Disclaimer: You people already know that I don't own Gundam Wing.

Warnings: Mild language and violence

ZERO SOUL

Chapter 13: Denial

By: Vegie-kun

The lights in the hallway were faint, only enough to illuminate the area to a dim gray. Soft, steady footsteps were heard throughout the dark corridor as the outline of a slim figure appeared from the shadows. Blonde hair, softly highlighted by the artificial illumination, swayed back and forth as the young woman walked. She looked as if in a trance, her left hand tracing the wall; unaware of where she was headed yet knowing she had to get there. Dark red eyes framed by pale skin stared emotionlessly into the oblivion before her. It must have been at least an hour since she had woken up and began her currently unsuccessful search for whatever it was that bought her out of her dreamless slumber. Since then she had been wandering through the labyrinth that was the OZ base, chasing something only she knew existed. Without warning she stopped before a large door, instincts telling her that there was something she should see within that compound. Eyes still fixated on the empty corridor before her she moved her hand to press in the code that would allow her entry. The metal barrier slid open and a gust of air greeted her.

"..." Something was wrong; though there were immediate visible signs, she knew it from the feeling tugging annoyingly at her mind. Slowly, the girl turned around and entered the vast hanger. The smell of motor oil and grease and exhaust still lingered in the air. /He was here... Hn./ With that thought in mind she began to survey her surroundings; spotting the bare space next to the Neo Epyon she confirmed his departure. Unsurprisingly she remained unfazed by the whole ordeal, her expression unchanged; keeping calm through any ordeal was something they made sure to ingrain into her. Not even bothering to go and inform the others, the young woman kept on walking towards the back until she was at the platform leading to the steel walkway above her. Every movement was made subconsciously, her mind still seemingly not her own.

When the platform came to a halt the blonde stepped off. She took a few seconds to look around, checking to see if anything else was amiss. Drawing in a quiet breath she stalked towards the menacing blood red monster that slept at the end. Her eyes locked with its eyes and she slowly closed the gap between them. /It's been too long.../ The corners of her pale lips curved upwards into an uncharacteristically dark smile, unknown thoughts floating through her mind. She stopped abruptly before the red beast and held her position, seeming to challenge its will and authority. Her hands ran over the smooth Gundanium, mimicking the earlier motions of another person, and she pressed the switch to open the cockpit. The slim blonde quickly jumped into the seat not bothering to strap herself in as she sealed herself inside the compartment.

The soft hum of the engines filled her ears making her feel comfortable and uneasy at the same time. /Epyon?/ Their was a strange unfamiliarity that was coursing through her that she couldn't explain. The girl took a few moments and reorganized her wayward emotions, her face displaying nothing but determination as she set her gaze on the platform connecting to the upper world. /You cannot get away from me so easily... no one can./ Neo Epyon's feet pounded on the steel floor in a uniform pace as they made their way across the deserted hangar. When the two reached their destination they proceeded to get on but before the platform could lift them up, her ears picked up the sound of a sliding door as it filled the vast, open space.

"Get out of there, Rei," came the firm command.

The Gundam froze but remained standing on the platform in a rather defiant manner as it stared at the small figure below it. The General witnessed this rather odd behavior and his eyes hardened. Never before had she failed to act immediately on an issued order, especially one given by him. "Now." The command was even firmer and left no room for arguing. This time the girl did not disobey as she proceeded to maneuver the Gundam off the platform. After waiting a few seconds the man saw the cockpit door open before the girl jumped down, landing on one knee next to him. The red-eyed pilot stood tall and met her superior's unwavering gaze with one of her own.

"Just what did you think you were doing?" the General asked her sternly.

"Going after the enemy," she replied in her cold voice, her eyes never leaving his.

"The Gundam pilot?" the man looked confused. "He already escaped days ago."

"Incorrect," the girl briskly responded, "He has just recently left the facility. WingZERO is missing and the room still holds traces of his presence."

That statement stunned the blue-eyed man. Quickly scanning the room he confirmed her answer to be true. He cursed under his breath and tried to compose himself as best he could before turning around to face the young pilot. He met her strange eyes and a sigh escaped him before he was able to catch it. "That doesn't matter," he finally managed, "you're too important to lose. We can't afford to have anything happen to you at this stage in the game. Do you understand?" He waited until he saw some form of recognition in her eyes before continuing. "Rei, you are the only one here who can control the ZERO system and those who can control the ZERO system control the fate of the war."

