Nanashi
Chapter 10
By Morganeth Taren'drel
AN: I'm so sorry this is so late, I have no excuse for it I only hope this long chapter will have been worth the wait. This story is nearly done, but I am having some trouble getting back into the writing of it, I want to finish it before I start Mistaken Words, so there's no fear that I'll leave it forever untouched. There will just be some time in between updates. Thank you so much to all of you who have read and reviewed this story, it's because of you that I can keep writing, and to everyone who has simply read the story, I hope that you have enjoyed it so far ^_^
Midii sat in one corner of the sterile room, head down resting between her hands. She could not recall when the last time she had moved was, but her back was beginning to ache. She glanced up, but nothing had changed from when she had first walked into the waiting room hours before. Heero leaned against one wall appearing to be asleep, she was not naïve enough to believe that for one minute. Wufei sat in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs filling out some paperwork, while Duo continued to pace the length of the room.
"How long has it been?" she asked quietly, running one hand through her hair.
"About four hours," Heero responded without opening his eyes, she wondered silently how he knew that, but decided not to ask.
Midii came to her feet slowly, her muscles stiff from lack of use, "Duo come with me and we'll get something to drink from the cafeteria."
He nodded silently and walked towards the door with her. They walked together through the silent halls for some time without saying anything. Finally Midii stopped and turned to face Duo, "Do you actually think Trowa would try to kill me?"
Duo watched her for a moment, clearly trying to keep his face blank, "What does it matter now?" He turned and kept walking.
She moved around to stand in front of him placing one hand against his chest, "It matters to me, Duo would he have shot me?"
Sighing he shrugged, "Midii." he glanced at her through one eye. "Yes he probably would have, but Midii."
"It's alright Duo, I know," they walked in silence once more Midii trying to picture without success Trowa shooting her, or for that matter causing her any harm. A thought came to her then and she looked at Duo, "Has Cathy been informed yet about what has happened?" Duo paused for a moment before shaking his head.
They reached the cafeteria, which at this hour was almost completely empty, Duo instantly moved towards the line of food while Midii's eyes fell upon a videophone against one wall. She dialled the number hoping that Cathy would not even be home, unfortunately the phone was switched on in short order. "Midii?" the auburn haired woman's face was surprised
"Hi Cathy." Midii trailed off, wishing she had never dialled the number, she had no idea how to break the news to her.
"How's Trowa?" Cathy seemed not to notice the hesitation in Midii's voice, but she was unknowingly pressing the issue that Midii would rather forget.
"Actually that's something I need to talk to you about." Midii ran one hand through her hair. "Look I don't know how to tell you this.but.Trowa was taken."
"What?!" Trowa's sister instantly sounded terrified. "Tell me what happened!"
Midii nodded mutely, taking a moment to gather her thoughts, and remember how all this had first happened. "Trowa attempted to take out a man named Kain, he was the one who ordered the killing of the Bèovel family.um.he.he never returned."
She forced herself to make eye contact with Catherine and found terror replaced with horror and tears forming in her eyes. "That's not all."
"What? How could this happen?"
"Cathy, that's not all." Midii said again, "We thought Kain was the one behind everything. But that was not the case, it was Draken, a man we thought was a friend. He did something to Trowa.we don't know what, whatever it was it turned him against us. He's calling himself Triton now, he shot Duo and Quatre."
Catherine's hands flew to her mouth, "Are they all right?"
"Duo's fine, he took the bullet in the shoulder. We're at the hospital now, last I heard Quatre was in critical condition." She sighed, near tears herself. Midii gave a start of surprise when Duo touched her on the shoulder. His face was sober as he handed her something to drink.
"Duo, how could this happen?" Cathy cried, she wiped at her eyes but the tears continued to come.
"Hey.hey relax.were going to get him back I promise." Duo's voice was low, and soothing, though it did little to relieve the anxiety that Midii felt. Catherine watched them both, her question still unanswered. "Look Cathy, none of us really know how this happened, it would appear that Draken has been planning this for sometime. We don't even know what his goals are.it's all happening too fast."
With a deep breath Catherine managed to banish the tears from her eyes, "All right, I'm on the next shuttle."
"No don't!" Midii and Duo both looked at one another, as the same two words left each of their mouths. "That not a good idea," Duo finished.
"Why not? He's my brother." Cathy's eyes flashed with an anger that Midii had only seen one time before, the night Trowa had told his sister he was leaving again.
"That may be true, but he does not remember, what if he were to hurt you, hum? What then? He'd never forgive himself, we want Trowa back as much as you but we have to do this the safest way," Duo leaned against the wall as he spoke bringing his face closer to the screen.
Catherine dropped her head, seeing the logic of his thoughts, "But I can't just sit here waiting either."
"I know that," Duo gently replied, "Take a trip to Quatre's house in the Cinq Kingdom. Iria and Tamara are both there and so is Erik." Cathy nodded her silent consent, "Don't worry we'll keep you informed."
Without another word Cathy shut her end of the system down, leaving theirs blank. Midii took a sip of her drink, as she turned to lean back against the wall. "She was furious when Trowa told her he was leaving, I think it was just this scenario that she was afraid of."
"Situations like these seem impossible to avoid when you're a Gundam pilot." Shrugging, Duo began to walk back towards the door; he stopped half way when he noticed Midii was not following. "Come on, we may get word at any time." She nodded silently, pushing herself off the wall, and walking after him.
Midii slipped her arm through Duo's and leaned her head against his shoulder, "Does Hilde know where you are?"
He smiled, "Yah, if I don't tell her, she has my phone number. She becomes just as worried as Cathy, but she also understands that if I and the others don't do something now, who knows what will happen." He looked down at her, his face serious, "We can't afford to go through another war, not with all the work Relena has done to bring this peace into being."
They walked the rest of the way to the waiting room in silence, the realisation that the peace could be lost, was now all too real. With each step that Midii took she could feel dread building in her, she did not want to walk into the room and find out that Quatre had died. But she continued walking, mostly because Duo had her arm through his. Duo placed his hand on the door and held it opened for Midii, all heads turned as they walked in.
"Any word?" Duo inquired, Heero shook his head from where he still stood leaning against the wall. Duo flopped down in a chair, one leg swung over the arm, head falling back to rest on the white tile.
A deafening silence fell upon the room, surrounding each and everyone present, much the same as it had been for hours since they had first arrived. Midii walked the length of the room, eyes scanning the floor, which her feet passed across. Her thoughts grew progressively darker, as the minutes ticked by on the wall clock. But she could not place her finger upon what it was that drew her attention away from the other people in the room.
She knew the longer they were here at the hospital the more time was lost in their search for Trowa, however she also wanted to be here for Quatre. Midii knew exactly how Catherine was feeling, she could not stand sitting- well pacing-in this silent waiting room. She wanted to be doing something, anything besides pacing.
