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"Time Walker"Written By: t-shirt Disclaimer: Gundam Wing and its characters are
copyright to Sunrise, Bandai, Sotsu Agency, and associated parties.
I make no money with this fic. Rating: NC 17 Warnings: AU/Fantasy/Adventure, Angst, fluff,
sap, WAFF *g*, mild language, light lemons or perhaps more like mention
of lemons. Pairings: 1x2, eventual 3x4, unrequited Rx1, eventual
6x9, eventual 13xU (can’t really put 1 now can we? O.o), Summary: When a historic timeline is thretened
a celebrated Time Walker is called in to correct the problem. However,
when he meets a beautiful young thief everything he has ever believed
in begins to shift and change as he faces the adventure of a lifetime
and fights against the complexity of his own willful heart. " Time Walker" Ch 8 Hiiro blocked a mighty blow from Zechs sword feeling the fatigue ache in his bones. How long he could withstand the furious mans onslaught was unknown but if he could just keep him busy for a short while more all would be well. Unbeknownst to the raging blond man his forces were falling pray to the superior forces of Dermail’s army without his leadership. The Sadulian army was faring well considering they were horribly outnumbered and Hiiro had come to respect their tactician’s efforts but it was only a matter of time before the small force was overcome without Zechs leadership. Noin had been quickly carried away buy medic’s leaving the tall, blond man nothing to think about save his intention to sever Hiiro’s head from his body as his rage overwhelmed him until he suddenly realized his forces were retreating and woke from his furious battle rage. “You’ve lost!” Hiiro shouted hard pressed to regain his wind. “Surrender!” Zechs was about to reply with the sharp edge of his sword when they both stopped dead in their tracks as a shimmering light flickered some distance away. “Quatre,” Zechs breathed at once rushing toward the illumination with Hiiro hot on his heels. He knew that light only too well. Someone had activated a gate and there was no telling what would come through or which side it would be on, the thought that Treize would use the portal to drop back up troops onto the field or worse yet, modern weapons instilling his feet with a dire determination that put him on the scene before Zechs could get a handle on things. When he arrived it was to find a young blond boy in the middle of a circle of men, one of which was so huge he stood taller than any other man on the field but still Dermail’s men advanced. Zechs gave a mighty war cry and dove into the line but there were far too many for him to stop and Hiiro felt a dread fill him up as he realized he would have to aid them in capturing what was clearly the prize in the fight. However, the presence of the portal complicated the matter as it had appeared directly above the blond who stood with eyes like that of a frightened animal ready to cleave any man that came near with the twin sickles in his hands. Another of his guard roared and charged into the enemy line only to fall pray to the multitude closing in. Zechs fought closer and closer to the blond boys side taking up the space beside the mountainous man as Hiiro approached but the moment the blond boy’s guard began to falter against the daunting odds the portal crackled and hissed and Hiiro almost swallowed his tongue when Trowa fell from the light landing squarely on the blond boy just as several swords descended on him, each of the assailants attacks clanging against the steel of the big mans, Zechs and Hiiro’s swords as they guarded the couple and viciously repelled the assault. “HOLD!” Hiiro shouted rushing around to toss the wary soldiers of Cherryton, who were uncertain of their course of action, weapons to the ground. “The day is won!” he growled slapping one of the men who refused to relinquish his blade and sending him crashing to the ground. “Inform General Septum the enemy has surrendered!” A loud cry went up at the news as men all along Sadual’s line stopped and surrendered their arms but Hiiro felt no comfort for having stopped the fight as he turned back to see his oldest and best friend laying in a heap on the ground, his arms securely fastened around the blond boy giving testimony to the fact that he had willingly forsaken them all. ** “Where’s Trowa?” “I was hoping you could tell me,” Une replied walking calmly into Duo’s room. “He’s missing?” Duo inquired sitting up fully in his bed. “You’ve spent a great deal of time together since your arrival,” she went on. “Did he say anything that might help us locate him?” “Maybe he went time walking,” Duo mused. “He said he used to work with Hiiro so he would know how.” “Yes,” she nodded knowing very well that the legendary team had been split when Trowa decided his services would be more useful if he gave up his Time Walker status. “There is evidence that he used the gateway but we have no way of knowing to when he has gone.” “He’s Hiiro’s best friend,” Duo reasoned. “Maybe he got tired of sitting around here waiting