AN: So, like... this chapter came out a little darker than I thought... lol Well, okay then! Enjoy?
Chapter 11: Same Shade As Concrete Pt. 2
"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Duo dove for the ground when the two of them finally made it around Hilde's place. They rolled and sat up, keeping close to each other with the bricks of the building right on their backs. "That crazy ass… In broad daylight! Treize is insane. What the hell!"
Heero tried his best to remain as calm as possible. He still heard the firefight taking place out front. He guessed that they would be safe there for as long as the shooting went because even though flying lead didn't discriminate, those particular bullets weren't meant for them.
"The hell did he let out them shots for anyway!?" Duo kept his head low. He also knew they were better off using his girl's building as a shield, but that didn't mean he wouldn't be extra cautious. This situation called for that. "Just a random ass attack on this block?"
Heero looked over at his friend. "You mean you still don't get it?"
"What's to get?"
Hell of a time to forget my gun at home, Heero thought as he reached for the back of his waist to grab at nothing. "Septum. It's obvious that Alex and Mueller did the job."
"No way…" Duo replayed the scene of Alex and Mueller talking to Treize in his head and then put it together with what he knew. There were rumors that the two of them did do murder for hire. He never got that deep into it, but with this sudden attack, he guessed that Heero was probably right. "Oh… yeah, I guess it makes sense. Why would they take that job? They should've known this would happen!"
The both of them instinctively ducked when some more of the building got shot off. "Damn, they're still going at it?" Duo was getting curious about what the scene out front looked like.
"Should be over soon…" It surprised Heero too, the last thing he saw was Alex and Mueller taking out their weapons to toss bullets back at Treize's assassins. It was only two of them, but it just went to show how bat shit insane they were.
"I gotta make sure I call Hilde, let her know to take her sweet ass time getting back. This place is going to be swarming with cops." If he was being completely honest, it really pissed Duo off that they would bring this craziness to his lady's place. But he was happy knowing that she wasn't around. He hated the idea of her being put in danger. And considering what their hometown was like, he had to worry about that more than most people did.
Heero had to admit, he sympathized with Duo there. Hilde also was stuck in this shit hole. She had to watch her step just like they did. At least he didn't have to think about Relena getting caught up in… Heero clenched his jaw. That wasn't a name that needed to be brought up. She wasn't his and had told her as much. He had to do what he could to remember that. Heero wanted to forget.
The pair in hiding let some time pass before they heard the sounds of chaos begin to die down. They heard some tires screeching, Treize's men clearly making their exit. A few more seconds passed by and all that was left was what they guessed were screams and sounds of people losing it. Heero scanned his friend beside him and they both nodded at each other. It was time to check things out.
They both got up and quickly made it around the building, back towards the front. A gruesome scene was presented before them.
There were more dead bodies then they expected. Blood was splattered in different directions and some of the tagged corpses had pools of the red fluid forming all around them. Heero didn't want to look at the bullet-filled dead, but he caught glimpses of some very graphic images that would always stay with him. Let's just say that Heero never saw the inside of a head before.
Many innocent bystanders got hit. They weren't 'innocent' in the sense that they were free of sin. Oh no, where they were attracted many characters of Treize's ilk. Of… Heero's ilk, if he was being honest. But at the same time, they didn't have anything to do with why Treize decided to pay a visit to some lowly projects. It wasn't their fault this happened. That lied with the two his eyes focused on next.
"Fuck! Alex! No!" Heero and Duo moved slowly, approaching Mueller who shocked both of them by surviving the insanity that just occurred. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for his partner in crime. Alex was laid flat on the ground, blood like wine spilling out of him. Bullets tore through his chest and stomach. His eyes wide open staring without any life up towards the sky. "Alex! Alex!" Mueller continued to shout, not wanting to believe what he was seeing. "Treize! I'm gonna kill you! Alex… I'm gonna get him for both of us… for this goddamn block! I'm gonna get that son of a bitch!"
