16-Jul-2000
Title: Shades of Red
Author: Laekin (seregill@aol.com) and bonnejeanne (bonnejeanne@yahoo.com)
Archive: GW Addiction
Category: yaoi, angst
Rating: NC-17
Pairings: 1x2, 5x4x3 (or some weird order of the same)
Warnings: Lemon/Limey stuff, later; angst, suspense.
Spoilers: Series, EW but not really
Disclaimer: Gundam Wing characters and universe are the property of the
copyright owners. Our stuff is ours. No money being made here. As with all
our fics so far, while our goal is to stay as in character as possible, any
discrepancies are our mistakes.
Feedback: Any and all comments, feedback, critiques welcome, be they short
or long.
There was no reason to hijack a shuttle full of people and then not make demands. Demands were first made back to the colonies. It would be a bit of a delay before it made it to Earth. However the moment Alexis heard the news report and checked her notepad, her pretty blue eyes widened and then she paled.
It was the same shuttle number that she'd booked for Master Quatre.
For a moment unsure what to do, her professional nature took over and she quickly put in a call to the shuttle port, confirming that Quatre had in fact checked onto the shuttle. She'd held a small hope he'd been too late..
Alexis bit her lip, her fingers over the keys. She knew Trowa's direct communication number codes but she was concerned about breaking the news to the quiet young man. She knew how much the tall, green-eyed boy loved Quatre and she didn't know how he would react to the news. Who was the other... there was the reserved young man who had firmly instituted all the changes in Quatre's schedule and who had also reworked WEI security... but Alexis wasn't quite certain what his tie to Quatre was. It would make sense to contact the security official... but again she hesitated.
Then mental pictures of the bubbly long-haired American who had so often stopped by the offices here in space over the years for a cup of tea and a chat. What was his name... Duo... Duo Maxwell. He seemed to be outgoing and friendly and a good friend of Quatre's and the others. Alexis nodded and quickly flicked through her files finding Duo's personal keycode and punching it in.
Duo was about to dig into some eggs when his communicator chirped. Grousing he dug it out of his robe pocket and flicked it open.
"Maxwell." He announced, figuring it would be Sally Po, or Quatre or some such.
Alexis delivered the news in a professional manner. "Mr. Maxwell, this is Alexis Dunber, Master Quatre's personal secretary. I..." The young woman swallowed hard. "Master Quatre's shuttle was grounded for a technical problem, he choose to take a public shuttle instead of waiting for it to be fixed. We have heard reports that the shuttle he took has been.. redirected by unknown parties. I checked with the shuttle port master and confirmed that Master Quatre did make his flight. I... wanted to tell you what we knew before it breaks on the news down on Earth."
She had to rush a little to get all that out without a hitch in her voice but too her credit she did manage to be clear. Duo sat there for a moment, then exhaled softly, setting aside his fork.
"Copy that. Thank you for the information Ms. Dunber. Maxwell out."
Duo suddenly became completely uninterested in his breakfast.
Wufei came in to the house from the rear garden, where he had been doing his morning practice. His body was covered with a fine sweat, and his bared arms and shoulders showed his well-defined physique, with only the last few fading bruises peeking out from recently healed gunshot wounds.
He went to the kitchen, getting a glass of water from the tap. He noticed Duo sitting at the table with a strange look on his face.
"What's wrong, your own cooking finally getting to you?" he said, by way of a greeting.
Duo looked over at Wufei, a small smile lifted his lips in acknowledgement of the crack but his violet eyes remained focused.
"Where's Trowa, Wufei?"
Wufei frowned slightly. "He took a trip to check out something he'd read about conditions in a local zoo or something. There was some kind of story in the vids about a sick pride of lions. He said he'd be back late this afternoon, why?"
Duo slid off the kitchen chair and threw his breakfast in the trash before setting the plate into the sink. Walking to the door he yelled out into the hallway.
"HEERRROOO"
Then he ducked back into the kitchen, frowning. "Call him back, Wufei, we've got a possible situation."
Wufei frowned, and the frown turned into a scowl as he mentally counted, figured out who was unaccounted for, and ran to get his communicator. He punched Trowa's private *urgent* code and simply sent, "Get back here now."
Then he went to Duo and all but stood on his toes.
Heero came in as Wufei was making the call. "I'm not deaf, Duo," he said with no annoyance at all. He took one look at the expression in the violet eyes. "What's wrong?"
Duo motioned them to follow him towards the study, he wanted to see if it had broken on the Earth early news yet. He talked as he walked. "I got a communiqué from Alexis Dunber. Quatre's private shuttle was grounded so he made arrangements to come back on a public transport. Ms. Dunber says they're getting reports back that the shuttle is no longer under the pilot's control and is being re-routed by unknown parties."
