By: Spooks
~ ~ ~ ~
Slowly, the girl gathered her hair behind her neck and secured it in place.
Years of waiting.
She could finish it.
With slightly shaking hands, she picked up the mask, white and flawless.
A gift. Just like her revenge.
She should be grateful to be given this chance.
Her doubt was a test. Her mask was the solution.
Carefully, she brought the thin porcelain to her face, tilting her head back to keep it in place as she trailed shaking fingers back to tie the pale ribbons.
It took only a moment.
Secured, she drew a deep breath, feeling utter calmness cloak her, wrapping her in its strength.
Silently, she stared at her masked reflection. Her hand was steady, holding the small mirror in the dimming light. She watched a flash of lightning reflect on the shiny surface. She let the deep peal of thunder crash into her, absorbing its power into herself.
Yes.
She would finish this.
~ ~ ~ ~
Duo cracked his eyes open carefully, a shudder of agony immediately running through him. His shoulders ached horribly; his arms were stretched above his head and...tied?...to a square wooden column about fifteen centimeters wide. His legs were secured, placed so that they were on either side of the post.
Blood roared in Duo’s ears and the world swam, his watery eyes blinking rapidly. Wetness trickled down his face, oddly warm to his cold cheeks. Working his dry mouth, he managed to clear his vision.
A dark one-room shack, no electric lights. One candle flickered weakly in the corner.
A shattering of lightning highlighted the room through its single small window, and the resulting thunder was painfully immediate. The odd electric smell of the storm contrasted with the stench of chlorine invading his nose, a harsh and wholly unpleasant combination.
He was reasonably sure he was in Quatre’s pool house, about fifty meters away from the house itself. He’d been gassed and brought out here...for what? The final thing the stalker bitch had been leading up to? Duo squeezed his eyes shut and tried to clear his head enough to think properly.
So, if he was where he thought he was, and everyone else was still gassed, then no one would be able to hear him if he yelled for help. Great. He’d just have to get loose on his own.
So he jerked, struggling bodily against the tight bonds. Duo could already feel his arms and legs beginning to go numb.
Where was his Heero? He couldn’t see Heero in his immediate field of vision. Maybe the stalker had only been after him, and him only? God, he could only wish.
Duo forced himself to calm down and think past the pounding in his head. It wouldn’t do any good to start jumping to conclusions.
First of all, what was he tied down with?
His neck moved easily enough, but his braid had been secured down, restricting how far he could turn his head. A careful look upwards told him he wasn’t just tied, but taped to the strong-looking wooden support column. His fingers were completely trapped.
The observation made him have to force away a stab of panic.
There’d be no wiggling out of this. No locks to pick. No knots to work out. And no one would hear him yelling...which probably explained why he wasn’t gagged.
Packing tape. Extremely hard to cut, never mind tear. No leverage either. He had been lifted up onto his toes to be secured to the wooden support post.
It occurred to him that whoever taped him up like this had to have been very strong or had had help. And surely they weren’t going to just leave him there?
He might as well have been a worm on a hook.
Not the best thing to think when a homicidal psychopath bent on who-knows-what could be showing up at any minute.
He winced at another rumble of thunder. Too loud in his sensitive ears.
Okay. Next thing. Surroundings. Where was Heero?
Craning his neck to the right, up, then down, Duo finally caught sight of Heero to his left. He let out a dry growl when he saw that Heero had been similarly tied to a support pole about 90 degrees to his left. Heero’s head was held up by something Duo couldn’t see, so it wasn’t bowed. From the slack look on his face, Duo knew that Heero was still out of it.
So much for hoping it was just him the psycho was after.
Getting a clear look at his lover’s bindings, Duo had to stop himself from giving in and really freaking out. There was no way Heero could get out of that tape, even if he managed to break the support column, he’d still be stuck to it with the tape. And if Heero, with his incredible strength, wouldn’t be able to get out, then Duo knew there was no way he could.
They’d have to be cut free.
A drop of cold sweat trickled down Duo’s neck.
Heero had been positioned facing him, so that Heero would only have to open his eyes to see Duo. Whereas Duo felt like his neck was going to snap from the combined heaviness in his aching head and the pulling pain from his secured hair.
He swallowed thickly, trying to get his dry mouth and throat to work properly. Clearing his sore throat, Duo managed to make a few pitiful noises that barely resembled words. He winced, working up some spit to swallow, then was able to speak.
“Heero...Wake up...come on...love. Wake up.”
No response.
Duo pulled his head back around to face front after a moment, feeling his scalp thank him as the pressure on his hair relaxed.
He didn’t relish the thought of getting the sticky tape stuff out of his hair later.
He had the most inane urge to laugh at the thought. Later. Right. Such an optimistic concept.
“Wake up...Heero. Don’t...leave me alone in this.”
The world tilted a little with the next boom of thunder, his head throbbing, vision blurring slightly.
He tried working his fingers inside their bonds, hoping to wiggle the tape off a little, even though he knew it was mostly futile. But he couldn’t just hang there and wait to have his throat sliced open, now could he?
