Author's Notes: This is the first fanfic I have ever written and it came out of nowhere. If it goes well, I intend for it to be the first story in an arc I have dubbed 'Facade'. (Hopefully, it will be flame retardant.)
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Gundam Wing, the concept, or its characters. (But I wish I did.) Never did own 'em. Never will own 'em. They belong to Sotsu/Sunrise and Bandai. (And I'm jealous as hell about it, too!) So don't sue. All of my money has gone to two places: the college registrar's office and Suncoast.com. (Hey, anime's expensive.)
However, I do own any and all original characters that will appear here or in any other story I will write. I also own the original plotline of the story and the content. (Not to mention the computer software it was typed on.) Steal 'em and die. (But you can borrow them if you ask nice. *smile*)
Warnings: There are OC's in this fic. Slight use of offensive language. AU, might be slightly OOC. (Not sure about that one, but just in case. . .)And it's a little slow in the beginning, but it gets better, I promise. (Basically I'm covering my ass. ^_^)
Pairings: Hate to disappoint ya, but they're all het pairings. 1xR, 2xH, 3x?, 4x?, and 5xS. Sorry. (Hey, don't blame me. . .blame my muses. *shrug*)
Key: *hello*--italics (Can indicate thought or emphasis. Italics that stand alone indicate inner monologue.)
~~~~--minor scene change (within same location or situation)
====--major scene change (moving to new situation or location)
*^*^--flashbacks, memories and the like
Title: Facade
(Story 1 of the "Facade"arc)
Chapter 1
Author: Raven Goldman
AC 201
Sally pulled the trigger again and got nothing but a metallic click.
"Damn it." She looked down at the gun in her hand. "I was sure I had some left."
Before she had time to contemplate this further, she felt something whiz by her right ear.
*Oh, shit. Better move, Sally.*
Running, she dove into a hole about five feet away from her and landed in it with a thud. Sally stood and cautiously looked above the rim of the foxhole, trying to get a good look at the battlefield. Then there was a noise behind her. Turning around, she had hardly a second to get out of the way before someone took a flying leap into the hole and joined her.
"Shit, that hurt!" spat the very small, very angry young woman who was now sprawled out on the ground. "Hiya, Sal," she grumbled as she sat up, brushing her blue-black hair from her eyes. "How's it going?"
"Not so hot. How about you, Hilde?"
Standing, the shorter woman held up her gun and frowned. "I'm out," she replied.
"Me, too," said Sally. "Do you have the radio?"
Hilde pulled a small, square object from a pocket in her fatigues. "Yeah, right here." She tossed it to Sally.
"Let's see how the others are doing."
Hilde grunted. "Hopefully they're doing a damn sight better than we are," she said sulkily.
Sally smirked at her friend. "Yeah, really." She switched the communicator on and spoke.
"This is Red Leader. Anyone hear me out there?" Static. Sally tried again. "I repeat, this is Red Leader. Does anyone copy?" She held her breath.
*Come on! Somebody answer me!*
To her relief, a familiar voice crackled through the speaker.
"Copy that, Red Leader. What's up, Sal?"
"Noin," Sally said, her tension easing a fraction. "Where are you?"
"That depends," Noin said. "Where are,*you*?"
"Uh. . ." Sally peeked out of her hiding place. She looked around, deciding how best to describe her location. "I'm in the foxhole about fifteen yards to the left of the lake. There's a cluster of bushes to my right. Does that help?"
"Loads."
"So where are you?"
"Behind that cluster of bushes."
Sally looked to her right and saw Noin's dark eyes peeking out from behind a particularly large shrub.
"Oh. Well, me and Hilde are both out of ammunition. What's your status?"
"I've got nothing."
"Damn!" Sally pounded her fist into the dirt wall in front of her.
*Well, Fearless Leader, what the hell are you gonna do now? You're all out of ammo and stuck in a hole.*
Sally let out a frustrated sigh. Then she paused, thinking.
*Me, Hilde, Noin. . .that's three out of four. So where's . . .*
"Noin, have you seen McGowan?" Sally asked the communicator.
"No, I haven't." A pause. Then, "Come to think of it, I haven't seen her since this whole thing got started," Noin commented.
Sally looked at Hilde, eyebrows raised in silent inquiry. Hilde shook her head.
"Well, damn."
*Rowena, where the hell are you when I actually need you?*
As if reading her mind, another voice came over the communicator. "I'm right here, Red Leader," the new voice prompted. "Look straight ahead past the lake. On the tower."
Sally's gaze traveled across the lake. A steel-beamed guard tower stood on the far bank, covered in camo tenting. At first, Sally couldn't see her. Then she spied a flash of camouflage and brownish black hair at the top of the tower's staircase. "Rowena, I'm empty, and so are the others. What about you?"
"I've got three bullets and a snap explosive. Give me something to use 'em on."
Sally turned to Hilde. "Look around and see if you can find out where they're hiding." Hilde nodded and began scanning the field. Sally went back to the radio. "Noin?"
"Yeah?"
"See anyone out there?"
