Nanashi
Chapter 7 By Morganeth Taren'drel
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing *pout*
(Authors Notes) I'm so sorry this has taken me so long, but my family finally got the internet and now I'm doing all my postings which I'm just now getting used to, thank you all so much for being patient, here's a nice long chapter to make it up to you ^_^. Thanks also to Midii Une who edited this chapter for me ^_^
Midii groggily opened her eyes, she did not know what time it was nor did she really care, it had taken her hours to get to sleep and even then her night had been plagued by dreams of Trowa. At the thought of him Midii could feel the familiar knots forming in the back of her neck once more. She could not believe he would deny her the right to exact revenge upon Kain. She knew deep in the back of her mind that he was only trying to protect her, but she did not care, he had no right to control her life in this way.
She swung her legs over the edge of her bed and rubbed the back of her neck with one hand, trying to relieve the tension. Midii sat there for a moment her eyes glancing about as she tried to decide what to do; she was more than aware that Quatre's home was heavily guarded. She climbed to her feet and walked to the balcony doors, Midii carefully studied the framework and found the sensors that would alert those watching to the door being opened. Midii opened the door and walked out onto the marble balcony, the cool wind causing shivers to run down her spine.
She stepped carefully to the edge, and leaned calmly against the railing her eyes carefully studying the gardens below her. Her sharp vision caught sight of the men that patrolled the grounds around the house; she blushed and wondered how many of them had seen both her and Trowa. At the thought of the performer Midii felt all the tension she had forgotten before come rushing back. She breathed slowly trying to release her hands form the fists they had clenched into.
With a sigh she turned around and leaned back against the railing, raising her crystal eyes to the sky above, the enraged clouds raced across the blue horizon boiling, racing from horizon to horizon; foretelling a storm to come.
"How am I going to get out of here," she mused quietly as the wind whipped through her hair. There was clearly no way for her to get out of the house, she sighed again walked slowly back into her room. There was nothing left for her to do but wait until the Preventers decided to make their move.
Midii stepped into her large bathroom, and turned the shower on, hoping the hot water would relieve her tension stress, but as she stepped under the steaming spray, she found her anger remained. Midii could not take her mind off Trowa. He was everything to her, and yet he denied her the right to take revenge against Kain the man that had stolen everything from her. She re-emerged into her bedroom and dressed, pulling a large sweater over her head. She ran one hand through her wet hair, and walked over to the table by her bed and lifted her gun into her hands. Without a second thought she slipped it behind her belt, more out of habit than any real need, with that she quit the room.
For a time she stood there watching Trowa's door, her mind wandering, she considered walking in there and confronting him, but quickly pushed the idea away. He was the last person in the world she wanted to see. Midii glanced one way down the halls and then another, trying without much success to remember her way to the dining room.
"Morning beautiful!"
She turned and felt a half smile steal across her face as her crystal eyes fell on Duo.
"Your up awfully late, did you not sleep well?" his voice was full of concern, and she felt herself completely relax as she gave him an honest smile.
"I didn't get to bed until very late, where are you heading?" she inquired softly.
"Anywhere you are Babe."
He took her hand in his own and walked back the way he had come. He stopped suddenly and turned to face her. "We should probably wait for Trowa though."
"Don't worry about it, he'll come down when he's ready." Her voice was cold, and she noticed absently that Duo did not seem all that surprised, though she guessed that he had simply heard their argument the night before.
"Well I don't know about you but I'm starving." He smiled again and led her through the house to the dining room, where Quatre and the others, including Draken, sat about the table enjoying lunch. Duo took a seat and instantly began to fill his plate; Midii however moved to the windows and once more lost herself in the blowing wind that tore through the trees beyond the glass. She could not find it within herself to eat.
Midii was unaware as to how much time passed while she stood by the windows without moving an inch. Her mind continually travelled back to Trowa, no matter what she did to stop it. She was angered and frustrated that she could not control her thoughts. She looked back about the room when she felt a hand on her shoulder and found herself looking at Draken.
"Aren't you going to have anything to eat?" his voice was low and gentle, his grey eyes softly taking her in.
She shook her head absently still feeling no need for food, her eyes travelled about the faces in the room and found that still one was not present. Midii opened her mouth to respond to his kind question, but what she had meant to say was overridden by a question that she had sworn she would not ask.
"Where's Trowa?"
Quatre looked up from his paper, his blue eyes reflective; "perhaps he's overslept?"
Midii shook her head before he had even finished; "No Trowa's not like that." She did not know why she had responded because she had sworn to herself that she did not care, but as time continued to pass and he still did not appear she could not help but feel worried.
"Maybe he's not feeling well," Draken supplied, leading her considerately to a chair. "Anyway if you're worried why don't you go see him?"
Midii's eyes flashed briefly; "Trowa is more than capable of taking care of himself." Though her words and voice were harsh, her heart was not. She knew in the back of her mind that something was not right but she could not say what. Footsteps at the other end of the room brought all heads up; a woman walked in she was in her early twenties and wore a Preventers uniform though she did not have the rank the Trowa and the others did.
"Sally!" Quatre said with some surprise, he rose from his seat and walked forward to meet her, "you have the information?"
"Of course, everything's in order." The older woman smiled as she hefted a briefcase she was carrying.
"Excellent, why don't we get started?" he moved from the room taking Sally by the arm, as he did he cast Duo a knowing glance and bent his head to hers in quiet conversation.
Duo climbed to his feet and quickly walked to Midii's side, as she too stood and began to move from the room. He gently took her arm and slowed down her pace to his own, she did not miss that this allowed Quatre to keep a great distance between her and himself as he conversed with Sally. She was now positive that something was happening. Midii turned to Duo. "What's going on?"
"You know as much as I do, Sally just brought all the information we have on."
"That's not what I mean and you know it." She interrupted what Duo had been going to say, "where's Trowa?"
"I thought you didn't care." He calmly threw back, Midii stared at him for a moment unable to speak. She swung her head away sending her blonde hair flying and pulled her arm from Duo's grasp. A great feeling of foreboding washed over her, but she forced it away knowing that she was worrying over nothing.
They moved into Quatre's parlour and all save Sally took seats, she moved to stand before all of them and rested her folder on a small table. "Alright we've gathered together and gone through everything we could find on Kain. Unfortunately none of this really helps us." She paused and flipped opened the folder and ran one finger down the page, "he has no affiliations with any other corporation, nor does he hold ownership to any factories that could produce mobile suits."
"It would appear that he had the Bèovel family killed just for the sake of taking over the colonies," Sally continued, shrugging. "I don't know what to say."
Quatre leaned back in his chair for a moment, his eyes studying the ceiling, "perhaps were simply so used to conspiracies that we see them were they don't even exist. Still there is something puzzling about all this, why did he choose now?"
"I believe there are far easier questions out there to answer," Draken said, eyes watching Quatre. "Though I can honestly tell you that Kain most likely has been working towards this day for years, it takes time to build up a corporation like the one he has."
