Title: Building a New Life Chapter: 9/? Word count: 7962 Rating: Mature Betaed by rogue53 Warnings: Lemons, fighting, blood, explosions, swearing, slight kink. Nothing else. Parings: 1X2, 3X4, 5X6. Relena as friend to all the boys. Disclaimer: I do not own or hold any rights to Gundam Wing. Those rights belong to Bandai, Sunrise, and the Sotsu Agency. These fan fictions were written for fun, not profit. However, this story does belong to me. Please don’t snitch it. Summary: Sequel to The Price They Paid – The Pilots fought for peace for the Colonies and the Earth. With peace and the freedom to begin new lives they now are faced with new threats, not from politicians, but from the hard, cold space around them and the men and women they work with. Construction work is dangerous and the people involved in colonial construction are hardened and rambunctious. Building a colony is not at all like building a city. As the boys are about to find out. Authors note: Not much of a real plot so much as just incidents in building a colony and how the boys handle them. Heero took both the duffels and stuffed them into the luggage compartment under one of the beds. The tiny cabin they had been shown had two beds, a small drop-down table and a 'convenience' under one bed. The storage was under the other. There were cupboards over the bunks and they'd stored the few things they would need over the next few days in them. “You about ready?” Duo opened one door to rummage for his toiletries. “I want a look at the showers and stuff.” Heero found his own ditty bag and grunted. He had a very funny feeling about this transport and it was making him irritable. Duo noticed this and patted Heero on the shoulder. “What's wrong? You're acting like Old Mr. Grumpy Pants.” “Don't know. Something. That's what's making me grouchy. I can't figure it out.” “Oh, well, we'll just snoop around a bit. Maybe we can find it.” Heero nodded his agreement and opened the door to their glorified cubicle. “Ok, let's go down to the hold and see what the cargo is. I'm aching to find out.” Duo gave a little crow of delight. “Oh, man, Mr. Stoic finally got a bump of curiosity. Great! Let's go.” “And we can find the mess, too. I'm hungry.” “Again?” “I'm a growing boy. I'm always hungry.” Heero snorted, smacked Duo on the back of the head and, deciding on left, started down the corridor. Duo trotted to catch up. They continued side by side, and in step, neither noticed. The mess was one deck down and a corridor over from core, or the center and largest corridor on the ship. They stopped there for a quick bite to eat and Heero watched Duo pump all the nearest men and women about what was in the cargo hold. He charmed and chattered—and failed. No one would tell him anything, all they did was give him amused and rather condescending looks and try to distract him with stories. Heero sighed when he realized that Duo was really getting angry. This wasn't good. Shinigami was way too close to the surface, no matter what anyone thought. He draped his arm over Duo's shoulder and guided him out the door, murmuring in his ear, “Come on, Duo, if these people want to treat you like a kid, let's go down to the cargo hold and look all wide eyed and impressed.” Duo snarled, “I hate it when they do that. What gives them the right to treat people that way? I mean, even real kids deserve respect. Fuck!” Heero patted Duo gently. “Don't get all upset. They mostly don't recognize us. It's really beneficial. You really want them all, “Oh, my god, a Gundam pilot.”? Duo rubbed his face then turned to press it against Heero's shoulder. Heero just leaned against the wall and let him. Duo's emotions had been very up and down since his wounding. Heero had been told that it was going to be that way for a while. He just supported Duo as best he could. “Sorry, really. I'm just ... off balance still. Not physically but emotionally. I'll do better.” Heero just rubbed Duo's back. “You're doing fine now. Come on, let's see if we can't sneak into the hold.” Duo brightened at once, he did love sneaking around, although he'd deny it with his last breath if asked. Heero couldn't help but remember that Duo was the stealth expert in the group. Duo leaned against the wall for a moment, arms crossed over his chest, one ankle crossed over the other. Heero waited patiently as Duo consulted the index of ship layouts he carried in his head. “Ok, got it. Mmmm, we need to go down two more levels and straight back for .... six. There's an access hatch there where we can get into the vents. We'll follow them stern way for about twenty feet and that'll put us at one of the ceiling vents over the cargo bay. I'll take a quick look then we'll reassess the situation and make a decision on whether we want to cause a disturbance /severe/ enough to allow access or retreat.” Heero sighed slightly, his only sign of his happiness. This was looking to be either a great deal of fun or put them in a really bad situation. “Mission accepted. Let's go.” Duo smacked him on the shoulder, grinned and led out. They took the route Duo had mapped out and Heero held Duo while he /hung/ out of the vent to get a good look around. He dragged Duo back into the ventilation duct in exactly six seconds, like Duo had instructed him. “Nope. Couldn't see anything much. There's a huge pile of netted boxes in the