Star's Gaze
Chapter 8: The Reason for this Misery
Kattie
Disclaimer: Kattie: clutches disclaimer in fist as lawyers approach You'll never take me alive!
Lawyers: grr Hand over the disclaimer!
Kattie: NEVER!
Lawyers: ready stun gun
Kattie: ^.^***** (uh oh) throws disclaimer over cliff Fetch! BWAHHAHAHAHHA!
Lawyers: use stun gun ZAP
Kattie: falls to ground unconscious I.don't own. Gundam Wing. ^^Zzzzzsnore
Lawyers: That's good enough for us. leave Kattie to her happy dreams of owning Gundam Wing
Note: Ano- someone broke into my AOL account so. ^^* If anyone received weird IMs or e-mails.. It wasn't me! I disclaim them! ^^* Was on vacation so I couldn't update. Gomen gomen!
Another, more ficcie-related, note: Actually most security officers (at least in the U.S.) don't have bullets in their guns ^^* But- ano. this is the future! And, ano.there's a war going on so. they need bullets! nods in satisfaction ^^*
Dedication: To Melara! glomps A great authoress, wonderful nee-chan, and world-class friend huggles. Thanks for the inspiration!
Naihu stared at the screen of Hiiro's laptop intently, attempting to comprehend what Quatre was doing. After watching for a few minutes, something clicked in her somewhat small brain and she realized what he'd done. "You just took power away from a whole damn block! What the hell're you tryin' ta do? I'm gonna lose my job!"
Not waiting for Quatre to respond, Naihu slammed both of her hands onto his upper arm, causing him to fall out of the chair and sprawl across the floor. She grabbed the laptop and smacked the keys, sending electricity back to the unfortunate block. After completing this task, she turned back to the young Winner pilot and pointed her second gun at him.
"Why'd you do that? Why? WHY?" She screamed, her hand shaking with anger. "Naihu's gonna go gettin' fired! WHY'D YOU DO THAT?"
Quatre looked up at her, his deep azure eyes growing large. "Naihu, put the gun down. You're making a mist-"
"SHUT UP!" Naihu screamed, her whole body beginning to tremble. "I'M GONNA GET FIRED! YOU BASTARD!"
Unable to control her anger any longer, Naihu shot off a bullet.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Winner Estate
Mr. Winner looked around the empty room, the annoyance growing within him. He let out a deep sigh and rested his head in his hands. "Wesley!" He called, disappointment making itself clear in his voice.
Wesley poked his head into the room and gave Mr. Winner a weak smile. "Y-yes, sir?" He asked, fidgeting at the prospect of being fired.
"Have the police look for our four guests as well."
Going tense, Wesley offered an even weaker smile. "Uh, sir. We can't exactly have them arrested. they having actually done anything illegal.besides trespassing. but. Sir, I don't think they're going to spend a lot of time searching for one-time trespassers."
"They aren't trespassers, Wesley," Mr. Winner said, calmly, "They're thieves."
"Sir?" Wesley questioned, trying to understand what his employer was saying.
"They've stolen something very precious to me. Tell them that." He explained
"What did they steal?"
"My son, Wesley. They stole Quatre."
And, in a sense, it was true.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Somewhere close to the Winner Mansion
Four Gundam pilots tried to walk as quickly as they could without standing out in the crowds that littered the streets in the colony. Hiiro remained in the lead, keeping an eye out for anyone who looked anything like an Oz agent or security guard. Wufei and Trowa were close behind, watching people with intensity equal to Hiiro's.
Lagging behind, poor Duo sauntered forward slowly, trying desperately to keep at the same pace as his comrades. Pretending to be well the entire day had taken a lot out of him, and it was beginning to show. His stomach felt like someone had thrust their fist deep into it, and made it all the way to his back. His legs were screaming at him, trying to explain in a rage that they could no longer hold the weight of his body.
He almost yelled out to the other pilots to ask them to slow down, but at the last minute he decided against it. "Hey guys-" was all he got out before stopping in the act.
"What is it, Maxwell?" Wufei asked, sounding irritated, as usual. "We're in a hurry."
"Uh." Duo wracked his brain for another answer besides the one he had intended to give. Looking in a store window in an attempt to avoid seeing Wufei's death glare, Duo found the ultimate response. "Hey, we're on t.v.!"
Wufei spun around so quickly that Duo almost fell over in surprise.
