Torment of Paradise
Chapter 13
Head bent in thought, Quatre's eyes skimmed over the paper checking for any last minute details that may have escaped him. It seemed like it had taken him forever to quietly get the plans for Samuel's house and now the blueprints were filled with the white lines of a pencil.
"Quatre?"
Hastily he pulled over some reports over the plans before he looked up to see his father coming in to the room. "Hello Father. What can I do for you?"
"Busy at work I see." he said with a smile.
"Yes...all these reports to do in addition to scheduling a slew of meetings." Quatre looked away, rubbing the bridge of his nose wearily. "Is there something else you want me to do now?"
"All I want is for you to come with me for the rest of the afternoon."
Quatre looked at him surprised before stepping from behind the desk. "All right then. Are we going somewhere?"
"In a manner of speaking; just come and see."
Puzzled slightly, Quatre went falling in step beside him. Every few seconds Quatre would glance up at him. 'What could be so pressing? It must be important to take me away from the ceaseless piles of paper that Father always wants me to do.' Before long they entered the large airy parlor; seated there was the slight figure of a girl.
"Miss Knight, may I introduce my son Quatre?"
"A pleasure to meet you Mr. Winner." she said rising with a small curtsey.
Quatre looked at her for a few moments. "Likewise." he replied with a contrived smile.
"I shall leave you two to talk for a bit."
Quatre glanced back at the door to see it close gently before turning back to the girl who had a simpering smile on her face. He managed a weak smile wishing he was back behind that desk he suddenly liked.
"So....you're Quatre Winner huh?" she asked in what was supposed to be a pleasant voice. "I hear you play the violin."
"I do." he said maintaining a distance; she reminded him too much of a predator, waiting for an opportunity to sink her claws into some hapless guy; namely a hapless rich guy. "Do you play anything?"
"No, not me. Much too difficult." she said shaking her head vigorously.
"Oh. Do you have any hobbies?"
"I like to shop a lot!" an enthusiasm lit her eyes.
Warning bells went nuts inside his head. "Really? How much is a lot?"
"Every day!! I usually go right after school. Sometimes I don't come back until the mall closes." she giggled.
Quatre managed to repress his shudder. "What about your homework? Don't you get that done?"
"Sometimes." she shrugged. "It's no big deal."
'No...big ...deal?' "So what are you doing in school?"
"Nothing much, just something on the war. I don't like it much."
"Why not?"
"Those Gundam pilots are ruining everything. Life would be so much better if they would just stop all that fighting. It's their fault that this war is even going on."
"Uh...huh." he nodded his head slowly. "You think it's the Gundams fault...why is that?"
"It's all over the news reports, they keep on destroying all those Oz bases." she looked at him with a gaze on disbelief. "Don't you watch the news Quatre?"
"Uh...I've been extremely busy. If you don't mind Miss Knight. I have to take care of something for a minute." he said backing away towards the door.
"All right Quatre, I can wait."
As soon as he was outside in the hall he shut the door and rested against it. "Allah..." he closed his eyes.
"Something wrong Master Quatre?"
He looked up to see Ahmed looking at him, Abdul by his side.
"Yeah, you don't look so good." Abdul peered at him. "Like you want to get out of here." his face crinkled with his chuckle.
Quatre looked at them and then the door. "Abdul, that's exactly it. I'm gonna go crazy here."
"Quatre...are you out there?"
He looked back at the door. "Damn, I forgot she was in there!"
"She?" Ahmed looked at him with a puzzled expression. "Did you finally get Miss Jess, Master Quatre?"
"No, I'm going to leave tonight. Father brought a girl over for me to talk to." he made a face. "Not that there's much to talk of with her."
"Ouch." Abdul made a wincing face. "Perhaps you better just end it. Sounds like she's coming to the door."
Quatre sighed heavily as he opened the door once more walking in to see the girl halfway across the floor.
"I was starting to wonder what happened to you." she pouted a bit. "Are you trying to ditch me or something?"
"Listen Miss Knight-"
"You can call me Naomi." she said with a saccharine smile. "Do you think that's a nice name?"
"Yes, very nice. Listen Miss Knight, this will not work out at all."
