Warning: Lots of fluff between Strife and Odessa in this part.
The War of the Assassins
Part 11
"Odessa...where am I?" Strife asked curiously, eyeing the white room in wonder. It was all so surreal - in fact, it seemed like just minutes ago when he was leaning against cold, rough bark and crying into her hair.
Odessa looked up at him and smiled as she replied casually, "Room 205, 1st Floor - the Infirmary at Preventor's HQ."
Strife started. "What?!" he exclaimed, taken by surprise. He abruptly scowled as Odessa started laughing at the shocked look on his face. He looked sharply around him and noticed the white hospital beds and various medicines, surgical instruments, and above all the sterile smell that permeated everything in the room. Also, Odessa was more or less healed, and his own wounds were bandaged or had already scarred over. Of course. Everything began to fit together. There was only one problem-
"How the hell did I get here?" demanded Strife darkly, furrowing his brows. His Assassin instincts were acting up again - it was all just a little too suspicious.
"Now, now - no need to get all riled up," Odessa chastised playfully, shifting in his arms so that her forehead was pressed against his. "But Strife...I know something else that you're - how should I say - excited by," she breathed against his mouth, a wickedly coy look in her enchanting, normally somber eyes.
Strife's mouth curled into a feral grin. So this was Odessa's Siren side. He found her open, blatant suggestiveness oddly attractive. I can take a hint. "Answers - after - then," he stated in mock severity, as he pulled her down on top of him.
Fully occupied, Strife did not notice the ice blue aura until it was too late.
"No-" he blurted, pushing Odessa behind him as Virgil burst into the room.
"You killed her!" Virgil roared, his aura bursting into an angry, boiling red as he threw a deadly barrage of icicles straight at him.
Time froze as the coldly beautiful, fatally sharp ice hurtled towards Strife
He stared at the blue/white shards and was reminded of Heero. He wondered how in the world he had managed to kill Aerowyn. He felt Odessa pressing against his back, her aura black with fear and worry, and swirling with an outraged red - the same color as Rag's aura. He felt an immense sense of regret as he realized that the only thing he could do for his love now was to hope that the ice did not go through him and kill her also. He had just found her again - God how he loved her-
Odessa pushed him roughly aside. Taken by surprise, Strife staggered backwards and tripped on a bed sheet. He collapsed clumsily to the ground and righted himself just in time to see her standing in front of him, proud, noble and beautiful, about to take the spell that was meant for him.
"Oh no - ODESSA!!"
The shimmering silver of a Blade sliced through the air, catching the deadly icicles as it slammed into its smooth surface with a metallic ring. The Blade hit the wall with a thud, where it stayed impaled.
Immediately afterward a single shot rang out, and a burst of hot blood exploded from Virgil's head. The Assassin collapsed stiffly to the ground, his face an unrecognizable mass of ruined, bloodied flesh and bone. His aura and Blade faded quickly out of existence until there was not a trace of that characteristic ice blue.
Strife started shaking uncontrollably as he stared in utter bewilderment at his savior standing casually in the doorway. "Heero..."
Heero eyed his smoking gun with no small amount of irony. "So it does work," he replied dryly.
Strife stared at him for a few moments more and then started laughing with immense relief and sudden comprehension. Preventors' HQ - of course Heero would be here. It really wasn't that surprising.
He abruptly stopped laughing as he watched Odessa walk deliberately towards the pilot and put her arms on his shoulders. Heero looked down at her in confusion. "What...?"
"Thank you, Heero," she said quietly, sincerity and gratefulness written in every muscle of her body. She then suddenly reached up and kissed him on the cheek. Strife felt a swift twinge of jealously that was extinguished just as quickly as he saw Heero blush ever so slightly. The pilot had not expected it either. He eventually managed to nod a bit awkwardly, obviously feeling uncomfortable. Odessa smiled at him warmly and then turned away, heading back for Strife and carefully avoiding Virgil's corpse.
Strife enveloped her tightly in his arms, immensely grateful that she was okay. He just held her for a few quiet moments, marveling at the feeling of completeness and serenity that washed over him.
He felt Heero start to leave so he abruptly looked up and called, "Heero-"
The boy turned to face him. "Strife...I'm glad that you're in good health. What is it?"
"Thank you - that was some damn good aim," Strife replied warmly, smiling at him. "Consider the debt paid."
Heero frowned ever so slightly. "But you saved my life more than once..."
"Yes...but - Odessa is worth more to me than my own life," he said, and then immediately stopped, surprised that he had said it and at the utter sincerity in his voice. It was true. He could feel it from the depths of his soul. Odessa looked up at him, taken back. He usually wasn't one to voice his emotions and feelings about other people so openly and she had certainly never expected him to say something like that out loud and in public.
