Yaoi, OOC, AU

AC 205

1. Storm Warnings

By Katana

A sleek black Mercedes drove slowly into the emptied park, crawling to a stop next to a white pagoda on the small hilltop overlooking the darkening bay. A solitary motorbike stood forlornly in the empty car park nearby, a slender figure leaning casually against the overshadowing tree.

‘Wait here.’ Wufei spoke curtly, as he started to leave the car.

Nabiki nodded silently as she killed the engine and prepared to wait. Her eyes followed the handsome man in the severe grey suit, narrowing with interest as Director Chang approached the dark haired young man in a dark blue sweater and jeans. The two talked quietly for a few minutes then Nabiki saw the Director passing a small flat square package to the other man, who looked at it carefully then walked abruptly away to his bike, then drove away. She drummed her fingers idly on the handlebar and observed the Director staring intently after the disappearing figure on the bike, before starting back to the car and wondered who the other man had been, wishing that she had gotten a good look at his face.

‘I need to see Duo, now.’ Wufei muttered grimly as he returned to his seat.

Nabiki observed his set lips through the rear view mirror and couldn’t help wondering what had happened to put her Director in such a foul mood. But then, she shrugged mentally, that ever since the terrorists had bombed the Centre for Project Gamma a month ago, Director Chang had looked very unhappy, she wasn’t quite sure why since thanks to her efforts, their own Project Delta was thriving and had in fact been able to absorb a lot of the surviving resources of Gamma, including some of the best innovative minds in nanotechnology. As she drove out of the park, she noticed the same man who had been waiting for them in the park, staring at them from the side of the exit gate, still straddling his bike, his helmet resting on his lap, his thick dark hair blowing into his eyes.

Wufei stared grimly out of his window as he passed Heero, who remained motionless on his bike, and prayed that he would keep his promise to leave Quatre.

* * * * *

‘Is he ready?’ Duo asked softly as he scanned the report in front of him.

‘Yes, Director Maxwell. You may see the subject whenever you wish now. We were a little concerned about the effect of the Zero System on top of his neural modifications but it seemed that your initial assessment of the Zero System’s potential was correct.’

Duo grinned humourlessly as he returned the report to the quiet man in the white lab coat.

‘Aren’t I always?’ He stood up impatiently and gestured for the man to precede him, ‘I’m rather eager to meet our special protégé. What’s his name?’

Doctor Ikari adjusted his glasses on his nose, as was his habit, before replying in his gruff voice. ‘He’s only a boy, really.’

‘He’s nineteen, Doctor.’ Came the cold response, ‘I was only fifteen when I was killing Oz soldiers as a Gundam pilot and terrorist.’

Ikari hunched his shoulders, chilled by the reminder that the smooth young man in front of him was an experienced killer, and muttered hastily. ‘Amuro Rey. The boy’s name is Amuro.’

* * * * *

‘Trowa, I don’t want you to be involved.’ Catherine Bloom glared at her younger brother angrily, folding her arms firmly across her chest. She stared at his green eyes relentlessly until he finally turned his head away with a sigh.

‘I have to go Catherine. It’s my duty.’ Trowa said softly, even as he returned to packing his suitcase.

Catherine felt angry tears burning at the corners of her eyes as she grabbed her brother’s arm and clung tightly, preventing him from continuing with his packing.

‘You should tell Quatre that you aren’t a soldier anymore. There’s no reason for you to fight. You should stay here, with me.’

Trowa folded his arms around Catherine’s shaking body and drew her in tightly for a hug, holding her for a long moment before gently disengaging her limp hands from his arm and moving her away.

‘You are the reason I’m fighting now. I promise I’ll come back.’

Catherine looked up at her tall brother, her eyes blurred with tears. ‘Promise me.’ She whispered urgently, folding her hands tightly in front of her face, ‘Promise that you’ll stay alive and come home.’

Trowa nodded silently then picked up his small suitcase and left.

* * * * *

‘Mr Winner, there’s a personal call on line 3.’

Quatre picked up the phone and pressed 103, then waited.

‘It’s me.’

Quatre smiled instinctively as he recognised the low husky voice.

