Title:
Two Roads Diverged
Part
7/?
Author:
Truth
Archive:
A whole bunch of neat places but my complete fic collection can be found at GW
Addiction
www.geocities.com/fenris_wolf0/
AU -
The sequel to It's the Pilot - Wherein we see the Gundam Wing Universe as it
might have
been,
had Duo not been sidetracked just before Noventa's death. First person stream
of
consciousness/POV.
Rated
PG-13 at least.
Warning:
We are going to go very AU here, although I do want to stick as close to the
original
time
line as possible. From here on out, massive liberties will be taken with the
various
characters
as I try to decide how they will react to these new situations. Think of it as
an exercise
in
psychology. Fer instance, the Wufei in this fic has already lost his complete
faith in justice and
fairness....
Which will change the direction of the plot significantly.... Just think about
the major
events
in the episode or two following the Noventa assassination....
Multiple
perspective switches once again. As usual, if any of them are unclear, please
mail me at
dhaunea@yahoo.com
and I'll tell you who they are.
Notes:
Due to the massive number of complaints that I have received over the amount of
time
that it
is taking me to forage through this piece, I have decided to take the original
GW timeline
and
stuffed it out the nearest airlock. Not
that there was a great deal left of it, anyway.
Thanks
to Dragonic Ice, Bronze Tigress, KC, Sparky, Ebola, Amida, Tyr, Lady Douji,
Cassima
and
everyone else who has so patiently put up with the loooooong pauses in this
story and
continued
to encourage me anyway.
**
Two
Roads Diverged
Chapter
7
"Let's
have a reality check here, people."
**
My
speculation as to the nature of my 'special assignment' was spot on. It wasn't good. In fact,
it was
probably one of the least fortunate things that has ever befallen me.
Which
is saying quite a bit.
I
reported to Colonel Une's office at the appointed time to find a promotion of
sorts awaiting me.
I went
from aide to special operative in rather less than sixty seconds. Apparently my recent
actions
and exemplary record had impressed no less a personage than Treize Kushrenada
himself. Colonel Une explained that they had need for
someone of my age and talents and, as I
had
made such an impression upon my superiors, they were going to promote me so
that I might
take
this assignment.
Perhaps
I am a pessimist, but I found myself waiting for the other shoe to drop.
I
didn't have long to wait. The Colonel
gave me a file and told me to read it.
It was marked at a
clearance
level that I had never even heard of, and it was obvious that I was expected to
commit
whatever
I read to memory. This file was not
going to be allowed to leave her office.
"Lewis
Jones?" I asked, leafing through the thin dossier.
"You
sound disappointed." She gave me a
considering look.
I
shrugged. "I suppose that I
expected that the Gundam pilots would all be eight feet tall and
covered
with muscles. He seems... out of
place."
The
Colonel frowned slightly. "The
Commander wants him kept under close observation at all
times. We want him to feel at ease with us,
however, and he felt that by assigning someone of
his own
age to watch over him might improve matters."
"How
am I to keep him occupied?" I asked, placing the file back on her
desk. "I don't imagine
that
you assigned me to him simply to sit outside a locked cell all day."
"You
are correct," she told me, deepening her frown. "He is to be granted the status and access
of an
OZ cadet."
"In
other words, he is free to move about the public areas of the base and to use
the non-restricted
terminals." I bowed my head in thought. "Is it your intention to have him join
the cadets?"
"No." The Colonel handed me a thin envelope. "Simply keep him out of trouble and
encourage
him to
talk."
The
envelope contained various keycards, permits, passes and authorizations. Obviously,the
young
man in question was not going to be allowed to hold or use any of these things
without my
direct
supervision. Wise.
I
saluted and left her office. The
prisoner was waiting in the outside office when I emerged,
seated
between two hulking guards. He was
already dressed in a cadet's uniform not too
different
from my own OZ uniform. He glared at me
as I came to a halt before his captors.
I
produced
the necessary documents from the envelope and he was released into my
custody. The
jailers
left and he and I were left staring at one another under the eyes of Colonel
Une's
secretary.
"You
have been placed into my custody," I told him. "However, you have been given all the
rights
and privileges of a cadet. This does
not include the use of communications equipment,
however."