"This is crazy…" Duo shook his head. "Did not expect to see this today. Damn near got shot dead and now… this." Duo reached for his phone. "I gotta call my girl." He walked away as he called Hilde.
Heero stood there, surveying the field. He appeared expressionless but inside this was bothering him a whole hell of a lot. It was like he was looking at a war torn battlefield. His eyes moved from one part of the massacre to the other. He was so close to becoming one of these statistics. He had evaded the God of Death as Duo would occasionally say. Though there was something within him that didn't think he should have. He was no better than some of these guys who were soon to decompose. 'I should be with them.' Heero continued with his morbid thinking. He wondered why he survived. Yeah, he picked up on the shooting faster than anyone else, but those shots that caught the building, should have entered him. Heero shook his head.
This was his environment and that couldn't be denied.
Was he destined to be buried here? Heero couldn't argue that he wouldn't. He wasn't afraid to die, but that didn't mean he wouldn't curse his fate. This is the world he was born in; he had no choice in that decision. It was made for him prior to his birth.
He escaped death this time, but when would the grim reaper come calling for him again? Whatever. Heero was ready. It depressed Heero that he felt that way. It made him sick actually. No one should ever have to feel ready for death. But here he was today. If his number was called, then so be it.
Heero wasn't on the ground with the other corpses, but he felt the light beginning to pour out of him.
"Hey, c'mon. We gotta get out of here. Police gonna be all over soon. We gotta go!" Duo put a hand on Heero's shoulder, getting his attention. Staring absentmindedly, Heero concurred. It was time to evacuate the crimson soaked crime scene.
They started to sprint away. Police sirens could be heard off into the distance, soundtracking their getaway.
They heard Mueller continue to curse Treize's name as he ran off as well. Swearing revenge for his fallen friend.
By the end of the day, Mueller's severed body parts would be found in the trunk of a car down by the same warehouse Septum was killed. Treize always got his man.
"Thank you, Trowa." Relena smiled up at her companion as he held the door for her, leaving the restaurant they just had their lunch in. Trowa nodded down at her. "It's been a while since I had sushi."
"Yeah, I don't even remember when I last had it myself, to be honest." Trowa replied. He remembered that she enjoyed herself a good roll and so did he.
"Dorothy's not much of a fan." Relena explained. "So I never even think about going to a place like that with her." She rolled her eyes as she thought about her picky friend.
"You and Quatre are in the same boat. He only gets it when we're hanging out."
"And we know it's what Dorothy says goes in that relationship." Relena knew her friend could be… assertive, but Quatre never really seemed to have a problem with that. As a matter of fact, he didn't mind empowering her actually and Dorothy very much took notice. She never abused her power and made sure to return the affection for her partner.
"Well you know Quatre, not the most confrontational guy in the world." Trowa noted about his good friend. "As long as she's happy, he's cool."
Relena nodded in agreement. "And I guess that's why they do so well together."
Trowa shrugged. "Guess so."
The two walked towards Trowa's ride. It was nice to head out here with someone like him, Relena began to think. Trowa was considerate, open with her and always did what he could to make her feel comfortable. It helped immensely that he was one of the most attractive guys she had ever met. She inwardly laughed at that thought. All this time, everyone had the idea that they were already tied together. Neither acted on any of the potential feelings that could possibly have been there.
Relena tried to keep thinking of him as a brother or just a really good friend. Trowa did the same, avoiding the idea of dating her for the same reasons all friends try to keep from entering relationships. Neither wanted to lose their valued friendship. But with these recent turn of events, perhaps the time had come to rethink their involvement with each other.
She got lost in thought about the situation that she didn't even notice a crack on the ground. Her foot went right for it. It caused her to stumble forward but before her body could even think about falling forward, Trowa quickly reacted. He held her steady by her waist. "Oh! Um, thanks!" She awkwardly chuckled up at him. He just shrugged, giving her a playful smirk.
