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"Targets"Written By: Dùlin
Archive: This arc is archived on this site with permission. Do not reproduce it anywhere without permission. Disclaimer : I don't own them. Life is not fair. Rating : An overall NC-17 for violence and language and some mature subjects Warnings : okay, to serious stuff. Pairings : Pay attention people, it's complicated
! Summary : When Mr Winner's charity programs threaten the interests of some crime lords, a criminal syndicate hires Heero Yuy, the best killer of the galaxy, to take care of the problem by eliminating the man's son, Quatre Raberba Winner. But soon, the killer finds himself trapped by his not-so-innocent target into a strange seduction game, in which he does not know if he's the hunter or the prey. Author's note : This story takes place in the GW universe with space colonies and AC calendar, except that there are no Gundams, no Earth Sphere Alliance and no Oz. The boys are just not Gundam pilots. Oh, and for you to understand better, Relena, Duo and Quatre are all around 18, and the three others are 2 or 3 years older. Dedicated to Laurence-sama, my dear best friend and beta-reader and the Japanese gal around!
"Targets"
Part 27 Breakfast was a rather joyful affair. The five young men had colonized the kitchen. Ahmed, the cook, was so delighted for once to have young people to cook for that he had put out almost everything he could think of. But most of all, the old man was delighted to see that the young Master seemed better. In fact, Quatre was starving, and he managed to eat even more than Duo, a fact that was rare enough to be recorded for future generations. “So what do we do now ?”, Duo asked eagerly as Trowa carefully removed the third mug of coffee from the American’s hand. “About what ?”, Quatre asked. “The situation. Une. The Doctors.” “Oh. That. Well …” “What about Agent Noin and Agent Po ?”, Wufei asked. “They’re supposed to be here for that, aren’t they ?” “Yeah, but … I dunno, I don’t feel like letting the big guns do all the work, if you see what I mean. And I kinda have a personal grudge against the psycho bitch myself”, Duo said quite evenly. Wufei frowned. If he looked at it closely, he also had a personal grudge against Une, but what he had said to Sally was still true. He did not intend to hunt her down by himself. Clearly, his comrades did not have the same opinion on the subject. “I don’t really know what we should do, Duo”, Quatre said. “It’s not like I have much experience in that field, but I have an idea anyway.” He turned to Heero. “Don’t say no before you’ve heard me out, please. You’re probably not going to like it, and if you see a better way to do it, I’ll surrender to your superior views, but right now, that was all I could think of.” Heero nodded, but his sudden tension was obvious. “Basically, we need a plan, Cat”, Duo said. “And … I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t feel like letting the agents in on the plan yet.” “Why not ?”, Wufei asked. “They’re not telling us everything”, Trowa said. “There’s no real reason we should trust them completely. After all, arresting Lady Une is Agent Po’s goal, of that I am sure, but this is all part of a greater thing, about which we do not know everything. Or too little to fully apprehend it.” “Yeah, and as much as I like Noin, if her pretty blonde’s head is at stake, she’s not gonna play it nice”, Duo pointed. “Oh, and there is a slight difference in our methods too. I mean, she’ll probably want Une alive. But if I find her first, there is a slight possibility my hand might slip and kill her accidentally on purpose.” “Duo”, Quatre said warningly, “I know how you feel, but we mustn’t get carried away. Une must pay for her crimes, I am the first to acknowledge it …” “But you’re not gonna lead justice yourself, I know”, Duo sighed. “Hey, I understand that, I’m just warning you I could lose it if I find her on my way.” “Then we will have to make sure it doesn’t happen”, Wufei said dryly. “Oh come on, Wu ! Don’t tell me you don’t want revenge !” “No, Maxwell, I don’t want revenge. I just want to sleep at night without nightmares, that’s all.” There was an awkward silence. “So what’s the plan ?”, Trowa finally asked. “I’ll begin to work with Iria for that special board reunion. That has nothing to do with the problem, except for one thing. I need to clear Winner societies of any kind of ties with companies incriminated in the GSA investigation. KI and Romefeller Ltd were just the beginning, I’m afraid. The thing is, we have an advantage on them now. We know who is after us, and thanks to Agent Wind, we may