Update: Tweaked/rewritten October 2020.
Home Sweet Hell
Living in Orb for most of her young life gave Eclipse an upper hand when it came to scoping the terrain, as well as trying to find some inside delinquents to help her out. While the country may have looked like a peaceful place on the outside—and even on the inside people had no idea what was going on—there were still those who didn't like the prospect of peace. Some of those individuals joined the military, but most formed little gang-like organizations throughout the country. However, those gangs didn't last long as soon as the government got wind of them, but there were still a few who were going strong and one mention of her name got Eclipse in to see the "leader" of one. The top dogs just found it so interesting to see the representative's niece with one foot in Hell. Given, her mother's brother-in-law—Representative Homura—was the top authority in Orb, but most people still listened to the former representative, Uzumi Nara Athha. Ever since his betrayal with the Heliopolis incident, he had stepped down, but he still—by far—had the most authority in the government.
In other words, Eclipse's uncle was a mere figurehead.
Eclipse didn't care either way. Her name was still connected to all that political business and no matter how many times her mother could remarry and change her last name, people would still know Homura was her brother-in-law and Lexi—through that relationship—was related to the powerhouse of Orb. It was an interesting family tree. Leaving her own emotions aside, she bit her lip and met with the Zala team's best bet at getting into the country unnoticed.
The meeting went well, even if the laughs and smartass remarks about her family and apparent switch to the "dark side" had gotten old after the first joke. It had taken her a day to get in contact with them—and almost three days to actually see the leader—and the best thing they could come up with was, "Athha's bitch?" Given, it brought out some connotations she would rather not think about, but creativity was really going down the shit hole if that was as far as their brain cells would take them. At any rate, she got the approval she needed and the only thing she had to do was contact Athrun to see how the political pressure business was going.
"So, you can get us in?" Athrun asked on the other end of the phone line.
"Yeah, if you still need them to. However, I'd have to give them a little something for the trouble."
"Yeah, I expected as much," he sighed. "I'll have to send a line to Commander Le Creuset and get official authorization, but we should have their money within a couple of days."
"Good, they're really going out of their way to do all of this."
"I wouldn't expect anything less," he stated, shuffling uncomfortably in his seat. Even the redhead could hear it. "But having such an organization in Orb is kind of surprising," he said a second later.
"This country isn't perfect, y'know," Eclipse admitted, getting up to walk to the kitchen and pour herself a cup of coffee. Perhaps his restlessness was making her the same way. "They can have just as many problems as everyone else."
"Yeah, I guess you have a point," he replied, but there was a twinge of disappointment in his voice. The redhead was going to ask him about it when she walked back to her seat, but it sounded as if Nicol had come up behind him and started asking him something. He muttered a few words to the musician before returning to their conversation. "I have to take care of some things over here. I'll keep you updated."
"Rog—" Eclipse started, but he had already hung up the phone. Sighing, she set the device down on the counter and slunk down into the two-seater sofa of her borrowed apartment. The one good thing about promising such a substantial amount of money was the prestige hospitality given in return. They had let her stay in one of the apartment buildings they owned until the final deal could be made, and if everything went well, the rest of her team would join her as soon as they were smuggled into the country. It was a three-room apartment with one bathroom and a working kitchen, which suited Eclipse just fine. If they had been able to get her that type of accommodation that quickly, they both had resources and were far more successful than she had garnered. How many other people had they smuggled in, she couldn't help but think grimly.
If Athrun did end up backing out in the end, she could still pool some of her own money to pay them off, but really didn't want to delve into her bank account and especially in her home country. The last thing she needed was some private investigator on her tail. Yeah right, Mom and Dad wouldn't send anyone after me, she decided after a while, setting her coffee mug down in a safe position on the floor as she stretched before kicking her feet out on the other armrest. They aren't that worried about me. For a moment, the revelation made her a bit sad. Her parents didn't care. The emotional second passed, however, and she closed her eyes, saving the drama for a different time. Right then she had to worry about whether or not she had to plan some smuggling mission, not dwell on old relationships. Athrun better call back soon.
Soon, actually, wasn't that far off, but then again, the redhead had fallen asleep without even realizing it. Probably not the best idea when she was in such a strange apartment owned by some very dangerous people, but she felt vaguely safe. She must have had that foot in Hell a bit too long. "Hello?" her sleepy voice cracked into the receiver, making the boy hesitate on the other end.
"Uh—yeah—just calling you back. Carpentaria's been coming up blank so we're gonna go for it. Got any idea how this is all going to work?" Athrun asked.
"I'll let them know right now and try to get you in within the next few hours. Sound good on your end? Nightfall would be a lot better than broad daylight."
"That's what I was thinking too. I'll get the other guys ready and you worry about getting us in."
"Roger that."
"Oh, and Eclipse? This isn't going to put you in some deep shit or something, is it? I mean, all they want is money and that's it, right? I'd hate to see this backfire on you."
The redhead smiled, she couldn't help it. She had debated the same thing a while back, but thought herself foolish. They might have been shady-looking—and even shady-smelling—folk, but they didn't seem like the kind of people to have hidden agendas. Well, at least ones where they'd go back on their deal. "I think we'll be fine, sir. You just get ready and I'll contact you as soon as I can."
As planned, things went smoothly and in about six hours Eclipse was standing on the shore waiting for the rest of her team to swim up. It seemed so brainless of an idea she wished she would have just thought of it and saved them the trouble of getting some inside help, but when she saw the fake driver's licenses and Morgenroete IDs, the redhead was glad she had made the right decision.
Athrun came up first, the leader standing next to Eclipse offering him a hand as soon as he cleared the final, rocky outcrop. Shaking his hand, the commander pulled off his goggles and offered a stern stare. "Athrun Zala of the Le Creuset team." The other three stood behind him, looking a bit on edge to say the least, but that wouldn't stop the cocky smiles on both Yzak's and Dearka's faces.
