Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Revenge of the Heart ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

Standard Disclaimer: I don't Own them, don't sue me, this story done for entertainment purposes only, I'm receiving no pay for this, blah, blah, blah…

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Revenge of the Heart

Chapter 4

An odor that was strong and full of fumes invaded Quatre's nostrils and his eyes snapped open and blinding light flooded his eyes. He clamped his lids shut almost immediately after opening them and the equally blinding pain exploded in his head. "Ohhhhhhh! What happened?"

"Master Quatre, someone tried to kill you." Rashid's amazingly calm voice reached his ears and the man recapped the bottle of smelling salts and set in on a nearby table.

Parts of the incident were coming back to him, the gunshot, the pain, the ground rushing up to hit him in the face. "Am I badly wounded?" His fingers reached to where the pain in his side had come from, and a large hand gripped his and pulled it gently but firmly away. His hands trapped, Quatre moved his body experimentally to test his injury. To his surprise, he found that it still burned when he moved but not nearly as bad, perhaps Rashid had issued him some pain killers?

"It's not serious at all Master Quatre. When you turned, the bullet grazed your side. The wound isn't deep at all and should heal soon. However, you've likely got a concussion; you hit your head pretty hard and there's a lump the size of a golf ball on your skull."

Quatre opened his eyes again and tried to adjust to the light as he sat up, despite Rashid's fervent protests that he lie down. "I'll be fine, just get me some Excedrin… migraine strength if we've got it." He heard the sound of hastily retreating footsteps leave the room and Rashid helped him get to his feet.

Through the pounding of his head he gazed down at a strip of white cloth that was wrapped around his waist and wondering at the size of the bullet wound that was hidden beneath. Until he had a chance to take a look at it himself, he would take Rashid's word that it wasn't serious. He heard the footsteps returning and saw Mrs. Mullens enter the room with the green bottle and a tall glass of water in her hands. She removed the cap with shaking fingers and spilled a handful into Quatre's outstretched palm. He took three and swilled them down in one gulp and drained the glass and waited for the medication to slide down his throat. He took his seat on the sofa he had been laying on in the oversized parlor and rested his elbows on his knees to hold his head in his hands and sighed. A thought struck him and he looked up at Rashid, "Who tried to kill me? Did you catch them? Was Galahad injured?"

"The horse if fine Master Quatre and yes sir, the attacker was caught and is being held. We were waiting for you to regain consciousness before we called the authorities to get her."

Quatrefroze as he processed what Rashid had just said. Her. "What did you say?" He said, his throat dry.

"Did you not hear me Master Quatre?" A look of worry crossed Rashid's face and he dropped down to one knee to look into Quatre's eyes and check to see if his pupils were responding. "Perhaps I should have gone ahead and called an ambulance instead of relying on Muhammad." He took hold of Quatre's chin to steer his head this way and that in the different directions of the light.

Quatreshook his head furiously and slapped Rashid's hand away which only caused another stab of pain through his temples. Ignoring the pretty sunburst of color that flashed through his brain he angrily said, "I meant what did you say!? Did you say that it was a her?" he glared at Rashid.

The older man looked was shocked at his normally calm master's expression and tone. Quatre never got angry! He stammered out, "Why yes, a young woman. She somehow made it onto the property through the security system and was lying in wait for you to ride on your way up to the cliffs. She had an old rifle that is partly responsible for your survival, it didn't shoot straight when she pulled the trigger. The only way we even knew about her was that Samir in the security room noticed that one of the cameras hidden in the trees was malfunctioning and he went out to repair it. He was fixing the camera after you rode by and then he saw the girl moving to get a better angle to aim. He screamed a warning to you and was barely able to tackle the girl and get her to the ground by himself. He said she fought like a tiger. By the time my self and the others reached the scene it took three of us to hold her down. The only reason we have her contained now is that we tied her to one of the sturdy old chairs and she is still under gunpoint. Feisty little thing, you'd never know it by looking at her, she's half starved and has bones poking out all over her, and bluish eyes that are so dull they look like they belong in a corpse."