Heero moved quicker and got the console on, doing a fast search of news feeds on the word 'shuttle'.
The response was immediate and there was a lot of it. Every news agency was flooding the feeds with the story.
The information was already hitting in full force. The hijackers had contacted both officials and the news feeds directly. They were a part of one of the many splinter factions building in the L2 colonies who were becoming more and more unsettled. Their demands were for the release of a woman who had been recently taken captive. Amanda Quint was a well-known terrorist who had been caught and charged for setting numerous explosive devices in other colonies fighting for equal rights in the L2. Her methods were destructive and had finally turned bloody with the miscalculated bombing that had brought down an entire shopping complex killing in the hundreds.
She was being held on Earth, since no colony in space could guarantee her safe passage or a fair trial. The man who identified himself as Synclair, had assured officials that while an unfortunate incident had occurred with the pilot, the passengers were still healthy and whole... for the moment.
Wufei looked at Heero and Duo. "I'm calling Sally. Any problem?"
Heero shook his head.
Reading over Heero's shoulder, Duo looked up and shook his head. "No problem here. I'm going to go get dressed."
Wufei punched a call to Sally's 'private' - *urgent* code, and waited for a response.
It took a moment, Sally was also getting the feed and though she was unaware of Quatre's involvement, the Preventers were looking into the problem. Still, she responded from what was obviously her private office.
"Po."
"Sally, Quatre is on the shuttle," Wufei said without mincing words.
Sally blinked slowly, then sat down in her chair. "Are we certain?"
"Yes. I need everything you have and no one does anything without telling us," Wufei said tightly.
Sally turned to a computer screen that Wufei couldn't see and typed in a few things. Then she turned back.
"Wufei, take the team to the Nimitz naval base. Noin is there at the moment, it's where they'll be coordinating a lot of the on-Earth response to this. I'll have you four cleared top priority with Noin by the time you get there." Sally looked to Wufei's face, still aware of the debt she owed him.
"One more thing," Wufei said quickly. "I want two small, stealth-equipped scout ships ready on the pad."
Sally hesitated a moment, then she nodded. "I'll get to work on it. In the meantime Noin will be expecting you. Po out."
Duo came back into the room, dressed and ready his long hair neatly braided, wearing his *work* clothes, a shoulder harness already stretched across his back. At about this time the sound of a motorcycle came gunning up the drive. Trowa wasted no time in coming through the doors and heading unerringly towards the study, his pale face already showing that he... *knew* something was wrong.
"Where is he?" Trowa's green eyes flickered from boy to boy.
Wufei pointed to the vidscreen where Heero had reorganized the feeds into a multi-window display showing summary, and several of the most informative sources.
"Quatre's shuttle had a problem, so he booked himself on a public flight. That one."
Wufei watched Trowa closely, coming to stand to one side and slightly behind him as he read the information on the vid screen, trying to provide a silent supporting presence.
Trowa stepped towards the screen and began to read. His body taut and filled with tension that only grew as he read. Speaking quietly, almost to just Wufei as he read and re-read, "This is why he's not supposed to do that. When... we get him back I'm going to wring his neck." There was no question of *if* we get him back. Trowa obviously refused to believe that there was any possibility of failure.
"We're to meet Noin at Nimitz," Wufei said shortly, touching Trowa's shoulder in a brief, firm grip. Then he ran to his room, stripped off the white pants, pulled on black ones and soft boots, grabbed a couple of things from his room and returned to the study, to make sure everyone was moving.
Heero was already waiting at the door with a small bag always prepared for 'emergencies'. It contained ordinance.
Duo had slid a gun into his holster and pulled on the long black duster that was also home to a few goodies. Trowa was arming himself as well and grabbing a black leather jacket. Outside the mechanics had brought three more cycles around for the boys.
Duo made a quick count of heads and nodding to Heero he headed out the door to the cycles. Trowa moved out behind him, picking up the cycle he'd been riding early and swinging his leg over the seat, firing it up. His features were set in a pale mask, though his green eyes sought out Wufei's for a moment.
Wufei looked back, his expression rock-steady. No doubts or fears showed, only grin determination to remove anything or anyone between them and Quatre Raberba Winner.
Trowa gave a little nod to himself and forced away the fear of a lover putting it behind the determination of a solider to complete mission objective. Emotions would be for later. Hitting the accelerator and trusting the other three to be right behind him Trowa headed away from the Estate.
TBC
Let us know what you think!
Laekin and bonnejeanne
Please send comments to: Seregill@aol.com or bonnejeanne@yahoo.com