He really was something to look at, Relena thought as her blue eyes clashed with his green tinted irises. She felt her face turn to the color of rose as she felt him take a firm grasp of her hips, pulling her in. Her heart beat began to pick up speed… but then something weird happened.
'It's another way of me thanking you… as friends.'
That's what she told Heero when she first hugged him.
'You're an odd girl.'
That's what Heero said when he touched her hair at his house.
'There, try again.'
That's what Heero said when he helped her hold a basketball the right way.
'Relena…'
And when he said her name, as he held her, as he was about to kiss her…
These memories assaulted her thought process. It was obviously triggered by Trowa's touch. It was almost like she was being taunted.
It's as if her head was telling her that no matter the feel of Trowa's touch, it wasn't the same as his.
It wasn't like how Heero touched her.
Relena bit her lower lip and gave her head a slight shake. There was no way he could own any real estate in her mind. He told her to go away. And… she would do what she could to honor his request.
"Something the matter?"
"Oh, um, no. Just sort of got lost there for a second." A clumsy chuckle followed her explanation. Trowa released her from his hold and gave her a funny look before putting his hands up with a grin.
"If you say so."
Relena sighed. She had to get it together. She couldn't have thoughts of… him. Not while she was with Trowa. No, not just when she's with Trowa. Just in general. She regained her composure and continued onward, Trowa right alongside her.
As they progressed forward, two guys went walking by them. They were talking about something and Relena overheard their words.
"Hey, check this out. I guess there was like a crazy shootout!" one of them said.
"Really? Where at?" his companion inquired.
"The North End. Where all of those pieces of shit live, you know? Yeah, I read on my phone that there were like a bunch of dead bodies. I think it was gang related or something."
"Sounds like a warzone out there." The man shook his head.
"I know right? Well it's better if they all just kill themselves off, I guess."
"Yeah, screw it. Saves us the trouble of paying for their prison meals."
Relena slowed her walking, looking over her shoulder at the men she eavesdropped on. The North End… that's where Heero is from. So much for keeping him from dominating her thoughts. Now she was beginning to worry. Regardless of how things went down between them, she hoped he was nowhere near whatever shooting just happened in his neck of the woods. She couldn't stand the idea of him possibly being hurt or even worse. Her body started to tighten up at the thought. But then again, awful things had occurred there before without Heero being present.
What were the chances that he was anywhere close to where this incident took place?
The next day arrived. Heero, Wufei and Duo were hanging out at the local run down basketball courts.
"Can't believe you guys were there." Wufei had heard of the big shootout, but had no idea that his two friends were involved. Or more specifically, that Treize would hit up the same place where Hilde lived.
"It was nuts man, I've never seen anything like that before. Hopefully I don't ever have to again." Treize obviously had his reputation, but Duo hadn't gotten to see his brutality in person before. It really shook him to his core.
"Treize is a monster. Why would Alex and Mueller poke that beast?" Wufei knew taking on Treize was a losing battle.
"No idea. But now they paid the ultimate price for it. Ya heard what happened to Mueller right?" Duo wondered if they heard the news.
Wufei visibly shook. Yeah, he heard. "Kinda scary."
"Damn right it is. Wonder if things will only get worse. Might have to start staying over Hilde's place, just to keep an eye on her, you get me?"
Wufei nodded. "Do what you have to do. You certainly aren't getting any protection from these cops out here. No justice at all. They're already covering it up, saying they have no idea who could have done this."
That was laughable, Duo bitterly thought. Treize was so brazen in the way he had his guy light up the block. This idea that there was nothing that could lead back to Treize was ridiculous. "Just goes to show who runs this town."
"Sad but true." Wufei agreed. "Well, in other news, I got a fight booked."
"Oh yeah? Who's the next victim?" Duo smirked at his question.
