Update: Tweaked/rewritten November 2020.
Who'd a Thunk
Eclipse stared at the doorknob, debating whether or not to go in. Yzak and she had made it back to the base safely, and after checking in to the infirmary for her minor scratches, changing back into her elite uniform that—fortunately—covered most of said scratches, she finally found herself at his door.
"He's not that injured," Yzak muttered, standing impatiently behind her and offering an eye roll for her slowness. He wasn't even going to accompany her at all, but she insisted, saying Athrun was just as much his teammate as he was hers. Sighing, he gave in, but watching her hesitate, he figured it was more for her support than for Athrun's. "Here, I'll do it." Reaching around her, he turned the doorknob and pushed it open.
Inside, Athrun was lying on a hospital bed, head swiveling slowly in their direction when they walked in. He smiled weakly, but didn't say anything. His face was pale with small bruises around his lower jaw. Most likely from when he ejected and hit the ground. "Twice in one day, Yzak? I must really look terrible."
In the room, there was a reclining chair—next to a rather rickety-looking stool—in the corner situated near a small table with a lamp. One IV was stuck in Athrun's right arm and his left one bandaged in a sling wrapped around his neck. However, other than that small stand, the other medical machines in the room were turned off and standing quietly next to the far wall. So, like Yzak had said, he wasn't really injured, but looking at his face, she would have thought otherwise. Raw pain shown through his eyes and no matter how much the weak smile and subtle jab at Yzak tried to cover it up, his teammates were far to observant to not notice.
They would just never bring it up for the sake of making it worse.
"Just consider yourself lucky. How ya feeling?" Yzak asked, pulling Eclipse further into the room when he realized she was still frozen by the doorway. He was definitely being blunt, but he seemed comfortable as well. Perhaps he was just happy to see his teammates alive and conscious—well, Athrun at least. Funny what a common death could do to a relationship between rivals.
Athrun shrugged, wincing when the pain from his sprained shoulder shot down to his lower back. Tensing, he caught his breath and decided talking was a better idea. "I'll live."
"Well, we figured that much," the Duel pilot commented, pushing Eclipse down into the recliner as he took the stool. Propping his arm up on the armrest of the redhead's chair, he forced out a smile. "Any news on what we're supposed to be doing next?"
Athrun shook his head. In a way, he was glad Yzak was jumping right to business. That pilot was good at avoiding the emotional end of things so it was nice to be given the same chance for a change. Athrun really didn't want to think about anything else anyway. "I've been snoozing off and on since I got here."
"The commander was scheduled to have arrived two hours ago," Yzak admitted with a shrug. "I have yet to see him though."
Eclipse instantly turned to look out the window after the comment, turning away from the two in a desperate attempt to hide the look on her face. Commander Le Creuset was back. What did that mean for her? Presumably, that would mean he was taking back control of the team. He had been updated on her progress for SIN-ED and it was slow, to say the least. She had been a step behind the entire time and her next report was going to be fairly important. SIN-ED had the N-Jammer canceller intel. That was big. Was Le Creuset going to make her chase after them to get it back before they sold it? Be moved from the team to hunt them down before they became a formidable third party in this war?
It would be her own fault if that happened, she knew. She had had so many chances to take out FS, but she never did because of some damned sense of loyalty. After all, he was the backbone of the organization and she was quite confident SIN-ED would not function well without him, especially with Roan dead. Who else was going to take up the position? From what she knew, most of the high-ranking officials were dead and the ones left were not stable enough to lead the organization down a healthy path. Stray might have been a good second choice, but given his state of mind—and lack of ambition for that matter—there was no way he would have jumped at the chance of being in charge. He always seemed more interested in food concoctions than weapon manufacturing. It was as simple as putting a bullet to FS's head, but she could never do it. And now everything was a mess.
She felt so foolish.
Yzak and Athrun continued with their small talk, seeming to not notice Eclipse's inner dilemma; however, the redcoats were not as dense as they pretended to be. They just knew better than to pry. "I heard about Dearka; any news?"
Yzak shook his head. "Haven't heard anything. It's weird though, because the Buster was never found and nothing in the debris could be classified as that suit. The only two options left are AWOL or POW, but we haven't heard news on either front."
"Do you think he'd go AWOL?" Athrun asked, finding the situation highly unlikely, but still felt the need to bring up the possibility. After all, Yzak would know more than anyone else.
The Duel pilot shook his head immediately, scowling at the injured commander for even thinking it was possible. "There was a lot of communication with the ship before his signal was lost. He was being attacked by both the 'Legged Ship' and that damn mobile plane. The Stealth was on her way but—well—"
"A different fight and explosion put me out of the battle entirely," Eclipse finished, coming back to the conversation when she heard her suit mentioned. "My cameras were damaged, opened my cockpit for a better visual—it's an embarrassing story."
"I think it was an embarrassing fight for most of us," Yzak commented, knowing Athrun was going to be highly commended because he destroyed the Strike, but not feeling the need to say it out loud. Every one of them knew it, and the young commander was too emotionally unstable to have it brought up. Well, that and Yzak had wanted to be the one to destroy that suit. Perhaps he was feeling a bit jealous.
There was a moment of silence when they each digested what Yzak had said. On some levels, yes, it was a very embarrassing fight, but the Strike had been destroyed and the Archangel nearly sunk. Shouldn't that amount to something? After the hell they had been through trying to destroy that ship, shouldn't they at least be rewarded something? Or was it an "all or nothing" situation?
"What do you think's going to happen to us? To our team?" Eclipse asked, still staring out the window. She had her suspicions, but was curious to hear what the others thought. They knew the power system far better than she did.
"We go from a five elite team down to three," Yzak muttered, scratching the back of his head. "The commander will probably make sure Athrun gets some kind of honorable mention, and you—well—you've basically been a freelancer since the beginning, right? I was always under the impression we were more of a 'home base' to you than your official 'team.'"
That stung. It wasn't because the pilot's logic was off, but because he had said those things so lightly, as if she really didn't matter to the team. Perhaps her version of the word "team" involved more emotional impact than Yzak's definition and she should really pass the off comment as more of an answer to her question; however Eclipse was too tired, too worried about Dearka, too relieved to see Athrun alive, and too worried about her impending assignments to let that comment go.
"Well aren't you fuckin' bold," she spat, whipping her head around to look at Yzak directly.
"Excuse me?"
"So, after all of this time of me fighting with you guys, I'm still not even being considered a member of your team?"
"W-what? I was just saying you were always transferring to different—t-take Commander Waltfeld's team, for example. You were just shipped off before any of us were even considered. A-and back on the Vesalius, you were a mechanic before a pilot. And you're always running off on your own assignments—"
"Save it," she hissed, getting to her feet before he could finish, walking around the chair, and heading for the door. Yzak managed to lean forward and catch her by the elbow before she had gotten too far, but she broke the hold easily. "No, it's fine, I get it. You made your point. I'm going to go figure out what team I'm going to be put on."
Athrun sighed after she stormed out, the door shutting loudly after her. "Not much has changed, I see. There's obviously something else bothering her."
"We're all just a bit on edge, I guess," Yzak muttered, surprising Athrun with the observation. He plopped down in the new open recliner and propped his elbows on his knees as he pressed his palms against his forehead. "Some team we are; we're all basket cases on the verge of a mental breakdown."
Athrun laughed after that one. "Ah, so you do consider her a teammate."
"Of course I do, damn it!" Yzak shouted, even blushing a bit at the absurdity of it all. "I don't know how the hell she—hey! Stop that!"
Athrun just kept laughing.
Eclipse felt foolish for rushing out of the room like she did. She wasn't sure why the comment had made her so angry. Yzak was merely being reasonable, and everything he had said was true. She was—in a way—a freelance pilot loaned to them to help with the Archangel and—hopefully—take out SIN-ED at the same time. But maybe that was the problem right there. She had always considered herself a member of FS and Stray's "team," but now that they were officially considered "threats" in her mind, she was left alone. Perhaps joining Athrun's "team" had been some psychological escape and after a while, she had come to accept it as fact when she really had nothing to do with them at all.
Or maybe it was all just a bunch of bullshit and she should stop thinking about it.
