Disclaimer: I don’t own Gundam Wing and don’t think I ever will, so leave me alone and don’t you dare try to sue me for what I don’t have!
Silence filled the air. Nothing was moving. The only noise came from the quiet rustle of the wind through the trees, but it wasn’t heard. Other than the small breeze the air was still and quiet. There wasn’t heat to fall over the scene, but a damp autumn chill. A few leaves from colorful trees fell in slow spirals until they hit the ground.
Dead eyes took in the scene. They took in the partial beauty of the scene, and the stillness of the day. There didn’t seem to be anything there to disturb the boy as he kept to himself. He refrained from turning and looking to the right; his mind not wanting to take in the resulting thoughts that would come if he did.
A small stinging sensation made him look down at his hands. The backs of his hands were covered in small cuts and lacerations. Blood was clotting over the cuts and making the skin stretch as it started the healing process. There was some dried blood crusting over his skin and turning a rusty red color. He didn’t flinch as the cuts pulled when he flexed his hands.
A groaning sound reached his ears. Soon the groans turned to a high-pitched scream as two metal pieces were forcefully rubbed together. The grating sound echoed through the air, the sound spreading in ripples until it reached the boy’s, young man really, ears. He didn’t show any emotion, only turned around to watch what was happening. What he had been turning away from was quickly turning into something hardly believable. Metal shards and pieces, large and small, littered the vast area that had once been an expanse of plains or fields. Smoke curled up from some of the pieces like black banners across the darkening sky. Great swaths of earth were torn from the ground. Wreckages of what had once been mobile machines were littered all across the open ground. The metal limbs were twisted and hopelessly ensnared around each other and themselves. Remnants of weapons were strewn in various pieces and parts across the open space.
The screech of metal was close to him. One of the larger metal pieces had been lodged into a tree, cutting it into almost two pieces. The larger piece of metal was slowly moving towards the earth due to gravity, and was leaning against a lighter piece of metal that was slowly being crunched under the larger piece of metal’s weight. With a resounding boom the larger piece of metal fell to the ground, throwing up a great of dust as the metal impacted into the dry ground.
The only move the silent boy made was to brush the dust out of his long, cinnamon-brown colored bangs that fell over his face and obscured one of his emerald green eyes. He watched as the dust settled around the destroyed metal pieces. The battlefield was regarded with cold eyes as the boy looked it over. Silence once again fell over the scene like a silent tribute to the dead now lying with lifeless eyes turned towards the overcast sky.
The teen wasn’t willing to break the silence that had fallen over the vast area. It wasn’t his fault that his enemy had been sent to fight a battle that they were sure to lose. He was fighting to protect the colonies, and to protect and keep his own name. All he knew about his past was of his origins from the colony of L-3. The rest of his past was surrounded in fog and unpleasant memories of his earlier childhood.
An orphan for all of his known life he had been called either Nanashi, No Name, You, or Boy. No other name did he associate with himself until a year ago when he had been given the name Trowa Barton. He had either lived on his own, scrounging for food or anything else that would be of use to him, or had lived, worked, and fought with the mercenaries as a younger child. After his squad in the rebel unit had been defeated and he had been told to flee, for he could do so much more, or he had been told, he had managed to secure some odd jobs until he had found one making and repairing Mobile Suits. There he had first come into contact with his name and Mobile Suit.
Trowa turned away from the ruins and focused his attentions back on the trees that were slowly losing their brightly colored leaves. In the dim shadows of the forest a bigger, bulkier shape was to be seen. IT was hidden by a low hanging branches and scrubby bushes. An almost humanoid face made with metal and glowing green eyes was situated above a humanoid, robotic body painted with red and white.
The sky turned darker as the boy continued with his silent respect for the dead. He didn’t even flinch when the first of many big, fat, cold raindrops fell onto the top of his head. Soon the fat drops of water were splattering the whole area. The once dusty ground was now turning into mud, drops of water beading up on the shattered metal pieces as mud also splashed up onto the twisted remains. The spirals of smoke that had been drifting upwards to reach the sky were now being beaten down as the ground and the rain cooled down torn, twisted pieces of metal.
Soon the small amount of rain turned into a downpour. Within a few minutes Trowa’s clothing was soaked, his skin starting have water bead up on it. He didn’t even mind when water started to make tracks down his face like tears. He shook his head once to dispel the water that was collecting on his hair and skin. It was at that point he decided to get going. He didn’t need to stay here any longer, if he did he would be increasing his chances of being caught, a danger that he didn’t need. The longer he stayed on the fringes of the battlefield that he had helped create, the less time he would have to avoid anyone who came to check up on the results.
The walk to his Mobile Suit wasn’t a long one, or a particularly hard one, but it was one that Trowa took a while to do. He didn’t want to ruin the moment just yet. It was a calm moment that he didn’t get much in the midst of the war. He was usually running from place to place to destroy things, people, and plans. He was usually thinking about how he could do his job the best.
He keyed in the code to open the hatch to his cockpit from his standing point on the leg of the large machine that he was the one to pilot. For a moment he gazed out over the torn remains of the battlefield, the only sound being the patter of rain on the now wet ground. He wasn’t sure what he wanted anymore. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to keep doing this. It was taking its toll on him. After all of this fighting, and all of the guilt, and all of the injuries, and all of the pain that this whole war had caused him was also causing his doubts.
He climbed into the cockpit and settled himself into the padded pilot’s chair as he keyed in the code that would close the door to the cockpit, sealing out wind and rain. A safety harness was then put on to ensure that the rider wouldn’t injure himself, or herself, too badly. It wouldn’t do to be piloting the Mobile Suit and be thrown into one of the screens that he viewed the world from. That could result in a nice head injury. It would also be a mess to clean up the cracked shards of the screen once he managed to get his head cleaned up from the cuts that would also result from him slamming into the screens.
