Silent Requiem, a fanfic by Nightmaresama, chapter 9

Bright lights in the recovery room woke Hilde with a start. She wasn't used to it being so bright on a ship, but research had shown that pilots recovered much better from serious wounds under almost natural lightâˆ-. It reminded her of waking up back in New England.

Suddenly, she had a thought. She reached over to the chair just next to the bed where her space suit had been neatly folded and laid out for her. She searched the pockets on the inside for it, but couldn't find it. Then she remembered that she had left it in the pocket on the outside sleeve. She unzipped the pocket and took out the small 3x5 photograph of Duo. He was shoving a corn-dog into his mouth and flicking off the camera. Hilde smiled as she looked at it.

She really did feel like she was in her barracks back in New England now, especially with "Duo" nearby.

It was at that moment that Sam walked in. Quickly she shoved the picture under her pillow and sat up and smiled at him. "Good morning, hero!" she chirped.

He gave the crooked smile he always did when he was embarrassed, but walked a little farther into the room. "Hi," he practically whispered.

"Hey Survivor! How're ya feelin'?" Trowa called out as he and Sanders walked in behind Sam.

"Hey, shut up, Trowa! God, you can be such an insensitive ass sometimes!" Sam yelled at him, catching all of them by surprise.

"Whoa there, Sam," Trowa responded taken aback by his friend's outburst, and turning slightly red. "Sorry Hilde," he tried again, "are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, thanks for asking" she replied, also slightly stunned. "But it's only thanks to Sam that I made it back alive at all. He talked me through the whole thing. At least until I blacked out." She added sheepishly.

"Well, we just wanted to stop by to see that you were doing alright, and to give you these." Sam produced a large bouquet from behind his back.

"Aw, guys. They're beautiful!" Hilde blushed slightly. "But how on earth did you ever manage to pay for them?"

"We pooled all of our salaries together from the past month and a half and went to the little shop they have down in the lobby." Trowa explained.

"Oh, that's great!" `They can't put in a separate women's locker-room because of space but they can put in a flower shop? Thanks a lot Federation big shots' she thought to herself. She continued out loud, "Thanks a lot guys. This is the nicest thing anyone's done for me in a long time. I guess I'll be seeing you all later. Thanks for stopping by!"

"No problem Hilde. You just concentrate on getting better." Trowa called out as he and Sam left the room

"What's your malfunction commander? The way you're skulking around back there you'd've thought you were the one who lost a leg last night."

He came and sat down in the plastic chair beside her bed. "I don't know Hilde. I guess it had something to do with the last Zeek I had to fight. This is probably going to sound odd, but do you ever wonder if we're doing the right thing fighting against them?"

"Of course it's right. Look at what they've done to us so far! The colony drops, the gas attacks, and my leg to say the least. These are not kind people, dammit, and they won't hesitate to make you understand that, the hard way. What could've happened in your last battle to make you think otherwise?"

"It's just, the more I think about it, the more I start seeing the enemy as less than a generalised foe, and more as real, individual people. Misguided people, of course, but people nonetheless. It's hard to put into words, but… forget it. I'm probably just a little shell-shocked.

She looked at him suspiciously; she really hoped that whatever had happened to him was not going to compromise his judgment on the battlefield. "About two weeks, but they'll only be able to keep me in bed for one, `cause after that, I'm going to be remodelling my Guncannon to be controlled by only one foot pedal."

He nodded. "And what's this about only one foot pedal? Aren't you going to get an artificial limb?"

"Oh sure, just what I need! One more person yelling at me to get a stupid false leg. I've got my pride dammit! If I lost it, I lost it. I do not want a replacement!"

"Okay, okay! Do whatever you want. But I don't think I can let you back on the team right now in your condition."

"What? Are you kidding me? You can't do that! I still have to fight. What happens when you all go to take on A Baoa Qu or Granada? You won't last with only three suits. Come on Terry!"

"I'm really sorry, Hilde, but you don't have a suit, and in your condition, you can't work both the stabilisers."

"I hope you feel better, Hilde, and thanks for all your insights." He stood to leave.

She started to argue some more, but then realised how fruitless it would be given how tired she felt. All she could do was watch him leave the room.

The sterile white walls of the room were a stark contrast to the blood-red ones of the hall where the dead soldiers had been strew when she had first arrived. Hilde felt herself enveloped in the brightness of it all, but just before she passed out, she reached back under the pillow and pulled out the picture again.

