Also, I don?t own Gundam Wing or Spongebob or Patrick.
This is a 1xR story, even though it may not seem like it right now. It's also 2xH, of course. I don't know what else I'm going to throw in here.
This is a dark story, but there will be moments of happiness. Believe me
.If you haven't already, read the Prologue. Otherwise you'll be confused as a pine tree in a cheese grater.
Surely as the Sun
Chapter One
Quatre walked briskly down the hallway of the psyche ward, sterile and blue and daunting in the overhead fluorescent lights. Around him the rooms were shut in, caged and confined miracles of people behind their thick doorways. His khaki slacks and bright green shirt looked odd among the metallic of the hospital itself, but he could pay no notice. His mouth was set in a grim line that remarked of a very long time without happiness, and his eyes were set and focused on a large door at the very end of the hall.
One elderly woman was being led to her room by a young nurse who held the woman by her elbows as if she were brittle, speaking in calm, hushed tones as she reached to open a cell door. The old woman looked up at him, hair the color of white foam from the ocean set against dark, Latin skin. Her wrinkled brown eyes looked gray and faded, but when she saw his face she smiled and gripped the sides of her walker. Quatre did not look her way, and when he passed her by, her eyes fell do the ground.
He jangled the keys in his pocket and continued down the hallway. That morning had been a particularly hard morning, brought about by the chaos of yet another terrorist threat on the Vice Foreign Minister?s life. No one outside of the Gundam pilots, Une, Relena?s family, and the hospital staff knew where she was being contained, and thus this refuted the entire claim of the threat, but it still made him nervous. When he reached the door and quietly slid in, the lights were out in the room, but he could make out Relena?s form in the glass balcony outside. She sat in a whicker chair surrounded by several different types of flowers, but she was ignoring them, looking at the sky and risking glances directly at the overhead sun.
To his right he could make out Duo sitting on a guest chair, sitting on it backwards with his chin resting on his arms against the back. He looked up at Quatre and scarcely acknowledged him, but neither of them expected much of anything more. Of all of them, Duo seemed to have taken Heero?s capture, disappearance, and Relena?s breakdown the hardest. In the beginning he had remained hopeful and encouraging, but as it became clearer and clearer that Heero could not and would not be found, and Relena?s state of mind became less and less engaged with society, the slow crumbling of his reason became evident with each passing day.
His relationship with Hilde had suffered the most with the release of the chemical. Hilde had just found out she was pregnant at the time, so they considered themselves lucky, but just four weeks later she had had a miscarriage. Hilde, against Duo?s wishes, had been considering an abortion. When she lost the baby, she stopped speaking for 3 months. To have felt so fortunate about making a right decision and then have it taken from you can leave someone strong and resolute very empty. And numb.
It simply left Duo bitter and in a constant rage that would not be put out. Despite everyone?s protests, he continued working and never took time off throughout the entire ordeal. He stayed in late nights in the office and when he wasn?t at work he was here with Relena. He avoided going home to Hilde at any cost, only to sleep. When she finally started speaking again, their conversations became arguments. Hilde?s voice would rise with every comment she made to the point that it was leaving Duo with constant migraines. His own attempted calm voice she would completely ignore. One day, without any sort of warning, he began screaming at Hilde in that terrifying way that is wild and uncontrolled. In the aftermath of it all, when questioned about his marriage, he would simply wear his usual cheery mask for everyone around him. But at home, it was as if they were strangers.
Quatre flicked the lights on and Duo grimaced, but continued staring out onto the balcony. His eyes were shot and he had grown pale, dark circles embedded under his lashes, but he grinned in spite of everything. ?Did you find anything on those idiots??
Quatre sighed. ?Just the usual vacant threat. They know where we are keeping Relena, we?ll blow the building up, whatever.?
?That?s just perfect. Let?s just keep exterminating humankind so we can become extinct even faster then we?re already heading. You know,? he sat upright in his chair, ?I?ve been thinking a lot about these guys. I mean, what do you think goes through their heads? Do they think that by killing Relena Peacecraft they?re going to throw us into a war? That they?re going to gather enough people to back them up and have an army? Everyone?s tired. No one would fight even if they wanted to. The only terrorist groups now are ones made up of psychos!?
?Hey!?
He glanced down the hall at one of the patients and mumbled an apology. Quatre shot him a look.
?Duo, do you really think you should be talking so loudly about this? I mean, what if they were to hear you and tell their families when they come to visit??
Both of them turned their attention to the male patient from before who was laughing hysterically at the television. On the screen were Spongebob and Patrick. Patrick had an angry look on his face and was staring straight ahead with his eyebrows scrunched together.
?Hey, Patrick. Why do you have that angry look on your face??
?Because.?
?Because why??
?I can?t see my forehead.?
The man burst into laughter once again and grabbed the television and promptly began to smash his head into it.
