Disclaimer: I do not claim to own Gundam Wing. . .there, that's it. . .
Chapter 15
Oh, where did he go. . .Rachel grumbled as she stalked through the forest searching for Duo. She had been walking for a while and hadn't found any trace of him.
"This is hopeless. . ." Rachel saw a large rock up ahead and climbed onto it, plopping down and letting out a stressful sigh. She leaned back and stared up at scattered sunrays filtering through the trees overhead, listening to birds chirping around her somewhere in the leafy branches.
This is actually rather peaceful, I wonder how long we can stay here. Rachel mused as two squirrels chased each other around a tree trunk, playfully jumping from branch to branch as they danced through the forest. She smiled as she watched them scurry by.
Looks like Duo when he was chasing me through that field. . .oh! I almost forgot that I was looking for him! She looked around and suddenly noticed that she had no idea where she was.
"Uh oh. . .okay, stay calm. I'll just teleport to the planes and everything will be fine." She closed her eyes and focused on the cargo planes. Suddenly, she teleported. They were cargo planes, but not the ones she was aiming for. Blinking with wide eyes she said, "Oh crud. . .where am I now!" She looked around and saw strangely shaped mobile suits towering over her, looking slightly like the Gundams.
Huh? What's up with the copies? gasp! It can't be. . . She stared up at one that looked almost exactly like Wing.
"This isn't good. . .I gotta find some place to hide!" Rachel said.
"Indeed." She whipped her head around and gasped as everything went black.
Heero carefully jumped down from the vent and signaled to Trowa. Trowa nodded and closed the vent behind him as he followed Heero. They ran down the hallway and peeked around the corner to find the cell Relena was in heavily guarded by six guards: three by the door, two further up the hallway, and one patrolling the hall leisurely. Heero pulled out his gun and Trowa did the same, pulling out his own gun. They jumped into the entryway and shot down three of the guards, ducking back around the corner as the three by the door took offense and returned fire. Trowa sneaked a peek around the corner quickly and pulled his head back, saying, "One of them is doing something to the door." Heero furrowed his brow and said, "Shoot him." Trowa dashed across the opening, taking aim and quickly taking a few shots and taking down two of the guards and winging the third. Slowly, the last guard reached up and pressed a button on the door before Heero shot him again. They ran down the hall to the door and Heero plastered up against it, staring through a glass viewing window in it to see wind gusting around in the room.
"I can't get the door unlocked, it has some sort of code on it." Trowa said as he tried to break the lock.
"They're venting the room, she'll suffocate." Heero said as Relena looked desperately around, holding her skirt down in the breeze. He looked down at the lock, pushing Trowa aside and pressing random buttons, hitting it after a while trying to make it work that way. He cursed and said, "Did you see any of the buttons he pushed?"
"No, he was standing in the way." Trowa stared at Heero. He looked scared as he fumbled with the edges of the keypad trying to pry it off so he could short-circuit it. He looked around searching the guards for something to help him.
Heero. . .Trowa was stunned by his desperation. Suddenly, he looked up and saw Relena staring out at him through the window, knocking slowly, looking out of breath. Heero shot up and stared at her, putting his hand on the window over hers and looking wide eyed into the fear on her face.
"I can't let her die. . .I won't. . ." Heero muttered, staring blankly at her shock. She mouthed his name and he put his other hand on the window. He suddenly became angry and kicked the door, patting his shorts and shirt as he said, "Do you have any explosives? Anything that can blow the door?"
"That would be Duo's specialty." Trowa said quietly, feeling a bit helpless. But not as much, he figured, as Heero felt. He started punching more numbers into the keypad as he said, "Don't just stand there, search them for something, ANYTHING!" Trowa calmly complied and picked their pockets. A few seconds later, he came back, saying, "Nothing."
"Then find a shutoff switch. . ." Heero muttered, hunched over, leaning his hands and head against the door. Trowa ran off down the hall when alarms suddenly went off.
"Huh? That was a bit delayed. . ." Trowa looked around as red lights flashed on the walls. Heero turned and looked at him.
