Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ For Myself ❯ Four ( Chapter 4 )

Four

"I think we can do this," Duo muttered, indicating a piece of the plan, "before the day is done. If we get focused on that we can get that bit done...and the roofers," he glanced up at the house—it was nearly done, they were mainly finishing off rooms now. "They should be done before closing today, too...which means tomorrow it'll just be us," he grinned slightly at his team. "Which means we'll be done by Wednesday."

They all laughed appreciatively at that.

"So start that going on, and I'm gonna go call Victor to get him to check things out."

"Right," they muttered.

There was a loud sound that shook the ground.

"MS," someone hissed, turning his head to look in the general direction the noise and vibrations had come from.

There was another sound, and the ground shook. Car alarms started going off, and just about everyone stopped.

"Hey, it's an MS!" one of the roofers called, moving higher. "Check that out! What the hell you think it's doing?"

"What is it doing?" Duo demanded, his heart fluttering.

"It doesn't look like anything," one of the others called, also moving higher. A second set of steps joined the first, and all the men started running for the ladders to the roof.

"What is..."

"It's firing?" one of the old soldiers demanded. "What's it..."

"Oh shit!" most of them yelled as a loud sound of struck-building came to Duo's ears.

"Demolition?" someone suggested.

Of a sort.

"I'm gonna...go meet with Victor," Duo noted, running instantly and shedding his vest as he did. "You guys get down if it comes this way, all right? I don't want you falling off...and try to get some work done!"

His heart wasn't in the final order, but they were all too distracted as the sound of destruction came again. Dogs were barking, car sirens were wailing, and people were crying out.

Not a good time for a flashback.

His phone started vibrating.

"It's started," Wufei hissed. "I'm on my bike, where are you?"

"On my bike," Duo returned, cramming his helmet on his head and gunning the engine as he shoved the phone away.

He was five minutes from the cave—and hopefully, that wasn't five minutes too far away.

- -

Matty and Blake moved out of the hardware store, looking around with interest. There hadn't been an earthquake in years, so evacuating the store...

Matty froze entirely as he looked up at a machine that should not be in LA, but one he'd also been expecting.

It wasn't Deathscythe, and it wasn't Demigod.

It took him a moment to realize something else.

Why were they outside Casto?

Ranger knew he worked at that specific store, and no one had known where Ranger was since Zechs drugged him on that colony.

Matty turned and ran for the covered area.

"Matt?" Blake called in confusion.

"The mobile suits are here," Matty hissed into his phone—he'd pulled it out as he ran. "They're right here, Heero..."

"What?" Heero demanded.

"The ground was shaking like an earthquake, so we evacuated the store, and they're here...Heero...it's on the other side of the parking lot."

"Oh, god..." there was no doubting the fear in Heero's voice. "God...hide."

Matty ducked down beside a pile of crates, gripping his phone tightly.

"Matt? What are you doing?" Blake demanded, moving up beside him. "My dad is going to be pissed. What do you think those machines are doing this close without...calling...to warn...us..." he stared down at Matty, then glanced back to the machines.

"Who is that?" Heero asked, his tone tight.

"Blake. He came up to me."

There was a chatter of dismay and people started moving around, moving toward them...and the ground shook.

"Fuck..." it almost sounded like Heero was going to start crying—the stress in his voice was evident.

"What's going on?" Blake hissed, looking back, then around.

"Get down here," Matty whispered, yanking Blake down beside him. Most of the people were scattering toward the cars. "God...hide..."

"What the fuck are you doing!?" Heero shouted, though Matty could tell by the tone that he was not the one in question. "They're at Casto! Matty can see them!"

"Whoa," Blake muttered, pulling away from Matty slightly to look at his phone. "What is going on?"

"We don't want to be seen by those machines," Matty returned quietly, yanking the man back beside him as the machine stepped clear of the building. It stopped, though, and turned slightly as the second set of steps stopped. "Please go away..." Matty whispered, still clutching his phone. "Please..."

