Disclaimer: Everyone already knows that I'm not the one who owns Gundam Wing. This story is NOT official.

Warnings: Mild language and violence.

A.N: Again, like the last chapter, not much has been changed from the original. A dialogue here and there and some sentence rewording, but the backbone of the chapter hasn't changed.

ZERO SOUL

Chapter 10: Reawakening Pains

By: Vegie-kun

Quatre slept uneasily in his bed; the blanket that had been covering his body was now tangled around his legs as unsettling images of something resembling Epyon flooded his mind. The beast stood there motionless, looking at him menacingly as if to challenge him to come hither. Its glowing green eyes spoke of danger before it suddenly turned its head away as it spotted something of more interest. The Arabian pilot was left speechless, still reeling from the shock but quickly turned to see what had caught the Gundam's attention. His eyes went wide as he spotted that all too familiar head of long blonde hair and sea blue eyes. She was looking off into the distance, as if naively unaware of the threat looming around her. Quatre made a dash for her, but the Epyon was faster and reached her in mere seconds, thrusters flaring. The young man froze, unable to do anything but watch the monster engulf the girl with its body. "NO!" Quatre's scream pierced through the night air as he was jolted awake. Blue-green eyes looked questioningly into dark oblivion as he clutched at his heart through his pajama shirt. /What did I just see? What does it mean?... Pain./ "My body... it's so... painful." His voice whispered hoarsely in the room, his grip tightening, forehead wet with night sweat. /Relena... Heero... Where are you guys?/

*BOOM* *KABOOM* *CRASH*

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" A rotund man with graying black hair yelled, getting out of his seat. He almost fell over as more explosions rocked the entire facility.

"SIR! It's WingZERO!" a soldier confirmed as he ran into the main control room of the military base located in the United States' Mojave Desert.

"WHAT!?" The old commander shouted, unable to comprehend his subordinates' words.

"WingZERO's attacking the base!" the soldier repeated, breathing heavily. He slouched over and rested his hands on his knees, tired from his run. "It came out of nowhere and has already destroyed the hangar and half of the tank patrol!"

"Are you absolutely positive!? I thought that thing was destroyed years ago!" he yelled back to the tired soldier. He raced to the panels and consoles and began pressing buttons furiously. Soon the monitors showed the horrible destruction littering the grounds of the desert base. He watched as the menacing mechanical being drew out its beam saber and started to slice through the remaining tanks that its twin barrel buster rifle had missed. "My God... why has it turned against us?" the old man muttered in disbelief. More explosions were heard and felt as the rest of the personnel within the room scrambled to get information on the situation around the base.

"Things haven't been the same since Foreign Minister Darlian's disappearance, sir," a soldier commented as he maneuvered the laser cannons to fire at the intruder.

"Then I pray that she's still alive and we find her soon... Maybe then all this can end before it's too late... She's about the only person left who can stop such madness." He motioned to the soldier to commence firing at the enemy. The screens lit up as the beams of light found its target, it staggered back a few steps from impact. Regaining its footing the Gundam unfolded its angelic wings and shielded its body from the assaulting blasts.

"Sir! We're picking up other bodies on the radar!" Another soldier called out in panic to the commanding officer. "There's about thirty of them, and they're headed here at an alarming rate!" His young face betrayed all the fear he felt inside his body, and he struggled to keep his composure.

"I've got visual confirmation," the man next to him informed as he pushed a button. Suddenly the monitor switched to reveal thirty mobile suits littering the sky. They looked like a hybrid between the Virgo mobile dolls and Serpent mobile suits. Armed with double Gatling guns and Planet Defensers they easily broke through the laser shower and descended upon the base. Once they touched ground the suits wasted no time and began to open fire on the buildings. The blasts and explosions shook the entire compound apart and people began to pour out of the rooms, evacuating to safety shelters.