All heads swung up as one of the double doors was pushed open, and a very exhausted Sally walked through. Wufei stood and walked over to her, offering an arm for her to lean upon, which she gratefully accepted. "He lost a great deal of blood." Sally began.
"But he'll be all right?" Duo cut in, unable to contain himself.
Sally's eyes became distressed, and she seemed to lean all the more on Wufei's arm, "He's in a coma, now it's only a waiting game. I won't lie to you, he may never wake." Tears were clear in Sally's eyes as she looked from face to face.
"Can I see him?" All eyes turned to Midii, she had not realised the words had made it past simple thoughts. "Can I see him..?" she asked again.
Sally nodded, "Sure he's right this way," she was about to turn towards the door, when Wufei's hand gently gripped her arm.
"You can hardly stand," he said softly, "come on." Wufei began to lead her towards the doors, and Heero turned to follow.
Duo turned back to Midii, "I'll stay, and bring you back."
Midii nodded mutely, and turned to the double doors Sally had come from, she walked through into the ICU, and found it to be abuzz with activity, so very different from the room she had just left. "Excuse me miss, you can't come in here," Midii turned not fully hearing the nurse's words.
Duo stepped between them, and motioned for Midii to continue walking, "Just let it go, trust me, you really don't want to stir things up right now." Duo leaned in close, his face more serious than Midii had ever seen it, "Especially with me."
The nurse said nothing to this, she simply stood there, eyes wide. Midii turned without a second thought and walked towards the room she figured Quatre would be in. The majority of the walls were made of glass and the room was in clear sight of the nurses' station, unlike many of the others, which were more secluded. She walked hesitantly towards the glass windows, and looked within, Midii's breath caught.
Quatre lay unmoving on the bed, his usually pale skin was whiter than the sheet upon which he lay. Tubes and wires ran everywhere, and she felt as though he were buried by them. A oxygen mask covered his mouth and nose, Midii watched and he barely seemed to breathe -How could Trowa do this?- Placing one hand on the cold glass she stood there for an instant longer before walking in.
Midii found her way through the sea of monitors to Quatre's side, for a time she simply stood there, but she found the longer she watched him the more unsure she was that he was even breathing. Despite the fact that the monitors said he was still alive, he did not look alive. She reached out, laying one hand over his heart, and waited, she felt it then, so faint was it that she missed it at first, but she could now feel his heart beating steadily against her palm. Midii exhaled the breath she was not aware she had been holding, and looked down at the blond haired pilot.
"You have to make it back to us." Midii whispered, she hardly knew the man laying before her, but he had instantly welcomed her, it was because of that, and not just that he was Trowa closet friend, that she wanted him to pull through. She sighed and took her hand away from his chest, his skin feeling cold against her own.
"Midii." Duo gently called her name from the door, she looked up, and with one last glance at Quatre's white face, she turned to leave. "He's going to make it," Duo whispered confidently, taking her arm gently, as he led the way back to his car. Midii could not help glancing back over her shoulder one last time, hoping he was right.
***
"Report," Draken barked looking up from the paperwork on his desk, Argile had entered the room moments before, and had sat himself down in one of the chairs.
"Triton tells me that the Winner brat is dead," Argile locked his fingers together and placed them behind his head.
"Well this is a piece of good news," he responded giving the man before him his full attention. Draken studied Argile's and found something within his eyes that the other man had not mentioned, "There is more to this?"
"When he was sent to kill Duo, something stop him from completing the mission, but he would not say what." Argile leaned forward, eyes intense, "It's happened again this time, there's a portion of the mission that he cannot recall, luckily it was after he had shot Quatre. My guess is he saw either Heero Yuy, or the girl."
Draken thought about that for a moment before nodding, "That would make sense. Is he back in virtual reality?"
"Yes, he's no longer a threat, to our goals. And now that the pilots know we have been using his knowledge to cover our tracks, they shouldn't have too much trouble finding him." Argile jumped to his feet, heading towards the door.
"I certainly don't want it to be too easy," Draken cautioned, as Argile left the room. -Everything is falling into place- he turned his chair around to gaze out the clean windows, the Gundam pilots would soon arrive, and he would have exactly what he had wanted from the start. With Quatre out of the way, Draken would have a steady flow of money, to complete his studies of the pilots and finally to train soldiers, with a new, combined knowledge.
He would have an army that could not be matched, soldiers trained in every conceivable situation, and with a deep knowledge of the inside workings of the Preventers. They would be able to blend into society without notice, just as the Gundam pilots had done so many years ago. He would be able to accomplish both his goals. First, to see what made the pilots so good, and hard to kill. And second, to build an army that the world could not stand against.
***
Triton lay on his bed, on top of the sheets one arm propping up his head. His right arm burned each time it was jostled, but he pushed the pain from his mind, having no time for it. He was attempting to scour his memories to see what had happened on his last two missions, but each time he was stopped and could no longer remember, it was as though a portion of his memory had been erased. He fought to remember, but no matter how he tried, the period eluded him.
The door at the other end of the room opened and Argile walked in, face emotionless, he came to stand at the end of Triton's bed. "Have you remembered yet?" he asked in a monotone.
Running one hand through his hair in frustration, Triton came to his feet and began to pace the length of his room. -I walked into the kitchen, the terrorist was there sleeping. I aimed my gun and fired, the terrorist woke and fell back, the bullet taking him in the shoulder. Something caught his attention.what was it?.it was.it was.- "Damnit!!!" Triton lunged out with his left hand, slamming it through the wall; his frustration reaching a peak so high he could not keep it repressed.
He pulled his fist from the broken wall, and turned to face Argile, eyes on fire. Shock was clear on the older man's face, as he took in the damaged wall, and the scrapes on Triton's knuckles. "I'll take that as a no," he stated calmly, one eyebrow raised, Triton simply shook his head, walking away from the other man. Hand clenched into a fist, he now gave himself over to the pain that he felt, using it to relieve his absolute frustration.
Triton removed his right hand from his pocket and clenched it into a fist, causing the muscles in his arm to burn furiously. Slowly his anger subsided, and he was able to draw in a calming breath. He brought his face back to neutrality, and turned to face the other man, "What is it now?"
"There's a group trying to break into our data base, we need you to re- route them," Argile gave him one last look before heading back the way he had come. Triton followed silently after, wiping the blood from his hand on the edge of his shirt. "Make sure you leave no trace that you're the one behind it," The older man cautioned.
"This is nothing new," Triton shrugged, watching the people who walked by, they gave him and Argile a wide berth, their eyes never coming to rest upon either. He followed in silence flexing and relaxing his right arm, causing the gunshot wound to burn, he used the pain to fuel his determination. He would see this mission through to the end, the terrorists would be destroyed.
