Shattered Reality Part 9
Little Girl Lost
by
Sailor Janus
*~*~*~*
Groaning, the ex-gundam pilots stumbled off the ground. This was definitely the worst beating that they had ever experienced. The teens would surely be feeling it for weeks.
Quatre winced as he touched the side of his head. He was bleeding but not too badly. "I would have to agree with Heero. We need to try to bring her back. Hotaru must be in severe danger if those people went to all this trouble in kidnapping her." The blonde felt sorry for the girl. Things were already rough enough as it is.
"Ow, damn, that hurts," Duo grumbled as he tried to stretch out his sore back, which was granted by the thug who practically threw the boy across the parking lot, crashing onto the mentioned body part. "So what are we going to do now? Make it a rescue mission?"
"I would have to agree as well. What would be the most logical place to look?" Trowa said, as he limped along with the others back to their van.
Wufei nodded as he clutched his throbbing hand, "Station Red seems the most valid, after all, it is the experimental base."
"What a better place to submit Hotaru to torture... poor girl," the braided-haired teen muttered as he crossed his arms. "Any idea what to do first?"
Heero didn't part his cold steely gaze from where the vans once stood, glancing over his shoulder, "First we set a plan. Then move out."
*~*~*~*
Hotaru's eyes slowly fluttered open. At first she did not recognize her surroundings when suddenly it hit her. The girl knew exactly where she was. The last place she ever wanted to be caught dead in, Station Red. This was definitely going to be hell.
Wincing as she lifted her head, the dark-haired girl discovered that she was lying on the floor and that her hands as well as her feet were shackled. Carefully she tried to sit up, but was forced back down by throbbing pain in her back. 'Damn, that jerk. Doesn't he know that kicking a person in the back is fighting dirty?'
"You disappoint me Firefly," a voice from above said as Hotaru was grabbed by both of her arms, forced to her feet by two guards. She found herself staring at none other than Professor T.
"You mean your piece of crap mind-controlling device disappoints you. I never changed until you found that awful thing," the violet-eyed girl said with venom in her voice, glaring at the white-haired, spectacled man.
The professor chuckled, "You mean created."
"I didn't stutter. You were not the one who created that thing. Your methods are much more sloppy not to mention you lack the genius it takes because all of your great inventions are someone else's. You're a fraud," the girl spat as she focused her eyes on the man's face.
"You must be disciplined for disobeying."
Hotaru stood limply, never removing her violet gaze from the man's face. "Funny, because I never agreed to your precious mission. You forced me into it."
"You are my possession!" the furious scientist shouted appearing as though he were about to slap the girl, who never flinched as he swung his hand close to her face but dropped it.
The dark-haired girl stared at the man with so much hatred that she could have burned a hole right through him. "I am no one's possession. You do not own me." Closing her eyes in mocking innocence, Hotaru continued. "I was an insolent orphan remember? You used me!"
"You! I cre-" the professor began, as his anger increased like rapid fire but Hotaru held on strong.
"Created me? Brainwashed is more like it. Go ahead, Slap me, kill me. Do whatever you damned well please. I am ready to die," the girl proudly said raising her head up high as she hardened her gaze. "Besides, you are probably going to kill me anyway."
"Of course dear Firefly and I shall grant your death wish as well. Eddan please keep watch over her. I must leave momentarily," Prof. T ordered a tall lanky dark-haired guard. "I have to get something special for Firefly here."
Hotaru glared as she began charging at the white-haired man only to be pulled away. "Just as I thought. You never did care or love me. I was merely a puppet for you to manipulate."
The man chuckled as he nodded his head in praise. "You are correct Firefly. I needed a human, preferably young, to train and experiment with. It was very convenient that your parents both died in the laboratory explosion."
"Did you cause the fire?" the girl asked as she struggled against the guard swinging her head around.
"I'd be lying if I said no. You father and I were great rivals, but he was always one step ahead of me, so I had to eliminate him. The faulty experiment was rather brilliant," Professor T smirked.
"I despise you and hope you burn in hell," Hotaru growled with a look that could have made him drop dead if the possibility existed.