The leader stuck out his hand and grasped the young commander's, smirking his own egotistical grin. "Welcome to the land of peace."
Watching the guys busy themselves about the apartment, Eclipse was vaguely reminded of Heliopolis and the two, foolish teammates she had been working with. While she didn't think these four redcoats would make such rash decisions—well, she would have to keep a close eye on Yzak—the idea of working with other people again just made her insides cringe. All they had to do was locate the ship, but fake IDs didn't necessarily mean they were free to move about without a care. In fact, they had to be extra cautious, but Eclipse wasn't going to bring that up just then.
Dearka and Yzak were arguing about something in the back room, and—thankfully—as soon as Nicol walked in to sort it out, they both quieted down. Athrun had been in a meeting with the leader for the past half hour, but remembering the small hints that organization had dropped her about the Archangel, they no doubt had a lot to mention to the commander. Possible areas to start looking would be a huge help, but the redhead was thinking their best bet would be Morgenroete. If the organization had some kind of informant in the facility, things were about to get easy, but if they just gave Athrun a map and said "go at it," they were in for a long couple of days. She could take them to the Morgenroete compound, but that place was huge and without official IDs—they could only get into Area One thanks to some high-tech security—the best thing they could do was go by word of mouth. Not the greatest circumstances to be sure.
Nicol came out of the bedroom a few minutes later, shaking his head while running an impatient hand through his hair.
"Do I want to know?" Eclipse asked, leaning back on the couch and taking a sip of her glass of water sitting on the corner table to her left.
"They were arguing over beds."
"Somehow, I'm not surprised."
Sighing, he sat down next to the redhead. "They're just a bit uptight is all. This isn't a very comfortable position to be in."
"We don't have anything to worry about."
"So you say. We're not as used to working with vagabonds as you are."
"'Vagabonds?' What, rich boys don't get outside help from people?"
The remark was quick and rude, but Nicol was the only one who seemed to notice. Apparently, Eclipse was just as upset, but most likely about things other than their current partnership. "Ouch, where the hell did that comment come from? I'm just saying we're not used to this is all. We're mobile suit pilots, not field agents."
"Sorry," Eclipse responded, offering a small smile as an apology. "It's been a frustrating couple of days."
"How so?" he prodded, looking genuinely interested. The curiosity actually surprised her. Not because she didn't think he cared—she had stopped thinking that a while ago—but because she didn't know how to respond. Telling the truth would open up a huge can of worms along with all the mud that goes with them. But then again, she couldn't keep it hidden for much longer.
Sighing, she took another drink of water—wishing it was something stronger—and straightened up. Why couldn't he have just understood she was frustrated and leave it at that? "I went to go visit my house the other day."
"Really?" Nicol asked, feigning probably more surprise than was necessary. He knew she was from Orb, but going home seemed like a risky bet. Still, he played along. "I bet your parents were happy to see you."
Eclipse started laughing immediately, but after seeing the look on the musician's face, she forced herself to stop. "I didn't go inside, just walked by."
"Why not?"
"We didn't really leave things on a good note."
"All the more reason to step inside and say hello, right?"
Eclipse couldn't tell if he was joking or actually serious. Knowing he had a close relationship with his parents, she could see why her actions were probably confusing, but she didn't think he was dumb enough to believe every family was like his. "You're too optimistic," she said after a long pause.
"Or maybe you're just being immature."
That comment startled her. Out of all her teammates, Nicol was the last one she thought would make such a statement. Perhaps she underestimated him, thinking him too kind to not tell her the truth, or maybe he was still mad over her remark before. "Nicol, I—"
"Sorry, that must've sounded a bit harsh. I really don't know what happened and making assumptions probably isn't the best thing I should be doing right now," he admitted. "I guess just hearing that you and your parents had such a falling out surprises me," he continued. "For the most part, you don't seem like a hard person to get along with."
"You're kidding, right?" Nicol shrugged a response and Eclipse could only sigh. "Perhaps it's you who is easy to get along with. If it wasn't for you, I'm sure this team would've fallen apart by now."
"Nah, I'm sure you guys would've been fine. Yzak and Dearka can be good friends—when they want to be—and Athrun might get a bit moody at times, but he's definitely reliable. I'm sure as soon as—" The redhead started laughing before he could finish, startling him. There he was making a serious comment and she found it hilarious. If he didn't like hearing her laugh so much, he may have been offended. Instead of making a rude remark, he waited for her to calm down and explain.
"You have a lot more influence than you think," Eclipse said, wiping a small tear from her eye. "So much so, I might have to take you with me to go see my parents."
Nicol smiled at that, but had a devilish twinkle in his eye. It seemed so out of character for him, the redhead's smile twisted upside down. "Meeting the family already? Oh my, Eclipse, I had no idea you admired me that much."
It took her a bit to realize he was joking and started a tentative laugh once his smirk turned back into his warm smile. "Ah, but you have to be careful," she said with a wink and got up. "My parents can be real stiffs at times. Not even such admiration can save you if they decide to spear your ass to the front gate."
"Ouch," he said as he cringed, watching her grab a coffee tin from the cupboard and start pouring it into the machine next to the refrigerator. "And you wouldn't bother helping me?" he asked, pivoting in his seat to look over the back of the sofa, his left arm resting comfortably on the cushion.
"I can only talk to them for so long and as soon as our 'pleasant' conversation turns into a shouting match and breaking windows, I have a tendency to bail. After that, you're on your own."
"Glad to see I can count on you."
"You can any time, just not when it concerns the in-laws."
That received a smile, and not one Eclipse missed. It was a cute look and as soon as she realized she had matched that grin and their eyes locked a bit too long, she turned away in embarrassment. What the hell? she thought as she felt her cheeks getting warmer, but didn't have much time to dwell on the matter. Dearka and Yzak came out of their room a few seconds later, yapping about television shows and female actresses. The redhead cut everything out after the blond started talking about body figures, wondering how she was going to survive their stay in Orb. There were potential, family problems waiting outside the apartment door and hearing the calm conversation switching into an argument, she knew her newest "family" was about to have some problems of its own.
