Chapter 10: Reawakening Pains

Quatre slept uneasily in his bed; blanket partially covering his body as unsettling images of something that resembled Epyon flooded his mind. The beast looked menacingly at him for a second, glowing green eyes speaking of danger, then turned its head away as it spotted something of more interest. The Arabian pilot was still slightly shocked but got over it quickly as he also turned to see what had caught the Gundam's attention. His eyes went wide as he spotted that all too familiar head of long blonde hair and sea blue eyes. Quatre made a dash for her, but the Epyon was faster and had reached her in mere seconds, thrusters flaring. The boy froze, unable to do anything but watch as the monster engulfed the girl with its body. "NO!!!!" Quatre's scream pierced through the night air as he was jolted awake. Blue-green eyes looked questioningly into dark oblivion as he clutched at his heart through his pajama shirt.//What did I just see? What does it mean?... Pain.// "My body... pain." His voice whispered hoarsely in the room, his grip tightening, forehead wet with night sweat.//Relena... Heero... Where are you?//

*BOOM* *KABOOM* *CRASH*

"SIR!! It's WingZERO!!" a soldier confirmed as he ran into the main control room of a military base located somewhere in a desert of the United States.

"WHAT!?!" a bulky man with gray hair yelled, getting out of his seat. The man almost fell over as more explosions began to rock the entire facility.

"WingZERO's attacking the base!" he breathed heavily, tired from his run. "It came out of nowhere and has already destroyed the hangar and half of the tank patrol!!"

"WHAT!?! I thought that thing was destroyed years ago!!" he yelled back to the tired soldier. He then raced to the panels and consoles and began pressing a few buttons. Soon the monitors showed the horrible destruction that littered the grounds of the desert base. He watched as the mechanical figure drew out its beam saber and started to slice through the remaining tanks that its twin barrel buster rifle had missed. "My God... why has it turned against us?" the old man muttered in disbelief. More explosions could be heard and felt.

"Things haven't been the same since Vice Foreign Minister Darlian's disappearance," a soldier commented as he maneuvered the laser cannons to fire at the intruder.

"Then I pray that she's still alive and that we find her soon.... Maybe then all this can end before it's too late." With that he motioned to the soldier to unleash fire at the enemy. The screens lit up as the beams of light found its target, causing it to stagger back a few steps from the impact. Once the Gundam regained its footing it unfolded its angelic wings and shielded its body from the blasts that continued to pound against it.

"Sir! We're picking up other forms on the radar. There's about thirty of them, and they're headed here at an alarming rate!" Another soldier called out in panic to his commanding officer. His young face betrayed all the fear that he felt inside his body, and he struggled to keep his composure.

"I've got visual confirmation," the man next to him informed as he pushed a button. Suddenly the monitor switched to a reveal a scene filled with the image of thirty mobile suits that looked like a hybrid between a Virgo mobile doll and a Serpent mobile suit. They had the Serpent's firepower while the Virgo's shields protected them from the lasers along with a body that was a mixture of both. The suits flew above the base and began to open fire on the building. The blasts and explosions shook the base apart and people began to pour out of the rooms, evacuating to safety shelters.

"OZ," the general's one word confirmed all their worst fears. They didn't need to see any logos or receive an audio reply to figure out who was behind it. It was plainly shown by the force of the attack, quick and precise. *sigh* "I don't think that we'll make it through this battle... but if we're going to die, we'll die fighting. Right?" he asked, a look of both sadness and remorse adorning his face. The other soldiers looked at the older man and nodded their heads in agreement then turned their attention to the battle on the monitor in front of them.

"S-sir!" one of the men operating a panel stuttered, "There are three objects approaching us from the east. They're coming into view right... now!"

Silence, then..."Awww..." They were all stunned as they gazed upon the forms of the Altron, Heavyarms Kai, and Sandrock Kai on the screen. Their thoughts were on whether or not the three new players were friend or foe. Luckily, the question was answered when Altron powered up its beam trident and hurled itself at one of the enemy mobile suits.

