Crash and Burn
Part 11
Author: Nyneve
Wow, it's been a long time since I've updated this one. I know, bad me. Well, with my MSN Messenger on the fritz, I'm getting what I deserve *attacks messenger*. Anyways, thank you people who've visited my site! I love being loved ^.^ And now, there's lotsa crossover pics for the taking now that I fixed em! Isn't that nice of me? So go help yourself to some nice crossover piccies. I take requests! Don't own the anime.
-Nyneve
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I stood breathing in deeply in the night air. Stars…so many stars…
"Almost as pretty as you…" said a sarcastic voice from behind me. I turned around to see Duo. His usual carefree expression was replaced with one of contempt and anger. But it was his eyes that revealed how hurt and betrayed he felt.
Now was the time to lose the bluff. There was no one out here with us. No spies, no recorders, nobody.
"Duo, don't you get it? I'm faking it. It's all just…"
"You expect us to believe that?" asked a quieter voice. It was Trowa.
"Of course! This is what you trained me to do! I'd never join OZ-II for real?"
"Is that the truth, Mina? You hate us, don't you?" murmured Quatre, not looking at me.
"Obviously. She sold us out, didn't she? Almost handed us over to Dorothy's sister," Wufei snapped.
"What is your problem? Am I that good at faking?" I cried, near tears. I choked when I saw myself at the wrong end of a gun.
"Maybe," answered Heero, then he pulled the trigger.
"NO!" I screamed, sitting up straight in bed, sweat poring down my face.
Panting, I looked around the barracks. I'd been an official member of OZ-II for three months. But already, I'd been promoted to Special Lieutenant. After I'd sold out my former comrades.
Praying they'd realize what I was doing, I lead a group to the flats and laboratory the Professor had been using on the colony. Luckily, everyone was gone. However, all of their plans and even Gundams Sandrock and Heavyarms had been captured. Wing Zero, Deathscythe, Altron, and DeMilo were all missing. I couldn't help but wonder why only Trowa and Quatre's Gundams were left behind. I hope nothing happened to them.
"Aino? That you?" Lieutenant Gruenwald. She was my "partner", and was trying to be my friend. We were both members of the A-3 Intelligence and Recovery Crew, a team that consisted of five spies who would go undercover to retrieve information, and sometimes get rid of people who knew too much.
"Yeah…yeah. Just a bad dream. I'm all right," I answered.
"Better get up now anyways. We've got to take care of Capriccio today, remember? The plane?" she pointed out, getting up.
I nodded feebly, trying to shake off the feelings of guilt and sadness the dream had brought on.
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"Lisa? Coffee please," Mr. Capriccio of the prestigious Forte company requested as I passed him.
We were on board his private jet. We had replaced his pilot, copilot, stewardess, and personal assistant and were waiting until we were convinced we could get a disk Commander Regan had assigned us to retrieve. I was playing the part of the stewardess, Gruenwald was his assistant, and Lieutenants Jamerson and Garcia were the pilot and copilot. The fifth member of our team, Lieutenant Smith was below us, waiting with an escape route.
"Of course, Mr. Capriccio," I headed back to the galley. As I did, I passed Gruenwald, who held up a finger. Nodding, I pulled the gun out from my jacket and stood in front of the back of the plane.
Jamerson stepped out of the cockpit, smiling at Capriccio. "Sorry to interrupt sir. Just letting you know there's going to be a little turbulence."
Capriccio sniffed. "I hope it won't be too long of a delay."
"Well sir, it depends," he said.
"On what?" Capriccio asked, raising an eyebrow.
"On whether you give us the disk in your briefcase," he finished.
"I beg your pardon?" Capriccio cried, his hand going to his briefcase. However, Gruenwald fired at his hand.
"What in the…Marie! What is the meaning of this?" he cried.
"Sorry Capriccio. I'm not Marie," she said, removing the black wig.
"And I'm not Lisa," I added, taking off the red wig.
"So that means you and the copilot aren't the real pilot and copilot?" Capriccio asked.
"Correct," answered Garcia as he stepped out of the cockpit.