"That wasn't us." Blinking, Trowa said, "Who? You told the others to stay put. . ." Heero looked down and said, "I don't know." Trowa almost felt sympathetic for him as he turned and ran around the corner, heading out to find something to open the door.
"Wake up." Rachel woke abruptly to a slap in the face, looking up to see a face she loathed so.
"Colonel Une. . .how pleasant to see you." Rachel spat out, scowling at the stern looking woman in uniform.
Why does she always look so constipated. . .and those dorky buns aren't very attractive. . .Rachel thought.
"Well, you seem to be familiar with my name but I don't know you. State your name and purpose for being here. Are you here to rescue that pathetic little foreign minister's daughter? If that's the case I'm sad to say it's a little too late for that, she's been, how should I put it, 'vented'." Colonel Une said with a tinge of pleasure in her voice.
"Let her go, I'm sure you can get whatever you want without her." Rachel said.
"In case you didn't understand the first time, she's dead. Now, are you going to talk on your own or should I get out some of my favorite torturing techniques. . ." She said, pulling her gloves tight as she grinned evilly.
"Technique this!" Rachel kicked Une in the knee cap and she screamed in agony, falling to the ground. With a ball of fire, Rachel burned quickly through the ropes binding her and jumped to her feet, running to the door.
"STOP!" Colonel Une screamed, pulling out her gun. She pulled the trigger and caught Rachel in the side as she ran out.
"Augh!" Rachel yelled in pain but didn't stop. Holding her side as it began to bleed, she ran as fast as she could down the hallway looking for Relena's cell. As she searched the halls, she saw Trowa running the opposite way.
"Rachel! So it was you!" Trowa stopped in front of her and saw the red stain growing on her white tank top, putting a hand on her shoulder as she wobbled. She put a hand out and pushed him away, saying, "I can't stop, I have to find. . .Relena."
"I just came from there, I'll take you!" Trowa said, offering her some help. She waved him off and said, "Just lead the way." They ran down the hall and back to Relena's cell, stopping when they saw Heero sitting on the floor looking blankly at the wall. Rachel swallowed and prayed she wasn't too late and she limped up the door, placing her hand on the keypad and closing her eyes. The door beeped and she turned the knob. The change of pressure created a slight vacuum effect and she braced herself against the wall as she pulled the door open. Heero snapped out of his trance and looked into the room, jumping to his feet the second he saw Relena's body laying limp on the floor. He fell to his knees next to her and rolled her over, putting his ear to her chest to check for a heartbeat. He started giving her CPR, pushing down rhythmically over her heart to bring her back. He paused to give her a few breaths of air before saying, "Breathe!" He hit her chest and pushed again before giving her more air. Trowa stepped into the room and watched Heero desperately giving her CPR over and over, getting more determined every time. Rachel slowly sunk to her knees by Relena's arm and placed a hand on hers, whispering, "Breathe, Relena, breathe. . ." Heero tilted up her chin and opened her mouth, placing his mouth over hers and breathing into her. Suddenly, her lips moved and he pulled back, looking down to see her staring up at him, slightly surprised. Heero let out a sigh and said, "You're alive, I thought you wouldn't make it. . ." She smiled at him and said, "I thought I was dead. I saw you calling to me from heaven and I almost came. . .but. . .I heard a voice call out in my ear like. . .a guardian angel. It told me to breathe. . ." Heero looked up at Rachel and saw her swaying slightly with a dazed look in her eyes. He next noted the blood pooling at her side. He looked up at Trowa and said, "We have to get out of here. Pick Rachel up and carry her, I'll get Relena." As Heero scooped Relena up into his arms, she limply rested her head on his shoulder, muttering, "So. . .dizzy. . ."
"I know, just take it easy and take slow, deep breaths, you'll feel better soon." Trowa lifted Rachel and her arm fell loosely over his arm as her head fell back. He shifted her head back to rest on his shoulder and Heero ran out of the room soon followed by Trowa.
"We can't defend ourselves if we get attacked, Heero, what do we do." Trowa called to him as the siren still blaring rung in his ears.
