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Home is Where the Heart Is

Chapter 7

Winner Mansion-After the Vid-Call

"Oh no…" Quatre whispered. "CATRINA!" He swiftly switched the screen back to Heero's face. "Heero? D…did you see her? What are we going to do?"

"Did she send you the coordinates?" Heero asked. Quatre was amazed at the calm air that was about him. He looked down at the printout he held in his hand. He must have grabbed it sometime during the conversation.

"Yes," he said.

"Good. Send them to me immediately. Call Une and inform her of this development. Then call the others and have them assemble your mansion. I will arrive shortly with a plan. I trust that you taped the entire conversation."

"Of course. Right away. See you soon, Heero," Quatre finished and terminated the connection. He had to hurry. "Rashid! Where are you?" he yelled.

"Right here, Master Quatre," said Rashid, appearing out of the shadows.

"Rashid, I need you to call up all my private planes and send each one to the Gundam pilot's houses. They need to go as fast as possible. I also need you to prepare all the spare rooms," Quatre ordered.

"Of course, Master Quatre," said Rashid. He turned and left the room quickly and hurried to find an available vid-phone. Quatre began to call up each of his comrades and inform them of the dilemma. I hope we're in time.

Hour and a half later

Everyone was at Quatre's mansion. All but one. They had all gathered in the living room. Trowa leaned against the wall, impassive to his surroundings. Quatre nervously sat on the couch. Duo and Hilde sat together on the hearth, silently staring out into the group of people. Zechs was pacing the room, back and forth, back and forth. Noin was watching her husband. Lady Une and Treize were softly discussing the Preventors and Catrina's disappearance. Wufei was sharpening his katana, muttering to Sally about the injustice of it all. Sally regarded Wufei in silence. Heero was the only member that was not present. Even the forty Maganacs were in a separate room, waiting for news or orders.

"Where is he?!" Zechs burst out suddenly. "We can't do anything without a plan and we have no plan without Yuy! Where are the coordinates, Quatre? We're going after with or without Yuy!" he stormed. Quatre was about to stand and get the printout, when he heard Rashid's voice from the front door.

"Master Quatre! He has arrived!" he called. Quatre let out a sigh of relief. It was cut short when he saw the look of pure hatred in Zechs' eyes when Heero stepped into the room. He brushed past everyone until he reached the coffee table, where he dropped a handful of printouts onto the table.

"The group calls themselves White Fang, after their original origin. They will kill her unless we hurry," he said in a dull voice.

"Well, if you had been here any sooner, we could have probably saved her already!" Zechs glowered. "If she dies, it will be your fault." Heero raised an eyebrow.

"Quatre, have you shown them the tape yet?" he asked.

"No," Quatre replied. He swiftly turned on the television and played it through. Silence dominated the room as the short tape ended.

"She got caught sending us the message. They were expecting rescue within the hour that she called. But, thanks to me, it appears that we didn't get the message and there is no hope for her," Heero said.

"But, then that means that Catrina doesn't know that we know where she is! And she'll also think she has no hope!" Duo cried.

"Yes, but it's better this way. Now she can't be disappointed," Heero said.

"Heero? What's the plan?" came Sally's voice.

"Duo and I will infiltrate the base. Duo and I will go after her, while twenty of the Maganacs will apprehend all of the soldiers and bring them to another ship. Zechs will pilot the ship we will be using. Sally will also be on the ship, to treat injuries any of us might sustain." With that said, Heero turned and left the room. The others silently followed.

 *********

"There it is!" Duo exclaimed. "This is where the coordinates say she is! Wait, MO IV? But…that's a supply satellite! Why would they be hiding there?"

"Because no one would think to look for a base here," Noin said.

"Have you reached the base, yet?" Lady Une's voice came over the intercom.

"Affirmative. We will be docking and then Duo and I will go in alone," Heero said.

"Make sure you keep within radio contact at all time, and good luck." The intercom connection terminated.

"Let's go! We got a damsel in distress here!" Duo slipped into his space suit and prepared to leave the ship.

 

Inside the Base

Heero and Duo slipped past the last of the guards and looked over at Duo. "You look down that hall. I'm going to look through these rooms," Heero turned and sprinted off.

"Sure, Heero. No prob." Duo moved into the next room and looked through it. All the rooms he saw were the same. Metal and plain, with only a desk and computer in the corner.

 

Meanwhile

Heero sprinted down the hallway. There were almost no locked doors and nothing that looked like a holding cell. He continued to run. Duo popped out of a doorway.

