Part 21
A/N : please everyone welcome our new guest star. The next few parts will feature Dr Corday, from the show ER, as a surgeon (which she is in the show). I will bring her back to the people who created ER when I'm done. I shall not be held responsible of mental trauma due to over-exposure to G-boys.
"What ? But how ? When ?" Duo blurted out.
"When he got out of the Parliament. Iria was injured too."
"Sniper attack …", Heero's voice trailed off when he realized what had happened. "K'so ! How come I didn't see that one coming !"
"It's not like you could have done anything about it, Yuy", Wufei said.
"I should have known", Heero protested. "The whole mission was never to kill Quatre, it was stopping the charities first. There were other ways to do it, other ways that Une wouldn't hesitate to use. I should …"
"Not now, Heero, please", Quatre interrupted weakly. "I don't care who's right or wrong for the moment, I just want to know if my father and my sister are alright. Rashid couldn't tell me anything, the doctors wouldn't talk to people who were not family."
"Which hospital were they taken to ?", Trowa asked quietly, apparently the only one to remain calm, but then he didn't know Quatre's father nor his sister.
"Memorial Medical Center."
"Then we drive you there", Trowa said.
"I'll go to your hotel put Trowa's stuff in Duo's room and join you over here", Catherine said, resolutely taking Trowa's bag from his hand. "And I'll dump yours in Quatre's room", she added, taking Heero's duffel bag. "Anything you want me to bring you from the hotel, sweetie ?", she asked Quatre with a concerned voice.
"I may need clothes if they allow me to stay the night", Quatre said. "And my laptop."
"Gimme your key, I'll fetch all that for you. Now go ahead ! Trowa, you take my car, the keys are in their usual place !"
She zoomed away before any of the boys could stop her. Quatre was still very pale and slightly shaking. Heero was wondering if he should do anything about it, but Duo was there first. He took Quatre in his arms and held him tight.
"It's gonna be OK, Cat. I'm sure it's gonna be OK."
But there was too much fear and anguish in his own voice, and Duo knew it sounded false. Just as swiftly as he had taken Quatre into his arms, he suddenly shoved him into Heero's arms and went to gather his knives near the wooden targets. Heero closed his arms around Quatre's shivering body, silently grateful that Duo had saved him the trouble of being an uncaring bastard who didn't know what to do to comfort his own lover in front of everyone.
"Come on, let's go", Duo said, as Trowa walked out of the trailer, his car keys in his hand.
O.O.O.O.O
Dr. Sally Po got out of the theatre block and threw her blue surgical gown away. God, she hated having famous patients with a passion. At least, since she was head of the unit, she could decide not to handle Mr Winner's case, and in fact, it was not in her area of expertise. Dr Elisabeth Corday was the best cardiac surgeon they had, and she would do a far better job than Sally on that one. As for Iria Winner, her injuries had been fairly minor considering the violence of the attack. The bullet had hit her in the back and had touched no vital organ. The bodyguard who had protected her had not been so lucky. The next shot had struck right into his head.
Sally went to the main office of the unit to give out her instructions concerning her patient. She shot a worried look to the Winners' Head of Security. The man had refused to leave.
"Kimy, I'm done with Mrs Winner. See that she is taken to ICU and monitored. You'll beep me when she wakes up, I want to be there to give her an update on her condition."
"Sure, Dr. Po. Anything else ?"
"Did we manage to contact the family ?"
"Apparently, the man over there contacted Quatre Winner. He told me the boy was on his way here, he wasn't there when the incident occurred."
"Good, you tell me as soon as he is here. Oh, and you tell Dr. Corday to come report to me as soon as she's done with Mr Winner. I want to be able to give his son a full account of what we did. And call extra security. I don't want to see a single damn reporter in those walls, okay?"
"Understood, Dr Po."
Sally went to the restroom to change her clothes. That operation hadn't been easy. The bullet was of a strange kind, and it had been difficult to extract. Sally had not much hope for Mr Winner, considering where he'd been hit. Elisabeth would do her best, but …
Sally frowned. The bullet. She had seen one like that before. More than one. It would probably be taken by the police for evidence, but she probably had time to run a few tests on it before. She dashed back to the block. It was being cleaned.
