Witness the Phoenix by The Manwell

Summary: As Wufei tries to maintain his comrades’ solidarity, he cannot possibly imagine that the big picture is much, much bigger than he’d imagined.

Pairings: 1+2+3 & 5+4

Warnings: Language, Angst, Sensuality, Shounen-ai PG-13

Notes: This story is the final installment in a 4-part series called The Possession Arc.

. . .

- Eight -

By the time Quatre is shouldering open the door to the roof of Preventer Headquarters, Heero’s challenge is an echo in the charged air:

“If you refuse to concede, then prepare yourself for battle.”

Quatre’s heart seems to stutter in shock as he takes in the desolate battlefield across which his once-upon-a-time comrade faces a man who history has believed to be dead since before Quatre had been born... the real Heero Yuy.

Quatre closes his eyes, utilizing his empathic senses to classify the sentient beings in his midst. He “sees” Trowa, a brightly burning flame of purpose beside him in the shadows of the stairwell. And when he turns to the beings on the roof, his breath catches in his throat. For here are no mere mortals. No, if what his senses are telling him is true, then, the beings braced for confrontation are in fact...

“Angels,” Quatre breathes in the darkness. On his shoulder, Trowa’s grasp tightens.

He focuses completely on Trowa’s former bondmate, but realizes immediately that this is not the youth he remembers. Gone is the anger, the self-reproach, the resentment. In place, Quatre senses a being that is focused on a singular purpose: the destruction of its enemy. Its intent is a culmination of the bitterest cold – a motionless chill unlike anything Quatre has ever witnessed. And when Quatre turns to the opponent, he senses a roiling, frothing chaos of heat and existence. Finally, Quatre understands:

The angel of peace and destruction will make war against the angel of chaos and creation.

Quatre would have gasped had the situation not been so dire. Later, he will recall the teachings of his father’s religious confidant. In the aftermath of this fight, Quatre will recall reading ancient and obscure texts in the monk’s private library describing the source of all good and evil on Earth as arising from the conflict between Asha and Druj, the angels of peace and war, the agents of destruction and creation.

The hand grasping his shoulder tightens and Quatre realizes he’s leaning too far beyond the stairwell door. Although Trowa says nothing, Quatre understands that in this fight, they must not interfere.

And then light erupts from the former Heero Yuy of the colonies – Druj. Light that burns the eyes and reaches through skin to illuminate mortal organs with painful clarity. And from that light leaps beasts of all sizes and shapes: undulating mythical monsters that breathe fire; muscled and furred cats with wicked claws and teeth and feathered wings; steel-beaked gryphons with fiery eyes; and nearly a dozen more whose dark, terrifying shapes humanity has only glimpsed in the depths of their darkest night terrors.

With a word from the angel of chaos, they charge toward their prey. But the angel of peace is not without its own defense. Asha uses no words, just a single gesture, as if he is striking a hammer against the surface of the building’s roof. The sun-baked, cracked asphalt and concrete ripple like waves on the surface of a pond. Concentric circles expand beyond the force which had created them. And then the matter surrounding Asha shatters, shifts. Quatre realizes it’s a thirteenth-storey earthquake.

But this has not stopped the beasts. They are almost upon Asha, who closes his eyes and clasps his hands with an ear-splitting crack. Quatre gasps as the air suddenly shifts, spinning violently towards Asha, as if someone had removed every air molecule surrounding the angel. He watches as a tornado tears the torn asphalt, concrete, metal, and brick from the building and gathers it all into the storm and enclosing the creatures in the roaring funnel. Although Quatre cannot hear their screams, he knows that they will not be released until every last one of them has been completely destroyed.

Asha does not wait to evaluate the efficacy of the storm. Asha, who but for its icy ferocity, would have looked exactly like the Heero Yuy that Quatre has known for years, launches toward his nemesis. His form shivers, shifts, moves faster than Quatre can perceive. Druj counters. And this time, Quatre can see the weapons they each wield.

