Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Ultimate Sacrifice ❯ Chapter 7 ( Chapter 7 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
Warnings: yaoi, angst, AU, alternating POV's
Pairing:1x2, 1+R (nothing romantic though), implied 3+4
Disclaimer: Would I still be working if I owned GW?
Archive: GW on the Sanctuary Anywhere else, please ask first. Feedback: Send comments, good and bad, to lady_yaoi @ hotmail.com (remove spaces)
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Ultimate Sacrifice


AC 200
[Duo POV]

"Everybody off. NOW!" This, I acknowledge, isn't a voice to be ignored, or argued with.

I joined the rest of the crew exiting the freighter, The SteamTramp, and was struck dumb by what awaited us outside in the landing area - a very large group of very large men all with very large guns. Shit! What have I got myself into now?

Out of the landing area, onto a bus, and a thirty-minute drive to some building displaying a logo I half recognize, only to be deposited in a room bare of anything except a table and two chairs. Obviously, it wasn't designed for twenty people being crammed inside. It took me all of five seconds to spot the video and audio pick-ups; three seconds longer than it would have taken me during the war. Oh well. With a sigh of disinterest - for the situation or my life - which was gonna be in serious trouble if these uniformed bimbos looked to closely at my ID - I couldn't say.

I've grown very tired of... well, everything the last four months. When Solo died, I thought my world was ending... but summoned my courage and life-force, picked myself up and survived. When Maxwell Church was destroyed, and I was the only survivor, I did the same. But now, nearly three years without Heero... I can't seem to summon that will anymore, or care that I can't. I've made my bed, tried laying it, and found it to be too uncomfortable.

My attention is attracted by a burly uniformed fellow collecting ID's from my shipmates. Digging into the pocket of my worn jeans - I still haven't replaced them - I pull mine out. An unsmiling face with dead violet eyes stares up at me from behind the plastic laminate covering the card. The picture is me, but nothing else is; fake birth date, fake name, fake citizen number. For a fake ID, it's pretty damn good. It's held up under some damn intense 'inspections'. But these goons don't look like they're just gonna eyeball it - there's gonna be a complete computer search cross-checking every bit of information. Shit. I should be scared or at the very least nervous. I can't summon up the will for even those simple emotions.

One by one, my shipmates names are called out and they're taken away. Are they released? Questioned? Interrogated? The last thought sends a shiver down my spine as I recall the last time I was interrogated by OZ during the war. It wasn't long after that near-death experience Heero and I got together... when we kissed... when we... NO! Dammit, I'm tired of this... these... memories.

So lost am I in my memories, sorrow... whatever you want to call the hell hole I keep tossing myself into, I didn't hear the last of my shipmates' name being called out, leaving me alone in the room. Nor did I hear the heavy boots walking across the floor and stopping to my left. I did hear the voice though. It spoke words I've not heard in almost three years... spoke a phrase I heard nearly everyday for two years... spoke my name, my _real_ name.

"Hello, Maxwell."

Glaring down at my pathetic form still wedged in a corner was one Wufei Chang. And he looked beyond pissed. Mouth set in a thin line, eyebrows drawn downwards, onyx eyes damn near shooting daggers at me. Shit, the game is up. I could say 'Maxwell who', but I could never lie to Wufei. I couldn't stop the audible gulp or the shake in my voice, "H-h-hi y-yourself." I

Wufei motioned to two burly guys I'd missed noticing. They dutifully obeyed his command, bodily lifting me from the floor and dropping me into one of the steel chairs sitting in front of the table. Another small motion from Wufei, and they backed off and out of the room, leaving me alone with Wufei. Alone and very much afraid.

"So... Thomas Cooper, eh?" Wufei picked up my ID card, appearing to examine it carefully. I suspected it, and the information it contained, had already been gone over six ways from Sunday. "Pretty original name... didn't think you were that smart, Maxwell."

"You insult all the guys from the SteamTramp, or am I just a special case?" Don't ask me where that came from. Old interrogation instincts must have clicked on - tell 'em nothing, wise-ass 'em whenever possible.

Ignoring my comment, Wu got right the point of his little visit. "What were you doing on that ship, Maxwell?"

"Working."

"Wrong answer, try again."

'scuse me? Wrong answer? Why the hell did he think that? "What else would I be doing on a fucking freighter?" Not exactly as witty a come back as I would have liked, but I'm out of practice... and more than a little off balance here. Something is going on, something more than my muddled head can figure out.

"What else? Let's start with helping a bunch of terrorists move weapons and advance up to plotting to assassinate government officials." I stared at Wufei, really stared. Where did that come from?

"You think I've been plotting assassinations? Me? After all I... we!... fought for, do you seriously think I'd align myself with people who want to start another war?" To put it bluntly, I was hurt Wufei could I think I would be.

"The Preventors have been tracking the SteamTramp for months, Maxwell."

"Months? I had no idea what the cargo was; I only just joined them a few days ago! As a mechanic, nothing more." I couldn't tell from the stony expression on Wu's face if he believed me or not. "Come on, Wu! This is me; Duo-I-never-lie Maxwell. You know me!"

"Do I?" Wufei got right in my face; any closer and he'd be standing on my chest. I gulped, again, trying to swallow the fear percolate my body. I can't remember _ever_ seeing him this pissed. "The Maxwell _I_ knew wouldn't be working against all we fought for by running guns and terrorists between the Colonies and Earth." He paused to catch his breath... and fist my shirtfront. "The Maxwell I knew wouldn't have run out on his best friend, leaving the rest of his friends to watch as his life shattered." My feeble attempts of a struggle against Wu's iron grip ceased at those words.

'Best friend... shattered life...' the words ricocheted through my head as my stomach dropped to my feet. In a voice so low I almost missed what he was saying, Wufei continued. "The Maxwell I knew would never have wanted to inflict such suffering on someone he _claimed_ to love. Now, you tell me - what am I supposed to believe?"

Something wet and salty dripped into my mouth; tears, I was crying. "H-Heero?" Oh God, please don't let him mean Heero.

With a look of utter contempt, Wufei released me and I fell limply back into the chair. Its cold hardness mirroring the feeling clenching around my heart. "You destroyed him, you bastard."

"NO!" Before I realized it, I was up out of the chair with my hands around Wufei's throat. "You're lying! He's alive... living with Relena... you're lying!" Rage and sorrow the likes I've never experienced raced through me. I hadn't destroyed Heero by leaving, I'd saved him! He wasn't dead... he couldn't be dead! Oh please, God, let Wufei be lying!!

Two pairs of strong hands pried mine off Wufei. The two goons must have been watching and rushed back into to help Wu; he hadn't attempted to remove me himself. With no great care, I was dumped into the chair and I slumped forward onto the table, burying my head in my arms.

"Leave him," I heard Wufei say. "We'll continue this later."

Alone, in the pit of hell, I cried in earnest. Boys most certainly do cry, especially when they believe they've destroyed the one thing they fought for, sacrificed their own life for, has died.

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TBC