Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Eyes Cold As Death ❯ Sixteen ( Chapter 16 )

Eyes Cold As Death

Chapter 16--The Calm Before the Storm

"Relena, how good of you to come today." Une grasped Relena's outstretched hand before guiding her out of the lobby. Relena resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at the security guard who had held her hostage in the lobby saying that she didn't have proper identification or authorization to be admitted into HQ proper. "I'm sorry about the delay, but we are in high risk security mode here and cannot afford to take chances." Relena nodded in understanding. She did understand, but it was still irritating.

"Lady Une, I need to speak to you in private. Its important." Une stared at her for a brief moment before turning to guide her to the stairs.

"You haven't been here for a while, Relena, I think it would be a good idea to chat with Heero and Wufei. They got in a few hours ago. Trowa's due in at any time. I think Heero will be glad to see you." Relena narrowed her eyes, annoyance coursing through her system at Une's ramblings. Didn't she hear her? It's fucking important! Private! "Heero has this wonderful surveillance system he's working on. It should be ready in a few days, be prepared for him to show it off." Realization dawned of her, and she recognized that Une was using subterfuge to hide the truth. The mole must be more serious than she was informed.

"It wouldn't be too difficult for me to stay a while longer, and I haven't spoken to either Heero or Wufei recently. It would be nice to catch up with them." Lady Une steered her down the stairs and into the bland hall that led to the Gundam Pilot's offices. It would be better this way, to speak in front of some of the pilots, thereby allowing for no mistakes. She was tired of this tense stalemate and a conflict they could not solve. Someone had to move in this checkmate and Relena had decided that it would be her. They stepped into Heero's office, Heero glancing up in surprise as Une gently closed the door, locking it.

"Duo's not expected in today, is he?" Une asked, turning to appraise Relena.

"No." Heero turned back to his computer. "Any reason you are here? I have a lot of work to do. I'm many days behind." Relena caught the slight narrowing of Une's eyes at Heero's words.

"Other work keeping you busy, Heero?" Une's cool gaze had turned to Heero as Relena took a seat at Duo's desk. Heero shrugged.

"I have my hobbies." Relena knew that Heero was keeping something from Une only Une's reaction, but she knew that whatever it was, was eluding Heero somehow from the clear frustration and fatigue in his eyes. Relena moved forward, leaning on Duo's desk before Une could respond. She didn't have time for their conversation. She was watching the clock.

"I have a proposal, Lady Une. One I think you will find very lucrative in your activities." Une moved across the small office to take a seat on the couch.

"I imagine that it will be interesting from the look on your face." Une flicked a lock of hair behind her ear. "You haven't been here for a while. You haven't returned my calls." Relena nodded slowly, aware of these all too obvious points. There was something bothering Une, but she didn't know enough to put her finger on it.

"I have been trying to negotiate terms of peace with the Eagle Squadron--"

"And have gotten nowhere." Une cut her off. She saw Heero lean back in his chair; arms crossed over his chest, apparently now interested in the conversation invading his space.

"Yes and no, Lady Une. While my efforts have been seemingly useless, they have served a purpose, even if that purpose was not intended." She folded her hands in her lap and leaned back in her chair before continuing. "As I am sure you are well aware, Dorothy has immense talents in the computer sciences. She also has a devious mind. While I was involved in negotiations, Dorothy was involved in her own negotiations…with the Squadron's network. It was part of how she was able to locate Quatre.

"Dorothy was not able to find much, but once I understood what she was trying to accomplish, I was able to steer her in directions I wanted to investigate. I'm not particularly good at these kinds of things, and this was a challenge to Dorothy. However, I was able to find a few things that I feel may be of some interest to you."

"What did you find?" Relena was surprised when Heero, not Une spoke.

"A lot of historical information to begin with. I didn't read any of the pertinent information, Dorothy summed it up for me and made me a copy to give to you." Relena pulled a minidisc from her jacket pocket, handing it to Une. Une gestured to Heero who took it immediately, pushing it into his computer. "However, what I came here today for was to request a course of action. As before, this has to remain without support. I'm not here, this conversation is not taking place." Une nodded in understanding. "I want you to disable the power to all of Svetlaine. You have heard of this city?"

"Yes." She heard Heero growl low in his throat and ignored him for the time being.

"I have reason to believe that the Eagle Squadron's power base is located there. I also want everyone in your intelligence department imprisoned." Silence descended over the office.

