22 May 2000
Acknowledgements: This really got started when I first read ‘Double Vision’ by Madam Hydra. I’ve always adored the concept of parallel worlds ever since I saw the ‘Mirror, Mirror’ episode of Star Trek the Original Generation. And when Excalibur went cruising through their variant universes, I was well and truly hooked, and now, with the assistance of Widget (a very special guest star), it’s finally my turn to ‘play’. ^_^
Rating: PG 13
Pairing: Various
Foreword: Yaoi alert. Nothing graphic but the rating for this series just got changed to R. Also, there is a hint of angst coming out (don’t know where it’s coming from, I thought this was going to be basically humour). I’ve decided that in order to keep track of the various parallel worlds, they’ll be designated Track 1 (the fantasy world in Part I and II) and Track 2 (this one) and when the GW boys run into more parallel worlds (which of course they will), then each will be given a number in order of appearance. Each part from here on will be identified by Track # so that you can keep ‘track’ (sorry couldn’t resist LOL) of where they are. According to Bara-chan (my immoto), the series should retitled ‘The many loves of Heero Yuy’ but that’s NOT the point of these stories (okay, okay, I can not tell a lie, maybe just a little bit). Anyway, the pairing will be varied throughout and I still don’t know if the ‘main’ GW boys are yaoi or not.
Rating: PG-13
‘Loooook out!’
Wufei screamed and frailed his arms wildly as he felt himself falling. He groaned painfully as he landed heavily on a pile of straw, then scrambled out of the way as the others started to fall beside him. Wufei felt his arms and legs and glared bitterly at Heero, who looked at the moaning heap below him with calm disinterest, as he redirected his attention to the wings that allowed him to float down comfortably.
‘I just figured out how to use them.’ Heero said, a touch of smug superiority in his voice as the wings suddenly melted away. ‘So, where do you think we are?’ He said, as he surveyed the rich cornfields with curiosity.
'Ouch, I think my bruises just got bruises.’ Duo complained loudly as he disentangled himself from Quatre and Trowa. ‘Damn it Quatre, do you have any idea just how heavy you are in that stupid armour? Not to mention hard.’ Duo moaned as he rubbed his shoulder and arm ruefully.
‘Uhhhh…’ Quatre groaned as he slowly got up, wishing that his head would stop aching. He brushed the straw off his armour and stiffly got to his feet, noticing as he did that the armour had lost its bright sheen. He looked around the empty fields before him and frowned as he noticed the abandoned tractors in the fields. ‘There’s something wrong. There should be a lot of people in the fields at this time of the day but look, there’s no one around.’
‘Maybe its because of them!’ Duo screamed out as he started to scramble out of the hayload, joining Heero and Wufei who were staring intently at the approaching dark figures on the horizon. ‘Didn’t we destroy our Gundams guys? Because that looks like Wing Zero in the lead to me.’
‘Looks like we aren’t home yet.’ Trowa responded coolly as he joined the others, his hands in his pocket. ‘Still, this time we shouldn’t have too much trouble getting hold of a beam rifle and hopefully, Widget will be able to return us home. Maybe.’ He couldn’t help adding as he looked at the sleeping Widget in Wufei’s hands.
Wing Zero swooped gracefully, avoiding the fire coming from its pursuers and looped around till it was in the middle of the five enemy suits, then activating its beam saber, the Gundam destroyed its nearest attacker, slicing it neatly in two, even as it twisted the saber to deflect the incoming fire from the suit approaching its side. Then the white wings folded and Wing Zero dropped heavily on the suit below, and pulled off the head of the suit as it kicked the body, smashing its foot through the centre, destroying its cockpit. The remaining three suits converged on Wing Zero even as it activated its double beam rifles and blasted them, blowing one of them up, and cutting another’s legs off. The remaining suit managed to get in close enough to engage the Wing Zero in hand to hand grapple, the two metallic giants rocked in a screaming swirl as the suits started to protest against the stress. After a moment, the Wing Zero extended its wings and folded them inwards, the sharp edges of the wings slicing through the Taurus mobile still held in its embrace. Then it turned its attention to the crippled Taurus and blew it up with the guns on its head.
