By West Wind
Disclaimer: I have no claim to any of the Gundam Wing characters in
this story. They belong to someone else.
Author's Note: There is a lot happening in this chapter at the
same time. I hope I described all aspects of the scene and the different
character's perspectives without disturbing the flow of the story.
You have been warned. ^_^
Jen and Nikki watched as Heero, Trowa and others that they recognized from their visit to Preventer HQ entered their suite. They placed the bags they carried on the table in the center of the room. Heero rummaged through them and pulled out the items he had been searching for.
"I have set each of these receivers to pick up Marimeia's tracking device signal," stated Heero.
"Marimeia has a tracking device! Does she know?" inquired Duo.
"Yes, she knows." groaned Heero wanting to get back to the business at hand. "She had to activate it to send the signal."
Duo interrupted again, "Who gave it to her and why?"
"I did," Heero growled.
"The ring," Trowa mater-of-factly stated.
Heero nodded. He knew Trowa had spotted the new trinket adorning Marimeia's hand once they came back from putting the children to bed the night Marimeia and her friends had come over for dinner, but Trowa had never asked about it or mentioned it, till now.
"I had a feeling something was going to happen to her so I gave her a tracking device and showed her how to use it."
"How do you know when it has been activated?" asked Sally.
"When activated, a notification is sent to me," answered Heero.
"That's how you knew she was in trouble," observed Quatre.
"Yes. On the trip in, I was able to identify which section of L4 she was currently in using the orbiting satellites but was unable to pinpoint an exact location. Therefore, we will have to go in and locate her with these," Heero pointed to the receivers he had pulled from the bags. "We will divide up into teams. Sally and Wufie, Trowa and Quatre, Duo and me, and Quatre's men however Quatre sees fit."
"What about us," piped up Nikki.
Heero glared at her and Jen.
"It's my brother and friend that are hostage. I at least want to be there when they are found," Jen demanded and shot back a deadly glare of her own,
"They can go with Rashid," said Quatre settling the matter, "but are not to enter the building until we say so."
After everyone agreed to Quatre's solution, Heero assigned search areas to each group, and they head out.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Kiel found himself staring down the barrel of Jim's gun as he point it at him. Everything went in slow motion for Kiel. Jim pulled the trigger and sent the bullet speeding through the air. Marimeia's eyes widened and she screamed, "NO!!!!"
Just before Jim pulled the trigger, Kiel started his chair tipping. With a thud, Kiel hit the floor. His face stung with the impact of the fall. Blood soaked into his cotton shirt sleeve on his left arm where the bullet had kissed his flesh. He had gained a few more minutes of life, but there was nothing else he could do now, no place to go.
"I won't miss you this time," promised Jim as he pointed the gun at Kiel once again.
Kiel looked at Marimeia and prepared to leave this world.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"We've got something," Duo told the others over the radio. "We are at 15th and Madison headed toward 14th."
"We will be there as soon as we can," said Quatre.
His sentiment was mirrored by Sally.
Duo and Heero continued to follow the signal which lead them to an abandoned looking building. Duo contacted the others again with the exact location as he and Heero circled the building.
"We'll be there in ten minutes," said Quatre.
"Same here," said Sally.
"Heero and I are going to go in," reported Duo, "and check things out."
"Be careful," cautioned Quatre.
"We will," replied Duo before placing the radio back on his belt.
While he had been checking in with the others, Heero had moved over to the back door and picked the lock.
"Look, an open door. Let's explore," whispered Duo enthusiastically.
Heero shot him a 'be quiet' glare as Duo passed him and entered the building. Heero followed. They paused to identify which direction Marimeia was located. Heero pointed the direction they needed to go, down a hallway. They located the spot where the signal was strongest, but it was an empty room. Duo pointed up indicating she was above them. Heero nodded in agreement, and the two quickly and stealthily retraced their steps to the stairway they had passed earlier. As they entered the second floor, voices drifted down the hallway to them. They creep down the hall trying not to alert Jim of their presence. When they were ten feet from the door, Marimeia screamed and a shot was fired. They both sprinted to the door.
"I won't miss you this time," said Jim as Duo bounded through the door and slammed into the larger man.
Marimeia let out a sigh of relief as Duo tackled her captor and knocked him to the ground. Heero entered right behind Duo and kicked the gun out of Jim's hand. It slid across the floor and came to a halt with a thud against the wall. Jim struggled with Duo but managed to push Duo away. Duo rolled and was on his feet before Jim regained his. Jim eyed the men on either side of him and debated which one he should take out first. He opted for Duo since the door was behind him.
