Part 1

AC 198, July 31st, L4 Colony Cluster, Winner Mansion

Quatre got out of his father's office and slammed the door. It was childish and ridiculous, but it made him feel better. What is better than slamming a door just after having an argument with your father ? For the moment, Quatre could think of nothing else as he leant on the wall, trying to catch his breath back.

Since his father had asked for him to come and live here, it had been that way. Quatre and his father were constantly disagreeing on everything, from the hour Quatre went to bed to what his future career plans should be. Loudly disagreeing. The old Mansion wasn't used to shouts, and the servants had been caught wincing at the loud shrieks that came out of Mr Winner's office. Even Rashid, the Head of the Security Staff, had been taken at unawares by this.

Everyone saw this as a good thing, that the Winner heir should come and live here, now that he was to learn how the family business was run. Quatre failed to meet their point of view on this. He didn't even know his father. The man was a complete stranger for him, and six months of difficult cohabitation hadn't changed that.

"For the first time, I wish you were here, Mother", the young man said under his breath.

Quatre's mother had died in childbirth. Quatre was her last child, conceived and born naturally, alone of the thirty Winner children. The only boy, also. Quatre could understand that his father could have been dismayed after that. But in his opinion, it did not excuse seventeen years of being away. Sending gifts and making sure your child has everything he needs doesn't make it up for not being there.

Not that Quatre had lacked affection. His twenty-nine sisters were absolutely crazy about him. He had been raised by the eldest, Iria, who had brought him up along with her own children. Quatre's lips curved into a smile. It was sometimes odd to talk about these youngsters he had grown up with and who were older than himself as nephews. Quatre had been as happy as a child could hope to be, considering that his mother was dead and his father was never around. But the strange feeling of emptiness had been following him since his childhood.

And now that he was back living with his father, he couldn't find one thing to share with him. Except maybe their love of music. Quatre adored his father, whatever he was trying to tell himself. And he knew that his father loved him too. So why was it so damn hard for the two of them to admit it and get over the fights ?

Quatre left the dark corridor and headed back to his bedroom. The great room was still filled with flowers and birthday cards from all his sisters, nephews and nieces, which made an awful lot. But then, Quatre thought with a grin, you don't turn eighteen every day. His mood darkened a bit when he thought that it was precisely because he had turned eighteen that his father had told him about that project and that they had fought.

The blond boy sat on his bed and caught a videophone on his bedside table. He dialed a number very quickly and waited for someone to answer. Maybe this was going to be the only bright spot in the day.

"Come on, Duo, answer that phone now !", he told to himself.

Someone picked up the phone.

"Yup!"

"Hey, Duo !"

"Quatre! It's been a while ! Did you forget us street rats ?"

"Of course not ! I've been … busy!"

"Ya mean you've been fighting with your dad."

Touché.

"Yes", Quatre admitted wearily.

"And you're calling me to cheer ya up again ?"

"Not exactly, though it's part of it. But I hope what I'm going to tell you is going to cheer YOU up actually."

"What is it ?"

"Well, my father told me he wants to take me on a tour on the colonies. Business trip, you know, to meet his partners. It's kind of an official presentation of the Winner heir to the small world of the richest businessmen on earth and in the colonies."

"Which is why you fought."

"Yes. It makes me feel like I'm going to be shown around like a dog."

"I can understand that. But ?"

"But what ?"

"That's what you were going to say. 'But', and then tell me why it's not all so bad."

"Right. I accepted to go with him on one condition. I said I didn't want to get involved in anything else but the charity programs for the next two years."

"Bet he liked that."

"He didn't at all, but I said if he didn't let me do it, then he could forget about me even trying to take on the whole business, so he shouted and then he gave up."

"I see why you can call it good news for you. What's in this for me?"

"Well, we will stop on each colony to set up new charity programs. My way to prove I can do stuff and spend Daddy's money instead of earning it. I figured, if it's okay with you, I could probably convince him to let me spendsome time on L2 so we could have some fun together again."

"You having fun with me ? Like the Winner heir meddling with the oh-so-unsafe crew of street orphans ?"

"You're not a street orphan anymore, Duo. You and Hilde got a job, and you are doing very well."

"Doesn't give us our parents back, Cat."

"No, I guess not. I feel strange to say that I know the feeling."

"I know you know. You didn't think I would put up with you spoiled brat if ya didn't ?"