Duo stared wide eyed at the slaughter and turned to Heero, who had a disturbed frown on his face. ‘Man, that guy’s more vicious that you were. Oh shit. It’s coming this way. I don’t suppose we could try hiding?’
‘Where?’ came the simple reply from Heero, who hadn’t taken his eyes off the approaching Gundam.
Wing Zero dropped slowly until it was hovering inches from the ground, then after a brief moment, the Gundam finally settled on the ground, dropping down on one knee, and raising a hand to the pilot’s cockpit that opened, producing a figure who held out a gun in front of her.
‘Relena?’ Duo gasped loudly as he recognised the pilot, even though she had cut off her long hair and was now wearing a Preventer uniform. ‘What the hell…?’ He sputtered indignantly as the cold eyed woman deliberately aimed her gun in his face.
Heero stepped carefully in front of his angry friend, with his hands raised half way, his dark hair flowing out behind him.
‘Senator Yuy!’ Relena cried out, as she finally recognised the man wearing the strange black outfit. ‘What happened to you? And why are you with this Oz scum?’ She glared at Duo, who blinked in confusion.
‘Oz scum? Is she talking about me?’ He turned bewildered eyes on Quatre who had come beside him.
‘Senator Winner?’ Relena lowered her arm in total confusion as she stared at the man wearing the slightly rusting armour. ‘What’s going on here? Why are you wearing that?’ She couldn’t resist adding as she stared round eyed at his unusual outfit. ‘Jesus.’ She spat suddenly, the gun coming up again, this time aimed squarely at Trowa, who merely stared at her in silence. ‘Barton.’ She snarled, ‘I should have known that you’d have something to do with this. What are you playing at now? Why did you kidnap two,’ she stopped as she took in Wufei, swallowed and amended, ‘three UFC Senators? And why are they dressed like that?’ She still couldn’t believe the armour that Quatre was wearing and Heero’s black tunic that clung tightly to his body, leaving nothing to her imagination, was making her flush. ‘And why are Maxwell and Senator Yuy wearing wigs?’
Trowa shrugged nonchalantly as he kept his hands in his pockets. ‘I don’t know. Why are you piloting Wing Zero?’
Relena reddened and tightened her grip on the gun. d‘on’t be ridiculous Barton, I’ve always been the plot of Wing Zero, ever since UFC first formed the Preventers to stop you Oz bastards from spreading your totalitarian rule across the Colonies.’
Trowa ignored the gun trained on him and turned to his friends, who gathered around him, Heero making sure that he was staying between Relena and the others. ‘Well, that’s it. We are definitely not home. So shall we try telling her the truth or do we play this out?’
Heero said, ‘I think we should just play along with her for now. Saves on a lot of explanations. Besides which, I don’t think she’ll hand over a beam rifle just because we ask for one. I know I wouldn’t have. And that leaves stealing, which she’s not going to help with.’
‘So we convince her that we’re the real stuff and get her to go away, after she leaves us some money, or means of transportation and especially,’ Quatre added fervently, ‘a way to get some decent clothes. I’m beginning to itch in this damned rustbucket. Why don’t you talk to her Heero?’ He grinned as Heero rolled his eyes, ‘it looks like some things are universally constant anyway, that Relena looks as interested in you as ours did.’
Heero sighed deeply and stepped forward, as Relena stared at him with suspicion and trust warring openly in her large blue eyes. ‘I know that you aren’t going to understand this but I need your help. The five of us are um… holding a peace talk and well…’ he shrugged, ‘lets just say that it’s a long story and that I’ll tell you once it’s all over. At the moment, I need you to help me, without asking any questions.’ He stared into her eyes and felt a strange icyness pervading his heart as he realized that her eyes were no longer the pools of innocence that had so fascinated him in his world, but cold and empty just like his own eyes had been during the war. Heero waited silently as Relena hesitated, wondering if he should have told her the truth, then she nodded silently and he relaxed.
