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"Crisis"Written By: Artemis Disclaimer: Gundam Wing and its characters are
copyright to Sunrise, Bandai, Sotsu Agency, and associated parties.
I make no money with this fic. Rating: NC 17 Warnings: yaoi lemon including rimming, angst,
violence, language, reference to past NCS involving a minor, death,
angst. Pairings: 6x2, 3x4 Summary: Sequel to Interfacing: Regained. GAIA
prepares to go into space and announce itself to the world; Duo and
Zechs' relationship goes through its own crisis. "Crisis " Time: Three weeks later. 1) Another hit to Wing Gundam's right hip and Heero's advance was stalled. "Gotcha!" Duo shouted with apparent glee. Though three weeks late in coming, they'd finally found a block of time in which to hold their computer-simulated rematch. It was going very well, the two Gundam pilots each holding their own. However, though Duo secretly wanted to kick Heero's Gundam-ass across the simulated field of battle, there was no obvious victor on the horizon. [But I'll show him a thing or two...] Heero's adjustments to the OZ simulation program were fantastic. The Leos were now Gundams which made the players feel more at home. The response time was faster, too, as Duo noted when he again dodged a strike from his opponent, swinging his suit around on the computer screen. Blow-for-blow they were well-matched and Duo felt a gushing sense of pride as he fought Heero with Zechs looking over his shoulder. It felt good to have his lover here, supporting him. They'd been so busy lately... well, Zechs had been so busy. Word of the new alliance called GAIA had spread quickly but secretly. Howard had arrived from the Pacific and was working on the upgrades to the Gundams. More civilian and military supporters were arriving every day. Barclay Base, which had been a bit of a playground for Duo, had turned into a bustling and crowded rebel base of operations. Though the activity was all very exciting to Duo and the others as they prepared for their next move in the war, it was also frustrating. More people meant more work and which therefore meant less time for leisure and personal bonding. And since Noin had left them a couple weeks ago to rejoin Relena Peacecraft in the Sank Kingdom, Zechs no longer had her able assistance with the base. Duo was finding himself more and more alone... [He's doing so well,] Zechs thought with a touch of smugness, standing behind Duo, just his fingertips on his shoulder lending him support. [He's caught Heero by surprise several times, but that's his specialty, I now know.] Zechs had gotten involved with the upgrade to Deathscythe's stealth cloaking system, and had implemented plans to incorporate that system into the other Gundams, even Tallgeese. Just a few days ago Zechs and Heero had finally had their own rematch, though that one had ground to a glorious standstill after nearly four intense hours. They'd been happy to call it a draw, and even Heero had managed a genuine smile. No one had won, but after all that, neither had minded. It had been a grand accomplishment all the same, though Zechs had noted that Duo had been baffled when they'd agreed to stop. [It's good to have this time with him,] Zechs added, though dozens of things tugged at his mind for attention - the base, personnel needs, worries about the colonies and the latest reports, Treize's increasingly nebulous position within Romefeller, and the beginnings of Romefeller's irritation with one pacifism-spouting Relena Peacecraft, something that worried Zechs most of all. He'd have to call Noin to see what they could to about that. Just then his radio beeped. Zechs patted Duo's shoulder carefully and stepped away to take the call. "Merquise." "Got something to show ya, Zechs," the wheezing voice of Dr. Howard responded in his ear. "Got a few?" Zechs looked back; Duo was holding his own. "Sure, be right there." He shut off the transmitter and looked over at the other observers. "I'll be back shortly," he murmured to Trowa who glanced over. When the quiet boy with the long bangs gave him a curt nod in acknowledgment, Zechs nodded back and left the room. Leaning against the base of Sandrock, hands in his pants pockets to fend off a slight chill in the air, Howard scanned the activity of the base around him. It was a miracle to him that such fierce, independent spirits as the Gundam pilots had allied with each other and a breakaway faction of OZ. [This alliance is our best hope for peace,] he thought, ignoring the ever curious eyes on him. His trademark Hawaiian shirts were obviously out of place on this iceberg of a base, but he refused to give them up. Wearing one added to the scientist's