Too Lost to be Saved
by: WolfCry17
Disclaimer: As always, I do not own any of the gundam wing characters. I also don't own the song "Holding My Last Breath." That song rightly belongs to the group Evainesence.
Revised AN: Hey guys, I am so sorry this isn't a chapter update, and it's not even much of a revision. I just couldn't stand how the song uploaded into the fanfiction file. I had it separated before, but unfortunately, the file uploaded to where you couldn't even recognize the song from the rest of the story from first glance. I am truely sorry! Thank you so much Bibliomaniac for pointing that out to me. I really appreciate it because I probably would have left it like that without realizing it!!! So now, I hope this revision will do, and don't worry, I am half way through the next chapter, so expect it to be up at the latest this Sunday night! YAY! Thanks so much to all who have reviewed my story thus far! I appreciate each and every review, and I will separately thank each one of you when I post my next chapter, because you all mean so much to me!!!!!!! Til next time! ;P
Original AN: Well, it's been quite a while since I last updated. *ashamed look* Oops. Well, tennis has started up again, and school has been worse than ever, mostly due to an extremely irritable excuse of an English teacher! And my studio art teacher has been insisting that I complete my next piece, so I have been focusing on that as well. Not only that, but this chaper I found has been the hardest one for me to write. It's one of those major turning points in the story that's going to affect how the rest of the plot will turn out. So, yeah! This one frustratingly has taken me forever to complete. Grrrrrr..... But anyhow, I hope you enjoy it. It sure took me a long time and it is one of the longest I have wriiten, so maybe that makes up for the long wait. *wipes sweat from forehead and sighs*
I also want to thank a few individuals who have been very supportive of my story! I really appreciate your reviews and support!
Airen2: The most supportive reviewer! I want to thank you so much for everytime you have taken the time to review my story. I am really sad too that so few have reviewed, but the reviews I do have, I am very grateful for, especially yours! Thanks so much!!!
Nubia: Thanks so much for also taking the time to review my story, and you are very welcome for the email update. I hope you will continue to read my story, because I really value your opinion!
Joseph: I promise I will finish this story!!! I have vowed to finally finish a story, and I am so thrilled with this one, that I plan to fulfill that vow! Thank you so much for your commentary!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------
Chapter 8 ~ Holding My Last Breath
Oct. 24, The day of the public speech 800 hours, Preventer HQ...
Smooth, white hands grasped a crisp report detailing the extent of preventer security at the public speech with Vice Foreign Minister Relena Darlian and Ambassador Quatre Raberba Winner, who will both inform the public of the results of the Earth Sphere Seven-Day Conference Trial. Golden brown eyes scanned the lines through short brown bangs, reviewing the material to her memory.
Lady Une glanced up to the old grandfather clock for the fifteenth time that morning. '8:01... he's late.' Exasperated, the Chief Preventer turned in her chair to focus her attention upon the bustling world below through the large window behind her elegant desk. It was a beautiful, clear day, especially compared to the downpour of the previous night. Yet, Lady Une couldn't help, but get the strangest feeling as if it was just the calm before an unbreathable storm. Her intuition was screaming in alarm, trying to warn her that something was terribly wrong. It hadn't become apparent to her until Heero Yuy approached her with the discovery of Carl Jackson's counterfeit profile. Despite the alias, which was nothing but suspicious, there was nothing on his real record, so there was nothing Lady Une could act upon. She relunctantly dismissed Heero's charge even though her conscience was telling her to still be cautious. That simple warning was making her all the more nervous.
The soft click of her office door opening jerked Lady Une out of her reverie. "You're late." Lady Une smiled knowingly when silence welcomed her, and she turned to look upon her guest. "Heero Yuy, I called you in this morning to discuss the security measure proposal you sent me via email last night. Very impressive!" Lady Une glanced down upon the proposal in her hands, before slightly chuckling to herself, "Heero, you never wanted to have anything to do with the preventers, always preferring to work alone. You can't just simply email me such a sophisticated operation without being a preventer yourself."
Dark prussian eyes set upon the Chief Preventer with nothing set in but pure, cold-blood determinaton. Then, much to Lady Une's surprise, his upper lip lifted ever so slightly into a smirk. "What? Is there a procedure one must go through just to send in a proposal? You are the Chief in Commander of the Preventer Organization, the most powerful, legal military academy in the Earth's Sphere, and you can accept or reject any proposal on your desk, despite who it originated from, can you not?"
"And you believe that being a former gundam pilot qualifies you enough for me to even consider accepting your proposal?" She eyed Heero for a few seconds longer as he stood unfazed by her idle interrogation. He, as well as all of the gundam pilots, and their moral sense as soldiers aways fascinated her to an extent. She had tried desperately to gain the alliance of all five pilots for several years now, but much to expectation, most of the gundam pilots barely complied with her plea, especially the one that stood before her now. At the end of the Mariemaya coup d'etat, Sally Po had somehow managed to convince the Shenlong pilot, Wufei Chang, to join as a full time preventer. Now, the pair made the best team within the organization and had already out-ranked every senior officer, besides herself.
Duo, Quatre, and Trowa agreed to work part-time as preventer agents whenever they were most needed, but all three had their own lives to lead now in this new peaceful world. Duo, of course, found his way back into the Sweeper Organization that he was a part of before he claimed the role of "The Great Destroyer." Trowa returned to the last of his family, a sister by the name of Catherine Bloom, and a traveling circus. 'Somehow,' Lady Une thought, 'Trowa just belongs with a circus.' Quatre inherited his father's title in the political arena and became one of Relena Darlian's strongest supporters. He and Relena now have unknowingly claimed the roles of the late Heero Yuy and King Peacecraft before the eve wars. 'Hopefully, their fates will not mirror those of the past for everybody's sake.'
Heero, however, remained as mysterious as the day Lady Une met him, and he followed no rules outside of his own. "Alright Heero. I'm not one to break my own requirements just for someone else's satisfaction, however, I would rather commit unspeakable suicide than to decline your proposal and let something happen to our own Ambassador of Foriegn Affairs."
Heero nodded with confirmation before turning to leave, but as he took a step towards the door, the commander's voice filled his ears once more.
"I do have one concern with your measures, Heero. Will you not be counting yourself as part of this measure? I would think you, of all people, would want to be there to make sure everything is carried out properly." Lady Une tilted her head questioningly.
Heero turned his head with his back still facing Lady Une with his usual monotone mask. "I have to take care of something." Without another word or enough time for the commander to respond, Heero left hurriedly with a conflicted emotion now present within his eyes.
*~*
A strange shock chilled Relena to the bone as it ran down her spine. Her eyes fluttered open immediately after and anxiously searched her surroundings through the tinted windows of her limonsine just to find passing scenery and a few pedestrians of the Sanq Kingdom. Odd. For some reason for the past several days, Relena was experiencing sudden urges to look around and shout his name. 'Heero.' Relena's ceralean eyes furrowed gravely as she shifted to her original position. Everytime that feeling came over her, she felt he was near, as if it was a sixth sense. 'What a thought!' She scrunched her fine features up and shook her head trying to convince herself to focus on remembering her speech that she failed to thoroughly recite the night before. However, as she scanned through the words in her ceaselessly tired mind, the unwanted feeling rushed down her back again, distracting her. Something was wrong. Something horrible is going to happen, but what?
"You seem somewhat pre-occupied this morning, Miss Darlian," a voice beside Relena sounded.
"Perhaps," Relena responded to her bodyguard who wasn't driving the limonsine this time.
Her old butler, Peygan, wanted to serve the young princess as long as possible because of his loyalty to King Peacecraft. Not only that, but he didn't trust Carl to be alone with Relena, now that Dorothy had gone missing. Carl had told them that she had been assigned to some classified mission for the preventers, but like Relena, he saw no truth in that.
Soon another unbearable silence encompassed the occupants within the car as they slowly made their way to ESUN Central.