"I'm an invaluable asset," it was a simple statement but one that seemed to strike a strange cord in the man before her as his stoic face faltered slightly.

"Training will commence at 0600 hours; you know the drill. Get some rest before then," his voice sounded weary when he finished, his expression reflected the same thing. Closing his eyes to momentarily sort out some thoughts he opened them again and watched quietly as the girl indifferently left his presence, making her way to and exiting through the metal door. His shoulders slumped once he was left alone; no longer having to keep the form of a stiff general for the moment. /An invaluable asset, yes... but much more as well. I wish those Seele units would allow you to see just how valuable your life is... that neither side is willing to lose you, but then you wouldn't be Rei anymore... and so you would be of no use to us. Once this is over, we will free you of your duties, I will see to that... I never thought that this would be the way that we would achieve our goals... did you, Anna?/ Silence fell and then the automated lights turned off, leaving him in total darkness.

The moment was tense and silence prevailed despite the thoughts and statements screaming to be let out. No, he wouldn't allow it, not now, not after what had happened. All that could be heard was the biting winter wind as it hissed through the sparsely strewn trees, stirring the last few remaining leaves and making them dance. The tension was building by the minute and the others fidgeted in distress and embarrassment; that was exactly how he wanted it. He would have given a sadistic smile but that would've broken the mood he'd so painstakingly tried to cultivate. No, they wouldn't be let off so easily. The others knew he was using all the strength he possessed to control himself… to keep the anger at bay. For that reason alone they decided to stay quiet and hold their tongues. Finally satisfied that he had caused them some discomfort with the waiting they'd undergone, he began.

"Know that the only reason all of you are still alive is because you may still prove useful against OZ." He spat out coldly. "If that wasn't the case then I wouldn't have hesitated in taking all of your lives for that stunt you pulled on me," the voice was restrained but the underlying threat was clear to the other four. He paused for a brief second and shifted his gaze to the fallen mobile suit. "You may as well have killed me since my Gundam will be out of commission until it's repaired which means that I won't be able to do anything until it's repaired. The explanation better be damned good if you value your lives." He ended with his trademark death glare, waiting for whatever excuse they were going to give for damaging HIS WingZERO and for making him go through such an ordeal. /Oh, it better be a good one. Telling me they thought that I was Rei won't be good enough for me to let them leave... alive./

The four youths standing before the Japanese appeared to be very nervous... at least the American and the Arabian anyways. Silently communicating with their eyes, head flicks and hand gestures they soon unanimously nominated the rather unfortunate Duo for the task at hand. The usually jovial pilot hesitantly stepped forward trying to avoid the cold Prussian blue glare. "Well... ya see..." Duo began as his right hand scratched the back of his head as he fought to find his voice and the right words to say under the withering glare of his angry friend, "we thought..."

"Hn."

"We thought that if we captured you then we could do something to deprogram you," he promptly finished, eager to get away from the maddening look in his comrade's eyes.

"You thought that I was working for them?" he seethed; his anger was beginning to resurface once more much to the chagrin of the other four.

Quatre immediately waved his hands in front of him. "Not of your own free will," he quickly assured him though equally afraid of what the suicidal youth would do.

"From what they were able to do to Relena we assumed they would be able to do the same to you," Trowa calmly explained in his steady voice.

Crossing him arms over his chest he looked from one person to another. "This was Trowa's plan, wasn't it?" the dark haired youth queried lifting an eyebrow in the taller pilot's direction. The others nodded and there was silence once more as WingZERO's pilot closed his eyes in quiet contemplation. Minutes passed and Wufei was visibly becoming impatient but a look from Trowa told him that this was not the time to start a fight. The Chinese youth held back his annoyance waiting for the other to respond. After what seemed to be an eternity the WingZERO pilot finally broke the silence with a simple question. "How?"

As if on cue Trowa spoke up. "WingZERO attacked a desert base in North America about a week ago," he paused when Heero nodded his head in acknowledgement, "and we assumed that OZ had gotten control of you since you failed to report in a few days before the attack."

"Since then we've been trying to come up with a plan to safely take you into our custody," Quatre chimed in.

