Rain on the Roses

Chapter 11: Turnaround

By: Starlight-x

"An anonymous tip." Sally moved cautiously through the warehouses. "Why do we always get sent to check out anonymous tips?"

Her radio crackled and she reached to answer. "Yeah?"

"Find anything?"

"Not yet." Sally peered around the corner of a warehouse, her gun held at the ready.

"I finished my section. I'll be right there." Wufei said abruptly.

"Don't hurry yourself. There's nobody ….here." Sally paused staring down at something or rather somebody that lay in a crumpled heap.

"Sally?"

"My..." Sally breathed and took a step forward.

"Sally? What's wrong?"

Sally knelt to examine the body closer.

"Damnit woman, answer me." Wufei roared.

"Calm down. I'm fine." Sally answered almost absently. "You might want to hurry. Our anonymous tip was right save for one minor detail."

Wufei burst around the side of the warehouse at a full out run. He skidded to a halt when he saw Sally. His black eyes snapped with frustrated relief. "Damnit Sally, don't ever do that to me again."

"You need to loosen up. I can take care of myself."

"In case you don't remember, we're supposed to be partners."

"And you of all people should know how competent I am." Sally responded calmly. "Now if you're done yelling then you might want to look at this."

Wufei controlled his temper and strode over to stare down at the body and swore.

"Zechs isn't going to be too happy about this."

"Neither is Trowa." Wufei crouched next to the body. "You're sure he's dead?"

"Positive. I could perform if mouth to mouth if you wanted me to, though."

"Don't be ridiculous." Wufei rose and crossed his arms.

Sally leaned in and examined the corpse's forehead. "I'm guessing he was shot execution style. And not too long ago. Rigor mortis hasn't set in completely yet."

They both were distracted by the sound of an engine starting. "Someone was still here." Wufei took off running. He rounded the warehouse just in time to see a pair of taillights turn onto the road and disappear from sight. He stood for a moment, one fist clenched in frustration.

"Did you see who it was?" Sally panted up behind him.

"I don't have x-ray vision." Wufei growled. "No, I didn't see who was driving. I couldn't even get the make of the vehicle."

"Probably somebody from Group Vengeance." Sally let her shoulders slump. "Well, that was our last lead."

"I will not be beaten by some stupid terrorist group." Wufei whirled around and stomped back to where the body lay.

Sally fell into step beside him. "I suppose we better contact Zechs and let him know we found Glenn." She gave a sigh. "He really isn't going to be happy."

00000

"Our last lead, gone. Just like that." Zechs sat, his elbows propped on his desk, his hands buried in his platinum locks. Noin stopped behind him and began massaging the tension out of his shoulders.

"We'll find them."

"How?" Zechs relaxed under her ministrations. "We have no leads Noin. The good guys don't always win. You and I both know that."

Noin stopped her massage and slipped her arms around him, leaning close to kiss him on the cheek softly. "They won't win. Not this time." She whispered into his ear.

"Well, it's good one of us is confident." Zechs observed. He turned his head to glance at the clock on the wall. "I wonder when Wufei and Sally are going to get back. It's been a while since they last reported in."

Noin gave a one shoulder shrug. "Who knows? Maybe they ran into some unexpected problem."

"Well, I'm sure that if they did they'll be able to handle it."

As if in response to Zechs' comment the door to his office opened and Wufei entered muttering darkly under his breath in Chinese. Sally followed him looking half amused, half annoyed.

"Sorry we're late." Sally began. "Our mystery vehicle turned out to be a bunch of kids."

"Probably up to no good." Wufei interjected.

"One of them spotted us with the corpse and got spooked. So they all hightailed it out of there and called the police." She gave an expressive shrug. "Needless to say we had major work trying to convince the overeager cops who responded that we weren't the murderers. Then had trouble trying to keep them from claiming it as their crime scene."

Wufei glared daggers. "I hate kids."

"Don't say things you don't really mean." Sally said patiently. "You know you love Leann and Eddie."

Wufei gave a snort. "I'm going to report to Lady Une." He left.

Sally sighed and shook her head. "Poor guy."

"That tough?" Noin asked interestedly.

"Let's just say I was about ready to shoot the little busybodies myself." Sally said with a wry grin. "We had Officer Ambitious and his sidekick Mr. Rookie to contend with."

"Ah," Noin gave an understanding nod.

00000

Jess stormed through the door to Chris' office. "Was it really necessary?"

"Was what really necessary?" Chris asked calmly, looking up from some papers Layla was showing him.

"Killing Glenn." Jess knew he sounded outraged and attempted to cool his voice. "He made a mistake…"

"One that threatened the welfare of the entire organization." Chris interrupted. "I thought it over thoroughly. Trust me, it wasn't a hasty decision by any means and I regret it deeply but I will not allow anything that threatens us to survive."

"I see." Jess said tightly. He took in a deep breath and released it slowly.