*~*
A strong gust of wind blew wildly through long brown strands of hair as Heero hastally pressed the gas petal of the green Yamaha Eagle motorcycle with Quatre on a black versian speeding closely behind. An endless line of oak trees flashed quickly by creating a green blur in Quatre's peripherial view. Emerald eyes darkened with worry, hardened somewhat as Quatre lost himself in a deep abyss of thoughts. The blinding sun, which was slowly rising to its highest point in the sky, burned his eyes. Quatre assumed it was around nine o'clock in the morning according to its low position. Not a cloud in sight. It was the most serene day he had ever seen, the most perfect day for something to go terribly wrong.
Quatre tenaciously shook his head attempting to erase the bad omen away. He regained concentration of the road before him as his mind drifted back to why he was on this motorcycle.
*flashback*
Quatre watched with unblinking eyes as steaming hot liquid poured from a simple coffee kettle into his cup until something more interesting caught his sight. He glanced up to find an ever-determined Heero walking fiercely in long strides with apparently one thing in mind. Concerned, Quatre set his cup down to study Heero's movements as Heero dodged several bystanders to reach a staircase that led down to the garage. 'Where is he going?'
Entirely forgetting about the now luke warm coffee, he decided to follow Heero down to the garage.
A well-manicured redhead glanced up to catch Quatre, "Uh, sir... sir, you left your drink here. Sir, excuse me, are you listening to me?"
Quatre either deliberately tuned out the irritating woman or he was just too concentrated on finding Heero to acknowledge her existence. Either way, he quickened his pace considerably to catch Heero before he lost him.
"SIR, don't you dare leave and expect me to clean up after you!" The woman seethed through her teeth angrily, especially when she realized the man in question had somehow escaped from her line of sight.
*~*
Wispy, blonde bangs whipped around Quatre's porcelian face as he hurriedly jumped down a set of stairs before turning to repeat the process on the next set. He finally reached an "employee only" set of double doors that led outside to the garage, where every auto vehicle that the preventers owned resided.
Breathing heavily with sweat soaking his brow, Quatre scanned the over-sized garage that was full of hundreds of limonsines, jeeps, the standard preventer jaguar, and different styles of motorcycles lined up all along the walls. Everything was in a deep metallic black. He caught some movement near the bikes toward the end of one side and found Heero pulling out the only green one in the entire garage.
"Where are you going? And with that bike? It looks like it belongs to a superior officer."
Heero didn't glance up, much less speak a word as he entered a combination of numbers to start the motorcycle. As it reeled to life, Heero finally looked up to glare deathly at Quatre. "It's my bike."
Taken aback, his eyes wide, Quatre stepped out of Heero's way, "What is it doing here at Preventer Headquarters?"
"I keep it here whenever I do clean up work for the incompetents in the Preventer Organization. Only Lady Une and I have the access codes to unlock it. Now, I need to go."
Quatre watched as Heero's prussian eyes grew darker with the same ferocity and intensity that radiated from him since the first day Quatre met him. The perfect soldier, the heart of outer space. Quatre then smirked slightly and fought the urge to chuckle like a giddy schoolboy when he noticed a familiar golden glow that surrounded Heero the first day he encountered the zero system. That glow only shined for one special person, the soul of earth. "Where are you going, Heero? Are you forgetting about the Vice Foriegn Minister's speech?"
Heero hesitated with his movements for the briefest of seconds. If someone didn't know him well enough, they would never have noticed; however, Quatre noticed. "I remember. I have gone over the security measures with Wufei three times over. He and Lady Une can take care of it. Besides, I have some pest control to take care of."
"You mean, Carl Jackson, or really, Andrew Morris Jefferson..." Quatre thought for a second, "I'm coming with you."
Heero's head jerked up immediately, "No, you stay here for that speech. You represent the colonies, and I need you there to protect the Vice Foriegn Minister."
Quatre furrowed his eyes in retaliation, "I'm coming Heero, whether you like it or not. Wufei can handle Miss Relena's protection; you said so yourself." Quatre's eyes then temporarily clouded over. "Besides... Dorothy's missing," he finally breathed out in a hushed whisper.
Heero merely caught himself in a starring contest with the most strategic former gundam pilot. After the longest time, Heero's eyes suddenly softened in understandment, and he slowly nodded to grant Quatre's request.
*end flashback*
Before Quatre knew it, he and Heero had stopped in front of the Peacecraft Mansion. 'Dorothy,' he closed his eyes as he turned the engine off, 'please, let me help you.' He quickly glanced at his digital watch that read 9:45 as he followed Heero absentmindedly. A single brow lifted up when Quatre finally glanced up to find Heero crouched over in some nearby bushes, apparently looking for something. "Uh, Heero, what are you doing? I maybe a little old-fashioned, but I think the doorbell is still next to the door."
Growling quietly when a few thorns found their way to Heero's neck, Heero proceeded to examine the bricks of the house that the rose bushes protectively guarded. "Peygan is escourting Relena to the Parliament buildings right now, and her few housekeepers are gone for the week, so nobody's inside to answer said doorbell. Relena usually leaves a spare key behind a loose brick just in case." Heero smirked when he found the one brick that was loose from the dried cement on all sides.
Quatre sweatdropped and almost fell over when Heero emerged from the rose bushes with the spare key. "I don't even want to know how you know about that."
Heero sent his blonde comrade a bewildered look as he snapped the key into the lock to release the door from its restraints. "Relena told me." The door slowly creaked open allowing the soft wind to enter and caress the different plants inside. "Carl's room is down this wing."
*~*
1400 hours, ESUN Central City
An ocean of people and every newstation within a several hundred mile radius filtered into the wide street in front of ESUN Central's Parliament buildings. Dark ceralean eyes bored through a high window upon the collecting faces of the crowd below. Nauseous and dizzy from exhaustion, Relena gripped the edges of the table beside her to help support her body upright, but with little success. Her knees were growing weaker with every passing second, and deep down, she knew it was because something wasn't quite right. Not to mention Dorothy's peculiar disappearance and the sudden announcement from Lady Une that Ambassador Quatre Winner mysteriously took off earlier this morning wasn't helping Relena's disoriented state. 'What's wrong with you, Relena? Nothing is going to happen.' Somehow this little chant of hers wasn't easing her nervousness.
"You look exhausted, your majesty."
Relena spun around instantly as an upsurge of her heart rate throbbed beneath her breast and into her ears at the sudden voice. The sudden change in position made Relena dizzier than before, and it took a few seconds for her vision to focus onto the figure now in her presence. "Lady Une, you frightened me."
"I am surprised you were concious enough to even hear me," Lady Une smiled as she leaned her frame against the wall near a large bookcase. She then raised an eyebrow as if she was expecting something.
Relena countered Lady Une's apparent challenge by raising her own right eyebrow with defiance. "I am perfectly fine. What are you talking about?" She suddenly bit her lip as she turned back toward the bustling street below. "I guess I am just a little concerned for Dorothy, that's all." 'A little? That's an understatement!' She sighed lightly as she felt Lady Une walk up beside her and gaze upon the citizens of ESUN. "By the way, Lady Une, I would appreciate it if you would cease with the 'your majesty' part. I am no longer a princess."
Lady Une didn't even glance toward Relena, but kept her eyes staring out the window. "No matter how long you deny it, you and your brother still carry royal blood in your veins, despite the fact that you two refuse to inherit the kingdom of Sanq."
Relena's eyes merely furrowed at Lady Une's truth and at the mention of her brother in that truth.
*~*
Small patches of dust filled the air, causing Quatre to sneeze abrubtly as the particles collected in his nose. He placed the offending book that caused the dust to disperse in the air back on the bookshelf. Quatre turned to find Heero searching every inch of Carl Jackson's room for anything that could help reinforce Heero's assumption about the bodyguard. Unfortunately, it appeared that Carl had completely cleansed the room of all his belongings that very morning, much to Heero's frustration.
It wasn't helping Quatre's attitude either. He was hopelessly longing to find something that would lead to the truth behind Dorothy's disappearance, but his efforts seemed pointless. His knees buckled just then allowing him to slide to the floor in exasperation.
Heero peeked up to find Quatre leaning his head against the wall in an attempt to relax his nerves. Prussian eyes observed this in understandment before glancing back to Carl's empty room.
