Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The One-Eared Neko ❯ THE CONFUSION OF DOORWAYS ( Chapter 18 )

Part 18 THE CONFUSION OF DOORWAYS

He hated being in the habit of waking up in strange places after offending one of the dwindling number of his loved ones. He'd angered Relena indefinitely and lost Duo to his own breezy, embittered criminal will and his distorted but fitting sense of justice. And if he didn't find the latter of those two, he would also lose his foster father in an assassination that should happen by all karmic laws.

And the television chatted dimly in the background, as the media scrambled to their places in order to properly cover the Peacecraft speech. Their microphones would do better as funeral bouquets, Heero thought as

All the strings attached to Heero Yuy were simultaneously coming to dangerous tensions, splintering as he sat and did nothing, inching closer and closer to snapping. Time crawled along wickedly, unconcerned if it happened to kill Heero Yuy's loved ones.

The traveler had regained consciousness some time later with a dismal throbbing at the back of his head. And the image that had greeted him as he had stirred was his own wrist, splayed out before him, and the inkblot stain of Duo's blood on his sleeve. Then his attention had been drawn unavoidably to the fuzzy and colorful television screen, displaying the sovereign face of his adoptive father. He pressed his lips together, and the wistful drift of his dark blue eyes iced dangerously.

The image of liquid indifference, the traveler shrugged off the cotton blanket laid across him and studied each of the guard's faces. Silent and ever vigilant, they paused to consider him, perhaps frown at him, and return to their designated posts. Heero was unaffected by their imperturbable stone faces-his was formidable as well. The traveler was sitting on another hotel bed, probably Relena's because of the disgustingly pastel pallet of colors. He shifted to the edge of the bed and glanced quickly down at his feet.

He smiled when he noticed his shoes were still laced on his feet snugly, and turned that Duo-influenced brand of wicked smirk toward the nearest guard before he lashed that shoe squarely into his chin.

There were a few hollers and loud thuds, but the futile fight soon ended and Heero quietly closed the door behind him after he had locked it from the inside. He shouldered his backpack and glanced down the hall as he did so. Initially, his eyes adjusted slowly to the murky lightning in the hallway-no doubt the entire floor was sealed off solely for Relena's sake-and he thought it was empty. A second later he recognized the hazy outline of a blonde woman approaching and snorted unhappily. Rather than intentionally stir up more conflict and possibly delay his trip to the Civic Building, he decided to try and brush by his foster sister and slip away between the cracks without further altercation.

As he slipped into a doorway noiselessly with his head bowed, he snorted to himself. He was starting to sound more and more like the bohemian the longer he was separated from him.

Silent, it took only a second for his sister to pass by in the dim shadows of the hall, brushing by him without even noticing. As he imagined Duo might have done it. Heero leaned out into the hallway and glanced over through his bed-ruffled dark hair and caught a passing glimpse of the side her innocent face in the glow of a dimmed light. Clutched to her bosom was a bag of food, no doubt for him. He watched her until she pulled out of sight. She was completely oblivious that the shadow she had passed in the doorway of a random, non-descript room was who it was. Like taking a final souvenir before slipping away forever, Heero took a last look at his sister and turned. Unnoticed, he continued noiselessly down the hall and disappeared down the carpeted stairs.

Relena slowed and turned about once, glancing curiously over her shoulder and tossing her blonde hair in the process. "Hello? Is someone there?" she inquired calmly, certain she had the mild sensation of seeing someone, though she had been too busy in her thoughts to register it immediately. Presented only with a dimly lighted hallway, she simply turned and continued on toward the door where she believed she would find Heero, peacefully sleeping.

There would be only a few unconscious bodyguards when she nudged the door open with her hip and happily announced the breakfast she'd purchased to a man who wasn't there. He'd left her behind long before, anyway.

---

Darkness suited him best. Sheltered him, soothed him-assured him that he was invisible to the eyes and merciless fangs of predators who hunted him, night or day. Like a cold, silent friend with its hand on his shoulder. Shadow was the ally of every undesirable, and it protected those who were seen as too vile to live. So that's where the Civic building security guards could have found Duo Maxwell, infamous hunted con and soon-to-be assassin, preparing for what he was about to do. Hidden in the shadows backstage, concealed by a pulled curtain used to hide the black, silver-trimmed boxes of unused electrical equipment, the wanted criminal lounged on top of the largest box with a unlit cigarette pending flame pinched between his fingers. Those fingers cradled a semi-automatic firearm, completing the final mechanical checks with clipped, habitual movements.

Once his assassination tool was thoroughly reviewed, he held it in one palm and gazed blankly at it, highlighted by the dim yellowish light sifting through cracks between the black velvet curtains. With the other he lifted his cigarette to his lips and idly chewed it between his lips, impatiently waiting for the spark of his lighter. Duo mulled silently after he'd lit the last of the Marlboros that he'd stolen, only pausing in his vacant stare at the gun to exhale in a cloud of smoke. Somewhere in his mind he'd told himself he'd kick the habit and make a turn for the better in his life, but reality knew better, and so did he, he thought darkly.