"I think... that we've just been saved," commented the old man as he watched the battle.

"Trowa!!" Quatre yelled over his com-link to his friend. "What kind of mobile suits are those?!"

"OZ mobile suits," replied the stoic pilot as he unloaded rounds of ammunition into a group of suits.

"Are they being piloted by soldiers or are they mobile dolls?" the Arabian pilot asked again as he blocked off an attack from one of them.

"What does it matter!?" Wufei yelled as he fought off two mobile suits. They were severely outnumbered, mainly because these mobile suits were more advanced than what they were used to dealing with. "Kisama!! They just had to attack when Heero is missing and that baka, Maxwell, is off visiting L2! AAAHHHH!!!" he screamed as he struck out at another suit, only to have it block the blow. They were destroying the mobile suits but the pace was much slower than usual. While the three fought the oncoming suits they failed to notice the Gundam that had unfurled its wings and was now positioning itself to strike them.

"Yuy?!" Wufei stammered in confusion when he caught a glimpse of its wings, but it was too late; WingZERO had already descended upon the Altron.

"WUFEI!!!" Quatre yelled as he saw the winged Gundam ram itself into Wufei's. Worried, he quickly finished off the hybrid suit in front of him and made a mad dash to aid his comrade, shouting questions to Trowa at the same time. "Trowa! Why is Wufei fighting WingZERO?! For that matter why did Heero attack Wufei?!" Panic was evident in his voice as made his way through the metallic melee. "Do you think that he was captured and turned into someone like Rei?" His fear rose, replacing the usually soft tones of concern.

"That seems to be the case," the older boy replied as he finished off yet another one of the persistent metal machines. Although his face, voice, and movement betrayed nothing, he knew that his worst fears were being realized. //Sending Heero out by himself was a bad idea.... If they have him on their side then we'll be in more trouble than we thought.//

"Stay back, Winner!!" the Chinese pilot yelled at the Arabian boy. "Take care of the other mobile suits first, I can handle WingZERO!" There was a determination in his voice that made the blonde pilot stop in his tracks. Quatre knew that Wufei held a lot of pride that couldn't be shaken so he respected that command. Looking back at the dueling Gundams one more time, he turned around to help the Heavyarms Kai pilot.

"Quatre," Trowa said calmly, "switch your frequency to Heero's and see if you can talk some sense into him." With that said he turned around and opened the compartments that contained the micro missiles, spraying them into the enemy group. The OZ suits tried to dodge them and a few did manage to escape but the majority was hit.

After ducking a barrage of bullets from a few suits, Quatre began trying to locate WingZERO's frequency. Minutes passed before the boy found the right one. While defending himself, Quatre tried speaking to the other pilot. "Heero? Is that you?" he yelled frantically, waiting for a reply, but silence was the only thing that answered him. "What are you doing, Heero?! Why are you attacking us!?" Still more silence followed that transmission.

"It won't do any good to try and talk to him!" Altron's pilot shouted to the other two, "If he's anything like that onna, then it's just a waste of time." Wufei was still engaged with the other Gundam, spinning and swinging his beam trident.

Silence reigned over the battlefield afterwards, and the number of OZ's mobile suits began to dwindle. However, the Gundam pilots were tiring and their Gundams had taken much damage. The fighting continued but with the help from the laser cannons, Heavyarms Kai and Sandrock Kai soon brought the enemy's mobile suit number down to eight, although Trowa was starting to run out of ammunition. Wufei had managed to knock WingZERO's twin barrel buster rifle out of its hand, causing it to rely solely on its beam saber.

As Quatre and Trowa fought on they soon destroyed all the mobile suits and were now preparing to join Wufei in taking down WingZERO. Sandrock Kai surveyed the military grounds, and its pilot gave a slight sigh at the destruction. "We were too late to save most of the base," he said in a solemn voice, his eyes filled with regret. "I just hope that we're not to late to save Heero." He then propelled himself forward with his thrusters and was soon next to Altron. The three Gundams stood in a circle around WingZERO, weapons drawn and ready for battle once more.

