Chapter 6- Shocker

It was Wufei.  His face filled with shock and disgust as Sarian walked over to the teacher, Professor Moraine. "I'm your new student, Sarian McCarthy," Sarian shook the lady's hand.

Professor Moraine smiled, "Well, now the class is evenly split between boys and girls," she had a British accent. "Miss McCarthy, have you ever taken ballroom dance lessons before?"

"Yes, when I was younger," Sarian glanced over at Wufei. Let him glare she could pin him to the wall if he tried to do anything to her, ", but I'm afraid I'm out of practice."

"I'll get you dancing again," Sarian could tell that the teacher was very enthusiastic. "Class, pair up. Wufei, dance with Sarian. You two seem to know each other."

The students spread out across the room. As Wufei bowed to Sarian, he said, "You apparently did badly on the fine arts questions on the placement test."

"Apparently, you did too," Sarian curtsied.

"Class," called the professor from the back of the room. She stood near a tall music player. "Today we'll be working on the tango.  Miss McCarthy, do the best you can," Professor Moraine pushed a button, and fast violin music filled the room. "Begin!"

Wufei took Sarian's hands in his own, and turned her sharply to the left. "You lied. You grew up on a military compound.  They wouldn't have given you dance lessons."

"You've forgotten Wufei," They spun around. "My training specialized in espionage. Women spies know how to dance."

They danced for a few minutes later before Sarian broke the silence again, "You dance well, for a sexist jerk,"

Wufei turned her sharply again, "You too, for a brain controlled power freak."

"Just because I have the ability to royally kick your ass anytime I want, doesn't mean I'm a power freak. And we weren't brain controlled.  We were controlled, however, by fear,"

"How so?" Wufei was surprised Sarian was talking about her past so freely.

"Poison capsules," Sarian answered simply.

"Poison capsules? You mean if you didn't follow orders, they force fed you poison?"

"No, baka-mono. All of us in X2 had poison capsules inserted into our bodies somewhere when we were born.  All one has to do to kill us is press a button, and we're history.  I was able to locate mine when I was fifteen."

"Where is it?" Wufei and Sarian spun again.

"In my upper right thigh.  Wanna see?" Sarian wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"You've been spending too much time with Duo," Wufei said in disgust.

"I'm sorry I mentioned your deceased wife," Sarian said as the music suddenly got faster. "That was a sucker punch."

Wufei turned her again. "Yes it was. But so was this." He took his finger, and ran it down the bruise that had begun to show through her make-up.

"So we're even," Sarian pulled away from his hand, then clasped it in her own.

"Guess we are," Wufei's face remained stony; Sarian could not read it. "You are a good dancer. Trowa will have fun at the Ball,"

Trowa, Sarian thought.  The boy obviously cared for her.  The comment he had made in his room the other day was still fresh in her mind. Could she care for him back? She was not at the Compound anymore, and she wouldn't be ever again.  She could let go of the past; she could move on.  Possibly have feelings again. No, that's going to far, she thought with a faint smile. She decided that she did like Trowa, past, present, and future. "I could honestly care less," she lied to Wufei as the music stopped.

* * *

"We have all our classes together, except for fine arts classes." Trowa explained to Sarian thirty minutes later at lunch. "Sally thought it best that we all stay together.  But, if you ask me, Duo should be out of AP Physics.  We're learning the components of bombs next week,"

"Now, Trowa," Duo forked more spaghetti into his mouth. "What makes you think that I don't already know what goes into those lovely devices?"

Heero countered for Trowa, who was choking on a piece of apple, "Because you would have blown up this building already if you did know,"

"I want that part of the syllabus taken off," Relena said as she sat down next to Heero.  She had been with Mika and her other popular friends, but had come over to check-up on Heero. "If peace is to be carried out, such knowledge should not be taught in the classroom."

"What are you going to do?" Sarian stared at her through her wet hair. "Go cry to your brother?"

"Sarian! What did you do to your hair?" Mika had come over to see what was going on.

"I like my hair down," Sarian said through gritted teeth. After the dance with Wufei, she had promptly taken out her hair in the middle of class. Yet, since it was still crimped, she went into the girl's bathroom after class, and had drenched her head in the sink. Fortunately, her hair was no longer crimped. Unfortunately the hand dryer was broken, so Sarian was stuck with wet hair.

"What did you say to me?" Relena was peeved now.

"You heard what I said." Sarian stood up, and faced Relena. "I said, are you going to go cry to your brother?"

"Just because I want peace in this world, doesn't mean I have to cry to my brother to get it!" Relena's voice rang across the crowded cafeteria. "And just because the only reason you were ever born was so you could be used as a weapon, doesn't mean you have to stir up trouble everywhere you go!"

"For a girl whose life goal is to defend peace, you sure love to start fights with the new girl in town," Sarian turned around, and walked towards the vending machines at the other end of the cafeteria.

Trowa rose to follow her, but Heero waved him down. "I'll handle this. I have a few questions for Sarian myself."

"Heero!" Relena whined as the boy set off after Sarian.

He caught up with her in a small alcove just outside the cafeteria. "Sarian, wait!"

Sarian looked back at Heero. What could he want?

She has answers. She knows. Heero cornered her in the alcove.

"Who are you?" Heero asked.

