Here's a preliminary first chapter/teaser/concept for something my friends
and I have been working on. This is an alternate reality fic for Gundam
Wing that takes place in a universe called the Shadow World (terribly
creative name, ne? :P) Which is basically a place I cooked up that I could
transplant any anime series to and have all sorts of fun supernatural stuff
(vampires, werewolves, etc) occuring in. I decided I wanted to put Gundam
Wing there, so here it is. ^^;;;; The title "Acherontia Atropos" is just
the working title, but I like it because at least to me, it makes a lot of
sense with what's going to be happening in this story, should I write it.
If you don't know what the title refers to (and I bet a lot of you will
know!!!)...heh heh heh...I ain't tellin. ;) E-mail me if you don't know and
want a hint, though, just for fun. C&C welcome, please keep in mind that
this is alternate reality, so nothing that occured in the real time line
necessarily applies. (Though I did carry over a lot of stuff. ^^) If anyone
out there is interested in joining in with me and the other shadow world
writers (three thus far) please e-mail me and let me know. ^^;;;;

Oh yeah...and is anyone out there? Or is something wrong? I haven't gotten
any mail from this list for the past three days or so, and I'm starting to
get scared....


--
Katsu "O-ka-ne" no Miko
"Erst wenn die Wolken schlafen gehen
kann man uns am Himmel sehen
wir haben Angst und sind allein...
Gott weiss ich wil kein Engel sein..." (~Ramms+ein~)



Warning: The characters belong to who they belong to and not me. Don't sue
me, I'm not worth your time. Special thanks to Laurell K. Hamilton for
writing the Anita Blake novels.
Addtional warning: Characters acting wildly OOC. You have been warned.
Additional Additional warning: Alternate reality fic. Events that have
happened or will happen in this reality not necessarily connected to what
happened in the real series in any way. Don't wave the time line at me, I
am beyond it now. A HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!
Additional Additional Additional warning: Extreme supernatural action.
Supernatural abilities are as defined by me in the shadow world, where this
takes place.


Acherontia Atropos


There was a time when I used to think that things couldn�t get any more
complicated. Yeah, right. Shows you how much I knew. That was when I had
first been introduced to my new partner, a machine capable of mass
destruction, which I am now firmly convinced is at least as intelligent as
me, even though it�s pretty good at playing dumb. That was when I�d first
gotten to earth, and was up to my elbows in blood�but at least it was all
human blood�or so I thought. That was when I first discovered that I was in
love with my other partner, the human one�and he just so happened to be
another guy. Shit. I really did think that that was as complicated as it
could get. More fool me.

That was before I had my first brush with something that wasn�t natural, or
human, or the tiniest bit logical.

Like everyone else, I used to believe that there was no such thing as
magic, that the monsters under the bed or in the closet weren�t real and
would turn into dust when the light hit them. Yeah, it sounds really na�ve,
but what do you want. In a world where we had to kill and run to survive, I
had to have something to cling to.

But then I learned that everything they taught us in school about science
and logic wasn�t worth the paper it was written on. Hey, the people that
wrote that stuff lived in the same blissful ignorance as me, so I can�t
blame them. But it doesn�t mean that I have to like the weltering cesspit
of weirdness my life has become any better.

A year ago, my human partner, Heero, died. Up until that point, my life had
been going along as well as it could, considering I�d been turned into some
sort of strange guerilla freedom fighter at the tender age of fifteen. But
then Heero managed to self-destruct and actually do it RIGHT for once, and
things really went down the tubes. I�d thought�well�managed to convince
myself that I�d just liked Heero, or maybe just lusted after him a
little�well, a lot�but I hadn�t done a thing about it because I was and
still am all for self-preservation, and trying to tie the Perfect Soldier
down for a evening of lustful, sinful play just didn�t seem like the way to
survive to live another day. That, and I wasn�t entirely sure what to do,
myself. Loving another man just didn�t jive with anything I�d ever been
taught. So I held back and tried to muddle through things on my own. It
didn�t work at all.

