thump on the smooth, lacquered floor below. It seemed to take an eternity as he inched out of his bedroom and into the hallway, looking around desperately for something to cut himself loose on. His head ached as if he'd downed some of the most-vile alcohol in the galaxy. Dehydration was its own drug and it was working fast on unwinding Alexis's mind. He swallowed though his throat was parched. The grating of inflamed flesh caused him to cough and spurt blood that coated his throat a little soothingly. The taste was metallic and salty, disgusting but strangely comforting.
He entered the main room, which was in a severe state of disarray. To his relief, he spotted the fireplace tools scattered about the room. The edge of the shovel should be sharp enough to cut his binds on, provided that he might find a good place to wedge it so that he could push up against it.
In a sudden rush, he practically hurled himself the distance to the shovel and twisted himself onto his side so that he could take it in his hands. A fresh bruise was forming on his chin when he jarred it upon landing, but he couldn't feel it above the crushing pain of his cranium.
To abate his thirst, he swallowed his bloodied saliva while his eyes searched for somewhere to put the shovel. Using the shovel as a prop, he pushed himself up to his feet.
--
It had been about thirty minutes to an hour spent rubbing his bonds against the edge of the shovel balanced carefully between the cushions in the sofa and he could only feel that blade had gone just a little ways through. When he began to feel the shovel give way, he tried his best to save it, but it teetered back, tipping over the edge of the couch and landing with a deep rattle on the floor.
Alexis sat on the edge of the couch, aching from head to foot from strain on his already broken body. A deep cry of despair issued from his lips. In a fury, he fought to wrench his hands free, and was rewarded by the sound of cloth tearing. His hands flung out from his sides sending droplets of blood flying from his wrists. Too swept up in the euphoria of being half freed, he ripped the rag from his mouth and dove over the couch for the shovel to undo his ankle bonds.
--
"More salt?" Wufei asked, standing over a steaming pot of soup.
"Let me check," Artax replied as Wufei brought the ladle out of the soup and blew on it to cool it before holding it up to Artax's lips. He watched his face earnestly. Carefully, Artax sipped from the ladle and then took it from Wufei's hand, and held it in turn to his lips. "I think it tastes fine."
Reluctantly, Wufei took a sip and contemplated the taste for a minute or so. "…You're right," he said resignedly. They both smiled, small smiles, almost unnoticeable.
--
"Today, the second wave commenced off the shadowed side of Venus. Both sides suffered some heavy losses. There are a few soldiers M.I.A. searches for them will be underway by tomorrow afternoon. Many large campaigns to rally up more soldiers have started shortly after the battle ended today around two P.M. One of these such campaigns is expected to last for about-"
"Ready…set…" Wufei looked Artax in the eyes warily holding his chopsticks up to chin level tensely while his companion had his lifted to just below shoulder level. He looked very relaxed.
The television droned on in the background, as Wufei and Artax sat at the floor table they'd dragged into the main room. Half of the pomegranate fruit they'd been given earlier that day sat cutely in the center of the table, the goal of the tense moment.
"…Go!" Wufei said plucking the red, meaty seeds from the fruit as quickly and neatly as he could. Artax matched his speed, his expression as serene as ever. Soon, every last red seed was plucked from the honeycomb like fruit and both opponents sat still for a while.
"…You got more," Wufei conceded. He swept the empty fruit shell off to the side and crossed his arms across his chest.
Artax studied his pile for a moment before equaling out the mounds with a decisive flick of his chopsticks. "Now we are even," he said as Wufei eased into a more comfortable sitting position, his eyes straying to the television for a minute and then back.
--
After a lazy afternoon of eating, sleeping was not hard to do. Artax, of course, preformed his normal nightly duty of checking on Hyejin before crawling into his bed. Wufei cast a threatened look in the direction of the locked room before turning over and drifting off to sleep listening to the animals creeping about just outside the house.
--
Almost the entire colony was jolted out of sleep by their vid screens flipping on. Wufei had curiously ended up encircled in Artax's arms when he woke up, blinking a few times. His guardian had been awake before him, probably only seconds before with his arm pinned under the other's body.
"Hallo Colony Shix-Shix-Shix," a familiar voice issued from the screen. "We would like to talk to the Gundam pilots, if you could spare them a few minutes. Thank you." The message was repeated over and over again rousing Wufei's consciousness slowly. On the other hand, Artax was already out of bed getting dressed, having slipped stealthily out from under his companion.
"Lets go, Chang."
--
The ride to the main systems building was unusually fast. Artax had no trouble pushing himself, while Wufei was still struggling to become fully awake. For some reason, his guardian seemed a little troubled, but that was easily dismissed as fatigue.
The interior of the building was almost identical to every other working building in the colony, so Wufei saw no point in examining his surroundings. He just let himself be led around twisting corridors and up stairs, then somehow winding up in a fairly large room with a screen taking up one of the walls. Upon entering the room, Artax relinquished hold of Wufei's hand and made his way hurriedly off to the far end of the room where he was a little off frame.
