Update: Tweaked/rewritten September 2020.

Mending Hearts and Breaking Minds

Who made you god? Heine thought, withholding a scowl. The only reason he was still there was a combination of a low probability of getting out of there alive, and despite Eclipse's affectionate reunion before, she seemed to be cooling to their hosts. Heine and the redhead had made eye contact soon after FS finished speaking and more was shared in that one look than their entire Afternoon Tea debacle.

"What you're suggesting is—" Eclipse began, but was cut off by her two friends.

"Realistic?" FS suggested.

"Obvious?" Stray added.

"—suicidal," Eclipse finished. "You blame everyone? There's no way you can kill everyone in both the Earth Forces and ZAFT."

"That's why we take out the biggest threat, ZAFT, first and then move on to the Naturals. For goodness sakes, LE, we pick 'em apart gradually, not all at once," FS groaned. Heine clenched his fists at his side. Based on that reaction alone, he could tell their kind host was getting frustrated. Most likely, he had expected his favorite redhead to join them straight away, but Eclipse seemed to have a little more sanity than he had given her credit for. "The reason people turn to violence, is because there's some, primal impulse to. We overload that primal instinct or even get rid of that impulse, and we end the war."

"But by killing everyone?"

"Only in the militaries."

"Why?"

"What other type of individual has this impulse more? If we get rid of them, we stop the war and keep another one from happening. As long as there are people who want to fight, wars will never end."

"You're going to kill random soldiers? You're not even going to give them a chance?" Eclipse asked, Heine noticing that her hands were starting to clench as well.

"Why should we? You know yourself there are no innocents in the military. Whether the people are killing others directly or indirectly by fixing machines," FS explained, looking down at her from his spot near the table, his eyes following her as he finished the liquid in his coffee cup. Still standing, he reached over and poured himself more. How could he drink at a time like this?

"I realize that, but if you're trying to get rid of everyone to stop the fighting—for revenge—or whatever—you might as well start right here. Have you ever thought that by doing this you'll be starting another war yourselves? What, you become an outlier in a war by killing both sides and then have them come after you?"

"It may come to that," FS said, matching the redhead's stare with a cool one of his own. "But we'll have to wait and watch things unfold."

"Damnit, FS, you're not making any sense. So, you plan on killing everyone, destroying their will to fight, and committing martyrdom all at the same time?"

"Lexi, Lexi," he chided, shaking his head. "You know there is more than one way to shift someone's primal impulses, and not all of them include a knife to the heart. Are we not prime examples?"

There was something about the way he smiled that unnerved Heine, and he was getting goose bumps from the experience. But it wasn't from being cold. Was he scared? "You're insane!"

"You stay quiet," Stray hissed in an outburst that seemingly surprised everyone but FS. He smiled. Eclipse's voice dipped into a snarl.

"If you don't want him to speak then why tell us so much? What is any logical person supposed to think when you spew this kind of garbage? Destroying both armies? Ridiculous!" She rose from her chair at the exclamation, both fury and confusion etched across her face. Her hand went to her hair, scratching the back of her head as she stood and digested what she was hearing. Heine eyed FS carefully and saw his hand slink dangerously close to the firearm at his side.

"What do you mean? This is what we were aiming for all along," FS hissed, reaching out and grabbing Eclipse hard around her left elbow instead of going for his gun. Heine stepped forward instinctively and he noticed Stray had done the same thing. Despite his demeanor before, the chef looked concerned about the series of events in front of him. Even though he was following FS, he didn't seem to want Eclipse hurt.

Interesting.

She glared at him, a feral stare that Heine was sure even FS couldn't feel comfortable being at the end of. Pulling her arm out of his grip, her voice grew soft. "I don't remember you saying anything about destroying the entire human population."

"It's not the entire population," FS corrected.

"Close enough," she spat. "After those massacres who is supposed to be left?"

"The ones willing to keep the peace." What they were saying sounded logical enough, Heine knew—in a sadistic sort of way. But how logical was it really? It sounded more like the last desperate attempt of someone trying to find a purpose or a reason to live a life someone else had given him. It was dangerous and when a moment of realization and pain crossed Eclipse's face, he knew she had seen it too.

"What you're suggesting takes time, money, and organizing. The war will probably be over with by the time you achieve all those things."

