20-Sep-2001
Title: Chasing the Crown, an Extended Family Fic
ExFam Authors:
RavynFyre - ravynfyre@hotmail.com
von - sablexo1@yahoo.com
bonnejeanne - bonnejeanne@yahoo.com
*Special Guest Writer! Nixie the Pixie!*
Nixers - Nixerchan@aol.com
Category: yaoi, AU
Rating: NC-17 for now, that will change
Pairings: 1+2+5, 3+4
Spoilers: Series, Endless Waltz, Mission: Arcadia
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing characters and universe are the property of the copyright owners.
Kenny, Duan, Wufan, Tryan, Carter, Jack and the Ripper, and everything relating to Rip & Jack's universe are ours. No money being made here.
Feedback: Any and all comments, feedback, critiques welcome, be they short or long.
Please feel free to direct feedback to any or all of the authors!
WARNINGS: AU (Alternate Universe), Original Characters, LEMON in some sections. Kiddie-Angst.
WARNING THIS SECTION: Angst, Suspense
There was a pulsing pain that seemed to both prod her awake, and then make it hard to focus. Blinking several times, Relena tried to brush the fog away from her eyes and then realized her hands would only move together, not apart. Something sticky came away from contact with her temple and she saw a dark smear on her hands, which were bound together.
The man, a stranger to her, knelt with his back to her, doing something to some small piece of equipment. She sat up with some difficulty and cleared her throat.
"Whatever it is that you hope to accomplish by this, it won't work," she said, trying to make her voice confident. "Peace is not so fragile as thing as to be destroyed by the absence of any one person."
"Oh, on the contrary, I already have accomplished my goal," Marcus replied easily, not even bothering to turn and face the bound young woman. "Or rather, your yapping little guard dog accomplished it for me when she howled for your precious knights."
He turned, rising to his feet and brushing his hands down the dark slacks of the uniform he was wear A wicked smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he reached down and trailed a single fingertip across her temple before staring morbidly at the stain drawn away by his fingertip. "Once again you're wrong, Princess... Take the one, and the five come tumbling after," he replied with a smug smirk.
His words cause a series of chills, as well as a secret relief. Dorothy... was alive, and had called Heero and the others. Her chin lifted. "That makes two mistakes, then," she said, more to keep him talking. If Heero were coming, then all that was needed was a little time. "One is arousing the ire of my Attaché, the other, thinking you can play any game at all with the Gundam pilots and win."
Marcus' eyes zoomed in on her face as he wiped the smear of her own blood upon his pant leg. "Your Attaché bleeds like any other, Princess," he murmured before turning away and kneeling beside his equipment again. "And the 'game', as you so quaintly call it, is already won. The gambit's been taken, and the players are in place. So predictable," he said with a sigh. "It takes the fun out of it."
As he turned to face her once more, his eyes took on a wolfish gleam. "Time is the only enemy to fear... There's never enough to enjoy the simple spoils of life. But there will be," he murmured, edging towards her again. "When the dust settles and the losers have been purged. Perhaps you and your little guard dog can have your turns after my former 'commander'... To the victor goes the spoils."
Relena made an intensive effort and managed not to roll her eyes at her captor's rhetoric. Yes, she thought, to someone like you, those who fight for peace must seem predictable, because they defend what needs defending. She decided to attempt to get a little information. She swallowed and tried to look scared. "What do you mean, when the dust settles? What are you going to do?"
Marcus' lips twisted into a smirk as he stared down at her. "Never try to fool a fool, Princess. You're no more afraid of me than I am of your knights. Tell me something, though... What was it like to rule the world for those brief few days? What little good it did you."
Before she could answer, he waved her off, shaking his head. "Never mind. Time flies and I still have much to do if I'm to actually acquire the real targets. Give your Prince my regards when you see him next, and that spiteful little guttersnipe, Chang," he snarled before stooping to stuff a wad of dark fabric into her mouth, tying it in place with another scrap he'd had concealed in his hand.
Leaving her bound and gagged, he gathered the last of his things and slipped from the tiny room, locking it behind him with an ominous clack.
Without a pause, the Vice Minister began trying to free her wrists by any means possible. I am so tired of being stuck behind locked doors, she thought absently, trying to control the deep, almost overwhelming sense of impending disaster.
It actually took Zechs less time to get through the outer confusion around the spaceport than it had the van laden with Gundam pilots. No one question Preventer Wind, although there were some curious looks given to his companion and the occasional widening of the eyes behind them.
