"Don't come any closer!" commanded Trowa in the most authoritative voice he
could muster without shouting.
It wasn't the moment to further unnerve the Were, when he was still struggling
on the edge of the transformation. It really wasn't. All the pilots could see
it… but J seemed determined to interfere.
"Doctor J, he is not thinking like a soldier at the moment, he's thinking like
a wolf. You're advancing toward what he considers his prey… he could very well
attack you to keep it."
The man frowned behind his strange bionic goggles.
"I thought that he could think like a human even in lupine form?"
"He CAN think at the moment, but his instincts have a tendency to prevent him
from paying attention to his thoughts," declared Quatre in a soft voice, discretely
putting himself between the scientist and the still growling boy.
"How is that?"
Quatre put a hand on his chest without even being aware of the gesture, instinctively
correlating what they had learned before and what he felt from the boy.
"He knows what's happening, he knows what the consequences will be. It's just
that, at the moment, he… doesn't care. He's oscillating between two totally
different systems of thoughts. He can push himself to think in a human way in
either of them, but for the moment, he's unstable. His instincts would take
control of his reactions before he has the time to get used to thinking in animal
form. How to say it…"
"The animal will's weaker but faster," announced Trowa. "Give him some time."
"Hey, Hee-buddy, let yourself go," suggested Duo. "Transform. The need won't
disappear before you do and it seems like the more you resist, the worse it
will be. You'll never be able to relax enough to make the pressure drop without
transforming…"
Heero briefly closed his eyes and his growls became lower, less firms.
"No…" he growled between his clenched teeth. "Going to… attack you… Can't…"
"No, Heero, you won't do anything to us," whispered Trowa. " As long as we don't
move… Let yourself go, Duo is right."
With a feeble shout halfway between a pained whine and a ferocious snarl, Heero
began to tear off his shorts and to get rid of his shoes. He was still dislodging
the second shoe when his spine bent so brutally he fell on the ground, an atrocious
creak resounding in the little room. He stayed there, racked with spasms of
pain, his shoulders shaken by waves as if he was ill, curled up as much as possible.
The transformation came suddenly, like an explosion. In a few seconds the fur
was covering him whole, and his limbs were transforming. He grunted when his
ribs and guts changed shape and place, then stayed on the ground, panting a
moment, once it was finished.
This time the professors didn't need an incentive to stay put. The too-big wolf
was yawning by reflex to stretch his muscles, and his white, saliva-glistening
fangs looked very prominent under his dark chops.
The four human pilots had slowly moved while he was changing so as not to alarm
him, putting themselves between him and the scientists. They waited with bated
breath to see if Heero had taken his control back.
The wolf slowly got up on his feet, first pushing on his forepaws then on his
hindquarters, and shook himself before lifting his muzzle to sniff at the air.
He lowered his head in the direction of the group and growled to remind them
to stay put. Once sure they weren't going to move, he began to walk around his
corner of the laboratories, slow and cautious. He sniffed at the cadaver for
a few seconds before solidly driving his fangs into his nape and dragging him
under the metal-covered table in the corner farthest from the door.
"It isn't logical," breathed J. "Unless he has hollow bones and no internal
organs, this animal's mass is at least twice superior to the human version of
Heero… Where did he get the surplus mass?"
Duo shrugged to show that he didn't give a damn how it worked as long as it
did work, and glared at him warningly: the human voice had made the brown wolf
whirl around in less than a second, and he was staring at them, without growling,
but with his chops shivering from the need to bare his fangs. The American had
seen them enough to know they would be much too white and pointy to his tastes.
"Oi, Heero, you in there?" he asked in a low and calming voice. "Heero…? Answer
me, buddy…"
The Were looked at him for a while, and Duo saw a gleam of recognition in his
eyes. Then the wolf nodded slowly. Duo snickered; it was too funny to see an
animal use such a human gesture. Heero growled at him, but it was more like
the annoyed grunts he gave him as a human rather than the violent threats from
the Wolf. Carefully, he slipped closer to the little group, his body language
tense, but not truly menacing anymore.