Quatreran Rashid's words through his mind again, "Bluish eyes, skinny and underfed…" He shivered despite the warmth of the room. "Does she have long curly red hair?" He asked in a voice filled with dread.

"Why yes… How did you know?" Rashid couldn't keep the surprise from his voice.

"Lucky guess." Quatre said weakly and fell against the sofa back. "It can't be… It just can't be…" He thought.

"Rashid, bring this girl to my office. I want to speak with her." He rose from the sofa as steadily as he could.

"Are you sure that's a good idea, sir?"

"We'll find out soon enough. Just bring her to my office, I'm going to my room to get a clean shirt."

Quatreleft the parlor and headed for the staircase that would lead him to his room and as he charged up them he was relieved to find that the overdose of the Excedrin was kicking in. He entered his room and crossed it in a daze to his closet and pulled out a soft green polo shirt. He pulled it on and grabbed another pair of jeans since the ones he was wearing were streaked with mud, dust and grass stains. He went into his large bathroom and surveyed his face in the mirror. It was marked all over with streaks of mud and dirt and tiny scratches and bruises. He breathed in deeply and held it, letting the oxygen fill his lungs to capacity and flow through his body calming him.

He repeated this action a few more times and then turned on the warm water in the sink and soaked a washcloth in it. Using a little soap he soon had himself rid of the most visible reminders of his encounter with solid ground and put a band-aid on the worst of the cuts. He finally ran a comb through his disheveled hair and left his quarters. He walked down the hall to the large bedroom that he had converted to an office and paused just outside the door.

Inside he could hear the voices of two men; "Don't even think about trying anything girl," said one. "You're really going to regret what you tried to do to Master Quatre, what the hell did he ever do to you?!" The other said hotly. There was no response besides that of the two men who were obviously guarding his would-be-killer. He placed his hand on the doorknob, and shivered, afraid of what he was going to find on the other side. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a large hand on his shoulder and Rashid's deep voice behind him, "Would you like me to go ahead and call the police Master Quatre?"

"That won't be necessary Rashid, not yet anyway." He smiled at the man and calmed.

"Why don't I go in first, I want to make sure she's secured." Rashid moved Quatre's hand to turn the knob and open the door.

Quatrestood back and watched as Rashid disappeared into the room, only to hear a voice dripping with hatred and sarcasm announce, "Well, well, well, if it isn't Wolverine! To what do I owe the honor?"

In spite of the situation he was currently in Quatre found himself nearly doubled over trying not to laugh at the woman's insult of Rashid's rather distinctive face and hairstyle. He let the spasms that were shaking his body ease and then straightened and entered the office. He stared at the sight that was before his eyes and felt ice slide down his spine for the second time that day. Sitting in a chair that faced the door sat the woman. She wore a black, long sleeved exercise shirt that was skin tight and revealed her form. The dark material did nothing to disguise the ribs that were poking out through the flesh that was stretched too tightly over them.

Her muddy torn jeans were nearly faded to the point of white and were so worn they looked thin as silk at the knees, and she had on a pair of running shoes that had obviously seen better years. Her flaming red curls were mussed and falling out of the tight bun she had piled on top of her head and cascaded over her shoulders and down her back. Amid the streaks of dirt and mud, a black eye, split lip, and one badly bruised cheek he could see a lovely pair of blue-gray eyes that stared lifelessly at his chest as he cautiously approached her. All that was needed was a lightning storm, some different clothes, and a knife and he would be standing in a reenactment of his dream from last night. He stared at her blankly, unsure of whether to be horrified or amazed or even both.

To his amazement, he was able to find his voice and spoke, "What is your name?"

The girl didn't answer but continued to stare silently at his chest, probably wishing there was a large gaping hole in it that was gushing blood.

Quatre took a step closer and repeated his question more loudly this time, "What is your name?"

The girl still didn't answer. Quatre sighed and looked at the two Maguanacs and instructed them to turn her to face his desk and he started walking past her.

