Two

The Trip

      As I walked up the stairs all I could think about was going home, falling into bed, and sleeping for the next eight hours. My train of thought was interrupted by a cheery hello from somewhere to my left, I looked over and spotted Kat. I gave her a half-hearted wave, “What are you up to?”
      “I’m just on my way up to see you guys.”
      “Oh...” that was all the enthusiasm I could summon up at the moment.
      Seeming to understand, she fell into step beside me and we walked in the general direction of the apartment in silence.
      As we reached the head of the stairs, we found ourselves watching Heero pulling Nikki down the hall, Sam close behind, protesting.
      Heero was completely ignoring her and watching me.
      It took a moment for all this to register in my sleep starved mind. By that time they had reached us.
      Without a word of explanation Heero grabbed my wrist and began pulling me as well. “Let’s go. Kat, stay with us.” a simple command in a stone voice.
      That’s how I found myself at just a few hours after dawn, being forcibly dragged along by Heero. My wrist had started to chafe from being pulled, I didn’t know where Heero was taking us and I had just finished the graveyard shift at SciTek.
      I was annoyed, to say the least. I looked back over my shoulder at Samantha and raised my eyebrows in a silent question, but all she did was shrug as if to say, ‘It’s Heero, what are you going to do?’
      Kat looked as if she would protest, but followed anyway.
      At first Nikki and I were both being dragged along, but Nikki had decided to take some initiative and taken the keys from Heero. They now held hands, I didn’t even think about that, though, there was more pressing business at hand.
      I was tired, in a foul mood, and nobody forced me to go anywhere.
      I stopped dead in my tracks.
      Heero, not expecting it, was jerked back a step, making Nikki snap back a step or two along with him. We were now outside the building and I spotted Nikki’s car a little ways in the distance.
      “Problem?” Heero asked, still holding my wrist.
      My three friends waited expectantly. Samantha seemed somewhat amused.
      “Other than the one I’m currently addressing?” I asked hotly.
      His face remained impassive.
      “Yes, there’s a problem.” I continued, “Where in God’s name are we going?”
      “L-4.” was his short reply and he made as if to begin walking again.
      I yanked my arm from his grasp, “Excuse me? We’re going where?” I queried in disbelief.
      “Heero is taking us to L-4 to meet with the others.” Nikki informed me.
      “Why?” I nearly screamed in frustration as I studied her face, there was a gash on it. That hadn’t been there when I’d left for work...
      “That information is on a need-to-know basis,” Heero replied calmly, “And right now, you don’t need to know.”
      My hand itched to slap him.
      Samantha laid a comforting hand on my shoulder. “We don’t know anymore than you do. Just go with it. We need a vacation anyway. He said something about the boys.”
      Going anywhere with Heero was the last thing I wanted to do, but I yielded to my friend’s casual attitude...not to mention I missed Duo.
      Nikki and Heero had, by this time, made their way to Nikki’s car together, Kat was between us and them, also heading for the car. Sam and I followed more slowly.
      How could Nikki trust the man so completely? I wondered in disgust.
      He was...well, could be, dangerous. Not to mention he continually irritated me with short answers that weren’t really answers.
      The entire situation made me uneasy, however, and Heero’s suspicious behavior didn’t make it any better. But they were my friends, so I went along, my disquiet buried...for the moment.


      What was going on? How had I known it was too early to go visit them...
      I followed Heero and Nikki to her car.
      I wasn’t as wary as the others, it seemed. I actually sort of looked forward to it. We were going to see the guys. It was fun to flirt with Trowa...and Duo would be there.
      Sam and Kris followed me more slowly.
      The entire leaving thing was unexpected. Chances were...him being a Gundam pilot and all...that something along the lines of Daken’s take-over was happening. And who knew, maybe we could be used against them if we weren’t with him...
      I wondered if anyone else had caught onto that yet.