Sighing, she stopped just outside the entrance of the building, walking off to the side and leaning up against the wall there to look up at the cloudy sky. It hadn't been that long she had talked to FS and seen Namarra's freak out and yet, despite everything that she had been told, she was no closer to finding any answers. FS was now labeled insane and his newly obtained intel meant she was required to report to Le Creuset, but what could she say? She had been so bad at keeping an eye on them that they had managed to steal some intelligence from ZAFT itself? And why wasn't either she or Heine even notified? She sighed.
It was all messed up.
A large part of her felt guilty for what SIN-ED was doing and wanted to take care of them herself. Selfish? Most likely, but ZAFT should be paying more attention to the war and less attention to the small fry she was trained to kill. That's right, she thought, worry about destroying the Earth Forces. She laughed after the comment; she couldn't help it. It was all so stupid. The Naturals wanted to destroy the Coordinators because they are genetically enhanced, and the Coordinators wanted to destroy the Naturals because they attacked first.
Genes.
It seemed like such a little thing to be killing over.
The doors slid open next to her, but she never heard them close. Not like it was something unusual, but the redhead felt the need to turn and see what the problem was. Perhaps she was just avoiding her emotional turmoil.
And jumping headlong into panic.
Commander Le Creuset was looking at something on his phone and muttering something to a greencoat next to him. It seemed to be a serious matter seeing the look on the young officer's face. His eyes were sharp and alert, but there seemed to be some sweat droplets littering his forehead. Knowing Eclipse was frozen there and terrified, she could only imagine how that officer must be feeling standing next to that man. The commander was wearing his white, ZAFT uniform, looking much the same as when she had seen him last. The biggest difference, however, was how he composed himself. He had seemed confident before, but now he looked downright cocky. Something must have happened while they were all off chasing the Archangel, but she had no idea what. All she knew was she really didn't want him to see her.
But her luck failed again.
He turned in her direction after he dialed a number, politely twisting away from the greencoat to make the call, but ended up locking eyesight with Eclipse. Unable to think of anything else, she forced her frozen body to salute and tried to flee, but he held up a hand for her to wait and motioned for her to meet him inside. Shit, she cursed. After all this time, still unable to ignore a direct command.
He finished up his phone call a few minutes later, shooing the greencoat away and walking back through the doorway to where she had stopped just inside and near the door. They saluted each other again as he motioned her to sit in an open pair of chairs to their left.
"Ah, Lunar Eclipse, I'm happy to see you well. Have you been up to see Athrun already?" She nodded. "I see. He must be exhausted yet, so I'll go see him tomorrow," he muttered to himself before returning his attention to her. "I hope you have a more recent update for me on SIN-ED because some members have been seen in multiple areas in outer space. ZAFT really doesn't have the resources to be taking on that organization right now, so I'm hoping you're going to tell me everything is okay and there is no reason for me to worry."
Eclipse sighed and her eyes shifted around to see if anyone was within earshot. They were sitting in a rather open lobby, but not close enough to the desk to cause any alarm and still far enough away from the door to gather eavesdroppers. "I do have a report for you, sir," she started, turning to check behind her. "And it's not going to be the best of news." It was hard to read his expression completely, but she could tell he was interested in what she had to say. Perhaps SIN-ED was making more people nervous than he was letting on. "I spoke to one of the members and they seem to be in pretty thick with the EA and have some contacts with ZAFT, though to what extent, I'm not sure." She sighed and took one more glance around. "Sir, they said they have the N-Jammer canceller technology and have some people interested in it."
Le Creuset's response was what Eclipse had both expect and not at the same time. He looked shocked and she even heard the slight gasp, but she felt herself tense at the reaction. Something about it felt fake and she shivered. Was she missing something?
"That's a horrible surprise to be sure," he said, his voice quiet as his attention turned towards the center of the room, thinking most likely. "And this member you talked to, just said this straight out?" She nodded. "Have you been able to confirm his claims?"
"Not yet, sir, sorry."
"I see…"
"He said something more, sir, in that they're helping to build some kind of weapon or system in space. I have a feeling that is why you're getting reports on activity."
He nodded slowly, lost in thought, and Eclipse had to unclench the fist in her lap. For some reason, he was making her nervous. He hadn't acted the way she had expected when she told him the news. In fact, he seemed almost unsurprised by her report. Did he know more than he was letting on?
"Very good, Eclipse, thank you." He paused again and Eclipse really wished she could have seen the upper part of his face. She wanted to try and read what he was thinking, what his eyes were trying to convey, but instead she was left clueless.
And nervous.
"That means we need you in space. Let me make a couple of calls and I'll put you on a team and get you some resources."
"Space, sir? A new team?"
He nodded again slowly, as if she wasn't there anymore. He definitely hadn't caught on to her disappointment of leaving Athrun and Yzak behind, but, perhaps, that was the answer to their previous question in Athrun's room. Apparently, they were all probably getting transferred.
"I'll arrange a shuttle for you right away," He continued, standing and nodding. "But know what you have just told me should not be shared with anyone else. You are back under my command until your transfer in space and you are by no means to tell anyone else about this."
"Of course, sir."
She stood next and saluted, him nodding in return. "We should probably let Athrun rest for now, so you go and do the same. I'll have someone inform you when your shuttle is leaving."
They parted ways and she released the breath she had been holding. So, she was off the team after all. She hadn't seen Yzak come down from Athrun's room so either he was still up there chatting, or he had somehow snuck out while she was giving her report. Shrugging she took one more look around before walking out through the door, deciding to wait until morning before apologizing to him.
Eclipse woke up early that morning and headed straight to the hospital. Ironically, she had had a rather scary dream involving Athrun going into cardiac arrest, Yzak getting assigned back to the desert, as well as seeing both Dearka and Nicol die gruesomely next to a laughing Commander Le Creuset. She had tried to wake herself up after watching Nicol getting cut in half by the Strike's sword, but suddenly the scene had jumped to a white sheet covering a body on a hospital bed. She didn't even have to pull the fabric aside to know it was Athrun. Waking up to constant ringing of the heart monitor reading flat line was not a good alarm.
The nurse let her pass and she reached Athrun's room without too much difficulty. Quietly opening the door, she peeked inside and gulped. There on the bed was the same white sheet covering a—seemingly—motionless body. None of her dreams had ever come true so she didn't think the young commander was dead, but the teasing thought of "maybe" made her gulp. Closing the door behind her, she walked to the bed and glanced at him. He was lying on his right side, the sheets pulled up over his left shoulder and close to his face. His right hand hung over the side of the bed, looking a bit uncomfortable, but if he was sleeping so soundly, it couldn't have been too bad. His breathing was steady, his injured arm rocking with the motion as it stayed strapped to his side. A couple strands of hair lay near his eyes, but his face seemed peaceful, nothing like the pitiful state she had seen him in the night before.
Sighing, she smiled and collapsed into the recliner. So, he's alive, she thought, rubbing her forehead as if to erase the wrinkles that had formed thanks to her constant worrying. She was afraid her visit the night before had only been some kind of dream thought up by her psyche in order to protect her sanity. She half expected to find out she fell asleep in the truck and Yzak had carried her inside to rest, only to hear the next morning how Athrun had tragically passed away while she was out lollygagging with Namarra and her three teammates.
Sometimes she hated her overactive imagination.
But there he was, alive and breathing in his bed, looking semi-comfortable on his side and—for once—peaceful. However, she couldn't help but ask herself, how long would it last? Until he woke up, most likely, and then the nightmare would start all over again.
"Oh, I see he finally fell asleep," one of the nurses muttered, writing down some of the information from the monitors. "I was afraid he would be up all night." She smiled briefly at Athrun before turning her attention to Eclipse, offering that same grin. She looked to be only a few years older than the redhead and glancing at her left hand, Eclipse saw a diamond wrapped around her ring finger. Another thing she noticed was the warm glow emitting from that smile and lovely brown eyes. Looking back down at that left hand, the redhead also saw how it absently rubbed her stomach, an involuntary action that seemed to be nothing more than an unconscious reaction to some very recent news. Watching the soft look in her eyes, Eclipse figured her motherly instincts must have kick in.
"Are you a friend of his?" she asked, walking over to the recliner so she didn't have to shout across the room.
Eclipse nodded.
"I see. Perhaps you should let him rest for now, though. Come back a little later maybe, when he's rested and has had something to eat?"