Suddenly, with no warning the girl exploded from the chair and charged at him with a feral scream of rage. Her hands wrapped around his throat and with the element of surprise, her slight weight knocked him to the floor. Rashid and the Maguanacs cried in alarm and raced to assist Quatre. Wrapping their arms around her legs and waist the three men were able to pry her off of him but not before she managed to cling to the last second any part of Quatre that she could. As the young man wrenched himself away from the attack she got a firm grip with both hands clutching his right wrist and when he pulled away from her grasp, one of her small nails scratched the back of his hand leaving a deep furrow. "Shit!!" Quatre yelled and clamped his other had over the mark and scrambled across the floor.

He stared in disbelief at the girl. Just seconds ago she had been in a near catatonic state and now he was fully able to appreciate what Rashid's words when he said she fought like a tiger, but in this case, she reminded him more of a tiger with rabies. Even with three grown men holding her she kept managing to slip through and claw flesh or land a blow. It finally took Rashid's huge body to pin her to the floor and he pin her arms to the side of her body by wrapping his arms around her, then applying ever increasing pressure to his crushing grip on her. She continued to squirm and writhe but with Rashid crushing her she was soon reduced to tiny gasps for air and her body was becoming limp.

"Let her go Rashid." Quatre said and crossed the room to stand behind his desk. He opened a drawer and pulled out a small revolver he kept hidden under some folders and loaded the chambers. He then laid it in front of him on the desktop and repeated his order. "I said let her go! I don't think she'll give me any trouble now."

Rashid looked up at Quatre and loosened his hold on the girl a fraction and she drew in a huge gasping breath and whispered in a scratchy voice, "Filthy bastard!"

"Nice to see this little session didn't damage your extensive vocabulary." One of the Maguanacs remarked sarcastically.

The girl turned her head and glared and him, murder blazing from her eyes, "Fuck off!" She hissed.

"Why you little…" The mans face flushed and he started towards her raised the butt of his rifle as if to strike her.

The girls eyes went wide and she cringed. Quatre decided the situation had gone too far. "That's ENOUGH!!" He roared. "DROP THE GUN!" The man looked up in shock and lowered the weapon. "Now everybody, GET OUT!"

The two mobile suit pilots-turned bodyguards hastily retreated from the room and Rashid let the girl slip from his grasp. She stood and rubbed her bruised arms and looked at Quatre like he was a viper, a creature that needed to be eliminated but too frightening to approach, especially with the gun on his desk.

"Sit down." He instructed her and motioned to the chair she had vacated but she stood rooted to the spot. Quatre wondered if he was going to have to repeat everything to her. "Sit down!" He said loudly and the girl slowly walked to the chair, still eyeing the gun on the desk. She sat and crossed her arms with her head tilted down and her eyes glaring at him.

"Now, what is your name?" Quatre asked. He waited a few unresponsive moments and then shrugged his shoulders in gesture of surrender. "Fine. You win. Rashid, call the police."

Rashid turned to leave and the girl muttered something. Rashid paused but didn't turn around and Quatre leaned a little over his desk. "What did you say?"

"Kennedy. My name is Kennedy." She said, venom dripping from her voice.

"There's a start. Is that your first name or last?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Oh I think it does. I want to know who you are and why you tried to kill me."

"Because you're a goddamned murderer, that's why!" She said loudly.

Murderer. Just like in the dream last night. He shook his head lightly to clear it of the unpleasant memory and stood back. He was about to continue his line of questioning when he saw Rashid walk to the door to speak with a servant who had just come running to the office with something in his arms. He listened as Rashid exchanged a few words in low tones, nod and take the object, and then returned to Quatre's side. He held a denim shoulder bag that had a few spots of mud on it and leaves caught in the zipper. He handed it to Quatre saying, "They found this hidden in one of the bushes in the tree grove where she was hiding."

Quatre opened the bag and looked inside. He found a sheaf of papers, some spare bullets, a small first-aid kit and finally, what he was looking for, a wallet. "Thank you Rashid, I think you can go now. I have a feeling that this will provide me all the information I need."

Rashid nodded and left the office and Quatre perched on the desktop. He flicked open the button that held the well used old leather wallet open and thumbed through the various plastic windows that contained different business, and credit cards, a cash/debit card, and finally he found it. An identification card. He pulled it out and looked at the name on it. "So you're Aislinn Kennedy?"