‘What do you need Senator Yuy?’ Relena asked politely as she returned her gun to the holster.
‘Why am I a bad guy, again!’ Duo muttered sulkily for the umpteenth time. ‘It was bad enough in that silly fantasy world we landed the first time, but now, I’m supposed be with Oz. It’s not fair. You got to be a Senator, and you, and even Wufei, but me, I’m just a stupid Colonel in Oz. That’s so unfair.’
‘What do you mean, even Wufei?’ Wufei snapped back, his nerves strained by the constant complaints. ‘What’s so strange about me being a Senator?’
‘Oh god. For heaven’s sake don’t encourage Duo. He hasn’t stopped whining ever since he heard that he and Trowa were working for Oz in this world. I can’t stomach any more. If we all just ignore him, he’ll get over it already.’ Quatre hissed at Wufei who was still glaring at Duo, tugging impatiently at his sleeve to get him to turn around and sit properly. ‘Or do you want to hear him go on about how you and Trowa had better hair styles in the fantasy world again?’
Wufei blanched at the awful prospect and sat down, a sulky frown still on his face. He truly pitied Heero, stuck in the back seat with Duo and wondered how the taciturn Japanese could bear to listen to that awful drivel. He peeked outside the car to check that Trowa was keeping up with them on his motorbike and wished that he had argued more when they were trying to decide who would get to go in the car and who had to take the motorbike. He looked at Quatre who had started grounding his teeth as Duo started giggling as he described how Myerdin had kowtowed to him when he thought that Duo was the Shadowlord to Heero who had his eyes closed and arms folded. He looked at Yuy, whose chest was gently rising and falling, and wondered how he managed to fall asleep amidst all that noise.
‘Are you sure that you want to meet with this world’s version of you Quatre?’ Wufei asked, ‘Don’t you think that it might be better if we just headed into an Oz base and use Trowa and Duo to get us access to one of their mobile suits?’
‘I don’t think so.’ Quatre replied tersely, ‘unfortunately it seems that our counterparts in this world, especially you, Heero and me, have a very high profile, if we get within a mile of an Oz base, we could end up being arrested or worse. I think that our best chance under the circumstances is to meet my counterpart and see if he’s willing to assist us get out of his world. I’m pretty sure that they wouldn’t want to have copies running around any more than we would. The trick is going to be to get close to them without getting into trouble with either the Preventers or Oz.’
‘That shouldn’t be too hard.’
Wufei turned around with a surprised look on his face. ‘I thought you were sleeping.’
Heero’s lips twitched into a slight smile. ‘Not really but it saves on the bother of having to try to keep up my end of the conversation if Duo thinks that I’m sleeping.’
‘Hey, I heard that Yuy.’ Duo dug Heero in the ribs with his shoulder, with a mock frown on his face.
‘From what Relena said, apparently Senator Winner is currently staying in the Imperial Regent in Vancouver. So, all we have to do is to get to the hotel, and Quatre should have no problem getting us in his suite. I’m not too sure how we’re going to convince him that our story is true though.’
Quatre smirked smugly at Heero through the back mirror. ‘Oh lets just say that I’m sure I can persuade the good Senator that we’re definitely not from this world.’
The hotel receptionist beamed at the handsome blond Senator who walked towards her. She had nursed a secret crush on the dashing man ever since the first time he had smiled at her. She sighed happily as he took his key and walked towards the elevator, thinking that he was even cuter in casuals then in his usual suit attire.
Quatre winked surreptitiously at Heero who was waiting at the elevator and they got in together, halting at the first floor to pick up Trowa, then Wufei and Duo at the third floor. After waiting for the old man to leave the elevator at 7th floor, Quatre relaxed and Trowa and Heero took off their caps with relief.
‘So, where are we going?’ Duo asked with a cheeky grin.
‘The penthouse suite.’ Quatre replied, twirling his key around his finger, ‘What else?’
Duo rolled his eyes, ‘of course.’ He repeated sarcastically.