The redhead smiled and shook her head. "If it's okay, I'd like to just stay here." That question received another grin and under her clipboard, the nurse held out a hardcover book. Eclipse didn't recognize either the title or the author, but took it nonetheless, knowing it was a good way to pass the time. "Thank you." One last smile and she was gone. Scooting down further into the chair, the redhead glanced over at the bed and then started reading.
She hadn't gotten too far when she started getting restless. Normally, she didn't have extra time to do activities such as reading, so she couldn't help feeling guilty after an hour. Athrun had stirred only a couple of times, but—for the most part—still seemed in a deep sleep. Neither Yzak nor Commander Creuset had stopped by yet, but seeing as it was just turning 0800 hours, their tardiness was expected.
It was her third trip to stretch her legs, and mostly because Athrun's nightmares had made her more scared of the shadows on the walls than him. After all the moaning, it had gotten hard to just sit there and watch him suffer. She had debated waking him, but knew it would just be delaying his pain. The nurses had come in and given him some kind of medicine to calm his nerves, but he was a bit more durable than that.
And definitely more scarred.
Eclipse had just arrived at his room and opened the door when something slammed into her, sending her further into the room. She yelped—luckily not waking her young commander—but couldn't move as that "something's" embrace kept her arms locked at her sides. Blinking, she spit a couple of loose, orange strands from her mouth. "H-Heine?"
"So, it is you after all!" He let her go and held her out at arms length, giving her body a full checkout before returning to her face. Eclipse sighed, but was too surprised to hold it against him right then.
And because of that smile.
After all the time they had been apart, Eclipse—admittedly—had forgotten about him. She would never say that to his face, but it put a perspective on things. She had wasted so much time worrying about FS and Stray—two friends who didn't give a shit—she neglected those who genuinely seemed interested in her wellbeing.
"It's been so long!" he announced, wrapping her into another hug. Laughing, he lifted her up off the ground and spun her in a small circle, trying not to knock over any important medical equipment.
Eclipse started laughing when he set her back down, squeezing him tightly before letting go. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Would you believe I'm injured?" Seeing she wasn't convinced, he held up his right hand, extending his pointer finger. A pale plaster was wrapped near the knuckle.
Eclipse's eye looked at the bandage then slithered back up to his face, frowning at the pouting lips and punching him in the shoulder. "You're ridiculous." He just smiled.
Athrun shifted in his sleep, muttering something incomprehensible as a nightmare attacked his subconscious. Heine, noticing the pilot for the first time, sighed sadly and pulled the redhead out into the hall. "Who's that?"
"My commander," she responded with a slight glance through the doorway before it closed. "It's been a rough couple of days."
"I can tell. How're you doing?"
Eclipse didn't respond, looking down and away. Honestly, she was doing better than she had been a few days before, but overall? She sighed. Nicol was dead, Dearka was missing, Athrun was bedridden and Yzak was a bit off his game, which made her think he was far more emotional than he was letting on. But telling Heine would mean nothing more than clearing her own conscience. He didn't know any of them.
Heine smiled lightly and pulled her into another hug. He said, "I'm sorry," once and pushed her out at arm's length after the initial tight squeeze. "Nice to see you caring so much, not gonna lie." He winked and she found herself smiling slightly. "But you look exhausted, my dear, and I'm a bit worried about you."
"Me?" she asked, her smiled growing, perhaps in an effort to not make him worry too much. They were having this odd habit of running into each other and while it was always nice, the fear in her mind couldn't help but wondering if there would be a time she wouldn't. Perhaps it was because of he team's most recent brush-in with death and their missing teammates, but the uncertainty was starting to grow. War was never kind and her and Heine were on different teams. Would there be a time a message of his death await her arrival at base instead of him? And vice versa?
Seems he was right again. She had started to care a bit more.
Shaking her head at his confusion, she pointed to the bandage on his hand and laughed. "Clearly you're the one closer to danger than me."
Laughing, he rolled his eyes and pushed her shoulder. "I suppose." He was amused by her statement, she could tell, but he didn't seem satisfied with her evasion.
Unfortunately, that was all she was willing to get into at that time. "But really, Heine, what are you doing here?"
"Oh, I totally forgot; they're building me a suit! Me! A suit!" Grasping her shoulders, he gave them a firm shake in excitement. "I'm heading to outer space in a couple of hours to oversee the work. They're almost done," he exclaimed, sweeping his arms out wide and twirling in a circle. "I'm so excited!"
"So, I see."
"And guess what they're calling it."
"What?"
"The ZGMF-X10A Freedom!" he rattled off, not even stuttering over the technical name. "Doesn't it sound so important? And it's just like the prototypes! Only better!"
"Oh?" Eclipse asked, obviously underestimating his abilities if he had been chosen to pilot a new unit based off the prototypes. In the short time the ZAFT military had access to the schematics of the original prototypes, they had built her the Stealth. No doubt they had advanced their technology enough to have that machine be one scary son of a mobile suit. Heine though, huh? Impressive…
Heine continued his monologue, clearly proud of himself and she found herself letting his ego overflow. Perhaps she should have kept a closer eye one him. "…I'm trying to get them to paint it orange. Not really a fan of white, y'know. It'd definitely clash with the other red machine, but—"
"Other suit?"
"Oh—yeah, there's two of them. Mine and—uh—don't really remember the name—Honor, Revelation, Almighty—something along those lines."
"Do you know the pilot?"
"Still be assigned, I think," he replied with a shrug. "A lot of redcoats shuffling around these days as we seem to be losing more than we're gaining, unfortunately."
"I see…" Her voice trailed off and Heine must have understood the gesture. Reaching out, he hit her shoulder again.
"Lathan was asked to personally help out with the two new prototypes, you know. He's gained a bit of a reputation himself."
"My brother?"
"Yup, same gene pool. He did come up with the CA after all."
"That's true, no matter how many kinks are in the system."
"Kinks?" he echoed, cocking an eyebrow.
"Yeah." She sighed. "It needs an attitude adjustment."
"Attitude?"
Eclipse nodded, shaking her head as she remembered the most recent problems with the system. In other incidents it may have been hilarious, but in mid-battle, it was slightly unnerving. "I would've started looking into it myself if I wasn't so afraid of damaging the system. I mean, it's almost as if you or Lathan were there with me."
Heine started laughing then, putting a hand over his eyes and shaking his head. "Lathan said it wouldn't—"
"What did he say?"
"He was talking about putting in some kind of modifying—synchronizing—what'cha ma-hoozit, but I didn't think he'd actually do it!"
The redhead blinked and then crossed her arms over her chest. Tapping a foot on the floor, she waited for him to clarify, but he seemed too amused with himself. "Your mechanic terminology is amazing."
"I'm sorry, just an inside joke." Clearing his throat, he straightened and fixed his collar. Flattening his grin, he stared at her, the faintest of glimmer in his eyes. "I'm sorry to hear about your troubles."
"Whatever," Eclipse grumbled, a smile twitching at her lips when she remembered how animated he could be. "So, how long 'til your shuttle leaves?"
"About two hours."
"Alright, let's get out of here. I'm starting to feel awkward and restless just waiting for something to happen."
"Coffee?"
"Coffee."
Eclipse was the one to wave goodbye to Heine this time and—surprisingly—able to be enthusiastic about it. He had never come out and actually said she had changed, but she could feel the difference in herself. His harmless flirting didn't even bother her as much—at least until he went overboard and she was forced to kick him under the table. Overall, she enjoyed the meeting and actually felt like sharing her good mood with Athrun in an effort to make him feel better. Trekking back to his room, she was about to push open the door when she heard someone talking.
Commander Le Creuset.
"Nonsense, you were splendid. I heard about everything."
"Splendid?" Athrun echoed, Eclipse barely hearing the word. He still sounded out of it.
"I should be the one apologizing for not getting you help sooner. The sacrifice made was significant, but, I'm afraid, it couldn't be helped. It's a testament to how formidable your friend really was."
There was a short pause as the redhead bit her tongue. It was a blunt statement, but still true. Judging by the small gasp on the other side of the door, Athrun found it just as startling.
"I know it's been a difficult series of battles for you," Le Creuset continued. "Miguel, Nicol, Commander Waltfeld, Commander Morassim—they, as well as many other soldiers have lost their lives to him." He paused again, gathering his thoughts, most likely. "Since you are the one who defeated him, your abilities are highly valued in the homeland. The decision has been made to honor you with the Order of the Nebula. Also, much to my regret, I've received word that you've been transferred to the special forces reporting directly to the National Defense Committee."
