Rehab
Title: Rehab
Pairings: 1X2, 3X4, 5X (secret), 1+OC...
Warnings: SEX! (Lol), Angst, Violence, Foul Language and so on!
Summary: To vent his frustration throughout the war Duo turns to Heero for no-strings attached sex not knowing the silent solider would start to develop feelings for him. Now the wars over and Duo has turned to Hilde to start a new life leaving Heero stranded and unknowing how to deal with the emotion called 'Love'.
Disclaimer: If I owned Gundam Wing it would be never ending!
Chapter 12
"Nobody left on this ship were ever involved with Operation Meteor."
I twirl round to find Jason standing by the kitchens looking very angry. He must have heard the news of the fight. And what does he mean nobody on this ship were ever involved with Operation Meteor?
I'm stunned by his appearance and outburst, "What do you mean –"
"I should have known," he cuts in angrily and I can see I've royally pissed him off. He shakes his head in disappointment, "you're just like the rest of them."
He turns to leave but luckily I find my voice to stop him, "wait!"
He reluctantly stops and turns to glare daggers at me. Even though he's dressed in his apron and hairnet his comic appearance does not affect the angry impression he's portraying. His body so tense he stands ridged to the spot. Instantly I notice the frying pan he has grasped tightly in his left hand where his knuckles have begun to turn white. It's weird to see him so angry when he's one of the most friendly, happy people I've ever met on this ship.
"How can I think any differently with the facts I've been given?" I ask carefully treading the water to not anger him anymore. "You all helped build a colony whose sole purpose was to be dropped on Earth – how could you not know?"
His eyes slide shut and he takes a deep breath to calm himself.
"I was given the opportunity to work on the colony at the job centre after the war. I had to take the first thing I could get to help support my parents."
He reopens his deep brown eyes and levels his gaze with mine. With his blonde hair drawn back and hidden under his hairnet it makes his eyes look so much larger and the frown which curves its way into his forehead so much deeper. It's the first time I've noticed how much older he looks than the typical teenager.
"All we were told was what subsection we'd be working on. I was assigned to help with the engineering of the weather system. Everyone who signed up for a job was shipped there within a week. "
"Didn't you sense anything was wrong?"
"No!" he yells frustrated causing me to nearly flinch and drop the ice pack I have placed gingerly against my face. I find myself not particularly liking the fact that Jason is upset with me. He's been so good to me during my stay on the RedStar. "Why would I sense anything was wrong? I just wanted to help make a difference. After the war that's all any normal person ever wanted to do! They were even advertising for people to buy land and houses on there – why would they do that if they were planning on dropping the colony on Earth?"
I shrug my shoulders but deep down I know it didn't matter if people had started to live on the colony or not. Either way it was going to be dropped on Earth. Dekim didn't care about any of their lives.
"I remember the day I got there," he says. "Everything was so new, so fresh. I was so excited to be involved in making the colony. It was like I was making my own small mark in space. My mother and father were so proud. They promised we could all move there once it had its official opening."
"So what happened?" I ask settling back down into one of the metal chairs whilst cradling the ice pack to my face. He takes a sit opposite me.
A haunted look crosses his face as he remembers the day, "the day started like any other really. We'd finished most of the build but there were some loose ends we needed to tie up before the "grand opening". The place looked beautiful – Landon and his crew had done a good job with the landscape. With everything finally fitting together it looked perfect and for once in my life I was proud of something I'd contributed to making.
It was all over the news that Relena Peacecraft would be visiting us to look around – to sign off her approval." He stops and then snarls, "But like hell that happened. That bastard Dekim kidnapped her and had Mariemia announce to the whole world we would be continuing with Operation Meteor. We didn't really know what to do. It was all such a shock. All the shuttle ports were closed down and guarded by Dekim's men. We had no means of escape."
I feel my body begin to shiver at the thought of it.
A sudden sparkle comes to his eyes, "The only hope we had were the rumours that the Gundam Pilots were on their way to rescue us." He drops his gaze to stare at his lap where his hands have fisted around the handle of the frying pan. "When you're faced with your death you can't help but begin to analyse your life. Actually thinking back I thought I would be filled with more regret – I mean we always want more out of life don't we? Like more money, more power, more influence, more success – but all I wanted at that point was more time."