      As we headed toward the spaceport, there was silence. As I’d figured, Krystal was pissed at me. Samantha had talked her into accepting my forcing her into going, but she was no happier than Kris. They knew me, however, and were probably looking forward to seeing the guys... Which was a good thing.
      Kidnapping wasn’t exactly my style, but it wasn’t beyond me.
      There was no way that the people I had spent my independent life with were going to stay behind and possibly be killed. Kat was Duo’s friend first, and he’d pulled her into our circle. I would be dead if I left her behind...not like I would.
      “What’s going on?” Nikki demanded.
      “I’ll tell you once we’ve got everybody together. Go to Dr. J’s.”
      She seemed confused but did as asked. Samantha and Krystal mumbled to each other, upset. Katie sat in silence.
      My thoughts wandered, Duo was in L-2. Trowa was in L- 3, or so I supposed. I was never too positive where Wufei was. Quatre would though, he kept dibs on all of us. Quatre himself was in L-4, running his factories. Noin and Zechs would be together, and with Relena. Sally was more than likely out on duty, her work as a Preventer kept her gone a lot. But my summons would not go un-heeded. Une could stay where she was with Marimea. They’d probably serve better from there anyway...Marimea was still a child and would be useless. I wasn’t going to tell anyone that, though, people tended to get offended when a child was referred to that way.
      “Where do I park?” Nikki asked suddenly, jumping me out of my reverie.
      I realized we were already there. “My spot.”
      She nodded and parked, then we hurried inside.
      I led them down the hall, almost running. A security officer appeared, looking like he was to stop us.
      I ignored him.
      He recoiled when he recognized me. “The lab.” he called as we passed.
      “Start a shuttle.” I called back to him, “Hurry. Enough fuel to get to L-4.”
      “Yes, Sir.”
      The lab was a flurry of activity. I almost wondered what they were doing. Almost.
      “Doctor J.” I called.
      Dead silence. The faces of the scientists all registered shock.
      Within seconds he was standing before me, he looked at Nikki and the others a moment. “Yes, Heero?” he didn’t seem too surprised.
      “We’re going to Quatre’s. Please call him for me.”
      He looked back to the girls pointedly.
      “Yes. They’re coming. I wouldn’t leave them behind.” The instant I said it, I knew it was a mistake. Not because of their reaction, too much was happening for that, but because of all the people.
      “I could keep them safe...” J offered.
      I shook my head, “No, we’re leaving.” I turned, grabbing Nikki’s hand and led them back into the halls.


      Confusion whirled in my head. I had no idea what was going on. Heero was leading us through an endless maze of corridors, Kat, Sam, and Kris on his left.
      Suddenly, someone grabbed my waist. Reflexively, I grabbed Heero’s arm tighter, lowering my head as I was pulled. It was completely instinctual...and Heero didn’t even seemed startled as he turned and bashed the person’s head with his fist. The assailants arms fell limp and Heero slowly started to run as I heard a heavy thud behind us. I had no choice but to follow.
      We didn’t look back.
      We came to another door, he punched some numbers into the keypad, “4.6.9.8.” he whispered in my ear.
      There were footsteps behind, and I realized we were near a personal space-port. He pushed me to the next door and turned to face the people coming as Kat, Kris, and Sam followed me.
      Biting my lip, I punched in the numbers he’d whispered, the door opened.
      The officer we’d met in the hall was waiting. He handed us each a space suit, holding one. There were helmets near his feet.
      I pulled it up over my clothes, listening for sounds of fighting through the door.
      Wordlessly, he handed me the other suit and a gun. He handed a gun to Kat, unsure. Then handed Kris and Sam each one. “They’re loaded, safety’s on.” With that, he turned and jogged to join Heero.
      I looked around. I could hear a shuttle, and further into the hall was a window, showing the shuttle... My heart raced as I walked up to it. It had been so long since so much had happened in such a short time.
      The doors opened behind me and I turned, the gun ready.
      Heero met my eyes, not even reacting. “It’s all ready, Sir.” the officer told him.
      He took the suit from me and started to pull it over his jeans. As if it were an after-thought, he handed me a gun I hadn’t even known he’d had. But, of course, he was a Gundam pilot...
      I realized he meant for us to trust no one.
      Heero finished pulling the suit on and grabbed the gun back, lifting the helmet from the floor. “Let’s go.” he said. He led the way to a door and put the helmet on.
      We followed.
      The officer stopped at the door as we passed through into a small chamber. Heero didn’t look back.
      The door on the other side led to the cockpit. After we’d stepped through Heero shut the door behind us.
      “Sit there.” he ordered, pointing to the monitoring console.
      I did as told, knowing this was serious, then waited as he sat the others.
      What a day this was turning out to be...