"What do you think this is about?" Quatre's soft, lilting voice asked arresting Wufei's attention.
"Hello Winner…Barton," Wufei said turning to face the pair. They nodded in return. "Heero and Duo are not here yet?"
"No," Quatre sighed. "They must be having trouble wrenching Heero away from his work. Last time I checked, his working hours on that duel program were from seven to four. It's two right now."
"I didn't realize…" Wufei said sleepily, faint sarcasm in his tone.
"Hi guys!" Duo's voice came from behind. Wufei cringed while Quatre turned a little to greet the newcomers.
Out of the corners of his eyes, Wufei watched the silhouettes of the couple come into view. Heero looked disgustingly alert for so early in the morning. Duo looked tired but talked as if it were mid-afternoon. His hair was disheveled, and his eyes were half closed, but he still had a smile plastered to his face.
"Maxwell…Yuy…" Wufei said, nodding in their general direction.
"Chang."
"Wuffie."
Before further comment could be exchanged, a low but commanding voice took precedent over the entire room. It was Erriji looking particularly sour and bedraggled, much like everyone else in the room, "Alright. We're going to open the comm. link. Gundam pilots, please stay in frame," He took a moment to yawn. "We want to make this as short and efficient as possible. Open the link in three, two…"
Three figures showed up on the screen, each taking an eerily familiar shape.
"Canine!" Duo exclaimed, waving lazily.
When the images cleared up, Ryoukai, Canine, and Wired stood in frame. "Oh dear," Canine said putting a hand over his mouth. "I think we've made it through. Good morning, all!"
Everyone back at the colony just stared stifling yawns, while Duo tried to be a little enthusiastic, "hi."
"We're glad to see that all of you seem to be in one piece. Are they treating you well?" Wired asked shoving his hands into the pockets of his pants.
"We are being treated well," Quatre replied before anyone else could.
"That's great!" Canine exclaimed clapping his hands together.
Erriji stepped into frame, then, already tired of the tedium, "Are you with the Alliance?"
"Yes and no," Wired replied.
"Pick one, " Erriji said mustering up all the self-control he could to keep his voice level.
"No, then," Canine said.
"Is there a point in here?"
"We didn't really think of a script for right now…we just wanted to see how the pilots are doing."
"How long will this take?"
"Longer if you keep talking," Canine growled.
"I'm giving you ten minutes," Erriji replied with the same amount of venom before walking off frame.
"Anyway…" Canine sighed. "What have each of you been doing lately? How are your suits?"
"Our suits, we don't know. As for what I've been doing…nothing," Duo said stretching a little.
"Working," Heero said.
"Quatre?" Trowa asked.
"We've been working," Quatre said, taking Trowa's hand.
Wufei pretended he didn't hear the question. He would not tell the entire colony that he'd been indulging in domestic chores for the past month.
Luckily, no one noticed and continued talking. Barely noticeable, Wufei heard his guardian's name being called out quietly. He snuck a look at Artax, who was shaking his head "no" staring at Erriji. It was confusing to see, Artax wasn't normally so uncooperative. After a few minutes, Artax broke away from the small group of guardians and domestic workers he'd been with to walk across the room to his superior.
"Kafka!" Canine exclaimed in mid-sentence. Automatically, Artax's head whipped in the direction of the screen. He looked like someone had just torn out his guts or something, his eyes were wide like a doe's and he stood poised as if ready to run. Of course, only Wufei could see this for what it was while everyone else in the room just saw Artax pause on his way across the room.
"It is you!" Canine squealed, and all eyes fixed on Artax, who stared dispassionately at the screen. "Guys! Guys!" Canine exclaimed waving out of frame. "It's him! It's our baby!" Sounds of about half a dozen mobile bodies filled the room, and soon, all eight scientists were crammed into frame. A few smiled, not being able to help themselves and others just closed their eyes to weather the shock.
Wufei felt like he was being choked, he could feel Artax's emotions like a storm cloud around his head. He stared fearfully at his guardian who glanced at him.
Trowa, also, looked back at Artax incredulously, a thousand emotions playing in his eyes.
"Hold it!" Duo exclaimed. "You know each other!?"
"Kafka ish owur baibyee!" Canine almost cried, leaning heavily on Shiva. "He's been gone for so long! He's grown to be so pretty!"
Artax bowed his head as if he were about to be hit. "You'll not contact him," he said quietly. "You'll not tell his friends. All of you will keep this to yourselves."
"There is still a big bounty out there for you and your friend, Kafka," Wired said almost tauntingly. Artax shrugged his shoulders and stole another look at Wufei, who looked about ready to jump out of his skin.
"Everyone, out. Wufei, go home with Titien," Artax ordered. "Erriji, you stay."
No one moved. Erriji shrugged himself off his resting place on the wall, "You heard him! Get moving!"
Mindlessly, everyone filed out like cattle, including Wufei. Once the door closed behind them, Quatre fainted.