Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Sandstorm ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

Sandstorm

By Misanagi

Rating: R
Pairings: None yet
Warnings: Angst, violence, language
Summary: Years after the war, the world is still wondering about the identities of the mysterious Gundam pilots. Now they have an answer.
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or the characters used in this fic.
Archive: http://www.psinergy.com/dryerspace/gundaniumline/misanagi/misanagi.html

Thanks to Anne and Haraamis, for being wonderful beta readers. *hugs* Thanks a lot!

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Chapter Four

Trowa hopped out of the vehicle with Duo closely behind him. They both ignored the few officers who tried to tell them that they couldn't park in front of the building and ran to the entrance. Trowa suddenly came to a halt, and Duo had to use all his skills to stop from running into him.

Duo glared at the back of Trowa's head and opened his mouth to ask what had happened, when he noticed why the taller man had suddenly stopped. Two large men wearing Preventers' uniforms were standing in front of the entrance; their arms were crossed, and they had angry looks on their faces.

"State your business," said one of them in a husky voice. The man's head was clean shaven, and the skull was shining. Duo smirked as he pictured the man in front of the mirror, applying gel to his big bald head to make it shine.

"We are here to see Lady Une," answered Trowa. His tone was cold, and Duo couldn't help but smirk more when the bald man took a step back.

"Do you have an appointment?" asked the other man. He was as tall as the first, but he had an unruly mop of brown hair that somehow made him look taller.

Duo didn't like the way the brunet was looking down at him and Trowa. The man might be taller, but he was in no way better than them. The only reason why Duo didn't hate it when people looked down on him was because then he had the chance to prove them wrong. "We don't have an appointment. We are friends of Lady Une. She is expecting us." Duo gave the brunet a lazy smile.

The brunet laughed and elbowed his partner playfully in the ribs. "Did you hear that, John? They say that they are friends with the director." He laughed again. "And of course, we should let them come in since they say that they are her friends." They both laughed this time.

Duo grinned, hiding his desire to erase their smiles with a fist. "Would you just call her and tell her that Duo Maxwell is here?"

The men stopped laughing. The bald man was distractedly looking at the people on the street, ignoring Trowa and Duo completely.

"Kid, the director has more important things to do than to concern herself with the likes of you." The brunet looked annoyed.

"I don't have time for this," muttered Trowa. Before the men had time to react, Trowa jabbed his fist into the brunet's stomach. The man hands instinctively moved to his torso. Trowa took the opportunity to elbow him in the back of the head, making him fall unconscious on the floor.

The bald one stood there for a second, diverting his gaze from the street to see what was happening right beside him. The small hesitation provided Duo with all the time he needed. Taking advantage of his shorter height, Duo slammed his open hand into the man's chin. After hearing the bald man's teeth clatter, Duo kneed the man in the side and pushed him to the ground.

The room seemed to freeze. For a moment, all the people at the Preventers' HQ entrance could do nothing but stare at the scene. Trowa and Duo wasted no time and quickly ran to the closest elevator. The metallic doors closed before anyone in the room had time to react.

Duo leaned against the elevator wall. "Une is going to hang us for this." He sighed, but that didn't mean that he was sorry.

"It's her fault for having inefficient employees," replied Trowa. "What floor?"

Duo thought about it for a moment. He had been on Earth six months ago, and Wufei had given him a tour of the Preventers' HQ. The offices were all located on the seventh floor, but security had probably already alerted everyone, and Duo didn't feel like starting another fight. He smiled when he remembered that not /all/ the offices were on the seventh floor. "Fourth."

As soon as Duo saw the number three flash on the small panel on top of the door, he moved away from the wall. "Straight ahead, one right, one left, and down the stairs. Right, pass the library, one right, the last wall. Code B5."

Trowa nodded and stood beside Duo. If they wanted to avoid another fight they needed to be faster than the security of the building.

As soon as the doors opened, they dashed down the corridor. Trowa was a few steps in front of Duo and even if he had never been at HQ, he followed the route perfectly. As soon as he arrived at the closed door on the third floor, he dialed a twelve digit code on the panel, followed by another code just as long. The door opened and they stepped inside the office, closing the door behind them.

Duo sighed and let himself fall onto the leather couch in the corner of the room. He was glad that Wufei hadn't changed the emergency access code since the last time they had seen each other. The fact that they were in a time of peace hadn't made the former Gundam pilots less paranoid than what they had been during the war. Each of them had a set of emergency codes that they shared with the rest. After all, they only trusted each other, and there was nothing wrong in being prepared.