"What?" she pouted even more. "Am I too superficial or something? I can change."
"No no, you're a very interesting person in your own way. But I could never feel anything towards you."
"Why not?" she looked about on the verge of tears. "Am I hideous or something? Oh my God, I knew it; if the Winner heir doesn't want me, who would?!"
Quatre groaned as the tears began sliding down her face; what a time for theatrics. "Listen Miss Knight, it's not you, it's me. I simply cannot love anyone else."
"You don't like me!" she wailed, blubbering her eyes out. "I must be so hideous and boring!"
Quatre sighed shaking his head as he guided her to the door. Opening it, he saw Abdul and Ahmed standing there, amused looks on their faces. "Abdul...Ahmed would you escort her back to her car and see that she is off?"
"Of course Master Quatre." Ahmed said with a smirk. "Come along Miss. The front is this way."
Quatre watched as Ahmed lead the crying girl away, Abdul following after, clearly trying to not laugh. 'I have had enough of this.' He headed back down the hallway stopping in his office and grabbing the blueprints before going to his room, taking out his duffel bag and packing it with clothes and anything else he would need to get Jess out. Just as he shouldered his bag and picked up his violin case, his father came into the room.
"Quatre, what's going on? Naomi wasn't even here ten minutes and she's leaving in tears?"
"That was no part of mine Father. She was just insecure about herself, that's all."
"And where are you going Quatre? Out on a sleepover or something?" his father crossed his arms, waiting for an answer.
"I'm going away Father. That's all."
"And when will you be back?"
"I don't know. Whenever I come back I suppose." 'If I ever come back.'
"Quatre, you do not have my permission to leave this house."
"Father...I am leaving this house whether you like it or not." he replied softly before walking out of the door.
"Quatre, come back here; I am not done with you." his father went after him. "You cannot leave this house!"
"And why not Father?" he asked, pausing at the bottom of the stairs looking up. "Why can't I leave? Because my 'grooming' isn't done yet?"
"Quatre, that's not true! You must stay here; it's for your own protection!"
Quatre shook his head before looking around, seeing some of the Maganacs and servants draw closer. Normally he would end an argument right then and there but not this time.
"And what's so safe about these walls? They can fall like any others; they're prone to the same weaknesses."
"Quatre, the world is a violent place. You must stay here with the safety of your family."
"Family..." he murmured, closing his eyes momentarily. "That what we're should to have here shouldn't we?"
"What are you talking about Quatre? We are a family."
"A family would encourage each other to be who they are, to do their best." Quatre paused for a minute "But ever since day one, you have condemned everything I have ever wanted to do; my music...my desire to paint. Nothing was ever good enough for you unless it was something outdoors or athletic...which I really wasn't good at."
"Quatre we only wanted what was best for you...I wanted what was best for you." his father said coming down the stairs. "Please try to see reason."
Quatre shook his head and went to the door and opened it. "Then why do you never seem to listen to your only son?"
"Quatre."
He looked back at his father standing there in the foyer, looking impassive and almost cold. "Yes Father?"
"You walk out that door and don't ever think of coming back here."
Quatre met his eyes for a few moments before he turned. "As you wish Father." he said softly before walking out the door and shutting it behind him quietly.
Quietly, the leaves of the bush moved aside allowing Quatre a good look at the house just up ahead.
"How is it Master Quatre?" came Ahmed's hushed whisper from behind him.
"Quiet." he murmured, eyes scanning for any movement in the house. "I see the servants but I'm not seeing anything else."
"We should get closer." Abdul hissed. "We can see better and take action from there."
"All right, just remember that it's just the three of us so don't be seen at all."
They slid away from the screening bushes slinking closer towards the house. Quatre ducked into the back, inching closer to the door. Glancing around he saw Abdul and Ahmed take their spots behind a tree and a large patio bench. Nodding his head, he looked up seeing only dark windows. He moved along closer not seeing the glow of light anywhere before moving to and along the side. Then the side door opened suddenly, making him duck in to a shadow.
"There, garbage done for the night." came a satisfied voice followed by hands dusting themselves.