There, on the television displayed in the electronics store's window, was a picture of the five Gundam pilots. Each one of them had a very close up shot, staring straight out of the screen at Duo and Wufei.
"Hiiro." Wufei called, not taking his eyes off of the screen.
As Hiiro and Trowa stopped to see why their two colleagues had done the same, they focused their gazes on the television.
"Did Oz find us?" Hiiro asked, his voice remaining monotonous even though he had to be feeling something about this.
"I don't know," Wufei replied, "It's muted."
The pictures faded off of the channel and were replaced by the newscaster looking serious and speaking slowly. A caption slowly made its way along the bottom of the screen.
"Breaking news," it read, "Quatre Raberba Winner, heir to the Winner Corporation, was kidnapped from his manor on Level Four Colony Cluster earlier today. Kidnappers identified as four teenaged boys. Pictures caught by security camera."
Images of the four wanted pilots floated onto the screen again, followed by Quatre's smiling face. Each of their names was placed next to their photograph. Luckily, the media had obviously not learned of their true occupations. But even for the five to be seen together by so many people was very dangerous.
"We need to find Quatre and leave the colony immediately." Hiiro stated, turning away from the television.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Winner Manor
"Sir." Wesley said cautiously, entering the room once again. 'This time,' he told himself, 'This time for sure I'm going to be fired. Why do I have to tell him all the bad news?'
"What is it, Wesley?" Mr. Winner asked, sounding irritated and tired.
Taking a deep breath, Wesley continued. "The media. they. found out about the past. kidnappings. All of them.Mr. Winner, sir."
"Are you sure?" There was an eerie sort of calmness in Mr. Winner's voice. It made him sound like a cross between an axe-murderer and a late-night disc jockey.
Shivers ran down Wesley's spine. "Y-yes, sir. It's on right now. If you wanted to watch-"
"Why would I want to watch a news report on information that was not supposed to leak to the media?" Mr. Winner snapped.
"I." Wesley paused a moment to think of an appropriate answer, but none came, "I don't know sir."
"The hour is almost up. Please inform the investigators."
"Y-yes, sir." Wesley had to use every ounce of self-control within himself to keep from sprinting out of the room.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Not so far away
As they approached the car, Hiiro immediately noticed that something was wrong. Although he couldn't tell what it was exactly at the moment, he was certain that it was true. He turned to look at Trowa, who nodded in agreement.
Both of them drew their guns and approached the vehicle slowly. "Wait." Hiiro said to Wufei and Duo. Duo was happy to cooperate, not sure he could continue even if he wanted to do so, but Wufei looked like someone had taken his katana right out of his hands and whapped him in the head with it.
The lock clicked as the switch inside the car moved to "unlocked". As Hiiro opened the door, Trowa positioned himself to shoot any trespasser. The tinted windows kept them from seeing anyone inside.
When the door finally was pulled open, Trowa could easily see the person who had "broken in". "Quatre?" He asked, letting his gun drop to his side.
"Hn?" Quatre mumbled groggily. Apparently he'd been taking a nap. "Oh, Trowa. Hello." He grinned up at his friend.
Trowa could tell something was wrong with his blonde companion, but he couldn't figure out what it was. The only thing he knew for sure was that Quatre was wearing more layers of jackets then were needed on the semi-warm colony. "Are you alright?" He asked.
"I'm fine, thanks. Are you okay?" Quatre questioned, stepping out of the car while rubbing sleep out of his eyes.
"We're fine." Hiiro answered for Trowa. "We need to leave the colony immediately. Your father told the police we kidnapped you."
For a second, Quatre looked genuinely hurt, but he quickly hid the emotion and nodded to Hiiro. "We can go to Iria's apartment and book a flight there." He explained. "She can take a look at Duo. Maybe she can find out what disease he has."
Hiiro stared at him for a second in silence. "Duo was sick," he said, "But he's alright now."
Duo grinned at Quatre and put a hand on his shoulder. "It was just allergies. Nothing to worry about," His grin grew wider, "They're fine now anyway."
Wufei noticed Quatre wince slightly as Duo touched his shoulder. He probably hurt it in an escape attempt.
Quatre knew that Duo was sick. It didn't matter what he said. Duo probably had convinced himself that he was fine, so there was nothing Quatre could do to convince him otherwise.
Until he had Iria check up on him anyway.
