5-Oct-2001
Title: Chasing the Crown, an Extended Family Fic
ExFam Authors:
RavynFyre - ravynfyre@hotmail.com
von - sablexo1@yahoo.com
bonnejeanne - bonnejeanne@yahoo.com
*Special Guest Writer! Nixie the Pixie!*
Nixers - Nixerchan@aol.com
Category: yaoi, AU
Rating: NC-17 for now, that will change
Pairings: 1+2+5, 3+4
Spoilers: Series, Endless Waltz, Mission: Arcadia
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing characters and universe are the property of the copyright owners.
Kenny, Duan, Wufan, Tryan, Carter, Jack and the Ripper, and everything relating to Rip & Jack's universe are ours. No money being made here.
Feedback: Any and all comments, feedback, critiques welcome, be they short or long.
Please feel free to direct feedback to any or all of the authors!
WARNINGS: AU (Alternate Universe), Original Characters, LEMON in some sections. Kiddie-Angst.
WARNING THIS SECTION: Angst, Suspense
In the silence that fell after the golden machine's destruction, Heero looked out of his monitors with unseeing eyes. All he knew was that he had just killed another child, his child and that his atonement would come soon and swiftly. There were no other moments past this one, no redemption.
His vision blurred and the once proud soldier brushed at his eyes feeling numb. He blinked, imagining that he saw movement, and then the world stopped. Unaware that his hands were gripping the controls, he watched as the impossible came to pass and the Cobra began to reform. "No," he heard his voice say as he raised his weapon once again.
"It's a doll," Duo breathed, a look of commingled relief, anger, and surprise playing across his face as he watched, almost dumbfounded, the Cobra impossibly pulling its shattered body back together. "It's just a big, fucked-up doll," he repeated, more firmly this time, as a cool sense of determination filled him, freeing him from all his previous fears and constraints.
"Oh god," Trowa replied, relief plain in his voice.
"Hn?" Heero's voice said. His head lowered as Duo's words sank in, and the he formed a complete picture in his mind of what he intended to do next.
HellsBane's scythe came up, the flare of its blade a twin for the sudden fire in Duo's violet eyes as the black Gundam suddenly rocketed forward towards the remaining mass of still active clones. "Take out the garbage, koibito."
"Roger that," Heero replied.
Quatre took a breath and lower his hand from in front of Tryan's eyes. He'd placed it there when Heero took the shot, somehow sensing without understanding that this was not going to end the way it looked at first. As the shot hit, he seemed to shudder with a backlash from the contact in his mind, even as he and Carter were knocked momentarily into a more distant touch.
Tryan flinched in Quatre's arms. He felt Quatre shudder and made himself look out of the monitors to see what had happened. He had to, he had to know what happened, though he was grateful to Quatre for his protection. Blinking, Tryan could see the damaged machine drift like the aftermath of a vid game. He looked over his shoulder up at Quatre to see what it could mean. He didn't want to think the worst, even though the picture was clear.
Turning, Tryan saw the look on Quatre's face. Certainly, the older young man was fighting battles of his own. He thought of Carter and suddenly, Tryan didn't feel too bad. As he looked back at the golden machine, his green eyes grew round as several things happened almost at once. "Quatre look!" Tryan said, watching the machine slowly pull itself back into being.
The Arabian pilot focused obediently. He drew in a breath. "That's not... right," he said softly. Tightening an arm around Tryan he backed off a bit from the immediate area. He glanced at Tryan and then told the young boy, "It's all right, though... Kenny... Kenny isn't inside the suit. He's somewhere controlling it remotely."
Tryan felt a wash of relief pour over him at Quatre's words. This changed things. He nodded. "Right," he said, looking back at the scene in the monitors. "Like Miss Dorothy in the war?"
Quatre blinked and looked at Tryan. "Exactly!" he said, smiling in spite of the grim circumstances. He reached up and ruffled the boy's thick forelock. "Um... Heero's getting down to business, likewise Duo. Oops... the clones seem to be getting active again, we need to pay more attention to our surroundings," he said as he whirled to face a couple of the approaching gold-hued machines.
