This is probably confusing, so I'll tell you what happened. The real chapter 11 is now under the chapter 11. I accidentally posted chapter 10 twice, so before you read this, go back and read chapter 11. You won't be disappointed. ^_^
Chapter 12
Quatre finally had a decent excuse to be alone with Jai. Get to know her better without her really realizing his interest. When the time came, he wanted to know exactly what he was doing. He didn't feel like getting shot down. Though he had to admit, it would be a welcome change from these spineless, brainless, vapid airheads his sisters kept setting him up with. They were either stupid, or too interested in the money that went with him to tolerate for more than the one evening they were entitled to. His sisters wanted to get him married to a nice, fertile young lady with an I.Q. estimated between 12 and 31 to make babies with, and thus produce the next Winner heir.
Stewing in these thoughts, he once again brought Jai to mind. Money was not her concern. She, like the rest of them, would probably be able to live the rest of her life in reasonable comfort with whatever money she had on her, which if she was anything like Heero, was absolutely nothing. Jai was not hard to look at, either. In fact, she was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. He wanted her, and that was that. He just needed to gather some intelligence before truly persuing her. He was not one for blind dates, and Jai didn't seem the type, either. They were already friends, but he needed to turn it up a notch.
He came to the pilot's meeting room, and walked to his desk, which was, through no fault of his own, located directly across from hers. He sat down, and began typing. Before he had even managed to get into the WinnerCorp. Database, he received an instant message.
WinnerKD—Quatre! Long time no see!
WinnerQR—Kellee? I haven't seen you since the Christmas party!
WinnerKD--How have you been?
WinnerQR—Fine. You?
WinnerKD—I'm great. But it is BORING as HELL around here.
WinnerQR—Really? Never a dull moment around here. You remember Heero?
WinnerKD—The one who tried to shoot the one with the braid at the party?
Quatre laughed to himself, earning a quick glance from Jai.
WinnerQR— LOL That's the one. He's drunk and probably throwing up as we speak.
WinnerKD—At 5 o clock in the afternoon? How the hell did he do that?
WinnerQR—I'm not in on the details, but I'm pretty sure it involves Relena.
WinnerKD—RELENA? SHE'S there?
WinnerQR—Oh, yeah. And has been trying to tie herself to Heero since she got here.
WinnerKD—Oh, I have to see this. That guy didn't so much as bat an eye when…what's the name of the one with the braid?
WinnerQR—That's Duo. Recently attached to Hilde.
WinnerKD—Hilde? The one he was with at the party?
WinnerQR—Yup.
WinnerKD—Oh, man, is everybody there attached? Well, Heero didn't even bat an eye when Duo tried to trip him during the dance.
WinnerQR—I remember that. He didn't bat an eye, but he tried to shoot him.
WinnerKD—LOL Pam almost had a heart attack!
Quatre's computer beeped, and he looked up. Jai was looking at him, a slight smile on her face. He smiled back, and read the message.
JJamenson—Who is it?
WinnerQR—My sister, Kellee Deanna Winner. You'd like her.
JJamenson—Really? Is she coming here?
WinnerQR—Maybe. She needs a vacation, I can tell.
Quatre switched back to Kellee, and began typing.
WinnerQR—Well, you want to come here? I know you hate the Winner Corp detail, so let the others do it.
WinnerKD—I just might. I need some excitement. Plus I need to find you another date.
WinnerQR—NO you do NOT.
WinnerKD—YES, I DO. It's my turn. Well, I may be there in a couple of days. See you then!
WinnerQR—Bye.
"Well? She coming down here?" Jai asked, still smiling slightly.
"Yeah. In a couple of days. Hey, what's the deal with your screen name? J Jamenson?"
Jai grinned at him.
"Haven't you ever heard of Janai Jamenson?"
Quatre gaped incredulously. Janai Jamenson was the ever-elusive president of ComCor, one of his only serious rivals in business.
"YOU'RE Janai Jamenson? Of ComCor International?"
"Yup. I knew who you were long before I met you. Your company's a bitch to negotiate with, you know that?"
"Yeah. The Winner sisters are notoriously tough. Not to mention stubborn. You'll get a personal understanding of that once Kellee gets here."
"I'll bet."
