I'd just like to start out by saying that this story has countless plot holes but even though it is my baby right now, I just cannot spend all of my time taking care of every single detail so I hope that the plot holes don't distract too much.
:Please Read This:
This story takes place a few years after the war but I've made a change in one serious outcome. Quatre's father DID NOT DIE during the war! I repeat, Mr. Winner DID NOT DIE during the war BUT the whole Zero incident DID happen.
I'm kind of hesitant to post this because the whole story isn't complete yet but I'm hoping that maybe some positive or negative feedback can drive me to write more. I hope that readers enjoy it and review. Thanks!
Warnings: Mild violence, yaoi (guyXguy pairing), swearing. You know the works.
The entire property and mansion of Mr. Winner was proudly lit up and lively with chattering business executives from all over the galaxy enjoying the last hours of the year. Of course Mr. Winner's only son Quatre Raberba Winner was here as well along with his four companions Heero Yuy, Trowa Barton, Chang Wufei and Duo Maxwell. Every year, Mr. Winner would hold a huge New Year's Eve party and every year Quatre dreaded it. He was always paraded around by his father and introduced to everyone in the room and then waved off when important business came up. Quatre loved his father very much but sometimes the man could be very harsh towards his son without really realizing it or meaning to.
Quatre had hoped that this year would be different because it was the first year after all of the fighting that his companions were able to attend. Unfortunately, nothing changed as Quatre was again forced to greet people with a fake smile and a firm handshake. Occasionally, Quatre would steal a glance over to his friends, who had been forced into a corner of the giant ballroom, where they stood and spoke softly to one another.
He took a quick glance around at everyone there. The party was actually a lot more casual this year as far as the attire everyone was in and even the looks on people's faces. Everyone seemed a lot more relaxed now that the war and post war affairs were finally over. Quatre sighed for the hundredth time that evening and was forced back into petty conversation.
Even though the war was long from over, Quatre's empathy was still picking up emotions from all over the place. He felt feelings of boredom, excitement and even jealousy but Quatre, having learned a bit more control, kept his cool. During dull moments in conversation, Quatre would try to pinpoint the emotions of the executive he was forced to listen to at that moment to see if they were sincere or not with the praises they were sending his father. Quatre knew that this was probably wrong of him but he also needed more practice and he figured that if he were to become the president of Winner Corp one day, he would need to know exactly who he could trust.
Finally, as the last few minutes of the year were ticking down, Quatre had a moment to himself. He solemnly walked out onto a currently empty balcony and rested his elbows on the banister. He released a deep sigh again and wondered where the other pilots had gone.
'They more than likely were bored to death and left for home. I feel horrible that I wasn't able to see much of them at all; I was just excited that they were even able to come this time.' Quatre's thoughts were interrupted by very quiet footsteps behind him Slowly Quatre turned his head to try and catch a glimpse of the approacher and was both shocked and relieved to see that it was Trowa.
"Oh Trowa, it's you. You guys are still here?" Quatre turned to face Trowa as he joined him in leaning against the banister.
"Of course we're still here, where would we have gone?" Trowa looked to Quatre with a slightly confused face.
"Well…I guess I just thought that since everything is so boring that you guys would've left to go home. I feel bad for even dragging you here. I thought that since dad knew that I had friends here he might let me just mingle on my own but I just couldn't get away, I'm sorry I…" Quatre's rambling was interrupted as Trowa put a finger to his lips and smiled.
"Quatre, don't worry about it. We all came here willingly knowing what the setting would be and we've all stayed for our own reasons, be it you or the large buffet table…or both." Quatre blushed and chuckled a bit while thanking Trowa for his kind sentiments. Trowa bowed his head to Quatre and began to walk back into the house. Right before he had reached the doorway, he turned and spoke again.
"Oh. Duo was looking for you earlier. He said something about counting down the seconds all together and parading around in the nude as his first act of the New Year so you might want to find and stop him."