Duo grinned at him and squatted slowly in front of him. Blue-violet eyes met
icy, steel-blue ones and the wolf tensed again, but Duo lowered his eyes fist
and Heero-wolf came nearer, going to sniff his comrade's face to reacquaint
himself with his scent. The American heard the scientists' alarmed whispers
about the way he put his face and neck just at the right level for a snap of
fangs, but he didn't listen. He knew what he was doing. Heero would never hurt
him, he was sure of it. They were of the same pack after all…
With a snort, Heero walked past Duo toward Wufei, Trowa and Quatre, making sure
they were ok. Passing near the boy, he brushed against Duo with all of his side,
and nearly jumped out of his coat of fur when a hand slid through the messy
hairs. But the feeling was strangely comforting and finally, he let the boy
do what he wanted. Duo continued to rake his hand along the wolf's back, scratching
his skin before smoothing the hairs in place.
It was… calming, reassuring… Made him recall that feeling he had when he groomed
himself, that funny tickle, except that here, it was a more social activity,
something he authorized because he trusted. Something pleasant. That he liked.
Yes, he liked that Duo would caress him.
Quatre stretched his hand out toward Heero's muzzle and the wolf carefully sniffed
it before blinking at him, giving him the Ok as for touching him too. Quatre
too was authorized; Quatre wasn't a danger. He was from his pack too. More so
in a way, because his scent was closer to his own. Like a… hard to think in
human terms.
/litter mate. hunt brother./
"In control, Yuy?" asked Wufei, relaxing and letting his hand slide away from
his sword's handle.
The wolf glanced at him before turning his head to look at the two pilots who
were caressing his back. He suddenly realized that he was letting himself be
approached; they were too near. The Soldier stepped back, warily, a whole life
of training pushing him to get away from the two boys who were totally violating
his vital space, even if his wolf side was entirely relaxed in their close presence
and appreciated the contact. He couldn't get away with relaxing, not in other
people's presence. The soldier in him knew that. And if Doctor J learned to
which point his training was beginning to wear away, he would find himself submitted
to reconditioning faster than he could say the word. Not on his list of favorite
things to do during his idle hours.
"Heero?"
The wolf looked at his mentor, happy that his appearance made his expression
totally unreadable by the old man.
"If you are fully in control now, I think it is time for some examinations…"
He heard himself growl before fully realizing the bad mood he felt rising inside.
He shut up in the middle of the sound, trying to stay in control of the bubbling
emotions, too violent and to unusual, that the Wolf side was awakening. He shook
his head briefly, as if he could chase away his mood this way, and with an irritated
sigh, he stalked to the examination table J was pointing out to him.
The table's metal put him ill at ease and he realized he had stopped short just
before stepping on it. He lowered his head and forced himself, jumping on and
staying unmoving in a stiff and nearly unnatural position. Even when trying
with all his might to find again the objectivity and the non-emotional state
he could attain before, he just couldn't detach himself from the moment. He
didn't want to be on that table and wanted even less to play Guinea pig. He
wanted it less and less, he thought, glancing from the corner of his eye at
the scientist who was coming to him, an empty syringe and a bottle of disinfectant
in hand.
"First some blood takings…" he announced, searching a place amongst the thick
fur where he could stick the needle.
The bitter and prickly disinfectant smell made his eyes tear up and he twisted
his nose, for once disgusted with his senses' new acuity. He tried to relax
his muscles, which were strung like cables, while the doctor cleaned a little
bit of skin under his shoulder, conscious of the fact that his tenseness would
prevent the needle from entering his skin like it should.
The syringe approached his skin and the next second, he was in the opposite
corner of the room, crouching low and ready to pounce on the man's throat, growling
ferociously, his fangs apparent up to the gums. He hadn't even consciously decided
to move.
"That's quite enough, Heero!" said the exasperated doctor in clipped tones.
"Get back on the table at once! You are acting like a five year old, it is more
childish than you ever acted!"