***
Midii was shaken from her sleep as Duo's hand clamped about her small shoulder. Looking up she was met by his glowing smile, eyes bright with excitement. Slowly sitting up Midii rubbed the sleep from her eyes, and tried to orient herself, she had felt the company of the others shortly after they had returned to the house. She found that once alone sleep had called her name, and she could no longer keep her eyes opened.
"What time is it?" she asked in a sleepy voice, running one hand through her hair.
"Four in the morning," Duo responded hardly able to contain himself, as he drew her to her feet. "We found Trowa!"
"You what?!" Midii was fully awake now, staring the former pilot directly in the eyes. "Where is he?!"
"He's being held on the third sector of this colony, in a base controlled by Draken, we're leaving now!" Duo headed towards the door, not wasting any time, Midii grabbed her gun and left the still darkened room.
Throwing her hair over one shoulder, Midii rushed down the silent halls, Duo moving from a fast walk to a dead run, when he saw she was following. "What do we know?" she asked when she had caught up to his racing form.
"They're using virtual reality to control him, I'm not so sure you want to see what they had him do." He glanced over his shoulder, eyes haunted.
"Tell me!" Midii's voice was harder than ice.
Duo sighed and slowed to a stop, "They broke him, first by killing you, then by having him kill Trowa Barton, he truly believes he is Triton Bloom. We believe they even completed the whole scenario by giving him memories of his life with Draken."
"How are we ever going to bring him back from this?" Midii was breathless, unable to understand fully what Trowa had been through. "How is this even possible? Why would Draken do this?"
"The only question I can answer is the one about the virtual reality, I understand that it can be used to train soldiers in a fraction of the time, it would usually take. If you lose touch with what is real they can make you believe whatever they want. We're assuming they made the switch when Trowa was unconscious." Duo turned and continued to run down the halls, hands clenched into iron hard fists.
Midii came to a sudden stop in the living room, which Duo had led her to; both Wufei and Heero were shouldering backpacks, with at least two guns visible to her. -How long have they known?- Without a word Heero handed her a shoulder holster complete with two more guns, clips, and silencers. She slipped the holster on pulling her hair out from under the tight leather.
"The plan is almost identical to the one used with Kain, except you will be with Sally, and only her. Is that a problem?" Wufei asked, glancing over to the other woman.
Midii shook her head, "Do you expect a lot of resistance?" she shrugged into the coat Duo handed her, she had been the last to be awakened, everyone else was ready.
"Everything we've seen says he's been preparing for this for years," Heero responded moving towards the door, without looking back. The others moved to follow, and Midii found her mind reeling, with the sudden events that had been thrown at her. Midii walked slowly after them, running one hand through her hair as she did.
Duo turned once he realised she was not walking beside him, "You awake enough?"
She smiled, "I will be," she locked eyes with the former pilot as they followed after the others. "Why didn't you wake me earlier?"
"We found out a few hours ago, and still had a lot to prepare. I wanted to wake you as soon as we found out, but Sally suggested we let you sleep, since we know you haven't had much of it." He held the door opened for her, as they walked out into the cold December air.
Midii climbed silently into the nondescript black van, and slid over to the window. She leaned her face against the cold glass, letting the icy chill fully wake her. The van rolled into motion and she glanced around her at the men who had lost a brother and had not rested till they found him once more. Her crystal blue eyes focused on Duo who was holding up a knife and gun as if trying to decide between the two.
He looked over when he felt Midii watching, "Draken will pay for what he has done," Duo promised darkly.
She placed her hand on the dull side of the knife and lowered it to his lap, "Stick with the gun."
Part of her wanted to be the one to face Draken; he had been jerking them around since the beginning for his own purposes. However she wanted to see Trowa more, she trusted Duo to take care of Draken properly. Midii drew one of her guns out of the shoulder holster Heero had given her, checking the clip inside she attached one of the silencers to the barrel. She cocked the gun and lay it in her lap, eyes travelling once more beyond the glass to the glowing streetlights that passed by.
Midii glanced down at her watch, to find out what time it was, but realised she had not put it on, when Duo had come to wake her. She continued to watch the scenery pass, not knowing how much time went by. Midii looked up as the van rolled to a slow stop, and out her window she could see the tall building that Trowa was being held in. She could feel the first wave of adrenaline wash over her as she flexed her hands in anticipation.
"Ready?" Duo asked, eyes bright with his own excitement. Midii nodded following him from the vehicle onto the deep shadows. She leaned against the wall and watched as Heero removed a laptop from his bag, and began working feverishly. Seconds later the computer was gone and Heero was leading them forward.
They entered the building through the main doors, Heero having disabled the security system. Midii slipped through the glass doors without a sound, eyes scanning the surrounding foyer, she could not see a sign of anyone. She and the others spread out into the room covering every door and corner, guns in hand, waiting for any resistance.
Midii glanced down the hall and found it to be clear, she half turned and gave Heero the signal, but found him raising his gun, taking aim at an unknowing soldier moving towards them. With one shot the man dropped without a sound, blood pooling underneath him. They were about to move forward when from almost every direction men came running bearing assault rifles. The soldiers began firing almost instantly.
"How'd they know where we were?" Sally called firing down the hall; the men had planted themselves behind corners and small alcoves.
"Who the hell cares, we need to get to Trowa!" Midii cried, trying to take out a few of their numbers.
"We can't hope to make any progress with this amount of resistance," Wufei responded, reloading his guns.
***
Heero's mind raced as he tried to decide how the soldiers had found them so quickly. There had not been any cameras monitoring the foyer, he had made sure of that. No security systems could possibly have been tripped; he had disabled all of them. So what could possibly be left? As he fired his gun with deadly accuracy Heero's Prussian eyes looked over to where the first soldier lay.
"Cover me," Heero said, already moving forward. He dove into a forward shoulder roll and came up beside the dead man. Taking hold of him Heero pulled him into the cover of an alcove. The man's uniform was nondescript and Heero could not see any radio that the man could have been talking into. Without knowing what to expect Heero tore open the man's shirt, and found the answer to his questions.
Grabbing the item in question Heero looked up coming to his feet. He needed to make it back to the others; they would make it no further this day. Shielding himself with a hail of bullets Heero pulled back to where the others waited, he was met with more than one questioning glance. He simply shook his head. "We have to pull back!" Heero called moving towards the door, he sensed more than saw the others follow.
Once they reached the van, Midii stood before him, "How the hell did they know?!" Rage shone clear in her eyes at having been forced back.
Heero could fully understand how she was feeling, but he also understood when they could no longer move forward for fear of loss of life. He tossed the small item he carried in his hand to Midii and climbed into the van.
Midii turned it over in her hands as she followed, "What is it?" she questioned, some of her anger appearing to fade.
"It's a tracking device, they were monitoring the soldier's heart beat, as soon as he died, they knew where we were." Heero answered running one hand through his hair, as he even now began to consider their options.
"They what?" Midii watched him her voice sounding slightly hopeless "How the hell can we hope to get past that?"
