Crash and Burn

Part 7

Author: Evenyn (spelled backwards)

Hi everybody! Sorry it's taken so long to update! What with all OSP and school (blech), I've been just so darn busy. But, I HAVE NO INTENTION OF KILLING THIS FIC!!!! THAT'S RIGHT!!!! IT STAYS!!!!! Of course, with my lack of Lita for the last few (and upcoming few) chapters, I'm sure I've lost a lot of you loyal readers. However, I'm not done with her yet! Nope! Well anyways, I'm sure you're sick of my rants and just want to read the next chapter, so I'll be nice and let you. Don't own the anime.

-Nyneve

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After the whole my first training session, I'll I wanted was food, TV, and eventually sleep. But not now. I was way to hyped up on adrenaline from my escapade to sleep.

Parking my car in front of the dorm, I said goodnight to Trowa and went inside. I blushed, thinking about how I'd hugged him. I didn't even like him that much. No more than Duo or Heero. But what could I do?

When I got inside the dorm, I found Duo sitting on the couch eating a bowl of ice cream and watching TV. He looked up and smiled at me.

"Hey, you're not dead! But, man, I never thought Heero and the Prof. would keep you working so late! It's almost midnight!" he cried.

"Don't remind me. Thank god tomorrow is Saturday, because there is no way in Hell I'm getting up before noon," I answered, plopping down on the couch next to him.

"Yeah, even the Prof. said to let you sleep in. She heard about how the raid went, and said you did excellent," Duo remarked.

"Thanks I…" I froze. How did she know how I did? Trowa was the only one who had been with me, and there was no way he could've called.

Then, another thought hit me. The two men that pulled me over knew that the Duo and the others went to my school. How could they know, if they didn't know my name.

I put two and two together. Luckily, I got four. And very ticked off.

"She planned it, didn't she? You all did!" I accused.

Duo cursed himself under his breath. "Uh, Mina listen…"

"Listen? As in, you want me to trust you? Why should I, when it's so obvious you don't trust me?" I yelled, getting even more upset at him. I couldn't believe this. Just when I thought we were becoming friends; that maybe this wouldn't be so bad. That woman had to go and make me feel like an intruder. Again.

I forgot all about my food, TV, and sleep. Now all I wanted was to be alone. I stomped off to my room and slammed the door. Then, I put my desk chair under the doorknob so it would stay shut.

Against my will, I started to cry. I couldn't help it. I felt so betrayed by them. It was stupid to think I could ever be one of them, that I could even befriend them. All I was was a tool that needed to be experimented with before it could be of any use.

"I hate them. I hate them all. This never would've happened if I'd just stayed out of that room. Then I'd still be able to hang out with Lita, and not have to worry about killing, or fighting, or…" my tirade ended in a choked sob.

There was a soft knock on the door. "Mina? Can I come in?" Duo asked softly.

"Let me think. No," I snapped.

"Please? I just want to talk," he begged.

"There's nothing for us to talk about!" I countered.

I heard him sit down against the door. "Fine then. I'll talk to you from out here. First of all, I'm sorry. I won't pretend I didn't think testing you was a good idea at the time. But I can see where you're coming from."

"You're lying. Again. If I meant anything to any of you, you'd just trust me and let me help you," I said.

"Would you? You're always saying how we don't trust you, and that we should give you more chances to prove your loyalty. Well we gave you one tonight, didn't we? You could've saved your skin right there. You know our names, our locations, even the location of the Prof.'s lab. All you had to do was tell them, and you'd have been let go. You haven't done enough to persecuted with the rest of us," he explained.

I thought about that for a minute. He was right. All I would've had to do was talk. So why didn't I?

Wiping the tears from my face, I moved the chair aside and opened the door. A surprised Duo fell over backwards and stared up at me. I couldn't help but smile.

"You know what? I didn't tell them," I replied, going down on my knees and looking at him. "Because I felt loyal to you guys. Without Lita now, you're all I've got. Maybe we're not friends yet. But as long as I'm working with you, I'm still your comrade."

"Yeah, I guess we should've figured that out. Can you forgive us?" he asked, sitting up.

I barked out a laugh. "Hell no! What you did was sneaky, underhanded, and completely betraying. It's going to take a long time before I forgive you."

"Even if I beg for mercy, get you some Rocky Road Ice Cream, and invite you to watch the rest of Panic Room with me?" Duo asked.

I pretended to contemplate the matter. "It's a start."

"Yay! Thank you!" he cried, throwing his arms around me again. I shook my head, but didn't shake him off.

"Duo? I'm still not going to go out with you," I replied.

A look of mourning passed his face temporarily, but when I mentioned the ice cream he owed me, all was forgotten.

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After the "Code 17" incident, I started to slip into a pattern. Wake up, go to class, go to training, get home around nine, except for on Fridays and Saturdays, when I'd be shooting and piloting shuttle simulators until well after midnight. The Professor was nice enough to give me Sundays off, as well as Tuesdays and Wednesdays when my grades started to slip. Because if my grades were bad, my mom (who I doubt actually monitored pointless things like her daughter's GPA) would pull me out of school and send me off to private tutoring.

One day in late June, after school had except for people taking summer courses, Heero showed me a new simulator the Professor had bought. It was a mobile suit simulator.

I asked him what the point was, since all mobile suits had been destroyed after the L3X18999 uprising. He didn't answer.

"Heero? What aren't you telling me?" I asked. "Why are you training me to pilot a mobile suit?"