"Yuy," the Chinese boy called over his com-link, "you know that we have you outnumbered so why don't you just give up? There's no point in fighting any more; you'll just cause more damage to yourself and your Gundam." With that they all waited for a response of any kind but received none. "Have it your way, Yuy." The declaration was said, and the dark eyed boy began his charge.

"Wufei, wait." Trowa calmly said to him.

"What is it!!?" the other questioned with annoyance.

"Don't do anything that might provoke him further," the tall boy's voice was even and serious.

"Trowa's right," Quatre agreed. "You know he has a tendency to self-detonate himself if there are no other options left to him. We can't take that chance since there are still people at this base. If we're going to confront him we have to do it in a place that's as far away from any sort of life as possible."

"Are you saying that we should let him go?!" Wufei seethed.

"We have no other choice. We can't risk the lives of any more people," the blonde boy tried to reason.

"Watch out." Trowa's warning quickly broke their argument as they saw five more mobile suits appear out of nowhere.

All three jumped out of the way as a shower of bullets flew at them. Wufei instinctively extended his dragon arms and disemboweled one of the suits, while Trowa charged at another, the shells from his remaining gatling gun finding its targets. The sound of shooting bullets was heard, and the two turned their heads just in time to see Quatre take one down with the vulcan guns. Wufei and Trowa soon put the remaining two out of commission while Quatre searched for others that may have been hiding. When the fight ended the three looked around for signs of the other Gundam but found that there wasn't a single trace of it.

"Kisama!!" the Chinese pilot yelled in frustration. Apparently those five suits were used as a distraction so that WingZERO could escape capture. The pilots stood there for a while in exhaustion, confusion, anger, sadness, and disbelief.

In a dark prison cell, located deep within OZ's main base, the outline of a figure sitting on the floor could be discerned from the light that poured through the bars. His back was against the wall, knees bent, head hung, and shackled hands stretched out in front of him. His head perked up slightly when he heard footsteps approaching his way and stopping in front his cell. Keys were heard clanging and in seconds the door was pried open. The light from the hallway silhouetted the figure, and Heero was able to identify it as the general. The man grinned as he made his way inside the room, taking a seat on the bed that was left unused by the Gundam pilot. The door was left open as he began to converse with the prisoner.

"Rei is making good use of that Gundam of yours," he started in an amused voice. "She took to it very fast; it's easy to imagine considering her experience with the Neo Epyon.... I must say that that Gundam of yours is quite impressive. The blueprints that Treize left behind for the original Epyon couldn't match this WingZERO, however, the Neo Epyon does offer many other options that the original never had. You can say that they are almost evenly matched. The only deciding factor left is the-"

"Pilot," Heero finished evenly.

"Yes," he agreed, "and we all know who that will be. She's an incredible pilot, not to mention quite beautiful as well." Whitenburg chuckled softly to himself as he pondered the outcome of his war; a dark smile crept upon his face.

"If you've touched her in any way, I swear I'll kill you with my bare hands," the boy threatened, silent fire and hatred burning in his eyes.

The man laughed at the remark and shook his head back and forth. "You have nothing to worry about. I made sure that nothing like that happened to her. For one thing I'm a gentleman, and to me such acts are disgusting and dishonorable and, if something like that were to happen, then the Tamashii units wouldn't work." Seeing that the boy didnít comprehend his statement the man continued. "Such 'acts' cause trauma to the mind, especially to the mind of a young girl. Those same traumas cannot be blocked out and are stronger than the units. They can override their programming and cause them to relive that same event over and over again. They can't handle it and eventually go berserk, destroying anything and everything that threatens them."

Heero was silent for a while after that, letting what the General had said sink in. "Did you erase her memories?" he asked in his even voice.

