Chapter 13
The storage room was silent as the group tried to calm down after the panic from the Ixupi. The ash vessel, which oddly turned a dark gold color after it was filled, sat on the floor in front of Relena, who stared at it blankly, a vision of boredom. The boys, and the two men, were still scattered around the room, very willing to give Rei the time needed to recover.
Quatre sat on a box, not far from Rei, piecing together any other completed jars they had. (We have ash, oil, cloth.Will Rei know where the Cloth and Oil Ixupis are?) He frowned. (We have to be more careful. If we hadn't had the right jar for ash.) He shuddered at the though of Rei ending up like one of the corpses that were found throughout the museum, or worse, like one of the zombies they were forced to kill in nearly every room. (Perhaps we could keep her here, or someplace safe.) Quatre shook his head to himself. (We tried that with Relena. There's no place we can be sure of in this madhouse.)
He set down the last two pieces and looked at the floor. (And what was Relena thinking?) Quatre had noticed the flash of joy that passed over Relena's face when Rei fell to the floor. (Would Relena really want Rei to get hurt? Is it because of Heero?) He bit his lip as he shoved the jars, talismans, and completed vessels back into the bag. (Relena wouldn't.would she?) His gaze wandered to the girl and he watched her out of the corner of his eye. (Relena is a pacifist. She'll try talking.) He snapped the bag shut. (At least for a while she'll try it.)
Heero's P.O.V.
Heero sat tensely next to Rei and kept one eye on her while watching the rest of the room with the other. (She could have died if I had not been there. We both would have died if Zechs hadn't been either.) He frowned and part of his focus went to Zechs. (Is he trying to get me off guard? Maybe. To early to tell.)
His eyes swept over Quatre on the other side of the room, figuring with the jars and talismans to see if he could complete any more 'vessels' as Rei had called them. Slight irritation and confusion passed across the boy's face and Heero turned his full attention, if discreetly, towards him. Quatre slowly turned his head to watch Relena.
(What is it, Quatre?)
Heero broke the gaze and settled it back on Rei, who sat silent and still next to him, taking slow breaths. (Dead. She nearly died. I can't protect her.) He was suddenly angry, but slowed himself enough to suppress it. (Letting your emotions take over isn't a good way to go through problems.) He blinked slowly, letting the last of his small burst of anger dissipate. (Missions. Retrieve objects and capture enemies. Protect allies.) His eye wandered to Relena. (Be on guard.)
Rei's P.O.V.
Rei made sure of her heart and her breath before making sure she was even mentally stable. (I've fought armies of youmas before and even died a few times, but never have I been so scared as I just was. What was that? Why was I so afraid to die?) She closed her eyes. (Because this time you would have taken an innocent with you. No, two innocents, even worse.) She opened them again. (If we don't get out of here soon, someone is going to die. I can't have that.) She slid off the box and all eyes went to her.
"We need to move on." Everyone, save Relena stood up and nodded. The latter straightened a second later and looked around, looking slightly confused.
"Already? Are you sure you don't want to rest some more?" Relena asked, concern filling her voice.
Rei paused before answering. (What's this?) "I'm fine. Quatre, did you complete any more vessels?"
The blonde stood up and picked the bag up gingerly. "Cloth and Oil. None of the other talismans fit any of the jars."
Rei nodded. "Then we need to get those Ixupi down." She paused a moment and looked around. "I don't like it, but we need to split up."
Heero tensed. "No." He commanded.
Rei turned to him. "It's the fastest way. The sooner we get out of here, the less chance-" She cut herself off. "We need to."
"The boy has a point." Treize spoke up from the far wall. "If you were to have another attack-"
"Impossible." Rei stopped him. "The Ash Ixupi has been sealed and unless someone else had an element dumped all over them, that situation shouldn't ever happen again." (Shouldn't.) She thought suddenly.
"I agree with Treize." Relena smoothed her skirt and stood up straight. "This place is too dangerous to be splitting up. We did it once, and I'm grateful no one was hurt. But we can't expect luck like that all the time."
Rei watched her. (No wonder she's a. What was it? Oh, a Vice Foreign Minister. She could've gotten a Grammy for that.) "But staying together will take more time, and as I said, being in here longer will increase the chances that we'll run into something worse than zombies and Ixupis."
Quatre sighed. "Why don't we all go downstairs. We can put off negotiations until we have all cooled off a little." He looked not-quite- pointedly between Relena and Rei.
Trowa nodded. "He's right. We should get out of this room."
"It's hot." Wufei said suddenly. He moved towards the door. "I'll be waiting at the elevator." And he left.
