Chapter Nine
"""You know, I just realized that the events I wrote down in this book all seem
to be events directly connected to me. To my 'cattish' me to a certain degree.
Isn't that strange? I'm certainly beginning to think so. You can't find any
comments on Relena's progress in her mission for peace or details about Quatre's
attempt to tame the Zero system. When I look back, I realize that I didn't even
mention my meeting with Trowa when he had amnesia or the reunion with a
remorseful Quatre. Just my own sudden depression and dust with the Zero system.
Am I really that self-centric? I don't think so.
My depression was hard for me. I'm trying to forget it, to pretend it didn't
happen. Sadly enough, I've succeeded too well. Anything beyond the Zero system
is hazy, and the only thing standing out is the fact that during that time, all
of us gundam pilots seemed to have had a certain down time. Heero went on
suicide missions, Trowa was amnesiac and Quatre was drowning himself in guilt.
Wufei's state of mind I won't even mention. It wasn't a happy time. Therefore, I
think I'll just pick up where I was. When I left the colony, I had finally
decided that self-pity and depression wouldn't help win the war. That was
Shinigami and Deathscythe's job.
When I left the colony and Hilde behind, I only had a vague notion of what I was
going to do: try to find the other pilots. If that proved to be impossible,
fight on my own. Therefore, I was quite surprised when Deathscythe woke me up
during my catnap, alerting me of the presence of several mobile suits nearby,
including one gundam. A few tap dances on the keyboard later, I found myself in
the direct area beside a conflict between a bunch of rather outdated mobile
suits, a white Taurus and a not properly outfitted Sandrock. I'm ashamed to
admit that the first thought that popped up when I saw that was: 'What the hell
does Quatre think he's doing?' But then I got a bit distracted as the battle
closed in on me, and I prepared to fight.
It felt good to be a warrior on the battlefield again. Better than I thought it
would. I actually felt like I was home, like I had finally returned to what I
was supposed to do. Finally, I was certain of what I would do, of what I should
do... Besides, I had missed the others. Or to be truthful: Quatre and Heero. I
didn't know the others too well at the time.
Deciding to watch until I was needed, I leaned back in my highly uncomfortable
chair and used the spare time to send feelers in the nearby area for eventual
wild cards beside me. No matter what others say about my impulsivity and
hotheadedness, I do like to be prepared. Then, Quatre and Mobile Suit X crashed
into me.
I pushed the button to remove Deathscyhe's stealth cloak, gleefully connecting
to Sandrock's audio system. Hearing Quatre sputter and gasp almost made up for
not being able to see his face. Almost. Hn, I wonder if he saved his visual
discs?
As you can guess, I spent the next couple of minutes taking care of the mobile
suits. Only after they were all eliminated, I hooked up to Quatre and the
unknown person floating around with him. Guess if I was surprised when I saw
Trowa. Sadly enough, a quick investigation ensured me that he still hadn't
retained his memories. Still, the fact that he was fighting with us certainly
promised well.
I had now conquered the first dot on my to-do list. Even though I didn't know it
at the time, I would soon fix dot two as well."""
Landing gracefully on the ground, I immediately prepare my muscles for the jump
onto the low building a few feet away: a connecting building to the safe house,
a bathhouse actually. I wonder how the sniper managed to get onto the roof
without being seen by one of the Maguanacs as numerous as ants.
I cling to the wall for a split second after executing my jump before deftly
climbing the ivy growing all over the wall. The poor thing is being ripped up as
I climb, but I don't care. My arm is hurting around the place where the bullet
hit, but I'm just thankful that I kept it from hitting anyone else.
The roof is empty now. I'm not surprised, even as a high tech rifle lies,
abandoned, where the sniper had been hiding. Focusing my senses, I catch the
sound of someone taking out a guard at the other side of the building. I'm
already gone.
The guard will be all right. He's just knocked out. I don't slow down as I pass
him in a flying leap. Literally hitting the ground while running if in a bit of
a crouching position, I can see the sniper two hundred yards away. Not enough to
escape me.