"Number Two's down already, that I know for sure. As for the rest. . ." Noin stopped speaking as a movement caught her eye. Someone was looking out at the battlefield from behind the brick wall of a bombed-out building. "There, behind the bricks. Looks like Number Four."
Sally looked in that direction. "I see him," she confirmed. "Anything else?"
"Those trees to the left of the tower. I saw Number Five back there," Hilde said. "And I thought I saw Number One dive behind that sandbag bunker."
"So that leaves. . ." Sally examined the space before her once more, her eyes alert for any movement, any discrepancy in the landscape. Her gaze stopped on an abandoned truck some ways away from the trees. At first glance, nothing was obvious, but if you looked closely, you could see a shock of brown hair sticking out from behind one of the blown-out tires.
*So that's where Number Three's been hiding . . .*
"I just found our last target," Sally stated into the speaker. "He's under the truck. Got that, Rowena?"
"One under the truck, one in the bunker, one behind the trees, and the last is behind the bricks. Four, total, is that correct?" Rowena asked.
"Yep."
"I think I can handle it."
"Make 'em count, McGowan." Sally warned.
"Don't I always?" was the only response.
*I sure hope so, Rowena.*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With that, Rowena switched off her communicator and slipped it back into the pouch that was slung around her torso, then wiped her face, which was filthy and covered in sweat, with the hem of her olive green tank top. The tall brunette weighed her options. If she moved down the staircase now, she was sure to be seen. And from where she was, there was no way she could hit all of her targets with only three bullets and a single explosive. They were spread too far apart for that.
*Well, well, well. Looks like its a game of hide and seek, and I'm IT. Let's just see if anyone gets fidgety.*
So, she waited. Her hazel eyes were vigilant as they continually scanned the field below her, watching carefully for any new developments. Several minutes passed, and she had begun to formulate a new plan when she noticed something at the far end of the field. "Ah-ha," Rowena whispered to the air, her pink lips forming a half-smile. "Looks like someone got antsy after all." She continued to watch as a platinum-haired man moved away from his hiding place behind the brick wall and carefully made his way over to the sandbagged barricade. Then the target hiding behind the trees began to move, heading for the bricks, which were closer to the bunker than the trees had been.
*So you're regrouping. Well, gentlemen, you just made my life a whole lot easier.*
Rowena acted quickly. Before her targets had time to settle into there new locations, she moved silently down the tower staircase, her eyes darting back and forth from the area around the bunker to the truck. Reaching the ground, she darted behind a large rock at the tower's base, crouching low so as not to be seen. Using the boulder to hide her five-foot, seven-inch frame, she quickly reassessed the situation.
*Yep. They're all where they should be.*
Keeping one eye on the bunker, and one eye on the truck, Rowena pulled her gun out of the holster at her hip. Then she pulled a rectangular object out of her pouch. Looking to make sure that her target under the truck was still there, she took a deep breath.
*Well, here goes nothing.*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sally and Hilde watched as Rowena moved from the bottom of the tower stairs to crouch behind a boulder.
"Do you think she can do it?" Hilde asked.
"She's your best friend. You tell me." Sally retorted.
Hilde's eyes slid sideways to look at Sally. She had a smile on her face, indicating that she wasn't worried. Hilde sighed and turned her attention back to the field in front of her. "She'll do fine. She's done tougher stuff than this before." Sally didn't respond, but the radio crackled to life.
"What the hell is she waiting for?" Noin said impatiently. "Christmas?"
"Don't worry," Hilde told her. "If I know Rowena, she's got something planned. Just be patient."
As if on cue, Rowena popped up from behind the boulder, quick as a flash, and faced the truck. She raised her gun and fired a single shot towards one of the wheels. Running full-tilt, she bolted from that spot and dove behind the trees, pausing there momentarily before she raced toward the bricks. As she approached, a black-haired man leaned around the corner of the wall and aimed his weapon at her chest. Rowena clipped his arm, and as he went to his knees, she shot him again, point-blank in the chest. She took his hiding place behind the brick wall as he landed facedown on the ground.
Just as quickly as she had disappeared behind the wall, she materialized again at the other end. She was now twenty feet from her final target. Snapping something between her fingers, Rowena threw a small rectangular object at the sandbag bunker and ducked behind the wall again, covering her face. Three seconds later, the explosive detonated, sending a loud boom and smoke into the air. The bunker's two occupant's scrambled from their hiding place, one diving for the lake, the other disappearing into an unknown location. Dashing through the smoke, Rowena descended into the bunker.
A minute later, she came back out again, a blue flag in her hands. She waved it triumphantly at her teammates.
Sally and Hilde let out cheers of victory as they watched the last two targets run off into the middle of the field. Noin ran to the foxhole and joined them in their minor celebration.
"She did it," Noin said, half-impressed, half-disbelieving. "She actually pulled it off!"
"Hell, yeah, she did it!" Sally exclaimed.
The three women climbed out of the foxhole and stood together, watching as Rowena walked toward them, twirling the piece of blue fabric smugly.
"Way to go, Rowena!" Hilde said, hugging her friend.