He
nodded, once.
"Come
with me," I told him. "I will
show you to your quarters."
I made
him walk in front of me, his hunched shoulders the only indication that he was
not
comfortable
with this arrangement. Perhaps he was
remembering my propensity for knives. I
am not
sure how he got here, or what ill fortune placed him into my custody, but my
mission has
just
become more complicated by several degrees of magnitude.
He
cannot betray the others. I will have
to be constantly on my guard to keep betrayal from
touching
me.
It will
be twice as difficult and dangerous for me to fulfill my mission now, but
somehow his
presence
here reassures me. I think that I will
rest easier of nights knowing that I can lay hands
on him
if I need to.
Literally.
I have
been assigned to share his new quarters.
**
Zechs
has found himself a Gundam.
Why am
I not surprised?
They
are working on the damn thing night and day, trying to make it functional so
that he can
fight us
on a more or less equal footing.
We are
spread too thin to make sabotaging the project practical. It's a shame. Zechs is difficult
enough
to deal with _without_ a Gundam.
This
means that we will have to work more quickly and more carefully. Duo and Wufei will
have to
work twice as hard and move twice as fast to keep him from catching up with
them.
I would
not enjoy facing that particular opponent on a totally level playing
field. Luckily, I will
never
have to. Zechs is a very dangerous man,
but even he cannot force that antique to match the
specifications
of the Wing Zero.
This
suddenly trips a very dangerous line of thought. I will have to have a word with Howard
and O.
We
never did catch that woman from L2 and the Deathscythe Hell would not accept
the Zero
system
that they had designed for it. Which
leads me to wonder....
Where
is that system now?
**
Heero
has disappeared into hacker paradise somewhere. Quatre began his own mission last
week. Trowa cut all lines of communication
yesterday. Wufei still isn't speaking
to me.
I hate
my life.
After
Wu's revelation that he'd perhaps over-reacted to what had happened at that
hellish party, I
had
hoped that things would go back to normal between us. Or at least whatever passes for
normal
when you're a couple of psychotic teenagers concentrating on mayhem and
destruction.
No such
luck.
I don't
know if it's because he was still mildly in shock that night and didn't mean
what he said,
if he's
too embarrassed to talk about it or if he's decided that it was all some huge
mistake. But
he's
still not speaking to me. Other than
the fact that he will discuss mission parameters or
whose
turn it is to run errands, you'd think that the boy was mute.
All
right, so it _is_ my fault. It _is_
something that I shouldn't have done.
It _was_ a damnfool
thing
to do, and I knew it. But I just
couldn't help myself.
Let's
have a reality check here, people. I'm
16. (It was an arbitrary decision on my
part, I'll
admit. I was tired of being 15.) So I'm 16.
I'm an impulsive, hormone driven, closet romantic
who
desperately needs a little stability in his life. I'm also a murderer, thief, hacker,
mechanical/programming
genius, Gundam pilot who nurses an incredible modesty on top of it
all.
The
point is that my age is no excuse. I
knew better. I really, truly knew
better. I had forced
myself
to turn my back on a deeply disturbed young man armed with a sharp object while
I
calmly
pried his life apart and told him that I would betray him if necessary.
It may
be a screwed up way to build trust, but fuck you. It worked, didn't it?
The
point is that I risked my life to get Wufei to trust me. And then I threw it all away for a few
minutes
of utter jealousy and stupidity.
I
should _not_ have kissed him and I knew it at the time. I tried to rationalize it, but I should
have
just slapped him in the face. It's a
better cure for hysterics and won't carry as much
emotional
baggage in the long run.
But I
did it anyway. Maybe it was the
confession, maybe it was the way he looked at me.
Maybe
it was nothing more than the fact that he had risked everything for me, and I
had done the
same
for him and here he was, ready to throw it all away.
Ready
to die.
I just
wanted to shock him out of it somehow.
I didn't mean it....
That's
not right either. But I just, I mean I
can't.... Damn it all!
It was
a _mistake_.
And
because he has totally shut me out - and let's face it, I don't have the courage
to force the
issue -
I don't even know exactly what happened between us.
