31-Dec-2000
revised: 12-Jul-2001

R, OOC, Continuation, 4x1/2x1, Sci-Fi (Is there anyone who wants to reward me for working this hard? Pleeeze?)

Minuet by Katana

Part Ten

Heero checked his energy gauge once again and chewed his lower lip in concern as he re-read the glowing warning sign on the screen.

'Amuro, it looks like I'm going to have to accept your offer.' He admitted reluctantly. 'I'll be there in five.'

Amuro nodded silently, checking his own energy level with a worried eye. According to Heero, their best chance was to try to make it to Sigma in the NuGundam, and to try to hook up with the covert team, and hitch a ride in their shuttle, before the station exploded. Unfortunately, Amuro hadn't been able to come up with a better plan. He compared the relative distances between their current location, Sigma station, White Base and the possible location of Zechs' group once more and sighed.

Heero was right. Sigma was the closest.

He tightened the clasp of his helmet and emptied the air from the cockpit, then opened his hatch and waited as a slender white form emerged from the drifting Zeta. Amuro watched silently as Heero slowly glided to him on the slender lifeline and held out a gloved hand to help him in. It was going to be a tight fit, even after the two removed their bulky normal suits.

'Are you sure we can't just sit tight and wait for Zechs to rescue us?' Amuro asked plaintively as they jury-rigged the emergency seat in front of his pilot's chair.

Heero shook his head decisively as they settled into their new positions, having secured their normal suits into the locker.

'Unfortunately, we don't know for certain that he got our last transmission or that he got a fix on our location. And we don't have enough air to just sit here waiting. What we do know is that if Duo and the others have been successful in their mission, Sigma is going to explode in another twenty minutes. This only gives us ten minutes to get to the station and hopefully get on that shuttle. If we're lucky.'

Amuro winced, as he reached out around Heero and grabbed hold of the control stick. 'I wish you hadn't added that last bit.' He also wished that when he was playing with modifications for the NuGundam, that he had payed attention to where the emergency chair was going to be located. Thanks to the idiocy of the original designer, he was stuck trying to pilot the NuGundam with Heero practically sitting in his lap...

Wufei stiffened and slowly got out of his seat, his hands raised halfway to his chest. He glared coldly at the smiling man who entered the shuttle, his mouth twisting sourly as he saw his friends being marched in behind him, their hands secured in heavy manacles in front of them.

'Director Chang! What a lovely surprise. How considerate of you to save me the bother of having to look for you. I should have realised that you would be involved as well.'

Wufei tightened his lips, his black eyes narrowing to slits as he marched mutely to stand next to Duo, who gave him a shrug in wordless apology. Black uniformed soldiers grabbed hold of him roughly and pushed him down to his knees. Out of the corner of his eyes, Wufei could see Trowa being subjected to the same treatment. The redhead gave him a grim look, giving him a silent reminder to be patient.

'Oh yes. About the reactor...'

Wufei's head shot up, a faint flush staining his pale cheeks as he stared furiously as the insufferably smug grin on the ash haired scientist who pulled open Duo's backpack, taking out a small glass dome, housing what appeared to a mass of pulsating grey flesh.

'I'm afraid you're all going to be terribly disappointed with me.' Doctor Nagisa laughed, genuinely amused by the varying looks of consternation and dismay he saw on the four men, kneeling in front of him. 'But really...' he held up the glass dome with a teasing smile, 'you didn't think that your paltry plan to sabotage the station was going to work, did you Howie?'

'Don't call me Howie, you twisted pervert.'

Wufei blinked in shock as he recognised the harsh gravely tones coming from the glass container.

'Tsk, tsk, Howie. Sticks and stones. You know what they say. And anyway, I'm not the one who started working with J's data, remember?'

'J's data?' Quatre blurted out suddenly, his face darkening with suspicion and rage as he turned accusatory eyes on Duo. 'What's he talking about, Duo?'

'Yes, Director Maxwell.' Nagisa's voice turned even creamier as he regarded the two men with obvious enjoyment. 'Do tell us. I've been dying to get hold of the details on how Howie managed to get all that scrumptious information on J's little experiment. I believe that you're rather... well acquainted...' his brown eyes glinted with a red gleam as he leaned forward on his chair with a sly grin, 'with the actual specimen.'

