Chapter Twelve: In the Hands of the Enemy
Chase looked strait ahead to the young man blocking their passage to freedom. "Blast."
Trowa's dark green eyes softened slightly as he stepped toward them. "Chase-chan..."
Heero took a protective step in front of his wife. "Touch her, and you're dead," he deadpanned.
Trowa cocked an eyebrow. "Really?"
Heero planted his feet firmly and reached back, taking one of Chase's wrists in his grasp firmly, making sure she wouldn't try anything foolish. "Really."
"Heero," Chase whispered. "Just go. He won't hurt me and I can get out myself. They need you back where Anna is."
Heero's eyes widened a fraction. "No, Chase. I'm staying with you. There is no way I will loose you again."
Chase shook her head slightly. "Trowa?" She loosened her wrist from the Japanese man's grasp and stepped toward her former love. "Listen to me. You know I have never been one that is good at negotiations or anything of the sort, but listen to me now. I'll stay, but he leaves. Got it? It's that," she pulled a gun and aimed, "or someone won't get out of here alive."
Quatre's eyes fluttered open to focus on a dark shadow that soon showed to be Anna. He sighed.
"Hiya. What happened to you?"
He made an effort to smile. "They have not changed tactics in the past ten years, I'm afraid. It's still a 'talk, or die' type of a deal."
"Oh, Quatre," Anna breathed. "I'm so sorry."
"Don't be. You couldn't do anything to prevent it. Don't blame yourself."
"I know, it's just-" Her sentence was cut short as the computers sounded an alarm. She sighed. "Looks like Heero added a security system when I was asleep."
Quatre smiled. "That's so like him." His smile flipped to a deep frown. "Go see who it is. We may have a problem."
"Not 'may,' do," Cavel said as he and a group of soldiers stepped out of the darkness. "Too bad, Mrs. Maxwell, that you will not see your husband again."
Quatre sat up in the loft bed, and Anna stood, moving over so she was shielding him.
"Some security system, ne?" Quatre muttered softly.
Anna didn't reply but was weighing her options. A lot depended on how different she looked from the last time Cavel had seen her, how much of the conversation they had heard, and how efficient a liar she could be. The last option wasn't looking so good.
"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about." She said cautiously.
Cavel smiled cruelly. "Oh, but I think you do, Mrs. Maxwell."
Anna shook her head. "I'm not Mrs. Maxwell. My name is Gabi Estes, and I'm a doctor. I'm not even married." She hoped she was looking clueless.
"That's not what you said in New York." He retorted.
"I've never been in New York." She persisted. "Look, I've got a patient to take care of, so if you don't mind?"
He was getting agitated. "Yes, I mind. I have orders, sorry. Whether you're Anna Maxwell or not, and you are, you have to die." He cocked his gun.
Her features became hard. "That's such a shame. We were just getting to know each other. In fact, you seem to know a lot about me. What's to say I don't know just as much about you?"
Cavel shared a look with a soldier on his right. "You know nothing about me."
"Sure I do. I know Trowa Barton; one of the best soldiers and assassins in history trained you. Isn't that right?" she said, smiling coyly.
Several looks were shared among the young cadets. Cavel frowned. "Yes, that's right. But that has nothing to do with this."
"Of course it doesn't. This is about you, darling. I know the day you were born, the day you were taken into the army, the way you felt when your sibling died, and the one who killed them." She said softly, almost hypnotically. While she was talking, she was moving closer to him, until she was mere inches away from his nose. His comrades were simply staring, not sure what to do.
Cavel's eyes were wide with fear and hate. "How do you know that?" he hissed.
Anna moved her hand over the gun pointed at her chest. "I didn't, it was an educated guess. Sparky."
He realized her game too late. She grabbed his gun and whirled it around so it was against his gut.
"Drop your weapons on the floor. All of them! Back up, towards the window, all of you. Do it now!" she barked.
They did as she commanded, sending confused glances to Cavel. This wasn't in the briefing, and he wasn't acting much like a leader. He stood there, unmoving, glowering at her.
"You tricked me." He snarled.
"What did you expect? Sunshine and cotton candy? You make a war attack on my home and I do what we're both trained to do, fight back." She said exasperatedly.
"I thought you were a lady of honor." He said deftly.