This time Heero smiled back, his aura swirling with understanding. "I know how you feel," he replied quietly, and then turned to leave. "I'll get someone to clean up the mess," he called coolly over his shoulder as he walked out of the Infirmary.
Strife smiled wryly, looking at the empty doorframe. "That's our Heero...Mr. Calm-and-Collected," he muttered half to himself, amused.
"Yes, but Relena is softening him up," Odessa murmured contentedly against his shoulder.
Strife looked fondly at her, flooded with so many emotions that he couldn't quite identify. "Why did you do that back there...push me back and try to sacrifice yourself for me?" he asked quietly.
"Because I love you, Strife," she replied simply and tenderly.
*"I - I love you,"*
Rag's voice echoed painfully in his memory. Strife shook his head fiercely. This is Odessa, not Rag.
"I could ask you the same question you know," Odessa remarked cheerfully, idly playing with the hairs on the back of his neck and successfully dissipating all thoughts of Rag from his mind.
Strife smiled and leaned over to kiss her. He had almost forgotten how good it felt. "Because I love you, too," he whispered against her lips.
She pulled away and looked at him solemnly with her enchanting eyes. "You really meant what you said to Heero back there didn't you?"
He nodded gravely, running his hands through her silky long hair.
"You never said anything like that about me before..." Odessa added, her voice wavering and her eyes filling with tears. Strife could tell by her aura that she was truly touched.
He couldn't help but feel a bit ashamed of himself. "I'm just sorry that I didn't tell you sooner," he said seriously, and then found himself again thinking of Rag. God how he missed her. "I never got to tell Rag..." he choked, almost as an afterthought and more to himself than to Odessa.
She must have heard the hurt in his voice because the next thing he knew, she was tenderly kissing away the tears that had suddenly started streaming down his face. "I know how much she meant to you," she said quietly. "I'm so sorry, Strife."
"So am I," he replied sadly.
Odessa started gently caressing his face in an effort to comfort him and seemed fascinated in tracing his scars. Soon she moved down to the long, expansive scars on his chest and he shivered with violent pleasure as she stroked his sensitive flesh with her cool, slender hands.
Desire was swift and overwhelming. "I-" he started hoarsely, pressing her hard against him, unable to continue.
"Somewhere where Mr. Virgil Trysten won't be watching, preferably," replied Odessa wryly, untangling herself from his arms and dragging him out of the bloodied, tainted Infirmary. Strife allowed her pull him, ignoring the amused, confused, and sly looks that the people in the halls shot him. He supposed that the two of them were a strange sight - a half-naked man wearing just boxers and a woman in hospital scrubs pulling him around. But he was too happy to feel embarrassed.
They finally reached a comfortable, secluded room that looked like some sort of living quarters.
"Where are we?" Strife asked, confused and thoroughly lost.
"Answers - after - remember?" Odessa replied playfully, pulling him towards her.
****************
He did indeed find out the answers to all his questions afterwards. Heero invited him and Odessa to have dinner with him and Relena and they got along beautifully. Strife also had a prime opportunity to catch up on things. He found out that Heero and Odessa had become good friends after Odessa had explained to Heero that she had seduced him mainly with magic back when they were fighting each other. Relena had helped the situation by good-naturedly responding to Heero's apology that if she were him, she'd be attracted to Odessa too. Strife had also found out that Relena had warmed up to him after Heero explained how he had saved his life multiple times, and they actually got along rather well after they spent some time together.
Unsurprisingly, Relena and Odessa were the best of friends and spent most of their free time together - shopping, chatting, gossiping, and just having fun. Heero and Strife would watch them in wonder, seeing sides of their respective girlfriends that they had never seen before. Those two were absolutely crazy when they got together. Of course Strife and Heero were best friends also, but being together did not bring out any hidden sides of their characters. They were just too much alike.
As to how Strife and Odessa had ended up at the Preventors' Headquarters anyway, Heero reported that he had actually felt Strife's calls for help on that dark night and had gone with Sally and Wufei to check it out. When they found Odessa with him, they had originally not known what to do because they only knew her as Siren, the leader of the most dangerous rebellion they had ever faced. But yet again, Heero sensed that Siren was somehow different, and persuaded Sally and Wufei to take both her and Strife back to the Infirmary. When Odessa woke up, they were all very surprised to find her completely different from Siren. Except for Heero that is.
The only way that Strife could ever explain Heero's phenomenon was that the pilot was already extremely perceptive, and since Strife had the same aura as him he could feel him when he was distressed, and since Odessa had the same aura as Relena, he could empathize with her also.