"Well I…" Capriccio froze "WHO'S FLYING THE PLANE?!?!?!"
"It's on a programmed autopilot that will fly you around the world or until it runs out of fuel, whatever comes first. That is, unless you give us the disk," I explained. "I'd advise, Mr. Capriccio, that you not throw your life away so recklessly. Such things are better left to the young."
Capriccio was silent then opened his briefcase.
"Put the disk on the ground," Jamerson ordered. Capriccio obeyed.
After nudging it with his foot a few times, Garcia picked it up. "Thank you, Mr. Capriccio. You've been a wonderful help."
"Now, goodbye," finished Gruenwald, shooting him in the head.
Once the disk was secured, we grabbed our parachutes from the compartments we had stowed them in, then opened up the door.
"You three go ahead. I'll shut off the autopilot," Garcia said, disappearing into the cockpit.
With the exception of Garcia, I was the last to jump out the door. I'd been training for the past few weeks, and this was my first jump. I was terrified. But when I saw Jamerson's contented smile and Gruenwald's triumphant thumbs up, I calmed down. If only the others could've been like this…
Aino, if you ever think that again you will die a gruesome death the little voice snapped. Damn. Just when I thought I'd gotten rid of it for good.
Are you forgetting they want to take control and rule the world militarily? Or maybe you just want a piece of the pie…
"No!" I cried.
"What? Aino, open it now or it'll be too late!" Jamerson cried, staring at me incredulously.
Blinking, I realized he'd just told me to open my parachute. I did so in the nick of time. We landed softly in a grassy field. Ten minutes later, a truck drove up. Lieutenant Smith poked his head out.
"You gave me the wrong coordinates, Garcia," he snapped.
"We were a little late in jumping. Sorry," Garcia apologized.
"Yeah, well get in before someone shows up, or the plane lands. We want to be as far away as possible when that happens," he remarked as we piled in. "Did you get it?"
Jamerson pulled out the disk. "Yeah, we got it."
"Heh. Bet we move up to A-2," Smith commented.
"Wouldn't that mean we'd be like, the second best team in OZ-II?" I asked.
"Yes Mina, it would," Gruenwald grinned. I blinked. None of us called each other by our first names.
"Uh-uh-uh, Petra. Business-only relationships!" Smith scolded jokingly.
"Yeah, Jared. Bet you and Marcus NEVER call each other by their first names," Garcia smiled.
"Shut up, Christopher!" we all said in unison, then burst out laughing.
Screw business-only relationships.
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"Congratulations A-3 Crew. I am pleased to award you the title of A-1 Intelligence and Recovery Crew!" Regan smiled as we stood in her office.
Our jaws dropped. A-1? That meant that we're the best!
"A-a-a-1?" Jamerson cried.
"Correct, Lieutenant Jamerson. I'm promoting you to head of Recovery as well. And Lieutenant Aino is being promoted to head of Intelligence. You two as well as the team are by far the best I have ever seen at what you do. I hope you'll be with us a long time," Regan's eyes turned toward me and locked. "Very long."
"I hope so too," I nodded, feigning agreement. Although this was arguably the happiest day of my life, I hated myself for it. I'm still a spy, only a spy. I'm not even a spy for OZ-II! I hate it, but I'm working for the Professor.
This makes no sense. Why should I hate being so happy for hurting the person I hate but still feel obliged to help? I really like the other members of my team. I'd rather face charging rhinos than the Gundam pilots. Jumping out of planes is more fun than piloting DeMilo. Although she's sarcastic and twisted, I like Regan better than the indifferent and annoyingly calm Professor.
"So, what do you think, Aino?" Garcia asked. We had moved out of Regan's office and were standing in the waiting room.
"About what?" I snapped back to reality.
"We've got the evening off, so do you want to go out for dinner?" Smith suggested.
"Oh yeah! I'm starved!" Gruenwald exclaimed.
"What about you, Jamerson?" I turned to the head of Recovery. He wasn't listening. We always had to listen to his rambling about how badly he wanted us to be A-1. He'd never dreamed of getting his wish and becoming head of Recovery.
"Come on, we should celebrate! Especially you two," Smith pointed out.