Sally ruffled her hair playfully. "Not bad, kid. Not bad at all."
Rowena only smiled. "I told you I could handle it."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Moments later, Lady Une and Zechs Marquise walked through a door in the side of the warehouse and joined the group of talkative women near the lakeside.
Lady Une raised her hand to signal for silence, and, as usual, all chatter ceased. Then she spoke.
"Well, done, ladies. Looks like you win again," she said with a hint of a smirk on her face.
"I have to admit, I thought you guys were toast this time," Zechs said. "But you pulled it off. Good work."
Sally grinned widely. "I thought we were goners, too. But, thanks to Rowena, we kicked their collective asses," she said, hugging the shoulders of the younger girl.
"That's not true. I wouldn't have been able to do much of anything if you guys hadn't given me something to work with. I couldn't see a thing up there." Rowena stated quietly.
"Regardless," Une interrupted, "Red Team won again. Time for the losers to come out and face defeat."
"You guys can come out now!" Zechs yelled to the field. "Its over. You lose."
Within moments, five figures came into view in various parts of the warehouse. Wufei got up from where Rowena had "killed" him near the bricks, grumbling and looking rather murderous, two black marks on his shirt where the black powder bullets had hit. Quatre emerged from the lake, where he had wound up in his escape from the smoking bunker, looking very soggy, but without malice. From behind a tree came Heero, covered in dust as a result of the snap bomb, his face unreadable, as usual. Duo crawled out from behind the bushes where Noin had been hiding, smiling sheepishly, leaves and twigs tangled up in his braid. At least a dozen black spots branded the shirt and pants of his combat clothes, no doubt Noin's handy work. And finally came Trowa, appearing from under the abandoned truck, a single spatter of black marking his forehead.
Duo took one look at Quatre's drenched state and burst out laughing. Then he caught sight of Trowa's forehead and began laughing even harder. Sally, Noin, and Hilde soon followed suit. Wufei grunted and Heero smiled. Quatre even chuckled at the state of himself as Lady Une gracefully hid her laughter behind the hand she placed in front of her mouth and Zechs snickered quietly. Rowena, however, remained silent, as did Trowa.
"Looks like we got beat." Duo said.
"Yes, we did," Quatre agreed, shaking out his soggy hair.
"I cannot believe we have been beaten by a bunch of weak women," grumbled Wufei.
"Hey, there was nothing weak about the way Rowena nailed you, Wu-man. I was watching. She got you gooooood," Duo jibed playfully, making faces at him.
"Not to mention that this is the second time that we 'weak women' have handed your ass to you." Sally reminded him. "In a row, I might add."
Wufei glared at her. "Shut up, Woman." Sally only smiled.
"So what's the penalty this time?" This question came from Heero, of all people.
"Oh, I don't know. . ." Noin said. "What do you think it should be, ladies?"
Hilde said, "I know what it should be." The others looked at her questioningly. "I think they should all take us out drinking. Their treat."
"Better still," said Noin, "I say we get a victory party. . .at Quatre's house!"
There was an excited murmur of agreement from everyone, except Quatre and Sally.
"I don't know if I can handle having another party at my place," Quatre moaned. "You all can be very. . .uncivilized when you're inebriated."
"Oh, please," Duo scoffed. "You know you love having us over."
Quatre shrugged slightly, a half-worried look pinching his features.
Sally shook her head. "It wouldn't be fair to Rowena. She can't drink yet. She's not old enough."
"Its alright. I don't mind," Rowena assured her. "I'm not fond of the taste of alcohol, anyway."
Sally looked at her pointedly. "Are you sure? Because we can do something else. . ."
"No," Rowena cut in sharply. "I'm okay with you guys drinking around me even though I can't. Besides," she said wryly, "somebody has to be coherent enough to take care of the rest of you."
"*And*," Duo put in, "even if she decides that she *does* want to take one itty-bitty little insignificant drink, it's not like any of us is going to tell on her. Right?"
Sally didn't look convinced, but she let it go. So, everyone was in agreement. Some time in the near future, there was going to be a party. And Quatre reluctantly agreed that it would, indeed, be held at his mansion. "I'll just have to make sure certain things are removed from the premises so as to avoid chaos. . ."
"Good," Lady Une said. "Now that that's been settled, everyone go home! You do have to work tomorrow, you know." And having issued the near-order, she withdrew.
A general griping at the idea of working ascended as everyone said their good-byes and parted ways to go home. Duo and Hilde headed out together, all over each other before they even hit the exit, like always. Wufei stomped out of the warehouse, fuming over the defeat, and Sally followed, rolling her eyes. Zechs and Noin walked out arm in arm, talking quietly as they walked. Heero left by himself and Quatre did the same, but not before making a minor fuss over how well Rowena had done that day, hugging her and complimenting her performance. Rowena stiffened slightly at the contact, but Quatre didn't notice.
*Relax, stupid. Its only Quatre. He's not going to hurt you. Geez. . .*
Affecting not to notice that her front was now slightly damp due to Quatre's soggy embrace, she said, "It was nothing out of the ordinary, Quatre."