way. We need to go farther in.” They moved and Duo tried again. This time he lay on his back for several heart stopping moments then he sat up and grabbed Heero. He hugged him and whispered in his ear, to keep echoes from giving them away, “It's our gundams. They're here. I thought they would already be at Mina Hurr but they're right over there. Oh, mugod. Come on.” Heero couldn't help but give Duo another hug, it also helped him whisper back, “Calm, calm. If we make a noise, they'll be all over us. What are our gundams doing here? Where would ... Quatre! He's having them taken to Mina Hurr secretly. There's been some rumblings about having them destroyed as war machines. He's getting them out of ESUN jurisdiction.” Duo made a soft sound of denial. “Shhh, not going to happen. Ease back the way we came. Let's see if we can't get in the ... legal way.” Duo snickered softly and started back the way they'd come. It didn't take them long to get back out of the vents. Heero breathed a sigh of relief when they didn't get caught. He didn't want to have to explain what they were doing. It was just way easier to do things 'black ops' style, than to go through the constant explaining that, “No, they weren't ordinary teenagers. Yes, they were, in fact, Gundam pilots.” He knew Duo was just as weary of it as he was and the fact that they were back in the colonies hadn't changed things that much. More people knew them by sight but most of them were either in Sweepers or weren't the kind of people that they wanted to recognize them. Duo tugged Heero into a small side room, just off the cargo bay door, and flopped into a convenient chair. “Ok, now what. Do we go to the captain and demand to get to our suits? Or do we go to the hold master?” Heero leaned against the door and thought, running his hands through his hair. “Ummmm. I really think we just walk up like we belong there and go in. The worst they'll do is run us off.” “Ok. Let's go. I can't wait to see 'Scythe close up again.” Heero opened the door, peeked out and then just walked into the corridor. No one was in it so they walked the few feet to the huge blast doors that sealed the air lock to the cargo bay. The smaller side door was open and Heero stuck his head in. No one yelled at him or anything so he slipped quietly into the room, Duo followed just as quietly. “Security sucks, I'm having a real talk with Quatre.” Heero snorted. “We're at peace. Security is almost nonexistent now. They've gotten complaisant, almost lazy. Things are different, very different. In some ways they're better, in some, they're much worse. So, enough of these heart burnings. I want Wing.” “Ok, let’s go see.” Duo eased behind the pile of boxes and he and Heero took their time checking out security around the gundams and figuring out how to make their approach. Heero sighed as a sudden thought hit him. “Why are we doing this? Why don't we just walk up and ask to see them?” Duo gave him a deer in the headlights look. “Um ... because? Um ... no idea.” Heero sat down on the floor and started to laugh. Duo had to join him. Why, exactly, were they sneaking around a WEI cargo carrier trying to steal a peek at their own machines? They were interrupted by a voice from overhead. “Ok, you two, what are you doing here? And where are your parents?” Duo shrugged. “Dead, last I knew. And we want to see our gundams. Ok?” Heero smacked him on the shoulder. “Don't be a wise ass.” Duo just grumbled a bit but gave the man looming over them a hopeful look. The man looked back for a moment then said, “Sorry. I'll have to escort you out now. No one's allowed in here except for the maintenance crew. And the pilots. Although most of us wouldn't know them if they came up and bit us. Lady Peacecraft managed to keep their pictures out of the papers and what not. Don't blame them for not wanting their pictures all over the place. I know Maxwell got some pic taken when he got captured but they're so bad no one but his mother would recognize him. Come on. Captain'll have my head, letting you hang around like this.” Heero blinked at Duo, they'd both forgotten completely about Relena's relentless campaign to keep them out of the news. Duo grinned, Heero just sighed. “Ok, I'm really sorry. Can we just have a peek? Please? Are any of the maintenance crew around?” Heero groaned. “Damn it, Duo. None of them saw us. Remember?” “Yeah, that's right. Would the captain know us?” Heero shook his head. “Not unless Quatre put a picture in our jacket. I don't think he did. We're so sunk.” “Don't give up. Let's just ask the captain. I'm still not used to this sort of thing. You think ... we'll ever?” Heero gave Duo a soft look. “Maybe...in ten or fifteen years. Let's just ... No, damn it, I want to see Wing! So what do we do?” The crew man, naturally confused, demanded, “What the hell are you two on about? You can't stay here. If you don't leave, the captain'll have my head, like I already said. So come on, don't cause a lot of trouble. Let's go.” Duo shrugged. “Ok, Heero, let's try to do it the,” He hacked like a cat coughing up a hairball, “right way. If that fails, we'll try something else.” Heero nodded a bit stiffly. “We'll go see the captain.” They docilely let the crewman practically hand deliver them to the blast doors and out the small side door. They headed straight for the captain's ready