reputation as a renegade and a bit of an oddball and kept most of the base's newcomers at a distance. Luckily for him, the buildings were kept relatively warm and he'd only needed to slip a jacket on when the large hangar doors were opened. He'd been in Antarctica for nearly three weeks now, having packed and moved his operations the day after getting the call from Duo. He liked the young pilot of Deathscythe enough and so appreciated what the Gundam pilots were trying to do that he didn't hesitate to join them. The only surprise came when Duo told him the identity of one of the key players in the new alliance - Zechs Merquise. Even Howard, working quietly on an island in the Pacific Ocean, had heard the fantastic stories of the OZ Specials' ace pilot. He was dumbfounded and excited all at once to have the opportunity to work with the man and his ancient machine, the Tallgeese. Just then Howard spotted the tall, elegant base commander making his way across the hangar. [Like parting the Red Sea...] he thought as he observed the look of determination on the man's face as the base personnel stepped aside. "Hey, thanks for coming down here," Howard said in greeting, pushing off from the Gundam. "Just finished readying Sandrock and Heavyarms for outer space." Zechs, who wore the new GAIA uniform - dark green, double-breasted - under his now-trademark long, gray morning coat, could not help a little smile to see their premier mobile suit chief engineer - Meiser had been only too eager to hand over that title and responsibility. Howard, Zechs often thought, must have some highly fired ovens in his body to be able to stand the cool temperatures at Barclay Base. Next to the wiry engineer, Zechs looked bundled up, ready for a snowstorm. "Indeed, you're finished? Then all five of our top suits are ready to go..." Zechs looked thoughtful for a minute. Surely they weren't ready for outer space in truth; there was so much yet to do, planning to complete. "Uh, just about. I want to make some adjustments to rocket output... and there's still those White Tauruses to deal with," Howard said, nodding across the hangar to the grouping of newly-liberated OZ suits. He looked back up at Sandrock and then down the line at the other Gundams. During the upgrade process Howard had got to thinking about the intentions of the scientists who had sent the Gundams to Earth. "You know, Zechs, these suits weren't designed to go back into outer space..." The observation was an obvious one, but his conclusion was a bit more startling, and he hesitated mentioning it. Finally, he turned back to the other man, looking on him with weary eyes. "Those boys weren't meant to survive." Zechs was torn out of his reverie with that startling statement. "What did you say?" he asked, shocked. "What do you mean, not survive?" He gaped at the old man with the glasses slipping down his nose and spiky gray hair. Though Dr. Howard might be eccentric, he'd been one of the original designers of Tallgeese and hence influential in the designs of the Gundams. "I'm saying none of the Gundams, except Wing, had the capacity to escape the Earth's gravity. Those scientists had the ability to give these boys a way to escape and they didn't," the doctor said in his raspy voice, scratching his head. "Doesn't make sense. Unless Operation Meteor was a suicide run..." He couldn't help it; Zechs's mind's eye flashed on the terrible image of Heero Yuy attempting to sacrifice his life by self-detonating Wing Gundam on the plain of Siberia. [Even Heero who had the ability to escape the Earth!] he thought, shocked. [All of them... doomed? Or expected to steal transport. What did their mentors expect? Were all of them expected to sacrifice themselves for the colonies? My Duo...] Zechs laid a hand on the engineer's shoulder, for his own support if nothing else. "I never realized, never thought... but I suppose you're right." He took a deep breath, recovering his composure. "It is our duty now to protect them, arm them so that what happened in Siberia need never happen again." He made an exasperated noise. "I would dearly love to disable all of their self-detonation systems, but I cannot do that behind their backs. No, we made the Gundams properly space-worthy, and they will not fight again until we are sure they cannot be defeated." His eyes narrowed. "OZ and Romefeller be damned..." The commander's almost fanatical conviction and protectiveness of the Gundam pilots continued to amaze Howard. [He's really taken them under his wing...] He knew about the ex-OZ colonel's involvement with Duo and was sure that played a role in these powerful emotions. "No worries. You can bet they'll be ready for whatever OZ throws at them. I'll have them fixed up the way they should've been when they first came to Earth." "Thanks, Howard," Zechs murmured, then let his hand drop. "It's my intention to royally shock OZ's space troops when and if we do confront them. Unfortunately, the Gundams are not the answer to this war. I wish it were as simple as having the better mobile suits, but it remains that the colonies now view OZ as their liberator." He glanced up a moment at Sandrock, noting the new weapons complement. Quatre's mobile suit had been the weakest in firepower; now it would stand up well with its new missile launchers. "One thing at a time..." He turned back to the scientist. "Thanks again. I feel confident in our machines. I can only hope that we never have to use them as intended." [Duo's God of Death - I can't help but wish I never have to see that entity again... and it's bad enough I have to face the dream version of same at night...] "Well, the best thing would be if you didn't have to fight again," Howard said in agreement. He genuinely liked Zechs and was pleased the man had mastered the Tallgeese, but would rather see all the machines of war retired from service. "I'm glad to help, Zechs, any way I can." Zechs gave him a quick smile. "We're lucky to have you on board, Howard. Carry on - and I must get back to see how Duo is faring in his simulated battle with Heero. It was pretty intense when I left them!" In his concentration, Duo hadn't immediately noticed Zechs's departure. Then suddenly he felt that the familiar presence was no longer with him. He looked up from the computer screen and over his shoulder to the place where Zechs had been standing and sighed. [He's gone... again.] His heart sank as he realized yet another interruption had taken his lover away. [It's always something...] The distraction, though lasting only a couple of seconds, was enough for Heero to gain ground. By the time Duo returned his attention to the game, Heero was attacking head-on. "Hey!" Duo cried out, suddenly feeling the balance of power shift dramatically to the other side. Fully occupied by his own personal battle mode, Heero pressed avidly for the advantage, dealing a powerful blow to the other Gundam. For him, nothing existed right now but the Game, and his enemy had just made a critical error. "Shit!" Duo shouted, frustration pouring from him. He was scrambling to recover ground, gripping the joystick tightly with white-knuckled determination. He couldn't let Heero win. Not now. Not when he'd been doing so well! But it was too late and he knew it. He was struggling to out-maneuver Wing's relentless strikes, and the struggle made his emotions rise, negating his battle finesse. All too quickly the outcome was apparent. Heero would win and the gloating that would follow would be intolerable. [I'll never live this down,] Duo thought, cringing. But he could see it was over, could sense the killing blow was coming... "Damn it!" he cried out, standing and ripping the joystick from its cord. He stared at Heero for all of about two seconds and then threw the joystick across the room and stormed out. "Duo..." Heero breathed as full awareness rushed back, letting him belatedly register the striking of the flying joystick against the far wall and the slamming of the door. He stood abruptly, tingling from the abortive session, his hand releasing the joystick but clenching and unclenching slowly by itself as if that part of him didn't yet realize the battle was over. "This game wasn't a good idea," Quatre said, looking sternly at Heero. He had been standing quietly at the side with Trowa, watching the match from a distance. The first half had been fine with each boy deep in concentration. But once Zechs had left, Duo had grown increasingly frustrated until this outburst. [It must have distracted him to have Zechs leave like that...] "We shouldn't be fighting one another like this. I think I'd better go find Duo and see if he's all right..." "No," Heero said suddenly, surprising both of them. The pilot of Wing took a deep breath, recovering rapidly. "If I know anything about Duo, he's more mad at himself than me, and he's extremely embarrassed. I think it's best we let him stew for a bit. He'll be back, if only to see if we're going to tease him about it after all, which I have no intention of doing. For me, it was never about winning, but about testing and stretching our skills. I doubt that Duo sees it the same way, not after that reaction." He looked up at Quatre hopefully, knowing well the Arabian was Duo's best friend and tended to side with him. Quatre could sense the other boy's sincerity in his judgment of Duo's condition. [Heero's a good person and