Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Firestorm ❯ Chapter One ( Chapter 1 )

LSE / 9-7-06
(Firestorm - Chapter One)
rated: R - language, content, violence, sex
shounen-ai/yaoi

Chapter One

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I had almost reached the safety of the trees when pain exploded in my leg, sending me into a head-long crash into the dry leaves. With a grunt, I roll into more of a controlled dive, ending up crouched in the undergrowth with the injured leg useless beneath me. “Fuck!” I look at the splattering of blood for a few moments before tearing off a strip of fabric from my sleeve and tying it roughly over the wound. “Damn bullets.”

After checking to make sure my own gun had plenty of the cursed things left, I force myself up and into a low run. The base behind billows smoke and fire thanks to my efforts, but the goons pursuing me obviously were failing to appreciate a job well done. The ingrates. The ground blurred for a moment and I falter, nearly stumbling, before swiftly regaining focus and heading diagonally through the thick woods.

Focused as I am on not collapsing, I nearly miss the small beep from the locator on my wrist, but just nearly. I slow, panting, one hand going out to brace against a slender oak tree. Rendezvous point at last! I look to my wrist and turned the locator off, not wanting to hear it beep anymore, before scanning the area.

“Okay… I'm here, Heero, where are you?” I mutter, trying to ignore the small flash of irrational worry that flares up in my chest. I scan over the forest more carefully, and then catch a flash of yellow. Yellow…? I stumble forward, willing the leg to cooperate just for a little longer. What I wouldn't give for a warm shower and a bed! We'd been prepping for the mission all damn week in this stupid forest. I was getting tired of leaves in my braid.

The yellow I'd spotted turned out to be a scrap of fabric, and I study it for a long moment before tossing it back to the ground. No sign of Heero. “Dammit, Yuy…” I stare out at the distance plume of smoke against the night sky. I couldn't wait long or the soldiers would close in. On the other hand, I wasn't going to make it very far alone. Already I could feel the first lingering touches of shock setting in from the blood loss, and my leg shakes uncontrollably when I try to put weight on it. “When'd you get this weak, Shinigami ol' pal?”

I hear the footsteps moments too late. I spin toward them, nearly toppling. My gun wavers unsteadily at the soldier in front of me. He has a hard, battered look to him and a long scar cutting across one cheek. I draw strength from fear and settle more of my weight on the injured leg to look more capable. “Stop there,” I order, eyes keen on the gun in his own hand. He isn't quite aimed at me yet. I at least had the advantage of hearing him before he saw me.

“Preventer, eh?” he smirks, recognizing the logo on my jacket. “Figures.”

I weigh the advantages of having him dead versus the noise the gun shot would make to any other soldiers searching for me. Ideally, I could have snuck up on him and broken his neck, or disabled him some other way. “Drop your weapon,” I order, more to stall for time than anything.

Instead he tightens his grip and the muscles in his hand twitched. He's fast, but I was already committed. A single shot blows out the back of his head, gore splattering the trees as the body falls forward. I can hear shouts nearby. Damn! I start running, ignoring the pain. I ignore the sounds of pursuit. Soon the trees melt into the sky, everything crashing together into a chaotic moment. I can only see the ground immediately beneath my feet. When that, too, vanishes, I feel only pain and the leaves against my face.

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I gasp awake, coughing desperately. I feel a dizzying suffocation along with the sensation of drowning, and then hazily realized the water is gone. “Get up,” a rough voice demands.

Muscles and nerves screamed in protest as I haul myself more or less into sitting position. Everything seems soft and gray but is slowing gaining definition. Gradually I become aware of the cold floor beneath my hands and the thick metal over my wrists. They are shackled together in a wide band, with the chain running diagonally over to the steel pin anchoring it in the corner. Captured, then. Alone? I look around the small cell, and then to the soldier glaring down at me from the doorway.

They've taken all my possessions, leaving me in my boxers. The lock-picks and other small essentials I keep tucked into my braid could have escaped notice, but with the soldier watching I can't check. I guess it was a good thing Heero had the only copy of the base plans, if they hadn't captured him, too. With any luck… Surely they hadn't captured Heero. I kept my face calm as I watched my guard.

