13-Sep-2000
*all other projects and fics screech to a halt with a very audible CRASH*
AH!! INSPIRATION! Sorry guys, my other fics are on hold until I get this one out. Dedicated to our lovely Lina Inverse for the occasion of her birthday Thursday!
Title: Ah, Karma
Author: Emi-chan (Emi-chan)
Archive: Lina can do with it what she will. I am giving it to her ^_^. Anyone else, email me or her.
Warnings: Sap? Yeah. Slight OOC-ness. No yaoi @_@.. well, not really, at least. Make of their relationships what you want.
Pairings: Eh. Implied 13x5.
Rated: PG-13 (the everyone-friendly fic!)
Disclaimers: The Gundam people mentioned in this fic don't belong to me. Lina belongs to herself as well as the message she wrote, and... that's about it ^_^;;
Notes: I have the boys on closer relationships than you would find in the series, but not yaoi (damn shame, ain't it?). It just works.
Timeline is sometime during the war, and on Earth. Have fun!
Heero rolled his eyes as Duo leaned over his shoulder for the fifth time that night, peering into the flickering screen of the laptop. The young Japanese pilot had been sitting at the desk in front of the computer for the past 10 hours, constantly searching for any information relevant to his latest mission.
"Any luck?" Duo asked, the breath of the words caressing his ear. Heero uncharacteristically heaved a sigh and rubbed the bleariness of exhaustion out of his eyes with a free hand.
"No... nothing yet."
The braided boy pulled back and raised his arms in a bone-popping back stretch, raising himself on his toes, then relaxing back into a slightly slouched position. "Exactly how do the doctors expect us to complete a mission with next to zero mission particulars besides an objective and a deadline?" Duo exclaimed with not just a hint of exasperation evident in his voice. "We might be Gundam pilots, but we can't frickin' read minds!"
Heero numbly nodded in agreement, his eyes twitching in jerky motions, taking in all the bits of information that flowed before him. Then, his hands were on the keyboard in record time, typing in a new inquiry about a small lead he thought he saw. Search results: no files found.
If there was ever an award for ambiguity, this mission got it. The thought came unbidden to Heero's mind and he pushed it away, annoyed that such peripheral notions would take his attention as he worked. Yet it was true. The mission orders were very spare: Locate one Lina Inverse (alias); correct the situation. Deadline: Thursday. There wasn't even the option to accept or decline; the orders came through a surprisingly untraceable route through the Net, bouncing off so many servers and public access utilities that finally Heero assumed the doctors were getting better at hiding their trail.
The mission had all of the Gundam pilots stumped. The orders left so much unanswered and so many questions. Who was "Lina Inverse"? What was the situation? How were they to correct it? What did the mission require of them? Destruction? Espionage? The mission gave nothing and left all up to the plausible ingenuity of the boys. Which left Heero on the laptop for hours on end, Quatre searching the Winner database at a nearby family mansion, Trowa infiltrating local OZ troops, Wufei off going solitary as was his wont, and Duo periodically out on the streets, feeling the pulse of the city they were hiding out in. It was as efficient a method as they could use.
A few taps of the keys and suddenly the screen was awash with information. Heero's heart unexpectedly beat faster with excitement of the discovery, a lapse in control which he despised, and he moderated his breathing to slow his pulse down as he looked over the information. The first article the boy skimmed over was a description of a smallish woman with incredible magical powers. He immediately dismissed it. "Magic", by any stretch of imagination, did not exist. The next 25 or so articles were much the same; descriptions of the woman as well as an old television series called "Slayers". Heero scrolled down the list of articles.
"Hn," he uttered finally. They were all the same. By sheer strength of will he kept himself from methodically banging his head on the desktop. The situation was next to mission impossible.
Duo looked over his partner's shoulder at the screen again, folding his arms on the chair back. Heero didn't have the heart to be annoyed at the boy, weary as he was. Instead, he leaned back in the chair and, resting his head on the other's shoulder, closed his eyes. He could feel the rumble of Duo's chuckle against his neck; it was a comfort.
"This isn't Heero Yuy giving up, is it?" the American pilot wondered aloud with a bit of laughter in his tone. Heero allowed a tiny smile to ghost his face.
"Baka," he replied. "This is Heero Yuy resting his eyes."
"Stop the presses!" Duo jokingly exclaimed. "Heero Yuy actually RESTS!" He turned his head a bit to observe the boy on his shoulder. The light from the laptop highlighted the Japanese boy's jaw line beautifully. Duo smiled a bit. "We'll have to call this one 'Perfect Soldier in Repose'"
He was rewarded by the small smile that appeared on the other's lips in reply to the comment. Duo looked back to the glowing screen and scowled prettily. "Hn. You have your work cut out for you, man. You ought to take a break and take a nap or something before your eyes become burnt holes in your head."
With that, he turned his head again to be snared by said eyes and their accompanying glare which said 'You want me to do what?' But then Heero Yuy nodded and sat up. "You're right."
Duo blinked. "And he actually admits that I'm right about something?" He stood back from the chair as Heero got up out of it and stretched a bit. He was answered with a Look. "I get it... don't expect it too often," the braided boy quipped with a grin.
"Hn." came the affirmative reply as the Japanese pilot made his way around the beds and desks that furnished the cramped boardroom to the tiny bathroom. "Why don't you go out and do some reconnaissance?"
Duo wrinkled his nose. "Oh, fine... I know a brush off when I hear one. Send the side-kick out into the cold, unfeeling world, I see how it is. Heh. Guess it's not much of a change from I get now... hey! I'm goin', I'm goin'!" He narrowly ducked the bar of soap thrown at him as he grabbed his coat and dashed out the door.
TBC
Now, you know how my very life and sanity depends on C&C... lately, I've been withering!! *makes like the Wicked Witch of the East* Meeeelllting..... meeeelllllttttiiiiinnngg... Ok. Now I'm sounding selfish. ^_^ Night, everyone!
Chuckles and Laughter,
Emi-chan
Please send comments to: Emi-chan