Disclaimer: I do NOT own Gundam Wing, its characters, mobile suits,
extras, character personalities, bases, weaponry, colonies, countries,
ideals, insane laughter, backstories, or plot devices (these include
Trowa). I'm just borrowing them . . . for all eternity.
A/N: Once upon a time, I could spell. Then highschool happened.
~~~~
Invalidated Fatality - Chapter 4
~~~~
First mission: Test mission. Simple, tactical, destructive and quick. He came back in one piece - without a scratch - having pulled off his first mission without a hitch. They looked pleased, and for some reason, he disliked this. But he wisely kept his mouth shut. It had been interesting - his body seemed so used to real battle, his mind seemed programed to it. There were others - some came back crying or shaking uncontrolably. "The screams," they had said. "We killed them . . ." There were a couple that came back triumphantly from their first missions. "We did it," they said with haughty smiles, "we defeated the enemy." He watched on through all of this, but didn't understand. 'Human lives,' he thought - ignoring the throbbing - 'aren't playtoys. Who do these people think they are?' He understood that he was not one of them, that there was more to these people than met the eye.
"You - 01," a voice called to him, breaking up his thoughts. He turned around slowly. Dr. Robinson beckoned him to come. Following obediently, 01 had a bad feeling about this. Something big was on the way.
~~~~
"I found something," Trowa said matter-of-factly.
Duo pushed his hat up away from his face and sleepily pulled his feet off the desk. "What?" he yawned. He and Trowa were working night shift trying to find Heero - Lady Une had people working on it at all hours. It had been too long, and the importance of finding him was increasing.
"An attack on one of the guerilla bases in . . ." he typed some more, "China."
"Weren't those guys our allies?" Duo yawned again. "D'you think Heero attacked it?"
Trowa nodded. "Yeh, there seems to be resonable proof for it . . ."
"Why'd he wanna do somethin' like that?"
Trowa shook his head. "Hell if I know." He loaded the information on a floppy and handed it to Duo. "Take that to Zechs."
"Yes, O Mighty Evil One," Duo replied begrudingly, taking the floppy and shuffling out the door. He never got enough sleep as it was - why did they have to get the night shift?
~~~~
01 stood calmly before the two most important people in the building. They overlooked him, asked him questions he thought were completely irrelevant, and he waited for possible orders.
"Do you remember anything?" Dr. Lake asked, signaling Dr. Robinson to inject him with an unknown liquid.
The answer was no - he remembered nothing from before this accursed place - but before he answered, he began throwing up. He hit the floor wretching, but the poison was in his veins, not his stomach. The room blurred and spun, and he continued the futile vomiting while the people around him panicked. 01 choked up the sour, metallic taste of blood, and then was lost to familiar blackness.
~~~~
For a week after the discovery of the attacked base, Preventers HQ gained no more information about their missing agent. It was night shift again, and Lady Une saw no need to change schedules, so Duo and Trowa were again in charge of the search. Both computers beeped, opening related files. A former weapons test building was under attack - even as they read the message. The base had sent out to the main leader for help, which was the message Trowa and Duo intercepted. The building wasn't even supposed to be occupied, but apparantly, it was still in business. Duo bolted down the hall to inform Zechs, and then to call Lady Une. They would have to go there.
~~~~
01 leaned against a high chain-link fence and watched the building in front of him burn and collapse. One week in the infermory wasn't enough, he thought, shaking his head to clear his vision. How could they not have known he was allergic to truth serum? 'They know now,' he thought, 'and they won't forget it'. He shouldered his lazer rifle, a remarkable gun that he was told to keep out of the hands of any enemy. They didn't want the enemy to have technology to beat their own. With a sigh, 01 stepped over the heap of burning rubble, searching for the object of his mission. There it was as plain as day and unharmed. He picked it up - a small piece of metal . . . some kind of alloy. He looked at it curiously for a moment, then jumped down and headed towards the now-open gate.
He saw them - the two young men that were watching him. His instincts and orders told him to kill them both, but he kept walking. A black van skid to a halt in front of him and the side door slid open. He stepped listlessly into it. He heard the door close and felt another needle pierce his skin. The next thing he knew, he was back in his 'cell.'
