OUT OF TUNE
Chapter 17: FINE TUNING: Pt. 2; Tricks of the Trade
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or its characters.
In this chapter, we're finally going to learn why Quatre has been acting (keyword, ACTING) the way he has. Enjoy Q-man fans!!!
Heero shifted in his seat as he deftly released his safety belt latch. The flashing signal above him told him it was safe to do so as well as use the vid-phone mounted in the seat in front of him. As soon as he pulled the laptop-like device from its holder and set it on the fold out table on his lap, Relena's number, along with her image, popped into his head. He'd hoped to wait to savor Relena's face in person but finding out what had brought Duo to the docks was eating at his mind. While typing in the number into the keypad as fast as he could, he arranged his face so he wouldn't frighten or worry his girlfriend. The blue on the screen suddenly sprung to life as Pagan's face appeared. His familiar weathered appearance seemed no more worn than usual, Heero noted; things were going well at the Peacecraft residence then.
"Master Yuy! Miss Relena was hoping you'd call," Pagan greeted him cheerfully. Heero nodded, smiling at the mention of Relena's name.
"Is she home, Pagan?" he asked eagerly. Pagan nodded and stepped aside with a smile. Relena appeared soon afterwards. Her aquamarine eyes were laughing and her whole being looked happy.
"Hello Heero!" she greeted him with a laugh. Heero chuckled at her exuberance and nearly forgot why he called in the first place.
"Hello Relena, I just got on the shuttle and I-"
"Speaking of which," she interrupted, "what time should we be expecting you?" Heero rolled his eyes in sarcasm and she stuck out her tongue through the screen, their ritual when she brought up schedules.
"Four hours or so," he replied. "Relena, I need you to do me a favor."
Her ears pricked and she studied his image carefully. Heero rarely wanted her to do things for him, no matter how small they might be. Relena's giving nature always came into conflict with this aspect of her boyfriend's personality.
"Anything," she said, her tone serious. Heero smiled back at her, his dark eyes displaying the words the two rarely said aloud, but often showed.
"I saw Duo today at the docks and he seemed to be up to something. I need you to call him on his cell phone and tell him to find a public vid-phone so we can talk," he told her. Relena nodded and disappeared for a few seconds. Heero tried scanning the room with the vid-cam but she'd left it. When she reappeared she had a pen, slip of paper, and a very serious expression on her face.
"Ready," she said determinedly. Heero laughed at her cute expression and gave her the phone number for Duo's cell and the number for the vid-phone.
"I have to go now if I'm going to have enough money to pay for Duo's call," Heero said as soon as Relena had written down the digits. She nodded and looked back up at him, her eyes telling him not to go. He gave her a sympathetic smile, which she returned with a forced one of her own before touching her lips with her two fingers and placing them on the screen. Heero placed his own hand on the screen and brought them back to his lips.
"See you soon," she whispered.
"See you soon," he replied quietly, before disconnecting. Gods, he missed her already.
Duo was slowly making his way back the parking lot from the entrance to the docks when his cell phone rang. Groaning at the pain the sound caused his aching head, he quickly answered it to cut off the noise. Annoyed, he kicked himself mentally for getting the loudest ring tone he could find.
"Yes?" he asked grumpily of his black receiver.
"Duo?" came Relena's voice on the other end. "Are you alright? You sound a little groggy," she said, her voice caring.
"You would too if your head had hit a metal chair after flying over said chair," he replied. He heard Relena gasp.
"How in the world did that happen?"
"Long story, Relena, I can't talk long, I have to check in on Hilde and the others," he began.
"Duo, Heero says he needs you to call him on the vid-phone. He said he saw you at the docks and wanted to know what you were up to," she said, dutifully filling out Heero's favor. Duo's eyes lit up beneath he glaze that had fallen over them by the head injury.
"What was he doing at the docks?"
"Getting on his shuttle, of course!" was the answer. Her loud voice made Duo wince slightly, but it was pushed aside at the thought of having one last possibility of convince Trowa to come back to Earth.
"Quickly, Relena, give me the number, I need to call him right away!" he rushed. He heard the shuffle of papers and then Relena reciting the vid-phone number.
"351-0245, Duo, what's going on?" her voice sounded worried. Duo ran the rest of the way to Wufei's car.
"No time to explain, but as soon as this is all said and done, I promise I will!" he exclaimed and cut off the phone. After shoving the cell phone back into his pocket, he pulled open the car door and began searching Wufei's glove compartment for his compact vid-phone.