"The idea was to render WingZERO's self-detonation system completely inoperable so that we could eliminate the possibility of you killing yourself and taking the rest of us with you," Trowa stated in his level tone.

"You don't know how hard we trained in order to make sure that didn't happen," Duo groaned from his position next to Quatre.

"Those two Geminis," Heero motioned his head in the direction of the mobile suits left in the back, "seem different than what I saw at their base."

"Oi, did you say Geminis?" Duo questioned with wide eyes but was ignored by the others.

"We built those specifically for this mission," the tall pilot answered. "We designed them to look like the OZ mobile suits but we made them lighter and faster so they could keep up with WingZERO." He noticed Heero eyeing the remaining fallen suits and quickly moved on to address them. "The other suits on the ground were the ones we took out during that attack on the North American base. They proved useful in making this base 'assault' look more convincing."

"How did you know my location?"

"The satellites picked you up," Wufei stated flatly. "We had those things programmed to lock onto WingZERO's signal as soon as it appeared again." The tension had lessened slightly but none of them hoped for any sort of miracle.

"And you were able to set all this up in that amount of time?"

"We had everything loaded onto carriers beforehand, ready to set up should you decide to show yourself," the Chinese man smirked and crossed his arms over his chest, proud of their accomplishment. "When we confirmed the location you were headed to we just flew to an area near it. It was pure luck that this abandoned base was here so we decided to make use of it."

"Who's in there?" Dark, dangerous, Prussian blue eyes indicated the two mobile suits whose pilots were still inside their cockpits.

"Well, I guess you're going to find out sooner or later," Duo remarked as he rubbed the back of his head. "Oi, you two! You can come out now! I don't think Heero's gonna keep his composure for much longer and we'll need you if he decides to go crazy on us!" He screamed to the towering metal monsters then crossed his arms over his chest and waited for a response.

The cockpit doors slowly hissed as the locks were released. The two figures were still hidden in the darkness of the small compartments as they made their move to get out. Heero's eyebrows perked up when he saw the forms slipping out before they narrowed in annoyance.

"Ack! I thought I'd never get out of there," the perky German girl remarked as she lowered herself onto the ground with the help of the suit's cable line. "It's been so long. I almost forgot how stuffy those things can get. So Duo... um, is he mad at us?" She turned to face her love and was rewarded with a sympathetic look. The girl gulped as she slowly maneuvered her head to acknowledge the angry pilot; jumping back at the glower she was given.

"Don't worry, Miss Schbeiker," the mature, feminine voice belonging to Lady Une reassured her as she joined them, "I'm sure he understands why we used such unconventional means to detain him. It's not our fault for incorrectly assuming that he was working for OZ considering he failed to inform us of his plans before he left a week ago." She gave Heero a reprimanding look. "Hmm..." The older woman redirected her gaze towards the Gemini and let out a sigh. "I never thought I'd be piloting a mobile suit again... not since..." Her eyes saddened as she trailed off, traces of tears forming at the corners of those eyes. She quickly wiped them away before anyone could take notice and straightened up, ready to properly address the young man before her.

"Heero Yuy," she began in a professional tone, "It's good to see you came out of that unscathed. We tried our best not to cause you any serious or unnecessary harm. I hope you can forgive us."

"Hn. Is there an extra carrier that can take WingZERO back to base?" He asked curtly.

"We can load WingZERO into one of the carriers that housed the spare mobile suits," the Chief Preventer replied. "I guess we should get started on the repairs as soon as possible."

The pilot shook his head. "Don't worry about the repairs, I'm having them done on L1," Heero informed her and saw the confused looks on the other's faces and quickly addressed their silent questions, "I have to give the Gundam engineers some things to look at. Just tell those people back at headquarters to have something ready to take me into space by the time we get there."

The tall General stood there in the small observation room, currently preoccupied with the things taking place in the training room adjoining it. His stern gaze was on the lithe form of the blonde soldier who was currently preoccupied with her daily exercises. She was going over the procedures she was to take for various scenarios that would come about in battle and he was paying close attention to every one of her responses.

"Your little doll seems to be in good shape," a deep, calm, and sly voice remarked.

Whitenburg didn't even need to turn his head to know who that voice belonged to. "What are you doing here, Dereks?" he asked in a cold and impatient tone.