"Howdy Kiyo-chan. What's going on?" Duo walked up to her as she was dozing in the chair in the waiting room.

"Oh, I'm doing okay, sir," she sat at attention. "Alex is in the other room recovering."

"At ease," he smiled; he had to remind himself that he was still her superior. "I'm glad he's all right. Not bad for our first real space battle, huh?"

"Hey, yeah! That is today, isn't it? Well, same to you." He collapsed in the chair right next to her. "I've heard were going to stop at a port on another colony tonight, so maybe then we can all get together for a drink and share presents, huh?"

"What choice does she have? It's shore leave, right? All we've got to do is be back on board by tomorrow morning."

Kiyone thought for a moment. "I think that-maybe-I mean, because of all the stuff she's done for us, it might be a good idea if we asked her to come too."

"What? Are you crazy? That woman is the damn antithesis of fun. Why would she want to go out drinking with us? More importantly, why would we want to go out drinking with her?" he still harboured sort of a grudge against his CO for all those push-ups she'd made him do in Basic.

"You never know about people until you get a chance to really meet them. I remember when I first met you at Basic and I thought you were gonna be some obnoxious, self-centered jerk; but over time, I started to like you better. Who knows what Karen really is like? Have you ever seen her out of context?"

"That's just my point. But don't worry, I'll go on and ask her since you're too afraid."

"Who're you callin' `afraid'? I ain't afraid of nothing!" Duo claimed defiantly.

Kiyone smirked. "Good. Then you won't mind talking to Karen while I stay and look after Alex."

"What? But you just…! And I…! Now look here…" Duo got ready to pull rank, but shut up and started walking.

'All too easy', she thought to herself as she picked up her book and resumed reading where she'd left off the night before.

Shortly thereafter, a young lady in a lab coat, tight leather skirt, and an equally tight, form-fitting T-shirt walked up to her. She was carrying crutches and looked very tired-like she'd just put in an all-night-er. "Excuse me, miss?" she asked her.

"Is your friend awake yet? I need to check on him." She gestured to the room where Alex was interned.

"I'm not sure; I haven't checked on him for a while. You're welcome to go in and have a look."

"Thank you. I just need to give him these and see how he's feeling. The reports the doctor did last night show that he should be just about recovered by the time we reach port this evening."

As the woman walked in the door, Kiyone scooted her chair close so that she'd be able to hear and see what was going on. It wasn't that she enjoyed eavesdropping (well, maybe she did), but Alex was her friend, and she wanted to hear how this doctor was going to diagnose him.

"Good morning!" she said in a beautiful sing-song voice that belied how tired she looked. "How are you doing today?"

Her suspicions were proven as his voice, still hoarse with sleep and the burden he must've been feeling to breathe, carried over to her ear. "I'm okay. Sort of." He then winced in agony as he tried to sit up.

"Oh, I'm sorry. What seems to be the problem?" There was a click as she turned on the sun-lights.

"Really? Oh, bugger, I knew I should've brought you a sling instead of these bloody things," Kiyone assumed she was talking about the crutches. "Well that's okay. I'll just leave these in here for now, just in case you want to try and walk around a little bit, later on.

"You're name is," she paused to look at the name at the foot of his bed. "Alex?"

"Petty Officer First Class, Alex Kincaid of the 107th Mobile Suit Space Assault Force?"

"That's right, and you are?" Alex replied, finally starting to sound more alert.

She blushed slightly. "Oops! I did forget to introduce myself, didn't I? That was pretty rude of me, but it's been a really long night. My name's Michelle Bannock and I'm a Resident onboard. Not quite a doctor, but still better than a nurse! You can call me doctor though, if you'd like; it's easier and it inflates my ego."

"She's not…" Kiyone thought, her suspicions about Michelle's motives starting to increase.

"Nice to meet you, Michelle. I'm trying to place your accent; you're not a Londoner, that's for certain."

Her laugh was high and nasal. "No, not I. I was born in Bristol. But, you're a bloody Londoner if I've ever heard one though! Your accent is so thick!"

He must've been smiling by then for he said in mock offense, "Well excuse me, Dr. Higgins, My Fair Lady. But your're right. Born and Raised on the banks of the Thames, I was! Of course, my family and I moved to Side 2 when I was starting 'igh School."

