Public Service Announcement: Don't worry, chapter six of Untitled IS
COMING!!!!!
And read my comic: blackangel.keenspace.com.
~`~
Heero reloaded his gun, empty cartridges clinking into his hand only to be pocketed. It would not do to leave a trail for others to follow. He glanced over at Wufei, his partner-reloading and cocking his firearm as well, crouched behind a crate similar to his own, full of dubious, illegally-acquired goods. This was their fourth mission together since they had joined Preventers. His badge was still quite shiny and new-not that he hadn't been shining it daily-and he took pride in the fact that in such a short time he was already one of Une's best.
The determination on Wufei's face could have been set in stone. He almost seemed. . . too focused. Heero had to signal twice before he noticed.
I Wufei's answer was quick and curt, exactly as Heero expected.
They were attempting to bring a halt to an old drug ring that ran through several cities in the Americas. And here they were to wait at the center of it for the backup to make its arrival.
Heero turned away from his partner, and focused on the shadowy movement that just appeared outside one of the fogged windows. There it was again, in the window next to the first one. Wufei's gaze followed his, and then their eyes met. Giving slight nods to each other, they threw themselves out from behind the crates and fired simultaneously. The two guards by the final door both stood eerily still for a moment before they realized they hadn't been shot, but it was all the time Heero needed to dash up and knock them out while Wufei broke the door down.
And then all he could hear was screaming.
Heero ran into the room, and tripped over Wufei's wriggling form on the floor. He was curled in a fetal position, convulsing sporadically, and screaming his head off. Heero scrambled to his side. A shot rang out and a sharp pain in his upper thigh brought his mind back to the mission. He flung himself over to the highly polished mahogany desk, but found the leader of the drug ring already gone, and a trap door, still swinging on its hinges and footsteps still ringing within, on the other side. If he hurried, he could still catch him-
But he glanced back at his partner. He was scratching at his throat now, and with alarm Heero saw that blood coated his fingers. The sound of glass breaking echoed in the room beyond the door, and, mostly dragging his leg, Heero pulled Wufei out of the doorway in time for the half dozen men in Preventers uniforms charged in with their guns drawn.
"Go! Behind the desk!" Heero shouted to his men as he tried to keep Wufei's hands from his throat. His leg was becoming less and less usable. And all the while, the hoarse screaming continued, confusing and distracting all in the room. Finally Heero straddled him at the waist, grunting at the pain in his thigh-which had just decided to make itself known and managed to pin his arms to the floor on either side of his head. Wufei writhed beneath him, a feral gleam in his eye, until his screams became whimpers and his movements stilled. His body was limp, quite spent, and his panting breaths showed that. And he was oh so carefully inot/i looking Heero in the eye.
Then there was the clatter of men coming back through the trap door.
"It's no use. It's a veritable catacomb down there. We haven't got the faintest clue which way he went." The report kicked Heero below the belt. They had been iafter/i that man for months! And now he was gone! All because of-all because of. . .
He looked down at Wufei and let go of his wrists, marred an angry red where Heero's hands had clutched too tightly.
Wufei was oh so carefully not looking at ianything/i now. His eyes were squeezed almost painfully shut.
But what had happened to Wufei? What had made him act like that with an important mission at stake? No, Heero decided, now was not the time to be playing the blame game.
He grunted and rolled off his partner, flopping onto his back to gather his head for a minute. None of the pieces matched.
He sat up quickly and examined his leg. The bullet had gone in fairly high up on the inside of his right thigh. Nothing seemed to be broken, Heero noted as he applied pressure to certain points, however there was no exit hole, which meant to bullet was still inside him. It must have pierced a large vein or an artery for it to bleed so much. He quickly stripped off his shirt and ripped it into strips. Braiding, a few he tied the makeshift rope around his thigh just above the bullet hole to cut off the circulation. After binding his leg with another piece of starched cloth, he looked at Wufei, who had now curled into a fetal position and looked as if he would die of shame. His fingers were curled tightly in fists, mostly hiding the blood on them. He needed to check out his throat, make sure he hadn't cut open anything major.
"Agent Chang, can you sit up?" His voice was brusque, and he watched said person rise until he was sitting cross-legged in front of him. And when Wufei opened his eyes, they seemed almost dead.
After systematically checking his throat, Heero began wrapping it with his makeshift bandages. "Status report," he called to his men while he worked.
Briggs spoke for all of them. "We're fine, with the exception of Agent Michaels, who sprained his ankle coming through the window."
"Then let's leave." Heero tied off the bandage, not too tight but tight enough. He cautiously stood up, tested weight on his leg, and when pain filled his nerves, deemed it usable. Wufei rose bonelessly from the floor and kept his eyes on his feet with his hands in his pockets. Heero took his arm in one hand and led him slowly back the way they had come, their men trailing behind them.
~`~
Heero didn't know what to think while he stood in front of Une's desk, giving a detailed report on his failed mission and favoring his right leg. Most reports were documented and looked at in good time; however, Une only seemed to want the specifics of one incident.
