The next day dawned overcast and foreboding. Gray thunderheads rolled
across the gloomy sky, spitting droplets of ice and rain out at the stone
mansion.
Jonya sat at her window seat, waiting for it to start snowing. Her bedroom was seaward, facing the crashing expanse of cobalt water, angry white soldiers on the tips of warring waves.
She gave a sigh, and looked out onto the rocky ridge, counting the distant grave stones that stood in the Grant family burial site.
Suddenly she stood, and bolted down the stairs.
She skidded to a stop in the library, "Have any of you seen Jeeves?" she breathed.
Quinn looked up from the computer screen she shared with Heero. "Kitchen. Why?"
"Tabby!" Jonya shouted over her shoulder as she ran on.
Jeeves was indeed in the kitchen, betting with Xio-Ee, the Chinese cook, on a rugby game.
"Jeeves!" Jonya cried as she collapsed into a chair.
He turned to face her, "Yes?"
"Where did you put Tabby?"
"Tabby?"
"Er-the body."
"She's in the basement, safe and dry, I assure you."
Jonya's brown eyes were pleading, "We need to bury her, today."
Jeeves looked to Xio-Ee, and then back to Jonya, "I understand. Ackley and I will bring the body up and bring it to the graveyard. The servants will dig the hole."
Jonya nodded, and waked out, only to stop at the door frame, "Jeeves-"
The slim butler turned to look at her, "Yes?"
"Thank you."
"'Twas nothing at all, Madam."
Jonya ducked out of the kitchen. ** It was what one would consider very late or very early during the night when Duo heard the muffled clack clack of Quinn's pointed leather boots echoing throughout the hallway. Frowning, he shuffled out of bed and opened his door with the silent dexterity so acclaimed to a Gundam pilot, watching her walk away; wondering where she would be headed at this hour. He slipped out of his room a yard or three behind her, not for the purpose of being sneaky, more curiosity than anything else, following this new ally up two flights of stairs before he stopped, realizing he could no longer hear Quinn's footfalls. Uh oh, said his mind. He took a tentative step forward. Nothing. Another step. Duo was greeted by the click of a gun as Quinn moved into the soft glow of moonlight. "Care to explain why I'm being followed?" Her voice: an icy hiss that heat could never conquer. "Maybe I'm wrong here, but a gun, to me, might not be the best way to say 'hello'." He gave a weak grin. Quinn's scowl only deepened. "Did I ask for your opinion?" "No. But I give it to anyone in hearing range." She gave a snort of disgust and walked over to the window, boots clacking angrily against the tile floor. "So.What're you coming up here for, if I may ask? It's pretty late." He noted. "How about you leave?" she snarled. "Umm.Not exactly what I had in mind, but.." He edged back a few inches. She walked over to the window. "So now that we're clear, you can just shove off." "Feeling anti-social today, aren't we?" "Does it LOOK like I care?" "WHAT is your PROBLEM, girl?" "And again, I'm forced to repeat myself. Let's do this slowly, so there's no misunderstanding. I don't want to see you, talk to you, or even be in the same room with you. You annoy me. I don't like you AT ALL." Duo waited a few seconds before replying. "Do you want your knife back..or should I just leave it embedded in my heart?" She turned back to the windowpane and rested her fingertips on the smooth surface, the sky outside dark and foreboding, landscape now covered in a layer of frost from the cold. "Go ahead and yell at me; I don't care!" Quinn was lost in a whirl of thoughts. Her voice was low, and at first Duo wasn't sure if she knew he was still there. "It doesn't matter anymore." "What doesn't?" "It's useless effort, wasted time. We're kidding ourselves. We.or rather, I can't help anybody." He raised an eyebrow. "And why do you say that?" "It's the truth." "Give me one good example of how that's truth." Eyes of flashing green leveled with his own. "Okay. When a baby cries for help and nobody comes to calm it down.or whatever.after awhile that child starts to realize that no one is coming and stops crying." Duo was astounded. "Who told you that load of CRAP?" "Experience." Utter silence. He wasn't sure how to respond to such an answer. Quinn turned back to the window. The lineament of her face was barely visible as her hand balled into a fist on the glass and she pounded lightly on it, shaking her black head. It didn't matter anymore. She meant nothing to the world, meant nothing to anybody.
"I'm nothing. I'm nothing. I'm nothing."