In short order, Zechs found himself at the Preventer's temporary command post being given a quick rundown by the head of the Vice Minister's detail.
The man was a bit gray in the face as he informed Zechs that they had not located the whereabouts of the Vice Minister. "Attaché Catalonia is with the special security detail," he said, attempting to ignore the perspiration breaking out along his forehead. Taking a breath, he added, "The Gundam pilots, sir."
The Preventer had listened to the overview with no interruptions or comments, simply a growing displeasure and frustration with each detail, only minorly eased by the last report. "How is she?" he asked as the man trailed off.
The agent cleared his throat. "She's allowed minimal first aid, and she's... sir, she's spitting nails, which is totally understandable." The truth was, the extent of Dorothy's reaction and the aura of desperation about it had taken most of the people around her by surprise. It was suddenly quite clear that her concern for the Vice-Minister was a lot deeper than simply a functionary for a superior.
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Treize couldn't quite hide the small smile that sprang to his lips. He rested an unobtrusive hand upon Zechs' arm and remained silent.
Zechs nodded almost absently to the reply before his attention sharpened again on the agent. "Security operations are still being organized by local authorities?" he asked, only waiting for a sign of confirmation from the other man before continuing. "I'll need to know both their central command and the location of Dorothy."
The agent nodded and pulled out a small copy of the layout in the new wing, circling locations quickly. He glanced unobtrusively at Zechs' companion and tried to get over a sense that he recognized the man from somewhere.
With a brief nod to the agent, Zechs accepted the altered map and moved at a brisk pace down the semi-crowded halls. At a farther junction, he let out a held breath, the emotions that accumulated giving brief surface before he said, "Dorothy first, then we can see about the coordination and security. He's either long gone or hiding somewhere. We'll find out which soon enough."
"As you wish, Milliardo," Treize replied, keeping pace with the taller man. "Either way, she will be found."
As the two men stepped up to an unassuming door, a scathing feminine voice, dripping with scorn, could be heard from beyond. The young Preventer standing at attention beside the door nodded politely at Zechs before opening it and admitting them within.
"Do you make it a habit of ignoring specific orders given to you by the Office of the Vice Minister?" Dorothy asked, her voice lowering to an icy calm as she addressed the man standing before her without even sparing her new visitors a glance.
"No, ma'am, but those orders did not *specify* admitting small children to a sealed crime scene!" the man protested, his voice already signaling defeat.
"And you expected the children that were accompanying the special Ministry Security I requested were merely ordinary children? Do you truly think that either I, or the Ministry Security are that foolish?" she asked dangerously.
The man blanched like an almond and looked around quickly for anything to deflect the formidable blond's anger. "Er, no, ah, that is, I... um... you have visitors, Attaché, I'll go see about..."
"Rectify the situation. You have two minutes," she interrupted him coldly. "And don't task me anymore."
"Yes ma'am," the man gulped and exited at a near run.
"Still terrorizing the masses, cousin?" Treize asked with a hint of amusement and respect.
Dorothy, who had been in the process of turning to face her latest visitors, froze. All of Jack's hints and veiled references flooded back through her mind, solidifying into reality with that smoothly cultured voice. Despite having been prepared for the eventuality by the intriguing blond businessman, Dorothy found her breath fleeing her suddenly as the abruptness of it caught her by surprise. "Tabby cats cannot change the colors of their stripes... cousin," she replied softly before gathering the tatters of her composure again and facing them both. "Milliardo. Treize," she murmured, inclining her head in a polite nod.
"The rumors of my death were greatly exaggerated," Treize commented, quirking up one brow very slightly at the speed of Dorothy's recovery.
"So I was warned. I'm glad," she replied quietly before turning her attention to Zechs. "The others are coordinating the search as we speak. I... I'm sorry, Milliardo."
"I doubt you did anything less than your best, Dorothy," Zechs replied with a slight bow of his head, and a quick glance to the bruises marring the Attaché's delicate features, another pang of anger and worry for his sister flaring up at the sight. "Do you know what happened exactly?"
Dorothy shook her head once, face shifting into expressionlessness. "I'd slipped out to discuss a scheduling discrepancy with the coordinator. When I returned, Relena was already unconscious and McCormick was attempting to flee with her. My attempts to prevent him were somewhat... unsuccessful," she replied stiffly.
"I think," Zechs said in a far cooler tone after taken a moment to take in the information, "I'll be requiring the names of the men on guard duty at the time, before this is over."
