Operation: Lost Boys Part 12
Duo looked up as Wufei and Harmony entered the room. When her eyes met his, he smiled and held his arms open for her. He hugged her when she accepted his invitation. "Sorry 'bout that, Harmie. It shocked me. You understand that, right?" He felt Harmony nod as he rubbed her back. "Okay... now fill me in on how this all happened."
Harmony sighed as she straightened. "I guess what started it was the day we got separated." She started pacing. "In my nightmares... I can still hear the screams and explosions... I can still smell the acrid smoke and feel the way it stung my eyes and throat. I can still see the look of confusion and sorrow on Papa's face." She stopped pacing and looked into the distance. "Maybe both you and Mama were lucky. You weren't there, and Mama was too busy crying and trying to shield me to see what really happened to Papa."
Wufei walked over, having heard the summary, and pulled Harmony into a comforting hug.
Harmony smiled briefly in thanks before she took a deep breath. "They started innocently enough... cutting off locks of his hair. It wasn't until they cut his right ear off that I realized what they were doing. They carved him into little pieces. I watched with a horrified fascination as, bit by bit, they cut papa into tiny pieces. They didn't even bother to kill him first. Then the one in charge looked up and met my eyes. As if he knew that I was Papa's daughter, the bastard SMILED at me. He must have ordered his subordinates to board the shuttle, because the grunts started for it just as the shuttle started taking off." She looked at the group, and smiled sadly at their looks that mixed sorrow with horror. Even Heero looked shocked. "When we got to Earth, I was an angry child. We met up with Madame H, and she helped Mama keep me. The Federation wanted to lock her away and put me into a school for troubled children. She WAS looking for a boy at the time, but I'm as curious as my brother is. I found the information, and asked if I could be the pilot. I actually had to fight for it."
"The rest is history." Madame Heatherfield walked into the room and noted the angry looks she was getting. "Before you all jump down my throat, let me explain. I was hoping that Harmony would never be needed. Unlike those moronic men, I actually don't see Harmony as a weapon or an expendable tool. Although her training WAS rigorous, I made sure she got out and had some fun. That was the reason I didn't mention that she was a pilot." She sighed. "I didn't want any of you to be on your guard against her. She's had so few friends her own age, that I took an opportunity that came up." She let out a long breath as she shook her head. "I was NOT expecting the turn of events that Minuet just told me about... although I'm not sorry about them. The bonds you have all forged will make you a better team, and it will give you all reasons to stay alive." She took her glasses off and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Now... to the reason I'm here." She looked at Harmony and smiled fondly. "Ever finding homes for those that have none, eh?"
Heero frowned. "What do you mean?"
"We have several leads as to who you are... it might take a couple of hours before we have a real answer for you, but we have more to go on than we did with Duo." She chuckled and shook her head again. "I wish I had known that he was Harmony's brother. This reunion could have happened much sooner, and they both could have been spared some pain. Ah well..." She smirked at Wufei. "I was only hoping for tentative friendships. I was NOT expecting anything more. I'm looking to you to look after my girl. She's like a niece to me, and I love her dearly." She took out a piece of paper. "Also... the reason Duo's 'cold' came back with a vengeance is because he's over the cold. When I assigned rooms, I had already taken into account that Quatre and... Triton, was it?" When Triton nodded, she smiled. "That they would be sharing a room."
Heero frowned. "What does this have to do with Duo?" Although he had to admit that Duo sounded better since he got out of bed.
Madame Heatherfield chuckled. "Duo is allergic to feathers." She bit her lip to stop herself from laughing at the way Duo fell over dramatically as a reaction to her statement. "Anything else... will have to wait. There's nothing pressing..." This time, she did laugh as she turned to Heero. "Although J contacted me and chewed me out for exposing you to such negative influences. Negative influences... HAH! That man thinks that just because he was raised in a sterile environment that THAT was where a child should be raised." She brushed her fingers through Heero's hair once fondly. "You just bit him in the butt by shoving your conditioning aside. Good for you! By the time this war is over, you might actually throw it off completely. Love is one of the strongest emotions in the universe. That you learned love first is a good thing. Other than that... you should all have fun for the rest of your stay here." She walked over and kissed Harmony on the forehead before leaving the room.
Duo grunted in annoyance. "Now WHY couldn't G have been more like her?"
Harmony turned to her brother. "Because the man is a nitwit who only cares about his precious research. They all are, in a way. J is worse than the others, though."