Duo turned the key in the ignition and slammed the gas pedal to the floor, as they raced away from Draken's base. He glanced over at Heero as he manoeuvred the van around other traffic at breakneck speeds, "Did anyone else notice anything strange about the way those soldiers fought?"
Heero looked away his mind still half on the problem of how they were to get through now. Duo question penetrated his thoughts and he answered without really thinking. "The tactics were almost identical to Trowa's. You really shouldn't have been surprised, we knew they put him in virtual reality, the logical next step for Draken would be to put Trowa's training to use."
"Well sure that's the logical next step, if everyone thought like you." Duo said sarcastically.
"What do you think their goal through all this is?" Midii asked still fingering the tracing device.
Heero shrugged without comment, Draken worked like no other man he had ever been pitted against. He had made no demands, had not attempted to start a war, which he had had more than enough time to do considering it took a full month for him and the other pilots to find Trowa. No, Draken had tried none of those things, he had simply sent Trowa to kill Duo, and Quatre. But why not himself and Wufei? They were easily the more dangerous of the four remaining pilots.
"Sally, give me your cell phone," Heero said, reaching one hand back behind his head, once the item in question was in his grasp he began dialling.
"What have you got planned?" she asked leaning forward in her seat to better see his face.
Heero did not answer, his mind still working over all he knew about Draken, the fact of the matter was, as of right now there was nothing he could do about Draken's cut in all this. All he should be focused on now was getting Trowa back, they could discover everything else later. Heero brought the phone to his ear and waited for it to be answered. "Get me to Lady Une."
"Sir I don't know where you are, but on Earth there is such a time as night," the young servant said, her voice sounding sleepy.
"This is Heero Yuy, now give the phone to Une," his voice had never raised, but no one could miss the dangerous tone lying just beneath the surface.
"Sir?! I had no idea it was you, just one moment please."
Heero glanced around the van and seeing all the questioning looks, he turned away not really seeing anything, as he waited for Une to answer the phone. "Yuy, this had better be good."
"I need Alex on the next flight," Heero said in his usual monotone. Alex was a relatively young soldier, whom Heero had trained to hack his way through almost any system.
"Why? What's going on?"
"I thought you were tired, I won't bother you with the details now," Heero said, a barely perceivable curve to his lips as he spoke to the older woman.
"Yuy." Une said a dangerous tone overlying her words.
"Just get him on the next flight to colony L7," Heero turned the phone off before Une could say or ask any more.
"What was all that about?" Duo asked as he pulled the van up the long drive to the house. He parked the vehicle and turned to face the former pilot of Wing Zero.
"There's no way we can make it through the base without meeting up with someone. We also can't kill anyone because that will alert the men monitoring the soldiers to our exact location." Heero climbed from the van and walked towards the front door, the others following close behind.
"So what does Alex have to do with anything?" Sally asked taking her phone back when Heero offered it.
"I intend to have him on a computer, as we kill off the soldiers, his job will be to create replacements for the men who die." Heero took a seat in the living room, pulling his laptop out of his backpack and placing it on the table at his feet. Switching it on, his fingers flew across the keys, as he accessed Draken's mainframe. Heero passed through all the security systems as though they were nothing, he could now recognise the small trip wires 'Triton' had put into place, and he passed those over too.
He found his way into the system that monitored all the soldiers, and discovered, once Alex had acquainted himself with the system he would have no trouble integrating new soldiers. Heero dug deeper making sure there were no other safe guards that they had missed. He found nothing more, but was still surprised that they had missed the first safe guard.
"When do you expect him to arrive?" Wufei asked coming to stand behind him glancing down at the information on the screen.
"Sometime late tomorrow, that is if Une gets him on the next flight." Heero never took his eyes off the screen, as the information continued to skim by.
"There are ways to make sure she does." Wufei left the rest hanging as he moved to take a seat across from Heero pulling his own computer out.
Heero glanced up, a very small smile touching his otherwise emotionless face, even as his hands hacked their way into the shuttle ports scheduling lists. The databases had little to no security, and the people had at one time asked the Preventers to build them a safe system so a teenager with some computer abilities could not simply disrupt the day to day travel. However the new security system was not designed to keep Gundam pilots out, hell it was easier than sneaking into Draken's base.
"There it is," commented Wufei just as Heero's eyes fell upon the man's name, his shuttle left in one hour. "Well I really don't think there's that much more that we can do tonight."
"No," Heero agreed, coming to his feet after turning off his computer, "We'll make another strike tomorrow night." He glanced about the room and found that the others had left, most likely retiring to their rooms to try and get some sleep. Heero rubbed the back of his neck and walked towards the door, heading towards his own room. Sleep for him would not be hard to find, for Midii however, he was not so sure.
***
Midii felt numb, there was no other way to explain it, she did not feel as though she were about to weep, she did not feel anything. Her mind could not begin to grasp how close they had come to getting Trowa back. She sat in a chair in her darkened room still fingering the small tracking device Heero had given to her. Duo had led her back to her room shortly after they had returned, telling her she should try to get some sleep. However she knew that was not possible at least not until exhaustion overtook her.
She came to her feet walking towards the window, her eyes gazing up to where she knew Trowa was being held, he was in virtual reality, and he was not even aware of it. She had not till now considered how that could possibly affect someone's mind, thinking they were in reality only to find out they were not. How were they ever going to convince him that this was reality? If they ever got that far, Midii corrected silently, not sure even now how they were going to over come the security systems that Draken had in place.
Shaking her head, Midii wanted to leave right then and there, on her own and try to free Trowa but she knew she would not make it that far. She was a mercenary but even she would have trouble overcoming Draken. She spun around when someone shattered the silence by knocking on her door, "Come in," she called softly. The door opened and she gave a start of surprise, Midii had been expecting Duo or perhaps Sally, but not Heero.
He walked into the room silently, and though his features had softened slightly, she still felt intimidated by his presence. He carried in his hand a glass of water. Midii studied his face trying to find something within his features but she found nothing, his face was as unreadable as ever. He came to a stop before her and handed her the glass, "Drink this, you really need to sleep." His voice was without emotion, but she thought she caught the very faintest hint of concern, though it might have only been her imagination.
She took the glass into her hand not knowing what to say to the former assassin, and pilot. He nodded mutely and turned to leave, "Thanks." she called after him just as he had reached the door.
Heero half turned an unreadable look passed across his otherwise hard features, "I'd react the same as you, if Relena were taken." Midii did not know what to say to that, she had a feeling that for some reason he was telling her something he would not tell anyone else.
"Thanks," she said again, Heero just nodded and left the room, closing the door quietly behind him. Midii moved over to her bed and slipped off her shoes and looked at the drink, in her hands. Shrugging her shoulders Midii drank the clear liquid down, and with surprising quickness she felt it take effect. -What did Heero put in this?- she wondered just before falling asleep.