Dorothy snorted delicately before turning to the table that had been serving as an impromptu desk since she'd been relocated to the small room immediately after she'd been found. Snatching up a sheaf of papers, she sorted through them and then offered one of them to Zechs before returning the pile to the table again. "You'll have to verify accuracy, however..."
Folding the paper neatly he nodded to her before slipping it into his jacket pocket. "I intend to be as thorough as possible," he assured her.
She nodded, satisfied for the moment, before turning a thoughtful gaze upon Treize. "I believe the children were being detained at the main operations post for the local authorities. All six of them," she offered.
Treize nodded his thanks, eyes narrowed speculatively at the young woman, before crossing the distance between them and resting his hands gently upon her shoulders. "If you haven't yet, you need to tell her," he whispered urgently to her.
Dorothy blinked in surprise before a faint, trembling smile flitted across her lips. "No need. It's been done. How did you guess?" she asked wanly.
"One can recognize a fellow who also suffers from a weakness for the Peacecraft line," Treize replied with a wry twist of his lips. "Besides... You're rather transparent at the moment."
Her shoulders slumped in defeat for a moment, head bowed as she stared down at her shoes. When she met his gaze again, he wasn't surprised to see a fire of determination in the cool blue depths of her eyes. "I don't care. As long as she comes back safe, it doesn't matter."
Treize let his hands slip down her arms until he held her long fingers securely. "She will. They can achieve anything," he murmured confidently before giving her hands a final squeeze and letting them go to return to Zechs' side. "Is there anything you need from us before we join them?"
"Find her. That's all," she replied, glance bouncing between the two.
"Of all things, I can promise you that," Zechs said.
Leaning against the wall, arms crossed, Kenny observed the local police coming and going with unnerving intensity, which simply didn't match a child of his apparent age. There was also a faint but discernable air of disapproval which seeped into the perceptions of the adults and made them oddly uncomfortable.
Duan watched the veritable parade of people pass back and forth. Silently, he began counting off the number of seconds between arrival and departure times. From what he was able to overhear, the officials had not been able to locate the Vice Minister. Glancing up, he saw Kenny, then stood and walked over to stand next to him.
"Are we gonna wait for Heero?" he asked quietly, noticing that the adults in the room were not paying that close attention.
"For now," Kenny murmured. "But keep your eyes open. That guy doesn't make direct moves, he's not the type."
Duan nodded and then walked over to one of the female officers. A second before he tapped her on the arm, he switched on the smile. "Hi!" he said, cheerfully. "How is everything going? Did they find Princess Relena, yet? We're kinda worried about her. She'll be okay, right?"
The young woman looked down and blinked. Although she'd never had a moment's desire for children, the little heart-shaped face and huge violet eyes looking up at her made her suddenly feel warm and sensitive, two rather alien emotions. "Um, no, but she'll be okay, honey, don't worry. You, uh, you and your friends want a drink of water or something?"
Duan looked down, then back up at the lady and nodded. "Thanks, please," he said, courteously. "Is that like where everyone is whose looking for the Princess? On that map?" he asked as an addendum, pointing to the layout on the desk.
The woman noticed this time that the little boy had said 'the Princess' and figured he must be from Sanc. "Yes, see the red is the perimeter and the yellow dots are the teams that have reported sections clear. Now wait here, hun," she said, and walked out one of the doors. She came back in a few minutes with a flask and a stack of paper cups.
"Here, do you need help with it," she said, not realizing that one of her colleagues was staring at her bemusedly.
"Hey, *Lewis*!" a man's voice was raised. "Get out to Section AB, on the double!"
"Uh, yes sir!" she said, handing the cups to Duan and walking away, with only one stray backward look combined of confusion and an unaccustomed concern. Cute kid.
"Thanks, Officer Lewis," Duan called and carried the cups over to where Wufan and Mei were sitting.
Wufan looked up and pushed his glasses back up on his nose. He had watched the exchange and tried not to giggle. Duan was good.
"Sixteen patrols, four men apiece," Duan relayed to Wufan who nodded and wrote the information down on his pad.
"Talent," Mei observed, taking the cups and water from Duan and making a show of pouring some out for them all. "You're good."
Duan spared Mei a wink and a somewhat wider grin. "Thanks," he said, then took two cups of water from her and over to Tryan and Carter.
Carter rubbed his temples, and reached for the cup of water absently, drinking the whole thing.
"He's still here, I think," he muttered, sounding woefully uncertain. "He shouldn't be here. Why is he still here?" He rubbed his temples again. "It's faraway but looking..."
