Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Lean On Me ❯ Picking Up The Pieces ( Chapter 5 )

Authors Note: Okay, the fifth chapter! Finally…well, read on, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own GW, okay? Why do I have to continue to put this?

Chapter Five

She was surrounded…the dust was choking her, and she could feel a heavy burden atop her. Her leg was throbbing too. In fact, she hurt all over. She groaned and then she drifted on into a deep sleep…

Vienna sighed and leaned back against the rocky surface, knowing she would die sometime within the next hour. At the rate Heero was thinking, Duo would have already finished forming a plan by now. She glanced up at the outcropping of rock that was protecting she and Heero from their deaths. It was holding, but it was easy to see it would give before long. Vienna looked at Heero, watching him. He looked alert and ready, and yet deep in thought too. She rubbed her eyes, realizing how tired she really was. It had been a long night, talking with Dr. J and the boys, and then the attack. "Heero, you may as well give up. The attackers will never quit. It's obvious they will never run out of bullets."

Heero did not say anything. He ignored her, watching for anything.

Vienna stepped forward. "Heero, hello, I'm talking to you." He did nothing. She threw her hands up into the air. "Okay then, I get the point! But can you at least answer me? Are you ever going to get an idea into your head? You are as slow as a snail."

Heero glared at her over his shoulder. She stared back at him, unfazed. She shook her head. "You aren't scaring me in the least."

His eyebrows rose slightly. He smirked and looked away. She sighed again.

All of a sudden, a loud explosion boomed in the air. Vienna screamed and dropped to the earth from surprise. Her brown eyes were wide. "Heero, are they blowing things up again?"

Heero shook his head. "Someone is attacking them. I can't see who it is." The bullets that had been raining down on them slowed, and then stopped as the bullets were now directed at helicopters and jeeps, coming to the teenagers' rescue. Vienna was smiling crazily with relief.

"We're saved!" she exclaimed.

"Not quite. We don't know who these new people are. They could be enemies."

Vienna stood and walked a bit from under the outcropping. "I doubt that. Who else would be attacking the WRF?"

Heero glanced at her. "The who?"

"Dr. J never told you about them?"

"No."

"Well," Vienna began, "the WRF stands for the World Rebellion Federation. They are the people we are going against. They are more powerful than Oz, White Fang, and Romefeller, at least from what J said. Riley and I have been blowing their bases up, as you probably figured out by now." She sobered. "It's hard to think Riley is gone."

Heero watched her, not doing anything. For once, he didn't know what to do. She looked as if she need comforting, but from him? That just was not his thing, and then it would more than likely scare the poor girl.

She shook her head, and forced a smile as another explosion erupted. Vienna leaned against the rocks for support. "I think I have had enough of explosives for one day," she said to no one in particular. "I wonder how they are getting those explosives into those things the WRF are in anyways."

They watched for a few more minutes, and to their relief, the WRF made a retreat from the oncoming attack against them. They cleared out, disappearing into the distance. Their rescuers slowly descended to the ground where Heero and Vienna were waiting. There were four helicopters, each equipped with guns on top of each, and missile launchers underneath. Heero held a gun just in case these people were not friends, going against Vienna's protests.

"Heero, please, this is how you repay these people for saving our butts?"

The wind from the propellers of the helicopters twisted her short hair around her neck and face. She brushed the hair away, and held it back with her hands; Heero had an arm in front of his eyes to block the wind. The propellers stopped and someone stepped out of the helicopter.

The man was tall and thin, with bushy red hair and brown eyes. He smiled at them, but his smile froze when he saw Heero's gun.

Vienna noticed and grabbed the barrel of the gun. "Heero, put it away. He isn't here to fight us."

Heero looked from Vienna to the man and put it away. Vienna smiled and nodded. "Thank you," she said.

Heero recognized the uniform and eased up. This man was from the Preventers.

The man stuck his hand out to Heero. "Are you Mr. Yuy, sir?"

Heero shook the man's hand, and said, "Heero will be fine."

"Right. And who is your lovely partner here?"

Vienna blushed a pale pink. "Vienna. And I'm not really his partner. We just got stuck together." An amused look came over the man's face. She suddenly glared at him. "Whatever is in your head, forget it."

"Hm, um, yes, ma'am. And I am Jaykan, sent here by Lieutenant Noin of the Preventers."

"That's nice," Vienna commented. She glanced over her shoulder to the place where the entrance to the main hangar had once been, and was now Riley's grave. She cast her eyes to the floor and shifted from one foot the other. Now that she and Heero were in danger no longer, the pain and sorrow had hit her, and now she felt like crying and giving up, but she could not do that there and now. Her heart ached. The two people she had grown up with were dead. Her `sister', and the only man she could have called father, but never had even thought of it until then. Why do things always have to happen this way, she thought. I gain friends and lose them. Is this how life goes?