The hollow whispers echoed in her mind and she wished she could just turn back the clock..go back and fix all her mistakes. With every heartbeat the noose closed tighter and tighter around her neck, choking off her life, her blood. Rain began to spatter on the glass and she opened her ice blue eyes. Who am I fooling with my disguise? How long will this mask of icy apathy last me? I'm all alone. What have I become? She looked down at her hands; again invisibly bloodstained. The breath came out of her lungs harsh and haggard. Placing her fingertips onto the windowpane, Quinn looked up at the sky that reflected her soul. Angry and lightning torn. Fire. Her heart, her independence, her passion was slowly burning down to nothingness. Quinn looked up to glimpse her reflection in the windowpane. The face she saw day after day in the mirror. Her eyes haunted.regretful.empty. Soulless. "Not human." Quinn lashed out at the window, punching the glass until it shattered, until the shards buried themselves in her fist and cut into her hands. Duo watched in a mixture of horror and disbelief. She turned back to him. "You see?" Her hands now truly bloodstained. "I can't help anybody. Not Jonya, not Kite. Not even myself." He shook his head. "Then let someone help you out for a change. Me. Or Quatre.Heero, Trowa, whoever! It's not like you're totally alone." She laughed softly, a low chuckle that sent shivers up and down Duo's spine. "When you were a little kid.did you ever have a dream that you could fly? So vividly pictured, when you woke up it was almost reality?" He advanced toward the window. "What do you mean?" Quinn looked back at Duo, then down to the ground outside. Her voice a harsh whisper. "Think I could fly out of this window?" He paused a moment before replying. "Look," he said frankly, "I can understand you wanting to take your own life, but why don't you stop and think about it before you hurt both yourself and just maybe someone else? "Sounds like you've given that advice before." "I have." She made a sound of approval but turned away all the same. "It makes sense." "Hey," he burst out. Quinn raised an eyebrow, waiting. "If you ever feel like talking.Let's just say you know who to look for." A wan smile crossed her face. "Maybe. I'll consider it." "I'll take that as a yes," She turned wordlessly and walked back downstairs. Duo stood as if his feet were rooted to the ground, watching her retreating form, silently questioning all previous beliefs, relics of sanity, musing over this turn of events. Why's she like that? Doesn't make any sense.she's so proud, clever.ruthless, but at the same time scared to death at the slightest thought of being worthless. Something clicked in his mind. Quinn's just like Heero. Going beyond the working thing, yeah, definitely deeper issues.How come I didn't see it before? With this new revelation slowly unfolding in his head, Duo padded back to his second-floor bedroom to try and find sleep once more. ** Jonya stared silently at Tabby's gaping grave, at the ebony coffin being lowered down into it. She felt numb, icy. The world was covered in a blanket of quiet and despair, snow drifting listlessly down from a dark sky. She shook her head, slowly, preventing her wet hair from turning into orangey icicles, glaring up at the storm clouds sending freezing lace down at them on the back of a bitter wind. She pressed one hand to her mouth, holding back the ragged sob trying to tear its way out. Searching for strength, she looked around at her comrades. Wufei, Heero, Trowa and Quinn all looked stony, almost nothing different from their usual expressions. Except one muscle of Quinn's whitish visage was twitching. Jonya drew a deep breath, and continued. Duo was to her right, and had one hand to her shoulder, squeezing tight. Kite looked very pale, a tiny river of tears coursing down her face. Quatre, who was standing beside her, put a tentative arm around her shoulders, and murmured comfort in her ear. Kite choked back a sob, and nodded quietly. Quatre's arm retreated back to his side. Quinn was the first to turn away, begin walking back to the house. Her black boots crackling on the snow. Wufei and Heero followed, then Trowa, Duo and Jonya. Kite and Quatre were left in the graveyard. "Were you two close?" he asked, brushing snow out of his halo hair. Kite shrugged, and gave a small gasp for breath, "She was new. I'd only known her for a few months." she struggled to keep her tears inside, "She- she didn't deserve any of this!" Quatre's blue eyes looked haunted, "None of us do."