Midii listened with only half an ear to the conversation certain words ringing clear in her mind. She could feel it in her heart, Trowa was in danger. She could not say why she felt that way. She was more than aware that the Preventers were among the best-trained soldiers in the world, and if Trowa had attained the same rank as the other men in the room, she should have had nothing to worry about. But she could not shake the feeling that there was far more to this than any of them had first thought.
She rose silently and moved from the room ignoring the questions posed to her retreating back. Her mind turned over everything she knew of what had happened, but nothing extremely unusual came forward. Kain had ordered the killing of the Bèovel family so he could gain control of the colonies, for no other reason than the money, but that problem had been taken care of. She was already aware that Trowa was not in the house, she realized now she had known that from the moment she woke. Midii knew that he had left to confront Kain, this angered her but not as much as this feeling of fear.
She knew Kain was no match for Trowa, she could not say why she felt that way but she did, and she found no comfort in it. Midii looked up and found herself standing in front of Trowa's door, for a brief time she wondered how it was that she had managed to find her way through the house. But she quickly pushed all other thoughts from her mind, as she slowly opened the door. Midii was already prepared for what she would find, an empty room, she took a step in, sharp eyes falling upon the bed.
Midii lay one hand on the door frame, as an image of Trowa entered her mind, she could see and hear nothing but him, his screams of terror as he thrashed within the throes of a nightmare he could find no exit, or escape from. Midii trembled and shook her head banishing the image of her overactive imagination.
"Midii are you all right?!" she heard Duo's worried voice coming up behind her.
Midii walked deeper into the room without responding, and stood at the end of Trowa's bed, her haunted eyes studying that which was not there. "Where's Trowa?" she asked yet again in a low voice.
"I don't know Midii."
"Where is he Duo?!" she swung about pulling her gun and levelling it at the braided man, "cut the bullshit and tell me!"
She knew full well, where he was but she wanted to hear it from the man standing across from her, who obviously had known about this longer than she had.
Duo jumped back in surprise, hands coming up defensively as he answered the angry girl before him. "By now he's in the colonies."
"Get me a shuttle!"
"I can't." Duo looked truly miserable as he stood starring down the barrel of her gun. "I can't." he said again his voice barely above a whisper.
"There's more to this than anyone thinks, I can feel it. He's in danger Duo, I need a shuttle." The hand that held the gun dropped to her side as she pleaded with the man before her.
"He made us promise." Duo raised his hands helplessly.
"You're just going to abandon him?" Midii was incredulous.
"You said yourself he's more than capable of looking after himself."
"And what makes you so sure?"
She was positive that Duo knew more about Trowa than she did and she intended to find the truth.
Duo sighed and for a moment looked as though he was going to evade the question, when he took great interest in the slowly rising gun. He through his hands up in frustration and seemed to be muttering to himself though she caught some of his words, ".why me?.always friends."
He looked up at her then and sighed again. "You want the truth?" Midii nodded and waited patiently for his response. "We, Heero, Trowa, Quatre, Wufei, and myself are all Gundam pilots. That's why I'm sure he can look after himself, we're better trained than any soldier alive."
Midii stared at him in shock, his words slowly sinking in, their meaning fully hitting her, "Gundam pilots?" He nodded his head, "but you're so."
"Young?" Duo filled in for her, "we hear that a lot. It's a good cover really, few out there expect us to be so young, and so those searching never find us." He took a step towards her, "Trowa said he would be back in a few days, I wouldn't worry."
Midii slipped her gun back in place and looked up at Duo, she was about to nod her head in agreement when she remembered the image of Trowa, trapped within a nightmare. At any other time she would simply have passed that off as an overactive imagination, but she found now that she could not simply discredit the image. Midii shook her head; "I have to go to him."
Duo rubbed one hand across his eyes; "do you have any idea what he'll do if we let you leave the house?"
She folded her arms calmly across her chest; "I assure you it won't be nearly as bad as what I will do if you don't. And please keep in mind that I'm here now." Her voice was low, she hated threatening Duo in this way, but she knew she had to find Trowa.
"Look" Duo said finally, "I can't change my position in all this, you had best confront Quatre." He turned and began to walk from the room but stopped at the door and half turned, "come on I'll take you to him." She walked up beside him. "One other thing," Duo said extending his hand, "give me your gun."
Midii shook her head mutely, one hand reaching back towards the only weapon she carried, and perhaps the only means by which she would be able to secure a shuttle. "Pulling a gun on Quatre won't work, the only reason we haven't been overrun by guards is because our rooms aren't monitored, however Quatre's office is."
"I don't care what you promised him, I will find a way to the colonies. This business that he's settling is mine to take care of." She never looked at him as she walked from the room, but she could feel his questioning eyes on her back. Duo led her to Quatre's study in silence hands clasped behind his back, eyes locked forward.
A loud crack of thunder and the sounds of torrential rains hitting the roof broke the silence, and Duo spoke softly, "what do you have to base these fears on?"
"Nothing save a sixth sense, that's screaming, 'were missing something' this was never his problem to deal with in the first place."
"What connection to this man do you have?" he probed softly.
"One I would rather forget," was her unfeeling response. He stopped outside a set of double doors and turned to her studying her face for a long time without saying a word finally he did speak.
"I feel it too." Duo opened the door and motioned her in.
Midii took a few steps in and stopped seeing that Quatre was in deep conversation with Draken, they each held within their hand a cup of tea. Both looked up at her entrance and Midii took a step back, "I'm sorry to interrupt."
"No don't be." Quatre said gesturing for her to take the seat beside Draken, which she did without comment. "Draken had planned to leave today, but it would appear the weather has other things in mind." Quatre placed his cup on the desk infront in front of him and smiled at Midii. "Would you like a cup?" he offered.
"No thank you." Midii drew in a calming breath preparing for the answer she dreaded hearing. "I need a shuttle."
Quatre, ever the diplomat, looked at her his face puzzled. "Whatever for?"
Midii's hands took a strong hold of the chair she was sitting in, to keep from leaping at the young businessman, "you know as well as I do that Trowa is not here, I need to find him."
"I'm sorry Midii but I don't know what you're talking about."
"Funny how people keep saying that and it's always a lie," she responded through clenched teeth. She could feel the tension building in the air, and she was more than aware that if she had to put up with this much longer she would snap. The phone on Quatre's desk rang and all tension flooded from the room, Midii could see a look of relief on Quatre's face as he reached out to answer it.
He lifted the receiver, and listened for a moment before looking to Draken. "It's for you." Quatre passed the phone to the older man and watched, his eyes never meeting Midii's.
"Yes?.are you positive?.Yes, yes begin right away, I'm on the next shuttle."
Draken handed the receiver to Quatre and rose from his armchair, "Forgive me Master Quatre but it would appear that a problem has arisen on one of the colonies, which I must take care of."
Quatre smiled warmly, "It's not a problem, but I afraid you'll have to wait until the storm lightens up."
"Unfortunately there's no time for that, I'll simply have to try and outrun the storm."
"If you believe that is necessary."