---
A blinding yellow ball of gas and fire was teetering across the sky. When she glanced at it long enough it simply drifted from a yellow to a white and sparkled. Her eyes felt dry and burning, and she glanced away. She could no longer make out any shapes around her and she closed her eyes, inhaling the scents of the foliage. Everything seemed to go in slow motion these days. She couldn?t quite remember how she ended up in this place. She couldn?t remember how long she?d been here. Everything had been her fault. She should have been more careful.
When it happened, she had been in her office. She struggled to recall some sort of memory that clung to the walls of her brain, but only came out with distorted images and echoes of sound. Still, when she focused, she could remember. She had been in her office. Scribbling down notes on what she thought she wanted to speak on in the next public hearing. She had smelled something peculiar and brushed it off as nothing, but not 10 seconds later Sally, Une, and Noin had rushed into her office, eyes bulged and wild and frantic.
?.airborne chemical released?5 miles from here?what would Zechs think?...extinction?no children?sterile?empty.
Back then she had believed she could have done something. That someone, somewhere, would develop a cure for it. That it couldn?t have possibly affected her because she felt fine, that it was completely impossible for someone to be able to do that. It was human. Natural.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a crash down the hallway and she glanced towards her room. Duo was helping one of the ?crazies?, as he dubbed them, trying to get him away from a broken television set. He had done this before. Strike three, buddy. No more TV for you.
Quatre reached to help but then glanced at her and stood still. He smiled, and she returned the sentiment, but just as soon as she had done it it vanished. Her eyes glazed over and she turned to look back at the sun.
She could have done something to stop it. She shouldn?t have ignored those scientists, if only she had known about it sooner. Heero wouldn?t be gone. Hilde wouldn?t have lost the baby. The world would be fine. It was her. It was all her. She should have been more careful?
---
?Did you see that??
Quatre whipped around from the glass separating Relena from the world and faced Duo, who was shaking his head as the paramedics, once again, carried the loony away from the obviously too-great-of-a-health-hazard television.
?See what??
?She smiled. She actually smiled at me. How long has she been doing that??
Duo?s expression at once turned sympathetic as he shook his head and made his way over to the glass wall. ?She does it every once in a while. But just as soon as she comes to herself, she goes away again. Don?t try to talk to her when she?s in that coming-back state,? at this, he cast his eyes downward and lowered his voice, ?unless you want her BP to go through the roof and you have an A-Fib handy.?
The two Gundam brothers stared at one another for a moment, and Quatre reached to put a hand on Duo?s shoulder, when a loud buzz shattered the quiet. He shot Duo an apologizing glance and reached for his phone. Duo turned to look back at Relena as Quatre suddenly became enveloped in a conversation, running his fingers along the smooth, chilled glass. At the sound of Relena?s name he listened attentively to Quatre?s conversation, watching as his expression suddenly became grim and he cast Duo a tired, angry look. When he hung up the phone he grabbed his coat and headed for the door.
?What happened??
---
Une?s black heels clicked harshly against the tile of the Preventor?s Bureau, her hands clinched at her sides. Approximately two minutes earlier she had received a near panicked phone call from Mariemeia who proceeded to relish a jumble of words out of her mouth all at once, and when her mother asked her to repeat everything, told her to ?just turn on the news.? When she reached the lobby she found several of her co-workers already gathered around the television set, and on screen was Elliot Benja. She subconsciously shuttered.
Elliot Benja was one of the leading manufacturers of Ethanol from corn crops before the outbreak of the Matriz ?reda. Since the chemical was released, corn was highly sought after, but because of the sheer amount of it needed the Ethanol from corn crops used in oil and gas was declining steadily. Having the largest company that manufactured it, he instantly became one of the candidates to take over Relena Peacecraft?s position. He just as quickly was elected as such.
Since his election he had taken small measures at gaining more power, albeit through charm and persuasion and promises of a cure to come swiftly if he was supported, as well as the use of his company to help raise the rapidly dwindling economy. People trusted everything that man said. As Une continued listening to Benja?s speech, her eyes narrowed.
Apparently, as an act of self-preservation, there would be founded ?camps?. Their locations would not be revealed, and in these camps would remain all young girls who had not yet started their menstrual cycles. The camps would be underground, and filtered against any small trace of the Matriz ?reda. These young women would still be able to have children. There was hope. It was genius. It was the perfect solution.
It was absolutely ridiculous. She cursed under her breath, while the shocked gasps around her slowly evolved into a dull roar in the hallways of Preventor?s. She heard several people call out her name as she speed-walked back to her office, but she completely ignored them. Worry and slight panic tensed in her shoulders, and she could feel a headache coming on. She flew past her secretary and ground out a ?Get me the Board of Trustees. Now.? before slamming her office door shut. Her rattled secretary reached for the phone but yelped and dropped it when Une stuck her head out the door.
?And Heero Yuy. Find him. I don?t care how, call every head of security we have affiliated with him if you have to, but find him. He?s not invisible. He?s human. He can?t hide forev?? her thoughts drifted for a moment, as if she were correcting herself, but then she looked back at her secretary. ?Just find him.?
---
?They?re doing WHAT??