His fingers flew across the keyboard as he keyed in the sequence of codes that allowed him access to the computer system that was programmed into his machine made of gundanium alloy. The start up sequence was then punched in and the engines started their quiet hum to life. There was little vibration under him as he let the machine warm up. He could start the machine instantly and get out of there as fast as he needed to, but since he was in no hurry it was better to let the Gundam warm up, almost like a car. He couldn’t fly out of there like some of the other Gundams were able to, but he could walk out of there with out a scratch until he reached the carrier that he had used to transport the massive machine, or the large truck with a tarp that he used to cover the weapon that he piloted.
He closed his eyes for a moment, listening to the quiet hum of machinery. He sighed when he opened his eyes and manipulated the controls that would send his Mobile Suit forward. It wasn’t that difficult to maneuver the massive machine once he had gotten the hang of it and the cockpit design of this particular type of MS, but then again, he had been piloting Mobile Suits since he was a little boy. He couldn’t really appreciate how much strength and talent it took to pilot the Gundam HeavyArms like other people could. He could appreciate his comrades’ skill, but they piloted machines that were similar, but different, and that took different skills than what he had to maneuver the machines as flawlessly as they did.
He started the MS on a path forward that would be well hidden by the thick forest around him. It was a couple of hours by walking until he would reach the safe-house that they were all currently staying in, but it would give him ample time to think about what was going on in this war. He settled back into the padded seat, the rhythm of keeping the giant machine moving starting to become automatic as his mind wandered to other topics.
In what seemed to be almost no time he was approaching the safe house. He slowed the speed at which HeavyArms was approaching and finally came to a stop in a well-forested area that was his place to hide the machine. All of the others had theirs hidden in the area around him, but he didn’t want to get too close to another one of the machines in case they needed to make a quick get away. Once he was sure that his MS wouldn’t fall over or get damaged by the way that he had positioned it, sitting up and leaning against a tree, he opened up the cockpit and got out, closing it securely behind him.
He walked slowly under the dripping tree limbs, keeping mostly to himself. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to join the racket that was sure to come with going inside of the shelter that the five of them were currently sharing. Not all of his comrades were loud and noisy, but there were also other quirks about his fellow pilots that sometimes drove him to disappearing for a while so that he could have some time to himself.
He stood on the porch that connected to the back door, sheltered from the weather that was pouring itself out above him, just staring at the yellow glow that came from the small window in the door. Thick white curtains covered it, but the soft yellow glow still managed to escape and warm the back porch. No doubt that there was some sort of security measure installed, but with the codes that he had memorized before leaving, and the small silver key that he held in his hand, it would be no problem to enter. This wasn’t one of the houses that they had stayed in with the best security, but it was one of the ones that was the most out of the way.
Once he had opened the door an onslaught of light and sound attacked senses that were by now used to dark and quiet. He took a moment to orient himself before entering further than the threshold of the doorway. He took off his muddy shoes and laid them on the doormat with three other pairs. It looked like one of the others hadn’t been outside today, or hadn’t been out somewhere in the mud and muck.
“Trowa! You’ve back!” a happy voice was there to greet him before he had even made it into the kitchen. Bright aqua blue eyes were shining up into his and a cherubic smile graced the pale face before him. A shock of light blond hair with slightly messy bangs and a neat back looked up at him. The boy in front of him had the innocents of a child, but the hardness of a fighter, a mix that was very, very rare to find. He knew that no one else but Quatre could pull it off, not even the other, happier, members of their group.
He let one of his rare smiles slip for the happy boy in front of him. No matter that they were the same age, the other boy was like the baby of the group, and most protected. The blond’s smile grew, if that was possible. Trowa didn’t know how someone like Quatre could be friends with someone like him, but he wasn’t about to take the relationship for granted. It wasn’t very often that he actually had a good friend, someone that he could count on, and he wasn’t going to waste the opportunity that was presented to him.
Quatre grabbed him by the hand and led him into the small living room where the other three teens were hanging out. The small living room was also the source of the noise that Trowa had been bombarded with as he had walked into the house through the back door. The house was sparsely furnished, and the living room showed that by only having two worn couches and an old rocking chair that seemed to have been there forever. A small black and white TV sat in the corner of the room as a wood coffee table sat in the middle of the room. There were a few random pictures hanging on the walls along with beige paint, but nothing that would show too much expense.
“Maxwell! You’re cheating!” an irritated Chinese boy was yelling at a laughing American. Trowa mentally sighed as the Arabic blond next to him did sigh. This was one of the things that usually happened when the five of them were together. Either the American would annoy the Chinese boy, or he would annoy the stoic Japanese boy who, at the moment, was watching them squabble while also looking at the game board in front of them. They had been playing Monopoly while he had been away.
“How do you cheat at Monopoly?” the American was asking, his cobalt blue eyes shining with laughter. It wasn’t often that they had time to relax and have fun during the war that was surrounding each of their lives. He was unique with his long chestnut colored bangs and butt length hair that was always in a braid. He was taller than Quatre, but still had the feel of someone who could get along with anyone anywhere. It was almost like he wanted friends so much that he would share all of his love and kindness with everyone around them, no matter who they were.
“You moved ahead more than you rolled. You also can’t ‘borrow’ money from Yuy and say that you’ll pay it back later on,” the Chinese boy snapped. He was glaring at the grinning American, but there wasn’t any hostility in his eyes, no matter how he was acting. He liked the verbal battles as much as any other person, and wasn’t taking this too seriously. He had jet-black hair that was pulled into a short ponytail at the base of his neck. Liquid black eyes completed the oriental look along with his proud face. He was one of the most reserved of the group, and tended to leave whenever they all got together for some alone time to gather his thoughts through meditation or some other means.
“I can too borrow money from Heero! It doesn’t say anywhere that you can’t,” Duo defended himself from Wufei’s accusations. It was fortunate for him that they had managed to lose the rulebook somewhere along the way, or maybe hadn’t had it in the first place. The boy in question, but not accused, was sitting there and watching the proceedings silently, a small smirk on his face. Dark brown, messy hair fell over his face in spiky bangs the partially hid Prussian blue eyes. His face was partially softened so he didn’t look so dangerous, but there was still the air of caution around him. It was rare to see all of them having fun like this.
