Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Broken Wing ❯ Broken Wing - Chapter Thirteen ( Chapter 13 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Authors Notes: Hiyas, minna-san



Authors Notes: Hiyas, minna-san! You're wondering how I managed to get this chapter out so soon, aren't you? Four day weekend!! Anyways, welcome to chapter thirteen of Broken Wing, the unlucky chapter! ::makes spooky noises:: It's SO unlucky that I accidentally deleted the entire list of addresses for the Broken Wing mailing list! ::gulps:: SO if you were on the list then PLEASE email me or review and let me know your email address so I can put it back on the list! Thank you! Also, if you want to be added to the mailing list, then please do the same. Thankies to Marika Webster, VeeBees, ALWAYS to the genius of Trenchcoat Man, and forever to you guys, my readers! ::huggles all the readers:: I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

Disclaimer: ::sobs:: WHY?!? Why do you keep asking? I've already TOLD you that I don't own Gundam Wing or Sailormoon! ::wails:: LEAVE ME ALONE!!

Broken Wing - Chapter Thirteen


Hiiro stood with his hands gripping the metal rail tightly. Beneath him workers bustled about, changing OZ Taurus mobile suits into suitable weapons for Sanch. Relena knew nothing of this; it was all the doing of Quatre and that former OZ lieutenant, Noin. Hiiro knew they meant well, but he couldn't help thinking that their actions made hypocrites of the citizens of a pacifist nation. Sanch was supposed to be a place of peace, where people could live without the threat of death through battle. Yet, beneath the very palace that promoted pacifism, lurked the painted white shadows of war. What would Relena say if she knew? Brave Princess Relena, who would give her life if it would mean peace for the people of Earth and the colonies. Hiiro, however, was not as willing as she to offer up her life as a sacrifice to the god of war. He would not see her made a martyr so soon.
But . . . you have to kill her. Not protect her.
"Ohayo gozimasu, Hiiro-kun!"
He tossed a careless glance over his shoulder to see Usagi waving at him, standing on her tip toes as if she thought he couldn't see her. He turned his gaze back to the suits below before she approached.
"It's rude not to answer, you know."
Hiiro grunted. He didn't feel like one of Usagi's lessons in caring at the moment.
"Thinking about Relena-chan?"
Prussian blue shifted quickly to land on Usagi's face as she grinned at him. How did she always seem to know what was on everyone's mind? Her expression gave no answer. Hiiro watched her hop onto the railing and settle herself there in what couldn't have been a very comfortable position. Her hands clutched the metal bar tightly on either side of her. Her body was leaned forward to allow this extra support, and her booted feet were propped on the bar of the lower tier. Framing her entire face were her two streamers of shimmering golden hair. Hiiro glanced into her soft blue eyes, which caught his gaze gently and refused to let it go.
"Relena's in danger," he finally answered, careful to control the odd emotion that threatened to take over his voice, "She's the princess of the only true pacifist nation on the Earthsphere. OZ isn't likely to leave her alone much longer."
"And you're worried about her."
He grunted again, this time out of a desire not to answer what he knew was not a question anyway. Damn Usagi and her powers of observation. She would have made an excellent Gundam pilot, though.
"She's worried about you too."
Hiiro narrowed his eyes to keep from looking at Usagi again. In the two days since her arrival, the golden-haired one had been seen in the company of just about everyone in the palace, for she was a very social person. But mostly she seemed to like being around Relena, and treated the girl like a little sister, though the princess was only a year younger. Not only did this seem to confirm Quatre's theory about Relena being Usagi's descendent, but it also meant that if anyone would know what Relena though of him, it would be the girl from the past. And Usagi always spoke the truth.
"She knows that you're likely to be killed in any battle," the girl continued, "and she doesn't want to see that happen."
"She sounds a lot like Setsuna," Hiiro muttered. Usagi ignored him.
"You're very stubborn you know. You're just like Trowa-kun, not wanting to tell the person you care about how you feel. He has reasons that he should tell . . . but you . . . you seem to have many reasons why you shouldn't. Don't you?"
Once again Hiiro refused to comment. As always, she was getting right to the heart of things, and he didn't like it any more than he liked being known throughout Sanch. He was too used to being a mystery to everyone who knew him. Even Quatre had never come close to truly understanding him. It was unnerving to be dissected by this girl who had been, until a few months ago, a complete stranger.
"You think that because you're a soldier, correction, The Perfect Soldier, you don't deserve to have a life. You think that you will always be fighting, with no chance to see peace even if the rest of the universe finds harmony. You think that you would only be a burden or a constant worry to anyone who ever was stupid enough to fall in love with you." With a smile, Usagi slid from her perch on the rail and rested a hand on his shoulder. Before Hiiro could jerk away, she caught his gaze once more. "Everyone deserves a happy life, Hiiro-kun, even soldiers. Everyone deserves peace. Not even you can live only in war; peace will find you some day very soon. And she loves you. You could never be a burden to her; it is the nature of love to be married to worry, even if the most dangerous thing the loved one does is walk down the street."
Hiiro watched the golden one as she walked away, and wondered when she'd found the time in her short life to be so wise.


