Kaci Kulekowski
A/N: This chapter contains non-consensual sex scenes. If you don't like that type of stuff, I'd advise you not read the last parts of the flashbacks, kay? Cool.
[ChapterFlashback: Sally arrived, and Heero realizes that Kami has kept a
promise, even after more than ten years...]
***
~~~Still~ten~years~ago~~~
Fire... the six-year-old Heero suddenly realized
why it was so hot, inside and out. The building was on fire. He grabbed a towel
and wrapped it around his hand to open the door.
The hallway was full of smoke, but there was no one in sight. Covering the lower part of his face with his forearm, Heero ran down the corridor. With all the smoke, twists and turns, doors, and stuff left behind, he almost got lost. But then, he saw the two French doors that led to the library.
The library was probably the largest room in the building, excluding the mobile suite hanger. Its wooden doors had always been locked when Heero had passed by, and though he knew he could have picked the lock, there was no reason for him to be there. But now, those double doors were open, hanging on their hinges. Heero knew there were large windows on the back wall from the blueprints he had found, hacking into the main computer. He also knew there was a staircase leading out of the building in the library.
Walking through the collapsing doorway, Heero noticed that the supporting beams were splintering. They'd fall any minute now. He hurried over to the back wall, only to see ceiling-high shelves full of books. The staircase must be behind these, he thought, and he looked around for something that would cause the bookshelves to move. Not seeing anything, Heero seated himself at one of the computers stationed in the library. He hoped the fire hadn't damaged the wiring. The flames were getting closer, making it harder to see and breathe, and making it even more important to find a way out.
Heero had never been outside this building. All the training, the experimenting, testing, everything was done somewhere in this building that was now burning. Even the mobile suit duels he had with the other perfect-soldiers-in-training happened inside this building. Heero had never even seen a door leading outside. Doctor Jay took care of that, never allowing him to wander the halls. Unfortunately for Doctor J, though, Heero had used his superior hacking skills to get himself into a level six file folder.
Heero skimmed through the documents looking for the blueprints he had found before. "'OP.M.'" he said under his breath. What could that be? Opening the file, he briefly read through it, his eyes growing wide. Rapidly typing in the copy commands, he saved the file on a floppy disc, before returning to the main index. After finding the floor plans for the building, Heero searched for ways to get in and out of it, but the plans had no doors leading outside, at least, not one that he would want to use.
The building was several stories tall, brick and metal. There was no way someone could jump off the roof and survive. But he'd have to try it anyway. The fire was still getting closer, and it didn't seem to be letting up. Heero sighed. Taking a moment to memorize the staircases and corridors, he switched off the computer, and grabbed the floppy. Running out of the library, he collided with something.
Heero leapt up, and realized his enemy was nothing but a five year old girl. She cocked her head to the side, her green eyes large in both awe and confusion. Her black hair was pulled up into two braids that hung in front of her shoulders.
"Dare da(who are you)?" she asked.
"Dare da(who are you)?" Heero asked.
"Nevermind that, come, follow me!" The little girl raced down the halls with the six year old boy following. The two made their way down a flight of stairs and entered a room Heero had never been in before. It resembled his bedroom, if you could call it that, but the bed sheets were messed up as if someone had slept in them. A book lay sprawled across the floor, the pages open and facedown. On the cot was a little stuffed rabbit which was missing an ear.
"This is my room." the girl whispered. Heero only nodded. If he was right, his room was directly over hers.
She walked over to the window and opened it. Looking down, she sighed. "Help me with this." she said as she shred one of the bedsheets into strips. Heero took the other and ripped it into strips, too. "Yoshi, yoshi. Matte(Good, Good. Wait)!" the girl said watching him.
"Nani(What)?" In reply, the girl gently took the sheets from him, and began knotting the ends together. Then she tied one end to the bedpost and threw the rest of the sheets out the window.
Grabbing the stuffed rabbit, the girl tried climbing out the window. She almost made it, when the ceiling collapsed above the doorway. The crash caused her to lose her grip on the sheets, and she would have fallen out the window, if it hadn't been for Heero.
He had grabbed her wrist while jumping out of the way of the wood and metal beams. They looked sadly at the doorway, and then turned back to the window. Smoke was making its way through both the open window and the barricaded doorway. All of a sudden, the ceiling above the window broke, and the floor beneath them gave way to the amount of weight that fell on top of it. They jumped onto the bed to get out from under it.
"Kono matte(Wait here)." the girl whispered gently in his ear, and her hand left his. It was replaced with what Heero thought was the arm of the velveteen rabbit, but he couldn't be sure with all the smoke.
