Wonder what will happen this time...

Enjoy!

fjfjfjfjfjfjfj

Chapter 3

fjfjfjfjfjfjfj

"I know that this new peaceful era is a drastic change for most of us. Some of us have seen nothing but war and torment for most of our lives, while others were mercifully spared from such hardships. One of the questions I'm often faced with is how will the companies and workers that have earned their living creating objects of war survive without their products being used? I have given this a great deal of thought, and my solution to this it finding other uses for the products themselves in a non violent process."

Looking out over the crowd of faces all focused on her, Relena kept her smile in place as she continued with her speech from behind the white podium on center stage. "The factories that specialize in making explosives and ammunition for the now obsolete mobile suits could be easily be redesigned to suit mining and development purposes for the Mars terra forming projects. Even the old Mobile suit factories could easily be reformed into engineering suits that specialize in construction and excavating. This course would also mean work for former soldiers whose skills pertain mainly to piloting." she stated on a clearly optimistic tone.

At her side smiling calmly and keeping his gaze out over the crowd was Quatre dressed in his formal attire. Black pressed trousers, polished black wingtips, and a crisp white dress shirt with cravat under a tailored dark blue waist length jacket that had modest silver embellishments along the cuffs and lapels. It was simple, but it also flattered his lean frame nicely.

He knew he that he was nothing more than eye candy for all of his own supporters that were only there because he was. Something for people to look at while Relena gave a speech that was remarkably similar to the ones that she had been giving for the past two months. Not that he was really paying attention.

The entire time he was standing there, smiling to hide the fact he didn't want to be there, he was busy listening to the communications that were taking place through the receiver in his left ear. 'Maybe this is why I let my hair grow out...' he thought in amusement. He knew his hair that now was past his ears hid the already hard to spot receiver flawlessly. So he had no worries of anyone knowing that he wasn't paying attention. 'Listening to the security reports are more interesting anyway. I think the majority of the audience would understand.'

Quatre had to fight off the little smirk that wanted to form, and focused his attention back on the voice that was calling out over the receiver.

-"Teams Gamma, Delta, Beta and Theta report."- Zechs' voice call out.

-"Delta team: everything's clear here, sir."-

-"Theta team: nothing to report."-

-"Gamma team: Protestors are gathering closer to the concert hall, but local authorities are keeping the proceedings peaceful."-

There was a pause and soon Zechs' voice called out again. -"Beta team, report... Beta team, respond..."- When nothing answered Quatre felt his heart pick up slightly. -"Alpha team, send who you can spare to investigate Beta's location. Fire, assist them."-

Each team consisted of at least five members of highly trained operatives. For an entire team to not respond was not a good sign.

-"Epsilon, do you see anything on the cameras at Beta's location?"- Heero's voice asked.

-"Negative, sir... We can't find any trace of them... There aren't any disturbances anywhere.. They all seemed to just step into the camera's blind spot one at a time and never reappeared..."-

-"Wind! Three of the Beta team have been found beaten badly. We still can't locate the last two, but these three need medical attention quickly!"- Noin's voice called out quickly.

'This isn't good.. We've been breeched...' Quatre thought, but there was nothing he could do. Relena had his hands tied by having him accompany her on stage, so all he could do was force his expression to remain calm and keep his eyes on everything around them. If anything happened he was the only one that could push Relena out of harms way.

-"Prince, you should prepare yourself in case we need to rush Relena off the stage."- Trowa stated, and one glance towards stage right let Quatre see the concerned frown on his friend's face hidden in the wings.

Quatre nodded in a way that to the audience looked as if he was agreeing to a point Relena had just made.

-"Prince, from your standpoint, which contingency plan would cause less panic should we encounter a disturbance?"- Une's voice asked from her position in the security room with the Epsilon team.

It only took a moment for Quatre to go over their list of preplanned scenarios. When he decided, he smoothly brushed his hair back with his right hand. Purposely he paused for a brief moment in the motion to allow Zechs in the stage left wing to see his index and middle finger and his thumb running through his wavy hair.

-"Prince has suggested contingency plan three. I concur. All teams consisting of eight members split in half and secure the concert hall area..."- There was a brief pause before Zechs began speaking to him directly. -"Prince, our communications may have been compromised, so I'm speaking on a private frequency that only you are hearing right now. Her speech should conclude in the next five minutes. During the applause act like you're getting a message on your phone then inform her that something has come up. Tell her that her brother needs to see her. She'll know that she has to leave immediately, then quickly escort her back stage. We'll handle everything else."- Zechs told him firmly.

Quatre gave another discreet nod, then carefully scanned the crowd for anything suspicious. He couldn't spot anything right off hand, but the constant flashing lights from the photographers made him uneasy. 'Just keep calm, Quatre..' he told himself over and over.

