DISCLAIMER: Gundam Wing belonged to Sunrise and co. I’m not making any profits out of this, so don’t sue. Oh, those you think you’ve never heard before belong to me. And feedback is very welcome, people! ☺

TIMELINE: The story takes place after Survival of the Fittest, I’d say almost two years.

NOTE: To avoid confusion, I have italic-and-bold the clones’ name. Hopefully, that could help you understand who’s who.

SHATTERED MIRRORS XIII: WOUNDED.

By Arayelle Lynn.

              Kylie threw down the files on the table, spilling its content. Then, with a growl, she shoved all of them off the table and onto the floor. Heero watched his companion silently. “This is a waste of time!” the cloned girl declared. “We could’ve been out there kicking the Gundams’ butt instead of running a wild goose chase.”

              “But at least we know now that we didn’t have any spy among us,” he said, trying to lighten the mood. He himself understood her feelings. They could’ve been with their teammates and destroy the Gundams once and for all but both of them were stuck in the secret base, interrogating the suspects. In the end, none of the suspects turned up to be their man and that blew Kylie’s head off. And maybe his too, if Instructor D hadn’t stop him from blowing off a suspect’s head in his frustration.

              In real truth, none of them worry about the battle as much. They knew that they could win easily. They knew it from the bottom of their souls. The Gundam pilots were the thing of the past and they’re the future. No, the only thing that they were worrying about was not getting their chances against a worthy enemy such as the Gundams.

              “Yeah well, look where it led us?” Kylie was saying, pouting before the database. “A dead end. We’re not even close to finding our spy.”

              “Perhaps maybe there is no spy,” Heero pointed out. For a moment, there was silence.

              Kylie shook her head. “No. There must be a spy. Or else, how could the Gundam pilots know where we placed the explosives on L4? How could they know about our mines in the asteroids? How could they have known that His Excellency would be at the factory in Point T16? How could they find out where we are now?” She balled her fist. “No, there is more to this than meets the eye.”

              Heero had to admit that there was something in what she had just said. And for a moment, they both sat, staring at the screen where the names of their possible-now-proved-improbable suspects were displayed. They stayed like that for a while, their hearts yearning to be up there in the battlefield with their friends.

              Suddenly, Heero’s mind opened up to him as a new possibility entered his mind. A look exchanged with his companion told him that she had reached the same conclusion too. Then without wasting any time, they began to access the database.

>>>@@<<<

              “Retreat!” Noin’s voice ran over the channel, which caused a wave of relief among the Preventer agents but cut a deep humiliation among the Gundam pilots’ spirits. But at the sound of that, Duo jabbed his fist into his clone, forcing him to release his hold on Deathscythe. Then, he quickly made his way to Quatre to tend to him.

              Not far from him, Zechs was pulling the agitated Altron, with half of its leg missing. Noin was towing Wing Zero, which wasn’t moving at all. And several Preventers were helping Trowa to break away from his clone, though the latter didn’t seem to want to leave.

              “Retreat, Barton! That’s an order,” Lady Une’s voice was clear as if she was with them. Though her voice was cold and demanding, they could hear a hint of defeat.

              “Leave me!” Trowa was saying. “I’m finishing this.”

              “Trowa!”

              “My name is not Trowa,” they heard him growl. “I am No Name.”

              Duo frowned, looking at Heavyarms as he flew by. That didn’t sound like the Trowa he knew. And that further mystified him. He wondered if there was more going on between Trowa and his clone.

              “Quatre’s hurt, Trowa. You must see to him as you promised Dorothy!” Suddenly a strange voice came from the Wing Zero. Again, Duo was mystified. This time, it was by the sound of Heero’s voice. It was something that he had never heard before. Was it defeat?

              Whatever it was, it stopped Trowa. Snarling, Heavyarms retreated and rejoined his fellow Gundam counterparts. Wordlessly, he took Sandrock in his arms and sped away into the darkness.

>>>@@<<<

              It was two days after the humiliating defeat of the Preventers. Since then, things weren’t improving as much. An hour after the Preventer force retreated from Jupiter, Duke Kent Winteridge had made a public announcement, bragging his victory over the Gundams and warning the ESUN not to take ‘such brash actions’ anymore.

