Chapter 9
"Heero!!" Relena screamed as the car hit...the wall. She blinked briefly in confusion. He wasn't there. Her heart fluttered with hope. Somehow, Heero had managed to get out of the way in time. Her gaze flitted maniacally around, her eyes squinting under the sun's harsh glare. Sweat dripped off her brow. There! She thought drawing a breath, when she spotted him laying on the ground a few feet to the side of the smashed car. She almost laughed in relief, she had seen Heero do some amazing things, but she still could barely believe it. He had somehow managed to jump on the car at the last minute, avoiding what would have been a fatal crash, and instead landing on top of it hitting with brutal, but thankfully not fatal force. He then rolled off the side to lay stunned on the ground. She shook her head fondly. He would never stop surprising her.
After another few moments, Relena had regained both her breath and composure. Urgently wanting to check on Heero, who hadn't moved yet, she began the long arduous journey to her feet. Biting her lip she forced her shaky legs to hold her weight, as her knees began buckling in exhaustion. Finally wining that battle, she pushed herself away from the entryway intent on reaching Heero's side. Her earlier relief turning once again to worry as she noticed that he still wasn't moving much.
"Heero?" She called to him, her voice oddly ragged. There was no answer. Her heart constricted. "Heero." She tried again. This time, there was a groan followed by a soft movement. Relieved, she forced herself to quicken her steps. "Heero, I'm coming...ah" she gave a startled cry as she was stopped short, a hard muscular arm reached out wrapping around her from behind and crushed her against a hard chest.. Harsh laughter rang in her ears. "I think it's better, if you stay with me." Relena struggled against his hold in a panic, mind racing. But how? I thought... She looked again at the demolished car. Realization settled on her then, like a heavy weight and inwardly she almost despaired at the unfairness of it all. Of course, he must have jumped out of the car back there, before it crashed!
Heero was in a world of pain. His escape had been close, too close. His timing had worked out, but his leap hadn't been quite high enough to reach the bottom rung of the retracted fire escape that he had aimed for. Instead his fingers had slid futily along the slick surface of the bottom rung. Unceremoniously, he had fell through the air and landed heavily onto of the car hood, weakly rolling off the hard brutal metal unto the equally brutal blacktop. Lights had flashed before his eyes and darkness had swirled on the edge of his vision when on impact the wind had been knocked out of him. He had rolled to an ackward stop laying limply on the ground unable to move-until now. When he had heard Relena's cry out, Heero had forced his eyes to open, raising his head. Every inch of his body burned, like fire, begging him not to move. But once he saw Relena in the arms of their assailant, he pushed it all away forcing his battered body into a standing position, retrieving his gun on the way. To his dismay, he swayed slightly. Unwilling to show any weakness to his adversary, he determinately ground his teeth together. With practiced precision, he forced his legs to lock into a stable position and his gun arm to stay steady and not waver. Confident of his control once again he faced his opponent. His eyes filled with deadly menace, he glared at the man holding Relena. His right hand clenching the sure weight of a gun in his hand.
"Uh uh un. Better put that down, if you want her to continue breathing. " Heero merely glared, his eyes alight with cold deadly menace. Daniel returned the look with unbarred hate.
For many minutes, the two continued there glaring match neither willing to blink or give way. The sun continuing to beat brutally down on them all the while. Sweat poured down tight faces, unnoticed.
Finally growing impatient with their stalemate, Daniel jabbed the gun barrel hard against Relena's temple. Relena hissed, wincing as the thump reverberated through her skull. "Put it down." He commanded.
Heero's eyes narrowed. "Why? You'll only shoot her if I do."
Daniel shook his head. "If you do it now. I promise that I'll spare her." Heero cocked his head obviously confused. "It's you, I want."
Heero stared at him suspiciously, accessing him. He was surprised that he could detect no falsehood in either his voice, nor manner. He relaxed his stance everso slightly.
"Don't do it Heero." Relena cried out in alarm. She would have said more, but was force to break off as the gun again jabbed against her head.
