May, 22, 2007
Yes, still working on it. Slowly...
Title: Alternate Dualities
Author: WingNut (wingnut629@yahoo.ca)
Archive: http://www.fanworkrecs.com, GWA, anywhere else, please ask
Category: adventure, angst, romance, lemon
Rating: NC-17 overall
Warnings: AU - AAAAAAAAAAAU. Some yaoi, het, lemon, violence, language, OOC and/or death, depending on the universe. You should be a legal adult to read this. Open-mindedness helps, too.
Spoilers: maybe, depending on the universe.
Disclaimers: I don't own the characters from Gundam Wing; Bandai, Sunrise and Sotsu do. I just play with them for non-profit fun until they run screaming back to their creators.
Pairings: all over the map; Duo-centric.
Blurb: Set in AC201, Duo is slipping from one alternate universe to another, trying to get back home.
Notes: started June 2001.
Part 8d ~ Project
He sped back to his body in sudden fright - the only times he'd left it like this before, he'd been near death - but his physical shell was fine, as far as he could tell. He could see his lifeline - a thin cord of sparkling spirit - leading from his soul to his body, anchored right over his heart. His eyes were closed, but his chest rose and fell with his breathing, and his pulse jumped regularly at his throat. Actually, it was a bit freaky - he looked as if he were listening, head cocked slightly...
But how had he managed this? He hadn't been thrown out by severe injury, or ripped out by the jump to a new universe -hell, he hadn't even noticed. He hadn't been thinking about it at all - he had been completely focussed on moving down to the end of the accessway.
Well, no, that wasn't entirely true. Just before he'd moved (and apparently split off his soul without any conscious effort whatsoever) he'd been concentrating on keeping his body still and silent, yet aware and alert.
Maybe that 'watchful stillness' was the key. Heh, maybe he'd discovered his own way of meditating, without all that irritating 'empty your mind' and 'gaze at the light' business.
And maybe the fact that this wasn't really his own body had helped - maybe his soul wasn't as 'attached' to this body as it was to his own. After all, his soul had never popped out of his body when he'd waited for countless hours as a thief, back in his own world. He was fairly sure he would have noticed. It would have come in downright handy, after all.
Actually...
This spirit state could come in handy right now. The meditation he'd tried hadn't helped him at all - he still didn't know why he was feeling uneasy here - but he just might be able to find some answers while he was disembodied.
He could go in any direction, take any path that took his fancy, and never get lost - his lifeline would always be stretched out behind him, showing the direct route back to his body. He could go into any room he wanted, even if there were other people there. He could look for evidence of the enemies he sensed, listen in on conversations, read secret papers -well, just the top paper, he couldn't move anything or pick it up, but still! In this state, he could give Trowa-in-infiltration-mode a run for his money.
He whirled in glee, just because he could. Heheheh, no secret would be safe from... UltraSpy!! Too bad he didn't have a superhero outfit. Of course, he couldn't wear one in spirit form anyway...
But enough fun and games - better get started. He checked his body one last time - lungs still breathing, heart still pumping - and then set off back down the access tube.
He had unlimited access to the station, but it would be pointless to wander around peering in random rooms, hoping to catch someone doing something obviously 'Enemy-like'. The odds of that happening at just the right moment for him to see it would be astronomical.
Well, back when he was breaking into OZ bases, if he wanted to wreck the entire base he'd blow up the power supply or the munitions area; if he wanted to steal parts or mechas, he would sneak into the engineering bays; but if he wanted information, Admin was always the place to go. Admin it was.
As the Welcome folder had said, the station was shaped like a wheel, with 6 spokes connecting it to a central hub. The Hub, with no centrifugal force to simulate gravity, was where all the zero-g work was performed - like the training simulation he'd experienced. Each spoke (and the section of the Rim it connected to) was dedicated to a single purpose, and the corridors were colour-coded to reflect that. Project engineering was purple, administration red, living quarters orange, schoolrooms/training yellow, station systems green, and production blue.
Right now, he was in the living quarters section of the rim, so Admin would be in the next section over.
He was about to float down beside the ladder when he realized what he was doing - still following the routes his physical body would have to use. He rippled with amusement at himself and slipped through the wall into the corridor beyond, orienting himself and then moving towards the Admin section.
The corridor below him wasn't crowded, but it wasn't empty either. The students seemed the same as any he'd ever seen -lugging laptops, chatting about their classes, and gossiping about each other. In a way Duo wished he could really be a part of it. It felt a little strange to be zipping along above everyone's heads, secret, unseen, and disconnected from their lives.
As he travelled, he noticed something a little odd. Every once in a while, he could see that one of the students below him was... glowing, just a hint of a silvery sheen over the skin. He'd noticed Quatre looking the same way when he'd first caught sight of the blond in the helicopter in the last universe - his skin almost luminescent, although no one around him seemed to notice.
He'd never noticed it when he was in his body, so it must be something he could only detect when he was in spirit form. Maybe these kids also had special souls, shining brightly enough to be seen by another spirit. He decided to move closer to the upward-curving ceiling of the hall, just to be sure that he wouldn't contact any of them - he couldn't be sure of the consequences if he did.
