Warnings: Yaoi. No lemon yet but no guarantees for later. Old guys. Original characters. AU? You decide... OOC? Same.
Spoilers: End of series, brief for Endless Waltz. This takes place primarily after events in Endless Waltz, though they are not referred to in great detail.
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing characters and universe are the property of the copyright owners. My stuff is mine. No money being made here.
Feedback: Any and all comments, feedback, critiques welcome, be they short or long.
The year passed. And events occurred that would cause Alfa to question whether the universe was trying to engineer the elimination of the human race. Between Dekim Barton and Mariemaia, the year's peace was shattered and the Gundam pilots were back at war.
Alfa monitored the conflict with increasing concern. But her attention was divided - she was also monitoring something else. And out beyond the rim of the solar system, something was moving. Something was coming.
It was finally over. If the attempted coup of Mariemaia and Dekim Barton was the other shoe after the war to end all wars, it had dropped. True peace returned. The Gundam pilots destroyed their suits and prepared to enter the rest of their lives.
Quatre Rebaba Winner was the first to receive a visit from a mysterious person who covered her face with a hat and her body with a dark trenchcoat. It took some doing to get an appointment with the busy head of the Winner clan, but the day came, and Quatre stood up behind his desk to greet the stranger, whose name and purpose he did not know. The message that had secured the appointment had been cryptic and had made references to Quatre's parents. This alone was enough to grab his interest.
Taking off her hat, Alfa looked at the young man who came so politely around his desk to greet her with a handshake. His angelic looks were startling, but Alfa had chosen him carefully as her first contact, knowing him for the strategist of the group.
"I'm Quatre Winner," he said politely. There was something about the young woman he found rather disturbing. She seemed to remind him of someone he couldn't place. Perhaps she had visited his family when he was young.
"You can call me Alfa," she said, returning his gasp with a firm return grip. His eyebrows shot up unconsciously, as he felt the calluses on her hand - identical to his own. She was a mobile suit pilot. Well, that wasn't so unusual in and of itself.
"Alfa," he nodded. "Have a seat. Can I get you any refreshment?"
"No thanks," she said, walking around the office, looking closely at everything. She stopped in front of a picture of Trowa, then glanced at Quatre and smiled slightly.
"Um, what is it that I can do for you. Alfa?" Quatre said politely, becoming even more puzzled with his odd guest's behavior.
She turned and smiled at him, and Quatre all but dropped his teeth. That smile.
"You can help me save the world," she said, her head inclining slightly..
"Wha. what?!"
When the woman exited the office, Quatre sat in his chair for a long time, with an expression that mirrored his thoughts, changing from shock to fear to determination and back to shock. His heart was beating very fast and he wondered if there was even a chance that what she had told him had been a lie, or a sick joke. Shaking himself, he reluctantly closed the door on that notion. Quatre knew his instincts would have warned him if that were the case.
At last, he turned back to his console. He called up the traveling schedule for the circus. He needed to talk to Trowa, and this one was better done in person, besides the fact that even in a situation as incredible as this one, any excuse to see Trowa was a good excuse.
Wufei was in the back room of his small dojo, going over the list of students and trying to pick out the ones who would be honored with commendations. Though he now had more the look of a schoolteacher than the violent warrior of not so long ago, his instincts were still the same, and he sensed the intruder without hearing or seeing anything at all.
There was no reason for anyone to make such a stealthy entrance unless they intended mischief, so Wufei continued to pour over the roll, apparently oblivious.
The shadow that fell across his desk did not startle or surprise him, and he moved instantly, spinning off the chair and kicking out before dodging back to get a look at his opponent.
"K'so!" he hissed.
The small woman facing him nodded. "Now that I have your attention, we need to talk."
"No talk," Wufei said, feeling more angry than he had felt in months. A woman, sneaking up on him. "You want to play men's games, then play. Show me what you can do."
"I thought it would be harder to get you to fight a woman," she remarked, backing into the main room of the dojo.
"You aren't the first," he muttered.
Bowing, she took her stance, and Wufei, after bowing so perfunctorily as to be insulting, came after her. He intended it to be short and to the point. She needed a lesson and he was now in the mood to dish one out.
It turned out to be harder than he expected. She was like water. He could not lay a hand on her. She danced around him, snapping kick after kick, and dodging or blocking his attacks until they had both worked up a considerable sweat. Putting forth an extreme effort, he managed to get through her guard, his fist stopping a scant inch from her nose with force enough to snap in the air. to find himself staring at her fist, an inch from his own face.
She grinned and started laughing, falling back on the floor, breathing deeply. Wufei stared at her, dawning shock in his face.
"That. was fun." she gasped, and leaned up on her elbow to look at him. She sobered, noting his expression.
"Who. are you?" he said, getting right to the point.
"Who I am is not important," she said, sitting up. "What I have to say is. Chang Wufei, you are needed."
His lip curled. "Where have I heard that one before."
"I dare say," she replied, unconcerned. "This time it's different."
"And that."
"Shut up and listen. Have you ever heard of something called ESO?" she said, absently wiping sweat from her face and pushing back the shock of auburn hair that fell over her forehead. Watching the gesture chilled Wufei - it made him shiver.
"No."