Quatre nodded and chuckled again, "Alright, I'll be inside in a few and I'll find you guys." Trowa nodded and proceeded inside. Quatre resumed his position on the balcony and thought of what might happen if Duo followed through with his plan.
'I can only imagine the look on father's face. Duo would never be allowed to come here again, that's for sure.' Quatre's thoughts got serious fast as he thought about the pilots, the end of the past year and all that happened and things that had developed during it. In the midst of his thoughts, he formed his New Years resolution and was determined to follow through with it. 'I am going to tell him the truth and my feelings. I'll die before I let this go on without him knowing how I feel.'
Quatre thought in silence and checked his watch. 'Whoops, I'd better get back inside. Only a few minutes left…' Just as Quatre turned to leave, for the second time that evening he heard footsteps behind him.
Back inside, Duo was getting anxious.
"Where is he? You told him to meet us in here, right Tro?" Trowa nodded and silently searched the crowd for the blonde. Wufei rolled his eyes.
"Would you calm down Maxwell? He's still got a minute or so, he'll make it." Duo stuck his tongue out at Wufei who just rolled his eyes again and sighed. "I don't see why this is so important to you anyway."
"Look, it just is okay? We've all battled through so much. I just thought it would be nice to finally spend a New Year's Eve together when we weren't fighting for our lives or waiting for our next mission or separated on different colonies." Duo crossed his arm in annoyance and snuck a glance over to Heero as the crowd around them began grabbing champagne for the last sixty seconds.
Duo grumbled and thought to himself. 'What is taking him so long?' With not a second to spare, Duo lost his patience. He looked for an opening in the crowd and dashed through toward the balcony that Trowa had said Quatre was occupying.
"Duo!" Heero called after him but with luck of catching his attention.
"Damn that Maxwell, if he weren't so impatient. Now Winner will probably show up and Maxwell will be gone looking for him." Heero shook his head at Wufei and started off toward the crowd where Duo had slipped through.
Meanwhile, outside on the balcony, Quatre was weighing his odds. A man in a black ski mask, hole-filled jeans and a plain gray t-shirt stood in front of him holding a gun equipped with a silencer.
"What do you want with me?"
"Take a wild guess rich boy." The man's voice was quite deep as he readied the gun to fire. "Are you gonna come peacefully?" Just as the man spoke, Duo showed up at the balcony and was about to yell at Quatre to hurry but quickly took in the scene and hid himself just inside the doorway.
Quatre couldn't help but smirk at the man in front of him knowing quite well that he could take him out with his hands tied behind his back as well as his rather muscular partner in crime. He heard the man growl at his reaction and he raised his gun as behind them the crowd was cheering and the final countdown began.
"Ten!"
As the guests screamed the first number, Quatre's fist was flying towards the man's face only to collide instead with his unarmed hand. In a split second the man let go of Quatre's fist and threw a punch of his own which struck the blonde in the stomach sending him stumbling backwards. The man grew angrier and immediately shot at Quatre just as he has regained his balance but to his disappointment was only able to clip the blondes' upper arm. Duo jumped as he looked on and thought out plans to try and help but was also shocked to see that Quatre hadn't even flinched and continued to stare the man down.
"Nine!"
"I'll have you know boy that I've got a sniper aiming for your father's forehead as we speak and if you'd like for him to die then try that again!"
"Eight!"
"And believe me kid, I would just love to kill your father so don't test me Quatre, or should I call you 04?" Quatre gulped.
"Seven!"
Duo couldn't hear any of the conversation over the cheering of the crowd but by observing Quatre's sudden change in demeanor, he could tell that it was bad.
"Six!"
"Sounds like you've got five seconds to decide or your dear old dad gets shot. What'll it be 04?" Quatre scowled at the man and kept himself from panicking. Through gritted teeth he spoke.
"Five!"
"Do I even have a choice?"
"Four!" The man shoots again this time hitting Quatre's leg and sending Quatre down on one knee.
"Three!"