"Immediately." Relena concluded. Une stared at her, unmoving. She had expected that, but what she didn't expect was Heero's lack of response. She turned to look at him, expecting to find him staring at her too, but he was instead gripping the sides of the computer with a dark scowl laced over his features. Une broke the silence, her voice low and controlled.

"And why, precisely, would you like me to arrest every single member of my intelligence staff, the very staff that gets me information about the Eagle Squadron?" Heero answered.

"Because the mole is a member of our intelligence. We've been keeping an eye on her for a few days, now." Relena didn't bother to hide her surprise.

"You knew?" She asked as Lady Une spoke.

"And when were you going to inform me of this?" Une's voice was cold, vicious and wavered with barely supressed anger. Heero didn't glance up from the computer, and if he noticed Une's anger, he did not show it.

"Tomorrow." Heero picked at a few keys before jumping to his feet with a triumphant shout. "I'VE GOT YOU, YOU BITCH!" Relena flinched at the raw hatred in Heero's voice. Heero slammed the palms of his hands on the desktop, a hollow crack resounding as he leaned closer to his computer screen, grinning an executioner's grin. "You are mine."

"Heero…" Une began, confusion draining the previous anger from her words.

"Relena, you are an angel." Heero smiled at her before walking to the door to his office. Yanking it open after discovering it was locked. "I'll be right back." He leaned back into the office. "Just one minute." Then he was gone. Relena turned to Une, who was staring, in unguarded shock at the empty doorway.

"What just happened?" Relena ventured. Une shrugged nonchalantly in an effort to compose herself. She did not look happy. Relena leaned forward.

"What is bothering you." Une slowly turned to look at her.

"I feel as though I cannot win." Une turned away, clearly considering the matter closed. Relena settled back into her chair, stunned by Une's simple words. I cannot win. It was true, this matter with the Eagle Squadron had gotten to everyone, and it felt, more often than not, like checkmate had been called before the first move of the game.

"But do you really what to give up?" Relena whispered, unsure if she really wanted to continue a closed conversation. She didn't expect an answer, she just felt as though she needed to speak the question. "Do you really want them to win? Do you really want to fall without a fight?" She realized that she was speaking because she needed to hear the words aloud, even if they were from her own voice.

She had once advocated a policy of total pacifism. A good ideal, but an ideal nonetheless, as she had learned during the Maremeia incident. She had come to realize that there were times that one should fight, should stand up against evil. You could not expect to survive by bowing to an aggressor. But, she began to realize as she whispered to herself, she had come to learn many more things. Did she advocate war now? Of course not, but she would not hide from it. She would no longer cower before an aggressor, and she would no longer stand quietly by as her world was systematically destroyed by those who could not tolerate -- could not understand the true meaning of peace.

"I will fight until the end, but I find myself lacking hope."

Relena could not find any words in which to answer Une's despair.

______________________________

Heero burst into Wufei's office just as Trowa was settling into a chair. Wufei looked up, startled, eyes narrowing at Heero's flushed face. He opened his mouth to bite out a stinging 'I'm too busy for your Duo-like antics' when Heero said, surprisingly calmly:

"I've got the bitch." Tension seemed to crackle through the air as both Trowa and Wufei struggled to absorb the information. They both broke out, speaking frantically at once.

"How the hell…"

"When can we get her?"

"Do we have enough?"

"Where did you find?" Heero held out his hands.

"Hey!" He snapped. "Relena and Dorothy have been having too much fun in the Eagle Squadron's computers. I now have their communication codes and frequencies. We can track their communications and finally reel them in." Trowa sagged in his chair, the life seeming to drain out of him, but a smile was pasted on his face. Wufei surprised himself by jumping up and grasping Heero in an enthusiastic bear hug.

"We've got the bitch! We've got the bitch!" Pulling away, Wufei grinned madly at Heero. "What're the cods and frequencies? I want to listen to her chats immediately." Heero turned toward the door.

"I forgot them in my office. Relena and Une are there now, we can inform Une while we eavesdrop on our little friend." Heero smirked and waltzed out of Wufei's office, a definite swagger to his steps. Wufei followed at a breakneck pace, rushing over to Heero's computer, ignoring Relena and Une, whom he barely acknowledged within his own mind.

"Let's get this set up." He urged Heero to speed up, wanting desperately to tap Jezebel's communications. He heard Une clearing her throat, but was too focused on the task at hand to be swayed by her disapproval. Instead, he was in the process of exacting justice as he brought himself one step closer to drawing the net closed. He would trap his prey.

______________________________

"What is their ETA?" Jezebel asked, one hand fiddling with the remote she held.

