[You're the hope that moves me to courage again
You're the love that rescues me
When the cold winds, rage
And it's so amazing
Cause that's just how you are
And I can't turn back now
Cause you've brought me too far]
--- Lyrics to 'I Need You' By Leann Rimes
A Silver Lining Part 16
"What word have you received?"
"Sir, our accomplices within the Preventers had been discovered. One killed himself before he could be taken in, but the other three were not so fortunate. They are being held in a federal prison not far from their headquarters."
There was a long pause. "So the Preventers are onto us, after all."
"I have already taken the necessary steps in advising everyone of our organization. Our transport ships will be fully armed and ready for any possible attacks. We have one ship that is prepared to move in less than three days. I could have them change their route and time of departure."
"No. Let that ship go off as planned. I have many clients paying top dollar for the arrival of those prisoners. I want mobile suits made ready to escort the craft to its designation to prevent any trouble. As many large corporations throughout space and the earth as there are, no one would be able to place any connection to us, should anyone escape alive."
"Very well, sir. I will see that it is done."
"Do you think that our accomplices may have given away anything?"
"Knowing what you are capable of, I would be amazed if they did. Their lives would be forfeit should they release anything that would help their search."
Silence lingered for another, briefer, moment. "I do not like having any loose ties out there. And I do not like putting my faith in hopes that they will remain silent." He took deep breath and released it slowly. "You know what to do."
A nod. "Yes, sir."
* * * * * *
In the dimly lit cell that he and Duo had shared for an unknown number of days now, Heero watched as his braided partner leaned his back against the wall opposite of him. It had been a while since their captors came to pay them a visit for another interrogation. With a wistful smile, the American asked, "When we're back home, what's the first thing you're going to do?"
With a snort, Heero replied, "I'm hitting the shower before you get the chance to use all of the hot water." Duo's laugher that responded willed the dark space. The lighthearted sound tugged a slight grin on the normally stoic pilot's face. As his friend began to calm from his hysterics, the Japanese Preventer tilted his head a bit and questioned, "What about you?"
"Well since someone already has dibs on the shower," Duo smirked, "I get first go at raiding the kitchen, then." At the reminder of how meager their meals in this captivity had been, Heero fought to control his stomach from protesting at its emptiness. With a quiet hum, the Japanese pilot nodded.
There was another long, companionable silence between the two of them. During that peaceful quiet, Heero felt a small smile pull the side of his mouth up in a smile. Even in the poor light, his friend picked it up and he asked with a grin of his own, "What's so funny?"
Shrugging, the ex-Wing pilot answered, "I can't help but think about how... nice these last few days have been, considering the circumstances."
His own smile growing a bit, Duo laughed, "You mean aside from the fact that we're trapped in the middle of nowhere." Heero nodded, his deep voice chuckling at the irony of the situation. The American cut his usual antics and said quietly, "I know what you mean, though. I've learned more about you these last few days than I ever did during the wars."
In the realization of that, Heero frowned deeply. Lowering his head a bit, his dark bangs fell over his closed eyes. "I'm sorry about that," he said sincerely, quietly.
Duo reassured him just as softly, "Hey, it's okay, Heero. I understand that with your training, you didn't really have a choice in-"
"It wasn't just my training that made me the way I was back then," the Japanese pilot cut him off. Without looking up, Heero could feel Duo's shocked gaze on him while he explained, "In a way, I had to be the way I was because of my training as much as for the fact that I wanted to protect myself."
A concerned frown fell on the braided pilot's face. "Protect yourself?"
Slowly raising his head to peer through his unruly bangs, Heero replied, "I didn't want to suddenly become attached to you, or anyone for that matter, considering the fact that I never imagined that I was going to live to see the end of the fighting. I didn't want to know what I would have missed if anything happened to me."