I can see tears filling in his chocolate brown eyes as they rise to meet mine and instantly I feel like a fool for ever thinking that he could ever been involved in such a terrible plot to rule the world.
He continues, "Time to see my parents, time to grow up, get married and have children. I kept thinking about it over and over until it began to drive me a bit crazy. Whilst I was stuck waiting helplessly for my death all I could think about were ways to stop the inevitable but after hours of bargaining with myself and praying to God, I realised nothing was gonna change." He sighs and sits back in his seat. Running a hand through his blonde locks he says, "At that point I realised I had a couple of choices; stand up and fight or curl up and wait."
"What did you do?" I ask
He sits quietly biting his lower lip as if hesitant to continue. He glances back over his shoulder to make sure nobody is around to hear.
He speaks so low that I almost miss what he says, "There was a machine they were going to use to destroy the colony. I don't know where they got it from or who made it but I found out its purpose through one of the guards who finally came to his senses."
I feel my heart stop beating. A machine?
"What did it do?" I whisper breathlessly. Was he talking about the machine currently being guarded on this ship? I still have the guards pass hidden within my bedside table draw.
"From what I remember correctly it would destroy the gravitational pull of the colony. Basically rip it apart from the inside out. This would eventually cause it to lose orbit and crash into the Earth."
"How did you stop it?"
"We formed a group with Landon at our lead. With the guards help we tracked down the location of the machine before it had chance to do much damage. It wasn't an easy task we were up against Dekim's soldiers with no weapons - some of my good friends died in that battle."
I find myself speechless and shaken to the core. None of us Gundam Pilot's knew about this. What would have happened if they were unable to stop it? We were all so focused on Mariemia's base to think about anything else. Without them even if we succeeded the colony still would have dropped on Earth.
"What happened to the machine in the end?" I murmur suddenly feeling sick to the stomach.
"I don't know – things kind of went crazy then. We all had to get off the colony as soon as possible. That's when we realised that some of the people we were working with weren't as genuine as we first thought. They were working for Dekim for the whole time– it was like a big kick in the balls. Anyway that's when the colony split. You have us and you have them."
Grey must have taken the machine and hid it before the others could get hold of it. That's why it's being guarded. I almost shake my head at the stupidity of the guard who lost his pass. If that machine was to fall into the wrong hands peace could be at jeopardy. But by the sounds of it not everyone knows the location of it – exactly the way it should stay.
"I'm sorry." I say but my words seem so pointless after all the harsh words I'd spoken. I feel so ashamed and stupid for ever thinking or accusing him, Grey and everyone else on this ship of being murderers. I can't even imagine the ordeal they went through. "I didn't know –"
He sighs and thankfully I see a lot of his building tension release from his body. He says breathlessly, "It's not your fault you didn't know – you weren't there."
I almost cringe at his words. I was there. I remember it perfectly me and Duo breaking into the colony. One of the main reasons they probably couldn't escape was because of the commotion me and Duo caused when we "joined the party" as Duo put it and attempted to save Relena.
"Anything for the one you love" Duo's voices echoes through me.
I remember how those words angered me to the core. After everything we'd been through and everything we'd shared he still seemed to think all I wanted was to be with Relena. He never understood Relena's purpose and why she needed to stay alive. He just saw her as the annoying girl in pink who always nearly blew our cover at every school we went to during the war. How times have changed. If only he knew her importance back then.
"I don't know how to make it up to you," I say feeling rather helpless. Why would he want to spend time with me now after hearing me call him a murderer? I feel so embarrassed.
To my shock his face actually brightens up "Well you do know it's our last day of punishment right?"
"I wouldn't really count this as punishment," I reply and he looks at me sceptically not sure if he believes I've enjoyed working in the fields. This week even with its little hiccups has actually been quite interesting and an eye opener as to how the RedStar functions.
"Anyway I think that's a cause for a celebration!" he exclaims returning to more like his normal self. "I can't wait to be out of those kitchens and not constantly smell of chip fat anymore!"
"What are you thinking?"
He sits back in his seat and grins, "well why don't I take you to my second most favourite place on the ship?"
"Where's that?"
"The pub!" he grins like a cheshire cat. Somewhere at the back of my mind I remind myself that a pub is a bar. "You can buy me a drink for being so stupid."
