Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Cult Characteristic ❯ Chapter 20 ( Chapter 20 )

Note from Leth: I just want to say thank you to everyone who has been faithfully following this for the last three months. I know it's taken me a while to get parts out at times and yet you kept coming back. Your comments have all been inspiring! Particular thanks to patty, who not only replies to new chapters within an hour of my posting them, but who emails me about once a week to demand the next part. Lol. She makes sure it gets written. Also to fanny, who reads everything I write and lets me know what she thinks. You're the best! On that note, yet another part…Kkls, Leth.

TWENTY

Une watched in silence as the robed figures ran every which way, desperately searching for the phone.

"Where is it?" A man snapped at her and she obediently pointed to Father Riley's small rooms off the side of the altar. The robed man ran at the door, one hanging back to pick up the poor Father and drag him along with them. The ringing stopped and it was not difficult to hear Father Riley's shaky `hello'. All was quiet. Une grinned ferally, knowing Santa had arrived.

"Yes?" Father Riley still sounded shaky.

Une didn't hear a reply, but she thought he might have heard a faint single tap. She was sure of it when the sound came again and she wanted to cry. Her agents had arrived. She just wished she knew which one…

"Who is this?" One of the robed figures, Une didn't recognize the voice. The agent must have told Riley to pass the phone on.

"There is nothing to negotiate for. I don't want anything." Une was not so sure he was right, no matter what his voice sounded like. Her thoughts were confirmed a moment later.

"You're lying…" Bingo. Une shared a knowing look with Noin and they sat back, completely relaxed, trying not to look as if they were trying to see out the windows. The pilots had to be nearby…

"Rose?" A disbelieving voice came from the doorway. "FUCK!"

Rose…Une's mind raced and she placed the face to the name. Devourjac. Well, they had been on the list Milliardo gave them, she was not all that surprised. Still, she knew the man to be a ruthless, heartless son of a bitch. She just hoped he was not heartless enough to surrender his daughter to them. He did, after all, have two sons, what was a daughter to a man such as he? Still, she could hope…

Father Riley was pushed out the door a moment later a lot calmer than he had when he was dragged in there. Une met his gaze and raised a brow. The man actually smiled as he glared back at the doorway and hissed.

"Man's a bloody dragon, slimy, miserable bastard!" The man escorting him back to his place knocked him across the side of the head, but Riley didn't seem hurt. Rather, he looked pleased with himself and Une couldn't help feeling amused.

Thank you, Father Riley, and welcome to the game Chang Wufei. Une was pleased. Wufei was their second best Negotiator, with only Quatre behind him. Heero was more to her taste, preferring to just shoot them and ask questions later, though he had a tendency to pull out and not actually go ahead with it…Trowa was effective, also going for the attack first approach, though the silent pilot was less likely to go for the kill. Unconscious was more his style. And Duo…well, Maxwell just liked to blow stuff up and take as many bad guys as he could. Une wasn't exactly adverse to the tactic, she had seen its effectiveness more times than she cared to admit, but…Well, when one had to explain the damages it did not really endear one to it.

All in all, she was pleased it was Agent Chang on the other end of that phone. Who knew…Rose Devourjac might actually live to see tomorrow.

"You idiot!" Came another explosive burst from the room beyond. Une's smile should have failed, but it intensified and she was well aware of Noin inching a little away, a wary look in her eye. "I warned you what I would do if this happened!"

And bingo again. Sorry Rose, you just outlived your usefulness. And if Chang wasn't prepared to go with the terror tactics he was no good to them. Which meant it was Une's turn to rebel.

Sitting up, Une ran a finger down the centre of her head, parting her hair. It was an old reflexive action and the hair parted easily. She fished two ever-present bands from her pocket and a quick flick and twist of her wrist had her hair spun into a bun. Then the other side followed. A slender hand slipped into her breast pocket and pulled loose her glasses. She didn't really need them; they were a very light prescription, but she had discovered early on during her time in OZ that the glasses somehow added to the total effect of her intimidation. So they had stayed.

Brushing herself off, in more ways than one, Une stood. A cult figure stupidly approached her, reached back preparing to strike. Une let the hand come, snatched it in mid air and held. She was completely relaxed, yet so full of the thrill she felt she would burst. She had not felt so alive since Treize had died.

"Never strike a lady," she hissed under her breath and one expert twist of her wrist had the man dropping to his knees in pain. Amazingly he let out no cry of pain. Une didn't mind, flicking back the cowl and jabbing his neck. The man slipped into unconsciousness.

"Une?"

She turned and glared at Noin, motioning for the woman to stand. Milliardo, across the other side of the room was already taking care of the man who had been watching over him.

Several loud clicks sounded around the room. Une looked around at the shadowy figures in each corner of the room, took in the guns poking out from within the robes and smiled.

