Night Wind

Sequel to Mission One

A Gundam Wing fan fiction by The Manwell

Greetings once again, faithful readers!

Night Wind is a direct sequel to Mission One and, since you've labored through my previous works of this arc, I'll dispense with the WARNINGS because, let's face it, you know what sort of emotional roller coaster to expect from me by now. This work is definitely PG-13 for many of the reasons Mission One is as well.

Night Wind is primarily a drama with a good share of angst and – if I can manage it – bit of humor here and there. As a side note: this work diverges in many ways from The Perfect Soldier and Mission One, but give it a chance. Please? Have I failed thus far to deliver a tale worth reading? I promise not to make you want to kill yourself at the end. Besides, you're going to have to read it if you want to know what happens between Heero and Duo! ...Yes, I know that I am evil, but thank you for thinking so anyway.

Credits: I am ruthlessly barrowing not only the Gundam Wing universe for the creation of this story but also a few random excerpts (for the titles of each individual "Part") from "Dracula: A Chamber Musical" which was performed in Stratford, Ontario in 1999.

...ooo...

Part I – See the Sunlight Fading... Fading...

Chapter One: Sojourn

A.C. 204, October 5

No one knows the name of the quiet young man who visits the ridge every evening to watch the sunset. No one knows what he thinks of as the sun slowly sinks into the lush landscape of the distant mountains. No one has even bothered to ascertain if he can speak the local dialect.

With a glimpse of his unsmiling lips and intent gaze, it's obvious he's not a tourist. And this place sees many, many tourists. No, this young man is a traveler sojourning here to perhaps catch his breath or to perhaps allow his breath to catch up with him.

He appears to require little and says even less. His thoughts, it seems, are more than enough entertainment for him. He is self-sufficient. Efficient. Proficient in his silence. Boringly so. Most people do not spare him more than a glance. They give him a wide berth and go on about their evening, savoring the scent of the Spanish autumn or studying the way the rosy light changes the shade of their lover's eyes. No one takes the time to really observe him in the gathering darkness. No one makes the effort to watch him absorb the sight of the dying day. And as the infinite indigo of night begins to bleed into the west, no one sees the way his expression softens and lips curve as he softly exhales the only word he's said all day:

"Duo..."

...ooo...

Preventer Section Chief Chang Wufei frowns at the information he'd just received, information he'll have to divide up amongst the six teams under his command in the form of various assignments.

The promotion to section chief hadn't been a surprise. He'd been in line for a command position for the last fourteen months. The twinge of disappointment at knowing others will be doing the investigative work while he coordinates their efforts from the relative safety of a desk, however, is rather unexpected.

But the information he's looking at is even more so.

He studies the carefully constructed report, taking note of every detail. And there are many details. Details the Preventers could not have researched this thoroughly. Details the Preventers could not have legally acquired themselves. Details that could only have come from an outside source.

That, in and of itself, is not surprising. But what is suspicious about this is that well over half of the recommendations for new assignments follow this same vein. And work and attention to detail in all of them are frighteningly consistent. In addition, all of the reports tend to focus on corporate structures financing operations and activities detrimental to the United Earth Sphere.

If Wufei were to assume that all of the information he's received in this manner is coming from one source... If nearly half of the assignments are a direct result of one informant's information, then...

How long will it be before our "friend" begins to offer us faulty leads? How long before the Preventers becomes a tool for the powerful? How long before our neutrality vanishes and we become part of someone else's agenda? Just another player in a game of chess?

And how long after that will the result be war?

Wufei returns his attention to the data before him and resigns himself to organizing the assignments that will be required in order to investigate everything thoroughly. And he keeps his suspicions to himself.

But in his own mind, Wufei has given himself an assignment. He will attempt to ascertain the likelihood that there is a private agenda at work within the Preventers and if so identify the individual or individuals responsible.

Preventer Section Chief Chang Wufei doesn't know who is pulling Une's strings or why, but he will find out.

...ooo...

"Yuy here. If you don't have good news, hang up now."

Heero smiles. "Hm."

On the other end of the line, he hears his sister pause. "Heero," she says flatly. And, somehow, he knows she's grinning.

"Yokaze," he finally greets. "Are you busy?"

She chuckles. "That's irrelevant and you know it."

He says, "I didn't expect you to still be there."

With a sigh, she tells him, "Ah, it seems there's plenty of work to keep me busy."

