Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Mission Complete ❯ Heero Yuy ( Chapter 29 )

Heero Yuy

~*First Person, Heero's POV*~

Stretching, Duo walks into the room the two of us share, yawning loudly. Spotting me sitting on my bed, he walks over to me, peering over my shoulder and watching me type on my laptop. He gives me a curious look. "Hey, what're you doing?"

I grunt quietly. "I'm trying to find information on the girl I met a few days ago. If she's really against OZ, as she claims to be, we might meet her again, and I want to know what her real objectives are."

Duo sighs, moving away to flop on his own bed on the opposite side of the room. "Who, Judy? Well, if OZ stays in hiding, the chances of meeting her again are pretty slim. If we meet her on another mission, then it's probably too big of a coincidence to assume that she works for OZ, managed to escape, and was at the right place at the right time to convince you that she was actually the one who blew up the base."

I send him a glare. "She didn't have me convinced," I say, a little too sharply.

Duo sits up, grinning at me. "Sure you didn't," he says teasingly. I growl; I hate it when he does that. He ignores me and continues, "C'mon, Heero, admit it - you believe her story. Normally, you wouldn't think twice about shooting someone in an OZ uniform, even if they were holding a switch and the base just blew up. And if you even suspected that she might be lying, you would've killed her right then and there. And then, of course, you wanted her to meet us, so we could form our own opinions of her. I'd say that shows that you trust her."

This time, I don't even look away from the screen of my laptop. "Just because her story seems plausible doesn't mean I believe her, much less trust her."

"Really now," Duo says skeptically, standing up and pacing the room. "Well, you could've fooled me. Ya don't usually act like this, Heero. Usually, you'd have shot first and asked questions later, but instead, you decide that you actually believe what she's saying. For as long as I've known you, you've never acted this way. Are you sure you're really Heero? Maybe the real Heero was caught by OZ and you're a fake." He stops in front of me to peer into my eyes, and I give him the most lethal death-glare I can manage. He chuckles slightly and resumes his pacing. "Nope, you're definitely him. But it's not something you'd normally do, unless…" He stops again, this time by the door, and turns to face me, the trademark Maxwell grin on his face. "Hey, do you have a crush on that girl? It fits! Mr. Perfect Soldier suddenly going soft and trusting a girl he's only just met, even if she's dressed in an OZ uniform…"

Having Duo in the same room as me always messes up my concentration, like it's doing right now. Closing my laptop with a snap, I snarl at him. "Duo. I'm trying to do some research. Having you here is not helping. So I suggest you leave. Now."

He waves his hands in the air, trying to pacify me. "Okay, okay. I'm just saying, it might be true and you might not even know it." I give him a look, and he stops that train of thought as fast as humanly possible. "Alright, I'm going. But you know," He pauses, right before stepping out of the door. "You stuck a tracer on her, didn't you? If you really want to get some answers, maybe you should follow it, find her, and ask her yourself. Whether it's at gunpoint or not, it's your choice." Duo shrugs and exits the room, leaving me to my own thoughts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

Sometimes I wonder why I put up with him. Duo can be the most irritating person I know, but then again, he does come up with a good idea every now and then… even if they are a little strange sometimes. I sigh, step on a branch, and wince slightly as it breaks, quickly slipping to one side and freezing to see if anyone was around to hear it.

Nothing. Nothing except the normal sounds of wildlife you'd normally find in a forest. No trace of a human being anywhere… but still, this is where the signal from the tracer is coming from. Wondering briefly if it may be a mistake, I shake it off. There are two possibilities: she's here or this is a trap, and either way, I'll find out more about what I need to know.

Reaching a small clearing, I pause at the edge, just out of sight behind the branches. Glancing down at the device in my hand, I read that the tracer is about fifty feet away, a few feet from the opposite site of the meadow. Looking in that direction, I see nothing. Not wanting to take a chance, I skirt around the edges of the clearing and reach the other side, my gun in my hand. Pausing, I take another look at the tracer once again and look around. Finding nothing, I sneak forward. Only about twenty feet now… the underbrush is thick enough to be hiding something, and I wonder why she'd come all the way out here. The feeling that this is a trap is strong in my mind as I slide silently towards my target.

Fifteen feet… ten… five… I glance up, still seeing nothing. The tracer says that she should be right… about… there. I look in that direction, and see nothing but a tree. Moving to the side, to stay a safe distance from the trunk, I go around it quietly… and see the tracer wedged in between two of the branches. It's at that moment that the branches of the oak tree behind me rustle, and cursing myself silently, I lift my pistol and aim just as a figure lands on the ground…

~*Second Person, Your POV*~

'Why do these stupid trees have to make so much noise?' Silently cursing all plants in your mind, and sweatdropping slightly when you think about that, you land on the ground and bring your gun up, level with Heero's chest, just as you find that his is aimed squarely at you.