Heero nodded. "I'd like to see your Gundam."
Harmony nodded sadly. "I thought you might. Siren is in the hangar with the rest. Madame H had all of your Gundams transported here in case you might need them." She gave Wufei a small, grateful smile when he wrapped his arms around her shoulders loosely. She leaned against him a moment. "We'll have enough time to make out later, airen!" With that, she leaned up and kissed the tip of his nose before heading for the basement.
*****
Duo let out a low whistle of appreciation as he gazed at Siren. "She's a piece of work!" Siren was sleek-looking to cut down on the weight and wind resistance.
Harmony flushed and climbed up into the cockpit. "As I said... she's lighter and faster, and there's extra insulation in here to protect me from getting battered by the G-forces."
Heero nodded. "How is she suited for combat?" He ignored the looks that Duo and Wufei shot him.
Harmony flashed her brother and her beloved a quick grin. "There's the gray area. Siren's more for distraction than anything else. There are a couple of thermal daggers for MS backstabbing." She shrugged. "I'm mostly to help you guys out in case any of you get into a sticky situation. A last resort before any of you blow yourselves to smithereens." She leaned forward.
Heero narrowed his eyes. "What is that supposed to mean?"
Harmony shrugged. "It means whatever you want it to mean. I know all about that stunt you pulled when Oz decided to pull a low tactic." She pushed herself into a standing position and walked straight up to Heero and met him, glare for glare. "What the hell were you thinking? I can understand you blowing up your suit to keep it from falling into the wrong hands, but JEEZ! YOU ALMOST GOT YOURSELF KILLED!!!!"
Triton frowned. "That was the whole idea. He said, and I QUOTE, 'I was supposed to die with honor.'"
Heero glared at Triton for a moment then turned to Duo, who looked like he had been struck. "Duo..."
Duo held up his hand. "Just promise me you won't do it again." He smiled slightly. "You didn't know then, Hee-chan, what you know now."
Heero smiled slightly. "No I didn't."
Harmony pulled Heero into a quick hug that surprised him. "You had no reason to live then, did you?" Then she smiled gently at him. "You have one now. A GOOD one."
Heero nodded. "The best." He walked over to Duo and took his hand.
Harmony shrugged. "ANYWAY... how about we go back to the living room? I found some old vids."
Duo blanched. "PLEASE tell me that they're not..." He gulped in fear. "HOME VIDEOS?" He cringed at Harmony's smile.
Quatre brightened a little. "We get to see what Duo looked like as a kid?" He was now standing on his own feet and beaming at the prospect of seeing Duo as a child. He yelped as Triton swept him up.
"Last one to the living room has to sing Karaoke!" With that, Triton bolted from the hangar.
Harmony grinned and grabbed Duo's hand before running after them.
Heero couldn't help it, he laughed and took off after the others. "Wufei... hurry!"
Wufei couldn't stop his smile. 'It won't be that easy, Heero!' With that, he bolted after the Wing Zero pilot.
*****
"I'll get it!" Harmony ran to the door and threw it open.
Heero's smile died as soon as the visitor entered the house. "Dr. J." He skidded to a halt.
Triton froze and spun around. 'No way am I gonna leave Heero to J!' He placed Quatre down and walked back to stand at Heero's right.
Quatre followed at a slower pace and stood at Heero's left so that he and Triton were flanking Heero.
Duo scowled at J and stood in front of Heero as if to shield him.
Wufei stood behind Heero... ready to back him up.
Harmony stood beside her brother. She glanced at Heero and winced when she saw the soldier slowly taking over. She turned back to J. "What are you doing here?"
J gazed at the girl. "So... you're 02's sister. That brat has caused me a lot of trouble. He's lucky that G won't let me touch him."
Surprisingly enough, Heero spoke up. "Duo is not a brat!"
Harmony took another glance at Heero and smiled. The soldier was there, but the boy controlled him and drawing strength from him. She nodded and walked around to stand by Wufei. Heero didn't need as much shielding as she had thought.
J frowned at Heero. "01... I grow tired of your insubordination. You are to accompany me to L-1 so I can retrain you."
Again, Heero spoke in that odd detached tone. "What if I don't want to?"
J snorted. "01... you are a soldier and you have no choice in the matter. I order you to accompany me. NOW!"