The Professor laughed at the raging girl. "We shall see who dies first," he simply said as left he room.
"Shit!" the dark-haired girl cursed as she stomped her foot on the floor in frustration.
"Such a dirty word, for such a pretty girl," the guard, Eddan whispered to Hotaru as he ran a hand through her dark locks. "You know, it's a shame you must die."
The violet-eyed girl shot a dirty look at the man as she jerked away. "Keep your damn hands to yourself or I'm going to break your fingers off!"
The black-haired man chuckled. "But you really don't want that do you?" he leered at Hotaru while shoving her against the examining table.
"What the hell are you doing?!" the girl inquired as she looked at the man. 'Oh shit... he isn't... no.' she thought as a feeling she thought never possible entered Hotaru's head. Fear.
Abruptly, she swung her hands up to punch the sneering guard, but he caught them before any damage could be done, pinning them above her head forcing Hotaru into almost a back bend on the table as he pressed his frame against hers.
Struggling against his weight, the girl relentlessly tried to free herself, but it was no use. Hotaru was trapped. 'Crap. Now what?'
Don't be so stubborn. After all, you're about to die in a few hours anyway." Eddan leered at the girl who spat in his face in revolt. Angrily the man slapped Hotaru across the face before he did something even worse, pressing his lips against hers.
The dark-haired girl practically glued her eyes shut through the ordeal, in hopes that she would be able to keep her head as clear as possible, but sadly, the only thoughts that were available at this point were terror. Fortunately, as the guard decided to run his cold hands down her body, Hotaru snapped out of her stupor when she realized he was heading towards dangerous territory.
'That's it. This is ending now,' the teen determined as she mustered all the strength possible, slamming her head against his, stunning the guard, followed by a sharp knee to his crotch. Once Eddan was hunched over in pain, Hotaru clutched the edge of the table with her hands as she leaned her back on the top of it, bringing her knees to her chest and ending with a double push kick to the guard's stomach, knocking him to the floor.
Before the violet-eyed girl even had a chance to move, Eddan was back on his feet and furious than ever. Callously he took the girl roughly by her hair and threw her to the ground.
Hotaru cringed as she landed hard on the floor, but did not make a sound. She would not give that asshole the satisfaction of knowing he really hurt her even when he began kicking her like a stubborn soccer ball. Luckily her arms covered her head, and she had already curled herself up tightly as possible, so damage was fairly minimal.
"What the hell?!" Prof T. shouted as he gaped in shock at the scene of the guard beating his captive.
Eddan froze, and then quickly saluted. "She was trying escape and then put up a rather ruthless fight forcing me to teach her a lesson, Professor."
"Very well then," the white-haired scientist nodded as he motioned for two of the guards standing behind him to pick the girl off of the ground.
Hotaru didn't even attempt to struggle against the two men as they dragged her to her shaky feet and then up on the examining table, flat on her back. She didn't care nor did she possess the energy any longer to even attempt to fight them off. Coldly she stared at Eddan who was snickering at her. If looks could kill, he would have self-combusted at that moment. 'Might as well wait for my sentence. What does living matter anyway? I have nothing to begin with,' she miserably thought.
Suddenly, the professor seized her arm, with one hand as his held a syringe containing a glowing green liquid in the other. Things appeared especially glum at that moment to Hotaru. She knew her future did not look too bright.
"You have disgraced me for the last time. Now you must meet your end Firefly." Professor T said as he signaled for the guards to hold the girl down. "I do have something special for you though. You shall die in the most excruciating pain possible as this virus disintegrates your body from the inside out."
Quickly, he wrapped an elastic band above her elbow and rubbed alcohol on her the crevice behind her elbow with a cotton ball. Hotaru flinched as the needle plunged into her skin, releasing the harmful virus into her blood stream.