Taking a deep breath, he went on, "So I pushed you and the others at arms length and further so that I wouldn't have to worry about seeing the grass on the other side of the fences around me." A small smirk tugged his lips and he shrugged, "It's pretty vibrant and inviting on your side." Duo returned the slight smile, quite impressed with his friend's ability to bring such imagery with his words.
Silently in awe of how easy it was for him to open this way, Heero felt compelled to continue. His smile faded and he sighed, "The more you tried to get through, the more I pushed. You were on your way and I went mine." Slowly, his head lowered again and he commented, "The next thing I knew, the Mariemeia Incident had ended and I woke in a hospital room alone."
Duo's violet eyes shimmered with small tears and he choked out in little more than a whisper, "I-I swear that I didn't want to just go off without a word between us, but I really thought that was what you wanted."
With a small and sad smile, Heero nodded, "I know. For a time, I thought it was what I wanted, too. You shouldn't feel any guilt over that." Looking up, he smirked, "Besides, I got the flowers you sent." At that, a short laugh filled the air as Duo dried his eyes.
Heero shook his head, "But what I am trying to get at is that I woke up one morning not long after that and realized something that startled me. I realized that the same thing I had been fighting back was the same thing that I missed and wanted more than anything."
The two pilots gazed on each other, their eyes locking in the dim light, neither willing to take too deep a breath and stir silence between them. Swallowing, the ex-Wing pilot concluded, "I realized that I had missed you and I thought that I had lost the chance of having a friendship with you all by my own doing."
Suddenly, the Japanese pilot was wrapped into two strong arms. Blinking his cobalt eyes in surprise, Heero released the tension in his shoulders. Timidly, he brought his own arms up and around his partner's torso in their first -if not awkward- embrace. "You never lost me," the braided pilot breathed.
When they pulled back, Duo had a watery smile on his face and he admitted, "I had been waiting for that call from you that day you called me." At the shock in the other pilot's cobalt eyes, he chuckled deeply, "Granted, the call came a lot sooner than I thought it would, and I never would have dreamed that it would involve your asking me to stay with you. But I knew that some day I would hear from you."
Releasing the breath that he had been holding, Heero frowned slightly, "You have no idea how hard it was for me to make that call. It meant going against everything that I was taught. It was against everything that I forced on myself and everyone around me."
Duo nodded, somehow understanding exactly what that must have been like. "Do you have any regrets?" he asked quietly.
There was a brief pause as a small smirk tugged the side of Heero's lips upward. Just as softly, he answered sincerely, "Not one."
* * * * * *
The first thing that Heero's slowly growing awareness was alert of was how warm he felt. Slowly, his cobalt eyes blinked open, only to have the brightness reflecting from the ocean force his eyes to squeeze closed again. The chest beneath his head rumbled with a deep chuckle and a gently hand ran through his unruly hair.
Recalling the events of the prior day and evening, Heero opened his eyes again to look up into his partner's violet gaze. It was a rare thing for the ex-Wing pilot to sleep in longer than his best friend. There had been many a morning past that he had been the first to rise, contenting himself with watching the American sleep peacefully. It seemed as though the tides had turned this morning.
After a long silence, Duo's smile warmed and he whispered, "Hey."
The Japanese Preventer replied in kind, "Hey." Rubbing his tired eyes, he asked, "Have you been awake very long?" Reluctantly, he sat up carefully so that they could both sit up.
With a shrug, the braided pilot replied, "I'd guess maybe an hour or so." Running a hand through his long bangs with one hand, he stretched his other arm. "We should let Yuuki out before she relieves herself in the living room."
"You take care of the dog and I'll start breakfast," Heero suggesting, rising to his feet to work out some of the soreness in his back.
Duo grinned and nodded, "Deal." With that, he grunted in lifting himself up. Rubbing his back, he winced at a couple cracks that popped in his spine. "We're going to have to come up with something more creative for comfort if we ever plan on sleeping on that swing again."
