Gundam SEED Fan Fiction ❯ Athrun's Betryal ❯ Shattered Dreams ( Chapter 2 )

Athrun's Betrayal

 

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

 

Chapter 2 Shattered Dreams

 

Yzak, Dearka, and Nicol silently watched as Athrun, already out of his flight suit, gently laid the unconscious pilot on the couch and eased his helmet off, revealing a young, heart-shaped face wit ha mop of chocolate brown hair that hung in his closed eyes.

“He's…!” Nicol gasped.

“Well, well, well,” a voice said behind them, causing them to turn. Le Creuset and Ades stood there, Le Creuset with his eyebrows raised. “How very interesting, Athrun. You've made an interesting decision by bring the Strike's pilot on board and allowing him to live.” Yzak growled softly in anger. “You will hold your tongue, Yzak. Ades, have…Strike's pilot escorted up to the infirmary where he's to be treated with respect…but kept detained.”

“Yes sir,” Ades saluted and departed.

Le Creuset turned to Athrun. “Athrun, I'd like to have a word with you in my office…privately in five minutes' time. Do you understand?”

“Yes sir,” Athrun replied, lowering his eyes. Le Creuset departed. Growling softly, Yzak turned to Athrun. He didn't get a chance to react before Yzak had seized him by the collar and slammed him up against the wall just as he had done before.

“You fucking bastard! You have the balls to bring a fucking Natural on our ship! What the hell were you thinking?” he yelled. Athrun didn't answer. He lowered his eyes, refusing to meet his comrade's piercing gaze. Yzak pressed his fingers against Athrun's throat, crushing his windpipe and effectively cutting off his air supply. He choked, unable to breathe at all.

“Stop it Yzak! You're hurting him!” Nicol cried.

“The bastard deserves it,” Yzak spat, pressing harder.

“Leave him alone!” Nicol rushed forward and tried to pry Yzak off. “Help me!” He moaned at Dearka. The other boy silently came forward and assisted Nicol, but Yzak still wouldn't budge.

“Taking out your anger on Athrun won't change what he's done,” Nicol said quietly. Yzak's eyes widened and he reluctantly let go of Athrun's throat. He pushed the other two pilots off him and left. Athrun gasped loudly and collapsed. Immediately, one of his hands moved to his throat and gently massaged it.

“Athrun?” Nicol asked quietly. The dark-haired boy raised his emerald green eyes up to look at him. Nicol shivered at the emptiness he saw in those eyes. He quickly composed himself. “Are you all right?” Athrun silently nodded and rose, dropping his hand to his side. He started to leave, but stopped at the last moment and turned around.

“Nicol, could you…could you stay with Strike's pilot and make sure that Yzak doesn't try to kill him?” he asked in a soft tone. Surprised, Nicol nodded mutely. Athrun smiled gently as he looked down at the captured pilot on the couch, then was gone, late for his meeting with Le Creuset.

 

“What? Are you sure? A Coordinator?!” Dearka demanded in a loud voice as he and Nicol walked to the Infirmary.

“Shhh,” Nicol pleaded, looking around. “I'm almost sure that he's a Coordinator.”

“But how?” Dearka asked, lowering his voice. “How do you know?”

“A Natural would not have survived an explosion like that. I'm pretty sure that he's one of us.”

“But why the hell was he with the Earth Forces if he's a Coordinator?”

“I don't know. But I think…Athrun knows.”

“Athrun?”

“Did you see how he smiled when he looked at the pilot before he left? He made it pretty clear to me at least that he knows him.”

“So why are we going to the Infirmary?”

“I'm going to the infirmary to look after the pilot. I have no idea why you're going with me.”

“Hey, I want to know who the hell this pilot is just as much as you.” They were met at the infirmary by two armed guards who blocked their path.

“No one is to enter the infirmary at this time. The pilot of the last captured machine is being detained here. Failure to cooperate will result in disciplinary action.”

“Well then discipline us because we're going in there whether you like it or not,” Dearka growled softly. He shoved his way past the two guards and entered the room. Nicol shrugged as he passed the quizzical guards. Inside, he crashed into Dearka, who had stopped, suspended in midair. The only doctor on the ship was moving around a single occupied bed, taking care of the pilot. His entire body had been bandaged, leaving only a few patches of skin untouched.

“It's amazing he's still even alive,” one of the nurses murmured.

“That's because he's not a Natural,” the doctor responded. Everyone in the room except for Dearka and Nicol gasped and murmured among themselves.
“Are you sure he's…” the nurse asked in a hushed voice.

“Without a doubt.”

“What should we do?”

“Notify the bridge. In the meantime, we'll keep taking care of him.” The nurses nodded and went back to work, while one of them left the room. Nicol and Dearka shared a glance.

“I think he's waking up,” a different nurse announced.

“Mmmm…” the boy's lips moved weakly.