"Do you honestly think the war will end soon?" FS asked Eclipse, his head cocking to the side and continuing before she could argue again. "We are more organized than you think and collectively go by the name of SIN-ED." He paused and Heine cursed. "LE, we have a plan, have methods of achieving that plan, and have the resources to do it. This is the only thing we can think of to end all of this." Heine had to look away from them for the moment, biting his bottom lip. There was so much desperation passing between the two individuals that it felt almost too intimate.

Eclipse's silence was telling and the internal struggle in his fellow elite was clear. Based on what Heine had witnessed that day, walking away from those two would be one of the hardest emotional things she would have to do and based on what he had also heard about that day, it would be one of the most non-lethal things she had done. A part of him had felt positive she wouldn't join them just based on the rational he had been hearing from her, but emotions were rarely rational and despite what she claimed, she certainly had feelings—at least towards these two individuals. He couldn't deny the fact that he was getting nervous.

Would she be able to walk away from the two people who brought out her humanity?

"There has to be another way," she breathed.

"No, LE, there isn't. To stop death, we have to use it."

When he put it that way, Heine had to admit even he found it plausible.

"Sleep on it. Spend the night here—both of you—and we'll talk more in the morning. I'm sure you'll see no other option, like we have. Please don't make a decision now because I don't want you to regret it later on."

Eclipse didn't respond and Stray took that as an affirmative, walking over to her and taking her elbow far more gently than FS had before. "Here, follow me."

Heine clenched and unclenched his fists, casting a small glance at FS who was whispering something to Eclipse. The sight of them so close made his heart twist, but he didn't think it was from any sort of affection he might have had for the redhead. What will you decide, Eclipse?

Stray escorted them back to the lobby and then up the main staircase. Pausing to grab some keys from behind the front desk, he suddenly snapped his fingers and disappeared down one of the hallways. Many of the SIN-ED members were still in the lobby, but what they were doing neither redcoat had a clue. Gambling it looked like. The chef returned a few minutes later, flashing a smile. "I forgot I left something in the oven."

Not even Heine seemed to be in the mood to groan.

"Mr. Westenfluss, you'll stay in this room and LE, you'll stay—"

"We'll be staying together," the redhead responded quickly, matching her friend's stare with a stern one of her own. "I may trust you and FS to keep him safe, but the others are a different matter. He's not leaving my sight."

"No others are on this floor. Revelin and I are on the one below, so we won't be bothering you either."

"It doesn't matter; we're in the same room."

"Revelin's not going to like that." Eclipse didn't budge and the chef just sighed, flipping through his keys for a different room. He motioned them to the third door down.

"Here's a room with two separate beds. I'll have some different clothes brought up for you because I bet those space suits are getting pretty uncomfortable right now. You should have towels in the bathroom and the water's working so you can freshen up if you'd like." He smiled faintly, but upon seeing Eclipse's stern look, it slowly drooped to a frown. He reached out then and touched her cheek, the redhead's features, surprisingly, softening. "There was a time when just the sight of me would make you smile. You were like that when you arrived and I wanted nothing more than to keep that happiness on your face. Now it seems to have melted off and I know that not even a 'sorry' will bring it back." He sighed and his hand dropped back to his side. "Revelin's changed—both of us have—but change is what we needed. We're not the mindless weapons we were back on Januarias, but we haven't evolved past the two friends you came to rely on."

Eclipse swallowed the painful lump in her throat, but couldn't find any words.

"Please think about it—what Revelin said. Only when we stop others from going backwards, can we move forward. You understand that, right? Please, we want you here—no, need you here. LE, we're so close—so close to the future we wanted. We said we'd survive it together, right?" There were no words to describe the look on his face. It ranged between admiration and fear, but which one it was, Eclipse couldn't decide. She didn't want to leave them, that was the problem, she knew.

"Stray, you do realize FS might be—"

He kissed her forehead before she could go any further, stopping her mid-sentence and leaving her frozen in the doorway as he left. He was the one who had always surprised her with his antics, but this time she didn't have a sarcastic remark or wise crack.

She was speechless.

Eclipse shut the door after her and Heine had walked into the room, leaning her forehead against the wood and breathing a few times to steady herself.

Crazy.

That's what her friends turned out to be. They talked about paranoia and insanity, never once referencing themselves, but the sad thing was, they had crossed the same bridge as Avalanche. Destroying everyone? Did that seem like a logical solution to this war? No, not at all, so why did they suggest it? A house, that was all that she wanted. A nice quiet house in the middle of nowhere she could relax and forget everything she went though. The sight of FS in the lobby had been the light of hope in her darkness of death. They were going to take her away from the war and ZAFT.

That's how it was supposed to be.

