Hi Everyone!

Here's another story! This one will be short but fun (I think). I've already finished writing it so I'll be updating pretty quickly. Please review… it's nice to hear back from people who read my work.

Note: This story takes place while Athrun and the other ZAFT soldiers are at the military academy.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Seed. Lou and Li belong to me though.

Luck of the Draw

Chapter #1 All In the Cards

"Nicol, that was entirely too easy," Athrun Zala laughed lightly as he threw down his winning hand of cards.

Across the table from Athrun, Nicol Amalfi put his hand over his face and groaned theatrically. "Athrun, you said you'd be nice to me and let me win," Nicol complained. "And I still lost!"

Still smiling, Athrun replied, "Nicol, I was nice to you! It's not my fault that I'm the best card player in the ZAFT military!" They both laughed and Athrun stretched out to collect his fifty cents of winnings. "How about I buy you another ice tea with the money I've won?" He ducked, laughing, as his friend swung a mock punch at him.

"If you're the best card player in town, then I'll play you, soldier boy," a quiet voice declared from behind Athrun.

Not turning, Athrun shook his head. "No thanks, Sir. I'm not playing any more hands tonight. I don't want to wear my luck out." He and Nicol both chuckled again, then Nicol glanced at the man standing behind Athrun and the smile immediately drained from his face. There was something about the stranger that made his blood run cold.

"I'm not asking soldier boy," the stranger added.

Athrun suddenly felt something sharp pricking into the back of his shoulder and knew that he was in trouble. A hand lifted his gun from his belt and Athrun, looking across the table at Nicol's white face, heard the sudden silence in the bar behind him. "You will play cards with me, boy." The pressure on the knife blade relented and Athrun sighed slightly in relief, while tensing his muscles to make a break for it.

Suddenly, the knife appeared against his throat and Nicol rose from his seat to allow the stranger to sit down. Very slowly, Athrun turned his head to see who was holding the knife. The man standing behind him gave Athrun a wolfish smile. He was so similar in looks to the stranger now sitting across from Athrun that Athrun knew they were brothers. Two other men stood leaning against the bar, guns dangling in their hands. The few patrons who had been in the bar had gone. The only other person there, apart from Nicol, was Mr. Miru, the bar tender.

"These are the stakes, boy," the stranger announced, dragging Athrun's attention back to him. "We'll play cards and if you win, I'll let your friends go. If you win again, I'll let you go. But if you lose…" He grinned unpleasantly. "You'll all die."

Gazing at the stranger sitting across the table from him, Athrun wondered how a harmless afternoon of fun with his friend could have gone so wrong. The two of them had been given a twenty-four hour pass from their commander at the ZAFT military academy and had taken the opportunity to head downtown. It was a mid-week afternoon, when the bar was usually quieter, and Athrun and Nicol could have their fun game of cards without bothering the other men, who were also usually ZAFT soldiers, who wanted to play seriously. Yet suddenly, a careless, throwaway remark, made in jest, had his life, and the lives of two other people, hanging in the balance.

Swallowing, Athrun forced himself to meet the man's eyes with confidence. Athrun had his share of luck with the cards, but he was in no way a card shark. He didn't keep track of which cards appeared and when he won, it was sheer luck. Nicol was a dreadful card player and the only person he would play against was Athrun, knowing perfectly well that he was going to lose, even before the first card was dealt from the pack. Neither of them were a patch on the two other young recruits they shared there quarters with and after loosing his first 25 dollars, Athrun had vowed to never play against Dearka nor Yzak again.

"Get your money on the table, soldier boy," the stranger ordered.

"I don't have much money," Athrun protested, truthfully. He had about five dollars in total and he knew that this man would want to play for more than just their lives. In fact, Athrun was absolutely sure that they would all die regardless of whether he won or lost at cards. His agile mind raced to try and find some way out of their predicament, but he couldn't see any hope.

