Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ For Myself ❯ Epilogue ( Chapter 13 )

Epilogue

"Keep it quiet," Harpid snapped, looking around the area in dismay. "We need to get it out of here before anyone realizes we were in here at all. They're only going to take so long before they realize the camera is down."

"You're so helpful..."

Harpid gave the man a look, wanting nothing more than to get Wing and get to Brazil. Rab would be happy as long as they had the machine back—and would forgive him for giving up. It'd probably been best for him to lay low with Winner running around anyway. Having left them gave him nothing to hide—he'd heard space-hearts could do that, tell when someone was hiding something.

He'd have to utilize that in his arguments.

"There," the other man hissed. "Let's get the fuck out of here."

"Right," Harpid agreed, securing the generator as best he could at the back of the cab. He looked up to Wing, then nodded once and clicked the button on. He was almost disappointed it didn't change anything visually, he wouldn't know if the thing worked until it was too late...but he had to try.

He slid into the cab as the man started the button that opened the garage doors.

It was close to dawn—with any luck, they'd be away from the base before anyone even realized what they were doing.

- -

Rab heaved into the toilet again, dropping over against the tub when he'd quit. It was all he could do to flush, and his world still swam as he stared up at the ceiling.

There was nothing left but to go to Brazil. He'd lost Wing, the Leos he'd had brought up...and the only soldier in the area that could use an MS was in ESA custody.

At least he had a helicopter.

He leaned over and heaved into the toilet, gagging and spitting.

"Rab?" Dardin muttered, moving into the bathroom. "Are you gonna be all right?"

All right?

Rab stared back at the man, wishing he had another drink at hand. Ranger had taken off on some quest to find Jaden, who'd evidently defected by grabbing the Williams boy...and taken Qingfu with him. His three most reliable men were god knew where doing god knew what with some little teenage toy...and all it had served to do was remove his pilots. Sure, Yuy was off chasing after the boy and Barton hadn't been seen, but Winner had taken over control of the base, and no one but bloody Maxwell would fly zero-two like that—no one but bloody Maxwell would have been able to stop Wing self-destructing...and this idiot was asking if he was all right?

"Come on," the man muttered, moving down to scoop him off the floor. "You need to pass out."

"Fuck you," Rab snapped, yanking away from him and stumbling against the counter. He pretended he hadn't nearly fallen over and tried to lean down to rinse his mouth out.

"Come on, Rab," the guy muttered soothingly, moving up behind him and supporting him. "Finish...and then crash."

Rabid stared at his own reflection a long moment, but couldn't find the will to fight when the man tugged him away from the sink. The world was spinning by the time he fell on a bed, and after a moment he was covered.

It would be so much easier if he were just dead.

Rab closed his eyes, though that didn't change the spinning, curling up more where he lay.

His last thought before sinking into oblivion was that Jaden wouldn't have let him drink that much...and Ranger would have been long-since passed out himself.

Why had they left him? They'd left him alone...they'd all abandoned him...

Darkness came.

- -

"I can see you understand me," Ranger hissed, studying Raymond's face sincerely. "I can see in your eyes you know exactly where I'm comin' from."

Raymond met his eyes, studying them seriously, then looked around. "Where are the keys?"

Ranger felt a flush of...almost joy as he studied the man's face, looking around himself. "I thought you had them...not that other."

"Shit," the man shifted around to be squatting in front of Ranger, digging at his key ring before stopping as if he had a thought.

"What?" Ranger asked, blinking slightly at him. "Tell me later...un-cuff me and let's get out of here."

"I just remembered something," the man noted, studying Ranger seriously.

"What?" Ranger asked, extending his hands again. "Tell me later..."

"No...but...you're a bad guy."

Ranger froze, noting a brief moment of amusement in the man's eyes.

The man snickered, then jumped backwards as Ranger tried to kick him.

The other man—the one who'd wandered off—started laughing as he moved back into the area. "You are a dick," he noted, hands in his pocket. "You understand that he'll be reprimanded for that, don't you?" he added to Ranger.

Ranger glared up at him.

"You hear him, though?" Raymond asked in amusement, moving to a cupboard. "He means what he's saying—he really does think shit's all out of line." He pulled a vial down...then a syringe and an alcohol wipe from other little bins.

"Obviously something didn't play out how the ESA thought," the blond noted, leaning against the wall as Raymond pocketed the wipes. "They swept through the rest of L-5 and only found like...three guys that were with them," he indicated Ranger. "But they had access to all sorts of nifty things."

Three? Ranger had only been aware of two guys left in L-5. There were six in the L-4 cluster, and probably five in the L-2...

