Angela raced like wild fire up the rocky paths to the spot where she had stashed her gundam. She felt like laughing hysterically. It had all started off so well. She had had four gundam pilots waiting on her every move, plus the Lightning Count himself and all the Preventors, all traumatized over the death of one silly girl! She had even seen Dorothy Catelonia, her contact, up on the stage. She wasn't too sure about her, even from the beginning. She seemed to be a snake too, a red adder perhaps. Angela shuddered. If Dorothy had done her job right, Red Viper wouldn't have missed the first time. Then she could have taken Quatre out of here as her hostage as planned and gotten two birds with one stone!
But then the Wing Zero had to spoil everything. Now, thanks to that foolish princess and that gundam pilot, all was shot to hell! She almost laughed as she stumbled up the slope and ducked under a few tree branches. Damn Heero Yuy and his obsession. Why did he bother saving her every single time? If Strongarm had not distrusted her enough to run off and get his own gundam, she'd be dust now!
She emerged into the clearing with a snarl on her face. If she hadn't known better, she would have though that that stupid failed Felicia mission was coming back to haunt her!
She stopped dead, staring in utter disbelief at the clearing. Oh no! Her beautiful gundam... Who had done this?
Someone tapped her shoulder and she whirled in fury. Her mouth dropped open when she stared into large liquid brown eyes and a bright smile. Felicia, her failed mission, stood just behind her, stroking the body of a red snake around her neck, letting it run over her hands. The thing's head was poised just next to Angela's ear, hissing, hissing. "Good to see you, Angel," Felicia said in a cheerful tone, but her eyes, oh her eyes, were like two hard rocks. "Share a cup of tea with me?" Angela swallowed, remembering... who were these people? The snake was entirely too close.
*****
Heero's hands shook with rage as the Wing Zero unfolded and landed heavily in the plaza, faced evenly with the Apocalypse. He had known David Strongarm had made such a machine, built from the remains of the Tallgeese Treize had piloted at the end of the war. It had been repainted red and black like a mobile doll, only it was as heavy and jagged as the Deathscythe Hell and the red painted flames raced up its chest and leg panels. It was also a flying machine, able to hover in the sky like a space model. The Wing Zero could do that too; it was part of the design. Strongarm had named his machine Apocalypse to signify its unstoppable terror.
Heero wasn't overly impressed.
He was too furious to be impressed.
The Preventors were swarming about the square. Duo was waving up at him, one hand over his face to shield him from the heat and wind from the expulsion of the Wing Zero. Wufei and Sally were prodding the Preventors out of the plaza. Trowa was supporting Quatre, though the short blonde pilot seemed to be trying to fend him off. Heero ignored them. He kept his eyes on the Apocalypse, refusing to even take a good look below. He did not want to see what they were doing. The Apocalypse was all that mattered, standing stock still just behind the estate buildings, watching the Wing Zero. He had not expected the Wing Zero to challenge him, piloted by the most famous gundam pilot. Heero supposed he was famous, anyway. Dorothy always said so.
His eyes caught sight of something on the ground against his will. Zechs had bent over the ground to lift a small, limp figure from the cobblestones.
His chest tightened in the most frightening way. Relena. Oh God... It was almost exactly like before, with Mary. He stopped breathing. There was no God. He had failed again, literally failed, by not being quick enough! She was so still. He reached out to touch the computer screen where the image was enlarged. Still like the glass, but he could see her face perfectly in the screen, serene as always, as unreadable as his own. In his mind he could see her when she smiled, a small, sweet smile usually. He could also see her confident, commanding, determined. She was like that when she gave speeches. She could make an eloquent speech out of nothing in an instant, forming words to make images to make people be silent. He could not do that. He could give advice, but only coldly, and he knew she listened as well as she spoke, always so thoughtfully and passionately. How could the peace be saved now? She was so still. She would not speak again. Where was the blood?