The girl didn't respond. He got off the desk to sit in the comfortable leather chair and turned the computer on. After a few moments he hit a few keys and a window popped up. He looked back at the ID and typed in the number from the scrap of plastic and there it was. Everything about her from home address to employment information. Her entire life was laid before her worst enemy with no way to hide it. Her face went ashen.

Quatre looked at her and took in her pale features, then he turned his attention back to the screen. He looked at the address on the screen and noted that it was in the northern section of the city. Springtree Avenue? That was one of the worst streets in the Smithtown Ghetto as it was referred to. He hit a few more keys. She had been living there for five years. "End of the war." He thought and frowned. He pressed another key to find that she was there with her two children, twins. He glanced back at her, taking in her tiny form, he didn't think it was possible that she had ever carried one child let alone twins. There was something very mysterious about her.

He clicked the mouse and it brought up a window with her employment information. Typical stuff for a young person, waitressing, cashiering, computer systems, wait! Jay-Dom Securities! That was the company that had designed the security system for the estate a few years ago. He took a look at her job with the company. Data entry? Obviously she had someone giving her the inside information on the weaknesses of the system or she was one hell of a hacker!

Current status? He typed.

City Library.

He had been expecting military background. Law enforcement training. Mercenary experience even, but certainly not a librarian!! He leaned back in his chair and swiveled it to face her, completely confused.

"Why is a librarian trying to kill me?" He asked in a voice of wonder.

"I already told you."

"Ahh… yes. And would you like to tell me just who I've killed? It seems the only murderer here would be you if you didn't have such terrible aim."

She looked at him as if he were an idiot and in an incredulous voice said, "You killed my family."

Quatre's eyebrows shot up. "I what?!"

"Which language do you want it in?! You. Killed. My. Family! And you destroyed my life and the lives of my little brother and sister!" She said each word as distinctly and sharply as she could.

"You had better start making sense soon Aislinn before I get tired of this and call the cops. Let's see what happens to your kids when you're sent to prison for five to ten."

She looked at him with disgust and disbelief. "You don't even remember do you? Five years ago? DaltonHarbor? It was an OZ base that Gundam 04 destroyed with no warning."

Aislinnclosed her eyes for a moment, remembering the only home she had ever known. "It was totally unimportant, it manufactured no mobile suits, trained no new pilots. All Dalton was used for was a refueling point for military planes and temporary housing for ground troops. It was more of a town than it was a military base, even the name, Dalton Harbor, if you heard it in passing you'd think someone was talking about a little coastal village or something. That's even what OZ had been planning to make it into. It was so outdated and unused half the time they were going to withdraw the military presence and pay to have the buildings torn down." She laughed bitterly, remembering the grand plans her father had been telling her that OZ had for the town.

"They were going to pay people to open new shops and hotels so that it could be turned into a resort town and used for higher up government officials to vacation there. It was going to be a booming community. The base was only a few months away from being officially retired and then one night when everyone was off guard and asleep, 04 came and destroyed everything. YOU destroyed everything. My father was in the control tower pulling late night duty. That was what you hit first." She clutched her arms tightly around her waist and leaned forward trying to hide the tears that were leaking out of her eyes. In spite of himself Quatre felt his heart going out to her. He'd had the unpleasant experience of meeting victims of the attacks he and Sandrock had made during the war and hearing them describe what had happened to them and others had always filled him with a sense of self loathing. This time was no different.

"The tower was demolished and my fathers body was never found. After the tower was gone you trashed the air-craft hangars. That's where my mother was, she was pulling a double shift for a sick friend. She was a little luckier than my father, at least we found her arm a piece of her skull, enough to get a dental impression to match to her records." Her voice began quivering when she remembered General Brant's eyes and expression as he told her that her parents were dead.

She reined in her emotions, determined to let the peace-talk spouting bastard know just what he had done, her voice raising its pitch. "After you destroyed the only relevant parts of the base you still weren't satisfied. You started cutting up the military housing where innocent families were sleeping and didn't have a chance!"

