5-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
A soft buzzing sound wakened Heero.
He opened his eyes, blinking twice to clear the sleep from them, and found the red digits blinking back at him. 7:17pm.
He shifted slightly, and noticed a shift underneath him.
He looked down and couldn't help but smile a small smile, somehow, he always managed to end up twined in Duo's hair. He never knew how it happened, but it always did.
He looked at his lover, whose features were still relaxed in sleep, and ran a hand down the side of his face, "Duo."
"Mmrr..." Duo simply snuggled closer, oblivious.
Heero shook his head. Long practice had assured him that Duo would sleep through anything, even another war, given half a chance. Regretfully, he untwined himself from the masses of hair and stalked over to the table, filled with now cold food.
The buzzing persisted.
The noise rattled around in his brain for a few moments before he realized that it wasn't coming from the alarm.
Looking around, he noticed that in the bottom corner of the otherwise black vidscreen, there was a small yellow blinking single-word message. It said "Call Desk".
There was no phone in the room. The only thing that looked even remotely like a device was the small handheld remote on the dresser. It had a multitude of buttons on it. One button said, "desk".
Heero pressed the button and waited, impatiently to see what happened.
The corner of the vidscreen opened a window, much like those on his Gundam's screens did occasionally, and a pleasant man's face looked at him. "Hello, sir. We'd like to have the maid come and take your dishes. Would you like something brought up for dinner?"
Heero nodded sharply, well aware of how large Duo's appetite would be when he finally woke up, "Send up three of your largest dinners."
The man nodded. "Yes sir. The maid is on her way. Also, I've been asked to let you know that Mr. Jack wishes to speak with you as soon a it is convenient."
Once Heero acknowledged, the little window disappeared.
A moment later there was a tap on the door. "Maid!"
Heero headed towards the door, grabbing a towel on the way and wrapping it around his waist. Checking quickly to note that the gun was in reach, he opened the door.
The same young woman who brought the food was standing there, in a different uniform. She smiled warmly at Heero and wheeled in a cart. This time she did a double act - removed the old dishes and replaced them with new ones. Different smells. She finished with the dishes and table and made a detour to the bathroom, her eyes widening slightly at the wet clothes in heaps and other signs of interesting activity. However she didn't say a word, simply collected all the clothes and towels, bundled them into the cart, put out fresh towels, fresh bubble bath, fresh lubricant... and took from the amazing cart two black silk robes and placed them on a chair. Then she nodded to Heero and wheeled the cart to the door.
"Laundry will take about an hour on these, sir, but if you are in a hurry, you can make purchases on the vid and have your selections sent up," she said, as she pushed the cart out and turned to close the door behind her.
Heero grabbed one of the robes and slipped it on, the feel faintly reminiscent of a kimono, and peeked under one of the food covers before going back towards the bed. "Duo!" His voice was stronger now, more command than request.
Duo's face scrunched up, drifting just out of consciousness enough to realize that he was alone, and getting chilly without Heero curled around him. His face pinched into an adorable, sleepy pout as he groped for his partner. "Ng...."
Heero watched, memorizing the picture, then he shook his head again, running a hand through his hair. It was time for the tried and true method, "Duo, there's food here."
Duo's eyes didn't exactly snap open, but, suddenly, he was awake, and blinking sleepily at Heero.
"Food? Hrrm... Hey... I smell food!"
He bounced to his feet, eyes running over Heero's robe almost jealously, but certainly appreciatively.
"Nice threads."
Heero jerked his head to where the other robe lay and went to join his partner at the table. Even the Perfect Soldier had to eat.
Duo snatched up the other robe and shrugged it on as he plopped into one of the chairs. He lifted as many covers as he could get his hands on and stared at the spread greedily: seafood with pasta, salad, garlic bread, small cheesecakes, ice tea and a small bottle of red wine.
"Sugoi! This looks great!" Duo exclaimed, grabbing up his fork to dig into one of the place settings.
Duo plowed his way through the first whole meal in no time at all, eyeing the other full meal with a smirk. "You really DO love me, doncha?" he asked with a grin. "Split it with ya," he said, his voice almost coy.
