Please pay attention to the dates, as they are very important to the understanding of the story.
I do not own Gundam Wing, nor will I ever.
Recreate Me (I Crumble)
Chapter Two
AC 208, 17 July
Over the past year Heero had preformed three jobs through Zechs's orders. He was compensated well for them, not that he cared about money, but it was a large sum for little blood and big controversy.
Quatre Winner, his first target had been hit in the head with a sniper rifle. It had been blamed on a citizen of L1, who was upset about Relena marrying a diplomat from L4, therefore showing favoritism to that colony cluster. He hoped to spring a second war between Earth and the colonies. Of course, he was charged unjustly by the Preventors and imprisoned for life on a remote artificial satellite.
The second was in the South American States between Drug Lords. The man's throat was slit and it was blamed upon his rival cartel's son, who was then killed by the dead man's cartel. It ended with the cartel whose head was assassinated coming to power just as the Preventors had planned. They now indirectly controlled all drug trafficking in that hemisphere.
The public accepted the new trend of assassination with mild terror, but without question. Each incident died down within a few weeks. News channels discussed the Preventors' inability to prevent any of the assassinations, but they were still trusted worldwide since every episode actually bore itself to a favorable direction.
L4, though many jobs were lost initially, made up for the unemployment. Within the next six months, dissolving and redistributing the responsibilities of the Winner Group, thus creating more occupations for the colonists. People moved from all over the Earth Sphere to fill empty positions. The dissolution of the Winner Group also allowed many new businesses into the L4 colony cluster, thus bolstering their economy over the next two years.
The cartel assassination never hit international news for more than a heart beat, especially since occurred during the aftermath of Quatre Winner's death. It was a large victory for the Preventors, giving the organization top of the food chain status in South America.
On July 10, Zechs had contacted Heero, sending him information about a particularly bloody feud. brewing in northern Africa. It was an ancient conflict that was ignited often by the hot-tempered family heads. Heero was to take the side of the poorer leading family and slaughter all of the men in the other family and entourage without being seen. It would be his most gruesome work, since he was to use homemade knives and various blades. It was to mimick the type of killing that 3as going on between the families anyway. The Preventors needed no further scrutiny from the mass media.
Of course, Heero never blindly followed Zechs' orders. He had spent the last week intensely researching both the Nagali and Wellington family histories. Both families imbued their offspring with hatred for the other family. Therefore, those that lived closest to each family had allied themselves respectively, and factions had been formed. The Nagalis, the richer of the two, had been the one selected by Zechs to meet the edge of Heero's blade. However, the grievous insults of either family to the other were so horrifying to even Heero, that he felt more drastic action need be taken in order to put a stop to the feuding.
The Wellington family was the family that Heero had elected to slay for three reasons. He felt that they had been the more ruthless of the two, their women were apt, but ill-prepared to retaliate against the Nagalis, and the Nagalis had more to lose by being publicly humiliated and ridiculed.
-----------
AC 207, 20 April
Quatre's funeral was a widely televised event, carried out largely in Western tradition. Relena, Zechs, and his remaining sisters filled the first two rows at the outdoor ceremony. A few of his sisters dressed according to their religion, others simply wore black dresses like Relena.
Relena, though once expected her to look a mess on the day of her fiance's burial, actually looked very elegant. She wore a chaste black dress with a veiled black hat, decorated with small white roses. A white rose was pinned to her shoulder like a corsage. She wore white gloves and carried a white, flowered, handkerchief. Her tears, though continuous, were soft and sorrowful, rather than despairing and desperate. She posed well for the cameras, dabbing at her eyes occasionally with the tasteful kerchief.
About halfway through the ceremony Zechs squeezed her hand and did not let go. It was meant to appear as a reassuring gesture, though his face showed a grim indifference. She accepted it, thankfully, thinking that for at least today, she would allow him to be her brother.
During the postlude, Zechs led his baby sister out by the arm as she dabbed her eyes daintily. He dropped her off in her limousine and jumped in the car behind hers.
