Edges of the Mind by jmi
Chapter 2
**Disclaimer** Gundam Wing characters are owned by Sotsu/Sunrise.
"You will die!"
Wufei's scream shattered the silence that followed Heero's appearance. His efforts to dive on their former comrade were hampered by the restraining arms of Quatre and Trowa. The struggle brought a bemused smirk to Heero's face as he brought a familiar cylindrical object from behind his back and held it in front of him.
"Oh my god," Dorothy instinctively backed up towards the wall, "he's got a detonator!"
"Move!" Duo grabbed Relena and headed for the other end of the hall. The rest of the group quickly followed when the explosion rocked the house.
"That.. that wasn't inside.." Quatre pushed himself off the floor.
"I think that was the hanger and garages," Trowa said, gun in hand, as he watched the staircase for any movement.
"Stay here," Duo threw Relena at Trowa and ran back to the stairs. The front door was now closed. Their visitor, no where in sight. "Damn it," Duo cursed under his breath as the power began to fail. "We need to get some cover," he muttered as he rejoined the others. "Let's go to Lena's room. It's the most secure."
Trowa kept watch at the door as the others tried to make sense of their situation.
"What is going on?" Dorothy glared at Duo through the dim emergency lighting. "I thought Heero Yuy was incarcerated."
"He was, until tonight," Duo frowned as held the shaking Relena.
"I don\'92t understand this," Catherine looked at them . "I knew something had happened to Heero a few years ago, but Trowa would never discuss the details."
Quatre sighed as he hooked a battery pack to his laptop and recalled the painful events for her. "It happened after the Mariemaia incident. Heero tried making some modifications to the Zero System in his suit. We assumed he was trying to increase the output of the Wing Zero, but something went wrong. The system fed back on him, driving him insane. The four of us and Zechs had to practically destroy his Gundam to stop him. Since that day he's been held at the Preventers Medical Facility. With what little Duo told us, it appears he somehow managed to escape, and killed Sally and Hilde in the process. Now, he's in this house."
"My god...I had no idea," Catherine shuddered as the changes she'd noticed in her brother and friends these last few years made much more sense.
"So what's his plan?"
"What do you mean Trowa?" Quatre glanced up from the screen.
"Heero may be insane, but he still has all the programming and training he used as a Gundam pilot. He wouldn't come here if he didn't have every step of his attack planned. That's probably why he killed Zechs first. He must have considered him to be a primary threat to completing his mission." A choked sob escaped Relena's throat as she huddled closer to Duo.
"But what IS his mission?" Dorothy asked.
Trowa cast an almost sad gaze in Relena's direction. "We have no way of determining that at present, but it seems to involve you Relena."
"Well I don't think we can get out of here," Quatre groaned. "The security system is completely locked, and it isn't responding to any requests to shut down.
"Of course it isn't," Duo hissed. "He designed the damn thing. He's probably leaning over a terminal somewhere laughing his ass off at us."
So gentlemen," Dorothy eyed the pilots, "what are we going to do?"
"We're going to kill him." They turned in shock as Wufei emerged from the adjacent room still gripping his katana. The longer hair he'd grown since the end of the war was gone. Replaced once again by the short tight ponytail he wore in his youth as a sign of mourning. "He's a rabid animal that must be put out of his misery."
"Wufei, no! We have to try to help him," Quatre protested.
"That was your position three years ago, Winner," he snarled as he pulled a small blue box from his pocket and threw it at Quatre. "Now because we were too weak to do what should have been done, our loved ones are dead." His expression darkened further as he stalked towards the door. "I will have justice..... for her."
Quatre bit back his tears as he stared at the small diamond ring in the box. "Wait, Wufei. If this is what we have to do, we can't just wander out blindly. We'll need some sort of plan.
"What do you have in mind Quatre?" Dorothy looked over his shoulder at the plans of the house he was bring up.
"We'll move in teams. We sweep the house, starting from this wing and working our way back until we find him, then...." his voice trailed off.
"You guys pair up, I'll stay here and keep watch over Catherine and Relena," Duo nodded.
"No."
"Huh? Whatta ya mean no, Lena?" Duo looked in disbelief as she straightened herself and wiped her tears.
"I'm going out with you to search. I'm not completely incapable of defending myself. And I think this is something Heero would have wanted me to do for him."
"Well I'm certainly not going to wait around here for him to come after me," Catherine stood up and produced a pair of knives from her boots. Trowa started to protest. But he recognized the resolved look in his sister's eyes, and remained quiet.
"It may be safer this way Duo," Quatre suggested. "After all, a moving target is harder to hit." He thought Duo was going to object anyway, but a short stare down with Relena seemed to change his mind.
"All right then," he shrugged and pulled out his gun. "Lena, Wufei, and I will start working our way east on the lower floor. Trowa, Catherine, Quatre, and Dorothy you work your way along this floor." A strange glint passed through his violet eyes that disturbed Quatre. "And to make sure everyone is clear on this... Yuy is to be shot on sight."