'Which brings up the question of how you got hold of all this information...' Duo's voice was cool and measured, betraying none of the fury that boiled inside him. 'I'm afraid that I'm a little distracted at the moment, trying to figure out what went wrong with our little mission.' He smiled politely, all the while swearing to himself that he was going to gut the slimy bastard for his little 'specimen' crack at the earliest opportunity.

Nagisa swept his pale ash coloured lock out of his eyes and settled back in his chair, even as the cabin burst with white light and a small blond girl appeared by his side.

Wufei gasped involuntarily as he recognised the little girl he had met earlier with Trowa.

'I believe that you've already met my sweet Elaine.' Nagisa stroked the smooth yellow head with a proprietary gesture that turned Wufei's stomach. 'I've dedicated my life to helping her and others like her, to help them develop their special gifts.'

'Help, rubbish.' Howard's voice was cold and condemnatory. 'You mean exploit! All those children you experimented on who ended up dead or disabled, in mind and body.' He spat harshly. 'You, rotten piece of shit!'

Nagisa's smile didn't falter for a second as he picked up the glass dome and removed a small panel from the bottom, disconnecting the switch that allowed Howard to vocalise his thoughts. 'Now, where was I? Oh yes. Elaine and those like her, represent the hope for humanity's future. And they in turn, show their appreciation by protecting Sigma.'

'Protect in what way?' Duo asked sharply.

'Why Maxwell, I thought that you, of all people, would have been able to realise how useful precognition can be... we'd been expecting you for days actually.'

Duo snorted disdainfully. 'Yeah, you probably have. That's the thing about precogs, they just aren't reliable when it comes to providing exact data. I'm surprised that you bothered to waste your time chasing after tea leaf readers.'

Nagia grinned smugly. 'Perhaps. But when you add a few telepaths to the mix, it seems to work out pretty well. Besides which, I do have to admit that we did have a bit of help from someone on your team.' He held up an admonitory finger as both Duo and Quatre started forward, 'now, now. Be patient. You'll find out everything... eventually. And now Maxwell, why don't you tell me how you found out about J's project? Howie just didn't feel very cooperative last time I asked.' He laughed softly while tapping lightly on the glass dome still sitting mutely in his lap.

Duo hesitated for a moment, his eyes fixed on the little girl standing next to Nagisa's chair. He gritted his teeth as he again felt something crawling inside his skull, trying to worm its way into his mind.

'Why don't you just use her to pull that information from my head Nagisa? Unless...' he flashed a brief arrogant grin, 'you still haven't managed to develop telepaths with that level of control. That was why the Foundation didn't really care about you blowing up Gamma, Quatre.' He spoke on coolly, not turning his gaze away from Nagisa's cold eyes. 'The council had been planning to cancel that project anyway. It was pretty pointless coming up with psi powers, if you couldn't predict what type and degree you were going to get. And that's not even factoring in whether those psi powers in fact had any actual practical value.'

Quatre stared at his old friend, in shock and disbelief. What had happened to the easy-going, good-humoured pilot he had worked with back during the war? This ruthless, devious man was not his friend. How could he dismiss the abominable experiments that had taken place in Gamma so casually?

Practical value... he felt sick. Quatre had always wondered whether Duo had been aware of what had been going on in Gamma's so called laboratories and now, he knew. He clenched his fists tightly, almost glad of the heavy metal weight around his wrists, knowing that if they hadn't been there, nothing would have stopped him from tearing out Duo's throat, right then and there. That bastard.

'I miss you.' He had said to him, with that old, charming smile. And he had almost believed him... Quatre had felt bile rising in his throat.

'They're here.'

Nagisa smiled beatifically at the little girl who tugged at his sleeve.

'Thank you, Elaine. Now why don't go and greet our new visitors like the polite girl you are. Oh and ask them to join us in the conference room. We'll be there shortly.'

The tall scientist stood up gracefully, his eyes glinting triumphantly as he surveyed his sullen prisoners. 'Well, gentlemen...?'

Duo got slowly to his feet, with a cold sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach. Surely he wasn't here... gods... please... he prayed silently, don't let it be him.

'Who are they?' Wufei blurted out suddenly, his black eyes fixed on Duo's pale countenance.

Nagisa answered readily, light laughter threading his voice. 'A couple of mobile suit pilots. I believe you know their names.'