The next three minutes passed by agonizingly slow, but Relena finally concluded her speech and the entire audience stood up in applause. On cue, Quatre paused in his clapping to fish out his phone from his jacket pocket to look at the display screen briefly and let his eyes widen in surprise. He immediately went to Relena's side and leaned down to whisper into her ear. "Relena, you're brother needs to see you..."

Relena's eyes grew wide as well and she turned quickly to look into Quatre's serious aqua gaze. The look of worry behind her blue eyes was genuine and she covered her mouth in shock. She then turned her attention back to the various microphones on the podium and raised her hands to get the crowd to quiet down. Once she could speak over the noise she leaned towards the microphones. "My deepest apologies to you all, but I've just been informed of an urgent matter that I must attend to right now. So with regret I must cancel the press Q and A for this evening, but I will happily reschedule for another time hopefully in this week. Again I apologize. Good evening to you all."

The moment Relena was done, Quatre took hold of her arm and led her off stage towards where Zechs was awaiting them behind the black curtains. Once Relena was off stage suddenly a blaring buzzing noise accompanied by the sound of a loud bell tore through the complaints of everyone gathered in the concert hall. Flashing red lights from the fire alarms to the building soon followed, which startled everyone.

"What's going on?!" Relena shouted over the alarm.

"Contingency plan three!" Zechs called out as he quickly ushered his sister further back stage.

Just as quickly at the alarms started they cut off. Duo was then bounding up the stage steps dressed in a regular security officer's uniform. He moved quickly to the microphones at the podium and called out to all the confused people. "Sorry about that, folks! Some kid pulled one of the fire alarms near the front doors, so there's no need to worry. But the sprinkler system was charged before we could stop it. So we need to ask everyone to calmly exit the building just in case the heat from the stage lights sets them off. You news media guys better get your equipment out of here fast. If the sprinklers go off this place will be soaked in seconds." He then watched in satisfaction as the press all scrambled to get their cameras and laptops out of the buildings as fast as they could.

When most of the people were calmly filing out of the building, Duo moved to where Trowa had gone to join Quatre and Zechs back stage to watch after the nervous vice foreign minister. "Well, that went better than I expected." Duo chuckled.

"For now at least." Zechs muttered. "We still have two people missing. As soon as the building is cleared of civilians we need to search for them."

"If the other three were led from their posts, we may have to consider that the two were spies and caught them off guard." Quatre pointed out quickly.

"But how would we be able to determine that?" Trowa questioned with a frown.

Quatre glanced at his former partner as he responded. "If the two missing were the first ones to disappear from their posts that would be a major sign, but it's just an option we may have to consider if we don't locate them." He removed the earpiece he had on and pulled out his head set from his trouser pocket. "We better get Relena to a secure location now..."

"Hold it right there, Quatre." Zechs cut in abruptly. "Both you and Relena need to be placed in a secure location. This attack could just as easily be aimed at you as it is her."

Although he wanted to argue, Quatre knew he was right. "I know... Very well. We better move quickly..." he murmured as he placed his head set on.

"Me and Tro will check out the back and make sure the armored car is in position. We'll signal you when it's safe to head back there." Duo said before he and Trowa raced off to the back entrance near the dressing rooms.

As they left Relena let out a deep sigh and rubbed lightly at her temples. "Why must people be so foolish...? Targeting myself and Quatre because we promote peace? I don't understand..." she muttered loudly.

Quatre glanced briefly towards Zechs. "Some people only know violence... The thought of facing a peaceful future is just as terrifying to them as another decade of war is to us..." He bowed his head slightly and let out a deep breath. "You can't expect to have everyone fall in step with your beliefs, Relena... All we can do is give a peaceful alternative to people. It's up to them whether or not they take it."

Relena frowned in annoyance and folded her arms over her pink blazer clad chest. "I'm well aware of that, Quatre, but what would they gain from our deaths? They would be turning us into martyrs."

"It would be like the Heero Yuy assassination all over again." Zechs informed his sister sedately. "Quatre's supporters alone would be in an full blown outrage. His supporters cover most of Africa, Asia, and both north and south America. Not to mention the colonies."

When her brother listed off the areas that the Arabian was strong in it made Relena frown faintly. "Sounds as if Quatre's reach surpasses my own..."

"That's only because I've been in public speaking since I was a child. Most of my supporters have watched me grow up over the past nine years... Anyway, it's not like we have to be concerned with..." When Quatre lifted his head the sight of a all too familiar faint red dot moving along Relena's back made his heart freeze.

Quatre barely had time to register the threat when he surged forward. "Get down!"

Promptly he shoved both Relena and Zechs to the floor. The instant they were down Quatre spun around, reached behind his back and pulled out the gun he had strapped under his jacket in one swift motion. His gaze then shot up to the catwalks above the stage where he instantly saw the black clad figure aiming a sniper rifle. Without hesitating he aimed his gun straight at the figure and fired three times in quick succession.

