Disclaimer:
I do not own Gundam Wing or any of its characters.
Chapter 8: The Starlight
Heero and Relena had been hiding out at Quatre’s home on
L4 for the past few days. They were
truly lucky to have such a fortunate connection.
Relena had borrowed some spare clothing of Quatre’s
sisters and was content to roam around the enormous mansion, thankful for some
much-needed rest and relaxation.
Heero, on the other hand, was restless. Used to action and adventure almost every
day of his life, the concept of hiding from one’s enemies did not come easily
to him, though he knew he was powerless until he had more information as to
what exactly he was up against.
Besides, he had to keep an eye on Relena, which was a task in itself, as
he hardly let her out of his sight.
It was evening now, and Heero leaned over a grand outdoor
balcony, taking a few moments to himself, knowing that Relena was reading a
book in the room adjoining the outdoor terrace.
A sliding of doors informed him that his princess was now
up and about, padding on soft feet towards his location.
“Have you ever noticed how beautiful the stars look from
the colonies?” Relena pondered aloud as she came up behind him and leaned on
the railing a few feet away.
“Yes,” Heero stated simply.
Relena looked at him, surprised, and half-giggled. “Sometimes I just don’t understand you,” she
said as she shook her head.
“No one does,” Heero said in his usually monotonous voice.
Relena only sighed.
“When are we going to break out of this joint?” she asked him
lightly. “I mean, I love Quatre to
death, but I can’t stay here forever.”
In a smaller tone, she questioned, “When am I going to have my life back
again?”
Heero looked at her as she gazed down towards the lawn
below them. God, she sounded so
pitiful. It hurt him, he realized,
whenever she was sad.
“Soon,” he told her, not fully knowing the answer to her
question…her plea.
After a period of silence, Relena decided she should try
to be more cheery. She was lucky to be
alive, after all, and should make the best of the situation she was in. It was almost amazing that the Vice Foreign
Minister was such an optimistic person, seeing as she had experienced so much
evil already in her young life. But her
perpetual hope had kept her going, day by day, one step at a time. It was the reason she was still alive.
Focusing her attentions to her taciturn companion, Relena
noticed there was an air about Heero that made him no longer intimidating, or
perhaps it was just the milky wash of the starlight reflecting off of his
features that emanated a false innocence.
His face looked blank…sad almost. Relena could only feel sorry for
him. He looked as if he wasn’t whole
somehow, as an aura of emptiness surrounded him. Again, the desire to understand his tormented soul arose from
within her, and Relena felt the need to help him…if only she knew where his
troubles were hidden.
“So what have you been doing with your life, Heero
Yuy? Besides watching out for me, that
is,” Relena questioned in an attempt to make small talk, to get this shell of a
human being to open up to her somehow.
“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking,” Heero answered after
a while.
“Yes, I often find myself lost in thought these days,”
Relena admitted. “But I’ve always
observed thinking to be a respectable pastime. Too many people don’t seem to do
it very often these days,” she said with a lighthearted sigh.
“I’ll agree to that,” Heero said, switching his position
from being hunched over the railing to leaning with his back against it, elbows
propped for support.
“You haven’t been at Headquarters,” Relena noted. “I’ve never seen you in those seven
years. I was often there…” she trailed
off as he turned his head. “Oh, but, I
see…” she said as realization hit. He
probably avoided her. He always had the
disillusion that she’d be better off without him, that he’d bring her down
somehow.
“I am nothing compared to you.” How those words from the past haunted her. Is that what he thought? Still thinks?
“Why is it--” her voice grew tense, “why is it that I
never got to see you, but you could see me?
I’m sorry that I prefer not to sneak around in the shadows and hide from
the people that care about me,” she said angrily.
Heero’s eyes flashed, though his face was still turned
away from the girl. So she cared. She still cares.
A few tears brought a small stinging to Relena’s
eyes. Though she forced them back, some
still escaped her. Goddamnit, why did
she always have to start crying like this?
She cursed herself for being so weak, especially around him.
Heero turned and grabbed the frustrated girl’s arm,
causing her to hold her breath.
“I was hardly ever at Headquarters,” he explained
calmly. “I was stationed on various
colonies and received my orders from there.
So you see, there’s no need for these,” he spoke softly as he wiped away
a tear…so reminiscent of an encounter long ago when he had threatened to take
her life, mixed with the kindness of their embrace before Heero went to fight
her brother on Libra.
“Why would I willingly stay away,” he paused, choosing his
words carefully, “from those who cared about me? There were too many things that needed to be taken care of. Too many factors…” he faded, obviously
struggling with an internal battle.
Such softness, Relena thought, He was so
unfeeling a moment ago. He changes…
She is calm now, Heero observed, But what
fire before. She changes…so quickly.