Taking a seat near his lover, Heero took another one and dug in as well, maybe not with the same astonishing speed as his lover but certainly with some enthusiasm. "Hai." Heero responded, pushing the plate between them and grabbing a few mouthfuls before Duo could devour his 'half' of the plate. "Jack wants to see us."
"Honeymoon's over, ne?" Duo said with a sigh.
"We're not exactly on vacation, Duo." But Heero's voice wasn't quite hardened yet. He hated that tone in Duo's voice. It was the one that sounded like a wish, a million wishes, and he would give anything to make those wishes come true.
"Yeah, but with the kind of lives we lead? You grab your vacations when you can!"
Heero let his hand stray to caress Duo's arm quickly, and then finished off the last of the food he wanted. "They took our clothes to the laundry but that will take an hour. We should order new clothes if we want to get anything done."
"Order new clothes? How?"
As they are talking, there is a very soft tap on the door.
Stalking over once more, Heero opened the door slightly, his body in an instinctive ready stance.
Outside stood the small form of Kenny, looking up.
"Kenny." Heero said, surprise lilting his tone only slightly. He stood to the side slightly, opening the way into the room.
The boy ducked his head slightly and entered, detouring a little around, not like he was afraid but more a habitual cautionary move. He came in, looking from Heero to Duo.
"They said you might want some help with the vids and stuff," he said quietly.
Duo suddenly felt guilty. Despite his earlier quip about taking a break when you could, he suddenly felt ashamed for spending the afternoon cavorting with Heero when they had such an important mission looming up. Who was he to be wistful and dreamy when they owed this child a future?
Heero saw his lover's eyes darkened and caught the amaryllis gaze up with his. Deliberately, he shook his head only slightly before turning to the boy, "We need clothes."
Kenny nodded, looking around and then grabbing the remote. He perched on a chair and pressed the buttons rapidly. "They got weird stuff here," he said as he frowned in concentration. "There..."
Heero watched the boy intently, memorizing the procedures. It was an old habit, bred by the soldier so he was never caught unprepared. It was one he'd never been able to break.
The vidscreen came to life with a series of pictures. Kenny punched buttons until he got a display that divided the window up into about 10 windows, each showing some basic type of apparel - pants, shirts, boots....
"See... you want any of that stuff, you push the button and order it, and they got your room number. They bring it to ya," Kenny said, handing the remote to Heero.
Heero nodded concisely, "Good." His eyes scanned the screen quickly and within seconds he'd made his choices: durable clothes that would stand the strain he'd put on them.
As they were looking at the choices, a few items suddenly appeared with a tag saying "NEW!"
A green tank top, as well as a black shirt with a white priests collar.
Duo chuckled. "Well. That certainly didn't take them long," he said with a grin.
Heero quickly masked the look of surprise that had sprung onto his face without his permission and retreated into a grunt. "Hn."
"What? Don't want to share your stunning fashion sense?" Duo asked sarcastically.
A single eyebrow rose as cobalt blue eyes returned once more to the black shirt.
"Yeah, well... Unlike SOME people, I don't mind sharing," Duo replied impudently as he held out his hands for the remote.
For a moment, Heero held onto the remote, eyeing his partner warily. But then with the long-suffering sigh that was getting so much use, he handed it over. "Hurry."
Duo keyed in his choices, surprisingly not going for his normal black and white priest's outfit. He tossed a challenging look at Heero, a grin hovering around the corners of his mouth as he handed the remote back.
Shaking his head, Heero took back the remote and touched a few more items. "Done."
The vid returned a neat order summation with their room number "PS" for Presidential Suite, and a note that said "Delivery in 10 minutes. Thank you for shopping Hyatt Arcadia!"
"Ten minutes? Damn! How do they do that?" Duo exclaimed.
"Heero? Can I have one of these for Christmas?"
"Duo no baka."
Kenny looked at Duo, his expression his usual sober one. "This place is kinda small, there aren't that many people. That's how they do it. These buildings? Lot of em are empty."
