misanagi: (Words)
misanagi ([personal profile] misanagi) wrote2008-02-13 07:13 pm
Entry tags:

[Ficlet] Stable

Stable

Rating: PG13
Pairing. Characters: Gen. The pilots, OC.
Warnings: Angst.
Summary: Aisha Winner sees what her brother has been hiding.

Notes: Written for [livejournal.com profile] gw500 for prompt #215: abduction

---

The first note had come with a lock of Quatre's hair. The demands were high, money and control over one of WEI resource satellites. It was a price the Winner family couldn't afford to pay and Quatre would have outright refused to put the people's supplies in danger just for him.

Aisha Winner had called the number. There was no name, just a number she was supposed to contact in case of emergency, in case anything happened to her brother. Hours later a Preventer officer and three other men appeared at her door. She didn't need them to tell her they were the other pilots.

The second note came covered in blood. The lab results confirmed that it was Quatre's. They wouldn't kill him, the note said. They would keep him but they would harm him until their demands were met. There was no timeline; it all depended in how much time the Winner family wanted their head to suffer.

"He's strong," the green-eyed pilot, Trowa, assured her. She had cried anyway.

They stayed awake at night; Heero busy working at the computer and Wufei organizing a search with the Preventers. Duo and Trowa had gone somewhere. They came back in time with the third note. They had a lead.

It was a video this time. 'To show you how we pass the time' the note said. Aisha had insisted on staying and watching it with the pilots. She threw up on the carpet. The pilots were very silent for a while and when she looked at them she saw in their angered faces the dangerous terrorist and understood how they could be killers.

"He can handle that," Heero told her and handed her a glass of water. She didn't want to ask if they had all handled something like that before. She didn't want to know the answer.

They left that night. Duo braved a smile, "We'll get him back," he assured. She waited and hoped.

It was two days before the phone rang. There was no image but she recognized Wufei's voice. "We got him back. He's stable."

Stable. She didn't think that was very good. Wufei's voice hadn't shook when he had spoken but then again none of them had shown any weakness. Aisha knew they cared, she recognized the little gestures her brother did sometimes and it was just when she met the others that she realized they were soldier's gestures. They showed their worry in their own way. Quatre was one of them, she understood, a Gundam pilot, a soldier, and 'stable' was a soldier word.

The story finally broke on the news. There weren't many details, just that Quatre Winner had been kidnapped and rescued and he was recuperating at an undisclosed location. The perpetrators were dead.

The calls started that afternoon, sisters, relatives, friends of the family and to all Aisha replied the same: "Quatre is stable."

It was two weeks before Quatre called. The image was turned off but Aisha could tell by his voice that Quatre was far from fine. He assured her he was recuperating quickly, that she didn't need to worry… but she had seen that video. He couldn't fool her.

Quatre Winner returned to his job after a month. He looked the same, smiled as easily and accepted gracefully all the well wishes from the people around him. When Aisha saw him she subtly looked for scars and noticed not just the pink ones that were probably recent but also old and faded ones. She saw what Quatre was hiding, not just now, but what he had been hiding since the war.

She and her sisters had always spoken the words 'Gundam pilot' proudly, as if their brother was some kind of hero, and he was. But now Aisha saw all the other things the word entailed, the little traits, the scars, the dangerous nature, the pain, the strength her brother had been hiding… and she understood.

Stable really was much more than she could hope.


- The End -

[identity profile] caerfree.livejournal.com 2008-02-14 01:24 am (UTC)(link)
Ohh. That is rather grim... but very well done. Good job.

[identity profile] misanagi.livejournal.com 2008-02-15 02:06 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you, Caer ^.^

[identity profile] darthanne.livejournal.com 2008-02-14 01:39 am (UTC)(link)
I love this. Poor Quatre. I hope the people who kidnapped him died really painfully. I'm sure the other pilots made sure they did.

[identity profile] misanagi.livejournal.com 2008-02-15 02:08 am (UTC)(link)
*pets Quatre* The kidnappers didn't have a happy ending. The pilots were quite mad.

[identity profile] just-ruth.livejournal.com 2008-02-14 02:43 am (UTC)(link)
That was harsh and powerful. Very well written - the last line is the strongest.

[identity profile] misanagi.livejournal.com 2008-02-15 02:08 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you, Ruth. I'm really happy that you liked this :)

[identity profile] alleyprowler.livejournal.com 2008-02-14 03:10 am (UTC)(link)
It was the things that were left unsaid that did it for me. Very subtle, very disturbing.

[identity profile] misanagi.livejournal.com 2008-02-15 02:10 am (UTC)(link)
Thanks Ally. I'm really happy that you noticed the silences. Thanks for reading.

[identity profile] sharona1x2.livejournal.com 2008-02-14 10:20 am (UTC)(link)
This is exactly why I think gen fic can be so very powerful. Great job.

[identity profile] misanagi.livejournal.com 2008-02-15 02:11 am (UTC)(link)
Thanks, Sharon, *hugs*

[identity profile] snakewhissperer.livejournal.com 2008-02-14 09:39 pm (UTC)(link)
oh wow...so much unsaid, so much implied. Very powerful. Poor Q!

I hope those arses died painfully.

[identity profile] misanagi.livejournal.com 2008-02-15 02:11 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you, Cait. *pets Quatre* They did die regretting what they did.

[identity profile] meritjubet.livejournal.com 2008-02-15 01:15 pm (UTC)(link)
I liked it how you showed it from a outsider's, a non-soldier's perspective. It reasserted the alienness and horrible experiences that Quatre had gone through and suffered. And how much it meant when he could smile freely.

[identity profile] misanagi.livejournal.com 2008-02-16 05:40 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you! I wanted an outside to get a glimpse of how much was hidden, had always been hidden there, so I'm really glad that it came through.

[identity profile] tyreling.livejournal.com 2008-07-04 04:29 am (UTC)(link)
Interesting take on the story. There was a lot of angst going around this and it worked quite well. As an important figurehead, it's not surprising how desperate people go at such lengths to get what they wanted, unfortunately, they probably didn't know that Quatre is a former-pilot. I like how the other ex-pilots have faith in Quatre making it through despite the possible damage he'd been subjected to; their resolve to rescue him back got stronger and stronger, I can even get the feel of it. The kidnappers got what they deserved in the end.

Nice take with Quatre's character as seen through his sister's eyes.

[identity profile] misanagi.livejournal.com 2008-07-04 03:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Quatre is strong and the other pilots know that. They wouldn't give up on him anyway, just like Quatre wouldn't give up on them. I'm glad that you liked it and got the angst and emotions here. Writing through an outside character was interesting. Thanks for commenting.

[identity profile] quatre-winner-1.livejournal.com 2008-09-15 05:03 am (UTC)(link)
I love it! So understated! And all about Quatre! *snuggles him*

[identity profile] misanagi.livejournal.com 2008-09-15 03:35 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you! I'm glad that you liked it.

[identity profile] quatre-winner-1.livejournal.com 2008-09-15 07:48 pm (UTC)(link)
Hee, you're welcome! ^_^