Operation: Hurricane

Chapter Twenty

"Damn it, Leia…" He underestimated his sister. Since no one knew the exact amount of medication she had given him to put him to sleep, no one knew how much to give him to wake him. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how one looks at it, he was given too much. His heart rate was rapidly increasing and his other vitals were abnormal. Sarris could already feel the heart attack beginning, but there was no one left on his medical staff that he truly trusted. And with his already weakened body, thanks to the Stormers… Death was ready for him.

He underestimated the boy, also. He really didn't believe that kid would have succeeded in reprogramming the girl's device AND making it so that Sarris couldn't do a damn thing about it. Though he should have… he was Trinity's son, after all… But even though Sarris made the proper adjustments in his security system so that it won't happen again, Michael had already taken what was important.

If he had any strength at all, he'd be throwing one hell of a temper tantrum, which was only worsening his blood pressure.

"Well played, Love…," he whispered through labored breath. At least he'd have one consolation. The Storm is broken. Even if they don't end up destroying each other, he knew they'll never recover from this. He only wished he could live long enough to see the results. But he knew that wasn't happening.

The gundams, by now, were being dispatched. It was only a matter of time...

He'd lost. In retrospect, he should have known better. The Barton Foundation had a million failures regarding the people involved. Sarris thought he had evolved beyond their mistakes, he knew the foolishness and arrogance of his father. He honestly thought his methods were superior. Well… looking at the Storm, the project was a success, just not HIS success.

It was amazing how death can bring clarity to the mind. Only now did he see where his own mistakes were, and what he should have done to prevent them. He had inherited his father's arrogance.

Damn those people… At least he knew he wouldn't be alone in Hell, not for long, anyway. Still, he absently hoped that the Stormers would make a last ditch effort to truly make him pay. He had to admit, as painful as their last mental invasion was… The feeling of the three of them as one inside of him… it was almost euphoric… Not a bad way to go, when you think about it.

Quatre was glad he had his friends to draw strength from. Otherwise, this would have been over before they had even left the atmosphere. As frustrating as things already were, having to make adjustments to their gundams' upgrades as they were going into battle would have been impossible if he didn't have them to lean on.

He just wished Heero hadn't put him in charge. Emotions were running rampant through all of them. Channeling them all was overwhelming. His heart was racing and he felt like he couldn't catch his breath.

At least his friends caught on before he had a cardiac episode of his own.

Duo was playing some kind of music, if you can call it that, so loud that Deathscythe was vibrating with the beat. The others couldn't hear it, which they were grateful for. But Quatre knew that the music calmed him. And as long as he could do whatever he needed to make sure his suit was prepared for battle, more power to him. Quatre could still sense Duo's anxiety and exhaustion, but Duo had learned long ago to mask his true feelings. Even during the wars, Quatre found it hard to read Duo. It became easier as they became closer, but he Duo still wore masks that he couldn't read through. This was one of the few times Quatre was glad for it.

Wufei, Quatre didn't worry about. He knew his friend wasn't as emotionally involved with the situation as the others. The only thing that had him worried was the stress it was putting on his wife. But Quatre knew he was just as exhausted as the others. He had managed to succeed in taking Sally home for rest, but that hadn't lasted long. Sally had taken probably a thirty minute nap before she was back at the office, Wufei right behind.

Trowa was the one he was truly worried about. His brother-in-law had been in bad shape, and he felt as if it was partially his fault. After his visit to Cathy, taking the opportunity for them both to collect their thoughts, Quatre sensed Trowa's familiar soldier come back to him. Quatre could still sense his pain, it just ran too deep. There will be a lot of work to be done when this was over. Quatre didn't doubt that all of their relationships with the Stormers had changed. Even their relationships with each other had changed. But they were family. They could work this out. It would take time.

"Quatre…," he was pulled out of his thoughts by Trowa's voice. He hadn't realized how deep he was in them. "Are you ready?"

Quatre held his breath for a moment, releasing it along with a silent prayer.

"Yeah…," there was a slight hesitation in his response, prompting some kind of smart-aleck remark from Duo. He didn't really catch exactly what it was, but just Duo's familiar jovial nature made him smile.

"Alright, Sandrock… Let's do this… Hopefully this will be the last time…"

"Something's wrong…" Nika had been watching out the window since the attack on their shuttle had stopped. The gundams were there. Leia had gone back to the cockpit to try to help the two pilots that had been injured during one of the attacks. She looked back to her brother as he paused in his conversation with Kiera. Nika didn't say much, it was a part of her personality. Alyssa usually did the talking for the both of them. It was one of the reasons they were rarely separated. But when she did speak, it was important, and she had his full attention. "Wing Zero isn't with them."

Michael gave Kiera's hand a squeeze as he stood. She was reluctant to let go of it, so he pulled her up with him. She leaned on him for support as they both walked to the window, stopping just behind Nika.

"Something must have happened with Mom…" He glanced out the window for only a moment, counting, confirming Nika's observation. He looked back to Kiera giving her hand another gentle squeeze as he felt it tremble.

"Nika, go up front and see if you can't get communications established with the gundams. Uncle Quatre probably has the best idea about what's going on." He didn't even glance at her as he looked at Kiera, wondering if what he was about to ask her to do would be too much to ask of her.

His sister nodded without comment and left the two of them alone.