              Since then, things started to slide down. Lady Une found herself drowning with phone calls from the representatives, demanding to know how they were defeated and some, of course, reprimanding her actions against Winteridge.

              But lack of supports and useless enquiries weren’t her main problems. She was more concerned over the morality this defeat was affecting her men. This was by far the most humiliating defeat they had ever had since the agency was formed. Even the Telrhani invasion wasn’t like this. Each of her agents was still shocked over their defeat even when they had the Gundams fighting with them.

              And of course, the Gundam pilots. She had been watching over them like a mother hen as Treize requested years ago. They worried her the most. The defeat seemed to hit them harder, even she failed to figure out how hard. The look of their faces when they finally docked in the holding bay wrenched her heart. All of them looked haggard and seemed to have aged years older over such a short period of time. All except Heero, who disappeared without a word after the battle. Relena was currently starting a hunt in search for him.

              As for Trowa, nobody really knew. She had been very surprised when he had defied Noin’s orders back there. Trowa Barton was well-known for his promptness at obeying orders. But this time, he was showing something that really puzzled his friends.

              Duo had returned to L2 with Hilde. Like the other Gundam pilots, he barely said a word since his return. His wife was the one who requested his leave to recuperate, which was fine with Lady Une. She was rather concern over the head injury that the Deathscythe pilot sustained during the fight.

              Wu Fei had disappeared too but Lady Une found out from Mylin that he was on L5 colony, visiting his ancestors’ shrine. According to the alien, Wu Fei seemed to be meditating a lot and that she would be staying with him for a while. But Lady Une could tell that Mylin’s term of meditation would include a bloody sparring match at least once a day.

              Quatre seemed the only one who handled the situation better. In fact, he was still staying at the base, helping Sally, Noin and Zechs figure out what went wrong. Though he still suffered from a mild concussion, he insisted to help them to keep his mind off the battle. Lady Une was thankful that Dorothy had returned to make sure that Quatre didn’t overtax himself.

              All these filled her with deep concern. However, Lady Une knew the pilots well enough to know that they would not be put down for long. She knew the strength of these young people because Treize had once described to her about it and she herself had seen it over the years. These people will fight again, with or without the ESUN’s consent.

              But one thing she couldn’t help wondering was how Heero was coping.

>>>@@<<<

              Dr. Farrell-Burnett watched as the boy trashed on the cot, sympathetically. She observed as the physician drew a syringe as the nurses tried to pin the patient down. Though he barely cried out, Tricia Farrell-Burnet could easily guess how much the pain was causing him just by looking into his eyes. She shook her head, helplessly, marveling at the strength the boy carried within himself.

              When the drug finally settled in, Trowa Barton finally relaxed. He closed his eyes for a moment, gathering the strength that he had lost while fighting against the pain. He distinctively heard a couple of people talking at the background.

              “Good thing… but why here?”

              “… no choice… patient’s request… see his files…”

              “… well… my office… must not go on…”

              “… not our decision… many lives at stake…”

              “Your job… change his mind…”

              Then the voices finally quieted. When Trowa was finally able to open his eyes, Tricia Farrell-Burnett was looking down at him. “Hey,” she said, as a greeting. “How do you feel?”

              The moment she asked the question, she regretted it. The pain in Trowa’s eyes wasn’t the pain for his left arm, rather it was the pain from losing the battle. He didn’t answer her for a moment. “I’m fine,” he rasped, sitting up. “What did he say?” he nodded at the doctor who had once tended him.

              Tricia smiled. “The same thing I’ve been advising you not to do, though his words were much harsher. I guess he still need to experience tending Gundam pilots for years before he could truly understand them.” Then her face turned serious. “But I’m inclined to agree with him this time, Trowa. The X-ray showed that the fractures in your bones are not healing at all. They’re getting worse. You need to stop using your arm or you could end up losing it.”

              Trowa looked at her in the eyes. She was startled at the cold determination in them. “You get my medical files and do whatever you can. I’ll do whatever it is required of me. The reason why I requested you to bring me here is so that you can get the files.”

              “So now you’re making me your personal physician then?”

              “You’re the only one I trust with this secret.”

              She looked at him and then nodded. “What else can I do for you? I can send you to your sister’s.”

              He shook his head. “No. The last thing I need to do is to worry her. Just find me a phone so I could tell her that I am alright.”