He was almost to the Admin section when he slowed abruptly, catching sight of something odd coming into view - a writhing trail of glittering spirit. It meandered roughly down the centre of the corridor, twisting languidly like a streamer in a breeze. The end closest to him disappeared through the floor; the other end led somewhere up ahead, hidden by the increasing number of students in the hall.
What was it? It was clearly spirit related, showing the same sparkling silver glow that both his soul and his life-line did. It was too spread out to be a whole soul, but it wasn't straight and stretched like his life-line. It was roughly the same size as the empathy tendrils he'd seen Quatre using in the last universe, but it didn't show any of the same sense of purposeful movement as they had.
Actually, now that he looked at it a little more closely, it didn't seem to be moving on its own accord at all. When it touched some people, it seemed to stick to them, while it slipped through other people without effect. There didn't seem to be a pattern - when a group of gossipping girls wandered through it, it stuck to two of them, but to none of the other four. At the same time, farther up the corridor, three boys playing catch were ignored, while the tendril was sticking quite stubbornly to another boy peering at a paper in his hand. None of the 'sticky' people seemed to be affected by touching the soul-ribbon; as a matter of fact, both sticky and non-sticky types didn't even seem to notice. The tendril itself, however, seemed to pulse slightly whenever it brushed up against a sticky person. Weird...
Well, it didn't look dangerous, but remembering how contact between spirits had inadvertently dragged Quatre's soul right out of his body in the previous universe, he resolved to keep his distance from the tendril, just in case.
He continued along the corridor, keeping a careful watch on the slowly gyrating thing. He realized after a few yards that the spirit-ribbon was lifting up somewhat as he continued. He hoped it wouldn't twitch high enough to hinder his progress.
He was keeping such a good eye on the tendril (which had risen to about waist-height) that he almost ran into the end of another one. He stopped short, just shy of where the living quarters gave way to the Admin section.
There were a dozen or more tendrils in this part of the corridor - some thinner, some shorter, but all clearly the same type of thing. Hm, and maybe they were more than just the same 'type' of thing - they might actually be parts of the same thing. Given the angles, they all appeared to be radiating from a single point somewhere through the left-hand wall.
Duo hovered, undecided. He honestly didn't think this had anything to do with the presence of the enemies he had sensed, but he really didn't like leaving something this strange lying behind him without investigating it - especially if it might interfere with his ability to backtrack to his body.
Hm... if he moved down a bit he should be able to slip between the waving strands without touching any of them. Carefully, he put his plan into action and slid through the wall.
"... to even stay in the Project?" Noin was asking with an air of exasperation as he emerged from the wall plates.
He had a side view of her sitting on the business side of a desk, behind a small plaque labelled 'Head Girl'. Slouched in a visitor's chair opposite her was a skinny, shaven-headed teen, cheek propped on the hand closest to Duo. About two dozen sparkling lines of spirit were coming from the kid, radiating in all directions from the centre of his rib cage.
The boy shrugged with elaborate disinterest, not even bothering to answer.
"Oh?" Noin said, sounding a little more annoyed. "So you don't care if you are dropped from the Project? Your family has disowned you, so if you lose your position here you'll be going straight to Juvie Jail and you know it."
"Whatever."
Duo almost dissolved in shock as he recognized the distinctive tenor voice. Wha... That's... Quatre?! He had half-expected the owner of the spirit-tendrils to be Quatre, but he had dismissed the idea at first sight - and now it was Quat! Wasn't it?
He ducked under one of tendrils to get a better look at the sullen boy. There were the same blue-green eyes he knew, the same boyishly-rounded features he remembered, but otherwise this Quatre-version looked nothing like the gentle boy Duo had met 6 years ago.
Gone were the angelic locks of blond hair and the sweet smile. Piercings studded this Quatre's brows, cheeks, nose and lip, jagged black tattoos covered his lower arms, and shapeless, torn clothing hung from his frame. The sneering, hard-eyed expression rounded off the picture of a thoroughly willful rebel. His father was probably reduced to spluttering rage every time he caught the merest glimpse.
Which was probably the point, Duo thought. He remembered his Quatre saying something about kicking against his father's control when he was 12; apparently this version hadn't gotten over that phase yet.
Noin huffed slightly and shook her head. "We'll continue this discussion once that pill takes effect."
Quatre shrugged again, but then he began to straighten in his chair, his breathing deepening and his eyes opening wider. A moment later, his eyes narrowed, and his hands clenched into fists. "You *bitch*!!" he snarled through gritted teeth, flowing to his feet. "You're just like everyone else, you just want to see me cowed and humiliated, but I'll *kill* you first!" His voice was shaking with fury, and he leaned over the desk, looking truly murderous.
Duo was shocked - and a little scared - but Noin glared back with icy calm, not seemingly worried at all. "Sit. Down." she said firmly.
Quatre's face reddened, and Duo was frantically wondering how he could help Noin fight him off, when Quatre abruptly threw back his head and laughed loud and long, all traces of rage gone. The blond (well, his eyebrows were still blond) gasped for breath, and waggled a finger in Noin's direction. "You should have seen the look on your face!" he managed to say, before sinking back down into his chair, giggling.
