Authors note: The following story is based on the Gundam Wing TV series which I do not own. All of the additional characters are my own creation. This story is the sequel to A Woman Called Deathscythe so reading this story before that one could cause some confusion
She's Sandrock – By Ah Hael
The ride back to Relena's estate was a quiet one. The occupants of the limousine were thinking on all they had seen and felt. To Quatre, it felt like he'd been in that apartment for a week instead of an hour.
Not for the first time in his life, Quatre was keenly aware of his empathic ability and how different it made him feel from others. When he was growing up it was a massive burden being the heir to the Winner corporation and be empathic. As a child, it hurt to know people only liked him for his social standing and could care less who he was inside. He'd always try to be extra kind and likable to convince people there was more to him than his bloodline. That was the main reason his friendship with the other former gundam pilots was so important to him. For the first time he'd had to earn respect and friendship from others. He could still recall what he felt when he first met Trowa. He could remember his exhilaration over the other youth's ambivalence towards him, his wealth, and the power and influence he had. The others all felt the same about Quatre, regardless of Duo's jokes. Their true friendship was more precious to him than his family's entire fortune.
It was his friend Duo's happiness Quatre was thinking about now. He didn't need his empathy to see how completely matched Duo and Shelby were. But how could they be happy together? Hiding in secret, always worried about discovery was not a way to live. Quatre's experience in the war taught him that. What were he and the others going to do? He recalled what Anna had said: you know we exist now …decide what you want to do with that knowledge. You can expose us, ignore us, or choose to learn more about us.
As if he could hear Quatre's thoughts Wufei spoke up. "We need to decide what to say to Une." he said as he pulled himself out of the car "She'll be expecting a call."
"Are you thinking of not telling her?" asked Heero
"Of course you can't tell her!" answered Relena "Not if it means they'll be locked up again!"
"Relena..." Heero began.
"Don't you 'Relena' me! I came along today because I didn't believe that woman was the danger you thought she was. Well I still don't. No matter what name she uses I still think of her as a friend."
Much to the surprise of the other men in the room Heero shut up. Quatre was still amazed at how the young couple had changed. In the past Relena would never do anything that might make Heero upset and leave. He remembered how Heero was always pretending Relena's actions were of no importance to him. My, how times change he thought.
"What you fail to see," Wufei said to her "is that whole 'head trip' could have been complete fabrication."
Quatre felt Trowa watching him. "What do you think Quatre? Were they lying?"
That caused them all to regard him. Inwardly he sighed. Why did they always think he had all the answers?
"No." he replied. "They were telling the truth." He ignored Relena's look of triumph and Wufei's disconcerted one. "But as you know there are several ways to tell the truth. That was the impression I got. They were trying to tell the truth the right way."
That heartened Wufei "In order to get us to respond the way they want."
"Well of course their trying to get us to respond favorably." Countered Relena. For some reason the two were determined to oppose each other on this subject. "Look at what the alternative is."
"I don't think they will ever be taken into custody." Said Quatre catching their attention again. "They tried to hide it, but I think they would rather suicide than become lab rats again."
Now he really had their attention. "Do you remember when Shelby said 'It's happened'?" they all nodded. "Well I think they've been planning for the chance they might be discovered for a long time."
"Makes sense to plan a worst case scenario." Agreed Heero.
"I think we've unwittingly become their test subjects. If they can somehow convince us they are not a danger to the public, then perhaps they have a chance for a future. Personally, I want to learn more about them. That's mainly because of Duo's relationship with Shelby. Their feelings for each other are deep, and it would kill him to let her go." Quatre turned to Heero "If it were Relena what would you want us to do?"
Judging by the looks on their faces, Heero and Wufei had deliberately tried to forget Duo's feelings were involved.
"I agree with Quatre." Trowa said "We should try to learn as much as we can before condemning them."
**************
"So honey, where are we going?" Duo asked.
He'd been desperately trying to lighten the tension in the van they were all in. Even Quatre and Relena were finding his babble annoying. During the long flight from Eurasian continent to the North American one Shelby opted to stay in the cockpit with Duo while he piloted. In the close confines of the vehicle her presence made the others a little nervous. Add that it was very hot and they'd been driving for forty five minutes, and you had a vanload of very edgy people.
"We're going to our training farm on the coast. It's a little isolated, but we're almost there." She answered.
"What do you train there?" asked Trowa
"Ourselves."
That caught Wufei's attention. "You mean you actually use your abilities openly? Isn't that a little risky?"