"OZ," the general's one word confirmed all their worst fears. They didn't need to see any logos or receive any audio response to figure out who was behind this. It was plainly shown through the force of the attack, quick and precise. The old man sighed and shook his head, deflated. "I don't think we'll make it through this battle... but if we're going to die, we'll die fighting. Right?" he looked at his men, sadness and remorse gracing his weathered face. The other soldiers looked at the older man and nodded their heads in agreement before turning their attention to the battle in front of them.

"S-sir!" one of the men operating a panel stuttered, "There are three more bodies approaching us from the east." His hands flew over the panel's keyboard and within seconds another monitor came to life. "They're coming into view right... now!"

Silence, then..."Awww..." They were all stunned as they gazed upon the forms of Altron, Heavyarms, and Sandrock. Their thoughts were on whether or not the three new players were friend or foe. Luckily, their fears were assuaged when Altron powered up its twin beam trident and hurled itself at an enemy mobile suit.

"I think..." The old commander began, breathlessly, "that we've just been saved." He could no longer turn his gaze away from the battle.

"Trowa!" Quatre yelled over the com-link to his friend as he surveyed the small army of mechanical soldiers in front of them. "What kind of mobile suits are those?!"

"OZ mobile suits," replied the stoic pilot as he unloaded rounds of ammunition into a group of suits.

"Are they being piloted by soldiers or are they mobile dolls?" the Arabian pilot asked as he blocked off an attack from one of them.

"What does it matter!?" Wufei yelled as he fought off two mobile suits. They were severely outnumbered and the mobile suits were more advanced than what they were used to dealing with.

"Wufei's right, Quatre," Trowa stated as he dodged and shot into a group of the suits, "at the moment we can't afford to take it easy against them just on the offhand chance that there are real pilots inside."

"Bastards!" Wufei cursed to himself. "They just had to attack when Heero goes missing and that baka, Maxwell, is off visiting L2! AAAHHHH!" He screamed as he struck out at another suit, only to have the enemy block the blow.

For what seemed like ages they continued to trade blows and artillery fire with the enemy suits, doing their best to dodge and find openings for attacks. Wufei's initial judgement had been correct. It didn't matter whether the suits held a live pilot or was being controlled by a computer system. They couldn't afford to take the cautious route when the enemy clearly had the advantage. But what they lacked in numbers they certainly made up for in terms of superior fire power and unmatched battle experience. After a time they began to make progress in destroying the mobile suits but the pace was slow, too slow for their tastes. As the three fought the oncoming suits they failed to notice the Gundam that had unfurled its wings, positioning itself to strike them.

"Yuy?!" Wufei stammered, confused, when he caught a glimpse of those deceptively angelic wings. But it was too late; WingZERO had already descended upon Altron.

"WUFEI!" Quatre yelled when the winged Gundam rammed itself into Wufei's suit. Worried, he quickly finished off the hybrid suit in front of him and made a mad dash to aid his comrade. Opening his com-link he made to get Heavyarms' attention. "Trowa! WingZERO just appeared and is currently engaging Wufei!" He staggered back as a barrage of fire was aimed his way. "Why is WingZERO attacking us?! What is Heero doing in there?!" He questioned aloud knowing full well that he would get no satisfactory answer in return. "Doesn't he know who we are?!" Panicked by the prospects of what this meant he made his way quickly through the metallic melee. "Do you think he was captured and turned into someone like Rei?" His fear rose as flashes of last night's dream assailed him.

"That seems to be the case," the Heavyarms pilot agreed as he finished off yet another one of the persistent metal machines. Although his face, voice, and actions betrayed nothing, he knew his worst fears were being realized. /Sending Heero out by himself was a bad idea… If they have him on their side then we're in more trouble than we thought…/

"Stay back, Winner!" the Chinese pilot yelled at the Arabian. "Take care of the other mobile suits first, I can handle WingZERO!" The determination in his voice stopped the blond pilot dead in his tracks. Quatre knew Wufei held an amount of pride that wasn't so easily shaken so he respected that command and refrained from interfering. After a parting look at the dueling Gundams he turned around to assist Heavyarms.

