Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Survival ❯ Yanking Back the Curtain ( Chapter 23 )

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

Yanking Back the Curtain

July 23rd 197 - Sunday - Brussels

“…How did you get past me?”

Relena turned and couldn't help but smile impishly at her bodyguard. He looked genuinely confused… and far more alarmed than the occasion called for. She had woken up in the middle of the night and wanted to write, and her notepad was out in the main of the suite. She hadn't given the blonde man much thought as she passed his sleeping form, and he hadn't stirred. “I walked.”

The mixture of his bewildered look and shaggy hair verged on comical. “You moved past me… Why didn't I wake up?”

Turning back to her notepad, smiling a little to herself, she happily declared, “I am petite and fleet of foot.”

He snorted softly at that, still shaking his head as he came to sit next to her and rest his head on his arms. “What are you doing up, anyhow?”

“I had a bad dream,” she admitted. “I think bits of it were from when I walked through a ruined sector of colony when I was fourteen… but when I woke up, it made me want to get back to work.”

Sighing, he propped his chin on his arms instead of his forehead. “Alright… I'm going to tell the guard outside that you're awake so noises aren't suspect, and will be going back to sleep in the recliner.” He stood, pushing back his chair. “Anything even feels a little off, wake me up. Saying my name should be enough.”

“You sleep that light?” she asked skeptically.

“I should have woken up the moment your door opened,” he muttered a little irritably. “Since I didn't, I probably needed sleep more than I thought, so I'd rather get it now instead of slipping up later today or tomorrow, on the off chance that something happens.”

“We're in the middle of the compound,” she argued easily. Jake had increased the guard on her in a fairly extreme way since taking up his post, though he made a point to be the one on duty during her more social hours, so less people were involved. There was always a guard in the hall, and a smaller contingent on duty in a nearby room that would be ready to assist. For the sake of privacy, the Special was almost always the only guard inside her suite, though there were a few exceptions.

“That hardly means you're immune to the cunning,” he returned in the same tired tone. “There are men and women trained to gain trust and slide in close enough to approach such an inner room like this without raising suspicion. The only way around that is to know all your men and stay suspicious of everyone, but unfortunately there are a lot of people on this base, so you have to make stricter rules and set the men against each other instead.” He threw the locks on the door and leaned out to mutter briefly at the guard. When he was done, he locked all the bolts securely again and headed for the recliner. “Your brother is far too trusting in offered loyalty, especially considering how many times he himself has turned and bitten his master's hand.”

“You make him sound malevolent,” she half accused, though she could tell that her friend was just in a mood, not really meaning the full connotation of his words… and she half agreed, just not with the way he had said it.

“I like Zechs,” he grumbled as he settled himself, pulling the afghan off the back of the chair and covering himself… setting a gun she hadn't realized he had been carrying in easy reach between the cushions. “But he has pulled more than a few foul tricks to turn the cards in his favor before, as many men must. My only grievance with him is that for all his suspicion, he lacks the caution to scent out any repeat of his own stunts that an enemy might try to use. He's an excellent soldier, but he has the mind of a conspirator, not a tactician.”

Watching him settle, she debated asking what the difference was, but decided that that would be petty of her, considering the fact that she understood his point and the comment would only rile him. The closest she had ever seen him to this mood was when he had pointedly looked at her to make her leave his quarters when they first began working together… and he had been heading to bed then, too.

Apparently, he was one of those people who was unpleasant to be around when mildly sleep deprived.

Rolling her eyes slightly, she focused back on the table… and decided to pull up the laptop to see if there was any new news.

***

July 25th 197 - Tuesday - Vilnius, Lithuania

Adam sighed; there just wasn't much for it. He couldn't find little Mariemaia. He had been trying for weeks, but even though he'd managed to get back to his little ship's location less than a day after it had landed in Vilnius, there wasn't a damn trace of her. No one remembered seeing a little girl on her own… and the flimsy pajamas she had been wearing would have drawn attention too.

How can she have just vanished? The past few weeks had been an exercise of sheer frustration, and it was just… bizarre. As far as he knew, the child had no knowledge of how to conceal herself in a place like modern Europe, and it was very unlikely that she had had any money on her… even if she had, it would have run out by now and she would be easy to find again.