By the time Zechs finally sat up after the gunfire he watched the black figure plummet the forty feet from the catwalk and land on the stage with a sickening thud. "Stay down, Relena..." he told his trembling sister quickly before moving to investigate the unmoving body.

If the assassin hadn't been killed by the gushing wounds in his chest, then the fall certainly finished the job by the large dark puddle forming under the figure's head.

Reaching out, he tugged the black knit ski mask off to reveal the face of a man in his late thirties with shaggy brown hair. "It's one of the beta team..." he growled loudly.

-"Wind! What's going on?! I heard gun shots!"- Heero's voice called over the head set.

Zechs reached up and pressed a button on his headset. "Prince was able to gun down a sniper before he took a kill shot. All available teams converge at the stage immediately."

"Z... Zechs..."

"What is it, Quatre?" Zechs asked quickly as he began going through the sniper's pockets. Hopefully for anything that would give them a clue to his origin.

"I... I don't think I got him before he could take a shot..."

Zechs looked over at the Arabian with a frown. "What do you..." Before he could ask his question he froze when he saw Quatre clutching at the right side of his stomach. "Quatre...?" His voice was lost when the sound of Quatre's gun falling to the stage floor echoed all around them.

His legs suddenly buckling from under him, Quatre's breath became ragged as he landed on the wooden floor on his knees. He slowly pulled his hand away to reveal a large dark stain on his blue jacket and his palm coated red. His aqua eyes grew wide on seeing the blood, but he felt choked for air and began coughing roughly.

Relena watched in horror as Quatre covered his mouth with his left hand only to have lines of thick dark crimson begin leaking between his fingers. "Quatre!" she shouted as tears filled her eyes.

His heart beating out of control, Zechs felt numb as he stood frozen to the spot. He could only stare at the bloodied figure on the floor. "Quatre..."

More blood began falling from where Quatre was desperately trying to keep his mouth covered. His efforts were futile when his body seemed to convulse hard. The blood that seemed to explode from behind his hand was almost black that it was nearly invisible as it struck the stage top. Quatre lurched forward, having to brace himself on his arms as he trembled violently. He was in a state panic when he still couldn't breathe, but after a few body jarring coughs he was able to get air into his lungs again.

His blurred aqua eyes blinked rapidly, but the sight of the black liquid beneath him and putrid smell of it made him want to retch again. Knowing that he couldn't let himself fall into it, he used what little strength he had left to force himself to push towards his left. He didn't even feel himself striking the floor barely a foot in front of Relena.

Zechs was still in shock at seeing all the blood, but when he saw Quatre collapse and heard Relena calling out the Arabian's name again in terror his hand shot up to his headset. "Sally! Quatre's been hit! We need you backstage now!" he shouted quickly, not even bothering with code names as he rushed to Quatre's side.

Ignoring the frantic calls that were shouted into the headset, Zechs took hold of the trembling body and pulled off the blue jacket. When he saw that the bullet had penetrated straight through Quatre's body and left an exit wound in his back he gritted his teeth in panic. He knew he had to stop the bleeding until Sally got there, so he pulled the bloodied white shirt off of him and ripped it in half so he could wrap and wad it up at both the ugly wounds on the pale skin. Having to move to the Arabian's left side, he ended up half embracing him so he could prop him up and apply pressure on both wounds.

All these motions were a massive blur to Quatre as he began feeling incredibly tired. He noticed a warmth wrapped around him that felt good and only lulled him further into sleep. However the voice that was calling out to him wasn't one that he was expecting. Quatre lifted his dizzy head and saw the look of fear on the face that was hovering over him.

Although it was confusing, he was able to look into the frantic icy depths fixed on him, and gave a faint bloodstained smile. "Thought you hated me..." he whispered weakly.

The words left Zechs chuckling for some sadistic reason as he held on tighter to the younger blonde. "I do, but that doesn't mean I want you dead... I wouldn't have anyone left to hate if you died on me..." he admitted, being quite honest in this tragic moment.

Quatre gave a choked laugh and let his head rest on the older man's shoulder. "I'm sure you'd find someone else eventually... Zechs...?"

"What...?"

"Can.. Can you tell me why...? Why you hate me...? Was it something I did...? If I did something wrong, I'm sorry... I just need to know.. Before..."

"Hey, stop that..." Zechs growled when it felt like Quatre was already giving in. "I'll tell you everything if you pull through this... So if you really need to know you better live, dammit..." he grunted sharply as he heard rapid footsteps hitting the stage from all around them.

Quatre gave a soft raspy chuckle as he lightly gripped at the strong arms around him. "I'll try... But I can't make any.. Any promises..." he whispered as his eyes began feeling heavy.

When the hands that held onto his arm suddenly fell limp Zechs' eyes grew wide in utter fear.

"Quatre...? Quatre!? Dammit, don't do this to me! QUATRE!"

fjfjfjfjfjfjfj

TBC

I can't make any promises either.

Later