"Where is the bullet we extracted ?", she asked.
"It's still in there, Dr Po", one of the nurses said. "Do you want us to put it away for the police ?"
"No, thank you, I'll do it myself. If anyone's looking for me, I'll be in the forensic lab."
'It can't be', Sally thought, examining the bullet in the metal bucket. 'The police never caught whoever was responsible, though. And I only worked in two colony clusters, and I don't have access to other forensic departments' archives. Normally. I should run a search, but I'm ready to bet I know what I am going to find. And I don't like it at all. I'll probably have the GSA on my back. Maybe I should call Lu before I do anything. But I still can check something before I give that to the investigators.'
Sally almost ran to the forensic lab.
O.O.O.O.O
"What the hell did you think you were doing, Une ?", H almost screamed.
Zechs winced. But to be honest, it took all of his control not to strangle the woman on the spot. The Doctors were furious, Kushrenada was not pleased, and that was saying something, and Dermail clearly wondered what he was doing in all this mess.
"I remember telling you you should be careful of what you asked, gentlemen", Une bit back icily. "You told me I could do whatever I wished as long as the charities would stop. Your strategy of going after Winner's son clearly wasn't good, as my own failure demonstrated. So I decided for a different course of action."
"But …"
"Lady Une is right on one point, H", Treize interrupted. "You did tell her to use whatever means she saw fit, and she did warn you to be careful about what you asked. She did not overstep the bonds of her contract. However, Une, I don't think that move was clever. Not clever at all, actually. I don't know if we should wish for Mr Winner's death or for his recovery right now. And if he dies, I am not sure we should count on the cutting of the charity programs."
"Now, come on, Treize", G said, "if he dies, it leaves an eighteen-year-old in charge of WEI. Do you really think there's no way we could influence the boy to see things our way ?"
"I'd like to see you try", Treize replied. "You clearly never met him in person."
"And he's got Yuy on his side now", Zechs added.
A deadly silence fell on the room.
"What do you suggest, Zechs ?", Treize finally asked.
"The only reasonable attitude right now is to stay low and wait for what happens next", Zechs said. "You are not in control of the situation. In the eye of the public, this attack could be directed at any of WEI's activities, but there is no doubt the press will associate it with the recent breaking of all ties with KI and Romefeller Ltd."
"But … we mustn't get involved in this !", Dermail protested.
"You are involved", Zechs snapped impatiently. "I can work out something to get you out of this, officially. The best would be for you to go public and declare just how horrified you are by those attacks, and offer your unconditional support to the Winners through this ordeal. Then, we must stay low. Either way, we have no certitude as to what is going to come out of this."
Zechs smiled inwardly. He had a slight idea of how Quatre Winner would take these offers, and of the effect such a behavior would have on Dermail. Kushrenada had already had a glimpse at Quatre's talents, but the Doctors clearly didn't know who they were messing with. And he had always that story with Chang in case everything got out of hand.
"Let's do that", J finally settled. "In appropriate time, we will get into contact with either Mr Winner or his heir. Une, you're dismissed, but I want to be able to contact you. We may need further help."
Une nodded.
"My mission is not finished", she said. "I still must bring Yuy down, and I will. I just realized I should not delegate that task."
She turned to Treize, and bowed slightly.
"Treize-sama, I'm sorry to have disappointed you. I still ask that Zechs should be available should I require his help on this case."
"Certainly. You don't mind, Zechs, do you ?"
"Not at all", Zechs replied, trying with all his might to summon a satisfied grin on his face.
He didn't really know if he was successful, since he was feeling very sick inside. He was supposed to have seen that coming. The main threats had been on Quatre Winner, but actually, since Yuy had called the contract off, there had been no serious attempts against the young man. And considering that Yuy had taken down fifteen yakuzas sent after him, there was a good chance no one would try a repeat performance for quite some time. At least, no one sane. A category which most certainly didn't include Une.