“Why don’t you just let him do it this time and make him go bankrupt next time he lands on your property?” Heero asked quietly, his low voice interrupting the squabble. Duo grinned and nodded while Wufei sat back to think for a minute.
“Fine,” Chang said shortly before turning back to the grinning Maxwell. “But that doesn’t mean that you won’t lose this game. You’ve just secured yourself one more round.”
“Aww, I knew that you loved me Wufei!” Duo said and hugged the Chinese boy over the table. He was shoved back roughly, but he didn’t take it personally as the other boy glared at him and threatened him on the grounds of him trying it again. Heero just shook his head a little bit before looking up at Quatre and Trowa who were standing in the doorway.
“It’s your turn, Quatre,” he said without emotion. He then looked back at the game board and analyzed it like it was some sort of crucial battle. Somehow he had a strategy for playing Monopoly, but that wasn't something to be pondered at the moment.
“Do you want to play Trowa?” Quatre asked, looking up at him. It was hard to deny the smaller boy, but the game was too far along for him to catch up.
“No, I think I’ll pass on this game,” he said, his voice quiet. The two arguing teens looked up, different expressions on their faces. The Chinese teen just looked like he normally did, irritated, but he nodded in acknowledgment. The American teen smiled and waved his hand furiously for a few seconds before motioning for Quatre to hurry up and take his turn.
Trowa moved to silently sit on one of the old couches from where he could watch the game. He didn’t know how Quatre and Duo had managed to convince Heero and Wufei to play with them, but it was certainly interesting to see some of the most dangerous terrorists playing something as simple as a game of Monopoly. He almost smiled at the thought, but soon decided against it. He wasn’t one who was much for emotions.
“How did your mission go, Trowa?” Duo asked as he watched the blond roll the dice him his hands, mentally counting the spaces that could be moved depending on what number was rolled.
“No problems. I got the information, blew up the base, and then was out of there. They send a back up patrol after me, but I handled them with little problems,” Trowa said. He still needed to write up his mission report and send the stolen information to the doctors, but that could wait until a later time. He didn’t want to ruin the atmosphere at the moment. It was a rare, relaxed feel, and he wanted to be a part of it for as long as he could. It almost made the war seem like something far, far away, even it was happening around them.
After a few more rounds of watch the game Trowa excused himself to go write the mission report. He had seen Duo messing with some of Wufei’s pieces and money, and didn’t want to be there when the Chinese boy figured out why he only had ones left when he had had much more just a few minutes ago. The banged boy nodded to the blond as he got up and went down the hall to the room that he shared with Quatre. Wufei was sleeping on the couch since he refused to share a room with Duo, and that only left Heero to partner up with the cheerful American teen. It amazed him that they were all fifteen, for sometimes it really didn’t feel like that.
Trowa looked up from his work when he heard the door open behind him. He saw Quatre closing the door behind himself and looked back to the screen on his laptop. They all had a laptop that was carried with them constantly, or in some of the others’ cases, two or three, depending on the pilot. Duo, he knew, had a bad habit of hacking, or trying to hack, into Heero’s computers. The Japanese teen had resorted to crashing Duo’s hard drive on one of the computers, resulting in Duo’s now having multiple replacements in case of that ever happening again.
“Are you done?” Quatre asked, coming up to look over the taller boy’s shoulder. Trowa nodded as he sent the report off. He had just written in more detail what he had told the others. He also took the disc out of his computer once the information was done sending. It wouldn’t be good for someone to manage to access the information while his computer was still on.
“Who won the game?” Trowa asked, not hearing any more shouts coming from the now silent living room.
“Heero did. He took over everything before driving the rest of us bankrupt,” Quatre said with a small smile. He had been expecting Heero to win, just not as he had done. The Japanese boy had an uncanny knack of sometimes doing the unexpected. It was just nice that he and Duo had managed to get the two Asian boys to play with them.
Trowa nodded in response. He had played against the Japanese boy on the occasions that he was conned or begged into playing a board game with the other pilots. Sometimes they needed to take a break from being terrorists and just be the teenagers that they were. It was certain that they weren’t going to be living a normal life, but it was still nice to try and act his age every once in a while.
“None of us have missions for the next week, so we were thinking about taking the week off, you know, and have some fun, be the fifteen year olds that we are,” Quatre said, looking at Trowa for approval. Trowa thought about it for a minute before nodding, that didn’t sound like a bad idea, they all needed a break from all of the fighting that was going on. It wasn’t all that fair that it was five teen-aged boys and some assorted rebels against OZ and the whole Romafeller Foundation. Even with their better Mobile Suits and weapons, they were still highly outnumbered and were only able to take on small portions at a time. Quatre smiled and went to go change into what he was going to wear to bed. Trowa followed the example and soon was asleep along with everyone else in the small house.
The next morning dawned bleak and gray, the same clouds that had been pouring down rain the night before were still pouring down rain this morning. Thunder mutely rumbled in the distance, and bright forks of lightning would flash across the sky and give more light to the gray landscape and woods. Trowa was in the kitchen quietly sipping at his hot coffee as he watched fat raindrops roll down the glass windowpanes. When one would fall another would take its place. It was soothing to listen to the soft pitter-patter of rain falling on the roof and porch, as the rest of the house was mostly silent. He could hear one of the showers running, and figured that it was either Wufei or Duo, since the rest of them had taken showers the night before.
Heero soon entered the kitchen, nodding silently to Trowa as he passed him. They had an agreement that they would both stay silent until the others came in, enjoying the quiet time that they had to themselves. The messy haired boy looked at the slightly fogged window, his eyes taking in the wet trails and beads of moisture that clung to the clear glass. He hadn’t slept well the night before, having spent most of the night soothing Duo out of his frequent nightmares. Sometimes he wondered about the pilot of DeathScythe, but he didn’t want to think about it too hard this morning. He just wanted a little time to himself before the day really got started.