"I don't know who you are, but I will not let you ruin my plans," Jim threatened before charging at Duo.
Jim swung his fist at Duo's head. Duo was ready, ducked easily, and landed a punch of his own. Jim was dazed and turned around with the force of Duo's blow. Heero was there to greet Jim with a manic grin and a punch in the gut. Jim gulped for air as Heero's fist knocked the wind out of him and he doubled over in pain. Heero grabbed Jim's shirt to pull him up and kneed Jim in the groin. Jim gasped in pain and the other occupants in the room cringed. Heero followed that up with a punch to the face. Trowa and Quatre entered the room in time to see Duo catch Jim as he stumbled back into him after the last blow. Sally and Wufie entered right behind them. Quatre went to free Marimeia from her bonds, while Sally and Wufie tended to Kiel.
"I think he has had enough, Heero," said Duo as his friend advanced on the injured man he was supporting.
Trowa placed a restraining hand on Heero's shoulder and was prepared to do more if Heero resisted.
"Enough!" commanded Trowa. "She's safe."
Heero let out a sigh and nodded as he saw Marimeia stand from her chair. Once free, Marimeia dashed to Heero and gave him a large hug which he followed with a long kiss. They pulled apart. Heero brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.
"You have to stop doing this to me," he growled softly to her.
"Doing what?" she asked innocently
"Getting yourself in life threatening situations," he replied.
"I'll try," she promised before returning his earlier kiss.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"I think the kid is going into shock," stated Wufie in disgust as Kiel's eyes widened and he paled. "He hasn't lost that much blood."
"I don't think it is from loss of blood," said Sally as she pointed behind Wufie.
Wufie turned around in time to see Heero say something to Marimeia and her return kiss. He shook his head.
"Knew it would happen one of these days," Wufie muttered.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Duo was stunned. He had known about Marimeia's feeling for Heero. Who didn't? He had suspected that the perfect solder harbored similar feelings for the girl but would not admit it. Duo quickly recovered and was ready to razz his friend about robbing the cradle. But, before he could, his charge started to come around. Trowa came over and helped him tie Jim up.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Jim groaned as he became conscious. He lifted his dangling head. The sight that welcomed him was that of Marimeia and Heero kissing passionately. He then knew his mistake. He had not verified who she was in love with. He had just assumed he would be able to tell by watching her interactions with others. He would have never expected it to be Heero. She had been telling him the truth about Kiel being only a friend. Heero was the one she was in love with. As Trowa and Duo bound him, he wondered why Heero and Trowa were on L4 and how they found his hideout.
~*~*~*~*~*~
After freeing Marimeia, Quatre radioed Rashid letting him know it was safe to bring in the girls and where they were in the building. Finding the recently rescued Marimeia and Heero lip-locked did not come as a big surprise to him. The fact that Heero had given her a tracking device had shown Quatre how much Heero cared for the girl. Now that his hunch has been verified, he could not wait to impart the news to Catherine. She would be thrilled.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Rashid, Jen, and Nikki stood in the doorway to the room.
"So that's your mystery man!" exclaimed Nikki as she entered.
Heero and Marimeia pulled apart. Marimeia turned to greet her friends but did not let go of Heero's hand. She was quickly assaulted with a very hyper and inquisitive Nikki, while Jen rushed to her brother's side.
"Meia, what happened? Were you scared? When did you and Heero get together? …" Nikki blurted out question after question not waiting for an answer.
"Whoa," cautioned Marimeia. "I will answer your questions, just not right now. Latter when everyone can listen."
"I am sure Catherine would appreciate it if you waited until we got back to our place," said Quatre.
"How's Kiel," Marimeia asked Sally.
"Only a flesh wound. It's bandaged up and will heal," Sally answered.
Kiel was now on his feet standing beside his sister.
"No wonder she turned me down. I never stood a chance," he muttered to Jen.
She smiled at him understandingly. She ruffled his hair.
"One day the right girl will come along," she comforted.
"Did you know, Meia is Marimeia Khushrenada, the one who tried to take over the world when we were young?"
"No, I didn't," Jen replied, who seemed unaffected by the news, "but, Meia is always full of interesting surprised and secrets. After discovering she considered Relena an aunt, I decided not to be overwhelmed by anything pertaining to her – maybe taken off guard but not overwhelmed. What new things I learn about her does not change my relationship with her. She is still the person I became friends with and care for."
