Someplace in Space
"Please...you're making a huge mistake!" the man stammered.
"I don't think you're really in the position to be judging right and wrong," the calm voice of the masked figure answered coolly as it circled around the chair where the panicking victim was tied. The gender was indeterminate; either a man or else a very flat woman. The man hadn't been worried at first because such a slender frame hid the strength the assailant later used to knock him unconscious and drag him to this godforsaken place.
"What is it you want then? Money? I can give you plenty of money, I promise!" he cried, shaking in his bonds.
His captor had pulled out a knife.
"Money? What good is money going to do me? No, I don't want money, Clancy Douglas of White Fang."
"White Fang?"
"Do you deny it? That you were once a rebel who sought the destruction of the very Earth that spawned you?"
"No! Please, I'm begging you! I was only following orders! I didn't even do anything! I only--"
"I've had it with your lies. Rot in hell with the others."
"No!"
The knife slashed. Blood spurted everywhere.
A rose floated softly to the ground, landing in a crimson pool where it remained untouched until morning.
THREE:
Newsflash
Space Flight No. 367 from Earth to L4
Former White Fang member found dead at natural resource satellite MO-I. The victim, Clancy Douglas, 31, suffered multiple knife wounds and died of blood loss some time in the night. Douglas is the fifth victim in a string of murders that began earlier this year. All victims were members of the White Fang rebellion of 195, and were found with knife wounds. In addition, a single red rose was found at each crime scene. Colonial law enforcement and the Preventer Intelligence Agency have no suspects at this time...
Rolling his eyes, the braided man folded up the newspaper and tossed it into the empty seat beside him. "Man, what in the world are Wufei and the others doing if they're not trying to catch this psycho?" he murmured, looking out the window. Going after White Fang, hm? Someone's got a grudge...
"Excuse me, sir," the red-haired stewardess remarked, coming up beside his seat with her metal cart. "Can I offer you anything?"
Turning to gaze at her, his indigo eyes slipped her a wink. "Sure thing...Naru," he remarked, reading her nametag. "I'll take whatever you've got for whiskey."
"Can I see your ID please?" she asked.
His face instantly fell. "Well, you see..."
Rolling her eyes, Naru continued pushing the cart forward. Grumbling indignantly, he sank into his seat.
"Goddammit...Quatre better have a stocked bar..."
Taiyou Estate, L4
Quatre bit his lip as he slowed his car in front of the gatehouse. He always had trouble getting into Rei's place, if not from Rei herself than from the lawyer that was determined to keep the number one enemy of the Taiyou family away from the heir. But tonight it seemed he was in luck; Yuuchirou was on duty. The young man was far more easygoing than any Rei's other employees, and although Quatre suspected that he had a bit of a crush on the girl, he was thankful for Yuuchirou's cooperation in getting him in. With only a wave, the gate opened and Quatre nudged the Audi forward.
Parking in the circle drive in front of the main entrance, he glanced up at the sky. The weather system was scheduled for rain, and it looked like it would be arriving any minute. Well, that certainly wouldn't help his mood, but he would try to ignore it.
Ascending the steps, Quatre rang the bell, then stepped back to wait for Maya the housekeeper. She too was helpful when it came to his relationship with the mistress of the house, although she watched Rei like a hawk and had warned Quatre on several occasions that if he was ever less than honorable towards her he would regret it. But when the door opened, it was not Maya that stood there.
"I told Yuuchirou he would be fired if he let you in again."
The man standing before him was tall, with dark blue eyes and hair as fair as his own. Dressed in a flawless business suit and wearing glasses that made his eyes seem sharper than usual, the look on his face was one of pure disgust.
"I just want to see Rei, Kaidou..." Quatre said calmly.
"You don't have any reason to. Besides that, she doesn't want to see anyone right now. I suggest you leave the premises immediately, Mr. Winner," Kaidou answered.
Irritation was rising in the younger man's heart. "Don't you think Rei should be telling me if she wants to see me or not?"
Kaidou adjusted his glasses. "Miss Taiyou specifically asked to be left alone."
"But I don't recall putting you in charge of anything, Kaidou," a feminine voice stated.