Amuro felt a bead of sweat trickling down the side of his face and wished that he could take off the faceplate to wipe it away. He stared incredulously at the strange phenomenon in front of him and fired his gun once again, futilely.

'Stop that.' Heero put out his hand and pulled down the nozzle of Amuro's gun firmly. 'It's a waste of energy.' He scowled at the strange green creature that had once again appeared in a burst of white light. 'Whatever that thing is, there is nothing we can do. For now.'

Heero grabbed hold of Amuro's arm and started to head towards the open hatch of the station, ignoring the faint buzzing voices in his head that screamed at him to try to kill the green horror floating in space. For one thing, he had absolutely no idea how you can kill something that was apparently invulnerable to energy blasts and open vacuum...

'There's got to be a way to kill that thing.' Amuro hissed out impetuously as they finally reached the dubious safety of the airlock. He sagged with relief as the hatch slammed shut, closing out the green creature, which had made no move to try to enter with them.

Heero pulled off his helmet and grinned at his angry young friend. 'There is.' He shrugged when Amuro gave him a look of mild surprise. 'We'll find a way. Eventually.'

Amuro nodded shakily after a moment of hesitation... wondering if he should have told Heero about that brief instance when he had felt a strange sense of attraction towards the green creature in their last encounter...

And the outer doors opened and the two young men held up their hands in mute surrender as the waiting group of black uniformed men trained their guns on them.

'I hate this bit.' Heero muttered under his breath to Amuro while the soldiers quickly divested them of their weapons and checked their bodies for any hidden weapons.

Amuro looked very unhappy as he looked around the tall, muscular men surrounding them, feeling intimidated by their sheer bulk, not to mention the guns that were held pointedly in his direction. 'You've been through this before?'

'Oh yes.' Heero rolled his eyes. 'More than once. Just stay quiet and do what they say. At least for now.'

'I don't think I remember Director Maxwell telling me about this, when he used to talk about his experiences in the war.' Amuro muttered sullenly to himself as he trotted obediently behind the marching soldiers, trying to keep up with their long strides. 'All of his stories were about all the times that he swooped in to rescue you, or the incredible battles that he fought... with you by his side...' he added to himself absently as he realised a certain common element that kept coming up.

Heero fought back a chuckle as he listened to Amuro grumble on beside him. Somehow he had the feeling that Duo hadn't been entirely candid with the idealistic young boy about their past experiences...

'Check the pressure level, then the temperature gauge...'

The boy yawned widely, rubbing his eyes tiredly with one hand, while the other kept hold of the inventory chart. Boring. That's what this duty was. This was the 3rd duty shift and he was absolutely sick of the boring, black, featureless cylinders that surrounded him on both sides of the large cargo bay. At first, he had found them a bit scary but now, he was just bored, bored, bored. To think he had thought that working in space was going to be glamorous...

He stopped as a faint sound cut through the usual quiet...

The young technician gasped as one of the black cylinders started to hum loudly and a patch of blue light appeared in its centre. He blinked confusedly and tried to remember what his supervisor had told him to do in an emergency. Then realised that no one had ever mentioned the possibility of this particular event and after wrestling briefly with his conscience and fear, turned on his heels and fled.

The pulsating light continued to spread until the entire cylinder was glowing with a brilliant electric blue light.

The boy had almost reached the bay doors when he felt his body being seized by an unknown force and a shrill cry of terror tore from his throat, and he found himself flying towards the wall and then, slammed unmercifully against the hard, unyielding surface. A soft wet cracking sound accompanied the suddenly limp body as the boy's broken form slid slowly to the floor. And a soft peal of laughter sounded throughout the empty chamber...

They break so easily...

Elaine blinked.

She thought that she had just heard someone speak...

She looked around with a faint frown creasing her flawless brow.

Who are you?

She sent out her thoughts confidently, not really expecting a reply.

Who... are you...

She started, gasping as a sudden chill struck her to the core. That voice... did she just hear someone... or had it been an echo...

Elaine dug her nails into her palm until the skin broke and she started to bleed. She breathed deeply, using the pain to anchor her body to this reality...

You like... pain...?

She felt her heart stop as something entered her mind... then screamed...

'What the hell...'

One of the technicians hurried to her side, disconnecting her from the module, as alarms started to sound throughout the room.

