Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Road Not Taken ❯ Part XIII ( Chapter 13 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Sweet_Destiny 
Showdown: Sanchez vs. Yuy
Prize: Relena's very life!
Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Drama | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 02.24.2003 | Updated On: 07.14.2003 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.4K | Visits: 381 | Status: Completed
Showdown: Sanchez vs. Yuy
Prize: Relena's very life!
Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Drama | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 02.24.2003 | Updated On: 07.14.2003 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.4K | Visits: 381 | Status: Completed
ROAD NOT TAKEN
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing, I don't own it!
~*~*~
A sickening feeling remained constricted in Relena's chest as she tried to consume everything. Victor Sanchez was not who he claimed to be. Furthermore, he orchestrated every minute detail of the attempted murder. She couldn't help the way in which her breaths were expelled from her lungs, in short raspy intervals. Despite the pressing situation, she still couldn't believe what she had discovered.
With each receding step she took, the two men advanced just the same, shortening the distance between them. Mueller reached into his jacket pocket and retrieved a 9 mm glock from his person. Once he raised the pistol to her chest level, Relena didn't doubt the gun's deadly intentions. All of a sudden, her thoughts traced back to the days that have passed: the time when Milliardo suspected Heero for the letters, and what's worse, for breaking into their home when in fact it wasn't him at all.
"Ironic, isn't it?" she thought. "It was never Heero to begin with." The mosaic pictures in her memory, which made no sense before began forming itself into a crystal clear recollection of images. Suddenly, she understood what actually occurred that night. Mueller attacked her once she opened her door out into the hall and he would have succeeded in his mission if not for the man who saved her, Heero. Shadows of the past started dissipating from her mind and faces of the individuals who played such vital roles that very night, suddenly became so clear.
Mueller clicked the safety switch off and cautiously glanced at his boss, waiting with anticipation for permission to pull the trigger. The sound broke Relena from her mind and she stared straight into the eyes of the killers. Only one thing continued to probe her thoughts. "Why?" She wondered. Then Relena unconsciously asked her question aloud,
"Why are you doing this, Victor?"
He responded, "Why am I doing this?" Then he cackled in amusement. "My dear Relena, do you know what you have inflicted on humanity?"
Puzzled now, she raised her eyebrows and shook her head as she replied, "Peace and prosperity for all? I don't see that as such a crime."
"You and your foolishness!" He blamed her. "Did you not think of the soldiers? The brave warriors who sacrificed their very souls for your peace?" He said the final word as if it was blasphemous. "My father died in battle and was his family ever compensated? Never, not even a note from the government thanking him for his services. I went to war shortly afterwards, hoping I can make a difference and end all this tyranny and hatred. I was confronted with corruption from the government, YOUR government. And now, I know that there is only one solution... war!"
Relena didn't know whether he was serious or delirious. Finally recognizing insanity from the man's contorted face, she didn't know how else to answer him. Gathering all the political strength she possessed when confronted with a difficult adversary, she explained, "Of course I thought of the soldiers." Relena thought immediately of the Gundam Pilots and the period when she felt immensely terrified for Heero's very life.
She continued, "It was a tremendous obsession. How could I not remember those who have lost their lives for the greater good? I never enjoyed the fighting and used everything in my power to end it. How can you accuse me of such a heinous crime? I would have died a thousand deaths if it could only bring those soldiers back, bring your father back Victor." She coaxed him, trying to get him on side although she knew that he was far from being helped. This must have been what Milliardo was mentioning before, posttraumatic disorders following the dreadful war.
Sanchez rolled both of his hands into tight fists, as if he was about to strike at someone. Tears began forming in his eyes and an overwhelming wave of emotion hit him. He rubbed the eye drops away from his face without hesitation and yelled, "Don't you dare use that against me, Relena. You think we don't know how you work? You attempt to win people over through words, always had. Well, it's not going to happen this time! Mueller, kill her now!" Sanchez hollered the command.