"I think I owe you a huge apology," Heine said quietly. "And a 'thank you,' to be fair. Sorry for my annoying antics before and 'thank you' for not getting angry at me about them. I didn't realize what you had gone through."

At first the redhead didn't say anything, still trying to erase the sight of her non-existing, happy future. Only when he stood behind her did she turn and respond. "You don't have to apologize for having a personality, and, frankly, not many know about that bit of ZAFT history so you could even call yourself lucky." She gave a soft smile and sighed, walking past him to go sit on the edge of the bed. "Until a brief moment today, my plan had been to go through the war, do what I was told, and then die. Morbid, sure, but despite any fantasy I might have had, the reality was there. That one moment I saw them though—saw that they were free, I got my hopes up again." She fell backwards on the mattress, staring up at the ceiling. Heine had made his way over to the other bed and sat, listening.

"But after this, what is there to expect? Being who I am, what can I honestly look forward to?" She turned her head and gave a soft smile. "Heine, I'm sorry you got dragged into that. Somehow I doubt it was a comfortable position to be in."

"Well, you're not lying," he said simply and shook his head. "I didn't realize both the EA and ZAFT were doing experimental programs though. That took me by surprise."

Eclipse nodded and turned back to look at the ceiling. "Yes, ZAFT made us who we are and the Council approved of it, but why, I don't think I'll ever know. I am like them, but I still haven't decided how much. A lot of things they said made sense to me and perhaps it's only a matter of time."

"Like them? Matter of time?"

"Go insane."

A loud knock at the door broke into the conversation. Heine went to open it and came back with a laundry basket full of four sets of clothing (pajamas and a set of clothes for the next day), their backpacks, a manila folder, and a plate of bread. "The guy said it's banana-flavored and from Jaeger. I'm assuming he cooked it just for you. You like bread or something?"

She gave a sad smiled. "I don't have a huge passion for it, but I don't mind it either. Was there a note?"

"No, nothing. It smells really good though."

"I bet it'll taste just as good. Did you want a piece? We never did eat anything in the ballroom, did we?"

"You think it's safe?" he asked quietly, carrying the basket inside and putting it on the one desk off to the side of the room.

"Should be. I don't think they'd go through all that just to poison us."

He picked up the manila folder and walked it over to her, holding it out. "Well, you know them better than I do." He turned once she grabbed the paperwork, walking over to their backpacks and starting to organize his things. He was quieter than normal then, she noticed, making her think the ordeal had startled him more than he was letting on. In fact, that realization surprised her.

When did she start to care?

Shaking her head, she looked at the folder in her hands. There was a note taped to the inside flap and she tore it off before reading.

This'll be short because I don't want to bother you more than I already have. Inside is your profile that we took from the facility's records. This is how we found out your name, among other various gifts. You're very special, Lexi, and it goes beyond your alluring personality or ability to tame renegades like Revelin and I. The profile's yours to keep because technically we have no claim of it.

P.S. I made the bread specially for you. The chocolate is for how sweet you are and the bananas are because you've always been my favorite fruit cake. The nuts have no reference to your personality whatsoever.

Love always,

Jaeger (Stray)

Eclipse smiled, withholding the small chuckle in the back of her throat. That boy was always a strange one, she thought, but adorable just the same.

She set the folder down next to her on the bed after reading the letter, not finding the courage to open it just yet. She was special, Stray had said, but what characteristic made her so? It wasn't her femininity because Vindur despised that. Then what was it? Plenty of things skipped into her head, but none of them were pleasant. It was a hard subject to breach at that moment, so she decided to swallow her humanity then a think of what they needed to do next. She had already decided she wasn't going to stay and as painful as that thought had been, she knew she couldn't be a part of what they were going to do.

"Furete temo, tsumetai yubisaki.

Kkooritsuita, tsuki ni terasarete.

"Hibiwareta kokoro ga, moetsukiru yoru o dakukedo.

Isshun no kanata de, kirameita omoi ga, ai nara, maboroshi ni shitemisete." (***)

Heine had started singing softly, having finished his brief organizing and lying back on the bed, mimicking her pose from before. She recognized the tune from what he had sung on the trip over to the colony and found herself smiling sadly. It was lovely at that time, but now it seemed sad. So much had happened since the long ride and it all seemed like a dream. Their team had lost two rookies within the first minutes of the mission and they were practically captives in hostile territory. Her past had gotten them into this mess, and it was up to her to get them out.

But how?

She needed to find a weapon, something to defend them both until proper artillery could be found. To stop death, she'd have to use it.

