A Girl Named Xero

Chapter 3

Quatre could not believe the scene in front of him. He had never seen Heero act this way or any way close to it. Xero's face was full of complete shock. Heero had shown nothing but disdain for her from day one and now he was holding her like a dear friend who had just lost their lover. What had happened during this Super Soldier Evolutions project that would compel him to act completely out of character? Quatre watched as Xero pulled herself back, put a hand to his face and said, "Now do you understand why Trowa insisted I keep my past to myself?" Heero nodded and seemed to regain his composure. He grasped her hand and returned it to her lap wanting to be free from his sudden outburst.

"There is one thing that confuses me," Heero said. "That project has been over for a long time now. Why would anyone from there be looking for you? They had absolutely no success so the whole operation was shut down. I haven't even had any trouble with them."

"Wait," Quatre complained, " I have no idea what either of you are talking about. Would you mind cluing me in on what this Super Soldier project is?"

"Was," Xero corrected, "Just as Heero says they shut it down long ago. SSE was a secret operation sponsored by OZ to try and create soldiers with extended capabilities. It was secret because most of the bigwigs didn't believe that it was realistic. The main objective of SSE was to use genetic manipulation to enhance the abilities of soldiers. They believed by doing this they could win the war."

"So you were one of their test subjects?" Quatre asked.

"That's right, and so was Heero. All of the Dr.s who were assigned to a Gundam pilot were involved hoping they could steal the formula for themselves. They didn't reach you because you were the son of a very prominent man. SSE couldn't have gotten away with forcing you to participate. You were too much a part of the public eye. Trowa wasn't a test subject because he wasn't the original pilot of Heavyarms. And Wufei, well, they could never keep a hold on him. He kept escaping." Xero smiled. "He was very lucky."

"I still don't completely understand." Quatre seemed frustrated. "What were they trying to do? What do you mean by abilities?"

"It doesn't matter, they were never able to accomplish it." Heero snorted in disgust.

"Actually, you're wrong Heero." Xero looked them both in the eyes. "SSE was trying to give soldiers supernatural abilities, things no one else in existence has been able to do. They hoped to make us faster, stronger, and able to perform feats that only have been imagined. Daily we were injected with a serum meant to mutate our genes and then tortured near death to try and cause a reaction. All of this was in hopes of giving us powers. They hoped we would be able to heal rapidly within minutes of being wounded, read minds, see the future, control the elements. Anything that would give them the upper hand in a battle."

"That's ridiculous," Quatre exclaimed, "None of those things are possible, and for them to think that manipulating genetics would bring them to that solution is just madness." He was angry now. Knowing that his two friends had suffered for something so idiotic made him furious. "If it failed Xero, then why did you need Trowa to watch over you?"

"Because it didn't fail," Xero said. Confusion and disbelief was evident on both pilots' faces. "It's true. I was there longer than anyone. Since I was a little girl. Since I can even remember really. It was only a matter of time…" Xero's explanation trailed off and she saw that neither of them would believe her.

"Are you trying to say that this study actually gave you a super power? Like in comics?" Quatre laughed. "Don't be ridiculous." This comment sent Xero into a rage. They had wanted so badly for her to tell them what was going on and when she finally did they laughed at her!

"I can't believe how cruel you are being Quatre," Xero snarled. You have no idea what I have been through, no idea what I have to go through every day just to hide my true self from the rest of the world! Trowa was the only one who understood! He was the only one who knew me, the real me. And now I see he was the only one who cared enough to try." Tears were streaming down her face. She shot to her feet and headed for the door when Heero grabbed her by the arm to stop her.

"Show us what you mean." He seemed intrigued.

"Why should I?" She said directing her anger at Quatre.

"Xero, please, I'm sorry I just can't believe that something like that is possible." Quatre attempted the apology and failed completely.

"Well then let me make a believer out of you." Xero was enraged enough to make this irrational decision. "Heero do you have a knife on you?"

"What?!" They both exclaimed in unison.

"A knife. I will need something to demonstrate with." Heero pulled a knife from his boot and handed it to her. She took a few steps back to give herself some room between the two men. "Now, you need to not react to what I am about to do. No stopping me. I promise nothing bad will happen." They both nodded but looked nervous. Xero locked eyes with Quatre wanting to see his expression when the impossible happened. She slowly extended her arm and began to draw the blade across her forearm. Quatre jumped to try and stop her, but Heero held him back fascinated by her every move. She dug the blade deeper cringing in pain. Her breathing became quick and heavy as the blade tore through muscle and tendon. When she felt she had done enough damage she pulled the blade back to show them her mangled arm.