"My, my, and a literary buff at that. Nice try, but I too have read Pygmalion, Mr. Shaw." Michelle laughed again. "It is nice to meet another of Her Majesty's Finest in the middle of this miserable war, though."

As she waxed intellectual with him, Michelle found that she was laughing at herself on the inside. 'What the hell am I doing? Am I so desperate that I'm coming on to a patient? I've hit a new low!'

She didn't really understand it, but she just felt extremely comfortable talking to Alex. Much more so than she usually did talking to anyone.

He seemed charming enough too. Quick witted and amiable. And a countryman too! How many other British soldiers was she likely to find on the Space Front? Especially with the Home Islands occupied.

Would he feel the same way, though? Would she be able to flirt with him without making a total fool of herself?

'No, dammit! I'm a doctor! It's not my job to try and start a relationship with a patient; what if someone found out?'

She flashed him a smile. 'Still, I can't deny that he is attractive. And how long has it been since I've ever had someone to care about me? Never, really; not in that way…'

It was funny, but Kiyone had never really thought of Alex as English until she overheard him chatting with this woman. "Interesting…"

"No, just the past three months. I was just about to finish up my requirements in October, but the bloody draft men came to our Von Braun Medical School on the exact day and I had to go with them. It makes me so mad!"

He smiled in knowing sympathy. "Yeah. Seems the Federation's V-Project miracle wasn't all they needed. They just 'ad to come and wreck everybody's lives. Interesting that you should've called me a literary buff, though, for I am a writer by trade… I was just two weeks away from finishing my book when the blokes from the draft got to me. Who'd've ever thought that I'd be piloting a GM and taking part in all these battles?"

She must've decided he was worth the time to talk to, because she pulled up one of the metallic chairs and sat at his bedside.

Michelle propped her elbows on her knees and rested her chin on her palms and gazed into his eyes. "You're a writer? Wow, that is so interesting! Have you written anything I'd know about?"

He thought for a moment. "'ave you ever read that one book about the five mobile suit pilots who go down to earth from the colonies to fight against the oppressive Military State? The one where after all the twists and turns in the plot lines, ends up in a massive duel on the disintegrating battleship that's plummeting towards the earth to cause a never-ending winter?"

"But the one I was working on back 'ome-the one I was almost finished with-is gonna be even better than that one. I promise you that."

"Well okay, I'll take your word for it. Once this war is over, though, and I stop in at the campus bookstore, I want to see perfection!"

"Oh my God, she is! She's friggin' coming on to him! No way! Not to Alex." Kiyone realised. "Just how desperate is this broad?"

"Where else have you seen combat?" Michelle asked, crossing her legs in front of her.

`To show more of her calves,' Kiyone thought, disgusted, as she stole a quick look through the open door.

"You know, I'd really better not detain you; you've probably got rounds to make. Maybe I can see you again sometime?"

Kiyone slapped her hand over her face when she heard the last remark. `No, dip-shit!' she offered mental criticism, `Bait her some more!'

"Oh, it's okay. They'll just page if they need me-and besides, I was up all night taking care of this other patient, so they're probably going to give me some time off."

Michelle continued, "Some girl got her leg impaled by shrapnel in the battle. I had to be in there when they amputated it, ugh. I almost threw up all over the OR floor. Its one thing to see pictures of an operation or read about it in a textbook, but when you see it firsthand… But you were going to tell me about your time in service?"

Before he answered Kiyone had time to wondered to herself, `why'd she become a doctor if she can't stand blood?' but she cast the idea aside. It was just getting to the good part and she didn't want her musings to distract her.

'I really hope she's just being friendly,' Alex thought dubiously. Surely she wasn't attracted to him…was she?

She did look damn good for a doctor, though. Early to mid-twenties, short brown hair, good bust size, good ass size, deep, thoughtful brown eyes behind wire framed glasses that sat low on her small nose, and she seemed to have a charming personality (that was a plus any guy could attest to: the good looking ones are usually the ones with the personality of a dead halibut, and the ones with a good personality…).

But what about Rachel? He couldn't just forget about her, even if he hadn't seen her in months. They had hit it off really well on the shuttle down to Earth, and had become very good friends.

Still, she hadn't even tried to contact him in all that time, how did he know she still cared? He told himself that she was probably just busy, and he wanted to believe that, but being all over the news and doing interviews with hundreds of soldiers just like him…Was it possible that she'd forgotten about him? Thrown him and his feelings to the wind without a second thought?

