Two: Dog Tag Memories
The long walk home was just that, a long walk home. Heero had spent most of the time he had intended on job hunting just walking around and thinking. Thinking about Anya and all the things she said. He thought about Relena too. He wondered if her life was as good as he hoped. Yuy had even worked out a dialogue of what to say when he saw her. Granted, it wasn't a very good dialogue - in fact it was probably one of the worst ever composed in the history of mankind considering the fact that he shot her in the middle, but the point was he had made one, not if it was any good or not. There would be plenty of time to critique the details later.
He walked up the stairs of his apartment, twisted the key, and walked in the door. Amazingly, the house was still a mess. There was a stench of smoke and beer with a shade of vomit in the two bedrooms, one bathroom, one kitchen and a living room with a balcony apartment.
Heero cracked open a window and turned on the ceiling fan. It was a good thing he didn't have any animals. They'd probably be dead too, just adding to the putrid smell. And no sooner had the thought crossed his mind when he remembered the goldfish Anya had gotten him. He rolled his eyes. There was no sense in trying to save it now, it had been at least two weeks since he had last thought about feeding it and God knows how long ago he had actually fed it.
Yuy sat down on his couch, throwing his jacket on the coffee table. It was around eight o'clock now and he had eaten a sandwich before he came home. He didn't have a TV and his radio was busted, leaving him with not much to do. He picked up a magazine that lay on the table. Maybe he could go next door and ask for one that wasn't from a year ago.
He tossed the old and tired literature in the garbage can as he walked back into his bedroom. He took of his shoes and let his bare feet rub against the carpet. It was the ugliest damn carpet he had ever seen, shag, and a dark forest green. What did he care though? It's not like he owned the place or could even afford to replace it.
He walked back out into the living room and decided that he should at least try to clean a little. The chair he had kicked over was put right-side up again. He put a new light bulb in the lamp and picked up the glass from the beer bottles he had tossed against the wall. Yuy walked over and picked up his jacket, intent on hanging it up, when out fell the piece of paper Anya had given him earlier. He stared at it for a minute; watched it sit on the floor just waiting to be picked up. Part of him wanted to pick it up, and the other half wanted to throw it away. But throwing it away would mean he'd have to pick it up, so Heero sighed in a what-the-hell fashion and bent down, and scooped up the notebook paper with the words scribbled on it.
D. Ky Takada. Looking for body guards. Need experience and be ready to provide demonstration. Thought you might be good candidate. It's a top- dollar job. Big bucks. All ready made you an appointment. Interview is Thursday at 3 at the Meridian Plaza in Dolthan. Don't be mad. You look good in a suit. Much Love, Anya.
Heero blinked. She had all ready made him an appointment. Well isn't that just great? He shook his head and balled up the piece of paper. He tossed it over into the corner, collapsed onto the couch, and was suddenly unimpressed with idea of cleaning. He had an interview in a day in a city that was two hundred miles away for a job he wasn't even sure he wanted. Who cares if it sounded important? Who cared if the money was exactly what he needed? It was two hundred miles too far; too far from his sources and two hundred miles too far from Anya.
He closed his eyes.
0r it could be just what he was looking for. A top-dollar job for a top- dollar guy and top-dollar guys usually have top-dollar connections. When one's a bodyguard for a top-dollar connection, well, you hear things. Sometimes valuable things. Who knows, maybe he would even find her. He laid there for a moment, wrapped in the silence. Somebody giggled.
Heero's eyes shot open, alarm and violence echoing from each as his hand instinctively dropped down under the couch, pulling out a .357 Magnum. In one swift motion he sat up; eyes surveying the room while his gun lifted towards the door.
Somebody was in his house; someone who he hadn't invited in. A car horn blared in the background.
Yuy rose to his feet, gun stretched in front of him. His blood rushed and his heart thumped like he was back in combat. His military training came crashing back to him as he walked out of the living room and into the kitchen. The house was quiet and empty as he looked in the corners and in the pantry. After a second, he started doubting his own veracity due to the fact that he had just, just come out of hangover the size of Texas. Heero lowered his gun.
Someone ran past him and he heard the giggling again.
Yuy jumped back from surprise and cursed himself for it. He walked out of his kitchen into the hallway, his gun pointed straight out in front of him again. Now he knew it wasn't a hangover or insanity, there was someone here. Someone that shouldn't be.
"You might as well give yourself up." Heero yelled out. Nobody answered as he walked back into the living room. There was a rustle behind him and he turned fast, but only saw nothing. There was gust to the left of him and then to the right of him. It seemed to be all around him and he did a full 360 turn trying to find a target to shoot at. "What the hell..."
Now there were voices all around him, talking in a tongue he couldn't understand. They whispered and hissed; there was alarm and panic in their tones. He heard the giggle again. It was the sound of a woman, coming from the hallway. Heero ran towards the long corridor; his gun had staying in the firing position and his eyes still the eyes of a blood-thirsty killer. Or maybe they were just the eyes of a soldier.
And then, it hit him.
He turned back and looked into his living room. There was no furniture. The couch he had been on was gone - the chairs, the rug were all gone. The flooring was wood now, complimenting the dark red walls. Yuy walked back into the room; in disbelief and a confusion so strong it overwhelmed him. He shook his head and ran back into his kitchen. Nothing was there either, and the walls were red and the floors wooden.
His boots made a tapping sound on the floor as he walked. He looked down at his feet. He had taken his shoes off. Yuy looked at his clothes; he hadn't laid down in these either. He was in black suit pants and a white shirt that was unbuttoned. He had dog-tags around his neck. He held them up so he could see the name: Yuy, Heero.
Heero let them fall back down against his chest. He didn't have any tags.
Yuy gripped his gun much, much tighter and fought back a rising lump in his throat. He wasn't a man who feared death, but he was a man that was weary when it came to the unknown. Call it all the years of fighting in a mobile suit and all the times unexpected things had happened. The death of Treize, the disappearance of Relena, and now...
This situation fit into that category.
The sun was shining brightly through the balcony doors when he had been damn sure that it had been night. He heard the laugh again and looked down his hallway just in time to see a blonde-haired girl in a white run into his bedroom, shutting the door behind her.
Heero stared at the door. It used to be brown; now it was painted white.
This wasn't normal. None of this felt right. He pulled the trigger of his gun back, the click leaving him a little bit of confidence to disdain the weird feeling of worry as he started down the corridor.
Yuy's heart was pounding hard and his mind raced with thoughts of what he might find or what he would do if he found anything. And the funny thing was, he couldn't figure out why. Why he was reacting this way, or why he was starting to be afraid.
"Heero..." A quiet, wistful voice called.
Heero stopped dead in his tracks. He knew the voice; it was faintly familiar or enough so that it set off the little warning bells in his head. Yuy called back out. "Anya?" He waited, but there was no answer. "Anya, if that's you, just... Just stop it. This is too insane."
"Heero..." The voice chimed again in a sing-song pattern. "Come here, Heero..."
Yuy's breathing was heavier now and his testosterone was starting to kick in. This was crazy. Who cares if it was weird or not?! The only thing he had to worry about was whether or not whoever was in his room had a gun! Besides, he had one, and there was nothing in there that a shot or two to the chest wouldn't cure. Heero rolled his neck and took a breath before he started walking again. If the voice was beckoning him, than hell, he would beckon himself to it. The unknown is only unknown until you kick open a door and find out what the hell it is.
The voice kept calling his name and he kept walking.
The air in his hallway was thick and putrid, but he recognized it right away. It was the stench of death. It was the smell of bodies that had been lying in the trenches for days on end. The door to his bathroom and to his study were gone, there was only the one, white door at the end of the way. With every step he took, the whispering voices got louder and louder and the woman singing his name became more frequent, and more panic-stricken.
"Hurry, Heero..." She said. "Save me Heero... You've got to save me... You've got to save me before it's too late..."
Too late for what? Too late for who? Who was in his room, who was he supposed to help. He felt like screaming until it all stopped, but he didn't.
Yuy quickened his pace as he kept walking down the hallway. It seemed like he couldn't get close to the door. There was a twisted melody the kept playing from somewhere in the house. The kind of tune that plays when you open up a jewelry box, garbled and indistinct. His heart felt like it was beating its way out of his chest and the voice kept calling and for some reason he couldn't go any faster or any slower than he was. Step, step, step...
The smell grew so intense that Heero started to breath through his mouth. It worked for a while, but now he could taste it and its taste was foul. His stomach was on fire and the sickness was slowly beginning to rise up in his throat. He closed his eyes, hoping that maybe it would all go away; that maybe this was just some sick dream he was having.
He allowed himself sight one more time, and found himself in front of the door.
The house was silent. The voices had stopped in once final hush. The music was no more.
This eerie silence was far worse, the calm before the storm. It was absolute silence, no sound of cars rushing by, no rustling of any wind. It was the absence of all sound except for the creek of the boards under his feet. And suddenly, Yuy was scared. No, not scared, he was terrified. He couldn't explain it, but it hit him with the force of God, and now, he was so petrified about what was lurking on the other side of this door that he felt like he was hyperventilating.
Heero stared at the door handle. It was a normal door handle; the kind you would expect to find in an apartment like his. Simple and brass, it hung on the door, making no noise or no gesture. It was just a normal door handle.
So why was he having such a hard time turning it?
The stench of death was gone now, but the air was still thick. Thick enough to choke the life out of anyone; thick enough to choke the life out of Heero. His heart was beating harder and faster and his mind was racing with images of his past battles and wars.
He had to open the door. It was the only way he was going to escape this nightmare. It was the only way out of this hell.
As he reached outward to turn the knob, it felt like something evil was breathing down his neck. He was sure that if he had listened hard enough, he would have heard the labored breathing of something behind him; maybe even hear it growl. Yuy shook off the thoughts and pushed the lump in his throat back down. He reached his hand out towards the door and turned the handle very slow.
The door swung open gently, as it was supposed to.
Heero peered into his bedroom. There was no furniture in the small space, but the walls in this room were white. There was a smell of lilac in the air.
Yuy raised his hands up in front of him, but this time, there was no gun. He looked at his hands, and then back down into the hallway, but there wasn't a hallway anymore. There was a brick wall.
His gun was gone.
Reluctantly, he took a step inward and heard a quiet splash when his black boot hit the wooden floor. He looked down and he prayed to Christ his eyes were betraying him.
The floor was covered in a layer of blood and the smell was far worse than the one in the hallway. It was everywhere now; on the walls, covering the drapes. Bloody handprints stained places on the ceiling and in corners. An overwhelming sadness engulfed him as he closed his eyes. He didn't feel like himself anymore. He didn't feel like his legs were even moving as he walked completely into the room.
