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"Alternative Directions: Options "Written By: Karina Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or the lovely
boys and their girls in the series. Wish I did. Please don't sue me.
I haven't even got a brass razoo to give you. Rating: Deffinately PG in Australia, at the moment,
but probably safer to say R for later chapters. Not sure about international
ratings Warnings: It will be 6x2, even though it does
not start out that way. After all, Zechs and Duo never met in Gundam
Wing and only spoke briefly over a com line in Endless Waltz. I've
tried to keep them in character as I saw them in the series. A bit
of language creeping in under stressful conditions. Pairings: eventual 6x2, past 2xH, 2+H,6x9, 1+R
Summary: Directions is set post Endless Waltz
and roughly 2 years have passed. Zechs and Noin are on Mars and Duo,
after spending some time with Hilde in a relationship leaves L2 to
join Preventers. Hilde was not happy about his decision. I guess enough
said. Here t'is, and I hope you like it. This is also AU for the standard
setting, as well as the series and Endless Waltz. Spoilers: Gundam Wing Series and Endless Waltz Many thanks to Dulin for volunteering to beta this. //... // thoughts
"Alternative Directions: Options"
Chapter 120 Mars Colony Base Dome 2nd March AC 198 Time: 01: 20 [approx Sanc time 23:13] Giles // I know that I was not hallucinating. It was there, on the floor not a meter away from me. I saw a knife in that hallway and I saw the gunman drop it. Everything was … odd … weird, but … I saw it. I know that it was there and I know that it's not there now and that going back there again to search for it will not help. The only solution is that someone must have come into the hallway while we were settling Zechs for treatment and they must have taken it. Why? The obvious answer is not good. It suggests that we more than likely have another Sleeper stalking the sub base and I can not leave Zechs unattended. // His gaze flicked back to the blonde lying on the hospital bed, bare-chested except for the heavy bandages bracing his shoulder and the sterile pads covering the raw wounds that resulted from their crawl through the air vents. The blonde still looked like death warmed over but at least he was no longer that disturbing green shade and though he was pale he was at least not ice cold to touch. //Really, you have done enough. I should not want you to get up off that bed and leap back into the fight. It's not fair to you.// Much as he might wish it he was doubtful that Zechs was going to be of any use during the next stage of the fight against the ESUN Agents. Admittedly the man did look better now than he had when they had been in the hallway when he had been searching him for the bullet wound the surgeon had claimed he had suffered. His skin colour had improved and his temperature had risen so that he was not cold to touch, all indications that he was improving but the man had not moved since the surgeon had left the room. Not a good sign that he was going to be able to even advise on what needed to be done. There was also the unknown state of the man's mind to be considered. Just what had happened out in the hallway? It was all weird. Unreal. Even his memory of the events seemed wrong somehow. Confused. He still felt disoriented though that too was improving and he was confident that he himself was up to continuing this fight. The problem was that he had been placed on Mars solely for the purpose of bodyguarding the former Prince of Sanc. Raydon's instruction were very specific about that. He rubbed at the stubble making his jaw itch and rested his head back against the wall. He was tired. He had been up late the night before and risen early as part of the maintenance team to work outside the dome and it had been a very long and active day. Idleness at this quiet time was sapping his adrenaline charged system of much needed energy, leaving him lethargic. He needed sleep but there was no chance that that was going to happen until they had resolved this conflict and for him that meant that the ESUN agents had to be taken out and the Sleepers must be dealt with. Nor would that action present him a chance to rest. He needed to get Merquise into security quarters and tucked away safely for the night. For all of that to happen he needed help. Help it was fairly clear that Merquise was not going to be capable of giving. // I don't know what to do. I can't finish this on my own and while I know that there is help coming I don't know if we have the time to wait for them. I can't leave you here. Not in your condition. Not alone. I can't leave you without someone I can trust to watch you and the only one I could trust is not here. I don't even know if he is alive.