Chapter 7 - Quatre to the Rescue!
Arriving back at
the Winner estate, the friends were surrounded by servants, authorities and
Safir Winner.
The servants saw
to their every need. The doctor
reappeared to tend to Quatre's slight wounds.
The authorities
wanted to know what had happened. As
did Safir Winner.
The only one who
seemed to be able to calm everyone down was Hilde. Stepping in front of Quatre, she effectively became a human
wall. The authorities and Safir on one
side, Quatre on the other with Hilde in between.
Placing her hands
on her hips, she glared daggers at the offending men. "All of you should be ashamed of yourselves! Quatre's been injured and all any of you can
do is demand, 'What happened? Tell me now!' I am ashamed to even
look at any of you!"
Hilde turned to
Quatre. Putting her arms around his
shoulders, she led him out of the room.
Once they were
gone, all eyes turned to Duo. He smiled
and shrugged his shoulders.
* * * * *
Hilde led Quatre
to his room. Inside, Hilde pushed
Quatre into a chair. He started to
protest until he saw the look on her face. Closing his mouth, he sat in the chair.
Hilde
nodded. "Better. Now, what happened Quatre?"
Quatre
sighed. As best he could he told her
what passed in the caverns. "It
was all my fault, Hilde. If she hadn't
of been there, this would never of happened." He finished.
Sitting next to
him, she placed her hand on his. "That's not true, Quatre. This assassin may have taken Sarit, but who's to say it wouldn't have
happened anyway?" At Quatre's
confused look, she elaborated.
"It might
have been one of us. Or, he might have
succeeded in killing you."
"My life
would be a small price to pay if it kept my friends safe." Quatre stated.
Hilde grasped his
chin in her hand and forced Quatre to look into her eyes. "Don't you ever say that again. You are very important. To all of us. We love you, Quatre. And
we don't want anything to happen to you."
Tears well in his
eyes. He knew she was right.
They hugged each
other. Hilde to comfort, Quatre in
thanks.
* * * * *
"None of you
have any right to treat him like that!" Duo raged against the older men in the room.
"He's gone
through enough in his life without you treating him like garbage!"
Safir glared at
this upstart boy. "You, sir, have
no right to speak to your elder's in such a tone. We know what is best
for Quatre. We cannot delay a
moment. I will not coddle my nephew
when Sarit is in danger. I have made
agreements with people and their contracts depend on the marriage of my
nephew. I will not stand by and let
those contracts go up in flames. Especially not at the expense of some soft-hearted spoiled brat!"
"Soft-hearted?!"
"Spoiled
brat?!"
Duo and Trowa
stared in shock. Quatre's uncle was
insane!
"My brother
coddled and spoiled that boy. But no
longer! He will obey my orders! He
will no longer disgrace the Winner family name!"
A loud boom, then
"STOP!!"
All parties jump
and stare in disbelief at Heero.
Gun upraised to
the ceiling, a small tendril of smoke escapes the chamber. Heero turns to Safir in obvious anger.
"You have NO idea what you are talking
about. Quatre is the least spoiled man
I have ever met. He is used to the
finer things; this is true. Nevertheless,
he has never once shirked his duty. He
has saved all our lives more times than I can remember. I value him as a soldier. But more importantly, as a friend."
The others stared
at Heero in shock. Never had he spoken
of any of them with such vehemence and admiration.
"I thank you,
Heero. Your words mean more to me than
any other."
A composed Quatre
enters, with Hilde behind him. He
glares at this uncle. "I am also
aware, uncle, of your feelings about me. I do not care if you think I am a 'soft-hearted spoiled brat' but you will
respect my father's memory. He was a
great man and I will not have anyone, including his brother, speak ill of
him." Quatre said with a hint of
anger in his voice.
Safir stared at
his nephew for a moment. The boy would
be quite an adversary. He would enjoy
this. He bowed. "Forgive me, nephew. I meant no disrespect to my brother's
memory. The recent situation has simply
unnerved me."
Quatre looked at
Safir for a long moment. He never did
trust his uncle. There was no help for
it, now. The man was in charge until
Quatre's 21st birthday. Quatre could
suggest; make recommendations, but until he took over the family business,
Safir was in charge. Temporarily ignoring
the difficulties he obviously had with Safir, he pressed on to the issue at hand.
"The
important thing right now is to find and rescue Sarit. I plan to leave within the hour. I expect no interference from you
uncle. You're the one who forced me
into this marriage. I will not allow my
intended to be kidnapped and possibly killed." Quatre turned to the authorities.
