Update: Tweaked/rewritten September 2020.
A Guppy Among Piranhas
Heine blinked in wonderment as he watched his new redheaded friend lunge and hug the guy labeled "enemy number one" in his book. Needless to say, he had no idea what to make of it. Here he was trying to get her attention by starting intellectual conversations, but all he had to do was tie her up and sit on a couch covered in red velvet.
Kinky.
"FS! I was wondering what happened to you! And here I was getting so worried when I didn't hear anything. When did you get out? How'd it go? As we planned? Is everyone here? Why didn't you contact me? Where's Stray?"
"Woah, hold on!" He had laughed and actually looked joyous at her antics which made Heine tense, but not as much as when he had witnessed Eclipse's sudden change in attitude. The man, FS, didn't look threatening, especially not when he wore the casual get up of jeans and a black T-shirt, but the bulge on his right hip betrayed any sense of innocence, knowing there was a gun resting there. And yet Eclipse displayed no nervousness. There was something he was not aware of and he was suddenly feeling very alone.
"All in good time, deary," FS said in a light voice. He looked genuinely amused by her, his red-orange eyes flaring up in a way that proved there was a deeper connection between the two. Seeing as he was part of the group who had just killed two of their young comrades, caution seemed to be the better course of action, but seeing how quick she was to forget about that incident, he was beginning to think she had been in on this charade the whole time.
"As endearing as this is…" Heine began, bringing all eyes onto him and seeming to break Eclipse out of whatever daydream she had been having. She scrambled from the man's embrace and took a couple of steps back towards Heine. He looked at her and felt his eyebrow rise questioningly. Is she blushing?
"Oh yes, sorry, but I forgot about you." Heine noted the sharp tone in FS's voice now took and he swallowed.
Yes, he felt so very alone.
"LE, who's your friend?"
Eclipse completed the distance between the two, now standing next to her fellow elite in what Heine had hoped was a sign of solidarity. "FS, this is Heine Westenfluss."
FS nodded and even stood, offering a hand for him to shake. "Thank you for accompanying my dear LE." Heine looked at it briefly before gazing at the man now in front of him. There was something dangerous about him.
"He won't hurt us," Eclipse said quickly, Heine not missing the stern look she had given FS for confirmation. The other man's shrug didn't help settle the singer's nerves, but he did take the hand for a quick shake.
What other option did he have?
"There were two others," Heine continued after breaking the shake. "Two other newbies were killed by your flunkies here."
"Flunkies?" FS blinked. "Do people actually talk like that?"
"You're missing the point—"
"No, no, Mr. Westenfluss, I got it all right. Spencer, Rya, do you have anything to say in your defense?"
"You wanted her here unscathed," Rya spat, seemingly wounded by the accusation. "That was your only requirement. The fact that she still has one teammate was thanks to the circumstances."
"And the fact that you're alive is thanks to it too," Eclipse retorted, finally sounding like something closer to what Heine had been used to. She took a step to her right, putting herself between him and their two previous captors. She might be close with FS, but she clearly didn't seem to have any connection to those two.
"Ah, but if you killed us, you wouldn't have met your long, lost—" Spencer waved a hand vaguely in FS's direction "—lover, I suppose? Is that what we're calling this?" Spencer teased, receiving a scowl from both redcoats. Even FS frowned and Heine noticed his right hand twitch near the gun.
"I'll talk to you two later," he said instead of acting on that impulse, but the words and tone seemed to have some effect on Rya and Spencer, both visibly shuddering and shrinking away after his words. Perhaps his instincts on FS weren't too far off the mark if his own teammates were afraid of him. "Please, LE, will you and your comrade follow me?"
"More 'Follow the Leader,' huh?" Heine grumbled, but Eclipse cut him off before he could say anything more.
"Sir, don't." Her words had surprised him at first, but when he caught the tail end of FS's look, he started to catch on. "Witty or no, I know who we're up against and the best way for you to stay alive is to keep quiet." She turned to him as they walked, noting her stern expression. Heine could tell she was serious and, despite the circumstances, was slightly happy by the fact that she had cared enough to warn him. "They might not harm me, but you're fair game."
"Fair game?" Heine repeated, following Eclipse and FS down one of the hallways.