The tension in the air is thick enough to cut with a knife as the two of you stare each other down, minutes passing by quickly as each of you silently studies the other. Finally, you quirk an eyebrow at Heero, who seems slightly surprised. "Okay, this is getting us absolutely nowhere, so how about the both of us put our guns away and have a nice little chat? I have a lot of things I want to know, and I know you have a few questions for me, too."

He studies you impassively for a moment before he nods, and the two of you put away your guns simultaneously. You continue to look at each other silently for a few moments before you sigh, cross your arms, and roll your eyes. "Well, the only progression we've made in the last couple minutes is that neither of us is in danger of suddenly being shot by the other. So are we going to talk or are we going to stand here staring at each other all day?"

Heero smiles slightly, the first time you've ever seen him smile. "If that's what you want. You could start by telling me your real name."

You introduce yourself to him, complete with an elaborate bow as you twirl a few strands of hair around your finger. "And now, are we going to stand here in the middle of a forest for as long as this takes or would you like to go somewhere else to discuss business?" Without waiting for an answer, you turn and walk off. The rustling sounds behind you make you smirk, knowing that Heero's following. He catches up to you quickly, and the two of you walk in silence for a while. You glance at Heero, and notice that his gaze is directed slightly upwards, towards the canopy of foliage and branches above you. The late afternoon sun shining through the leaves creates dappled-green shadows that play across his face, taking away some of the coldness of his face and leaving behind a kind of innocence you never thought you'd see in a Gundam pilot. The light only works to make him look more mysterious, and you turn away, trying to hide the smile that's forming on your face. No need to make him think you're soft.

Heero catches you looking at him and gives you a slightly confused look. "What?"

"Nothing," you answer, a slight chuckle evident in your voice. The puzzled look in his eyes just makes him look so cute…

You can feel Heero's eyes on you for a few more seconds before he drops it, obviously thinking that it was unimportant. Now grinning broadly, you turn to look at the birds flitting through the trees above you, chirping happily as they did so. After a while, you feel as if you have to say something, and comment, "You didn't tell me you were a Gundam pilot."

Heero looks at you, his face unsmiling even if his eyes sparkle with something akin to laughter. "What, should I have revealed classified information to someone I'd only just met?"

You shrug. "Hey, it would've gotten me to trust you, if you could back up your claim in some way."

Heero is silent for a while, before he says softly, "You're too trusting for your own good." Confused, you turn to him, and see that he's averted his gaze from you. "Soldiers aren't supposed to rely on anyone but themselves. We've been betrayed too many times to believe everything people tell us anymore. But it's not something you can learn by being told; you have to experience it for yourself."

"Heero?" you question quietly. He doesn't answer, instead avoiding your eyes for a few minutes. You sigh. "That may be true, but I like to believe that people are all good at heart. Sometimes, they can make a wrong decision, but everyone has their reasons for doing what they do, and if you know those reasons, then you can understand just why they act that way." You turn to smile at him. "Just think about it for a bit. It works… most of the time."

Heero laughs softly. "Most of the time."

You grin. "Well, you can't expect my theory to be perfect, can you? Especially since it's coming from me." At that moment, you emerge out of the forest and end up a few feet from a large canyon. The grasses and flowers spread out all the way to the edge of the cliff, and walking forward, you sit down and dangle your legs over the edge. After a moment of hesitation, Heero does the same and sits down next to you. You just look at each other for a few seconds before you sigh and glance away, staring at the setting sun. "I suppose you want me to explain…" Without even looking, you can tell that he's nodding. Rolling your eyes, you flop back so that you're on your back, but your legs are still over the edge of the cliff. "Well, ya better get settled, cuz you're in for a loooong story."

You take a moment to gather your thoughts together before you begin. "Well, to start with, I guess I lived a semi-normal life until I was about seven, or about as normal as life can get when you're living in a time where everyone is constantly on edge and it seems like war's always about to break out. Up to that point, I guess I wasn't really that different from the other kids, except that I had a black belt in about every type of martial art you could think of." Seeing Heero's raised eyebrow, you laugh. "It was my brother's idea to enroll me in aikido. It became something of an obsession, and… well." You laugh even harder on the look on the pilot's face, and it's a few minutes before you can continue. "Anyway, at that point I think I was doing advanced training with knives or something, I've always liked blades… but one day, everything just kind of fell apart. I remember that my birthday was in a couple weeks, and I was expecting something good…" You take a deep breath. "You've heard of the L6 mass rebellions, right?" Heero nods. "Well, what happened was that my older brother was one of the rebels, though he wasn't as much of a fanatic about it as some of them were. They used to go on raids, attacked Alliance and OZ bases, destroyed as many enemy ships as they could… and finally, they, or the Romefeller organizations, as I should say, got tired of it all and just attacked the whole colony, since at least half the inhabitants were rebels." You knew that Heero probably knew all this already, but you couldn't help yourself. Anything to delay the inevitable as long as you could… "They fought back, of course, but they were hopelessly outnumbered. All of the rebels they could get their hands on were slaughtered, as well as their immediate families… my brother was one of the ones that they caught."