Chapter 10
By Morganeth Taren'drel
AN: I'm so sorry this is so late, I have no excuse for it I only hope this long chapter will have been worth the wait. This story is nearly done, but I am having some trouble getting back into the writing of it, I want to finish it before I start Mistaken Words, so there's no fear that I'll leave it forever untouched. There will just be some time in between updates. Thank you so much to all of you who have read and reviewed this story, it's because of you that I can keep writing, and to everyone who has simply read the story, I hope that you have enjoyed it so far ^_^
Midii sat in one corner of the sterile room, head down resting between her hands. She could not recall when the last time she had moved was, but her back was beginning to ache. She glanced up, but nothing had changed from when she had first walked into the waiting room hours before. Heero leaned against one wall appearing to be asleep, she was not naïve enough to believe that for one minute. Wufei sat in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs filling out some paperwork, while Duo continued to pace the length of the room.
"How long has it been?" she asked quietly, running one hand through her hair.
"About four hours," Heero responded without opening his eyes, she wondered silently how he knew that, but decided not to ask.
Midii came to her feet slowly, her muscles stiff from lack of use, "Duo come with me and we'll get something to drink from the cafeteria."
He nodded silently and walked towards the door with her. They walked together through the silent halls for some time without saying anything. Finally Midii stopped and turned to face Duo, "Do you actually think Trowa would try to kill me?"
Duo watched her for a moment, clearly trying to keep his face blank, "What does it matter now?" He turned and kept walking.
She moved around to stand in front of him placing one hand against his chest, "It matters to me, Duo would he have shot me?"
Sighing he shrugged, "Midii." he glanced at her through one eye. "Yes he probably would have, but Midii."
"It's alright Duo, I know," they walked in silence once more Midii trying to picture without success Trowa shooting her, or for that matter causing her any harm. A thought came to her then and she looked at Duo, "Has Cathy been informed yet about what has happened?" Duo paused for a moment before shaking his head.
They reached the cafeteria, which at this hour was almost completely empty, Duo instantly moved towards the line of food while Midii's eyes fell upon a videophone against one wall. She dialled the number hoping that Cathy would not even be home, unfortunately the phone was switched on in short order. "Midii?" the auburn haired woman's face was surprised
"Hi Cathy." Midii trailed off, wishing she had never dialled the number, she had no idea how to break the news to her.
"How's Trowa?" Cathy seemed not to notice the hesitation in Midii's voice, but she was unknowingly pressing the issue that Midii would rather forget.
"Actually that's something I need to talk to you about." Midii ran one hand through her hair. "Look I don't know how to tell you this.but.Trowa was taken."
"What?!" Trowa's sister instantly sounded terrified. "Tell me what happened!"
Midii nodded mutely, taking a moment to gather her thoughts, and remember how all this had first happened. "Trowa attempted to take out a man named Kain, he was the one who ordered the killing of the Bèovel family.um.he.he never returned."
She forced herself to make eye contact with Catherine and found terror replaced with horror and tears forming in her eyes. "That's not all."
"What? How could this happen?"
"Cathy, that's not all." Midii said again, "We thought Kain was the one behind everything. But that was not the case, it was Draken, a man we thought was a friend. He did something to Trowa.we don't know what, whatever it was it turned him against us. He's calling himself Triton now, he shot Duo and Quatre."
Catherine's hands flew to her mouth, "Are they all right?"
"Duo's fine, he took the bullet in the shoulder. We're at the hospital now, last I heard Quatre was in critical condition." She sighed, near tears herself. Midii gave a start of surprise when Duo touched her on the shoulder. His face was sober as he handed her something to drink.
"Duo, how could this happen?" Cathy cried, she wiped at her eyes but the tears continued to come.
"Hey.hey relax.were going to get him back I promise." Duo's voice was low, and soothing, though it did little to relieve the anxiety that Midii felt. Catherine watched them both, her question still unanswered. "Look Cathy, none of us really know how this happened, it would appear that Draken has been planning this for sometime. We don't even know what his goals are.it's all happening too fast."
With a deep breath Catherine managed to banish the tears from her eyes, "All right, I'm on the next shuttle."
"No don't!" Midii and Duo both looked at one another, as the same two words left each of their mouths. "That not a good idea," Duo finished.
"Why not? He's my brother." Cathy's eyes flashed with an anger that Midii had only seen one time before, the night Trowa had told his sister he was leaving again.
"That may be true, but he does not remember, what if he were to hurt you, hum? What then? He'd never forgive himself, we want Trowa back as much as you but we have to do this the safest way," Duo leaned against the wall as he spoke bringing his face closer to the screen.
Catherine dropped her head, seeing the logic of his thoughts, "But I can't just sit here waiting either."
"I know that," Duo gently replied, "Take a trip to Quatre's house in the Cinq Kingdom. Iria and Tamara are both there and so is Erik." Cathy nodded her silent consent, "Don't worry we'll keep you informed."
Without another word Cathy shut her end of the system down, leaving theirs blank. Midii took a sip of her drink, as she turned to lean back against the wall. "She was furious when Trowa told her he was leaving, I think it was just this scenario that she was afraid of."
"Situations like these seem impossible to avoid when you're a Gundam pilot." Shrugging, Duo began to walk back towards the door; he stopped half way when he noticed Midii was not following. "Come on, we may get word at any time." She nodded silently, pushing herself off the wall, and walking after him.
Midii slipped her arm through Duo's and leaned her head against his shoulder, "Does Hilde know where you are?"
He smiled, "Yah, if I don't tell her, she has my phone number. She becomes just as worried as Cathy, but she also understands that if I and the others don't do something now, who knows what will happen." He looked down at her, his face serious, "We can't afford to go through another war, not with all the work Relena has done to bring this peace into being."
They walked the rest of the way to the waiting room in silence, the realisation that the peace could be lost, was now all too real. With each step that Midii took she could feel dread building in her, she did not want to walk into the room and find out that Quatre had died. But she continued walking, mostly because Duo had her arm through his. Duo placed his hand on the door and held it opened for Midii, all heads turned as they walked in.
"Any word?" Duo inquired, Heero shook his head from where he still stood leaning against the wall. Duo flopped down in a chair, one leg swung over the arm, head falling back to rest on the white tile.
A deafening silence fell upon the room, surrounding each and everyone present, much the same as it had been for hours since they had first arrived. Midii walked the length of the room, eyes scanning the floor, which her feet passed across. Her thoughts grew progressively darker, as the minutes ticked by on the wall clock. But she could not place her finger upon what it was that drew her attention away from the other people in the room.
She knew the longer they were here at the hospital the more time was lost in their search for Trowa, however she also wanted to be here for Quatre. Midii knew exactly how Catherine was feeling, she could not stand sitting- well pacing-in this silent waiting room. She wanted to be doing something, anything besides pacing.
