"A doubtful friend is worse than a certain enemy. Let a man be one thing or the other, and we then know how to meet him."
--- Aesop
"Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one."
--- Marcus Aurelius
"Greatness lies not in being strong, but in the right use of strength."
--- Henry Ward Beecher
Requiem for the Sinners Part 16
Bewildered Crusader
He let me go. He let me go...
Wufei walked with his head lowered, a tech's cap pulled low and his hair pulled loose to shadow his face and hide him in the throngs of people passing in and out of the L2 spacedocks. He had been unable to find his uniform, and rather than walk the streets in nothing but his boxers, he had grabbed a heavy tech's jumper. He headed out of the docks, his nose thick with the smell of machine oil and hot solder.
It didn't make any sense. Duo had tried to kill Heero. There hadn't been any hesitation in it. But when he had finally gotten a chance to kill Wufei, to knock one more enemy off his list, he hadn't taken it.
Why?
It was still twilight, but the sky generators of the colony were beginning to fade out to the darkness of space; he stopped and watched the sky leak away, almost in a fast forward. In a few minutes, the colony ceiling had faded to black.
Wufei couldn't wrap his mind around it. It had to be a trick. It was a trap. Duo was his enemy, and you didn't let your enemies just walk out. It just... it wasn't right. What, he could just walk into the hangar, grab a shuttle, and hitch a ride back to Earth? It was too easy.
So he hid.
Waited.
He let me live. He let me go free. He should have killed me; that's what was in his best interest. Or hold me hostage, like the others. Why did he do that? Why did he let me go?!
It didn't make any sense. And Wufei hated that.
Maybe he still cares-
Wufei cut off that particular train of thought furiously. If Duo cared about any of them, it would be Heero. And he had shot Heero without mercy. He shot to kill. If he could do that to his own partner, the person he had been closest to in the world for four years, he could do anything. Anything.
And that prospect sent a cold shudder down his spine.
But if it wasn't an attack of conscience, there wasn't an explanation for what Duo had done. And that frightened Wufei more than anything else.
The stars filled the sky, too many of them to count. Wufei sighed and leaned against a nearby building, gazing up at them. He had always felt a kinship with the stars. They filled the universe with light and order. They were sentinels that kept watch in the night. They left the sky in a clear division between black and white. Light and darkness.
Good and evil.
Wufei closed his eyes wearily, passing one hand over his face.
Why can't someone tell me where the stars are?
He narrowed his eyes What did it matter? He didn't need the stars to see who was right and who was wrong. Not this time. Maybe he was wrong about Mariemeia (just the thought of that caused his cheeks to burn) but he wasn't wrong this time. He couldn't be wrong this time. Too many lives depended on it.
Preventers are the law now, he thought obstinately, staring down at the dirty asphalt. We are the law, we're supposed to protect the innocent, and the law will not be mocked. Not by Duo Maxwell. Not by anyone.
But Duo had thrown him off. Wufei had been perfectly willing to hate his former ally... hate made things so much easier... but now Duo had let him go. Duo had made sense, had argued rationally. Madmen and dictators did not do that. So now where did he stand?
But madmen could plan mass executions, and could kill children without remorse. They could... and did.
Damned if I'll be in debt to a cold-blooded murderer.
"Mister! Hey, mister!"
Wufei lifted his head, jerked out of his reverie. A young boy shouted at him from the sidewalk, waving a plastic container. A pair if bright blue eyes shone from under a ragged knit cap and a flyaway mop of dirty blond bangs. It reminded him of Quatre.
A handful of coins jingled loudly in the piece of Tupperware. "Alms, mister? Please!? My sister, I have to take her to a doctor, please!?"
Wufei started to reach into his pocket before he realized that he wasn't wearing his uniform anymore. He shook his head gently. "Sorry, kid. I don't have anything for you."
The boy blinked before turning away, his posture slumped and dejected. But his head lifted when another boy called to him, running down the street.
"Hey Lupe! C'mon! Harper's coming! They're givin' out food in the plaza, c'mon!"
