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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"
New Port City Sanc Palace Date 25th Feb AC 198 Time: 22:25 Duo The array of screens dominated the east wall of the room, the consol controlling them blinking and beeping softly in the dim light. Duo idly flicked through the sequence, mind far from the views offered by the hidden camera system of the palace. He was uncertain what to do. He had sent the warning to the Preventers concerning the security of the Vice Foreign Minister through a dozen or so decoys to stop it being traced back to him. It was also made from a point where there was no security camera working over a public terminal. So it could not be traced to him. It just was not possible for Trowa to trace the source. That was not what worried him. What caused him concern was what was going on in the palace of the Vice Foreign Minister and Princess of Sanc. Relena had dissolved all national borders when Romefeller had set her up as Queen of Earth. The naive teenager had sprouted so much idealism without realizing what would be involved in the facts of life. All around the Earth people were clinging to their national borders. Some of those people had been fighting for centuries to preserve that line on a map. Generations had fought to keep their little piece of Earth secure. How could a teenage girl, Duo wondered, honestly expect hundreds of thousands of people who had been enemies for centuries to stop and pat each other on the back and call themselves brothers and sisters? Idealism sucked. She was Vice Foreign Minister, not Queen of the World now, but that didn’t stop her from dictating what her view should be to all comers, even those who didn’t want to hear it. In the last few days he had watched from the anonymity of the security rooms how the girl had worked her charm on the disgruntled and the fawning sycophants alike. She had charm, alright and the driving need to enforce her will on others, all for the good of the people. Wars were wrong and must never happen again. Dissidents must be dealt with, re educated to be of use to the people. Duo shook his head slightly. Idealists. It was all black and white to too many people. Living on the streets of L2 had taught him that things were rarely as they seemed. Keep alert, keep aware that the world was constantly changing and that things did not necessarily change in the broad light of day. Keep your eyes open, an ear tuned behind you and you might stay alive. Just announcing that borders no longer existed would not stop centuries old disputes. It was, if anything, likely to start some. Was there a difference between a Dictator and a Pacifist stripping national identity? Was it not one and the same thing? Light from the hallway spilled into the control room. “Duo.” “Come in Heero. I was beginning to think you wouldn’t make it.” Duo turned from the bank of screens to face his fellow agent. “So was I. Relena wanted to go over the plans for the security at the forum next week.” Heero wore the Sancian Imperial Guard uniform and damn, Duo thought, it looked good on him. He was a good looking man. At eighteen Heero had grown a few inches, but would likely not grow more, maybe fill out a little, but that would be all. About average height he was all muscle and cool steel. The blue eyes were cold as ever, very little emotion ever cracked those baby blues. About the only time Duo could recall emotion flickering there for more than a passing instant was when they had raided the Romefeller laboratories some months before. “Relena wanted to perv on you for a while.” Duo grinned, unable to resist the dig. “What did you want me for, Duo? Found something wrong in the palace?” Heero ignored both the comment and the grin. Being partnered with Duo for so long he was used to the insinuations. “Something wrong? Yeah. Not necessarily here, maybe. Something I want you to see. I need some help hacking, maybe into a data base. Certainly into some files I downloaded. Have you updated your systems recently?” The blue eyes blinked. Once. Twice. “What database and why?” Duo sighed. //Here goes, then. Time I trusted someone and I need Heero’s skills as a Hacker. Especially after what I found last night. I can’t tell him everything. Not yet, but he needs to see this.// “You remember that assignment Une had you and me on a few months ago? The genetic research laboratory that was Romefeller’s attempt to create the perfect soldiers?” “Of course.” Blue eyes acquired a glacial chill. //Ah, now I think it did upset the Perfect Soldier. The temperature in here just went down drastically. Interesting. // “I was curious about a few anomalies I found in their computer records when I reviewed the reports. So I, ah … borrowed… some of your programs to investigate.” “Does Commander Earth know?” Heero chose, for the moment not to comment on the acquisition of his programs. More important things were obviously to be of interest. “No.” Heero considered that for a while and then nodded, moving to take the seat beside Duo. “I had wanted to talk to you about that investigation, actually. I thought that maybe you could …” Heero hesitated. “It’s okay for now. Personal. Later, maybe. What did you find?” Duo produced his lap top and set it before him on the consol. He considered Heero for a long moment, debating what he was about to do. This was not revealing the investigation he was conducting. No, but it was related to it. He could do this and not reveal what he was doing at this time. At Heero’s curious look Duo shook his head, shrugging. “No way I’m putting this on a system not fully controlled by me, man. You’ll see why.” He shrugged again and booted the system. “I found a lot I don’t understand. Some stuff we would need experts to explain to us, but what stumped me was this. I found it last night and the programs I borrowed from you can’t get through the protection on it.” //Not a lie in that. All gospel truth. If I’m careful I don’t need to push my luck. I’m not sure just how far I can trust him yet.