When he is sure I am listening, the soldier laughs. “What's the matter; can't stand, or are you groveling like a dog, Preventer? A pathetic waste of flesh like you couldn't have done this much damage to our base alone. I'll tell you what, you tell me exactly what you and your friend did, and I'll tell the boys to go easy on you.”

I smirk. “Right to the point, are we? If your base wasn't so fucking lame I'd have wasted the whole thing by myself. I don't think I did so bad solo.” I'm bluffing, but he's being serious then Heero escaped and I still have hope.

He steps forward, looming over me. I can't betray my weakness by trying to stand, although with the wound visible I couldn't be fooling anyone. “Last chance, brat. Talk.”

My heart sinks, but I give a wild laugh anyway. “Yeah, sure, I'm real good at talking, but unless you just wanna hear me yack I -“

Pain explodes in my jaw and I fall back, jaw stinging from the blow. I hear a loud pop when I stretch my mouth around but nothing seemed broken. The soldier chuckles, flexing his knee, “I'll see if you're more accommodating tomorrow, Preventer.”

I shudder and tried to tell myself it's the cold. He slams the door shut behind him, plunging me into darkness. In the high corner of my cell, beyond where I can reach with the chain, there is a little window. From this a little pool of moonlight streamed in. I stare at the just visible orb, marveling at the size. I always was amazed at how the moon looked from Earth, having grown up in space.

Does this mean Heero's safe? The plans, too… and Preventers knows where I am. Heero will tell them we were separated, they'll figure out I was captured. My leg feels stiff and sore. If my captors don't kill me, or the wound doesn't first, I have a chance of rescue. And besides… Heero would come back for me. He will come back for me.

Heero…

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When I wake it's daylight, but the cell is hardly any brighter. I feel dizzy still, but the bleeding seems to have stopped. I examine the wound for a while, figuring out the bullet's path through my leg. It had entered just above my knee and exited on the other side a little higher on my thigh, avoiding arteries and bone somehow. The muscle was shot to hell, but in time that could heal, and for the moment wouldn't kill me. I carefully tear a strip of my boxers and tie together a makeshift bandage. If only I had some water to wash the wound…

Next I explore the cell, which is only about ten feet long and six feet wide. The chain was about five feet long, and I can't reach the door at all. I reach back into my hair and strain to feel around, but find nothing. No lock-picks, then. If I only could the shackles off…

I sigh and settle into the corner, huddling up for warmth. Already I'm feeling too dizzy, too weak. I notice deep bruises along my side, and one clearly in the shape of a boot. Bastards clearly roughed me up while I was unconscious.

I glare at the door for hours, half-dozing. When the locks clanged open I jolt awake, lowering my arms into a defensive crouch. A different soldier from earlier stands there staring down at me in disgust. He looks young for this type of operations; maybe only two years older than me. He has a thin mustache, but that thick dark hair painfully reminds me of Heero's for a brief second, even down to the way it falls into his eyes. The cruel sneer on his face chills my spine. “Well, well,” he says in a cold voice, half-turning his head to the hallway behind him. “Don't you have a pretty face.”

“That's a boy, boss!” another soldier in the hall shouts and the others laugh. The lights in the hallway are bright, nearly obscuring the men from my vision. I can tell they've been drinking.

“Still, look at that hair, you sure it ain't a girl in disguise,” one of them pokes his head into the doorway. “There's girls in the Preventers.”

“Fools!” the younger man snarls, slamming the door shut. I glance around, feeling hopelessly trapped with the door closed.

I offered a shaky smirk, tossing my braid back. “Don't tell me you're the leader of those goons,” I scoff.

“Such a coarse voice. You really are nothing but scum, how charming. Colony brat, I'll bet, strange Preventers would use a child like this. I'm Lieutenant Tarsen, and you are?” He squatted down to eye level, leather boots creaking.

“You call this an interrogation? I'm going back to bed!” I slump sideways, eyes closed. No sense in making it easy for them, after all!

A fist shoots out and snags my braid, quick as lightning. I stumble to my feet as Tarsen stands, hauling me up by my hair when I nearly fall. “You insolent brat! Why did they ever give you a badge?” His eyes narrow and he pulls me closer. “You destroyed half the base, Preventer! I'm not here to find out why; I just want to know what your name is before I kill you.”

I give a hollow laugh, “I'm Shinigami.”

