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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 "
Once Quatre had herded the group to the usual conference room, chatting still with Sally at the same time he directed a passing underling to send some refreshments in, everyone sat down. Quatre himself sat at the head of the table with Trowa beside him, then Zechs on the other side of Trowa. Sally sat on Quatre's other side, and after a sullen pause, Wufei sat beside her. "Where's that Duo?" Wufei muttered just as Quatre was about to launch into another greeting. The Chinese pilot had little interest in political niceties, though he was puzzled as hell as to why the Arabian was apparently taking charge. He slid his glance over to the tall base commander, expecting to be answered. When Quatre paused, glancing his way as well, Zechs cleared his throat and ventured to explain. "Cooling off, I hope," he replied calmly. "He and Heero will be here in a few minutes." Quatre leaned over to Zechs. "I hope you're right. I sensed Heero was very angry with Duo," he said in a low voice. "Yes, well, I'm looking forward to meeting Heero, and so is Wufei," Sally said, nodding to her friend. "Is he fully recovered from Siberia?" Zechs nodded, exchanging a glance with Trowa. "He seems to be. His left arm was still healing when he came here with Trowa, but he seems to have all his strength in it back. Amazing recovery." "He sure was a mess," Trowa offered, nodding. "In fact he lay in a coma for a month." "I see," Sally said with a nod. [These boys are so proud I think they'd suffer in silence before admitting to a handicap.] "Well, perhaps if he's receptive, I could take a look later. I am a doctor and it would be good to check to be sure everything's healed properly." "Oh, thank you, Miss Po," Quatre said. [She's eager to help us. I think she must want to join our alliance.] "That's right, Heero said you were a medical doctor!" Zechs exclaimed, amazed. "We have no doctor here, only medics. If anyone was really injured, they'd have to be airlifted to Capetown, a two-hour flight." [Now they're going to do everything they can to make her stay,] Wufei mused to himself, arms crossed over his chest in an obvious gesture of rejection. [Why did I come here? Because that girl was so insistent... that Relena. I don't even know how she found us. No matter, I'll be leaving as soon as I can. Sally can do as she pleases! I don't need allies!] "Your closest medical facility is two hours away?" Sally asked, stunned. [In a real emergency they'd lose lives...] She considered the situation. Yes, she needed to join with them, but Wufei was still a concern. His body language was screaming "no!" "I've been interested in meeting up with Heero Yuy again since I first saw him in an Alliance hospital. I was getting the most amazing readings from him... but I didn't get to study him long since another boy came and rescued him." [Talk about fearless. They both jumped off that building like nothing could hurt them, but Heero didn't open his chute...] "That was Duo!" Quatre said, excitedly. He remembered hearing the story from his friend, and felt good about mentioning Duo right now, since it seemed he was in a bit of trouble with Heero. "I heard he broke into that facility and actually blew the wall out for them to escape. He saved Heero's life!" At that moment the door opened. Heero peered in as everyone turned to stare at him, then he gave the group a terse nod of the head as he lumbered over to take a seat... leaving the one next to Zechs empty for Duo. That is, in case Duo was coming, which at this point, he doubted. "No blood, that's a good sign," Trowa murmured, winking at his lover. Quatre nudged his boyfriend under the table with his foot. He couldn't believe Trowa was actually joking, but he loved it. In the spirit of this good humor, Quatre shook his head and mouthed the word "shush" as he suppressed a giggle. Zechs relaxed a bit as he spoke to their guests. "I'd like you both to meet Heero Yuy, pilot of Wing Gundam," he introduced the newcomer, then eyed him curiously to gauge his mood. [What the hell went on between him and Duo? And where is Duo?] "You apparently remember me," Sally said, smiling sweetly at the boy. "I'm Sally Po. I was the doctor in attendance when you were being held at the Alliance medical facility. I'm glad to see you're doing so well." Heero narrowed his eyes for a moment, then replied, "So