Duo froze for a moment, and bit his lip. 'An order... Heero NEVER goes against J's orders.'
"No." Heero took a deep breath and felt oddly liberated for saying that one little word. "You're wrong, J. I DO have a choice. As long as it doesn't affect the missions, I can do as I please." He slowly smiled. "And besides giving me missions against OZ, you have no power over my life!"
Minuet chose that moment to walk in. "What's going on in here?"
Harmony, who was cheering inside, turned to her mother. "Mama... this is Dr. J. Heero was just telling him to piss up a rope!" Then she flashed Wufei a grin. "That race is still on!" With that, she dashed to the living room. One by one, with the exception of Triton carrying Quatre, the boys followed her.
"Years of work with that boy wasted because of this so-called Operation! Nothing can repair the damage she has done."
Minuet turned to Dr. J. Her eyes were as cold as ice. "Damage? What damage has she done? Because of her, my son has been found and Duo has his family! Because of her, the boy known as Trowa finally has a name to call his own... and a sister who loves him dearly! Because of her, Wufei is no longer a widower feeling sorry for himself! Because of her... that cold, heartless machine that YOU created has been transformed into a boy who is capable of smiling and laughing. Where were you doctors when my son was forced to steal in order to survive? Where were you when little Triton Bloom was torn from his family? Where were you when you could have been helping these children?" She shook her head. "The only damage done to those boys was caused by you and the others. All in the name of science. You ripped their childhoods away from them! All because they WERE children and couldn't fight back against the training. The war had taken enough from them without you and the others adding to the strain."
Minuet took a deep breath. "Do you want to see... the damage she's done?"
Dr. J followed the woman he now knew was Duo's mother into the surveillance room. On one of the monitors, he could see the five pilots and Harmony. He watched as Minuet turned the sound on.
*****
"No! Heero PLEASE not that one!" Duo made a desperate grab for the vid as Heero kept it out of reach.
"Why? Don't you want to see what your family life was like?"
Duo turned to his fellow pilot and smiled. There was a new peace in his green eyes. "It's not THAT, Triton... man I gotta get used to calling you that. It's just... if that's the vid I THINK it is..."
Wufei chuckled softly. "How bad could it be?" He glanced down at the top of Harmony's head. "How bad is it, Nataku?"
Harmony shrugged. "I honestly don't know, Fei-chan! Mama grabbed vids at random and never played them. I don't know if they'll even play."
Quatre cuddled closer to Triton. "Well... we'll never know unless we find out. Put it in, Heero!"
Heero returned the grin and put the vid in. After a moment, a picture of a wailing baby appeared. "Which one of you is that?"
Wufei smirked. "That would have to be Duo... he rarely shuts up as it is NOW! How many people wanna bet it's Duo, raise your hands!" As one, four hands shot up.
Harmony chuckled. "Hate to tell you this, guys, but that's me. From what mama always said... Duo was the QUIET one!"
Duo shrugged. "I guess I made up for lost time as I got older! Put a different one in." As the beginning of a song came on, Duo screeched. "NO! NOT THIS ONE! PUH-LEASE tell me mom did NOT keep this one!" He whimpered and hid his face.
Heero grinned at the little boy on the screen, singing his heart out. "What's wrong? You were pretty cute as a kid! And even though it's slightly off key, you had a decent singing voice." He recognized the song. "Oi Halt Sissy?" He turned his eyes back to the screen while rubbing Duo's back.
Harmony merely smiled as she watched her younger self on the screen join in the singing. A sudden movement caused her to look over at Duo. "We sounded pretty good together, ne? Whenever you fell flat, I was there to pick it up. Our names fit perfectly. You sang the melody and I sang the harmony." She smiled gently. "I'd like to do that again. Maybe for my next concert... THAT'S IT!!!" She leapt up. "I want you guys to promise me something!" She was aware of five sets of eyes on her, and she turned to them. "As soon as this awful war is over, I want you guys to be the band members on my next concert tour! It'll be so AWESOME! Okay?"
*****
Dr. J scowled as the boys all agreed to be her band for the next tour. Before he could turn the sound off, Harmony's voice came through once more.
"Good! So now none of us can die in the war 'cause we promised each other! You all belong to ME now... MWUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!"
Minuet smiled. "What damage has she done? Now they have something to live for. Even Quatre knows now... she's a part of their group. She's a part of them."
TBC...
Back to Tenshi-chan's Fanfictions Page