"Where is it, Wufei?" he growled, pushing out immaculately folded maps and bills. Finally he pulled out the case and ripped it open.
"351-0245," he muttered as he typed it in. "Oh you better be sitting in your seat," Duo whispered as the black screen turned blue.
Heero's vid phone began ringing, pulling him out of his Relena reverie. He picked up the connection and Duo's flushed face came into view.
"Duo-" Heero began, but Duo cut him off with a hand signal.
"Heero, I'm glad you got in contact with me. Trowa's making a huge mistake; he's going to Earth thinking Dorothy's there but Dorothy's still here on the colonies. Is there someway you can contact him through the shuttle systems?" Duo said in one long gulp. Heero felt like he'd been struck by lightning, he felt so stunned. Yet his face showed nothing. He racked his mind for any information he had on the shuttle computer and radio systems.
"I doubt it. I'd need to bust into this one, which would be the easiest part, but then I'd have to convince the pilot of Trowa's shuttle to give him the message," he replied. Duo moaned helplessly and sat silent for a moment.
"Couldn't you hack their intercom system?" he asked. Heero shook his head, before informing Duo that the intercom system was regulated by the docks computers and any messages from the pilot to the passengers was passed by flight attendants. While shaking his head he caught sight of another shuttle flying close by.
"Duo?" The gundam pilot looked up hopefully from the steering wheel of Wufei's car. "What's Trowa's flight number?" Heero's eyes were fixed on the black letters on the side of the opposite shuttle. Duo scanned his memory for the information before it finally came to him.
"405, why?" he finally replied. Heero nodded, the black 405 staring back at him from the shuttle. Through the vid-phone screen Duo saw Heero look to his left down the aisle; when his face returned to the screen, he was smirking.
"I think I've got a better idea," he said pulling out the revolver that he carried on duty. Duo watched him, transfixed as he pulled out his badge as well.
"I'll call you later Duo," Heero said before cutting off the signal. Duo shut his eyes and sighed; Heero was now in control of the situation. Whether or not that was a good thing for those on Heero's shuttle, Duo didn't know. But it was definitely a good thing for him.
Heero put his vid-phone back into its mount and flipped up his laptop table before standing up. He hid his gun inside his jacket so he wouldn't alarm any flight attendants or passengers and nonchalantly approached the general area of the space shuttle's hanger. He thanked the stars for having the sense to refuse Relena's offer of getting put in first class because he was now much closer to where the mobile suit that every space shuttle was equipped with was stored.
During the war, most shuttle hangers were designed to keep out intruders but last year the newer shuttles removed the now unnecessary locks and heavy doors. Making sure his badge would be clearly seen, he pulled out his gun again and slowly opened the door.
"Jim, you mind handing me the last sugar-" one of the guards stopped mid-sentence when he spotted Heero and his gun, which was now pointed at the two. Upon closer inspection, the frightened pair would have spotted the safety was on however, a black barrel aimed at their heads was a bit distracting.
"Gentlemen, I need the use of your mobile suit," Heero said, his voice low and menacing. There was no point in chitchatting, not when one of his best friend's relationship was at stake.
"You can't be in-" the guard named Jim began but Heero took a step closer, his finger tightening impulsively on the trigger, making the man stop dead.
"You need to get out of my way or-" Heero pulled the gun away from the guard's head and pointed it at one of the side windows of the hanger. "I put this whole flight at jeopardy," he finished. The two looked at each other and a less observant hijacker would miss the hand signal from guard to guard. Someone less observant also wouldn't notice one of the guard's hand inching towards the emergency signal, however little to nothing got by Heero Yuy, former Perfect Soldier. His left hand was already on the guard's hand by the time he'd come within an inch of the button that could send Trowa towards Earth.
"You can't do this, as soon as we get word out that you've taken this suit, the dock patrol will be on you like lightening," Jim told him, trying to be brave. Heero turned on him abruptly, his hand still crushing the other guard's wrist. He smirked at him and put his gun into his jacket. With what seemed a fancy flourish, Heero had the guard's wrist in his right hand and his badge in his left.
"Captain Yuy of the Preventers, according to the Preventer's Charter I have every right to take this mobile suit," he informed the two, leaving out the fact that he could only use the suit for Preventer's use and by standard practice, he was supposed to at least ask first. However, desperate times called for desperate measures and what was the fun in asking?
"I don't believe you!" the pilot cried but Heero was not really listening. The Shuttle 405 was probably miles away and he needed to get a move on.