The next person into the kitchen was Wufei, his hair wet, but neatly pulled back into its customary ponytail at the base of his neck. The shower was still going, so the obvious assumption was that Duo was now in it. He knew that the others sometimes gave Duo a hard time about using up the hot water, but he knew that the braided boy didn’t stay in the shower any longer than necessary. He still viewed water as precious, a habit that had been instilled in him during his younger days on the poor colony of L-2. He didn’t mind when the others said something, but the small flinch when the remarks were said showed that they sometimes hit home.
Wufei was someone that didn’t talk unless he deemed it necessary, or thought that something was wrong. He would get his coffee, or tea, depending on what they had at the time, and sit down with the other silent boys until the other two came in. They always managed to wait on the smallest boys in their group before staring breakfast, unless they were injured or were planning on sleeping until noon. It had become a habit that had started early on and was now sticking with them.
A yawning and bleary-eyed Quatre was the next to enter. He immediately zone in on the coffee pot and got himself a mug full before doing anything else. He wasn’t much of a morning person and would have preferred to sleep until the afternoon, but the war had gotten him into a habit of waking up earlier than he would have liked. Therefore caffeine was the substitute for sleep that he used to get him going in the morning. He wouldn’t say anything until later when he was more fully awake, and would still be kind of grouchy until lunchtime.
The only one that was actually awake most mornings was Duo. He didn’t need coffee or any other sort of drink to wake him up, but always grabbed a soda anyway. He generally ignored Heero when he commented on the stuff being bad for him, but he sometimes would drink something healthier for the other pilot’s benefit.
He walked into the kitchen humming to himself, his hair neatly braided and falling down his back. He wore his customary black shirt and pants over a white shirt and a catholic dog collar that he wore in remembrance of his childhood family. Sure, it had been an orphanage in a church, but they had still become him family in his own eyes. He wore the outfit and the small, golden cross that was around his neck in their memory and in respect. The braided boy might not be very religious, but he respected the memory and sacrifice of the people that he loved.
Trowa looked at him as he walked in. He was louder than the rest of them, but was still unusually quiet for his usual self. The others noticed too, but no one said anything. Wufei was secretly hoping that the normally loud American was finally growing up and losing some of his immaturity, but that wasn’t what was going on. Quatre was looking a little worried; his empathic senses were being unusually blocked by the normally open American. He didn’t take that as a bad sign, only one for slight worry. Heero only thought about the mission. If Duo’s odd behavior was going to affect the mission, then he was going to have to do something about it, but until then he didn’t much care.
Trowa silently sipped his coffee, his attention once again on the weather outside. He unconsciously pulled his soft blue turtleneck up around his neck more to block the cold draft of air that seemed to have a hidden source. His sneaker-covered feet were tapping silently against the floor under tight blue jeans. It was the outfit that he had been wearing since he was little, something nondescript and not very noticeable. It didn’t due to attract too much attention when he was younger; some of the results weren’t as pleasant as others, so he had opted for becoming invisible.
Duo plopped himself into a chair and took a long drink of his soda. Quatre smiled at him and was rewarded with a cheerful smile, or as much of a cheerful smile Duo could give him in his present mood. It was better than what Quatre had hoped for, so he was grateful for that at least. He looked down into the bottom of his cup of coffee and swirled what was left around. He hadn’t really thought of anything to do for today, but there was a small town close by and they had a car in their possession that would take all of them there and back easily.
“What do we want to do today?” he asked the others watching their reactions. He knew that some of them wouldn’t fit in as well as he and Duo would, but it would be nice for them all to have a day where they could act their own age. Duo looked up from his soda and thought for a minute before coming up with an idea that pleased him.
“Lets go bowling!” he said, an eager smile on his face. He remembered Nun Helen telling him about it once when he was little, but he had never actually gotten around to trying out the sport. It was something that he had wanted to do for a while now, and by the way that Quatre’s face lit up he could tell that it was something that Quatre wanted to at least try too.
“Bowling?” Heero asked, looking as confused as his face would allow. His training with Dr. J hadn’t covered any sports or games except for the major, international ones. The other ones had been deemed unimportant, or nonessential to the mission, so they hadn’t mattered. Sometimes he wondered why all of his training in classical ballroom dancing styles had been important, seeing as he hadn’t attended more than two or three political functions that required the skills while on a mission, but he didn’t question his orders.
“It’s really fun, or at least I think it is,” Duo said, his face scrunching up for a minute as he thought. He didn’t really have anything to argue about it, but he could try.
“I’ll go,” Trowa said quietly. When he had been traveling with the circus between missions Cathy had insisted on taking him and some of the other younger members on a day of fun. It had mostly included going to the movies and throwing popcorn at each other, then bowling and laughing when one of their number had dropped the ball behind themselves instead of rolling the ball forward like they were supposed to. It was also a better idea than some of the other ideas that Duo and Quatre could come up with.
Quatre and Duo looked at Trowa in surprise. He was one of the ones that they thought they were going to have some problems getting to come along. Trowa rarely wanted to really do anything unless it involved animals, so it was a surprising turn of events to have him willingly come and do this. They then looked expectantly at Wufei and Heero. Wufei was looking down and thinking about his possibilities. If he went then he was going to be subjected to Maxwell and Winner in a somewhat of a hyper mood. On the other hand, if he didn’t go, then he was going to have to put up with Maxwell and Winner complaining about how he was being mean and didn’t want to have a day of acting his own age for once. Heero was also contemplating the options, and then shrugged. He didn’t really care.
“I’ll go,” was all the messy haired boy said. It was a chance to experience something new, and he didn’t really have anything to do anyway, so it couldn’t hurt. Wufei looked up at that and sighed, crossing his arms over his navy blue tank top covered chest in annoyance. He would have thought that Yuy would be one of the last people to give in to the schemes of Maxwell and Winner.
“Fine,” he said before looking away. He wasn’t going to admit that it was something that he wasn’t able to do. He wasn’t going to appear weak in front of the people that counted on him to do his best. He wasn’t going to appear weak in front of the people whose approval meant the most at this moment. It was a pride thing for him.
