-How many chapters left..uhm probably 5 or 6ish I'd say. Still got some revelations coming up (Yeah, I know ya'll are probably saying finally!), a surprises or two and flashbacks ahead.
-Yes and no, the title was originally part of a future flashback scene, but I don't know... It somehow wound up here too. I guess you could call Ch 6 sorta of an echo of that original scene. Hmm I wonder if I 'm making any sense. :P
-The reference to "her" in the previous chapter is not Relena, but to the person that Daniel lost.
-I see some very good guesses, some of them really close. Two more chapters to go til then...
Notes: Well this chapter is going to bounce around pov's quite a lot. There just no way around it. So POV's will be separated by "" and since Ffnet doesn't allow astericks or any other sign anymore grr... Dialogue spoken through comms will use "'blahblah "'. Okay, I've babbled enough on to the story...
Chapter 7
Relena stepped out of the car shading her soft blue eyes against the afternoon's harsh glare. The sun had risen bright and fierce that morning, beating back the night's rain clouds sending them all fleeing to leave an empty sky. With no clouds, the sun's heat beat down mercilessly to all who walked beneath it. Relena hurried across the walkway glad for once to escape out of the hot day and into the cooler air inside of the building..
Heero, as usual showing no outward signs of discomfort, quickly walked beside her. Occasionally he glanced around looking for signs of danger. A short distance away, Noin stood straightened things out with one of the security personnel, while the preventers crowded into the building.
A short time later, Heero found himself standing at attention along the back wall of the large room, a short distance from where Relena sat. He watched the man to her left gestulate wildly as he pressed some point that he felt needed to be decided upon. Heero had only been listening with half an ear. But when Relena had stood, he had found his attention drifting towards her. Relena almost always spoke with a calm voice, but at times like this there was no denying the passion that also laced her words. He doubted that she ever fully realized how much her passion and bare honest truly affected people. She was a quality so rare in this corrupted world. She was a child among so many aged men, and yet every bit there equal. It was just another thing about her that fascinated him. Even right from the start when he had first met her, no matter how much he had threatened her. No matter how terrified she had become at the ever increasing chaos all around her, she had never backed down or run away. Fierce and passionate as any soldier and yet so kind and gentle. It was a dichotomy that he had a hard time understanding.
Heero broke off his musings suddenly as a particularly strong wave of uneasiness had passed through his consciousness. As a soldier, he had been taught to hone his senses not just to threats from the sound of a gun being cocked or the sound of approaching footsteps, but also more subtler signs, like dangerous intentions on the wind. He had been feeling it for a while now. And as the minutes passed by, he could feel it drawing uncomfortably nearer. The entire building seemed to tense as if it was also aware of its presence. The walls increasingly began to seem too close and the air far too warm and thin. But whatever it was, he still could not see it. At the moment it remained only a feeling and he could find no source for it. The one thing that he did at least know was that it wasn't in the room. The threat was definitely outside-somewhere. He found himself minutely clenching his hand over his side arm in repressed frustration, unused to the role of bodyguard. He itched to go and seek the danger out, but he knew he couldn't leave Relena not when he did not know what threatened her. He forced himself to patience knowing the only thing he could do was trust the preventers and wait...
Noin waited for Duo to answer his comm. "Anything Duo?" She asked.
'"Nope. Alls clear here babe. I'm going to check the next level up. You know just in case I missed something. Hey, you want me to bring you some snacks. Looks like someone has a fridge up here."'
"Duo." Noin warned.
'"Okay. Okay. None for you."' Duo clicked off before she could come up with a reply.
"One of the best pilots I've ever seen, but sometimes he's just such a kid." Noin sat back in her seat. " So far, so good." She said to the young blonde man beside her. Both she had he had retreated to the van across the street, once Noin had finally won entrance from the jerk of a security chief. She eyed the outside monitor as she flipped some switches on a electrical console. It was used to connect to all the preventers and pilots in the field. She was just going to go through the roll call again, when she glanced over questionally. "Quatre?"
Beside her, Quatre had suddenly clenched his hand over his heart, his face contorted as if in pain. "This is wrong." He mumbled his eyes glazed and distant as if he were trying to see something unseen. "Somethings...is wrong."
"What do you mean?" She asked anxiously.
"I can feel it...anticipation...pain...guilt."
Noin did not laugh him off or dismiss him. "Your space heart." She had seen this happen many times before and she knew not to doubt his intuitions as delusions. She could never explain it but somehow he was attuned to the world and its peoples. The multitudes of emotions and feelings that encompassed the human condition, he could somehow feel as easily as his own.. She also knew that for whatever reason, that there were some people he could sense stronger than others. "Is it coming from one of the pilots?" She guessed, knowing how stronger the bond was between the pilots. But Quatre shook his head, surprising her.
"No, not exactly. Not from...towards, I think. I've-I've felt it before... At the party though not as strongly . He drew in his breath, his voice barely above a whisper " No, not one of us, but close."