"About two hours, give or take depending on air conditions." She nodded to herself thoughtfully as she processed the information.

"Good. I will quickly wrap things up here, and I will be on my way out within the hour."

"What, may I ask, do you have left to do?" The line flared briefly with static.

"Tying loose ends up." She twirled the remote. "Over and out."

"Roger. Over and out." She cut the transmission line and sat in her office holding the remote. She basked in the silence.

"The calm before the storm." She held the remote up before her eyes. "It is time."

______________________________

Duo dragged Quatre out of the house by the hand.

"We've got to go! There's no time! No Time!" Duo shouted. Quatre followed blindly, not understanding Duo's present state of hysteria. Duo shoved him at the idling car. "No Time!" Quatre scrambled in the car, fumbling with his seatbelt as Duo slammed the car into drive and gunning the gas. White smoke billowed up behind them as their tires squealed in protest. The car lurched forward and Quatre slammed his seatbelt home, grabbing the 'Oh Shit' handle above the window.

"What is going on?" He shouted at Duo, trying to make himself be heard over the squeal of tires and Duo's loud mumbling. Duo jerked the steering wheel, and the car skidded around a corner. Quatre stomped on the dash, bracing himself against his seat with his foot. "Holy SHIT! Duo!"

"We've got to get there, we need to get there!"

"DUO!" Quatre bellowed. Duo jerked his head to look at Quatre. "Why? Why do we need to get there?" Duo reached into his coat pocket, pulling a folded piece of paper out and throwing it at him. Quatre fumbled the page open.

They were blueprints. Blueprints of a very complex and exquisite bomb.

"So? It's a bomb, we've all seem them before."

"Look at the back, Quat." Quatre flipped the page over. After a quick series of hard turns, Quatre held the paper with trembling hands, the icy hand of fear closing around his very soul.

"This doesn't make sense, Duo. Why would she leave this for us to find?"

"She didn't leave it for us to find. We stole it, remember?" Duo snapped, eyes straining at the road ahead.

"But, Duo, she wouldn't just leave this in her office. She couldn't be that stupid. It has to be false, or something." Quatre hesitated as Duo's grip on the steering wheel tightened.

"She's probably insane, Quat. She'd have to be in order to pull off the shit she's done. But she isn't from our time." Quatre looked at his friend -- his brother.

"You are making connections and not bringing me along. I don't understand, Duo, and right now I'm beginning to think that you are crazy." Duo slouched a little, shifting his tight grip on the steering wheel, pulling hard through another corner. Quatre glanced over his shoulder at the retreating intersection, honking horns fading. "That was a red light, Duo." He mentioned casually. In reality, he was afraid. More afraid than what he had been while living on the streets.

"I believe that Jezebel is from the early 21st century, way before the colony era. I think that she and a group of her peers were frozen cryogenically. Past that, I don't know." Quatre's mouth fell open.

"You sound like a science fiction B-movie." He whispered. Duo cringed. Quatre waved the paper, exclaiming, "That still doesn't explain this!" Duo's voice was hoarse when he answered.

"In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the atomic bomb was something that was widely known about, according to Sally. She probably wouldn't think twice about having the information on her desk." Quatre shook the page again, his terror shattering the last of his control.

"But this is not an atomic bomb! THIS IS A NUCLEAR ARSENAL!" Duo slammed on the brakes. The car skidded along the pavement before jerking to a stop. Duo hesitated a short moment before hurling himself from the car.

"That is why I'm so frantic, Quat." Quatre's eyes fell to the page gripped tightly in his hands.

"That is why I'm scared shitless, Duo." But he spoke to an empty vehicle. He scrambled out of the car after Duo. They raced into Preventer HQ, flinging open the doors and rushing headlong into the lobby.

"We need to inform Heero and Wufei about…" Duo was calling over his shoulder when the world exploded. Quatre was flung backward toward the door he had just run through. He hit the glass, shards shattering around him. A heavy object crashed into him, knocking the air from him, and shoving him further into the ruined mess of the doors. Duo's scream penetrated his collision-hazed mind. His ears rang with the deafening roar of heated air and crumbling concrete. Yet, his ears could still pick up the tinkling of glass dropping around him as Duo moaned and twitched against him. Heated air rushed past him, and he could smell something burning. The crackling sound of a fire imposed itself in his mind. Duo shifted against him. His head pounded, and there were long burning streaks of fire along his skin, slowly fading as the haze in his mind intensified. His eyes rolled as he welcomed the silence and darkness of unconsciousness.