"Erase?" the older man smiled in amusement before answering. "Erasing memories means destroying brain cells. There is no other way around it. If too many brain cells are destroyed, then that person becomes a vegetable and utterly useless. We needed her in tip top condition for the role she is currently playing."

"The world was at peace. There was no reason for you to start another war," the boy said from his seat on the steel floor.

"Peace is not absolute nor is it permanent," the general coldly replied. "What you call 'peace', I call a state of denial. Conflicts never disappear, they just stay hidden until the opportune time."

"Why did you start this?" Heero's voice was rather demanding despite his current situation.

"Because it was needed," the older man replied calmly. "When the war ended the countries that relied on it began to decline. Those who worked making artillery and those who served in the armies were left without a place to go but they still held hope that it was only temporary. When de-militarization began those hopes were crushed and those people were forced to start life over again. You should know very well what that must have been like being a soldier yourself." He paused for a while and eyed the sitting boy waiting for some response but none was given.

"During the conflict you were praised as a hero and a worthy enemy, but when it ended you were discarded like some old rag doll. But that in itself is not the biggest tragedy. No." His voice became emotionless as a dark expression overtook him. "The most humiliating part was having to follow the decisions of a fifteen-year-old girl who knew nothing of a soldier's livelihood. Our say in such matters was slowly wrenched from us as she told countries to disarm themselves, not knowing that arms were what kept their economies alive... But now we will use her to get back what she took; she will take us back to the beginning."

"She knew war, and she wanted it to end so that people wouldn't be afraid to go out and live. If she didn't think that those people could pick themselves up then she wouldn't have issued such proclamations. War may provide income to most but it takes their lives along with many others in return." Heero replied as he fixed an icy gaze on the man.

"That's quite an amusing view of this situation, however, that will not deter me from the path that I have chosen. The wheels have already been set into motion, and I plan to see it to the end. If she wins, the people will hate her and if she dies, the people will lose their hope. In the end I will win this war." The general paused when he heard footsteps slowly making their way towards the cell. A shadow appeared in the doorway, and the men looked up. "How was your first mission in WingZERO, Rei?"

"Unsuccessful," the girl replied in her dead monotone voice.

"Complications?" he mused.

"Hai," she replied while still standing in the doorway.

"Looks like your friends are finally catching up to us." The older man closed his eyes for a second, sighed and then slowly got up from his seat. "Keep our 'guest' company, Rei. I'm going to go personally oversee the repairs for the Gundam. If we can't get it working by the time of the scheduled 'date' then you'll be piloting the Neo Epyon." He saw her nod and was satisfied as he left the room.

Once gone, an uncomfortable blanket of silence descended upon the two youths. She took the general's previous seat upon the bed and leaned back on the wall, arms crossed over her chest and legs crossed in front of her. Her gaze fell on the boy, but his was on the floor. He didn't dare meet her red orbs, afraid that he'd find what he always saw in them. Nothing. She reminded him too much of himself, and he hated who he was. A coward. One that would rather run away from the things that plagued his mind rather than face them. One that lied to himself about what his feelings were because he wasn't used to experiencing them. One that used his 'missions' as an excuse not to feel. But he did feel. Once. Twice. However, they were fleeting and other things always interrupted them.

"How were they?" Heero found himself asking when he couldn't stand her cold gestures towards him any longer. He just needed to hear her voice to make sure that she was alive.

"Formidable," the girl answered back since she was in charge of keeping the 'guest' company.

"WingZERO?" he queried, not taking his eyes off the floor.

"Different," she replied, keeping a steady eye on the sitting figure.

"How so?" he was trying to deepen the conversation, trying to pry information out of her in a nonchalant manner.

"It feels different." Rei didn't know why he was asking so many questions, but she was given an order, and she knew she couldn't disobey.

"Feels?" the boy's interest was perking up a bit at the strange answer.

"Like there is someone else in there." The girl stopped for a second, her face had a rare look of surprise to it.//That same feeling...// She turned her head to fully take in the image of the Japanese pilot; her expression was still one of surprise. "You. It feels like you," she said in an accusing manner.