Quatre walked around his desk to stand before Draken, and accepted the older man's hand in a friendly shake. "I'll see you to the airport."
"Oh, please do not trouble yourself, you still have matters to attend to here."
Draken glanced at Midii with a gentle smile on his face, but a strange light within his eyes. Quatre glanced at Midii, it was a glance that spoke volumes, he then turned back to the other man and walked from the room.
Midii clenched her hands in frustration, Quatre would be even harder to convince than Duo, and with nothing to base her fears on Midii began to believe that here was nothing to them to begin with. She pushed the thought away and stood, her eyes travelling out the windows to the storm beyond, the ferocity of the weather strengthened her resolve that something had to be done and soon. She only contemplated how to show the others that there was more to this than what appeared on the surface.
She was vaguely aware of the door opening and she glanced up to see the woman Sally enter the room, her eyes instantly falling on Midii where she stood frozen in thought. She smiled brightly and walked to stand beside her, "I don't believe we've ever met before. My name is Sally Po, I'm a doctor with the Preventers."
Midii mentally shook herself from her thoughts and turned to face the older woman. "Midii Une," briefly, her mind however was still far from focusing on what was going on around her. "What are the quickest routes out of this house?" she asked softly, eyes distant.
Sally looked at her for a moment seeming surprised by the question; "I know why you're asking, and though I can't help you in that way maybe I can assist you in another."
Midii's eyes snapped to hers fully alert now, both women slowly took seats across from one another.
"I can see it in your eyes you believe there's something more to all this don't you."
"Yes, but I can't say what."
"I know how you feel, it can't just be this simple, I have a feeling there is someone whispering in Kain's ear. Unfortunately there's no information to prove any of it."
"I need to find Trowa, until we know fully what's going on I believe he's in danger." Midii stood once more, "I need to find Quatre and convince him, to let me find Trowa."
"He won't break his promise." Sally said looking up at her.
"I don't care, I'll do anything it takes to find Trowa." She began to walk towards the exit, face set, when the thick oak door opened and Quatre walked in.
"I was talking to Duo, you know now why we are not worried about his safety. He'll be back." Quatre slipped one hand in his pocket as he watched her.
"That simply is not good enough. Kain is my problem." Midii knew that they would not leave simply because she felt Trowa was in danger they all had too much respect for him. So she decided to try a different tactic.
"Why?" he asked calmly.
"He killed my family." Midii said eyes blazing, she would tell him no more of her past.
"Trowa's afraid you'll get hurt."
"I made it through the war, didn't I?" Midii shot back.
"No one can predict the future" the young businessman folded his arms and seemed rather satisfied with himself.
"Which is why you should not be so sure things are as simple as they first appear. If you were talking with Duo then you know that we both believe there is something more to this." She took a step towards him, "we need to warn Trowa."
Quatre studied her for a long while his eyes speculative, as he weighed the information she had just thrown at him, against the promise he had made. Finally he sighed, "I too feel there is more to this, however I hoped it was just me."
"It's not Quatre, and Trowa's in danger because of it." She spoke coaxingly and took another step towards him.
"Alright we'll leave as soon as the weather permits."
The door behind Quatre opened and Duo walked through, holding a thoroughly distraught Erik in his arms. The baby had clearly been crying for some time, his face red and voice hoarse. One hand clung to Duo's shirt but Erik did not cuddle close, instead he pushed himself away, and continued to wail. Duo's face showed clear the worry that he was feeling, "We've tried everything to calm him but nothing's worked."
Midii stepped forward then to take the small child into her arms, for a moment Erik struggled, wanting to be free; but when she began to soothingly talk to him he lay flat against her. Tears still fell from his tiny eyes, and his little chest heaved with his shuddered sobs, but at least he calmed a little. "He want's Trowa," Midii whispered softly, eyes locked on the crying child.
***
Trowa woke slowly, his mind feeling as though it was stuffed with cotton; his eyes refused to focus on anything in the room, he simply lay there trying not to breathe, for every breath sent pain lancing through his broken ribs. Trowa attempted to push everything from his mind, and with weak muscles tried to rise from his bed. The movements of throwing aside his blankets and swinging his legs off the bed caused the entire world to spin about him. He dropped his head down into the comforting darkness of his hands, and tried to forget the feel of everything reeling around him. Slowly he began to breathe again and was able to once more look about his room, though his eyes were still unclear.
He sat there for a moment looking about his room. His prison, if it could even be called that, had nothing on the walls save a large air duct and no furnishing other than the bed he sat upon. His emerald eyes fell upon the door and at first it appeared to be like any other, but he realised with very little surprise that it had no doorknob making it impossible for him to escape from that side. He climbed unsteadily to his feet and began to walk towards the door when his legs gave out on him and he fell against the wall, his surroundings reeling yet again.
With great determination Trowa finally made his way to the door and glanced out the small glass window in the hopes that he might discover where it was he was being held. However he found nothing beyond his prison door that could help him. Turning away from the door his eyes fell upon the ventilation shaft and he moved towards it keeping one hand on the wall for support at all times.
-What did they do to me- he wondered as he began to feel the room tip again. Trowa closed his eyes and silently willed his surroundings to be still. He inched his way towards the air duct not allowing himself to hope that they could possibly have missed something so obvious. Trowa found however that the grate was easy to pry free. This made him both suspicious and wary, he could not help asking himself why they had left him such an easy escape. Perhaps they knew he would not be in any real shape to flee, but he quickly decided that he would have to take the risk, and hope whatever drug they had used would wear off before he met up with any adversaries
Slowly he worked his way into the air duct, and silently closed it behind him, Trowa had no way of knowing how often, if ever, 'They' walked by his room, so he moved quickly. Trowa paused when the air duct split off in two directions for the first time, he had no way of knowing what the layout of the base was like, however he felt pretty sure that it could not be too different from the others he had infiltrated. So he continued on as he had for those missions hoping his guess would be right.
He was forced to stop a number of times as waves of dizziness threaten the stability of the world, but always was he moving again in seconds, refusing to waste any more time. Trowa lost track of time in the ventilation system though he had not really been sure of the time when he had first climbed in. The endless gray corridor seemed to go on and on, always the same and Trowa lost track of time, although he really had not been sure of the time when he started out. A few times he heard passing conversations below him but he could never make out what they were saying.
Trowa was moving with great caution down the shaft when he saw coming up before him a wire grate, he instantly became wary. Slowly he inched his way forward glancing down into the room below. It appeared to be some type of living quarters, the furniture was well-made but sparse, and thankfully it seemed to be deserted.
Trowa carefully removed the grate with trembling hands, he willed them to steady but they would not respond. Resting the grate beside him Trowa lowered himself into the room, the bullet wound on his shoulder burned in protest at the exertion it was being put through.
Once on the ground Trowa dropped into a defensive crouch and glanced about. The room was indeed empty, for the time being at least there was no threat. He straightened and took a step towards the door, but again his vision gave way, as did the floor beneath him. Trowa fell forward catching himself on a nearby table and dropped his head, he closed his eyes tightly and waited. Finally the room became stable once more and he was able to stand. Trowa careful not to turn his head too fast looked around him for anything that might come in handy. The only thing he found was a combat knife.
