Silent Night
Part 11
By: Starlight – x1
Everything was white. White walls, white ceiling, white sheets. Dorothy moved her free hand, running her slim fingers over the crisp sheet top. If she squinted just right her hand seemed to disappear into the sheet itself.
Someone cleared their throat. Dorothy looked up almost lethargically. Visitors, bright spots of color in her closed off world. Familiar faces; Lady Une, Lucrezia Noin, they both frowned down at her. Why were they here? Oh, yes! She remembered now. They wanted to learn secrets only she could tell them. It was important Lady Une said.
Important. By what did they measure importance? What was more important? The life of one or many? And would they sacrifice one for many? Dorothy turned her head away, her lips forming a pout.
"Dorothy!"
Again that tinge of impatience. Why were they so impatient? She was the one who should be impatient. Why weren't they doing something besides questioning her? If she told them anything else he would be hurt. "I already told Quatre. Where is he?"
"He's not here right now." Noin answered her. "Please Dorothy, it's important that you answer our questions about Xousia."
Dorothy focused her gaze on Noin. Yes, it was there reflected in her deep blue eyes. Deep, burning desperation. An emotion she had almost forgotten existed in her own heart. Slowly she looked over at Une. All she saw was impatience and weary resignation to life in brown eyes that had once burned with a passion.
Une's frown deepened. "You'll be charged for aiding and abetting Xousia. But if you help us, I can get you a lighter sentence…"
Dorothy laughed. Her merriment spilling out of her in bursts. She saw them unconsciously cringe away from her as if she were a disease. Abruptly she stopped. "I don't care." Harshness. Sharp edges, like knives, in her voice, aimed solely at Une. "Once," Her voice became as soft as a whisper, deadly. Able to slip past the defenses and stab deep. "You would have done the same thing because… because you loved him too."
Triumph.
Une paled, lips opening in silent question, filled with a riot of emotions.
Dorothy closed her eyes, satisfaction filling her mind. She had fulfilled her goal. They would go now, out of desperation, hope, curiosity, love. They would find him and save him.
Une stood as still as stone, staring off into space. Noin touched her gently. "Lady Une, are you all right?"
"Let's go." Une came back to herself with startling rapidity. "There's nothing more to learn here."
Noin cast one last look at Dorothy, but the young woman seemed to have retreated to some other place and lay still with her eyes closed
Une hadn't paused and was halfway down the hall by the time Noin exited the room. The dark haired young woman hurried after her
Une burst into her office startling the three occupants. She ignored the questioning looks thrown her way. "Bryan, have you finished compiling the profiles on the hospital's head committee?"
"Nearly finished. I'm having trouble finding information on one man. Royle is searching through the Winner database and will forward anything he finds directly to me."
"Make it as quick as possible. I want to know exactly who I'm dealing with. Wufei," Une turned her attention to the Chinese man. "I want you to assemble two teams of agents who are good at managing hostage situations. I want them to infiltrate the hospital and see that Xousia doesn't use those civilians to their advantage. Noin, I want you to dig up any schematics and blueprints available on that underground bunker. I want to know every entrance in and out of that place."
"Yes Ma'am." Noin watched as Une left the office as abruptly as she entered.
"Wow, what did Dorothy tell you?" Sally asked.
Noin shook her head. "Whatever she said it was aimed at Lady Une. I couldn't quite hear it."
----
Une sat in the comforting darkness of her private room. She stared into the blackness, trying to understand and comprehend what Dorothy had said. …because you loved him too. Love. Only one name and face came to mind in conjunction with that word. Only one person had ever stirred those sacred fires within her. Une smiled. She hadn't just loved Trieze Kushranada; she had worshiped him. He had been her sun, moon, and stars. His every wish her command. She would have died for him if he had asked it of her. But he had died instead and at his death the raging flames within her had been reduced to mere embers whose warmth reminded her of what she had once possessed.
Now Dorothy looked her straight in the eye and told her that he was still alive and in Xousia's keeping. Cryptic words that Une couldn't disbelieve because she knew that Dorothy had loved her cousin in her own way, almost to the point of idolizing him.
Une buried her face in her hands, staring through her fingers with dry eyes. Dorothy had spoke, knowing that Une wouldn't be able to turn away from the possibility of seeing the man she had loved heart and soul once again.
But once she saw him, what then? Would she be forced to take him into custody as a member of Xousia? Maybe he was a prisoner, kept against his will. A feeble hope, but one she grasped unswervingly. At this time she couldn't even bear to think that he might be the ruling power behind everything Xousia did.
