Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Reprieve ❯ chapter 19 ( Chapter 19 )

Title: Reprieve 19/?

Author: Lethanon

Archive: raygunworks.net and www.geocities.com/lethanon

Warnings: AU, Gundams, Zero system, evil doctors, 5+2, 3+4, 1+H?? general weirdness.

Chapter 19

Hilde was not sure if she should cry and run away or pull herself together and walk into the room. She had been debating with herself for two hours, and it was almost too late. Time itself would snatch the decision from her grasp. She had meant to go in, to see if Heero was alright, and Duo, but when she had heard them, heard the pain and despair they refused to show the rest of the world…Who was she to interrupt that? To interfere? Who was she to think she could be a part of such a thing?

But she had, and it hurt to see now, to hear now, how wrong she had been. So she sat there, slumped on the opposite side of the door, their muffled words barely reaching her, and she tried not to hear.

"It's okay to cry you know."

Hilde looked up, more than a little surprised to see Sally Po standing before her. The doctor was a nice person, probably a good person, but Hilde had no real desire to get to know her. Sally was simply…there. Another female personage on a ship of mechanics. Hilde had never really paid much attention. Perhaps she should have.

"Tears are foolish, useless…They solve nothing," Hilde spat, disgusted with herself more than anything else.

"Make you feel better though."

Hilde gaped; was the woman grinning at her? She was trying to be serious, trying to have a mature line of thought and Sally was…laughing at her! Still, maybe she had the right of it, Hilde could not be sure any more. Too much uncertainty and so little time.

"What are we going to do?"

Sally raised a brow but otherwise said nothing. She still seemed amused. Hilde didn't care; she wanted an answer, needed, craved, was willing to do anything but beg to have someone talk to her, if only for a moment.

"I suppose `we' will do very little," Sally finally whispered and for a moment Hilde thought she sensed a touch of despair, a hint of the same dark depression she feared might swallow her whole. It was so completely unexpected Hilde turned to face Sally full on and noticed for the first time the dark circles under the Major's eyes, the fine lines at their corners, the light sheen of sweat on the brow. This woman was tired, worn, somehow older than when it had all begun, and yet she didn't feel she had done enough. And wasn't that just typical of every maniac Hilde had managed to come into contact with since leaving home and rushing out to follow in her father's salvaging footsteps.

Looking back down at her feet, Hilde wondered for the very first time if she had made the wrong decision. If perhaps she was not meant to be out in open space after all.

"I don't know why I'm here!" She finally bellowed, slamming her hands down on her thighs hard enough to bruise and hardly feeling it. "All I know how to do is mend suits!"

"And all I know is fixing bodies," Sally pointed out.

Hilde considered that small fact a while. It was true; she had just as much reason to be there as any other member of Peacemillion's crew. She supposed that was why they hadn't devised a way to rid themselves of her yet. Not that they could have, while Miss. Piggy still had her ship parked un-neatly in her docking bay!

"You know," Sally finally stood, looking down on Hilde with a sort of fondness that made Hilde feel a little warmer inside. "A very silly old man once told me that Sweepers didn't just salvage mechs." She cocked her head to the side as she let that sink in before walking away. "I think he was right."

Hilde watched Sally walk down the corridor at the same time she sensed them docking with the Peacemillion. She couldn't help a lop-sided grin from forming on her own face as she forced herself to stand just in time to come face to face with Heero Yuy as he opened the door. Hilde took a moment to just stare at him, to see those fine lines again, the weariness, and the grin turned into a genuine smile. She could be a Sweeper; it wasn't that hard.

Heero was supporting Duo, who Hilde thought looked ready to pass out so she promptly slipped to the injured pilot's other side and helped hoist him toward the Peacemillion.

"You know, Sally thinks Howard is a silly old man?"

Heero looked at her as if she had just grown a second head, but Duo laughed lightly, hissing a little as the movement pulled at torn muscles, but otherwise completely following the abrupt change in conversation. Or for them, the new conversation.

"I like Sally," Duo whispered conspiratorially.

"Funny," Hilde replied, raising a brow, "I had a feeling you liked the Chinese ones, but I thought you went for brunette's."

Heero grunted but Duo looked completely flummoxed. Hilde laughed at them both, delighted. She could do this; she could salvage lives too.

"He likes raven-heads."

Hilde and Duo both stumbled, straightened and stared at Heero in a mixture of delight and stunned awe. Then Duo's face started to turn a startling shade of pink and Hilde saw a smile tugging at Heero's mouth and her moment was complete. She could do this.

*

Wufei waited nervously by the door as Sally emerged. He nodded to her as she shook hands quickly with Howard and made her way over. He had expected it. While they were in no way well acquainted, Sally was the closest thing he had to family out here and he had a feeling she felt the same way. In another time perhaps they could have been better friends, but for now it was enough that her hands fell on his shoulders encouragingly as she reached him and she smiled in that sly, know-it-all way he had come to admire.

"He's okay."

Wufei nodded in thanks as she walked off once more to speak to Harry and the men and probably drag half of them off for a proper check-up in the Peacemillion's med-bay. Wufei watched them go and even accepted handshakes from a few of the men who came to say hi to him. They hadn't been gone a day. It felt like weeks. Months. An eternity. Too long.

