standbyme

Hey kiddies! This is the first fic that Elspeth and I have ever worked on together! It was such an honor for me! Let's see... We don't own Gundam Wing, Digimon, the Backstreet Boys, or the whole Bishonen Trainers idea. I do own the Heighton View Gym and Mateo, and Elspeth owns the After Colony Gym and all the fun little evolutions of the AC bishies that she came up with! I'd rate this one about PG-13.

***

Kerria turned off the lights of the A.C gym and pulled the doors closed for the night. Hauling the heavy bolts across with the help of her Heero, she glanced at the full moon outside and sighed heavily. The mood of her friend’s gym was not as it should be, the music was silent, the laughter had died and the air was still. There had been no battles today; Elspeth had not been seen, refusing to leave her room despite efforts from her angel of light Quatre and from Keirra. Any trainers seeking badges had been asked to leave; when the situation was explained to them they left willingly, offering heart felt sympathy and muttering to themselves that it was such a shame. The after colony gym
leader was in mourning.
“Thanks He-chan I’ll be ok for now” the girl said to her bishie, tucking stray hair from her braid behind her ear and rubbing her eyes, it had been a long day, Heero gave her an “are you sure” look before turning and heading back to the bishonen quarters. A Duo chibi poked his head nervously round from the corner of the bishonen wing at the Heero’s approach, chewing his lip he ran up to the higher evolution Heero, his footsteps echoing in the dark and tugged on the perfect solders leg.
“ Hn?” grunted Heero eyeing the small bishie coldly, the Duo swallowed before answering
“ Is…is miss Ele gonna be happy tomorrow? She gonna smile again and her eyes not leak no more?” he asked innocently, the Heero softened and picked up the chibi
“ We can hope” he replied gently before carrying the boy back to bed
Keirra sighed again “yeah we can hope” she replied walking past the wing where Elspeth’s personal bishonen stayed, the gyms finest, and the highest evolutions of the after colony bishonen in existence. Quatre offered her a sympathetic smile as she passed, but for once the angels radiance doing little to raise the junior gym leaders spirits he and Trowa off to bed to try and sleep, though tonight the angel of suffering was sure both he and Quatre would do little of that. Heero remained motionless, as he had been since it had begun.   The angel of war stayed seated by the great star window, the symbol of the A.C gym, gazing out across its moonlit grounds, still vainly hoping to catch a glimpse of shinigami, but sadly his vigil was in vain. Elspeth’s Duo would not be home tonight. Heero knew this but still he looked out across the lake, his black wings bathed in the silvery light, his eyes lifeless, shinigami had not just been Elspeth’s duo but his as well, for all his strength he felt helpless just as Kei did.
“ Yui san…you can’t sit there all night,….. Heero come on it’s cold” whispered the braided trainer, Heero did not move, trance like he continued to draw the face of death upon the chilly glass oblivious to Keirra’s presence. She reached out her hand to his shoulder but withdrew it just as quickly as a bolt of raw energy arched of the bishonen
and grounded itself on her arm
“Itai!!” hissed the girl rubbing her stinging arm “ stupid Kei real stupid” she
scolded, she should know better than that, she wasn’t ready for the angel of war yet, while she could easily control her perfect solider and was a formidable trainer she wasn’t quite up to being able to handle ultima yet, but she was close. She could command the angel of light already, Quatre was very agreeable and helped her with her attacks she just had to learn them more, and the angel of suffering sometimes obeyed her but Elspeth’s main 3 would not, ele’s shinigami she knew she’d never control, he was ele’s only. best she could hope is one day she could get her destroyer to evolve, and the angel of war you had to really know what you were doing or he’d easily turn on you…….as for wu.