All heads swung up as one of the double doors was pushed open, and a very exhausted Sally walked through. Wufei stood and walked over to her, offering an arm for her to lean upon, which she gratefully accepted. "He lost a great deal of blood." Sally began.
"But he'll be all right?" Duo cut in, unable to contain himself.
Sally's eyes became distressed, and she seemed to lean all the more on Wufei's arm, "He's in a coma, now it's only a waiting game. I won't lie to you, he may never wake." Tears were clear in Sally's eyes as she looked from face to face.
"Can I see him?" All eyes turned to Midii, she had not realised the words had made it past simple thoughts. "Can I see him..?" she asked again.
Sally nodded, "Sure he's right this way," she was about to turn towards the door, when Wufei's hand gently gripped her arm.
"You can hardly stand," he said softly, "come on." Wufei began to lead her towards the doors, and Heero turned to follow.
Duo turned back to Midii, "I'll stay, and bring you back."
Midii nodded mutely, and turned to the double doors Sally had come from, she walked through into the ICU, and found it to be abuzz with activity, so very different from the room she had just left. "Excuse me miss, you can't come in here," Midii turned not fully hearing the nurse's words.
Duo stepped between them, and motioned for Midii to continue walking, "Just let it go, trust me, you really don't want to stir things up right now." Duo leaned in close, his face more serious than Midii had ever seen it, "Especially with me."
The nurse said nothing to this, she simply stood there, eyes wide. Midii turned without a second thought and walked towards the room she figured Quatre would be in. The majority of the walls were made of glass and the room was in clear sight of the nurses' station, unlike many of the others, which were more secluded. She walked hesitantly towards the glass windows, and looked within, Midii's breath caught.
Quatre lay unmoving on the bed, his usually pale skin was whiter than the sheet upon which he lay. Tubes and wires ran everywhere, and she felt as though he were buried by them. A oxygen mask covered his mouth and nose, Midii watched and he barely seemed to breathe -How could Trowa do this?- Placing one hand on the cold glass she stood there for an instant longer before walking in.
Midii found her way through the sea of monitors to Quatre's side, for a time she simply stood there, but she found the longer she watched him the more unsure she was that he was even breathing. Despite the fact that the monitors said he was still alive, he did not look alive. She reached out, laying one hand over his heart, and waited, she felt it then, so faint was it that she missed it at first, but she could now feel his heart beating steadily against her palm. Midii exhaled the breath she was not aware she had been holding, and looked down at the blond haired pilot.
"You have to make it back to us." Midii whispered, she hardly knew the man laying before her, but he had instantly welcomed her, it was because of that, and not just that he was Trowa closet friend, that she wanted him to pull through. She sighed and took her hand away from his chest, his skin feeling cold against her own.
"Midii." Duo gently called her name from the door, she looked up, and with one last glance at Quatre's white face, she turned to leave. "He's going to make it," Duo whispered confidently, taking her arm gently, as he led the way back to his car. Midii could not help glancing back over her shoulder one last time, hoping he was right.
***
"Report," Draken barked looking up from the paperwork on his desk, Argile had entered the room moments before, and had sat himself down in one of the chairs.
"Triton tells me that the Winner brat is dead," Argile locked his fingers together and placed them behind his head.
"Well this is a piece of good news," he responded giving the man before him his full attention. Draken studied Argile's and found something within his eyes that the other man had not mentioned, "There is more to this?"
"When he was sent to kill Duo, something stop him from completing the mission, but he would not say what." Argile leaned forward, eyes intense, "It's happened again this time, there's a portion of the mission that he cannot recall, luckily it was after he had shot Quatre. My guess is he saw either Heero Yuy, or the girl."
Draken thought about that for a moment before nodding, "That would make sense. Is he back in virtual reality?"
"Yes, he's no longer a threat, to our goals. And now that the pilots know we have been using his knowledge to cover our tracks, they shouldn't have too much trouble finding him." Argile jumped to his feet, heading towards the door.
"I certainly don't want it to be too easy," Draken cautioned, as Argile left the room. -Everything is falling into place- he turned his chair around to gaze out the clean windows, the Gundam pilots would soon arrive, and he would have exactly what he had wanted from the start. With Quatre out of the way, Draken would have a steady flow of money, to complete his studies of the pilots and finally to train soldiers, with a new, combined knowledge.
He would have an army that could not be matched, soldiers trained in every conceivable situation, and with a deep knowledge of the inside workings of the Preventers. They would be able to blend into society without notice, just as the Gundam pilots had done so many years ago. He would be able to accomplish both his goals. First, to see what made the pilots so good, and hard to kill. And second, to build an army that the world could not stand against.
***
Triton lay on his bed, on top of the sheets one arm propping up his head. His right arm burned each time it was jostled, but he pushed the pain from his mind, having no time for it. He was attempting to scour his memories to see what had happened on his last two missions, but each time he was stopped and could no longer remember, it was as though a portion of his memory had been erased. He fought to remember, but no matter how he tried, the period eluded him.
The door at the other end of the room opened and Argile walked in, face emotionless, he came to stand at the end of Triton's bed. "Have you remembered yet?" he asked in a monotone.
Running one hand through his hair in frustration, Triton came to his feet and began to pace the length of his room. -I walked into the kitchen, the terrorist was there sleeping. I aimed my gun and fired, the terrorist woke and fell back, the bullet taking him in the shoulder. Something caught his attention.what was it?.it was.it was.- "Damnit!!!" Triton lunged out with his left hand, slamming it through the wall; his frustration reaching a peak so high he could not keep it repressed.
He pulled his fist from the broken wall, and turned to face Argile, eyes on fire. Shock was clear on the older man's face, as he took in the damaged wall, and the scrapes on Triton's knuckles. "I'll take that as a no," he stated calmly, one eyebrow raised, Triton simply shook his head, walking away from the other man. Hand clenched into a fist, he now gave himself over to the pain that he felt, using it to relieve his absolute frustration.
Triton removed his right hand from his pocket and clenched it into a fist, causing the muscles in his arm to burn furiously. Slowly his anger subsided, and he was able to draw in a calming breath. He brought his face back to neutrality, and turned to face the other man, "What is it now?"
"There's a group trying to break into our data base, we need you to re- route them," Argile gave him one last look before heading back the way he had come. Triton followed silently after, wiping the blood from his hand on the edge of his shirt. "Make sure you leave no trace that you're the one behind it," The older man cautioned.
"This is nothing new," Triton shrugged, watching the people who walked by, they gave him and Argile a wide berth, their eyes never coming to rest upon either. He followed in silence flexing and relaxing his right arm, causing the gunshot wound to burn, he used the pain to fuel his determination. He would see this mission through to the end, the terrorists would be destroyed.
