Chapter 10

"That's a nasty bruise Trowa," Quatre said as he grabbed some ice from the freezer within their mini bar in their room. "How'd you manage to hit your cheek on the kitchen counter?"

"Tripped," the young man murmured, watching as his lover placed the ice in one of his many shirts that sat on their dressing table's stool. Wrapping the shirt around the ice, Quatre reached towards his lover from where he was sitting on the edge of their large bed and placed the ice against his bruised cheek. Trowa flinched slightly as the cold hit his bruised flesh. The room was silent.

"Trowa…have I done something wrong?" the blonde asked. Trowa's head snapped towards his lover before bowing it slightly and shaking it cautiously. "Then why are you so distant?" The strain in his lover's voice made his heart sting. "If anything was wrong, if I did anything wrong…you'd tell me…wouldn't you Trowa?"

The ex-Heavyarms pilot nodded his head silently; guilt riding up inside of him as he looked at his love's confused and pained face. To think that he was causing it made him want to tear his hair out. It was just one stupid night. One night in which he and Duo had one too many drinks and ended up fooling around, each one regretting it instantly but finding they needed to tell their partners the truth. Duo always said that a loving relationship was based on trust; if you didn't have trust then how would it survive? Duo also had his motto of never lying, so what would happen if Hilde asked about what happened while he went to visit his sick friend in the hospital? They came to a compromise; they would both tell their lovers what happened and let them decide on their fate…if they were to chuck them out, then that was that. They had to deal with it. Except Duo was the only one who told, and paid the price…as far as Trowa knew Hilde broke up with him and Duo ran. He was actually surprised that the girl was being so civil to him at the moment. However, she had 3 years to heal her broken heart. When Quatre first opened his eyes in the hospital bed he'd been lying in Trowa's arms, and Trowa's heart broke. All options of telling his lover flew out the window. It simply wasn't a possibility. He couldn't lose Quatre, not for anything. Yet that night haunted him every waking moment. Every time they would make love, every time Quatre would say he loved him, the thought of his deception would come to his mind.

"Everything's fine Quatre," Trowa said. As he spoke his hand reached out to caress his lover's pale cheek, feeling the hot silky skin under his touch. The blonde Arabian's head turned into the contact. "I've just got a lot on my mind at the moment…with the riddles and all."

"I understand…" Quatre replied in a soft-natured voice, "Just remember…you've always got me Trowa, I'll always be here when you need me most."

"I know," he replied, nearly choking on his words. /Oh Quatre if only you knew what I've done, you'd turn me away then for certain/ He turned away from his lover and caught his reflection within the dressing table mirror. He frowned at the darkened bruise from Duo. But he knew he deserved it. He could remember looking in the mirror and actually liking his image a few years ago…but now all he saw was scum. After the war Trowa promised himself he'd try and reveal the real him, by doing this he started anew and showed the whole of his face to the world after no longer finding the need to hide or be disgusted at who he was. But now… He looked into his own green sorrowful eyes knowing they only showed lies, his left hand shakily went up to his ear and untucked the long strands of hair, letting them fall across his face and left eye in one swift moment.

The Great Hall was as dark as death's cloak. Heero silently snuck along the long upstairs corridors; his feet soundless on the carpeted floor. Behind him Relena followed, with Sally behind and WuFei at the rear. Traveling down the curving Great Hall steps they reached the bottom, where in the shadows they could see the forms of the others all ready to leave the mansion in search for a place much safer. Beckoning the others to follow, Heero soundlessly led them through the house to a window within the kitchens, which was placed near the garage. Sliding the window open, he climbed through, helping Relena and Sally out. Treading off into the darkness, Heero slowly opened the garage door so the others could sneak through more easily. Inside many cars were lined up, and by the two seven seater's Rashid was standing readily by one of the large cars, with a grime look on his face. Everyone entered the garage one after another and the two cars began to fill up. With the help of WuFei, Heero slowly opened the garage door so no noise was made. The only other people who had not entered the cars yet were Rally, Quatre, Duo and Trowa.

Rushing towards the cars trying to make as little noise as possible, the six boys began to push the them down the drive of the Peacecraft-Yuy estate, with Rashid steering one and Zechs steering the other. The boys figured if they turned on the engines suddenly it would alarm anyone watching over the palace that they were awake and then indeed follow them. It was times like these Heero wished they lived in a different house, where didn't have a long cobbled drive. Once through the gates at the bottom and a little way down the road, the six boys jumped into the cars. Heero replacing Zechs at the wheel, they turned on the engines, which gave out a soft purr. Signaling to Rashid the two cars took off into the night, everyone hoping they had not been seen and wishing they wouldn't be followed.