"Sit down, Trowa," Duo said when he noticed that the other man was just standing in front of the desk.

Trowa simply shook his head and leaned against the far wall. Duo didn't press the issue. He knew that Trowa was on a short fuse; the fact that he had attacked the men at the entrance was proof enough. Duo didn't blame him, and if he was honest with himself, he had to admit that he had a lot of buried anger too. The small adrenaline rush was wearing off and the questions about what had happened to Quatre were again the only thing he could think about.

"I knew that there were only two people crazy enough to start attacking Preventers in the organization's HQ," Heero's voice announced as soon as the door opened. He walked in, followed by Wufei, and the door closed behind them. "Was that really necessary?" Heero asked, not bothering with greeting anyone.

"If Quatre's been kidnapped we really have no time to waste with annoying doormen," replied Duo.

"Those men are trained Preventers assigned to guard the entrance of the building," Heero commented and leaned against the door.

"Well, they aren't doing their job very well." Duo was really in no mood for a lecture.

"They just weren't expecting to face Gundam Pilots," Wufei said and sat behind his desk. "How was the trip?" he asked, changing the direction of the conversation.

Trowa sighed. "What happened with Quatre?" Obviously he wasn't in the mood for small talk, and there was a pressing issue that they needed to tend to. Their friend had been kidnapped, and they weren't going to sit and chat.

"We've just heard the testimonies of the witnesses," Wufei answered. "We estimate that there were fifteen of them, all carrying automatic weapons with silencers and that they presumably had some inside information about the security in Quatre's house. That's the only way we can explain such an organized attack."

"Quatre installed that security system himself; how did they manage to get through that?" Duo knew that there were only a few people on the planet capable of penetrating Gundam Pilot security, and he knew all of them.

"I gave Lady Une the codes to disable the system. She had orders to keep Quatre under house arrest. It's standard procedure to have Preventers outside and inside the perimeter at all times. That wouldn't have been possible with the security system still in place."

"Quatre is not a standard... prisoner." Trowa spat the last word, making his tone say what all of them thought about the politicians' decisions.

"You think I don't know that, Barton?" Wufei's exasperation was clear in his voice. For the first time Duo noticed the dark patches under Wufei's eyes and the tired look on his face. Duo didn't doubt that the Chinese man had spent the last days doing everything in his power to make sure that Quatre stayed safe. He was probably blaming himself for what happened. Duo made a mental note to talk to Wufei later.

"I know, Wufei." Trowa's voice was apologetic. "It wasn't your fault." A look passed between Trowa and Wufei, but neither of them said anything else about it.

"Here is the information we have so far," said Wufei after a while. He handed Trowa and Duo some folders and then picked up the phone. "Lady, call off the search. Duo and Trowa are here."

* * *

Lady Une could feel the beginning of a big headache, and she didn't doubt that the cause was the Gundam Pilots. Since Duo and Trowa had made their grand appearance, she'd had to call off the security breach that had been reported, find replacements for the men guarding the entrance, explain that the whole disaster hadn't been a terrorist attack but an unscheduled drill, and find the security discs with Duo and Trowa in them and destroy them. Not to mention having to deal with the pilots themselves.

Une had explained to them more than once that she couldn't allow a group of civilians to interrogate the men in custody and had tried to convince them that she and Wufei would get all the information needed. Of course, she knew that with what had happened to Quatre, no amount of laws could stop the pilots. They had been terrorists before, and the fact that the current government had imprisoned Quatre Winner for being a Gundam Pilot wasn't a great incentive to follow the rules.

Finally, she had given up and told them that they could investigate Quatre's home but that they would have to do it on their own. Things were hectic enough, and she couldn't afford to have the Preventers organization under suspicion.

The senate had already been notified of Quatre's kidnapping, and Relena had been called for an emergency meeting. Sally had offered to act as Relena's personal bodyguard since Heero couldn't accompany her to the meeting. Une knew that there were very few people that Heero trusted with Relena's security. If he hadn't been completely confident in Sally's abilities, he would have never let Relena out of his sight.

After everyone had left, Une and Wufei had headed to the infirmary where the suspects were waiting. They ignored the doctor who tried to tell them something about the suspects' condition and walked right to their bedside.

