Author's Notes: Eh, well...I guess the first chapter isn't much of a hit. And I don't think this one will be either ^.^" Maybe it's because I posted so late at night and the next day was 'flood day' -.- Why does that always happen to me? Anyway...this chapter starts off real fast, so I'm telling you know not to run away. There is a reason why it's so fast and I know some of this stuff might sound ridiculous, but it actually is a major part of the story. Pay close attention to what you're reading and be sure to remember all of the characters. You'll be wanting to know them all because some of them aren't quite what they appear. ^.^ Anyway...this thing was one page short of 40 pages on paper, but I think it's long enough, don't you? ^.^" Sorry for all grammar errors and what not, hopefully I go them all before I update this, but I doubt it. ^.^ Enjoy your read!! ^.^v
Disclaimer: Now, remember last time? Yeah, I said I didn't own anyone...well...I'M LYING! MUAHAHAHAHA! I own them all! (Gundam characters: O_O *runs away*) O.o WAH! *runs and tackles and character, huggling them* Don't run from me--*sees who is it* Eep! *runs away* (Wufei: -.-.......*gets up and chases me with his sword*) WAAAAAAAAAH! I don't own them! I DON'T OWN THEM! HELP! SOS! AHHHHH! *runs off*
Notes:emphasis/news/foreign language
memory
'vision'
Uncontrolled Fear
"An update on the Gundam pilots: sources say that the two wanted pilots 01 and 02 have just recently hijacked a shuttle that carried Senator John Wilms, Representative Donald Davis, as well as Vice Foreign Minister Relena Darlian--"
"Eh..." Duo commented intelligently as the television went dark. "Never liked the news anyway."
Trowa humored the other pilot with a nod as he looked over to the three captives. "I hope you three are comfortable," he said sincerely.
The old Senator, John Wilms, gave the Gundam pilot a sour look. "What does our comfort matter? We're hostages!"
Trowa raised an eyebrow. "Not in the sense that we want you harmed. You just were at the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Yes, Mr. Barton," Relena broke in before the hot-headed Irishman could say anything. "You're positively right. In fact, our captors have been very courteous, if not a bit wordy." She gave a none-too-discreit look to Heero, who snorted and turned away.
"I see," replied the tall boy. "Well, don't worry about Heero. He's only dangerous if you are his enemy."
He gave them a sudden serious look. "I should hope that none of you are the enemy," he said, gaining frightened looks from the two men.
"Ah, don't scare 'em, Trowa," a cheerful voice said as a certain long-haired teenager plopped himself on the ground next to the other boy. "None of them are enemies."
"You're so sure, Duo?" Trowa asked with a fair bit of humor. Duo put his arms in the air, stretching, before letting the lower part of his arms fall behind his head as he studied the ceiling of the abandoned warehouse Trowa had led them into.
"Maybe not about Junior there, but I like the old man and I can get along with Ms. Former Queen." He tossed a wink in Relena's direction.
Trowa closed his eyes and "hm"ed with a slight smile. "For a minute there, you were worrying me."
Duo chuckled with good humor and wittily replied, "No need to worry, my friend, I am completely and one hundred percent my usual sane self."
"I suppose that means we need to alert an asylum?" Trowa questioned, opening an eye and cocking the eyebrow above it.
The other boy nodded but paused. "Wait a second...Trowa!"
The former circus acrobat stood and looked to the captives. "I'm going to speak with Heero for a moment. Duo'll look after you for that time." He looked to the muttering American and asked, "Or should I tell them to look after you?"
Duo scowled. "Okay, clown boy, buzz off before I get Shinigami on your tail."
Trowa looked intrigued by the threat and merely replied, "I'm shaking," before walking off and over toward the silently brooding Japanese boy.
"What is it that you want, Trowa?" Heero asked, not turning to greet him. The tall pilot sat himself nect to the other boy, never looking over to him.
"Just a moment of your time," he answered, looking out the small window that revealed the false night of the Colony. "It's been a while since we've met."
"Hn," was the quiet reply.
Trowa's eyes flicked to the dark form beside him before returning to the window. "Duo's informed me about what you two've been through."
"Did he?" Heero asked, his voice strangely quiet and breathy. The third pilot frowned but made no comment.
"Yes. I have to say that I'm still confused about all of this. Lady Une and Sally Po are both Preventers and they would never betray us," he said, quickly becoming aware of an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach. "i think what we're seeing is a faction of the Preventers breaking away from the main group. They may be the ones that want us injured or killed."
There was a pause and Trowa heard something. Brow furrowing, he looked toward Heero, asking with concern, "What is--?"
He was shocked to find a barrel of a gun aimed at his head, shaking ever so slightly. It took him a moment to precess this but, as he did, Trowa looked at the other boy's face as if he was trying to find the answer to his question.
"Heero," he said, calmly. "Heero...lower the weapon."
The other Gundam pilot looked as though he was suppressing a wince as the gun shook harder in his grasp and he replied, "I...can't..."
"Heero," Trowa said, this time more urgently as the other boy's finger began to pull the trigger back. "Heero! Drop the gun!"
"I can't!" Heero shouted back, forgetting everything he had ever learned from his experiences as a soldier and the lessons from Doctor J. For that small moment of time, Heero Yuy was shown what true fear was.
"Heero!" Trowa shouted a split-second before something slammed into the other boy from behind, making the bullet fly free, haphazardly out the window.
Trowa stared at the space before him in disbelief. That hadn't been Heero. That wasn't--
A scuffle brought his mind to the present just in time for him to whip his head around and see Duo be punched in the jaw by Heero, who quickly leapt to his feet now that the braided-haired boy was off of him. Heero began to sprint to his gun, but Trowa beat him to it by leaping into the air, somersaulting, and landing in a crouch next to the gun.
"What's wrong with you, Heero?!" he shouted as Duo picked himself off of the ground.
"Damn..." the American muttered, rubbing his bruised face. "The first time, it's coincidence. The second time mean something's odd. The third time is when you know something's wrong."
Heero didn't seem to notice either of them as his legs collapsed on themselves and he fell to the ground, just staring ahead. Trowa looked to Duo and gave a slight nod, signalling the other boy to go to their friend as he took the fire-arm.
"Heero," Duo was saying as he knelt next to the stranger-acting boy. A moment passed with no response, so the concerned pilot reached out a hand to place on the shorter-haired boy's shoulder. "Heero--"
"Don't," Heero quietly said, not moving from his position.
"Heero...what the Hell were you doing? Trying to kill Trowa--?" Duo cut himself off as he watched the other boy lift his hands to stare at them.
"Duo...if I was trying...I would have done it," Heero told him, still not looking up.
"Then why--?"
"I lost control," the boy barely said, his hands curling into fists.
"Wha--"
"Duo." Heero looked to the other boy, quickly becoming deadly serious. "Do me a favor. If this happens again...do whatever you need to stop me. Kill me if you have to."
While Duo was dealing with Heero, Trowa decided to check on the three captives, who all heard what had happened. The shadows in the warehouse were deep and had his most of what had occurred from their sight. They were all surprised to see him appearing in front of them, holding the weapon in a secure grasp.
"What is going on over there?" Wilms demanded, anxiously watching the shadows as even Relena looked frightened.
"Nothing we can't handle," Trowa answered, hoping that he was even close to being correct.
Duo was shocked by the favor asked of him by the other boy. Kill him...?
"Heero..." he said slowly, weakly trying to understand what was happening, "do you know what you're asking?"
"I know very well," Heero responded sharply, his expression hardening. "If you don't do this, especially when it needs to be done, I'll be a walking killing machine again. I don't want that."
"But..." Duo objected, still not comprehending. "I can't just--"
"Damn it, Maxwell! If I could kill myself, I would! Why do you think I tried so hard to do that before?! I don't want to be a weapon!"
Duo shook his head quickly. "You're not a weapon! Quit saying that!"
Now Heero looked away. "Why stop saying something that's true? All I was ever trained for and used for was killing. There's a reason why, I recently discovered. What you just saw now and on the shuttle were examples of it."
"What are you saying?!" Duo nearly shouted in frustration. "You're just saying words without giving them meaning!"
"They have meaning," Heero said grimly. "Do you know why you couldn't recall who I was?"
"I was kind of distracted," the other boy said dryly.
"True, but why else?" There was a silence. "For almost a year, Duo, I was trapped somewhere. I don't remember where or exactly how long, but I know that I was a sepcimin in experiments again. Only this time, whoever they were weren't trying to make me a better terrorist, pilots, what have you. They were tryign to actually creat the perfect soldier."
Heero looked over to the boy he called friend and finished ominiously, "They made one mistake."
"Fire," a voice commanded in the radio in Heero's ear. The young man, a boy on most accounts, was standing in a simulation room, a gun in hand. The simulation was of a couple of security guards, and he quickly fired at non-lethal points.
"NO!" the voice bellowed, making him wince. "Do not think of sparing their lives!"
"I don't want to kill," Heero told the voice in the radio. This was the wrong thing to say and he had to endure the pain of being shocked by something in his head. The radio, perhaps.
"You will kill these simulations, or I will be sure to make your life extremely painful." The threat was in his voice, but Heero was too numb from the punishment he had went through to understand this.
"I...don't...wish...to kill," the boy gritted out before crying out as electrical waves of energy tore through his mind and body. This time the pain was much, much more severe and, soon, Heero blacked out.
"I can see why the operators of Operation Meteor note that this boy can become the perfect soldier," the voice from the radio said from above him, "but I can also see the flaw they pointed out. A soldier needs no compassion."
Realizing this man--scientist?--thought him to be unconscious, Heero remained still and kept his eyes closed, listening.
"Sir? What about the genetic alterati--?"
"Quiet, you fool. Speak not of that. That is confidential and will remain so. There's no reason to go spouting that information everywhere," the man's voice hissed, "but yes. The hightened senses must play into effect. It is the only explanation."
It was another day in the simulations, but this time was different.
"Fire!" the voice in Heero's ear shouted just as the boy began to take aim. The trigger was pulled back in surprise and the bullet hit the simulated guard through the heart. Heero froze, eyes unnaturally wide in surprise and horror. He hadn't meant to pull the trigger...
The voice, however, chuckled with pleasure. "Good. Good. You're showing your talent."
Heero narrowed his eyes and glared at the one-way mirror before throwing his weapon at it. The weapon went off as if hit, and the bullet whizzed by his head, barely missing. Again the voice chuckled.
"Trying to defy me, eh? Well...I am always up for a challenge." The radio went silent and then the severe pain erupted along the boy's spine.
"I don't remember much," Heero continued, shaking his head, "but I remember the simulations and the pain and then darkness. I'm not sure exactly what they've done to me, but I know what one thing is. Somehow that scientist found a way to control me. Whenever a weapon is in my hand, I try to do something--kill people--with it."
Duo watched with something akin to awe and horror as everything he'd been told was processed in his mind. It took him a moment, but when he finally grasped the meaning of it all, he managed to choke out, "Good God, Heero...how--when--?"