From behind the tall man, the smaller, darker figure of Rei appeared, looking none too pleased. Quatre was well aware of how she felt about her father's lawyer. Though she had confided about having a crush on him at a younger age, since becoming head of the Taiyou family following Takashi's death, Rei and Kaidou had been at odds. In the will, old Taiyou had arranged for the better part of his wealth to be left to his daughter, but until she turned twenty-one the money was to remain under the authority of Kaidou, who also liked to think Rei herself was under his authority.
The tall man's icy stare met the girl's flashing one, and finally he surrendered. "My apologies, Miss Taiyou." He bowed slightly, but not enough to display honest regret.
She didn't care. "I think you should go home for the evening, Kaidou. You can come in early to finish your work in the morning." Her eyes were daring him to disagree with her, but being the elder and, in his mind at least, more mature one, Kaidou only nodded.
"Very well. I will see you tomorrow, Miss Taiyou."
Only when the lawyer was gone did Rei turn her attention to the younger blond man still in her presence. The emotion on her face was unreasonable, but Quatre knew it wasn't joy. Something stinging bit into his heart when she turned her back on him.
"I asked you not to come tonight, Quatre," she stated, walking down the hall towards her music room. He followed along easily.
"I know, but..."
"What about Minako? Is she all right?" Rei asked, still not looking at him as she sat down at the piano in the middle of the large room. She did not play, only moved her fingers lightly along the keys, determining if she should indeed try to coax music from the piece or let it sleep.
"She'll be fine. She had quite a scare, but after she'd had a bath and some food she assured me that she'd be fine." Gaze softening, Quatre stepped forward and put a hand on Rei's shoulder. "Mina wanted me to check on you too. She's starting to get just as worried as I am."
"There's nothing to worry about. I'm fine." Her voice was ice cold, but he didn't drop his hand.
"You're not. You sounded like you were crying when you left that message canceling dinner tonight. And you've been more reclusive than usual." Quatre hesitated, then knelt down beside the piano bench and looked up into his friend's eyes. She seemed to have grown pale, and her chilliness had morphed into a distance that struck a chord of fear into his heart. "Rei...the anniversary of your father's death is coming up soon, isn't it?" he said softly.
"Is it?" she murmurmed, sounding absent and unsure. "I wasn't aware..."
"Sunday," Quatre nodded. "The day after your party."
At the word "party," she seemed to fall back into herself. Blinking, Rei looked at Quatre and tried to give him a small smile. "The party...I'm sorry, that's really the cause of most of this. I haven't held such a large event in a long time, and it's really stressful." Standing up, she closed the lid on the keys harder than she meant to, making Quatre jump a little in surprise. Rei smiled, and took his hands in hers.
"I'm fine, Quatre, really," she remarked, trying to sounds as reassuring as possible. "You always worry so much about everyone. Isn't it a burden, being that kind?"
"Not at all," he whispered, lacing his fingers with hers. Once more, as on so many other occasions, Quatre fought the urge to pull the young woman to him and kiss away whatever darkness dwelled within her. But he didn't dare. Rei would never accept it any more than she would accept any other kind of help from him.
She did allow his hands to remain twined with hers for several more moments, before loosening her own grip and pulling free. "I'm going to get ready for bed, Quatre. You should go home."
"You're sure you're going to be all right, Rei?" There was still concern in his eyes and voice, but the girl waved it off.
"I'm always all right," she replied. "I'll see you this weekend, okay?" Moving to his side, she raised herself up on her toes a bit to place a light kiss on his cheek. Smiling, she went to the door. "Good night, Quatre."
"Good night, Rei," he answered, walking himself to the door without ever once looking back (even though he was tempted to more than once).
She watched his car pull away from her bedroom window. Fist clenched, Rei bowed her head and shut her eyes.
"Damn it, Quatre...when are you ever going to let me go?"
Winner Estate, L4
"It has now been four months since the the excavation team from the Lunar Museum has gone missing. The group of four geologists and archaeologists hailed from Earth and the colonies alike, and was last seen entering the Sea of Serenity in a Cernan-Duke LRV on Thanksgiving. Radio gave out a week later, prompting a search of the Lunar surface, but so far no evidence has--"
The TV clicked off and the viewer groaned. "Jeez, when's the last time there was ever any good news on the news? Serial killers, missing persons...no wonder people get depressed."
Hopping to his feet in one fluid motion, the braided man glanced at the clock. It chimed 9 o'clock. "Hm..." He moved to the window, appearing as an ominous black silhouette to any that should pass bye. "Quatre should be getting home soon..."