"Great!" Tryan said, "They're just mobile dolls and you're Gundam pilots. Not a problem."
Quatre grinned. "You hear that, Trowa? No problem..."
Trowa laughed. "Loud and clear," he said, "Time to go to work."
Freed from his near-paralyzing fear of harming Kenny, Duo turned his pent up frustration and anger on the clone-dolls. Controlled by a melding of the Crown and Kenny, they were still just dolls, and the self-styled Shinigami was well and truly angry. Duo found himself mentally thanking G for the upgrades to the prototype suit as HellsBane slipped past a couple of the clones with nary a blip from the ECM. With a scowl of concentration, he whirled the Gundam around behind the dolls, and began systematically rendering them into parts so unidentifiable, not even the Cobra would be able to assimilate them.
"And today's lesson, boys and girls, is "Don't Fuck With The God of Death'," Duo declared.
Heero felt himself focus on the task at hand. He blasted the golden idol with the rainbow colored fire from the Newrifle, willing it to cease to exist. Reflexes provided him with target points for maximum damage. He knew Gundam tolerances like he knew how to add. It was only a matter of time and he understood instinctively that he didn't have much left. Kenny and the kids were somewhere below. As he saw the rainbow colored fire, it occurred to him that perhaps this was what the Arcadians had seen.
The Cobra, however, was not simply waiting to be destroyed.
Clones threw themselves into the rainbow blast to be pulverized... vaporized... but the split seconds gave the central MS the time it needed. The Cobra.... fled.
As it sped away, the remaining clones peeled into four groups, each of which attacked one of the Gundam pilots with all out ferocity. Quatre found himself pressed back to back with Trowa and forced to defense in the sturdy, but hardly Gundam-class Maganac MS.
Duo's lips twisted into a dark smirk as he suddenly found himself targeted by desperate dolls. "'And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field;'" he said, the scythe lashing out and catching one MS off guard, even as HellsBane rocked under a barrage of hits, "'Upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shall bruise his heel.'" Another doll vanished in a brief ball of rainbow-sparked fire, as Duo slowly worked HellsBane towards where Quatre and Trowa were being pinned. [1]
Trowa fired with precision and danced the mobile suit amidst the attackers with something close to grace. He pushed the Maganac suit to its limits, finding a rhythm in the attack and measuring the hits it could sustain without failing altogether. "We can probably hold them off for another few minutes," he said. "Next time, we get Rashid to load more bullets."
Quatre grinned. "Even Rashid can't load enough for you, Trowa," he said, bracing Tryan as they were hit from the side. "Those are the fire controls," he directed the boy, concentrating on maneuvering the suit. "Don't waste firepower, but go for it!"
Tryan grinned. "Roger that," he said, and took the fire controls. He had been watching the battle and focused on areas on the suits which seemed to be the most vulnerable. It took him a couple of tries, but soon, he began to feel the rhythm of the battle and took out two mobile suits on his own.
"HellsBane and I'll be there to back ya up in just a sec, Tro. Just as soon as we finish with our dancin' partners," Duo offered. "Hey Quatre... how *do* you keep up with him if he's always running outta ammunition before the fight's over?" Duo asked, the leer obvious in his voice.
Quatre snorted as he maneuvered the mecha. "He has one gun that never seems to empty its magazine completely," he returned in the same tone.
"Uh guys," Trowa responded. "We do have kids present, huh."
Heero felt the frown on his face return in full measure. The defection by the Cobra machine left him frustrated and lethal. He growled as took out the attacking mobile suits before him, punishing each one for protecting the soul-taker from hell.
The clones were being sacrificed, but they weren't as easy to destroy as conventional mobile dolls, either. It was taking time...
As the Tallgeese and the Preventer Tauruses moved away to establish a defensive ring around the Palace, Relena watched the great mobile suits depart. Pacifist though she was, she found that she could not quite help admiring the machines and those who were willing to risk their lives in them.
Dorothy rested a hand on Relena's arm, giving it a gentle squeeze before tugging to urge the Vice Minister back up the stairs and into the building. "Come. We need to get inside so your brother quits worrying," she said quietly, her eyes tracking over Zechs' MS appraisingly.