No expression touched his face. No tears swelled in his eyes. He felt a hollow emptiness was all, growing larger until he could no longer hear his own heart beating. It was familiar, nothing new. He welcomed it. He had to be hard as stone, as cold as ice, passionless, in control of all his faculties. He had failed, but the battle was not over, and defeating David Strongarm was his objective. Mission accepted, but he had failed to protect Relena and failed mission meant death. He welcomed that too. He wasn't worth the space to breathe in, not when there were no more battles to fight and no one left to protect. He probably should have died a long time ago.
"It seems I shall have a chance to test out the power of this machine," the voice of David Strongarm said through the transmitter into the cockpit.
Heero began to breathe again, tearing his eyes away from the picture of Relena. Zechs was carrying her out of the plaza, Dorothy and Noin flanking him on either side.
"I've come to kill you," Heero said. It seemed to him that he snarled, but the sound of his own voice in his ears was dead. Live by your emotions, but don't reveal them. Never that. And it was easier to live without emotions at all, without distractions. Life was much simpler then, but he craved death. That was the easiest thing of all.
The square was emptying quickly. Duo was shouting for everyone to move, that Heero would not wait for them. Of course, Duo knew him rather well. He could always depend on Duo, more or less. He wished they could fight together again for this last show, but the Deathscythe Hell was gone, detonated like all the others. It was a weird feeling, wishing to fight with Duo. He had never wanted to fight with anyone before. He wasn't sure he had ever really wanted to fight. But right now he had a job to do, and he would do it well.
The buster rifle was useless in these close settings. He hadn't had time to repair it anyway, but the beam saber came smoothly into being, glowing with blue electric flame. He moved forward, leaping as fast as a gundam could leap. And the Apocalypse met him with its own, a sooty red blaze like blood.
*****
Duo fell in step with Wufei as they herded the rest of the Preventors out of the plaza and toward a safer building. Well, as safe as it could be. No, Heero would not be that careless. They would be safe.
"Somebody has to go after Red Viper," Wufei said in a low voice. "It would be honorless to let her escape."
Duo grunted. He didn't know about honorless, but it would certainly piss him off! "We'll get her," he said confidently.
Trowa suddenly appeared beside him, hands shoved in his pockets. "It would certainly be easier if we knew where she went," he said in that practical, analytical tone of his.
"She went east," Wufei muttered.
Trowa shrugged. "Yeah, I saw you shoot after her, but that's not precise enough. We have to know exactly where she went."
Quatre trotted back from where he had been conversing with Dorothy. "It seems Relena's going to be just fine," he said, his eyes shining as bright as his smile. "She hit her head hard enough to knock her out when Angela flung her away, but she's starting to regain consciousness."
Duo nodded. That was good. He laughed. "She'll probably want to go back, knowing her."
Wufei's stony silence was enough to know what he thought of that. Well, maybe not; it was hard to tell with Wufei.
Quatre smiled. "I'm not so sure we shouldn't let her. I owe her that much, at least."
Sure enough, Relena's voice, groggy and confused, came to them from ahead. "Put me down. What's going on?"
"The assassin dropped you," Zechs said as he set her on her feet. She swayed a little, but then stiffened her knees. She looked up at him expectantly. Zech's lips quirked in a smile. "Heero arrived in the Wing Zero and Red Viper fled."
Relena's eyes widened some. "Where is he?"
"He's fighting David Strongman in the Apocalypse," Trowa said flatly. "Red Viper got away."
An explosion resounded from the plaza and a shower or loose concrete and cobblestone flew up into the sky. Duo ducked, pulling Quatre down with him on one knee. One of those gundams must have flown into a building! Relena had fallen too, hands pressed to her ears to block out the sound. Trowa and Wufei were on their stomachs. Only Zechs remained standing, one arm hovering over his face to shield his eyes as he looked toward the battlefield. Duo pulled Quatre up to his feet. The others rose more slowly. Fear was painted clearly on Relena's face. Duo scratched his head, wondering if he had ever seen her afraid before. He didn't think it was for herself, not with the anxious way she looked back.
"You can't go after him, so don't suggest it," Sally said flatly, crossing her arms. Relena didn't even look her way, but she did not run either. Sally grabbed her shoulder. "You really shouldn't." Relena's expression hardened.
