The Replacement Assassins

Ch. 11: Hostage Etiquette

Heero did not have a good night sleep. He was too preoccupied with keeping a close watch on Usagi. He chose to rest on the sofa while Usagi got the king-size bed. He held a tight grip on the gun and was close to the door incase she tried to kill him or duck out in the middle of the night. But then again he was used to sleepless nights.

After Usagi awoke, she went to the restroom to freshen up. While she was away Heero decided to call Rei at the temple to check up on how she was doing. After a couple rings, Heero heard Rei's voice say "Hello." Afterwards they conducted their conversation in Japanese (though translated in English for all the non-Japanese speaking readers…including me).

"Rei, its me. How's my family?" Heero inquired, back in his normal monotone voice.

"I'm having trouble finding them." She admitted. "And Treize's men are searching for them as well." She told him.

Heero growled, and put his jacket on. "I need a passport." Heero said.

"Can you use mine?" She asked him.

Heero smirked and her proposal. "Thank you." He replied, and hung up the phone.

Usagi was straightening out the razor blade necklace around her neck and reapplied some red lipstick on her full rosy lips and walked out the bathroom. Hearing the conversation Heero had in the next room and not understanding a word, Usagi asked him.

"What was that all about?"

"I have a passport. Fix it for me, and then you can go. My family is running out of time" Heero pleaded with her.

Usagi slung her bag on her shoulder and decided that she will help him save his family. After as much as she hated to admit it, he did save her life on 2 accounts. "Ill need a picture." Usagi said.

Buttoning up his gray sports coat, Heero pondered what she said for a minute. Where could he get a picture? Finally an idea came to him. He grabbed Usagi's leather jacket and handed it to her as they left the hotel room and into the now pouring morning rain.

"What do you mean that's all you got, foo?" Exclaimed a fairly tall, well built man with a long chestnut colored braid that ran down to his ass, and indigo colored eyes that glared daggers at the man in front of him who was 20 dollars short of some money he owed him, and even more pissed off because he just lost another game on account of him.

Sighing, the braided man rolled his eyes. "Give me the money, and get the fuck outta my face." The timid man quickly complied and quickly ran away from him. He was about to go back to his game when he noticed through a nearby mirror a woman walk into the arcade. 'Usagi Tsukino?' he thought to him self, he turned around and it was a face his eyes didn't deceive him, there she was standing there with her fine ass. The braided man grinned and walked his way towards her.

Usagi walked into the crowded arcade with Heero not far behind. Not long after she walked in he saw a man with a long brown braid, walking towards her with a big grin across his face. Usagi rolled her eyes in disgust, the annoying Duo Maxwell was that last person he need to see right now, and quite frankly a person that she wanted to forget about.

"Goooooood Damn! You look good today, girl!" the braided man known as Duo complemented, eyeing Usagi with his eyes, trying to undress her. Usagi tried with all her might not to vomit.

"Not today, Duo." Usagi sneered, trying to brush Duo off.

"Hey, hey, hey! What's with the attitude girl?" Duo asked, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You need to spend time with me, get some of this love." He boasted.

Usagi smirked as he noticed Heero walking up. "Meet my new friend." Usagi offered, pointing to Heero.

Duo turned around and came face to face with the death glare of Heero Yui. Duo literally took a step back and looked on in shock not only because of his intimidating demeanor but recognized him as the person Treize was looking for so bad and how there's quite a hefty bounty on his head. But Duo was no bounty hunter; he was a simple gang leader and "businessman". But offering information leading up to his capture was quite lucrative as well.

"Sup, friend." Duo managed to squeak out. Usagi, telling that he was a little shaken, smiled and walked on with Heero not far behind. Once they were out of sight, Duo smirked and pulled out his cell phone. "He he he, time to get paid." Duo squealed, dialing on the cell phone.

Heero followed Usagi through the crowded arcade. He couldn't help but smirk at the look on the braided idiot's face when he saw him.

"Old boyfriend?" Heero asked her; curious as to how someone like her would know a worm like him.

Usagi scoffed "Ha! I try to stick to my own species." She answered, stopping in front of an instant photo machine. "Alright, here we are. Fastest passport photos in town." Usagi announced putting her tattooed hand on the machine. She removed the black curtain, and motioned for Heero to enter the small, dimly lit, booth. Heero entered the booth and took a seat on the stool inside, while Usagi took a seat on a stool located outside the booth.

"OK, now give me three bucks." Usagi told him. Heero looked at her with a raised eyebrow wanting to know what the hell she needed 3 dollars for.

"Hostage Etiquette." Usagi clarified. "Kidnappers pay for incidentals." Usagi mused with a grin. Heero couldn't help but smirk at her reasoning, as he pulled out his wallet and handed her the money. Usagi loaded the dollar bills into the machine, when she noticed he gave her four by accident. "You gave me four, ill take it as a tip." Usagi said. "Sit still, and stare at straight ahead." Usagi ordered, replacing the black curtain.

Heero sat straight and looked ahead as he was told. The first flash went off as Heero kept perfectly still. Usagi wanting to know a little more about Heero, decided to pry.

"You know you could've saved yourself a lot of trouble by just doing that third job." Usagi reasoned. I mean if he was killing bad people, what's so wrong about it?

"It was wrong." Heero replied, not moving, or making any kind of face trying to stay still for the camera. "Treize was taking revenge. A man named Quatre Winner killed his son." Heero revealed.

Usagi's eyes went wide with shock at that revelation. "Winner!? Holy Shit. You're getting yourself killed for a cop?" Usagi asked in amazement.

Heero looked down for a moment, then quickly look up. "No, not a cop." He corrected "His Son."

Usagi looked at the back curtain in a serious manner. "What?"

"A seven-year-old boy." Heero went on. The flashback had been playing in his mind ever since, having Quatre's son's head on his sights and not being able to follow through.

Usagi couldn't believe it, Heero wasn't just some lowlife killer as he thought he was when he first met him. He was just a man, protecting his family, by any means necessary. But be that as it may, he wasn't she knew that killing an innocent boy dosent justify the lives of his family. But judging by the despair in Heero's voice maybe he didn't know that.

"Why?" She asked, wanting to know why a monster like Treize wanted to kill a small child.

"Because that is how Treize Khushrenada deals with his enemies…through their families." Heero finished, looking down closing his eyes, ignoring the final flash coming from the camera. Thinking about what would happen to his family if he didn't get to L-5 in time, really pained him.

Usagi sighed. 'Poor guy…' She thought, "Alright Heero, your done get out of there." She requested, standing up wait for the photos to come out of the machine. Heero exited the booth and leaned against it, with his arms folded across his chest, and his head downcast with his eyes closed. For the first time Usagi felt for Heero, and what he was trying to do. She knew that he must have had a lot of thoughts going through his mind.