Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Hokkyokusei: The North Star ❯ Falling... ( Chapter 5 )

And Then He Took the Fall…

They'd finally escaped from the bright lights and loud noises of the carnival. Quatre had taken her to a dim club where the jazzy notes of the saxophone were played on stage and people conversed over candlelight. It was Catherine's type of place and she simply relaxed over a glass of light white wine.

"What do you think of our evening so far?" Catherine glanced over at her fair-haired fiancé seated opposite her and smiled.

"It can hardly get more perfect."

Quatre grinned in response and stared into the dancing candlelight, the slightest of creases marring his forehead. Catherine let him contemplate in silence for a moment. "Something's bothering you, Quatre. I know that you want to tell me something, so just go ahead. Don't worry about a shock attack. I think I can deal with just about anything you throw at me."

"Well, I need to ask you something important."

"Then go ahead. Ask." Her voice was soft, as she looked him straight in the eyes.

"I've been thinking about this for a long time, Cathy, and I think that right now is the best time for it. With the wedding coming so close you should be devoting your time to planning it. I know that you have commitments to the troupe until your contract expires, but that's only in two months. After that…" he trailed off, worry creeping into his eyes and Catherine slowly shook her head in incomprehension.

"I still don't understand what you're getting at, Quatre."

His frown deepened with frustration, as he couldn't find the right words to explain. "What I'm trying to ask you, is if you would move in with me after you stop working." Violet eyes widened with surprise at this and he hurried on. "I mean, into the house. A lot of my sisters are already staying there in preparation for the wedding. They would be like chaperones, so you don't have to worry about impropriety. And we haven't discussed what you would be doing after you left the troupe, so I thought that maybe it would be easier if-"

"Okay, slow down. I admit that I haven't thought that far yet, but I'm not sure if this is such a good idea. I mean, I'm sure of my love for you, but I don't think that our relationship really extends that far as of yet."

"Cathy, I don't want you to misunderstand. I just want us to be closer together. Get to spend more quality time like this together. With the troupe you're always halfway around the world or in the colonies and though I travel a lot and get to visit you sometimes, it's not the same as living in the same town and having a normal relationship. Most couples get to do this every night if they want. Spontaneously go out to any random restaurant of their choice or just spend some time on the couch watching a sappy movie together. I want us to be able to do that."

Tears sprang into her eyes. "Oh, Quatre."

"So does that mean a yes?" His hopeful look and pleading sky colored eyes pulled at her heart.

"Of course, it means yes. How could I ever say no?"

His expression was almost as elated as it had been when she'd assented to his proposal and he reached across the table to grasp her slim fingers. "You won't regret ever saying yes to me, Cathy. I promise you that."

~*~*~

"So you think that we're ready for this?" Cala asked quietly, while peeking through the canvas flaps of the circus tent.

"Ready or not, we're going to have to do this," Trowa replied, outwardly calm, though his heart rate was racing from nerves. He too, sneaked a look out at the crowd, seeing the excited faces and hearing the random chatter. He then turned back to inwardly sigh at their matching green costumes that were both revealing and silly.

Cala turned to stare at him gravely with her deep blue eyes. "I just have one thing to say, Mr. Barton." He stared seriously at her in return.

"And that is?"

"You look queer in that outfit." All it took was a blink of an eye for him to recover.

"Thank you. So do you."

"What?! I do not!"

"And neither do I."

Before she could retort, the spotlight went off, her entrance cue. "We'll talk about this later. Good luck!" And she took off at a sprint to her starting position. Trowa looked after her, shaking his head and smiling, then began climbing up the ladder leading to the beams of the ceiling, making his way to the trapeze swing.

It was darker up here than it was near the floor because the lights were pointed downwards. He waved congenially to the light guys and they waved back absently, waiting for Cala to get into place. And just as they clicked the spotlights back on, the ready and posing Cala, Trowa heard the noise of clothes rustling in the shadows, something that was abnormal in the silence of the rafters. The little hairs on the back of his neck suddenly stood on ends and he could have sworn that he saw the slightest of movement in the dark. Alarmed, he held his breath for a moment, standing completely still, trying to see if there was anyone there, but just then, the lights focused on his new partner down below and the audience burst into loud applause, crippling him from hearing anything at all. The light guys were motioning him forward to the trapeze swing that they held for him and since he didn't see much else, he shrugged off his bad feelings and went on with the routine as planned.

Climbing gracefully onto the bar, he gave the signal to the assistants to let go. The whistling of air in his ears was a welcome rush of adrenaline. And while he was slicing through the air, aiming for the ground, he quickly fell backwards, hanging from his knees upside down and held his hands out. Through his lopsided view, he could see that Cala was there posed and smiling brightly at the crowd, her hands, like his, outstretched and waiting. Quickly and smoothly, he grasped her hands in his and picked her up as he swung by. Then, swiftly, before they could start the downswing, he swung her so that she could stand on the bar on her own and as they reached it, he dropped himself onto the high rope. The spotlight glided his way and he bowed to the applause of the crowd under the heat of it.