He sighed and closed his eyes, rubbing them as he thought. "Why didn't you say anything sooner?"
"There wasn't time," Heero answered firmly. "I also had in control. Had it."
"But you're losing it, aren't you?" the other boy asked, looking to the now-silent Heero. "Is that really why you didn't have a gun when we met up?"
"I had left it, yes," Heero answered, lifting his eyes to meet Duo's. "That's why I asked you that favor. I'm just a human weapon, and I have no wish to be it. If worse comes to worst...I won't blame you if you killed me."
Duo watched him for a moment before looking away and standing. "We'd better get out of the dark. Trowa's probably thinking something happened," he said as he bent over and hauled the other boy to his feet. Heero made no objection as the American led him back toward their friend and hostages.
"Just answer me one thing, Duo," Heero said as they neared the other group. "Why do we hide?"
Duo considered the question carefully before answering, "Because we're forced into it."
"How is he?" Trowa asked, sitting himself next to the pilot know as Shinigami, who shrugged. It was later in the night and neither of them had gotten any sleep; Trowa because of the unsettling feeling that had remained from what had happened, and Duo because he couldn't stop thinking of what Heero had told him. The aforementioned boy was asleep on the ground only a few feet from the other two, who watched him sleep with keen interest.
"I think he was really drained," Duo answered after a moment. "It takes a lot of will-power to do what he did."
"I can't believe that that had happened to him," Trowa replied honestly. "It seems far-fetched."
"So is the rest of our lives," the other boy muttered.
"Touche."
The two fell silent, lost in their own thoughts before a shifting sound caused them to turn their heads. Relena had come over and sat herself on the other side of Duo, watching Heero's still form.
"Relena," Trowa said softly, "why aren't you resting?"
The former Queen of the World shook her head firmly. "I won't sleep. I can't. I'm too worried."
"Heero's a tough guy," Duo replied to ease her worries and fears. "He'll be fine."
Relena didn't reply to that and, instead, asked, "He's already slipping, isn't he?"
"He's walking a fine line," Trowa answered, seeing no reason not to be frank with her. "If he trips, he'll fall, but I don't think that will happen. Not yet. Right now, he's testing his balance."
The girl nodded while Duo looked to the other boy, exasperated. "Why must you refer to a tight-rope?"
Trowa lifted an eyebrow. "Don't you find life is all a balancing act? Make a mistake and it could spell the end of you. Make it all the way across and you're the happiest man alive."
Duo considered it before sighing. "I concede to the point."
Another silence descended up the tro for a few moments before Duo furrowed his brow and said, "Hey, Trowa? What can gentric alterations do to a person?"
"Why are you asking me?" the other boy said, equally curious.
"I'm thinking aloud. Humor me." Trowa looked to him for a moment before shrugging.
"I suppose it depends on the genes altered and what they're for. Why?"
Duo ignored the ending question. "Well...this makes things interesting."
The taller of the two sighed. "Duo, if you know something, say it. You're worrying Relena."
"I'm not sure but if I'm right, then...well, I don't know what to think," the braided-haired pilot responeded, looking as though he was concentrating hard on what he was saying.
"Not used to thinking?" Trowa questioned with good humor.
"No!" Duo exclaimed before thinking about it. "I mean yes! No...no! Ugh! Trowa!"
The other boy chuckled mildly. "Don't strain your mind so much, Duo. I'm going to go and sleeop," he said, standing.
"Pleasant dreams," Duo call to the retreating boy with some sarcasm.
"Thank you for coming," Lady Une said gratefully as she greeted her guest, who smiled politely back.
"I found it odd how you said one thing and your troops did another, so I came to the conclusion that something had gone wrong," her guest told her as they walked down the corridors of the Preventers' Headquarters.
Une sighed. "Thank you, Quatre, for the benefit of doubt, but I'm afraid the other's didn't consider that possibility."
The blond Arabian frowned a little, his young face looking troubled. "I don't understand it, either. Perhaps they never had time to think. Heero and Duo have made quite a name for themselves by hijacking the shuttle Relena was on."
"Not that any of us knowing people are surprised," Sally Po commented. "Heero and Relena always seem to run into each other."
Quatre hid a smile. "At least Heero's not trying to kill her anymore."
"Oh, he'll still threaten," the Chinese woman said, amused. "It's his famous line."
"If you are finished, General," Une said impatiently.
"Of course, Lady Une," Sall Po said, still holding a small smile.
"Now, Quatre," Une started, catching the boy's attention, "I want to know if you are comfortable with what you have agreed to do. If you're not, tell me now and I won't keep trying to talk you into it."
"Don't worry, Lady Une," Quatre assured her, looking determinedly ahead. "I'm perfectly fine with what you've asked of me."
The woman looked to him and gave him the first smile she had in days. "That's a relief to hear, but you may want to reserve that judgement until you've seen the Mobile Suits."
Quatre looked puzzled but sighed. "If you feel it's best," he agreed. "How far are these Mobile Suits?"
"Right here," Sally Po spoke up once more, gesturing to a set of large doors, which opened when Une punched in the code on the panel in the wall. Quatre gasped at the sight he now beheld.
"This..." he tried to say, staring ahead with awe, shock, and horror, "this is--"
False light filtered into the near-abandoned warehouse as a new day began at the Colony. Inside the building four people slept peacefully, uncaring as the day passed on without their awareness. Blissfully ignorant of what Fate had in store for them in the future, for now was the present and in the present they had no worried.
Two people, however, were awake and aware, though one looked as though she was still asleep as she watched the boy quietly sit atop an old storage box with his eyes closed, seeming to be in a meditative state. This almost made the usual harsh-looking young man look relaxed except for the fact that his brow was furrowed and sweat dampened his forehead. Whatever it was that he was doing, it didn't seem to help very much and Relena was becoming afraid that something besides the obvious was wrong with the pilot.
Her concern was just about to fade, for he seemed less strained for a moment, before his back straightened and he curled his hands into fists. Relena lied still as a moment passed and then another...until the boy became relaxed once more. Heero then opened his eyes, blinking once before turning in the direction he felt someone was staring at him from.
His persian-blue eyes locked on with Relena's blue eyes.
Neither said a word, merely stared. Heero then looked away from her, smirked, and stood from his sitting position, stretching his muscles which had cramped up from sitting in one position too long. Grunting as he worked the kinks out, he turned his back to Relena before jumping down the other side of the box and hiding himself from view.
Relena sighed, turning away from where he had disappeared, and thought of what she had heard Trowa and Duo talking about the night before. If what Heero had told Duo was true, then the Japanese boy must be an even more threathening person, though she doubt he would actually kill on of his comrades or herself...
She could feel her old feelings for the elusive Gundam pilot resurface as she recalled his meditation; only, this time, they were slightly different.
She didn't have time to analyze the difference for she then heard a soft noise near her, in the direction the other two pilot were at. She sat up and was slightly surprised to see some food rations next to her and Heero sitting against another box: his elbows on his knees, his fingers barely clasping each other to keep his arms from moving, and his head bowed in a thoughtful position. For a moment, she stared at him but then looked to the rations, studying them.
"You haven't eaten in a day," Heero's voice said, breaking the silence. "It wouldn't do to have one of my hostages to die of malnutrition."
Relena looked up to him again and smiled kindly. "Thank you."
"Hn," he replied, looking in the other direction where the other two pilots slept. Relena followed his gaze and took that time to examine the two of them carefully.
Both of the young pilots certainly had changed since she had last seen either of them. Their faces were sharper and less boyish than they had been, though Duo's face retained some aspects of his younger self making him seem more innocent than one would believe. Both pilots also seemed to be all legs and arms; Trowa more so than Duo, who was only several inches taller than Relena herself. Even in their sleep, it was easy to tell their personalities.
"Are you afraid for them?" she asked Heero, who continued to watch his comrades carefully.
"No," he answered, surprising Relena as she had thought he wouldn't haven't given her an answer, "they know how to handle themselves."
"What about you?" she asked and was yet again surprised as Heero turned to her. "Are you afraid?"
"Not of dying," he repsonded flatly.
"Oh, yes," she said, looking away, "I'd forgotten--"
"Forget it," the boy told her, his voice rough. Relena looked to him again and realized that his voice matched his appearance. His already-unkempt hair looked impossibly out-of-place and signs of a day-old bear was appearing on his young face. She looked at the other men and found that the same held true for them all.
In fact, she herself felt mighty grimy. She ran a finger through her hair and it was ensared in a knot. She frowned and heard a low chuckle from Heero's direction. "What so humorous?"
Heero gave her a small smirk, replying, "You, 'Former Queen.' Not used to living on the run?"
"I'm afraid I've never had time to run off unlike some people," she said, slightly dryly.
Heero "hn"ed thoughtfully, looking back in front of himself once again. Yet again they sat in silence, though this one was more comfortable than the others.
Just as Relena reached for the rations, a loud yawn crashed through the quiet air. Looking over, she saw that Duo was sitting up and stretching with his mouth opened wide as he continued the yawn. When he had finished his stretch and closed his gaping jaw, he blinked over at the two wide-awake teenagers.
"Were you guys watching me sleep? That's creepy," he said as he stood, even though he had done the same thing to Heero the night before.
"Don't flatter yourself, Maxwell," the aforementioned boy said, monotonously, making the other pilot look toward him and frown.
"What? now I'm not good enough to be stared at?" Duo asked with fake indignance. Heero didn't reply and Relena looked to Duo, amused.
"You're very handsome," she assured him, making him grin.
"Oh, really?" Duo questioned, a playful tone in his voice. "How 'bout a date then?"
At the question, the young woman smiled. "I'm sorry, but I'm Heero's hostage," she replied.
The braided-haired boy sighed over-dramatically. "Should've known. Being the thief is never fun."
Heero grunted, gaining their attention as he stood and walked off. Duo immediately looked over to the girl once he was out of sight, concern for his friend appearing on his previous joking face as he asked, "He okay?"
"He seems fine," Relena answered, deciding not to tell him about when the other boy had been in his meditative state.
"Hopefully, whatever is happening to Heero won't explode while the battle's starting," sighed the young man.
"Battle?" Relena looked startled.
"The Preventers aren't the ones chasing us," another voice answered, making Duo jump in surprise. Trowa, who was leaned up against the box behind Duo, had been the one who had spoken.
"It's how Lady Une said, then?" Relena questioned.
Trowa opened the eye not hidden by his bang and watched the girl coolly. "I don't know what Une must have said. What I do know is that it's a faction of the Preventers that were trying to kill us or force us into some Mobile Suits for war purposes. Une may just want us to test the Suits, that's all. We have no way to be sure, so we're not taking our chances."
Duo snorted. "That faction's got another thing coming if they think I'll willingly go into battle," he said, borrowing Heero's gruffness for a moment.
"I agree," the other pilot said. "War shouldn't be against a defenseless nation, and that is what the earth and her colonies are. The Preventers have the only Mobile Suits, but we have no way of knowing who is in the faction."
Relena allowed herself to look genuinely surprised. "How is it that you can tell all of this without very many facts or information?" she asked.
