Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Attempted Bystanding ❯ Prologue ( Chapter 1 )

Prologue

"In order to ensure that you're not thrown in prison for vigilante violence," Une informed the five pilots levelly, "we have temporarily reinstated your military rank."

"We got out of the..."

"We didn't do that because..."

"You can't just slap that..."

"It figures..."

"Fuck!"

The pilots had all spoken up at the same time, but Wufei's explosion was louder and more distracting than the rest of the arguments that had been tossed up.

Une blinked at him.

"Yeah," Wufei nodded his head, smirking at the woman. "That's all I have to say about this. Fuck."

"I'm not serving," Duo spoke up irritably. "I am not serving."

"You already served!" Une spat at him, pushing up from where she'd been leaning against her desk to move and get directly in his face. "You five stormed Troy," she gestured toward the colony the pilots had saved Heero's boyfriend, Matty, from. "You got Helen, you got Troy...and now you're gonna be the damn Trojan horses!"

Their eyes all narrowed at her.

"Yes, I know that doesn't work," she retorted irritably, storming away from them. "But you just...you took over a shuttle," she turned back on them, focusing specifically on Quatre. "You took over a cargo ship that carries no weapons and is piloted by pacifists...you got on it and made them take you!"

"Actually," Heero noted coolly, "we were technically stowaways. We used no force or coercion to reach that goal...we just...got on it."

Une narrowed her eyes at him.

"You're pretty when you're pissed," Trowa informed her.

She turned on him.

He laughed wickedly and fell into a waiting stance, hands behind his back and not meeting eyes.

She huffed, turning back to Heero, then Quatre. "You snuck into the military port," she noted, moving back toward the blond. "You snuck past two majors that were on the deck, stowed away," she noted skeptically toward Heero, "on a cargo ship, then...helped the captain out with the loading."

Quatre grinned at her.

"Matty was the prisoner for the interview," Heero noted. "Quatre wouldn't have let him know he was helping if we didn't want him to know we were coming."

"He could have blown everything," Une snarled at him. "If he'd of jumped at the screen calling for Jason...if he'd..."

"If he were stupid," Quatre cut her off, "we wouldn't have done it."

She receded slightly.

Wufei stepped out of the line they'd been standing in to start pacing.

"Then what?" she demanded, blinking at the man briefly before looking back to the others. "You rode the cargo to the colony? How did you get in there, anyway?"

"A0227 had another space port," Duo noted, resting back from stance himself. The five of them had all fallen into it without realizing it, and Wufei moving from the line had reminded them all that they didn't have to stand like good little soldiers. "A0227 had a port with a faulty seal. At the time, it cost them less money to close it down than to fix it. They put an interior wall up with the ability to be completely sealed from the rest of the colony. Until the seal failed, the old port was still accessible from the main colony."

Une was staring at him.

"We found the emergency entrance," Duo shrugged.

"The cargo ship left," she reminded him. "You were there for more than seven hours."

"Yes," Duo agreed easily. "We got into the colony, settled down in a safe area where I could hack into their security system. We slept."

She looked from one of them to the other in amazement.

"Their security was great around the armory itself," Duo shrugged at her. "Not so great in the main. I'm sure they assumed there was no way to get into the colony without their awareness."

"And could you get a man out that same way?" she demanded.

"Doubtful," Heero returned. "Wufei disconnected the alarms along the doors to the area."

She glowered at the pacing Chinese man.

"We wanted them to think we would go back there," Quatre snapped. "It was an attempted deception."

"Attempted?" she asked blankly.

"We encountered minimal resistance," Trowa agreed. "Very minimal."

"According to our man," Une noted, narrowing her eyes at Duo, "there was a very large fire."

"You said that already," Duo waved the words away. "We understand that I almost blew us all sky high."

Quatre snickered, looking down.

"Why is that funny?" Une asked him in an almost cold tone.

"Because he almost blew us sky high," Quatre met her eyes and studied her a long moment. "We're in space."

Heero snickered as well.