"-so I pulled his hands away from his neck and pinned him to the floor."
"Yes, and after that?" She was studying him carefully, her head balanced on top of her neatly folded hands.
"He gradually calmed down and I released him." Heero shifted uncomfortably. He couldn't quite wrap his mind around what happened. Something desperately wasn't right.
"Yes, that's enough." She had made him retell the story quite a few times, just to make sure she hadn't missed anything important.
His formality thereby dismissed, Heero slumped into the padded chair behind him and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't understand what Huggard could have done to him in such a short time to set him off like that." He was of course talking about the man they had been supposed to capture. "It doesn't make any sense. I've studied psychology and nothing-"
"Heero, Haggard didn't do anything." Une's statement was quiet and he almost didn't hear it over his ranting. He sat straight up in his chair unbelievingly.
"What?" The flat question showed a hint of surprise.
"Haggard was just as surprised as you." She rubbed her face once with her hands before beginning to fiddle with a pencil.
"But-"
"Our team of doctors here fully psychoanalyzed Chang-Wufei. According to what they found, he is not mentally fit for duty. His badge and pass have been taken from him."
Heero was silent for a moment. "Has he been released to go home yet?"
To Heero's trained eye, she oozed discomfort and uneasiness. "They examined his throat and deemed him a danger to himself. He's being admitted to the psyche ward in the hospital down the street until I can find a better place for him. Visitors are only allowed on Sundays so if you want to say goodbye to him, I'd run."
With his wits scattered, Heero gaped at her for a moment. And then, despite his leg, he did run. Very quickly.
~`~
It took Heero all of thirty seconds to figure out which door they were taking Wufei out of. It wasn't the main door in the front lobby; it was too public. The last thing Preventers needed was a scandal. And so Heero's mind finally decided on the special door in the back, the one celebrities, such as Relena Peacecraft, were carted in and out of in order to avoid any mobs of fans. It had direct access to the parking garage, and was as private as it could get.
He ran lightly, focusing most of his weight on his left leg. The operation to take the bullet out had been quick, and he hadn't bothered to take any anesthesia. After all, he had set his own broken leg once. The wound throbbed a little after that, but mostly he could ignore the pain.
When he got to his destination, all he could do was stare. There, almost at the door, was Wufei, flanked by two men dressed in white. Wufei's hair was down, and his torso and arms were wrapped tight in a straightjacket. "Wufei!"
His ex-partner turned his face and glanced at him. He looked. . . defeated. And so ialone/i. And then he was pulled through the door.
~`~
Heero reloaded his gun, empty cartridges clinking into his hand only to be pocketed. It would not do to leave a trail for others to follow. He glanced over at Wufei, his partner-reloading and cocking his firearm as well, crouched behind a crate similar to his own, full of dubious, illegally-acquired goods. This was their fourth mission together since they had joined Preventers. His badge was still quite shiny and new-not that he hadn't been shining it daily-and he took pride in the fact that in such a short time he was already one of Une's best.
The determination on Wufei's face could have been set in stone. He almost seemed. . . too focused. Heero had to signal twice before he noticed.
I Wufei's answer was quick and curt, exactly as Heero expected.
They were attempting to bring a halt to an old drug ring that ran through several cities in the Americas. And here they were to wait at the center of it for the backup to make its arrival.
Heero turned away from his partner, and focused on the shadowy movement that just appeared outside one of the fogged windows. There it was again, in the window next to the first one. Wufei's gaze followed his, and then their eyes met. Giving slight nods to each other, they threw themselves out from behind the crates and fired simultaneously. The two guards by the final door both stood eerily still for a moment before they realized they hadn't been shot, but it was all the time Heero needed to dash up and knock them out while Wufei broke the door down.
And then all he could hear was screaming.
Heero ran into the room, and tripped over Wufei's wriggling form on the floor. He was curled in a fetal position, convulsing sporadically, and screaming his head off. Heero scrambled to his side. A shot rang out and a sharp pain in his upper thigh brought his mind back to the mission. He flung himself over to the highly polished mahogany desk, but found the leader of the drug ring already gone, and a trap door, still swinging on its hinges and footsteps still ringing within, on the other side. If he hurried, he could still catch him-
But he glanced back at his partner. He was scratching at his throat now, and with alarm Heero saw that blood coated his fingers. The sound of glass breaking echoed in the room beyond the door, and, mostly dragging his leg, Heero pulled Wufei out of the doorway in time for the half dozen men in Preventers uniforms charged in with their guns drawn.
"Go! Behind the desk!" Heero shouted to his men as he tried to keep Wufei's hands from his throat. His leg was becoming less and less usable. And all the while, the hoarse screaming continued, confusing and distracting all in the room. Finally Heero straddled him at the waist, grunting at the pain in his thigh-which had just decided to make itself known and managed to pin his arms to the floor on either side of his head. Wufei writhed beneath him, a feral gleam in his eye, until his screams became whimpers and his movements stilled. His body was limp, quite spent, and his panting breaths showed that. And he was oh so carefully inot/i looking Heero in the eye.