for him to die.” The angry accusation in his tone caused Une’s left brow to rise. “You believe he is in danger?” “As long as you hold me prisoner,” he reasoned. “You all are.” She couldn’t argue there because it was the truth. He was as astute as anyone she had ever trained and she regretted the fact that he was not hers to recruit because he made a viable point. “It is my intention to equip a scout who will be sent to your timeline in an effort to locate and retrieve our agents,” she told him gaining his full and undivided attention. “It will be the responsibility of this individual to see to it that the Society is informed of all details pertaining to its agents and the missions they have undertaken.” Duo’s eyes sparkled brightly as he got to his feet and grinned widely when she asked, “Will you accept this mission?” “When do I leave!?” he crowed diving on the drawer where his ragged clothes had been stored. “That won’t be necessary,” she told him dropping a sack on his bed that happily contained a full set of clothes particularly suited to his time period and trade. He dressed as quickly as possible giggling out loud when he strapped the silver knives to his forearms. The Lady was hard a nails but she knew a good man when she saw one and he suddenly understood Hiiro’s respect for her. He was also vividly aware that she had any number of scouts that would have been happy to take the mission but had chosen him instead. Weather that was because of some soft place in her heart for Hiiro or the possibility that she had grown to respect him as well mattered little. All he could think about was getting back and finding Hiiro safe and sound. Everything else was negotiable. “What?!” Relena gasped when Duo followed Une into the control room. “Are we ready?” the commander asked her crew. The girl’s eyes flashed angrily from Une to Duo. “You can’t send him!” “Beginning sequence initiated,” Bea, a young woman in charge of the static stream that evening evenly intoned. “He’ll contaminate the timeline!” Relena shouted bulling her way into the center of the room. “You cannot do this!” “Stand aside,” Une ordered sternly. “It’s against code!” the girl spat getting herself forcibly removed for her trouble. “You understand the communication device?” Une asked Duo who nodded around the grin on his lips. “He’ll destroy us all!” Relena screamed. “Walters,” Une snapped. “Please see to Miss Relena.” “Yes, Ma’am,” Walters replied standing to do so but the girl suddenly bucked snatching a small, silver and gold trinket from the counter before bolting for the shimmering portal. “Gateway secure,” Bea informed them in her calmly mechanical tone. “RELENA!” Une gasped stepping forward but the girl stepped closer to the portal and she froze. “I won’t let you have him!” the girl growled. “Don’t,” Duo advised gently easing forward. “Relena… that’s Hiiro’s beckon… it’s…” “HE’S MINE!” she roared then suddenly dove through the gate. “Get her back!” Une shouted. “I can’t!” “Where did she go!? “I… I don’t know! The stream’s gone awry! Something’s malfunctioned!” “Damn it!” the commander growled frantically tapping at unresponsive keys until Duo’s calm tone informed them… “You’re wasting your time.” All movement stopped as everyone turned to listen and knew the truth of his assessment when he stated, “It’s been sabotaged.” ** Hiiro walked briskly down the corridor of Cherryton Castle. The trip back had taken less than two days with the absence of the army to weigh them down but he’d lost some control over the situation when they arrived putting both Trowa and his new charge in perilous danger. Dermail wanted information on the whereabouts of Sadual’s famed riches but Quatre, the blond that had somehow secured Trowa’s unwavering loyalty without having ever met him, refused to speak. It was clear Hiiro’s old friend was not about to stand by and allow the blond, who was also the only living heir to the kingdom of Sadual, to be tortured for the information which put Hiiro in the middle of a very delicate situation. “Stand down!” he shouted having come upon the chamber where Quatre was being held to find Trowa in mortal combat with no less than five of the castle guards. A quick assessment revealed two more who lay still on the floor and the promise of more wounded in Trowa’s fiery green eyes. “He ain’t human!” one of the men growled giving credence to the rumor that Trowa was a demon that had fallen from the sky during the battle. “He fights with a demons hand!” another agreed brandishing his sword. “Consider this,” Hiiro reasoned stepping in between the soldiers and their doom. “If what you say is true then opposing him means nothing but the unnecessary sacrifice of your lives.” “He stands between King Dermail and his rightful booty!” “He fights only when there is a need to protect Quatre,” Hiiro argued. “Let me speak with him,” he bargained. “Perhaps there is another way.” There had been no opportunity to speak to Trowa on the return trip and Hiiro was anxious to confront his friend breathing a sigh of relief when the men