'I failed', Zechs thought. 'It was my duty to ensure that this mission was carried out with a minimum of civil casualties, and I failed. I wouldn't blame Quatre Winner if he wanted to strangle me right now. And Watanabe is definitely going to be too happy about this. I can't let him blow my cover just because the GSA is going to investigate the shooting. I need to contact Colonel Fujirawa and I need to do it soon.'
Zechs was about to make up an excuse to get out when a name caught his ear.
"I don't think we'll have to worry too much about the Winner Charities whatever happens", J was saying. "But they're not the only ones working in that field. What about that one they're working with on Earth, the Peacecraft Foundation ? Can we do anything about them ?"
It was fortunate the room was only dimly lit, because Zechs was sure he had paled and was edging to a nice green color. This couldn't be happening. First his mission was turning out to be a total fiasco since he had managed to let one of the richest man alive get shot in an attack he should have been able to prevent, and now, the Doctors were threatening his parents and his sister. Zechs had that eerie feeling you have when your worst nightmare seems to materialize in front of your eyes.
"Excuse me, but I have to work out something to make sure your names go clear out of this mess" he said.
He got up and out of the room before any of the persons present could ask him where he was going, not that they were really caring anyway. His presence was not required, and if anything really important was there, he could always work his charm to have Treize tell him. Fighting back the wave of nausea and disgust, Zechs took out his secure cell phone and dialed Lucrezia's number.
O.O.O.O.O
'I knew it', Sally thought as she compared the results with months-old notes. 'Just the same. The GSA is not going to be happy about this, but I don't give a damn.'
Just at that moment, her beep ringed, but it was not Dr. Corday. Sally called the number.
"What's up, Kimy ?"
"I have an agent Noin from GSA wanting to speak with you, Dr. Po. About the sniper attacks victims. Should I make her wait ?"
'Good, maybe that'll make it easier if Lu is their investigator. Or not. I can't be sure yet.'
"No, make her go to my office. I'm coming up right away."
Sally hung up and sealed the bullet in a plastic evidence bag. The GSA could run all the tests they wanted, she had enough for her own investigation. Lu was not going to like it.
When Sally came into her office, the young woman waiting there got up with a smile.
"Sally ! It's been a long time !"
"Glad to see you, Lu ! How's Mil ?"
Lucrezia Noin's face darkened a bit.
"I suppose he is alright. He is on a difficult inquiry right now, I can't tell anything of course, but he's not there often and it's tiring."
"Undercover ?", Sally said with a mocking smile.
"How do you know ?", Lucrezia asked, half-smiling.
"Lu, we were at the academy together and you look like you didn't get any in a long long while."
"Sure, I should have known."
She paused for a while, then :
"You know why I am here, right ?"
"Tell me if I'm wrong. The GSA was running a very secret inquiry that you cannot tell anything about and this attack just gets into the scheme they were investigating, which means that the case is under your authority."
"Pretty much."
"You're not going to like this, Lu, but if I take the word of the law, this case is also under my jurisdiction", Sally said, sitting at her desk.
Lucrezia frowned.
"Why that ? You're a surgeon."
"I am a military doctor and a qualified forensic pathologist with power to investigate cases."
"I fail to see how this is relevant to the present situation."
Sally took the bullet in its evidence bag out of her pocket and put it on her desk. Lucrezia looked at it, her face showing no sign of comprehension.
"You remember those cases of serial murders I had on L5-A0206 last year, when I was a visitor pathologist ?"
"Yes."
"I know no one took me seriously at the time, because there were so much deaths the morgue was always full, and people didn't care that some of those people seemed to have been chosen carefully and eliminated on purpose. Or to be more precise, without a purpose. I built a case, Lu. I had material evidence, and I left all of my conclusions to the staff when I left. But the case is not closed. Actually, I am still the one in charge of that case, although I had nothing to help me make any progress. It doesn't help that all the relevant files mysteriously disappeared from the L5 morgue some months ago, but I still have my own notes anyway."
