Disclaimer: I am sure it comes as no small surprise to you that I do not own Gundam Wingnot even the most minute piece of it. This fic is merely an outlet to express how much the storyline and its characters have touched my soul. However, I make no claims to fame or fortune by writing it. 'Nuff said!

Author's Note: A special thank you going out to those of you still reading and reviewing out there. Yes, I am still plugging away at this, despite the fact that some new story concepts are interfering **mumbles something incoherent under her breath**. I honestly never imagined this little fanfic would go so far!

Legacies of Victory and Defeat by Luvspook

Episode 8: Weapon System: VARGAS

She awoke to a faint, but blissful humming noise, which seemed to grow louder, as each second passed her by. The glare of fluorescent lights held her in its artificial warmth, acting as nothing more than a silent observer, as she slept.

The quiet beeping of machines was the next noise to filter into her thoughts, as she slowly opened her eyes, focusing on the necessity to see her surroundings.

"I see you are finally awake." A young man, clad in uniform, said from across the room. "Obviously, your last battle took much more out of you than even I expected. How are you feeling, Commander?"

She pushed herself upright, ignoring the pounding in her head, as she did so.

She swallowed hard, toying with the idea of testing her vocal chords, as a brief flash of
remembrance took her back to the recent attack.

Although she finally did find the strength to speak, her own voice was unrecognizable, as she did so.

"That pilot"

"Commander?" The young medical officer repeated, obviously baffled by her choice of words.

Flashes of the Wing Zero pilot taunted the fringes of her memory, almost subliminally, and she
cradled her head with the palm of her hand, desperate to silence it.

.....Heero....Yuy...... She seethed, inwardly, as every feeling of rage and frustration swelled, like a cyclone of emotion, inside her. I will make you suffer greatly for what you have done to me......

"Commander?"

She could hear the young medic's tone, and although she could not bring herself to focus on his words, she could sense his concern. Refusing to appear weak, she brought herself to full height, her eyes pinched in a determined scowl.

"Bring Vargas's granddaughter to me." She ordered, sharply, feeling a certain satisfaction as the young medic's expression turned from one of concernto fear.

"Yes, Commander."

* * * * *

The shuttle trip to Colony C had been, thankfully, uneventful, and Heero found himself surprised that he had actually dozed off during the short trip. His body was still stiff, the pain in his midsection turning into much more of a hindrance than he would ever bring himself to admit.

A handful of other passengers eyed him, warily, as he exited the shuttle without so much as a word. But, he never noticed. He had grown accustomed to their wayward glances, and too many other issues were weighing on him, right now.

He struggled to put the image of Relena out of his mind, harshly reminding himself of the reason for his abrupt departure.

......Stay focused. They're all in danger until you figure out what that suit is capable of......

* * * * *

The room seemed eerily silent as Relena pulled herself from slumber's grasp and lifted her heavy eyelids. The first dim rays of sunlight were peeking through the curtains, and reality began to set in, as she realized where she was.

Heero?

Twisting her body around, she expected to find the reason for her overnight vigil, still lying, unconscious, in the bed beside her. Instead, she suddenly found herself alone.

Her mind struggled to process the facts and information that appeared before her, as she rose, unsteadily, to her feet, ignoring the stiff discomfort in her joints as she did so.

"Heero?...." She whispered, softly, furiously tugging at the rumpled sheets that had once held his sleeping form; her eyes dancing frantically about the room.

A dizzying panic crept through her body, and she felt her knees go weak as she struggled to calm herself; the veil of exhausted sleep, vanishing from her face.

She refused to believe that he could be gone.

Her body began to tremble, her vision blurring beneath a steady and unrelenting stream of tears. Tears that she felt she had spent a lifetime trying to ward off. Tears that seemed to drown the last hope for happiness in her heart, leaving an empty void in its place.

"Miss Relena...." Noin said, softly, unintentionally startling her. "I'm sorry...."

"Where is he?....Why did you take him away from me!?...." Relena screamed, near hysterics, her pain displayed so openly that Noin could feel her strength waver.