With each shift of its form, Asha seems to gather and throw a spear-shaped object. It takes Quatre a moment to realize that the spears are in fact debris from the destruction of the roof. And just as quickly, Quatre realizes that Druj deflects each missile with practiced motions of two exquisitely glowing swords.

Feeling equally spellbound and helpless, Quatre watches as the angels circle each other. Their forms disappear and then instantaneously reappear in different locations long enough for the weapons of each to strike and clash against the other’s.

And then, just when Quatre thinks that this battle cannot go on forever with each so equally matched, Asha’s form wavers, seeming to shimmer in the air, instantly summoning multiple crude lances aimed at Druj.

And then unthinkable happens.

Duo appears between them.

Quatre stares even as Trowa’s hand clenches painfully in his shoulder and they watch as a rainstorm of projectiles coalesces in the air and strikes the barrier that stands before their target.

“No!” Trowa shouts, the air heating up dangerously around them. Quatre gasps and watches Duo slump to the rubble, makeshift spears lodged in his body.

Automatically, Quatre reaches out to feed Duo energy, but he finds nothing that can receive his offering: Duo Maxwell’s heart is still.

“Save him!” Trowa yells into Quatre’s ear over the ruckus of the still-spinning storm.

But Quatre cannot. He turns away from Duo’s empty and lifeless gaze and finds himself witnessing a smugly satisfied smile on Druj’s handsome face. Opposite him, Asha no longer seems to be there. In its place is the young former Gundam pilot, Heero Yuy, who looks heartbroken and enraged, one hand clutching a bloody arm where Druj’s blade must have struck a glancing blow.

Furious with grief, Quatre reaches out for the energy of an angel. Druj’s eyes widen as Quatre unleashes the beast within him and sets it on its prey. The power is overwhelming, burning, infinite, but Quatre does not relent. Opposite the no-longer-gloating Angel of Chaos, a dark scowl of purpose pulls Heero Yuy’s expression. The hand of his bloodied arm fists.

And the wind changes direction. It swirls, spinning toward Druj, pushing him toward the edge of the building. And over the howl of the wind, Quatre can hear the angel – demon? – laugh.

“You think a storm will defeat me, Asha? Me!? Your essence is still as scrambled and useless as the instant I encased you in that mortal’s body!” Druj’s laughter takes on an edge of victory.

But something catches Quatre’s attention: drops of blood – Heero’s blood – being pushed up the blade of the sword by the wind... up, past the hilt, over the glowing metal, and then a single drop manages to touch Druj’s skin.

The embodiment of chaos’s laughter becomes a shriek of pain and shock and then an explosion rents the air, flinging Quatre into darkness.

. . .

“What happened here?”

Wufei looks out over the ruined top floor of Preventers HQ and, it seems to Une, that he merely breathes in the essence of the catastrophe. “A battle,” he tells her.

The Acting Director stares at him for a long moment. “Impossible,” she breathes. But even as she protests, she wonders...

Wufei nods. “It does seem to be,” he agrees.

Not appreciating his unhelpful accord, she glares at him. An easy task given that the sirens of the emergency vehicles and the smoky air have given her a headache of considerable size. She snaps, “A battle between whom, Agent Chang?”

Wufei smiles ruefully. “A couple of dead men, Director. Just a couple of dead men.” He returns his gaze to her, his manner changing abruptly. Standing before her now is a young professional. Agent Chang says, “I doubt forensics will find much that will be able to explain this. I’m afraid it will remain another unsolved mystery, ma’am.”

“Indeed?” she wonders aloud. “That brings us back to your situation, then, Agent Chang. Whatever shall I do with you?”

Without flinching, Wufei Chang replies, “Whatever justice dictates, ma’am.”

Acting Director Une stares intently at the young man in her employ and agrees, “Indeed, Agent Chang. Indeed.”