After a few minutes, the rabbit's arm was replaced with the small hand of the girl, who led him carefully across the debris to the pile of what was the door. Picking their way through it, the two made their way to the hallway, and then broke out into a deadrun down the long corridor.
"This way."
"Where are we going?"
"To a safe place." was the simple answer. She led him to a room which he recognized as the hangar. But they went through a door he had never knew was there. Behind that door was what looked like a bedroom. A bed, not a cot, was up against one wall, and there was a bathroom off to the side. There was no window in this room, but it was lit well with a lamp on the desk in the corner and candles attached to holders on the walls.
"We'll be safe in here." the girl said. "The walls are re-in-forced with titanium alloy. That's the same stuff Doctor Jay uses on the mobile suites." She closed the door, and a loud click sounded.
"I know that. How do you know Doctor Jay?" Heero asked suspiciously.
"He's my daddy. Not my real one though. My real daddy died." The girl sat on the bed, still clutching the rabbit. "Momma's gone, too." She looked at him. "What about you?"
"Boku(Me)?" Heero asked surprised.
The girl laughed. "Hai, anata(Yes, you)."
"I don't know. I mean, of course I have parents, but I don't know what happened to them."
"Oh. That's sad. Are you Doctor Jay's other student?"
"Hai (Yes). I guess." There was silence as the two thought. All of a sudden, the girl jumped off the bed and up into Heero's face.
"I'm Two-Three-Three-Eight-Four-Six, but you can call me Kami. This," she held up the stuffed toy, "is Cabbi. That's short for 'cabbit', which is both bunny and kitty."
"One-Three-Three-Eight-Four-Seven." the boy said. "I don't have any other name."
"Really? Oh, that's too bad. Could I call you Oniichan(Big brother), then?" She looked hopeful.
"Naze (Why)?"
"Well, you are older than me, right?" he nodded, "And, well, I used to have a brother, but, he might be dead. No one here tells me anything..." she looked at the ground.
"Ookeey(Okay)." Heero said after a moment.
Kami smiled sadly at him. "Really? Thanks..." Another akward moment of silence. "Come on, we have to get you fixed up." Kami said, as she grabbed Heero's arm and gently pulled him to the bathroom, where he sat on the closed lid of the toilet.
As the girl wet a washcloth in the sink, with the rabbit, Cabbi, sitting in his lap, Heero realized he had soot and blood all over. The entire building had probably already burnt to the ground. The hangar was probably spared since it was under ground, but, what of Doctor Jay and the other scientists? Had they gotten out safely? Heero was torn apart. He was sort of happy that there was a fire, he was free for the time being. No nosy sciencists, no pushy doctors, he didn't have to follow every little rule now, because they weren't here to repremand him for it.
But, he was also a bit scared. This building was the only place he had ever lived in. Doctor Jay was probably the closest he had to a father figure. This perfect-soldier-in-training life was all he knew... Now he didn't have a purpose, a meaning. A soldier without those was useless, best left for dead.
"Daijoubou desu ka(Are you alright)?"
"Nani(What)?" Her voice had pulled him out of his thoughts.
"I asked if you were feeling okay, silly. You don't look so good..."
"I'm alright. I was just thinking."
Kami smiled. "It's okay, Niichan. We were the last people in the building." She gently wiped his forehead with the washcloth, which came back covered in soot. "Does it hurt, Niichan?"
"Iie (No)." he lied.
"Ookeey. Yoshi sono (Okay. That's good)."
Finished, the two left the bathroom and sat on the bed. It was comfortable, not like their cots. The quilt was nice, too, thick and warm, with a pattern that Heero realized as the Milky Way.
"Come on, silly, I'm tired." she yawned for emphasis. The two crawled under the heavy quilt. It was soft, not like the scratchy wool blankets they were used to.
Kami hugged Cabbi and curled into a ball. "Oyasimi nasai, Niichan (Good night)."
"Oyasimi nasai, i...imoto (Good night, little sister)." Kami smiled.
"Arigatou (Thank you)..." she said softly. Heero smiled a little, too. He liked the sound of the word on his tongue.
After a few moments, all that was heard was deep breathing, but Heero broke the silence. "Do you think the fire's stopped?"
"Hai, naze (Yes, why)?"
"No reason." More silence.
"No, Niichan. No, it hasn't stopped."
"What do you mean?" Heero rolled over to face her.
"The fire will never burn out, Niichan, as long as we remember... As long as
we remember this, Niichan, it will never fade..." Heero realized she had fallen
asleep. Smiling, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
~~~End~flashback~~~
People, Heero thought, still watching Sally tend to Kami. Are we really people? Perfect soldiers, trained for combat. Trained to kill, to carry out our missions and nothing more. Can we truly be considered true people when we have no emotions? No, we can't can we? Then why, why did she say we were the last people in the building? Grant, she was five at the time, but, we were educated enough to understand the concept of living and existing.