Relena took a deep breath in. “It’s complicated, isn’t it?” she asked vaguely, referring to
their relationship, their priorities, their jobs, feelings, everything.
“More than you know,” Heero answered under his breath,
falling into a quiet reflection by directing his gaze towards the stars once
again.
“Who are you?” Relena wondered, still trying
to unlock the enigma that stood before her.
She barely knew Heero as a young girl, yet she was instantly
infatuated. Again, his silent power
drew her in. Seven years apart and they
were right back to where they started.
Yet, he was different now. They
were both different…more mature, experienced, wanting.
But could she accept him, this ghost of a man, revealing
himself only when danger was apparent?
Would he fall back into the underworld when all of his was over?
“I’m tired now,” Relena said with a hint of sadness after
mulling over her stance on Heero Yuy.
“Goodnight, Heero,” she told him politely. And before he could pull his entranced eyes
away from the seduction of stars, she was gone.
<><><>
Heero sat with
Quatre, both men brooding in the silence of the Arabian’s grand kitchen,
hunched over two steaming cups of black tea.
Relena had retired to her room some time ago, therefore the two men had
time to talk about the serious circumstances of the latest events.
“I received another transmission from Trowa,” Heero told
the blonde. “He’s been busy. He’s finally figured out what Spindown is up
to.”
“And?” Quatre urged Heero to continue.
“He’s confirmed the satellite is not of militaristic
use. However, it does pose a threat on
a different level. Lavender will be
used to spy on SpinTech’s business competitors, the government, anything Spindown
deems a worthy competitor. This may not
seem so bad, but the technology the satellite possesses is highly
advanced. It is undetectable by radar
and will be stationed in close proximity to the main hub of the Communication
Satellite System orbiting earth.”
“The main hub?
CSS?” Quatre repeated with dread, aware of the communication
powerhouse.
“Operated by someone on the ground, Lavender can
effectively scan the information of any organization chosen whose files and
other data passes through the main satellite hub, which connects virtually
every major business and corporation on earth and in space. Spindown will be able to pick up access
codes, account records, whatever he chooses.
Any machine is prey to Spindown’s tampering, and seeing how dependent
our society is on technology, it won’t take long for him monopolize the
industry.”
“Oh, Heero,” Quatre sighed. “It looks as though he’s a menace to businessman like me more
than anyone else.”
“His original motives do tend to stay on simply an economic
objective, however, once one has a taste of power, who knows how far they would
be willing to go to obtain more?
Lavender is much more dangerous than it first appears. Everything is computerized these days. Spindown could easily break into the government’s
system and release a missile if he so chooses.
Lord knows the Earthsphere still has a mass of weapons, even though they
continually make pretty speeches about pacifism. So you see, it’s not just other businesses that have to
worry. Lavender in itself is not
hostile, but the intentions behind its use could very well take a turn for the
worst.”
“I see what you mean, Heero,” Quatre said sadly. “What are we going to do?”
“Lavender is about 80% complete, according to Trowa. The thing we need to do is see that it never
gets finished. In order to do this, we
must first stop construction by stopping Spindown himself. I’m sure his men will cease the operation if
their leader is taken into custody.
Trowa has made it quite clear that Terry Spindown is the only brains of
the bunch.”
“So, what do you propose?” Quatre asked, knowing full well
that Heero already had a plan in mind.
“Trowa has informed me that Spindown is still in need of
certain materials to complete the satellite, mainly odd electrical devices and
materials that will be used in the ‘cloaking’ device, which will make Lavender
impossible to pick up by radar. The
next time he goes to purchase building materials for the New Colony Project,
why not catch him in the act of changing account records?”
“What are you thinking?” Quatre asked him with a
scrutinizing glance.
“We’ll have Duo be the bait. I’m sure Trowa will be able to recommend Spindown contact Duo’s
garage for his next purchases.”
“But Duo’s garage has nothing more than a few spare parts
of mobile suits as purchase items.”
“I’ll have Trowa tell us exactly what Spindown needs and
with the help of the Preventers, we’ll get those materials to Duo.”
“It’s just all up to Trowa to convince Spindown that Duo’s
is the best place to purchase materials,” Quatre commented, now understanding
the plan.
Heero nodded.
“Alright then. I
believe that is the best course of action.
I’ll contact Duo immediately to come here so that we can explain the
plan to him in person.”
“Agreed,” Heero said as the two got up, their mugs now
empty.
“Goodnight, Heero,” Quatre said to his friend, now gazing
out the window at the multitude of stars hovering over him. ‘I hope he knows
what he’s getting himself into,’ the blonde youth thought before retreating to
his room.
<><><>
“Do you ever sleep?” a weary Trowa asked Heero, whose face
had entered his laptop screen at the ungodly hour of three a.m.
