The Perfect Soldier
Chapter 5: The Hunt Begins
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The sound of fingers clicking against laptop keyboards greeted Taki for the fourth day in a row as she made her way from her room at the end of the guest hall to the stairs. First, she passed Trowa's room. As usual, his door was cracked open, allowing the sounds of the others to be easily accessible to him. And then, a few doors down, the sounds were fainter as they slipped underneath Heero's closed door. She sighed and shook her head. Although the two of them certainly were dedicated to uncovering the female Heero's whereabouts, they were never going to succeed like that.
"They still haven't figured it out yet," Taki muttered to herself, remembering the hard lessons she'd learned during the course of trying to find Heero over the years. "Well, I'm not about to begrudge anyone their educational experiences," she concluded with a slight grin. "It took me long enough to figure her out... it's their turn to give it a try."
Her hand slid down the banister as she descended to the sound of the clock striking one in the afternoon. She thought back to the two young men, painstakingly stalking the Internet and wondered when they'd run out of army rations and water... or whatever it was they were living off of. One thing was for sure; she couldn't stand the sound of their constant clicking for one more hour unless she got a serious chocolate refill. So Taki made a bee line for the kitchen.
She paused at the door, hearing Duo's voice filter through as he spoke loudly, as was his wont. "You really think this girl's Heero's sister? I mean, they can do a lot with plastic surgery these days."
"Well," Quatre replied hesitantly, "even if she isn't his sister, the resemblance still needs to be explained, doesn't it?"
"I guess you're right... But hey, I think it's just my suspicious nature talking. I find it really difficult to believe that someone who can keep Trowa at bay for a good four hours on a chess board and looks just like Heero is too freaky to be taken at face value."
A third voice—Wufei's—spoke up. "Don't forget about the ghost who sent us anonymous information during the war. She knew about Heero's mission last February and that it had been compromised. They could be connected."
"Way too many questions," Duo agreed. "I wonder how they're coming on their search."
"The last time I walked by their rooms I still heard both of them at their computers," Quatre offered. A chair scuffed softly against the floor. "I haven't seen Trowa this... concerned about anything in a long time. I can hear his computer through the wall in my room when I wake up and when I go to sleep. I feel so useless, not helping."
Wufei made a disgusted sound. "They're not going to find her like that, anyway."
Outside of the kitchen, Taki nodded appreciatively.
"Whatdaya mean, Wufei?"
She practically heard the obsidian eyes narrow. "I was studying the strategy she used in the chess game with Trowa. The harder the offensive, the further away she retreats."
"Hm," Duo mused, scraping his coffee mug across the wooden tabletop. "If that's so, they should be realizing their mistake any day now, huh?"
Taki took that as her cue. She pushed to door open and said, "Mistake? Did someone say something about a mistake? You must be talking about a man. You have no idea how much the male gender could learn from us females if they'd just take the time to ask, but hey, they're men. They'd rather be slowly roasted over an open flame before asking for help... or directions... which reminds me... sometimes Heero is too masculine for her own damn good. Man, when I get my hands on her, I'm going to kill her for not telling me about this whole mess. And I'm also going to kill her for taking off like this... totally without regard for me and my curiosity... some friend she is..."
Wufei rolled his eyes toward a blank wall and tried to ignore the dark-haired youth's undisciplined ranting.
Duo blinked. "When you get your hands on her?"
"Well, yeah. I mean, she can run but she can't hide from me forever."
"You could find her?" Quatre asked, blue eyes blinking, making him look even more adorable in his inquisitiveness than he already was.
"Sure. It'd take me a couple of days, but I could do it. I've been tracking her for years. I've almost got the process down to a science..."
"So why don't you tell Heero?" Quatre suggested.
Taki shrugged and opened the fridge. "He hasn't asked."
"He hasn't...?"
Duo blinked.
Wufei growled, "As if you haven't noticed, Heero's dead set on locating this woman, and he's not going to stop until he does."
"Yup," Taki agreed, pulling out a carton of chocolate milk.
Wufei blinked. "And you refuse to help them?"
