Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Survival ❯ Odd Behavior ( Chapter 17 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Odd Behavior

June 4th 197 - Sunday - Amsterdam

“They ran their own business for as long as I could remember,” Melissa explained. “Daddy handled of the work part of it, and my mom managed their relations and paperwork.”

“That's cool,” Duo returned amiably, focusing on the vid phone he was fixing; it was much older than the standard these days, and therefore required a lot more wiring. According to the owner, the picture hadn't been showing for the past year or so, and then recently the sound had gone to hell. By nature of what components went into a full vid phone they weren't the cheapest things in the world, and besides that, they were going for an even higher price lately because the only places still making the things were in space, not Earthside. The owner of the thing had already gotten a cheap audio phone, but he wanted to see if he could sell his old piece to the highest bidder, or something… provided it was working, anyhow. Considering the fact that the screen was still in good shape and the primary circuits looked okay, and it was really those things that were expensive, the price he paid Duo wouldn't affect the actual moneymaking process.

“Then she got sick, and we found out she only had a couple months… and my dad just kinda gave up for a while,” she continued. Her tone was soft, but she was still working steadily on installing a new alternator in the car she'd first started helping with.

Well, newish - they'd plucked it out of a car that was a good bit newer than this one at a boneyard just a few miles out of town. The ignition coil hadn't been much of an issue, but they'd had to wait until the guy had more actual cash on hand before they committed to buying a piece for his car.

Why wasn't anything made on Earth anymore? Shit, he'd always appreciated the low costs when he lived up in the colonies, but this sucked.

“But yeah, he let the whole business just nosedive, just barely sold it before he hit bankrupt… Guess it finally occurred to him that no money was a bad idea.” She made an amused sort of noise. “He started up a little gig like what we're doing and I kept the books… there really was barely enough demand to keep the three of us afloat, though, with the big corporations. Then when Libra fell, nobody wanted to spend the money on the little kinds of odd jobs we fed ourselves off of, and it crashed all over again.” She stood up straight and stretched. “The point I was getting at, though, is that if this keeps expanding like it has been and we get enough custom to work off of, I can handle the paperwork. If we get high up enough that we need official papers, I actually have history with all the ins and outs and can put my name down without it seeming stupid.”

Duo pursed his lips. It was something he had also been considering, but he hadn't thought out as many details, it seemed. “Everything would have to go in your name,” he noted. “In all reality, I'm an illegal immigrant.” Looking up, he grinned. “Actually, better yet, I don't even exist.”

Melissa let out an amused snort, leaning back over to mess with something under the hood. “So even if we get to be big, I still get to pay you under the table, huh?”

“Part of this works because we work in trade more than we do money,” Duo noted pointedly. “And just for the record, I have experience too. Hilde inherited a scrap yard from an uncle or something during the war and I helped her keep it in order. Nothing official, but I've handled paperwork before.”

“Good, then I won't have to teach you,” she returned easily. She stopped whatever it was she was doing… well, there wasn't any noise involved, at least. “So you guys met during the war, or just got together by then?”

“I met her after the whole mess had started,” Duo admitted. “Wasn't until a while later when stress was running high that suddenly I had her pinned to the couch and her hands were in my hair. Not long after that duty called and I had to run, so she got the bright idea to go get mixed up in something really fuckin' stupid again.” He shook his head. “I don't know, I guess she needed to, the same way I've gone and done stupid shit.”

“Do you regret not going with her?”

“No.” He set the machine aside so he could look through the different kinds of wire he had instead. “I don't want that kind of trouble anymore, and the amazingly naïve girl looking for a cause went and turned into a daredevil. I mean, I'm sure she'll do fine, but I'm done, and I'd rather have her as a friend I get to talk to now and again than a girlfriend happily leading me into the furnace.” He sighed. “For a while, during the war, it seemed like it'd all work out, we'd get some kind of happily ever after away from it all… but it all crashed. Hell, it literally crashed…

“The fighting was something I did because it was the right thing to do, and I was good at it… I don't want to live out my life like that, though.”

“You think she does?”

“I think she hasn't seen enough shit go wrong; it's still just exciting. If all her disputes ended tomorrow, she'd be restless, wouldn't know what to do with herself anymore.”

“You always get excited when you're getting into a fight,” Melissa argued.