'What just happened?'

'I don't know. Get Doctor Nagisa. Now!'

'He's in a meeting. He said he didn't want to be disturbed. He's not going to be happy if..'

Doctor Sakurazuka grabbed hold of the babbling technician's collar and glared at him with icy blue eyes. 'If something happens to Elaine, he's not going to stop with just being unhappy. I want you to go and get him. Now.'

The helpless technician nodded and stumbled out of the chaotic room, then broke into a run as he thought through Sakurazuka's words. If anything went wrong with Elaine... he shuddered... and tried to run faster.

Sakurazuka stared at the small, unconscious body of the little girl, trying to understand what was going on inside her mind. He knew that the source of this problem had to be in her mind, the one place none of his instruments could show him. He suppressed the flicker of irritation that rose whenever he was reminded of his limitations and thought furiously about what he could do to bring the little girl back to consciousness, so that she could tell him what was happening to her.

That man. You hate him...

Elaine opened her eyes unwillingly, her body at the mercy of the intruder, and howled silently as he forced her body into a sitting position. And saw Doctor Sakurazuka smile at her, and felt her stomach twist with disgust as she recognised the look of predatory hunger in his perfect blue eyes. Do you want him to die...?

She blinked.

Sakurazuka stared at the little girl intently, fascinated by the tiny glow of blue light at the centre of her pupils as she stared at him with the fixed waxen expression of a doll. He wondered what was going on in her mind... somehow, he felt instinctively that there was something more than just Elaine staring out at him...

He's quite intuitive...

Elaine gasped as the invisible intruder withdrew just as suddenly from her mind, and she slumped forward, like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

We'll meet again... Elaine...

She jerked violently in the technician's arms and started to wail, loud sobs shaking her small body as she screamed her refusal.

Sakurazuka studied the distressed girl with interest and speculated that the strange presence, whatever it was, was probably gone. He wondered if it had anything to do with the additional guests Nagisa had spoken of...

'Heero, Heero.' Amuro shook the unconscious man desperately, fighting back tears as he was dragged away from the only person he knew on this unfamiliar station.

'What did you do to him?' He snarled angrily, turning on the guard who held him with sudden fury.

'Hey, easy there, kid.' The guard looked as confused and frightened as Amuro felt and his voice was concerned as he looked over at the unconscious prisoner, wondering if his unit was going to be blamed for this. 'We didn't do anything. Your crazy friend just started screaming all of a sudden and then keeled over, all on his own. Is he epileptic or something?'

Amuro shook his head mutely, despite his desperate accusation earlier he knew that whatever happened to Heero, had nothing to do with the worried looking guards. Just a few minutes ago, Heero had been walking beside him, chatting softly under their breath, when suddenly he had stopped, an expression of horror and agony twisting his features.

Amuro had involuntarily flinched away from him, as he was overwhelmed by a sudden sense of revulsion towards Heero, and the next thing he knew, Heero started to scream and scream, his hands held tightly against his ears as though he was trying to block something out... and his body folded in half, and slowly collapsed to the floor. Amuro stared blankly at Heero, lying unconscious, his body curled tightly into a foetal position and wondered what the hell was happening to him.

Heero burrowed deeply into his mind trying to hide from the horrible presence he had felt. He didn't understand what he was hiding from and he didn't care. He remembered that whispery voice from long ago...

Heero whimpered in protest as he heard another voice, a warmer voice crying out his name... Don't call out. He wanted to scream. He'll hear you... Amuro... Heero stopped trying to hide as he recognised the frightened voice crying in his mind... And an image of a boy with large brown eyes rose in his mind... bringing warmth... and the nameless terror receded... Heero coughed painfully, feeling his entire body ache as he finally regained consciousness.

'Wha... what happened?' He asked confusedly as he started to get up, a couple of ready hands steading him as he managed to get to his feet.

'That's what we'd like to know.'

Heero blinked blankly at the tall annoyed looking guard who was regarding him with distinct disfavour.

'Heero!'

Heero gaped as Amuro suddenly slammed into him, hugging him tightly as the young boy cried helplessly into his chest.

'Wha... Amuro...' Heero gave up trying to understand what was going on, and clumsily patted the sobbing boy on the back.

'Isn't he a bit... young for you?' The guard muttered disapprovingly and Heero blushed bright red.