He was worried… and feeling more than a little guilty. She would not have come to Earth if he had not come to try to rescue her, and now she was lost. Someone had to have taken her in, but he couldn't find any trace of that act either, and the worst imaginable possibilities haunted him. Consequently, he had quickly begun rooting out all of the nearby groups that might take advantage of a young girl in any sense. He was only vaguely worried about the potential attention he might be drawing… hopefully people would just think him an agent from Po's rebellion, or better yet, several different people altogether. He certainly didn't regret turning over any of the abused children and adolescents he came across to the government.

Even that search had been fruitless, however, and while he was relieved, he was even more perplexed. She couldn't have really just vanished into this air… and having come across plenty of bodies already, he was sure that if someone had killed the little girl, they would have seen no reason to hide the body any better than they would any others. People were dying left and right anymore… He'd been to every morgue near the city every day at first… now he had gotten a phone that the coroners called when unidentified little girls came in; all it had taken was a depressive monologue about losing his little sister to get their cooperation. Unfortunately, he was far from the only one who regularly came to the places looking for lost relatives.

But no avenue, innocent or gnarly, had turned up a single clue about Mariemaia Barton-Khushrenada's whereabouts. It almost felt as if she had never existed at all.

He sighed, closing his eyes and resting his forehead against the street sign he stood next to. Chang had come through here, if he had continued on the route they had planned out… if he'd followed the map Adam had given him, he ought to have come right past the ship itself, and roughly around the same time she landed. However, it was highly unlikely that the Chinese man had been observant enough to catch the strange sight of little Marie, if they even had been in the same place at the same time; he had his own concerns to cloud his mind.

The Peacecraft Regime appeared to be more lost on the subject than he was, and Treize and his men would have no idea where to start looking either; he was relatively sure that loophole he had found in the Regime's database was made by one of Khushrenada's spies, and that the bulk of their intelligence was actually borrowed from there.

And if he knew as much as he did about where she had gotten to and he couldn't find her, despite his expertise in this field, he doubted any of the organizations would have any luck. He was half tempted to chase Chang down again to find if he had seen anything, but they had only planned a route as far as Warsaw, and he had to already be there by now; by the time Adam reached the city the other man would be long gone, if he wasn't already, in an unknown direction. And now that they were in the main of Europe the man's ethnicity stood out far less, and he had caught on to some of the cautious habits Adam had insisted they follow. In the mass of people, he doubted he could find him before he reached either a safe house or Po's stronghold, wherever that was.

He stood up straight and sighed again. No, that's nothing more than a wild goose chase. The chances were slim to none that the two had been in close proximity in the first place, and even if they had, and Chang remembered seeing the girl, he would have no clue as to what happened to her after that. It would only be yet another dead end; he was just desperate enough for a clue that it seemed promising.

No… whatever happened, the only way she's going to be found now is sheer luck. The thought was depressing, but he had just spent three weeks proving the truth of it. If there had been some clue as to her disappearance before, he had long lost even a trace of trail while hunting down his worst nightmares.

He rubbed his temples, feeling incompetent, useless… he hadn't felt like this in a year. He had started his self-assigned crusade in part simply to prove himself… to find himself again. And mostly, he was happy with what he had done… he was pretty sure he had made more than a few major differences. But this… what had his meddling done this time? It made him want to crawl back inside his shell of apathy, of detachment, that held a disturbingly high level of comfort. He had yet to decide what he thought of that urge… on some level he hated it but on another it felt so familiar and safe, like that was how it ought to be.

It was from before, that much he knew… and maybe that was why it upset him as much as it did. He was done digging in the past for answers that would likely never come. He was here now… and it seemed right that he should try to follow his emotions. There was a sort of promise attached to that idea, and he had only found contentment by living by his emotions this past year. Even with this disaster, he knew he would not have been happy to act in any other way… it was just that it was a complete disaster.

Looking up at the bleak sky, he finally admitted that his current course was a lost cause… for whatever reason, it had been from the very start. There was no point staying here any longer; his plan of chasing after his brief traveling partner was proof of how dead the trail was. He ought to have left a while ago.

Smiling up at the grey, he thought that maybe it was time to just go home again.

***

July 27th 197 - Thursday - Grójec, Poland

I was breathing hard, staring down at the body in something akin to horror.

