Wings of Destruction
Chapter 18
In The Name of God: Part 1
Justin slammed the front door open and caused a loud crash to sound throughout the entire cabin, startling Chris. Mandy stepped in sheepishly afterwards and closed the door gently. Vincent, a frown on his face, stepped out of the bedroom.
"You alright, Man?" He asked his enraged comrade.
"Where's Uno?" Justin spat out? "I need to speak with her."
"Where are you guys going?" Mandy asked, noticing Chris packing a few things into his backpack and Vincent with his bag on his shoulders already.
"Chris and I have an assignment," Vincent replied. He extended his arm and handed Justin a sheet of paper. "You two need to go through this and change whatever you feel to change."
"What is this?" Justin asked as he grabbed the paper from his partners grasp. He frowned down at it. "Stats of our Gundams?"
"They're finished," Vincent grinned out. "And ready for our personal touches—then they'll be ready by the end of the week."
"They even named the Gundams already—but if you don't like the name you can always change it," Chris added in. "They gave me Persephone."
"Persephone?" Mandy muttered in wonder.
"Greek God of innocence, technically a Goddess," Vincent explained. Justin frowned and turned over the paper as he read more of the stats. "Persephone later married off to Hades, the Greek God of the underworld—also known as Hell. Hades is my Gundam's name," Vincent muttered out as he added in the final statement.
"Well," Justin cleared his throat and raised his eyebrows up at his friend. "I hope you and Chris have a happy marriage together."
"Hah hah," Vincent grumbled, turning away. "You're is the same."
"Zeus is good enough," Justin muttered before slapping the paper at Mandy's stomach and turning away towards the bedroom where Uno slept. Mandy glanced down at the paper and frowned.
"I don't get it—who's Eros?"
"Eros, my dear, is the Greek God of love and sexual desire," Vincent grinned over to his playmate as he received a few energy bars from Chris.
"But," she frowned and flipped the page over. "Why not just name it Aphrodite then?"
"Because it makes more sense to be a woman riding a man then a woman riding another woman," Vincent smiled innocently before zipping up his back and flinging it back over his shoulder. Mandy shot him a dirty glare but he only chuckled in response.
"Where's Uno?" Justin asked again. "Is she in the room?"
Without even waiting for an answer he opened the door and stepped inside. Upon entry Uno snapped at him.
"I could have been naked and you'd walk right on in," she grumbled. Justin shut the door and leaned against it, folding his arms across his chest.
"It wouldn't make any difference," he muttered. Uno paused in her packing and turned to him with a glare; he shrugged it off and turned away with a smirk. "I've taken the opportunity to glance at you when you slit your wrists in the shower that night."
"I should kill you for that," she muttered before narrowing her eyes and turning away.
"But—you can't."
"Want a bet?"
Justin smiled and pushed off the door. "I know you can't," he said with a grimace as he stepped up to the foot of the bed where her computer parts were scattered out and being restacked in her bag. Uno stopped what she was doing and turned to him.
"What are you doing?" She snapped at him. "You're in my way—get out!"
"I saw Winner today," he said softly. Uno opened her mouth about to speak and froze at the name of the town. "Does it sound familiar?"
She swallowed hard. "I don't know what you're talking about." She turned away from him and stared down at the bed of machine parts, suddenly brain dead and forgetting what she was currently doing.
"Oh I think you do," Justin corrected her. "In fact—I think you'd wish you didn't know what Winner used to be, where it used to be."
"What do you want?" She murmured softly. "Just… go away, Justin. I have no time for this."
Justin nodded, understanding what she probably had going through her mind. He latched his hands behind his back and turned away from her to pace the room to and from.
"I never thought the city would be a ghost town," he muttered. Uno swallowed hard and took a deep breath to try and steady her heart. "But… upon driving through I found it really harbors nothing but rodents—if even that."
She shut her eyes to pry the images out of her mind but he only went on. "I stopped by Winner Academy today and I've never seen a school look so… deserted, like that—I mean," he chuckled and glanced over at her, "it's like something straight out of that old Silent Hill video game—you know, the high school from Hell?"
She swallowed hard, no longer able to avoid the images in her mind from when she used to laugh on a daily basis; why was he bringing up the past?
A past he had never anything to deal with?
"Justin—shut up," Uno choked out, trying to suppress the tears from forming behind her closed lids. Justin paused and turned to her with a frown of his own.
"Uno… what happened to that town?" He asked casually.