. . .

The news report does not give many details regarding the explosion. With the exception of the topmost floor, the building is still in tact and structurally sound. One person had been killed. The damage to the building has been estimated to cost a lot. The cause is, as yet, unknown.

The driver of the shiny, silver sports car taps his fingertips against the steering wheel and lets out a sigh. This is taking longer than he’d expected.

Waiting has never been his forte, but he quells his impatience. He listens to the sounds of engines idling, roaring, grumbling in the distance. He listens and he thinks of space travel. He wonders about space itself and the places beyond it. He wonders about the other dimensions. He wonders about their fate.

And then the sound of footsteps draws near and, somehow, he knows exactly who it is. He looks across the interior of the sports car and grins as a familiar young man leans down and regards him through the open passenger window.

“Nice car.”

The driver laughs. “Yeah, I kinda thought you’d like it.”

The door opens and Wufei Chang slides into the passenger seat. He closes the door but, with the window down, the noise from the colony spaceport is unhushed. “It’s good to see you again,” Wufei says. “It’s been a while.”

“Oh man, you can say that again!” The driver starts the engine and pulls out into the late evening rush hour traffic.

“Although I’m patently glad you’re not talking to me while I’m driving this time.”

The driver winces. “Er, yeah. Sorry ‘bout that, Wu-man. But I see you’re all in one piece, so whatever Q did to you for that, it wasn’t permanent.”

“Lucky for you,” Wufei acknowledges darkly. “I take retribution very seriously, Maxwell.”

“Don’t I know it!”

“So, are you going to tell me what happened? That is why you came to pick me up isn’t it?”

“Sorta.” Duo Maxwell glances in the rear-view mirror and changes lanes. “I guess I should back up to when you and Q helped me dissolve the Oath, eh?”

“A good place to start,” Wufei mildly agrees.

“Well, yeah, I was... drifting, I guess. It’s hard to describe. But then something just... I dunno, collected me, I guess, and I found myself in the service of this self-appointed bad ass who has this serious kink for war and chaos and crap like that. Oh, and did I mention that he called himself Heero Yuy?”

Wufei stares at him.

“Yeah,” Duo continues to Wufei’s stunned silence. “But he didn’t look like our buddy. Oh, no, this guy’s the original Heero Yuy. Y’know... pacifist leader of the colonies and all that shit? The dead guy?”

Wufei chokes.

“That’s what I thought, too,” Duo agrees, eyes still on the snarl of traffic. “Coulda wet myself, actually, ‘cept I’m, y’know...”

“I know,” Wufei murmurs before Duo is forced to enunciate his inhuman nature.

“Turns out he’s some kinda god of chaos or somethin’ and I coulda died laughin’...” Duo shakes his head. “I thought about contacting you guys, I really did, but I was gettin’ some seriously weird vibes, so I held off. And good thing I did, too. ‘Cause it turns out this Heero Yuy rescued me so he could use me to get to, er, our Heero Yuy. And if I’d spoken to you, that woulda been it. Bang. The end.”

Duo sighs. “So, when I heard that Une was askin’ a lot of dangerous questions, I paid her a visit. I knew you guys would figure it out. And, most importantly, I knew that Heero’d come when he was ready. Which was sooner than I’d thought, actually.”

“So, what happened?”

Duo taps his fingertips against the steering wheel again while they’re waiting for the traffic to start crawling forward. “From what I gather, Heero forced you to drive him to Preventer HQ while he hacked the database to figure out how much evidence they actually had on us. It turns out that Druj – the chaos bad ass dead Yuy dude? – he wanted the Preventers to think that Heero, Trowa and I had all survived Zanoah. He wanted us to be arrested or forced to defend ourselves in such a way that we revealed what we are to the world and started another war. But one of the Zanoah security recorders got past his man, so everyone saw us go in and – presumably – die. So Druj told his man on the inside to decode the Bedouin’s hard drive so the Preventers would at least know about Q and me. But Heero beat him to it. Erased the data.”

