Party Night - Take 2

Chapter 9

by Scarlet Eve


Relena cradled her glass in her had, occasionally sipping during a lull in conversation with a few people from the ESUN. Heero hovered beside her, only speaking if he was directly addressed. She couldn't blame him - politics could be very boring for someone not up to speed on what was going on.

When her conversation partners excused themselves, Relena took that moment to glance around the party. From her perspective, everyone was having a good time. There was a lot of laughter and joking around, with much drink and food consumption. Relena's birthday cake was already almost half gone as well. Her motivations for the party ran deeper than just celebrating her birthday. Ever since the Mariamaia incident, her colleagues had been extra stressed, trying to repair the damage caused in just a short period of time. They all needed some time to relax, and to have a little fun. They needed to lighten up.

Relena felt a light touch at her elbow. She glanced back to see Heero looking back at her. The fading sunlight cast shadows over his face. Relena smiled.

"What is it?" she asked. His hand grasped her elbow tightly and his eyes turned serious. Relena's stomach lurched.

"Something's not right," he whispered in her ear. Relena's gaze whisked around quickly, trying to discern what Heero meant. "Stop." She did. Heero's gave shifted slowly around the area, eyes narrowed and alert. Through the crowds, Wufei and Sally appeared, and Relena could tell by the expressions on their faces that they knew something was wrong as well.

"Bad news," Wufei said after they'd stopped beside Relena and Heero.

"The President's bodyguards' suits are missing the president's insignia on the lapel. They're fake. His personal security has been compromised," Sally said. She had pulled her out her cell phone and was already dialing a number, then excused herself from their small group.

"Are you positive?" Heero asked, and Wufei nodded. "Nice attention to detail," he said sarcastically, glancing back at the bodyguards. Wufei smirked.

"I don't think this is a time to joke," Relena said in a rough whisper, her anxiety spiking. The two men glanced back at her.

"It's nothing we can't handle," Heero said, though it hardly helped to make Relena feel better.

"Up there," Wufei said, using his chin to point to the roof. As casually as possible, Heero and Relena turned to look up, and saw it, the tiniest glint of sunlight, reflecting off something that shouldn't be there.

The barrel of a gun.

Relena whirled away, her hands pressing over her mouth, eyes wide and frantic.

"Calm down Relena, or you'll give us away," Heero hissed in her ear. Relena sucked in a breath and tried to steady herself. She pulled her shoulders back and angled her chin up, and placed on hand lightly on her hip, hoping that if she looked calm and collected, she'd feel calm and collected.

Sally returned to their small group, tucking her phone away in her small clutch purse. All three looked to her for some news. She was grim.

"I called up to the head of security at Brussels. They found the President's away team in the underground parking garage… all dead." Heero and Wufei nodded, like they'd expected this all along. Relena chewed her lower lip. "They're going to investigate how this happened. I told him we'd take care of the situation here." Sally shook her head. "Maybe after this, the President will agree to have Preventer guards instead of some useless outside company."

"There's two more," Wufei said, gesturing towards another spot on the roof, but covering it by draping his arm around Sally's shoulder. "Safe to assume that the roof is full of these guys." Heero's eyes flickered up to the roof, then he turned and focused his attention on Relena. He placed his hands on her shoulders and leaned in close.

"I need you to go act like nothing is wrong. Just stay calm, ok?" Relena nodded vigorously, then took a deep breath and let it out slowly, all while the three of them were watching. After a moment, she collected herself, nodded to the three of them and walked away, joining the circle collected around the President, squeezing in next to Dorothy, who smiled at her, a knowing glint in her eye.


They spread the word slowly to the other pilots, until the five of them, plus Catherine, Hilde, and Sally, were standing together in a tight circle in the kitchen.

"The current situation is that the President is currently surrounded by imposter guards, and we should assume that any move they make will be to take down as many people at this party as possible. I confirmed with the President's home guard that he had offered to supply the protection to this party, considering, but someone else must have caught wind of this. Naturally, we will need to take down this threat as quietly as possible. And don't kill anyone, if possible. The last thing Relena needs is to have a security breach and deaths at her birthday party," Sally explained. The group around her nodded. Sally leaned in closer. "Here's the plan… first… we'll need a distraction."


Catherine stepped into a corner, lifted her skirts, and slipped out her knife collection. They were, of course, her self-defense knives, but she could use them for performances as well. Sally needed a distraction, and Catherine would supply it.