Duo sighed. “That's different… Hell, maybe I'm wrong about her, I'd be happy if I was, but when she was here she just reminded me too much of some of the career military women I've met; she'd hold on happily for the rest of her life with no regrets. That's not me.” He smiled over to her; she was leaning against the side of the car now, looking at him. “I'd take this life of trying to make ends meet any day.”

She pursed her lips for a moment, considering him, before noting, “You're really burned out, huh?”

He laughed. “Yeah, something like that… I sate your curiosity yet?”

She tsked at him and picked up the battery, heading back to the engine. “I wasn't trying to be annoying,” she didn't quite snap.

Duo blinked. “That last comment was supposed to be funny.”

“You still meant it though,” she returned. “Sorry for being interested.”

“'Liss,” he protested, standing up and moving to follow her. “I'm sorry, it just feels like everybody's asking everything about me lately…”

“Well, maybe it's because we care.” She stood up straight to look him in the eye again… and she looked like she was trying not to cry. “I've been telling you about my history, it's common courtesy to do the same.”

Acting more on instinct than anything, he grabbed her and pulled her into a hug. “I'm sorry,” he muttered again. “I didn't mean to be a jerk. I'm just… nervous, to be talking about it all so much. My past is just one fuck-up after another.”

“So is everyone else's,” she grumbled into his chest, gripping his shirt.

“So, I have an issue with mine,” he explained. “I don't see why I ought to talk about it if I'm not comfortable doing it.”

“Because it matters to you,” she argued. “Is it so hard to imagine that somebody cares enough to want to know what's important to you?” She was glaring up at him now, but not backing back out of his arms.

…That was actually really weird, come to think of it.

“The point is that it doesn't matter to me.”

“But it does!”

“Fine, I don't want it to matter.” He rubbed a thumb over her shoulder, still fairly confused. Looking into her eyes, he sincerely added, “I was just trying to get you to laugh; my life story would make you sad, happiness only seems to last for a couple months at a go, tops.” She was still glaring at him, and he blew his bangs out of his face. “I don't want to talk about it because I don't want to jinx what I've got, alright? I don't want everything here in Amsterdam to fall to pieces like everything else always has. I want to enjoy it so long as it'll last…”

Melissa buried her face in his chest. “It doesn't always break down, Kay.”

He sighed. “I know… But you've got to give me a while to convince myself that.”

***

June 5th 197 - Monday - Zheleznogorsk, Russia

Heero glanced up when he felt someone standing near him, not moving away. He blinked at the red-haired girl. She smirked back at him, not moving. She didn't exactly seem like a threat however, so he paused his game and offered, “Hello.” They were in a secluded old courtyard in town… people were walking through periodically, but they were alone for the most part.

“Hello,” she returned easily, moving to sit next to him, then leaving over to look at the screen. “Ah, no wonder you're focused.”

He looked back to the game and hit the pause again, quickly moving a block so that it would actually fill the spot he wanted it to; three lines vanished. “I guess,” he hazarded. Tetris didn't exactly take that much concentration. He had no idea what it was about him that had caught her attention.

“I'm Dasha,” she noted, smiling again and running those very green eyes over him.

“I'm Odin.”

“Are you new here?”

“I'm just passing through.” This was a smaller town than he'd like, to be perfectly honest; he already had to stay far enough away from his mark to possibly lose him by chance alone, without any distractions. What does she want?

“That's too bad,” she murmured, leaning over to actually watch his game as he played… resting her head on his shoulder.

…Wait, what?

He glanced at her again from the corner of his eye; the blocks were moving fast enough that he really couldn't do more. That confident little smirk was still in place, though her eyes were a mixture of innocent beauty and seeming interest in what he was doing.

Is she flirting with me? He paused the game again and turned to look at her.

Those jade eyes lit up with amusement and she actually grinned at him, moving so that she was resting both arms on his shoulder instead, resting her head on them. “Do you have somewhere to stay while you're here?”

…Seriously? He looked back to his game, then back at her. “Why?” He had been under the impression that boys who stuck to a game system like glue were geeky and unnoticeable. If this was in fact not true, then he might have really screwed himself over.