“Who’s the inside man?” Wufei asks, thinking of contacting Une.

“Walker,” Duo replies. “I remember hearing about him during the war. Apparently died in Zechs’ place. Crashed right into an enemy fortification in a mobile suit. Blew the whole place up.”

“But, if he –”

“He was a djinn, just like Tro.”

“Ah.”

“Yeah. But Q took him out. Don’t worry about it, man.”

“Hm.”

“So, where was I?”

“Druj’s master plan to reveal us to the world and start another war was foiled when Heero showed up at Preventer Headquarters.”

“Oh, yeah! So, yeah. Bitchin’ fight you missed on the roof, by the way. Heero, er, Asha, I mean, but I still call ‘em Heero... Anyway, Heero’s got the power to destroy, right? And Druj’s got the power to create, so Druj was throwing all kinds wicked shit at Heero and Heero just about destroys the building and starts a tornado defending himself. Then it’s down to the two of them. They both did this weird shift thing, they just sort of disappear and then reappear someplace else –”

“I’m familiar with the phenomenon.”

“Oh, re~ally? I’ll have to ask you about that sometime.”

“The fight?” Wufei prompts.

“Well, see, I had this seriously pain-in-the-ass life debt to Druj for fishing my essence out of infinity or whatever, so, when Heero went in for the killing blow I, well I – ”

“Got in the way,” Wufei finishes.

“Hey, who’s tellin’ the story, here?”

“My apologies. Please continue.”

“Huh. That’s better... Well, OK, so I died. Tro just about incinerated the building, Q sucked the life – well, some of the life – outta Druj and then Heero changed the direction of the wind and blew some of his own blood up Druj’s sword until it touched Druj’s skin and then –” Duo snaps his finger. “Gone.”

“Gone?” Wufei echoes. “What do you mean, ‘gone’?”

“Well, Heero’s the essence of destruction, right? And Druj’s the essence of creation...” Duo grins at Wufei’s impatient expression. “They can’t touch each other. It’d neutralize ‘em both.”

“One drop of Heero’s blood destroyed Druj?”

“Well, no, but screwed him up pretty good. Heero’s thinkin’ he won’t be back for about a century.”

“Well,” Wufei allows. “I suppose that’s something. And you died defended Druj so your life debt is paid, I take it?”

Duo nods happily. “That pretty much covers it.”

“Except how the four of you got out of there undetected,” Wufei reminds him.

“Oh, yeah. That was my contribution. That’s the great thing about being a dreamwalker; I don’t actually have to have a live body, if you get what I’m sayin’.”

Wufei arcs a brow. “So you just rose from the dead and...?”

“Threw Quat over my shoulder and off we went.”

Wufei chuckles at the mental image that evokes.

“Y’know, you seem awfully chipper for a guy who’s just spent a solid month being interrogated by the Preventers and two weeks in an interplanetary tin can...”

“I suppose I do.”

“So, what’s goin’ on with that, man? What’s the verdict from Une?”

Wufei sends Duo Maxwell a smug smile. “I’m a consultant.”

“Ah ha... So, you’ll have some free time now, yeah?”

Something in Duo’s tone pulls a suspicious look from his passenger. “Possibly” is the guarded reply.

“Enough time to form a crime-fighting team, take on the cesspit of humanity every night, defenders of the colony?”

“Dear Ancestors, who let you start reading comic books again?”

Duo laughs. “Ha! That’s just about word-for-word what Heero said.”

“If you haven’t convinced Heero to go along with you, what makes you think I’m anymore agreeable?”

“Well, you do seem to be in a good mood...”

“’Good’ does not equate to ‘stupid’, Maxwell.”

“Yeah, well, I guy can hope...”

“If we’re not going to create a secret yet elite crime-fighting unit, then what is the plan?”