Then there was the clatter of men coming back through the trap door.
"It's no use. It's a veritable catacomb down there. We haven't got the faintest clue which way he went." The report kicked Heero below the belt. They had been iafter/i that man for months! And now he was gone! All because of-all because of. . .
He looked down at Wufei and let go of his wrists, marred an angry red where Heero's hands had clutched too tightly.
Wufei was oh so carefully not looking at ianything/i now. His eyes were squeezed almost painfully shut.
But what had happened to Wufei? What had made him act like that with an important mission at stake? No, Heero decided, now was not the time to be playing the blame game.
He grunted and rolled off his partner, flopping onto his back to gather his head for a minute. None of the pieces matched.
He sat up quickly and examined his leg. The bullet had gone in fairly high up on the inside of his right thigh. Nothing seemed to be broken, Heero noted as he applied pressure to certain points, however there was no exit hole, which meant to bullet was still inside him. It must have pierced a large vein or an artery for it to bleed so much. He quickly stripped off his shirt and ripped it into strips. Braiding, a few he tied the makeshift rope around his thigh just above the bullet hole to cut off the circulation. After binding his leg with another piece of starched cloth, he looked at Wufei, who had now curled into a fetal position and looked as if he would die of shame. His fingers were curled tightly in fists, mostly hiding the blood on them. He needed to check out his throat, make sure he hadn't cut open anything major.
"Agent Chang, can you sit up?" His voice was brusque, and he watched said person rise until he was sitting cross-legged in front of him. And when Wufei opened his eyes, they seemed almost dead.
After systematically checking his throat, Heero began wrapping it with his makeshift bandages. "Status report," he called to his men while he worked.
Briggs spoke for all of them. "We're fine, with the exception of Agent Michaels, who sprained his ankle coming through the window."
"Then let's leave." Heero tied off the bandage, not too tight but tight enough. He cautiously stood up, tested weight on his leg, and when pain filled his nerves, deemed it usable. Wufei rose bonelessly from the floor and kept his eyes on his feet with his hands in his pockets. Heero took his arm in one hand and led him slowly back the way they had come, their men trailing behind them.
~`~
Heero didn't know what to think while he stood in front of Une's desk, giving a detailed report on his failed mission and favoring his right leg. Most reports were documented and looked at in good time; however, Une only seemed to want the specifics of one incident.
"-so I pulled his hands away from his neck and pinned him to the floor."
"Yes, and after that?" She was studying him carefully, her head balanced on top of her neatly folded hands.
"He gradually calmed down and I released him." Heero shifted uncomfortably. He couldn't quite wrap his mind around what happened. Something desperately wasn't right.
"Yes, that's enough." She had made him retell the story quite a few times, just to make sure she hadn't missed anything important.
His formality thereby dismissed, Heero slumped into the padded chair behind him and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't understand what Huggard could have done to him in such a short time to set him off like that." He was of course talking about the man they had been supposed to capture. "It doesn't make any sense. I've studied psychology and nothing-"
"Heero, Haggard didn't do anything." Une's statement was quiet and he almost didn't hear it over his ranting. He sat straight up in his chair unbelievingly.
"What?" The flat question showed a hint of surprise.
"Haggard was just as surprised as you." She rubbed her face once with her hands before beginning to fiddle with a pencil.
"But-"
"Our team of doctors here fully psychoanalyzed Chang-Wufei. According to what they found, he is not mentally fit for duty. His badge and pass have been taken from him."
Heero was silent for a moment. "Has he been released to go home yet?"
To Heero's trained eye, she oozed discomfort and uneasiness. "They examined his throat and deemed him a danger to himself. He's being admitted to the psyche ward in the hospital down the street until I can find a better place for him. Visitors are only allowed on Sundays so if you want to say goodbye to him, I'd run."
With his wits scattered, Heero gaped at her for a moment. And then, despite his leg, he did run. Very quickly.
~`~
It took Heero all of thirty seconds to figure out which door they were taking Wufei out of. It wasn't the main door in the front lobby; it was too public. The last thing Preventers needed was a scandal. And so Heero's mind finally decided on the special door in the back, the one celebrities, such as Relena Peacecraft, were carted in and out of in order to avoid any mobs of fans. It had direct access to the parking garage, and was as private as it could get.
He ran lightly, focusing most of his weight on his left leg. The operation to take the bullet out had been quick, and he hadn't bothered to take any anesthesia. After all, he had set his own broken leg once. The wound throbbed a little after that, but mostly he could ignore the pain.
When he got to his destination, all he could do was stare. There, almost at the door, was Wufei, flanked by two men dressed in white. Wufei's hair was down, and his torso and arms were wrapped tight in a straightjacket. "Wufei!"
His ex-partner turned his face and glanced at him. He looked. . . defeated. And so ialone/i. And then he was pulled through the door.