"Oh, really? How many other people can take out four men by themselves?" Quatre asked.
"Anyone could have done it."
"I don't think so."
"Surely. . ."
"Rowena," Quatre interrupted. "You did a good job. Just take the credit, accept my thanks and let's all go home, okay?"
Rowena finally gave in. "Thank you, Quatre."
Quatre hugged her again and chuckled quietly. "See? Now that wasn't hard, was it?"
Rowena stuck her tongue out at him. "Ha, ha."
Quarter laughed. "Always the playful one. See you at work?"
"Don't you always?" Rowena quipped. "Goodbye Quatre."
"Bye, Rowena." Quatre quickly walked to the other end of the warehouse and disappeared through the door.
Rowena sighed as she watched him leave.
*Looks about time to go home. . .*
"Well, that's something new. He completely forgot I was here."
Rowena jumped about a mile and whirled around to see who had spoken. And there in front her stood Trowa Barton. She put her right hand to her chest, as if to physically stop her heart from hammering. "Jesus, Trowa. You scared the hell out of me."
"Then apparently Quatre isn't the only forgetful one around here."
Rowena opened her mouth to defend herself, but then closed it again when she realized he was kidding. "Sorry. I just got caught up in. . ." Her voice trailed off as she caught site of the black mark marring Trowa's forehead. The mark *she* had put there.
*Shit. I can't believe I did that. What the hell was I thinking? Rule number one, McGowan: Keep casualties to a minimum! You are supposed to only injure the enemy enough to complete the mission, not go on a one-woman killing spree! This isn't the war and you aren't an assassin anymore. Damn.* Rowena was so busy berating herself, she didn't seem to notice that Trowa had stepped closer to her and jumped when he waved his hand in front of her face.
"Are you okay?" Trowa asked.
Rowena shook herself mentally. "Yes, I'm fine. Sorry. I was lost in thought." Her eyes were drawn to his forehead again. *Damn, damn, and triple damn. Don't just stand there. Apologize.*
Trowa watched her, slightly concerned with her behavior. She seemed to have gone glassy-eyed and was looking at him and yet *not* looking at him. *Okay, she doesn't seem like one to stare. . .*
"Rowena, what's wrong?"
"Uh, nothing, I just. . .I'm really sorry about that," she stammered, indicating his forehead. "I didn't mean. . ."
Trowa touched his forehead, realizing what she was talking about. "What, this?" he asked. "Its nothing. Don't worry about it."
"Are you sure?" she asked. "It had to have hurt. . ."
*You have no idea. . .* "No," Trowa lied, "not really. It's just a little black mark. A little soap and water and it'll be gone. So don't worry about it."
"Well, if you say so." There was a lull in the conversation, the two of them standing there in silence for what, to Rowena, seemed like an eternity, but was really only mere seconds. She broke the awkward silence first.
"I'd better be going. I'll see you around." She quickly left the warehouse, barely resisting the urge to break into a run as she made her way to her to her truck parked behind the building and driving away.
As she navigated her way home, Rowena was once again lost in her thoughts.
*What the hell has gotten into me?*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Trowa watched silently as she left. "Well, *that* was interesting," he said to himself. It was strange, but he couldn't help but think that he had somehow made Rowena uncomfortable during their entire five-minute conversation. She had seemed jumpy and on edge, almost apprehensive. Not behaving at all like she had when she spoke to Quatre.
*Speaking of Quatre. . .*
Trowa frowned. He had watched the exchange between the Irishwoman and the Arabian closely, and had noticed a few things. Things that weren't bad, per say, but definitely unusual. He couldn't help but notice the way she had stiffened up when Quatre had touched her, or her downplaying of his compliments. His frown deepened. Come to think of it, she had showed the same resistance to praise when talking with Sally and Lady Une.
Granted, Trowa knew very little about the woman, save what he had read in her personnel file. Remembering what he'd read, he began going over the contents in his mind.
20 years old, 5'7" tall, 189 pounds, no identifying marks or tattoos. . .former OZ assassin, dishonorably discharged for insubordination. . .expertise in espionage, computer hacking and demolition. . .fluent in 6 languages. . .one sister, Margaret. . .birthplace, unknown. . .parentage, unknown.
That had been it. No birth certificate, no medical records. . .just those few details and a record of her work as a Preventer. *Highly unusual.* Trowa rubbed his forehead. He was going to have to get some ice. Soon. Contrary to what he had told Rowena, the shot he had taken to the head had hurt immensely. Trowa smirked slightly as he thought about her performance during the training exercise. What she had done was only slightly short of amazing. Four ex-Gundam pilots taken down by one tall brunette cyclone that had come out of nowhere. Not bad for a day's work.
*All that talent and she refuses to acknowledge it. Very peculiar girl. . .*
Trowa walked to the door at the other end of the building and walked through it, flipping four light switches as he crossed the threshold, sending the warehouse into darkness. Making sure the door shut and locked behind him, he left the warehouse and walked toward the neighboring complex, the apartment complex that was housed inside of the Preventers compound. Trowa rubbed his forehead as he walked, thinking about the woman who had shot him there.
