Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Cult Characteristic ❯ Chapter 13

THIRTEEN

"Where would he go?" Heero looked expectantly at Fiona, fixing her with his trademark glare. It didn't seem to faze her one bit as she jut shrugged and ran to Wufei's side, snuggling her face in his shirt. Wufei glared at her too, but she ignored him as easily as she had ignored Heero. Maybe Duos' immunity rubbed off on her, Wufei wasn't sure, but it was a little disconcerting. Her father simply seemed amused.

Milliardo and Noin were waiting by the car. Wufei figured the only way to describe their appearance was `pissed'.

"What's wrong?" He asked, fearing the answer. They looked like…

"Une just rang." Yes, that's what he had figured. He nodded at Milliardo, urging him to continue. "She's at the Devourjac Manor…or what's left of it."

Oh dear. Wufei groaned. Heero turned a very pure shade of white that almost made Wufei laugh. Almost.

"More," Wufei urged as he bundled Fiona into a car with her Father and told them to leave. Fiona looked ready to protest, but something in the way Wufei looked at her halted her voice and had her ripping her seatbelt into place. Wufei felt a grim satisfaction in his gut. Yes, she knew Shinigami, and believed he was invincible, but she had not yet met the dragon and one glimpse had her finally paying attention. Gundam Pilots were not to be messed with.

"There are some survivors. Mostly children," Noin explained and Wufei nodded. Duo had saved the innocents, but how he had known who was who was still a mystery. "None of the Devourjac's were in the house. They're all on L2. No one saw who attacked the house. One minute it was a clear day, then the children say something blocked the sun and everything became dark. The next thing they knew they were waking up in ambulances when the Preventers finally arrived on the scene."

"Anyone who sees Shinigami dies…" Heero hissed under his breath and Wufei felt a shiver run down his spine as he recognized approval in Heero's voice. As quickly as the dragon was rising in his own blood the cold was rising in Heero, and with it the characteristics that made Heero 01. This was not good.

Before Wufei could comment his own phone rang…

"Chang."

"Wufei!" Quatre. "Trowa and I are at the spaceport…One of Howard's ships launched an hour ago!"

"On our way!" Wufei snapped the phone shut and launched himself into the driver's seat, aware of Heero climbing in the passenger side and Milliardo and Noin snapping at them as they climbed in the back.

"Where is he?" Milliardo demanded, fury in his voice. Wufei wondered just how far Milliardo would let Duo go before he arrested him and threw him in jail for the rest of his life. Of course, it was not going to be hard to plead insanity on Duo's behalf, but still…Wufei did not want Duo to have to go through that. Better they catch him now, before he did anything drastic…like kill a senator.

Or the Queen of the World…

"He's in space."

"How?" Milliardo demanded. Wufei found he didn't have to reply. Heero was already a mile ahead in the thinking department.

"Howard. The old man hasn't visited Duo since he left the hospital…" Wufei remembered thinking that was slightly strange, but had brushed it off, glad that the Sweepers were giving his space and time to recover. Now it just seemed odd.

"Do we know where they're headed?"

"L2, I assume…" Wufei growled, wondering if that was indeed their destination. The colony did seem to be the heart of all the troubles, but there was something thrumming in his veins that told Wufei there was still a missing piece in the puzzle. Or maybe there was more than one puzzle and they were missing half the picture altogether. It was not a friendly feeling. It burned.

The drive to the shuttle port was uneventful. Wufei had barely put the car in park before he was flying toward the doors. He hadn't stepped two feet inside before Quatre grabbed his hand and sprinted toward a waiting shuttle.

It was a crowded affair. Trowa was already a the controls and Heero took the co-pilot's chair. But there, right behind Trowa, was Fiona, not a hint of a smile in her angelic face as she glared at Wufei defiantly.

"What is she doing here?"

Quatre looked from Fiona to Wufei before turning his attention to Milliardo and Noin, trying to find a way to safely seat everyone in a four man shuttle.

"Guidance," Quatre said over his shoulder. "I'm still trying to contact the Sweeper's ship. Until then we need all the help we can get, and Fiona knows L2 backwards. Hell, she probably knows it better than Duo!"

Wufei couldn't fault the logic. He slumped down behind Heero, strapping himself into the communications chair he assumed Quatre had been using before dialing the Sweepers headquarters. The hatch door, he saw, was already closing and the engines were firing. Wufei wondered if they even had clearing to launch, then pushed it from his mind. He had a job to do and it wasn't piloting. This time.

"Sweepers." Wufei didn't know the person he was looking at over the com-link. He stared at the numbers to re-confirm he had dialed the right number before frowning darkly at the small, nondescript woman in a Hawaii shirt.

"Where's Howard?"

"Er…Chang? Huh, I remember you. Bloody Pilots are dropping out of thin air today. He's in the ship with the kid. I'm patching the number through to you now."

"Thanks…" Wufei was a little stunned. He had not expected her to be cooperative. He certainly had not expected Howard to be on the ship with Duo. How much preparation had Duo done?

"Chang….be careful…The kid…he's hell bent on whatever this is, and Howard's backing him up a hundred percent."

"Why are you telling me this?" His eyes narrowed, two thin slits of onyx in the otherwise bright cabin.

"Coz the kid won't care if he lives or dies, just so long as he takes a hell of a collection with him…I care. Howard cares. That's why he's there. He'll help, just to make sure he does everything to bring the kid back."

