8:37 AM
The moments after the door had fully opened were, to Kiya, a total and complete blur of bright lights and images she thought were unreal… and perhaps even hoped were unreal.
Trowa, knocking her out of the way and throwing the closet door wide open as he lunged out into the room.
Trowa, hazy in the blinding sunlight, lean and muscular as a jungle cat, tackling the hapless soldier to the floor.
Trowa, landing almost soundlessly on the ground; a flash and a quiet 'click' of a switchblade refolded.
Trowa, breaking the soldier's fall, blood on his hands, standing in an ever-widening circle of crimson.
It had all taken a matter of seconds.
Kiya shut her eyes tight and smothered a cry in her throat. She could never stand the sight of someone being killed. " You didn't have to do that! " she cried.
" How many more are there? " Trowa asked, wiping the blood from his hands.
" What? "
" How many more soldiers are downstairs? " he repeated with a bite of impatience in his voice.
" Four, probably, " Kiya answered, still somewhat shocked.
Trowa nodded once. " Get back in the closet. " He started towards the door.
" What? What are you trying to do, Trowa? Get yourself killed? "
" They'll be up here any moment, " he retorted. " Just do it! "
Kiya stared off at him as he left. " I don't think so, " she muttered, and immediately made her way over to the dresser and began rummaging through the bottommost drawer.
Basil heard the soft thump above his head and winced involuntarily. Someone up there had just blown their cover, and he had a sinking feeling that he knew exactly who it was.
Lieutenant Go, a burly OZ officer some years past his prime, turned his head at the sound and saw Basil's expression change for a moment. " Is there something wrong, Doctor? " he asked suspiciously.
" Nothing at all, Lieutenant, " Basil answered brightly. Oh, for a chance to give this guy a nice swift kick to the back of the head. It would be so simple. So satisfying. And so stupid. It would earn him a royal ass-kicking from Go and his three men. Basil was no slouch himself, but the image of four armed soldiers beating the tar out of him was enough to make him hold his tongue.
Go shot the young doctor a skeptical look. " Watch this one, " he ordered, cocking his head towards the staircase. " I'll have a look upstairs. "
" Yes, sir. " The three remaining officers edged closer to Basil as Lieutenant Go headed up the stairs. Basil felt his throat constrict with every step the man took. I'll be damned if I stand here and let him find Kiya, he thought, and as soon as the lieutenant disappeared from view he swung out hard at the closest soldier. He fell instantly – forwards.
Trowa appeared from behind the fallen man. " Stand down, Doctor, " he said calmly as another soldier rushed at him.
Basil ducked as the remaining officer took a swing at him, narrowly missing his fist. " Not a chance, " he answered.
Trowa winced as a booted foot flew out at him and landed on his shin. He was still tired, too weak to fight the way he usually did. If he weren't, all three of these men would have been done away with by now. And he didn't have time to argue with that doctor either. " Then make yourself useful! " He jumped out of the way of the soldier's outstretched fist, then threw the man over his shoulder as he dove at him.
" What do you think I'm doing? " Basil asked exasperatedly, grabbing a chair from the kitchen table and smashing it over his attacker's head, cringing as he – and several broken pieces of the chair – fell to the floor. " I need to fix that later, " he muttered to himself as a reminder. Then he turned to Trowa, who was down on one knee, eyes closed, catching his breath. " Are you all right, kid? " he asked, walking towards him.
" I'll manage, " Trowa answered, but he neither opened his eyes nor rose from the ground. That's when Basil spotted the slight movement behind him – one of the soldiers coming to and getting to his feet. " Kid, watch it! " he yelled.
" What? " Trowa asked, still somewhat dazed.
There was no time to reiterate. Basil threw his arm forward, his fist connecting with the man's jaw. The soldier fell back, bewildered and unconscious, and Basil cradled his aching hand gingerly. " Never mind, " he said. " I think that's everyone. You fight well, for a kid. "
Trowa's head was turned, looking at the motionless bodies that littered the floor. " You're not so bad yourself, " he replied. " For a civilian. "
Basil was about to answer when he heard a cry from upstairs, and the three noises that followed it.
Click.
Click.
Bang.
The unmistakable sound of gunfire.
Trowa was on his feet in an instant, and the two men dashed up the stairs to the little room at the end of the hall. Basil pushed in front of Trowa and threw the door open with his good hand. " Kiya! " he yelled, and then stopped.
She was on her knees at the other end of the room, in front of the closet, her eyes screwed shut. Lieutenant Go lay a few feet before her, blood pooling underneath him, a look of surprise frozen on his face. In her hands, trembling in her viselike grip, was a still-smoking pistol.
" Good God, " Basil muttered, making his way over to her. " Kiya? "
Her hands shook uncontrollably. " I didn't have to do that, " she whispered. The gun clattered to the floor. She collapsed into Basil's waiting arms, crying into his shoulder.