Wufei stirred. "Let her go, Sally," he said quietly, logically. "She might be able to save him. I don't think he knows she's alive. Maybe he won't be so reckless if he knows she cares."
Everyone stared at him. He seemed not to see them at all.
"This is a weird day," Duo muttered. "Fine. Let her go, but I want Red Viper."
"Me too," all three other pilots said simultaneously. Duo almost groaned. There was just no expecting getting any personal glory with all these guys around!
*****
The Apocalypse swung its right fist toward him with the power of steam engine. Heero stopped it with one hand, the Wing Zero's fingers crunching the other mobile suit's fist. The Apocalypse sprang back with the use of its jets and Heero released it before he was pulled over. Stumbling to regain its footing, the beam saber flared into being again in the hand of the Apocalypse and it jumped forward. Heero slipped to the side and the beam saber grazed past his shoulder, missing him by almost a foot. He turned and caught the counterstroke with his own saber, reflexively bracing his body for the impact.
"I don't feel like I'm able to really test out this suit's mobility," David's voice smirked. "Let's fight in the air."
Heero knew his own eyes must have looked like death. "I just want to kill you," he said tonelessly.
The Apocalypse sprang upward and Heero shot up after him, the feather-like wings of Wing Zero opening to catch the currents, glittering like a thousand knives. He shot up like a rocket, like a bird, overtaking the Apocalypse easily. When he had enough space above his enemy, Heero turned, slowing his ascent with back blasters, and readied his saber. The Apocalypse surprised him, flitting off to the side like some sleek black dragon, its eyes burning with hate. Heero snarled and pursued. They met unexpectedly, crashing saber to saber, twisting and spinning in the air. They broke apart and circled one another. The Apocalypse came at him again, but Heero ducked, dropping beneath the blow, his own saber slicing Apocalypse underneath, into the chest where the cockpit was located. After the blow, Heero let Wing Zero fall like a rock, catching himself only meters from the ground.
"No!" Strongarm cried out, and of all things, came after him, headfirst to the earth. Heero's hands ran over the controls, redirecting the power from the beam saber into his jets and shot backward, letting his wings fold to give him more speed. The Apocalypse caught itself from its deadly plunge and spiraled in his direction. Heero reacted with steady hands, but was unable to reenage the boosters quick enough to move up or away. Apocalypse hit him head on and they both crashed into one of the smaller estates. Heero felt the building crushing beneath their weight.
Heero smiled. He was trapped, but he had Apocalypse immobilized. Now he could self detonate and be truly finished.
"Heero!"
Heero's hand stayed, poised above the self detonation device that could be unclipped from the rest of the gundam. Relena? It was! She was alive! He switched on the computer screen with his left hand. He could see her at the edge of the plaza. The Apocalypse was stirring, its knees still crushing him into the ground, but he could see its head turning. No!
"Relena, get out of the way!" he yelled. He could see her in the screen, hand over her chest, staring at him. She hesitated for a moment and then turned and fled. Zechs and Noin stood at the mouth of an alley, reaching for her arms and pulling her into the shadows.
Without much thought on the matter, Heero opened the cockpit. With the Apocalypse kneeling over him, it did not open all the way, but enough to get through. David Strongarm wasn't focused on him. He was staring at the alley, preparing to kill Relena. But he would fail.
Snatching the self-detonation device off its clip, Heero crawled out of the cockpit, squeezing through the tiny opening, praying the Apocalypse wouldn't shift and cut him in half. Once his shoes popped through, he slid off the Wing Zero's chest and ran across the street, behind the buildings, and out around the same buildings Relena had disappeared between with Zechs and Noin.
She was there as he rounded the corner, standing beside her brother, arguing with Noin. And then she saw him.
