Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Perfect Soldiers ❯ Mistaken ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing

-yet another installment

Perfect Soldiers

Chapter 2 'Mistaken'

~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chicago, Illinois three days after Mace's disappearance

Sarah reached her hand out and wrapped on the steal door hoping that whoever lived inside would open the door. Her nerves were on end. She had only used a gun a few times and that had been nine years ago. It felt odd and foreign against her flesh and she just hopped that she hadn't forgotten everything. The door slid open easily and she was met with the face was an old man. A white beard surrounded his wrinkled face and his eyes were white and empty, he was blind. Sarah swallowed. Could this be him?

"Dr J?" She asked and didn't pull up her gun until he nodded at her.

"What do you want?" He asked but before he could even slam the door Sarah lifted her gun and placed it between his eyes.

"I want answers." She told him steadily. "Now let me in or I splatter your brains across your hallway floor and all over your nice white wall." Sarah was surprised with how powerful her own voice sounded in her ears. She had been there for such a sort time and away for so long yet the training clung to her.

Dr. J moved back slowly his hands rising upward. One a mechanical claw the other normal. "What do you want with me?" He asked rasping with each breath. "I'm an old man, washed up and useless. I can't build you anything. I can't even see with my goggles anymore. I can't tell you how either."

Sarah frowned and pushed the gun into the man's back and directed him through the hall until they reached his kitchen. "Sit." She ordered him and without much hesitation he sank into the seat nearest to him and Sarah moved to sit across from him. "I want information on a certain pupil of yours." She informed him steadily and let the gun lower and she set it on the table. "I'm not going to hurt you. I just need to know where he is."

"I don't know what you're talking about." He answered.

Sarah frowned. "I know you were in the war. I know you built the Gundams, everyone does, but mostly I know you took in a little boy about eight years old. He had dark brown hair and blue eyes. He had a tattoo on his right arm." She paused and looked at the man's face, but it revealed nothing. "His name was Troy Mathers. You told him his parents were dead." There was a long silence before the Dr. answered.

"Ah another Dragon survivor." He smiled sinisterly looked past her. "I'm guessing you're only about fifteen, sixteen. You were hardly old enough to remember the place when you left. About six I guess."

Sarah stiffened. "You don't forget places like that no matter how old or how long you were there."

"Ah so I'm right, but I must tell you that the boy your looking for…he's dead." The Dr. shrugged his shoulders.

Sarah jumped to her feet and pressed the gun to his head again. "Did you kill him?" She asked. "Did you get what you needed from him and kill him?"

The doctor was obviously disturbed by the gun to his temple and tried to calm her. "I just mean that the boy who helped destroy the Dragon base no longer exists in those terms."

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked relaxing enough to sink into the chair to the Dr.'s side.

"That Troy, as you remember him, is no longer Troy."

"Who is he?"

"Heero Yuy." He said simply. "Your Troy saved the world."

Sarah stiffened. "How, he told me he didn't want to be a soldier, that he didn't want to fight."

"He had nothing else to live for. He had no family, no friends, he was alone and I offered him a life doing something he recognized. He became the perfect soldier and thanks to him and some other boys you're a free woman."

"The other's were they from Dragon?" Sarah asked.

"No." He replied. "None of them are. As far as I know you, your brother, and Heero are the only survivors."

"How do you know about all this how do you know about me and my brother?"

"Because this was my idea." Dr J paused and turned to look at her with his blank eyes. "I invented the idea and they carried it out."

"Bastard!" Sarah yelled repressing the urge to blow his brains out. "How could you be so heartless. You kidnapped children from their families and destroyed their lives."

"Do you think I'm proud of how it turned out?" He asked bitterly. "That was nothing like I'd planned. They were building an army for their own use. I just wanted to help the colonies. I wanted to stop war."

Sarah shook with repressed rage. "How did you ever think that was going to solve the problem of war?"

"It did didn't it. I got one, just one 'Perfect Soldier' and he saved all of us. If I hadn't done it there is no telling whose rule you'd be under right now."

