FicWad

Disclaimer: Wow, it's been a long time since I lived with this fandom. Welcome home, eh? Okay, let's get down to business. I, Raile G. Darin, do not own the characters, world, or past events of the Gundam Wing universe. hese belong to Sunrise and Toei Studios. I am in college. Suing college students does not earn one much money. Enough said.




Wufei lay on the ship's bunk, staring at the ceiling, eyes closed. It had been six months since he'd disappeared. He wasn't keeping track, though. He was mourning. He rolled onto his side, then pushed himself off the bed. It didn't matter to him whether he came back or not. He spent his days eating, sleeping, and grieving. Days didn't matter out here. Time was temporary, and he woke and slept as he felt the need to. He ate when he was hungry--or when he remembered to. There was nothing out here but himself...well, himself and her. Somewhere in the dark out there the remains of his colony drifted, uncollected. But inside, there was just himself. He'd left his location with one person, the one person he'd felt certain would remember not to use it. Lighting the incense at the table, he sat down, ready to begin again.

"I'm worried. It's been six months."
"I can count, Sally." Une sounded tired.
"Then why are you so calm?!" Sally watched the Preventer head move a pile of papers from one side of her desk to the other.
"Because he could be anywhere."
"That's why I'm worried!"
"You can worry, but there's no way to track him down."
"You sound so sure." Sally glared.
"As far as we know, he could have gone to China, picked up another name, and started a new life. We'd never find him." They'd been over this numerous times. It was one thing for Wufei to miss a day of work, or even a week. But half a year had passed, and Sally was really starting to lose her mind. Une was missing the orderly paperwork.
"Heero could." Une looked up in surpise.
"You're not really going to call him?"
"I want you to help me find him." Sally gave her superior a level stare. Une was silent.
"No."
"What? But..."
Une sighed. "Think about it, Sally. Even if Heero could find Wufei, it's obvious Wufei doesn't want to be found." Sally just stared at her, so she continued. "If Wufei told Heero to keep his location a secret, do you really think Heero wouldn't?" Sally blew a frustrated sigh of her own. It was true that Heero was unpredictably reliable. But that wasn't the point.
"It doesn't matter, if he can FIND Wufei, that'll be proof he's still ALIVE at least." Finally, she got Une to look her in the damn eyes.
"...I'll see what I can do." It was the best Sally would get from her. The preventer exhaled and rose from the chair.
"Thanks, Une." She smiled slightly, then left the office. It was late, she needed to catch the shuttle before it stopped running for the night. Une simply shook her head. Looking up Heero, of all people...

Wufei was interrupted by the sound of beeping. He didn't recognise it at first--he spent several bewildered minutes trying to identify the sound. It was the communications console. Standing, he jogged back to the head of the ship, frowning in irritation. That had to be Heero...the button by the monitor was flashing cheerfully. It made him want to kick it. Instead, he slammed his palm onto it, causing the screen to flicker before it formed an image. Heero.
"What is it?" Wufei's voice held a tone of annoyance. He assumed it was important, but it was still an interruption. The brown-haired pilot was of course unfazed.
"Wufei." The Chinese pilot waited. Heero had a tendency to start sentences with a name. "People are asking about you."
Wufei frowned. "Who?"
"Sally." Heero didn't blink.
"That's all?" Heero had interrupted him for this?
"She's very insistent," Heero explained. He frowned at Wufei. "I'm going to have to tell her something."
Wufei paused. It made sense that Sally would be the one to be a problem. She was his Preventer partner... "Tell her I'm mourning." He didn't elaborate. He didn't need to. Heero did study him for a second before replying.
"Is that all?" Wufei didn't answer, just stared at the Japanese man impatiently for a few bref moments. Wufei hadn't told him anything, either. Then the screen went black. Call ended. Wufei sighed and shook his head. His long black hair flew into his eyes, but he didn't pay attention to it. Instead, he turned with another shake of his head (this time to clear to his face) and walked back to the back of the ship. He'd have to start over...and relocate the ship.

"Mourning?" Une's eyes widened in surprise. Of all the responses she'd expected Heero to give, this wasn't even on the list. "Mourning who?!"
"I don't know." Heero Yuy's voice was typically flat. He had expected this response.
"He's really mourning?" Une couldn't seem to grasp it. It was incrdible to think that anyone--let alone Wufei--would disappear without a trace to spend six months in /mourning/.
"That's all he told me," Heero replied, nonplussed.
"Where is he, though?" Une asked, then tried to clarify. "Where is he doing this...mourning?"
"Space."
"Space." She stared at Heero like he was growing antlers. Heero nodded. "WHERE in space?" It was like pulling teeth.
"I don't know." The brown-haired former pilot shrugged. "You asked me to find him, not locate him."
...only to Heero would there be a difference. It was pretty clear wufei hadn't wanted Heero to tell. At least they knew he was alive. But mourning. Insane. "Thanks, Heero." She paused. "Now about that other thing..."