She smirked. "I lost the lady title a long time ago, Sparky." She grabbed a syringe of one of the shelves near her and a bottle next to it. "Roll up your sleeves." She said.
Fear and confusion hit their faces. "What are you going to do?" one of them asked.
"Oh for heaven's sakes, people, do I look like Dr. Frankenstein?" she injected the first boy and he gently hit the floor. "It's a drug that induces temporary amnesia. Everything from the time you got up this morning to now will all be a blur." Half of them were asleep before she finished explaining.
"You can do that?" Quatre asked in amazement.
"Think of it as a parting gift from a mutual scientist friend of ours." Anna grinned.
As the last of the group dropped to the carpet, she looked at Cavel. "Alright. Talk to the little man in your collar and tell him to take everyone but you out of here. Go on."
Cavel slowly leaned to his collar. "Take everyone here back but me."
"Sir?" a voice crackled.
"Do it!" he bellowed.
A white light enveloped the room and everyone but Cavel, Anna, and Quatre was gone. Anna secured Cavel's hands behind his back. "Downstairs, Sparky, while I decide what exactly to do with you."
She smiled at Quatre. "Hang tight. I'll be right back."
Quatre nodded. "I'm not going anywhere fast."
Cavel made his way downstairs with the front of his own gun pressed into the small of his back. He made note of the two bedrooms, and the office and finally the bottom floor.
"Nice place you have here." He said demurely.
"Thank you, but you don't score any points with me, Tiger." Anna replied. She shoved him onto the couch and sat down opposite of him. "Okay. Now we're going to get down to business, and you're going to answer some questions.
**~~~~**
Heero placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled back. "Forget it, Chase, there's no way on earth I'm leaving you with him." He snapped.
Soldiers flooded the hall behind them. Trowa simply gazed at them. "I don't think you have much of a choice, Heero. If you don't go, I will have them fire."
"Yeah, I don't doubt it." Heero glared.
"Go, Heero, while you can. I'll be fine!" Chase insisted.
Heero shook his head. "No. Not on his life."
"It's not my life on the line." Trowa responded. He motioned to his soldiers.
Chase let her finger press down on the trigger and her gun fired off. The bullet scraped by Trowa, leaving a gash along his cheek. "I haven't lost my touch, boyo," she deadpanned. "Don't make me kill you."
Trowa lifted a single finger and wiped the blood away from his face.
The soldiers stood ready, not entirely sure what to do. "Sir?"
Trowa narrowed his eyes, and looked straight at Chase. "I never underestimated you for a moment, Chase Yuy. I know the things you are capable of. EVERYTHING that you are capable of."
"Exactly what does that mean?" she hissed, cocking her gun again.
He smirked. "I've fought along side you. I know your style. I've even helped you learn." The slight trace of a smirk faded to his impassive look again. "I know that you would probably kill me for Heero's sake. You did choose him over me, after all."
Heero cocked an eyebrow. "What?"
Cavel's glare was strong as he stared at her. "I won't answer anything."
She started to say something, but stopped when he smirked.
"What are you going to do, Maxwell, kill me? Then I wouldn't be good for questioning, now would I?"
"Where's Trowa?"
Cavel simply shook his head. "I won't answer."
"I suggest you tell the lady all that she wishes to know," a voice said from behind. "I've learned that she is not a force to be reckoned with."
Anna turned and stared up into dark eyes. "Wufei..."
The half smirk returned to Trowa's face. "She never said anything. I'm not surprised."
Chase's glare intensified. "Maybe I never wanted to. You always said that was my choice."
"That was a long time ago. Life is no longer a fairy tail." He said with a shrug.
Heero kept shifting his gaze between them. "What are you talking about?"
"You call fighting two wars and loosing your spouse a fairy tale? What book have you been living in?" she spat back.
"Whatever life threw at me. I'm in control now." Trowa replied flatly.
Chase shook her head. "You're sadly mistaken."
Trowa's gaze fell on Heero. "I loved her, once. You're a lucky man. Or were. Lieutenant." He ordered.
Fifteen guns cocked and one man stepped forward.
Chase took a half step closer to Trowa and shifted her aim over. Her arms shook slightly with the tension she was putting on the trigger. "Trowa..." she warned.