~*~*~
"Something's wrong!" Quatre murmured, suddenly feeling a strange vibe. "People! Where's Relena? She should have been down here ten minutes ago."
"No clue. I'll go check it out." Duo volunteered. "Do we have a visual on Sanchez?" He asked before leaving the main room and headed off in search for Relena.
"Negative, Duo." Trowa responded, "He was supposed to be monitoring the second level, and was ordered to escort Relena down to the main hall."
"Well, where the hell is he?" Wufei asked impatiently, feeling tension building from his chest.
Zechs walked up to Wufei at that moment and exclaimed seriously, "Heero's escaped. I just received a call back from Preventers' and he is no where to be found."
"Were there guards watching him?" Wufei questioned, chuckling underneath his breath.
"Obviously not good ones. I want you and the rest of the pilots to be on a lookout for Yuy. I don't want him anywhere near Relena." He ordered.
"Do not worry about Yuy." Wufei exclaimed softly.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
He intentionally ignored the question and said instead, "We may have a problem. Relena hasn't been down here yet and we were notified of the supposed speech that she was to deliver, fifteen minutes ago." The pilot explained calmly. "Clearly, she hasn't been late for anything in her life, I take it?"
"Dammit! He's already gotten to her!" Milliardo announced, running to where Relena was kept.
When Wufei could no longer see Milliardo's hurried form disappear into the crowd of guests, he informed the rest of the pilots, "Trouble is brewing, folks. Yuy could be here. Help him in any way possible if you see him."
"If it's the same Heero Yuy we have learned to love, he's already well prepared for what he needs to do." Trowa replied.
~*~*~
Duo advanced his way through the lavish corridor. He raised his right arm to knock on the oak frame when someone from behind pulled him back and seized his fist in midair. From the minute he stepped onto the second floor, he felt a presence other than his own and it was none other than the perfect soldier.
Without even thinking, he shifted his weight to face the man behind him and half yelled, "What the heck is wrong with you, Heero? Since when did you break out of that cell?"
Duo received a deathly glare from him and a swift air of indifference when Heero motioned for him to shut his mouth. "He's in there right now and if you so much as make a sound, she won't live to see tomorrow's sunrise. And do you know who I'll take my rage out on, Maxwell?" Yuy asked in such a calm tone, Duo was astounded by his absolute self-control and determination.
"Yeah, I get the picture. So Sanchez is already in there. What should we do?" He replied, dropping his voice level down an octave.
Before Heero could reply, they discovered Milliardo quickening his pace in their direction. The slightly overprotective brother of Relena was about to cuss and rant simply from Yuy's presence but Duo stepped in between them as a truce.
"Zechs, listen and listen well for I'll not going to repeat myself." Heero began calmly. "Relena's in trouble and it sure as hell isn't from me. He's in there with her right now and you know as well as I that we need a plan to get her out." He stopped to catch his breath and continued, "Are you with me? Or do I have to knock you unconscious and save her myself?"
Milliardo grunted his disapproval simply by Heero's comment. They overheard three voices on the other side of that doorframe, two definitely belonging to men. It was at that time in which Milliardo knew how wrong he was about the perfect soldier and he complied to Heero's demands with a slight nod.
~*~*~
"As you wish, sir." Mueller responded, grinning evilly at his prey. He aimed the pistol at his intended target and placed his index finger on the trigger.
"Wait, wait!" Relena yelled, putting both arms up. She felt the sudden urge to live. Live through this ordeal and tell Heero how her blood boils every time she sees him, tell him how the earth seizes to rotate simply by his presence, and most importantly, tell him how much she loves him.
"I still have one more question." She said, hoping to delay the inevitable, if not avoid her predicament all together. Perhaps a miracle will fall right onto her lap if she prayed hard enough. "Why are you doing this Mueller?" The Vice Foreign Minister asked matter-of-factly.
"What's your question?" Mueller said, choking with laughter. "Isn't it obvious, my dove?" She said nothing.
"Sanchez proposed to offer me a heavy sum for this simple deed."
She shivered from his explanation. "Why?" She thought, "Why always the money?"