I have to give him credit for being that insightful.] Though it was in the little blond's nature to comfort others he knew Heero was right this time. Duo needed space. "Okay," he said, nodding. "Let's give Duo a chance to calm down." Walking back to the computer room they'd set up for training simulations, Zechs mulled over Howard's words again. [Those boys weren't meant to survive, he'd said. Duo, sent on a suicide mission? All of them? And I wanted to keep Duo from war forever, when war and only war was the reason he was on Earth in the first place!] It was nearly a month now since the day Duo had tried to kill him, mistakenly believing Zechs to be his enemy, thinking that the OZ ace pilot pretended to be the lover of a Gundam pilot, using him for his pleasure until he could get information out of him. They'd returned almost completely from that terrible day in Cairo, but not all the way. Now they were sleeping together again, intimate, and felt confident in each other's love. But Zechs had not had intercourse with Duo again in all that time. At first it was only out of fear of the panic attacks that had started after Zechs's capture and the near-miss. Zechs, attuned to a high sense of honor and decency from his aristocratic upbringing, which had likely been higher than most because of his destiny to be king of a nation, had known nothing but horror at the thought that he was believed to be a rapist, and it had taken some doing to become intimate with Duo again after that. Then the nightmares became more frequent. They were all bizarrely similar, featuring a Devil-like Treize Khushrenada chiding and badgering him and the terrifying Death God - as he called this dream entity - who resembled his Duo and screamed obscenities at him, all while Zechs was tied up or immobilized somehow. Zechs would wake up shaking, shying away from the warm, small body beside him, then over the course of a half hour would calm himself and forcibly will himself to curl his long body back around his sweet Dancer again before falling into a fitful sleep. It didn't help that Zechs was exceptionally busy as the commander of Barclay Base. There had been a steady trickle of soldiers making their way to the base, usually disguised as suppliers. If Romefeller was watching the activity at Capetown, their main source of supplies, they weren't very observant. Zechs knew that Treize had deftly and covertly steered personnel his way. In addition, to everyone's surprise, other rebel mercenaries, running from OZ, had joined the trickle. Zechs suspected Noin and his sister were behind that and had even called Noin once to caution her to keep a tight leash on Relena lest his headstrong, passionate sister tip her hand to Romefeller. [Duo and I need time alone, lots of it,] Zechs mused morosely. [We can work through this together, get me past my fears, but we don't have the luxury of that kind of time right now. We're a week away from announcing our opposition to Romefeller... or less. Once we go to outer space to confront OZ's space forces, there's no turning back until the colonies see OZ for what it is and learn to reject it. It will be a struggle because we'll be perceived as the ones bringing war to the colonies.] He stopped in the hallway for a moment, pressing the heel of his hand against his forehead. [I chose to love Duo and I chose to fight OZ. Somehow I have to find the heart and strength to do both. I need him so much...] Zechs continued on, holding tight to the love filling his heart for his bright, energetic little star, his darling Duo, his Dancer... After storming out of the game, Duo sprinted down the hall and back to his room. It was the only place he could think of where he could be alone. He was hardly ever in this room anymore. He still kept his belongings here, but he no longer slept here. Zechs wanted him close at night. Wanted them to share a bed even if lately that didn't mean anything more than sleeping curled in each other's arms. One or both of them were usually too tired for any extracurricular activities. As Duo plopped down on the bed, he brought his hands up to his face, feeling how hot it was. He knew if he looked in a mirror, he'd see it was beet-red. He was embarrassed, infuriated and miserable. "How can I face them?" he asked himself aloud. The outburst was just plain stupid. No one had expected it. No one had goaded him into it. [So, what's the matter, Maxwell? It's Zechs, isn't it?] Of course, it was Zechs. Everything was Zechs. He loved the man, desired him more than anyone or anything. And yet there hadn't been much time for desires lately. "Yeah, he's too damn busy for me... but he's always got time for Heero," he said, as he