‘Hi.’ He began happily then stopped, suddenly aware there was something wrong.

‘I made a deal with Wufei. He gave the CD with the files to Project Epsilon and Omega.’

Quatre felt a sick twisting in his guts as he heard the flat monotone, empty of all feeling, and waited silently.

‘The deal was that I leave you, now.’

Quatre drew a sharp breath, wanting to protest, wanting to scream, wanting to stop the relentless voice from continuing any further.

‘I’ve already packed my things. I’m not returning to the estate.’

A pause. And Quatre felt the silence ringing in his ears as he continued to clutch on to the phone grimly.

‘I’m sorry Quatre.’

Click. Quatre closed his eyes in blind panic as he slowly dropped the phone from his numb hand, his breath catching raggedly as he rested his head in his hands. He heard the words ‘I’m sorry Quartre’, over and over in his mind, as he saw his fragile dream spin out of his hands and shatter. The image of the one person he had wanted and had been waiting for, forever, smiling with love and holding out his hands to him, even as Quatre saw himself reaching out to him, he cried out in mute despair as, over and over, he failed to catch the retreating figure, before it vanished and he plunged, into solitary darkness.

Slam. He looked at his bleeding hand emptily, blinking blankly as he stared at the cracked glass top of his table. He stared at the smeared blood on the table and examined the thick red blood welling and dropping from his hand in silent fascination. He couldn’t feel a thing. Quatre wondered curiously, why was it that he couldn’t feel anything? Not pain, not sorrow. He felt nothing. He reached out with his bleeding hand and touched the smiling face in the small picture frame on his desk with trembling fingers.

‘You left me. Heero.’ He whispered softly, as he saw the blood from his hand slowly stain the glass of the picture frame, and after a moment, he threw back his head and laughed wildly. And he continued to laugh and laugh and laugh.

A scared looking red haired girl gingerly poked her head in through the door and withdrew hastily as she saw the smashed glass top and her boss with a bloodied hand, laughing loudly as he stroked an image in a bloodied silver picture frame.

* * * * *

‘Where is he?’ Zechs paced impatiently, as he glanced at the black haired young man wearing a grey uniform with a stylised insignia of the Roman Alphabet Epsilon on his chest.

‘I don’t know.’ Ryo shrugged nonchalantly as he leant against the white foot of Tallgeese and returned to his reading.

Zechs glared at his oblivious companion in irritation before climbing into Tallgeese’s cockpit and checking its instruments for a perimeter reading. He wasn’t happy about being back on Earth, and wished that he had fought harder when Noin had first asked him to return, and aid Sally Po in her attempts to expose the Foundation’s attempts to subvert Earthgov and its relationship with the Colonies. He had been very disturbed when the Colonies had split into three fractions, one that favoured continuing relationship with Federated Earth and another that wished to establish a new Imperium, and a third that chose to remain neutral, though he suspected sourly that Anaheim Colonies were only interested in waiting to find out who the winner would be in the coming conflict, and in the meanwhile, in making as much profit from the struggle for dominance. Zechs was worried about Noin and wished that he had stayed with her, or that he had been able to convince her to join him on Earth. But as one of the most respected representatives of Earth Gov on Side Four, Noin had thought that she could better use her influence to try to calm things down before the conflict raged out of control and now, Zechs thought bitterly, thanks to the damned quarantine that Maxwell had manoeuvred the Colonists into declaring on Earth, he was stuck here and she was out in Space, alone, without any support.

He stared again at the silent instrument panel and willed for it to respond.

* * * * *

Duo examined the tall, auburn curled youth standing in front of him with frank curiosity.

He beamed at the solemn faced boy whose dark eyes widened slightly, before smiling hesitantly in return.

‘I’m very pleased with your progress Amuro.’ Duo began smoothly, putting his hands together to cup his face as he continued, his violet eyes glimmering largely in his face. ‘Your test scores have been outstanding, particularly in your piloting of the Gundam. I’m told that you’ve already started designing improvements on the current Gundam model,’ he gazed at his screen briefly, ‘and that you wish to rename it as NuGundam. I’m sure that you’re eager to test your skills for real.’