"You really wanna get your throat torn out," remarked Maxwell with a despising
smirk. "It's the wolf who’s dominate at the moment, and the wolf doesn't want
to have sharp, pointy things approach him. If you unnerve him, he will never
be able to stay calm enough to control the wolf too. That's the Wolf's body,
there, he can take control more easily. You can't even begin to imagine the
difficulty it presents for Heero…"
During his little speech, he had slowly stepped nearer to him, and was now standing
a few steps away, a hand stretched out to him. Heero grunted and authorized
him to pass his hand along his spine.
"Hey, buddy," whispered Maxwell just for his ears, " I know you don't like that,
but the faster you'll let him do his thing, the faster we can get the hell outta
here… For me, man? This place gives me the creeps…"
The wolf snorted in a way that could be translated as "no kidding?" and came
back to the table. This time he tried not to look at the approaching needle.
But he couldn't prevent himself from growling low, at the tone between a growl
and a whine of distress.
Duo went to stand in front of him and began to scratch his skull and the dip
behind his ears, and Heero thought he was going to melt. Lord, he understood
better now the animals who let themselves fall flat on the ground when someone
caressed them there! It was more than nice… He half-closed his eyes and pressed
his head against the hand that was cajoling him, demanding more pressure.
"It's ok now, Heero," laughed the American. "Yanno, it's been thirty seconds
already since he finished taking blood …"
Wufei snickered and elbowed Trowa.
"His tail is wagging…" he mocked gently, amused by the sight.
Heero, annoyed, growled a growl that went louder when Trowa dared to let a small
smile appear on his face. Even HE was laughing at him… He wondered if he should
get angry. He hadn't even felt his tail begin to move. It was totally automatic.
The doctor was taking his measurements. He let him evaluate his height from
paw to back without problem, but squirmed when the old man wound his arms around
his torso to measure his thorax depth…
/not my belly don't want to show my belly /
"Calm down," grunted the doctor, showing the number to G so he could write it
down on a piece of paper. "Straighten your tail behind you, in the line of your
column."
And before an alarmed Trowa could get to the old man and prevent him from pushing
on the wolf's muzzle to make him lower his head, the frightening jaws had already
clamped down on his arm with a great tearing sound. The wolf jumped on the ground,
half dragging his mentor over the table, making the papers fly messily everywhere
on the floor.
Half panicked, Duo jumped around the table, already wondering how he was going
to make his friend let go before he bit off the scientist's arm… and sighed
in relief when, through the torn up lab coat, he glimpsed metal instead of flesh.
He had forgotten that the old bastard was cybernetized.
Now, to calm down the beast…
But the Soldier had taken back control nearly as soon as he had lost it. He
unclenched his teeth and quickly backed up against the wall. He stayed there,
growling loud and clear, head near the ground, tail arched high in the air,
ears forward on his skull in a aggressive fashion, fur standing on end.
"Doctor, I think you should leave him alone for the moment," advised Wufei in
a strong voice, straightening up the old man who had stayed across the examination
table, too stunned to move.
The Chinese pilot made J move away without asking for his opinion on the matter
and pushed him back amongst his colleagues.
"Doctor, we told you to be more considerate than that. Do you know what it means
for a wolf to let his muzzle be manhandled like that? It's a submissive gesture."
"I am his superior officer!!" protested a pissed off J.
The American lost what little patience he had for the old, bastard scientist.
"You're the Soldier's superior officer!!" hissed Duo. "The Wolf doesn't give
a shit about that! All that he knows is that you're just an old bag of bones
while he's a male in his prime and he could kill you with one snap of fangs!"
"A wolf obeys only his superior pack members," added Trowa when he saw the puzzled
looks the scientists were sending his way; obviously, they had never taken the
time to wonder about animal behavior.
"Do you know how dominance conflicts are straightened out in a pack?" asked
Quatre, smiling politely. "With teeth clamping down on jugulars. You fight if
you want to stay on top. You're too old to fight, a younger one takes your place.
