Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Project Echo ❯ Part Two ( Chapter 2 )

 

Project Echo

Part Two

 

Author: Lily Zen

 

 

Notes: Ragnarok is the Norse equivalent of Armageddon.

 

…So, one day, a few weeks back I decided to re-watch all of Gundam Wing to ascertain if it was as awesome as I remember (it was better—there's a lot of nuance in GW that escapes the mind of an adolescent girl). Then I couldn't get enough of it and I started reading Gundam Wing fanfiction. After that, I found myself wondering about what kind of woman Heero Yuy would go for—in most fanfiction it seems that all the pilots are gay; while this makes for some interesting love scenes, it is highly unlikely in a statistical sense as only one out of five men are homosexual—and so…this came out of that. This part is very, very short and is basically used to introduce Heero, outline his life, and ascertain his relationship to Eris. From a plot stand-point, it is mainly filler, but provides necessary background information. Also, I am prone to long author notes, for which I apologize. Finally, I realize that to some people Heero might seem a bit out of character in this fic. That is for a reason. One, I do not believe that Heero is a “cold” as he is portrayed in the world of fanfiction. This is an over-simplified version of his character in the series. Two, I have decided to give myself lee-way as this is a twenty-one year old version of him during peace-time, not a fifteen year old child-soldier whose only purpose is to fight and die in war. I believe that during this time, a considerable amount of change would have occurred in him. Don't get me wrong, I don't think Heero Yuy will ever be a white-picket-fence kind of guy, but then Eris isn't that kind of girl either.

 

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing doesn't belong to me, nor does Dollhouse. The song I've used this chapter is “Change (In The House of Flies)” by the Deftones. In case you are wondering exactly what the purpose is of these song lyrics, well, I included them as sort of…scene-breakers, and chose a particular song because that is what I used to inspire my mood during the writing of these chapters.

 

 

I watched you change
into a fly.
I looked away.
You were on fire.
I watched a change in you.
It's like you never had wings.
Now you feel so alive.
I've watched you change.

 

AC 201

 

Heero Yuy smiled at the lens of the digital camera, after much provocation from one Duo Maxwell, who just wouldn't take no for an answer, the physical motion still not quite reaching his eyes. The camera tech, some new Preventer recruit whose name Heero wasn't familiar with, was merely happy he'd come in to take his new ID picture. Heero's old one had been an image from when he was seventeen, which didn't bother him one bit, except for the fact that it had gone through the washing machine one too many times and finally cracked irreparably.

 

Then again, it would be nice to actually look like himself on his ID. That would stop people from staring unnecessarily long, trying to imagine a younger version of himself. He hadn't changed too drastically since then, but it was enough that people questioned him. His hair was still brown and messy, though a little shorter than it had been on top, his eyes were still blue with their Asian slant, and his face was still rather fine-boned. However, his height now topped out near five-foot-ten, and he was broad-shouldered and slim-waisted, a far cry from the boy he'd been when he fell to earth those long years ago. Sally often remarked that it was a shame he was so good looking.

 

“I could hook you up with a million first dates, Heero, and I can almost guarantee they'd end well, if you know what I mean.” Heero had discovered over the years that Agent Po had a rather strong streak of sexual perversion in her that was almost at odds with the focused woman he had first met during the war. Peacetime changed people though, or rather it allowed them to relax their defenses and enjoy the more frivolous parts of life. “It doesn't even matter that sometimes your personality is just…abysmal. You're so hot, it wouldn't even matter what you talked about. So what do you say?” Heero had looked at Sally blankly, hopped off the exam table, and went to pull on his uniform, completely ignoring her in lieu of a verbal response.

 

Heero always declined. Granted, he was twenty-one, he'd been with a few people by then—he'd found that even he was not exempt to the human weakness that was lust and given into it quite reluctantly when Duo had commented, idly, that he was even grouchier than usual approximately a year and a half after the first war. He had gotten better at being around people not of his intellectual caliber. He just wasn't inclined to see anyone on a consistent basis. A long time ago, Heero had devoted himself to the idea of Peace, being one of the few who would actively work to protect such a fragile concept, and he had no intention of slacking off. Relationships were a distraction.

 

Duo was still chuckling, possibly at his unnatural looking grin, even when Heero walked over to him and scowled. “Come on, let's go.” His good friend and one-time comrade was fingering his visitor's badge, and he nodded slowly. “Yeah, I guess,” Duo drawled, though Heero knew he really did agree, “Better go see what bug crawled up Une's ass this time. I hope she's not going to give me another `I could arrest you for smuggling' lecture.”

 

“Hn,” Heero shrugged and they headed toward the elevators, automatically falling into a matching stride.

