Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ act 1: El soldado eternal: Heero Yuy story ❯ the making of a professional ( Chapter 3 )

First a Note:

I would like to thank those that reviewed and gave me great critiquing on this story. It was really helpful and I only hope that I could get more of those so as to help me with my writing in the future. Fanfic or otherwise.

And because I give credit where credit is due, the following authors and their works have (indirectly) help me shape Heero's story:

The works of Neil Gaiman (amazing fantasy author)

George Orwell's 1984

Lewis Caroll's through the looking glass (um, you'll find where the theme of that story plays into this later.)

David Meyer's exploring psychology

And finally, retired army ranger Lieutenant Colonel Dave Grossman's On killing: the psychological cost of killing in war and society

Thanks a billion : )

Valkyrie

Past Destruction, Future Rebirth

By Valkyrie Skye

Act 1: El Soldado Eternal: Heero Yuy Story

Chapter 3: The makings of a Professional.

January 19, AC 184

ES1014 cluster colony of L1

To Odin, the unnamed child is known as "the boy"

Mobility is something the boy is always used to, for all his young age. That, and a cold awareness of a non-identity within his infantile conscious. For as long as he can remember, Odin had always addressed him with one sort of name or another to suit the occasion. Edward, Remy, Jin, etc. At one point, he was referred to as Odin Lowe Jr. And when he was called that, he felt something warm dimly emanating in his heart. But that quickly died as he dismisses it as a hopeless fancy. A sense of longing to have an identity was, as he concluded, to be nothing more than child rubbish. And yes, even in that age, he knew what that was too.

Though only four, he never asked for a toy. Although one time not too long ago, to suit the appearance of a normal child, Odin had brought him a teddy bear. For show, the boy knew that for sure. But that feeling in his heart emanated once again. This feeling of warmth and joy and though now a bit of a worn down thing, he always carried it with him. A prized possession of cotton and cloth that was worth more than gold to him.

Never did he desire to play any games. By himself or with anyone. He did however watch other kids play games. Hearing their laughter and their joy reminded the boy of better days that should have gone by for him, but didn't. He carried within himself, a sense that something was stolen from him. Or something that was never granted to him but to other children around the world and across the colonies, something that he himself was exempted from. Possibly innocence, or joy. Maybe love. He, unlike any child, never coveted for much of anything and nothing in all the colonies matters much to him. Except he did have a high tolerance for animals, especially dogs. He eyes them daily at the local pet shop in the area he is currently living in. The boy watches as the two Doberman puppies inside the showcase pen play and tumble each other in a display of awkward rolls and feigned biting exhibiting a canine instinct older than humanity itself, the need to be on top. A winner and a leader no matter the cost. To them now, it's a game. But that furious need to stay a leader, win your territory, and your bitches will take over and there's no stopping it. The bites will be real and the fear from your enemies will radiate and make you stronger. Will make you a warrior…

Stay on top.

And that, the boy figures, is what he liked about them. They are now like him, young. But in the future, they will be furious animals, hungering for meat, females, and of the most basest of needs. They will, he figured at the age of four, be like him in the future.

But for now, in the current place of residence (I use the word "Residence" lightly for the boy has no sense of residence whatsoever in all his young life due to Odin's incessant need to move elsewhere.), the boy sits in the couch, holding on to the stuffed bear as he continued watching the news program Odin was viewing before he decided to make a call. In the background, Odin's voice died down within the boy's hearing as the voice from the television became more into focus; "Newly appointed Foreign Minister Cray McCarther along with his Vice Foreign Minister Richard Patrick Dorlain will be making their first political trip towards L2 to discuss a feared rise of diseases in the poorer parts of the space colony. The Vice Foreign Minister has been on the spotlight for quite sometime now due to his adoption of the young former Princess Relena Peacecraft of the ruined Sanq Kingdom. Rumor has it that the young Princess; now four years old, is still traumatized by the tragic death of her family and of her kingdom that she became autistic. The Dorlain family's spokesperson is denying such claims stating that her mental health is in top shape and that she is as well and happy as any little girl her age would be."