"I didn't say I refused. I said he didn't ask me for my help. If he'd just get his head out of his... well, you know, then sure, I'd give him a hand. But I can't make it too easy, after all, it took me years to develop this technique. I'm not about to just give it away."
She thanked Duo as he handed her a glass. She brushed past him and took a seat at the table.
Quatre took one look at Wufei's sour expression and decided to change the subject. "So, how long have you known... her?"
He blushed every time he spoke in reference to Heero, obviously remembering the sauna several days ago. Taki still wished she'd been there to see it. How did she pull that off, anyway?
Taki said, "Well, we've been partners since we ran into each other during a heist about four and half years ago."
"A heist?" Duo echoed. "I know I didn't just hear you say that."
Taki sent him a quick glare over her shoulder. "Of course that's what I just said. Why bother asking if that's what I just said when you know that's what I just said?"
Wufei shook his head and smothered a groan.
Quatre blinked.
Taki continued, "We both needed some cash, I guess, so we broke into the federal shipping docks where all the old bills are shipped back to the reserve. I practically fell over her. That was kind of funny. It was also the first time I ever heard those famous words."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Taki sighed and quoted, "'Omae o korosu...'"
Duo's expression morphed into one of reluctant belief. "Let me get this straight. You're a thief?"
She grinned. "I'm retired, thank you."
Wufei blinked. A retired thief...
"Actually," she continued, obviously ignoring everyone's surprise. "We prefer the term 'wealth re-distributor.'"
Duo snorted.
Quatre still stared in awe, blinking occasionally.
Wufei put his head in his hands and told himself he was not listening to this conversation.
"Retired?" Duo said, bringing his and everyone else's thoughts around to the topic at hand. "That's just a fancy way of saying you gave up 'cause you weren't any good."
Taki nearly choked on her chocolate milk. A pair of red-brown eyes narrowed on Duo. "I take it you want a demonstration?"
He grinned. "Well... if it's not too much trouble..."
Taki grinned back and reached into the pocket of her faded jeans and pulled out a pack of gum. "Oh, no trouble at all. Anybody want some gum?" She waved the pack at the others.
Quatre and Wufei declined. Duo took one look at the wrapper and grinned. "Since you're offering and that's my favorite kind..." He took two sticks, popping one into his mouth and shoving the other into his pocket... his now somewhat deflated pocket. His eyes went wide. "What the...?" He stood up and shoved his hands in his pockets, attempting to locate the nearly full pack of gum he knew he'd stashed there.
Taki grinned. "Looking for this?"
She held out the pack of gum to him.
Maxwell's jaw went slack as he finally realized that he'd been had.
Quatre chuckled.
Wufei laughed softly and mentally saluted Taki. She maybe undisciplined and dishonorable, but anyone who can fool Maxwell at his own game deserves some sort of acknowledgment.
"How... how did you...?"
She grinned. "It's all in the wrist."
Duo growled at her and snatched the pack from her palm. He was about to loudly protest the abduction of one of his personal items when the kitchen door swung open. They all turned in surprise as Trowa stepped into the room, leaving the second floor of the mansion for the first time in days.
"Trowa?" Quatre said, almost dazed. "Did you find her?"
"Maybe," the quiet young man said. He reached for his and Heero's coats on the rack before heading back to the door.
"You want some help?" Duo offered, itching for some action.
Trowa shook his head. "Too many of us would be obvious."
Duo slouched over the table. "Yeah."
The kitchen door swung shut behind him and a moment later, the front door opened and closed as well. Duo glanced at Taki out of the corner of his eye. "You think they really found her?"
Taki grinned. "Not a chance."
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Heero trudged through the front door of the Darlian estate, letting it click shut behind him. Bone weary and wrung out, he glanced longingly at the top of the stairs where his room was, but turned toward the kitchen instead. There was still much to be done and he needed at least one cup of coffee to keep him going.
As he drew nearer, he thought he heard voices coming from the kitchen. It sounded like someone was having a party in there.
"Hey, baby, how about sharing some of that...? Ow! Whatdya hit me for?"
"This is my carton of Godiva ice cream. Get your own."