Peering around the corner, Quatre saw a blonde haired girl, looking up at the night sky. 'Come on.' He looked up at the windows anxiously before seeing the girl turn back into the house. Moving quietly, he snuck a glance into the kitchen window; no one. He motioned over the others quickly before opening the door gently. 'I wish I didn't have to do this.' He felt like a criminal but he ignored that particular feeling as they walked through the kitchen.
"Master Quatre, this way."
Glancing back he saw Ahmed and Abdul motioning him to a stairwell. They went up quickly, seeing almost no servants around. Once they reached the top floor, they peered down the hallway carefully.
"It's like there's no one here." Ahmed said as they walked down the hall quickly.
"Strange." Quatre murmured as they continued down the hall.
Coming up he saw a door with a large lock on it, making him pause in front of it. "This must be the room."
"I should say so. I've never seen so many locks on one door before." Abdul muttered. "All right, stand back and let me do my thing." he produced a pick and began working away on the locks.
It wasn't long before the door opened before them silently and they stole in, closing it behind them. Seeing the faint shape of the light switch on the wall, Quatre flicked it on, illuminating the entire room.
"Allah...it's almost like a prison in here." Ahmed whispered looking around.
Quatre had to agree; the small cot standing at one end of the grey room, the tattered bookcase holding the few books in there, the closet door filled with holes and the door leading to the bathroom. But he couldn't see Jess anywhere in the small place.
"Jess?" he called walking to the bathroom door, resting his hand in the doorknob.
"Hello? Is someone in there?"
The three of them whipped around as a girl's voice came through the door. "Alex, is this your idea of a joke? Get out of Mrs. Orton's room, Samuel won't be happy to know some one was in here you know."
Running over silently, they all went into the bathroom, closing the door just as the other door creaked open slowly. They remained frozen as they saw the girl's shadow move across the floor.
"Alex, really now, this is very silly for a grown man to be doing you do realize that right?"
Quatre looked around for anywhere they could hide; the sparsely furnished bathroom provided not much cover. He looked down to see the knob turning slowly before looking back at Abdul and Ahmed. Ahmed pushed him in the bathtub before pulling the curtain shut before he could protest. The girl's scream, echoed around the tile covered room followed by Abdul and Ahmed's attempts to calm her.
"Miss, wait!" he called jumping out of the tub, going out of the small room into the bedroom after her. "Where's the girl who was here?!"
She froze at the door before looking back at him carefully. "You're looking for Mrs. Orton?"
"Yes, we're looking for Jess. Is she here?"
"The girl looked at him before a gasp of shock spread across her face. "Oh my God!! You're Quatre Winner!! What the hell are you doing in here like you own the place; I swear to God I'll call the police on you if you don't leave right now!! Breaking and entering is a crime you know!!"
"Please miss, I'm just looking for Jess. Can you tell me if she's here?" he asked, giving her a pleading look.
"If that's all you want you could have knock like a civilized person you know." she crossed her arms, frowning.
"And Samuel would be glad to see me on the doorstep asking for Jess?"
"True. You got me there." the girl went to the bookcase, reaching behind the books and pulling out a computer and handing it to Quatre. "I'm so sorry, she's not here Mr. Winner. She was taken away."
Quatre took the slim black rectangle. "Where is she now?"
The girl shook her head. "None of us knows. Samuel just came in here one day and dragged her out. We don't know where."
Quatre remained silent, mind racing away. "Was he wearing a uniform?"
"Yes he was." the girl paused. "May I ask how that will help you?"
"If he was wearing his uniform, he probably went to an Oz base nearby. Where is that?"
"The nearest Oz base?" the girl paused. "That would be about eighty miles away, due west. You think he took her there?"
"It's very possible." he held the laptop closer. "Thank you..."
"María." she said smiling at him. "Think nothing of it. We all think that he had it coming to him one day. Jess gave it to him good one day after your father I guess came over here."
"That sounds like her." he paused. "What did he do to her?"
Maria's face fell sombre. "She wrote about it...a journal she told me was helping her to keep sane in here. I don't think she'd object to you reading it."
"Hm...Thank you María."
"No problem Mr. Winner. If you need anything else, just come around and I'll do my best to help you."