Aislinn's voice became deadly quiet. "That's where I was. With my brother and the twins."

Quatrelooked at her as her eyes clouded over with the memories. It was as though she were slipping back in time and living it over again.

"I woke up when I felt the house shaking. I heard my younger brother David calling for me. I got out of bed and went down the hall to his room. He was getting dressed and saying that the base was being attacked and that our mother and dad were burning. I looked out the window of his room that faced towards the base and I saw fire reaching up to the sky. Everything that had been peaceful and normal when I had gone to sleep was now on fire and dying. In the middle of it all was a giant metal monster with two sickles that was coming towards our house. I remember running across the hall to grab the twins from their cribs and raced down the stairs to the basement. I laid them down underneath the stairs, my dad had always told me that was the safest place if we were ever attacked."

She laughed again and gave a sad smile as she remembered her father had only told her that when she had asked him about it. He had thought for a moment and then told her but had laughingly added, "Nobody's ever going to attach Dalton Harbor sweetheart, there's nothing worth destroying." How wrong her father had been. She continued her story.

"I went back to get my brother and found him looking out the window. I screamed at him to move and he just stood there. I ran to the window to see what he was looking at and there you were. I looked up and the face up the Gundam stared right back at me, it didn't even move. Then it raised one of those arms with the blades and brought it down right through the center of the house. The floor slanted downwards and my brother and I went tumbling through to the second floor. Furniture and broken glass fell on me but I wasn't too hurt. Then I heard my brother screaming in agony. I had to look for him by the light of the fires. I could hear him but I couldn't see him. I finally managed to track his voice. It was coming from under a scrap of wood that had been our kitchen table. When I pulled it off I saw him. He had fallen on one of the support beams that had been hidden by the ceiling. He had a 3 by 4 in piece of iron running though his chest and the blood was pouring out of him. I started screaming and trying to stop it but there was nothing I could do."

The tears that she had been fighting spilled out of her eyes and splashed onto the priceless Oriental rug beneath her feet as she remembered her brothers pathetically weak voice, "Aisee, it hurts. Please make it stop. It hurts so much! Aisee, why is it so cold? It's summertime. Why is it so cold?" and finally as his eyes were beginning to glass over, "I'm not cold anymore Aisee, and it doesn't hurt too much anymore. I wonder why? It was so bad a minute ago." Then his eyes had grown wide, "Aisee! Look! It's Mom and Dad! They're here! They're going to help us!" Aislinn had turned her head wildly looking for her parents but saw only the ruins of her destroyed home despite David's vehement claim that her father was standing right over him and her mother was stroking her hair. Then David's hand had gone limp in hers and he was gone, leaving her alone in hell with the twins buried under the rubble.

Quatrelistened to her words and felt his own throat tightening. He had never enjoyed killing but at least when he did, he had tried to make it as quick and painless as possible. He remembered the small coastal town of Dalton Harbor. He had wondered about it himself when the order for the mission had come through. He knew that it was a worthless base but the orders had been to destroy the base and all surrounding housing used by the personnel. To this day he considered it to be one of the worst things he had done in the war. The base was used primarily for soldiers that were nearing retirement or families that had multiple members in the military. He had been told that Kushrenada himself had declared it a tragedy beyond measure. But she wasn't finished with her story.

After she had stopped sobbing over her brothers corpse she had tried to find the twins but there was no way to reach them. She could her them screaming and she had been terrified that what had happened to her brother had been the fate that had been visited upon them. She had torn her way through the rubble of drywall and ceiling tile and other bits and pieces of trash that less than an hour ago had been her home when a one of the fuel tanks a quarter of a mile away was reached by the fire. It exploded and shook the ground with the force of an earthquake and upsetting the precarious balance up the house. She had had just enough time to shield her face before the piece of roofing came crashing down, pinning her beneath it.

She had been knocked unconscious and was brought out of the darkness to the smell of burning. The gas lines in the house had caught fire, set the rubble ablaze and the flames were coming towards her. She was still trapped under the roofing and began screaming for help and clawing to free herself. She could hear sirens in the distance and the shouts of survivors telling her to keep screaming. She had continued to struggle and in her desperation had torn off four of her fingernails trying to get loose. But it was no use.