Jonya closed herself inside her room. 'Think about Spain.Spain. Think about Spain! It'll be warm there! And Kite will be happy! And-' The hot prickle of tears seeped through her eyes and she buried her head in her pillow. 'Tabby's gone! Dead! And it's your fault! If you had been more careful, then Tabby and Quinn wouldn't have come down! And nothing like this would have happened. ' Her arms clenched tight around her raw belly, pushing pain down onto the healing gashes there, squeezing blood out. 'You killed her. You killed her.' There was a loud knock on the door. "Woman!" It was Wufei. "One sec!" Hurriedly she stood, changing into another shirt, stashing the bloodstained one inside her dresser, slamming the drawer closed. Wufei marched through the door wearing a look of one bearing a painful duty. Jonya was struggling to pull the tight bottom of the tank top down over her belly, but Wufei's sharp eyes missed nothing.then again, blood seeping from angry red gashes wasn't easy to ignore. "What have you been doing?" he asked suspiciously. She was wiping the extra tears from her swollen eyes, "What do you care?" He crossed the room in two clipped strides, yanking the bloodied shirt from where a corner was hanging out. "I take it you just haven't washed this for a while?" he said, icy voice telling her that he knew exactly what she had done. Jonya glared back at him, "It's my fault she's dead," she hissed, "my stupid injury that made her come down to Earth. My stupid weakness." Wufei threw the clothing to the floor, narrowing his ebony eyes, "Death, unless inflicted or plotted directly is no one's fault," he shoved his face in hers, "And I will not abode self-mutilation. Do you understand?" his voice was barely more than a furious murmur. "Then walk right out this door." He grabbed both her arms in his wrath, thin fingers steel vices. "I will not tolerate what you're doing. I HAVE to work with you. You are needed on this mission, and I will not allow myself to work with idiots! What you are doing is STUPID. And I will make sure that stupidity does not force this mission to fail!" Jonyas's head jerked out of her forlorn stupor, and although she suspected her reaction was the one Wufei wanted to get out of her, she let her temper fly. "How DARE you? What gives you the right to judge me!? Who said you could just waltz in here and start preaching like you were God, eh? NOT ME!" He was about to deal a scathing remark, when she crossed her arms, "You will never, ever, ever again pretend to know me. Understand?" He smirked, "We're wanted downstairs." Jonya glared at him, "Fine." She grabbed a huge gray coat and swept out her door. Wufei shook his head, and moved to close the dresser drawer. Jonya stuck her head around the door frame, "You trying to sneak a peak at my panties or something? Let's GO." She began sauntering down the hall, the Chinese warrior blustering after her, "Onna! I am NOT interested in your weak 'panties!' You take that back immediately!" ** Quinn swung by the kitchen for an early morning cup of coffee before stopping by the library. Heero was sitting in front of a glowing computer screen, still working despite the fact that only about three people were up and the fact that it was four-thirty in the morning. "What have you found?" she queried, wasting no time with greetings or usual courtesies. "Not much" was his reply, "But I have found a lead." Her voice held an air of irritation. "That's something, I suppose. Let me see it." Heero pulled up a couple of programs and some text files for her to inspect. She moved the mouse to scroll down the page. "Interesting," she murmured. He glanced down at her delicate hand, ribboned with deep incisions and dirty with grime and blood. "What happened?" he asked. She raised an eyebrow, a little perturbed. "To what?" "Your hand," Quinn shrugged off his concern. "I cut it.On a glass bottle," she lied. "You should get it fixed," he stated quietly. "I was going to stitch it up later today.but I don't have time for it now," "It can only get worse." She rolled her eyes, still reading. "That's the least of my worries." He grabbed her arm rather roughly, making Quinn turn and face him. "Would you rather I stitch it up?" Quinn jerked out of his grasp, a little taken aback. "Excuse me?" "Cuts that bad don't help you work. Either you find the time to fix it up, or I'll do it for you." "I didn't ask for your help or your opinion." She snarled. He shrugged, and she finally caved, "But I will get it stitched up.this morning." The subject was swiftly dropped. He changed paths, pointing at the computer screen. "You see that?" She nodded. "There's a factory in Madrid, Spain where a data packet can be acquired. At this speed, I won't have it downloaded for another few days." "So what?" was her reply. "The codes to the entrance change weekly. This is Saturday." "Useless information." She hissed. "We don't have much time. Someone's going on a mission." "Not