If that was the case, maybe he should try and chat up Michelle a little bit more…

"My unit was stationed up in New England and we mainly did routine area sweeps keeping the Zeeks in check. Nothing too big; we'd take out maybe one Zaku every two days or so. Then, on our last day there, before we got transferred up 'ere for Op. Star One, we cornered this black Gouf-you know what that is, right? An MS-07B3?"

"I think so…" She probably had no idea, but wanted to hear him finish his story.

"Well, this one was like an Ace or something. There were three of us GMs--my CO, our sniper, and me-and our Type-71 hovertruck. Three on one! It should've been easy, but this guy was just incredible! Our sniper was able to take its head off, and that's were the camera usually is, so we'd figured he'd been blinded, but this thing still fought on just like it could see us. That pilot had to be a Newtype or something. There's just no way any normal person could've pulled anything like that. Fortunately, we all escaped in one piece, but all the suits were totalled.

"Then we had to fend off an onslaught of Zeeks right as the shuttle was getting ready to take off. It had to've been their whole Northeast battalion or something, and just in one battle! I felt like I was in Odessa or something, you know? Again it was only by the skin of our teeth that we made it out of there alive. But, about seven GMs had to be left behind; I knew two of them. They're probably okay, but you never know for certain. Then, of course we went through Basic, and ended up here."

By all of this, Michelle was dumbfounded. She'd never know the war was progressing this harshly. The news and propaganda leaflets she'd seen when she first left Luna all showed the Federal forces easily walking over all the Zeek defences and taking them down without losing a man. This was a revelation to her.

"Pretty lucky, huh?" he asked bringing her back to reality. "After all of that I've only got two broken ribs to show for it." He beamed proudly.

"Alex…" she began, "I want to…I'm sorry, I think I need to be going now. I'll be back around one to see how you're doing." With that she got up and left.

When she heard her getting up to go, Kiyone scrambled back to her original position and picked up her book and pretended to be reading it. She looked up as Michelle passed her by. "How's he look?" she asked, both trying to sound casual, and genuinely interested at the same time. "You were in there for a while."

She thought she could pick up a faint trace of redness in the other woman's face, when she said, "Oh, he was just fine. You can probably go in and see him now, if you like."

"Arigato-thanks-I think I will. By the way, can I get your name?" she asked as she stood swiftly at attention.

"Nice to meet you," she bowed slightly, more of habit than of actual respect. "I'm Shinegori Kiyone, I mean, Kiyone Shinegori. I guess I'll see ya around. Sayonara Michelle-sama!" she scrambled into the room.

Alex was just about to fall back asleep. That woman sure seemed kind of nosey; he wondered why she'd probed him for so much information, especially just after he'd woken up. And why had most of it been about his personal life? She barely even touched on the subject of his physical condition.

He let out a yawn. He'd worry about her later. Time now to get those last few hours of sleep in…

"Konnichiwa, Alex-san!" Kiyone's strident voice made him sit up with a jolt, causing sharp pains in his ribs.

He swore under his breath, then turned towards her. "Nice to see you too Kiyo-chan." He replied, his voice thick with sarcasm.

She was wearing a big smile and didn't seem to notice his bitter tone her unexpected entrance had caused. "How are you this morning? Can I get you anything? Breakfast? Some juice? Or maybe just an overly flirtatious and remarkably curvaceous young doctor for you to salivate over?" She giggled at her own joke.

"Don't play dumb to me, Kincaid, I heard your conversation." Apparently she had.

His face grew hot. "That? She was just making conversation. It wasn't what you think!"

"Sure it wasn't." Now it was her turn to be sarcastic. "But anyway, Duo, Karen, and I are all going off this evening for a few rounds of beer to celebrate Christmas. You can come too-if you can swoon your doctor into getting you an early discharge. You are feeling okay, right?" Her voice turned serious, "You took a pretty nasty hit out there."

"I'm fine; these bandages will hold up for one evening on the town. But, hey, did you say the Commander was coming too? How'd you and Duo manage to get her to come?"

"Duo's going down to check it out with her right now. I just thought it might help us get to know her better if we did something nice for her, ya know?"

"Who knows? Well, I've got to be going." Kiyone said as she glanced down at her watch. "I need to put in a request for a new GM and repairs for the wrecked one. I'll be back to check on you in about two hours. Try and stay out of trouble `til then, okay?" She added with a wink as she stepped back out the door.