"What are you going to do? Shoot me?" She very much doubted that was on the cards as a viable option. This was about who could intimidate who into submission before Shinigami came, and Une knew better than anyone else how to play the game. She strode, without a care in the world, to the Father's small rooms, and with a flick of her wrist, pushed the gun that came to meet her forehead aside and put her hand out, waiting for the phone.

The robed figure with the phone in his hand, Senator Devourjac she reminded herself, seemed to consider a moment, then with a snort of amusement he handed the phone over. His hand shook slightly, but whether as an aftereffect from the shock of just condemning his daughter to whatever fate Wufei had dreamt up for her, or because Lady Une was now standing, completely unfazed, before him was anyone's guess.

Une put the phone to her ear and grinned.

"This is Lady Une."

"Lady?" Wufei asked warily, knowing full well what that would imply.

"Yes."

"Ah. We have Rose Devourjac, but her father would prefer I just shot her…"

"I am aware of that. Do what you have to do. Status on team?"

"Duo and Heero are still down. Quatre is on L2. Trowa with me."

Une nodded. It would all be well. She knew these young men; knew what they could do. Knew they were capable of anything. All would be well.

"Any means," she snapped, then hung up the phone. They would understand. Whether she herself survived was not of importance. All that mattered was the closure of the case; the ends would justify the means, whatever they ended up being.

"One of your agents, I presume," Devourjac noted dryly. It was taking all of Une's self control not to just grab a gun off one of his lackey's and shoot the man. But there were hostages in the other room, and she should give them some chance of getting out of there alive. It might be a moot point, but only time could tell. She would not.

"I think it is time," Une said in a voice that would brook no argument, "that you and I had a heart to heart."

Devourjac laughed as he replied, "but your heart is black, Lady Une."

Une smiled darkly. No, it was not black.

"Actually, my heart is dead. This one," she placed a hand over her chest, "is a stranger's."

And she would not listen to it.

*

Wufei stared at the phone in surprise. She hung up on him! The sound of Trowa's voice pushed his surprise aside and he glared at the pair. Une had practically just sentenced the girl to death, not that he really minded. She deserved it, in his not so humble opinion. But Une had also given them permission to…

"We're going in."

Trowa didn't show any sign of surprise, not that Wufei had really expected any. They had both heard at least his side of the conversation, which was enough to tell anyone who knew the Commander exactly what was going on. Still, Wufei was almost glad he was out here…He was not looking forward to meeting the Lady once more.

They decided to leave Rose behind, using Trowa's cuffs to attach her to the maintenance door handle. Not the best idea, as it hindered their only escape route, but it was the best option. They could not let Rose Devourjac get away. Despite her father's refusal to acknowledge her as a tool for ransom, she was still the only tool they had.

Wufei took a deep steadying breathe as he cocked his gun. He took a run up, spared no glance for Trowa, and ran headlong down the slight slope of the roof and leapt off the edge. It was a reasonable distance. It was going to hurt like hell.

Tucking into a roll, Wufei hit the glass window back first and felt the shards digging into the thick material of his jacket, embedding in the vest beneath. Shards sliced along his arms and legs but the impact was taken and they caused little damage. Aware he was still falling, Wufei untucked a little, stretched his arm out and rolled down its length, using the momentum to find his feet as he brought the gun up, sighted and searched. Gunshots were ringing in his ears as he ran left and right, moving just to stop from being shot. It was difficult, but not impossible.

"Corners!" A female, familiar voice shouted and Wufei shifted and shot blindly. He saw a black shadow go down and sighted for the next one.

Another shape collapsed in the corner and a hand suddenly fell on his shoulder, hauling him backwards. He recognized the blonde hair over his shoulder and let himself be pulled as more bullets rained down on them. They fell behind the altar, aware of the other Preventers diving behind pillars, under the pews, anywhere that might provide some cover. Seeing their instant reactions, Wufei had no doubt Une had selected the best of the best for her organization.

"Weapons for me?" Milliardo asked skeptically and Wufei promptly handed over his gun. Milliardo looked ready to protest but the sound of steel slipping from it sheath silenced him as Wufei drew his swords. Trowa was handing his own gun to Noin, knives coming out to play. They shared a knowing look, that look that said `it's been a while, but this is just like old times' and then they were moving, crawling along the ground, blades tucked safely at their sides as they crept toward Father Riley's vestibule, careful to remain hidden, concealed from the stray bullet. Wufei was glad they had two other pilots, gundam or not, watching their backs. Bullets were certainly flying. He couldn't see them, but he heard them.

Wufei looked up, took in the situation, looked at Trowa and waited. They were under an upturned table near the door, with a good four meters between them and the doorway. The door was open, an upturned table all they could see, four gun barrels peeking over the top. Trowa took in the sight, eyes moving under the thick bang of hair, studying possible options. Eventually he nodded, as if confirming something for himself.