with that hand," he couldn't help but remind her. She gave a low growl. "Well since you've got such an obsession with my injury, then you go ahead and stitch it up." He raised an eyebrow. "You're sure?" "Yes, of course, whatever, just bloody fix it already!" "It'll hurt." "Like I haven't ever felt pain?" she countered. "Do it." He pulled a needle and thread from his knapsack, which was conveniently lying nearby on the library table. Striking a match, he held the flame to the needle's sharp point in order to clean it. "No anesthetic," he reminded her. She shrugged off his words. "Start stitching." Heero threaded the needle and began to work, the data momentarily put aside but not forgotten. She bit her lip, willing herself stone, ignoring the sting of the process. After 45 minutes, with the procedure nearly halfway done, Heero's careful work was interrupted by the arrival of Jonya and Wufei. "So, peoples, what's the damage done today?" Jonya sauntered in, eyes taking in Heero, Quinn, and her hand being sewn up... "EW!! WHAT THE--??" Even Wufei grimaced. "Yuy, what ARE you doing?" Heero barely looked up. "What does it look like?" "What did you DO to your hand, Quinn?" demanded Jonya, not waiting for an answer. "Please, tell me you have not punched out your mirror again." Quinn blew out a breath, trying to be reasonable. "No, I just--" "WHY are we all up at four in the-AHH!! GOOD LORD!" burst out Duo at the sight of stitches. "Heero, why are you playing the Evil Doctor at this unreasonable hour??" "It's an obsession," Quinn muttered. "You're telling me, sister," agreed Duo. "First the leg, then the arm, now your hand.I really hope he never tries to fix any injury of mine." "I'm just going to WALK away," announced Jonya. "Out the door and downstairs.if I can stand the sight of breakfast," she grumbled. "Before you go ANYWHERE," Quinn commanded. "We all have to talk. Who's-- (she gave a quiet gasp of pain, face twisting into a grimace despite the self-control)--Who's not here?" "Quatre, and Kite, and Trowa," Duo listed off the names. "Get them down here." "Anything to miss watching the evil doctor work," he said, pushing open the door to yell into the hallway. "QUATRE!! TROWA!! KITE!! GET YOUR BUTTS DOWN HERE!" Wufei muttered an insult; Jonya caught it and quietly chuckled. *** After about 10 minutes, the three others arrived, but then there was another bombardment of exclamations about Quinn's hand, then Jonya had to go get some coffee or she would fall asleep during Heero's technical speech, and Wufei said he wanted some tea as well, then Quatre placed two orders of hot chocolate, for himself and Kite, then Trowa had amazed them all and said he was hungry. They ended up waking up Xio-Eie, the master cook, and asking him to make them some sushi and noodles; along with coffee, tea and hot chocolate. The chef raged at them for about 15 minutes, and them the food had to cook. It took about an hour and a half to get everyone settled and mostly happy in the library so they could hear about the next plan. Heero wasn't pleased by this lapse in organization, since he was satisfied with a glass of water and was ready before any of them even awoke, but he steeled his resolve, and continued with the briefing. "Ok, there is an OZ Building in Barcelona, Spain, where our Hacker was last sighted. He dropped off a data packet there. It's kept under high security surveillance (Duo snorted), so we know that it's something of extreme importance. And from what Quinn tells me, the only info this spy has that might be remotely important to OZ is on the Thieves Guild. I could easily download the info over the net, but it would take almost a week to bypass the security they've got around that thing. OZ could utilize the data by then," he glared at the expectant faces around him, "We need to steal it."
Jonya was positioned with her head and upper torso dangling off a table, arms almost reaching the floor. "How?" Quinn shot her a dangerous look, "We're thieves, it's our job to know how. Don't just hang there like you've never done this before." "We need a plan," Kite said rationally, "Heero, do you have the layout for the building?" He pulled up a few blueprints on screen. All eight of them crowded around the computer, Jonya somersaulting off her table to get there. Kite was jumbled between Quatre and Duo, most of her auburn hair in her eyes, hardly enabling her to see anything at all. Duo twisted suddenly as Jonya banged into him, and everybody went down in a tangle of arms and legs "Perhaps," Wufei said flatly from under Jonya's shoulders, "Yuy and Quinn ought to print out copies for us all." Quinn nodded sagely, and soon they were all studying their own layouts. Trowa looked serene as usual, but his voice held a rare note of annoyance, "There doesn't appear to be any way in, does there? OZ designs an impenetrable building.didn't think I'd ever say those words in the same sentence." Quinn gave a snort of agreement.