Quatre sat up when the steady flow of bullets came to a halt. "What's going on, Trowa?"

At the front, Trowa was standing, looking out. He walked a ways out into the open early morning air and looked around. "I think they left," he said. "Let's go find the others."

Quatre smiled and the two friends went off. They had been hiding around the side of the hangar and it was only a short way to get to where the helicopters, Jaykan, Heero, and Vienna were. Jaykan noticed them first and mentioned it to Heero. Heero looked over. Quatre grinned and waved happily. He ran ahead of Trowa to them. "You guys made it out!" he exclaimed. "I knew you would."

Vienna bit back a remark that came to mind.

Heero took a quick glance back at Vienna. "We're fine."

Trowa reached them. Vienna saw him and then she realized something she had forgotten. Trowa's sister had just died, and he didn't know it. She know felt like a betrayer. How could she keep the truth from Trowa, when he deserved to know? She did not know what to do. Dr. J was gone, so he could not stop her from telling him, and it would not go against Riley either. Ever since Vienna could remember Dr. J telling Riley about her brother, Riley had more than anything wanted to tell him who she was. Now she never will, Vienna concluded. And it's all because of the World Rebellion. I swear, those people will pay, and their leader will die at my own hand, if it's the last thing I do.

Trowa was in his own thoughts. He had noticed Vienna was upset and troubled over something, but he was not certain as to what it was. Riley. It all became clear. Riley was not there. Where was she? She had to be alive somewhere. But then what if she wasn't? A dull pain filled him at that thought. He felt as if someone had stabbed him. Why do I feel as if I lost a part of me? He wondered. Is it because she always reminded me of my younger sister, who just happens to have the same name? He shook his head. No. Your little sister is dead; this Riley was just a girl with the same name. But then what about her mysterious past and her appearance? She really does look like me a bit, and she definitely looks like dad. I'll have to talk to Cathy about this. Trowa looked up and his and Vienna's eyes locked. The pain in her eyes told him for sure. Riley was gone. Now the pain hit him harder, though he had no idea why.

Duo walked ahead of WuFei on the beach as they made their way to the stone steps that lead up to the road, where they had seen, and heard, the helicopters land. They had not spoken to the other since their argument. Duo was glad; he had nothing to say to him anyways.

When he came upon the steps, he ran up them to the top. He first saw the helicopters and then his friends talking with one of the pilots. He smiled and jogged over. "Hey guys! You have no idea how glad I am to see you."

"Hello, Duo," Quatre said. "It's good to see you too."

Duo looked from one to the other; someone was missing. "Hey, uh, where are the old man and that friend of Vienna's?"

Heero glared at Duo. "Shut up, Duo," he growled.

Duo started at the tone of his friend's voice. That was nothing new, but there was something about it this time that stuck out from the others. He was trying to protect someone. Duo looked past Heero to Vienna standing in the back. She was staring off into space, hugging herself and shivering, even if it was not that cold out. He still did not get it. He shrugged. "Okay, whatever." WuFei walked up behind Trowa.

Jaykan had kept quiet all the while, but he had to ask, "Are all of you the people that those others were attacking?"

Heero nodded. "That was us."

"Alright then. I need to take you all back to our base. It is not far from here, which is why we got here so quickly after receiving our call from Lieutenant Noin. If this is all of you, we should be going. We have three helicopters, two extra seats in each. That's the perfect amount."

Duo frowned and looked around. "We are missing two people. Where are they?"

Heero groaned, shaking his head in wonderment as to how Duo could be so stupid. From the corner of his eye, he saw Vienna flinch, and quickly wipe away a tear that had appeared. She bit the inside of her lip and stared at the ground.

Duo looked at everyone. "Was it something I said?" he went on.

Surprising everyone, Trowa slapped Duo upside the head, glaring at him.

"Ow!" Duo rubbed the back of his head.

Jaykan cleared his throat. "We really should be going, before your friends decide to come back," he said in a desperate attempt to lighten the tense mood that had come over them all. "How `bout I take Vienna and Heero, and then the blonde and his friend can go in another, and then the last two go in the third."

Suddenly, Vienna exclaimed, "What a minute!"

Everyone paused to stare at her.

Her eyes were wide. "Where's Katana?" she asked.

All of them looked at one another; no one knew what had happened to her. Jaykan raised his eyebrows. "Who is Katana?"

"A girl who was staying with us," Vienna replied, not planning on giving out any information.

"Let's hope she's gone," Trowa said. "All she did was cause trouble."

Vienna shrugged, even though her rival's disappears troubled her. That girl did not appear and then disappear just as things were going bad. Katana was up to something.