And though he never usually smiled to the audience, there was a particular reason now that he looked somber. At the back of his mind, the feeling of uneasiness still nagged at him. There was something that he was missing. He hadn't gotten this feeling since the last threat to the peace of the world, when he and the rest of the Gundam pilots had been needed. But the feeling was unmistakable and he knew that it was genuine: there was something wrong.

The taut high rope shook a little as Cala dropped beside him. Then came the tricky part that they'd been working on before. He braced himself to catch her and she sideflipped, landing hands in his in a straight up handstand. In the few seconds that they had, poised like that, he saw her expression of tension that didn't seem that it was from fear of the act flopping.

Then, she'd swung away, her legs hooked onto the trapeze bar. Seconds later, she returned, taking him away with her and swinging him up so that he could stand on the bar, for the next part. She pulled herself up from her hanging position, facing Trowa. He could see clearly now that something was definitely bothering her.

"What is it?" he asked, his voice low.

"Something's not right. Don't you feel it?" she replied, bending back, his hand supporting her, so she didn't fall. When they reached the high rope again, she flipped backwards off the bar. Trowa flipped off likewise on the back swing, landing beside her only a few moments later.

"Of course, I feel it. But you shouldn't worry, I won't let anything happen to you," he muttered back as he picked her up and swung her below the rope. She flipped up behind him, landing on his shoulders, and was immediately taken up by the incoming trapeze bar. As he waited for her to return, he saw a dark figure crouched over the place where the high line was drilled into the support beams. It was a bit of a blur after that.

All Trowa knew for certain was that as Cala was on the down swing of the trapeze bar, her figure approaching quickly when he suddenly felt as if the line beneath him had given away under his weight and the high rope beneath him was not there anymore. Gravity pulled at him and he knew then that he was going to fall. The floor began to loom, when out of nowhere a strong hand suddenly and grabbed hold of his wrist and he'd stopped falling. A sudden jerk or two loosened the grip of the hold, but another hand quickly caught his wrist again before he could slip. He wasn't quite sure that he wanted to look up to see who his savior was, but he did anyway.

It was Cala. No real surprise there, but what took him aback was the look of undisguised fear creasing her face. She hung from her feet from the trapeze bar, her hands firmly gripping his. It was the first time, and probably last, that he had ever seen her truly afraid. That fact was frightening in and of itself. And because of that he didn't even hear the crowd's enthusiastic applause and standing ovation.

An hour later, the police were still investigating the suspicious event…

"Well, it's pretty plain that it wasn't an accident. Look at those cut lines. All the support ropes were sliced cleanly through, and I mean that heavy iron line that you two were standing on was heated up and then cut. Otherwise it would have been impossible for it to break." The stout officer sipped at his coffee, while Cala sighed impatiently.

"Officer, what are you going to do about it?"

"Well, young lady, we're planning to gather the evidence, burnt rope, etceteras and then-"

"Not that! I was talking about the fact that there was obviously an attempt on someone's life here." Trowa could see her forehead crease, with what seemed genuine concern and he couldn't help but wonder what exactly was so wrong.

"Oh, about that. Well, I'm not sure what we're going to do at this moment, but-"

"Shouldn't there be some protection for us? I mean, there's someone after us! They want us dead. You just can't let that happen!" Just as Cala was beginning to sound hysterical, when a smooth faced man stepped in.

"Officer, I think that you should let me handle this." The officer looked relieved and walked away to help some of his men with the donut box. "Excuse me, ma'am, I'm Detective Leary. I'm investigating this case."

She apparently turned her anger blindly on the man. "That's great for you, but what are you guys going to do. Our very lives are in danger."

"Ma'am, I don't think you understand, but it looks like that the assassin wasn't trying to kill both of you." Cala's deep blue eyes suddenly narrowed suspiciously onto the detective, taking in every detail and her forehead of burrows smoothed away into complete inexpression. But Trowa only noticed out of the corner of his eyes, since he was staring just as hard at the man.

"What are you talking about, detective? An assassination attempt?"

"Yes, sir. An assassination attempt on one of you. I'm sure that if this guy wanted to get you both he could've done so right at the beginning. I have a feeling that those ropes were cut for a while. Probably the start of the show. I interviewed some of those light men up there and they said that at the beginning, they checked it, like they always do and nothing was wrong. There were over twenty support ropes there. I estimate that, to cut 'em all quietly, it would take about forty-five minutes, which is about the time that your act started, forty-five minutes after the opening."