They arrived at Jack's motel four hours later, just as the sun began to rise. Relena stared out the car window at the small motel, which was located just on the outside of the Sanc. The name 'Jack's motel' stood out like a sore thumb, flashing blue neon against the red sky. The building itself was painted a light blue and the small rooms had dark blue shutters and doors. A veranda ran round the whole of the building, painted light grey and blending well with the blue. On a whole it looked safe enough, yet Relena couldn't help worrying. What if they were followed? She didn't notice any suspicious cars following them during the night, but hadn't this assassin already proved she could easily evade detection?

Pulling their cars up to a far corner and tucking them just behind the building so any by passers on the road wouldn't see them, Rashid and Heero turned the purring engines off with a sigh. Everyone sat in silence waiting for someone to make the first move. Naturally, it was Duo who sat up in his seat first. He yawned, opening his car door with a pop from the pressure of four people trying to squeeze on three seats in the middle; he jumped out of the car and began to stretch his joints. Leaning backwards to pop his back he announced to the group he was going to book some rooms, under a false name, of course. Everyone then began to get out the cars.

"Are we safe?" Katherine asked in a hushed voice as she opened the opposite car door. Heero glanced around the small motel before replying.

"No one followed us on the road."

"Are you sure?" Noin asked from where she was cradling a sleeping Jamie in her arms.

"When you're used to looking out for signs of people following you, you can tell straight away," Wufei answered in a tired voice from his seat. Sally currently had her head rested on his shoulder and was fast asleep.

"We all need rest," Quatre said as he got out from within the car "It's been a long night." Everyone nodded just as they noticed the braided man returning with a number of keys hanging from his fingers.

"Four rooms, guys," he declared, "all under the name Gary Noland. Now we'll have to work out a sharing system."

"We'll share with Yuy and Peacecraft," WuFei called.

"Right… Rally, Une and Marie, you're with me. Q and Trowa, you're with Dorothy and Kathy, Hilde, you'll have to share with Rashid, Zechs, Noin and Jamie." Everyone nodded, not really in the mood to argue who they were to bunk with for now. Duo handed out the keys, and everyone stumbled to their rooms, only entering once Heero and WuFei had checked every door and window, making sure they were firmly bolted shut.

By 3pm everyone was up and ready to get some food into their stomachs…especially Duo. They all had a reasonably relaxed lunch in the motel diner, and Relena finally felt like she could actually calm down. After grabbing a burger and a coffee, Heero left the diner to go grab a few supplies he'd left in his car, like the extra bullets for his gun. Rounding the side of the motel, he pulled the car keys from his jean pocket. When he arrived at the driver's door he opened the car and leaned down to grab a box of bullets and road maps from underneath his seat. He pulled his gun from his holster under his shirt and checked how many bullets he had left. Noticing he only had two he opened the box of bullets and frowned as he noticed the golden bullet lying in the middle of all the others. Reaching out and grasping it between his forefinger and thumb, he held it up to the summer sun, letting the light sparkle off its shiny surface. Heero closed his eyes and tried to remember the last time he used a bullet like the one he was holding. He knew it couldn't be just a coincidence that the safehouse they were guided to contained this bullet. Yet, he knew for certain that neither he nor Duo had ever used a golden bullet when fighting, and none of the other pilots ever went into their room. He felt like slapping his forehead in order to will himself to remember where he'd seen it before. Giving up, Heero chucked the gold bullet back into the box before reloading his gun. He grabbed his belongings and slammed the car door shut.

Just as he was about to leave he spied something attached to the windshield. His eyebrows drew together as he slowly and cautiously stepped around the car to reach the fluttering piece of paper clamped under one of the windshield wipers. His frown deepened when he stepped into a large puddle of liquid on the ground. He crouched down slowly until his fingers contacted with the thick fluid, almost camouflaged against the black tarmac road. His hands shook as he watched the liquid stain his fingers red. Bringing his hand towards his face he grimaced at the well-known smell of blood. But where had it come from? He knelt further down, getting his jeans soaked into in the blood. His heartbeat rose as his head slowly dropped to take a look into the shadows under the large car. To his surprise he found nothing. Something WuFei had said earlier came to mind. 'She's just messing with us…' Resting his left hand on the bonnet of the car to help him get to his feet, his eyes returned to the piece of folded paper compressed under the window wiper. Pulling it free, he placed the maps and bullet box on the hood of the car. When he opened the note, his slowed heartbeat picked up its earlier cadence.