// He was, to all intents and purposes, on his own. Barker and at least two others were coming to help but he had no idea where they were or when they would arrive. Or if they would arrive. They had to get into the dome, into the hydroponics unit and into the sub base before they had a chance of joining up together. That was a lot of ground to cover with hostile units of unknown number between them. //I want you awake and active and I know that I should be hoping that you will agree to stay out of what is to come. If I could find a nice safe place and stash you there I would be a lot happier but I would need to be assured that you would not crawl out on your hands and knees to offer a helping hand and get yourself caught or hurt worse than you are now. I either would need to garner your word of honour to stay put or hope that you remain unconscious while I dealt with the situation. // He slipped to the door and listened to the sounds of movement beyond. He really did not like the idea of being trapped here. The treatment room had two doors, the one through which he had entered and the one across the room from which the doctor had fetched medications and bandages to use in treating the blonde. Whether the next room had an exit or not that was less than public he did not know. He had not dared as yet to turn his back on the blonde for fear of leaving him alone. He was afraid that when Zechs woke he would be disoriented enough to be a danger to anyone who approached him, no matter their intentions. The man was ex-Specials and they had a nasty reputation amid the medical system. There were a couple of ex-Specials elites on Station One and both had had nasty reactions to coming out of anaesthetic after treatment. There was a standing alert through the medical bay on the Station when one of the elite soldiers who had joined them required medical treatment. When they got him back to Station there was no doubt that Zechs would have his name added to the alert list should he require medical treatment. //Nor is it just the Specials who require such cautious handling. We have Alliance elites too and they are just as bad when they are disorientated. Hit out first and find a secure place to assess the situation seems to be the standard training for those men and women. I was good but not in the same league as them and certainly not in the same class as Merquise. What must he be like if he has a nightmare? God, I'd hate to have to be the one to deal with him. Noin must be strong and good herself to have survived such nights with him.// Unfortunately that was exactly what was involved in the current situation. He was bodyguard to the man who could take him apart physically and there was little he could do to defend himself against the man's sheer speed. Not that he looked exactly capable of so much as beating a snail in a sprint challenge at this exact point in time, but he had learned the hard way not to underestimate the man. //I don't know if I should be urging you to wake up. Whatever happened in the hallway was … odd, even by the standards I have come to learn are normal. I've seen some weird things amid the Gifted and learned that reality is a little stranger than most think possible, but what happened out there … Zechs, just what did happen? If you are on a psychic high are you going to be a danger to everyone around you? If you are, for God's sake stay asleep. I can't deal with a Psychic in crisis.// He had been living with that fear for some time now, ever since they had found Lucrezia Noin in the shuttle control tower and he was not inclined to wish a second psychic on the edge be in his control. If Zechs had experienced a psychic incident it was of a type he had never heard of before and he knew enough to know that mishandling the psychic in crisis could result in death, insanity or coma. // I'm not a coward but I sure as hell don't want to have to explain to Raydon or the Training Masters that I fucked up royally with someone of his potential. The Doc did not sound hopeful that you would rally enough to take part in any action that would be needed from here on in and I know that I am being unfair in hoping that you are going to roll off that bed and give me that glare that means you are ready to kick ass. Truth is that you have done enough. More than enough, really and I owe my life to you. You may not agree with my assessment of the situation but these people are going to have to learn to fight their own battles and much as you think they should not need to, its simply the truth. I think I know why you did what you did in the wars and I am probably way off base or only touching on your reasons, but I think I know enough about humanity to know that ultimately we are all responsible for our own lives. If we choose not to fight for the right to live then we deserve to get what comes. Not that you would agree. // He would never agree with that assessment. If he did he would not have led the life he had since the fall of Sanc. There was a great deal that Giles did not know about the past of Zechs Merquise but what he did know was enough not to envy the man his birthright. A six year old pacifist reared a Prince and responsible for a country's people had to be twisted a bit by what he had witnessed that long ago day. //No, don't go there, Giles Old Son. It has no baring on the events of the day so give it a break and get back to what does concern you. Namely dealing with the situation. Did you move?