As though it was determined to touch her, the fire wound a deliberate trail towards her. The serpentine glow made its way around her and she remembered hearing her own agonized screams and the sickening odor of her own burning flesh as the flames began licking her shoulder, oozing below to her back and scorching her right arm, the memory was so vivid she swore she could still feel her skin as it melted from her body. That was when the rescuers had found her and saved her. They extinguished the fire and had injected her with some blessed drug that had knocked her out again. She awoke in a hospital in Triton City to see General Brant, her father's superior officer and practically a second father to her, sitting beside her bed. He had told her of her parent's deaths and that only she and the twins had survived. He had told her that she would have to stay in the hospital for at least a month, even with today's medical technology it was going to take awhile for the burns to heal and scar over and replace the nails she had torn off.

General Brant had told her that she was going to come and live with him as soon as she was released and not to worry. The general had taken care of everything while she was in the hospital. He had had the property her parents owned sold and liquidated all the assets and put them in Aislinn's name. She would forever thank heaven that the old man had done that because only a week before she and the twins were to be released from the hospital he had been killed in the attack of a base on the other side of the continent by Gundam 03. When she had been released with a set of screaming twins in her barely healed arms she had found the nearest computer terminal and used the hacking skills her computer whiz brother had taught her to alter her ID so it would appear she was an emancipated juvenile with two twin children. She had often received funny looks when people heard that she had had a set of twins when she was twelve but nobody had ever been able to prove her ID false. She had made sure all of the accounts the general had set up were transferred to her and she had found the cheapest apartment she could, in the ghetto of course.

From there she had had to make a new life for herself. She'd had to forge credit authorizations and documents showing she was old enough for employment, she'd had to scrimp and save to feed her brothers and sisters, and before she had met Jack had had to leave them unattended during the day and race home on her breaks and lunch hour to feed and change them. And always there was the fear that someone from family services would come calling to check and see how the "young mother" was taking care of her "children".

She had sworn revenge on whoever had destroyed Dalton Harbor and till the end of the war had done everything she could to discover who the pilot was. When it had ended, she had finally given up hope of discovering who it was until the pilots were recognized by Vice-foreign-minister Peacecraft a few months after the Mari Meia incident. She had literally collapsed to the floor when Quatre's face had flashed up on the screen behind the VFM and his name was called. She couldn't believe her good fortune. The man had just moved himself and his business to Triton City a month earlier and was in the process of purchasing an estate on the ocean. The security system needed for the sprawling 3000 acres had to be designed nearly from scratch and the company that was designing it needed more employees to handle the workload. They had taken her after a glance at her qualifications and she had used her position to hack and find every exploitable weakness in the design. Afterwards she had dropped out of sight in the recesses of the public library and stayed there for the next 3 years biding her time.

Aislinnlaughed at herself as she ran over and over in her mind why she had been caught today. It wasn't because she had tripped any of the alarms, but because one of the camera's had been broken. Broken!! She shook her head at the irony of it and looked at Quatre, "Anything else you want to know?" She asked sarcastically.

Quatretook a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I don't know what to tell you Aislinn…"

"DON'T use my name. You don't know me, you never did, and you never will; so quit acting like I'm an old friend!" She snapped.

Quatrewas taken aback at that. He didn't know how to handle this now. He wondered what it would take to get through to her. If he could only see what she was really feeling, really thinking. He looked deeply into her eyes and let his mind reach out and touch hers. He had only a slight feeling of the pain she had when she sat up straight, her eyes blazing afresh. He could have sworn he heard an iron door slam in his mind and she screamed, "Don't you dare try that psychic shit on me!"

His eyes opened wide as he realized what she said. He stared at her in amazement and she smirked at him. "That's right asshole, I know all about your little "heart of outer space" garbage. I hacked into those medical files, you know, the ones that were supposed to be so secure and used only to find out how powerful you were. I know they increased after the war and I know you're capable of some kind of mind reading shit nowadays. Well it doesn't work on me! I'm empathic too and I know how to shut others out. Don't even try it!"

