Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ A Place In Time ❯ Chapter 6 ( Chapter 6 )

AN Sorry again for the wait but I have so many essays I don't really know where to begin.

 

Summary/Disclaimer/Rating - Please see first chapter

 

A Place in Time

 

Chapter 6

 

Duo Maxwell was cursing the designers of the labyrinth that Heero and Quatre called a school as he rounded the last corner to the hospital wing. Whose idea had it been to have staircases that could move anyway?

 

Then he felt it. He wasn't completely sure what it was, possibly some terrorist instincts or maybe some of his wizarding heritage coming out to play but one thing he was certain of was that he needed to get to the hospital wing, now.

 

Throwing caution to the winds he sprinted the rest of the way down the corridor before he paused before the door, opening it cautiously.

 

Heero Yuy was sitting inside, looking more unhappy that Duo had ever seen him, in one hand he held a deadly looking knife, that wasn't particularly a surprise, what was shocking was the fact that Heero was gently running the fingers on his other hand through Zechs' hair, just managing to hold in his gasp of astonishment he watched in incredulous, disbelieving amazement as Heero turned his attentions to the ginger-haired man lying next to the blonde.

 

Fighting the urge to cry out in shock he quietly moved into the room, displaying some of the stealth tactics for which he was so well known.

 

No matter how good his skills were though he still couldn't stop the Perfect Soldier from noticing him. Despite the fact that he had yet to make a sound Heero whirled round as though he'd been shot. The knife in his friend's hand was now pointed directly at him and he froze, he wasn't an idiot after all, despite his reputation as a fool. He couldn't help but miss the speed at which Heero's hand had removed itself from Treize's face either. With speed yes but also with the gentleness with which one would handle a lover.

 

Oh shit.

 

A lover!

 

It would appear that he'd found out what Quatre knew that he didn't.

 

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Heero's head shot up as Duo entered the room and he tore his hand away from Treize's face quickly. Not quickly enough apparently because Duo was watching him with wide eyes, it was clear he'd seen him… and that he'd quickly worked it out. The question was, how much?

 

“Duo…”

“Just… don't, ok. How long? Never mind I don't think I want to know… How…? How could you have been so stupid? He's… they're the enemy Heero, trying to kill us, OZ, Whitefang, trying to blow up the Earth, is any of this ringing a bell?!”

 

“Duo I…”

 

“I don't want to hear it Heero!” he sighed unhappily, running his fingers through chestnut coloured bangs. Heero lowered the knife and looked at him fearfully.

 

“What are you going to do?”

 

“I don't know! I might have been able to ignore it if they were dead but they're not are they? And I don't think they will be anytime soon. But that's not for me to decide, just like it's not for me to decide what to do with you. Heero it's not just me you've betrayed here it's the other pilots as well and because of that it's not just me who has the right to make the decision.”

 

“I didn't betray you! I was just…”

“Sleeping with the enemy.” Duo finished sarcastically. Then he sighed, pulling on the end of his braid in frustration, God why did he have to be in this position? It wasn't like he honestly thought Heero had been telling their secrets but he had been sleeping with….

 

“For that matter which one was it?” He asked, his brain finally comprehending the fact that Heero had been looking pretty chummy with both men.

 

Heero bit his lip.

 

“Both of them?!” The incredulous shout escaped before he could stop it as he realised.

 

“I know I shouldn't have even comprehended let alone started a relationship with them, either of them, but I honestly never betrayed you or sold any secrets, I broke it off before the end of the war, I was truthfully trying to kill Zechs and I didn't try to stop Wufei killing Treize during that final battle, I don't have anything to do with their arrival here.” Heero's quiet voice broke into his musings, confirming most of his suspicions, didn't mean it was his choice on what to do about it though.

 

“Yeah? Yeah… I know, but… God Heero.”

 

They sat in silence for a while. Heero watching him worriedly and Duo deliberately not looking at the other pilot.