Quatre chuckled. One bright spot in the day.

"Thanks, Duo."

"You're welcome, Cat. If there's someone who can understand that money isn't everything, I think that's you. Though I'll be damned if I see any logic in this."

A soft knock on the door.

"Come in", Quatre said.

A servant came in and bowed.

"Master Quatre, Wufei-laoshi (1) is waiting for you in the dojo."

"Thanks. Tell him I'll be right there."

The servant bowed again and left.

"Wufei-laoshi ?", Duo asked. "Who's that ?"

"He's my personal trainer and martial arts teacher. And also a very good friend. I'm sure you've heard his name before, Chang Wufei."

Duo whistled.

"As usual, you can afford the best. How come he's on L4 ?"

"Looking for a change of scenery, I think. I didn't ask."

"You could know if only you tried."

"Being an empath doesn't mean one has to be nosey, Duo."

Duo's image just smiled back.

"I have to hurry up", Quatre said. "See you soon, Duo. Say hi to Hilde from me."

"Sure. C ya, Cat. Just phone me once you're on L2."

Both boys hung up, and Quatre got up and stretched. Time to get ready for his training session.

O.O.O.O.O

"Aow !"

Quatre rubbed his chest where Wufei's foot had hit him. The Chinese young man came over and helped him get up.

"Did I hurt you ?", he asked with concern.

"No, it's okay, I'm just …"

Quatre stopped talking, trying to regain his breath.

"I think we should stop", Wufei said. "You're not focusing on what you're doing. You're going to get hurt."

"Sorry", Quatre mumbled. "I'm making you waste your time."

"I never waste my time with my friends. If you were wasting my time, I would be out of here before you could try to stop me."

Quatre smiled.

"I don't doubt that."

"You have a lot on your mind."

"Actually, yes. I suppose everyone on the colony could hear my indignant screams. If someone on Earth didn't hear, they were probably already dead."

Wufei smiled. Quatre was definitely someone very nice to hang out with. When Wufei had accepted the job as Quatre's personal trainer five months ago, he hadn't been so sure about his own motives. Right, he needed the money, and he needed to get away from L5. But he had feared for a while to become the tyrannized slave of a rich spoiled brat. Quatre was anything but a spoiled brat. Wufei had discovered a well-mannered youth who just liked to have fun and enjoyed conversation. They had bonded instantly.

"What was it about this time ?", Wufei asked.

The fights between Mr Winner and his son had become a local attraction.

"That stupid business tour on the colonies", Quatre said, stamping the wooden floor of the dojo with his bare foot.

"Ah. Was it worth it ?"

Quatre snorted.

"I suppose not. Nothing is ever worth fighting with your father. But at least I got to have things my way this time. He agreed to leave me in charge of the charities. I'm pretty sure that's where I'll do best. But it still means I will have to meet bankers and all."

"I suppose that's the part when I should smile sympathetically and pat your shoulder", Wufei said deadpan.

"You mean before or after having kicked my ass at karate ?"

"After."

"Then yes, it is."

Both young men sat for a while in comfortable silence. Then an idea sprung into Quatre's mind.

"Do you think you could come with me ?", he asked Wufei.

The Chinese man's eyes widened.

"Come with you ?"

"On the tour. I could keep on practicing, and you get to meet some of my friends and hang out. Plus playing bodyguard so my father doesn't have Rashid tailing me everywhere I go. Deal ?"

"What do you mean exactly by 'meet some of your friends'?"

"Ok, I'm busted, I'd like you to meet Duo."

"Your best friend."

This wasn't a question.

"Yes."

Wufei thought for a while. He had wanted to see new things and had left his home for this. Maybe travelling around the colonies with Quatre could be fun; not to mention everything would be paid for and all he had to do was pretty much what he had been doing those past months.

"Deal", he finally answered. "You think I am going to like him ?"

Quatre smiled a strange smile, half-glowing and half-vicious.

"In fact, I'm pretty sure you're going to hate him. At first. Time makes it better, it always does with Duo."

O.O.O.O.O

Heero Yuy straightened up and looked at the security guard he had knocked out. The infos he had been sent were correct, Mr Winner had the best security system ever heard of. Not enough to stop the Perfect Soldier, as the press had dubbed him. He stripped the guard and put on his uniform. No need to attract the attention of the hundreds of cameras that were probably all around the place.

