Chapter Thirteen

"""It's never over. The bad guy always shoots a last shot, lying in a pool of his own blood. The hero always turns out to have less than trustworthy friends. That was the case this time as well. Only this time, it was a big chunk of crap speeding towards the Earth and threatening to wipe out large amounts of it. Not very good, but typical. And as Heero is our resident suicidal hero, he had to be the one to stop it. Sometimes, I just want to strangle the man. After I've finished recovering from the heart attack I get from worry each time.

I don't want to describe the feeling I felt as I saw him struggle against the laws of nature and time to save the world, so I won't. I will only say it was intense and not very pleasant. In the beginning, I didn't know Heero. Now I do. He kind of grows on you, you know? Shit, I'm almost crying just by thinking of it. The man is my best friend dammit, and he was racing towards his own death there. I think I have the right to be upset.

He made it of course, but only after causing a stress related malady to me and a lot of mental and physical pain to the others and me. He did save the world though.

Our relationship has changed a lot during the years. We started out as adversaries, continued to allies, friends, best friends and finally, something more than that. It all started that day we won the war. When we met afterwards, when I hugged the life out of Heero and he hugged me back for a second before heeding his 'Perfect Soldier' mind. It was in that moment he gave me the most precious thing to me: the permission and way to find him at any time, anywhere.

I used that permission one time the coming year, and even though I didn't do it more often, we kept in contact. We grew closer, just as Quatre and me did. I don't really know how I ended up as an unofficial employee of Quatre's, but I like it. Apparently, I had a talent, have one. Quatre's sisters even tend to say they couldn't do it without me. Somehow, I doubt it.

Then came the second battle…"""

I am still shaky from the confession I did to Heero. It was hard, harder than I thought it would be. To confess something like that to another person is to open one's soul, to let that person decide who you really are.

At first, Heero seemed hesitant. He seemed to be withdrawing from me. My heart sank. Then, he looked at me, and suddenly, I realized that he wasn't judging me. The passionate speech he gave me soothed my soul and the acceptance in his kiss made me want to weep. It was the Perfect Moment.

Of course his cell went off right then. Something always happens to destroy my happiness. It's the Maxwell curse I guess. Yet, I can't keep a small smile from my face. Heero knows and he accepts it! Every little cat humanoid part of me…

"Duo, it's Relena," Heero interrupts me with a gentle look. "She seems worried."

I nod and take the phone. It seems like my life will finally go off its end. I'm not looking forward to it.

"Relena?" I softly say, hearing erratic breathing on the other side. Heero is right, she is upset.

"D-Duo?" Relena replies, her voice shaky and tear-filled. I think she has been crying. "I can't stay here. Quatre is hurt and Trowa got shot and…"

Taking a deep breath, I go in with full force.

"Relena," I sharply interrupt her. "Calm down, take a deep breath. Tell me what is going on. Don't stress. Keep breathing."

She seems to follow my instructions and when she speaks again, she seems a lot calmer. In fact, she is most likely tapping into her politician reserves.

"Are you aware of the two incidents today?" Relena asks, her voice steady.

Incidents? I give Heero a glare. He hasn't mentioned any incidents. Then again, he didn't have any time to. Or maybe it's me who doesn't remember.

"No, I'm afraid Heero hasn't told me," I say, keeping my voice calm, even as I too am beginning to get worried. Relena's hands are almost audibly shaking.

"Earlier today, on a charity auction, Trowa and I were shot at by a sniper," she silently says. "Just an hour ago, an explosive device attached to Quatre's clothes went off. Wufei told me that if he had been wearing his shirt, he would be dead now. Duo, having me here is bringing everyone into danger! I can't stay here if that means I'm risking people's lives!"

Shit! It has begun, it really has. Our time to prepare has ended. Too soon, too fast! WE aren't ready for this, not yet. Yet it's time to take Relena and go. The result of this is that much depends on Caramel now. I'll have to have faith in her.

"I'm coming Relena," I shortly say, making a quick decision. "Pack two overnight bags for us and prepare to leave. I'll be there in ten minutes."

I end the call and look at Heero. He seems sad and rightfully so. I'm leaving him and the others after all. Then, before my eyes, the soldier face returns to his handsome features. He is prepared, he knows. The battle has begun. And just as it usually does, it has come without any prior warning.

Quatre's accident frightened me. I freely admit it. Due to a tiny explosive device and random hands on the streets I almost lost him to the endless death. I almost lost the love of my life. It's a feeling I refuse to feel again.

Directly after the explosion, my first reaction was to pinpoint the source of it. The second was to find Quatre and reassure myself that he was alive. I'm not blaming myself for that. It is a soldier's reaction and I need to keep it within me, else I will loose myself. The soldier is part of me, has been since the first time I opened my eyes to the world, robbed of my earlier memories. If I were to loose it, I wouldn't be me anymore.