Shit. There really hadn't been much choice, the officer had approached me cautiously, and he'd said my name, he'd recognized me… I couldn't afford to be caught. At the same time, though, I wanted to slap myself because a dead cop who had followed someone who looked like a rebel was a far surer sign of my presence than a new contribution to the rumor mill that was based on one man's word. I ought to have just run.

“Jeff? You got him?”

I was really beginning to hate my lack of cowardice.

I sprinted away as quietly as I could; with what I had just done, I really needed to be in Prague yesterday. I had been moving slow to try to draw less attention, but this chase was about to get intense again, and I wasn't even out of Poland yet.

***

“Marlé.”

I looked up and smiled at Odin's mutter, and nodded when he gestured at the window. The bus was slowing, which meant it was almost time to get off, so I should make sure I had my stuff together. The newspaper I'd been reading wasn't any hassle, but I'd left the PlayPaq in the seat between us, so that needed to be put away, and I might have brought something else out and forgotten about it.

Odin didn't like delays… He didn't get upset if I held us up for something stupid, but that dismayed sort of twitch would pass through his face, and I didn't like seeing it, however brief. And he had a point… it was easier not to deal with things if we went about in his… precise?… sort of way.

I liked my quiet new guardian… he was a little odd, but nice. He didn't treat me like a little kid… he reminded me a little of my mom, that way. And I actually rather admired the smooth way he managed to get anything done, which, I could tell from the past three weeks of watching his confusion when I bumbled, he took completely for granted. Well, the first two weeks, I reminded myself smugly. I was getting better.

It seemed kinda crazy, the way we were chasing the other ex-pilot, but it was fun at the same time. It was a huge, convoluted riddle that we had to work out… and we were on an adventure seemingly out of a video game to do it. I was learning things left and right, like this was some mission where we'd eventually end up saving the world. It really wasn't anything like that, and I knew that, of course… but I couldn't wait to sneak up on my mother now that I'd mostly mastered Odin's cat-like way of walking that didn't make a sound.

He hadn't required it, or even suggested I try, but when I'd told him to watch, to see if I had it right, he'd only blinked in surprise before nodding, smiling just a little. He had corrected me once or twice since then, and started to explain how to rest my weight a little differently so it would be harder to knock me over… and he couldn't even make me stumble if he shoved at me when we walked now. Though part of that was that I saw him start to do it and almost leaned into the motion, or dodged it entirely… and that made him smile again.

We'd gone over bandaging almost immediately, and that had actually been kinda cool. He'd been watching me in that curious way of his until I'd proven I could do it without help, and I did it fast too, and he'd seemed happy… maybe even proud. I hadn't realized exactly what that look meant at first, until I realized he did it whenever he was showing me something new, or sometimes when he was flipping through websites on his laptop… and I wasn't sure exactly what to call it, other than him being cautious and trying to figure something out. I got the idea that he was feeling me out, in a way, trying to see what I did and didn't like…

Odin was too odd to simply ask, apparently.

I liked how strange he was, though… he was cool.

“Where are we?” I asked quietly.

“Grójec,” he returned just as softly. He frowned, briefly. “I think something might be wrong, we need to check.”

I pursed my lips a little, nodding. Getting to Warsaw had been hard enough, picking up vague hints of trails that I still wasn't sure how Odin identified, but he was positive that Wufei had gone to Kalingrad, then later to Warsaw. It was obviously a very circuitous route, designed to throw off trackers, but Odin was good. It was a little tedious, but since we didn't have any information on our own, following was the only way to manage what we were trying to accomplish, he said. He seemed a little annoyed by the situation, but it was the same kind of annoyed he had about his bad leg, which was to say he refused to walk any different when it bothered him. He just spent more time working on the strained muscles later that night.

In other words, he kicked butt where most people wouldn't even realize there was anything to accomplish in the first place. The guy made his own rules to play by… and he was showing me how to do the same thing.

I smirked a little as the bus stopped and we stood. School was going to be beyond boring, if I ever went back to it.

***

Treize's hidden compound

Treize ground his teeth, glaring at a spot on his desk that he was debating if it would be worthwhile to slam his fist into. He doubted it would help, but the idea was incredibly tempting.