Jonya sat at her window seat, waiting for it to start snowing. Her bedroom was seaward, facing the crashing expanse of cobalt water, angry white soldiers on the tips of warring waves.
She gave a sigh, and looked out onto the rocky ridge, counting the distant grave stones that stood in the Grant family burial site.
Suddenly she stood, and bolted down the stairs.
She skidded to a stop in the library, "Have any of you seen Jeeves?" she breathed.
Quinn looked up from the computer screen she shared with Heero. "Kitchen. Why?"
"Tabby!" Jonya shouted over her shoulder as she ran on.
Jeeves was indeed in the kitchen, betting with Xio-Ee, the Chinese cook, on a rugby game.
"Jeeves!" Jonya cried as she collapsed into a chair.
He turned to face her, "Yes?"
"Where did you put Tabby?"
"Tabby?"
"Er-the body."
"She's in the basement, safe and dry, I assure you."
Jonya's brown eyes were pleading, "We need to bury her, today."
Jeeves looked to Xio-Ee, and then back to Jonya, "I understand. Ackley and I will bring the body up and bring it to the graveyard. The servants will dig the hole."
Jonya nodded, and waked out, only to stop at the door frame, "Jeeves-"
The slim butler turned to look at her, "Yes?"
"Thank you."
"'Twas nothing at all, Madam."
Jonya ducked out of the kitchen. ** It was what one would consider very late or very early during the night when Duo heard the muffled clack clack of Quinn's pointed leather boots echoing throughout the hallway. Frowning, he shuffled out of bed and opened his door with the silent dexterity so acclaimed to a Gundam pilot, watching her walk away; wondering where she would be headed at this hour. He slipped out of his room a yard or three behind her, not for the purpose of being sneaky, more curiosity than anything else, following this new ally up two flights of stairs before he stopped, realizing he could no longer hear Quinn's footfalls. Uh oh, said his mind. He took a tentative step forward. Nothing. Another step. Duo was greeted by the click of a gun as Quinn moved into the soft glow of moonlight. "Care to explain why I'm being followed?" Her voice: an icy hiss that heat could never conquer. "Maybe I'm wrong here, but a gun, to me, might not be the best way to say 'hello'." He gave a weak grin. Quinn's scowl only deepened. "Did I ask for your opinion?" "No. But I give it to anyone in hearing range." She gave a snort of disgust and walked over to the window, boots clacking angrily against the tile floor. "So.What're you coming up here for, if I may ask? It's pretty late." He noted. "How about you leave?" she snarled. "Umm.Not exactly what I had in mind, but.." He edged back a few inches. She walked over to the window. "So now that we're clear, you can just shove off." "Feeling anti-social today, aren't we?" "Does it LOOK like I care?" "WHAT is your PROBLEM, girl?" "And again, I'm forced to repeat myself. Let's do this slowly, so there's no misunderstanding. I don't want to see you, talk to you, or even be in the same room with you. You annoy me. I don't like you AT ALL." Duo waited a few seconds before replying. "Do you want your knife back..or should I just leave it embedded in my heart?" She turned back to the windowpane and rested her fingertips on the smooth surface, the sky outside dark and foreboding, landscape now covered in a layer of frost from the cold. "Go ahead and yell at me; I don't care!" Quinn was lost in a whirl of thoughts. Her voice was low, and at first Duo wasn't sure if she knew he was still there. "It doesn't matter anymore." "What doesn't?" "It's useless effort, wasted time. We're kidding ourselves. We.or rather, I can't help anybody." He raised an eyebrow. "And why do you say that?" "It's the truth." "Give me one good example of how that's truth." Eyes of flashing green leveled with his own. "Okay. When a baby cries for help and nobody comes to calm it down.or whatever.after awhile that child starts to realize that no one is coming and stops crying." Duo was astounded. "Who told you that load of CRAP?" "Experience." Utter silence. He wasn't sure how to respond to such an answer. Quinn turned back to the window. The lineament of her face was barely visible as her hand balled into a fist on the glass and she pounded lightly on it, shaking her black head. It didn't matter anymore. She meant nothing to the world, meant nothing to anybody.
"I'm nothing. I'm nothing. I'm nothing."