I found out the hard way that what I felt for Heero wasn�t just like or
casual lust. When what you feel is that simple, losing the person you�re
focused on hurts, sure, but not how it hurt me. When I lost Heero, I lost a
part of myself that I didn�t even know existed. Half of what I was got
suddenly ripped away. Shit, I know it sounds all mystical when I say it
like that, but I can�t think of a better way to describe it. When Heero
died, I was not just devastated. I was dead, too.

So I did some stupid things. Thank God the rest of the guys were being a
hell of a lot smarter than I was.

Now, before I go any further, I just want to say, don�t get me wrong. I
don�t normally even think about my problems like this. They aren�t
important enough. But this is something that has to get out of my system,
and it�s the main reason that my life is as messed up as it is today.

That psycho Relena managed to get a hold of Heero�s body, and she was
throwing a huge, overdramatized funeral service, which of course I and the
other pilots crashed. I wasn�t feeling real rational at that point. I ran
up to the coffin, grabbed Heero�s body�and this is where things really took
a turn for the bizarre�I started saying something, some sort of ritual
thing that no one can remember no matter how hard they try. I�m not sure
what I said, or why I said it�it was like remembering a tiny piece of
something you�ve completely forgotten. That�s how disjointed it was. But
anyway�I started saying all this odd stuff, and then I kissed Heero�s
corpse on the lips�and here�s the REALLY fucked up part�

HE OPENED HIS EYES!

I tell no lie. He started breathing again, his heart started beating, he
was alive. It was like something out of those old fairy tales, except the
problem is, everyone knows that stuff like that is not really supposed to
happen!

Not that I�m objecting. God no. The instant Heero opened his eyes�it�s hard
to describe�but�I wasn�t alone. Not any more. I was a whole person again.

That night, Heero and I slept together. No, not sex or anything. We just
went to sleep in each other�s arms. I�ve never felt that good in my entire
life.

But since then, things have gone back to normal. No one mentions what
happened, I think because we�re all too confused to deal with it. It could
have been me, it could have been some kind of magic, it could have been
God, though sometimes I wonder if I can believe in Him any more. Who the
hell knows.

After that first night, Heero and I haven�t touched each other or done
anything beyond the boundaries of pure friendship. It�s driving me nuts.
But at the same time I�m not going to be the one to say anything. I already
lost Heero once, and it almost killed me. I don�t want to risk losing him
again.

Heero, of course, is just being�well�Heero. As if that�s not bad enough.

And right now, he�s here, sitting at his scarred-up school issue desk,
typing on that god damn laptop of his. Wearing only a pair of crisp, white
boxers.

Sometimes I think that I�m stupid for wondering if there is a god. It�s
pretty obvious that there�s one up there, and he�s having a lot of fun
making my life hell.

***

I let out a soft  sigh and brought myself back to harsh old reality to find
myself staring blankly at a tattered manga. It was one of my new ones�a
historical one this time, about a legendary sword guy that swore off
killing. Interesting stuff.

Not that I could concentrate on it. Hell no. But come on, how could anyone
concentrate on anything when the object of all their lusts, embarrassing
dreams and dirty thoughts is sitting not five feet away from them, clad
only in a pair of thin cotton boxer shorts. My life is just too damn hard
some times. I think I should get put up for sainthood when I die.

The room was completely silent except for the steady clacking of the keys
of Heero�s laptop. I and the other pilots have been to a lot of schools
before in our travels, but I�d have to say that this one took the cake as
far as cheap, tiny rooms went. I�m talking about something smaller than a
bread box, here. The two narrow beds in the room were practically side by
side, and this time around, we had to share a desk. The bathroom�well, I
don�t know what to compare it with. If I wanted to take my life into my
hands and attempt to dry off in the bathroom and away from Mr. Perfect
Soldier, I had to get into the shower stall to do it, or else risk falling
over the toilet. About the only thing this prison cell of a dorm room had
going for it was the fact that it was clean, new, and had some good wiring
for my stereo system.