Heero had tensed up again immediately at that. His glare growing unbelievably colder. "If you hurt her again, you will be dead in the next moment." Daniel frowned, not out of fear, but his own confusion. Questions arose in his mind, but he forcefully put them away. It was irrelevant to what he had to do now. "You don't wish to see her hurt. Then throw down your gun."
Heero bit his lip, accessing his option. In truth he had none. He had already run the possible scenarios through his mind. The assailant was effectively holding Relena as a body shield. There were no obvious openings for Heero to target. The only target left was his head, but it would be too risky to attempt. He knew that a bullet wound to the head often affected the nervous system. The victim could die at the very instant that the bullet entered the skull, but residual charges in his synapses could still fire causing his finger to reflexively squeeze the trigger that was too uncomfortably close to Relena's head. Trapped like she was there was very little chance Relena would avoid the fatal shot. No, there really only was one option. And he hated it with every fiber of his being.
Heero sent Daniel one more deadly look filled with promise, if he betrayed him in even the slightest... and then-he slowly lowered the gun. He didn't let go yet though. He couldn't.
Daniel licked his lips. "Okay now. Throw it this way."
Heero spared a glance at Relena. Relena gazed back her sorrowful eyes begging him not to sacrifice himself for her. One chance, he thought. There was one chance for her to save herself. When he had Heero unarmed and vulnerable there would be a chance that he would let his guard down. He tried to communicate this with his eyes. That when she saw this chance that she was to run, run away and not look back. Her eyes watered as if in understanding. He nodded to her almost imperceptibly encouraging her to be ready. He slowly uncocked his gun and threw it towards Daniel. The heavy metal landed with a loud ringing thud breaking the some the tension.
Daniel's harsh laughter suddenly rang out again. "Finally!" He took the gun off Relena and pointed it at Heero, his focus going with it . "You don't know how long, I've waited for this." His finger began to press down.
Fortunately, just as Heero had predicted, Daniel had lowered his guard unconsciously loosening his hold on Relena. Relena didn't waste any time. In a quick act of desperation, she opened her mouth and bit down on his restraining arm-hard. Daniel howled in pain, letting go his hold and instinctively backing away. He glance after Relena's quickly retreating form and then swept immediately back to Heero firing madly. Heero hit the ground rolling. Ignoring the stray bullets flying past his ears and head. Around and around he rolled until with a smack he landed hard against a brick wall breathing hard, his eyes slightly wild. He was trapped.
Daniel continued his approach swiftly dropping a spent cartridge and replacing it with another. Wincing slightly, Heero pressed himself up further to the wall climbing to a bruised and bleeding knee. Daniel stopped his approach, a short distance away just far enough to prevent Heero from escaping.
"Tell me." He began his voice dripping with bitter loathing. "How does it feel to be trapped? Alone, helpless, knowing that in a mere moment you'll die with no one to save you?"
Heero's only answer was a stubborn glare. Angry, that he had been unable to provoke him, he tightened his grip, only to ease up a bare moment later in absolute surprise as his view of his target was blocked. He looked up into the eyes of Relena.
"No! Don't hurt him." She stood protectively over Heero, her arm spread wide. Her eyes and fierce, and sparkling with unshed tears.
She came back? He thought puzzled and more than a little surprised. She stood before her gaze steady and determined. She was a pitiful sight, her dress was torn, her feet bare, and her sweat damped blonde hair looked almost brown. But despite her bedraggled appearance, she projected an air of power and nobility. It was enough to command anyone's attention. He looked into her passion filled eyes. Relena Peacecraft. For the first time, he was forced to truly see her for what she was. Before, she was just an object for his use nothing more than bait.. He had learned of her association with Heero Yuy about a month ago. He had been told that wherever she went that it was almost guaranteed that Heero Yuy would follow ghosting in the shadows. It was the only way to keep track of his elusive quarry. He didn't know why and in truth, he hadn't cared. But now he was curious...why Relena Peacecraft, chief advocate for world peace would associate with such an unrepentant monster? Was she that naive? Or perhaps she pitied him? Or perhaps there was some other reason that she stood by him, willing to risk her own life for his?