room, they made it to the deck below the bridge and no farther. Duo growled at the security man who'd refused them entry. “Look, I don't know what's going on here but this is ridiculous. That's my gundam down there and I want to see 'Scythe. So, go get the captain and tell him I want to see him” “Ok, kid, don't get your panties in a bunch. Do you have any idea how many Duo Maxwell wannabes there are? And all of them trying to get into the pilot's seat of that gundam? Got ID? If you do, I'll take it and run it. Then we'll see about getting you in to see the captain.” Duo snarled, tugged his ID out of his pocket and tossed it at the man. Heero gave him a slightly apologetic look and handed over his ID. The man walked away with the wallets in his hand. When he came back the expression on his face was everything that Duo could have hoped for. He looked slightly stunned, gave them back their ID and announced that he would escort them to the captain's ready room himself. . The captain turned from his examination of some sort of chart on the wall. “Well, I see ... oh! ... damn, but you guys look young.” The captain flushed heavily. “That's ok, dude. Everyone says something like that the first time they see us. Um ... does that mean you believe us?” Captain Martin shook his head. “No, that means that I ran your ID through WEI Central and got a good ID. I believe them. The pictures are not very flattering, like all ID pic, they make you both look in your twenties. Damn, but that's that. You'll be given complete access to all parts of the bay. I think it might be a good idea to make contact with your maintenance crews. Ok?” Duo grinned and nodded, Heero just gave a short nod. They turned around and went back the way they'd come. This time they were allowed into the bay without interference and were introduced to the teams that were responsible for maintaining their gundams. Heero thought, rather wistfully, of the time when they were responsible for that themselves. He couldn't help but see that Duo was a bit put off by this new arrangement himself. He leaned over and tugged at Duo. Duo sighed and tried to relax. “I'm going to have to run operational checks like crazy. I just ... I don't like it. I know it's crazy, but it really makes me uncomfortable, having someone else perform maintenance on 'Scythe.” “I know. I wouldn't even let you work on Wing and I know and trust you. I've never even seen most of these people. And, you know, I'll be running every checklist I know the second I'm in the hot seat.” They both paid attention when Captain Martin introduced them to their crews. There were only a few, a mechanic, a systems analyst, an electrician, and a personal suit maintenance tech, the person in charge of their 'space' suit. Duo greeted his crew with a smile and a wave. Heero just retreated into “Perfect Soldier” mode and nodded, one curt bob of his head, then demanded to see Wing. Duo scrambled over 'Scythe like a monkey. His crew trembled in fear that he would fall. They were relieved when he came back down to the deck and demanded to see his ship suit, the skintight suit that went under his vacuum suit. He cheerfully admitted that he hated the term space suit. The suit tech led him to see his suit, sure that he was going to have a hard time with this boy. He was right. Duo went over every seam in the suit and checked the helmet, oxy tanks, and all the electronics, twice. He realized then that Duo was one of the people in the Galaxy Tours fiasco and felt a little better. “It's really ok. I check it every time I fill the bottles. And I flush them before filling, unless there's a real emergency, then I just top them up. I'd like you to try the suit on so I can adjust it for you personally. It's a small so it should fit you but you know how it is to sit on a wrinkle.” Duo made a face. “Yeah, blisters on my butt are not something I want to experience again. How much do you want me to take off?” The handler shrugged, “As much as you're comfortable with.” Duo laughed a bit. “I'm a Gundam pilot, I'm actually comfortable naked. So ... how much.” “Down to your skivvies. Or whatever you're going to wear under the ship suit.” Duo stripped to his shorts and stood for the man to measure. He measured quickly and competently, refraining from comment on the various scars scattered over Duo's body. He checked his measurements against the common catalogue, the list of standard sizes available, and announced that he could fit Duo from stock. Duo grinned and demanded black and purple. While Duo was getting measured, Heero was doing the same. His crew eyed him with some misgivings. He was much broader in the shoulders than he should be and his glower was a bit off putting. His suit handler managed to measure him without setting off his reflexes then slapped him on the back, which got him a punch in the face. Heero immediately apologized but they had to take the man to the sick bay. He was slightly concussed. Heero calmly announced that he didn't require a handler, or a maintenance crew. He then proceeded to go over his vacuum suit, examining every seam. . The teams met in the ready room off the bay. None of them were very happy. Team 01's leader, the mechanic of that group, sighed, “Ok, we're in a world of hurt. Those guys are so young, and independent, they're never going to be team players. They're