Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Gundam Wing things or people or the show nor do I own their lives (All I own is my miserable excuse for a lifeā¦.)
Chapter 6
"So, where to next?" Duo asked as he leaned against the side of the hangar door, watching Trowa load his gundam onto Heero's plane.
"According to what data I've managed to get on the battle, there should be a base somewhere nearby, about 24 miles due East. We should make it before dusk." Heero said, typing away on his laptop and taking in the information flashing across the screen like a supercomputer. Duo got a headache from watching the words whiz up the screen in a blur and turned to stroll down the ramp. He looked across the meadow and spotted Rachel walking slowly through the tall grasses, plucking flowers from the waves of green bending in the breeze. He grinned and stepped off into the grass, wading through the sea to join Rachel. As he got closer to her, he ducked down into the grass just as she turned.
Huh? I thought I heard someone behind me. . .Rachel thought as she scanned the field. Not finding anything, she turned back around to continue her walk. Little did she know she was being stalked from within the blades of emerald rustling in her attacker's wake. Before she could do anything, Duo leapt from the grass and tackled Rachel. Quatre was watching them the whole time and let out a chuckle as the two went tumbling below the top of the grass. Trowa glanced over his shoulder after hearing the noisy teens wrestling in the field but went back to his work. Heero didn't even care. As Duo tried to pin the wiggling Rachel, he said, "Boy you sure can fight!" With her legs flailing around in the air, Duo couldn't get on top of her to hold her down. He lost his grip on her arm and she shoved him away, jumping to her feet and dashing back toward the planes. Duo scrambled to his feet and, like an elephant, tore through the field after her. She screamed, mostly in glee, as he wrapped his arms around her waist and spun her before falling back into the grass, Rachel's legs flying up in the air as Duo hit the ground. The melee settled down just before Rachel burst out of the grass again and ran up to Quatre, hiding behind him while peeking over his shoulder. Duo staggered to his feet as he rubbed his side, saying, "OW! You elbowed me!"
"Well you groped me!" She yelled back, catching Heero's attention long enough for a brief glance. Blushing, Duo said, "I did not! I don't call tackling you groping to any degree!"
"Are you about done with your fun-time, we need to go." Heero finally said, shutting his laptop and getting up. He walked over to his plane and walked up the ramp.
"Neh!" Duo pulled down his eyelid and stuck his tongue out at Heero's back.
"I saw that." Heero shouted without looking back. Duo grinned and ran over to Quatre and Rachel.
"You heard the 'man', let's make like a bread truck and haul buns!" Duo shouted, dashing into the hangar. Quatre laughed and said, "What!"
"OR," Rachel said with a grin, "We could make like the fat kid in dodge ball and get out!" Duo fell to the floor with laughter.
"Or we could make like a banana and split." Quatre suggested.
"Like my sides! BUWAHAHA!" Duo howled, holding his sides as he rocked back and forth. Rachel leaned against Quatre as she laughed.
Why am I stuck working with bakas. . .Heero thought as he heard the hoots and jokes from the other plane. Trowa looked over his shoulder as he entered the cockpit, saying, "They sound like they're having fun." Heero growled as he started the engine, signaling to the others that he was leaving, with or without them.
"Knock, knock"
"Who's there?"
"Boo."
"Boo who?"
"Don't get so upset, crybaby!"
"What?"
"Ha! Ha! I made you say 'boo-hoo'!"
"You're a real idiot."
"That wasn't necessary." Rachel laughed as Duo told Quatre jokes to pass the time.
I didn't know he was so funny. . .and he looks so cute when he laughs. . .Rachel thought, watching the boys laugh. She leaned her elbows on the edge of the control panel and rested her chin in her hands, looking out the view window. Duo turned to her and said, "Hey, what's wrong? You look sad."
"Nah, just thinking. . .I don't smile when I think, I don't know why but really, I'm fine." She said, smiling at him. He didn't look convinced but he let it go.
"Hey Quatre, wanna hear a joke about a Rabbi and an Arab?"
"NO!" Quatre had been tolerant of Duo's blonde jokes but his patience had worn thin. Rachel smiled as Duo begged to tell more jokes and Quatre's eye started to twitch. With a sigh, she resumed her daydreaming.
"What is it that you don't like about Rachel?" Trowa had broken the silence in the plane after the hour they had been flying, and Heero didn't sound like he wanted the silence to end.
"Who said I didn't like her." Heero said in his monotone voice.
"She did." There was more silence before Heero responded.
"She knows too much and Duo won't let me 'take care' of her."
"You mean she knows too much about you."
"And you too. She knows about everyone and anyone, anything you can think of she probably knows." Trowa seemed surprised as he said, "A spy?"
"She claims she's from another dimension. Personally I think she's lost her mind."
"Hmm. . ." Trowa thought about this. Heero glanced over at him and said, "How far in the future does your circus plan their shows?"
"A month, why?"
"Were you scheduled to do a show at an OZ base?" Trowa seemed shocked.