~~~~
Two hours later, when Duo and Trowa returned, Duo shook his head vigorously. "What the Hell!?" he exclaimed. "Zombie Heero . . . scary. What the heck happened to him?"
"Why are you asking me?" Trowa replied on their way to Lady Une's office to report. "I know as much as you do. We're lucky he didn't kill us."
"Yea, but, damn . . ." Duo sighed. "Hey, man -" he looked at his watch, "It's time for breakfast. I'll see you." Duo walked off, headed for either the cafeteria and muttering to himself the whole way. Someone came up behind him and covered his eyes. "Hey Hilde," he mumbled, grabbing her hands and pulling her up next to him.
Hilde grinned. "Hey - any news? Aw, what's wrong?"
Sighing, Duo replied, "Well, we found Heero."
"Really? That's good, right?"
"Yea, but he's fighting for the other guys . . . zombie Heero or somethin' - his eyes were all blank and -" Duo imitated the emotionless expression that was on Heero's face. "And he's blowing crap up. That's not cool."
"Oh. Well, you just ruined my morning . . ." Hilde frowned.
With an exagerated yawn, Duo replied, "Yea, how'd ya think I felt? I mean, geez . . . I'm gonna have to spend the rest of the day filling out paperwork." He frowned, adding to himself, "And I might have to fight my best friend . . ."
Hilde smiled sweetly at him, wondering how to cheer him up, snatched his hat, and ran down the hall. He raised an eyebrow. "Hilde-babe," he called, "I don't wanna play. Give that back . . . Hey! Hilde! Get back here!" He ran off after her. Hilde scurried out the front doors onto the street, down the stairs, and around the corner. Duo came to a screeching halt down the hall in an effort to not run into Relena. "Hey, beautiful," he greeted her warmly, as usual. "'Sup?"
Relena returned his smile forcibly. "Did you find him?"
Shifting, Duo's hand reached instinctively for the back of his head. "Yea . . . and no . . ." he muttered guiltily.
She nodded. "He's working for them?"
"Yea . . . but . . ."
Relena nodded again. "I know that," she said. "They brainwashed him, I think," she added.
Duo opened his mouth to reply, but cocked his head instead, confused. "Yup, guess so," he said, watching her walk off. "Guess she just needed to hear it from someone else," he said to himself. "Ah, well . . . now where did Hilde go?" He dashed madly out of HQ and down the street in search of the girl that swiped his hat.
~~~~
There was a rumor going around about who He was. Nobody knew how it started, but it spread like wildfire until, eventually, he heard it. When he was no longer forced to stay in his room at all times, he would eat lunch in the cafeteria with the other trainees and employees. He sat in the corner, away from everyone, but watched them and listened. The rumor, however it started, traveled from between the guards first, then to the lower workers, and at last, the trainees like himself. He heard it only by chance.
01 looked at the two mechanics standing in his way. They didn't notice him - they were too busy chattering about something. He shrugged and leaned against the wall. He wasn't in any hurry.
"No -" one of the mechanics was saying, "I can't believe they did it, either. It's like . . . a death wish or something."
"Yea, really. How did they pull it off - that's what amazes me. How long have they had him?"
"I don't know. All I know is that there is one here, and he doesn't even know it . . ." The mechanic frowned and shook her head. "A Gundam pilot," she said, walking into the cafeteria. "I can't believe it." The other mechanic followed her, shaking his head in the same way.
01's eyes widened. Gundam pilot? 'Why does that sound so familiar?' he wondered. He didn't bother eating, but took a detour into one of the training rooms. He looked at the mobile suit simulators and walked down the line. Finally, he found the one he was looking for. All of them were reconstructions of mobile suit cockpits, and each of them had their own special features, but this one stood out. The cockpit was more high-tech than the rest. "A Gundam," he muttered under his breath, studying it. Now, he could remember - he remembered the feel of the gigantic mobile suit in actual battle, the movements, the weapons, and . . . He heard someone walking up behind him and turned around. "Dr. Robinson," he said.
Dr. Robinson frowned. "What the Hell are you doing in here, kid?"
"Looking at the simulators."
"Why?"
"I felt like it."