Quatre was ready to let an abyss of darkness overtake him when an irritating thumping invaded his head. At first, he figured it was just the prior symptoms of an incoming headache, but soon realized it was something beyond the bounds of his mind. The wall was vibrating! His eyes shot open suspiciously and he tilted his head to listen to the sounds more closely. Quatre's breath caught as his eyes widened. "Heero, quick! There's something behind this wall."
Heero nodded and soon found himself feeling every inch of the wall with Quatre, "You're right. The mansion has hundreds of secret compartments and passageways for all sorts of things. I should have thought of it earlier." Heero mentally scolded himself for wasting so much valuable time rechecking every place in Carl's room three times over instead of remembering the secret compartment that lay next to Carl's room.
Quatre searched with as much effort as he could muster to find the entrance to the other side of the wall. In his efforts, he accidentally knocked into a light fixture on the wall, which caused the bookcase to suddenly move outward. Both Quatre and Heero backed up caustiously as the secrets behind that bookcase was revealed to them.
As they slowly rounded the bookcase to look inside, a flash of golden yellow flooded their eyes and fell onto the floor. Shocked, Quatre's eyes widened with tears as he cried out, "Dorothy!" She was bound tightly by rope around her wrists and ankles and her mouth was covered by thick cloth clenched between her teeth. Quatre rushed to her side to gently turn her over and look into her crystal baby blue orbs, which widened upon looking into Quatre's own emerald ones, as Heero helped cut the rope to release her before investigating the rest of the compartment. As he did so, Quatre's and Dorothy's eyes never left one another's, and Quatre softly untied the cloth behind her head.
"Q...Quatre," Dorothy choked out with surprise as she felt his hands linger in her long blonde locks. Her eyes closed as his gentle caress soothed her, and she couldn't believe his touch was real, but it was. As if reading her mind, he pulled her weak body against his to assure her he was real as his arms found their way around her tiny, yet muscular, form. Against her will that always warned to stay away from this peace-loving prince of the desert, she felt herself drowning into his surprisingly strong embrace. The boy she always accused as the weakest of the gundam pilots felt so powerful to her now, even stronger than she ever was.
In the same respect, Quatre found his proud angel of war surprisingly fragile beneath his arms. He knew deep down she was always kinder than he could ever be, and that thought ignited a strange, overwhelming fire beneath his chest. He felt so alive just now that he refused to loosen his tight grasp of her, and she showed no struggle in an attempt to get away from him.
Heero stumbled out of the compartment even more frusterated than before when he found nothing left in it except a few dents in the wall due to Dorothy's insistent knocking, obviously to grab someone's attention. He found Dorothy and Quatre on the floor still wrapped around each other and an unfamiliar envious wave blew over Heero. A distinct vision of Relena cuddled in his arms like that entered his mind without permission, and he found himself fighting it off to no avail. His thoughts, instead, deepened the vision to even more forbidden thoughts.
He shook the images away with much irritation, but yet with much reluctance as well. "I couldn't find anything else in there. I'm afraid there's nothing here to give us any kind of clue to Carl Jackson." Heero's fists tightened.
Dorothy's eyes shot open suddenly at Heero's statement and for the first time, struggled out of Quatre's grasp. With much hesitation, she felt Quatre let go of her. "Carl Jackson! Relena!"
Heero's ears perked toward Dorothy when she spoke the names. "What? Do you know something?"
Dorothy's head nodded to Heero's question, but she never looked into his face. Instead she could only stare at Quatre. "Relena... she's... she's in trouble. He's planning to... he has all her medical files and a dozen or so viles of some kind of liquid-like substance! The public meeting today... he's planning to... we must save her!"
"He's planning to what? You're not making any sense!" Quatre shook her slightly in an attempt to shake the answer out of her, but it was enough for Heero. Before Quatre looked up, Heero sprinted out of the room in a flash, but Quatre didn't have to look up, he already knew Heero was gone with one thing on his mind: to get to Relena.
*~*
That uneasy feeling never left Relena's thoughts, and now she stood before a huge crowd anticipating the next hour or so of her announcement, but yet she found no urge to breath a single word out. She looked over the hundreds of faces, and she felt each one standing over her in judgement, watching her every movement, especially the tabloid writers. Even at her first speech in front of such large numbers, she never felt so lightheaded, so dizzy, and so scared. 'Heero.'
---------------------------------------
Hold on to me love
You know I can't stay long
All I wanted to say was
I love you and I'm not afraid
---------------------------------------
Gathering all of her strength, she refused to give in and stepped up to the podium to grasp the microphone between her delicate, yet shaky, fingers. She found her friends amongst the crowd, patrolling the area, and a new-found strength encompassed her as she began to speak.
"I was afraid she was going to freeze for the first time." Sally flicked a tightly-bound braid off her shoulder as she nudged the ever- serious Wufei Chang from his perched position over the mass of people. Sally just smiled at his lack of response, much less humor, as she watched him continue to scan the crowd to make sure every preventer agent was in place and that everything was in order.
-----------------------------------------
Can you hear me?
Can you feel me in your arms
Holding my last breath?
-----------------------------------------
Relena's grip tightened as she felt another dizzy spell wash over her and a vision of Heero's penetrating eyes reached her mind. She inspected every inch of the crowd in a wild daze to find those eyes again, but quickly excused it as an illusion.
She kept catching Carl Jackson staring down at her instead of the area, and she couldn't decipher his looks as lustful or protective. Not that it mattered, because either way, it bothered her immensely. She was having trouble concentrating as it was with her dizzy spells and overactive imagination without him having to add to it.
She then suddenly felt his gaze shift and nodd at something or someone, and that's when she saw it. She followed Carl's gaze slowly as time for her seemed to slow down almost to a stop and caught a glimse of a distant red beam aiming at nothing in particular. Her words hesitated in the same instant as she found more surrounding the entire area and she lost her breath as thoughts raced through her mind. All she could hear was her heart throbbing as adrenaline rushed to her head. That explains the bad omen that just would not leave her.
--------------------------------------
Safe inside myself
Are all my thoughts of you?
Sweet rapture and life
It ends here tonight.
---------------------------------------
A single shot just then rang abnormally loud in Relena's ears as her eyes widened. More shots rang out after the initial, causing a deep chaos to erupt amongst the crowd as people scattered screaming as the preventers tried to locate the source of the shots. Suddenly, Relena felt her arm jerked sideways as Carl ran her off the stage to avoid the line of fire.
Sally, Wufei, and Lady Une found themselves mixed up with the chaos of it all as they tried desperately to locate the source of fire as well as one nerve-racked politician. "Where did they come from? The entire perimeter was ordered to be checked every half-hour!" Wufei jerked at the collar of a subordinate preventer who cringed under Wufei's angered sneer. As more bullets sliced through the air toward their direction, he threw the incorruptive preventer down to take cover.
Sally and Lady Une quickly dashed behind the nearest vehicle for cover while reloading their guns. They both jumped suddenly shocked by movement of the car when bullets shot out the tires on one side. "Shit!" Sally seethed through her teeth. "Where's Vice Foreign Minister Darlian?"
Lady Une rose to fire another round, but found it was a complete waste of bullets. "There's nothing more exhilerating than fighting blind." Lady Une slammed a fist into the vehicle protecting them and just as soon regretted it when a piece of glass pierced her skin. "Miss Relena is with Jackson being taken to safety." 'I hope,' Lady Une mentally added.
At one point amongst the shooting and chaotic screams, Wufei found his way to the two women, all of them lacking any more bullets. "Weaklings! They hide on the rooftops instead of challenging me face-off!" It was nothing more than a rambling comment to cover his anger of running out of firearm without hitting a single target.
------------------------------------------
I'll miss the winter
A world of fragile things
Look for me in the white forest
Hiding in a hollow tree.
------------------------------------------
Heavy breathing crippled Relena's running pace, and with each step, she lost more valuable air. She felt her wrist swell from Carl's tight grip as he directed her away from the parliament buildings and into a secluded alleyway, attempting to dodge every piece of debris possible. Relena didn't like it at all. The alleyway provided little cover, and she was only guarded by her untrustworthy bodyguard. 'How reassuring!' At that thought, Relena's eyes hardened, and she threw her entire body backward to force Carl's iron grip to release her.