Next time, doctor J, I cannot advise you enough to ASK him to lower his head
instead of making him do it," he added, pulling up the torn sleeve to show the
metal arm, completely crushed and with sparkles dancing where the cables had
been cut. "You DO realize, that if that had been flesh and bones, he would have
bitten it off?" finished the boy in a low and deadly serious voice.
Considering that they had made their point, the pilots turned back to Heero.
"Weeeeell… you're definitely not ok…"
Quatre could feel / Heero / himself getting oppressed. Putting a hand
on his torso, he glanced up to the little, covered window.
"The wolf is feeling trapped…" he whispered. "Come on Heero, we're going out.
If you run a little, you'll be able to go back to human more easily. Ok?"
With a grunt, Heero walked out after him, without looking back. He didn't care
for the old bat for the moment. What was important was his pack's advice.
* * * * * *
They walked away from the base to find a place near enough that they could return
to the base fast if need arose, but far enough that they could talk freely without
worrying about the microphones recording what they had to say. The base was
surrounded to the horizon by lands that seemed flat, but were in fact extremely
undulating, with deep paths hidden in dry, high grasses probably dug by ancient
water routes, and the vegetation covering it, while thick, rarely went higher
than a meter and a half. On top of a hillock, one could see miles away… except
of course if what one was searching for happened to stay close to ground level.
Heero had run forward as soon as they had put one foot outside, and was running
right and left, verifying the perimeter, briefly following some smells, discovering
paths, covering as a whole five times the distance the others were covering.
The place was heaven-sent for his poor, confined senses. When they decided to
stop in a deeper hollow in the ground, he immediately verified each and every
evasion route before authorizing himself to rejoin his friends. The labs had
seriously put him on edge.
"Well shit, we did good not to tell them that Quatre would soon have the same
problem…" sighed Duo, letting himself fall on the grass.
"What a fiasco," agreed Quatre, falling at his side. "We didn't obtain anything
solid except for new problems…"
Wufei went to lean against a little, half-crumbled stone wall just beside them
and Trowa crouched on his heels in the opening of a path that lead away from
their little place. They heard Heero searching in the bushes behind them. There
was a rustle of dry grass when he startled a rabbit and began to run after it
by reflex, but the laugh of the two sitting pilots made him come back fast,
ears flattened back.
"Grrraow…" he groaned, embarrassed.
"What can we do?" asked Trowa after a moment of silence where everyone had searched
for something to say.
Quatre bent his head, pensive, and rubbed at his chin meditatively.
"It is obvious that the scientists cannot do anything for Heero. Apart from
making him into a lab animal, and that, I think we all agree, is unacceptable."
The others nodded together without even having to look at each other for hints
on their thoughts.
"I even wonder why we bothered to warn them… We could have arranged things between
us. If we let Doctor J have his way, he is going to try to retrain him…"
Heerookami growled softly, his teeth bared in a silent grimace. If he had to
endure that once more, he knew he would die. Not from the tests themselves,
no, but from the loss of his so new freedom of thoughts. And he had discovered
in himself a fierce will to survive.
"It shouldn't be important. Why do we fight?"
"For the colonies," answered Wufei after a moment of puzzlement. "To gain everyone's
freedom and equality. To stop Romafeller's oppression."
"And we are the only ones to do it. At least the only ones to have the means
we have. So, it is out of the question that we permit one of our members to
be submitted to any brainwashing procedure. We are few enough as it is and we
cannot allow the loss of even one of us. The scientists could say that altering
his behavior would not lose him to us, but I say they would be wrong. His capabilities
can be extremely interesting if we learn how to use them. If he is trained again,
after having succeeded in mostly integrating the Wolf, it will kill him, am
I wrong, Heero?" asked Quatre, one hand clenched over his heart.
He felt it so strong that he nearly believed that he was the one feeling that…
But he knew that it was not the case. Heero's violent emotions had a white-blue
glow, which didn't belong to him, and a sharp edge proving their lack of use.
He forced himself to talk using a point of view that was objective and cold,
chasing the echoes of the animal rage the Japanese boy had been in far to the
bottom of his awareness. The others wouldn't mind him talking like that, because
they were searching for logical arguments good enough to convince the scientists,
not emotional reactions. As the group's diplomat, it was his job to formulate
their ideas.