Eclipse slid her hand from the handle and backed away from the door after that, more full of shock than happiness. Of course, she was pleased for her comrade, but to hear that he was leaving, was terrifying. So, they were breaking up after all. It was one thing to speculate it and another altogether to hear it. She was happy no one could see her then, figuring the look on her face ranged between pure horror and complete dismay.
The conversation went on inside, but Eclipse didn't hear any more of it, still trying to digest her newest situation. She was leaving for space soon, but what could she do? Try to spend as much time with her friends as she could before then? But Athrun was still in recovery and she had only seen Yzak for a second before coming here. He had said he would see her off, but other than that, he had been scarce the entire day. So, what then? Should she just leave?
Some rustling sounded inside the room, jolting Eclipse out of her thoughts. When she heard footsteps heading towards the door, she nearly turned and bolted down the corridor. Unfortunately, her body refused to move and she was almost sliced with the door as it swung open.
"Ah, Lunar Eclipse, what are you doing so close to the door?" Commander Le Creuset asked, but she gave no response. "No matter, did you hear anything about your departure yet?" She shook her head. "Hm, I'll see what I can find out because I need you up there."
Eclipse just nodded and watched him carefully, her eyes flickering every once and a while at Athrun. He was watching them, but didn't seem to be paying too much attention to what they were saying. He seemed to perk up, however when Creuset mentioned SIN-ED. "I really wish I knew who SIN-ED planned on selling that intel to. I don't like the idea of that being so easily accessible." The redhead watched him silently, wishing she could see his eyes shift or even shimmer suspiciously. Staring at that white mask, though, just made her nervous. She really didn't know what was going on in that head of his and it frightened her. But no matter what plans he was devising, the tone in his voice made him seem guilty, somehow, as if he knew more than he was letting on. Was he doing that on purpose? To make her suspicious? To throw her off guard? "I'll look into your flight. You'll be here?" the commander asked.
"Yes, sir."
"Good." They saluted and he walked down the hallway. Eclipse disappeared into the room before he had turned the corner, and closed the door in a hurry. Now that she had some sense of emotion, that man was intimidating.
"You okay?" Athrun asked from the bed, his voice sounded like he cared, but his face displayed nothing. He still looked so lifeless.
"I think that's my question for you." He turned away and back to the window, causing a sigh to slip through her lips. If he cared, he didn't show it. "Sorry, I guess that was the wrong thing to bring up."
"No—I just—" He stopped, shaking his head. "I just—"
"You should just quit talking and rest. Teammate's orders. You look like shit."
His mouth twitched at that. "So, now you're bossing me around?"
"I thought the change of pace would be nice." She shrugged and scooted the extra chair over near his bed. One of nurses must have put it back against the wall. "Need anything?"
"A ticket out of here?"
"You're next to a window, just jump."
"Three stories?"
"Wait a few moments and I'll go down to catch you."
"Heh, that'd be a sight, wouldn't it?" She shrugged again and smiled, finally getting one on Athrun's face as well. A small silence passed, but it was comforting to know they were now comfortable enough with each other where it was actually nice. They both had a lot on their mind, but hadn't sorted it out well enough to talk about.
Staring at the sheets on the bed, Eclipse fiddled with the cuff on her left wrist. She hadn't apologized to him yet. She had pushed him over the edge; she had to have. Without her constant nagging, he may not have destroyed the Strike and now be so lifeless. If she hadn't played the revenge motif, perhaps he would be okay.
Or he could be dead.
Had she done the right thing after all? If she hadn't have made him so angry, would he not have been able to destroy the Strike? Wasn't his life more important than his grief? Did that even make any sense?
"I saw your cousin again," he said, quietly, turning to look at her that time. "I owe her my life, actually," he continued.
"You mean Cagalli?"
Athrun nodded. "Apparently, she knew Kira—the Strike pilot."
"So, she's back in Orb then?"
"I guess she stayed behind. That's good," he added with a sigh. "I thought I killed her in that plane. She flew in one similar when I met her earlier."
"Well, I'm glad it wasn't too," she remarked, vaguely remembering the Skygrasper's destruction that spurred the battle into a desperate frenzy.
"No, it was a different friend of his."
Eclipse couldn't say anything about that one, deciding to look down at her hands instead of embarrassing herself with eye contact. She had been so mad when that pilot—Kira, that was his name—had killed Nicol that she didn't even think about the pain she was going through as well—was still going through. But to wish that onto another person? No matter what he had done, did he deserve it? Yes, her mind remarked immediately. She shook the urge away as soon as she thought it. Looking at Athrun's face, she would have said Kira didn't deserve it.
No, she had to start getting her impulses under control.
"Did I do the right thing?" Athrun asked.
Eclipse looked up and tried to see his eyes, but he was looking back out the window. Finally, she sighed. "From a military standpoint, yes. From the view of you and Kira being friends, no. But from my point of view—us being teammates and knowing what he did—" She paused, afraid to admit it to him, but at the same time knowing he had to hear it. "Remembering what he did to Nicol, Commander Waltfeld, Aisha and—just—everyone else, I'm glad you killed him." She heard him tense after that, his breath catching in his throat and his muscles stiffening.
"I see."
"I'm sorry."
"No, you have every right to hate him."
"But not at the expense of hurting you." She just said it. Another impulse.
There was silence, but it was almost as if the phrase was nothing more than a statement of truth than some kind of confession. In fact, even to Eclipse it was just a remark; just her expressing herself. It was the truth. Her bluntness had been hurting a lot of people lately and she had decided she was going to make it stop.
"Thanks. I just wish that he—well—I—"
"Athrun, he needed to be—" She stopped.
Apparently, she'd have to work harder at not being impulsive.
"I'm sorry," she added quickly, looking away in embarrassment.
Silence again, awkward this time. Eclipse mentally punched herself, knowing a mere slap wasn't going to be justice enough for her word vomit. Her hatred and urges were hard to understand. At one point she as spewing something about not wanting to hurt her commander, and then her mouth opens and that spills out. It was as if the Berserker was mocking her, making her life miserable because that half was being blamed for everything of late. Yeah, that was it.
Payback.
"I think I'm gonna try and sleep a bit."
"A-alright." He turned over then, not looking at her and pulled the covers up to his injured shoulder. Before he could blissfully fall asleep and leave Eclipse feeling horrible about what had happened, she spoke up, pulling at her fingers in her lap. "I-is it okay if I stay? I won't disturb you, I promise." No response. "I-I'll be leaving soon anyway so—" She stopped, never hearing him shift, but she happened to look up just in time to see the humorous glint in his eye. No smile, but at least he didn't seem angry with her. Perhaps he had come to anticipate her impulses.
"Just don't wake me. I may be bedridden for now, but I can still kick your ass."
That remark surprised her, but she quickly recovered and played along. If he was going to talk smack, she was going to also. "But I'm closer to the crash cart. Two paddles, two arms. How're your reflexes again?"
"You underestimate me."
"You overestimate yourself."
"You never fought me, you wouldn't know."
Smirking, she stood and put her hands on her hips. "I'll take that as a challenge and will call you on it when I come back from space."
He just nodded and turned back around, staring out the window and listening to her sit back down. He decided not to bring up his transfer. Thinking about leaving his team behind and possibly being alone for the rest of the war did not seem like a good thing to do before drifting off to sleep. Not only would his dreams be horrendous, but he'd be afraid to wake and see if his reality was worse. He had thought killing Kira would make him numb and such a transfer wouldn't matter, but after seeing how many times Yzak had bothered to stop by and knowing Eclipse was always sitting in the room, Athrun felt himself becoming more and more attached to them. Given, he'd never admit it—and figured shock played a huge role in that attachment—but right then, he was content to fall asleep with the redhead starting another book in the recliner.
He would worry about his emotions when he woke up and she wasn't there anymore.
Packed and standing at the terminal, Eclipse tapped her foot impatiently. Her shuttle was scheduled to leave in 10 minutes and still there was no sign of Yzak. To be honest, she was rather surprised he had promised to see her off, finding it a little out of character for her usually hotheaded and distant comrade. She wasn't going to complain though, feeling a little better knowing someone from her team was going to see her off. Perhaps he still felt bad from his random comment the other day. At any rate, he didn't have much time and no matter how much she wanted to be waving at someone when she took off, she just couldn't wait for him.