There was a strange echo as he came to a stand still, and when he opened his eyes, he wasn't in his bedroom, but in a warehouse. And in the middle of the room were two people, both women and both dressed in white. Heero stared at the two. His mind was shot, exhausted by confusion and anxiety. The feeling of sadness and pain was still with him and grew stronger as he walked forward, trying to see the faces of the figures.
They were both blonde, he could tell by the way the sun shined down on them. The only difference between them really was that one of them was standing on a chair, a rope tired round her neck while the other stood beside her. Heero began to walk a little faster.
"Hey..." He said aloud, hoping to get a reaction from either of the girls. There was no reply. The girl standing on the floor began to circle around the chair. "Hey!" Heero shouted as he got closer. Their faces were becoming more discernable and he thought he knew them both. The girl on the floor wrapped her hands around the back of the chair and Yuy knew exactly what she was going to do.
"Hey! What the hell do you thi--"
And he saw their faces.
He stopped dead in his tracks, a shock giving him paralysis. His heart fell from his chest as he began to shake, slowly understanding the situation.
He began to run.
"Anya!" She looked up at the girl, and then smiled at Heero.
"NO!" He screamed, but it was too late. She slid the chair out from under the blonde-haired princess.
The rope jerked and there was a snap that echoed throughout the entire building. Heero screamed louder as he ran up to Relena, hanging there, like a thief or an executed criminal. There was nothing to do though. With tears pouring down his face, he looked at Anya, who returned the gaze with a double barrel shotgun.
Bang.
Heero's eyes flew open as the phone rang.
His eyes darted around the room. He hadn't been shot; this was good. He was alive. This also was good. There were no chairs or red walls, all the furniture was where it should have been. It had all been a dream, just a dream.
Or a nightmare.
No, this had been different. His nightmares had never been like this. They never involved anyone dying, or guns or whispers. And they had never involved Anya. Or Anya killing--
The phone rang again, and he grabbed it.
"Hello?" He said through the haze of tired and the confusion. A chipper voice came back to him.
"Hello! My name is Martin and I'm with Sigm--" Heero hung up. Salesmen had some nerve calling at -- he looked at his watch. It was 10:13 in the morning. He had over slept a little.
The memories of the dream came back to him and he looked around his living room. The carpet was still that hideous green, but Heero really didn't think it was too hideous anymore.
It was better than wood.
He stumbled up and off the couch. Yuy started to make his way to the bathroom, but he hit his foot on the coffee table and fell over like the mighty Goliath. He hit the ground hard.
Defeated and very not in the mood, he didn't even try to move. He bit his lip and looked at the carpet. He needed to vacuum and it was easy to tell it was going to be one of those days.
A piece of paper laid right in front of him. After a moment of unnecessary deliberation, he picked it up and saw it was the interview info. He had forgotten all about the damn thing.
Yuy blinked. He had been pretty sure he had thrown this in the corner though, and with a doubt, he looked up at the ceiling. Maybe this was a sign that it wasn't going to be one of those days.
He stood up and headed towards his bathroom. The hallway no longer had that ominous, creepy feeling. The door to his room was open and he could see the disaster and mess that he called his own laying on the floor and all over the bed. Relief came slowly, but at any rate it did, and he opened the door to his toilet-room.
He turned on the water to his shower. Yuy looked at himself in the mirror; he looked tired. He looked haggardly, frigid, but more importantly, he looked like a drunkard. How on earth was he ever going to get a good job when he looked like a damn drunkard? He let out a groan, ran his cold hands through his hair, and took off his clothes.
The warm water ran over him, washing away all his worries. He leaned his hands against the shower wall and took a deep breath. He was slowly beginning to lose his mind in this place. His patience was thinning and his attention-span was disappearing; ever since he bought this apartment; ever since he started living in San Muerte, it was like his stone cold self was becoming softer. He was losing his edge.
He needed to go to this interview. He was going to go to the interview. And as he put on his black suit jacket over his white half-buttoned shirt, he felt like there was a world opening up for him. That Anya had been right. Something big was going to happen. He put on the sunglasses he had been clinging to for the last three years, sprayed a little cologne, and walked out his front door.
It was noon when he made it to the train station.
He ran up the stairs to the metro, passing various people on the way. Yuy had made it to the top of the stairs when someone bumped into him. He turned around to see who it was, expecting an 'I'm sorry' or an 'excuse me', but all he saw was a woman in a white dress walking down. Heero let his eyes follow her all the way, till she turned the corner. She was dressed in white. It triggered his dream all over again and the more he thought about it, the more he realized that, he was wearing what he had been in his dream - a black suit and his boots. It was a weird feeling and anyone could have seen the steady creeping fear in his eyes had it not been for her sunglasses he had on.
Heero stood for a moment, shook it off, and got on the 12:15 to Dolthan.
The train ride was extremely uneventful and boring, and Yuy was pummeled with thoughts all the way. Thoughts about the night before, about what he was going to say at his interview -- a batch of the normal mixed with ideas of the new. His dream had obviously meant something, or, he could just be paranoid. It was probably just a collection of things he had seen or heard about from yesterday. Yeah, that's exactly what it was.
The walls of the cafe were red and the floor in the bookstore was made of wood. Heero felt some of the tension drift away after he started making the connections. The dog tags were, like, a symbol of when he had been in the army. Anya had made fun of him earlier that day, asking if he had been in the military. The black pants and white shirt were easy to explain. He must have thought about what he would wear before he fell asleep last night and plenty of women wear white dresses. He must have seen someone with one on earlier.
Heero sighed. There was the one part in his dream that he hadn't seen before. Anya, pulling the chair out from under Relena. That was definitely something he had never thought about, or seen. He finally settled on the idea that it was just his unconscious psyche making up things; making up crazy things while he slept. This new theory was a hell of a lot more comforting then the idea of it being some evil premonition.
Yuy stopped himself. When had he thought it was a premonition? Never once in his mind had he thought of it being a premonition.
"First call! Dolthan! Two minutes! First call, Dolthan! Two minutes!" The voice came over the radio. Heero looked at his watch. It was 2:10pm. The train ride had gone a little faster than expected. He had gotten lost in his thoughts again. He was doing that a lot lately. Maybe it was a sign that he was getting senile or losing his mind.
The train came to a stop at the Dolthan metro, and Heero reluctantly and slowly got off the train. He looked up at the towering skyscrapers and buildings that seemed to overpower him. The sun was hidden by a tall black tower in the distance. It reminded him of the Devil blocking out God's light. He watched the people hurry past him and run down the stairs, towards the taxi's and sidewalks of this immaculate Babylon.
Heero decided he didn't like this place, and would only stay long enough to get the job.
Yuy lit up a cigarette as he walked through the crowded streets. He hated crowds. There were usually people in crowds and he didn't like people. People seemed to clash with his loner idealisms and they stepped on his shoes, bumping into him. And they always try
to sell you things that you don't want and cough in your general direction.
No, he definitely didn't like crowds of people.
That's why he hated Dolthan. There were so many of them in such a crowded place; the idea of living here made him sick. But that's what would probably happen if he got this job. He'd wind up living in this city. He'd be two hundred miles away from San Muerte, from his home and his contacts. He'd be two hundred miles away from Any--
Heero shook his head. He had all ready had this discussion with himself and there was no sense in having it again. Money is money. He would do what he had to do to get it and if it meant moving away from San Muerte and living in this, this, over-crowded hell hole, than he would. It was as simple as that.
Yuy sighed. He was beginning to seriously think he had grown soft in his old age; that he had lost that stone cold soldier touch; the ability to not involve himself.
There were car horns blaring in the background and people talking non-stop.
Of course he had lost the ability not to involve himself! He was involved with something all ready. It's what made him afraid to take this job; it was the thing that threatened to take his attention away from Relena. It was the blonde Russian that had become his comrade and confidant. He felt like he had to protect her, just the way she had helped him get through the harder parts of his life. Maybe that was what his dream was about. He was becoming so involved with Anya, that she was killing his memories of Relena.
The idea left a bitter taste in his mouth -- Anya killing Relena. And yet, it was all he could think about as he walked down the sidewalk and up the stairs of the Meridian Plaza.
As he pushed open the swinging doors, he let all his thoughts disappear into the inner chambers of his mind. It was time for work, and emotions and thoughts had no reason for being in the business world. It was a game for the big boys, for the highest bidders, and the most stolid and frigid people. He had learned that from day one, and it was a game he intended to win as he walked up to the secretarial desk that scaled an entire wall of this massive black tower.
The woman behind the counter looked up at Heero. "Can I help you?"
Heero took off his sunglasses and stuffed them in his pocket. "My name is Yuy. I have an appointment with Mr. Takada about a job." Heero's face was blank and his eyes were intrusive as he stared at her. The woman shifted in her seat, slightly intimidated and unnerved. She didn't smile at him.
"I'll need two forms of picture identification." She commanded as she adjusted her headset and typed things on her computer. She was a young woman with dark brown hair. The tag on her chest said Merriam and she just looked like a secretary. Heero flashed her his railway pass and his driver's license. The woman typed down the information into her computer. She pulled out a clipboard that had forms on it. "I'll need you to sign those."
Heero glanced through them. They were privacy agreements and a form acknowledging that he understood the conduct expected blah, blah, blah. He signed them all and handed the board back to Merriam. She looked through them, typed more things into her computer, and then dialed a number on a keypad. She pressed her headphone piece to her ear.
"I have a Mr. Yuy who says he has a three o'clock with Mr. Takada and Mr. Rastar." She said diplomatically and professionally into the microphone. Heero looked down at his watch. This was taking a hell of a long time and he really hated to be asked to wait. There was a pause while Merriam received instructions from the person on the other end.
She gave a chipper "Yes, Sir," and looked back up at Heero with a slight smile. She handed him a visitor's badge. "You want to go to floor 17, room 358. You need to wear that at all times on the outside of your jacket, in plain view of all personnel in the building."
Heero nodded. She gave him a 'thanks so much' look and he walked over to the huge double doors that were guarded by two extremely large bouncers. They both eyed Heero as he walked in, his dirty brown hair in disarray. The doors opened and there was yet another set of guards in front of him, but these men were standing beside a metal detector. Yuy rolled his eyes and could only imagine what was going to happen next.