Duo couldn’t tell if he was having any success, though. His fingers were numb.
Another roar of thunder shook the small room, a howl of wind slapping the window.
A heavy groan to his left caused him to snap his head around, sending the world into a wild tilt.
Heero looked at him with glassy eyes, blinking rapidly and looking very confused.
“Heero!” Duo hissed, his voice cracking. “Heero? Can you get free?”
Heero’s eyes cleared a little and he jerked, grunting with the effort. He looked at Duo, his voice coming in a low, cracked tone. “Doubtful. No leverage. Are you okay?”
“Yeah. You?” Duo replied. From the looks of things, Heero was still trying to piece things together for himself.
“I think so,” Heero tried to nod, his face contorting in sudden pain. “I think my hair is glued to the post.”
“Is mine?” Duo asked. “I can’t move my head too much.”
“It’s taped,” Heero frowned, gaze lingering up and down, taking in Duo’s appearance. “In fact, you’re taped up almost completely.”
“So are you,” Duo tried to shrug and ended up just wincing.
Heero’s eyes darted around the small room quickly. He opened his mouth, then shut it again with an audible snap of teeth against teeth.
The candle in the corner was blown out by an incoming gust of wind.
The door had opened.
~ ~ ~ ~
Its feet were soundless on the plush carpet.
The planted seeds would grow soon, covering its tracks. The house. The identity. All would be obliterated.
The final strokes were ready to be placed, and the artist was immensely pleased.
It held its most precious reward to its chest, checking breathing and life signs. Excellent. All had gone according to plan.
Everything was going to be perfect.
~ ~ ~ ~
In the backlight of a blinding strike of lightning, a slight figure stepped into the doorway. The shadows danced around it with a mad luminance.
Then the brightness was gone, leaving only the dim stormlight and the deep shadows.
It was a woman. She was shorter than them both, blonde, thin, dressed in all black and wearing...a white porcelain mask?
She had a knife in one hand, a flower in the other.
She had a knife.
She had a knife and they were trapped and no one would hear them scream.
She had a knife.
Heero and Duo looked at each other, communicating silently. Heero could plainly tell that Duo was in pain, angry, and scared. Not that Heero felt much better...but seeing the fear in Duo’s eyes made the situation gain another level of surreal reality. Heero knew that both their lives were at stake here.
This was happening. They were trapped. Helpless.
The thought was electrifying. Barely two meters away, Heero watched Duo bend out, straining for all he was worth. Heero himself was already jerking his arms and kicking out with his legs.
He focused on watching Duo, making himself focus and not drown in the hopeless thoughts gnawing at his brain. The moment stretched, and it seemed as though they had been trying to get free for years instead of mere seconds.
Out of the corner of his eye, Heero saw the sharp flash of the woman’s knife. Her mask seemed to drift, disembodied in the gloom as she advanced slowly.
Gritting his teeth against the pounding in his head, Heero redoubled his own attempts, the sum of which resulted in a large chunk of his hair staying attached to the post as his head ripped itself free.
Heero cursed at the pain, not even realizing it until he heard his own tortured voice. The gas’s after effects hadn’t worn off yet.
“Heero,” Duo’s voice sounded horrible. He had stopped squirming.
Heero ignored the advancing woman and looked up again, focusing completely on Duo.
“Yes?”
“I love you. And we will have those wheelchair races when we’re old and gray,” Duo stated, his voice strong despite its rattle.
Heero nodded, trying hard to believe Duo’s words. Duo didn’t lie. “We will. I love you, too.”
The figure stepped between them.
Her knife hand was steady.
She held out the flower.
It was yellow.
Heero felt his eyes widen, the reaction happening totally against his will. The room spun.
She tucked the flower in the top of his shirt.
“So you do remember,” she stated in an angry whisper. Her eyes flashed behind her mask. “I apologize, I’m not sure what the meaning of this flower is.”
“What the fuck are you talking about, lady?” Duo croaked. “Remember what?”
The woman turned smoothly, her heel grinding on the concrete floor. The noise was strangely loud against the raging storm outside.
There was no rain, and for some reason that made things seem worse. Unnatural.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a stack of pictures. Selecting one, she held it right in front of Duo’s eyes. As Heero watched, he paled and his face contorted in a flurry of shock, helplessness, then rage.
“It’s your fault that they’re in jeopardy,” her voice floated harshly from behind the utterly blank mask. She was in front of Duo, but she was looking in Heero’s direction.
“You sick bitch! You took pictures of everyone passed out? What the fuck is wrong with you? Why’d you pick us to mess with, huh? Why involve other people?” Duo spat out, his face turning red, arms twitching under their layer of tape.
Heero knew that Duo was starting to funnel his fear into anger. Heero couldn’t blame him one bit.
The masked woman had moved. She was in front of him.
A trickle of blood dribbled from his aching scalp and down the back of his neck, forcing him to fight a hard shudder.
He glanced down, trying to avoid looking at the knife.