Carl turned abrubtly in surprise toward the motionless Relena. "We mustn't stop here."
"Why?" Relena challenged through gritted teeth, "Isn't this far enough for you to complete your task, away from the entire preventer agent squad?" Her eyes stared at him with a bitter hardness, a deathly glare she had picked up from an old friend.
A dumbfounded look crossed Carl's features in protest, "What's that supposed to mean?" He didn't like the sound of that and readied his hand near his pocket
Relena's glare refused to soften, but only deepen, when Carl acted innocent. "You know exactly what I mean Carl Jackson. I see it in your sinister eyes as clear as day. You knew about the attack, didn't you? I saw you look toward several snipers and only when you nodded your head did they start their assault, so don't you dare play stupid with me."
--------------------------------------
I know you hear me
I can taste it in your arms
Holding my last breath
Safe inside myself
Are all my thoughts of you?
--------------------------------------
Lady Une slammed her radio transmitter when she recieved news that over two dozen agents were dead and the rest were now completely unarmed. Her fist clenched and shook answerless, "We need help!"
Sally's eyes furrowed in defeat. This was beyond ridiculous. How could the enemy be so precise? The security measures were passed just this morning, so there is no possible way they could have known how to counter it... unless... there was a leak, someone on the inside relaying information. Suddely, a strange, peculiar sound distanced itself from the others and drew Sally out of her reverie. "Listen... what's that? It sounds like a new prototype for a motorcycle."
Wufei sneered angrily, "They have reinforcements! No matter. At least this time I can face them on the ground." Wufei started to rise but was stopped just as quickly.
"They are on a machine travelling 60 miles per hour, and you're on your feet. There's no way you are going!" Sally protested.
"Stop patronizing me, onna!"
Lady Une's eyes widened as she threw her arm in front of the squabbling preventer agents. "Wait! I know that bike. It's Heero!"
Wufei and Sally stopped arguing just in time to catch Heero racing off a ledge, excessively speeding into the air as sparks flew from his gun when a full round of bullets were launched into the air, taking down five men. The men fell limp from their perches as Heero's bike made contact with the ground again, skidding sideways several feet until it was rendered useless.
--------------------------------
Sweet rapture and life
It ends here tonight.
--------------------------------
Determined prussian eyes found the three preventer agents crowding behind a car and raced toward them. "Where's Relena?" He thrusted the question immediately into their ears as he thrusted more weapons and more shots into their possession.
"She's with Jackson. He's taking her somewhere safe."
Heero's eyes ignited with fire and venom toward the name. "Safe!" He surged for Lady Une's collar and pushed her threateningly against the car "How is she safe with Jackson. Don't you see, this entire attack was nothing but a diversion to stray your eyes away from Jackson and Relena?" Heero's uncharacteristic temper shocked them all, and he slowly released Lady Une from his death grip apologetically. Grumbling, Heero sprinted away searching the frantic crowd, face by face, until a loud scream from about a half mile away filled Heero's ears. Without a second's thought, he sprinted in the direction.
------------------------------------------------------
Closing your eyes
You pray your dreams will leave you here
But still you wake and know the truth
No one's there.
-----------------------------------------------------
The last thing Relena remembered was accusing Carl of having connections with the enemy, and the next second, she was pinned nearly breathless against the wall with Carl's large hand surrounding her throat. She struggled, kicked, punched, shoved, did anything, but couldn't break free. "Let me go!"
Carl merely smirked at her fiestiness, which fed his increasing lust for her. He wanted to take her right then and there, and would have too, if he didn't have a job to do. He reached into his pocket to grasp a shiny silver shot filled with a clear liquid of some sort.
Relena fought desperately as she eyed the tiny medical device. How she hated shots, but at this point, the needle was the least of her concern. As the liquid swirled around the translucent tube, all of her research of the missing bio doctors flashed through her mind, and in that instant, every piece of the puzzle connected masterly.
She managed to raise her knee and thrust it deftly aimed between his legs. As Carl fell to the ground in immense pain, Relena took the chance to make a run for it, but only found herself falling to the ground when Carl grabbed her ankle. She turned over trying to kick his hands away, but he became more persistent each second.
"Bitch! You are not getting away this time. Vice Foriegn Minister Darlian!" As time slowed once more, he took the needle and jammed it roughly into her leg, causing Relena to scream in pain, as the fluid made its entry into her pale, fragile body.
Tears streamed down Relena's eyes endlessly, and she thrusted the remainder of her energy into throwing her spiked heel across his face. The hard blow appeared to have knocked Carl unconcious. Dizzy and lightheaded, Relena stumbled to her feet and half ran, half limped further and further from Carl. She had to get out of there. She needed to get somewhere isolated, somewhere safe, where she could cry with no one watching. 'Heero, you promised to always be there."
---------------------------------------------------------
Say goodnight, don't be afraid
Calling me, holding me, as you fade to black.
---------------------------------------------------------
Colors were beginning to fade as Relena's eyesight started to fail her. It had to be due to that needle. What was that stuff? It was making her whole body feel foreign to her. Clouded shapes replaced buildings, streets, and signs. Her entire line of perception was completely lost, everything was out of proportion, and cold. Sudden gusts of wind plagued her body with chills to an abnormally low temperature. she shivered slightly, but forced herself to keep moving, to keep trying.
She finally rounded the corner to exit from that fatal alleyway and into the blurry brightness of the sun, at least she thought it was the sun. Then her breathing stopped as she tried to squint her eyes to improve her vision. She saw a lone figure,a strangely familiar silhoutte, that was approaching her at a rapid pace, yet she was unafraid. With all five senses nearly shot, Relena found herself solely relying on a sixth sense, the one that gave her hope in her darkesy hours. Her mind told her it was safe now, that everything was alright, and that's when she knew. "H...Heero!" 'He came back, he came back to her!"
Heero's heart raced at an enormous rate as foriegn emotions spun aimlessly ad frantically through his mind. He saw her. He saw her stumble helplessly out of an alleyway and then he heard his name. She was alive and breathing before his eyes and relief washed all worry away, temporarily anyway. "Relena." His pace quickened. He had to get to her.
Upon seeing his figure and hearing his husky voice, a new surge of energy aroused her to run as fast as her feet could carry her towards him. Bruised and weak, but only a few feet away, she lunged as far as she could towards him. "Oh gawd, Heero!"
Heero caught Relena in a second, swinging her fragile body around his. He held her tight, but gently, within his arms as his knees buckled, and he slowing fell to the ground with Relena gripping his shirt as if he was her last pillar. He felt her weak body press against his and her tears wetten his shirt. "Shh... Relena, its okay now, I'm not going to let anything else happen to you, I promise."
"I'm so cold... I'm so glad you're here... Heero... I thought... I am so sorry." Relena muttered senselessly into his shirt as she fell into an abyss of darkness. Everything was fading to black, but she welcomed it now that she was in the safest place she could ever be. Suddenly, all thought left her.
Prussian eyes opened wide when he felt Relena's body go limp beneath his arms. "Relena--"
----------------------------------------------------
(Say goodnight) Holding my last breath
(Don't be afraid) Safe inside myself
(Holding me) Are my thoughts of you
Sweet rapture and life
It ends here tonight.
-----------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------
AN: Well, I sure hope you enjoyed this pivotal chapter. Gosh, I am evil, what a place to stop. Please don't throw tomatoes or other foreign objects toward me, please. *ducks* However, I have been planning this cliffhanger for a while and just couldn't resist. I am not sure if the song was suitable, much less necessary, but I was listening to my evainsence cd several weeks ago and thought it would give the chapter more of a mood, a suspenseful, tear-jerking mood. Well, it sounded like a good idea at the time, now I am not so sure.
Good news though! Although, I haven't started the next chapter, I do have it all planned out in my head. Next time, the entire gang will back together after several years of being separated. Now that I have this pivotal chappy out of the way now, I can start putting in more humor and lovey dovey stuff. So please continue to read and review. I really appreciate every comment!!!!!
by: WolfCry17
Disclaimer: As always, I do not own any of the gundam wing characters. I also don't own the song "Holding My Last Breath." That song rightly belongs to the group Evainesence.