"Now, about your next assignment." Chris went on. "We've received the target's schedule." He flipped through the papers on his desk and pulled one out of the pile, holding it out to Jess. "Memorize it and then destroy it. Report back to me once you've taken out the target."

"Yes sir." Jess took the paper and turned abruptly.

Chris steepled his fingers and watched the other man leave. As the door shut he turned to Layla. "I don't like the feeling I was getting from him. Assign a sniper to follow him. If he starts acting suspicious they are to kill him without hesitation."

"Of course." Layla nodded and left.

00000

Quatre stood in the doorway, attempting to be unobtrusive while Relena met with her aide.

"Well, you're going to have to call a press conference." Justin said calmly.

"Obviously." Relena gave a sigh, glancing over to where Eddie sat next to her playing. "The sooner the better. I don't want any more speculation going on."

"I'll compose a statement for you if you like." Justin used one hand to push his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"No, I better do that myself." Relena shook her head. "What's next?"

"I've taken care of most everything. I just have a few papers you need to look over. Some need your signature." Justin dug in his briefcase.

Quatre felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Duo behind him.

"Hey buddy." Duo said. "I don't want to interrupt, looks like they're busy."

"One of the necessary evils of being in the political world." Quatre responded. "Tons of paperwork."

"I thought that was an evil no matter where you were." Duo grinned.

"Duo?" Relena looked up and smiled at him. "I didn't know you were here."

"Hey Relena." Duo gave her a half wave. "Hilde wants to visit sometime soon. Leann wants to make sure Eddie's really back. Meanwhile, I'm gonna borrow this guy here if you don't mind." He slapped Quatre playfully on the shoulder.

"That's fine with me. Just make sure you return him undamaged." Relena turned back to Justin.

"You heard the lady, undamaged." Quatre told Duo.

"Don't worry, I don't have anything dangerous in mind. Just a little war council." Duo grinned fiercely. "Come on."

"War council?" Quatre raised an eyebrow though he followed willingly enough.

"Yeah, I want to find out what's going on and I figured you be the one to ask. You don't have any moral obligation not to say anything. I thought the others might not be as cooperative with them working in Preventer and all. Conflict of interest. You and I are just sitting on the fringes."

"So, what exactly do you want to know?"

"I've got a little girl at home who has nightmares nearly every night. I want to be able to tell her that's she's perfectly safe. That no stranger is going to come and swoop her off. I know there are lots of bad people in the world, but right now Leann's fixated on that creep who kidnapped Eddie. I want to know what's happening. What are they doing to find him so I can reassure my little girl she doesn't have to be afraid any more?"

"They found him." Quatre turned and faced Duo. "He was dead."

"Damn." Duo stopped walking and shook his head. "Really?"

"It looks like Group Vengeance is extremely efficient at wrapping up loose ends and possible problems."

"I bet Zechs wasn't very happy."

"Nobody was. Wufei has a personal vendetta against them now." Quatre couldn't suppress a smile. "He and Sally had a little run-in with some local law officers. Some kids saw them with Glenn's corpse and thought they had killed him."

"Aw man." Duo let out a laugh. "That must've really pissed him off."

"Majorly, he's turned his attention to locating Vengeance as quickly as he can. I wouldn't want to be in their shoes when he catches up to them." Quatre gave a laugh that turned into a sigh. "Still, it'll be hard since they no longer have the slightest clue of where to start looking."

"That's gotta be a tough break." Duo nodded his head. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and began walking again. "So what are you gonna do?"

"I'll assist however I can."

"I'm not talking about Vengeance." Duo waved his hand dismissively. "I mean about Relena."

"What about her?"

"I mean where you two are living. I know you're on Earth right now, but the long distance communication has got to be killer on romance."

"I haven't thought about it much lately." Quatre confessed. "I know I've got to make a decision, but I can't right now. I'd love nothing better then to move to Earth permanently but that doesn't seem feasible right now. There are so many different things to consider that I really don't know what I'm going to decide."

"My advice is don't stress too much over it." Duo laid a hand on Quatre's shoulder. "I'm sure everything will work out okay."

00000

There was something Chris wasn't telling him, Jess was sure of it. He stared down at the paper with the target's schedule without really seeing it. Another politician. Something seemed a little off. Sure politicians were annoying but it didn't seem like they were the reason Vengeance had been formed. He had joined Vengeance because he had been given the impression that they would be able to find out who had caused the fire that killed his family. Lately whenever he asked Layla just gave him a vague answer. His suspicions had started growing. Glenn's death had only accelerated them. Sure he understood that Glenn would be a high risk factor for the group but the kid could've just stayed hidden for a while. Killing him seemed a bit extreme.

Jess stood up. Time to test his suspicions one last time.

00000

"I still can't believe it." Relena glanced from Quatre to Noin. "So, the person who grabbed Eddie, he's really dead?" She sent a quick look at her son. Eddie was concentrating on his supper, not paying any attention to their conversation while he managed to get more food on his face then in his mouth.