"You heard Mattox," Raymond noted thoughtfully, tucking the syringe and vial into his pocket. "He said there's some base in Peru."

Ranger let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, looking innocently away from the two men.

"I thought he said Bolivia," the other man argued. "Or was it Paraguay?"

Ranger glowered at the man, looking away as something about their words struck him as a lie.

"Ooh! Colombia!" Raymond bounced. "Venezuela! Guyana! Suriname!"

The blond started laughing. "Oh! That's right! Brazil!"

"You two are both fuckers," Ranger spat, glaring between them. "What were you stealing just there," he indicated the cupboard.

"This?" the man pulled the vial out happily and bounced over so Ranger could read the name on the bottle. "It's a sedative—it's so I can sedate our prisoners if they become too...argumentative."

Ranger subsided, looking away.

The man laughed a little bit, looking around to the blond again. "Uruguay and Argentina both hit Brazil, you realize that don't you?"

"You started chirping out the little ones on top and I didn't get a chance," the man retorted. "Anyway, you missed French Guiana." He looked back to Ranger. "How were you expecting to get off this ship?"

Ranger gave him a sour look and slouched back where he sat.

He almost wished the man had sedated him, he was done trying to think.

- -

"Hey...Matty."

Matty opened his eyes, thinking for a moment that he was dreaming as Heero smiled at him. "We're landing, come on."

Matty sat up as the woman came down the aisle, making sure seat backs were up. She paused as he straightened his, then moved on.

He had to smile himself as he looked back to Heero. It has happened each time they'd switched planes. It was surreal to wake up and be with Heero, not chained to a bed or in a car.

It hurt his chest when they touched down, and the cessation of motion as they moved along the runway added pressure. Matty gritted his teeth as best he could, then blinked as Heero's hand engulfed his.

He gasped for air when the pressure released, and looked around to Heero. He had fractured three of his ribs from the fall—and he'd had to see a chiropractor to straighten out his spine. He'd taken a few muscle relaxers, which was why he couldn't stay awake...and he hated the sleep while they were traveling. It felt too much like Jaden yanking him from city to city...but that was L.A.

Whatever the officer at the Freetown base had done had gotten them more than first-class tickets.

"Brigadier?" a stewardess asked, moving up to their row and smiling. "As soon as you clear the way, we'll start offloading the other passengers."

Irritated muttering flickered through the back of the plane, and Matty started the process of standing.

He felt...slow...and heavy.

"Today, junior," Jinli muttered happily.

"Please..." the woman started.

"Junior my ass," Matty retorted as Jinli pressed passed the woman. She looked about to draw blood until she realized Matty was clinging to Jinli's arm. It took a long moment for him to help the younger man from the row of seats, and then he settled back to let Heero pass.

"Thanks," Heero muttered, smiling at him.

Matty moved forward, knowing very well that it was his injuries that had set the conditions of their flight. The Freetown base medic had seemed about to have a breakdown when Matty had explained what happened to him, and the chiropractor, actually.

"Thanks for flying with us," a woman at the entrance muttered, beaming at him.

He flashed her a grin, but didn't stop moving. He hadn't thought the fall would have hindered him that much, but he supposed he had jumped from a moving helicopter.

"Oh my god! Matty!"

Matty's head shot up as Lifon flew into his arms, crying as she squeezed him tightly...then freaked out with apologies when she realized it had hurt him.

Heero moved forward, shaking hands with Taofa before Lifon threw herself at him.

"Hey, dad," Matty muttered, hugging the man gingerly. He was grateful when that hug didn't hurt—his father had on occasion hugged him tight enough that his ribs were sore for a few hours...

"What the hell are you doing getting abducted?" the man demanded, not letting him go. The question was more soft and amused than anything. "What the hell are you doing getting drug off to China...and Thailand...and Myanmar...who gets kidnapped and taken to Myanmar...and Cairo?" the man pulled back to look at him. "Did you at least get pictures?"

Matty started laughing weakly, letting the man take his weight. The sense of safety and comfort he felt was pleasant with Heero...but this was his dad. It felt right...

"Shh," Taofa muttered when he started to cry, holding him closer. "I think that boyfriend of yours," he muttered that wryly to Heero, "forgets you really are only nineteen."

"I can only do so much," Heero protested, still holding Lifon. "And I try."

"I think I'm more relieved than anything," Taofa muttered, resting his cheek against Matty's head. "Even with you stealing him away from me...he's still my son."

"I am not stealing him from you," Heero retorted. "And I wish I had a father like you."

Taofa grinned at that, then raised his eyebrow at his daughter. "You taking her, too?"

"Our apartment's big enough," Heero retorted dryly.

"Can I?" Lifon turned excitedly to Taofa. "Really?"

