2-Jul-2000
Title: Mission Arcadia
bonnejean & vonceia *present*Category: yaoi, AU
RavynFyre & Kateri Marie
in The B&V Guest Authors Series!
Duo - words, thoughts, actions - RavynFyre
Heero - words, thoughts actions - Kateri Marie
Rip & Jack, Their World and General Production - bonnejeanne & vonceia
"Go Heero!" a few of the kids cheered.
Duo snorted with laughter as the children picked up the cheer. He chuckled and smiled up at Heero, a small shrug gracing his shoulders for a moment.
Heero savored the small smile from his koi but he could not ignore the eyes boring into him. He turned back to the green eyes with a small huff of breath that sounded suspiciously like a sigh. "You already know what our answer is. Let's get on with it."
Duo beamed up at his lover. "Yer the best, man."
"Baka." Heero breathed, touching a hand briefly to Duo's cheek.
"Yeah, but I'm your baka," he muttered in return.
Jack smiled. "You have no idea how refreshing you both are," he said. Then he turned as Shelly came back, with a boy close behind her.
This child seemed different from the others. He did not have the happy, relaxed self-assurance most of the children seemed to have. His expression was neither a smile nor a frown. His eyes were dark and serious, and their deep indigo color was remarkably like someone else's. His brown hair was tousled over his forehead. His skin was a warm tan with a hint of gold.
He approached and stopped next to Jack, looking up, then looking at the two strangers.
Ripper clapped his hands and said, "All right kiddies... fire-drill... off to the tunnels..."
The crowd of children suddenly all came to attention and they quickly filed together, heading for what could be seen as the top of a staircase that led beneath the grass and into tunnel below the city.
The little boy named Kenny stayed behind.
Heero took one look at the little boy and felt his last remaining reserves drain away. Those eyes... they were the same eyes that glimmered out at him from his lover's face... But innocent eyes, eyes that should never have seen so much sorrow. He could never deny those eyes anything.
"Hi. I'm Duo. Nice ta meetcha," Duo offered, holing out his hand to the boy.
The solemn child looked from Heero to Duo. He looked at the offered hand. He scowled slightly. Then he quickly stuck his hand in Duo's as if it might shock him, gripped it and let go.
Heero didn't bother offering his hand; he had the suspicion that the child wouldn't take it. There was something in that scowl that he recognized...
Jack sat down on the ground and looked up at the child. "Kenny, these are friends of Quatre's."
The boy looked at Jack as if verifying the words. Then he looked back. His gaze was a little less closed.
"You know Quatre?"
"You bet. He's a close friend of ours." Duo answered.
The little boy wasn't quite giving in yet. "Yeah?" he said. "What... what instrument does he play?"
"Violin." Heero said firmly.
Kenny nodded and then relaxed a little more. "Okay," he said.
Jack said. "Kenny, tell Duo and Heero about the place your mother came from."
A shadow crossed the child's face at the mention of his mother. He swallowed but nodded, the scowl returning as if it gave him courage.
"Big place. Underground. People... everybody wears the same clothes. Machines... lots of machines. Like... like big... like big people," he said, trying to figure out how to describe something. "You get inside... and make the machine go..."
Duo shot a look first at Jack, his gaze almost begging the man to let the child stop, but then his eyes darted over to his lover's face at the description of what could only be a mobile suit... or something like it.
Heero's face had tightened as soon as the boy had mentioned big people. The memories came back in a furious rush of the Gundams and the destruction and a million gravestones... And even his own words, 'I don't have to kill anymore.."
"What were they doing with the machines?" Jack prompted the child.
Kenny nodded. "Making them... so you could get them to go without anyone inside. Cause they don't have enough people for all the machines. There are a lot of machines but not so many people. Lots of them died they said, in the years gone by."
"What were they using the machines for?" Duo asked, hating himself for asking, but needing to know anyway. Even though he already knew the answer.
Kenny looked at Duo. "For? For... for practice... for coming out soon. M-ma..." he hesitated, scowled harder and said quickly, "Ma said they wanted to come out of the... the base... and find where other people were.... and then... take.... take over."
Duo's expression hardened and he sought the comfort of his partner's gaze. Not if HE could help it, they wouldn't!
Heero's gaze held the same iron strong promise. He had sacrificed everything once before to save people from the destruction that the mobile suits brought. He would do it again. They, he corrected himself, they would do it.
Duo smiled a little at what he saw in Heero's eyes. Yes. They would.