// He stared hard, not daring to move, eager for a sign that what he thought he saw … what he hoped to see, was real. The man on the bed remained still. // Guess not. I've already exceeded the time the surgeon said you would need to rally with the stims in your system. I have to face the fact that I am going to have to make the decisions from here on in and that I have to make a choice between guarding you or trying to take down the killers running loose here. Raydon would not be amused if I left you in uncertain company and I don't know these people enough to make that kind of choice. I don't know these people and their political views or their feelings about the wars but they can't all be sleeper agents. They can't all be out to get you if the situation should allow them a stab at you. Capture. Revenge killings. I just don't know enough to judge. The surgeon seems a decent enough sort but do I dare trust him? Anyone on his staff could have taken that knife and be an agent for a corporation, radical faction or the ESUN. God. I'm so fucking paranoid.// He stalked to the side of the bed and glared hard at the patient, willing him to stir and at least groan in his sleep. A light sheen of perspiration marked that pale brow and Giles frowned, lightly running a hand over the man's forehead and then down to rest over his chest. He had progressed from icy cold to warm and now obviously some kind of fever was in the works. His temperature was up, perhaps even higher than he had noted it to be in the emergency shuttle. For all he had a fever his skin was pale, almost frighteningly so. With a fever like that he would have expected the man to be flushed. //Not good, I think. The surgeon should be back soon.// Broadham and the two male nurses who had appeared soon after Zechs had begun to recover from whatever it was that had taken place in the hallway had aided him in getting the blonde into the treatment room and stripping him down to begin treatment. With Zechs examined, treated as best they could manage for now and with Giles there to watch him the three had left to supervise and begin the clean up of the medical centre. Broadham had returned once to check on Zechs, nodding at the rise in temperature and the stability of his condition and to inform him of what was taking place in the centre. A doctor and male nurse and an orderly were now doing a room by room check for other victims and at his concern over that Broadham had assured him that all precautions possible were being taken to ensure their safety. The three men had been warned what they might expect to find and that they really did not know who was friend and who might be foe. He had been assured that the male nurse was an ex Alliance medic, combat trained for a front line unit and was more than capable of defending himself and his companions. To that Giles had refrained from saying his fears that one of the three could be a Sleeper, even the nurse who was supposed to protect the other two. He was, he knew, being too paranoid about this whole business. Not intending to leave Zechs unattended and exposed to any possible agents and certainly not inclined to leave him alone in his present condition he had permitted them to do as they pleased. He had told the surgeon what he could of what was happening at the dome and warned them that their own people were doing the killing. If they died in this room to room search then he had done his best to warn them of the dangers and their fate was in their hands. He was not their keeper. For all he knew since the surgeon had left they might have sent more to search the centre and lost people to another killer. Was that why he had not been paid attention to for so long? They were all dead? //Christ. I'm going to be a nut case by the time this day ends. // His eyes flicked over the man in the bed. //You would have my ass if you knew that I had let them go. We don't quite see things the same way, do we? At least we do not agree on who ultimately is responsible for an individual's life. Hey, I warned them. I told them what they could expect and they made the decision to go anyway. It is an unpleasant task that admittedly has to be done and they chose to do it now. You would not have agreed, advising them to delay until the larger matter with the ESUN agents was sorted but I did try that and they ignored me. Sorry if I disappoint you but I judge watching you at this time to be more important. Besides, I don't have to tell you about it if you don't ask. // The surgeon had come to check on Zechs and to inform him that they were taking a headcount of the dead and then would be moving them to the morgue and cleaning up the rooms. One thing that they had agreed on was that there would likely be the need for hospital rooms by the time this was all over. He had heartily endorsed the idea that the operating theatre be prepared for possible surgery and he had taken the plunge and told the surgeon that he definitely would be having one critical patient. He had told the man while he checked on Merquise's progress about Noin having been shot by that infernal shock weapon and what he could of her condition when they had left her. He only hoped that the surgeon was