Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Resistance is Futile ❯ Hero Worship ( Chapter 9 )

Chapter 9 - Hero Worship

Heero stared amazed at the just appeared spaceship. Only marginally he noticed Seven helping Wufei up. Finally Duo's excited voice tore him out of his torpidity. "Cooooooool," he called enthusiastic, "I want something like that for Deathscythe, too!"

"You're gonna like the interior," Duo continued and pulled Heero happily after him towards the spaceship. The other pilots also went straight to the ramp that just extended of the ship and followed the Doctor, Seven and Wufei inside.

While they were entering the ship Duo caressed it's hull admiringly. "I wonder what that's for a material," he mused, "It surely isn't gundamium."

Heero didn't reply anything. He was too busy with his own thoughts. He tried to put all the different events of the last days in some kind of sensible order. Everything had happened so unbelievingly fast that he hadn't had enough time to think everything over.

First the weird events on the base that led to his injuries - he was anew surprised at his fast healing - then the explanations of the two strangers which were really hard to accept, and at last his own, more than atypical and strange behaviour.

Why did he let Duo hold his hand so willingly - and even enjoyed it, though he never would admit this fact. Could it be due to his injuries, respectively what the strangers had done to heal him? Or could there be another reason for him not only to allow this physical contact but to engage it?

Meanwhile they had entered the ship and Heero was abruptly torn out of his confused thoughts. Amazed he looked at the equipment of the strange spaceship. But Duo didn't let him enough time to look at everything, he simply pulled him towards the front part of the ship.

There he dropped into one of the seats and admired the monitors and control panel in front of him. "That surely has to be the cockpit," he said and smiled wide-eyed at Heero.

"Hn," Heero just said, but couldn't deny the fascination of the strange equipment.

Duo looked again down at the control panel in front of him and murmured, "I wonder what that's gonna do," and the next moment he was pressing randomly some buttons.

"Duo!" Heero hissed and tugged quickly at his hand, "Stop it, baka! You probably just activated the self-destruction!"

"Jeez, Heero, don't get steamed up about it," Duo rolled his eyes, "Nothing happened."

"And that is because the cockpit is protected against unauthorised access," they suddenly heard Seven's emotionless voice behind them.

"See, Hee-chan, nothing happened, just like I said," Duo grinned at Heero.

"Hn," was all Heero replied.

Then he turned to Seven and asked, "Where is this proof of yours?"

"Follow me," Seven said, turned around and went into the back.

Duo and Heero shared a quick look and followed her into the back part of the ship.

The Doctor and the other three pilots were already gathered around a big screen and Seven, Duo and Heero joined them.

"You wanted proof," Seven said, "Here is it. Computer, open file epsilon four seven." The next moment the file opened on the screen and the five pilots stared shocked at the picture they could see there. [1]

Duo was - just as always - the first to get his voice back. "... definitely not Swedish," he murmured. [2]

"That is a Borg?" Quatre asked and swallowed hard, "It doesn't look very human any more."

Heero stared concentrated at the picture and turned to Seven without taking his gaze off the screen. "It doesn't look like those on the base."

"That is correct," the woman answered. "This is the usual appearance of a drone. What you had seen on the base are a new kind of drones which keep their human appearance and are used for infiltration. But that - and that they usually are not able to assimilate - is the only difference between them. They are also controlled by the collective just like every other drone."

Heero and the other four pilots listened silent to Seven's further explanations and looked at all the evidence she gave them. And in the end Heero was convinced that the story of the two strangers was true.

Heero's thoughts raced while trying to digest what he had heard just now and to plan the next necessary steps. One thing was absolutely clear. He had to inform Dr. J and the other scientists immediately.

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Duo sat in the kitchen and sighed deeply into his coffee. What did they only see in her? Since this bottle blondie had climbed out of Wing two days before everything had changed. And not necessarily to the better.

Duo sighed more deeply. How nice it had been when he had held Heero's hand - and without Heero protesting too much against it! That had given him some hope, but shortly after the ex-Borg had finished her explanations Heero had turned again into his Perfect Soldier mode and more or less ignored Duo since then.

He seemed only to concentrate on the threatening danger and didn't leave this living Barbie-doll's side. And Wufei was even worse.

Duo cast an annoyed glance out of the window into the garden, where Wufei, Heero and Wonder-Woman were training several martial arts. Didn't those two morons realise just how ridiculous they were to adore Seven - who surely had to be twice their age! Duo snorted. Apparently not.

"Is something wrong, Duo?" a soft voice asked.

Duo jumped, turned his head towards the voice and realised with astonishment that Quatre was sitting opposite of him with a cup of tea. When had he entered the room?

"No," Duo answered, "I just wish J and the others would finally finish their evaluation of the data. I really need a new mission. I just can't stand it any more."

"But why, Duo?" Quatre asked surprised, "You never had anything against some free days between the missions."

"But then I didn't have to watch the others making goo-goo eyes at this oversized Barbie. I'm really surprised that they're not slipping on their own saliva." Duo sighed again into his coffee and nearly missed Quatre turning red. Duo looked appalled at his team-mate.

"Not you, too, Q-man!" he called stunned, "Am I the only one who is still normal? Is it perhaps contagious? What's just that great with her? Apart from her knowing thousands of martial arts and being even more a computer-freak than Heero, I mean."

Quatre cleared his throat, still beet-red. "Well, uhm... you know, Duo, I uhm... she reminds me of my collection."

Duo nearly choked at his coffee. Collection? What collection? He never would have thought that Quatre of all people would collect something like this.

"Your collection?" Duo asked weakly after he stopped coughing.

"Well, actually it's not my collection but that of my sisters."

Duo's eyes nearly dropped out of his head. "Your sisters??????"

Quatre nodded. "Yes, I more ore less inherited it from them. And now it's the world biggest collection of Barbie dolls."

Duo stared open-mouthed at Quatre. Had he heard that correctly? "You're collecting - Barbies?" he asked unbelieving.

Quatre squirmed on his chair. "Well, everyone needs a hobby, and tea doesn't offer the same challenge," he answered shyly.

"I don't believe it," Duo murmured and shook his head. A sound from the garden turned his attention again towards the window. Wufei was lying on his back on the ground, Seven was sitting on his chest and instead of getting angry because a woman had beaten him, Wufei had a misty-eyed smile on his face.

"That's simply unbelievable!" Duo called.

"What do you mean? They're just practising," Quatre said, also looking out of the window.

"Hn!" Duo just snorted and watched suspiciously Heero preparing for his sparring-match with Seven.

"Why are you so angry?" Quatre asked and looked again at Duo.

"Hn," Duo only said.

"You're sounding just like Heero," Quatre smiled.

Before Duo could reply anything they heard a shrill screech.

"Heeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrroooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The next moment a pink shape was rushing past the kitchen window.

"Intruder alert," Duo groaned and dropped his head on the table. Just what he had needed to make his day.

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[1] It's not easy to describe the appearance of a Borg drone. Who doesn't know what they look like can see them here:

http://www.voyager-center.de/downloads/crewbilder/seven/charakt er/1.jpg

http://www.voyager-center.de/downloads/crewbilder/seven/charakt er/30.jpg

http://www.newstrekker.com/st-p/mymage.cgi?action=view&link =Voyager/
Borgqueen&image=borgqueen002.jpg&img=&tt=

[2] The quotation is complete now!