Author: KatiKat
Warning: AU, Sci-Fi
Rating: PG
Pairings: 1+2, 3+4
Archives: KatiKat and Friends
Disclaimer: All standard disclaimers apply here - means: I only borrowed them from their respective owners and play with them only for fun. No money made here.
Sentinels and their Guides Part 1
Heero sighed and looked out of the window of the silver limo he and his friends were riding in. His life was depressive, dark and empty. Just a short while ago he didn't actually mind but now... He looked over at the pair sitting in the seat across from him. Quatre and Trowa... They looked so happy having something he would probably never have. The Bond. It was the only thing the Sentinels craved. To share their life, body, mind and soul with their Guide - the only person in the world with the ability to keep them focused and sane.
His hearing spiked again, overwhelming him with sounds of the street - honking cars, raging engines, cursing drivers, dozens of heartbeats - and he flinched, closing his eyes tightly. It was happening more and more often these days. His senses - the heightened senses all Sentinels were proud of - were getting out of control, driving him crazy with strange smells, sounds and tastes. This was one of the things Sentinels feared the most (besides losing their Guide) - to get out of control, to lose their sanity, to degenerate to the point of a mere animal - dangerous and deadly - because that was what would happen to a Sentinel who lost control of himself. His sanity would abandon him, his human mind would break, and the only thing left would be the spirit animal Sentinels carried in their souls.
When he got his hearing back in control, he looked over at the couple again to find them watching him with worry in their eyes.
"Are you okay, Heero?" Quatre - Trowa's Guide - asked quietly, knowing that loud sounds could be pretty painful after a spike.
Heero tried to smile for him. Quatre worried too much sometimes. "Yes, I am. You don't need to worry about me."
Quatre didn't comment about his obvious lie. He laid his head on Trowa's shoulder and let him put his arm around him. Through the empathy every Guide possessed he could feel how depressed, confused and hurt Heero was. He shut his eyes tight snuggling closer to his Sentinel. Sometimes the feelings of people around him were drowning him and he had to seek shelter in the Bond his empathy sustained. Like right now. Heero was hurting so much...
Trowa bent down and kissed his Guide and lover on the top of his golden head. "You should find yourself a Guide," he said, his senses locked on the precious bundle in his arms.
Heero huffed. Trowa was stating the obvious. Every Sentinel needed a Guide who would help them keep their sanity through the Bond. No Guide meant no Bond which meant no future. Because without the Bond, every Sentinel would be driven insane - sooner or later. But Heero wouldn't let it go that far. He would end it himself before he would get reduced to a mere hissing and biting beast.
"I know that, Trowa. You know the best how hard I tried. I tried it at every Guide academy there is. I went to all the mixers the trainers sent me to. I just didn't find the One with whom I would just click with like you with Quatre. You met him on the first mixer you went to. One look and the Bond was there. I wish I could have been that lucky..." Heero sighed. How many times did he have this conversation already? With another sigh, he propped his chin on his hand and looked back out of the window.
Heero was right, Trowa thought to himself. He had been really lucky. He looked down at his Guide, lover, soul mate, best friend and pulled him closer. He didn't know what he would do being in Heero's place. He saw the looks full of resignation the trainers were giving him. They gave up on him and just waited for the moment he would snap. They were both twenty. At this age every Sentinel should be already paired, with the Bond established and strong. He knew that the spikes were coming more and more often these days. He knew the paleness, the wild look they left behind. It meant that the first stage of insanity was knocking at the door. He only hoped that he wouldn't have to fulfill the promise he gave Heero - the promise to release him from his misery should he really lose his mind...
The limo - Quatre's limo - was flying down the streets of New Angeles, the capital city of Cluster L1, the first colony ever founded. It was a dark planet with no sun, the artificial one giving only the barest hints of what the true thing on Earth might have looked like. It was so far back in the past when the first colonists left their home planet to look for a new 'paradise', nobody remembered anymore how it was to breath fresh air and bathe in the sun. If this was paradise, then what did hell look like?
The car stopped at the red light. Heero fixed his eyes on a small dirty child searching for food in a garbage can. Such a big chasm in the levels of society - the upper ten thousand and the millions on the street. Did he really have the right to feel sorry for himself? He knew that he would go home now and take a bath, eat and drink whatever he wanted, go clubbing tomorrow again... And if he went crazy after all there would be somebody to take care of his needs. That was the difference between him and the girl searching the garbage can - a couple of ciphers in a bank account.