ex-terrorists, used to taking care of themselves and their machines, without outside interference. So, we've got two choices, let them run rampant all over us, or teach them how things should work. We'll either lose our jobs or hammer this whole mess into a force to be reckoned with.” The consensus was that they had their work cut out for them. The suit techs were going to get the brunt of it as they had the most personal contact with the pilots. Mac Spencer, Heero's tech and the person he'd cold-cocked was of the opinion that it was beyond them and resigned himself to looking for a new job. The roster as introduced to the two pilots was: mechanic: Tommy Sicard, Heero Jacob Grange, Duo systems analyst: Alfred Pawlak, Heero Jerome Bartlet, Duo electrician: Oacar Felty, Heero Ray Fishback, Duo suit tech: Mac Spencer, Heero. Dan Petrin, Duo They had both noticed that there were no women on the teams and Heero had concluded that someone, probably Trowa, had realized that they would both be uncomfortable with female attendants. Quatre would think of it but after the fact. Heero settled on the bench in the locker room and stared at the door of his locker with a sour expression on his face. Duo, on the same bench, sighed and rubbed his face. “Not going to work, is it?” Heero shook his head. “No, don't think so. I cold-cocked my handler. He slapped me on the back. I really don't think they realize who we are.” “Yeah, or they're takin' a cruise in Egypt.” “Not now, Duo.” “Sorry. They're in denial. They don't want to believe that someone had the ultimate in crazy and sent kids to do the job of grown men. People don't recognize us because they don't want to. My shrink said I'd probably have problems until I'm 40.” Heero acknowledged that remark with a typical grunt. His 'hn' made Duo sigh again. “Mine did too. He also said that I'm asocial.” Duo gave Heero a rather blank look. “And what's that got to do with anything?” “Well, it's better than being anti-social...isn't it?” Heero picked at a cuticle absently. He was going over everything that had happened and trying to find a solution to their dilemma. Neither one of them was comfortable with having a crew of strangers messing with their suits, nor were they happy with the thought that their discomfort would cost these people their jobs. Duo worked on the problem in his own way. “Ok, Heero, how uncomfortable are you with this? On a scale of one to ten. One being; “Not bothered at all.”, and ten being; “Need to shoot someone now”. I'm about a six or seven.” Heero thought about it for a moment. “About an eight. My skin keeps crawling. I don't like it when any of them get behind me.” Duo sighed. “Me neither. I thought ... but ... well, shit. Never mind. We just have to deal and get on with it.” Heero nibbled at his lower lip making Duo want to kiss it. “Maybe if we just go talk to them. We're team players after all, just not this particular team. You're the expert in emotions and creating team bonds. I'm just ... out of my depth, completely.” Duo twisted to hug Heero who accepted the embrace and returned it. “I'll see what the teams think about a joint meeting. We'll just lay it out for them and see what explodes. It's the best I can come up with.” “Ok, I'll let you call the meeting. I think I need to calm down some before then.” “Fine, see you in a few.” Duo stood up, patted Heero on the shoulder and padded quietly away, intent on getting all the crew members together and sorting out things before the situation got completely out of hand. He poked his head into the ready room and saw both crews sitting at the large central table. They looked up guiltily, Duo just grinned. “Jawing over the problem?” Heads nodded, men squirmed in dismay. “Great. I'll give Heero about ten minutes to calm down and we'll have a little confab. Coffee? Tea?” One man pointed to a fresh made pot while another just got up to make some tea. Duo gave them the old happy go lucky Duo grin and announced to the room. “Ah-ha! Coffeecoffeecoffee, java, go juice, jamoka! Great.” He poured himself a mug and settled at the foot of the table. “Ok, people, this is the scuttlebutt. We both are the real deal, Gundam Pilots, and we're both twitchy as hell. Never mind that it's been over a year and we've had a shitload of counseling, neither one of us is getting over that war any time soon. So, we've got to deal, figure out something, and quick. Ideas?” The discussion was lively and Duo was happy to hear that no one suggested that they just get over it. Various suggestions to make both pilots more comfortable were advanced, none of them seemed really workable. Duo was more interested in the group’s willingness to compromise than he was in the actual suggestions. He was nodding his head rather blandly when Heero finally came into the room. “Hello, everyone. Sorry it took me so long to get here. I had some thinking to do. Duo?” “So far, no joy. Still river, Egypt and so on. You got game?” Heero swatted Duo gently on the head. “Cryptic much? Stop it. If we start in gundam speak we'll never get anywhere.” Duo laughed softly. “Ok, Ok. Ease off, sit. There's tea.” Duo offered that with a hopeful look. Heero accepted the cup from his handler with a nod. “Thank you. Um ... sorry about earlier, are you ok now?” Mac just shrugged a bit. “Yeah, hard head. I'm sorry, too. I know better