"If it focuses on you," Heero whispered, "if it focuses on you, through a flash-tab at its third-eye...you know what I mean? Please tell me you have them..."

"I do," Matty agreed as Blake considered his face. "Third eye?"

"The camera's in the middle," Blake said quietly, indicating the spot above his nose and between his eyes. "When you get into astrology and...um...I think meditation, they call that the third eye. Give me one of those tabs."

Matty frowned at him and pulled one of the three he always carried from his pocket.

"Stay here, but if they do see you," Blake rose slightly, "go inside the building. That's a standard Leo, so it probably doesn't have a heat sensor. I suggest you go toward the lights section anyway, though. That should keep your heat signature hidden. Are you going to tell me why they're looking for you?"

"I'm not supposed to talk about anything," Matty started.

"Tell him, if he's a friend," Heero protested. "Duo's coming...he's in his suit."

Matty closed his eyes.

"Matt?"

"You were talking about the news," Matty said quietly, opening his eyes to look at Blake. "You were noting that every time I'm gone there seems to be a new development in space. You're right."

Blake dropped down to crouch next to him again as the machine took another step forward.

"I was the earth citizen on that ship of hostages taken back in January...and I think one of those two suits," he indicated the thing that had stopped again. "I think one of them is the man who tortured me. They lost track of him," he added quietly, staring at the machine. "And there's a general sort of fear he might be after me. He knows I work here, he's been here before—and that's why I have these," he indicated the flash-tab he'd given the other.

"That should be enough," Heero muttered. "What's happening?"

"Nothing," Matty returned quietly. "They both stopped."

"If I stay here they'll notice me," Blake muttered, starting to rise again. "I'll go out there."

"I don't know..." Matty started.

The man moved, and the MS turned and focused on him.

"Shit," Matty hissed, ducking back away.

"What?" Heero demanded.

"The machine noticed him move away from me."

Heero half growled and half whimpered.

Matty blinked, noticing something behind the buildings across the way from the store—he couldn't make out what it was, but the machine was closer.

"He said he was almost there," Heero whispered, "why isn't he..."

Blake moved forward, arms crossed. "What are you doing here?" he demanded. "Without store permission or the required permits you are not allowed to be in the city limits. You need to leave."

The machine took a step toward them.

"Don't be annoying," Blake snapped, not moving a step. "You're in a big intimidating machine, and for this stunt you'll probably be arrested for life—or court martialed."

The machine took another step toward him.

"Hey," Blake shouted a little louder. "The chance that you're running through city streets without speakers on is so unlikely you're going to make me laugh."

A few of the older men moved out as well, all standing straight.

The machine took another step.

Matty noticed that what he was seeing coming up behind was a MS...a dark MS.

"Deathscythe," he whispered.

"It's there?"

"Nearly," Matty agreed.

"Both he and Wufei have locks on your phone," Heero said, sounding a little more sure of himself. "I'm almost there too...sort of. Fuck."

"What?" Matty protested.

"Traffic...shit...I need a damn bike, too...this is...hold on."

Matty could hear tires squealing through the phone. He looked around a moment, then up...and stared in horror.

He'd seen Deathscythe and Demigod enough that he knew they were machines—but it looked like this Leo was looking right at him.

Blake's head swiveled around until he saw Matty, then raised his hands. "Avert!" he shouted.

Matty turned his head away as he pushed himself to his feet, closing his eyes as he heard the sound of the material of the flash-tab igniting.

Some of the people in the crowd cried out, but Matty didn't allow himself the moment of startled confusion he wanted...and then even more people cried out as there was another slamming on the ground.

There was a stunned moment...before people started shouting...and ran.

Deathscythe landed between rows of cars.

"Holy shit!" Blake shouted in disbelief, then turned and ran at Matty. Terror was clearly written across his face as he started to jump for the other, but Matty moved enough to catch the man, not get knocked away.

