Duo nodded and headed out with a flick of his braid. And now, we're going to start getting into place, Heero thought to himself, they're going to regret having dealt with Lee Kodora.
Somewhere I Belong
Chapter 15
Plot Revealed
By: Miguela
Heero bided his time, listening to his music and working his muscles in the gym as he waited for Duo to report back to him. He had to seem like he didn't have two clues what was going on or else Quatre would send up the red flag to the Black Wolves and their plan was useless. He made a point of arranging a dinner meeting with Relena the following day so that he would have something to look forward too.
It didn't take Duo long to return to Heero with the news that everything was set and that the coordinates that Heero had given him were to an abandoned colony not far from their current location. "They must've moved their home base when we found out about Colony Six," Duo said simply as he showed Heero the print out of the coordinates. "We should go there and destroy that transmitter and then take out the chip from Quatre."
"We're going to have to do it simultaneously," Heero said to Duo, "We don't know if destroying the transmitter will hurt Quatre, so the safest way is to take the chip out first. As soon as we're about to enter the colony, we'll have Wufei knock Quatre out."
Duo sighed, "Man, I really hate this," he muttered, "They're using us against each other."
Heero nodded, "We'll have to be one step ahead of their game by going to them before they can make Quatre harm us," Heero said to Duo seriously, "Or else they will make you kill Hilde like they tried to make me kill Relena."
Duo nodded in understanding, "Though I have to say that this sucks," Duo complained, "I don't want to fight Quatre, he's one my friends."
"Quatre can't fight them on his own," Heero said to Duo, "That's why we have to do this. Notify Wufei that I'll meet you both at the spaceport at the T5 section in thirty minutes. We're going to that colony and we're going to settle this once and for all."
Duo nodded and headed out of the gym. Heero took a quick shower and grabbed one of the Preventers' motorcycles. He was rather fond of the machines ever since he started driving one on L1. The machine roared to life beneath him and he pulled on his helmet. He didn't bother to say good bye to Relena this time around. I have every intention of coming back alive, Heero reasoned with himself, I'm not ready to say good bye to Relena yet. He drove at break-neck speed, crouched low to the machine and sped the whole way to the spaceport. He wanted to secure one of the Preventers' air crafts before having to leave. He didn't want to get there and there not be any shuttles left. He skidded to a halt when he got in to the parking lot of the spaceport and held on as the bike tried to pitch him over the handlebars. He groaned at the strain that it caused his chest and unclipped his helmet and tucked it under his arm. He conferred with a couple of his subordinates, a couple of them glancing away from him when they saw him coming.
"I need a shuttle ready for departure in the next thirty minutes," Heero instructed one private. "We have an urgent matter and this needs to be done right now." He put his helmet and keys in a locker and took the key with him. He arrived at the control tower in record time as he saw his shuttle being prepared. "Don't bother supplying a pilot," Heero said to the mechanic putting the order through, "I'll pilot it myself, I just need the shuttle fuelled and prepared for launch in a half hour."
"Sir," the mechanic saluted and changed the order to accommodate the request from his superior.
Heero had taken a liking to his position in the Preventers – he loved to order people around – and didn't want the Preventers to turn into another organization that took to dominating people, and in order to do this, he needed to be there. The Preventers were there to prevent any more incidents, living up to their namesake. They didn't have any mobile suites or heavy artillery, just men who wanted to fight to protect their homes, though it usually meant that they were sent to settle civil disputes. He had made sure that the Preventers group at large had not found out about the goals of the Black Wolves, though he wasn't 100 sure himself.
Duo and Wufei arrived just as Heero was given the okay to board the shuttle. Heero slung his bag over his shoulder and led the way on board. He dropped his duffle bag in one of the empty chairs and sat in the co-pilot's seat. "Duo, why don't you pilot the shuttle?" Heero suggested, "I'll start scanning that colony." He looked back at Wufei, "Get in touch with Trowa and let him know when he can subdue Quatre. Timing is everything with this."
Wufei sat at the communications console and put on the headset. "Just let me know when," Wufei said to Heero as Heero plugged in his laptop to the navigation systems. "Once we have these guys in custody, I think I'll take some vacation."
"To go and see your sweetheart?" Duo asked with a snicker and Wufei shrugged.
"Maybe," he said mischievously.
Duo shot Wufei a strange look as he took his seat at the helm. "Hang on to your hats," he said gleefully as he eased the ship out of the docking station. "We're going to put these guys behind bars and then we're going to celebrate. I think that we should all go out to the festival or something, because this is the best."
