29-Feb-2004
Title: Tetractys
Author: Sol, but archived as Zefyr on FF & MM
Genre: Semi-AU, AU-in-AU, Drama, Sci Fi
Pairings: Wait and see.
Rated: R for the time being
Archived: fanfiction.net and gwaddiction.com
Warnings: Violence, language, adult situations, butchered scientific theory
Archiving: Ask permission for each story separately, please.
Critiques: Always welcome, especially constructive.
Disclaimers: I don't own Gundam Wing, in case this wasn't obvious. No malicious
infringement intended. Many thanks to all those who reviewed, cajoled, poked
and prodded for a continuation. I know normally I reply to reviews, but
please forgive me for being lazy. I'll reply every now and then on this
story, I think, if a question comes up that demands to be answered. Once
again, thanks for reading!
There was no conversation as Viveka expertly handled the van's ancient wheels over the rough terrain. Trowa stared out the back window, distantly aware of Duo's snoring head against his ear, and struggled to focus on the darkness, broken only by gleaming porch lights. Small signs of the warmth of small houses were scattered in the distance, nestled in the hills. Something about the lonely lights made his chest ache, and it didn't help that Duo's dreams were filtering into his thoughts. He cradled Duo's dream-images in the back of his mind, where he stored the rare moments when he could fully hear one of his partners.
Blood, broken only by the flashing of knives.
Trowa sighed, and pushed a little at Duo, until the sleeping man shifted, curling away from him to rest against Heero. Trowa crossed his arms and lowered his head, sensing Heero's gradual acceptance of Duo's comfort. He knew that when they arrived, Heero and Duo would be a tangle of arms in sleep, their faces slack in dreams. He sighed, and envied them as he watched the houses they passed. The road stretched beneath the wheels, with no conversation or radio, and Trowa realized that more than anything, he envied those people in their houses, settling down for the evening after putting away the dishes.
Someday, I want to put away dishes and settle down for a book for an hour or two, before I go to bed, he thought. Someday, I want to know that when I wake in the morning, the nightmares will end with the dawn.
Two weeks. Trowa leaned his head against the window, aware the air outside the van was getting cooler. The glass was chilly against his forehead, but it felt good, and slowly, he drifted into sleep.
"Coffee," Duo said, pressing a cup into Trowa's hand, and a second one into Heero's hand.
He nodded as they both began to drink, then stood up, stretching with his arms over his head. The forest hung over the small clearing, and Duo stared up into the branches overhead, certain he'd seen the bright flash of a bird of paradise or perhaps a cockatiel. Duo scratched the back of his head and wondered whether Wufei would loan him the bird book. Wufei was certain to have at least six books squirreled away in his pack, and if their last six group-trips were any indication, at least two would cover the flora and fauna of the region. The bright speck took off through the branches, and Duo craned his head to watch it go.
Heero moved closer to Trowa until their hips touched. Duo caught the movement and turned, looking pointedly at Trowa.
"Sugar," Trowa translated.
"Coming right up," Duo replied.
A minute later he was back with a packet, dropping it in Heero's lap as he sat on Heero's other side. The dawn was just creeping up the mountain, and the campsite was bathed in gold, three tents crouching in a small clearing. Viveka had woken early, starting a fire and setting out water to boil for coffee, before disappearing. Duo scratched his nose and wondered about the woman.
She had said nothing once they began the trip, arriving after an hour's drive to find one tent already set up. He and Quatre had set up one of their tents together while the other three men slept in the van. Neither was willing to force their partners to wake for a job two men could do just as easily. Viveka had said nothing, but simply watched from her position by the small fire, her dark hair blending into the darkness, and her face bathed in the fire's dancing light. When the two tents were set up, Quatre and Duo had retrieved their partners, shuffling them off to the tents with limited conversation.
Duo remembered Viveka's puzzled glance as Heero had bumped Trowa, who'd uttered a single word. Duo realized it probably did look strange, but then, they were so rarely long enough around anyone else for him to even register the true oddity of their lives. It was just the way it was. He sighed and leaned over to pick up a stick, scratching in the dirt at his feet while Heero and Trowa finished off their cups of coffee.