"Sir, please place all metal objects in the box and step through the detector." One of the men in a security uniform said. Heero stared at him and with a heavy heart and angry attitude, pulled out his gun from the holster. The eyes of the guards were less than huge as he pulled out another gun from an ankle holster and an army knife from his pocket. Yuy cleared his throat, and stepped through the detector without it making a sound.
"Sir, you do understand that these weapons are not allowed on the premises." The other guard commanded, obviously trying to act tough, but his intimidation shined through like the damn badge he wore on his chest. Heero just kept staring at them both.
"Well then I guess you'll have to hold them for me until I come back, won't you then?" He asked in the typical Yuy fashion - cold and pissy. The security guard motioned for him to follow him over to a little desk.
"You'll need to fill out these forms." He said, handing Heero a clipboard and pen. Heero smirked. Déjà vu all over again. He signed his name, wrote down what was required, and handed back the pad and pen to the guard. Apparently satisfied with everything, they shakily waved Yuy on through and finally, he could see the damn elevators.
He walked towards them, passing CEO's on their cell phones, girls pushing papers, and all sorts of people with briefcases. He didn't feel so naked without his weapons anymore, but rather, naked because he didn't have a little black device dangling from his ear. God in Heaven! He hoped he didn't amount to this in life. All he wanted was some money, not to sell his soul to the Satan of corporate lackeys.
Heero stepped into the elevator with what felt like 400 other people and pressed seventeen.
The car hadn't even begun to move and Yuy felt like he was going to go postal. Between the people brushing up against him and sneezing and yelling on their cell phones, he felt like it was the end of the world without any escape. The car got up to floor fourteen and with a flurry of other people he exited the elevator before he had the chance to beat them all down with their own PDA's.
Yuy took the stairs and made his way to the seventeenth floor. He walked out into the hallway of this executive building with all its glass and maroon colored carpet and headed towards room 358.
The corridor was long, and he passed the exit for the elevator. There were windows and fancy, up-scaled pictures everywhere on the walls. There were potted plants that looked real, but of course, weren't. Big corporations were too cheap to actually have real plants. Heero looked for any kind of doors, but, there weren't any. In fact, it was just a long corridor. The only door he saw was one at the very, very...
The door at the end of the hallways was a white door.
All of his instincts told him to run. Told him to run like a scared little girl back towards his guns, back towards the street, and right back to San Muerte where he belonged. He could get a nice job making pizzas at Chucky the Rat's. He was sure that they would forget how he broke all of the equipment and shot out the wheels of the golf-cart before he quit. All he had to do was run, but his mind was telling his instincts to shut the hell up. It wasn't a sign or anything like that. It was just a door that was white. God knows there had to be hundreds of thousands of them in this city alone. Right?
Heero took one of those confidence boosting breaths and walked towards the door. Besides, there was no putrid death smell, so it couldn't be that bad. His boots didn't echo, the walls weren't bare, and there weren't any strange voices calling his name either. It was all in his head. That was the next thing he was going to do after this interview. Get a cat scan.
He opened the door and a pleasant little ding came out of nowhere. The opening room was massive; as big as the main lobby for the entire Plaza. Heero quickly understood why there weren't any other doors. Mr. Takada's office took up the entire floor.
He approached the elderly woman behind the desk in front of him. She smiled and handed him a sign-in sheet. She read his name, dialed a number, and told him it would be just a moment before someone would be with him. So he sat. It was 2:56pm and he felt like this was the beginning of his new life.
And he sat.
People came in and out of doors and walked past him, but nobody addressed him or few looked at him. The ones that did had smiled and one woman even mouthed a 'hello'. He was getting bored. It was all right though. He was a soldier and he had been trained to wait, and even though a lot of his patience had become fleeting these days, he still had a shred or two left that would allow him maybe twenty more minutes of this madness. Yuy hated corporations, and he hated be forced to wait.
Finally, fifteen minutes later, a very tall, lanky woman in a dark blue skirt suit came through a door and walked right towards him. Her brown hair was pulled back in a clip and she wore very earthy make-up, making her look like just the kind of woman who would work in a big-shot office and steal people's souls. She smiled the way fake people do as she walked up to him in her one inch heels.
"Mr. Yuy?" She asked with a deep voice as she extended her pale, late twenty-something hand. Heero stood up and gave her his. The two exchanged a look and a hand-shake and that seemed to be that.
"Mr. Yuy, how do you do. My name is Kendra. Kendra Fitcheard." She tossed the section of her hair that had been left down to one side in a very sexy, very corporate way. "If you could come this way." She asked, but not really requested. It was more of a 'you're coming this way' kind of requisitions. Heero nodded and walked behind her. His eyes couldn't help but follow the sway of her hips and of her lower body. She was a thin thing, very pretty. It didn't take him too long to figure out how she had made it this far up the corporate chain.
She led him in through a door and down another long hallway filled with office doors, receptionists, fax machines, board rooms, and finally, a door with a brass plaque on it bearing the name 'Kendra Fitcheard, director of management'. Kendra opened the door and extended her hand inward. "Please."
Heero walked in and stood there, waiting for her to shut the door and tell him to take a seat. Nothing makes a better impression than showing your willingness to submit and be anyone's bitch, even if it means standing until you're told to do otherwise. That was just one of the many secrets Yuy had learned about big corporations over the course of working for them.
Kendra smiled and pointed to a chair, "Please, take a seat."
She circled around the huge mahogany desk that boasted a flat screened computer and a variety of papers and phones. The room was a dark blue, with mahogany and cherry woods all around. There were weird pictures on the walls though. Black and white pictures in very weird angles of fields and various buildings. They were all very intriguing, with a sense of depression about them. Not exactly the kind of pictures you find on a corporate wall.
Fitcheard took a seat, and behind her was the skyline of Dolthan. It was an alluring site, both the woman and the city, but like Heero had decided in the beginning, business is better without thoughts and emotions.
"Mr. Yuy, I'd to thank you for coming today. I understand that you were supposed to meet with Mr. Rastar, but do to circumstances, he is no longer with the company." Kendra said with a hint of happiness in her voice. It was obvious that she wasn't too distraught over the loss of Mr. Rastar, whoever in the hell he was. Heero blinked.
"It's really none of my concern, just as long as someone is able to give me an interview." Heero responded with an icy and commanding authority. Kendra looked at him with a keen interest.
"I usually don't handle these matters, but, We were extremely impressed with your credentials; with your background, Mr. Yuy." She explained as she leaned back in her chair. It took Yuy a minute, but then he understood. Anya must have filled out an application for him online and he fought the urge to say words that weren't very helpful to his character. Now he was up shit's creek without a paddle. She could have lied her ass off on the resume! What did she know about his background anyway?!
Everything.
Well, there had to be a limit on everything right? She could have slipped up and lied anyway, to make him look better. Kendra picked up a file and flipped through it.
"In fact, you really don't have a background, do you Mr. Yuy?" She questioned in an almost sarcastic tone as she tossed her hair again. She had a twisted kind of smile on her face, like she enjoyed interrogation. Heero thought she would have made a good cop.
"Well, that depends on what you consider to be a background and what all you believe on that resume, doesn't it Miss Fitcheard?" He replied, looking directly at her. She intrigued him, not in the sexual sense or in the curious cat scenario, but she had a hidden side. She wasn't like the rest of the suits in the building.
"You're quick on your toes. I like that." Kendra said as she threw the file in front of him. "But a man like you certainly must know that We here at Pennington, Takada, Williams, and Muer, don't just go with what's on a resume."
Heero nodded. "I had a feeling you didn't."
"Oh no." She agreed as she stood up and walked in front of her desk. "We did our own little background check on you, and, well, there isn't much on you before three years ago when you applied for residency in San Muerte." She took a seat on the edge, right in front of Yuy, as if to tempt him, like she was some sort of forbidden fruit. He watched her carefully.
"Are you getting at something Miss Fitcheard?" He asked; his eyes still fixed on her face. She smiled.
"The only thing I'm getting at Mr. Yuy, is that you are exactly the kind of man We here at PTWM are looking for."
"I'm afraid I'm not following you."
Kendra stood up and walked over to the window. "No backgrounds in this day and age mean one of two things. You were either secret police or you were secret military." She turned away from the city and looked back at Yuy. "Judging by your age, I'm going to go with secret military and that means you have the training and you have the skills that are needed to do this job and do it well." She tapped her artificial nails against her front teeth. "Wouldn't you agree?"
Heero peered at her, studied her closely. She was either going an awful lot on faith or she knew something she wasn't going to tell him and he was willing to bet on the latter. Fitcheard was the kind of woman who played with a full deck and would even make it look like she didn't just to get what she wanted. He looked down at his hands and then back up to her, his face as blank and frigid as ever. "I'd only agree if you were offering me the job."
"I like your style." She mused.
"Are there any questions to this interview, or is it all just one big 'you tell me a secret and I'll give you a shiny compliment' deal?" He hissed, his patience starting to wear thin. He didn't mind sacrificing himself a little for the sake of employment but it was getting to the point now where she was just jerking his chain, and he was definitely not into that. Kendra's expression went from curious schoolgirl to a widower's glare in a flash. She was apparently very good at whatever it was she was doing.
Ah yes, manipulation.
"Are you afraid of dying, Mr. Yuy?" She asked, as she walked back over to the front of her desk.
"Only if I have a reason." Heero replied, his annoyance obvious by the tone of his voice.
"Are you willing to take a bullet for someone?" Kendra asked, propping herself up again on the mahogany furniture. Her long and slender legs crossed slightly. Heero sighed.
"If I'm paid to do it." The woman peered at him for a moment, not to sure whether he was being serious or not. She knew full well that his man had been a member of a secret military faction. His name sent off too many red flags on the faces of the rich and powerful men she worked for, and if not them than certainly someone they knew. She all ready been given her orders, but she always loved to play with the prey before going in for the final, fatal blow.
Kendra tossed her hair again. She reached behind her and picked back up the file. "Do you know how to shoot a firearm?"
"What do you think?" Heero hissed, half-sarcastic, half-serious. Fitcheard turned a few pages in the file.
"I had a phone call that said you left two guns and an all-purpose Army knife down at the security station, so I'm thinking you do." She said as she looked back up at him.
"Then why'd you ask the question?"
There was a silent stand-off of stares in the room. The last comment had either gone too far or hit just the right spot, Heero was having trouble telling. Kendra was a very hard person to read; she kept changing her methods of attack like most people change underwear. She sighed deeply and tapped her fingers on the manila folder she held in her hands. "Do you have anything you want to say before I give you this job?"
Heero laughed inside. There was just something so unbelievable about this woman. And now, knowing he had the job, he figured he'd have a little fun before he delivered the final, fatal blow to his playtime prey. "What exactly does a director of management do?"