Trowa calmly walked down the empty lower halls, his feet treading lightly on the stone marble floor. A gun was held firmly in his hand. His lean body projected deceptive ease as he searched the lower rooms one by one. He had just entered a storage room when Quatre's voice sounded over his comm. '"Have you found anything Trowa?"'
He continued to scan the area as his left hand lifted to tap his comm. "No, its been clear so far. Perphaps..." He frowned abruptly breaking off. The room was filled with old furniture and machines and other items either out of use or in need of repair. The amount of dust that layered the room, indicated that the room was rarely used. He had just used his gun hand to remove a particularly thick cobweb out of his way, the thick hairy tendril landing on the floor when he noticed the footprint. Realizing that it was not his, he followed the direction that the foot appeared to have headed. When he came to an upturned table, his frown deepened as he noted the suspiciously clean spot on it. '"Trowa?"'
"Give me a minute." He put his gun in its holster, and began pulling and tossing things out of his way. When he removed the last object he couldn't help the curse that escaped his lips.
'"Trowa, what is it?"'
"Quatre, get everybody out of here now. And get Duo down here" though the words were calmly said there was no mistaking his urgency. His ears were filled with static for a moment as Quatre hurriedly conversed with Noin.
The comm snapped back on.'"Trowa?"'
"It's a bomb, Quatre."
Heero mentally cursed as Trowa's news was relayed to him. He was immediately beside Relena pulling her out of her chair. He quickly alerted those present of the need to evacuate the premises. Before objections could be made, several security personnel came in supporting his claim. The security personnel explained that there was a fire and that the dignitaries were to calmly file out and to get into the elevators.
Relena frowned at that. "Heero, its not really a fire is it. What's going on?"
Heero spared the others a glance before answering, lowering his voice to a whisper. "Trowa's found a bomb in the lower storage room."
"What?!" Relena gasped hurriedly covering her mouth, as to not cause a panic.
Heero touched his ear piece. "Is it on a timer?" He asked. ":How much time is left?"
There was a pause before Trowa answered. '"Not sure exactly. But I'd estimate...maybe little less than two minutes."' At Trowa's answer, Heero's face set into a grim line. Not enough time. The odds were very unlikely that they would be able to evacuate everyone in time.He'd have to find another way to get her out of there.
"How much time?" Relena asked anxiously, not having heard Trowa's reply.
"Not nearly enough." Was all Heero mumbled as he turned his attention inward. His professionally trained mind quickly accessed the blueprints that he had memorized shortly before arriving at the meeting hall. In bare seconds, he had ran through various scenarios and possible venues of escape. Once his route was determined he grabbed Relena's wrist, the suddenness of it making her jump slightly as she looked up questionally. "Follow me."
Duo ran down the back stairs, his feet so fast he barely touched them as he took them two and sometimes three at a time. His face was set in a frown of concentration as he struggled to keep from falling without decreasing his speed. Still not fast enough. What I wouldn't give for my gundam. He thought with grim humor. As luck would have it, he had been at the very top of the building when the urgent call had come to him. About as far as possible as one could get, and I'm still in the double digited floors! He cursed vehemently in his mind unwilling to spare any breath for it. Okay, this isn't going to work. What would Heero do? He'd probably try something crazy and utterly insane. He racked his mind for a solution. His suddenly eyes lit up, when he noticed a large fixture connected to a wall near a door of the stairwell. Crazy? Definitely insane. Bingo. Now if only I could do this without falling and breaking my neck. Then again if I don't get down there I'm going to blow up anyway . So I've got nothing to loose... A whole lot of people are counting on me... Oh hell! Why not?. He bit his lip as he came to the floor , without missing a beat he ran to the wheel fixture and began to pull out a length of the water hose. Taking a firm grip, he ran to the railing and looked down calculatingly. The half lit stairwell stretched on ominously and he couldn't see the bottom, but if it cut even half of the distance it was worth the risk. The space between was just wide enough to allow him to fit. Not wasting any more time, he climbed onto the railing hoping that the hose would hold long enough under his weight. Then with a prayer upon his lips, he jumped...
Heero lead Relena unerringly through the labyrinthine halls. Only letting go for the briefest of seconds to shoulder open an emergency door causing the alarm to sound. He grabbed her hand again pulling her through. He then headed down the stairs, Relena hot on his heels. Behind them, the emergency door closed the resulting hollow slam echoing down the seemingly endless empty stairwell. The light fixtures overhead provided only the barest of illuminations. All was quiet except for their loud harsh breathing and the too thumping of their racing feet on the metallic stairway. As they continued their progress down, the air began to feel increasingly hot and oddly thin and she could almost swear that the well was becoming increasingly narrower as they went down. She began to realize that panic was starting to overwhelm her and she forced herself to push it back under control. It wasn't until too late, that she that she was alerted to the fact that she hadn't been paying as enough attention to her feet. The heel of her right foot suddenly caught in a stair groove and she was pitched forward. A surprised and frightened yelp eliciting from her lips. Then she was falling headlong down the stairs...