"I don't really care if you don't believe me," Heero muttered as he used the butt of his gun to knock out the two guards. As soon as the two had dropped to the metal floor, he jumped from the catwalk onto the mobile suit's platform and grabbed the start-up disk. Once inside the suit, he maneuvered it to the opening that would lead it into the chamber that would lead him out into space. Trowa had arranged for Heero to go to Earth to spend this year of separation with Relena so it was time to return the favor.
Quatre sighed as he stepped forward to grab his bags from the rotating baggage drop. Things were working out perfectly yet he felt horrible. The two year long deception had worked wonderfully, fooling even his closest friends into believing that he had become colder over the years. He hadn't become colder, just older and with that came the responsibility of using his diplomatic skills and misgiving looks for the Preventer's advantage. Since the end of the wars he had been undercover for Une, doing reconnaissance on any rumors of new military factions forming. All had been undone with a few lies on Quatre's part, giving the factions reasons to hate other members of their own group, thus eating the threat from the inside out.
He had worked under the noses of his companions so as to prevent their usual protective nature of him from getting in the way. He and Une had anticipated that prematurely, already imagining how Trowa would feel he'd need to come to Quatre's rescue and in the end fumble things up or Wufei and Duo coming to save the day and blowing his cover. So he lied and lied and lied until he began believing his lies. Maybe he had become cold he thought as he imagined Dorothy's strained face as he kissed her.
His latest, and longest, case to date was disassembling the ever-growing threat of the Romefellar Foundation, more specifically, getting into Duke Dermail's inner circle. This had already been accomplished, but with the worst lies Quatre had ever told in his life. The other factions had been simple to take apart; he didn't know the people and only saw them as a threat. But he knew Dorothy, he knew her very well. And now he was using her to accomplish his task.
He'd made a deal with Dermail; he take his stubborn, headstrong granddaughter out of his hair and into a church where she'd be made a respectable woman with much money and a nice house, while Dermail let Quatre into his circle. It was a win-win situation for Dermail, and at the time, was a win-win for Quatre as well. But there were losses for both; Dermail would be losing his security and Quatre would be losing his soul…it was almost a literal deal with the Devil, Quatre told himself as he approached a pay phone.
He wanted out of this deal, he didn't care about Romefellar anymore. All he really cared about was making Dorothy happy. Quatre had been so delighted when Dermail agreed to give him his granddaughter in marriage but when she ran off it should have been his first sign that Dorothy didn't want him. However, the tough mask that had been weaved and shaped out of his numerous lies over two years time didn't let her objection's sink in. In fact, they didn't hit home until he'd mulled over her face on the ride to Earth from the colonies. Not even her running off after Trowa after their make-out session in the hallway had clued him in.
Up until four hours ago Quatre had been living in his own dream world in which Dorothy loved him and understood why he was doing this; oh if only he could tell her what this was all about!!
He reached into his pocket and pulled out 5 dollars, the standard fee to make a call from Earth to the colonies. He needed to check in on her, make sure she had gotten to the shuttle safely; if he was going to go through with this, he was at least going to make her as comfortable as possible.
"Hello, could you put me in touch with Dr. Seamus please?" Quatre asked of the receptionist. He nodded dumbly when she asked him to hold, not really comprehending that she couldn't see him. But when he finally did realize it, he didn't care.
"Mr. Winner?" came the shakier than usual voice of Dr. Seamus. Quatre frowned, something wasn't right.
"What's wrong?" His business voice made him cringe at the sound of it. He didn't want to be seen or heard like this any longer. There was an awkward pause over the phone and Quatre considered asking the man if he was alright but thought better of it. Finally, he heard the doctor sigh unhappily before mumbling something he couldn't make out.
"What was that?" The doctor cleared his throat.
"Dorothy never made it to the shuttles, Mr. Winner." Quatre's heart seemed to stop and a thousand gruesome possibilities of what could have happened to Dorothy ran like wildfire through his mind. "She was transferred to a new hospital by Dr. Sally Po and her rag tag group of friends," he continued. Quatre felt like jumping for joy and screaming in fury at the same time, so conflicted his two sides had become. He was so emotional and bent up inside that he slammed the phone down on its receiver, picked up his bags, and marched out of the docks.
"Rag tag group of friends," he muttered half-mindedly. 'Those are my friends,' he reminded himself. Now he knew how Une felt when she had been working for Treize, he understood how easily her whole being could separate itself out into two equal shares. However, his sides were no longer equal. The side that wanted his friends back was in control now.