A corner. I reach out to grab a window ledge and swing around the corner. I
freeze, one foot in the air, prepared to throw myself at the person responsible
for the shooting.
"Master Daemon." It is the sniper and he is reporting to his contractor. We need
this information. I cannot harm the sniper at the moment. Even though it doesn't
seem like he knows it, he's giving me information.
"The mission failed. The target was shielded by one of the surrounding pawns.
Shall I call in the others?"
My eyes widen. Others? Not now, we can't deal with them all at the moment. If
more snipers come, it will be an outright battle zone. The horror of the thought
beats the quiet orders from Shinigami, and my mouth opens with a quiet, mewling
sound.
"No..."
I hold my breath. How can I be so foolish? The sniper doesn't show any signs of
knowing my position, though, and continues his conversation.
"I understand. I'll call back the others as well, Master."
Then, steps are heard, signalling that he is leaving. I fight an irrational wish
to sink to the ground. That was close! I can't let myself indulge though. I need
to get back to the others and report. Focusing, I take a deep breath and move
away.
The guard is gone and the Maguanacs seem to be forming a solid wall around
Quatre. I become one of the shadows, jumping and then stealthily running along
the flat roof. Ignoring the ivy this time, I make a spectacular dive across the
space between the houses, through the broken window, ending it with a tactical
roll to my feet.
Everyone is staring at me.
The moment the shot went off - maybe even a second or two before - my instincts
kicked in. Throwing myself over Relena, I pressed us against the floor to get
out of the sniper's shooting range and I shouted a warning to the others. I
didn't think then, it was just a reaction. I know one thing though. When Duo
jumped through the window in a spectacular move, it wasn't because of a mindless
reaction of automatized muscles. It was a reaction to what had passed between us
less than ten minutes ago.
"Duo!" His name is out of my mouth before I even know it, coming in a sharp,
almost despairing voice. What is this man doing to me? How could he have managed
to get past the soldier in me so easily?
I'm on my feet and by the window in two seconds, just in time to see Duo
disappear on the roof of the other building, a hundred yards away. How did he
manage to get that far so fast? I'm not even sure I could have made it that
fast.
Trowa slips up by my side, looking blankly at me for a totally different reason
than usually. Before, it was out of necessity, now, it is because of utter
amazement and surprise.
"He's afraid of something," Trowa simply says.
I frown inwardly, habitually seeing that it's doesn't reflect on the outside.
Oh, the joys of being forbidden the use of facial expressions at a young age.
It's hard to break out of it now. Half the time I don't even realize that the
expressions I use inside don' t reflect on the outside. Training can be a true
bitch sometimes.
"Hn?" I ask, adapting by using my voice to convey my emotions, something that
irritates vocal persons enormously. This is as far as my training allows me to
go before rebelling. Before meeting Duo and the others, I wouldn't even have let
out a 'hn'.
"He told me," Trowa explained, a factual tone in his voice. While others often
think he's even quieter than me, I know it's not so. He talks when he feels it's
needed. More often than not, I don't even do that. "An impossibility. The human
body is incapable of producing such a sound."
"Hn." This time, the grunt is for my sake. Not humanly possible? I remember the
sound Duo made when he disappeared, of course, but it doesn't tell me anything
in particular. It seems like J did some errors when it came to my training and
education after all.
"Heero?" It's Relena this time. She sounds shaky and I casually conclude that
she is rather shaken up, which is not too surprising under the circumstances.
"Is Duo going to be all right? I know he's supposed to do these things as my
bodyguard, but he's my friend as well..."
My respect for Relena goes up another notch at that statement. If she came as
far as to admit that servants can be more than tools, that they can be close and
precious friends, she has indeed grown a lot. I'm not too surprised though. Duo
has a tendency to bring out either the best or the worst in a person. In Relena,
it's obviously the best.
"He will, Relena," I say as softly as I can manage. "Duo is a gundam pilot. He
has lived through the streets of LA and two wars. Believe in him. We five are
the best warriors there is. Duo is one of, if not the most skilled of us in what
he is doing right now."
Now, it would be just nice if I could bring myself not to worry as much as she
does.
