11-Jul-2000
Category: Adventure, Angst, Romance, Friendship
Pairings: 3+4, 1+2
Rating: R (Violence described)
Disclaimer: Not mine. No money being made or sought from this.
Notes: Well... I'd expected this to be the last chapter but it went
harebrained on me. Hope you enjoy.
Trowa could hear Quatre begin his speech. He set his teeth, still unsure about this course of action. He hated leaving the little blonde out in the open. He hated that Quatre had to once again be a target. As he paused, leaning against the wall in the upper balcony, he could again see the vision of Quatre spinning around and falling to the ground, the blood seeping across his neatly pressed white shirt, staining his tie.
Trowa gave his head a hard shake. Memories would get him no where. He had to find the gunmen they knew were here. Readjusting his grip of the weapon in his hand, Trowa moved away from the wall and on up the stairs, heading for the balcony.
Heero and Duo hunted through the lower rooms of the building. They moved like a well oiled machine, taking each door they came to and alternating as they approached. A few custodians had the fright of their lives as two young men burst into the room, guns drawing an unerring bead on innocent heads, only to be snapped up and away. Duo would smile charmingly and feed the frightened men and women some quick line while Heero silently prowled the room. Once Heero was satisfied that they were *clear* they would withdraw without a backwards glance and move on.
With typical Yuy methodicalness, they swept floor after floor, spiraling down towards the basement. Duo had taken the leader as they swept out a service entrance into an alley and spied a nondescript car sitting parked, it's engine running, license plates removed . The braided boy quickly stepped back into the shadows of the doorway. He lifted his finger to his lips, then indicated the car, sitting just out of Heero's view.
Heero nodded, his features set in an expressionless mask as he made a circling motion with his finger. Duo gave a quick nod of his head and pressed himself into the door jam, lifting his weapon muzzle skywards. Heero silently went under his lover's upraised elbows, keeping in a low crouch he shot across the alley and behind a stack of discarded boxes.
As soon as Heero was clear, Duo slipped like a dark shadow away from the cover of the doorway and flattened himself against the building's exterior. His long duster brushed against his ankles but he simply kicked the hem back gracefully. As soon as Duo had cleared the doorway, Heero began to move forwards. The pair approached the running car silently, watching the two shadowy figures in the car.
Heero made a quick motion with his hand, drawing Duo's eyes to him for a moment. He quickly signed.
~<I>They're nervous.</I>~
Duo nodded his agreement and looked up at the fire-escape hanging just above his head. He motioned towards it and Heero just began to drop back towards the covering of the dumpster. Duo quickly tucked his gun into the pocket of the duster and with a little jump, grabbed the hanging ladder and swarmed up it.
~<I>Just like climbing a Gundam.</I>~ Duo grinned maniacally to himself.
Duo reached the bottom landing of the fire-escape and looked towards Heero, who picked up a piece of old pipe and flung it up towards the door they had exited. The metal pipe clanged loudly against the metal door.
There was immediate reaction from within the car.
The passenger side door swung open and a man jumped out, a semiautomatic weapon drawn and fixed on the door. Heero went rolling from behind the cover of the dumpster and came up on one knee his gun pinpointing the man's gun hand and firing before the man could readjust his aim. The man howled as he dropped the weapon, a second shot disabled the semiautomatic and then Heero put a third shot into the man's knee.
Simultaneously, Duo dropped like a bird of prey off the fireescape, landing with a soft thud on the hood of the car, his weapon trained on the driver. He smiled widely as the man made a move to throw the car into gear and calmly put a shot through the window, drilling it into the seatback just to the man's right. With his partner on the ground holding his destroyed arm and gasping in agony, the site of Heero in the review mirror, aim on the back of his head and Duo on the hood, aiming the dark muzzle of his weapon right between the eyes, the man pulled his hands off the wheel and held them up in surrender.