"Like I said, it's isolated. The town we passed through twenty minutes ago is the closest populated area. Besides," Shelby slanted Wufei a look "if I didn't try to learn to control my telekinesis, I could have thrown you through the ceiling of my apartment."
"How do you train for something like that?" asked Quatre hoping to head off an argument between the two. He didn't think Wufei had forgiven Shelby for hanging him upside down in the air.
"Just like you'd expect. How heavy a mass can I hold for a short time? How long a time can I hold a mass? How far and how fast can I make a mass move? The last time I checked I was able to make a ten kilo weight travel twice the speed of sound." Again she looked at Wufei. "Now you know why it's so important for me to learn control. I really don't want to hurt anybody even accidentally. Here we are"
She turned onto a gravel road that led up to a large two story house. The house was a combination of Mediterranean styles with stucco, tile, and wrought ironwork. The overall effect was warm and inviting. It was far more inviting to the visitors than Shelby's apartment.
"Babe this place is great!" exclaimed Duo who was checking out the fountain in the driveway. "See Heero, you're not the only one who can find a girl with lots of money and fancy houses."
Just then a great shaggy brown mutt bounded out of nowhere to greet them.
"Knight!" Squealed Shelby. "Yes I missed you too. I'm sorry I should have brought something for you." The dog gave her a look of extreme disappointment in her. It suddenly occurred to the others that she was actually 'talking to' the dog.
"Yes before you say anything, we communicate with all of the animals here. It's a form of telepathic training. Their understanding is very basic, very much like a human toddler. But they do understand us. This here is Knight who protects the farm. Skulking over in the shadows there is well… Shadow." She turned her head and looked at some flower bushes beside the house. "Shadow, are you going to come out?" out came a sleek charcoal colored dog out of his hiding spot. The way his tongue lolled out he seemed pleased to play his hide and seek game.
The two dogs then proceeded to examine the newcomers. They stopped when they reached Duo.
"It seems you've made some new friends Duo." Noted Relena.
Shelby let out a small laugh "Well it is true they are interested in him, but it has nothing to do with his charm. It's his smell, or rather my smell all over him. They're curious because neither Anna nor I have ever had a mate before. Come on Anna's over this way." She grabbed Duo's hand and started to move in the direction she had indicated.
Perhaps it was because of the normal looking house, or the almost normal seeming pets, but Quatre lost his earlier tension. Or maybe it was Shelby's sudden chattiness. He hadn't heard her speak more than two sentences since they were in her apartment days ago. Whatever the reason, he was starting to feel…anticipation. He was looking forward to this meeting. He followed the couple past a secondary building which he saw was a stable. Spotting a horse and rider, he walked up to the fence before him and got his first sight of Anna.
He almost swallowed his tongue with the shock he got. Whatever he'd been expecting what he saw wasn't it. Anna was a walking wet dream. Her long dark wavy hair and stunning beauty reminded Quatre of the exotic gypsy women in children's tales. But her body was nothing for children's books. It was meant for the kind of books that young men would masturbate to. Full round breasts, a small trim waist, and a truly exquisite ass were built for a man's pleasure.
"She rides very well." Trowa said in a slightly strained voice behind him.
Quatre felt himself blush all the way to his ears. He been watching her riding intently, and his mind had no problem supplementing what she'd look like naked riding him. If he got any harder he wouldn't be able to stand up. To make matters worse Shelby started to giggle which reminded him she could hear what he was thinking.
"Don't worry boys I'm used to becoming invisible when Anna's around. But you may want to get those ideas out of your system before she meets you and hears them herself."
Quatre turned to his friends and noted they all had varying looks of embarrassment even Heero and Duo. The sight did not reassure him about his own thoughts. He was saved from exploring what he was feeling by the sight of Anna riding towards them. She dismounted and Shelby vaulted the fence so the two could hug each other. Anna let go so she could look at her visitors.
"I'm sorry I didn't greet you. Ranger here has lecturing me on how neglectful I've been towards him, and I ..." She stopped mid rant and took a deep chest expanding breath. The action caused Quatre's breath to lodge in his throat. "Sorry, where are my manners? Hello I'm Annabella, but you can just call me Anna. As you can tell I'm running a little slow. If you could all go up to the house with Shelby, I can go put Ranger away."
The idea didn't sound particularly appealing to Quatre, but he couldn't think up a good excuse to keep ogling the brunette goddess. Trowa saved him.
"Actually, I was wondering if I could see more of your animals." He said
Shelby looked at Trowa "That's right; Duo tells me you're in your last year of veterinary school. Well you may enjoy meeting our animals they are very unique."