“Well, Trowa suggested starting up our old security system evaluation business again, but...”

“Heero would never agree to that after what happened last time.”

“Very true,” Duo agrees. “Besides, Quatre had a better idea...”

Wufei snorts out a short, undignified laugh. “He usually does.”

Duo chuckles.

Wufei waits. And then: “Well? What is it?”

Duo grins and shakes his head. “I’m gonna let him sell you on it himself.”

“Oh, joy,” Wufei mockingly enthuses.

“Yeah, I know you’ll put up a good fight, but you know the Winner brat always gets his way.”

“Not in everything,” Wufei replies, crossing his arms over his chest.

Duo sends him a speculative glance. “Yeah, I guess he never did get you into bed, did he?”

Wufei scowls.

“Well, be warned – you’ve been placed on The Agenda.”

Wufei rolls his eyes. “When you say it like that, Doomsday sounds more inviting.”

Duo laughs. “God knows how you tolerated Heero and Trowa while I was gone. They couldn’t have been as obnoxious as Q-ball’s been...”

“So how did you convince Heero and Trowa that you could be let out long enough to act as my chauffer?”

“Um, well...”

Wufei sighs and lowers his forehead into his upraised palm. “You didn’t actually tell them you were going to pick me up.” He doesn’t appear to even bother to make it a question.

“Heh-heh. Well, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that you guessed. I mean, you are psychic –”

“It doesn’t take a psychic to know when you’ve done something asinine, Maxwell.”

“Ah, there’s that ol’ snark. I was wondering how it would take you to start growling at me again.”

Wufei consults his wrist watch. “And a new record has been achieved. Surely, twenty-three minutes and twenty-two seconds is the longest time thus far.”

“I’ll trust your judgment on that one,” Duo says, turning the wheel clockwise sharply and pulling into an unremarkable double-car garage. “We’re here.” Duo flashes a brilliant grin at Wufei and tosses him the keys. “Hope ya like the car. If you leave now you might be able to make the flight to L3...”

Wufei stares flatly at Duo and pockets the keys.

“Ah, OK, then. Just, y’know, Agenda,” Duo needlessly reminds him. “Good luck, man.”

And then Duo Maxwell disappears. Wufei shakes his head and climbs out of his new shiny sports car. He’s pleased to note that it’s the exact some color and model as the one Trowa had destroyed. Wufei reaches out and runs a hand over the hood.

“I’m jealous already.”

Wufei smiles. “Well, Winner, what are you dithering around for? Get over here and take my attention off of my new car.”

Quatre growls. “Gladly.”

Wufei finds himself turned and leaning against the still-warm hood with a warm solid weight pressing against him. He enjoys a brief instant of chaotic blond hair, a sexy grin, and a fierce, predatory gaze before a pink tongue licks delicately – hotly – across his lips and pulls him into a kiss. Wufei’s eyes drift closed and his arms wrap around the empath in his arms.

For the duration of a dream, Wufei allows Quatre to conquer his mouth. But then, with a sinuous twist of his hips, reverses their positions and pins Quatre against the passenger side door.

“I have,” Wufei murmurs, interrupting himself to dive back into that sinful mouth, “received intelligence,” and another long taste, “that I’ve been placed,” a brief foray to reacquaint himself with his would-be lover’s taste, “on a certain agenda without,” and yet another conquest of that warm, wet cavern, “the consideration of one fact in particular.”

“And, what would that be?” Quatre whispers, his hands sliding beneath Wufei’s long-sleeved T-shirt.

Wufei smiles. “My car hasn’t been... christened yet, has it?”

Quatre laughs as Wufei gently pushes him back a step, opens the passenger side door, pulls the seat forward, and motions into the dim recesses of the leather interior. “After you.”

. . .