>>>@@<<<

              It had been days since she had lost contact with Heero and Sara was starting to worry. She had tried hailing the Wing Zero but no one answered her. She considered contacting the Preventers directly, although it meant blowing her cover, but something told her to keep calm. It was a voice from yesterday that she had buried a long time ago. A voice that had kept her going from that fateful day.

              But the waiting hurt her as well. She kept on wondering if Heero, the only one she had now, was hurt or captured, unable to contact her. The latter seemed pretty doubtful because from where she last detected Wing Zero, it was far away from Winteridge’s territory. And that was a day before her homing beacon she had planted in Wing Zero was destroyed, probably Heero’s handiwork. But she couldn’t really rule out the thought that Heero was hurt somewhere.

              Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Biting her lips from yelling at the salesperson to get out of her property, she pushed her wheelchair towards the door. Adin was faithfully by her side. She opened the door and gasped.

              Standing in the rain, drenching wet was Heero. His face pale and lips blue from the cold. But that wasn’t what surprised her. It was the look in his eyes that tore her heart. She reached out, ignoring the wet pellets. “Heero?”

              Then, Heero’s feet crumpled under him. Sara lunged to catch him before he fell, only to have him burying his head on her lap. In that moment of utter surprise, she saw his shoulders shook and heard a sob escaped his lips.

              And for the first time in his life, Heero started to cry.

>>>@@<<<

              Sara studied Heero’s face as he slept. The pained weariness was still clearly reflected on his face as his forehead creased at some bad dreams he was having as the result of the previous event. It had shocked her seeing Heero like this. She expected him to be the stronger one between them. But in the end, she realized that all the fights were finally taking their toll on him.

              After standing in the rain for a while, Sara had led Heero inside. She prepared some dinner for him, which he barely ate, all the while saying nothing. Then, she led him to his bedroom and waited as he changed his clothes. After that, she pulled him to his bed and tended to his wounds. When she finally looked up, he was already asleep.

              All the while, she never asked him what had happened. Nor did she tell him what she had meant to tell him before.

              Drawing herself closer, Sara brushed a single strand of hair off his face. Then, she clasped her hand on Heero’s and rested her head on them. Her eyes never left him. “Sleep the baby sleep, Heero because when you wake up, the world would still be cruel to you.”

>>>@@<<<

              “No, I haven’t heard from him, Relena,” Noin answered, her voice full of concern. “Not even Quatre know where he might be.”

              Zechs watched his wife listened to phone intently. “Yes, your brother is alright. He’s resting right now,” she answered, throwing a glance at him. “We’ll inform you when we finally locate Heero, okay?”

              Then, she disconnected the line and returned to Zechs. “She’s still worried about him, isn’t she?” Sally inquired, sitting next to Lady Une. The four of them had decided to discuss some matters in Zechs’ apartment.

              “Yeah and so am I,” said Noin. “In fact, I’m worried about all of them.” She then turned to Lady Une. “But that’s not why we’re here, are we?”

              The head of Preventers exhaled. She studied the faces of her most senior officers. These were the people that she had worked with since the Eve War and therefore, she could trust them with the information.

              “We have bad news,” she began rather bluntly. Although trained to be diplomatic, she always liked being direct and straight to the point. She gave the three a moment to brace themselves. “The ESUN representatives are voting against working with the Gundams in the future conflict.”

              “What!” Noin rose from her seat. “Are they mentally retarded? Or just plain stupid?”

              Lady Une turned to study Zechs. He had his arms supporting his chin and his eyes were closed. Looking at him made her think that he had, in fact, expecting this. “Noin, they have very good reasons for taking that action,” he said that finally.

              “Zechs?” she trailed off, surprised by his words.

              “The Gundams aren’t doing any good in solving the conflict. In fact, we seemed to be heating it up. It’s only natural that the Earth Sphere considers us a liability rather than an asset. I wouldn’t be surprise if some of the representatives think that the conflict started because the Gundams are enemy of Duke Kent Winteridge.”

              Lady Une nodded. “That’s right. In fact, I’m going to be away for a few days to discuss this matter, among other things. And I need Noin and Sally to supervise things up here,” she said. The two nodded at the unspoken ‘things’ she had meant.