There would be no second winds, there would be no abandoning the bitter obligation he had held since he had witness his human mother slaughtered, there would be no leaving his past behind him. It was all too much set in stone in front of him. The three beats of hatred, violence, and revenge would continue on forever, crushing innocent lives beneath them. And Duo could do nothing to stop it-only join in in his proper place: exacting revenge for his murdered family.

Running his fingers thorough his bangs and groaning to himself, Duo finally picked up the weapon, pressed the chilled metal to his forehead, and, in a whisper, began praying.

"Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us-"

---

"Goddamn it, where are they?" he growled raggedly under his breath, his hands moving furiously. "They must be here, they have to be-yes!"

Luckily, scrounging hastily through the pockets in his pack produced a pair of glimmering steel keys and the Japanese man silently unlocked the door of his ex-girlfriend's car, a storm simmering in his eyes. Heero slammed it loudly behind him and had gunned the key into the ignition before he could even register it. The engine roared to life beneath him, almost as if it could sense his haste thundering through him.

Outside, the sun glared down brightly onto the parking lot behind the massive, affluent hotel where he'd been taken, unconscious at the time, and the dark red car that sped out of it, blowing off the stop sign with something more important in mind.

A polished black towncar housing another entrepreneur staying in Cinq laid on the horn angrily as Heero gunned the engine and nearly sideswiped him, but he glanced back in the sideview mirror with only minor concern.

Fortunately for Heero, Relena insisted on bringing an inconspicuous vehicle with her along with her arsenal of private limousines and escorts to nurture her shopping and clubbing indulgences without a few bulky bodyguards to indimitate her and her rich {and often high-hat} girlfriends. It was a perfect steal, since she had pressed him a set of keys in the likely occurrence she might become too intoxicated with her friends and request him to pick her up. Like a private butler she could bed down with. The Japanese man scowled at the very thought, and subconsciously shifted more weight onto the accelerator.

He wasn't overly concerned with traffic enforcers, either. With Peacecraft's arrival in town for a highly anticipated address, most police and other security forces would be concentrated at the civic center instead of scanning the roads with their hawkeyes and their radar. And if they were, he would brush them off. Either the bohemian truly had been rubbing off on him, or Heero was too engrossed with reaching the aforementioned bohemian to care about speeding at all.

Eventually, after many disregarded traffic signals and a worthy collection of blasted horns and snapped profanity, the Civic Building loomed in the distance and through wholly determined blue eyes Heero frowned and again spiked the jittery speedometer needle to soothe it at a steady fifty miles per hour. He was sure in his driving ability-and the relatively empty roads also helped him avoid colliding with any unsuspecting innocent vehicle. Without signaling, the Japanese man cranked the wheel to allow the car to smoothly accelerate in the curve that led to the security booths at the entrance to the Civic Building parking lot.

By now, the sun had slunk quietly toward the horizon and the skyline glowed a receptive red as it neared. The journey across town, at illegal speeds most of the way, had taken time, however Heero hated to admit to himself, as he graciously applied the brakes. The security station awaited him, and a guard calmly walked toward him, signaling him to stop. The mandatory check-of course, Heero thought dully. It was a big event involving a highly regarded political figure, delicious bait for assassins itching to toss the order of things into chaos, or just even out a blood feud. Such state-of-the-art security was like a house of matchsticks trying to stand up to men like Duo, though.

Or cats, rather.

Complying obediently, Heero guided the commandeered car to the booth, and the engine purred anxiously as it waited, a lifting yellow bar stationed across the road to prevent him from moving any further. The guard congenially ambled his way to the driver-side window and leaned over, slinging his arm on the rim of the rolled-down window.

"My, you seem kind of late if you've come to hear Mr. Peacecraft's speech." He smiled jokingly, but it didn't make a dent in the vacant blue-eyed stare of the traveler. Still looking blankly at the guard, barely even registering the look of his face, Heero lifted his foot off the brake and slammed it back down on the accelerator. The engine roared happily as the wooden barrier snapped and clattered to the pavement under the wheels and Heero continued his way in, unfettered by such petty consequences. The guard rushed shakily back to his booth. After flinging the door open so that it flapped loudly against the wall, he dove at his radio and quickly jammed the button down.

"Some unidentified guy just busted down the gate and stormed his way in," he reported, holding up the radio receiver to his mouth and squinting out the glass at the disappearing form of the car. "Get security at all the entrances. There's no telling what this guy intends to do." After a few more exchanged words, the guard wandered out and dazedly looked at the pieces of wooden barrier, and scratched his head and sighed.

---

The engine purred idly as Heero Yuy abandoned the car at the curb, with hardly a care for anything but the bohemian who was at the moment somewhere in the shadows of the massive building, plotting and carrying out an assassination of the man who had issued that his kind be killed and had wiped out his family in the process.

Vaguely he remembered seeing more security, and storming through it as if the confused-faced guards were no more than slack-jawed murals on the wall. A blur that passed him as he sprinted through the multiple, futile security gates until marble floors gleamed beneath his feet, reflecting the glowing color of the televisions mounted on the lobby walls, displaying the stage where Mr. Peacecraft would be taking his place in a few moments. Heero shoved a few people out of the way, and apologized only with a mechanical part of him.

