Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Attempted Bystanding ❯ 06 ( Chapter 7 )

Six

"Miss Darlian?"

"Yes?" Relena asked tiredly, blinking at a man on her vid that she didn't recognize.

"Hello, Miss Darlian," the man returned, moving closer to the screen. "I'm Colonel Gerrange."

Relena's heart felt like it stopped as she stared at the man.

"I know calling you like this, this late in the evening and all, is rude of me, but I was hoping we could get your help with something."

"Oh really?" she suspended all emotion from her tone as Heero's words came back to her. In a hostage situation, it's the family who's seen to first. They won't be calling Lu, because she's not nearly as high profile as the queen of the world.

"Yes, some of my comrades and I have banded together—and we'd like independence."

She stared at him. "And what can I do about that?"

"Your highness will forgive me, of course," he noted, looking down and making a gesture like tipping a hat. "But your backing would all but win us our cause."

Was he serious?

"I know you are a busy woman," he added quickly. "And I'm sorry to ask this of you so quickly, but we feel fairly desperately..."

"It's hard to have your colony barricaded, I take it?" she asked.

"Oh," he lost some of the cordial manner. "You know about us."

He didn't think she'd heard?

He didn't think she knew he had her brother.

She tilted her head slightly to the side. "I was fairly upset to hear that you took an earth citizen as a hostage."

"And I do surely apologize," the man reassured her quickly. "The...prisoners," he said the word pointedly. "Were well taken care of—unfortunately that earth boy bothered one of my soldiers. We've reprimanded him for his actions and he will no longer be working in a position of such authority."

"Ah," she muttered, considering him. "Pray tell, Colonel," she added. "The prisoners, as you called them...from what war were they gathered?"

His eyes narrowed.

"I'm sorry," she added. "I can't agree to help your..."

"You may not want to finish that sentence, Miss Darlian," he cut her off smoothly.

"You have my brother," she noted, her eyes narrowing.

His own narrowed. "You can't be sure of..."

"Please," she brushed the words away. "I cannot consent to..."

"We have your brother, Princess," the man cut her off pointedly. "That should make you very cooperative...unless you'd like to be an only child."

Relena shifted back in her seat as the man made a gesture.

"I wouldn't ask you to take my word on faith alone," he noted as the screen split to double.

Zechs appeared, sitting with his hands behind his back and a gag in his mouth. He was glaring at the man near him.

"And to assure you that we aren't playing," the colonel muttered, making another gesture.

The man standing with Zechs grabbed his long white-blond hair into his hands.

"Oh, don't!" Relena protested, realizing the man was holding a knife.

"It's just hair, Miss Darlian," the colonel muttered.

The man started to cut, and Zechs' eyes closed tightly. He didn't fight the actions at all.

"Oh...Zechs...I'm sorry!" Relena cried, horrified.

"For his hair?" the colonel seemed confused. "I'd think you'd be more worried about..."

"Different things are important to different people," Relena snapped, glowering at him as the man finished cutting.

He'd cut off the full length of Zechs' hair. The now loose strands fell forward, the ends resting around and above his chin.

"He's such a good boy," the man with Zechs noted, moving forward and showing Relena the hair. "We'll get this to you so you can prove through DNA testing that this is in fact your brother," he gestured back at Zechs.

Relena closed her eyes.

"So, Miss Darlian," the colonel said sweetly. "I'll send you our information," he gestured again.

A transfer screen came up.

"I suggest you accept," the man purred at her. "Because if you don't, you will be an only child."

Relena closed her eyes again, wishing she had backups around her.

Heero had said they'd connected the line monitor.

She hit the accept button, opening her eyes to glower at the man.

"There we go, princess," the colonel purred, then bowed cordially to the screen. "I will call you again tomorrow evening, I trust that will be enough time for you to begin your preparations."

"I have many engagements," she noted darkly. "I may need some time."

"Your brother might be offended," he noted almost clinically. "I know you and he both would give your lives to help the people, but I'd imagine that in this situation, that would be an extreme occurrence. Have a wonderful evening, and please be assured that your brother will be safe and healthy when we return him to you—on the day of our independence."

Relena swallowed hard.

"Oh, and princess?" the man with Zechs moved to the camera. "Please be aware that contacting the authorities will not negate your responsibilities in this matter. I assume you'll put out every effort to free your brother," he smiled sweetly, raising the blade for her to see it. "If you displease us, your brother will bear that mark. Be aware, and on the day of our independence, you'll be invited most cordially to our ball."

The line cut.