"Imagine a guppy in a piranha tank."
"Huh?"
"You're the guppy."
"Oh."
They continued down the hall for some time, the walls gradually expanding into another lobby and another set of doors to their left. Heine put a hand at the empty spot on his waste, wishing he had a firearm. Until he could put a finger on what type of situation he was in, his soldier instincts were all he had, and they were bouncing all over the place. He had no weapon, no radio, and a fellow elite he was no longer convinced was on his side.
Yes, a guppy indeed.
"Ah, I was wondering what all the commotion was about."
They had opened the double doors to a dimly lit ballroom with a wooden floor and a second-story balcony circling the room. The staircases to the balcony spread out on either side of the group, looking grander than the one in the lobby they had seen when they had first arrived. The ballroom had no other obstacles other than the one table covered with what looked like pastries in the middle of the wooden floor and some scattered chairs lining the wall to their right. Next to that oddly positioned table was the speaker and if Eclipse hadn't felt the tension heighten after she had explained their particular predicament to Heine, she would have laughed. She would have laughed hard.
The grey hair and eyes were a comforting sight on any day and even in that moment she welcomed his stare. After meeting FS, Stray's reappearance into her life had been a fresh of cold air and even more so now that he seemed to be able follow a few passions of his own. Wearing a similar outfit to FS, the main added features were an apron, a large chef's hat, and a layer of flour. Despite her warning to Heine earlier, she could help but think naming these two piranhas didn't seem accurate, but just as size wasn't everything in fish, looks weren't anything now either.
"Hey, Stray," Eclipse said with a laugh, running over to the cook and embracing him in a hug. Stray matched her laughter and picked her up slightly from the ground, swinging her around in a circle before setting her down.
"We missed you, LE."
"And I, you! Tell me…" She her nose wrinkled upwards and she noticed something in the air. "What's that smell?"
"Huh? Bread of course. I've been making it all day, among other things," he added, pointing to the flour on his apron and the pastries on the table. Eclipse had to roll her eyes at that, realizing only then most of the baking ingredient was now on the front of her suit. She attempted to brush it off, Stray joining in to help only once her tactics failed.
FS cleared his throat loudly from the other side of the room, carrying two chairs in hands as he walked towards the table. "Sorry to cut this reunion short but we have a lot to discuss. Stray, will you be joining us?"
"Of course."
"Well, then as much as I want our guests to get covered in flour—at least more than one already has—can you please go get cleaned up?"
Stray blinked. "Why?"
Eclipse saw Heine straighten out of the corner of her eye. Based on what he had probably picked up on in the other room, any sort of insubordination towards FS might usually warrant a display in authority, but Heine just didn't understand their dynamic. FS response and chuckle put that dynamic on display and Eclipse frowned when she saw Heine's confusion.
"Fine, just stay as is then."
FS set down the chairs he had been holding, sitting in one and pointing for Eclipse to take the other. He hadn't bothered grabbing one for Heine it was not lost on either elite. Heine just shrugged, however, standing near Eclipse as she sat. Stray didn't seem to mind the idea of standing and started eating a pastry from the table.
"I hope you don't mind the décor," FS began, waving his hand at the grandness of the room around him. "Might seem a bit much, I know, but really there's no other room in better condition. The walls are thick and there's only one entrance, so we'll know if someone comes in. And besides, it has a nice atmosphere."
"Oh, you guys can have some of these too," Stray said, his mouth full of pastry and pointing to the assortment around him. There was a combination of desert cakes and cookies arranged in the middle of the table, making the scene look more like a bake sale than a "friendly" talk between friends. A tray of drinks stood off to the side and by the looks of the ice bucket, it was put there recently. Were they expecting me? Eclipse thought, nodding when Stray held up the pot of coffee. Heine held out his hand and shook his head when he was offered the same, leaving a pouty Stray to walk back to the table and eat another pastry.
"So, shall we catch up? I'm sure you want to hear about our escape." FS smiled over the brim of his cup and Eclipse actually felt something she hadn't expected to feel from him. It could have been the lighting or just the strange circumstances, but her heart had skipped in that moment and after feeling it again when he put the cup on the saucer with a similar smile on his lips, she realized it wasn't affection in that moment she had felt, it was nerves. Despite her warm welcome, despite her complete elation at seeing them again and in seeing them free of that damned facility, that one look from FS made her nervous.