"I was originally trained as a technician," the lanky pilot answered, shutting his eye. "Then I became a Gundam pilot and learned how to find out problems in missions and such rather than machinery."
"Yeah, and I'm the thief," Duo spoke up with some jealousy.
"You're good at what you do," Trowa said, still looking as thought he was asleep. Duo sighed, so he added, "Plus you're Shinigami."
Now the long-haired boy chuckled. "Yeah, Bringer of Death."
"It is better than the Bringer of War."
"I can't believe this," Quatre said, still staring at the Mobile Suit towering above him. He had been in the hanger for hours, just staring and not really believing what he saw. Somehow, however, he made his way to the foot of the mighty Mobile Suit and nearly fell over as he took in the size of it.
It had been three years since he had seen a Mobile Suit of such stature.
Smiling slightly, the young blone Arabian lifted a hand and reach out to touch the armor, to see if it was really there. Before he could, a cold feeling entered his heart and he pulled his hand away to turn to the person who had just entered. The man was tall and had dark, brown hair streaked with silver and some grey. He wore a Preventers' uniform, but in Quatre's eyes, it seemed either a little too small or too big on him. He could tell that the cold feeling was coming from this man and unconsciously shuddered as the man smiled at him.
"You must be the Gundam pilot," the man said as he came forward, his boots clicking ominiously on the stone floor. "Such a surprise that one of the pilots would be the one and only heir of the Winner clan."
Quatre resisted backing away as the man came closer and merely asked, "Who are you?"
"Ah, forgive my impoliteness. My name is Willian Sloh," the man said, holding out his hand in a form of greetings.
The polite and respectable side of Quatre was ready to take his hand in pilot courtesy; the Gundam pilot side of him, however, protested severely. So he merely stood, watching Sloh's hand carefully. Sloh waited a few minutes before lowering his hand and chuckling.
"Yes, you are most certainly a pilot. Not trusting of others?"
Quatre shook his head. "It's not that."
"Oh?" questioned the elder man. "Then let us try again. I am Willian Sloh."
Again the hand was held out and again Quatre merely stared. Sloh waited, looked to his hand, to Quatre, and then said, "I am not poisonous," as he took a step forward. He halted, however, when the blond backed up a step unconsciously.
Sloh frowned. "I thought you had said that this was not a matter of trust."
"It isn't," Quatre said firmly. "I don't know whom to trust, but this isn't about that. I won't shake hands with a man who gives me this cold feeling."
Now the tall man looked curious as he lowered his hand. "Cold? I make you cold?" he questioned and continued when the boy gave no answer, "You are empathetic?"
"It is well-known that the Winners are sensitive to such things," was the response.
Sloh gave him a slow smile. "Ah, yes. I'd forgotten," he said, chuckling.
Quatre shuttered again and took another step back just as the sounds of someone shouting, "Fire!" and a sudden gunshot echoed in his mind. The boy shook his head to clear his thoughts and looked up at the man with confusion.
"What is it that you want?" he asked.
"Merely to speak with you," Sloh answered. "I am curious why you've decided to come to pilot the Mobile Suit when your comrades did not."
"My friends did not come because they believe the Mobile Suits and themselves will be used in combat," Quatre said firmly. "I am only piloting the Suit. I am not going into combat. If it looks as though I will be, I'll leave.
"My friends are not cowards. They're thinking of the good of peace and they want to keep the peace instead of destroying it senselessly, Mr. Sloh. They're respectable young men and they deserve to do as they wish. They--we--were the ones who went against Operation Meteor in the beginning."
Sloh paused for a moment. "I commend your loyalty to you...friends, Mr. Winner," he said, his voice dull and odd. "It is a rare thing these days."
"Yes, well, we pilots have been through a lot together," Quatre responded stiffly before looking to the Mobile Suit. "I believe I'm going to speak with Lady Une. If you'll excuse me--"
He tried to brush passed the uniformed man, but Sloh grabbed his arm, pulling him to a stop. Quatre gasped as the cold feeling blossomed into an icy fire that burned the skin that was under Sloh's fingers. He tried to pull away, but his efforts were feeble as he seemed to weaken the longer Sloh had his hand on his arm. He looked up at the man, to ask him to let him go, but saw the glint in his eyes.
Sloh knew what he was doing.
"I'm sorry," Sloh apologized cruelly as he watched the boy weakly struggle. "Am I hurting you?"
Without tightening his hold, he was able to make the boy almost fall over in pain. "Please," Quatre managed to say, pleadingly. "Let go."
Sloh chuckled for a moment before pulling the pilot closer to him and whispering, "For an empath, you are pathetically weak." He then shoved the boy to the ground before walking off, a low chuckle escaping him again.
Quatre stayed on the ground, concentrating on his breathing as the burning cold began to dissipate. He could feel himself shaking uncontrollably as he then tried to push himself up. He had only managed to lift his upper body off of the ground when he saw the Mobile Suit standing in the same place it had been. As he sated at the Suit something seemed to strike him and he fell with a cry as voices echoed in his mind.
"Fire!" one shouted before it then exclaimed, "Do not think of sparing their lives!"
Then another voice, one that sounded like Heero's had, only deeper and more mature, replied, "I don't want to kill..."
'What's happening?' Quatre wondered to himself as he began to slip into unconsciousness. 'I'm so cold...Sandrock...'
Everything went dark.
"Don't make me laugh, Duo. Your face is known from here to Earth and back. You'll be caught for sure."
The American stubbornly glared at the taller boy, a look of defiance on his face. "I can take care of myself."
Trowa rose an eyebrow at the other boy. "Do you understand how obvious you are? Your braid will give you away in seconds, Duo."
"Well, obviously you don't understand why I keep it!" Duo shouted back, grabbing the end of the long braid and waving it under the acrobat's nose.
Trowa shoved it away. "No, I don't, but I am assuming that you are unwilling to tell me."
"I--"
"I'll go," Heero's voice broke into the arguement, causing both pilots to look to their friend--surprised in Duo's case. "I'll go get us transportation. You two watch over my hostages."
"This doesn't sit well for me, Heero," Trowa said, seriously. "You don't know who that scientist was or how you got out of that lab, and he may be trying to find you again. If you get caught--"
"I won't get caught," Heero said with a dark look.
"But, Heero--" Duo began to object.
"Listen," Heero interrupted sharply. "We can't afford to worry about this--"
"We can't afford to ignore it, either," Trowa said, his green eyes narrowing at the Japanese boy who gave him an equally harsh look.
"Look, Heero," Duo said, putting a hand on the determined boy's shoulder as he somehow materalized behind him. "You're not getting the shuttle. How can you steal one without having something to defend yourself with?"
Heero jerked his shoulder away and spun toward the braided-haired boy, looking positively livid that that fact had been mentioned. "Damn you, Maxwell! If I had a gun now, I'd kill *you*!"
Duo quickly hid his surprise with the roll of his eyes. "I love you, too, Heero, but now's not the time--" He quickly jumped to the side as the now-enraged boy lunged for him. Duo was lucky Trowa grabbed Heero and kept him from trying to pummel him to death.
"Calm down, Heero," the former circus performer said, watching the restrained pilot carefully. Heero's face showed signs of anger and frustration, but his persian-blue eyes told a different story. There was confusion, frustration, pain, and--
Was that fear?
Trowa blinked and looked to Duo, who stood with his arms crossed. The shorter pilot raised a curious brow and received a nod in reply. Duo then turned and left, heading for the exit.
Trowa looked back to the boy he was restraining and found that Heero's expression was voice of any emotion and his eyes were stubbornly on the ground. Sighing, the tall pilot released his hold and stepped away, watching as Heero clenched his fists and seemed to be shaking in anger. Trowa knew better, however.
"You've got to calm down, Heero," he said in calming voice. "Duo and I know you can't stand this, but you've got to know that it can't be helped. We are really worried about you and are afraid for you--"
"What is it like to be afraid, Trowa?" Heero interrupted, not turning to face the other boy.
"Are you afraid?" Trowa asked, his green eyes keeping a studious watch on the Japanese boy. His ears were listening for an answer and were making sure the captives were still where they had been before.
"How am I to know?" Heero said, bitterness creeping into his words, surprising Trowa.
For a moment, the taller boy couldn't comprehend Heero's meaning; then, it fell into place. "Your doctor never allowed you, did he?"
Heero didn't reply, but his fists uncurled themselves very slowly. Trowa was about to say something more when the other boy answered, seeming to be speaking of someone entirely different than who Trowa mentioned, "He thought I was weak. A compassionate killer. A failed experiment. He never allowed me to feel anything. Not even..."
He trailed off but Trowa didn't pry. Whether or not he chose to talk was his decision.
"...I never enjoyed killing. I hated it. That's why I tried so hard to kill myself. Back on L1...I was given several missions. Some were actually assassination assignments. Once...the mission fell apart. The building that was my target--a Mobile Suit base--it exploded...the explosion knocked a Suit into the homes near the base. A little girl and her dog...I met them at the park once...they lived in the homes that the Suit collapsed on. I tried to find the little girl, but only found the dog...that puppy..."
Trowa sighed. "Don't, Heero. There's no need to think of that anymore. You're not a killer. You've done all you can--"
"But the memory won't leave," Heero said flatly.
"And probably never will, but you have to move on from it," the other boy responded before walking froward and putting a hand on Heero's shoulder. "I think we need to worry about the present now. We are wanted men, after all."
"Hey, can I have one of those?" Duo asked the old man running the old-fashioned news stands. The old man continued to stare off into space, even when the young man waved a hand up and down before him. Shrugging, he took a newspaper from the rack and walked off.
So much for the thrill of thieving.
"Let's see what everyone has to say," he muttered as he unfolded the newspaper. He scanned the headlines and sighed, "What a waste of my time."
He put the newspaper on top of someone lying on a bench's face. It was a good thing the guy was alseep; Duo wasn't up for running. He continued to walk on, his stolen hat and coat hiding his face and unnaturally long hair.
When he reached the main street of the Colony's main city, he heard the other pedestrian stop as a news flash showed on the large screen on a tower. He blinked and immediately started to turn away.
"...Raberba Winner was placed into hospitalization on this morning," the reporter was saying. The mentioning of the fourth Gundam pilot made Duo freeze and look back in disbelief. "Neither doctors nor friends will enlighten us with any information on the young heir's condition. Further details have been withheld by--"
Duo shook his head. "Oh, God...who could have--?"
"I have to say, I agree," a voice said from behind him. The braided-haired pilot spun around, a gun barely visible under his jacket sleeve.
"So you're the curious guy," he commented. "That guy that followed me from the newspaper rack."
The guy, not too much older than Duo himself, cocked his head to the side. "You do have good street-sense."
Duo gave him a grim smile. "Comes from growing up on the streets on L2," he said, subtly motioning for the other young man to move into the alley.
Once they reached it, the Gundam pilot punched the guy in the face, knocking him against the wall and allowing him to have enough time to pull out his gun completely into view. "Damn you, following me around," he said, gritting his teeth. "Why were you following and how much do you know?"
