Disclaimer: Gundam SEED does not belong to me and I do not stand any monetary gains in writing this fan-fiction.

A/N: here! Okay, I'm not gonna abandon any of my other gun seed fics… they're just taking a vacation okay?

Phrase Shift Down

Part 5

Athrun stared and stared, at nothing. The blank wall wasn't very fascinating though, it wasn't that that he was looking at. The scene with Kira kept playing in his head, on repeat. There were so many things he wanted so say, so many things he wanted to do with Kira. He dreamt of meeting Kira many a time during the years they've been apart. They were more than friends. They were childhood buddies. Childhood would always be something scared. They would always leaven an indelible mark in your heart whether you were in your late teens partying the night away of old bearded and wise, children friends and the accompanying memories could never be erased, least of all in a coordinator's mind.

Athrun saw the men working down below him. He was in the observatory, the waiting room. He wondered dreamily whether they were fine, most of them seemed to be feeling very anxious. The men were bustling down there, and tension was in the air. Once in a while, one of them would point at the Strike and head his head furiously, and then the other would sigh in exasperation. This pattern repeated many times.

But Athrun could not be bothered to worrying about the petty little problems of the crew members. The only time he noticed was when the stark red uniform of Nichol appeared amidst the sea of drab coloured uniforms.

The Strike's unfathomable gaze seemed to drill holes into his skull. It was questioning him, berating him for bringing it away from where it wanted to be. This was not where it belonged. Athrun took a step back, and turned away from the Mobile Suits.

His fingers fidgeted with nothing to do. So at a loss, Athrun walked to his locker and opened it. He took stock of his suit, checked it texture, condition, anything, to keep his hands and mind occupied, anything to prevent him from thinking about Kira in that cold room, feeling so upset, and his guilt for having done that to his childhood friend.

"Athrun Zala, Please report to the Docking Bay now. Repeat. Athrun Zala, Please report to the Docking Bay immediately."

The corners of Athrun's lips twitched in annoyance. What do they want from him now? One thing's for sure though, he had to go, but that didn't mean that he had to rush. Athrun took his time, hanging the suit carefully, soothing out the creases and what not, and closed the door carefully. Then he walked slowly. One step, two, three… he counted each step. It took 12 steps to reach the door, and it slide open after the ninth step.

He was so intent on taking his time that he didn't notice when Nichol collided into him.

"Athrun!" he exclaimed.

Athrun looked up from the floor, his eyes wide open.

Seeing that look in Athrun's eyes, Nichol knew immediately that something was wrong. He didn't look right. Well, he hadn't looked right since the Strike's pilot came on board, but he was really out of his sense then. What had happened?

Deciding to take things slowly, Nichol said very carefully, " I was the one who called for you. You see, Commander Creuset had order for you to take a look at the Strike's OS. It's really quite…" he searched for an appropriate word, " Exquisite." He finished.

" oh, okay, I'll go now then."

Nichol put a hand on Athrun's shoulder to stop him. "Wait."

Athrun stopped in his tracks and froze. His thought ran in all directions, and with all the processing speed of a coordinator's minds, that was really saying a lot.

"I want you to tell me what you know about that pilot, and don't you try to say that you don't know anything. I'm not stupid Athrun. I can see for myself, there is something wrong with you, and it's not just stress from being a Red."

" No, I can't…" Athrun's head hung, " I can't."

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A/N: hehe! Okay, stay tuned for The Confrontation, on the next chapter of Phase Shift Armour Down.