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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 88 Mars Colony Base Dome Time: 21:20 [Approx 19:10 Sanc time] Giles The Shuttle Control Tower reared before him, bathed by the pulsing red glow of the emergency lights. The blood tinted glow lent the tower, a purely functional square structure, an eerie other worldly appearance. With a little imagination he could almost envision it as a castle turret from some gothic horror story, dripping with the blood of all who had died within its dark depths over centuries. He winced at his own thoughts, but if he was honest with himself it was likely that this place now did have a bloody history. He had the feeling that those who had worked here no longer enjoyed or cursed the intricacies of life. High above them a single window looked out over the open ground they worked their way across, showing a light that previously would not have been so noticeable had not the Martian night stolen over the dome and the emergency lights shed a dimmer illumination than the normal lighting. The bloody glow lent the third story window a eerie rose radiance that sent shudders up his spine. He was sure that as he watched that light blinked like some giant eye that studied them, judged them and found them wanting. //I really have to curb my imagination. This whole deal is getting to me and that is bad. I can't afford to lose my edge now.// “That is worrying.” Giles sucked in a deep breath, fighting down the nervous twitch that demanded he hit the source of the softly spoken comment. He had the feeling it would be the last thing he ever hit if he made that mistake, but it was a certain sign of just how on edge he was. Zechs had been silent for so long that he had almost forgotten he was there as anything other than baggage to be supported at all costs. Since leaving the transport trays the blonde had been silent, looking decidedly pale to Giles concerned glance, though admittedly he looked far better than he had before they had reached that temporary cover and taken the time to drink and eat a ration bar. His initial concerns that Zechs would bring the food back up seemed to have been blessedly needless and the man was taking more of his weight the further they moved. It boded well for a quick recovery. “Are you alright?” “Fine. A lot better since I had that drink.” Zechs was staring up, only a part of his attention on Giles, the rest directed not at the tower as Giles had expected, but into the support structure of the dome high above them. His voice sounded distanced, as through he was answering his companion by rote, his attention focused on something high above them, though Giles, after a quick look into the scaffolding above could see nothing of interest himself. “Zechs? What is it?” After a long drawn out moment the ice blue eyes dropped from the heights of the dome to glance at him briefly and then raise once again to the scaffolding and support structure, before dropping to check on the smoldering pile of rubble that use to be the elevator block. The automatic emergency equipment spewed foam over the ruins in a continuous stream coating the twisted metal and circuitry, yet still a stubborn pillar of dirty dark grey smoke rose into the dome. With a quiet sigh he shook his head and looked ahead to the tower. “Nothing we can do much about just now.” Giles glared daggers at the broad back now moving away from him as Zechs continued on toward the tower and caught up to him quickly. He understood that the man with him must be concerned for the woman he had been living with for over a year, who basically was his wife though no legal vows had been spoken between them and that by nature Zechs was not a man to waste effort or breath on needless commentary. The man had to be going out of his mind with worry, though very little of that showed in more than a tightness to his sculpted lips and the glacial silence that had grown in the last few minutes the closer they came to the tower. There was the need to understand each other that must be taken into consideration and he was not going to allow Zechs to close him out. “Zechs, we are in this together. Are we going to go back to not trusting each other again?” He stopped and broad shoulders slumped, a hand reaching to push bangs from his eyes. “Sorry. I did not mean to give … The lights.” Giles lifted his gaze up into the dome and scanned the scaffolding, sucking in a startled breath as he realized what it was that had worried Zechs. The bright lights that normally illuminated the dome after sundown had not activated. The automated systems usually activated the lights on a gradually brightening cycle as the light levels changed with the progression of the distant sun through the Martian sky. Because of the longer Martian day the lights were activated by light sensors that responded to the lowering or increasing light levels within the dome without being on set timers. The only lights that seemed to be working at this time in the upper dome structure was the pulsing red emergency lights that coloured everything and everyone with blood. “Ah, crap. I take it that is bad? Sorry, but I'm not an electrician, Zechs.” “It means that either the virus they introduced into the computers has begun to infiltrate our life support systems or we have insufficient power somewhere in the system to allow the computers to effect the switch over of systems as normal.” Zechs continued toward the tower, pausing to survey the area around them as he reached the door, panting softly as he leaned against the wall. “Either way, it means we are in trouble. We will need to get into a control room ASAP and get some telemetry on the problem. It may only be the tip of the ice burg. With the smoke and fumes from the fire building up in the upper dome if the air system is compromised in any way, then the upper dome could become unlivable in a few hours. We need to check the ventilation system and clear it if it is obstructed to speed the cleaning of the toxins from the system and remove the contamination caused by the fire.” Giles glanced up into the dome super structure a second time and resisted the urge to shudder. “Well, if the security agents took over the tower control room then they likely worked on the computer systems in some manner. I guess we will find out soon enough exactly what it is we have to deal with. I'll go first. Ah, before we go any further, by any chance does this situation jog a memory? Of a vision.” he clarified quickly. There was a moments hesitation accompanied by a frown and crystal blue eyes shuttered, but finally a shrug lifted broad shoulders. “Let's get in for now. I don't like being so exposed.” A quick glance at the man and the frown that marked his face had Giles more worried than relieved at that silence, uncertain just what it meant. Had Zechs seen something in a vision he really did not want to tell him about, or had he no memory of a circumstance that might mirror their current situation? The refusal to offer either a yay or nay was more worrying than either confirmation or denial would have been. With a small hissed breath marking his displeasure Giles examined the door, checking for any indication that either the door or the electronic keypad had been trapped in some way. He studied the keypad itself after that quick check and sighed in resignation, shaking his head. “I don't suppose that you would have any idea of the tower control code? It will take me a few minutes to sort this out.” “The control code is 613-85-42-961.” came the deep voice. Giles automatically reached for the pad and had entered the first three numbers before he realized what he was doing, then he promptly swore and lowered his hand. “What the hell am I thinking? If they are using the tower as a base then they would have been fools not to have changed the access code. It will take me a few minutes to break their code, but I have the gear to do the job on me. Won't take too long.” He began to rifle through the pockets of his trousers and the tool belt he wore. Zechs snorted softly, leaning against the wall, willing his legs to support his weight instead of threaten to dump him unceremoniously on the ground. He could feel his body responding to the medication Giles had given him and the high energy ration bar he had managed to keep down would help, but he really wished he had the time and opportunity to rest. “Giles, that is their code, not the old one used by the tower staff.” The Raider operative paused, blinked, and looked over his shoulder at his companion, hesitating. He received a bland look back, no additional comment seemed to be forthcoming and he decided not to make a comment until he had at least tried the code. With Merquise who knew what was possible? His fingers flew over the key pad, completing the sequence and with a flash of green light in the bar above the pad the door clicked. A small puff of breath and shake of his head at the keypad and he moved to open the door sufficiently to allow him to peer into the foyer beyond. Seeing it empty he slipped into the room, chanced a quick glance over his shoulder to see that Zechs was on his heels and then he ghosted to the first of the doors opening from the foyer. He knew that this was the first of the two side rooms that adjoined the foyer; a reception room on the far side and an office this side. He listened for a moment, straining to hear any sound from the far side and then eased the door open, pushing his head cautiously into the room. He stifled his reaction, swallowing with difficulty, fighting down the urge to vomit at the carnage he found. Bodies were stacked neatly against the far wall, but the blood pooled around the furniture and over the floor and sprayed up the walls and had now dried to the colour of rust, made it plain just what had gone on in here. Steeling himself he entered the office and began the task of examining the bodies, needing a head count and a general idea of how these people had died. His investigation revealed that most of the staff had been shot multiple times and from the wounds on the bodies they had been taken by surprise, most having entry wounds in the back. Four of the fifteen bodies stacked in the room sported knife wounds in the back and another two had had their throats slit. It was obvious that not all of the victims had died in this room. He fled the room, careful to keep his breathing even and to focus on the tasks at hand, hoping that the second room was not going to be the same store room of death. It was a relief to discover only two bodies here, both slumped over the desks where they had been working, one with a head wound, an execution style killing and the other with a slit throat. He took the time to glance quickly into the hallway beyond the foyer, making note of the blood trail where bodies had