...partially serrated, jagged teeth beginning halfway down the blade, survival style that would need a sheath to carry, very sharp...
The picture the woman held showed Hilde, unconscious on her side, fingers protectively covering her middle, her unborn baby, even in her slumped state.
No wonder Duo was pissed, Heero thought hollowly as the woman let the stack of pictures flutter out of her hand. It wasn’t just the two of them in jeopardy. It was everyone.
He craned his neck down, bizarrely fascinated by the falling pictures.
Trowa and Quatre, just as he had seen them fall.
Relena and Wufei, heaped together on a couch, their hands clasped together.
Zechs, alone on the floor.
Noin, holding tightly to an empty baby carrier.
Sylvia and Gregory, heads resting on the dining table. Ophelia’s blonde head barely visible in the corner of the photograph.
Hakim, a lump beside Mariemeia, who was falling out of her chair, her hands clutching a tissue box.
Dorothy, curled on herself and backed into a corner.
The Manguanacs, mostly in large groups.
Staff areas, littered with white clad bodies.
Everyone. Everyone. Not just them.
The masked woman raised her knife and tapped the point on his chest. “Well, Mr. Heero Yuy. Are you still lost?”
Distantly, Heero heard Duo gasp.
“No, I’m not,” Heero replied, adding as much steel to his voice as he could. He stared into the eyeholes of the impassive mask.
“You will be.”
~ ~ ~ ~
Just outside the door to the pool house, the artist waited for her to work her own last pathetic vestiges of vengeance.
Smiling, it set its precious bundle down on the concrete.
It had to be ready for the perfectly auspicious moment. Destiny must receive its own glorious restitution, and that could only happen if the artist waited for the most opportune time to enter the tableau.
Kneeling, it listened to the words exchanged and prepared its other, most necessary equipment. A few strokes and all would be settled.
~ ~ ~ ~
Duo couldn’t remember feeling so helpless in all his life.
There was no way he could get out of those damned taped bonds, too much was working against him. The strength of the tape alone was a huge factor. After all, this kind of tape didn’t tear across easily, even if it did shred lengthwise, that didn’t quite help him at the moment. The sheer technique in how he was held captive was also a huge detriment, up on the balls of his feet as he was. He had no fucking leverage.
At least his head was finally clear, despite his persistently lingering headache.
More than himself, and more than everyone in the house, he was worried about Heero. That damned bitch had her back to Duo, blocking his view. He couldn’t see Heero’s face, and that made things all the worse.
He knew that Heero had to be going through some sort of internal struggling. Or agony. Or both. God damn, this just wasn’t fair. They’d gone through so much only to be brought down by something like this?
Wasn’t she supposed to be dead? But then...Heero had freely admitted when that he had been too traumatized by the incident to ever really research the identities of those killed, other than knowing there were no survivors from those in the building itself. Not to mention the training after the event that had him “distracted” for quite a long while...He hadn’t been allowed to research it. All Heero knew was the number of casualties.
Duo arched out again, his arms protesting. He had to get to Heero. He had to try.
Suddenly, the masked woman turned in his direction, the move corresponding with a violent tremor of thunder. Fuck.
Had she done that on purpose, or was it just a coincidence? Did it matter?
Schooling the expression on his face, he only hoped his fear wasn’t showing in his eyes.
...Maybe if we stall her, the others will have enough time to wake up?
“Hey, bitch? What the fuck is wrong with you? You must have spent your whole damn life waiting for this, don’t you feel just a little sorry for yourself? That’s god damned pathetic,” he heard himself sneering before he even realized he was going to actually do it. “Just what the hell are you trying to accomplish with all this shit, huh?”
A low, smooth chuckle escaped from behind the mask. “You know who I am, too, then?”
“Fuck yeah. You think he’d keep something that important from me?” Duo shot back. “This some sort of twisted revenge?”
“Not quite that simple,” she replied, her body utterly motionless for a long moment. She stepped forward, the mask gliding through the shadows. “Restitution.”
“For scarring you? Is that why you’re wearing that mask?” Heero’s voice was slow and deliberate.
She rotated her head, her knife raising smoothly.
“How simple minded of you to think such a thing. No, I wasn’t the one scarred. This is for my lost life. For my lost family. You...” She leapt towards Heero suddenly, an enraged snarl tearing out from behind the blank porcelain.
She shoved her covered face right in Heero’s. “You ruined my life! I saw my parents DIE and burn! I saw my sister go through therapy just to sit up! And it was...” A cold laugh ripped out of her throat, shrill and intense before cutting off harshly. The pain seemed to echo through the room. “All. Your. Fault.”
“I know,” Heero whispered. Duo thought his heart would split from the sheer defeat in Heero’s voice. It was just wrong. “I--I didn’t mean to.”
“That does not absolve you! You still did it. That is enough. And then, you had the audacity to be happy after the wars! You had no right!” She growled. “But I had help. I came back. And I’m going to finally make you pay for your sins.”