*Yes. Very peculiar indeed. . .*
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Gundam Wing, the concept, or its characters. (But I wish I did.) Never did own 'em. Never will own 'em. They belong to Sotsu/Sunrise and Bandai. (And I'm jealous as hell about it, too!) So don't sue. All of my money has gone to two places: the college registrar's office and Suncoast.com. (Hey, anime's expensive.)
However, I do own any and all original characters that will appear here or in any other story I will write. I also own the original plotline of the story and the content. (Not to mention the computer software it was typed on.) Steal 'em and die. (But you can borrow them if you ask nice. *smile*)
Warnings: There are OC's in this fic. Slight use of offensive language. AU, might be slightly OOC. (Not sure about that one, but just in case. . .)And it's a little slow in the beginning, but it gets better, I promise. (Basically I'm covering my ass. ^_^)
Pairings: Hate to disappoint ya, but they're all het pairings. 1xR, 2xH, 3x?, 4x?, and 5xS. Sorry. (Hey, don't blame me. . .blame my muses. *shrug*)
Key: *hello*--italics (Can indicate thought or emphasis. Italics that stand alone indicate inner monologue.)
~~~~--minor scene change (within same location or situation)
====--major scene change (moving to new situation or location)
*^*^--flashbacks, memories and the like
Title: Facade
(Story 1 of the "Facade"arc)
Chapter 1
Author: Raven Goldman
AC 201
Sally pulled the trigger again and got nothing but a metallic click.
"Damn it." She looked down at the gun in her hand. "I was sure I had some left."
Before she had time to contemplate this further, she felt something whiz by her right ear.
*Oh, shit. Better move, Sally.*
Running, she dove into a hole about five feet away from her and landed in it with a thud. Sally stood and cautiously looked above the rim of the foxhole, trying to get a good look at the battlefield. Then there was a noise behind her. Turning around, she had hardly a second to get out of the way before someone took a flying leap into the hole and joined her.
"Shit, that hurt!" spat the very small, very angry young woman who was now sprawled out on the ground. "Hiya, Sal," she grumbled as she sat up, brushing her blue-black hair from her eyes. "How's it going?"
"Not so hot. How about you, Hilde?"
Standing, the shorter woman held up her gun and frowned. "I'm out," she replied.
"Me, too," said Sally. "Do you have the radio?"
Hilde pulled a small, square object from a pocket in her fatigues. "Yeah, right here." She tossed it to Sally.
"Let's see how the others are doing."
Hilde grunted. "Hopefully they're doing a damn sight better than we are," she said sulkily.
Sally smirked at her friend. "Yeah, really." She switched the communicator on and spoke.
"This is Red Leader. Anyone hear me out there?" Static. Sally tried again. "I repeat, this is Red Leader. Does anyone copy?" She held her breath.
*Come on! Somebody answer me!*
To her relief, a familiar voice crackled through the speaker.
"Copy that, Red Leader. What's up, Sal?"
"Noin," Sally said, her tension easing a fraction. "Where are you?"
"That depends," Noin said. "Where are,*you*?"
"Uh. . ." Sally peeked out of her hiding place. She looked around, deciding how best to describe her location. "I'm in the foxhole about fifteen yards to the left of the lake. There's a cluster of bushes to my right. Does that help?"
"Loads."
"So where are you?"
"Behind that cluster of bushes."
Sally looked to her right and saw Noin's dark eyes peeking out from behind a particularly large shrub.
"Oh. Well, me and Hilde are both out of ammunition. What's your status?"
"I've got nothing."
"Damn!" Sally pounded her fist into the dirt wall in front of her.
*Well, Fearless Leader, what the hell are you gonna do now? You're all out of ammo and stuck in a hole.*
Sally let out a frustrated sigh. Then she paused, thinking.
*Me, Hilde, Noin. . .that's three out of four. So where's . . .*
"Noin, have you seen McGowan?" Sally asked the communicator.
"No, I haven't." A pause. Then, "Come to think of it, I haven't seen her since this whole thing got started," Noin commented.
Sally looked at Hilde, eyebrows raised in silent inquiry. Hilde shook her head.
"Well, damn."
*Rowena, where the hell are you when I actually need you?*
As if reading her mind, another voice came over the communicator. "I'm right here, Red Leader," the new voice prompted. "Look straight ahead past the lake. On the tower."
Sally's gaze traveled across the lake. A steel-beamed guard tower stood on the far bank, covered in camo tenting. At first, Sally couldn't see her. Then she spied a flash of camouflage and brownish black hair at the top of the tower's staircase. "Rowena, I'm empty, and so are the others. What about you?"
"I've got three bullets and a snap explosive. Give me something to use 'em on."
Sally turned to Hilde. "Look around and see if you can find out where they're hiding." Hilde nodded and began scanning the field. Sally went back to the radio. "Noin?"
"Yeah?"
"See anyone out there?"
"Number Two's down already, that I know for sure. As for the rest. . ." Noin stopped speaking as a movement caught her eye. Someone was looking out at the battlefield from behind the brick wall of a bombed-out building. "There, behind the bricks. Looks like Number Four."
