Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Eyes Cold As Stone ❯ Chapter Twenty-one ( Chapter 21 )

Eyes Cold As Stone

Chapter 21

Trowa ran through the hanger to Heavyarms. At the first rumble of ominous tidings of battle, Trowa had abandoned Cathy to make a mad dash for the Gundam hanger. He didn't care that he was in-active, there wasn't any way in hell that he would stand by as battle broke out several miles south of his home. He crawled into the cockpit and began to bring Heavyarms to life. Duo may be the God of Death, but Trowa would sure as hell be the God of War. He maneuvered his suit out of the hanger and in the direction of the commencing battle.

Approaching the battlefield, he could see a badly out numbered Nataku get beaten to the ground. He launched his missiles at the crowd of enemy suits hovering around his fallen comrade. He turned to the right and aimed his gattling gun at another group of enemy craft. He delved headfirst into battle.

"Trowa! What are you doing here?" Noin's voice echoed through his cockpit. He had known that Heero and Wufei wouldn't say anything, being like him, but Zechs was questionable and he knew that Noin was definitely going to ask.

"I'm fighting." He decided not to be mean, after all, Noin hadn't ever done anything to him, she was a nice person.

"I'm glad that you're here." He heard her soft confession and blinked, not believing that he had heard right. But then again, it made sense, Noin wasn't exactly one for taking orders blind, so she wouldn't care that Trowa had completely disregarded Lady Une's orders, and come out to fight anyway.

"Thank you."

"What are the enemies doing?' Zechs voice cut in worriedly. Trowa turned to look at the enemy lines closely for the first time. When he had blasted onto the scene, he had been strictly focused on immediate targets that he had overlooked the whole picture. He barely had any time to react as hundreds of missiles began streaking toward the city. There was no way that the five of them could stop that many missiles, but that didn't mean they weren't going to try.

"Take them out! Take them out!" He could hear Wufei shouting into the Comm as he aimed his gattling gun toward a group of screaming missiles. He could see Wing aiming its buster riffle at the missiles as well. Nataku began spewing fire at the approaching line of armaments.

Please don't let those be nuclear.

Trowa fought as hard as he could, but it wasn't hard enough as another volley of missiles were launched from the enemy lines. He cried out in frustration and shame, echoed by each of the others, as the first missiles reached the city.

The explosion seemed to pull the ground out from under him. He launched his own missiles in retaliation, screaming in anguish. Cathy was in that city. Quatre's apartment was in that city. Everything he had left in the world was in that city. He would not go down without a fight.

His missiles screamed from his suit as the second line of enemy missiles reached their targets.

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Cathy clutched at the doorframe as the entire building rocked on its foundations. She recognized the incessant ground shaking. It was something she had felt during the war-missiles. Missiles had gotten through to the city. She dropped to the floor, as the world seemed to crash around her.

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Missiles had gotten through. They had gotten through and had detonated within the city. The city was now on fire. Lady Une frantically dished out orders, do this, take care of that. She stumbled and fell as something exploded dangerously near Preventer HQ. She could hear things falling off of walls and desks as the entire building shuddered.

Missiles had gotten through. She picked herself up off of the floor and called out to her controllers.

"Damage report."

"The southern parts of the city have been damaged the most. Reports are still coming in from those areas. It doesn't appear as though any of the missiles contained radiation, although that cannot be confirmed at this time. The last missiles hit farther north, detonating less than a mile south of HQ. Heavy fires are spreading through the southern parts of the city and electricity is out in the majority of the northern parts." Une rubbed the bridge of her nose. Fuck. How could those bastards attack a populated city? How could they destroy millions of innocent lives?

The only thing she could do now was pray. Pray that the Gundams would save them all.

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Dorothy stumbled through the darkness. The lights had gone off shortly after a particularly teeth shattering explosion. Dorothy felt around for a spare candle and some matches. She had once loved war, and even still found a certain exhilaration in it, but sorely wished that the attack would simply stop. She didn't even want to imagine what kind of damage there was to the city. She heard a distant rumbling; hopefully that was the end. She held the lit candle in front of her, its flickering flame hardly illuminating the room. But it was good enough. She stayed well clear of the windows as she found a comfortable spot to curl up in and wait. That was all that she could do, was wait. The bassy rumblings seemed farther away, now. She began to heave a sigh of relief as the windows exploded inward, showering her with glass. She threw up her arm to protect herself from the razor sharp shards and dropped the now unlit candle onto the rug. She recalled watching the candle bounce in slow motion, spilling its newly melted wax onto the intricately designed rug as she herself was flung roughly to the floor, only to pass out. She saw the candle come to a rest on its side as darkness closed in around her.