She swung around in a circle, knife pulsing in her hand as though it were alive, energy coursing out of her small frame. Her shoes scuffed the pavement angrily, and her hair loosened and freed itself, fanning out and giving her a wild look that contrasted sharply with the smooth blank mask.
“I’m going to give it all back to you. You’re going to be as lost as I was, all alone knowing that the destruction of everyone you love and hold dear is completely your own fault,” she chuckled, reverting back into stillness.
Duo watched Heero’s bowed head jerk, the only movement in the whole room.
Her next words were calm. “I hate you so much. I’ve watched you for years, and I’ve hated you for years. It’s finally time to make you pay. In fact, I already have.”
When Heero looked up, the expression on his face made Duo want to rip the damn bitch’s eyes out.
“What...did...you...do?” Heero choked out, the words coming in small spurts of effort.
“We found your parents, tracing back through carefully hidden files and cross checking with countless sources until we were positive. Sadly, your dear parents were beyond reach. However...Your grandparents were a different matter. Did you enjoy meeting them?” The words lilted out, vindictively pleasant.
“WHAT?!” The word ripping from Duo’s throat.
She turned to Duo. “So nice of you two to be so predictable. We pointed you to Japan, Tokyo, and then even arranged for you to have an apartment in the same building...even the same floor as your beloved’s sweet biological grandparents,” she toned, cocking the mask to the side. “They were such nice people. Mrs. Takahashi even brought you food over on your first day there, I was told? How ironic. They were right there under your noses and you didn’t even see them.”
Heero’s head was bowed again. His shoulders were shaking.
Duo grit his teeth. He’d kill her. He’d fucking kill her. One way or another, the bitch would fucking die.
“You’re insane,” Duo whispered, yanking downward on his arms, feeling like his skin was going to rip off with each painful tug.
“Now what?” Heero’s voice cracked.
“I’m going to kill him,” she spun and in one violent movement, buried the knife deep into the wood so close to Duo’s ear that he could feel the coldness of the metal.
“NO!” Heero’s head jerked up, and Duo felt some hair rip out as he jerked as hard as he could away from the knife. He looked past the blade.
Duo gasped, shocked by the ferocity in Heero’s expression.
...And almost choked when he saw Heero’s tears.
Duo would KILL that bitch. Rip her fucking face off, yes he would.
He didn’t even realize he had closed his eyes and was throwing his body around inside his taped bonds until he felt a cold press of steel on the side of his neck.
“Now, now, it could be worse,” came the soft taunt.
“How?” Heero asked tiredly.
“I’m glad you asked!” A vindictive chuckle and a twirling of the knife. “Explosives are planted all over the house. A flick of a switch will kill everyone. You have the choice. Them or him. You have one minute to decide.”
“What the fuck ever,” Duo growled out. The edges of his vision were starting to tunnel away into helpless rage. “You’ll probably kill me then kill him, then press the damn detonator and escape, laughing your fucking lunatic ass off.”
“Stop trying to stall,” she replied coolly, leaning in close enough that Duo could almost see her eyes beyond the mask. “The gas you were initially hit with was short term. After dragging you out here, another, longer term gas was pumped into the ventilation. No one’s going to save you...45 seconds.”
“If I’m stalling, so are you,” Duo croaked out. His throat was so dry that breathing was starting to hurt, especially with the sharp bite of chlorine in the air. He didn’t care. Had to keep her away from Heero.
“He has to know why otherwise this will have all been pointless,” she tapped his nose with the knife. “30 seconds.”
“I already understand,” Heero said, sounding utterly tortured.
Duo wished he could turn his head and look, to give his lover some sort of comfort if only with his gaze, but he couldn’t rip his eyes away from the knife raised in the woman’s hands.
Heero’s voice came in a tired rush. “There were 723 people living in the apartment complex that mobile suit fell on. There were 822 residents of the one you destroyed.”
The knife wavered slightly. The mask turned towards Heero.
“Just as I’ve touched your life and the lives of countless others through my mistake, so have you, except you did it on purpose. You changed the lives of families and friends of 822 people. Do you realize that?” Heero closed his eyes tiredly, feeling the life sag out of his muscles.
“Yes, I do realize that,” she responded quietly. “You made me. I’m a monster. I don’t mind making another me.”
Heero sighed, and Duo heard his voice catch. “Why don’t you just kill me, then and have it done with?”
“You have to suffer,” she replied simply, the knife steady in her hand. “Time’s up. What’s your choice?”
“Heero, pick me, for God’s sakes,” Duo tore his gaze away from the blade. “Please, please, I love you...but everyone else...”
Heero stared at him, face blank, his eyes caught in a tortured conflict. “Don’t kill Duo.”
“NOOOOOO!” Duo gave a hard jerk, ignoring the knife still lifted above him. “Heero, she’ll kill me anyway, then she’ll kill you!”
“Then it doesn’t matter what I choose, does it?” Heero smiled sadly. “I couldn’t put anyone above you. You’re my life.”
~ ~ ~ ~
Outside, the artist resisted the urge to laugh. This was truly an event worth savoring.
Now, pawn, damn yourself.