"Just tell me where Tr..Heero is. I need to talk to him."

Dr J. frowned visibly as if struggling with his answer. "He won't know you if you go see him."

"What..He…"

"He won't remember you, or Dragon, your brother, or even anything before he come to live with me. We had to erase his memory in order to complete his training. His emotions were getting in the way of his judgement. We had to end the distraction and that meant getting rid of you."

"Why?" Sarah whispered. "Why did it come to that?"

"He had a bad mission and some innocents died. He felt so bad that he started to think of you and his friend Mace. He kept saying how he didn't want to be like Michael. So we fixed him we curbed his emotions and erased his past."

"And you think that's okay?" She asked angrily. "You thought that it was for the best. Did you ever think, did you ever wonder what would happen if Dragon came back and they were looking for him."

"Dragon is gone. They made sure of that and I looked on it afterward. There was nothing left not even a medical document. It was a horribly charred building of mutilated bodies and broken medical equipment. No one could had survived that." The Dr. moved his hands to his forehead and massaged the bridge of his nose. "Now can you just leave an old man alone."

"Well you were wrong, you missed something because Dragon is back and they stole my brother and I know they're after Troy." Sarah paused. "If you could see I'd show you what they left behind. It's the mark of the Dragon. It's the tattoo that lays on the arm of my brother and Troy and if you don't tell me where he is, memory or not, he's going to be kidnapped as well!"

"That impossible. No one survived that blast." He turned his head and looked away from her.

"Tell that to my brother!" Sarah yelled. "Now, tell me where he is and I'll make him remember! It's in the back of his mind somewhere and I'll make him remember." She put the gun to his head and cocked the trigger. "I have a reason to kill you this time."

"He works as a Preventer in the Cinq Kingdom." Dr. J answered readily and slumped in his chair. "If you know what's best for him you won't tell him who you are. If he can remember if he does it could destroy him."

Sarah frowned. "He deserves to know what you took from him. He does have parents. He should remember them even if they're gone, he did have friends and they need to be remembered." She lowered her gun and stuffed it in the waist of her pants and started to leave.

"You heard him yourself. You know he didn't want to be a soldier. If you make him remember all of that you risk breaking him down."

Sarah ignored his words of warning and left the house. The information stored freshly in her mind and a newfound confidence building in her system. Perhaps she would never forget what they taught her. Acting on it only seemed to drive it and make it grow within her. She was thinking tactically again. Her mind was trained on one goal with focus she never dreamed imaginable. No matter what Dr. J told her she had to find him and tell him about Dragon. Even if she couldn't make him remember she could warn him and possibly save his life. She swallowed as she remembered the way he had grabbed her so many years ago.

*********************

"Shut up!" Troy screamed his eyes burning with an unfamiliar rage. His hands wrapped tightly around her almost crushing her in his iron grip. "Shut up and listen your brother and Michael are risking everything for us and your not going to ruin it because your ungrateful." He shook her viciously for a moment his grip tightening before he released her with a look of horror crossing his face. "I'm sorry…"

********************

Sarah remembered the raw hatred and deep emotion that had spewed from his mouth. The way his eyes had glazed over in his fit of rage. She remembered how she had feared for her life in those couple of seconds. Was that part of the training, was that part of what she beginning to tap into. She still remembered the sinister smile that had spread of across his face at the thought of revenge. She shivered. What if she was turning into that?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cinq Kingdom ~~~~~~~~~`

Duo Maxwell grumbled and slipped into the bed beside his wife, Hilde. He had been up all night researching, searching blindly for some lead in the case. Not only that but guards were all over his house standing outside his bedroom door, in his living room outside his front door. It bugged the shit out of him. He felt as if his privacy was being invaded and there was nothing he could do about it. Hilde had been even worse. She said that it was a good idea. She consented and when Duo had tried to argue she'd given him the look and then they'd gotten into a fight. This mostly definitely wasn't his day.