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The fires took all night to put out, skilled firefighters working overtime to drown the fiery beast. Wufei walked among a destroyed neighborhood. How he had failed to protect it was beyond him. He was a Gundam pilot-he should be able to neutralize any threat. However, looking around him at the blackened rubble of a once prosperous home, it was obvious that he failed.

"I am weak." He spoke the simple words to the dry wind. The uncaring breeze as it took the heat from the dying embers. Rain began to pelt his head as it fell in mourning for the ravished city. "I am weak!" He tilted back his head, gathering his hands into fists and screamed out his woes to the unforgiving sky.

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Lady Une crawled out from a large piece of ceiling that had fallen from one of the last missiles. She slowly turned watching as people crawled out from the dust.

"Is everyone okay?" She shakily called out. A few heads nodded as they turned back to help others from the rubble. She stepped back to see what had happened. It appeared as if a large chunk of the ceiling had fallen, catching on the computer towers and terminals, so only a gentle rain of dust and a few pebble-sized pieces had fallen on the occupants of the room. She silently thanked whatever god was responsible for the safety of her people. She crawled through the strewn rubble to a working terminal and began calling up damage reports for the rest of HQ and the surrounding city.

What she saw took away her breath.

Entire neighborhoods were nothing but huge bonfires now. Entire neighborhoods. Places where people slept and ate and played with their kids and had picnics and bar-B-Q'd. Now those places were no longer there.

She had failed to protect her city-her home. She had failed.

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"I told you that I'd be back. And I brought another Shakespeare play to read to you." Mindy settled down in the chair by the young man's bed. She had been gone for a couple of days, but had come back as soon as she had had the time. She opened her book and began to read from A Mid Summer's Night Dream. "Now, fair Hippolyta, our nuptial hour Draws on apace; four happy days bring in Another moon: but, oh, methinks, how slow This old moon wanes! she lingers my desires, Like to a step-dame or a dowager, Long withering out a young man's revenue."

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"I cannot reprimand you for joining in the fight, however I can suspend you from active duty for an indefinite amount of time."

"I thought that you had done that already, Lady Une."

"I'm giving you a vacation, Trowa. I'd suggest that you get out of the city."

"You will need my help in rebuilding, and what if they return?"

"You are not an active agent. I think it would be a good idea if you get away from this cities and your constant reminders of Quatre for awhile."

"That's why you suspended me, isn't it. Because of Quatre."

"Trowa, you are emotionally wrung out. That's understandable when a loved one is lost. If fact, you're holding up amazingly well, however, that doesn't mean that I will risk your life as well as the lives of my other pilots. I don't want to add more stress to you. I want you to recover and come back."

"I can't get over Quatre, Lady Une."

"I know. That's why you've been suspended. Please. I know that your sister is a part of a circus troop. Go with her for awhile, see the world. Get away from this city and its constant reminders of you and Quatre." Trowa looked off to the side, in defeat. What Lady Une was saying made sense.

"Okay."

"Trowa. I know that this is hard, but I think that it is best. Get away, get a hold of your emotions and come back. Your old spot will be waiting for you." Trowa nodded before turning to leave.

"I understand. I will be back when I'm ready." He could feel his old mask settling back into place. Just when he had finally discarded it, he had use for it once again. I'm sorry, Quatre, but I don't know how else to deal with this. I wish that you were here to tell me.

He walked out of Preventer HQ and drove silently back to Quatre's apartment. Since Quatre had bought it, he wouldn't need to worry about a lease, so he took the extra key and gave it to Liam at Nallen's with instructions that it was only to be given to Duo or Quatre. Packing up a duffel bag of necessities, Trowa crawled back into his car and followed Cathy out of the city and toward the circus. He knew that the Ringmaster would give him his old job back, so he had no concerns about leaving for the circus. Maybe this is what he needed. At Preventer HQ, his hands were often tied; he couldn't go looking for Quatre. Being with the circus, he could search each city that they performed at. He smiled inwardly at the prospect. He wouldn't truly give up hope that Quatre was alive.

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Relena knocked on Duo's door. He answered looking awfully sullen. He stepped aside to let her enter. She gave him a hug as she stepped past him.