"No," Matty and Taofa returned in almost identical tones.

Heero started sniggering.

"You done going on adventures yet, jackass?" Wufei demanded, moving from behind. He had a mark of blue paint on his left temple—which was when Matty realized there were several soldiers standing around. For some reason, all of them had the blue mark on their temple...like someone had paint on their finger and had touched them. Their eyes were everywhere, watching the crowd around them.

"As if I wanted to go on one this time," Matty retorted, studying him.

"What's with the war-paint?" Heero asked, looking around was well.

"A couple of the soldiers who've been working with Quatre decided they like his eyes," Wufei returned dryly.

Matty started snickering, pulling carefully away from his father.

"You look like shit," Wufei informed him happily, looking him over. "Good job."

Matty laughed, moving to hug him, then spotting Quatre talking to a few soldiers and gesticulating wildly. Duo was standing behind him, a wicked grin on his face—and he turned it slightly so Matty could see the blue mark.

"Yeah," Wufei muttered, watching the dark-haired male. "Me'n Duo decided his eyes were pretty enough...and he doesn't seem to appreciate it."

Matty laughed a little harder, then groaned as his ribs ached and hit Wufei in the chest.

"Ouch! Do it again," Wufei muttered, then laughed and darted out of immediate reach as soldiers turned to look at them. He ducked behind Jinli, who turned and started bickering happily with him.

"Can you believe this?" Quatre demanded of Heero, storming up to them and putting his hands on his hips. "It's not bad enough they all did it," he indicated the soldiers with his head, "but these two..." he gestured at Duo and Wufei.

"Hey, Matty," Duo muttered, moving forward to hug him. "You good?"

"I'm so good you wouldn't believe it," Matty retorted.

Duo smirked at him.

"Who has the paint?" Heero muttered, looking around.

"The guy Quatre was just yelling at," Wufei returned as Jinli shook hands with Duo.

Heero nodded, starting to move around the group with Trowa on his heels. Jin was a moment behind.

"Are you okay? Really?" Quatre didn't notice the exchange between Heero and Wufei. He moved to give Matty a careful hug. "What the hell you doing jumping out of helicopters, anyway?"

"I didn't jump, I fell," Matty retorted.

"You did it on purpose didn't you?" Quatre demanded.

"Well, I wasn't going to Brazil," Matty retorted, looking around to his father. "I was out of film."

The man started laughing.

"So you willingly jumped from the helicopter," Quatre informed him.

"You're awfully cross," Matty retorted.

"I have to deal with..." he gestured toward the men...then spotted Heero and Trowa with the blue mark on their temple and Jinli receiving it. "No!" he protested, turning on them. "Stop doing that!"

Matty started laughing weakly again.

"I want one," Lifon whispered, moving up to Matty's side. "I like that mark...I think it looks...neat."

"You just think the soldiers are hot," he retorted, giving her a look.

"Don't you?" she demanded.

Matty looked around to Heero, considering that.

She started giggling.

"So..." Wufei muttered, looking up to Taofa. "The two of you are coming with us to supper, right?"

"I'd hope so," the man retorted. "Because my son is eating with me, no matter what he thinks."

Matty gave him a look, moving across to stand beside Quatre and meet the man's eyes who had the paint.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Brigadier," the man said easily, squeezing a bit of paint onto his finger. "There's no blue paint anywhere." He reached over, and touched Matty's temple with it...then noted Lifon and eyed her in something that looked like suspicion, but was far too amused. "Do you know what he's talking about, Williams?" He ran his finger across Lifon's temple as she absolutely bubbled and beamed up at him.

"All I know," Matty retorted, "is that my sister is sixteen, and you better not charm her."

"I'm not doing anything," the man noted, looking away from her to grin wickedly at him. "Absolutely nothing."

"Just like there's no paint," he agreed dryly.

The man laughed, then marked Taofa's face as the man tried to dodge backwards. "Exactly."

Quatre sighed, realizing the futility...then blinked as his phone started ringing. "Hello?" he muttered...and all pleasure dropped from his expression. He stepped back as he listened, then closed his eyes.

"What?" Heero asked, blinking at him. "What happened?"

"Wing is gone," Quatre returned, looking back to Heero as he closed his phone. "Soldiers who should have been going to bed didn't show up—a bunch of them by the back gate. When men were sent to check on them...most of them were badly wounded and knocked out. When they checked the cameras, they were disabled...and Wing is no longer in the garage."

Heero stared at him.

"It's going to take...time...for them...to fix it," he added, closing his eyes. "But...I think by this point they have it."

Matty turned into Heero's arms, pulling him into a hug. He could tell the man needed it, even if his friends didn't seem to notice.