"We'll worry about that when the time comes." Heero said. As they turned a corner, they ran into a group of guards and quickly put on the breaks, dashing back around the corners. On either side of the hallway, Heero and Trowa rested their armfuls and pulled out their guns, quickly returning fire and shouting to each other.
"Trowa, head down that hall and I'll catch up to you!" Heero yelled, pulling the trigger of his gun and hearing a clicking noise.
"No way, you're out of bullets!" Trowa said. Rachel suddenly looked up slowly and stared across the hall at Relena who was being protectively held in Heero's arm. She stared back and looked a little scared.
She can't die. . .she's their future. . .Rachel thought as she watched Relena scoot back into Heero as a bullet clipped the edge of the wall close to her face. Taking a deep breath, Rachel began to stand.
"Rachel, what are you doing!" Trowa said, trying to stop her. He howled and pulled back his hand, looking at his singed palm.
What the. . .He looked back up to see Rachel's body swallowed by ghostly flames burning around her. She walked out into the middle of the opening as the bullet barrage ended, staring at the guards in the hallway.
"Halt, throw down your weapons and put your hands in the air!" One of the OZ troopers yelled to them. Slowly raising her hands, Rachel whispered, "As you wish." Suddenly like an explosion, fire shot out of her hands and quickly wrapped around the soldiers, causing them to writhe and scream in pain as their bodies set on fire. She continued to bombard them with her attack as she stared coldly at their torturous deaths growing near. Trowa couldn't stand to watch her do anymore harm to the defenseless guards. He jumped up and grabbed her around the middle, dragging her to the ground before rolling away and yelling in pain from setting himself on fire. Heero jumped up and ran to him, helping him put out the fire burning through his clothes and singeing his skin. Finally, the fire went out with one last puff of smoke and Trowa gasped in relief, shaking slowly as he touched his welting skin. Relena was looking on in terror through this but suddenly let out a little scream, watching Rachel sit up and get to her feet, walking slowly down the hallway. Her body was now almost part of the fire blazing around her, catching the hallway on fire in places that it touched. Smoke had begun to gather from the burnt clothing, setting off the fire alarms and sprinklers. Trowa painfully sat up and said in a controlled voice, "We have to stop her, she's out of control, she could kill us all. . ." Heero looked on and said, "Later, we should follow her."
"What! Are you crazy!" Relena said, gasping as she began to get light headed again. Trowa nodded Heero off and began to stand up as Heero ran over to Relena and caught her before she fell over.
"I think she's heading out of here, which is what we need to be doing as well." Heero said softly. He picked Relena up again and walked over to Trowa who was leaning painfully on the wall, one eye shut in agony.
"Are you going to make it on your own?" Heero asked.
"My wounds aren't that bad, I can make it." Trowa said, slowly inching his way away from the wall. They made their way down the hallway, Heero keeping the pace slow so Trowa could keep up, following the path of devastation Rachel had left in her wake. It led to the hangar bay where the Gundam/mobile suits were being kept. There they found Rachel setting fire to the entire hangar bay.
"Rachel, STOP!" Trowa yelled to her as he stumbled a bit and cradled his left arm that was hurt the most.
"We should just leave, I'm sure she'll make it back on her own." Heero said, walking toward the door leading out into the forest.
"No, she'll keep doing this until there's nothing left to burn, who knows when or where she'll stop." Trowa said, determined to do something to bring her wrath to an end. He looked around and finally spotted a fire extinguisher a few feet away. He ran over to it and ripped it off the wall, running over to Rachel and pulling the trigger. It hit her hard and she stumbled to the ground, trying to block the flow. Trowa stepped closer, continuing his attack on the flames slowly dying on her body until the last arch of life disappeared. He dropped the extinguisher and knelt next to her, painfully pulling off his sweater and wrapping Rachel up in it and then picking her up. He staggered a bit as he walked back to Heero who had paused to see if Trowa would be successful or not.
"Her clothes. . ." Relena noted.
"I know, let's just go." Trowa said, keeping his eyes straight ahead as they returned to their planes.
"She's not lost, is she! Oh I shouldn't have run off like that. . ." Duo said as he paced back and forth, ratting on himself as he did.
"Shut up and sit down, Maxwell, I'm sure she'll turn up." Wufei said, calmly sitting on the ground, his arms folded across his chest.