you were the doctor that had me strapped down on a table and let me bleed from gunshot wounds while you did your 'tests'?" "Well, that was for your safety as much as ours," Sally said, chuckling, not fazed at all by the sharp retort. "We had every reason to believe that you were dangerous. Or were we mistaken?" The dark-haired Japanese boy ducked his head. "No. I'm sorry, that was rude of me to bring that up. It was war, after all." He raised his chin, nodding at the smiling woman. "You saved a lot of lives at New Edwards by alerting us. Thank you. And you're welcome at this base." More than one person breathed a sigh of relief that Heero backed down from his angry stance. [Duo really got to him,] Zechs wondered, tapping a finger idly on the table. [Maybe Duo's too embarrassed by all that's happened to show up,] he added to himself. [I need time with him... I need to *make* time for him...] "Thank you, Heero. It's good to finally catch up with you..." Sally replied, and then, looking around the table, she added, "...and your friends." [Though that other one hasn't joined us yet. I wonder... maybe they're not all getting along?] She turned, her posture confident and straight as she gestured to her coolly quiet companion. "Well, we were introduced to you, but you weren't to us. This is Chang Wufei, pilot of the Shenlong Gundam." Heero lifted his eyes to meet the intense, black ones of the other pilot. For an instant, there was sharp challenge, soldier to soldier, then it was replaced with wonder. Heero widened his eyes a little; this boy was curious about him? Wufei, who wanted to leave this place with every fiber in his being, nevertheless allowed himself to take a real look at this Heero Yuy person of whom Sally spoke so highly. He hadn't expected to see a powerful warrior graced with such beauty. Surprised, he took in the lush, dark satin hair, the heavy brows, the dark Prussian blue pools of his eyes... the small sensual mouth. [Oh... my...] Then the moment, a mere couple seconds, was broken as Wufei blinked, turning the apparition back into a very dangerous Gundam pilot of famous repute. "At last we meet, Heero," he murmured, the wariness returning to his expression. Heero blinked a couple times and wondered why he felt warm all of a sudden. "Wufei..." Then he shook his head, dispelling the strange feeling. "I know it was a shock to discover Gundam pilots teaming up with refugees from OZ, but we truly do have the same enemy now." He nodded in the base commander's direction. "Zechs can tell you what he knows of what's going on with OZ." [Wow!] Quatre thought as his heart pounded a little hard against his chest. [What... what was that?] He raised his hand, placing it over his left breast and looked between the boys again. He was sure he'd seen something in their eyes. Some hint of... attraction? It had happened so fast, that had it not been for his heart sense he probably would've missed it and most certainly have doubted it. [I guess Heero's finally met his match in this Chinese boy.] Zechs had been absorbed in watching the intense gaze that went between the two boys. [Oh, now this is interesting... Chang likes what he sees, eh? Did you know your dragon liked boys, Treize?] He suppressed a smirk, then glanced at Quatre who was fairly staring at Wufei. When the little blond glanced over at him, Zechs gave him a wink. "I have lots of questions," Wufei admitted, a bit flustered. He frowned when Sally beside him gave him a playful poke. [What the hell was that for?] "Like what the hell does OZ think is going on down here?" Quatre ducked his head to swallow a grin. [Zechs saw it, too!] He quickly recovered though, and stepped into his role as the chair of the GAIA leadership committee to answer the newcomer's question. "Well, let's just say OZ and Romefeller have no knowledge of the activities of this base. We're a well-kept secret. We've already successfully repelled one OZ attack and will be prepared within the week to make our next move." "They don't know? But you just said you were attacked..." Wufei scowled at the Arabian, bewildered. "Are you joining our alliance, Wufei?" Heero spoke up, leaning forward a little to regard the black-haired pilot intently. "Just a while ago I believe you thought this was an OZ base. Possibly you are our enemy. You can't think we'd divulge all our secrets just because you're asking questions?" Wufei stared at Heero in amazement, but it was Zechs