“Yes!” Duo cheered, pumping a fist into the air. He hadn’t really thought that he was going to get the others to come with him and Quatre anywhere this easily. He was going to hide his darkened mood from the others; there was no need for them to start suspecting anything. Trowa drained the rest of his coffee from the cup and got up to rinse the mug out before placing it on top of the counter. Whoever was next on duty to cook and clean dinner was going to have to clean it up. That was something to be dealt with later.
“Let’s g then!” Duo said energetically, waving them all into greater efforts while heading towards the door. Wufei snorted before leaning over the sink and rinsing out his mug. Heero did the same and then they both went to wait in the garage for the others. Quatre smiled at Duo and rinsed his mug out as Duo finished off the rest of his soda and threw the empty can into the trashcan before heading to the garage with the other two teens. For a second Trowa wondered if this was really such a good idea, but then dismissed the thought and went along with the rest of them as they piled into the car.
The car was a dark green Jeep that was colored so that it would hopefully blend in with the shadows when parked in the woods or in some other partially hidden place. Heero had taken up the driver’s seat while Wufei had taken shotgun on the other side of him. Trowa feared what it might be with Heero driving like he tended to do, but as long as they got there without being pulled over by the cops or any of the OZ officers that tended to be stationed in out of the way places like this one they should be okay. He just hoped that Heero wouldn’t drive like the maniac that he was.
Trowa went around to the other side of the car as Duo and Quatre piled into the car from the closed side to the door with Quatre getting in first. When all door were closed and seat belts put on for the obvious safety reasons Heero started the car up and opened the single garage door. As soon as it was open he pressed his foot down on the gas petal and they were out of the garage, down the driveway, and onto the road before any of them knew what was going on. During that time Heero had managed to press the garage door button and started the closing of the large door that was on the side of the house.
“Whoa, Heero! You don’t have to go so fast!” Duo said, clinging to the handhold above his head and to his own seat belt. He wasn’t so sure if letting Heero drive was such a good idea. He had been in the car with Heero a few times before, and each time he had vowed not to do it again. Quatre was in a similar state as Duo. He wasn’t so sure if Heero was the best choice of a driver. Wufei was watching the road ahead, slightly wary about the way that Heero was driving. It wasn’t as bad as when Duo drove, he was the real maniac, but there was something about the way Heero drove so mechanically and challengingly that made him wary. Trowa didn’t really care, he knew Heero well enough by now to know that they were going to get there safe, if a little shaken, but safe none the less.
He sat back and watched the scenery go by. The trees had become green, yellow, orange, red and brown blurs as they sped by at impossible speeds. He then looked forward and watched Heero drive for a couple of seconds. It was interesting to see how the other four pilots drove cars. While at ease with Mobile Suits, some of them had odd tendencies when driving other vehicles. Heero was driving in a hunched over sort of way, his face focused forward and his chest nearly pressed against the steering wheel as he drove. They all had faked licenses, but that didn’t mean that they could actually drive very well. They had all had training in ways to get away quickly, but none of them had had much training in ways to drive the car in what others would call a safe manner.
In what seemed to be, and what actually was, little time at all they were parked in front of the local bowling alley with Duo and Quatre staggering out of the car and leaning against it like they were lucky that the ground under then was staying still. Heero had gotten out and was waiting off to one side as Trowa and Wufei got out at the same time, locking the doors behind themselves. It wasn’t that they expected their car to get stolen; it was just a safety measure in case someone decided to do what they routinely did to other people.
“I’m not letting you drive on the way home,” Duo said as he looked directly at Heero. Duo meant what he said too, he didn’t plan on letting Heero drive the car unless he was bound, gagged, and securely in the back seat. He planned to live until his next battle and beyond, not to be killed in a car accident by another pilot. Quatre looked a little nervous but didn’t say anything. Heero just looked at Duo without emotion and turned to go inside of the building. Wearing tight black spandex shorts and a dark green tank top in the middle of autumn wasn’t the smartest thing to wear.
They all filed into the building after Heero, each looking around as they entered. The building was warm and friendly, cheesy bowling themes plastered across the wall. Duo then led the way up to the counter where an older teen that looked bored was sitting. He looked at the group of five and sighed. He didn’t want to deal with another group of loud and noisy teens that were going to get him yelled at by his manager.
“We want two games each, please,” Quatre said, smiling politely up at the taller teen. He got a weird look from the guy behind the counter but he was given what he asked for as he handed the money over.
“What size shoes do you need?” he asked in a lethargic tone. He didn’t really care, just hoped that they wouldn’t get him into trouble like everyone else had today. He didn’t need anymore hassle then he already had. He quickly handed them the sizes that they asked for, and then gave them the lane furthest away from his manager’s office in an attempt to keep the noise away from him. The five pilots then left, some chattering happily, to go pick out their bowling balls and start the game.
Trowa sat down quietly and put on the gaudy bowling shoes while watching Duo and Quatre happily talk about what was going on. They were each looking at some of the balls with more complicated patterns, and also with some of the heavier weights. Wufei already had his ball, a dark blue sixteen-pound ball. He would have preferred a heavier one, but that was the heaviest that they had in this place. Heero had a dark red bowling ball that had little silver swirls on it and weighed sixteen pounds. He had the general idea on how to play the game after watching some of the other people around him, but he wasn’t sure if this was exactly what he needed. He mentally shrugged, it was what he was going to use for the time being. Quatre and Duo both got fourteen pound balls, as did Trowa, in black, light blue, and green colors. They each put their selections onto the rack and input their names into the computer that totaled up the score automatically.
When they each had their choices of name, Death, Prince, Dragon, Nanashi, and Trigger Happy (courtesy of Duo and much glaring from Heero) were input and up on the screen they each started up. Every one of them had started watching people in other lanes, except for Trowa, to see what they were supposed to do and to get the general goal of the game. Trowa knew what was going on and what to do, so he had no problem getting a spare on the first try. He left the others, especially Wufei, sputtering and vowing to do better than he did.
“Why are you so good at this?” Quatre asked after he had bowled his second time around. Trowa smiled a small smile in his direction before answering.