Duo was thoroughly confused for a moment - Quatre couldn't be truly enraged *and* amused at the same time, so which one was false? Was this all an act to get attention? - when the pieces finally came together into a sensible pattern.
The last time he'd seen those strands of spirit had been when Quatre was exercising his empathy. It was reasonable to assume that this Quatre was also empathic, but there was a big difference between this counterpart and the last one. Although these tendrils looked the same, they didn't seem to be moving at Quatre's direction, but rather seemed to be pulled back and forth at random. It followed that this Quatre didn't have the same level of control as the last one did.
Actually, Duo thought, watching with dismay as Quatre started openly rubbing his crotch and making lewd suggestions to an exasperated Noin, it looks like he has no control at all. Ooh, and mixing empathy and lack of control with high-powered business - Duo winced - it must have been one disaster after another for his family. No wonder they disowned him...
Quatre drew in a sharp breath, and a sly look crept over his face. "So, how are *you* doing, Miss Noin?" he said in a falsely sympathetic tone. "Have you managed to get Mil to fuck you yet, or is he still fixated on Lowe's pretty little mouth?" He smiled maliciously. "You know, if you manage to get Lowe dropped from the Project team and trap Mil on the ship for 6 months, you might even stand a chance with him."
Noin tightened her lips but did not reply, glancing at her watch instead.
"Or maybe you should encourage Mil to act on his fantasy, while Lowe is still jail-bait," Quatre continued. "He might prove out the old adage about a temptation fulfilled is a temptation conquered. And if he doesn't lose his lust for Lowe, you could always use blackmail to get what you want."
Quatre laughed lightly, then sighed and settled back into his chair. A moment later, tears were standing in his eyes. "No," he said softly, sounding bereft.
Duo was shocked anew to notice that the tendrils, which had been wavering around the office the whole time he'd been there, were beginning to dissipate. They didn't appear to be retracting into Quatre's body as they had in the last universe, but were breaking up into blotches and spots which then spread and dissolved, leaving nothing behind.
Quatre pressed a fist to his chest and moaned, hunching over. Tears spilled over his cheeks as he began to pant slightly. Soon there were no spirit-tendrils emanating from him at all. Slowly he straightened in his seat and dropped his hand to his side.
Noin looked at him sharply. "Are you ready to cooperate now?"
Quatre drew in a quivering breath and nodded, looking dazed. He swiped roughly at the tears on his cheeks. "I suppose I should apologize," he said bitterly.
"Sorry just doesn't cut it anymore, Winner. You are without a doubt one of the finest young pilots in the Earth Sphere, but this Project requires a maturity of judgement which you seem incapable of understanding. What if this incident had happened while we were halfway to Mars? We have no room for error."
Quatre did not reply to the rhetorical question, dropping his gaze to the floor.
Noin continued to berate the blond about his responsibilities, but Duo tuned her out. He was more interested in the glowing patch of spirit that had appeared in the centre of Quatre's chest. Duo looked a little more closely, and was appalled to see what seemed to be a slow but steady leak of Quatre's spirit from the area roughly over his heart. It was as if he were trying to form a tendril of empathy which kept wisping away as soon as it left his body.
From the expression on Quatre's face and the way he kept raising a fist to press against his chest, it felt horrible. This must be the effect of the pills Noin had mentioned. If this was the way they made him feel, no wonder Quatre kept 'forgetting' to take them.
Duo wanted to wrap his spirit around his friend and comfort him, but he didn't dare. The last time he'd made contact with Quatre's soul, he'd pulled it right out of the empath's body, and he didn't want to risk that again.
Finally Noin wrapped up her lecture. "So, your medication will be stored in the infirmary from now on. You will report there 3 times daily to take your pill in front of a witness. Furthermore, you are officially on probation now. Any further instances of misbehaviour - and I do mean 'any' - will result in your immediate dismissal from the Project. Am I clear?"
Quatre nodded, without looking up from the floor.
"Sign the disciplinary action sheet, and you can go."
Quatre scrawled his signature at the bottom of the offered paper without reading it, straightened up slowly, and left the room, all without making eye contact.
Duo followed him into the hall, slowing to a halt as his friend stumbled apathetically down the corridor of the living quarters.
He felt awful for having witnessed that scene, for seeing how much pain Quatre was in.
Worse was the knowledge that although he knew what the cause of Quatre's misbehaviour was, he still couldn't think of a way to fix it. Even if he could come up with a method of helping Q control his empathy, how in the Earth Sphere could he explain how he knew what Quatre needed to do, and then convince the rebellious teen to follow his advice?
Worst of all was the realization that Quatre's problem, while upsetting, didn't seem to have anything to do with the threat that Duo was investigating. Set against danger to a lot of people, the emotional well-being of one empath - no matter how personally precious - was hard to justify. Time was ticking away, and since he didn't have a clear course of action to take that would help Quatre...
Feeling like a traitor, Duo turned his back on his friend, and slipped into the Admin section of the satellite.
End Page Forty Two
(:./wingnut/alter42)