‘Duo,’ Trowa called out softly, as he pulled his cap over his head, ‘put your shades back on and fall back. I think that we better not let the good Senator get a look at us before he has a chance to talk to Quatre.’
Duo made a face but did as Trowa suggested, and gestured for Quatre, Heero and Wufei to leave the elevator first. Quatre walked out of the elevator slowly, his heart pumping furiously as he surveyed the empty room with interest. He noticed that there were clothes strewn all over the floor and thought disapprovingly that his counterpart was something of a slob. A faint sound of music streamed out of the closed bedroom door, suggesting that someone was inside. Duo had gone over to the little kitchenette and had started to rummage around for something to eat. Trowa had positioned himself at the elevator, and Wufei was going through the desks, while Heero had picked up the laptop and had turned it on. Quatre hesitated briefly then he decided that he could afford to walk in on himself and opened the bedroom door and froze.
‘What the hell!’
Duo looked up over the kitchen counter and dashed over to Quatre’s side, joined by Heero and Wufei. His eyes went round with surprise as he peered over Quarter’s shoulder and saw two men sprawled untidily on the bed together. Quatre had gone very red, and Heero was looking totally stunned, while Wufei’s jaw had slackened, and his eyes glued on the scene in front of them.
‘Get out. Now. Not you.’ Quatre yelled, dragging a reluctant Heero back inside the bedroom even as he shoved Duo and Wufei out of the doorway and closed it firmly, leaving himself and Heero inside. ‘Listen, I realize that this is bad timing but we’re your counterparts from a parallel universe and I can prove it. Now. Heero, take off your top.’
Heero went scarlet with embarrassment as the two men on the bed instantly switched their attention to him and he started to back away from Quatre, who grabbed his arm and hissed in his ear. ‘The wings, idiots. Show them your wings, and then we can get down to business.’
‘But… I…’ Heero flushed deeply as he started to shrug out of his top. ‘You didn’t tell me that this was your idea, Quatre.’
‘Will you just get the damned top off and sprout the feathers already?’ Quatre snarled, as his counterpart pulled out a gun from the bedside drawer and pointed it in their direction. ‘Ummm… listen. I’m you. Kind of. So if you don’t mind, just stay calm for a minute longer and,’ he took a deep breath as Heero obediently grew his wings, and his counterpart slowly lowered his arm. ‘Thank you.’
‘You’re welcome.’ Said Senator Winner drily as he pulled on a robe and got out of the bed. ‘I’m willing to listen to what you have to say and I’m sure Senator Yuy is just as intrigued but do you mind getting the hell out of our room and letting us get changed first?’
Quatre and Heero looked at each other with red faces then immediately fled out of the door. Quatre looked at Duo who had opened his mouth as he saw them exit hastily, and held up his hand, saying, ‘Not a word. Maxwell. So help me, if you say anything right now, I’ll kill you.’ Duo looked at the shell shocked expression on Heero’s face and the flush of embarrassment on Quatre’s cheeks and reluctantly closed his mouth again.
Inside the bedroom
‘So Quatre,’ said the dark haired man who had stayed motionless throughout the whole encounter. ‘What are you going to do?’
Quatre smiled at his lover tenderly, leaning over to grab a quick kiss as he headed into the bathroom. ‘Take a quick shower, get changed and then go and greet our guests of course.’ He leaned out of the bathroom and smiled seductively, ‘why don’t you join me, so that we can change faster?’
Heero rolled his eyes even as he pushed the bedclothes off and moved to join Quatre, ‘I don’t think that we’ll get through faster if we take the shower together, Quatre.’
Quatre laughed as he grabbed Heero’s hand and pulled him inside the shower, the hot water enveloping their two bodies in a warm caress.
‘Do you mind not pointing that gun at me?’ Duo asked plaintively as he stood with his hands raised above his head. ‘It’s not like I want to complain but really, ever since I got here, people keep shouting and pointing guns at me. It’s enough to make a guy feel unwanted.’