- -

"Hello?" Trowa asked blankly, his phone at his ear. He didn't recognize the number and hadn't looked long enough to see the name.

"Rigel?" Timothy asked. "It's Tim...I just stopped by your place to get my jacket, but the doorman said you'd left. Where are you? When are you coming back?"

"On my way to L-5, actually," Trowa noted, shifting down in his seat again. The others were all looking at him curiously. "Something came up."

"L-5, seriously?" the man asked. "You're going to be to work tomorrow, aren't you?"

"Actually, I had to all but quit," Trowa noted. "I have no idea when I'll be back."

"What are you talking about?" the man was confused. "You quit?"

"I...took a leave of absence," Trowa returned. "And I can't tell you about what I'm doing."

"Okay?" he sounded confused.

"I'd need to install a security patch on your phone. You willing to take a personal patch on my word alone?"

The guy considered it a long moment, then guffawed. "You know what? Sure. Why not? We all thought you were full of shit about your roommates and your penthouse, and turned out you were just full of shit about your name...I'll trust you."

Trowa smirked at that. "I wasn't expecting you to agree."

"So?" the guy seemed confused.

"My laptop is stowed and I don't have the transfer on my phone."

That made him go quiet.

Trowa started snickering, then looked pointedly to Heero.

"Are you kidding me?" Heero demanded, rolling his eyes. "Why don't you have the file on your phone already?"

"Because I'm not nearly so paranoid as you are," Trowa retorted.

"Huh?" Timothy asked blankly.

"I'm getting Max to send it," Trowa explained. "Hold on two seconds."

"One two," Timothy retorted.

Trowa grinned, extending his phone so Heero could see the number. The guy considered it, then started typing quickly on his phone.

"Well?" Timothy demanded.

"It'll come through in a second," Trowa retorted. "Just install it."

"What if it has a virus?" the man asked.

"I'll owe you a new phone," Trowa retorted. "You have an AS model, don't you?"

"Yeah, it's a Perona."

"Those are flashy but not that good," Trowa mused. "I was using'em for a while but they kept frying."

"Most people don't fry their phones," Matty muttered, leaning around Heero to grin at him. "Most people do something stupid like drop it."

"Who is that?" Tim asked blankly.

"Matt," Trowa returned. "As long as your phone has the firmware of a typical AS you'll be fine."

"That's pleasant...what the hell patch is it?"

"I call it pan," Heero noted, then looked up and nodded.

"He named it pan," Trowa returned. "And he sent it."

"He named..." Timothy hesitated. "He made it? Are you sure it's..."

"We're programmers, don't worry," Trowa said quickly. "We all have the damn thing on our phones. We'll opt you out of the alerts."

"Oh my god, you're nuts," Timothy breathed. "Rich and eccentric."

"Not my fault you're so poor you can't play," Trowa retorted.

"I play just fine," Timothy retorted. "At least I wouldn't be tempted to buy a slave."

Trowa guffawed at that. "You have any idea how much an effort that'd take?"

Wufei started laughing weakly.

"What are you on about?" Duo asked skeptically.

"I don't think we want to know," Quatre returned.

"Tim's just trying to insult me by saying I'd buy a slave," Trowa rolled his eyes.

"That'd be so complicated," Duo muttered. "Not to mention how unfair."

Timothy was still laughing.

"Anyway," Trowa noted.

"I got the install," Tim reassured him. "Just hang on while I...install it..."

"You people are strange," Matty muttered, looking back out the window. "You know that don't you?"

"What?" Heero asked, looking to him in concern.

"Don't answer that, kid," Duo muttered quickly. "Heero, our sense of humor is off to him."

"Oh," Heero frowned more, thinking about that.

Wufei met eyes with the teen and shook his head once. Heero was still socially uncertain, and since Matty obviously had no idea that he was as clueless as he was, it would damage the progress he'd made.

Wufei didn't fully appreciate that Heero could bed any person he decided he wanted to, but hearing that he was weird from his boyfriend would put him in a slump. Something about it was very wrong.

"There, it beeped," Timothy noted. "Do I need to restart?"

"No, we're also hackers so it's fully integrated on install...hold on, our phones should acknowledge it soon."

"You're hackers?" Tim asked dryly.

Trowa snickered.

The man sighed in exasperation.

Heero's phone beeped. "He's in, let me set him up," the Japanese man started clicking through the options.

"So I just let you hack into my phone," Timothy noted. "I see he's messing with my settings...what else will you talk me into?"

Trowa laughed at that.

"He's got the new Perona model," Heero noted with interest. "I'm gonna have to alter it, but it's good enough to be getting on with...you're clear."

