Progress: 13 of 14
General Notes: Sorry I took so long to update. Things have been going a little hectic here, and my exam result came back pretty crappy. Have been on the lookout ever since just in case my mother decides to swipe my computer away…anyway, as usual, read, enjoy and review!
Music: Pirates of the Caribbean OST; Madlax OST

Covetousness

Chapter Thirteen: Confrontation

Heero awoke with a start. For a moment, he simply remained where he was, feeling his heart race at having just experienced death. His family, Relena and Xander, dead because of his slip. Because of Quatre's betrayal. The thought alone made Heero want to find the blond man and rip him apart. Slowly, realization hit Heero and he remembered fainting in Central Park. Looking around, he found that it was already well into the night. The laptop bag lay beside him, slightly wet from a small shower that Heero had obviously slept through. He wondered dully for a moment whether the computer still worked, but decided that that would have to wait. He had more important things to do.

Rising slowly, Heero stretched himself, finding that a good portion of his clothes were wet. He had no time to ponder about that though. Slinging the laptop bag over his shoulders, he strode quickly onto the bike path and out of the park. The streets were still busy, but not nearly as busy as they were during rush hour, suggesting that that had long since passed. Feeling suddenly confident about everything within the town, Heero turned and hailed a taxi, heading for a familiar shop.

The taxi stopped abruptly outside of a weapons shop, one of Heero's most common destinations. The store was still open, although it looked like the owner was about to close up at any moment. Determinedly, Heero pushed open the door and greeted the owner. The man stared at him for a few seconds, face blank, until realization finally hit him and he stumbled backwards, knocking over the stool he had been sitting on.

'You!' He exclaimed, shock written clearly on his face. 'You…damn kid, I thought you were dead.'

'I'm back from the dead and wish a vengeance.' Heero growled. 'Loan me a gun.'

'Huh?' The man stared at him, face lax. 'Oh, a gun. Sure kid, what kind.'

'It doesn't matter.' Heero muttered distractedly. 'Just loan me a gun, a hand gun.'

'Sure.' The man, sensing Heero's agitation, quickly reached under the counter to bring out a silver handgun. 'Truth be told, I made this gun for you kid. But then you vanished off the face of the earth and I was left with a custom gun that I really didn't want to sell to anybody else.'

Heero took the gun gratefully, wrapping his hands around it. It was definitely custom made, and fit perfectly into his hands, despite them being smaller than usual.

'Made for you kid.' The man explained. 'You got small hands, so I mounted the safety slightly lower. The trigger is short, and had the grip made so that you can shoot for ages without hurting yourself, not that you ever do, knowing you. Also made it so that you can fire with either hands, although it'll still be more accurate on your right hand.'

'Thanks.' Heero said sincerely. 'Thank you for always doing this for me.'

'Old friend, right kid.' The man winked. 'Perhaps one day you'll tell me your name.'

'I'd have to kill you if I did.' Heero sighed. 'Bullets?'

'Yep.' The man reached under his desk to pull out three full cartridges which he placed on the table. 'Three for you kid.'

'Thanks.' Heero thanked again, already loading one of the cartridges. Facing the man again, he murmured as gratefully as he could. 'Thank you for everything.'

'Welcome kid.' The man chuckled, and when Heero reached into his pocket for cash, shook his head. 'Pay me when you come back.'

'But…'

'You come back, okay kid?' The man looked at him seriously. 'I'd like to think that after all these years, we're somehow friends, even if I still don't know your name.'

'Thank you.' Heero smiled. 'If I come back, I'll pay you double and give you my name.'

'When you come back.' The man reminded gruffly. 'Don't be saying doubtful things like that kid, it's not like you.'

'Guess not.' Heero nodded once, murmured a quick farewell before leaving the store. With a gun in his hand, he felt much safer, and it really made him wonder how he could have gone so long without one.

With gun in hand, Heero began his trek towards the Winner Estate.

'Wufei.' Duo grumbled dully as he looked up from the laptop. 'I don't think he's coming back.'

'He always comes back.' Wufei muttered back. 'Why would he not?'

'Perhaps he's found something more interesting to engage in.' Duo suggested.