Strife's recovery was much more difficult than Odessa's. The doctors just did not know what to do when the poison from Diablo's Blade kept him in a coma for two weeks. They did not know what type of poison it was nor did they know how to cure him. They feared that he would never completely heal and at one point, just gave up on him and left him for dead. That is until Odessa was fully healed. She immediately took her Blade and after much effort constructed a Cleanse spell and let the doctors do the rest. To their immense surprise, Strife woke up two days later, completely well.
Odessa also explained what the room was that she had taken him to. The Preventors had generously provided her with her own quarters, but she had rarely slept in it. Instead, she spent almost all of her time next to Strife's hospital bed, so that she'd be there when he woke up. Also, there was no permanent medical staff at the Infirmary, so they needed someone to watch him for any signs of change. That's why Strife and Odessa were alone when Virgil arrived.
Sally and Wufei actually knew that Virgil was there, and called Heero for help since he had the most knowledge of Assassins. He rushed to the Infirmary and when he saw the deadly icicles hurtling for Odessa, he instinctively picked up her Blade resting by the door and threw it as hard as he could, hoping that the swords were as strong as they looked. He then tried yet again to shoot an Assassin, and it had fortunately finally worked.
They buried Virgil's body later that day.
Afterwards, when they took a look at Odessa's Blade, they found that the ice had actually punctured through the sword, but had thankfully not gone all the way through. Odessa later let the Preventors archive the sword for future reference and study, since she did not need it any longer.
A day after Strife woke up, Sally and Wufei brought back Aerowyn's body. It had been originally cloaked and therefore hidden from view, but when Virgil died, the spell gradually disintegrated by itself. Strife felt like throwing up when he saw Aerowyn's corpse. There was a large, deep gash in her forehead where a piece of sky metal from Ragnarok had lodged, just outside her skull. Strife found that rather ironic, for Rag had absolutely despised Aerowyn and that she would harm her with her death seemed like just the extreme that Rag would resort to. That wound itself actually shouldn't have killed her, but the apparent icicle blasts that had hit her did. She was a broken, bloody, mangled mess.
"I'm guessing that while she was busy with that forehead wound, Virgil hit her with an ice blast from above and she wasn't able to dodge it in time," remarked Strife thoughtfully.
"Then why blame it on you?" asked Odessa, confused.
"Because he couldn't blame it on himself without going insane," he replied somberly, thinking about the last time that he had seen the redhead. Virgil had pretty much been unhinged even then.
"You're probably right," replied Odessa, looking at Aerowyn's body with obvious distaste. "Well at least we don't have to deal with her or the Daeminstirul anymore."
"You know we can't escape from the Daeminstirul or the Baron, Odessa," he said quietly. "There's no getting away from your father. He wants us both dead and he'll find out about my oath to the Daeminstirul sooner or later. Or he'll find something else to kill us for. Like Aerowyn and Virgil's deaths."
Odessa sighed wearily and idly played with a strand of her dark hair. "I know...but I don't want to leave..."
Neither did Strife.
After a little debate, they decided to bury Aerowyn next to Virgil. They knew that it would piss Aerowyn off but please Virgil immensely, so in the end they concluded that the two canceled each other out and that burying them next to each other would neither be good nor bad.
After maybe a month or so, they both knew that it was time for them to leave the Sanq Kingdom. Strife and Odessa tried their best to explain to Relena and Heero why it was necessary for them to go.
"They know we're on Earth," explained Strife wearily for the millionth time. "We'll only be endangering you if we stay in the Sanq Kingdom any longer, because now the Baron probably already has spies out here - we have to keep on moving and avoid staying in one location for a long period of time. We're already pushing it...just please try to understand."
Relena adamantly refused to let them go. "How do we know that you will be all right if you can never come see us or contact us?" she demanded stubbornly. She had gotten extremely attached to Odessa and Strife over the past month or so and was not going to let them leave without a fight.
"Relena..." Odessa groaned, annoyed and her patience wearing thin. They had been arguing for the past half-hour.
"I just don't want you to get hurt, Dess!" replied Relena fiercely, resorting to her pet name for Odessa.
Odessa softened up a bit. Relena was like a little sister to her and she didn't want to leave her either. But she would not risk causing harm to her by staying. "Just please let us go..." she whispered, her aura reflecting her desperation and stress.
Strife felt it, and put a hand comfortingly on her shoulder. "Odessa..." he said, concerned.
Relena began to relent as she saw how worried Strife was. Heero gave her the final push. "They have to go, Relena," he said gently. "I don't want them to leave either, but they can take care of themselves. They were Assassins, remember?"