Kiel had to agree. His impression of the would be world conquer, Marimeia, was vastly different from his knowledge of his friend Meia. Even if his friend was once the former, she was a different person now, and he was glad to call her friend.
For Jen, all the pieces were falling into place with this new fact. It explained why Meia was an orphan, why Meia's adopted mother was head of the Preventers, how she knew Relena, and how she knew the gundam pilots. Jen had a strong inkling, from the information that Meia had given her last year, that the five men who came to Meia's rescue were the five gundam pilots. A secret that she would tuck away and cherish.
~*~*~*~*~
The cops were soon on the scene trying to take statements from everyone there and taking Jim into custody. The questioning of the two abdicates and their companions went fairly smoothly.
"Tell me in your own word's what happened," ordered the officer questioning Kiel.
Kiel told his tale in as much detail as he could manage and not leaving out the specific details of him being held at gun point several times and shot at.
"You say this man, Jim, was delusional and thought you friend was the Marimeia who tried to take over the world."
"Yep," Kiel confirmed.
"Thank you, for you time," said the officer before going to his next victim, Wufie, who was not very cooperative.
In fact, all the officers were having trouble questioning the Preventer members. The answers they received were runarounds, "confidential," or "classified."
"Sir," Quatre addressed the commanding officer.
"Lt. Kiesle," the man supplied.
"Quatre Raberba Winner," Quatre introduced himself and offered his hand.
Lt. Kiesle shook the extended hand but could not hid his shock at being confronted with the head of the Winner Corporation.
"Lt. Kiesle, every one here except those four," continued Quatre pointing out Marimeia and her friends, "are Preventers. You will find there are things that they are not allowed to answer at this time. There are procedures they must follow, you understand, but copies of their reports on this incident can be forwarded to your department after they are reviewed, if you like."
The lieutenant knew further questioning would be useless and ordered his officers to pack up to head out.
"We will not be hearing about this on news tomorrow will we?" innocently asked Quatre with a thread of warning underlying the statement.
"No, sir."
"Good."
They were allowed to leave.
It was late, and Quatre insisted that everyone come back to his place for the night.
"He has room for everyone at his place? It won't be cramped?" Kiel asked Marimeia.
She giggled before replying, "Trowa's brother-in-law is very hospitable and has enough room for all of us."
Heero who was standing beside her looked down at her and watched the mirth dance in her eyes. She was not going to tell him that Quatre had more than enough room for all of them times three over. There was amusement in Jen's eyes as well. She had put the facts together and could not wait to see the look on her brother's face when he discovered who the blond was. Kiel looked at the two girls and knew he was out of the loop on this one.
"Oh," gasped Nikki as she took in her friends expressions. "You mean…," she leaned over and whispered into Marimeia's ear.
A broad smile spread across Marimeia's face and she nodded her head in affirmation.
"This will be fun," declared Nikki as she clasped her hands together in anticipation.
"What!" demanded Kiel.
"You will find out in time," answered Marimeia.
Kiel looked to Heero for explanation but found no help there.
Duo bounded up to the group and through an arm around Heero and the other around Marimeia.
"Duo…" growled Heero.
Duo was unaffected
"You guys ready to blow this place?" asked the enthusiastic pilot. "Not literally," he added looking at Heero.
"Where are we going?" asked Kiel trying to get info from the new source.
"To the Q-man's," answered Duo before his braid was tugged by Marimeia.
Duo looked at her accusingly then saw the mischief in her eyes and decided he would be quiet until he found out what was going on.
~*~*~*~*~
Each group headed to Quatre's house. Jen and Nikki went with Quatre and Trowa while Marimeia and Kiel went with Heero and Duo. While they got organized to leave, Marimeia pulled Duo aside and explained the situation with Kiel.
"So," summarized Duo, "Kiel is a business major and has a fascination with the Winner Corporation and the Winner family, but he does not know who Quatre is. This is just to good," he cackled and rubbed his hand together while he plotted.
"What are you planning?" she asked.
"Something amusing. I don't have time to explain, but go with me when the time comes. I have to catch Quatre before he leaves."
Duo sprinted off to talk to Quatre.
~*~*~*~*~
Author's Note: How was that? Everyone made it out safe
and only one person [other than Jim] was slightly harmed. There will
be at least one more part to this story ~ for we must learn what Duo is
planning for poor Kiel's introduction to Quatre Raberba Winner. ~_^