|
"Free Falling"Written By: Kaeru Shisho Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Gundam Wing
or its characters, nor do I make any monetary profit off this story. Rating: NC 17 Warnings: AU, rated for language, yaoi pairings Pairings: 2x1, 3x4 Summary: Duo searches for the key to happiness and love while free falling through life A/N: I couldn't have done this without Waterlily's
invaluable editing "Free Falling" Chapter Eight I hadn't finished my solo take on the last verse when I came aware of a hand wound around my arm and a different, but even more familiar, voice ringing in my head. "Nice warble, but you're flat. I know you can sing better than that." I heard a snap and the fog over my helmet facemask cleared. I hadn't even noticed my facemask clouding over. Heero! He tapped on my helmet. I could see him smile, his lips move. I synchronized that with what I was hearing. "Enjoy the fresh air while I acquaint you with the dangers of losing oxygen." I nodded, but not too vigorously. He was busy untangling me from hoses and talking. He could have read me the Preventers field manual and I would have loved it for just the sound of his voice. "I want you to listen and stay awake while I untangle you. Do not go unconscious on me, Maxwell!" He had my full and complete attention. "'kay." "If you get a small hole in your spacesuit, the oxygen flows out and the pressure drops. If the pressure drops too far, then you'll get the bends, and if it drops below about 2.5 psi, then you don't have enough oxygen to maintain useful consciousness." "No...perf..." What was that word? I couldn't concentrate at all. "...um... no...holes." "You didn't perforate your suit, but you ignored the signal to switch to the other air pack, which is why you're border-line irrational." "No signal." Unless that blinking light had been warning me of the reduced air supply? If so, then it had come too late. My judgment had already become impaired. "We'll, discuss that later. Possibly this was a defective helmet or possibly you weren't completely familiar with this style of pack. I shall illuminate you while completing your extraction." I wanted to ask about the terrorist ship. I fully intended to, but my mouth and brain weren't fully linked, so I listened instead. "This pack was fitted with a device called the Secondary Oxygen Pack, which is fully loaded with enough oxygen that it should be able to support a small leak for—depends on how small it is—but for at least 30 minutes-- giving you sufficient air to make it back to the airlock and re-pressurizing. A big leak—like a big hole in the suit, say a half-inch hole or something like that, or if your glove blew off—would pretty much be a real bad day for you." "Lucky... no hole." "Yes, and lucky that the flight crew of the shuttle knew how to disable the other ship's controls." I didn't understand what he meant. "The Shuttle crew used another operational arm to cut through the foreign robotic arm holding you. Unfortunately the arm didn't release, but stuck in grip mode. I've taken care of that." "Thanks." "No problem. You'll notice I don't tackle free space without a partner?" "Who?" "Wufei. Remember speaking to him?" Possibly? "Well, you did. He's right over there. See him?" I saw someone. "He's communicating with the shuttle to handle... a sensitive matter. Preventers agents are here and have containment on the terrorist ship. You did a good repair job out here, Duo. It's going to be okay." "Is it?" How about us? Without Heero in it, the future looked bleak to me, not that I could imagine much at the time. My brain hadn't come full-on yet. I felt him squeeze my arm and give me a shake, the tiniest of shakes, but still unmistakable. "You'll have to explain to me why it is you're out here without a buddy at your back. Risking your life!" "--Nothing to live for anyway—" Even I knew that sounded over the top, but for a minute in my fog-land it was as if he and I were back together. As the fresh oxygen clarified my neurons, reality began to close in around me. Heero was here acting in the capacity of his job. Not for me. "Don't give me that crap," he snapped then looked sorry he had. "Sorry. I forgot you haven't been brought up to speed on the latest information pertinent to you, as I have." "The ambassador's all right, isn't she?" It was a shot in the dark. I had no idea what Heero was getting at, so I drew from what experience of late I could. It was his turn to be confused. Good. The hard knot that was my guts and the rock in my throat all returned, reminding me that I wasn't his and that I had a child on the way to live for, which I hadn't at all come to terms with. "I need to get us to safety. Hold on while I secure a tether to you." And then we were literally bound together. His lifeline attached to me and his secondary reeled us over to an agency ship, much like the one Heero'd flown before and damaged in the collapsing substructure. There, I was discharged into a seat and ordered to "sit still and wait." As if I could go anyplace. "I'll be back," 'Ro promised. "Keep space-safe." He meant that I should stay in my suit. I could breath the ship's air, but I was to keep the tank supply at the ready. Too jacked up to close my eyes and cat nap, I fiddled with my suit to get the pack off so I'd fit more comfortably in the seat. I moved to get a better view and could see the terrorist's ship dragging behind another Preventers ship, linked by a towline. I watched until both ships had passed from view, reduced to mere dots of light before blinking out entirely. So, what was holding things up now? Ah, another ship. I made out the Preventers logo. Wow, we really rated to get this kind of attention! Not that I was eager to get to L4, but lingering in space limbo under the circumstances hurt so bad; like being tormented with a salt drip to a