The next day, Trowa came for Heero. They heard footsteps approaching long before they saw the guards at the door. Brekke ducked deep into the shadows. The only part of her visible was her glittering eyes. She had not been handcuffed like the others and had no intentions of drawing attention to it. Trowa was being argued with as he opened the door. He ignored the man’s complaints.
“But Officer Trowa, I don’t understand why we need the Gundam pilot. We have plenty of trained pilots of our own who could fly the new mobile suit. Is it really necessary to place such a weapon in the enemy’s hands?” the man asked plaintively.
“Commander Une told me to use the Gundam pilot. None of our soldiers are trained as well as he is. If you have a complaint about my orders, I suggest you take it up with Lady Une herself.” Trowa told him flatly. “Zero One, come with me.” Heero stood.
“Aw, why him?” Duo whined. “Take me. I’m a way better pilot than Zero One.” He moved to stand next to Trowa. “I’m serious, you should give me a try.” Trowa reached back and punched him hard in the stomach. Duo doubled over, grunting as the air left his lungs. Wufei watched in silence. From the darkness came a gasp and low growl as Brekke took in the sight. Her eyes almost glowed in reproach. But she remained hidden. Trowa stepped away from him.
“Stay back, prisoner. Your time will come. Zero One, follow me.” Heero followed obediently in Trowa’s wake, surrounded by Oz soldiers. The door slid shut. As soon as they were gone, Brekke glided to Duo’s side. She brushed hair from his face and helped him sit up.
“I think that at this point we’re going to have to assume that he really has gone over to OZ.” Wufei said resignedly. “He’s betrayed us.”
“No way man.” Duo said, recovering his voice. “That is one guy that we can trust to be on our side.” He flicked something on. “Look.” On the wall was a bright image of two Gundams. Duo and Wufei’s Gundams. Trowa’s voice sounded from the small machine.
“I’m sorry that you were not chosen to go, but that was the way it had to be. Use this to keep yourselves occupied. Your time will come. Brekke, your Gundam is in storage. The doctors are even making minor repairs. You’ll all be free soon, be ready.” it said. Brekke’s eyes lit up.
“My Gundam? They’re fixing my Gundam?” she asked.
“That’s what he says.” Duo told her with a grin. Her eyes beamed. Duo glanced at her for a moment. Already the effects of the medicine were showing. The bruises on her face were fading and the swelling was gone. She still looked half starved though.
“Let me see that for a moment.” Wufei said. Duo tossed it to him. He clicked it on and studied the images. There were several.
Brekke glanced down at her clothes and skin. Dirt and dried blood discolored her skin where the bruises did not and her halter top was no longer white. She scowled in distaste, then peered out the open slat in the door.
“Hello?” she called. “Excuse me?” A young Oz soldier paused as he walked by. He came over to the door and peered in. “Uh, hi. I, um, I was wondering if maybe I could take a shower? Please? I won’t cause any trouble, I promise. I mean, look at me. All bruised up and half starved. How could I do anything against a big strong guard like you in this condition? All I want is to get cleaned up. Please?” she pleaded, her large eyes glistening up at him. His eyes took her in as meek and desperate, someone who would do what she was told. Another guard came up behind the first and scowled. He crossed his arms over his chest.
“And what do you think you are doing, soldier?” he asked The young man glanced over at him, then pointed into the cell.
“She asked me for a shower, sir. I know Lady Une wanted theses prisoners to be treated well. Look at her, she’s tiny. What harm could it do to let her wash off a bit?” he asked. The other, older man peered into the cell and focused on the girl. He eyed her lewdly, his eyes never traveling up farther than her chest. He grinned.
“I do recall Lady Une specifically ordering the prisoners to be taken good care of. If one needs a shower, then it’s our duty to see that she gets it, isn’t it man.” he said. “Let her out and follow me.” Brekke smiled triumphantly. Duo and Wufei stared. The door slid open and she immediately put her hands together behind her back and under her hair to give them the impression that her wrists were bound. She followed them quietly down the hall. Duo stood and stared after them through the barred slat in the door.