He nodded at the Magunac that had come to pick him up and stepped into the dessert style Hummer. In the backseat he pulled out his portable vid-phone and closed the window that separated the back seat from the front. He was getting out of this mess and he was getting out of it now. The rough realization that Dorothy didn't want him, his friends no longer cared for him, that his life was too jumbled up for him to continue with the lies; all of it had pushed him over the cliff that led to the sea of rash decisions and he'd picked himself up onto the most reasonable looking rock-like decision he could find. He typed in the number for Preventers HQ.
"Good morning, Mr. Winner, would you like me to connect you to Ms. Une's office?" the receptionist asked politely. Quatre knew that the girls that worked the desk had become accustomed to his calls to Lady's office at all hours of the day and could imagine the rumors that spread amongst them do to his frequent calls.
"Yes, if you would be so kind," he said, his voice gentler than it had been since the end of the wars. The girl seemed startled because the connection took longer than usual.
Lady's face appeared on the screen before him. She smiled gently and put down her phone with a polite good-bye before turning her full attention to him.
"Good morn-" She stopped to check her watch. "Excuse me, good afternoon, Quatre," she corrected herself. Quatre smiled, surprising the woman.
"Good afternoon," his disposition was already lightening in the wake of his decision. "I wish to be relieved of duty, Lady Une," he announced. Une's brown eyes widened until her lashes were where her eyebrows probably were supposed to be.
"I'm afraid that I can't-" she began but Quatre held up his hand to cut her off.
"You haven't heard me out, Lady. I've been using the illegal method of bargaining for a place in Dermail's circle for Dorothy Catalonia's hand in marriage. Not only was I doing this against her will, I was also using my status as a Preventer undercover agent for personal gains. I request to be relieved of duty and to undergo any additional consequences," he informed her. Lady Une had never been so confused in her life. She'd watched as Quatre changed, hardening over the months because of the frequent lies and covers he had to use. Yet the new Quatre she'd come to know would never have done this and if he had, he never would have admitted it.
"Are you making all this up?" she asked pathetically, unable to believe this far out story. Quatre shook his head.
"Ask the Duke himself," he confirmed. "Although he'll probably lie about it," he added. Lady nodded, her head a blur of thoughts. If this was all true, then she had no choice but to-
"Alright," she said, giving in. "I relieve you of your duty, though I don't know whom I'll get to replace you," she murmured in a stage whisper, hoping to send Quatre on guilt trip back to duty despite all of this. However he seemed prepared for this because he disappeared for a few seconds and came back smiling. Only a few seconds more, and a white sheet of paper came printing out of her fax machine.
"I'm faxing you the credentials of Preventer Jack Sony, I believe he'll make a suitable replacement. Unless there's anything else, I'd like to go now," he finished. Lady Une sighed, glancing over at the white sheet of paper.
"Why now?" she asked finally, her eyes not meeting his through the screen. Quatre was quiet for a few moments before answering.
"It's tearing me apart," he replied. "I think you know what I mean." And with that, Quatre disconnected. Une nodded towards the black screen, she knew exactly what he meant. Her eyes locked on a picture of herself and Marameia; yes, she knew exactly what he meant.
Heero had finally caught up with Shuttle 421 after about a half an hour of flying through space. It was lucky that this mobile suit was equipped with sonar that only locked onto shuttle of this particular space line, otherwise Heero would be lost amongst the heavy traffic of space today. As he approached the Shuttle, he heard the low hum of radio buzz as the Shuttle tried to contact him. Keeping a firm grip on his joystick (hehehe, that sounds a wee bit naughty!) he tuned the radio in and picked up the mouthpiece.
"Mobile Suit 3309 requesting permission to dock," he said into the mouthpiece, reading off the number that was above his screen. There was a pause on the other end, they were probably checking for his number.
"Alright, 3309, what's the reason for docking?" the pilot questioned. Heero smirked.
"Have to pick up a passenger who got on the wrong flight," he answered. The pilot chuckled.
"We haven't requested a mobile suit to pick up any passengers today, you better check your numbers fly boy!" Heero scanned his brain for a suitable lie.
"Docks sent me from flight 241, spotted an error on a ticket set up. Said the passenger probably didn't even know he'd got the wrong flight," Heero finally said. It must have been believable because the back doors to the shuttle opened slowly.
"Mobile suit 3309 request to dock granted."
Well, well, Heero's come to save the day and Quatre isn't evil, sounds like a good day's work to me!! Hope you enjoyed, Chapter 18 will be up soon!!! Special shout out to anyone who remembers who Jack Sony is!!