~ ~ ~ ~
Heero felt like the world was coming to an end.
His head ached. His eyes ached. His soul ached.
He watched the girl, her body shock-still. Knife raised and ready. She hadn’t moved since he had made his decision.
Duo was staring at her, chest heaving as he took ragged gasps of air.
She turned towards Heero, steps slithering across the concrete. She paused in front of him for a long few seconds, and he could feel her eyes boring into his even if he couldn’t seem them. He waited, anticipating the sharp pain of her knife slicing into his stomach.
Then she walked right past him.
She appeared again holding a remote detonator in her free hand, the knife in the other. Her hair trailed behind her, bunched slightly by the thin ribbons that held up her mask.
White knuckled grip on the detonator.
She was motionless for a few heartbeats.
The mask dropped slightly as her head bowed, and suddenly she was in front of Duo again, knife rising in a rapid arc.
“NO!” Heero barely recognized his own jagged voice.
The knife stopped at the height of its swing. Then it plunged down.
Duo yelped, wincing away.
Thunk!
The knife was buried in the wood of the post again, on the other side of Duo’s head from Heero.
The detonator shook in the girl’s hand. She made a low, keening sound, then pitched her body forward suddenly, colliding with Duo’s bound form in a mad scrabble to retrieve her knife.
When she pulled away, she had the knife...but Duo had one of the mask’s ribbons between his teeth.
The mask fell.
The porcelain shattered.
The girl screamed, a tortured howl louder than the thunder. She dropped to her knees and curled up, hands scrabbling at her face to hide it. She rocked, a low moaning sob tearing out of her throat.
The knife clattered to the ground in front of her.
Heero and Duo exchanged a look of utter shock. Off all the things they had expected, this was not one of them. But they will still in danger. In fact, they might be in even more danger than before.
They still couldn’t see her face.
Jerkily, the girl started to speak. “I’m sorry I’m sorry you just didn’t cooperate none of you did it was fine until I was here and it was fine but then you didn’t catch the warnings I even met you to see if you’d recognize me but you didn’t and I just wanted her to be happy but she wanted to finish this it was a gift to me and I wanted to get it done why couldn’t you have let me kill him I didn’t want to kill the only friends I ever had but you forced me to try and I hate you I hate you I hate you I hate you...”
A flash of lightning and a clap of thunder made the girl cry out, scuttling backwards and away from the broken mask.
In the next instant, the door opened, and a person walked in, face hidden in the hood of a sweatshirt. It was unclear just from the body whether the figure was male or female.
The girl sobbed in relief and flung herself at the newcomer, uttering weak apologies. “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry, I couldn’t start the countdown on the explosives I don’t want to kill my friends I’m sorry I’m weak...”
The figure hugged the shaking girl, patting her back. “It’s all right. Everything’s going to be fine. I realized you couldn’t do it when you gassed the two of them earlier. Tampering with their alarm clock to try and warn them before Tara even had a chance to drop the flower was a bit of a giveaway, too. It was good of you to tell me that, though, and I’m very proud of you for being so strong.”
“You are?” The girl asked, obvious hero worship in her voice.
“Of course. I understood that you were having doubts when you insisted on showing your face to Mr. Yuy when they first arrived. You know that if he had recognized you instead of ignoring you, then we would have left, just as you wanted. Ah, then making friends with the guests...no wonder you couldn’t start the timer...it’s all right. Everything will work out,” the figure rubbed the girl’s back soothingly.
“It...it will?” She asked, hope sparkling in her wet voice.
The figure delivered a hard blow to the back of her neck. “It will.”
The girl collapsed, unconscious.
The hooded figure spat on the slight form crumpled at her feet. “You disgust me, sister.”
Duo gasped when he saw the girl’s face, uncovered for the first time. “Fuck.”
Heero thought she looked vaguely familiar...but couldn’t place from where. “Who...?”
“She’s the maid that Mariemeia had made friends with,” Duo replied, his eyes wide. “She was here the whole time.”
“Indeed, she was. Even insisted on showing her face to you, Mr. Yuy, the first day you two were here, just to see if you’d recognize her. Since you didn’t, the game continued, and she avoided your presence for the rest of the set up,” the person laughed, brutally kicking the girl in the ribs. “Pathetic that she couldn’t follow through on her part, though. Absolutely pathetic. I can’t say I expected anything less, though.”
Then the figure stepped out of the pool house door.
“What the fuck?” Duo whispered, thinking hard. There had been two? Well it made sense, what with all the ‘we’s’ the girl had dropped and from the way they had been tied. There would have had to have been two just for that alone. But still...his head was reeling. A glance at Heero showed that he was in no better shape.
Talk about mind shattering, Heero probably hadn’t even known the girl had a sister, not until today. It made things all the more unsettling, having the unknown introduced...who knew who else could be involved in this? Shit.
“I don’t know,” Heero whispered back. He yanked at the tape on his arms. Would the figure be back? Would the little girl...not a little girl anymore...would she wake up?
Before they could say anything more, the figure was back. It carried a large computer bag in one hand, a baby carrier in the other.