~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~


"What do you think they were talking about?"
Quatre's eyes caught Trowa sideways, and he shrugged. He'd been pretending not to notice Hiiro and Usagi on the catwalk above, but now that he knew Trowa had also seen there was no point to pretending.
"I don't know, but whatever it was it affected Hiiro. He seems different, even from this distance." He lowered his eyes to the clipboard he held, aware of Trowa's own gaze on him. The words on the page blurred together as he feigned reading. He could be reading the first chapter of Moby Dick and he'd never know it. Just look busy, don't look too desperate to talk to him.
"Quatre?"
"Yes?" The blonde tried to keep from looking up too quickly when Trowa spoke his name. The tall boy had his hands stuffed in his jeans pockets and head bent so low that his bangs covered both eyes. As Quatre held the clipboard to his chest where he kept his breath hostage, Trowa fidgeted and looked for all the world as if he'd rather be somewhere else. There was something he wanted to say, Quatre didn't have to feel that, for Trowa's mouth opened and closed silently.
"Mr. Winner!"
One of the soldiers working under Noin rushed over, waving some papers in his hands. Quatre glanced at it briefly before scrawling his name in messy script on the printed line, annoyed that the man had chosen THIS moment for something like this. He thrust the papers back into the soldier's hand and turned back to Trowa, smile once more in place.
"What were you going to say?"
Trowa breathed deeply in what Quatre interpreted as the tall boy's version of a sigh and shook his head.
"It was nothing, nevermind."
Sandrock's pilot sighed, watching Trowa as he left. Quatre cursed inwardly at the interrupting soldier. Then he felt immediately guilty.
It isn't the soldier's fault I interpret everything Trowa does as showing feeling for me. Quatre hugged the clipboard tighter and turned his gaze upwards at the nearly completed Taurus suits. Why do I keep disappointing myself?