Une noticed that the men were awake and looking very pale. A white sheet was covering them from the waist down, so she wasn't able to see their wounds. "Good morning, gentlemen. My name is Lady Une, and I'm the General Director of Preventers. This is Preventer Chang Wufei, and we are here to question you." The words were delivered in a harsh tone. She was showing the men that she was the one in charge. There was no time to play games. "Cooperation is in your best interest. We need to know who took Quatre Winner and where."

The men stayed silent, but Une noticed that their breathing was faster. She kept the smile from showing on her face. They were scared, and she intended to take every advantage of it. "I don't think I need to tell you that your situation is rather unfortunate. You were shot down, abandoned by your accomplices, and now you are in Preventers' custody. You'll be facing kidnap and murder charges, so that means you'll spend your lives in prison. And that is the best case scenario." Une kept her eye on one of the men. She smirked when she noticed that the man was breathing even faster.

Wufei remained silent. He was standing at the back of the room, arms crossed above his chest. His job was to look dangerous. Une knew that having someone silently observing the interrogation would distress the men just as much as her carefully planned words.

"I don't want to die," the man on the right whispered.

Wufei gave a dry chuckle, but Une ignored him. "Death isn't such a terrible fate if you think about the alternatives." She kept her voice neutral and said every word with as much detachment as she could. "You do realize that you helped to kidnap a Gundam Pilot, right?"

For a few moments the only sound in the room was the accelerated breathing of the men. Their eyes had grown very large, and Une could just smell the fear taking over them.

Her lips curled into a smile. "Those men were terrorists during the war. I'm sure you've heard enough stories about them. They won't be very pleased with your actions." Une turned and nodded to Wufei. She waited until he closed the door of the infirmary, isolating them from the rest of the base. "I don't like to play games, gentlemen. The deal is simple enough. Either you provide us with the information we need and face criminal charges, or we won't do anything to stop the Gundam Pilots from getting to you. And believe me, they will."

"You... you can't do that!" complained the one on the right.

"Just try me," Une replied coldly.

* * *

Trowa watched the buildings pass by. He wasn't paying much attention to Duo's driving or the soft music playing on the radio; his mind was too restless to concern himself with what was happening around him. No one had said a word since they left Preventers HQ, but even if under other circumstances Trowa wouldn't have minded the silence, he now felt that if he didn't focus on something, his mind was going to drive him mad.

Since Trowa had heard the word kidnapping, he had been imagining terrible scenarios. He felt powerless, and there was nothing he hated more than sitting and waiting. The possibilities of what might have happened to Quatre were endless. The blond was not only a member of one of the richest and most influential families in the world, but he had been a Gundam Pilot, and since that last piece of information had finally been released, the list of potential suspects had grown considerably.

The only thing that gave Trowa a little hope was reminding himself that if they wanted Quatre dead, they would have killed him in the mansion and not bothered to take him away. However, that fact wasn't as reassuring as it was supposed to be, and the question of why they wanted Quatre kept replaying in his mind.

The men had seemed very eager to capture Quatre, and they hadn't been above making threats and killing Preventers to succeed. Trowa and Duo had heard the recordings of the interviews with the different witnesses, and now Trowa couldn't get the image of Quatre surrendering out of his head. Trowa mentally cursed Quatre's bad habit of surrendering sometimes even when the battle was won. "Fuck!" Apparently, Quatre wasn't able to see that fine line that divided bravery from stupidity.

"No one is happy with the situation, Trowa," Duo said, without taking his eyes away from the road. "But I agree, this is fucked up!"

Trowa turned his head from the car window to look at Duo. Now Trowa had no doubt that he was losing it. He had cursed Quatre out-loud and hadn't even noticed. "It's not just that," he said after a moment. "Quatre can be fucked up, too." Trowa decided that he wasn't dealing with the silence as well as he'd thought. If he was going to start muttering curses, Heero and Duo might as well know just why he was doing it.

"He's a sneaky bastard," commented Duo waving his hand. "But he's fucking brilliant, too. Who knows how long he had been orchestrating this whole thing? However, I don't think the kidnapping was in his plans." Duo avoided running into another car, changed lanes, and accelerated again. "I love the guy, but right now, I just want to kick his ass all the way to the moon." The car stirred as Duo made another maneuver and accelerated again.