He nodded his head in thanks before he left the room, Abdul and Ahmed following behind him.
"Master Quatre...perhaps we should wait until tomorrow and find her then." Abdul whispered. "It would be wise, especially if this Samuel comes back here. He won't be sure of where we went to."
"I agree Abdul. We need to operate with stealth here." he paused. "Actually, you guys can go back. I know someone who can help."
Ahmed and Abdul paused as they went out the back door, clearly not too happy with that idea.
"Are you sure master Quatre? Look at what this man did to you last time you...talked with him so to speak." Ahmed said.
"I know. That won't happen again, I promise you that." he bowed his head. "This...this is something that I must resolve myself when I find him and her."
Understanding sighs came from the two Maganacs before they shook their heads.
"May I ask which one of your fellow pilots will you be requesting help from? Heero?" Abdul asked rubbing the bridge of his nose.
Quatre shook his head. "No, Duo. He's the stealth master among us. I'm sure he'll help me."
"All right then Master Quatre. But if you need any extra help you call us all right?"
"I will. You guys should go now. I'll be fine by myself until I meet up with Duo."
Now slightly skeptical looks came from them as they shook their heads.
"Master Quatre, I do believe you may enjoy going off on your own sometimes, and not worrying about the consequences of what can happen." Ahmed responded.
"I do worry, believe me. "I'll be fine. You guys get going. And tell Rashid not to worry about me all right?"
"Very well Master Quatre." Abdul said shaking his head. "When you see Miss Jess give her my regards will you?"
"I will Abdul." he looked at Ahmed. "You guys be careful going back all right?"
"And you be careful in what you're about to do Master Quatre." Ahmed admonished. "I don't like it but I get the feeling that you'd just go off anyways."
"Love does that to people Ahmed." Abdul muttered, giving Quatre a stern look over his glasses. "No mischief Master Quatre."
"All right. Bye guys!" he said before walking away into the shadowy night.
It wasn't a long walk to the small place he'd managed to secure for himself for the night; it was quiet and out of the way, just what he'd wanted. Opening the door, he plunked down on the creaky old bed, turning Jess' laptop over in his hands. After looking at it for awhile, he placed it beside him on the bed before taking out his rarely used own and plugging it in. It was a few minutes later that he had sent off the message to Duo, saying he had to get here as soon as possible. He shut down his laptop and placed it on the bedside table.
"Now what to do?" he murmured. He glanced over at the black shape of Jess' computer before he pushed the thought away. "There's still plenty to do. If she's still at the base then I'll need to get plans and security measures to be bypassed…"
Soon enough Quatre lost himself in planning, but the thought of the laptop sat there in the back of his mind, reminding him that there was a side of Jess that he had yet to see.
~*~
An insistent banging startled Quatre from his sound sleep; he hadn't even realized that he had fallen asleep. The paper littered bed should have been proof enough. Rubbing his face he went up to the door.
"Who is it?" he called.
"Are you still asleep Quatre? Man you tell me to get here ass soon as I can and when I do, you're still asleep!"
Chuckling to himself he opened the door to see Duo's amused and indignant face. "Morning Duo."
"And Wufei decides to yell at me all the time. Hmph. So why did ya want me here?"
"Want to go to another base with me?" Quatre paused for a minute.
"Sure. Which base are we talking about here?"
"Remember Mitchell Base?"
"You wanna go back there?!" Duo looked at him like he was crazy. "Why on Earth do ya wanna go back there?!"
"Jess." he shrugged before walking back to the bed. "I think this time, she will need our help. And not just because of Samuel."
"All right. But who exactly is Samuel? You been keeping me out of the loop or something?" Duo chuckled.
"I guess." Quatre ran a hand through his hair. "Samuel is Jess' husband."
"What? Come again? My…Jess is married?" Duo looked thoroughly shocked. "When did this happen?!"
"I don't know Duo. But she hates it. She keeps on running away from him….and I don't blame her one bit."
"Why? Did he do the same thing to her?" Duo's face suddenly went dangerous.
"Worse I guess." Quatre shook his head. "I saw her one time, and her entire shoulder was black and blue."
"Bastard." Duo muttered. "You're sure she's at Mitchell Base?"