Senator Winner gently took the gun away from his companion’s trembling hands and said, ‘you’ll have to excuse Heero but last time he saw you, it was as your prisoner and he didn’t exactly have a good time. I’m sorry to say that in this world both you and Trowa Barton,’ Winner spat out the name as though it had a bad taste, ‘have a well deserved reputation for unnecessary cruelty and violence.’ He sighed deeply as he ran his fingers through his blond hair and deliberately placed the gun on the living room table, making sure that the nervous men around him saw that he was willing to trust them. ‘I’ve confirmed your encounter with Ms Darlian, and it seems that you have been telling me the truth but you have to excuse me for having a little trouble in believing this incredible story.’
‘So now that you believe us, does that mean that you’ll give us the beam rifle?’ Duo asked eagerly, then settling back with a hurt look when he saw how Senator Yuy flinched from his presence. He looked at Heero with a mournful expression in his large eyes and brightened up when Heero quite deliberately moved over to sit next to him, and turned back to the Senator with a quick smile that faded when Yuy aborted his face, trying not to meet his gaze.
Winner sighed and steepled his hands before his mouth, ‘I’m not sure that I should. You did say that this Widget was quite unpredictable. So who knows what happens on this side of the world when you transit? I think that it’s better if we turn over Widget to the UFC scientists and let them try to find out how it works and to see if they can figure out a way for you to get home.’
Quatre shook his head firmly. ‘I’m sorry but that’s not acceptable.’ He looked at Winner and Yuy soberly, ‘I realize that this is an imposition but you have to understand that we don’t belong here. We have to go home and we can’t just hang around waiting for you to come up with a solution. Look, we’d like to get your help but understand that with or without it, we’re going to get a beam rifle and get out of here.’
Yuy narrowed his eyes and stared at the determined green eyes, so like that of his lover’s. ‘You can’t just barge in here and demand our assistance. This is our world and we have a right to try to protect it. I’m not too crazy about the people that you call your friends,’ he gave Trowa and Duo a scathing look, ‘and unlike Quatre, I’m not so sure that we should try to help you. So far, you’ve impersonated me, Quatre and have appropriated funds from the Preventers to provide yourself with clothing and transportation and barged illegally into our room. That makes you a thief in my book.’
‘Thief!’ Wufei’s black eyes snapped angrily with outrage. ‘How dare you call me a thief. Quatre, are you going to sit there and just let Yuy insult us like this?’
Quatre rubbed his temples, wishing that he had a painkiller. ‘Please don’t get sidetracked Wufei. It’s confusing enough to have the two of us to keep track of as it is. And Senator Yuy does have a point after all. As far as they are concerned we don’t even exist really, so there’s no reason for them to help us. Unless,’ he gave his counterpart a suspicious look, ‘there’s a way that we can trade favours?’ He ended questioningly.
Senator Winner smiled as he looked at Duo and Trowa. ‘Well, now that you mention, there is a little something that you might be able to do for us.’
Duo glared at the man with the scissors in his hands and brandished the lamp in his hand threateningly. ‘Don’t you dare come near me with those things Q. Or you’re seriously going to spit teeth. I refuse to cut my braid off. And I have no intention of playing along with this farce. You can just talk to yourself again and tell your stuck up counterpart that the deal’s off. It was a stupid idea in the first place and you can’t make me do it.’
Quatre stopped and bit his lower lip as he stared at Duo. ‘Look, do you want to go home or not?’ He asked plaintively, as he put the scissors down on the shelf. ‘You know that Colonel Maxwell doesn’t have long hair. So there’s no way you can impersonate him unless you cut your hair. Heero,’ he turned to the silent spectator who stood woodenly by the window as he studied the city spread out below him. ‘Will you please say something? Maybe you can talk Duo into this.’
Heero swung around slowly, his eyes fixed on Duo’s imploring eyes, as he shook his head. ‘No. I don’t think so.’ He said quietly. ‘You can’t force someone to cut his hair, or to do what he doesn’t want to do, because it’s expedient. If Duo doesn’t want to join this mission then leave him alone. Trowa and I will be sufficient. And we’ll have some help from Hirde and Iria, as our backup. Remember?’