// “I thought you might have more luck than me.” Intrigued now Heero moved the laptop to face him and started to scowl, blue eyes acquiring an intense gleam. The screen opened to the main desktop and Duo quickly inserted the required codes, watching Heero as the information he wanted to share was loaded. //Yep, he skipped the frown entirely and went straight to that scowl of his that defies description.// The words on the screen hadn’t changed since Duo found them the night before, but he knew that they would soon. The look on Heero’s face said it without doubt. //Got you. Yes, you can see the implications.// Duo sat back and allowed Heero exclusive use of the keyboard, sitting angled so that he could keep an eye on both Heero and the monitor screens. Romefeller File: 621589KVW514 Duo waited, running an eye over the bank of monitors and reached for the com system when he saw a shadow move in the east garden. “Jacynth.” “Reporting, Reaper.” “Check out the east garden. Someone’s moving in there.” The east garden incorporated the maze, a massive hedge system Duo rather liked. The maze was a great place to wander with a nice little private sitting area in the center. Perfect place for a romantic interlude, if you didn’t know it was under security monitor. A series of beeps from beside him caused Duo to break out into a grin. Heero would take out the security and then Duo would find out what was in that file. He’d tried everything he could think of to break into that folder. He had to know what that file contained. “Jacynth. Roger that. On my way.” “So what made you go through the records?” Heero’s voice pulled his attention off the screen and Duo glanced at him, then down at the laptop where rows of numbers were scrolling. Turning back to the screens he shrugged. “Curiosity mainly. A gut feeling that there was more. I didn’t like what I found there. What was done with the children, by the way?” Heero hesitated and then shrugged. “Earth has them in retraining, teaching them to be kids.” His voice was toneless but Duo knew him well enough to know he was more affected than he wanted to be. “Good conditions. Family environment.” “Good. What about the older ones?” “Same thing, only they’re under tight security until they are able to realize the changes in their circumstances and what that entails. Foster parents are Preventer Agents.” He considered saying more for a while and then shrugged. “They’re me. I…I wanted to talk to you about them. About me. I went to your apartment to see you, but you had moved out. They’re me, Duo. When I look at them I see me. Like I was raised. It won’t be easy to change them. To teach them to be … normal.” “What’s normal?” Duo shrugged. //Guess that explains the visit at such an hour of the morning. Yeah, it would bother you. Why talk to me about it though?// “Do you visit them?” “No.” Almost a whisper. “Maybe you should. They would relate to you.” Duo leaned forward to the mike again. “Got you on screen Jacynth. Three degrees east. Probably lovers amongst the staff but check it out and be careful.” “Roger that, Reaper.” Duo waited for Heero to comment on the kids again, but he didn’t, just went back to typing on the keyboard. //I can see we are going to have to have a talk about this when we are off duty. Too big a chance we might be overheard here. We were Gundam Pilots. Not exactly normal, and I guess that of us all Heero really is the one with the strangest past.// Turning his attention fully to the screens Duo watched Jacynth. She was a pretty girl, ex OZ Specials officer. Efficient. Not in the same league as Marquise, Noin or Une, he mused, but good none the less. She used the deeper shadows well and Duo knew she was quick and quiet. No doubt she had something cheeky to say to the young maid and stable boy making out in the maze, too. He saw them bolt and chuckled. Personally he thought outside just too cold at this season for a make out session in a garden. “Reaper, just ousted two lovebirds from their nest. I’ll do a quick survey of the maze anyway.” “Roger that, Jacynth. Reaper on standby.” Duo shook his head, grinning. These Sancians just did not seem to feel the cold as he did . Fancy making out in a snow laden winter garden, even if the hedge did offer some protection from the elements. “Hn.” Heero shook his head at the screens, thoughts mirroring Duo’s and looked again to the laptop. “Awe, come on, man. Young love. Nothing like it.” Duo’s trademark manic grin flashed into existence. “You have a girl friend, Maxwell?” Heero’s attention remained focused on the keyboard and screen. The question surprised Duo into glancing away from the screens. “Nope. Said my goodbyes to Hilde before I joined Preventers. Haven’t seen her for almost a year. Haven’t felt the need to look for anyone since. Too involved in work, I suppose.” He returned his gaze to the monitors with a shrug. He really had not given a thought to dating since he had come to Earth. “She’s an agent now.” That surprised him. When he had left Hilde had been all against his joining Preventers and returning to a life of suspense and violence. They had had some fiery arguments about it when he had been thinking it through, and he knew she was furious with him when he accepted the offer and joined. Their last argument had firmly closed the door on their association, he had thought. Last he had heard she was on L2 running the Scrap Yard. “Why? Why would she do that?” He frowned. “She was dead set against me joining, that’s for sure.” Heero sighed and after a few minutes of furious typing on the laptop he glanced up. “Maybe because she was pregnant and wanted the extra income?” “What?!” It came out as a whispered