Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Angel and the Assassin ❯ Computers, Lunch and a Ninja? ( Chapter 4 )

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

It's amazing! Another chapter out! And it really is longer than the last one! Just so you know, Kage is pronounced 'Kah-geh', not cage or anything like that. I'm not one to beg for reviews, I just like to let you know they're appreciated and inspire me greatly. Thanks!


i do not own Gundam Wing! however, any and all original characters and ideas belong to me. please do not steal them!





The Angel and the Assassin




Chapter 4: Computers, Lunch & A Ninja?




"Damnit!"

The others in the room jumped at Quatre's unusual outburst. Even Trowa looked startled. Recovering quickly, Duo sauntered over to peer at the frustrated blonde's computer screen. It was blank except for a strange line of symbols scrolling across the top.

" What's wrong, Quat?" Duo figured the computer was rejecting commands and whatever information Quatre was trying to download. But how he had gotten it to do that was puzzling if not altogether strange.

Quatre glared at the monitor and barely managed to keep himself from hitting it. "Every time I try to get into the hidden files in this company's hard drive, it goes blank and starts doing that," he said pointing at the scrolling symbols. "This is the fortieth time!" Normally Quatre wouldn't have gotten so upset, but hacking wasn't exactly his forte and this particular job was frustrating the hell out of him. It had only been two day’s since they had started working on this assignment, but they were no closer to figuring things out than when they first started.

Sighing, Quatre glanced at Duo who was now typing furiously in an effort to get the computer running again. It was the fifteenth time he'd fixed something Quatre had done in two hours. "I'm sorry, Duo," he said in a calmer voice.

Duo shrugged good-naturedly. "Don't worry 'bout it, Cat. After all, I know you aren't really skilled in the hacking business," he added with a grin. Quatre half smiled in response. "In fact, as far as I know, Laya's just as good at it as Heero is, if not better. He should have told her to do this."

Quatre frowned. "Hey, that's right. I haven't seen Laya all day. Where is she?"

"She was here earlier. She told me she had something to take care of," Trowa spoke up from his desk on the other side of the room.

"Oh." Quatre tried not to look as disappointed as he felt. "Where is Heero, then? I hope he wasn't really expecting a lot of progress," he said, attempting to change the subject.

"He said he was checking into something," Duo continued, the grin fading, "Heero knows you're not too much of a hacker. I don't think he was expecting you to do a lot anyway so don't worry about it. Anyway, I still think he's nuts for giving you this job when you could be working on a plan to keep them from going too far."

"You're right, Duo," Trowa said with a nod. "But, I think Heero is up to something. He wouldn't give Quatre a job that he wasn't too good at unless he had a really good reason."

"Yeah," Quatre frowned. "But, what is it?"

Trowa shrugged slightly in reply.

Finished, Duo stood and stretched. "Why don't you just take a break, Quatre? I'll try and see what I can do about those files. I just had lunch and you look like you could use some food too."

Quatre smiled. "Thanks, Duo. Are you sure you don't mind?" he asked a little uncertainly.

Duo waved a hand at Quatre and the door and said, "I'm positive. And bring the clown while you're at it. He's been here longer than either of us and I haven't seen him leave once."

Calling Trowa a clown was new to Quatre, even though that's exactly what he did at the circus. He glanced at Trowa to see if the name had any effect on him. It didn't. That wasn't surprising however, considering that Trowa rarely ever let anything bother him, especially petty name-calling. Of course, that wasn't true for all of them. Heero usually responded to things like that with the infamous 'death glare' that everyone had taken to calling it, and Wufei would start screaming about the injustice of it all, his sentences usually starting with, "Maxwell!"

Quatre wasn't sure what he would do if he was called a nick-name like Duo was famous for handing out. Such as, 'Wuffie or Wu-man' for Wufei; 'Suicide Boy' for Heero; and now 'Clown' for Trowa. Quatre had never been called a name that he remembered. Of course, there were very few people who would call the head of Winner Enterprises any name other than 'Sir' or 'Master Quatre'.

Quatre snapped out of his musings quickly when he noticed Trowa was looking at him. "I'm sorry did you say something, Trowa?"

Nodding, Trowa repeated his statement, "I said, if you want to go eat somewhere else other than the cafeteria, there is a little café in the town center."

"Oh. Thank you." Quatre turned to walk out then looked back at Trowa. "Why don't you come with me? I know you don't make a big deal about food, but you should probably eat something too."

He seemed to think about it and then nodded, standing up and following Quatre out the door.

"Have fun you two!" came Duo's call as they strode down the hallway.

Trowa only had his motorcycle with him so they took Quatre's car. Quatre let Trowa drive since he knew where the café was and he didn't feel like concentrating on anything. Once there, Quatre allowed himself to really relax and enjoy a nice meal with his best friend. At least until his cell rang.

"This is Quatre," he answered.

"Quatre! Get back to headquarters now!" Heero's voice snapped over the line.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"You're in danger! I'm on my way just in case, but you need to leave now."

