Chapter Sixteen: Friction Among Us

"What do you mean they got away?" Trowa nearly bellowed into the phone. Not much got under his skin, but this broke the bank. "You have the best futuristic equipment, heat tracking, and the car is bugged, and you let them get away?" he growled lowly.

"Sir, may I remind you that the people on the team you sent were amateurs, not fully trained in recovery missions." Avis said carefully.

Trowa cursed under his breath. "Avis, I spent four months with that group and they were some of the best marksmen I'd seen. What happened when Victor got them? He was supposed to finish that part of the training."

Avis blinked, staring unseeing at his monitor. "General Victor didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"General Victor has been interviewing private parties for almost four months now."

"Interviewing? Avis, explain."

"I'm not sure I should do that without General Victor's approval." Avis faltered.

"Avis," Trowa warned.

"General Victor is trying to hire out a sniper."

Trowa leaned back in his chair and narrowed his eyes. "A sniper? As in one?"

"Yes, Sir, just one."

"Why?"

"I'm not authorized to have that information. You'd have to ask General Victor."

"I see. How's our little project coming?" Trowa asked with a sigh.

Avis grinned. "She's almost finished, Sir. We just need you for the finishing programming."

"Very well. I'm going to stay here a while longer. Finding Chase and Heero is not my top priority right now. But I want efforts to recover all of them to continue."

"Understood."

"Good-bye, Avis." Trowa hung up, not waiting for a reply. He eyed the pictures of his former comrades on his desk. "So you've slipped through my fingers again, ne, Chase?"

"Finally." Wufei muttered. They'd been driving half the night. The Chinese man had begun to wonder if Duo was going to drive straight through to New York.

Anna had long ago fallen asleep next to him, something that he was also grateful for. He could tail Duo more closely without her paying attention to their exact location. They had both gotten antsy earlier, until he threatened to throw her out of the skylight if she even thought of asking, `Are we there yet?'

Wufei parked in front of the hotel several rows away from Anna's car. He waited unto Duo had come back out to collect Quatre and go inside before stirring his companion.

"Anna, wake up. We're stopping here for the night."

She was still sleeping.

"Anna? Wake up."

Nothing.

"We're under attack!"

Pause.

Blink.

"What?!? Where? Where are we?" she jerked awake struggling against the seatbelt.

"Sorry. False alarm." He said mildly.

She glared at him and smacked his arm. "Baka."

He grinned.

"Where are we?"

"Just outside of Cleveland, Ohio." He replied.

She rubbed her temples. "Cleveland rocks, Cleveland rocks." She sang under her breath.

"What?"

"Never mind."

"Come on then. Grab your bag and let's go. I've got cash. We'll share a room for tonight, okay?"

She considered momentarily. "Okay, but no fast moves."

"Ha. The only fast move I'll make is the run for the shower."

He got out and opened the door for her. "Get in that shower before me and I'll cut all your hot water." She said, taking his hand to get out.

Wufei laughed. "You don't know how to do that."

"Oh, really? I've done it before. Twice."

"You can get the shower first. Be my guest."

As they reached the front door, Anna turned and looked over the parking lot.

"What is it?" Wufei asked.

"I thought I heard some--hey! Isn't that my car?" she exclaimed.

Wufei cringed. "Can't be. Duo has your car. Come on, before the sun comes up."

She followed him inside, glaring suspiciously at the top of his head. "On second thought, Fei-chan, you can have the shower first."

Chase growled as they hit the third bump in the last ten minutes. Her sketch paper would be worn through from the erase marks if this kept up. She adjusted her glasses and tried again.

"You're straining your eyes."

Dark eyes glared over the rims of her glasses. "Damade, Heero. You're the one aiming for the bumps."

He smirked. "I would never aim to mess your sketches up, Chase-chan."

She playfully swatted at him and then turned back to her work, ignoring his earlier warning. "Do you think they'll hold Hikari?" she asked distantly.

"I don't know. It depends if they think she knows anything. Trowa will find out, one way or another, what she does know. Then it will be all up hill from there. If she's got a big mouth, we're in trouble."

Chase grinned proudly. "She can keep a secret. She did keep Emerarudo Yoake under wraps when people were begging to know the details."

Heero smirked slightly. He then reached over and snatched the pencil from his wife's hands.

"What was that for?" she demanded.

"I told you before: you're straining your eyes. There's not enough light for it to be comfortable to see."

Chase sulked slightly and then slumped in her chair. "Are we going to stop for the night?"

"If we do, it won't be at a hotel."

"Why not?"

"Have you been sleeping through this whole ordeal?"

She glared. "No. I just thought that no one would recognize us."

"You're known for your work, aren't you?"

"In Japan. How likely is it that the hotel is run by Japanese people who were watching the news and know my face?"

Heero smirked slightly. "True."

"Very."

Chase nearly threw herself on the bed when she walked into the room. Her body wasn't use to this. Sleep was needed, a lot of sleep.

"Scoot over," Heero said. "You don't get the whole bed."

Chase sat up suddenly. "Doesn't the room have two beds?"

Heero cocked an eyebrow.

"We're not exactly married in this world, Heero..."

He shook his head slightly and looked at her. "I didn't want to make a fuss over what kind of room they gave us. This will due. Just scoot over."

Chase sat up, but didn't move, unsure of what to do.