At this point, the boy drowns out the voiceover of the spokesperson as the camera view focuses on the little princess, the boy's age. It was at a televised dinner summit held by the leaders of the Romafeller Foundation in which the Dorlains were cordially invited to attend. The image the news report used for the little princess came from that and as she was placidly looking at the speaker in the footage, the boy notice that he kept hearing the words "Normal", "Healthy", "Sane" to describe her.

Hearing heavy footfalls coming into the living room, Odin appeared. He stayed at the threshold between the bedroom and the living room and turned his head towards the TV, then to the boy on the couch and said "ya'know, you could of changed it into cartoons. I wouldn't of mind."

The boy shrugged "The news is more interesting. And less fake."

"When you grow up kid, you'll find out just how ass backwards you were when it comes to the news." Odin snorted. The program changed subject from the Princess into a report about colonial events and, it seemed evident that the boy lost his interest in the news and changed it into cartoons. Odin looked and said "So what do you think about the Princess? She's your age and she's been through a shit load."

The boy stared into the screen. An animated dog found a stick of dynamite inside his bone that is just about to burst and let out a high pitch yell with large bulging eyes before bursting into flames. An animated cat (the obvious perpetrator) took out a stick with a marshmallow at the end from his back and began heating it up over the corpse of the flaming dog before giving a knowing wink to the audience. The boy did not laugh. Instead, he stared straight ahead into the screen and answered, "They say that she's normal. And healthy. And sane." Odin nodded. The boy turned off the television and turned his head to the man, slowly and gracefully. He had the look of an eerily placid child and the weight of the boy's stare seemed to bring the cold chill of death within Odin that he almost shivered. But he remained his composure in front of the child as the boy said, "she is not what they say she is."

"And what is that?"

"Healthy. Sane. Normal."

The look of curiosity chewed into his aging features "And how do you know that?"

"Her eyes." The boy said and calmly he continued, "Because her eyes are just like mine and I'm screwed up."

Odin laughed, "Yeah, I can see that. Well, enough talk about this. Do you know who I was on the phone with?" he jerked a thumb towards the phone in his bedroom and the boy shook his head. "I was on the phone with a new client." He walked over to the couch and sat next to the boy, "He has a job for me and that I gotta meet him at the `El Santo' diner over at 57th street." The boy nodded and then Odin said, "The difference between this job and all the other jobs I had before is that this time, you get to come along."

A look of subtle confusion crossed the boy's face "I thought you always assumed that I wasn't ready."

"Yeah, I've said that before. But now I feel like you are." Odin stood up and walked towards the bedroom saying, "Hurry up and get dress, we'll be seeing this guy soon."

Odin walked towards his bedroom before he paused in his tracks at the sound of the boy's question "Odin. What is it that you do?" He turned to the boy as he continued, "you always take a gun with you and I know you have a lot. So what is it that you do?"

Odin smiled "You'll find that out later today."

~*~*~*~

All five colonies have their roots from the world leading nations of earth. It is common knowledge that the majority of the people living in each colony reflect those countries living on earth. Thus since the nation of Japan funded for the creation of the L1 colony, the vast majority of the citizens living there is Japanese. Same with the rest of them. The creation of L2 was funded by the Americans, L3 by the European Union, L4 by the Middle Eastern nations, and finally L5 by the communist nation of China.

And although since many of the stores, businesses, and sights are heavily Japanese influenced, there are many places where you can find a small minority of nationalities scratching their own living off the eastern Asian colony. Right now, Odin settles in a diner booth with the boy in the colony's well-known minority Spanish district. A half hour later or so, a nervous man came towards the table. He looked first at Odin and then at the boy across the other side of the table, frowning in confusion "You Odin?" he said towards the man.

To the man named Sam, the boy's name is Daniel.

He nodded "I take it you are Sam." Odin gestured to the space next to the boy and said, "This is my son, Daniel. Please take a seat."