The second tent opened, and Quatre and Wufei stepped out, earning a smirk from Duo. Both of them were such early risers, unless they'd come up with a reason to stay in. Wufei ignored Duo's leer and poured Quatre a cup of coffee, and a second one for himself. Something rustled in the underbrush, and Duo contemplated asking Wufei for the books before they started breakfast. He wondered if he'd get to see any wildlife.
"How soon will you be ready to go?"
Heero growled, and Duo instinctively tensed. The woman had come up from the forest behind them. Duo hadn't even heard her, too focused on his own thoughts. Already in vacation mode, and he cursed his lack of diligence. Turning on the log, he faced her, pasting a lazy smile on his face. "How soon did we need to get started?"
"I have breakfast," Viveka said, holding up a cooler. She came around the fire, and sat on one of the empty logs. Opening the cooler, she handed around breakfast pastries. "Got them last night in town. They're sort of a local delicacy," she explained. She seemed startled when the four men all looked at Wufei, who stared intently at her for several seconds before nodding and taking a bite. The other four men followed suit, eating their pastries in silence.
Viveka stood when she was done eating, and brushed off the seat of her jeans. Closing up the empty cooler, she stuck it in her own tent and zipped the fly shut, then turned around with a wide smile. "The caves are about a half-hour from here, mostly uphill. You'll need heavy boots, because part of the way is a tunnel frequented by bats, and the ground's corrosive as a result. You'll also need flashlights, and warm jackets. Pack light, and we'll stay at the main base, in the first large cave."
"Mapped or marked?" Quatre tied the laces on his boots and stood up.
"Marked," Viveka replied. "If you want to map while we camp, that's up to you. The search teams marked the main tunnels leading to the base, and marked what little they explored past that. I'll show you the system when we get there."
Quatre considered that, then nodded, and the rest of the team stood as one. Within five minutes, their belongings were packed in light backpacks, and the only sign of their stay were two crushed areas of tall grass in the clearing. Viveka stifled the campfire with dirt while they packed. She straightened when they turned to her, Quatre in the lead.
"Not much for talk, are you," she observed.
"When we have something to say," Quatre told her politely, "you'll know it."
Heero was beginning to get the creeps, and Duo was muttering reassurances under his breath, with one hand on Heero's arm and the other latched on Trowa's backpack. Wufei watched them from in his position at rear, and shook his head. Trowa could pretty much handle just about any bizarre environment, but Heero had limited patience with places where he couldn't see the sky. That year they'd spent in the underground detainment center nearly drove the pilot mad, and Wufei wondered if Heero were remembering that now.
Only thing is, Wufei thought, this is different. It wasn't endless rooms of concrete and steel where the shadows were cold and alien, but an embracing darkness of rock and dirt. The ceiling overhead stretched past the reach of their flashlights, and the stripes on the walls at hip-height glowed behind them. Spray paint, he guessed, or some powder that reflected the light. He wasn't willing to reach out and touch it to find out, nor was he much interested in figuring out what was crunching beneath their feet. The sounds echoed too loudly in the tunnel, especially after the noisy high forest they'd passed through, where birds catcalled them and creatures skittered through the underbrush at their approach.
Up ahead, Viveka said something, and her voice echoed dramatically in the space. Wufei tensed, then realized they'd entered the first large cavern she'd warned them about. To his side, the glowing stripe fell away, receding into darkness as the cavern's walls widened. Beneath his feet, though, the ground became plain dirt. A new glowing stripe appeared on the ground, crushed and scattered by the passage of many booted feet.
It was another fifteen minutes of steady walking, as the walls came closer and then widened, before Viveka called a halt. He could see her flashlight bobbing across the space, lighting on strangely colorful manmade objects. There was a click, and a hum, and then six lights shot up, sending the cave into a brilliant display of light and theatrics. Even Heero gasped, and Duo swore under his breath. Up ahead, Quatre laughed brightly, and Wufei smiled to himself.