After dropping and readjusting her skirts, Catherine waltzed onto the balcony, several knives tucked under her arms, and twirling one in each hand. It only took a moment for her to gain the attention of everyone out there, and even several people from inside came out to stare at her. Word always spreads quickly when the knife woman arrives.

One of the tables looked sturdy enough to hold her weight, so she climbed right up, tested it with a slight jiggle of her hips, and grinned. A sea of eyes were staring up at her.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" she called out, expertly shifting all her knives into both hands, and extending them out to her sides. "My name is Catherine Bloom, and for Miss Relena's birthday, I wanted to give her a little performance!" Her voice carried out, just as she'd learned to do as a child. A pattering of polite applause followed her words. With a wink, she gestured to those standing near her. "You may want to step back, incase one slips." The front row shuffled back quickly, and a nervous murmuring washed through the crowd.

On the other side of the balcony, Catherine caught Duo and Trowa's eyes, and they both nodded together. She smiled her best performance smile, and began to slowly juggle the knives.

Duo and Trowa turned toward each other. "Ready?" Duo asked, and Trowa nodded. Trowa pulled himself onto the banister of the balcony and found the miniscule ridges on the building, where he could put his hands and feet. Like a long forgotten superhero resembling a spider, he scaled the wall. Duo leaned casually against the building, his arms crossed, eyes only half paying attention to Catherine's performance, which had caught the attention of everyone.

Nearby, Heero was slinking through the crowd, somehow making himself look casual. But his eyes were locked on the two bodyguards standing on either side of the President. Duo shifted his gaze again, and saw Relena. She was trying to keep her attention on Catherine, but her gaze continually drifted towards the roof, or towards the president.

"Keep it cool, princess," Duo whispered under his breath.

Heero edged his way as close to the President as possible. The bodyguards were watching Catherine, neither of them happy about it, it seemed, from the way their lips were turned into deep frowns. One of the guards had a crease between his eyebrows. A tell-tale sign of annoyance. Heero smirked to himself. This could prove to be helpful.

Wufei and Sally waited until Catherine was well into her performance, before they linked arms and strolled towards the door to the penthouse. Wufei pushed the door open and stepped out, Sally following behind. Two guards were positioned outside the door, both looking stern. Wufei rolled his eyes at their sunglasses.

"Now."

They unlinked arms, whirled on the guards and with their hands, pressed the carotid arteries and the jugular veins, until the guards' eyes rolled up into their heads and they sank to the floor. Wufei whipped out a knife, and quickly picked the lock of the storage facility on Relena's floor, and shoved the two guards inside.

"Should we check the rest of the building?" Sally asked. Wufei thought for a moment.

"Check the lobby." They stepped into the elevator and began the descent.

Hilde finally found Relena's music player. It was wedged between some books in her home office. She wrenched it free and checked it over. The thing looked like it should still work. Hilde tucked it under her arm and left the room. She crossed over the tiled floor back towards the balcony doors. Outside, Catherine was juggling the knives, and sending up every other knife higher into the air than the others. Hilde snuck outside and turned on the music player. A popular song began to sing out from the speakers, drawing the crowd's attention for a moment. Catherine glanced over, her face in a smile.

"Why thank you for the tunes, Miss Hilde!" she called out. Hilde nodded. That would keep their attention on Catherine, then dancing, while the others could finish their tasks.

Duo heard a thump, then two more thumps. With a woosh, a cable flew down the side of the building, and sprang up a foot or two, then dropped down. Duo turned slightly, grasped the cable with his hand, and began his quick scurry up the side of the building. Down below, he could see Heero looking at him. Duo flashed him a grin before hauling himself over the roof.

Trowa was ducked down against the knee high wall that surrounded the roof edge. Duo crouched beside him and pulled the cable up behind him, so no one would notice it there. The two guards who had been standing nearby were propped up against the wall, their chins resting on their chest.

Back on the balcony, music began to play.

"That will help," Duo whispered. Trowa nodded. He was still drifting his gaze around the roof.

"Five. Remember, don't kill them," Trowa said. Duo nodded, and without another word, they split off in opposite directions, moving in a crouched run along the wall.


A/N: Blahh sorry about the delay. Had a bad case of writer's block. Thank you for your patience!

-Scarlet Eve