"Hanatsu hikari, sora ni ochiru, nozomu dake no, netsu o sasagete.

Shini yuku hoshi no, unda honoo ga, saigo no yume ni, yakarete iruyo."

She made a quick look around the room, trying to find anything of use, but came up empty-handed even after rifling through her backpack. Her weaponry had been taken, which was to be expected, so her next stop was the bathroom. Fishing through the drawers, and even opening the medicine cabinet, left her with nothing more than a hairbrush to work with. Not very promising, but looking up she saw it.

A mirror.

"Furitsumoru, tsumi wa yasashisa ni, toge wa emi ni, kaete yukeru nara.

"Chiru magiwa no hana no todokanai sakebi nimo nita—"

Eclipse heard him stumble over the final line. He had gone a little further than the last time she heard, but only by a word or two. He cursed loudly and started the verse again, but still couldn't think of anything.

"Hey, you have any idea what the next line should say?"

"I can't concentrate on something like that right now."

"Oh, nothing at all?"

"Sorry."

He sighed loudly and tried again, this time starting back from the beginning of the refrain.

Pushing the song into the background, she returned to the task at hand. She glanced at the reflection in the mirror and found herself frowning. Had she always looked that tired? Grasping the brush firmly, she struck the bottom, left corner of the mirror. Long cracks spread over the surface, distorting her image, but still picking up the smile that appeared on her lips

"Ah-ha!" the singer proclaimed from the other room. "I have something now!"

"Furitsumoru, tsumi wa yasashisa ni, toge wa emi ni, kaete yukeru nara.

"Chiru magiwa no hana no, todokanai sakebi nimo nita

inori no hakanasa ga, motomeru setsunasa ga, futari no, deatta, toki o yurasu."

"Sound good?"

"Not now."

"Ah, but you're my muse; what you say matters. Can't you see I've come up with so much more now that you're with me? I've been working on the line for weeks and you don't have any words of encouragement or congratulation for me? That hurts, partner."

Same old Heine.

"Yeah, care to help me out instead of singing? Though, I didn't mind your noise covering up my noise."

"So, what are you—hey! That's seven years bad luck!" he hissed, trying to keep his voice down.

"Well, good thing I don't believe in superstitions." She managed to lift out one of the bigger pieces using the end of the brush and handed it to Heine who grabbed a towel before taking it. The fabric in his suit probably would have been able to handle it just fine, but she had to admit it was a good idea. Returning to the mirror, she jostled out and the other larger piece below the first one.

"What's your plan?"

"Well, I'm anticipating a lot of gunfire when we walk out."

"I assumed they didn't want you harmed."

Eclipse nodded and wrapped the glass in a towel much like Heine. "I'm sure that courtesy extends only as far as me agreeing to join their group."

"Despite what you may think, I have a feeling they won't kill you as quickly as you let on."

"It's cute that you think that," she started, looking at him and shaking her head. "It's a bit naïve, unfortunately."

He shrugged. "Just optimistic."

"Sometimes they mean the same thing," Eclipse sighed, grabbing her backpack on the bed. She slipped the manila folder in one of the pockets before tossing the bag to Heine.

He caught it with his open hand and slung it around one shoulder, careful of the glass still in his right hand. "You're just pessimistic."

"No, realistic."

He sighed and didn't argue, instead moving onto the next issue on hand. "What are we going to do for helmets? I don't know about you, but I can't hold my breath long."

"I think I saw something that could pass for a storeroom at the end of the hall. I'm hoping there'll be two in there."

"Hoping?"

"I'm trying the optimistic thing."

"It's not working for you."

"Well, a person can't be good at everything."

Heine shrugged and took a deep breath, leading the way towards the door. He was about to turn the handle when he saw Eclipse near the desk chewing something. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I would've felt bad if I left without tasting Stray's bread."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Like I said before, there are some things you wouldn't understand about Stray, FS, and I."

"Apparently not…"

They were out of the room a few moments later, the muffled noises of people talking, laughing, and drinking below. It looked like Stray and FS had held true to their word and no one was on the floor, but the redhead was having her doubts about the sincerity of the SIN-ED members. For what it was worth, however, she still trusted her two friends.

There was that optimistic thing again.

Heine took a long look up and down the hall before flicking his head back down towards the room Eclipse had guessed was the storeroom. They both held their glass low, taking special care to neither hit each other nor themselves as they hurried across the carpet. Heine checked each door as they passed them, nodding to confirm they were locked and Lexi followed behind him slowly, watching their backside and down towards the staircase.