"It's the only logical assumption now. He most likely took her there and who knows what they're going to do to her."
"They lay a hand on her and I'll see to them personally." Duo said in a tight voice before he noticed the bed. "Been preparing?"
"Yeah. Almost done; I'm not going to go through the same thing again this time. I've been running some checks on the base and it seems as if they're still holding her there." Quatre picked up a paper. "That means we don't have much time to do this."
"It shouldn't take much time anyways, since I'm here and all. Going in and out like we were never there right?"
"Exactly. I just have to change and then we can go." Quatre said, grabbing some clothes from the duffel and going to the bathroom.
"Hey Quatre…why do you have so much stuff with ya?"
Quatre pulled the clean shirt over his head. "Father told me if I walked out the door that I shouldn't think of ever going back."
"Ouch. That's pretty harsh."
Sliding into his pants quickly, he came out packing away all the stuff in the duffel bag and shouldering it quickly. "All right, let's go."
"With all that stuff? No, no Quatre; some of it's gotta go." Duo took the bag and dumped it on the bed zipping it open. "Do you really need another laptop?" he asked taking it out
"That's Jess. It stays." Quatre placed it back in the bag. I guess some of the other stuff can go….like this and this."
Five minutes later there was a good sized pile on the bed and a much thinner duffel bag on Quatre's shoulder. Looking at Duo he nodded his head before they walked out of the motel room.
"It's not far to Mitchell Base. We'll walk there through the forest. Draws less attention if we're quiet." Quatre said as they headed down the street.
"Good idea. I think there's a storage shed there by the fence. We can use that as cover to get in." Duo replied. "Besides, you're talking to the stealth master here; we'll be like ghosts."
"Uh-huh. Then how come you always talk so much? I thought stealth was about being silent?"
"Well to be honest…I mostly do it to annoy Wufei. But that's between you and me."
Quatre chuckled but it vanished as they slipped into the tall trees, moving silently through the forest. It wasn't long before they reached the place by the shed.
"Heh…looks like someone else decide to come here too and they never repaired it." Duo muttered as he moved aside the cut links and ducked in.
Quatre looked at the shed before slipping through. "Need to find a computer console." he hissed.
"No problem." Duo nodded his head. "Follow me and stick close."
Holding the bag close so it wouldn't make noise, Quatre went after Duo, ducking around corners and hiding in the shadows of corners while guards passed by them. Soon enough they came to a pair of steel doors.
"Tell me you can crack the code for this lock." Duo hissed as they went to the door.
"Give me a minute." Quatre replied bending down at it, before hooking his computer to it.
Silence filled the hallway as Quatre went to work, trying to decode the computerized lock. Suddenly voice came from the hallway, still faraway.
"Quatre sorry to rush ya like this, but there are guards coming!" Duo whispered urgently.
"Just one more." he muttered, brow beading with sweat as he typed frantically.
The voice drew closer and closer until the red lock light went green and the door slid open. They darted inside the doors closing just as the guards turned the corner. 'That was too close for comfort.' Wiping away the sweat, he went to the computer console bringing up the prisoner records quickly.
"You hack as good as Heero." Duo said coming over. 'How come you never told us before?"
"You guys never asked. Besides Heero seems to enjoy hacking much more than I do." Quatre grinned. "Surprised?"
"A bit. You always liked doing your music and whatnot."
"Thanks Duo. I'll make sure you remember the whatnot. You can listen to me practice my violin."
"Wonderful." Duo groaned in mock sarcasm. "Sounds like you found something there."
"I did." Quatre looked over the screen carefully. "She's not here anymore. They relocated her somewhere else. Hang on; I'll try to find out."
A few more silent minutes passed until another screen popped up.
"That doesn't make any sense." Quatre murmured.
"What doesn't?"
"What it says here. Read."
Duo bent over his shoulder reading quickly. "That really doesn't make any sense. Why would they do that?"
"Quatre shrugged. "I don't know. But it means we're going there." he looked back at the screen; there was all the information.
Prisoner Number 1675, name of Jessica, relocated to Adler Base for further training. Future Position: Bodyguard for His Excellency, Treize Khushrenada.