Kendra licked her lips and gave a half-hearted smile. "I oversee all the employees in this particular branch of Pennington, Takada, Williams, and Muer. I'm the one that all the floor managers and any other kind of manager, plus all the people under them answer too." She said. It was apparently a rehearsed answer; she recited it without missing a beat. Heero didn't flinch.
"You mean there's more than one branch?" He asked. It's not like he cared, he was just setting her up so he could watch her fall from her high, high pedestal.
"Good God, of course!" She shouted, almost in complete disbelief of what he just asked. It caught them both a little off guard, but she went ahead with her company speech. "PTWM is one of the largest digital communications firms on earth. This is only one of three hundred and eighty offices." She said the last part with a bit of pride, like she felt special because she belonged to such a big pack.
Heero gave a slight grin. "So how'd a girl like you wind up with a position like this?" She had walked along the dotted lines, straight and narrow, exactly where he wanted her, into the vulnerable spot of all female employees who help the high ranks at a place like this. Kendra gave a little smile and stood up.
"Use your imagination, Mr. Yuy." She purred beautifully as she walked back over to the window. Fitcheard was actually a very lovely woman, and if Heero hadn't been the man he was, he might have felt bad.
"You banged your way to the top." He explained, not to himself and not to her, but to any other listening ears, human or not. He waited for her to tense or show some sign of being struck lame, but she simply gave a little laugh and kept looking out of her palace window down onto her modern-day Babylon.
"My hard-work played a key role in getting me here, Mr. Yuy, but 'corporate compensation' never hurts." She turned and looked at him with a smile that was finally all her own. "Give a little to get a little, you understand?" She asked, her eyes shining with a mixture of pride, shame, and all the glory that comes with both. Heero watched her for a moment and could only shake his head.
"Of course." He said. So this woman wasn't as dumb and dull as she seemed. She was as cunning as they come, and she probably hadn't banged her way all the way to the top. More than likely a lot of her work probably did help her get to where she was today. She turned away from the window and stood beside her desk.
"Is that all the questions you have?" Kendra asked; her ruby red lips forming a half smile.
"Are those all the questions you're going to ask me?" He retorted. This was starting to be fun. Fitcheard twitched her head and sighed.
"Congratulations, Mr. Yuy. You're now a proud member of the PTWM team." She extended her hand in a gesture of kindness, but was met with nothing. Heero stood blankly, any sign of a previous expression gone. It had just clicked to him that he had actually gotten the job. He was going to be two hours away from home. Two hundred something miles away from the only place he had lived in for three years. It made him feel weird about the whole situation and he wondered how far back-tracking would get him.
"Who says I want the job?" His voice seemed normal and elusive. He still held the illusion that he was playing their little game. Any sign of him being nervous wouldn't have been apparent to anyone normal, but not to this woman. She sighed deeply and ran her fingers through her hair. She bit her lip and took a seat right next to Yuy.
"Heero, let's be real here for a moment." There was a simple kind of understanding and compassion that only a woman can have in her voice. She looked at him the way only a mother or a lover could, and it was a nice feeling. "Mr. Takada is a very wealthy man and I've had the pleasure of working with him for two years now. I know what he looks for in his employees, and if you take this job, in a year at most, you could be one of the most influential men in this business."
And in the spirit of weird things, Heero let out a loud and boisterous laugh. "From bodyguard to a suit? I think you're stretching you sales pitch a little Miss Fitcheard." He said through an onslaught of a sarcastic smile. This was crazy, it was better when she wasn't trying so hard. Kendra jumped to her feet.
"I don't think so!" She shouted. "I started off as a secretary for one of the paper pushers in an office down in New Berlin. Do you know what the offices are like down in New Berlin?" She asked; her hands now on her hips.
"I'm guessing not nearly as nice as the offices here." Heero replied. Fitcheard rolled her eyes.
"You have a chance to make something of yourself here!" She explained as she walked back over behind her desk. "You'd be up in this building, and I'd welcome you, just as long as you don't go after my job."
Her words were slowly starting to take route in his mind. Heero understood that technically, he all ready had the job. The question was, not when or how he was going to get it, but more along the lines of exactly what his job entailed and if he was really prepared to pack up the shell of the life he pretended to have and go do this, this thing.
"Am I going to be working for Mr. Takada directly?" He asked, once more returning to the stodgy, frigid man he was so accustomed to being. Kendra looked a little taken back by his comment about the actual work. She flipped through her files.
"Actually, no, you wouldn't." She explained as she read through a piece of paper. She traced a section with her finger. "You would be watching over his wife, Mrs. Takada, over in Grenvale."
And there were a thousand tiny warning bells that went off in his head.
"Grenvale?" He said, reconfirming it only so he could make sure he hadn't had another one of those temporary lapses of sanity. "That's four hours away."
Kendra folded her hands into one another and smiled. She had gone back into corporate junky mode. "Heero," she started off, "while Mr. Takada has some very powerful friends, he also has some very powerful enemies. He needs someone like you looking over her shoulder." And if Yuy hadn't been so disillusioned by the idea of being so far away from home, he would have caught the slip up in her wording, and questioned whether he was being sent to protect Mrs. Takada or make sure she wasn't dabbling in things that the rich and powerful people shouldn't dabble in. But Fitcheard's words had gone in one ear and out the other. He was still trying to grapple with the idea of Grenvale.
"That's almost seven hours away from San Muerte." He thought aloud. Kendra walked back in front of her desk and took a seat on the edge.
"Heero, I understand." Back into mother mode. "You probably have a life in San Muerte, and I have a feeling someone you care about very deeply." Heero looked up at her. He did, he had someone he cared for very much back there, and he didn't know if he could just leave her. But then again, if he didn't, he couldn't find the one woman in the world who made him feel alive, who made him feel like he had worth in this miserable world.
"We all have inhibitions about this at first," Kendra whispered, so only the two of them could hear, "but the job makes it easier, and so does the paycheck." She looked into his eyes and he returned the action. She was searching for that perfect catch phrase and he was searching for the real Kendra, not this fake, done-up thing sitting in front of him. There was a silence in the room, and then she stood up.
"The way I see it, you should take this job." Her voice had taken on a very serious tone, almost cocky, and it rubbed Heero in a very wrong way.
"And why's that?" He snapped, catching himself before he said something he knew he would have regretted. Kendra gave him a sickening smile.
"Because it's the best offer you're going to get." She cooed. Now she was just being bitchy, she thought she had the upper hand. He couldn't understand what made her think she had this leeway in the situation. In fact, he hadn't given her any sign that she really DID have the winning cards in her deck.
"Excuse me?" He asked. It was getting harder and harder to restrain his balled up fists from flying in her direction. Of course he would never hurt a lady, but this thing in front of him wasn't a lady. She was just the shell of something that used to be human.
"You have the look." She mused as she stared at him, almost like she was reading his thoughts.
"What look?" Heero shouted as he rose to his feet, but even that didn't intimidate her. She just smiled and took a step closer to him, even though she was much shorter and could be easily overpowered. Kendra moved with the prowess of a tiger ready for the kill, and Heero noticed for the first time that that was the only thing she was in this for - the kill.
"The look of a man who doesn't have anymore options." She declared proudly because she had won and she knew it. She had penetrated his defenses, broken through his inner shell, and raped his most sensitive thoughts. He had nowhere to go but towards the light that was her. "Take the job, Yuy. Save yourself the pain of poverty." She rubbed her hand against his chest and looked up at him seductively. "It wouldn't suit you."
"It all ready does." He barked as he pushed her away. He started walking towards the door. Kendra sighed.
"Go home, pack your things."
Heero turned and looked at her, almost in the shock that he still had the job.
"Mr. Takada wants you to start immediately. I'll send a car and a truck to your address tomorrow at noon. You'll be in Grenvale by seven and on the clock by eight." She saw the understanding finally wash over him, and that was when she knew -- the final victory was her's. It brought an even scarier smile to her face. She looked at him, bright and chipper. "Congratulations, Heero. You're not unemployed anymore."
Part of him agreed with her, and part of him hated her. He wasn't unemployed anymore, true. But what he was having to give up to have this luxury seemed a bit much. His home, his current lifestyle - granted he wasn't too fond of it, but fondness didn't matter. It was the routine and the familiarity; it was the complete knowledge of almost everything that was going to happen that day or the next or the next. It's like he had said earlier, he wasn't afraid of anything, except the unknown. The unknown did things to his head, made him nervous, and made him unhappy. It made him very unhappy. He had all ready started walking back when in hit him. He in fact, had the Ace of Spades.
"Kendra?" He asked, his voice full of pleasure.
"Yes?" She asked as she took her seat behind her desk. She had put on her glasses, ready to file more things and read through more papers.
"Are you happy?" And as the words slid from his mouth he felt the dagger plunge deep within her. All the while she had been trying to get him to admit he was miserable, she had left herself wide open to the prospect that her life was simply shit in a bag. A very nice bag, but a bag none the less. He could almost hear her stomach tighten and her back straighten. Not only had he just took the victory from her, but he had also killed her, and it was a pleasant feeling.
Fitcheard, no matter how wounded, was still quick on a reply. "Who cares about happy? I have enough money so that I can retire when I turn thirty- five. I can be happy all I want then." It was a true reply, an honest reply - they both knew it. There was a weird silence that fell on them both and she rubbed her hands over her face.
"At noon, tomorrow." She reminded. "Don't forget, and for the love of Christ, don't turn chicken-shit on me."
Heero turned around and looked at her. "Don't worry. If it's one thing I learned in the Army, it's keep your balls."
Kendra laughed and once more, Heero started to walk out.
"Hey, Yuy?" She called to him as he made his way to the door. He stopped and she knew it was her turn in the spotlight. "In the war, what side were you on?"
She heard him sigh, and as he started walking down the hallway she heard him.
"My own."
It was sort of like a dream walking back to the elevator. He didn't care anymore if they rode down with him. The act of signing out his weapons and returning his badge barely registered, as if they were merely programmed into his mind to be done and not recalled. The city seemed more dead than alive as he walked back to the train station. The sky had lost some of its beauty and luster. The crowds didn't matter and the fact that he had run out of smokes didn't really matter either.
He slipped on his sunglasses, took a heavy sigh, and walked up the stairs to catch the 4:10pm train to San Muerte.
The train ride home was uneventful and boring, and Yuy didn't care. He was only pre-occupied with two thoughts and two thoughts alone. Why the hell he had even gotten up this morning, and how he was going to explain things to Anya.