The hollow whispers echoed in her mind and she wished she could just turn back the clock..go back and fix all her mistakes. With every heartbeat the noose closed tighter and tighter around her neck, choking off her life, her blood. Rain began to spatter on the glass and she opened her ice blue eyes. Who am I fooling with my disguise? How long will this mask of icy apathy last me? I'm all alone. What have I become? She looked down at her hands; again invisibly bloodstained. The breath came out of her lungs harsh and haggard. Placing her fingertips onto the windowpane, Quinn looked up at the sky that reflected her soul. Angry and lightning torn. Fire. Her heart, her independence, her passion was slowly burning down to nothingness. Quinn looked up to glimpse her reflection in the windowpane. The face she saw day after day in the mirror. Her eyes haunted.regretful.empty. Soulless. "Not human." Quinn lashed out at the window, punching the glass until it shattered, until the shards buried themselves in her fist and cut into her hands. Duo watched in a mixture of horror and disbelief. She turned back to him. "You see?" Her hands now truly bloodstained. "I can't help anybody. Not Jonya, not Kite. Not even myself." He shook his head. "Then let someone help you out for a change. Me. Or Quatre.Heero, Trowa, whoever! It's not like you're totally alone." She laughed softly, a low chuckle that sent shivers up and down Duo's spine. "When you were a little kid.did you ever have a dream that you could fly? So vividly pictured, when you woke up it was almost reality?" He advanced toward the window. "What do you mean?" Quinn looked back at Duo, then down to the ground outside. Her voice a harsh whisper. "Think I could fly out of this window?" He paused a moment before replying. "Look," he said frankly, "I can understand you wanting to take your own life, but why don't you stop and think about it before you hurt both yourself and just maybe someone else? "Sounds like you've given that advice before." "I have." She made a sound of approval but turned away all the same. "It makes sense." "Hey," he burst out. Quinn raised an eyebrow, waiting. "If you ever feel like talking.Let's just say you know who to look for." A wan smile crossed her face. "Maybe. I'll consider it." "I'll take that as a yes," She turned wordlessly and walked back downstairs. Duo stood as if his feet were rooted to the ground, watching her retreating form, silently questioning all previous beliefs, relics of sanity, musing over this turn of events. Why's she like that? Doesn't make any sense.she's so proud, clever.ruthless, but at the same time scared to death at the slightest thought of being worthless. Something clicked in his mind. Quinn's just like Heero. Going beyond the working thing, yeah, definitely deeper issues.How come I didn't see it before? With this new revelation slowly unfolding in his head, Duo padded back to his second-floor bedroom to try and find sleep once more. ** Jonya stared silently at Tabby's gaping grave, at the ebony coffin being lowered down into it. She felt numb, icy. The world was covered in a blanket of quiet and despair, snow drifting listlessly down from a dark sky. She shook her head, slowly, preventing her wet hair from turning into orangey icicles, glaring up at the storm clouds sending freezing lace down at them on the back of a bitter wind. She pressed one hand to her mouth, holding back the ragged sob trying to tear its way out. Searching for strength, she looked around at her comrades. Wufei, Heero, Trowa and Quinn all looked stony, almost nothing different from their usual expressions. Except one muscle of Quinn's whitish visage was twitching. Jonya drew a deep breath, and continued. Duo was to her right, and had one hand to her shoulder, squeezing tight. Kite looked very pale, a tiny river of tears coursing down her face. Quatre, who was standing beside her, put a tentative arm around her shoulders, and murmured comfort in her ear. Kite choked back a sob, and nodded quietly. Quatre's arm retreated back to his side. Quinn was the first to turn away, begin walking back to the house. Her black boots crackling on the snow. Wufei and Heero followed, then Trowa, Duo and Jonya. Kite and Quatre were left in the graveyard. "Were you two close?" he asked, brushing snow out of his halo hair. Kite shrugged, and gave a small gasp for breath, "She was new. I'd only known her for a few months." she struggled to keep her tears inside, "She- she didn't deserve any of this!" Quatre's blue eyes looked haunted, "None of us do."