"Quatre," Trowa said calmly, "switch your frequency to Heero's and see if you can talk some sense into him." That said he turned around and opened the compartments containing the micro missiles and sprayed them into the enemy crowd. The OZ suits attempted to dodge them though only a few managed to evade the onslaught unscathed.

After ducking a barrage of bullets from the nearby suits, Quatre began trying to tune into WingZERO's frequency. Minutes passed before the young man found the right one, making haste to contact the other pilot while he continued to defend himself. "Heero?! Is that you?!" he yelled frantically, waiting for a reply only to have silence answer him back. "What are you doing, Heero?!" He yelled earnestly, hoping for a reply. "Why are you attacking us!?" He continued to shout though to no avail. He continued to keep the line of communication open but as nothing but more silence followed, he realized his attempts were futile.

"It won't do you any good talking to him!" Altron's pilot shouted to the other two, "If he's anything like that onna, then it's just a waste of time." Wufei continued engaging with the winged Gundam, spinning and swinging his Twin Beam Trident.

Silence reigned over them afterwards even as the number of OZ mobile suits began to dwindle. The tides of battle had turned in favor of the Gundam pilots but they were becoming more and more exhausted as the time continued to tick away and their Gundams had taken much damage. The fighting continued as the young pilots received assistance from the base's laser cannons. In due course Heavyarms and Sandrock managed to bring the enemy's mobile suit number down to five, though Trowa was running low on ammunition. Turning their attention to Altron they noticed that Wufei had managed to knock WingZERO's Twin Barrel Buster Rifle out of its hand, leaving it to rely solely on its beam saber.

Quatre and Trowa eventually destroyed the last of the mobile suits and made their way to join Wufei in taking down WingZERO. Sandrock surveyed the destruction littering the military compound and its pilot let out a tired sigh. "We were too late to save most of the base," he said in a solemn voice, regret evident in his eyes. "I just hope we're not too late to save Heero." He propelled himself forward with his thrusters and was soon by Altron's side. The three Gundams stood in a circle around WingZERO, weapons drawn and ready for battle once more.

"Yuy," the Chinese pilot called over his com-link, "you know we have you outnumbered so why don't you just give up? There's no point in fighting anymore; you'll just cause more damage to yourself and your Gundam." They all waited for a response of any kind but received none. "Have it your way, Yuy." Declaration said, the dark eyed boy began his charge.

"Wufei, wait." Trowa calmly interrupted him.

"What is it!?" the other questioned with annoyance.

"Don't do anything that might provoke him further," Trowa's voice was even and serious.

"Trowa's right," Quatre agreed. "You know he has a tendency to self-detonate himself if there are no other options left to him. We can't take that chance; there are still too many people left on this base. If we're to confront him we have to do it in a place as far away from any sort of population as possible."

"Are you saying we should let him go?!" Wufei seethed.

"We have no other choice. We can't risk the lives of any more people," the blond reasoned.

"Watch out!" Trowa's warning quickly broke their argument as five more mobile suits appeared unexpectedly.

All three jumped out of the way as a shower of bullets rained down on them. Wufei instinctively extended his Dragon Fang and disemboweled one of the suits; Trowa charged at another, the remaining shells of his double Gatling gun finding its targets. The sound of bullets firing was heard and the two turned their heads just in time to see Quatre take down another with its Vulcan cannon. Wufei and Trowa soon put the remaining two out of commission while Quatre searched for others that may still be lurking within the vicinity. When no attack was forthcoming the three looked around for signs of the other Gundam but found none.

"Dammit!" the Chinese pilot yelled in frustration, realizing that those five suits were nothing more than a distraction meant to allow WingZERO the opportunity to escape capture. The pilots stood there for a while, exhausted, confused, angry, sad, and in total disbelief of what had just transpired.