"Are you telling me that …"
"Yes. The person who attempted to murder Mr Winner and Mrs Iria Winner is the same as the one I was chasing back then. Same ammunition, not the same weapon exactly but one of the same type, I'd say an upgraded version. It's the same killer. I technically have power to research archives for other colony clusters, but since I am the only one specifically looking for that, it may not be filed the same way as my notes, and there are not many chances I would find anything."
Lucrezia swore badly in her head. This inquiry was complicated enough without that. But she remembered what Sally had told her at the time. She had been upset by those meaningless deaths, and she had devoted her life to finding that killer. Being forced to leave at the end of her visit without having achieved her goal had been something of a personal failure for her. Now she could start again, and nothing Lucrezia would say would stop her. And, technically, Sally had every right, if not more, to investigate the case. Unless …
"Sal, as a forensic pathologist, you can only be allowed to investigate if someone dies. That is not the case here."
"Yet."
"What do you mean ?", Lucrezia scowled.
"Honestly, Lu, if Mr Winner makes it, it will be a sheer miracle, or Elisabeth is God. See my point ? I hate to bring bad news like this, but it's already a miracle he made it to the Medical Center alive at all. I am not very optimistic. And if that's all you found to try and get me off this inquiry, that was lame."
"I know", Lucrezia admitted, "but you can't blame me for trying."
"You know who did this, Lu."
Lucrezia avoided Sally's gaze.
"You know who did this. Which means you know who killed all those people on L5-A0206. And you're not gonna tell me", Sally insisted.
Lucrezia sighed.
"Sal, this is classified information that I am not at a liberty to give out. You just stepped into a special inquiry that has been going on for months."
"I didn't. The GSA stepped in my inquiry that has been going on for a year."
"You know what I mean. Mil is working undercover for this, and I would thank you not to repeat this nor even mention I told you. Revealing any kind of info at that point would endanger him, the other agents implied, and blow everything we worked for in the last months. And Colonel Fujirawa would gut me alive if I did this without asking her before. Milliardo has already involved civilians in the inquiry, at great personal risk. I can't do it too."
"I understand, Lu. You can't help me on this", Sally said kindly. "I almost prefer hearing it from you. I could have gone crazy on an unknown investigator. It's frustrating beyond belief, but I understand. I have to do it all by myself."
"Does it mean you still intend to investigate ?"
"Of course. The GSA has no right to prevent me from doing it. I won't run into your inquiry, at least not knowingly, but there's no way anyone prevents me from doing my own. I've been chasing that psycho for a long time. I've seen what he does to his victims. I'll get him behind bars if it's the last thing I do."
Lucrezia had to summon all of her mental control not to blurt out that the 'he' was in fact a 'she'. Lady Une was not in any police files except for the GSA's, since she had never been caught for anything.
"I won't stand in your way, Sally", she finally said. "God only knows if there's someone who can, but I know I am not one of those persons. And you're right, technically, we can't prevent you from investigating … if one of the victims dies."
"I'll keep that in mind", Sally assured her with a smile. "Now on to the rules …"
"What rules ?"
"About your investigation. This is my hospital and my unit. There are rules."
"Go ahead", Lucrezia sighed.
"I don't give you any medical update before I've spoken to the family, and then, I only give them to you if the family wishes to keep you informed. I am the only one with the authority to say if the patients are well enough to be interrogated or not and I won't accept any objections be it from you or from any of your helpers. If any of those rules are broken, I'll make sure that the whole lot of you are thrown out of here and you can deal with the Winners directly once they're out of here. I won't have power-abusive military people ordering my staff around. If you guys want a coffee, you take it at the coffee machine like everyone else. The nurses are here to see to the well-being of the patients and their families, not of the police."
Lucrezia nodded. She too had seen too many investigators almost breaking into hospitals to interrogate dying victims, regardless of their medical conditions or of grieving families. And she was pretty sure some of her guys were the type. She should probably ask Sally to give them the speech.