Kei looked at the locked box in the cabinet, on it the scrolling pattern of a dragon, that’s where the dragon prince was now, after he and Elspeth’s fight the gym leader had locked his bishonen ball in there never to be used, wufei had evolved…beyond ultima and was dangerous, violent, even Ele couldn’t control him.
“ Damn it wu she needs you, needs your strength why did you turn on her?” Growled Keirra glaring at the box, oohhh she’d love to slap that arrogant jerk six ways till Sunday but no bishie was strong enough to, he’d hurt Ele bad she’d just got over it when this new disaster had struck.
She began climbing the stairs to bed when she heard a voice from Elspeth’s study, grabbing a baseball bat from the bottom of the stairs she tip toed towards the door and nudged it open with her shoulder, her mind set on giving whoever was inside the
concussion of their life. But as the door swung open she found herself looking at what used to be her happy vibrant friend.
Ele was sat in front of a vid screen, her skin frighteningly pale in the bluey light of the monitor and her blonde hair hanging loose round her face like a curtain. She turned at the sound of the door, her eyes puffy with crying most of the day and gave Kei a blank look.
“ Yes?” she croaked, continuing to stroke the black kitten curled on her lap. Kei eyed shi, Shinigami’s pet and returned ele’s gaze
“ Are…are you ok Ele? I..I um saw the light and heard noise and……”
“ I’m fine” interrupted the gym leader, getting up and all but forcing the girl out of the room. , Shi jumped down and began to coil round Kei’s legs purring happily, Ele glanced at the kitten and sighed, angrily pushing her hair off her face “ i..I need to talk to someone…an old friend, please feed shi and get some re….” Ele stiffened as Keirra’s duo appeared behind her
“ Hey everything ok?” he asked putting a hand on his trainers shoulder.
“ Fine now go..Please,” whispered Elspeth, picking up the kitten and depositing it in kei’s arms before shutting the door on trainer and bishie. She leaned her head back against the panelled door and let herself slide down it sobbing.
“ Duo” she gasped, her little Duo, her first bishie, the chibi she’d saved as a child and grown up with, the cause of the fights with her father, her bishonen, her
friend,…..the one she loved, he was gone. Gone and she felt lost without him. Gone and she’d do anything to get him back.
She crawled over to the chair by her desk and steadied herself to send her vid message to her oldest friend. She could help she was sure of it, she’d help her get Duo back.
“Oh god this could cost me the gym” she whispered laying her fore head against the screen and shutting her eyes, if the bishonen league knew of her feelings for her bishie she’d have the gym, her bishies and even her licence stripped, rule one, never fall in love with your bishonen. Bishonen belonged to their trainers and had no free will to love who they wanted without their trainers permission, that’s why the rule was in place, and she agreed with it in principle only free bishonen, with their own free will, could be paired with trainers not fighting bishies under a trainers control Trainers and their bishonen can not fall in love…it was instant expulsion. But elspeth had, and with Duo gone she was shattered, even though she would never come between him and the angel
of war, she turned to the message recorder and said five simple words.
“ Mew I need your help” then typed the address
“ Blue mew, Heighton view gym leader, Heighton view gym, Heighton view”
As an after thought she added “ Duo’s gone…MY… Duo…” mew would understand…she knew, then Ele hit send and the message was on it’s way.
“I’ll get you , you bastards” she snarled before exhaustion took over and she fell asleep on the keyboard.