"Long political conference?" She hadn't been back to see Duo since the first day when she had arrived on L2. She nodded and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah. It takes fifty hours to get across the most simple of concepts-they have to figure a way to say it in no less than a thousand different ways before it's a policy and they'll accept it." Duo chuckled.

"Thank God that I'm not a politician." Relena laid a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm thanking Him, too." Relena sat down and turned to Duo. "I have to return to Earth in a few hours, but I wanted to say that I'm always here for you. I want you to call me whenever you're feeling down or upset, or just want to talk. I also will be back here in a couple weeks to foresee the beginnings of the renovation project." Duo refused to meet her gaze.

"Look, `Lena, I know that you just want to help, but I'm serious, I don't want to get close to anyone. When I do-"

"I'm willing to take that risk, Duo. You are my friend, and I want to help you. If I end up in danger, so be it. I welcome it, in fact, politics are getting boring and mundane." Duo chuckled and then burst into hearty laughter, the kind that she had only heard when he and Quatre got together. Her heart soared when she heard that unconscious laughter.

"Politics are boring!" Duo gasped for breath and leveled a glare at Relena. "If you insist, but I take no responsibility for anything that may happen to you. Remember, Relena, I am Shinigami."

"I know, Duo. I remember the wild shouts and declarations of the God of Death. I remember them vividly." Relena made sure that Duo knew she was not being sarcastic. "I know what I'm getting myself into, and it's worth it to be your friend." She started when tears began dropping from Duo's eyes.

"Quatre told me the same thing three years ago. He said that he couldn't care less, that it was a risk well taken for my friendship." Relena laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Quatre is a wise man, Duo. What do you think?" Do could only nod.

"I miss him, `Lena."

"I know. I do too."

"Will he ever come back?"

"If I have a say in the matter, he will."

"Do you think he's even still alive?" Relena paused for a moment, making sure that her voice would carry the conviction that she needed.

"I'm positive."

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"Have you seen this man? Has he been checked in any time within the last few weeks?" The nurse looked carefully at the picture before shaking her head.

"I'm sorry, I haven't seen anyone here who looks even close to that. Let me ask Chloe, she might have seen him." Trowa smiled at the nurse's kindness.

"Thank you, he would like you." She raised an eyebrow at that comment, but moved to find Chloe. Trowa waited for the young nurse to return a sad look on her face.

"Chloe hasn't seen anyone, either. I'm sorry. I could keep a look out for him and give you a call." Trowa let her make a copy of the photograph and wrote his number down on the back. "Hopefully you find him."

"Thank you." Trowa turned and walked dejectedly out of the hospital. He and Cathy had stopped to meet up with the circus in this town-whatever town this was. He had decided to search the town for Quatre before he settled into his new home. He walked into the local police station and handed the man at the front desk the picture. The police officer shook his head and went about his duties. Trowa stared at the picture. It was one of his favorites. He had taken the picture when Quatre hadn't known he was even there. Trowa smiled at the memory. Quatre had spent a long day at the office and had stayed the night. The next morning, Trowa had come into their office to find Quatre asleep on his desk. Quatre had looked so peaceful eventhough he was hunched over in his chair, his cheek on several papers. The sunlight was streaming in through the blinds and illuminated Quatre's hair to an almost golden color. Trowa had wanted a picture, but his camera had been borrowed by Duo the week before. Knowing that Duo had kept it at the office, Trowa searched through Duo's desk drawers until he found it. Luckily, the braided maniac hadn't broken it. When Trowa returned, Quatre was awake and staring contentedly out of the window, full sunlight highlighting Quatre in the midst of an office. Trowa had carefully taken a picture, hoping that Quatre wouldn't move from that pose. When Trowa had gotten the picture developed, he had practically jumped for joy that it had come out.

He sighed wistfully and brushed a finger across its glossy surface. Quatre, in all his glory, chin in hand, staring out of a bright window. Trowa could close his eyes and place himself back in that office at that moment, staring at the one he loved.

"Quatre, I will find you, if it's the last thing I do."

"Don't worry, love, it won't be." Trowa spun around looking for the source of the voice. There wasn't anyone around. He searched frantically for a crown of blonde hair in the almost deserted street, but could find none. He ran to the side of the building and peering intently down the alley-no one, and no escape. He turned and rushed to the other alley-again, no one. He sat down on the curb. Quatre's voice must have just been in his imagination. He rested his head in his hands and stared melancholily at the rapidly darkening sky. It was almost as if the sky were feeling what he was. The sky was morning for Quatre.