“Give him some oxygen,” the doctor ordered. One of the nurses put a clear plastic oxygen mask over the boy's nose and mouth and secured it behind his ears with a strap. “Stand back. Give him some room so he doesn't panic.” Muttering softly, the others moved back, giving Dearka and Nicol a clear view. No one had noticed them there; all attention was fixed on the boy. His eyes slowly slid open, revealing pale violet orbs that concentrated dazedly on the ceiling.

“A…Athrun?” his voice was barely above a whisper.

“Athrun isn't here right now,” the doctor said gravely. Dearka and Nicol shared a surprised glance. The pilot and Athrun did know each other after all.

“W…where am I?”
“You're on a ZAFT ship.”

“No!!” The boy tried to sit up, but groaned softly in pain and fell back down.

“Don't try and move. You've been hurt very badly. Just lay back and try to relax. We are not going to hurt you, I promise.” The boy sighed softly but allowed the doctor and nurses to finish taking care of him. After they were done, they left, leaving him alone with Dearka and Nicol. Neither one of them had the courage to step forward and talk to him. They stared at him and he stared at the ceiling, unaware of their presence. Nicol finally sighed softly and stepped forward. The boy obviously heard his footsteps; he looked at him, though he didn't say anything. Dearka hung back apprehensively.

“You don't need to be afraid. We're not going to hurt you. I'm Nicol and that's Dearka,” Nicol said quietly. He pointed at Dearka, who seemed to be holding his tongue for the moment. “We're the pilots of two of the ZAFT Mobile Suits.” The boy was silent. “Can I ask you your name?”

“K…Kira,” the boy whispered. “Kira Yamato.”

“Kira…” Nicol murmured, thinking hard, trying to remember where he had heard that name before. Then, it came to him. He had heard Athrun sobbing Kira's name in his sleep, when he had thought no one was there, but he was.

“W…What's wrong?” Kira asked, realizing that Nicol was staring at him blankly.

“Nothing. It's just…” Nicol sighed softly. There was no way to avoid it now. “You know Athrun Zala, the pilot of the Aegis, don't you?”

“Kira stare at him in shock for a moment before his face softened. “Yes. I know him.”

“How?” Dearka asked, speaking for the first time.

“He and I…were close friends once.”

“So you're a Coordinator?”

Kira paused. “Yes.”

“Then why the hell were you with the Earth Forces?” Dearka demanded. Nicol silenced him with a glance.

“Tell us how you and Athrun met,” he said softly.

“We…we met at school. We went to the same school on the moon. He moved to the PLANT and I was supposed to follow, but I didn't want to get involved with the war and…and I moved to Heliopolis, a neutral territory. I…I didn't know he had joined ZAFT until we met up on Heliopolis. I…I didn't mean to join the fight. I…I never wanted to fight.” Tears stung his eyes.

“We're not blaming you for anything,” Nicol said soothingly. “We're just trying to understand the situation.” Kira bit his lip and tried to force back his tears.

“W…where's Athrun?” he finally asked.

Nicol shifted uncomfortably. “He's talking to Commander Le Creuset. We…we don't know what's going on. I think…I think he's in trouble for bringing you on board. I don't know.”

“Why don't you go and find out?” Dearka asked.

Nicol stared at him. “B…b…but.”

“You don't have to worry. I'm not going to go berserk and try to kill him like Yzak nearly killed Athrun,” he flashed Nicol a reassuring smile.

“W…what?” Kira stammered.

“Yzak. He's the other pilot. He's a bit hotheaded and can be a real prick sometimes. He was seriously pissed off that Athrun brought you on board and saved your life because he thought you were a Natural, but he didn't know that you're not,” Dearka explained.

“Oh.”

“Don't worry. We're not going to let Yzak get to you.” Kira was silent. Nicol turned and, after throwing one final worried glance at Kira and Dearka, went to find Athrun.

 

He didn't find the dark-haired boy anywhere and when he asked crew members, they told him that he was still talking to Le Creuset. He ended up loitering outside the closed door of Le Creuset's office for nearly an hour, before the door slid open. He straightened up from where he was leaning against the wall next to the door and watched as Athrun exited alone. His dark hair hung down, making it impossible for Nicol to see his face. His head was bent over and his eyes were lowered to the ground dejectedly.

“Athrun?” he asked softly. Athrun jumped and looked up. There was a strange look on his face.

“Nicol…” he murmured.

“What's going on Athrun?” he asked quietly. “You can tell me.”

“Nicol I…I have to go to a disciplinary hearing for disobeying orders again and endangering the Gamow by bringing an enemy on board. Punishment may be anything from imprisonment to death.” Athrun blinked back tears. Nicol gasped in horror and his hand flew to his mouth. “The council is not pleased with my actions and even though Commander Le Creuset has tried to explain the situation to them, they're not buying it. There's a lot of political stuff that I don't understand.”

“And what about your friend?”

Athrun stared at him. “H…how do you know about that?!”

“He told me. I already knew he was a Coordinator…I guessed, but I was pretty sure that he was a Coordinator because he survived the explosion.” Athrun sighed softly, the tears he was trying to force back running down his face.

“Athrun?”

“He's going to be executed for being a traitor.”

 

To be continued…