Title: Warrior

Part 2/6

A/N: I know the first part was probably a little dull, but things will get better as it progresses (I would like to think so).

Chapter 2: The Arrival

The following week, the other ex-pilots returned from their trips with no conclusive evidence of a female pilot. With no significant leads, Lady Une decided to close the case. It had been a couple of days since the rumors died down, much to everyone's relief. Now they could get back into the field and deal with real people who actually exist. At their return from their previous mission, they were given a field assignment on a corrupt government official, Demitri Strauss. There was evidence suggesting he was planning on assassinating one of the higher authorities to gain a position of power; however, there was not enough evidence. They had to find something more substantial, which explained their current covert mission; to gather evidence to prove Demitri's scheme. Today, Demitri was planning to meet with some shady individuals who were known to kill their targets if given the right price. The meeting was taking place at a coffee shop within the business district. An open crowded area to conceal suspicion and to avoid any underhanded deeds. It was no doubt the meeting choice of the mercenaries. While most of the ex-pilots took their positions around the perimeter, prepared for any mishaps, Quatre was the one inside the shop watching Demitri. He was seated by the window allowing the others to watch him from outside for any signals. His position offered a clear view of Demitri who sat about four tables over and two to the left. It was perfect.

"Would you like more coffee, sir?" The waitress came by the table with a smile.

Quatre returned the smile. "Yes, please."

As the waitress turned away, Quatre kept a furtive eye on Demitri. In order not appear conspicuous, Quatre pretended to read a novel that he brought along for the appearance.

"Excuse me, sir?"

Quatre looked up from the book, expecting the waitress again. For a second, he lost his voice. Before him was a woman with the most beautiful and extraordinary navy-blue eyes he had ever seen. Her eyes glistened from the light pouring in from the window. The more he stared, the deeper he drowned in her eyes. He felt a familiar emotion in them, but he couldn't quite place his finger on it, which only seemed to allure him more. The polite smile she wore was just as stunning. Although seemingly awkward and shy, he found it, overall, cute. Then, he noticed her lips. Her moist supple pink lips formed in a small frown.

Wait, why…?

It was then he realized she had asked a question in which he had failed to respond. Quatre blinked, reminding himself to regain composure.

"Sir?" She tilted her head to get a better look of his face.

"Ah yes." Finally, he found his voice. "Is there something I can help you with?"

She smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry to interrupt your reading but I was wondering if I may sit with you for lunch?"

Quatre looked at her, questioningly. There were other seats available around him—several empty tables in fact.

As if knowing what was going through his mind, she replied, "I know it seems rather odd for a stranger to ask, but I was hoping for a seat by the window so I can read my book before I go back to work."

The moment she had mentioned work, Quatre looked her over to take note of the rest of her appearance. Her brown hair was tied into a firm bun behind her head. And her attire looked the part of a professional administrator of sorts. She wore a white ruffle pleated blouse inside her dark gray blazer which matched her knee-length dark grey skirt and complemented the dark blue heels she adorned. Around her neck hung a common work ID which had her picture and a company name: Strickland Corporation. The woman blushed faintly at Quatre's look over.

"Ah!" Quatre turned red realizing what he just did. "I'm so sorry that was very inappropriate of me."

"Ah…it's fine." She murmured before she cleared her throat again to ask, "So would it be all right if I sit here?"

Quatre spared another furtive glance at Demitri before returning to the woman. He assessed that it wouldn't be a hassle at all for a mere stranger to accompany him while he did reconnaissance. In fact, it would probably look more natural that way.

He smiled at her and gestured to the seat across from him. "You're not interrupting anything at all. I would be delighted to have company. Please sit."

"Thank you very much. Oh, I'm Marie Bennet. Pleasure to meet you." She sat down and raised her hand, flicking her wrist to call the waitress over.

"Kyle Reed. And the pleasure is all mine, Ms. Bennet," he replied. While the waitress took her order, he lifted his book and focused his attention once again on Demitri.