The Captain chuckled at the seemingly cold manner in which his old friend was treating him. "Just observing," was the cool reply as the younger man moved to stand next to the General in front of the one-way mirror. "I still can't believe that the girl in there is the same Foreign Minister Darlian." He gave another low chuckle and shook his head in mock disbelief before focusing back on the girl's training.

"She's so very different from the girl she used to be... Aside from the fact that she's obviously much stronger... She's also more assertive... like she doesn't even hesitate in anything she does... so mechanical. Much more confident too... don't you think so?" He turned to face the older man, his left hand absently brushing away stray locks of reddish blond hair out of his eyes.

The dark haired man knew the other was trying to goad him and he wanted to repay the favor. "Are you still disappointed that she was chosen to pilot the Neo Epyon?" Whitenburg queried a little smugly. He smiled inwardly when he sensed that his words had touched a nerve. "I don't know why you're complaining, you get to pilot an upgraded Gemini II. In my opinion they're almost the same, just a fraction slower and a touch less powerful. I mean the only real difference is the presence of the ZERO system." He looked into the other's brown eyes and saw cold fire that almost burned with hatred. "Captain Dereks, I am not saying that you aren't a skilled pilot. In fact, you rank among the top here and you're still so young. Pilots with your skill and talent don't come by very often and I am glad to have you among us. So why do you still hold a grudge?" His voice became stern; he wasn't going to let the other go without a reasonable explanation.

His old friend was quick to reply. "You insult us, General. Or more correctly, you insult me. You have no idea how humiliating it is to be upstaged by a little girl," the Captain's eyes hardened as he made his case before his superior. "I trained for years hoping to pilot a machine as remarkable as the Neo Epyon. You can't even begin to imagine my dissatisfaction when that honor was given to someone who hadn't even set foot in a mobile suit before." He spat out dispassionately. "Once I piloted the Neo Epyon my name was to be among the ranks of Zechs Merquise and Treize Khushrenada and the Gundam pilots... but instead I am to remain as an anonymous pilot just like the others. If you think that I'm just a bit upset then you're understating things." Having said his piece he firmly clenched his jaw, his lips thinning into a firm line. Dereks seemed to challenge his commanding officer in a way that bordered on childishness.

Whitenburg gave a tired laugh that held a note of amusement. He breathed a heavy sigh and turned his head to the training room for a second before fixing his sights on the younger man. "If you consider my actions as a means of insulting you then know that I am also insulting myself. You're a good pilot; I don't doubt that, but I am far better than you. For starters," he began, bringing up a hand to tap at his right temple, "my mind is more focused than yours and I am not as quick to anger as you are. Even with all that I still don't consider myself capable enough to handle the Neo Epyon."

"But the pilot you have right now is nothing more than a doll! A puppet you control with the slightest tug of the strings you've attached to her," the young Captain furiously blurted. "She's little more than a robot you created with the technology you've acquired through the years, but you know what they say about technology, don't you? They all break down at some point or another. The more advanced the technology the more unreliable it is in times of great need and I agree... especially considering what happened a few days ago... I knew the Seele units weren't a hundred percent effective." The corners of his mouth curved up slightly when he saw the other man's stance falter.

"How did you find out about that? The information was to remain classified." Their conversation wasn't amusing anymore, not after that comment was thrown in.

"Things get around... you know what it's like," he replied nonchalantly, his shoulders shrugging, feigning innocence. "The more important question is whether or not those Seele units can be relied on. What are you going to do if those things malfunction again?"

"They won't," his icy blue eyes fired up and venom laced his voice. "She will remain... intact until the time comes when we regain control over the Earth Sphere Unified Nation. What I'm more concerned with..." his eyes narrowed menacingly, "is your loyalty."

Dereks was serious as well, there was no longer any hatred in his eyes, just agreement. "Don't worry about where I stand because I stand with OZ and I always will. Despite all the wrongs that have been wrought against me I will continue to support it against any and all obstacles. However, I can't say the same thing for that little marionette of yours. She's not a part of OZ and never will be, regardless of the fact that she's taking orders from you." He saluted, then did an about-face and made his way towards the door. The voice of the older man stopped him in mid-track.

"You're still a bit touchy when it comes to that, huh?" Whitenburg mused.