I smirk at his words but surely a drink can't fix everything I've done wrong.
"You shouldn't forgive me so easily."
He shakes his head and rolls his brown eyes, "Heero as you probably know we are quite forgiving people."
"I don't think Grey will," I murmur not really liking the thought of confronting the Captain and apologising. Still after everything he's an arse. He should've told me straight that they weren't involved with Operation Meteor instead of allowing me to get carried away and accuse him of things he never did.
"Landon most of all, without him most of us wouldn't be here today."
I frown at his words, "What do you mean?"
"Landon was the one who disarmed the machine. He was the one who voiced the need for peace and forgiveness which helped so many people keep on the right track. You shouldn't be so hard on him."
There's a knock on the canteen door and Chloe enters cautiously.
"Hi – erm – Landon said you two were talking."
I suddenly remember Grey whispering in my ear of his regrets of not killing Alistair Flint. Now I realise that he only meant for me to hear. He must have noticed Jason's presence right at the beginning of our argument. Once again I feel guilty. Grey has done so much for the people on the RedStar. He saved their lives by deactivating the machine and by creating them a safe environment to live in. How had I gotten it so wrong?
"It's ok Chlo I've gotta go back to work anyway – I'll call for you later Heero" he gives me a wink and rushes back to work, our fight seemingly forgotten.
Chloe gives me a quick check over to make sure none of my bumps and bruises are more than they appear. She then cleans up the blood covering my face and then gives me some cream to help reduce the rising bruise on my cheek. After double checking my leg and exclaiming once again how amazingly fast my body recovers she walks me back to Robyn.
Everyone's eyes are on me as we trudge through the field and for the first time I feel very self-conscious and guilty as if they all know what I've been thinking over the last few days. Gerry and his goons are nowhere in sight which makes me think Grey current has them in his presence - where ever that may be.
"Heero!" Robyn instantly jumps to her feet and rushes over to me. I tense up as she wraps me in a muddy hug. "I'm so glad you're ok. Damn Gerry for being a complete arse again!"
"I'm ok," I murmur as Vicky and Paula begin to inspect me whilst Colin and Elliot stand nearby.
"Why the next time I see Gerry I will kick him where the sun don't shine!" Paula growls angrily.
"Don't worry Paula, I think Landon will assign them a nice long punishment after doing this," Vicky comments with a smirk at the thought of the 3 goons being forced to do something which they do not wish.
"Are you sure you're ok to work Heero?" Robyn asks concern lacing her voice.
I nod my head, of course I am – apart from the bruise on my face there's nothing else wrong with me. Chloe says her goodbyes and we go back to work until the end of our shifts however as we go to clock out Robyn pulls me aside.
"I wanted to give you this," she says holding out a wad of RedStar credits. My eyes widen at the sight and instantly I shake my head.
"I can't accept that,"
She grabs hold of my hand and forces the money into my palm, "you will and you must!"
"Why?"
"Because it's the weekend and you owe me a drink for looking after you all week plus you need to sort out your hair!"
The last point I agree with. My hair is getting so long and unruly it's starting to look like a lion's mane. I haven't given so much thought about my appearance for a while apart from a quick shave here and there.
"Would you be able to show me where I can get it cut?" I ask knowing that I would get lost getting there and that Grey would not allow me to wonder around on my own anyway.
She agrees and takes me to the always amazing shopping hall. She'd given me 150 credits. Even though I'm grateful I feel bad for taking the money off her since for most of the time we've spent together I considered her to be a murderer.
I end up spending 10 credits on having my hair cut back into its usual style and then 30 on new shoes and a tightly fitted white shirt. Robyn seemed to enjoy herself a little too much by buying basically a whole new wardrobe. She seemed stunned when she saw me with my newly trimmed hair and announced that I should never let it grow long again.
She walked me back to my room where I was able to get showered and changed just before Jason appeared. I spent way too much time in the shower my mind preoccupied with other things that by the time he arrived I was just pulling on my new shoes.
Quickly glancing at myself in the bathroom mirror before I open the door I feel satisfied that for the first time in a while I look like I've made an effort. My hair looks a million times better and I've shaved. I no longer look like a mountain climber who hasn't seen civilisation for over 3 months. The one thing I do notice however is that apart from the bruise on my cheek my eyes no longer look so sunken into my face and the bags surrounding them have disappeared.