"On even more serious matters, any medical updates I will give you if entitled to do so is to remain confidential. If I hear anything about it in the media without approval from the family, you guys can move out. As for the security of the victims, this is a matter you will settle with the Winners. Their security service is efficient, and if they do not wish further help, then I will not allow agents to stand in my corridors. This is a hospital, not a hotel, and we need our space."
"I get it, Sal. As long as they're here, you're the boss. I'm not sure all of my agents will understand right away, but I trust you will make them see the errors of their ways quite quickly if they don't catch up."
Both women smiled, remembering their days in the academy.
"Is there anything you can tell me now ?", Lucrezia finally asked.
"Not really. I am still waiting for the young Mr Winner to arrive, and Elisabeth is still in the block. All I have for you is this", she said, indicating the bullet on her desk. "I ran some basic tests on it, but it's still good for you guys to play with. With the state it's in anyway, you won't be able to get much out of it, except for the type of ammo and weapon it came from. I can consider giving you access to my notes, but they don't resemble any kind of official files, and I am not sure we could find those back."
Lucrezia thought for a moment.
"If, and I say if, I can find them back, what should I do with them, Sal ?"
"Legally, they are the morgue's property, and since the case is not closed, you should return them to the morgue with a copy to the investigator. Me. It would really help if you could find them back, because I got almost every vital info in my notes, but I miss something."
"And what would that be ?"
"The pictures. All the pictures were in the official files, and on computer databases. The files have disappeared, and a virus in the mainframe of the colony system wiped every record from the electronic databases. I think I'm not making too much of a hypothesis when I say someone tried to cover it."
"Why do you need the pictures ?"
"Lu, have you ever seen what those bullets do inside a human body ?"
There was a tense silence.
"Sal", Lucrezia finally said, "if I find those files, I'll make sure they are returned to you, and you will be given free reign to investigate. I will back you up as much as I can, and provide you with the information I can provide. Commander Watanabe is going to strangle himself with rage, but it's not like there's anything he can do. I'll work with you as much as I can, but there's something you should know. Bringing this killer in is not the goal of our inquiry."
"Then, just leave it to me", Sally said. "God knows if one of my patients dies, I'm going to be very pissed off."
O.O.O.O.O
"… And right now we have absolutely no update concerning either Ibrahim Winner or Iria Winner's medical condition. Reporters have been banned from hospital grounds by the Winner Security Service and a squadron of GSA Agents is guarding the place. Special Agent Noin is the investigator in charge and was not available for comments. Neither the GSA nor the Winners' spokeperson have issued any statement regarding either the incident or the future of WEI. No one has been arrested, and the Parliament area has been closed to the public for investigation. Now we wait for young Mr Winner to arrive at the hospital. That was Kay Townsend, live from the Memorial Medical Center of L3-C6784, for World Broadcast News..."
Relena's head had shot up with the first words of the news report. By the time her mother finally came into her room, tired of knocking and getting no answer, the young girl was glued to the screen, not really believing what she heard. So that was why her father had come back late and escorted by GSA agents. But the news reporter had said Quatre's father and sister had been injured and were currently in hospital.
"Relena !", Eleanor Peacecraft snapped.
"Did you hear that, Mother ? That's awful !"
"I am sure everyone is well being taken care of", Mrs Peacecraft said a bit too dryly.
"We should send someone for news", Relena insisted. "It's only courtesy, they are Father's best business partners, and they need to know we support them through this."
"We get enough news with the television, Relena. Now if you would please turn that thing off…"
"But, no, we do not get enough news through the television !", Relena protested. "Reporters always twist facts anyway, and they are not going to tell me if Quatre is alright ! That must be absolutely awful for him ! Oh my God, I hope he wasn't hurt too, I heard he was supposed to be at the conference too !"
"As far as I heard, he left early", her mother said with a sniff of disapproval.
"Well, it probably saved his life. I wonder who would be such a coward to attack people who are trying to do good like this."