Heero sighed. Sally turned slightly to look at him. She smiled and stood up.
"Everything's fine, Heero-kun. She might be sore for a while, but she'll be fine."
Heero grunted in reply. Sally smiled again, gathered her stuff and walked towards the door to leave. "Arigatou, Sally-san (Thank you)." he said unconsciously.
"Dou ita shima shite (Think nothing of it)."
Sally left and went downstairs. Heero closed the door behind her and looked at Kami. She was still in the same position she was before. Heero sighed and crawled into the bed, pulling up the covers up to their chins. Smiling, Heero turned out the light.
"As long as we remember, it won't fade..." he whispered and closed his eyes.
***
It had been two days since Sally left. Kami had been unconsious for
about three and a half days. Duo had already watched every movie in the house at
least twice, and was itching to do something. Quatre had almost had a heart
attack when he realized what a mess they had made and began cleaning the house.
He was trying to keep Duo occupied with helping. Trowa was in the back, behind
the garage, fixing his truck. Heero hadn't been seen since Kami collasped.
"Come on, Kat," Duo begged, "Let's go do something."
Undaunted, the blond continued his cleaning. "I am doing something. It's our responsibilty to keep house, especially since Miss Kami is injured and even more so because we made the mess."
"But, Quatre..."
"No buts, Duo. Now, either stay out of my way, or come help."
Duo sighed and picked up the feather duster. He looked at it, looked at
Quatre, who was busy humming as he swept the kitchen floor, and looked back at
the feather duster. "'Kay. See ya!" Duo dropped the feather duster on the table
and ran outside. Wufei should be out there somewhere, Duo thought.
***
Heero came down the stairs to find Kami standing in the kitchen. She
was putting away the dishes Wufei had washed and dried, and listening to music
at the same time. Heero listened for a moment to the song playing.
'So if you think your life is... complete confusion... 'cause your neighbor has it made... just remember that... it's a grand illusion... deep inside we're all the same... all the same...'
Kami was swaying slightly, silent, as she crossed the kitchen slowly; her side was still sore.
Picking up a cup full of water out of the strainer, Heero smirked, saying her name. Kami turned around and the boy threw the water at her.
"Jigoku nani (What the hell)?!" she yelled.
Heero smiled. "I was helping."
"I'll show you helping!" Kami said and she began to chase him.
Outside, Trowa was trying not to whack Duo upside the head with the wrench as the latter babbled and the former tried to fix the truck.
All of a sudden, Heero and Kami came running past. "Anata o korosu! Anata o korosu! Yamero (I'll kill you! I'll kill you! Stop)!"
"Iiiiieeee!!! Yamero anata!! I was joking!! Yamero (No!!! You stop!! Stop)!!"
Trowa and Duo watched the two run off. "Was... Did... I," For once, Duo was
speechless. Trowa smirked and turned back to his truck.
***
Quatre came
running outside the house when he heard what sounded like Heero screaming bloody
murder. As he stood there in the back door, two bodies ran past him. Frowning,
Quatre watched Heero and Kami chase each other. Kami's long black hair flew
behind her. She was fast, especially considering that she was chasing Heero, and
considering her injury.
And Quatre laughed. For some reason, he laughed. And couldn't stop. Even when Wufei came out of the garage and began yelling at all three of them for 'making so much racket', Quatre couldn't stop laughing.
Kami stopped dead in her tracks to turn and glare at him. Geez, Quatre thought as he stopped laughing, she's got a death glare like Heero's. Only, he wondered, which is worse?
Heero paused as he realized Kami wasn't behind him. After catching his breath, he began walking back to where Kami and Quatre stood staring at each other. Clearing his throat, Heero stepped up behind Kami. She whirled around and yelled, "Baka! (Idiot)" before they resumed their chase.
Meanwhile, Quatre, left alone on the back stoop, sighed happily. At least
he's not self-descructing, he thought, Kami too. The first time they met her,
she was so reserved, but now, Quatre smiled. The two seemed happy with each
other. They seemed... human... Quatre went back inside, the voices of Kami and
Heero still ringing in his ears.
***
Kami looked up. The helicopter came
closer and closer. She could tell it belonged to OZ, but, OZ wasn't anymore. It
went down when Colonel Trieze was killed. The helicopter grew nearer still. It
was so close, she could see the pilot's face. Drewmaud... No... Not Drewmaud...
please, no... Kami thought. The sandy haired pilot grinned and all of a sudden,
the OZ helicopter dropped it's bombs. The ground around her exploded as Kami
just stood there.