Love,
MadameHotaru.of.87
Chapter 17: FINE TUNING: Pt. 2; Tricks of the Trade
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or its characters.
In this chapter, we're finally going to learn why Quatre has been acting (keyword, ACTING) the way he has. Enjoy Q-man fans!!!
Heero shifted in his seat as he deftly released his safety belt latch. The flashing signal above him told him it was safe to do so as well as use the vid-phone mounted in the seat in front of him. As soon as he pulled the laptop-like device from its holder and set it on the fold out table on his lap, Relena's number, along with her image, popped into his head. He'd hoped to wait to savor Relena's face in person but finding out what had brought Duo to the docks was eating at his mind. While typing in the number into the keypad as fast as he could, he arranged his face so he wouldn't frighten or worry his girlfriend. The blue on the screen suddenly sprung to life as Pagan's face appeared. His familiar weathered appearance seemed no more worn than usual, Heero noted; things were going well at the Peacecraft residence then.
"Master Yuy! Miss Relena was hoping you'd call," Pagan greeted him cheerfully. Heero nodded, smiling at the mention of Relena's name.
"Is she home, Pagan?" he asked eagerly. Pagan nodded and stepped aside with a smile. Relena appeared soon afterwards. Her aquamarine eyes were laughing and her whole being looked happy.
"Hello Heero!" she greeted him with a laugh. Heero chuckled at her exuberance and nearly forgot why he called in the first place.
"Hello Relena, I just got on the shuttle and I-"
"Speaking of which," she interrupted, "what time should we be expecting you?" Heero rolled his eyes in sarcasm and she stuck out her tongue through the screen, their ritual when she brought up schedules.
"Four hours or so," he replied. "Relena, I need you to do me a favor."
Her ears pricked and she studied his image carefully. Heero rarely wanted her to do things for him, no matter how small they might be. Relena's giving nature always came into conflict with this aspect of her boyfriend's personality.
"Anything," she said, her tone serious. Heero smiled back at her, his dark eyes displaying the words the two rarely said aloud, but often showed.
"I saw Duo today at the docks and he seemed to be up to something. I need you to call him on his cell phone and tell him to find a public vid-phone so we can talk," he told her. Relena nodded and disappeared for a few seconds. Heero tried scanning the room with the vid-cam but she'd left it. When she reappeared she had a pen, slip of paper, and a very serious expression on her face.
"Ready," she said determinedly. Heero laughed at her cute expression and gave her the phone number for Duo's cell and the number for the vid-phone.
"I have to go now if I'm going to have enough money to pay for Duo's call," Heero said as soon as Relena had written down the digits. She nodded and looked back up at him, her eyes telling him not to go. He gave her a sympathetic smile, which she returned with a forced one of her own before touching her lips with her two fingers and placing them on the screen. Heero placed his own hand on the screen and brought them back to his lips.
"See you soon," she whispered.
"See you soon," he replied quietly, before disconnecting. Gods, he missed her already.
Duo was slowly making his way back the parking lot from the entrance to the docks when his cell phone rang. Groaning at the pain the sound caused his aching head, he quickly answered it to cut off the noise. Annoyed, he kicked himself mentally for getting the loudest ring tone he could find.
"Yes?" he asked grumpily of his black receiver.
"Duo?" came Relena's voice on the other end. "Are you alright? You sound a little groggy," she said, her voice caring.
"You would too if your head had hit a metal chair after flying over said chair," he replied. He heard Relena gasp.
"How in the world did that happen?"
"Long story, Relena, I can't talk long, I have to check in on Hilde and the others," he began.
"Duo, Heero says he needs you to call him on the vid-phone. He said he saw you at the docks and wanted to know what you were up to," she said, dutifully filling out Heero's favor. Duo's eyes lit up beneath he glaze that had fallen over them by the head injury.
"What was he doing at the docks?"
"Getting on his shuttle, of course!" was the answer. Her loud voice made Duo wince slightly, but it was pushed aside at the thought of having one last possibility of convince Trowa to come back to Earth.
"Quickly, Relena, give me the number, I need to call him right away!" he rushed. He heard the shuffle of papers and then Relena reciting the vid-phone number.
"351-0245, Duo, what's going on?" her voice sounded worried. Duo ran the rest of the way to Wufei's car.
"No time to explain, but as soon as this is all said and done, I promise I will!" he exclaimed and cut off the phone. After shoving the cell phone back into his pocket, he pulled open the car door and began searching Wufei's glove compartment for his compact vid-phone.