Heero looked down on the boy, weighing what he said and filing it away in the appropriate mental category. "Where are the rest?"
Kenny looked at Heero. "Of what?"
"Of the people. Where do they live?"
Kenny nodded. "There are tunnels under the city. And there's a place they call the Barrio over that way," he nods, "And the Trose, over there..." nods again. "Supposed to be people there."
Heero marked the locations carefully; they might be useful later, before setting the remote down and looking at his partner. The Soldier was back in his eyes - he wanted more information.
Duo shook his head. "Hey, Kenny? You ever flown a kite before?" Duo asked suddenly, glancing between the boy and his lover.
Kenny looked at Duo. He shook his head.
"Well, when this is all over, remind me to teach you BOTH how to fly a kite. Okay?" Duo said with a grin.
Ever so slightly Heero's brow furrowed, but he said nothing, knowing somehow that it was more important than it sounded. More important to Duo at least. That was enough for him.
Duo caught the look from Heero and simply laughed a small, almost biter laugh. "You guys take yourselves too seriously, sometimes."
Kenny tilted his head, not answering, and his expression wasn't hard to read. The words 'when this is all over' were simply not comprehended.
Duo glanced down and noticed Kenny's expression.
"Hey... You gotta live for today. Don't sweat it."
"Today." Heero echoed his lover's words for just a moment before shaking the confusion out of his face. "Today we have a mission to plan."
"Plan schman. We go in, we make stuff go boom, we come home. Nuff said."
There was a tap on the door. "Delivery!"
Duo bounced on his toes, racing for the door with a maniacal cackle.
"I GOT IT!!!"
Heero followed at a more sedate pace, his stance determined and purposeful. "Hurry up, Duo. I want to go meet our two 'guides'. We need to know what we have to work with."
Duo opened the door to see the same young lady who had delivered their room service. This time she was wearing another uniform (number 3). She held a large parcel and had a small handheld computer pad. "Sign please."
"Okies," Duo said, signing the pad. "How many jobs do you DO here, anyway???"
The young woman, who was quite pretty, winked at Duo and said, "It depends on how many guests we have! Thank you sir!"
Then she handed the parcel to Duo and departed. She felt very pleased. She now had a digital scan of the young man's signature. They would soon be selling autographs of one of the "visitors" in the lobby.
Before Duo could even turn around, Heero was glaring. Something sparked in his blue eyes and his hand closed around the end of the braid like a lightning bolt.
"EERK! What? What?"
Heero growled low in his throat but didn't bother to respond. He should be used to it by now after all. And he was... on Earth... It was just somehow different here... But the mission was the same.
It always seemed to come back to the mission.
"We need to get to work, baka."
"What do you think I'm doing here? Brain surgery?" Duo asked, bouncing back into the room with their parcel. He plopped himself down by the table and started ripping into the paper like a kid with a birthday gift. A kid on about seven pounds of sugar, but that was pretty tame for Duo.
Heero caught his clothes from the whirlwind that his partner created and moved out of the way before he could be hit by something solid.
Dressing rapidly, he slid into the jeans with a satisfied nod. They would function adequately.
Duo chuckled as he started sliding into his own clothing. Nice black jeans, red shirt with a black jacket over it, and a pair of black boots to complete the ensemble. Heero may only view clothing as a utilitarian necessity, but damnit, if they were going to do this, Duo was bound and determined to have some fun. With, or without their cooperation.
Heero turned to Kenny, after he finished lacing up his hiking boots, and stowed his gun out of sight on his person. "Where can we find Jack?" Of the two, Jack seemed the best choice for sensible information.
Kenny nodded. Instead of answering, he went to the door and pointed down the hall. "Their room is down there."
Duo nodded, glancing down towards the door he'd guessed they'd find their hosts behind. He turned to Heero and grinned.
"Shall we? By the way... what do you think?" He asked, turning a little like a model on the catwalk. He tossed Heero a coy glance from the doorway.
For a moment, Heero's eyes warmed. "Koi..." The word seemed to fall off lips that hadn't moved. Then he blinked and they were clear once more. He couldn't afford to make any mistakes. Mistakes would get Duo killed. "Let's go."
