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"The Preventer Special Ops Vignettes"Written By: Dùlin
Archive: This arc is archived on this site with permission. Do not reproduce it anywhere without permission. Disclaimer : Gundam Wing ? Not mine ! Not mine
! *whines* Why ? Rating: Mostly PG for the moment, for bad words, ratings may come up in future vignettes. Warnings: Original Character POV, bad humour, some yaoi implications, and slaughter of a paramilitary organization. Probably some violence and language as the arc develops, but nothing too heavy. A tad angsty too, but really, I'm doing this for fun and relaxation so be prepared for anything. Pairings : rumored, hinted at, implied, drooled upon 1x2, 3x4, 5xS and 6x9 Spoilers: probably some for the whole series Notes: This story is set as a canon continuation beginning in AC 201. The five G-boys, Zechs and Noin are all Preventers and elite members of the famous Special Ops. They are also instructors for the newest members of that elite team. The series will not really deal with personal relationships strictly speaking. It will follow the point of view of several OCs, with some exceptions, and mostly deal with how people would react to working with the boys. And mostly, it is supposed to be at least a bit funny. *runs away from her angst muse* Thanks : Karina, Cozzy Bob, Winged Kitty, MORgan,
Deb, Sakusha, and everyone who reads.
The Preventer Special Ops Vignettes Vignette # 10
Vignette #9 - ‘Say aaaah!’ I look around at the pale yellow walls. I’m in the Special Ops medical ward’s waiting room, along with four other agents, to undergo the compulsory medical examination. In fact, the whole week’s been hectic as hell. First, something apparently came up in mission terms, because Chang, Maxwell and Yuy had to take off at the beginning of the week. Their classes were cancelled, of course. Well, we hadn’t done anything with Chang apart from physical training yet, but it means, no Demolition, no Stealth, very little Infiltration since Barton and Maxwell teach those two together, no Weapons (we haven’t really started that one yet, so that’s okay), and no Computers since Winner doesn’t want to start it without Yuy here. The only things that remained were Close Combat, taught both by Barton and Winner, and Strategics and Command for me as a bonus (or not, I can’t say yet if I like it). And the physical training. Loads of physical training. I’ve seen much more of Barton in the last week than I have since the beginning of the training. It doesn’t mean that I understand the guy any better. He’s still as cool-headed as a lizard. In fact, he kind of makes me think of a snake, coiled and ready to strike at the first threat. He’s kind of nice, really, if you look at him a certain way, I even saw him smile to Winner in the locker room and it changes his whole face, like it’s lighting up from the inside. Then he saw me, and it was lizard-face again. Because of the disruption of schedule, Po decided that it was the perfect time for the medical examination. Of course we have to be fit to have been accepted in Preventers, and believe me, no sissy can ace those tests for the Special Ops. No matter how much I dislike some of the guys who entered, they got good grades, so it means they know what they’re doing and they’re good at it. It’s just too bad some of them are a bit too conscious of their own, sometimes over-inflated value. Still, I heard Po saying that it was not so bad to have the examination now, before Martial Arts started, because Chang can’t stand having unfit students in his class. Guess I know now why half of the people around headquarters call him Mr. Tightass behind his back. So, this morning, with the 16 remaining survivors from the first week, I did another obstacle course, but this time with electrodes all over me that were supposed to register my cardiac rhythm, my respiration rate and all that jazz, and send it to a nice spiffing computer that would process it and feed the results to the nice Preventer doctors. Then, a shower, a fifteen-minute break to get some food, and off we go to the Medical Center, waiting to be called into Po’s ward. I am currently trying to answer the questions on a paper Barton gave us in our last Infiltration class. Another psych test, since he doesn’t want to go much further without Maxwell. A psych test with lots of personal questions that don’t seem to be related to one another, like ‘Do you have cramps when you get your periods ?’, and ‘List your phobias exhaustively’. I know we must all have looked at him quite stupidly, and even a bit angrily when we read