who spoke up next. "We know you're not an enemy, Wufei," the older pilot hastened to reassure him. "Just know that Romefeller doesn't know of our existence yet through careful planning. What's more important is why we're allying against Romefeller." Zechs stopped tapping. "Let me ask you something... you've seen Duo's Gundam before. Did it look any different to you?" The Shenlong pilot's black eyes narrowed suspiciously as he remembered the changes in Deathscythe. A slow, deep breath filled the lungs of the black-clothed Gundam pilot as he stood in the hall, staring at the closed door. The meeting was going on without him, but he was sure his presence was expected. He just needed to get up the will to open the door and go inside. [Heero would like me to show up with my tail between my legs. But I'll be damned if I'm gonna apologize to him one more time today!] Normally Duo would storm into a room, braid flying, and mouth spouting sarcastic remarks. But he wasn't feeling quite himself right now. The rematch still itched at the back of his mind, and he scratched his head trying to ease that memory. It was clear why he had lost his concentration and forfeited the match... as clear as two crystal blue eyes. [Zechs... It's getting harder all the time to be together and be in this war.] Then, Zechs's words from later that afternoon came back to him. "He took your aggressive approach for an attack run," he'd said to Duo over the radio, trying to get the boy to stop his attack on the Shenlong Gundam. [What was I doing? God, I hate it when I second-guess myself!] Duo knew now he had misjudged the situation. That he'd only been interested in one thing... fighting. [Shit! I am NOT apologizing again!] With another deep breath, Duo opened the door and stepped into the room. He was just in time to hear Zechs ask Wufei about his Gundam. "And speak of the devil... here I am!" "You're not the devil, Duo," Zechs countered with a little smile. "Just the God of Death." "What?" Wufei asked, indignant, then looked blackly at the newcomer. "You nearly killed me with that... thing!" "You attacked first, Wufei," Heero reminded him. Duo shot Heero a bewildered look. "Huh?" [He just read me the riot act and now he's siding with me?!] Since no one else had heard their conversation, Heero's remark was easily accepted by the others. [I'll have to think about this later...] He turned his attention back to the Chinese boy. The look in his black eyes was powerful enough to make Duo remember every detail of their brief battle. "Listen, mister," he said, putting his fists on his hips. "You attacked me! And the God of Death doesn't back down for anyone!" [What is this 'God of Death' nonsense?] Wufei had been wondering, bewildered. And more confusing was how Heero was apparently sticking up for Duo, though hadn't he just been angry with him down in the hangar? [What did go on down there?] He had no time to ruminate further, shoving back his chair as he leaped to his feet. "You were gunning for me like a bat out of hell!" "And don't you forget it!" Duo shouted right back. His body was leaning forward just a bit as though he was about to jump his adversary. "Wufei!" Sally cried out, trying to stop the situation from escalating into another fight. "Hey, you guys, the battle's over." She touched Wufei's forearm. "Please... We didn't come all this way to fight." By now Zechs was at Duo's elbow, ready to pull him back in case the lithe, black-garbed pilot launched himself across the table at his nemesis. "Duo, please," he murmured to him quickly. "Take it easy! Sally's right, the battle is *over*." The younger man growled at his opponent and then slowly relaxed his posture. "Okay," Duo said, breathing out and then looked up into his lover's eyes. "Okay, Zechs," he said again, nodding. Zechs wanted to hug his lover; that was a lot for Duo to put aside right now. [I'm definitely setting aside time for him after this,] he reminded himself. Wufei glared at Duo a moment longer, but the older soldiers' comments reminded him of his training. There wasn't any sense in continuing this animosity, and it was useless at this point anyway. Hanging onto negativity was not good, a lesson he'd already had to learn the hard way after his defeat in the duel with Treize. After that he'd become unable to fight until he'd come across Sally Po and her band of rebels. He glanced at Heero again. [He is so calm,] he noted of the intense boy he found