"Why not? I could go for Italian," Jamerson grinned. "In honor of the late Mr. Capriccio."
"Yes, a shame really about that plane crash," I added. "Good thing his staff got away."
"Very good thing," Gruenwald remarked as we headed out to Smith's truck.
Dinner was uneventful. Garcia was kind enough to buy us a bottle of wine, and Smith, not wanting to look cheap, paid for our meals. Although Jamerson and I offered to pay, he insisted that it wasn't our place, since the "party" was mostly for us. Gruenwald, we all knew, liked to let people buy things for her.
All in all, it was a good evening. Until we started to head out. My cell phone started to ring. I picked it up.
"Damn it Aino! Where the hell are you and the rest of A-3?" our supervisor, Commander Rhodes demanded.
"It's A-1 now, Commander," I corrected gently. "Commander Catalonia gave us the evening off. What's the matter?"
"The matter? THE MATTER?" she screamed. "THE MATTER IS, CONFISCATED GUNDAMS SANDROCK AND HEAVYARMS HAVE BEEN STOLEN!! AND TO MAKE MATTERS WORSE, THEY AND THREE OTHER GUNDAMS ARE ATTACKING THE BASE!"
I froze. This wasn't happening.
"GET OVER HERE NOW, AINO!" Rhodes finished, then hung up.
"Get in the car you guys. The base is under attack," I murmured, breaking into a run towards the truck.
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"Holy shit," Garcia murmured as we tried to take down the five gigantic suits with our attack chopper.
"You know, there's a reason we're in intelligence. We don't handle combat well!" Gruenwald commented, avoiding Altron's Dragon Claw.
I kept my mouth shut. In exchange for any information on the Gundams, Regan had agreed not to tell anyone I was her source of information. None of my teammates knew I was involved with them.
"Damn it! Aino, we're out of ammo," Smith cried.
"Great. What now?" I asked.
"TO THE LEFT GRUENWALD!" Jamerson cried as one of Sandrock's Heat Shotels flew towards us. We weren't fast enough.
It got the back end, and we plummeted to the ground.
"Assume crash positions!" Garcia cried feebly. We did. Amazingly enough, we didn't die. We did, however, get burned when we made impact with the base and the chopper burst into flames.
"Move it!" I yelled, kicking open the door and jumping over a pile of rubble into the hallway. I heard their footsteps from behind me.
"Aino! Where are we going?" Smith yelled.
"I have no clue!" I replied, calling back. I turned around a corner and froze. It was Heero.
"Mina?" he said, clearly not expecting me.
"Get out of the way," I ordered, shoving him aside. He caught my wrist.
"What's going on?" he asked, twisting it painfully.
"Fire…" I began.
"All right then!" came a triumphant cry from Gruenwald. A gun went off and Heero fell, pulling me with him.
"New friends?" he snapped, struggling to stand. However, Garcia caught him in a headlock.
"Let her go asshole," he growled. Heero grunted and freed my wrist.
"You okay, Aino?" Jamerson asked, taking my hand gently and examining it.
"I'm fine. Thanks, Garcia," I said.
"No problem. Now then, should we kill this guy?" he said, holding a gun to Heero's head.
"Works for me," Smith answered, following suit.
"He deserves it," Gruenwald added, taking aim.
Suddenly, a rush of flame appeared at us. There was a loud explosion, and I heard Gruenwald scream.
"Run!" I cried, dragging Jamerson by the wrist. We made it out of the building just in time.
"No…" he murmured. "They're…gone. Gruenwald, Smith, Garcia…"
"Heero…" I couldn't stop myself. Thank God Jamerson didn't hear me.
"Mina, you save my life," he said, looking at me. The next thing I knew, his arms were around me in a tight embrace.
This was wrong. So wrong. I'd just saved the enemy. I'd just killed three of my best friends. I'd just killed Heero.
I couldn't handle it.
"I'm sorry," I whispered to Jamerson.
Then, I turned away.
And I ran.
And I didn't look back.
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Shorter than usual, but very action packed, no? Hee hee. Saw a movie about skydiving at Six Flags yesterday. Couldn't resist. R+R!