"Where is it, Wufei?" he growled, pushing out immaculately folded maps and bills. Finally he pulled out the case and ripped it open.
"351-0245," he muttered as he typed it in. "Oh you better be sitting in your seat," Duo whispered as the black screen turned blue.
Heero's vid phone began ringing, pulling him out of his Relena reverie. He picked up the connection and Duo's flushed face came into view.
"Duo-" Heero began, but Duo cut him off with a hand signal.
"Heero, I'm glad you got in contact with me. Trowa's making a huge mistake; he's going to Earth thinking Dorothy's there but Dorothy's still here on the colonies. Is there someway you can contact him through the shuttle systems?" Duo said in one long gulp. Heero felt like he'd been struck by lightning, he felt so stunned. Yet his face showed nothing. He racked his mind for any information he had on the shuttle computer and radio systems.
"I doubt it. I'd need to bust into this one, which would be the easiest part, but then I'd have to convince the pilot of Trowa's shuttle to give him the message," he replied. Duo moaned helplessly and sat silent for a moment.
"Couldn't you hack their intercom system?" he asked. Heero shook his head, before informing Duo that the intercom system was regulated by the docks computers and any messages from the pilot to the passengers was passed by flight attendants. While shaking his head he caught sight of another shuttle flying close by.
"Duo?" The gundam pilot looked up hopefully from the steering wheel of Wufei's car. "What's Trowa's flight number?" Heero's eyes were fixed on the black letters on the side of the opposite shuttle. Duo scanned his memory for the information before it finally came to him.
"405, why?" he finally replied. Heero nodded, the black 405 staring back at him from the shuttle. Through the vid-phone screen Duo saw Heero look to his left down the aisle; when his face returned to the screen, he was smirking.
"I think I've got a better idea," he said pulling out the revolver that he carried on duty. Duo watched him, transfixed as he pulled out his badge as well.
"I'll call you later Duo," Heero said before cutting off the signal. Duo shut his eyes and sighed; Heero was now in control of the situation. Whether or not that was a good thing for those on Heero's shuttle, Duo didn't know. But it was definitely a good thing for him.
Heero put his vid-phone back into its mount and flipped up his laptop table before standing up. He hid his gun inside his jacket so he wouldn't alarm any flight attendants or passengers and nonchalantly approached the general area of the space shuttle's hanger. He thanked the stars for having the sense to refuse Relena's offer of getting put in first class because he was now much closer to where the mobile suit that every space shuttle was equipped with was stored.
During the war, most shuttle hangers were designed to keep out intruders but last year the newer shuttles removed the now unnecessary locks and heavy doors. Making sure his badge would be clearly seen, he pulled out his gun again and slowly opened the door.
"Jim, you mind handing me the last sugar-" one of the guards stopped mid-sentence when he spotted Heero and his gun, which was now pointed at the two. Upon closer inspection, the frightened pair would have spotted the safety was on however, a black barrel aimed at their heads was a bit distracting.
"Gentlemen, I need the use of your mobile suit," Heero said, his voice low and menacing. There was no point in chitchatting, not when one of his best friend's relationship was at stake.
"You can't be in-" the guard named Jim began but Heero took a step closer, his finger tightening impulsively on the trigger, making the man stop dead.
"You need to get out of my way or-" Heero pulled the gun away from the guard's head and pointed it at one of the side windows of the hanger. "I put this whole flight at jeopardy," he finished. The two looked at each other and a less observant hijacker would miss the hand signal from guard to guard. Someone less observant also wouldn't notice one of the guard's hand inching towards the emergency signal, however little to nothing got by Heero Yuy, former Perfect Soldier. His left hand was already on the guard's hand by the time he'd come within an inch of the button that could send Trowa towards Earth.
"You can't do this, as soon as we get word out that you've taken this suit, the dock patrol will be on you like lightening," Jim told him, trying to be brave. Heero turned on him abruptly, his hand still crushing the other guard's wrist. He smirked at him and put his gun into his jacket. With what seemed a fancy flourish, Heero had the guard's wrist in his right hand and his badge in his left.
"Captain Yuy of the Preventers, according to the Preventer's Charter I have every right to take this mobile suit," he informed the two, leaving out the fact that he could only use the suit for Preventer's use and by standard practice, he was supposed to at least ask first. However, desperate times called for desperate measures and what was the fun in asking?
"I don't believe you!" the pilot cried but Heero was not really listening. The Shuttle 405 was probably miles away and he needed to get a move on.