She spent the ride back to Quatre's mansion staring blankly out the back window and sighing to herself. She tried not to dwell on all that she had not to do now that she had another week before returning to work. She would have preferred work to dealing with the pain.
The driver walked her from the garage to the back door as she was trying to avoid paparazzi. She meant to go straight up to her room, strip down to nakedness, and crawl into bed for the next week.
Her hat had been left behind in the kitchen. Her shoes had disappeared in the hall. As she shuffled into the main living room, in search of the new cat, her panty hose hung from her left foot.
She halted as her eyes found a man standing in front of a tall, elaborate bookcase, studying the titles. As if he knew the exact moment she had gazed upon him, he turned to face her. Zero was held in his left hand as he stroked him with the right.
"Heero!" Relena choked, wrenching the stockings from her foot and tossing them into a corner.
Zero squirmed and Heero dropped him. The cat came and rubbed himself over Relena's bear legs, purring.
"He seems to be doing very well here," he said, and Relena noticed that he had cat hair on his jacket. He was wearing a very fashionable, black suit and tie. He was all in black, and she thought it odd that he had dressed for the occasion, for she had never thought of him the type to care about such things.
"Have a seat," she said, gesturing toward the couch. He nodded and sat rigidly. His black leather shoes creaked as he walked, they were new.
Relena herself remained standing, as she could hardly realize her situation. She avoided making eye contact with him as much as possible, and began to take an interest in the pattern on the lamp shade to her right.
"Relena," a gruff voice said in her ear. The closeness caused her to jump and gasp. Taking her arm, Heero continued, "You should sit." He lead her to the sofa. She nodded many more times than necessary, and sat beside him, her eyes seeing nothing.
Heero awkwardly detangled their arms, and nonchalantly brushed the car hair marring his suit. "You shouldn't lie."
"I beg your pardon?!" Relena said.
"You dressed yourself up so that you wouldn't appear as you felt. You lied to the public to appear strong. You shouldn't lie." He repeated.
"What about you and your suit?"
"I didn't dress for the funeral, nor did I attend it."
"Oh," she said, and busied herself with imaginary dirt beneath her nails. "What do you want Heero?"
If possible, Heero stiffened further, though his face did not falter. "I came to apologize. You are forced to endure more than necessary in the name of peace, and I am sorry."
She let her eyes meet his and she could see the sincerity and pain in them. He did not break the gaze, but she did when tear spilled. Embarrassed that she was allowing herself to cry in front of a man that already thought her weak, she wiped it away, storing what was left for later.
"How do you know that it will work for peace?" she asked.
"You bring peace at your own expense, therefore, that which causes you grief must ultimately bring peace."
"So my happiness only breeds war?" she asked indignantly.
"Only in certain scenarios."
Silence.
"How am I to respond to you. I cannot cry in front of you, because you will berate me. I cannot scream because then I will be forced to be with a sedative."
"Crying in such a situation is acceptable. Though, crying to much and too often is self-destructive."
Relena scoffed and folded her arms.
"You should react whichever way is natural to you."
She did not move. He placed his hand upon her chin, and turned her face so that it was mere inches from his. "You are strong. This was almost too much to ask you to sacrifice." Tears once again brimmed into her eyes, yet they did not spill. Her lip would have quivered had Heero not been holding it.
"What do you want Heero?" She did not move away.
He allowed his face to mirror his humble and broken feeling. "Forgiveness," he said.
The starkness of it all hit her and she did not understand. She threw her arms around his neck and nestled into him anyway. "You did not put these burdens on my shoulders."
"Not entirely." He slowly lowered his arms around her, and let them lie, quite unsure of himself.
He smelled like metal; cold and hard. She gripped his lapel anyway, and allowed herself to seek comfort in his stony presence. Sometime after he began drumming his fingers upon her back. She lifted her head so that she could feel his breath on her cheeks.
"I forgive you, Heero. I forgive you, for you and I endure for the same reason."
His fingers clutched the material on the back of her dress in gratitude and his face relaxed minutely.
to be continued...