The cavern was an array of stalactites and stalagmites, reaching downwards and upwards, some touching at the tips. The colors ranged from a bluish gray to a deep orange-crimson, glittering in the artificial light. Not far from Viveka were several small tents, made to rest on rocky ground, rather than be pinioned into the soil. Wufei followed Quatre, dropping his pack by Quatre's as they looked around. Viveka knelt by a box, pulling out a gas grill and starting it up.
"We could have a fire," she said, her voice echoing loudly despite the fact that she was whispering. "But bringing the fuel in is just too much trouble. Be aware that once you cool down from the walk, it will get chilly."
"What are those?" Duo pointed off into the darkness, and Wufei had to squint to make out a series of numbers or letters, glowing faintly.
"Markers," Viveka explained, settling back on her heels as she poured water into a pot and put it on the grill. "The tunnel we came from is marked with a silver A. From there, clockwise, there are tunnels B though H. If you follow one of them, each marked tunnel that branches off then gets a number designation. The B tunnel has seven branches mapped and marked so far, with the main tunnel marked with a silver B in a red circle. Each branch is B-1, B-2, B-3, and so on. Following tunnel B-1, the first branch is therefore B-1-1. The second in that tunnel is B-1-2, and so on."
"How do you know which is the main tunnel?" Quatre came to stand by Wufei, their shoulders touching in silent support.
"Whichever is bigger, I think," Viveka replied, her grin flashing in the beam lights. "That's what it looks like to me. Anyway, the tunnel that's important to us is D-3-8."
"So that's D... " Quatre swung around until he was facing the third quarter of the cavern. "Somewhere over in that direction?"
"Roughly."
"Third branch, and then the eighth branch off there," Quatre mused. "Lunch, then we investigate."
Wufei nodded, instinctively looking around. He frowned, and looked around again, seeing only Heero standing at the edge of the lights, facing into the darkness.
"Yuy," Wufei called. Heero turned, a sullen look on his face, and shook his head once. Wufei rolled his eyes, and Quatre shrugged.
Viveka looked confused. "What?"
"Nothing," Wufei said. He added under his breath to Quatre, "maybe we should've brought leashes for those two after all."
Quatre laughed, and went to coax Heero into joining them for lunch.
Duo squeezed Trowa's hand, pushing the images to the forefront of his head. He was rewarded with a soft chuckle, and he grinned into the darkness. He'd been imagining if their next mission were deep underground, in caves like these, where he could climb one of those columns of solidified water and rock, and leap upon his unsuspecting prey from above. Trowa's flashlight bounced across the tunnel wall. The carefully stenciled alphanumeric sign caught Duo's attention.
B-3-8.
A quick squeeze to his hand, and Duo nodded out of habit, knowing that Trowa couldn't see him. Their footsteps echoed softly, boot-soles against rocky ground. Several minutes more of walking, and no branches in the passageway. Something flickered at the edges of Duo's eyesight, and he turned his head sharply, but there was nothing there. He shook his head, and continued to trudge on at Trowa's side.
Another thirty paces, perhaps forty, and there it was again. Duo frowned, squinted, and could only see darkness at the edge of the flashlight. He wondered if he was starting to pick up on Heero's sensitivity to being underground.
Another sixty paces, and it came again, this time as an almost tangible flood of sensation. Duo gasped and tugged on Trowa's hand.
"Light," he whispered, not having the wherewithal to push the thoughts to where Trowa could pick them up. Trowa stopped, clicking off the flashlight, and Duo sucked in breath through his teeth. "That's it," he said.
Up ahead, there was a small circle of whiteness, suspended in the darkness. The light refracted and blinked, as though it were a long way away, with objects or people moving about in front of it. Duo gaped, stepping forward, feeling each pace stretch interminably as he moved. Two steps, three, and yet Trowa was still at his side, unmoving. Duo frowned, and tugged Trowa forward. Together, they managed another ten paces, panting with the effort, yet the light seemed just as far.
Finally, Trowa pulled backwards on Duo's hand. "Time," Trowa whispered, his voice hoarse. "Back."