Please, please, just let me die... just let me die... she thought silently. "You're not going to get me, Drewmaud. I'll kill myself before you can get to me!!" she yelled out. Through the smoke, she could still see the ear-to-ear grin on the helicopter pilot's face. "You hear? I'll kill myself before I ever see you again, Drewmaud!"
The pilot didn't answer. Instead, the earth around the girl caught afire, the flames surrounding her. "I'll kill you, too, Drewmaud!" she yelled as the flames whipped haphazerdously close to her. "I'll kill you, too!"
"Imoto? Imoto, okosu ue ni. Okosu ue ni (Little sister? Little sister, wake up. Wake up)!"
Kami sat up. "Niichan..."
Heero looked at her. They were both leaning up against a tree trunk, having been tired from their race. Heero had been sleeping, like Kami, but he had woken up when she had started yelling. Drewmaud? he thought. Oh no...
Kami shifted her weight around so she was leaning on Heero's shoulder. "He's alive, Niichan," she whispered. "Drewmaud's alive..."
"Shh... I know..." Heero put an arm around her shoulders as she buried her face in his shirt.
"He's coming, Niichan. He'll get me... Douzo... douzo... (Please... please) Don't let him get me..."
"Shimpai suru no ga nai (Don't worry)... He won't... I won't let him..."
***
Kami opened the door quietly, the hinges sqeaking ever so slightly.
The lights were off, but the blinds on the two windows were open, so Kami could
see the sleeping form in the bed.
As usual, Heero was facing the door, but had the sheet pulled up to his chin. He had to indulge himself in some luxuries of life. Kami smirked, and went in, closing the door behind her.
He had slept in her bed again, but she didn't mind much. It gave her an excuse to sleep in the guest room, where Wufei was sleeping at the moment, since there were two beds in it. She liked sleeping there because it had a slightly musky smell. Not like this one, which was rose and lavendar scented. Kami didn't like the 'femimine' fragrances much.
Kami watched Heero turn on his back and push the sheet away. He didn't usually move in his sleep, which resulted in stiff muscles in the morning that he had learned to ignore, but she had to remember that he was still sick. And all that running around outside the day before hadn't exactly helped.
Kami crept up to the bed silently, and then jumped onto the bed shouting, "Ohayo (Good morning)!"
"Jigoku (the hell)?!" Heero sat up. Something fell onto his head and then in his lap before he could catch it. 'It' was a stuffed rabbit, a light brown colour with white on its belly and inside its ears. He looked up at Kami quisently. She smiled.
"Some-bunny loves you." she said in a singsong voice. "Come on, Duo made breakfast."
Heero shook his head sadly and tossed the rabbit on the desk as he got out of
the bed.
***
"Come on, Niichan! Iku (Let's go)!"
"Alright." Kami stood impatiently outside the garage as Heero gathered his stuff. She looked up, sheilding her eyes from the sun's glare. Sally and Colonel Une had called the day before, saying they had to come over. Quatre told her that while she was still unconscience, Colonel Une had said, through a note Sally gave them, that the Preventers had found out that some former OZ soldiers were getting ready to retaliate against the ESUN's forces, which had managed to keep the peace amoung the colonies as well as on Earth.
Secretly, Kami hoped that the Preventers were wrong. That would cause another war to break out. And because the Gundams had been destroyed, there wouldn't be a way to stop it, not like before. Everything could be destroyed before anything was ever really solved. Just like what Trieze's daughter Mariemaia had said last year, in 196, 'History is like an endless waltz. The triple measure of war, peace, and revolution goes on and on...'
There was another reason, too, but this one, Kami kept to herself. Sure, Heero knew, but only because he was there when the problem started. That problem was Drewmaud. Kami didn't think she could survive another day under Drewmaud's hands. True, Heero had Doctor Jay to worry about then, but she had both. Drewmaud didn't care about Heero. She could remember the blood flowing out of the gash across Heero's forearm from Drewmaud's knife when he tried to kill him that one time. Drewmaud didn't like people who interfered, only those who would submit. Like her. But this time, Kami assured herself, this time, she wouldn't be the submissive one. She would be the one to come out on top.
"Imoto (Little sister), help me with this." Heero called from inside the garage. Kami went to help. Chuckling, she untangled the wiring from Heero's legs and took a box from him before he dropped them all.
"What exactly are you looking for?" she asked as they set the boxes on the kitchen table.
"Hn..." was her only answer. Then, "There's more in the garage." Kami sighed and followed him back. Again, she stood impatiently outside the door. Kami looked up at the sky again. A couple of clouds, the treetops, a plane. A plane... Kami grabbed a set of binoculars out of the garage.