The sound of feet running on the nearby roof alerts me that someone's
approaching, but before I get the chance to alert the others, a body flies in
through the window, executes a perfect roll and ends up standing in the middle
of the room. Duo.
It's hard not to stare. Just within the past hour, he has surprised me and the
others with things we never would have thought possible. He has now ended the
record with returning from a hunt and eliminate mission in seven minutes.
"Report!" I bark, just as Relena throws herself around his neck. My heart and
mind fight between feeling amused by her actions and feeling nothing in order to
concentrate on the mission. It ends up being something of the two.
"Caught the sniper two blocks away," Duo replies even as he awkwardly returns
Relena's hug. "The sniper was reporting to his boss and I deemed it to be more
important to return with the info than to kill him. So, I came back here."
I nod, remaining silent.
"Did you get a name?" It seems like Wufei judged me to be too slow with the
questioning. I smirk, this time letting it remain on the inside deliberately.
Perfect. With all these irregularities showing up in Duo all the time, I want to
study his reactions closer. In my experience, it's much easier if Duo doesn't
have his attention pinned on you.
"Yes," Duo states, stepping away from Relena. He is slipping into Shinigami
mode. Wait, let me rephrase that. He's slipping into Shinigami Stealth mode.
There's something he doesn't want us to know. "The sniper called him Master
Daemon."
Quatre starts from his position by Trowa's side. They've been getting closer
again I believe.
"Daemon?" he exclaims, staring at Duo while scrunching his face in a
disbelieving manner. "The Guardian Spirit? What kind of name is that on a..."
He stops speaking, shrugging. Even Quatre is slowly becoming one with the
soldier inside himself again. Before, he would have launched into a tirade, now
he is silent. I wonder if we will ever manage to release our war personas after
this.
"What is going on Duo?" It is Trowa who's speaking this time. Finally, the
question for which I want answers came up. I look unblinkingly at Duo. Something
within me tells me that this will be important. "I heard you."
Duo stiffens slightly. The reaction is so subtle that I doubt anyone else has
noticed it. I do, though, and his actions tell me more of how he feels than
anything else could have.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but we need to depart. Now."
I am so closely tuned to Duo's every movement that I actually jump as Relena's
light voice butts in. I find that I actually have to keep a tight leach on
myself to prevent myself from giving her a death glare.
"It's all right, Relena," Duo assures her, relaxing even as he shares a look
with her. I can't quite pinpoint the reason for it, but it's not hard to see
that Relena knows something. "Why is it that we need to leave now?"
She gives us a serious look and I suddenly feel slightly foolish to doubt her.
No doubt her reason to interrupt is well founded.
"I have a video conference in an hour," she says, giving Quatre a piercing look.
"You do have a secure connection for such a thing I hope? The only reason I can
still hide like this is that nowadays it's acceptable to participate by a vid
link."
Quatre looks slightly indignant at the notion that he might not have what she
needs, but shoves the feeling away with apparent ease.
"Of course," he smoothly says. "You are completely right Relena. If we are to
arrive within the time limit, we need to depart immediately."
Duo nods.
"Then it's decided," he says. "Am I correct when I say we have a helicopter
plate on the roof Quatre?"
The blond nods.
"Yes," he replies. "I'll call my pilots immediately. They will arrive in five
minutes."
Well, I guess this is it. We are moving out, and I'm not a step closer to
figuring out Duo's secret. With Relena's current predicament, it will have to
take a lower priority. For now, I will have to satisfy myself with ensuring that
he is all right.
Walking over to the braided thief, I briefly touch his shoulder to gain his
attention.
"Are you all right?" I quietly ask, prying gently into his eyes.
He nods with a subdued smile.
"Yes Heero," he answers. "Just a couple of small cuts from glass and a light
flesh wound from the bullet. No big deal."
I allow a smile. It is truly getting easier to disobey the instincts trained
into my personality.
"Good," I say, tapping him teasingly on the forehead before backing off. I'm
still not comfortable with touching and intimate situations. With Duo's earlier
mishap and this, I've reached my quota for the day. Duo seems to understand that
and reaches out to squeeze my hand for a second. Then, we join the others and
move out.