Revised AN: Hey guys, I am so sorry this isn't a chapter update, and it's not even much of a revision. I just couldn't stand how the song uploaded into the fanfiction file. I had it separated before, but unfortunately, the file uploaded to where you couldn't even recognize the song from the rest of the story from first glance. I am truely sorry! Thank you so much Bibliomaniac for pointing that out to me. I really appreciate it because I probably would have left it like that without realizing it!!! So now, I hope this revision will do, and don't worry, I am half way through the next chapter, so expect it to be up at the latest this Sunday night! YAY! Thanks so much to all who have reviewed my story thus far! I appreciate each and every review, and I will separately thank each one of you when I post my next chapter, because you all mean so much to me!!!!!!! Til next time! ;P
Original AN: Well, it's been quite a while since I last updated. *ashamed look* Oops. Well, tennis has started up again, and school has been worse than ever, mostly due to an extremely irritable excuse of an English teacher! And my studio art teacher has been insisting that I complete my next piece, so I have been focusing on that as well. Not only that, but this chaper I found has been the hardest one for me to write. It's one of those major turning points in the story that's going to affect how the rest of the plot will turn out. So, yeah! This one frustratingly has taken me forever to complete. Grrrrrr..... But anyhow, I hope you enjoy it. It sure took me a long time and it is one of the longest I have wriiten, so maybe that makes up for the long wait. *wipes sweat from forehead and sighs*
I also want to thank a few individuals who have been very supportive of my story! I really appreciate your reviews and support!
Airen2: The most supportive reviewer! I want to thank you so much for everytime you have taken the time to review my story. I am really sad too that so few have reviewed, but the reviews I do have, I am very grateful for, especially yours! Thanks so much!!!
Nubia: Thanks so much for also taking the time to review my story, and you are very welcome for the email update. I hope you will continue to read my story, because I really value your opinion!
Joseph: I promise I will finish this story!!! I have vowed to finally finish a story, and I am so thrilled with this one, that I plan to fulfill that vow! Thank you so much for your commentary!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------
Chapter 8 ~ Holding My Last Breath
Oct. 24, The day of the public speech 800 hours, Preventer HQ...
Smooth, white hands grasped a crisp report detailing the extent of preventer security at the public speech with Vice Foreign Minister Relena Darlian and Ambassador Quatre Raberba Winner, who will both inform the public of the results of the Earth Sphere Seven-Day Conference Trial. Golden brown eyes scanned the lines through short brown bangs, reviewing the material to her memory.
Lady Une glanced up to the old grandfather clock for the fifteenth time that morning. '8:01... he's late.' Exasperated, the Chief Preventer turned in her chair to focus her attention upon the bustling world below through the large window behind her elegant desk. It was a beautiful, clear day, especially compared to the downpour of the previous night. Yet, Lady Une couldn't help, but get the strangest feeling as if it was just the calm before an unbreathable storm. Her intuition was screaming in alarm, trying to warn her that something was terribly wrong. It hadn't become apparent to her until Heero Yuy approached her with the discovery of Carl Jackson's counterfeit profile. Despite the alias, which was nothing but suspicious, there was nothing on his real record, so there was nothing Lady Une could act upon. She relunctantly dismissed Heero's charge even though her conscience was telling her to still be cautious. That simple warning was making her all the more nervous.
The soft click of her office door opening jerked Lady Une out of her reverie. "You're late." Lady Une smiled knowingly when silence welcomed her, and she turned to look upon her guest. "Heero Yuy, I called you in this morning to discuss the security measure proposal you sent me via email last night. Very impressive!" Lady Une glanced down upon the proposal in her hands, before slightly chuckling to herself, "Heero, you never wanted to have anything to do with the preventers, always preferring to work alone. You can't just simply email me such a sophisticated operation without being a preventer yourself."
Dark prussian eyes set upon the Chief Preventer with nothing set in but pure, cold-blood determinaton. Then, much to Lady Une's surprise, his upper lip lifted ever so slightly into a smirk. "What? Is there a procedure one must go through just to send in a proposal? You are the Chief in Commander of the Preventer Organization, the most powerful, legal military academy in the Earth's Sphere, and you can accept or reject any proposal on your desk, despite who it originated from, can you not?"
"And you believe that being a former gundam pilot qualifies you enough for me to even consider accepting your proposal?" She eyed Heero for a few seconds longer as he stood unfazed by her idle interrogation. He, as well as all of the gundam pilots, and their moral sense as soldiers aways fascinated her to an extent. She had tried desperately to gain the alliance of all five pilots for several years now, but much to expectation, most of the gundam pilots barely complied with her plea, especially the one that stood before her now. At the end of the Mariemaya coup d'etat, Sally Po had somehow managed to convince the Shenlong pilot, Wufei Chang, to join as a full time preventer. Now, the pair made the best team within the organization and had already out-ranked every senior officer, besides herself.
Duo, Quatre, and Trowa agreed to work part-time as preventer agents whenever they were most needed, but all three had their own lives to lead now in this new peaceful world. Duo, of course, found his way back into the Sweeper Organization that he was a part of before he claimed the role of "The Great Destroyer." Trowa returned to the last of his family, a sister by the name of Catherine Bloom, and a traveling circus. 'Somehow,' Lady Une thought, 'Trowa just belongs with a circus.' Quatre inherited his father's title in the political arena and became one of Relena Darlian's strongest supporters. He and Relena now have unknowingly claimed the roles of the late Heero Yuy and King Peacecraft before the eve wars. 'Hopefully, their fates will not mirror those of the past for everybody's sake.'
Heero, however, remained as mysterious as the day Lady Une met him, and he followed no rules outside of his own. "Alright Heero. I'm not one to break my own requirements just for someone else's satisfaction, however, I would rather commit unspeakable suicide than to decline your proposal and let something happen to our own Ambassador of Foriegn Affairs."
Heero nodded with confirmation before turning to leave, but as he took a step towards the door, the commander's voice filled his ears once more.
"I do have one concern with your measures, Heero. Will you not be counting yourself as part of this measure? I would think you, of all people, would want to be there to make sure everything is carried out properly." Lady Une tilted her head questioningly.
Heero turned his head with his back still facing Lady Une with his usual monotone mask. "I have to take care of something." Without another word or enough time for the commander to respond, Heero left hurriedly with a conflicted emotion now present within his eyes.
*~*
A strange shock chilled Relena to the bone as it ran down her spine. Her eyes fluttered open immediately after and anxiously searched her surroundings through the tinted windows of her limonsine just to find passing scenery and a few pedestrians of the Sanq Kingdom. Odd. For some reason for the past several days, Relena was experiencing sudden urges to look around and shout his name. 'Heero.' Relena's ceralean eyes furrowed gravely as she shifted to her original position. Everytime that feeling came over her, she felt he was near, as if it was a sixth sense. 'What a thought!' She scrunched her fine features up and shook her head trying to convince herself to focus on remembering her speech that she failed to thoroughly recite the night before. However, as she scanned through the words in her ceaselessly tired mind, the unwanted feeling rushed down her back again, distracting her. Something was wrong. Something horrible is going to happen, but what?
"You seem somewhat pre-occupied this morning, Miss Darlian," a voice beside Relena sounded.
"Perhaps," Relena responded to her bodyguard who wasn't driving the limonsine this time.
Her old butler, Peygan, wanted to serve the young princess as long as possible because of his loyalty to King Peacecraft. Not only that, but he didn't trust Carl to be alone with Relena, now that Dorothy had gone missing. Carl had told them that she had been assigned to some classified mission for the preventers, but like Relena, he saw no truth in that.
Soon another unbearable silence encompassed the occupants within the car as they slowly made their way to ESUN Central.