Tredici Marquise lay asleep in the carrier.
“State three of your bank account passwords, please,” the figure requested politely, putting down the baby carrier carefully and reaching into the computer bag. “Just list them, I’ll sort out what goes where easily enough.”
“Excuse me?” Duo croaked, eyes glued to the sleeping baby. “What the fuck is going on?”
“Passwords first. Then I’ll answer all your questions, kill the pest, and leave you in peace,” the figure replied, a laptop coming to life and casting the room in a blue glow.
Heero knew that Duo must have been thinking the same thing he was, so Heero went ahead and said it. “As if we have a choice.”
The figure nodded. “It seems you understand your position. Excellent. Things can go much more smoothly and we can all be done with this sordid affair.”
Another quick look was exchanged, and Heero rattled out the number and letter combinations.
“Just three. Any more would be suspicious,” the figure halted him, mid-sequence. “I don’t want my accounts traced, after all. Even if there are countless routes the money will travel before I withdraw it.”
“Okay, so we know her problem,” Duo sent a pointed look down at the fallen maid. “What’s yours?”
“Just a moment, please,” came the business-like reply.
This made Heero and Duo exchange another veiled look of confusion. Surely this wasn’t all for money.
The figure laughed and removed its hood. It was the black haired maid that had brought them the first stolen invitation. Neither could remember the woman’s name.
They weren’t very surprised. There wasn’t time for surprise at this point. They just had to get out of this alive.
She smiled, her teeth shining with the blue light of the laptop screen. “Now, I suppose it is time to reveal everything. I am so very pleased with the results of my masterpiece, it would be a shame not to display my work.”
“Oh, great, you’re insane, too,” Duo rolled his eyes, making a show of looking exasperated.
“You can stop your acting, if you’d like. My sister,” the word was spat out angrily, then the woman’s voice returned to its silky tone, “Wasn’t lying about the gas. There’s no way that anyone will wake up before I leave.”
“Sister?” Heero echoed, hearing his own voice as though it weren’t really a part of him. He was trying his damnedest to shut down his emotions, working back and trying to just see the objective and get them out. More information would be needed first. The only source of information was the woman.
“Yes, sister,” she sneered, kicking the fallen girl again. “I molded her, told her everything that had happened to her was your fault. Which is true, of course. She was young, just eight years old, and loved her big sister dearly. It was an easy game to convince her to play.”
“Why?” Duo asked thickly.
“I hate her, I always have,” the woman replied, checking her laptop screen before continuing. “Ever since she was born, I had to watch her. Mother and Father were always busy with their work, and so I was always stuck with my disgusting spoiled brat of a sister. So that lovely night, when our parents took us out to our yearly family dinner, I of course had to stop and help sister with her lovely little shoelaces after she tripped over them. It was late, too late for a child to be out, so of course she was whining and crying at her pathetic bruise as her rat of a dog ran ahead, nipping at Mother’s heels.”
The loathing in the woman’s voice was cutting. “So naturally, when the building went down, Mother and Father were much closer to it and were cut down. They hadn’t noticed we had stopped, which was fortunate, otherwise they might not have died. Sadly, I was kneeling in front of little sister and essentially shielded her from the blast and debris. I almost died...and in her naďve little eyes I became a hero.”
She laughed then, closing her laptop and putting it away.
The room was much darker now.
“My injuries were such that debris pierced through my torso, just managing to totally destroy my reproductive organs. Imagine waking up at fifteen years old and finding out you’re sterile. You’re no longer a female, but a horrible genderless thing. You’ll never have a family of your own to love, never have a child. I was damaged beyond repair, and that, dear Mr. Yuy, is why I decided to come after you.”
“You had a family!” Duo shouted at her, trying to break her calm expression. “You twisted your own fucking sister!”
“Family doesn’t come of blood. It comes of love. She is nothing more than a pathetic pawn,” the woman replied airily. “I used her adorable little face as promotion to obtain donations from Alliance officials. Then we disappeared, and by now should be presumed dead, conveniently enough. At any rate, it was only lately that the real work began. It took quite a long time to find you, and watch you, and then to figure out how to hook you. We’ve observed you for years now.”
“And you still wanted to kill me?” Heero asked, his voice a monotone. His arms and legs were numb from the pressure of the tape, and he had the oddest feeling that he was floating in zero-g, disconnected from the whole world. Too much.
“Of course, but that’s not all of it,” the woman laughed again. It would have been a nice laugh if not for the edge of maniacal glee. “At first all I wanted was your life, torn out of your belly and dashed upon the ground in lovely splashes of red...but then the anger was pushed back when I realized just how much I could gain from my wealth of knowledge. Money, first of all...which, by the way has now been transferred to my accounts.”
She rocked back and forth on her heels for a moment, still standing over the body of her sister. Her eyes glazed over. After a few shock still seconds, she shook her head abruptly.