thought it better to let him try than take the chance on dying by Trowa’s hand. The moment they had collected their wounded and gone Trowa moved to stand between Quatre who was chained to the far wall and Hiiro but let his sword rest on its tip on the stone floor. He made no move to defend himself when Hiiro suddenly rounded on him backhanding him so hard it split his lip and sent him crashing to one knee as Quatre shouted his name. “Why!?” Hiiro growled towering over his fallen friend. “You know the consequences of your actions!” Hiiro accused ignoring the dawning light in the blond boy’s eyes as he watched the strange angel that had come to protect him lower his gaze. “Why?” Hiiro asked again but the rage had bled away leaving behind only the sorrowful anguish of a soul stripped of its base fiber. “How could you betray everything we’ve ever believed in?” Trowa didn’t bother to raise his eyes when he quietly replied, “You sealed all of our fates the moment you took Duo as your own.” “Duo?!” Quarter gasped but the significance of his outburst was lost to the Time Walker as his mind spun in a maelstrom of chaotic reason. Could it be true? Had he altered the timeline by claiming Duo as his own? There was usually no danger if a Walker took a lover so long as said lover did not conceive a child and that was impossible. He couldn’t reason it out. What was Trowa talking about? How could he have been responsible when it was Treize that had appeared in this timeline first? He was brought out of his reverie when Quatre repeated his insistent prompt. “You know Duo?!” “What?” Hiiro replied still shaken. “Duo!” the blond exclaimed. “He’s second in command of The Reapers Guild. You know him? Where is he?” “He’s…” Hiiro began but thought better of it until Trowa stood and completed the thought. “He is in my world.” “Trowa!” Hiiro hissed. “He’s… in the future?” Quatre gaped and Hiiro smacked his forehead with his hand. “Is he well?” Hiiro demanded. “They didn’t harm him?” “He is unharmed,” Trowa replied bringing a great relief to Hiiro’s eyes. “You’re commander won’t hurt him will she?” Quatre inquired. “How much did you tell him?” Hiiro demanded. “Only as much as you told Duo,” Trowa countered. Hiiro started to retort but held his tongue as he watched his friend turn gently to the blond boy and console him as he got to work releasing his hands. “Trowa,” he called cautiously feeling his heart sink when his friend flashed a bashful glance his way that revealed far more than he wanted to know. “You’re in love with him?!” “Me?” Quatre gasped falling into Trowa’s waiting arms as his wrists came free. Trowa offered him a small smile that readily confirmed the notion as he sat him on his feet. “I… but… we’ve never even met,” Quatre reasoned. “Yes,” Hiiro agreed. “One has to wonder how such feeling could grow under the circumstances.” Trowa smiled laying a hand on Quatre’s cheek that made him shudder softly as he explained, “Destiny is often difficult to comprehend.” “More so when secrets are kept,” Hiiro commented. “You know everything you need to know to complete the mission,” Trowa countered using Time Walker protocol in his defense but Hiiro wasn’t having any of it. “How did you know where and when to be in order to save his life?” he persisted but Trowa would reply only… “The answer to that lies within the walls of Morres Keep.” ** He hated riddles. Life had been much easier when Trowa simply gave him facts and he was free to act upon them. At least he didn’t have to steal a horse this time but sneaking away in the middle of the night was not going to bode well with King Dermail. It would take several hours to make the trip to Morres Keep even at a brisk pace which meant his absence would certainly be noticed. Most of the bombs he’d made had been used in the assault and Dermail was anxious to be rearmed but it had never been Hiiro’s intention to serve as his weapons master in the first place. The trip north would give him some time to sort things out and decide what he should do next. On the one hand, there was Dermail. He was the reigning king and as far as Hiiro knew the proper sovereign of Cherryton during this timeline. On the other there was Treize’s claim that the only reason Dermail was king was due to a shift in the timeline some two generations prior. If that were the case there would be no recollection of the history that had existed before the shift. He thought about this prophesy that Wufei had mentioned and wondered again as to its validity. What could possibly have made an intelligent man like Treize believe in such tripe was beyond his reasoning but at that point he was very interested in getting a peek at the prediction. A shadow crossed his face as the knowledge that if he could get close to the prophesy he might be able to destroy it came to mind. If there were no prophesy in the future for Treize to find then he would never have a reason to initiate any of it and Hiiro would never have been assigned the mission but… then he would never have met Duo. The braided boy weighed heavily on his