"And you,
sir, will not intervene in any way! I
have seen enough of your botched work." The captain bristled at the insult, but Quatre continued.
"The
'kidnappers' obviously were after me. Therefore, I will lead this mission." Quatre held up his hand for silence when his uncle tried to
protest. "I will listen to no
arguments in this matter. Sarit is in
danger because of her association with me." Quatre turned to Heero. "Heero, I would like for you to handle the arrangements. We'll leave in an hour." Heero nodded. Quatre then turned back to his uncle. "Please leave us now, my friends. I have some personal matters I need to discuss with my
uncle. In private." This he directed at the authorities. The captain glares, but with a wave from
Safir, they leave.
Quatre and Safir
are alone. Quatre walks over and sits
behind his uncle's desk, effectively putting himself in the power
position. Safir quirks his lips at the
gesture. Quatre motions for his uncle to
sit. Despite the fact this is his
office, Safir nods and sits in front of Quatre.
Quatre folds his
hands together and stares long and hard at his uncle. Finally, he speaks.
"Uncle, we
seem to have some difficulties between us."
Safir just
sat. Secretly, he smiled. The boy was very astute. He would prove to be quite a challenge. He would have to be careful around Quatre.
"It would
appear so, my nephew." Safir
conceded
Quatre turned a
curious eye on Safir. He hadn't
expected an admission. "Why?"
"Why
what?"
"Why do you
hate me so much?" Quatre asked.
Safir looked at
him closely. Quatre couldn't completely
mask the hurt in his voice. The boy has no clue about my plans. He craves the approval of his family. Particularly my idiot brother. Since he is dead, Quatre obviously has
switched figures. I am older, his
father's brother and head of the family until he is of age. Therefore, I would be the most logical substitute. The boy craves his father's approval,
therefore, mine.
"Quatre, I am
sorry for my rash words earlier. I do
not hate you. You are family. My only nephew. Despite being personally involved in the last war, if Raberba was
alive, I think he would be very proud of you. As am I."
Quatre stared at
his uncle in shock. Never in his
wildest imagination did he think Safir was proud of him. It brought unusual warmth to his body. Although he didn't fully believe Safir about
his hatred for Quatre, it did feel good to hear a family member express their
belief in him.
"Thank you,
uncle. I am sorry for any words I spoke
to you in anger. This situation with
Sarit has affected both of us. I think
we both want to bring her back safely."
Nodding his
approval, Safir posed a question. "What do you plan to do?"
"I think its
best if only myself and my team know. That way, there will be less of a chance that someone will overhear and
ambush us. I believe there is a spy
here. I don't want to tip them
off. The less anyone outside of myself
and my friends know, the better." Quatre answered.
"How can you
be sure one of them isn't the spy?" Safir queried.
Quatre looked at
his uncle with conviction. "Because I do. I trust them
with my life. They are my
friends."
* * * * *
Heero sat at this
desk, typing on his laptop. The schematics
for the region were on the screen. Duo
was arranging the camouflage gear. The
schematics for the region were on the screen. Duo was arranging the camouflage gear. Just as Heero finished, he received an email. Relena would be arriving in less than 2 hours. Damn! Why did she have to choose now to arrive?! He thought in consternation.
"Transportation
is ready." Trowa said as he and
Wufei walked in. Heero was sitting at
his desk, staring darkly at his computer. Duo was just finishing pacing the camo gear.
"All weapons
are stored in the truck. Are we
ready?" Wufei asked.
"You
bet! All we need to do is change and
get Q-man. Then were all
set!" Duo said with excitement.
Glaring one final
time at this laptop, Heero looked up just as Hilde and Quatre arrived.
"We have a
problem. Relena will be arriving in two
hours." Heero stated flatly.
Duo looked
confused. "Why is that a
problem?"
Wufei
sighed. "Baka. Because someone has to stay and greet
her!"
"Oh."
All eyes suddenly
trail to Hilde. She glares back. "Oh, no. You guys aren't leaving me behind!"
"Hilde,
there is no other choice. We need the
others. You are the most obvious
choice."
"No. I'll stay."
Everyone turned
to stare at Quatre with disbelief.
"But, Q-man,
I thought you said…"
"It doesn't
matter what I said before, Duo. One of
us must stay to greet Relena. I will
not leave her here alone with my uncle. I'll stay." Quatre
explained.
