Chapter Eleven: Divided We Fall

Trowa paced the area in front of his desk. Chase and Heero Yuy had been brought in over an hour ago and he still had no word from his officers. Quatre had been brought in almost twenty-four hours ago and he hadn't seen him since. He could only hope they followed his orders to the letter. If they didn't, any one of them could wind up dead.

A timid knock hit his door.

"Come in!" he bellowed.

The soldier Anna had named Sparky slid into the room as carefully as he could. "Cadet Cavel reporting, Sir." He said faltering.

"Report!" Trowa demanded. He could see the bruise on the side of Cavel's face.

"All three prisoners are secure, Sir." He said meekly.

"What did they tell you?" Trowa asked, sitting on the outer edge of his desk.

"Nothing, Sir. Lucky Vincent denies all knowledge of anything related to OWN or the rebellion against it, Chase Yuy simply demands to see her husband and curses in random languages, and Heero Yuy says nothing but `Hn.'. Sir." He mumbled.

Trowa smirked. "Understood. It is just as I expected. Some things never change. What are their conditions?"

"Chase and Heero Yuy merely have minor bumps on the head, but Luck Vincent was beaten, per your orders. He was warned." Cavel said, gaining confidence.

Trowa allowed his eyes to widen in horror for half an instant. "What orders, Cadet?" he asked coldly.

"Sir, the order you gave half an hour ago. If he did not speak, punish him." He stammered, confused.

"I gave no such order. Someone will answer for this." Trowa hissed as a warning. "Dismissed."

As the word was leaving his mouth, red lights began flashing and sirens began to wail.

"What's happening?" Trowa asked.

Cavel looked at his collar and leaned in to hear the transmission. "Sir, Lucky Vincent has escaped and disappeared." He listened closer. "And Yuy has been sighted heading down corridor three."

"Which one?"

"Heero Yuy, sir."

Trowa nodded. "Put everyone on alert, and if Chase is still being held, put extra guards there. Heero won't leave without her."

"Yes sir."

Heero slipped into the darkness and eyed the soldiers that were still on his trail. He glanced back behind him as he felt a brush of air. Whirling around, he grabbed someone's arm, pulling him or her toward him.

"Heero!" Chase hissed in his ear.

"Gomen ne."

She smirked. "Where's Quatre?"

"Well hidden, I assure you."

"Heero? If Trowa really has betrayed us and he has a computer, we might be in more trouble than just the fact that they are jumping from your world to ours..."

"Explain."

Chase took a deep breath, pulling him deeper into the darkness so that the soldiers would not hear her hushed whispers. "You see, Anna and I downloaded the plans for the Gundams on our laptops. We deleted them from hers and just kept them on mine, so if Trowa has Anna-chan's laptop, then we're okay, but if he has mine..."

"He has the capability of creating a new Gundam."

"Right."

"He has yours."

"Why am I not surprised?"

Heero glanced out at where the soldiers had left. "We need to get that laptop back more than ever."

"We could rebuild the Gundams, Heero," the smaller pilot said as she looked up at him. "We could fight the way we know how."

Several soldiers passed and Heero pulled her tighter against him and the wall. "That's true. It's also very risky. Building a gundam after all this time..." he trailed off.

"It may be the only way to win this one. It's the way we won before." Chase said.

Heero nodded. "I agree. But we'll build that bridge when we come to it. First, we need to get that laptop away from Trowa. That may be easier said than done." He looked off into the hall. "Come on."

Chase stared after him. "You mean cross the bridge when we get to it, right?"

He motioned for her to follow impatiently. "We can't cross a bridge that isn't there."

She rolled her eyes. "Are you sure you know how to get us out of here?"

"Hn."

"That isn't comforting." Chase said.

"Hn."

Chase groaned. "You don't know what you're doing, do you?"

They had come to a stop in front of a panel blocking the entrance to the docking bay. Heero chose to ignore her comment and began typing away. His fingers flew over them just as fast as they had in the years before and his bangs dropped over his eyes. Chase watched him work, and watched the door.

A half minute later it slid open.

He smirked at her. "O ye of little faith."

Chase grinned. "You're one to be quoting scripture at me. What about Quatre?"

"I told you he's safe. We don't have to worry about him. We just have to get out of here. After you."

Trowa appeared at the end of the passage. "Chase!" he hollered.

After pushing and prodding, Duo had finally given in to the long flight and left early that morning. It left Anna time to call the school and find out what Heero had done with -or to- her students on Friday. She pulled together her files and papers and got ready to leave when the blinds moved outside her window.

"Aw, man, don't tell me they've found this place already." She muttered. She slipped over to the cord and yanked it back, fast.

The patio was empty and the sky was grey.

"Nerves." She murmured.

She grabbed her bag and left, locking the door behind her.

Sparky watched her go from across the courtyard. He picked up his cell phone. "It's her alright. Move onto position on the top deck. If she and our escapee are linked, he'll come here first. We'll get them both then." He said.

The voice on the other end agreed and affirmed the plan.

Sparky grinned wickedly. "Come into my parlor, said the spider to the fly."

At six o' clock that evening, Anna finally left the school. After mildly panicking because she was short a student, the day went smoothly. It turned out her student had caught the flu at family reunion over the weekend. Anna half wanted to ask if it was a computer virus.

Halfway home, her cell phone rang sending off the familiar `Clowns' jingle. She dug around in her bag and pulled it out.

"Hello?"

"I don't think he's here, Anna. I can't find him anywhere." Duo greeted her.

"Duo, you've been there half a day! How could anyone find him in half a day?" she exclaimed, crossing the street.

"It would be easier with two people." He said helpfully.

"Duo Maxwell, don't try to guilt trip me. There's nothing I can do about it. Where have you looked?"

Duo sighed. "I've checked all hotels for reservations under Justin Quint, all restaurant reservations for the same, and every ball game, musical, opera, and fighting tournament. I think that maybe we were wrong. Maybe it's not him."

"No, we can't be wrong. Check all of it again under Wufei Chang. And check under any seven of our names. Maybe he's sending out a hidden message." Anna suggested.

"Okay. How are things there?"

"Fine. Nothing much has happened except I thought Heero maybe killed one of my kids. He's fine." Anna smiled.

"He's come a long way, give the guy some credit." Duo grinned.

"Yeah. I better let you go, babe. We've got work to do." She sighed.

"Yeah. I'll let you know when I find something." Duo promised.

"Me to. Later."

"Later."

Anna dropped the phone back into her bag just as she reached the townhouse. As she placed her hand on the door, shivers ran up her spine.

"Either I'm cold, or the old instinct is back." She said quietly. She proceeded inside as if she was totally oblivious. And Sparky watched her from across the courtyard.

She dropped her coat over the couch and kicked off her shoes. She flipped on the radio and let jazz fill the house. She slipped her bag off onto the kitchen table and plugged the coffeepot in. She checked her messages, only one from Collins, but she'd cut out before the message was finished. Anna had just sat down with her drink when there was a faint knock on the door. She suddenly wished for her old magnum.

"You're falling on old habits, my friend." She told herself wryly. She got up. She had a feeling that whoever was behind the door was not a threat to her. She opened it.

"Hello? Anyone there?" she asked, peering into the darkness. This time, she wished that Chase and her had put a screen in. A figure slumped against the doorframe.

"Anna?" it whispered.

Her jaw hit the floor. "Quatre? My stars, what happened to you?" she exclaimed.

He attempted a smile, and failed miserable. "I'm sorry to trouble you..." he started to waver.

She grasped his shoulder and led him inside. "Come on, babe, let's take a look at you."