At this point, Demitri's meeting had just about begun. When the two mercenaries had entered the café was unknown to Quatre, which was probably due to the minor distraction before him. It didn't matter though as long as he was able to see what Demitri was planning. From where he sat, he could clearly read Demitri's lips. Reading lips was slightly more difficult to do, but they couldn't risk having a listening device discovered. The man had set down a hefty envelope on the table while he scratched the left side of his neck with his free hand. Quatre read his lips:

$50,000 as we agreed. The second half will be given when the job is complete.

Demitri was scratching his neck again, almost frantic.

Why is he so nervous? Quatre watched as Demitri excuse himself to go to the restroom. No one had gone to the restrooms since the beginning of this meeting, and Quatre had made sure to check there was nothing and no one hiding in there either. Although the emergency exit was next to the restrooms, there was no chance of escape given that Wufei was in the alley outside. He probably just needed to calm himself down for whatever reason he was nervous for.

"So Kyle," He lowered his book and set his attention to Marie, "How is your book?"

Quatre turned to the book in his hands. He wasn't sure how it truly was considering he wasn't even reading the book in the first place. It was only for appearance. So, he tried to make the best neutral answer he could think up. "It's pretty okay. I'm only just starting on it after all so I can't say too much about it yet."

"Oh?" She tilted her head. "What's it about so far?"

Crap… "Ah, well… its—"

Unexpectedly, his phone rang. He fumbled through his pocket for his phone. Quatre was grateful for the person on the other line. He wasn't sure how to lie his way through that one.

Quatre smiled at the Marie, "Excuse me for a moment." He answered the call, "Hello?"

/What's going on? Who are you talking to?/ It was Duo.

"Oh hey there, Dan. I'm just here having lunch with a new friend, Ms. Bennet." He flashed a small smile at her. During moments like this while on the mission, they always tried to keep the conversation sounding casual to others while dropping the real responses in disguise.

/Oh?/ Quatre paused and snuck a peek out the window. He was sure Duo was looking at them from wherever he was outside. /She's pretty cute! *WHAP* Ow—dammit I was playing! Geez./ He smiled knowing full well that it was Heero who caused the injury.

Quatre glanced back at Demitri, who returned from the restroom, and read the words 'Vice Foreign Minister' from his lips. "I hope you're doing well, but listen, Dan, I really should go."

/Oh right. Can you still see Strauss?/

"Yes, I'll talk to you later, Dan. You're interrupting my lunch as I recall saying to you earlier."

/Right, right… Get her number if you can! *WHAP* Owwww!/ With that, Duo hung up.

Quatre looked over to Marie, smiling apologetically, "I'm terribly sorry about that. That was a friend of mine. He can be a bit crazy."

A small smile was etched on her face. "That's all right. It sounded as if you were enjoying the conversation."

By this time, the waitress came by with her order: a small plain turkey sandwich. There was nothing more, not even a drink. He looked at the plate and back at Marie who only smiled at a waitress and uttered a thank you. Quatre couldn't help but raise his brow and blink incredulously at the food. Was this all the woman was going to eat? It didn't seem like it was enough.

"Is that really enough for you?" He voiced his thoughts aloud.

Marie nodded as she took hold of half of the sandwich with one hand while the other held her book. "Yes, it is. I don't like to order too much unless I'm home."

Inwardly, he shrugged and didn't ask anymore after that. He left her to eat and read in peace. Once again, he picked up his book again and turned the page creating the illusion of reading. The meeting with Demitri had continued. From what Quatre could tell, they were finalizing the details of the plan.

This is the best chance. It has to happen the night Vice Foreign Minister Peacecraft holds the banquet.