Amuro flushed with excitement, charmed by the handsome young director. He spoke up quickly, ‘Actually, I was told that I’d be able to join a special mission next week, if you gave permission, Sir.’

Duo grinned, amused by the naked desire in Amuro’s eyes. ‘And did you also hear that my permission would only be granted if you beat Director Chang in open combat? I have a standing wager with him that my enhanced pilots are better than the best pilots, even,’ he chuckled, ‘Gundam pilots. I’ve been waiting for the last six months for this opportunity.’

Amuro flashed back a smile. ‘Yes. It would be an honour to fight one of the infamous Gundam pilots, Sir. Although,’ he hesitated and blushed slightly.

Duo raised an eyebrow in amusement, and prompted. ‘Although?’

‘Although I wish that it was against the pilot of the Wing Zero.’ Amuro spoke hurriedly in an awed rush. ‘I heard that he was the best of the Gundam pilots.’ He threw a shy grin at Duo, whose eyes had narrowed slightly, and added hastily in a polite voice, ‘though I did hear that you were the sneakiest.’

Duo shrugged carelessly, flipping his heavy braid over the shoulder as he stood up. ‘I don’t think that we ever really fought against each other under equal conditions, so such definitions as ‘best’ and ‘sneakiest’ are sort of moot.’ He looked away from the young pilot still standing in front of his desk and walked over to the large window and looked out at the starlit sky. ‘But if you say that the pilot of Wing Zero was the most beautiful,’ he added softly, almost to himself, not noticing the start Amuro gave, ‘then I’d agree with you.’

Amuro gaped at the silent figure standing at the window and blinked confusedly as he tried to understand his words.

* * * * *

Wufei leaned back against the comfortable leather seat of the car and closed his eyes, still thinking back to the brief moment in the park with Heero.

‘I brought the CD as I promised.’ He said, pulling out a small square package from his jacket.

Heero stared at him silently, his blue eyes dark with worry, before reaching out his hand to take the CD.

Wufei held on to Heero’s hand as the other began to withdraw and insisted, ‘Now it’s your turn. Promise. That you’ll leave Quatre. Now.’

As Heero looked into his eyes, Wufei wondered whether he had seen a spark of pleading in those proud orbs, or whether it had just been his imagination.

‘I promise.’

Wufei reluctantly released his hand and Heero tucked the CD into his own jacket.

‘What will you do with it now?’ Wufei asked, unable to stop himself.

‘Give it to Quatre.’ Came the quiet reply as the other turned away from him and left.

He opened his eyes as he felt the car slowing to a crawl and realized that they were at the entrance of Project Epsilon Centre. Wufei felt a hollow emptiness in his stomach as he thought about Duo and Quatre, and realized that the precious friendship that he had known with the Gundam pilots in the short lull after their encounter with Mariemaia was finished. Then he thought of Heero and his lips twisted bitterly. The taciturn pilot of Wing Zero was the centre of their existence, around whom all the Gundam pilots plotted their course of actions, including himself, Wufei admitted ruefully. He knew that Duo would be furious over his actions, if he found out that is, Wufei shrugged to himself, as he decided to keep his rendezvous with Heero a secret. Now, he wanted to focus his concentration on his bet with Duo, who had suggested a duel in the simulators with a talented new pilot in his Project. Wufei flexed his fingers impatiently as his obsidian eyes glittered with excitement. It had been a long time since he had faced a real challenge and he was looking forward to the match, even if it was only in a simulator. Duo had asked him to test out their new simulators, based on the Zero System, as well as the pilot, who was apparently the most promising candidate in Epsilon. Wufei wondered what kind of enhancements the pilot had been given and how it would affect his abilities to pilot and battle in a Gundam. Duo had been somewhat evasive when asked about the details, answering coyly that he didn’t want to contaminate the results of the test by giving away too much information.

‘I wonder if the pilot’s anywhere near as good as Heero.’ Wufei wondered idly as he started to walk toward the elevator leading to Duo’s office. His mind flashed briefly to the moment he had shared with the cold Japanese, as they spun together wildly in the stratosphere in their Gundams, before the Wing Zero plummeted to the dark ocean below, like a falling angel. He remembered how he had told Heero that he had always wanted to fight with him, and smiled to himself, as he remembered how unimpressed Heero had been. He wondered what would have happened then if he had told Heero what he had really wanted, ever since they first met.