Chase looked strait ahead to the young man blocking their passage to freedom. "Blast."
Trowa's dark green eyes softened slightly as he stepped toward them. "Chase-chan..."
Heero took a protective step in front of his wife. "Touch her, and you're dead," he deadpanned.
Trowa cocked an eyebrow. "Really?"
Heero planted his feet firmly and reached back, taking one of Chase's wrists in his grasp firmly, making sure she wouldn't try anything foolish. "Really."
"Heero," Chase whispered. "Just go. He won't hurt me and I can get out myself. They need you back where Anna is."
Heero's eyes widened a fraction. "No, Chase. I'm staying with you. There is no way I will loose you again."
Chase shook her head slightly. "Trowa?" She loosened her wrist from the Japanese man's grasp and stepped toward her former love. "Listen to me. You know I have never been one that is good at negotiations or anything of the sort, but listen to me now. I'll stay, but he leaves. Got it? It's that," she pulled a gun and aimed, "or someone won't get out of here alive."
Quatre's eyes fluttered open to focus on a dark shadow that soon showed to be Anna. He sighed.
"Hiya. What happened to you?"
He made an effort to smile. "They have not changed tactics in the past ten years, I'm afraid. It's still a 'talk, or die' type of a deal."
"Oh, Quatre," Anna breathed. "I'm so sorry."
"Don't be. You couldn't do anything to prevent it. Don't blame yourself."
"I know, it's just-" Her sentence was cut short as the computers sounded an alarm. She sighed. "Looks like Heero added a security system when I was asleep."
Quatre smiled. "That's so like him." His smile flipped to a deep frown. "Go see who it is. We may have a problem."
"Not 'may,' do," Cavel said as he and a group of soldiers stepped out of the darkness. "Too bad, Mrs. Maxwell, that you will not see your husband again."
Quatre sat up in the loft bed, and Anna stood, moving over so she was shielding him.
"Some security system, ne?" Quatre muttered softly.
Anna didn't reply but was weighing her options. A lot depended on how different she looked from the last time Cavel had seen her, how much of the conversation they had heard, and how efficient a liar she could be. The last option wasn't looking so good.
"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about." She said cautiously.
Cavel smiled cruelly. "Oh, but I think you do, Mrs. Maxwell."
Anna shook her head. "I'm not Mrs. Maxwell. My name is Gabi Estes, and I'm a doctor. I'm not even married." She hoped she was looking clueless.
"That's not what you said in New York." He retorted.
"I've never been in New York." She persisted. "Look, I've got a patient to take care of, so if you don't mind?"
He was getting agitated. "Yes, I mind. I have orders, sorry. Whether you're Anna Maxwell or not, and you are, you have to die." He cocked his gun.
Her features became hard. "That's such a shame. We were just getting to know each other. In fact, you seem to know a lot about me. What's to say I don't know just as much about you?"
Cavel shared a look with a soldier on his right. "You know nothing about me."
"Sure I do. I know Trowa Barton; one of the best soldiers and assassins in history trained you. Isn't that right?" she said, smiling coyly.
Several looks were shared among the young cadets. Cavel frowned. "Yes, that's right. But that has nothing to do with this."
"Of course it doesn't. This is about you, darling. I know the day you were born, the day you were taken into the army, the way you felt when your sibling died, and the one who killed them." She said softly, almost hypnotically. While she was talking, she was moving closer to him, until she was mere inches away from his nose. His comrades were simply staring, not sure what to do.
Cavel's eyes were wide with fear and hate. "How do you know that?" he hissed.
Anna moved her hand over the gun pointed at her chest. "I didn't, it was an educated guess. Sparky."
He realized her game too late. She grabbed his gun and whirled it around so it was against his gut.
"Drop your weapons on the floor. All of them! Back up, towards the window, all of you. Do it now!" she barked.
They did as she commanded, sending confused glances to Cavel. This wasn't in the briefing, and he wasn't acting much like a leader. He stood there, unmoving, glowering at her.
"You tricked me." He snarled.
"What did you expect? Sunshine and cotton candy? You make a war attack on my home and I do what we're both trained to do, fight back." She said exasperatedly.
"I thought you were a lady of honor." He said deftly.