Wufei-suddenly aware of his surroundings again-heard a sound that echoed and rumbled through the dilapidated colony, reverberating off the walls of the buildings around him, crashing through the streets.
It was cheering.
...Harper?
He followed the two boys, quickly having to quicken his pace to a jog as the people around him began to move. When he reached the plaza, he was astounded by the sight before him.
People. Thousands of people, moving in a undulating mass, chanting and cheering and whistling, open hands outstretched. And at the head of it all were the trucks. On the bed of the trucks was a huge pile of crates that looked strikingly familiar. As he moved through the crowds, Wufei could read the label print stamped across the sides of the crates.
RATIONS
PREVENTER CORPS
Men in black uniforms were standing on either side of the open crates, pulling out handfuls of rations and bottled water. They handed the food down to the outstretched fingertips of the civilians, greeted with grateful tears and cheers and handshakes.
Some of the rebels grabbed the rations and threw them far back into the crowds. Wufei watched dazedly as they were snagged out of midair.
A fistfight broke out in the front of the crowds, and one of the rebels grabbed a kid that was involved, pulled him up onto the truckbed and shoved a ration pack and a bottle of water roughly into his arms.
"Hereya, kid. Quit roughhousin'! There's enough to go around, and we have to stick together now," the guy shouted, pushing the kid violently back off the truck. He threw more at the other kids, and the food was snatched by dirty reaching fingers.
The kid that had been pulled onto the truck landed on his feet, but barely. Someone grabbed him by the collar to steady him, and after realizing that the man was not going to try and take his food, the kid smiled wanly.
Wufei shook his head in disbelief. They weren't feeding the soldiers... they were feeding the people. The civilians. And there were so many of them. The young teens, almost half of them obviously homeless, ran in packs like wild dogs. But it wasn't just the homeless and the poor. Even the blue collar workers and spacers were in the mob. Wufei saw a young boy sitting high on his father's shoulders, laughing.
That made him think of the little boy. The one who had kept him from killing Duo. But Duo couldn't have a son... .could he?
::"Why... why are you hurting my daddy..."::
So many things that didn't make sense.
He started to walk back towards the docks, cap pulled low over his face. He tensed as someone abruptly tapped his shoulder.
"Hey man! Aren't you going to wait for your share of rations?"
Wufei raised his head slightly, turning around to look at the earnest young man in front of him. "Why aren't they being given out to the soldiers?"
The young man blinked at him in surprise. "Because everyone is a soldier here. Everyone has to fight to be free. Don't you know that?"
"Aa. Of course." He tried to keep his voice as easy and casual as possible. The last thing he needed was for someone to recognize him in this teeming ocean of people. Especially Harper.
Wufei remembered the way that dishonorable man had undressed him and left him in his boxers for anyone watching the Telnet to see, and he blushed furiously as he pushed his way back towards the docks.
Coolly, logically, he assessed his situation. He had no uniform, no food, no water, no transportation, and worst of all, no weapons in a colony that not only seemed to have them, but was willing to use them. All of his crew-the young men and women who trusted him and whom he loved as only a comrade can love another comrade-were still in chains. He alone had been released. And his recruits had not.
Who knew what Duo had planned for them? They were men and women Wufei trusted with his life, trusted to kill him if they had to, and trusted to kill for him. He was their commander. They were his responsibility.
And now he was alone.
The thought made his heart ache fiercely, a feeling he hadn't felt since he had lost his duel to Treize. He had earned his death, and again, it had been withheld by his enemy. His enemy's compassion. It left a sour taste in his mouth.
He moved into the hangars, hiding behind his hair. He had never used it as a form of subterfuge before he met Duo... he picked it up in some of the stealth missions they had worked on together. It still hurt him to remember that now, even though he liked to pretend that he didn't care about that anymore.
Suddenly, he heard voices, and quickly ducked behind one of the docked ships. He moved against the side of the massive ship silently, looking around the edge for a moment before moving back behind the hull, making sure they couldn't see him.