The light-haired boy chuckled as he leaned against the wall, sitting on garabage and other filth in the alley. "I'm not a threat to your security, if that's what you really want to know."
"No..." Duo said, mockingly. "I want to know why you were following and how much you know!"
Now the other boy smirked. "Because and depends."
"Okay, Pal," the armed teenager said with a fleck of anger, "speak my language or you won't be around to speak any language. Depends on what?"
"How much you know about Heero Yuy," the young man responded. Duo decided to play his hand carefully by giving the impression he was frustrated.
"That guy that was assassinated--?" The other boy frowned.
"Don't patronize me," he said, his expression sour. "You know damn well who I'm talking about."
"What do you know about Heero?" Duo asked, dropping his act and getting himself ready to fire if he needed to.
The other boy gave him a partial smirk, partial grim smile. "I know what happened to him that year."
"It seems odd," Lady Une said to Sally Po as the two women watched over the pale boy who lied asleep on the hospital bed. His blond hair nearly looked white itself against the white sheets. "I don't know how this could have happened."
"What I don't understand is why he is so drained of energy," the other woman said, her tone that of the trained physician she was. "Even shock wouldn't leave him in such a state."
Une looked to her for a moment. "And there's nothing physically wrong him besides that?"
"No. I just don't understand it," Sally said with some frustration as the door opened and a nurse's head poked inside, looking at the two women and the still boy.
"Excuse me," she said, hesitantly, "but there's a man on the video-screen for either of you. Says he wants to know what's wrong with Mr. Winner and to ask you another question."
The two women looked to each other, surprised. "Where's the call from?" Sally asked.
The nurse looked nervous but replied, "The L3 Colony. It's very odd..."
"I'll take it," Une said, giving the General a pointed look. "I think I may know who it may be."
Now the young nurse looked relieved. "Thank Heaven. He's been giving all the employees trouble. We had to mute the screen to make him not disturb the patients," she explained as she lead the older woman to a more private room.
Lady Une smiled at the mental image. "I think it is who I think it is," she said as the nurse led her to a room where the video screen was. The young woman gestured to one that had a young man in a hat and jacket, screaming at the screen with his eyes shut.
"Yes, it is him," she said with a slight smirk before looking to the nurse and nodding her dismissal. When the girl was gone, she turned back to the screen and pressed mute again.
"--ALMOST HAD TO KILL MYSELF BECAUSE THE DAMNED IDIOT PLAYED GAMES WITH PEOPLE'S LIVES--!"
"I'm assumning you're speaking of Heero, Duo?" she asked with some laughter. The Gundam pilot's mouth was open, as if he was going to go back to yelling, but when he heard the woman's voice, his mouth clamped shut and his eyes opened wide.
"Une!" he shouted, this time with relief and excitement. "I am damned happy you're the one that took the call."
Here Une's face went black and she replied, "Yes, you called about Quatre?"
Now it was Duo's turn to look blank. "Yeah. Trowa told me and Heero he suspects a faction in the Preventers that are out to get us Gundam pilots to either fight or be killed before we can go against them. I think that whatever happened to Quatre was their doing." He paused. "How is he, by the way?"
"Asleep. very weak and slightly cold," Une answered calmly. She waited for a reaction, but there wasn't one. "We found him passed out in the Mobile Suit hanger."
"...oh, God," Duo finally said, looking away. "How--?"
"We don't know. Sally is even bewildered by his symptoms--"
"Symptoms?" The pilot looked up at the word.
Une frowned. "Yes, I just told you them. They would all suggest shock except he's completely drained of energy."
Duo looked as though he was considering something before he was knocked out of the screen's view as another boy took his place, saluting the leader of the Preventers.
"Thomas Taylor reporting, Lady--oof!" Duo slammed into the lighter-haired boy, taking his place back in the screen.
"Damn you! Didn't I tell you not to interrupt?!" the pilot shouted at the boy off-screen.
"Duo," Une interrupted, gaining the annoyed boy's attention. "You have no need to beat up one of my men."
The Gundam pilot spluttered. "You mean he's been following me--?!"
"Actually, his assignment was to find Heero Yuy," the woman said, giving Duo a hard look. "He has not reported in for almost a year and a half. Taylor! Report!"
"Yes, Ma'am!" the boy's voice said before his face shared the screen wiht Duo's, his expression solemn as he began, "My Lady, Heero Yuy just escaped a lab in an uncharted location, which he had been held in for most of the time I was away."
"When was his escape?" Une questioned, now looking angered. "When was he captured? Who were his captors? And, damn it, why the Hell didn't anyone know about this?!"
Duo's surprise went unnoticed as Thomas continued, "He had been captured June, AC 198, by some men I could not see clearly. I had almost helped him get away when he was shot from behind with a strong drug that knocked him out in seconds. The men took him on a shuttle and I followed. I do not know the location of the lab. He escaped November, AC 199."
"A month ago," Une said to herself while Dup looked to the young man beside him.
"And why didn't you help him?" he demanded, fists clenching.
"They found me when we arrived at the lab," Thomas answered passively. "I convinced them I had been the one who had lead him to the ambush."
"I'm sure you did," the pilot said icily, glaring at the Preventer.
"Please," Une said, interrupting Thomas's retort. "Tell me what happened in the lab."
The Preventer spy was about to answer when Duo butted in, "I can answer that. Heero told me himself he remembers some of the simulations he was forced into. They were trying to make him into an actual perfect soldier and a human killing machine."
"Tom?" questioned Une, looking close to being horrified.
"Affirmative. He's stating the truth," the spy answered.
Duo huffed. "I may run and I may hide, but I never lie," he said indignantly. "Heero told me that every time he told the scientist he wouldn't do anything lethal to the simulations, he's be tortured with something like an electrical shock. He also said that he did accidently shoot a simulated guard 'dead' when the scientist distracted him."
Now Une frowned. "Heero wouldn't mis-aim," she said.
Duo sighed. "I think before that session was when the scientists began his 'experiment.'"
"Which would be?"
"Control," was the answer. "Whoever this scientist is, they can control Heero when he's distracted with a weapon in hand. Trowa and I both had him aim guns at us, though I think Trowa got the worst of it. Heero can't touch a weapon; we don't know when he'll lose control."
"Yes," Tom put in, looking to the other pilot with surprise, "but what Heero wouldn't know was that the scientist was not just trying to control Heero. He was also studying genes."
Duo eyes went wide as he turned to Tom. "Heero's genes?"
"Yes," the other boy answered hesitantly.
"Aw, shit," the younger one swore as he fiddled with his hat. "Heero told me he heard the scientist once talk about 'altered genetics' or something with another person when he was supposed to be unconscious."
Tom looked uncomfortable. "He was awake?"
"Well, yeah--hey! You were the one the scientist was talking to, weren't you?!"
"Enough!" barked Lady Une, tired of the bickering. "Duo, finish what you were telling me. Tom, nod to confirm what he says."
Tom nodded stiffly and Duo continued, with a glare at the older boy, "Well, when Heero first told me about that part, it kind of bothered me. Why would someone alter the genes of an almost-grown man? Now that Tom tells me that the scientist was studying Heero's genes..." He paused. "Lady Une, is there anyway to recover documents on Operation Meteor?"
The woman shook her head. "There's nothing. All of the documents were--"
"Not quite," Tom interrupted. "The one who held Heero has his files: all the details that were recorded by the doctors--including Doctor J--about his childhood, the notes of his genetic alterations--"
"Say what?!" Duo exclaimed while Une rubbed her brow.
"You're surprised?" Tom asked dryly.
"Well, no--I mean, yes! Yes, I am!"
"Duo," Une saked, continuing to rub her head, "is that what you wanted the files for?"
"Yes! But...ugh! This is a nightmare!" the young pilot exclaimed, grabbing his hat and pulling it farther down over his eyes. "He's studying Heero's genes, which may have been altered by the doctors of Operation Meteor. He really wants the perfect soldier!"
"There's no way he can achieve it," Une said confidently.
Duo lifted his hat a bit and said with a harsh tone, "Oh, yes, he can...Heero's not the perfect soldier, we know that already. The scientist would have done everything he could to keep him otherwise. So he must have--"
Tom interrupted, "According to the files, Heero Yuy is flawed. It's noted that they could never get rid of Heero's compassion for some of his targets. The one who held him knew this. His plan is to get rid of the flaw by using Heero's genetics as a map. Get rid of the compassion, and there is the perfect soldier."
"It would be utterably unstable," objected Lady Une.
"No, Heero was unstable," Duo countered seriously. "A person with the same traits as Heero, minus his 'flaw,' would be completely stable. They wouldn't be confused or have mixed feelings on anything."
"Damn," swore Une loudly. "This keeps getting worse and worse."
"The question we need to ask," the Gundam pilot said grimly, "is: why does he want the perfect soldier."
Tom shook his head. "No, that's not it. The question is: is the Preventer Faction in league with the Perfect Soldier Project."
They all went silent, considering the statement. Duo looked grim as he interrupted the heavy silence, "You know...I really hate it when there's two different situations that might tie in together. There's no telling where the enemy's hiding."
Lady Une gave him a wane smile. "So I take it that I am no longer the enemy?"
"Well..." Duo said, lightening the mood with a small laugh. "That was a mistake, ya know. We thought you were the one shooting at us to get us to pilot for war purposes.
"That reminds me," the woman said. "Where are you right now?"
Duo gave her a curious look. "Inside a stolen shuttle. I was going to go collect Heero, Trowa, and the hostages but thought I should check up on Quatre."
"Are you planning to come down to Earth?"
"We might..." the pilot said slowly. "Honestly, we're playing this by ear, like we've always done. Heero was the one with the idea to get Trowa, so he might have an idea."
"I don't think--" Tom started.
"Who asked you?"
Lady Une shook her head. "Keep me updated on your situation and be careful.
"All right," was the reply. "Keep an eye on Quatre and be on guard."
With that, the screen went dark.
"You," Duo said to Tom after disconnecting his connectuion to the hospital, "are going to tell me everything you know about what happened to Heero."
The Preventer spy shifted uncomfortably before the Gundam pilot. "I'm not sure if I should--"
"Forget about orders," the braided-haired boy said with narrowed eyes. "You're going to have to learn that orders are meaningless if nothing's stable enough to give them. Sometimes you have to improvise. Now spill."
The older boy sighed, feeling small after being reprimanded by a teenager that was almost three years his Junior. "All right. I'll tell you all I know."
Duo gave him a grin. "Now we're getting somewhere."
Author's Notes: *pokes head in* Wufei gone? *sweatdrops* Good, because I was getting tired of running. Maybe he found someone else to chase around...*thoughtful look* (*Wufei is chasing Duo in the background*) *shrugs* Oh, well ^.^ Well, I hope you guys enjoyed the fic thus far. And have no fear, all will be explained! *sweatdrops* I always say that, don't I? -.- I need to quit it because I usually don't finish when I do. T.T I really wanna finish at least ONE fic! T.T Well, I hope you guys enjoyed the lengthy reading. Now I'm going to read some Cowboy Bebop and Gundam Wing fics ^.^ Ja! ^.~
Oh, wait! I forgot something. Quatre is an empath, meaning he can feel other people's emotions clearly. Sometimes, it is my belief, he can feel how a person truly is, which explains why Sloh made him feel cold. Well, I think that's it now ^.^ Ja! ^.~!
