Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ When We Forget to Remember ❯ Chapter One ( Chapter 2 )

When We Forget to Remember

Chapter One

C o l d v o i c e s , f a c e s p a l e
G a t h e r e d u n t o t h e i r j u d g e m e n t d a y

"C'mon Duo, get up, baka."

Silence greeted the voice, as the apartment, for one reason or another, seemed disinclined to start up a conversation.

"Come on Duo. Up! Move!"

Still nothing. Duo wondered if he was ever going to get out of bed…well, off the couch. Groaning, he managed to roll himself onto his side, and another roll made him fall off the couch and onto the floor. And, was that last night's dinner? Sighing, he sat up, looking around, taking in the shabby place he called 'home' although he didn't need to. It was imprinted on his mind, as were the streets of L2, and the passageways underground, and everything else about the place he lived. There were only a few times he could ever remember feeling ashamed of living like he did, and this was one of them. He wished that he could get out of here, possibly go to earth, or L1, either would be better than this hell. But Duo was convinced that he had done something wrong in another life, and that was why, at fifteen years old, he was forced to beg, steal and…hurt. He hurt so much inside, knowing that he didn't really deserve this but not quite understanding why.

There was a story inside every person that Duo knew, a reason why they were who they were, and a abhorrent hate of people for what they had done to them. There was no happiness that Duo could see as he walked down the street that was genuine, just people trying to enjoy the life that had been handed to them. As Duo passed the spot where the Maxwell church used to stand, he wondered who decided how someone should live. If there was a god he was looking forward to giving him a piece of his mind before he went to hell, there was nothing he could see in any of the people around him that made them deserve to live like this. Nothing they had done wrong that meant they were the trash of the earth.

J u s t m o t h e r s t o s t a n d i n v a i n a n d c r y
T e a r s a n d m e d a l s i n t h e r a i n
S h a l l I r e c a l l w h e n j u s t i c e d i d p r e v a i l ?
N o r e a s o n t o b e f o u n d w h y r e a s o n d i d f a i l

Duo could hear the gang before he saw them. Turning into the alley he climbed up on the dustbins and swung himself through the broken window above him. Dropping to the floor silently he made his way down the stairs and into the basement of the house, nodding to a young boy who gave him a quick glance, smiled and let him into the room.

"Duo! Man, we thought you'd never get your ass here, you sleep in 'gain?" said a man, about three years older than Duo, with blonde hair that fell over his face and deep, dark, blue eyes.

"Sleep? You mean that thing that you can only do properly on comfortable beds? Sleep, that thing you can only do properly on something I don't have?" Duo remarked, snatching a cigarette out of the hands of one of the other gang member and sitting down.

"Well, you don't look tired, if that any consolation," said the blonde. Duo smiled his trademark smile.

"You mean those weren't bags under my eyes I saw this morning? Great!" he shook his head and laughed lightly. "So, what're the plans for today?"

The blonde sighed.

"Not sure, I think Jei wants to lie low for a while until those cops from Earth and L1 have stopped looking for us and left. Though, I ain't sure what he thinks he's doing, they ain't just gonna give up, ya know what I'm saying?"

Duo nodded.

"But he don't wanna give them an easy way of finding us, Adam, that's why he's saying to lie low."

"Yeah, well, I don't like it. I wanna DO something, man, I'm tired of just sitting round here on my ass all day, know what I'm saying?"

Duo sighed, taking a drag on the cigarette. He looked round at the other gang members, they were talking, cleaning their knives and guns, and a few in the corner were playing cards. He knew sooner or later that they were going to get bored and Jei would have to give them something to do.

"I know what you're thinking," came a voice from behind him. Duo jumped. Jei didn't have a sharp or menacing voice, just a very distinct one that sort of made you shiver. Duo shifted over so that Jei could sit next to him on the tatty couch that the gang had stolen a few years ago. "We can't, Duo, I know the boys aren't gonna like it if they have to sit around here, but I'm not going to risk the cops getting a lead on where we are. Hell, we have a death sentence, that's what they're gonna do when they catch us, not just put us in jail."

Duo nodded and glanced up at Jei. The other man was about three years older than he was, and Duo had no doubt as to why Jei was the leader of the gang. He was good looking and very charismatic, but he was also very stern at times, and his eyes were so black that people said if you looked into his eyes to see his soul, that's what you'd see; black. Duo doubted that, however, Jei was a good guy, not ruthless, just desperate and loyal, caring. He wanted his friends to eat, to have a place to sleep and to be able to protect themselves, he was probably the only one out of them who cared who they stole from. He wouldn't let them take from other peasants, he said that was wrong. He'd only let them steal from the rich and greedy.