"Niichan! Niichan!" she poked him continuously, still staring at the sky.
"Nani (What)? I'm bu--" Heero stopped when he saw what she was looking at. He took the binoculars from her limp hand. "OZ..." he said in his monotonous, emotionless voice.
"Let's go! Now!" Kami grabbed his wrist and ran towards the house as the OZ plane came closer. Trowa was standing in the kitchen watching them. "Get in the basement! Hurry!" Kami yelled at him. He looked up to see the plane and nodded, then ran off into the house to find the other three pilots.
Heero and Kami had almost made it when the ground erupted around them. The noise from the bombs, the missiles, the shreiking of metal against metal was deafening. Kami and Heero threw each other to the ground as the garage burst into flames.
The ground was littered with pieces of metal and burning chunks of wood
falling from the sky as the plane continued on its course, still firing. A large
sheet of metal came down hard onto Heero's legs, pinning him down. Kami had hit
the ground too hard and was already passed out when the darkness drew him in.
***
When Kami awoke, her head was pounding. She was on her stomach, and
her wrist felt like it had snapped backwards. Looking at it, she knew that was
probably what had happened. Slowly, Kami sat up, her ribs were bruised and she
had blood running down her side. Her injury from before had reopened and
probably worsened.
Heero was laying face down beside her. His lower back and legs were covered with a piece of sheet metal. Kami managed to crawl over to him, and after making sure he was alive, moved the metal sheet. He seemed okay, until she rolled him over on his back. There was a gash on his forehead, his shoulder had been scraped raw.
"Miss Kami?" She looked up to see the other four ex-Gundam pilots. "Daijoubou desu ka (Are you alright)?" She blinked. Her vision was blurring, telling her she probably had a concussion. But she could tell the question was from the blond one. The one with the sandy coloured hair...
"I'm fine..." Quatre reached out a hand to help her up, but was rewarded with a gun barrel thrust into his face. "Don't touch me."
"But..."
"I said, don't touch me!" Wufei stepped forward, but she glared at him through the corner of her eye. Trowa and Duo were behind her, making sure Heero was alright.
"Miss Kami, please," Quatre said gently, his hand still outstretched.
"Don't! Get away from me, Drewmaud!"
"Drewmaud?" Quatre was confused.
"I said I'd kill you, and I will." Kami continued, her hand wavering. Wufei noticed how her other wrist looked bent.
"But..." Wufei motioned Quatre to stay quiet. The girl was most likely delirious.
Trowa looked over and saw the gun Kami was pointing at Quatre.
Just as she tightened her finger on the trigger, Trowa pulled her arm up, causing her to shoot the sky. "No! No, no, no..." Kami struggled against Trowa's grip as Wufei pulled the gun out of her hand and Quatre went to find some sedatives.
When Kami's body finally went limp, Trowa laid her on the ground, making sure she was alright. "What are we going to do, Barton?" Wufei asked. "We can't have her going around trying to kill us."
"Hn..." Trowa looked thoughtful for a moment before asking Wufei, "What did she call Quatre? I missed it."
The Chinese pilot looked surprised, but answered him anyways. "Drewmaud... why?"
"I don't think Kami was trying to kill us." Trowa didn't get to explain when Duo cut in.
"Hey, um, guys? I think we should stop worrying about Kami for now."
"Why, Maxwell?" Wufei asked.
"'Cause she's not the one who's stopped breathing." The braided boy waved to
the former pilot of Wing Zero. "Heero is."
***
"Sally, Une," Quatre
acknowledged the two Preventers officers. They in turn nodded curtly.
"Where is everyone?" Sally asked as the blond pilot showed them to the kitchen.
"Well, Duo's with Heero, who stopped breathing again earlier. Wufei is in the office on the computers doing more research. Trowa was injured as well, but not as badly. He's in the guestroom."
"No, I'm not." Quatre looked up to see Trowa standing in the doorway. He put down the coffee pot and brought Sally and Une their mugs.
Une watched him as he sat down stiffly next to her. "What are the extent of your injuries?"
"Minor." he replied. "Just a few scratches, and a surface-gash. Nothing to worry about. I've had worse."
Une nodded. "And the others?"
"Duo and I are fine," Quatre spoke up. "I think Wufei's just a little exhausted. Unfortunately, Heero and Kami were outside when the plane came..." he trailed off, staring into his coffee cup.
"Neither have regained consciousness." Trowa began explaining the situation to them. "Heero's stopped breathing twice now. He thrashes around, he's broken a lamp from it. I think he's hallucinating, but he never says a word. As for Kami, well, she's pretty much fine with the exception of her wrist. It bent backwards and broke."
