Archiving: Just ask!
Warnings: None
Comments: Epilogue to "Turnaround." And the usual: don't own GW, never have, probably never will, don't sue me.
Blame: All mine.
Turnaround: Epilogue by Shinigami's Demon
The corridor was soundless. Duo smiled: all was as it should be, since the chrono inside the pod read 2300 hours. //Eleven o'clock and all's not well: you have a stowaway!//
The barge had been under way for three days without a stop, so Duo figured it was probably time to emerge. He cracked the hatch of the pod and stepped out, then closed it again. He pulled out a screwdriver to get into the ventilation system, and froze when a cold gun barrel was placed at his neck.
"Freeze," came a voice from behind. "I don't know who you are or what the hell you're doing here but let me tell you, you sure picked a bad place to be stowing away. Hands up: turn around slowly." Duo did as told. It was the man Meredith had identified as Howard, in another one of those Hawaiian shirts, and with backup. He watched the men imperiously, the way Sister Helen always had when Christina or Amy or Sarah was being a brat, even when his hands were cuffed behind him.
"Take me to Professor G, please."
Howard gave him a funny look. "Nice try, kid, but this is my ship. And the professor's asleep. Nobody's even supposed to know about us. I don't know how the hell you got here, but you can get off the same way you got on, I assume the main airlock, right now. Space him, boys." The two Sweepers with him each took one arm and lifted him bodily from the floor.
"Wait." A nasally voice came from the shadows. "He wants to see me, let him see me." A man stepped out of the shadows. He had more hair than Howard did, but equally bad: this looked like a grey mushroom on top of his head. And Duo had never seen a nose that extended quite that far from the face it was attached to. He was somewhat hunchbacked and hardly handsome, but his eyes sparkled with good humor. "So, we've got a little stowaway street rat here?"
"I'm not a street rat: I'm the God of Death!" Duo retorted. He just hoped nobody looked at his hands: one hand was just about free. He'd had a lot of practice. "I was told to let you see the necklace I'm wearing- not that, the one on the leather cord," he clarified for the Sweeper who pulled it out, "and to tell you this exactly. �The scorpion sends the phoenix with her greetings.�"
Professor G's face changed from amusement to mild surprise. "I thought it might be you. And three days would be the minimum for a safety margin. Let him go."
"G-"
"I *said,* let him go! He's under my protection."
Duo smiled and brought his hands around from behind his back, twirling the cuffs on finger. All jaws dropped, except for G's. "Won't be necessary."
"That was fast. I had not expected that. Tell me, are you any good with mobile suits?"
Duo snorted. "I'm the sole survivor of the Maxwell Church Bombing because of that. I was stealing a Leo from the Feds when it happened. I lived there."
"I see." G was silent for a moment. "Come with me."
They went to the room the old man was occupying and he started up a computer. "Would you be willing to do anything to bring the Federation down?"
"Yes."
"Would you want to pilot a mobile suit made especially for you, a suit better than any Leo? A Gundam, to be precise?"
"Hell, yes."
"It would not be a piece of cake. I will train you hard: you will be one of five and your skills must be on par with theirs. Three of them have already started their training: you are behind, and must become proficient in tactics, combat with and without mobile suits... In short, everything that a soldier does, you must be able to do, faster and better. There is a great deal to learn. Are you willing to work, to obey my orders without question?"
"Yes...sir..."
The professor smiled. "That won't be necessary, calling me 'sir.' I am an officer in no military. Just call me Professor."
"Yes, Professor."
"There is one more thing. You have made a commitment to me now. There is no going back. I am fairly lenient, but if you disobey my orders I will have you eliminated and start over. Understood?"
"Yes, Professor."
"Good. First order: turn in and get some sleep. If you don't object to sleeping in here for tonight I can have quarters arranged for you tomorrow."
"Aye, aye." He took the pillow and the blanket that the engineer offered him and made himself a pallet on the floor. G turned in as well, and in a little while was asleep, loud snores resounding off the metal walls of the cabin. Duo looked up at the cold steel ceiling.
//I've taken the first step, Sister Helen. You asked me to fight. Perhaps not literally, but here I am. I'm going to fight. I'm going to make sure that Maxwell Church doesn't happen again. Interesting. They struck where it hurt me the most. Now they�ve made an enemy to the end. I swear I�ll hurt them as badly. Turn and turn about: it�s only fair play, and all�s fair in war.//