"Hey buddy! Anything yet?" he asked. Heero continued on without stopping. "I'll take that as a no." The two kept running until Heero spotted a heavy metal door at the end of the hall.

"There."

"What? Oh, the door. Got ya," Duo said. A moment later, they reached it and Duo set a few, tiny explosives around its base. After the dust from the explosion settled, the two comrades entered the room. Chains and shackles hung from the walls and everything was coated in a fine covering of dust. After glancing about the small room several times, they finally saw Catrina. She was covered in the same dust, but she didn't seem to mind. In fact, she wasn't even moving.

"Catrina?" Duo asked hesitantly. He moved next to her and bent down. "She's unconscious." Her face was black and blue from bruises and her clothing torn into shreds. It looked as if she hadn't eaten a thing since she had been captured.

"C'mon," Heero's monotone voice cut through Duo's examination. He moved over to Duo's side and picked up Catrina.

"Let's get outta here!" Duo said. They left, Heero carrying the unconscious Catrina. They ran back through the base and out to the shuttle port. There they boarded their shuttle. "Hey everyone! We're back!"

"Did you get her?" came Sally's voice.

"Of course we did!" Duo said happily. "Although she is a little worse for wear." Heero came in behind him, still holding the limp girl.

"I'll take her in the back," Sally took Catrina away as she asked her question.

"All right. Did Rashid and the others capture everyone?" Duo asked.

"Yes. They left a few moments ago to bring the gang to the police."

Duo grinned. The shuttle's boosters fired up and they were headed back to the Earth and Quatre's mansion.

 

Back on Earth

The tired rescuers marched in to Quatre's mansion. Quatre was there at the door, the other twenty Maganacs behind him.

"Where is she? Is she all right?" he asked.

"She'll be fine, Quatre. Now, do you mind moving so we can get in?" Zechs glowered down at the eighteen-year-old.

"S…sure." Quatre and the Maganacs moved off to one side. Quatre stood in the front, by the door, his eyes scanning through the group until he saw his sister. Heero was carrying her towards the front door. She wasn't moving. "Sally?" he looked up and the women as she moved past Quatre. "Is she okay?"

"Yes, Quatre. She's just unconscious and a little beat up. I think that if she rests, she'll be up in no time," Sally continued, "what room can she have?"

"Oh…any room that isn't occupied. Um, try the third floor, seventh door on the right."

"Did you hear that Heero? Third floor, seventh door on the right." Heero grunted and began to climb the stairs. Sally followed behind him.

"Well, that was interesting," Lady Une commented, appearing out of the shadows of a doorway.

"Yes, it was. After all that rescuing and escaping, I'm really hungry. You wouldn't happen to have any food around, would ya, Quatre?" Duo asked his friend.

"Oh course, Duo. I'll have the cook get something ready for you. In fact, why don't we all eat?" he said. "I'll go talk to the cook. Everyone else can make themselves comfortable until it's ready. Then I'm going to go and visit my sister." Quatre turned and walked off.

 

Upstairs

"She'll wake up, soon. I think we should just let her rest awhile. Someone should stay in here at all times. That way, when she does wake up, she'll know she's safe and not still captured," Sally said to Heero. "Oh, Quatre. How nice to see you." She repeated the diagnoses for him.

"I'll stay here with her for a few hours," Quatre said. "Do you want me to get you when she wakes up?"

"Yes. I'll be downstairs if you need me for anything," Sally said as she left the room.

"So, Heero. Are you leaving too? The cook is making lunch downstairs. It should be ready in a couple of hours." Quatre looked over at the silent Heero. "Or, you could stay up here with me and Catrina. That would be nice. I would enjoy the company. How did you find her? Heero?"

"What, Quatre?"

"Are you okay? You look tired. Maybe you should get some rest."

"I'm fine." Heero left the room.

"Interesting…" Quatre mumbled. Suddenly, Catrina began to stir on the bed.

"Ow," she said as she opened her eyes. "Where am I?"

"Catrina! You're awake! How are you feeling?" Quatre's eyes lit with hope.

"My head hurts. Where am I?" she asked again.

"Oh, sorry. You're at my mansion."

"Gee, that tells me a lot. You have what, fifty mansions?"

"The one we had the party in," Quatre explained. "I have to tell Sally that you're up. Be right back!" He bounded out of the room. Catrina leaned back on the pillows. The shadows in the far corner of the room shifted.