It was like her heart was in her eyes. Dropping her arms she ran to him and threw her arms around his neck like a little girl. He tensed and pushed her away. What was she doing? He was fine. He examined her carefully, scientifically. She seemed to be completely unhurt. That was good. A hollow boom exploded behind them and Heero grabbed Relena, turning them both until he was facing the plaza, one hand clasping her back. He did not even look at her face but reached behind her with his other arm, the small black rod firmly in his fist. Zechs caught his eye and nodded, glancing behind him at the battle scene. Without shifting his gaze, Heero pressed the red button on the self-detonation device. The resulting explosion shook the whole square. Billowing red clouds rose hot and heavy into the sky.
"Strongarm's gone," Noin said. "He was still in the Apocalypse. Both that and the Wing Zero are destroyed."
Only then did Heero drop the little black rod. Releasing Relena, he stepped away. Her eyes lingered on him with that all-too familiar expression of care and concern that made him uncomfortable and strangely vulnerable. He ignored it as best as he as able. "Mission complete," he murmured, more out of habit than anything else.
Relena looked up at him, her eyes shimmering. "Are you okay?" she said. She made to approach him, but he pulled his head back and she stopped.
"I was certain it was you who were shot," he said coldly.
She shook her head. "No." The compassion in her eyes faltered as she evaluated his cold stare. She steeled herself, the strength and determination setting into her features. "I'm fine." He nodded and turned away.
Someone came trotting around the corner. It was a young man, perhaps a few years older than Zechs and Noin by the look of him, and stunning in face and build and dress. His hair was blonde, though not as light as Quatre's, and there was a strangeness about his expression, about the way he observed them with incredibly blue eyes. It was a peculiar kind of confidence and casualty, like nothing surprised him, like he had vast stores of knowledge and experience and secrets to hide and had no intention of sharing. Heero narrowed his own eyes suspiciously, noticing the way Relena was staring. Zechs was too. " I think the others are waiting for you," the stranger announced, and he was polite, even kind, in tone and manner. "I'm positive Felicia's getting impatient. You can only drink so much tea, you know," he added. He didn't comment on their silence and suspicion, or seem affected by it. It was almost like he was used to it.
Heero frowned at him over Relena head, but it was Noin who spoke. "And who are you?"
"Name's Cor. I'm a friend of Felicia's."
"Red Viper's last victim," Zechs said.
"The one she failed to kill," Heero murmured. Relena looked at him and he fought the urge to stand in front of her to protect her. She really didn't appear to need him anymore.
At that instant, Duo, Quatre, Trowa, Wufei and Sally came striding in from the other direction.
"Nice little mess you made in the plaza, Heero," Duo said with one of those talking laughs he did. "It's probably a bad place to have a party now."
Quatre smiled. "Actually, you did manage to avoid the memorial."
"Yeah," Heero replied. He didn't know exactly what else to say. Relena gave him a wry smile. Wry looked funny on her face, but he was pretty sure he was the only one who was supposed to see it. He avoided her eyes.
"Well, the rest of the party's not going to be here anyway," Cor said, and the everyone turned to him in astonishment. "I'm going to take you to Red Viper. That's where the party would be."
Sally smiled, fists on her hips. "Should we invite everybody back?" she suggested jokingly.
Cor grinned. "Well, you can't have a party to celebrate the end of a war without at least a few people."
*****
Quatre trounced through the brush ahead of the others, his curiosity getting the better of him. Duo was just beside him, grinning like a fool as he stared excitedly ahead. Cor had dodged their questions of exactly what they would find when they arrived in a certain clearing, and everything important about himself. Wufei had suggested that the whole scheme was an ambush of some kind. When they got there they would likely find Red Viper in a gundam poised to kill them. Only Dorothy convinced the group otherwise. She insisted that this Cor fellow was never in the plan, that she had never even heard of him before. Besides, according to her, Angela would never work with someone like this, and she rarely had backup plans. Relena believed her, but she was the only one at first. Out of gratitude, Quatre supported her. No one really had any choice as she was just as determined as Wufei to go after her assassin, willing to plunge in alone if need be. Well, that meant the Preventors had to go along to protect her and Quatre certainly wasn't going to miss it. The Maguanacs had returned with a fair amount of calvary right after the square cleared, ready to "rescue" Master Quatre. Since he was already rescued, they decided they owed a debt to both Heero and Relena and demanded to be able to accompany them. Well, Trowa wanted to go too, and Duo was certainly not going to be showed up. Indeed, he seemed indignant that so many other people were trying to "steal" his idea.