Grumbling he rolled over and wrapped his arms around his wife. "I'm sorry." He whispered into her ear knowing she wasn't yet asleep. Her beautiful eyes fluttered open and she grinned at him.

"So am I." She smiled and kissed his waiting lips. "I know how my 'man' likes to take care of his 'woman.'" She teased and pressed her head against his chest and closed her eyes.

Duo hugged her close and kissed her forehead. "I love ya babe."

"Love you too." She whispered already falling into the confines of sleep. It wasn't long before Duo joined her. At least with so many people protecting him he could sleep a little easier.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Mace saw the house come into view and quickly scanned the surrounding area for any security. His eyes cut through the darkness as if it were light and he clearly saw three men patrolling around the perimeter of the house. He couldn't see in through the windows, but he knew there were more on the inside.

"Targets in sight proceeding." Mace whispered and waited for answer. There was a short static like crackle through his earpiece before there was a strong reply.

"Do what you have to. Take out all people who get in your way, but leave the pilot alive. Remember you'll react to the chip in his arm."

Mace nodded and turned off his microphone. There was no point in them giving him away. He needed to be silent. Crouching he slunk forward through the shadows and dense foliage until he reached his first break. Already his mind was working on his next move. The guard should come around the house in the next couple of seconds. He waited and just as he predicted a black clad man stepped around the side of the house and Mace raced silently for him. The man never even saw him coming. Mace had his arms around the man's neck before he could utter a word and swiftly snapped his neck. There was only a sharp crack as the man fell to the ground.

Mace smiled as he watched the man sink to the ground in a lifeless heap. Just as he was losing himself in the joy the snap of a twig brought him around. Mace fell against the house and sunk into the bushes, silence being his only weapon for the moment.

"Anderson, you over here? We're about to switch with the indoor crew." A man rounded the corner his gun drawn and his eyes darting across the yard trying to catch something. "Anderson?"

Mace watched him with a sick satisfaction. The man had no idea that his friend was already dead. Slinking silently through the foliage he moved beside the man and leaped from the bushes surprisingly making no sound. Again he wrapped his hands around the man's neck ending his life with one quick twist. There was only one more and then he could move inside. He was beginning to love his job. With each new assault something inside him grew, almost like a nurtured plant. He was finding something he never new existed and his new mind craved the feeling. He had a feeling that before long nothing would be able to stop him.

This time Mace pulled his silencer from the pocket of his pants and twisted it onto his gun. Moving silently again, he went in search of the last remaining out door soldier. It didn't take him long to find him, but he was with two other guys. Mace frowned he was going to have to be quick to get them all. Pulling out his knife as well he aimed his guy as the man farthest from the first two. He slumped in the door jam, but didn't fall completely over giving Mace the advantage he fired one for shot and released his knife at the same time. It flew across the yard and hit his target at the same time as the bullet. The man fell to the ground blood running his hand on his throat trying to stop it. Mace stalked over to where they lay and looked on his victims. The two men he'd shot where dead, but the other one was still alive.

His hand was on his bloodied throat, but he couldn't scream his vocal cords had been cut and only a gurgling bubble came from his mouth as he choked and drowned on his own blood. Mace looked him right in the eye his glaze glued to the flowing blood. It was like a burst of pure pleasure as he watched it run around the man's neck. Slowly, he reached down and put his fingers in it. It was warm and sticky on his skin, it was exhilarating.

'I don't want to be like Michael. When he killed those two men. I've never seen someone…so happy. He just watched the blood running.'

Mace froze a look of horror coming over his usually emotionless face. He blinked and settled his eyes on the man under him again. He flinched and backed quickly away from him. He shook all over at the realization of what he had done. How, how could he have done that? He lifted his hand in front of his face and gazed at the blood running warmly down his fingers.

'…but when I shoved that knife into the guy holding me, Troy, I almost smiled.'