 

“I mean, it's not like I'm carrying bad stuff or anything,” Duo defended himself, “Just, you know, stuff for the orphanages that they'd have trouble getting otherwise.” After the war, Duo had, for the most part, gone his own way. Une had tried to recruit him multiple times for the Preventers, and he had finally accepted status as a part-time field agent. Basically that meant he was only supposed to be called in under extreme circumstances. He liked his life after the war though. The braided pilot tended to bounce back and forth between the colonies and visiting his buddies on earth. When he wasn't hanging out with Hilde at the salvage yard, Duo shuttled goods into various orphanages in the colonies.

 

“She knows,” Heero assured his friend as he hit the up arrow.

 

Duo pantomimed wiping sweat from his brow with a silly grin. “Whew, that's a relief. But then why do you think she keeps bugging me about it?”

 

They stepped onto the elevator while Heero said matter-of-factly, “Because you keep giving in.”

 

“Oh.” Duo looked crestfallen for just a moment, but as always, he bounced back fast, “So you think next time I should tell her where to stick it, yeah?”

 

At that point, Heero couldn't help but to smirk. “I wouldn't tell her where to stick anything. You might be giving her ideas.” He glanced at Duo wryly, then let his eyes coolly drift down to Duo's ass, willing his friend to get the joke. Of course, once Duo did, he winced and patted his own butt. “Ouch, gotcha. Okay, yeah, bad idea.”

 

They got off at the top floor and walked to the double doors at the end of the hallway. A cursory knock, and they stepped into Trowa's office. The pilots exchanged greetings, and Trowa picked up the phone and dialed into Une's office.

 

Trowa had risen fast through the ranks of the Preventers, joining in the early days of the organization like Heero. However, unlike Heero, Trowa had a knack with people. His skills as a mercenary, particularly espionage, had translated well into the world of organized law enforcement. Two years ago, Une had finally asked Trowa to be her personal aide. Her second in command.

 

He seemed to be happy in the position, and for some reason that was important to Heero, so he ignored the fact that Trowa had turned brass on him and now frequently chewed him out for his lax attitude towards `necessary' paperwork.

 

“Go on in. Wufei's already there,” Trowa told them when he hung up the phone.

 

“I thought Chang was on leave,” Heero replied, not moving an inch even though Duo had turned to head in. He paused at the other man's words.

 

Trowa shrugged. “She wanted him here, so he's here.”

 

Heero inclined his head in acceptance of this fact, then headed through the next set of doors with Maxwell.

 

“Ah, there you are,” Une stated before they were even fully in the room. Her hands flicked to indicate the three chairs, one of them occupied, in front of her elegant cherry wood desk. “Please have a seat.”

 

Wufei nodded his greetings to Duo and Heero as they sat, and Heero commented, “It is good to see you up, Chang.” Wufei had been Heero's partner in the field for four years, having requested the switch when Sally decided she was going to leave the fieldwork division for a position as the head of the Preventer Health Clinic. It was a fairly small clinic, mainly used for treating the kind of wounds some of their employees received out in the field (a lot of men were leery about the security of the public hospitals), but still a huge promotion. The switch turned out to be beneficial, as the two men had prior experience working together during the war, were similar minded in terms of dedication to their mission, and neither one minded the other's shortcomings (those being Wufei's temper, and Heero's quietness).

 

The last time Heero had seen Wufei, his partner had been at the clinic, having fractured his radius. He was arguing with Sally about being kept overnight, but the blonde woman was insistent as he also had a concussion. Of course, Wufei had been forced to take time off for his injuries, so Heero wondered idly why he was present in Une's office.

 

For his part, the Chinese man was sitting quite calmly, his arm cast a rough contrast to his traditional clothes, looking for all the world like it was perfectly normal for him to show up to work in what amounted to his pajamas.

 

“Thank you for coming, Duo,” Une gave the braided ex-pilot a wan smile as she sat down, taking a healthy gulp of coffee as she did so. Few people knew it, but she was quite the crab until she'd had at least four cups. “I suppose you're wondering what's going on. I've been getting snippets of some intel that could prove to be highly disturbing. There's this group…organization, maybe. We're not sure how organized they are yet. Anyway, they call themselves…uh….”

 

She paused, opening a file on her computer. It was clearly not a good morning for the Commander of the Preventers if she couldn't even remember a silly detail like a name. “Ragnarok. We've been hearing chatter that they are taking their commitment to anarchy beyond the theoretical. There may be arms manufacture going on here, but they're secretive. Normally, I'd send Trowa, but with the ESUN Summit coming up, I really can't spare him. That's where you come in, Duo. I'd like you to infiltrate the group at their Oslo branch. Ragnarok originated there, so we feel that this would be the best place to begin looking into things.

 

“Normally, I wouldn't brief so many agents at once,” Une admitted, “But this chatter alarms me. Yuy, I want you to see if you can pick up anything about Ragnarok here in Brussels. You've got CI's who may be of use, right? I also want you to set up a secure e-mail so that Duo can keep you abreast of his investigation. Chang, sorry to bring you in on this, I know you're still recovering—“

 

Wufei made a quick hand gesture with his uninjured arm, indicating that it was not an inconvenience. He really was quite dedicated to his job.