I do not own Gundam Wing, nor will I ever.
Recreate Me (I Crumble)
Chapter Two
AC 208, 17 July
Over the past year Heero had preformed three jobs through Zechs's orders. He was compensated well for them, not that he cared about money, but it was a large sum for little blood and big controversy.
Quatre Winner, his first target had been hit in the head with a sniper rifle. It had been blamed on a citizen of L1, who was upset about Relena marrying a diplomat from L4, therefore showing favoritism to that colony cluster. He hoped to spring a second war between Earth and the colonies. Of course, he was charged unjustly by the Preventors and imprisoned for life on a remote artificial satellite.
The second was in the South American States between Drug Lords. The man's throat was slit and it was blamed upon his rival cartel's son, who was then killed by the dead man's cartel. It ended with the cartel whose head was assassinated coming to power just as the Preventors had planned. They now indirectly controlled all drug trafficking in that hemisphere.
The public accepted the new trend of assassination with mild terror, but without question. Each incident died down within a few weeks. News channels discussed the Preventors' inability to prevent any of the assassinations, but they were still trusted worldwide since every episode actually bore itself to a favorable direction.
L4, though many jobs were lost initially, made up for the unemployment. Within the next six months, dissolving and redistributing the responsibilities of the Winner Group, thus creating more occupations for the colonists. People moved from all over the Earth Sphere to fill empty positions. The dissolution of the Winner Group also allowed many new businesses into the L4 colony cluster, thus bolstering their economy over the next two years.
The cartel assassination never hit international news for more than a heart beat, especially since occurred during the aftermath of Quatre Winner's death. It was a large victory for the Preventors, giving the organization top of the food chain status in South America.
On July 10, Zechs had contacted Heero, sending him information about a particularly bloody feud. brewing in northern Africa. It was an ancient conflict that was ignited often by the hot-tempered family heads. Heero was to take the side of the poorer leading family and slaughter all of the men in the other family and entourage without being seen. It would be his most gruesome work, since he was to use homemade knives and various blades. It was to mimick the type of killing that 3as going on between the families anyway. The Preventors needed no further scrutiny from the mass media.
Of course, Heero never blindly followed Zechs' orders. He had spent the last week intensely researching both the Nagali and Wellington family histories. Both families imbued their offspring with hatred for the other family. Therefore, those that lived closest to each family had allied themselves respectively, and factions had been formed. The Nagalis, the richer of the two, had been the one selected by Zechs to meet the edge of Heero's blade. However, the grievous insults of either family to the other were so horrifying to even Heero, that he felt more drastic action need be taken in order to put a stop to the feuding.
The Wellington family was the family that Heero had elected to slay for three reasons. He felt that they had been the more ruthless of the two, their women were apt, but ill-prepared to retaliate against the Nagalis, and the Nagalis had more to lose by being publicly humiliated and ridiculed.
-----------
AC 207, 20 April
Quatre's funeral was a widely televised event, carried out largely in Western tradition. Relena, Zechs, and his remaining sisters filled the first two rows at the outdoor ceremony. A few of his sisters dressed according to their religion, others simply wore black dresses like Relena.
Relena, though once expected her to look a mess on the day of her fiance's burial, actually looked very elegant. She wore a chaste black dress with a veiled black hat, decorated with small white roses. A white rose was pinned to her shoulder like a corsage. She wore white gloves and carried a white, flowered, handkerchief. Her tears, though continuous, were soft and sorrowful, rather than despairing and desperate. She posed well for the cameras, dabbing at her eyes occasionally with the tasteful kerchief.
About halfway through the ceremony Zechs squeezed her hand and did not let go. It was meant to appear as a reassuring gesture, though his face showed a grim indifference. She accepted it, thankfully, thinking that for at least today, she would allow him to be her brother.
During the postlude, Zechs led his baby sister out by the arm as she dabbed her eyes daintily. He dropped her off in her limousine and jumped in the car behind hers.