be able to know when she will strike. We also know why they decided I should disappear on the beginning. I intend to play on that.” Heero frowned. Quatre left his chair to sit on his lap, and tied his arms around his neck. “You promised to hear me out.” “Hn.” “Good. I have no intention whatsoever to stop the charity programs. I was even going to design a new collaboration pattern with the Peacecraft Foundation on Earth. I think the best would be to go public about it. Press conference. I will announce that the charities will be continued as a tribute to my father’s memory and his pacifist ideals. That should make them angry.” “And even more decided to take you out of the picture”, Heero said through gritted teeth. “Do I need to say how much I don’t like this plan ?” “I know, Heero. I know. But … I trust you. I know you wouldn’t let anything bad happen to me, and … I’ll do this regardless of what we decide.” “What ya’re sayin’ is you’ll be playin’ bait, Cat ? Do I get it right ?” Quatre nodded. He smiled a bit when he felt Heero’s arms wrap themselves possessively around his waist, and leaned into the embrace. “You don’t have to be afraid for me, Heero”, he whispered. “I have no intention of dying. I told it to Wufei, and I’m telling it to you now. I am not scared. I am not scared by them. I don’t know if killing my father was part of the plan or if it was a mistake, but the only thing they managed is to make me angry.” “Is that supposed to reassure me ?”, Heero whispered back. Quatre smiled. And Heero could feel it was true. Quatre was not scared. But he, for one was scared shitless, and it was starting to become a habit. He had not decided yet if it was bad or good. “That’s a good plan”, Trowa said evenly. “It’s dangerous, but this has been dangerous since the beginning, right ?” Duo shot a big smile at his lover. “Well, I vote for it too, as long as Cat promises he won’t do anything to get himself killed !” “I promise, Duo. Fei ?” Wufei sighed. “I remember a talk about two weeks ago that went along the same lines”, he said. “I gave in that time, I give in again. Not like I could talk you out of it anyway. I’ll watch your back.” “Xie xie (1), Wufei”, Quatre said. He turned to his lover. Heero’s face did not betray anything, but Quatre was sure his brain was running at top speed. Three weeks ago, Heero would not have hesitated. He was after Une, so all in all, yes, from a strictly practical point of view, the plan was adequate. A bait, a trap, an ambush. That’s what it implied, and it would probably be effective. But now, there was someone who prevented Heero from thinking along these strictly rational lines. The very person who was actually jeopardizing his life, and who meant more to him than he could say. “I don’t like it”, Heero said low. “I don’t like it, but my only other option would be to go out by myself to hunt her down, and I think you’ll never let me do this.” “Not a chance”, Quatre admitted. “I’ll go with it, then. But you have to promise to be careful. Not just Quatre, all of you. I don’t want to have to collect a single corpse at the end of this, except hers.” Duo stared at the Japanese man, wondering when Heero had suddenly turned mother hen, but it didn’t really matter, all in all. “So what are we doin’, concretely ?”, Duo asked. “Let’s say we make them believe that we still play their game, but now we play with new rules. Our rules. And our rules say that we are the hunters, and they are the preys”, Quatre said. “I’ll leave the matter of organizing security to Heero, and I need to plan that press conference. I suppose Agent Wind will be useful in informing us about their moves. I don’t know if his inquiry is completed or not, and how it will affect our plan.” “And Sally and Agent Noin ?”, Wufei asked. “Oooh, it’s ‘Sally’ already, Wu-man ???”, Duo teased. “Shut up, Maxwell !”, Wufei snapped, reddening in spite of all his efforts not to. “And don’t call me that !” “Oops, looks like I struck a nerve, hey Tro ?” “Looks like”, Trowa admitted. “Could you be silent for five minutes now ?” “Three”, Duo countered. “You’re on. If you lose, I’ll punish you.” “Is that a threat or a promise ?” “You lose.” “Damn ! That wasn’t fair Tro !!!” “Hum hum!”, Quatre said loudly, effectively stopping the bickering. “Thank you. Well, I don’t feel like informing them of what we decided. I’ll tell them about the press conference, and about the fact that you are supposed to protect me, but not more. I invited them to stay here because it was more convenient, but I do not intend to be just another tool in their inquiry. Agent Wind said Lady Une could call him to help her, and I am not sure yet