Relena looked over and smiled slightly. "Do you remember, Dorothy? Remember taking me out to watch the battle, was it, was it two years ago? You were so anxious to see the destruction..."
Dorothy allowed a small, wan smile to flit across her lips as she raised her other hand and rested it gently upon Relena's cheek, thumb absently ghosting over a smudge of a bruise there. "I have more beautiful things to obsess over now."
Impulsively, Relena embraced the blond, hugging her tightly. "All right, let's go in," she said, leaning back and clasping her fingers in Dorothy's. "Pargan should have the extra video hookups patched into my office by now, we can try and keep track of what is going on."
Dorothy's eyes narrowed thoughtfully as she turned to stare out over the grounds and the evidence of the recent battle there. "I know you'd never leave. Not now, and not for this," Dorothy said with a small sigh, "But at least allow me to move you underground. There are many more coming, and the battle may be fierce." She paused then, nodding towards the suit Rip had taken down, precariously near the Palace itself. "And our knights are already stretched thin. It would be a shame if something as simple as a fallen doll managed to quench your flame before you'd gotten to pass along the torch of your ideals..." Her tone was almost lighthearted, reminiscent of their discussions two years past, concerning battles and beauty and pacifism, but there was a firm note of worry and fear under it all that Dorothy didn't even try to hide.
Relena smiled and began walking inside, not letting go of the other girl's hand. "Underground is a good idea.... for anyone who isn't evacuating the grounds. I'll have Pargan show people down there. But I want to stay in my office, I'm not fond of the idea of hiding in a hole while others risk their lives to protect me. Besides, we want to preserve some idea of normalcy, and be reachable, as long as we can. Later, if it seems things are going badly... we'll see," she finished, moving quickly through the corridors.
Dorothy looked as if she would protest for a moment, before shaking her head once. "I won't leave your side, Relena. Just remember that," she replied, tossing the Vice Minister a sidelong glance.
A blue-eyed look flashed over Relena's shoulder as she entered her office. "I won't be reckless with *either* of our lives, I promise," she said seriously.
The spacious office had been slightly transformed, by the addition of several large, wall-mounted vidscreens to allow for views from several sources at once. There were a number of news broadcasts, as well as the alternate Preventer communications feed, which was a converted commercial network, and incoming calls to the Palace itself. Pargan was standing in front of one screen assuring the President of the Earth Sphere that they were in 'little or no danger' thanks to Preventer protection.
There was one screen, mounted near the back of the room, that seemed to be showing images from space. In front of it was a single keyboard and no other control devices.
Relena went over to add her comments to Pargan's conversation with the President before he signed off.
Dorothy slipped over to the screen near the back of the room and studied it for a long moment, knowing Relena was once again in her element, even as Dorothy kept one ear on their conversation.
The view of space presented by the screen at the back of the room was recognizable to someone of Dorothy's experience as coming from satellite cameras. The view changed from time to time, though there was no commentary and no indication of who was directing the change in point of view.
One shot revealed what appeared to be mobile suits, collecting other mobile suits which looked to be damaged, and loading them into the cargo hold of a shuttle. There was a small oval in the bottom of the screen that simply said, 'Audio'.
Dorothy gently touched the oval with one finger before pulling a chair over and seating herself in it.
The volume was moderate, and instead of a commentator, she realized that she was listening to the raw audio feed of the mobile suit pilots who were engaged in the task. The language was unfamiliar, and sounded like and Arabic dialect. She caught a name with an honorific that might have translated to Master Quatre.
Where the "Audio" button had appeared, there was now a small button that read, "Audio-Off" and another that said, "Trans".
Sparing a quick look behind her for Relena and Paragan, who were both busy answering the barrage of calls to Sanc, Dorothy leaned forward and tapped the "Trans." button. An odd, slow smile drifted over her features for a moment, as a sneaking suspicion that Pargan hadn't been the one to insist upon this particular monitor crossed her mind.