been dragged from rooms deeper in the building and into that first office. By the time he returned to the foyer he found Zechs was working on the door controls, his fingers flying over the key pad which glowed yellow and sang in a series of beeps every time Zechs pressed a key. “Well, I know what happened to the tower staff and it was not pretty. The room on the left has been used to dump most of the bodies. What are you doing?” “Changing the access code, just in case they return while we are busy upstairs. It will not stop them from getting in, but it will delay them and we will need all the time we can get.” he did not even glance up from his work. It made sense and Giles left him to it, returning to the door leading to the passage. “So, you have experienced visions of entering this tower. What else can we expect?” He kept his attention on the hallway, just in case they were not the only ones breathing in the tower. He would allow no one a free shot at his back. Zechs paused in his work on the keypad, fingers stilled as he considered Giles for a long moment. It was disconcerting to say the least to have someone speak so casually and seem to be so accepting about the visions that had haunted him for so long. He simply was not used to being so openly accepted by anyone. The visions he had had of himself telling people about what Giles termed his 'Gift' always resulted in the same very undesirable scenario. Even Noin had not tried to understand that something was different about his perceptions and they had lived together intimately for a year. She had muttered something about depression, cursed him when he had refused to take the prescribed anti depressants they tried to shove down his throat and continued to watch him like a hawk, and failed to make any real attempt to understand him in the least. He supposed that was not really fair, as she obviously had cared, the problem seemed to be that she seemed incapable of believing that he was anything more than a little psycho after the one year war. //Stop that. You don't even understand yourself, so how did you dare hope that she could understand? Things were different and you could not explain to yourself let alone to Noin what it was that made you take the actions that were necessary. You should be in a sanatorium, Merquise.// Giles was watching him, one eyebrow arched almost in a dare for him to deny that he had seen himself enter the tower. The man was more than a little uncanny himself, but he returned his attention to the hallway beyond the door and Zechs stifled the sigh. He was just going to have to get used to the fact that Giles seemed willing to accept that he was … different. “I really am not sure about what will happen here. As I said before, your presence changes a great deal, as proven by what happened outside building C. I recalled their code from two separate visions I have had concerning the tower. The first resulted in me getting shot in the back because I neglected to lock the door.” he glared at the keypad as he returned to entering in the codes, not daring to see if Giles reacted to that revelation. He was so used to seeing his own death that it rarely affected him now where once it had sent him to the floor in a sobbing heap. “As a result I took pains to learn the master control code from a number of other visions I had to enable me to reprogram every door on the base. Getting shot in the back because of a stupid over site in omitting to lock a door is one mistake I am not keen to make.” he paused, blue eyes closing in pain, resting his head against the wall for a moment. “The second vision that I can remember of being in the tower showed me finding Noin, strung up by the ankles in the maintenance room off the control room. She … she had been skinned.” “My God.” a whisper. Giles stared at that broad back, shivered slightly as he watched Zechs return to reprogramming the door control and fought down the urge to go to him. They were both professionals at their work and there would be time enough later for comforting each other about the horrors they had faced already. It was no wonder the man had insisted they come to the tower after that turn he had experienced outside that might or not have been an attempt by Lucrezia Noin to contact him. “Zechs, I'm sure we are not going to find …” The roar that surrounded them was an accumulation of falling items, mostly heavy metal impacting with dynamic force and something else, something unknown that struck the tower, making the reinforced steel structure ring like a giant deep toned bell. The building shook, vibrating and around them doors slammed shut on automatic systems, the computers engaging in an emergency lock down of the building. The isolated emergency computer system reacted as though the sensors had detected an impact such as a meteor strike might cause in the enviro dome. Sirens blared into life in response to the vibration. “Attention! Emergency lock down in progress. All external doors are now sealed until the release code is issued and confirmed. Emergency operation of isolated oxygen system has been initiated. Sensors detect no loss of pressure within the locked down area. Awaiting instruction.” the purr of the female voice resounded throughout the tower, notifying the dead and living alike that the emergency systems had been activated. “What the hell was that?” Giles had sprung back from the door at the initial shudder that shook