Reluctantly, Heero pushed the door open. Only the promise of coffee could have induced him into entering the kitchen. Slowly, a very unusual scene was revealed before him. Everyone was sitting around the table eating ice cream. Relena had a modest amount of vanilla in a bowl, as did Wufei. Quatre had made himself a black cherry waffle cone and was laughing uncontrollably as Taki and Duo battled over the remains of a carton of chocolate raspberry. Heero ignored them all and proceeded toward the coffee machine.
"Heero!" Relena said. "Did you find her?"
"... no..."
Duo blinked.
Taki muttered something that sounded like "no surprise there."
"Where's Trowa?" Quatre inquired after winding down.
"He'll be along in a minute or so." Deft hands dumped a healthy scoop of grounds into the filter and shoved the holder back into place.
"Would you like something to eat?" Relena asked.
"No. Thanks." Water splashed into the machine.
Duo and Quatre exchanged looks. Heero's tense silence had squeezed the laughter out of the room. Anxiously, everyone waited for him to elaborate on how the search went. But he said nothing.
The coffee was taking forever. As Heero glared at it, it seemed to intentionally slow its dripping rather than speed up. With an inaudible sigh, he leaned away from the counter. Spying yesterday's newspaper, he casually began to flip through the flimsy pages.
From where she sat, Taki eyed Heero, a speculative gleam entering her eyes. Heero turned and glanced in her direction at that moment. Something flashed across cobalt eyes that made Taki think twice before opening her mouth. She bit her lip and returned to digging in the ice cream container.
Heero glared at the machine again. The dark liquid had barely passed the one cup mark. "I'm going for a walk," he muttered to no one in particular. He abandoned the newspaper and slammed out the kitchen door, disappearing into the darkness of the gardens.
"Well," Duo grouched, "I think that was one of his better moods."
Just then, the kitchen door swung open again, revealing Trowa. He was looking a bit worn out and eyed the coffee pot before hanging his jacket up on the rack.
Something mischievous flashed in Taki's eyes. "So, where'd you look, Trowa?"
He crossed the room and pulled a coffee mug from the cupboard. Where didn't we look? "We started at the house on Centre Street..."
"And then you just prowled the streets of Salzburg?" she finished for him.
He said nothing.
Taki sighed. This guy took the art of understatement to a whole new level.
Trowa propped himself up next to the coffee machine and waited for it to stop perking. Behind green eyes, his thoughts shifted to a battle over two years ago.
"I've continually fought and with each battle, I've been killing my own heart. And my heart has been completely void of feeling for quite a long time now. Maybe my life doesn't have value anymore, but I have to keep on living. ... I've got a home to go back to."
Trowa could feel the diskette in his pocket. He was so close to knowing about his real home. So close... But he couldn't read the data until he'd met with her again. He had to know...
Why me? Why not Heero?
Trowa felt a pang of something that could be very loosely described as regret or pity. Heero had refused to give up searching. Even now, he was prowling the grounds of the estate, unable to set foot in this house, unable to admit that he wasn't getting anywhere. They'd found nothing to go on during their relentless search. Absolutely nothing. And Trowa could see that it was taking its toll on the Wing pilot.
This isn't an ordinary mission, he mused. And Heero doesn't know what to do now.
Finding her is an impossible necessity.
"What's wrong with you?" Duo inquired, spotting Taki's secret grin that she'd been trying to hide.
She just shook her head and shoved a spoonful of chocolate and raspberries into her mouth.
Trowa glanced at the coffee machine, which had stopped perking. "Thanks for making coffee," he said quietly. "How'd you know when I'd be coming back?"
Quatre blinked at him. "Heero told us."
"... Heero...?"
"Yeah, man," Duo said, glancing at the back door, "he was... just... here..."
Everyone watched with wide eyes as Trowa's face changed expression. And then with his jaw set he put his cup down with sudden force and sprinted toward the door.
The kitchen door slammed shut behind him just as Taki's laughter refused to be confined any longer. "Man, oh man. When she's good, she's good."
Wufei, Quatre, and Duo jumped to their feet and ran after Trowa, leaving a laughing Taki and a worried Relena in their wake.
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~End of Chapter 5~