"Don't start celebrating yet," Wufei scolded him, "We don't know what they have waiting for us at that colony."
Heero started sending out probes from the shuttle, trying to figure out if they were flying into an ambush or not. There was debris around the abandoned colony and the whole structure looked unstable, but there wasn't any source of life on the colony. "It looks deserted," Heero reported as they neared the colony. "The transmissions are originating from the central area of the colony. Duo, dock with the colony and we'll disable the transmission." He looked back at Wufei, "Tell Trowa that it's time."
Wufei nodded and sent the transmission to Trowa as Duo started the docking sequence. Heero checked his hand gun to be sure that he had bullets available to him. This is going to end here, Heero vowed to himself, I don't want anyone else to get hurt. We've fought too long and too hard for them to ruin our peace. He stuck a second clip in his holster as he loaded the gun and clicked on the safety.
Duo successfully docked with the old colony and the three of them set out to search the colony for the central command center. They were all dressed in space suites in case that the life support systems had been terminated already. They split up since they could cover more ground that way and headed their separate ways. Heero floated down the hallway silently. He had memorized the layout of the colony while they were flying to the colony. He didn't see much point in not knowing where he was going. He removed the face shield on his helmet and clicked the safety off on his gun. He would not be caught unawares.
As he moved through the corridors, his thoughts drifted back to Relena once again. He could no longer deny the feelings that he was in his heart for her, and the more time that he spent separated from her, the more his heart ached. She made his day by smiling. He growled at himself for getting attached to her. Should've killed her, he grumbled to himself, though he knew that had he been given the chance, he wouldn't have been able to kill her. He couldn't pull the trigger any more than he could kill a puppy. Though he didn't want to admit it, his heart had gone soft over the years. He was starting to act more and more like his good-natured self that usual. He wouldn't show any emotion when he was in the presence of Doctor J or Deikim, though he would laugh and play with the other workers on the colony where he lived. He didn't like that every time he would smile he got a shock, so he just stopped smiling. He didn't have a use for it, until he met her. Who would've thought that a spoiled little princess would make his heart feel lighter than air?
He neared the center control area of the colony and slowed his progress speed by placing his hand on the railing. He listened intently for any sound of any sorts as he slowly progressed down into the depths of the colony. There was a gentle slope to the corridor now as it proceeded towards the command center. His heart rate was steady as he stopped and planted a small explosive. He didn't want that colony could be used against them again and it was scheduled for demolition anyway. He moved down the corridor until he heard shouting coming from further down the passage way.
"Wufei, man, what the hell?" Duo demanded angrily, "Why in the hell are you shooting at me?"
"Be quiet 02," Wufei said in a monotone, "I may not have been able to control 01, but I will be able to control 05 until my objectives are met."
Heero kicked off the wall and sped down the hallway until he saw Wufei and Duo come in to view. Duo held his shoulder, which was bleeding, and was kneeling before Wufei, who held knives in his hand. "You shouldn't have betrayed us, 02," Wufei said simply, "We gave you a chance to serve the greater good."
"And what would that be?" Duo asked sarcastically.
"That is for me to know," Wufei said simply as he took aim with another knife. "Pawns don't need to know the master plan; they just need to follow orders."
Duo grimaced as he unbuttoned the strap over his handgun and tossed it at Wufei's feet. "Damn it," Duo muttered as Wufei checked the safety and pocketed the gun.
Heero didn't rush out to help Duo--that would just result in Wufei throwing a knife at him--instead he remained halfway down the corridor and watched to see how Duo fared. He readied his gun just in case he had to take Wufei out. He didn't want to kill his comrades--they were the only true friends he had after all--though he would stop them from killing each other. He watched as Wufei forced Duo to his feet at knife point and directed him inside the center control room.
Heero waited until the door slid closed behind Wufei and Duo and slipped into the air vents. He started the air system in his space suit just to be sure that he wouldn't run out of air while crawling through the vents and followed the general direction towards the control room. The air was sufficient as he came to a grid where he could see Duo, tied to a chair in the far corner of the room as Wufei moved about the room. Heero realized after a minute or so of watching that he was setting the abandoned colony to self-detonate after five minutes. Guess they don't want any witnesses, Heero thought sourly as he removed the grill. He waited until Wufei was directly beneath him and jumped down, sending the two of them sprawling to the ground.
"Heero, Wufei's being controlled by them!" Duo shouted as he tried to undo the knots in the rope around his wrists. Heero took his gun out of its holster and aimed it at Wufei's head. "Heero, don't shoot!" Duo said in alarm.