Tate,

You'll never believe it, the jackass who said he was taking a trip to Russia? I just found him back here; the asshole's just trying to avoid me. I mean really, what the fuck? I'm seeing what I can get out of him, but you should call him and see if you can talk some sense into him. If you're not up to it, though, leave the bastard to me. So much for friends, huh?

Write me back sometime or I'll start thinking you're just as bad as him. This is my new homepage, huh? It needs some work, but maybe you could give me some ideas.

Váli

Chang was not in Moscow… and that one burned. He wouldn't have thought the Chinese man was capable of that level of deception. And he didn't have the resources to move fast enough now to try to hunt him down himself, he'd have to leave it to Váli, damn it… and that carried a heavy risk of losing Chang to Zechs and not being able to get him out too soon.

The link led to a very derogative site about the Polish, with full graphics… How does the man find the time for this? he wondered, not for the first time. And there still wasn't any news on Mariemaia, at all… not even rumors. He growled, pushing back from his desk and not quite stalking to the door. He was going to the room here that he could workout in… he really needed to burn off some frustration.

***

Amsterdam

“Father! Father, come look at us!”

The bemused priest came out into the main of his church at Melissa's call to find her, Chaos, Luc, Shov, Valio, Nic, Robby, and Gust practically capering about the main of his church, all but Chaos proudly sporting a new militia uniform.

“Wait just a moment,” he decided, holding up a hand in a `patience' sort of gesture and moving to the closet to take out the video camera. Returning to the young men and woman, he smiled broadly as they began to laugh more delightedly at the development.

They really are still kids, in a lot of ways… Despite what the times had pressed on them, the Devils all had a sort of mischief about them that comforted, and made it clear how the name of their group was more a joke than anything. Lucas and Valio were the oldest of them all, now both twenty-two, and of this group, Melissa was the youngest at seventeen… well, Chaos was about her age too.

“Smile,” he suggested, pressing the record and using the little flip-out screen so he could look at then and cover the footage at the same time; he could have Amos tinker with the machine later to turn pat of the video into freeze-frame photos. Mm, and Chaos has his Polaroid, he noticed happily as the boy grinned at him and silkily moved out of the camera's line of view.

Rob grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him back. “Nuh uh, Kay, just because you're too badass to wear the uniform doesn't mean you get to slink away!”

He laughed and detached himself in such a way that it looked like he'd been let go… if you didn't see Rob's annoyed expression. “I don't match!” he returned glibly, darting back out of the view.

Espen spun around to focus on the elusive young man. “Now, now, Chaos, we aren't camera shy, are we?” He knew full well the boy was, but it was something to tease him about. The others were already calling insults.

Kay snorted in derision and brought his Polaroid up, effectively blocking his face from view. “Say cheese, Father.”

There was a giggle for warning as his girlfriend jumped on his back and he brought the Polaroid down to steady them. She brought her arms around his neck and clasped her hands in front of his chest, smiling impishly at the camera. Her eyes were bright, ponytail falling over one shoulder. “Come on Kay, just a couple pictures… you can go through the film yourself, huh?” He looked up at her with a tolerant sort of smile before turning to the Father with something of a sheepish look. The girl sniggered slightly and rested her head on Chaos' shoulder, looking back to the camera.

“I dare say she has you whipped, boy,” Espen informed him laughingly.

The ex-soldier chuckled happily, his eyes lighting up with pleasure. “Is that a bad thing?”

“I couldn't tell you,” he returned honestly, setting them all laughing more.

Melissa was one of the most photogenic people he had ever come across; most lost that quality after entering their teens. The American was smiling genuinely at the camera now, hitching `Liss slightly so he settled her weight better. She smiled even more brightly and turned to kiss him on the cheek, which made him turn and kiss her chastely on the lips.

Smiling more to himself, he focused back on the rest of the group as Shov dashed forward and snatched the Polaroid cackling in an evil sort of way as he evaded Kay's attempt to grab him. Espen had known when Relena Peacecraft had announced the start of militia that a good number of the Devils would join. That had been nearly three weeks ago, since the announcement had been made before the preparations had been started, and the majority of the group had completely immersed themselves in the new prosperity, working in the textiles and new office jobs that were starting up… but these were the best fighters from the group, and had requested more active duty.