if that will prove to be an advantage or not. As for the rest …” A vicious glitter appeared in the green-blue eyes. “Well, Kushrenada and Dermail have the GSA on them, but I can do more. I can make their life pure hell. And I will. No one touches my family and gets away with it !” “What do you mean ?”, Duo asked, puzzled. “I mean that I am going to ruin some people, and they are not going to like it”, Quatre replied with a cruel smile. “No, they’re not. They’ll see if I am just a child. I am quite sure no one will make that mistake again after that.” His four friends looked at him with wide eyes. Quatre snorted. “So what ? Can’t I have my little dramatic moment too ? No one is surprised when Duo does it ! And it’s not a joke, I am going to ruin them !” “You mean you can really do it ?”, Trowa asked. “Of course I can ! I am the CEO of Winner Enterprises Inc. now. I am not sure they realize it means I am the biggest shark around in the business. In fact, I don’t think they realize I am a shark at all. Too bad for them. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go shower, and I’d like someone to wash my back.” And Quatre dashed outside, almost dragging a completely puzzled Heero behind. The Japanese had barely the time to put down his mug of tea before being swept away from the kitchen. “Okay, was everyone else completely freaked out by the Cat we just saw, or is it just me ???”, Duo asked after a while. “I won’t say I am not … ‘freaked out’, as you say, Maxwell”, Wufei answered, “but I am not surprised either. I … I have not been knowing him for a very long time, but there was always something … I can’t tell it with words, but even when he was training with me, I could tell it would be best never to get on the wrong side of Quatre. After seeing that, I am even more glad to be on his side, and if I didn’t despise Kushrenada, Dermail and the Doctors so much, I think I could pity them.” “What do ya think, Tro ?” Trowa shrugged. “The lion is about to break the cage”, he said softly, before putting down his own mug and going out. “Huh ? Tro, what do ya mean ? Tro, wait for me !! Come back here this instant, Circus Boy !!! …” Wufei finished his tea quietly as Duo stormed out of the kitchen after his lover. He was not really sure letting the agents out was a good plan, but Quatre and Heero’s reservations on the subject made sense, and neither Duo nor Trowa had objected. So Wufei saw no reason not to play things their way. He just hoped he wouldn’t be there to witness what would happen if Duo was the one to corner Une. Or, he amended, he would try to have someone film it for a later review. He smiled a bit at the thought. Yes, in truth, he was as bloodthirsty as the American, but he was just better at defining the right time to be bloodthirsty. If there was a right time. “What’s so funny ?”, a feminine voice asked. Wufei turned around to discover Agent Po behind him. “Good morning, Sally”, he said, draining his mug. Sally blushed a bit when she heard her first name, then decided to go along with the wind and stop thinking so much. “Good morning, Wufei”, she answered boldly, taking a seat. “You didn’t tell me why you were smiling.” “Private joke. You had to be there.” “Oh. Too bad then.” “You were looking for me ?” Sally paused a moment to consider. She had been looking for him. In fact, she had been looking for him since she had gotten up this morning. She was literally chasing around a young man, four years younger than herself, of whom she had autopsied the wife less than a year ago. ‘Ooookay, Sal, you either need a good therapy, or an acceptable reason for your behavior. And no, ‘he’s hot’, is not enough of a reason. Of course he’s hot. And he’s young, and he’s sexy, and he’s intelligent, and you’re almost drooling on yourself every time you see him. Somehow I am not sure that will impress him.’ “I was. I have pretty much nothing to do until I can put my hands on my missing files, and Wind is working on it right now. Lu can’t do much except check the security, and I’m not sure she will do it for long since Heero glared at her all the time yesterday when she did. We’re on the lookout for now. We can do nothing but react to the events, but hopefully, Une won’t be so lucky next time.” “Yes. We only can react”, Wufei said, frowning slightly. What he and his friends had designed hardly qualified as reacting, but he would not fail them by revealing their plan. Still, he felt loath lying to Sally. And he quickly hushed the part of himself that told him he was not so loath lying to Lucrezia Noin. This was not the same, and had nothing to do with the subject. ‘Yeah, right, Chang. Try telling this to yourself again and again, and maybe even you will start believing it.’ “Just a thing. I know you want Une to be judged and put behind bars. I want the same thing, since Maxwell just made me realize I am a closet sadist and death would be far too good for her. I want you to be aware that my comrades may not think along the same lines.” There, that was enough said without betraying anything. Sally stared at Wufei for a while before she understood she would get nothing else. “I appreciate you telling me this. I had quite a feeling it would be that way. I mean, I for one wouldn’t like to be the one to be on Heero’s way if Quatre’s security is at stake. That Lady Une must have a death wish.” “I don’t know her personally, but according to Maxwell and Yuy, who both have an insider view, she’s completely insane.” Sally smiled. She loved that dry and deadpan humor that was so much like her own. She loved the way the sun played on Wufei’s honey-colored skin, and the way his jet-black hair framed his face once it was pulled out of that ponytail he always wore. ‘Drooling again, Sally’, she warned herself. “I wondered if you had anything to do today”, she finally said. “Well, since Quatre will probably be up to his neck in papers, Yuy will serve as his shadow, and I got no idea about what Barton and Maxwell intend to do, I was thinking about a bit of training. If you want to join, there’s a dojo in the Mansion.” “I’d love to. I am supposed to be a military doctor, but it’s been a long time since I’ve been on the field. I need to work out a bit. And since you know the house so well, you can show me around on the way so I won’t get lost.” “Alright”, Wufei agreed with a smile. “Just let me fetch something more adequate to wear, and I’ll kick your ass, Doctor.” “Stop bragging and move, Jackie Chan.” ***** AC 198, August 23rd, L1 Colony Cluster, KI Banks, Archive Section, 6:30 AM Zechs closed the last drawer and added the file to the pile he had already, checking a name on his list. He had made copies of the files so that no one would remark their absence, and mostly because their forensic pathologist would need the originals of the pics. Not that much people would want to dig out old files about unknown dead Chinese people. There were only a few people who knew exactly what those files were about, and Zechs had to be careful not to alert those people. He was Treize’s personal assistant, but not the only person he entrusted with his business. “Zechs-sama ?” Zechs had to summon all of his will not to jump. He had come early to be sure no one would be there, but damn it, the people working here were really stubborn on that being on time thing. No one should have arrived before 7 AM. Which meant that the man had probably seen him on the security monitors. He had not disabled the cameras, because that would have attracted far too much attention. Someone would have come to check the machines, making it impossible to go unnoticed. ‘Don’t look guilty’, Zechs told himself. ‘Just act like you’ve got every right to be there, and don’t give an explanation unless he asks for one.’ Composing his face in the arrogant expression that was supposed to be his character’s trademark, Zechs turned around and discovered the head of security behind him. The man was standing on the doorstep. “Yamaguchi-san (2). Is there a problem ?” “You’re here early.” Zechs just raised an eyebrow, clearly indicating that he did not see the point of the conversation. “Did you want something, Yamaguchi-san ?” Somehow, Zechs managed to make it sound like it was suspicious for the head of security to be down there at that time of day. “I … just wondering what you were doing here so early, Zechs-sama. I didn’t mean to be nosey.” “You were not. If nothing else, it only proves that you are doing your job correctly, Yamaguchi-san. I’ll make sure that Treize hears about it.” ‘There you go. A little bit of flattery, and showing that you are so high in your boss’ favor you don’t mind calling him by his first name.’ “I’m done here”, Zechs said, “so if you want to lock the room again, I kind of have a handful of files to carry upstairs.” “Of course, Zechs-sama. Do I need to warn Treize-sama about this ?” Zechs looked puzzled. “What do you want to warn him about ?”, he chuckled. “The fact that I come down here at dawn to start my work and am not the lousy scum everyone else believes me to be ?” The man reddened, but smiled a bit. “As you wish, Zechs-sama. I just wanted to be sure everything was alright. I’ll leave you to your work.” “Arigatou (3), Yamaguchi-san.” Zechs exited the room carrying his files and went straight to the elevator.