~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~


"Dammit!"
Duo released a heavy, growling breath as he threw down his wrench and took position on Deathscythe's open cockpit door. His sparking indigo eyes raked over each Sanch and former OZ underling that dared to cross the floor in his path.
"Who the hell was it that brought Deathscythe to Sanch?" he bellowed, fists planted into his hips to keep them from pummeling the first person to answer, "Whoever it was had better have a damn good explanation for WHY everything is screwed up!"
"Duo, calm down." Usagi's voice floated up to him just before the girl herself can into view. As she pulled her body onto the Gundam's door, Duo bent over to grasp her hand and help. She thanked him with one of her Usagi smiles and his heart performed a jaunty little jig in his chest.
"What's wrong with it?"
"H-huh?" Duo stuttered and blinked, bringing his mind out of the blissful oblivion in which it had been analyzing the luster of every single strand of her hair.
"What's wrong with, what did you call it? Deathscythe?" She bent over and retrieved the wrench from its position on the cockpit floor and turned her eyes to him expecting an answer.
"Eh . . . are you a mechanic too?" he asked warily, eyeing the wrench, for now it was in what had been proven to be very dangerous hands. "Is that another one of your talents?"
"Well, no . . . but I did work on a car once!" She grinned cheerfully and Duo felt his heart simultaneously dance and drop.
"This isn't a car, Usagi-san!"
"I know that, but I want to help and Wufei-kun already kicked me out of Shenlong."
"Altron," Duo corrected absently, eyes trained on the wrench, waiting for his chance to pounce and safely from her.
"Shenlong, Altron, whatever! Do you have any idea how protective Wufei-kun is of that robot?"
"Gundam-"
"Robot, Gundam, whatever! Did you know he has a pet name for it? Calls it 'Nataku' for Pete's sake! If he wasn't already a colossal jerk, I'd think he was just plain NUTS!" Usagi waved her arms in the air as she spoke, voice rising higher to match her anger, and Duo nearly trembled in fear for what might happen to Deathscythe should he fail to relieve her of her small weapon. "Now, lets see what the problem is here."
"Usagi-san, please, just let me-"
"Nonsense! I want to help, and I'm going to help!"
"You want to help? You know what would really help?" He was getting desperate, so desperate that he failed to realize what a rather large mistake his next comment would be, "I'm really thirsty, you could get me some water or something."
"What?" Usagi's eyes narrowed on him, and Duo suddenly understood that he had dug himself a six foot hole, "Do I look like a servant to you? What, because I'm a GIRL I'm supposed to run around getting you drinks and cooking your dinner and fixing your robots?"
"Gundam," Duo squeaked.
"WHATEVER!" She brandished the wrench before her like a sword and her cheeks flushed with anger, "If you think that I'm going to be your personal slave just because I'm a girl, then you've been spending way too much time around Wufei-kun!" With that she threw down the wrench and proceeded to practically throw herself off of the cockpit door, catching the cable just in time to keep from enjoying a pleasant plummet to a quick and painless broken neck.
Duo sighed, for now just relieved that he'd managed to get her away from the wrench and FAR away from Deathscythe. She was a cheerful, delightful, and sometimes intriguing girl . . . but even he couldn't deny the fact that Usagi was simply dangerous. He looked down on the floor and saw he huff across the room and out of the basement, slamming the door behind her. He winced when the metal clanged loudly. From Altron Wufei turned to him and gave a small, Wufei-ish smirk that Duo could read only too well.
Real smooth, Maxwell.
He sighed and returned into the cockpit to work on repairs. He could deal with Usagi later.