 

His mind was racing, it wasn't that he wanted to rat Heero out but this wasn't just his and Heero's secret, it was all of theirs, since the war was over he might have been able to ignore it but they were both alive and it looked like Heero wanted to continue whatever it was they'd had before… The others were bound to find out eventually. He didn't have the luxury that Quatre had had, the knowledge that when it was over one or both of them would be dead so he didn't have to say anything… Ok, so maybe that wasn't necessarily a luxury but still he'd had the option of being able to say nothing, he didn't. Still, option or not he'd be having words with Quatre when he saw the blonde again, he had no doubt that the young strategist had set this up, probably because he knew that he wouldn't react as badly as his, well-meaning but undeniably hot-tempered, lover would have done.

 

He shook away the feelings that he was being slightly hypocritical. After all he was working with Lady Une and Dorothy Catalonia now on a daily basis, why should he be criticising Heero for having a relationship with Zechs and Treize? Because the decision to work with Dorothy and Une was not only made after the war but was made by all of the pilots with no secrecy, that's why.

 

He knew what he had to do, this wasn't just his choice anymore, this concerned all of the pilots and therefore had to be answered by all of the pilots, not so much by Relena and the others but definitely by the pilots.

 

Decision made, he turned back to the anxious young man. God he is young, he realised suddenly. Heero was a teenager, just like the rest of them, and sometimes it was easy for teenagers to make mistakes. No matter how old they all acted, they couldn't know everything yet, they made mistakes. But Heero didn't have the liberty of making mistakes in a war, none of them did and some mistakes affected all of them and so all of them had a say in it. Before he could talk himself out of what he knew he had to do he got to his feet, Heero rising with him.

 

“I know you have to tell the others,” Heero said quietly.

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Are we going now?”

 

“Yeah,” Duo sighed again and walked out of the room, without a backward glance to make sure Heero was following.

 

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Heero winced as Duo turned away from him and walked out of the room, he was sorry to have put the jovial American in such a position and he understood his actions, he'd managed to keep this quiet for longer than should have been possible, now, with them back, he did want to try again, if they'd forgive him anyway, and for that to happen the others needed to know.

 

With a last look at the two oblivious men who'd caused him so much trouble in his life, yet whom he still cared for greatly, he exited the room after Duo, throwing up a few final protection spells around both Zechs and Treize. That should last until he got back, and he was going to come back.

 

He had to.

 

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Reaching the door, Heero and Duo both looked at it worriedly then Duo gestured towards it with his head and, after gulping, Heero walked through the door.

 

All eyes turned to the two pilots who had entered the room, Relena was the first to jump to her feet, she rushed over and wrapped her arms around him tightly. Momentarily startled, he hesitated for a second and then hugged her back. Slowly she pulled away and looked him up and down.

 

“Relena.”

“Hey Heero, you look good.”

 

“Thank you… so do you.” She grinned brightly before she pulled away the others in the room were smiling at him but they all waited and let the other pilots move forwards.

 

“Yuy.”

 

“Yuy.”

 

“Chang, Barton.” Heero nodded, acknowledging them respectively, then, catching Duo's eye he nodded again. “Could I have a word please, in private,” he added.

 

Both studied him for a second but his expression didn't falter then, both dipped their heads slightly and followed him into the smaller, separate room at the back of the large conference room that had appeared for them. Duo followed them and, after an apologetic smile to the other occupants of the room, Quatre did too.

 

“You don't think he's killed them already do you?” The tart observation came from Dorothy and brought aghast stares from the Professors who everyone ignored.

 

“He's better not have,” Noin muttered, “I want to have a serious talk with Zechs and it won't be as effective if he's dead when we're having it.”

 

“I don't think he's killed them but something's going on.” Relena replied, her eyes still fixed thoughtfully on the door the pilots had disappeared through.