"She's been missing for over a half hour now!" Duo said, stopping to stare at Chang who frowned at Duo's fretting.
"She'll be back, she'll probably come out of those woods any minute now!" Quatre said, waving a hand toward the stand of trees a little ways away. Just then, Trowa and Heero walked out of the forest and came up to the group still carrying the girls. Heero finally put Relena down and Duo ran over to them, saying, "You're back! What the heck happened!" Quatre looked at the shirtless Trowa who's body was badly burnt and red with welts, holding Rachel's still body wrapped tightly in Trowa's green turtleneck. Duo stared wide eyed at her half naked body and said, "Uh. . ."
"Trowa, take inside." Relena said, pointing to the plane. He walked up the ramp tiredly with Relena following him. Duo tried to follow her into the cockpit but she put her hands up and said, "No, this needs a girl's attention, I'll tell you how she is later." She walked in and closed the door behind her, leaving Duo to stare at the door.
But. . .Trowa's not a girl. . .Duo thought as he sighed, walking back to get the story behind what happened from Heero.
"Set her down over there, Trowa." Relena commanded softly. He knelt down to set her on the floor but fell off balance. Relena helped him put her down and he leaned back, gasping in pain and exhaustion. Relena pulled out the Medical kit under the control panel and got out some alcohol and bandages to clean and tend to Trowa's burns.
"Just relax, I'll help you get them wrapped up." Relena said, gently touching the alcohol pads to one of the burns on his arm. He winced in pain and grabbed her hand, scaring her.
"Take care of her, she has. . .has a bullet wound." Trowa stammered. Relena crawled across the floor on her knees and looked around at the skin she could see. She glanced back at Trowa and he said, "On her. . .right side. . ." She carefully pulled back the shirt to see a half healed wound. Blinking, she said, "It looks like she's had it for a while, it's healing over." Groggily, he muttered, "Just. . .cover it up. . ." She got to work tending to it and taped a patch over it. Suddenly, Rachel's body twitched and she sat up straight, the shirt falling down a bit. She saw her lack of cover and pulled the shirt back over herself and groaning from her side that disapproved of her sudden movements.
"What the heck, I'm naked!" Rachel said, looking at Relena and then noticing Trowa looking at her. She screeched and held the shirt tightly against her body. She relaxed and looked worried as she noticed the horrifying condition Trowa's body was in.
"Don't you remember what happened?" Relena asked her, looking a little startled.
"I. . .I remember looking at you from across the hall but then everything went blank. . .until now. . ." She replied, holding the shirt like it meant life and death to let go of it.
"You. . .you missed the part when you turned into a walking bond fire." Trowa muttered.
"What?"
"I thought I was hallucinating when it happened but Trowa's burns are proof that I wasn't. . ." Relena said, looking back at the wobbling boy. Rachel looked at him in shock and said quietly, "I. . .I hurt you?"
"You were burning the guards attacking us and going out of control. Trowa pulled you down to stop you from burning them anymore and since your body was covered with flames. . ." Relena looked down. Rachel stared into Trowa's angst filled eyes and whispered, "Why. . .and your shirt. . ." He painfully moaned and hunched over, leaning his hands on the floor in an attempt to hold himself up. Rachel quickly closed her eyes and a split second later, clothes reappeared on her body. She pulled off Trowa's turtleneck, hurrying over to Trowa and gently taking him in her arms and laying him back, placing his shirt underneath his back to cushion the floor for his badly singed skin. He cringed and tried not to scream in pain as he tried to relax. She slowly reached out her hands and said, "Stay still, I'll heal your skin for you. . ."
"But. . .you. . ." He couldn't complain as he clenched his teeth hard. With a bright glow of light, Rachel passed her hands over Trowa's body, from head to toe, stopping to reveal his healed body. She fell over again, looking slightly in pain as she said, "Please. . .tell Duo. . .I didn't do anything with. . .Quatre. . ." With a thump, she hit the floor unconscious. Trowa sat up, running a hand over his arm now fully healed, looking down at Rachel as he said, "Please, be alright. . ."