Just then, the door behind the two men opened unexpectedly and Milliardo walked in, appearing confident and sure of himself. Relena was surprised by her brother's calm expression, almost as if he knew what their current situation was. There was no doubt that he saw the fire burning in the eyes of the bodyguard, whom he foolishly trusted with Relena's life, and the gun firmly placed in Mueller's hand.
"Zechs, you should never have come here." Sanchez accused.
"On the contrary my friend. I need to escort Relena down to where her guests are waiting for her." Milliardo replied without hesitation.
Caught extremely off-guard by this surprising turn of events, Sanchez had to think of something else instead of merely ordering his confidante to fire away and then leave the vicinity, then making an anonymous call, claiming that Mueller had indeed killed the Vice Foreign Minister, which is not fully untrue. Eventually, he would have just walked away a free man. However, with Milliardo in the picture, it changed everything.
"You're quite right. I believe I'll escort Relena myself. Mueller, hand me the gun." Sanchez instructed, without leaving his gaze away from Milliardo for a minute. With the weapon now in Victor's possession, the situation only became more deadly when he reached out to Relena and grabbed her by the waist with one arm and swinging his other arm equipped with the gun, across her chest.
"Now walk, Relena." Sanchez ordered as he pointed the gun towards the door. Despite his seething request, she didn't move at all.
Milliardo noticed her uneasiness and said soothingly, "It'll alright. Just go with him." She made eye contact with him for only a brief moment and understood through her brother's eyes that this problem will be solved quickly, if not painlessly.
The door was already opened and Relena strained herself to walk through, with her brother's encouraging words at the back of her mind. Sanchez stayed close behind, too close for her comfort. When they were both fully exposed in the hall, she saw Duo standing in front, gun leveled.
"Let her go Sanchez." Maxwell barked the order.
"Not a chance."
"You're surrounded now, Sanchez." Heero announced as he walked firmly in front of Duo and stood only inches from Relena and her captor. With Milliardo behind them, and two former Gundam pilots in front, there was no possible escape route for the culprit.
"Oh, but that's," Sanchez explained, "where you're wrong. You must be that Gundam pilot whom Relena's all love struck about, aren't you?" Heero offered a puzzling look and pulled out his gun, at the ready.
"Yeah I've done my research, Heero Yuy. And if my research has done me justice, it might be more pleasurable for me to kill you and see how Relena would react to this little twist in our game." Sanchez chuckled. "Who knows? She may even kill herself and that would just save me a bullet, wouldn't it?"
As Sanchez continued to think aloud, Relena's eyes looked more horrified by each passing sentence and she couldn't hold onto Heero's gaze. "Kill Heero? No please don't!" She pleaded desperately.
"No, on second thought, I'll just shoot you!" he concluded, finally pulling the trigger and releasing the metal bullet into her chest. The smell of sulfur lingered in the air as Relena felt a pain stab between her shoulders. Ever so slowly, she felt her knees weakening and she could no longer hold herself upright. The invading embrace that was Sanchez's arms began to loosen and she slid to the floor as blood oozed from the bullet wound, dying her gown into a murderous depth of rose red. Shock was written on everyone's faces for the sudden transition of the situation.
"Relena, no!!" Heero hollered, hoisting his gun in midair and aimed for Sanchez's forehead. Once Relena's limp body fell stationary in front of the murderer's feet, Yuy fired mercilessly. He fell just short of the doorway and laughed. Within a few moments, Sanchez was dead. Mueller became fleetingly frightened and decided to run for it, hoping his legs could carry him as far away from the ordeal as possible. However, Duo kept him at bay with the deafening sound of one bullet fired into the ceiling.
"Where do you think you're going, Mueller? Don't worry. We haven't forgotten about you." Duo snickered. When Maxwell turned back to Relena, Heero was already by her side, pressing hard on her wound, hoping to stop the bleeding until the paramedics arrived. Milliardo had called the hospital and Preventers' for assistance and he stood forlornly beside his injured sister, watching Yuy attempt everything possible to save her life.