They had their uniforms now… He could only assume they had shifts as well. The economy had taken a pretty good up with the new program; jobs had been scarce for over a year now, and the city was absolutely humming with the productivity. If only one program did this, and it was only the Peacecraft princess's second implementation… he could hardly wait to see what came next. That woman - only the same age as Chaos and Melissa, but woman, still - was the answer to more than a few of his prayers.

“What's this?” asked Isabel happily, coming out into the main as well, with more than a few little ones in tow.

“These fellows in uniform came through our doors, Sister,” the priest informed the nun as if he didn't know the group. “I believe they forgot there isn't any mass on Thursday afternoon.”

They all protested that as he and the sister laughed. Really, they all did come to mass regularly. Chaos was usually managing the children during the services instead of listening, but they all knew exactly what times at which it was held.

Val grinned and dropped into a crouch, which had Coby immediately running to him, a smile plastered across his face. For some reason, the toddler had long ago taken to the young man, and Valio had happily taken up a position as his favorite `uncle'. Cassandra smiled shyly at everyone before gravitating over to Chaos and Melissa, who came to simply play with the children more often; she didn't really know the others. They immediately shifted their attention to her and Espen found himself smiling more. Whether they stayed together or went separate ways in the end, those two would both make wonderful parents someday. All the others were either napping or in school… though the Helen, Fran, Ferik, and Amos should be home in a little over an hour, and it was almost time to go pick up the kindergarteners.

In all the mess of Libra's aftermath, at least the schools had been kept running.

Now… not only were they managing, as he had always known they would, but it looked like they might start doing well again… and that was more than enough to be thankful for.

***

Grójec, Poland

I definitely hadn't been reading too much into it this time… there was an active search party out, and a nearly frantic one at that.

He was close… and I wasn't the only one following him anymore.

“What?” asked Marlé in a whisper, focusing on the man who had caught my attention.

I started leading us to the hostel I had seen on the last street at a fast jog. “Did you see how he moved?”

She frowned. “Um… it was the same as the last person you noticed. …I'm not sure what was different, but it was.”

I smiled a little; she had proven to be a much faster study than I had hoped, back when I realized I might teach her something, and she had the same kind of enthusiasm I remembered employing myself… that I would still employ if the situation rose for it. “He knew how to rest his weight for balance,” I explained as we continued to run. “But what about how he felt?”

Her eyes widened, and she grinned, catching onto point. “Nervous.” She licked her lips, puffing a little; they weren't jogging too hard, but running and talking with ease was something that took practice. …And maybe it was fast for a little girl. “You think it's about him?”

Slowing slightly, I nodded and gestured at the hostel we were coming up on. She frowned at that, but I shook my head. “They might recognize you too if you came with me.” And even if she was already learning the basics of fighting from me, I was not going to put her in this sort of situation; she was far from ready, though I was sure she could slide a few surprises in. As we walked in, I reached into my pocket and dropped a decent fistful of bills on the counter; the lobby was empty other than the woman behind the counter. “We need a place to sleep for the two of us, but I need to go get our train tickets for tomorrow,” I explained, purposely verging on breathless; I had been getting better at my acting. “Marlé can work out the details.” I moved to shove my “sister” then only nudged in truth, causing her to overcompensate then squawk indignantly at me as she caught herself from falling over. I chuckled, something I had caught myself doing more and more often lately, and waved a rough good-bye before running back out the door.

I liked the affect the girl had me… I felt more like I had when I was young, before that last year leading to Odin's death, when he was virtually a dark cloud.

…Apparently I was picking up on her speech patterns as well.

But… even though we were constantly working, chasing, constantly busy, life had the same sort of carefree tone as those days I had spent shopping and simply enjoying Dasha's company. Well, excluding a number of activities, anyway. Everything was less something that needed to be done and more… fun.

The oddest part of it all was now that I had someone consistently calling me Odin, I was starting to think of myself by that name, though it felt right… From what I remembered of my childhood, it might actually be my name. It had always been “kid” or “junior” in private, but the last flight Odin and took together was far from the first time he introduced me as Odin Lowe Jr.

I smirked as I found one of the men with the same walk and heard a radio crackle. These men were far less subtle than the ones from Treize that I had followed before, which suggested that they belonged to Zechs. I idly wondered if Treize was still looking for Wufei in Moscow as I began to stalk my new prey. This was much easier work than what I had spent the last few months doing.

