WARNING!! — There is killing in this chapter! Thought you should know. You have been warned!
A/N For disclaimer see Ch. 1. Sorry took forever to update, no excuse, yadda yadda yadda. Hope you enjoy, please R&R!!!!!!!
Ch. 5 — A Change in Plans
"Well, J's definitely starting to slack off in his old age," Demyan commented to himself as he packed what he would need for his journey to America. Some preliminary research had revealed some interesting information, including the whereabouts of Dr. J and his lab. So now, instead of hunting down the Gundam Pilots one by one like he had planned, Demyan was on his way to destroy J, the lab, and anyone unfortunate enough to be inside when he arrived.
Demyan loaded the truck with all of the things he would require, and set off to the airport where a personal jet (courtesy of Galina) awaited him. He spent the overseas flight first sleeping for a short time and then later continuing his research on trying to find out everything about his targets' lives as they were now.
Upon arriving in the United States on a private airstrip, Demyan rented a vehicle and drove the 10 hours it took to reach Chicago, the city where his target, Dr. J, was located, Demyan set up surveillance equipment and hid it carefully before leaving to find a motel for the night.
The next morning, feeling sufficiently rested, Demyan returned to the lab to complete this part of his mission. Before entering the building, Demyan checked the surveillance equipment to be sure the target was indeed on site, he was. Demyan proceeded to place explosives at strategic points around the building before entering the building via an airshaft. Having memorized the blueprints of the building, Demyan had absolutely no difficulty directing himself to an empty broom closet where he was able to kick out the grate, exit the closet and continue his search of J in a less cramped manner.
J, of course, was in the lab control room starting Heero's exercise hologram. His finished putting in the code as Demyan entered the room silently and aimed his gun at the doctor's head. J turned to switch on a view screen only to be met by the muzzle of a pistol.
"Boy, put the gun down, you don't know what you're doing."
"That's where you're wrong, old man. I know exactly what I'm doing, Dr. J," Demyan said as he cocked the gun and remorselessly pulled the trigger, killing J instantly. "See? Told you I knew what I was doing. If I hadn't, you would've died a much slower death. Others may not be as lucky as you were."
Demyan turned toward the consol that J had been heading for, "Now let's see what you've been up to, shall we, my good doctor?"
Demyan flipped the on switch and the screen whirred to life as the static slowly dissipated. When the static was finally clear, Demyan had a view of Heero's "room" from every conceivable angle. The exercise program Heero was working through, Demyan noted, was not so much different from his own workout schedule set for him by Dr. M. (However, Demyan was unaware that this was one of Heero's easier regimes.)
"It's a pity I have to kill him," Demyan commented to himself as he walked towards the training room. "He could have been a great asset to the rest of my mission. No matter."
Demyan arrived at the proper door and tried the handle, it was locked of course. So Demyan took a couple of steps backwards and then proceeded to ram the door. The door held.
"Stupid door," he muttered as he grabbed his gun and shot a full clip at it. "It didn't even make a dent!" Demyan raged when the smoke had cleared. "Sorry 01, but I can't get the door open to kill you quickly, so it looks like I'll have to leave you here to die in the explosion and the fire that follows, I can't afford to stay here too long, might get caught ya know."
Demyan spared a final glance at the training room and Heero's face before leaving the building and driving away, waiting till he was a good distance away before he pressed the detonation button. He continued driving away as he listened to the satisfying sound of the explosions.
xXxxXxxXx — Same time, somewhere else in the city.
"That was a complete waste of time!"
"No it wasn't, Wufei, and you know it. Because it wasn't that place, we know it's the other one that's J's lab. It's even located near here, only about a 10 minute drive."
"Well, we can't just sit around doing nothing! We're so close; we've got to keep going! Who knows what's happening to Heero while we sit here and talk!"
"All right, Duo, we get the point, and I'm sure we all agree with you. Let's get going, I'll drive."
The four boys got into the car and Trowa drove them across town. As they turned the corner onto a scene of fire trucks and flames, Duo's mouth fell open in horror.