Duo took one more longing look at the blue-white point, and nodded reluctantly. Together, they turned, retracing their steps back to the cavern.
"Nothing," Wufei said. "Stupid technology."
"What's wrong?" Viveka looked up from the lunch Quatre had prepared, the chicken bone poised delicately between her fingers. She stared at Wufei's hands, full of his own lunch. "Thought you said you were going to get in touch with them."
"I've been trying," Wufei replied with a scowl. The woman blinked, looking around, and it dawned on Wufei that she'd expected a walkie-talkie. Quatre shook his head and toggled the system a few more times, until Heero glowered at Quatre. "Doesn't make sense," Wufei said, trying to forestall Quatre and Heero glaring at each other uncharacteristically. "This works through six feet of concrete and steel."
"Obviously doesn't work in mountains," Duo's reply came back, startling Wufei. He scowled as Viveka game him a baffled look.
"Report, Maxwell," Quatre said, ignoring Viveka's confused looks back and forth between them.
"Just hit the main B tunnel." Duo's whisper was cheerful. "Yuy?"
"No change." Quatre set down the last of his lunch and wiped his hands. "We saved lunch for you."
"Dinner, you mean," Duo said, laughing.
"No, lunch."
The line was silent for several seconds, then Duo's voice came back, hesitant. "I have 1430 hours."
"1300," Quatre replied evenly, but his hand was shaking as he pushed his sleeve back down. Heero's head was up, his eyes wide. Quatre took a deep breath. "Get your asses back to camp, now."
"Very funny, Winner," Duo retorted. "We're moving. Thought I taught you better tricks than that."
"You did, and this isn't one of them."
Duo was silent.
Trowa's voice came over the line. "On our way."
Heero was ensconced between Duo and Trowa, and Wufei stood at Quatre's shoulder. Between the five of them, they had neatly flanked Viveka. Strangely, though, the woman seemed unperturbed, and Duo frowned. Most people tended to shrink back in fear, and if they just waited long enough, the person would invariably start babbling rather than face all five of them at once. It was just yet another weird thing about this woman, and it was bugging the hell out of him. Duo glanced down at his watch, which had stopped once they'd returned to the main B tunnel.
Well, he thought smugly, it's definitely warping time. It's got some anomalous traits.
"We're waiting," Quatre said, in that even, amiable tone that boded nothing but a slow and miserable death. His smile could be quite cold, when he wanted.
"Well, I was figuring I'd explain once I could show it to all of you," the woman replied, her expression tight. "It's not really an anomaly. It's... a bend, if you will."
"A bend," Wufei repeated, his tone skeptical. "A bend of what?"
"Space and time, of course," she replied. "Through a complex mathematical structure, we were---"
"Whoa," Duo interrupted. "A mathematical what?"
"It's kind of like an equation," Viveka said.
Duo shook his head. "Just... start at the beginning. I thought you were a guide, but you're talking like you know what it is. Why bother putting us through all this if you had all the answers?"
"I don't have all of them." She knelt down and began putting things away. "If you wait here, the group that's investigating the tunnels will probably be back by tomorrow morning. And by then, the anomaly will be gone."
"Gone?" Quatre frowned. "How do you know?"
"Because I helped put it there." She stood up, flipping her long black hair over one shoulder and faced them square on, her jaw set. "We dreamt of you five, but we would have been happy with scientists. Hell, we would've been happy with just one of you."
"One of us... " Duo's voice trailed off, and he instinctively stepped closer to his partners.
"The Gundam pilots," Viveka said, and the echoes of her voice rolled across the cavern, coming back to greet them on all sides. She stepped forward, her eyes fixed on Heero. "Pilot of Wing Gundam, code name Heero Yuy," she said, her voice breathless and reverent. "You were the first to come to earth, destroying a small battalion of space Leos, crashing down at a beach on the borders of Southern Europe---"
Heero tensed, his fists clenching as she moved too close. Duo grimaced, recognizing his partner's reaction. He acted immediately. Viveka froze as Duo's blade caught her under the chin.