Sally looked in that direction. "I see him," she confirmed. "Anything else?"
"Those trees to the left of the tower. I saw Number Five back there," Hilde said. "And I thought I saw Number One dive behind that sandbag bunker."
"So that leaves. . ." Sally examined the space before her once more, her eyes alert for any movement, any discrepancy in the landscape. Her gaze stopped on an abandoned truck some ways away from the trees. At first glance, nothing was obvious, but if you looked closely, you could see a shock of brown hair sticking out from behind one of the blown-out tires.
*So that's where Number Three's been hiding . . .*
"I just found our last target," Sally stated into the speaker. "He's under the truck. Got that, Rowena?"
"One under the truck, one in the bunker, one behind the trees, and the last is behind the bricks. Four, total, is that correct?" Rowena asked.
"Yep."
"I think I can handle it."
"Make 'em count, McGowan." Sally warned.
"Don't I always?" was the only response.
*I sure hope so, Rowena.*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With that, Rowena switched off her communicator and slipped it back into the pouch that was slung around her torso, then wiped her face, which was filthy and covered in sweat, with the hem of her olive green tank top. The tall brunette weighed her options. If she moved down the staircase now, she was sure to be seen. And from where she was, there was no way she could hit all of her targets with only three bullets and a single explosive. They were spread too far apart for that.
*Well, well, well. Looks like its a game of hide and seek, and I'm IT. Let's just see if anyone gets fidgety.*
So, she waited. Her hazel eyes were vigilant as they continually scanned the field below her, watching carefully for any new developments. Several minutes passed, and she had begun to formulate a new plan when she noticed something at the far end of the field. "Ah-ha," Rowena whispered to the air, her pink lips forming a half-smile. "Looks like someone got antsy after all." She continued to watch as a platinum-haired man moved away from his hiding place behind the brick wall and carefully made his way over to the sandbagged barricade. Then the target hiding behind the trees began to move, heading for the bricks, which were closer to the bunker than the trees had been.
*So you're regrouping. Well, gentlemen, you just made my life a whole lot easier.*
Rowena acted quickly. Before her targets had time to settle into there new locations, she moved silently down the tower staircase, her eyes darting back and forth from the area around the bunker to the truck. Reaching the ground, she darted behind a large rock at the tower's base, crouching low so as not to be seen. Using the boulder to hide her five-foot, seven-inch frame, she quickly reassessed the situation.
*Yep. They're all where they should be.*
Keeping one eye on the bunker, and one eye on the truck, Rowena pulled her gun out of the holster at her hip. Then she pulled a rectangular object out of her pouch. Looking to make sure that her target under the truck was still there, she took a deep breath.
*Well, here goes nothing.*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sally and Hilde watched as Rowena moved from the bottom of the tower stairs to crouch behind a boulder.
"Do you think she can do it?" Hilde asked.
"She's your best friend. You tell me." Sally retorted.
Hilde's eyes slid sideways to look at Sally. She had a smile on her face, indicating that she wasn't worried. Hilde sighed and turned her attention back to the field in front of her. "She'll do fine. She's done tougher stuff than this before." Sally didn't respond, but the radio crackled to life.
"What the hell is she waiting for?" Noin said impatiently. "Christmas?"
"Don't worry," Hilde told her. "If I know Rowena, she's got something planned. Just be patient."
As if on cue, Rowena popped up from behind the boulder, quick as a flash, and faced the truck. She raised her gun and fired a single shot towards one of the wheels. Running full-tilt, she bolted from that spot and dove behind the trees, pausing there momentarily before she raced toward the bricks. As she approached, a black-haired man leaned around the corner of the wall and aimed his weapon at her chest. Rowena clipped his arm, and as he went to his knees, she shot him again, point-blank in the chest. She took his hiding place behind the brick wall as he landed facedown on the ground.
Just as quickly as she had disappeared behind the wall, she materialized again at the other end. She was now twenty feet from her final target. Snapping something between her fingers, Rowena threw a small rectangular object at the sandbag bunker and ducked behind the wall again, covering her face. Three seconds later, the explosive detonated, sending a loud boom and smoke into the air. The bunker's two occupant's scrambled from their hiding place, one diving for the lake, the other disappearing into an unknown location. Dashing through the smoke, Rowena descended into the bunker.
A minute later, she came back out again, a blue flag in her hands. She waved it triumphantly at her teammates.
Sally and Hilde let out cheers of victory as they watched the last two targets run off into the middle of the field. Noin ran to the foxhole and joined them in their minor celebration.
"She did it," Noin said, half-impressed, half-disbelieving. "She actually pulled it off!"
"Hell, yeah, she did it!" Sally exclaimed.
The three women climbed out of the foxhole and stood together, watching as Rowena walked toward them, twirling the piece of blue fabric smugly.
"Way to go, Rowena!" Hilde said, hugging her friend.
Sally ruffled her hair playfully. "Not bad, kid. Not bad at all."