"Xero, what the hell…" Quatre's voice trailed off as he noticed something happen. Within seconds of withdrawing the blade her arm began to repair itself. Tendons and muscles reconnected and skin sealed back up. Her arm had completely healed by itself. All that was left was the blood that had oozed from the wound. "Allah," Quatre whispered in complete and utter wonder of what he had just witnessed. Xero handed the blade back to Heero who tucked it in his sock for cleaning later. He wanted to examine the blood if he could.

"Now you see that if the SSE ever got a hold of me again, if they ever found out what I could do and that their formula worked I would be doomed. We all would be. Could you imagine OZ giving their soldiers this serum and having to fight an army who could do what I could do and more?"

"The war would never end and OZ would dominate this world for its existence." Heero said calmly. "No wonder Trowa was hiding you away. That explains a lot, but you still haven't told us how you met him. How did you escape from the facility?"

"I'm getting a little tired Heero, can't I rest a little? I think I have shared a mountain of information with you already." Xero turned and began to walk out of the room trying to cover her arm so she didn't scare anyone in the hall with the leftover blood.

"Fine, but you're not off the hook yet." Heero allowed her to leave. Xero walked quickly down the hall and made it to her room without incident. She took a quick shower washing away any evidence of what she had done. Afterwards she shrugged into a soft blue robe that had been left in the bathroom and began towel drying her hair. There was a light knock at her door and she went to answer it only opening the door a crack so no one would see what she had been up to. It was Quatre.

"Xero can I talk to you?" She opened up the door wider to let him in and a deep blush burned his cheeks. "I'm sorry I've come at a bad time."

"Quit it Quatre just get in here before someone sees you and thinks we're sneaking around before we're married." This made him blush even more, but he quickly entered and sat on the sofa across the room. Tightly cinching the robe around her body as to not embarrass him any further she took a seat next to him.

"I'm so sorry for talking to you the way I did. I didn't mean to insult or hurt you, but I just couldn't believe what you were saying. I was so angered by what had been done to you and Heero that I just couldn't see past it." He seemed sincerely apologetic and like he was wishing for his friend back.

"It's ok Quatre. I understand that something like this is hard to take in and to be honest I probably wouldn't have believed it either if I hadn't lived it. Just don't ever doubt me again ok?" She gave him that winning smile of hers again and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Is that the only ability you got? Or is there more?" He asked. His confidence had been boosted by the kiss.

"That is the only one that has manifested and I am hoping that it stays that way. I still don't know the full extent of what it is I can do. What if one of my limbs gets severed? Will it grow back? What will happen if I'm caught in an explosion? Will my body reform from the ashes? I have no idea how far I can go with this. To be honest it frightens me." She looked down at her hands which were fidgeting in her lap.

"Allah," Quatre whispered this time staring at her in awe. He softly brushed her wet hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear. "You, Miss Xero, are undoubtedly extraordinary. I promise to keep you safe in Trowa's absence." Their eyes locked for a long moment and Quatre's hand moved to cup her face. She shivered at the touch. She had been without real, sincere human contact for some time now. He began to lean in towards her his intentions made clear. His lips brushed lightly against hers as he reached with his other arm to draw her in closer. They both jumped, someone was knocking insistently at the door. Xero took the opportunity to distance herself from the kiss she was unsure she was ready to receive and answered the door. Again only opening it a crack as to not alert the person on the other side she had a visitor and was in a bathrobe. Heero was scowling at her from the other side back to his old self again.

"Tell Quatre to quit messing around and get out here. He has a call from his home he needs to take." Heero raised an eyebrow at her wet hair and bath attire, but moved on. Xero shut the door and relayed the message to Quatre hoping he would not pursue the kiss further for now.

"I need to take this, but I will come back later." His face was beaming like he had just had the best news of his life. He softly kissed her forehead and left the room. On his way out he received some scandalous looks from a couple of female students walking by. Lovely, more gossip to deal with later. Hell, who am I kidding, I don't really care what anyone has to say. I have never felt this way about anyone in my life! I have cared for this woman for so long and to think she may feel the same!

As the door shut Xero pressed her back to the wood and slid to the floor. What now? she thought. Oh man, what am I going to do? She cared for Quatre a great deal, but what he did not know was that her heart was still healing from losing Trowa. She still had hope they would find him, and until she was absolutely sure there was no hope, she would wait for him.

A/N: Oh my! It seems we may have a love triangle here. As you already know Trowa eventually is found so we could be seeing some real drama up ahead. I would love your opinion on what pairing you like better! Trowa and Xero or Quatre and Xero? I will dealy posting the next chapter until I have some of your opinions on the pairings.