The long walk home was just that, a long walk home. Heero had spent most of the time he had intended on job hunting just walking around and thinking. Thinking about Anya and all the things she said. He thought about Relena too. He wondered if her life was as good as he hoped. Yuy had even worked out a dialogue of what to say when he saw her. Granted, it wasn't a very good dialogue - in fact it was probably one of the worst ever composed in the history of mankind considering the fact that he shot her in the middle, but the point was he had made one, not if it was any good or not. There would be plenty of time to critique the details later.
He walked up the stairs of his apartment, twisted the key, and walked in the door. Amazingly, the house was still a mess. There was a stench of smoke and beer with a shade of vomit in the two bedrooms, one bathroom, one kitchen and a living room with a balcony apartment.
Heero cracked open a window and turned on the ceiling fan. It was a good thing he didn't have any animals. They'd probably be dead too, just adding to the putrid smell. And no sooner had the thought crossed his mind when he remembered the goldfish Anya had gotten him. He rolled his eyes. There was no sense in trying to save it now, it had been at least two weeks since he had last thought about feeding it and God knows how long ago he had actually fed it.
Yuy sat down on his couch, throwing his jacket on the coffee table. It was around eight o'clock now and he had eaten a sandwich before he came home. He didn't have a TV and his radio was busted, leaving him with not much to do. He picked up a magazine that lay on the table. Maybe he could go next door and ask for one that wasn't from a year ago.
He tossed the old and tired literature in the garbage can as he walked back into his bedroom. He took of his shoes and let his bare feet rub against the carpet. It was the ugliest damn carpet he had ever seen, shag, and a dark forest green. What did he care though? It's not like he owned the place or could even afford to replace it.
He walked back out into the living room and decided that he should at least try to clean a little. The chair he had kicked over was put right-side up again. He put a new light bulb in the lamp and picked up the glass from the beer bottles he had tossed against the wall. Yuy walked over and picked up his jacket, intent on hanging it up, when out fell the piece of paper Anya had given him earlier. He stared at it for a minute; watched it sit on the floor just waiting to be picked up. Part of him wanted to pick it up, and the other half wanted to throw it away. But throwing it away would mean he'd have to pick it up, so Heero sighed in a what-the-hell fashion and bent down, and scooped up the notebook paper with the words scribbled on it.
D. Ky Takada. Looking for body guards. Need experience and be ready to provide demonstration. Thought you might be good candidate. It's a top- dollar job. Big bucks. All ready made you an appointment. Interview is Thursday at 3 at the Meridian Plaza in Dolthan. Don't be mad. You look good in a suit. Much Love, Anya.
Heero blinked. She had all ready made him an appointment. Well isn't that just great? He shook his head and balled up the piece of paper. He tossed it over into the corner, collapsed onto the couch, and was suddenly unimpressed with idea of cleaning. He had an interview in a day in a city that was two hundred miles away for a job he wasn't even sure he wanted. Who cares if it sounded important? Who cared if the money was exactly what he needed? It was two hundred miles too far; too far from his sources and two hundred miles too far from Anya.
He closed his eyes.
0r it could be just what he was looking for. A top-dollar job for a top- dollar guy and top-dollar guys usually have top-dollar connections. When one's a bodyguard for a top-dollar connection, well, you hear things. Sometimes valuable things. Who knows, maybe he would even find her. He laid there for a moment, wrapped in the silence. Somebody giggled.
Heero's eyes shot open, alarm and violence echoing from each as his hand instinctively dropped down under the couch, pulling out a .357 Magnum. In one swift motion he sat up; eyes surveying the room while his gun lifted towards the door.
Somebody was in his house; someone who he hadn't invited in. A car horn blared in the background.
Yuy rose to his feet, gun stretched in front of him. His blood rushed and his heart thumped like he was back in combat. His military training came crashing back to him as he walked out of the living room and into the kitchen. The house was quiet and empty as he looked in the corners and in the pantry. After a second, he started doubting his own veracity due to the fact that he had just, just come out of hangover the size of Texas. Heero lowered his gun.
Someone ran past him and he heard the giggling again.
Yuy jumped back from surprise and cursed himself for it. He walked out of his kitchen into the hallway, his gun pointed straight out in front of him again. Now he knew it wasn't a hangover or insanity, there was someone here. Someone that shouldn't be.
"You might as well give yourself up." Heero yelled out. Nobody answered as he walked back into the living room. There was a rustle behind him and he turned fast, but only saw nothing. There was gust to the left of him and then to the right of him. It seemed to be all around him and he did a full 360 turn trying to find a target to shoot at. "What the hell..."
Now there were voices all around him, talking in a tongue he couldn't understand. They whispered and hissed; there was alarm and panic in their tones. He heard the giggle again. It was the sound of a woman, coming from the hallway. Heero ran towards the long corridor; his gun had staying in the firing position and his eyes still the eyes of a blood-thirsty killer. Or maybe they were just the eyes of a soldier.
And then, it hit him.
He turned back and looked into his living room. There was no furniture. The couch he had been on was gone - the chairs, the rug were all gone. The flooring was wood now, complimenting the dark red walls. Yuy walked back into the room; in disbelief and a confusion so strong it overwhelmed him. He shook his head and ran back into his kitchen. Nothing was there either, and the walls were red and the floors wooden.
His boots made a tapping sound on the floor as he walked. He looked down at his feet. He had taken his shoes off. Yuy looked at his clothes; he hadn't laid down in these either. He was in black suit pants and a white shirt that was unbuttoned. He had dog-tags around his neck. He held them up so he could see the name: Yuy, Heero.
Heero let them fall back down against his chest. He didn't have any tags.
Yuy gripped his gun much, much tighter and fought back a rising lump in his throat. He wasn't a man who feared death, but he was a man that was weary when it came to the unknown. Call it all the years of fighting in a mobile suit and all the times unexpected things had happened. The death of Treize, the disappearance of Relena, and now...
This situation fit into that category.
The sun was shining brightly through the balcony doors when he had been damn sure that it had been night. He heard the laugh again and looked down his hallway just in time to see a blonde-haired girl in a white run into his bedroom, shutting the door behind her.
Heero stared at the door. It used to be brown; now it was painted white.
This wasn't normal. None of this felt right. He pulled the trigger of his gun back, the click leaving him a little bit of confidence to disdain the weird feeling of worry as he started down the corridor.
Yuy's heart was pounding hard and his mind raced with thoughts of what he might find or what he would do if he found anything. And the funny thing was, he couldn't figure out why. Why he was reacting this way, or why he was starting to be afraid.
"Heero..." A quiet, wistful voice called.
Heero stopped dead in his tracks. He knew the voice; it was faintly familiar or enough so that it set off the little warning bells in his head. Yuy called back out. "Anya?" He waited, but there was no answer. "Anya, if that's you, just... Just stop it. This is too insane."
"Heero..." The voice chimed again in a sing-song pattern. "Come here, Heero..."
Yuy's breathing was heavier now and his testosterone was starting to kick in. This was crazy. Who cares if it was weird or not?! The only thing he had to worry about was whether or not whoever was in his room had a gun! Besides, he had one, and there was nothing in there that a shot or two to the chest wouldn't cure. Heero rolled his neck and took a breath before he started walking again. If the voice was beckoning him, than hell, he would beckon himself to it. The unknown is only unknown until you kick open a door and find out what the hell it is.
The voice kept calling his name and he kept walking.
The air in his hallway was thick and putrid, but he recognized it right away. It was the stench of death. It was the smell of bodies that had been lying in the trenches for days on end. The door to his bathroom and to his study were gone, there was only the one, white door at the end of the way. With every step he took, the whispering voices got louder and louder and the woman singing his name became more frequent, and more panic-stricken.
"Hurry, Heero..." She said. "Save me Heero... You've got to save me... You've got to save me before it's too late..."
Too late for what? Too late for who? Who was in his room, who was he supposed to help. He felt like screaming until it all stopped, but he didn't.
Yuy quickened his pace as he kept walking down the hallway. It seemed like he couldn't get close to the door. There was a twisted melody the kept playing from somewhere in the house. The kind of tune that plays when you open up a jewelry box, garbled and indistinct. His heart felt like it was beating its way out of his chest and the voice kept calling and for some reason he couldn't go any faster or any slower than he was. Step, step, step...
The smell grew so intense that Heero started to breath through his mouth. It worked for a while, but now he could taste it and its taste was foul. His stomach was on fire and the sickness was slowly beginning to rise up in his throat. He closed his eyes, hoping that maybe it would all go away; that maybe this was just some sick dream he was having.
He allowed himself sight one more time, and found himself in front of the door.
The house was silent. The voices had stopped in once final hush. The music was no more.
This eerie silence was far worse, the calm before the storm. It was absolute silence, no sound of cars rushing by, no rustling of any wind. It was the absence of all sound except for the creek of the boards under his feet. And suddenly, Yuy was scared. No, not scared, he was terrified. He couldn't explain it, but it hit him with the force of God, and now, he was so petrified about what was lurking on the other side of this door that he felt like he was hyperventilating.
Heero stared at the door handle. It was a normal door handle; the kind you would expect to find in an apartment like his. Simple and brass, it hung on the door, making no noise or no gesture. It was just a normal door handle.
So why was he having such a hard time turning it?
The stench of death was gone now, but the air was still thick. Thick enough to choke the life out of anyone; thick enough to choke the life out of Heero. His heart was beating harder and faster and his mind was racing with images of his past battles and wars.
He had to open the door. It was the only way he was going to escape this nightmare. It was the only way out of this hell.
As he reached outward to turn the knob, it felt like something evil was breathing down his neck. He was sure that if he had listened hard enough, he would have heard the labored breathing of something behind him; maybe even hear it growl. Yuy shook off the thoughts and pushed the lump in his throat back down. He reached his hand out towards the door and turned the handle very slow.
The door swung open gently, as it was supposed to.
Heero peered into his bedroom. There was no furniture in the small space, but the walls in this room were white. There was a smell of lilac in the air.
Yuy raised his hands up in front of him, but this time, there was no gun. He looked at his hands, and then back down into the hallway, but there wasn't a hallway anymore. There was a brick wall.
His gun was gone.
Reluctantly, he took a step inward and heard a quiet splash when his black boot hit the wooden floor. He looked down and he prayed to Christ his eyes were betraying him.
The floor was covered in a layer of blood and the smell was far worse than the one in the hallway. It was everywhere now; on the walls, covering the drapes. Bloody handprints stained places on the ceiling and in corners. An overwhelming sadness engulfed him as he closed his eyes. He didn't feel like himself anymore. He didn't feel like his legs were even moving as he walked completely into the room.