"Just make sure she stays out of my way and things will be fine," Dereks snapped back. With all that said he continued on his way out of the room.

The General stared at his retreating form until it disappeared from his view. /You need more discipline, Dereks. You're a liability when you act that way, and liabilities are something I don't need right now. For your sake you had better not interfere with my plans./ His attention shifted back to the room in front of him and he observed the activities that went on inside. /She won't falter, I'm sure of it. We rechecked the units and I'm positive nothing will go wrong.../ He shook his head and ran his hand through his hair. /But no matter how well the Seele units work they still can't block out some of your personality. Somehow you still manage to let a part of yourself show through the barriers of the device... Maybe it's because of your dedication to your misguided vision of the future of this world that keeps you from being completely consumed by the Seele units.../ He chuckled softly to himself. /We certainly picked a good candidate for the job, but I wonder... was that malfunction a direct result of the damaged circuit or could that pilot have something more to do with it than the doctors say... She may be a doll to you, Dereks, but she can do things that you never will hope to accomplish in your life. Besides... a doll may be a doll but it still serves a purpose./

He stepped forward and pressed a button on the intercom attached to the wall. "Rei, I want you to go through training routine number 16." His hand left the button though remained hesitantly close before it pressed the button once again. "You also seem to be slightly off on your reaction time, try to fix that."

"Acknowledged."

Heero was seated in the back of the plane with the other pilots and Hilde. Even as they were currently en route to Preventer Headquarters, the others couldn't wait until their arrival to start bombarding the Japanese youth with questions. Though obviously annoyed, Heero did his best to answer them without losing his composure or temper. That task proved quite taxing considering the fact that Duo was the one asking the majority of the questions.

"C'mon, Heero, buddy, what happened when you were there?" Seated across from the WingZERO pilot and lounging comfortably with an arm draped around Hilde's shoulders, he continued his friendly interrogation.

He leveled a withering glare at the American. "I was beaten," he replied emotionlessly, revealing nothing of his true feelings.

"I could already tell from the condition of your arms and legs," Duo shot back noting the bruises that adorned the grim young man. Heero, having discarded his flight suit before he got onboard, wasn't surprised when the others gasped at the sight that greeted them. Though the fresh cuts and bruises scattered on his arms came from the recent battle with the Gundams, there were still many more dark spots, indicative of older bruising. "But I imagine that it wasn't something you couldn't handle since you're used to that already. Is there anything else though?"

"Hn... The girl's there." The others to jump from their seats and got closer to hear the details.

"Are you absolutely certain of that?" Quatre's anxious voice joined the conversation.

His thoughts went back to those few encounters with 'Rei' during his time within OZ and his jaw clenched at the memory. "She's the one who's been piloting WingZERO for the past few days," He confirmed coldly, "as well as the designated pilot of the Neo Epyon... she's good at it too." Though his tone held little emotion he was still able to convey the seriousness of the situation.

If they hadn't really been listening before, everyone on the plane now gave Heero their undivided attention. "Oi! Wait a minute! Did you just say Neo Epyon?!" The American practically jumped out of his seat, shocked by the revelation. "Don't tell me that OZ built another one of those monsters!"

He met Duo's gaze head on and the other felt a chill run down his spine. "They did and they made it even better." He moved to retrieve something from his pant pocket. "I have the data on that, her training, the Seele units as well as the mobile suits they're using. Here's the flash drive I downloaded the information onto," he said as he threw the small objects into Duo's lap. "Show Sally the ones on the Seele units. She might be able to figure out something about them."

"Soul?" Hilde interjected questioningly as the others turned to regard her with raised eyebrows. "Seele," she began slowly. "means 'soul' in German."

"Why would they name their device that?" Duo asked only to receive a shrug in return from the girl.

Quatre's brows furrowed as he digested the information. "It might be in reference to the new persona they've implanted in Relena." He offered uncertainly.

"Speaking of which… how is Darlian by the way?" Wufei asked, surprising a few of them with his concerned inquiry of the captive girl. "What?" The Chinese asked, giving them an indignant frown. "I have to know so that I can report it to Zechs."

The image of her falling unconscious onto the floor flashed through his mind and he shook his head to dispel it. "She's fine."