He wrapped his arms around her. " It's all right. It's over. "
Moments later, Kiya felt a soft touch on her shoulder, and she gave a bit of a start. She turned her head slowly to see Trowa on one knee in front of her, his face expressionless. Then she realized that it was his hand on her shoulder, warming her through and through, and it said more than a look or a word ever could.
" You had to, " Trowa said, his voice rough and quiet, not recognizing the words that had come out of his mouth but still pressed to say them. " You had to do it. You had to survive. "
They had to dispose of the bodies. Basil had retrieved his truck from home and had driven off with the bodies in tow, while Trowa and Kiya stayed behind to rearrange the house and clean up the mess. At the end of it all, they sat around the kitchen table, silent in thought. Trowa had made some tea to help calm the girl's shaken nerves – something he had picked up from Cathrine at home – and two mugs of it steamed on the table. He took a sip and looked over at Kiya, whose eyes were still riveted downwards at her hands. She could still see blood on those hands, he knew, no matter how hard or how many times she scrubbed them clean. That was what happened after a kill at such close quarters. It happened to him. Sometimes. Rarely. " You had no choice, " he said as comfortingly as possible.
" I didn't have to kill him. "
" Yes you did. He would have killed you. "
" I could have let him. It wouldn't have mattered. "
" Your father and your friends need you. That's why it would have mattered. "
" You're never worried about dying. "
" Mine is not the best example to follow. "
" You don't even flinch around death. Why? "
" It's a part of life. It happens. I accept that. "
" It's not human. "
" I know it's not human. But I'm not sure how much of me is still human after all. " Trowa looked her in the eye – those clear, cool gray eyes. He was slightly startled by how bright they were. " You've still got a heart, and maybe that's what this war needs – someone with a heart to stop it all. Someone who still sees blood on their hands long after they've killed someone. Someone who looks for peace instead of always turning to war. You have that. And for that lieutenant to kill you would have been a waste. "
They stared at each other across the table in complete silence. Kiya was afraid of him, this mysterious boy with the cool glittering silence of steel. And now she trusted him more than anyone – more than her father, even more than Basil, her best friend – drawn in by the seriousness in his face and by that same cold hard mystery she'd seen in his eyes that she once thought she'd seen in his heart. But it wasn't cold, not at all. Gone was the icy nonchalance when it came to others' lives – he may not have cared about himself, but he seemed to genuinely care about her. In his denial of his own humanity, Kiya saw in him the most human thing of all, and though it was about as good as no man's land she was ready to faint towards it.
She caught herself, tearing her glance away against her will with a wry grin and a small chuckle. " That's a mouthful coming out of you, Mr. Gloom and Doom, " she said. " Who told you that, anyway? "
The hard line of Trowa's mouth softened, turning upwards at the corners in the smallest fraction of a smile. " A brother, " he replied, thinking fondly of Quatre.
The sound of an old truck pulling onto the gravel drive ended the conversation. Basil came in moments later. " Well, that's it. They're gone. Now what do we do? "
" How long do you think it'll take OZ to notice they're gone? " Kiya asked.
Trowa answered, " It depends. How long do these house checks take? "
" Anywhere between five days to a week, " Basil answered. " One team goes through an entire zone, and since we're closer to the base our area was probably first. There's a much more densely populated area after ours, which would theoretically have slowed them down. The other soldiers won't be missed. But it's Go himself that I'm a little more worried about, and he's not even that highly-ranked of an official. So, all factors considered, that gives us about a week, give or take a day or two, until OZ stars razing the county looking for their missing lieutenant. "
" That isn't much time, " Kiya mused.
There was a heavy silence, broken at last by Trowa. " That's all the time we need, " he said.
" We? " Basil repeated incredulously.
" Are you saying what I think you're saying? " Kiya asked, hoping against hope that he was.
" You have your resistance. I have my suit. "
" It's still damaged, " Basil reminded him, " and it's out of ammunition. "
" You take care of the ammo. I'll work on repairs. "
" But that'll take too much time – "
" Just get me the ammo. "
Basil fell silent, unsure of just what kind of madman he was handing his fate over to.
" So you'll join us then? " Kiya asked hopefully.
Trowa's eyes met hers, and instantly he felt something deep inside him fill with… something. He wasn't sure what. But he rather liked the feeling. " Yes, I will. "
Kiya let out a whoop of joy, and even Basil had to smile brightly. " We'll still have to clear this with Commander Huit, " he said. " But for all intents and purposes, welcome aboard, kid. " He offered his hand, and Trowa shook it.
" Thank you so much. " Kiya reached towards him. " You don't know what this means to us. "
Trowa shook her hand too, and once their hands met he felt as if he never wanted to let go.