Heero grunted in agreement as he stepped into the house to be greeted by an excited ball of fur. Whistling for the pup, Duo smiled as Yuuki ran towards him. "Come on, girl," the braided pilot called while he led the pup to the back of the house.
In the midst of beginning breakfast, Heero noticed that there was a message on the answering machine. Pressing the 'accept' key, he listened as Lady Une's voice filled the air. "Heero, Duo, I am calling early to order the both of you to stay off the premises. I do not want to see either of you near headquarters for at least the next two days so you can rest. When you return, I will be more than happy to update you on our progress in the investigation. Until then, rest up."
When the message ended, Heero chuckled deeply and shook his head in amusement. Yuuki came running into the kitchen with Duo walking close behind. "You know, Lady Une is the only person I've ever known who can pull off being an over protective mother type and an ass-kicking drill sergeant at the same time," the braided Preventer laughed. With a wistful sigh, the American smiled, "I love that woman."
Heero laughed heartily and moved back to the oven to oversee the eggs he had been cooking. When the eggs and bacon were finished, he brought two plates to the table while his partner gathered the silverware. As the two pilots began to eat, Yuuki went to short-haired owner's feet and curled atop them, just wanting to be as close to him as she could be. She was rewarded with a gentle pat to the top of her head before Heero continued to enjoy his meal.
* * * * * *
Looking up from his notes at the sound of the door opening, Wufei watched as Lady Une entered the secured lab. Sally peered up from her station and greeted with a nod, "Commander." The Chinese pilot exchanged his own salutation.
Returning the nod, the tall woman asked, "How are things coming with securing the communication system?"
"We should have everything back in order in about an hour," Wufei answered. "The blocking that we're using to lock the system will be impossible for anyone to get through, thanks to the layout Trowa laid out."
Satisfied with that news, Lady Une replied, "Good. It'll be a relief to know that no one is watching us with every call we make or email we send." A frown deepened on her face and she thought aloud, "Had there been anyway of foreseeing that we were going to have this problem to begin with, I would have made sure that we had a more secure security around the system to begin with."
With a reassuring smile, Sally commented, "But had it not been for the breech in the first place, we would never have been able to realize that we had leaks in the Preventers, or how to find them. Hefner and the others would have just found another way of accessing our information to pass on."
"True," Lady Une sighed. "When the two of you are finished in here, I am going to need to move you to other assignments."
Once the two agents nodded in acknowledgement, the Commander turned to the Chinese pilot. "I deciphered some saved information on Sara River's computer referring on another transport ship that will be on the move in seventy-four hours. I already contacted Trowa and Anna that they will need to assemble a team to intercept it. They will be coming in tomorrow to work with you."
Relief filled Wufei's dark eyes and he smirked, "Yes, Ma'am. We will meet with you to get further details of the mission tomorrow evening, then." The tall woman grinned at his apparent eagerness to be in the field again.
Lady Une met Sally's eyes and stated, "I am going to need you to meet with Noin when you are finished here. The search for Terry Henderson is progressing terribly slow. Now that Hefner and his accomplices have had a few hours to think things over to themselves, I want them brought back here as soon as possible. We are going to need to pull more from them in how they came to know this man."
Sally nodded, "I'll call Noin before the hour is up, when we're finished here." Sensing a hidden tension in the other woman, she tilted her head and asked, "Is there something wrong?"
"Let's just say that I have a bad feeling about leaving Rivers and the others in that prison. The sooner you can get to them to return them here, the better," the brunette woman stated.
Both Sally and Wufei shared an exchange of concerned looks. Gazing back to her Commander, the braided woman reassured her, "It'll be taken care of."
At that, Lady Une said sincerely, "Thank you, both. I'll continue to see what I can gather from the stored files that were found on our 'friends'' computers, then." After a brief exchange of waves between them, she turned and stepped out of the room to check on the progress of the search for the mysterious man of whom they had so little to go on.