Sighing, she turned just as someone came hustling towards her. She didn't have to turn back to know who the sloth was.
"E-Eclipse—hey!" Yzak shouted, most likely figuring out she was ignoring him. "That's not fair—"
"Y'know, when you promise someone you'll meet them, usually you arrive before they leave," Eclipse muttered, shaking her head when he just shrugged. She should have figure she would be the only one who really cared.
"Sorry, I just got my reassignment."
"Really? Where?"
"Well, I'm still with Commander Le Creuset, but they want me to lead a squad for Operation SpitBreak."
She beamed at that, proud of her fellow teammate. "That's awesome! I'm glad to hear you and Athrun are going to do so well."
"You heard about his transfer then?" She nodded. "Is it foolish of me to say I'm jealous?"
"No, because I am too," she admitted. "But—to be honest—I'm rather scared for your squad. You do know the Earth is the big blue planet and not the white one, right?"
"How rude," Yzak remarked with a cocky smirk on his mouth. Apparently, he enjoyed the praise no matter how much he was complaining. "The next thing you're going to tell me is that it's round."
"Oh, thank God," she breathed, holding out a hand as she steadied herself. "You knew about that."
"Hey!"
"Ma'am, we must get going," the shuttle pilot egged, sticking his head out the side door. Technically, there was five minutes until they had to depart, but he had seen enough "couples" saying their goodbyes that a pre-warning was always necessary.
"Coming!" Eclipse yelled, turning back to Yzak and pointing a finger at him. "But seriously, don't you die. I'm not there to keep an eye on you."
"And you don't do anything stupid either," he countered. "I can't come running to your rescue anymore."
The shuttle pilot sighed and walked back inside. Their bickering was getting ridiculous and the tension was suffocating. When in doubt, leave. If she didn't hop on in time, it wasn't his problem. He was on a schedule.
"Here," Yzak said, holding out a large mug of coffee. Eclipse had no idea how she missed it in his hand. "For the trip."
"Aw, how thoughtful," she teased, offering a smile in return. "He can be taught to fetch, folks."
"Good luck, Eclipse."
"You too, Yzak. Remember what I said." Turning, she took a couple of steps up onto the stairs then stopped. "Oh, say goodbye to Athrun for me?"
"Roger that."
Eclipse didn't know what to expect when she returned to space, but the crushing feeling of loneliness was not it. It had only been about three days since Athrun had recovered and she had never really had a decent conversation with him. They always involved her making a fool of herself, or some harmless bickering where her only goal was to make him feel better. Now, she wished someone could make her sickening feeling of abandonment go away. She had felt it a little bit when Yzak had said goodbye to her at the terminal—and even more so when she saw the emptiness of space—but never felt the flooring sense of the emotion until she walked into one of the ZAFT headquarters on Aprilias 1 and saw the hundreds of people filling the ground level.
And realizing she knew none of them.
Visually collecting herself—shaking out the tension in her shoulders—she took a step through the doorway and headed to the front desk. More than anything, the place looked like a hotel lobby. Two staircases slithered up the side walls, meeting at the second floor as it jutted out over the elevators and desk she was walking to. The carpet was a maroon color, fading to pink thanks to the bustling people stepping on it minute after minute. Looking up, Eclipse almost expected to see an elegant chandelier but—despite the ritzy interior—she was happy to see the typical rows and columns of rectangular lights. As pretty as a dangling, glass chandelier would have been, she would hate to be standing under it if the place was attacked.
Weaving through the crowd—trying not to hit anyone with her bag—the redhead arrived at the oak monstrosity and saluted. "Lunar Eclipse reporting."
The greencoat behind the desk returned the salute and shuffled through some files on his computer. "Welcome back to space, ma'am. It says here you are to report to a Gilbert Durandal in Sector 2-C."
Durandal? she thought, not recognizing the name. And the area was just as quizzical, remembering most of the C Sectors were reserved for medical departments or anything closely related. At the very least, she expected to be reporting to a military commander, not a doctor. "Where is Sector 2-C, sir?"
"About three miles from here. Uh, take this," the greencoat said, handing her a map of the complex. "Each area is marked in black and the transportation spots are marked in red."
"Ah, thank you, sir."
"Is there a certain time she is supposed to report?"
Eclipse instinctively tensed at the voice and spun around when the man interrupted. There next to her was a greencoat, tipping his hat in apology and showing a goofy grin under a familiar pair of humorous eyes. His hair was cropped short and almost impossible to spot, but a couple locks of red hair down near his ears were enough of a visual for her to catch her breath.
The man blinked behind the desk looked just as confused as Eclipse was surprised. Clearing his throat, he asked a question of his own. "I'm sorry, but who are you? If you're Mr. Durandal—"
"Oh, sorry, I was simply asking because I would like to borrow this soldier for a couple of hours."
"Excuse me, sir, 'borrow?'" the man asked, finding the terminology a bit strange. And questionable, to say the least.
"Alright, maybe that wasn't the best word to use, but I'm Lieutenant Martin DaCosta currently assigned to the new battleship Eternal. Lunar Eclipse was stationed at Banadiya with me a couple of months ago and I merely wanted the opportunity to have a word with her. You can check my credentials if you want."
"Is this true?" the man asked Eclipse, glancing through the records at the same time.
"Yes, it is." She nodded, glad her mind remembered how to tell her lungs to expand and retract. "Was there an assigned time I was to meet my new superior?"
"No, ma'am, nothing specific. It just says to report."
"Very well then, I will do that as soon as I am free. My mobile suit will be transferred without trouble?"
He nodded and looked through some more files. Clearing his throat, he smiled. "Everything seems to check out."
"Thank you for the assistance." They all saluted once more before DaCosta pulled her away.
"I'm sorry," he muttered as soon as they were back outside. "I was afraid I was going to lose you in the crowd."
"So, you eavesdropped?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips; however, she couldn't really be mad at him. Hell, she was still surprised to see him.
He just shrugged and grabbed her arm again. "C'mon, there's someone who wants to see you and we have a lot to catch up on."
"Someone wants to see me?"
DaCosta smiled and opened the passenger door of the car parked at the curb. "And someone you want to see as well."
Curious, she jumped in.
The drive was relatively short so there wasn't much time for anything other than idle chatter. DaCosta had been just as surprised to see her as she was him. "Who'd a thunk? A routine check-in at HQ would amount to this?" he wondered excitedly for the fourth time that ride. "I just might have to see if you can get transferred to our team."
Eclipse didn't miss the word "our" but decided to wait for an explanation later. She was more occupied with the idea of transferring. "Oh yeah, you said you're assigned to a new battleship?"
"Yup, it's called the Eternal. Hottest and most powerful ship off the assembly line. It's supposed to be the carrier for ZAFT's newest prototype models."
"Prototype? You mean mobile suits?" DaCosta nodded, casting a suspicious eye her way. She was very well informed. "Is the Freedom one of them?"
Parking the car, he turned a sharp eye in her direction. "And how do you know about that?"
"A friend of mine is the pilot."
"One of your old teammates?" he asked.
"No, someone else," she replied, opening the door and stepping out. "But don't you know anything about the pilots?" DaCosta didn't respond immediately, walking up to the front door and holding it open for her. They had arrived at what looked like an apartment building. However, judging by the couple hanging out in front of one of the doors, it housed mostly ZAFT personnel. High-ranking ones too, she figured, when she registered the white uniform the male was wearing. The female was dressed in a skirt and blouse, but just the way she stood proved she was a soldier as well.
"Nothing yet. I didn't even know they officially assigned pilots to them," DaCosta admitted. "And it scares me that someone not on the team does." Shaking his head, he led them to the pair of elevators at the end of the first hallway and pressed the up button before stepping inside. Pushing the top floor number, he leaned back against the railing.
Eclipse walked in close behind him. "I think it should scare you more that you have no idea. And—my goodness! The top floor? You couldn't get a better room?"
"It's not mine and it's more like an office than an apartment. A last moment idea." He sighed, dropping his hands to the side and shaking his head. "I know it's not the best place for an office, but he insisted. At least it has good ventilation."
The redhead cocked an eyebrow at that, not entirely sure if he was talking to her or himself; however, before she could decide on responding or not, the elevator slowed and stopped on the floor three below the top. Another commander stepped in, the three of them offering salutes to each other before he chose the other corner to stand in. Since he didn't choose a different floor, Eclipse assumed he was heading up with them. Everything was quiet after that.
