Cowboy Bebop Fan Fiction / Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Ed n Duo's Greatest Adventure ❯ Chapter 20 ( Chapter 20 )

Ed and Trowa's Bogus Journey

Chapter 4

By Devon Masterson-Bond

Aoi37@hotmail.com

Quatre painted a smile on his face as he turned to greet his visitor. "Sylvia, it's been a long time," he said as he hugged her and kissed her on the cheek. "I know you know Heero's on L-5 so what brings you by?"

Sylvia chuckled. He could be right to the point when he wanted to, but usually that meant there was something else taking his attention away. "Quatre, you know what I've been doing the past four years, don't you?"

He nodded. They all knew. "You've been silent partner to Robert Sixkiller," he answered. "Is it accomplishing what you wanted?"

"Yes," she answered. "I know it's dangerous work, but it completes me and I have a new life."

"I'm glad," he answered crossing his legs and looking at her thoughtfully. Years ago a meeting with her would not have been possible. There had been too much history and hurt, but now things were different. Time did as it promised; healed all wounds.

"You're different," Sylvia commented. A somewhat reluctant smiled crossed her face. There was no way she would able to completely let go. "What is she like?"

Quatre smiled. It was always strange when someone else read him. "Stubborn, crafty, opinionated…all the traits I find endearing in a wife."

Sylvia noted the warm way he said the seemingly negative traits. She swallowed. It had been four years, of course he would have moved on. It was she that ultimately left and with no real good-bye just a scribbled note. She missed him, but she had no regrets. What she did was best, she was now surer of that than ever. "I'm happy for you."

"Thank you," he replied his eyes searching hers. "What do you need my help on?"

"I never could hide anything from you," she laughed nervously. "It's about one of the girls I work with. You have to promise me that this information is between us."

"I promise that I will act in your and her best interest," Quatre said as he leaned forward.

Sylvia shook her head. "That's not good enough."

"Sylvia there's a lot going on and something tells me that you have some insight however insignificant. I don't want to end up lying to you."

The blonde woman took a deep breath. "One of my girls might be a target for Alex Taylor. I don't know how much he knows we know about him, but I know he can become a problem. He's untouchable right now."

"I can have one of the Maganacs look into it," he offered.

"Thank you," she replied, "but there's more that you should know. She's pregnant by one of the guys…"

%%%

Duo yawned as he looked around the park. Absolutely nothing was going on. He was getting bored staking out the place. He was starting think his sources were wrong about something going down in the industrial park. The only thing he managed to see were white collars going in and to work. "Desk work was never my thing. I'm a hands on type of guy," he thought as a quick image of Catherine popped into his mind. He should be reacquainting himself with her now, not babysitting a bunch of clueless people.

He put in his time and seen more than he ever cared to see. But he also could not let it go. He was not about to let a peaceful future, for whatever rugrats he fathered, go down the tubes. He was willing to do whatever it took. "What is Trowa stalking around here?" he wondered out loud as the pleasant image of his girlfriend popped out of his mind. There was only way to find out.

Duo made his way over to Trowa casually while keeping an eye on things. "What are you doing here?" Trowa asked once the braided man was within earshot. He really did not have much to say to him.

"Keeping an eye on things," Duo remarked. "You?"

"I followed Dorothy here," he answered

Duo raised an eyebrow in surprise. How could he have missed those eyebrows in a crowd? "How…"

"She's wearing a beret to make herself look less conspicuous," Trowa answered.

"What are you going to do to her?" Duo asked rubbing his hands together.

"This is not a game Duo," Trowa replied. "She took away someone important to me."

"And what about me?" Duo asked incredulously looking at Trowa. "Ed is important to me not to mention Catherine."

"We will…"

"…talk about it now and this time, you won't catch me off guard," Duo interrupted. "What happened was not my fault and I'm tired of your attitude. The only thing I ever did was get along with Ed better than you," Duo spat angrily.

Trowa clinched his fists in silent annoyance. He was feeling quite exposed and it was making him furious. He just did not want to talk about it, but the braided man was not about to let it go for some reason. "I always hated that," he said lowly with a growl.

"So I've noticed," Duo added. "I never would have figured you would be so insecure. When are you going to get it through it your head..."

"That's not so easy when I see the attraction between you two, when you two sneak off to pull pranks, and when everybody thinks you're better for her than me. I hear that everyday. How am I supposed to feel?"

Violet eyes widened slightly. "Geez, I didn't think you'd take something like that so personal," he said almost casually. "But that doesn't make up for the fact that you didn't trust me and you..."