"Put it on the table," the stranger growled and the knife, which had moved away from Athrun's throat, moved back and the point eased into his skin. The sharp pain reminded Athrun that he was helpless and he slowly reached into his maroon jacket to bring out the few coins that he had.

"Is that it?" the other demanded and Athrun nodded cautiously, for the knife still rested against his neck.

"I said I didn't have much money," Athrun reminded him.

The backhand slap came out of the blue. Athrun caught his breath and narrowed his eyes as he looked at the other man. "What was that for?" he demanded, angrily.

"I don't need any lip from a brat like you," the man growled. "My name is Lou Hawke. Heard of me?"

Slowly, Athrun nodded. He knew they were in real trouble now. The Hawke brothers were notorious criminals who wondered across the PLANTS stealing and causing trouble wherever they could. Lately the authorities had been so pre-occupied with events regarding the Earth that they had been neglecting local issues. The Hawkes had taken advantage of that fact. Athrun shot a quick look at Nicol and saw that his friend had recognized the name, too.

"I'm not the best card player in town," Athrun admitted. He could feel color rising in his face as he spoke. "That was a joke between me and my friend."

Shrugging, Lou Hawke raised an eyebrow. "So the joke's on you, kid," he retorted. "Seems like your big mouth's got you into trouble."

"What if I refuse to play?" Athrun asked. The next moment, he got his answer as the brother who stood behind him wrapped an arm around his neck. The knife bit into Athrun's skin once more and he couldn't hide the wince. A trickle of warm blood began to ooze down his skin.

"Kid, let's get something straight," Lou said. "You are going to play cards with me, whatever happens. Right now, my brother has his knife at your throat, but it would only take the blink of an eye for him to cut your friend's throat. Which is it to be?"

Nicol's scared eyes clashed with Athrun's. Athrun tried to send his friend a reassuring look. He couldn't offer anyone's life up to this man. "Leave him alone," Athrun replied. "He hasn't done anything to you."

"I take it that means you're going to play cards with me then," Lou commented, grinning evilly.

Left with no choice, Athrun nodded.

Looking around, Nicol saw the two other men were watching them carefully. Nicol had heard of the Hawke brothers. They were almost famous and Nicol's mother had followed their nefarious career in the newspapers with shameless interest. He wondered how she would deal with the news that he had been held prisoner of that same gang. Not well, he suspected. His mother was fond of stories about criminals, imagining them to be romantic, but she was unable to deal with the nasty realities of life. With a pang, he wondered if he would ever see his mother again.

"Let's play," Lou declared and began to shuffle the cards.

"I can't play if he's standing behind me," Athrun objected. Li Hawke had stepped back, but was still just behind Athrun. "That's cheating."

Gasping in a mixture of fear and admiration at his friend's daring, Nicol felt sure that Athrun had just signed their death warrants. Did Athrun really think that The Hawkes played honestly? He shot a glance at Mr. Miru, and saw that the bar tender was gaping open mouthed at Athrun, seemingly unable to believe what he was hearing.

But Athrun's audacity had amused the thief. "You have a point, kid," he acknowledged. There weren't many men who would have challenged him on this, especially with the blood still tricking down their necks. "Li, step back so you don't see the kid's cards." He gave a wolfish smile. "I wouldn't like for him to think I was cheating."

Swallowing against the dryness in his mouth, Athrun tried to still the shaking of his hands. He knew he had just taken a huge chance, but he couldn't stop himself. If they played fairly, there was always a chance that he might win Nicol and Mr. Miru's freedom. There had been a few occasions when he had won at poker.

The cards went down in front of him, and Athrun picked them up, shielding them with his body as he looked at them. The hand seemed to be all right and he glanced at Lou to see what the next move would be. It hardly seemed worth the other man's efforts to play against someone who only carried a few dollars. Lou threw a dollar into the middle of the table. He raised his eyes to meet Athrun, who read the message there clearly – bet or you're dead. He threw in his dollar, too.


