Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Sixty Seconds ❯ Sixty Seconds ( One-Shot )

I do not own Gundam Wing or any of the characters, I am still saving up money for the action figures, which will belong to me, so hah-in-your-faces. (cough) Read on please.

(And so the story begins...)

Sixty Seconds

Relena Peacecraft was sitting at her desk, discussing something with her head of security, Hilde, in her study on the second floor of her enormous house. They were speaking about something involving whether or not the wallpaper should block out electronic signals that could be used to set off bombs, before they were interrupted.

“Well, I will agree with your suggestion as long as I can pick the colo-” The sound of running feet caused her to pause and look towards the heavy oaken door.

They heard a muffled thud before the door was forced open and in stepped a black clad ex-Gundam pilot; his amethyst eyes glinted with something Relena couldn't decipher.

“Relena, get out of here.” Duo's voice was deeper than it was the last time Relena had seen him, or maybe it was just the steel wall that seemed to enforce his words, hidden just under the surface.

“Duo, what is the meaning of thi-” Once again, she paused as the boy—man—that stood before her pulled out a phone and flipped it open before pressing a few buttons and turning the screen to face Relena. The flashing text read:

01 Is to dispose of Foreign Ambassador Relena Peacecraft at 1300 hours on the 17th day in March.

Relena paled a bit before raising a perfect eyebrow; she chuckled slightly and pointed to the grandfather clock against the far wall.

“One o-clock is in a half an hour, Duo. Is this some sort of hoax, do you find this kind of thing funny?” Her voice held a bit of venom as she stared at Duo condescendingly.

The ex-pilot frowned deeply. His usually cheerful face was grave as he snapped the phone shut and replaced it in his pocket. He looked at Hilde meaningfully; his eyes softened slightly. She nodded and brushed past him to enter the hallway, her hand unconsciously seeking his, giving the fingers a light squeeze. Duo pressed a paper unnoticeably into her hand as she did so.

A frown appeared on the face of the Foreign Ambassador to mimic Duo's. Relena moved to follow Hilde into the hall but a black sleeve barred her way, or rather: the arm within the sleeve did so. Her eyes widened as she attempted to outmaneuver the ex-pilot to no avail, Duo seemed dead-set on keeping her there, his eyes hardened.

“What do you want me to do? It isn't like Heero will actually kill me. He's my friend and I would trust him with my life!” Relena growled slightly, as she walked back to her desk and sat with a sigh in her comfortable chair, watching Duo warily.

Said person glared at her before stalking up to her desk and slamming both his hands palm down onto it, he whispered dangerously.

“What makes you so special? What makes you an exception when so many have died at his—our—hands? Tell me, what makes you think that when 01 walks in here, you'll walk out?”

“You'll die, Relena.”

His voice was low and the words were said with such contempt that Relena couldn't hide the shiver that went up her spine. The room wasn't at all cold.

Duo's braid swung about as he turned and walked back to the middle of the room. He moved to face Relena. His face's cold look did not match the beseeching tone of what he said next.

“Just run.”

(12h 39m 40s)

Just outside the wooden study door, Hilde glanced at the meticulously folded slip of paper that Duo had given her before she left the room. She carefully unfolded it and inspected the scrawled handwriting before confirming it to be Duo's. Her brow furrowed as she saw what was written.

Get your people and yourself out of here. Heero Yuy out to kill isn't something to sneeze at. I will take care of Relena if I can, but you and I know she is difficult to persuade. Be careful, hun.

02 out

Love, Duo

Hilde's eyes widened to an almost inhuman size and she whispered, “to kill…? I hope you know what you're getting into, Duo,” before hastening to the command post to initiate emergency evacuation.

Heero Yuy was coming.

(12h 43m 12s)

Relena glanced at the clock before pushing a button on her desk. The intercom fizzed with static for a moment before picking up a channel. She released the button to allow for the person on the other end to speak.

“Ambassador?” The voice of Noin, Hilde's second in command, rang dully through the speakers. Relena waited for a moment before pressing the button and speaking in an overly loud voice to be sure it was picked up by the compact microphone within the device.

“Ah, Noin, give me a status report at the front gate.”

Relena released the button once again, tapping her fingers on the hard wood of the desk out of habit as she waited for a reply. The speakers crackled slightly before the voice spoke again.

“Ambassador, Miss Hilde has ordered for an emergency evacuation, do you wish for us to send someone up to escort you out?”