Relena knew she sounded naive, but the show was mostly for her mother's benefit. She had learnt far more than she would have liked for her peace of mind lately. First that her brother was on a very dangerous undercover mission in which he was daily seduced by the very person he was trying to bring in. Then, that one of her friends was chased by a killer, and in love with another one, if she had taken the hint, but that was something else.
"I will go to the hospital see Quatre and make sure he is alright", she decided. "He needs to have his friends with him right now."
"You will most certainly not go there", her mother said, a little surprised that her daughter could even think of doing that.
"And who is going to prevent me from going, Mother ? You ? I don't think you can order me around. I am eighteen and free to go as I choose."
"You will not talk to me that way, young lady ! I am your mother and you owe me some respect ! You will not go there, because there is no need for you to go there. You are probably not wanted."
"What makes you say I am not wanted ? I just want to make sure Quatre is fine, and be there for him."
"And why would you want to do that ? He is not remotely interested in you. I thought things could evolve further from what his father told me, but I haven't had any news since that reception, so I suppose they won't. That boy is nothing you should be concerned about."
"Mother, what in heaven are you talking about ?"
"Well, the way you two were flirting …"
"Flirting ? We were not flirting !"
"You were not ?", Eleanor Peacecraft asked, apparently taken aback by the news.
"Of course not, why would I do that ? Quatre never even hinted he might be interested in me that way, anyway, and I never imagined anything of the kind, so what made you think that … wait, you talked to his father ? What did you two talk about ?"
"Well, he told me that Quatre apparently liked you a lot, and that you did seem to like him too, and that maybe it would be time to make things … official. He said he would talk to his son about it."
Relena let out an exasperated sigh.
"Mother, when are you going to stop doing this ?"
"Doing what ?"
"Trying to marry me off to any young gentleman that has some money and a rich father to back him up ? I am not a merchandise to be displayed ! I will marry when I meet someone who is worth it and if I want to get married ! And I would certainly not have chosen to marry Quatre. He is a friend, for God's sake ! Nothing more than a friend !"
"I'm sorry, Relena, I thought …"
"I know what you thought, Mother. I … I am sorry I snapped, but you have to understand that I will not get married at eighteen to one of your handpicked candidates, that's all. And what made you think Quatre and I were flirting anyway ?"
"Well, you two seemed pretty close. You called him, and he e-mailed you, and he hugged you at the reception and took your hand."
'Yes, well, if you had looked further, Mother, you would have seen that he also took the hand of someone with brown hair and blue eyes who happened not to be me and not to be a girl either', Relena thought.
"Mother, Quatre is just someone who loves contact. He likes to hug all of his friends. I am no different, I like to hug people I like too. We are quite good friends, but I swear there is nothing more."
"I see. I am sorry to have misunderstood the situation, and it looks like I can't have a discussion with Mr Winner right now."
"So may I go to the hospital ?", Relena asked.
Not that it really mattered what her mother said, she would go anyway. But her mother seemed to understand, and Relena felt her heart warm at the sight. Her mother was some times unbearable, that was something the girl blamed on her education. But she was kind-hearted, and always ready to acknowledge her mistakes. Her 'misunderstanding' of the situation also explained why she had seemed to be a bit stiff every time the Winner name was mentioned in her presence those last days. She had thought that the Winners would be honored to have a Peacecraft enter their family, and that she had been rather rudely rejected. Now that she understood it wasn't the case, since there hadn't been any kind of attraction between Relena and Quatre, she actually began to worry.
"You may go", she say. "I will tell your father about all this, and you are to call us as soon as you get some more information, if Quatre allows you to tell us of course. Tell him … tell him if he needs anything, he can always come to us."
"Thanks you, Mother", Relena said, planting a kiss on her mother's cheek. "I'll call as soon as I can."
O.O.O.O.O
Note : Just a quick thing here for non-native speakers like myself. I love acronyms. Every time I find one, I rush to my dictionary to find out what it means. So this is just to tell you that ICU means Intensive Care Unit, and that GSA means Global Security Agency.