Duo looked at Heero unhappily as he and Quatre left the room together. He picked up the scissors and then touched his braid caressingly as he looked at his reflection in the mirror. ‘I hate this world.’ Duo sighed heavily.
‘Do you?’
Duo turned around and saw Senator Yuy staring at him coldly from the doorway.
‘I hate you.’ Yuy spoke softly as he joined Duo by the mirror, ‘the you in this world that is.’ He reached out his hand hesitantly, hovering lightly over Duo’s braid as he spoke. ‘I don’t really know you, apparently. I know that I, the guy who’s from your world, he likes you.’ Yuy looked at Duo wonderingly, his blue eyes holding puzzlement and pain as he stared deeply into the clear violet eyes that held only curiosity. ‘I can’t imagine that. That I could like you.’ He laughed humourlessly as Duo’s eyes sparked with indignation and the brunette glared at him. ‘I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be rude. It’s just that…’ Yuy sighed, as he closed his eyes against the image before him. ‘Last time we were together, all I remember is pain.’ He shivered involuntarily then flinched as Duo instinctively reached out a consoling hand. ‘Don’t.’ He whispered hoarsely.
Duo dropped his hand limply against his side. ‘You can’t blame me for what he did.’ He pleaded, ‘I’m not like that. You can’t imagine what it feels like to have your friend, someone that you like and trust, turn away from your every look and touch. Please, just…’ Duo’s eyes dropped as Yuy stared back at him with a pale strained face. ‘Don’t look at me like that. It hurts….’ He turned away his head as Yuy silently walked off. He picked up the scissors and then with a sudden vim he threw it against the mirror and shattered it. ‘There’s no way in hell that I intend to look even more like that bastard.’ He snarled.
A tall man in a black uniform walked out of the building, unaware of the silent gazes that were following him from the parked van. He smiled politely as he passed two soldiers, who immediately snapped to attention when they recognised him. Then pulling on a pair of white gloves, the officer motorbike and drove off. The van slowly moved out of its park, trying to slip into the traffic without being too obvious about the fact that it was following the motorbike.
‘How much longer?’ Quatre whispered tensely from the back, trying to remain unseen.
‘Wait another few minutes and we’ll be out of the main traffic. Then we can grab him.’ Sally Po called out tersely as she concentrated on keeping the bike in her sight. She was feeling very nervous about this. When she had been called to a meeting with Senator Winner, she had been totally nonplussed to discover that there were two of them. When she was introduced to the Trowa Barton currently sitting in the back of the van, her first action had been to try to shoot him. It was fortunate that Heero Yuy, the counterpart of her Senator Yuy had turned out to have incredibly fast reflexes. After a long discussion, it was decided that they would try to replace the real Trowa Barton with his counterpart, just long enough for them to download critical data regarding Oz’s plan to shield the Earth with a Defensive Net of Armed Satellites (DNAS), isolating the Preventers currently still based on Earth from any reinforcements from space. Unfortunately, it seemed that the Duo Maxwell who was a counterpart of this world’s famed Oz Intelligence Officer, was not willing to undergo a similar switch, so they only had one chance at getting a copy of the DNAS files before Colonel Maxwell returned to the headquarters from his trip to Sanc Kingdom in two days. Sally sighed to herself as she looked at the image of the red haired man in the black uniform reflected in her back mirror. It was unreal to see him and to think of him as an ally, when all her instincts were screaming out that he was the enemy. It was even stranger to see him talking with Senator Winner, or rather Winner’s counterpart, their body language and looks obviously revealing that they were close friends. It had been her idea to leave Senator Yuy’s counterpart behind, with Winner and Yuy, she was still a little raw about having lost Yuy to Maxwell’s clutches the last time and she hadn’t wanted to risk any chance of repeating that disaster, even if he wasn’t the real Senator. Damn. Sally swore to herself, as she tried to sort out who she was talking about.
‘He’s stopping.’
Sally started as Trowa leaned over and whispered softly in her ear. She looked at the tall man, who was getting off his bike and saw that he was heading into the nearby café.