"Everything did go as planned actually," he continued, apparently not noticing her internal turmoil. "The uproar in the cafeteria brought a lot of the instructors running, but unfortunately for them, not all were armed. We grabbed the guns of the ones that were, made short work of the rest and then met Roan at the front gate. He arranged cars for each of us and tickets to Earth."
"Wait, Roan? Captain Vindur's nephew, Roan? And why Earth?" Eclipse asked.
"We weren't 100 percent sure Roan's motivations were at the time, but he was loyal to the cause and was our way out," Stray explained for FS, a sugar cookie in his mouth. "Vindur was found dead an hour after he saw you, Avalanche and Chronos off. We think it was Roan, but he denies it every time we ask. There's something in his eyes that says otherwise, though."
"Why Earth?" FS took another sip of his coffee before continuing. "It would've been too easy to find us if we stayed in outer space, so we fled on a private vessel. Besides, on Earth we were able to gather together and work on what we were going to do next. We had some ideas, but nothing felt terribly rewarding. Kross mentioned—"
"Wait, Lieutenant Kross too?" Eclipse cut in.
"Yup. There were only three instructors that came. Kross, Roan, and Miato. Roan helped us get out, Miato gave us some fire power, and Kross covered our whereabouts. Just for that, we let them live," Stray went on. "We only lost one in the escape, Crimson Tear, and a few others were injured, but other than that, everything went well."
"I took out Ameria for you," FS added, gazing at Eclipse over the rim of his cup as he took another sip. Eclipse felt the nervousness return and tried to hide it in her own coffee, hoping he hadn't noticed. "Got her hand pretty good first of course. She cried like an infant too."
"I was embarrassed for her it was so bad." Eclipse looked at Stray then, seeing him smile at the memory and stare up at one of the chandeliers, a cookie dangling between his lips. "But hey," he continued between bites, "she hurt you, we hurt her; it was as simple as that."
A silence passed between the group, FS and Stray seemingly remembering the event and sharing a couple, pleased looks between the two as Eclipse risked a look back at her fellow elite. Heine hadn't been looking at her, but at them, attempting to mask a mixture of confusion and horror on his face. Eclipse noticed his battle, however, and frowned. If he had known the players involved, he might not have been so horrified, but she couldn't blame him for feeling uncomfortable as they exchanged stories about their newly dead superior officers.
"How'd you guys get back in space then?" Eclipse asked, pulling them back to the conversation.
"We heard rumors of a rebel group seeking refuge here. From what intel we had gathered, they are a group of 52 or so soldiers from a special program that the Earth Alliance had been conducting. We contacted them from Earth and set up a meeting where we decided to join forces."
Eclipse nodded slowly, both surprised that FS's gang wasn't the rebels they had been tasked with finding and a bit fearful that there were others around she knew nothing about. At least she knew what to expect from the Januarias 4 escapees.
"Join forces?" she asked. "For what?"
"We'll get onto that in a little bit." It was a flippant power move and Eclipse felt herself frown. FS grabbed a cookie from the table, offered it to each in turn, but ended up shrugging and eating it himself when neither Heine nor Eclipse had grabbed it. "We came expecting 50 trained soldiers, but in fact we found 30 young adults our age, 6 adults, and 16 children 10 years and younger."
"Children?"
"Yup. They said they were from some program at a facility called De'Amelith on Earth. None of them have gone into detail on what happened there, but one did mention drugs and Coordinators." He shrugged. "Judging by the power gap between Coordinators and Naturals, I'd say the Earth Forces were trying to make soldiers to contend with the ZAFT military."
"Drugs? Seems extreme…" Eclipse set her empty mug on the saucer and put that on the table, barely registering that she had even been drinking the liquid. She held up her hand and shook her head when Stray had asked if she wanted more and gave a soft smile and pat on the arm when his pouting face made her feel bad.
"It does, but I'm not entirely sure we can judge on what is considered extreme in this war." Eclipse, FS, and Stray all shared a knowing look, no doubt a tell so loud not even Heine could miss it.
Eclipse sighed. "Am I allowed to ask where they are now?"