"In about twenty-four hours you should be nothing more than a stain on the floor. Enjoy your last pain free minutes. They will come to pass very soon. Oh, by the way, that virus is highly contagious so even if someone tries to rescue you, they'll meet the same cruel fate," he explained, motioning for the guards to release the girl from the confines of the shackles. He knew she would be losing strength at an alarming rate and that there was no way possible Hotaru could leave the premises on her own. "Farewell, you useless waste of my energy."
With those last words, Prof T and the guards left the room, locking Hotaru inside, who was still lying dazed on the table. "Shit!" she finally said, pounding her fist on the smooth piece of plywood and plastic. There was nothing she could do now. That virus was now in her blood stream ready to cause havoc on who knows what.
*~*~*~*
The five teen boys were once again piled in the van, speeding down the highway, on their way to Station Red. They knew the plan quite thoroughly. Splitting up the group was not the best idea, but considering the fact that the prospect of finding Hotaru before it was too late, was the best they could come up with.
Heero and Duo were to search the building since they remembered the general structure of its long hallways as well as possibly places in which the girl may be located at. Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei were to wait in the van as back up if needed while they continued trying to reach Lady Une and Sally Po. Once Hotaru was found, Heero was to contact Trowa by cell phone, reporting that they were on their way, or needed back up if the situation got too dangerous. It was a risky mission, because they had no clue how tight security would be guards would be, but that was not a concern at the moment.
Unfortunately, the trip was going to take a few hours. Station Red was out in the middle of nowhere, which was particularly convenient for Iron Fist.
*~*~*~*
Frustrated, Hotaru began pacing back and forth trying to come up with a plan for escape. There were no windows, the ventilation system was too small to escape through, and the door was locked with a dead bolt. She could try taking the doorknob off, but with what? Not to mention there was still the deadbolt to deal with. The ceiling tiles were still much too high even when she stood on the table. "Damn them!" the teen said when suddenly she began staggering.
"Oh no. It can't be this quick acting.... Damn him!" the dark-haired girl moaned as soon she was filled with a surreal feeling, everything in front of her began dropping out of focus while a sensation of spinning took over the inside of her head. Carefully, Hotaru tried to sit, but instead collapsed to her hands and knees on the dirty linoleum floor.
Groaning, the girl felt her stomach begin to protest causing her to vomit on the ground. Thankfully it was not blood yet. She still had time left. The question was, how much?
"I can't believe I'm going to die like this... It's too much," Hotaru murmured, doubling over in blinding agony as a sharp pain penetrated her stomach. It was much worse than being shot or stabbed all together. It felt more like someone was trying to rip her open with their bare hands. Tears flooded her violet eyes as she felt the urge to vomit again. "Damn, that bastard."
*~*~*~*
"Hn, odd, where are the security guards?" Heero muttered to himself as he jumped out of the van. The building appeared to be vacant.
Turning his blonde head, Quatre noticed the same thing. "You don't think we could be wrong, do you?"
The Perfect Soldier shook his head. 'She has to be here.' he thought, loading up his gun and glanced at Duo who also had a ready gun in hand. "Let's go."
*~*~*~*
Hotaru somehow managed to avoid lying in all the vomit on the floor, curled up in the fetal position as she tried to will the pain away, but knew that wish would never come true. Instead, it was about to get worse. 'Please don't let anyone try to rescue me. They'll only die from the same ailment.' the violet-eyed girl groggily thought as she clenched her teeth tightly. Another wave began to hit, even worse than before. Hotaru wanted so badly to scream, but couldn't. Of course, considering the fact that everyone was probably miles away from the lab, no one would ever know. Still she still had to retain the small amount of dignity she had left. 'The hell with dignity,' the girl decided as she screamed bloody murder at the top of her lungs... or what was probably left of them.
*~*~*~*
Heero and Duo had only been walking through the east wing for less than a minute when a sound echoed through the empty corridors, startling the two teens.
"What the hell is that?! Sounds like someone is trying to shove a cat in the microwave," the chestnut brown-haired ex-pilot exclaimed as he exchanged glances with his partner.
Swiftly they took off racing down the hall hoping Hotaru would scream again. Whatever was being done to her, it sounded torturous.