gaping wound. I knew from personal experience. Seeing Heero again, so soon after being shut out of his life forever, was the worst torture ever. I toyed with the desperate notion of ripping off my helmet and jumping ship into the void; an ugly act to ponder, I know, but then I was distracted by movement from the shuttle. Two figures emerged from the airlock wearing Preventers suit insignias. They used the Elevator to carry them to my ship. In the background I could make out the last-to-arrive security ship rising into my view from the far side of the shuttle. Both ships seemed to drift away, the one acting as escort to the shuttle, taking them both out of sight. The two agents passed through my airlock and joined me. It was Wufei and Heero. "You look better." Heero's eyes studied mine for alert signs, I think. I batted my eyelashes and smiled goofily. "I'm well enough to feel like nanobots had a party in my head." Wu bumped 'Ro hard enough to actually shove him aside. "Tell him, Heero." Oh, crapola. I was gonna be arrested for something. What was it? Oh, I told the bad guys the law was coming. But that was to get them to back off. Who'da thunk they'd attack rather than save their butts? "I will. You tell him what you told me first." Wufei seemed to sense my limited patience with this line of chatter and just did as Heero asked without further argument. "You executed an excellent repair to the shuttle. The commander reported the ship will be able to move under her own power all the way to L4. I understand that they can make up some time with a tighter flight plan and higher speed so that they'll only be a little over an hour behind schedule. The Commander extends his appreciation to you. The ambassador sends along her thanks as well." "Cool. He was great and his crew-- chill professionals all the way. The ambassador can go to hell for all I care. So, what am I doing here? Am I under arrest or something?" "Arrest? No! There's more to say. I--" "No, you idiot!" (meaning me in the role of "idiot") Heero broke in. "How do you come up with those ideas?" "Well, I'm here with two agents and not there on the shuttle to L4, so I reckon I'm being taken to jail or something. Not too stupid, I am." The last part I said in a funny "Yoda" voice, so I probably wasn't one hundred percent on-line mentally yet. "Tell him what's happened. Now!" Wufei ordered. I looked at Heero, still all suited up, as we all were for safety sake. I felt like we were in a puppet show making wide crazy, swiping arm movements like someone was pulling strings to control us. It made me feel a bit silly, or possibly the lack of oxygen damaged my brain permanently, but I curbed my giddiness, and pointed at Heero. "Your turn." "I will! I-I was just waiting to make sure he was thinking straight." Wufei laughed at him. "Then he'll never find out." "What's the big secret?" I was not in a fun and games kinda mood, despite how I was acting. "After you left," Heero began. "After you pushed me out. Let's get the facts straight." "Start before that, Yuy. Don't you know how to relate information? Forget it. I'll start it off." Wufei was better at this story-telling anyway. "I was at the house; this is before you came in. If you recall, we had planned to all go out to dinner? I arrived early to avoid getting a new assignment at work. Heero and I were reviewing his open work orders on his computer-- the ones I'll be taking over when he leaves and I return to my position in just a very, very few days-- when that woman arrived." Hilde. "She—" "I know what she told you," I cut in. "You don't need to go over all that. So, you were there all that time?" Wufei shook his head. "Yes, in the kitchen. I heard her claim, then took advantage of an opportunity and began a little research of my own." "Uh, huh." "By the time I'd found what I'd been looking for, you had already gone and Heero was in no condition to listen to what I had to say, regardless of how significant my information was." "I was—" Heero attempted to defend himself, but Wu was on a roll. "Despondent. Yes of course. Beyond listening to reason, that was for sure." "And the information was--?" I couldn't wait. What hadn't I filed on time? Had my license run out? "I'll get to that part in just a moment. I'm trying to maintain the proper continuity. So, in the meantime, an urgent notice came down the agency grapevine warning that the L3 ambassador was a target--," Wufei went on. "-- once again—" Heero added. "-- and Une started scrambling for an escort ship and two security racers. We were commanded to report to the office for assignment. " "We should have insisted on going to the shuttle launch site immediately; I never should have listened to Une," Heero grumbled. "Yes, were should have gone after Duo immediately. Instead, we followed orders and drove to the agency, where we offered to help out with the intention of meeting the other agents at the shuttle launch, finding you, and setting everything straight." "But your ship had already departed." Heero pounded the arm of the seat and broke it off. "I won't report that if you control yourself from here on out," Wu informed his fellow agent tartly. I caught the floating part and wedged it under my seat, out of the way. "Why? You guys hot on the trail for the ambassador or something?" "No!" They both shouted at me, although 'Ro was the one tagging on the "you, idiot!" part. "Uh, huh," was all I had to say. "The ambassador has nothing to do with what we are trying to tell you." "Good. She's not worth all the trouble, is my guess." "Duo!" Wufei got my attention. "I spoke to Hilde on the shuttle and she admitted that you weren't the father of her unborn child. There! Finally, it's said." My head started to spin. "Say...what?" Wu felt more like talking than Heero, who I was rather mad at for abandoning me to the first