At the bottom of the screen, white letters scrolled, translating the voices into English. She was able to determine by listening that these were members of the group known as the Maganac Corps, collecting the surviving defeated soldiers from a recent battle with Gundam pilots.
At one point someone on the shuttle into which they were loading the damaged suits excitedly told the others about the attacks on Earth. Within moments, the group decided after some arguing to split up, a larger contingent going back to Earth with the intention of offloading their cargo and joining the battle against the former Preventer machines, and the rest returning to space, with the objective to join their friends on the Moon.
Rising from her seat, she slipped over to one of the other screens and quickly contacted Noin. "I believe you have reinforcements coming to help with the various battles," Dorothy said by way of greeting.
Noin blinked and then nodded. "You wouldn't tell me that if you weren't sure... good. Great! Who?"
"The Maganac Corps. They are returning to Earth with mobile suits disabled by the Gundam pilots, and plan on helping out. I'm not certain yet where they will arrive, or where they will end up, but I thought you could pass it along so we aren't firing upon our allies," Dorothy replied.
"Excellent!" Noin nodded. "Will do. Those guys are good, they'll find the right battles. Noin out."
Dorothy smiled slightly, then returned to her previous post before the screen depicting space. Steepling her fingers before her chin, she quietly mused aloud, "And where are our brave Gundam pilots now?"
As she turned back to the screen, she now noticed another small button in the bottom of the screen's picture. It said, "Search".
With another mysterious smile, Dorothy obediently tapped the button and waited.
The letters were replaced by an empty oval and a blinking cursor.
Settling her fingers upon the waiting keyboard, Dorothy quickly typed in "Heero Yuy".
The picture changed and went through several views before settling on one. In this picture, the curve of the moon could be seen close and above. The back of two mobile suits were visible, one familiar yet somehow different, and the other, white-winged form very recognizable.
In front of them, hanging in space, was a glittering gold icon that sent a sudden shiver up the back of Dorothy's spine.
"Relena," she said softly, not turning from the screen, although she held out one empty hand to her side, beckoningly.
"Just a minute, Dorothy... yes, I understand, carry on, Duncan..." the Vice Minister's voice fell and rose as she turned and crossed the room. "Yes, Dor... what... is *that*?"
"Conquest. Destruction... War," Dorothy said quietly, eyes riveted to the scene. "There is no honor in it, no matter what terrible beauty it may strive to possess." She finally glanced up, meeting the Vice Minister's cornflower blue gaze. "That is one facet of our enemy. A face of your antithesis."
Relena blinked, unable to look away. Then a movement on the screen drew her attention as Wing Zero moved forward. "Not mine, Dorothy," she whispered, her hand closing tightly on Dorothy's fingers.
As the two young women watched, the battle played out before them. And accompanying the images, bits of audio communication which unfolded the story through words, and the subtleties of voice.
"If ever you doubted the nature of evil, Miss Relena, there it is," Dorothy murmured with a nod toward the screen. "Pitting child against guardian, self against self..."
"Oh my god," Relena murmured, wiping the tears from her blue eyes that were blurring the images they watched. She felt as if she owed it to those who were tangled in the terrible web not to flinch from the painful events even though she knew too well she could do nothing to help any part of what was happening now.
Dorothy felt her breath hitch in her lungs as a lance of righteous light erupted from the curious weapon Wing Zero wielded. It cut unerringly towards the gold mobile suit a moment after Duo's strangely calm order, enveloping the suit in opalescent fire briefly before leaving behind the twisted and broken halves of the golden weapon, floating dead in space. An oddly detached corner of her brain suddenly wished that Trowa could see the tears tracking down her face, even as the hand not claimed by Relena reached helplessly for the screen. 'See? I learned. I can cry, Trowa. God, it's not right. Haven't they paid enough already?' she thought desperately as her fingertips rested upon the images of the light and dark Gundams.
Shaking her head, she loosed a small sob. "It's not right. They-" The words froze on her tongue as an impossible laugh cut across her lament, her fingers tightening around Relena's again.
As the golden suit, now whole once more, fled from the ensuing battle, Dorothy glanced up at Relena once again, silent save for the soft heave of her breath struggling to even out once more.