Dr. Robinson nodded. "Free time's up," he said. "You're supposed to report to the infermary for a check up. Get." 01 walked out, and Dr. Robinson called the Commander. "Sir," he said. "01 is getting suspicious. Found him in the simulator room without permission. What should I do about it, then, sir?" His face fell. "Yes, of course, sir."
~~~~
Duo yawned, sipping the coffee in the small coffee shop where he found Hilde hiding. It was much better than the coffee the Preventers get, but at least that coffee was free.
"You haven't come home for nearly a week," Hilde said. She was 'wearing' his hat now, and he had given up trying to retrieve it from her head.
This was true; Duo had been sleeping at HQ because there was really no point in leaving. Lady Une had him running errands at various times of the day, as well as searching for Heero at night. When this crisis ended, he thought, he'd never want to see that place again. He smiled sleepily. "Yea . . . Sorry."
"It's okay," she returned his smile. "I just worry about you."
Duo feigned surprise. "Me?" he said, raising his eyebrows. "Ah, Hilde- babe, why would you do a thing like that?"
She giggled. "Duo Maxwell," she said, "you bother me."
"I know." He finished his coffee. "I have a feeling Lady Une's going to be bothering the both of us if we don't get back," he told her, and they wandered back to the building.
When they walked through the door, the both decided that they weren't leaving again, possibly ever, for fear of missing any more than they did in the few minutes they were gone. Preventers were rushing around like mad. Apparently, as a Preventer whom Duo interrogated was told, one of the Preventers bases in China had been ruthlessly attacked. "Oh," muttered Duo, "Juuust peachy."
~~~~
01's bitter smiled scared the soldiers in the familiar black van. He gave the mission details, the fatality count, and other various bits of information he was asked for. Satisfied, the officer gave another soldier the okay to inject 01 with anesthesia. The mission they hoped he would have failed went wonderfully. The Preventers base was in smokes, and no doubt, the rest of the Preventers were hot on their trail. This didn't matter to 01; he knew nothing of the Preventers or even of the organization he was currently involved in. He followed orders and left it at that - whether he wanted to or not.
~~~~
Relena sighed, searching through the ruins of the smoldering building. There were few survivors. She looked at Lady Une, who was searching the horizon for that black van. She shook her head. "He's close by," she said quietly to herself. "I can feel it."
~~~~END CHAPTER~~~~
A/N: Once upon a time, I could spell. Then highschool happened.
~~~~
Invalidated Fatality - Chapter 4
~~~~
First mission: Test mission. Simple, tactical, destructive and quick. He came back in one piece - without a scratch - having pulled off his first mission without a hitch. They looked pleased, and for some reason, he disliked this. But he wisely kept his mouth shut. It had been interesting - his body seemed so used to real battle, his mind seemed programed to it. There were others - some came back crying or shaking uncontrolably. "The screams," they had said. "We killed them . . ." There were a couple that came back triumphantly from their first missions. "We did it," they said with haughty smiles, "we defeated the enemy." He watched on through all of this, but didn't understand. 'Human lives,' he thought - ignoring the throbbing - 'aren't playtoys. Who do these people think they are?' He understood that he was not one of them, that there was more to these people than met the eye.
"You - 01," a voice called to him, breaking up his thoughts. He turned around slowly. Dr. Robinson beckoned him to come. Following obediently, 01 had a bad feeling about this. Something big was on the way.
~~~~
"I found something," Trowa said matter-of-factly.
Duo pushed his hat up away from his face and sleepily pulled his feet off the desk. "What?" he yawned. He and Trowa were working night shift trying to find Heero - Lady Une had people working on it at all hours. It had been too long, and the importance of finding him was increasing.
"An attack on one of the guerilla bases in . . ." he typed some more, "China."
"Weren't those guys our allies?" Duo yawned again. "D'you think Heero attacked it?"
Trowa nodded. "Yeh, there seems to be resonable proof for it . . ."
"Why'd he wanna do somethin' like that?"
Trowa shook his head. "Hell if I know." He loaded the information on a floppy and handed it to Duo. "Take that to Zechs."
"Yes, O Mighty Evil One," Duo replied begrudingly, taking the floppy and shuffling out the door. He never got enough sleep as it was - why did they have to get the night shift?
~~~~
01 stood calmly before the two most important people in the building. They overlooked him, asked him questions he thought were completely irrelevant, and he waited for possible orders.
