CHAPTER 4
TROWA'S TRICK
ANNELDA'S BIKE
After leaving the last family of the pacifist leaders, Heero and Trowa walk through a marketplace and notice a car following them. Amongst the people a woman in a black hoodie with the hood over her face lurks in the shadows watching them as well. A truck drives by and Heero jumps in the back, Trowa finds an unattended motorcycle, the truck drives away and behind it is Trowa on the motorcycle. He punches the gas and takes off down an alleyway; the car that was following them quickly follows Trowa. The woman in the black hoodie seeing everything runs down an alley next to where Trowa took off. She finds a flight of stairs next to a building and runs up them to the roof, stopping to hear which way Trowa has gone she quickly determines the direction and starts leaping from roof to roof in that direction. She jumps right over Trowa just in time to see the motorcycle land in the canal and to see Trowa doing an acrobatic move in the air then landing on a clothesline, he turns and puts his hands in his pockets and walks the clothesline to the edge of the building.
Trowa gets to the roof and sits down for a moment to catch his breath not noticing the woman in the black hoodie on the ledge across from him, she looks over at Trowa and a smirk appears in the corner of her mouth and is the first to speak. "That was some badass trick you pulled off." She startles him and he points his gun at her. "How much did you see, and who the hell are you?" She smirks again and takes a couple of steps toward Trowa. "Oh I saw all of it and there is no need for the gun Trowa put it away, if I was going to kill you, you'd be dead already and I would've done it while you were in the air." She says as she takes off the hood and leans back on the ledge of the building. Trowa in a confused tone lowers his weapon and continues to figure out who this mystery woman is. "How do you know my name, and why are you following us?" She leans up from the ledge and sits down upon it. "Just so you know I wasn't the one in the car following you." Getting frustrated, Trowa stands in a demanding manner. "You haven't answered any of my questions." She smiles at him. "I make it my business to know who you are and who I am is of no importance, it is my job to protect each and every one of you pilots and according to my superiors I don't exist and this conversation isn't happening, GOT IT!" Trowa sits back down on the ledge trying to make sense of the current situation he finds himself in. To break the silence and noticing the wheels in Trowa's head turning, she speaks. "Trowa listen, I'm not your enemy, I'm on the side of the Gundams no matter what and before you ask, no I have not told anyone about them or of any of the missions or of the pilots they keep. I'm here to be an asset for whatever you pilots need." Trowa interrupts, "How many have you met with so far?" She smiles and replies, "I have met with three, you included. However, I can't tell you which pilots I have met with." He gets up and walks around for a bit before stopping to ask his next question.
"How long have you been following us?" He asked interrupting her once more. "Please stop interrupting me, I have been with you ever since you left Silvia Noventa's home in Marseilles. I understand what Heero is trying to do, going from family to family to ask for forgiveness or in his case their verdict hoping someone will get enraged enough to kill him for his mistake. I'm sure you know this Trowa but don't be too hard on him for doing this, this is his way of apologizing for killing the Pacifist leaders at the New Edwards Base." Trowa is dumbfounded for a few seconds wondering how she knows so much about Heero, their missions, and the Gundams. "I have so many questions I want to ask you, is there anything you can disclose with me?" She thinks for a moment. "All I can tell you is that I'm here at the pilot's discretion and that you can trust me." Trowa leans against the edge of the building and smiles to himself. "You know trust has to go both ways and I don't even know your name." They both smile at each other and she feels a little weak in the knees from his smile, she quickly pushes the feelings aside and quickly changes the subject. "My name, Trowa, is not important but you should probably meet back up with Heero, you have been gone longer than you should've." She turns to walk away and Trowa places his hand on her shoulder to stop her and in response she gets a shiver up and down her spine from his touch. "Please!" She turns and faces him and grabs his hand. "Please tell me your name." Trowa asked once more in a pleasant tone. She puts her other hand on his hip and pulls him closer to her and whispers in his ear and slips a card in the back pocket of his jeans. She turns to walk away and jumps on the ledge of the building, she turns to face Trowa one more time. "Oh, Trowa one more thing, the bike you crashed in the canal." He interrupts, "Yea what about it?" She looks at him with a condescending smile, and puts her hood back up. "It was mine!" With that being said she jumps off the roof while facing Trowa doing a backward somersault, he runs to the edge where she jumped and looks around but she is already gone. He smiles to himself and says out loud, "She's good." He takes the card out of his pocket and read what it said. It was her contact information and on the back of the card it read,
'Memorize this information then burn this card.'
"Annelda!" Was the only word that came from his lips.