"I'm not kidding about the tough part, either. Kellee voluntarily underwent all the same training I did. Including piloting. She just felt like it, and no one ever denied her much of anything. Don't get me wrong, she's not a snob. And she's also the closest of my sisters."
"Hm. This could be interesting. Is it just me, or is almost everyone in this building, preventer or not, trained in some sort of lethal art? Hilde is almost as good as Duo in a mobile suit, AND a natural deadeye, Sally too, Zechs, Noin, and Relena's learning, all of you pilots, Catherine is just as good with a gun as she is with knives, and now Kellee."
Quatre laughed, and shrugged. "Actually, she might even try to become a preventer. That is NOT something I want her to do, but hey, not like I can do anything about it. She still considers me her "little" brother. I'm only a year younger than she is."
"She's lucky. Heero and I are on pretty much the same authority wavelength. We're twins, and neither of us has any idea who came first, so neither of us exactly has seniority. I want him to do something, he'll do it, but only because I'm his sister. Not because I'm his commanding officer or something."
Quatre had a vivid vision of Heero saluting Jai, and tried to hold back another cough of laughter.
They continued on this vein for about an hour, until Duo entered.
"Well, Heero's slept a while, and now at least he's coherent. He's still kinda goofy, but he felt well enough to grab his gun out of my back pocket and aim it at anyone who came near him. I managed to get out the door and get down here. He's holding up Trowa and Wufei right now."
"WHAT?" exclaimed Jai and Quatre at the same time, before jumping over their respective desks and following Duo down the hall. Once they got to Heero's quarters, they slowly opened the door, all instinctively knowing not to draw their guns. Heero would shoot them.
Wufei, his hands in the air, looked at them after they came in, and glared at Duo.
"Maxwell! You have NO honor! How could you give him the gun, and then run and hide in cowardice like some weakling onna with us staring down the barrel?! I swear, I'll kill you MYSELF if we survive this!"
"I didn't GIVE him the goddam gun, alright?!"
"Just shut up and get it away from that crazy baka!"
"That won't be easy. He hasn't even blinked in five minutes. He's VERY intent." Said Trowa, in the same position Wufei was in, hands in the air, staring at Heero, who still had his gun leveled at them.
Jai and Quatre inched their way toward him, while Duo slowly crept up behind him.
"Don't be stupid, Maxwell! He knows you're there, and even if he doesn't, if you startle him, do you know what's going to happen? HE'S GOING TO SHOOT ME, THAT'S WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN!!!!!!! And if he does, I'll take YOU with me with the last breath I take!!" Shouted a now red faced Wufei.
Jai and Quatre tried to stifle laughter as they got closer, trembling slightly. Duo was having no such luck. Snorts were coming from behind the couch, where he was now hiding, trying to mount a sneak attack. Heero showed no sign of awareness, and for all they knew, he had reverted to tunnel vision, focusing all attention on Trowa and Wufei.
Quatre and Jai telepathically signaled Duo to try to grab Heero. Quatre was to go for the gun, and Jai was to try to knock him backwards onto the couch.
'On three. One…Two…THREE!'
Duo sprang up behind Heero, and tried to grab his shoulders. Heero swung a left backhand that barely missed Jai, as she ducked, But Heero purposely let the fist run it's course, and it connected with the side of Duo's head, knocking him over backward immediately. Quatre made a grab for the gun, but Heero moved the gun just enough to get it out of Quatre's reach, and knocked his legs out from under him with a well placed kick. Now Quatre was down.
Jai rolled, getting up a few feet away. There was no way she'd be able to appropriate the gun now. She made a charge at him, hoping to distract him into either dropping it or knocking it from his grasp.
She was suddenly alerted to a slight hissing noise, and leapt to one side. Something clattered against Heero's gun, tearing it away from him. Jai kept her momentum, and turned the charge into a slide, knocking Heero into the couch, and whipping out her gun, aiming it at him.
Heero didn't move. He just sat there, staring straight ahead. Jai got up, still aiming at him, and glanced at the now open doorway. Catherine stood there, leaning against the doorframe, smiling. Jai turned around, back toward the far wall. There, virtually nailed, was Heero's gun, pinned by not one but THREE knives, hanging in between a triangle of steel, captured by the shear guards.
Catherine walked in, watching Trowa and Wufei drop their arms and collapse in the chairs behind them, and smiled.
"Well, what's HIS problem?" she asked, nodding at the still staring Heero.