Ripper dropped down beside Kenny, looking up at the two pilots. "Now you see why we chose you. This world has nothing that could fight these machines. These people are not fighters. They are the only hope this world has for a future with humans in it. You may not understand this, but we never expected to do so much for humans. We didn't mean to. But now it seems such a shame to let this all go to waste. We chose you because you know these things. It may be a different world but you will find there are many parallels here. Odd ones. We have seen them in world after world. And we don't come only to take from you. We may not be nice people," he said smirking slightly, "But we aren't bad people either. When this is done, there is something we can help you with. That is another story but perhaps since you can see that some of this one is true, you may decide to believe the rest some day."
"We understand." Heero said smoothly. And he was right. This was something they understood all too well. Fighting, the reasons to fight, the people they were protecting and the future that needed to be preserved. Inexplicable instruments might be beyond them but this... this was something they knew better than they knew themselves.
Duo remained uncharacteristically silent for a moment, letting it all soak in. As always, Heero picked up his slack. He shook his head, bringing himself back to the present. "Soon... How soon, Kenny? Do you know?" he asked gently.
The boy looked up at Jack, who nodded.
"Not... sure.." Kenny said. "But... soon." He stepped closer to the two, looking up into their faces searchingly. "You going... to stop them?"
Duo nodded reassuringly. "Yeah. Whatever it takes, Kenny. We'll stop them."
Heero looked down into the small boy's eyes and found himself nodding in agreement with his lover, "We will stop them."
The boy nodded. Then he stood up very straight. "I can go. I know things. I can get in. There's ways to sneak in... I know how."
Heero frowned ever so slightly at the boy's words. He could not deny the tactical advantage that the boy's knowledge would afford. That kind of information could be priceless in the kind of battle they were going into... but he was so young... Too young to be facing horrors like battles or wars...
Duo's jaw clenched. He knew Heero would be considering it. The information was too important. But Kenny was just a kid. Duo could see the kid had a few axes to bury for himself... but that kind of... what? Grudge maybe? Something. It would eat him up inside and leave nothing behind. After all, he saw it just about do that to Wufei. He couldn't let the kid be involved.
"No. It's too dangerous. I don't want you to get hurt any more. What kind of friends would we be then?"
Heero's lips tightened as his lover made his pronouncement. He too wanted the boy to be safe, but that kind of information they couldn't afford to go without. Duo wasn't as used to the tactical side of battle as he was... He hadn't spent battle after battle flooded with information, learning just how much a difference one little piece could make. "We need what he knows, Duo." Heero tried to keep his tone soft.
The little boy scowled like a thundercloud. His eyes focused on Duo and the look was... eerily like the look of someone else. "Don't have any friends here," Kenny said tightly. "You let me go. They... they...Ma... I have to go. You don't take me, I'll go myself."
"Sa.. Wouldn't you call Quatre your friend?" Duo said.
Kenny looked back at Duo and a struggle took place. Then he said. "Yeah... but he's not here and you aren't my friend... not unless you let me go."
"That doesn't make you not my friend, though," Duo said. He sighed explosively after a moment. This kid was as stubborn as Heero. This kid was a lot like Heero in a lot of ways. He peered up at his lover suddenly. "I'm not going to win, am I?" he asked sardonically.
"No." Heero answered simply, hiding the smile that threatened. "But at least we can keep an eye on him."
The boy looked up suddenly, startled. He glanced from Duo to Heero and back quickly. He took several quick breaths, and then tried to calm himself, closing small fists. He nodded. "I'll be good. I'll do what you say. I can take orders."
"That's what scares me the most, Kenny. That's what scares me the most," Duo said.
Heero took hold of his lover's hand but stayed silent. He understood them both too well.
Jack nodded. "Kenny has a home here, and people who will love him and cherish him, but he does not understand these things yet. Bring him back, and maybe he will be able to. Now... this city does not have much in the way of weapons. Only a few things which we can gather. You can rest, eat, do whatever you wish. When you are ready, we'll take you to the area where we found the boy. If you need anything else, you can ask. If we can get it, we will. But don't ask us to go to your world and bring weapons here. We won't."
"It wouldn't matter." Heero said, his brain already shifting back into Perfect Soldier mode. "The Gundams have all been destroyed. Anything else we can improvise..."
Duo nodded, something in his gaze a little regretful as he saw the shift in Heero's personality. He'd hoped never to see that damned soldier again... These enemies they were going to meet, they had a lot to answer for. Sparing a glance down at Kenny, he frowned. A very lot indeed.
End of Part 2
bonnejeanne & vonceia present
RavynFyre and Kateri Marie
Please feel free to direct feedback to any or all of the authors!
ravynfyre@hotmail.com,
nacl3salaris@hotmail.com,
vonceia@yahoo.com,
bonnejeanne@yahoo.com.