Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Perfect Assassin ❯ The A. Product ( Chapter 4 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

PERFECT ASSASSIN

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or its characters in any way.

CHAPTER FOUR: THE A. PRODUCT


Eight A.M.

Paegan was growing extremely worried. Three hours have gone and still Relena has not returned from her morning jog. It was unlikely of her to be late for anything, especially when her work was concerned. As far as he knew, Relena's work was her life. She would be dead without it and now he found himself strolling up and down the main hall, waiting impatiently for the front door to open. Five minutes turned to ten, ten minutes turned to thirty, thirty to another hour, and then another hour.

By 9:15, Alexander pulled his vehicle up the driveway and rang the doorbell. A distraught butler who has definitely seen better days, greeted him.

"My god Alexander, she hasn't returned." Paegan said, dragging the bodyguard into the home.

"What do you mean 'she hasn't returned?' She has a ten o'clock meeting with the executive board. Where the hell did she go?" Alexander asked, feeling fervent and worrisome.

"She went for her jog early in the morning and she's still out there. Do you think that maybe something might have happened to her?" Paegan hated himself for asking that, for even thinking the worst case scenario that could occur.

"I'm sure she's alright. She probably lost track of the time." Alexander explained, though, he doubted his own thoughts.

Paegan recollected her pained expression from the previous night regarding Heero's presence. Could this be an aftermath of that episode last night? Maybe. Maybe not. "Alexander, there was a man here last night and I believe they had an argument."

"Do you think this could be a kidnapping?" Alexander asked, dreading the answer.

"By Heero? It's doubtful. Perhaps she needed some time to cool off. I find it silly of me actually, to worry so suddenly. I'm sure she'll return in her own time."

"What about the meeting? They can't start without her." Alexander reminded him.

"I'll inform Lady Une at Preventers' and we'll form some sort of arrangement. I'm sure we can reschedule."

Despite Paegan's supporting words, Alexander still had an inkling that something was not sitting right. "If you say so." He muttered.

"Everything will be fine."

~*~*~

Larson Quentin punched in the correct code for the computerized lock on the only entrance into Relena's cell. He walked in and was greeted by the two doctors in nothing but white attire. Relena was still lying horizontal on the flat platform, unaware of her surroundings.

"Has she regained consciousness yet?" Quentin asked.

"No, sir."

"Well, you better figure out something fast because the boss is not a patient man. Neither am I." Quentin replied, sticking both hands into his jacket pockets.

The bulkier doctor who had the receding hairline acknowledged Quentin's indirect commands and withdrew an electrical device that looked like a razor but only smaller in size. He pressed the tool into Relena's neck and sent a jolt of electricity into her body simply to awaken her from her slumber.

She felt the shock immediately and rolled her eyes around in her eye sockets, trying to remember where she was. With great effort, she opened all her senses and assumed she was in the hospital. Once her eyes were opened, she identified the men in lab coats who she presumed were her doctors and a man in uniform. Perhaps he was a Preventer, although the uniform seemed foreign to her.

In a raspy voice, she said. "Am I at the hospital?"

Quentin stared at her as if he didn't understand the language of which she spoke. Then he glanced at the two other men and offered a 'let me do the talking' look.

"Yes, Miss Darlian. You were in an accident. If you could please cooperate with us, you'll be good as new." Quentin lied without missing a beat.

She groaned inwardly when she felt her head spinning. Relena couldn't recall the last time she felt so weak and in such incredible pain. "What did you give me? Why do I feel..."

"We offered you some pain killers and you may feel drowsy for a few days. The doctors are going to administer an antibiotic for you." Quentin interrupted her questioning as he directed one of the doctors to prepare the instrument.

"Antibiotic? Did I contract a virus?" She asked in short breaths, somehow not able to settle her breathing. Please don't give me anything before you contact my physician."

"Who's your physician, Miss Darlian?"

"Sally....Po." She pushed her body and her lungs to expel the air and to answer the question. It was growing more difficult to speak.

"We've already contacted her. You have nothing to worry about. It will be perfectly safe." Quentin explained. "Doctor?"

"Yes, yes. Don't worry Miss Darlian. We'll take care of everything." The doctor confirmed as he prepped the needle and pierced the needlepoint into her upper left arm.

She felt the liquid flow into her veins automatically and tried struggling. "No, wait." Relena gasped. The pain was unbearable and she tossed her head uncontrollably from side to side, continuously murmuring, "no, no, please." What she didn't realize was that the more she squirmed and wiggled, the faster the chemicals travelled throughout her body. Her attempts to fight off the new substance in her system proved to be futile and she fell victim to the heavy dose. Within a few minutes, Relena's body grew still and she could fell her lungs constricting in short intervals. Soon, she was taken over by darkness once again.

"Stage one, complete sir." The doctor announced, as he discarded the needle into the trash.

"Keep a careful watch on her vital signs and report anything out of the ordinary." Quentin ordered as he prepared to leave.

He walked down the stark hall into his own office and contacted his boss on the vid-phone. "Sir, Relena has been injected with the A. product. Stage one is under way."

