Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Flirt ❯ Revelation ( Chapter 6 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

The Flirt: Chapter Six



The Flirt: Chapter Six
Harriet's boredom was increasing. She wanted desperately to be out there, trying to figure out what was going on, instead of being stuck in the infirmary with Quatre, who had returned a while ago when Trowa had insisted on going out on the search. The blonde pilot was also beginning to get irritated with being idle, and worried that he and his companion would be at each other's throats before too long.
"Go fish," Quatre mumbled for the millionth time that night.
Sighing, Harriet picked up another card. "Got what I wanted. Have any sevens?"
Quatre passed Harriet the card. "You know, when you've been playing for an hour and a half, and losing for an hour and a half, this game gets really boring," he said.
Harriet forced a smile. "Even when you're winning it gets boring," she told him. "Queens?"
He shook his head and gave up his only Queen. "You have to be cheating."
She laughed. "Never. Fours?"
"Go fish," Quatre said again. Harriet picked up. "Any nines?"
"Yeah," she admitted, giving Quatre the nine. A funny look crossed her face.
Quatre noticed this after he put down his nines. "What is it?"
"Someone's here," she murmured. Harriet put her cards face down and stood.
Quatre did the same. "How can you tell?"
"Harriet always could smell a rat," a deep voice answered.
"And you're the biggest rat of them all," Harriet said, "Dad."
~*~**~*~
"Heero, must you shoot everything that moves?" Wufei asked exasperatedly.
In response, Heero gave Wufei his usual glare as he reloaded his gun, as if to say, "Of course." So far, his victims had been two desks, a door, several windows, and numerous other objects that he hadn't bothered to identify.
"Aww, lighten up Wufei," Duo said. "It could be worse."
"Keep it and you're next," Heero said, not even glancing at Duo.
Trowa couldn't help but smirk. However strange their group was, they were his friends. Trowa was mulling over this thought when a hand clamped onto his arm. "Hey!"
Heero whipped around and pointed the gun into the darkness. "Freeze."
Yanking his arm from the stranger's grasp, Trowa stumbled back to where the other three pilots stood. Duo shone his flashlight in that direction.
"Causing trouble again, Dorothy?" Wufei asked sarcastically.
Duo sighed. "I thought you were staying with Harriet."
"I couldn't- I wasn't- He said…" Dorothy stammered.
"Who's 'he'?" Wufei asked.
"Mr. Dawson," Dorothy replied.
"Who?" Duo wondered.
"Harriet's dad," Trowa said suddenly, before taking off down the corridor.
"Is he right?" Heero asked.
"I think so," Dorothy said.
Heero frowned. Wordlessly as usual, he left. The others followed him back to the infirmary, where Harriet was yelling insanely at a tall man in dark clothing who resembled the girl strongly.
"I'm not your little girl anymore!" Harriet shouted. "Why do you think you can come out here and screw everything up for me? What makes you think you can kidnap my friends and put all of us in danger? If anything that's only going to keep my away longer!"
Click. Harriet looked past her father to see Heero with his gun pointed at him in a classic scene. Alongside him were the others and hanging in the back, Dorothy. Dawson turned around and raised an eyebrow.
"I don't believe you've been introduced," Harriet said airily. "Guys, this is my father. Dad, I suggest you say something before Heero pulls the trigger."
"Quite a varied group of friends you have here," Dawson said.
Duo smirked. "That's an understatement."
"Perhaps you would like to explain what you and your accomplice," Wufei said, "are doing here, and where everyone else has gone."
Dawson ignored Wufei and his eyes fell on Trowa. "Ah, what an escape you and ton ami idiot had, my nephew," he said.
Trowa paled as Duo exclaimed, "What'd he say?"
"Trowa's stupid friend," Harriet said, translating the French.
"Woah, wait a second, nephew?" Quatre said. "What are you talking about?"
"Yeah Dad. Trowa's not my cousin… is he?" Harriet asked.
"Indeed he is," Dawson said. "I may not have seen him in many years, but I would recognize his mother's eyes anywhere." He left a deliberate dramatic silence before saying, "My sister was a wonderful woman."
"What happened to her?" Trowa asked quietly.
"She died, an innocent victim in these useless wars," Dawson answered bitterly.
"Dad's a strict pacifist," Harriet pointed out.
"As I expected my family to be," Dawson said loudly, looking sternly at his unfazed daughter. "That goes for you too Triton Bloom."
"That's not my name," Trowa said stubbornly, going into the standard response for when being questioned about his name. "I have no name. If you must, call me Trowa."
"As you wish."
"I think you need to explain some more, Dad," Harriet muttered.
Dawson looked at his daughter critically. "My sister adored her children," he said. "That would be you, Trowa, and Catherine." He seemed to speak the name Trowa with a touch of distaste. "She wanted you two to grow up and be successful and peaceful - never fighters." Harriet rolled her eyes. "I, of course, wanted the same, as did our entire family. Before you were born, your mother and father moved to L3. When you were six, she was killed as a bystander in some of the early riots leading up to this war. My family then went to L3 to be with you, Catherine and your father." Trowa hung his head, a glint of sadness in his eyes. "Naturally, your father would have been heartbroken," Dawson continued. "He disappeared a year later. We never found him again.
"Catherine joined the circus when she was eleven. You came to live with us, but you kept trying to run away. Eventually, you succeeded. That must've been when you joined those damned mercenary troops and this whole fiasco began," he finished.
Trowa sighed. Harriet put on her pissed look. Everyone else looked incredibly confused.
"How long did you keep looking for him?" Quatre asked.
"We never stopped," Dawson replied. "When Harriet decided to take off out here, of course I didn't want her to go. Later I realized she could lead me straight to my long-lost nephew. And so here we are."
Silence engulfed the group as different expressions (or lack of expression) crossed their faces. Duo narrowed his eyes, looked thoughtful, then walked up to Dawson and looked him in the eye.
"Whaddya mean, 'Trowa's stupid friend'?" he said, obviously insulted by the comment.
"Exactly what I said."
"Really then?" Duo said. "Which one of us did you mean?"
"You," he muttered, before landing a well-placed right hook on Duo's face. In an instant, five guns were pointed at him.
"You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us," Harriet declared. Not moving the revolver from its aim at her father, she turned to Duo. "You okay?"
"Yeah," he said, "thanks." And his gun joined those aimed at Harriet's father.
"Explain where the other students and the staff went," Heero ordered.
Dawson looked puzzled. "Today's a holiday. I knew that most likely you could still be here, making this the perfect time for my plan," he replied. "Didn't you know?"
Now it was the pilots' turn to be confused. Shaking it off, Wufei said, "Never mind. Why is Dorothy here?"
"She was the only one who could lead me to the school without you knowing. Dorothy was a very useful accomplice," Dawson said, looking pleased.
"Dad," Harriet said, "get out."
"What?"
"Go. Get out. I don't want to see you again," she said darkly, taking a step so the barrel of her gun was directly in line with Dawson's neck.
"And if I don't?" he taunted.
Harriet took a deep breath and glanced out of the corner of her eye at Heero. He nodded. "I'll kill you," came clearly from her lips, nothing wavering, nothing trembling.
"Excuse me?"
"I said, I'll kill you," she repeated.
Heero seemed to smile, maybe even proudly. "We wouldn't hesitate to assist," he added. The others nodded in agreement.
"Go," Harriet repeated softly.