Disclaimer: Now, remember last time? Yeah, I said I didn't own anyone...well...I'M LYING! MUAHAHAHAHA! I own them all! (Gundam characters: O_O *runs away*) O.o WAH! *runs and tackles and character, huggling them* Don't run from me--*sees who is it* Eep! *runs away* (Wufei: -.-.......*gets up and chases me with his sword*) WAAAAAAAAAH! I don't own them! I DON'T OWN THEM! HELP! SOS! AHHHHH! *runs off*
Notes:
memory
'vision'
Uncontrolled Fear
"An update on the Gundam pilots: sources say that the two wanted pilots 01 and 02 have just recently hijacked a shuttle that carried Senator John Wilms, Representative Donald Davis, as well as Vice Foreign Minister Relena Darlian--"
"Eh..." Duo commented intelligently as the television went dark. "Never liked the news anyway."
Trowa humored the other pilot with a nod as he looked over to the three captives. "I hope you three are comfortable," he said sincerely.
The old Senator, John Wilms, gave the Gundam pilot a sour look. "What does our comfort matter? We're hostages!"
Trowa raised an eyebrow. "Not in the sense that we want you harmed. You just were at the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Yes, Mr. Barton," Relena broke in before the hot-headed Irishman could say anything. "You're positively right. In fact, our captors have been very courteous, if not a bit wordy." She gave a none-too-discreit look to Heero, who snorted and turned away.
"I see," replied the tall boy. "Well, don't worry about Heero. He's only dangerous if you are his enemy."
He gave them a sudden serious look. "I should hope that none of you are the enemy," he said, gaining frightened looks from the two men.
"Ah, don't scare 'em, Trowa," a cheerful voice said as a certain long-haired teenager plopped himself on the ground next to the other boy. "None of them are enemies."
"You're so sure, Duo?" Trowa asked with a fair bit of humor. Duo put his arms in the air, stretching, before letting the lower part of his arms fall behind his head as he studied the ceiling of the abandoned warehouse Trowa had led them into.
"Maybe not about Junior there, but I like the old man and I can get along with Ms. Former Queen." He tossed a wink in Relena's direction.
Trowa closed his eyes and "hm"ed with a slight smile. "For a minute there, you were worrying me."
Duo chuckled with good humor and wittily replied, "No need to worry, my friend, I am completely and one hundred percent my usual sane self."
"I suppose that means we need to alert an asylum?" Trowa questioned, opening an eye and cocking the eyebrow above it.
The other boy nodded but paused. "Wait a second...Trowa!"
The former circus acrobat stood and looked to the captives. "I'm going to speak with Heero for a moment. Duo'll look after you for that time." He looked to the muttering American and asked, "Or should I tell them to look after you?"
Duo scowled. "Okay, clown boy, buzz off before I get Shinigami on your tail."
Trowa looked intrigued by the threat and merely replied, "I'm shaking," before walking off and over toward the silently brooding Japanese boy.
"What is it that you want, Trowa?" Heero asked, not turning to greet him. The tall pilot sat himself nect to the other boy, never looking over to him.
"Just a moment of your time," he answered, looking out the small window that revealed the false night of the Colony. "It's been a while since we've met."
"Hn," was the quiet reply.
Trowa's eyes flicked to the dark form beside him before returning to the window. "Duo's informed me about what you two've been through."
"Did he?" Heero asked, his voice strangely quiet and breathy. The third pilot frowned but made no comment.
"Yes. I have to say that I'm still confused about all of this. Lady Une and Sally Po are both Preventers and they would never betray us," he said, quickly becoming aware of an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach. "i think what we're seeing is a faction of the Preventers breaking away from the main group. They may be the ones that want us injured or killed."
There was a pause and Trowa heard something. Brow furrowing, he looked toward Heero, asking with concern, "What is--?"
He was shocked to find a barrel of a gun aimed at his head, shaking ever so slightly. It took him a moment to precess this but, as he did, Trowa looked at the other boy's face as if he was trying to find the answer to his question.
"Heero," he said, calmly. "Heero...lower the weapon."
The other Gundam pilot looked as though he was suppressing a wince as the gun shook harder in his grasp and he replied, "I...can't..."
"Heero," Trowa said, this time more urgently as the other boy's finger began to pull the trigger back. "Heero! Drop the gun!"
"I can't!" Heero shouted back, forgetting everything he had ever learned from his experiences as a soldier and the lessons from Doctor J. For that small moment of time, Heero Yuy was shown what true fear was.
"Heero!" Trowa shouted a split-second before something slammed into the other boy from behind, making the bullet fly free, haphazardly out the window.
Trowa stared at the space before him in disbelief. That hadn't been Heero. That wasn't--
A scuffle brought his mind to the present just in time for him to whip his head around and see Duo be punched in the jaw by Heero, who quickly leapt to his feet now that the braided-haired boy was off of him. Heero began to sprint to his gun, but Trowa beat him to it by leaping into the air, somersaulting, and landing in a crouch next to the gun.
"What's wrong with you, Heero?!" he shouted as Duo picked himself off of the ground.
"Damn..." the American muttered, rubbing his bruised face. "The first time, it's coincidence. The second time mean something's odd. The third time is when you know something's wrong."
Heero didn't seem to notice either of them as his legs collapsed on themselves and he fell to the ground, just staring ahead. Trowa looked to Duo and gave a slight nod, signalling the other boy to go to their friend as he took the fire-arm.
"Heero," Duo was saying as he knelt next to the stranger-acting boy. A moment passed with no response, so the concerned pilot reached out a hand to place on the shorter-haired boy's shoulder. "Heero--"
"Don't," Heero quietly said, not moving from his position.
"Heero...what the Hell were you doing? Trying to kill Trowa--?" Duo cut himself off as he watched the other boy lift his hands to stare at them.
"Duo...if I was trying...I would have done it," Heero told him, still not looking up.
"Then why--?"
"I lost control," the boy barely said, his hands curling into fists.
"Wha--"
"Duo." Heero looked to the other boy, quickly becoming deadly serious. "Do me a favor. If this happens again...do whatever you need to stop me. Kill me if you have to."
While Duo was dealing with Heero, Trowa decided to check on the three captives, who all heard what had happened. The shadows in the warehouse were deep and had his most of what had occurred from their sight. They were all surprised to see him appearing in front of them, holding the weapon in a secure grasp.
"What is going on over there?" Wilms demanded, anxiously watching the shadows as even Relena looked frightened.
"Nothing we can't handle," Trowa answered, hoping that he was even close to being correct.
Duo was shocked by the favor asked of him by the other boy. Kill him...?
"Heero..." he said slowly, weakly trying to understand what was happening, "do you know what you're asking?"
"I know very well," Heero responded sharply, his expression hardening. "If you don't do this, especially when it needs to be done, I'll be a walking killing machine again. I don't want that."
"But..." Duo objected, still not comprehending. "I can't just--"
"Damn it, Maxwell! If I could kill myself, I would! Why do you think I tried so hard to do that before?! I don't want to be a weapon!"
Duo shook his head quickly. "You're not a weapon! Quit saying that!"
Now Heero looked away. "Why stop saying something that's true? All I was ever trained for and used for was killing. There's a reason why, I recently discovered. What you just saw now and on the shuttle were examples of it."
"What are you saying?!" Duo nearly shouted in frustration. "You're just saying words without giving them meaning!"
"They have meaning," Heero said grimly. "Do you know why you couldn't recall who I was?"
"I was kind of distracted," the other boy said dryly.
"True, but why else?" There was a silence. "For almost a year, Duo, I was trapped somewhere. I don't remember where or exactly how long, but I know that I was a sepcimin in experiments again. Only this time, whoever they were weren't trying to make me a better terrorist, pilots, what have you. They were tryign to actually creat the perfect soldier."
Heero looked over to the boy he called friend and finished ominiously, "They made one mistake."
"Fire," a voice commanded in the radio in Heero's ear. The young man, a boy on most accounts, was standing in a simulation room, a gun in hand. The simulation was of a couple of security guards, and he quickly fired at non-lethal points.
"NO!" the voice bellowed, making him wince. "Do not think of sparing their lives!"
"I don't want to kill," Heero told the voice in the radio. This was the wrong thing to say and he had to endure the pain of being shocked by something in his head. The radio, perhaps.
"You will kill these simulations, or I will be sure to make your life extremely painful." The threat was in his voice, but Heero was too numb from the punishment he had went through to understand this.
"I...don't...wish...to kill," the boy gritted out before crying out as electrical waves of energy tore through his mind and body. This time the pain was much, much more severe and, soon, Heero blacked out.
"I can see why the operators of Operation Meteor note that this boy can become the perfect soldier," the voice from the radio said from above him, "but I can also see the flaw they pointed out. A soldier needs no compassion."
Realizing this man--scientist?--thought him to be unconscious, Heero remained still and kept his eyes closed, listening.
"Sir? What about the genetic alterati--?"
"Quiet, you fool. Speak not of that. That is confidential and will remain so. There's no reason to go spouting that information everywhere," the man's voice hissed, "but yes. The hightened senses must play into effect. It is the only explanation."
It was another day in the simulations, but this time was different.
"Fire!" the voice in Heero's ear shouted just as the boy began to take aim. The trigger was pulled back in surprise and the bullet hit the simulated guard through the heart. Heero froze, eyes unnaturally wide in surprise and horror. He hadn't meant to pull the trigger...
The voice, however, chuckled with pleasure. "Good. Good. You're showing your talent."
Heero narrowed his eyes and glared at the one-way mirror before throwing his weapon at it. The weapon went off as if hit, and the bullet whizzed by his head, barely missing. Again the voice chuckled.
"Trying to defy me, eh? Well...I am always up for a challenge." The radio went silent and then the severe pain erupted along the boy's spine.
"I don't remember much," Heero continued, shaking his head, "but I remember the simulations and the pain and then darkness. I'm not sure exactly what they've done to me, but I know what one thing is. Somehow that scientist found a way to control me. Whenever a weapon is in my hand, I try to do something--kill people--with it."
Duo watched with something akin to awe and horror as everything he'd been told was processed in his mind. It took him a moment, but when he finally grasped the meaning of it all, he managed to choke out, "Good God, Heero...how--when--?"
He sighed and closed his eyes, rubbing them as he thought. "Why didn't you say anything sooner?"
"There wasn't time," Heero answered firmly. "I also had in control. Had it."
"But you're losing it, aren't you?" the other boy asked, looking to the now-silent Heero. "Is that really why you didn't have a gun when we met up?"
"I had left it, yes," Heero answered, lifting his eyes to meet Duo's. "That's why I asked you that favor. I'm just a human weapon, and I have no wish to be it. If worse comes to worst...I won't blame you if you killed me."