"From a strategic point of view, Quatre made the right decision." Heero was seated in the middle of the back seat, looking at the traffic, calmly. "Being unable to prevent the crisis, he instead focused his attention on lowering the possible casualties."

"By offering himself on a silver platter?" Duo was angry, and it only made him drive even faster. "He's my friend, Heero. I refuse to think of him as an affordable casualty."

"That's not what I mean, and you know it." Heero was using the rearview mirror to look into Duo's eyes. His expression may have seemed neutral to most, but those few who knew the real Heero Yuy could tell that Duo's remark had hurt him.

"Shit, Heero, I'm sorry." Duo moved his eyes from the mirror just in time to avoid collision with another vehicle and sighed. "I know what Quatre means to you. It's just that-"

"You needed to take your anger out on someone. I understand." Heero nodded, signaling that the issue was closed. They were all on a short fuse, but luckily they knew each other well enough to understand the reasons behind some of their actions.

The friendship Trowa had with the other former Gundam Pilots was something special that couldn't be shared with anyone else. As much as he loved Catherine, he always felt like there was an invisible barrier separating him from his adopted sister. The events in his life had shaped the person he was, and unfortunately, some of them divided him from a large population of the world. War was something that affected everyone's life one way or another, and what it had done to him could only be understood by another four people. That kind of experience formed a certain bond that Trowa doubted could ever be broken.

The reason why the pilots had managed to become such close friends, and even a family, was probably Quatre's doing. Trowa remembered the beginnings of the war, when all the pilots treated each other as strangers. Trust is a hard thing to gain, especially when one is fighting a war, and Gundam Pilots were suspicious by nature. Well, most of them.

Quatre had trusted Trowa from the first time they had met. The blond had showed great courage by being the one to take the first step. He had offered Trowa not only his trust, but also his friendship, and Trowa couldn't help but reciprocate the feeling, even if it was just a bit. Finally, the soldier in Trowa had surrendered, and he had offered Quatre his friendship in return. And then, in the heat of the battle, Quatre Winner had done something others had deemed impossible: he made a team out of the Gundam Pilots, a team that had won the war.

The jazz tunes that had been sounding on the car radio suddenly stopped, and a male voice announced that the station had interrupted the usual program to transmit a last minute news bulletin.

Trowa turned up the volume. "The Preventers' news office has just released a statement informing that this morning, at 3:25 am, the former CEO of Winner Enterprises, Quatre Raberba Winner, was abducted from his residence. Mr. Winner was under house arrest and awaiting trial after last week's discovery of his identity as a Gundam Pilot. The Preventers are working to find the culprits as well as Mr. Winner's whereabouts. Meanwhile, the senate has called an emergency meeting to discuss these recent developments on the Winner case..."

"So, I guess Une couldn't avoid the press any longer," commented Duo, turning the volume back down.

"It was going to come out sooner or later," Trowa said. "This type of thing can't be hidden forever."

"Which means that we are going to have to be very careful," added Heero. "We can't afford to be seen and become suspects."

Heero was right. If they wanted to find Quatre, they had to be as subtle as possible. If their identities were compromised, then the chances of finding Quatre would be cut in half. "Any ideas of how we are going to get into Quatre's house undetected?" asked Trowa.

Duo smirked as he made a turn just before they reached the line of reporters who were stationed on the street near Quatre's home. "We're just going to need a little help."

* * *

Relena didn't need to turn around to know that Sally was glaring at Anilievich. She had heard the older woman curse under her breath several times during the senate session, and Relena didn't doubt that given the opportunity, Sally would punch Anilievich in the face... more than once. Relena smirked at the mental image. She wouldn't mind taking a swing at Anilievich herself. That man was quickly getting on her nerves.

Anilievich had spent the last three hours trying to convince everyone in the room that Quatre's disappearance was not the work of a third party, but a well orchestrated escape. He had argued that it was foolish to believe that a former terrorist would just sit and wait to be judged for his crimes. "Once a terrorist, always a terrorist," he had said.

That was the moment Relena exploded. She was usually very capable of controlling her emotions and keeping her cool and a smile, even when she was being attacked, but she was also human, and she had reached her breaking point. No one had the right to insult one of her friends like that.

Yes, she knew that the Gundam pilots had been terrorists during the war. Relena knew better than any of the old men agreeing with Anilievich what those "terrorists'" actions had been. She had witnessed their strength and also their weaknesses. They had saved her life more than once, and when the world forced her to grow up rapidly, they had been her example.