***
Midii was shaken from her sleep as Duo's hand clamped about her small shoulder. Looking up she was met by his glowing smile, eyes bright with excitement. Slowly sitting up Midii rubbed the sleep from her eyes, and tried to orient herself, she had felt the company of the others shortly after they had returned to the house. She found that once alone sleep had called her name, and she could no longer keep her eyes opened.
"What time is it?" she asked in a sleepy voice, running one hand through her hair.
"Four in the morning," Duo responded hardly able to contain himself, as he drew her to her feet. "We found Trowa!"
"You what?!" Midii was fully awake now, staring the former pilot directly in the eyes. "Where is he?!"
"He's being held on the third sector of this colony, in a base controlled by Draken, we're leaving now!" Duo headed towards the door, not wasting any time, Midii grabbed her gun and left the still darkened room.
Throwing her hair over one shoulder, Midii rushed down the silent halls, Duo moving from a fast walk to a dead run, when he saw she was following. "What do we know?" she asked when she had caught up to his racing form.
"They're using virtual reality to control him, I'm not so sure you want to see what they had him do." He glanced over his shoulder, eyes haunted.
"Tell me!" Midii's voice was harder than ice.
Duo sighed and slowed to a stop, "They broke him, first by killing you, then by having him kill Trowa Barton, he truly believes he is Triton Bloom. We believe they even completed the whole scenario by giving him memories of his life with Draken."
"How are we ever going to bring him back from this?" Midii was breathless, unable to understand fully what Trowa had been through. "How is this even possible? Why would Draken do this?"
"The only question I can answer is the one about the virtual reality, I understand that it can be used to train soldiers in a fraction of the time, it would usually take. If you lose touch with what is real they can make you believe whatever they want. We're assuming they made the switch when Trowa was unconscious." Duo turned and continued to run down the halls, hands clenched into iron hard fists.
Midii came to a sudden stop in the living room, which Duo had led her to; both Wufei and Heero were shouldering backpacks, with at least two guns visible to her. -How long have they known?- Without a word Heero handed her a shoulder holster complete with two more guns, clips, and silencers. She slipped the holster on pulling her hair out from under the tight leather.
"The plan is almost identical to the one used with Kain, except you will be with Sally, and only her. Is that a problem?" Wufei asked, glancing over to the other woman.
Midii shook her head, "Do you expect a lot of resistance?" she shrugged into the coat Duo handed her, she had been the last to be awakened, everyone else was ready.
"Everything we've seen says he's been preparing for this for years," Heero responded moving towards the door, without looking back. The others moved to follow, and Midii found her mind reeling, with the sudden events that had been thrown at her. Midii walked slowly after them, running one hand through her hair as she did.
Duo turned once he realised she was not walking beside him, "You awake enough?"
She smiled, "I will be," she locked eyes with the former pilot as they followed after the others. "Why didn't you wake me earlier?"
"We found out a few hours ago, and still had a lot to prepare. I wanted to wake you as soon as we found out, but Sally suggested we let you sleep, since we know you haven't had much of it." He held the door opened for her, as they walked out into the cold December air.
Midii climbed silently into the nondescript black van, and slid over to the window. She leaned her face against the cold glass, letting the icy chill fully wake her. The van rolled into motion and she glanced around her at the men who had lost a brother and had not rested till they found him once more. Her crystal blue eyes focused on Duo who was holding up a knife and gun as if trying to decide between the two.
He looked over when he felt Midii watching, "Draken will pay for what he has done," Duo promised darkly.
She placed her hand on the dull side of the knife and lowered it to his lap, "Stick with the gun."
Part of her wanted to be the one to face Draken; he had been jerking them around since the beginning for his own purposes. However she wanted to see Trowa more, she trusted Duo to take care of Draken properly. Midii drew one of her guns out of the shoulder holster Heero had given her, checking the clip inside she attached one of the silencers to the barrel. She cocked the gun and lay it in her lap, eyes travelling once more beyond the glass to the glowing streetlights that passed by.
Midii glanced down at her watch, to find out what time it was, but realised she had not put it on, when Duo had come to wake her. She continued to watch the scenery pass, not knowing how much time went by. Midii looked up as the van rolled to a slow stop, and out her window she could see the tall building that Trowa was being held in. She could feel the first wave of adrenaline wash over her as she flexed her hands in anticipation.
"Ready?" Duo asked, eyes bright with his own excitement. Midii nodded following him from the vehicle onto the deep shadows. She leaned against the wall and watched as Heero removed a laptop from his bag, and began working feverishly. Seconds later the computer was gone and Heero was leading them forward.
They entered the building through the main doors, Heero having disabled the security system. Midii slipped through the glass doors without a sound, eyes scanning the surrounding foyer, she could not see a sign of anyone. She and the others spread out into the room covering every door and corner, guns in hand, waiting for any resistance.
Midii glanced down the hall and found it to be clear, she half turned and gave Heero the signal, but found him raising his gun, taking aim at an unknowing soldier moving towards them. With one shot the man dropped without a sound, blood pooling underneath him. They were about to move forward when from almost every direction men came running bearing assault rifles. The soldiers began firing almost instantly.
"How'd they know where we were?" Sally called firing down the hall; the men had planted themselves behind corners and small alcoves.
"Who the hell cares, we need to get to Trowa!" Midii cried, trying to take out a few of their numbers.
"We can't hope to make any progress with this amount of resistance," Wufei responded, reloading his guns.
***
Heero's mind raced as he tried to decide how the soldiers had found them so quickly. There had not been any cameras monitoring the foyer, he had made sure of that. No security systems could possibly have been tripped; he had disabled all of them. So what could possibly be left? As he fired his gun with deadly accuracy Heero's Prussian eyes looked over to where the first soldier lay.
"Cover me," Heero said, already moving forward. He dove into a forward shoulder roll and came up beside the dead man. Taking hold of him Heero pulled him into the cover of an alcove. The man's uniform was nondescript and Heero could not see any radio that the man could have been talking into. Without knowing what to expect Heero tore open the man's shirt, and found the answer to his questions.
Grabbing the item in question Heero looked up coming to his feet. He needed to make it back to the others; they would make it no further this day. Shielding himself with a hail of bullets Heero pulled back to where the others waited, he was met with more than one questioning glance. He simply shook his head. "We have to pull back!" Heero called moving towards the door, he sensed more than saw the others follow.
Once they reached the van, Midii stood before him, "How the hell did they know?!" Rage shone clear in her eyes at having been forced back.
Heero could fully understand how she was feeling, but he also understood when they could no longer move forward for fear of loss of life. He tossed the small item he carried in his hand to Midii and climbed into the van.
Midii turned it over in her hands as she followed, "What is it?" she questioned, some of her anger appearing to fade.
"It's a tracking device, they were monitoring the soldier's heart beat, as soon as he died, they knew where we were." Heero answered running one hand through his hair, as he even now began to consider their options.
"They what?" Midii watched him her voice sounding slightly hopeless "How the hell can we hope to get past that?"