In a dark prison cell, located deep within OZ's main base, the silhouette of Heero Yuy's figure sitting on the floor could be discerned from the light pouring through the bars of the doors small window. With his back against the wall, knees bent, head hung, and shackled hands stretched out in front of him, he remained still as death. He wondered what the time it was, having lost track of how many days he'd spent locked up in this darkness. Without a clock and the irregular timing of his meals, they made sure it stayed that way to keep his disoriented. The first day, or what he surmised was the first day, had been bearable. But as he sat there without anything to do he felt the boredom and lethargy creep onto and seep into him. The situation truly made him regret not giving Trowa more detail as to where he'd been headed. If he had just done so, it was likely that the Preventers would have already deployed a search and rescue party into the area.

His head perked up slightly when he heard heavy but even paced footsteps approaching his way. He had an idea of who it was as there were only a few soldiers within this organization who possessed such a commanding gait. Soon the footsteps reached his cell, stopping directly in front of his door. He heard the sound of keys clanging and in seconds the door was pried open. The light from the hallway silhouetted the figure, and Heero was able to identify the general. The man grinned as he made his way inside the room, taking a seat on the unused bed left by the Gundam pilot. He didn't bother to close the door as he began to converse with the prisoner.

"Rei is making good use of that Gundam of yours," he started in an amused voice. "She took to it very fast which isn't hard to imagine considering her experience with the Neo Epyon..." He smiled at the younger man mockingly, reminding him of his initial failure at protecting the girl. "I must say that your Gundam is quite impressive, even with the scaled back armor. Whoever you sequestered to build it made sure to compensate it well for what seems to be a lack of materials. The blueprints Treize left behind for the original Epyon couldn't match this WingZERO… but in regards to the Neo Epyon… it's vastly improved from the original. You can say they are almost evenly matched. The only deciding factor left is the-"

"Pilot," Heero finished evenly.

"Yes," he agreed, "and we all know who that will be." He smiled wickedly. "She's an incredible pilot… not to mention quite beautiful as well." Whitenburg chuckled softly to himself when his gaze was met with deadly blue eyes that held a promise of pain.

"If you've touched her in any way, I swear I'll kill you with my bare hands," the captive pilot threatened, silent fire and hatred burning in his eyes.

The man laughed at the threat and shook his head; it was delightfully easy to rile the young man when a certain blonde was concerned. "You have nothing to worry about. I made sure that nothing like that happened to her. I'm a gentleman after all; to me such acts are abhorrent and dishonorable. Besides if something like that were to happen, the Seele units wouldn't work." Seeing the lack of comprehension his statement failed to give the man continued. "Such 'acts' causes trauma to the mind, especially when it's that of a young girl. Those types of trauma cannot be blocked out and are actually able to override the programming of the units, causing the subject to relive that same event over and over again. Unable to handle the situation, they eventually go berserk and destroy anything and everything that threatens them."

Heero became silent, letting what the General had said sink in. "Did you erase her memories?" he asked in his even voice.

"Erase?" the older man smiled, evidently amused, before answering. "Erasing memories means destroying brain cells. There is no other way around it. If too many brain cells are destroyed the person becomes a vegetable and utterly useless. We needed her in tip top condition for the role she is currently playing."

Again the man was given a deadly stare. "The world was at peace. There was no reason for you to start another war," the younger man stated from his seat on the steel floor.

"Peace is not absolute nor is it permanent," the general coldly replied. "What you call 'peace', I call a state of denial. Conflicts never disappear; they just take on other forms and stay hidden from public view until the opportune time."

"Why did you start this?" Heero's voice was rather demanding despite his current situation.