It was going to be a long stay indeed.
Athrun's meeting had dragged out longer than the others had anticipated and Eclipse had bailed to her room as the remaining pilots ran out for food, the redhead immediately turning down the offer when she realized she might get a few moments to herself once more. Somehow, her living arrangements had gone from blissful silence to restless chatter and the thought of possibly getting in a catnap was too tempting to pass up.
At least until Athrun came back.
"So, you're the Lexi Rymyr?"
Eclipse sat up quickly, her hand grasping the gun under her pillow and aiming it at Athrun in the doorway. He looked just as startled as her for a moment until she recognized him and he had enough awareness to apologize for barging in.
"Sorry, I was just so surprised when they told me." He sat down at the end of her bed, not even taking the time to remove the black jacket across his shoulders. She curled her feet up towards her, leaning back against the headboard and flipping the safety back on her gun before setting it down at her side.
"What are we talking about now?"
"I can't believe I never made the connection before. Hell, why didn't anyone else?"
"Seriously, Athrun, you need to give me more information than this."
"You're Lexi Rymyr," he stated again, bending his right leg up on the bed as he turned to square up to her.
"Yes, you've said that already and I'm pretty sure I was there when they signed my birth certificate."
"What is a relation to the Representative of Orb—to the people most promoting peace—doing in the ZAFT military?"
"Ah—well—it's a bit complicated—"
"I mean, back in the day—"
"Back in the day?"
"—you were just as important as the princess herself."
"Well, you see—" Athrun almost interrupted her again, but she put her hand up. "Just shut up and listen, damnit. I don't have either the time or the patience to explain it all, so I'll give you the short version until you catch me in a friendlier mood, capiche?" He blinked a few times, but seemed to get her point and she knew that was the best she was going to get.
Sighing, she wondered where she could begin. As soon as she had stepped onto Orb soil, she knew her past was going to catch up to her, but this was the second time that day she had to think about it. She had spent nearly three years trying to forget it all and now those efforts were futile. "Okay, so you said you knew I was close to Princess Cagalli, right?" she started, figuring her childhood was as good of a place to begin than anything. He nodded. "Well, that's true, but we weren't really thrown together voluntarily. More like she didn't have any friends and we were sort of related, around the same age, and our parents worked together a lot so they literally put us next to each other and said, 'look, your new favorite playmate!'"
"This was a bad thing, I take it?"
"At first, it was. Sorry, we'll save those stories for another time," she added when Athrun opened his mouth to ask more questions. "It's not exactly an age I want to go back and revisit at the moment."
"Because you two were such good friends?"
"No, because we weren't at first. Never mind—later," she added when he continued to press the matter. Sighing again, she wondered why she had even started the conversation. Her past had bothered her for so long and telling another person seemed like it would just make her whole life even more difficult, but Athrun looked interested. And he was her commander, so didn't he deserve some kind of explanation? "The reason I left Orb wasn't because of some childhood relationship, but because I was used as some advertisement piece. The princess of Orb and her cousin dressed in cute, pink dresses—"
"You wore pink?"
"—while playing happily together in the sandbox—it was an image on every billboard with the words, 'Peace is possible,' under our feet," the redhead continued, ignoring his comment. "After that picture was taken, we were always on TV, in the papers, or just anything to promote peace and to help Uzumi Nara Athha get elected. There were always ulterior motives and no matter how right they may have seemed at the time, I hated all the attention—or at least I'm sure I would have if I knew any better."
"Too young, I take it," Athrun added, trying to figure out how old she would've been then. "Around four-ish?"
"Three or four—something like that. Just small enough for me to have no will of my own and yet be the cutest little image of peace. It makes me sick thinking about it."
"Why? Peace—obviously—isn't a bad thing."
"No, but my parents thought about it in the extreme sense." She sighed at the thought and ran a nervous hand through her hair as she looked over at the wall. "They believe in no quarreling at all—not even between my brother and I—especially with weapons. They want every firearm and potential weapon to be done away with. In their world, no country would have arms and the only kinds of war that were allowed were verbal ones, but even those were in the grey area." She sighed again, crossing her arms in front of her as her head fell back to rest on the headboard.
"It's just not… practical," she continued. "Sure, people may not be able to injure anyone with a bullet, but they still have fists and anger, jealousy, pride—those are emotions that won't merely disappear. As I grew older, I began to realize that, accepting Lord Uzumi's mindset more than my parents. If you wanted to protect someone, sometimes you had to fight, he had always said and I had taken it to heart, much to their grief. It was as simple as that." She shrugged. "I started refusing to go to their political speeches and be the perfect image. I stopped wearing dresses and got involved in sports, realizing I was more cut out for cleats than high heels. Cagalli did the same and slowly we became people my parents hated. I started talking back; arguing about their values and trying to stress my own." Her face darkened at the memories, remembering vividly the times her parents had locked her in her own house, refused to let her leave. They had turned the whole household against her at the time, leaving her with no allies, perhaps, other than her brother, Lathan.
Sighing, she looked back at Athrun, seeing him watch her silently as she talked. She hadn't expected him to understand her complicated family situation, but she did appreciate him quietly listening and not judging. Though what thoughts were running through his head was another matter.
"I started taking self-defense lessons from one of Orb's military officers, learned how to use a gun, and attended tactical training with Cagalli. My parents claimed it was merely a teenage phase and I was just rebelling—maybe in some instances I was—but I believed in what I was talking about. I didn't think the fighting would stop by simply tossing away weapons. All that did was make people helpless."
"Your parents probably weren't too happy with you," Athrun remarked.
"They were furious and practically imprisoned me in my own home. If it wasn't for my brother, I'd probably still be there surrounded by bodyguards."