“I’ve done this before. Cathy took some of us younger ones that the circus out for a day,” he said, leaning back in the swivel chair that had been provided for him to sit in. He watched as Wufei stared down the lane in concentration and then threw the ball down the lane. It didn’t go as he had wanted it to though, and ended up veering to the left and only taking out a grand total of three pins. With a scowl he grabbed his ball when it came back up to him and rolled it down the lane again, managing to get five more pins. He left the lane muttering to himself about how he would do it better later.
Trowa smiled one of his rare smiles. It wasn’t often that the group of them encountered something new and unexpected, or something that none of them could do very well. This game wasn’t all that hard, but it took a certain amount of skill and practice. An hour went by as they completed the first game and then started the second, Trowa coming in first, Heero second, Duo third, Wufei fourth, and Quatre fifth. Quatre had taken the teasing in good humor and had replied that just because he couldn’t blow didn’t mean that he couldn’t beat them in other games. It was true. He managed to beat everybody but Heero in chess regularly, so they couldn’t protest that fact.
They were just starting their second game when a commotion near the front door caught their attention. They saw the irritated employee arguing with some OZ officials that were obviously wanting to search the place. All five of the Gundam pilots drew their hidden weapons and ducked behind the nearest ball rack to hide themselves. They could hear from where they were the older teen yelling at them about how they couldn’t do this, about how they didn’t have a permit, about how they would have to talk to his manager, and about how he was having a bad enough day already and they weren’t helping, so they might as well just leave. The officers had looked amused at first, but after listening to the rant for a few minutes they quickly got tired of it. From where Trowa was crouched down he could see that two of the officers weren’t all that high up in the organization, just finished with being cadets really, and that the others were obviously superior officers. It appeared that those that managed to bring in a Gundam pilot were in for a promotion.
Trowa looked at his comrades crouched down beside him. Even Quatre looked deadly serious, but he had the air of apprehension around him. He wouldn’t kill any of them if he could help it. He hated the lives that were being wasted meaninglessly through this war, and always tried to give him enemy a way out, no matter what the situation was. He didn’t want any more blood on his hands, even if he had had no choice in the matter and was protecting himself and those that he was fighting for.
Trowa narrowed his eyes in the directions of the soldiers. One of them had obviously gotten tired of the teen’s tirade and hit him on the back of the head with the butt of his hand gun. The rest of them had started to spread out and search the building systematically. They disrupted customers in the middle of their games, throwing people apart to question them on the whereabouts of the famed Gundam pilots. Most of the civilians had no clue what the Gundam pilots even looked like, and no, they hadn’t noticed anything unusual happening near them. The soldiers were getting frustrated as they moved on, each of them getting no or useless information.
“Looks like you all are in a jam,” a voice whispered by Trowa’s ear. He whipped around. He hadn’t noticed that anyone had come up anywhere near him. It was obvious by the varying degrees of surprise on his comrades’ faces that they hadn’t heard the person come up either. Heero and Wufei were looking like they were deciding about what to do, shoot the person, or take their help, after hearing what it was.
“Who are you?” Heero hissed, his dark blue eyes narrowed in concentration on the teen girl in front of him, his ears listening to the soldiers behind him. He could see Duo shifting so that he could watch the soldiers while the talks with the girl went on. He didn’t trust the thin female in front of him. She wasn’t that remarkable with light blond hair and dark blue eyes that were lightening up as he watched. She wasn’t all that pretty, but he suspected that if she weren’t under stress she would look better.
“None of your business,” she snapped, her eyes narrowing. She had either already taken in the guns that they were holding and had judged them unimportant, or hadn’t bothered to notice at all. She looked jumpy and ready to bolt at any time, but her stance was steady. “Do you want my help or not?”
Trowa watched her as she said this. She didn’t look like she was going to turn them over once she had gotten them out of this place. On the contrary, she looked like she was ready to steal one of their guns and start firing on the OZ soldiers that were creeping closer and closer, their questions futile. He nodded as Quatre did, making up Heero’s mind. Quatre’s opinion could be trusted based upon his empathic abilities, and Trowa was as good of a judge of people as animals were, hence their like of him. It was their best bet at the moment with the chance of not hurting anyone and not getting hurt himself.
Heero nodded and the girl turned around, crouching behind the same rack that they were. She then moved to the edge of it and made a frantic movement with the hand that was hidden from the view of the OZ soldiers. When that didn’t work, looking at her frown, she started to hiss the name of “Jess”. She was just about to saw it louder when another girl showed up. She was shorter than the blond, with poofy, wavy dark brown hair and intelligent dark brown eyes. She saw the blond’s nod and ran out the fire door that had somehow had the alarm turned off. She appeared in another minute and nodded her head vigorously.
“Come on, we’re getting out of here,” the blond hissed and bolted for the open door when the closest OZ soldiers had their backs turned and the others weren’t paying attention. They barely made it. Once the door was closed they could barely see through the low window the closest OZ soldiers turning around and approaching the area that they had just been in. It was just then that they noticed that they were all still wearing the gaudy bowling shoes. Those weren’t going to help their getaway if they had to run.
“Here, put your shoes on quickly,” a new girl hissed, shoving Trowa’s and Quatre’s shoes in their faces as the other two girls did the same to the other pilots. She was taller than the blond by an inch or two and had short black hair with thin, dyed blond streaks in it and light blue eyes. Her eyes were darting around nervously as the blond started to mutter about someone getting here quickly or them all getting busted.
“How do you know who we are?” Heero asked, his tone not questioning, but commanding. From all they knew no one but very few civilians and some of the higher OZ officials knew who they were, and what they looked like. Everyone else had some exaggerated view of them in their head that the real picture wouldn’t satisfy at all.
“Miranda is a hacker,” was all the tallest brunette said, her eyes searching the alley frantically now for any sign of a vehicle approaching.
“We got into OZ’s database and looked through anything concerning you guys. We wanted to know exactly who we were supporting, so we decided to look in your enemy’s files, hoping that they would have all that we needed, and they did. I’m happy every day that the Internet was invented,” the blond supplied when Heero’s glare intensified. He wanted as much information as they would give him, and seeing as that wasn’t very much he was going to have to wait until they were somewhere safe.