than to smack a pilot. I'll be more careful from now on.” Heero looked up at the man, relief evident in his eyes. “I will be, too. We all need to establish some rules, so Duo and I don't kill someone by accident. I don't mind on purpose when necessary but accident? No.” There were a few nervous laughs at that and Duo cracked up cackling 'like a hen a'laying' as Tommy put it. They talked some more, drinking coffee and tea, hammering out rules meant to keep Duo and Heero more comfortable with having these men around them and their suits. It didn't take long really and everyone was satisfied with most of them, no one expected to be happy with all the rules. They were content with most of them. . Duo settled in his pilot’s seat. “01 to control. Com check commencing.” Duo went through the entire checklist with the com officer. He also went through every checklist with each member of his support team. This was agreed on by both pilot and team. Everyone knew that the suits were in top condition, this was more to get used to working together than anything else. Heero nodded to his suit tech/handler. “Ready?” “Yeah, here's your checklist.” Heero smirked a bit. “Ok, Ok, I know you've got it memorized. You still need to tick the boxes. Give me a break, Ok?” “Ok, I know you have to have proof that I really did the checks but it's kinda hard to get used to this. I remember when I was lucky to have ... simple things. Like food. Now, I guess I'm just not used to having support like this. I feel weird. Let's get going then.” Heero ducked his head, a bit embarrassed and turned to take the zipline up to his cockpit. His crew realized how hard even that bit of emotion had been and were suitably impressed. They also ran checks, twice. Once, because Heero needed to connect with them and again because there was a bet that he wouldn't really know every check from memory. Tommy stood in the cockpit door to prove that Heero wasn't using a cheat sheet, Duo stood at the control board at the back of the bay with Oscar to make sure that he didn't skip something. No one would dare accuse the other of cheating, but fair was fair. Alfred collected the bets and handed the money over to Heero with a small bow when the check was completed. “Boy, you've got a memory like a steel trap.” Heero counted his money and smirked at them all. “No, that's Duo. Make him figure launch coordinates and fuel consumption.” Duo laughed softly. “Heero, no bets.” Heero just scowled at him for a second. “You're no fun.” “Maybe not, but I'm hungry, supper would be nice.” “Ok, let's go.” Heero looked at his watch. “Long day.” Duo sighed, stretched and agreed. The crew all groaned and moaned too. It had been a long day. They'd started on the station in late afternoon. After a full day of work they'd gotten aboard, settled in their room then gone to eat. They'd found the gundams, gotten permission to take over their machines and now, after a full day of checking them over and bonding with their crews they'd been up for over 36 hours. Heero said as much to Duo who just groaned again. “Man, I don't believe it. I thought we were done with all this shit.” “Well, we needed to bond with our crews, make sure the gundams are ready for deployment and ... um ... we could have done all the checks tomorrow, couldn't we?” “Yup. So, supper, bed?” “In that order.” Heero turned to his crew, smiling slightly. “Thank you, gentlemen. Dismissed.” The crew all saluted and scattered, grumbling genially about their young 'Chief' and his endurance. Duo thanked and dismissed his crew as well, getting similar grumbling. Duo watched the teams scattering for a moment. “Well, that went well. What do you think?” “The same. I also think I'm hungry, sleepy and I really, really need a shower. Come on.” Duo followed Heero back to the mess, only to find out that, since they were in the middle of the ship’s 'night', it was closed. They were standing in the corridor grumbling about the fact that they were going to have to go to bed hungry when a passing crew woman asked their rank. When they told her that their WEI Security rank was Colonel, she told them to go to the officer’s mess, which was open 24/7. They followed her directions and found the mess open and busy. It was shift change and the officers going off watch were catching a quick supper before bed. Heero smiled a bit. This was his doing, officers went off duty on a different schedule than crew. They stayed two hours after the crew shift change. This made shift change go much smoother but it also put the second shift officers getting off shift at 7pm and third off at 3am. The officer’s mess was the only place the get food after 6pm and before 5am. A few NCO's braved the rarified air of the mess and were accommodated, even having their own table. Duo joined the line with Heero right behind him. He smiled at the first server who blinked for a second then asked him where his parents were. The man got a smack from the next server in the line, who hissed, “Gundam pilot, shut up!” Duo snickered and just pointed to what he wanted. He got served and moved on. Heero just glowered at the man, who served him silently. They made their way through the line without further incident and searched for a place to sit. There were certain requirements for a comfortable place. One, they needed their backs to a wall. Two, they had