Heero was following Relena. Actually, he was walking beside her like a bodyguard, though they seemed to be in some small conversation. Relena would speak and Heero would shake his head and then Relena would look hurt and say something else and he would respond curtly. Quatre frowned at them. He had been sure Heero had liked Relena, but lately he seemed to be pulling away from everybody, and there was a sense of lostness about him, and something darker. Duo joked about it, but Quatre could tell he was concerned too. But his observations didn't really mean anything. Whatever Heero was dealing with, he wouldn't talk about it, and that was that.
Zechs, Noin, Sally and Wufei flanked the whole party, watching the forest as if they expected an assailant to leap out of the brush at any moment. Everyone else brought up the rear and seemed to be in good spirits. Cor was teaching the Maguanacs a silly marching song as they traveled. He certainly seemed in good spirits. Duo and Quatre headed everybody. Listening to the Maguanac's rising voices, Quatre wondered why Cor encouraged them to be so loud.
"Isn't a large, loud party like this just going to warn her that we're coming?" Duo said.
"Yeah," Quatre replied. "That's just what I was thinking. But Cor said it wouldn't matter, that she's not going anywhere."
Duo pulled his braid over his shoulder and twisted to look back at Cor and the others. "Huh. That so? Maybe Wufei's right. We should be careful."
Just as Quatre was about to reply, the trees began to thin out and they emerged into a large clearing. Everybody stopped and stared. Even Heero and Relena stopped talking, staring ahead. Duo broke the silence and laughed, hands on his hips.
Sitting in the middle of an enormous clearing was the head of a gundam. Just the head. It was draped with ribbons, pretty red ribbons that sparkled in the sunlight because of their shimmery coating. It also had a big bow on its forehead. Half of the enormous clearing was filled with wooden tables covered with white tablecloths and set with paper plates and plastic wine glasses. Bottles of white wine and sparkling cider sat on each table. The rest of the area had been cleared away, a small stage on the far side set up with an amplifier, music stands, a drum set, a keyboard and a few other instruments.
Sitting calmly at one of the tables by the head of the gundam sat two women facing each other, one with red hair and the other in a red dress. Porcelain teacup sat in front of each of them, half filled with tea. A dark-haired girl in the red dress was chatting in amiable tones to Angela Moise, who sat sullenly with her hands in her lap and her eyes downcast. There was a snake around her neck.
"Drink your tea, Angel," the girl in the red dress urged.
"I've had enough tea, F...Miss Felicia," Red Viper said, seeming to struggle maintaining a pleasant tone.
The other girl, Felicia, smiled and looked over at them. "Huh. Well, some of the rest of out guests have arrived. I think you owe them a few words."
To Quatre's astonishment, the assassin Red Viper stood up and bowed her head to them respectfully. "I'm sorry for wrecking your party, Miss Relena," she said, biting off the words. Her face was a sour mask. "I no longer wish to interfere with your life again." Without any hesitation, she turned to Quatre. "I'm sorry, Mr. Winner. I apologize for taking you hostage."
Quatre's mouth dropped open. He wasn't the only one. Relena was speechless. Even Trowa looked perplexed.
To further their amazement, Angela took a deep breath and continued. "I request to surrender myself to the Preventors so that I may pay my debt to society," she said, her mouth twisting. Behind her, Felicia leaned her chin on the back of her hands, a satisfied smile on her face. Angela seemed to be trying to avoid the snake around her neck.
Zechs and Sally exchanged looks and moved forward. Wufei handed Sally a pair of handcuffs. Sally took them and approached Red Viper warily, eyeing the snake on her neck.
"Don't worry," Felicia said. "She's terrified of her namesake. That's why she chose it."