"If you're sure." Quatre smiled back. "I'm glad you're feeling better."
"Let's go." Hiiro interrupted. "We need to get off of the street."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
In the power plant
Naihu cast her gaze on the floor and tried to focus on the gray tiles that covered it. The janitor had done a poor job, there were dirt specks all over. Some of the tiles had grown green with age. Still, no matter how hard she tried to think about the floor, she couldn't escape the situation before her.
"Naihu." Her employer snapped. "Are you listening to me? We've had so many calls in complaint to your error that we've had to hire 5 extra hands to answer phones! Don't you understand how great your mistake was! You allowed a man to break into the room you were watching and turn of the electricity on a block for a whole minutes! This is a colony, there's no excuse for loss of power!"
"Sir, Mizter Breakin' In Guy had himself a gun!" Naihu explained.
"You have a gun too!" He spat. "And I don't see any bullet holes in you. I'm sorry, Naihu, but I really don't think this is the job for you."
"Sir!" Naihu cried. "He been sayin' he was in maintenance!"
Her boss sighed, and looked her in the eyes. "Did you ask him for his card? If he was in maintenance he'd have a card that told you so."
Sheepishly, Naihu let her head sag. "No, sir."
Her employer placed a hand on her arm. "I'm really sorry, Naihu. But the whole company's in trouble right now. If we don't fire you we'll probably face a lawsuit."
"Mizz Naihu been understandin'. I'll be getting' on my way now." Giving the man a half-hearted smile, she proceeded to walk out of the building.
'Damn Mizter Rich'un," Naihu thought in hatred, 'Shouldn't a missed that shot. Shoulda aimed at his big head. Instead Mizz Naihu just gives him a helluva arm ache. Damn. Well, nothin' better ta do with time.'
'Might as well finish the job.'
End of Chapter
End Notes: Somewhat shorter than usual. And I've gone back to my evil cliffhangers. But. If it makes you feel better, the next chapter should be pretty tear-jerker-ish. Real touching sniff sniff I hope. (this is, of course, if Kattie doesn't screw it up.)
Please review! (if you can ^^*) Reviews are my inspiration! Come my muses in the form of reviews! huggles everyone I love you all! Be well! Be well!
Chapter 8: The Reason for this Misery
Kattie
Disclaimer: Kattie: clutches disclaimer in fist as lawyers approach You'll never take me alive!
Lawyers: grr Hand over the disclaimer!
Kattie: NEVER!
Lawyers: ready stun gun
Kattie: ^.^***** (uh oh) throws disclaimer over cliff Fetch! BWAHHAHAHAHHA!
Lawyers: use stun gun ZAP
Kattie: falls to ground unconscious I.don't own. Gundam Wing. ^^Zzzzzsnore
Lawyers: That's good enough for us. leave Kattie to her happy dreams of owning Gundam Wing
Note: Ano- someone broke into my AOL account so. ^^* If anyone received weird IMs or e-mails.. It wasn't me! I disclaim them! ^^* Was on vacation so I couldn't update. Gomen gomen!
Another, more ficcie-related, note: Actually most security officers (at least in the U.S.) don't have bullets in their guns ^^* But- ano. this is the future! And, ano.there's a war going on so. they need bullets! nods in satisfaction ^^*
Dedication: To Melara! glomps A great authoress, wonderful nee-chan, and world-class friend huggles. Thanks for the inspiration!
Naihu stared at the screen of Hiiro's laptop intently, attempting to comprehend what Quatre was doing. After watching for a few minutes, something clicked in her somewhat small brain and she realized what he'd done. "You just took power away from a whole damn block! What the hell're you tryin' ta do? I'm gonna lose my job!"
Not waiting for Quatre to respond, Naihu slammed both of her hands onto his upper arm, causing him to fall out of the chair and sprawl across the floor. She grabbed the laptop and smacked the keys, sending electricity back to the unfortunate block. After completing this task, she turned back to the young Winner pilot and pointed her second gun at him.
"Why'd you do that? Why? WHY?" She screamed, her hand shaking with anger. "Naihu's gonna go gettin' fired! WHY'D YOU DO THAT?"
Quatre looked up at her, his deep azure eyes growing large. "Naihu, put the gun down. You're making a mist-"
"SHUT UP!" Naihu screamed, her whole body beginning to tremble. "I'M GONNA GET FIRED! YOU BASTARD!"