***

"Blue, you should get some sleep." PB, the newest assistant at the Heighton View Gym said as she wheeled the cart full of hay towards the stables, which were affiliated with the gym. "You've got a long day of battling ahead of you tomorrow, not to mention that you have to give riding lessons in the morning."
       "Yeah, yeah yeah..." Blue waved her hand at the short haired brunette as she continued watching the tapes of today's battles. There had been six of them... and she gave away six badges.
       "PB is right." Nick whispered as he kissed the top of Blue's head. "You really should sleep doll." He laughed as he sat down beside her. "Besides, you look like hell."
       "Thanks a lot." Blue mumbled as she faked a smile at the bishonen sitting next to her. "I need to figure out why Mateo and Taichi completely suck when it comes to battling lately. Kaizer's doing a wonderful job, as usual, but" Blue sighed, "I almost regret evolving them... they haven't been the same since then." She paused the tape, and decided to check her email once more before giving in to the temptation of sleep.
       Blue perked up as she heard her computer say the all too familiar line "You've Got Mail." Only a few people knew the email address that she was using at this time, so the message had to be important.
       "Hey, who is that from?" Nick was a new arrival to the Gym, and hadn't met many of Blue's friends yet- Mateo had brought the "bishonen" home with him after a concert. Since he had come on his own free will, Blue didn't feel too bad about starting a relationship with him, but she didn't want to let many people know about them yet either.
       "Elspeth." Blue smiled as she clicked the mouse to open the email. "We go way back."
       Blue's eyes grew wide as she read the note. This can't be happening.... Duo... Shinigami... he was Ele's whole world. And now... Blue refused to think of what her friend was going through at the moment.
       "Nick, I'm going to have to go on a trip."
       "Now?" Nick pushed down on Blue's shoulders, restraining her in the computer chair. "I can't let you leave doll. Not now anyway."
       Blue turned her head to the right and bit Nick's hand, her fangs leaving two tiny punctures on his index finger. He instantly jerked away from her, trying to hold back his rage.
       "That was totally uncalled for!" He screamed as he raised his hand to hit the gym leader, but was immediately stopped as Blue's psychic ability, a gift which came from her clone mother, the Pokemon class Bishoujo Miyamato, engulfed him in an aura of blue light.
       "Don't you EVER try to hit me again, boy." Blue snapped as she dug her claws in to Nick's arm. "If I want to go see Ele, I will. You got that bitch?"
       Nick snorted as he glared at Blue. "Fine. I may just have to go back with AJ and the others then too."
       "You wouldn't dare." Blue calmly stated as she walked out of the bedroom.
       Nick knew she was right. He didn't want to leave Heighton View. He just didn't want Blue to go out on some Godforsaken mission without him. Especially if she took Mateo and Kaizer with her.
       "You do know that jealously is going to be your downfall." Taichi smiled as he walked up behind Nick, who was seated at the computer. "The only reason she's going on this trip is because Ele and her knew each other since they were kids."
       "She never mentioned anyone named Ele to me." Nick really hated how little he knew about Blue. And here was this Taichi, a bishonen that Blue only used for battling, telling him about Blue's life.
       "That's because she really hasn't kept in touch with Ele since," Taichi looked up at the ceiling. "about two years ago."
       Blue walked back to the room, and gave Taichi and Nick a questioning look. "Who said you could come in here Taichi?"
       Taichi lowered his gaze. He could not make eye contact with his trainer. In fact, only two of the battling bishonen could do this- Kaizer and Mateo. "I'm very sorry Madame, but I saw Carter sitting here, and I wanted to talk to him. Please forgive me."
       Blue folded her arms. "Nick, is he telling the truth?"
       The blond lowered his gaze too. "Taichi is correct."
       "Fine." Blue hissed as she slapped Taichi's cheek. "Get back to your quarters. NOW!" The brunette ran out of the room, leaving Blue alone with Nick.
       "I talked to Kierra just now. She said that I should wait until morning to come over." She sighed as she plopped on her bed. "I shouldn't have lost my temper either. It's," Blue choked back a sob, "It's just that I know how Ele feels right now... I went through the same thing..." Blue shut her mouth. She shouldn't be talking about her now extinct relationship with Yamato Ishida in front of Nick. Mateo had denounced Blue when he evolved from Yamato. It had shattered her life. Yet the now chain smoking bishonen was the reason she was in this new relationship, and also one of the reasons that the gym was suffering its losing streak.
       Blue stretched out on the bed, then patted the spot where Nick usually slept. "I just feel so horrible about this whole thing.... and I can't figure it out, but for some reason, I think this is all my fault."
       Nick slowly walked over to the bed, then laid down next to Blue, hugging the gym leader close to him. "I know this will all work out."
       Blue sighed. "You do know that I'll be taking Mateo, Jyou, and Koushiro with me."
       "Do you want me to come with you guys?"
       Blue shook her head as tears ran from her eyes. "No. Mateo and I need to fix this ourselves. And Jyou is a doctor, and Koushy's just a genius."
       Nick shrugged. "I'd take Ken instead of Koushy."
       "I can't. All stages of Kens from this gym were banned from entering the After Colony Gym." Blue snuggled in closer to her bishie. "It's just another one of those little enigmas that make my life a living hell." She closed her eyes. "I'll be leaving tomorrow. Please, wait for me."
       Nick nodded as he closed his eyes. "I'll be waiting for you."