Duo watched him for a moment before looking away and standing. "We'd better get out of the dark. Trowa's probably thinking something happened," he said as he bent over and hauled the other boy to his feet. Heero made no objection as the American led him back toward their friend and hostages.
"Just answer me one thing, Duo," Heero said as they neared the other group. "Why do we hide?"
Duo considered the question carefully before answering, "Because we're forced into it."
"How is he?" Trowa asked, sitting himself next to the pilot know as Shinigami, who shrugged. It was later in the night and neither of them had gotten any sleep; Trowa because of the unsettling feeling that had remained from what had happened, and Duo because he couldn't stop thinking of what Heero had told him. The aforementioned boy was asleep on the ground only a few feet from the other two, who watched him sleep with keen interest.
"I think he was really drained," Duo answered after a moment. "It takes a lot of will-power to do what he did."
"I can't believe that that had happened to him," Trowa replied honestly. "It seems far-fetched."
"So is the rest of our lives," the other boy muttered.
"Touche."
The two fell silent, lost in their own thoughts before a shifting sound caused them to turn their heads. Relena had come over and sat herself on the other side of Duo, watching Heero's still form.
"Relena," Trowa said softly, "why aren't you resting?"
The former Queen of the World shook her head firmly. "I won't sleep. I can't. I'm too worried."
"Heero's a tough guy," Duo replied to ease her worries and fears. "He'll be fine."
Relena didn't reply to that and, instead, asked, "He's already slipping, isn't he?"
"He's walking a fine line," Trowa answered, seeing no reason not to be frank with her. "If he trips, he'll fall, but I don't think that will happen. Not yet. Right now, he's testing his balance."
The girl nodded while Duo looked to the other boy, exasperated. "Why must you refer to a tight-rope?"
Trowa lifted an eyebrow. "Don't you find life is all a balancing act? Make a mistake and it could spell the end of you. Make it all the way across and you're the happiest man alive."
Duo considered it before sighing. "I concede to the point."
Another silence descended up the tro for a few moments before Duo furrowed his brow and said, "Hey, Trowa? What can gentric alterations do to a person?"
"Why are you asking me?" the other boy said, equally curious.
"I'm thinking aloud. Humor me." Trowa looked to him for a moment before shrugging.
"I suppose it depends on the genes altered and what they're for. Why?"
Duo ignored the ending question. "Well...this makes things interesting."
The taller of the two sighed. "Duo, if you know something, say it. You're worrying Relena."
"I'm not sure but if I'm right, then...well, I don't know what to think," the braided-haired pilot responeded, looking as though he was concentrating hard on what he was saying.
"Not used to thinking?" Trowa questioned with good humor.
"No!" Duo exclaimed before thinking about it. "I mean yes! No...no! Ugh! Trowa!"
The other boy chuckled mildly. "Don't strain your mind so much, Duo. I'm going to go and sleeop," he said, standing.
"Pleasant dreams," Duo call to the retreating boy with some sarcasm.
"Thank you for coming," Lady Une said gratefully as she greeted her guest, who smiled politely back.
"I found it odd how you said one thing and your troops did another, so I came to the conclusion that something had gone wrong," her guest told her as they walked down the corridors of the Preventers' Headquarters.
Une sighed. "Thank you, Quatre, for the benefit of doubt, but I'm afraid the other's didn't consider that possibility."
The blond Arabian frowned a little, his young face looking troubled. "I don't understand it, either. Perhaps they never had time to think. Heero and Duo have made quite a name for themselves by hijacking the shuttle Relena was on."
"Not that any of us knowing people are surprised," Sally Po commented. "Heero and Relena always seem to run into each other."
Quatre hid a smile. "At least Heero's not trying to kill her anymore."
"Oh, he'll still threaten," the Chinese woman said, amused. "It's his famous line."
"If you are finished, General," Une said impatiently.
"Of course, Lady Une," Sall Po said, still holding a small smile.
"Now, Quatre," Une started, catching the boy's attention, "I want to know if you are comfortable with what you have agreed to do. If you're not, tell me now and I won't keep trying to talk you into it."
"Don't worry, Lady Une," Quatre assured her, looking determinedly ahead. "I'm perfectly fine with what you've asked of me."
The woman looked to him and gave him the first smile she had in days. "That's a relief to hear, but you may want to reserve that judgement until you've seen the Mobile Suits."
Quatre looked puzzled but sighed. "If you feel it's best," he agreed. "How far are these Mobile Suits?"
"Right here," Sally Po spoke up once more, gesturing to a set of large doors, which opened when Une punched in the code on the panel in the wall. Quatre gasped at the sight he now beheld.
"This..." he tried to say, staring ahead with awe, shock, and horror, "this is--"
False light filtered into the near-abandoned warehouse as a new day began at the Colony. Inside the building four people slept peacefully, uncaring as the day passed on without their awareness. Blissfully ignorant of what Fate had in store for them in the future, for now was the present and in the present they had no worried.
Two people, however, were awake and aware, though one looked as though she was still asleep as she watched the boy quietly sit atop an old storage box with his eyes closed, seeming to be in a meditative state. This almost made the usual harsh-looking young man look relaxed except for the fact that his brow was furrowed and sweat dampened his forehead. Whatever it was that he was doing, it didn't seem to help very much and Relena was becoming afraid that something besides the obvious was wrong with the pilot.
Her concern was just about to fade, for he seemed less strained for a moment, before his back straightened and he curled his hands into fists. Relena lied still as a moment passed and then another...until the boy became relaxed once more. Heero then opened his eyes, blinking once before turning in the direction he felt someone was staring at him from.
His persian-blue eyes locked on with Relena's blue eyes.
Neither said a word, merely stared. Heero then looked away from her, smirked, and stood from his sitting position, stretching his muscles which had cramped up from sitting in one position too long. Grunting as he worked the kinks out, he turned his back to Relena before jumping down the other side of the box and hiding himself from view.
Relena sighed, turning away from where he had disappeared, and thought of what she had heard Trowa and Duo talking about the night before. If what Heero had told Duo was true, then the Japanese boy must be an even more threathening person, though she doubt he would actually kill on of his comrades or herself...
She could feel her old feelings for the elusive Gundam pilot resurface as she recalled his meditation; only, this time, they were slightly different.
She didn't have time to analyze the difference for she then heard a soft noise near her, in the direction the other two pilot were at. She sat up and was slightly surprised to see some food rations next to her and Heero sitting against another box: his elbows on his knees, his fingers barely clasping each other to keep his arms from moving, and his head bowed in a thoughtful position. For a moment, she stared at him but then looked to the rations, studying them.
"You haven't eaten in a day," Heero's voice said, breaking the silence. "It wouldn't do to have one of my hostages to die of malnutrition."
Relena looked up to him again and smiled kindly. "Thank you."
"Hn," he replied, looking in the other direction where the other two pilots slept. Relena followed his gaze and took that time to examine the two of them carefully.
Both of the young pilots certainly had changed since she had last seen either of them. Their faces were sharper and less boyish than they had been, though Duo's face retained some aspects of his younger self making him seem more innocent than one would believe. Both pilots also seemed to be all legs and arms; Trowa more so than Duo, who was only several inches taller than Relena herself. Even in their sleep, it was easy to tell their personalities.
"Are you afraid for them?" she asked Heero, who continued to watch his comrades carefully.
"No," he answered, surprising Relena as she had thought he wouldn't haven't given her an answer, "they know how to handle themselves."
"What about you?" she asked and was yet again surprised as Heero turned to her. "Are you afraid?"
"Not of dying," he repsonded flatly.
"Oh, yes," she said, looking away, "I'd forgotten--"
"Forget it," the boy told her, his voice rough. Relena looked to him again and realized that his voice matched his appearance. His already-unkempt hair looked impossibly out-of-place and signs of a day-old bear was appearing on his young face. She looked at the other men and found that the same held true for them all.
In fact, she herself felt mighty grimy. She ran a finger through her hair and it was ensared in a knot. She frowned and heard a low chuckle from Heero's direction. "What so humorous?"
Heero gave her a small smirk, replying, "You, 'Former Queen.' Not used to living on the run?"
"I'm afraid I've never had time to run off unlike some people," she said, slightly dryly.
Heero "hn"ed thoughtfully, looking back in front of himself once again. Yet again they sat in silence, though this one was more comfortable than the others.
Just as Relena reached for the rations, a loud yawn crashed through the quiet air. Looking over, she saw that Duo was sitting up and stretching with his mouth opened wide as he continued the yawn. When he had finished his stretch and closed his gaping jaw, he blinked over at the two wide-awake teenagers.
"Were you guys watching me sleep? That's creepy," he said as he stood, even though he had done the same thing to Heero the night before.
"Don't flatter yourself, Maxwell," the aforementioned boy said, monotonously, making the other pilot look toward him and frown.
"What? now I'm not good enough to be stared at?" Duo asked with fake indignance. Heero didn't reply and Relena looked to Duo, amused.
"You're very handsome," she assured him, making him grin.
"Oh, really?" Duo questioned, a playful tone in his voice. "How 'bout a date then?"
At the question, the young woman smiled. "I'm sorry, but I'm Heero's hostage," she replied.
The braided-haired boy sighed over-dramatically. "Should've known. Being the thief is never fun."
Heero grunted, gaining their attention as he stood and walked off. Duo immediately looked over to the girl once he was out of sight, concern for his friend appearing on his previous joking face as he asked, "He okay?"
"He seems fine," Relena answered, deciding not to tell him about when the other boy had been in his meditative state.
"Hopefully, whatever is happening to Heero won't explode while the battle's starting," sighed the young man.
"Battle?" Relena looked startled.
"The Preventers aren't the ones chasing us," another voice answered, making Duo jump in surprise. Trowa, who was leaned up against the box behind Duo, had been the one who had spoken.
"It's how Lady Une said, then?" Relena questioned.
Trowa opened the eye not hidden by his bang and watched the girl coolly. "I don't know what Une must have said. What I do know is that it's a faction of the Preventers that were trying to kill us or force us into some Mobile Suits for war purposes. Une may just want us to test the Suits, that's all. We have no way to be sure, so we're not taking our chances."
Duo snorted. "That faction's got another thing coming if they think I'll willingly go into battle," he said, borrowing Heero's gruffness for a moment.
"I agree," the other pilot said. "War shouldn't be against a defenseless nation, and that is what the earth and her colonies are. The Preventers have the only Mobile Suits, but we have no way of knowing who is in the faction."
Relena allowed herself to look genuinely surprised. "How is it that you can tell all of this without very many facts or information?" she asked.
"I was originally trained as a technician," the lanky pilot answered, shutting his eye. "Then I became a Gundam pilot and learned how to find out problems in missions and such rather than machinery."
"Yeah, and I'm the thief," Duo spoke up with some jealousy.
"You're good at what you do," Trowa said, still looking as thought he was asleep. Duo sighed, so he added, "Plus you're Shinigami."