Unable to control her anger any longer, Naihu shot off a bullet.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Winner Estate
Mr. Winner looked around the empty room, the annoyance growing within him. He let out a deep sigh and rested his head in his hands. "Wesley!" He called, disappointment making itself clear in his voice.
Wesley poked his head into the room and gave Mr. Winner a weak smile. "Y-yes, sir?" He asked, fidgeting at the prospect of being fired.
"Have the police look for our four guests as well."
Going tense, Wesley offered an even weaker smile. "Uh, sir. We can't exactly have them arrested. they having actually done anything illegal.besides trespassing. but. Sir, I don't think they're going to spend a lot of time searching for one-time trespassers."
"They aren't trespassers, Wesley," Mr. Winner said, calmly, "They're thieves."
"Sir?" Wesley questioned, trying to understand what his employer was saying.
"They've stolen something very precious to me. Tell them that." He explained
"What did they steal?"
"My son, Wesley. They stole Quatre."
And, in a sense, it was true.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Somewhere close to the Winner Mansion
Four Gundam pilots tried to walk as quickly as they could without standing out in the crowds that littered the streets in the colony. Hiiro remained in the lead, keeping an eye out for anyone who looked anything like an Oz agent or security guard. Wufei and Trowa were close behind, watching people with intensity equal to Hiiro's.
Lagging behind, poor Duo sauntered forward slowly, trying desperately to keep at the same pace as his comrades. Pretending to be well the entire day had taken a lot out of him, and it was beginning to show. His stomach felt like someone had thrust their fist deep into it, and made it all the way to his back. His legs were screaming at him, trying to explain in a rage that they could no longer hold the weight of his body.
He almost yelled out to the other pilots to ask them to slow down, but at the last minute he decided against it. "Hey guys-" was all he got out before stopping in the act.
"What is it, Maxwell?" Wufei asked, sounding irritated, as usual. "We're in a hurry."
"Uh." Duo wracked his brain for another answer besides the one he had intended to give. Looking in a store window in an attempt to avoid seeing Wufei's death glare, Duo found the ultimate response. "Hey, we're on t.v.!"
Wufei spun around so quickly that Duo almost fell over in surprise.
There, on the television displayed in the electronics store's window, was a picture of the five Gundam pilots. Each one of them had a very close up shot, staring straight out of the screen at Duo and Wufei.
"Hiiro." Wufei called, not taking his eyes off of the screen.
As Hiiro and Trowa stopped to see why their two colleagues had done the same, they focused their gazes on the television.
"Did Oz find us?" Hiiro asked, his voice remaining monotonous even though he had to be feeling something about this.
"I don't know," Wufei replied, "It's muted."
The pictures faded off of the channel and were replaced by the newscaster looking serious and speaking slowly. A caption slowly made its way along the bottom of the screen.
"Breaking news," it read, "Quatre Raberba Winner, heir to the Winner Corporation, was kidnapped from his manor on Level Four Colony Cluster earlier today. Kidnappers identified as four teenaged boys. Pictures caught by security camera."
Images of the four wanted pilots floated onto the screen again, followed by Quatre's smiling face. Each of their names was placed next to their photograph. Luckily, the media had obviously not learned of their true occupations. But even for the five to be seen together by so many people was very dangerous.
"We need to find Quatre and leave the colony immediately." Hiiro stated, turning away from the television.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Winner Manor
"Sir." Wesley said cautiously, entering the room once again. 'This time,' he told himself, 'This time for sure I'm going to be fired. Why do I have to tell him all the bad news?'
"What is it, Wesley?" Mr. Winner asked, sounding irritated and tired.
Taking a deep breath, Wesley continued. "The media. they. found out about the past. kidnappings. All of them.Mr. Winner, sir."
"Are you sure?" There was an eerie sort of calmness in Mr. Winner's voice. It made him sound like a cross between an axe-murderer and a late-night disc jockey.
Shivers ran down Wesley's spine. "Y-yes, sir. It's on right now. If you wanted to watch-"
"Why would I want to watch a news report on information that was not supposed to leak to the media?" Mr. Winner snapped.
"I." Wesley paused a moment to think of an appropriate answer, but none came, "I don't know sir."
"The hour is almost up. Please inform the investigators."