Quatresighed again. He didn't know what to do now. The girl had tried to kill him but in light of her story that was backed up by what he found from her ID information to be completely true, he couldn't blame her. He had lost family in the war and he had gone out for revenge just like she had, if on a larger scale. He put an elbow on his desk and rested his chin in his hand and looked across at her. The hateful gaze and frown that hadn't left once in the 45 minutes she had been in his office. He recognized it. It was the same expression that had been on his own face just a few years ago.

He rubbed his temples and raked his hands through his hair. He didn't know what to do at all. Were he still the idealistic boy he had been five years ago, he would have told her something similar to what he had told Dorothy after she had tried to kill him and then let her go. He still wanted to do that but he knew this girl would try it again. He thought about her and what would happen if he went ahead and turned her over to law enforcement. She would get the third degree he knew. It was bad enough that she had tried to kill a person, but when that person's last name was Winner, it made it even worse. He thought of the children she had told him about, the twins. He opened her wallet and looked at a picture he had seen earlier.

It was a small snapshot of two beautiful children with shining blue eyes and and masses of curling red hair grinned at the camera while clinging to their big sisters legs. Standing behind Aislinn was an old man with white hair and beard and behind them was the backdrop of the Pacific Ocean. He looked at the two children and knew they had nobody in the world except the two other people in the photograph. If their sister was in prison he doubted that the old babysitter would be able to care for them in the time it took for them to grow up. Family services would take the twins and split them apart, put them in foster homes, move them constantly. Quatre didn't want that to happen. He looked at the small family and knew that there should be three more people in it. But even though it had been a war, Aislinn was right, he had killed them.

He had destroyed her family enough and he didn't want to hurt it even more. There was only one alternative. He pulled her ID card out and waved it in the air. "I'm keeping this. It has everything there is to know about you, your address, place of employment, your whole life. Then you're going to go back home and forget any plans you ever made about me. Is that understood?" He asked.

Aislinn's eyes grew wide and she stammered, "Y-y-you're letting me go?"

"Yes, and you'll never try to harm me in any way ever again. Is that clear?"

She looked at him, her old loathing expression returning, "What's to keep me from it?"

Quatrelooked straight into her eyes and tried to give his best imitation of Heero's frosty glare, "Because if there is ever another attempt on my life, successful or otherwise, Rashid will turn this over to the authorities and you'll be the first person they visit."

Her face went white and she nodded. "Good." He said and grabbed her bag and dumped the contents out on the table. He grabbed the bullets and tossed them in one of the desk drawers. "I don't think you'll be needing those anymore now will you?" From there he spotted the TADS gun. He grabbed it and was about to add it to the drawer along with the bullets when she cried out.

"No I need that!" She jumped up from the chair to make a grab for the weapon and in the same instant Quatre had picked up the revolver and pointed it level with her heart. She backed off but looked at him with pleading eyes. "You don't understand. That's the only weapon that is safe to use in the ghetto. Please, it's my only defense."

He realized that she was right and nodded, but set the gun far out of her reach. She sat back down in the chair and he moved onto the sheaf of papers he had seen earlier. Unfolding them, he realized that they were her monthly bills and paycheck. He felt his eyes grow large at what he saw.

Electricity- $67.56

Water- $25.32

Rent- $350.00

School Tuition- $800.00

Paycheck $1298.71

He was shocked. Even though the money covered the bills there wasn't nearly enough for food and other necessities that were used by a family of three in a month. He couldn't imagine what it must be like not to be able to afford the basic needs for survival. He looked at her and noted the color staining her cheeks in embarrassment. He re-opened her wallet and punched some more numbers into the computer. I few minutes and windows later he had transferred $300.00 to her cash card. Grabbing her papers wallet and TADS gun he stuffed them back in the bag and handed it to her. "I put enough money on your card to cover the cost of a new ID." She opened her mouth to tell him where he could put his charity but he had already called for Rashid. The big man opened the door and stood in the entrance expectantly.

Quatrecleared his throat and spoke, "Rashid, I would appreciate it if you would take Miss Kennedy back to the city and see that she arrives at her home safely."