There was a strange echo as he came to a stand still, and when he opened his eyes, he wasn't in his bedroom, but in a warehouse. And in the middle of the room were two people, both women and both dressed in white. Heero stared at the two. His mind was shot, exhausted by confusion and anxiety. The feeling of sadness and pain was still with him and grew stronger as he walked forward, trying to see the faces of the figures.
They were both blonde, he could tell by the way the sun shined down on them. The only difference between them really was that one of them was standing on a chair, a rope tired round her neck while the other stood beside her. Heero began to walk a little faster.
"Hey..." He said aloud, hoping to get a reaction from either of the girls. There was no reply. The girl standing on the floor began to circle around the chair. "Hey!" Heero shouted as he got closer. Their faces were becoming more discernable and he thought he knew them both. The girl on the floor wrapped her hands around the back of the chair and Yuy knew exactly what she was going to do.
"Hey! What the hell do you thi--"
And he saw their faces.
He stopped dead in his tracks, a shock giving him paralysis. His heart fell from his chest as he began to shake, slowly understanding the situation.
He began to run.
"Anya!" She looked up at the girl, and then smiled at Heero.
"NO!" He screamed, but it was too late. She slid the chair out from under the blonde-haired princess.
The rope jerked and there was a snap that echoed throughout the entire building. Heero screamed louder as he ran up to Relena, hanging there, like a thief or an executed criminal. There was nothing to do though. With tears pouring down his face, he looked at Anya, who returned the gaze with a double barrel shotgun.
Bang.
Heero's eyes flew open as the phone rang.
His eyes darted around the room. He hadn't been shot; this was good. He was alive. This also was good. There were no chairs or red walls, all the furniture was where it should have been. It had all been a dream, just a dream.
Or a nightmare.
No, this had been different. His nightmares had never been like this. They never involved anyone dying, or guns or whispers. And they had never involved Anya. Or Anya killing--
The phone rang again, and he grabbed it.
"Hello?" He said through the haze of tired and the confusion. A chipper voice came back to him.
"Hello! My name is Martin and I'm with Sigm--" Heero hung up. Salesmen had some nerve calling at -- he looked at his watch. It was 10:13 in the morning. He had over slept a little.
The memories of the dream came back to him and he looked around his living room. The carpet was still that hideous green, but Heero really didn't think it was too hideous anymore.
It was better than wood.
He stumbled up and off the couch. Yuy started to make his way to the bathroom, but he hit his foot on the coffee table and fell over like the mighty Goliath. He hit the ground hard.
Defeated and very not in the mood, he didn't even try to move. He bit his lip and looked at the carpet. He needed to vacuum and it was easy to tell it was going to be one of those days.
A piece of paper laid right in front of him. After a moment of unnecessary deliberation, he picked it up and saw it was the interview info. He had forgotten all about the damn thing.
Yuy blinked. He had been pretty sure he had thrown this in the corner though, and with a doubt, he looked up at the ceiling. Maybe this was a sign that it wasn't going to be one of those days.
He stood up and headed towards his bathroom. The hallway no longer had that ominous, creepy feeling. The door to his room was open and he could see the disaster and mess that he called his own laying on the floor and all over the bed. Relief came slowly, but at any rate it did, and he opened the door to his toilet-room.
He turned on the water to his shower. Yuy looked at himself in the mirror; he looked tired. He looked haggardly, frigid, but more importantly, he looked like a drunkard. How on earth was he ever going to get a good job when he looked like a damn drunkard? He let out a groan, ran his cold hands through his hair, and took off his clothes.
The warm water ran over him, washing away all his worries. He leaned his hands against the shower wall and took a deep breath. He was slowly beginning to lose his mind in this place. His patience was thinning and his attention-span was disappearing; ever since he bought this apartment; ever since he started living in San Muerte, it was like his stone cold self was becoming softer. He was losing his edge.
He needed to go to this interview. He was going to go to the interview. And as he put on his black suit jacket over his white half-buttoned shirt, he felt like there was a world opening up for him. That Anya had been right. Something big was going to happen. He put on the sunglasses he had been clinging to for the last three years, sprayed a little cologne, and walked out his front door.
It was noon when he made it to the train station.
He ran up the stairs to the metro, passing various people on the way. Yuy had made it to the top of the stairs when someone bumped into him. He turned around to see who it was, expecting an 'I'm sorry' or an 'excuse me', but all he saw was a woman in a white dress walking down. Heero let his eyes follow her all the way, till she turned the corner. She was dressed in white. It triggered his dream all over again and the more he thought about it, the more he realized that, he was wearing what he had been in his dream - a black suit and his boots. It was a weird feeling and anyone could have seen the steady creeping fear in his eyes had it not been for her sunglasses he had on.
Heero stood for a moment, shook it off, and got on the 12:15 to Dolthan.
The train ride was extremely uneventful and boring, and Yuy was pummeled with thoughts all the way. Thoughts about the night before, about what he was going to say at his interview -- a batch of the normal mixed with ideas of the new. His dream had obviously meant something, or, he could just be paranoid. It was probably just a collection of things he had seen or heard about from yesterday. Yeah, that's exactly what it was.
The walls of the cafe were red and the floor in the bookstore was made of wood. Heero felt some of the tension drift away after he started making the connections. The dog tags were, like, a symbol of when he had been in the army. Anya had made fun of him earlier that day, asking if he had been in the military. The black pants and white shirt were easy to explain. He must have thought about what he would wear before he fell asleep last night and plenty of women wear white dresses. He must have seen someone with one on earlier.
Heero sighed. There was the one part in his dream that he hadn't seen before. Anya, pulling the chair out from under Relena. That was definitely something he had never thought about, or seen. He finally settled on the idea that it was just his unconscious psyche making up things; making up crazy things while he slept. This new theory was a hell of a lot more comforting then the idea of it being some evil premonition.
Yuy stopped himself. When had he thought it was a premonition? Never once in his mind had he thought of it being a premonition.
"First call! Dolthan! Two minutes! First call, Dolthan! Two minutes!" The voice came over the radio. Heero looked at his watch. It was 2:10pm. The train ride had gone a little faster than expected. He had gotten lost in his thoughts again. He was doing that a lot lately. Maybe it was a sign that he was getting senile or losing his mind.
The train came to a stop at the Dolthan metro, and Heero reluctantly and slowly got off the train. He looked up at the towering skyscrapers and buildings that seemed to overpower him. The sun was hidden by a tall black tower in the distance. It reminded him of the Devil blocking out God's light. He watched the people hurry past him and run down the stairs, towards the taxi's and sidewalks of this immaculate Babylon.
Heero decided he didn't like this place, and would only stay long enough to get the job.
Yuy lit up a cigarette as he walked through the crowded streets. He hated crowds. There were usually people in crowds and he didn't like people. People seemed to clash with his loner idealisms and they stepped on his shoes, bumping into him. And they always try
to sell you things that you don't want and cough in your general direction.
No, he definitely didn't like crowds of people.
That's why he hated Dolthan. There were so many of them in such a crowded place; the idea of living here made him sick. But that's what would probably happen if he got this job. He'd wind up living in this city. He'd be two hundred miles away from San Muerte, from his home and his contacts. He'd be two hundred miles away from Any--
Heero shook his head. He had all ready had this discussion with himself and there was no sense in having it again. Money is money. He would do what he had to do to get it and if it meant moving away from San Muerte and living in this, this, over-crowded hell hole, than he would. It was as simple as that.
Yuy sighed. He was beginning to seriously think he had grown soft in his old age; that he had lost that stone cold soldier touch; the ability to not involve himself.
There were car horns blaring in the background and people talking non-stop.
Of course he had lost the ability not to involve himself! He was involved with something all ready. It's what made him afraid to take this job; it was the thing that threatened to take his attention away from Relena. It was the blonde Russian that had become his comrade and confidant. He felt like he had to protect her, just the way she had helped him get through the harder parts of his life. Maybe that was what his dream was about. He was becoming so involved with Anya, that she was killing his memories of Relena.
The idea left a bitter taste in his mouth -- Anya killing Relena. And yet, it was all he could think about as he walked down the sidewalk and up the stairs of the Meridian Plaza.
As he pushed open the swinging doors, he let all his thoughts disappear into the inner chambers of his mind. It was time for work, and emotions and thoughts had no reason for being in the business world. It was a game for the big boys, for the highest bidders, and the most stolid and frigid people. He had learned that from day one, and it was a game he intended to win as he walked up to the secretarial desk that scaled an entire wall of this massive black tower.
The woman behind the counter looked up at Heero. "Can I help you?"
Heero took off his sunglasses and stuffed them in his pocket. "My name is Yuy. I have an appointment with Mr. Takada about a job." Heero's face was blank and his eyes were intrusive as he stared at her. The woman shifted in her seat, slightly intimidated and unnerved. She didn't smile at him.
"I'll need two forms of picture identification." She commanded as she adjusted her headset and typed things on her computer. She was a young woman with dark brown hair. The tag on her chest said Merriam and she just looked like a secretary. Heero flashed her his railway pass and his driver's license. The woman typed down the information into her computer. She pulled out a clipboard that had forms on it. "I'll need you to sign those."
Heero glanced through them. They were privacy agreements and a form acknowledging that he understood the conduct expected blah, blah, blah. He signed them all and handed the board back to Merriam. She looked through them, typed more things into her computer, and then dialed a number on a keypad. She pressed her headphone piece to her ear.
"I have a Mr. Yuy who says he has a three o'clock with Mr. Takada and Mr. Rastar." She said diplomatically and professionally into the microphone. Heero looked down at his watch. This was taking a hell of a long time and he really hated to be asked to wait. There was a pause while Merriam received instructions from the person on the other end.
She gave a chipper "Yes, Sir," and looked back up at Heero with a slight smile. She handed him a visitor's badge. "You want to go to floor 17, room 358. You need to wear that at all times on the outside of your jacket, in plain view of all personnel in the building."
Heero nodded. She gave him a 'thanks so much' look and he walked over to the huge double doors that were guarded by two extremely large bouncers. They both eyed Heero as he walked in, his dirty brown hair in disarray. The doors opened and there was yet another set of guards in front of him, but these men were standing beside a metal detector. Yuy rolled his eyes and could only imagine what was going to happen next.
"Sir, please place all metal objects in the box and step through the detector." One of the men in a security uniform said. Heero stared at him and with a heavy heart and angry attitude, pulled out his gun from the holster. The eyes of the guards were less than huge as he pulled out another gun from an ankle holster and an army knife from his pocket. Yuy cleared his throat, and stepped through the detector without it making a sound.
