The C.O.W. Project
Part 3
Quatre, Ashleigh, Aaron, and Shane went down to the lobby of the hotel to see if there was anything edible in the free continental breakfast. Before they left the room they had left a note for Heero who had been in the shower. He found it and decided to join them so he headed down to the lobby. Heero almost missed them but Quatre was waiting for the elevator that Heero had taken down. Quatre explained that he had sent the kids up just a minute before and he offered to go with Heero and find him a cup of coffee.
When the kids reached the floor where they were staying they went to Duo and Shane's room. Shane handed his father the cinnamon roll and orange juice that he had gotten for him.
"Thanks Shane." Duo said.
"No problem." Shane replied.
Just then a loud bang sounded against the wall.
"That came from my room." Aaron said.
Something else hit the wall in the other room.
Duo walked over to the wall separating his room from Heero's and knocked on it. "Heero? Are you okay in there?"
All of a sudden there was silence.
"Heero?" Duo tried again.
They listened for a minute and then Aaron and Duo ran to the other room. Shane and Ashleigh weren't far behind. Aaron used his key to unlock the door and they burst in the room. It was a mess. The draws were pulled out and one of the lamps was on the floor. There was a dent in the wall over it. They could hear water running in the bathroom so Duo ran in yelling Heero's name. Since Heero didn't answer Duo opened the curtain and prepared himself to see his friend lying there dead. Instead he found an empty shower. Just then they heard Heero and Quatre's voices from the bedroom.
"Hey guys, what happened here?" Heero asked when Duo came out of the bathroom followed by the rest of the kids.
"I think there was a break in." Duo said. "Whoever did this can't be far away, we have to find him. Heero you take the hallway, I'll take the fire escape and you kids call the police."
"No! Don't call the police. It's too risky. Whoever kidnapped the kids the first time might have ties within the police. The kids and I will get out of here, you and Duo hurry up!" Quatre said to Duo and Heero. Heero was already on his way out the door and Duo was right behind him on his way to the fire escape. Quatre instructed the kids to get their stuff and meet him in the lobby.
Heero ran toward the stairs and began climbing to the roof. Once he got there he took a look around. Heero went to the edge to see a person dressed in black on the fire escape. Heero jumped onto the fire escape on the side of the building. Heero could see a man running up the flights of old metal stairs. Heero jumped over the railing and landed on the next floor down. At the sound of Heero the man had looked up for a second and that was all it took for the man to loose his footing a trip. Duo had also looked up to the top of the fire escape and watched as Heero jumped off the edge. Duo sighed as he ran up the remaining floor to the fallen figure in black. Heero jumped one more floor and reached the man the same time as Duo. The man had recovered from his fall and started racing down the stairs at brake-neck speed but found out that Duo was waiting for him. Duo and Heero were surprised at the man's size, compared to them he was very small. The man threw a punch at Heero but Heero dodged and Duo grabbed the assailant's waist to keep him from doing that again. The man struggled and all the struggling brought the man's hat off and long brown hair came tumbling out. The boys then realized that their robber was a woman. Shocked at this new development the girl took the opportunity and kicked Duo and pushed Heero. She then ran to the edge and jumped off to the ground. Duo and Heero leaned up against the railing, they were only one floor up but still, they watched as she hit the ground and tumbled. She stood up and ran off with a limp. Heero was about to follow her but Duo stopped him.
"Just let her go. There's no way we'll catch up to her if we get hurt as well."
"I wont get hurt. I was trained to do this kind of thing, remember?"
"Yes and so was I but we're not teenagers anymore. She is. Besides, we have kids to worry about. Come on, let's go to the diner."
Heero glared at Duo but gave up after a minute. "What about the others?"
"They said they were gonna get out as soon as they could. They're probably at the diner already. Come on." Duo ran down the rest of the fire escape and Heero reluctantly followed. He was still thinking about the girl.
"I'm sorry about what happened." Wufei said to his children. Kari sat in the passenger seat beside him and Bryant was in the back. Kari hadn't said much since her father whom she hadn't seen in over 4 months had taken her from karate class. The few things she had said hadn't been very nice and it was clear she didn't have much respect for her father. Wufei blamed that on the children's mother.
"I just want to let you know that I forgive you." Bryant said. "I understand why you did what you did. I would have probably done the same thing."
"Well I don't forgive you and I never will! I hope you die!" Kari said. Kari turned to the window of the rental car and stared out at the passing buildings of L3, anger flashing in her dark eyes. Kari and Justin were 14 months apart, Bryant was older and more like his father and Kari could be very hot spirited like her mother. Kari was into the punk look and at the moment she was wearing some rather large pants and a shirt that would offend a few people with what looked like a bike chain around her neck. Bryant was a little more practical and wore glasses, which made him look older than he really was. Wufei focused on the road and nothing was else said between the three.
Heero and Duo walked into the diner and spotted Quatre and the kids quickly. The kids sat at a table next to the booth that Quatre was sitting in. Heero and Duo joined Quatre in the booth. Duo ordered a breakfast plate and some orange juice. Aaron and Shane had also ordered breakfast and Ashleigh claimed she wasn't hungry. Quatre had a cup of hot tea and Heero wasn't hungry. He was still trying to figure out what someone would be looking for in their rooms. Heero had a strong suspicion that the girl was from the C.O.W. compound. Heero knew that the group had little or no time to find a safe place to hide. Heero's thoughts were interrupted by Duo.
"Hey I think that's Wufei." Duo said pointing to the door. There stood an oriental man with 2 children. When he noticed the other former Gundam pilots in the back he started toward them.
Wufei said nothing when he reached the table producing an awkward silence.
"Hey Wufei! How's it going?" Duo offered.
"It's fine." Wufei answered.
"Well you can join us here and the kids are sitting over there." Duo said.
The other kids had been staring at the new comers. Shane, like his father, was very out going but he was also somewhat more level headed so he got up and pulled 2 chairs over and offered Kari and Justin a seat. Shane then introduced himself and Aaron followed Shane's lead.
"I'm Ashleigh Winner." Ashleigh finished.
"I'm Bryant and this is Kari." Bryant said, introducing himself and his sister.
The five teenagers started a conversation, as did the adults.
"So what is the plan Heero?" Wufei asked.
"I'd rather wait until Trowa gets here to say anything more." Heero said as the door to the diner jingled revealing to the diner that another person had walked in the door. The boys looked over to see an older looking Trowa and younger, taller looking Trowa. Duo was about to wave them over when the front window of the diner shattered from a spray of bullets. The customers screamed and took cover as best they could.
"They found us…" Heero thought as he tried to find his son.
To Be Continued…