 

“Regardless,” Une continued, “I wanted you read in on this since you and Yuy are partners. This may end up being a long-term investigation, and I want you to be aware of how it is proceeding. I wouldn't want you to be caught unawares upon your return to active duty.”

 

“Very thoughtful of you,” Wufei commented.

 

Duo raised his hand, looking uncertain.

 

“Yes?” Une quirked a brow at him in question.

 

“Oslo's in Norway, right?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Crestfallen, the ex-pilot grumbled under his breath, “Couldn't be in the Bahamas, could they? Damn terrorists.”

 

“Any other questions?” Their superior asked. After a beat, she continued, “I'll have the details on your desk before lunch, Yuy. Chang, go home, rest up so you can come back to work quickly. Dismissed.”

 

I took you home;
set you on the glass.
I pulled off your wings,
then I laughed.
I watched a change in you.
It's like you never had wings.
Now you feel so alive.
I've watched you change.

 

It's like you never had wings…

 

The rest of the morning was rather uneventful. Duo made a nuisance of himself, sitting at Wufei's empty desk and entertaining himself with the office supplies. Heero spent the time actually working on some of his other cases. Contrary to popular belief, it was a rare that an agent concentrated on only one case at a time. Between Wufei and Heero, they often had up to twenty (or more) open cases at a time.

 

Then lunch rolled around and he stood up, stretching. “Come on,” he said, grabbing his uniform jacket from where it had been hanging on the back of the chair, “Let's go grab some lunch.”

 

“Awesome!” Duo shot out of his seat, “I've been dying to say hi to Irene.”

 

“We're not going to the cafeteria.” The dark haired man made a bee-line to the elevators.

 

“Oh…” Lengthening his stride, Duo caught up with Heero, “So where we going?”

 

“…Buffet.”

 

“Buffet?”

 

Heero gave his friend a look that stated `you heard me' better than words ever could. They stepped onto the elevator and rode it down to the third floor, where they took the skywalk over to the parking garage. For Duo's visit, Heero had borrowed one of the company cars rather than forcing his friend to ride bitch on his motorcycle. When they drove out of the nice, government sector of town and kept driving, Duo began to wonder where it was they were really going. Heero wasn't the type to be finicky about food, nor was he one to over-eat. Then the buildings around them began to get more decrepit looking until his friend pulled into a parking lot and turned off the engine.

 

“Caged Exotics Show Lounge?” Duo read, then turned wide eyes to his friend, “We're gonna eat lunch at a strip joint? Is that even sanitary?”

 

In response, Heero turned to his friend and deadpanned, “Don't be a pussy.”

 

“Ah, god, Heero,” they clambered out of the car, Duo still talking, “Buddy, I don't know about you, but eating is the last thing on my mind, watching those girls shake their stuff.”

 

Heero left his jacket in the car, not wanting to get identified as law enforcement in this place and headed for the door. He ignored Duo, who seemed set on complaining.

 

“—I mean, you said lunch, so I thought you meant actual lunch. Jeez, man, why can't you ever do anything normal?”

 

“Eat. Don't eat. I don't care,” Heero finally cut his friend off just as he pulled open the door. Their ID's got checked at the bar where an older man was working. There were a surprising number of people present, it being the middle of the day and all, and that place being a strip club, and a black woman dancing on the main stage. Then a strange thing occurred—the switch was strange to see, especially for Duo who was used to seeing Heero's indifferent façade, as Heero pasted on a public persona of being nice and approachable. He smiled at the waitress on staff and led Duo to a table with a good view of the stage, but not so near the other customers.

 

The place had a gothic S&M vibe to it, with actual cages for the dancers set up at strategic points. The girls tended to dress in a lot of leather and PVC. At night, the floor was smoky, the lighting an incongruous mix of romantic and dance-club that shouldn't have worked but did. However, during the day, they kept the annoying colored lights to a minimum and turned the fog machines off.

 

Heero ordered a soda from the waitress, so Duo did the same. Then the stoic young man smiled, really smiled, as he caught sight of something over his friend's shoulder. He lifted his hand in a wave, and then Duo heard the telltale sound of heels on the floor. “Hey,” a woman said, coming up behind them and around to face them both.

 

She was of average height, topping out around five-six, he estimated, with long, ashy blonde hair, an easy smile, and light colored eyes. Duo couldn't be sure in the dim lighting of the exact shade. She wore a skintight black tank top, and an under-bust corset made of black PVC. Her short-shorts and over the knee boots matched the corset, but she wasn't dressed scantily enough to be a dancer. In fact, the way she stood straight up with her shoulders back in a move of utter confidence and poise, but with one hip cocked and a fist balled up on it screamed `touch me and die.' The spiked bracelets on her arms helped too.