The metal chair screeched across the floor and collided with the wall as Duo started pacing around the room, his hair a disheveled mess as he attempted to run his hands through the hair on his scalp. Quatre was already making his way to Relena, intent on speaking with her at least once before he left, but Duo blocked the entrance to the balcony and stared at him like he was either a.) stupid, or b.) not going to get past him without losing a limb. Or maybe c.) a & b.
?She doesn?t need to know about this.? He said, eyes glistened over with some mixture of sadness and relentless abandon. ?She couldn?t do anything about it even if you told her. It wouldn?t register.?
Quatre sighed and began the long trek back to his government vehicle parked outside the ward. Duo followed him, quietly locking the door and leaving Relena alone to wherever her mind had been taking her for the past few months.
?Duo, Une wants you to find Heero.?
?Oh, come on! Is she serious? Like that is ever going to happen??
Quatre paused. ?We have to at least try. He could bring her back.?
?If Heero Yuy doesn?t want to be found, he won?t be found. It?s that simple. The only way that guy would ever come back into the scene was if it had something dire to do with Relena?s safety, and that?what are you looking at me that way for??
Quatre grinned devilishly. Duo stared at him as if he were the devil.
?Not to mention he would KILL ANYONE who attempted to trick him back into the limelight! Quatre, you can?t be serious?? Quatre continued his walk back, while Duo sighed and threw his hands in the air. ?We?re gonna die. We?re all gonna die.?
---
He jumped off the side of a building with quiet ease, and landed with a dull thud on the dark alley streets below. Rain was coming down in sheets, and lightning lit up the sky every few seconds. Nights like tonight were his kind of thing, perfect for once again exposing his body to the weathering conditions it had become immune to before. When he had been sedated and opened up and prodded by those scientists, he was vacantly aware that they were doing something and changing something in his body, and he was slowly becoming conscious of the things they had done to him. He was faster. Stronger. His senses were perfected to the point that every small thing caught his attention. When he had first woken up from the exploratory surgeries, it had overwhelmed him. He heard and saw everything. But then, while he had been away, he had learned to control it.
He saw a rat out of the corner of his eye, and before the rodent had even moved, the sound it would make reached his ears. Seconds later the sound echoed and the rat shot out between two dumpsters lined along the alley. Behind one of the dumpsters he could see three black figures hiding, but he heard their breathing before he saw them. His deep, cold, and calculated voice was harsh against the rain and thunder, which even those seemed to have quieted the moment he began to speak.
?I?m going to suggest to you now ? do not attempt to do anything stupid, or I will kill you.?
The three figures came out of hiding, burley giants of men, probably underpaid bouncers he admonished. The one in the center cackled, and the other two followed while their guns glinted in the moonlight. He glared at them in that detached way, eyes heartless and empty and void of any type of feeling, then turned his back to them. The three looked at one another in mild amusement as he did so. He started to walk away and the leader suddenly became angry.
?Stop!?
He stopped with his back to them. The three men looked at him in somewhat of a precautious way, with due reason. His dark hair falling at odd, uneven lengths around his face. He had on nothing but a pair of jeans, and the rain came down hard on his exposed shoulders and back, but both seemed immune. The muscles lining his back and tense and tight along his shoulders and arms seemed immune against the outside weather, and lethal. Arms at his sides and hands open, while he stood at a hunched angle, they had a moment of reasoning. And that was all he gave them.
The moment he could sense the three approach him he spun around and kicked all three guns out of their hands. As they fell to the ground, he grabbed one and brought the handle crashing down into one of the would-be killer?s skull. He crumpled to the ground with the gun lodged deep into his temple.
The leader came at him, probably over 300 pounds of a man of hard and lean muscle, and brought his right arm around in a strong and fast punch, snapping Heero?s face to the side. A snapshot of a memory came to him of Duo doing the same thing, and as he brought his face around he underhanded a punch beneath the man?s abdomen, sending him backwards as he stumbled to catch his breath. Not giving him a chance, he climbed on top of the man?s shoulders, and the man began to wildly flail his arms above his head. He slammed his body against the sides of the building, crushing Heero between the building and his back, but just as quickly Heero reached down around the man?s chin and snapped his neck. He casually slipped off while the man fell to the ground and grabbed one of the guns from the ground. His eye?s scanned the streets and he found the other still running, several blocks away. Without even focusing, he shot at the man several miles away, who jerked for a moment in mid-stride and then fell to the ground.
---
The door creaked open as Duo slipped into his apartment, slightly cursing. The lights were off, as it were almost two in the morning, and Hilde was asleep in the bed. He walked into the bedroom and slipped in beside her, pulling the blankets over himself. It was freezing in this room. She had her back to him, and she stirred slightly at the pressure his body put on the mattress. She turned over to look at him.
?Where have you been??
He couldn?t see her face in the darkness. He started to speak, but then his voice caught in his throat as he saw a baby thermometer still in the box sitting on top of her nightstand.
?Never mind. I don?t care.? She whispered, and turned back over onto her side. His pillow smelled of salty tears, and he reached over to run his hand along her back, but stopped just millimeters short of touching her. He left his hand there for a moment, then reluctantly pulled it back underneath the covers.