"Dammit!" Duo cursed under his breath and could only watch as Quatre lost his stance. Duo's indecision wouldn't let his body act on anything. 'I'll only make it worse if I go in there but if I don't, they'll take him or worse kill him on the spot and I refuse to let that happen!'
"Two!"
The cheering commenced as Quatre clutched his leg in pain and felt as warm blood began to stain his khaki pants.
"Quatre, you've not much time left!" The man reached for a walkie-talkie and pressed down the button to connect to the other end.
"One! Happy New Year!"
"Shoot him!"
"No! I'll go, I'll go!"
The man smirked and looked down at Quatre who couldn't help but have angry tears in his eyes. The man grabbed Quatre by his collar of his shirt and pulled him closer so that he could whisper in his ear.
"There was no sniper Quatre, a man with your experience should've known that." As the man pulled back, Quatre began to struggle under his grip and more tears rolled down his cheeks. The man held tightly before finally knocking Quatre unconscious.
"Happy New Year Quatre."
The crowd roared in excitement as balloons were released and confetti flew everywhere. Duo glared daggers at the man in the ski mask as he ordered his lackey to carry Quatre's body along.
"All too easy…"
Duo growled and held himself back from pouncing on the man as he walked away with Quatre in tow. Looking around for a moment, Duo found a napkin and quickly scribbled on it. Once the two men were out of sight, Duo sprung into action only slowing for a moment to gaze upon the spot where Quatre had just been and the puddle of blood that his wounds left behind.
"Well so much for Duo's plans…" Heero worriedly thought aloud and searched for any sign of his two companions.
"Where could they be…unless…" Trowa spoke softly and glanced over at Heero who simply shrugged back at him.
"The thought had crossed my mind…"
Impatiently, Wufei ignored their conversation and decided to take matters into his own hands.
"Barton, which balcony?" Trowa pointed to the balcony straight across from where they were standing and Wufei took off followed closely by the others. Upon arriving, the three pilots could find no sign of Quatre or Duo. They stepped onto the empty balcony and shrugged at one another. It was Heero that finally noticed a napkin stuck to the door frame with a fork. He approached it and first read it silently to himself.
"Guys, I think I've got something over here…" Heero looked up as Trowa spoke after him.
"I don't think it's quite like what I found." Trowa and the approaching Wufei and eventually Heero kneeled down to stare at the puddle of what seemed to be fairly fresh blood. Heero glared at it and could only wonder who it belonged to.
"I'll kill whoever did this." As he spoke, Heero handed the napkin he had found to Trowa who read silently and passed it to Wufei who read it aloud angrily.
"Quatre kidnapped.
No time.
In pursuit.
-Duo"
"It must've happened during all the celebration…" Trowa's expression grew more worried as he thought of Quatre and Duo being kidnapped and fifty different scenarios began playing on repeat in his mind 'This just can't happen…it can't.' He rubbed his eyes for a moment and spoke aloud again, "What should we do?"
The braided pilot quickly and silently followed the pair of idiots that had kidnapped Quatre. 'They are going to be sorry for this. I may not have been able to do anything before but I sure as hell will now. The fact that they even laid a finger on Quatre…' Duo growled under his breath. After about a half hour of walking, Duo hid himself behind a tree as the two in front of him had seemed to stop. Duo snuck a look around and saw that they had settled at a campsite in a pretty obvious clearing. 'Well, they're definitely not experienced at this…' Duo thought to himself and watched as they not so gently dropped Quatre to the ground. He tried his best to listen to their conversation.
"We'll move out in the morning. With that prick Mr. Winner busy with his party guests, he's not gonna notice his dear son's disappearance so we should be safe for a while."
"Call the others and tell them to start prepping for the next stages of the plan. In the meantime, I'll watch the boy; you just keep your eyes and ears open for anything." The first man nodded and finished tying Quatre's wrists with rope as the second man smiled maniacally at the sight.
Off in the distance, Duo could only glare and hope that the other pilots had figured it out and were on their way. Duo was just about to make his move toward the campsite when suddenly his watch began to vibrate on his wrist. He looked down at it just as Heero appeared on the small screen.