 

“Why don't you think he's killed them?” Lady Une asked, squinting at the former queen curiously.

“No blood.”

“Oh please!” Sally snorted, “this is Heero Yuy, if he doesn't want blood on his clothes then he won't get blood on his clothes, no matter how many people he decides to kill.”

 

“He's not that bad surely… Is he…?” The almost tentative question from Albus Dumbledore made the five women in the room blink at them.

 

Then, “yes.” The almost unanimous answer came.

 

Relena gave a small smile. “He's maybe not that bad but it's no secret in our world that if Heero wants you dead then you'll be dead very soon, probably within twenty four hours. There are very few exceptions to this rule, ourselves being the main ones, apparently Treize and Zechs are the others but none of us knew that up until very recently…”

 

“He's a ruthless killer when he needs to be,” Une butted in, “all of them are in the right circumstances, it's necessary in a war, especially when you're wanted by everyone on the planet and the colonies. In other circumstances though, I can't think of anyone else I'd rather have at my back, despite our… differences.”

 

“Differences?” Severus questioned frowning.

 

Une smiled at him, “yes, differences, for a long time I was on the other side of the war to the pilots and most of the people in this room. I did some terrible things, I… I organised Duo's execution, I killed Relena's father and then used his death as propaganda material against the pilots, I engineered the deaths of dozens of pacifists who could have stopped the war, I…” Her smile had fallen from her face and her eyes were half closed, she looked like she was fighting inner demons such as those not many had ever experienced before.

 

Severus watched her quietly, he could sympathise, he hadn't been much younger than she was when he'd turned traitor and begun to serve the light, he understood about trying to make amends and feeling that you never could.

 

“Stop.” Relena ordered quietly and Une looked at her. “You can't change things but you are making compensating for the things you've done, you have made mistakes but so everyone does, everyone in this room has things that haunt them but you can't change the past, only seek to make the future better.”

“You're all being quite open with us,” Minerva was seeking to change the subject, the young woman didn't look much older than one of her seventh years, she was too young for such regrets. “I wouldn't have thought you'd trust us this much, you've only just met us.” Everyone noticed the conversation change but nobody commented, there were shadows haunting every face now and everyone wanted to banish them for another day.

 

“Heero and Quatre trust you,” the answer to the implied question came from Dorothy, “that's enough for us, even when we weren't working together, it was an honour to be fighting against the pilots, now we have the honour of fighting with them and we have never doubted their word, either time.”

 

“You have a lot of respect for them.”

 

Sally met the old man's eyes, blue and heavy with regret. “When we look at the things they've survived and what they did for us and mankind despite betrayal, impossible odds and the fact that they're only fifteen, it's impossible not to respect them. We fear them of course, at times, we'd be fools not to but we also trust them not to hurt us, not to compromise themselves and to always work for what they believe in. We know they'd never hurt us and we trust them completely, we care for them for who they are and because of what they've done, not despite that and the mistakes that they've made. We're still wary though, they are dangerous, and ignoring that will get a lot of people killed. You should never underestimate your enemies but that works just as well for your allies.”

 

“How much do you know?” Noin spoke up, “how much do you know about the world we lived in?”

 

“I thought we'd gotten the basics but I think we're missing a lot.” Severus admitted.

 

Relena grinned suddenly, her sunny smile helping to wash away the remnants of the gloom as she bounced to her feet, “does anyone fancy disturbing them so they can explain what's going on?”

 

The `are you crazy?' looks she received from the majority of people in the room only made her grin widen, “just asking!” She held her hands up in surrender and then yelped slightly as Dorothy pulled her down into her lap. “I guess we're waiting till they finish then.”

 

“What do you think they're doing in there?” The quiet murmur brought everyone back to the first question and a speculative hush fell over the room as they wondered.

 

End Chapter 6

 

Sorry to end it here but it was such a natural stopping point I really couldn't ignore it, not as long as the previous chapter but please review all the same.