Walking over to where is rested on a dresser, Trowa took it by the hilt and carefully tested its edge, it had been well taken care of. Hefting the blade Trowa instinctively adjusted his grip to the way he had been taught, with the dull edge of the blade resting against his forearm. Now armed, he made for the door, and his freedom. The door opened without a sound, and the hall beyond Trowa found to be empty, of anything living. He remained standing in the doorway for a moment trying to decide which way to go, he finally chose right, since that was the general direction he had been heading in.
Trowa started out at a walk but quickly picked up his pace, feeling as though something were about to happen. His vision wavered but he kept on running knowing that now he could not afford to stop for anything. Trowa soon became lost in the never-ending corridors, he never even stopped to consider which hall he would go down next, all he could think about was the need to get away. He skidded around a corner and came face to face with an armed soldier.
Knowing the stunned enemy was vulnerable, Trowa struck instantly, the element of surprise was his. His combat knife sunk deep into the soldier's unguarded side. Blood spilled over the dagger onto Trowa's hand but he paid it no mind as he pulled it free preparing for another strike. The soldier's scream filled his ears and pierced his heart, he knew that voice. Trowa's vision finally cleared and he found himself facing Midii, her beautiful crystal eyes clearly displaying the pain he had inflicted.
"Trowa.? Why.?" Her hands trembled, as the life in her eyes slowly faded away. She fell against him her blood spilling onto him.
Trowa stared at her in horror and slowly he sunk to the ground, with Midii's body held tightly in his arms.
"No." he whispered unable to comprehend what he had just done. "NNNNNOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
He had killed her, torn the life from the only woman he had ever loved. Midii's body slipped limply from his blood covered arms and lay before him; her eyes still wide open. Her blank, staring eyes were all he could see, he remembered them full of life and the laughter that she so often shared with those around her, he had taken it from her.
He tore his eyes away from her unmoving form and stared down at his hands, the hands of a Gundam pilot, the hands of a murderer. Even in times of peace he could not stop the killing, all he had ever brought was pain. He had no right to bear the name she had ever uttered, he could no longer stand himself as Trowa Barton, nor could he simply become once more the nameless soldier, for then it was as Nanashi that he had first met her. He began to drift away from the world he had thought he knew, and his thoughts crumbled, and scattered like dust at the sight of the blonde angel before him, a pool of her blood fanning out around her like wings.
The young man climbed to his feet and backed away from the body, tears streamed down his face but he could not say why. He glanced down to where a bloody knife rested at his feet, and his mind raced. The world fell away into nothingness; he could not recall anything about himself or the world in which he stood. His eyes ran down the blade of the knife, he did not belong in this world, his hand reached for the knife.
Enough!
Blackness surrounded him, who was he?
***
The lights in the room glowed dimly illuminating the solitary figure seated in one chair. Though his rigid posture would have made many think otherwise, the man was quite relaxed, however it would take a great deal of training to surprise him. These rooms were well known to him, since he had spent most of his life outside of training and missions within them. They were simple, with very little furniture, only two chairs, his bed, and a place for his clothes, but then that was all he needed. He did not spend all that much time here, his continuing missions kept him quite busy.
Triton Bloom looked up as the door to his room opened and Argile walked in. He was not too much older than Triton but he was the one who gave the orders. Triton could remember his first mission working for Argile more than ten years ago. They had never really become friends, but each trusted the other to cover their back. Triton came to his feet and turned to face him, eyes empty, he rarely showed any emotion.
"Triton," at the sound of his name a memory flashed through his mind but it moved faster than he could remember it, "we have a new mission for you."
Argile handed him a white folder. Triton opened the folder and read the information provided, "a Gundam pilot has infiltrated the base, he is as yet unaware that we know he's here, dispose of him."
Triton looked up from the picture that rested on top of the other information, and locked eyes with Argile. "How did he get through?"
"A glitch in the system, mostly luck." Argile shrugged and turned towards the door. Triton moved to follow, pulling a gun from his belt, he checked the ammunition and switched off the safety.
"Once you're done report back to me."
They split company once they left his room, Argile heading for his office, knowing full well that the situation would be taken care of, and Triton moving off in the best direction to surprise the Gundam pilot. The halls slipped by in an endless stream, hundreds of doors leading to different rooms and still more corridors, the base was very extensive. Cocking his gun Triton edged around the next corner knowing that he was drawing close to where the pilot should have been by now considering the delay, from when he entered to when Triton caught wind of him.
Triton pulled back around the corner, and pressed his back to the wall, the pilot was coming, and the element of surprise was his. He was more than aware that with a Gundam pilot he would have to use extra caution. But one bullet could kill the pilot just as easily as any one else, they were not immortal. Drawing in a calming breath, he began counting the steps, the pilot was taking, they were long and even, unsuspecting. The pilot rounded the corner slowing slightly, as though he felt there was some reason to be more cautious.
Smoothly rolling off the wall Triton swept out into the center of the hall gun raised; a single bullet already fired before he even caught a glimpse of the intruder. For an instant time seemed to stop as Triton saw the bullet slam home into the pilot's body. A look of surprise washed over the pilot's face as his life's blood began to pour from the wound in his chest. Triton had struck a vital area, the man did not have long to live and he did not possess the strength to raise his own gun in response. Time sped forward instantly, and the moment was gone lost into memories. The pilot fell without a sound, and without a fight, a look of surprise frozen on his features. Triton stepped forward, a sneer of disbelief forming slowly on his face. This was a Gundam pilot? He could hardly believe it was true, this was what OZ and White Fang had such trouble killing?
Triton came to a stop beside the dead body and could not believe his eyes; it had taken almost no effort to kill him, why had so many others failed to do so? Triton left soon after, with no more answer than he had come with but hundreds more questions. He did not once look back at the pilot's unmoving form. What right did a killer of children have to live? In his mind, none. His long stride carried him quickly to Argile's office where he had been told to report once the mission had been completed. Part of him wondered why they had sent him, there were many other qualified soldiers in the base, but perhaps he was more so. Triton did not know that either, he had not often socialised with the men around him preferring to be alone.
Slipping his gun back into its holster, Triton knocked on Argile's office door, he was only made to wait a moment before he heard his superior's response. Walking slowly in Triton glanced about; the room was far from simple and inexpensive. Deep leather chairs sat here and there about the room, beside each a delicately carved table. Argile sat behind his large oak desk sifting though sheets of paper, with one hand he gestured for Triton to make himself comfortable, and he did so, waiting silently.
Minutes passed and still Argile did not come to speak with him. It made Triton wonder what could possibly be so important. Was the threat of a Gundam pilot not on their list of top priorities? Triton found all of this confusing, but he would not ask, what he needed to know would be told to him.
Finally Argile came and sat on the arm of the chair opposite Triton's. "Report." Was all he said.
Triton instantly came to his feet, snapping to attention, "sir, I have killed the Gundam pilot Trowa Barton."