"""You know, I just realized that the events I wrote down in this book all seem
to be events directly connected to me. To my 'cattish' me to a certain degree.
Isn't that strange? I'm certainly beginning to think so. You can't find any
comments on Relena's progress in her mission for peace or details about Quatre's
attempt to tame the Zero system. When I look back, I realize that I didn't even
mention my meeting with Trowa when he had amnesia or the reunion with a
remorseful Quatre. Just my own sudden depression and dust with the Zero system.
Am I really that self-centric? I don't think so.
My depression was hard for me. I'm trying to forget it, to pretend it didn't
happen. Sadly enough, I've succeeded too well. Anything beyond the Zero system
is hazy, and the only thing standing out is the fact that during that time, all
of us gundam pilots seemed to have had a certain down time. Heero went on
suicide missions, Trowa was amnesiac and Quatre was drowning himself in guilt.
Wufei's state of mind I won't even mention. It wasn't a happy time. Therefore, I
think I'll just pick up where I was. When I left the colony, I had finally
decided that self-pity and depression wouldn't help win the war. That was
Shinigami and Deathscythe's job.
When I left the colony and Hilde behind, I only had a vague notion of what I was
going to do: try to find the other pilots. If that proved to be impossible,
fight on my own. Therefore, I was quite surprised when Deathscythe woke me up
during my catnap, alerting me of the presence of several mobile suits nearby,
including one gundam. A few tap dances on the keyboard later, I found myself in
the direct area beside a conflict between a bunch of rather outdated mobile
suits, a white Taurus and a not properly outfitted Sandrock. I'm ashamed to
admit that the first thought that popped up when I saw that was: 'What the hell
does Quatre think he's doing?' But then I got a bit distracted as the battle
closed in on me, and I prepared to fight.
It felt good to be a warrior on the battlefield again. Better than I thought it
would. I actually felt like I was home, like I had finally returned to what I
was supposed to do. Finally, I was certain of what I would do, of what I should
do... Besides, I had missed the others. Or to be truthful: Quatre and Heero. I
didn't know the others too well at the time.
Deciding to watch until I was needed, I leaned back in my highly uncomfortable
chair and used the spare time to send feelers in the nearby area for eventual
wild cards beside me. No matter what others say about my impulsivity and
hotheadedness, I do like to be prepared. Then, Quatre and Mobile Suit X crashed
into me.
I pushed the button to remove Deathscyhe's stealth cloak, gleefully connecting
to Sandrock's audio system. Hearing Quatre sputter and gasp almost made up for
not being able to see his face. Almost. Hn, I wonder if he saved his visual
discs?
As you can guess, I spent the next couple of minutes taking care of the mobile
suits. Only after they were all eliminated, I hooked up to Quatre and the
unknown person floating around with him. Guess if I was surprised when I saw
Trowa. Sadly enough, a quick investigation ensured me that he still hadn't
retained his memories. Still, the fact that he was fighting with us certainly
promised well.
I had now conquered the first dot on my to-do list. Even though I didn't know it
at the time, I would soon fix dot two as well."""
Landing gracefully on the ground, I immediately prepare my muscles for the jump
onto the low building a few feet away: a connecting building to the safe house,
a bathhouse actually. I wonder how the sniper managed to get onto the roof
without being seen by one of the Maguanacs as numerous as ants.
I cling to the wall for a split second after executing my jump before deftly
climbing the ivy growing all over the wall. The poor thing is being ripped up as
I climb, but I don't care. My arm is hurting around the place where the bullet
hit, but I'm just thankful that I kept it from hitting anyone else.
The roof is empty now. I'm not surprised, even as a high tech rifle lies,
abandoned, where the sniper had been hiding. Focusing my senses, I catch the
sound of someone taking out a guard at the other side of the building. I'm
already gone.
The guard will be all right. He's just knocked out. I don't slow down as I pass
him in a flying leap. Literally hitting the ground while running if in a bit of
a crouching position, I can see the sniper two hundred yards away. Not enough to
escape me.
A corner. I reach out to grab a window ledge and swing around the corner. I
freeze, one foot in the air, prepared to throw myself at the person responsible
for the shooting.