Sally said nothing, but to affirm Felicia's words, Angels held out her wrists for Sally to shackle. Once the cuffs were snapped shut behind her back, tears began to form in Angela's eyes. "Take it off me now, Felicia. Please."
Felicia shrugged and slid smoothly out of her chair. Reaching up to Angela's shoulders, she carefully picked up the snake and carried it over to a small glass tank sitting by the head of the gundam.
Cor brushed by Quatre and waved his hands to get their attention. "Everybody, this is Felicia, Angela's first and only failed victim."
"Are you a soldier?" Wufei asked the girl. "Or an assassin better than...Angela?"
Felicia laughed like a child as she straightened. "No, if someone gave me a gun I'd probably shoot myself in the foot. My escaping assassination was a fluke. Angela was hired to kill me and she failed. I ended up capturing her and held her in my house while she promised repeatedly not to kill again. I wasn't easy on her. When I found out about this most recent attempt, I just had to intervene. No more breaks for her either. She has to pay her debt according to the law now. I'm sure you will all see to that." She smiled and gestured to the clearing. "While I was at it, I decided to throw the party Angela was meant to have planned. I know my arrangements are simple, but I think its nice. Cor says the plaza's a disaster, so I'm glad we decided to do this. I love a good party."
"What about the gundam?" Heero demanded. "Where's the rest of it?"
Felicia dimpled. "In a truck about a mile down the road. You can all dispose of it later. I wanted to leave the head here for decoration, though, as a reminder. It was Cor's idea."
"Not the ribbons," he said with a smile. "It just seemed like too much work to move it."
"You just wanted to irritate Angela," Felicia refuted. "Don't get all narrow-eyed at me either. I know you." She gave him a too-sweet-for-sincerity smile and turned back to the rest of them. "Cor's an old friend of mine. He was a soldier for about two years and I thought I could use his expertise since I knew you all would be around. We did some research on you before we came so we would know what's up. I'm sorry if he's been obnoxious. You get used to him."
Now it was Cor's turn to glare. Then they were both silent, waiting patiently.
Relena turned to Sally and Noin.
"We'll make a few phone calls," Sally said finally. "We'll have a party here in no time."
Duo grinned and punched Quatre in the shoulder. "I knew this was worth coming to!" he crowed.
Quatre laughed and smoothed his suit, now wrinkled and dirty. Oh well.
"I suppose Relena can cut the ribbon on the gundam's head," Dorothy said dubiously. "To kick off the celebration, I mean."
"Maybe you should do it," Relena said to Dorothy with a smile.
Dorothy blushed and nodded. "Thank you, Miss Relena."
Felicia clapped her hands in delight and Cor bowed to her. "An excellent administration. Our mission is a success. Mandred will be so proud."
Felicia laughed. Heero's head snapped up suddenly, his eyes swinging to the strangers, but then he looked abruptly away, obviously troubled. Relena clutched at his sleeve. "What is it?" Quatre heard her say. "Nothing," Heero replied. "Never mind." She released his arm, but worry flickered in her eyes. Felicia and Cor seemed to be looking his way too.
Quatre decided to let it go for now. The Maguanac's roared their approval and broke out again into song. "Master Quatre should play the keyboard!" one of them suggested. Quatre grinned and laughed. Why not?
"And I'll dance with Relena!" Duo announced. Heero glared at him. "Okay, after Heero. Sheesh." But Heero did not dance with Relena. He crossed his arms and sat to the side, staring at nothing. Few people really took account of it. He was Heero. He would be like that.
The Maguanacs laughed again and capered. Relena's face was flushed. Quatre moved to the stage, pulling Trowa with him. He thought there might have been a flute stashed up there somewhere.
Wufei collapsed in a chair and poured himself a glass of wine. Sally sat across from him, Angela sullenly next to her.
It seemed everything had turned out well enough after all.
~The End~
Well, what did ya' all think? Maybe it's a little lame, but I
thought it was fun little story and the OC are an introduction into something
else. Anything that wasn't cleared up has no further relevance to
this story and will appear elsewhere. Please review.
I will be SO appreciative! Thanks for tuning in!