* * * * * *
Yuuki ran excitedly a few feet ahead of her owners, basking in the warm rays from the sun. The surf rolled up to her little paws and she panted in exhilaration as the feel of the cool ocean water before running back onto the dry sand. The rushing sound from the moving water filled her ears, adding to the many sensations that the collie was enthralled with. She certainly was happy that her masters decided to enjoy a long walk along the beach this early afternoon.
Not far behind the pup, Heero and Duo walked beside each other, their shoulders occasionally brushing together in their leisure pace. With his arms wrapped around his waist, Duo broke the companionable silence between them and asked, "So what have you been thinking for the last twenty minutes?"
Heero shrugged after a brief pause, "A lot of things, really." He met his partner's violet eyes. "The last couple of days have been pretty... eventful."
With a small smile, Duo huffed a quiet laugh at the understatement. His smile faded a bit and he looked down to the sand as his bare feet. "If you have any questions, you can always ask, you know," he said quietly, brushing back his wind-blown bangs from his eyes.
Swallowing hard, the braided pilot explained, "I wanted you to be around to hear some of the things that happened since you deserve to know. Now that you have a better idea of what happened..." The braided pilot's voice trailed off as the memories of his long two years began to catch up to him.
Heero lowered his own head and closed his cobalt eyes. "As much as I want to know what you had to endure, I also don't want to know more than you're willing to share," he replied quietly. The gentle sea breeze ran through his unruly hair as he lifted his head again. Meeting his partner's eyes, he said reassuringly, "I'll understand if you don't want to tell me everything."
Duo nodded and looked down the stretch of shoreline as he considered his options. Finally, he began, "I... There are some things that I need to talk about." At Heero's reassuring nod, the American took a deep breath before relaying some of the other things that he had been through and the things that he had witnessed over the course of his captivity.
By the time he had finished nearly a half-hour later, Duo wiped the tears from his eyes. Having to recall the public executions of those fellow prisoners - along with the other things that he had seen happen to those who had been captured along with him- was becoming overwhelming. All the while, Heero remained quiet as he listened to the stories that the other pilot needed to share. At some point, their hands had joined as they continued to walk down the beach.
"Before I was forced into my own cell when I protected Michael, there was this one girl, Amanda. She was no more than twenty, who the guards wanted to themselves before giving her over to the person who bought her," Duo went on.
Already not liking where this was going, the ex-Wing pilot swallowed hard. Still, he listened intently as the braided pilot recalled aloud, "They took her into a room, five of them, and they all raped her repeatedly. In her resisting, she nearly scratched one of their eyes out. When they were finished with her, they made the rest of us gather to witness the slitting of her throat for her insubordination." Another cold chill ran up Heero's back and his eyes closed slowly.
Unable to think back to that time and place any longer for that moment, Duo took a deep, shuddering breath. Wiping his eyes again, he concluded in little more than a whisper, "It's amazing what people are willing to do to another person just because they can."
Knowing better than to trust his voice just then, Heero wrapped an arm of support around his partner's shoulders, pulling him against his side in a tight embrace. A sharp laugh escaped Duo as he leaned against his friend's side.
"You know, the funniest part about those bastards that raped me was that they actually bothered to put condoms on!" the braided pilot chuckled in bitterness. "Guess that they didn't know enough about me or each other to trust they didn't need protection."
Heero's cobalt eyes widened and he looked over to meet his friend's gaze. Duo smiled slightly and shrugged, "Sally gave me a clean bill of health, where that's concerned, when she examined me following the rescue."
Releasing the breath that he was not aware he had been holding, Heero admitted, "I didn't know how to go about asking you if..." He had to clear his throat at the small hitch that suddenly filled it.
Duo shrugged against his side, "You can ask me anything, Heero. There is nothing that I would consider too uncomfortable to keep from you."