Heero peered in every room near them, but so far, they were deserted "Damn it! Where is she?!" he grumbled as panic began to set in. 'She wasn't just...' he began to think as Duo yelled at him.
"Hey! I think I see Hotaru in room 9!" the other teen announced as he tried to open the door. "Crap! It's locked! Oh wait, it's locked from the outside, hehehe." With that, Duo turned the dead bolt, unlocking the door.
However as soon as they pushed through it, the two ex-pilots were in for a shock of their life.
The room was filthy with what appeared to be vomit and blood on the floor. The most earth shattering was Hotaru, lying limp in the center of the room. They knew she took a beating during her abduction, but there was something else, something almost deadly.
Heero and Duo continued to stare in horror as Hotaru managed to wince, blinking at the two boys while trying to sit up, numbly climbing to her knees. "He..Heero, Du..Duo... Y-ou shouldn't...be... here," the girl managed to choke out before retching on the floor. She looked like death reheated.
"What the hell did they do to her?" Heero said to himself, unable to identify with his own voice as he watch Hotaru pick her head up, gazing up at them with tired tear-soaked eyes. There was something seriously wrong with the girl.
"Sorry," Hotaru simply said before collapsing to the ground as Heero caught her just before she fell in her own vomit, carrying her over to a dry section of the floor.
"What's wrong with her?" Duo quietly said, unable to believe what he was seeing. If hell came to earth then it found the right place.
The Perfect Soldier checked Hotaru's pulse discovering it was dropping as well as her respiration. Her pupils were constricted to where they no bigger than mere pin points. 'How the hell could she be this sick,' Heero thought, when his blue eyes fell to her arm. Turning it over, sure enough, there was dried blood. 'Damn it. They injected her with something.' he decided dropping Hotaru's arm back to the ground. Glancing up at his friend, Heero quietly said, "She's dying."
*~*~*~*
Trowa sat alert in the driver's seat listening intently for his cell phone to ring as he constantly glanced out of his review mirror, for any security guards. They still had the pleasant 'accused of murder' over their heads.
The van was particularly quiet except for the sound of dial tone from Quatre and Wufei's phones. They were consistently redialing in hopes of finding either Sally Po or Lady Une. They had to still be alive. The Preventer's Headquarters appeared rather vacant before it was blown sky high.
"Hey, I got someone," The blonde Arabian announced with hope in his voice.
*~*~*~*
"So what do we do?" Duo asked with a shaky voice. 'What kinds of people are we dealing with that would submit a human being to this?!'
Abruptly, Heero rose to his feet. "Stay here. I'm going after the antidote."
"Okay but hurry," the cobalt blue-eyed teen mumbled as he continued staring at the girl on the floor. 'Damn, if we get caught here, they could do the same exact thing to us and that looks so unfun.'
*~*~*~*
Heero stalked the through the halls as stealth-like as possible. Someone knowledgeable about what was done to Hotaru had to still be here. If not, then it was going to be hell trying to find the damn antidote.
Suddenly a light appeared in one of the rooms across the hall. Ever so silently the Perfect Soldier crept up to the room, gun ready.
"Wait! Don't shoot! I'll tell you give you what you want, just don't kill me," a dark-haired scientist said as he raised his arms above his head.
Heero glared as he focused his eyes on the man. "Why should I believe you?"
"You want the antidote to the virus, don't you? Allow me to give it to you. I wish I never joined this cursed federation. They're all completely insane and what Prof. T did to his kid was sick," the man said as he bent down to pick up a medical bag and began raffling through it.
The teen looked perplexed up at the man; gun still poisoned at the scientist's head. "What happened?"
The man turned to look at the ex-pilot as he began writing something down. "Don't tell me you don't know. The girl doesn't have too long left. You did come for the antidote for Hotaru Tomoe correct?"
Heero stared blankly at the brown-haired man as he nodded. "Yes but who is Prof. T's kid.... you don't mean Firefly?"