~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~


I accept Romafeller's invitation, Dorothy. I see this as an excellent opportunity not only to tell them my intentions as Sanch's ruler, but also to learn what their intentions are towards my kingdom.
Relena sighed as she remembered those words. Why had she said them? Because they were true, that's why. And because no matter how much she now wanted peace and believed in the pacifism of her family, Relena did want to see the men behind OZ. The true murderers of her adopted father. She wanted to see if they were completely corrupt individuals, or if just perhaps she might be able to make them listen to her and her ideals.
She smoothed down the front of her white and lavender Sanch uniform. In previous days, or in another kingdom, the princess might have worn a feminine gown to play off her delicacy and helplessness. Not Princess Relena Peacecraft, oh no, she wore the same coat, vest, and breeches that the diplomats under her wore. She had no desire to wear a dress and be seen as a defenseless teenage princess with little strength and less brains. Relena was intelligent and knew the policies of her father, and the political ramifications of those policies. And she wanted Romafeller to see her not as a weak princess, but as a strong and capable ruler. She sighed, looking over herself once more in the mirror to be certain that everything was in place.
"You're going to meet Romafeller."
She was so used to hearing that low voice at the most unpredictable moments that she didn't even jump. Relena shifted to the side and in the mirror could now see the shadowed silhouette of Hiiro leading in the doorway. His arms were, as usual, crossed, but instead of glaring at the ground, his Prussian blue eyes were locked sternly on her.
"Yes," she answered, even though his words had not formed a question, "I was sent an invitation to meet them through Dorothy Catalonia."
"Duke Durmail's grand-daughter."
"It's an excellent opportunity-"
"To get yourself killed." Hiiro pushed himself away from the doorframe and stalked into the room, fisted hands swinging at his sides. His mouth was set into a firmer line than usual, and Relena had the feeling that something was very different, but what it was she couldn't be certain. "Romafeller will betray you the moment they realize you can't be used for their purposes."
"Hiiro," Relena smiled, knowing that the gesture would result in that adorable baffled expression from him that she loved so much, "you've been trained not to trust anyone, because they could be a spy. I've been raised to trust everyone, because people change. Neither one of us can go against what we've been taught." She bowed her head and folded her hands before her, walking past him towards the door.
"I've already disobeyed orders once, Relena," Hiiro's voice followed her, carrying with it the undeniable sense that yes, something about him was different. She knew what he spoke of.
"I know." She stood still, knowing that he wasn't finished.
"At least let one of us go with you."
"As a bodyguard, Hiiro?" Relena turned to face him, and felt her lips curl slightly into the smile again, "But it won't be you, will it? Of course not." Without her consent a weak, sad chuckle flowed up from her throat at his telling expression, "Well, if you would feel better sending one of the others, have them meet me downstairs in ten minutes. Paegan has the car ready." He nodded and she bowed again, walking out of the door and leaving him behind as quickly as she could.
She thought often on why she was so drawn to the boy named Hiiro Yui, but had yet to come up with a sensible answer, one that didn't make her look completely insane. Perhaps she was crazy, running all over the globe chasing after one boy, giving five known enemies of OZ political asylum in her pacifist country simply so that same boy wouldn't run away again. Maybe she was crazy, but if she was, she didn't want to be sane anytime soon. There was something about him, some quality of kindness underlying the killer exterior, that she couldn't ignore. What if she didn't love him? What if she only felt pity for him, being so young and already so vicious? Well then, she would, as they say, cross that bridge when she got there.
Relena stepped off of the bottom stair outside, not expecting any of the pilots to have made it in ten minutes. She was surprised to see Trowa standing beside Paegan, the both of them waiting for her. The tall boy was dressed as she was, in the diplomatic uniform of Sanch.
"I assume you are to be my bodyguard?" she asked, one hand clenching at her chest as it tended to do when she was anxious.
"Yes," he replied shortly, with an accompanying nod.
"Then we should be going. I hear Romafeller is not the most patient of organizations." She slid forward into the seat as Paegan held the door for her. Trowa slipped inside beside her, and Relena noticed his green eye surveying everything, as if he thought someone might have planted a bomb in her car.
"I assure you, Mister Barton," Paegan commented from the front, "that this car is always checked thoroughly three times before Princess Relena ever sets foot in it." Apparently Paegan had seen the boy's roaming eye as well.
"Good," was the extent of Trowa's reply. Relena noticed, however, that his subtle search did not cease.
Hiiro certainly chose wisely.
She couldn't keep her gaze from climbing the palace walls, scouring the windows for some glimpse of Hiiro. Was that curtain falling back into place? Would he even be watching? Probably not. She didn't even know if he felt the same for her as she thought she did for him.
"Go on, Paegan. We can't keep Romafeller waiting."