They all spilt up into their different helicopters and flew away to the Preventers nearby base, the sunset rising behind them, welcoming another day.

After that day's events, they all went their different ways. WuFei went on his own to who knows where, Quatre returned to his mansion to do business, Heero and Duo did their thing, and Trowa returned to the circus and his sister; that left Vienna on her own. She did not know where to go, or what to do. Trowa had noticed that she was left to fend for herself, and he offered for her to join him. Vienna agreed to it with a smile.

And now, in the taxi driving them to the circus campground a few hours drive from the Sanq Kingdom, Vienna stared out the window, Trowa sitting beside her on the other side of the car. She had been glad he had asked her to join him. She hated the idea of being alone. She had always been with Riley, and if she couldn't be with Riley, her brother was the only other person she could imagine she would rather be with. Except Heero, an unwanted voice in her head suddenly said. Vienna almost gasped, but bit it back. Where did that come from? I'm still mad at him! So why is he on my mind? Is it because he helped me escape? She shook her head.

"Here we are," the taxi driver announced.

Vienna sat up straight in her seat as the taxi pulled to a stop. She stared up at the large main tent. She had only been to a circus once before, but that was when she was eight. There were plenty of things going on outside the big tent that she could not keep count of.

Trowa opened the door and stepped out. Vienna did the same, but slower. The driver took their things from the trunk, set them on the grass, and drove off. Vienna watched the taxi disappear and then she heard a happy cry.

"Trowa!"

Vienna spun around and saw a girl around her mid twenties or so, running forward to Trowa. Riley's sister, she thought. The girl had reddish brown hair that stopped near her chin and was slightly wavy. She gave Trowa a big hug and then noticed Vienna. She smiled at her. "And who are you? Trowa, is she a friend of yours?"

Trowa looked back at her. "Yeah."

Vienna walked forward and held her hand out. "Vienna."

"Cathrine. It's nice to meet you Vienna."

"You too." Vienna let the brother and sister talk between themselves, while she stood from afar, watching everything around her. She sighed, feeling Riley surrounding her. "So this was your life," she whispered to Riley, as if her friend was there with her. She looked down at her feet when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up quickly to see Cathrine smiling at her, though silently wishing it had been Riley.

"You can stay with me in my trailer. That way you don't have to sleep with the lions or something."

Vienna smiled. "Thanks. What about Trowa though?"

She glanced back at her brother. "Oh, he's fine. He has his own trailer, you know. Come on, let's get your stuff and you settled in." She picked up a bag of Vienna's and led her to a cluster of trailers to the left of the main tent.

Trowa went after them, but walked into his trailer instead of Cathrine's.

In Cathrine's trailer there was a small kitchen and table, a tiny bathroom, bedroom, a very small guest room that could have been a closet, and a living room. Pictures were on the wall in a few places, but otherwise, not much were there in means of decoration. The floor was a thick carpet of dark blue, and a rug was at the entrance of the door.

"You can keep your stuff in this closet," Cathrine said, putting a suitcase on the floor of a small closet near the couch in the living room. "The bathroom is right over there and the kitchen there. The room you will be staying in is beside my own. Eat and do anything you want to do, but right now I have to get back to the big tent for practice. I'll be back in half an hour." She smiled happily at Vienna and walked from the trailer.

Vienna walked over to a picture hanging over the couch. She leaned forward and stared at it. It was of a family of five: the father had brown hair and emerald green eyes. The mother had a reddish brown hair color and chestnut brown eyes. Just like Cathrine, Vienna thought. She then knew who this family was. Standing in front of his father, an eight-year-old Trowa stood, smiling at the camera. Vienna smiled too, trying to picture the Trowa she knew smiling. Standing before her mother was Cathrine, only two years older than her younger brother. And lastly, was Riley. She was only four then, but she still had the green eyes. Her hair was blonde, but it was still her best friends younger self. She sighed, remembering her best friend, and the one person she had considered family besides her brother. She slumped onto the couch and stayed there until Cathrine returned to the trailer forty-five minutes later.

Duo stared at the TV screen in boredom. His cobalt blue eyes drifted from the screen to his friend sitting at the table, typing on his laptop. He stared at him for a minute. What is he thinking about? Duo wondered. He sure is the strong, silent type. Dang is it annoying. Why won't he ever open up?

Heero paused and looked to Duo. "What is it?" he said.

Duo jumped, surprised. "Oh, nothing, just seeing what you were doing."

Heero looked back to his laptop. "I'm working," he replied.