The scientist sighed deeply as he continued writing. "I'm afraid I do. Professor Tomoe was never the same after the lab accident several years back. He completely lost his mind and insists Hotaru was an orphan he found after causing the death of her family by deliberately setting up the explosion, claiming the life of his wife. Alas, he is Hotaru's father but because of the training regime she can't remember. I was the professor's assistant at that time. He was once a brilliant and kind man, but what ever occurred in that accident completed altered his personality to what you see today. A very sinister and psychotic mad scientist."
Heero had no idea what to say. That man just told him about a part of Hotaru's history which she can't even remember. It was just mind boggling that her father tried to kill her.
Carefully, the man handed the teen the medical bag and several syringes. "You will have to inject this directly into her blood stream or it will be too late. Don't forget to use the antidote on whoever has been exposed to her. Exposure is not as quick acting as injection, but both are fatal. Take care. The virus should be completely clear from her system within a few days," the scientist explained as he handed Heero the piece of paper he was writing on which the boy shoved in a pocket of his jeans. "This will tell you exactly what to expect as the antidote begins to clear out the virus. It'll be difficult, but you should all be able to survive. Good luck, Heero Yuy." the man finished as he pushed the boy out the door.
"Wait. How did-" Heero tried to say but was cut off.
"You have no time to lose! Run! And whatever you do, do not lose her!" the man said as the Perfect Soldier obliged to the order, running as fast as possible down the hall.
'How did he know who I was?' Heero thought as he rounded the corner.
*~*~*~*
Duo was starting to really panic. Hotaru was gradually getting worse. She was conscious for a short time. At least long enough to scream once again before vomiting on the floor. This time it was blood. From there she passed out once again and had not woken up since.
"Come on Heero. I don't think she has too much time left," the chestnut brown-haired teen mumbled to himself as he watched the motionless Hotaru, lying limp on the linoleum floor.
"Mission accomplished," Heero stated as he rushed into the room with a medical bag in hand.
"Heero! You made it! You found the antidote right?!" Duo cried out with a relieved look on his face. He has seen enough death to last him a lifetime.
The Perfect Soldier nodded his head as he knelt down next to Hotaru's still form. "I just hope I'm not too late. How is she?" he said as he took out an elastic band and a syringe.
The braided-haired teen stumbled over his words as he spoke. They were really cutting it close. "I-I don't think Hotaru has much time left if any. She puked up a good amount of blood a few minutes ago before passing out."
"Good she's unconscious. That'll make giving her the antidote a little easier." Heero quietly spoke wrapping the elastic band around one of the girl's arms. "Duo, hold this steady as well as her arm. I need to do this right or I could end up killing her instead."
Duo nodded as he held the band tightly, cringing as Heero plunged the needle into Hotaru's skin, releasing the antidote into her blood stream. Quickly, he bandaged the fresh wound before grabbing another syringe with a fresh needle in it.
"Duo, give me your arm," The Prussian blue-eyed teen instructed his friend who was gaping at the request.
"What?! Why?!"
Heero sighed knowing they were losing valuable time. "I've been told the virus which Firefly was injected with is highly contagious. Now give me your arm or I'm going to leave you here."
"But-"
"Look do you want to end up like her, practically vomiting up your guts? Then give me your arm," Heero said bluntly as his patience was wearing.
With a sigh, Duo held out his arm as his friend wrapped the elastic band tightly around it before shooting the antidote into the ex-pilot who winced as the needle stabbed into his arm. "Ow! Oh, I hate needles," he whimpered as Heero handed him a bandage, which he eagerly put on to stop the bleeding.
"All right. Your turn," the Perfect Soldier said as he rolled up his shirtsleeve.
"Huh?"
Heero rolled his eyes. "Give me a shot. If I'm going to die it will be in battle or during a regular mission, not from a virus that could have been prevented. Do it now."
Hesitantly, Duo wrapped the elastic band around the teen's arm, and tried to estimate where exactly to insert the needle until Heero point it out with his other hand.
"Eh, why do I feel like we're a bunch of heroin addicts about now?"
"Hn." the dark blue-eyed ex-pilot with the messy dark hair grunted as Duo stabbed the needle into his skin, then released the vaccine into Heero's blood stream.
