Chapter Five:
"Wait! Hold the bus!"
The bus driver chuckled and shook his head in exasperation, even though it had been almost a year since he met the daily rider of his bus he couldn't stop himself from chuckling every day as they went through the same routine.
It was amusing to seeing the same girl run late every morning from staying under the lights of the personal studio she had in her house. The barely visible dark circles under her face showed her determination while working on a piece until the wee hours of morning. Yet, somehow the dark circles never seemed to matter because her smile at the product overpowered any worry. Sometimes, she came in with smudges of graphite still on her face, but her eyes and face were smiling none the less—as if her happiness couldn't be shattered. Vaguely at times, Walker wondered what left the girl in such a happy state.
"She's still running, you know." One of the passenger's reminded, looking out the window to see thefrantic person still running with an arm flapping as much as it could without dropping anything, the other trying to do a balance act with coffee and art supplies.
A teenager clutched her hot cup of coffee astightly as she dared without spilling the liquid all over herself. Her blonde hair spilled out in long tresses from the loose bun held up from a worn-down pencil she had done up in the morning's rush. Her jacket was slipping off her shoulders, book bag slung over shoulders and a completed canvas clutched under the arm holding the coffee. She frantically waved her hands as much as she could without dropping anything to get the bus driver's attention and hoped, even daring to pray at times,that the bus would stop.
Finally, the bus stopped and she panted as she looked at Walker, who was grinning at her in an amused fashion. "Well, Miss Darlain, this ain't no bus stop!"
She shook her head and smiledher thanks and stepped onto the bus, taking a seat and looking over at the person sitting beside her, a delicate blonde by the name of Leia Barton. She was always so quiet, but it didn't stop her kindness in any way, but she always seemed so fragile.
"Hello," Leia quietly greeted with a soft smile, a hidden sad look in her green eyes. He relaxed into her seat and Relena smiled at her, giving her a warm hello also while she sipped her coffee in between the other stops of the ride.
She closed her eyes and leaned her back against the seats cushions. She pulled her bag full of art supplies close to her. A sense of warmth and happinessflowed through her as she rememberedthat she was pursuing her lifelong dream—art. Currently, she was a freshman in a well-known art college.
Her father, of course that said that it wouldn't be right for a daughter of the famous Peacecraft to go to their own college of arts and politics, too many students that could pose a threat to one of the two heirs of their family.
She had just smiled at him, reminding him of Milliardo's choice to leave his name behind, as well as his history and past. She explained that she wanted to express herself not through politics, but through pictures and images.
Her mother, of course, had been supportive. But, the issue of her safety always came up, no matter how good her artwork andpersistancewere.
As she closed her eyes, she remembered crying herself to sleep once in the middle of the night when a kidnapping plot had happened, stiffening her father's resolve on the matter.
Still today, she wondered if her mother had heard her quiet sobs that came from the ache in her souls and somehow managed to convince her father. Relena Peacecraft died that day, and Relena Darlain was born instead—living as the daughter of one of her former father's advisors. At least, until she was through with college, would she remain as such.
She chose though to not dwell on the past and live her life day by day, taking what was given to her when destiny through choices and chances at her.
Her heart still had a thread of fear, wondering if someone would figure her out her secret that she was a Peacecraft daughter. She hoped that any pursuers would be too smart to look in the most overlooked place—her father's own college where she attended.
"Isn't it such a lovely day?" Leia quietly commented in that small voice of hers, looking up at the sky. Somehow, the simple words struck Relena as something else—making the teen wonder just how troubled Leia was, and over what.
She seemed like such a doll lately, fragile and pale as ever. Speaking in a low and soft tone, Relena all but breathed out the name "Leia…" in a soft whisper. The woman turned a little, acknowledging her name, but not letting her eyes meet Relena. They stayed where they were, gaze cast downward on the floor.
Relena opened her mouth, prepared to talk more to her friend, but aloud and annoying car horn interrupted her. She looked out her window and saw a jeep in the distance and a teen jump out of the car quickly, jacket almost falling off from his shoulder like her own had during her rush to catch the bus as well.
"Who is that?" One of the other passengers questioned, if not to himself then to the other occupants.
"Don't know." Walker mumbled as he glanced out of the rear view mirror. Shrugging it off as nothing of importance, he continued to stare ahead andclosely watch the morningtraffic as it inched along, moving faster at some times than others.
"Hey!" the man who jumped out of thejeep shouted, running alongside the now moving bus, pounding on the side of the windows and buses as he ran towards the door. The people on that side of the buswatched the teen with questioning and confused eyes.
Walker glanced to his right, seeing the teenager run alongside the door and pounded on it, obviously a little too hard since the glass cracked. Spider webs formed along the cracked glass, making Walker growl and narrow his eyes.
"Don't let him on!" Relena commented loudly with a glare, looking at the ruined door. Did that person know how much that would take from Walker's salary?
Who was this kid?
The person looked to be in his mid-teens, an aura of strength and will surrounding him almost. The fierce and feral look in the deep blue eyes stood out and caught Walker's eyes most. Long chocolate brown hair hung over the eyes, blowing in the wind in a tangled mess. His skin was tannish, or maybe it was just the sun. Walker put the face to memory so that he would be able to report the person for smashing his window.
Once more, anger bubbled in Walker's chest as he stared at the cracked window for a brief instant before turning away and keeping his eyes on the road, ignoring the stranger as he put his foot to the gas and made the bus go faster. Walker let out a laugh as he pressed on the gas, the teen still pounding on the bus as he tried to catch up.
Fianlly, the mysterious teen was left behind.
Heero cursed as the bus continued on and still tried to catch up, hoping that the occupants or driver would hear him or stop.
"I'm a Preventer, damnit!" The teen shouted. The bus continued on.
Panting as he turned around and stopped in the traffic-filled road, he held out his hands to stop one of the moving cars coming at him. The first and second cars swerved out of the way and he flashed his badge at the third, the car screeching to a halt.
"Preventer, hand over the car!" Heero growled, immediately loosing any and all patience in the matter—innocent lives were at hand.
"Man, this car is NOT stolen!" the driver protested.
Heero whipped out his gun, making the driver's eyes go wide as he stared at the barrel, shouting a curse at seeing the firearm with it's safety off. "It is now."
The man continued to stare for what seemed like minutes, but was only seconds. Heero growled, "Move over!" The man moved over like an obedient person.
Heero hopped in, slammed the door shut and pressed his foot to the gas, immediately gaining speed as he rushed off to follow that bus.
TBC
Author's note: The next chapter will hopefully be longer, if I'm lucky and include the phone call conversation with the mysterious caller. I have to say that I'm on a roll today! I've finished chapter four and this chapter all within something like two hours while listening to my 'The Last Unicorn' songs. What can I say? It motivates me… sadly, my iPod is charging so I'm left with CD's.
Enough with this rambling though; I'm wasting my time when I could be writing more!
I hope that the chapter was enjoyable, and as fast paced and wonderful as the movie—I strongly suggest to any that are allowed to see R rated films that you see the movie if you like action and fast-paced movies like I.
I will say something in this though about the story, in a way that it is NOT related to the movie. I will NOT kill Duo. Lif flipped when she read that Duo was the partner and nearly strangled me until I was able to explain (in between the choking) that I wasn't going to kill him. I can't find it in my heart to kill anyone in this story, other than the evil bastard.
Does anyone have a guess at who the bad guy is from the descriptions I've given in chapters?
Thanks to anyone who is reading and (or) reviewing for this chapter and others! Does this answer the question on the whole 'When is relena showing up?' Also, this chapter is for SVS who wanted the next chapter out!
Love, Red Tail