The room was indeed a storeroom and Heine confirmed as much, switching places with Eclipse as she crouched low to pick the lock. It wasn't a modern lock and didn't take very long, both pushing through the door and shutting it quietly after they stepped inside.

Heine pulled out the flashlight from the side of his backpack and searched the room, shifting the glass shard into his left hand. "Anything we can use?"

"Yup. Two helmets, just like I thought." She pointed to the back corner and he swung the light back around to illuminate the area. It looked to house other emergency supplies ranging from first aid to full space suits, but the helmets were their top priority in that moment.

"Score one for woman's intuition, now let's get going."

Eclipse nodded and handed her partner one of the helmets. It was a slim model, which was nice, but the coloring threw him off. He frowned. "Are you giving me this bright color, so I'll be picked out first and shot?"

It was orange.

"I gave it to you by default, so stop complaining. Would you rather have white?"

"What's so bad about white?"

"What's so bad about orange?"

"Oh, never mind."

"Never minding."

After putting on their helmets, they took one last look at each other and Heine turned off the light, Eclipse opening the door and holding it open for him as they stepped out. The deafening silence made her nervous. Either the helmet was blocking out any sounds that had been coming up from the floor below, or the noises had stopped completely. She tensed and they began their trek back down the hall.

"It can't be this easy," she whispered to him when they sidestepped to the fire escape door to their right.

"You have a problem with things being easy?" he asked quietly in reply and moved to push open the fire escape. Eclipse tensed and cursed when she saw the black toe of a boot through the gap, but their cover had already been blown the moment they opened the door. Two SIN-ED members about their age were in the stairwell, but, fortunately, they were just as surprised as the redcoats in front of them. Apparently, Heine had good luck after all.

"What the hell—" one of them began, but was cut off as soon as Eclipse curved around Heine and stepped through the gap, stabbing the mirror shard up and under his chin, catching his throat with gruesome accuracy. She put a hand over his gargling mouth to keep the noise to a minimum and guided him to the ground.

Heine was a little slower to react, slipping through the door after the redhead, but still before the other guard could fully react. He pushed the guard's attempt at bringing around his weapon out wide, stepping through his defenses and punched him hard in the gut, knocking the breath out of him. Still conscious, he brought his elbow down hard and across his temple, finally leading him to the sweet bliss of unconsciousness.

"Couldn't you have just done that?"

She frowned and shrugged, wiping the blood off on the unstained fabric she could find on her victim. "When this man comes back to kill you one day you may regret that decision."

"Will I?"

"I think you forgot what SIN-ED's main objective is."

"But we don't have to become one of them."

"I'm already one of them," she finished, and before he could add in a counter argument, she pointed at the gun slung around her victim. "Grab that." Heine nodded.

Reaching around Heine's unconscious prey, she unhooked the strap from the rifle and set the weapon down next to her, using the holder to bind the guard's hands to the railing before picking up the rifle once more.

"We need to hurry."

"Don't have to tell me twice," he said, saving his moral discussion for later. They were going to have a good talk as soon as things settled down.

The loud banging on the door wasn't exactly a pleasant sound for the two friends sitting on the inside. It had been over two hours, three pieces of cheesecake, and two cups of tea later since the all-important chat with Eclipse and her annoying comrade. Stray and FS still sat around the same table in the ballroom, enjoying each other's company, silence, and good food. They had discussed their impressions of the earlier conversation and despite what they had hoped would happen, they had both agreed that Eclipse didn't like the plan.

FS had found himself both furious and saddened by the realization, having already thrown an unfortunate cup and saucer on the ballroom floor. He couldn't tell what Stray had been thinking, but seeing as he had barely eaten anything within the past couple hours, FS had a guess.

They had just begun trying to devise some way to convince Eclipse to stay with them when the loud banging and announcement of the redcoats' escape found its way into the ballroom. The two weapons took the news calmly and dismissed the messenger once he was finished, but that first impression was short lived. "We knew she wasn't going to stay," FS remarked, setting his cup down on the table.

"I was still hoping she would," Stray pouted, shoving a spoon full of strawberry topping into his mouth in what was probably a gesture to make himself feel better. "She seemed impressed for a while there, but I don't know what happened."

"Maybe we can blame her partner for that one. He seemed to have some influence on her."

"Which is surprising. That girl doesn't open up to others very well." Stray paused mid-bite, setting down his fork and pushing the cheesecake off to the side. Apparently, the topping had done nothing to improve his mood.