Now the long-haired boy chuckled. "Yeah, Bringer of Death."
"It is better than the Bringer of War."
"I can't believe this," Quatre said, still staring at the Mobile Suit towering above him. He had been in the hanger for hours, just staring and not really believing what he saw. Somehow, however, he made his way to the foot of the mighty Mobile Suit and nearly fell over as he took in the size of it.
It had been three years since he had seen a Mobile Suit of such stature.
Smiling slightly, the young blone Arabian lifted a hand and reach out to touch the armor, to see if it was really there. Before he could, a cold feeling entered his heart and he pulled his hand away to turn to the person who had just entered. The man was tall and had dark, brown hair streaked with silver and some grey. He wore a Preventers' uniform, but in Quatre's eyes, it seemed either a little too small or too big on him. He could tell that the cold feeling was coming from this man and unconsciously shuddered as the man smiled at him.
"You must be the Gundam pilot," the man said as he came forward, his boots clicking ominiously on the stone floor. "Such a surprise that one of the pilots would be the one and only heir of the Winner clan."
Quatre resisted backing away as the man came closer and merely asked, "Who are you?"
"Ah, forgive my impoliteness. My name is Willian Sloh," the man said, holding out his hand in a form of greetings.
The polite and respectable side of Quatre was ready to take his hand in pilot courtesy; the Gundam pilot side of him, however, protested severely. So he merely stood, watching Sloh's hand carefully. Sloh waited a few minutes before lowering his hand and chuckling.
"Yes, you are most certainly a pilot. Not trusting of others?"
Quatre shook his head. "It's not that."
"Oh?" questioned the elder man. "Then let us try again. I am Willian Sloh."
Again the hand was held out and again Quatre merely stared. Sloh waited, looked to his hand, to Quatre, and then said, "I am not poisonous," as he took a step forward. He halted, however, when the blond backed up a step unconsciously.
Sloh frowned. "I thought you had said that this was not a matter of trust."
"It isn't," Quatre said firmly. "I don't know whom to trust, but this isn't about that. I won't shake hands with a man who gives me this cold feeling."
Now the tall man looked curious as he lowered his hand. "Cold? I make you cold?" he questioned and continued when the boy gave no answer, "You are empathetic?"
"It is well-known that the Winners are sensitive to such things," was the response.
Sloh gave him a slow smile. "Ah, yes. I'd forgotten," he said, chuckling.
Quatre shuttered again and took another step back just as the sounds of someone shouting, "Fire!" and a sudden gunshot echoed in his mind. The boy shook his head to clear his thoughts and looked up at the man with confusion.
"What is it that you want?" he asked.
"Merely to speak with you," Sloh answered. "I am curious why you've decided to come to pilot the Mobile Suit when your comrades did not."
"My friends did not come because they believe the Mobile Suits and themselves will be used in combat," Quatre said firmly. "I am only piloting the Suit. I am not going into combat. If it looks as though I will be, I'll leave.
"My friends are not cowards. They're thinking of the good of peace and they want to keep the peace instead of destroying it senselessly, Mr. Sloh. They're respectable young men and they deserve to do as they wish. They--we--were the ones who went against Operation Meteor in the beginning."
Sloh paused for a moment. "I commend your loyalty to you...friends, Mr. Winner," he said, his voice dull and odd. "It is a rare thing these days."
"Yes, well, we pilots have been through a lot together," Quatre responded stiffly before looking to the Mobile Suit. "I believe I'm going to speak with Lady Une. If you'll excuse me--"
He tried to brush passed the uniformed man, but Sloh grabbed his arm, pulling him to a stop. Quatre gasped as the cold feeling blossomed into an icy fire that burned the skin that was under Sloh's fingers. He tried to pull away, but his efforts were feeble as he seemed to weaken the longer Sloh had his hand on his arm. He looked up at the man, to ask him to let him go, but saw the glint in his eyes.
Sloh knew what he was doing.
"I'm sorry," Sloh apologized cruelly as he watched the boy weakly struggle. "Am I hurting you?"
Without tightening his hold, he was able to make the boy almost fall over in pain. "Please," Quatre managed to say, pleadingly. "Let go."
Sloh chuckled for a moment before pulling the pilot closer to him and whispering, "For an empath, you are pathetically weak." He then shoved the boy to the ground before walking off, a low chuckle escaping him again.
Quatre stayed on the ground, concentrating on his breathing as the burning cold began to dissipate. He could feel himself shaking uncontrollably as he then tried to push himself up. He had only managed to lift his upper body off of the ground when he saw the Mobile Suit standing in the same place it had been. As he sated at the Suit something seemed to strike him and he fell with a cry as voices echoed in his mind.
"Fire!" one shouted before it then exclaimed, "Do not think of sparing their lives!"
Then another voice, one that sounded like Heero's had, only deeper and more mature, replied, "I don't want to kill..."
'What's happening?' Quatre wondered to himself as he began to slip into unconsciousness. 'I'm so cold...Sandrock...'
Everything went dark.
"Don't make me laugh, Duo. Your face is known from here to Earth and back. You'll be caught for sure."
The American stubbornly glared at the taller boy, a look of defiance on his face. "I can take care of myself."
Trowa rose an eyebrow at the other boy. "Do you understand how obvious you are? Your braid will give you away in seconds, Duo."
"Well, obviously you don't understand why I keep it!" Duo shouted back, grabbing the end of the long braid and waving it under the acrobat's nose.
Trowa shoved it away. "No, I don't, but I am assuming that you are unwilling to tell me."
"I--"
"I'll go," Heero's voice broke into the arguement, causing both pilots to look to their friend--surprised in Duo's case. "I'll go get us transportation. You two watch over my hostages."
"This doesn't sit well for me, Heero," Trowa said, seriously. "You don't know who that scientist was or how you got out of that lab, and he may be trying to find you again. If you get caught--"
"I won't get caught," Heero said with a dark look.
"But, Heero--" Duo began to object.
"Listen," Heero interrupted sharply. "We can't afford to worry about this--"
"We can't afford to ignore it, either," Trowa said, his green eyes narrowing at the Japanese boy who gave him an equally harsh look.
"Look, Heero," Duo said, putting a hand on the determined boy's shoulder as he somehow materalized behind him. "You're not getting the shuttle. How can you steal one without having something to defend yourself with?"
Heero jerked his shoulder away and spun toward the braided-haired boy, looking positively livid that that fact had been mentioned. "Damn you, Maxwell! If I had a gun now, I'd kill *you*!"
Duo quickly hid his surprise with the roll of his eyes. "I love you, too, Heero, but now's not the time--" He quickly jumped to the side as the now-enraged boy lunged for him. Duo was lucky Trowa grabbed Heero and kept him from trying to pummel him to death.
"Calm down, Heero," the former circus performer said, watching the restrained pilot carefully. Heero's face showed signs of anger and frustration, but his persian-blue eyes told a different story. There was confusion, frustration, pain, and--
Was that fear?
Trowa blinked and looked to Duo, who stood with his arms crossed. The shorter pilot raised a curious brow and received a nod in reply. Duo then turned and left, heading for the exit.
Trowa looked back to the boy he was restraining and found that Heero's expression was voice of any emotion and his eyes were stubbornly on the ground. Sighing, the tall pilot released his hold and stepped away, watching as Heero clenched his fists and seemed to be shaking in anger. Trowa knew better, however.
"You've got to calm down, Heero," he said in calming voice. "Duo and I know you can't stand this, but you've got to know that it can't be helped. We are really worried about you and are afraid for you--"
"What is it like to be afraid, Trowa?" Heero interrupted, not turning to face the other boy.
"Are you afraid?" Trowa asked, his green eyes keeping a studious watch on the Japanese boy. His ears were listening for an answer and were making sure the captives were still where they had been before.
"How am I to know?" Heero said, bitterness creeping into his words, surprising Trowa.
For a moment, the taller boy couldn't comprehend Heero's meaning; then, it fell into place. "Your doctor never allowed you, did he?"
Heero didn't reply, but his fists uncurled themselves very slowly. Trowa was about to say something more when the other boy answered, seeming to be speaking of someone entirely different than who Trowa mentioned, "He thought I was weak. A compassionate killer. A failed experiment. He never allowed me to feel anything. Not even..."
He trailed off but Trowa didn't pry. Whether or not he chose to talk was his decision.
"...I never enjoyed killing. I hated it. That's why I tried so hard to kill myself. Back on L1...I was given several missions. Some were actually assassination assignments. Once...the mission fell apart. The building that was my target--a Mobile Suit base--it exploded...the explosion knocked a Suit into the homes near the base. A little girl and her dog...I met them at the park once...they lived in the homes that the Suit collapsed on. I tried to find the little girl, but only found the dog...that puppy..."
Trowa sighed. "Don't, Heero. There's no need to think of that anymore. You're not a killer. You've done all you can--"
"But the memory won't leave," Heero said flatly.
"And probably never will, but you have to move on from it," the other boy responded before walking froward and putting a hand on Heero's shoulder. "I think we need to worry about the present now. We are wanted men, after all."
"Hey, can I have one of those?" Duo asked the old man running the old-fashioned news stands. The old man continued to stare off into space, even when the young man waved a hand up and down before him. Shrugging, he took a newspaper from the rack and walked off.
So much for the thrill of thieving.
"Let's see what everyone has to say," he muttered as he unfolded the newspaper. He scanned the headlines and sighed, "What a waste of my time."
He put the newspaper on top of someone lying on a bench's face. It was a good thing the guy was alseep; Duo wasn't up for running. He continued to walk on, his stolen hat and coat hiding his face and unnaturally long hair.
When he reached the main street of the Colony's main city, he heard the other pedestrian stop as a news flash showed on the large screen on a tower. He blinked and immediately started to turn away.
"...Raberba Winner was placed into hospitalization on this morning," the reporter was saying. The mentioning of the fourth Gundam pilot made Duo freeze and look back in disbelief. "Neither doctors nor friends will enlighten us with any information on the young heir's condition. Further details have been withheld by--"
Duo shook his head. "Oh, God...who could have--?"
"I have to say, I agree," a voice said from behind him. The braided-haired pilot spun around, a gun barely visible under his jacket sleeve.
"So you're the curious guy," he commented. "That guy that followed me from the newspaper rack."
The guy, not too much older than Duo himself, cocked his head to the side. "You do have good street-sense."
Duo gave him a grim smile. "Comes from growing up on the streets on L2," he said, subtly motioning for the other young man to move into the alley.
Once they reached it, the Gundam pilot punched the guy in the face, knocking him against the wall and allowing him to have enough time to pull out his gun completely into view. "Damn you, following me around," he said, gritting his teeth. "Why were you following and how much do you know?"
The light-haired boy chuckled as he leaned against the wall, sitting on garabage and other filth in the alley. "I'm not a threat to your security, if that's what you really want to know."
"No..." Duo said, mockingly. "I want to know why you were following and how much you know!"
Now the other boy smirked. "Because and depends."
"Okay, Pal," the armed teenager said with a fleck of anger, "speak my language or you won't be around to speak any language. Depends on what?"