* * * * *

He hung up the phone on its hook in the booth and left slowly, his hands tucked into the pockets of his jacket.

Heero walked aimlessly, heedless of the occasional admiring glances from the passersby, his eyes downcast.

‘Where do I go from here?’ He thought numbly. ‘All I have left are places that I can’t return to. People that I’ve left.’

He was tired of wandering from place to place, of having to hide behind false names and of the meaningless faces that surrounded him. He did not want to return to a life in the shadows, not anymore. Heero wanted to go home but he didn’t know what that word meant anymore. Once upon a time, home meant a place where a boy with violet eyes and a warm laugh waited for him with eager arms, until his world turned upside down, and discord, pain and mistrust violated his home. He had thought that he was going to get a another chance, to make a home with Quatre this time, but now, he had given his word to Wufei that he would no longer shelter in the warmth and kindness that he had found with the blond pilot. So where did that leave him? Alone. Again.

After a while he looked up, startled by a flock of white birds that burst out from under his feet. As he looked around, he realized that he had walked into a small park in the middle of the city, where small children had gathered with their mothers to play near the pretty fountain, and feed the birds. He walked over to a seat and sat down, content to simply stare at the peaceful picture in front of him.

A little girl tottered towards him, her fat little hand clutching a melting ice cream cone and she grinned at him toothlessly, except for the two tiny pearls glittering in her mouth.

Heero stared at her laughing brown eyes and his eyes softened. When he smiled back at her, the little girl laughed and began jumping up and down in her excitement. He just sat and continued to smile at the little girl as she started to stumble around clumsily, excitedly trying to keep his attention. Shortly, her mother, a pretty woman with the same warm brown eyes as the little girl came forward and grabbed hold of her sticky hand and began dragging her away, apologizing for disturbing his rest.

Heero stood up again, and walking away but this time, his step was more brisk and filled with confidence.

* * * * *

‘He’s here.’

Zechs started, jerked out of his sleep. He dropped lightly to the ground and smiled warmly at the tall figure that stood before him.

‘I’m glad to see you Trowa.’

Trowa nodded wordlessly.

Zechs turned to Ryo and suggested that he return to the Centre before he was missed. Ryo nodded in agreement and with a quick smile to Trowa, he left the small enclosure.

‘How’s Sally?’ Trowa asked quietly as he handed Zechs his suitcase.

‘She’s fine.’ Zechs replied after a little hesitation, which Trowa didn’t miss. ‘She lost her right leg.’ Zechs added heavily, as he ducked inside the cockpit, missing the clenching of Trowa’s fist. ‘It’s not too bad.’ He added bleakly, ‘we thought that she was going to end up paralysed at one time. So Sally’s pretty relieved and with the new prosthetic, she’s already learned to be pretty mobile.’ He stopped looking at the cold rage in Trowa’s eyes.

‘Duo will pay for this.’ Trowa promised icily.

Zechs looked at the implacable green eyes in front of him and felt a leaden heaviness in his chest. ‘It wasn’t his doing.’ He pointed out flatly, unwilling to see even the American pilot being condemned unjustly. He elaborated slightly. ‘Sally was wounded when she was caught in the blast of the bomb that she was trying to set in one of the supporting laboratories for Epsilon. However,’ he added bitterly, ‘Duo was responsible for having her brought to Heero’s cell, without bothering to arrange for any medical treatment, simply so that she could act as a living shackle.’

Trowa looked back at him with an empty coldness in his eyes that made Zechs shudder. ‘I’m not interested in what Duo is personally guilty of or the exact degree of his personal culpability. I just know that he has to be stopped.’

Zechs sighed, thinking that even after ten years, the Gundam pilots hadn’t really changed, not any of them. They still thought in absolute terms and believed in fighting for a cause. He wondered when he had begun to tire of the continuous battles, to simply be sick of seeing death and dealing death with his hands. He wished that Noin were with him now, instead of this earnest young man with his cold eyes, burning with righteous rage.

* * * * *

tbc…