He decided to use his vidphone to make his call. It
was not safe, but all he had to do was to deactivate the recording
function before, and install some special equipment to blur the waves,
rendering the localization impossible. He composed the special code,
and was satisfied when his call was answered almost immediately. “This is Wind.” “I was expecting news. Glad you could make it. No problem ?” “Not one. I got the files.” “Good. Just a minute.” Noin disappeared from the screen a minute, and when she was back, she was accompanied by none other than Sally Po, wearing a GSA uniform. “Wind, this is Water, our pathologist on the case. She is the one who compiled the files and started the inquiry.” “I saw that”, Zechs said with a smile. “Glad to see you again, Water. It’s been a long time.” “Too long”, Sally chuckled. “You guys have been doing a lot of interesting things without me.” “What should we do ? I have no one trustworthy enough to send you the files, and I can’t just send them through a postal service. I can’t have an agent contact me, because I am still under surveillance and that would blow my cover.” “Is there any way you could come on L4 ?”, Noin asked. “I can find a way. What do you have in mind ?” “You can’t contact us directly since Lady Une probably has us under some kind of surveillance too. We are supposed to work for her arrest, and she will have us followed. But …” She turned to Sally. “Are you thinking the same thing I am, Water ?” Sally grinned evilly, and Zechs wondered what kind of private joke he had just walked into. “Definitely”, Sally said. “Okay, so here we go”, Noin started again. “Once you’ve found your way on L4, you will tell me through the normal channels, and I’ll send your contacts to one of our underground informant. He will contact you to secure a time and a place for the transfer. He is new in the network, but believe me he is very efficient, probably the best we ever had. The code name is Wing.” “Wing. I’ll remember that. Now I have to find a way to come. I don’t suppose that informant could make the trip to L1 ?” “In the present situation, it is not an option.” Zechs sighed. “Well, I’ll just have to come up with a good story, then. Wind out.” “Good luck. Fire and Water out.” ***** Zechs never knew if being called to Treize’s office as soon as the red-haired man came into the building was pure chance, or if some higher power was trying to ease his work. Carefully putting away the incriminating files, he pondered what he would have to come up with to justify a trip at that critical moment. And that would not be easy since, as he noticed immediately coming into Treize’s office, his ‘boss’ was actually quite nervous. “Close the door, Zechs.” Zechs did as he was asked and shot a concerned look to Treize. “Is something wrong ?” Treize smirked ironically. “The right question would be ‘is something right ?’, actually. Lots of troubles on L2. I had to call my crew back.” “Troubles on L2. It can’t be the Winner Charities already, they were only started some days ago.” “No that’s not it. Much more annoying though. The Sweepers.” Zechs raised his eyebrows. That was unexpected. The Sweepers were a powerful group, but it had never occurred to Zechs that they were something more than an economic alliance between salvage groups. “The Sweepers ? What could be wrong with them ? I mean, we are not interested in taking over the salvage business, are we ? I thought the aim was some kind of overall control …” “It was … until my men were thrown out of most junkyards around, and people started refusing to pay up. It looks like there is someone coordinating the Sweepers to get rid of my men. Some of them have been killed, and the others have been tracked down and their covers blown. It’s the timing that’s unnerving, actually. I am in trouble with WEI, but that alone I could handle. Yet, if I can’t find new resources quickly …” ‘You’ll be out of the picture sooner than you think’, Zechs finished in his head. ‘I still wonder who could have warned the Sweepers about that, ‘cause I didn’t. Wait a minute, the young Maxwell said he was from L2. And he seemed pretty close to Quatre Winner. Uh oh, looks like something is moving, and I have no idea what it is. Good thing I already have everything I need.’ “What should I do ?”, Zechs asked out loud. “I can solve this problem by myself, I think”, Treize sighed. “WEI’s special board reunion is scheduled later this week. We’ll see if Mr Winner is as good as ruling his people as he thinks. I am not sure his board of directors will be too happy to be ordered around by an eighteen-year-old, although I am the first one to acknowledge he is gifted. Maybe if we could convince him of our views, he would make a powerful ally.” ‘In your dreams’, Zechs thought. ‘If I can read glares correctly, you’re dead meat, Treize.’ “What about the Doctors ?” “Their interests are untouched for the moment, they’re waiting to see the announcement of the stopping of the charities to act more openly. I think Dermail will try to see young Mr Winner about a new contract some time after the board reunion. I wish him the best luck, and if you would be so kind as to see if you can find me a recording of the scene … It would be worth much more than my own humiliation to see Dermail falling off his seat”, Treize smirked. “I’ll do what I can, Treize”, Zechs almost purred. ‘If nothing else, it’ll distract you in prison.’ “In fact, if I called you, it’s for another matter”, Treize kept on. “Lady Une requested your presence. Officially, she’s still working for the Doctors, and she’s stationed on L4 right now to wait for the outcome of this situation and act in case something goes wrong. She wants you to back her up.” “She needs me ? Why that ? I thought she had everything under control.” “You’ll be the first to admit that shooting Ibrahim Winner was not ‘having everything under control’. The Lady can get a bit … carried away sometimes. She acted rashly, and there’s no proof right now that her move will turn out to our advantage. I would also feel better if you were there with her. I don’t want anything to happen to her, and the GSA is investigating the murder. And, moreover, you can report to me directly if anything moves at WEI.” “I see. So I am supposed to make sure Lady Une stays safe and to help her in her further attempts, if there are any. Do I get it right ?” Treize smiled fondly. ‘I knew there was a reason I hired him’, he thought. “Yes.” “What about the Doctors ?” “Make sure yourself and the Lady contact me first if anything happens. I’ll inform the Doctors myself, assuming that their own networks haven’t provided them with infos yet. But I doubt that. In fact, they could soon discover that their networks have considerably reduced. People are so greedy nowadays.” Zechs chuckled. “And you’re not, of course.” “Oh, I am. I admit that. I just know how to put some kind of elegant facade on my greediness, that’s all.” Treize got up and stroke a strand of platinum hair in a gesture that had become familiar in the last months. “Just … make sure my Lady stays safe, Zechs. And stay safe yourself. I don’t want any more deaths in my ranks.” “You’re speaking like a general, Treize.” “I am a general, and on some scale, this is a war. Just not the same kind of war we’re used to. This one is played with money, power and influence. And that is the part I am not yet sure to win. But the part with the bullets and the weapons, I can consider won already, I think. I just want my best soldiers to stay safe.” “Yes, sir. I’ll see to that”, Zechs said seriously. “When should I leave ?” “I have a shuttle waiting for you any time at my private spatioport. Just finish anything you have waiting, then call the Lady and warn her about the time of your arrival. She’ll lead you to her quarters and brief you on her strategy.” “I’m gone already”, Zechs said with a smile. Catching the hand that was stroking his hair, he squeezed it in some kind of comforting gesture and got out of the room. He did not see the person that entered through the other door as he left. “What is it, Yamaguchi-san ?”, Treize asked his head of security. “The breach has been confirmed, Treize-sama. We probably have a mole in our organization, but I don’t know how long this has lasted and what kind of intelligence has been leaked, nor to whom. This has been done very thoroughly and there are very few leads to follow. What are your orders ?” “Leave it for the moment”, Treize said absentmindedly, still watching the door through which Zechs had gone. “I’ll give the case to Zechs when he gets back.” ~ * ~
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