"How much you know about Heero Yuy," the young man responded. Duo decided to play his hand carefully by giving the impression he was frustrated.
"That guy that was assassinated--?" The other boy frowned.
"Don't patronize me," he said, his expression sour. "You know damn well who I'm talking about."
"What do you know about Heero?" Duo asked, dropping his act and getting himself ready to fire if he needed to.
The other boy gave him a partial smirk, partial grim smile. "I know what happened to him that year."
"It seems odd," Lady Une said to Sally Po as the two women watched over the pale boy who lied asleep on the hospital bed. His blond hair nearly looked white itself against the white sheets. "I don't know how this could have happened."
"What I don't understand is why he is so drained of energy," the other woman said, her tone that of the trained physician she was. "Even shock wouldn't leave him in such a state."
Une looked to her for a moment. "And there's nothing physically wrong him besides that?"
"No. I just don't understand it," Sally said with some frustration as the door opened and a nurse's head poked inside, looking at the two women and the still boy.
"Excuse me," she said, hesitantly, "but there's a man on the video-screen for either of you. Says he wants to know what's wrong with Mr. Winner and to ask you another question."
The two women looked to each other, surprised. "Where's the call from?" Sally asked.
The nurse looked nervous but replied, "The L3 Colony. It's very odd..."
"I'll take it," Une said, giving the General a pointed look. "I think I may know who it may be."
Now the young nurse looked relieved. "Thank Heaven. He's been giving all the employees trouble. We had to mute the screen to make him not disturb the patients," she explained as she lead the older woman to a more private room.
Lady Une smiled at the mental image. "I think it is who I think it is," she said as the nurse led her to a room where the video screen was. The young woman gestured to one that had a young man in a hat and jacket, screaming at the screen with his eyes shut.
"Yes, it is him," she said with a slight smirk before looking to the nurse and nodding her dismissal. When the girl was gone, she turned back to the screen and pressed mute again.
"--ALMOST HAD TO KILL MYSELF BECAUSE THE DAMNED IDIOT PLAYED GAMES WITH PEOPLE'S LIVES--!"
"I'm assumning you're speaking of Heero, Duo?" she asked with some laughter. The Gundam pilot's mouth was open, as if he was going to go back to yelling, but when he heard the woman's voice, his mouth clamped shut and his eyes opened wide.
"Une!" he shouted, this time with relief and excitement. "I am damned happy you're the one that took the call."
Here Une's face went black and she replied, "Yes, you called about Quatre?"
Now it was Duo's turn to look blank. "Yeah. Trowa told me and Heero he suspects a faction in the Preventers that are out to get us Gundam pilots to either fight or be killed before we can go against them. I think that whatever happened to Quatre was their doing." He paused. "How is he, by the way?"
"Asleep. very weak and slightly cold," Une answered calmly. She waited for a reaction, but there wasn't one. "We found him passed out in the Mobile Suit hanger."
"...oh, God," Duo finally said, looking away. "How--?"
"We don't know. Sally is even bewildered by his symptoms--"
"Symptoms?" The pilot looked up at the word.
Une frowned. "Yes, I just told you them. They would all suggest shock except he's completely drained of energy."
Duo looked as though he was considering something before he was knocked out of the screen's view as another boy took his place, saluting the leader of the Preventers.
"Thomas Taylor reporting, Lady--oof!" Duo slammed into the lighter-haired boy, taking his place back in the screen.
"Damn you! Didn't I tell you not to interrupt?!" the pilot shouted at the boy off-screen.
"Duo," Une interrupted, gaining the annoyed boy's attention. "You have no need to beat up one of my men."
The Gundam pilot spluttered. "You mean he's been following me--?!"
"Actually, his assignment was to find Heero Yuy," the woman said, giving Duo a hard look. "He has not reported in for almost a year and a half. Taylor! Report!"
"Yes, Ma'am!" the boy's voice said before his face shared the screen wiht Duo's, his expression solemn as he began, "My Lady, Heero Yuy just escaped a lab in an uncharted location, which he had been held in for most of the time I was away."
"When was his escape?" Une questioned, now looking angered. "When was he captured? Who were his captors? And, damn it, why the Hell didn't anyone know about this?!"
Duo's surprise went unnoticed as Thomas continued, "He had been captured June, AC 198, by some men I could not see clearly. I had almost helped him get away when he was shot from behind with a strong drug that knocked him out in seconds. The men took him on a shuttle and I followed. I do not know the location of the lab. He escaped November, AC 199."
"A month ago," Une said to herself while Dup looked to the young man beside him.
"And why didn't you help him?" he demanded, fists clenching.
"They found me when we arrived at the lab," Thomas answered passively. "I convinced them I had been the one who had lead him to the ambush."
"I'm sure you did," the pilot said icily, glaring at the Preventer.
"Please," Une said, interrupting Thomas's retort. "Tell me what happened in the lab."
The Preventer spy was about to answer when Duo butted in, "I can answer that. Heero told me himself he remembers some of the simulations he was forced into. They were trying to make him into an actual perfect soldier and a human killing machine."
"Tom?" questioned Une, looking close to being horrified.
"Affirmative. He's stating the truth," the spy answered.
Duo huffed. "I may run and I may hide, but I never lie," he said indignantly. "Heero told me that every time he told the scientist he wouldn't do anything lethal to the simulations, he's be tortured with something like an electrical shock. He also said that he did accidently shoot a simulated guard 'dead' when the scientist distracted him."
Now Une frowned. "Heero wouldn't mis-aim," she said.
Duo sighed. "I think before that session was when the scientists began his 'experiment.'"
"Which would be?"
"Control," was the answer. "Whoever this scientist is, they can control Heero when he's distracted with a weapon in hand. Trowa and I both had him aim guns at us, though I think Trowa got the worst of it. Heero can't touch a weapon; we don't know when he'll lose control."
"Yes," Tom put in, looking to the other pilot with surprise, "but what Heero wouldn't know was that the scientist was not just trying to control Heero. He was also studying genes."
Duo eyes went wide as he turned to Tom. "Heero's genes?"
"Yes," the other boy answered hesitantly.
"Aw, shit," the younger one swore as he fiddled with his hat. "Heero told me he heard the scientist once talk about 'altered genetics' or something with another person when he was supposed to be unconscious."
Tom looked uncomfortable. "He was awake?"
"Well, yeah--hey! You were the one the scientist was talking to, weren't you?!"
"Enough!" barked Lady Une, tired of the bickering. "Duo, finish what you were telling me. Tom, nod to confirm what he says."
Tom nodded stiffly and Duo continued, with a glare at the older boy, "Well, when Heero first told me about that part, it kind of bothered me. Why would someone alter the genes of an almost-grown man? Now that Tom tells me that the scientist was studying Heero's genes..." He paused. "Lady Une, is there anyway to recover documents on Operation Meteor?"
The woman shook her head. "There's nothing. All of the documents were--"
"Not quite," Tom interrupted. "The one who held Heero has his files: all the details that were recorded by the doctors--including Doctor J--about his childhood, the notes of his genetic alterations--"
"Say what?!" Duo exclaimed while Une rubbed her brow.
"You're surprised?" Tom asked dryly.
"Well, no--I mean, yes! Yes, I am!"
"Duo," Une saked, continuing to rub her head, "is that what you wanted the files for?"
"Yes! But...ugh! This is a nightmare!" the young pilot exclaimed, grabbing his hat and pulling it farther down over his eyes. "He's studying Heero's genes, which may have been altered by the doctors of Operation Meteor. He really wants the perfect soldier!"
"There's no way he can achieve it," Une said confidently.
Duo lifted his hat a bit and said with a harsh tone, "Oh, yes, he can...Heero's not the perfect soldier, we know that already. The scientist would have done everything he could to keep him otherwise. So he must have--"
Tom interrupted, "According to the files, Heero Yuy is flawed. It's noted that they could never get rid of Heero's compassion for some of his targets. The one who held him knew this. His plan is to get rid of the flaw by using Heero's genetics as a map. Get rid of the compassion, and there is the perfect soldier."
"It would be utterably unstable," objected Lady Une.
"No, Heero was unstable," Duo countered seriously. "A person with the same traits as Heero, minus his 'flaw,' would be completely stable. They wouldn't be confused or have mixed feelings on anything."
"Damn," swore Une loudly. "This keeps getting worse and worse."
"The question we need to ask," the Gundam pilot said grimly, "is: why does he want the perfect soldier."
Tom shook his head. "No, that's not it. The question is: is the Preventer Faction in league with the Perfect Soldier Project."
They all went silent, considering the statement. Duo looked grim as he interrupted the heavy silence, "You know...I really hate it when there's two different situations that might tie in together. There's no telling where the enemy's hiding."
Lady Une gave him a wane smile. "So I take it that I am no longer the enemy?"
"Well..." Duo said, lightening the mood with a small laugh. "That was a mistake, ya know. We thought you were the one shooting at us to get us to pilot for war purposes.
"That reminds me," the woman said. "Where are you right now?"
Duo gave her a curious look. "Inside a stolen shuttle. I was going to go collect Heero, Trowa, and the hostages but thought I should check up on Quatre."
"Are you planning to come down to Earth?"
"We might..." the pilot said slowly. "Honestly, we're playing this by ear, like we've always done. Heero was the one with the idea to get Trowa, so he might have an idea."
"I don't think--" Tom started.
"Who asked you?"
Lady Une shook her head. "Keep me updated on your situation and be careful.
"All right," was the reply. "Keep an eye on Quatre and be on guard."
With that, the screen went dark.
"You," Duo said to Tom after disconnecting his connectuion to the hospital, "are going to tell me everything you know about what happened to Heero."
The Preventer spy shifted uncomfortably before the Gundam pilot. "I'm not sure if I should--"
"Forget about orders," the braided-haired boy said with narrowed eyes. "You're going to have to learn that orders are meaningless if nothing's stable enough to give them. Sometimes you have to improvise. Now spill."
The older boy sighed, feeling small after being reprimanded by a teenager that was almost three years his Junior. "All right. I'll tell you all I know."
Duo gave him a grin. "Now we're getting somewhere."
Author's Notes: *pokes head in* Wufei gone? *sweatdrops* Good, because I was getting tired of running. Maybe he found someone else to chase around...*thoughtful look* (*Wufei is chasing Duo in the background*) *shrugs* Oh, well ^.^ Well, I hope you guys enjoyed the fic thus far. And have no fear, all will be explained! *sweatdrops* I always say that, don't I? -.- I need to quit it because I usually don't finish when I do. T.T I really wanna finish at least ONE fic! T.T Well, I hope you guys enjoyed the lengthy reading. Now I'm going to read some Cowboy Bebop and Gundam Wing fics ^.^ Ja! ^.~
Oh, wait! I forgot something. Quatre is an empath, meaning he can feel other people's emotions clearly. Sometimes, it is my belief, he can feel how a person truly is, which explains why Sloh made him feel cold. Well, I think that's it now ^.^ Ja! ^.~!