A sigh escaped her lips and she fell back on her bed. For the first time in a long while Une didn't know what she should do. Trapped between her heart and her head she whispered into the dark. "What would you do, Mr. Trieze, in my place?"
The darkness gave her no answer.
----
The cafeteria wasn't a place to find quiet, but it was an excellent place to go when you wanted to be alone. Trowa found himself sitting alone at a back table drinking a soda. His wrist hurt. Not a sharp, make you cry pain, but a steady throbbing that wore away his pain tolerance and made him slightly irritable. Thus the back table in the cafeteria.
"You okay?"
Trowa looked up in time to see Quatre sit down across from him with a plate of food. He gave a silent nod in reply and watched as Quatre began to eat.
Quatre grimaced after the first bite. "You know, I'll be really glad when we can leave here if only to get away from this canned, dehydrated, add water and heat type food."
Trowa took another swallow of his soda. "I don't know, it's not that bad."
"It's not my fault I have refined tastes."
Trowa nearly spit out the soda he was drinking at the look on Quatre's face as he spoke. He succeeded in keeping the liquid inside of his mouth but choked as he swallowed it and ended up coughing uncontrollably for a bit.
"Sorry Trowa." Quatre looked anything but repentant as he grinned at his friend before continuing to eat.
Trowa gave a final cough and shook his head with a chuckle. "You sounded just like some snotty rich boy."
"It made you laugh didn't it?" Quatre pointed out calmly.
Trowa chuckled again and then grew serious. "You heard about the two teams Lady Une sent to infiltrate the hospital?"
"Yes," Quatre nodded.
There was silence. Neither Trowa nor Quatre wanting to press the issue further about Quatre's leaving. Both of them noticed Heero's approach. He stopped by their table and stood there for a moment without saying a word. Then he looked at Quatre. "Come on, it's time to get ready."
Quatre nodded and stood up, leaving his food. "Let's go then." There was tacit satisfaction in his voice.
Heero looked over at Trowa. "Lady Une wants you to report to her office as soon as possible."
Trowa nodded in turn. "Be careful."
"We will." Heero caught Trowa's furtive nod toward Quatre and gave an equally furtive nod in reply, assuring him that he would keep on eye on the blonde.
Trowa watched the two of them walk away before finishing his soda and leaving to report to Lady Une.
----
It was dusk. Heero glanced down at his watch. There was still time yet. He looked up at the team he'd handpicked to infiltrate the underground bunker. Duo, Quatre, Wufei, Noin. They were all people he had come to trust. He looked next at Hilde, who crouched next to Duo. Her face seemed pale, but her mouth was set in a grim line and she handled her gun with the cool air of a professional. Une had seemed a bit surprised when he'd mentioned that he had wanted her in the first team, but she had agreed to the choice if Hilde would consent to be sworn in as a temporary agent.
Hilde had offered no objections and had passed their marksman test easily. Duo had stood back, beaming with pride even while he verbally lambasted Heero for choosing his girlfriend for such a dangerous mission.
"She snuck onto Libra didn't she?" Heero had responded dryly.
Sally and Trowa, the only others he would have considered were placed on restricted duty and thus unable to join in a field operation.
Heero let his eyes rove over his team once more. It was time for the final briefing, to grant his team the knowledge Lady Une had given him.
"You all know what our job is, so I won't go over that again, but there is one more thing I have to tell you. There is a very real possibility that Trieze Kushranada is alive and the leader of Xousia."
There was silence as Heero let each team member digest what he had just said. After a sufficient amount of time passed he continued gravely. "We have been authorized to use deadly force if necessary." He remembered the look in Lady Une's eyes as she had given the authorization. Something had died inside of her as those words had passed her lips.
Heero glanced at his watch again. This time a little light blinked steadily. He pressed a button that stopped the blinking and looked at the silhouettes of his teammates. "It's time."
----
The idea that this might not be the wisest plan shot through Zechs mind once again. But like before he kept his mouth shut and continued to follow Eric as he strode quickly down the hallway. "Almost there." Eric glanced back at him, the slightest quiver in his voice the only thing betraying his extreme nervousness.
Zechs nodded silently, his mask concealing any emotion his face might have betrayed. They were on their way to the personal rooms of Trieze Kushrananda. Eric hadn't said how exactly he'd gained all the necessary information and Zechs hadn't asked.
Eric stopped in front of an elevator and pressed the button confidently. The doors slid open and both men stepped into the car. Eric waited until the doors closed before touching the button for the floor he wanted.
"Authorization please." A computerized voice spoke out blandly.
Eric chewed his lower lip as he quickly pressed in the security code he'd been given, hoping his friend had given him the correct one.