"Master Daemon." It is the sniper and he is reporting to his contractor. We need
this information. I cannot harm the sniper at the moment. Even though it doesn't
seem like he knows it, he's giving me information.
"The mission failed. The target was shielded by one of the surrounding pawns.
Shall I call in the others?"
My eyes widen. Others? Not now, we can't deal with them all at the moment. If
more snipers come, it will be an outright battle zone. The horror of the thought
beats the quiet orders from Shinigami, and my mouth opens with a quiet, mewling
sound.
"No..."
I hold my breath. How can I be so foolish? The sniper doesn't show any signs of
knowing my position, though, and continues his conversation.
"I understand. I'll call back the others as well, Master."
Then, steps are heard, signalling that he is leaving. I fight an irrational wish
to sink to the ground. That was close! I can't let myself indulge though. I need
to get back to the others and report. Focusing, I take a deep breath and move
away.
The guard is gone and the Maguanacs seem to be forming a solid wall around
Quatre. I become one of the shadows, jumping and then stealthily running along
the flat roof. Ignoring the ivy this time, I make a spectacular dive across the
space between the houses, through the broken window, ending it with a tactical
roll to my feet.
Everyone is staring at me.
The moment the shot went off - maybe even a second or two before - my instincts
kicked in. Throwing myself over Relena, I pressed us against the floor to get
out of the sniper's shooting range and I shouted a warning to the others. I
didn't think then, it was just a reaction. I know one thing though. When Duo
jumped through the window in a spectacular move, it wasn't because of a mindless
reaction of automatized muscles. It was a reaction to what had passed between us
less than ten minutes ago.
"Duo!" His name is out of my mouth before I even know it, coming in a sharp,
almost despairing voice. What is this man doing to me? How could he have managed
to get past the soldier in me so easily?
I'm on my feet and by the window in two seconds, just in time to see Duo
disappear on the roof of the other building, a hundred yards away. How did he
manage to get that far so fast? I'm not even sure I could have made it that
fast.
Trowa slips up by my side, looking blankly at me for a totally different reason
than usually. Before, it was out of necessity, now, it is because of utter
amazement and surprise.
"He's afraid of something," Trowa simply says.
I frown inwardly, habitually seeing that it's doesn't reflect on the outside.
Oh, the joys of being forbidden the use of facial expressions at a young age.
It's hard to break out of it now. Half the time I don't even realize that the
expressions I use inside don' t reflect on the outside. Training can be a true
bitch sometimes.
"Hn?" I ask, adapting by using my voice to convey my emotions, something that
irritates vocal persons enormously. This is as far as my training allows me to
go before rebelling. Before meeting Duo and the others, I wouldn't even have let
out a 'hn'.
"He told me," Trowa explained, a factual tone in his voice. While others often
think he's even quieter than me, I know it's not so. He talks when he feels it's
needed. More often than not, I don't even do that. "An impossibility. The human
body is incapable of producing such a sound."
"Hn." This time, the grunt is for my sake. Not humanly possible? I remember the
sound Duo made when he disappeared, of course, but it doesn't tell me anything
in particular. It seems like J did some errors when it came to my training and
education after all.
"Heero?" It's Relena this time. She sounds shaky and I casually conclude that
she is rather shaken up, which is not too surprising under the circumstances.
"Is Duo going to be all right? I know he's supposed to do these things as my
bodyguard, but he's my friend as well..."
My respect for Relena goes up another notch at that statement. If she came as
far as to admit that servants can be more than tools, that they can be close and
precious friends, she has indeed grown a lot. I'm not too surprised though. Duo
has a tendency to bring out either the best or the worst in a person. In Relena,
it's obviously the best.
"He will, Relena," I say as softly as I can manage. "Duo is a gundam pilot. He
has lived through the streets of LA and two wars. Believe in him. We five are
the best warriors there is. Duo is one of, if not the most skilled of us in what
he is doing right now."
Now, it would be just nice if I could bring myself not to worry as much as she
does.