Xxx

Relena and Sally's heads snapped up as their cabin front door was slammed open. Heero's eyes lowered to glance at the two before darting off into different directions around the room as if searching for something…or someone. Sally and Relena watched the man from their place on their beds, moving slightly close to each other for comfort once they noticed the blood staining the man's trousers and hands.

"Gather your stuff," he ordered, his voice raspy. The two girls stayed still on the bed "NOW!" Heero yelled. Both girls startled and quickly began gathering their things. Heero pulled out Wufei's bedside drawer and tipped the contents onto the bed, all the pieces of paper fluttering onto the flowery bed spread like leaves from a tree. His shaking hands grabbed each of them in turn before he collapsed against the side of the bed. His breaths burst out in laborious puffs as he laid each note out. Heero glared at them blankly for a minute, before his frustration made him snap.

"What do you want from us?!" he yelled, his hand grabbing each riddle and screwing them up. He chucked them at the opposite wall, but they caught in the air and landed no more than thirty centimeters away from him. "What do you want from us?! I can't…" his voice rose, "I can't…. I just can't take this any more…"

"Heero!" Sally cried "Calm down, please!" The ex-soldier's head dropped back onto the low bed, his cold eyes staring up at the white ceiling. The two girls gaped at the exhausted boy, knowing he hadn't had much sleep since it all started, and it was slowly wearing him down. In the pits of their stomachs they felt their fear; the Perfect Solider was being worn down…

"I can't protect you like this, Relena, I can't…" his fists pounded into the blue carpeted floor "I have no control over anything she does..."

"Heero?" A new voice joined the girls. A second later WuFei was kneeling at his friend's side. "What the hell are you doing?" He yelled when he saw all their clues had been twisted up.

"I don't know," the boy replied. "I fucking don't know. What am I doing, WuFei?"

"Shut up and calm down," WuFei snapped collecting each one, unscrewing them and laying them in a neat pile. His brows furrowed "There's…"

"One too many?" Heero breathed as he stared into nothingness. WuFei frowned as he looked at Heero, finally noticing the crusting blood drying on the man's jeans.

"What happened?" he asked in a slightly frightened voice.

"There was no body," Heero told him, "Just blood on the ground, and a note on the windshield" WuFei scuffled through the pieces of paper until he reached one he'd never seen before.

Glittering points
that downward thrust,
Sparkling spears
that never rust.

"How could she…?" he asked, glancing between his exhausted friend and the piece of paper.

"It doesn't matter, all that matters is we have to leave now." Heero leaned toward WuFei wearily. "She's found us." WuFei shot a glare at his friend for stating the obvious.

Heero's face twisted into a manic grin. It was an expression he hadn't worn since the war.

"Heero?" WuFei watched worriedly as his friend threw his head back against the bed and laughed.

"You know what…" the 'Perfect Solider' said as he let out the frenzied laughter which had always scared the Gundam pilots and and fear for Heero's sanity. WuFei shuddered at the sound. "I was once the assassin, chasing the victim, and now it's the other way round. I'm the victim…being chased…by my own kind…and I can't stop it…it won't stop…I have no control over anything."

"Heero," WuFei hissed, seeing the state Relena was getting herself into at seeing the state of her future husband. She clung to Sally, shaking, her eyes wide with terror and brimmed with tears. Not once had her fiancé comforted her since the ordeal started, she thought. Hadn't he said he loved her? WuFei waved his hand over to the bathroom door, ordering his wife and Relena to leave the room for a second. Once the bathroom door was closed, he continued, "Heero, you need to think over this rationally. Nothing like this ever phased you during the war."

"We were never faced with a riddle giving, slaughtering, psycho bitch during the war," Heero countered, his remark reminding the young Preventer of something Duo would say. "You don't get it…" Heero shook his head; his hand ran shakily through his tousled hair. "Even if we kill this bitch…more will come…they always do…"

Wufei stared emotionlessly at his friend's face, realization dawning in his eyes. He knew his friend was right. They both knew it deep down, though they would never admit it. They couldn't escape.

"We still have to try. I think it's past time to contact the Preventers," Wufei muttered, "Maybe get more back up."

"And more guards?" Heero asked, "Christ, WuFei. Didn't you see how many we had at the palace?"

"She needs to have a better security system."

"She needs more than that," Heero turned to his friend. "Our only hope is to catch the bitch and find out who is behind it all." WuFei nodded. "We need a plan."

"Heero, we'll work it all out when we get away from here," WuFei stated. "Right now we need to leave." This time Heero nodded his head as his erratic heartbeat finally slowed down. WuFei got to his feet and grabbed his stuff before snatching the keys. "And I'm driving," he announced. Heero opened his mouth to protest but yawned instead.

"Right, let's get outta here," he agreed tiredly.

TBC...