the stuff, because Barton actually smiled. For real. No, I am not joking and I didn’t smoke or drink or anything. “Those questions are not supposed to be traps”, he said. “I know they may seem quite indiscrete, but I need to know if you are going to shriek like a banshee if a spider gets in your vision scale or not. Everything you write down will remain strictly confidential. I am not here to make you uncomfortable, but to discern your potential as infiltrators. Believe me when I tell you I need to know. I am sure I am as ecstatic about asking the ladies about their periods as they are about answering me.” This lightened the atmosphere a bit, and he said that since we didn’t have much to do anyway, we could take our time filling the papers. Since we are called in alphabetical order, and I know I’ll have to wait, it seemed wise to take it here. I snort to myself as I read that question about periods again, then, after an intense bout of reflection, scribble down ‘moronophobia’ under ‘List your phobias exhaustively’. If I am honest with myself, that’s the only reasonable thing to be afraid of. **** “Agent Isozaki, please ?” I look up from my psych test to find Po waiting for me in the doorway. I get up, and she invites me inside before closing the door. “Take a seat, please”, she says with a smile. “I’m sorry about the long wait, my only assistant is sick today, I’ve gotta do everything myself.” “It’s nothing”, I answer, and I wave the test around. “I had something to occupy my mind.” “Oh, Trowa gave you those goddamn awful questions of his, I see”, she laughs. “Did he give you the matching ‘I hate to be that indiscrete’ speech, too ?” “Yes, he did.” “He means it, you know”, she says, sobering a bit. “In fact, he will only keep the details that can help him in his work, and destroy the rest. Even I am not allowed access to those tests.” “Oh. Good.” I don’t know why I said that, it just seemed dumb to let this hanging in the air. “Well, I’ve had a look at your test results and file”, Po keeps on, and now she’s all professional. “Quite impressive. Where are you from, exactly ?” “Here. I was born in Sank.” She looks puzzled, and takes an X-ray out of the file on her desk. “Really ? Your bone density is more closely related to that of a space citizen.” I sigh and give the speech I’ve been giving about a thousand times before. “My whole family are colonists, from the L1 cluster. My parents were visiting Sank when I decided to get out. They liked the place, so they decided to stay here. I spent most of my life on Earth.” “Oh, and there I was wondering if my brand new scanner wasn’t going haywire. I’m relieved.” She puts the X-rays down and smiles at me. “I’m glad we have more and more people from Earth here. Colonists are wonderful agents, but some of them do not really think of Earth as their homeland. Of course, since Earth nations have oppressed them, it’s kinda logical, but … they miss the motivations to defend that planet, sometimes.” I know I shouldn’t say it, but I can’t help myself. “Probably didn’t help that someone from here offered to help them blow it up either, ne ?” Okay, I must have taken her by surprise, because she raises both eyebrows. “You mean, Commander Peacecraft ?”, she says. “What do you think of him, exactly ?” I shrug. “He’s a psycho.” Now she looks frankly amused. I don’t know why, but she sure looks like she enjoys this. And I have to take the bait, of course. I am not known for being disobedient or anything, but I hate licking anyone’s boots. If I have something to say, then I say it. And Merquise, or Peacecraft, whatever his name is, is a psycho. They all are, for what it’s worth. I don’t mean it in a bad way, that’s just the truth. “You really think he is ?”, Po asks. My turn to raise a sarcastic eyebrow. “Well, isn’t he ?” Her smile turns a bit feral. She’s enjoying this as much as I am. God, if she wasn’t supposed to be my superior, I’d love to get sloshed with her. I bet she’s got some good ass-kicking stories to tell. “What makes you say that ?”, she says. “Well, I think wearing a mask for ten years, fighting in Oz, then taking your own name back, going into space to lead a minority rebel faction and threatening your home planet with destruction could be enough to qualify for Psycho of the Year, ne ?” She burst out laughing, and I smile, a bit relieved. I sure wouldn’t have liked to get kicked out just because of that, but I’m not gonna stop saying the truth and start cowering in front of authority. “And you don’t mind serving under a psycho ?”, she asks once she sobers up again. I shrug once more. “He probably had reasons that seemed perfectly valid to him at the time”, I answer. “And I can’t pretend to have been the sanest of people myself, I mean, I dropped school at 17 to go pilot choppers and planes, and mobile suits for a rebel group against my parents’ wishes after all.” “He’s gonna love talking with you if he ever
