Teena: I know this is very done, but this is a Gundam spirit story. BUT, there's a twist. The base premise of this is 'What if Heero found out about the spirits?' Heero: *small frown* Watch out for the OOCness. Teena: It's only one line! Lay off. Anyway, insert standard disclaimers here. Heero Meets The Gundams In the dead of night, five Gundams sat in an otherwise empty hangar. Nothing had stirred for over an hour, when the last tech had left. Suddenly, a loud voice cut through the quiet. 'I'm sick of waiting! Everyone's gone, and I'm bored out of my skull! I'm coming out!" With that, a dark figure appeared, clad in a cowled robe, holding a scythe. A moment later, a girl appeared. She was wearing stretch pants and a green tank top, and she had large white wings. "Shini! One of these days your impatience is going to get you in trouble!" "Lay off, Nada. You're not my mother or anything." "You don't have a mother, baka! And don't call me that, dammit! Call me Wing or Wing Zero, but not Nada! I hate that!" "Well, I hate the way you get on my case all the time!" "Wing, Deathscythe, stop it, both of you," a calm voice interjected. A man dressed in red with muscular arms stepped between the two. "Yes, please stop. We shouldn't fight each other. It-" "Isn't right," Deathscythe and Wing chorused, as they both grinned at Sandrock. Sandrock blushed as he walked out of the shadows. "Well, it isn't. You two should take a cue from your partners. Heero and Duo don't fight nearly as much as they used to." Heavyarms smiled. "Those two have turned into a living example of an old saying. 'Make love, not war.' I doubt Wing and Deathscythe are interested in a similar relationship." "Hell, no!" The response came from both at once. Deathscythe tossed back his hood to meet Wing's eyes indignantly. He looked almost exactly like his partner, Duo, except his braid was jet black in color. The two started bickering again, this time the barbs were related to physical appearance and level of attraction. Their verbal fencing came to an abrupt halt as a soft but stern voice floated across the hangar. "All right, children, that's enough. Every night we go through this. Why can't you just admit you're fond of each other, and stop making all our lives miserable?" Sandrock smiled gratefully at the new arrival as she stepped out to join the rest of the group. "Good evening, Nataku. Your timing is impeccable, as always." "So are your manners, Sandrock. Good evening. Now, are we just being social tonight, or is there anything we need to discuss?" Wing nodded. "Yeah, there is. It's about Heero. He's starting to give me the creeps. I think he might know I'm there." "How could he? You haven't done anything obvious like, oh, refusing to self-destruct with him inside." As he said this, Deathscythe turned a pointed look on Sandrock, who had the decency to redden. "I just couldn't do it!" Sandrock said defensively. "Our Gundanium shells can be and have been rebuilt, but our partners can't be! If they die, they aren't coming back! Besides, Quatre's special." Heavyarms sighed. "They are ALL special, Sandrock. If they weren't special, they wouldn't be Gundam pilots." Nataku raised one hand, palm outward. "Stop. This is a discussion for another time. It is also one we have had before. Sandrock's questionable action is not the issue right now." There were nods of agreement all around, and Sandrock let out a small sigh of relief. Heavyarms was the next to speak. "Alright, Wing, what makes you think that Heero might know about you?" Wing blushed. "Anou... you guys know how I talk when we're fighting. Making jokes, giving suggestions, insulting the opposition, stuff like that." Deathscythe snickered. "I know I heard what you said to that one guy about a week ago. I don't think that's physically possible, by the way." Wing blushed harder. "Don't place any large bets on that. You should try watching Heero and Duo some night. You'd be amazed what's physically possible. Anyway, that's not the POINT. The point here is that he's been reacting to the things I say. Several times, I've made a suggestion, and he's done it right afterwards." "It could be a coincidence," Sandrock remarked. "The Zero System might be making similar suggestions." "Look, that'd be a possibility if it were just the suggestions, but it's not. Just the day before yesterday, I made a joke, and he LAUGHED. And a lot of the time, he smiles right after I make a smart remark. It happens too bloody OFTEN to be coincidence." The other four Gundams exchanged worried looks. "If he's really doing this, he just might be able to hear her. It's been known to happen, though Heero never really struck me as the type," Heavyarms stated thoughtfully. All five jumped as a new voice spoke from the doorway. A familiar voice. "It's considered rude to talk about a person behind his back." Wing whirled to stare at the shadowed figure leaning against the door frame. "Heero?" Heero stepped out into the light, one eyebrow was raised. "Hai. Who were you expecting?" "Not you, that's for damn sure. What the HELL are you doing here?" Deathscythe snapped. "Finding out what you five do when nobody's around. Don't mess with me. I can always tell Duo about you. You think he talks now? Wait until he knows you can hear him." Deathscythe winced. Wing suppressed a snicker. Now wasn't the time to needle him. Nataku stepped forward to stand in front of Heero. He inclined his head politely, and she returned the gesture. "So, Wing was