Not that Heero ever let me turn my stereo system ON when he was in the
room.

God, what could be worse than being trapped with a roommate in the tiny elf
room from hell? Being trapped with a roommate that I was terminally,
hopelessly in love with.

And terrified of.

With a sigh, I put the manga on my face and let my eyes go all unfocused.
Heero just kept typing away, completely oblivious. Damn him. The silence
stretched out longer and longer�funny how I didn�t notice it until I
thought about it�until I just couldn�t handle it any more.

Some people say I talk too much. I say, take a look at my roommate. It�s
self defense, pure and simple.

�Ne, Heero?�

No answer.

�Heero!�

�Aa?�

Hot dog. A response, and only on the second try. I was in business. I
pulled the manga off my face, hoping that I wasn�t leaving any smears of
ink behind on my nose, and sat up. �Watcha lookin at?�

�Information on this school.�

I waited, just to see if he would elaborate on his own. No luck. �What kind
of information?�

Heero swiveled slightly in his chair and fixed me with one of his glares.
You get that kind of look from a wolf right before it decides you�re a
threat or food, and attacks. A normal person would have gotten the hint and
left him the hell alone. After dealing with him for over a year, though,
I�ve gained some immunity. �Well?� I grinned at him.

Heero snorted and turned his attention back to the laptop. The keys started
clicking again. �Baka.� Was his only comment.

�Come on, damnit, tell me! It�s not nice to tease!� I jumped off of my bed
and tried to look over his shoulder. For once, he let me, which made today
something to mark down on the calendar. Some girl�s school file was on the
screen; picture, class schedule, pertinent information, uniform size� �Why
Heero, I never figured you for the voyeuristic type��

He ignored me. Just peachy. Better to be ignored than to be hit. I guess. I
leaned over Heero�s shoulder to take a better look at the file. One thing I
have to say is, Heero�s gotten a lot easier with casual touching ever since
his�damn, I never know what to call it�his brush with death. So friendly
touching is ok now. Most of the time. The rest of it, though�damn, I gotta
stop thinking about this stuff.  Anyway�the file. It belonged to one
Kishiro Ayako.

Kishiro Ayako. Something about the name struck me as familiar. For a long
moment, I leaned over Heero�s shoulder, thinking�then I finally remembered.
Ayako was one of the girls in my class. Quiet, unobtrusive, kept to
herself�didn�t hang all over me like most of the other girls, which was
probably why I hadn�t noticed her that much. I was too busy flirting with
the other girls. Me, an attention hound? Naw.

It took me a couple minutes longer to realize it, but Ayako hadn�t been in
class today. Or yesterday, for that matter. And as little as I knew about
her, she still didn�t quite strike me as the type to just ditch class. I�m
surprised I thought of it, actually�the teacher hadn�t even remarked on her
absence. Kind of sad when not even the adult supervision notices that
you�re gone. �Ne, Heero, she wasn�t in class today, right? Why are you
looking at her file?�

Again, no answer. I kept leaning over him, though. I could feel warmth
rising from his body in waves, and it felt nice to be that close to him.
Isn�t great how I like torturing myself? A half hearted wave of suspicion
formed itself in my brain. �Heero�you didn�t do anything to her, right?�

Heero actually snorted. Again. Who says he doesn�t have a sense of humor.
�Baka.� He said flatly. �I saw she was missing, just like you. Her dorm
room has been cleaned out.�

�Changing schools?� That was a perfectly good explanation. People normally
didn�t do it midway through a term, but hey, if we could do it, so could
she.