"He says I'm clear, but we're sitting in a spaceship surrounded by civilians," Trowa noted almost clinically.

"You told him you'd tell him, so don't be an ass on principal," Duo muttered, his head appearing over the back of the chairs in front—he and Quatre were sitting in the row in front of them with Lucretzia. The fourth seat of their row was empty.

"I like being an ass on principal," Trowa protested.

"And you're good at it," Tim retorted. "Speak, richboy. If you don't I'll get that doorman to sneak me to your apartment and thrash it."

"We're friends with all our doormen," Trowa retorted. "And we have sensors set up around the place so as soon as you did it we'd know."

The guy laughed.

"But fine, I'll be nice and explain to you what's going on here. Watch," he added sidelong to Wufei. "He's some spy from them."

"What?" Timothy demanded.

Trowa started laughing, and started to talk.

- -

"Hello?" Heero muttered, looking around. Trowa was still talking quietly to Tim and Matty was leaning against his side, staring out the window. Wufei had drifted into sleep and there hadn't been much noise from Lu, Duo, or Quatre the entire trip.

"Well, you were right," Relena noted, sounding tearful. "You were..."

"What?" Heero asked, focusing. "I was right?"

"I got a call from the good Colonel," she replied...and started to cry.

Heero rubbed his eyes. "I see."

"He said that I have to advocate for them...they cut off his hair!"

"What?" Heero asked blankly.

She cried a few moments more, then gathered herself again. "They're sending me his hair...they cut it all off and are sending it to me."

"That's fucked up," Duo muttered.

"What's she saying?" Lucretzia asked, appearing over the back of her chair.

Heero studied her a long moment and looked down. "She said that Rabid contacted her," he explained. "They want her to advocate their independence."

"Who are you talking to?" Relena asked blankly.

"Lucretzia."

"Why is she with you?"

Heero didn't know much, but he could tell she was trying to focus and get angry about the information.

"Because he's an asshole and didn't tell her what's going on," Heero snapped. "He took off on her so she came to visit us. Shit," he muttered, meeting her eyes. "I need to get you the program."

"What?" Relena asked blankly.

He hadn't been talking to her, but that worked too. "I'm going to send you a program for your cell," Heero explained. "It's a patch I made, so when it comes, just install it. You have an AS model, right?"

"Yeah," Relena agreed quietly. "With pax."

"Good, it uses the pax features like a dream. It'll secure your line, but network you with our phones. Lu? She said that...they cut off his hair. They're sending it to her."

Lucretzia stared at him in horror, then slunk out of sight. Heero could hear Duo moving around, and figured the man was holding her.

"I have to advocate for them," Relena muttered, sounding tearful again.

"You do what you have to do to keep him alive until we get to him," Heero ordered her. "You start whatever paperwork or whatever nonsense they need you to start. We're going to find your brother. There's no way in hell we'll let this shit stand. I'm pissed. I wanted to get into the real world and get a job and fucking do that job. I wanted to be with my friends and never have to worry about my life...or anyone else's ever a-fucking-'gain, but I can't even be a damn bystander. First everyone's buzzing about some dumbass in space, then the fucker goes and grabs my boyfriend, then when I get him safe and home and we start working on our damn happy-ever-after, this sort of shit happens! I'm so tired of all the bullshit! It's about damn time Rabid Marsh did something stupid enough that I could take his ass out. Fucking sniper fire from above, fucker. Watch your head!"

Relena didn't say anything, and there was a shift to his right.

Heero blinked sidelong, noting that Wufei had woken up and was blinking at him. Trowa had pulled himself out of his conversation enough that he was also blinking at the man.

"You seriously need a prozac," Quatre noted helpfully from where he was sitting.

"You better do it," Relena ordered, evidently not hearing Quatre. "You'd better."

Heero glanced to his other side, wondering what Matty thought of his little declaration. The teen, though, was leaning against the window and studying him in a leisurely way that meant he wasn't upset in the slightest.

"Heero?" Relena demanded.

"Sorry," Heero muttered, dropping back in his seat. "I may not be able to pull it off."

"Just take him down, Heero," Relena muttered, sounding wrung-out. "Just..."

"You do your end," he instructed her. "I'll do my end, and you do yours, all right?"

"It's a deal," she sighed. "Thank whatever god that they didn't decide to send one of his fingers."

"Maybe the guy didn't have the guts," Heero suggested. "I'm gonna get my laptop out and check some shit—and I'll send you that file. Here in a second I'll send it to you. Just install it and I'll take care of the rest."