"Sir, you do understand that these weapons are not allowed on the premises." The other guard commanded, obviously trying to act tough, but his intimidation shined through like the damn badge he wore on his chest. Heero just kept staring at them both.
"Well then I guess you'll have to hold them for me until I come back, won't you then?" He asked in the typical Yuy fashion - cold and pissy. The security guard motioned for him to follow him over to a little desk.
"You'll need to fill out these forms." He said, handing Heero a clipboard and pen. Heero smirked. Déjà vu all over again. He signed his name, wrote down what was required, and handed back the pad and pen to the guard. Apparently satisfied with everything, they shakily waved Yuy on through and finally, he could see the damn elevators.
He walked towards them, passing CEO's on their cell phones, girls pushing papers, and all sorts of people with briefcases. He didn't feel so naked without his weapons anymore, but rather, naked because he didn't have a little black device dangling from his ear. God in Heaven! He hoped he didn't amount to this in life. All he wanted was some money, not to sell his soul to the Satan of corporate lackeys.
Heero stepped into the elevator with what felt like 400 other people and pressed seventeen.
The car hadn't even begun to move and Yuy felt like he was going to go postal. Between the people brushing up against him and sneezing and yelling on their cell phones, he felt like it was the end of the world without any escape. The car got up to floor fourteen and with a flurry of other people he exited the elevator before he had the chance to beat them all down with their own PDA's.
Yuy took the stairs and made his way to the seventeenth floor. He walked out into the hallway of this executive building with all its glass and maroon colored carpet and headed towards room 358.
The corridor was long, and he passed the exit for the elevator. There were windows and fancy, up-scaled pictures everywhere on the walls. There were potted plants that looked real, but of course, weren't. Big corporations were too cheap to actually have real plants. Heero looked for any kind of doors, but, there weren't any. In fact, it was just a long corridor. The only door he saw was one at the very, very...
The door at the end of the hallways was a white door.
All of his instincts told him to run. Told him to run like a scared little girl back towards his guns, back towards the street, and right back to San Muerte where he belonged. He could get a nice job making pizzas at Chucky the Rat's. He was sure that they would forget how he broke all of the equipment and shot out the wheels of the golf-cart before he quit. All he had to do was run, but his mind was telling his instincts to shut the hell up. It wasn't a sign or anything like that. It was just a door that was white. God knows there had to be hundreds of thousands of them in this city alone. Right?
Heero took one of those confidence boosting breaths and walked towards the door. Besides, there was no putrid death smell, so it couldn't be that bad. His boots didn't echo, the walls weren't bare, and there weren't any strange voices calling his name either. It was all in his head. That was the next thing he was going to do after this interview. Get a cat scan.
He opened the door and a pleasant little ding came out of nowhere. The opening room was massive; as big as the main lobby for the entire Plaza. Heero quickly understood why there weren't any other doors. Mr. Takada's office took up the entire floor.
He approached the elderly woman behind the desk in front of him. She smiled and handed him a sign-in sheet. She read his name, dialed a number, and told him it would be just a moment before someone would be with him. So he sat. It was 2:56pm and he felt like this was the beginning of his new life.
And he sat.
People came in and out of doors and walked past him, but nobody addressed him or few looked at him. The ones that did had smiled and one woman even mouthed a 'hello'. He was getting bored. It was all right though. He was a soldier and he had been trained to wait, and even though a lot of his patience had become fleeting these days, he still had a shred or two left that would allow him maybe twenty more minutes of this madness. Yuy hated corporations, and he hated be forced to wait.
Finally, fifteen minutes later, a very tall, lanky woman in a dark blue skirt suit came through a door and walked right towards him. Her brown hair was pulled back in a clip and she wore very earthy make-up, making her look like just the kind of woman who would work in a big-shot office and steal people's souls. She smiled the way fake people do as she walked up to him in her one inch heels.
"Mr. Yuy?" She asked with a deep voice as she extended her pale, late twenty-something hand. Heero stood up and gave her his. The two exchanged a look and a hand-shake and that seemed to be that.
"Mr. Yuy, how do you do. My name is Kendra. Kendra Fitcheard." She tossed the section of her hair that had been left down to one side in a very sexy, very corporate way. "If you could come this way." She asked, but not really requested. It was more of a 'you're coming this way' kind of requisitions. Heero nodded and walked behind her. His eyes couldn't help but follow the sway of her hips and of her lower body. She was a thin thing, very pretty. It didn't take him too long to figure out how she had made it this far up the corporate chain.
She led him in through a door and down another long hallway filled with office doors, receptionists, fax machines, board rooms, and finally, a door with a brass plaque on it bearing the name 'Kendra Fitcheard, director of management'. Kendra opened the door and extended her hand inward. "Please."
Heero walked in and stood there, waiting for her to shut the door and tell him to take a seat. Nothing makes a better impression than showing your willingness to submit and be anyone's bitch, even if it means standing until you're told to do otherwise. That was just one of the many secrets Yuy had learned about big corporations over the course of working for them.
Kendra smiled and pointed to a chair, "Please, take a seat."
She circled around the huge mahogany desk that boasted a flat screened computer and a variety of papers and phones. The room was a dark blue, with mahogany and cherry woods all around. There were weird pictures on the walls though. Black and white pictures in very weird angles of fields and various buildings. They were all very intriguing, with a sense of depression about them. Not exactly the kind of pictures you find on a corporate wall.
Fitcheard took a seat, and behind her was the skyline of Dolthan. It was an alluring site, both the woman and the city, but like Heero had decided in the beginning, business is better without thoughts and emotions.
"Mr. Yuy, I'd to thank you for coming today. I understand that you were supposed to meet with Mr. Rastar, but do to circumstances, he is no longer with the company." Kendra said with a hint of happiness in her voice. It was obvious that she wasn't too distraught over the loss of Mr. Rastar, whoever in the hell he was. Heero blinked.
"It's really none of my concern, just as long as someone is able to give me an interview." Heero responded with an icy and commanding authority. Kendra looked at him with a keen interest.
"I usually don't handle these matters, but, We were extremely impressed with your credentials; with your background, Mr. Yuy." She explained as she leaned back in her chair. It took Yuy a minute, but then he understood. Anya must have filled out an application for him online and he fought the urge to say words that weren't very helpful to his character. Now he was up shit's creek without a paddle. She could have lied her ass off on the resume! What did she know about his background anyway?!
Everything.
Well, there had to be a limit on everything right? She could have slipped up and lied anyway, to make him look better. Kendra picked up a file and flipped through it.
"In fact, you really don't have a background, do you Mr. Yuy?" She questioned in an almost sarcastic tone as she tossed her hair again. She had a twisted kind of smile on her face, like she enjoyed interrogation. Heero thought she would have made a good cop.
"Well, that depends on what you consider to be a background and what all you believe on that resume, doesn't it Miss Fitcheard?" He replied, looking directly at her. She intrigued him, not in the sexual sense or in the curious cat scenario, but she had a hidden side. She wasn't like the rest of the suits in the building.
"You're quick on your toes. I like that." Kendra said as she threw the file in front of him. "But a man like you certainly must know that We here at Pennington, Takada, Williams, and Muer, don't just go with what's on a resume."
Heero nodded. "I had a feeling you didn't."
"Oh no." She agreed as she stood up and walked in front of her desk. "We did our own little background check on you, and, well, there isn't much on you before three years ago when you applied for residency in San Muerte." She took a seat on the edge, right in front of Yuy, as if to tempt him, like she was some sort of forbidden fruit. He watched her carefully.
"Are you getting at something Miss Fitcheard?" He asked; his eyes still fixed on her face. She smiled.
"The only thing I'm getting at Mr. Yuy, is that you are exactly the kind of man We here at PTWM are looking for."
"I'm afraid I'm not following you."
Kendra stood up and walked over to the window. "No backgrounds in this day and age mean one of two things. You were either secret police or you were secret military." She turned away from the city and looked back at Yuy. "Judging by your age, I'm going to go with secret military and that means you have the training and you have the skills that are needed to do this job and do it well." She tapped her artificial nails against her front teeth. "Wouldn't you agree?"
Heero peered at her, studied her closely. She was either going an awful lot on faith or she knew something she wasn't going to tell him and he was willing to bet on the latter. Fitcheard was the kind of woman who played with a full deck and would even make it look like she didn't just to get what she wanted. He looked down at his hands and then back up to her, his face as blank and frigid as ever. "I'd only agree if you were offering me the job."
"I like your style." She mused.
"Are there any questions to this interview, or is it all just one big 'you tell me a secret and I'll give you a shiny compliment' deal?" He hissed, his patience starting to wear thin. He didn't mind sacrificing himself a little for the sake of employment but it was getting to the point now where she was just jerking his chain, and he was definitely not into that. Kendra's expression went from curious schoolgirl to a widower's glare in a flash. She was apparently very good at whatever it was she was doing.
Ah yes, manipulation.
"Are you afraid of dying, Mr. Yuy?" She asked, as she walked back over to the front of her desk.
"Only if I have a reason." Heero replied, his annoyance obvious by the tone of his voice.
"Are you willing to take a bullet for someone?" Kendra asked, propping herself up again on the mahogany furniture. Her long and slender legs crossed slightly. Heero sighed.
"If I'm paid to do it." The woman peered at him for a moment, not to sure whether he was being serious or not. She knew full well that his man had been a member of a secret military faction. His name sent off too many red flags on the faces of the rich and powerful men she worked for, and if not them than certainly someone they knew. She all ready been given her orders, but she always loved to play with the prey before going in for the final, fatal blow.
Kendra tossed her hair again. She reached behind her and picked back up the file. "Do you know how to shoot a firearm?"
"What do you think?" Heero hissed, half-sarcastic, half-serious. Fitcheard turned a few pages in the file.
"I had a phone call that said you left two guns and an all-purpose Army knife down at the security station, so I'm thinking you do." She said as she looked back up at him.
"Then why'd you ask the question?"
There was a silent stand-off of stares in the room. The last comment had either gone too far or hit just the right spot, Heero was having trouble telling. Kendra was a very hard person to read; she kept changing her methods of attack like most people change underwear. She sighed deeply and tapped her fingers on the manila folder she held in her hands. "Do you have anything you want to say before I give you this job?"
Heero laughed inside. There was just something so unbelievable about this woman. And now, knowing he had the job, he figured he'd have a little fun before he delivered the final, fatal blow to his playtime prey. "What exactly does a director of management do?"