She spent the ride back to Quatre's mansion staring blankly out the back window and sighing to herself. She tried not to dwell on all that she had not to do now that she had another week before returning to work. She would have preferred work to dealing with the pain.
The driver walked her from the garage to the back door as she was trying to avoid paparazzi. She meant to go straight up to her room, strip down to nakedness, and crawl into bed for the next week.
Her hat had been left behind in the kitchen. Her shoes had disappeared in the hall. As she shuffled into the main living room, in search of the new cat, her panty hose hung from her left foot.
She halted as her eyes found a man standing in front of a tall, elaborate bookcase, studying the titles. As if he knew the exact moment she had gazed upon him, he turned to face her. Zero was held in his left hand as he stroked him with the right.
"Heero!" Relena choked, wrenching the stockings from her foot and tossing them into a corner.
Zero squirmed and Heero dropped him. The cat came and rubbed himself over Relena's bear legs, purring.
"He seems to be doing very well here," he said, and Relena noticed that he had cat hair on his jacket. He was wearing a very fashionable, black suit and tie. He was all in black, and she thought it odd that he had dressed for the occasion, for she had never thought of him the type to care about such things.
"Have a seat," she said, gesturing toward the couch. He nodded and sat rigidly. His black leather shoes creaked as he walked, they were new.
Relena herself remained standing, as she could hardly realize her situation. She avoided making eye contact with him as much as possible, and began to take an interest in the pattern on the lamp shade to her right.
"Relena," a gruff voice said in her ear. The closeness caused her to jump and gasp. Taking her arm, Heero continued, "You should sit." He lead her to the sofa. She nodded many more times than necessary, and sat beside him, her eyes seeing nothing.
Heero awkwardly detangled their arms, and nonchalantly brushed the car hair marring his suit. "You shouldn't lie."
"I beg your pardon?!" Relena said.
"You dressed yourself up so that you wouldn't appear as you felt. You lied to the public to appear strong. You shouldn't lie." He repeated.
"What about you and your suit?"
"I didn't dress for the funeral, nor did I attend it."
"Oh," she said, and busied herself with imaginary dirt beneath her nails. "What do you want Heero?"
If possible, Heero stiffened further, though his face did not falter. "I came to apologize. You are forced to endure more than necessary in the name of peace, and I am sorry."
She let her eyes meet his and she could see the sincerity and pain in them. He did not break the gaze, but she did when tear spilled. Embarrassed that she was allowing herself to cry in front of a man that already thought her weak, she wiped it away, storing what was left for later.
"How do you know that it will work for peace?" she asked.
"You bring peace at your own expense, therefore, that which causes you grief must ultimately bring peace."
"So my happiness only breeds war?" she asked indignantly.
"Only in certain scenarios."
Silence.
"How am I to respond to you. I cannot cry in front of you, because you will berate me. I cannot scream because then I will be forced to be with a sedative."
"Crying in such a situation is acceptable. Though, crying to much and too often is self-destructive."
Relena scoffed and folded her arms.
"You should react whichever way is natural to you."
She did not move. He placed his hand upon her chin, and turned her face so that it was mere inches from his. "You are strong. This was almost too much to ask you to sacrifice." Tears once again brimmed into her eyes, yet they did not spill. Her lip would have quivered had Heero not been holding it.
"What do you want Heero?" She did not move away.
He allowed his face to mirror his humble and broken feeling. "Forgiveness," he said.
The starkness of it all hit her and she did not understand. She threw her arms around his neck and nestled into him anyway. "You did not put these burdens on my shoulders."
"Not entirely." He slowly lowered his arms around her, and let them lie, quite unsure of himself.
He smelled like metal; cold and hard. She gripped his lapel anyway, and allowed herself to seek comfort in his stony presence. Sometime after he began drumming his fingers upon her back. She lifted her head so that she could feel his breath on her cheeks.
"I forgive you, Heero. I forgive you, for you and I endure for the same reason."
His fingers clutched the material on the back of her dress in gratitude and his face relaxed minutely.
to be continued...