Sam sat as requested and couldn't help but to look at the boy who was busy with his grilled cheese sandwich. He turned to Odin again and said, "Does the kid have to be here?"

Odin took a sip from his burning coffee, "He's learning the trade."

Sam's face paled against his white skin so it looked more whiter than it usually is "Oh. When you said you were bringing someone, I didn't know it was gonna be like that. Oh…" he looked at Daniel again and this time the boy looked back. He felt the glare of Daniel's cobalt blue eyes sear into his soul and he couldn't help but say harshly, "God. Don't look at me, kid."

"Stop it, Sam. He's just a kid. Anyways, wanna eat something? You sure as hell look like you need it."

He cast his eyes all about the table "I need a bottle of Jack, cause I'm about to lose my goddamn nerves." He looked up at Odin and said, "Are you sure you aren't a cop?"

Odin chuckled "No. And no, the kid isn't wired so you can relax"

"So much for my next question." Sam took a deep breath and said, "Ok, I dunno how to start."

"Start with what you want."

A waitress came by with a tall glass of water and set it before Sam to which he took plenty of it down in one big gulp. His hands were noticeably sweaty and his fingers set to the task of twisting and fiddling with the wedding band around his ring finger. He looked entranced at the dark gold twisting his reflection within the thick metallic body. "Jolene and I have been married for 10 years. We have two kids and good property. I have almost everything I could ever ask for."

"Almost?"

Sam stayed silent before he said, "I want you to get rid of Jolene."

Odin raised one blonde eyebrow "Oh?"

The man across the table let out a breath he had been holding "I invested in some shit-hole scam and now I'm broke as fuck!" he whispered harshly, "Jolene has over 10,000 units in her life insurance account. 10,000 units, Odin!" he took another gulp of the cold water in a fidgeting hand before saying "I just want you to blow her head off or something and don't let it get connected to me, you hear? If this thing pulls through, you get 10%-"

Odin shook his head interrupting him "No. 10% is bullshit, who the hell do I look like, your agent? Is this Hollywood? 10% is unacceptable"

"Come on, Odin! I need all the money I could get! I got debts to pay." At this point, his voice bordered on the edge of whining.

"50% Sam. 50 and I'll make it look clean."

Within a half an hour later, the three walked over to the parking lot. Reaching an old sedan, Sam opened the door to take out a picture of his wife to Odin "This is her. Tomorrow, she's heading to her sister's who lives in Suzumara Gardens. Keep it. Remember it and then burn it. When it's all over, meet me at Tenshi Park on Friday to get your money, got it?"

Odin nodded and turned without saying a word with the boy following suit.

~*~*~*~

January 20, AC184

8:47 PM

On top of a roof, on a building across the street from the Suzumara Gardens apartment complex, Odin briefly smoked a cigarette before licking the pads of his fingers and extinguishing the tip. Then throwing it over to the streets below where it disappeared under the tires of the running cars. He then watched his 40-something year old target laughing with her sister and taking coffee through high-powered binoculars. Beside him, the boy opened a case to reveal a Tactical-Ops tango-51 Sniper Rifle. Still with his binoculars, Odin said "If I were you, and you were me, and you were the one handling this mission here, what would you decide the best course of action would be?"

The boy looked at target and her company and "The best COA would be when the target's sister left the room. Using the advantage of our location and the open balcony, the mission would be a quick success."

Odin nodded "My sentiments exactly."

The boy turned to him "Is this what you do?"

"Hm?"

"Kill people. Is that what you do?" he said emotionlessly.

Odin thought for a moment then said, "I kill my targets, yes. I don't necessarily kill people, per se. I'm not a serial killer. I have control over myself. My mind. We talk about this a lot in our time together so you should know. I never really lied to you when I say that death is my business. Except tonight, you'll witness first hand what I mean." He gave the binoculars to the boy and walked over to his gun, "Death is as necessary as life. We need it to feed as we kill animals for our food. We need it to make space in the world as a person dies, naturally or otherwise. We need it to realize the value of life, as someone dies a pointless death. Death is evil…" he pause, swallowing the Diazepam pills and readying his gun as the target's sister is about to head into the kitchen, and finished his sentence, "…But a necessary evil nonetheless."