the building, a fortunate move as the door had slammed shut and engaged the lock in response to the emergency. “I don't know.” Zechs was frowning, looking about him with a deepening frown. The tower was still ringing with the fading echoes of that deep bell tone. "That does not ring any bells for me as far as any vision I can recall, no pun intended. I think it came from upstairs.” “Computer, disengage internal door locks only.” Giles glanced at Zechs, studying him for a moment as he waited for the computer to respond to instruction. They were going to have to come up with the command code to get the external seal lifted, but for now that was an added measure of security, a bonus, not a problem. “Guess I had better go and see what is going on up there. You could wait down here. Give yourself the chance to rest.” “Command to disable internal locks acknowledged. No loss of internal pressure detected. Interior door locks are disengaged. Sensors indicate damage to master control system.” Zechs snapped the key panel back into the wall and wavered a little as he crossed the room. “I have completed changing the access codes. I would say that we are not alone in this tower and whatever it was it sounded to be at least two, maybe three levels above us. We had best get moving.” “Fine, but I go first. Are you sure you have had no visions of this?” at the returned glare Giles grinned and shrugged. “Just making sure, you understand.” //If he has seen her skinned then I wish he would stay down here, but I can understand him wanting to see it out. It would be enough to send him over the edge though and that means that I am going to have to watch him and be ready when he breaks. God, I wish Raydon was here. He has handled psychics in break out crisis before and the stories I have heard terrify me. If Zechs loses it I really do not want to be responsible for controlling him. I just don't have the training, but I am the best suited to handle the situation these people have if it should happen. I so do not want to be here if he cracks.// “We do this properly, room by room. If nothing else it will serve to force me back to normal functions.” at the man's dubious look Zechs sighed. “Trust me, Giles. I have been through this type of recovery too many times to mistake my current level of condition. I am failing, I know that. My reserves are running low but I am far from being out of it yet. We need to get to the control room and check the status of the life support systems for the dome and we need to find a working radio if we can, but we do not leave a possible threat at our back and there are too many places to hide in this tower. If we find Noin …” he allowed the thought to trail off into silence. //Yeah, that's the one that is stopping you from taking the chance to rest. Finding Noin. Okay, my friend, I have told you that I trust you and I have faith in the Gifts of others, so we do this together and we shall just have to wait and see how well you can make yourself cope with this situation. Personally I think you are heading for a fall and I had better be close to you when it comes. God I hope that woman is not up there.// One room at the time, cautiously listening at each door before entering, tension mounting and only too aware that to hurry might be to make that one fatal error. Neither of them knew if there were any Sleepers currently within the tower who might be capable of taking them down if the opportunity should present itself. That someone else was within the tower was borne out by whatever had shaken the tower and activated the emergency lockdown and carelessness was not worth the possible consequences. Giles kept constant watch on his companion and noted that Zechs did seem to regain better control of his facilities. //I would hate to have this man's nightmares. You would have to reach a stage where you would have difficulty trying to decide what was nightmare and what was a possibility for a future event. The confusion that would bring, the uncertainty of it … Yes. It's no wonder that he doubts his own sanity, but at least he seems to have the ability to push aside the doubts and function when the crunch arrives. If he folded up into a sobbing heap because of the possibility that Noin is up there, dead, then we would be in all sorts of trouble. More than just that possibility has to be weighing on him though. What else has he seen that he just is not telling me? How much does he know that he is keeping from me and may impact on the future? He seems to be placing a hell of a lot of faith in my presence changing circumstances for the better, or what he thinks is for the best. He has a lot of strength, that one and he would be a great asset to a Gifted Team, unafraid it seems to witness the possibility of the deaths of others, including his own death. I know of a couple of precogs who go to pieces if they so much as see a split nail in their own personal future. He has potential to be a team leader when he is brought through breakout and learns to trust his own abilities.