Relena scoffed spitefully before stabbing the button savagely and literally yelling into the microphone.

“I did not give orders for there to be an evacuation! Get Hilde back here and guard those gates! Heero Yuy won't harm us.” Relena seemed quite unsettled as she removed her hand and turned to glare icily at Duo.

“You,” she pointed accusingly at him, “you had something to do with this.”

Duo's glare met and matched the girl's, his sneer becomes apparent. “Not everyone is stupid enough to think that Heero—any of us—would go against orders. Do you even know what we are, Relena?”

She looks down at her hands indignantly before looking Duo in the eye and answering, her blue eyes sparkled with determination.

“You are valiant warriors who protected the peace at all costs, who sacrificed so much to defend the innocent. You are also my friends and valued comrades.”

Duo looked taken aback. His sneer spread across his face like a disease; his eyes shone with what Relena saw to be disgust.

Duo shook his head, almost sadly before speaking quietly.

“Stupid…so stupid. I don't even know why I bother trusting you to keep the peace, why I even bothered to come here. Why warn such an oblivious, stupid girl?” He seemed to be directing his question either towards himself or towards some unknown, unseen entity.

Duo's face no longer looked sad. It looked hard and cold as ice as he stared hard into Relena's eyes.

“That's what you think we are? That's what you see us as?” He laughed without humour. “You pathetic little girl. You see what you want to see, but we could never be more different.”

Relena's eyes widened as he stepped closer, his face inches from her frozen one. His breath was sickly sweet on her face, like peppermint.

“You could never be more wrong.”

(12h 47m 01s)

Hilde was swiftly packing her tools into the back of a green armor plated vehicle when her arm was grabbed by a flustered Noin. Hilde's second in command's hair was stuck to her forehead by the sweat caused by her apparent haste to reach her superior. Her voice was shaking slightly as she spoke between breaths.

“The Ambassador ordered me to order you back to your post and to order your men to retain order at the gate.”

Hilde blinked before deciphering her meaning; her face blanked. Her voice was full of more authority anyone gave her credit for as she addressed Noin.

“Pack up your effects, Noin. We are leaving with or without Miss Relena Peacecraft. You should know that there is no use trying to stop Heero Yuy; I intend to lose as few men as is humanly possible upon our departure.”

Her eyes slightly wide at the mention of Heero Yuy and the sheer amount of `you will obey or else' hinted in the younger woman's voice, Noin nodded firmly before running off to the bunkers to gather the rest of her squadron.

Hilde watches her second in command go before shifting her gaze to the Peacecraft Manor, her eyes sad. “I hope you know what you are doing, Relena.” She mutters.

“I really do.”

(12h 56m 37s)

Relena almost blushed at her close proximity to the braided ex-pilot. Her thoughts were in turmoil as she responded, knowing it sounded childish.

“How am I wrong!? Heero has protected me before; even if he is following orders he will surely protect me again!”

Duo stepped back a bit at her loud volume before staring at her eerily. His voice is soft and he speaks slowly, as if to a five year old.

“Now, now, Relena. You just don't understand what a Gundam pilot is, do you? Listen closely, I will explain.” Duo steps to the left of Relena, leaning on the corner of her desk and occasionally making gestures with his hands.

“Gundam pilots, in essence, are killers. Our time during the war was spent doing what we do best: killing and bombing and, oh! Killing.” He grinned manically at this.

“Yes, of course, we killed innocent people to save innocent people, so undoubtedly our sins were excused. The thing is, though, that we rather enjoyed killing said innocents. Our famed self control, of course, kept that relatively in check, but that didn't stop us from smiling as we demolished cities.” He laughed and stood up, walking to a bookshelf and nonchalantly taking out a book, opening it, then looking cheerily at Relena.

“That didn't keep us from laughing at how very weak those people were as we spread their remains throughout space.” His voice was disturbingly jolly as his sentence neared its conclusion.

Relena's eyes were stinging with tears but she wiped them away. Duo shut the book with a clap, returned it, then once again walked up to Relena's desk and taking a seat in the chair in front of the desk. He bounced on it a bit before slouching and waving a hand in the air in a vague gesture.

“Now, Ambassador. You are weak and I am laughing, what does that tell you?” He chuckled as her azure eyes flashed with fear. Duo shook his head.