She laughed. “Honey, you're gorgeous. I'm laying down dibs before some other girl does.” When he gave her an incredulous look, she just laughed again. “Oh and you don't even know it, that just makes it better…”

“I…” He stopped, running his tongue over his teeth. “You're weird.” That sounded incredibly lame, but nothing else was coming to mind…

…Exactly when did her leg cross over his? He suddenly had a great need to swallow… the girl was really close. Why did I let her get this close? He knew the answer was there, something obvious, but it just wasn't coming to him… This was just uncomfortable, not threatening… Right, he'd let her so close because she wasn't a threat.

Maybe she was, just not the kind he'd thought he had to look for.

She laughed again, seemingly delighted by his comment, and suddenly her mouth was on his earlobe. He gasped slightly, losing what was left of his train of thought in the sensation…

What the- it was his ear. Is this normal?

She trailed a few kisses just below his jaw line, making the little hairs on the back of his neck rise… but not in an unpleasant way. His whole body was thrumming like when he was in the midst of battle… He hadn't realized just how bad he'd missed that feeling of hard adrenaline.

Oh shit. He tugged at his pant legs, trying to resituate before he embarrassed himself. It didn't exactly help that Dasha was trailing a hand down his leg, but he didn't really want to stop her at the same time…

“So, Odin,” she murmured in his ear. “How long are you in town?”

***

Between Konotop and Homyel, Ukraine

“So where are we going?”

Adam shrugged, shifting his backpack. They had stowed away on a cargo train, and actually didn't have to worry about discovery at all for a few hours. “I'm just getting rid of your tail; after that, you're on your own again.”

I frowned. “I only know where one of the safe houses is, and it's not anywhere near here.” If he planned to ditch me in unknown territory, he had better realize he had to tell me where I could hole away until I recovered enough to make my way back to the main base. As he had put it, while I was talented enough in other areas, running apparently wasn't my forte.

Damn right it wasn't. Running was for cowards; I was never going to live this down. A good part of the inability to hide was my ethnicity, mind, but even if it was cowardly to run, I could at least succeed in what I tried to do.

“Then I suggest you start giving me direction enough that we get closer to your destination,” the man returned mildly. “We're out of the immediate danger zone, we can go in more than a single direction now.”

…This couldn't be what I suddenly had the suspicion it was… “You don't know where any other bases are?”

He snorted in an amused sort of way. “I suspect Po likes to keep that information just among her own people. One of the reasons I'm not following you all the way to safety is because I respect that need for privacy.”

I stared at him, speechless. He had to be screwing with me, he wasn't really… “That Po woman didn't send you?”

“She has no means by which to contact me… and I really don't know her anyway.”

“Who the fuck are you?!”

He raised his brows coolly. “I gave you a name, didn't I?”

“Adam what?”

He just shrugged again. “I haven't decided on a last name yet.”

Oh, that was just so comforting. `Adam' was probably just an assumed name too. I ground my teeth, thinking fast. He'd just saved me back in Kars, hadn't demanded anything of me, so I'd been stupid enough to assume he was part of my faction. Why did he do that? After all these years, I was really tired of thinking one thing and having the truth be another. “You're not connected to anyone in Po's faction?”

“I don't think so.” Another shrug. “I don't know the identities of all that many people that are siding with her, though, so I might; she keeps her intel much tighter than Zechs or even Treize.”

“Why did you help me, then?” I demanded.

I was going to smack him if he shrugged just one more time, I swear. “You needed it.” He tilted his head. “And you're important, I think. Either you are, or you're going to be, I'm not sure. I'm not sure what Treize wanted, and it might have been harmless to let him catch you, but it's best not to take chances.”

“…You're doing this all on a whim?”

“I don't like chances, they're iffy.” Well no shit. He was smirking at me though, which meant he'd said it just to annoy me… He chuckled. “We're playing with the fate of the world and colonies, I'd rather not make a mistake that's not easily mended. It would have been difficult to get you back from Treize if he'd taken you, and you're important to Po's plan to take down Zechs, so it seemed like a better idea to simply find you first and preempt the trouble.” His smirk was just sardonic. “I would have felt bad if something happened to you and I had been able to prevent it.”

…This guy was really fuckin' bizarre.

He gave me an expectant look. “So where are we aiming for?”