Everyone had a hustle. For Heero it was the world of high risk/high reward drug dealing. Duo liked to place bets and hustle on the courts. And for Wufei, he would occasionally take part in an underground fighting club. People placed bets on their guy and watched them beat on each other. Though Wufei very rarely was on the losing end of those bets. He had a high level of fighting ability and there weren't that many people lining up to take him on.
"Not sure, all I heard is that he's pretty strong. I'm a little excited if I'm being honest." Duo saw the smirk appear on Wufei's face. Nothing Wufei likes more than a strong opponent, Duo knew.
"You know when it's going down? I'm always up to make some money off of your fists." The braided boy couldn't pass up an easy bet.
"Don't know yet. I'll give you both a heads up when I learn the details."
"That's what's up. Betting on our boy, right Heero?" Duo looked over at his friend who hadn't said anything yet. Actually, Duo couldn't remember if he said anything all day. He noticed Heero staring off into space. He looked out of it. "Heero, buddy, we there?"
"Huh?" Heero snapped back into reality. "Oh… yeah, sure."
"I don't even think he heard a word we were saying." Duo whispered over to Wufei. The other boy shrugged, he also took note of how off Heero seemed.
Heero continued to look away from his crew. His eyes were just wandering around aimlessly. He had very little sleep last night. His thoughts were going back and forth, thinking of his mortality and whatever he called his life. He spent the time that he should've been using for sleep just sitting on his bed. His eyes saw his room but his thoughts only showed him what he witnessed earlier in the day. The view of that carnage still stuck vividly in his brain.
He pictured his face on the bodies that were lying on the ground. All he could think about was when his time would come.
Heero raked a hand through his bangs, his head starting to hurt. The lack of sleep and theorizing about his end began pumping him full of anxiety and stress.
"Hey, that dude over there? Don't he owe you some money, Heero?" Duo pointed to a guy chatting it up with some people on the court.
Heero's eyes landed on the man in question and he nodded. "Yeah…"
"He pay you?"
Heero shook his head. "That changes today though." Heero stomped off. He had given this guy more than enough time to get back at him with his cash. His time to cough up the money was long past due.
As he got closer, the man who was at least a good 5 inches taller than Heero noticed him approach. "Hey Heero, what's good my guy?"
Heero shook his head. "Follow me." was all he said.
The other man sighed but did what the teenager said. The two of them ended up alone in a back alley way across the courts and away from everyone. Heero looked around before getting down to business.
"Time to pay." The statement was blunt and to the point.
"Damn man, you really gonna bother me for six hundred dollars?"
Heero nodded. "Yup, it's time to pay."
The man rolled his eyes. "Heero, c'mon it ain't that big a deal. Just let it go. You can make that money in no time. I see you out there."
"I'll say it again, it's time to pay." Heero's voice came out as cold as ice. He wasn't in the mood to hear this guy's shit. He wanted his cash from a month ago. He gave him enough time.
"Don't give me that bullshit." the man spat back. "Besides, I ain't got it. So piss off."
"Excuse me?" Heero wondered where this man got the balls…
"You heard me you little punk. Piss off. You ain't ever getting that money and that's that." This guy wasn't trying to get shaken down by some teenager. "Now get the hell out of my way." The man began walking, purposely bumping into Heero as he tried to leave the alleyway.
Heero stood there for a second, a few things going through his head. Eventually he walked behind the man and tapped him on his shoulder. "Hey."
"I told you I ain't paying you sh-" The man turned his head to look down at Heero but he didn't finish his sentence. Heero's fist collided with his face. The man immediately dropped. "Sh-Shit… what the hell, man!" He felt like his jaw might have been broken. What the hell were this kid's fists made out of? He tried to get up to fight back but then Heero's foot snapped upwards and cracked the man on his chin. Blood flew from his mouth. "Arrgghh! Shit…" The man fell back down in a daze. He was now trying to crawl away from Heero who continued to approach him.
Heero sent his foot on the attack again, this time kicking the man right on his ribs. The man yelped and started breathing heavy. He was in severe pain now.