"It's none of your business," she spat out. She turned to him, her brows furrowed so angrily at him, her glare so fatal, that he didn't think it was possible to get angrier. "What do you know about Winner? Have you ever been there—have you ever visited that town when it was alive to know how the people were? No! So just—stay out of it!"
"Uno—"
"Just stay out of my life!" She shouted in his face before turning away to retreat into the bathroom. Justin frowned and watched her slam the door shut.
"Alright," Vincent leaned over and wrapped his arms around Mandy's waist. His lips gave her a bruising kiss and sent chills down her spine, making her body tingle all over. When he pulled back he saw her eyes were glazed over.
With a grin, he muttered, "Chris and I will be back tomorrow afternoon at the latest."
"A-alright," Mandy muttered out. Chris was standing by the door, chuckling softly, at the scene in front of the couch.
Vincent gave her one final kiss before turning away and stepping up to the door where Chris stood.
"We've got a few hussies to blow away before returning so," Vincent turned back to Mandy and winked. "Don't wait up for us for too long, now."
Mandy swallowed. "I won't."
"Ready?" Chris asked with a smile. Vincent nodded at him and both of them left the cabin.
Uno stared into her own eyes as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her violet eyes began to glaze over with fresh tears and she swallowed hard to push most of it down, but they still wanted to resurface.
Just like her memories wanting to resurface.
She took a deep breath and blew it out in a rush. How dare he talk as if he knew about her life! He didn't know the first thing about her! He didn't know how she had grown up on the streets before Duo had found her! He didn't know how they had taken her in to become their trained killer!
He didn't know anything!
He didn't know how Theresa was killed in her spot! He didn't how Ricky had killed himself because he couldn't go through with his objective! He didn't know that Ricky had killed Theresa in place, by accident, instead of her!
Justin had no idea about the things that had happened because she was alive! This war was because she was alive! Everyone was dead because she was alive!
She was alone because she was alive.
Uno tore away from the mirror and turned on the faucet. She really wanted to slice her wrists again but she knew she had a job to do. If she died now then Synodd would win and they would take over everything. She couldn't do that; if it was created because she was in the way then she had to stop them before taking her own life.
She splashed cool water on her face then reached for a towel and turned off the faucet. The warmth of the towel against her face was soothing and helped to remind her that she was still alive and had a job to do.
Nothing was going to stop her from accomplishing that.
With that in mind, she sent a glare at her own reflection, threw the towel at it, and then fled the bathroom.
"Vincent," Chris shouted out from the back seat of the bike they were riding. "Exactly where is this mission held?"
"Four miles outside of town," Vincent shouted back. "In some old warehouse—outside of the Red Light District. So… be careful."
"Got ya'!"
Justin was leaning against the wall besides the door when Uno stormed back into the room, one knee propped up in the air, and his arms crossed over his chest. She forced out a breath of air as she passed by him and ignored his presence.
"So," he cleared his throat, "where's your next mission?"
"I have a task to do in Orchid Mountains," she replied emotionless. "There's four hunters out there I have to assassinate."
His brows creased. "Hunters?"
"They're looking for a wolf—don't ask me why."
"You think this job is something Duo would appreciate?" A grin formed on his lips. Uno paused in her packing and turned back to him with a glare.
"Watch your mouth—Stevens," she warned him. "You don't know anything about me." Uno turned back to her packing and frowned down at the computer parts before her; she had to connect several pieces together before finally being able to package it up and she had less then three hours to do it in.
And she didn't know the first thing about putting it together.
Cursing beneath her breath, Uno returned to stuffing things into a backpack.
"Whether you think I do or not I don't care," he muttered as he turned to her. "But I know that Duo isn't dead."
Uno froze as she stuffed a shirt into her back and felt her heart freeze. Her blood turned to ice and her limbs became numb.
Did he just say Duo's alive!
"What… what are you saying?" She mumbled, stealing a glance over at him. She gave him a look of a frightened, rat, terrified of the cat that has it cornered. "What are you getting at?"
"I saw the files," he explained carefully. "At the Blassimeer Manor."
She swallowed hard. "You've been there?" He nodded and she felt her world spinning out of control. "How—what did you see?"
"The moment you shot down the stairs to kick ass they had sped off," he explained. Uno took in a shaky breath and shuddered at the thought of the past, when she had first slain people in her rage. "Right before you came downstairs Heero tore Duo away from the staircase—he was trying to get to you."