She smirked. "I lost the lady title a long time ago, Sparky." She grabbed a syringe of one of the shelves near her and a bottle next to it. "Roll up your sleeves." She said.
Fear and confusion hit their faces. "What are you going to do?" one of them asked.
"Oh for heaven's sakes, people, do I look like Dr. Frankenstein?" she injected the first boy and he gently hit the floor. "It's a drug that induces temporary amnesia. Everything from the time you got up this morning to now will all be a blur." Half of them were asleep before she finished explaining.
"You can do that?" Quatre asked in amazement.
"Think of it as a parting gift from a mutual scientist friend of ours." Anna grinned.
As the last of the group dropped to the carpet, she looked at Cavel. "Alright. Talk to the little man in your collar and tell him to take everyone but you out of here. Go on."
Cavel slowly leaned to his collar. "Take everyone here back but me."
"Sir?" a voice crackled.
"Do it!" he bellowed.
A white light enveloped the room and everyone but Cavel, Anna, and Quatre was gone. Anna secured Cavel's hands behind his back. "Downstairs, Sparky, while I decide what exactly to do with you."
She smiled at Quatre. "Hang tight. I'll be right back."
Quatre nodded. "I'm not going anywhere fast."
Cavel made his way downstairs with the front of his own gun pressed into the small of his back. He made note of the two bedrooms, and the office and finally the bottom floor.
"Nice place you have here." He said demurely.
"Thank you, but you don't score any points with me, Tiger." Anna replied. She shoved him onto the couch and sat down opposite of him. "Okay. Now we're going to get down to business, and you're going to answer some questions.
**~~~~**
Heero placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled back. "Forget it, Chase, there's no way on earth I'm leaving you with him." He snapped.
Soldiers flooded the hall behind them. Trowa simply gazed at them. "I don't think you have much of a choice, Heero. If you don't go, I will have them fire."
"Yeah, I don't doubt it." Heero glared.
"Go, Heero, while you can. I'll be fine!" Chase insisted.
Heero shook his head. "No. Not on his life."
"It's not my life on the line." Trowa responded. He motioned to his soldiers.
Chase let her finger press down on the trigger and her gun fired off. The bullet scraped by Trowa, leaving a gash along his cheek. "I haven't lost my touch, boyo," she deadpanned. "Don't make me kill you."
Trowa lifted a single finger and wiped the blood away from his face.
The soldiers stood ready, not entirely sure what to do. "Sir?"
Trowa narrowed his eyes, and looked straight at Chase. "I never underestimated you for a moment, Chase Yuy. I know the things you are capable of. EVERYTHING that you are capable of."
"Exactly what does that mean?" she hissed, cocking her gun again.
He smirked. "I've fought along side you. I know your style. I've even helped you learn." The slight trace of a smirk faded to his impassive look again. "I know that you would probably kill me for Heero's sake. You did choose him over me, after all."
Heero cocked an eyebrow. "What?"
Cavel's glare was strong as he stared at her. "I won't answer anything."
She started to say something, but stopped when he smirked.
"What are you going to do, Maxwell, kill me? Then I wouldn't be good for questioning, now would I?"
"Where's Trowa?"
Cavel simply shook his head. "I won't answer."
"I suggest you tell the lady all that she wishes to know," a voice said from behind. "I've learned that she is not a force to be reckoned with."
Anna turned and stared up into dark eyes. "Wufei..."
The half smirk returned to Trowa's face. "She never said anything. I'm not surprised."
Chase's glare intensified. "Maybe I never wanted to. You always said that was my choice."
"That was a long time ago. Life is no longer a fairy tail." He said with a shrug.
Heero kept shifting his gaze between them. "What are you talking about?"
"You call fighting two wars and loosing your spouse a fairy tale? What book have you been living in?" she spat back.
"Whatever life threw at me. I'm in control now." Trowa replied flatly.
Chase shook her head. "You're sadly mistaken."
Trowa's gaze fell on Heero. "I loved her, once. You're a lucky man. Or were. Lieutenant." He ordered.
Fifteen guns cocked and one man stepped forward.
Chase took a half step closer to Trowa and shifted her aim over. Her arms shook slightly with the tension she was putting on the trigger. "Trowa..." she warned.