Contrary to popular belief, Relena wasn't naïve; she had seen more in her short years than what most of the people on the senate had seen in their lifetime. She was well aware that Quatre, as well as the other Gundam Pilots, had taken a lot of lives during the war, but she also knew that they had saved many more by ending the dispute. It was foolish to believe that in times of war there was still such thing as innocence, especially for those who were immersed in the conflict. Relena was a pacifist; she had always believed that violence was not the answer, but that hadn't stopped her from pointing a gun at Lady Une. If the situation wasn't so severe, she would have laughed at Anilievich's foolish ideas of judging acts of war under peacetime laws. Those were two worlds as different as day and night. Relena just hoped that she could make the senate see that.

The moderator nodded at Relena, signaling her turn to address the senate. "I feel the need to express yet again my disagreement with Minister Anilievich's theory. I fail to see how Mr. Winner would beneficiate from a course of action like the one Minister Anilievich suggests. We have established that a man with Mr. Winner's resources and capabilities could have vanished months ago. If he planned to escape all along, then why did he stay?" She kept her back firm and her eyes trained on Anilievich. Her expression was hard and her mouth was pressed into a thin line.

Anilievich chuckled before looking at Relena from head to toe. "Well, if it isn't Vice Foreign Minister Darlian to the rescue again." Some muffled chuckles could be heard in the room. "What we are trying to determine here is what really happened this morning, and we are basing our theories on facts, not on a young girl's suppositions."

"And what facts might those be, Minister?" Relena had really had enough. Her father had taught her that one must always be polite but that she should never be afraid of taking the aggressive position. Politics were a game of power and charm, and she was well trained in both fields. "Unless you have some new Preventers' information that the rest of the senate isn't aware of, then you are basing your theories on suppositions as well. However, logic is still on my side."

Fortunately, the president decided to close the session before the discussion could develop into a fight between Relena and Anilievich. After more than three hours of debate, the only conclusions were that even if Anilievich's theories could be possible, nothing could really be said until the Preventers were finished with their investigation. However, the damage was done. Relena knew that at least half of the members of the senate saw some logic in Anilievich's accusations. The man had managed to plant his evil seed, and the tree of suspicion was now growing.

Sally cursed the man all the way to Relena's home, but Relena wasn't really listening. She was tired, and she knew that the battle had just begun. As much as Relena appreciated Sally's thoughts, she felt just too drained to talk or even think about Anilievich anymore.

By the time Relena had entered her house, she was ready to collapse. Sally had offered to stay in one of the guest rooms and Relena had accepted. After she had assured Sally that she was alright and that she would be going to bed momentarily, Sally had headed for her room.

Relena decided that she wasn't hungry and that there was really no need to eat dinner that night. Food wasn't a priority at the moment, rest was. She slowly walked the steps up to her room, cursing her high heels all the way.

When she approached her room, Relena noticed a slim line of light coming from under her bedroom door. She frowned. Her house was equipped with a system that turned off the lights automatically if it couldn't detect a warm body in the room. The system was designed to help saving resources, and many people on Earth and the Colonies used it. As far as she knew, the system was working correctly, so that could only mean one thing.

After taking a deep breath, Relena opened the door and looked inside.

The intruder was standing in the middle of the room, expecting her.

Relena blinked a couple of times. She could do nothing but stand there, looking at the uninvited visitor.

"I guess I was correct in coming here after all. You look terrible, Miss Relena."

"Dorothy," said Relena, recovering from the shock of seeing the blonde again after so long. The last time they had met was on the Libra, and they hadn't precisely parted on the best terms. "What are you doing here?"

Dorothy smirked. "Well, I came to watch the show, of course. This little affair with Quatre promises to be very entertaining."

Relena sighed. She was too tired to deal with this right now, but even so, Dorothy's presence was comforting somehow. Dorothy was always one to say what was in her mind, and that was a welcome thought after hours of dealing with hypocritical politicians. "I assume that you will be staying?"

"If I had wanted to observe from afar, I would have stayed home." Dorothy smiled and bowed to Relena. "Goodnight, Miss Relena."

"Goodnight, Dorothy."

The door closed, and Relena began to change into night clothes. Dorothy Catalonia wasn't one to sit and observe. When the moment came, Dorothy would make her move, and Relena could only wonder if it would be in their favor or against them.

* * *

TBC