I don't particularly know what the place is like where we are going so hopefully my new shirt will fit in. Everything surprises me on this ship. I open the door and feel better to find Jason dressed similar to how I am. In fact I don't think I've seen him look so smart. It's a change from the baggy jeans and oil covered tank tops he usually wears. He's even put some effort into styling his blonde hair which he usually covers with a baseball cap.
"Man 'Ro you scrub up well! You look like a completely different person from when you first came here."
I almost blush, "thanks."
"You ready?" he says with a grin. I nod in confirmation. Leaving 30 credits on my bed side table I take the rest with me since I owe so many people drinks of thanks and apologies. I still find it strange that we're going for a night out on the ship.
He leads me through a number of different hallways; lifts etc. as usual and I silently make a note not to drink tonight so I can find my way back if needed. Besides I don't think my body agrees with me drinking. Maybe this would be a good time to give up.
I can tell we're getting closer as I can hear music slowly growing louder as we walk. Finally turning down yet another white corridor I notice two old looking oak doors in place of the usual white. I follow Jason inside and instantly I feel like I'm in an old English pub.
Once Duo had persuaded me to "chill out" with him as he put it when we'd just finished a mission in England. He'd taken me to one…it was an experience to say the least. We spent the whole afternoon gambling the money we'd stolen from Oz on the fruit machines (one armed bandit). We learnt after a while the algorithm to cheat and won over £500. Those were the good old days before things started to get too complicated. Those were the times when I couldn't understand why even when my mind was telling me no by body would do exactly what he said.
The RedStar pub is quite large with many places to sit, whilst there are small oak tables littered here and there for people to place their drinks on. The décor is deep reds, browns and white making the room seem very warm and welcoming. Overall they'd done a pretty good job at disguising we were currently on a ship in the middle of nowhere. At the back is a small wooden stage which currently isn't being used whilst over the far left hand side are 3 pool tables one currently been occupied by Captain Grey.
He's changed from earlier and is now dressed in dark jeans and a dark grey T-shirt with some scribble of writing across the front. He looks much more casual than most of the people in the room however as the Captain I suppose he can get away with it. His tribal tattoos are more on show than ever trailing down his arm; they ripple as his muscles tense as he crosses his arms. I note he has a serious look on his face as he sips away at his pint of lager whilst his green eyes intently watch his opponent take a shot and miss.
I know instantly that I should apologise to him but is this the right place? Should I intrude on his social time? I'm probably the last person he wants to talk to at the moment.
Jason gets us to the bar after pushing through the crowded room. I notice Robyn and her gang sitting nearby waving.
"Wanna sit with us boys?" she calls and Jason announces we will be over after we've gotten ourselves some drinks. "I'll have a gin and tonic please Heero!" she yells after me.
I order our drinks once getting Jason's order and it comes to a reasonable price of 7 credits.
"You not drinking Heero?" he asks looking surprised as the waitress places a glass of coke in front of me.
"I'm trying to not drink so much," I reply handing him his pint of larger and taking hold of my coke and Robyn's Gin and Tonic.
We join Robyn's table and I go to introduce Jason to everyone however it seems they've already met and know each other quite well. They all begin to chat allowing me to sit back in my seat and delve into my thoughts over what I'd learnt today. However it's not long until Jason comes up with a competitive game of flipping beer mats. He gathers everyone's mat and places them overhanging the edge of the table. He then flips his hand up, causing the mats to sail into the air and then attempts to catch them before they hit the ground. He catches 3 out of the 7 he'd gathered.
Everyone round the table begins to take their turn some of them catching 1 while most not being able to catch any. Finally they get passed to me.
"Your turn Heero!" Jason yells his voice slightly slurry now that he's on his 4th pint.
I pick up all the beer mats and neatly pile them on top of each other. I can feel all the others eyes intently watching me as I do. I quickly measure up my challenge. The flip must be at the right force and angle enough for them to turn 180 degrees in the air before I am able to catch them. A number of calculations and scenarios run through my mind like the best way to make sure all mats stay together, I don't want them flying all over the place. From watching the others this has come down to flipping the mats at a 90 degree angle.
