Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Hating a Phoenix ❯ Chapter 10.0 ( Chapter 10 )

Hating a Phoenix, Chapter 10

By: Firey Angelwings

This chapter is dedicated in memory of all

The lives of those who died on September 11th, 2001.

May they rest in peace, and may their families

Be granted relief from their newfound grief.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing, the characters, or anything having to do with the show, etc…

~~~This one's short, but please don't complain about it…

     He stood in a small, brightly lit room. It was filled from floor to ceiling with tiny monitors, all of which were repeatedly playing a certain someone escape yet again from his clutches.

  “DAMN IT!!!!!!” Max Pavey led out a long roar of rage as he examined Relena Peacecraft's escape from him again. He shook slightly, and the guard outside the room looked in through the window in the door to see what had caused his outburst.

     Pavey paced furiously back and forth, muttering incoherently to himself, unaware of the time passing. Four uniformed soldiers entered the room. He looked up with his eyes blazing.

  “Didn't I order that nobody disturb me? How dare you break my orders!”

      Max lashed out a slammed a rough backhand across the cheek of one of the men. He staggered back, then resumed his position, his cheek red. One soldier stepped forward and recited in a monotone,

  “We were told to inform you, sir, of one successful development regarding Relena Peacecraft.”

     Pavey shuffled over to the one who spoke, then answered in a biting tone,

  “Is that so? Well? What are you waiting for? Tell me!”

     The soldier hesitated, then continued,

  “Your scientists reviewed the latest Phoenix blood samples taken from Relena Peacecraft and have confirmed that one Operation Lazuria is well underway.”

     Pavey whirled around and paced, less furiously than before. The soldiers watched him for a number of minutes, until one of them loudly cleared their throat. Max looked up, and then he laughed.

  “Excellent, excellent! This day wasn't a complete failure after all. You are all dismissed.”

     Once the soldiers had left, Pavey chuckled maniacally once more. He spoke softly to himself,

  “So it is I the victor after all, Miss Peacecraft. Just wait and see.”

     She opened her eyes only because there was a very sharp pain digging into the back of her retinas. Her eyelashes fluttered delicately, before opening to reveal cold, bloodshot eyes, the normally scarlet irises a deep and frightening maroon. She moved her head hesitantly, then was overwhelmed by a large wave of dizziness that sent her mind reeling.

     When she got control of herself once more, she wearily examined her surroundings and found…some odd sort of machinery, very sophisticated. She was in a small, enclosed dark room. Why was she strapped into this chair?

     She immediately forgot about her place when she discovered some horrible information in her mind.

`Who am I?' She asked herself, suddenly panicked. `What's my name? I don't know WHO THE HELL I AM!!!'

     But as soon as adrenaline began flowing, her memory came back.

  “Relena.” She spoke aloud. “Relena Peacecraft. Artemis.” Her voice was dry, brittle and cracked, and it seemed like it belonged to somebody else.

     As Relena began tugging away the straps of her seat, she recognized the Viore's interior. As she stood up, another violent wave of dizziness overcame her, but Relena managed to stay standing. Her memory finally stopped feeding her facts when she remembered what had just occurred to her. Her wings behind her tensed exceedingly, but then went very limp. Relena reached a white hand up to her temple, where she felt a warm sticky substance. She couldn't make out the colour through her hazy eyes, but she was sure that it was blood. A steady throbbing was tracing a line down her back between her wings, she was sure there was a cut there as well.

     Relena wasn't thinking rationally when she groped almost blindly for the button that opened the cockpit door. As the door slid down, a blast of frigid air slammed into her as she stumbled forward. She was concentrating involuntarily on the disgusting feeling of Max Pavey's hands as Relena attempted to fly out. About five meters away from her suit, her wings lost their powerful strength and she tumbled into a soft, cold yet compact substance.

Snow.

     It didn't register at all in her mind, however. Relena felt an insatiable need to escape from herself, away from her self-disgust. She closed her eyes lazily, then fell unconscious once more.

     A very loud bleep was emitted from one of the larger radar screens in the Mars control room. Milliardo and the others rushed over to check what it was. Duo spoke first,

  “Hey, that signal…that's…”

  “Wing Zero.” Quatre finished.

     Milliardo let out a savage snarl.

  “What the hell is he doing?”

     Noin came up behind him and softly massaged his shoulder, speaking soothingly,