Rowena only smiled. "I told you I could handle it."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Moments later, Lady Une and Zechs Marquise walked through a door in the side of the warehouse and joined the group of talkative women near the lakeside.
Lady Une raised her hand to signal for silence, and, as usual, all chatter ceased. Then she spoke.
"Well, done, ladies. Looks like you win again," she said with a hint of a smirk on her face.
"I have to admit, I thought you guys were toast this time," Zechs said. "But you pulled it off. Good work."
Sally grinned widely. "I thought we were goners, too. But, thanks to Rowena, we kicked their collective asses," she said, hugging the shoulders of the younger girl.
"That's not true. I wouldn't have been able to do much of anything if you guys hadn't given me something to work with. I couldn't see a thing up there." Rowena stated quietly.
"Regardless," Une interrupted, "Red Team won again. Time for the losers to come out and face defeat."
"You guys can come out now!" Zechs yelled to the field. "Its over. You lose."
Within moments, five figures came into view in various parts of the warehouse. Wufei got up from where Rowena had "killed" him near the bricks, grumbling and looking rather murderous, two black marks on his shirt where the black powder bullets had hit. Quatre emerged from the lake, where he had wound up in his escape from the smoking bunker, looking very soggy, but without malice. From behind a tree came Heero, covered in dust as a result of the snap bomb, his face unreadable, as usual. Duo crawled out from behind the bushes where Noin had been hiding, smiling sheepishly, leaves and twigs tangled up in his braid. At least a dozen black spots branded the shirt and pants of his combat clothes, no doubt Noin's handy work. And finally came Trowa, appearing from under the abandoned truck, a single spatter of black marking his forehead.
Duo took one look at Quatre's drenched state and burst out laughing. Then he caught sight of Trowa's forehead and began laughing even harder. Sally, Noin, and Hilde soon followed suit. Wufei grunted and Heero smiled. Quatre even chuckled at the state of himself as Lady Une gracefully hid her laughter behind the hand she placed in front of her mouth and Zechs snickered quietly. Rowena, however, remained silent, as did Trowa.
"Looks like we got beat." Duo said.
"Yes, we did," Quatre agreed, shaking out his soggy hair.
"I cannot believe we have been beaten by a bunch of weak women," grumbled Wufei.
"Hey, there was nothing weak about the way Rowena nailed you, Wu-man. I was watching. She got you gooooood," Duo jibed playfully, making faces at him.
"Not to mention that this is the second time that we 'weak women' have handed your ass to you." Sally reminded him. "In a row, I might add."
Wufei glared at her. "Shut up, Woman." Sally only smiled.
"So what's the penalty this time?" This question came from Heero, of all people.
"Oh, I don't know. . ." Noin said. "What do you think it should be, ladies?"
Hilde said, "I know what it should be." The others looked at her questioningly. "I think they should all take us out drinking. Their treat."
"Better still," said Noin, "I say we get a victory party. . .at Quatre's house!"
There was an excited murmur of agreement from everyone, except Quatre and Sally.
"I don't know if I can handle having another party at my place," Quatre moaned. "You all can be very. . .uncivilized when you're inebriated."
"Oh, please," Duo scoffed. "You know you love having us over."
Quatre shrugged slightly, a half-worried look pinching his features.
Sally shook her head. "It wouldn't be fair to Rowena. She can't drink yet. She's not old enough."
"Its alright. I don't mind," Rowena assured her. "I'm not fond of the taste of alcohol, anyway."
Sally looked at her pointedly. "Are you sure? Because we can do something else. . ."
"No," Rowena cut in sharply. "I'm okay with you guys drinking around me even though I can't. Besides," she said wryly, "somebody has to be coherent enough to take care of the rest of you."
"*And*," Duo put in, "even if she decides that she *does* want to take one itty-bitty little insignificant drink, it's not like any of us is going to tell on her. Right?"
Sally didn't look convinced, but she let it go. So, everyone was in agreement. Some time in the near future, there was going to be a party. And Quatre reluctantly agreed that it would, indeed, be held at his mansion. "I'll just have to make sure certain things are removed from the premises so as to avoid chaos. . ."
"Good," Lady Une said. "Now that that's been settled, everyone go home! You do have to work tomorrow, you know." And having issued the near-order, she withdrew.
A general griping at the idea of working ascended as everyone said their good-byes and parted ways to go home. Duo and Hilde headed out together, all over each other before they even hit the exit, like always. Wufei stomped out of the warehouse, fuming over the defeat, and Sally followed, rolling her eyes. Zechs and Noin walked out arm in arm, talking quietly as they walked. Heero left by himself and Quatre did the same, but not before making a minor fuss over how well Rowena had done that day, hugging her and complimenting her performance. Rowena stiffened slightly at the contact, but Quatre didn't notice.
*Relax, stupid. Its only Quatre. He's not going to hurt you. Geez. . .*
Affecting not to notice that her front was now slightly damp due to Quatre's soggy embrace, she said, "It was nothing out of the ordinary, Quatre."
"Oh, really? How many other people can take out four men by themselves?" Quatre asked.
