Yami: Once again, sorry it's been a while. Between my Internet acting up, my mother, pure laziness on my part, and watching the Animatrix, I've been busy. If you call being lazy busy.
Quat: Actually, I've been busy on a fic of my own and she hasn't had a chance to work on hers.
Yami: Where are those muses of mine, anyway?
Kai: Damn. Can't even sneak out without her noticing.
Heero: You're not the one she's writing about.
Kai: Good point.
Yami: He's already starred in his own fic.
Quat: Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a fic to work on.
Yami: Well, you're already in mine! Why work on yours?
Quat: I am not a muse.
Kai and Heero: Neither are we!
Yami: Party poopers.
Heero: What party?
Yami: *irritated* I'm glad I don't own you guys. I'm only sad I don't own Gundam Wing.
Heero: I'm happy. She doesn't own me!
Kai: You don't own me either!
Quat: Uh Oh. Yami's about to go haywire. Bye!
Chapter Six
Heero paced nervously around his cell. He was alone. He didn't even have Garrett to keep him company. They'd put him in a different cell.
The cell door opened suddenly. Heero shut his eyes against the sudden onslaught of light.
"What do you want?" he asked.
"No talking. Get up and move."
Heero stood up, opening his eyes. Two soldiers had their weapons trained on him. A third man was holding a clipboard and looking very bored. "Heero Yuy?"
Heero was tempted to say something along the lines of "No duh" but refrained. He didn't want to get shot.
"Yes?"
"Follow me, please."
Heero exited the cell and followed the man to a room. A chair was set up. A man in a white lab coat was arranging a bunch of needles on a nearby tray.
"Sit down."
Heero sat down in the large chair. It reminded him of a chair in the dentist's office. He was bound tightly to the chair.
"What are you doing?" Heero demanded.
"Calm down, Heero," the doctor said calmly.
"I will not. What the hell are you going to do?"
"You will find out."
The doctor picked up a needle. Heero stared at it warily, struggling against his bonds. They held. The doctor plunged the needle into his upper arm.
The drug took effect immediately. Heero grew drowsy. He couldn't struggle anymore. He lay limply in the chair as the doctor took his pulse.
"Good. Inform the commander that we can proceed."
Garrett stared at Heero from the observation room adjacent to the other. "What are you doing to him?" he demanded.
"He's been brainwashed by our common enemy, the gundam pilots," the commander explained. "We must undo the programming."
Garrett glanced back at the soldier guarding him. "So what will you do with me?"
"We'll train you to help us defeat the gundam pilots if you wish. Or you can remain a civilian."
"I want to go home."
"That's not an option, I'm afraid."
Garrett turned back to Heero. The doctor was hooking him up to an IV. "I don't believe you. I think you're the ones brainwashing him."
The soldier stepped forward, weapon raised. Garrett lashed out, striking the man in the groin. Grabbing the fallen weapon, he turned to the commander.
"Free Heero," he said. "Or I'll shoot."
The commander laughed. "You'll make an excellent soldier!" he exclaimed. More soldiers burst into the room. Garrett wasn't sure who to aim at, the soldiers or the commander.
"Decisions, decisions," the commander taunted. "How about this? Drop the weapon or Heero dies."
Garrett looked back at his friend. A soldier had a weapon to his head.
"Well, you can't blame me for trying, can you?" Garrett shrugged helplessly and handed over the weapon.
The soldiers grabbed him roughly and shoved him out of the room. "He's to be brainwashed as well," the commander ordered.
Heero watched the scene through dull eyes. His memory was rapidly slipping away, but he could still remember his friend.
Way to go, Garrett. Show them that you're prepared to fight. Warn the gundam pilots, somehow…
He struggled to retain that single memory. Garrett. No matter what happened, he wanted to always keep their friendship.
The doctor stared at his monitor. His subject was fighting the drug admirably.
"Increase the dosage," he ordered.
An assistant increased the IV flow. The bag was almost empty.
"No one has ever been able to resist after one bag," he murmured. "Maybe the legendary Heero Yuy will prove otherwise."
Duo stared at his screen. He'd long since stopped reading what was scrolling down it. Around him, the other pilots were in a similar condition.
"No mention of Heero," Quatre said, barely audible.
"I need sleep," Duo muttered.
Wufei was asleep. Trowa was staring off into space.
Duo was so tired he barely had the strength to talk. "I'm crashing." He stood up slowly and walked over to a cot that he'd brought up himself. He was asleep before he hit the pillow.
Heero opened his eyes. For a moment he didn't know where he was. He sat up and looked around the room.