  “He's heading for Earth, so I think Heero's going for Relena.”

     Milliardo jerked away from Noin's touch, and then spat out,

  “I'd never trust him with my sister. Not with the broken emotional state she's in right now. I can sense it.”

     Hilde softly muttered,

  “But is Lena even still alive?”

     Wufei stood up quickly and declared decisively,

  “Of course she is. Relena Peacecraft would not leave this pitiful world with such an exit. You can make sure of that.”

     All were silent.

     Heero jumped swiftly from the Wing Zero into the snow. He had tracked the Viore suit and it should be somewhere around here…

     The cold was deathly, but it didn't even seem to have an effect on Heero's skin as he plowed his way through. He moved like a cat, not hampered by the deep snow at all.

`Tempered skin.' He thought bitterly. `Comes in handy once in a while.”

     He switched onto full alert as he noted the huge dark shape of what HAD to be the Viore suit. Heero scanned the ground for a sign of Relena's body.

     A small moan was tossed to him in the wind.

     Heero's ears immediately perked up and analyzed where the sound could have come from. He headed a couple of meters northward when he discovered the limp form of Relena.

     Her skin was deathly pale and it matched her silver hair perfectly, which was frozen in ice completely.

     He looked around for a nearby cabin and wasn't rewarded. Survival tactics drummed through his head.

     First things first. Heero removes his heavy jacket and wrapped it tightly around Relena's body, making an obvious effort not to make direct contact with her wings. He checked her breathing, and was slightly alarmed at her slow, short breaths.

     Heero quickly dug a deep hole into the snow until he hit the ground. He checked the overhang to make sure that it would keep out the wind. He hollowed out the interior just enough so that his and Relena's body heat would be enough to keep them warm.

     As he picked her up and carried her delicately into the shelter, Relena muttered some incomprehensible words, shifting slightly. Heero sat against the wall, pulling Relena very close to him, hoping to warm her icy cold body.

     She could feel a steady beating somewhere. It's powerful pounding filled her, shooting down her limbs and stinging slightly as warmth invaded.

`So familiar.' Relena thought hazily until it clicked in her tortured mind. `Heero. It's him, he's here.'

     Relena summoned up enough power to use a basic way to keep out cold.

     Heero was visibly surprised as he noticed a slight bubble form around them both. He used a free hand to reach out and touch the membrane of what was surrounding them, and then looked back, startled, at Relena.

     It was a shield of fire surrounding them.

     Heero had a definite sensation that they would make it through the night.

     Milliardo had resumed his incessant pacing, with Noin watching him worriedly.

     Quatre, Dorothy and Catherine had all retired for the night, unable to do anything to help the current situation.

     Hilde had unknowingly picked up Milliardo's habit of frantic pacing until Duo placed a stilling hand on her shoulder. She caught his gaze for a moment, then stared at the ceiling, trying to blink away tears.

`Relena's my best friend. I can't lose her…again.'

    For some reason, Duo's presence was comforting. She returned his concerned stare with an answering glance, then collapsed into his arms, unable to take any more stress.

     Wufei and Sally looked much more composed then the rest----on the outside. Inside they were both a tumble of random emotions, what-ifs and thoughts.

      Sally blinked a few times, her eyes drooping. Without realizing it, she leaned and rested her head on Wufei's shoulder.

     He didn't move away.

     Pavey had assumed a remarkably cheerful mood afterwards. He turned back towards the matter of his conquest, and ordered his men to send troops to the Mars settlement.

  “Hey, it's the only place we haven't tried to take over yet, right?” He asked with a huge smile plastered on his face.

     A few hours later…

     The whole gang (minus Heero and Relena) had reconvened once more in the hangar. 20 minutes ago, Noin had picked up the signal of a large group of Taurus mobile suits heading for Mars. Milliardo, though still looking shaken, gave a thorough briefing.

  “I've had enough of leaving my sister's fate up to one Heero Yuy. Therefore, half of us will stay and fight the mobile suits, and the other half, myself included will go to Earth. Does anyone have a problem with that?”

     Nobody did.

  “Good, because it wouldn't matter anyways. So…Noin, Quatre and Trowa will stay, and Duo, Wufei and I will head for Earth. Good?”

     All of the pilots nodded.

  “Then let's get the hell out of here.”

`The storm cleared up completely.' Heero thought, amazed. `Hard to believe.'