"Heero?"

"What?" Heero's voice came to her.

"You wouldn't mind getting me some aspirin, would you? My head is killing me."

"Sure." Heero walked into the adjoining room and returned a moment later with a bottle of aspirin.

"Thanks. So, you guys got my message after all, huh?" she asked.

"Yeah," Heero replied.

"You could have told me, you know. I thought I would die and nobody would ever know what happened to me!" she yelled. "You're all too considerate," she said sarcastically.

"If we told you anything, then the enemy might have found out and you would have died."

"Oh, how reassuring. I trust that you captured everyone and destroyed the base?"

"Of course."

"Yes. So we're not very talkative this morning, are we?" Catrina asked.

"Afternoon."

"Does it really matter? If I was feeling better I would get out of this bed and…"

"Really? I doubt it. Even if you were at your normal state of health, you couldn't beat me."

"Do you think so? I'll get you…" Cat sat up, trying to carry out her threat, but soon realized that she couldn't. "OW! Oh, that hurt…I'll kill you later. After I can move."

Heero gave her his empty smirk. Except, this one almost reached his eyes. "Wufei was right. Women are weak."

"WHAT?!?! Grrr…that's it!" Remembering the last time she sat up, Catrina instead reached over to the nightstand and grabbed the aspirin bottle. Wincing, she threw the small, white container at Heero's head. "Take that!" she yelled triumphantly as the bottle hit him in the middle of the forehead, breaking open and showering pills everywhere.

Heero blinked. In all his years of training, he had never had aspirin thrown at him.

"HA! Not so smart now, are we?" Catrina sniffed, her nose in the air. "Didn't expect that one, did yo…hey!" Her assault was abruptly halted as Heero threw one of the white pills at her. "What was that for?"

"Revenge." Heero was about to leave when a tissue box hit him square on the back. Then a small watch. Then a mini flashlight. And then a pocket knife. Catrina was throwing everything in reach at him. Moreover, she had a deadly aim. This was beginning to sincerely annoy him. Catrina seemed to notice this, and it amused her even more. Soon she ran out of throwable objects and settled for tossing pillows. He let this go on until she was on her last pillow.

Heero caught it in mid-flight and sent it hurling back at her. Catrina tried to dodge it, but she couldn't with her injuries. Letting out a shriek, she brought the blankets up as a shield. A very ineffective shield. Once she had been hit, she hurled the pillow back at him. And he threw it back at her. It went this way for quite awhile. Catrina screaming and yelling and Heero catching the pillows and tossing them back in her direction without the slightest sign of emotion. The shouts reached Quatre and the others downstairs.

"Is that Catrina?" Duo asked.

"Sure sounds like it."

"Someone must be after her!"

"They don't give up!"

"C'mon, hurry! We don't want her hurt anymore then she already is!" The entire company sprinted upstairs.

"No! Stop! No fair!" Her voice wafted down the hall and reached the ears of the large group.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say she was laughing," Duo said under his breath. They reached the door and Quatre swiftly opened it. He was instantly hit full in the face with a pillow. Surprised at its force, he staggered backward and fell over.

"What?" his muffled voice mirrored his surprise. "A pillow?!?" Duo looked past him into the room. Heero was calmly picking up pillows and hurling them back at Catrina, who was still in bed. She was catching several of them, but missed them almost as often. After she had recovered from each strike, she would return the assault. Neither of them had yet noticed Duo standing in the doorway. Everyone else had their attention focused on Quatre.

"Heero?" Duo said, questioningly. Heero looked over at him. Something that was in his eyes flicked a moment and went out.

"Duo?" Catrina's voice asked.

"Yeah, its me. What is up with you two anyway?"

"Nothing…Heero insulted me and since I couldn't get up…never mind." Catrina sighed and looked about the room. Feathers covered every surface and small pills littered the floor. There were also a few in Heero's hair. Duo couldn't resist.

"Hey, Heero! What's that on yer head?" He grinned ear to ear as Heero reached up a hand and discovered the small aspirin. After shooting Catrina a Death Glare, he left the room. Catrina threw the last pillow at Heero and hit him on the head. Feathers soon covered his hair and shoulders.

"Bye, Heero!" she said cheerily. Heero, covered in feathers, left. However, not before glaring at a laughing Duo, who was rolling around on the floor, laughing, after Catrina had smacked him upside the head with a pillow.

"Omae o korosu." That just made Duo laugh harder.