// Room by room they moved through the tower, Giles taking point and Zechs as back up. Speed was essential but not to the point that their safety must be compromised. At the first door they had approached Zechs had uttered a soft curse and an apology, offering the startled Giles an automatic pistol and looking as though he could kick himself for the oversight. “Sorry. I meant to give it to you earlier. Outside. I took if from the agents and thought that you would prefer it to the shock guns.” His fingers caressed the butt of the gun and he grinned, feeling considerably more secure with the familiar weapon in hand. “Thanks. I do prefer it and don't worry about forgetting to give it to me. We have been a little occupied after all. You ready? On three then.” On the count of three Zechs, with two shuriken in hand, kicked open the door and Giles leapt through, gun at the ready sweeping the room from left to right, Zechs on his heels scanning the room from right to left. The three remaining rooms on the ground floor proved to be as empty as the first, except for bloodstains and overturned furniture, each room serving to remind both men that there were killers on the loose and that they could expect no quarter to be given. At the end of the hallway they found themselves faced with the option of taking the stairs to the upper levels or the elevator. Giles considered the open and inviting doors to the elevator for a long moment, then the door to the stairs, closed but not locked and glanced at Zechs before shrugging and reaching for the door to the stairs. The man was recovering, Giles could not argue that and he had made no protest to the choice made concerning their means of getting to the next level. Indeed, he moved ahead of Giles to the stairs and crouched there, at the base, running an experienced eye over the first few steps. After a moment he produced a small torch from his belt pouch and used it to examine the edge of the stairs, both against the wall and the banister railing. Watching him and the way the torch never wavered Giles had to smile, it seemed action did indeed bring Zechs back from the brink of collapse. The smile turned to a scowl when a glint of metal in the torch light showed the placement of wire. “Ah, presents.” he murmured. Zechs nodded absently, tracing the wire in the torchlight along the line of the step, under the banister and over the edge of the stairs to the small packet of explosives hidden there. “Trip wire activated. Crude, but effective none the less. Miss the first two steps and …” he stretched, careful of touching anything until his examination was completed. “The next six seem to be clear.” It was going to mean that their progress would be slow, but Giles was not inclined to protest the need to check every step before they moved forward. He liked life too much to be a fool and rush when every piece of evidence they had clearly stated that these people had already proven that they were cold blooded killers. He thought it unlikely that there would only be the one trap placed on the stairs. Following the episode with the elevators down to the sub base he was not inclined to trust any elevator that might have been exposed to the Sleepers tender care and he preferred the slower option of the stairs. Slowly but steadily they worked their way through the tower, the first floor proving to contain the bodies of six people, five of whom were still slumped over their desks. That room had been sprayed with automatic gun fire and only one of the six people had seemed to make it away from his desk only to collapse a mere step away from his work station. //Well, the survivors of this mess are no doubt still going to doubt who it was who did this, but they can damn well get in here and help clean up the mess when we deal with the bastards killing them. If nothing else it will prove to them that the alert was not a drill. Damn it, they all seem more than willing to lay the blame on Raiders and no one else. We have never been cold blooded killers but we have the reputation for it and I suppose that reputation might have been cultivated by ESUN agents. There must be some way that we can prove that it is the ESUN, their own government, who is running this show. Yes, I admit that there are some independent Raiders out there who have nothing to do with the alliance under Raydon, but as far as I know none of them have been this vicious on any raids they perpetrated. Get on with it, Giles old son. This is not the time to consider bad press and you don't need to deal with that problem anyway. Raydon's press corps will handle that when the appropriate time comes. At least Zechs looks to be holding up well to the exercise. I have to admit that I half expected him to go straight up after Noin, but I suppose I should have known better. He's a professional and he knows how to contain himself. I guess anyone who threatened the Earth with destruction to prove a point has to have control.// Zechs had glanced about the room after Giles offered the all clear, silent and brooding as he surveyed the waste of human life and moved on to the next door. No sounds issued from the upper levels of the tower, no thumps or bumps or repeats of that resounding bell tone and after the crash that had shaken the building that silence was more ominous with each passing minute. Neither Zechs nor Giles could relax as each room they entered revealed nothing more than blood smears or bodies slumped in death. The third floor of the tower was silent, no suggestions of movement could be heard from where they crouched behind the door, the stairs safely behind them. Three traps had been located on the stairs in reaching this point and neither man was inclined to rush out into unexplored territory. Giles checked the door of the stairs before opening it and pausing at the