Then Wufei was not really thinking at all as Hilde and Heero emerged, Duo slung between them, each with an odd, rather goofy look on their face. It was an odd scene, not just because Heero looked to be almost smiling, but because they looked…at peace. Wufei knew immediately something had happened; that he had missed something, but it didn't bother him as he had thought it would. Duo seemed at rest, not in the deadly sense, but in a spiritual one. He had come to terms with his mortality and had accepted he wanted it; wanted life and all its trappings. Hilde seemed…refreshed, unworn like everyone else, filled with some inner fire that did not belong in war yet was somehow born into it. She looked to be fulfilled and Wufei was happy for her.

Heero…Heero looked like he used to on all the reports. He looked strong, sturdy, ready to kill anything that got in his way, and at the same time he looked…reborn. As if something had finally been revealed, proven. Something restless had stilled within him and Wufei knew he was ready to accept the next mission without a doubt, without question, regardless of the cost. Wufei had always thought of Heero as the perfect soldier, but now…now he had all the air of a perfect human being.

Then Wufei had no real time to think at all as they approached him and without a word left Duo standing, shivering slightly, before him and went on their merry way. Wufei watched Hilde and Heero leave from the corner of his eye, amused that they left together, walking a little closer than acquaintances were wont to do. Rather they seemed old friends, and that was somehow…right.

"Fei…"

Attention snapped onto Duo and before the other boy could protest Wufei wrapped his arms around the lithe form and spun on his toes, lifting Duo clean off the floor, a wild spiel of delight his reward. He grinned s he set duo's feet back on the ground, refusing to take his arms away. This was where he wanted to be; what he wanted to do…for as long as he could.

On impulse, Wufei swooped Duo off the ground and before anyone could realize what he had done, started heading toward their room.

"Fei! Your leg! Your shoulder! Put me down you maniac!"

Wufei only grinned and kept walking. He didn't mind listening to Duo's protests all the way to their room, where he let Duo slide free onto the bed. He made to move off, to grab them some water, maybe call Sally and ask what he needed to do, anything, but Duo caught hold of his wrist and pulled him down…

So close. Wufei felt Duo's nose rub against his own and stared into a gaze he knew too well. Uncertainty was there, certainly, but there was courage, fury, rage, hurt, pain, and over it all a blanket of belief that was for the first time in his life directed at him. Chang Wufei. It broke his heart and mended it again. He let Duo pull him down beside him on the bed, let the nimble fingers take their shirts and pull them away and then his hand was on Duo's chest, seeking, sensing, probing for the sense of a heart beneath of his fingers; of a pulse that proved all the things that mattered. Life lived here, beneath his fingertips.

Laying on his side, Wufei let his gaze fall to Duo's boots; the calf-high combat monstrosities laden with more secret pockets and knives than Wufei could find a way to use. Then his gaze moved up to the baggy priests pants, still singed and filthy and clinging to Duo's lean form. The black belt with its various loop holes, usually holding a small armory. Up the bare torso to his own hand, resting over a beating heart even as Duo's hand rested on his own. To the face where Duo's eyes looked at him with complete faith, their breath mingling as they just enjoyed the comfort of laying together.

"I love you."

Duo's eyes widened but he had no time to speak as Wufei took that one moment he needed to prove his whispered words with a lover's kiss.

*

Dorothy Catalonia had watched all the excitement in mute amusement; a rare feat, but she had doubted anyone on board would appreciate her usual zest for battle. She was delighted by what she had witnessed and had spent several hours reliving the entire experience to Miss. Relena, though the would-be Queen of the World did not seem all that impressed. Not that Dorothy minded. She was well accustomed to Miss. Relena's lack of enthusiasm for what was taking place.

Subsequently, she had soon left Miss. Relena's company and had found her way to the hanger. There she found the Gundams, none of which really looked fit for battle. Shenlong was, of course, in the worst shape, in a myriad of pieces as the Sweeper mechanics scaled its bulky mass and attempted to repair the damage, simply making new parts in a lot of places. Heavyarms looked almost ready for battle, though the cockpit was open and several men were visible installing…something. Sandrock was closed and silent, as was Deathscythe though several Mechanics were doing something with the black wings on its back.

Wing was wide open and half the inner parts strewn over the long catwalk at its side. Among the debris were Heero and that brat who owned the shuttle. Dorothy cringed. Despite all appearances she was quite annoyed at Miss. Relena. It was one thing to ram another shuttle, but…there was just something about the small salvage girl that made Dorothy feel…guilty about having done so. Dorothy Catalonia had never felt…guilty before.

Sighing heavily, Dorothy made her way on to the catwalk, not really sure why but knowing some small part of her just wanted to. They were conversing in low tones, each working a set of small boxes around in different configurations and discussing possible benefits and side effects. Of what Dorothy didn't really want to know, though the patterns looked familiar. She stood behind the girl, aware Yuy knew she was there, but otherwise ignoring them as she listened and watched. Where had she seen that star formation before? And there, that one that looked like Orion's Belt…

At the foundation's laboratory…had something to do with mobile suits…and then later…with Zechs and Treize. Something about adapting to fit a woman. Dorothy's brow furrowed as she tried to recall, to put all the pieces together, but it wasn't until Heero put the boxes in a square that it struck.