correct. You do hear her during the fights. May I ask what you intend to do with your knowledge of our existence?" "Nothing," Heero replied simply. "You must have your reasons for remaining hidden. I will respect your wishes. Your secret is safe until and unless it becomes absolutely necessary to reveal the truth." "Does this include Dr. J?" The other four Gundams waited silently for his answer, glad that Nataku had taken the lead in his questioning. "It does." All five breathed a sigh of relief, and Nataku stepped back, smiling. "Arigato, Heero. We are grateful." Wing grinned and ran up to Heero, then promptly glomped onto him. Heero fought his reflexive urge to pull out his gun. Wing started... well, babbling, for lack of a better word. Most of it revolved around how happy she was that she didn't have to hide from him anymore. Heero endured it with a stoic look. The other four Gundams were hard put to hide their amusement. Finally, Heero had had enough. "Wing." "Nani, Heero?" "Let go." Wing blinked at him, then let go. "Ah... gomen, Heero. I guess I got a little carried away." "You got a LOT carried away," Deathscythe said, smirking. "Shut up, Deathscythe." Wing and Heero said in unison. The two exchanged mildly startled glances. Deathscythe blinked. Heavyarms, Sandrock, and Nataku hid smiles. Evidently pilot and Gundam were more similar than they thought. Sandrock thought for a moment, then spoke. "Heero, I'm sure you have questions. Feel free to ask. Since you know we exist, you might as well know everything." Heero considered this. "Have you always been here?" This earned him several odd looks. "You don't know?" Deathscythe asked. "If you can hear Wing..." "That's recent. I think it's a side effect of the ZERO System." "Demo... ALL the pilots have been exposed to the ZERO System," Sandrock interjected worriedly. "Hai, but I think it takes more than one use of the System. I didn't start hearing Wing right away. In which case, Quatre is the only one you have to worry about. As for him... it's not as if he doesn't half-know already." Sandrock blushed and looked guilty again as five sets of eyes turned to look at him. "Why does everyone have to keep bringing that up? It's not as if I planned it or anything." Heero debated with himself for a second, then made a reluctant admission. "Even when Quatre was blowing up colonies, I still felt guilty about trying to kill him. He has a way of bringing out a person's protective side. What you did was probably a bad idea, but it was understandable." Sandrock blinked, as did most of the other Gundams. Wing grinned and latched onto Heero's arm. "Don't worry about it, Hee-chan. We're always ragging on him about that, but we aren't really serious about it anymore." Heero's eyebrows went up. "Hee-chan? You've been listening to Duo, haven't you? Don't call me that." Heavyarms sighed. "She gives everyone nicknames. The best thing to do is just ignore it. You should be able to handle that, after all, you share a room with Duo." Deathscythe glared at Heavyarms. "Stop picking on my pilot, he's not as bad as you make him out to be. Plus, it's not a GOOD thing that Heero ignores Duo all the time. It upsets him." "I don't ignore Duo. I listen to everything he says, I just don't always reply." "Try you don't EVER reply! All you do is tell him to shut up!" Heero's eyes narrowed dangerously as he replied. "I don't see how you can say that, unless you have us under 24-hour surveillance, which I doubt." Wing levelled her own glare on her fellow Gundam, truly angry this time. "You've never even seen them outside the hangar! You never bothered. All you know is what they do in the hangar, when, I remind you, they are BUSY working on our shells. I have gone out and watched them in the house, and YOU don't know what you're talking about!" Sandrock and Heavyarms stepped into the middle of the argument, breaking into their line of sight. Nataku stepped up with a stern look on her face. "That is quite enough. Deathscythe, your remark was out of line. We have enough arguments, without you going out of your way to start more. Heero, I apologize for his behavior. He has a tendency towards wild mood swings. We are all affected by our partners' perceptions of us, mentally and physically." Wing grinned. "Except me, 'cause you don't anthropomorphize. I got to decide what I wanted to look like and act like on my own." "So you actually decided to be a babbling madwoman?" Wing glared at her partner, and was about to go off, when she noticed the very faintest hint of a smirk on his face. Her jaw dropped, then she recovered and smacked him lightly on the arm. "Don't tease your mobile suit. It's not nice." Most of the others grinned, and fought the urge to laugh. They hadn't realized Heero was capable of teasing. Nataku just smiled quietly, glad that the two partners were getting along. If this worked out, maybe, just maybe, they could reveal themselves to the other pilots. It would make Sandrock very happy, and Nataku herself wanted nothing more than to be able to tell Wufei that she cared for him, and was proud of him. Maybe it would work out. Maybe. ~owari~ Teena: Well, that's it. Duo: In case you couldn't tell from the owari she put there. Teena: Hmmmph. Well, C&C is always appreciated. I'm thinking about doing a whole series of these things. Next in line to meet the Gundams? Quatre, of course. Duo: Oi, what about me? Teena: You'll get your turn eventually. If enough people actually WANT me to do a series.