The others stared
with surprise at Hilde as she shook her head. "No, Quatre. You must
go. You need to go. You need to go
so you can prove to yourself that this wasn't your fault. If you don't, you will have this regret
within you for the rest of your life. I
will stay and take care of Relena. You
have to go. Besides, I know you guys
work better as a team."
"You sure
Hilde? Because I could stay." Duo asked.
Hilde smiled and
kissed him on the cheek. "I'm
sure."
Hilde leaves to
prepare for Relena's arrival. The
others finish changing into their camo gear. Once everyone is ready, they leave the estate. Going down an abandoned alley, they come to the military truck
Trowa was able to "borrow."
They all prepare
themselves for what they know was coming.
* * * * *
Sarit woke to a
dark room. Opening her eyes, she looked
around. She was lying on a cot, her
hands bound behind her. Sarit looked
around in confusion. Where am I? She wondered.
Memories from
earlier in the day flooded her mind. Going with Quatre and his friends when they decided to visit the
caverns. Sneaking off alone with Quatre
to talk.
The strange
feeling she had when she looked at Quatre. The way they had almost kissed.
Sarit blushed at
the thought. It would have been her
first kiss. Quatre was nothing like the
cold, unfeeling monster many seemed to portray him as. True, he was one of the essential figures in
the last war, but she felt that was more out of love for his family, then from
ambitions of power.
Ever since
Raberba Winner died, and his brother Safir took control of the company,
Raberba's children had been branded as ambitious, immoral and evil. Raberba's daughters were viewed as nothing
more than experiments. Experiments in
various ways to engineer test tube children.
His son on the
other hand…
There were those
on the L4 cluster that felt Quatre was wealthy, spoiled and selfish. He cared nothing for them or his
family. Everything he did was to
further his own selfish lusts.
Others looked
upon Quatre as a hero. Quatre was the
only one to stand up against his father. He disobeyed his father, his religious beliefs and his family teachings
to do what he felt was right. His
convictions to do "the right thing" had saved them all.
Still others
believed that Quatre was an ambitious, power hungry rebel. He disobeyed everything dear to him. Many believed he was secretly plotting to
overthrow his uncle. When the fact that
he only had to wait three more years and he would be in control was presented
to these antagonists, they simply shrugged and declared that the mind of an
evil 18-year-old was beyond them.
Remembering all
these different views, Sarit laughed to herself. None of them knew the true Quatre. He was kind and caring. Loving. All that he did was for
the love of his family. To protect them
from the sorrows of war.
At the thought of
Quatre, her expression darkened. Was he
all right? Was he able to get
away? And why, by Allah, did they want
her?
Sarit's thoughts
are interrupted when the door to her cell opened.
* * * * *
General Kresch
could not believe the incompetence he was surrounded with. The assassin, sent to eliminate Quatre
Winner, had failed. Not only did he
fail in killing the boy he kidnapped Sarit Kormit! What was he going to do with the girl? Threatening the boy with her was useless. Everyone knew that neither one wanted this
marriage. Both were going through with
it out of duty to their respective families.
Duty. Family. Kresch's eyes narrowed. Then he
smiled. Of course! That's it! They may not love each other, but Quatre
would try to rescue her out of duty to family. Signaling to his guards, he proceeded to lead them to Sarit's
cell.
Once outside, a
guard standing watch quickly unlocked and opened the door. Stepping through, Kresch spied the
girl.
Shackles bound
her hands as she lay on the cot. A long
cord wrapped around her, preventing movement.
She was
awake. Glaring at him.
Smiling, Kresch
approaches her prison. "Enjoying
your stay, my dear?"
Sarit narrows her
eyes. "You'll never get away with
this General! When Quatre finds
out…"
[Authors note:
Cliché I know, but I couldn't help it!]
"I'm
counting on it." Kresch interrupts
her. "That boy has been a
perpetual thorn in my side. You, my
dear, are the perfect bait. Quatre's
unnatural sense of justice and compassion will prove to be his undoing. He will come for you. I have no doubt. And when he does, he will fall into my trap!"
Preparing to
leave, Kresch turned to speak. "Don't worry, my dear. Soon, you will be free of an unwanted marriage. Safir can't very well marry you to a dead
man!"
With Kresch
finally gone, Sarit buries her face in the sheets in despair. He's crazy, she realizes.
She didn't
understand why Kresch wants Quatre's death, but she couldn't let the general
use her in his assassination attempt.
She must escape on her own.