Kendra licked her lips and gave a half-hearted smile. "I oversee all the employees in this particular branch of Pennington, Takada, Williams, and Muer. I'm the one that all the floor managers and any other kind of manager, plus all the people under them answer too." She said. It was apparently a rehearsed answer; she recited it without missing a beat. Heero didn't flinch.
"You mean there's more than one branch?" He asked. It's not like he cared, he was just setting her up so he could watch her fall from her high, high pedestal.
"Good God, of course!" She shouted, almost in complete disbelief of what he just asked. It caught them both a little off guard, but she went ahead with her company speech. "PTWM is one of the largest digital communications firms on earth. This is only one of three hundred and eighty offices." She said the last part with a bit of pride, like she felt special because she belonged to such a big pack.
Heero gave a slight grin. "So how'd a girl like you wind up with a position like this?" She had walked along the dotted lines, straight and narrow, exactly where he wanted her, into the vulnerable spot of all female employees who help the high ranks at a place like this. Kendra gave a little smile and stood up.
"Use your imagination, Mr. Yuy." She purred beautifully as she walked back over to the window. Fitcheard was actually a very lovely woman, and if Heero hadn't been the man he was, he might have felt bad.
"You banged your way to the top." He explained, not to himself and not to her, but to any other listening ears, human or not. He waited for her to tense or show some sign of being struck lame, but she simply gave a little laugh and kept looking out of her palace window down onto her modern-day Babylon.
"My hard-work played a key role in getting me here, Mr. Yuy, but 'corporate compensation' never hurts." She turned and looked at him with a smile that was finally all her own. "Give a little to get a little, you understand?" She asked, her eyes shining with a mixture of pride, shame, and all the glory that comes with both. Heero watched her for a moment and could only shake his head.
"Of course." He said. So this woman wasn't as dumb and dull as she seemed. She was as cunning as they come, and she probably hadn't banged her way all the way to the top. More than likely a lot of her work probably did help her get to where she was today. She turned away from the window and stood beside her desk.
"Is that all the questions you have?" Kendra asked; her ruby red lips forming a half smile.
"Are those all the questions you're going to ask me?" He retorted. This was starting to be fun. Fitcheard twitched her head and sighed.
"Congratulations, Mr. Yuy. You're now a proud member of the PTWM team." She extended her hand in a gesture of kindness, but was met with nothing. Heero stood blankly, any sign of a previous expression gone. It had just clicked to him that he had actually gotten the job. He was going to be two hours away from home. Two hundred something miles away from the only place he had lived in for three years. It made him feel weird about the whole situation and he wondered how far back-tracking would get him.
"Who says I want the job?" His voice seemed normal and elusive. He still held the illusion that he was playing their little game. Any sign of him being nervous wouldn't have been apparent to anyone normal, but not to this woman. She sighed deeply and ran her fingers through her hair. She bit her lip and took a seat right next to Yuy.
"Heero, let's be real here for a moment." There was a simple kind of understanding and compassion that only a woman can have in her voice. She looked at him the way only a mother or a lover could, and it was a nice feeling. "Mr. Takada is a very wealthy man and I've had the pleasure of working with him for two years now. I know what he looks for in his employees, and if you take this job, in a year at most, you could be one of the most influential men in this business."
And in the spirit of weird things, Heero let out a loud and boisterous laugh. "From bodyguard to a suit? I think you're stretching you sales pitch a little Miss Fitcheard." He said through an onslaught of a sarcastic smile. This was crazy, it was better when she wasn't trying so hard. Kendra jumped to her feet.
"I don't think so!" She shouted. "I started off as a secretary for one of the paper pushers in an office down in New Berlin. Do you know what the offices are like down in New Berlin?" She asked; her hands now on her hips.
"I'm guessing not nearly as nice as the offices here." Heero replied. Fitcheard rolled her eyes.
"You have a chance to make something of yourself here!" She explained as she walked back over behind her desk. "You'd be up in this building, and I'd welcome you, just as long as you don't go after my job."
Her words were slowly starting to take route in his mind. Heero understood that technically, he all ready had the job. The question was, not when or how he was going to get it, but more along the lines of exactly what his job entailed and if he was really prepared to pack up the shell of the life he pretended to have and go do this, this thing.
"Am I going to be working for Mr. Takada directly?" He asked, once more returning to the stodgy, frigid man he was so accustomed to being. Kendra looked a little taken back by his comment about the actual work. She flipped through her files.
"Actually, no, you wouldn't." She explained as she read through a piece of paper. She traced a section with her finger. "You would be watching over his wife, Mrs. Takada, over in Grenvale."
And there were a thousand tiny warning bells that went off in his head.
"Grenvale?" He said, reconfirming it only so he could make sure he hadn't had another one of those temporary lapses of sanity. "That's four hours away."
Kendra folded her hands into one another and smiled. She had gone back into corporate junky mode. "Heero," she started off, "while Mr. Takada has some very powerful friends, he also has some very powerful enemies. He needs someone like you looking over her shoulder." And if Yuy hadn't been so disillusioned by the idea of being so far away from home, he would have caught the slip up in her wording, and questioned whether he was being sent to protect Mrs. Takada or make sure she wasn't dabbling in things that the rich and powerful people shouldn't dabble in. But Fitcheard's words had gone in one ear and out the other. He was still trying to grapple with the idea of Grenvale.
"That's almost seven hours away from San Muerte." He thought aloud. Kendra walked back in front of her desk and took a seat on the edge.
"Heero, I understand." Back into mother mode. "You probably have a life in San Muerte, and I have a feeling someone you care about very deeply." Heero looked up at her. He did, he had someone he cared for very much back there, and he didn't know if he could just leave her. But then again, if he didn't, he couldn't find the one woman in the world who made him feel alive, who made him feel like he had worth in this miserable world.
"We all have inhibitions about this at first," Kendra whispered, so only the two of them could hear, "but the job makes it easier, and so does the paycheck." She looked into his eyes and he returned the action. She was searching for that perfect catch phrase and he was searching for the real Kendra, not this fake, done-up thing sitting in front of him. There was a silence in the room, and then she stood up.
"The way I see it, you should take this job." Her voice had taken on a very serious tone, almost cocky, and it rubbed Heero in a very wrong way.
"And why's that?" He snapped, catching himself before he said something he knew he would have regretted. Kendra gave him a sickening smile.
"Because it's the best offer you're going to get." She cooed. Now she was just being bitchy, she thought she had the upper hand. He couldn't understand what made her think she had this leeway in the situation. In fact, he hadn't given her any sign that she really DID have the winning cards in her deck.
"Excuse me?" He asked. It was getting harder and harder to restrain his balled up fists from flying in her direction. Of course he would never hurt a lady, but this thing in front of him wasn't a lady. She was just the shell of something that used to be human.
"You have the look." She mused as she stared at him, almost like she was reading his thoughts.
"What look?" Heero shouted as he rose to his feet, but even that didn't intimidate her. She just smiled and took a step closer to him, even though she was much shorter and could be easily overpowered. Kendra moved with the prowess of a tiger ready for the kill, and Heero noticed for the first time that that was the only thing she was in this for - the kill.
"The look of a man who doesn't have anymore options." She declared proudly because she had won and she knew it. She had penetrated his defenses, broken through his inner shell, and raped his most sensitive thoughts. He had nowhere to go but towards the light that was her. "Take the job, Yuy. Save yourself the pain of poverty." She rubbed her hand against his chest and looked up at him seductively. "It wouldn't suit you."
"It all ready does." He barked as he pushed her away. He started walking towards the door. Kendra sighed.
"Go home, pack your things."
Heero turned and looked at her, almost in the shock that he still had the job.
"Mr. Takada wants you to start immediately. I'll send a car and a truck to your address tomorrow at noon. You'll be in Grenvale by seven and on the clock by eight." She saw the understanding finally wash over him, and that was when she knew -- the final victory was her's. It brought an even scarier smile to her face. She looked at him, bright and chipper. "Congratulations, Heero. You're not unemployed anymore."
Part of him agreed with her, and part of him hated her. He wasn't unemployed anymore, true. But what he was having to give up to have this luxury seemed a bit much. His home, his current lifestyle - granted he wasn't too fond of it, but fondness didn't matter. It was the routine and the familiarity; it was the complete knowledge of almost everything that was going to happen that day or the next or the next. It's like he had said earlier, he wasn't afraid of anything, except the unknown. The unknown did things to his head, made him nervous, and made him unhappy. It made him very unhappy. He had all ready started walking back when in hit him. He in fact, had the Ace of Spades.
"Kendra?" He asked, his voice full of pleasure.
"Yes?" She asked as she took her seat behind her desk. She had put on her glasses, ready to file more things and read through more papers.
"Are you happy?" And as the words slid from his mouth he felt the dagger plunge deep within her. All the while she had been trying to get him to admit he was miserable, she had left herself wide open to the prospect that her life was simply shit in a bag. A very nice bag, but a bag none the less. He could almost hear her stomach tighten and her back straighten. Not only had he just took the victory from her, but he had also killed her, and it was a pleasant feeling.
Fitcheard, no matter how wounded, was still quick on a reply. "Who cares about happy? I have enough money so that I can retire when I turn thirty- five. I can be happy all I want then." It was a true reply, an honest reply - they both knew it. There was a weird silence that fell on them both and she rubbed her hands over her face.
"At noon, tomorrow." She reminded. "Don't forget, and for the love of Christ, don't turn chicken-shit on me."
Heero turned around and looked at her. "Don't worry. If it's one thing I learned in the Army, it's keep your balls."
Kendra laughed and once more, Heero started to walk out.
"Hey, Yuy?" She called to him as he made his way to the door. He stopped and she knew it was her turn in the spotlight. "In the war, what side were you on?"
She heard him sigh, and as he started walking down the hallway she heard him.
"My own."
It was sort of like a dream walking back to the elevator. He didn't care anymore if they rode down with him. The act of signing out his weapons and returning his badge barely registered, as if they were merely programmed into his mind to be done and not recalled. The city seemed more dead than alive as he walked back to the train station. The sky had lost some of its beauty and luster. The crowds didn't matter and the fact that he had run out of smokes didn't really matter either.
He slipped on his sunglasses, took a heavy sigh, and walked up the stairs to catch the 4:10pm train to San Muerte.
The train ride home was uneventful and boring, and Yuy didn't care. He was only pre-occupied with two thoughts and two thoughts alone. Why the hell he had even gotten up this morning, and how he was going to explain things to Anya.