"It's a gundam!" the guy shouted, trying to yank Matty after. "They're supposed to be destroyed...we have to get away from here!"

Matty shook the man off, looking around until he noted Deathscythe focus on him, then took a step back. There was something...cold...in knowing it was Duo in that machine...and then the ground shook again as Demigod landed, and people really started to scream. They started running for the store, buffeting Matt left and right, but he stood his ground, staring up at the second machine.

"What the hell is going on?" Blake whispered fiercely, clinging to Matty's shoulder.

"They're here," Matty said quietly to Heero, looking over to the Leo. The thing hadn't moved, still watching Matty...but there was no way it couldn't tell something was happening. It should have felt the vibrations of them landing.

"Why is it just standing there?" Blake hissed, looking to the Leo as well.

"We probably should...move," Matty noted, looking around—he could hear a noise, like trucks. If it was the rebels coming, they'd been in a severe layer of hell, and he would jump onto one of those suits. He was not getting taken by the enemy again, not with Duo and Wufei right there.

"Why isn't it doing something?" Blake demanded, staring at the un-moving Leo in alarm as Deathscythe pulled out its beam-scythe...Demigod already had the whip in hand.

Matty yanked Blake hard so they could move to the side of the entrance. He wanted to see what was going to happen, but not stand in the open to do it.

The Leo finally turned...and the hatch started to open.

Matty grinned wickedly.

"What?" Blake demanded.

"Deathscythe has a cloak that hides it from electronic feeds," Matty whispered back. If the speakers were on—Duo'd had them on Deathscythe one evening when they were all in the cave, and he'd heard Matty talking in a normal voice. "If they're just relying on the cameras of their suits, they can't see either of those two."

"You know that?" Blake hissed back, staring at him.

"My boyfriend is Heero Yuy," Matty whispered, looking around to be sure they weren't heard. "Yes, I know that."

"The Brigadier General?" Blake hissed, staring at him. "Max?"

"The term 'perfect' is subject to interpretation."

The man guffawed.

"I use the term loosely," Matty added with a wicked grin, but then one of the suits moved...and Deathscythe swung. Demigod launched forward with a loud sound of its boosters, and the second Leo met it over the cars.

"Fuck!" Blake shouted, ducking down and pulling Matty with him. "We're too close!"

"Don't go anywhere," Heero snapped.

Blake stared down at the phone. "You put it on speaker?"

Matty snickered. "No, no I didn't."

The fact that he could laugh confused him to no end as the ground shook and people in the store screamed. By and large, he noted that the other civilians had moved to the far end of the building—and the fact that he thought of them as civilians struck him as odd.

"I asked you where you were," Heero added irritably. "The military is here...if they come grab you don't panic."

"Don't panic?" Matty snapped back. "I'm not leaving this place with anyone I haven't met before."

"They may not give you a choice, Matty," Heero snapped.

There was a loud grinding sound...and Matty's blood turned to ice.

"Shit!" Ranger's voice echoed around the parking lot as the Leo fell.

Matty turned and ran. They'd been at the back of the store, near the entrance the employees used or the stock was offloaded from transport. As the machine landed near the area they'd been standing, he and Blake were shoving through the doors that led to the main of the store. Through the large windows on that side of the building, he could see Demigod moving back and forth with the other machine, but he wasn't far enough away from Ranger.

God, Ranger was outside.

They broke through the entry doors as Matty realized Blake was trying to pull him back...but they both froze very still when soldiers with firearms lowered those weapons to point at them.

"Don't move!" someone shouted. "Get on the ground!"

"That's him!" someone else shouted.

The movement at the words sent Matty into another panic. He turned, pulling a flash-tab from his pocket, and started to head away...

"Wait!" Quatre shouted, jumping forward and grabbing his hands. "Matt, wait!"

"Jason!" Matty cried, relief warring with his terror.