Duo blinked when he realised that he was staring into Jei's black eyes.

"Dude, you need to sleep more, you keep just spacing out like that," Jei said, shaking his head. Suddenly, the group of guys in the corner got up, walking towards the door. Duo, Jei and Adam walked swiftly over to the door, Jei standing with his arms folder, Duo on his right and Adam on his left. "And where do you think you're going?" he asked coldly, narrowing his eyes.

"Jei, man, we need summat to eat, we won't bring any attention to us, promise man."

Jei scowled but saw that the rest of the gang had fallen silent and were now looking over at them.

"…ok. But be quick, and bring back something for everyone else," he stated, moving out of the way of the door. The few boys nodded and left.

"Man, you gotta stop givin' into people like that. They gonna start thinking you soft, know what-"

"YES we know what you're saying," Duo said, sighing loudly.

Jei smiled and put a hand on Duo's shoulder. Duo smiled back. Life wasn't so bad when you had friends.

---------------

Heero rolled his eyes as his partner stepped off the plane. Great, one of those guys who goes about waving a Katana in everyone's face and demanding justice. The man looked about the room and spotted Heero, nodding and walking over to him. He bowed.

"My name is Chang Wufei," he greeted, standing up straight with his arms clasped behind his back. Heero nodded.

"Heero Yui."

The other man, Wufei, nodded.

"Are you ready to start?" Wufei questioned, his expression blank but his body language implying that he was impatient. Heero was a bit taken aback, he wasn't planning on his partner being quite as eager as he was, but he nodded.

"Yes. I have arranged a car, and mapped out the parts of the colony we will need to keep a close watch on. Our best bet is to follow a member of the gang back to the hide out and then capture them all there."

He led Wufei out of the airport and to the car that he had hired whilst on L2. He paid the keeper - Keepers are people that look after people's cars whilst they're parked - and they got in, driving in silence to one of the places Heero had marked on a map of L2. On the way there, Heero noted with gratitude how quiet his partner was. That was good, it meant he wouldn't have to put up with any pointless conversation, something he hated immensely.

When Heero reached the main shopping area of L2, he parked the car and rolled up the windows, which were, naturally, tinted black.

"Why have you marked this place?" asked his companion, and he turned to look at him.

"Because this is the store," he pointed to a supermarket, "that they usually rob for food."

Wufei raised a thin eyebrow.

"They stick to one store?" he asked.

Heero nodded.

"Yes, the inhabitants of L2 have stopped bothering to care about what they steal, so they don't need to find anywhere else," he looked back towards the shop and froze. He quickly picked up a file from on top of the dashboard and flicked through the pages, glancing up at the shop every few seconds. "That's them," he said at last, pointing to four people on the pages. "They've just gone into the shop."

He got out of the car and Wufei did the same. When Heero saw the boys coming out of the shop, a few bags in their hands, he nodded at Wufei and they started walking along the pavement on the other side of the road. They walked a few metres apart so that it would appear they were on their own and not together. When the youths turned into an alleyway, Heero cursed and sharply crossed the street, standing with his back to the wall and turning his head to peer around the corner. Wufei crossed as well and walked past the entrance to the alley, inclining his head to stare into it. He stopped and nodded at Heero who stepped into the alley.

"Did you see where they went?" he asked. Wufei nodded and climbed on top of some dustbins.

"Through that window," he replied, grabbing onto a metal bar and pulling himself up, looking through the window before entering it and dropping down onto the floor. Heero followed him, pulling out his gun as he landed.

"Where now?" he asked, walking to the door. "Down there, there are some stairs."

He walked out of the door, pointing his gun first to his left, then to his right before slowly stepping down the stairs. They both froze when they heard voices and Wufei looked over the banister.

"There's a kid guarding the door," he mouthed to Heero, and his partner nodded, pulling a small capsule out of his pocket. He twisted the top part and tossed it over the banister. When they heard the thud of an unconscious body falling to the ground, they continued down the stairs, holding their breath until they were sure that the gas had dissipated enough for them to breath.

"They're in there," Wufei whispered quietly.

Heero nodded and pulled out another gun.

"On the count of three. One…two…three…"

He kicked the door open and ran into the room.

"Everybody freeze!"