"You know," Sarian avoided the question. "I'm X213S, Sarian. I have been living with you since Thursday,"

"That's not what I meant," A vein in Heero's forehead appeared. Why is she avoiding the question? "Who are you? ANSWER ME, DAMMIT!"

"You never were any good in interrogation techniques lessons," Sarian muttered softly.

"What did you say?" Heero stepped back, unsure at to what he had just heard.

"I always thought that you were too easily ticked off. You used to lose control of yourself, and they would put you in solitary confinement," Sarian stepped out of the shadowed alcove.  Her face was blank, but her eyes glistened.

"What do you mean?" Heero asked, even if he did know and understand everything Sarian was saying.

"Then, when you were seven, you escaped.  I hated you then. Everyone did, you made the Compounds leaders question our loyalty. Well, everyone except A group that is. We were the best. Did you ever find out they killed your entire group as punishment for your escape? I don't think so, X212H."

Heero gasped as he heard his true name spoken again. He hadn't heard it for so long he had nearly forgotten it. Then, all these memories came flooding into his mind. His group, all of their promising faces, wiped blank of emotion and staring at him, his Guardian, Theo, who had first etched into his mind that the mission must be finished at all costs, even if you had to kill yourself. Heero remembered his barracks, spending time with his group, and how he hated the Head Instructor, Helix, whom he knew was his own father.

"Amnesia," Sarian commented. "Must be hard to get over, X212H. Well, could I call you by what your name would have been? Helios?"

"How? How do you know all this?" Heero slumped against a wall of the alcove. All of this information so fast was getting to him.

"I remembered you. And, if you'll remember what I said the night I came, you were like an obsession with me. But, even I didn't know all there was to know about our past."

"Our past?" Heero asked.

"Yes," Sarian sat down next to Heero. "You see, the fact that really shocked me, was that I am your twin sister,"

"Sister?" Heero jumped when he heard this. "Twins? Who was born first?" As if it mattered right now.

"I'm X213S. You're X212H. You're two minutes and thirty seconds older than me," Sarian looked over at her brother.

"So do your big brother a favor, and answer some of my questions," Heero turned to face Sarian. "What ever happened to our . . ."

"Our mother is no longer alive," Sarian said. "Our father killed her three years after we were born.  He believed she was a threat to the Compound. General McCarthy, who happens to be, by a strange coincidence, our grandfather, agreed with him."

"How come you need Manna, and I don't?" Heero was beginning to wonder why he mysteriously was not dead yet.

"Another one of the Compounds tricks. They didn't give it to us until five, and you escaped at seven. That wasn't long enough to develop an addiction to it.  We really didn't need it in the first place; they just laced it with some fancy chemical so that, after we did become addicted to it, if we didn't take it, we would die. It still sickens me," Sarian wrinkled her nose, and then looked at a nearby clock. "We'd better get going. Lunch's almost over,"

"Yeah, but I think we should agree on something. Even if the Delta Compound's program was shut down, they're not going to let genetically engineered super soldiers run around the world and space Scot-free. They'll try to get us back under their control, or sell us to someone. I bet each of us is worth about one or two million dollars."

"Yes, I agree," Sarian and Heero started back towards the rest of the group. Relena and Mika were still there, Relena shooting daggers in Sarian's direction. "And we're actually worth three million."

"So, if one of us is ever compromised, we should warn the other to stay away. We'll say, "Get here fast (I know they'll want us both), but take Water Street. They're doing some work in the highway."

"Yes," Sarian etched the line into her brain. "And if one of us is ever ordered to harm the other, before we carry the order out, say, "Forgive me, brother (or sister depending on whose hurting who), for I have sinned. Then carry out the order."

"Right," Heero engrained this into his head. "This feels strangely familiar," he commented as they walked up to the table.

"Codes and Codenames 101," Sarian whispered in his ear as she sat down next to Trowa.

"What were the two of you talking about?" Relena looked at Sarian with contempt.

Girl needs to get a hobby. "Heero was just explaining to me that regular *wink* people usually don't insult other people in public, as I did to you. I am wholly sorry for what I said, and I realize that it was a very rude thing to do. I hope you can accept my apology."

Relena's face softened at once. "Oh, that's okay. It's just that . . ."

"It's just that Princess Relena isn't used to being insulted. She's used to people kissing her ass," Duo slurped up the last of his spaghetti as the bell rang. "Gotta go!" He rushed out of the cafeteria at lightening speed.

"DUO MAXWELL, GET BACK HERE NOW!" Relena raged after the sprinting form of Duo.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, well, didn't see that one coming did you?  I thought not.  I think that was my best chapter yet on this fic.

Hiei: Your pride and cockiness is your downfall.

Suri: -_- Shut up.

Anyway, this marks the halfway point in the story of this fic. The only question is, how much longer can Sarian keep her relationship with Heero a secret from the others? And what's up with Wufei?  All these questions will be answered soon (or some time along in the fic, whatever comes first).  Keep reading to find out the answers to these questions and more!

Review me, or e-mail me comments or questions. My e-mail address is in my profile. 

I just got my haircut and my new bangs are driving my insane!  Why am I so impulsive?

Hiei: Because you are an unbalanced individual. You are also indecisive and sporadic.

Suri: - Why must you only focus on my bad points?