Don't Cry
By Prink and ElfGirl
Disclaimer: We don't own Gundam Wing. If we did this would be an actual episode.
Prink: Okay, this is our lovely ficy thing. I wrote a good portion of the plot, while my dear friend ElfGirl wrote the actual fic. I just edit.
ElfGirl: This is almost an AU, but with some twists. The first part is a flashback so just bear with us because we 'fixed' it.
Prink: Reviews, wonderful reviews. We will not threaten to stop posting if we don't get them, however, they are helpful and let us know what we're doing right or, as the case may be, wrong… So if you have a few moments to spare, we would love to hear from you!
ElfGirl: Flames, however, will be used to bake the spiffy peanut butter cookies that Prink makes to keep us going.
Prink: And they will be laughed at.
ElfGirl: Anyhoo, on to the fic!
Chapter 1: What if?
He had fallen far, but not far enough. The final blast had destroyed Wing, but the strength hadn't been enough to completely annihilate the bunker. "Get up, damn it!" The boy hissed to himself. He could feel his broken bones scraping together as he started to roll onto his knees, the pain threatening to knock him out.
"Shoot if you wish, I am resolved." Relena's stubborn voice reached him. He tried to call out to her, but the fall had knocked the breath out of him and he couldn't manage more than a whisper.
"I'll tell you the truth before you die," another voice replaced Relena's. "The people are there to follow the victor."
The pilot was on his feet when he heard the gun shot and Mariemeia's gasp. He tottered forward as the little girl whispered, "Miss Relena?"
Une was cradling the still form when the boy got there, and Mariemeia was babbling all sorts of apologies. When the lady saw him, she made a space for the pilot in the midst of the rubble and carefully moved Relena toward him.
The golden haired girl looked up at him with a small smile on her face, "I guess you didn't get to kill me after all."
"Relena," The boy whispered.
"I love you Heero," She stated, her voice wavering.
He started to answer, but her garbled choke stopped him dead. The girl writhed limply as blood trickled into her lungs and robbed her of air. A look of panic almost surfaced on the pilot's face as he searched for some way to help the girl in front of him. There was nothing he could do.
Her involuntary thrashing lasted for what felt like an eternity as the pilot whispered nonsense to her unresponsive form. "No, please don't die…I'm sorry…Don't go…Please…I'm sorry…I love you."
Finally, the shaking stopped and her body relaxed, the blood had won. Anger swelled in the boy, threatening to bring him to madness, but worse than that was the ice cold despair. His world had bled out on the ruins in front of him.
Leaning down, he kissed her cold, lifeless lips before lowering her to the floor. Rising to his feet, the teen turned to where Dekim stood. The commander had remained rooted on the spot, watching the travesty he had unleashed. Reaching for one of his guns, the boy fired all six bullets into the man. Grim satisfaction marked his features as Dekim collapsed in a puddle of his own blood.
The pilot sank back down to the girl's side, allowing the waves of blackness that had battled with him since he left Wing to finally bind him to sweet oblivion. He fell forward, entwined with her broken frame.
The sporadic clicking of keys echoed off the vacant walls as Heero signed the note and clicked 'send.' 'Sending to appeared briefly, before being replaced with a confirmation of successful departure. The young man's expression hardened, she would get his e-mails one day.
Closing out of the program with a final click, Heero stood and moved away from the small table, removing various articles of clothing as he went. When he reached his boxers, the ex-pilot clumped the pile together and stuffed it into a backpack next to his bed. Heero gave the small hotel room a final glance to ensure its security, before shutting off the light and climbing under the sheets.
He was almost asleep when the high-pitched melody of arriving e-mail reached his ears. The young man rolled over and narrowed his eyes at the computer screen, the words 'new message from hovered in the middle of his blue background. Throwing the sheets aside, Heero returned to his laptop and opened the letter. 'It's done!' was the only message the e-mail contained. The ex-pilot threw his clothes back on, collected his bag and computer, and headed outside.
Duo and Hildie were both outside waiting for him when Heero pulled up, and the two broke into elated chattering the moment he stepped out.