�No transfer order or explanation. Parents have been contacted. They don�t
know anything about it.�

�Shit�� Without thinking about it, I put a hand on his shoulder. There was
something, almost like a jolt of what I felt a year ago when Heero had
become warm in my arms. I snatched my hand away and sat back down on my
bed, trying to keep my breathing at a normal level. Heero just looked at me
from over his shoulder for a moment. Damn him and his lack of facial
expressions anyway. �So are we looking at a kidnapping?�

�We aren�t looking at anything.� Heero stated flatly. One key clicked, and
the girl�s file disappeared off the screen. Somehow, it just didn�t seem
right, to be able to dismiss someone�s life that easily. �I was curious.�

�Just curious.�

�Aa. If this is a crime, it�s not our job to deal with it.�

I shook my head. �Yeah, our job. Right.� I lay back in my bed for a moment.
The manga scattered all over the blanket were square bumps along my back.
�So she just disappeared. No struggle or anything. Room packed up neat as
you please, ready for a new student.�

�Aa. This has happened before recently at this school.�

He sounded so goddamn dispassionate. It hurt, and I couldn�t even begin to
explain why. I wondered if he�d sound just like that and say the same
things if I disappeared. It wasn�t fair of me to think that of him,
considering that as long as I�ve lived with Heero, I still have no idea how
his mind works, not really. He can�t be the Perfect Soldier all the time,
can he? There had to be someone real under there, right? Someone for me,
maybe?

I growled at myself internally and rolled out of bed, standing to go to the
door. I ended up almost nose to nose with Heero. He�d gotten up out of his
chair, and I�d been so stuck on my own thoughts that I hadn�t even heard
him. Not good.

For a long, long moment, I found myself staring into those beautiful blue
eyes of his. I felt like I was drowning in them. All I wanted to do, right
then, was reach out and touch him.

I could still hear him, though. That dispassionate voice, mentioning the
fact that Ayako was missing. Like he was calmly observing that it was
supposed to rain tomorrow, or that we were out of shoe polish. All of a
sudden, I just wanted to yell at him, or hit him, or do something, anything
to get a reaction. Instead, I grabbed my jacket and shoved past him,
brushing against him a lot more than I wanted to right then, to get to the
door. �I�m going for a walk. I�ll be back in a while.� The door shut firmly
behind me, cutting off anything that he might have said. Not that I really
thought he was going to say anything.

�Damnit.� I muttered as I slouched down the hall. It was dark, no one was
up, I didn�t have to worry about anyone seeing me looking abnormally pissed
off or upset. Further down the hall, in the direction I was headed, a door
opened, and yellow, buttery light spilled out across the floor. It
definitely didn�t go with my mood. I made myself smile, though, in case the
room�s occupant saw me.

It was Wufei. Great. Just great. The one guy that I can�t bluff. I grinned
at him anyway, hoping that the expression was reaching my eyes.

Wufei opened his door a little wider and leaned against the door frame. It
looked like he�d just gotten out of the shower�his hair was not in the
usual pony tail, and tracks of water glittered on his chest in the light.
He was just wearing a set of loose white pants. And wearing them quite
well, I might add.

Shit. I keep trying to tell myself that what I feel for Heero is special,
and has nothing to do with gender, but I�m really starting to think that
maybe I am gay. Just another thing to deal with. Wufei is great, though,
probably the best friend I have. He was the one that cajoled, threatened,
and talked me into promising to stay alive no matter what a year ago. Other
than a little casual noting of how great his bod looks at times, Wufei has
stayed strictly in the category of friend and nothing more, which is a
relief to me. I don�t need another man complicating my life. One�s enough
for me, thank you very much.

�Duo.� he said quietly.

I stopped in front of him, not stepping in the pool of light that the door
was letting out of the room. Kind of like that little game some kids still
play�not stepping on the cracks in the sidewalk. Yeah. Or maybe I just feel
more comfortable in the dark. Who knows. �Yeah, Wu-man?�

�I heard a noise. Must have been your door. What are you doing out here?�

Direct as always. I sighed, and decided to be direct right back for once.
�Going for a walk.�

Wufei raised an eyebrow. �In the middle of the night.�

�Yeah. In the middle of the night. I didn�t feel like being trapped in my
room any more.� /with him./ I didn�t have to finish the thought aloud. We
both knew what I was running from. Yeah, running. No better word for it.

