Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Torture or Salvation ❯ Race for Time ( Chapter 11 )

Chapter 9: Race For Time

Quatre sat outside in the endless gardens, a peaceful tranquillity surrounding him and soothing his troubles from out of his mind. For the first time in a while, he could take his mind off his worries of Relena. The guilt and concern he held for is close friend had only intensified after learning of her second kidnapping. She must have been so terrified, and they had started getting through to her as well. Heero said he saw a spark of sapphire flames in her eyes when she got mad at him although it wasn't as elaborately put.

He sighed at still being incapable of totally banishing all thought of Relena.

"She'll be ok…she has to be…" he spoke quietly to himself, trying to reassure his nerves. But at the same time a part of him nagged, jeered almost, that he with lying to himself. Not prepared to verbally spar with himself, for which seemed like the upteenth time, he pushed his thoughts aside, leant back in the deck chair in which he currently occupied, closed his eyes and fell into a blissful daydream. That was until the calm ambience was disrupted by a loud crashing sound, coming from the palace.

Sighing in utter despair, his chance for peace and quiet shattered, though he was somewhat grateful that his mind was taken off Relena. He slowly rose from his seat, never losing his almost regal movement in doing so. He moved towards the origin of the crash curiosity putting speed into a usually mellowed and steady step. His mind wondered to possible causes of the crash and numbered them off in a list of the likeliness of each. First in line of causes was Duo. No surprise there. Duo was a like a moth to a flame when it came to trouble.

Letting thoughts of the numerous times self proclaimed `God of Death' got into trouble run in his mind, Quatre slowly opened the patio door into one of the extravagantly decorated living rooms adorned in the Peacecraft colours. There, a certain site surprised him and his face drew into slight shock, with his eyes widening and his mouth ajar, jaw slack. This of course didn't last for too long. His face turned into one of a grimace as he made his way further into the preverbal lion's den. Spotting his silent friend, Trowa, Quatre made his way over to the stoic man and stood next to him, his eyes on the scene.

"So what happened to cause this?" Truth be told, Quatre's tone was indefinitely dry. To him this site was never new and it got worse every time.

"Heero found a lead and refuses to tell Zechs what it is. Now Heero is desperate to leave but Zechs is having none of it" Trowa offered off handily, his visible eye darted along with the movement of the two quarrelling men trying to beat the living day lights out of each other. Quatre's heart leapt for a second. A lead? Heero could know where Relena's location is? Trowa seemed to pick up on Quatre's train of thought. He observed his blond friend out of the corner of his eye as he spoke, silently noting the burst of hope fluttering through Quatre's eyes.

"Heero has said nothing of his lead to anyone. As soon as Zechs spotted him on his way to leave, he started questioning and they've been at it-"

"-like a pair of fish wives ever since" Quatre supplied for him, trying to bite back a grin despite the situation. He briefly wondered if those two would ever learn, but to be honest that would be like making an elephant jump. It just simply wasn't done.

Sending a brief glance to Trowa, Quatre smiled and turned back to the fight at hand, his eyes catching onto an object. Shaking his head he gazed at the pitiful mess of strewn china that once resembled a vase. Thinking that must have been the cause of the crashing noise, he shook his head in sadness for the poor piece of pottery.

"You know, those two are going to pay dearly for that vase as soon as Relena finds ou-" he cut himself short at the realisation at what he just said. Relena wasn't here. Sadness consumed Quatre once again and his already heavy heart seemed to have added lead onto it. He sent a fleeting glance to Trowa and noticed the taller man's eyes had glazed over, seeming lost in his own thoughts what ever they were.

Trowa had indeed fallen into his own thoughts. Mulling and mixing them, analysing them, as he would do sometimes. It was his nature. He thought back on how anyone could have passed the palace's defences. It seemed impossible but Trowa had learnt that nothing was impossible, just improbable. Heero's many feats were proof of that. It was clear from the scene that himself and the other pilots had come across, that there had been a struggle. A shot was fired seeing as an empty bullet cartage was found, but no blood. That was a major relief. Even Trowa had anxiety over what Heero's reaction might have been if blood was present. Thinking of Heero…

Trowa glanced at the continuing scene before him before letting his mind absorb him once more. Heero had been showing a lot more of his inner workings than usual. Trowa couldn't say that he knew Heero inside out. But he had an odd friendship with him. Heero would go to him for advice, as rare as that ever occurred. Trowa had noticed a sudden difference in his friend as of late. Even before Sylvia came into the picture, Heero seemed to be distancing himself from his duties, or perhaps Relena. He didn't know what went on inside Heero Yuy's mind but he suspected that his odd behaviour truly was centred on the young ex vice foreign Minster. Perhaps Heero does love Relena.