'This is just great.' Wufei gave the window a hard knock. 'We finally find where he is, and he decides not to return.'

'That's what fugitives tend to do Wuffers.' Duo said flatly. 'They run.'

'Start thinking then, where would Yuy go?'

'Fucked if I know.' Duo grumbled. He was still feeling unsteady. Heero Yuy was Zero, the boy who had once promised to protect him, who had lived up to that promise for as long as Duo was in the orphanage. Heero. Hero. His Hero. Duo felt his stomach clench uncomfortably. As if he could kill Heero before, but finding out that Heero had been the boy who looked after him when he was young, now that just made the job several times more impossible. That and…Duo shook his head firmly, he would not think any more about it. Either way, he would have to deal with it when the time came.

Suddenly his cell phone rang, jolting Duo out of his revere. He pulled the small device out of his pocket, and was surprised to find that it was Quatre calling. He flipped open the lid in a long since familiar action and pressed the device to his ear, greeting his friend calmly. Quatre's voice on the other end however, was far from calm. Instead, he sounded flustered and highly anxious. Duo felt the doubts from a moment ago vanish as he listened to his friend, who sounded as if he was going to have some form of anxiety attack.

'Calm down Q.' Duo said soothingly. 'Tell me again, what's wrong?'

'There's somebody coming to kill me.' Quatre said quickly, frantically. 'Please Duo, help!'

'Barton's moving.' Wufei said suddenly from Duo's other side, pointing at a lone figure as it left the apartment building across the street and got into a car. There was something strange about the way he was walking, something which screamed danger to Duo.

'I'm come Q.' Duo whispered back frantically. 'Just give me a moment, and I'll be over soon.'

'Please hurry Duo.' Quatre hung up. Duo sighed heavily, eyes still fixed on Trowa who had just started his car and was getting ready to leave. Wufei tugged at his seatbelt, watching the car slip halfway down the street and almost out of sight before starting the car and getting ready to tail him.

'I have to go help a friend of mine.' Duo said quickly. 'He's sure that someone is going to come and kill him.'

'We have a job Duo.' Wufei growled, eyes fixed on the road ahead. 'Must I remind you of that every few hours?'

'My friend is in trouble!' Duo protested, violet eyes shining irritably. 'I have to help him.'

'We have to tail this guy.' Wufei growled. 'He may know where Yuy is.'

'Or he may be going down to the casino.' Duo argued back. 'Quatre is in trouble!'

'Your friend isn't the job!'

'Fine.' Duo waited until they reached a red light. 'I'll take a cab to Q's place, and you can keep following Trowa.'

'Fine.' Wufei gave Duo a furious look. The braided man returned the look as he stepped out of the car and found a taxi in the nearby crowd of waiting cars. He gave the Winner Estate as the destination, and the driver nodded. When the right turn light flashed green, the car turned, driving in front of Wufei's BMW for a moment. Duo gave Wufei a nod, and the man returned the gesture, albeit jerkily.

As the car took down the road, leaving Wufei's car a distant memory, Duo sighed and leaned back. He had a feeling that tonight would not turn out so great.

Heero approached the Winner Estate, and was surprised to see so few guards around the place. He knew what it meant: Quatre was waiting for him. The cunning bastard, Heero would not let him go this time. Swiftly, Heero moved towards a section of the fence that he knew was slightly wider than the rest. Back when he and Quatre had still been friends, he had used this flaw as a backdoor in frequently. Quatre no doubt knew about it, but the blond man was not about to fix it, especially if it meant retarding his friend's progress.

Heero located the flaw easily, and after checking that there were no sentries near by, slipped through. He instantly fell behind a large bush, which he used as cover all the way until the last fifty meters to the spot just under Quatre Winner's study window. Scouting around quickly, Heero determined that none of the guards had been alerted, and climbed up the wall with practiced grace. He was inside before the guards could turn around to determine the small flash in the corner of their eyes.