He waited until Wufei started to shake before he darted behind Wufei and struck him at the base of the skull with the butt of his gun. Wufei staggered from the blow to the back of his head and Heero seized his opportunity to pin his arms behind his back. "Did you honestly think I was going to shoot?" Heero asked Duo irritably as he cuffed Wufei's hands behind his back. He looked around the room for something to disable Wufei's implant as he struggled below him. He found the transmitter for the radio waves and decided that he needed to disable Wufei's chip before he fried the transmitter.
"Hold still," Heero said to Wufei as he went to Duo and started to untie his friend. "You might want to wrap your wound," Heero said to Duo. He went to the main computer panel and started typing furiously to try and disable the self-destruct. "Duo, start getting ready to disengage," Heero instructed his friend, "We have to leave soon or else we'll be blown to bits. Take Wufei and start getting the shuttle ready to leave."
Duo hesitated as he wrapped a strip from Wufei's shirt around the knife in his shoulder, "Heero, we need to head out," Duo said to him, "Can't we just let this place blow up?"
"So long as we're all on this colony when it blows, the master will be happy," came a raspy voice from down the hall. The hair on the back of Heero's neck prickled unpleasantly as he turned to face the man he had met outside the shuttle port on his first trip to L2 to see Relena. "I want all of you to die," he growled angrily as he gripped a detonator in his hand tightly, "That way the master can put his plan in motion."
Heero grit his teeth as Duo went to Wufei, "We're not going to give up," Heero said simply, "We're not just going to let you kill us just because your master wants us to die." I promised Relena that I would come back to her, he thought to himself quietly, I don't want to break my promise to her. He took his gun out of his holster once again, clicked the safety off his gun and took aim at the man's head.
The man grinned, "I thought that we've already gone through this?" he said to Heero as he showed Heero the detonator in his hand. "I don't care whether I live or die, so go ahead and shoot me, Heero Yuy."
Heero could see the annoyance that he was feeling written all over Duo's face, "You're one crazy bastard," Duo muttered as he knocked Wufei out with a well placed punch. "Heero, I'll leave him to you."
Heero nodded slightly as he focused his glare on the man in front of him. He focused his aim on the detonator. Shooting the thing out of his hand is my only hope, he thought sourly.
The man's grin grew wider as he realized Heero's plan. "Shooting the detonator will blow the both of us to smithereens," he said simply, "So, Gundam Pilot, would you like to plead for your life, run away, or try to face your death in the face?"
Heero didn't hesitated and shot the man in the shoulder, making him drop the detonator. Heero held his breath, but there were no echoes of explosions ringing out. He waited a full minute until he released his breath and glared at the man. "It's over," he growled, "You're not going to have it your way this time."
The man gripped his shoulder, crouched on one knee in front of Heero. "You never give up, do you Lee?" he whispered quietly and Heero's neck hair prickled once again. "You served the master as I did. You should be glad to die for him."
"Who in the hell are you?" Heero demanded, "And how do you know my name?"
"I erased your name," he whispered, "You were the perfect soldier…" His face contorted as he dug his fingers into his bullet wound. "Until you met that witch… That witch ruined my perfect soldier…"
Heero's hand faltered as he stared at the wretched man kneeling before him. He seemed to be somewhat familiar, though he couldn't quite place the wretch. "I don't know any alcoholics," he spat in disgust.
The man smiled ruefully, "It was never this bad," he said softly, "When your mother died, things got hard…"
"What do you know about my mother?" Heero demanded as he pulled back the hammer on the gun and listened to it click in to place.
The man's bloodshot eyes saddened, "Don't you know me?" he asked softly, "Don't you remember me at the lab? You were so young when Doctor J found you on our home colony…"
"I don't," Heero said pointedly as he forced himself to steady his hand. "All I know is that you are trying to destroy this place and we're running out of time."
The man shuddered, "My name is Yannick Kodora," he said softly, "I worked with Doctor J."
"K-Kodora?" Heero stammered as he eased the hammer down, "You're related to me?" Heero was in shock and awe as he looked at the shaking man on the floor. He had the same type of fly-away hair that Heero had, the same shade of brown, and the same deep, piercing blue eyes. "You're…"
Yannick nodded, "I'm your father, Lee," he said softly, "Kill me, please…"
Evil Author Laugh Nice little twist if I do say so myself... I'm kind of upset that I'm not getting that many reviews on this fic, it's my best one to date. :( Please review and make me happy? That way I can post the next chapter faster and the cliff hanger can disappear faster. :D
Comet01 - Thank you very much for your input, I try my best to keep the ball rolling on this since I haven't written on it in over 3 years :D