Rei watched the door close. (What is with him? Maybe I shouldn't ask.)
Heero also saw the suddenly troubled boy. (Is being near Treize bothering him that much?) He had heard about Wufei's defeat at the hands of Treize. (Is that why he is so tense?) Heero's gaze locked onto Zechs. (I can't blame him.)
Rei sighed. "We should go too." And the room silently emptied.
Even the hallway seemed constricting as they filed out. As though sensing it, Duo grins and turns to Rei. "Hey, babe, if you're still tired, I can carry you." He was actually reaching for her before she realized he was serious.
She pushed him away, smiling faintly as he hit the wall. "I'm fine." He flashed his grin again and put his hand on his head.
"Just a suggestion."
Wufei stood around the corner, holding the elevator open. "About time." He muttered and stepped in.
Rei couldn't help but notice as she followed in, Relena carefully maneuvering to be on Heero's right side. It hit Rei a moment later. (She hasn't said anything about his bandage yet.)
True enough, a split second later, Relena let out a deep gasp. "Heero! You're hurt! What happened?" She grasped his arm and pulled it up for inspection. She glared at Rei accusingly. "You let him get hurt."
"He got hurt on his own." Wufei defended from the other side of the elevator.
To verify the words, Heero jerked his arm out of Relena's hold. "Hn."
Looking slightly uncomfortable, Zechs leaned off the opposite wall of the elevator. "She was only concerned."
Heero's glared snapped up to the older man. "She doesn't need to be."
Rei moved slightly out of her corner and as far between the two as she could get without giving Duo an open target. "Can you two calm down? I, for one, would like to avoid a gun fight in an elevator." The elevator chimed off a floor as if in agreement. "And Relena," Rei turned to the said girl, now glaring sullenly at the door. "Heero's a big boy; he can take care of himself, though I'm sure he appreciates the concern." She punctuated with a glare to the boy.
The elevator chimed again and stopped with a thump on the ground floor. The doors opened to the steel hallway and Quatre, in front of the group, hesitated before moving out. The others followed quietly. Treize politely allowed Rei to go before him, leaving him and Wufei as the last ones in the elevator. One hand on the door, he stopped Wufei with the other.
"I know why you are upset. Gain control over your feelings and stop it. You are accomplishing nothing with your attitude."
Wufei jerked his arm away. "You know nothing about me."
Persistent, Treize snatched his arm again. "I know enough to understand that you hate defeat. You despise that you were unable to overcome me, and my being here only reminds you of it."
"Only those who are weak hate."
"Then why are you acting this way? I know you are not weak." Treize let his arm drop, and Wufei turned away.
Saying nothing, he left the older man there and passed around the corner. Treize waited a moment and followed. He saw Wufei slip through a small opening in the wall and into a somewhat small library. Treize paused there.
Out in the lobby, everyone sat silently around. Duo leaned against the showcase, scuffing his feet against the floor, Quatre was standing patiently by the fountain, Trowa stood against the wall, partially obscured by shadows, Heero stood solemnly not far from the showcase, and Zechs was apart from the others, looking across the room at the spiral staircase. Rei leaned on the showcase, not far from Duo, and Relena was a bit away from her, standing quietly at the base of the stairs. Wufei stepped down from the library and sat at the base of those stairs, on the other side from Relena.
Quatre looked up at him. "Where's Treize?"
There was a small noise and Treize stepped from the library doors. "I wanted to look at a book I saw there." He explained easily.
"And?" Heero pressed.
"Nothing interesting." Treize focused on Rei a moment, as though considering what to say. "What happens now?"
She paused. "I'm not sure. I still think we should split up..." She glanced around at the others. "But, I'm not a dictator, so..." She trailed off, holding up her hands in slight defeat.
"Getting through this place faster doesn't make it safer." Heero said decisively. "Though moving around in a large group will be slow," His eyes ran over the assembly. "It will decrease the chance of being picked off."
"Then, I guess it's settled." Rei nodded. "If it's better to be together, then it should be."
Heero tensed. "It wasn't an order."
Rei smiled softly. "I hardly know what's best. Lead the way, gun- boy." She bowed slightly, but pulled back up as Duo tilted his head. "Stop that!" She swiped at him, but he leaned away, smirk firmly in place.
*Sigh* It wasn't exactly one of my longer chapters, but you have to be grateful-I wasn't planning on posting this until this weekend. But, through a series of very nice events, (mostly the library being empty during lunch) I was able to get more work in on this than I had expected. So, here it is! I did some revisions and the first time around, I decided it was way too intense. So, I added a little humor here and there. Hope you like it! (And thanks to everyone who reviewed! I made it to the big 100!!!)