'We aren't... involved.' He snapped out crossly, as he tried to untangle himself from Amuro, who still held him tightly. 'Amuro. Do you mind?'

Amuro sniffed dismally as he reluctantly released his grip around Heero's waist and settled for holding on to his hand. He was still feeling a bit insecure from his earlier fright...

Heero glared at the guard who looked at their hands meaningfully before motioning the group back into the march. He was already beginning to forget the strange voice he heard...

'Hi, Heero... Amuro.'

Duo added hurriedly as he saw the boy trail in after his lover. He raised a curious eyebrow when he noticed that they were holding hands but refrained from commenting when Heero scowled at him. 'I wish I could say I was happy to see you but...' he grimaced as he held up his chained wrist, 'unfortunately, we aren't exactly here from choice.'

'The mission failed.' Heero stated evenly.

'You could say that.' Duo sounded mildly regretful, darting a quick look at the other side of the table where Quatre was glaring at him with hate filled eyes. 'I'm afraid that a lot of things didn't quite turn out exactly as I'd hoped.'

'It seemed that our host was expecting us.' Trowa added coolly.

Heero looked around the table, noting that his friends had been secured at the four opposing ends of the table. 'It's an interesting arrangement.' He commented dryly. He looked at Amuro who still hadn't released his hand and seemed determined to stay glued to his side and sighed.

'That's because Nagisa was afraid that if he left us alone while he was busy with his crisis,' Wufei grimaced, as he tugged at his chained wrist secured snugly on the hand-rest of his chair, 'he might come back to a bloodbath. I just wish he'd left us earplugs as well. I'm sick of hearing those two argue and scream at each other.'

Heero looked at Duo, who shrugged, and then at Quatre, who avoided his questioning gaze. His brow puckered into a frown as he regarded the two men, and saw that somehow the breach between them had worsened... Was there nothing that would draw those two together again?

'You do realise that we have to work together.' Heero's voice betrayed his weariness as he worked his hand free of Amuro and made his way to Trowa, kneeling down to examine the chain bindings.

'That might be easier said than done.' Duo spoke tartly, as he tapped his feet impatiently while waiting for Heero to help Trowa. 'Unless someone learns to put the past behind him and focus on the present.'

'Not when we're still stuck trying to clean up the mess left behind by the problems in the past.' Quatre added swiftly, his green eyes challenging as he faced Duo's indignant glare. 'And I'm still waiting to hear your explanation of where J's data comes into all this.'

'Do they argue like that all the time?' Amuro whispered to Heero, as he sat on the floor beside him, watching him work with Trowa's chain with curious interest. 'And where did you learn to pick locks like that? How come you carry a lock pick in your hair? I thought only thieves had things like that.'

'Does he talk this much all the time?' Trowa asked Heero dryly as Amuro continued his whispered interrogation, undaunted by the lack of response from the brown-haired man.

'The answers are yes, from me, a present from me, and no saboteurs and hotshot guerrilla-terrorists also carry such instruments for when they are captured. And yeah, he really does talk this much, but he's not as bad as the other one. Which reminds me, where is Camille?'

Duo grinned smugly as his friends stared at him with reluctant astonishment.

'Hey, this is me, remember? Talking is my game. And Amuro, just a word of advice, don't bother wasting your time trying to get any answers out of my babe. If he doesn't feel like talking, nothing under the sun is going to work. Believe me. I've tried. Everything.'

Heero's lips twitched at the sheer amount of chagrin Duo managed to put into the last words. He stood up, his work done, and moved towards Duo, who gave Quatre a triumphant look of glee, which shortly turned into a look of disgust when Heero handed over a spare lock pick to him and moved over to Wufei. Trowa made his way to Quatre and squatted down by his side in silence, pulling out the other lock pick Heero had passed to him.

'Just how many of you guys know how to do that? And could you teach me?' Amuro asked Duo earnestly, his brown eyes wide as he stared around the room.

'Just the three that you see.' Duo answered cheerfully. 'Mr Justice and Rich boy felt that picking locks were beneath them.'

'That's enough Duo.' Heero admonished quietly as he continued to concentrate on Wufei's chain. 'You aren't helping. And I think that Quatre was right. If you have any answers, I want to hear them as well. Especially anything about J.'

End Part 10

Katana

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