Relena's face had gone deathly pale, tears tracking silently down her cheeks as well. Her ears picked up Duo's voice exclaiming that the golden enemy suit was a doll... her free hand clenched into a fist for the cruelty of the scene just played out. She took a deep breath, and then nodded. "It's not over yet," she murmured. "But it's coming, Dorothy. It's not yet time to give up hope."
Duan and Carter picked up the pace as they neared the mobile suit bays. Duan figured that the area where Kenny was being kept would have the best security. As they moved to the operations offices, he paused. Where he expected to find people, there were none. The area looked as though it had been evacuated and in a hurry. Chairs were overturned and papers were scattered. Suddenly a huge grin etched itself over his face.
"Look Carter," he said, finding exactly what he needed. "Open computer terminals. Should be real easy to find Kenny now."
The blond nodded. He was gradually becoming a little more unfocused than right after the incident in the closet. The shock was fading and he could feel the Cobra system, throwing all its resources into a battle which seemed to have turned against it in odds somehow. What he could feel of Kenny was somewhat distant, jarred by the moment when the Cobra had been blasted and Kenny had believed he was to die. Part of Kenny had felt relief, another part terror and outrage. But there was something about the rainbow-colored crackle of energy in his monitors that seemed to call to him. It reminded him of something far away. Something he couldn't quite remember.
Duan looked over the system and confirmed a few things, before trying a few commands. The monitors showed him Kenny's vital signs and brain wave patterns. Somehow, the people who had put the system together had managed to sync Kenny and the machines together.
"Okay," Duan said, "Everybody remember their good thoughts. Got take him down easy."
Using notes from a pad left by one of the monitors, Duan soon found and identified the channels being used. One was for broadcast, another was for monitoring and recording Kenny's reactions and still another seemed to function as direct stimulus to Kenny's brain. "Let's do the broadcast first. They gotta have a way to talk to him," he said, softly.
Feeling his way by instinct, the braided child made a couple of guesses and then clicked open a small icon.
Suddenly he and Carter heard a voice, coming out of a speaker in the console.
"...don't worry, we'll take care of them," the voice of the old man they'd met in the cell, who so resembled another old man Duan had known from before, came through the channel. There was an odd quality to it, as if he were talking to himself, or to a doted-on child or pet. "...more clones! We can always make more clones! And how clever of you to learn to rebuild yourself! I'm so proud of you! Yes, yes... come back here... if any of them survive, they'll chase you but we can deal with them..."
There was no answer, no murmur of Kenny's voice or any other. However, Carter suddenly winced and reached for his ears.
Duan frowned at the console, then made a face. "Gross," he said, looking over at Carter. "You okay, there?" he asked.
Carter took a breath and nodded. "The hissing... is loud..." he said.
"What hissing?" Duan asked, still looking at the screen.
"Don't... hear it? It's talking back... telling him... that It can still do it, they can still do it together..." Carter shuddered.
Duan nodded. "Wait a minute," he said, suddenly. "Didn't you say that Kenny was inside of IT?"
Carter nodded.
Duan tapped on the desk with his fingers. "What are the odds?" he said to himself. Bringing up another window on his monitor, he accessed the plans for the area where Kenny was being held. He then tapped the screen nodding to himself. "There's the modification. Cockpit simulation with interactive design and I'll bet that helmet is not standard issue."
Working quickly, Duan discovered that the system Kenny was connected to was also connected to an unknown piece of equipment nearby. He also figured that simply shutting the system off or attempting to pull Kenny out would not work either. "Ok, one more thing to try," he said, as he searched through the files. After a few minutes, he found what he was looking for and the grin returned to his face. "Weapon of last resort," he said, accessing the main program which was called "Extinction".
Marcus felt another howl of frustration welling up in his throat as he rounded another corner, and once again, his quarry was not in sight. He felt the grip of his pistol bite hard into the palm of his hand as he curbed the urge to lash out at the nearest wall, simply to hurt *something*. Behind him, he could hear the clatter of boot heels as those White Fang imbeciles struggled to catch up.