The mess hall of the Valkyrie was much different from that of the Assault Weapons Carriers Karen was just getting used to eating in. Ever since the Eighth team had disbanded and she'd been forced into officer training, all she'd known were grease stained walls and the distinct odor of too much coffee, beer, and vomit in the air. The medical ship, while it did house far more wounded and dying, was remarkably sterile, especially in the mess hall.

She picked up her tray from the counter and walked over to where Sanders and the noncom, Trowa, were sitting.

She nodded in his direction, but didn't say anything. Instead, she stared down into her rations, real food for a change, not the reprocessed and dehydrated crap she'd had to eat onboard Yagami.

"Um, okay. I guess, I'll let you two alone." Trowa grabbed up his tray, and left the table, silently.

After a few moments, Sanders spoke up. "He's a good kid, but a bit too informal. He's got that same sort of `let's-do our-best-and-have-a-good-time-but-all-make-it-back-alive' personality as the Commander."

"Although," he continued, "I don't really believe that Shiro is dead-not anymore."

"I thought we'd covered this already," she said, showing more than a hint of annoyance. Her tone then changed to one of curiosity, "how come you think different now?"

"Yeah, well, from where I was standing when we were looking for him, there was no trace. I-want him to be alive too, really I do, but I can't just deny what I saw, or didn't see."

To avoid any further stress, she changed the subject. "How `bout you? You looked a little ragged after that last fight. Are you okay? I see the `curse' didn't get anybody this time either." She gave a wry smile.

He winced slightly at her bringing up his old stigma, but answered, "Yeah, I'll be okay. It's just, that…well," He paused to relate the story of the pilot of the Black Marine-type, conveniently leaving out the fact that it was the pilot who had given him his hunch about Shiro.

"I felt weird, watching it all happen. It was almost like reliving the Apsulas incident all over again." He concluded. "'Course, I figured you could probably sympathise, given your similar circumstance."

"No," Karen shook her head. "There are no similarities, and I don't harbour any sympathy. From what you've told me, it seems like this Cirrus woman just allowed herself to be consumed by bitterness and respite, while I accepted what happened to me as an unfortunate turn of events, but still moved on. Do you think I'd turn traitor because of what happened to me? Hell no. The people that do, only succeed in clouding the purpose of the war with their own personal feelings. I just put my faith in God and know that when He took my husband from me, He did it with good reason.

"I don't blame anyone for what happened; this is war, and people always die in wars. You always think it's gonna be somebody else, but eventually, that somebody else turns out to be you. When my time comes up-and I'll wait `til it comes up naturally-I'll be ready, and I don't want anybody blaming what happened to me on anybody."

"Hm, that's pretty deep." He watched her take a sip from her coffee and nod. "But what are you going to do until it's `your time'?"

"I'll live my life, and fight for my cause. Hopefully, I'll make some friends along the way. The Eighth Team was like my family, and now, I guess I've got to make some new bonds with the 107th, huh?"

"Looks like you'll get your chance sooner than you've planned. Check your six," he pointed behind her.

"Aw fuck! I didn't mean I wanted to bond now!" she groaned as she saw Duo walking over to their table.

"And on that note…" Sanders stood and left the table, leaving her to sit and grumble.

The kid shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Uh, me and the team-that is, me and Kiyone, Alex hasn't had any input yet, he's still recovering-me and Kiyone were planning on going out to celebrate the Holiday and our victory tonight by going out this evening, once we get our leave."

"Okay, and? You need me to sign off on that? Good, it'll give me a chance for some peace this evening."

"Well, actually, we…we were wondering if you might want to join us." `There! I said it!'

He braced himself for her wrath. "Do you really think I'd want to associate with a bunch of snot-nosed punks like you?" she'd say. "Get the hell out of here! And your leave is denied!"

In reality, Karen was taken aback by the proposal. "You really want me to come? After all that shit I put you all through?"

"Uh-huh. It's either that, or we take a big chunk out of our salaries and go someplace fancy." `I guess she's not going to blow up after all' he almost relaxed.

"Let's hit the bar, I don't know how well some hard-ass soldiers like us might fit in at someplace fancy."

"All righty commander. I guess we'll catch you later." `So now we're hard-asses? Amazing!' He started to walk away.