I considered him for a moment, debating if I really wanted to tell him… but it wasn't like I had anything left to lose. A rogue agent might not be a bad thing, considering what he'd done so far. “Slovakia.”

He pursed his lips, thinking. “I'll see if I can take you as far as Warsaw, then.”

Considering the fact that headquarters was really in Prague, not anywhere in Slovakia, that worked out just great.

“It might be a while, though,” he warned. “We haven't lost them yet, we still need to play at misdirection.”

I nodded, and closed my eyes, leaning against the side of the car; I really needed to think.

***

Brussels

“What do you think?”

“I would say that promoting the police force would be best for your first idea,” Dorothy decided, not looking up from the linen she was cutting into long strips. “I mean, they're all just grand, but you don't go lecturing someone about washing the street when your house is a mess.”

Relena sighed. “It's not the worst problem, though.”

“You need to prove you can handle your own before you get into the more radical moves or no one will ever take you seriously,” Val argued. “The people don't feel safe themselves, they're not going to want to go embark on a mission to save a bunch of other people when they're barely getting by, living in fear.”

“Driving off the fear would be the first step of making the people really want to follow you for you, not who your family is,” Dorothy added.

Kelly rolled her eyes. “We're not going to solve the fear issue in terms of dangerous people until we make that strike force.”

“This would be the first step to that, though,” Val said dismissively. “It makes at least the cities safe, and once that's down in concrete, we can try to follow up. We can't start calming people down with an abstract idea, if you want their trust, you have to give them something they can see.”

“What about the families of those young people who got snatched by the groups trying to start their own damn societies!” snapped Kelly. “Or what's left of the town that got outright pillaged last week? How is that not real?”

“I can't put the fund money to that strike force, it's too violent,” Relena cut in. “The police idea works because it's starting a community militia, people taking care of their own people, and it also puts a bit more money in people's pockets to help them work out their own problems. It'll promote a healthier economy overall. The strike force has to go through the heads of the departments under Milliardo, and Valerie is right, this might make the idea seem more plausible.”

Kelly put her head in her hands. “I know, I know, but God, I wish people would quit ignoring it…”

The door opened and Milliardo peered in at them, holding up the piece of paper the four girls had taped to Relena's suite door that read `Girls Only: All Men Scat!' He raised his brows questioningly, lips twitching ever so slightly.

Valerie sniggered; it had been her idea. “What are you doing?” she demanded mock imperiously. “You can read, can't you?”

Relena smiled happily over at her brother, offering him a helpless shrug. This really had been just a get together with the people she'd gotten to be closer to since she came back to Brussels, and had only degraded back into politics in the last few minutes. They had decided, once they couldn't find Kelly's boyfriend or Mitchell or Jake, that if their company was going to be spurned they would spurn it right back… or something. The entire episode had been a series of giggle fits while Val yanked a sharpie out of her pocket to go through with it.

The blonde man considered the romance movie playing quietly on the TV, the bottles of nail polish about, and Kelly's half braided head before grimacing and putting the sign back on the door. “I'm going to bed,” he noted as he left. “Good night.”

“Okay, go get your hair wet,” Dorothy muttered, putting the scissors away.

Relena eyed the cloth dubiously. “What are we doing?”

“Giving you cheap curls,” she returned easily. “That and I always thought rag doll curls lasted longer. Go wet down your hair and drain out the excess and I'll show you.”

“Ooh, that's what you've been up to!” Val exclaimed, sipping at her tea. Her eyes lit up as she looked back to Relena. “Oh, it's going to look really cute…”

At a certain point, it probably wasn't worth protesting. Besides, she was curious. “Alright, give me a minute.” She had enough hair at this point that working water through it in the sink was a fairly obnoxious activity, but she didn't feel like taking another shower either. Well, at least it's not like Dorothy's… She had no idea how the woman could stand to have it so long… she was tempted to cut hers as it was, and it only reached her bellybutton.

She smirked at the idea of bringing it up as short as Noin's. Milliardo would freak. Not that she ever wanted her hair that short, but it was almost a fun idea at the same time… And she wanted to break the mold of how she looked back during the wars, wanted to seem like she had really changed, matured…

She wrung out her hair and made her way back into the bedroom, a towel around her shoulders. They were having a girl's night in every respect, so why not. “Would I look good with short hair?”