Une glared at all of them.

Duo sniggered wickedly, smiling openly at the woman.

"So," she said tightly, turning away from the blond to re-gather her thoughts. "You don't think you could get anyone out there?"

"Well, with a Gundam we could," Heero noted, grinning. "But then again, with a Gundam we could take over any colony."

"And that's just one," Trowa noted, studying his narrows. "Not four."

Une glanced sidelong at Wufei, who hadn't stopped pacing.

"That was subtle," Quatre muttered, sighing and turning to a metal table that had coffee and donuts on it.

"These are handy," Duo informed the woman, moving and kicking the metal leg. "the two-sevians used'em all over."

"Two-sevians?" Heero asked him blankly. "Did you really just say that?"

"Hush," Duo retorted, moving to take the cup Quatre offered him.

"So..." Une moved to sit on her desk again a run her hand down her face. "You've caused me more than enough headache with this shit. Do you realize how fast I had to get this all worked up?" she looked between them all. "I had to get your rank marked back to before you started acting—and that was hard to do because I wasn't sure when you'd moved."

"What time did they take Matty's flight?" Duo asked Heero.

"It left at two," Heero noted. "Ours left at three—and it was then that they moved, because by the time I'd come out of suspension they had him."

Une blinked at him.

"What?" Duo asked her, taking a sip of his cup and frowning at her.

"It was you who tried to get the flight held up, wasn't it?" she asked, looking between them all. "You were the ones who tried to cancel it before it even began."

"Yeah, I was pissed," Heero noted, storming over to take the cup Quatre had made for him. "I couldn't believe he was going and I couldn't just tell him how I knew shit was up."

"Him?" she asked. "Matt Williams?"

"You know?" Heero snapped back, pulling the collar of his shirt down to show her the little hickies he had. "The guy I slept with last night?"

Une choked on that, her cheeks flaring briefly as she looked around to Quatre, then the rest.

"She just looked at me, didn't she?" Quatre muttered to Duo. "She think I'm gonna blush because Heero banged his boyfriend all night? Loudly," he added sarcastically.

"I said sorry," Heero protested, rounding on him. "I didn't really mean to..."

"Calm down, it was sarcasm," Duo muttered, taking another drink of his cup.

"I slept so good last night," Trowa muttered, tilting his head. "I'm glad you didn't wake me up, Q. I was beyond caring by the time they started."

"Yeah," Quatre agreed dryly. "No problem."

"He is nineteen, isn't he?" Une demanded, looking with wide-eyes at Duo.

"Yes, checked his ID myself," Duo grinned at her, taking the cup Quatre passed him and walking it over to Trowa. "Calm down."

"Besides," Heero muttered, tilting his head. "I think his dad likes me."

Trowa choked on his drink.

"How'd you shake him, anyway?" Wufei asked quietly, moving to take the cup Quatre'd made up for him. "Thanks."

"He was sleeping when I left," Heero noted, shrugging. "I got up quietly and showered—but, uh...he was exhausted," his eyes moved sidelong to Une as he said it. "I coulda woke him back up, but..."

"You're such a pervert," Quatre muttered dryly.

"Am I?" Heero asked, tilting his head as he thought about that. "Why am I a pervert?"

"Because you're spewing perverted nonsense and no one else is going to say a thing about it to you."

Heero grinned, realizing the joke of it.

"So...you went all that way for a piece of ass?" Une snapped, her annoyance rising again.

"Trowa keeps calling him that, too," Heero muttered irritably to Duo. "But he came with us to get him and he seems to like him just fine...why do they all keep calling him that?"

"Because the term ‘boyfriend' doesn't compute for them," Duo reassured him. "With Tro it's because you haven't even known him for two weeks; for Une it's because she's trying to deal with the fact that she didn't realize you were bi and doesn't realize that he's your boyfriend," his eyes flicked to the woman to make sure she got his point.

Une receded again.

There was a polite knock at the door.