"Hold on Relena." Heero whispered as he felt her blood in his hands. "You must hold on!" The sight before him almost sickened him. How could he have been so careless? Now, Relena's life was hanging by a mere thread.
TBC...
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing, I don't own it!
~*~*~
A sickening feeling remained constricted in Relena's chest as she tried to consume everything. Victor Sanchez was not who he claimed to be. Furthermore, he orchestrated every minute detail of the attempted murder. She couldn't help the way in which her breaths were expelled from her lungs, in short raspy intervals. Despite the pressing situation, she still couldn't believe what she had discovered.
With each receding step she took, the two men advanced just the same, shortening the distance between them. Mueller reached into his jacket pocket and retrieved a 9 mm glock from his person. Once he raised the pistol to her chest level, Relena didn't doubt the gun's deadly intentions. All of a sudden, her thoughts traced back to the days that have passed: the time when Milliardo suspected Heero for the letters, and what's worse, for breaking into their home when in fact it wasn't him at all.
"Ironic, isn't it?" she thought. "It was never Heero to begin with." The mosaic pictures in her memory, which made no sense before began forming itself into a crystal clear recollection of images. Suddenly, she understood what actually occurred that night. Mueller attacked her once she opened her door out into the hall and he would have succeeded in his mission if not for the man who saved her, Heero. Shadows of the past started dissipating from her mind and faces of the individuals who played such vital roles that very night, suddenly became so clear.
Mueller clicked the safety switch off and cautiously glanced at his boss, waiting with anticipation for permission to pull the trigger. The sound broke Relena from her mind and she stared straight into the eyes of the killers. Only one thing continued to probe her thoughts. "Why?" She wondered. Then Relena unconsciously asked her question aloud,
"Why are you doing this, Victor?"
He responded, "Why am I doing this?" Then he cackled in amusement. "My dear Relena, do you know what you have inflicted on humanity?"
Puzzled now, she raised her eyebrows and shook her head as she replied, "Peace and prosperity for all? I don't see that as such a crime."
"You and your foolishness!" He blamed her. "Did you not think of the soldiers? The brave warriors who sacrificed their very souls for your peace?" He said the final word as if it was blasphemous. "My father died in battle and was his family ever compensated? Never, not even a note from the government thanking him for his services. I went to war shortly afterwards, hoping I can make a difference and end all this tyranny and hatred. I was confronted with corruption from the government, YOUR government. And now, I know that there is only one solution... war!"
Relena didn't know whether he was serious or delirious. Finally recognizing insanity from the man's contorted face, she didn't know how else to answer him. Gathering all the political strength she possessed when confronted with a difficult adversary, she explained, "Of course I thought of the soldiers." Relena thought immediately of the Gundam Pilots and the period when she felt immensely terrified for Heero's very life.
She continued, "It was a tremendous obsession. How could I not remember those who have lost their lives for the greater good? I never enjoyed the fighting and used everything in my power to end it. How can you accuse me of such a heinous crime? I would have died a thousand deaths if it could only bring those soldiers back, bring your father back Victor." She coaxed him, trying to get him on side although she knew that he was far from being helped. This must have been what Milliardo was mentioning before, posttraumatic disorders following the dreadful war.
Sanchez rolled both of his hands into tight fists, as if he was about to strike at someone. Tears began forming in his eyes and an overwhelming wave of emotion hit him. He rubbed the eye drops away from his face without hesitation and yelled, "Don't you dare use that against me, Relena. You think we don't know how you work? You attempt to win people over through words, always had. Well, it's not going to happen this time! Mueller, kill her now!" Sanchez hollered the command.
~*~*~
"Something's wrong!" Quatre murmured, suddenly feeling a strange vibe. "People! Where's Relena? She should have been down here ten minutes ago."
"No clue. I'll go check it out." Duo volunteered. "Do we have a visual on Sanchez?" He asked before leaving the main room and headed off in search for Relena.