This first part of the mission was not about getting the job done already. Heero Yuy had methods. As a rule, he never failed to fulfill his contracts, and he had his own ways for this. Getting to know his victims a little better was part of it. Well, not exactly know them, but find out about their habits, where they liked to hang out, what they ate for lunch and that kind of things. It made things so much easier to plan for the execution.

Creeping upstairs to his target's room was not a problem. Heero got in and closed the door carefully behind him. The bedroom was very large, more a suite than just a place to sleep in. There was a large four-poster bed on a platform near the huge windows through which the artificial light of L4 was flowing in. A comfortable couch was in front of a huge fireplace. There was a wooden and glass cabinet in which various music instruments were displayed. The walls were literally covered in shelves stacked with rare editions of classics, thousands of books, and a lot of photographs. On most of those, the same boy with very light blond hair and blue eyes could be seen, portrayed with various women who looked a lot like him, and other youths who also looked like they were relatives.

Two of the pictures were different, though. One of them showed the very same boy, but at a much younger age. He was grabbing the arm of a man, Mr Winner himself, and laughing out loud, his eyes sparkling with happiness. The man was looking down at his son with a smile. The other one showed the boy portrayed with someone else. Heero first thought it was a girl, but looking at the photograph more closely, he realized that the other person was in fact a young boy around the same age than his target. The huge blue-violet eyes and the long chestnut braid were what had led to this mistake. Both boys were looking straight at the camera and smiling widely. A hand had scribbled on the pic 'Best buddies for life, love, Duo.'

Heero hacked into the modern computer that was on the desk. He found a lot of files containing some music, mails from that same person, Duo, a calendar on which appointments with someone called Wufei were noted, and some poetry in text files. Nothing much. The ID call near the videophone stated that the last calls to have been made were long-distance calls to L2.

Heero's eyes then fell on the pile of files on the corner of the desk. Each of them was a project to build different charity programs on the colony clusters, with a rather extensive list for L2 and L3. He frowned. There was a list of appointments whose dates were beginning next week. Which meant that his target was about to start a journey. That was not ideal, since a moving target is harder to hit, but it was more exciting in a way. And Heero Yuy could not resist the challenge.

He went to inspect the dressing room then. It was filled with gray, blue and white suits, and less formal clothes like jeans, fatigues, baggies and T-shirts, but all in all, it looked like the classic wardrobe of the basic rich kid. Until Heero noticed the small button at the back of a shelf. He pressed it, and part of the wooden wall slid, revealing another compartment. Heero grinned. Apparently not just daddy's boy, he thought. The little space was filled with what people commonly called party clothes. Impossibly tight leather pants, transparent shirts, sleeveless T-shirts made of some glistening materials, leather coats, boots with metal strappings and various ornaments, from bracelets to chokers.

Heero went back into the main room. He took a card game out of his pocket and extracted on card. He then took out a sharp little knife and cut the end of his left forefinger. Using his blood as ink, he wrote something on the card and left it on the desk, before sneaking out again.

O.O.O.O.O

Quatre got out of the bathroom, a white towel hung loosely on his hips and drying his hair with another one. He felt much better. Trust Wufei to make training sessions intense, and sweaty too. The blond young man came into his bedroom and went straight to the dressing room. He held out his hand to open it, but stopped in mid-air.

There was a strange vibe around the room. Quatre knew instantly that someone had been there just before he had come in. Someone he didn't know, and with less than friendly intentions. Quatre's green-blue eyes scanned the room, noting every detail. He noticed that the photograph of him and Duo on the desk had been moved and that the pile of files on the corner of the big wooden piece of furniture wasn't exactly where he had left it.

Quatre shook his head. He needed to get dressed before investigating further. He got into his dressing room and snatched boxers, a baggy pair of jeans and a white T-shirt. Once he was fully dressed, he walked over to his desk.

The white card was in the middle of the wooden surface. Quatre frowned and picked it up. It was an ace of spades. Something had been written in red across the smooth card. Quatre's eye's widened a bit as he deciphered the inscription.

'Quatre Raberba Winner. Omae o Korosu. HY."

Quatre didn't have time to wonder what that meant. Someone knocked at the door, and he said 'Come in' almost automatically. Rashid came in and began to say something, until he realized that the young master wasn't listening to him. He came closer.