"It will kill him or leave him crippled, and then he will not be of any use
at all. J says that Heero has to be considered as a weapon, not a human. But
which weapon is better than one that does its work voluntarily? And this war
is fought by humans against humans! And, and, fuck! I refuse to consider anyone
as an object!"
The three other humans nodded.
"We know that, Quatre… so what are you trying to tell us?" asked Duo, frowning
faintly. It was rare to se Quatre react like that, he had to feel rather violently
from empathy to Heero.
"Apart from helping us to find out our enemies' plans, their bases' locations,
and indicate when and how it would be better to attack, what use exactly are
the scientists for us?"
"Repairing our Gundams…" muttered Wufei, unsure.
"We know how to do that ourselves," shot back Duo, who was beginning to see
where Quatre was going. "I dunno about you, but G made me revise my partner
so many times that I could repair it sleeping, with strings and gum for parts.
And at the worst… If we need big pieces, or if we want upgrades… We have Howard.
And the Sweepers. As long as we fight against Oz and Romafeller, they will help
us without asking for anything in return. They're resistance too. They know
that we have to help each other out."
"And as for plans, missions etceteras… the spies we use often go through us,
we give the information to the scientists, they give us back what we are to
do with it. It gives too many opening for being caught. We can do it ourselves;
we already do. I have my own information networks only going through me. I have
the Maguanacs. Wufei has contacts with the resistance fighters Sally went to,
and they're well furnished as for weapons and info networks too. Trowa has contacts
with the circus, and through it to any of the people who travel the road all
over the world, and you know as well as I do how news goes fast in that background,
plus it would provide a perfect cover and an excuse too, for travel everywhere.
Heero has access to the Sank princess whenever he wants to, if we happen to
need her support," he added, ignoring the snort of annoyance when he mentioned
the girl. "As for the contacts, we don't need the scientists. They can help
us, but we could very well go without them. As for the plans… Do mine displease
you? And how many times did we have to rewrite one of their plans anyway?"
"What are you proposing exactly?"
Quatre gave them the smile of a determined businessman.
* * * * * *
"What the hell do you mean, you're taking your independence?!??!"
"Exactly what you heard. You are useful sometimes, we admit it, but we don't
need you, not anymore. It's simply out of the question that we stay at your
heels simply because you taught us everything. It is true, you taught us all,
and we will never thank you enough to have given us the means to fight for our
cause. But now, we are ready to get by alone. We are ready to accept with open
arms everything you'll be willing to supply… but you trained us to fight in
that war. And we DO fight in that war, not you. So we will be the ones to decide
how we are going to fight."
"I forbid you…"
"How? How do you intend on forbidding us anything, doctor J?" asked Duo, a worrying
gleam in his eyes.
His hand nonchalantly slid along his hip, toward the leather sheath cradling
one of his knifes.
"Don't worry, sirs," continued Quatre as if no one had interrupted. "We do have
the intention of keeping on fighting with our best. That is what you trained
us for, isn’t it? To win this war? Well, we estimated that the probabilities
offered more chances if we didn't have to lean on you too much. We have to be
as independent as possible, if we don't want to be annoyed by an eventual discovery
of your ties to us by OZ. You had a spy today, don't tell us it can't happen.
We are still fighting," he added in a stronger voice, staring at J who was visibly
fuming with rage. "And we'd be grateful if you acted mature and responsible
enough so as not to block us from information we wouldn't have, or even giving
us wrong information. Either way, nothing coming from either source, ours or
yours, will ever be taken in account without verification. We are trying to
win. Not only for ourselves, but for the colonies, yourselves too. And if you
want to give us a shot at succeeding, you'll help us. The stakes are more important
than some ill-placed pride."
He began to turn away, then stopped at the last moment to glance at the five
scientists, in different stages of shock.