****

       "So why did you need us again?" Jyou questioned from his seat behind Blue in the official Heighton View Gym van. The blue haired doctor was the fifth of the Digital Class bishonen that BlueMew caught, after deciding to forsake her parents and start a gym not related to the Poke-class bishies of which she grew up with.
       "Madame has told you already." Mateo snapped as he held the lit end of his cigarette out of the van's window, letting the ashes fly away as his trainer flew down the highway towards the After Colony Gym.
       "Mattie, be nice." Blue sighed as she turned the radio up as Michael Jackson's You Rock My World came on. "I'm not too sure what we're going to run in to at AC, but I wanted to be prepared in every way that I can." Blue smiled as she thought of the night she, Nick, PB, and AJ had gone clubbing and ended up dancing on the bar to the song. Apparently, that was the night that she and Nick also admitted their feelings for each other... baka! Don't think of him now! You've got bigger problems here! "Mateo will handle most of the battles, Jyou you're a doctor, and Koushy will solve any technical problem that we run in to."
       "And why didn't you bring him?" Mateo snapped as he flicked the cigarette out of the window. "You apparently can't do anything without Carter anymore."
       "This is NOT the time Mateo..." Blue growled as she slammed on the gas, forcing the passengers back in to their seats.
       "Madame," Koushiro whispered from his seat next to Jyou. "Please, control yourself. We don't need you overreacting to every little thing Mateo says."
       "I DO NOT OVERREACT TO ANYTHING!" Blue screamed as she pulled the van to the side of the road. "Give me one of those." She growled as she pulled one of Mateo's cigarettes from his shirt pocket.
       "Madame..." Mateo whispered, knowing that he shouldn't have mentioned anything about her new lover in the first place. "I'm so sorry. Please, just let Jyou drive to Ele's gym... I..." Mateo paused to light a cigarette. "I want to talk to you... in a civil manner. No sarcasm, and no special attacks."
       Blue started at her former love with the cigarette hanging from her lips. Mateo looked serious... he almost reminded her of the Yamato he was before....
       "Whatever." She opened the van's door, and walked around the side, to where the door to the back seat was. "Jyou, you know the way. Mattie, back seat."
       The two bishonen followed their trainer's directions, and soon, the van was on its way, at a much slower and safer speed, towards the After Colony gym.
       "Jaci," Mateo whispered as he sat next to his trainer in the back seat of the car, "I want to know why you can't control your temper anymore."
     Jaci.... Blue winced at the mentioning of her old alias. He met her way back when he was Matt... back when she was Jacobine van Eike. But Jacobine was dead- the Team Bishoujo recruiter was supposedly rotting in prison somewhere. And Matt, the "champion" level of the Ishida bishonen, was long gone... he evolved in to the cynical bishie that was sitting next to her.
       "I've been under a lot of stress lately, since some of the battling bishies that are at their Mega levels can't beat a bunch of rookies and champions."
       "Ouch." Mateo whispered as he pushed his blonde hair from his eyes. "Maybe we don't feel appreciated anymore, so we've lost the will to fight."
       Blue whimpered as she stared at Mateo. Here he was, the first bishie that she had let herself fall in love with, the first bishie to break her heart, and he was complaining about how he felt that she didn't love him?
       "You told me to go to hell." Blue could feel the tears forming in her eyes. "You said that if I would just leave you alone, you would be happier!"
       Mateo pulled her closer so Blue could cry on his shoulder. "I was confused Madame. I respect that you have someone else right now, but..." he sighed. "We all need you as a friend as well as a trainer. And you haven't been much of a friend lately." Mateo pushed her away. "You left a bruise on Taichi's cheek from when you hit him. And the last time I spoke to Carter, he's getting really pissed that you keep using your psychic attacks on him. Do you really expect any of us to trust you if you beat us in to submission?"
       "Mateo..." Blue sobbed as she wiped the tears from her sapphire eyes. "I don't want to hear anymore." Blue pulled a bottle of Visine from her black purse, then placed a few drops in each eye. "I can't let Ele or Kierra see that I'm soft, now can I?"
       Mateo sighed. "Oui Madame. You just can't let anyone see that you have feelings."
       Why is he doing this to me? Mateo... Yamato... Mattie.... What the hell do you want from me?
       "And what's that supposed to mean?"
       "Easy." Mateo handed Blue the cigarette he was smoking, and she instinctively took a drag. "They say that girl, you know, she acts too tough tough tough..."
       "Enough with the Nelly Furtado..." Blue said shaking her head as Mateo continued singing the song. "I do not act like that."
       "Sure you do." Mateo said with a smile.
       Instinctively, Koushiro and Jyou ducked, knowing that their trainer would probably explode in to a fit of psychic rage and someone would end up unconscious.
       Instead, they heard laughter coming from the backseat.
       "You can still make me laugh Mattie." Blue smiled as she handed the cigarette back to Mateo. "It's too bad you had to become so arrogant."
       "I could say the same thing." He said, winking at his trainer. "Anyway, in all seriousness, why can't you control your temper anymore?"
       "I can control my temper just fine." Blue stared out the window as Jyou turned the van in to the long driveway of the After Colony Gym. The gothic black palace was such a contrast to the more modern Heighton View gym, but the atmosphere seemed to be more fitting for Gundam class bishonen.
       "Madame, where do you want me to park?" Jyou asked as he circled the empty parking lot.
       "Wherever Jyou. And thank you for being so polite."
       The silver van stopped at the side of the building, in the closest parking space to the door. Each bishie stepped out, then Koushiro and Mateo helped Blue out of the van, making sure to comment at how lovely she looked today. She wasn't wearing anything unusual- it was her typical high collared sweater (today's version was grey) and a tight pair of black leather pants- skirts were reserved for gym battles and Bishonen League functions. She sighed as she stared up at the Great Star window... the symbol of the Meteor badge. It was the first badge Blue herself had won... not like the one she received from Mr. Chang, Ele's father, and one of her own father's best friends, and the other gym leaders back when she was a child.
       Mateo cringed as he looked up at the window. The Angel of War, the same angel of war that practically killed him back when he was a Yamato, was sitting up there, looking out at the forest landscape.
       "Do I really have to go in there?" Mateo whined, still keeping an eye on the bishie in the window.
       "Oui Mateo. You have to go see Ele and all her bishies, which includes the Angel of War."
       Mateo didn't protest, he just lit another cigarette. "Want one?"
       Blue shook her head. "I don't smoke. You know that." She stared back at the large doors. "You'd better be here Ele. And you'd better have one helluva reason for bringing me out here." Blue sighed as she pressed the comm system button, hoping to speak to Kierra one more time before visiting Ele.