Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Song of the Phoenix ❯ The Lightning Strikes ( Chapter 3 )

A/N: Alrighty, here's chapter three. Sorta violent, or graphic. Nothin' too bad. Sorry it took so long, but I wanna finish "When We Were Young" so I can have more time for this and "Windows To the Soul."

Disclaimer: I do not own GW. I am penniless, nickeless, dimeless, dollarless, blah blah blah…so don't sue me.

"The Lightning Strikes"

Sally skimmed through an old report, lacking enthusiasm. It was Tuesday night, and her thrill at being promoted to an investigator had worn out and a dull boredom took its place. Being new to the job left Sally and her partner, Wufei, at the bottom of the scale. They had been stuck over viewing some old reports, and both of them lacked the seniority to demand a more worthwhile job. So here Sally was, sitting across from her new partner who had pulled a chair up to her desk to make reading the reports easier.

The young Chinese woman new little of the man, and she didn't think she'd be getting to know him anytime soon. Normally this would have been all right with Sally, but there was something about Wufei that intrigued her, so she tried to make the best of the new arrangement.

Running a bronze hand through his dark hair, Wufei looked up from a packet of papers and studied Sally cryptically.

"If they would get a new intern soon, we wouldn't be stuck with such miniscule tasks," he said with contempt, tilting the chair back and studying the far wall.

He didn't seem to expect a reply so Sally offered none.

"I'm not going to judge," he continued, and Sally looked up, for she had not expected him to go on, "But I know that my skills are being wasted sitting here." His gaze captured Sally's.

::It's not like I enjoy this, either:: Sally motioned, raising a delicate eyebrow.

Breaking away from her eyes, the Asian man turned back to the papers at hand, and the two fell back into silence, but their minds were far from paperwork.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Catherine slipped on a light coat, and then turned to give Trowa a sisterly kiss on the cheek.

"I'm going to run to the grocery store, and then I am going to go to the bank to put the rest of our savings in our account. I shouldn't be over an hour and a half," she told him, opening the door to their apartment and walking off with a happy wave.

Trowa watched her leave, unable to keep himself from worrying slightly. He always worried when Cathy left on her own, even though she swore she could defend herself.

Trowa had a reason to worry, though. A young man living in Winner Apartments, Lester Johnson was his name, had shown interest in Catherine a couple of months ago. Trowa had chased him away, threatening physical harm if he did not leave his sister alone. He hadn't heard from him yet, and Cathy had said nothing of Lester's affections. Trowa had assumed the young man had given up.

In an attempt to keep his mind off of anxiety, Trowa picked up a book off of the coffee table.

He had no idea what was happening not far away...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Quatre looked up as he heard the door of his apartment building opening. The blonde Arabian watched silently as a redheaded woman, Catherine if his memory was correct, opening the door and stepping outside, letting a small raven-haired woman inside in the process.

The pixie-like woman smiled as she saw Quatre, and walked...well...more like skipped, over to the blonde man.

"Hi there, my name's Hilde Schbeiker!" she said brightly, "I called about an apartment..."

Quatre nodded in recognition, clicking a few keys on the computer, and found Miss Schbeiker's new apartment.

"Room 11, right next to Mr. And Miss Barton who're in room 12. They're a nice pair, brother and sister I believe," Quatre said, picking up two keys and handing them to the raven-haired woman.

"There's an ice machine in the cubby hole next to room 13, which is Jason Sprague's room," he said conversationally. The woman was easy to talk to.

"Thanks!" Hilde called with a wave as she started off towards the corridor. She decided she had better get some ice first...she still had a cooler from the long drive over here, and it was full of iced teas and cokes.

The German woman made a valiant attempt to open the ice door, but it was stuck! She pulled harder, and only resulted in falling on her butt as her grip slipped. Frowning at the stubborn machine, she stood once again and rubbed her backside which was sore from the slight topple. Hilde suddenly remembered Quatre saying that a Jason Sprague was in room 13, which was right next to the ice machine.

Walking over to room 13, Hilde rapped on the door with her knuckles, and jumped back in surprise when the door opened on its hinges. Why was the door not shut all the way?