No, things definitely weren't over...but the question then became 'what happens next?'

At least they had Ranger in custody on 25...and 25 had been swept clean.

"Jaden said that they have resources in...Mali...and Niger...and..." he closed his eyes. "And Chad, and Sudan...he said they didn't have any in Western Sahara...and I got the impression there weren't any in Morocco, too...and they didn't want to go any further south than we were."

"Do you know why they picked Sierra Leone?" Heero asked seriously, studying him. "Can you tell us anymore?"

"I'll write anything down I think of," Matty reassured him, looking around to his sister and smiling slightly. He focused back on Heero. "Can we go home now? How's the apartment?"

"The main structure was sound," Duo returned, running a hand through his hair as he thought. "During the wars a lot of buildings were built to be almost independently structured. Or at the very least, it's a matrix of support so one wall falling won't cause the whole thing to collapse—that's how our apartment was done, so none of the lower ones were more than shaken up."

"We need to get you a phone," Heero noted, looking around.

"I think we can afford the same one you had," Taofa noted, pulling out his wallet. "We got that one on sale, though, huh?"

"We can get it," Heero informed the man almost pointedly. "No problems."

"We don't expect you to..."

"I can buy my own damn phone," Matty retorted, glowering between the two men.

Taofa gave him a look.

"We can...buy me a new one," Lifon muttered, grinning at her father.

"You don't need a new one," Taofa retorted.

Li made a face, looking to Matty...who stuck his tongue out at her.

Taofa gave him a very level look.

"I really want to go lay in my room," Matty noted, pretending not to see that as he studied the soldiers. They were there to keep him safe, he was pretty sure about that. He smiled slightly, feeling grateful, then looked around to Heero. "Can we go...just take a nap?"

"I guess...I'll come over...tonight," Taofa muttered quietly.

"I don't want to go home," Li muttered, moving forward and grabbing Matty's arm, staring up into his eyes.

Matty could see his mother in that expression, and he sighed, looking around to Heero.

"I didn't want get laid anyway," the man muttered wryly.

Matty kicked his shin.

"You are so abusive!" Heero protested, bouncing back a few steps and rubbing at his shin.

Matty snickered, looking to Li a moment, then indicated the exit with his head. They all started moving at once then, and Taofa sighed heavily.

"Come over to the apartment," Heero offered. "You can look at the old one with me and we can chat a while."

Trowa muttered something in Spanish that made Heero snicker and turn to smack him.

"What?" Taofa demanded, looking to Matty skeptically.

"I have a feeling that if we did know, we'd have to kick Trowa's ass."

Trowa laughed, then stopped and looked around.

"What?" Heero asked, looking back to him curiously.

"Where is Tim?"

"Ooh," Wufei muttered, flinching slightly. "I didn't even think to call him. He's been showing up at our house before work each day, too."

Trowa gave him an exasperated look, then looked around. "I'll go...go in and find him," he decided, looking around to Taofa. "Can I bum a ride?"

"If you buy me a phone," Lifon said happily.

"Smile at me," Trowa retorted.

"Excuse me?" Matty demanded, rounding on the man and flinching at the pain it caused his stupid ribs.

Trowa started laughing wickedly, then lowered his head as Taofa eyed him.

"He just wanted a smile," Lifon protested, smacking at him. "Anyone can tell he's just messing around."

Matty gave her a look as she smiled at Trowa, then bounced forward to hang off of Heero's arm. Trowa flashed Matty a wicked grin that told him louder than words that he was going to buy her a new phone—and Matty had a feeling he was just doing to annoy him.

He decided to let it pass with minimal notice—let the man buy her a stupid phone. Trowa might be a dumbass, but he did follow a line of propriety.

They needed to find him a girlfriend. Once he got a girlfriend it would be better.

Matty looked around to his father.

"I'm going to pick some stuff up at the store," Taofa noted. "I'll drop Barton off wherever he wants to go, then run to the store...you don't plan to be long, do you?"

"I can get my own ride home," Trowa started.

Taofa laughed a little. "Oh no...I wanted to talk to you really quick, so you do what you need to do, and I'll take you back to your place."

"The question becomes 'will I be alive when we get there?'" he noted, making slight air quotes.

"I think that depends on what you have to say, Brigadier Barton," Taofa's eyes were glittering. "Li, stay with your brother."

Lifon started giggling.

Trowa sighed regretfully, looking around for some sort of commiseration.

All he found was Jinli's smirk and Wufei's semi-innocent look. No one else was paying attention.

Matty looked down to his sister, raising an eyebrow.

She gave him her innocent look, and focused on the soldier who had the paint.