to be able to see the room and all access points. The back to the wall was easy, finding a place where they could also see all the doors was a bit more difficult. Heero looked around the room for a moment then walked over to a table and settled in. Almost immediately a private came over to tell them that this was the Captain's table and they couldn't sit there. Duo just pulled his ID out of his pocket and shoved it at him while stuffing a forkful of some tuna thing in his mouth. Heero grunted once, showed his ID and went back to eating his own supper. “Oh, ok, um ... Colonel Yuy, Colonel Maxwell; would you like some coffee or other beverage?” Heero glanced up, grunted, “Milk.” and returned to eating. Duo grinned, seconded the milk and poked Heero. “Be nice.” “He's still alive, isn't he?” Heero wasn't as quiet as he could have been. Duo grinned as heads turned. “Yeah, that he is. Finish your food and let's get to bed. If we sleep soon, we'll be able to wake up around 9am ship time and that'll put us back on first shift in two days. I want to run some actual test flights with our gundams.” The server returned with the milk and set a big glass in front of them. “Oh, thanks, man. What watch does the Captain usually run?” “Second, sir. Second runs third and some young pup runs first. Whoever the captain has in training at the moment. Captain says that first watch is best for that because he keeps all the most experienced NCO's on it.” He gave a half salute and turned to go, calling over his shoulder, “Just leave your stuff, I'll get it for you. Once. Welcome to the Bat.” Duo choked on his milk. “The Bat. Oh, man, Quatre really did it, didn't he?” “Yup. He said he was going to copy Libra in scale and make it the flagship of his fleet. Color me boggled.” “Me too. Man, oh man. We have to get a copy of the plans, I could have really messed up. I thought this was a cruiser class. Lucky us. I'm too tired to worry about that now. I'm done eating, let's get to bed so I don't actually make a fool of myself.” “Libra was based on the super cruiser class. You did ok. We didn't wind up in the middle of the engines or the power plant. But, you're right, we need to go to bed.” . They slept until 10am then called their crews to the bay for test runs of both gundams. They had been very lucky on their first mission with the new machines, lucky that nothing had gone wrong and they knew it. They met in the bay and Heero addressed the combined crews. “We're not used to having any help at all. During the war, we did it all. I'm not telling you anything that you don't already know but it needs repeating. We're all going to have to learn to work together. We have to get used to each other. So, today, we're going through each step of the launch procedure except the actual launch, then we're going through landing. We need to pay special attention to suiting up and unsuiting. Any questions?” Heero waited for a moment then pointed to the hand raised in the back. Dan Petrin, Duo's suit tech, rubbed the back of his neck. “Is there anything that we can do to make you more comfortable with the process?” Heero nodded once. “Yes, don't get behind me, or in a blind spot without letting me see you do it. Talk to me, tell me what you're doing. Duo?” “Same with me. I don't care if you tell fairy tales as long as I can track you some way.” There was some nodding and a few expressions of dismay. This was something that they hadn't counted on, they now realized that both Duo and Heero had some level of PTSD, or battle fatigue. “Um ... you guys in counseling? None of my business in the general run of things but, if you're going to keep it together, you need something.” Heero grinned. “I had a shrink but he's on Earth. I'll make arrangements when we get to Mina Hurr. Duo will too. Quatre would skin us if we didn't. Ok?” Sighs and grins met this announcement and they turned to the business of the day. They suited up first thing, donning the spandex suit skin then eeling into the suit. Duo bit his lip as his back gave a twinge. “Hey, what hurt? If you don't tell me I can't fix the suit to make up for problems.” Duo sighed. “I stretched the scar on my back too much. It's still a bit tender.” “Ok, let me see it closer. I got a glimpse of it while you were putting on the skin. Is that where you caught the shrapnel?” “Yeah, they thought I was going to be paralyzed but the surgeons fixed me up. It's still tender, like I said, and stretching the skin hurt more than I thought it would.” Dan sighed and helped Duo seal his suit. “I'll need to take a look at it when you get out of the suit. I might want you to see a medic. There's all kinds of stuff you can use to fix that. I just don't want to put the wrong stuff on you.” Duo mumbled something as Dan eased the helmet over his head. 