The storage room was silent as the group tried to calm down after the panic from the Ixupi. The ash vessel, which oddly turned a dark gold color after it was filled, sat on the floor in front of Relena, who stared at it blankly, a vision of boredom. The boys, and the two men, were still scattered around the room, very willing to give Rei the time needed to recover.
Quatre sat on a box, not far from Rei, piecing together any other completed jars they had. (We have ash, oil, cloth.Will Rei know where the Cloth and Oil Ixupis are?) He frowned. (We have to be more careful. If we hadn't had the right jar for ash.) He shuddered at the though of Rei ending up like one of the corpses that were found throughout the museum, or worse, like one of the zombies they were forced to kill in nearly every room. (Perhaps we could keep her here, or someplace safe.) Quatre shook his head to himself. (We tried that with Relena. There's no place we can be sure of in this madhouse.)
He set down the last two pieces and looked at the floor. (And what was Relena thinking?) Quatre had noticed the flash of joy that passed over Relena's face when Rei fell to the floor. (Would Relena really want Rei to get hurt? Is it because of Heero?) He bit his lip as he shoved the jars, talismans, and completed vessels back into the bag. (Relena wouldn't.would she?) His gaze wandered to the girl and he watched her out of the corner of his eye. (Relena is a pacifist. She'll try talking.) He snapped the bag shut. (At least for a while she'll try it.)
Heero's P.O.V.
Heero sat tensely next to Rei and kept one eye on her while watching the rest of the room with the other. (She could have died if I had not been there. We both would have died if Zechs hadn't been either.) He frowned and part of his focus went to Zechs. (Is he trying to get me off guard? Maybe. To early to tell.)
His eyes swept over Quatre on the other side of the room, figuring with the jars and talismans to see if he could complete any more 'vessels' as Rei had called them. Slight irritation and confusion passed across the boy's face and Heero turned his full attention, if discreetly, towards him. Quatre slowly turned his head to watch Relena.
(What is it, Quatre?)
Heero broke the gaze and settled it back on Rei, who sat silent and still next to him, taking slow breaths. (Dead. She nearly died. I can't protect her.) He was suddenly angry, but slowed himself enough to suppress it. (Letting your emotions take over isn't a good way to go through problems.) He blinked slowly, letting the last of his small burst of anger dissipate. (Missions. Retrieve objects and capture enemies. Protect allies.) His eye wandered to Relena. (Be on guard.)
Rei's P.O.V.
Rei made sure of her heart and her breath before making sure she was even mentally stable. (I've fought armies of youmas before and even died a few times, but never have I been so scared as I just was. What was that? Why was I so afraid to die?) She closed her eyes. (Because this time you would have taken an innocent with you. No, two innocents, even worse.) She opened them again. (If we don't get out of here soon, someone is going to die. I can't have that.) She slid off the box and all eyes went to her.
"We need to move on." Everyone, save Relena stood up and nodded. The latter straightened a second later and looked around, looking slightly confused.
"Already? Are you sure you don't want to rest some more?" Relena asked, concern filling her voice.
Rei paused before answering. (What's this?) "I'm fine. Quatre, did you complete any more vessels?"
The blonde stood up and picked the bag up gingerly. "Cloth and Oil. None of the other talismans fit any of the jars."
Rei nodded. "Then we need to get those Ixupi down." She paused a moment and looked around. "I don't like it, but we need to split up."
Heero tensed. "No." He commanded.
Rei turned to him. "It's the fastest way. The sooner we get out of here, the less chance-" She cut herself off. "We need to."
"The boy has a point." Treize spoke up from the far wall. "If you were to have another attack-"
"Impossible." Rei stopped him. "The Ash Ixupi has been sealed and unless someone else had an element dumped all over them, that situation shouldn't ever happen again." (Shouldn't.) She thought suddenly.
"I agree with Treize." Relena smoothed her skirt and stood up straight. "This place is too dangerous to be splitting up. We did it once, and I'm grateful no one was hurt. But we can't expect luck like that all the time."
Rei watched her. (No wonder she's a. What was it? Oh, a Vice Foreign Minister. She could've gotten a Grammy for that.) "But staying together will take more time, and as I said, being in here longer will increase the chances that we'll run into something worse than zombies and Ixupis."
Quatre sighed. "Why don't we all go downstairs. We can put off negotiations until we have all cooled off a little." He looked not-quite- pointedly between Relena and Rei.
Trowa nodded. "He's right. We should get out of this room."
"It's hot." Wufei said suddenly. He moved towards the door. "I'll be waiting at the elevator." And he left.
Rei watched the door close. (What is with him? Maybe I shouldn't ask.)