The boy held his breath as he watched Odin's trigger finger stilled in waiting, in conjunction with the rising opportunity of completing his mission. A few steps into the kitchen from the woman's sister is all that separated from now into her death.

"How," the boy asked "could Sam pay you on Friday when he's leaving tomorrow?"

Odin's eyes left his target and lay upon the boy, his face silently asking him to explain. The boy started, "yesterday, when he opened his car door, I saw shuttle tickets to L3 on the right side of the diver seat. The date said `January 20, AC184' at around 10 PM… Didn't you spot that?"

His eyes never left the boy after this confession. Instead, he smiled and put down the gun. He removed the articles of the weapon and carefully placed them back into the case. Closing it and carrying it in one hand, he said "How about some pizza, Boy?" Then he took the child's hand and they both left the roof of the building.

~*~*~*~

January 21, AC 184

3:35 AM

Pulling the boy out of his deep sleep was Odin. He nudged the boy and commanded him to wake up. He sounded different. He woke up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, holding the teddy bear loosely around his left hand "What?" he asked

"Get up. I want you to see this."

The boy slid out of bed, holding the bear and followed Odin out into the living room, the man's heavy footfalls echoing over the boy's little padded feet. When they emerged, the boy found Sam in the living room. Bounded by the ankles and wrist with gray tape and rope fast to a chair. His mouth covered by tape and his eyes, puffy and wet with tears widen at the sight of the boy. He groaned.

"Now, at times" Odin began, talking to the boy as a teacher would to a learning student, "we're gonna get people that will try to outsmart us." He began to walk over to the hallway closet, still talking "In this case, we see Sam giving us a job but not fulfilling his part of the bargain. That part which requires him to pay for our hard working services." He took out an iron box and inserting a small key, "Luck would be on my side tonight as the L3 flight, I was told when I contacted the Spaceport, was delayed until 12:10 AM and wouldn't you know it? I found him in the gate, his bags all packed waiting for the delayed shuttle flight." He took out a SOCOM gun and as he attached the silencer, the man wailed at the sight and strained against his bonds, "Boy, you should have seen the looks on his face when he saw me." He grinned, "Times like these that I live for this shit, huh?"

"Now, in case you are wondering, boy, how the hell I got him out of the Spaceport and in this apartment is really a matter of logic. What's the most easiest way of getting someone to come quietly with you in a place that can detect guns and other weapons?"

The boy sat far across from Sam on a four-legged chair, his padded feet kicking air, as he couldn't yet reach the floor, "You poisoned him?"

Odin nodded "People thought he had a bit too much to drink in the spaceport bar lounge." He walked over to the living room, gun in hand. At this time, the man cried. His sobs muffled by the tape, his pant were growing wetter with his urine. Odin turned to the boy, "My eyes are getting old. Thanks for the tip off. Ever heard the Ballistics Shock Effect?"

The boy shook his head.

"Ok, well it goes a little something like this." Odin aimed the gun quickly pulled the trigger having a bullet enter his brain. The effect of the closeness to the shot and the target cause a large splatter of blood on the boy. He raised his arms to guard the splash of blood and it stained his hair, face, clothes and teddy bear. A long passing of seconds occurred before the boy slowly put his arms down, eyes wide as the sheets of blood poured and dripped from his face and hair. Odin too was stain, but the boy was closer to Sam, who just sits now. Lifeless. A large hole in his head oozing blood and shredded brain gore. Hearing the footfalls again, the boy pulled out of his shocked dazed and look to Odin who was placing his weapon and its contents back into the box. He felt the stare of the child and looked up to his wide eyes. He simply resumed the task at hand and said, "Go, clean yourself and get to bed. You got school tomorrow."

And the boy did nothing else. It was a school night after all.

To be continued…

Next update: Saturday, October 2 2004