"Mr. Sprague?" Hilde called, taking a hesitant step into the apartment, and after turning the corner suddenly wished she hadn't walked in at all.

For lying on the ground like a broken doll was a middle-aged man, Mr. Sprague she guessed. A large knife wound was gaping in the middle of his chest, and Hilde's stomach churned at the sight of the bloodied hole, which seemed to have been carved out. There were slash marks on his face, and his eyes had been gouged out, much to Hilde's disgust. The wounds were actually still wet looking, so they must be rather fresh.

Hilde backed away from the fallen man slowly, and if she hadn't been in shock she would have been surprised her legs were actually holding her weight. The woman let out a small whimper, and then turned and fled down the hall, running in the direction of the lobby. Her only thoughts were. Get away. Find Quatre. But get away.

"Murder!" the young German yelled, grabbing onto the phone on Quatre's desk, "He's been murdered, call the police!"

Quatre watched in shock as she dialed 9-1-1, and then began frantically relaying her message to the operator.

Quatre's first thought had been horror: someone he knew had been murdered.

His second thought was: The murderer was still near by.

His third thought was: My business will fail after this. My father was right...

Quatre was too caught up to notice that Hilde was clutching the desk for support, her legs finally giving out underneath her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Duo gave a huge yawn, and Heero scowled at him from across the office.

"When will things pick up around here?" Duo asked to no one in particular, and was surprised when Heero offered an answer.

"You should be grateful our services are not needed," the stoic man said, "For all you know, the next victim could be someone you care about."

Duo scowled, "Don't talk like that, man," he said almost warningly.

Ring

Heero grabbed the phone off of the spotless desk. If Heero weren't such a neat freak the desk would be unrecognizable. Duo could be such a slob sometimes.

"Yuy here," he answered, his brow creasing slightly from what the other person was saying.

"What is it?" Duo asked, jumping up with renewed worry. The last comment Heero made about someone he cared for being hurt came back, and Duo's face grew ashen.

"Al right, Une we're on it," Heero said, then finished with his signature line, "Mission accepted."

"Homicide," Heero told the braided man, "At Winner Apartments."

Duo grabbed his coat and swung it on his shoulders. He had wanted things to pick up, but was regretting his words after all. Homicide duty was awfully messy. The braided man hopped into the squad car next to Heero, strapping his seat belt as the car sped off.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sally sighed as she glanced across the room at Wufei. His posture was stiff and she could tell he was about to make another annoyed comment...

The door of the office creaked open, and Sally looked up and saw Une standing in the doorway.

"You two are still here?" she stated incredulously.

Wufei looked up. "Of course, we have been going over old reports the whole time," he growled irritably. Sally chuckled at the young man's annoyance.

"Well there's been a homicide at Winner Apartments, since you two are still here I guess you will be doing the investigation work," the brunette replied, before turning smartly on her heel and walking briskly down the hallway.

Sally and Wufei looked at each other, then simultaneously stood up and grabbed their jackets.

The blonde woman reached her hand into her pocket to grab her keys, but was stopped when Wufei grabbed hold of her wrist.

"My car," he said, relinquishing his hold on her.

Sally just shrugged, whatever worked for him. As they walked out to the parking lot, the Chinese woman looked at her wrist peculiarly. The skin was still warm, even long after he had let go...

TBC……………

A/N: Okies, forgive me for leaving it there. I was going to add the part about when Duo, Heero, Sally and Wufei arrived on the scene, but I decided not to. Oh, and sorry to any yaoi fans. This is going to have 2xHilde in it and 3xMidii. It's also having 5xSally and 6x9 of course. However I have a question for the reviewers and/or readers:

Should I make this a Catherine x Quatre story too? Or should I add Dorothy in here and make it a Dorothy x Quatre. Or (option 3) should I just have Quatre not romantically involved with anyone. Oh and please don't say "put him with Trowa," because I am already having Trowa with Midii. Sorry to all you 3x4 fans.

Thanks for listening, please review!

Luvvies, KaT aka Mistress Shinigami