      I made sure the door was shut right and sat down, Nikki pushed the phone button as Krystal and Samantha stirred, still annoyed.
      Doctor J appeared on the screen, “He knows.” he told her and she nodded, “Everything’s ready.”
      “Okay.” I said and she repeated it, “I’m opening the doors.” she dutifully repeated that too. It was almost a jolt when I remembered that she was a communications expert.
      “All right. Safe journey. I expect a full explanation later,” his voice became louder, “And for you, Heero, not to blurt things out so thoughtlessly.”
      I said nothing and caught Nikki’s shrug from the corner of my eye.
      “Take off.” I told her and she repeated it.
      She, Krystal, and Sam braced themselves as the latter told Kat to do the same and relax.
      “Expected time of arrival...” Nikki started, doing something on the console, “Is...”
      I tuned her out. She was speaking to the launch personnel. It didn’t take very long. When we were safely moving, the screen flashed off.
      It occurred to me that she knew shuttles too...she’d said it, it’d just never really occurred to me.
      “Don’t worry.” I said, more to have something to say than to reassure them. Silence tended to worsen a situation.
      She sighed, “What’s going on?” she said it precisely.
      I shook my head.
      She rolled her eyes, “Want me to set auto-pilot?”
      I shrugged, “Whatever.”
      She focused on the console and I felt it go into auto.
      “What else can you do?” I asked.
      She glanced at me, “Anything you want me to.” she had a slight grin, looking back to the screen.
      “Tcch...” I had been serious.
      She smiled for a second, then listed off a few things from a check list...a mental check list.
      Sam snickered to Krystal.
      “Can you get Quatre, on a secure line?” I was a bit offended at Samantha and Kris’ snickering, but got over it.
      “Just a sec...” the screens lit up showing different information, “What do you want me to tell his secretary?”
      Damn...what was his cell number...
      “Tell them it’s Heero Yuy, we need a secure line, and it’s urgent.”
      She leveled me with a glance to melt stone, “It would help,” she started, “If I knew his number.”
      I grinned sheepishly at her, repeating the number.
      After a while the screen directly in front lit up and Quatre appeared wearing a suit. He was facing right, only his profile showing.
      “Quatre Winner here, how can I...” he turned to look at the screen, “Heero!” he was surprised, “What’s going on?” he wasn’t even remotely displeased as he looked us over, “What...”
      “We’re coming.” I said, noticing how he changed from an ass to a friend when he realized who I was...I always loved that...it was funny.
      “You are?”
      I rose an eyebrow, “Bring Dr. J up.” I told Nikki, “Don’t you know?” I asked, refocusing on him.
      Quatre shook his head, “This is the first I’ve heard about it.”
      Dr. J appeared on the screen beside Quatre, “Yes?” he asked, looking surprised.
      “He’s on a normal line.” she warned.
      I nodded, “Didn’t you talk to Quatre?” I asked, holding up a finger for Quatre to wait.
      J looked embarrassed, “Well, his secretary. He said he’d tell Quatre right away...”
      I nodded, “Okay, thanks.” I gestured to Nikki to disconnect. The screen flashed back to it’s normal information.
      Quatre was muttering.
      “What’s the matter?” I asked, hoping...
      Quatre shook his head, “I probably wouldn’t have gotten this call if I’d not been near my secretary, but I don’t understand why...”
      Nikki made a worried movement, “Let me get him on a secure line.” she muttered.
      “What?” Quatre asked.
      “Hold on, she’s putting you on a secure line.” I told him.
      “She is? I am on a secu...” he trailed off.
      “On my mark...” she mumbled, ignoring Quatre.
      “Mark...” I warned him.
      “Mark.”
      “Now...” I told him, he had a worried look as the screen flashed.
      “Heero, what’s going on?” he demanded.
      “There’re only the five of us. We’re coming...but your line might not be completely secure so I’ll wait ‘til we’re all together to explain the rest.”
      Quatre nodded, “I’ll get the others then. Hold on a second.”
      I nodded.
      “Nikki?” he focused on her, then glanced at me.
      I hadn’t hesitated to tell them my feelings for her, so every time he saw us together he did that...I gave him a look. He grinned wolfishly at me a second, then started to ignore me.
      What followed was a discussion about speeds and looping calls and that sort of shit. It ended up with a set code for a secure line.
      “Quatre, out.” the screen flashed and went blank.
      “What do meteors have to do with the code?” Krystal asked, one eyebrow raised.
      I snorted slightly, “I seem to be repeating myself...” I replied without thinking.
      I could sense Kris’ aggravation but she held her peace.
      I shook my head, “I don’t know how safe this shuttle is to talk freely.” That was as close as I’d get to an apology.
      Samantha looked around nervously, “What do we do now?”
      “Now,” I said, shrugging, “We sleep.”