Trowa was marginally impressed, the man's detective abilities bumping him up a bit in his opinion, but Cala's eyes were still suspicious so he stayed on guard as well. "That makes sense, but how does this have to do with only one of us being the targets?"

"Well, sir, am I correct in thinking that this particular part of the act was when Ms. Cala was about to stand by herself on the line, as you've informed us. The only time during the whole routine that Ms. Cala does so." Trowa nodded slowly, still not comprehending. "I've concluded that this guy waited until Ms. Cala was about to stand alone on the high rope. His timing must've been off and the rope must've snapped too early. So instead you were the one who would have taken the fall." This conclusion seemed to stun Cala, her eyes widening with shock, so Trowa put his hand reassuringly on her shoulder, protective and territorial instincts kicking in.

"Don't worry, detective, I'll take care of her."

"I'm sure you will, so you see why I don't think that we'll need any extra protection for her."

There was something fishy in the man's eyes and the way he had just said that, but Trowa nodded in assent. "Yeah sure. She's in good hands, detective."

"We'll be off soon. Night sir, ma'am." With that he turned and walked off, away into the crowd of roaming police officers. Cala immediately and violently shrugged Trowa's hand off her shoulder. Then she made as if she were about to follow the detective, when Cathy appeared out of nowhere, blocking her escape, looking anxious and worried.

"Cala, what's going on? Why are there so many policemen around? Why did the manager just fire those two trapeze assistants? Is something wrong?" Trowa could see that Cala was straining to follow the detective with her eyes, to see where he was going off to, so he answered for her.

"Cathy, someone sabotaged our act, cutting the support ropes to the high line, the police think that it was an assassination attempt on Cala."

Catherine gasped, her eyes widening in shock. "But why? Is Cala in trouble with the law?"

"The police still don't know why." He glanced at the distracted Cala. "But the manager fired those two assistants because when the high rope broke and Cala caught me, they panicked and tried to hook the ropes supporting the trapeze, almost making her lose her grip on me and the bar."

"Are you serious?" Trowa almost flinched at the sound of her tone. He had a feeling that he was going to get a lecture on safety. "Paul and Michael? They panicked? Have they already lost their jobs, or is the manager still thinking about it? You know he'll regret this in the morning. They've both got little brothers and sisters to worry about, so they can't lose their jobs. Oh, no. Where is the manager? I'll have to talk some sense into him." His caring, concerned older sister went off in search of their boss, leaving Trowa behind, blinking in astonishment. Cala seemed to notice his surprise and smirked, still gazing into the distance for the detective.

"What're you shocked that big sister doesn't baby little brother so much anymore? How old are you, Trowa? It's not so hard to get." Her smirk widened a bit. "I'd heard of the famous protectiveness of Catherine Bloom, but I didn't know that it applied to everyone in the troupe. I didn't need a big sister, but hey."

Then she took off, too, in the direction following the detective. It took a moment for his brain to register the fact that the person he was supposed to protect had just left the security of the area. "Cala, stop! Where do you think you are going?" he called after her, hurrying after her. He didn't catch up with her until they'd gotten well outside of the circle of warm light that glowed about the main tent. It was right at the tree line that he could finally get her to pay attention to him, actually grabbing her arm and forcing her to face him. Her face was taut with annoyance and something akin to frustration, her glare shooting daggers of ice.

"I can protect myself, thank you very much. I don't need anyone following me around, especially a retired Gundam pilot."

"Oh, really?" His eyes burst into green flames, contrasting her frigid blue gaze. "Then why the hell were you so freaked out before? Yeah, you act so big and tough, but when you're in a situation where your ass is on the line, you fall apart. You don't like to admit it, but I've been in situations like that before and I can handle it. I wonder whether you have, Cala."

That brought pity to her eyes and she shook her head almost sadly. "You don't know me. It seems like you know nothing at all. You don't understand it. It's unbelievable that you could ever call yourself a Gundam pilot. You don't deserve that title. You really don't." She then extracted herself from his grip and turned to leave again.

"You have no right to say any of that!" burst from his furious lips before he could stop himself. Rage made his usual composure disappear, his face afire with unusual emotion, his fisted hands shaking from restraint. The transformation from the calm, calculating Gundam pilot that he usually was to the emotional and downright angry pride-bruised man was amazing, but Cala didn't seem to notice. She faced him once more, pity gone, and her face expressionless.

"Trowa, don't you get it, yet? They weren't after me. And I certainly wasn't the one to fall. So it wasn't myself that I was worried about." Then, she looked him straight in the eye, as if trying to discern his thoughts themselves, her sharp gaze piercing his for that split second in time.

"It was you."

She whirled around and disappeared into the darkness at a sprint. Her words echoing ominously in his mind.