Trowa smirked slightly. He seemed to have figured out the way that the Yuys worked. Heero hadn't stopped until they had been on the road for more than thirteen hours. He was also taking a round - about way to New York, where he was sure they were heading. Heero never would do anything to lead them to suspect his destination or when he would stop, but Trowa knew.

"Did the spies you put along the road spot them?" a feminine voice asked softly and sadly from the shadows.

"Yes."

"You know this is wrong, Trowa. Please stop it."

"I'm doing what needs to be done, Catherine."

Catherine Bloom stepped over and hugged her younger brother, tears falling freely. "No, Trowa, you're wrong. I know I'm not a soldier like you, but I do know what you're doing is wrong. Heero is your comrade, and you loved Chase. Why destroy everything?"

Trowa smiled. "I have my reasons, Cathy. Like them, you can't see the big picture."

Catherine glared. "I sure hope your 'big picture' isn't going to get anyone else killed, Trowa Barton, or you'll never get the blood off of your hands." That said, she turned and stormed out of his office, leaving silence in her wake.

Heero opened his mouth to tell Chase to move again, but a sound caught his ear. He stopped and listened.

"What is it?"

"Hush."

Chase strained her ears. They were not use to picking up the slightest sounds any longer. Then it hit her.

"Get down!" Heero shouted as bullets showered the room.

Chase felt herself being tackled to the floor. She looked up to see Heero over her, eyes staring strait down at her. "Are you okay?"

"It's still coming."

"I know."

"Trowa?"

"I'm not surprised."

"No," Chase whispered. "Not a direct order from him."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean Trowa would never intently hurt me."

Heero nodded.

Chase cleared her throat. "Heero, the bullets have stopped."

He nodded and rolled off of her. "Be careful and don't stand up where they can see you."

"I may have been out of the business for a while, but I'm not stupid," she muttered.

He glared. "Let's go. I think we've worn out our welcome."

Wufei pushed open the door and stepped inside. Anna passed him as he flipped on the lights. It stayed dark in the room, and yet oddly enough they could see fine. The American girl stepped further into the room and let out a happy cry.

"Duo!" she called.

Wufei looked at him suspiciously. "Maxwell--"

Anna flung her arms around him, and Duo embraced her. Wufei just watched, felling like the odd-man-out. But the look Duo gave him left him feeling cold inside, as if he'd swallowed an ice cube. Duo was grinning a maniac like grin that was very... un-Duo like.

The Chinese man glanced around and noticed it was pitch black around them. He looked back just in time to see Duo raise one arm over the girl in his arms. Wufei forced his gaze up to the knife in Duo's hand.

She never saw it coming.

"Anna!" he screamed.

"Anna!" Wufei jolted up in the hotel bed; droplets of sweat glistening off his forehead.

He quickly assessed the girl in the bed next to his. She was still there. In a rush, the memories of the evening flooded back into his brain. The shower, her taking one after him, the movie they had watched, and Anna acting edgy all night. And now she was stirring from his outcry.

"Wufei? You okay?" she mumbled.

He flopped back against the pillows. "Yeah. It was just a nightmare."

More alert, she spoke again. "What about?"

"Nothing. Go back to sleep." He replied.

Silence reigned over them, but Wufei could tell by her breathing that she wasn't asleep. After a good deal of time, he got what he'd been waiting for.

"You lied.' She accused softly.

Pause. "How's that?"

"It is my car out there. I went and checked the license plate number while you were showering."

"What a coincidence." He said lamely.

"Oh yeah. I thought so."

"Accident." He shrugged.

She shifted under the sheets. "You followed him on purpose."

"And?"

"I want to know why."

He sighed. "Can it wait?"

"No."

"Anna, don't you think it's a little bit weird that the first person Duo wanted to go with was Quatre?"

She rolled over so she was facing him in the dark. "He had a good spot to hide him."

"He's headed for New York!" Wufei snapped.

"So what? New York's a big place!"

"You're only fooling yourself, Anna. You and I both know Duo's a better strategist than that. Something's up."

Anna turned over on her back and glared up at the ceiling. How could he believe this? "You think he's a traitor, don't you." It wasn't a question.

Wufei stared at the side of her head and listened to her controlled breathing. He almost grinned; she was using a technique he had taught her.

"I don't assume anything at this point. We just thought it was strange that he didn't chose his wife of twelve years. I would have." He said the last part under his breath.

"Well I'm not your wife and you got me anyway. I hope you're happy." She muttered.

"Anna, don't be unreasonable-" he started.

"Unreasonable!" she exploded. "You're accusing my husband of being a condemnable traitor!"

"Hey, don't blame me! None of this would have happened if..." he cut himself off.

"If what?" Anna asked.

"Nothing."

"What?" she demanded.

"None of this would have happened if you had married me in the first place." He barked.

They both froze as the statement rang through the room.

"After all this... You... You're still... Aren't You?" she struggled to form a coherent sentence.

"I don't know." He said shortly. This wasn't a topic he liked going over, and they hadn't talked about it since they were sixteen.

"Well you had better figure it out, Wufei. It's way too late for that box. Even if Duo is a traitor -which he is not- I'm still married to him." She snapped.

"Anna..."

"Good night, Wufei." The tone said shut-up-or-die.

He fell silent. Anna lay in bed, fuming. How dare he do this now! She thought. Who does he think he is? She glared at the ceiling. Enough was enough. They needed information, no more. They needed the truth or the whole lot of them would fall apart. She waited until he was asleep again to make her move.