A part of him wanted to know. Perhaps the part that knew that he had to go through her to get to him. Perhaps the same small part that still had doubts. And so he asked. "Why?"
Relena blinked confused at the question. "Why what?"
"Why are you protecting him?"
"I will risk my life, to save any life."
"Even the life of a murder?"
"W-what do you mean?"
"Ah, so he's never told you, has he? Trust me you don't want to protect that beast. Watch out , for he will strike you down when you least expect it. Especially, those he calls friend. There's not a single merciful bone in your whole body, is there Heero Yuy." He spat the name like a curse.
"Heero, what's he talking about?" Relena turned slightly to look at him.
"I don't know you. What is it that I've suppose to have done?" Heero said to Daniel.
"You don't remember her do you? She really was just nothing to." Daniel's anger continued to rise at the omission. "I'm tired of waiting. Get out of the way Miss Peacecraft or I'm taking you down with him."
With one more questioning glance at Heero she turned back setting her jaw. "I'm not leaving."
"So be it." His head jerked up as he heard the sound of a chopper approaching. I'll have to make this quick, he thought. A moment later he recoiled in pain as a bullet from the chopper sliced through his hand causing him to drop the gun. He clutched his bleeding hand to his chest gasping in pain. He glance around wildly as warning shots flew past.
"Stop and put your hands up."
Daniel ignored them as he painfully picked up his gun. At the same time Wufie and his men were sliding down a rope connected to the hovering chopper. Backing rapidly, he backed to the alcove that Relena had taken cover in earlier and shot the lock disappearing inside the building. Just as Daniel had disappeared from the sight, Wufie and his men had touched down giving chase.
With a sigh, Relena sagged down to her knees.
"Are you alright?" Relena nodded numbly. "You?" She asked as she looked at him. To her surprise there was anger in his cobalt blue orbs and his answer was different than what she expected.
"Don't ever do that again."
"Heero..."
"Not for me. Understand." He had almost lost her not just once, but three times. In his exhaustion, he found that he could no longer control the feeling of terror that swept through him.
Relena, equally as tired and irritable, responded with her own heat. "I make my own decisions. No matter what you say. No matter what you've done. I'm never going to abandon you.And don't think that you can ever make me."
Heero glared at her, but she wasn't put off. She hadn't backed off when they'd first met, even when he had threatened her very own life. She would be damned if she started now. She stared back at him in defiance. Heero's anger slowly melted away to be replaced by something unreadable. He felt so many things at the moment: frustration that she persisted in endangering her life for him, a relieved warmth that she still believed in him along with its accompanying guilt for feeling any fondness for her at all, but also because now he knew that it was his fault that she had been in any trouble at all. It was true what he had said. He didn't remember meeting Daniel or killing anyone close to him and yet something continued to niggle in his mind, teasing at the edge of his consciousness. He had felt these feelings before ghosting in his dreams and sometimes even into his waking world, but always blurry and in disconnected fragments.
His musings were broken as a group of cars pulled up and Sally and a group of preventers got out and ran towards them.
"Hey guys!" Duo looked up waving as Heero and Relena, followed but a slightly disgruntled Sally entered the Preventer Headquarters' main office.
"Duo! You're alright." Relena exclaimed as she hugged him happily.
"Yeah," Duo answered with a smile. "It was close, but we made it by two seconds no less. So, " he said looking at Heero. " I heard that you guys got into a fight with a car."
It had been several hours since the preventers had found them. They had immediately been whisked to the preventer's protected infirmary. On the way, Relena had disclosed everything that she had learned. Noin had taken that information and was compiling it with the evidence at the scene where Heero and Relena had been picked up. Heero had been even more quiet than usual deep in thought. The only time that he had spoken was to request to be released from the infirmary and see what evidence the team had gathered. After a short argument complete with death glares, realizing that there was no way for her to keep him in custody, she grudgingly allowed him to go. Wufie had radioed in earlier that after a long chase they had lost the assailant when he had apparently gotten a ride on some public mode of transportation. Of course, by the time they had backtracked, Daniel was no where to be found.