"Yes, how did you know?" Heero feel silent and glared out the front window.
She knew. . .but she could have just heard that from anyone. Heero thought. Trowa stared at him for a minute and said, "Did she tell you?" Heero looked over at him and said, "Maybe."
"So she can see into the future?"
"Something like that."
"Did she tell you. . .what happened?" Heero frowned.
"No, why do you ask. Had something planned for them?"
"Maybe. . ." A memory rang in Heero's mind.
"He told you to always act on your emotions, and you passed that philosophy on to Trowa in the series. I guess you'll never get the chance to now, seeing that I messed everything up for you guys. He really looks up to you, Trowa that is." Heero frowned, Why would he look up to me?
"Trowa, would you self-detonate if you had the chance?" Trowa looked at him, a little surprised by the question.
"If I had the chance to and it meant destroying the enemy, yes, I would. . ."
"You told him to act on his emotions, so he did, and almost killed himself as well but was stopped by his friend, Catherine."
"And nothing would stop you, no regrets in the back of your mind. . ."
"No." Trowa seemed confused by the sudden Q and A session.
"Not even if someone close to you tried to stop you?" Trowa was by now frowning in confusion.
"I don't have anyone close to me. . .that's the first rule of being a true warrior: Don't have any emotional ties."
"What do you call Catherine." Trowa's eyes widened and he turned to Heero, saying, "She's. . .just. . .a coworker. . ."
"Is she?" Heero looked at him out of the corner of his eye. Trowa looked like he was about to break into a sweat but he settled back into his seat and his face fell back into its calmness.
"She's nothing more than part of my act in the circus." Heero looked back at the skies.
So this girl. . .he's attached to her, whoever she is. Rachel was right. . .
"Who told you about her?" Trowa asked in a calm voice.
"Rachel." Trowa looked away at the wall.
How would she know if I care about anyone, I never show my feelings. . .I don't care about Catherine. . .I don't. . .Trowa closed his eyes and leaned back in his seat, letting the silence fill the cockpit again.
"That does it for that OZ base. . .where to next?" Duo asked as he jumped out of his gundam. The base they infiltrated and bombed burned on the horizon as the group loaded up to move on.
"There's a fleet heading west to a nearby city, they'll be there in about 2 hours. We should move fast, we don't have any time to waste." Heero said, loading his gundam into the plane.
"If it's alright, might I fly with you this time?" Trowa asked Duo as he walked up. Duo looked surprised and said, "Uh, sure. Hey Quatre, you don't mind flying with Heero, do you?"
"Huh? No, not at all." Rachel walked out of the plane, saying, "Hey, why's Quatre going with Heero?"
"Tro-man wants to fly with us." Duo shouted to her. She blinked and said, "Oh, okay. . ."
Why does he want to fly with us? What did Heero say to him? Rachel gulped and shrugged off the chill running up her spine, I'm sure it's nothing. . .
"Great, let's get you on board!" Duo said, fine with it either way. He saw it as an opportunity to tell more jokes. They loaded up and took off a few minutes later and got settled in for the ride. Duo got stuck with the flying, Trowa's excuse being that he didn't pilot planes very well.
Geez, it's just like flying a gundam, what's the big difference? Duo thought to himself.
"Wow, look at that, it's so beautiful. . ." Rachel said, smiling as she stared out the viewing window at the expanse of water below them.
"Yeah, I guess so. Get used to it, there's another hour and a half's worth of it." Duo said, not impressed by the body of water. She grinned at him and continued to stare at it.
"It's so soothing to stare at it, though, don't you think? The calm crystal blue water, the sparkles of light from the sun dancing over the surface, the water arcing up to play with the sunbeams like a kitten rolling in some rays to warm itself. . .sigh" Rachel stared longingly at the cool sea waving at them from below.
"You live next to an ocean, why are you so fascinated by it? Don't you see it all the time?" Duo asked.
"Not really, I rarely go. You know, it's like living by a theme park, you know it's gonna be there so why go too much?"
"I guess I can understand that. . .but you talk so poetically about some liquid stuck in a hole. . ." She laughed and said, "Yeah, I can't help it, I'm an artistic person." With a wink she walked toward the cockpit door and opened it.
"Where ya goin'?" Duo said over his shoulder.
"For a walk, my legs are getting cramped from all the sitting around doing nothing. Be back in a few!" She waved and walked into the hangar. Trowa glanced after her and waited for Duo to be distracted by his driving so he could slip out and follow her. Suddenly, his opportunity called. Or, rather, Duo's stomach did.
"Boy am I hungry! I haven't eaten in over 2 hours!" Duo said, putting a hand to his rumbling belly. Standing, Trowa said, "I'll get something from the hangar."