"Do you remember anything?" Dr. Lake asked, signaling Dr. Robinson to inject him with an unknown liquid.
The answer was no - he remembered nothing from before this accursed place - but before he answered, he began throwing up. He hit the floor wretching, but the poison was in his veins, not his stomach. The room blurred and spun, and he continued the futile vomiting while the people around him panicked. 01 choked up the sour, metallic taste of blood, and then was lost to familiar blackness.
~~~~
For a week after the discovery of the attacked base, Preventers HQ gained no more information about their missing agent. It was night shift again, and Lady Une saw no need to change schedules, so Duo and Trowa were again in charge of the search. Both computers beeped, opening related files. A former weapons test building was under attack - even as they read the message. The base had sent out to the main leader for help, which was the message Trowa and Duo intercepted. The building wasn't even supposed to be occupied, but apparantly, it was still in business. Duo bolted down the hall to inform Zechs, and then to call Lady Une. They would have to go there.
~~~~
01 leaned against a high chain-link fence and watched the building in front of him burn and collapse. One week in the infermory wasn't enough, he thought, shaking his head to clear his vision. How could they not have known he was allergic to truth serum? 'They know now,' he thought, 'and they won't forget it'. He shouldered his lazer rifle, a remarkable gun that he was told to keep out of the hands of any enemy. They didn't want the enemy to have technology to beat their own. With a sigh, 01 stepped over the heap of burning rubble, searching for the object of his mission. There it was as plain as day and unharmed. He picked it up - a small piece of metal . . . some kind of alloy. He looked at it curiously for a moment, then jumped down and headed towards the now-open gate.
He saw them - the two young men that were watching him. His instincts and orders told him to kill them both, but he kept walking. A black van skid to a halt in front of him and the side door slid open. He stepped listlessly into it. He heard the door close and felt another needle pierce his skin. The next thing he knew, he was back in his 'cell.'
~~~~
Two hours later, when Duo and Trowa returned, Duo shook his head vigorously. "What the Hell!?" he exclaimed. "Zombie Heero . . . scary. What the heck happened to him?"
"Why are you asking me?" Trowa replied on their way to Lady Une's office to report. "I know as much as you do. We're lucky he didn't kill us."
"Yea, but, damn . . ." Duo sighed. "Hey, man -" he looked at his watch, "It's time for breakfast. I'll see you." Duo walked off, headed for either the cafeteria and muttering to himself the whole way. Someone came up behind him and covered his eyes. "Hey Hilde," he mumbled, grabbing her hands and pulling her up next to him.
Hilde grinned. "Hey - any news? Aw, what's wrong?"
Sighing, Duo replied, "Well, we found Heero."
"Really? That's good, right?"
"Yea, but he's fighting for the other guys . . . zombie Heero or somethin' - his eyes were all blank and -" Duo imitated the emotionless expression that was on Heero's face. "And he's blowing crap up. That's not cool."
"Oh. Well, you just ruined my morning . . ." Hilde frowned.
With an exagerated yawn, Duo replied, "Yea, how'd ya think I felt? I mean, geez . . . I'm gonna have to spend the rest of the day filling out paperwork." He frowned, adding to himself, "And I might have to fight my best friend . . ."
Hilde smiled sweetly at him, wondering how to cheer him up, snatched his hat, and ran down the hall. He raised an eyebrow. "Hilde-babe," he called, "I don't wanna play. Give that back . . . Hey! Hilde! Get back here!" He ran off after her. Hilde scurried out the front doors onto the street, down the stairs, and around the corner. Duo came to a screeching halt down the hall in an effort to not run into Relena. "Hey, beautiful," he greeted her warmly, as usual. "'Sup?"
Relena returned his smile forcibly. "Did you find him?"
Shifting, Duo's hand reached instinctively for the back of his head. "Yea . . . and no . . ." he muttered guiltily.
She nodded. "He's working for them?"
"Yea . . . but . . ."
Relena nodded again. "I know that," she said. "They brainwashed him, I think," she added.
Duo opened his mouth to reply, but cocked his head instead, confused. "Yup, guess so," he said, watching her walk off. "Guess she just needed to hear it from someone else," he said to himself. "Ah, well . . . now where did Hilde go?" He dashed madly out of HQ and down the street in search of the girl that swiped his hat.