Duo sighed, a soft gust of an exhalation.
"You are no fun at all... After you."
As he walked by his lover, Heero let his hand fall on Duo's arm and linger there for just a moment. Then he was walking on once more, with strides that were almost a jog. He wanted this over with and he wanted to go back to Earth.
His head ran through the priorities: keep Duo safe, accomplish mission, clean up mess, go back to Earth.
He nodded. He'd flown into Hell on less than that.
Duo cast a glance at Kenny. "Coming?"
Kenny jumped up and followed.
Duo threw a conspiratorial look at the boy walking beside him. "Ya know, Kenny, there are times where I'd give my left leg for a nice water balloon. This ranks pretty high up there, wouldn't you agree?" he said, nodding towards Heero's rapidly retreating form.
Kenny blinked at Duo. "Um... sure," he said, then a small smile kept onto his face, quickly gone as soon as the child realized it was showing.
"Ninmu kanryou," Duo muttered, noting the quick, hesitant smile.
While they'd been talking, Heero had reached the door. Without bothering to wait, he raised his hand and knocked.
The door opened and a tall redhead grinned out, opening it widely and stepping back. "There you are," Rip said in his usual, jovial tone.
"Hm." Heero responded. He had been hoping for someone a little more... rational. One Duo was plenty.
Duo, meanwhile, had arrived to stand behind Heero, glancing at Rip with a wide grin of his own. "Yo," he said, imitating some old earth movie character.
"My bruthuh," Rip said to Duo, raising a fist.
"Dude," Duo responded.
"Come on in, he won't bite immediately," Jack's low drawl could be heard from within.
"Oh damn," Duo said with mock disappointment. Before anyone could move, he looked up again and grinned. "No. That was NOT a request."
"But it could be a premonition," Rip said, twitching Duo's braid as he went in.
The room they entered was much like the Presidential Suite - only nicer. Jack was sitting on a lounge chair.
Heero paused just long enough to send a poisonous glare in Rip's direction before turning to Jack, "What will we have for supplies?"
"It's more a question of what you want," Jack answered Heero's question. "Aside from weapons, what would be helpful?"
"Charcoal would be good for a start." Heero commented.
Jack looked at Rip. Ripper nodded, perching his tall form on the end of the lounger. "Why stop there? I have a lovely little chemistry set you might find useful. I know how to make things go boom too."
Heero nodded in affirmation, a small amount of respect for the man showing in his eyes. That he knew charcoal could be used for a bomb was certainly a credit in his favor. "Duo, the expert on lock picking..."
"Yeah... a nice set of picks would be good.. Mine got... errmm.. misplaced."
Rip nodded. "I can cover that."
Heero thought for a moment longer but all his thoughts came up against a blank wall. He turned to Kenny, "What does the installation look like?"
Kenny frowned, but it was an expression indicated concentration rather than temper. He wanted to get this right.
"Most of the Base is underground, see?" he said. "It's like... there are twelve... levels." He stopped and counted mentally. "Ya, twelve. There is one big hole where people and machines can come up but there are... four... I think four little ones too. There might be others I don't know about, but if so they weren't using them. Some of the levels have mostly people and some are mostly for storing stuff and machines."
"About how many people are there?"
Kenny frowned even harder. He was trying to count in his head. He was quiet for a while and then he shook his head, sounded defeated. "More... than twenty. I... I think more than... thirty but... maybe.... maybe..." he scowled at his knees. "I'm not sure."
"What about arms?" Heero asked, assessing his partner, trying to calculate how many they could each take and how much risk there would be.
"You mean guns like you got?"
"Hai." Heero said curtly.
Kenny nodded. "They have a lot of those. It was a... a.... military.... storage...thingie.... One of the levels has a lot of those, different kinds..."
"How far into this place is that level?" Duo asked, his eyes lighting up at the prospect.
"It's.... like.... maybe the fourth level from the surface?" Kenny said, his face tight with concentration.
