AN: more random one-shot-ness
Summary: After the war, Murrue visits an unlikely person in the hospital, and finds a piece of much-needed hope. AU after SEED.
Spoiler warning: spoilers for end of SEED and may be spoilers for Destiny...
VISIT
by MapleRose
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Murrue Ramius stayed rooted to the spot and stared at the man lying in the white sheets of the hospital bed. She swallowed hard and wondered for the millionth time why she was even here in the first place.
The man lying there stared out of the window, ignoring her presence. Finally, after what seemed like forever, he turned and returned her gaze with his sharp blue eye.
Murrue felt a chill go down her spine at the man's gaze. She swallowed again and tightened her grip on the bouquet of flowers in her hand, forcing herself not to look away.
"Yes?" he finally said.
She took a deep breath, but remained standing where she was, trying her best to keep her hands steady. She reminded herself again that this man wouldn't be able to hurt her.
"I'm Murrue Ramius."
The blank and bored look on the man didn't change. He merely raised an eyebrow, as if asking, So?
She looked down at the bouquet of flowers in her hands. "I'm here to visit you…" she bit her lip, "on Mwu's behalf."
His face still didn't change. He gestured for her to put the flowers on the table beside the bed, which she did, before shifting back to her previous position.
"Is that it?" he asked, voice emotionless, before turning his gaze away from her again.
She bit her lip, quietly studying the broken man in the bed. She wasn't exactly sure what she had hoped to gain by coming, or why she had came in the first place. She supposed that she felt obligated to Mwu to visit his only living relative. That, and the fact that she was a bit curious herself to meet the famed Rau le Creuset face to face. After all, his team did pursue the Archangel relentlessly before more important matters stopped him. And she had heard so much about this man from Mwu and Kira, that she was curious to find out what he was really like.
The man covered in bandages was nothing like the mysterious and ruthless man she'd heard so much about. Because of the bandages on his face and across one eye, he was forced to take off his infamous white mask, revealing a rather vulnerable and aging face. Looking at it closer, she was chilled to discover how closely it resembled Mwu's. She wondered faintly how Mwu had felt looking upon this face that so much resembled his dead father's.
And the listless way that he stared out the window at nothing made him look even more vulnerable. He had no strength left, no power, no plans for the future. Fitting for a man who wasn't supposed to have a future at all.
He wasn't even supposed to be alive, but by some miracle, he was. He was a relic of the war, fished out of the wreckage, and brought back to Orb. Why Kira had wanted to help him live, Murrue didn't completely understand. But she supposed that even this man who wanted to destroy humanity was human himself, and a human life was a human life, and if they could save it, they would.
"Is my face that interesting?" his raspy voice snapped her out of her thoughts. It was only then that she realized she was staring. Embarrassed, she looked away, saying nothing.
"Heh," he made a dismissive noise and studied her. "So you say you've come because of Mwu? What's he to you?"
She stiffened at his question. Her words caught in her throat. She cleared it and replied evenly, "A comrade."
He watched her reaction with his sharp blue eye, and she thought she saw a smirk creep onto his face, as if he saw something she didn't want him to see.
"I was the captain of the Archangel," she continued, wanting to draw the conversation away from her relationship with Mwu.
The slightest look of surprise passed the blond man's face as she said those words. He studied her face. It was soft, and she had gentle features, too gentle. She looked like she didn't belong in the military at all, much less a warship captain.
"W-What?" she said when his gaze remained on her face. She tried not to waver under his stare.
He turned his gaze away and made a dismissive noise again. "Nothing. Just didn't expect the captain of the legged ship to be a woman."
Murrue felt a satisfying smile creep onto her lips. She wondered how Le Creuset must be feeling right now, knowing that the ship that his famous team failed to capture time and time again was commanded by a woman.
"So he told you about me, did he?" Le Creuset spoke up, surprising her. His tone was void of emotion, yet there was a condescending air to the way he talked about his rival. "I knew he couldn't keep a secret."
Murrue felt a slight anger rising inside her at the way he was talking about Mwu. Tightening her fist, she retorted evenly, "If it's such a secret, why did you tell him in the first place?"
His gaze locked with hers again, and she couldn't tell whether he was impressed by the fact that she was talking back, or annoyed by it.
"I just wanted him to know what his old man had been up to." He waved his hands, "I wanted to give him an idea of the extent humans would go to, to achieve their dreams."
"Is that why you hate humanity so much?" she asked quietly.
"Hmph, I don't think you'd understand," he told her instead of explaining.
She lowered her eyes, not sure whether she felt sorry for him. She supposed that she did, because nobody deserved to be in his position. However, it was no excuse to try to destroy humanity.