You stop there, closing your eyes as you try to calm your breathing and slow your heart down to its regular pace. Thinking about this again was enough to dig up plenty of memories you'd rather have forgotten. The scenes replay themselves behind your closed eyelids, and you remember the blood… the pain… the screams… running down the streets of the colony, only to be stopped by an Alliance soldier two feet taller than you. He grabs your shoulder, and almost before you can think about it, your practice knife is in your hand… then no longer, as it plunges into the man's heart. He falls, the stunned expression on his face never leaving it, and you take a step backward, about to throw up. Turning, you flee the scene as fast as your legs can carry you, leaving the knife and the dead body behind, trying to escape it and the fact that you killed him… you killed that man…

Heero says your name, concerned, and your eyes snap back open. You realize you've been breathing heavily, and try to calm down. You feel his gaze on you, slightly anxious even if he doesn't want it to be, and you sit up, shake your head, take a deep breath, and continue. "He disappeared the day after they came. It wasn't long after that the soldiers made it to our home, and my parents told me to run… and the Alliance killed them. I stowed away on a shuttle and made it to Earth safely… but I was captured as a stowaway and beaten by OZ soldiers. Luckily, they never found out that I was the sister of a rebel, or I would've died."

You stop, shivering slightly, not all of it caused by the slight breeze that's blowing through the area. You rub your arms, trying to get rid of the small goosebumps forming there, and Heero sends you a slightly uncomfortable look. He wraps an arm around your waist and keeps it there for a few minutes, and you lean in closer to him, glad that the normally stoic pilot wants to help. When you stop trembling and are ready to continue the story, he moves so his arm is no longer around your waist, and you sigh mentally. 'Why couldn't he just have kept it there?' Ignoring the part of your mind that's ranting that you should hit on him because he's the hottest guy you've ever set eyes on, you go on. "Well, I kind of wandered around for a couple months after that… kept up my training… got a new knife…" You can tell Heero's confused about the last part, but you ignore him. "I was eight when I met Doctor Y. If I remember correctly, he was having a talk with the principal of the school I was attending at the time. It erupted into an explosive argument, something about better training the students to handle life in the 'outside world,' where factions like OZ and the Alliance were trying to rule all of space. The principal kicked him out, saying that such training was unnecessary and too harsh for the students. I remember seeing him outside when school let out that day. All the kids were trying to avoid him, remembering what he said earlier, but I agreed… I walked up to him and told him I'd do the training, if no one else would. He agreed, and here I am today."

Heero nods slowly, taking it all in. You smirk, a sudden change in attitude from when you were explaining your past. "All right, now that I've told you about me, you have to fill me in on you guys. So," you lean forward expectantly, "what have the Gundam pilots been up to since the war's over?"

^*^Time Lapse, One Hour Later^*^

You stretch, glancing up at the now-dark sky that's slowly starting to fill with stars. "Well, now that all the explaining is done… It's getting late, so I think it's about time for us to split up." Heero stands up and offers his hand to you. You grab it and pull yourself into a standing position, staring up at the sky thoughtfully. "I should be going. I have a mission in a couple hours and Y won't be too happy if I'm not back at base soon."

Heero nods, then gives you a sharp look. "You have a mission tonight?"

You wince slightly. "Uh… yeah. I almost forgot about that during the fascinating discussion we had."

Heero doesn't seem to be paying attention; rather, he looks thoughtful. "Where is it?"

"The one in Alaska. On one of the billions of little islands off the coast."

"Strange. I have a mission tonight too, a few hours after yours. It's in the area of New York."

"Really now?" You ponder that for a moment. "Well, I'd like to come with you, except I have my own mission… Y will have my skin if I'm not there to carry it out."

"You don't have to come," Heero tells you matter-of-factly. "We'll be able to carry it out ourselves without a problem."

You shrug. "Yeah, but I'd like to prove to you that I'm really on your side."

"You've already convinced me," Heero tells you. "But it would be a good opportunity for you to meet the other Gundam pilots. If you want to come along, I won't stop you."

You'll risk Y's wrath. You go with Heero to help him on his mission. Besides, it's worth it if you get to meet the other Gundam pilots, right? That way there won't be any misunderstandings if you meet them in the future. - go to page fifty-four

Heero said he trusts you, and you'll just have to take him up on that. It's better if the two of you go off and do your separate missions now. I mean, two OZ bases in one night is better than one, right? - go to page fifty-five