“No, I won't kill you. In fact, I'm trying to get you to leave, maybe live a day or two enough to pass some decent laws on good old L2.” Duo leaned forward, his elbows braced on the top of his knees and his hands together pointing at Relena thoughtfully.

“However, I won't endanger myself by trying to actually stop Heero Yuy. If you think anyone will go that far, all you have to do is press on your little intercom button and find that no one will answer. Hilde and Noin are currently high-tailing it away from your location.”

Relena gasped and reached for the intercom before she was stopped by Duo's hand on her wrist, holding it tightly. “They left without you, Relena. Your only chance now is that I am in a good enough mood to help you out. And that isn't going too well currently.”

The blond ambassador looked at the clock; it proclaimed that the time was five minutes till one o-clock. Relena put on a blank face and stared at the man holding her wrist.

“If you wanted to be invited to a late lunch, you could have just asked. When Heero gets here we can probably order some Japanese food for him, my chef is especially skilled; maybe even some burgers and fries for you, Duo.”

Duo blinked at her and moved his hand from her wrist as if burned. He stood up and whispered, almost regretfully.

“Time's up.”

Duo walked to the corner and sat in a comfortable leather reading chair, watching Relena quietly with sad eyes.

A few minutes later the clock chimed one; simultaneously the door was thrown open by an enormous force. Heero Yuy stood silently with his gun pointed directly at Relena's head. She didn't even have time to blink.

Heero Yuy never misses.

A single gunshot rang through the air, followed shortly by the sound of liquid splattering across glass and wood. The sound of glass shattering stung Duo's ears as he stared at his comrade.

Heero Yuy didn't seem phased; his gaze was focused on the focal point of the room: the desk and what was… once… Relena Peacecraft.

(13h 00m 09s)

Blood dripped down the sides of the desk and down the walls to seep into and stain the pristine white carpet. Relena's empty eyes stared ahead for a moment before her body fell forward onto the desk, landing in a puddle of blood.

The bullet, which had gone straight through at such close range from a powerful weapon, had broken the window. The opening let in a light breeze, which teased blond hair to cover a bloody face.

Heero cleared his throat and turned in Duo's direction.

“She didn't run.” It was more of a statement than a question, for the answer lay before him in a pool of blood and brain fluid and ragged flesh.

Duo shook his head sadly before stepping forward, “No… I'm afraid she didn't,” he said and patted Heero on the back.

“Sorry 01, mission accomplished.”

(13h 00m 29s)

Heero swiftly stepped towards the remains, shifting his gun to rest against his head. Heero stared at what was once the woman he thought he might have considered a close friend; what was Relena Peacecraft before the Colonies declared her a nuisance, before a bullet shot through her skull.

Before he killed her.

Duo watched silently as the gun was cocked, the barrel still held firmly against Heero's ear.

The man paused; the look on his face was more apt to be found on one contemplating the meaning of the universe than found on someone who just murdered their friend in cold blood.

Maybe the theories were similar.

Duo sighed and turned away, silently unwilling to watch his friend self destruct for the second time. This time, though, Heero wouldn't be coming back.

Heero never misses.

A second gunshot rang out. Heero Yuy's small wiry form folded in on itself and the walls were painted crimson a second time. The once white carpet which was damp from the lifeblood of the youngest Peacecraft became sodden as another's was spilled to meet an unwritten quota.

The body crumpled to the side, the gun still in his grasp. The Perfect Soldier's trigger finger fell slack for the first time, no longer needed to take lives.

Heero Yuy's eyes were frozen open, ever vigilant even in death.

(13h 00m 41s)

The only living being that remained shook his head sadly at the two corpses. He muttered to himself, “After a while, even you reach your limits, too, ne Heero?”

Duo stepped to the doorway before turning back and frowning at the body of Relena Peacecraft. He spoke haltingly to the wind that stirred the blond strands and lightly caressed the dying limbs.

“Why couldn't you run? You should have known Heero wouldn't let you die…”

He turned away before whispering, “alone.

(13h 00m 55s)

As the shadow that was Duo Maxwell disappeared down the deceptively peaceful corridor, the clock's second hand passed the twelve. The face now read one minute past one.

(13h 00m 60s)

Il a fini

This is my first fan fiction to be posted on the internet. I will not ask you to be kind, and I will fully accept flames, seeing as I will laugh at them with my friends or print them out and set them on fire unless you have a valid point (cough `unlikely' cough)

Please review.