"You're allowed to do whatever you want," FS responded with a snort. "They're spread throughout the colonies." Eclipse saw Heine tense and her eyes narrowed at the statement. "Oh, but don't worry I doubt your ZAFT buddies will find them; they're pretty well-hidden. And, before you ask, yes, I am aware of your little recon mission." His lips curved upwards at that and he chuckled. "When we saw you on the roster, we could barely contain our delight. The plan was that one of our groups would find you and, thankfully, Rya and Spencer got last-minute information on the location drops, so we found you before you left the district all together."
A short silence passed as Eclipse digested the information. It was a lot to take in ranging from the Earth Forces' drug-infused Naturals to FS's apparently knowledge of Eclipse and Heine's covert mission. "Wait," she began, thinking on that matter in particular. "You said you knew about the mission. How?"
"We have other friends, you know," Stray said, accenting his statement with a few attempts at tossing some pastry bits into his mouth. He caught on once and turned to Heine, tossing a piece his way and laughing when it hit the unamused elite on the shoulder.
"Two others besides you, Chronos, and Avalanche were sent out of the facility," FS explained, smiling at Stray's antics. "They were Revelation and Spector and heard of the rebellion before you got wind of it. They fed us the information before they bailed."
"Hold on, Rya was…."
"Revelation, LE. You see, many of our codenames were, apparently, chosen from the first letters of our first, middle, or last names. I'm not sure if 'creative' is a good word for it, but no matter," FS said.
"So, Fire Storm stands for—"
"Revelin Fidel Sloan."
"Revelin?" Eclipse cocked an eyebrow.
"Yup. I like it a lot better than Fire Storm, personally."
"So, Stray is…"
"Jaeger Seoras, my dear Lexi." To accent the statement, he bowed and took her hand in his and kissed it. The gloved pilot suit didn't seem to matter and aside from the chocolate stain on his front tooth, it was cute.
While she might have been amused by Stray's act, hearing her name made her cringe. It had been a long since she had heard the name and honestly, she didn't like the sound of it anymore. Lunar Eclipse seemed to match her better now.
Lexi sounded too human.
"Lexi Rymyr actually. I wonder, where does 'Eclipse' come from then? A middle name perhaps?" FS asked.
"Nice try," Eclipse said with a frown.
"Aw, Lexi c'mon!" Stray pouted.
"No, and please stop calling me that. Eclipse or LE fits me better."
"Why do you say that?" Heine asked, turning all attention to him. Being the odd one out, Eclipse was surprised to see him voice up, but she had been even more taken aback by his question. The answer seemed obvious to her.
"Well, Lunar Eclipse just sounds more like what I am."
"What you are?" Heine didn't miss the wording and frowned.
"Now, now, Mr. Westenfluss, we can't blame her entirely." The look FS gave in that moment sent a shiver down Eclipse's spine, jumping well passed nervousness in that moment. If Eclipse hadn't displayed any sort of comradery to Heine earlier, she was suddenly very aware that FS probably would have killed him for being a nuisance alone. Speaking up then was not helping Heine's odds of surviving and he must have noticed it too.
"We can blame our desperation for that way of thinking," FS continued. "A desperate soldier can be only two things in battle, either extremely powerful—in the sense that their paranoia heightens their senses—or powerless—meaning that it could consume them, ultimately leading them to destruction. At that facility we were all like that, teetering on the edge of insanity. But as time went on, we did what our superiors wanted and learned to control our desperation and ultimately pushing away that insanity."
"FS, where is this coming from? Why are you bringing it up?"
"LE, haven't you ever wondered why we ended up like we did?" Eclipse opened her mouth to continue, but FS interrupted. "That control didn't come without a price. With all that paranoia inside, there had to be some kind of outlet or it'd eat each of us raw."
"Some resorted to excessive violence," Stray continued for him, "going as far as torturing their prisoners after a large amount of information was already gathered, or even killing the prisoner—inhumanely in many cases—before even starting the interrogation." He shrugged and based on that reaction alone, Eclipse wondered if he had been one of those types. "It was always a bloody mess and none of the superiors took the situation lightly. The culprit was usually punished severely, but for some reason the outlet went beyond having the damage done to others. It consumed them as well, making them nothing more than masochists and the punishments, play time.