Chapter 7 By Morganeth Taren'drel
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing *pout*
(Authors Notes) I'm so sorry this has taken me so long, but my family finally got the internet and now I'm doing all my postings which I'm just now getting used to, thank you all so much for being patient, here's a nice long chapter to make it up to you ^_^. Thanks also to Midii Une who edited this chapter for me ^_^
Midii groggily opened her eyes, she did not know what time it was nor did she really care, it had taken her hours to get to sleep and even then her night had been plagued by dreams of Trowa. At the thought of him Midii could feel the familiar knots forming in the back of her neck once more. She could not believe he would deny her the right to exact revenge upon Kain. She knew deep in the back of her mind that he was only trying to protect her, but she did not care, he had no right to control her life in this way.
She swung her legs over the edge of her bed and rubbed the back of her neck with one hand, trying to relieve the tension. Midii sat there for a moment her eyes glancing about as she tried to decide what to do; she was more than aware that Quatre's home was heavily guarded. She climbed to her feet and walked to the balcony doors, Midii carefully studied the framework and found the sensors that would alert those watching to the door being opened. Midii opened the door and walked out onto the marble balcony, the cool wind causing shivers to run down her spine.
She stepped carefully to the edge, and leaned calmly against the railing her eyes carefully studying the gardens below her. Her sharp vision caught sight of the men that patrolled the grounds around the house; she blushed and wondered how many of them had seen both her and Trowa. At the thought of the performer Midii felt all the tension she had forgotten before come rushing back. She breathed slowly trying to release her hands form the fists they had clenched into.
With a sigh she turned around and leaned back against the railing, raising her crystal eyes to the sky above, the enraged clouds raced across the blue horizon boiling, racing from horizon to horizon; foretelling a storm to come.
"How am I going to get out of here," she mused quietly as the wind whipped through her hair. There was clearly no way for her to get out of the house, she sighed again walked slowly back into her room. There was nothing left for her to do but wait until the Preventers decided to make their move.
Midii stepped into her large bathroom, and turned the shower on, hoping the hot water would relieve her tension stress, but as she stepped under the steaming spray, she found her anger remained. Midii could not take her mind off Trowa. He was everything to her, and yet he denied her the right to take revenge against Kain the man that had stolen everything from her. She re-emerged into her bedroom and dressed, pulling a large sweater over her head. She ran one hand through her wet hair, and walked over to the table by her bed and lifted her gun into her hands. Without a second thought she slipped it behind her belt, more out of habit than any real need, with that she quit the room.
For a time she stood there watching Trowa's door, her mind wandering, she considered walking in there and confronting him, but quickly pushed the idea away. He was the last person in the world she wanted to see. Midii glanced one way down the halls and then another, trying without much success to remember her way to the dining room.
"Morning beautiful!"
She turned and felt a half smile steal across her face as her crystal eyes fell on Duo.
"Your up awfully late, did you not sleep well?" his voice was full of concern, and she felt herself completely relax as she gave him an honest smile.
"I didn't get to bed until very late, where are you heading?" she inquired softly.
"Anywhere you are Babe."
He took her hand in his own and walked back the way he had come. He stopped suddenly and turned to face her. "We should probably wait for Trowa though."
"Don't worry about it, he'll come down when he's ready." Her voice was cold, and she noticed absently that Duo did not seem all that surprised, though she guessed that he had simply heard their argument the night before.
"Well I don't know about you but I'm starving." He smiled again and led her through the house to the dining room, where Quatre and the others, including Draken, sat about the table enjoying lunch. Duo took a seat and instantly began to fill his plate; Midii however moved to the windows and once more lost herself in the blowing wind that tore through the trees beyond the glass. She could not find it within herself to eat.
Midii was unaware as to how much time passed while she stood by the windows without moving an inch. Her mind continually travelled back to Trowa, no matter what she did to stop it. She was angered and frustrated that she could not control her thoughts. She looked back about the room when she felt a hand on her shoulder and found herself looking at Draken.
"Aren't you going to have anything to eat?" his voice was low and gentle, his grey eyes softly taking her in.
She shook her head absently still feeling no need for food, her eyes travelled about the faces in the room and found that still one was not present. Midii opened her mouth to respond to his kind question, but what she had meant to say was overridden by a question that she had sworn she would not ask.
"Where's Trowa?"
Quatre looked up from his paper, his blue eyes reflective; "perhaps he's overslept?"
Midii shook her head before he had even finished; "No Trowa's not like that." She did not know why she had responded because she had sworn to herself that she did not care, but as time continued to pass and he still did not appear she could not help but feel worried.
"Maybe he's not feeling well," Draken supplied, leading her considerately to a chair. "Anyway if you're worried why don't you go see him?"
Midii's eyes flashed briefly; "Trowa is more than capable of taking care of himself." Though her words and voice were harsh, her heart was not. She knew in the back of her mind that something was not right but she could not say what. Footsteps at the other end of the room brought all heads up; a woman walked in she was in her early twenties and wore a Preventers uniform though she did not have the rank the Trowa and the others did.
"Sally!" Quatre said with some surprise, he rose from his seat and walked forward to meet her, "you have the information?"
"Of course, everything's in order." The older woman smiled as she hefted a briefcase she was carrying.
"Excellent, why don't we get started?" he moved from the room taking Sally by the arm, as he did he cast Duo a knowing glance and bent his head to hers in quiet conversation.
Duo climbed to his feet and quickly walked to Midii's side, as she too stood and began to move from the room. He gently took her arm and slowed down her pace to his own, she did not miss that this allowed Quatre to keep a great distance between her and himself as he conversed with Sally. She was now positive that something was happening. Midii turned to Duo. "What's going on?"
"You know as much as I do, Sally just brought all the information we have on."
"That's not what I mean and you know it." She interrupted what Duo had been going to say, "where's Trowa?"
"I thought you didn't care." He calmly threw back, Midii stared at him for a moment unable to speak. She swung her head away sending her blonde hair flying and pulled her arm from Duo's grasp. A great feeling of foreboding washed over her, but she forced it away knowing that she was worrying over nothing.
They moved into Quatre's parlour and all save Sally took seats, she moved to stand before all of them and rested her folder on a small table. "Alright we've gathered together and gone through everything we could find on Kain. Unfortunately none of this really helps us." She paused and flipped opened the folder and ran one finger down the page, "he has no affiliations with any other corporation, nor does he hold ownership to any factories that could produce mobile suits."
"It would appear that he had the Bèovel family killed just for the sake of taking over the colonies," Sally continued, shrugging. "I don't know what to say."
Quatre leaned back in his chair for a moment, his eyes studying the ceiling, "perhaps were simply so used to conspiracies that we see them were they don't even exist. Still there is something puzzling about all this, why did he choose now?"
"I believe there are far easier questions out there to answer," Draken said, eyes watching Quatre. "Though I can honestly tell you that Kain most likely has been working towards this day for years, it takes time to build up a corporation like the one he has."