 

“What's up, man? Who's your friend?” The girl waved her fingers in Duo's direction.

 

“Eris, this is Duo. Duo, Eris,” Heero took care of the formalities with perfunctory politeness.

 

Eris leaned down a little and offered her hand. “It's nice to meet you, Duo. Like he said, I'm Eris. I tend bar here, so can I convince you to order a top shelf cocktail?” She grinned charmingly and withdrew her hand after they shook. Duo laughed, finding himself rather amused by the girl's honest approach to thievery. “Sorry, I can't. Gotta go back to work,” he explained.

 

“Shucks,” she snapped her fingers, “Well, can I at least convince you to leave an excessive tip for your soda?” Another unapologetic grin made its appearance. He couldn't help but to laugh, finding himself even more charmed than before. Eris lifted one shoulder in a lazy `never hurts to try' shrug and helped herself to a seat at the vacant table near Heero's elbow. She waved over one of the few dancers working that early in the day.

 

The other girl was pretty in that Irish girl sort of way, though her red hair obviously came from a bottle. “Hey, Harley, how's it going, babe?” Eris asked coolly.

 

Harley shrugged, her hips moving to the music on auto-pilot. “Slow,” then she smiled, “But it'll pick up. Sierra totally owes me one for taking this shift.”

 

Eris nudged Heero none-too-discreetly. “Buy your friend a dance, hot-stuff.”

 

Harley was chuckling to herself, having obviously caught the exchange, and was unsurprised when Heero just looked up and stated, “You heard her.” The redhead laughed and turned her attention to Duo, who soon found himself fully absorbed in the experience, but not enough to not note that Eris and Heero were having a rather serious-looking conversation.

 

I look at the cross,
then I look away.
Give you the gun--
blow me away.

 

When it looked like Duo was fully concentrated on the ever-so-flexible Harley, Eris and Heero turned to look at each other. He almost smiled again, but stopped himself. She noticed the twitch in his lips and smirked. However, she knew Heero didn't show up there for fun. It was, after all, the middle of his work day, and Heero never came to the club anymore now that she wasn't dancing—somewhere in the back of her mind, she was laughing and calling him a lecher. However, logic said this impromptu work visit was about business. “So what's up?” she asked discreetly, with minimum lip movement just in case Duo was a talented lip-reader.

 

“Ragnarok,” Heero replied, just as quiet.

 

Eris shook her head slowly, her hair sliding forwards and shielding her face for a moment until she pushed it back behind her ears again. “I can't talk about that, Heero. You know that.”

 

“I respected that when you said they were harmless.”

 

“They are harmless,” she insisted, “For the most part. I told you what they were up to. It's small-time shit.”

 

“If it was just small-time shit they wouldn't be on the radar,” he countered, hiding his mouth behind his soda glass. Her lilac eyes grew uncertain. “Is there something you're not telling me, Eris?”

 

“No. Not that I know of,” she trailed into silence for a long beat, “Really, Heero, it's…it's just a bunch of people who are pissed off. They're the type of people who're going to be unhappy no matter who's in charge.”

 

“Like you?” Heero rejoined in a careful tone of voice.

 

Eris frowned and refused to answer. When she finally spoke again, it was swift and her voice warned him that he'd better not try to force the issue. “Look, Yuy, I can only tell you what I know. Maybe…maybe I can do some digging for you, but don't hold your breath or anything, okay?”

 

He nodded, more than satisfied with that. She sighed through her nose and stood up, turning to head back to the bar. Impulsively, Heero grabbed her wrist. Eris reacted instinctively, twisting in the hold until her fingers were poised to place a rather painful nerve pinch on his wrist. When she realized what she was doing, she stopped with a sheepish look on her face. She shrugged apologetically and leaned down to Heero's mouth when he lightly tugged on her arm.

 

“Come over tonight?” he asked, whispering in her ear.

 

Eris drew back long enough to eye him speculatively. “Will your friend be there?”

 

“No. Hotel.”

 

“Then yes.” She floated away then with a smile and the man at the bar, who actually appeared to be the bouncer, relieved her post gratefully. Eris found later on that she was wiping the bar down in time to the music, anticipation humming in her blood. The effect that Heero Yuy could have on her was rather alarming in its intensity, and she thanked whatever higher power there may be that he appeared not to know it and didn't mind at all when she insisted on keeping her distance from the enigmatic man whom had tripped and fallen into her life like only a gift-wrapped present from fate can.

 

I watched a change in you.
It's like you never had wings.
Now you feel so alive.
I've watched you change,
and you feel alive.
You feel alive.

You feel alive.
I've watched you change.

 

It's like you never had wings…

You change…

You change…

You change…

I'm over.

 

 

TBC…