Heero makes a small sound of acknowledgement in the back of his throat. He'd been not a little surprised to learn that shortly after returning to space his sister and her lover had promptly turned their lives upside-down. Yokaze had resigned from NW and Trowa had stopped teaching at the academy. Instead, the two of them had, with a little help from Quatre, started their own not-for-profit investigation service. Operating out of their new offices in the L4 Preventers' HQ, the pair of them work to locate not only missing children but also the missing families of orphans. The children from C555 had been among their first clients. Heero asks how she's coming on finding homes for all of them and he can hear her grin.

"Most excellent," she informs him. "Trowa just found an aunt and uncle on Earth who are ecstatic about taking their niece in. You might even remember her. She certainly remembers you."

Heero's brows rise.

Yokaze continues, sensing his inquiry even without the benefit of a vid screen. "You told her you were taking her away from C555. Very far away."

A corner of his mouth lifts. He does remember that brave little girl. She'd had a rather formidable stare for one so young. "Hm. I'm happy for her. And how is Jaspien?"

"I hear he just started school."

"And?"

"He hates it."

Heero snorts.

"He got into a fight on his first day and beat the snot out of some rich kid."

He grins at the vivid imagery.

"We were so proud."

"We?" Heero asks.

"Duo and I, of course."

Heero's smile dims at the sound of that familiar name. And he can tell by the lingering pause on the other end of the line that his sister has detected his change in mood. He attempts to conceal his unease with a scolding. "Violence is not the answer, Yokaze," he says gruffly.

"Well... maybe not," she concedes, "but it's better exercise than name-calling."

He sighs.

"Oh, come on. I'm not that bad of an influence on him. Duo's much worse..."

"How much worse?" Heero demands, wondering if he dares assume she's merely joking around.

There's yet another pause during which he's relatively sure she shrugs. "Call him up and interrogate him if you're so concerned."

Heero's eyes slide closed for a moment at the suggestion. "You know I can't do that."

"Actually, no. I don't," she counters. "He misses you. Jaspien misses you. Give the boys a call, Yuy."

He says nothing, allowing his silence to signal the end of this particular conversation.

"Or, you could just come to Lisbon and see them for Halloween."

Frowning, he mutters, "What?"

"Quatre's renting a—" She snickers. "—villa for the last week of October plus a bit. Everyone's going to be there and I'm pretty sure that if you don't show up, Wufei will personally make your life a living hell."

"Why?"

Her tone subtly changes and Heero finds himself listening to the voice of a soldier. "I can't tell you over an un-secured line. Reestablish contact in fourteen days to receive the coordinates."

Immediately, he acquiesces. "Acknowledged."

Only after the word has left his mouth does he realize his sister had just taken advantage of his training to get him to agree to go. He scowls. For a moment he actually cares that she'd played off of his conditioning, but then he become conscious of how much he must be missed if she feels the need to coerce him.

"Oh, and Heero?"

He makes an attempt at being angry with her. "Yeah?"

She ignores his disgruntled growl. "Make sure you bring a costume."

He glares.

Yokaze glares back. "You don't even have to wear it. The costume's for me."

Heero frowns. "You can't find one on your own?"

"We all drew names," she informs him. "You got mine so you have to pick out my costume."

"Who has my name?" Heero asks, already beginning to formulate an iron-clad excuse for missing the party in Lisbon.

"I have no idea. But no worries. Everyone knows better than to dress you up in fishnet and bunny ears."

Torn between a glare and a snort, he does neither. "Tell Jaspien I'll see him in Lisbon."

Yokaze sighs. Heero knows she's tired of bearing the messages he refuses to deliver himself. But she doesn't try to talk him out of it. Her acceptance gives him the initiative to break his usual pattern and add, "And tell Duo I..."

The line echoes with perfect silence as she waits for him to finish his thought.

Heero takes a fortifying breath. He doesn't say what he wants to say, but he says what he can. "Tell Duo the hot chocolate here isn't nearly as good as his is."

A moment later, after exchanging brief farewells, Heero re-cradles the receiver and turns in the small phone booth to gaze out at the boardwalk and the golden orb hovering over the horizon. He takes a moment to let himself feel the trapped heat of the setting sun through the glass of the booth's doors. And then he steps outside and approaches his customary spot against the railing to watch... and to wait.

He sighs, leans his elbows against the sun-kissed metal, and savors the coming of the night. He knows exactly how many minutes it will take before the star-speckled indigo will tumble across the sky. And he waits for the moment when he'll be able to witness the closest thing in all the Earth and the colonies he's found to match Duo's laughing eyes.

End of Chapter One