"This is…the Zero system!"

They both looked up at her, frowns on their faces.

"What?"

Dorothy rolled her eyes at Heero's diplomatic skills but decided to answer anyway. This was probably important, and she was there to help in any possible way…No one ever told her not to tell them about this.

"The Zero system. A VI interface capable of assessing all the variables in any split second situation by gathering all the necessary information form the pilot's mind, and then supplying the best possible ways to achieve the desired goal in order from the most probable to the least. The Zero system." Dorothy nodded her head, pleased she had remembered as much as she had. She wasn't overly fond of how wars were carried out, just the fact they were.

They were still staring at her as if she had grown two heads. She frowned further, wondering why this surprised them so much. She was, after all, from Romerfeller, so why was it so strange she knew what went on there?

"You've seen this system?" Heero finally asked, face impassive.

"Of course. It's in Epyon, and Tallgeese now I think…Treize also uses it with the mobile dolls. That whacky team of scientists created it."

"Whacky team of scientists?" The girl who owned the shuttle seemed amused by that turn of phrase. Dorothy, oddly, was not surprised.

"Yeah. They came to General Kushrenada a few months back and offered to build him something to beat the Gundams."

"What?" Heero actually looked a little confused.

"It's true! There are five of them, led by this freaky one with a mechanical eye and a fake hand…creepy." Dororthy shuddered just thinking about it, warming up to the topic of conversation. She never had liked those whacked quacks.

"Why would they build it for Kushrenada and then put it in the Deathscythe?"

They all turned to see Pilot 03 standing quietly on the end of the catwalk, leaning casually against the bulk of wing, completely confident nothing would shift and send him to his doom. Dorothy just stared at them all, not sure what she had stumbled across. The Zero system had been in the Deathcythe? Well that explained a lot of things. She looked down at the boxes.

"Get rid of that one," she pointed to a box that didn't quite seem to fit into the equation.

"Why?"

"It's for female pilots. It's not used in Tallgeese. You'll find it hard enough to master Zero because you're from the colonies and its designed for people from earth, but…only Une uses it with that box."

"As in the woman piloting Epyon Une?"

Dorothy nodded to the girl, wondering how they didn't already know all of this and why exactly she was revealing it so easily. Didn't this count as stabbing in her family in the back? Not that she really minded; fun was fun, after all.

Trowa moved up to them and sat down, starting to pull more parts from the boxes lying nearby as he assembled a second Zero system. It was then that Dorothy realized they intended to install it in all five Gundams. For some reason that didn't bother her, so she decided to go tell Miss. Relena about it.

*

Howard opened his mail and frowned, disconnecting from the network and just glaring t the small screen. He had one message. He wished he had none.

::TRANSMISSION: 00:00: From Shadowdiver: To Network: Download to Peacemillion at 06:00::

We're on your way. Have the kid ready.

G.

Howard scowled. G had his ship; his Shadowdiver. That in itself was enough to make him furious. But Howard wasn't just furious; he was scared. The Shadowdiver had not been in space in many years; since they build Deathscythe and completed Duo's training. That it should be dark-side once more was terrifying. The Shadowdiver was a horrendous weapon on earth. Space made it a thousand times more effective.

And G wanted Duo. Wanted, Howard knew, to either exploit him and kill him in the process, or just dispose of him altogether. Howard could not allow that. It was time to make a decision, and while it was obvious what choice he would make it was not easy.

The Sweepers had been affiliated with Doctor G for decades. Had dreamt of ending the Alliance's control together for a lifetime. That it should come to a close was something to mourn, and that it would end in such a way.

Howard erased the message, not wanting Duo to see it. He stood up, straightened his shirt, and moved to speak with Jax; the head of the Peacemillion's defence system.

"I need you to renovate the ship."

"Next port?"

"We won't be stopping. I want you to do it while we're floating. Install hyper jammers, new weaponry…make us invisible, even to our own ships."

"Howard…what's this about?"

"The Doctor is on his way…" Howard saw the flicker of recognition in Jax's eye. "He's in the Shadowdiver."

Jax waited patiently, eyes narrowing, a rage starting to build. No one stole a Sweeper ship; especially not that one!

"He wants Duo, and probably the suit too."

"And?" Jax asked menacingly and there was no mistaking the barely restrained fury within.

"And we're not going to let him."

Jax grinned ferally before moving off to do as he was bidden. It was some time later that Sally Po emerged calmly on the bridge. Howard could tell by the way she studied the men on that she knew. He said nothing as she came to stand beside him, waiting patiently.

"So what does this mean?" She spoke softly, eye focused on the screens.

"I think it means our Reprieve is over," Howard replied in equally quiet and fatal tones.

He was shocked when Sally wrapped her fingers around his and squeezed lightly. They stood there for a long time, just watching the screens. And waiting.