Heero's face darkened slightly. That maybe was more dangerous than the others. But even so, there were far too many maybes for comfort. But it was the best they could do... "Grapplers." He commented to Jack, adding them mentally to the list.
"Hmm.. Okay. this one may be tough.. You said that the people there are trying to make their machines run on their own so they can come out, find where other people are and take them over, right?"
Kenny nodded.
"Okay. How many of the people there really want to do this?"
Kenny stared at Duo for a minute. "N-not... not everybody," he said slowly. "My.... M-ma didn't.... there... were others but when... M-ma told the General they should stop... " Kenny blinked and scowled ferociously. "They ... hit her... where others could see. So everybody would do what they said. That's w-why.... Ma said we had to sneak out an leave..."
Heero's eyes smoldered like burning coals but his voice was still level when he spoke, "How did you get out?"
"A tunnel... small with a little cover. I can get back in that way..." Kenny said, wiping his eyes absently. "I could count which level has the guns an stuff."
Duo glanced over at Heero for a moment, his eyes almost hard for once.
"We'll see. Were there any other kids in this place, Kenny?"
Kenny nodded, looking from Heero to Dup and back. "Yes... there's a few of us. We were the mistake kids."
"Mistake kids?"
"General said we weren't supposed to be there. There weren't supposed to be any more kids. Said... it was, um, 'lax discipline'." Kenny repeated the words he didn't really understand.
"Hm. Sounds like a real winner, this General. He and I may have to have a talk," Duo muttered angrily.
Nodding in silent agreement, Heero's eyes flickered from Duo to Kenny, his mind already concocting a plan. "Would these children follow you?"
Kenny looked doubtful. "Maybe... if I could find Duan... Duan could get em to."
"Kenny? Who is Duan?" Duo asked.
"Duan's... he's my friend," Kenny said, looking a bit closed at first, then looking from Heero to Duo. "My good friend. His mom didn't make it. I... didn't wanna leave him but Ma... was scared."
Duo smiled sadly.
"Yeah. I had a friend like that once, too," he said.
Heero shot a quick glance at his lover, meant to comfort if he only knew how.
"How hard do you think he'll be to find?"
"I can find him," Kenny said determinedly. Then, "If... if he's okay," this last was said in a voice which dropped, almost inaudible. He hadn't let himself think about things they were talking about now.
Duo chose this moment to glance up at Jack.
"I'm guessing that you guys wouldn't be opposed to a few more good refugees, ne?"
Jack tilted his head. "Arcadia will take in any child. The adults... that's another thing. But it is something that can be dealt with. This 'base', which Kenny describes... this is the way the world was. Destructive. Pointless. I wondered if some of those elements might have survived along with the few better ones."
Duo chuckled humorlessly.
"Yeah... Conflict is like cockroaches... the only things that survive war are conflict and cockroaches... And twinkies," he added as an afterthought.
Heero frowned briefly at his partner's flippancy but it passed from his mind quickly. Exposure tended to help with things like that. He turned intense eyes onto Jack with laser precision, "Have you seen any of these bases before?"
Jack shook his head. "I have seen many many things, dear boy, but this type of base, no. The location probably has something to do with it. The area isn't one we've frequented. Happened to be passing when we found this one," he nodded at Kenny. "Odd luck. Tends to happen to us."
"Underground... tunnels..." Heero mused, rolling the information over in his brain.
Rip smiled. "Underground makes sense," he said. "Arcadia used to be entirely underground, sealed off. You see, before the Storm, in the last stages, there were... things... which came out of the ocean. Our successors, you know? Nasty things. Vicious. Hungry. Hunted people. So anywhere humanity survives here would be places where people had protection from those. I bet their weapons supply hasn't been untouched either - if they went out at all, before six years ago, they'd have had to defend themselves rather strenuously."
Duo speared Rip with an oddly subdued look.
"What happened to this world, anyway?"
Rip glanced at Jack, then said. "An object. You won't believe me, but an object did all this. An object that influenced people. It was called the Serpent Crown. More about that later. Will have to tell you more, but now is not the time, it's too long a story."
Duo nodded, sighing.