"Yeah, we lost our really good lead." Noin admitted. She looked over at her husband.

"Hey, cheer up Milliardo." Relena reached out and gave her brother's hand a squeeze. "I'm sure you'll find Vengeance."

"You keep your optimism." Zechs gave a half hearted smile. "Someone needs some right now. I just can't seem to muster any up."

"Eat hon, and stop thinking about it for now." Noin advised.

Zechs mustered another smile that was painful to look at and focused on the food in front of him.

Relena turned her own attention to the food she had been served and realized what was really bothering him. It was the absence of Pagen. Tears suddenly filled her eyes as she thought about the elderly man. She looked up at her brother. "I miss him too."

Zechs' mouth twitched for just an instant before he buried his face in his hands and drew in a deep breath that caused his upper body to shake. Noin abandoned her seat to wrap her arms around her husband. "Oh honey." She murmured.

"Damn." The word was muffled behind Zechs' hands. Noin used one hand to slap him lightly on the back of the head.

"Little ears present." She admonished.

"Sorry." Zechs dropped his hands and straightened, drawing in another deep breath. "Sorry." He repeated. "Please excuse me." He had only made a few steps away from the dining room table when his cell phone rang. He turned away to answer. "Zechs here."

There was silence then, "What? Where?" Zechs turned and pointed at Noin, motioning her to him. "Okay, we'll be right there." He flipped his phone closed.

"What's going on?" Noin asked.

"There was another attempted murder. We've got one Group Vengeance guy dead and another wounded. It seems that the guy who's wounded is willing to talk."

"Let's go." Noin sounded eager.

Quatre and Relena watched them go and then exchanged glances.

"Well, sounds like optimism was the way to go." Quatre ventured.

"I guess so." Relena wiped at her eyes and gave a short smile. 'Maybe this will be over soon."

"I hope so sweetheart."

00000

The choice had been easy enough to make. The consequences weren't so nice. Jess struggled to keep awake. The painkillers he'd been given were making him drowsy. Absently he fingered the bandage wrapped around his torso. He should've figured there was someone sent to follow him. He'd learned that fact quickly enough when he'd decided against knocking off the target.

The door to his room opened and tall man with platinum hair entered followed by an attractive woman with short dark hair.

"I'm Zechs Merquise. You wanted to talk to a Preventer?" The man introduced himself.

Jess blinked at the two of them for a moment before remembering why he had wanted to talk to a Preventer. "Yeah, I did."

Zechs pulled a chair around and sat down, leaning forward as he waited for Jess to continue.

00000

Middie lay flipping through television channels. She frowned and gave a slight sigh as she finished the circuit without finding anything to watch before beginning to cycle through them again. A light tapping on her doorjamb caught her attention and she looked over to see her husband standing comfortably in the open doorway. Her face brightened immediately. "Trowa!"

"Hey beautiful." Trowa walked over and handed her a small bouquet of flowers. "How's my wife doing?"

"The last time I saw her she was doing fine." Middie accepted the flowers, leaning in to smell their fragrance. "Why don't you kiss me?" She peered up at him and fluttered her eyelashes coquettishly.

"My wife's the jealous type. Sorry."

"I don't think she'll mind."

"Don't blame me if she comes after you." Trowa leaned in and gave her a kiss before settling himself in the chair he always occupied beside her bed. He glanced over at the television and frowned. "What are you watching?"

"I'm not really watching anything." Middie reached for the remote and flipped the TV off. "I was channel surfing."

"You really were bored." Trowa shook his head slightly.

"Well, I'm not anymore since you're here. But I do admit that I look forward to when I get out of this place."

"So do I." Trowa smiled at her. "I miss you."

"How's the search going?"

"Not too well, last I heard."

Middie listened quietly while Trowa told her what had been happening. "How's Eddie doing?"

"He doesn't want to be far from Relena and she hardly lets him out of her sight. I don't know what's going to happen when she has to go back to work. Right now Justin's been covering for her and bringing her what he can't take care of. Luckily she lightened her schedule considerably before all this happened."

"She's too quick to take responsibility for the world." Middie sighed.

"Quatre's the same way." Trowa said quietly.

"You're right." Middie chuckled. "I wonder how long it'll take them to resolve their long distance problem."

"Duo told me Leann thinks Quatre should move."

"Really?" Middie looked interested. "You know, that's actually a great idea."

"Yeah, I thought so too, but I don't know when he'll finally decide to do it."

"Hmm."

"What are you planning?" Trowa asked, slight amusement in his voice.

"Ask me later." Middie smiled up at him. "Let's just say I don't think I'll be bored for a little while at least."

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A/N: Well, I'm not too happy with how this chapter turned out, but that's just me. Hope I didn't frustrate anyone with the length of time between this chapter and the last. My bad, so sorry all.