Trowa’s head swung around as he heard the sound of tired crunching on gravel and leaves coming closer. The five boys pressed themselves against the wall, but the three girls looked relieved. A large, white van came into view and the three girls immediately opened up the side door and piled in. None of them were more than fifteen, and even looked younger, but the Gundam pilots didn’t say anything, just piled into the van, each with their own reservation.
“Go Miranda,” the taller brunette said to the driver who was another girl. The blond was in the back and digging around for something while the shorter brunette was looking over her shoulder and offering suggestions that were taken into account.
“Since you know who we are, who are you?” Duo asked skeptically. He still wasn’t sure if trusting these strangers was a good idea, no matter how much they knew about them.
“I’m Miranda,” the driver said. She had shorter reddish brown hair and light blue eyes. She was wearing a tighter blue shirt with green, sparkly Japanese characters on it. She also had on tighter blue jeans and white sneakers. Her concentration was on driving, but her hand was moving slowly towards the radio in hopes of turning on some music. She hadn’t told the others what she had stuck into the CD player earlier, but she had the feeling that they wouldn’t mind when music with Japanese lyrics that none of them could understand came blasting out of the speakers.
“I’m Gabs,” the tallest brunette said, turning around in the passenger seat next to Miranda. She was wearing a baggy gray sweatshirt and a bright orange ski cap over her head. She was wearing slightly baggy blue pants and worn gray and black tennis shoes. A panda backpack was shoved by her feet on the floor, and she continually glanced at it to make sure that it was still there.
“Jess,” the shorter brunette and the blond chorused at the same time. They knew that it confused people, and they meant to keep it that way. The blond grinned as Heero frowned, then continued her search as the brunette Jess went to go sit down on the floor closer to Gabs and Miranda.
“Here we are,” the blond Jess said happily as she came up with what she had been looking for. In the process of searching she had come up with some assorted handguns and rifles, but that hadn’t been her goal. What she held in her hands was a detailed world atlas that could show them anywhere they wanted to go in detail. It was thick, and provided close ups of states, countries, and cities.
“What took you so long?” the brunette Jess asked, leaning her back against Gabs’ seat. The blond Jess tossed it up to her as the five pilots watched, each thinking their own thoughts.
“I lost it,” the blond Jess said with a shrug before making her comfortable in the back of the van with her weapons.
“You lose everything,” Gabs said while shaking her head. It was amazing what the blond would lose and come up with later, anything from lipstick to a handgun.
“Where are we going?” Quatre spoke up. He trusted the girls for now, he didn’t really have much of a choice unless they killed them and took the car, but by the looks of the arsenal that the blond Jess was keeping in the back that might be part of a challenge.
“I don’t know. Where do you all need to go?” Miranda asked as the brunette Jess shoved the atlas in Heero’s direction. Her eyes kept flicking towards Duo, but so far she had managed to keep her eyes from staying on him and just staring.
Heero flipped through the atlas as Wufei leaned over his shoulder. A thin finger pointed out their destination as the brunette Jess relayed where they wanted to go to Miranda who nodded. There was silence in the van as Miranda drove on, soon turning the music on and humming to herself. The two Jess’ then started singing, each having to use a falsetto to get as high as the voices coming out of the stereo speakers. Gabs just laughed at them as the boys cringed a little bit. Was it entirely safe to be with these girls who were obviously not all that stable.
“How did you know where we were?” Duo asked the brunette Jess who was the closest to him. She looked directly at him and blushed before mumbling an answer that he didn’t catch.
“We didn’t,” Gabs supplied, looking at Jess who continued to blush. The blond teen snickered at her counterpart and then laughed out right as she got a glare and a pouty look.
“We were actually going to go bowling, but when we saw the OZ patrol car in front we figured the worst. I hotwired the door and then we saw you and decided to help,” the blond Jess supplied helpfully. When she got doubtful looks from the guys she elaborated. “We’ve been working on some skills that aren’t exactly looked upon nicely by our parents. Hence Miranda’s hacking, my hotwiring and pick pocketing, Jess’ manipulation, and Gabs’ way of getting anything she wants. Sometimes I wonder how she does it. It’s not fair,” the blond started to then mumble to herself about it as the others sighed. It was something that they all did.
“I’m actually the mastermind behind our plans, or at least some of them,” Gabs supplied helpfully as the boys looked at her.
“Mastermind?” Trowa asked, raising one eyebrow in question.
“Its not like we’re going to tell you all of our plans!” the brunette Jess said indignantly. She was glaring at the boys while the blond Jess was shaking her head and glancing out of the window every once in a while, checking their backs.
“Get down,” the blond Jess hissed, making motions with her hands as the boys who were sitting up or standing got onto the floor. She scrunched herself down under the window before relaying her information.
“We’re being followed by the OZ car. I think someone saw us leaving,” she was now fumbling for ammunition for one of her handguns while stuffing another into the waistband of her pants and sliding some up to the other three girls. The five boys readied their guns as Miranda sped up, starting to take side roads that she knew well.
A popping noise made everyone in the van flinch. Trowa silently assessed the situation. It seemed that the soldiers were firing at either the tires or the gas tanks in hope of stopping or slowing them down. Miranda started to curse under her breath as the blond Jess looked out the back window at the fumes of black smoke that were coming from the back of the car.
“Let me take over,” Heero commanded, moving between Gabs and Miranda. Miranda looked up once and then carefully let him take the wheel before joining the blond Jess in the back. Duo groaned silently and almost hid his head, but then decided against it. Trowa noticed this but said nothing. Heero was the best one to get them out of here at the moment. He was going to be the one that would get them out of here intact.
“I hope you don’t mind your car being mauled,” Duo muttered quietly, a touch a fear creeping up in his voice. Everyone present looked at him, but chose not to comment on how he said it.
“No prob, its not ours,” Gabs said with a small shrug. She had moved back by the brunette Jess and was talking quietly to the smaller girl, probably telling her not to do anything stupid and get herself killed on purpose like she tended to try to do.