"You're doing real good Carter," Tryan said, offering the little blond his water, if he needed it. He then looked up at Duan. "Course he's still here. If he wasn't they would've been talking about it."
Duan nodded. "The guy is sneaky and crazy, but he's not dumb. The way I figure, if he planned on coming in, he woulda had a way out. Keep your eyes opened," he said, then walked back over to Kenny and stood.
Kenny glanced at Duan. "Carter's upset," he mentioned.
"Yeah," Duan answered. "He says the dick is still here, but It is far away, but looking. Carter's not too sure. We should just be encouraging. Maybe that'll help him."
"Hn," Kenny remarked. After a moment he said, "He's not upset about her, the Vice Minister lady. It's something else. Something he doesn't want to see." He glanced at Duan. "Keep an eye on him. When he lets himself see whatever it is, it could be something bad."
"Okay," Duan said, taking in the information and nodding to himself. "Got it."
Kenny reached over and curled his fingers around the end of Duan's braid for a moment and then let it trail out of his fingers. The smile was so brief it might have been imagined.
Suddenly all the officers coming and going stopped, as a communication came in. The kids could not hear the message but it must have been important, as people began leaving the area, in different directions, going out the several doors. A single man was left, and he glanced at the kids, biting his nails, clearly unhappy at having been left to be baby sitter.
Looking around the room, Wufan stood. He took Mei's hand and glanced towards the man. "Excuse me, sir. Do we need to stay here, still?" he asked.
"Yeah, kid, stay put," the officer said. "The Attaché is sending someone for ya. The sooner they get here, the sooner I can get to where the action is."
Wufan blinked, then glanced around at the others. He shrugged. "If someone is coming for us, you can go. We're used to staying by ourselves. We'll just wait here."
The man frowned, not liking to take orders from a kid, even if it was what he was already thinking about. He growled slightly. "Just sit tight, I'm not leaving you alone. I'm just going to look down the hall a sec, got it?"
Without waiting for an answer, he went to one of the doors and stepped out, not closing the door all the way behind him.
At the same moment, another door opened briefly, a uniformed figured looked in, then the door closed again. The only person looking straight at it was Mei.
Without thinking, Mei tore her hand free of Wufan's and dashed over to the door that had just shut again, a curiously surprised and horrified expression on her face as she yanked it open and peered cautiously out.
Wufan gasped as he watched Mei dash by him. "What's wrong?" he said, moving to the door.
Eyes narrowed and lips twisted into a cruel little sneer, Marcus McCormick stared down at the young redhead. "Hello, Mariemeia. Seems I owe you for blowing my cover," he snarled.
Mariemeia barely had time to let loose a frightened, surprised little squeal before Marcus snatched the child up into his arms and bolted from the doorway at a swift jog.
Kenny's eyes had narrowed at Mei's move and the moment he heard the voice in the hall outside the door, he moved like a blur, passing Wufan with barely a brush.
At the same exact moment, Carter stood up, and yelled, "Kenny, NO!!! It's Kenny, oh gosh!"
He seized Tryan's hand with a grip of iron and cried urgently, "Get the guys, Tryan! This is it! This is IT!!"
"Mei!" Wufan cried out, dashing after Kenny.
Duan followed without a backward glance, missing most of Carter's words.
Tryan's green eyes widened. He looked at Carter and nodded. "Ok!" he said, then moved in the direction he saw the pilots had gone. He had a very bad feeling, but concentrated on reaching Duo, Heero and the others.
Carter watched Tryan turn and run and then took off himself, after Wufan. "I have to stay with Kenny," he cried to himself. "He doesn't know... how to fight It!"
The swift jog Marcus had adopted carried him quickly, his legs much longer than the children's but his understanding of his prey was sadly lacking in a number of areas. For one, Mariemeia was more than a writhing double handful of fury, teeth and nails, and for another, Kenny didn't bother trying to tackle the much larger man, he simply threw himself in a diving roll at the man's ankles, tangling his feet and grabbing his legs with small hands of steel.
Not expecting the sudden obstacle, Marcus stumbled, the unfamiliar weight of the girl in his arms throwing him even further off guard. With a quick heave of his arms, Mariemeia was thrown into the nearest wall with a satisfyingly hard crash, freeing his arms to catch himself as he tumbled to the floor.
"Little bastard," Marcus snarled as he freed one leg enough to deliver a fierce kick to Kenny who was still wrapped firmly around his other leg. The sound of ripping cloth and a sudden burning fire from his calf was more than an even trade to see the vile little brat dislodged and sent flying into the boy who looked like Chang. Not pausing to savor the second satisfying crash of impact, Marcus scrambled to his feet and snatched up a now dazed and bruised Mariemeia.