"Good news guys." Noin began as all attention quickly riveted towards her. "We've got a hit. I'm pulling up all the information that we've compiled so far now..." She hit a few buttons on the large computer console causing the large sized screen to turn blue for a minute as it uploaded the information. A minute later a picture of a young brown haired man appeared in the middle of the screen. "Okay. Heero, Relena, does this guy look familiar to you?" Both of the addressees eyes had widened in recognition. Heero nodded in affirmation. "Good. Let's see... His name is Daniel Lockheart." Noin began reading his profile frequently pausing and only reading the relevant information aloud. "He currently lives on Colony L3... Married to a Angela Bennett...Washed out of college. Parents.. Deceased. Sister... Also deceased...Grew up in Rakuen circle..."
Heero's head suddenly jerked up, his eyes wide. Though he hadn't known why, ever since Noin had mentioned Daniel's name, he been feeling a increasing sense of discomfort. Lockheart, the name felt familiar, but like a dream he couldn't quite place it. He still didn't remember ever meeting him. It was alittle disturbing that someone could know things about him, that even he himself didn't know. Lockheart... He suddenly remembered a young girl's voice saying it. His stomach twisted uncomfortably. The young girl's voice, he had heard it before in a dream,hadn't he? He frowned trying to remember, the effort sending a dull pain through his head. Noin continued to go through Daniel's profile. It wasn't until she had mentioned his childhood address, that he had really began to feel something akin to recognition. At the mention of Rakuen circle, his heart had missed a beat and his hands everso slightly began to shake. His mouth suddenly dry, he felt the impulse from somewhere to ask a question, all the while a unfamiliar sense of dread fighting to take him over. He wet his lips, trying and only partly succeeding in keeping his voice steady. "Wait. Y-you said that he had a sister. What exactly happened to her?" Noin looked at him oddly at his uncharacteristic stutter, but decided not to comment as she turned back to the screen, clicking on a link.
"Uhmm, let's see..." The screen shifted to a picture of a young light haired girl, smiling widely, her eyes a sparkle with light and childish mischief. Looking at the little girl, all the remaining color left his body his blood running ice cold. He gasped. A name suddenly coming to him.S-Serena?No! It can't be! He grabbed his head as a sharp pain ripped through it. Noin unaware of Heero's distress continued reading. "Serena Lockhart. She died at the age of eight years old, poor thing. Hmm, the reports are a little confusing as this happened at night when not many people were out. But apparently, she was in her family's apartment when explosions caused the building to fall down with her inside...No one saw the perpetrator."
Noin continued on, but Heero was beyond hearing. The pain inside his head had increased till it felt like it was trying to explode out his skull. His heart raced and his breathing had become irregular and ragged. He struggled to hold down unfamiliar panic as he suddenly realized that he couldn't breathe. Still, he refused to let out a sound of his agony. The pain in his head kept increasing until it finally built to a crescendo and then something somewhere in his mind finally snapped. A place somewhere, where he had trapped unwanted memories long ago. Painful memories that he hadn't been able to face years ago were suddenly flowing through his consciousness. Months of repressed sights, sounds, and sensations he suddenly recognized now remembering some of his fragmented dreams. It was in that moment, as he slowly lowered his hands from his head, that everything suddenly came together. Feeling dirty and weak with self-loathing, he now saw the undeniable truth and without being consciously aware of it, he spoke it aloud.
"I killed her."
And with those simple words, the previously bustling room settled into an atmosphere of shocked silence.
TBC...
Recap, now we know that Daniel was after Heero all along.
We also know that Heero killed his sister.
Some of Heero's unsettleness(is that even a word? Eh can't think right now brain dead now ) comes from some of his repressed memories seeping out.
We don't know the circumstances quite yet. That's for next chapter-Memories and Rejections.
Oh, and for those starting to wonder-no more freebies for Daniel, he's not getting away again. Next time Heero and Daniel meeting one of them dies (er maybe).
I had a little trouble writing parts of this chapter and I'm not sure that some parts came out quite like I wanted,so if you guys could tell me how it worked or didn't for you,it would be greatly appreciated.