     He carried Relena's still unconscious body towards the Wing Zero. The barrier of fire had receded once the storm had began to die away and was now completely gone. He glanced inquisitively at the Viore suit not far away, and then decided that he'd come back and get it later.

     Heero wasn't far when the woman in his arms moved and woke up. She let out a startled sound of surprise, then recovered quickly as he set her down. She looked a little shaky, and he held out an arm to steady her.

     Relena looked up and took in her surroundings, Heero included. The wounds of violation had finally stopped their bleeding, but she was now left at the mercy of time to heal. Thank God, she was thinking a little more rationally now.

  “Heero…” She breathed softly.

  “I'm right here. How are you feeling?” He asked once again in that monotone. Relena looked up.

  “I-I, my head,” A hand flew to her temple and traced the cut there. “My back…” Her wings disappeared slowly, and she could feel the long wound there more acutely. “I-I…I'll be OK…sometime.”

     Heero nodded, with some sense of understanding. It wasn't the physical wounds Relena was suffering from.

  “Am I correct in thinking you can't fly your suit?” He pointed in the direction of the Viore. Relena stared at it, dazed. She nodded hesitantly.

  “Alright. You'll have to come in Zero.”

     She turned her wondrous glance back to him, silent question.

  “There's a function that deploys a second seat in the cockpit. I've already set it up.”

     The rest was shrouded in a hazy mist for Relena as Heero helped her into the Wing Zero and into the second seat. Her mind wasn't really on her present situation.

     Milliardo, Duo and Wufei were traveling in silence. They were all slightly worried what the others would say if they made a comment on anything, so nobody talked.

     But they all made some sound of exclamation and surprise as a familiar figure emerged from the atmosphere.

     Wing Zero.

  “That's weird.” Duo commented at last. “Heero would have called ahead normally.”

     They watched as Wing Zero stopped in front of them, but made no attempt to make contact.

     Frowning, Milliardo finally hailed the opposing suit, asking Heero what happened.

The image of both Relena and Heero appeared on their screens.

  “RELENA!” They all shouted in unison.

     She leveled her gaze to hit her brother's on the cockpit screen, then sadly shook her head. The three pilots were taken aback by her dead stare.

     Relena caught Heero's questioning glance, then said softly,

  “No.”

     At Duo, Milliardo and Wufei's dismay, she continued,

  “Heero. I can't, I can't…face them. Yet. Not yet.”

     Heero nodded, then replied,

  “I understand. Let's get out of here.”

     At this, Milliardo suddenly ordered,

  “What the hell? Relena, we need to get back to Mars! We can work this out there!”

     She shook her head in the same sad, defeated way and answered,

  “No brother. Let us through. I'm not ready to talk to you yet.”

     All three pilots exclaimed,

  “NO!! WE AREN”T LETTING YOU THROUGH!”

     Heero's monotone sounded through them.

  “Then prepare yourselves. I'm getting through, whether you like it or not.”

     Without any other ado, Wing Zero shot forward, arming itself with its beam saber, heading for the nearest `enemy', the Deathscythe.

     A fierce battle ensued, the three opposing pilots armed with fury, Heero armed with cool calculation. Relena did nothing until she noticed Heero's slight disadvantage against the three. Calmly, she spoke,

  “Heero. Give me control of Wing Zero's wings.”

    He answered,

  “What? Why?”

  “Take it off your mind. And besides, controlling mechanical wings is easier for somebody who actually has a pair.”

     Without any warning, Heero surrendered control of the wings to Relena.

     Zero blasted forward with a speed like it had never used before. Tallgeese took a swipe at it, but the suit had swiftly moved and delivered a sound blow to its back. Soon, Deathscythe and Nataku were in the same state: able to move, but not able to fight.

     Wing Zero headed off into the void of space, its destination only known to Heero.

  “Shit!” Milliardo cursed.

     Maxwell Pavey received the report of his troops' defeat near Mars with a cheerful heart. He shrugged, then simply stated,

  “Ah, who cares? Bring me that champagne, will you? With Operation Lazuria, I've finally won against Relena Peacecraft.”

~~~Hey everyone. I'm sorry this was so short, but it was just to relieve that cliffhanger from the last chapter. For gawd's sake, I was receiving DEATH THREATS to post chapter 10! Such silliness.

You must have noticed, I dedicated this chapter to all those who died in New York and Washington on the 11th. It included 4 of my friends, who I will miss indescribably. Karen, Johnny, Geoff and Michelle, I will always remember you. Thanks for you support in everything. I hope that you've gone to a better place.

Angelwings