Rashid's mouth fell open, "But Master Quatre…"

"Please do as I say Rashid. I think I've got everything I need to keep something like this from ever happening again." He tapped her ID with a finger while looking into her eyes to reinforce his words.

"I… Very well Sir." Rashid said in a voice of resignation. He crossed the room and took Aislinn by the arm and led her to the door.

"Aislinn!" She stopped at the sound of Quatre's voice but didn't turn around. "I want you to know that I'm sorry for what happened to you and your family because of me, I truly am. I know you came here today because you thought it was necessary. I want you to know that during the war I was doing the same thing but I didn't have the luxury of following my conscience the way you did. I had to follow orders whether I liked them or not and most of the time I wound up hating myself afterwards. Dalton Harbor was no exception, I knew what was there, I knew it was a worthless base that posed no threat but my orders were to destroy it and I did. I didn't enjoy the things I had to do in the war, Aislinn, I never did. I hope someday you'll realize that and come to forgive me."

She made no move to indicate that she had understood him but stood there for a few moment and then continued out of the office. Quatre remained where he stood until he could no longer hear their footsteps in the hallway. Then he crossed the room to stand in front of the window. Because the office was on the opposite side of the wing its view was of the endless lawn and drive that led up to the mansion. He opened the doors and stepped out onto the balcony when he saw the limousine drive up and stop in front of the entrance to the house. Rashid and the girl exited and stepped into the waiting vehicle and drove away. Quatre watched until the car was a black dot that disappeared over one of the gentle hills of the estate.

He went back into the office and left it to go to his room. Entering his bathroom he unbuttoned his shirt and slipped it off his shoulders to examine the gunshot wound. He carefully unwound it from around his waist and inspected it. Rashid hadn't been joking. The bullet had barely grazed him leaving a six inch gash that would heal in a couple of weeks. He reapplied a fresh gauze pad and taped it over the wound. Then grabbed a bottle of alcohol and poured the stinging liquid over his hand where Aislinn had scratched him and waved it furiously until the burning stopped. He added some ointment and band-aids and inspected the rest of his body that was covered in scrapes and bruises. He sighed, he would take care of those later when he showered. He looked back in the mirror and was always surprised by how he had changed from the skinny little boy he had been in the war.

After the Mari Meia incident Duo and Trowa had both taken it upon themselves to change him for the better. Duo had introduced him to foods loaded with protein, calories, and of course, fat. Trowa had forced him into push-ups, chin-ups, and weight lifting that had made his chest fill out and given him some muscle in his arms. When Quatre had discovered his love of riding, that had toned his leg muscles. With the added effects of moving to earth and the effects of real sunlight, he had finally acquired a healthy (if light) tan that had replaced the pasty white he had been for most of his life. Iria had been the first to notice "The Change", as she jokingly referred to it, and had told him in no uncertain terms that with his newly sculpted body, he was the spitting image of the mythical Adonis. Apparently she was right because he always seemed to attract female attention wherever he went. He couldn't help but chuckle at that thought and wondered what his darling sister would think of the "female attention" he had received today.

He picked up his discarded shirt and put it back on, not bothering with buttoning it. He went back into his room and laid down on the bed and closed his eyes. He ran the events of the day through his mind another time. He was still uneasy about the fact that Aislinn was the girl from his dream. This wasn't the first time he had seen elements of the future in dreams. He had dreamed about Joshua and Tania long before they had come into Iria's life, and he had predicted the arrival of Duo and Hilde's baby to the day. What disturbed him was the fact that only one part of his dreams had come true, the part where Aislinn had tried to kill him. Where had the lightning storm been, where did the green room fit into this, and above all where had the blind terror that he had first seen her in gone to? He sat up, wincing and propped his head on one knee as he stared out his window towards the ocean. "Surely I'm not going to see her again. Today was the beginning and the end."

But even as he spoke the words aloud in the silence of his room, he knew in his heart that they were not true. He would see her again, he never had dreams of the future unless they impacted his life or his friends' lives in a major way. And the effect she was going to have on his life wouldn't stop at being major. It would be earthshaking.