"You have a brother?" he asked and she gave a warm smile.
"Yeah, older. He ran away with me about the same time as Junius Seven was attacked and we joined the ZAFT military. I'm assuming the huge rush of volunteers was what kept our identities secret. Either that or because my spotlight role had ended soon after Lord Uzumi was elected. While the Rymyr name is well-known in Orb, others outside of the country don't tend to recognize it. If someone does recognize my name, they usually assume I'm connected to some aristocrat and nothing more. I think you might be the first one outside of the country to actually know anything about my connection to the current representative."
"But what Januarias 4? Surely they had to do background checks then in order to make sure no one would interfere."
Eclipse shrugged. "I put down that I was a runaway from Orb. Most likely, they did do a background check on me, but I had said I left voluntarily. Besides, my parents didn't send out a search party, so I was fair game, so to speak. As long as there was no high official in the PLANTs to say I couldn't go, they were allowed to do as they pleased."
Athrun took a second to digest it all. She had had a more complicated past than he had anticipated and she had talked about it so nonchalant; as if it really didn't matter. He knew it must have been hard to get the conversation started—and she was quite vague in some parts—but there she was, sitting snuggly under her blankets and staring at him, waiting for him to answer. But what was he supposed to say? He had asked a question, and she answered. It was as simple as that. "Oh."
"Oh? All you have to say is, 'oh?'"
"I asked you what you were doing in the ZAFT military and all you told me were hard facts. Why, Eclipse. Why did you join the ZAFT military even though Orb has its own and you knew a war was starting?"
The redhead was caught off-guard with that question. She remembered asking Nicol much the same thing not too long ago, but even though she waited anxiously for his answer, she never had one herself. Why did she do it? Did she really hate Orb that much? No, she realized, but I did hate my parents.
"Maybe I was trying to make my parents mad," she finally answered, "or felt some strong obligation to try and keep what happened to Junius 7 from happening to some other colony. I—honestly—don't remember my true motives, just that I knew I had to. My mind just wouldn't have peace if I had stayed here in Orb. I had to be out there; had to be fighting." She paused, slipping back into the memory. There was no real reason to why she had signed up. Not even Lathan had wanted to join at the time, and his mindset was the same as hers. He, unfortunately, felt obligated to as soon as she had signed up. She just needed to. Her mind wouldn't let her have it any other way. "Maybe I wanted to feel useful."
"I think everyone wanted to back then," Athrun admitted, falling backwards across the bed and staring at the ceiling. Eclipse knew his mother had been on Junius 7 when it had been destroyed and having him think about it now made her frown, but for many reasons. She was a bit jealous he had had such a close relationship with his parents, but still could not relate to the pain of losing one. How would she feel if her parents died? Would she be sad? Relieved? She shook her head, not sure if she even wanted to know the answer.
"We were all so helpless then," Athrun continued. "But now we have the power to do something. Now we have the strength to keep such tragedies from happening."
"I guess you're right, but now that we have that kind of power, what do we can we do with it? We've been stuck on this futile goose chase for the past two months."
Athrun didn't answer right away, still staring at the ceiling as if hoping it would tell him the answers. Power was a sketchy thing. A person could have it, but if misused, it could prove fatal. If a person didn't have it, however, matters could be just as fatal. "Hopefully, that'll all change as soon as we find that ship." He sat up quickly, turning and patting her knee under the blankets. "C'mon. Let the search begin."
After the long stroll down the memory lane from hell—and some delicious Equatorial Union-based takeaway the guys had found—the five redcoats split up into two groups: Athrun and Nicol and then Yzak, Dearka, and Eclipse. Athrun and Nicol were going to inspect Area One while the other three roamed the outer complex. Since Eclipse knew her way around, it only seemed practical to stick her with Yzak and Dearka. Besides, since Banadiya they had all gotten along for the most part.
Athrun had handed out Morgenroete uniforms that looked like nothing more than mechanic outfits. Light blue, cotton pants and a matching shirt made them all look like blue crayon vomit, but they really weren't in the position to argue. At least Eclipse didn't have to complain. She opted to wear formal work clothes, sitting comfortably in black business slacks, a black blouse and a white jacket that looked close enough to a suit jacket that she could blend in with a lot of the office workers wandering around the area. She just laughed when she saw the boys' outfits and even though they kept bugging her as to why she wasn't wearing the same thing they were, she just shook her head and didn't answer.
Everyone but Athrun wore a cap. Eclipse's excuse to not wear one had to do with her attire, but the others probably wanted to "blend in" as well as she did. Athrun had outright refused the hat, though he never explained why. Eclipse and Nicol asked him about it but he said nothing more than it wasn't comfortable. Deciding it wasn't an appropriate time for an argument over headgear, neither of them pressed the matter.
"Any idea?" Dearka asked as soon as the three of them had left, glancing at the small, printed map in his hand. "Man, this is hard to read."
"There's a research lab to the north that I think we should check out first," Eclipse explained, thanking the blond when he gave her the map.
"And how do you know about this?" Yzak asked.
"Resources."
"Those are some pretty good ones then," Dearka mumbled, giving Yzak a suspicious look. "But how guarded is this lab?"
"Its security is pretty top notch, but there are other ways to see what had been going on around there over the past few days."
"Information gathering?" the Duel pilot asked, looking doubtful. While it seemed like a good idea—for the most part—it could take a long time. The more people, the quicker it would go, but Dearka and Yzak stood out too much in their uniforms. Besides, if Orb's official statement was that the Archangel wasn't in the country, then the general public probably didn't know much about what had happened. They might have heard about a battleship in their waters, but nothing more.
"I take it that's why you dressed so formally?" Dearka asked.
Eclipse nodded, but didn't like the look on the last member's face. Yzak was still suspicious and without delving into her past again, he was going to be suspicious for a while. Sighing, she patted him on the shoulder. "Hey, since you guys stand out so much, why don't you let me handle the social stuff and you head over to the complex. Give Nicol and Athrun backup if anything."