"What is going on, Master Quatre ?"

Quatre gave a start and looked at the tall men. He was still holding the card. Rashid saw it, and Quatre suddenly saw a vast range of expressions pass on the Head of Security's face. Expressions he didn't know Rashid could show. Especially one. Fear.

"Where did you get that, Master Quatre ?"

"I just found it on my desk. What's wrong, Rashid ? What is it ?"

"I must warn my men, and your father, Master Quatre. This is a major security breach."

Rashid began to make his way out.

"Rashid !", Quatre snapped.

The man reluctantly stopped and turned around.

"Yes, Master Quatre ?"

"You know what this is about", Quatre said, brandishing the card.

"I do, Master Quatre. That's why I should …"

"Explain."

Unable to bear the green-blue gaze, Rashid looked down.

"You know, Master Quatre, that some people consider your father a threat to their business."

"Those are crime lords, Rashid. I don't think my father would be scared of them."

"I don't think he would if it was his own life that was at stake."

"What do you mean ? I don't understand."

"The new Winner charity programs are regarded as a nuisance by many organizations, Master Quatre. Some of them would use any means to make them stop, or even to prevent them from coming into existence."

"How ? By sending cards ?"

"Master Quatre, this card is the signature of the most dangerous hired killer in the Galaxy. I am sure you've heard about the Perfect Soldier."

Quatre paled visibly. The Perfect Soldier, the man who had assassinated countless targets in the past two years. Said to be the successor of Odin Lowe when the man had finally been arrested and executed. Hired by the most famous crime syndicates to get rid of opponents. Well-known for leaving signature marks on the bodies. Yes, Quatre had seen all this in the press.

"That's him?", he asked. "They want my father to stop the charity programs, so they sent a killer after me ?"

Quatre was shocked at how quietly he himself was taking it. He knew the real shock would come later, of course. But this was too unbelievable now, too unreal.

"Master Quatre, please let me warn …"

"No."

Rashid gave a major start.

"You will not warn anyone, Rashid, and certainly not my father. If you do that, you can bet I'm going to end up locked somewhere out of sight for the rest of my life. That's out of question."

"But we must protect you …"

"I understand what you mean, Rashid. But I will go on this tour with my father and I will start those charities, whatever happens. There are some people who are starving out there. I will not let some people infatuated with their money and power intimidate me. If they want to mess up with me, fine !"

Quatre looked pensively at the card.

"Omae o Korosu", he said low. "It means 'I am going to kill you', right ?"

"Yes. Please, Master, you must make sure that you are well protected."

"Wufei accepted to come with me on the tour. I think you will agree that he is more than able to handle any such situation. I agree on two more bodyguards, but not more. And remember, not a word to my father."

Rashid just bowed his head and got out. Quatre fingered the card pensively. Probably the side-effect of being well-known. You get death threats. Until last year, Quatre had lived in a relatively anonymous way. Of course, his classmates in high school knew who he was, but that was pretty much all. Iria's house was never stalked by paparazzi. In fact, most people had learnt in the last six months that Mr Winner had a son.

Quatre sat on his bed. There was someone out there who believed that his actions could endanger their criminal activities. Endanger them enough to take action against Winner Enterprises. Quatre blinked furiously several times. Those people were ready to have him coldly executed to preserve the miserable power they had over some poor people who couldn't get out of their misery alone.

Being the target of a trained killer who was famous because he never failed to get his victims wasn't Quatre's favorite idea for spending his time on a business tour. And yet, it intrigued him. The killer had been in his bedroom. If he had wanted to kill him today, that could have been done by now. But the man had just left a warning on his desk and left, after breaking through one of the most sophisticated security system ever conceived, in and out. It was enough to awaken Quatre's curiosity.

"Talk about starting in business", he muttered to himself. "I haven't even begun, and people already want me dead. They probably think Father is going to stop everything if something happens to me."

Quatre made his decision. He was not afraid. Death threats were not death itself, far from it. And Quatre didn't like to be pressured and manipulated. If they thought that would be enough for him to chicken out and go, then, they didn't know him at all.

Quatre looked at the card with a determined look.

"Challenge accepted. Just come and kill me if you dare."

O.O.O.O.O

(1) this Chinese title is the equivalent of adding '–sama' after a name in Japanese. It means 'Master', or 'Teacher'.