Suddenly, before the car could take off once again, something heavy dropped on the roof of the car shaking the limo and the passengers within.
"What the...?" Heero started and opened the car door to see what had happened. Before he could get out a slight figure jumped off the car in front of his opened door. The figure - dressed all in black - turned around and its eyes locked with Heero's for the shortest of moments before it took off down the street. Heero's breath caught in his throat as he felt the Bond click in place in the millisecond when his and the stranger's eyes met. He didn't know him - or was it her? He thought he saw a long braid - but he knew he had to find him. It was his One and only.
"Heero! What are you doing?" Quatre shouted after him as Heero jumped out of the car trying to catch the fleeing figure. He wanted to get out too but Trowa caught him around his waist and pulled him back to him. "Trowa, what are you doing? We have to go after him!" the blond man protested.
Trowa smiled and closed the door. "No, we don't." He pushed the call button to the driver. "Rashid, turn the car and take us back."
"How far, Mr. Barton?" the disembodied voice asked.
"I don't know. Just drive slowly. I will tell you when to stop," Trowa answered and released the button situated in the ceiling.
"What are you doing, Trowa?" Quatre asked, his voice agitated, as he squirmed in the Trowa's lap for once trying to shake of his lover's arm that was holding him in place. "We might lose them. What if something happens to Heero? What if he has another spike?"
Trowa smiled. "I doubt that there will be any spikes anymore."
That caught Quatre's attention. "What do you mean?" He turned to look Trowa in the face as the limo took a wide U-turn in the intersection.
"I mean that Heero found his Guide, love."
Quatre gaped and Trowa kissed him on the tip of his nose.
Part 2
Duo was sure that someone was following him. You learned to trust your gut feelings living on the streets and it was telling him now that someone was after him. He raced down the dimly lit main street and snuck into one of the even darker side streets. He pressed himself to the cold and damp metal wall and listened carefully. He couldn't hear any footsteps or any other sounds indicating that there really was someone behind him. Maybe he was just getting paranoid.
Duo snorted. Yeah, sure. There was no such thing as being too paranoid or overly careful on these streets. Here it was a fight for survival. It was run or fight - or get killed. And Duo had no intention of doing the latter.
Still hearing nothing, he allowed himself to relax slightly. Maybe he was wrong this time. But he had never been wrong before. And he just couldn't imagine any reason anybody would have to follow him. Another silent snort. As if some of the more dangerous types needed a reason to slit someone's throat. Or to grope someone. He knew how it was to get roughened up in that way. His long braid fooled a lot of people in the past. Some of them backed off when they realized their mistake. Some of them... Some of them didn't. But now was not the time to think about the past. He had to be sure that he lost his tail and then get back home.
Yeah, home. A rusted hole in one of the older warehouse buildings near the docks that led into a small room where he and his brother Solo lived. It was dark, cold and damp but it was their home. At least they had a place where they could hide from the poisonous rain that hit the colony every couple of days. A simple way of reducing the street rat population. The ones who didn't have any place to hide got wet, sick and died in a matter of minutes. Black van-like cars roamed the streets after every rain episode getting rid of the bodies. No need to scare the regular population, right?
Duo looked up at the dark sickly gray sky. It was almost dark. Solo would be worried if he didn't hurry up. He took another peek around the corner and when he didn't spot anyone he ran further down the side street and jumped over a small rusty wall. Everything was rusty here near the docks. The poisonous rain killed the people and destroyed the metal buildings too. Not as quickly as human beings but just as thoroughly.
Another street, another turn... And there was this shadow again. He always noticed it only from the corner of his eye and when he turned it was gone. It was getting frustrating. He needed to get home. He was hungry and tired but he couldn't risk leading someone to their hiding place. There was only one thing he could do...
Turning into one of the more smelly and dirty streets, he stopped in the middle of it and turned around resting his hands on his hips, his legs slightly spread, his knife in reach on his belt.
"Okay, who are you and what do you want?" Duo asked, hoping his voice didn't show his nervousness.
There was no answer, but he could swear that he saw a movement in the shadows near the entrance of the street. What did the person want from him?