"His PROBLEM," began a muffled voice from behind the couch, "He's absolutely PLASTERED, THAT'S his PROBLEM." Duo stood up, cradling his face with his hand. "And MY problem, is a possibly fractured JAW." He walked around to everyone else, still talking. "And if you don't mind, keep that baka at bay while I rig this room full of booby traps."
"Nothing doing, Duo. Go get an ice pack, that looks painful." Said Jai, referring to the ugly bruise on the left side of Duo's face.
Duo stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Jai watched him, and shook her head. She held out a hand for Quatre, who had wisely chosen not to get back up after Heero tossed him to the floor.
"Thanks." He took her hand, and she helped him up. "Nice shot, by the way, Catherine. That was better than the show."
"Thanks. Now, will someone please fill me in? What the hell is going on? And why was Heero aiming his gun at Trowa and Wufei?" All five turned to face a strange noise, and realized that Heero had lied down on the couch and was asleep again, snoring.
Duo grumbled to himself as he walked to the infirmary. He really had not expected to be the one to be hit first. He thought Quatre would have fit the bill nicely for First One Punched. Instead, he got backhanded right below the temple, and his jaw hurt like hell. He walked in, and had learned the layout of the medical area quite well. He was here often, naturally. He opened the mini-fridge he knew so well, and grabbed his best friend, Mr. Ice Pack. He held it to his face and started toward his quarters. He might just try to hack into the building's power grid, and turn off the power to Heero's room. But more likely was he would fall asleep laying on the couch and wake up with the left half of his face numb.
Just before he slid his keycard to unlock the door, he heard someone calling him. He turned around to see Hilde jogging toward him.
"I heard you had another run in with Heero. What'd you do this time?"
"What did I do? What did "I" do? That crazy bastard got himself totally wasted over something that happened with Relena, and puked his guts up. THEN, while me, Trowa and Wufei were watching him, he swiped his gun out of my back pocket while we thought he was sleeping. I ran for the door before Trowa and Wufei knew what was happening, and they got up and tried to follow me. He got up and aimed the damn thing at them, and they, thankfully, did not move. I went to Quatre and Jai, who were ALONE, in the pilot's room," he followed that with an elaborate wink, "and ran back. When we got back, all three of them were in the exact same pose, and we tried to relieve him of his weapon. He tried to backhand Jai, and failing that, he backhanded ME."
He lifted the ice pack, showing off the nasty mark on his face, and Hilde whistled. "Then, he knocked Quatre down, and Cathy decided to pay us a visit. She threw THREE knives at Heero's gun, pinning it to the far wall. Jai knocked him onto the couch, and pointed her gun at him. I got up, and went to get this." He tossed the ice pack in the air, caught it, and slapped it back on his face. "And was just thinking on how to get Heero for this. I was thinking about cutting his power. Possibly setting a stink bomb."
"Damn. Busy day, huh?"
"Ohhh, wait, I almost forgot to mention. I may never be able to speak in a normal tone again, as Jai's shoe dramatically reduced my testosterone output."
It took Hilde a second to realize what he meant, but then she burst out laughing. She leaned against the wall, and covered her mouth with her hand, as she howled,
Duo had to admit, had it happened to someone else, it would have been hysterical. But when HE got kicked in the nuts, the situation suddenly lost any and all humor. He'd be laughing about it tomorrow, of course, when he was once again able to think back on it without cringing and involuntarily holding himself.
Once Hilde managed to calm herself down, she thought back to what he had said about Quatre and Jai.
"Well, how's Quatre doing with Jai? You said they were alone together."
"Oh, yeah. Jai left all of us to take care of Heero, and went to do her report. Quatre followed, and I whistled at him. He gave me this goddam AWFUL look, and went after her. I didn't know it was possible, but that was creepier than a death glare. It was like he was going to kill me and enjoy doing it. At least with Heero all it does is let you know he's pissed. Anyway, when I got there to tell them about soldier boy, they were both just sitting there talking. The life of a businessman." He laughed. "Had been for quite some time, too."
"Hmm. There's hope for them yet, then. Quatre hasn't lost his nerve. Good thing, too."
"Now, what do you say we go in, and watch some TV while I kill some nerve endings with this?" He tossed the ice pack in the air, and caught it again.
Hilde grinned at him. He put his free arm over her shoulders, and walked in.