"Y-yes, sir." Wesley had to use every ounce of self-control within himself to keep from sprinting out of the room.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Not so far away
As they approached the car, Hiiro immediately noticed that something was wrong. Although he couldn't tell what it was exactly at the moment, he was certain that it was true. He turned to look at Trowa, who nodded in agreement.
Both of them drew their guns and approached the vehicle slowly. "Wait." Hiiro said to Wufei and Duo. Duo was happy to cooperate, not sure he could continue even if he wanted to do so, but Wufei looked like someone had taken his katana right out of his hands and whapped him in the head with it.
The lock clicked as the switch inside the car moved to "unlocked". As Hiiro opened the door, Trowa positioned himself to shoot any trespasser. The tinted windows kept them from seeing anyone inside.
When the door finally was pulled open, Trowa could easily see the person who had "broken in". "Quatre?" He asked, letting his gun drop to his side.
"Hn?" Quatre mumbled groggily. Apparently he'd been taking a nap. "Oh, Trowa. Hello." He grinned up at his friend.
Trowa could tell something was wrong with his blonde companion, but he couldn't figure out what it was. The only thing he knew for sure was that Quatre was wearing more layers of jackets then were needed on the semi-warm colony. "Are you alright?" He asked.
"I'm fine, thanks. Are you okay?" Quatre questioned, stepping out of the car while rubbing sleep out of his eyes.
"We're fine." Hiiro answered for Trowa. "We need to leave the colony immediately. Your father told the police we kidnapped you."
For a second, Quatre looked genuinely hurt, but he quickly hid the emotion and nodded to Hiiro. "We can go to Iria's apartment and book a flight there." He explained. "She can take a look at Duo. Maybe she can find out what disease he has."
Hiiro stared at him for a second in silence. "Duo was sick," he said, "But he's alright now."
Duo grinned at Quatre and put a hand on his shoulder. "It was just allergies. Nothing to worry about," His grin grew wider, "They're fine now anyway."
Wufei noticed Quatre wince slightly as Duo touched his shoulder. He probably hurt it in an escape attempt.
Quatre knew that Duo was sick. It didn't matter what he said. Duo probably had convinced himself that he was fine, so there was nothing Quatre could do to convince him otherwise.
Until he had Iria check up on him anyway.
"If you're sure." Quatre smiled back. "I'm glad you're feeling better."
"Let's go." Hiiro interrupted. "We need to get off of the street."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
In the power plant
Naihu cast her gaze on the floor and tried to focus on the gray tiles that covered it. The janitor had done a poor job, there were dirt specks all over. Some of the tiles had grown green with age. Still, no matter how hard she tried to think about the floor, she couldn't escape the situation before her.
"Naihu." Her employer snapped. "Are you listening to me? We've had so many calls in complaint to your error that we've had to hire 5 extra hands to answer phones! Don't you understand how great your mistake was! You allowed a man to break into the room you were watching and turn of the electricity on a block for a whole minutes! This is a colony, there's no excuse for loss of power!"
"Sir, Mizter Breakin' In Guy had himself a gun!" Naihu explained.
"You have a gun too!" He spat. "And I don't see any bullet holes in you. I'm sorry, Naihu, but I really don't think this is the job for you."
"Sir!" Naihu cried. "He been sayin' he was in maintenance!"
Her boss sighed, and looked her in the eyes. "Did you ask him for his card? If he was in maintenance he'd have a card that told you so."
Sheepishly, Naihu let her head sag. "No, sir."
Her employer placed a hand on her arm. "I'm really sorry, Naihu. But the whole company's in trouble right now. If we don't fire you we'll probably face a lawsuit."
"Mizz Naihu been understandin'. I'll be getting' on my way now." Giving the man a half-hearted smile, she proceeded to walk out of the building.
'Damn Mizter Rich'un," Naihu thought in hatred, 'Shouldn't a missed that shot. Shoulda aimed at his big head. Instead Mizz Naihu just gives him a helluva arm ache. Damn. Well, nothin' better ta do with time.'
'Might as well finish the job.'
End of Chapter
End Notes: Somewhat shorter than usual. And I've gone back to my evil cliffhangers. But. If it makes you feel better, the next chapter should be pretty tear-jerker-ish. Real touching sniff sniff I hope. (this is, of course, if Kattie doesn't screw it up.)
Please review! (if you can ^^*) Reviews are my inspiration! Come my muses in the form of reviews! huggles everyone I love you all! Be well! Be well!