It was sparsely furnished. The bed was in a corner next to a nightstand. A desk stood next to it. A door on the other side of the room was open, revealing a bathroom.
"I'm on the SAM base," he said aloud.
His memory was strangely fragmented. There were big gaps. But he knew one thing.
The gundam pilots were responsible.
They had done this. He remembered that clearly. That was the only thing he remembered.
Except for Garrett. He remembered Garrett. He remembered those seven years living in a small town in Louisiana. Why were those memories intact?
"How are you feeling, Heero?"
He turned his head towards the voice. "I don't know," he said cautiously. "My brain feels like Swiss cheese."
"That's to be expected after what you've been through."
Heero couldn't see anyone. "What happened?"
"The rebel pilots brainwashed you. You were fighting against us!"
"So what happened?"
"We brought you back here and undid the brainwashing. Unfortunately, much of your memory was lost, as you've told me. We can't do anything about it."
Something didn't feel right. "So what am I to do?"
"Do you want revenge?"
"That's irrelevant," he said, surprising himself.
"How so?"
"Personal feelings should not get in the way during a mission."
"What if the mission was revenge?"
"Revenge is a personal feeling. It should not be acted upon."
"Excellent. We were hoping the gundam pilots hadn't taken that away from you."
Heero wondered at this sudden loss of emotion. His intact memories indicated that he hadn't always been like that. What was going on?
"Are you ready to go back on duty?"
"Yes."
"Then we have a mission for you. Report to the main briefing room on this floor."
Heero dressed in black spandex shorts and a green tank top. He studied himself in the mirror.
"What's going on?" he asked himself quietly, hoping no one heard.
Garrett waited in the briefing room. His blue eyes studied everything intently, missing nothing. The commander was pleased that his brainwashing was successful.
"Where is he?" Garrett asked coldly.
"Coming," the commander assured him.
The door slid open, and Heero stepped in. "Forgive my lateness. I couldn't find my clothes." He looked every bit the part of the Perfect Soldier of the Eve Wars.
The commander studied Garrett's reaction closely. There was no sign of recognition on his part.
"What is our mission?" Heero asked.
"While you both were under the gundam pilots' control, they had you living in this world. Do you remember, Heero?"
"Yes."
"We ask that you go back in order to draw the pilots' attention. They'll try to contact you. Go with them. That way, we can track you to their base."
"Is that it?" Garrett looked disappointed. The technicians had made him too bloodthirsty, the commander noted.
"Yes. If this goes well, it will take no more than two weeks. Then we can wipe out the rebellion once and for all."
Heero stared at her stonily. "Very well."
"I'll go, too," Garrett said.
"Good. Report to the armory for weapons, then go to the hangar. We have a shuttle for you."
Garrett left the room without waiting to be dismissed. Heero followed.
Duo was reluctant to give up, but he was forced to. There was no sign of Heero, and the media was starting to notice. Nightly reports were aired about the disappearance of Garrett and Heero.
Quatre turned on the TV. They were just in time for the news.
"Garrett Larson and Heero Yuy have been found. They returned to their own homes after a two-week absence. So far, they refuse to say where they've been. Their parents are declining interviews, but we've gathered that unknown parties for unknown reasons abducted them. The parents have noted severe personality shifts, however. We have no further information, and will report back later when we have."
Duo stared dumbly at the TV for a minute. "Severe personality shifts?"
"They've been brainwashed," Quatre said.
"We've got to undo the programming," Duo said.
Trowa was nowhere to be found. Wufei was playing a Yahoo! Game. "They may try to kill us, for all we know."
Heero stared at the DVD he'd found in the player. He'd watched it. It confirmed his suspicions.
He'd been brainwashed.
But he didn't know what was real anymore. He Swiss-cheesed brain couldn't figure everything out.
He knew one thing though. The gundam pilots could be trusted. Now if only he could convince Garrett.
He looked up at his foster mother as she poked her head into the room. "Garrett is here to see you."
"I don't want to talk to anyone right now."
"Is something wrong?"
Heero laughed mirthlessly. "Everything is wrong. Including my life."
His foster mother looked uncertain. "He insists on speaking to you."
"Tell him to go away or I'll stick a gun in his face."
She withdrew. The DVD player went off, shutting him in darkness.
He didn't know what to do.
Quat: Yami? Where'd you go?
Heero: I think she killed Kai.
Kai: No such luck.
Quat: Great. That's just like her to make me do her job.
Heero: I'll find her. *leaves*
Kai: I'll be beyblading.
Quat: *sigh* Review while I wring Yami's neck!