To this answer Heero slightly raised his eyebrows.//Like me? What does she mean by that?// While in his thoughts he failed to notice that the girl had gotten up and was now kneeling in front of him. She wanted to see his eyes; maybe she could find something in them that would help her explain what she feeling. For some reason unknown to her, whenever she was near him the hairs on the back of her head stood on end, like she was afraid of something. Although it wasn't that she was afraid of him. No. It was more as if she was afraid for him, not knowing what was going to happen to the Japanese pilot and being in the WingZERO didn't change that. In fact, that feeling she had was what prevented her from completing her mission, prevented her from killing those other Gundam pilots.

Her face inched closer to the boy's, still trying to find an answer there. She locked her eyes with his and bore into them; his breathing had become shallow at the sudden closeness. "Who are you?" she asked suddenly, surprising the both of them. Before he could say anything her hands went up to her head and clutched at it as if she was in pain.

*FLASHBACK*

WingZERO stood in the middle of a large and empty room. The only presence that could be seen there was that of a young boy and girl. They both stood in front of the Gundam's open cockpit, staring into each other's eyes as they exchanged words. The girl had a look of worry on her face while the boy had one of reassurance.

"If you live through this there will be peace." The words were scattered through her mind so she wasn't sure if those words were in the right order or not. The images were scattered as well as if certain images and scenes were especially picked for her to see.

"Believe in me," the boy said as he brought his helmeted head closer to hers. If not for the helmets one could have sworn that their lips would touch, even if it were the slightest of butterfly touches.

*END FLASHBACK*

The girl's aquamarine eyes stared questioningly at the boy's deep Prussian blue ones. Before she could say anything else the pain came back as her mind fought to remember this prisoner before her.

*FLASHBACK*

The same girl was at a naval base searching for someone while wearing a blue dress. She spotted a crop of dark brown hair and approached it. She called out his name but it was lost to the wind. He heard it and turned around with a serene look upon his face before drawing out his gun.

"You're in way over your head."

*END FLASHBACK*

By this time the girl's eyes were closed as the flashing images continued to hit her.

*FLASHBACK*

At the balcony to a school a boy stood with his back and arms against its stone rails. His face seemed to be staring off into space while a group of girls watched him from the side. One of the girls, a blonde one with blue-green eyes, walked up to him and handed him a piece of paper. The words that the girl said were unheard as he took the paper from her hand. Then suddenly, with no warning whatsoever, the boy ripped the paper in half, and tears started to form in the girl's eyes as she asked him 'Why?'. Before a single drop could fall he reached out his hand towards her face and took the tear away.

"Omae o korosu."

*END FLASHBACK*

The girl got up to try and run away from the painful visions but only managed to take a few steps back before stumbling to the ground.//Pain.// That was what she felt with each image. Deciding not to fight against the pain any more she succumbed to her body's weariness and fell over unconscious. The guards came in when they heard the thud she made as she hit the floor. Quick to action Heero leapt into the air and took the two young soldiers out with a heavy blow to each of their heads. Sneering at the two bodies that now adorned the floor he looked towards the third body that was still in the back.

Something wasn't right with the girl, and Heero knew it, but he couldn't let go of an opportunity such as this. He could escape without anyone finding out for a while, however, he didn't want to just leave her in her present state. Confirming his actions in his mind the pilot went over to one of the fallen guards, retrieved the key and unlocked the bindings that imprisoned his wrist. Dropping the key he walked back to where the girl was sprawled on the floor and scooped her into his arms. Walking over to the empty bed he gently placed her onto the semi-soft material and stood staring at her for a brief moment, stroking her blonde bangs to the side. Unconsciously, he gently placed a soft kiss on her forehead before leaving the cell in a mad dash. //I'm not leaving you... I will come back... I promise.//

He left the room too quickly to notice the girl tossing her head back and forth as she fought to regain consciousness. "Heero..." she cried softly into the still air of the room.