"Most succumbed to the sexual side of the picture, proving the more logical reasons behind the many locks on your door, LE," Stray continued. "Though there were plenty of willing outlets for that." The redhead hid a shiver. There were times she actually heard the locks being deciphered on her door, one after another, but a guard always seemed to stop by at the right moment. Usually, she had stood next to the door in hopes of ambushing the assailant, but she never knew for sure who or what was trying to break in.
Some nights, she never got to sleep.
"And the few who couldn't find a sufficient outlet embraced their insanity. I think Avalanche was a prime example. He may not have been as bad as a few others, but he wasn't sound minded either. A little too devilish even by our standards."
"Despite all of this," FS continued, taking a glance at Eclipse, "there was a method that worked; the one each of us used. We embraced our desperation, but buried, or even lost, something in return. Our 'humanity,' I guess you could call it. Though it's probably closer to say we have the unique ability of being able to turn our 'humanity' off and often thrive without it."
Eclipse stopped, suddenly remembering the page back in her journal. Was that what she meant by those words? Did she lock everything away in hopes of getting it back later?
Was that possible, or just naiveté?
"With our emotions suppressed, we had a whole bunch of extra space and the paranoia had enough room to change and develop, ultimately turning us into what we are now." FS shrugged as if it didn't matter and Eclipse found herself mimicking the gesture, realizing in that moment that she also didn't find it to be a hinderance. Actually, it seemed like a strength. "Our way seemed to work the best and that would explain why we excelled in the program, but the sad part is, being the best meant we had to keep being the best. That heightened state of mind and then being in it 24/7?" He shrugged again. "That, LE, is why we are such valuable assets. As long as we are kept working and the paranoia at its peak, we can do almost anything."
"Anything is a bit of a stretch, don't you think?" Eclipse muttered.
"Are you so sure? How many mothers have been able to somehow lift cars from their injured child? How many fathers have run miles to find lost children and come home barely out of breath? In the moment of pure desperation, a person can do anything," FS explained simply. "I guess it all depends on who you speak to. To the military, we're perfect soldiers: we follow orders without disagreements, we always do things to the best of our abilities, and we have no regard for our wellbeing. To others though, we're probably closer to monsters for much the same reasons: having no opinion and always doing as told, rarely have a day of poor performance, and are sooner to pass out from exhaustion than not finish an objective."
Eclipse found herself frowning once more, digesting the information being shoveled in her direction. She could feel the truth in what they were saying, but she was also very aware that while her cold demeanor extended to others, it didn't extend to these two. Perhaps there was something in that? Was it safety? Did she feel safe with them? Looking at each in turn, she knew that was part of it, but most of all she knew they understood her—knew shew as more than just a skillset in a file. In that moment, it trumped everything. "That's good and all, but I don't understand. Why did you tell me this? Sometimes ignorance is bliss and I really didn't want to know I'm full of paranoia. What does this have to do with anything?"
"Motive," Stray stated, still making his way through the mound of pastries. Eclipse had to admit it was impressive.
"Motive? For what?"
"Think about it, Lexi." Eclipse scowled but FS continued anyway. "We're all in the same boat. The soldiers from the Earth Forces were experimented on as much as we were, maybe even more. We became lab rats of a war that's getting out of hand and because of that, we're going to stop it."
"Stop it?" she echoed.
"Yes, end all the fighting."
"How?"
"By doing the most logical thing; get rid of the people involved." FS shrugged as if it was the most obvious solution and Eclipse felt her eyes grow wide.
"People involved?"
"Man, LE, I thought you were smarter than this. Both militaries of course." FS got to his feet to pour himself another mug of coffee, leaning against the table as he stirred in some sugar.
"That's logical to you?"
"In order to stop this thing, we have to use what skills we were given. ZAFT and the Earth Forces made us this way, why not give them a cut from their own sword?" FS asked.
"Is this a cry for peace or revenge? Guys, we're out; we're finally free. Why can't we try and go back?" Eclipse pleaded. Everything had made sense until that moment. What happened to them understanding her? What happened to their plan of just getting out and then forming some kind of life?