"Hey, thanks! An apple would be nice. . ." Duo said as Trowa left to 'get food'. As he walked quietly into the hangar, he looked around for Rachel. Strolling in the direction of the storage crates, he spotted her by his gundam. She was slowly walking around it looking it over with great interest. He walked toward her and said, "You seem impressed by my gundam." She jumped and turned to face him. His silence creeped her out and she said, "Geez, you're quiet! Nah, I was just looking at it. It's. . .colorful. . ." She looked back at the orange, red, blue, yellow, and white mobile suit with an eyebrow cocked up in slight wonder as to who picked the colors for it. Trowa silently walked up next to her and looked at it as well. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and said, "So. . .it's. . .well armed."
Understatement of the century. . .Rachel thought to herself.
"It's a powerful weapon." Trowa said. Stepping forward, Rachel tried to sound smart by saying, "Yeah, my favorite part of its armory is the beam gattling gun; very powerful. Oh, and its homing and micro missiles kick butt in long-range combat. The army knife's a nice touch. . .though it doesn't really do much for your close-range attack capabilities. . ."
"Have you been studying it much?" Trowa asked, trying not to sound like he was interrogating her, which he was doing anyway.
"I was just really bored, I can't help it! Hey, Gundams are sweet! Not to mention way better equipped than regular mobile suits and dolls. . ."
"What's a doll?" Trowa asked. She looked back at him in surprise but remembered that they hadn't been introduced yet.
"That's right, they aren't made till later when you go into space. But wait, why did I see one in that battle you guys were in back when I first got here?" Trowa shrugged in confusion.
"I wasn't there; I couldn't tell you even if I was. What's a doll?"
"It's basically just like regular mobile suits but they're remotely controlled, kinda like R.C. cars. That allows them to move faster and they lock onto a preprogrammed objective like say a gundam. It will do nothing but attack that gundam, nothing else even if it gets attacked by someone else."
"Hmm. . .how do you know about these 'dolls' if they don't exist yet?" Trowa asked.
"But they do! Which they shouldn't. . .which is confusing. Let me ask Duo if he's seen them before." She started toward the cockpit but Trowa stepped in her way. She blinked and stared into his cold green eyes.
"I want to know why you know so much." Trowa asked in a slightly demanding voice.
"Geez, what's with you people! Have you been talking to Heero?" She said, getting annoyed as she stared at the, like the other pilots, short statured boy in front of her. Even if he was the tallest of the group, he was still 3 inches shorter than she was. She frowned as he pulled a gun from his pants and said, "Tell me how you know all of this and I might go easy on you."
"Even if I tell you you'll do the same thing Heero did and try to hurt me! You won't believe me!" She ran away and Trowa ran after her. She tried to turn and head around Heavyarms but Trowa pushed her against the hangar door, holding her down with one hand and pressing the tip of the gun against her forehead.
"Tell me." He said in a low voice. Just as he did, the door moaned, reminding Rachel of its problem.
"Oh no, don't tell me Quatre didn't fix the gate. . ."Rachel said, looking up as the gate slowly creaked open. Trowa looked up as well but didn't move in time and the door fell open. The air pressure change pulled Trowa and Rachel down with the door.
"AHHH!" Rachel screamed as she grabbed desperately for anything she could. A rope tied to the door fluttered by her face and she grabbed it, quickly grabbing Trowa's hand and screaming in pain as his weight wretched her arm around behind her. He stared up at her, slight fear in his eyes as he let his gun fall, reaching up with his other hand to grab her arm. She grit her teeth and tried as hard as she could to hold onto the rope and Trowa at the same time without dislocating her arm.
"Rachel. . ." Trowa said, knowing she couldn't hold his weight. She looked down at him and said, "Hold. . .on. I'll call Duo and he'll pull us up." Trowa saw her hold on the rope slipping and said, "He'll never get here in time."
"I don't care, I won't let you die! DUO!" She screamed as loud as she could but the engines drowned out her call. Her hand slipped more and Trowa said, "Let me go, you can still save yourself."
"NEVER!" He let go of her hand and she tried to hold onto him.
"Take care of my gundam for me." Trowa said sadly.
"TROWA, NO! HOLD ON!" Rachel screamed. But finally, his hand slipped free.
"TROOOWAAAAA!" Rachel watched as he fell toward the sea.
I can't let him die, I can't! Rachel kicked off and dove after him. As he freefell, he watched the water's surface slowly gain speed, coming closer and closer until he pulled his arms up in front of his face to block some of its painful impact. He hit the water and sank into the deep cold sea, but it didn't hurt as much as he had expected it to. In fact, it didn't hurt at all.
What. . .happened? Did I die yet? I. . .I can still breathe. . .He opened his eyes and blinked as he stared down into the dark depths below him. Reaching out, he found himself to be in a bubble of air. As he stared blankly at the wall of water in front of him, he noticed something wet pressed up against his neck.
"Huh?" He reached up to touch it, only to find that it was. . .
"I said I wouldn't let you die, and I meant it." Turning, he stared into the tear-filled eyes of his savior.
"R-Rachel? How. . ." He touched her wet cheek and she smiled.
"I didn't want you to die. . .so He let me save you." She muttered softly.
"Who's He?" She smiled and hugged Trowa as they slowly rose to the surface.
"My Father in heaven. . ." She whispered.