"Stand!" Quatre ordered the soldiers in a voice that could make a pack of wolves freeze. "Stand!"

They stopped moving as Blake stood uncertainly, looking around.

"It's okay," Quatre hissed quickly, focusing back on Matty and taking the tab out of his hands. "They're with me...you're all right."

"It's Ranger," Matty returned, staring into Quatre's familiar blue eyes. "It's Ranger..."

Quatre froze, then looked around to the soldiers. "Secure the civilians!"

Matty's knees gave out as the soldiers began rushing into the building. Their shouts didn't seem very comforting to him, but then again, they were armed soldiers.

A car slid into the parking lot—Heero's car.

"You need to go with him," Quatre ordered, yanking Matty to his feet and giving him back the tab. "You need to get away from here. There's no questioning why the suits landed here."

Heero was there before anything more could process, pulling Matty to him in a fierce hug. "I was so scared," he whispered in Matty's ear. "I was so..."

Matty wondered at the past tense when the ground was still shaking from the fighting suits around the corner of the building.

"Let's go," Heero whispered, looking around to Blake. "Tell no one what you know," he ordered quietly. "You'll be compensated; your courage and bravery do you justice."

That sounded almost strange to Matty, but as Heero hustled him into the car, he caught a glimpse of Blake's face. The stunned expression the man'd had was slowly turning to pride. There was pride in his eyes, at any rate, and his back had straightened a little.

"Come with me," Quatre ordered Blake, turning to move into the store.

Blake looked back at Matty and smiled slightly, then followed after Quatre obediently.

Matty closed his eyes as Heero fussed with the seatbelt, then curled down into his seat as the man darted around to the other side of the car.

He didn't know where they were going, but it didn't really matter. He was with Heero, and that was all he really needed.

- -

Tim sat against a cave wall on a rock, staring distantly across the small meadow. He could hear the clanging sound of metal against metal...and the ocean. He didn't really hear Trowa, though, which was confusing to him. Trowa wasn't even a hundred yards away, and he couldn't hear him.

He raised his eyes to Trowa again, his stomach churning.

The man had a really big gun.

As he watched, Trowa planted himself with the...was it a rocket launcher? Tim's family had been pacifists, so he'd never learned the different guns...and a car appeared.

He jumped to his feet, very aware that Trowa'd told him to go into the cave if anything started happening...but that was Heero's car, wasn't it?

The car didn't alter its angle at all, and Trowa didn't move, the gun still raised...as Heero drove past Tim into the cave.

Was it big enough for the car?

Well, from what he'd gathered from Trowa, it had two mobile suits in it...so what was one more car on top of that?

Trowa hadn't moved, and after a moment, the sounds from the city seemed to get louder and more frequent. There was another loud sound like the one that'd happened before...and then something else entirely.

Trowa hissed.

"What?" Tim demanded in alarm.

"That's not Duo, and I doubt it's Wufei," he noted, glancing back. "Yuy?"

"I wasn't followed," Heero returned, still inside the cave as a second car door shut.

Trowa nodded, then turned and jogged back to Tim. He set the gun down at the cave entrance, and gestured for Tim to follow him.

"Not that I'm really questioning your right," Heero noted as they moved into the open area, "but what is he doing here?"

"I had a shadow when I ran from the office," Trowa returned dryly. "He wouldn't have let me go, so I pulled him in with me and took off."

"Oh, he kidnapped you?" Heero grinned at Tim happily. "And here I thought Matty was kinky...that's something else, Tro."

"You shoulda felt him kick," Trowa returned with a grin...but the expression didn't last as he moved forward and touched Matty's face. "Hey...are you okay?"

"If you think I'm not stressed out enough," Heero snapped, "at Ranger going after him, you're wrong."

"I'm not doing anything!" Trowa protested, though he did throw his arms up in a surrendering gesture. His voice was almost a whine, as if he'd had this argument out a few times and kept losing...and his manner...

Tim blinked.