"Step another inch towards my partner and you won't live long enough to apologize," Duo murmured. Her eyes rolled back, trying to see him, but she didn't move from her position. He smirked.
"Understood," she replied, when it was obvious Duo wasn't backing down. He held the blade steady, and she stepped backwards, squinting as he turned it so the cavern lights flashed in her eyes. Then the blade was gone, back in its sheath. Viveka raised her eyebrows and exhaled abruptly, her lips in a tight line. "To the point, then. We need scientists, but what we truly need are the Gundam pilots."
Quatre snorted. "Everyone wants us. Why should we pay attention to you?" Unsaid behind his words was the truth all five knew: Treize would never let them go.
"What have you got, that no one else does," Duo added, letting another blade jump from his wrist to his hand. He began toying with it, flipping the butterfly back and forth. The metal clicked smoothly with each gesture, echoing softly in the cavern. It sounded like a hundred knives, whispering in the darkness.
"We have Gundams," Viveka said.
Heero placed his hand over Duo's wrist, stopping Duo's annoyed fidgeting. Heero's gaze was on Viveka, then slowly moved to Wufei, who was staring at the woman in narrowed assessment. Wufei inhaled sharply and nodded to Quatre, who raised an eyebrow, turning to Viveka with an inscrutable expression.
"And you have been storing these... " Quatre left the question hanging.
"Not storing them," she replied, a note of exasperation entering her voice. "We've... been using them."
"Which means you have pilots already," Duo pointed out. "Ignoring, of course, that there are no Gundams. Haven't been for ten years."
"Not for you," she said. "I won't say more. You can kill me now, and walk out of here, knowing no more than a pipe dream. Or you can follow me, and find out for yourself."
"Not without more information," Quatre told her.
"You won't get it from me."
"We can," Wufei replied. A slight smile tugged at the corner of his lips, and it wasn't pleasant. Trowa nodded and stepped forward.
Viveka grinned. "Move another step and I'll be dead in two seconds." She opened her mouth, exposing a small pellet, before closing her mouth with a snap. "I'm not here because I'm a crazy woman, and I'm not here because I'm good at coaxing people into believing a story that sounds like madness. I'm not particularly charismatic, nor am I that good at interpersonal relations. I am, however, perfectly willing and able to die. As a matter of fact, I'm rather looking forward to it." She shrugged, and took a smooth step backwards. "Gentleman, there's no time to debate. You follow me, and we hope we can get there in time, before it shuts down completely."
"What happens if we can't?" Wufei clicked the toggle, twice, and Duo relaxed. The woman was telling the truth.
"Then you go back to whatever existence you have, and this will be my tomb." She shrugged.
"Why?" Trowa's voice was soft, a part of the darkness.
"I don't have anything to return to," Viveka replied, letting her calm drop away to reveal sadness, and exhaustion. "But I will take you, if you will come."
The cavern was silent, and Duo waited, knowing his own vote. With the exception of the four men at his side, there wasn't much for them to live for, either. None of them had family or friends, and the only life they faced was one that had been slowly killing them for too long. He waited, knowing what would come next, but was surprised when Quatre took a deep breath and toggled the switch three times. They'd go.
Duo blinked, amazed he wasn't going to be used. Quatre caught Duo's look and shook his head, then reached out and tapped the underside of Duo's jaw. Duo frowned and shut his mouth, his frown growing deeper as Heero bumped him in the shoulder, and walked on past. A split second later Duo's pack hit him in the back of his thighs, and he stuck his tongue out at Heero's back. Hefting his pack onto his shoulders, he fell in line behind the rest, taking up the final position with a sigh.
"Now what?"
Quatre's voice was annoyed, a startling noise as it rolled past them. Trowa stepped forward, flanking Quatre as Duo came up behind him. Heero stepped up on Trowa's other side, staring intently at the bright ball of light as it glimmered and faded, then returned with a brightness that made it hard to stare at it for too long. Viveka walked forward several paces and knelt down in the dirt. She pointed her flashlight on the ground as she dug something out of her pocket and leaned forward. The scratching sound reverberated up and down the tunnel, and the five men watched, uniformly perplexed.