"Right," Relena agreed. "I'll start the bullshit for their independence. If the fuckers had come to me first, I could have swung this without hostages."

Heero laughed coldly and closed the phone.

For all that he'd ranted like a madman and it hadn't bothered his lover, Matty was giving him a confused and upset sort of look.

"What's wrong?" Heero muttered, focusing on the guy properly.

"The laugh?" Duo asked. "That's his bastard-laugh."

"What?" Heero demanded in mild disbelief, focusing on the seat back.

"When you're being a bastard," Duo explained. "Usually it's good for us but not for someone else. Your laugh is cold, buddy. We're all used to it, but you haven't had anyone to hate in a while."

Heero wasn't sure what to make of that.

"Its fine," Matty muttered, moving to lean against Heero. "I hadn't ever heard you laugh like that before so it confused me." He kissed his shoulder, studying his eyes. "Okay?"

Heero considered that a long moment, then nodded. He shoved the arm up from between them and shifted where he sat. He was intending to pull the guy onto his lap, which Matty didn't seem to mind.

"You're supposed to be getting your laptop," Wufei reminded him. "And sending her and Lu the pan."

"Huh?" Heero asked blankly, then sighed as he realized it.

"Where's your laptop?" Matty muttered.

"In my shit," Heero gestured with his head toward the bag he had strapped under Duo's seat.

Matty slid off and gestured for him to sit, leaning over and unhooking the thing.

Heero laughed wickedly, considering his boyfriend's ass and whether or not it'd be worth it to comment. The teen glanced over his shoulder, then smirked and swayed slightly where he was standing.

Wufei smacked the guy.

Matty laughed delightedly, smacking back at Wufei as he pulled the bag up and sat on the edge of the chair to pull the laptop out. He passed the machine to Heero before strapping the bag back under, then moved to slide into Heero's lap.

"You're such a bastard," Wufei muttered, rolling his eyes.

"How am I a bastard?" Heero protested. He could hear the note in Wufei's voice that meant that it wasn't the sort of declaration that he expected to have taken seriously.

"Because you have this boyfriend," Wufei retorted, gesturing at Matty. "Someone you can just hold. Not to mention the getting laid nightly part."

Heero sniggered wickedly as Matty settled comfortably.

"I'll hold ya," Duo muttered happily, popping up over the back of the seat again to look at the guy. "I could even sleep with you." He grinned wickedly. "You remember that conversation we had back before this shit all started?"

Wufei looked back at him blankly a long moment, then remembered the blowjob conversation. He started laughing wickedly himself and shook his head.

"No?" Duo pouted at him a moment, then grinned. "I'll hold ya'n stuff...if you want. Just keep that in mind."

"Just keep it in mind," Quatre echoed. They could hear that the blond had smacked the guy.

"You know," Trowa muttered into his phone, "they're my imaginary friends. Of course they're special."

Wufei guffawed at that.

"You're never going to let me live that down, are you?" Timothy demanded in exasperation.

"It's far too convenient," Trowa reassured the man.

Heero smiled slightly, kissing Matty's temple as he situated them properly so he could work his laptop and phone.

They all fell back into silence before long. Trowa even hung up his phone. There wasn't a lot to say, really. They knew what they were going to have to do, but where they were and how they were traveling meant that there was nothing for them to do.

"Heero?" Matty asked quietly.

"Yeah?" Heero'd thought he'd fallen sleep, so his speaking up had startled the Japanese man.

"Why did this have to happen?" Matty asked quietly. "Why did they have to...to take my flight? Why did they have to take that prince?"

"Why?" Heero muttered, thinking about it. "I don't think there's any real answer to that." He pressed his lips to the guy's head a moment, thinking. "Somehow, they decided that they needed to do this...that they needed their independence. They're warriors, so the idea of using the political process to get their way probably hadn't occurred to them. Personally...as hard as it might be for you, I'd rather have this all happening to me than to someone else." He sighed, squeezing the guy tightly. "I tried being a bystander and got pulled into the fight. It just doesn't work. I can't stand by and do nothing. You, though. You can stay on the base with Une, all right?"

"All right," Matty muttered, kissing him lightly. "But only when you're out doing things. I'd rather be with you when I can."

"I'll try," Heero reassured him, falling silent as he considered if Wufei were listening to him or not. "I'm glad I met you," he whispered in the guy's ear. "I really am."

Matty turned to meet his eyes, then smiled slightly and shifted down against him again.

Heero sighed slightly, taking a moment to appreciate that—then flicked on the laptop.

He had some hacking to get on with, and there was no time like the present.