“I don’t believe it!” he said. “After the scene she created yesterday, all she has to do is bat her eyes at him and ta-da, she gets to take a shower. Hey, I want a shower!” he called after them.
“Sit down. They won’t let us out.” Wufei told him flatly. “They must not know what happened yesterday, or they don’t realize it’s her. But they know enough not to let us out.” Duo scowled and crossed his arms over his chest, then glanced over to the door.
“Well, I still wish I was the one who got to take a shower.” he said moodily.
Brekke stripped her grimy clothes off and dropped them in into the small washing machine with a generous helping of laundry detergent. Her shirt she threw away; it would never be wearable again, and she had stole a new one. Who would have thought that the female Oz soldier who lived in the small apartment would not only be her size but would have the exact same shirt? One of the guards, she knew, stood just outside the closed bathroom door, and the other was guarding the main door. She shook her head at their stupidity. It wasn’t like she had anywhere she could go here. She was stuck in this stupid room.
She took the gummy bandages off her side and threw those away as well. The wound had scabbed over, so she wouldn’t need new ones. She grimaced at the blood caked around it though. She turned the water on and stepped into the shower. The hot water hitting her wounds made her gasp, but she smiled. She was finally going to be clean.
When she felt that every germ had been scrubbed from her slender body, she stepped out of the shower and tossed her wet clothes in the dryer. She toweled herself off and pulled out her dry underclothes, then wrapped the towel around her body. She gathered up her things and put various stolen objects in her pockets. Suddenly, the door opened and the older guard came in. She whipped around and stepped back. She found herself flat up against the wall. He grinned at her evilly, and walked right up to her.
“Don’t touch me.” she growled. He only laughed. She felt his hand on her thigh, sudden and harsh and moving upwards. She narrowed her eyes and bared her teeth like a cornered wolf.
“Remove your hand from me at once, or I will remove it for you.” she snarled.
“Feisty. I like that.” he said, grinning. She growled again.
The man screamed as the bones in his wrist shattered.
Duo and Wufei looked up from their boredom as their cell door slid open and Brekke was roughly shoved inside, still wrapped in a towel and carrying her clothes. She stumbled and fell, dropping her things and landing heavily on the floor.
“Little bitch!” the guard snarled as her shoved her, then the door slid shut and he stalked off down the hall. Brekke leapt to her feet quickly and shouted after him.
“I gave the bastard a fair warning!” she yelled after him. She scowled and began to snatch up her things. Duo knelt and helped her. She sighed as she took the clothes from him. “Thanks.” she muttered.
“No problem.” he said. She dropped her towel and began to dress, pulling her pants on first. The boys hastily dropped their eyes from her. She almost smiled.
“What’s the matter? Never seen a girl in her underwear before?” she asked. Neither answered her comment. She pulled on her socks first just to agitate them a little, then pulled on her halter top. She set to lacing up her boots.
“How did you get those bloodstains out of your shirt?” Duo asked in curiosity. She finished on her shoes and stood, drying her hair with the towel.
“I didn’t.” she said matter of factly. “I stole it.” She began to pull things out of her vest. “And look what else I stole.” There was a large knife in a sheath, a small revolver, two chocolate bars, a deck of cards, two clips for the gun, and a handful of computer chips. Duo stared at it all. She picking it all back up and secreted it away in her various pockets.
“What happened?” Wufei asked. She bound her hair into a loose tail and turned to face him.
“Let’s just say that one of the guards overestimated how grateful I was about the shower.” she said. Duo cocked his head, a puzzled expression on his face.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked. She sighed.
“He came into the bathroom after I came out of the shower. He backed me up against a wall and tried to put his hands on me. I told him that if he didn’t remove them, I would. He didn’t, so I did.” she said in more detail. “Damn him. Now I need another shower just to get the feel of him off me.” she muttered.
“You …you ripped his hands off?” Duo asked in horror. He had no doubts that she could have done it if she had wanted to.
“No, I just broke his wrist. And only one of them. I told him I would.” she said defensively. Duo stared at her wide eyed. Wufei only shook his head. “And I still don’t have handcuffs.” she pointed out smugly. She sat down and sighed. “God, it is so boring in here.” she muttered.