Duo, Trowa thought, will break the silence any minute now.
"What's that?" Duo leaned forward, trying to get a glimpse.
Trowa grinned to himself.
"It's the equation," Viveka said, settling back on her heels to expose what she'd done. It was a circle of white chalk, with mathematical equations and odd symbols drawn inside the circle's perimeter. "And now, link arms in a circle," she instructed. She turned, making sure they were linked together. She reached out, tugging at Quatre's jacket. "Bend down," she told him. "And here... " Viveka stretched out one foot, laying it on the side. "Put your foot on my boot."
Quatre gave her a baffled look but did so, leaning over awkwardly at the waist as he placed his left foot across the side of her foot. Trowa tightened the clasp of his hands, pulling Duo and Heero closer to him, shifting as Duo bent to give Quatre the room to lean over. Viveka shoved the chalk back into her pocket and put her right hand on the top of Quatre's head, then leaned forward. She slammed her left hand down in the middle of the circle.
Everything went white.
"Fuck," Wufei said, shaking his head.
Heero knew what Wufei meant. The whiteness was still shining on the inside of his eyelids, turning the darkness to myriad colors. A flashlight clicked on, and he threw a hand up over his eyes, still trying to adjust.
"Double fuck," Duo muttered. "We're still in the fucking tunnel. What kind of game are you playing---" He spun in a circle, his flashlight bouncing around the tunnel, lighting up each of the men in turn. "Wait," he said, and spun again. "Where the hell did she go?"
Quatre stepped forward, turning on his own flashlight to stare down at the dirt. A white chalk circle was scuffed and almost illegible, its edges marred by what looked to Heero like the actions of wind against sand. Quatre shook his head and shrugged. "I'm not sure, but I think it's... " He frowned, and gave everyone a bewildered look. "I don't know."
"Screw this," Duo retorted. "Let's go back, and get out from under this godforsaken mountain. We can figure out the head trip then."
Heero clicked on his own flashlight and took lead, listening as the other four fell into line behind him. He'd be relieved when they were out of this darkness, with the weight pressing down on him, stifling him. It was bad enough with the nightmares flashing behind his eyes, until he was afraid he'd split into a thousand different directions. That was normal. That was the way it always was, after a mission. But this... he sighed, and kept his eyes focused on the patch of light a few feet in front of him. This wasn't right. He could feel the mountain bearing down on him. It made him want to skim rocks at the darkness until his will collapsed, to shove the tunnel sideways and straight up to the surface. He shivered, stopping suddenly as something echoed from up ahead. Duo stopped at his shoulder, picking up the sounds a second or two after Heero.
"Must be the researchers," Duo whispered, and Heero nodded.
They continued walking, taking the left branch and following the intermittent markings back down the main B tunnel. The cavern's open darkness was cool relief to Heero, relaxing some of his guard against the constant pressure on his awareness. A light flickered up ahead, dimming as a figure moved around it, and Heero lowered his flashlight, finally clicking it off as they neared. The others followed suit, instinctively stepping with precision, keeping their appearance silent for as long as possible.
Heero came to the edge of the main base, puzzled to see most of it had been cleared except for a single tent. A beacon light sat in front of the tent, and someone was moving around behind the tent. The figure reappeared, dropping a bag by the beacon. It was a woman, in her mid-twenties, with light-colored hair pulled back in a ponytail. There was a bandana around her forehead, keeping her hair out of her face, and she pulled off the bandana and wiped her forehead as the five men watched. Heero stepped forward, scuffing a rock. It bounced before he could pull it back. The woman looked up, startled, and came to her feet, a gun immediately in her hand. It was pointed at them, but after a second she lowered it, tucking it away at the seat of her jeans with a move that indicated longtime familiarity.
"You made it," she said, her voice achingly familiar.
Heero swallowed hard, and stepped into the beacon's circle of light. The woman's eyes went wide, and she smiled, a hopeful look.
"Relena," he whispered.
End Part 4
(:./sol/tetra4)