"I haven't got all day, buddy. I have places to go. So come out and tell me what you want!" Duo was starting to get annoyed. He could hear some of the street rats scrambling away, not wanting to get in the middle of a fight.
The sky above him darkened and grew black. Duo couldn't see much of anything now, but he was determined to not show his growing nervousness. He couldn't see the person anymore, not even the flicker of movement he was able to register before. But then he realized something - he didn't see him, but he could feel him. His excitement, lust, impatience and... happiness? He shook his head to get rid of these feelings that weren't his own, but it didn't help. What was going on here? This never happened to him before!
"I want you," came the whisper from behind him, the person's breath caressing his neck.
Duo jumped pulling out his knife and turning around he slashed at his invisible enemy. "Why? What do you want from me? Kill me? Or fuck me? Because I won't give up without a fight, pal," Duo snarled, crouching a little to get in a fighting stance.
"Fuck you, maybe..."
Now the voice was on his right. He turned quickly but there was nothing, only the darkness.
"But not kill you... never... not now that I have found you..."
Duo couldn't help but shiver. He could hear the voice all around him, he could feel it vibrate through him, setting every vein in his body on fire. What was happening here? Had he been drugged and this is some sort of a hallucination?
"Found me? What are you talking about?" he sneered, gripping the knife more tightly in his hand.
There was a chuckle in the darkness and it was as if it caressed his skin. Duo got goosebumps all over his body. Why didn't the man attack? He had the perfect opportunity here.
"Yes, found you. I have been looking for you for years... My Guide..."
Duo froze. A Sentinel. Oh shit. He wouldn't stand a chance against a Sentinel. They could see in dark, hear his heart beat with fear and their speed and strength, their reflexes, their senses were deadly. They were the real predators that only the jungle could have given birth to before the genetic experiments came. They were the throwbacks to pre-civilized times driven only by instinct, the protectors, the warriors, the killers - at least that was what he read about them in an old newspaper he had found in the trash one day. But if that was the truth then the man could snap his neck any time he wanted. Then it hit him. Guide? This man thought he was his Guide? Impossible...
"I think you've mistaken me with somebody else, dude. I ain't a Guide. Just a street rat like all the others here in the slums."
There was the chuckle again. "There is nothing ordinary about you... you are my Guide... can't you feel the connection? My feelings? My desires?"
Duo opened his mouth to deny it, but then he felt the warmth spread through him as if something caressed his mind. It was like a feather on a naked skin. So soft and non-threatening... It felt like he found something he never knew he had lost. Could it be...?
No way! Duo denied it immediately. There was no way he could be a... a... Guide. Street rats like him weren't born with abilities like that. Mutations, disabilities - that was the mark of the slum people. Not a talent as rare as the empathy, the only talent that didn't come from genetic manipulations, the only talent given to people by the nature itself... He couldn't be an Empath. He would know, wouldn't he? Wouldn't he???
He didn't know what exactly Sentinels needed from their Guides. They were pretty secretive about that. He heard that not even the scientists knew everything. But whatever it was - he didn't have it. He opened his mouth to say something, anything that would get him out of this when he felt a touch on his hand. The one holding the knife. He wanted to pull away but found that he was unable to. And what shocked him the most was that he found himself leaning back against the hard body behind him. He just couldn't help it.
"That's the pull of the Bond," explained the man as if he was reading his mind. "You can't escape it. The more you fight it the more you are drawn to me."
The Bond? Duo heard about that. The eternal connection between the Sentinel and his Guide. The mental link that bound two people together so tightly that even the death couldn't break them apart. But... there had to be some sort of contact before the Bond clicked in place and he didn't... "I don't know you. We have never met," Duo whispered, not even protesting as the man pulled the knife out of his hand. "There can't be any Bond between us."
"No, you don't know me... but the Bond is there. It appeared the moment you looked in my eyes... That means we've been destined for each other. You are the other half of my soul..." the man breathed in his ear.