***

Kursk, Russia

Ivan Alekseev blinked at his wife's confused look, considering the camera again. She had asked him where Danielle had gotten it, and he had reminded her that she had put it in his bag before he left on his last business trip.

“I've never seen it before,” she returned dubiously, turning it over in her hands. “It certainly seems useful, but I didn't even know they made something like this.”

He scratched his head. “Well, how else could it have wound up in my bag?” he returned in dismay. This was just weird…

Kristine pursed her lips, handing the machine back to their daughter. “When did you first notice it?” she asked. “Maybe someone put it in your bag on accident?”

He frowned, considering that. Maybe… but then it had disappeared just as suddenly as it had appeared… His face started to feel rather cold as he thought of other possible implications. It wasn't all that likely, but… Oh shit, it's a recording device… He had noticed the first one had a couple sound files that were a few minutes or less on there, and he has assumed they were songs or preloaded sounds and tunes, and he hadn't gotten around to playing with it before he'd lost the thing. “Let me check something,” he muttered to Kristine, moving into the kitchen to pull his cell off the charger and flip off the casing, pull out the battery… and find a tiny sticker with circuitry that he knew wasn't supposed to be there.

Fuck!

***

Grójec, Poland

Odin slammed an elbow into the man's temple, causing him to drop like a sack of bricks; he'd just checked in, and they were closing in on his friend. Snatching up the radio, he started sprinting; he had listened long enough to have a good idea of where the others were, so it wouldn't be too hard to avoid them, especially since they kept updating. Pumping his legs harder, he knew there would be consequences for his actions tonight, he was likely to do more damage to his injury moving like he was, like he was planning to, but it was a price he was more than willing to pay. He grinned in a way that he remembered Duo had once told him was `fuckin' scary, man,' feeling more alive in the pump of adrenaline than he had since his stay with Dasha, or since his fight with Zechs…

It just felt so good to run like the wind itself again… he had missed it.

***

Treize's hidden compound

“There was a what?” Treize demanded as coolly as he could. He had worked himself into exhaustion over the past few hours, his face pouring sweat… If nothing else, his time pent up with nothing to do was making him more fit than ever.

“I think it might be a bug,” Alekseev hissed, sounding more than a little panicked. “No one acted suspicious at all, and leaving some contraption like that in my bag as a going away present is something my wife has done before, Sir. I only just found out she never bought anything like it.”

Treize took a deep breath, quietly enough that his subordinate shouldn't hear over the phone; this was most certainly too late of news to be useful, but it might make sense out of some past discrepancies. “Calm down, Ivan.” He gestured to the assistant who had brought him the phone in the first place… Jordan. “Jordan, tell the boys upstairs not to erase this bit of conversation so it can be analyzed later if we need to.” He focused back on the phone. “Alekseev, start over; give me every detail you think might be related.”

***

Grójec, Poland

My only warning was a downright feral snarl before I was knocked to the ground… and a bullet whizzed over my head. I didn't even have time to gasp before I was half drug from the ground and given a firm shove. “Move!”

Following the order, I couldn't decide if I was happy or furious. I had just had to have my ass saved again. Shit, when we got out of this, Adam was going to kill me for my incompetence before delivering me to Po in swaddling cloths this time, so she could kill me. I wanted to kill me for the sheer incompetence I had displayed since leaving my post in Egypt.

Adam slapped my side to indicate we were turning here, and much to my disgust, I did as I was told as I heard the heel of his boot grind in the dirt as he turned to fire four rounds at our pursuers in fast succession; there were a few cries and one bloodcurdling shriek, followed by cursing. Not even a moment later, he was dogging my heels again, tapping his knuckles lightly on my back, urging me to run faster.

I could have sworn the man wasn't this fast the last time we'd had to run for our lives. His reflexes had been better, and he'd had an insane ability to jump, but I had been the faster runner.

Apparently he'd only been humoring me; he was tapping my back again in irritation. I had no idea how he wasn't running on my heels.

A radio barked, and the men Adam had just shot were reporting that they were down, and what direction we had gone in… that there were two of us. I willed more speed into my legs.

It barked again a moment later. “Corso, status?”