"Negative, Duo." Trowa responded, "He was supposed to be monitoring the second level, and was ordered to escort Relena down to the main hall."
"Well, where the hell is he?" Wufei asked impatiently, feeling tension building from his chest.
Zechs walked up to Wufei at that moment and exclaimed seriously, "Heero's escaped. I just received a call back from Preventers' and he is no where to be found."
"Were there guards watching him?" Wufei questioned, chuckling underneath his breath.
"Obviously not good ones. I want you and the rest of the pilots to be on a lookout for Yuy. I don't want him anywhere near Relena." He ordered.
"Do not worry about Yuy." Wufei exclaimed softly.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
He intentionally ignored the question and said instead, "We may have a problem. Relena hasn't been down here yet and we were notified of the supposed speech that she was to deliver, fifteen minutes ago." The pilot explained calmly. "Clearly, she hasn't been late for anything in her life, I take it?"
"Dammit! He's already gotten to her!" Milliardo announced, running to where Relena was kept.
When Wufei could no longer see Milliardo's hurried form disappear into the crowd of guests, he informed the rest of the pilots, "Trouble is brewing, folks. Yuy could be here. Help him in any way possible if you see him."
"If it's the same Heero Yuy we have learned to love, he's already well prepared for what he needs to do." Trowa replied.
~*~*~
Duo advanced his way through the lavish corridor. He raised his right arm to knock on the oak frame when someone from behind pulled him back and seized his fist in midair. From the minute he stepped onto the second floor, he felt a presence other than his own and it was none other than the perfect soldier.
Without even thinking, he shifted his weight to face the man behind him and half yelled, "What the heck is wrong with you, Heero? Since when did you break out of that cell?"
Duo received a deathly glare from him and a swift air of indifference when Heero motioned for him to shut his mouth. "He's in there right now and if you so much as make a sound, she won't live to see tomorrow's sunrise. And do you know who I'll take my rage out on, Maxwell?" Yuy asked in such a calm tone, Duo was astounded by his absolute self-control and determination.
"Yeah, I get the picture. So Sanchez is already in there. What should we do?" He replied, dropping his voice level down an octave.
Before Heero could reply, they discovered Milliardo quickening his pace in their direction. The slightly overprotective brother of Relena was about to cuss and rant simply from Yuy's presence but Duo stepped in between them as a truce.
"Zechs, listen and listen well for I'll not going to repeat myself." Heero began calmly. "Relena's in trouble and it sure as hell isn't from me. He's in there with her right now and you know as well as I that we need a plan to get her out." He stopped to catch his breath and continued, "Are you with me? Or do I have to knock you unconscious and save her myself?"
Milliardo grunted his disapproval simply by Heero's comment. They overheard three voices on the other side of that doorframe, two definitely belonging to men. It was at that time in which Milliardo knew how wrong he was about the perfect soldier and he complied to Heero's demands with a slight nod.
~*~*~
"As you wish, sir." Mueller responded, grinning evilly at his prey. He aimed the pistol at his intended target and placed his index finger on the trigger.
"Wait, wait!" Relena yelled, putting both arms up. She felt the sudden urge to live. Live through this ordeal and tell Heero how her blood boils every time she sees him, tell him how the earth seizes to rotate simply by his presence, and most importantly, tell him how much she loves him.
"I still have one more question." She said, hoping to delay the inevitable, if not avoid her predicament all together. Perhaps a miracle will fall right onto her lap if she prayed hard enough. "Why are you doing this Mueller?" The Vice Foreign Minister asked matter-of-factly.
"What's your question?" Mueller said, choking with laughter. "Isn't it obvious, my dove?" She said nothing.
"Sanchez proposed to offer me a heavy sum for this simple deed."
She shivered from his explanation. "Why?" She thought, "Why always the money?"
Just then, the door behind the two men opened unexpectedly and Milliardo walked in, appearing confident and sure of himself. Relena was surprised by her brother's calm expression, almost as if he knew what their current situation was. There was no doubt that he saw the fire burning in the eyes of the bodyguard, whom he foolishly trusted with Relena's life, and the gun firmly placed in Mueller's hand.