"Get it," Une muttered, gesturing at Wufei, who was closest to the thing. "So you weren't doing that to annoy Rabid?" she muttered.

"I didn't realize Rabid was there until he took Matty's phone," Heero noted...and fell silent as the said teen moved into the room.

Wufei smirked over the guy's head at the rest of them, slowly shutting the door—he was also politely thanking whoever'd escorted the younger man.

"Matty," Heero protested.

"You didn't say you were leaving!" Matty argued that instantly, even though there was no real annoyance in Heero's tone. He moved across the room quickly and as he reached Heero, he wrapped his arms around his waist. "I didn't realize you were having a real meeting."

"Yuy?" Une asked dryly.

"I'm gonna be in here a while," Heero muttered, gesturing the woman off.

"I know...I can wait," Matty muttered, biting his lip. "It was freaky to wake up without you there. Look at your face," he added, touching one of the gashes on Heero's lip. "You didn't even put the cream on it, did you?"

"Its fine," Heero muttered, smiling slightly. "The pain isn't distracting."

"But you feel it," the guy protested.

Une cleared her throat.

"What Heero's trying to nicely say," Duo spoke up, studying the kid, "is get out."

Heero flicked him an annoyed look.

"I'll be quiet," Matty returned, focusing on him instantly. "You won't even know I'm here."

"I don't care if you're here," Duo noted, smirking very slightly. "She might, though," he gestured at Une.

Matty turned to look at her, pulling away from Heero as he did so...and freezing like a deer in the headlights as he realized who she was.

"Cute kid," Duo noted to Quatre. "Sometimes I wonder if he's not all that bright."

"You wish," Matty retorted, flicking him a glare, then moving forward slightly. "I'm sorry Ms. Une," he muttered. "I promise I'll be quiet."

"The term ‘private proceedings' is foreign to you, isn't it?" Trowa half-purred in amusement. "Quatre, make him some coffee, why don't you?"

"You like it sweet?" Quatre asked curiously. "I never watched you make yours up."

"Kind of," Matty admitted, moving around Heero to look at him. "Ooh...can I have one of these? I'm hungry..."

"Go for it," Quatre returned easily.

Matty smiled at him and picked out a donut. He took the cup Quatre passed him and turned back to Heero...and stopped.

Une was staring at him.

"So what were you saying about our military rank?" Duo purred, grinning at her as Heero moved to pull the kid to him. "You reinstated it?"

Une looked them all over blankly.

"So we can wear our stars and tell the soldier boys to go pick up our dry cleaning again?"

Trowa sniggered.

"Oh, you didn't!" Matty protested, turning to look back at Duo.

"Yeah, we were being assholes," Duo agreed with a grin. "We'd send the little eighteen year olds in and when it took them more'n ten minutes to get back we'd tear'em a new asshole...kinda funny to see how they reacted."

"You need to leave," Une snapped at Matty.

Matty turned to look at her with large hurt eyes. "What?"

She started to open her mouth, then looked around at the others—they were all giving her mildly expectant looks—then focused back on the puppy eyes the nineteen year old could probably pull up on whim.

"Actually, we're done here, aren't we?" Duo asked, sliding off the table. "You put our rank back on, but now that we've finished our mission you'll put it back in the cupboard, right?" he nodded his head, taking a donut as well.

"I'm glad to know it was that easy," Quatre noted to the American, also collecting a donut. "I'd hate to have to re-resign."

"I know, that'd suck," Duo agreed, heading toward the door with the blond. Wufei hesitated to look at the donuts, then shrugged and followed the others from the room. Trowa moved quickly around behind Heero toward the door, pulling at Matty's elbow as he did so. The kid followed him hesitantly, glancing back at Heero.

"So," Heero muttered, grabbing a couple of the donuts and heading for the door. "We're lunching with Sally and Noin today...and then we'll probably hit the memorial."

Une froze, the idea stopping her.

She knew that Wufei had never gone, and she also thought he needed to.

"We probably won't be available tonight," he added, sliding out the door. "Have a good day, huh? Come find us for lunch," he smiled brightly at her, then stepped away.