"I know what you think," he smiled smugly, and the gesture looked rather eerie on his face, "You think that I had no right to pass judgment on humanity and deem it deserving to end, right?" He laughed when she didn't answer. "You're all the same. Just like Kira Yamato-kun." He made a disgusted face, "Okay, so you managed to stop the world's destruction this time, I'll give you that much. But humans never learn. The cycle will continue until we eventually destroy each other." He looked at her with that perceptive eye again, "And you won't be there to stop it every time, will you?" he raised an eyebrow.
"We may not be there," she accepted his challenge bravely, "But somebody always will."
"Heh," he wasn't impressed, "I suppose every generation will have those who think they're righteous and will want to get rid of those evildoers like me, right?"
She didn't answer. She'd learned that there was no set way of telling right from wrong, and she didn't like the fact that he was implying that she thought she was so righteous. But she let it slide, because she didn't come here to start a debate or argument.
He sighed, almost in defeat. "When you realize that you're useless in this world and that you're created solely as someone's plaything, your views on things change quite a bit."
"I suppose they would," she answered quietly, and found herself sympathize with him a bit more.
"I wonder why I'm still alive," he mumbled, almost to himself. "I wasn't supposed to live this long."
He suddenly laughed. A raspy sound that chilled her to the bone.
"Ironic isn't it? I was supposed to die before him. And yet," he laughed again, smiling smugly to himself. "I guess it really is true that the child cannot surpass the parent!"
Murrue felt a seething anger rising inside of her. She suddenly had an urge to step forward and slap him. But she reminded herself who she was dealing with and to control herself. So instead, she clenched her fist tight, feeling her nails bite into her skin, and remained rooted to where she was.
But he wasn't finished. He looked at her, as if amused by her reaction to his words. Grinning smugly, he continued, "I guess that bastard Al da Flaga was right after all. Women do make you weaker. Look at what happened to our dear Mwu."
Murrue found it harder and harder to control her anger. This man, was he testing her limits? She could hear his undertone quite clearly—that Mwu died because he fell in love with a woman, with her. His words pierced her heart. It hurt not only because he was insulting her and Mwu, but also because he was right. She carried the burden of knowing that Mwu had died protecting her, and she didn't want to be reminded, especially by Le Creuset of all people.
She trembled with the building anger, and had to fight down the urge to strangle the man in front of her, who seemed to enjoy himself at her expense.
He chuckled, amused by her reactions. "That's how wars start you know."
She said nothing. Instead, she gave him a death glare. She took a deep breath and calmed herself down by telling herself not to stoop to his level, no matter what. The last thing she wanted him to see was her losing control.
"Heh, relax," he chuckled with that bone-chilling sound, "He's still alive somewhere."
Murrue almost fell over at those words and the suddenness to which he said them. "W-Wha—"
"Yup, that annoying pest just refuses to die," he sighed, amused by her shock.
She was too shocked to react to Le Creuset's insult to her beloved. She felt dizzy as her head spun with this new information. Was this man simply toying with her? It sounded just like him to do something like this. She swallowed the lump forming in her throat and tried to keep her voice even. "What do you mean?"
"Well," he drawled, talking as slow as possible, making her even more anxious. "I would know if he died you know. But I can still feel him somewhere."
She still stared at him, unsure. She couldn't decide whether he was sincere or not. But thinking upon it, he was right, Le Creuset would be the one to know whether Mwu was dead or alive.
"Don't believe me?" he raised an eyebrow at her uncertainty. "Fine. Think what you want," he scoffed, looking away. Then he added, almost as an afterthought, "But you know, I have no reason to lie to you."
She swallowed. Was it really true? Did she believe in his words? She wanted to, so badly. She debated whether she could trust him. She supposed that he had no reason to lie to her, but there was one thing she didn't understand.
"Why are you telling me this?"
He looked back to her lazily, "I thought you'd want to know, don't you?"
"Yes, but," she fought down her frustration. She could tell that he was toying with her now. "Why are you telling me? We're not exactly…" she searched for the right term "…friends."
He looked amused again. "Well, you proved to be interesting. I needed entertainment, so I guess it's your reward."
She wasn't sure whether to feel pleased or insulted.
Either way, she gained a piece of information that gave her much-needed hope.
"Thank you," she nodded politely.
He waved a dismissive hand and turned his attention back to the window.
Just before Murrue left, she took one last look at the face of the infamous commander and smiled. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all. Underneath, he was still human like the rest of them.
AN: Okay, strange idea probably, but the idea just popped into my head after reading "From the Wreckage" by Feral Phoenix. So credit to her for the AU part of Rau surviving thing. I dunno, I just wanted Murrue to meet Rau, because of Rau's team's rivalry with the Archangel early on, and because of their connections to Mwu.
Well, hope that was entertaining. Rau is... interesting, but sometimes difficult to write for...