As soon as the cockpit door closed behind her, he took both of Kiera's hands in his. "We need to get through to the Stormers… I know finding Mom is probably not the best idea at the moment, and you don't know Aunt Iz or Thunder well enough… but… Can you still feel traces of Lightning? Memories, feelings that aren't yours?"

Kiera tried to look away from him, biting her lip, but as commanding as his piercing gaze was, it was also comforting. He knew what he was talking about. He wouldn't ask her to do something he didn't believe she was capable of doing. He had helped her manage to ease the headaches without putting too much thought into it. She trusted his judgment and guidance. And she understood what he was trying to tell her to do.

But it was easier said than done. The memories that she had felt after waking had begun to fade. And she had to concentrate more than she wanted to at finding something strong enough to grab hold of. It was making the headache come back.

I… I'm trying, but they're not as clear as they were a moment ago…

She started to tremble. He helped her back to the bench they had been sitting on and eased her down onto it. He sat beside her, firmly holding her hands.

"I know it's a lot to ask… Don't try to look for a solid memory, you'll only hurt yourself. Find one and latch on. The longer you hold on to it, the clearer it will become. Concentrate only on that memory."

She nodded and closed her eyes.

"Now follow that memory, sort of like a road, eventually, it will link you to Lightning… I hope…"

That got him a slap on the arm. And he didn't even see it coming. She stared at him, a hard glare in her eyes.

You hope? Michael …

"Don't lose the memory, Kiera. Okay… It's only a theory. Remember I don't have the ability to test it. But as long as you hold on to something that belongs to her, you should be able to link yourself to her. If you have to, think back to your first connection to all three of them… That had to have been when she joined with you… You might be able to track her from there…"

He was right… Thinking back, that was when the headaches stopped… At least, that was when the most negative effects of the device had stopped. And she hadn't forgotten that meeting, how could she? She nearly killed his mother… Every part of that night was burned into her mind and she could see it clear as day. It was a hell of a lot more tangible than any of the fading memories of the Stormer she had been trying to grasp. Turns out it was the right road to take.

But any celebration at the successful connection was suddenly halted and her face filled with worry as she looked back up to Michael.

She blocked me, Michael. She said they had a crisis on their hands, but I couldn't even get a glimpse of what was happening…

Heero hadn't gotten a clear answer out of anyone as to where Trinity/Tempest had gone to. The only thing they knew was that she wasn't in the Med Center with the other Stormers. He'd called the house, but was informed she hadn't returned there. There was only one other logical place she would have gone. And for some reason, that wasn't helping his anxiety any. If anything, it made it worse.

Fighting his sister wasn't an option. But hitting her with a heavy tranquilizer like he had Kalli wasn't either. They had both been conditioned against certain medications. It would take a dosage large enough to kill Trinity to bring the soldier down. Unfortunately, that was the last resort if they couldn't contain the soldier. He didn't want to lose his sister again, but he knew she'd agree that if there was a choice to be made, she'd gladly die before completely becoming the weapon she was created to be.

At least he wasn't walking the long hallway alone. Thunder and Lightning were right behind him. Neither of them should get so close to the soldier in the first place, not in their current condition.

He hadn't asked for help, not that he would have anyway, but they had known him long enough to know what to look for. There had been a little bit of panic in his eyes when they couldn't locate Trinity. Heero had a suspicion what Trinity was doing, she spoke of it once or twice before. And while he was telling them about it, he realized how serious her situation was, and how desperate she may be.

None of the trials Trinity had run with the program ended well. If she did it right, yeah they could be free of the devices forever. But one wrong calculation and it could kill all three of them.

He hoped he wasn't too late. The closer he got to the door, the more his head pounded. The battle against the soldier had begun, and it was fierce. Even he could sense the tension between Lightning and Thunder as they tried to shield him from the effects.

Thunder and Lightning didn't even bother with the code to the door, collectively attacking the locks, completely frying the box with the keypad. At the same moment, a single gunshot was heard from the other side of the door.

"Neesan…" Heero's heart caught in his chest as the pain disappeared. He was vaguely aware of Thunder's hand on his chest, forcing him back away from the door as a telekinetic blast from Lightning sent the door off its hinges.

"The soldier was winning…," Thunder said, commanding his attention. It was all she said for a moment, but he understood what it was she didn't say. Trinity or Tempest would have done what was necessary to stop it.

"She's still alive…," Lightning's voice came from inside, but it was shaky. The loss of Tempest was having an effect on her own inner battle.

Heero rushed past Thunder. He literally fell to his knees beside his sister as Lightning tried to press a towel against the wound. He took the towel from her shaking hands, applying pressure as Thunder went straight to Tempest's computer.

"S-Sally and L-L-Lange are on their w-w-way…," Lightning's hands clenched into fists, resting on her knees as she looked up to Thunder as she looked over the content on the screen. "W-w-we don't have t-t-time for a trial… Is it… Is it ready?" She shut her eyes tightly, concentrating on her fight.

Thunder hesitated in answering. She looked at Lightning, concern in her eyes. There was no telling what kind of repercussions this would have, no telling what it could do to Kalli's baby. And after all the other danger they had put the baby in, would it be worth it?

Heero looked up at her, his voice full of emotion. "Even if Trin survives, the soldier wins, Tempest will be too weak to fight it. Lightning is going to lose her battle now that Tempest is gone…"

Thunder nodded, briefly exchanging glances with Lightning. Without a second thought, she turned back to the computer. "Uploading now…"