*~*
A strong gust of wind blew wildly through long brown strands of hair as Heero hastally pressed the gas petal of the green Yamaha Eagle motorcycle with Quatre on a black versian speeding closely behind. An endless line of oak trees flashed quickly by creating a green blur in Quatre's peripherial view. Emerald eyes darkened with worry, hardened somewhat as Quatre lost himself in a deep abyss of thoughts. The blinding sun, which was slowly rising to its highest point in the sky, burned his eyes. Quatre assumed it was around nine o'clock in the morning according to its low position. Not a cloud in sight. It was the most serene day he had ever seen, the most perfect day for something to go terribly wrong.
Quatre tenaciously shook his head attempting to erase the bad omen away. He regained concentration of the road before him as his mind drifted back to why he was on this motorcycle.
*flashback*
Quatre watched with unblinking eyes as steaming hot liquid poured from a simple coffee kettle into his cup until something more interesting caught his sight. He glanced up to find an ever-determined Heero walking fiercely in long strides with apparently one thing in mind. Concerned, Quatre set his cup down to study Heero's movements as Heero dodged several bystanders to reach a staircase that led down to the garage. 'Where is he going?'
Entirely forgetting about the now luke warm coffee, he decided to follow Heero down to the garage.
A well-manicured redhead glanced up to catch Quatre, "Uh, sir... sir, you left your drink here. Sir, excuse me, are you listening to me?"
Quatre either deliberately tuned out the irritating woman or he was just too concentrated on finding Heero to acknowledge her existence. Either way, he quickened his pace considerably to catch Heero before he lost him.
"SIR, don't you dare leave and expect me to clean up after you!" The woman seethed through her teeth angrily, especially when she realized the man in question had somehow escaped from her line of sight.
*~*
Wispy, blonde bangs whipped around Quatre's porcelian face as he hurriedly jumped down a set of stairs before turning to repeat the process on the next set. He finally reached an "employee only" set of double doors that led outside to the garage, where every auto vehicle that the preventers owned resided.
Breathing heavily with sweat soaking his brow, Quatre scanned the over-sized garage that was full of hundreds of limonsines, jeeps, the standard preventer jaguar, and different styles of motorcycles lined up all along the walls. Everything was in a deep metallic black. He caught some movement near the bikes toward the end of one side and found Heero pulling out the only green one in the entire garage.
"Where are you going? And with that bike? It looks like it belongs to a superior officer."
Heero didn't glance up, much less speak a word as he entered a combination of numbers to start the motorcycle. As it reeled to life, Heero finally looked up to glare deathly at Quatre. "It's my bike."
Taken aback, his eyes wide, Quatre stepped out of Heero's way, "What is it doing here at Preventer Headquarters?"
"I keep it here whenever I do clean up work for the incompetents in the Preventer Organization. Only Lady Une and I have the access codes to unlock it. Now, I need to go."
Quatre watched as Heero's prussian eyes grew darker with the same ferocity and intensity that radiated from him since the first day Quatre met him. The perfect soldier, the heart of outer space. Quatre then smirked slightly and fought the urge to chuckle like a giddy schoolboy when he noticed a familiar golden glow that surrounded Heero the first day he encountered the zero system. That glow only shined for one special person, the soul of earth. "Where are you going, Heero? Are you forgetting about the Vice Foriegn Minister's speech?"
Heero hesitated with his movements for the briefest of seconds. If someone didn't know him well enough, they would never have noticed; however, Quatre noticed. "I remember. I have gone over the security measures with Wufei three times over. He and Lady Une can take care of it. Besides, I have some pest control to take care of."
"You mean, Carl Jackson, or really, Andrew Morris Jefferson..." Quatre thought for a second, "I'm coming with you."
Heero's head jerked up immediately, "No, you stay here for that speech. You represent the colonies, and I need you there to protect the Vice Foriegn Minister."
Quatre furrowed his eyes in retaliation, "I'm coming Heero, whether you like it or not. Wufei can handle Miss Relena's protection; you said so yourself." Quatre's eyes then temporarily clouded over. "Besides... Dorothy's missing," he finally breathed out in a hushed whisper.
Heero merely caught himself in a starring contest with the most strategic former gundam pilot. After the longest time, Heero's eyes suddenly softened in understandment, and he slowly nodded to grant Quatre's request.
*end flashback*
Before Quatre knew it, he and Heero had stopped in front of the Peacecraft Mansion. 'Dorothy,' he closed his eyes as he turned the engine off, 'please, let me help you.' He quickly glanced at his digital watch that read 9:45 as he followed Heero absentmindedly. A single brow lifted up when Quatre finally glanced up to find Heero crouched over in some nearby bushes, apparently looking for something. "Uh, Heero, what are you doing? I maybe a little old-fashioned, but I think the doorbell is still next to the door."
Growling quietly when a few thorns found their way to Heero's neck, Heero proceeded to examine the bricks of the house that the rose bushes protectively guarded. "Peygan is escourting Relena to the Parliament buildings right now, and her few housekeepers are gone for the week, so nobody's inside to answer said doorbell. Relena usually leaves a spare key behind a loose brick just in case." Heero smirked when he found the one brick that was loose from the dried cement on all sides.
Quatre sweatdropped and almost fell over when Heero emerged from the rose bushes with the spare key. "I don't even want to know how you know about that."
Heero sent his blonde comrade a bewildered look as he snapped the key into the lock to release the door from its restraints. "Relena told me." The door slowly creaked open allowing the soft wind to enter and caress the different plants inside. "Carl's room is down this wing."
*~*
1400 hours, ESUN Central City
An ocean of people and every newstation within a several hundred mile radius filtered into the wide street in front of ESUN Central's Parliament buildings. Dark ceralean eyes bored through a high window upon the collecting faces of the crowd below. Nauseous and dizzy from exhaustion, Relena gripped the edges of the table beside her to help support her body upright, but with little success. Her knees were growing weaker with every passing second, and deep down, she knew it was because something wasn't quite right. Not to mention Dorothy's peculiar disappearance and the sudden announcement from Lady Une that Ambassador Quatre Winner mysteriously took off earlier this morning wasn't helping Relena's disoriented state. 'What's wrong with you, Relena? Nothing is going to happen.' Somehow this little chant of hers wasn't easing her nervousness.
"You look exhausted, your majesty."
Relena spun around instantly as an upsurge of her heart rate throbbed beneath her breast and into her ears at the sudden voice. The sudden change in position made Relena dizzier than before, and it took a few seconds for her vision to focus onto the figure now in her presence. "Lady Une, you frightened me."
"I am surprised you were concious enough to even hear me," Lady Une smiled as she leaned her frame against the wall near a large bookcase. She then raised an eyebrow as if she was expecting something.
Relena countered Lady Une's apparent challenge by raising her own right eyebrow with defiance. "I am perfectly fine. What are you talking about?" She suddenly bit her lip as she turned back toward the bustling street below. "I guess I am just a little concerned for Dorothy, that's all." 'A little? That's an understatement!' She sighed lightly as she felt Lady Une walk up beside her and gaze upon the citizens of ESUN. "By the way, Lady Une, I would appreciate it if you would cease with the 'your majesty' part. I am no longer a princess."
Lady Une didn't even glance toward Relena, but kept her eyes staring out the window. "No matter how long you deny it, you and your brother still carry royal blood in your veins, despite the fact that you two refuse to inherit the kingdom of Sanq."
Relena's eyes merely furrowed at Lady Une's truth and at the mention of her brother in that truth.
*~*
Small patches of dust filled the air, causing Quatre to sneeze abrubtly as the particles collected in his nose. He placed the offending book that caused the dust to disperse in the air back on the bookshelf. Quatre turned to find Heero searching every inch of Carl Jackson's room for anything that could help reinforce Heero's assumption about the bodyguard. Unfortunately, it appeared that Carl had completely cleansed the room of all his belongings that very morning, much to Heero's frustration.
It wasn't helping Quatre's attitude either. He was hopelessly longing to find something that would lead to the truth behind Dorothy's disappearance, but his efforts seemed pointless. His knees buckled just then allowing him to slide to the floor in exasperation.
Heero peeked up to find Quatre leaning his head against the wall in an attempt to relax his nerves. Prussian eyes observed this in understandment before glancing back to Carl's empty room.