"It stand for Extra Solar Organism," she continued, ignoring his expression. "About a hundred years ago, give or take, a group of Colony scientists made a far-range trip out to the edge of the solar system. They were remnants of the SETI group, from the late twentieth century. Having gotten very little in the way of results with the traditional SETI methods of monitoring for broadcasts from space, and sending signals out, they had come up with a plan. It was a stupid plan," she said, showing a hint of an emotion that he was surprised to see - fear. "It was called Operation Prometheus. They went out to Pluto and detonated a series of nuclear blasts on the out-facing surface. These blasts were intended to be a signal, a very loud signal, to any possible extra-solar life out in the universe. They were timed in sequence, precisely laid out. They set off the series, and waited for a reply. Eventually they gave up and came back to the Earth sphere."
"What has this stupid story of ancient history have to do with anything?" Wufei said reflexively. His mind however was already racing ahead and not liking what it suspected might be waiting.
The woman looked at him with deep blue eyes that chilled his soul, yet somehow seemed to work their way into him
"Twenty years ago, the signal was answered," she said. Taking a breath, she continued. "There is. some controversy over whether the answer was genuine. However, it was decided," she said, curling her lip slightly, "...that the answer was simply some kind of bounce or random return, and the whole thing was hushed up. However, the signal, if triangulated, was from a point about twenty light years distant."
Wufei's eyes widened. "You are saying. life from outside."
The expression on the woman's face changed slightly and became a cool, even frozen mask. "I am saying that. you are needed," she said. "Something is coming."
Wufei stared at her, then something inside him turned, showing him a mirror. He got up from the floor, and extended a hand to her.
Lifting an eyebrow, she jumped to her feet on her own. He shrugged.
"I need to do something. Wait here," he said. She tilted her head watching him. He walked back into the small back room, picked up the list and checked off half a dozen names quickly, entered the data into his console, and typed a quick note to one of the master instructors. He glanced back to see the woman waiting, arms crossed, no movement. He grabbed a small shoulder bag, threw a couple of things into it, and walked back to her.
"I am ready to go," he said.
The woman's eyebrows went up, then she smiled, and he saw again the expression that seemed to hauntingly familiar. "You're quick," was all she said.
Walking out of the dojo, Wufei remarked, "You are quite skilled in martial arts. Who was your master?"
"Lian Jie."
He stopped, his eyebrows drawing together. "I am coming with you, woman. There is no reason to try and impress me with lies."
She stopped and looked at him, slightly surprised.
"Lian Jie, of L5 Colony?" he said. "Master Lian has been dead for fifteen years."
"I know. I'm sorry. I forgot." She said. Then a shrug. "He was my master."
Wufei simply stood there.
Making an exasperated noise, she said, "I'm older than I look," and turned to go, leaving him to join her or stay.
Quatre had promised to talk to Trowa. "Only to talk to him," he'd said. "He's free to make his own decisions."
"Of course," Alfa had agreed, and left it on the back burner. If Quatre failed to persuade the Heavyarms pilot, she would try it her own way.
That left Duo Maxwell.
"Maxwell's going to be the hardest," she said aloud, forgetting that Wufei was on the shuttle with her.
He raised an eyebrow. "I can see why. I get the feeling you are not planning on asking Heero Yuy to join this effort."
"No."
"It would be interesting to know why," he remarked, flicking an invisible bit of dirt out of a well-manicured fingernail.
Silence.
"Duo will not leave without telling his partner," Wufei remarked, flicking another piece of imaginary lint.
Silence. Then, "Any suggestions?"
"I can not make suggestions, as you put it, unless I am acquainted with the full facts," Wufei remarked, without looking up from his scrutiny of his nails.
The woman snorted. "No one is ever acquainted with the 'full facts' as you put it."
"True. Take you name, for example. A little piece of information, yet if I have any reason to call you, I must resort to, 'hey, onna!' "
"Call me Alfa."
"Hn."
"The hard part is going to be getting Maxwell away long enough to talk to him in private," Alfa remarked, nonchalantly.
"Oh? That seems hard to you?"
"Did you have a suggestion?"
"I might. But I need to know more. For example, if you are trying to recruit fighters, why would you omit the one who is acknowledged to be the best in the Earth sphere?"
Alfa glared at him. This time, instead of discomfiting him, Wufei found the indigo blaze somewhat reassuring.
"He's done enough," she said softly, and turned away.
Wufei nodded to himself. Yes. His guess was correct.
"It will be very difficult to leave him out of this," Wufei said quietly.
"So?" Alfa snarled.
Wufei nodded again.
"Personally, I agree with you," he said calmly. "Heero Yuy has done enough for humanity. He has suffered a great deal for having done it. He deserves to be allowed to live in peace now."
The silence became frosty. After a moment, Alfa got up and walked over to a bulkhead and rammed her fist into it.
"That was stupid, onna," Wufei said softly.
"Yeah and it hurt too."
"I know who you are," he said softly.
"Peachy."
"And I owe him a great deal," Wufei continued. "I will help you. I'll contact Duo Maxwell."
Alfa turned and looked at Wufei and for a moment her expression was quite human, even a tiny bit vulnerable. Then she pulled the decades-long mask up again.
"Thanks."
End part 1
Next, Duo Maxwell... Trowa... more revealed....
Comments eagerly welcomed!
bonne & von
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