They reached the top floor a couple of minutes later, both men motioning for the redhead to go first. Blinking, she offered a quiet thank you and stepped off. DaCosta put a hand on her arm once he stepped off, letting the commander go first down the hallway. In fact, they didn't even start walking until he had closed the door behind him. "Here, this way," DaCosta said, pulling her to the door at the end of the hall near the stairs. After taking a quick look through the window to the stairwell, he knocked twice on the apartment door, kicked the wall just to the left of the doorframe, and pulled out a key. Unlocking the door, he turned the knob and motioned for her to go inside.
"Took you long enough," muttered a voice from a side room. It sounded familiar, but Eclipse didn't have time to contemplate who it was when the greencoat brushed past her to set the key down on the only table in the dining room. Eclipse glanced at the kitchen counter after admiring the large living room and television. The counter was cluttered with paper, stacks as long as her arms on either side and smaller ones in between. She couldn't get a good look as to the contents, but she didn't exactly try either. Technically, it was none of her business.
"Y'know," DaCosta started, sighing loudly when he saw her staring at the mess, "you could at least make this place look presentable. After all, I brought a guest."
"A guest?" The voice sounded angry now and Eclipse instinctively tensed when she heard a loud rustling—followed by some cursing when, she guessed, a chair fell over—echo down the hallway. Was she not supposed to be there? But would DaCosta make such an amateur mistake? And was this the person who wanted to see her? After all, she didn't come all the way—
She froze.
The man who stormed into the room stared at her for a second before bursting out into excited laughter. Stopping at the dining room table, he muttered something to DaCosta, shook his head and started laughing again. Holding out a hand, he waited.
Eclipse knew that man, the one with an arm open wide and waiting for the redhead to fling herself into the embrace. His left sleeve was pinned to his shoulder, the arm missing from the elbow down. But looking at the expression on his face, no one would have guessed he was upset about it. A goofy smile danced with the light sparkle in his one, good eye. His left eye was gone, an ugly—but somehow nostalgic—scar marking the spot. There was a cane leaning against the table, but he seemed to be standing fine on his own. "Aw, c'mon, don't be shy," he teased, beckoning her over with twiddling fingers.
DaCosta laughed from beside him, the deep rumbling pulling her out of her stupor. "I heard you were given some false information." He chuckled again. "That's really him. As unfortunate as that sometimes may be," he added after a moment, being rewarded with hard elbow to his side.
That was all Eclipse needed to hear; all she needed clarified in order to realize she hadn't gone insane yet. Taking a few more hesitant steps forward, she stumbled towards him, wrapping her arms tightly around his chest and secretly begging the tears to not fall down her cheeks. Traces of coffee grounds littered the front of his shirt, tickling her nose as she hugged him tighter. However, she didn't care because it really was him. He was solid; not an apparition, not a damn figment of her overactive imagination, and not a coffee hallucination. He really was there.
"Hey—hey, take it easy. I was dead, remember?" He laughed as he said it, patting her back and trying to keep his balance at the same time.
DaCosta chuckled again from next them, hands on his hips and shaking his head. Remembering how she had reacted to that man's apparent death, he couldn't help the laughter. "I'll get the coffee so we can all catch up."
"Good thinking, DaCosta! Bring in the big mugs and the entire pot! There's more than one addict in here now!"
Yup, Commander Waltfeld was definitely alive.
"So, what brings you to space? I had the feeling you'd be stuck on Earth for the rest of this damn war." They had finally made it to a sitting position, the two taking each of the couches across from each other. The room looked vaguely like the one at Banadiya. Two couches, a coffee table between them, and three chairs scattered about the room. The commander's coffee experiments were set up on a dresser near the window. Apparently, DaCosta had finally convinced him to open his windows at least, knowing how stuffy it got in the room when his creativity went overboard. Another desk sat next behind the couch Waltfeld was relaxing in, covered with stacks of papers and one photo frame—presumably of Aisha.
"Why on Earth?" Eclipse asked.
He took a sip of his mug, the redhead smiling in her cup when she saw a cartoon-like tiger grinning back at her. Leave it to the commander to find a mug like that. "Well, that is where the Earth Alliance is strongest and your team is powerful. Wait—you are on the same team, right?"
Eclipse nodded quickly and then it slowed, her head slowly shifting to shake from side to side. "For the most part? Maybe. We've—well—lost two pilots recently and our commander's been reassigned, but we're still a team." She paused. "I think."
"Ah," Waltfeld muttered, his face falling with the redhead's changing mood. Her mouth curved into a frown as her fingers traced the rim of the mug. Sighing, she didn't look up until the Tiger started talking again. "Is it too much to ask about what happened?"
"No, it's alright. After the desert and—well—after that," she stuttered, DaCosta and Waltfeld exchanging looks. The younger soldier had already explained to his old friend about what had happened after the battle. "We were still ordered to chase after the Archangel. Athrun Zala was made commander—"
"Zala?"
She nodded. "The Chairman's son." Waltfeld sipped thoughtfully and waved for her to continue. "We chased it to Orb and snuck into the country when their official statement proved to be some bogus piece of crap."
"Snuck into neutral territory?"
"It was only for recon purposes."
"Ah, still, that was a rather gutsy move by your commander."
Eclipse shrugged. "I had contacts and it was the proper course of action because the ship ended up being there. We cornered it as soon as it left Orb's 'protective custody.'"
The commander nodded, rubbing his chin as soon as he set his cup down. It surprised the redhead a bit to see how little he had known about their exploits. For some reason, she had thought him better informed than that. "How'd it feel to go home again?" he asked after a long moment.
She paused at that, trying to remember back when just worrying about seeing her parents was the only thing on her mind. It seemed so juvenile now. "Don't really remember, actually. It feels like that was an entire lifetime ago."
"I take it you lost your comrades after Orb?"
"Well, I had already lost a few before that," she gestured to him and he gave a sad shrug. "But, yeah, lost a couple more after that."
Nodding, she offered a weak smile. "It really changes you," Waltfeld continued. "I'm really sorry you had to go through that. And so young."
"We're in a war," DaCosta added. "Unfortunately, it's impossible to avoid." They all went silent after that, giving Eclipse a moment for herself. The two older men remembered each comrade that had lost, not least of all the gem of a woman in the photo frame behind them. It wasn't easy.
"Anyway, to make a long story short," she continued with a sad laugh, trying to lighten the mood again. Her façade didn't fool them though. "My SIN-ED friends are up here somewhere, and I'm supposed to 'seek and destroy.'" She forced out a chuckle at the cliché. It was quite interesting to hear her predicament in words. It sounded so ridiculous. Heh, ever since she thought Athrun was dead, she couldn't help but think, was it really worth it?
DaCosta looked confused when she mentioned SIN-ED, but Waltfeld nodded. "Any leads on where they are?"
Eclipse shrugged. "Intelligence hasn't seen anything suspicious and my 'old friend' wasn't exactly gracious with information." Sighing, she crossed her legs and leaned forward, resting an elbow on her knee. "I'm not really in the mood to avidly search for them either."
DaCosta blinked and Waltfeld started laughing at that. "What, the soldier who always follows commands is skimping out on duties?" Eclipse shrugged again and took a drink while the commander saluted her with his mug. "Glad to hear it."
"So, tell me, what has the Desert Tiger been up to?"
"Missing the desert," he muttered. Shifting forward in his seat, he took another swig before standing to get some more coffee. He instantly went to his cane, making Eclipse frown when she remembered his injuries. She was sure he would never call himself crippled, but the sight still made her sigh. "We're working on something right now, actually," he said after he sat back down. "If you're interested, I can fill you in."
"Give me a hint and I might be."
"Hijacking a warship and gettin' out of the army." Both DaCosta and Eclipse spit out their coffee at the nonchalant way he said it, sending the redhead into a coughing spree and DaCosta into a string of questions—well, more like shouting at his superior.
"What the hell was that? Don't you know the meaning of tact?"
"Tact?" Waltfeld asked calmly.
"Y'know, telling her gradually so she doesn't pass out from insanity overdose?"
"You think this is insane now? You've been all for it for the past two months so—"
"That's not what I meant!"