"I don't really care if you don't believe me," Heero muttered as he used the butt of his gun to knock out the two guards. As soon as the two had dropped to the metal floor, he jumped from the catwalk onto the mobile suit's platform and grabbed the start-up disk. Once inside the suit, he maneuvered it to the opening that would lead it into the chamber that would lead him out into space. Trowa had arranged for Heero to go to Earth to spend this year of separation with Relena so it was time to return the favor.
Quatre sighed as he stepped forward to grab his bags from the rotating baggage drop. Things were working out perfectly yet he felt horrible. The two year long deception had worked wonderfully, fooling even his closest friends into believing that he had become colder over the years. He hadn't become colder, just older and with that came the responsibility of using his diplomatic skills and misgiving looks for the Preventer's advantage. Since the end of the wars he had been undercover for Une, doing reconnaissance on any rumors of new military factions forming. All had been undone with a few lies on Quatre's part, giving the factions reasons to hate other members of their own group, thus eating the threat from the inside out.
He had worked under the noses of his companions so as to prevent their usual protective nature of him from getting in the way. He and Une had anticipated that prematurely, already imagining how Trowa would feel he'd need to come to Quatre's rescue and in the end fumble things up or Wufei and Duo coming to save the day and blowing his cover. So he lied and lied and lied until he began believing his lies. Maybe he had become cold he thought as he imagined Dorothy's strained face as he kissed her.
His latest, and longest, case to date was disassembling the ever-growing threat of the Romefellar Foundation, more specifically, getting into Duke Dermail's inner circle. This had already been accomplished, but with the worst lies Quatre had ever told in his life. The other factions had been simple to take apart; he didn't know the people and only saw them as a threat. But he knew Dorothy, he knew her very well. And now he was using her to accomplish his task.
He'd made a deal with Dermail; he take his stubborn, headstrong granddaughter out of his hair and into a church where she'd be made a respectable woman with much money and a nice house, while Dermail let Quatre into his circle. It was a win-win situation for Dermail, and at the time, was a win-win for Quatre as well. But there were losses for both; Dermail would be losing his security and Quatre would be losing his soul…it was almost a literal deal with the Devil, Quatre told himself as he approached a pay phone.
He wanted out of this deal, he didn't care about Romefellar anymore. All he really cared about was making Dorothy happy. Quatre had been so delighted when Dermail agreed to give him his granddaughter in marriage but when she ran off it should have been his first sign that Dorothy didn't want him. However, the tough mask that had been weaved and shaped out of his numerous lies over two years time didn't let her objection's sink in. In fact, they didn't hit home until he'd mulled over her face on the ride to Earth from the colonies. Not even her running off after Trowa after their make-out session in the hallway had clued him in.
Up until four hours ago Quatre had been living in his own dream world in which Dorothy loved him and understood why he was doing this; oh if only he could tell her what this was all about!!
He reached into his pocket and pulled out 5 dollars, the standard fee to make a call from Earth to the colonies. He needed to check in on her, make sure she had gotten to the shuttle safely; if he was going to go through with this, he was at least going to make her as comfortable as possible.
"Hello, could you put me in touch with Dr. Seamus please?" Quatre asked of the receptionist. He nodded dumbly when she asked him to hold, not really comprehending that she couldn't see him. But when he finally did realize it, he didn't care.
"Mr. Winner?" came the shakier than usual voice of Dr. Seamus. Quatre frowned, something wasn't right.
"What's wrong?" His business voice made him cringe at the sound of it. He didn't want to be seen or heard like this any longer. There was an awkward pause over the phone and Quatre considered asking the man if he was alright but thought better of it. Finally, he heard the doctor sigh unhappily before mumbling something he couldn't make out.
"What was that?" The doctor cleared his throat.
"Dorothy never made it to the shuttles, Mr. Winner." Quatre's heart seemed to stop and a thousand gruesome possibilities of what could have happened to Dorothy ran like wildfire through his mind. "She was transferred to a new hospital by Dr. Sally Po and her rag tag group of friends," he continued. Quatre felt like jumping for joy and screaming in fury at the same time, so conflicted his two sides had become. He was so emotional and bent up inside that he slammed the phone down on its receiver, picked up his bags, and marched out of the docks.
"Rag tag group of friends," he muttered half-mindedly. 'Those are my friends,' he reminded himself. Now he knew how Une felt when she had been working for Treize, he understood how easily her whole being could separate itself out into two equal shares. However, his sides were no longer equal. The side that wanted his friends back was in control now.