~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~


Usagi watched Relena's car pull away from a first story window. Why had Trowa gone with her? Surely the last place the Gundam pilot wanted to be was in the middle of Romafeller. From what small snatches of conversation she'd been able to pick up, Usagi understood that Romafeller was behind OZ. Unfortunately, all of the pilots seemed to either think she was too delicate to know what was truly going on, or still too untrustworthy. Even after OZ had nearly beat her to death!
She didn't have much time to be angry about that, though. As Relena's car approached the gate and slowly slid through its metal maw, the moon princess was suddenly nearly strangulated by the sense of danger. Usagi stood there, hand pressed to her chest, gasping for air, wide eyes unmoving from the ground.
"Usagi-san!"
Strong hands gripped her shoulders, steadying her and she realized that she had been about to fall over. Moments passed as she gathered her breath back and finally was able to breathe with some semblance of normalcy. Looking up, her eyes met worried indigo orbs.
"Duo-kun . . . arigatou."
"No problem. I just came to apologize for being such a jerk earlier. Are you okay?"
"Iie," she answered, slipping into Japanese, "kitai-"
"Whoa, Usagi-san, speak English please!"
"Danger!"
She felt Duo's grip on her shoulders tighten, and his eyes narrowed.
"Danger? To who?"
"I don't know, someone in Relena-chan's car."
"Probably the princess herself; she's the most important person in that car." He released her and turned to look out the same window she had only just moments ago been watching from. His face was devoid of the usual smile that made him Duo. Instead it locked into that intense and menacing expression she knew only too well by now heralded destruction for anyone who dared to stand in his way. "Damn! If anything happens to Relena, not only will Hiiro kill us all, but Sanch will be without a strong ruler to lead it peacefully. It'll most likely fall into Romafeller's hands."
"Which is probably their intention." Usagi stepped closer to him, aware that her own visage had hardened into a serious expression much like his. "We can't let them go like that, Duo-kun."
"Are you sure about this?" He dropped the curtain and straightened, doubtful eyes searching her face, "I mean, we don't want to go chasing after them on a hunch that turns out to be nothing."
"I learned a long time ago to trust my 'hunches' Duo-kun," she spat at him in anger, eyes turning steely, "but if you don't trust me still, ask Quatre. I'm sure he'd be able to tell you the same!"
Duo flinched at her accusation, but didn't reply immediately. He looked away from her, to the floor at her feet, and deliberated for what seemed like hours as she waited. Finally, when he did look up at her, Usagi saw the apology in his eyes.
"Let's go talk to Quatre."
"Fine. Lead on."
Duo winced again, and Usagi felt sorry for hurting him with her sharp tone. But she couldn't help being angry. He'd just proven her suspicions; the pilots still didn't trust her completely.
She followed him through the many winding corridors of Sanch Palace, towards the common room where the pilots often met. It was something like a living room in a normal house, only it also had a corner that could be used as a study as well as a fireplace and other, more comfortable furniture. It was on the couch that they found Quatre, reading a book in what appeared to be French. Maybe it was Spanish, Usagi never could tell the difference. Quatre looked up as they approached, and by the way he instantly straightened, Usagi knew that he could tell something was going on.
"What's wrong?"
Duo explained what had happened, and Quatre glanced from him to Usagi, obviously concerned. But when he reached out with his empathy, he turned to her and shook his head apologetically.
"I'm sorry, Usagi-san, but I don't fell they're in danger. Everything is normal."
"Right now it is! But it won't stay that way!"
"How do you know that?" Duo turned on her, hands to either side in questioning.
"I felt it," she growled back, feeling as if she were being cornered on either side.
"But that's the future. The only time I've ever seen the future was when I piloted Wing Zero, and then it wasn't me, it was the machine showing me the future."
"What about your empathy? Use that to feel the danger; it's there!"
"I can only sense what's happening in the present," Quatre explained with a sigh, rising from the couch, "I can't sense the future. I don't . . . I don't think it's possible with empathy." The blonde colored with what Usagi knew to be shame and looked away from her.
"So, what?" she asked, looking back and forth between the two, "We just sit here and wait for something to happen? You're willing to risk the safety of Relena-chan and Trowa-kun in order to wait on the chance that I might be wrong?" This time it was both boys that winced. "And to think-"
And to think that Trowa-kun loves you!
Usagi stopped herself and spun around before the entire thought could escape her mouth. Anger was no reason to let slip a secret like that one, that Trowa trusted her with. She stood there, fists clenched to her sides, pulling in deep breaths to calm herself. Silence filled the spaces of air between them, and the girl imagined that the two were throwing I-don't-know-what-to-do-with-her looks at each other behind her back.
"We'll wait here," she finally said, turning around to face them, "and see what happens. I just hope that Trowa-kun can handle whatever does happen on his own."