"We should try to bring her back," FS said, rubbing his fingers at his temples, a headache brewing.

"I don't want to force her to be here, if that's what you mean. What good is a follower who doesn't believe in what we're doing?"

"But remember, it's LE."

"And since it's LE, we can't make her do anything. It could be unhealthy for both the organization as well as us."

But we need her, Jaeger, FS thought, deciding not to respond to his partner's comment. If only you understood how much.

"Sir!" a younger SIN-ED member shouted, barging through the doors without so much as a knock. The boy looked out of breath with sweat droplets already peppering his darkened forehead.

"What is it now? We know about LE's escape, so what could be more important?" FS groaned.

"Sir, our sensors picked up two ZAFT mobile suits in the colony. We should get out—"

"They're probably here to find Lexi and her teammate," Stray said, taking another sip from his cup.

"Sir—"

"Sounds about right. Shall we be going too, then? There's really no more reason to stay." FS sighed, finished the rest of his tea and stood.

The chef followed suit a moment later. "So, we're going to just leave her?"

"There might be other chances to convince her to join us."

"Sir, I really think—"

"Why the hell are you still here?" FS hissed at the boy, causing him to stiffen. "Clean up this goddamn mess and get ready to leave."

"S-sir," he stuttered before fleeing out the door.

FS sighed and shook his head. "That was one of the Naturals, wasn't it?"

"Please don't give up on her too early, Revelin."

"I never said anything about giving up on her."

"We just need her to come willingly, that's all."

"Yes, Jaeger, I know. C'mon, we have to get out of here before we're spotted."

"She deserves to be here with us."

"I know that!" FS slammed the table after the remark, sending more then a few dishes falling to the floor. Stray didn't even blink. "I can't worry about her stubborn ass at the moment. I'm sure there'll be plenty of other chances to convert her later on, but that's the least of my worries. If we're captured and killed, how can we hope to accomplish anything?"

"But there'll be other chances later on?"

FS sighed, but nodded, his anger dissipating quickly. "Yes, I'm sure there will be."

Stray left it at that, hurrying after FS once his tea was finished. He would talk LE into joining them, it was as simple as that. There was no reason she should be stuck taking orders while him and Revelin were trying to save the human race—well, at least they were in the long run. Hm, I wonder if she tried the bread.

"Check the radar again," Heine ordered, tapping the airport console impatiently. They had managed to get a worded message out almost a half hour ago, but they had seen no sign of their armed comrades. Most likely, the message just didn't get through and that caused more frustration than it was worth in that particular moment. "I don't think we can just hang out here for much longer."

"I looked at it five seconds ago. I told you, there's nothing," Eclipse said, just as frustrated as her partner. It had been almost an hour since they had fled the hotel and they were on edge, if not downright paranoid. Someone from SIN-ED could be after them and they were wide open. Camping back at the terminal seemed the best option, but no one seemed to notice their distress. Isn't back-up supposed to, well, back you up? the redhead thought with a sigh. The bodies of their two comrades were in the same place they had fallen, bringing a frown to both pair of lips when they had returned to the terminal.

"There has to be something. Check it again."

"Honestly, sir—"

It sounded then, the familiar grind of the outside panel opening in the docking area and both turned to look out the window. To their relief, what walked into the docking area was two GINNs, fully armed. Figuring them to be the back-up the two redcoats were hoping for, Heine jumped back onto the console and wired another message.

"How do we know you're not lying to us?" came the reply and Heine gave their registration numbers, answered any passworded exchanges, and explained the situation. Eclipse was impressed by his patience, but she was far from that calm.

She walked to the window and waved her arms. "Tell them about the fuckin' beacons," she hissed as she walked. "Surely, those will prove our location." She heard him laugh and she whirled, beyond sick of that particular colony.

"What?" she hissed.

"Oh, nothing."

The pilots finally agreed on their authorization and the duo stepped out into the dock to converse further. They explained the situation again and the pilots got on their radios to inform the other teams. "I'll call our superiors next and tell them what you found. You're sure they left as soon as you spoke with them?"

Heine glanced sideways at his partner. She had, in fact, outright lied about SIN-ED as soon as she was asked about their whereabouts. Heine was fairly confident they hadn't left the colony yet and was thankful one GINN had been ordered to search it, but why had she lied? Was it to protect her friends?

Wasn't she supposed to be the perfect soldier?

"Yes, sir. I'm not sure why they let us go so easily. Perhaps they were just overconfident, but we tried contacting you as soon as we knew it was safe."