A particularly large crash and a call of dismay brought Trowa back to the current situation. Heero and Milliardo currently had each other in a straggle hold with another innocent vase in pieces on the ground. An uncharacteristic look of annoyance passed across his stoic features.

"Are you two done acting like two children or do I have to lock you up?" Trowa's deadly serious tone halted `the two children' in their tracks of lunging for each other again and they stared at Trowa in a look of irritation.

"Relena is in danger and you are wasting time over testosterone induced bouts!" Trowa didn't miss Heero's very slight wince at Relena's name and he smiled inwardly. Perhaps Heero really is in love with Relena.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Just before the fight~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Heero paced rapidly towards the exit that led into the garage. His mind running at a mile a minute over the information he had come across. What were those maniacs going to do to Relena, who was this other doll? And how the hell could they have snatched Relena away again?

His thoughts were interrupted by a low growl from behind him. Heero tilted his head over is shoulder and saw it was Zechs and continued on his way. No time for over protective brothers. But he only got as for as one of the living rooms before he felt a hand on his shoulder jerking him to turn about. His eyes met the icy blue gaze of his former enemy.

"Where are you going Yuy?" Zechs demanded in his usual cool tone he reserved only for Heero.

"I have a lead on Relena, so I'm going." Came the blunt reply.

"WHAT?!? Why didn't you tell me sooner! Where is she?!?" Zechs shouted his grip on Heero's shoulder tightening till his knuckles were white. He glared witheringly at Heero his jaw clenched shut. At this point Trowa, totally unnoticed by Heero and Zechs, had walked into the room and was now situated at a safe distance away watching the scene unfold.

"I have no time to explain. Let go!" Heero replied in a deadly calm voice that betrayed his eyes, eyes that burnt with emotion like a scorching blue heat. The grip the elder man had on his shoulder was becoming a major annoyance. Didn't he see that keeping Heero there was going to hurt Relena further! She was running out of time and the irony was that her own brother was helping to bring her end ever so closer. The sands of time were slipping in to the enemy's favour and such a thought made Heero's throat dry.

"I will do no such thing Yuy!" Zechs seethed in bearly repressed rage. And that comment bent Heero's patience too far. He needed to save Relena, to succeed in his mission, to bring her home and to…to tell her his feelings. He'd hidden from them for two long. Duo was right, he had used Syliva as a shield. He was a selfish bastard that needed forgiveness. To ask for forgiveness from a pure creature dark being like himself had no right to be in the presence of.

So he did the only thing he could do to get Zech off him.

Heero hit him.

Hard.

Zechs' grip loosened and Heero took advantage by stepping back. Heero's punch had hit Zechs smack in the jaw leaving him to stumble back and into a small ornate table with a vase on top. The vase tipped this way and that in a comical fashion that would have gone noticed if in a different situation. The vase finally decided to fall and did so with a vengeance. Zechs stared at the vase for a good minute, or at least what seemed like a minute. Truthfully it was only about a few seconds and in those few seconds Zechs' mind comprehended what had just happened. A feral growl erupted from his throat and eyes ablaze with unbridled anger stared Heero down. In a quick move, Heero had been pounced upon and the two exploded into a fully-fledged fistfight.

Like a pair of savage beasts fighting for dominance, the two Gundam pilots around rolled on the wooden floor trying to best the other. But both had a stubborn streak the depth of the Atlantic, meaning they weren't getting anywhere.

Heero rolled away from Zechs' grasp and pulled up onto all fours, Zechs in turn scrambled to his feet. Within milliseconds Heero had his muscles tensed and the weight of his body on his legs before using the weight as a force and propelled forward - straight into Zechs. Throwing his arms to his sides, Heero clothes-lined Zechs in the stomach, throwing them both onto the floor and skidding into a table. A vase fell, crashing into hundreds of pieces, bringing the two enraged men out of their rumble but then flew at each other once more and both started to strangle the other.

This elicited a cry from one of the audience that neither Heero or Zechs knew existed. The cry came from Quatre who looked at the two of them with a pleading look, but deep down you could see the disgust. Heero inwardly flinched but that bastard had deserved it. Zechs got out of the hold and the two of them got read to lunge at each other once more. But his actions and thoughts were interrupted from their downhill direction to death methods towards the man beside him, to Trowa.

"Are you two done acting like two children or do I have to lock you up?" The man looked practically fuming, emotion that was usually devoid of his face, shown through clearly showing his utter annoyance. Both Heero and Zechs started at the biting words from the usually calm Heavyarms pilot. Heero fought the urge to bow his head in shame. What was he doing? Giving into Zechs' jibes was stupid and slowing down the time that Relena might have left.

"Relena is in danger and you are wasting time over testosterone induced bouts!" At this heartless statement Heero winced ever so slightly. Damn it! Just like Trowa to voice his own thoughts. The statement seemed to make it all real for Heero. But he didn't want it to be real. None of this needed to be real. Just some sick fantasy his mind concocted for a worse case scenario. He had to protect Relena after all. Protect, protect, protect. Got to save her. Got to keep her from the evils of the world.