Midii listened with only half an ear to the conversation certain words ringing clear in her mind. She could feel it in her heart, Trowa was in danger. She could not say why she felt that way. She was more than aware that the Preventers were among the best-trained soldiers in the world, and if Trowa had attained the same rank as the other men in the room, she should have had nothing to worry about. But she could not shake the feeling that there was far more to this than any of them had first thought.
She rose silently and moved from the room ignoring the questions posed to her retreating back. Her mind turned over everything she knew of what had happened, but nothing extremely unusual came forward. Kain had ordered the killing of the Bèovel family so he could gain control of the colonies, for no other reason than the money, but that problem had been taken care of. She was already aware that Trowa was not in the house, she realized now she had known that from the moment she woke. Midii knew that he had left to confront Kain, this angered her but not as much as this feeling of fear.
She knew Kain was no match for Trowa, she could not say why she felt that way but she did, and she found no comfort in it. Midii looked up and found herself standing in front of Trowa's door, for a brief time she wondered how it was that she had managed to find her way through the house. But she quickly pushed all other thoughts from her mind, as she slowly opened the door. Midii was already prepared for what she would find, an empty room, she took a step in, sharp eyes falling upon the bed.
Midii lay one hand on the door frame, as an image of Trowa entered her mind, she could see and hear nothing but him, his screams of terror as he thrashed within the throes of a nightmare he could find no exit, or escape from. Midii trembled and shook her head banishing the image of her overactive imagination.
"Midii are you all right?!" she heard Duo's worried voice coming up behind her.
Midii walked deeper into the room without responding, and stood at the end of Trowa's bed, her haunted eyes studying that which was not there. "Where's Trowa?" she asked yet again in a low voice.
"I don't know Midii."
"Where is he Duo?!" she swung about pulling her gun and levelling it at the braided man, "cut the bullshit and tell me!"
She knew full well, where he was but she wanted to hear it from the man standing across from her, who obviously had known about this longer than she had.
Duo jumped back in surprise, hands coming up defensively as he answered the angry girl before him. "By now he's in the colonies."
"Get me a shuttle!"
"I can't." Duo looked truly miserable as he stood starring down the barrel of her gun. "I can't." he said again his voice barely above a whisper.
"There's more to this than anyone thinks, I can feel it. He's in danger Duo, I need a shuttle." The hand that held the gun dropped to her side as she pleaded with the man before her.
"He made us promise." Duo raised his hands helplessly.
"You're just going to abandon him?" Midii was incredulous.
"You said yourself he's more than capable of looking after himself."
"And what makes you so sure?"
She was positive that Duo knew more about Trowa than she did and she intended to find the truth.
Duo sighed and for a moment looked as though he was going to evade the question, when he took great interest in the slowly rising gun. He through his hands up in frustration and seemed to be muttering to himself though she caught some of his words, ".why me?.always friends."
He looked up at her then and sighed again. "You want the truth?" Midii nodded and waited patiently for his response. "We, Heero, Trowa, Quatre, Wufei, and myself are all Gundam pilots. That's why I'm sure he can look after himself, we're better trained than any soldier alive."
Midii stared at him in shock, his words slowly sinking in, their meaning fully hitting her, "Gundam pilots?" He nodded his head, "but you're so."
"Young?" Duo filled in for her, "we hear that a lot. It's a good cover really, few out there expect us to be so young, and so those searching never find us." He took a step towards her, "Trowa said he would be back in a few days, I wouldn't worry."
Midii slipped her gun back in place and looked up at Duo, she was about to nod her head in agreement when she remembered the image of Trowa, trapped within a nightmare. At any other time she would simply have passed that off as an overactive imagination, but she found now that she could not simply discredit the image. Midii shook her head; "I have to go to him."
Duo rubbed one hand across his eyes; "do you have any idea what he'll do if we let you leave the house?"
She folded her arms calmly across her chest; "I assure you it won't be nearly as bad as what I will do if you don't. And please keep in mind that I'm here now." Her voice was low, she hated threatening Duo in this way, but she knew she had to find Trowa.
"Look" Duo said finally, "I can't change my position in all this, you had best confront Quatre." He turned and began to walk from the room but stopped at the door and half turned, "come on I'll take you to him." She walked up beside him. "One other thing," Duo said extending his hand, "give me your gun."
Midii shook her head mutely, one hand reaching back towards the only weapon she carried, and perhaps the only means by which she would be able to secure a shuttle. "Pulling a gun on Quatre won't work, the only reason we haven't been overrun by guards is because our rooms aren't monitored, however Quatre's office is."
"I don't care what you promised him, I will find a way to the colonies. This business that he's settling is mine to take care of." She never looked at him as she walked from the room, but she could feel his questioning eyes on her back. Duo led her to Quatre's study in silence hands clasped behind his back, eyes locked forward.
A loud crack of thunder and the sounds of torrential rains hitting the roof broke the silence, and Duo spoke softly, "what do you have to base these fears on?"
"Nothing save a sixth sense, that's screaming, 'were missing something' this was never his problem to deal with in the first place."
"What connection to this man do you have?" he probed softly.
"One I would rather forget," was her unfeeling response. He stopped outside a set of double doors and turned to her studying her face for a long time without saying a word finally he did speak.
"I feel it too." Duo opened the door and motioned her in.
Midii took a few steps in and stopped seeing that Quatre was in deep conversation with Draken, they each held within their hand a cup of tea. Both looked up at her entrance and Midii took a step back, "I'm sorry to interrupt."
"No don't be." Quatre said gesturing for her to take the seat beside Draken, which she did without comment. "Draken had planned to leave today, but it would appear the weather has other things in mind." Quatre placed his cup on the desk infront in front of him and smiled at Midii. "Would you like a cup?" he offered.
"No thank you." Midii drew in a calming breath preparing for the answer she dreaded hearing. "I need a shuttle."
Quatre, ever the diplomat, looked at her his face puzzled. "Whatever for?"
Midii's hands took a strong hold of the chair she was sitting in, to keep from leaping at the young businessman, "you know as well as I do that Trowa is not here, I need to find him."
"I'm sorry Midii but I don't know what you're talking about."
"Funny how people keep saying that and it's always a lie," she responded through clenched teeth. She could feel the tension building in the air, and she was more than aware that if she had to put up with this much longer she would snap. The phone on Quatre's desk rang and all tension flooded from the room, Midii could see a look of relief on Quatre's face as he reached out to answer it.
He lifted the receiver, and listened for a moment before looking to Draken. "It's for you." Quatre passed the phone to the older man and watched, his eyes never meeting Midii's.
"Yes?.are you positive?.Yes, yes begin right away, I'm on the next shuttle."
Draken handed the receiver to Quatre and rose from his armchair, "Forgive me Master Quatre but it would appear that a problem has arisen on one of the colonies, which I must take care of."
Quatre smiled warmly, "It's not a problem, but I afraid you'll have to wait until the storm lightens up."
"Unfortunately there's no time for that, I'll simply have to try and outrun the storm."
"If you believe that is necessary."