"Oh God." Mace whispered as he tried to calm his raging heart and pull himself back into reality. This had to be a dream, like the ones he'd experienced all through his childhood. He hadn't killed someone. He couldn't kill someone. In his complete denial he failed to hear the men scrambling down the stairs of the house until it was too late. There were in front of him and he had no where to run. In fact he didn't know if he even wanted to run.

"What the hell…" he heard one of them whisper from the darkness. "Anderson…oh…"

The man knelt in front of his fallen friend and Mace had to hold back his anguish. He had done that… The man didn't seem to notice him though. He was pretty far from the bodies sitting motionless in the grass. Maybe they didn't see him. As he was thinking of what he should do he felt an unpleasant tingling in his arm. Glancing down he saw a faint glow starting shinning through his skin and around the tattoo illuminating it in an eerie glow. Soon it became so intense it alerted the men around him.

"Don't move." One of them shouted his gun raised and poised on Mace.

For a second Mace's eyes widened in fear, but only for a second. Then it was gone. The anguish the guilt all had disappeared mere minutes after they had appeared. Mace leaped to his feet effectively dodging the bullets. He continued to twist and turn out of the way until there were no bullets left. While they were fumbling and trying to change their clips with fingers that were shaking with fear he moved forward.

Hidden in the darkness Mace was able to slink up beside the first man and he slapped him hard with the palm of his hand slamming his nose into his brain in one effective shove. Blood poured from the wound as he fell silently to the grass. The other man had reloaded his gun and was pointing it at him. Mace smirked lopsidedly and snatched the gun out of the man's finger and shot him with it. He died instantly as the bullet shot through his heart.

Mace stood on the blood stained ground breathing deeply. He wasn't tired it was as if he enjoyed this moment in the battle when the blood was all around him and he was the cause of all of it. Then he remembered his mission objective, Duo Maxwell. He was stupid to think they hadn't heard. In fact they had probably called for back up. He only had a matter of minutes before they showed up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~'

Duo shoved Hilde into the attic closet and shut the door despite her kicking feet and protesting mouth. "Duo Maxwell I'm not staying in here while you're out there." She yelled at him helplessly and banged the on the small door with her fists. "Get in here with me at least. You heard what was going on!"

Duo jammed his foot against the door and reached across the room for a chair and shoved it under the doorknob. "Don't make a sound babe. I'll be all right, if he get me he wants me alive, but you babe I'm worried about." Duo creased his brow as the banging stopped and pushed the legs of the chair one more time to make sure that it wouldn't slip. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if anything happened to her.

"Duo." She called softly. "I love you."

Duo smiled and put his hand on the door and whispered back, "I love you too." He blew her a kiss even though he knew she couldn't see him and pulled his standard issue Preventer's gun from the waistband of his jeans. "Now don't make a sound. No matter what." Duo ordered and pushed his way from around the clothes in their bedroom closet and shut the door behind him. At least this way he was sure Hilde would be safe.

The gunshots had waken them both and sent Duo into protection mode, by throwing his wife in the attic and grabbing his gun. He had pulled on a pair of jeans over his boxer's but his chest was bare and small beads of sweat built up on his skin as he listened for an attack but there was only silence and that worried him more. Whoever was doing this was good. Way better than most and perhaps even better than Heero. Duo's mind jumped to the way Heero had looked earlier that day. The deep purple bruise on his chin and the bloodied cut on his head. Duo swallowed if Heero got that kind of beating, what would he get? Then Duo heard it a soft almost undetectable noise coming from the hallway.

Duo strained his ears to hear it, but it was there almost deafening now that he knew of it in the silence. Crouching low in the shadows Duo made himself almost invisible as he waited for what sure was to be his attacker. His gun poised Duo watched the hallway his eyes never straying from the spot and his ears never leaving the sound.

Before Duo even knew what happened he felt a weight on his back and then something over his mouth. He breathed in sharply perhaps to scream or to gather enough air to counter when he smelled the chloroform in the material, but by then it was too late. Duo let out a torched sigh and his eyes rolled back in his head as he wondered how the guy had gotten so close without him knowing.