'Speak up, I don't have your mic on yet.” Duo grinned through the faceplate and shrugged. Dan tapped some keys on his handheld and then said, “Test, test. Hear me?” “Yeah, I hear you. Heero's got a cream the doc gave him. He's supposed to put it on twice a day. So far, no go. I'll have him give some to you, or the prescription ... whatever. You can put it on before I suit up. Ok?” “Sure, sounds good to me. Ok, you're all buttoned up and ready to rumble.” . Heero consulted with Alfred about a small glitch the man had found in Wing's programming. Heero took a second to reprogram that section while Alfred looked on. “Oh, shit. You just did that on the fly. I really hate you.” Heero gave Alfred a startled look then realized that the man was joking. “No, you don't. You're just frustrated that I did what you can't. But you really wouldn't have liked my training. Now. Suit.” Heero requested privacy to put on the skin suit, he wasn't body shy by any means but had learned that he didn't like the stares that his scars caused. He allowed his handler to help him into the vacuum suit and headed for Wing. He was really anxious to sit in the pilot's chair again. Heero and Duo met in the short corridor between the changing rooms and the main bay. Duo grinned. “My handler wants some of that cream the doctor gave you.” Heero managed to pull off looking guilty without actually changing expression. “Damn, I actually forgot about it. I'll give him the jar I have and get the pharmacist’s mate to make me some more.” Duo nodded. “That's a good idea. Where is it?” “In my duffle. I'll send it down by hand after our workout.” “Ok, that's good. You ready?” Duo turned to go to his gundam. “Yeah, launch? Or walk through.” Duo paused to turn and gaze back at Heero. “You really want to launch?” “Yeah, but we ought to do a walk through first. Just in case.” “Ok, walk through then, if the WT is good, we launch for real.” Heero nodded and walked on to Wing. He activated the zip line and let it take him the twenty feet up to the cockpit. He eased into his chair and started his checklists. He could hear Duo through the open speaker in his helmet and he knew that Duo could hear him. “Check list complete. 01 ... 02, you ready?” “02 ... 01, that's A-ok. Right behind you.” “01 ... Control, request permission to walk about.” “Control ... 01 permission granted.” “02 ... Control, permission to walk also.” “Control ... 02, are you sure that it is safe?” “02 ... control, no problems. We're a team. We have to get used to this again. New machines.” “01 ... Control and 02, can the chatter. 02, get to work.” Duo snorted his amusement. Control refrained from comment, Heero's demand for a radio free of distracting babble was justified. Heero disengaged the docking clamps and walked Wing out of his rack. Duo followed a few seconds later. They walked around the bay finally getting to do more with their new gundams than rush into combat. Heero opened the feed to his PA system and announced. “Commencing walk about. All personnel remain close to the walls. Keep the middle of the bay clear.” Everyone on both crews rushed to the observation deck to watch the gundam test runs. Heero walked back and forth, did deep knee bends and bent over. Duo did the same. They'd rushed into combat to rescue Relena but they weren't really used to the new machines, it would take time to bond with them until they were extensions of the pilots like their old machines had been. They walked around some more before they stepped into the launch catapults and locked the boots of the gundams into the catches. The catches usually initiated a launch count down but the auto launch procedure was disabled for the exercise. They were going to do a manual launch, up to but not including actual launch. The bay doors wouldn't be opened. Heero started his manual checks, this way they could check that all the steps were going according to procedures, to make sure that the auto launch was working correctly. Duo was also doing a manual launch for the same reason. They would use the same launch catapult every time they launched. Duo ran his checklists and grumbled to himself. He was happy to have Neo-'Scythe, very much so. But getting really used to his new buddy was going to be hell. “Muscle memory is a bitch.” “With kittens. I'm having a hard time with the left arm. It seems really different from Wing.” “This Wing have a shield?” “No. The boffins modified your stealth shields to be blast shields too. Check them out. Why?” “Left arm had an attachment for the shield. Weight's really different now. It'll take you time to get used to it. Do something with just the left arm.” “Oh, yeah. How are you doing?” “Ok, except that the walk is completely different. And it's weird. Nothing changed in the legs that I can find.” “Maybe it's your back that's the problem. Just walk around for a while and see if that doesn't help. I'll watch you.” Control butted in with, “People, could you please identify yourselves so we can track you?” “01 ... Control. Sorry. We're still used to recognizing voices. Keep reminding us.” “Control ... 01 and 02, perhaps you need to be on separate channels.” “02 ... Control. No! I need to hear everything. I can separate you out.” “01 ... Control. Negative, I need to hear what 02 is saying.” They could hear Control grumbling over a still open mic. Neither Heero nor Duo said anything. Control was going to have to get used to the way they worked, not the other way around. Duo walked back and forth across one end of the bay while Heero flexed and straightened the left arm of his gundam. They worked for half an hour before their crews called them in to take a break. Heero replied that he didn't need one yet, Duo came in for a drink and a replacement air conditioner. His had failed two or three minutes before the call in and he'd been just about to ask for a replacement. He walked over to the rack and stepped