Sure enough, there was the white Audi coming up the driveway. When it slowed and stopped, the driver happened to glance up at the window where the dark man had been standing, a window now empty. Frowning a little, Quatre reached into his pocket where the remote to his house alarm was kept. Keeping it in hand, he carefully entered the dark house.
Immediately upon opening the door, he could've sworn he heard footsteps upstairs. Not pausing to take off his coat or shoes, the young businessman quietly ascended the steps and opened the door to his study.
"Man, what took you?"
Quatre sighed in relief and relaxed upon recognizing the voice. "Duo!" he cried, flicking on the light to see his old friend leaning against the wall, devilish smile on his handsome face. "How did you get in here?"
"Magic," Duo replied matter of factly, moving away from the hall to accept an embrace from the shorter man. "You're a tough guy to get a hold of, so I figured I would just take the direct approach."
The blond man smiled. "It's really great to see you, Duo. But maybe take it easy on the stealth next time. You almost gave me a heart attack!"
"Oh come on. Quatre Raberba Winner, head of the Winner construction empire and a former Gundam Pilot? Scared of little ol' me?"
His friend laughed, then removed his coat and tossed it over the chair. "Come on, I'll make us some coffee," he offered, leading the braided man out of the study and down the stairs. "So what are you doing here anyways? You can't be here for just a visit?"
Duo sniffed indignantly as they entered the kitchen. "And why not? A guy gets nostalgic, you know. Maybe I just wanted to visit my old war buddies and talk about the good old days."
Quatre raised his head from pouring the coffee into the grinder and gave him a look that expressed total disbelief at that excuse.
Facade falling aside, Duo sighed. "Okay, so Hilde's been hinting to me that she needs some 'private time' with her 'friend' Ilsa. She told me it would be a good idea to take a week or two's vacation so they can 'get reacquainted'."
"Wait a minute...Duo, are you saying Hilde's a...?" Quatre's blue-green eyes widened.
"Lesbian? Yep. I know, shocked me too. Here I thought she had it bad for me, but nope. We are now eternally stuck in the Friend Zone." Duo crossed his arms over his chest and pouted. "Man, it's not fair. I get two girls and they're only interested in each other. You get two girls and they're practically throwing themselves at you!"
"What?" His friend coughed. "Where did you hear about that?"
The wicked smile returned as Duo reached into his pocket and pulled out a rolled-up tabloid. On the sidebar of the cover was a picture of Quatre, with an arm each around Rei and Minako. The photo had been taken at the launch of Mina's tour by a private photographer she had hired for the occasion ("I want a picture of me with my two oldest friends!" she had said). Quatre silently cursed the man, simultaneously wondering how much he'd gotten for the picture.
"Don't get the wrong idea, Duo," he explained, taking down two cups from the cupboard. "All three of us are really old friends. And technically Rei is my political rival. There's nothing going on between us." Unfortunately he wanted to add as he poured the coffee and set one cup down in front of Duo.
"Well then, there should be!" Duo insisted. "Maybe if you're not going to make a move I will. Either of them single?"
Quatre laughed. "Duo, you never change," he smiled, raising the cup to his lips.
After they'd finished their coffee, the braided man put his hands behind his head. "So, Mr. Winner, what's on the agenda for tomorrow?"
"I've got some meetings with the colony board about prospective weather system upgrades, and then I'm supposed to deliver a report on the company's current projects. Plus I should probably try to get in touch with some of my sisters and see how productivity at the resource satellites is going..."
"Ugh. Sounds awful," Duo remarked. Leaning forward, he glanced around, looking for anyone who might be listening in on the conversation. "If you ask me, I think you should play hooky."
"What? Duo, I can't..."
"Sure you can! You look 'sick' to me!" he insisted. "Besides...I was thinking of taking a run over to L3 tomorrow to check out the circus. No doubt Trowa would love to see you."
That piqued the businessman's interest. "You're going to see Trowa?"
The man in black smiled. Sold. "Mmhmm. Come on, we'll get up early, sneak out on the first flight over there, spend the night, be back in time for...whatever's going on Friday. It'll be fun."
Quatre was on the verge of saying yes, but suddenly fell back. "I don't know..."