Eclipse barely heard the bickering, thinking over the proposition seriously despite his lack of tact. She could get out? Sure, it was an idea flittering in the back of her mind, but the only time she had thought about it was with FS and Stray. It seemed so—like DaCosta said—insane. But to leave. And with Waltfeld. There'd be no SIN-ED to chase—wait. Finally, she sighed. "What about SIN-ED?"
"What about them?" Waltfeld asked. "Technically, they're ZAFT's problem, not yours."
"No, they are my problem. I know too much about all of this to just let them do whatever they want."
"Eclipse, you don't have to be some hero."
"Hero? No, a hero would be someone trying to end the war entirely. I'm being selfish; I just want to stop my friends."
"Hah, selfish," DaCosta muttered, falling back into the sofa. "That's what you're calling masochism?"
Eclipse smiled weakly. "I like to call it dedication." They all released small chuckles after that one, but it died out quickly and put them in silence once more. Taking another drink, Eclipse continued. "And I can't just abandon my team."
"Your team? It sounded like you were all getting sent to different divisions."
The redhead paused at the commander's comment, surprising herself with how easily the term flew from her lips. The Zala team was disbanded then, wasn't it? She was just living in some sense of denial it seemed… Nicol, Dearka—they were both gone and Athrun was now with a special unit of pilots. She swallowed. Yzak was to lead a team for Operation SpitBreak and she—technically—was supposed to be hunting SIN-ED. "You're right, we're not…" she trailed off, feeling foolish now. So, what was keeping her there? Heine? Most likely, she would never be put on his team—or Waltfeld's for that matter if they were attached to the Eternal—and Lathan was an idol in his own right, so being within eyeshot of them was out of the question. No, she'd probably be put on Special Ops missions one after another until she was either killed or the war ended. Given the state of things, she figured she would die before then.
"You don't have to give us an answer now, y'know. I just hate seeing you used like this." Waltfeld's face was serious. Vaguely, Eclipse remembered FS saying much the same thing a long time ago, but she never saw it as anything other than concern. She blinked. She never thought she was being used. Didn't every soldier have to follow orders? Wasn't that what she was doing, following orders? How was that being used?
Was there something she didn't know about?
"How am I being used?"
Setting his cup down on the table, the commander scratched the back of his head. "I don't know what—Athrun, right?—was told, but we were supposed to basically put you in an enhanced suit and let you loose on the enemy. Why do you think they sent all those ZuOOts when we—clearly—only used BuCUEs?"
Vaguely, she remembered the shipment of the oversized mobile suits. Primarily, they were used to destroy anything big, but for a team who usually relied on speed, they were useless. Looking back at it now, she swallowed. "Those were for me?"
"Well, not all of them—don't get greedy—but at least two."
"Two?"
"One to use, one to strip."
Eclipse shook her head in awe. So, they had wanted her to use her advanced knowledge of mechanics as well as her fighting abilities. "What, do they think I'm more than human or something?"
"The 'or something,' I think. Being a Berserker makes you rather popular, apparently."
"But not invincible," DaCosta grumbled, unusually silent throughout the whole conversation. "They make her sound like she can destroy the entire Earth Alliance by herself. I mean, look at the firepower they put on the Stealth!"
Eclipse was finding she knew nothing about any of this. Hell, she didn't even bother trying to figure it out. She had never cared.
Waltfeld studied her face carefully. "You, honestly, don't know how powerful you could be, do you? Well—at any rate, ZAFT believes the tale and they were trying to get me to go along, but—I'll admit—as soon as I saw how attached Aisha had gotten to you, I didn't dare follow those orders." He shifted a bit at the mention of his lover, but nothing more. It would take a while, but he was moving along in the right direction. "Like I said, I don't know how much they told Athrun, but you were supposed to be my trump card."
"Yeah, and we all know how that turned out," Eclipse mumbled.
"You better not be blaming yourself," the commander scolded. "That Strike pilot—though not a Berserker—was good."
"He's dead."
"Huh?"
"That pilot's dead."
"Y-you're kidding!" DaCosta stuttered, putting down the mug before he spilled it. Waltfeld just waited for her to explain.
"In our last battle, Athrun self-destructed his suit on the Strike. Athrun ejected in time, but there was almost no chance the boy could come out alive."
"Almost no chance?" DaCosta asked.
"Well, he's still alive," she said, pointing at the commander. "I feel as if graves aren't as deep as they used to be if he could climb out safely. But this was the battle after he killed Nicol—a teammate, so, we were all pretty pissed, Athrun included. It'd be a miracle if that pilot survived."
"Anger's not the best emotion to go into battle with," DaCosta remarked. "It can make you do stupid things."
"I think battles in and of themselves are stupid," Waltfeld muttered. "I can't wait until this damn war is over with." DaCosta quickly agreed, but Eclipse was still hesitant.
What would her world be like without this war?
Eclipse almost didn't leave.
After all the seriousness and catching up was off the agenda, Waltfeld started giving her all sorts of coffee combinations he had come up with within the past few months. Most tasted pretty good, but some of them were—well—inedible, to say the least. DaCosta couldn't stop laughing after he had seen the redhead spit a gulp of coffee back into the cup when the commander wasn't looking. It was some kind of outrageous blend, mixing two of the strongest beans he had together and then handing it over to her black so she could "taste real coffee." Eclipse had tasted coffee before and that was more like a mixture of burnt coals and hand sanitizer with a hint of glue thrown in for substance. What made matters worse, was when the commander chugged his whole cup right in front of her and then proceeded to mock her for her lack of a "coffee tongue." That had erupted into a bickering match even DaCosta refused to stop. He was having too much fun anyway.
"What about that one?"
"For goodness sakes, can we stop with the coffee?" Eclipse asked, looking around for a clock. "I was supposed to report to someone and—despite what you may think—I really don't want to get into trouble."
"Huh? I was under the impression you had some free time." Waltfeld blinked, taking another sip of his coffee to hide his smile.
"Liar," she countered, seeing through his innocent look. "You just enjoy using me as a guinea pig."
He shrugged. "Trust me, my experiments are far less dangerous than some. So, who are you supposed to report to?"
"Someone named Gilbert Durandal." Setting her mug down next to DaCosta's on the table, she stood.
"Hm, never heard of him."
"Me neither," she admitted, heading towards the door. "But he's somewhere in Sector 2-C."
"The Medical District?" the commander wondered, glancing over at DaCosta. The greencoat just shrugged. "Let DaCosta take you. Not only would you get lost in this place, but I'd feel better if he was with you."
"I don't need an escort."
"Just humor me," he responded, getting to his feet and reaching across to wrap her into a one-armed hug. "And if you do anything rash, I'll make you drink that special blend again."
"Y'know, that might've been the scariest threat I'd ever heard you give."
He just forced a smiled and waved as DaCosta shut the door behind them. Walking back to the computer room, he sat down in the chair and typed in his password, along with his military information. Let's see who this Gilbert Durandal is.
DaCosta pulled up to the curb, putting the car in park and before he could stop the engine, Eclipse put her hand on his. "I can walk myself in from here. Thanks for showing me the way, though."
The greencoat shook his head. "I'm not letting you just go in there yourself. I'll make sure you get to this Durandal and then I'll leave."
"Who are you, my dad?" She laughed and shook her head. "I'm at a hospital, how dangerous can it be?"
DaCosta just sighed, knowing no matter what he could say, Eclipse was going to blindly walk into that building. Sure, she was ordered there, but remembering back to that creepy doctor in Banadiya, he couldn't help being nervous. Also, what was a skilled pilot like Eclipse doing being assigned to a medical facility? Especially with Operation SpitBreak so close?
"Here." Pulling out a pen from his shirt pocket, he reached over and grabbed her wrist, writing a number down on the back of her hand. "That's the phone number to the apartment. Please give us a call if anything happens. Understand?"
"Roger that," she replied, even offering a mock salute before stepping out of the car. She waved him off and turned around to face the glass door entrance. Let's see what my new orders are. Glancing down at the number on her hand, she smiled. Sometimes they were so overprotective. But looking up, she met the eyes of a doctor walking by. His grin was soft, but the way he composed himself made her nervous. He was very fidgety. Gulping, she looked back at the number and attempted to memorize it, suddenly feeling very uneasy.
"So, you're the famous Commander Rau Le Creuset," FS purred, leaning back in his seat and crossing his left leg over his right. Leaning to one side, he held out a hand and shook the commander's firmly. "Honestly, I was surprised to see a message from you."