"And her... delusion..." Quatre mumbled. Une and Sally looked at him. "She thought I was someone else and pulled a gun on me before she passed out."
Trowa suddenly got up and walked out the room. The three people were left sitting in the kitchen looking at the doorway until he came back a few minutes later. He tossed Sally what looked like a pillow case. She looked at him questioningly, and unfolded it.
Inside laid Kami's handgun. Cautiously, she lifted it, careful not to let the pads of her fingers touch the surface. "Specials."
"Look at the bottom."
Sally did. "Two op can two for successes unknown two anyone else dir jay?"
"What?" Lady Une asked. The golden haired Preventer handed the gun to her boss. "Hmm... This is Kanashimii's, am I right?"
"Yes. That's correct," Quarte said. "But, Trowa, you never gave it back to her after the first night."
"I put it on her desk when she collasped."
"Oh."
The four of them continued to discuss the problem with OZ and the injured
pilots.
***
Heero sighed in his sleep as Duo watched over him
protectively. He was worried almost to the brink of breakdown. This had never
happened before. Grant it, there was the time Heero had self-descructed and was
missing for almost two months, but, somehow, this was different.
Duo curled his legs under himself as he leaned back in the wooden chair. He hadn't slept all night. He didn't have anything to eat or drink since breakfast the day before. Duo closed his eyes. Quatre should be coming up any minute to check on them. He couldn't fall asleep until then, he wouldn't let himself for Heero's sake. He couldn't...
The former pilot of Zero stirred as the God of Death fell asleep. Heero rolled over, clutching the sheet as his past came back to haunt him.
~~~Flashback~~~
-KNOCK- -KNOCK-
Six year old Heero jumped up off the bed. Kami looked up from her little corner. It had been almost a week since the fire, and even though the two had learned to live with each other, they both prefered to be alone. Kami had claimed the corner furthest away from the door, where she sat and played with her rabbit most of the day.
The five year old girl got up and stood next to the door. "Dare desu ka (Who is it)?"
Heero came over and stood next to her as the voice from the other side answered her question. "It's Lisantho. Open up."
"Dare desu ka (Who are you)?" Kami asked again, not knowing who it was.
The person sighed. "Drewmaud Lisantho. Number 818937. Assistant to Doctor Jay."
The two children looked at each other. If he knew Doctor Jay, it must be alright. Slowly, Kami and Heero opened the door. A blond teen stood there, in the colour coded uniform that all the assistants wore. It was dark blue, signifying that he had level five security access. Level 6 was the highest.
Five year old Kami stood there in the doorway gripping her stuffed rabbit, Cabbi, and stared up at the man. Six year old Heero glared at him, an emotionless mask slipping over his face. Drewmaud stared at the two. These were the survivors? These children? These were the ones Doctor Jay wanted to become the 'perfect soldiers'?
An old, crinkled face appeared over Drewmaud's shoulder. Kami broke into a grin, and ran up to the man, hugging his knees, since she was so short. Doctor Jay smiled down at the girl, his artificial eyes focusing on her. Looking up at Heero, he concluded that they were fine, save the burn on the boy's hand. A little hungry maybe, but nothing a good meal could fix.
"Ikuzo (Let's go)." Doctor Jay said and pried Kami off gently. He walked away, his long white labcoat flowing behind him. Kami followed him obediently, with Heero on her heels and Drewmaud bringing up the rear.
When the four of them reached the room that had once been part of the building and now had drywall walls, they stepped inside. Only one lamp in the middle of the table placed in the center of the room gave it its light. Papers, pencils and other stuff strewn around. The room wasn't messy, it was just cluttered. A couple of other people were there, sitting in hard backed wooden and metal folding chairs placed in what looked like no particular order. One stood as the four newcomers came in.
"Doctor," he said.
"General," the scientist replied with a nod of his head. Doctor J turned to the small troop behind him. "233846, 133847, 818937," he gestured to them, "this is General Hawthorne," he waved to the tall, dark, man in the Army uniform, then turned to the rest of the group, pointing each one out. He then proceded to say each of their names and ended with "These are my students."
Some of the scientists had been really nice and smiled, but now they stood up in an outrage. Shouts rang out through the room. "What are you thinking?" "The hell..." "They're kids!" "You senile old fool!"
"I may be old, and I may be senile, but I do not fill my head with foolish ideals of peace that will never happen unless these three become the way to peace. Unlike the rest of you." Doctor Jay said.
"So what are you going to do? Train them?" One of the men asked.