Duo turned the key in the ignition and slammed the gas pedal to the floor, as they raced away from Draken's base. He glanced over at Heero as he manoeuvred the van around other traffic at breakneck speeds, "Did anyone else notice anything strange about the way those soldiers fought?"
Heero looked away his mind still half on the problem of how they were to get through now. Duo question penetrated his thoughts and he answered without really thinking. "The tactics were almost identical to Trowa's. You really shouldn't have been surprised, we knew they put him in virtual reality, the logical next step for Draken would be to put Trowa's training to use."
"Well sure that's the logical next step, if everyone thought like you." Duo said sarcastically.
"What do you think their goal through all this is?" Midii asked still fingering the tracing device.
Heero shrugged without comment, Draken worked like no other man he had ever been pitted against. He had made no demands, had not attempted to start a war, which he had had more than enough time to do considering it took a full month for him and the other pilots to find Trowa. No, Draken had tried none of those things, he had simply sent Trowa to kill Duo, and Quatre. But why not himself and Wufei? They were easily the more dangerous of the four remaining pilots.
"Sally, give me your cell phone," Heero said, reaching one hand back behind his head, once the item in question was in his grasp he began dialling.
"What have you got planned?" she asked leaning forward in her seat to better see his face.
Heero did not answer, his mind still working over all he knew about Draken, the fact of the matter was, as of right now there was nothing he could do about Draken's cut in all this. All he should be focused on now was getting Trowa back, they could discover everything else later. Heero brought the phone to his ear and waited for it to be answered. "Get me to Lady Une."
"Sir I don't know where you are, but on Earth there is such a time as night," the young servant said, her voice sounding sleepy.
"This is Heero Yuy, now give the phone to Une," his voice had never raised, but no one could miss the dangerous tone lying just beneath the surface.
"Sir?! I had no idea it was you, just one moment please."
Heero glanced around the van and seeing all the questioning looks, he turned away not really seeing anything, as he waited for Une to answer the phone. "Yuy, this had better be good."
"I need Alex on the next flight," Heero said in his usual monotone. Alex was a relatively young soldier, whom Heero had trained to hack his way through almost any system.
"Why? What's going on?"
"I thought you were tired, I won't bother you with the details now," Heero said, a barely perceivable curve to his lips as he spoke to the older woman.
"Yuy." Une said a dangerous tone overlying her words.
"Just get him on the next flight to colony L7," Heero turned the phone off before Une could say or ask any more.
"What was all that about?" Duo asked as he pulled the van up the long drive to the house. He parked the vehicle and turned to face the former pilot of Wing Zero.
"There's no way we can make it through the base without meeting up with someone. We also can't kill anyone because that will alert the men monitoring the soldiers to our exact location." Heero climbed from the van and walked towards the front door, the others following close behind.
"So what does Alex have to do with anything?" Sally asked taking her phone back when Heero offered it.
"I intend to have him on a computer, as we kill off the soldiers, his job will be to create replacements for the men who die." Heero took a seat in the living room, pulling his laptop out of his backpack and placing it on the table at his feet. Switching it on, his fingers flew across the keys, as he accessed Draken's mainframe. Heero passed through all the security systems as though they were nothing, he could now recognise the small trip wires 'Triton' had put into place, and he passed those over too.
He found his way into the system that monitored all the soldiers, and discovered, once Alex had acquainted himself with the system he would have no trouble integrating new soldiers. Heero dug deeper making sure there were no other safe guards that they had missed. He found nothing more, but was still surprised that they had missed the first safe guard.
"When do you expect him to arrive?" Wufei asked coming to stand behind him glancing down at the information on the screen.
"Sometime late tomorrow, that is if Une gets him on the next flight." Heero never took his eyes off the screen, as the information continued to skim by.
"There are ways to make sure she does." Wufei left the rest hanging as he moved to take a seat across from Heero pulling his own computer out.
Heero glanced up, a very small smile touching his otherwise emotionless face, even as his hands hacked their way into the shuttle ports scheduling lists. The databases had little to no security, and the people had at one time asked the Preventers to build them a safe system so a teenager with some computer abilities could not simply disrupt the day to day travel. However the new security system was not designed to keep Gundam pilots out, hell it was easier than sneaking into Draken's base.
"There it is," commented Wufei just as Heero's eyes fell upon the man's name, his shuttle left in one hour. "Well I really don't think there's that much more that we can do tonight."
"No," Heero agreed, coming to his feet after turning off his computer, "We'll make another strike tomorrow night." He glanced about the room and found that the others had left, most likely retiring to their rooms to try and get some sleep. Heero rubbed the back of his neck and walked towards the door, heading towards his own room. Sleep for him would not be hard to find, for Midii however, he was not so sure.
***
Midii felt numb, there was no other way to explain it, she did not feel as though she were about to weep, she did not feel anything. Her mind could not begin to grasp how close they had come to getting Trowa back. She sat in a chair in her darkened room still fingering the small tracking device Heero had given to her. Duo had led her back to her room shortly after they had returned, telling her she should try to get some sleep. However she knew that was not possible at least not until exhaustion overtook her.
She came to her feet walking towards the window, her eyes gazing up to where she knew Trowa was being held, he was in virtual reality, and he was not even aware of it. She had not till now considered how that could possibly affect someone's mind, thinking they were in reality only to find out they were not. How were they ever going to convince him that this was reality? If they ever got that far, Midii corrected silently, not sure even now how they were going to over come the security systems that Draken had in place.
Shaking her head, Midii wanted to leave right then and there, on her own and try to free Trowa but she knew she would not make it that far. She was a mercenary but even she would have trouble overcoming Draken. She spun around when someone shattered the silence by knocking on her door, "Come in," she called softly. The door opened and she gave a start of surprise, Midii had been expecting Duo or perhaps Sally, but not Heero.
He walked into the room silently, and though his features had softened slightly, she still felt intimidated by his presence. He carried in his hand a glass of water. Midii studied his face trying to find something within his features but she found nothing, his face was as unreadable as ever. He came to a stop before her and handed her the glass, "Drink this, you really need to sleep." His voice was without emotion, but she thought she caught the very faintest hint of concern, though it might have only been her imagination.
She took the glass into her hand not knowing what to say to the former assassin, and pilot. He nodded mutely and turned to leave, "Thanks." she called after him just as he had reached the door.
Heero half turned an unreadable look passed across his otherwise hard features, "I'd react the same as you, if Relena were taken." Midii did not know what to say to that, she had a feeling that for some reason he was telling her something he would not tell anyone else.
"Thanks," she said again, Heero just nodded and left the room, closing the door quietly behind him. Midii moved over to her bed and slipped off her shoes and looked at the drink, in her hands. Shrugging her shoulders Midii drank the clear liquid down, and with surprising quickness she felt it take effect. -What did Heero put in this?- she wondered just before falling asleep.