He has a mean punch, nearly as hard as Heero's. I go down, hard, pain shooting up and down my leg. Nearly lets me forget my sore jaw. I laugh again, nearly hysterical. Of all the ways to go, beaten up by some punk in a shitty cell on some damn illegal militant base! I grunt as a boot found my kidney. I pant, waiting for the blows to stop.

“Get up,” he orders, backing off slightly.

The floor shimmers and I cough hoarsely. I shiver, waiting for the pain to fade before struggling to get back on my feet. There's blood smeared on the walls and floor, and I let out a shaky laugh. How much more before I could pass out? Maybe I should have stayed lying down. “Ha… fucking pansy,” I spit, grinning at the Lieutenant.

He backhands me. I tense, waiting for the next blow, but instead Tarsen walks away from me. He throws open the door, causing the soldiers waiting outside to jump back in alarm. “All right, boys! You want to know who blew up all your friends while they were sleeping? What coward chose espionage over a proper battle? Here he is, boys. All yours.”

The soldiers grin among themselves, advancing. The Lieutenant smirks over his shoulder at me before striding off, boots striking the metal floor.

Oh. This was going to hurt.

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I lost all track of time, fading in and out of consciousness on the floor of my cell. Sometimes I think I hear voices, but whenever I try to listen they faded away. I ride wave after wave of pain, dreaming off and on of Heero and various nightmares. I'm back on L2, before the war, sobbing over Solo's dead body, Sister Helen, Father Maxwell… Heero's sobbing over my body. There's no relief when I wake, only fear. I lie, shivering and weeping until I fall asleep again. Day fades into night.

I wake, shaking and sweating from a nightmare, to see a canteen of water and a few pieces of bread on the floor near the edge of my reach. I crawl over and drink all the water. It's tepid, and warm, but soothing on my throat. I remember I was going to wash my bullet wound. Oh, well. I eat the bread and immediately felt thirsty again. It was so dry and stale! Food means they aren't trying to kill me. Not reassuring, except help is on the way. If I can stay alive… I let out a soft sob, indulging in self-pity.

I fall asleep like that, sprawled at the edge of the chain. I dream of being engulfed in the explosion, flames licking at my skin. When I wake, I still felt hot. Not a fever? The metal of the shackles feels cool against face. I can't tell if I'm running a fever. The floor tilts sickeningly; there was no way I can sit up. I lay there for a while longer, resting, until the door opens. I squint in the sudden bright, artificial light streaming in.

It's the older man, the first one to speak with me. I study his face more carefully now. He has the look of a professional soldier, with heavy shoulders and light brown hair cut short, grey flecking the temples. “Ready to talk yet, Preventer?”

I cough, licking my lips. “Not before breakfast. It's rude.”

The man glares at me for a long time. “I'll see if you're more accommodating tomorrow, Preventer.” And with that, the soldier left.

I laugh, rolling on to my side. The ceiling and walls spin around too much, so I close my eyes. Some interrogation! But, I don't think I could have taken another beating. Every inch of my body aches already, fire seeping into my joints and making me long for something softer to lie on. I shiver. How long would it be? This had to only be my second or third day in confinement. Without anything to do, time crawls along. I close my eyes and day dream, sometimes really falling asleep. I just laugh when Lieutenant Tarsen comes back in the early evening.

Just like that, then, I thought muzzily, embracing unconsciousness.

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Author's Notes: ...I'm a bad author. I'm so sorry! Forgive me, everyone, I've been so mean to you!
With that over with, hello again everyone! Vi here with new story for you. Don't ask me where it came from, my muses are just psychotic like that. What do you think? I'll have the second chapter out soon as I can! (I have my hands full with school, work, and boyfriend, oh, and no internet at my house so I have to use his...)
This isn't going to be a cheerful story. Reader discretion is advised! You have been warned (but remember, folks, Vi likes Heero and Duo an awful lot! She tortures them because that's how Vi likes to express her love. Praise the angst! Praise 1x2!) Please be kind oo() I know I'm rusty! Hopefully I'll get back in my writing groove soon!
Until next time, Vi out!

Feedback/reviews are very much appreciated!
copyright 2006 - Gundam Wing & Co. (c) Sotsu/Sunrise
LSE - Violet Nyte
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