"You handle the 'social stuff?'" the pilot joked, cocking an eyebrow at the idea. "What happened to the days when you wouldn't talk to anyone? I think I liked you better back then."
"You say that now, but just wait until I digress so far, I only talk with my hands."
"You'd get the middle finger a lot," Dearka finished for her. They all shared a smile at that, but they couldn't mess around for long.
"Fine, you do the talking shit and we'll handle the scouting shit," Yzak said. "We'll let Athrun know and you give us regular updates."
"Worried?"
"Maybe a little," the Duel pilot admitted, turning away soon after and starting off. Dearka blinked and then shrugged, throwing her a wink and a wave before catching up.
So, just like that she was on her own again; comforting in some ways, but still lonely in others. That was sad.
After all, wasn't she supposed to be in her hometown?
Eclipse actually had a fair amount of luck with the locals. The first person she had asked said there were some loud noises around 2300 about three days ago. "Sounded like footsteps," the lady had said, offering a slight smile. "That probably sounds ridiculous though, doesn't it?" The redhead had laughed it off, finding it comforting that there was a chance a huge mobile suit was nearby. Of course, she left out the mobile suit part for the lady and said something like "Must be testing something." She didn't hear much more than that and called it a day after a few more hours of wandering.
Walking back to the apartment, she ended up stopping by the grocery store and buying some food as well as some other essentials. Despite them scoring big with the takeaway, she didn't want to keep repeating the experience and since the guys weren't really used to recon, she doubted they would think of that. So, she grabbed a little of everything and stuffed it all into the fridge and cupboards before they got back.
They all walked in about an hour later, having not seen anything of interest from where they were. The redhead relayed what she found out, but overall, they didn't have enough to go on. Sighing, Eclipse was going to call it a night when Nicol tapped her shoulder and handed her a bag. "Huh?" was the redhead's initial reaction and when he smiled and urged her to look inside, her confusion turned more into curiosity. "What is it?"
"Just open it."
Pulling aside the two flaps, she looked inside. Two books were lying at the bottom, one brown and bound in leather, while the other was more of a mahogany color. On top of those books was an envelope and when Eclipse looked up to comment, she noticed Dearka was holding a bag as well. He had already reached in and was opening the card by the time the redhead had gotten hers out of the envelope. "Happy Birthday" it read on the front and inside everyone but Dearka had signed his name. Most likely because they had gotten his present at the same time.
Eclipse didn't know how to react at first. That was the last thing she expected not only because they were supposed to be on some stealth mission, but also because she didn't think anyone knew it had been her birthday a few days ago. Just staring at the card and the names printed there, she opted to keeping quiet and waiting for someone else to react first. Seeing as she was the center of attention, that moment wasn't going to happen until she moved, but—luckily—Dearka was the first to break the silence. Just as surprised about the gifts as Eclipse, the blond let out a "Hah!" when he pulled three crossword puzzle books out of the bag. Instantly, he started flipping through them, ignoring the others and shouting out the answers he knew.
They all looked to her next and by pure embarrassment, she pulled out the two books. The older, brown one she recognized immediately. Looking up at Nicol, she wanted to ask where he had found her journal—she vaguely remembered falling down through the atmosphere and forgetting it on the Vesalius—but decided to save it for another time seeing as they had gotten her a newer one. It was leather-bound like her first journal, but looked to have more pages. "Thanks," she said quietly, opening the front flap. Inside, her name was printed along with her birth date, making the redhead smile with how sophisticated the handwriting looked. Not in the sense that it looked too grandeur, but more like the person normally wrote in cursive and tried really hard to print the words.
Elegant.
"Sorry, I know it's not authentic, but—well—we thought it was appropriate," Nicol said, blushing a little when he saw her reading the name and date.
Blinking, Eclipse realized he was most likely the one to write it and couldn't withhold her smile any more. "Thanks," she said again and started flipping through the pages out of pure, new book habit. "I love it."
"Well, good because we lost the receipt," Yzak joked to her left and made his way into the kitchen. "Now, who's up for cake?"
"We have to bake it first," Athrun said, joining him near the fridge and setting yet another bag down on the counter.
"I know that, but who's gonna do it?"
He immediately turned to Eclipse, but she threw her hands up and shook her head. "I'm domestically challenged."
"I'll do it," Dearka said, setting his bag down on the coffee table and rolling up his sleeves. "Just put everything next to me."
The cat and mouse game was getting rather old. First there were rumors at the research facility, then they were back at Morgenroete's main complex, back at the facility, and then back at the complex again. The Zala team was always a few days behind so they could never officially say the Archangel was still docked there. Hell, it could already be halfway to Alaska by now, Eclipse thought with a sigh, weaving through the people on the sidewalk. She had left the guys back at the apartment earlier that morning and knowing what had happened the day before, her leaving looked more like escaping. A birthday party? she thought again, stopping at a crosswalk. They threw me and Dearka a damn birthday party? If they had given such a celebration for someone else—say, Commander Le Creuset for example—she may not have been so condescending, but it was for her.
And they got her a gift.
That was probably the most embarrassing thing of all. Sure, she didn't mind getting presents, but they were in the military and her team was so awkward with one another they were probably all bribed into being there and looking somewhat happy. Besides, she continued, they were seven days off and threw it on April Fool's Day. Boy, don't I feel like an idiot. In fact, she didn't. She was touched with the whole ordeal and Dearka's cake turned out stupendous. Who knew he could do all of that from scratch?