Quatre walked around his desk to stand before Draken, and accepted the older man's hand in a friendly shake. "I'll see you to the airport."
"Oh, please do not trouble yourself, you still have matters to attend to here."
Draken glanced at Midii with a gentle smile on his face, but a strange light within his eyes. Quatre glanced at Midii, it was a glance that spoke volumes, he then turned back to the other man and walked from the room.
Midii clenched her hands in frustration, Quatre would be even harder to convince than Duo, and with nothing to base her fears on Midii began to believe that here was nothing to them to begin with. She pushed the thought away and stood, her eyes travelling out the windows to the storm beyond, the ferocity of the weather strengthened her resolve that something had to be done and soon. She only contemplated how to show the others that there was more to this than what appeared on the surface.
She was vaguely aware of the door opening and she glanced up to see the woman Sally enter the room, her eyes instantly falling on Midii where she stood frozen in thought. She smiled brightly and walked to stand beside her, "I don't believe we've ever met before. My name is Sally Po, I'm a doctor with the Preventers."
Midii mentally shook herself from her thoughts and turned to face the older woman. "Midii Une," briefly, her mind however was still far from focusing on what was going on around her. "What are the quickest routes out of this house?" she asked softly, eyes distant.
Sally looked at her for a moment seeming surprised by the question; "I know why you're asking, and though I can't help you in that way maybe I can assist you in another."
Midii's eyes snapped to hers fully alert now, both women slowly took seats across from one another.
"I can see it in your eyes you believe there's something more to all this don't you."
"Yes, but I can't say what."
"I know how you feel, it can't just be this simple, I have a feeling there is someone whispering in Kain's ear. Unfortunately there's no information to prove any of it."
"I need to find Trowa, until we know fully what's going on I believe he's in danger." Midii stood once more, "I need to find Quatre and convince him, to let me find Trowa."
"He won't break his promise." Sally said looking up at her.
"I don't care, I'll do anything it takes to find Trowa." She began to walk towards the exit, face set, when the thick oak door opened and Quatre walked in.
"I was talking to Duo, you know now why we are not worried about his safety. He'll be back." Quatre slipped one hand in his pocket as he watched her.
"That simply is not good enough. Kain is my problem." Midii knew that they would not leave simply because she felt Trowa was in danger they all had too much respect for him. So she decided to try a different tactic.
"Why?" he asked calmly.
"He killed my family." Midii said eyes blazing, she would tell him no more of her past.
"Trowa's afraid you'll get hurt."
"I made it through the war, didn't I?" Midii shot back.
"No one can predict the future" the young businessman folded his arms and seemed rather satisfied with himself.
"Which is why you should not be so sure things are as simple as they first appear. If you were talking with Duo then you know that we both believe there is something more to this." She took a step towards him, "we need to warn Trowa."
Quatre studied her for a long while his eyes speculative, as he weighed the information she had just thrown at him, against the promise he had made. Finally he sighed, "I too feel there is more to this, however I hoped it was just me."
"It's not Quatre, and Trowa's in danger because of it." She spoke coaxingly and took another step towards him.
"Alright we'll leave as soon as the weather permits."
The door behind Quatre opened and Duo walked through, holding a thoroughly distraught Erik in his arms. The baby had clearly been crying for some time, his face red and voice hoarse. One hand clung to Duo's shirt but Erik did not cuddle close, instead he pushed himself away, and continued to wail. Duo's face showed clear the worry that he was feeling, "We've tried everything to calm him but nothing's worked."
Midii stepped forward then to take the small child into her arms, for a moment Erik struggled, wanting to be free; but when she began to soothingly talk to him he lay flat against her. Tears still fell from his tiny eyes, and his little chest heaved with his shuddered sobs, but at least he calmed a little. "He want's Trowa," Midii whispered softly, eyes locked on the crying child.
***
Trowa woke slowly, his mind feeling as though it was stuffed with cotton; his eyes refused to focus on anything in the room, he simply lay there trying not to breathe, for every breath sent pain lancing through his broken ribs. Trowa attempted to push everything from his mind, and with weak muscles tried to rise from his bed. The movements of throwing aside his blankets and swinging his legs off the bed caused the entire world to spin about him. He dropped his head down into the comforting darkness of his hands, and tried to forget the feel of everything reeling around him. Slowly he began to breathe again and was able to once more look about his room, though his eyes were still unclear.
He sat there for a moment looking about his room. His prison, if it could even be called that, had nothing on the walls save a large air duct and no furnishing other than the bed he sat upon. His emerald eyes fell upon the door and at first it appeared to be like any other, but he realised with very little surprise that it had no doorknob making it impossible for him to escape from that side. He climbed unsteadily to his feet and began to walk towards the door when his legs gave out on him and he fell against the wall, his surroundings reeling yet again.
With great determination Trowa finally made his way to the door and glanced out the small glass window in the hopes that he might discover where it was he was being held. However he found nothing beyond his prison door that could help him. Turning away from the door his eyes fell upon the ventilation shaft and he moved towards it keeping one hand on the wall for support at all times.
-What did they do to me- he wondered as he began to feel the room tip again. Trowa closed his eyes and silently willed his surroundings to be still. He inched his way towards the air duct not allowing himself to hope that they could possibly have missed something so obvious. Trowa found however that the grate was easy to pry free. This made him both suspicious and wary, he could not help asking himself why they had left him such an easy escape. Perhaps they knew he would not be in any real shape to flee, but he quickly decided that he would have to take the risk, and hope whatever drug they had used would wear off before he met up with any adversaries
Slowly he worked his way into the air duct, and silently closed it behind him, Trowa had no way of knowing how often, if ever, 'They' walked by his room, so he moved quickly. Trowa paused when the air duct split off in two directions for the first time, he had no way of knowing what the layout of the base was like, however he felt pretty sure that it could not be too different from the others he had infiltrated. So he continued on as he had for those missions hoping his guess would be right.
He was forced to stop a number of times as waves of dizziness threaten the stability of the world, but always was he moving again in seconds, refusing to waste any more time. Trowa lost track of time in the ventilation system though he had not really been sure of the time when he had first climbed in. The endless gray corridor seemed to go on and on, always the same and Trowa lost track of time, although he really had not been sure of the time when he started out. A few times he heard passing conversations below him but he could never make out what they were saying.
Trowa was moving with great caution down the shaft when he saw coming up before him a wire grate, he instantly became wary. Slowly he inched his way forward glancing down into the room below. It appeared to be some type of living quarters, the furniture was well-made but sparse, and thankfully it seemed to be deserted.
Trowa carefully removed the grate with trembling hands, he willed them to steady but they would not respond. Resting the grate beside him Trowa lowered himself into the room, the bullet wound on his shoulder burned in protest at the exertion it was being put through.
Once on the ground Trowa dropped into a defensive crouch and glanced about. The room was indeed empty, for the time being at least there was no threat. He straightened and took a step towards the door, but again his vision gave way, as did the floor beneath him. Trowa fell forward catching himself on a nearby table and dropped his head, he closed his eyes tightly and waited. Finally the room became stable once more and he was able to stand. Trowa careful not to turn his head too fast looked around him for anything that might come in handy. The only thing he found was a combat knife.