Quatre was ready to let an abyss of darkness overtake him when an irritating thumping invaded his head. At first, he figured it was just the prior symptoms of an incoming headache, but soon realized it was something beyond the bounds of his mind. The wall was vibrating! His eyes shot open suspiciously and he tilted his head to listen to the sounds more closely. Quatre's breath caught as his eyes widened. "Heero, quick! There's something behind this wall."
Heero nodded and soon found himself feeling every inch of the wall with Quatre, "You're right. The mansion has hundreds of secret compartments and passageways for all sorts of things. I should have thought of it earlier." Heero mentally scolded himself for wasting so much valuable time rechecking every place in Carl's room three times over instead of remembering the secret compartment that lay next to Carl's room.
Quatre searched with as much effort as he could muster to find the entrance to the other side of the wall. In his efforts, he accidentally knocked into a light fixture on the wall, which caused the bookcase to suddenly move outward. Both Quatre and Heero backed up caustiously as the secrets behind that bookcase was revealed to them.
As they slowly rounded the bookcase to look inside, a flash of golden yellow flooded their eyes and fell onto the floor. Shocked, Quatre's eyes widened with tears as he cried out, "Dorothy!" She was bound tightly by rope around her wrists and ankles and her mouth was covered by thick cloth clenched between her teeth. Quatre rushed to her side to gently turn her over and look into her crystal baby blue orbs, which widened upon looking into Quatre's own emerald ones, as Heero helped cut the rope to release her before investigating the rest of the compartment. As he did so, Quatre's and Dorothy's eyes never left one another's, and Quatre softly untied the cloth behind her head.
"Q...Quatre," Dorothy choked out with surprise as she felt his hands linger in her long blonde locks. Her eyes closed as his gentle caress soothed her, and she couldn't believe his touch was real, but it was. As if reading her mind, he pulled her weak body against his to assure her he was real as his arms found their way around her tiny, yet muscular, form. Against her will that always warned to stay away from this peace-loving prince of the desert, she felt herself drowning into his surprisingly strong embrace. The boy she always accused as the weakest of the gundam pilots felt so powerful to her now, even stronger than she ever was.
In the same respect, Quatre found his proud angel of war surprisingly fragile beneath his arms. He knew deep down she was always kinder than he could ever be, and that thought ignited a strange, overwhelming fire beneath his chest. He felt so alive just now that he refused to loosen his tight grasp of her, and she showed no struggle in an attempt to get away from him.
Heero stumbled out of the compartment even more frusterated than before when he found nothing left in it except a few dents in the wall due to Dorothy's insistent knocking, obviously to grab someone's attention. He found Dorothy and Quatre on the floor still wrapped around each other and an unfamiliar envious wave blew over Heero. A distinct vision of Relena cuddled in his arms like that entered his mind without permission, and he found himself fighting it off to no avail. His thoughts, instead, deepened the vision to even more forbidden thoughts.
He shook the images away with much irritation, but yet with much reluctance as well. "I couldn't find anything else in there. I'm afraid there's nothing here to give us any kind of clue to Carl Jackson." Heero's fists tightened.
Dorothy's eyes shot open suddenly at Heero's statement and for the first time, struggled out of Quatre's grasp. With much hesitation, she felt Quatre let go of her. "Carl Jackson! Relena!"
Heero's ears perked toward Dorothy when she spoke the names. "What? Do you know something?"
Dorothy's head nodded to Heero's question, but she never looked into his face. Instead she could only stare at Quatre. "Relena... she's... she's in trouble. He's planning to... he has all her medical files and a dozen or so viles of some kind of liquid-like substance! The public meeting today... he's planning to... we must save her!"
"He's planning to what? You're not making any sense!" Quatre shook her slightly in an attempt to shake the answer out of her, but it was enough for Heero. Before Quatre looked up, Heero sprinted out of the room in a flash, but Quatre didn't have to look up, he already knew Heero was gone with one thing on his mind: to get to Relena.
*~*
That uneasy feeling never left Relena's thoughts, and now she stood before a huge crowd anticipating the next hour or so of her announcement, but yet she found no urge to breath a single word out. She looked over the hundreds of faces, and she felt each one standing over her in judgement, watching her every movement, especially the tabloid writers. Even at her first speech in front of such large numbers, she never felt so lightheaded, so dizzy, and so scared. 'Heero.'
---------------------------------------
Hold on to me love
You know I can't stay long
All I wanted to say was
I love you and I'm not afraid
---------------------------------------
Gathering all of her strength, she refused to give in and stepped up to the podium to grasp the microphone between her delicate, yet shaky, fingers. She found her friends amongst the crowd, patrolling the area, and a new-found strength encompassed her as she began to speak.
"I was afraid she was going to freeze for the first time." Sally flicked a tightly-bound braid off her shoulder as she nudged the ever- serious Wufei Chang from his perched position over the mass of people. Sally just smiled at his lack of response, much less humor, as she watched him continue to scan the crowd to make sure every preventer agent was in place and that everything was in order.
-----------------------------------------
Can you hear me?
Can you feel me in your arms
Holding my last breath?
-----------------------------------------
Relena's grip tightened as she felt another dizzy spell wash over her and a vision of Heero's penetrating eyes reached her mind. She inspected every inch of the crowd in a wild daze to find those eyes again, but quickly excused it as an illusion.
She kept catching Carl Jackson staring down at her instead of the area, and she couldn't decipher his looks as lustful or protective. Not that it mattered, because either way, it bothered her immensely. She was having trouble concentrating as it was with her dizzy spells and overactive imagination without him having to add to it.
She then suddenly felt his gaze shift and nodd at something or someone, and that's when she saw it. She followed Carl's gaze slowly as time for her seemed to slow down almost to a stop and caught a glimse of a distant red beam aiming at nothing in particular. Her words hesitated in the same instant as she found more surrounding the entire area and she lost her breath as thoughts raced through her mind. All she could hear was her heart throbbing as adrenaline rushed to her head. That explains the bad omen that just would not leave her.
--------------------------------------
Safe inside myself
Are all my thoughts of you?
Sweet rapture and life
It ends here tonight.
---------------------------------------
A single shot just then rang abnormally loud in Relena's ears as her eyes widened. More shots rang out after the initial, causing a deep chaos to erupt amongst the crowd as people scattered screaming as the preventers tried to locate the source of the shots. Suddenly, Relena felt her arm jerked sideways as Carl ran her off the stage to avoid the line of fire.
Sally, Wufei, and Lady Une found themselves mixed up with the chaos of it all as they tried desperately to locate the source of fire as well as one nerve-racked politician. "Where did they come from? The entire perimeter was ordered to be checked every half-hour!" Wufei jerked at the collar of a subordinate preventer who cringed under Wufei's angered sneer. As more bullets sliced through the air toward their direction, he threw the incorruptive preventer down to take cover.
Sally and Lady Une quickly dashed behind the nearest vehicle for cover while reloading their guns. They both jumped suddenly shocked by movement of the car when bullets shot out the tires on one side. "Shit!" Sally seethed through her teeth. "Where's Vice Foreign Minister Darlian?"
Lady Une rose to fire another round, but found it was a complete waste of bullets. "There's nothing more exhilerating than fighting blind." Lady Une slammed a fist into the vehicle protecting them and just as soon regretted it when a piece of glass pierced her skin. "Miss Relena is with Jackson being taken to safety." 'I hope,' Lady Une mentally added.
At one point amongst the shooting and chaotic screams, Wufei found his way to the two women, all of them lacking any more bullets. "Weaklings! They hide on the rooftops instead of challenging me face-off!" It was nothing more than a rambling comment to cover his anger of running out of firearm without hitting a single target.
------------------------------------------
I'll miss the winter
A world of fragile things
Look for me in the white forest
Hiding in a hollow tree.
------------------------------------------
Heavy breathing crippled Relena's running pace, and with each step, she lost more valuable air. She felt her wrist swell from Carl's tight grip as he directed her away from the parliament buildings and into a secluded alleyway, attempting to dodge every piece of debris possible. Relena didn't like it at all. The alleyway provided little cover, and she was only guarded by her untrustworthy bodyguard. 'How reassuring!' At that thought, Relena's eyes hardened, and she threw her entire body backward to force Carl's iron grip to release her.