Pushing past the curtains, Heero landed neatly in Quatre's study, seeing the familiar desk and chair in the corner, the wall surrounded by numerous LCD panels. A wall of bookshelves stood on the opposite wall, just as Heero had remembered. And in the center of the room were the two couches and coffee table Heero could remember so well. As tradition dictated, the coffee table held a bottle of Whisky, one clear glass, a small bucket of ice (although Heero seldom added ice to his drinks), a teapot and cup. The speaker system was on, and was turned down as usual, with the music of the day being Carmina Burana. Sitting on the couch behind the coffee table, was Quatre Winner, currently engaged in a conversation on the phone. He lifted his gaze slowly, seeing Heero and breaking into a smile. He murmured a few farewells before hanging up and placing the cell phone on the coffee table. Heero raised the gun he was carrying immediately, pointing it at Quatre's forehead as he walked closer. The young Winner heir only smiled as he leaned forwards and poured himself a cup of tea, a gesture familiar to them both. Still smiling, he brought the cup to his lips and sipped once, his aquamarine eyes trained on Heero's face.

'Long time no see.' He murmured. 'Would you not say, friend?'

'You are no friend of mine.' Heero growled, walking closer, gun still trained on Quatre's head.

'Have a drink Heero.' Quatre suggested, pushing the bottle of whisky towards the brunet man. 'You can tell me how your few days as a fugitive has been, and I can be the caring Quatre Winner once again. Come on, it'll be like old times again.'

'Screw yourself Winner.' Heero growled coldly. 'Seriously, fuck yourself.'

'My Heero.' Quatre gave an offended look. 'I've never seen you use such vile language.'

'Cut the crap Winner.' Heero's voice was deathly quiet. 'Have any final words before I empty a full clip inside your skull?'

'Yes.' Quatre said seriously, setting down the tea. 'Please join me for one last cup of tea and alcohol? Just one more, just like old times.'

'What are you asked Quatre.' Heero asked irritably. 'There's no such thing as old times after what you did, no such thing! You killed my family! Relena, Xander, both innocents and you had them murdered. Why Quatre? Just so that you could prove how badly you could screw up my life? Just so that you could mess up further with my already screwed up psyche? There's no way for things to be like they were Quatre, and you know it.'

'I do.' Quatre leaned forward to fetch his cup again. 'But still, I go on hoping, praying, that one day you'll forgive me.'

'Don't kid yourself Winner.' Heero snorted. 'There is no forgiveness for what you did.'

'No.' Quatre sighed, his eyes downcast. 'I guess there isn't.'

The door behind the bookshelves suddenly opened. Heero looked over quickly, gun still pointed at Quatre, and felt surprise when he saw Trowa step out, gun held ready and pointing at Heero. The blue-eyed man could not but smile as he turned back to Quatre, his eyes cold and his voice bitter.

'I guess this round has been another interesting experience, hasn't it Winner?' He asked, eyes fixed on Quatre. 'You'd think I'd learn, wouldn't you? The ever so convenient meeting with Trowa, who so conveniently has a apartment nearby and was willing to share it, who so conveniently was reading about Relena Peacecraft, who so conveniently had a laptop which he never used. What else did you plan Quatre?'

'I'm afraid Trowa was my only string this time.' Quatre smiled. 'But Duo Maxwell helped in getting you tangled, although I'll assure you that Maxwell was not another of my strings. Trowa was the only one.'

'Did you like my act Quatre?' Heero asked, feeling anger at the mention of Duo's name. 'Did you find it amusing?'

'Oh yes.' Quatre smiled. 'And it's only going to get better.'

The main door burst open suddenly, and in stepped Duo Maxwell and his partner. The two of them were still for a moment, before taking in the situation and drawing their respective guns as they marched nearer. Wufei pointed his gun directly at Heero, but Duo pointed his gun at Trowa.

'What's going on here?' Duo asked, confused. Quatre smiled.

'It's a grand show Duo!' Quatre declared happily, placing his teacup back on the coffee table. 'The best damn puppet show of the century.'

'Cut the shit Winner.' Heero growled back. 'This is between you and me. Don't get Duo involved.'

'Oh I assure you I was not the one who involved Duo.' Quatre smirked. 'General Khushrenada was ever so displeased when he found you missing, he just had to get the best, and who better than the man who assassinated your family Heero!'