The light changed and she crossed the street with the other pedestrians, staring at her feet as she stepped up on the curb. She didn't think anyone would recognize her, but just in case, she wore a baggy sweatshirt and bandanna to cover her red hair. Ridiculous, maybe, but it got the job done. She did manage to look up as soon as she passed an electronics store, staring at the television on display when she heard a familiar voice. The guys often had the news on when they were at home so she knew what the screen was about to say and she was already sighing, vaguely remembering the last time she had been in the PLANTs. Staring at the screen, Eclipse muffled out the chairman's words and read the announcement at the bottom instead. "Patrick Zala gets elected Chairman." Frankly, it was obvious. Over the past few months things had gotten rather edgy up in the PLANTs. The redhead hadn't heard any specifics—being stuck on Earth for so long—but she knew everyone was getting nervous and, hopefully, a new leader would help.
The war was just lasting too long.
Looking around at the people walking near her, she had to laugh. It seemed like such an absurd statement standing in Orb because the war never touched there. In fact, it was a little oasis in the desert. One surrounded by barbed wire, mines, and guard towers just in case any unwanted visitors came begging for a drink, but peaceful nonetheless. It was so ridiculous and yet inspiring at the same time. If the whole world looked at the war like that country, there wouldn't be any fighting.
Chairman Zala said something else on the screen, but Eclipse just turned and walked away. She was never good with the political end of things and, frankly, that kind of stuff gave her a headache. The rest of her team had been watching that program all last night and into the early morning, waiting for updates. Since they were all cut off from the military—for the most part—they weren't getting many scoops on what was happening in the PLANTs. The redhead had called it a mild case of homesickness, but they all rebuked her and sent her to bed. She hadn't complained after that and actually thanked them for letting her get a few more restful hours of sleep. Or at least she would have if any of them were up.
Athrun had been amazingly silent about the whole thing; going about stoically as if none of it matter to him. And perhaps it didn't. He was getting harder and harder to read and now that they had been spending so much time in Orb, he had become even more tense. Was he afraid they wouldn't find the Archangel? Or was he, in fact, scared that they would? His attitude towards that ship had been touchy to say the least, so what was he going to do if they really did find it? I'm going to kill the Strike pilot, Eclipse decided as she rounded the corner leading to the apartment. I'll have to get there before Yzak, but that boy has lived way too long. While Athrun has still never outright admitted that was his friend, Eclipse was convinced that was the one he wanted to keep safe. She was running out of reasons why it wouldn't be and now the redhead just accepted it. She knew what the pilot looked like because of his little escapade with Commander Waltfeld, but the problem was finding him, and since they weren't allowed access into most of the Morgenroete complex, it was going to be even harder.
Opening the door, the redhead stepped inside and ascended the stairs, fiddling around with the keys in her hand before finding the right one. Slipping it into the lock, she pushed the door aside.
Dearka was up and cooking in the kitchen, wearing simple jeans and a baggy, green t-shirt. His feet were bare and looked as if they should be cold on the tiled floor, but he didn't seem to notice. Sizzling what looked like bacon in a frying pan and pancakes on the other burner, he raised the spatula in greeting when she walked in. "Did you get those eggs I asked for?"
"Yeah, I saw your note," Eclipse replied, setting her bag of groceries on the table. "I hope two cartons is enough."
"It may only last us a couple of days, but I'm hoping that's as long as we'll be here for anyway. Find anything new while you were out?"
She shook her head, pulling out the cartons and setting it next to him on the counter. Shaking out the plastic bag, she emptied the trash can into it and tied the top shut. Setting it next to the door for someone to grab on their way out, she walked back over to the counter and jumped up, sitting comfortably on the edge near the blond. "Just a lot of stuff with the new chairman."
"Figured as much."
"Is anyone else up?"
"Nicol stepped out for some reason about an hour ago, Yzak's in the shower, and Athrun's been on the phone all morning. He's been trying to convince the Morgenroete technicians we're some electronic know-it-alls from the Kingdom of Scandinavia or something. We're hoping that will get us a tour at least."
"At this point, I'm willing to try anything. I can't help but feel as if we're wasting time."
"I think we all feel the same. Being cooped up here and playing house is definitely becoming old."
"Playing house? Is that what you call this?" Eclipse asked, cocking an eyebrow as she kicked her feet childishly against the lower cupboards.
"Yes, and as the little delinquent daughter, I'm telling you to get off the counter and set the table," Dearka joked, pointing the spatula at her once more and placing his hands on his hips.
"Yes…mother?" she added, taking her sweet time rolling off the tabletop. "And do I want to know who my fath—"
"Dearka! Where are my damn socks? I had them a minute—" Yzak stopped in the doorway, blinking when he saw Eclipse turn his way. Wearing a pair of jeans and nothing more, the redhead figured losing a pair of socks was the least of his worries. Still drying his hair, the pilot floundered for something else to say, but could only shout, "What?" when Eclipse broke down in laughter and Dearka turned away in disgust.
"N-nothing," Eclipse managed, waving a hand at him as she walked over to the dining table and starting arranging the plates and silverware left there. "Just make sure I'm safely tucked in bed before you try anything with Mom, okay Dad?"
"Eclipse!" Dearka shouted.
"What the fuc—" Yzak started at the same time, but just gave up. She was obviously in her own little world—well, Dearka knew where she had gotten the idea—and any more mindless babble would probably get both of them into more trouble. Sighing, he turned around and went back into his room.
"They're on the bed," Dearka said before he disappeared, throwing Eclipse into an even greater fit of laughter.
If only they knew.
Six days had passed before the group decided to venture out to Morgenroete together for the last time. They hadn't gotten their tour and there had been no new updates from the citizens, so—as Dearka had so comically put—they were really getting tired of "playing house." Athrun had suggested the idea at breakfast and everyone agreed. While it was possible the Archangel was still being repaired, sitting around in Orb and cooking pancakes was not the best way to spend their time. They were going to take one last look at the complex and if there was still nothing to be found, they were just going to leave and call the whole thing a failure. That in itself was interesting. Eclipse had suggested trying to infiltrate the facility a couple of days in—much like she had done on Heliopolis—but Athrun outright disagreed. The redhead knew he had been touchy since the satellite went down, but it was clearly the best course of action. He mentioned something about her identity and the possibility of too many people recognizing her, however, it seemed like a cop out more than anything. She had even offered to try and get one of the other guys into the place, but he didn't like that idea either.