"Hold up a sec, Duo." Karen got up to follow him. "How's Alex doing in the recovery room?"

"I haven't seen yet, but I'd surmise he was okay. Kiyone told me he probably had like a few cracked ribs, so I guess a couple hours off this rig won't hurt him too bad."

"Okay. Just thought I'd ask. Well, if we're going drinking, I'm gonna get rested up. I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted."

The two of them left the mess hall and continued down the corridor to the dormitories.

"I heard that. But did you know that you and I fought for approximately five hours? Kiyo-chan and Alex only managed four and a half." He could hardly believe he was talking so candidly with Karen of all people. He didn't know what'd come over her but he was really glad it did.

"That's it? It felt like forever! Oh, this is me." They stopped before her room, one of the many flat green doors set against the white walls. "It sure was nice of them to set us and SR company up on board until the Brass can figure out what to do with us. Come and get me when it's time to go."

As he was walking he was surprised to see Trowa coming down the hall in the opposite direction. "Hey Trowa!" he called out as he sped up to talk with his old friend.

"We're alright. One minor injury, but nothing too serious. Our battlecruiser was destroyed yesterday and all our MS were wrecked so they just let us stay on board while our man recovered."

Trowa snickered "The curse of the immortal Fifth team! You guys always go out and wreck every suit you get your hands on. But now you got Kiyone in on it too!" He then turned serious, "Yeah, pretty much the same with us. One major injury and the Gettysburg suffered major damage. My CO says it'll be at least a week before it's up and running again, so, until otherwise ordered, we're stuck here."

"That's too bad. Hey, have you seen Hilde recently? There's something really important I need to talk to her about."

Trowa looked at him a moment before answering. "You haven't heard? Hilde was the one in our unit who got injured. It was pretty bad too; her leg was pierced by shrapnel during the battle and had to be amputated."

"Hilde! My God, are you okay? What the hell happened to you? Are you gonna be all right?" he asked all the questions in one breath.

"Yeah, the operation went okay from what I was told. I'd passed out long beforehand, but when I woke up, well…" her voice trailed as she pointed to the smooth spot in the sheets where her leg should have been.

"Holy, shit!" Duo exclaimed as he took a seat in one of the padded chairs next to her bed. "Are you sure you're okay?"

She smiled at him. "Of course I am. It'll take more than this to get me down!" Her voice then dropped into a mocking chide. "But how come you didn't drop by sooner? I didn't know you were already onboard."

"I didn't know you were laid up! I just happened to run into Trowa in the hallway and he told me you were injured, and, just like any good friend, I rushed over to cheer you up."

Then his eyes wandered up to the big bouquet of tropical flowers on the nightstand on the other side of the bed. "But, ah, it looks like somebody already beat me to it…" he looked at her questioningly.

"Oh, those," she blushed a little. "Well, my team mates found me before you did and brought these up. Heh, go figure, I guess."

"Right…" there was still a trace of suspicion in his voice but he let it drop. "Did you hear the good news? We took Solomon! Isn't that a great Christmas gift for everybody in the Federation?"

"I did hear about that. It's all they're playing on the T.V." she pointed to the flat screen on the far wall.

"Yeah. Doesn't that make you feel great that we actually got to help out in something like that? It makes me feel real important."

"You should. I bet your team performed really well. Kiyone and Alex aren't the kind of people to go around messing up on an important mission like that; remember how well we all fought together in New England?"

"But don't you think its funny how we all ended up together again? I mean, you can't tell me it wasn't fate that we all landed here on the same medical ship."

She groaned and started to get mad. "Not those two! God, I finally got to where I'm three thousand kilometres away from that damn schweinhund Gene and now you have to go and bring him up again. I'd almost forgotten him!"

He laughed at her, playfully, and then returned to their previous conversation. "Do you think you'll be up and around before too long?"

"Yeah, I guess so." She still sounded peeved, but he could tell it was about something much more important now. "It really won't matter if I get better or not. My CO won't let me go off and fight in the next battle."

"And he shouldn't either. You have no way of knowing when the next battle may be, and with your…affliction, you won't be able to pilot effectively."

"Are you shitting me? There are ways to modify a GM so it can be worked with only one foot pedal. Trust me, I've got a degree in engineering from the academy."