Looked in his eyes? The wheels in Duo's muddled brain turned so slowly. When...? And then he remembered. The limo. That was the only possibility. He would have noticed if the invisible stranger followed him before. The guy that opened the door as he jumped on it from the bridge when he had been fleeing from the Police Corps Droids. The only thing the robots weren't able to do was jump from such high places without breaking or twisting something and messing up their systems. Well, at least the old models weren't able to do that. He had been lucky that he didn't meet the new Android Units when he had been stealing the food bars that were currently hidden inside his black shirt and in his pockets. But if this guy was right, then maybe he would have been better off had he met the AU's. The Bond meant a thing for life, nothing that could be broken if you didn't like it. Somehow he suspected that there would be more things he wouldn't like.
Duo coughed self-consciously feeling the arms around him, holding him tightly but gently. "So if - and I mean IF - the Bond really exists... what would that mean?" he asked carefully. He needed to find out what the man wanted from him.
There was the chuckle again. "It means that I'm taking you home, Guide."
THAT got Duo's attention, breaking the fog that clouded his mind. Suddenly angry, he twisted away from the tight hold of the invisible Sentinel and turned around. "Now wait a fucking minute. I am not going anywhere with you. I am going home. And I mean like now." He looked at the place where he suspected the man's eyes would be. "I don't care about all these crazy things you've been babbling about here. I have my life and I won't allow you to mess with it." He nodded to himself, satisfied that he could still hold his own. But the lack of response from the Sentinel was grating on his nerves. He took a couple of steps back, swallowing nervously.
"Do you hear me? I am NOT going with you!" He turned around and started to run.
The Sentinel pounced.
~*~
Quatre looked out of the window of the limo frowning at the dirty damp streets. "Are you sure they are here, Trowa?" he asked. "Not that I don't believe your Sentinel senses but... the slums are dangerous. And we are sticking out like a sore thumb with the limo."
Trowa pulled his Guide closer to him. "Yes, they are here. And I am sure it won't take much longer now. Actually-" he cocked his head to the side and smiled just a little "-Heero is coming back." He pulled his arms away from Quatre and opening the car door, he got out. He moved to the side to let Quatre get out after looking around carefully. He didn't hear anybody but there was no need to take risks.
The blond man stepped out of the car and stretched just a little. He looked around but didn't see almost anything in the near darkness of the street. "Where...?"
Before he could finish his question he could hear voices. Actually one voice. And it was really loud and sounded really annoyed. "Put me down, you neanderthal! You hear me? I don't want to go with you. Let me go or I will... I will... bite you!!!"
Quatre looked to the left, and after a couple of seconds of squinting he could make out a moving shape in the dark. When Heero finally moved near the lights of the car Quatre's jaw hit the floor. There was Heero, looking quite smug and satisfied with himself, carrying a kicking and screaming black clad person over his shoulder.
"I see you caught him," Trowa commented impassively.
Before Heero could answer, the black clad figure started to rant again. "Caught? What am I? Some deer or fox and you the hunting dog?"
"Actually a white tiger," answered Heero, calmly referring to his spirit animal.
There was a confused 'Huh?' from the person hanging over his shoulder.
"Oh, dear, Heero, what do you think you are doing?" exclaimed Quatre. "You don't need to drag him here like some cave man."
Heero frowned at him. "Yes, I need to. He wouldn't come with me otherwise."
"But to throw him over your shoulder? Don't you think you exaggerated things a little? I am sure that if you would put him down he wouldn't run away. Would you?" Quatre asked the twisting and kicking boy.
"Of course I would," Duo shouted at Quatre which earned him a hard slap on his behind. With a loud 'oww' the braided boy pounded a fist against his captor's back. "The short one is right. You are a cave man. You have no manners. You are impertinent and rude and..."
Before he could rant further Heero just pulled him down from his shoulder and pushed him into the limo.
"Hey, what are you doing? I am not going anywhere with you! Let me out of here!!!" screamed Duo as he started to pull on the handle on the other side of the car to open the door.
Heero didn't react to it, knowing that the other door was locked and only the driver could open it. "Could we go now? I am getting quite hungry." When Quatre nodded he got in the car and sat down next to the protesting youth.
Hearing the braided boy's voice gain on volume, Quatre looked at his Sentinel who only nodded to himself not at all fazed by what had happened. "They will make a great pair," Trowa said as he waited for his Guide to get in.
"Yeah, if they don't kill each other first," muttered Quatre quietly as he prepared himself mentally for the long ride home. And long it was.
OWARI
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