"Yeah. I suppose."
Heero absorbed the information without looking at Jack, his mind was still playing with the stats he'd already been given. "Kenny mentioned tunnels under the city. How far do they go?"
Jack shook his head. "Not far. No connection to the base, that is much further away. Just because Arcadia is the nearest human settlement to it doesn't mean it's close as you would think of close. You couldn't walk there in a day or even a week."
Heero scowled. So much for that idea.
Kenny watched Heero. "I... I could get you into the tunnels in the base," he said softly.
Now the boy had Heero's full attention, "How?"
"Like we got out," he answered. "There might be other ways too. Duan was always sneakin' out."
"To go where?" Duo asked.
Kenny shrugged. "Out... away. The... big ones said it was all dangerous like he said," indicating Rip, "But Duan an me never saw any of those... green things. Ma said the storm killed em all, but the General said no. Ma said he lied to keep people inside."
Heero looked over his shoulder, asking the question without a word.
"The Storm did kill the creatures," Rip nodded. "They've not been around since... before this child was born. Just before. But the adults would remember them very well - with fear."
Duo stood up suddenly and started pacing. All this questioning was getting to him. Heero was the strategist. Heero always planned everything out. Duo was the demolition man. He needed to be doing something.
Besides, a lot of what Kenny was telling them was bringing up some very uncomfortable memories.
Heero saw his lover get up and part of him, the part that Duo had nurtured since the war's end, took over his hands before he could stop it. Silently, he slipped up behind his lover, his hands kneading his shoulders, getting at the fast rising knots before they could grab hold.
Duo started, surprised by the contact, so lost in thought was he. He tossed a grateful grin over his shoulder at Heero and turned back.
"Okay. What else?" Duo asked Heero.
Satisfied with the tone in his lover's voice, Heero let his hands fall. "Harnesses. We may have to do some climbing. Certainly several explosives. A few 'listening' devices would be good."
Duo nodded, seemingly deep in thought as his partner made a few more requests. Then his eyes darted up and fixed on Ripper's face.
"Got any more toys you can share with me?" he asked wistfully, nodding towards the carefully stowed sheaths about Rip's body.
Rip smiled hugely. "I like you, did I mention that I liked you? Because I like you, I am going to do something I never, ever do." He reached down and removed the belt he was wearing with the two sheathed knives attached. He tossed it to Duo, carefully, so nothing came loose. "Be careful with those. I want em back. They cut steel like butter."
Duo's eyes grew very wide as he caught the belt deftly. You NEVER gave your best toys away. Every knife aficionado knew that. He glanced back to Rip's face and nodded, an almost embarrassed grin lighting his features.
"Like my kids, man. I'll care for em like my own kids."
Something in Heero lightened at seeing his partner armed again. He would have felt better if they were guns, but knives were better than nothing.
Ripper tilted his head, glancing from Duo to Heero. He glanced at Jack.
Jack cleared his throat. "There is something I have been putting off. As a matter of fact... you," he indicated Heero with a look, "Are carrying an illegal weapon in the City. I've used my influence with the Mayor to make sure you have not been asked to surrender it. I've agreed that you will not remove it from your person or show it to anyone in the City while you are here. Even that is stretching things a bit. However, there is another side to this. There might be..." he glanced at Rip who went to the remote and bunched some buttons.
"He's in the lobby, I'll get him to come up," Rip said.
"Problem?" Heero said flatly. His eyes promised trouble if they tried to take the weapon from him. Every soldier knew that losing their weapon was near a capital offense.
Duo shot a rueful glance at his partner.
"Down boy. You ARE a weapon," he said with a grin. "Just ask any old Ozzie."
"There is a City Ordinance that prohibits weapons... only one person in the City has the legal authority to carry a gun," Jack said. "The Mayor's bodyguard. Please don't become tiresome, I have explained that it is being handled, however if you decide to wave it about, you will have a blackening effect on my reputation..... 'ne?' "
Duo gave a short bark of laughter.
"No worries there. This is the guy who could hide that pistol in a pair of spandex shorts and a tank top. You won't see it unless you wanna see it," Duo snorted.