The children were much quicker than he'd anticipated. He'd have to turn up the speed to prevent another mistake like that.
Kenny collided with Wufan, knocking the other boy to the ground. He rolled to his feet almost instantly, his face a cold mask of fury. Wufan heard a low growl and caught the words, "Dirt eating son of a greenie..." as Kenny got to his feet and took off after the rapidly retreating adult like a shot, ignoring the throbbing pain in his chest, not even fully conscious of it.
Wufan stood quickly, catching his breath from the impact of Kenny and the wall he'd been smashed against. He felt his blood drop and a calm settle over him as Duan moved past him carrying one of the knives that Duo had fashioned for them all. Taking a deep breath, Wufan moved quickly towards the target.
At the back of the chase, Carter flinched as he saw Kenny and Wufan collide. Inside his head he could hear something none of the others could hear. It was like a laugh and a hiss at the same time. His eyes were dilating as he ran, feeling the presence of the Crown somehow all around them. He felt It focusing on one of them, and his heart screamed silently, vowing that the evil thing would not take his brother, any of them, without his giving everything he had.
Running full out this time, Marcus increased his lead at first, darting down corridors, making quick turns along a route he had planned minutely. But each time he made a turn, he saw the kids behind, and one in particular, Kenny, was somehow managing to decrease his lead. The boy was a blur. Were the route much longer, Marcus might have another problem on his hands.
As he ran, Kenny slipped the knife Duo had given him out of concealment in his shorts and palmed it. He wasn't really thinking anymore. A well of fury that had been covered and soothed by the past few weeks and the love of his new family was open and gaping wide, fueling him like a small jet.
Duan and Wufan followed closely, neither stopping to compare notes. They rounded corners and saw Kenny always ahead. When they caught sight of Marcus, both boys took a side of the corridor, each locking on the target.
With a smug smile, despite the slight pain of his lower leg, Marcus ducked around one final corner, before dashing through an open hatchway and vanishing from sight. Only the sound of his mocking laughter careened out of the darkness beyond, egging the boys on.
Kenny dived through the hatch and rolled to one side, tracking for his target.
Standing defiantly across the darkened room, Marcus waited confidently, Mei dangling from his grasp on the front of her shirt.
"Had enough, boy?" the outlaw growled.
The small soldier zeroed on the man, his indigo eyes as cold as black ice. "No," he replied. He began slowly stalking towards the man, keeping his body low and balanced, ready to dodge a kick or blow in an instant. The knife was palmed in his hand, invisible to his opponent. He noted the limp way Mei hung in the man's grasp. Objective, rescue the noncom, take out the enemy.
Marcus smiled darkly, eyes narrowing as he tracked Kenny. "Good. I'd hate for you to be a disappointment."
Moments later, Wufan Po made his way through the hatch, taking in the scene before him. His eyes adjusted to the dim light and he noted Mei's position in McCormick's hand. "Put her down, you coward!" he called out, dropping into a stance born of practice.
"Make me, guttersnipe," Marcus retorted, backing up a little further, giving Mei a quick shake with a jerk of his fist.
In seconds, Marcus heard the sound of a blade move past his ear and thunk into the wall behind him. Duan slipped into the darkened room and flattened himself against a wall with a slight grin.
Marcus jerked, a flash of surprise crossing his face as his attention darted towards the unmistakable whistle of the knife that had narrowly missed him. He hadn't expected them to be armed.
The moment Marcus's attention was diverted, Kenny crossed the little space in an instant and jumped, slashing at the hand holding the captive.
"Mei!" he hissed. "No time to be a girl, wake up!"
A fierce shout of rage burst from Marcus's lips as his gaze darted back to Kenny, the sudden blossom of fire along his hand forcing him to drop his captive and stagger back a step.
"Little bastard!" Marcus howled, clutching the bleeding appendage to his chest. "You're becoming more trouble than you're worth.... Enough games!" With a final growl, he punched a button on the small remote he'd held concealed in his free hand and laughed.
Wufan moved as he saw Mei suddenly released from the coward's hand. He slid towards them both, raising his arms and allowing his body to absorb some the impact of her fall. Holding on to her tightly, he tried scooting back and out of the mad man's way.
Duan managed to retrieve his blade from the wall and stash it. "But, we like games!" he called out.
Kenny's eyes narrowed as the man laughed. "Get her out," he hissed over his shoulder, not giving an inch. His small body was vibrating with a need to have one last shot at the man but his alarms were going off bigtime.