My love wasn't hurt too badly. Just a few gashes and a couple of minutes unconscious. That didn't help ease my worry though. Even now I'm keeping close to him. I even made him strip and searched body and clothes alike for more devices. We didn't find any though, thank God.

At this moment, Quatre and I are sitting in a couch on the seventh floor, going over places he's been to and things he carried with him. We keep radio contact with Wufei, who is warning the Maguanacs and checking everything over for any more explosives. Quatre would have liked to do it himself, of course, but I wouldn't let him. No matter what he says, you can't come out of an explosion unharmed. Not even Heero can do that and it's saying a lot.

I look up as one of Quatre's men enters the room. A slender blonde in a grey business suit is following him. Her pretty face is adorned by wire glasses and I can see that she has traces of pink dye in her hair.

Automatically scanning the woman for anything threatening I barely notices Quatre rise and step forward. The dark-skinned man clears his throat and looks rigidly at my lover.

"Master Quatre," he formally says, making a curt bow. "May I present you Ms. Caramel."

I frown inwardly at the strange name. Caramel? Quatre also seems surprised, but he covers it well.

"Good evening to you Ms. Caramel," he politely says, inclining his head. I can see that he too, is conducting a scan of her form. "I am Quatre Raberba Winner. How can I help you?"

The woman known as Caramel steps forward to shake Quatre's hand with a smile.

"Good evening to you as well, Mr. Winner," she says, shaking his hand before stepping back. "As to why I'm here, I have been charged to give you this folder."

Caramel holds out a plain brown folder, waiting patiently while Quatre gives his servant a questioning look.

"Both master Wufei and Rashid have looked it over," he answered the unasked question. "No anomalies have been found."

Quatre nods and takes the folder.

"I'm sorry about that Ms. Caramel," he politely says. "But we have had some breeches of security during the last few days. I hope you will excuse my caution."

Caramel smiles, gracefully accepting the apology. Quatre walks over to me with the folder and then takes out the papers, letting us both read the text. It's a schedule over all changes of the guards, their patrol times and the whereabouts of all people in the building.

Finishing the text quickly, I give Quatre a look that he returns fully. If what the papers say is correct, it means that everything may be over by tomorrow night. But I… we can't let ourselves have that hope. We don't know this Caramel. For all we know, she may be a Hel Inc. agent.

Silently conveying my feelings to Quatre through his space heart combined with the sign language we used during the war, I remain alert. My blond significant other nods. He understood my message.

Turning and walking over to Caramel once again, he gives her an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry, but can you in any way confirm what you have given us?" he carefully says, his shoulders tense once again.

Caramel nods and her eyes twinkle mischievously as she opens her mouth to answer.

"As a friend said," she comments deviously nonchalant. "'When it rains outside it pours on Shinigami'."

I relax somewhat. That strange sounding sentence is one of the code lines Duo taught us. She is one of his mysterious contacts. Quatre nods.

"You're one of Duo's contacts then." He summarizes, putting down the folder on a table while unconsciously slipping into combat mode. "Are you positive this data isn't faulty?"

Caramel shrugs, elegantly replacing a loose strand of hair.

"Yes, Duo gave it to me less than an hour ago," she says. "Of course I will accompany you under your command to ensure my loyalty."

"Thank you then," Quatre graciously says. "Do you have a place to stay tonight?"

The blonde inclines her head.

"Yes," she says. "With your permission, I should be going. There are some things that need to be done before tomorrow."

The pilot of Sandrock gives her a curt look.

"I'll be seeing you tomorrow then."

I gingerly squint down at the small device I am carrying in a pair of pincers. It was found attached to a formal jacket belonging to Quatre, lying at the back of his limo. The Maguanac that found it scanned it and confirmed that it was the same thing as the one Quatre carried. I, of course, have the honour of transferring it to the titanium box intended for that particular purpose. Personally, I'm not very grateful. Especially since I'm not the expert in explosives in our little group. That would be Duo. But what do you do when the expert can't be called in? Call in the best available.

A shrill sound coming from my cell phone startles me, and I almost drop my burden. Giving the device a cautious look, I grab the cell, flipping it open.

"Not now," I snarl into it and promptly throw it at the nearby Rashid. I then continue on my way with a steady grip on the pair of pincers. Carefully depositing the device in the box, I slam the box shut. A nanosecond later, a boom is heard as the device goes off.

I give a shaky smile, pushing a moist strand of black hair from my face.

"Nataku!" I whisper under my breath before hardening myself and turning to Rashid. "Who is it?"

The man gives an apologetic smile and hands the cell to me.

"Master Quatre," he swiftly replies. I suppress the urge to sigh again. If Quatre called me at the Maguanac bomb squad, something has no doubt happened, again. The perks of being a gundam pilot, you're always on the march.

"Yes Quatre?" I say, leaning rigidly against the wall, my back producing knots with the speed of Deathscythe.

"An agent of Duo's showed up," our resident billionaire says. "We have enough data to end this. We need you here."

Then, he ends the call and I am on the move. Finally!

TBC