"We've got to find out if Heero's in there!" Quatre yelled over the increasing noise.
"And how do you propose we do that?" Wufei asked.
"Simple, as preventers we commandeer some gear and go in and do a search."
No more words were needed, until they had to explain to the firefighters why they could and were going to take some of the gear.
Trowa discovered J's body a few minutes into the search and notified the others of this and his discovery of the location of the training room due to the master computer located in the room. After moving J's body to an out-of-the-way position Trowa started down the corridor to meet up with the others at the training room. The four met up at the door to Heero's room. The smoke in the hallway was so thick that none of them could see their hands three inches from their faces. The only consolation was that the inside of Heero's room seemed to be relatively smoke free.
When Duo tried to open the door he found, as Demyan had, that it was locked.
"I suppose ramming it would be pointless?"
Duo said nothing, but instead pulled a set of miniature tools, quickly removed the cover of the electronic lock, and made the lock look like a child's toy as he tampered with a couple of wires before an audible click was heard and the door became unlocked.
Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei entered the room, leaving Duo to make sure they didn't get locked in accidentally. As they entered, they saw Heero in the center of the room, still diligently working through his exercise regime.
"Heero?" Quatre called out tentatively. Heero continued as if he hadn't heard them, which he hadn't. Wufei, who had been taking in the room, realized that Heero was connected to a simulation of some sort and would have to be forcibly removed from it if there was to be any chance of saving him and making it out alive. He quickly moved over to the box on the wall that was feeding the simulation to Heero. Wufei pulled his gun and shot half a clip into the box, completely demolishing it.
As the simulation stopped, so did Heero, who stood panting in the mist of smoke that surrounded him. The simulator contact lenses and earphones fell out of Heero's eyes and ears as he collapsed, falling to the floor unconscious.
Quatre ran forward and checked Heero's pulse, which he found to be thready and faint. He turned to the small cot which occupied a corner of the room and grabbed the blanket off of it, quickly wrapping it around Heero's body to help protect him from burns.
"Let's go!" Quatre yelled as Trowa hoisted the unconscious Heero over his shoulder. As they exited the room Duo let the wires go and the door slid shut, locked once more. Of a mutual accord they all hurried from the building as fast as they could, worry for Heero's condition spurring them on. As they exited, several firemen came forward and first relieved Trowa of Heero's unconscious form and then began to help the four out of the fire gear while paramedics came forward to get their patient. Duo and the others watched as another group of firefighters entered the building to continue to try to put out the fire as well as watching as Heero was strapped to a gurney and lifted into the ambulance. Duo hopped in the back with one of the paramedics before the other closed and latched the doors. The other pilots followed closely behind the ambulance in the car they had arrived in.
When they arrived at the hospital, Heero was rushed into the emergency room, leaving the four remaining pilots to fret uselessly in the waiting room.
"What if they can't fix what's wrong with him? What if he's stuck as a vegetable for the rest of his life? Who knows what happened to him when Wufei killed the program? What else could J have done to him?" Duo continued to fret as he paced back and forth in the waiting room. After more than two hours, the doctor came in, stopping Duo mid-rant. Unfortunately, to do that he had to clear his throat loudly several times before they all noticed him.
"Are all of you here for," the doctor looked at the chart in his hands, "Heero Yuy?"
Duo nodded and then gestured that he should continue.
"We have him stabilized to the best of our ability, but the outlook isn't very good as of right now. The preliminary toxicology report revealed that he has large doses of some highly dangerous chemicals in his blood stream. He's up receiving dialysis treatments now, but, honestly, it's a miracle he's managed to survive this long."
"Can we see him?"
"Not now, I'm afraid. His condition is still too unstable. Perhaps a little bit later when we are more certain of his condition. We will probably know more in the morning.
As the doctor left the room, Quatre turned to the others, "Well, I guess I'll call Une and let her know where we are and that we found Heero."
Wufei shook his head sorrowfully, "We found him, the question we face now is will he find his way back to us?"
TBC
A/N Hope you enjoyed it! Please R&R! If I get a lot of reviews, it may inspire me to write more sooner!