It was as if he was trying to not find the ship.
Eclipse had brought it up to Nicol, but he just laughed it off and told her she was being silly. At one point she almost disobeyed orders and snuck out to do her own thing, but when she was on her way to Morgenroete, her parents had stepped out of the limo parked at the main gate. Eclipse knew it was just mandatory inspection, but she was so afraid they had spotted her on the sidewalk and were coming to apprehend her that she ran all the way back to the apartment. No, it wasn't time to talk to them just yet. She had stayed inside and waited for her teammates to tell her what to do after that.
Athrun led the way down the main street, making a path through the people for the rest of the Zala team to follow. He didn't seem to be rushing, but his face made it look as if he was attempting to run a marathon. He looked worried and in a panic almost. Knowing he had been on the phone for a few hours the night before, Eclipse figured he had a very unpleasant run-in with their "allies" in Orb—probably wondering why they were sticking around for so long. She couldn't blame the organization for getting restless, but they had been paid well beyond their initial asking price. One might think that was enough.
"We'll start here," Athrun began, pointing to the southern area of the complex on the map. "And then work our way around to here. If we see or hear anything about the ship, we'll head back to the carrier and prepare for battle. Hopefully, we'll be able to attack them just as they leave the country."
"But if we don't find anything?" Dearka asked as he leaned against their borrowed car.
"We're going to leave anyway and swallow our embarrassment," the commander replied immediately, looking at Yzak as if he was waiting for him to say something. The Duel pilot, however, remained quiet and turned away.
Even he didn't have a smartass remark for that kind of statement.
Eclipse and Nicol silently agreed, nodding their heads solemnly as they exchanged nervous looks. If they really didn't find anything and the Archangel was practically in Alaska, things were going to get ugly for them.
"Good, then let's get moving."
The south side came up blank once more and even the west side showed no signs of suspicious movement. "Security's tighter here than at the naval base," Yzak commented, standing next to Dearka with his arms crossed over his chest. Sighing, he leaned back against the far railing and took a sidelong glance at the water behind them. "Any luck hacking into their system, Athrun?"
"The system's multi-layered and I haven't really made any progress. Y'know," he began, turning to Eclipse. "You were probably right. It might've been easier to capture someone and use them to infiltrate the place."
The redhead shrugged and shook her head. "Maybe, but you can't be totally sure. Yzak's right, the security here is strict, maybe even more so than Heliopolis and that wasn't particularly a cake-walk for me either. The last thing we needed was to get caught."
They were all about to give up hope as they rounded the eastern end until a loud, mechanical bird flew over the fence. It was green and about the size of a cardinal with yellow feathers on the wings and two, thin legs that could probably be snapped by someone's fingers. It said something—sounded vaguely like the word "birdy"—and spun in a circle above the tree near the redcoats. Athrun was the first one to notice it and for the first time that day, he showed a bit of emotion. His lower lip trembled as a small gasp escaped his mouth. Walking towards the tree, he held out his hand and watched as the bird perched down comfortably. The four of them gathered around, eager to know when their commander had become such a Dr. Doolittle as well as see if the thing really was mechanical. "Birdy?" it said again, sounding more like a question than its calls before.
"What is that thing?" Yzak asked.
"Wow, it's a robotic bird," Nicol remarked next in awe. He looked impressed and judging by how lifelike the machine looked, no one could blame him. Its feathers even twitched when he moved its head.
"Birdy!" a voice shouted from the other side of the fence a few seconds later, footsteps accenting the call as they thudded on the pavement. Looking up, Eclipse could see it was a younger male running towards them, but she couldn't make out anything other than his orange mechanics' uniform. Figuring him to be the owner of the unique animal, she turned back to Athrun to see what he was going to do. There was a slim chance that boy could recognize them for ZAFT soldiers and just giving back a toy wasn't going to get them caught, but looking at her commander's face, the redhead could've sworn the Devil just appeared. His eyes trembled as he stared at the boy and his muscles tensed, making him look more like an ice sculpture than the calm soldier she knew him to be.
Interesting.
It took one more call for Athrun to finally take a step towards the fence. The rest of his team watched him go, having noticed the peculiar reaction, but not knowing what it meant. Something was going on, but none of them knew what and it was driving them crazy. Or at least it was Eclipse. She had been trying to figure out what was ticking in Athrun's head for a while and each time she had come up dry. Now, another mysterious thing was going on and all she could do was stand back and watch it all unfold. Ridiculous. Curling her hands into fists, she looked back at the boy behind the fence. It was indeed a teenager that had been calling for the bird, and after a bit of inspection, he began to look familiar. The clothing had thrown her off, but having seen that hair before and those strange, purple eyes, there was no mistaking it.
That was the Strike pilot.
Her hand darted around her body immediately, reaching for the holster concealed just above her waistband at the small of her back. If she could pull out her gun fast enough and fire, no one would be able to react and she would have one less weight on her conscious. Actually, they would all be better off in the end. That boy was proof the Archangel was still docked, but nothing mattered in that split second of pure instinct.
Her hand was wrapped around the handle and she had already aimed the gun at the teen before Nicol grabbed her wrist. "Are you insane?" he hissed, trying to push her arm down, but failing. "Someone's going to see you!"
Eclipse didn't respond; hell, she had no response. The boy who had killed Commander Waltfeld and Aisha was yards away. Athrun was only slightly in the line of fire, but with such a threat standing behind that fence, she was willing to make such a risky shot if it meant a bullet through that kid's forehead. The commander would understand.
After all, she was doing it to save him.
"Eclipse, put it away!" Nicol begged, trying to sidestep in front of the weapon, but the redhead forced him back. No, she was going to do it.
He was right there.
He was practically bleeding in her hands already.