"Authorization confirmed." The elevator began to move and Eric let the breath he'd been holding rush out in a sigh of relief.
Eric glanced to where Zechs leaned against the elevator wall, arms crossed over his chest. The other man seemed as cool and collected as ever.
The elevator came to a stop and the doors slid open. For a moment Eric questioned his own sanity at even attempting this, but then he cleared his mind of doubts and stepped out of the elevator car into the hallway. There was no turning back now. Zechs followed close behind him. "So, which one is the room we're looking for?" The question was quietly asked.
Eric stopped in front of a door and touched it briefly. "This one." He punched in a long string of numbers on the security pad, mumbling them aloud as he did so. "There." He spoke with satisfaction as the door opened.
They entered a room that was furnished in a more luxurious fashion then the rest of the underground base. Trieze was sitting in his wheelchair in apparent slumber. The door slid shut behind them with a quiet hissing sound.
Zechs waited until it became obvious that Eric wasn't going to do anything. The younger man stared at the sleeping Trieze with a bewildered expression on his face; unsure of whether he should wake him up or not. Zechs wasn't in the mood for hesitation. In a few long strides he was beside the wheelchair, jostling Trieze's shoulder impatiently.
"Hmmm...." Trieze came awake slowly, blinking in a lethargic fashion. "Zechs? What are you doing here?"
Zechs winced inwardly at the blank expression on the other man's face. "I'm leaving, and I'd like you to come with me."
"He really isn't well enough to leave yet." A familiar voice spoke. "And to be quite honest with you I doubt you'll be well enough to leave either."
Zechs looked up to see Doctor Reed smirking at him. Several Xousia soldiers exited the connecting room and spread out in a circle. The door hissed open admitting more soldiers. Two of them took their place in the open doorway.
"A set up." Eric seemed flabbergasted. "It was nothing more then a set up."
"I've had my eye on you for a while Raskins." Reed said amiably. "But you never did anything to confirm my suspicions. Once my men captured Zechs Merquise, I knew I had the perfect opportunity to test you and so, I did." A sneer formed on his face. "You failed miserably, just as I expected."
Eric had moved to stand behind Trieze's wheelchair the instant Reed's men had entered the room and now he stood there, jaw clenched tightly in rage. In a sudden move he whipped out a handgun and pressed the barrel against the back of Trieze's head. "Let us go or I'll blow his brains out." Eric threatened.
Reed shrugged. "Go ahead." He said, even as Zechs hissed at Eric, "Stop, you fool."
Eric glanced back and forth between the two before settling his gaze on Reed. His gun remained firmly pressed to Trieze's head while the tiniest hint of doubt flickered in his eyes. Reed saw it and grinned malevolently. "Go ahead," he repeated, goading the young man.
"Stop." Zechs spoke in a low tone, doing his best to exude calm and rationality. "If you kill him you'll give Reed the ability to turn Trieze into a martyr. All the soldiers who joined Xousia because of Trieze will become fanatical and more devoted to their cause. They'll follow Reed without question as long as he holds up Trieze's memory before them."
Trieze began to rock from side to side, swaying slightly in his chair as he ignored the threat of death behind him. He hummed softly, taken by whatever drugs Reed had pumped into his system into a completely different world.
Reed frowned, annoyed now by Eric's protracted hesitance. "If you're going to shoot him, do it. I really haven't got all day to wait for you to make up your mind."
Eric opened his mouth and shut it before slowly and carefully returning his gun back to its holster on his hip. "I'm sorry." He spoke softly to Zechs, despair in his voice.
Zechs closed his eyes briefly. There wasn't any way out of this situation he could see. Reed was going to kill them both. He could see the promise of it in the other man's cold eyes, having faced that look many times before. He narrowed his eyes, staring unswervingly at Reed. He watched as the man opened his mouth to give an order, the soldiers tensing as they waited.
The lights blinked out, plunging the room into darkness.
Instant chaos broke out. Reed's voice rose above the sounds of the struggle. "Don't let them out of the room, don't let them out of the room!" He bellowed. There was a short burst of gunfire followed by a shriek of pain. Someone else groaned.
"Don't shoot, you imbeciles." Reed was furious. "The lights'll come back on in a moment." There was a dull thud as a body hit the floor followed by a crash.
After a moment the backup generators kicked in and the emergency lights flickered on. Two Xousia soldiers had been shot and were lying in pools of their own blood. One moaned piteously while the other was silent, his eyes open in a death stare. Another man had been knocked unconscious and was draped over a table.
Reed ignored them, searching frantically for his two prisoners. All he saw was the wheelchair tipped on its side, empty. Zechs, Eric, and Trieze were gone.