“Then things came together when two of your associates wed. A child would surely be on the way...and thus, the final preparations began. I’d finally have my family, and finally be rid of the disgusting refuse foisted on me by my dead progenitors. It was so very easy, manipulating you all like paint on a canvas, drawing you into right where I needed you,” she smiled, her face utterly shining with pleasure. “Even the airlines cooperated. We were free to leave one last little note in your mail, and Tredici’s parents couldn’t steal her away from me before my work was complete.”
“Done bragging?” Duo asked, making an effort to sound bored. His mind was racing, putting things together. Maybe...
She considered for a moment. “Not quite, but I can be. I’m getting a bit bored.”
“So if this was all for monetary gains, why did you blow up the building? Why did you go to the trouble of placing us near my...near them?” Heero asked, glaring at her.
“Because it sets up my dear sister to take the blame. She had such excellent motivation for the crime, and she even took time off her steady job--here, in case you doubted--and flew out just to press the button, even though it was I who set all the explosives and lived as your neighbor in order to do so,” she smirked. “And besides, it was fun!”
A flash of lightning threw the room into high relief.
“Now, shall we finish this? My porcelain pawn hasn’t quite finished her job, after all. She couldn’t follow through with her damnation before she shattered under the pressure. Pathetic, that she’d let something as fleeting as friendship stop her.”
Outside, the rainless storm raged.
~ ~ ~ ~
Catherine stared out the taxi window, utterly sick of traffic. At least she was almost there.
They passed a few upscale apartments and the house came into view.
~ ~ ~ ~
Sally sat back in her chair, staring at the computer screen. Agent Broflovski sat in the seat beside her, his fingers fairly flying over the keyboard. Dental records, a digital birth certificate, and an identification picture lit the monitor, along with a healthy amount of text.
The face on the screen still looked far too familiar for Sally’s comfort...yet she still couldn’t quite place it. It was definitely their mystery woman, though.
“’Presumed deceased,’” Sally read aloud, memorizing the identification information. “Can we run a crosscheck of this file? Why would her file even be in here if she’s supposedly dead?”
“Hell, we got lucky. The only reason her file hasn’t been wiped from the missing person’s database is because the death is only ‘presumed.’ Technically she still might be out there, since she evidently vanished into thin air one day,” Broflovski replied, shrugging. “What’s weird to me is her lack of fingerprints on file. It also says that she was last seen with her sister, who is also missing. I can bring up her file as well, if you need me to.”
“Please do,” Sally nodded. “The lack of fingerprints isn’t unheard of. In order to obtain a working set, the law enforcement working her disappearance would have to have done a dust and scan on her last residence. It’s just something that isn’t usually done unless there’s a specific reason for it, such as a crime associated with the disappearance.”
“Eh, yeah. That makes sense, people are lazy,” Broflovski said as he typed. “So, bring up the sister’s file? Should I see what else I can find?”
Sally considered for a moment, trying to ignore the nagging at the back of her mind. The familiarity of the suspect’s face was really bothering her. “No, just start with the sister’s file. Then we can worry about crosschecking other things.”
“Got it,” Broflovski said a few minutes later, leaning forward in his chair and bringing up a dialogue box. He pointed to the computer screen. “There she is: the mystery chick’s sister.”
Sally stared at the sister’s face. Back in her Alliance days, the little girl’s picture had been associated with an extremely short-lived victim’s relief fund for terrorist activities. A glance back at the suspect’s picture showed the family resemblance, and now that she thought about it, she could vaguely remember seeing the old sister’s face a few times as well, but not nearly as much as the little girl’s.
But that had been a relatively long time ago. The Specials had started taking widely publicized steps to subdue such terrorist activity, and nothing stayed in the spotlight for long with the turmoil of the times. In fact, Sally was surprised she could remember as much as she had.
Terrorist activities. The Gundam pilots. Could they be...?
She stared at the screen, deep in thought. While she watched, the monitor flashed. Something had changed...
“Huh...?” Broflovski muttered, wheeling to the printer. He held up the printout of the suspect’s file, pointing at the dentals in particular. “Uh, I think we were just hacked.”
Sally blinked. “What?”
“The physical records for the lil’ sister and the suspect switched,” Broflovski replied, pointing between his printout and the one on the screen. “Fuck. This ain’t good. If we weren’t sitting here looking at these, I don’t think anyone would have noticed the switch.”
Eyes widening, Sally reached for the nearest phone and dialed the number of Quatre’s house.
“THE NUMBER YOU HAVE DIALED CANNOT BE REACHED AT THE PRESENT TIME. PLEASE HANG--"
Sally disconnected, then dialed again. They had all the evidence they needed, more than enough, now they just had to make sure that Heero and Duo...and everyone else around them, for that matter...were all right. Her instincts were screaming at her to get someone to that house, and now.
~ ~ ~ ~
“Fine, leave, and it’s finished,” Duo replied, forcing his hope down.
This woman was absolutely unbalanced, so to invest in hope at this point might be a setup for disaster...but hope was better than screaming helpless fear, even if it did fail. If the bitch really left and took Tredici with her, they’d hunt her down. Not that he expected her to leave.