Heero also saw the suddenly troubled boy. (Is being near Treize bothering him that much?) He had heard about Wufei's defeat at the hands of Treize. (Is that why he is so tense?) Heero's gaze locked onto Zechs. (I can't blame him.)
Rei sighed. "We should go too." And the room silently emptied.
Even the hallway seemed constricting as they filed out. As though sensing it, Duo grins and turns to Rei. "Hey, babe, if you're still tired, I can carry you." He was actually reaching for her before she realized he was serious.
She pushed him away, smiling faintly as he hit the wall. "I'm fine." He flashed his grin again and put his hand on his head.
"Just a suggestion."
Wufei stood around the corner, holding the elevator open. "About time." He muttered and stepped in.
Rei couldn't help but notice as she followed in, Relena carefully maneuvering to be on Heero's right side. It hit Rei a moment later. (She hasn't said anything about his bandage yet.)
True enough, a split second later, Relena let out a deep gasp. "Heero! You're hurt! What happened?" She grasped his arm and pulled it up for inspection. She glared at Rei accusingly. "You let him get hurt."
"He got hurt on his own." Wufei defended from the other side of the elevator.
To verify the words, Heero jerked his arm out of Relena's hold. "Hn."
Looking slightly uncomfortable, Zechs leaned off the opposite wall of the elevator. "She was only concerned."
Heero's glared snapped up to the older man. "She doesn't need to be."
Rei moved slightly out of her corner and as far between the two as she could get without giving Duo an open target. "Can you two calm down? I, for one, would like to avoid a gun fight in an elevator." The elevator chimed off a floor as if in agreement. "And Relena," Rei turned to the said girl, now glaring sullenly at the door. "Heero's a big boy; he can take care of himself, though I'm sure he appreciates the concern." She punctuated with a glare to the boy.
The elevator chimed again and stopped with a thump on the ground floor. The doors opened to the steel hallway and Quatre, in front of the group, hesitated before moving out. The others followed quietly. Treize politely allowed Rei to go before him, leaving him and Wufei as the last ones in the elevator. One hand on the door, he stopped Wufei with the other.
"I know why you are upset. Gain control over your feelings and stop it. You are accomplishing nothing with your attitude."
Wufei jerked his arm away. "You know nothing about me."
Persistent, Treize snatched his arm again. "I know enough to understand that you hate defeat. You despise that you were unable to overcome me, and my being here only reminds you of it."
"Only those who are weak hate."
"Then why are you acting this way? I know you are not weak." Treize let his arm drop, and Wufei turned away.
Saying nothing, he left the older man there and passed around the corner. Treize waited a moment and followed. He saw Wufei slip through a small opening in the wall and into a somewhat small library. Treize paused there.
Out in the lobby, everyone sat silently around. Duo leaned against the showcase, scuffing his feet against the floor, Quatre was standing patiently by the fountain, Trowa stood against the wall, partially obscured by shadows, Heero stood solemnly not far from the showcase, and Zechs was apart from the others, looking across the room at the spiral staircase. Rei leaned on the showcase, not far from Duo, and Relena was a bit away from her, standing quietly at the base of the stairs. Wufei stepped down from the library and sat at the base of those stairs, on the other side from Relena.
Quatre looked up at him. "Where's Treize?"
There was a small noise and Treize stepped from the library doors. "I wanted to look at a book I saw there." He explained easily.
"And?" Heero pressed.
"Nothing interesting." Treize focused on Rei a moment, as though considering what to say. "What happens now?"
She paused. "I'm not sure. I still think we should split up..." She glanced around at the others. "But, I'm not a dictator, so..." She trailed off, holding up her hands in slight defeat.
"Getting through this place faster doesn't make it safer." Heero said decisively. "Though moving around in a large group will be slow," His eyes ran over the assembly. "It will decrease the chance of being picked off."
"Then, I guess it's settled." Rei nodded. "If it's better to be together, then it should be."
Heero tensed. "It wasn't an order."
Rei smiled softly. "I hardly know what's best. Lead the way, gun- boy." She bowed slightly, but pulled back up as Duo tilted his head. "Stop that!" She swiped at him, but he leaned away, smirk firmly in place.
*Sigh* It wasn't exactly one of my longer chapters, but you have to be grateful-I wasn't planning on posting this until this weekend. But, through a series of very nice events, (mostly the library being empty during lunch) I was able to get more work in on this than I had expected. So, here it is! I did some revisions and the first time around, I decided it was way too intense. So, I added a little humor here and there. Hope you like it! (And thanks to everyone who reviewed! I made it to the big 100!!!)