stared at the ceiling. But as soon as he heard himself say the words he knew he was being ridiculous again. Heero was working on a big project, updating the base's computers, and Zechs was overseeing that project. It only made sense they'd need to work together. "I suppose I should go back and apologize," he said, sitting up and taking a deep breath. "But so help me if Heero says one thing to me about losing... I'll punch him in the nose!" A moment later, a sound at the door alerted the three Gundam pilots. Zechs stood there, a baffled look on his face. "Where's Duo?" he asked, a slight frown on his handsome face. Heero hastily waved off Quatre, who'd been about to reply. "He ran out - it's my fault," he explained, standing to face their friend's lover. "I won, or rather, I was winning, and he suddenly blew up and stormed out." "Blew up big time," Trowa reported succinctly, holding up the detached joystick which he'd retrieved. "Oh, no," Zechs sighed, remembering how fiercely competitive Duo was and how badly he wanted to beat the Wing pilot. "I'd better go find him..." He turned to go. "No, I think he'll be back," Heero said quickly. "Give him a few minutes." Zechs nodded slowly. Duo was not likely to be proud of how he'd exited the room in front of the other Gundam pilots. For some reason, his feisty little lover seemed determined to be his own man, maintaining his strong independence, even now that he was also committed to their new alliance, GAIA. Yet he wanted their approval... and his. Of the four Gundam pilots, Duo was the only one who would not wear any part of the new GAIA uniform. Quatre was the only other to wear the full uniform as Zechs did, feeling that he had to as the leadership committee's chairman. Trowa and Heero both wore the dark green uniform pants and the pale blue shirt and cravat along with the circular pewter pin for the alliance. But for more formal occasions, such as the weekly staff dinners, they wore the full uniform as well, though opting for the short pilot's jacket. Duo would only wear the pin on those occasions. [Perhaps he doesn't think he's contributing enough,] Zechs worried, although he couldn't see how that was a problem. Duo was everywhere in the hangar most days, applying his expert mechanic's skills right alongside the engineers. In fact, his familiarity with Deathscythe's cloaking mechanism that they were adding to all the other mobile suits surpassed Howard's, and they probably could not have done the others without Duo's knowledge. [I should have seen to it that he understood how critical he's been to our venture...] "Very well," he sighed, sitting down near Heero. "I'll wait for a bit here, but if he doesn't come back soon, I'd better see how he is." "Things roll off Duo pretty easily, so I'm sure he'll be back soon," Quatre said, smiling. He reached for Trowa's free hand and squeezed it. "Maybe we should sit down, too." "Oh, I meant to tell you two," Zechs added, looking over at the others. "Howard says that your Gundams are finished, ready for space and with all the additional improvements." Quatre's eyes lit up. "Really?" he asked, thrilled with the news. This was great for the alliance and for their relationship. It might solve some of Trowa's issues with over-protectiveness. "Gee, maybe we should go take a look, huh, Tro?" Quatre asked. Then he realized it was probably better anyway that they not be in the room when Duo returned. A room full of people staring at him wouldn't be the kind of reception Duo would want. Trowa exchanged a glance with his lover. "Yeah, let's go take a look," he murmured, nodding to indicate he understood. [Besides, Duo doesn't need us gawking at him... he'll be flinchy enough...] "We'll see you both later," Quatre said to Zechs and Heero. Then, to Zechs he added a bit softly, "I'm sure Duo will be back soon and he'll be just fine." With that he and Trowa left the room, excited to see the improvements to their Gundams. (TBC) Note: The GAIA uniform - long jacket style - strongly resembles the uniform Zechs wears in the series as the White Fang commander... and that long gray coat *is* the same one. So picture Zechs now dressed White Fang-ish, but the uniform is dark green, not dark brown. The pilots' uniform jacket is just waist-length, but mostly the same. The GAIA pewter pin is a "solar wheel" - an equal-armed cross inside a circle - with the addition of olive leaves wound around the circle. The circle represents their alliance, the equal-length arms of the cross represent the many origins of the personnel -Gundam pilots, OZ, rebels, etc. - and the olive branches represent their commitment to peace.
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