�You should just try talking to him, Duo.�

�We�ve been over this before, Wu. I don�t want to lose him again, and I
might if I say anything. Who knows. And besides�I don�t think you want to
have to pick up the pieces again.�

�Aa.� Wufei smiled slyly. �I�ve had enough of your belly aching to last a
life time. I don�t need any more.�

�Jerk.� I grinned at him. �Look, I�m just going to take a walk. I�ve done
it before. I�ll be careful, Death�s honor.�

Wufei nodded. �If you want to talk��

�I know where to find your room. Daijoubu.� I grinned at him and then
started walking again, cutting right through the pool of light on the
hallway floor. See? Easy.

�Aa. Daijoubu.� I heard Wufei�s door shut behind me.

A couple doors later, I was out of the school and slouching my way down the
street. Sometimes, I wish Wufei hadn�t turned into such a good friend. He
makes me want to talk to him about stuff that I�m personally not ready to
deal with�not that I�ll EVER be ready to deal with it, mind you. But the
good thing about him is, he knows when it�s important to push, and when he
should just leave it alone. And he�d definitely made the right choice this
time around.

It was a nice night out, just edging its way toward spring�so nippy enough
that I needed the jacket, but not cold enough to drive me indoors any time
soon. I�m skinny, ok? Getting cold easy goes with the territory. I really
wonder how Heero does it, sometimes, sticking with spandex even in the
middle of winter. It make certain parts of my anatomy cringe just thinking
about it.

Damn. I had to stop thinking about Heero. I needed to relax, or else I�d
never be able to get to sleep.

I was starting to like the night more and more. When I was little, I didn�t
like it very much. Not many little kids do, and after I lost everything for
the second time around, I really hated it, because I�d dream. The dreams
don�t bother me any more, not really, because after dealing with them for
years and years, nightmares start to lose their shock value.

It wasn�t that, though, not really. Just lately, I�ve been feeling more and
more comfortable at night. More sure of myself, a little stronger, the
whole nine yards. Which was just as well, considering I�m out here, taking
walks night after night, trying to keep myself from either kissing or
killing Heero.

I do this WAY too much.

The sky was totally clear, that special clarity you see only in the last
few days of winter when spring�s wrestling the year from its cold grip. I
could see the stars like they went on forever, like tiny little ice shards
on black top. The moon was waxing, about five or six days from full. It
went with the rest of the night d�cor; some atmospheric trick had colored
it a cool, soothing blue.

Just walking was making me feel a lot better. I hated being trapped in that
tiny little room. There wasn�t any room to move in it, and that drives me
nuts. Hyperactive, me? Maybe. Or maybe just a little claustrophobic. Being
trapped in an enclosed space while piloting Shinigami is a little different
from being trapped in an enclosed space where I wasn�t doing much of
anything. Besides�Shinigami is Shinigami. It�s hard to feel claustrophobic
when you feel like you�re riding in the embrace of an old friend. Never
mind the fact that you�re killing people and blowing shit up at the same
time. Details, details.

I was rapidly approaching the line of ornamental trees that marked the
edges of the school grounds. They line the fence along the teacher�s
parking lot, which was what I was currently walking through. Occasionally,
my foot kicked up a paper bag or a bunch of soggy leaves, sending them
scuffing along the pavement. Time to turn around. I wasn�t pissed or upset
enough to take the entire trek through the woods to one of this crappy
little town�s myriad of bars. No, I was only mildly annoyed, so I decided
to turn around just as the skeletal shadows of the trees reached up to
touch the horizon.

I turned to head back, and four things happened in quick succession. The
little gold cross that I always wore around my neck suddenly lit up like a
halogen lamp, blinding me.

I said �What the hell?� mostly because I�m not used to jewelry acting like
that.

There was a very, very soft sound, like a breath of wind moving around a
few of the soggy leaves I�d been kicking up before. Except there was no
wind.  I started to turn around, but slowly, way too slowly.

Something big, heavy, and very fast that smelled a little bit like snakes
and a lot like blood hit me from behind and took me down to the ground,
doing its level best to grind my head through the pavement.