"You think Nicol and Athrun will be back tonight?" Dearka asked, as he flopped down heavily on the bench across from Yzak in the cafeteria. He was feeling particularly tired and was somewhat jealous that Le Crueset had granted Athrun and Nicols' request for a day off. What made them so special? Just because he asked for time off every other week and Athrun never did didn't mean that Athrun was any more entitled to a break than he was right?

"I don't know," Yzak replied, distractedly. He frowned at the table, which was set for five. "Knowing them, they'll be back by nine. We both know how Nicol's afraid of the dark."

"Very true," Dearka commented. "And Athrun's too responsible to do something crazy like get drunk or have a good time."

"Exactly," Yzak groaned. "What a waste of a 24 hour pass. They're probably just sitting around somewhere doing absolutely nothing. Makes me mad just thinking about it."

"Don' think about it," Dearka advised him. "We'll get even with them when they come back. When Rusty gets back from his meeting with the Commander, we'll discuss means of doing so."

"Good advice," Yzak nodded and helped himself to the potatoes prepared by the cafeteria staff.


"Three of a kind," Athrun said, laying his hand down. A trickle of cold sweat ran down his back. Lou only had a pair. Athrun had won the first hand. Nicol and Mr. Miru were safe.

Meeting his opponent's cold grey eyes, Athrun summoned all his courage. "I won – let Nicol and Mr. Miru go. That's what we agreed."

"We're playing by my rules, kid," Lou reminded him softly. "What I say goes."

"You said you would let them go!" Athrun protested, suddenly furious. He started to rise and the knife blade suddenly pricked him on the back of the neck. Athrun froze, half standing.

"I'll decide," Lou reiterated. He was amused by Athrun's anger and by the young man's obvious concern for the others. That was what made this game so interesting. However, Lou was a shrewd judge of character and he could see that Athrun's anger was about to get the better of him. "But since you ask so nicely, I'll let the fat man go."

Relief warred with disappointment as Athrun met Nicol's eyes again. Nicol was sitting boneless in a chair near the bar. Mr. Miru was aimlessly polishing the same stretch of mahogany over and over again. "Get fatty out of here," Lou ordered one of his brothers and the bar tender was prodded towards the door.

Turning his attention back to the table, Lou sorted out Athrun's winnings. "I'm taking the money you owe me off your winnings, boy," he told Athrun, who had been forced to sign several IOU's. "But look, you still have some cash to carry on with." He slid the money across to Athrun, who looked at it, not touching it. "Pick it up, soldier boy, or your friend gets it."

Glaring across the green baize, Athrun drew the money towards him. He could see Nicol from the corner of his eye; see the gun that was resting on his temple. Athrun swallowed again. His throat was aching and his mouth dry. "Could I get a drink of water?" he asked, trying to make it sound unimportant.

"Water?" scoffed Lou. "You can have a real drink." He gestured. "Bring the beer over," he ordered.

The bottle of beer, barely touched, was placed in front of Athrun. He dragged his gaze away from it and met Lou's eyes once more. His stomach contracted as he guessed what he was expected to do. Grinning, Lou gestured towards the bottle. "Go on, drink," he urged.

"There's no glass," Athrun replied.

Next instant, Athrun's head was drawn savagely backwards and a hand grabbed the bottle and placed it against Athrun's lips. Beer poured down his chin as well as into his mouth and he choked on the strong liquor. Coughing, he was relieved when Li Hawke let go of him. He clutched the edge of the table until he had his breathing back under control, then he looked up once more.

He was reeking of alcohol and his shirt front, jacket and pants were soaked in it. Athrun wiped a hand across his mouth, only imagining what his commanding officers would think when they saw what had become of his uniform. He didn't know how much more of this he could take. "Drink it," Lou ordered. "Or Li will make you."

With a shaking hand, Athrun picked the bottle up.

TBC

Well? What did you think? Please let me know. Writing a story about Nicol and Athrun is fun and there aren't very many out there. I really liked Nicol and I thought the two had good chemistry on the show together. Hehehe,

Well, take care!

Until next time!
Krilyn