"But you had five GINNs at your disposal. Surely, they didn't have much more power than that," the GINN pilot said.

"We weren't sure of their strength and I wasn't about to find out. If they were willing to leave us all this information, then I call this a win."

He nodded slowly, but didn't ask any further questions of her. "Westenfluss, what do you have to say? Do you agree with your partner's account?"

He paused for a moment, but ended up supporting the redhead. If the SIN-ED members were still around, they wouldn't be for much longer.

"Alright, I'll go report." The pilot's eyes scanned over to the terminal door and the bodies of the two younger members he knew were lying there. He sighed. "The carrier should be here in another hour or so. Just relax until then." They saluted and went their separate ways, the pilot to the radio and the redcoats to return to the terminal.

Eclipse took off her pack and sat down against the wall, sighing deeply. Heine took the seat across from her, swinging his own backpack off and watching her take out the manila folder. He smiled knowingly when she gave him a quizzical look, but said nothing else. Thanks, she thought and stared at the folder in her hands, appreciating the fact that he was giving her some privacy.

It wasn't a surprise that both Stray and FS had stolen the member records, but she felt somewhat violated they had looked at them. Despite what she might have felt towards them, there were some things she would rather keep hidden.

Including why she might be considered "special."

She opened it slowly, steadying her breath. Did she really want to know? Would it make things easier, or harder? Would anything change? Only one way to find out, she thought, opening up the flap and pulling out the papers inside.

A younger-looking Eclipse stared back at her, forcing her to remember back to the hotel and the tired face staring back at her. Her hair was long in the photo, about shoulder length, and framing a juvenile face. Even though the picture was taken over a year ago, the weapon didn't even recognize herself. Question was, is that a good thing or a bad thing? Scrawled across her picture was the word "Berserker?" in all capitals and she stared at the word for a moment, not completely understanding what it meant. Unable to process it at that moment, she moved on and glanced at her profile.

Name: Lexi Emilia Rymyr

Age: 14

Birthday: March 24

Blood Type: AB

Codename: Lunar Eclipse

Soldier Number: 8704298

Personal Information: Runaway (believed to be from Orb). Family Unknown

Abilities: Ambidexterity from wound to right hand. Highest marks in melee and gun use. Above average mobile suit handling. Detached. Unpredictable.

Weaknesses: Female. Low commanding skills. Rebel.

Other Notes: Berserker. Given Muscimol one week into training. Taken appropriately. Successful.

She stopped and stared at the word "Berserker" again and felt her stomach wrench. If it was in her profile twice that had to mean it was of some significance, but what? And what was the Muscimol all about? Was that the medicine she was given? It had to be.

Some more, smaller stack of papers were behind the profile, going more in depth on her personality and skills. It was nothing she didn't already know so she read through them quickly and moved onto the next section which did, indeed, make her pause. It seemed to be information about berserkers, the thing that she had been associated with in the profile. Steadily, she looked them over, but her calm façade soon turned to panic. Phrases like "…object of hate and scorn," "…only purpose was to kill," "…do things an ordinary man couldn't," "…butcher men and women indiscriminately," and "…genetic flaws," whispered through her mind as she read them, quickening her breath and causing her hands to sweat. This is what made her special? She was this?

She remembered then, all the times she went into this "frenzied state" and did things she didn't think possible. Sometimes the pain from her wounds wouldn't register until hours after the battle simulations and reading the information, she knew why. Berserkers felt little to no pain and fought through injuries. They were set loose on communities and "killed everything they met, not even distinguishing between friend and foe." That was why she felt no remorse after interrogations and how she killed MR so easily.

A weapon. That was it; that was why she was so important.

She was precisely what they had been looking for.

"Eclipse? Hey, are you okay?" Heine asked, jumping to her side once her panic had become audible. She felt her hands shaking and despite the need to stop looking at that word, she couldn't force herself to put the paperwork away.

Berserker.

"Eclipse?"

"C-can you sing that song again, Heine? I really need to hear it right now."

He paused, his surprise outweighing his concern for a second. Did she just call him by his name and not "sir?" "I don't think—"

"Please," she pleaded, unable to hide the crack in her voice as she spoke.

There was another, longer pause as he wrestled with the idea, but eventually he sighed, going back to his seat across from her and started humming. The redhead listened quietly, glad he wasn't sitting beside her and no one else was around. Perhaps FS, Stray, and I aren't so different after all, she decided, looking down at the profile again.