"Fire in the hole!" a small voice cried out, behind him as a sudden blast rocked the corridor. Smoke and debris fell as Marcus' men were stopped.
The blast threw the enraged Marcus to his knees, taking him by surprise with the suddenness and force. Glancing over his shoulder, his eyes finally fell upon his targets, ad his body twisted as he swung his arm around, lining up the shot he'd been waiting for.
Fire and agony blossomed along that arm, and his pistol slipped from now bloodied fingers even as the crash of another gunshot washed over him. As if in slow motion, he saw Mariemeia's arm twitch, another crash nearly deafening him, even as another line of pain opened up upon that arm, rendering it useless.
"You shouldn't have touched the boys," she said, closing some of the distance between them, the pistol in her hand unerringly trained upon him. "You should have left them out of this."
"I'm going to kill you all, you little bitch!" Marcus shrieked, even as he made a grab for his dropped weapon with his other hand. The gun in Mei's hand bucked again, and Marcus's pistol spun away, out of reach.
"You can't," she replied simply. "You aren't strong enough. Not anymore. Not ever. You never were strong enough. It just lied to you... told you that you were. It used you. Just like it used Grandfather. But then it abandoned you, too. Now you're nothing." Mei paused there, her head cocked to one side as a thoughtful look crossed her face. "You're nothing... and you've lost. We've beaten you." A slow smile crossed her face as she stared down at him.
"I've finally figured out what I want to be victorious over, Wufan," she said quietly. "People like him. The ones that don't listen. Miss Relena and Dorothy... the Pilots and Mister Zechs and the boys... we'll all be victorious over people like you. And the best part is, we won't even need any more wars to do it. We won't need war, because people are changing. People's hearts are changing, and none of you are strong enough to hurt us any more."
Wufan took a deep breath and moved closer to Mei. Reaching out, he placed his hand over her gun and moved it away from Marcus McCormick. "So, what now?" he asked, quietly. "You going to kill him?"
Mei shook her head, eyes still fastened to Marcus. "I can't. It's not my right. Besides, that's what It would want." She took a deep breath and glanced at Wufan, mouth opened to speak words that Marcus never gave her the chance to. The moment she looked away, the ex-Preventer lunged towards them, expression twisted into a mask of rage, and an incoherent growl erupting from his throat.
Reaching out, Wufan pushed Mei out of the way and behind him. With mixed emotions, he turned back towards the man, watching him closely. "Yield," he said, simply as he raised his arms and braced for a fight.
Marcus's eyes glittered dangerously as he faced the boy. "'Yield'? What do you think this is, you little guttersnipe? A videogame? I'll kill you BOTH. And then the others after you. I'll show you 'victorious', you little twit, right after I beat the chivalry from your boyfriend's hide!" On the heels of those shouted words, Marcus shifted back, swinging his leg around in a arc for the young boy's legs.
Wufan watched the man's body shift, knowing what his move would be seconds before it was executed. He jumped, clearing the swinging leg easily, before landing and twisting his body for the counterattack.
He had hesitated before, in the last battle with Marcus, but not this time. McCormick was on his level and unwittingly exposed prime striking points to Wufan's attack. The boy struck out catching Marcus on the pressure point just under the cheekbone with his foot. A loud slap was heard in the corridor as McCormick's head snapped back carrying the bulk of his body back with him.
Marcus lay sprawled on the corridor for a moment, stunned as much by the shock of the *child* striking him so profoundly, as much as by the pain and strength of the kick itself. His brain registered the oddest things in that moment; the slight tickle of blood along his upper arm, oozing down his skin as the gunshot continued to bleed, the soft click of a door somewhere either opening or shutting in a nearby corridor, the way the fluorescent light directly overhead seemed a little bit duller than its neighbor, with an odd, erratic pulse as the ballast slowly gave out. He blinked stupidly for a moment or two, before his own rage gave him a surge of adrenaline that sent him struggling back to his knees to face the *child* again with an angry shout and a ready fist.
Wufan felt his heart race as he watched his opponent slowly rise. Stepping closer, he saw the man's fist and readied himself for the blow he knew would come after he punched Marcus' injured arm.