He nodded at the Magunac that had come to pick him up and stepped into the dessert style Hummer. In the backseat he pulled out his portable vid-phone and closed the window that separated the back seat from the front. He was getting out of this mess and he was getting out of it now. The rough realization that Dorothy didn't want him, his friends no longer cared for him, that his life was too jumbled up for him to continue with the lies; all of it had pushed him over the cliff that led to the sea of rash decisions and he'd picked himself up onto the most reasonable looking rock-like decision he could find. He typed in the number for Preventers HQ.
"Good morning, Mr. Winner, would you like me to connect you to Ms. Une's office?" the receptionist asked politely. Quatre knew that the girls that worked the desk had become accustomed to his calls to Lady's office at all hours of the day and could imagine the rumors that spread amongst them do to his frequent calls.
"Yes, if you would be so kind," he said, his voice gentler than it had been since the end of the wars. The girl seemed startled because the connection took longer than usual.
Lady's face appeared on the screen before him. She smiled gently and put down her phone with a polite good-bye before turning her full attention to him.
"Good morn-" She stopped to check her watch. "Excuse me, good afternoon, Quatre," she corrected herself. Quatre smiled, surprising the woman.
"Good afternoon," his disposition was already lightening in the wake of his decision. "I wish to be relieved of duty, Lady Une," he announced. Une's brown eyes widened until her lashes were where her eyebrows probably were supposed to be.
"I'm afraid that I can't-" she began but Quatre held up his hand to cut her off.
"You haven't heard me out, Lady. I've been using the illegal method of bargaining for a place in Dermail's circle for Dorothy Catalonia's hand in marriage. Not only was I doing this against her will, I was also using my status as a Preventer undercover agent for personal gains. I request to be relieved of duty and to undergo any additional consequences," he informed her. Lady Une had never been so confused in her life. She'd watched as Quatre changed, hardening over the months because of the frequent lies and covers he had to use. Yet the new Quatre she'd come to know would never have done this and if he had, he never would have admitted it.
"Are you making all this up?" she asked pathetically, unable to believe this far out story. Quatre shook his head.
"Ask the Duke himself," he confirmed. "Although he'll probably lie about it," he added. Lady nodded, her head a blur of thoughts. If this was all true, then she had no choice but to-
"Alright," she said, giving in. "I relieve you of your duty, though I don't know whom I'll get to replace you," she murmured in a stage whisper, hoping to send Quatre on guilt trip back to duty despite all of this. However he seemed prepared for this because he disappeared for a few seconds and came back smiling. Only a few seconds more, and a white sheet of paper came printing out of her fax machine.
"I'm faxing you the credentials of Preventer Jack Sony, I believe he'll make a suitable replacement. Unless there's anything else, I'd like to go now," he finished. Lady Une sighed, glancing over at the white sheet of paper.
"Why now?" she asked finally, her eyes not meeting his through the screen. Quatre was quiet for a few moments before answering.
"It's tearing me apart," he replied. "I think you know what I mean." And with that, Quatre disconnected. Une nodded towards the black screen, she knew exactly what he meant. Her eyes locked on a picture of herself and Marameia; yes, she knew exactly what he meant.
Heero had finally caught up with Shuttle 421 after about a half an hour of flying through space. It was lucky that this mobile suit was equipped with sonar that only locked onto shuttle of this particular space line, otherwise Heero would be lost amongst the heavy traffic of space today. As he approached the Shuttle, he heard the low hum of radio buzz as the Shuttle tried to contact him. Keeping a firm grip on his joystick (hehehe, that sounds a wee bit naughty!) he tuned the radio in and picked up the mouthpiece.
"Mobile Suit 3309 requesting permission to dock," he said into the mouthpiece, reading off the number that was above his screen. There was a pause on the other end, they were probably checking for his number.
"Alright, 3309, what's the reason for docking?" the pilot questioned. Heero smirked.
"Have to pick up a passenger who got on the wrong flight," he answered. The pilot chuckled.
"We haven't requested a mobile suit to pick up any passengers today, you better check your numbers fly boy!" Heero scanned his brain for a suitable lie.
"Docks sent me from flight 241, spotted an error on a ticket set up. Said the passenger probably didn't even know he'd got the wrong flight," Heero finally said. It must have been believable because the back doors to the shuttle opened slowly.
"Mobile suit 3309 request to dock granted."
Well, well, Heero's come to save the day and Quatre isn't evil, sounds like a good day's work to me!! Hope you enjoyed, Chapter 18 will be up soon!!! Special shout out to anyone who remembers who Jack Sony is!!
Love,
MadameHotaru.of.87