~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~


Serenity turned away from the television. The announcement of Princess Relena's arrival at Romafeller's headquarters had just aired, and for the former NeoQueen it was a landmark. It wouldn't be long now before what she was dreading happened. The incident with Relena marked the beginning of the time that Serenity cared not to think about, and had managed to forget for all of these millennia. Until now, of course.
She would need help. She couldn't go through this alone.
If she remembered correctly, Ami would be leaving Earth soon anyway. All that was left was to gather the others.
She flipped on her vidphone, and paused, watching the black and white static dance across the screen while it waited for her to make her decision. Who to call first? Rei? No, she'd call that insufferable Mars last. Ami already knew, or at least had some clue. Venus, Minako, would feel the need to bring her . . . "medical" advice with her. Serenity pondered, and finally dialed a number on the keypad.
"Hai?" answered the sleepy voice and visage of the former Queen Uranus.
"Uranus, Haruka-san, ohayo gozimasu." Serenity gave a smile to the most protective of her Senshi friends. During the battle with Galaxia's Sailor Ana-mates, Haruka had acted to protect her when the rest of her friends . . . well, Serenity preferred not to think of that either.
"Koneko-chan," Haruka grinned, delivering the old nickname as if they were back in Tokyo and Serenity was still a silly teenager, "to what do I owe the pleasure?"
"I wish it were pleasure," Serenity answered, lifting a hand to massage the growing pain in her temple, "but unfortunately, it isn't."
"I see." Haruka's face instantly melted into seriousness, "Then what is it?"
"I have to call the others as well, so I don't have time to explain it all now. But I need you and Michiru-san to get here as fast as you can. Please don't ask me any questions now, trust me, they'll all be answered when you get here."
"Alright." Haruka nodded, and Serenity could see the woman's attention focus on something off-screen. Another voice, vaguely familiar but too far away to recognize, filtered through the connection. At last Haruka turned her gaze back to the screen and Serenity, "Don't bother calling Hotaru-chan. She's here, and she heard. She'll be coming with us."
"Good, arigatou."
"Ja ne, Koneko-chan."
Serenity pressed the button to terminate the connection and immediately went to dialing Makoto's number. Perhaps if she were lucky, Makoto would volunteer to call Minako and Rei for her. The golden-haired woman certainly didn't need either scolding or suffocating at the moment.
Ah well, it's all things we do for our friends.