“You’re telling me.” Duo said. With nothing better to do, Brekke took out her cards and she and Duo played a few games to kill time.
“What are we doing out here?” Heero asked.
“A Gundam was sighted in this sector.” Trowa’s voice crackled through his head set.
“Quatre?”
“It has to be.” Trowa confirmed. “We’re supposed to capture him.”
“Does Oz suspect you at all?” Heero asked.
“No. Lady Une rather favors me. But I have to be careful.” Trowa said confidently.
“So what’s the plan?” Heero asked.
“We sight him today, maybe try a contact. But we’ll wait to take him tomorrow. I’m fairly certain he will listen to me and go along with the plan.”
“Which is?” Heero prodded.
“All the Gundams go to the Oz base, let the doctors repair the mobile suits, then I’ll break you out and we destroy the base. It’s the main one, it will leave Oz incapacitated for a while. That will give us a day or so to plan a strategy to continue fighting. We can’t rush in blindly. Oz has been taking precautions with the Gundams. If we fight them without a battle plan, it’s possible they could take us. We can’t let the Gundam Wing fall to Oz.” Trowa told him.
“Look out there, to your left. That star is moving. Could it be Quatre?” Heero said. Trowa turned his mobile suit.
“Definitely could be. Let’s go in and observe him. We don’t want to try a direct contact until we know it’s him.”
“Roger that.” Heero said, and the two darted off into space.
Trowa returned with Heero that evening. He took Heero to his cell with a small troop of soldiers and marched right up to Brekke. She glanced up at him in startlement but refused to be backed down. He glared down at her.
“You broke his hand?” he demanded. Her eyes narrowed.
“He touched me.” she growled.
“You broke his hand!” he repeated louder.
“He shouldn’t have done what he did, and you know it.” she said in quiet defiance. Trowa’s eyes flared in anger.
“Insolence.” he hissed,and raised his hand to slap her hard across the face. She stopped his hand cold right before it touched her cheek.
“I warned him, and I will warn you. Do not touch me, and espsecially do not hit me.” she said in a low voice. She threw his hand back at him and remained glaring at him stubbornly so that he was the one forced to turn and walk away. When he was gone, her eyes watered and she crept back to her shadows, clearly not wanting to be spoken to. Heero glanced from her to the two other boys.
“What happened?” he asked. No one answered right away, so Wufei took it upon himself to explain the chain of events to Heero.
“She sweet talked a couple of soldiers into letting her shower in one of the soldiers’ private quarters. Once of them tried to force himself on her. She broke his wrist and was immediately escorted back here and hasn’t been let out since.” Wufei said. Heero’s eyebrows arched as he glanced in the direction of the girl. All he could make out was her outline and two glossy eyes staring back at him definitely. If he hadn’t known better, he would have thought she was crying. Duo sighed and shook his head.
“You should have seen it. She just begs a little and bats her eyes at them, and they let her out, even after the scene she caused yesterday.” he said.
“They didn’t see her as an enemy.” Heero remarked. “They only saw a pretty face. She knows things like that and uses it to her advantage. She’s smart. She knows how people think and uses it against them. We should learn from that. Not all weapons are physical.”
“So where were you?” Wufei asked. Heero glanced at him.
“We found Quatre.” he said. The two other boys’ eyes widened.
“Where was he?” Wufei asked.
“Why didn’t you bring him back here?” Duo demanded.
“What was he in?” Wufei continued.
“What’s he been doing all this time?” Duo said right over the top of him. Brekke crept forward from out of the shadows. She swallowed.
“How is he doing?” she asked quietly, her eyes concerned. Heero glanced at her.
“He’s attacking everything in sight. Why? What do you know?” he asked. She looked down.
“The Winner colony rebelled. The people broke down the hierarchy, took over the government. They wanted to go to war. Quatre’s father sealed himself it their satellite and took it into space so they couldn’t use it for their battles. He- he blew it up, himself inside. In front of Quatre.” she added softly. Heero pressed his lips into a thin line. Duo hung his head.