“Oh, it’s not that simple. The explosives must detonate so that only the charred bodies of my sister, the house’s occupants, and you two remain. Incidentally, Baby’s bones usually incinerate completely in large fires, so no one will know that I’ve taken Tredici. And by leaving only bones, sister dear takes the blame for everything. I had a virus planted to switch our dental records in the international identity databases. My subcontracted hacker will be paid promptly after I escape,” she smiled cheerfully. “I did everything there in Tokyo, she did everything here. When her dead body is lined up with my face, I’ll be truly free.”
“Then you’re going to kill us,” Heero closed his eyes briefly.
“Yes! But first I’m going to have a bit of fun. After all, I still hate you for what you did. Monetary and familial gains go well with a good splash of pure revenge,” she laughed, pulling a roll of duct tape out of her bag. After a considerable bit of struggling, managed to gag them both.
“My, but you’re both so spirited,” she commented lightly, ignoring the bloody bite marks on her hands. “Can’t have you screaming, even if that would be delightful to hear. It might break my concentration. And my work must be complete.”
Duo responded with a considerably muffled curse.
She grinned widely, maniacally, and reached back into her bag again. She pulled out a hammer and chisel. “Let’s see how your lover shapes up, shall we, Mr. Yuy?”
Duo’s eyes widened and he started struggling for all he was worth.
For his part, Heero felt something hideous growing inside of him. Blood was roaring his ears, but instead of muffling the world he could suddenly hear with startling clarity. His vision sharpened and his nose was assaulted again by the chlorine stench. He jerked hard against his bonds and heard the wooden column creak.
The woman giggled, covering her mouth. “Oh, dear me. Are you frightened? It’ll all be over soo--”
~ ~ ~ ~
“HELLLOOO?” Catherine yelled. Why was the gate locked? The power on the whole block seemed to be out. Well, she’d just have to call them. Maybe the phone lines weren’t down.
No dice.
Frowning, she looked at the gate, and then the wall. She could make it over pretty easily. The cab had already left. Tossing her bag over her shoulder, she wandered along the wall.
~ ~ ~ ~
Someone was outside, still distant. Maybe it was someone on the street?
“Oh, how ironic. If this interloper had only arrived five minutes ago, you could have screamed and been safe,” the woman smiled, advancing on Duo. “Another sign that destiny is on my side.”
She knelt in front of Duo’s left leg, the one that was on Heero’s side. With one sharp, well-aimed strike, the chisel punctured right through the tape covering his thigh and deep into the muscle. Heero swore he could hear the scraping of the metal against bone.
Duo didn’t make a sound. He just passed out.
She began to tap with the hammer. Blood welled up over the tape, trickling in a sickly dark river to the concrete floor. The coopery scent, rich and pungent, mixed with the bite of chlorine and ozone still in the air, a suffocating smell.
Then came the long, splitting crack, deep and wet and horrible.
Heero couldn’t think anymore. His vision tunneled down to Duo’s leg, which looked misshapen, puncture wound pulsing blood.
~ ~ ~ ~
Up and over. That was easy.
Catherine adjusted her bag and strode up to the door. Knocking hard, she tapped her foot, waiting. There weren’t any sounds coming from inside the house. Maybe they weren’t home? That wouldn’t have been very nice...
She peered in the window beside the door, cupping her hands over the glass and shielding her eyes. Then she screamed, jerking back and away.
Everyone was on the floor. They looked dead.
Whipping out her portable phone, she dialed for help.
~ ~ ~ ~
The woman dropped the hammer and chisel at the sound of the scream. Heero didn’t see them fall, but heard them instead, the metal clinking wetly against the concrete through the pool of blood.
He snarled, throwing himself against his bonds. Whoever had yelled earlier had made it much closer, it sounded like they were in the yard or near the house. The stalker would have to hurry now. A heavy splintering sound filled the room and he felt something in the column start to give.
Heero could not look away from Duo’s leg. Time shifted in his vision, transforming from a linear stretch of reality into choppy bits of sensation mixed with pure raging pain. It was too much.
The detonator and knife were snatched from the ground. The woman glided across the small room to stand in front of Heero, unconcerned by his enraged state.
“My masterpiece will be complete as soon as I start the timer,” she smiled, flipping the cover off of the detonator switch with her thumb...
A shard of red jagged porcelain emerged from the middle of her throat. The woman’s eyes widened and a burble of red dribbled out of her mouth and down her pale chin.
The detonator was removed from her shaking hand.
The shard in her neck twisted, ripping outwards through flesh and spraying bits of gore on Heero’s face.
The woman fell to the ground, a meaty thump.
“Good bye, sister,” the girl whispered, staring down at the body. She flipped the cover back over the detonator switch and set it on the ground.
Then she looked at Heero, her eyes bloodshot with tears. She took the little yellow flower out from where she had tucked it in his collar. She sniffed it. “I’m sorry.”
She plunged the shard of her mask through her own throat.
Heero realized he could hear sirens in the distance.
It was over.
~ ~ ~ ~