"Relena, no one took Heero from you"

"Then where is he!?" Relena retorted, cutting Noin off in mid-sentence. "I want to see Heero! I need to see him!"

She could feel the void in heart expanding, threatening to swallow her entirely as the truth came crashing down around her.

Heero had left.....

He had once again disappeared from her life .....

Gone off to fulfill his mission......to fight and die as a perfect soldier would

The knowledge assaulted her soul, crushing it beneath the emptiness in her heart.

He was gone.....and hadn't even said goodbye.

Noin's heart went out at the sight of the young Vice Foreign Minister, looking so frail and so defeated. She could see now, the error she had made in letting Heero leave, and damned him silently for placing her under the obligations of his heart.

.....You should be the one who is here to protect her, Heero...... She thought, silently, even as she struggled to console the young girl in front of her.

"I can't even begin to understand why, Relena, but I know that his decision to leave...." She stopped, as though knowing her words would never excuse his actions. "Relena, he thought he was protecting you."

"Protecting me!?" Relena yelled, her sobs turning to anger and frustration. "How on Earth can getting himself killed, help in protecting me!?....."

"What's going on?" A quiet voice yawned from the doorway. Quatre was still half-asleep, obviously stirred awake in the course of their discussion, and as Noin turned to face him, she noticed that he wasn't the only one standing, confused, in the hallway.

"Heero is gone...." Noin stated, quietly, not surprised to hear a flurry of questions ranging from what, to where, to how.

Relena felt like she was ready to explode. Every fiber of her being wanted to scream, wanted to cry, wanted to hit something. She used the brief moment of chaos to her advantage and quickly pushed her way through the door, nearly knocking Duo over in the process.

"Relena, wait!" Noin called, after her, deciding it best to give her time to be alone, in order to sort out her feelings.

Besides for which, she now had three Gundam pilots to answer to.....

....It's going to be a long day! She thought to herself, wordlessly.

* * * * *

The small empty room seemed to shrink back as Dasenya passed through its security locks, a small hiss of air signaling her entrance.

The young girl with ebony hair spun around to face her, cowering beneath the Commander's intense glare, as a wave of panic coursed through her bloodstream.

"Dr. Keeley......" Dasenya purred, like a cat ready to pounce, her eyes holding the girl's frightened gaze. "It seems to me that there were several characteristics in your grandfather's creation, that you may have neglected to point out."

"I'm afraid.....I don't know what you're talking about." The young girl replied, hoping against hope that the Commander had not found out about her sneaking copies of the Gundam's plans to Heero Yuy. "Besides for which, those plans were stolenhow would I have any knowledge beyond what you yourself would have."

The Commander lashed out unexpectedly, slapping her across the face hard enough to knock her to the floor.

"Don't lie to me, child. That suit did something to me. It reacted when I fought the pilot of the Wing Zero.....and I know you know what that something was."

Alyson Keeley struggled to her knees, trembling at the tone in Dasenya's voice, and paralyzed by her words.

She fought Wing Zero in that suit ......She thought, worriedly, to herself. Is Heero dead? Has she destroyed him?

Dasenya could see the young girl's eyes, knowing, instinctively, that she had struck a nerve.

"Did you know that pilot?...." She asked, kneeling down to where the teenager sat immobile on the floor. "Heero Yuy?......Did you know him?..."

Alyson could feel the untamed stir of emotions clamp down on her heart, until she could scarcely breathe. Memories washed over her, reminding her of how she used to watch him train from the shadows; silently cursing her grandfather for being so cruel to him. It had taken years for her to realize the sacrifice he had made.....years for her to appreciate his strength.

"My grandfather created his Gundambut, no, I didn't know him." She answered, slowly.

..I never really knew you at all, did I, Heero..... She whispered to herself.

"Then what about the new Gundam. If I am not mistaken, it was also designed for Heero Yuy, was it not?"