Wufan was quicker than the grown man, the boy's fist striking the mangled mess of gunshot tissues an instant or two before Marcus would have connected his own strike. The ex-Preventer howled in agony, much of the thunder stolen from his attack as he slowly crumpled forward, though there was enough momentum left to tumble Wufan to the floor, his breath knocked from him momentarily.
Mariemeia gasped out Wufan's name as she rushed to his side, the gun still clutched in her hand instinctively raised to cover the fallen man. Seeing Marcus laying quivering and incoherent, curled around his right arm, the weapon lowered once more, and Mei knelt down to offer Wufan a hand. "Are you okay?" she questioned urgently.
Wufan felt his breath slowly return. He looked up at Mei and began to work his way to a standing position. "Get back!" he managed, rising to his feet. Turning, he prepared himself again to do battle, but seeing that the man was down on the floor, Wufan relaxed a little. Backing up a couple of steps, he looked over at Mariemeia. "Sorry.... didn't mean to yell," he said.
"It's oka-" she began to say, the last half of her words swallowed up by an enraged shout.
Marcus surged up from his crumpled sprawl on the corridor floor, a small glittering black blade, something made to be held by a hand half his size, flashed in his palm as he lunged for them both. "KILL YOU BO-"
Two gunshots rang out in rapid succession, quick bursts of controlled thunder rolling over the children from behind. Twin flowers of crimson blossomed upon Marcus's chest over his heart, stopping the man cold, even as disbelieving eyes fixed upon something behind them. Duan's knife slipped from his unresponsive fingers, even as dying lips tried in vain to form words. The sudden silence in the corridor was broken only by the dull thud of his body toppling over once more to lie motionless under the garish lights.
Wufan blinked. His head instinctively swung around to the fallen ex-Preventer. This time he made certain that the man was not going to rise again. With an audible sigh, he turned around and looked up. Then, he bowed deeply to their rescuer. "Xie xie," he said, with great respect.
Mei's head had jerked around at Marcus's shout, and then once again just after the shots rang out, as fight or flight kicked in and she struggled to chose the correct target. Once her wide-eyed gaze had fallen upon their mysterious savior, however, she froze, the small pistol tumbling from her fingers even as her jaw dropped open in shock. Had Marcus still been alive, he would have had no trouble fulfilling his desire for her bodily harm, so riveted was her attention on the tall, ginger-haired man before her.
"S.. s-spirit," she stammered, unconsciously backing up a step and bumping into Wufan as she struggled to find her balance, and breath, once more.
"No," Wufan said, placing his hands on her shoulders to steady her. "It's your father, Mei. He's not dead." Looking up at the tall man, Wufan said, "It is an honor to meet you, sir."
"The honor is mine, Po Wufan," Treize said slowly, although his eyes never left his daughter where she stood, visibly trembling before the young boy. Slowly, he lowered himself, kneeling on one knee and holding out a single hand to her. "Mariemeia..."
"... papa?" she asked, her voice little more that a squeaked whisper as she took a shaking step forward towards that outstretched hand. At Treize's nod, she rushed forward, tumbling into her father's arms even as a sob burst from her throat. "Papa! Y-you're... alive!" Anything else she may have said was lost, muffled by the thick weave of Treize's shirt and her desperate cries.
Treize pulled her against him tightly, his own pistol long ago discarded to the floor so that he could comfort her, stroking her hair back from her face and soothing touches along her back as he murmured quietly into her ear. "It's all right. It's all right, little one. I'm here now. I'm here. I promise."
Wufan took a step back. There was a small smile on his face and some wet stuff in his eyes. He felt happy for Mei and wondered about his Ma. He also wondered about his own father, who he never got to meet. Looking down, he turned slightly to give Mei and her father a little privacy. Quickly, he wiped at his eyes and reminded himself that they still were not done with the mission. A moment later, he went back to where Marcus had fallen and knelt down beside him. Nodding to himself, he thought of Sally Po. Taking Marcus' hand, he quietly removed the gold band from around his finger and placed it in his pocket. Closing his eyes for a moment, he silently promised to take care of Sally. Even though, he doubted that Marcus cared for Sally, she was still his family. Furthermore, he found it difficult to blame Marcus entirely for his actions. Given his background, he knew that it simply was not so. IT was to blame and that was one of the reasons he had been brought to this place.