"On three, we jump."

Wufei had not expected that to be the plan! Still, Trowa was already up to two…He took a breath, steadied his heart and leapt. It was not as fancy as Trowa's jump, but the desired result was there. They ended up on either side of the door, bullets hammering into the wall around them. Wufei felt one hit him in the gut and thanked the vest when he felt only a little winded. Then they were moving, Trowa flipping through the doorway, Wufei on his heels.

A flash of steel was the only sign before one gun barrel dropped, then a second heralded another gun barrel's demise. Wufei leapt the table, katana flowing through something that made the movement feel sluggish. He turned to find a man at his feet, neck half severed from his head. He hesitated, and it almost would have been alright to do so, the fourth gunner having been taken out by Trowa, but Devourjac was at Trowa's side, a gun pointed at his head.

Une was not far away, tied to a chair, hair in two neat buns on either side of her head, glasses on and that light in her eyes that said `the moment I'm up you're all dead'. She was, thankfully, looking at Devourjac not him, which made Wufei feel a little better, but it was still unnerving. He had not seen Lady Une since halfway through the war days…She had thrown him in a cell with Maxwell, which had resulted in their lasting, unbreakable friendship but at the time…At the time a minute with Maxwell was more than his sanity could handle.

Une smiled at him knowingly and he couldn't help but quirk a grin at her in return. He had no doubts Une had spent that one minute in Duo's company and decided it was the best form of torture on the base. He wasn't so sure she wasn't right.

"Agent Chang. I should have known. And Mr. Barton. Where is my daughter?"

Wufei looked him straight in the eyes and grinned maliciously.

"Wouldn't you like to know. Perhaps she's dead, perhaps she's alive. It's all a matter of opinion, don't you think?"

Devourjac's eyes narrowed.

"Maybe we'll shoot Mr.Barton here and find out?"

Wufei would have replied, but movement behind Devourjac caught his attention and relief flooded through him.

"Maybe we won't," a cold voice said softly behind the Senator's ear. There wasn't even the sound of the gun being cocked; that had already been done. The Senator turned and snarled, not taking his own gun from its target, yet well aware he could die at any moment if he didn't cooperate in every respect.

"My. Yuy." A smile made its way across Devourjac's face. "My pets have been waiting for your arrival…I do trust you brought my little toy with you?"

Heero showed no sign of even having heard the man, which unnerved Wufei. Hell, even Une didn't look quite so firm in her resolve any longer. The finger on the trigger wavered a little and for a moment Wufei thought Heero was actually going to pull it.

"Wufei. Disarm him."

Wufei moved quickly, snatching the gun away. He nearly dropped it straight after as the chapel shook and the roof threatened to cave in. Coughing dust, Wufei looked out the door and saw sunlight filling the whole chapel. What had happened? Dust settled over everything. Heero did not seem surprised.

Pushing Senator Devourjac ahead of him, Heero led them out the door. Wufei expected the Senator to make a last ditch effort to escape, but it never came and when he emerged from the vestibule, Wufei understood why.

The roof was gone and leaning over the edge of the gap, blocking out the round globe of the sun, stood a Gundam that looked ready to fall apart, but was functional. It held a blood red scythe, the tip hanging only a hair's breath from Devourjac's neck. Wufei had no doubts about the Pilot's willingness to use it.

An odd sound echoed through the eerily quiet chapel. Wufei was startled by the sound at first, but then he realized where it was coming from. The sound came again, longer this time and Wufei found himself smiling. Heero. Heero was laughing. That mad, cackling, `I win' laugh. It was the sweetest sound Wufei head ever heard.

"Never let anyone say that death doesn't answer when he's called!"

Trowa snorted at the voice that came over the Gundam's speakers and Une actually giggled. Wufei wished he had a tape recorder…

"You know Une," Duo's voice replied. "I just got that on tape!"

Wufei laughed, Une blaked and Heero looked somewhat feral. Wufei figured it was just another normal day at Preventers headquarters. Several of the other agents were already grabbing hooded figures and rounding them up, pushing them into a group around the upturned altar, only a few metres from Shinigami's Scythe. Duo wiggled it once in their direction to make sure they understood what they were dealing with.

It was sometime later that Wufei looked up through the broken shards of stained glass window and realized he could not see the opposite roof.

"Duo!"

"Yes Wufei?" Wufei was delighted Duo had not decided to call him `Fei in front of everyone they knew.

"Is Rose Devourjac on the top of the training facility roof?"

"No…Should she be?"

Hell yes.

A gun shot rang out. Wufei watched the red stain spreading across the Senator's front in a state of shock. It couldn't be, but it was.

And yet another soul succumbed to the lure of revenge.