Jonya closed herself inside her room. 'Think about Spain.Spain. Think about Spain! It'll be warm there! And Kite will be happy! And-' The hot prickle of tears seeped through her eyes and she buried her head in her pillow. 'Tabby's gone! Dead! And it's your fault! If you had been more careful, then Tabby and Quinn wouldn't have come down! And nothing like this would have happened. ' Her arms clenched tight around her raw belly, pushing pain down onto the healing gashes there, squeezing blood out. 'You killed her. You killed her.' There was a loud knock on the door. "Woman!" It was Wufei. "One sec!" Hurriedly she stood, changing into another shirt, stashing the bloodstained one inside her dresser, slamming the drawer closed. Wufei marched through the door wearing a look of one bearing a painful duty. Jonya was struggling to pull the tight bottom of the tank top down over her belly, but Wufei's sharp eyes missed nothing.then again, blood seeping from angry red gashes wasn't easy to ignore. "What have you been doing?" he asked suspiciously. She was wiping the extra tears from her swollen eyes, "What do you care?" He crossed the room in two clipped strides, yanking the bloodied shirt from where a corner was hanging out. "I take it you just haven't washed this for a while?" he said, icy voice telling her that he knew exactly what she had done. Jonya glared back at him, "It's my fault she's dead," she hissed, "my stupid injury that made her come down to Earth. My stupid weakness." Wufei threw the clothing to the floor, narrowing his ebony eyes, "Death, unless inflicted or plotted directly is no one's fault," he shoved his face in hers, "And I will not abode self-mutilation. Do you understand?" his voice was barely more than a furious murmur. "Then walk right out this door." He grabbed both her arms in his wrath, thin fingers steel vices. "I will not tolerate what you're doing. I HAVE to work with you. You are needed on this mission, and I will not allow myself to work with idiots! What you are doing is STUPID. And I will make sure that stupidity does not force this mission to fail!" Jonyas's head jerked out of her forlorn stupor, and although she suspected her reaction was the one Wufei wanted to get out of her, she let her temper fly. "How DARE you? What gives you the right to judge me!? Who said you could just waltz in here and start preaching like you were God, eh? NOT ME!" He was about to deal a scathing remark, when she crossed her arms, "You will never, ever, ever again pretend to know me. Understand?" He smirked, "We're wanted downstairs." Jonya glared at him, "Fine." She grabbed a huge gray coat and swept out her door. Wufei shook his head, and moved to close the dresser drawer. Jonya stuck her head around the door frame, "You trying to sneak a peak at my panties or something? Let's GO." She began sauntering down the hall, the Chinese warrior blustering after her, "Onna! I am NOT interested in your weak 'panties!' You take that back immediately!" ** Quinn swung by the kitchen for an early morning cup of coffee before stopping by the library. Heero was sitting in front of a glowing computer screen, still working despite the fact that only about three people were up and the fact that it was four-thirty in the morning. "What have you found?" she queried, wasting no time with greetings or usual courtesies. "Not much" was his reply, "But I have found a lead." Her voice held an air of irritation. "That's something, I suppose. Let me see it." Heero pulled up a couple of programs and some text files for her to inspect. She moved the mouse to scroll down the page. "Interesting," she murmured. He glanced down at her delicate hand, ribboned with deep incisions and dirty with grime and blood. "What happened?" he asked. She raised an eyebrow, a little perturbed. "To what?" "Your hand," Quinn shrugged off his concern. "I cut it.On a glass bottle," she lied. "You should get it fixed," he stated quietly. "I was going to stitch it up later today.but I don't have time for it now," "It can only get worse." She rolled her eyes, still reading. "That's the least of my worries." He grabbed her arm rather roughly, making Quinn turn and face him. "Would you rather I stitch it up?" Quinn jerked out of his grasp, a little taken aback. "Excuse me?" "Cuts that bad don't help you work. Either you find the time to fix it up, or I'll do it for you." "I didn't ask for your help or your opinion." She snarled. He shrugged, and she finally caved, "But I will get it stitched up.this morning." The subject was swiftly dropped. He changed paths, pointing at the computer screen. "You see that?" She nodded. "There's a factory in Madrid, Spain where a data packet can be acquired. At this speed, I won't have it downloaded for another few days." "So what?" was her reply. "The codes to the entrance change weekly. This is Saturday." "Useless information." She hissed. "We don't have much time. Someone's going on a mission." "Not