Back at the mansion, Heero and Wufei were still inspecting the balcony while Trowa had been sent off to find Mr. Winner and tell him the news. Finding nothing of any real value to them, the two remained as calm as possible while waiting for Trowa to return.
"Isn't there any way to reach them? I can't just sit here anymore!" Wufei was losing his composure. They had been searching and waiting for almost a half hour since they had found their friends to be missing. Heero shook his head at Wufei's impatience as his thoughts were full of worry for Quatre and Duo. 'Poor Duo. I can't believe that this is happening…not now after all the planning I went through…' Suddenly, Wufei's question reached Heero's worrying brain and an idea was spawned.
"Was Duo wearing his watch?"
"Yeah…he said he definitely needed it to count down the seconds." Wufei paused momentarily and was about to ask what that had anything to do with their situation when suddenly the dots connected in his head and he was immediately at Heero's side.
Heero moved as quickly as he could as he too remembered. On a particular mission, the five pilots had to split into two teams but still keep in constant contact. Heero gave Duo and Wufei a watch that doubled as a small communicator and gave them a quick explanation of how to use it. Since Wufei refused to wear it, Duo took it and ever since, he'd been wearing it as a regular watch. Finally, Heero was able to get a signal with his own watch and Duo popped up on his mini-screen.
"Duo, thank god, where are you? What's happened?" Heero bombarded Duo with questions and impatiently waited for his answers. On the other end, Duo spoke in a hushed whisper.
"I followed the guys into the woods behind the mansion. They're at a campsite in a huge clearing back there. There are only two of them here but I think there are more and as you can tell, they're not exactly experienced in the usual okay-we've got him run like hell-kidnapping tactics."
"Which one of you is wounded?" Wufei looked over Heero's shoulder and waited for a response.
"Quatre. Shot twice. Nothing too bad but it's not like he got any medical attention." Duo mumbled a few obscene things under his breath but Heero just moved ignoring him.
"Do you have any idea why they took Quatre?"
"I think they want him as bait; that they're really after his father. I couldn't really…oh shit!" Suddenly Heero and Wufei heard a struggle on the other end before the picture turned to static leaving the two to ponder what more than likely just happened at the campsite.
"Dammit!" Wufei yelled and began to pace again as Trowa finally returned.
"What's happened?"
"We just contacted Duo but we were cut-off. It seems that he's been captured as well but he was able to tell us a little info."
"And?"
"Quatre's been shot twice but nothing fatal and currently they're in a large campsite in the woods right behind us."
Trowa sighed at hearing the news of Quatre's injuries and tried not worry. "Can you track their location at all?"
"Not without my laptop and even with it, unless part of that watch is still together and functional, I can't do much else."
"Well, what can we do now?" Wufei had to keep pacing to keep himself from jumping down someone's throat.
"All we can really do is move quickly, search the forest for that clearing and hope that something is still there."
"What are we waiting for? Let's go." Just as the there were walking away, Mr. Winner approached with two bodyguards.
"What is going on? Where is my son?"
"Mr. Winner, we really don't have time to…" Heero was cut off by Mr. Winner's yelling.
"Tell me what is going on this instant!" Trowa spoke up before Heero could say something he might regret.
"Sir, we're going to lose your son if we don't go now. You have to be patient." When Mr. Winner wouldn't budge, Heero spoke through gritted teeth and this time Trowa couldn't and didn't really want to stop him.
"He's been kidnapped by a group of men but we're not sure of who they are just yet. Right now, they are somewhere in your backyard, Quatre's wounded and we think that the whole kidnapping is a ploy to try and kill you. Happy?" Mr. Winner grew more shocked with every sentence our of Heero's mouth. Again, Wufei's patience drew thin.
"Now if we can go, we might just be able to save our friends." Mr. Winner nodded in awe and watched the three of them run off.
End
Well I hope that readers enjoyed the first chapter. There are many more to come if you want to read more. Please review and tell me what you think! Thanks for reading!