Quatre tried not to look distressed. This was bad. Whoever Demitri was planning to kill, he was going to have it done on the night all the important officials gathered. That was only three days from now. If they had any chance of preventing an assassination, they certainly didn't have a lot of time on their hands. Quatre hoped that Demitri would reveal the target soon. That is, if Demitri didn't collapse from being so tense. The man was beginning to sweat profusely, using his plaid handkerchief to wipe his face. His hand was even trembling as he wiped the sweat away from his eyes. The anxiety had become so overwhelmingly evident that his men began to wonder if he was going to back out of the plan.

A faint beeping distracted Quatre.

"Ah! So sorry." Marie took the last bite of her sandwich before she stopped her watch's incessant beeping. "I guess that means my time is up."

"Oh…?" He said absentmindedly. His attention far too focused on Demitri who now called the waitress over for a glass of water. The man faintly grabbed at his throat as if it was dry or possibly burning, Quatre couldn't tell.

"My break is about over. I have to get going." Marie took out a handkerchief to wipe her lips before she stood and smiled brightly at Quatre, "Thank you for letting me sit with you, Kyle."

"Oh, it was not a problem. Take care of yourself." Whether Marie had responded, Quatre didn't notice. His eyes—actually, all eyes in the café were upon Demitri now. He was causing a scene. His fist bashed the table and he began gasping for air.

One of the men had taken a hold of his arm and asked, "H-Hey, what's wrong?"

"Roth—" he rasped out before covering his mouth with his handkerchief to cough relentlessly.

The waitress quickly ran to him, presenting a cool glass of water. Demitri snatched it hastily causing some of the water to spill across the floor. He downed the glass like a man taking his fill of water after traveling through the desert. Before anyone could utter another word, there was a piercing crash. The glass had been thrown across the room. All went silent, but the sound of Demitri's erratic breathing. The men kept a wary distance from Demitri, but still kept trying to calm him down. He didn't listen. Unexpectedly, Demitri stood up and flipped the table on its side. No matter what anyone said, he wouldn't listen. It was almost like he was deranged.

"DAMMIT!" He croaked before nearly falling off balance from another coughing fit that shook his entire body. Demitri caught himself and leaned forward with one hand on his knee, the other holding the handkerchief to his mouth.

"H-Hey, I think you should leave. You're c-causing a lot of t-trouble here." The waitress said, frightened. She began stepping back slowly to avoid any harm that may come to her.

Demitri glowered at the waitress. The woman's eyes widened and suddenly let out a piercing scream. Without delay, Quatre placed his hand on the window, signaling the others of trouble before he went to deal with Demitri himself. He ran to shield the waitress from Demitri. When he looked straight at the livid man, his eyes widened. The waitress didn't scream because he was about to attack her.

It was the blood.

There was so much blood.

Demitri's eyes had become so blood-shot that even his tears were bloody. The shock in Quatre's eyes prompted Demitri to look down at his handkerchief. His handkerchief had become so soaked with blood that it dropped onto the floor with a loud splat. He began to tremble, afraid of what was happening to him. Blood was not only spilling from his eyes, but even his nose and his mouth. It didn't look like it was going to stop anytime soon. There was so much blood on his face. Demitri started clawing at his face.

Quatre turned to the waitress. "Please call the ambulance! We need to get him to the hospital! Now!"

She nodded and ran off to the back. Slowly, Quatre approached Demitri, not wishing to startle him. When Demitri noticed him approaching, he clutched onto Quatre's shirt in desperation. He left blood stains all over Quatre's shirt, and even more so as he spoke.

"It's Rothman…This—his doing…"

Demitri stumbled over, prompting Quatre to latch onto the man. "What are you saying?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he pushed Quatre away and yelled, "DAMN YOU ROTHMAN!"

Quatre fell back, crashing into one of the other café tables. Before he could stand back up to help, Demitri coughed again and gagged blood onto the floor around himself. All Demitri could see was red.

*THUD*

As he collapsed onto the floor in the pool of his own blood, all Quatre could do was watch the life abandon his eyes before finally, he was gone.

TBC