The Replacement Assassins

Ch. 13: Heero's Decision

The rain simply did not let up the entire day, as it continued to pour down in sheets well into the afternoon. After narrowly escaping in one-piece form the 2 assassins, Heero and Usagi had made their way back to the Buddhist temple to pick up the passport from Rei. Heero and Usagi made there way into the small, dimly lit temple where the giant gold colored statue of Buddha lay. Heero couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something didn't seem right, and the fact that he didn't know what it was annoyed him even further. When he got to the small table that was in front of the statue, he saw something that made his stomach turn. There lay Rei Hino motionless, beaten to within a inch of her life and something that looked like piano wire wrapped around her neck. She had bruises everywhere, and may even have a couple broken bones; her face was almost unrecognizable due to the fact that it was covered in blood.

Heero ran around the table and kneeled down beside Rei.

"Rei!?" Heero asked, removing the thin metal wire from around her neck. "Rei?" He asked again, gently shaking her.

Rei slowly opened her non-swollen eye, and gave a slight smile when she noticed that it was Heero. Though it hurt to do anything, she managed to clear her throat and speak to him.

"I moved your family to L-1." She choked out, barely above a whisper. "But I told Treize's men they'll be in L-3." She finished.

"How long do I have?" Heero asked her in a quite tone.

Rei paused for a moment, "Treize will find them by tomorrow night. Please Heero, get to them first. Don't let Treize win." She pleaded to him, pointing to something inside her robe. Heero reached inside her robe, and pulled out a passport with Rei's name on it. And for once in a long time, he gave Rei a genuine smile and Rei in turn gave him a smile before taking her last breaths and going limp in Heero's arms, she had died. Heero's smile had faded when he noticed that she had stopped breathing, and he gently shook her again.

"Rei?" He asked. No response. "Rei!? He desperately pleaded, hoping she would open her eyes, but he knew that she had passed on. Heero sighed and closed her dilated eye, "I'm so sorry, Rei. I never meant for this to happen." He whispered to her still form.

Usagi looked on in tearful silence. Though she never knew Rei, she could tell that she and Heero were very close. Heero was losing everyone that he loved or cared about, and if he didn't get to the colonies he wouldn't have anybody left.

Heero stood up and looked over at the Buddha statue. Heero glared at the statue for some reason, but it wasn't in hatred or contempt. Heero then quickly turned around and grabbed the tablecloth on the table and forcefully pulled it off littering all the candles, incense, and other items, onto the floor startling Usagi. Heero then draped the silk tablecloth over Rei's body, and left the shrine holding back the tears that threatened to come out of his eyes.

'Shit, at least he could of smiled. This looks like a goddamn prison photo!' Usagi said to herself, as she tried to fix up Heero's passport the old fashioned way with out the help of computers, something she hasn't done in almost 5 years. They were back in the hotel room from the night before, Usagi using the table, while Heero was sitting on the bed, with his back turned to her deathly quiet, smoking a cigarette. Heero wasn't much of a smoker, and he really wasn't smoking the cigarette he held in his hand, he was more like watching the cigarette slowly burn itself down to the butt.

"So how do you plan on getting to the airport alive with those 2 professional killers after you?" Usagi asked out of the blue, trying to pry Rei's picture off the passport without ripping anything.

"They wont be. Their here to finish my job." Heero said.

Usagi was confused "Why hire professional killers for a little kid?" Usagi asked.

"Quatre's boy must die in his arms…then he will share Treize's pain." Heero spoke in a cold tone.

"The same thing happens to your family, if you don't get there first." Usagi reasoned, completely and cleanly removing Rei picture. "Winner's son for your family. Wow. It's a hell of a choice" Usagi spoke.

Heero glanced over his shoulder at Usagi for a moment, and then went back to looking at his burning cigarette.

"People die. Children die." Heero reasoned. He was truly sorry for what was going to happen to Quatre's son but it was out of his hands, and his family practally had less then 24 hours to live if he didn't get to L-1.

"And no way out of it?" Usagi asked, pasting Heero "Prison Photo" onto the passport.

Heero looked back over his shoulder at the hard working Usagi, and his mind went back to when he had Quatre's son in his crosshairs. The pure look of innocence and happiness playing with his father was a picture he just couldn't shake from his mind. Usagi put on the finishing touches on the doctored passport and rose from her table, and sat down on a chair, right in front of Heero.

"I've spent whole days thinking about that one thing…that one good deed that's gonna wipe out all the shit that I've done. You ever feel like that?" Usagi asked him.

Heero looked up at her with a sort of shocked look in his eye, she had struck a cord within him. Heero had done lots of horrible things, and had killed many people even though they were criminals, they were still people he had killed in cold blood in the name of his family, his father.

"So you didn't want to kill a child. Welcome to the human race. You are a human being Heero Yui, not some emotionless killing machine. But standing aside and letting him get killed is no different than pulling the trigger." She told him, handing him the passport. Heero put the cigarette in his mouth and looked at the document. "Here. Now that's some of my best work." She smiled. Usagi then put her hand on his shoulder and a comforting manner and got up. "Have a nice trip." She said grabbing her belongings and walking out the door.

Heero sat there for a moment looking at his passport. Usagi was right, standing aside and letting the boy be killed was no different than killing him himself. But his family needed him, he had to get there before Treize's men find them. He could never forgive himself if anything happened to them, but then again he wouldn't be able to come to terms with himself if he allowed an innocent boy to be murdered in cold blood in his father's arms. Heero made his mind up, and grabbed his gray sports coat before walking out the door.

Usagi had reached the hotel lobby deep in thought, how was he going to find Quatre, and how was she going to stop 2 ruthless killers. She threw on her brown leather jacket and was about to walk out into the rain when a strong hand was suddenly placed on her shoulder. She immediately turned around to look into the eyes of Heero, she couldn't help but give a slight smile. Heero looked out into the rain and then back into her crystal blue eyes.

"Ill need guns." Heero said. Usagi smiled even more when she found out that he was going to help save Quatre's son. Usagi leaded the way out into the rain, she knew exactly where she could get a whole lot of guns for free.

"C'mon, time to pay that worm, Duo a visit." Usagi said, and they walked off into the night.