He stared hard at me, his Prussian blue eyes locked with mine. Finally, he let out a breath.

"The Professor wants you to pilot a Gundam," Heero answered.

"A wha?" I asked, completely confused. I'd heard the term Gundam a couple of years back, during the war. I knew they were some sort of mobile suit, but nothing other than that.

"A Gundam. A highly powerful mobile suit made of Gundamium alloy. All of us piloted one. After the L3X18999 uprising, we detonated them. But the Professor's been rebuilding them, and working on one for you too," he answered.

"The professor wants me to pilot a mobile suit? Why? The war's over, there's no need for them," I replied. Heero didn't respond. "Right? There's no need for Gundams?"

"Why do you think we'd be training you if we weren't going to need you? Another faction of OZ has regrouped and started rebuilding its supply of arms. Whether it wants to control Earth or the colonies, we're not sure. But they've tried to raid this lab four times, and they almost caught the professor a couple months before you joined us," he explained.

"OZ? But…without Khushrenada, they don't have a leader! And we've finally attained something close to world peace! What group of idiots would try to screw it all up?" I asked myself more than anyone else.

"Because power corrupts, Mina. And if it doesn't corrupt you, it will destroy you," a solemn voice answered.

I turned around to see the Professor standing in the doorway.

"Mina, up until now, this hasn't been anything more than a game. There are a lot of people who can use a gun and pilot shuttles. That doesn't make them soldiers. But if you continue to train with us, that is what you will become. Now is your last chance to back out Mina. You can go back to your own life, and pretend this never happened," she replied.

I thought hard. My wish could come true, with no catches. Except that, to pretend this never happened.

How could I ever forget almost getting killed? Training under Heero. Rooming with Duo. My test with Trowa.

I realized then, that I didn't want it to end. No. I couldn't stop now.

"Professor, you need me. I'm one of your associates now. I still don't understand what I'm doing, but I know Heero can show me. If you need me to pilot a Gundam, I will. But I'm not backing out now.

"Mina…you're a very brave girl. You realize that, don't you? I don't even think Relena Peacecraft has as much nerve as you," the Professor replied, and then walked out of the room.

I took a deep breath. No turning back now.

"Okay, so anyways, this simulator. If I'm going to pilot a mobile suit, I'm going to need a lot of help. Um, Heero?" I asked.

"Yeah?" he responded, seating himself at the master computer and typing away.

"What do I do?" I asked.

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The bright light from the explosion made my eyes water. Firing my buster rifle at the approaching Leo, I quickly maneuvered away from two others that were coming at me from behind.

"Okay, only two left. You can do this Aino," I told myself, firing at one and destroying it. However, the impact from the other's attack was very straining as the harness tightened.

Setting my jaw, I pulled out my beam saber and managed to slice off its arm. While the pilot was still getting his bearing, I fired and finished it off.

The lights came back off as the screen darkened. I climbed out of the simulator I'd been using for the last two months. By now, I'd become pretty good at piloting a mobile suit, but still screwed up on occasion. However, the Professor was impressed by how much progress I'd made.

"How'd I do Heero?" I asked, standing up straight and walking over to him.

"Not bad. But you're too dependent on your buster rifle. The Professor says you should really take more advantage of mobility when you have the chance," he responded.

"What chance? I don't even know what this Gundam she's been working on looks like, let alone how it functions," I complained.

"Would you like to find out, Mina?" The Professor asked, entering the room. I jumped. She had that bad habit of sneaking up on people.

"Professor, are the other Gundams…" Heero began. She nodded.

"Yes, all of them are complete. I wanted to show you all at one time. The others are down in the basement, waiting," she replied.

We followed her down to the basement into an observation deck looking into a dark hangar.

Duo, Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei were already there. All of them seemed solemn, even Duo. I leaned against the window and tried to see through the blackness.

"Now then, everyone. You're all quite aware I've been working on the reconstruction of the Gundams, as well as the development of a new model. I managed to complete them about a month ago, and have been testing them ever since. I believe that they are now ready for pilot testing. Gentlemen," she hit a button on a computer console.

The hangar lit up to reveal five giant robots. I recognized them immediately, seeing them on TV numerous times.

"It's so strange, that you guys are Gundam pilots," I murmured.

"Maybe. But it's our way of life," Duo said, looking longingly towards the Gundam I recognized as Deathscythe Hell. It was the same look I saw Quatre give Sandrock, Trowa give Heavyarms, Wufei give Altron, and Heero give Wing Zero.

"And Mina, this is the unnamed model 6, for Gundam pilot 06," the Professor replied, hitting the light over another Gundam.

This one was around the same size as the others, with dark blue, almost black armor highlighting the glittering white. A large shield was mounted on the back, and a beam spear was attached as well. Then, to my joy, although perhaps not Heero's I had my beloved buster rifle.

"Wow, not too shabby for a rookie," Duo commented, clapping me on the shoulder.

"No, not at all," I agreed.

"But what about a name? Any ideas, Professor?" Quatre asked.

"I thought I'd let Mina decide on a name. After all, it is her Gundam," she answered.

My Gundam. This was going to take some getting used to. I studied it, as though it were a piece of art. It truly was. Thinking about some of the most famous sculptures I'd ever seen, I thought of one. Venus de Milo, the statue without arms in the Louvre I got to see when I was seven.

"DeMilo. This is Gundam DeMilo."

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All for now, everyone! R+R+R!!