'What?' Heero turned his gaze on Duo, feeling shock rush through his body. Duo's gaze fell to the floor, his shoulders dropping. But when he looked up again and nodded, there was no lie in his eyes.

'Yes.' Duo murmured softly. 'I was the one who killed your wife and son Heero.'

'What the hell is this?' Wufei asked irritably. 'Heero Yuy is the fugitive, so what is with this situation?'

'I'm afraid things are a little complicated.' Quatre explained. 'But obviously we don't have the time to explain it all tonight.' From inside his jacket, he pulled out a black handgun, which he pointed directly at Duo.

'What are you doing Q?' Duo asked uncertainly, gun still trained on Trowa's chest. 'Q?'

'I'm making things more interesting.' Quatre smirked, before turning his gaze back to Heero. 'So, what will you do now, Heero Yuy, no, Zero?'

Heero did not answer as he stood, eyes flashing between Quatre and Duo. Duo may have been the person who pulled the trigger, but Quatre had been the one who gave the order. He would not blame Duo for Relena and Xander's deaths. Still, something nagged at the back of his mind, telling him, reminding him, that here was the person who pulled the trigger. And then, there was that voice in the deeper part of his mind which reminded him that this was Duo, the little boy from his childhood, the memory that J had been aiming to rid him of throughout his life. The person he promised he would always protect…

Quatre pulled the trigger first, sending a bullet Duo's way. Heero moved and took the bullet in the chest, dragging Duo down with him as he fell, gun firing at Quatre. Both Trowa and Wufei fired as well, which prompted Duo to fire as well from his position on the floor. All hell broke loose then as bullets flew everything, hitting into things, people. The whiskey bottle exploded, sending alcohol and glass fragments everywhere. Heero continued aiming for Quatre, but Trowa was standing in the way, taking the shots for the blond man. Wufei had stopped shooting, unsure which way his bullets were supposed to fly. Trowa's own bullets raced towards Heero and Duo, although they were inaccurate, and more missed by several inches. Heero quickly dragged Duo behind Quatre's large desk, hearing Trowa's shots fly by, bouncing off the walls and smashing windows and LCD panels. Heero let the adrenaline take over as he leaned over the desk and fired a few more times before ducking back behind the desk once more.

All gunshots ceased suddenly and silence filled the room. Slowly, Heero felt he adrenaline leave him, and pain began to force its way into his mind, alerting his body of the various damages. He ignored it however as he checked Duo over, and confirmed that the braided man had only suffered a slight flesh wound on his arm. That completed, he crawled out from behind the desk to check on the others.

Trowa was lying in a pile of his own blood, barely supported by a horrifically injured Quatre. Heero stumbled over, realizing the extent of his own injuries as he walked, barely able to keep his balance. A quick glance across confirmed that Wufei was fine, save for a bullet in the leg which he was attending to while casting wary looks around the room. Duo crawled out from behind the desk and joined Heero as he knelt down beside Quatre. Heero gave the blond man a bitter smile, asking him without words whether it was all worth it for that. Quatre smiled, the serene look disturbed only by a small cough which let flow a trail of blood from his mouth.

'You won't believe me Heero.' He whispered as he smoothed Trowa's hair, cradling the man as he slowly slipped away. 'But I never wanted any of this to happen.'

'Sure you didn't.' Heero coughed, spitting out a mouthful of blood. Duo made a noise next to him. Quatre gave him a sad smile before turning back to Trowa.

'What would you say if I told you I did all this for you?' He asked quietly.

'Bullshit.' Heero growled.

'I wanted you to be happy.' Quatre sighed. 'I lied when I said that J had been my puppet all along. That could not have been further from the truth. I saw you once when I was at a meeting with my father, a soldier boy who stood so still, I thought you were a statue. My father said you had been trained well, and commended you like it was a good thing. I thought they were making you into a toy. So I befriended J, gained his trust, pulled some strings until he was under my control. But by then, you were already too heavily on the drugs. Most of the drugs were not even fit for human testing, and yet J used them on you anyway. I stopped him from using anything else strange, damaging, but the damage was already done. I found out that things might be worse for you if went without the pills. So I pretended I didn't know. As long as J did not do anything else terrible, then you would be okay.