Slowly I position myself and then quickly flip my hand upwards. The mats go sailing neatly up into the air and turn 180 degrees. I catch all of them with ease. I feel a smile break out on my face. Mission Complete.
"What the – how the hell did you do that?!" Jason cries whilst the others are clapping at my victory.
"It's simple maths really," I say and I can't stop smiling for some reason.
"Well I think that victory is a cause for another drink don't you think guys?!" Robyn calls and the others agree.
"I'll buy it's my round," I say standing up before anyone else can and wonder off to the bar. Glancing over my shoulder I see Jason reattempting to flip the beer mats. He only catches 2 causing me to chuckle. I tackle my way to the bar and settle into a good place.
"Getting the round in Heero?" I hear a voice say from my left hand side. I turn and find myself staring up into a pair of deep green eyes. "Not on the hardcore stuff tonight then?" Grey nods towards the glass of coke the waitress has placed in front of me.
"No – and I need to talk to you,"
He sighs, "You need to talk to me?" He raises an eyebrow, "only if it doesn't involve you calling me a murderer again."
"No it doesn't. I'm sorry," I say sincerely.
"You're sorry?" he repeats surprised by my words.
"I spoke before I knew all the facts about you and your people. Jason explained everything that happened." He has a weird look on his face as if he can't actually believe what I'm saying "I know you aren't to blame. I've never been so wrong in my life."
"I don't doubt that," he says. "How is it that you believe every word Jason says?"
I bite the inside of my lip as I wonder over his question. Jason seemed so upset by the whole event – there was just no way he could've been involved with Operation Meteor.
"He spoke with so much raw emotion – I could tell instantly that he could never have been involved with –" I look around me before whispering "Operation Meteor."
"And I don't?" he deadpans
I stand flabbergast and feel my cheeks tinge, "no I never meant-"
"Heero it was a joke," he says with a twinkle in his eye. He runs a hand through his dark hair and then continues, "Even though you said some horrible things I'm sure you know I'm a very forgiving person."
"Yes but you shouldn't be," I counter
He sighs and turns towards me. He casually leans against the bar, "The way I see it I have two options. I could ignore you for being a total ass until you are able to leave this ship. Or I could forgive you and show you how great the people of this colony really are."
I find myself getting slightly angry at his words. Why is he still continuing to be civil towards me after everything I said? Why can't he just punish me for acting like a complete jerk? And why does he seem to think I have so much influence over the Earth and Colonies?
"You know my opinion won't do much difference," I say. We decided not to come out as the Gundam Pilots to the world – to them I am no one. To the others who know who I am they are too scared to be in the same room as me.
Grey looks at me sceptically, "you're a friend of Relena's – I know all her friends have a great influence."
"But I'm a nobody I have no purpose – not since the war."
He frowns looking quite concerned at me before saying, "You see those people over there," he points towards a group of workers each of them with a hand in a packet of crisps (chips in usa :P). "Without you they wouldn't have been able to enjoy their bar snack and look at Jason he's so excited to get back to work because he gets to work on Relena Peacecraft's ship."
Now it's my turn to frown as he says, "How can you measure your life through your own values and expectations? Which I'm guessing you've set pretty high. You need to look at the bigger picture and see the rippling effects of what you do. Before all this happened I was happily aiming towards progressing in my career and making a success out of myself. I wanted to be the best. But then things change – and that's not the case anymore. I was reborn you could say."
"Was it hard to let go?"
"Life in general is never easy Heero," he says. "Especially when you're left with nothing, you've got to learn to jump back on. I learnt to never judge myself to what I'm worth – more to what effect I'm having on other's lives, which is why we have to start the ripple from somewhere. Even if we have just one person speak up for our faction hopefully others will begin to realise that we are not what they first perceived."
"I will try," I promise because it's the least I can do after calling him and everyone else on this ship a murderer. "I really am sorry."
"Well I think you're gonna need to be a bit more apologetic than that."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean you're gonna have to buy me a drink," his smile dazzles me for a second the way it lights up his usually sober face and reaches his eyes. It's infectious and I feel my own returning in response.
TBC…
Wow so…a lot of life discussions in there lmao! This chap turned out to be much longer than I expected but I hope you all liked it anyway. Silly Heero for letting his mind wonder as usual! Thank you to all who reviewed last time, it's great to see that even after all these years of waiting you still have time to read my fic