War...he'd fought it for her. He'd fought her battle because she'd fought his. But that wasn't sufficient. Not now. He couldn't get the feeling that it wasn't enough from assaulting him. Sleeping, he had a brief respite, but only occasionally. Work wasn't enough to keep his mind occupied. He'd come out here for peace and for grief. He couldn't mourn on earth, it didn't seem right. More than that, he knew that the others would prevent him from mourning as was proper. They were well-meaning, but often stupid, it seemed. He took a breath and stood up, stiff from sitting on the floor for so long. He felt the empty ache of hunger. He hadn't eaten in several hours...at least he had to assume so. He felt weak. Frustrated, he marched to the front of the ship again, where he would fill his body enough to keep him going. He was running low on food again, he'd have to dock at a colony. Why couldn't he just sequester himself alone?

"What do you mean, you don't know where he is?!" Sally was livid. How could Une get Wufei's status and NOT find out where he was? Did she think this was funny?!
"I asked Heero to look for him. All I got from him was what Wufei was doing." Une was grimacing. Sally Po was shouting and the office was small.
"You didn't where he WAS?" The Preventer was incredulous.
"I did, but he didn't answer. I took it to mean Wufei didn't want it known."
"But why would he hide? What on earth could he be doing that requires him to hide from his /friends/?"
"Grieving, it seems."
"Greiving!?"
Une shrugged. "I don't know either. That's just the answer Heero gave me."
"...bizarre." Une shrugged again. Then Sally looked up, setting her jaw. "I want to talk to Heero."
"What? Sally..." She tried to deflect the former doctor, but Sally didn't even give her a chance.
"I mean it. This is ridiculous."
"I..." Une just wanted to go home and maybe take a long bath. She sighed. "I'll see what I can do."
"You'd better." Sally gave the former colonel the equivalent of the evil eye. "I mean it."
Une put her head in her hands, watching Sally leave the room. On one hand, she agreed with Sally--Wufei had been gone an extraordinarily long time. On the other hand, they knew he was alive, even if he was...mourning. Whatever that meant. Pulling the hair out of her face, she turned, typing names into the database before sending them to records retrieval. She could feel the headache already.

The last surviving resident of colony A0206 lay on his stomach on a cot. His eyes were closed, but his mind was active. The familiar white coat lay over his back--he was using it as a blanket. There was a lot to think about. If he worked at it, he could see every detail of the colony: the tiny restaurant that he bought lunch from when he was in a hurry, the temple where Master Long frequently went to pray, the field of flowers where Nataku had died. Every last petal...he could take an object and invision it, then zoom in, looking at striations of each leaf, the stamen at every centre. He could barely remember her face, though. It was blurry. If he worked at it, he could almost see it, almost make out features, one at a time. But not well. He could describe her but he couldn't see her. It made him feel a little hollow inside. He was supposed to be able to see things like that. He rolled over and draped an arm over his eyes. He should get up...

"Where is he?" Sally Po glared at the brown-haired pilot on the screen.
"I don't know." Heero stared steadily back at her.
"Bullshit." She knew Heero had different priorities than she did, but why couldn't be cooperative just this once?
"I don't know where he is," Heero repeated, staring impassively at her. It was a little intimidating.
"Then how'd you contact him?" She scowled.
"I have his call address, but not the coordinates." Heero wasn't particularly pressed to keep Wufei's secret. Six months was enough as far as he was concerned.
"Can you give it to me?" Sally leaned forward into the screen. If Heero noticed, he didn't comment.
"All right." Sometimes it was a mystery why he did things, even now. Sally pulled up her laptop, prepared to put them in.
"Go ahead..."

Wufei Chang was woken by the beeping of an illuminated console. Like last time, it took his mind a couple moments to place it, though this time it was more due to the fog of sleep than lack of exposure. He stood, padding over to the monitor. He punched the buton and jerked back in surprise. Sally?! In all fairness, Sally had a similar reaction, though for slightly different reasons. Wufei was thin. Not emaciated by any means, but definitely thinner. He looked weary and his hair was long and hung loose rather than being bound back in the familiar tight ponytail.
"Wufei!" The word came out as half a gasp.
"What are you doing here, woman!?" Wufei was still staring at the monitor in consternation. How had she--no, he knew it was Heero. But /still/.
"I wanted to check up on you. Wufei, it's been six /months/!"
Wufei was mildly startled. Had it? Then he discarded the thought. Whether it had or hadn't wasn't the issue here. "I'm here for PRIVACY, woman! You're interrupting me just to see my face?!"
"/SIX MONTHS/, Wufei."Sally reiterated, staring flatly at him.
"And? Is that a problem?"
"Don't be a child. I know you're supposed to be mourning or something, but this is ridiculous."
The former pilot nearly disconnected her right then and there. Instead he took a breath. "Look, is there something important you have to say? Or are you just wasting my time?"
"Wufei..."
"Well?!"
Sally disconnected before he could, leaving him fuming at the console. 'Irrational nonsense!' he thought, storming off.

Wufei Chang stood at the sink, washing his hands. He'd been there for a few minutes, actually, doing the exact same thing. Wufei had already had to fix the sink once. The system used the same water repeatedly, sanitising it with a chemical solution. He knew this but didn't think about it, as it had always bothered him slightly. Eventually, he decided he was done and dried them carefully. Then he left the ship's excuse for a privy and headed to bed. He felt tired, and he was still irritated from that call. What on earth had she been thinking? He suspected it didn't matter. As long as she didn't call again...opening the door to the bunkroom with a push of a button, he turned left and walked along the wall, touching the top of the laptop as he went. Then he climbed on the cot and lay on his back, staring at the ceiling until he fell asleep.