Heero snapped something at him in what seemed to be Spanish, and Trowa looked away completely, moving back another step.

"If I didn't know any better," Tim muttered, moving closer, "I'd say the two of you were fighting over the same guy."

Heero's eyes flashed.

"Calm down," Trowa said quickly, moving forward again. "He doesn't mean anything by it...he...he hasn't seen it yet."

Heero looked back to him.

Matty moved to cling better to Heero, and Trowa backed off, looking around.

"What the hell is going on?" Tim demanded, looking between the pair of them.

"When we were on the colony last time," Trowa started.

"He's been touching Matty," Heero started at the same time.

"What?" Tim asked in disbelief. He was having a hard time following either of their statements...not to mention he'd heard enough about Trowa's reactions to Matty that he didn't want to hear more. He'd meant what was going on in the city. "That's..." he started.

The problem was that it came in as Trowa hesitated for response, and cut Heero off. It also sounded like he was agreeing with Trowa. Heero instantly started to argue, and Trowa started to return to that.

Timothy stared between the males, not sure how to stop them.

Matty was wiping his eyes as he pulled away from Heero, smiling almost shyly at Tim. "The guy who tortured me on 27 disappeared when they went and got the prince," he explained, wiping at his eyes again. "He just showed up in a Leo outside Casto."

Tim closed his eyes as the other males fell silent.

"The fuckers ran," Duo's voice came over a speaker near the wall. "They went over the fucking store and launched."

"Thank god it's brick," Wufei agreed, his voice tight. "My cloak is starting to heat up," he added. "Be out of the way."

Tim stared blankly at the speaker, realizing he could hear something approaching.

"Get him," Heero snapped.

Tim blinked as Trowa neared him, then nearly stumbled as something landed at the cave entrance. He was yanked quickly and unceremoniously toward that one speaker—as the light from outside dimmed and the ground started to shake. A moment later, the ground started shaking even more.

"You're shaking like a leaf," Trowa muttered in a quiet voice.

Tim turned to see him grabbing one of Matty's hands. But that couldn't hold his attention, even when Heero made an irritated noise...because the huge machine that stepped into the area was far larger than life.

Heero started bickering with Trowa again...as the second machine moved into the cave as well. Watching them line the things up and step back into scaffolding was...surreal. The heat that had enveloped the entire cave on the entrance of the machines hardly fazed Timothy at all...but his ears almost seemed to ring. When the hatch on the gundam lowered forward, Tim realized he couldn't tear his eyes away from the thing, even when hearing noises from the other machine.

That was a gundam.

A huge gust of hot air blew from the engines, which made Tim squint slightly...and Heero and Trowa started bitching at Duo.

"Sorry!" Duo called, bouncing out of the cockpit. "I forgot you were right there!"

"Whatever!" Heero protested.

"You two are bickering," Duo returned. "I wanted to make you stop...leave me alone," he moved back into the machine.

"Duo?" Matty called, moving forward—there were tears in his voice. "Duo?"

Duo reappeared, his expression concerned.

"Are you okay?" Matty demanded, moving forward.

"I'm fine," Duo muttered, hesitating, then gestured to Heero and Trowa and disappeared.

"Tim?" Trowa asked.

Tim stared up at the machine, trying to make his mind process something—anything, really.

"Tim?" Trowa repeated, moving up to his side. "Come on...we need to move away from here so he can vent it."

"That's a gundam," Tim whispered back, moving his eyes back to Trowa's. "It's...they destroyed the gundams...you destroyed the gundams...but that's..."

Trowa tugged him along after, and he noted vaguely that Matty was climbing a ladder with Heero behind him.

"Come on," Trowa insisted, pushing him to the thing. "We can stop at the top."

Tim managed to yank his focus away from the machine as he started climbing, and it was all he could do not to stop halfway up.

"Is he okay?" Matty asked, wiping at his face again.

There was a huge gust of air below them...and after a moment, heat rose through the cave—as the second machine hissed in the same fashion.