"Precisly." Doctor Jay answered. "They've all already had some training, we just need to... perfect... their... abilities..." Kami looked back at Heero. He seemed almost happy. I have another purpose, he thought. The girl glanced at Drewmaud. He was cocky, with a cat-caught-the-bird look in his eyes. Kami turned back to see the general kneeling in front of her. Cocking her head to the side, she stared straight into the black orbs he had for eyes.
"Is there something you want?" she asked.
Hawthorne laughed. "You're going to train a girl? Let alone such a proper one?" he asked Doctor Jay as he laughed harder. Kami stood there, very still, with her hands behind her back. He was laughing at her. She didn't like the tone of his haughty voice, either, as he talked to her in baby as if she didn't understand English or Japanese. "Well, such a pretty little girlie..." he cooed. "How old are you know?"
"Go-nen (Five years). Anata (You)?" she replied quietly.
The general chuckled. "Let's just say I'm old enough to be your father."
"My father's dead. You're not my father." Kami said.
"Well, yes..." he looked up at Doctor Jay, who was standing there watching. "So... how do you like training with him?" he asked, jerking his head towards the old man.
"Fine." she said curtly. He was annoying her and she just wanted to leave.
General Hawthorne smiled, nodding his head. He started playing with her hair, which she had managed to put into two pigtails again, with Heero's help. "So would you want to continue? Hmm...?"
Five year old Kami glared at him and jerked back, away from from his grasp. "What's it matter to you?" He smiled again and urged her for the answer, reaching out again to touch her black hair. "Yamero (Stop)! Yamero ima (Stop it now)!"
"Answer the question."
"Hai (yes)."
"Good." The Army general stood and left the room. Satisfied, the other scientists left Doctor Jay and his fantasies alone. Soon, only he, Kami, Heero and Drewmaud remained. The professor fed them and told them to get some sleep, they had a big day tomarrow. Would they ever...
The next morning, the three of them awoke to see Doctor Jay standing over them. "Let's get to work, people." he said as he tossed them each a pile of clothes. A few minutes later, they met up with each other in another left-standing-room of the building, each wearing their uniforms. Drewmaud's of course was dark blue, but with red stripes meaning he was still in training.
Kami's was a sea-foam green that clashed hideously with her emerald eyes. Heero had a hunter green, due to the fact that he had had some training, which was more than what she could say. The girl's hair was once again in two pigtails, though this time, they were braided, like before.
They began on the basics, how to hide their emotions and fight. Drewmaud was much better than the five and six year olds, so he obviously excelled more than they did. After two years, he recieved his level six clearance. At seven and eight, Kami and Heero had already mastered hand-to-hand combat, hacking, and putting on their emotionless masks in a split second. Today, they were learning how to manuveur mobile suits.
"I can't..." Kami pulled on the stick as hard as she could. Drewmaud let loose a barage of missiles that flew around the newly built hangar. Heero intercepted them with his own. Kami still couldn't pull the lever to move the suit around and got mad. She began cussing in a mix of Japanese, English, and some other language they didn't know she knew. She hit a series of keys and both Heero and Drewmaud's suits were hit repeatedly until her ammunition ran out.
"Daijoubou desu ka (Are you alright)?" Kami asked, barely above a whisper.
"Hai (Yes)." Heero answered.
"I'm alright, Aka-chan (Little baby)." Drewmaud said. Kami glared at him over the comlink. They all knew she was talking to Heero, and he had the nerve to call her that.
Kami leaned up against the lever, her suit walking over to the twenty-year-old blond's. She stepped right in front of his, facing each other. Kami pulled another, smaller lever and her suit's arm went back, then slapped Drewmaud's suit. The other arm was coming up when Drewmaud saw it and grabbed it with his suit's arm. Kami grunted and hit another barage of buttons, and the cockpit opened. She jumped out and ran as far as she could get, Heero following her example. They got to the other side of the hangar when Kami's suit self-destructed. Both suits were annihilated and the one Heero had piloted was damaged just beyond repair.
"Bakayaro (Jerk)," Kami said under her breath as she watched the suits sink to their broken knees.
"Why, thank you, Aka (Baby)." came a voice from behind her.
"I should've known you would've gotten out alive, Drewmaud." Kami said, not turning around.
"You misjudge me critically, girl, and one of these days, you're going to get killed because of it." Drewmaud said smirking. "Won't that be a pity, having such a pretty girl like you dying at the hands of me?"
"Watashi hitonomi (Bite me)." Kami said.
"Well, if you put it that way," Drewmaud stepped towards her. But just then, Doctor Jay came in.
He didn't say anything, but they all knew what he wanted. The three filed past him, heads down, silent, and went to get into another suit. These were the fourth suits each they had piloted this week, each time, damaging them all beyond repair.