"Trust you!?" he asked incredulously. "Trust you when you've been sneaking around with my sister behind my back? When you pride yourself on being sneaky and elusive?"

"Damn right, you're my friend. I'd trust you in my life and thought it was the same thing with you," Duo retorted angrily. "I knew you loved Ed before you even knew. Remember I helped get you together? Sure, she's cute, but I knew she was perfect for you. You think so little of me, you are such a schmok. You practically threw everything you ever wanted away."

Trowa's eyes narrowed. The conversation was over and everything was out in the open. He was wrong, now it was time to fix what was left. "I made an error in judgement," Trowa said simply. Duo shook his head. He punched Trowa in the jaw. The tall Parisian only stood there and rubbed his jaw for a second. "Now we're even."

"Clean slate," Duo replied just before smiling then frowned as he remembered what he was supposed to be doing. "Damn."

"I lost Dorothy," Trowa said as he scanned the crowd.

%%%

"Punctual I see," Dorothy smirked.

"Yeah, well you've had this coming for awhile," Sunny replied watching her nemesis's movements carefully.

Blue-violet eyes narrowed. "I thought we would settle this like ladies…or close enough anyway, with a little duel." She opened her blazer and revealed an old pistol from fifteen hundreds. "This is all I have with me feel free to frisk me and check my gun. It only hold one bullet."

Sunny moved towards her cautiously and frisked her. Dorothy was clean, she then held up her hands and allowed Dorothy the same token. "Now what?"

"Empty your gun except for one bullet. Then we stand back to back and count off to ten."

"How do I know you won't shoot early? It's not like I have a second," Sunny remarked shrewdly

"I will not fire before we reach ten," Dorothy answered. "I would have chosen rapiers, but I doubt you'd have the grace and class to do anything beyond dropping it to the ground."

"Oh really?" Sunny asked flipping the gun around her finger before ejecting the clip. She emptied them all except one.

"I would like to see that to make sure you don't pull any tricks," she replied inspecting the clip. "Fine." She handed her the clip and smiled.

"Are you ready now, eyebrow girl?" Ed asked.

"Quite, dear child. Quite," she answered as she they stood back to back. "One. Two. Three…"

"Okay, Sunny. It's either you or her. She's too dangerous to live…"

"Four. Five. Six…"

"Too dangerous to live? When did I get the right to choose…"

"Seven. Eight. Nine…"

"I have to live."

"Ten." Both women turned around and a shot rang out. Sunny's eyes widened as Dorothy fell to the ground and guilt settled in. The blood in her veins grew ice cold. She remembered what Spike told once after a bad run in with a bounty. "Killing takes a piece of your soul, that brightness. You're soul is too bright Ed, never let it go out."

"Oh my god, what have I done, Dorothy," she said as rushed toward the fallen girl. As she moved, she could feel her world slowing down. It was almost like her intuition was telling her to slow down for a moment…a moment too late. In seemingly slow motion, she saw Dorothy sit up and squeeze the trigger. The bullet cut through air in a distorted wave and her eyes widened as her balance shifted in the other direction. The pain was unbelievable.

Tears sprang in her eyes as she started to breathe raggedly. She was hit in her shoulder, nothing vital, but she could still bleed to death. "You bitch," she choked out.

Dorothy stood over her and rubbed her chest tenderly from where the rubber bullet hit her. "Always check your weapon a second time," she taunted before grinding her foot into Sunny's shoulder.

"I'll kill you next time," Sunny screamed out.

"There won't be a next time," Dorothy replied picking up and Sunny's gun. She loaded a bullet into it as she held Sunny down. "Nighty night, Sweetie."

"It came from over here," someone called out.

"We will finish," Dorothy cursed. She could not afford to get caught. "You won't be lucky next time," Dorothy uttered before darting off. She could not afford to be caught partially disguised or not. Her plans were in the final stages and soon everything would becoming to a head. Besides, once her war started, no one would pay attention to the sputtering of a little girl or the fact that she was missing.

"Count on it," Ed flinched as Dorothy released the pressure from her foot. it hurt just as much as it did when she initially pressed on, but there was no time for that. She had to get out of there as well. There would be too many questions. Dizziness overcame her as she tried to sit up. The guys would find her.

She grabbed her shoulder and put pressure on it as she struggled to her feet. she just had to get out of sight and the industrial park was looked after foliage-wise. there was plenty of plant life that could provide cover, almost like a normal park, but with several buildings in the distance. Ed sighed as got out of sight in time. her vision blurred as she tried to think of what to do next.

"What's the problem, folks?" Duo asked in his usual tone as his eyes searched the crowd.