      “Now, we sleep.” Heero told Sam with a shrug.
      I sighed in annoyance, like I could sleep...
      He settled back in his seat and closed his eyes.
      I watched him in disgust.
      “We do need to sleep.” he told me without opening his eyes.
      “I could probably sleep, if this made sense.” My aggravation made it sound snide.
      He accepted this, grunting slightly, “If you want to stay awake, fine. But I’m telling you now, there’s not much to do while we wait.”
      I sighed. “I’ll work on securing the ship first.”
      “Why?”
      I ignored him and started checking.
      “We’ll be going to Earth eventually.” he turned and looked at Kris, Sam, and Kat, “Unless things are stopped in time.” He sat back.
      I said nothing. There was nothing to say. After a while, Heero seemed to fall asleep. I sat back, chewing my lip.
      What was going on? Heero had been so confused...and now we were heading to L-4 to meet the other Gundam pilots and heading, possibly to Earth...it would be nice to see them again, but really...
      Our parents would be upset.
      I wanted to call my own, or at least my sister...my brothers would be upset, but Brendon had a different reason, he didn’t like any of the pilots, especially Heero...God only knew why...but calling anyone would leave Quatre’s line less secure...well, I could...No, too much effort...and doing it could get my family in trouble...
      Which also bothered me, we would have to watch out for ourselves much more than usual. Heero’s declaration that we would not be left behind was also troublesome. He shouldn’t have said it out loud...I was touched that he cared, but now we were targets.
      Actually, we were probably targets from the beginning...which was more than likely why he’d made us come...
      With a sigh I settled back in my chair, I may as well do as told...before I could sleep, however, my mind wandered to my past.
      I was normally at the console when I was in the war. They said they considered me the best...I knew how to spot minute infractions in my lines fast.
      Samantha had been a secretary, a secretary with extreme common sense. Krystal had been an expert soldier, she knew weapons, and god only knew what else. She had even been a body guard for Lieutenant Colonel Lady Une for a while. Not that it lasted long...split personalities were like that.
      Being considered the best had us brought together often for meetings, and Sam’s common sense had her in close association with us. So, we would gather with our respective leaders and talk. We were included in meetings and often used to supply advice.
      That was how we met.
      That was how we stayed together.
      That was how we were emancipated.
      I tried to force that to the back of my mind. That was the past.
      Heero chuckled suddenly, “I knew you’d see it my way.”
      I ignored him again. I seemed to be doing that more and more often these days...


      I sighed, relaxing completely. The silence was deep.
      It was quiet for a long time and I wondered what they were thinking...what Duo and’em would think...
      I heard Nikki sigh the sleep sigh and was relieved, she would need her rest. So would I. So would they...
      When the phone beeped Nikki and I woke at almost the same instant.
      “All right, I got‘em all on a secure line.” Quatre told us.
      Nikki nodded and pushed some buttons.
      Duo and Trowa appeared, then Wufei, looking annoyed. “What? Make it fast.” his tone was mildly annoyed, he didn’t acknowledge the girls.
      “Hey, Heero, what’s up?” Duo asked at the same time, then, “Kat?” he was surprised.
      “Hey...” Trowa muttered as a general hello. He was also surprised.
      “We’ve got a problem. Let’s meet at Quatre’s. Is that all right with you, Quatre?”
      Quatre nodded.
      “All right. We need to do it today. I’ll explain there.”
      Trowa nodded, “All right, Quatre?”
      “Yeah. I’ve already wired the money...under our agreed upon names. I’ve also checked schedule’s, if you all hurry, then you’ll make it.”
      “Good. I’ll be there. Trowa, out.” his screen went blank, then the others moved to compensate.
      “I’ll be there, then.” Duo was calm.
      Wufei snorted, “This better be good, Heero.” His screen went blank and Duo’s moved to take up the half.
      Duo and Quatre watched with interest.
      “Hi, Nikki, Sam, Kris,” he smiled a little larger, “Kat.”
      “Hi, Duo.” Nikki replied with a wave and the others greeted him as well.
      Duo shook his head in mock disgust, “You always get the chicks...Well, I gotta go and get ready...save some for me...”
      I grinned as his screen went blank
      They ignored that, but Quatre had a look...I couldn’t tell if it was amused or displeased...but he knew that’s how we acted to each other and that the girls didn’t mind too much.
      “Thanks, Quatre. Be careful. I’m thinkin’ your staff has already been penetrated.”
      Quatre shook his head, “I’m hoping it’s only my secretary. He’s new. I’ve already confined him for conspiracy. I’m hoping that this is new enough that that’ll get it. I’ll let you rest. Umm...Nikki?”
      “Yeah?” she asked, turning to look at him.
      “Leave this line up. I’ll get a hold of you if anything happens.”
      “All right.” she nodded.
      “Quatre, out.” the screens changed back to their information settings.
      Nikki settled back, “We should eat. Then, I’m going back to sleep.”
      I nodded, “All right. Sounds good to me.”
      They were mad at me for not explaining...with every right...and I couldn’t say anything without explaining...so we ate in silence, then settled back.
      Maybe they wouldn’t be pissed at me for too long...

<--

-->

Kyeian