Just inside the hatch, Carter watched the others, knowing in a split second exactly what was about to happen, and that he was the only one close enough to the door to do anything about it. Deliberately, he stepped forward.
With the sound of a massive gavel, the hatch slammed shut and cycled to locked, sealing them all in.
"Whoops. Too late," Marcus observed carelessly.
A small body came flying at his chest, hand raised with a flash of steel.
Half expecting the attack, but certainly not the speed or ferocity of it, Marcus stumbled as he dodged, almost tripping as he ducked to avoid Kenny. His breath hissed out through his clenched teeth as he felt the skin just under his jaw part as the tip of Kenny's blade caught him with a quick slash. Stabbing another button on the remote, a door beside him opened and he ducked through, slamming it shut behind him before any of the children could follow him through.
Reaching up, he traced the fresh laceration with a finger that began to tremble as he realized how close the boy had come to spilling his lifeblood. Less than half a second slower, and Marcus would have been as limp on the floor as Mariemeia.
Breath catching slightly, he pushed away from the door, ducking his head to wipe the welling of blood against his shoulder. "I'll enjoy watching It break you, boy," he hissed, even as he pressed one last button on the remote and threw it aside.
Kenny landed on his feet, whirling too late to get through the closing door.
He fell back, turning at last to look around the small enclosure.
His eyes met Duan's, then Wufan, flickering to Mei, and last to Carter, standing pale but steady next to the sealed hatch. "It's a trap, right?" he said in a low voice.
Duan shrugged as he walked over to Kenny, checking him visually. "Looks like it," he said, "I'd say the mission is in full swing now."
Wufan looked down at Mei, brushing her hair back away from her face a moment. "You ok?" he asked, concerned.
She blinked, chest heaving slightly as she struggled to get her breath back, nodding after a moment before darting a look over at Kenny. As the boy's words sank in, her eyes grew wide. "I'm sorry! You shouldn't have come... I'm sorry."
Kenny met her look directly. "Me too," he said, with a slight shrug, as he wiped the blood off his knife onto his black shorts. "Sorry I missed. I'll get him for you next time, Mei. Right Fan? We'll get him."
Wufan nodded. "Yeah, we will," he said, looking down at Mei again. He frowned slightly. "I should have been stronger. I could have protected you better. But, Kenny's right. We'll get him."
Carter leaned against the bulkhead behind him and silently slipped his knife into a crevice, hiding it.
"We all have to be strong," he said quietly. "Tryan went for the guys. Meanwhile we have to stick together."
Duan nodded and took Kenny's hand, drawing him near Wufan and Mei on the floor. "Right. Let's start by sitting down. Gotta conserve our strength for when we kick his butt," he said, looking around the room. "I get the feeling this room was sealed for a reason. It's not a normal room."
Carter came and sat down with the others. Kenny eyed the hatch from his seat, looking for a way to get it open and get to the man on the other side.
"Anybody hear that hissing besides me?" Duan asked, quietly.
Kenny's nostrils twitched and then he growled. "Gas," he muttered. He looked around the room, spotting the valves in the ceiling over their heads. He also spotted a small concealed camera up there, set to give a view of the room. He pointed at the camera and then formed his hand into the shape of a gun and pulled the "trigger".
His other hand fastened on Duan's braid, wrapping it around twice. He saw that Mei's eyes were closing already, Wufan's starting to. The last thing he saw was Carter's wide teal eyes, as he fought to try and stay conscious, but everything got very heavy and then there was a roaring and a big hand pressing him down against the floor.
Heero made his way through the corridors without thinking. From the diagrams supplied by Dorothy, he moved carefully, guided more by instinct than anything. Everything within him screamed that the situation was nowhere near optimal. McCormick had attacked twice and what he wanted was still unclear.
That thought provoked movement and in a flash the gun materialized in Heero's hand at the ready. "We'll get the kids and then search the launch bays," he said, distinctly.
Duo nodded his assent, noting the presence of Heero's weapon with a small nod before calling his own gun to his hand as well. "Sounds good. I don't like this."
Quatre blinked, seeing the odd weapons that seemed to materialize from thin air into first Heero's then Duo's hands. He filed it away for another time to ask.
"We'll start in bays A and B, and work along the west side," he called to the two and Wufei, taking advantage of a branching corridor in the right direction, after a quick glance at Trowa for confirmation.
Trowa nodded and turned to leave, noting the weapon himself with some admiration.