"Enough," Yzak ordered, stepping up and pushing down the gun as if it were air. In fact, his initial strength startled her. She had never known how powerful he really was and even if it was impressive, he picked the wrong moment to become authoritative. "He's just a kid."
Eclipse could just see the irony dripping off his tongue as he spoke. If only he knew what he had just stopped her from doing. "But he's—" she began, but was silenced once more with a firm shake of Yzak's head. No one was going to listen to her. It was the only time she had anything worthwhile to say, and they were going to ignore her as if she were a child trying to explain some adult concept.
They didn't want to hear.
And their greatest enemy was going to live.
No, he's not, the redhead decided, bringing up the gun as soon as Yzak let her go. I won't— Her finger went to pull the trigger, but the Duel pilot proved to be the quicker one and tore the weapon from her hands. "Stop, you don't—" she began, but Yzak wouldn't hear it. Grabbing her wrist firmly, he twisted hard, causing a small yelp to escape. She was at a lost for words by that point. That damn pilot was right there and he chose then to try and stop her? Eclipse matched his glare as he twisted harder, silently wishing the painful tears from her eyes. He had to know what was going on. Why wouldn't he just listen? No matter how much she inwardly pleaded, the pilot wouldn't back down and she finally gave in, falling to her knees in defeat. She wanted to scream; wanted to explain. That's the Strike pilot! her mind shouted, but her mouth never spoke the words. The Strike pilot!
Amazingly, neither Athrun nor the Earth Forces soldier heard the commotion, but the look on the commander's face when he walked over proved he was surprised he missed it all. Blinking a few times, he looked from Eclipse to Yzak and then over to Nicol, but no one gave him any kind of explanation. Not even the Duel pilot said anything after he let her go. "What happened?" Athrun asked.
The redhead blocked it all out again, hearing Dearka saying something in the background. That boy was still in sight. He was just walking away. Walking; she still had a chance. There was no way she had been the only one to come with a gun.
Athrun.
Reaching up, she grabbed his waist, padding his sides for some kind of weapon. But there was nothing. Not even the commander thought he would need anything. "Y-you're not armed?" It had to have been a pitiful sight, seeing as she was still on her knees. A beggar; it was the only way to describe her desperation.
"W-why would I be?" Athrun started and snatched her wrists before she could feel around anymore. At first, she struggled, still not wanting to waste the opportunity, but it was no use, her commander's grip was too strong.
And the boy was gone.
She had failed again.
"Eclipse, what—" Athrun stopped and slowly dropped her hands, taking a few, trembling steps backwards. It hit him then that she knew who that person was. The others may have suspected, and even Nicol knew about Kira, but he didn't think anyone knew what he looked like. However, here kneeling and looking defeated in front of him, he was confident Eclipse had known and that they had stopped her from getting the revenge she so longed for—he had stopped her. That pilot killed the man she had admired, and he had stopped her from doing anything. Athrun knew all that just by looking into her eyes.
The Berserker had come out.
And she was pissed.
A/N: Alright, chapter 35! Amazing! O.o And I still have inspiration for this story? That really is amazing. I've never made it this far in a story before and I'm only half way through. Wow. At any rate, I mentioned I wanted to finish this story by the end of the year and-well-as you can tell, that's didn't happen. O.o 2010 already and I'm on disk six. I never thought I'd make it that far so yay! But then, boo, because I have so much more to go... A huge thank you goes out to all of you who are sticking with me. The input it much appreciated!
So, NaNoWriMo took a lot of my time last month and—if you haven't noticed my avatar—I did it! I hit over 50k for the month and finished a story to boot! Woot! I can do it! So, I've been working on that while I've been writing this so that is another reason this chapter came out two months after my last one instead of two. Sorry guys. That may be okay for many of your because school finals are a pain in the ass and all those papers teachers force us to write get a bit old and long after a while. Let's just say I can't wait for school to end. Speaking of that dreaded place though, it's going to be starting up here in a week which means tons of homework. Four English classes... And I'm majoring and minoring in English why? Hm, maybe I should've thought this through a little bit more... At any rate, I'm gonna have lots of writing/reading/papers on my end, but I'll try my best to get the next chapter out quickly. I'm thinking it's the one you are all excited for anyway. :)
I hope this chapter answered a lot of your questions. It was kinda straight exposition in some parts, but I hope it wasn't stated too bluntly. It needed to be in there and I figured that was the best way to say it. *shrugs*
As for the mechanics of late, yeah, I like innuendos and just plain sarcasm. Bickering is a huge fave and—I have to admit—Gojyo and Goku from Saiyuki are my inspiration sometimes. Their writers were amazing... If anything, those mechanics are good for some comic relief. SEED can get very deep at some points and to add in a bit of awkwardness between characters or sexual references to Gundams can be a fun time.
Again, a huge thank you goes out to all the readers/reviewers as well as my Betas. They all had really busy holidays and am happy they took the time to look over my not-so-important chapter. I owe them a lot this time. Thanks guys!
Questions/Gripes:
OrangeP47: You probably figured out where we were in the story line by now, but I'll let you guys know anyway since some other people may be confused too:
The last chapter was when the Zala teams was trying to track down the Archangel after it defeated Commander Waltfeld in the desert. The Archangel was in the Indian Ocean and going up into the Atlantic Ocean towards Alaska. The Zala team attacks them near Orb and the ship escapes into that country. (Episode 25)
The Archangel is in Orb and the Zala Team sneaks in to try and locate it. They can't just attack the country because it's neutral and that would cause some major problems for the ZAFT army. The end of this chapter is when Athrun and Kira see each other through the fence of the Morgenroete complex. Birdy flies out and what not; it's a memorable episode. (Episode 28ish)
I hope this helps.
Well, thanks again for all the support and I'll try to get the next chapter out soon. I'm moving pretty slow on my original story revision, but I have a lot of time to do that one.
Until the next chapter!
Strata