Le Creuset smiled and sat down in the offered seat, crossing his legs as well and leaning back comfortably. "I've heard a lot about your most recent exploits thanks to my soldier's reports, and I must say, you guys have surpassed my expectations."
"Expectations?" FS asked, waving Melanie away after she set the tea down on the table between them. The girl looked angry, but did as she was told. After all, she was already in a whole lot of trouble because of the movie theater incident back on Earth and didn't want to make her punishments worse.
FS didn't like that she knew more about the weaknesses of SIN-ED's assassins than he did.
"Thank you," Le Creuset muttered to Melanie before returning his attention back to FS. Phoebe put cups of cream and sugar down in the middle of the table, wincing slightly when she twisted her left wrist. Apparently, that fall did more damage than she had anticipated. It hadn't been too long since their bout with Namarra—so the pain was expected—but they were both getting frustrated over it. They wanted a rematch and soon. Bowing, the two of them faked smiles and left the room.
"I didn't think you were powerful enough to be anything more than a flea on a dog," Le Creuset continued, "but now I think I can appreciate your hard work." FS didn't reply, merely reached down to get his glass and take a sip, waiting for the commander to continue. "You see, I too hate this world, and would love to see everyone and everything in it, disappear."
"That's a very bold statement, Commander. And only a little bit insane, don't you think?"
Le Creuset chuckled, a small outburst of air that did nothing more than mock the SIN-ED leader, but FS seemed more amused than offended. "Then you question your own sanity. After all, isn't SIN-ED trying to reach the same goal?"
"To a certain degree. We plan on building a peaceful world once the armies are destroyed and not exactly bring the human race to extinction, like you're suggesting. The world is such a big place and there are so many… pleasurable things around for me to want to destroy it all entirely. Besides, it'd get a bit lonely, don't you think?"
"Lonely or no, everyone is the same; they're all searching to jump that greatest obstacle, no matter how high or how many people it will hurt in the meantime. It's quite pathetic actually." He smiled once he finished, the remark sounding like a humorous statement of truth other than the sadistic threat it was supposed to be. How could he just sit there and speak about humanity as if he was better than it?
"You sound pretty certain of yourself, and—to be honest—I don't like your level of confidence. What gives you the right to look down upon everyone else?"
Le Creuset chuckled again. "I'm just like you, Revelin." FS tensed at his name, but let him continue. "I am a byproduct of both this world's intelligence and stupidity; their greed and honest pursuit of a better life. We were both used for selfish reasons and scarred because of it. Is there any other reason for us to look down upon everyone else?"
FS shrugged then, finding it a viable excuse. Sure, he had wanted to know how he was used in the past, but didn't see the information as necessary. He had never asked his other subordinates why they had chosen to team up with him, just asked for complete loyalty. Well, he made sure they were loyal to him, hence the punishments he had to inflict on Melanie for knowing about that name to use against Namarra. While she had briefly explained the supposed affects to him—after all, the Natural didn't seem too affected—if he had known that ahead of time, Namarra would have been dead. Worrying about Eclipse was enough of a headache without having to think about the other assassin.
"So, are we allies?"
FS looked back at Le Creuset, watching his face carefully. His mouth was still etched in a smile, but his eyes were hard to read. It didn't help that the mask he wore put them in constant shadow, making it practically impossible to figure out what he was thinking. Should SIN-ED join with this man? Was he after the intel they had gathered? Or something else? They already had acquaintances with officers in the ZAFT military, so having Le Creuset wouldn't mean they would be in any more danger than they already were. But what did he have to offer? What could he possibly do to help them out?
"What's in it for us? You're just one man on the brink of insanity."
"We have technology and resources."
"Technology we have also," FS replied quickly, his pride momentarily wounded by his implication of their inferior intelligence. "We have a certain bit of intel that I think you might be interested in, if only to repair the reputation of the military you swear allegiance to."
"I have heard about this intel, yes, and believe me, I find it a very tempting piece of bait. You underestimate my influence in ZAFT, I think. My reaches aren't as deep as they seem, but with you, they might extend a bit."
FS paused and looked at him again. He should have been unnerved that he could not read his expression then. Somehow, he had a feeling others were often scared around this man, but the subtle tug on his lips as smile tried to turn far more sinister revealed more to FS than any twitch of an eyelid. "Resources we may be able to use," he said at last. "We have very talented people, but aren't properly funded for," he paused, looking for the right terminology, "our personal endeavors. Resources we might take for those services, but the intel has a steeper price."
"What if I said I would offer you money to help fund your organization, and for your intel, I have something of more value to trade."
"And what would that be?"
"What if I could offer you Lunar Eclipse? Or should I say, the lack of Lunar Eclipse?"
That, he found interesting. "Go on."
"Originally—as you have probably figured out—she was assigned to track down your organization and destroy it. I'm sure you know of her… special talents?"
"More or less."
"Well, we have a fair amount of data on her and figured the feat wasn't too impossible. So, she has been trailing you for the past months and no doubt been a huge obstacle."
"No doubt."
"So," Le Creuset continued, "what if I said she will no longer be a problem?"
"I'd call you a liar. She isn't a beast too easily caged."
"Ah, but she is caged and I can make sure she stays that way."
Now that was indeed interesting and FS smirked. Either Le Creuset was too confident in believing he could lock up Eclipse, or he was telling the truth. Despite his modest declaration before, he, no doubt, had further reach in the ZAFT military than he had admitted, and FS hesitated to call him a complete fool. No matter how much he questioned his claim about Eclipse, Le Creuset had the potential to be a powerful ally and if his boasts just ended up being words in the end, FS would enjoy disposing of him.
They shook hands.
A/N: Yeah, I have to admit this chapter was actually done a long time ago. All I needed to do was put in the DVD for research and do a few minor changes before sending it off to my Betas. But then school started as well as the FIFA World Cup. Seeing as I was absolutely obsessed with the Japan team (I bought a Honda jersey! Woot!) and the German team (Congrats on third place!), my attention span was limited when it came to my writing. O.o Anyway, I'm stoked for the world cup of 2014 because it's going to be Japan vs. Germany in the finals! Well, I'm hoping so anyway.
Well, aside from my FIFA escapades, my classes started up again, meaning I have to write at least two papers a week. Hm, I just love college sometimes. O.o So, in the end, those are my excuses for not having the chapter out earlier. Good news is, however, I have a lot for the next chapter. Actually, I am rather excited for that one. You guys will figure out why when I post it, but it makes things a bit more interesting.
And yes, I had to bring Heine back into this one. You all know how much I love the guy and—well—I couldn't resist making him the guy with the worst luck again. Who knew he'd be the real pilot for the Freedom? Damn you, Kira Yamato…
A special shoutout to all the reviewers/readers as well as my betas! I'd just end up being the couch potato watching FIFA if you guys didn't force me to sit next to my computer instead. Y'know, lose those finger calories. Thanks!
Thanks too to Maderfole and Asmus for the forum replies! They've definitely given us some things to think about!
Questions/Gripes:
Ah yes, I really screwed up on the last chapter. Apparently, I don't know the Anime as well as I thought since I made such an amateur mistake. I tried to rectify it in this chapter, but I think I still messed it up. A huge thank you to Asmus for his suggestion concerning this screw up. Did I do it right? I'm thinking I'll have to rewrite it in the end, but—well—does this suffice for now?
I know a lot of you really want me to bridge away from the cannon. I have been thinking about it, but I find it so much funner (Yes, yes, not a word. And English major can have some fun once and a while, right?) to pick the Anime apart and stick my various characters into the holes. Y'know, it's kind of funny how I'm creating more holes by filling in some. O.o
Anyway, I guess I'm saying I like sticking to the cannon. Yes, that gets rid of a certain amount of surprise, but I hope I do a good enough job of making it sound like something we weren't expecting. Also, I try to be skimpy on those parts because you guys know it all.
I'm actually curious to see if anyone likes that I keep to the cannon. Any thoughts?
Thanks again for all the support and I'll see you next chapter! A huge shoutout to the Japan team for doing a good job this World Cup and great job Germany! Both teams were underdogs and did an awesome job! Yay Honda and Schweinsteiger! Death and I love you guys! (Plus everyone else on your teams, but we—so far—only have your jerseys!)
Strata