By Eve
Disclaimer: I refuse to write another one. You just can't *make* me. I've done it for the last- as long as I've been writing Wanders. Enough is enough. Screw the Disclaimer!
Dedication: To my girls, oneechan, Ani-chan, and Starlight-oneechan. I love you all. And Oneechan, you're good to go.
Warning: Blood. That's all. I'm going to say. Violence, gore, suggestive themes, suicidal themes, and *lots* of angry people. Fun story, ain't it.
**
Chapter 14: Lose Me
The great tragedy of life is not that men perish, but that they cease to love
Unknown
It was strange meeting Trowa Barton like this. Hilde bit her lip, watching as the older man sat down before her. She'd already conversed with Yuy, Quatre, and Wufei. But with Barton it was like he was a shadow trying to avoid the light. I guess since Wufei's death, the time for confession is ready to start.
"Heard you talked to your girlfriend. How is-"
His lips turned into a small smile. "Midii," Trowa spoke softly. "Her name is Midii and she's fine, just worried."
Hilde nodded, shutting her computer off. "You want to know something, am I right? Something that has do with how Cat's been acting."
"She's turned isn't she?"
Hilde stood up and walked to the window, watching the clouds come in. Storms in Israel were brutal, but at the same time amazing to watch. A small sigh escaped her lips.
"Yes, she's turned. But to a different degree. Not only that, we've lost her completely."
Trowa moved forward, causing her to shake her head. Darkness always strays the forged path. She gave him a tiny smile. "I admire your persistence, but if Catherine's gonna come back to us it's gotta be on her own."
"I don't understand has she betrayed you in anyway?"
Hilde turned, eyes searching Trowa's. "You're a smart man, Barton." She watched the lightening hit the sky. Again. And Again. Turmoil. Pain. Again. And Again. There was one reason why Catherine had been code-named Darkness. And there was one reason why she was completely unpredictable in these specific situation.
"Darkness strays," she spoke softly. "And as much as we want to avoid it, it's always been inevitable. Classic. Karma. I can give you every reason in the book. This was going to happen sooner or later."
"Non-avoidable," he whispered.
She nodded sadly. "Completely non-avoidable."
I'm sorry.
**
"You want me to talk to that?"
Dorothy chuckled and shook her head at Maxwell's opened mouth. She gave a nod at the Bartender from their seats across the room. "That," she spoke. "That woman happens to be the best shooter in the goddamn city. In fact dear sir, she happens to be the best shooter on William's sect on L2."
"There's no way in hell that thing is a woman."
"Maxwell, just go and get her to come over here."
"I still don't see why you can't do it. She-she's hairy, damn it!"
"Go," she growled, pushing him towards the bar. She sighed and turned to the window, watching the rain hit the glass. What happens now? We'll recruit and start fighting. The war will be stopped. Everybody will go home and be happy, but then what? Our lives have been carried by these emotions for so long, what will happen when the cycle starts again?
She sipped her beer. The game has yet to really begin.
**
"Where's Heero?"
Relena said nothing as Catherine entered her room, sitting in one of the chairs across from the bed she was occupying. She pulled out her knife, bouncing it from palm to palm. The other woman continued to ignore her, rummaging through a bag in front of her. Catherine's lips curved into a feral smile.
"I'm asking you a question."
"And I'm choosing not to answer, love."
Catherine leaned forward, knife still in hand. Hilde had remarked once that she was too attached to the damn thing, almost like they were cigarettes or something. She smirked. With better reason though.
"I meant to talk to you, you know. About the thing with Micah in the hallway, but you and Heero went off," she spat.
Relena shook her head, pulling out a ribbon-bound notebook. Catherine stepped back slowly. Relena's demeanor was calm and unwavering, and it was beginning to unnerve her. Maybe I miscalculated the situation in itself. She was always the hardest of us to read and understand, unlike Merian who you could get underneath her skin in a matter of moments. With Mer, it's like flipping a switch.
"Don't pick fights, you can't handle," Relena spoke quietly. Catherine watched in fascination as the other woman slowly flipped through the book. Black ink, red ink, black ink, blue ink, memories as paint and as mere pieces of paper. That's all there was to it, in a manner of speaking.
Oh, I can handle you little one. I can handle you just fine. She watched as Relena got up and placed the small notebook on top the television. Relena's hands were as pale as the moonlight compared to the blackness of the television. As if she were a ghost.
"I'm not trying-"
"Of course you're not," Relena cut her off, back still turned to her with her long fingers dancing atop of the notebook she still grasped in her hands. "You wondering if you have the opportunity to push me to my brink much like you did to Merian, isn't how this is? Are you waiting for that one moment where I'm completely vulnerable so that I'll grab that goddamn knife and shove it up my artery? Is that how it works?"
"R-"
She shook her head. "Aren't you forgetting something? Aren't forgetting why Merian and I were the last to turn? Please tell me you didn't, because if you did then right here, right now I'm losing all respect that I have for you."
Catherine closed her eyes, trying will all her memories into sequence. Nothing. "I can't do this Rel. It's not far that you can be happy."
She watched as Relena's shoulders tensed. "You think I'm happy? You think I'm happy being like this?" Catherine's eyes widened, her breathing shallow. Her eyes wandered down to her arm, the knife stuck in the side of her hand. Blood began to seep out slowly onto the table, almost as if it were a paper towel absorbing a liquid mess.
"You and Merian, especially you, were the last because of your capabilities," she whispered. "Both of you had strong spirits, nearly unbreakable, and broken you could carry out orders. Your spirits were why and how you've survived this long. But what the council didn't know was that they never succeeded and they still haven't. Merian and you can turn like a light switch."
"And?" Relena turned the knife slowly and Catherine feared it would break right through her skin. Her lips began to tremble.
"I haven't succeeded."
Relena's grip loosened on the knife handle. Oh god. Catherine's eyes met Relena's. Dark indigo swirls reminded her of the jewels her grandfather had used for carving before the war. Dangerous, mysterious, she began making a list of adjectives in her head to describe what Relena stood for. She watched as the other woman step back, eyes never leaving her own.
Silence. I am looking at Silence.
"Whatever deal you're in the process of making or are still making, make sure it ends now. We're in a war," Relena mocked.
She closed her eyes and heard the door slam.
She knows.
**
Author's Notes/Ramblings:
Okay people I'm going to say this once and only once again. Wufei is dead. It's a simple concept. He need to die for the story to go in its intended direction. No more mail about Wufei, please. Otherwise I'll take even longer to post. I don't want to punish my reviewers, but you've put me in this position. The guy's dead, all right?
Anyways, I hoped you enjoyed this part. I was bored in Lit and this a product of it. It's amazing though that it came out the way I wanted it. *shakes head* Stranger things have happened you know. Future warning, I'm getting ahead of myself but in terms of context the story is going to get depression. A whole hell of a lot more *depressing*. And bloody. And gory. Exciting, huh?
Interlude *will* undoubtedly be coming next. I promised to clear up the Heero/Japan issue and it'll revolve on nothing but that. You just don't know how I'm going to do it. And while on the topics of interludes, there are three left. I'll talk about them more in the future.
Keep reading and reviewing!