Standing, Wufan took a deep breath and turned to wait for Mei and Treize Khushrenada a little ways down the corridor.
Mei's hands clung tightly to her father's shirt, small fists digging firmly into the material as she purged her shock and misplaced grief, and simply reveled in the feeling of... safe, being wrapped in his arms. A safe like she'd never known before, that she'd come so very close to that morning in the garden with Wufei. A safe that she honestly never thought she would ever achieve, no matter how she yearned for it.
Suddenly stiffening in his arms, she pulled away with a sharp gasp. "Kenny! Papa! We have to find Kenny! And Duan and Carter! The soldiers! The soldiers were chasing them, and they took Kenny away and we have to find them!" she demanded in a rush.
Treize blinked once at her rapid shift, and the equally rapid flurry of speech, before nodding. "Wufei is looking, and the others are on their way," he said, glancing over at Wufan. "Are you all right, Wufan?"
At the mention of Wufei, Wufan looked up sharply. Suddenly, he felt better and had the urge to find the older boy as soon as possible. "I'm fine," Wufan said, "Let's go!"
Treize nodded, shifting Mei against him to free a hand to retrieve his pistol from the floor before he stood, his daughter still carefully secured in his other arm.
Taking another look around, Wufan frowned as he saw the knife that Duo had fashioned for Duan in Marcus' hand. Quickly, he retrieved it and tucked it in a safe place. "I'm ready, now," he said, heading down the corridor.
Wufei stalked silently down the corridors of the moonbase, with a slight sense of deja vu. He'd been here twice before, once for quite a little stay. The second time, he'd been blowing things up. His knowledge had enabled he and Treize to land the shuttle in an unnoticed area and make their way to the base by stealth. Getting in wasn't a problem for an ex-Gundam pilot. They'd actually found the cell where the children had been kept, but it was obviously empty and it was Wufei who remarked that the children had freed themselves, something Treize did not contradict, in spite of his somewhat quizzical expression. From there they had methodically searched, drawn by the disturbances at almost random locations throughout the base, always managing to barely avoid the White Fang personnel in each instance.
Realizing that the children had split up, they had done the same. Wufei was searching for any of the children, the trail elusive and difficult. And something else was beginning to pull at him. A sense he hadn't felt in a long time seemed to have awakened again. It felt, as it had on many occasions before, as if Meiran was standing at his shoulder, pointing or nudging him in a direction. Evil.... was there.
He heard the man's voice before he'd even entered the room. Someone who seemed to be carrying on a conversation with himself, leaving pauses for a silent companion's reply, the voice tuned to an erratic tone that broadcast imbalance.
Stepping through the doorway, he saw consoles, overturned chairs, blood and still bodies, and a goggle-eyed, mechanical limbed madman, ranting aloud to a bank of readouts and controls.
"Old man," he said in a voice that carried over the soliloquy. "It is time for you to meet justice."
Dr. J's head whipped around, fastening on Wufei. The mechanical orbs gleamed, freezing for a split second. Then the scientist did the one thing that Wufei did not expect, and exactly what the Cobra had done before him. He fled.
The last of the golden machines burst into fire as Heero watched out of his monitors. As soon as he was free, he stretched out Zero II's wings and took off after the Cobra. "Where is my enemy?" he said, distinctly, feeling his heart beat hard in his chest.
Zero answered with an alert sound, and the display in front of him showed a target retreating rapidly in the direction of the Moon's surface. The Cobra was running home.
"Not today," Heero muttered as he aimed the great winged machine towards the Moon's surface. The forces against his body were ignored in favor of his target. He had to stop Cobra.
Wing was joined a moment later by a great black shadow that flitted about and dogged his heels like a demon's shade. The occasional glint of an opalescent glow gave HellsBane away as Duo silently stalked the escaping MS beside Heero.
TBC
[1] The Bible, Genesis 3:14 - 3:15
End of Part 57
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