"Well... If I have to give a reason as to 'why' then it's because it was needed," the older man replied calmly taking out a pack of cigarettes and lighter from his breast pocket. "When the war ended the countries that relied on it began to decline. Those who worked making artillery and those who served in the armies were left without a place to go but they still held hope that it was only temporary." He paused to light up and take a drag. He blew out a stream of smoke, before turning to Heero with a thoughtful expression. "You don't mind if I smoke right?" He asked before chuckling to himself. "What am I saying? Like I give a damn about what you prefer. Anyways... " He continued, taking another drag. "When de-militarization began those hopes were crushed and those people were forced to start life over again. You should know very well what that must have been like being a soldier yourself." He paused for a while and eyed the boy waiting for some response but none was given.

"During the conflict you were praised as a hero and a worthy enemy, but when it ended you were discarded like some old rag doll. But that in itself was not the biggest tragedy. No." His voice became emotionless as a dark expression overtook him. "The most humiliating part was having to follow the machinations of a fifteen-year-old girl who knew nothing of a soldier's livelihood. Our say in such matters was slowly wrenched from us as she encouraged countries to disarm themselves, not knowing that arms were what kept their economies alive... But now we will use her to get back what she took; she will take us back to the beginning and we will rebuild this world."

Heero shook his head at that. "She knew war... She knew the cost of it... the real cost of it, " He began contemplatively, "Which was the reason why she wanted it to end... She wanted to make it so that people wouldn't be afraid to go out and live. If she hadn't thought those people could pick themselves up then she wouldn't have suggested such proclamations or promoted such ideals. War may provide income to some but it takes their lives along with many others in return." Heero fixed an icy glare on the man.

"That's quite an amusing view of this situation," Whitenburg scoffed flicking ash off the end of the cigarette, "But I will not be deterred from the path I have chosen. The wheels have already been set in motion and I plan to see it to the end. If she wins, the people will hate her and if she dies, the people will lose their hope. In the end I will emerge victorious." The general paused, hearing footsteps slowly making their way towards the cell. A shadow appeared in the doorway and the men looked up. "How was your first mission in WingZERO, Rei?"

"Unsuccessful," the girl replied in her clipped monotone voice.

"Complications?" he mused, bringing up the cigarette to his mouth and taking a long drag on it.

"Affirmative," she replied, still standing in the doorway.

"Looks like your friends are finally catching up to us." The older man closed his eyes for a second, sighed and slowly got up from his seat. "Keep our 'guest' company, Rei. I'm going to personally oversee the repairs for the Gundam. If we can't get it in tip top condition by the scheduled 'date' then you'll be piloting the Neo Epyon." He saw her nod; satisfied he threw the butt on the floor, stamping it out before leaving the room.

Once gone, an uncomfortable silence blanketed the two young pilots. She took the general's previous seat upon the bed and leaned back on the wall, crossing her arms and legs. Her gaze fell on the boy even as his was on the floor. He didn't dare meet her red orbs, afraid he'd find what he'd always seen in them. Nothing. She reminded him too much of himself and he hated who he was; a coward. One who would rather run away from the things that plagued his mind rather than face them. One who lied to himself about his feelings because he wasn't used to experiencing them. One who used his 'missions' as an excuse not to feel. But he did feel. Once. Twice. They were always all too fleeting and prone to interruptions.

"How were they?" Heero found himself asking when he couldn't stand her cold gesture towards him any longer. He found himself needing to hear her voice to make sure she was alive.

"Formidable." The girl answered, ever dutiful to the orders given to keep the 'guest' company.

"WingZERO?" he queried, not taking his eyes off the floor.

There was a brief pause and Heero turned his head to meet her eyes. "... Different," she finally replied, keeping a steady gaze on the sitting figure.

"How so?" he deepened the conversation in an attempt to nonchalantly pry information out of her.

"It... feels different." Rei didn't like the questions, but she was given an order and she wasn't one to disobey.

"Feels?" the boy's interest was piqued with the strange answer.

"Like... there is someone else in there." The girl stopped for a second, her face had a rare look of surprise to it. /That same feeling.../ She turned her head fully to the Japanese pilot, her expression still one of surprise. "You… It feels like you," she stated in an accusing manner.