Maybe we're all insane.

(***)

Song: "Meteor"

Singer: T.M. Revolution

Composer: Daisuke Asakura

Writer: Akio Inoue

Personal Notes: I take no credit for this song whatsoever. I do not own it, nor do I own any part of it. It is an insert song for Gundam SEED and as such I felt it okay to put in the story. Also, since the character "Heine Westenfluss" is based off the original singer T.M. Revolution, having him sing the song only seemed appropriate. Since music is a main theme for this story, having the songs from the series worked well for both the plot and characterization. There will be more songs in the future for those same reasons.

Sincerely,

Strata-Assassin

A/N: Please note the notice above. The Japanese lyrics were intentional and so is the action between the phrases. The whole song is not there because Heine is still in the process of making it. Also, if there are any concerns or comments, I ask that you message me personally instead of putting it in a review. Thank you.

A huge "Thank you" goes out to all who have been reading and reviewing on this story. Also, a huge "I'm sorry" should go out as well. This is a long chapter and for some that may be frustrating, but I hope it is worth the read. This one took a while to get put up and I have a many number of excuses, but no one likes to hear about those, so an apology is all I can give.

The plot thickens, is all I can say for this chapter. I'll (hopefully) be getting back into the main SEED story next chapter, so please stick around.

Death-Scimitar: Wow, you're the first reviewer. Yay! It's always nice to hear from ya especially when you make references to the random things that are going to be happening later on. :) I am so excited! I really like my fish analogies apparently. Honestly I didn't think it'd turn out that way... (Shrugs) Well, you know I love my coffee so having some characters who are also obsessed with it is only natural right? And who doesn't like bread? Especially when the smell's sticking to Stray. :) Now that you put that "Collerbone" comment on there I want to play the game... I think I will.

Darkangelsonic: You're the person I have to apologize to the most. You mentioned you like shorter chapters and this one is the largest by far. I'm hoping the conversation made it go by quickly. I try to keep them short, but with everything going on, it's not an easy thing to do. Honestly, even though my character has a thing for FS, I like Stray a lot more. He's just so cute... I know Heine can get a little annoying, but he is still rather young and hasn't experienced the harshness of war... yet. He had a revelation in this chapter that will help him on his road. Thanks for being honest. I didn't realize how much everyone hated him until you an many others brought it up. Also, I know the last chapter was boring, and this one may be too, but there has to be a break from the action somehow. My other chapters have been all about the action, so sooner or later there had to be one explaining the plot and characters. Please understand it had to be done.

Saiyukigallie: Yay! I'm so glad you know so much about him! All of that's correct by the way. :) I actually like Stray and FS's plan. Not in the sense it should be attempted, but that it's different from the other ones in SEED. It's cool how people have different aspects of how to stop wars. Some are a little more insane than others, but, in a way, they make sense. Like I said, I'd never try their way or tell anyone else to try it, but they're kind of a long the right track. Oh, and what does "Nyuu, gambatte ne~!" mean?

CSS Stravag: So, you're one of the many who thought Heine was annoying in the last chapter, huh? Seeing as I adore the guy, I don't think an axe handle is the way to go. How about a really hard pillow? Anyway, at that age he kind of wants to be some super hero or Prince Charming. Unfortunately, Eclipse isn't exactly a damsel in distress. Heh. Honestly, when you said you liked the SIN-ED's thinking, I was scared. Probably because I knew the whole plan and how it'd end up, but who knows.

Asmus: Thank you for reviewing. New people are always nice to hear from. I hope you've made it to this chapter 'cause I'd really like you to read this. Anyway, even though I like cheering for the underdog, I like ZAFT a lot better than the Earth Forces. Mainly because with focusing more on the ZAFT perspective, I can let my imagination roam more and make some surprising/interesting connections. (You'll see what I mean.) I should thank you for pointing out the method behind the facility. I had a huge epiphany concerning that detail (one Death-Scimitar can vouge for) and finally have everything in order. So, thanks! The reasoning, however, will come into play later on. You'll just have to wait and see. It will make sense though, I assure you. The pointers were a good thing to add and I'm getting better at going back and fixing some things in my chapter before posting it. I like to mix up my names/descriptions for my characters instead of constantly repeating the name over and over, so that is the reason "weapon" and "bluehead/redhead" were used a lot. I took the suggesting to heart, though, and have added a few more "Eclipses" in this chapter (if you've noticed).

Again, a big "Thank you" for all who reviewed and I hope to see you next chapter!

Strata