back into it, the magnetic supports locked and he began the shut down sequences. It took him five minutes to do the shut down and checklists then he opened the hatch and took the zipline down to the bay deck. Dan walked up to him, directly in front, so that Duo could see him easily. “Here's a new unit. It won't take me but a sec to change them out. We haven't had any trouble with them but I'll give it the once over to see what's up. Need a drink?” Duo smacked his lips and grumbled, “Yeah, I really do. Seven minutes it that sauna and I'm bone dry. Got lemonade?” “Yeah, and a couple of trainees. Try not to kill them, Ok?” Duo groaned. “And why am I putting up with trainees and a new suit?” “Back up. In case one of you psychos steps on someone.” Duo snorted then laughed. “I'm not a psycho, my shrink said so.” He turned his head to accept a drink from some kid in a bright pink jumpsuit. “Thanks.” Duo waited until Dan buttoned him up again and checked the seals. “Back on the horse. Thanks, feels a lot cooler now. Tell that kid that I'm not going to eat him, will you?” Dan snorted. “You're calling him a kid? He's at least five years older than you.” “No, he's not. I'm old, in war and pain. He's still wet behind the ears. I've killed more men than he'll see in all his life. Don't forget that.” Duo didn't realize his mic was still open. “Well, back I go.” Duo took the zip back up to the cockpit. Heero sighed, he'd heard what Duo said to Dan so he knew everyone on that channel had heard too. He wasn't mad at Duo but he did wish Duo hadn't broadcast that. They were freakish enough as it was without frightening everyone with things like that. But done was done. He went back to re-educating his muscles. It was getting easier to control his machine by the second. “01? 02 ... 01. Copy?” Heero blinked. “01 ... 02. Sorry, zoned out a bit.” “01 ... 02. Lookin' good there. How about a little sparring?” Heero thought for a moment. “01 ... 02. Sounds good.” Control ... 01,02 What the hell are you talking about? You can't fire weapons in the docking bay.” “02 ... Control. No weapons, just a little ... wrestling. But I want to see my weapons after.” Heero grinned to himself. “I want to see mine as well. Get them ready.” Then it was a real clash of the Titans. They charged each other like two bulls, colliding in the middle of the bay with a crash like two freight trains. They locked fingers and wrestled, pushing and shoving, twisting and trying to trip each other. They continued in this fashion until one of the crewmen noticed that one of Heero's servos was smoking. He called Control over the crew channel and Control told them to stop. Heero backed off from Duo and headed for his rack. Duo followed to his and they both settled their gundams against the supports, the magnetic clamps closed over the limbs of the machines and they were racked. Duo took time to run his shut down checks before he zipped down to see what had happened to Wing. He smiled at his mechanic, Jacob Grange, and said, “Great job. No breakdowns and smooth as silk. A few scratches on the fingers but otherwise, no damage. What's with Wing?” “No idea. We're only trained on our own machine. You ask me about 'Scythe and I'll give you detail. Ask me about Wing? You get a shrug. But, by the smell, one of his servos shorted out.” Duo walked over to Wing, looking for Heero. He found him with his head in the knee joint of the left leg, leaning in beside him was his mechanic. The smell of burning insulation filled the air and made Duo's nose wrinkle. “Is it bad?” Duo stayed out of arms reach of both men until they knew he was there. “You need any help? If you do, I'll send over my crew.” Heero laughed softly. “No, we don't need any help. In fact, I'm leaving my crew to handle it themselves.” He accepted a rag from Tommy to wipe the grease off his hands. “Thanks. We need to get in some serious shower time. Then I want to go over every inch of the blueprints of both gundams. There are some serious differences and we need to know what they are.” Duo rubbed his face, fluffing his bangs. “Yeah, we're really lucky we didn't crash and burn on that rescue. Be really embarrassing; rescuers needing rescuing.” Heero made a face. “Yes, it would. But, all in all, we did well. I want to be really ready as quickly as possible.” “Something?” Duo looked concerned, and a bit baffled. “Maybe, maybe not. The back of my neck is crawling.” Heero looked a bit shamefaced. “That's not so good.” Duo put his arm over Heero's shoulders. “Should we tell the captain?” “And tell him what? The back of my neck is crawling? He'll just send me to the doc for cootie juice.” Duo sighed. “Probably right. We'll just have to keep an eye out and get everything up and running as quickly as we can. Nice to have crew, though, isn't it?” Heero gave Duo a brilliant smile, one that made him look more his age. “It sure is. My handler gave me water, and made me drink it before he'd let me look at Wing's leg.” “Yes, and we're both waiting to help you out of those suits. We'd like to get them sanitized before lunch. So come on.” Duo blinked at Heero who managed not to look poleaxed. Duo scurried to his changing area, exclaiming, “Ok, Ok, don't have a spaz. I'm here.” Heero laughed and went to let his handler get him out of his suit. |
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