His eyes were glued to that television display while the crowd surged around him. Unbeknownst to him, that tiny surge was caused by the security guards trying to push their way through to him. The Japanese man hardly noticed as he watched the goings on. The camera scanned the crowd for a second, and he saw the multiple faces of the press in the prim suits and perfect hair. His heart stopped for a second when he thought he saw glimpse of black among the suits.

An anxious guard called out loudly above the din, and Heero whipped his head around. Ducking out of sight, he wove rapidly through the lumbering masses, hardly even registering that he had just knocked the bag out of a person's hand and spilled out all the contents onto the floor. A group of people clustered around the impediment and created yet another obstacle for his pursuers, though he was too busy seeking out another television to care at all.

He found attached to the wall another seconds later and stopped dead in his tracks.

The sovereign Senator Peacecraft had taken stage in the split second that he had torn his attention away, and he gave a regally composed look to the audience and multitude of flashing bulbs that followed. Behind him the Peacecraft family crest was displayed, a white dove outstretching its wings in flight. The backdrop didn't matter to Heero Yuy, all the time that went into his pristine clothes, or the bodyguards that stood at each end of the stage when it pulled out for a wideshot. His heart was thundering because he knew that he was too late.

He saw the black blur moving and taking an effortless leap onto the stage.

Meanwhile, one Duo Maxwell was slipping through the bodies of the press, huddled close, shoulder to shoulder in their frenzy to absorb each of what would be his last words. Had he not been already in mid-air, his boots waiting to land on the stage, he would have smirked at his dark humor. Had he not being unsheathing a pistol, he would have laughed at his pathetic state-he would have had the time to regret, and he simply didn't have space for something like that.

As his boots struck the highly polished floorboards, it was the only noise in his ears. All the sudden shrieking and shouting ignited by his sinister presence droned out beneath the steady clicking of flashbulbs. And a dull roar in his brain blocked out his conscious and instead replayed the bitterness of having to watch 'animals being put back in their place.' A severe frown crossed his face and he flung off his black baseball cap, revealing his inhuman ear and indisputably declaring who he was to the shocked press and one shocked senator.

With a pistol leveled in one hand and fury in his eyes, Duo flattened his ear against his head and grimaced, revealing his abnormally sharp, feline teeth.

Senator Peacecraft had only flinched in shock when the black blur appeared on the stage before him, and now the horror struck home. He went deathly pale as he recognized the furious face from countless news reports and the significance of the single Nekonese ear. In a last panicked instinct, he began stumbling backwards as guards lunged forward, but everyone else moved in slow motion as far as Duo Maxwell was concerned. Everything done to save the warmonger was fruitless in his eyes.

As Duo cocked the gun, Senator Peacecraft realized his mistake many years too late, as that criminal in black before him snarled and pulled the trigger.

He assumed that firing the gun would end it, would justify all the horrific work he'd done to get to that stage, but of course, nothing would be that simple for him.

As he felt the muscle twitching in his trigger finger, there was a familiar human voice in his head saying something he couldn't quite understand while in such a state of rage, but he knew whom it was from. And because of it, there was a tiny blood burst from his shoulder and very large jagged hole in the backdrop instead of Senator Peacecraft's head. Trembling and pale as a sheet, the political figure dropped to the floor by instinct and Duo limply let his arm fall to his side. Something cold shifted against his fingertips and the weapon clattered to the floorboards with a noise that rippled through the entire hall.

He'd fucked everything up. Fucked everything up.

Maybe he really should have brought the traveler's rabbit's foot along.

In the lobby, Heero gaped hopelessly up at the grainy image of the bohemian confronting, shooting, and botching the assassination inexplicably all in a few, righteous moments. All the strength drained from his legs and he nearly staggered into some inattentive man, still unable to tear his eyes away. Duo stood static on the stage, his back to the panicking audience, and simply waited as the guards bolted at him from their respective corners. Heero watched as the criminal hung his head tiredly and then was buckled violently to the floor.

"Duo!"

Heero lashed out once at the blue-clad security guard that had also grabbed him, but it was useless. The other guards that he had brushed off in his hurry to run to the bohemian's side caught up with him and joined in restraining him and dragging him off to throw to the authorities.

Yeah, Election Day. Alright, I'm not going to tell you to vote. You hear that enough. I say, do what you want. It's your decision to make, and if it doesn't matter to you either way, I can't make you care, right? Whatever, not like I can vote. To get back to the story, which is what y'all are here for-the plan goes like this. I'm going to focus my energy on trying to finish The One-Eared Neko on schedule, i.e., not making you wait three months a piece for the last two chapters of the story, which are the only ones not currently written or almost finished. That means My Shini, My Hamburger is going to have just wait its turn. It's not a hiatus, or anything, but I'm gonna focus on Neko until I finish it, and then the focus can shift back to Shini. And when I finish the first arc of Shini, then I'll have time for something else. You'll just have to wait and see.