lady claiming I'd fucked her up and who knew I was hurting and mad at him about it in spite of my being grateful and thrilled to have had him save me. "She was desperate—" "Apparent-lee!" I said, battering the word, pulling out the last part and giving the word some of my attitude. Heero winced and looked glum, so it worked. "After you broke off with her and left her on L4, she discovered you'd emptied your apartment and weren't intending on ever coming back. Her world came crashing in on her." "What's the big deal? Didn't she think I'd help raise my own child, even without being forced into it? I'm not that much of a bastard to leave a friend in the lurch like that, and Quat would find her a new job and get her help, too. Damn, I don't like being used and insulted and," I glared at Heero just so he'd know I was including him in all this, "pushed around like a badly behaved kid without a lick of sense." "Kicked out like a dishonorable cur," Wu summed up. "I get it!" Heero said with an accompanying moan. "It wasn't like that. I made a mistake, a huge one. I just reacted. I was on this high over us and then Hilde showed and nearly blew me away." "He sounds just like you, Duo, you know?" Wu was making fun of Heero in a strange counterpoint to our serious conversation. Maybe it was his way of lightening up the atmosphere and keeping us from saying anything we'd regret later. Heero tried out a weak smile. "I soak up your quirks. I can't help it, Duo; I love your funny habits." I smiled a bit back at him. "I guess it was a bit of a shock to hear all that from her, out of the blue and all. The fact that it could be believable, well, that was my doing, my mistake. I never should have tried keeping both of you secret. I just didn't...think." "I didn't believe her for a second." Wufei had to be extremely proud of this from the look of his stiff uplifted chin. "The moment she made that claim, I had my doubts. One check to the Preventers health records—" "You read my file? That's illegal! You broke the law? I can't get over Wu-man here breaking the law!" "Piffle! Heero has all kinds of clearance. I only had to use his ID—" "How did you do that? I don't recall sharing that information with you." Heero seemed glad to have the heat put on someone else for a change. "I used your laptop. It was in the kitchen where you had been working while we were waiting for Duo to come home. And since you were already logged into your virtual office, I just took advantage of your security gaffe and helped myself." His smug smile encompassed his face. "I'm getting that job back in two days anyway. Now, aren't you interested in what my research uncovered that closed the case on her claim?" "Yeah." "Not really," I said. "I can guess, figuring I gotta pretty fucked up sperm count. Professor G told me how my little buddies wouldn't probably make it through the war, seeing as how I'd get enough irradiation out in space to fry 'em all. Not that it made a difference to me. I hardly thought I'd make it out at all. Anyway, just talk to Quat about all his sisters and how L4 deals with the problems they've got." "Most of us have that problem," Wu said, "Not Heero. Thank Doctor J for that." Heero shuffled his feet and stared blankly out the small porthole window into the darkness. "I'm sorry, Duo. I was an idiot and treated you unfairly. I can only hope that someday you'll—" "Shut it, 'Ro. We were both played. It's not something we can't get past." His grateful smile told me he agreed. "I want to." "Yeah. And on the plus side for you, you did answer the cap'n's call pretty quick and saved my life." Before we became too sappy, though, Wu started back on telling their story. "Perhaps the shuttle sent out an emergency call for help, but we got there that fast because Une already had ships in pursuit and we were on one, this one, in fact, so you have her to thank." "Oh. Ah, so my singing didn't bring you either?" "I'm sure it made the news," Heero said with a wistful, funny little smile. "It did." Wufei sat back. 'Nuff said, I guess. "While the other agents secured the attacking vessel, Heero and I rescued you. As soon as I could see you were in good hands, I confronted Hilde. She broke down and told the truth once she saw how devoted the two of you were. Apparently, she was about to tell you the truth on the shuttle, when the attack interrupted her. Believe that or not." "I'll never send you away again, if you'll take me back?" Heero promised. "I'll take you on your back or front or—" "Stop!" Wufei cried out. "Save it for when you two are alone. Please. For me." That deserved a show of sloppy kisses and some passionate loving, but we had to settle for warm looks and chaste touches through our big, fat gloves and helmets. "Which reminds me," Wufei muttered. "You ought to do something about the media transmitter, Yuy." Media--? The news bug! "Heero? That annoying parasite was yours?" "It belonged to the Preventers!" He looked rather pale. "It was assigned to the ambassador. We re-programmed it to stick with the shuttle." "You did, not I!" And did Wu looked terribly pleased to have distanced himself from the bug. "It was not helping me," I assured 'Ro. "I was trying to cut into your communication stream and talk to you, but—" "You shut down Joel! That's why I couldn't hear the shuttle crew!" Heero appeared chagrined. His ego was going to need a little help after this day, I could tell. Wu grinned in satisfaction. "Joel? First name basis with him?" I punched Wu's arm. "Not the point." "I thought you'd understand when I cued in the music." Ah, geez. How could I be mad when 'Ro looked like a kicked puppy? At least now I'd have something to counter all his claims that I'd taken too many risks. When we got back together. "Where we going?" I had to know. "Home. We're going home, Duo." End, Chapter Eight. TBC
|