Wufei nodded in understanding before the com link went dead, leaving him to stare at a set of bright green numbers. He quickly programmed the number into the communications system before dialing. Another new face appeared on screen. Who were all these people and why the hell had he never seen them on the Peacemillion?

"Howard. Now."

"Wufei, at least try to be polite. None of this is their fault…" Quatre chastised quietly from somewhere nearby. Wufei glanced up to see him gripping a strap overhead, glaring out at the dark expanse of space. Wufei wasn't even aware they had left earth's atmosphere.

"He's not on the bridge…He's in the hull, checking out…well…"

"Going over the Gundam," Wufei corrected, frowning. No doubt they were adjusting it, making it more like Deathscythe hell than anyone would want. They could repair that Gundam in an hour…How long would it take them to modify an older version…Not long, Wufei was sure.

"Do you know who I am?"

The man nodded, only the slightest hint of fear in his eyes. Maybe they had met once after all, it was hard to tell. Time had moved quickly in the last few years. Faces were too easy to forget.

"Where are you headed?"

"L2…"

"But?"

"We're headed for the Garben space port…"

"It closed halfway through the war…" Wufei pointed out coldly.

"We know."

Wufei exhaled the breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Maybe they really were on a suicide mission, but he didn't think so. This was too well planned…too…He spun in his chair, holding a hand up to signal the man to keep the com link open.

"Fiona…Is there a way to land at Garben?"

She scrunched up her nose in thought. She didn't know a thing about space shuttles, but she knew people, and she knew that section of L2…

"No…but there is an entrance that still functions. It's not big enough to get a ship through, but…"

But big enough for a Gundam. Wufei nodded in understanding. He turned back to the man on the Sweeper com.

"What's he planning?"

"I think only Howard knows for sure, but…It involves the Church."

"The Church!" Heero bellowed from the co-pilots chair, swiveling around to glare at the man over the com link. Wufei fell back against the back of his chair, shocked. That wasn't Heero the Preventer. That wasn't even Heero the Gundam Pilot. That was Heero I am only the experiment and I will follow orders no matter what. Heero the perfect soldier, ready to kill without hesitation. When did that happen?

"Y…Yes…" The man stuttered, looking flustered and more than a little scared. Apparently he knew who this was too. Wufei smirked. "The Kid…he knew the people who…who took him…He knew them…from before…"

The second puzzle fell into place, the missing piece. Wufei suddenly understood why they chose Duo and not Trowa. They were both homeless, poor, lower society, but Duo knew them. Knew their faces, their voices, their natures. Duo had seen their handiwork first hand long before they ever came to power.

"No…" Heero rubbed his hands over his face. Quatre was crying. Trowa just stared at the com link in shock. Milliardo and Noin looked confused. Wufei wasn't sure how he felt. Cold, full, shocked…vengeful. He could only think one thing.

Duo watched them take the church. Duo stole a mobile suit for them. Duo watched his loved ones die, and knew who had done it. Duo fought a war for vengeance and didn't catch them. Duo was going to blow up everything they owned. The Mansion, the Senator's palace at L2…everything. Duo was going to kill, and Wufei could only think one thing.

He's right. He's just.

"How far out are you?" Heero suddenly asked, voice once again cold. Once again perfect, though Wufei could tell he was hurting. Hurting as much as Duo was. Hurting because Duo was.

"Two hours…I can see you on our scans. You're only a half hour behind us. I think you're gaining. This is kinda a slow ship…We're only using it because it's not registered."

Not registered? Duo had everything planned, that much was obvious. If the ship wasn't registered, they could destroy it and no one would ever find any evidence of what had actually taken place. If Duo couldn't be seen, he couldn't be blamed.

"Can they install the stealth technology before you get there?"

Everyone in the small shuttle stopped and stared at Wufei in shock. He didn't care. This was just.

"They're doing it right now. It'll be done before the kid leaves…"

"I'm punching this number through. Call me when you arrive and tell Howard we'll need to talk as soon as Duo leaves." The man nodded and the call ended. Wufei still couldn't believe how cooperative they were all being.

"You're going to let him do it!" Milliardo suddenly bellowed. Wufei spun in his chair to yell back, but Heero was faster. Heero had already leapt over the copilot and com chairs and thrown himself at Milliardo, hands wrapped around the man's neck before Wufei's chair had turned the whole way around.

"Yuy, off!" Quatre bellowed. Wufei doubted anything else would have stopped him. Luckily, Heero listened, releasing Milliardo and stepping back, behind Wufei as if he felt Wufei's mere presence would hold him back.

"You know nothing," Fiona suddenly spat from her place, arms crossed angrily over her chest. Wufei took in everything about her. He understood. After the church burnt down the gangs fell apart, terrified of being caught together in one place. If they could get to a church, what could they do to a gang? Whoever Fiona had lived with had left, leaving her alone…The Maxwell church massacre ended life on the streets as they knew it. And then the war came.

"I think….you need to tell us a few things before we continue…" Noin hesitantly spoke, watching everyone and gauging their reactions to what was taking place. Wufei was glad someone was thinking straight.

Taking a deep breath, Wufei pushed Heero back into his seat and started to tell the story of the Maxwell Church massacre and just how it fitted in to what was taking place. It was harder than he thought, to reveal just how far the Davourjac family had been willing to go to gain power, and how easy it had been to get away with it. After all, who would ever complain about death on L2? It happened every day.

Every damned day. Especially today.