The sound of feet running on the nearby roof alerts me that someone's
approaching, but before I get the chance to alert the others, a body flies in
through the window, executes a perfect roll and ends up standing in the middle
of the room. Duo.
It's hard not to stare. Just within the past hour, he has surprised me and the
others with things we never would have thought possible. He has now ended the
record with returning from a hunt and eliminate mission in seven minutes.
"Report!" I bark, just as Relena throws herself around his neck. My heart and
mind fight between feeling amused by her actions and feeling nothing in order to
concentrate on the mission. It ends up being something of the two.
"Caught the sniper two blocks away," Duo replies even as he awkwardly returns
Relena's hug. "The sniper was reporting to his boss and I deemed it to be more
important to return with the info than to kill him. So, I came back here."
I nod, remaining silent.
"Did you get a name?" It seems like Wufei judged me to be too slow with the
questioning. I smirk, this time letting it remain on the inside deliberately.
Perfect. With all these irregularities showing up in Duo all the time, I want to
study his reactions closer. In my experience, it's much easier if Duo doesn't
have his attention pinned on you.
"Yes," Duo states, stepping away from Relena. He is slipping into Shinigami
mode. Wait, let me rephrase that. He's slipping into Shinigami Stealth mode.
There's something he doesn't want us to know. "The sniper called him Master
Daemon."
Quatre starts from his position by Trowa's side. They've been getting closer
again I believe.
"Daemon?" he exclaims, staring at Duo while scrunching his face in a
disbelieving manner. "The Guardian Spirit? What kind of name is that on a..."
He stops speaking, shrugging. Even Quatre is slowly becoming one with the
soldier inside himself again. Before, he would have launched into a tirade, now
he is silent. I wonder if we will ever manage to release our war personas after
this.
"What is going on Duo?" It is Trowa who's speaking this time. Finally, the
question for which I want answers came up. I look unblinkingly at Duo. Something
within me tells me that this will be important. "I heard you."
Duo stiffens slightly. The reaction is so subtle that I doubt anyone else has
noticed it. I do, though, and his actions tell me more of how he feels than
anything else could have.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but we need to depart. Now."
I am so closely tuned to Duo's every movement that I actually jump as Relena's
light voice butts in. I find that I actually have to keep a tight leach on
myself to prevent myself from giving her a death glare.
"It's all right, Relena," Duo assures her, relaxing even as he shares a look
with her. I can't quite pinpoint the reason for it, but it's not hard to see
that Relena knows something. "Why is it that we need to leave now?"
She gives us a serious look and I suddenly feel slightly foolish to doubt her.
No doubt her reason to interrupt is well founded.
"I have a video conference in an hour," she says, giving Quatre a piercing look.
"You do have a secure connection for such a thing I hope? The only reason I can
still hide like this is that nowadays it's acceptable to participate by a vid
link."
Quatre looks slightly indignant at the notion that he might not have what she
needs, but shoves the feeling away with apparent ease.
"Of course," he smoothly says. "You are completely right Relena. If we are to
arrive within the time limit, we need to depart immediately."
Duo nods.
"Then it's decided," he says. "Am I correct when I say we have a helicopter
plate on the roof Quatre?"
The blond nods.
"Yes," he replies. "I'll call my pilots immediately. They will arrive in five
minutes."
Well, I guess this is it. We are moving out, and I'm not a step closer to
figuring out Duo's secret. With Relena's current predicament, it will have to
take a lower priority. For now, I will have to satisfy myself with ensuring that
he is all right.
Walking over to the braided thief, I briefly touch his shoulder to gain his
attention.
"Are you all right?" I quietly ask, prying gently into his eyes.
He nods with a subdued smile.
"Yes Heero," he answers. "Just a couple of small cuts from glass and a light
flesh wound from the bullet. No big deal."
I allow a smile. It is truly getting easier to disobey the instincts trained
into my personality.
"Good," I say, tapping him teasingly on the forehead before backing off. I'm
still not comfortable with touching and intimate situations. With Duo's earlier
mishap and this, I've reached my quota for the day. Duo seems to understand that
and reaches out to squeeze my hand for a second. Then, we join the others and
move out.