with that hand," he couldn't help but remind her. She gave a low growl. "Well since you've got such an obsession with my injury, then you go ahead and stitch it up." He raised an eyebrow. "You're sure?" "Yes, of course, whatever, just bloody fix it already!" "It'll hurt." "Like I haven't ever felt pain?" she countered. "Do it." He pulled a needle and thread from his knapsack, which was conveniently lying nearby on the library table. Striking a match, he held the flame to the needle's sharp point in order to clean it. "No anesthetic," he reminded her. She shrugged off his words. "Start stitching." Heero threaded the needle and began to work, the data momentarily put aside but not forgotten. She bit her lip, willing herself stone, ignoring the sting of the process. After 45 minutes, with the procedure nearly halfway done, Heero's careful work was interrupted by the arrival of Jonya and Wufei. "So, peoples, what's the damage done today?" Jonya sauntered in, eyes taking in Heero, Quinn, and her hand being sewn up... "EW!! WHAT THE--??" Even Wufei grimaced. "Yuy, what ARE you doing?" Heero barely looked up. "What does it look like?" "What did you DO to your hand, Quinn?" demanded Jonya, not waiting for an answer. "Please, tell me you have not punched out your mirror again." Quinn blew out a breath, trying to be reasonable. "No, I just--" "WHY are we all up at four in the-AHH!! GOOD LORD!" burst out Duo at the sight of stitches. "Heero, why are you playing the Evil Doctor at this unreasonable hour??" "It's an obsession," Quinn muttered. "You're telling me, sister," agreed Duo. "First the leg, then the arm, now your hand.I really hope he never tries to fix any injury of mine." "I'm just going to WALK away," announced Jonya. "Out the door and downstairs.if I can stand the sight of breakfast," she grumbled. "Before you go ANYWHERE," Quinn commanded. "We all have to talk. Who's-- (she gave a quiet gasp of pain, face twisting into a grimace despite the self-control)--Who's not here?" "Quatre, and Kite, and Trowa," Duo listed off the names. "Get them down here." "Anything to miss watching the evil doctor work," he said, pushing open the door to yell into the hallway. "QUATRE!! TROWA!! KITE!! GET YOUR BUTTS DOWN HERE!" Wufei muttered an insult; Jonya caught it and quietly chuckled. *** After about 10 minutes, the three others arrived, but then there was another bombardment of exclamations about Quinn's hand, then Jonya had to go get some coffee or she would fall asleep during Heero's technical speech, and Wufei said he wanted some tea as well, then Quatre placed two orders of hot chocolate, for himself and Kite, then Trowa had amazed them all and said he was hungry. They ended up waking up Xio-Eie, the master cook, and asking him to make them some sushi and noodles; along with coffee, tea and hot chocolate. The chef raged at them for about 15 minutes, and them the food had to cook. It took about an hour and a half to get everyone settled and mostly happy in the library so they could hear about the next plan. Heero wasn't pleased by this lapse in organization, since he was satisfied with a glass of water and was ready before any of them even awoke, but he steeled his resolve, and continued with the briefing. "Ok, there is an OZ Building in Barcelona, Spain, where our Hacker was last sighted. He dropped off a data packet there. It's kept under high security surveillance (Duo snorted), so we know that it's something of extreme importance. And from what Quinn tells me, the only info this spy has that might be remotely important to OZ is on the Thieves Guild. I could easily download the info over the net, but it would take almost a week to bypass the security they've got around that thing. OZ could utilize the data by then," he glared at the expectant faces around him, "We need to steal it."
Jonya was positioned with her head and upper torso dangling off a table, arms almost reaching the floor. "How?" Quinn shot her a dangerous look, "We're thieves, it's our job to know how. Don't just hang there like you've never done this before." "We need a plan," Kite said rationally, "Heero, do you have the layout for the building?" He pulled up a few blueprints on screen. All eight of them crowded around the computer, Jonya somersaulting off her table to get there. Kite was jumbled between Quatre and Duo, most of her auburn hair in her eyes, hardly enabling her to see anything at all. Duo twisted suddenly as Jonya banged into him, and everybody went down in a tangle of arms and legs "Perhaps," Wufei said flatly from under Jonya's shoulders, "Yuy and Quinn ought to print out copies for us all." Quinn nodded sagely, and soon they were all studying their own layouts. Trowa looked serene as usual, but his voice held a rare note of annoyance, "There doesn't appear to be any way in, does there? OZ designs an impenetrable building.didn't think I'd ever say those words in the same sentence." Quinn gave a snort of agreement.