"All right. We're on our way." He hung up and explained the situation to Trowa. Good thing they had practically finished their meals already. They paid quickly and headed towards the parking lot. The parking lot was actually a small alley way on the side of the café and rather gloomy and dark. Trowa opened the car door to the driver's side and got in. Quatre didn't. He was looking around the alleyway warily while strange chills ran down his spine.

Trowa noticed his hesitation and frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Something's not right," Quatre managed in a low voice.

Trowa's frown deepened. When Quatre got feelings like that, it usually meant trouble. Trowa didn't get a chance to do anything though because at that moment, a figure in black appeared behind Quatre and he went down, unconscious from the swift blow to his neck.

Trowa was out of the car in a flash, his gun in his hand.

It wasn't fast enough.

The black figure moved quicker than lightning and before Trowa could even properly aim his gun, the figure was flying through he air.

With a grunt of surprise and pain, Trowa was knocked back against the brick wall behind him so hard that his skull felt as though it had been cracked right through the middle. Blinding, white hot pain exploded through his head. He was sure the force behind that kick had broken more than a few ribs. However, he was quickly losing his grasp on consciousness and could only slide to the ground in a heap as the darkness of his mind took control.




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Heero Yuy was not in a good mood. Giving Quatre that hacking job was just so he could stay indoors, while he delved more deeply into a hit list he had managed to uncover. The hunch he'd had was correct. Quatre was a target as well as Relena.

When he'd tried to find Quatre to break the news, Duo told him they had gone to lunch in the town center.

That was exactly the kind of opportunity needed for a hit man. To make matters worse, Heero had just found out who the hit man was, an assassin who went by the code name 'Kage'.

Kage was also called 'Kan'peki na Kage' which meant 'Perfect Shadow' because he was the best assassin in the business. If you wanted a job done right with no traces, no evidence for the government to use to try and link you to the hit, Kage was who you called. No one really knew what he looked like and there were certain drawbacks to dealing with Kage. If you didn't pay in cash, you paid with your life. Though that didn't do much to dampen his reputation.

The moment you became Kage's target, you were already considered dead.

Heero parked in front of the café and walked inside, he glanced around and cursed under his breath. They had already left. Then Heero realized that his car was only the second car parked directly in front and yet the café was full. He ran outside and looked for another street next to the café.

The alleyway was off to his left and he ran towards it only to dive behind a car when he saw Trowa get kicked in the chest and pass out when his head hit the wall. That kick looked painful and Heero almost winced at the connection of foot and chest. Almost.

Instead, he turned his attention to the masked figure clothed in black from head to toe. A ninja. If the clothes hadn't given it away, the katana sheathed between the ninja's shoulder blades would have.

Heero was pretty sure this ninja was Kage, and was proved right when the ninja turned back to Quatre and knelt down beside him. The ninja was behaving rather oddly by looking around the alleyway and along the rooftops above as if searching for some sort of threat. Why didn’t he just kill Quatre? No assassin would take this long in eliminating a target. Not wanting to give him a chance to finish his job, Heero shifted silently and drew his gun out. Aiming for his leg since they needed him alive to get information, Heero fired... and missed.

Kage had already been moving, and Heero noticed someone else in the alleyway had caught his attention.

Wufei.

Kage snapped his head toward Heero when he heard the shot and then ducked and blocked a well aimed kick by Wufei. Before Wufei could recover from his attack, Kage swiped his supporting leg out from under him and he crashed to the ground, rolling out of the way just before Kage's foot smashed into the place his face had been.

He recovered and took up a defensive stance with a look of pure rage on his face. Heero had seen him that angry before, and didn't think the ninja had much of a chance.

Kage seemed to disagree as he unleashed a barrage of attacks that not only broke through Wufei's defense, but gave him a bloody nose and probably a few broken ribs as well.

While Kage was kept preoccupied with Wufei, Heero raced to Trowa's side and was relieved to see he was still alive. He glanced at the two fighters and was mildly surprised to see that Wufei was losing. When Wufei fell to the ground once again, Kage seemed to hesitate slightly. Another strange action he noted. Heero, ever ready with his gun, took the opportunity to fire another shot.

This time, Shadow dodged to the side, turning to face him and crouching as if ready to spring all in one motion.

He didn't have the chance.

Kage had made the mistake of turning his back on a wounded Wufei and he was quick to take advantage of it. With a swiftness that Heero hadn't expected Wufei to still possess, he threw a kick to Kage's head that sent him headfirst into the side of Quatre's car. Kage collapsed without a sound. Heero was sure he was only dazed and not unconscious so he raced to the ninja's side and had him handcuffed in seconds.

"I already called for backup, Yuy," Wufei's pained voice came from behind him.

Nodding, Heero stood and, keeping an eye on Kage's unmoving but tense form, he went to check on the damage inflicted on his teammates. When he got that ninja back to Headquarters there would be hell to pay.