~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~


Hours flew by, surprising Duo, who was used to time trudging along like an old man wading through mud. Perhaps it was his worry that he and Quatre had made the wrong decision. Or maybe it was the simple fact that as more and more time passed, that worry melted into the horrible suspicion that they had. Or maybe it was Usagi's eyes boring into him accusingly.
He sighed and turned his gaze out of the window again. How long did a conference like that one take anyway? Shouldn't they have been back long ago?
"Quatre?"
"I still don't feel anything."
"Usagi-san?"
"They won't make it back to the palace."
"Duly noted," Duo replied with an angry sarcasm. He was tired of her attitude and the way she acted as if he were on OZ officer keeping her prisoner. He was tired of sitting around here waiting, and of the nervous way Quatre picked at the binding of his book with his fingernails. He was tired of the window and the walls and the damn books all sitting on their shelves as if nothing at all were wrong and the rest of the world should just sit down and read. Plainly put, he was pissed off. And for no other reason than the waiting had made him jumpy.
Hiiro and Wufei had both entered briefly, only to leave in the same moment. Each of them knew better than to test the patience of any of the three.
As he glowered there at the window, arms crossed, neither of his companions said a word to each other. The agitation in the air was pulled tight, a rubber band that could snap at any moment. The question was would it snap back in on itself and relieve the pressure, or would it break? No one dared to speak and find out.
This is stupid. I shouldn't have started all this. I should have listened to Usagi in the first place and gone after them. It's not too late, we can still leave, nothing has happened. We can get there in time, and whether something is going to happen or not, we'll be there. It's just safer that-
Usagi and Quatre pitched forward at the same time, both mouths open in silent screams.
"Oh shit!" Duo stood paralyzed, eyes flickering back and forth between the two. What was he supposed to do? Just his luck something would finally happen, but the two people who were supposed to help him were incapacitated. "Dammit you two," he finally screamed, "get up! You can't help anybody laying on the floor!"
Quatre was the first to respond, pushing himself from the ground slowly. His blue eyes never wavered from the door, and only one word escaped his mouth.
"T-Trowa . . ."
The word seemed to give Usagi strength, for in the next moment she was up as well, helping Quatre to stand. Duo couldn't understand what they were feeling, but he could tell from the sweat streaking down their strained faces that it was painful. He followed them, doing what he could to keep the two going as they headed towards the secret mobile suit hanger below the palace.
"What's happened?"
"Hiiro," Quatre gasped out, pushing himself away from Usagi's supportive but equally weak embrace, "Trowa . . . Relena . . . something-"
That was all the Wing pilot needed. He spun on his heels and raced down the corridor ahead of them, and a few moments later they all heard the unmistakable sound of Wing Zero speeding off into the skies. Duo felt torn between doing the same and staying behind to make sure that Quatre got safely to a suit.
"Go on," the blonde insisted, pushing Duo forward, "I'd rather you be there . . . be doing something to help Trowa . . . than have you wait for me."
The braided one paused, but the look in not only Quatre's eyes, but Usagi's as well, made his decision for him. He nodded and turned to follow in Hiiro's footsteps. Leaving them behind, Duo was determined to do whatever he could to make sure that Quatre's trust in him was not misplaced. He charged through the hanger door and across the floor to Deathscythe. The few seconds it took for the cable to take him upwards seemed like tiny eternities, and so did the time it took to power up the Gundam and get it into the air.
Which way? Which way did Hiiro go? Which way is Romafeller?
He steered Deathscythe the way Relena's horrid pink car had been heading and followed that path with the certainty he knew he had to have. He couldn't afford to be unsure of his direction. Trowa and Relena couldn't afford it either.
His eyes searched the ground below, looking for any sign of . . .
Blaster fire!
Duo grinned, accelerating Deathscythe towards the bright melee that had caught his eye. Hiiro had probably taken out the majority of the trouble makers by now, but hopefully he'd left a few for Shinigami.
"Make way for Death, mortals!" he cried over the comm system as he came closer, and he heard the confused shouts of other soldiers at the declaration. This only caused him to laugh harder, and he knew that the sound could be, and was, eerily evil when filtered through the machine.
Deathscythe broke through the trees just in time to slice downwards with his energy weapon and send one unfortunate soldier into oblivion.
"Make way for Death, because I don't brake for bastards like you!"
"It's another Gundam!"
"Let's get out of here!"
"Yeah!"
The remaining enemy soldiers retreated, sending jets of exhaust swirling around the two Gundams standing on the quiet, country road.
"Cowards." Duo opened the cockpit and leaped out, following Hiiro towards the battered remains of the car belonging to Relena Peacecraft. There were no movements coming from inside, and no sounds either. Duo gulped, cursing silently. He dared a glance sideways at Hiiro. Stoic as always. The Wing pilot slipped forward and ducked into the passenger seat.
"It's Relena," he offered in monotone, "and she's alive, just unconscious." A moment as Hiiro turned his attention to the driver. "Paegan's alive too."
"Good, now all we have to do is find Trowa." Duo watched Hiiro cradle Relena carefully in his arms and take her from the car. He laid her gently on the ground a few feet away, and there was no mistaking the tenderness with which he handled her. Then, with much less emotion and more duty, Hiiro proceeded to retrieve Paegan, and this time Duo helped. "Where IS Trowa?"
He watched Hiiro lift his eyes from the two on the ground and survey the area carefully.
"The other side of the car."
Of course, it was the only logical answer. Either that, or Trowa had abandoned two injured people in a car that was badly damaged and might explode, depending on the state of the gas tank. The second was not an option.
Duo hopped up, vaguely aware of the roar of approaching mobile suits, and hurried around the vehicle to search for his missing comrade.
Trowa lie face down, gun still in his limp hand.
"Damn." Duo kneeled next to the boy and carefully rolled him over. There was a blaster burn in the center of Trowa's dark sweater. "Damn," the braided-one repeated, bowing his head even as he checked for a pulse. As he expected, there was none.
"I found him," he called to Hiiro, voice cracking, "he's dead."


End Chapter Thirteen