At the last moment, Heero had been alerted by her alarmed cry and was able to turn catching her in his strong steadying arms. Her eyes remained wide as her gaze remained downward at what would have been a disastrous fall. Heero steadied her, tilting her head up to break her gaze at the abyss below them. Her startled eyes fixed on his, drawing strength from his sure gaze. With an effort she calmed herself and nodded as if to say she was all right and ready to go on. Heero gave a brief nod in return. This time he took her arm adding his own support as they continued down the stairs.
Trowa studied the bomb intently. He had taken off the casing easily enough, but he had hesitated at messing with the internal wiring. He was not a stranger to the use of bombs or there setup, but he was unfamiliar with this particular type. It wasn't an official brand and he figured that this job was one that Duo would be best for. "If he ever gets down here." He muttered aloud.
He wiped his brow, realizing that he was uncharacteristically sweating. If Duo didn't get down here in the next few seconds , then he would have no choice, but to try it himself. Something he was not as confident as he would like to be about. Unfortunately, it was something that was seeming more and more likely. One of the passenger elevators of all luck had gotten stuck between floors. The preventers had finally been able to pry the doors open, but it was going to take the people longer to get out. A lot longer. Time, they didn't have. Cursing again, he reached up to activate his comm to check on Duo's progress, when he finally heard the pounding of running feet reverberating down the empty hall and finally come up behind him.
"It's about time." Trowa's voice was cross.
"Hey, I'd like to see you run down the whole length of this building and see how long it takes you." Duo shot back . Still breathing hard from his run, he walked over beside Trowa trying not to limp.
Trowa let Duo study the contraption for a moment before speaking "Its one of those street setups isn't it?"
"Yeah, looks like."
"I thought so. Since you use to make them, I figured that you'd know how to disarm it."
"Not wanting to be the bearer of bad news, but I don't think I can."
Relena fervently hoped that they were nearing the bottom, she was getting tired and the stairs seemed so endless that she felt that she wanted to scream in frustration. If there were ever a time that she wished for an elevator it would be this time. She could feel the panic trying to overwhelm her again, but she did not falter this time. She was grateful for Heero's presence in front of her as he dragged her on not giving her a moment's respite. He still had hold of her hand his grip tighter than necessary, as if in fear of loosing her if he let up for a second even though she was only a step behind. They ran on.
She finally was able to allow herself to subtly relax as she caught a glimpse of a red glow reflected on the upper wall across from her. It had to be light-the light from the emergency exit door! They were finally at the bottom! She saw the barely detectable change in Heero's eyes as she too noticed it. He did not slow though, barely hesitating as he came to it lashing out in one powerful kick. The door flung open slapping loudly against the brick wall behind. They finally stopped their mad dash a short distance away from the building. Relena bent over slightly as her lungs gasped for breath and her heart soared in relief as she realized that they were finally out safe in the open air.
Down the street, Daniel sat in his car, a satisfied look on his face. He took a slow draw from his cigarette allowing the smoke to fill his mouth completely savoring the heated noxious gas, before slowly released it into the air. He watched the dark gray tendrils spray and dissipate Like the smoke, he couldn't wait until he too would finally be free. Free of the guilt that had filled him to near bursting all those years. A few more seconds and he could finally make up for his wrong and see justice be done to her murderer. Oh, how he missed her still. She could still see her sometimes and the way she looked up to him. He had failed her then, but today he would avenge her. This time he would not fail. He checked the time again before glancing up at the building again in hungry anticipation. His lips curved everso slightly in a dark ironic grin. He would perish the same way that she did. An eye for and eye, the truest justice there was. With a nod of satisfaction, he took another puff of his cigarette, suddenly choking in the next moment as in his surprise the hot tobacco was sucked in too far searing his throat. No it can't be! It's not fair! He squinted harder at the two escaping figures, but there was no mistake. The object of his consuming hate was indeed escaping before his eyes yet again! The flames of rage smoldered to near bursting then. The building force quickly consuming all reason from his mind. It swept through him in burning out waves the pressure almost unbearable. With one violent move he released it lashing out, slamming on the gas...
"Come. We need to get you someplace safe." Heero said. They were still much too close to the building for his taste.
"Wait." Relena called stopping. "What about the others? Are they still in there?"
He shook his head. "I don't know." Unfortunately, his comm had fallen off in the stairwell and he had not wanted to risk going back for it. "We can't risk going back though." He said tugging on her arm. "I have to protect you."
"Heero..."
"The other pilots will take care of it. Trust in them." Relena bit her lip glancing back once more before allowing Heero to lead her away.
They had only gotten a few paces before Heero frowned. A bare second later Relena too noticed the sound of a rapidly approaching car. She slowed turning freezing in shock as the car sped towards them obviously intent on running them down.
"Run!" Heero's command snapped like a whip bringing her out of her shock and urging her to action. They ran down the alley, the car following closely on their heels.
TBC...
Till next time, please review and tell me what you think.