gets the chance, Agent Isozaki. Not a lot of people have the guts
to tell him that to his face. Okay let’s move on to our physical
now.” “Wait, weren’t you supposed to send me talking to some shrink, or something ?” “You haven’t seen enough of them ?” “Well, sure I have, but I thought it was procedure to …” She smiles, a weird smile. “There is procedure … and there is the way we enforce it, Agent Isozaki”, she says. “After all, as you put it so clearly, we are psychos here. Yeah, I know that you didn’t say it that clearly”, she adds when I start shaking my head, “but let’s not forget that we were all teenage terrorists in some ways. I know I am through with procedure as far as MY ward is concerned. I technically should send you to a psychologist, but I trust my judgement, and so do Commander Peacecraft and Commander Noin. I’ve heard enough. If your results are satisfying, you’re welcome to join the club.” I know I have the stupidest smile ever on my face, but that’s not every day someone tells you that, heh ? **** “Say aaaah.” I obediently open my mouth and produce the wanted sound while Po looks at my throat. She did a complete check up, verified my vaccinations, asked me about childhood diseases or possible invalidating conditions. But I am not asthmatic, not allergic to anything as far as I know, do not suffer from claustrophobia since that would make it hard to be a pilot, and so on. I answer her questions as she pokes and prods, mostly coming up with a satisfied smile every time. “You’re in good shape, Agent Isozaki”, she says as proudly as if she were talking of herself. “But then, I suppose you keep yourself in shape.” “Mahshal ahts moshtly”, I try to say around the tongue depressor. “What ?” She takes the stuff out of my mouth. “I said, martial arts mostly.” “Wu’s gonna love that”, she mutters. “Okay, urine and blood samples and I stop bothering you!” “What are they for ?” “Drug detection”, she says lightly. I guess she must have many irritated agents trying to protest they are clean. I don’t. I’ve never done any hard stuff, I don’t drink when on duty, I used to smoke pot during the war, but I stopped when I realized it slowed my reflexes. I’m not on any kind of medication that could make me come out positive to opiates or anything else. And I honestly don’t wanna make it hard for her nor make us lose any of our time, because it’s precious, so I give out my bodily fluids diligently. As I get dressed, she speaks again. “Did you see Agent Simmons recently ?” I frown. I’m sure the story has buzzed all around headquarters by now. In fact, I even heard someone telling another agent I had headbutted Pete after having handcuffed him to his locker, so God only knows how I’m gonna find a man with that kind of reputation. “No”, I say shortly. “Ah. Do you two …” “Just drop it, okay ? He’s still my friend, no matter how stupidly he behaves. He just knows I need time to cool off. If he tried to apologize now, I’d probably give him a shiner to go with the bruise anyway, so …” I wave the rest of my sentence away. Po just nods with a smile. “I see. Sorry if I was meddly.” I smile back. “Not sure you were only doing your job”, I say, “but I understand. It won’t affect my performance, and as long as he grovels at my feet for penance, we’ll be fine.” She laughs, and I join her. **** As she escorts me outside, we find Yuy and Maxwell in the waiting room. Yuy is holding a bloodied rag to his upper left arm. Po sighs and crosses her arms on her chest. “What was it this time ?”, she asks, lassitude in her voice. “Bullet”, Yuy answers. “It’s only a flesh wound, but Duo insisted …” Maxwell snorts and rolls his eyes. “Completely hopeless”, he mutters loud enough for everyone to hear, but no one except Po dares laugh. “You guys should have knocked. Get in.” I begin to make my way out, but can’t help overhearing the rest of the conversation. “By the way, Hee-chan, you owe me ten bucks ! Remember the bet ? Ten out by the end of the first week ? Pay up, Yuy !” “No way. You didn’t win.” “What ?”, in a strangled gasp. “You bet that there would be ten out of the training by the end of the first week. There are only seventeen of them left. That’s twenty-three out.” A silence, then choked laughter. “You bastard !” ~ * ~
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