gasp, voice strangled by his total disbelief in what he had just heard. “You have a son. He was born three months ago. Bright healthy boy. Hilde does run the scrap yard, but she is a researcher and localized agent for Preventers. Don’t worry. Une wouldn’t give her anything that would endanger her or the baby.” Heero’s voice was actually gentle, soothing. For one of the few times in his life Duo was floored. Speechless. //Hilde had been pregnant when I had left? Had she known it? Why didn’t she tell me? Why didn’t she let me know when she knew she was going to have a baby, if she didn’t know when I left? God, I’ve worked for Preventers for a year and she hadn’t let on. I’ve spoken to her a number of times via the com line, just to see how she was, and even seen her on L2 about two months after I joined Preventers. She hadn’t looked pregnant. She had to have known then. Why didn’t she tell me?// “Reaper, maze is clear. Returning to base. Jacynth out.” It took Duo three tries to respond and clear the line, shutting down the link finally. Heero was watching him but Duo didn’t know what to say. How could Hilde do that to him? Not even letting him know. Was she that pissed with him because he had come to Earth instead of staying with her? //I liked Hilde. A lot. Once I thought I loved her, but I realized that it wasn’t love. Well, not the lasting I-love-you-to-death-forever kind. I loved Hilde as a friend. A close friend. We hadn’t jumped into bed after the war immediately. We dated for months before we settled down at the junkyard. It was after the Mariemaia incident that I had gotten really restless, but I had been restless and discontent before that happened. I knew it and I knew Hilde knew it too. We had started to fight because I couldn’t hide what I was feeling. I’m a father? I have a son? Is this real?// “Does she know that you know?” Duo finally asked. “No. I found out through a mission I was on to L2 three weeks ago.” “Damn. Why would she do that? I have to talk to Une. I need some time off to see Hilde.” Heero considered the laptop for a while. “Will you go back to her?” “No.” As soon as he said it Duo knew what he was going to do. She wouldn’t like it, but he was his son and he had a right to see him and help provide for him. He had loved Hilde, but now that love was as a friend, not as a lover anymore, but he could respect that she wanted a clean cut from him. However, he mused, he did have rights too. He wanted to see his son. //My son. I have a son. I want to help provide for him. I want to see him. I want to watch him grow up, become a man. I’m allowed that, surely? Why didn’t she tell me?// The last almost a mental wail of anguish. //Does she hate me that much for leaving to join Preventers?// “I’ll have Une send money out of my pay and I am going to go to L2 to see him. I won’t cause trouble for Hilde. She’s … by this she has made it plain she doesn’t want to be involved with me again. If I can see him occasionally I’ll have to be content. I don’t have the safest of jobs and I never know where I will be from one day to the next, but… “ //I need to shut up. I’m babbling.// Duo scanned the monitors again, anything to avoid looking at Heero just now. He needed time to absorb this. To come to terms with just how much Hilde must have been angry with him. Anger just did not seem an adequate description. “What did she call him?” “Aidan.” Heero’s voice was soft over the typing of his fingers on the keyboard. “Aidan. Aidan Maxwell.” Duo tried out the name. //Not too bad. Of course, not what my choice of name would have been.// “Aidan Schbeiker.” The typing fingers stilled, waiting. Duo did look at him then and the pilot of the Deathscythe was surprised to see the honest sympathy in his eyes. //Damn. I’m not used to seeing the human side of Heero Yuy.// “Aidan Maxwell.” He said slowly and deliberately. He had some rights and the right of the only name he had that he knew of was going to be his son’s name. Damn Hilde anyway. What right did she have to cut him out so completely just because she did not agree with him joining Preventers? “This will take a while, Duo. Why don’t you report to Earth? I believe it’s your turn today?” “Yeah. Yeah, I think I will. I’ll be back in a couple of hours.” He would be only too glad of the opportunity to get some breathing space to think. The drive to Preventer Headquarters would provide him with that. He needed to calm down. “I’ll keep an eye on security and work on this.” At Duo’s glance at the laptop Heero nodded “No one will see it. What measures have you taken to avoid discovery?” “Set up your A3 world system. Seems to have kept the Hound they set after me occupied when I go direct to their files. I have saved what I can, but nothing to give me a clear idea as to what is in that locked system of theirs.” And that was definitely the truth. “I’ll see what I can do about that. I have a few things I can try and I’ll see how much I can get from their systems, not just the files you’ve isolated here. It will take hours, maybe days. Go see Earth.” “Thanks, man. For everything.” He had protected the other files on the laptop as best he could. If Yuy got curious and browsed the hard drive’s contents no doubt he could break into what he had thus far copied from Romefeller. He could only hope that Heero would be too occupied for that. He was not sure about fully trusting the Wing pilot, but now he had more to think of than that. Duo stood, eyes once more sweeping the bank of alarms and monitors. Every day, by midnight, one of them was expected to issue a report in person, to Lady Une. It was not his turn to do this, but he would take the offer to present his case to Earth. He had to find out why Hilde had not told him. Had to make some decisions about his future. Suddenly it was not just Duo Maxwell anymore.
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