"Very well. Despite the tests we have done in the previous months, they were all conducted on men. Make sure nothing happens to her." The dark shadow on the vidphone instructed. "A dead vice foreign minister is of no use to me. Do you understand, Quentin?"

"I understand, sir."


~*~*~

Lady Une was taken aback from the news she received this morning. 'Where on earth could Relena have gone?' She thought. She instructed Duo and Trowa to meet her at Preventers Headquarters immediately and they arrived in less than ten minutes of her call.

"Duo, Trowa, we have no idea where Relena is at this moment. I don't want to start any drastic rumours that she may very well be missing." She said, situating herself behind her desk. "I want you two to look into this. Alexander proclaimed that she was with Heero last night."

"Heero? I thought he resigned weeks ago. Duo wondered, looking confused.

"He did but apparently he couldn't stay away. I suggest you pay a visit to him first. Aside from Paegan, he was the last person who made contact with her." Une ordered.

"We're on our way." Trowa acknowledged.


~*~*~
"Why would Heero visit Relena?" Duo asked as he drove his rented vehicle.

Trowa sat idly in the passenger seat, gazing out the windshield. "I have no idea and don't you start that conversation about there being a relationship between the two of them. It won't happen!" Trowa stammered.

Once they arrived at Heero's apartment, they ceased their conversation and prepared themselves for the unfortunate reunion between the three Gundam pilots.
Duo knocked fervently on the wooden panel, waiting impatiently for Heero to answer.

"Open up Heero!" Duo yelled.

"Why are you here, Maxwell?" Heero replied angrily as he opened the door.

"We have a few questions, Yuy." Trowa answered. When they sensed his lack of cooperation, he continued, "It's about Relena. She's missing."

"Then why are you here? Use your resources and find her. Stop pestering me." Heero said dispassionately, although he felt anything but dispassionate when the words 'Relena' and 'missing' were in the same sentence. Suddenly he thought, why should he care? He was no longer a part of her career, or her life for that matter. However, his curiosity got the better of him and he left the door open for them to enter.

They followed his inaudible welcome into his one bedroom home. Duo sighed loudly before continuing, "Heero, we hear that you saw her last night. Give us a brief summary of what happened between the two of you."

"Nothing happened. We exchanged a few words and I left." He answered monotonously.

"So, you didn't have an argument? Nothing out of the ordinary?" Trowa asked.

"What is this? Is this an interrogation? I do not have to answer anymore questions. Frankly, I do not care what happened to her. She probably ran off with a lover ." Heero replied, immediately regretting the words that came out of his mouth.

"Heero, you're not serious. This is Relena we're talking about. You are not even remotely concerned about her?" Duo asked, lowering his voice, prompting Heero to reply honestly.

He stared directly into Duo's eyes. Duo knew that the perfect soldier's silence was his answer. Duo and Trowa exchanged a look saying that they will not find anything here. Without another word, they left Heero.

On his way out, Duo muttered beneath his breath. "Thanks for nothing, Heero. Don't blame us if something did happen to her. God knows, you have enough ghosts haunting your dreams."


'You don't know the half of it, Maxwell.' Heero thought. He tried convincing himself that he no longer cared for her, or about anything in life. In fact, he never cared for her. It was strictly a mission that he was set out to accomplish. There are no feelings, no emotions of any kind, only action. He just wanted to live alone, to accept the life that was handed to him once he was turned over to Dr. J.

Once they returned to their car, Trowa asked. "What now?"

"Perhaps Heero has a point."

"Which is?"

"Maybe Relena took a break. I'm not confirming the 'running away with the lover' scenario but she could be hiding out; licking her wounds, so to speak, from her recent encounter with our favorite soldier." Trowa predicted.

"Hmmmm. Why don't we wait a few days before doing anything? Something may pop up. To be more specific, Relena may reappear before our eyes and all of this would have been for naught." Duo suggested.

"Agreed."



~*~*~

As the days progressed, Relena's condition worsened. Her blood pressure has been dropping from the moment of the injection and her skin color has grown pale and ghostly white. The doctors did not know what was wrong with her. Her breathing never stabilized, which was a possible sign of cardiac arrest. Nothing the doctors did helped the situation. It seemed as if her body was shutting down.

Larson Quentin received hourly reports of her declining health and the explicit warning from his boss kept repeating in his thoughts. 'A dead vice foreign minister is of no use to me.' On day three of the experiment, he could no longer contain his anxiety. Quentin returned to the room to check on his patient.

"What is wrong with her?" Quentin demanded, losing his control.

"We have no idea but we think her body is rejecting the chemicals of the A. product." The bulky doctor replied. "It's amazing that she has lived this long. She's fighting off the substance with everything she's got."

"You have performed experiments on the A. product. We were told that it could help produce a super assassin with overpowering strength and stamina. What the hell are you talking about?" Quentin blurted.

"Your statements are true, sir. They also proved to erase the patients' memory. However, you must recall that they were experimented only on men, never on women."

"You need not remind me." Quentin snarled. "So, what's her condition now?"

"Sir, she's dying."


TBC...