"… Naturally, to help along your own war effort, we'll be very pleased to send
you all the data which we would happen to have on our hands, along with our
mission results. We also accept mission suggestions. We only reserve the right
to accept them and alter them as we see fit. A continued collaboration would
be a great help for us, and for you, in the future. But that is what we are
as of now. We are not subordinates anymore. We are allies, equals."
"And the Gundams?!?" protested J, furious. "They're ours!!!"
"Personally, Shinigami's mine now," smirked Duo, baring all his teeth. "I never
had permission to take him, I don't need it now. If you want it, why don't you
try to take it back from me. Good luck. And legally, Sandy is Quatre's and Nataku
is Wufei's, because it was their families who paid for their construction, the
materials needed and your salaries. And what will you do once you have them,
train other pilots? The war will have been three centuries finished by the time
you find people who could even hope to barely approach our level! We weren't
chosen because we were losers, grandpa, remember that. So, stop moaning."
J seemed ready to explode.
"Heero, I command you to…"
The wolf growled viciously, louder and stronger by the moment, until it became
nearly a roar. Duo put a placating hand on his neck.
"I think that what he's trying to say is that he'd like you to vanquish him
in a fight before you give him another order. Do you feel ready to take him
on?"
Together, the four humanoid pilots and the Were turned around and calmly walked
away to the hangar their helicopter was hidden in.
* * *
"Duo, wait!!!"
Maxwell turned around just as he was going to sit down. Professor G was running
after them, waving around pieces of paper covered in blue and red designs.
"G..?"
"The new modifications for Deathscythe's fuselage and reactors," answered the
old man, giving him the stack of paper.
Duo accepted them with a grin and began to look at it.
"You trust him?" asked Wufei, suspicious.
Oh course," answered Duo without looking up from his papers.
"He's always been an independent operator, contrary to you," laughed G. "After
all, I never lent him the Gundam, he stole Deathscythe by himself to go to earth
without caring about any orders… Now that he has it, I may as well limit the
damage by giving him a hand from time to time."
"My left ass cheek, by myself, you were the one to give me that idea," protested
Duo in an amused tone.
"But you weren't forced to follow that advice, boy. And who told you I was serious?
It could have been a joke. Anyway it never got recorded, so it's your word against
mine," answered G with an ironic smirk.
Quatre smiled at the old man.
"It is a relief to know that we have at least one of you agreeing to still help
us out," he admitted.
"The others will give in too," the old man affirmed, "once passed the bruise
you did to their ego. Maybe not J though… I think he is going to take it as
a personal slur. I'll try to convince him, but I can't promise anything."
"I think we can do without him," groaned Duo, who was still pissed off because
of the way he treated Heero like a piece of shit.
"He wasn't always like that," sighed G. "He was always cold and closed off,
but before, there was something behind… Now… I wonder if there is still a shadow
of a heart behind his pride and damn stubbornness. I fear not."
He sighed then looked up, with a smile on his lips that didn't reach his eyes.
Duo stared at him. He had probably been close to J when they were younger… The
American pilot tried to imagine the two scientists at twenty but renounced,
it was impossible.
He wondered if they had been more than friends and immediately felt himself
go green. He had such strange ideas, eww… It was NOT a mental picture that he
needed! What the fuck had he been thinking about!?!! J and G… J AND G…!
Eww, eww, eww and eww!!
"You'll give Howard my greetings when you go see him for the modifications,
little pest. You can even ask him to modify them for the other Gundams, he is
more than able to do that."
"Ok Pappy!" exclaimed pilot 02, strapping himself in place.
Two seconds later Trowa had taken the vehicle off the ground. Duo stayed at
the glass to make faces at G as long as he could still see him, then went to
concentrate on his plans, whistling happily.
"My baby's gonna be even cooler than before… Lalalaaa… He was the best already,
but with THIS…"
"Silence, Maxwell," groaned Wufei, who didn't want to admit out loud that he
was slightly jealous.
He hadn't won new upgrades. It was unjust.
* * * * * * *
Hmm. I wonder if I won't be mean like some authors and ask for a certain number
of reviews before I post the next part…. 9___9
… naah ^__^