"Y-you're lying," she whispered, her breathing coming roughly to her lungs just then, her vision blurring out. Black spots covered the sights of her bed where the machine parts laid.
"You don't know what you're talking about—you can't."
"Mandy and I both witness them being invaded," he stepped up besides her but the bed was not in his line of sight as it was hers. Practically nothing was in his vision; nothing except for the side of Uno's face and what he swore were tears falling from her left eye.
"Quatre was almost shot—and when the soldiers came through the door they began to fight," he whispered now. "Duo tried to get to you but they tore him away from the stairs, afraid to let them know you're upstairs."
"Justin," she pleaded softly, practically in a whisper. "Stop."
"They escaped unharmed but Duo was crying—he didn't want to leave you."
"You're lying!" She suddenly turned on him and shoved him away. "You're just—you're lying!"
"Uno!" Justin stumbled back and coughed a little as he grabbed his breath. "Uno—you're being absurd!"
"No!" She spat back. She spun to face him and he saw the fresh tears as they strolled down her face in a rush. "You don't know anything about me so just leave me alone!"
"Uno!"
"No!"
Uno spun away from him and swallowed hard as her vision blurred from the tears. She choked out a small sob. Justin was by her side in an instant and snarled.
"Listen to me!"
"No!" She spat back. She turned and glared him. "You're just—you're just trying to pry into my life!"
"Look," hr growled; he was getting upset with her attitude now. "I saw it myself—they are alive, Uno!"
"No they're not," she muttered back and returned to her packing. She zipped up her back and frowned down at the pieces before her.
"Fine," he mumbled out. Justin shot both of his arms up in the air and shook his head. "I'll drop this subject—but I know that they're still alive."
"Fine—whatever," she grumbled back. She sniffled some then wiped away at her eyes. "I just… I need to figure out what this goes to."
Justin turned to the machine parts and the computer parts scattered out on the bed and frowned. He turned back to her and blinked in astonishment.
"You don't know what this goes to?"
"No," she replied softly, honestly.
Nodding, he turned back to the parts and pointed down at the computer pieces. "These can't be put together until the machine is fully complete."
"How would you know?" She grumbled out.
"And after you do the machine you can't miss it—each computer component hooks up to one of these machine parts," he explained. Justin turned to Uno then with a calm smirk.
"And how," she turned to him, "do you know this?"
"Because if there's one thing I know," he mumbled, "it's computers."
"But this isn't a computer—it's a machine," she retorted. Justin shrugged his shoulders and nodded.
"True," he smiled over at her, "but it works just the same."
Uno turned to him and groaned. She stared at him with irritation and sighed.
"Look," she grumbled, "go away. I don't need your help and I never asked for it anyways."
"I'm only trying to be a friend," he fought back. Uno frowned and furrowed her brows.
"I don't need one," she muttered back.
"Yes you do," he chuckled out. "People die without friends."
Uno snorted at that and scoffed out, "My friends die because of me."
"Yeah well," he shrugged, "that's a chance I'm willing to take."
"Justin—go away."
"No," he smiled innocently.
"Go away!"
"No."
"Yes!"
"No." He was smiling—grinning—and Uno was losing her temper.
"I'll shoot you," she muttered in warning.
"No you won't."
"Just," Uno glanced away, angry that he was right, and scanned her thoughts for an insult to tell him off with. "Go away."
"Uno—"
"Go!"
"No!"
"Yes, you're in—"
Uno didn't get anymore words out past that. Justin reached out with his hand, grasped the back of her neck, and held her tightly as he slammed his mouth down upon hers. Uno's breath froze in her lungs and her heart began to beat wildly. Her body tingled all over and her eyes shot large. The kiss wasn't anything special like lovers shared; it was just an average kiss.
But it had stunned her nonetheless.
When he pulled back a minute later Uno was still staring at him, stunned into ultimate silence. Justin had a grin on his face and felt it time to return to the living room, to leave the 'so-called' perfect assassin on her own.
He turned away and headed towards the door but paused before leaving. When he turned back Uno had regained at least a little of her self consciousness but she was still in a state of utter blankness. He smirked and pointed at the parts on the bed.
"By the way," he muttered out, "begin by piecing together the Arbraitor with the Spictal then twist the Venick into the core of the Rectar—after that you should be ready to hook up the computer parts."
Then he left and Uno remained standing there in silence, frozen on the spot, unable to move or even register what had just happened.
The Point of No Return - GW fic, is back up and running. Everyone, please read that! I need as much help and feedback as possible to keep it moving!