sight that met his gaze. “Now why the hell would they have that there?” Zechs joined him in the hallway, closing the door silently behind him and eyed the step ladder that was placed in the centre of the hallway with confusion, his eyes following its lines to the opened vent grill, and blue eyes narrowed, his body tensing as he considered possibilities. “Is there any wiring in the vents?” Giles queried, eyeing the doors opening off of the hallway ahead of them warily. “What would they have been doing if they needed to access wiring up there?” “There are no wiring systems for anything vital to the systems operation of the dome or the control tower itself up there.” Zechs returned, moving to the first of the doors on their left and slipping two shuriken into his hand. “The only wiring running adjacent to the vents that could be accessed via the vents is the lighting. All vital systems for the computers are isolated systems, sealed in the walls, not accessible by use of the vent systems. The control room is the door at the end of the hallway.” “Right.” Giles left the mystery of the ladder for now and resumed their now practiced means of entry to the tower rooms. “I am getting a really bad feeling about this.” “Go.” Zechs pushed the door open, slipping behind Giles as he leapt past, keeping his attention divided between the man in front of him and the doors further down the hall. Giles was not the only one who had a bad feeling. “Clear.” Giles retreated from the room and started, a hissed breath marked his spin toward the control room as something clanged further down the hallway. He considered the soft noise for a moment and met the crystal blue eyes of his partner. “End door? The control room?” “I think so.” Zechs agreed. “The two doors on the left of the hallway should be a maintenance and tool storage in turn, while the one on the right should be the coordinators office.” Giles considered the far door and the fact that the rooms on the left of the hallway would be small, only the supervisors office would be of any size. “I'll take that one, you take the other two.” Checks were made quickly and efficiently, each resulting in a confirmed negative. The rooms were empty and the only curiosity they found of interest was the assortment of tools that were scattered in the hallway. A half dozen screw drivers had been discarded around the area where the ladder stood and the vent cover was propped against one wall. With mutual shrugs of bafflement as to why any tech would be so careless with their tools they moved to the end of the hallway and the control room. “You say that there is a maintenance room in here as well as the control station itself?" Giles whispered, pausing a little way back from the door, wanting to make certain of the lay out before they proceeded. “It is more a spare parts storage for the control systems, but they call it a maintenance room. A series of metal shelving and computer components vital to the smooth running of the control systems. It has an electronic lock, but I know that code as well.” “How do you know all of this? You have known the layout of every building that we have entered, and I thought that you were not supposed to have had access to most of them.” A small smile twitched his lips and he shrugged, a cautious manoeuver as he did not wish to place any more strain on his shoulder than necessary. “Visions give me most of the small details and I have accessed the blueprints of the dome for the layout and most of the blue prints for the buildings. Yes, those blueprints were on the list I was banned from seeing and no, Giles, do not ask how I gained access to them. You really do not want to know. Telling me that I cannot do something is pretty much guaranteed to make certain that I do the exact opposite in most cases. I tend to look on it as a personal affront and challenge. The truth be told, there is probably little about the dome that I do not know. In fact I probably know more about the structure of the dome and the base than most of the executive staff now resident.” Giles grinned an acknowledgement of that and after a quick examination of the door he rested his hand against the doorknob, listening for a moment before shaking his head in the negative. “Nothing.” Zechs nodded and slipped into his accustomed position behind his partner, fighting against the urge to bolt through the door and find out if Noin was in that room. He was trying not to see again the vision where he had entered the maintenance room to find her strung up by the ankles, her work uniform discarded in a bloody heap on the floor, strips of her skin scattered about the room and her blood dripping from her corpse. “Hey. Things have changed, remember?” Giles was watching the blonde, seeing the glassy look that was overtaking the blue eyes and suspecting the unwelcome surge of memories, fairly certain he knew what was playing on the blonde's mind. “You met me and we hooked up for this fight. That has changed what you saw before and because of it people are alive now who would be dead and you are still running free and able to act. Remember, too, that you had never before experienced a vision of Noin as a Gifted individual, or recognized that that might be the case. Those facts have to change things, Zechs. We, the Gifted, have defences. Defences even we don't know about half the time until suddenly the need is there and we have to draw on some previously hidden