"Convenient," was Jack's only comment. Then there was a tap on the door.
"Come in, old boy," Rip sang out.
The door opened and a man entered. He looked to be about thirty-six, and was extremely handsome in a quiet, dark way. He nodded to Jack and Rip and looked closely at Heero and Duo. He was dressed in a beautiful suit, made of something that looked like silk but was probably synthetic. Heero sensed that this person had some of the qualities he himself possessed, though in very different ways. Heero and Duo both also spotted a telltale bulge under the suit jacket. A large one.
"Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell, this is Gun," Jack said. "Also known as Reg, when we were kids together."
The quiet man nodded.
Heero gave a small grunt that passed for hello in some language without words. Some of the tension radiating off him eased, this man at least understood some of what it was to lose one's protection. It was simply not acceptable.
"What do you mean when you WERE kids?" Duo asked, casting a conspiratorial grin at Ripper.
Rip grinned back. "Well actually Gun is much younger that we," he said. Actually the guy looked about 15 years older. However the look he threw at Rip was one of affection.
"So who's packing?" he said, glancing from one to the other of them. Then he looked at Heero. "You."
Heero inclined his head only slightly, but made no move beyond that.
"You take it out of the Hyatt, you be with one of them," the man said, indicating Jack and Rip. His voice also had traces of the British accent of the other two. "Period. I see you on the street, without one of them, and you have heat, I will take it."
The corners of Heero's mouth lifted ever so slightly at the last but he nodded once, "Ryoukai."
Rip said, "Show the guests your toy, Gun."
The man looked at Rip with a very slightly exasperated frown - more of an implication than an expression. But it was clear he was used to Rip.
He glanced at Heero as if to say, I'm showing, don't get weird on me.
Then he held his hand out in front of him and something appeared in it, much the way Rip's and Jack's instruments had done.
It was a wicked looking weapon - a gun of some kind certainly but like nothing either of the boys had ever seen before, including all the high tech gear they'd been exposed to.
Duo's eyes grew very large as the weapon simply appeared out of thin air.
"Son of a b- errr..." he paused, glancing down at Kenny.
Kenny was looking at the gun with wide eyes. "Cool," he said softly.
"Cool... I have GOT to learn how to DO that! Teach?" he asked, casting a doleful glance at Jack, Rip, and Gun.
Heero's eyes ran appreciatively over the gun, and an approving glance leveled itself at Gun.
The weapon disappeared.
"Kenny... Guns aren't cool. They suck. All they do is hurt people. Just remember that," Duo said, glancing down at the boy. "Do without em if ya can."
Kenny looked skeptical but said nothing.
Then Gun looked at Jack. He looked at Heero. He looked at Jack.
"No." he said.
Jack looked at him pleasantly.
"No."
There was a long moment of silence. Green eyes met Gun's brown ones.
"The Mayor will shit," Gun said, his tone sounding like, I do not want to do this.
"Call him," Jack said.
Gun's smooth face actually deigned to form a frown. Then he sighed. "Why do I bother?"
He walked over a picked up the remote and made a call.
A face appeared on the vidscreen, a blond young man, about the same age, perhaps a year or so older than Gun. This man had bright blue eyes and boyish features and a mane of hair that was about twice the length of Quatre's.
"Mayor," Gun said.
"Yeah," Mayor Shane answered. "What's up?"
Gun glanced at Jack and Rip. "They are at it again sir," he said. "You got the briefing on the place Kenny came from?"
"Yes," said Mayor Shane.
"They..." Gun made a soft noise. "Sir, I regret to inform you that I may be unarmed for a short while." He shrugged, looking extremely displeased.
"Uh-huh," Mayor Shane said, "Do I need to come up, Gun? This has got a real funny ring to it."
Jack got up and walked over, draping an arm around Gun's shoulders. The man looked at the ceiling, then gave it up and relaxed. Jack smiled pleasantly at the Mayor on the vidscreen.
"Ronnie," he said simply.
"Controller," Mayor Shane replied.