"Catch you guys later," he said.
"They have, at least, grounded all flights, haven't they, 'Fei?" Duo asked as he waved towards the departing pair.
"Hai," Wufei all but snapped. He glanced at the other two as they moved quickly towards the local authorities command center. "However, get this: McCormick was involved in *setting up* the Preventer's security codes and channels. We can't assume the lockdown will hold."
Duo stopped dead in his tracks for a breath, staring at Wufei incredulously before shaking it off and continuing along at a slightly brisker pace. "Une?"
"...has been informed," Wufei answered. "Which is why you haven't heard anything about it over Preventer channels."
In the corridor ahead, they saw an impatient-looking local officer standing next to a slightly open door. When his eyes lit on the three former pilots, he snapped a perfunctory salute. "You're here, good."
He turned and went through the door behind him and then stopped, looking around with a perplexed and annoyed expression. "What the fu... hell..." he muttered. "That kid said they'd stay right here, where did those kids run off to?"
Heero made his way into the room and around the local officer. His brows drew together in a deep scowl and a growling sound emerged from his throat. He looked around the room, noticing several possible entrances to the room.
"What 'kid', describe him," Wufei snapped in an icy voice, the expression in his dark eyes the most forbidding the cop had ever seen, next to the scowl on the other guy with the gun.
"Little Asian... kid..." the man started to snap back and then began to look very pale, suddenly feeling extremely nervous.
Wufei's eyes flashed. "If Wufan said they would stay, they would have stayed... unless something happened."
"Kenny? Duan?" Duo bellowed, pitching his voice to carry as far as he could force it to, "Guys! Report!"
He was greeted by an ominous lack of response, but he noticed that on one of a small group of chairs, a notebook lay as if forgotten.
Wufei's eyes lit on it at the same time and his lips pressed together in a thin line.
Already sure of what he'd find, but needing the proof of it anyway, Duo walked leadenly to the chairs and picked up the notepad, his amethyst eyes flashing with an icy fire as Wufan's neat handwriting stared back up at him.
On the pad, Duo read: "Entry 156 - Duan's intel secured easily. Security somewhat lax. Needs work... Note to Heero."
Not even quite realizing how he got there, Duo found himself back across the room, the local pinned to the wall by Duo's forearm on his throat. He could feel his fingers digging into the pad still clutched in his free hand, the gun having vanished at some point. "I trust you can at least not fuck up using a radio to alert everyone that they are now also looking for six young children," he snarled in a ragged voice, all trace of the typical Maxwell charm evaporated from his features.
The cop choked and gulped, staring at Duo as if he'd turned into Beelzebub, and tried to nod. "Yes! I mean, uh, no, I mean, I'll get right on it," he managed through a slightly constricted voice box.
Not even sparing him another instant of his attention, Duo simply let the man drop to the floor, turning to Heero and Wufei. "They didn't come past this fuck-up, which leaves three doors and three of us."
Heero, who had moved to one of the doors, turned to Duo and Wufei. He nodded, sharply, but didn't move right away.
As Wufei moved to one of the other doors, it opened in front of him and two men emerged, looking briefly surprised.
The expression on Wufei's face instantly alerted the tall blond Preventer agent and his ginger-haired companion that something was very wrong.
Glancing quickly around the mostly empty room, Treize fixed his gaze upon Wufei and quirked up a single brow in an unspoken question.
The answer was silent and as clear to Treize as a shout. The Chinese pilot's expression simply met the question with an reply, something along the lines of, 'potentially... the worst.'
"The kids didn't come past you two?" Duo asked Zechs sharply.
Glancing quickly through the door and back down the hallway, Zechs shook his head.
"Two doors," Duo corrected before striding quickly to one of the last two. "The kids are missing now, too," he tossed over his shoulder to Treize and Zechs.
Heero looked down in front of the door he was facing and saw a little scrap of material. It was eggshell blue, the color of the shirt Carter was wearing that day.
Bending down, Heero picked up the material. "Carter," he said, unaware that he'd spoken. Cobalt blue eyes glared at the closed door. Heero stood. "Here," he said, reaching for the handle.
As Heero's hand touched the door, the one that Duo was standing in front of opened and Tryan burst through at full tilt.
Emerald eyes looked up, as Tryan grabbed what patch of clothing he could reach of Duo's. "Duo!" he all but screamed. "Tried to find you guys... The dick! The dick got Mei and the guys went after him!" he managed, not letting go.
"That way?" Duo asked, nodding towards the door Heero was at even as he scooped the boy into his arms, the notepad slipping forgotten from his hands.