Carl turned abrubtly in surprise toward the motionless Relena. "We mustn't stop here."
"Why?" Relena challenged through gritted teeth, "Isn't this far enough for you to complete your task, away from the entire preventer agent squad?" Her eyes stared at him with a bitter hardness, a deathly glare she had picked up from an old friend.
A dumbfounded look crossed Carl's features in protest, "What's that supposed to mean?" He didn't like the sound of that and readied his hand near his pocket
Relena's glare refused to soften, but only deepen, when Carl acted innocent. "You know exactly what I mean Carl Jackson. I see it in your sinister eyes as clear as day. You knew about the attack, didn't you? I saw you look toward several snipers and only when you nodded your head did they start their assault, so don't you dare play stupid with me."
--------------------------------------
I know you hear me
I can taste it in your arms
Holding my last breath
Safe inside myself
Are all my thoughts of you?
--------------------------------------
Lady Une slammed her radio transmitter when she recieved news that over two dozen agents were dead and the rest were now completely unarmed. Her fist clenched and shook answerless, "We need help!"
Sally's eyes furrowed in defeat. This was beyond ridiculous. How could the enemy be so precise? The security measures were passed just this morning, so there is no possible way they could have known how to counter it... unless... there was a leak, someone on the inside relaying information. Suddely, a strange, peculiar sound distanced itself from the others and drew Sally out of her reverie. "Listen... what's that? It sounds like a new prototype for a motorcycle."
Wufei sneered angrily, "They have reinforcements! No matter. At least this time I can face them on the ground." Wufei started to rise but was stopped just as quickly.
"They are on a machine travelling 60 miles per hour, and you're on your feet. There's no way you are going!" Sally protested.
"Stop patronizing me, onna!"
Lady Une's eyes widened as she threw her arm in front of the squabbling preventer agents. "Wait! I know that bike. It's Heero!"
Wufei and Sally stopped arguing just in time to catch Heero racing off a ledge, excessively speeding into the air as sparks flew from his gun when a full round of bullets were launched into the air, taking down five men. The men fell limp from their perches as Heero's bike made contact with the ground again, skidding sideways several feet until it was rendered useless.
--------------------------------
Sweet rapture and life
It ends here tonight.
--------------------------------
Determined prussian eyes found the three preventer agents crowding behind a car and raced toward them. "Where's Relena?" He thrusted the question immediately into their ears as he thrusted more weapons and more shots into their possession.
"She's with Jackson. He's taking her somewhere safe."
Heero's eyes ignited with fire and venom toward the name. "Safe!" He surged for Lady Une's collar and pushed her threateningly against the car "How is she safe with Jackson. Don't you see, this entire attack was nothing but a diversion to stray your eyes away from Jackson and Relena?" Heero's uncharacteristic temper shocked them all, and he slowly released Lady Une from his death grip apologetically. Grumbling, Heero sprinted away searching the frantic crowd, face by face, until a loud scream from about a half mile away filled Heero's ears. Without a second's thought, he sprinted in the direction.
------------------------------------------------------
Closing your eyes
You pray your dreams will leave you here
But still you wake and know the truth
No one's there.
-----------------------------------------------------
The last thing Relena remembered was accusing Carl of having connections with the enemy, and the next second, she was pinned nearly breathless against the wall with Carl's large hand surrounding her throat. She struggled, kicked, punched, shoved, did anything, but couldn't break free. "Let me go!"
Carl merely smirked at her fiestiness, which fed his increasing lust for her. He wanted to take her right then and there, and would have too, if he didn't have a job to do. He reached into his pocket to grasp a shiny silver shot filled with a clear liquid of some sort.
Relena fought desperately as she eyed the tiny medical device. How she hated shots, but at this point, the needle was the least of her concern. As the liquid swirled around the translucent tube, all of her research of the missing bio doctors flashed through her mind, and in that instant, every piece of the puzzle connected masterly.
She managed to raise her knee and thrust it deftly aimed between his legs. As Carl fell to the ground in immense pain, Relena took the chance to make a run for it, but only found herself falling to the ground when Carl grabbed her ankle. She turned over trying to kick his hands away, but he became more persistent each second.
"Bitch! You are not getting away this time. Vice Foriegn Minister Darlian!" As time slowed once more, he took the needle and jammed it roughly into her leg, causing Relena to scream in pain, as the fluid made its entry into her pale, fragile body.
Tears streamed down Relena's eyes endlessly, and she thrusted the remainder of her energy into throwing her spiked heel across his face. The hard blow appeared to have knocked Carl unconcious. Dizzy and lightheaded, Relena stumbled to her feet and half ran, half limped further and further from Carl. She had to get out of there. She needed to get somewhere isolated, somewhere safe, where she could cry with no one watching. 'Heero, you promised to always be there."
---------------------------------------------------------
Say goodnight, don't be afraid
Calling me, holding me, as you fade to black.
---------------------------------------------------------
Colors were beginning to fade as Relena's eyesight started to fail her. It had to be due to that needle. What was that stuff? It was making her whole body feel foreign to her. Clouded shapes replaced buildings, streets, and signs. Her entire line of perception was completely lost, everything was out of proportion, and cold. Sudden gusts of wind plagued her body with chills to an abnormally low temperature. she shivered slightly, but forced herself to keep moving, to keep trying.
She finally rounded the corner to exit from that fatal alleyway and into the blurry brightness of the sun, at least she thought it was the sun. Then her breathing stopped as she tried to squint her eyes to improve her vision. She saw a lone figure,a strangely familiar silhoutte, that was approaching her at a rapid pace, yet she was unafraid. With all five senses nearly shot, Relena found herself solely relying on a sixth sense, the one that gave her hope in her darkesy hours. Her mind told her it was safe now, that everything was alright, and that's when she knew. "H...Heero!" 'He came back, he came back to her!"
Heero's heart raced at an enormous rate as foriegn emotions spun aimlessly ad frantically through his mind. He saw her. He saw her stumble helplessly out of an alleyway and then he heard his name. She was alive and breathing before his eyes and relief washed all worry away, temporarily anyway. "Relena." His pace quickened. He had to get to her.
Upon seeing his figure and hearing his husky voice, a new surge of energy aroused her to run as fast as her feet could carry her towards him. Bruised and weak, but only a few feet away, she lunged as far as she could towards him. "Oh gawd, Heero!"
Heero caught Relena in a second, swinging her fragile body around his. He held her tight, but gently, within his arms as his knees buckled, and he slowing fell to the ground with Relena gripping his shirt as if he was her last pillar. He felt her weak body press against his and her tears wetten his shirt. "Shh... Relena, its okay now, I'm not going to let anything else happen to you, I promise."
"I'm so cold... I'm so glad you're here... Heero... I thought... I am so sorry." Relena muttered senselessly into his shirt as she fell into an abyss of darkness. Everything was fading to black, but she welcomed it now that she was in the safest place she could ever be. Suddenly, all thought left her.
Prussian eyes opened wide when he felt Relena's body go limp beneath his arms. "Relena--"
----------------------------------------------------
(Say goodnight) Holding my last breath
(Don't be afraid) Safe inside myself
(Holding me) Are my thoughts of you
Sweet rapture and life
It ends here tonight.
-----------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------
AN: Well, I sure hope you enjoyed this pivotal chapter. Gosh, I am evil, what a place to stop. Please don't throw tomatoes or other foreign objects toward me, please. *ducks* However, I have been planning this cliffhanger for a while and just couldn't resist. I am not sure if the song was suitable, much less necessary, but I was listening to my evainsence cd several weeks ago and thought it would give the chapter more of a mood, a suspenseful, tear-jerking mood. Well, it sounded like a good idea at the time, now I am not so sure.
Good news though! Although, I haven't started the next chapter, I do have it all planned out in my head. Next time, the entire gang will back together after several years of being separated. Now that I have this pivotal chappy out of the way now, I can start putting in more humor and lovey dovey stuff. So please continue to read and review. I really appreciate every comment!!!!!