Hearing that, a small smile lit the ex-Wing pilot's face and he replied quietly, "Thank you. That means a lot to me." As the pair turned back to begin making their way back to the house, Heero whistled to the pup. Yuuki quickly turned and ran a few feet ahead her owners again. Unconsciously, the two pilots reached for each other's hands again.
There was another long silence between them before the braided pilot bit his lip before inquiring, "Can I ask you something, Heero?"
"Of course," the Japanese pilot answered, suddenly stopping in his tracks when Duo paused in his own steps. Their eyes met and he could see the uncertainty in the violet eyes locked on his own gaze. With a small smile, Heero reassured him, "You can ask me anything, too, you know?"
A nervous smile tugged at Duo's lips and he finally asked, "After all of that time looking for me, why didn't you just give up like the others did? Two years is a hell of a long time to just keep hoping that someone will turn up with no leads to go on."
Heero's own smile grew a bit and he asked, "You mean to tell me you've given up on Sister Helen's theory after all of this time?" Duo gasped sharply, his violet eyes widening in shock and disbelief. His mouth opened and closed but his voice failed him.
Gently brushing back his friend's bangs from his eyes, the ex-Wing pilot recited from memory, "Never losing sight of the fact that there is no challenge that cannot be overcome. That's the Silver Lining theory, is it not?"
Finally able to find his voice, Duo whispered, "Y-you remembered that?"
Nodding, Heero replied, "Of course. It seemed like something that I could use in my own life, considering I had a pretty difficult challenge in my search for you. Aside from that, I wasn't going to rest until I found you, as I promised I would. Whatever it took, I wasn't going to let anything keep me from bringing you home."
It wasn't until that moment when the two pilots realized the close proximity of their bodies as they stood there. Heero had also neglected to remove his hand from Duo's cheek, where it had drifted to caress the smooth skin there.
Swallowing hard at the sight of the confusion and what he could only read as hope, the Japanese pilot said quietly, "Duo, these last few years have been... difficult for me. I've had to come to grips with emotions that I never allowed myself to feel before I allowed myself to get close to you when we had shared that cell before we were separated.
"To be honest, I have days where I am coping with my own, drowning, feelings so much that I don't know what end is up. All that I do know is that a lot of those feelings revolve around you in some way, and..." Heero paused, unsure of himself for the first time in his life. "I... I think I'm in love with you, and I'm scared," he breathed at last.
Duo forced himself to take a deep breath and leaned into his partner's touch, his violet eyes drifting closed. Slowly, their heads drifted closer. Just before their lips touched, the braided pilot whispered, "I'm scared, too." Their lips met in a gently caress as another gentle breeze ran through their loose clothes and hair.
* * * * * *
"Lady Une had already contacted up to announce your arrival. So you're moving them back to your headquarters?" the tall officer asked as he led Noin and Sally back to the confinement cells. "We have no problem holding these traitors for you," he smirked over his shoulder.
Noin smiled kindly, "Thank you for your help, but for the time being, this probably would be best. Now that they're rested from their last round of questioning, they should be ready for more." She smirked wickedly, "But don't worry. Once we have what we need, we'll be happy to hand them back over to your care."
The young man laughed and nodded, "Good enough. We always did enjoy the company of those you bring over."
At the end of the long hallway, he stopped and announced, "Well, here we are." Removing his swipe card, he ran the black strip into the access scanner by the tall door.
When the door opened, the officer gasped sharply, his already light skin paling to a ghostly share as his eye widened. At his reaction, Noin and Sally quickly removed the pistols from the holsters. Pushed the man out of the way to run into the room, the two agents froze.
Their own eyes wide in shock, Noin and Sally took in the sight of the three prisoners all splayed across the room with bullet wounds to their heads. The blood from the lifeless bodies all ran and gathered in the center of the cell to make the pool that the two agents were standing in.
Frozen in her place, her eyes locked on the dead bodies before her, Noin said quietly to her partner, "Call Lady Une."
TBC...
Back to SkyLark's Fanfictions Page