truly on their side after having given away Noin's position and vulnerability but the man had seemed incensed by the idea of the weapon, decrying it and wondering aloud why anyone would want to use it over a tazer. He had been gratified by the mans reaction and his confidence had picked up a notch with the surgeon's decision that for now Noin was better left where she was. The med computers on the shuttle would maintain her condition and the surgeon had left him with a better understanding of what kind of people they were dealing with to prepare for a heavy casualty count and make arrangements for the intensive care units to be prepared. He had not dared tell the man what had happened in the shuttle control tower. He just did not have the words or the nerve though he might have to speak to the man before the day was out. He did not want Noin waking any time soon. //I can give you maybe another ten minutes, Zechs. If you don't stir by then I will have to make other plans and try to get you into a secured location. The question is where would I consider to be a secure enough location considering the unknown potential for betrayal?// He rubbed at his jaw, absently curling a lock of silver blonde around his finger, staring off into space, considering the best course of action to be taken. “Ten minutes. That is all that I dare wait before I have to take some kind of action. I can't trust the medical staff if I am not here to watch over you. One of them could be a Sleeper or have unresolved issues over the war and take this opportunity to get to you. I am not by nature the most trusting soul. Someone took that knife.” // Any one of them could be an agent.// He moved to the door, pressing his ear to its surface and easing it open enough to bring the sounds clearly into focus. Movement and the murmur of voices further down the hallway. He glanced back at his charge and then eased the door open enough to peer out into the hallway and watch. He winced as an orderly carried a body bag into one of the rooms down the hallway. He knew that a nurse and her patient were in that room, butchered by the Sleeper. Still cleaning up the mess and transferring the bodies to the morgue. He was uncertain what the head count was in this latest massacre but he was very much afraid that it would not be the last of the deaths to occur. “Giles?” The ragged whisper, a harsh croak, snapped his head around and he closed the door quickly hurrying to the bed. Zechs was naked beneath the blanket thrown over his lower half, the flight suit having been stripped from him to permit the treatment of the raw wounds and the heavy bruising at his shoulder. The surgeon and his assistants had examined every wound on the man and approved the make shift medical treatment they had performed in the shuttle bay and after examining the abrasions the blonde carried had demanded to know what the hell the man had been doing to get in that sort of mess. * “At least you had sense enough to use the decontamination shower but it must have hurt like a bitch.” Broadham had dismissed the two assisting him with the instructions to fetch the portable x-ray unit and himself returned to applying dressings and bandages. “I suppose you are in much the same condition?”* By the time the nurses had returned with the x-ray unit Broadham had dressed the burns Zechs had acquired from the ropes they had used to secure Noin to him as well as the burns on his left arm and hand and with Giles assistance had cleared the area around the bed of medicines and obstructions allowing them to position the unit quickly. While the nurse who doubled as the radiologist on this shift developed the x-rays Broadham and his remaining assistant had strapped the shoulder with elasticised bandaging. Through it all Giles had stood and watched and hoped the blonde would not rouse ready to fight those who worked on him. The best news in his view was that the consensus was that the shoulder was not broken, merely deeply bruised. “Zechs? You with me again?” A grunt of pain was answer enough and the blue eyes cracked open. After a moment he saw recognition in those crystal depths and breathed a sigh of relief. He had been afraid the man would wake and not recognize him but that was a fear set to rest when Zechs struggled to sit and Giles was not flattened when he moved to help. Those eyes had glanced at him but there had been no alarm or distress and his assistance was accepted readily enough. Zechs was shaking, his hands barely able to grip the mattress as an aid to pulling himself erect and in helping to steady the man Giles was aware of the steadily rising fever that radiated heat from once chilled skin. “Where are we?” the croak sounded painful and the blue eyes narrowed, a short harsh sound somewhere between a cough and a gasp followed the question. Giles made certain the man was leaning on pillows before he fetched a cup with water and a straw offering it and steadying it when Zechs proved incapable of grasping it in badly trembling hands. “We are still in the medical centre. Drink as much as you can. If necessary I can refill.” “Status?” //Seems well enough if damn shakey. His