And unfortunately Heero didn't let up. He continued to stomp on the back on the once crawling man. No one could see him in this alleyway and he would take advantage of that.
"S...Stop… s-shit… argghhh!" The man tried to cover up, but Heero's stomps were relentless. He continued to land his foot on his back, his sides and his face. He was going to make this guy look like he got hit by a truck. He did this all while not showing a hint of emotion on his face. It would terrify someone to see Heero like this.
Eventually Heero stopped. The man was barely conscious, but still alive and still trying to get away, very slowly crawling once more. "Crazy fuck…" He heard him say.
Heero put his hand on the back of his waist. "Once more. It's time to pay."
The man tried to get up. He was woozy and could barely get up to his knees. "I got nothing." He very weakly gave Heero the middle finger.
Heero actually chuckled at this. He moved in closer and pushed him back down on the ground. He straddled the man, holding him down by the mouth, pulling out his gun and aimed right for his head.
The man started to panic once more. His eyes went wide and he could barely thrash around because of the beating he took. He tried screaming for his life but his voice was muffled by Heero's hand. He did not expect to have a gun aimed at him.
"You aren't giving up the goods? Okay, then how about I put your fucking brains on the ground? How's that sound?" Heero pressed his gun firmly into the man's forehead. His finger was tight on the trigger.
The man below him could see the emptiness in Heero's eyes. He was gonna do it! Heero was gonna kill him!
"You know what? I don't care anymore. I'm gonna kill you. That's all there is to it." Heero's voice was calm and detached. It was like he had become a murderous robot. The man tried to scream louder but Heero's grip on his mouth had only tightened.
His finger began to squeeze the trigger. "I'm gonna send you to he-"
'My name is Relena Darlian. What's yours?'
Heero gasped and his eyes expanded. His body started to lock up on him.
'Maybe… I just wanted to see you?'
More memories came flooding back.
'You don't need to worry about me.'
'Can you let me, anyway?'
Again… it's her.
'Promise you'll be fine?'
His body started to loosen up as memories of her began attacking him. The man underneath him felt his hold weaken and he used up whatever energy he had left to push Heero off and get to his feet where he began limping away, all the while calling Heero a 'crazy fuck' in the process.
Heero sat on his ass. Gun still in his hand. `I was about to kill him… over money.' the voice in Heero's head spoke.
Relena… why was she there? He said he didn't want her around. Why was she still around?
His body began to shiver all over. His head started to hurt some more.
I don't get it… Why Relena? Heero continued to hear voices in his head.
Oh yeah, she said she could love me. She can't anymore because I told her she couldn't. But she said she could. I… wonder how that would feel like?
No one ever said anything like that to me before. You can't though. You can't love someone like me. I was about to kill someone over money. If anything, I should be the one killed.
Yeah, probably.
Heero felt something shaking at the side of his head… and he realized that he had placed the barrel of his gun right at his temple. Could I do it myself?
Could you?
Heero tightened his grip on the trigger. He held it there for a few more seconds before sighing and dropping his gun at his side.
No, he couldn't. Heero didn't have the ability to do so.
Was he losing it?
Yeah, probably.
No way you live this kind of life and expect to remain as yourself… to remain normal. It will catch up to you eventually. It was catching up to Heero now. He hugged himself. Still shaking. Feeling cold all of a sudden.
"I don't know why I'm apologizing to you, but I'm sorry, Relena." Heero started talking to himself. "I've never had anyone tell me they could love me… and I pushed away the only person who told me that."
He didn't feel like he deserved it anyway. He was so close to becoming a murderer. People like that don't deserve love. They deserve death.
He began wondering when someone would come and judge him for this with the proper punishment.
He felt raindrops fall on his head. He looked up and noticed something. He's looked at the sky before, but he never took note of the color. The rain started to pick up, covering his face.
Did… did the sky always look like that? This decaying gray tone?
Was it always the same shade as concrete?
AN: Uhhhh... happy hump day?