‘There’s too many people around here.’ She whispered back grimly as she took in all the innocent bystanders walking past. ‘I think that it’s better if we wait till he gets to the lights at Forest Hill Road, then we can just stop the van next to the bike and grab him off as we drive past. Or better still,’ she looked at Trowa, ‘you can get off and take over the bike and we’ll be able to swap over smoothly.’
Trowa shook his head. ‘No, I have a better idea. I’ll just wait till he goes to the restroom or something distracts him. Then when he’s not looking, I’ll grab his bike and go. All you have to do is wait and when he comes out, you and Quatre can abduct him. I’ll go now.’
Sally swore as the tall man jumped out of her van and strode confidently to the bike. She had been startled by the amount of independence these men displayed, she had found it especially hard to get used to the soft spoken Senator Yuy acting like a tough soldier. But they weren’t very good at taking orders, she noticed and they weren’t really used to acting as a team either. She wondered if Senator Winner’s idea would actually work. She had tried her best to give as much information to this Trowa Barton about what he was like in her world, and how dangerous it would be, especially if they ended up trying to keep the deception going after Maxwell’s return. She wasn’t sure if he understood. This Barton was just as inscrutable in his own way as the Oz General, though, she admitted that there was something indefinably different about him, an air of gentleness perhaps. A quality sorely lacking in the brilliant, though cruel young leader who had single handedly masterminded a coup of the old Federation, with the assistance of his equally devious ally, Colonel Maxwell, the leader of Oz Intelligence.
‘I’m still surprised by the fact that this General Barton would just ride off on a motorbike and go to a café.’ Quatre commented idly as he readied his semi automatic. He smiled at Sally, who still looked surprised whenever he demonstrated his familiarity with weapons. ‘In my world, officers of high ranks usually don’t travel without an escort.’
‘Maybe in your world, the officer in question was scared of being attacked or assassinated.’ Sally responded drily as she also readied her own weapon. ‘There’s no one in Oz who’d dream of trying to attack General Barton. Those that aren’t too scared, are too busy worshipping his shadow and as for us,’ she smiled tightly, baring her teeth slightly. ‘Last time we tried anything directly against Barton, he executed 100 of our prisoners, as an example,’ she snarled, as Quatre paled. ‘And we lost Senator Yuy when he was kidnapped by Colonel Maxwell, while he was travelling to meet with representatives of Anaheim Industries on the moon, as retaliation.’ She spat bitterly. ‘It took the combined efforts of all the Gundam pilots in the Preventers to pry him loose from Maxwell, and you’ve seen how he acts around that damned clone of the Colonel. I swear if I ever get my hands on Maxwell, I’m going to make the murderous psychotic bastard pay.’ She swallowed hard and steadied her trembling hand, keeping her eyes on the café. ‘The only reason we’re even trying this, this time, is because hopefully, no one will even realize that a switch had taken place and it’ll be over before you know it.’
Quatre shrugged, his lips set in a grim line. ‘Don’t count on it. One thing we learned in our world is that nothing ever goes exactly the way you plan it.’
Brrrriiiiiing.
The receptionist picked up the phone then snapped to attention reflexively as she recognised the voice.
‘Tell General Barton that I’ve decided to return a day early. I’ll be reporting to him at 09:00 Eastern Standard Time, tomorrow.’