"Oh come on!" his friend cried. "Live a little. They'll survive without you for one day here. Besides, you owe it to yourself. Call it a mini-vacation."
"Well..." It had been a long time since he'd seen Trowa... "Okay."
"Great!" Duo cried. "Oh, by the way, it's okay for me to crash here for the next week or so, right?"
Quatre sighed.
L3
"Despite the disppearence of a four-person excavation team last winter, the Lunar Museum will still be holding its Gala Opening on Friday, June 21. Museum patrons and celebrities alike are expected to attend the event, during which exhibits on Moon Mythology, Early Lunar Exploration, and a prototype Lunar Civilian Village will be open, as well as the highly anticipated Core Elevator..."
"Man, I would give anything to go to that party!" the young curly-haired woman remarked as she set down a pastry and coffee in front of her customer. The small TV was perched up in the corner of the little cafe, and both the tall proprietor and the short, bookish patron had their eyes fixed.
"I wouldn't," the other woman remarked. "But Greg's brother is on the board of trustees, and Greg has been dropping hints since Christmas that he'd love to get tickets."
Her friend groaned. "Ami, I don't get you! It's a museum! You get to dress up fancy, look at science-y things, and have great food! Where's the downside?"
Ami shrugged. "I just get really uncomfortable at parties," she explained, taking a sip of the coffee. "And besides, I know nothing there will be half as good as anything you could serve, Mako."
Makoto colored slightly. "Well, I don't know about that..." She sighed. "But still, if you do go, you'll have to take lots of pictures. And oh! Let me come with you to get a new dress! You'll definitely need something to make you look like a princess at a fancy party like that."
"Mako..."
But the woman wasn't listening. Going back into the kitchen, she began cleaning up shop and taking a quick inventory for tomorrow's selection of bakery and sandwiches. Only when she heard the bell at the door ring did she step out again, intending to inform the guest she would be closing up in approximately ten minutes. However, her expression changed when she saw the tall man standing at the counter.
"Trowa! How are you?" Makoto smiled. "Have a seat...cup of coffee?"
He nodded, then glanced over at the booth where Ami was sitting. The smaller woman smiled and waved, and he returned the action before joining her. When Makoto brought the coffee (as well as a fresh cup for Ami), she had her pad ready. "So, you gotta be hungry. What'll it be? Piece of pie? Cake? Sandwich?"
"You're still serving food this time of night?" Trowa asked in surprise.
Makoto winked. "For my best customers, of course. Tell you what. I've got some cookies just about to come out of the oven that I was going to take home. How about a few of those to dunk in your coffee?"
Although half of his face was hidden by a long curtain of auburn hair, Makoto could still tell he was smiling. "Sounds great, Mako." When she scurried off to the kitchen, he turned to the woman sitting across from him. "So, how's your husband, Mrs. Urawa?"
"Greg's fine. He's just been promoted to chief-of-staff at the medical center, so he's been working a lot, but he really does enjoy it," Ami replied.
"And you're still running the children's clinic?"
She smiled. "You have a really good memory, Mr. Barton."
"You can call me Trowa," he corrected. Although Makoto considered her two best customers to be her two closest friends, Ami and Trowa were both so quiet that it had taken them forever to even get on conversational terms, let alone a first-name basis (although both insisted they call each other by their given names, both were reluctant to actually do so). But that was fine if Makoto was around, since she was usually talkative enough for both of them.
"So, Trowa," she remarked, bringing out a plate of fresh cookies. "What's new at the circus? I keep meaning to come see the show, but business has been crazy lately."
"There's a new guy," the man answered, taking one of the cookies. "A motorcyclist. Catherine's convinced he's crazy, pulling off the stunts he does."
"Oh that's right! I got one of the fliers in the mail yesterday! He's premiering tomorrow night, right? What's his name again?" Makoto tapped her chin, trying to remember.
"Angel."
The women stared at him. "Are you serious?" Makoto asked.
Trowa nodded. "He says he can go so fast, it's like he's flying. If you want, you can come see for yourself. I can let you in backstage."
"That's very generous of you," Ami remarked.
"Yeah, thanks!" She turned to her friend. "We should go together, Ami! I'll close up early, you said you don't have any appointments after three...it'll be a blast! And Trowa and Catherine can hit the bars with us afterwards!" she winked.
All three of them laughed.