"We heard something over here, but I guess it must have been from one the factories or something," A woman commented. "I could have sworn it was a gun-shot...are you cops or something?"

"Something like that," he smiled keeping an eye on Trowa for some sort of signal. he frowned when he saw Trowa staring at something intently. "Looks like there nothing's to see."

"I guess," she said reluctantly as she and the others turned away.

The two watched the disappointed white collars go back to their activities. "I'm bored. Let's go," Duo sighed putting his hands behind his head. He was supposed to be on the look out for terrorists not someone's domestics disputes, besides he missed all the action.

"I'm going to look into this," Trowa commented. His eyes averted to the small trails of blood on the ground. They were hardly noticeable amongst the synthetic grass and leaves, but he noticed. Whoever was hurt knew enough about trouble to cover their tracks when wounded.

Duo nodded picking up and his hint. He had been wondering what the stoic man was looking at in particular. "I might as well come with you. Who knows you might need back up, it could be our guy you know."

"You don't have to, I know I am not high on your list," Trowa replied walking away towards the trees.

"No you're not, but you gotta start somewhere." Amethyst eyes twinkled. "You know this means you're going to have to be nice to me and kiss my butt. I do have some laundry..."

"Don't push your luck," Trowa interrupted.

Duo smirked as the two of them entered the tree line of the arboretum. "I love you too," he said sarcastically. He paused as something bright caught his eye. "What in the hell..." he thought as he moved closer to the spot that caught his eye. "Trowa!"

"The tracks end here..." Trowa remarked then looked toward Duo. "See any... oh god no!" He raced over toward Duo and pushed him away. "Ed," he called shaking her gently.

Ed's eyes opened in recognition and flickered in delirium. "Fiancée-person, you came back for us. Take me...home..." her sentence trailed as her eyes started to close and her head drooped.

"Stay with me, baby," Trowa said quickly as he forced open her eyes with his hand. He could see her pupils contracting and dilating as though she was on drugs.

"I'm tired..."

Trowa lifted her into his arms. "You have to stay awake." He had to get her to a doctor. He couldn't lose her. He looked toward Duo who had already started dialing.

"Why you hate me? You left Ed just like Papa," she sighed phasing in and out. "I have to give away a piece of my soul. I hate her. You hate me."

"Sally is on stand by," Duo replied hanging up his cell phone. He looked at Ed strangely as she continued to babble. "What is she talking about?"

"She's going into shock," Trowa answered worriedly. He looked at the makeshift tourniquet that she somehow managed to tie her arm up with as he followed Duo. "What was she doing out here?"

"Good night…" Sunny sighed trying to get comfortable.

"NO! Ed, you have to stay with me," Trowa urged as they reached Duo's car.

"No," she mumbled.

"Yes," Trowa said. He opened the door and laid her down gingerly then got in beside her. "I need you."

"No," she replied, "I..where am I?" She sat up and held her arm looking around wildly. "How did you find me?"

"You're hurt. We're taking you to a doctor," Trowa replied.

Sunny squeezed her eyes shut in pain. She could feel her stomach starting cramp. Now was not the time to argue, she would deal with him for now. "Fine."

"We'll be there soon," he said casually as he reached to caress her face.

Sunny pulled away quickly. "Don't."

Trowa's eyes widened, as well Duo's, at her sharpness. It was so unlike her. He pulled his hand away, but still kept a close on her.

"I don't feel good..." she whispered suddenly then fell into Trowa's lap.

"Hurry, Duo."

%%%

Quatre's eyes widened. "Where is she, Sylvia?"

"Who's the father?"

"Trowa," Quatre answered lowly. "I need to know where she is."

"Only if you don't tell Trowa or the pilots where she is without her permission."

Quatre sighed. Between Faye and Ed his work was cut out for him. "I promise."

"She's using the name…"

"Mr. Winner, you have an urgent call on line one," Ms. Daily interrupted.

"Please tell them to hold, Ms. Daily," he said quickly before turning to Sylvia.

"Mr. Winner, it's important. It's Miss Edward, she's hurt."

Blue eyes darkened as his skin paled and a calm concerned look took over his countenance. "Forward the call to my car and reschedule all of my appointments," he replied as he took Sylvia by the hand. "Sylvia, I need you to accompany me."

AN: Thanks for the reviews, by the way

Another Bond Girl Blue Production.

Let's be real here… we all know that I don't own these characters or you would be watching this instead of reading it [with the exception of manga of course]. I just do this for kicks and wiggles [yes, I know the real expression, and this is mine] anywho don't sue me, hire me instead;p