"Back? Back where? We never had homes or families, remember? There's nowhere to go back to," Stray said, and Eclipse felt hurt in that moment. Even Stray felt the same way.
"Then start over. We said we would start over."
"How? You said it yourself, we're not human anymore. What type of life would that be?" FS asked as Eclipse's breath started to quicken.
"Fine, say we took out the people involved and then tried to shape some kind of life. Who do we blame? There's no short list of people. The authority for our program went all the way to the Council and no doubt it's the same for the others from the EA." Eclipse could feel Heine's eyes on her and could nearly hear his judgement. They probably should have tried to flee the moment they claimed their desire to be grim reaper, but Eclipse couldn't.
Not them.
"Who is to blame, FS?"
"Then we blame everyone."
A/N: Hey all here's the new chapter. A little shorter than the past ones and full of a lot more conversation so hopefully it was a quick read. If you had any trouble following who was saying what please let me know. I didn't think it was hard, but then again I can see it all in my head too.
I realize that they're sounding like they have a Le Creuset-complex, but really there was no other way. I tried so hard not to have it turn out that way and I'm still tweaking the process so maybe it won't end up like that, but hey, who didn't like Le Creuset's idea?
My next question is, does it make sense? I tried really hard to make their circumstances tie in with something that could really happen and to me it all fits together perfectly, but I have to remember, not everyone understands what goes through my mind. I don't think many people want to either. Let me know.
I have to admit that the hardest part about this chapter wasn't all the technicalities (Yeah, that was a pain too), but where to end it. Actually, my original ending spot is a long ways off. I have a tendency to underestimate my wordiness and if I didn't have a conscience, I'd make you all sit down and read 11,000 word chapters. How does that sound? I like ones that people can read in one sitting, so that's why I'm all for the smaller chapters, even though 6,000 words isn't exactly short, but no matter. At least you'll be able to eat a bag of popcorn. Wanna share?
Next chapter finishes Stray and FS's diabolic plot (or is it?) and starts a new beginning for our favorite weapon. Will she choose her friends over anything else? What does she owe anyone besides her fury? I guess you'll have to find out. Because I cut this a little shorter than I planned, some of the next chapter is already written and it's all outlined, so hopefully it'll be up relatively soon.
Thanks for all the support! I really enjoyed all the reviews and thank you for all who have been reading. I hope my long breaks aren't scaring anyone away and please understand that I'm trying my best to dish out these chapters.
Gundamfanatic123: It's amazing how you can say so much in so few words, hah. Actually you're going to have to wait and see. As the cliche goes, "only time can tell." I'll just say this: I really like Heine as a character and want to give him a larger role than four episodes and a dramatic death scene. Will that suffice?
Darkangelsonic: I'm glad you liked the Heine appearance 'cause I definitely did. T.M. rocks, I don't care if he's short. Hah! Just thought I'd throw that one out there. I hope this chapter keeps you guessing and coming back like that last one!
Saiyukigallie: Thank you for your "professionally" and "un-professionally" given advice. I'm trying really hard not to stray (hah Stray!) from the main SEED line because it's a good story; just has a lot of holes. Oh, what did you find on Heine? I pretty much know everything (brags). Heh, not really, but he is an interesting character and has a website all to himself even!
CSS Stravag: You don't know how hard I had to try to keep Eclipse from doing just that. Heine begged and begged not to be killed. Little did he know he'd be having a dramatic exit in Destiny... Anyway, the blonde's suit was picked up by his squad eventually. An over-zealous Earthling did try to show off to his girlfriend, but luckily he was scared of heights and ended up frozen in fear as soon as he reached the cockpit door. Little did he know "free falling" didn't exist in outer space. Don't worry, his girlfriend still said yes when he proposed later that night, but because of the problems he caused, she got an "IOU" instead of a ring. Oh yeah, Heine'll get billed as well for just being a pain.
Death-Scimitar: Well, I'm glad you're taking a step in the right direction. For a few days there you weren't getting along too well with yourself and I was getting a tad worried, but I'm glad things are back to normal. I thought you'd enjoy the little remark about the OCs. See? Isn't it fun to have inside information? I'm sure everyone's jealous of you right now 'cause I left them on a huge cliff hangar. Will you manage crowd control then? Thanks!
Strata