'You don't know how difficult it was to watch you Heero. You were always depressed, always emotionally repressed or too emotional. J tried to make you fair and your heart with the mission one hundred percent by ridding you of happiness, but that was not how things worked. Your psyche became so unstable, I was frightened you might kill yourself. You probably don't remember, but there were periods where you were so frightening Heero. So I made J assign you to Relena. That girl was polite and kind and always slightly maternal, so I thought she would do you good. Then you only had the side missions to go with this big one, and you would not remember the side missions either. Then Relena proposed to you, and I made J allow you to accept. I really thought she would do you good Heero.

'But you weren't there enough. Half the time you were living with her, I knew you were under the influence of one thing or another, completely hazy. You probably don't even remember how your son came to be, just that Relena was pregnant one day. You came to my place late at night Heero, right after you and Relena…you said it was strange, that she wanted it and you wanted to make her happy, to give her some of the happiness she was always pouring into you. You drank four bottles of vodka, more than enough for even you. Even if the drugs didn't make you forget, the alcohol sure did.'

Quatre coughed violently, spitting out a large wad of blood. His face paled visibly, and his body shook all over. He did not have much longer. They all knew it.

'Still, I think to some extent you were happy. You told me once about Duo, a boy from the orphanage who was trying to grow a braid. I found him, and I befriended him, for you. I would have introduced you two again, but that would have involved the possibility of having to sacrifice him. He was always the person you wanted to remember the most, the person your mind struggled hardest against the drugs for. But in the end, you still forgot about him, and I didn't want to remind you. It was better if you didn't know.

'But then you found out about the drugs, and you refused to take them. I knew things would get out of hand then, and that you would not understand it if I told you that the drugs were there to keep you alive, even if they destroyed everything that made you, you. So I decided to erase all traces of Heero Yuy, all traces of Zero Lowe save for a impersonal, made up alias ID and a ID behind a level nine lock. I killed your family, your guards, everybody who knew you, and then I killed you.'

Quatre coughed again and toppled over, lying flat on the floor with blood spewing slowly out of his mouth. Several wounds glistened in his chest, but still, he plowed on.

'Then I encouraged J to start a new project, a project that nobody had ever done before. Revive Heero Yuy, but in such a way that he would no longer need medication all the time. A normal Heero Yuy, reborn! J loves everything research related, all I had to do was tempt him with a subject and a lot of funds. He did it, but you forgot your memories. I knew you would hate me if you remembered everything, but I brought you back so that you can have a go at living the life you missed out on the first time. So I sent Trowa to tail you, to befriend you, to lead you to me, to your previous life. It worked! And here we are Heero.'

Heero stared at Quatre, completely speechless. The blond smiled from the floor, tears gathering in his eyes. When he spoke again, his voice was cracked.

'I wasn't lying when I told you I loved you all those years ago.' He murmured. 'You are important to me Heero, I was willing to sacrifice everything for you, even your life.'

'You're an idiot Winner.' Heero muttered, choking on a mouthful of blood. He spat it out quickly, and saw the room swirl. 'In the end, it made no difference.'

'Yes it did.' Quatre's voice was feather-light. 'All of Trowa's shots were peripheral, places which will incapacitate you for the meantime but not cause any long term damage. I also convinced Khushrenada to let you off, told him that I was responsible for all the experiments, and would accept any punishment he deems necessary. Don't give me that look Heero, I told you didn't I? I pull all the strings around here.'

'I hate you Quatre.' Heero murmured, feeling himself keel over. Duo scrambled forwards quickly, catching him before he fell. Unsteadily, he lifted his head slightly to watch Quatre even has his vision swam. 'I hate you.'

'I love you Heero.' Quatre smiled as his eyes slid closed, a smile still fixed firmly on his face. 'I love you.'

Endnotes:

Wails! I killed Quatre! And Trowa! Wails again! They're dead! No! Not much else I want to say really, except I have no knowledge of guns whatsoever, and the information regarding that gun Heero got off the dude at the shop was just some random handgun I ran into over the net that looked pretty. (I suck, I know). Heh…oh, and just one more chapter to go and this story is finished. Wow! (Feels all excited).