"Yes!" Tryan screamed, a little hysterical. "I wanted to follow, but Carter said... he said find the guys!" he added, blinking back tears, only vaguely aware that he was shaking in Duo's arms.
Wufei grabbed the notepad before it could meet the floor, as he moved towards the door Heero was already disappearing through.
A quick glance down to the map in his hand drew a half audible explicative and a darkening of eyes from Zechs, "Almost directly to one of the bays."
Duo hadn't stuck around long enough to hear Zechs' observation, as he'd vanished through the door on Wufei's heels, Tryan clutched tightly to his chest.
Ahead of Heero, he saw no signs of small figures, and heard no sound of running, but after he'd covered some half the distance in the direction of the launch bays, a door ahead and to one side began to slowly open and a hand curved around the doorframe as if needing the support.
Moving quickly, Heero went to the door, knowing without seeing whose hand it was. "Relena," he said, sliding his arm around the Vice Minister's waist and leaning her against him for support. Her condition only caused his temperature to drop by several degrees more.
"Heero!" Relena cried softly. "Thank god you are safe! That man... he said he was using me as bait, something about a gambit being taken, and five... Dorothy! Is Dorothy all right?"
"She's banged up, but she's good. Dorothy called me," Heero said, hugging Relena briefly, before looking for Zechs. "K'so," he swore.
Back in the antechamber of the command center, Zechs hadn't followed the Gundam pilots, instead cornered the still shaken officer Duo had left sending out the APB.
Not even waiting for the man's recognition, he ordered, tone frigid despite the underlying urgency of it, "Contact the control room, check for any operation of the D bay's doors, if there hasn't been any activity, lock them down, now."
"Something's... wrong, something else..." Relena guessed, watching Heero's face. She took a deep breath and stood up on her own, releasing the arm that she'd wrapped around his shoulders. "Go ahead, Heero..."
Heero looked down and nodded once. "Stay safe," he said.
Relena nodded.
Wufei barely seemed to glance at the Vice Minister, though he'd taken in her bruised condition minutely. As he brushed by, he pushed a communicator into her hands without slowing down. Relena seized the device firmly, and nodded, stepping back against the wall for support, and to clear the way.
Her eyes fell on a tall, ginger-haired figure close on the heels of the three pilots and widened, but she didn't say the name that sprang, astonished, into her mind.
Heero turned and moved down the corridor at a rapid pace. He cleared his mind as best as he could and made himself aware and ready. Of one thing he was certain... Marcus McCormick was a dead man. No threats needed this time.
Tryan's hands gripped tightly to Duo's clothes. His green eyes kept waiting for a sight of the guys and Mei.
"We'll find 'em, Tryan. Promise," Duo murmured as his arms tightened around the boy. "We'll find 'em and the dick will die."
In the small temporary command center, the officer opened a link to the control center, and relayed Zechs' orders in a high, slightly shaking voice, almost shrill with urgency. The face of the person at the other end acknowledged and turned to execute the instructions. Suddenly an alarm could be heard, over the comlink at first, and the technician's face took on an expression of confusion and shock.
"Something's wrong!" he stuttered. "The system is locking us out!"
"Focus all radar to point of possible exit, as well as whatever aerial craft you have on standby. The situation is hostage, the craft is not to be shot down, detainment measures only. Make sure we know where its going," Zechs snapped. On reflex he reached for his own communication device before remembering the warning about the compromised Preventer lines. "I'll need a direct line to Director Une," he added, "The Preventers are taking over as of now."
The technician seemed to be frantically trying to follow Zechs' orders, but his expression did not indicate any measure of success, as sweat broke out over his face. Next to Zechs, the cop punched up the line to Lady Une, but as her face came up, a loud claxon began to sound throughout the wing of the spaceport indicating a departing ship was about to take off, using emergency protocols reserved for Preventers Class One Situations.
The claxon was heard by the group speeding through the corridors, and by the Vice Minister as she leaned against the wall, punching in Dorothy's private comm code.
"I'm alright, Dorothy," Relena managed to send, "But something terrible is happening..."
"Relena!" Dorothy gasped with relief, leaning against the wall as her knees threatened to give out. "Where are you? What is going on?" she demanded.
Relena flicked the location button on the little comm and then said simply, "I don't know what is going on, Dorothy. I only know it must be terrible... incredibly terrible..."
"Stay where you are. I'm on my way," Dorothy ordered, already brushing past her startled Preventer guard.
TBC
End of Part 49
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