Mace lifted his hand from Duo face and smiled. Duo had been so intent on the distraction he had created that he'd been able to sneak across the room unnoticed and get the drop on him. Grinning still with the thrill of victory on him he lifted the unconscious pilot on to his back and headed out the door. As he made his way into the woods and away from the house he heard the sirens as the Preventer's made their appearance, but it was too late. Mace already had what he had come for and nobody had been able to stop him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~ Colony that same morning ~~~~~`

Mitchell typed in the code and door slid open reveling Mace carrying a body over his shoulder. Giving Mace the once over Mitchell realized the blood splattering his skin and clothes was not his own. As far as he could tell Mace was completely untouched. But how was that ever possible?

"What happened?" Mitchell asked knowing about the mission, or at least that Mace was supposed to capture two of the notorious Gundam pilots and unless Mace had one in his pocket he was missing one. A small smirk crossed his face as he thought of how the doctors had been so sure this guy was better, but he hadn't completed the mission. "I thought you supposed to have two."

Mace's cold glare settled on the man in front of him. He was a medium build dark hair dark eyes, he was probably really good at what he did, but Mace knew immediately that he was no match for him. "Where are they at?" Mace asked instead.

Mitchell paused as if thinking of misdirecting him but pointed down the hall, "In the lab. They're expecting you."

Mace nodded and shifted the man on his shoulder. Mitchell watched him disappear down the hall the long braid of the man he had captured swinging side to side. So that was the Gundam pilot 02, Duo Maxwell. He never actually thought he would see him. Content with the fact that Mace had not completed the mission Mitchell went back to his quarters to talk to the others. After all he was the oldest and it was his responsibility to watch after them, even if they were all well into their teens. They had grown up with the Doctors and Mitchell was the only farther they had.

~~~~~~~~~~~`

Mace threw the man across the medical table and heard the dull bang as the man's skull made contact with the end of the table his hair sprawling around him. "He'll wake up soon." Mace told them as he examined the pilot. Who would have believed this was one of the men who brought peace to the colonies. A peace that he would put in the rightful rule if all went as planned. Hammond came around his side laying his hand on his shoulder. Mace felt the urge to shrug the touch off but for some reason he was unable to make his limbs listen. Something held him from the act of defiance and besides he didn't know why he revolted the touch anyway.

"Was it difficult. What were the casualties." He asked anchiously.

Mace never let his eyes stray from the table as he answered. "I killed seven men in the attack. I know he had a wife, but she was now where to be seen and I didn't look for her. He was easy to trick easy to catch."

"Then why didn't you go after the other one?" Smith asked. "You must have seen there was no reaction."

Mace narrowed his eyes but other than that showed no contempt. "I already knew that the Pilot 01 had been contacted. That would have been the best move. He wouldn't have been at his home and he would not be able to apprehend him in public."

Smith nodded. "You're right Mace. That was a good move." He moved to stand beside the 02 pilot and lifted his lids to check his eyes for dilation. "Did you have any problems?"

Mace let his mind drift to the mission there was one moment in his perfectly movie accurate memory that was white. He didn't know what had happened then, but what even it was it hadn't interfered with his mission there for it was of no importance. "No nothing."

"Good. Now Mace go to your quarters and sleep. You've done well."

Mace saluted. "Yes, sir." And turned sharply on his heel and exited the room.

Hammond watched him leave and turned back to the captured pilot. "I think we can use him anyway."

"How's that?" Smith asked.

"Easy every man has a breaking point. All we need to do is find his and we'll have a very loyal man on our side and when he are able to recreate the chip we'll really be able to use him."

Smith snorted, "You make it sound easy. This boy, this man, has fought only for peace. You have no idea how deep his feelings run. You have no knowledge of his past."

Hammond smiled knowingly. "Don't be so quick to judge. I happen to know of someone who can help us. In fact he's the reason Troy, it has to be him, is Heero Yuy. Haven't always wondered why he didn't become a pacifist like our dear Mace?"

If you read please R&R