"Done," Duo said as he cringed, pulling the needle out.
Heero bandaged his own bleeding arm and then carefully picked up Hotaru. "Duo, keep your gun in hand and take the medical bag. If we are caught, whatever you do, do not miss. Our main priority is getting Firefly out of here fast."
"Gotcha." Duo said with a nod of his head, flicking the safety off his gun with a satisfying click as Heero shifted the girl in his arms to call Trowa.
"We've found her. Expect us back in a few minutes at most," the teen calmly said to the boy waiting in the van outside.
With a nod, the two teens left the room, heading out into the hallway as quickly as possible.
Surprisingly, they had no trouble at all returning to their awaiting friends. It was as if the building had been completely abandoned, which made sense considering Hotaru's virus was highly contagious. Unfortunately, she hasn't moved since Duo witnessed the poor girl retch up a good portion of blood.
"Heero you don't think we were too late?" Duo indicated about the dark-haired girl who appeared as if she were nothing more than a lifeless doll as they reached the van.
The Perfect Soldier didn't want to think about it. It would have been a waste coming all this way to collect Hotaru's dead body. She had to still be alive otherwise this whole mission was pointless. He knew the girl was stronger than she appeared to be but who knows what she was subjected to or how much damage the virus had already caused.
Quatre watched as Heero climbed into the van, Hotaru still in his arms and gently placed her on the floor. The blonde tried to peel his eyes away from the dark-haired girl, but her appearance was so brutal and corpse-like, it was hard to imagine what was done to her. "How is she?"
"Asleep, but still her breath is as shallow as it was when we found her. We had to inject her with an antidote. Hopefully Firefly will pull through," the Prussian blue-eyed teen quietly said as Duo handed his friends the medical bag. "The virus is contagious so you better vaccinate yourselves as well."
The chestnut brown-haired ex-pilot nodded his head in agreement. "I'd listen to him. That is one nasty virus! I had to watch Hotaru suffer through a lot of it while Heero went after the antidote. You do not want that virus unless you enjoy vomiting up your guts."
The other three teens nodded their heads, agreeing to use the antidote as well. From how Duo had just described what Hotaru had to endure, a shot seemed a lot friendlier.
*~*~*~*
Author's Notes: Eek that one scene was so hard to write, but it had to be done. (It's important for the next chapter) At least Hotaru got to kick that guy's bootie. ^_^
Thank you for your reviews. I really enjoy reading them.
For those of you who have a problem with my story, I'm sorry you don't like it but I am not going to change what I have written. Relena is dead and that is that. I had to kill her off to give Iron Fist the control they needed to frame the Gundam Wing boys, thus Shattered Reality. She was the one symbol of peace and with "peace" dead, it gives more leeway to the antagonist of the story to try and take control. Please bear with me on everything I have and will write everything happens for a reason in my stories even if the reason doesn't appear until later. You can always think of this as an alternate reality if that still does not satisfy you. However if you still can't live with the way I have written my stories, then don't read them because I have no intentions to change what I have written. You cannot please them all and you cannot always get your way. Please remember that you are reading this of your own free will not to mention this is a story. Fanfiction on characters that do not exist. If these stories were real, then all the characters would be having severe identity crises right now. Take Heero for instance (the poor guy). So far I have read stories where he is fixed up with Relena, Duo, Wufei, Usagi, Hotaru, Lita, Ami, and Minako. Now either the guy is a big player, cheating on everyone, or he is a fictional character. I prefer the latter. ^_^
Sorry if I seem long winded but I felt I had to state this fact. My story has probably hit the controversial level right now but this is the way I envisioned this particular story. Believe me when I say I have a lot planned.
I do have good news. Romance will be featured in the next chapter ^_^ It's a really touching moment that I have been working on for a while.
Oh! And at the same time I'll have another story out featuring one of the other mentioned couples that were requested. A Duo/Hotaru fic ^_^ Oddly, the element of this fic is death. Go figure, I write dark, but there is a twist to this story as well. But it'll hit romance with a few minutes of reading.