part of ourselves. Sometimes we can find that hidden strength when we need it the most and it makes the world of difference. Your Noin is a strong lady, yes? A woman of iron will? She is a fighter and I do not doubt that she would not go down without a fight.” “Well standing here is not going to answer the question. Go.” A faint nod and Giles murmured a silent prayer to himself and what ever God chose to listen to it, that he was not going to find the woman dead. He simply did not trust his companion's state of mind if they should find Lucrezia Noin dead in this room, particularly if she had died by being skinned. Giles set himself, ensured that Zechs was ready and kicked the door open, gun at the ready. A small spark of electricity danced amid a scorched and smoldering consol, the acrid stench of burning wires filled the room. That was the first impression Giles had as he sprang through the door, gun leading the way, sweeping the room for danger, and it was closely followed by the eye opening sight of the reinforced door of the maintenance room hanging precariously from one bent hinge, the lower hinge twisted beyond recognition. The control station was smoking, electricity arcing in small blue flares and the panels were covered in fire retardant foam, released by the automated systems where the circuitry had exploded in showers of sparks. Pieces of circuit boards and spare component parts were imbedded in the computer consuls and the wall across from the twisted wreckage of the door. “Holy … What the hell happened here?” he breathed edging deeper into the room. The far wall of the control room, directly opposite the maintenance room was bowed out, as thought a giant fist had punched the reinforced steel in a blow that bent it as though it were a thin sheet of tin. The result was a dent, a wide depression and as Giles moved deeper into the room he noted that the walls around the broken door were also bowed outwards. It was as though a massive force centred within the maintenance room had pushed the walls away from its centre. Cautious he motioned for Zechs to stay back at the door as he edged closer to the adjacent room, noting that there was a red tinge to some of the foam coating the computer station that could only be blood. “No. Stay there and cover me.” he glanced at Zechs who had made a move toward the twisted wreckage of the door, ignoring his hand signal to remain at the door. “Did you see anything like this in a vision?” “No.” The whisper was tinged with a fearful kind of awe as he took in the damage to the computer consuls, the walls and the twisted pretzel that once had been the lower hinge of the door. The area around the doorway itself and the door was littered with component parts that had previously been stored in the room, many shattered beyond recognition by the forces entailed in their ejection. Giles picked his way as silently as he could through them, moving what he could with his feet before he moved forward, step by step, almost afraid to look through the doorway. It was obvious that some kind of explosion had ripped the maintenance room apart, which, he admitted, would explain the tower ringing like a bell, but the walls were not marked with the tell tale signs of fire such an explosion would have left. Nor was the area around the door marked by extinguishing foam, as it would have been had a fire ripped through the door. He hesitated on the threshold of the doorway, the twisted metal of the door bringing his advance to a stop. In close proximity to the door now he was surprised that there was no heat, as he would have expected from an explosion taking place, but there was a decided chill emanating from the room and when he touched the door he hissed in reaction. A chill that made his fingers ache to the bone rose from the metal and his breath misted a little in the air, betraying how cold the air was seeping from the room. With a quiet curse he rubbed his hands against his thighs in an attempt to bring some warmth back to them. “Giles?” “I think you should stay there and keep an eye on the hallway.” Giles tried peering around the warped bulk of the door and shook his head in frustration. “I can't see into the room and the door is jammed. It may take a bit before I can move it enough to allow me through.” He was well aware that his partner was on edge, restless, but Zechs remained at the door, as he had requested to keep watch on the hallway and the stairs. What the blonde was making of the wreckage of the control room he did not know, but he could offer no immediate thoughts until he had investigated the room on the other side of the door. He was careful how he examined the door, shifting the wreckage from it with equal care, afraid that if it shifted at the wrong time he would never be able to gain sufficient room to force his body through the gap and gain the secrets hidden within. The chill was pervasive, seeping into him and bringing him to the point where his teeth began to chatter by the time he had cleared the door enough to force it that few precious inches to allow him to pass. Zechs, still by the door keeping a watch glanced from the hallway beyond in time to see Giles ease his frame through the gap he had managed to make. With a soft grunt he glanced quickly into the hallway but spun toward the maintenance room at the gasp that came from within. “Oh fuck.” t.b.c.
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