They all looked at him, observing his reserved demeanor and noting how it detracted from his normal reserved demeanor. "Heero, what exactly happened back there?" Quatre spoke up again but only got silence in return. "We have to know so we can formulate a plan to get her back." The blond pressed on. "What are they doing to her? Is she being drugged? Just what are they putting her through?" The young Arab was getting quite anxious and his voice quavered with fear and worry. "Please Heero, you have to tell us."

Heero sighed and closed his eyes before opening them to regard the other pilot. "If you want to know what's happened to her in the nine and a half months that she's been missing it's on the flash drive. As for the past few days, nothing has happened. She's OZ's highest priority so they're hesitant in letting anything happen to her," he broke off for a second to look at the floor before he resumed. "Apparently, she's the only one there that can control the ZERO system."

"Darlian?!" Wufei exclaimed indignantly, his pride having taken a blow. Heero nodded and the Chinese youth's question was answered.

"If that's true then we may have more problems than originally predicted," Trowa calmly stated from his seat next to Wufei.

"How large is their army?" Hilde asked curiously.

"Like I said, everything you need to know is on that flash drive. You can see for all that for yourselves, so leave me alone and let me sleep. I'll be leaving for L1 as soon as we can load WingZERO onto a shuttle," the pilot closed his eyes and leaned back into his seat. He was tired and his body sorely ached for relief, but his mind was the thing that needed the most soothing. As he drifted off things became increasingly incoherent, soon he was no longer able to hear the conversation that continued on without him.

"Poor guy," the German girl commented, "he's been through so much since this whole ordeal started." She regarded him sympathetically, though she couldn't help but wonder what Duo would have done if it had been her and not Relena that was captured and turned into a weapon.

"I know he won't admit it, but I think he cares more about what might happen to Relena than about stopping OZ," Duo said from his seat as he placed his hands behind his head for support.

"Do you think it's wise to say such things out loud?" Altron's pilot warned, tilting his head at Heero's sleeping form.

"You mean Heero?" he turned his head to view the slumbering youth. "Nah, he's sleeping like a log. He may be the Perfect Soldier but even soldiers need their sleep once in a while. I guess we should be nice and let him rest until we reach headquarters."

The compartment fell silent as they allowed the hum of the engines to comfort the WingZERO pilot with its strange lullaby.

It was almost noon now and the activities in the training room were beginning to die down as Rei ceased her exercises in order to give the doctors time to record her data. She stood there next to the bars like an obedient child waiting to be told what to do. The morning exercises and routines would have had ordinary soldiers rebelling and threatening mutiny hours ago but she was different. She was programmed not to complain, only comply. Her body ached but she knew they wouldn't hear of it, at least not from her. However, there was something beyond even her control, and since she wasn't an omnipotent goddess, she had no say in the matter. Nature was stronger than will so she was left with no choice but to obey.

"Restroom," was all she had to muster for them to understand, they dismissed her with a wave of a hand.

Giving a slight nod the girl turned around and headed out of the room towards the lavatory. As she made her way along the corridor she silently noted that the base had become lively again and was now filled with scrambling soldiers. When she rounded the corner though, a heavy mass collided into her, pressing her against the steel wall. It was a body that loomed over her, one larger than her own and male. The man lowered his head close to her ear and greeted her.

"How's the little doll doing?" Captain Dereks sneered. "So they finally let you out for a breather, huh? Must be really difficult going through all that training, but I'm sure that you're handling everything they're dishing out at you." He pressed her further into the wall hoping to elicit a reaction. "So, what's it like in the Neo Epyon? I wouldn't know since you stole that opportunity from me."

"That's because I'm the better pilot," she responded curtly. That was all she needed to say; it was enough to cause the other pilot to fume. Her eyes met his for a brief instance and fire sparked between them; the challenge was issued before she maneuvered her body from under his. As if ignoring him, Rei calmly resumed her journey to the restroom down the hallway.

"Better pilot... but still a doll," the Captain commented to himself, "and dolls can be easily broken. Overstep your boundaries and you'll find yourself at the end of a Gemini's gun."

-to be continued-

Author's Note: I realized there were a lot of discrepancies in this chapter that needed to be addressed. Hopefully the changes I've made can clear up those inconsistencies. I also added a bit more dialogue to the conversation the Gundam pilots were having on the plane.