Walking over to where is rested on a dresser, Trowa took it by the hilt and carefully tested its edge, it had been well taken care of. Hefting the blade Trowa instinctively adjusted his grip to the way he had been taught, with the dull edge of the blade resting against his forearm. Now armed, he made for the door, and his freedom. The door opened without a sound, and the hall beyond Trowa found to be empty, of anything living. He remained standing in the doorway for a moment trying to decide which way to go, he finally chose right, since that was the general direction he had been heading in.
Trowa started out at a walk but quickly picked up his pace, feeling as though something were about to happen. His vision wavered but he kept on running knowing that now he could not afford to stop for anything. Trowa soon became lost in the never-ending corridors, he never even stopped to consider which hall he would go down next, all he could think about was the need to get away. He skidded around a corner and came face to face with an armed soldier.
Knowing the stunned enemy was vulnerable, Trowa struck instantly, the element of surprise was his. His combat knife sunk deep into the soldier's unguarded side. Blood spilled over the dagger onto Trowa's hand but he paid it no mind as he pulled it free preparing for another strike. The soldier's scream filled his ears and pierced his heart, he knew that voice. Trowa's vision finally cleared and he found himself facing Midii, her beautiful crystal eyes clearly displaying the pain he had inflicted.
"Trowa.? Why.?" Her hands trembled, as the life in her eyes slowly faded away. She fell against him her blood spilling onto him.
Trowa stared at her in horror and slowly he sunk to the ground, with Midii's body held tightly in his arms.
"No." he whispered unable to comprehend what he had just done. "NNNNNOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
He had killed her, torn the life from the only woman he had ever loved. Midii's body slipped limply from his blood covered arms and lay before him; her eyes still wide open. Her blank, staring eyes were all he could see, he remembered them full of life and the laughter that she so often shared with those around her, he had taken it from her.
He tore his eyes away from her unmoving form and stared down at his hands, the hands of a Gundam pilot, the hands of a murderer. Even in times of peace he could not stop the killing, all he had ever brought was pain. He had no right to bear the name she had ever uttered, he could no longer stand himself as Trowa Barton, nor could he simply become once more the nameless soldier, for then it was as Nanashi that he had first met her. He began to drift away from the world he had thought he knew, and his thoughts crumbled, and scattered like dust at the sight of the blonde angel before him, a pool of her blood fanning out around her like wings.
The young man climbed to his feet and backed away from the body, tears streamed down his face but he could not say why. He glanced down to where a bloody knife rested at his feet, and his mind raced. The world fell away into nothingness; he could not recall anything about himself or the world in which he stood. His eyes ran down the blade of the knife, he did not belong in this world, his hand reached for the knife.
Enough!
Blackness surrounded him, who was he?
***
The lights in the room glowed dimly illuminating the solitary figure seated in one chair. Though his rigid posture would have made many think otherwise, the man was quite relaxed, however it would take a great deal of training to surprise him. These rooms were well known to him, since he had spent most of his life outside of training and missions within them. They were simple, with very little furniture, only two chairs, his bed, and a place for his clothes, but then that was all he needed. He did not spend all that much time here, his continuing missions kept him quite busy.
Triton Bloom looked up as the door to his room opened and Argile walked in. He was not too much older than Triton but he was the one who gave the orders. Triton could remember his first mission working for Argile more than ten years ago. They had never really become friends, but each trusted the other to cover their back. Triton came to his feet and turned to face him, eyes empty, he rarely showed any emotion.
"Triton," at the sound of his name a memory flashed through his mind but it moved faster than he could remember it, "we have a new mission for you."
Argile handed him a white folder. Triton opened the folder and read the information provided, "a Gundam pilot has infiltrated the base, he is as yet unaware that we know he's here, dispose of him."
Triton looked up from the picture that rested on top of the other information, and locked eyes with Argile. "How did he get through?"
"A glitch in the system, mostly luck." Argile shrugged and turned towards the door. Triton moved to follow, pulling a gun from his belt, he checked the ammunition and switched off the safety.
"Once you're done report back to me."
They split company once they left his room, Argile heading for his office, knowing full well that the situation would be taken care of, and Triton moving off in the best direction to surprise the Gundam pilot. The halls slipped by in an endless stream, hundreds of doors leading to different rooms and still more corridors, the base was very extensive. Cocking his gun Triton edged around the next corner knowing that he was drawing close to where the pilot should have been by now considering the delay, from when he entered to when Triton caught wind of him.
Triton pulled back around the corner, and pressed his back to the wall, the pilot was coming, and the element of surprise was his. He was more than aware that with a Gundam pilot he would have to use extra caution. But one bullet could kill the pilot just as easily as any one else, they were not immortal. Drawing in a calming breath, he began counting the steps, the pilot was taking, they were long and even, unsuspecting. The pilot rounded the corner slowing slightly, as though he felt there was some reason to be more cautious.
Smoothly rolling off the wall Triton swept out into the center of the hall gun raised; a single bullet already fired before he even caught a glimpse of the intruder. For an instant time seemed to stop as Triton saw the bullet slam home into the pilot's body. A look of surprise washed over the pilot's face as his life's blood began to pour from the wound in his chest. Triton had struck a vital area, the man did not have long to live and he did not possess the strength to raise his own gun in response. Time sped forward instantly, and the moment was gone lost into memories. The pilot fell without a sound, and without a fight, a look of surprise frozen on his features. Triton stepped forward, a sneer of disbelief forming slowly on his face. This was a Gundam pilot? He could hardly believe it was true, this was what OZ and White Fang had such trouble killing?
Triton came to a stop beside the dead body and could not believe his eyes; it had taken almost no effort to kill him, why had so many others failed to do so? Triton left soon after, with no more answer than he had come with but hundreds more questions. He did not once look back at the pilot's unmoving form. What right did a killer of children have to live? In his mind, none. His long stride carried him quickly to Argile's office where he had been told to report once the mission had been completed. Part of him wondered why they had sent him, there were many other qualified soldiers in the base, but perhaps he was more so. Triton did not know that either, he had not often socialised with the men around him preferring to be alone.
Slipping his gun back into its holster, Triton knocked on Argile's office door, he was only made to wait a moment before he heard his superior's response. Walking slowly in Triton glanced about; the room was far from simple and inexpensive. Deep leather chairs sat here and there about the room, beside each a delicately carved table. Argile sat behind his large oak desk sifting though sheets of paper, with one hand he gestured for Triton to make himself comfortable, and he did so, waiting silently.
Minutes passed and still Argile did not come to speak with him. It made Triton wonder what could possibly be so important. Was the threat of a Gundam pilot not on their list of top priorities? Triton found all of this confusing, but he would not ask, what he needed to know would be told to him.
Finally Argile came and sat on the arm of the chair opposite Triton's. "Report." Was all he said.
Triton instantly came to his feet, snapping to attention, "sir, I have killed the Gundam pilot Trowa Barton."