              “What’s the next bad news?” Sally prompted. She could sense that the conversation was far from over.

              She hesitated at that. Then decided to tell them. “Some of the colonies have decided to join Winteridge’s party, particularly the colony at LaGrange Point 2.”

              “What! But why?” the three started at the same time.

              “Who knows. Maybe the Gundams’ defeat had finally triggered the fear of an attack among the colonists. Or maybe, Winteridge has more people working inside each colonies, spreading doubts among the representatives,” said Lady Une. “Vice Foreign Minister Darlian is on it as we speak.” She turned to Zechs. “Which is where I need you to be. I want you to act as Relena’s bodyguard. With Heero gone zero communication on us, we need to make sure that someone is watching over her.”

              “And Winner?” Zechs inquired.

              “We advised him against getting involved,” Une answered. “His role as a Gundam pilot may be known by few but we can’t risk his presence stirring something even worse. I’ve managed to convince him to return to his resource satellite and supervise his colony.”

              “L4 aren’t planning to join Winteridge, are they?”

              “After what Winteridge done? Thankfully no,” she answered. “That was just to make sure Winner gets as much rest as possible. I went as far as asking him to invite Duo Maxwell over considering the state of Maxwell’s current resident.”

              “And Barton?”

              At that, Lady Une turned to Sally, who answered. “He… uh… apparently has disappeared. One of my agents saw him leaving in a shuttle with Dr. Farrell.”

              Puzzled looks answered to her reply. “Where would he have gone to with a doctor?” Noin asked.

              Sally could only shrug.

>>>@@<<<

              Heero woke up to the sound of birds chirping. He closed his eyes immediately when a warm glare rammed through his irises. Reaching over to massage his pounding head, his fingers touched something cool and smooth. He removed it and studied it. It was only a damp cloth.

              He swung his legs off the bed and made his way out of the room, grabbing a fresh shirt which was hanging by the door. At the kitchen, he smelt something sweet and saw a plateful of pancakes on the table, with a glass of orange juice. Under the table, Adin emerged, looking slightly satisfied with his morning meal. Smiling, Heero patted the dog and be seated. He was just finishing the third pancake when Sara wheeled in.

              “You’re finally up,” she said.

              Heero regarded her. She looked as if she hadn’t been sleeping well in days. But then, he looked at his reflection by the window and discovered that he looked even worse. “How long was I out?”

              Sara refilled his drinks. “Three days. You’ve been in and out of that fever until it finally broke last night,” she reported, leaning in to feel Heero’s forehead. “And judging by the amount of food that you’re consuming, you’re definitely looking better than three days ago.”

              Heero let the comment passed, while she moved on to clean up Adin’s mess. For a moment, there was silence as none of them were good at generating a conversation. Heero could tell by the look that Sara threw him that she was curious about what happened and she could tell from his unspoken lips that he was meaning to ask her what she had found out in the last three days.

              In the end, it was Sara who broke the silence.

              “If you’re feeling a lot better, Heero, perhaps you would want to see the news.”

>>>@@<<<

              “They threw us out! I can’t believe it!” was the first thing that Duo said once his shuttle landed in the Winner’s launch bay. He emerged with Hilde, scowling. The bandage was still wrapped around his head like a turban.

              “Nice to see you again, Duo,” Quatre greeted merrily, in an attempt to make things cheerful.

              “Hey, buddy. How are you holding up?” Duo brightened, his fight with the authority on the L2 colony was forgotten momentarily. He swept his friend in a fierce hug before greeting Dorothy.

              “Better,” he answered. “Especially now that you two are here.”

              Then, it was time to get serious. “Have you heard from Trowa yet?”

              Quatre nodded his head. “He called me a few days ago. Said he had to get away for a few days. But he’ll be joining us later.”

              “Great! Then we can finally have our very own slumber party.”

              Quatre grinned at the suggestion then sobered. “I guess it’s official then. L2 has joined Winteridge.”

              Duo’s eyes hardened at that. “No. It’s official that our Gundams have lost the battle.”

              “But not the war.”

>>>@@<<<

              “So what? You’re going to admit defeat? What kind of warrior are you?”

              Wu Fei slashed at his opponent, who deflected the blade beautifully. “Look at you. Is this the strength of your people’s warriors? If that is so, I’m not at all impressed.”