Relena looked up at him, tears filling her ocean-blue eyes, knowing that she had lost the battle. "I just don't want them to get hurt," she repeated, choking back her tears. "It's like during the war - we will not know if they are even dead or alive. And we won't be able to do anything if they are in trouble or if they are...dying," she added, her voice cracking. "Like when you left me - I just don't want that to happen again, Heero," she cried, anguished.
"Relena-" Odessa began, pained by her despair. She started to move towards her.
Heero shook his head ever so slightly. Odessa froze, distressed and bewildered. The pilot tenderly took Relena into his arms and let her cry against his chest. "Shh, it's okay - I won't leave you again, Relena. It'll be alright," he cooed gently, smoothing back her hair. Heero looked up at them only once, his gaze hurt and intense. The emotion swirling in his normally placid aura was overwhelming. He was almost begging them to leave him and Relena alone...
Strife understood and so quietly took Odessa's hand and led her away.
It was not their fight any longer.
*****************
Odessa was unusually depressed that evening. "Strife I hate this!" she suddenly blurted over their dinner, angry with herself. "I hate having to hurt them like this!"
Strife looked at her, worried. She was uncommonly angry and upset. "We don't have a choice," he said again, reaffirming his own resolve. He had no desire to leave either, but he knew that they had to. I can't let Heero or Relena get hurt. And there's no way that I can protect them now...
She scowled at him, annoyed. "That's what makes it worse," she snarled, throwing her fork down on the table and pushing herself to her feet.
Strife caught her before she could leave. "Odessa..." he murmured tenderly into her ear, trying to soothe her, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist.
She was rigid in his arms, quivering with tension. "Please let go of me, Strife," Odessa replied stiffly and with a threatening undertone. She was strung much too tight...
He could feel it and wanted more than anything to comfort the woman trembling against his body. He suddenly remembered what Odessa had said to him when he was in a dark mood. "Now now Odessa - no need to get all riled up. There's surely something else that - how should I say - excites you," he said quietly and too seriously, meaning to comfort and amuse, not seduce.
He felt her gradually relax and start to laugh weakly. "That was horrible, Strife," she complained half-heartedly.
Strife smiled, relieved. "Yeah well, it saved me from getting my ass kicked," he replied wryly, stroking her hair gently.
Odessa grinned and then her smile abruptly faded as she said quietly, "I'm sorry Strife...it's just that-" she broke off, unable to continue, her violet eyes shining with hurt tears. She looked away, embarrassed.
"I know," he answered kindly, tenderly turning her face towards him for a kiss. They had both forged bonds with Relena and Heero that they did not want to break. But it would be necessary to do so for their protection, no matter how much they hated leaving.
Odessa broke the kiss and wrapped her arms around his chest, her cheek pressed to his shoulder. Strife held her tightly and they stayed like that in complete silence for a very long time.
********************
The next day Strife and Odessa were up at dawn. They had a long journey ahead of them. Relena and Heero were waiting for them outside, looking solemn in the pink-gray light. When they saw him, they shared an amused glance and then stepped aside to reveal an old-fashioned, black chrome, classic Harley Davidson.
Strife gaped. "You're kidding me..." he said in wonder, eyeing the shining, polished motorcycle with awe. He had told Heero about the air motorcycles he had loved to ride on Lothos, but he had never expected the pilot to do something like this for him. "Are you really giving it to us?" he asked, failing to keep the excitement and eagerness out of his voice. He had truly missed riding them - he loved the feeling of wind rushing through his hair and seeing the road blurring past him.
"Yes," Heero answered, a wry look on his face. "We weren't going to make you walk the whole way, and I didn't think that you could drive the cars we have here. So Relena dug up a motorcycle."
"We had a few of them sitting around," Relena joked, a twinkle in her eye.
Odessa laughed. "I almost forgot about your fanatic obsession with these things," she remarked playfully to Strife, running her hands across the black leather seat.
Strife ignored her and thanked both Heero and Relena profusely for their generosity. Then an awkward silence stretched between them. Not one of them wanted to believe that they were really leaving.
Heero was the first to break the uncomfortable silence. "Goodbye Odessa," he said seriously, extending a hand to the blue-haired woman standing next to him.
Odessa just looked at him for a few moments and then completely ignored his outstretched hand to crush him with a tight hug. The shocked look on Heero's face was precious.
Relena started giggling and abruptly stopped as Strife hugged her gently. "Goodbye Relena," he said quietly.
