Scarlet Love
Chapter Fourteen:
Beginning of the Pain
By: NightChild
***
In the distance loomed a dingy warehouse building, seemingly innocent from the outside, but the four ex-pilots knew better, because they suspected that it sheltered the main branch of Neo Romefeller Foundation. That alone warranted caution, the fact that they held an ex-pilot and were probably torturing said pilot only demanded more caution and stealth. Which was why Trowa, Quatre, Duo, and Wufei were sticking to the shadows, being silent as possible, creeping across the wooded area around the ominous building they thought held Heero.
'Please be alright…' Duo thought, as they steadily made their way closer, ever so closer, to danger…to their mission…to his love.
Wufei watched Maxwell out of the corner of his eye, while he held his chosen handgun ahead of him, ready for use at a moment's notice. Maxwell looked more ready to fall off the edge than he had before. 'If we don't get Heero back, we'll lose Maxwell as well…and that will shatter Winner; shattering Barton; and in turn, possibly shattering myself.' He thought as they finally got to the wall of the dingy hell that disguised itself as an old warehouse.
'This is it.' Were the collective thoughts of the small rescue party as they started to climb to a window in the wall they had just reached. If they failed, they all would probably die…slowly.
Once inside the now-obvious secret base, the four ex-pilots quickly darted to the shadows of the sterile-white hall, their feet hardly making a sound on the hard, white tile that covered the floor. The place had the feel of a hospital about it, but it didn't quite fit; it was more menacing. A near-choking smell of disinfectants hung in the air, evidently hiding much more foul odors. It was plainly evident that they were in the medical-testing section of the base; probably the totally wrong section, the opposite section of where they needed to be. They needed to move.
With an unseen, unheard signal, they bolted near-silently down the halls, toward--what they hoped--was the integration-and-torture section of the base.
***
Heero came back to reality with a stinging pain across his cheek; he'd been slapped, apparently. Resisting a groan, he pried his deep blue eyes open to glare at the offender. What he saw when he finally got his eyes open wasn't what he was expecting, but any surprise he felt at seeing a man dressed in what the NRF seemingly considered dress uniform was not shown. Heero glared defiantly at the man as he took in the new uniform. The same black and white color scheme…but more formal, with alternating black and white tassels hanging off the tops of the shoulders in a line to the neck; knee-high, polished black leather-looking boots; tight, black pants with a white stripe down the outside of both legs; a white button-up shirt with black buttons, a black stripe running vertically along the ribs and the underside of the arms. 'It looks like some sort of demented band uniform.' He thought with distain, but showing nothing on the outside.
The man in what Heero viewed as a demented band uniform examined Heero with a sinister look in his steel-gray eyes. The man turned toward the most shadowy corner of the room. "Is he still not providing any information?" he asked someone whom Heero couldn't see.
"Yes, sir." Came a male's voice from somewhere in the shadows of the room.
The man nodded, his graying hair bobbing slightly. "I see…" he turned back to Heero. "You're quite stubborn. And quickly becoming a nuance." Walking over to the shadows, the man whispered something that could not be heard by Heero.
A cruel cackle of glee came from the shadows.
'Kuso.' Heero knew what was coming next; they'd drug him again and then torture him to the point of screaming and tears, trying to humiliate him into giving them some information that he couldn't possibly know, because their delusional paranoia was just that, a paranoia. The Gundams had been destroyed at the end of the last war; there was no way for them to do any sort of harm or good to anyone or anything. Heero had told his "interrogators" this, but they had only called him a liar and tortured him more. And that was what was coming…torture.
A figure in the non-dress NRF uniform stalked out of the shadows, a twisted grin on his scarred face. "Where are the Gundams?" he demanded rather than asked.
Heero glared at the man, this was one of his more brutal torturers, who got some sort of sick pleasure from seeing other people writhe in pain. "They're destroyed." He said in a monotone.
The torturer's hand rose, a sharp object of some form in it, and slapped down across Heero's right cheek, the sharp object leaving behind a sharp sting and a trail of blood. "Where are the Gundams? And what are you planning to do with them?!" it was fairly obvious that the man was getting frustrated with Heero.
'Let him get frustrated, it won't do him any good.' Heero thought with a defiant determination. "Destroyed. There can be no plans because there are no Gundams."
Another slash of the sharp, metallic object to his face. "You're lying!" Another slash. "Where. are. the. Gundams?!"
No answer.
Another slash. "Answer me!"
No answer.
Slash, slash. "WHERE ARE THE GUNDAMS?!"
The constant, repeating questions and no answers continued until Heero slipped back into unconsciousness again, safe from the mindless torture he had to endure for…he couldn't remember if it had been days or hours or months…it was just too hard to keep track when they had him in a dark cell, strapped to a hard table-like thing and in constant pain. Yes, the darkness was much better than that living hell.
***
AN: Look, longer chapter. Many of you are telling me to make my chapters longer, but to have longer chapters; there would be more space between the updates, probably at least two weeks between updates. I do the shorter chapters because it's easier for me to write and edit them quickly and get them out to you. I suppose I'll hold another poll. Let me know if you want longer chapters with more space between updates or if you want me to keep doing as I have been and you get your updates about once a week. Let me know before the 31st of October, 2003.
Now that the long AN is over:
THANK YOU to Lord Havok's Minion, gohans-girl1, Duo Lover 2x1, PATTY40, Angel Of Reincarnation, Holly, Bunch-o-Nuts, Aryante, Hyper Pegesus, LadyDragonWolfKnight, Duo-js, and Shin-chan for reviewing and brightening my day.
Until next time…
Ja`ne