Wufei stood, just in front of the stage, to the right his arms crossed and it looked like his eyes were closed. They were in fact half lidded and the young dragon was watching the crowd intently. Quatre's voice was little more then background noise as Wufei extended his senses, listening with his entire being as he'd been taught. Down off the stage he was not blinded by the trained lights and had kept a close eye on the crowd.
*Click*
The sound was so soft a bird would have missed it but like his teammates, Wufei was a predator, his senses honed to hear the slightest hint of his prey. Dark eyes opened and looked upwards towards the catwalk that ran just behind the hot stage lights. He could see the quick flash of a scope and the movement of a shadow.
Though his eyes had never left the shadowy figures of the crowd before him, Quatre was very much aware of the subtle movements of the Chinese boy down to his right. He paused in his speech to take a sip of water, his blue-green eyes flickering up behind the lights. He saw it then himself. The tall figure, still no more then a dark outline to his light abused eyes. He could see the shape of a high powered rifle being put together, it's long barrel resting on the chains that made up the railing.
A part of Quatre's mind giggled at the obvious size and caliber of the weapon. ~Goodness, ~ he thought to himself, ~talk about going after a mouse with a Howitzer. They hit me with that thing and they'll be picking parts of me out of the backdrop for the next month. They either mean business, or don't know much about weaponry.~
Quatre frowned at this irreverent part of his mind. He sets aside the water and cleared his throat, forcing himself to look back out at the crowd and continue speaking even as he felt his skin begin to crawl.
~<I>Probably was in a briefcase...they'll be putting it together... probably have the stock on now... the scope... find the bullets...load two...</I>~
Wufei straightened a little as he heard the racheting sound of two bullets being loaded into the gun. He had just given his body the command to begin movement when a second shadow caught his eye.
Trowa.
Trowa forced himself to move slowly and carefully when all he wanted to do was rush the man with the gun. A hard run would shake the catwalk and at best just spook the gunman, at worst it could bring the narrow structure crashing down upon the heads of the innocent's below. He could see the gunman lift the large sniper rifle up to his shoulder, starting to aim. Looking around wildly, Trowa noticed two low hanging support chains, dangling about 10 feet in front of him.
Taking a quick step forward, he spun a graceful cartwheel into a forward roll, crossing as much space as possible quickly and silently. Using the momentum of the roll, he jumped up, grabbing the two chains as if they were a set of gymnastic rings, then swung his body forward, legs stretched out ahead of him, knees locked.
His boots struck the man square in the elbow, knocking the rifle up into the air. Trowa caught the barrel with his ankles, tightened his abdominal muscles and wrenched it back towards himself. Caught by surprise the man released the weapon with a startled cry. Trowa swung backwards with his motion, releasing his grip on the chains and dropping silently to the catwalk. His body now between the gunman and the rifle.
As the man turned to flee the scene, Trowa once again saw the red of blood spreading across Quatre's chest. With a low growl he stalked after his prey, letting the man escape the narrow confines of the catwalk to the more solid structure of the balcony that ran along the walls of the auditorium.
The moment his feet hit the solid structure, Trowa took off after the retreating gunman. Catching up with him, Trowa sprang into the air, flipping about and came down hard, planting his foot square in between the man's shoulderblades, hammering the gunman face first down into the grilled floor.
Trowa drew his foot back, every instinct in his body urging him to bring it down on the defenseless neck exposed to him. Trowa trembled with the need to destroy this threat to his beloved. He raised his foot higher still, green eyes burning in a face that had too often been too pale for his tender years. The gunman moaned in shock at the fall he'd taken. Trowa lowered his foot slowly down onto the side of the man's neck, leaning his weight against it till he felt the body stop struggling and the moaning ceased.
Reaching down, he checked the pulse... thready.. shocky.. but still evident. Nodding to himself, Trowa began to truss the man up with his own belt, lugging the large body off the scaffold and towards the small room that had been set up for the express purpose of gathering *evidence*. The man, slung over his shoulder, Trowa turned for a moment, looking down to the stage where Quatre still spoke. He allowed himself a small smile.
This time... he'd been there.
TBC
Laekin
Please send comments to: Seregill@aol.com