~~~~
There was a rumor going around about who He was. Nobody knew how it started, but it spread like wildfire until, eventually, he heard it. When he was no longer forced to stay in his room at all times, he would eat lunch in the cafeteria with the other trainees and employees. He sat in the corner, away from everyone, but watched them and listened. The rumor, however it started, traveled from between the guards first, then to the lower workers, and at last, the trainees like himself. He heard it only by chance.
01 looked at the two mechanics standing in his way. They didn't notice him - they were too busy chattering about something. He shrugged and leaned against the wall. He wasn't in any hurry.
"No -" one of the mechanics was saying, "I can't believe they did it, either. It's like . . . a death wish or something."
"Yea, really. How did they pull it off - that's what amazes me. How long have they had him?"
"I don't know. All I know is that there is one here, and he doesn't even know it . . ." The mechanic frowned and shook her head. "A Gundam pilot," she said, walking into the cafeteria. "I can't believe it." The other mechanic followed her, shaking his head in the same way.
01's eyes widened. Gundam pilot? 'Why does that sound so familiar?' he wondered. He didn't bother eating, but took a detour into one of the training rooms. He looked at the mobile suit simulators and walked down the line. Finally, he found the one he was looking for. All of them were reconstructions of mobile suit cockpits, and each of them had their own special features, but this one stood out. The cockpit was more high-tech than the rest. "A Gundam," he muttered under his breath, studying it. Now, he could remember - he remembered the feel of the gigantic mobile suit in actual battle, the movements, the weapons, and . . . He heard someone walking up behind him and turned around. "Dr. Robinson," he said.
Dr. Robinson frowned. "What the Hell are you doing in here, kid?"
"Looking at the simulators."
"Why?"
"I felt like it."
Dr. Robinson nodded. "Free time's up," he said. "You're supposed to report to the infermary for a check up. Get." 01 walked out, and Dr. Robinson called the Commander. "Sir," he said. "01 is getting suspicious. Found him in the simulator room without permission. What should I do about it, then, sir?" His face fell. "Yes, of course, sir."
~~~~
Duo yawned, sipping the coffee in the small coffee shop where he found Hilde hiding. It was much better than the coffee the Preventers get, but at least that coffee was free.
"You haven't come home for nearly a week," Hilde said. She was 'wearing' his hat now, and he had given up trying to retrieve it from her head.
This was true; Duo had been sleeping at HQ because there was really no point in leaving. Lady Une had him running errands at various times of the day, as well as searching for Heero at night. When this crisis ended, he thought, he'd never want to see that place again. He smiled sleepily. "Yea . . . Sorry."
"It's okay," she returned his smile. "I just worry about you."
Duo feigned surprise. "Me?" he said, raising his eyebrows. "Ah, Hilde- babe, why would you do a thing like that?"
She giggled. "Duo Maxwell," she said, "you bother me."
"I know." He finished his coffee. "I have a feeling Lady Une's going to be bothering the both of us if we don't get back," he told her, and they wandered back to the building.
When they walked through the door, the both decided that they weren't leaving again, possibly ever, for fear of missing any more than they did in the few minutes they were gone. Preventers were rushing around like mad. Apparently, as a Preventer whom Duo interrogated was told, one of the Preventers bases in China had been ruthlessly attacked. "Oh," muttered Duo, "Juuust peachy."
~~~~
01's bitter smiled scared the soldiers in the familiar black van. He gave the mission details, the fatality count, and other various bits of information he was asked for. Satisfied, the officer gave another soldier the okay to inject 01 with anesthesia. The mission they hoped he would have failed went wonderfully. The Preventers base was in smokes, and no doubt, the rest of the Preventers were hot on their trail. This didn't matter to 01; he knew nothing of the Preventers or even of the organization he was currently involved in. He followed orders and left it at that - whether he wanted to or not.
~~~~
Relena sighed, searching through the ruins of the smoldering building. There were few survivors. She looked at Lady Une, who was searching the horizon for that black van. She shook her head. "He's close by," she said quietly to herself. "I can feel it."
~~~~END CHAPTER~~~~