"Yeah, I don't doubt that. But I still don't think it's a very good idea," he said, shifting position as he changed the subject. "Um, you know…I sort of have a gift for you too…"

"Really? You do?" Her eyes shone like sapphires as she waited anxiously for his response.

"Uh-huh," he stammered nervously. His palms were beginning to sweat as he wiped them on the leg of the khaki uniform pants. "S-something really nice!"

"Uh, um…" the sweat was beading on his forehead now as he fumbled in his pocket for the little box. "W-will…you…"

"Will…you…excuse me please, I need to use the restroom!" He got up and bolted from the room.

"Hey! What about my gift?" she called out after him, wondering what on earth it could have been.

The pale walls of the interrogation chamber of the EFS Frigate Eros, Heero Yuy awoke from another lapse into unconsciousness bound to a cold metal chair. How many hours had passed now, since he blacked out this time? Five? Seven? He couldn't remember being extricated from the Dom, let alone anything recent.

Slowly it began to come back to him. He had been locked in combat against a Fed GM, trying to defend Solomon, but something had gone wrong. He had been defeated, and left for dead until the Feddie salvage units had landed on the asteroid like the vultures they were.

After that, everything got very vague. He remembered a woman speaking over him as he was being bound and drugged in the room, but no other details were within reach.

At that moment the door opened and two armed guards stepped in followed by a striking blonde woman-the same woman he thought he had seen earlier. She was smoking a cigar a pulled up another metal chair and sat across from him, crossing her legs in a very sultry manner. In fact, everything about her seemed to suggest that she knew full and well that she had everything a man could want and knew how to use it.

"Well, well. It's nice to see you again Heero." she said, her voice dripping with honey.

"You're no friend of mine," he said in undisguised revulsion. "I know all about what you've been up to, and, in case you haven't noticed, I am no longer a part of the Federation."

"My, and here I was under the impression that you were one of our best agents. I never would've believed that you were a Zeon all along. But why? What could they have offered you to make you betray your own countrymen? Betray me?"

In a brief fit of rage, she stood and slapped him across his face, her ring drawing blood on his cheek. "I wasn't asking nicely, dammit!" she raged, "I'm ordering you to tell me what you were doing! It was that Rei girl, wasn't it? Well, I've got news for you, Heero, your little `girlfriend' is dead now; space dust; kaputt. You've got nothing left. Talk!"

He looked at her balefully as she walked back towards the entrance. "You are not my commanding officer anymore. You have no authority to order me to do anything. Besides, as I'm sure you're aware, that little stunt you just pulled was a clear violation of Article IV, section 2, paragraph 3 of the Antarctic Treaty; I could get you in some very deep shit for that."

Her composure restored with profession speed, Alice flashed him a predatory grin. She turned and strolled casually over to where the guards stood at the entrance of the cell and pulled a retractable metal truncheon from the belt of the one to her right. The guard looked perplexed by her forwardness but said nothing as she turned to face the captive again, slapping the weapon in her open palm. "Well, I may not be able to order you…" her voice sweet but surrendering to its own audibly dangerous undertone "but I can threaten you. Now, shall we parley?"

She pulled back and smashed him in the ribs. Two cracked audibly and he explosively vomited blood across the tiled floor. Wiping the saliva from her face, Alice stepped daintily over the crimson pool and whispered in his ear, "In my entire career at Intel, I have only failed to convict a spy once." She walked around in front of him again and raised his chin with the end of the truncheon. Her cobalt blue eyes drilled deeply into his own, "and I will not fail again."

"I…won't…talk…you…bi-" Heero passed out again before he could finish issuing his statement of defiance.

"Stubborn as he always was." Miller turned on her heel and started out the door, returning the truncheon to the guard as he and his comrade followed her down the hall.

They had almost reached her office when one of the guards spoke up. "Begging your pardon, Ms. Miller, but how do you know that Zeek guy in there?"

Without even looking over her shoulder, she responded, "I don't think that's any of your business, soldier, and I'd thank you not to ask about it again."

"Yeah, but he kinda had a point, though, don't ya think? I mean, we aren't sp'osed to beat up POWs, even if they are spies."

That remark was enough to make Miller stop and look him full in the face. "Drop it," she said in the same frightening tone she had used before, "You're not a spy so we'd hardly need to waste space in the brig for you." She then stepped inside her newly refurbished office and slammed the door.

Silent Requiem This fanfic is complete.

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Silent Requiem

Chapter 9: Inter-Bellum 2