`But you're evil too' a voice taunted him in the back of his mind. NO. He wasn't evil! Relena said he wasn't. He HAD to do those things.

`No, you're a monster! You killed a child, remember that little girl? You are no use to protect Relena' the voice jeered on in an annoying voice. Laughter clearly laced within the words. Wrong, ALL WRONG! HE MUST PROTECT THE ONE THAT-

`The one that what?' The voice countered smoothly. Heero looked to the floor, the real world around him dissolving away, melting like ice. He had to protect the one he…the one he loved.

A weight seemed to fall away off his shoulders, and suddenly he could breath. The suffocating feeling that had always seemed to follow him about, had evaporated. He continued to stare blankly at the floor. Oh dear Gods Duo was right. He did love Relena. What a fool he was not to realise it. But now he had and she was gone. He was such an idiot! He had to find her! And all at once Heero found new hope.

He needed to find Relena and tell her how he felt.

She will be O.K.

She must.

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

It wasn't Heero.

That was the first thing her mind had acknowledged once the last tendrils of a forceful sleep relinquished her mind to consciousness. Her eyes opened slowly, the fog for sleep blurring her sight. Where on earth was she now? Surely those, those animals hadn't released her yet. No, she wasn't that clueless. Blinking her eyes rapidly she started to focus her eyes and tried to stretch aching muscles. But she couldn't.

Sapphire eyes flew open and her head snapped to the left. She was on some sort of table. Metal she realised as the bitter chill seeped through the thin material of the sleeping clothes and into her bones. The table seemed familiar, and it suddenly clicked. This was just like the table Heero had been strapped to just after he had been caught at the Naval Base. Heero…

Thoughts of him nearly brought tears to her eyes. He hadn't come for her yet. Would he even bother this time? All she was, was a nuisance to him. Someone to hold him back was all she was good for, but oh how she loved him. Her dark knight, the man of every girl's fantasy.

A sound of door opening snapped her attention from her temporary sanctuary to the real world. A rather brutal bring-back that had her shivering not just from cold. From her position she couldn't see who had entered but she could hear 3 different footfalls approach her prone form upon the table. A deep chuckling noise that sounded so familiar turned her blood to ice. It was him. The one who, who did those things to her. She suppressed a cry of dismay as utter fear coursed through her like a raging stampede and reached every part of her being.

The sudden movement of the table she lay upon finally brought the yelp she had suppressed bubbling from her mouth. The scenery changed as the angle of the table altered till the table was almost at a right angle with the floor. Her gaze fell on three figures in front of her, one causing her to gasp in shock.

Sylvia.

"What's going on here? Sylvia why are you here? Let me go!" Relena cried out confusion in her eyes as she stared at the surprisingly dull blue eyes of the girl. They were devoid of emotion or feeling, she looked…dead. This was too confusing. What was going on?

Her eyes looked at the man with red hair but darted away in fright. Oh Gods Oh Gods why is he here. Go away please just go, her mind screamed out but no sound left her mouth.

"Patience Vice Foreign Minister. Nothing you need to worry over. Soon it'll be over." A cold voice echoed from behind the two figures in front. A shadow moved forward and allowed the synthetic light to reveal their person.

It was man, not exceedingly tall, but enough to intimidate someone. His pale almost alabaster skin shown eerily in the light, a bald head glinted dully. Dark eyes, looking pitch black in the bad light stared at her maliciously at her. A white lab coat reaching to his ankles seemed to complete the effect. This man looked like one of the mad scientists she had seen in all the old films and books she had read. It was truly daunting and it took all she could to tame some of the panic that tried to push forward and take over her racing mind.

"You've been rather tricky to retrieve until now my dear. But I never leave my projects unfinished. I have big plans and I don't intend to allow you to ruin them." His voice was as cold as his appearance and it made Relena's skin crawl. What was going to happen to her? She didn't want to know and yet, but the sick curiosity, deep down, wanted to.

"But what are you going to do with me?" Her voice didn't break, but she was disgusted to hear pleading in the tone. Why couldn't she be a stronger person? Why couldn't she be as strong as Heero? Oh Heero please! Save me now! Hate me but please come. Oh God I beg you, let this be over now, let it be a dream. This can't happen, I was always good. Don't…leave me…

The man in the lab coat chuckled darkly. His eyes full of humour but still no less sinister. He slowly walked behind the table she was on. Leaving her to feel like some prey being circled. He finally emerged from the other side of her vision some sort of syringe in his hand. It to glinted, but not dulled like the skin on his head. But a sharp glint, much like the point of the needle she was sure. Her eyes never left that syringe even after he spoke in a slow taunting tone.

"You'll find out all in due time…"