so amazing. [Yet he is so focused! I need to learn to be calm... like he is.] Taking a deep breath, Wufei relaxed his expression and bowed to Duo. "I apologize. I should not have attacked first." Duo blinked, several times, before the apology totally registered. "Wow... okay." He looked to Zechs again, the man was always a grounding force in his life, and then he looked back and caught Quatre's glance. The little Arab was subtly gesturing for him to do something. Duo cocked his head, not understanding. Then suddenly it clicked. "Oh!" he said, smiling and then turning his gaze to Wufei again. "Thank you. Yeah, we both could've handled that differently." Wufei lowered his gaze to the side, still unhappy. "It's useless to continue the confrontation now. It would serve no purpose." Zechs put a hand to Duo's elbow. "We must remember," he murmured warmly, "that we are working at the business of peace now. War is not the emphasis. Fighting no longer holds all the answers for us." It was a subtle reminder that a good portion of their "war" would take place behind the scenes in Bremen... and perhaps already had. And they, too, would resort to non-combative methods to achieve the fall of the Romefeller Foundation. Wufei glanced over at his friend; Sally was still giving him a hard look. [Right,] he sighed to himself, acknowledging that the time to fight had indeed passed. He resumed his seat, avoiding everyone's glance... except Heero's. After everyone sat down, Quatre began again, feeling that everyone was finally ready to listen to each other. "We're very pleased that you've joined us here at Barclay Base," he said, smiling at Sally and Wufei. "We've been here several weeks now and have put the time to good use... including making improvements to our Gundams as Zechs mentioned earlier." Quatre still wasn't ready to tell the newcomers everything about their operation, but he thought it important to share the news regarding Romefeller's plans for mobile doll production in outer space. It was nearly an hour later before the meeting adjourned. Sally and Wufei had been stunned to hear of Romefeller's plans in space. The news had hardened the Chinese boy's facial expression again, and Quatre could feel his anger. [I'll have to ask Trowa if he knows Wufei's story...] It seemed clear that Sally Po would join the GAIA alliance, though she had not yet said as much, but Chang Wufei appeared far too independent for such cooperation. [Maybe Heero could talk to him? He was just as reluctant to join us in the beginning.] As everyone began to disperse, Quatre offered to escort Sally and Wufei to their guest quarters, and even went so far as to invite them to share their evening meal with him and Trowa. Sally readily agreed, but Wufei informed them that he would be spending the evening alone. [Hmm... the way he's been watching Heero, I doubt that.] Zechs, to Duo's surprise, excused himself from joining the others for dinner, though as his hand was on Duo's shoulder when he said this, it was clear he included Duo in the excuse. Heero, also to their surprise, expressed an interest in accompanying Sally to dinner, though Quatre suppressed a giggle when he saw yet another very interesting glance exchanged between Heero and Wufei. When Duo looked up at Zechs in bewilderment, the older pilot leaned down closer to speak to him more privately. "If you want to be part of the group you may, of course," he murmured, the touch on the shoulder shifting into a minute caress. "I think we need some time alone together. It's been a very stressful day, don't you think?" He looked at his little lover intently, searching his eyes. Duo nearly melted into a puddle in the middle of the conference room floor. That voice! Those eyes! And an invitation from his lover he couldn't refuse. "I'd really like that, Zechs. Just you and me," he said, smiling and still melting. "Is that what it looks like?" Sally said in an aside to Quatre, glancing back at the tall base commander and the fiery little pilot he'd planted his hand so firmly upon. "Oh, yeah," Quatre snickered, slipping his hand into Trowa's as they left for the dining hall. Beside him, Heero snickered as well, but hid it behind his hand, extending his other arm for Sally to take as he escorted her out. Wufei had already ducked out, heading straight for Nataku where he planned to spend the rest of the evening meditating. (tbc)
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