She pulled away, looked up at him and said solemnly, "Take care, Strife. Remember - those plane tickets are good for any country, just show them my signature and seal. And you have shuttle tickets too, in case you want to go to the Colonies."
Strife nodded. "Thank you," he replied sincerely.
The blonde woman smiled and then a mischievous glint snaked into her liquid blue eyes. "I'll hunt you down if anything happens to Odessa, so you better take good care of her, Strife Mercury," she warned with mock severity.
Strife grinned. "I wouldn't want to cross the Vice Foreign Minister Darilan now would I?" he retorted dryly, eyeing the petite woman pointedly.
Relena opened her mouth to respond, but was smothered by a crushing hug from Odessa. As the two women began their teary farewell, Strife turned to face Heero who was leaning against the wall, alertly watching everything around him. The pale sunlight bathed his hair and face with golden light and turned his aura into a fair sky blue.
Strife walked over to where he was standing and asked casually, "You'll tell the other pilots that I said goodbye?" From what he had last heard, Duo was in the Colonies with Hilde, Trowa was back in the circus, and Quatre was running his family business.
Heero nodded silently, staring at him with those intense blue eyes.
"Thank you for everything, Heero," Strife said to him solemnly.
"No, thank you, Strife," the pilot responded, his steady gaze on Relena. She was clinging on to Odessa tightly, her eyes filled with tears.
Strife laughed ruefully, pushing back his dark messy hair. "Do we have to go through this again?"
Heero just looked at him, his face blank, but a swirl of wry amusement in his aura.
Strife gradually sobered and said eventually, "We'll come back someday..." he trailed off, gazing into the distant horizon where the sun was rising into the sky, accompanied by pale pinks, purples, and oranges. The day had just begun, and it already looked fresh and inviting. "Heero...thank you for trusting me," he said finally to the pilot, not knowing how to put his feelings into words.
"Take care of yourself," Heero replied, with uncharacteristic warmth in his eyes and voice. He said more with the emotion in his voice than with his actual words. Strife could feel his sincerity and his vague sorrow. The grim Gundam pilot didn't want him to leave either...
"I will," he said quietly, and then offered Heero his hand.
He gripped it firmly. "Goodbye, Strife."
"Goodbye, Heero."
The two men looked at each other with equal parts friendship and innate understanding of each other. Strife could sense that they would see each other again - someday...
Heero let go of his hand and motioned towards the motorcycle. "You better get going."
Strife smiled faintly and turned away, leaving the pilot by himself. He didn't feel a overwhelming depression, but just a dull sadness. Heero and Relena had become like family, and now he was going to have to leave them. Odessa was the only one he had left now...even Rag was no longer there for him and he felt decidedly unbalanced without her hanging quiescent on his back. But the pain of losing her was no longer quite so sharp...
He gently tapped Odessa on the shoulder, who was still fiercely hugging Relena. "It's time to go," he said somberly, hating the anguished expression on both of the women's faces. It made him feel like an executioner.
Odessa turned to face him and left Relena with a final 'goodbye'. She neither looked at him or back at Relena. Strife was hurt by the black sadness in her aura, but he did not move to hug or comfort her like how Heero immediately moved to embrace Relena. He knew that Odessa would not appreciate it. She would get over losing her surrogate little sister in time.
Strife straddled the motorcycle and marveled at how well it suited him. It almost felt molded to his body - like an extension of himself instead of just a vehicle. Heero had chosen well. Plus, all of the controls were in a familiar location, except of course they were lacking the jet boosters and altitude control.
He felt Odessa settle behind him and wrap her arms tightly around his waist. She was still silent. Strife did not disturb her.
He took one last look at Heero and Relena standing a few feet away, watching him gravely. Strife smiled at them warmly and bid his last farewell. He then looked thoughtfully at the road stretching before him. Familiar anticipation started to stir in his gut. Yes he was leaving Heero and Relena, but he was also going on another exciting adventure, embarking on a new journey, starting a new life. He was fondly reminded of one of Rag's favorite expressions. "Let's rock and roll," he murmured to himself as he throttled the engine and felt the motorcycle roar to life.
He tore down the empty, quiet street and into the horizon, the wind rushing through his hair and Odessa pressed against his back. The Sanq Kingdom disappeared quickly behind him, until there was nothing left to see except the open road and the rising sun.
****************
AN: Yep...that's all folks. The end of The War of the Assassins. ::sniff:: Anyway, I tried writing an epilogue but it turned into more of a prologue so I decided not to post it as part of this fic. I will be writing about Strife and Odessa's children though, and it will be posted here under the category "Originals." It's called "Legacy." Thank you so much for your support and for reading my fic!!! Cutlass317@aol.com