"Took us three years, but we finally found something strong enough to power the damn thing!" Duo proudly exclaimed
"Then we had to waste another four months getting enough of the stuff." Hildie added.
"It all fell together last week, but Hildie wanted to test it before we put you behind the controls."
"To make sure nothing would go wrong."
"And it didn't!" Duo ended ecstatically.
Heero moved past them and into the abandoned hanger where the machine was waiting, perched atop a large flat-bed truck. The ship had been constructed using quite a few parts from Cancer and Pisces suits for practicality purposes, and its shape clearly showed that. Pacing around the craft, Heero noted that the weapons had been either removed or disabled.
"Had too," Duo explained when he saw the direction of his friend's gaze, "we ripped out the arms technology to make room for our junk. Plus we couldn't risk you blasting something and making a scene." The ex-deathsythe pilot grinned at Heero, knowing the young man wouldn't compromise his chance to use the device by thwacking him.
Having completed a full circle around the ship, Heero hoisted himself onto the left wing and dropped into the open cockpit. Hildie and Duo followed him up, quickly explaining the various controls. They had made the piloting as close to a gundam's as possible so Heero would know how to work it.
"Is one of you coming with me?" Heero asked, cocking his head toward the additional seat behind his own.
Duo and Hildie exchanged glances, before the smaller of the two answered. "No, it's for the return trip."
"Only one person will be on the return trip," Heero stated, his cobalt eyes growing colder than usual. "I'm killing her."
"Are you crazy! You can't just kill her, she hasn't done anything wrong!"
Heero gazed silently at Duo for a few seconds before asking, "And what do you suggest I do?"
"Bring her back!"
"And then what?"
"She can stay with us," Hildie broke in. "We can put her in my room and I'll move into the living room."
"And she'll just stay there for the rest of her life? Forget it, she's dead."
"Damn it Heero!" Duo shouted, "I didn't spend forever building this thing so you could waste it on a murder! If you won't bring her back than I will."
The three lapsed into silence as Heero considered his options. "I'll bring her back," He finally stated. "But you two are in charge of her, and if anything goes wrong I will kill her."
"Fair enough," Duo sighed, stepping forward and holding out his hand.
Heero snorted and proceeded give him a small pistol. Duo pocketed the weapon before moving his hand back. The ex-wing pilot glared at the young man, but finally gave in and produced three more guns. Satisfied, Duo jumped off the ship and dropped the weapons into a near by tool box.
Hildie joined the braided ex-pilot and together the two collected a tarp to cover the machine with. Heero jumped out of the cockpit and closed it, landing neatly on the far side of the transport. Together, the three quickly secured the sheet and jumped into the transport.
"We're dropping you at Castlepoint." Hildie explained as they drove through the back roads of Wellington. "I suggest you launch there before heading toward the US, there's enough cloaking on the ship to get you through any sonar they may have."
Nodding, Heero closed his eyes and turned toward the window. Duo turned down the radio so he could get some rest before his trip.
Desiree moaned and opened her eyes for the umpteenth time. 'This is ridiculous!' The teen concluded, deciding to give up on trying to sleep for the time being.
Moving from her bedroom to the kitchen, the college student clicked on the overhead lights and plodded around gathering chocolate chip cookies and a glass of milk. She eventually landed at the table, where the previous day's newspaper was waiting for her.
The girl plucked the front page out of the mess in front of her and began to read about how a Dr. Elias Lee had developed a way to revolutionize the space program by allowing common people to move out to space station 'Colonies' where they would have the same quality of life as on earth. The article stated that the actual building of the stations would be put on hold until the doctor could raise enough funding to float his program.
Desiree snorted and moved on to the classifieds section, no one in their right mind would willingly give up living on earth and move into the far reaches of space.
She was halfway through the car section when a firm hand clamped around her mouth and she heard the icy whisper, "Move and your dead." Terrified thoughts of rape and murder flew up in her mind before she felt a sharp blow crack against her left temple, dropping her into blackness.