Drewmaud shot the first round - he was never patient enough to wait for the other to attack. Heero managed to dodge it, as did Kami, though she she still had trouble with the movement levers.
The three of them managed to keep everything just about even for several hours. Then Kami just got tired and let the boys shoot at her. She was better at hand-to-hand anyway. So it was down to Drewmaud and Heero. Both having about the same amount of experience, strength, and technical skills. But they were both tired and worn out from all the fighting before. Their fight continued on far into the evening, and then was postponed for dinner.
The next day and everytime after it, Heero and Drewmaud's fights always ended up in a draw. Eventually, Kami had gotten strong enough to make it throughout most of the fights, but always gave up near the end. By the time Kami was ten, she had managed to survive most of the fights, and even beat the two guys a few times, though she was still a much better fighter in martial arts. So while Heero and Drewmaud were duking it out in the hangar, she was busy training with a martial artist. The guys trained in fencing, too, but Kami almost always beat them.
It had been six years now, since the fire. Kami was eleven, Heero, twelve, and Drewmaud was twenty-one. The girl's black hair reached her waist, and though it was no longer put into pigtails, she still braided it everyday. She had grown taller than Heero, who made up for it in muscle. Drewmaud however, had exceeded them both, and having passed the final exam, which of course was a mission, he no longer studied under Doctor Jay, but taught with him. The younger man had always taken to the girl, and because Doctor Jay had raised Heero longer than he had Kami, Drewmaud trained the girl. This was not for long, however.
Kami woke up as the sun shone from her window, through the blinds. Turning over, her braid landed on Heero's face, who jumped up and almost had his gun aimed on her when she mumbled, "Goshin pai naku (Don't worry)... Watashi sore o kan (It's just me)..."
Because Doctor Jay and his associates had taken in so many new recruites, they were short of beds and rooms, so of course, the younger and less-trained soldiers-to-be had to share. Kami was the only female in training, there was only a commander and a nurse who were also female, so she was forced to share with a guy. By chance, she ended up with Heero.
"Come on, we gotta go." Heero said, heading for the showers.
"You'd think that by now, you'd be able to speak proper English." Kami grumbled, but she got up anyway.
"Don na ni (Whatever)." he replied.
They arrived in the conference room twenty minutes later. "You're late." Doctor Jay barked out. He and Drewmaud led them to a room in a wing the two had never been in. The room was small, containing only two twin-sized beds, a lamp and a deep blue rug. "This is where you two shall report to daily for the next six months. It will be our training grounds for that period of time."
Nodding, though confused, Kami and Heero stood waiting for their instructions. "Eventually, there will come a time when you cannot gain the information needed to complete your mission by hacking, destroying, or infiltrating. You will be forced to gain it through... relationships... with a ranking person. Today, you will learn how these relationships work." Doctor Jay said.
Drewmaud grinned chesirely and motioned for Kami to follow him to the second bed as Heero and Doctor Jay stayed at the first one. On her way across the room, the girl noticed dark spots of dried blood on the rug. It was when Drewmaud reached for her that she became afraid. With one hand, he unbuttoned her blouse, taking off his own shirt with the other. Eyes growing wide, Kami stepped back, swatting his hand away when she realized what he was doing.
Heero, too, realized what they were being forced to go through, and took a step forward. Doctor Jay glared at him through his mechanical lenses. The dark haired boy paused. Glancing at the girl, he sighed. She could take care of herself, he hoped.
Drewmaud growled and rushed at her, she pivoted, and he went past her a bit. Turning, he said, "You have no choice, 233846. Submit and I'll be gentle..."
"Kesshite (never)..." Kami growled. The twisted grin on Drewmaud's face turned into a malicious snarl and he grabbed her arm. The twenty-one year old blond threw her against the wall. Flinching, Heero stood and watched helplessly. Kami stared at the wooden floor as Drewmaud continued the lesson.
After a few agonizing minutes, Doctor Jay turned to Heero. The boy sighed and took off his shirt. Crawling into the bed, Heero met Kami's eyes, holding them for a moment. Then she broke his gaze to look up at the ceiling as Drewmaud buried his face in her neck. He had her wrists up over her head, against the wall, as he carried on with his kissing.
Heero turned back to Doctor Jay who was now on top of him, pulling the sheets
up. Kami's emerald eyes had held nothing. They had seemed empty, void, like she
didn't care anymore. Heero wondered if his Prussian blue ones were the same. And
if they would stay that way...
***
[Chapter Two Finished]
[Chapter
Three Teaser - They had threatened to kill her, the commanding officers. She
knew that one day, the threats would become real, but she never thought it so
soon. ]
***
Please note, that like GW, I do not own Styx nor their song
Grand Illusion.