Colonel Maxwell replaced the phone and looked out of the window of his shuttle, smiling broadly to himself as he admired the beautiful blue and white world laid out below him. ‘In two weeks, the DNAS will be operational and all that beauty will belong to Oz’, Duo whispered softly, his breath misting over the window. He sat back and leaned against the headrest and closed his eyes, content to catch a little sleep before his return to the office. He had been very annoyed when the Preventers had stolen Senator Yuy, just when they were getting to know each other so well, and he was looking forward to seeing the handsome man again, as soon as they finished cleaning up all the left over Preventer units still operating on Earth. Duo breathed deeply and easily as he prepared to fall into the deep comfort of sleep, his thoughts still on the young Senator who had been so gratifyingly frightened of him near the end of his captivity. He thought sleepily that it wouldn’t take too much to break him when he finally got his hands on him again, and reminded himself to make sure that Senator Winner, apparently the lover of Yuy, was executed immediately and preferably in front of Yuy, once Oz re-established its control over Earth. With Yuy joining Oz, he was certain that Barton and his plan to take over the colonies and establish Oz, as the central Governing body, would soon be realized. It was just a matter of convincing the popular Senator that his best interests lay in cooperating with Oz, instead of in trying to raise futile opposition. He grinned as he thought back to his conversation with Senator Wufei, and his offer to assist in restoring the Oz bases on the other colonies, provided his own was left inviolate and thought that he would indulge the good Senator in his delusions of neutrality until all opposition was eliminated. After that… he smirked as he snuggled into his seat, trying to get more comfortable, he thought that he might suffer a mild case of amnesia about the promises he had just made to Senator Wufei.
Duo fell asleep counting the heads of those he intended to personally separate from their bodies. Starting with that obnoxious woman, Relena Darlian, the pilot of Wing Zero. Next on the list was the annoying Senator Winner, who had turned out to be a brilliant tactician and strategist much to his and Barton’s surprise. Then Duo thought sleepily, that he would like to get rid of that awful sore in his side, the pilot of Deathscythe, who dubbed herself Shinigami. He hated the way that Gundam would attack, always under the cover of dark and always eliminating all witnesses of its actions. He yawned and stretched luxuriously, his lips curving in a slow smile as he slowly dropped his hand from the handrest. Next, he thought that he’d probably like to get rid of Lucrezia Noin, the traitor who had stolen their Tallgeese when she defected…..zzzzz….
The steward smiled when she saw the handsome man sleeping soundly in his seat and she tucked his blanket carefully around him. She wondered what he was thinking about that made him smile so happily in his sleep and blushed slightly as she accidentally brushed against his warm hand.
‘Sweet dreams.’ She whispered softly as she turned off his headlight and put away the lap top sitting on the side seat, lodging it securely in the overhead locker.
Part IV teaser
General Barton groaned, feeling the sore lump on his head. The last thing he remembered was seeing a black van screeching to a halt in front of him, before he was rudely grabbed and thrust into its dark recesses. It had all happened so fast that he wasn’t even sure if anyone had noticed that anything unusual had taken place. Then nothing, as a black bag was shoved over his head and next thing he remembered was a very painful crack as he blacked out. Barton blinked his eyes and regarded the small empty room with disfavour, noticing that a steel manacle was chaining to the crude bed that he had been dumped on. He stretched his neck, trying to get the kinks out from having been left in a heap of legs and arms and wished that his kidnappers had been considerate enough to use chloroform and had the decency to arrange his body properly while he was unconscious so that he wouldn’t have woken up with stiff and sore muscles all over.
He pulled at the rumpled uniform and loosened the collar, deciding that he should try to get as comfortable as possible while waiting for his captors to arrive. He looked up at the small surveillance camera and gave it a confident smirk as he resettled himself on the bed.
Duo studied the now awake General curiously through the monitor, unnerved by how exactly he resembled their friend, Trowa.
Katana: And that’s a wrap now. I have RL to catch up on. ^_^ By the way, I don’t know about you but I’m getting rather interested in this particular world, so much so that I’ve started thinking about writing a parallel series, called ‘Ripples’. The idea is to follow what happens in each ‘Track’ after the GW boys have left. Don’t know when I’d get around to it. I have the ‘One Year War’ to finish still. Busy, busy, busy. Please write and tell me if you think that ‘Ripples’ would be a fun read. What I’ve learnt since I’ve finally started writing fanfics is that feedback can definitely stimulate the writer to keep producing! It’s also left me hopelessly crippled with guilt over the time I’ve spent as a lurker, rabidly reading other people’s fics without writing them to tell them how much I liked their work. Groan. I don’t need to write about the GW boys’ angst, I’m suffering plenty of my own.