"Yeah, I kinda figured that, Heero," Duo said sarcastically. "When aren't you working?" He stood, stretched, and walked to where Heero was sitting. He leaned on the back of the chair and watched. Heero ignored him and continued his work. A minute later, Duo became tired and wandered away into the kitchen. He scavenged through the refrigerator until he came upon a can of soda. He popped the top and took a long drink.

The sound of the phone ringing met his ears and he waited for Heero to pick it up. The phone continued to ring. Duo groaned, but put his soda on the table and picked up the phone in the kitchen. "Hello? Duo speaking."

"Hey, Duo!" a cheery voice exclaimed. "Guess who?"

Duo almost dropped the phone from shock. "Hilde?" he gasped out. "Is that really you?"

"Yeah, silly! Who else?"

Duo shrugged, but then realized Hilde couldn't see him. "I don't know. I just haven't talked to you in awhile."

"That's why I called. I was in the L1 colony and thought you might want to get together with me sometime. What do you say?"

Duo could not stop grinning. "Cool! When?"

"How about tomorrow night? I can meet you at your place. Say, around eight o'clock?"

"Yeah, sure! See you then. Bye!"

"Later, Duo!"

Duo hung up the phone and almost leapt for joy. The death of Dr. J and Riley had been a bummer, but now his day was getting brighter. He then frowned on that thought. He shouldn't be feeling that way. Sure, he had hardly known the girl, but still. She had been full of excitement and fun, and looked like someone he could have become good friends with. He sighed, wishing he had gotten to know her better.

Cathrine passed Vienna a piece of pizza on a paper plate and took a seat across from her in a chair. Vienna dug in, hungry since her dinner the night before.

Cathrine laughed. "You sure are hungry," she said.

Vienna smiled and nodded. "Yup. I guess being in danger does that to ya," she said without thinking of what she had just said.

Cathrine noticed the change. She decided to divert the subject. "So, do you have any family?"

Vienna hesitated, but then shook her head. "No. I never knew any of them. I know I had two parents and an older brother, but they all died."

"Oh, sorry. You and I have something in common though. I lost my family too. I only have Trowa now." She sighed. "I had a younger sister and two parents. My mom died in a fire, and my dad and sister died from a rock avalanche." Vienna flinched. Cathrine did not notice. "I miss them all, but I miss my sister a whole lot. She, Trowa, and I were so close." She smiled softly. "Trowa and I would spend a whole day trying to teach her how to throw knives and things like that. Before the fire, she had become so good she was out throwing my mom, which was surprising since Mom was one of the best."

Vienna thought this would be a good chance to get information on her friend's life before. "What was your sister like? I mean, how do you remember her?"

"Well, she looked like my father. Green eyes and dimples at the corners of her mouth. I remember that she had blonde hair when she died, but it would eventually become a dark brown, I would think. My father's hair was like that. Her name was Riley Marie Avianna Barton. I wish I could have known her longer."

Vienna bit her lip. This would be hard to keep the secret inside her. She decided to give Cathrine some hope, without giving the secret. "Don't worry, Cathrine. She loved you and Trowa more than anything."

Cathrine stared at her in surprise. "How would you know?"

"I knew her. She died a few years ago."

Tears came into Cathrine's eyes. "You mean, she was alive all that time and I never knew?"

Vienna nodded her head slowly. "She always talked about her older brother and sister. Oh, and she was excellent at knife throwing. She could shoot one as quick as lightning, and she did it perfectly. I don't see how she could've done it."

Cathrine shook her head. "I wish I had known about her. If I'd have known, I would have searched for her." She sat up straight. "I have to tell Trowa. I'll be right back. Wait, come with me, Vienna."

Vienna followed her excited new friend to Trowa's trailer. Cathrine knocked loudly and stepped back to wait. The door opened and Trowa stood in the doorway. He looked at them both, before holding the door open. They entered and Cathrine told him everything the second she stepped inside. Trowa listened, the surprise in his emerald green eyes noticeable. When Cathrine finished, he glanced at Vienna. She smiled at him.

"What about your best friend, Riley?" he asked. "The one who died last night?"

Vienna bit the inside of her lip. "She was my best friend, but your sister was only a friend of my best friend Riley." She suddenly laughed. "That's a bit confusing. My best friend is named Riley, and so is your sister. That's a bit weird."

Trowa raised an eyebrow, but let it go. She's hiding something, he thought to himself. Something isn't right.

"I'm glad you're here, Vienna," Cathrine said. "I feel so much better now. Even if I still won't ever meet her, at least I know she never died that awful night."

Vienna faked a smile and nodded. If only you two knew. If only you knew.

Authors Note--

I know this chapter was shorter than the others, but I decided to make it shorter, so deal with it! I know this chapter centered on the memories of Riley, but it fits, ok? There is a ton more Vienna cummin your way, so hang on!