"Tim?" Heero asked.

"Sorry," Tim muttered, focusing around on the group of them. "I just...I thought you destroyed them," he appealed the question to Trowa.

"We wanted everyone to think that," Trowa said quietly.

"Why didn't you tell him?" Wufei demanded, moving out of the other machine. "I made sure Jin knew."

"Where is Jin?" Matty asked. "Are you okay? Fian? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Wufei reassured him. "We didn't really fight...not much. We were trying to avoid the cars in the lot and keep them to the same."

Matty nodded.

Tim focused down on the distant ground, then looked around. "Why is it so hot in here?"

"Two really large engines that were just heated up needed cooled down," Trowa noted almost skeptically. "It's like a computer—when it reaches a certain point it just has to..."

Tim punched him in the arm.

Trowa grinned at him, then looked back around to Matty. He looked like he'd speak again, but glanced at Heero and evidently thought better of it, looking around to Wufei. "How'd it do?"

"Handled well enough...better than I expected either a Leo or a Aries to," Wufei shrugged, moving back inside the machine. "We need to go move that rock."

"Where is Jin?" Matty called. "You didn't say."

"As far as I know," Wufei noted, looking over at them, "he's still at the apartment." He stopped, his back to them a moment, then turned to face them properly. "I think you need to quit," he added. "Ranger was there for you. You know he was."

Matty looked away.

"You and Quatre can hang out?" Duo asked, moving from his machine again as another vent of hot air puffed at them. "Until he loses his mind with boredom?"

"I need to call my dad," Matty returned noncommittally, rising to his feet.

"Not from here," Heero muttered, grabbing him around the leg. "We'll head back to the apartment as soon as Quatre gives us the all-clear."

"Where is Quatre?" Matty demanded, alarmed. "He was at the store!"

"He's dealing with the...social...aspect of it all," Heero explained. "He gets to explain to the military higher ups why he came in throwing his rank around without forewarning them it would be called on...and he gets to explain why the machines attacked the hardware store. He won't be home until tonight, I think, but he should call soon."

"Oh," Matty muttered, blinking. "I get it...I guess."

Heero ran his hand along the younger's arm, then leaned over and kissed his temple. "Just relax a minute, huh? Tell me about Blake."

"Who?" Trowa asked sharply.

"I'm cheating on you with another man," Matty returned dryly, giving Trowa a look. "Sorry to break it to you like this, but I can't keep the secret anymore. He's the guy I've been training all week for carpeting."

Tim snickered.

Trowa gave him a look, then glared accusingly at Heero.

"I'm not the one making an ass out of myself," Heero informed him nonchalantly.

Trowa glowered at him a moment longer, then looked around to Timothy.

"Heads up," Duo muttered, moving from the shoulder of the machine...and jumping to the walkway.

Timothy stared at him.

"What?" Duo asked, moving closer to study him. "You look a little pale. You alright, buddy?"

Tim nodded at him.

"I forgot his family was pacifists," Trowa admitted, looking around to Duo. "When we first got here, I pulled out the launcher and secured the premise."

"Smooth," Duo complimented him, then looked to Tim. "You gonna be alright?"

"I just...have to adjust...I mean...a machine that was destroyed...that I saw destroyed on tv...is sitting not ten feet from me." He avoided looking at it.

"We figured that some day they might need them again," Duo shrugged. "So instead of having them make new and worse ones, we just kept what we had."

"And destroyed it on tv."

"Actually, it was a desktop computer first...but whatever."

Tim closed his eyes.

"Tcch, Duo," Heero smacked his leg. "I'm sorry we didn't warn you," he added quietly. "But we, at least," he indicated Duo, "thought Trowa would have."

Trowa opened his mouth to retort to that, but Matty turned and threw himself into Heero's arms.

It was sort of cute, as far as Tim was concerned, because the moment Matty did it, Heero forgot the rest of the world existed.