              Still, Wu Fei didn’t respond to her taunts. Instead, he continued his advances, ignoring the cuts that he had gained from the sparring. His only thought focused on that fateful moment where he was forced to retreat.

              ‘Retreat!’ he spat at himself. ‘How pathetically weak I am. How can I ever face Nataku again?’

              Suddenly, his feet flew under him as his back hit the flood with a thud. Wu Fei scrambled to his feet when suddenly, something cold and sharp nicked his throat, drawing a thin trail of blood. He looked up to meet the angry face of Mylin.

              “You’re wasting my time here,” she spat. “I thought I was retraining a worthy warrior of the dragon clan but instead, I get a whining child!” She pointed her blade between his eyes. “You shamed your ancestors. You shamed your Gundam. And most of all, you shame yourself for only those with the strongest will emerge from his failure and survive it.”

              “Maybe it is right that Winteridge won. He at least showed great strength.” She gave him a final look. “Pathetic loser.” With that, she stalked away, leaving Wu Fei to stare after her.

>>>@@<<<

              “It is confirmed that the representative of the stated colony have joined Duke Winteridge but we will not let this destroy the pact that we’ve made years ago for a united nation. I will personally continue to persuade the representative and the duke to maintain our unity and thus rid of our world of these useless conflicts.” Relena was saying. “And at the same time, make sure that we rescue our people from the clutches of the Telrhani Empire.”

              Then the screen changed to the newscaster as the report ended. From the news, he had learned that everything had fallen apart in just six days. From the ESUN’s wavering support on the Gundams’ role in maintaining peace to the reports of various colonies joining Winteridge’s side. And all the time, he learned that Relena was there, trying hard to maintain peace and the bond from breaking.

              ‘Such great strength,’ he thought to himself. He was again deeply impressed by Relena’s faith and vigilant, although he could clearly see the weariness in her eyes.

              He looked at himself, sitting in the sofa with Adin curled up nicely on his lap. Then, he turned to Sara, who was in the other room, working with the computers. An inspiration hit him. Enough rest, time to work, he told himself.

              Then, without another word, he was out of the door. His mission was set.

              Back in the computer room, Sara smiled as she heard the door slammed close. There was a whine and she gathered the wolf-dog in her arms. “Don’t worry, Adin. Heero’s just rediscovered where his greatest strength lies. In the battlefield.”

>>>@@<<<

              They looked up as a pair of footsteps approached the room. Winteridge set the documents on the table as the clones propped up on the sofa at the sight of their two excited-looking comrades. Heero and Kylie made a beeline towards the duke.

              “We’ve found our spy,” Heero announced.

              “And he isn’t from the inside,” Kylie continued, nodding at the database. “In fact, we traced him back to the Earth.”

              Understanding what the two had informed him, Winteridge nodded. “Good job.” Then, he looked at all of the clones. “You know what to do. Make it look like an accident.”

              They nodded, accepting their mission. “Consider it done,” said Heero.

>>>@@<<<

              As the shuttle left the docking bay, Kylie turned her face towards where she thought L4 colony was. Staring through the unseen, she blocked all thoughts and the conversation among her peers. Her main attention was drawn up to one thing.

              Quatre Winner.

              Yeah, she knew that he had left MO V. She also knew that he was gathering his team on his resource satellite. Winteridge had spies all over. Even the Preventers had a spy among them; Winteridge had slipped in one just before Trowa was discovered. And he had told them many interesting thing, especially the fact that the Gundam pilots, Heero, Trowa and Wu Fei had all disappeared. The three had been mortified by their defeat.

              But she knew that they will be back. She knew it deep in her heart just as she knew that she will be seeing Quatre Winner within her grasp again. And she smiled at the thought. She really missed him, that boy.

              Feeling her pocket, her fingers touched the used syringe. “Enjoy your little vacation with that weakling Catalonia, Quatre dear. For soon you will be all mine.”

TO BE CONTINUED…

Writer’s note: Eep! Could it be that Kylie’s clone is in love with Quatre? Will she be the one to replace the dead ex assassin? Yeah, right. Maybe, if she could forget her evil ways. But then again, it’ll be interesting to put Quatre into the hot spot to choose between Dorothy and Kylie the clone. You tell me.