The Acting Director of the United Earth Sphere Alliance Preventer Head Quarters Division has a new opinion on Mondays. Once, she had considered the weekend to be a too-short respite from the trials and tribulations the work week brings. But now, she knows differently. Now, each Monday is a new beginning, a new opportunity to rejoin the mysterious world that she protects with her silence and her devotion. Now, each Monday brings with it new determination, new beauty, and the memory of a man whose ideals she embraces whole heartedly.

Une stands in her temporary office and regards the distant horizon. Soon, it will be dawn. A new day. A new sun. She smiles as she lazily twirls an unremarkable postcard between her fingers. The soft breeze it generates kisses her gently on the cheek and warms her. She glances down at the piece of correspondence she holds in her hand and reads the tasteful advertisement for a new jewelry store that specializes in wedding a commitment ceremony pieces. The store, in and of itself, is not unusual. Nor is the design and lettering on the postcard. And if anyone had noticed the return address in the course of delivering it to her, they had not mentioned it. For, really, why would Acting Director Une be interested in a small specialty jewelry store on a colony that’s a two-week shuttle ride away?

But that is for Une, and Une alone, to know.

She turns and places the postcard on her desk, atop the mountain of files and paperwork she’ll have to get through today and turns back to the window. The first glimmering line of light is just beginning to pour across the rim of the distant mountains. She watches as the light fills the sky and the burning sphere rises, newly hatched and emerging from its shell. Une draws a deep breath and allows the light to fill her, warm her, shore her up.

It is, once again, Monday morning. Only, this time, Une is not resigned.

She is reborn.

The End

Author’s Notes: So, yes, this is the end. Heero, Duo, Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei have started a jewelry store together. Duo and Quatre will assist the customers who will be nervous, excited, happy, in love, and so forth; their emotions will feed Quatre’s inner demon. Trowa will work with the metal, utilizing his djinn abilities at a safe rate. Heero could easily work with stones, “destroying” bits of them to create a well-cut gem. And Wufei? Well, I imagine he’d enjoy haggling for raw materials and researching suppliers.

Anyway, I’m sure some of you have questions, like what will happen 100 years from now, when Druj returns? Well, Asha will fight him again, of course. Duo will quite possibly be there to help him since there’s no “natural” lifespan for a dreamwalker. Trowa, if he develops a healthy approach to dealing with his emotions, is expected to life a full life as well, although djinn are not known for their longevity. Quatre, as an empath, will be able to supplement his own energies, extending his life. That leaves Wufei, just a normal mortal (or, more normal, at any rate). But with Quatre around and willing to share, no doubt Trowa and Wufei won’t have to worry about leaving their friends to face Druj’s return without them.

And what about the relationships? Well, you’ve seen that Wufei and Quatre have gotten a start on theirs, finally. And hopefully, you inferred that Heero and Trowa have picked up where they left off with Duo.

And what about Une – is she really going to let sleeping dogs lie? Yes. Finally, she has something that is more meaningful than the daily grind to look forward to. She has been given an extraordinary secret to protect and she cherishes it, even if no one will ever know or acknowledge her for it.

What about justice for the people that were killed? The Bedouin? The agents at Zanoah? Well, this, I think, is the most important thing I have to say – the world must move on. Grieve, learn from the mistakes that the power-hungry have made, and move on. That is what Une hopes the world will finally be able to do now.

Why didn’t Heero just come out and tell Wufei what was really going on? What was with the Gestapo crap? Well, let’s face it, Heero can be a real shit when he wants something. And what he needed was to get Wufei (and Une) out of the line of fire. He’d also been counting on Trowa to get Quatre to Preventers HQ (by an alternate route) so that Quatre could surprise Druj by draining some of his power. So, it all worked out, in the end.

And, finally, is Duo really going to start a crime-fighting superhero gang with the others? Ah, hm. Well, think about it this way: can you really see Duo just giving up on something he really wants? Yeah, me either. Although he might encounter a bit of resistance when it comes to introducing the new set of “costumes.” Heh-heh.