“He attacked Trowa. He blew up a colony.” Heero told her. She took it in silently. “He said the colonies want war, so he’ll give it to them. We’re going to try and capture him tomorrow.”
“Don’t hurt him, Heero.” she warned. “Quatre is the most human of all of us. He’s just hurting right now. Heero, we need him.” He remained silent. “Heero!” she growled.
“I’m not promising anything. But I won’t shoot at him unless I have to.” he said. She locked eyes with him to make sure he was not lying, then nodded once.
“He blew up a colony?” Duo asked in disbelief.
Heero confirmed the statement with a nod. They all silenced as they heard footsteps approaching and glanced to the door as it slid open, revealing three guards. One had an arm cast in a sling. Brekke backed away, her lips pulled back into a sneer.
“There’s the little bitch, back there. Grab her!” the injured man snarled. The other two moved forward. Brekke pressed herself against the wall, growling loudly in her throat. Duo clenched his teeth and stood in front of her, blocking their way.
“If you want, her, you’ll have to go through me.” he told them defiantly. Wufei joined him.
“And me.” he said.
“And me.” Heero added with a note of finality. The three boys made a ring around the girl. She eyed them and glared at the guards. They had paused.
“What are you waiting for?” the injured man demanded. “I said go get her!” Again the guards moved forward.
“What do you think you’re doing?” a commanding voice demanded. The three Oz troops turned around. Trowa stood in the doorway with five soldiers. He walked over and added his body to those of the other Gundam pilots. He crossed his arms over his chest and waited for an answer.
“Officer Trowa, the little bitch broke my hand. She assaulted an Oz soldier. She needs to be punished.” the man stuttered.
“If you’ve have kept your hands to yourself, I wouldn’t have broken it.” Brekke growled. Heero shot her a look to tell her to shut up. She sulkily kept quiet. Trowa ignored it all.
“Lady Une wants these prisoners well taken care of. She wants to use their skills in battle. That means not not beating them uselessly, soldier. Only necessary force when needed. It isn’t.” he told the lower ranking officer. The man swallowed.
“But… Officer Trowa…” the man objected. “My hand. I won’t be able to fight for weeks with this cast.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t have taken her out of the cell to begin with, soldier.” Trowa said lethally. He implied the disobedience in the action. The man knew he was in a no win situation. He angrily hung his head.
“Yes, Officer Trowa.” he said. The three soldiers turned and left the cell. Trowa turned around to face the prisoners. Brekke was looking at him uncertainly. He sighed. He knew what she wanted him to do, and he couldn’t do it.
“Zero one, I will see you in the morning.” He turned and walked out. The door slid shut behind him. Everyone relaxed. Brekke hung her head.
“Thank you.” she said softly.
“Hey, we Gundams have to look out for each other.” Duo said with a smile, nudging her with his elbow. She slowly smiled back.
“How exactly did you break his hand anyway?” Wufei asked. She shrugged.
“I just took it and bent it back until it shattered, I guess.” she said. “I don’t want to talk about it. I can still feel his hand on my thigh.” she added with a shiver. They asked no more on the subject. “Do we ever get fed?” she asked, hugging herself.
“Only when they feel like it.” Wufei told her.
“Oh.” was all she said. They glanced at her, and she appeared extremely malnourished.
“I’m sure they’ll bring something soon.” Duo assured her. “I’m hungry too.”
Eventually food was brought, and Brekke wolfed hers down with the look of someone who hadn’t eaten in a week. She barely even chewed. After watching the thin little form lick her plate clean and sigh, Heero offered her the rest of his ration. At first she refused, but after his insistence she took the offering and polished that off as well.
She appeared to be fully healed now. The bruises that marred her face were completely gone and Heero suspected that the ones beneath her clothes were healed as well. Her actions were no longer stiff, she now moved with the grace and stealth of a hunting cat. She had probably been genetically modified to be a Gundam pilot, as Heero had. She curled up and went to sleep. She seemed more at ease to being confined that the rest of them and Heero supposed that it had something to do with the fact that she had been hiding and scavenging for most of her recent life. She was used to small quarters. He sighed and closed his eyes. If they were going to abduct Quatre in the morning, he would need rest.