"Anyone could have done it."
"I don't think so."
"Surely. . ."
"Rowena," Quatre interrupted. "You did a good job. Just take the credit, accept my thanks and let's all go home, okay?"
Rowena finally gave in. "Thank you, Quatre."
Quatre hugged her again and chuckled quietly. "See? Now that wasn't hard, was it?"
Rowena stuck her tongue out at him. "Ha, ha."
Quarter laughed. "Always the playful one. See you at work?"
"Don't you always?" Rowena quipped. "Goodbye Quatre."
"Bye, Rowena." Quatre quickly walked to the other end of the warehouse and disappeared through the door.
Rowena sighed as she watched him leave.
*Looks about time to go home. . .*
"Well, that's something new. He completely forgot I was here."
Rowena jumped about a mile and whirled around to see who had spoken. And there in front her stood Trowa Barton. She put her right hand to her chest, as if to physically stop her heart from hammering. "Jesus, Trowa. You scared the hell out of me."
"Then apparently Quatre isn't the only forgetful one around here."
Rowena opened her mouth to defend herself, but then closed it again when she realized he was kidding. "Sorry. I just got caught up in. . ." Her voice trailed off as she caught site of the black mark marring Trowa's forehead. The mark *she* had put there.
*Shit. I can't believe I did that. What the hell was I thinking? Rule number one, McGowan: Keep casualties to a minimum! You are supposed to only injure the enemy enough to complete the mission, not go on a one-woman killing spree! This isn't the war and you aren't an assassin anymore. Damn.* Rowena was so busy berating herself, she didn't seem to notice that Trowa had stepped closer to her and jumped when he waved his hand in front of her face.
"Are you okay?" Trowa asked.
Rowena shook herself mentally. "Yes, I'm fine. Sorry. I was lost in thought." Her eyes were drawn to his forehead again. *Damn, damn, and triple damn. Don't just stand there. Apologize.*
Trowa watched her, slightly concerned with her behavior. She seemed to have gone glassy-eyed and was looking at him and yet *not* looking at him. *Okay, she doesn't seem like one to stare. . .*
"Rowena, what's wrong?"
"Uh, nothing, I just. . .I'm really sorry about that," she stammered, indicating his forehead. "I didn't mean. . ."
Trowa touched his forehead, realizing what she was talking about. "What, this?" he asked. "Its nothing. Don't worry about it."
"Are you sure?" she asked. "It had to have hurt. . ."
*You have no idea. . .* "No," Trowa lied, "not really. It's just a little black mark. A little soap and water and it'll be gone. So don't worry about it."
"Well, if you say so." There was a lull in the conversation, the two of them standing there in silence for what, to Rowena, seemed like an eternity, but was really only mere seconds. She broke the awkward silence first.
"I'd better be going. I'll see you around." She quickly left the warehouse, barely resisting the urge to break into a run as she made her way to her to her truck parked behind the building and driving away.
As she navigated her way home, Rowena was once again lost in her thoughts.
*What the hell has gotten into me?*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Trowa watched silently as she left. "Well, *that* was interesting," he said to himself. It was strange, but he couldn't help but think that he had somehow made Rowena uncomfortable during their entire five-minute conversation. She had seemed jumpy and on edge, almost apprehensive. Not behaving at all like she had when she spoke to Quatre.
*Speaking of Quatre. . .*
Trowa frowned. He had watched the exchange between the Irishwoman and the Arabian closely, and had noticed a few things. Things that weren't bad, per say, but definitely unusual. He couldn't help but notice the way she had stiffened up when Quatre had touched her, or her downplaying of his compliments. His frown deepened. Come to think of it, she had showed the same resistance to praise when talking with Sally and Lady Une.
Granted, Trowa knew very little about the woman, save what he had read in her personnel file. Remembering what he'd read, he began going over the contents in his mind.
20 years old, 5'7" tall, 189 pounds, no identifying marks or tattoos. . .former OZ assassin, dishonorably discharged for insubordination. . .expertise in espionage, computer hacking and demolition. . .fluent in 6 languages. . .one sister, Margaret. . .birthplace, unknown. . .parentage, unknown.
That had been it. No birth certificate, no medical records. . .just those few details and a record of her work as a Preventer. *Highly unusual.* Trowa rubbed his forehead. He was going to have to get some ice. Soon. Contrary to what he had told Rowena, the shot he had taken to the head had hurt immensely. Trowa smirked slightly as he thought about her performance during the training exercise. What she had done was only slightly short of amazing. Four ex-Gundam pilots taken down by one tall brunette cyclone that had come out of nowhere. Not bad for a day's work.
*All that talent and she refuses to acknowledge it. Very peculiar girl. . .*
Trowa walked to the door at the other end of the building and walked through it, flipping four light switches as he crossed the threshold, sending the warehouse into darkness. Making sure the door shut and locked behind him, he left the warehouse and walked toward the neighboring complex, the apartment complex that was housed inside of the Preventers compound. Trowa rubbed his forehead as he walked, thinking about the woman who had shot him there.
*Yes. Very peculiar indeed. . .*