Disclaimer: I don't own any of it, and if you sue me all I have are books and art stuff.
A.N. - Here's another chapter for you! Hope it's fast enough.
Last Chapter:
"Yes. We're immortal now too. That's why we're telling all our friends now, because we're going to have to disappear sooner or later before people notice we aren't aging. We trust that you'll keep our secret."
"Thank you for your trust," said Howard. "Noone will ever hear your secret from me."
"Thanks, Howie. I knew you'd understand," said Duo, giving the man who he thought of almost as a father another hug. The four of them sat and talked until far into the night, remembering the past and discussing the future. Eventually Howard left to return to where he was staying, and the three pilots went to bed, exhausted from the long day. The next day they would meet up with Quatre and Trowa, and tell the last group about their change.
Chapter 9:
"Hey guys," greeted Quatre. "How did it go for you?"
"Not bad. Everyone took the news really well," replied Duo. "How about you Q? How'd it go telling your sisters? And you Tro, how'd Catherine take it?"
"Most of my sisters understood. They're all going to get involved in the running of the company now, but I left two of them in charge of it all. Iria says 'hi' to all of you by the way."
"Catherine didn't take the news that well at first. You were right not to go, Heero. She blamed all of it on you and probably would've liked to use you as a target for her knife-throwing act at first. But she'll get used to it. She was already resigned to the change by the end of my visit, and I didn't stay long."
"That's good," put in Duo. "It might've been funny to watch Catherine try and beat up on Heero though."
"So now you think it's funny to watch someone throw knives at me?" asked Heero.
"I think you're reaction to having someone throw knives at you would be funny."
"But she's Trowa's sister, more or less. I can't deal with her the same way I would if a soldier was throwing knives at me!" pointed out Heero.
"Oh. Good point," said a more subdued Duo. "Which ones of your sisters are going to take over the company, Quat?"
"I don't really know them all that well, but Ekaterina and Taiya are going to take over for me. Anne took care of the legal aspect of the change in control." Duo and Quatre continued to talk about Quatre's sisters and the company while they flew to meet with the Maguanac. Heero piloted the plane while Trowa sat in the copilots seat. Since all the guys were such good pilots, they didn't really trust the flight to anyone else. Technically, they could've flown there using their wings, but none of them were experienced yet, and too many people could see.
When they left the plane, the entire Maguanac Corps was there to greet them. They first surrounded Quatre, hugging him and congratulating him on keeping the Earth safe once again, then moved to include the rest of the pilots in the celebration. Finally Rashid cut through the crowd surrounding them to ask them why they'd come.
"We've got something to tell you all, but we should wait until we're in a more private place," said Quatre.
"What is it Master Quatre?" chorused the Maguanac.
He laughed. "I can't tell you yet."
"Not even a hint, Master Quatre?" put in Abdul.
"No, sorry."
"Well then, we'll have to take you back to the base so you can tell us," suggested Rashid. Once in the Maguanac's underground base, Heero was again the one to explain. The Maguanac didn't even question it, they just accepted everything at face value. They even promised their help for as long as they were alive.
"You and the other pilots have helped us so often, Master Quatre. The least we can do is help you in return," said Rashid.
"It's we who owe you," Quatre said. "You've been there fighting all our battles with us."
"You'll be protecting the Earth for a long time to come, the least we can do is help you out. Now, to celebrate!" said Rashid.
"But what exactly are we celebrating?" asked Duo confusedly.
"The defeat of Mariemeia of course."
"But that happened almost a month ago!"
"That doesn't mean we can't celebrate it."
The party lasted well into the night, but Heero left early and Duo followed him. They wound up sitting silently outside on the dunes and looking up at the desert sky.
"Do you want me to teach you how to fly?" Heero suddenly asked.
After a few moments of startlement at the question, Duo agreed. "Sure, Heero. What do I have to do?"
"Well, first of all your wings have to be out." Duo quickly removed his shirt and made his wings appear. Beside him, Heero did the same. "Now close your eyes and focus on your wings. Imagine them moving." It took a moment, but Duo got his wings to sweep the air. "Remember that feeling, it's what you'll have to capture every time you fly. Keep moving your wings. When you feel ready, push off hard from the ground and flap hard." Heero demonstrated, jumping high off the ground before a powerful flap of his wings sent him further skyward. He circled high above Duo's head for a few moments before landing gently.
"Like this?" asked Duo, copying what Heero had done.
"Exactly. Stay up, we can fly around for awhile." Heero joined Duo in the sky and for the next few hours they flew through the desert sky. Noone was around to see them, so they went higher and higher. As they both got more accustomed to flight, they began to try increasingly intricate manoeuvres: passing over and under each other, doing barrel rolls and loops. On one pass, Duo called out to Heero.
"This is amazing," he laughed breathlessly. "I've never felt more free. This is like piloting Deathscythe, only out here there's nothing to tie me down. I can fly on my own wings."
"It almost makes up for the immortality, doesn't it? Maybe that's why we have wings, as compensation for everything we have to give up."
"Maybe, but you can't be an angel without wings." They continued flying for another hour, then headed back to the base to get some rest. Flying was tiring with muscles unaccustomed to the strain.
A.N. - There, they flew. By the way, I don't have a beta reader for this, so if anyone would like to volunteer.... It's ok though, I don't really seem to need one. I'll try to write longer chapters in future. These first ones seem to break up better this way, but I want to start including more in each chapter.
Scotty-lass - Is this soon enough for you? I believe I said in a previous chapter who will be partnered with who in the Preventers. (Check chapter 5) And I don't know yet what will happen when they're with the Preventers. I guess you'll have to wait and see. By the way, are you sure you don't need Ritalin? Bouncing on chairs too much can be hazardous to your health.
Griffen - Lol. Longer than Duo's braid, that's a good one. I don't know how long the story will wind up being, but considering it's taken this many chapters to get here, I'd say probably at least 60 chapters total. (What was I thinking when I wrote this idea? This was only the second fic I'd posted when I started writing it.)