A sudden loud pop that was accompanied by the car suddenly rocking violently told them that one of the tires had been hit by a lucky shot from the pursuing OZ officers. The five boys had looks of determination on their faces while the girls were looking slightly wary. The rain outside was suddenly a concern. If the car didn’t have a wheel it would be hard to maneuver on the slippery ground. The blond Jess was muttering under her breath as everyone got ready to abandon the car once it was finally spent.
“Why does this always happen on our day off?” Duo moaned quietly to himself. Quatre moved to comfort him, sending his own feelings of calm out to the braided boy.
“No rest for the weary?” Gabs supplied cheerfully with a menacing undertone to it. She didn’t want to make the situation worse, but sometimes she just had to say what came to her mind. She smiled silently. Who said that teens couldn’t defend their cause? That was exactly what she was doing now. She was going to prove her point. It was something that bugged her about adults. They made it out that teens couldn’t take care of themselves, let alone others, and this was no different. Well, she would show them. She smirked to the blond Jess who was looking almost happy now. Sometimes she wondered about that girl. No matter how much she said she wasn’t suicidal, there was still some doubt.
“When I stop the car, get out,” Heero said from the front. He was getting ready to slam on the breaks in a particularly thick part of the woods. Wufei got ready to fling the door open as everyone readied their weapons.
“Now!” Heero barked as he hit the brakes, throwing them all forward from the force of the stop. They all piled out of the car as fast as they could and burst into the woods, a few of them taking badly aimed shots at the approaching OZ officers as they ran.
The ground was soaked as the nine of them ran. Trowa could see that the girls were all in pretty good shape, but not in good enough shape to run for a long time in the woods. He could see that the blond girl was pretty used to the woods and tended to hop from rock to rock to try and hide her trail, but the others didn’t seem to be doing much more than running and watching their feet for anything that would trip them up. He looked ahead to see Heero and Wufei moving almost silently through the leaves, and prided himself on his silence. He winced as once again either Quatre or the girls crunched particularly loudly over a part of the ground that was thickly covered with leaves.
“I can’t do this anymore,” the brunette Jess wheezed, and immediately the girls stopped. The blond waved for the pilots to keep going, her eyes hard. Gabs seconded her and the pilots kept on. Trowa looked back occasionally, hearing nothing but his own breathing and the others’ footsteps over the hard and wet ground. He focused on his task at hand, running. Soon he began to notice where they were going. They were all in the area where their Gundams had been hidden. He sprinted on ahead as the others separated and went to where their own Mobile Suits were hidden.
A gunshot echoed behind him as he was typing in the code that allowed him access to HeavyArms. He could hear various sounds and shouts as he climbed in, and then shut the cockpit door. He started up the systems and engines, and then turned on communications to hear each of the other pilots. There was a debate going on between Quatre and Heero about whether to go back for the girls.
“No, we need to get out of here,” Heero was saying, his face hard. He wasn’t going to let anyone change his mind on what to do in this situation.
“But they helped us! Can’t we do anything for them?” Quatre was pushing, his face earnest. He wanted to go back and help the people that had risked their own lives to help people deemed terrorists by the masses. Trowa personally thought that they should leave, but he wasn’t going to leave without everyone else. There wasn’t a point in leaving some of their own number behind them.
“We had better go,” Duo said, his voice speaking volumes about the bad feeling that he was having. A sudden beeping on all of the screens alerted them to a more present danger than the soldiers that had been following them. A myriad of tiny red dots were quickly coming from the top of the screens and quickly approaching the center, where they were. It looked like the soldiers had sent for re-enforcements when they had started chasing after the rebels.
“We can’t leave them,” Quatre protested, still stubbornly unmoving in his resolve to go back and save their rescuers. It wasn’t very often that someone showed them support, and it was only right to show their thanks to the few people that did. It was even more amazing that those people would willingly risk their lives for a cause that they couldn’t possibly have the means to uphold.
“We have to go. We can’t stay here and risk all of us getting captured,” Trowa said quietly. He was trying to explain to Quatre why they had to leave without forcing the other boy to see his opinion. They didn’t need the team breaking apart because they were forcing ideals down each other’s throats. That wouldn’t work in the long run. That wouldn’t hold them together through out the war and their fight for peace.
With a sigh Quatre consented to go with them, on the conditions that they at least flew over the area that the girls had last been in. The others agreed to this without much resistance, only a few muttered comments from Wufei. They could barely see anything under them because of the thick trees, but they couldn’t see signs of a struggle either. As they flew over Quatre uttered a silent prayer for the people that had helped them get out of there for their own safety. He idly wondered if they would ever see the girls again, but doubted it with how much they moved around, only staying a week or two in one place, but he hoped that they would meet sometime in the future.
As they flew away with their freedom Trowa sat and thought. They were fighting for peace. They were fighting to end a war that had been with him for his whole life. It scared him to think of what would come next. None of them had ever lived without the war standing over them and casting its dark shadow over all of their lives. It was scary to try and imagine something that he couldn’t think of. He had the idea of what peace was, but he didn’t know anything about total peace and no wars. What were they going to do after this war was over? Not everyone needed highly trained soldiers anymore. They would still be underage for most things, but after fighting through a horrific war that didn’t seem to be much of a problem anymore.
And what would happen to them personally? Would the public find out that the people piloting the most feared weapons on the Earth were only mere children, teenagers. They had already seen surprise in many of the faces of the OZ soldiers that had seen them. In the faces of Treize, Lady Une, and Zechs Marquise. What was going to happen to them if they made it though the war? That was also something to think about. What was going to happen to their enemies after the war was over and people that had been fighting fiercely against one another were just expected to lay down weapons and work side by side without conflict.
It scared Trowa that he didn’t know what was going to happen to his future, depending on his living through the war. It could go back to his early childhood, hiding and running, with no one to be there, and with only himself to try and take care of. Granted, he could do it a little better now than he had been able to as a child, but there was still the fear that he would be back on the streets again. There was still the fear that he would have no purpose in life and would be back to being homeless and worthless, without a name, once again. That was just how life worked, and he hoped that it wasn’t how his life was going to work.