eyes are clear and I can't detect any trace of that … oddity I saw earlier. // “One of the docs and I managed to get you into a treatment room and he did what he could to get you comfortable. You've been given some stims to stabilize you but I doubt it will be enough to get you back on your feet. We don't dare give you more. Doc says it is not safe.” A couple of deep breaths and another long drink of the water while blue eyes surveyed the room noting the placement of every piece of furniture and the tray of bandages set to one side of the bed. He scowled and a shaking hand flicked the sheet covering him up and blue eyes widened slightly at his naked state. “What happened?” “Fucked if I know.” a sigh. He blushed under the scrutiny of those ice blue eyes that now looked remarkably normal. Nothing of that strange oddness lingered in the clear crystal depths and there was a puzzled expression that suggested that Zechs recalled little if anything of what had occurred in the hallway. “Sorry. I don't know what to tell you except that I should be a dead man. Thanks. For saving my life.” A frown creased his brow as he looked about the room again, no doubt trying to place exactly where in the hospital they were located. The hospital furniture on Mars was generic and the same that you would find at any hospital throughout the Earth Sphere. They might have been on L1 or Earth instead of Mars. His eyes focused on his flight suit thrown casually over a chair near the door. “The Sleeper?” “Oh, he's dead. You made certain of that. You cracked his skull for him and shattered his spine at the neck. It was … rather spectacular to watch.” The blue eyes clouded and a hand rose to press shaking fingers to his temple, rubbing gently. Giles could see the effort he was putting into remembering. “He … had a gun? Or was it a knife?” Giles frowned eyeing his companion with a thoughtful intensity, wondering just how much the man recalled, but noting that hesitation over the weapon. He had seen the gun and he mentioned a knife. The surgeon claimed not to have seen a knife but Zechs recalled one being there. “How much do you remember?” His free hand came up to press against his face and the blue eyes half closed. “I'm … not sure. Something …happened. I'm not sure … Something strange. Odd.” //A bit of an understatement that, Your Highness, but I think I had better not allow you to put so much effort into remembering just now. If you are near crisis and I don't think that there is any doubt about that, I need to keep you stabilized and not trying to recall what makes no sense at this time. There will be time enough later for us to do a post mortem. Certainly the trainers are going to give both you and I a hard time about it. They will need to know everything that we can remember and then they will be dissatisfied and claim that we do not pay enough attention to detail.// “Giles? Something wrong?” The slender hands rested on the sheets and blue eyes were watching him with an intensity that disturbed him. “Giles?” “What? Oh, sorry. Just thinking. Are your visions always like this? With you going down for the count? What did you see?” A shaking hand rose to rub at his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose before falling to the sheet again and the blonde head shook in a negative. “I can't … I'm not really sure what it was that I saw. I thought … I can't recall what I saw but … that is not unusual. I will remember. Eventually. I always have before … I think.” He reached for the water again and drained the cup. “I'm hot. Thirsty.” “You seem to have a bit of a fever. Is that usual when you have incidents? Visions?” “Not unusual. I thought he had a gun … but … it was a knife, yes? He had a knife.” “What sort of a knife?” Was that a flicker in the blue eyes? The suggestion of that oddity flickering into existence and then vanishing in the sweep of an eyelid as he blinked. “Damn it all Giles, a knife is a knife.” The shaking fingers wove together, trying to reduce the trembling by gripping his hands tightly. “A Bowie knife, I think. Pale hilt, maybe bone?” //That sounds like the knife I saw in the hallway, the one the Sleeper had. So it had to be there. He saw a knife too, but … there was only the gun. I could not see the knife when we were dealing with Zechs and when I slipped back there, there was no knife to be found. There is something weird going on here. I wish the Training Masters were available for all that they frighten shit out of me when they are investigating new abilities. I'm missing something important and I know that they are going to want to know what it is that I am unable to recall. It's got to be the important stuff I always miss. // “Giles?” He winced as he met the intense eyes. “Sorry. I'm tired. I was just thinking. The Sleeper had a gun equipped with a silencer. Do you recall the surgeon?” His frown deepened and he seemed not to have heard the question. “I thought … I was sure it was a knife … but I … I remember the gun …” he pressed his hands to cover his eyes, digging the heel of his palms in deep. //Wow, time to call a halt. I know those signs too well. I've done it myself and we