"Heero Yuy was the only one strong enough to pilot the Gundam Avenger." She stated, coldly, taking satisfaction in the fact that Dasenya had obviously failed to utilize its strength and power. "He still is."

"So, if he is the only one strong enough to bring out the suit's full potential, then you have nothing to fear from me, now do you?"

"Go ahead and kill me, Commander...." Keeley replied, defiantly. "I won't betray my grandfather to save my own skin."

"What about the skin of your little sister." Dasenya whispered, smiling wickedly as she saw the look of fear pass over the young doctor's eyes. "It would be a shame to have to involve her in this. After all, she is so young and innocent, yet, isn't she?"

"You're a monster." Alyson replied, her voice trembling slightly, as she weighed her options.

"The Gundam....." Dasenya began again, pausing in anticipation of the answers she knew would be forthcoming.

"Gundam Avenger had a new program installed into its battle data network. A system called VARGAS..."

"Continue." Dasenya ordered, smiling inwardly.

"VARGAS allows the Gundam to effectively merge with enemy mobile suits, absorbing its battle techniques, and harnessing that suit's energy for a short period of time. But VARGAS was too dangerous. Not only did it absorb the mechanical aspects of the suit...it also drained certain impulses from the human body, as well."

"I could feel that pilot. I could sense everything around himabout him, even the pain I was inflicting on him. How is that possible?" Dasenya asked, seeming genuinely concerned about the system and its capabilities.

If she didn't know better, Alyson would have thought Dasenya to be afraid of it.

"It seems that when you fought each other, the communication between the two suits may have overloaded VARGAS, forming a nexus-a connection-that would have allowed you to harnass, for a short time, Heero Yuy's essence or life force. But in this case, it wasn't just the pilot whose energy was taken. It was temporarily active with the Zero System, as well. The strain to a human body attempting to harnass that kind of energy would be beyond comprehension."

"Well, I assure you, my dear, I will be much better prepared to use it, this time..." Dasenya stated, coldly, the maniacal grin stretching across her face as she rose to full height.

Alyson jumped to her feet as Dasenya moved toward the door, unable to disguise her fear.

"What about my sister?" She asked, frantically, cringing as Dasenya stopped to glare in her direction.

"My dear, I have much bigger game to catch, now."

The door slid shut in her wake, and Alyson Keeley felt her body grow weak with sorrow. Her thoughts turned to Heero Yuy, and the fear of what Dasenya would do with the information she now
had.

"...What have I done?.." She whispered in the silence of the empty room. "Oh, God, Heero...forgive me for dragging you into this..."

* * * * *

The snowflakes were drifting lazily to the ground around him, tumbling and bumping into each other as if confused on where to land.

It reminded him of another day, which seemed so long ago, as though the memories were from another lifetime. It was a day that he could never allow himself to forgetmuch less forgive himself for. A day that had haunted him in countless dreams, like a growing symbol of failure that only served to keep him fighting, now.

That day it had snowed, too.....despite the warm and friendly sky that had overseen him on the first part of his mission. Despite the drifting white clouds and carefree breezes, the destruction of that facility, and senseless loss of life that surrounded it, had brought the snow, like unshed tears from his frozen heart.

The sector of the L1 colony that used to house Dr. J's lab, was decimated, debris and wreckage scattered throughout the surrounding area. He shifted some of the moveable sheets of metal, feeling the stitches in his left arm pull as he did. The blood trickled down his arm, having escaped the confines of the white cloth bandage that covered the better portion of his upper arm.

He didn't notice.

His mind was focused on only one thing.....finding the key to destroying that new mobile suit.

Maybe that was why he didn't hear the quiet scrunching of footfalls approaching from behind.

He had just found the half-charred remains of what appeared to be specs on the Gundam, when something heavy collided with the back of his head, and the darkness overtook him.

END

I know I know **shaking head** and I'm sorry. I can't help it, though. I really can't! It's gives me some sick satisfaction in kicking a good man when he's down. What can I say? But, I can promise you, it's not what you're thinking.....Stay tuned, folks.