“Not usually, and when I do, not well,” Heero smirked at
his informant.
“Hn. I assume from
your rather chipper appearance that you’ve got good news. So, is Duo going to be part of the operation
now?”
“I’ve got Quatre convinced this is the best way. He’s put it upon himself to contact
Duo. I know he’ll help, especially when
he hears Relena is in trouble. I expect
him to be arriving sometime tomorrow.”
“That’s good,” Trowa rubbed his temples slowly.
“Aren’t you suppose to be more alert, soldier? You never know when an unexpected enemy
could appear,” Heero chided his usually perfect Preventer companion.
“Well, when you’ve been up every night trying to hack
through SpinTech’s system from Hell, you reach a point in which you wish
somebody would just put you out of your misery,” Trowa told Heero wearily.
“But seeing as you now have time to rest, am I correct in
assuming you’ve broken through?”
Trowa smiled a bit at this, proving Heero’s assumption
correct. “Yes, I’ve cracked it. However, it’s no good. Spindown has transferred all of the data on
Project Lavender to a single disk containing the infamous “Lavender
Files.” These files contain blueprints, transactions and business
dealings of Project Lavender.”
“He put all of that onto one disc? I can’t figure out whether that’s a tactical
error or not.”
“It was the only option left for him,” Trowa informed
Heero. “He’s too suspicious now and
won’t let any more information about his project leek out. True, all of the proof against him is
conveniently on one little disc, but one must first find the disc for it to be
of any use. I have heard that Spindown carries
it with him at all times, but another rumor is that he’s hid it somewhere. I’m honestly not sure of the truth.”
“We need that disc, Trowa. If you get him to purchase materials from Duo, the Lavender Files
are the only thing we need as proof against him. Otherwise, we can take him into custody for changing account
numbers, but if we have no evidence of a secret satellite operation, he’ll
easily be bailed out.”
“Yes. Terry is a
smart man. He’s always prepared to get
caught. Even though the satellite is
almost complete, with one word, he can get his engineers to make a few
adjustments and play it off as a simple communication satellite for the New
Colony. The disc is the only evidence
that Project Lavender even exists.”
“Why hasn’t Terry allowed you to see the files? You are representing his partner, are you
not?” Heero said in a serious tone.
“I’ve confronted him about the matter, but he continues to
say that it’s his operation and that he won’t have it taken away from him. I’ve told him on numerous occasions that Mr.
Faire is less than pleased with his lack of confidence,” Trowa smirked.
“And there’s nothing you can do?”
“Besides put a gun up to his head? No,” Trowa commented. “And I don’t know if even that will work,
but it would certainly blow my cover. I
say let him be. I’ll do research of my
own and simply search for the Lavender Files when the time comes.”
Heero sighed reluctantly.
“I don’t like it, but I agree.
Spindown still has too much power over this operation, but I don’t want
to pry about the files and cause him to become even more suspicious.”
“I’ll contact you tomorrow with information regarding
Spindown’s final purchase needs. Until
then, could you get the Preventers off my back? A transmission from Une caught me off guard and I don’t want any
cause for Spindown to doubt Mr. Faire’s intentions.”
“I’ll do my best,” Heero responded, then let out a slight
smirk. “Oh, and Trowa, you look like
hell. Why don’t you try to get some
sleep?”
Trowa only gave him a look that spoke “You Bastard” loud
and clear, but managed to smile
nonetheless. “I think you should take
your own advice. Give my regards to Mr.
Faire,” he smiled wryly before ending the transmission.
“Hn,” Heero let out a rare smile of his own before he shut
down his laptop and fell back on his bed…yet sleep never came.
<><><>
Everyone looks at Sphinx confused: WHAT???
Heero and Trowa work for Robin Faire????
Sphinx: **looks
around innocently** Well, I said I was
going to make things interesting.
But I will now explain for those of you who are confused:
In this chapter,
it was revealed that Heero and Trowa both have ties with the mysterious
businessman, Robin Faire, who was mentioned a couple chapters ago for having
hacked into SpinTech’s system, uncovered Project Lavender, and gotten in on the
deal.
To further explain, Trowa is the man whom Faire said he
was going to bring in to oversee SpinTech’s operation. BUT, Trowa is also employed by the
Preventers to investigate the same illegal project!!! How can this be??? Trowa,
my friends, is a double agent.
Actually, Heero and Trowa are both double agents!! What are their true intentions??? To what side will they prove their
loyalty??? Mmmwhahaha. Who knows?
All will be revealed in good time…
Oh, and I couldn’t think up a new and spiffy name for the
cloaking device, so I will just have to borrow the terminology from Star Trek,
ok?
Hey! Please review
and tell me if you are still totally confused…or perhaps…rather intrigued? ^_^