"You don't need to come up," Jack said. "I will bring them over when the time is right. However, they are about to go into a great deal of danger on behalf of the City. You understand what I am saying, of course. Therefore you have no problem with this, do you?"
Ronnie Shane smiled fully. "I understand completely," he said. "Just tell them to be as careful as they can. We will manage. Will you need Gun to accompany them?"
Jack shook his head. "No. That would not be optimum. These two are quite accomplished. And Gun has obligations. Raj... his other children. No."
"Fine then," Ronnie said. "Again, we will manage. Just show 'em how to use it properly."
Gun made a small unintelligible noise.
Jack said, "Fine, thank you. Back to your busy day, then."
The call ended. Jack smiled at Gun. Gun looked back.
"You're a bitch, Jack," Gun said.
"And you are one of the last people who can call me that and live," Jack smiled. "Now, now. You've gotten all soft and comfy with that little toy. You promised me you'd never get soft. Give it over."
Ripper had been watching this whole exchange with evil delight.
Gun made another low noise, and then sighed. He lifted Jack's arm off his shoulder and walked over to Heero. He looked in the boy's eyes.
"Listen close, I say this once. You don't grab it, you don't pull it, you don't even aim it. You *think* it. Trust me on this, anything else is a hole in your foot. You think it. And be careful what you think, it can get... interpretive. Don't get pissed at anyone you don't want dead."
Heero stared back into the man's eyes silently for a long moment, allowing his lifetime of training to show in the dispassionate blue eyes. Then he nodded once. "Understood." There was a touch of appreciation in his voice, almost undetectable, the sacrifice was immense.
Gun stared at the boy for a moment. "Think small shot, you get small shot. Think big boom, you get big boom. I took a small spacecraft out with this once."
Duo whistled softly, his eyebrows shooting into his hairline for a second.
Then Gun held out his hand and the gun materialized. He looked down at it, his expression wistful and almost sad. His hand held it, as if holding the hand of a lover. Then he reached out and took Heero's hand and placed the gun in it. The moment it left his hand he winced slightly. Then he went to the door. He looked back briefly at Jack and Rip and shook his head. "You guys..."
Then he left.
The gun felt warm in Heero's hand. It had seemed quite large when Gun held it but it seemed to shrink slightly, fitting itself perfectly to Heero's grip. It now appeared about the size of a largish automatic handgun. It continued to feel warm. Heero suddenly had the thought that it was ready to shoot something for him.
Duo met Jack's gaze for a moment.
"So how long have you guys been watching us, anyway?" he asked quietly.
One didn't just ask for salvation and give one's toys away to just anyone after all. This was an awful lot of trust they were being given.
Jack smiled. "Time is such a funny thing," he said. "Long enough. The instruments don't simply move us between worlds."
Duo shook his head and sighed. The he glanced up at Heero again.
"Happy now?"
Heero flexed his fingers around the grip. He'd never felt such a perfect balance in a gun before. It still looked more high tech than he had ever seen but the longer he held it, the more it felt natural in his hands. Warm, almost sentient.
With the aim that had made him so deadly in battle, he sighted an inconsequential vase and thought the shot through, like he had thought his Gundam through a million maneuvers.
The vase exploded. It was a small explosion. Nothing else was harmed but the vase was in pieces and the water and flowers went everywhere. The gun did not kick. Heero felt a fractional, quick warming just before the shot.
He looked down at the gun in his hand and felt the smallest of smiles curving his lips. This was his kind of toy.
Duo winced. "That WAS a vase," he muttered, sighing.
Rip grinned and clapped. "Ooh, he looks happy now," he said.
"If you think he looks happy now, you shoulda... err... never mind"
The smile turned into a sigh and Heero slid the gun into his jeans with the same magical technique that had worked with the spandex.
"When do we begin?"
End of Part 4
bonnejeanne & vonceia present
RavynFyre and Kateri Marie
Please feel free to direct feedback to any or all of the authors!
ravynfyre@hotmail.com,
HematiteSalaris@aol.com,
vonceia@yahoo.com,
bonnejeanne@yahoo.com.