Heero raised his eyebrows. /Like me? What does she mean by that?/ Lost in thought he failed to notice that the girl had gotten up and was now kneeling in front of him. She wanted to see his eyes; maybe she could find an answer in them, one that would help explain what she felt. For some reason unknown to her, whenever she was near him the hairs on the back of her head stood on end, like she was afraid of something. Although if she really dissected the feeling, it wasn't that she was afraid of him. No. It was more like she was afraid for him, not knowing what was going to happen to the Japanese pilot and being in the WingZERO didn't change that. In fact, that feeling was what prevented her from completing her mission; prevented her from killing those other Gundam pilots.

Her face inched closer to the prisoner's, still trying to find an answer there. She locked her eyes with his and bore into them. She noticed that his breathing had become shallow, apparently unfamiliar with such closeness. "Who are you?" she asked suddenly, surprising the both of them. Before he could say anything her hands clutched at her head, pain ripping through her skull.

*FLASHBACK*

As WingZERO stood in the middle of a large and empty room, the only occupants that could be seen were that of a young boy and girl. They both stood in front of the Gundam's open cockpit, staring into each other's eyes as they exchanged words. The girl held a look of worry while the boy held one of reassurance.

"If you live through this there will be peace." The words were scattered through her mind, unsure of the order to which the words being recalled came in. The images were scattered as well as if they'd been especially picked for her to see.

"Believe in me," the boy said as he brought his helmet closer to hers. If not for the helmets one could have sworn their lips would touch, even if it were the slightest of butterfly touches.

*END FLASHBACK*

The girl's aquamarineeyes stared questioningly at the boy's deep Prussian blue. Before she could say anything the pain came back; her mind fought to remember the prisoner before her.

*FLASHBACK*

The same girl was at a naval base, apparently on a search for someone. She spotted a crop of dark brown hair and approached it, calling out his name but it was lost to the wind. He'd heard her though and turned around with a placid look upon his face before drawing out his gun.

"You're in way over your head."

*END FLASHBACK*

The pain was too unbearable as the girl squeezed her eyes shut in a vain attempt to block out the flashing images that continued to bombard her.

*FLASHBACK*

At the balcony of a school a boy stood with his back and arms against the stone rails. His face seemed to stare off into space while a group of girls watched him from the side. One of the girls, a blonde with blue-green eyes, walked up to him and handed him a card. The words the girl said were unheard as he took the invitation from her hand. Suddenly, without warning, the boy ripped the paper in half. Tears threatened to form in the girl's eyes as she asked him 'Why?'. Before a single drop could fall he reached out his hand towards her face and took it away.

"Omae o korosu."

*END FLASHBACK*

The girl got up to run away from the painful visions but only managed to take a few steps back before stumbling to the ground. /Pain./ She felt them with each image. Deciding not to fight against it any longer she succumbed to her body's weariness and fell over, unconscious. The guards came in when they'd heard her hit the floor. Quick to action Heero leapt into the air and took the two young soldiers out with a heavy blow to each of their heads. Sneering at the two bodies now decorating the floor he looked towards the third body in the back.

Something wasn't right with the girl and Heero knew it. He wanted to stay and check on her well being but he couldn't afford to let go of an opportunity such as this. He could escape without anyone finding out for at least a couple of hours, but he didn't want to leave her in her present state. Mentally confirming his decision the pilot went over to one of the fallen guards; retrieving the key he unlocked the bindings imprisoning his wrist. He moved back to the girl sprawled on the floor and scooped her into his arms. Walking over to the empty bed he gently placed her onto the semi-soft mattress, staring at her for a brief moment as he stroked her blonde bangs to the side. Unconsciously, he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead before leaving the cell in a mad dash. /I'm not leaving you... I will come back... I promise./

He left the room too quickly to notice the girl tossing her head back and forth as she fought to regain consciousness. "Heero..." she cried softly into the still air of the room.

-to be continued-