The Calling (Audiobook) (A Gundam Wing Fanfic Novel)

The Calling - Chapter 17

Half an hour after returning to the mansion, Fumio had headed off to bed seeming none the worse for the earlier incident. The rest of the group remained downstairs in the lounge. The mood was quiet and reserved, and there was still a sense of annoyance that the attempted mugging had spoiled what was otherwise a great evening.

Quatre and Hilde had made everyone a mug of hot chocolate and they all sat quietly in the lounge drinking. Despite everyone having many questions about what they had seen, there seemed to be a slight reluctance to talk about the events.

It was Duo who eventually broke the silence.

"Come on guys!" he chirped, "lighten up a little, we're acting like someone's died."

Quatre was quick to support his fellow pilot, "Yes, this isn't like us at all. Whatever happened to the old camaraderie?"

"Yeah," continued Duo, "I don't know about you, but I feel pretty good about kicking some genuine 'bad guys' butt tonight, now that's my kind of justice."

"You're completely missing the point Duo," stated Heero in an irked voice. "They were just street punks for crying out loud! How the hell could they have outsmarted all of us like that? How have our skills become so dulled in just six months?" He sounded very annoyed with himself.

Sally leant forward and patted him on the knee, "Heero, I hate to be the one to break the news to you, but you're not a soldier anymore, you're a civilian just like the rest of us. It's inevitable that those finely tuned skills of yours will soon dull and fade if you have no need to put them to use."

"Heero," piped up Noin, "I don't think there's any shame in being caught out like we were tonight, It was just one of those unfortunate facts of life that all decent people seem to have to live with."

Heero continued to look annoyed and perplexed. "Not this soldier!" he grunted, "no way, you may be prepared to let go of your skills, but not me!" he stood up quickly, "I'd rather die than become weak and fade away like that!" he grumbled, his voice agitated and gruff.   He stood up and began marching toward the door.

"Hey, where ya going Heero?" asked Duo.

Heero stopped walking and paused for a moment, still looking towards the door. He gave a deep sigh and seemed to calm down a little. He glanced sideways at the group.

"I'm going to check on Fumio," he said, his voice now lowered. He continued towards the door and left the room.

By the time he'd reached Fumio's room, he'd calmed right down. He knocked quietly on the door and then entered.

Fumio was in bed, already asleep. The desk lamp beside the bed remained switched on. Heero's initial thoughts were to leave and avoid the risk of disturbing him, but instead, he found himself quietly sitting down on the chair next to the bed. He needed time to think things through, and somehow, this seemed the most appropriate place to do that.

He observed the sleeping boy for a moment. Fumio was buried comfortably under the duvet with just his head peeking out. He was lying on his side, snuggled up to his pillow. He gave a contented sigh, as he appeared to drift deeper into a serene slumber.

"He seems completely fine," Heero thought to himself, feeling a little more relieved.

Heero sighed and closed his eyes, allowing himself some time to try to address the multiple, nagging thoughts running around inside his mind, not least of which concerned the rest of the group witnessing first-hand Fumio's now, not-so-secret gifts.

He began to question if bringing him here was a good idea. So far it had seemed to entail nothing but one disaster after another. The episode with the storm and the broken window, the attempted mugging, all within the space of 24 hours. He wondered how much psychological damage Fumio had sustained from it all.