can't afford that sort of shock just now. We can talk later. // “Hey, settle down. It was …confusing. For all of us. The Doc swore that you took a bullet and we have found no such wound on you.” the blue eyes swept down the length of his body and Giles grinned. “Yeah, the Doc stripped you right down, treated everything that needed treatment too. We all … went a bit funny, I suppose, under the strain of what happened out there. Thanks for saving my hide. I'd be dead if you hadn't … done what you did.” He was hesitant to continue as it was rather obvious now that they had differing memories of exactly what did happen. He, Zechs and the surgeon had all been present but they all recalled the events somewhat differently and that was going to need investigation but now there were more important things to concentrate on. “Whatever happened it gave us the chance to keep our plan going. We are still in the ballpark.” he hesitated uncertain if he should ask but knowing that there really was no other choice. Decisions had to be made and to make them he had to know just how mobile his partner was. “If, that is, you can get yourself going again.” “I …”he narrowed his eyes, visibly taking a mental inventory of every ache and pain he was experiencing. Giles could almost see the tally he was making. “Yes, of course. I can … Give me a hand, would you?” “You have a few minutes yet before we have to get moving, if you are capable of it. Rest a bit. Give yourself a chance to get your head together. How do you feel?” “I have certainly felt better. I have the most incredible headache and … It was bad before. Before the Sleeper appeared … I remember the headache. Do you think I could take something for it?” Giles hesitated before he settled for a shrug, uncertain of exactly what restrictions the surgeon was likely to place on medications being given to the Lightning Count for the next few hours. The man had said no more medication was to be considered after administering the last round of stimulants in an effort to get Merquise stabilized and how he would look on administering pain killers was unknown. He was going to have to ask and it was likely that he was also going to be the one to inform Zechs that he was going to have to live with the pain for a few hours at least. //It was a Psi incident. I have no doubt about that whatsoever. I'm not sure what happened or exactly what category of Psi to file it under but it was something damned weird. Noin lost it and shredded McIntyre in the shuttle control tower and Zechs has lost it down here, but he seems to be recovering somewhat. How long that stability will last is anyone's guess, but I have to wonder just how much pain he can work with and still function. Headaches generally signal its time to quit pushing the psychic envelope. It's a warning to quit.// “Giles?” “… Huh? Sorry. I was just thinking. The Doc said no more medication was to be administered to you but I don't know if he was referring to pain killers or to the more potent stuff. He should be back shortly and we can ask him then. Maybe it would be better for you to tell me where exactly we were going and what has to be done? While you rest up here I could get the ball rolling on your plan.” That Zechs appeared to be considering it told Giles enough. Broadham was right, the man had reached his limits and pushing the envelope now was going to cause more problems than Zechs could handle. He recalled during his briefing by Raydon that the Lightening Count had suffered a heart attack during the war and that the specialists who had treated him after the Libra explosion had flagged him as requiring medical supervision. Something to do with the injuries suffered when the Libra had exploded. Raydon had simply told him that Zechs would not stop until he dropped if the need was ever there to perform and that as a result there was the possibility of health problems. Was it possible that the Lightening Count, a legend amid the Oz Special Forces had a bad heart? Regardless the fact remained that the surgeon was right when he had said that everybody had limits and that Zechs had been pushing his for hours. As much as his expertise was needed the simple truth was that the less he did now the better he would recover. A bitten off scream sent Giles running for the door and Zechs surged from the bed, uttering an oath as his legs failed to support his weight and he sprawled from the bed onto the floor. For a stunned instant he stared at the floor in front of his nose, the same floor that was blessedly cool to his burning naked flesh. With a blink of dazed eyes he rolled to see Giles heels disappear through the door only to hear a muttered curse and the man slipped back into the room, closing the door quickly and silently. “Damn it all to hell … How the hell did you get … Never mind. We have to go.” Giles moved quickly to kneel beside the blonde, reaching to steady him and help him to his feet. “What happened? What is going on?” “Shh. We have company. Blue Squad has arrived and surprised a couple of nurses who were moving the dead to the morgue.” “Oh shit.” t.b.c.
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