My would-be partner snorted, seemingly in amusement, letting me know where he'd gotten the radio. He slapped my other side to indicate another turn, and I didn't argue.

***

Hilde muttered a curse as more men ran past, talking into their radios. This was one damn big mess… even when she had managed to get herself caught, she hadn't caused half as much ruckus as the man she was almost positive this all was about.

I'm going to have to pull back, she realized, annoyed. There were just too many soldiers on the streets; her own presence was too much of a liability. Hopefully, Chang could save his own hide… If not, she'd confirm the fact and run home for reinforcements. Shaking her head, she casually walked own a different street with the big brown grocery bag she was using as an excuse to be about. Isn't this just grand…?

***

It took more than half an hour to lose their tail and secure a temporarily safe building that they could talk in, and by then Odin's leg was screaming, but it wasn't anything he couldn't ignore; it wasn't close to the point where it would buckle under him and refuse to work, yet. He noted with some satisfaction that his old comrade had lost the ponytail; that was good, he had thought it odd that he hadn't changed his hair-style since the end of the war. Wufei was much slower than he remembered, which was aggravating, but he probably had a legitimate reason.

It was dark, but the ex-pilot's body language abruptly changed, and they were a few yards away from each other now. “You're not Adam,” he seemed to realize suddenly. “You're too short to be Adam.”

Heero raised a brow; he supposed Adam must be the name of the person his mark had seen traveling with Chang. In the heat of the moment, and the darkness, he supposed it was a legitimate mistake, though. “It's Heero,” he noted quietly.

“Heero?”

His voice was confused… and not the momentary sort of confusion at an unbelievable fact… he was genuinely lost. Disbelief creeping up his spine, he groped at the wall by the door for a light switch and flipped one on.

His body seemed to run with ice instead of blood as he really looked in the man's face for the first time. He had the same coat that he had seen in Jerusalem and maybe a glimpse or two of since as well. There was the same lilt and tone to the voice…

…but it wasn't Wufei's face.

“You're not Chang Wufei,” he heard himself say in the monotone he had been doing his best not to use since he had found himself in Israel. He was furious… He had come so far… and it wasn't him? But the things he could do, the things he had shown he was capable of, and what Treize's people had said…

“Chang Xutao,” he returned, still breathing hard from their run.

The urge to laugh hysterically at his own false assumptions was best suppressed; it was a common name, wasn't it? Fuck… Three months' pursuit, for nothing… He had to be entirely sure. “You were in Jerusalem, April 30th?”

The man's eyes narrowed, but he nodded. Heero let out something of a growl, holstering the gun that he hadn't consciously realized he had drawn at this “Shootaow's” bewildered tone. “My apologies,” he muttered in his old monotone. He ought to have just stayed with the Sronas until he finished healing… But then I wouldn't have found Marie, he realized. Or met Dasha and learned her easy view on the world, or any of the other things he had come across on his journey… he certainly wouldn't remember so much more about Odin if he had stayed. He wouldn't be able to bring emotion back to his voice if he wanted to… and really, finding Marie was enough, as he had realized these past three weeks.

He shook his head a little; maybe it had been worth it, but this certainly wasn't anymore. “I'm sorry, I had thought you were someone else. I would not suggest following me; I won't appreciate it.” He had to get back to Marlé… they could start looking for her mother tomorrow.

And he didn't like to admit it, but it just hurt that he wasn't any closer to finding any of the other pilots after all… He hadn't realized how much hope he had stocked in the idea. He was back to square one… but at least he wasn't alone, he supposed.

“Wait,” Xutao protested, taking a step forward as Odin turned to leave. “Wait a minute! How do you know Wufei?”

***

Unknown

Wufei sighed as the phone rang, looking at the schematic and debating if he cared enough to answer. Straightening his glasses, he realized he had been working for several hours already, and picked up the receiver. “Wei.” He smiled when he heard who it was. “Shui!” Has he come up with something else? The bastard. “Nin hao ma?”

Whee, and that's that for the chapter. I've been wanting to write that forever… So now that I've finally revealed how much I was trying to mislead you all, do you have any new theories?

Thank you guys so much for putting up with the slow updates and for reading this, in any case… this story made over 10,000 hits a couple weeks ago and I'm still kinda gaping in amazement.

Ja!