L2 soldiers. Their voices echoed in the hangar.
"Are you sure?"
"Does the Pope wear a tall hat? The general just up and let him go. Best bargaining chip we got so far, and he just lets him loose. A fuckin' ex-Gundam pilot. Can you believe that shit?"
"Hmph. Just so, huh? Any idea why?"
"Somebody told me that they were good war buddies. I mean, it is 05, you know? They worked together in the Wars. I guess the General kind of has a soft spot for him or somethin', you know? But you know what else I heard? I heard that Chang got the jump on him when the General was lettin' 'em go. Woulda killed him if Zero hadn't stepped in. The General's lil' nino."
"Gabriel? No shit."
Wufei pressed himself closely against the cool metal of the ship, eyes narrowed. They were talking about him. Him and Maxwell.
"The kid use the touch on him?"
"Nah, I don't think so. The guy just didn't want to kill the General in front of the kid."
"Huh. Well, it don't matter much anyway. I mean, we do have Yuy, right?"
"Bullshit. Yuy is mad as hell, s'what I heard. Him and the General are barely talkin'."
"How do you know so much about it?"
"I'm sweet on one of the nurses in the medical ward. She keeps her ear to the floor for me. In exchange for other services, of course."
"Now I know you're bullshitting."
"Swear to Our Lady, man. You asked, I'm tellin'."
"Pssht. If you say so."
"I do, you douche."
Wufei started to move cautiously from around the opposite side of the ship, keeping himself as inconspicious as possible. He thought he had gotten past the two of them without drawing attention to himself until he heard a voice shout from behind him. He gritted his teeth.
"Hey, you! Tech!"
Wufei turned towards them, his cap pulled low over his face. He briefly considered knocking them out, but he couldn't afford to draw attention to himself. Not before he got a chance to get out of this place. "Dui bu qi. I do not speak much English."
One of the soldiers, a swarthy guy with a nose that looked as if it had been broken about seven different times and for seven different situations, snorted. He spoke in a lilting Hispanic accent. "Yeah, well, what else is new? You one of the new techs?"
"...Zheng que."
The guy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, if that's a yes, you better get your ass over to Dock 5. They're tryin' to get the single pilot smokers combat-ready, and if the General or Harper catches you just sitting around here with your thumb up your ass, you're gonna get chewed out. You dig, Kemo-sabe?"
Wufei just stared at him blankly, playing the part of the witless mech worker whose brains were only in his hands.
The blond spoke in a softer, more polite voice, speaking in the tech pidgin that was universal, whether a tech came from Earth or one of the dozens of colonies. No matter what country you were from or what colony you were born on, if you were a mobile suit or a spacer tech, you knew the pidgin.
"Gee-yat mech? You-gat solo-flii?"
Wufei nodded slowly, mutely, as if it took him a few minutes to comprehend what was being said to him, and then he turned and walked off in the direction of the single-pilot ships.
The blond soldier watched after the quiet Chinese man thoughtfully.
"That guy... he look familiar to you?"
His swarthy companion yawned lazily, adjusting the strap that held the automatic rifle slung over his shoulder. He gave the tech one more glance before heading back towards the plaza. "Nah. Just a no-name retard mecher. Those orient boys, they all look the same, you know?"
The blond soldier watched the Chinese man leave for a few more seconds before he shrugged, heading after his friend.
"I guess so. But still..."
The darker rebel looked at the blond curiously. "What?"
The blond shrugged again, shaking his head. "He just had cold eyes, that's all. Like a snake. Gave me a chill."
The other soldier laughed, then punched the blond playfully in the shoulder. "... You drink too fuckin' much. And you think too fuckin' much, too. Let's get off to the plaza, we're on ration duty in fifteen minutes. Every brat's gotta eat, am I right?"
"Yeah. Otherwise, what the hell are we fightin' for?"
"The General."
The dark-skinned one grinned. "That's right. The fuckin' General. Now let's get outta here, eh?"
"Right-o."
TBC...
Back to CleverYoungThief's Fanfictions Page