mind. Trowa’s claim that it was Hiiro’s sin that had started this cannonball rolling crawled uncomfortably in his stomach but he knew even as he pressed ever northward he would do it all over again. His heart longed to see the light in Duo’s violet eyes, to feel the touch of his skin and breath deeply of his sweet scent but he was stranded in the future and Hiiro had no way of contacting him. He sighed deeply again and resigned himself to the lonely trail ahead and almost fell off his horse when Duo dropped from a tree and landed lightly in front of him. “Duo!?” “I see your new master has granted you a fine mount,” the braided boy evenly intoned. The odd quality of his voice put Hiiro on his guard but he was so relieved to see him he couldn’t retain the saddle. “Duo,” he breathed gently as he dismounted. “You have to let me explain.” “How could you give that monster the power to kill all those people?” Duo hissed skirting around him so he couldn’t get close. Hiiro clenched his teeth against the shame and pulled his self respect firmly around his shoulders as he tried to explain. “You don’t understand. It is imperative that the timeline remain intact.” “I understand very well,” Duo countered. “You’re friends in the future were most helpful with the scope of my comprehension.” “They allowed you to… learn?” Hiiro deadpanned clearly shocked by the news. “Oh, yes,” Duo grinned but there was no kindness in his eyes. “You’re friend Trowa was most helpful. Couldn’t wait to share all the secrets of your world.” Trowa. He’d purposely educated him but why? “Duo,” he tried again. “Try to understand. I have no choice. This is my job. I’m sworn to preserve the timeline…” “Did it ever occur to you that this timeline is already corrupt!?” Hiiro’s heart skipped a beat upon hearing such a thing come from Duo’s mouth. He had definitely gained a great deal of knowledge during his absence. “What did Trowa tell you?” he asked wondering what secrets his friend might have shared with Duo that he’d been unwilling to share with him. “Nothing,” Duo told him digging in his pocket. “It was Une that proposed the possibility,” he explained leaving him slack jawed when something hit him in the chest and Duo informed him, “She wants to talk to Treize.” Hiiro had tucked the communicator into his pocket even though he was itching to speak with Une. However, the distant condition of his present company was preempting the inclination with the need to mend the riff that had separated him from Duo. The braided boy had chosen to walk in lieu of riding double with Hiiro confirming the extent of his anger with the silence of his tongue. It slowed them down considerably but Duo was so angry with him over the battle there was no reasoning with him. It took about an hour before Hiiro finally lost patience and decided to try again. “It would be faster if you would just ride.” “And be held in the arms of a murderer?” Duo snorted. “No thanks.” “I didn’t kill anyone,” Hiiro sighed. “It’s against code for me to take the life of a citizen of anther time.” Duo eyed him sideways but kept his steady step and Hiiro decided to drop the pretenses and say what was really on his mind. “I’m glad you’re safe,” he smiled in spite of Duo’s temper. “All I could think of was getting back here to you,” the braided boy snipped missing the light of elation in Hiiro’s eyes. “And when I finally arrive it’s to find you’ve condemned Sadual to Dermail’s selfish rule.” “I told you,” Hiiro tried again. “That’s my job.” “Then perhaps you should reconsider your career!” Duo snapped marching on ahead. Hiiro watched him go for a moment feeling wholly inadequate then a sudden inspiration hit him. He smiled as he watched the beautiful boy glide through the moonlight ahead and thought that perhaps a change of lifestyle wasn’t such a bad idea after all. There had to be a way, his heart simply would not allow anything less and he understood with certainty clarity that he'd made his decision the moment he'd taken Duo as his own. “I’m sorry,’ he said slowing Duo’s heated march until he stopped and turned to regard him. “You’re right,” he told him stopping his mount by his side. “What I do is callous and requires a heart of stone,” he explained letting a small smile curl his lips as he confessed, “And that is something I no longer possess.” “You never did,” Duo sniffed bringing a huge smile to Hiiro’s lips. “I am unfamiliar with this newfound tenderness that you have instilled in me,” he told him offering his hand as he asked, “Will you help guide me on this unfamiliar path?” “You and I together?” Duo smiled cleverly. “Forever and beyond,” Hiiro agreed. Duo chirped when he took Hiiro’s hand and was snatched unceremoniously into the Walker’s arms and kissed soundly. “We need to find Treize,” he gasped when he could breathe again. “If this is all predetermined,” Hiiro reasoned
sliding smoothly from the saddle with Duo securely in his arms. “Then
the fates have surely accounted for this,” he smiled as he carried
him off the road and laid him in a patch of soft grass. ~ * ~ tbc... |