As soon as the door closed, he darted like a bunny. Shock only held Une back so long before she was in full swing again.

"Ooh, you got me one?" Wufei asked happily, taking one of the donuts. Trowa did, too, though they didn't quit moving fast.

"Can't we slow down?" Matty asked blankly, looking between them all.

"That would be a very bad idea," Duo noted, reaching over and grabbing the guy's arm to pull him around the corner. "We actually need to run...now."

Heero started sniggering...and they all started to run.

"Yuy!" they heard Une shouting from the room she'd been in. "Damn it, Yuy! Where are you, Maxwell?"

Duo giggled a little...and led them down another hall.

It was time to get while the gettin' was good.

- -

"All right, we'll be back," Heero muttered, kissing Matty lightly as he started down the hall. They all had their own rooms in the hotel, and since it was at the end of a hall, they also had their own lobby area. The other four former-pilots were standing at the edge of the lobby-area, waiting for him.

Well, Duo and Quatre were, anyway.

"What?" Matty protested, catching his wrist before he could move on. "I'm coming!"

"Not right now," Heero protested, as Trowa herded Wufei, moving in a way that made it so the Chinese man couldn't stop. "I have to go," he started away.

"I'm...I'm ready," Matty protested, catching his wrist so he could keep up. "Dad! Dad!"

Taofa moved into the hall to look at his son curiously.

"We're going to the memorial!" Matty explained.

"Not right now, Matty," Heero protested. "We need some us-time, all right? I'm sorry."

Matty focused on him in confusion.

Taofa, however, actually knew who the pilots were. He understood what it meant in the grander scheme of things, and darted into the hall to grab Matty's wrist. The man and his daughter were sharing a room at the end of the section of the hotel.

"What?" Matty asked blankly.

"You're staying here," Taofa returned seriously in Chinese. "We're not discussing this."

"You can't just tell me..." Matty started.

The man snapped a word Heero didn't understand, and it made the teen stop and stare up at his father.

"I'm sorry," Heero said again, then turned and ran to catch up with the group. He would explain all the lovely details to the teen as soon as he got back...until then...he was just sorry.

- -

Wufei stared blankly out at the blackness of space, wondering if the window he was looking out ever got a view of earth.

"Hey," Quatre muttered quietly, moving up beside him to lean against the window himself. "You okay?"

"When I was little," he noted, "none of us would ever lean against the glass." He smiled slightly. "We'd lean against the walls around it...but we didn't want to be the ones that broke it."

Quatre smiled back at that, looking back to the memorial area. They were inside a little building that was probably meant so mourners could have privacy.

"I guess I should go finish looking around, huh?" Wufei added, not looking away from the stars.

"Probably," Quatre agreed. "You gonna be okay?"

"I'm going to get drunk tonight," Wufei noted, meeting his eyes. "You're not going to stop me, are you?"

"Could I?" Quatre returned quietly, looking toward the extensive darkness. "If I tried, you'd just go drink alone in your room."

Wufei looked out the window as well.

"Come on," Quatre suggested, gesturing as he started for the entrance.

"There's...there's a survivor list, isn't there?" Wufei asked quietly, pulling himself away from the window slowly.

"Yes."

"Good," Wufei sighed. "I haven't seen some of my friends names listed...maybe I didn't kill them after all."

"Please don't say things like that," Quatre returned, stopping in the door itself. "It makes me very sad."

"Sorry," Wufei returned quietly, starting to follow. "I'll try."

"That's all I ask," Quatre returned, then disappeared.

Wufei smiled slightly to himself and rolled his eyes. He knew he'd be crying before they left...but then again, with this group...that wasn't so embarrassing as it would have been. Even if Matty had come it would have been embarrassing.

Considering how Matty had been following Heero around, it had probably been hard for him to lose the kid. ...maybe, when drunk, he'd thank Heero for that.

Might be interesting...even if he didn't remember it by the time he woke up.