I
kissed him. And it wasn't a one-sided
thing, either. Wufei _is_ a hell of a
good kisser. But
let's
face it, I took advantage of him. He
wasn't in any emotional state to turn away whatever
comfort
he could get and I pushed that for all it was worth.
Don't
get me wrong, it never went any further than that and it probably never will,
even if he
_does_
start speaking to me again before we're both 80. I may be sixteen, but sex doesn't
exactly
make my top ten list of things to think about, speculate over or indulge in.
I have
much more important things to think about.
Like, say, living to see 17?
I've
had to _make_ time to think about it, lately.
It's not exactly a comfortable topic to have to
pick
apart logically. Am I gay? Maybe.
Am I attracted to Wufei?
Definitely. If he ever
decides
to speak to me again do I want to pursue a relationship?
Logically? Not in a million years. We both have far too much to worry
about. Look at how
badly a
single kiss - Okay, maybe more than one - has done to us.
Emotionally? Um, maybe?
I like Wufei and he _is_ attractive and good company, but....
There's
always a 'but' in my life.
...but
he's still almost a total stranger to me.
Hell, I didn't even know that he'd been married
until a
few months ago. I _still_ don't know
why he's so important to his family.
Hell, the way
they've
been trying to marry him off I can just _bet_ what their reaction would be to
me!
Most
importantly, I don't know how _he_ feels and at this rate, I never will. But if I've learned
one
thing from all of this, its that I should never, ever push the issue when it
comes to Chang
Wufei. All I can do is wait for him to decide to
come back out of his shell.
Hopefully
before one of us gets killed. I hate
sappy deathbed scenes.
At any
rate, while Wufei is trying to remain as professional as possible, living
together has
become
hell.
And
it's about to get a whole lot worse....
**
I will
keep a diary because it seems the most practical way to keep track of my
descent into
madness,
for I am sure that is going to be the result of this latest disturbance in my
once tranquil
life.
Yesterday
I bid my family farewell. Today I saw
my brother for a moment or two in a crowded
shuttle
terminal on L3. We managed a quick
embrace and a few words before we were forced to
part. Tomorrow I shall begin a new life on Earth.
According
to our spies, the OZ organization is well aware that Chang Lian was substituted
for,
that
indeed a real person exists by that name.
He resided in Paris at the time of the events that
took
place both at the school and on L5. He
has dyed his hair and goes by another name, but he
is well
known and admired by his friends. In
fact, he has recently set up housekeeping with
another
young man.
Last
week, Lian moved to Vienna and sent for his younger brother, who is rather
obviously
persona
non-grata at his previous educational institution and not terribly popular with
the OZ
troops
on L5 simply by association.
In
point of fact, the only part of that entire story that is true is that Lian
_has_ shacked up with
another
young man. They're happily ensconced
somewhere on L4 at this very moment.
Which
leaves me holding the bag. While I have
always dreamed of seeing the Earth, this was not
exactly
what I had in mind.
Tomorrow
night I will arrive in Vienna to be met by my 'brother'. Once again, I will be living
under
the same roof with Duo Maxwell and my cousin, Wufei. Another hair-brained scheme
cooked
up by the revered elders of my family in an attempt to convince my cousin that
it is time
to come
home and accept the bride that they have chosen for him.
The
fact that she is deeply in love with someone else is dismissed as both
inconsequential and
'girlish
fantasies'. They refuse to accept the
fact that this is simply not meant to be.
And I
am the one who must bear the brunt of this stupidity.
For the
first time I begin to realize just why Wufei has both a temper and an icy
attitude. The
elders
have certainly made my life a living hell, and I am not even the focus of their
attentions.
What
must _he_ have borne at their hands?
I will
find out, tomorrow.
**
End Part
7
**
Duo:
You _wouldn't_ do that to me. _Please_ say you wouldn't?
Truth:
I thought you were getting on with Chen?
Duo:
That doesn't mean that we want to live together. And wait'll he gets a load of Wufei. I
should
just slit my wrists now.
Quatre:
You're not going to just _leave_ us like this, are you?
Truth:
Sorry. The death threats were piling up
and I had to write _something_.
Heero:
You could have made it longer, you know.
Truth:
I'll make the next one longer. I
promise.
Duo: As
if we're going to believe _that_.
Truth:
*sighs*