"Zechs, you should never have come here." Sanchez accused.
"On the contrary my friend. I need to escort Relena down to where her guests are waiting for her." Milliardo replied without hesitation.
Caught extremely off-guard by this surprising turn of events, Sanchez had to think of something else instead of merely ordering his confidante to fire away and then leave the vicinity, then making an anonymous call, claiming that Mueller had indeed killed the Vice Foreign Minister, which is not fully untrue. Eventually, he would have just walked away a free man. However, with Milliardo in the picture, it changed everything.
"You're quite right. I believe I'll escort Relena myself. Mueller, hand me the gun." Sanchez instructed, without leaving his gaze away from Milliardo for a minute. With the weapon now in Victor's possession, the situation only became more deadly when he reached out to Relena and grabbed her by the waist with one arm and swinging his other arm equipped with the gun, across her chest.
"Now walk, Relena." Sanchez ordered as he pointed the gun towards the door. Despite his seething request, she didn't move at all.
Milliardo noticed her uneasiness and said soothingly, "It'll alright. Just go with him." She made eye contact with him for only a brief moment and understood through her brother's eyes that this problem will be solved quickly, if not painlessly.
The door was already opened and Relena strained herself to walk through, with her brother's encouraging words at the back of her mind. Sanchez stayed close behind, too close for her comfort. When they were both fully exposed in the hall, she saw Duo standing in front, gun leveled.
"Let her go Sanchez." Maxwell barked the order.
"Not a chance."
"You're surrounded now, Sanchez." Heero announced as he walked firmly in front of Duo and stood only inches from Relena and her captor. With Milliardo behind them, and two former Gundam pilots in front, there was no possible escape route for the culprit.
"Oh, but that's," Sanchez explained, "where you're wrong. You must be that Gundam pilot whom Relena's all love struck about, aren't you?" Heero offered a puzzling look and pulled out his gun, at the ready.
"Yeah I've done my research, Heero Yuy. And if my research has done me justice, it might be more pleasurable for me to kill you and see how Relena would react to this little twist in our game." Sanchez chuckled. "Who knows? She may even kill herself and that would just save me a bullet, wouldn't it?"
As Sanchez continued to think aloud, Relena's eyes looked more horrified by each passing sentence and she couldn't hold onto Heero's gaze. "Kill Heero? No please don't!" She pleaded desperately.
"No, on second thought, I'll just shoot you!" he concluded, finally pulling the trigger and releasing the metal bullet into her chest. The smell of sulfur lingered in the air as Relena felt a pain stab between her shoulders. Ever so slowly, she felt her knees weakening and she could no longer hold herself upright. The invading embrace that was Sanchez's arms began to loosen and she slid to the floor as blood oozed from the bullet wound, dying her gown into a murderous depth of rose red. Shock was written on everyone's faces for the sudden transition of the situation.
"Relena, no!!" Heero hollered, hoisting his gun in midair and aimed for Sanchez's forehead. Once Relena's limp body fell stationary in front of the murderer's feet, Yuy fired mercilessly. He fell just short of the doorway and laughed. Within a few moments, Sanchez was dead. Mueller became fleetingly frightened and decided to run for it, hoping his legs could carry him as far away from the ordeal as possible. However, Duo kept him at bay with the deafening sound of one bullet fired into the ceiling.
"Where do you think you're going, Mueller? Don't worry. We haven't forgotten about you." Duo snickered. When Maxwell turned back to Relena, Heero was already by her side, pressing hard on her wound, hoping to stop the bleeding until the paramedics arrived. Milliardo had called the hospital and Preventers' for assistance and he stood forlornly beside his injured sister, watching Yuy attempt everything possible to save her life.
"Hold on Relena." Heero whispered as he felt her blood in his hands. "You must hold on!" The sight before him almost sickened him. How could he have been so careless? Now, Relena's life was hanging by a mere thread.
TBC...