Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Night's Redemption ❯ Chapter 14 ( Chapter 15 )

Disclaimer: I do not own either Gundam Wing

"blah" speaking

/blah/ thoughts

`blah' telepathy

-

Mikael cancelled the globe he had summoned, the scene from that far hotel room still prominent in his mind. Lady Une cleared her throat, drawing the attention of the others.

"So if I understand correctly what I just heard…" Milliardo and Treize let out a little laugh, clear indicators that they knew she had understood perfectly fine. Une glanced at the two, a trace of her former hardness starting to show. "Then six of my top agents have just vanished and there is no known way to get them back." Mikael nodded unhappily, Tyr placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Very well." Une looked Milliardo square in the face. "Preventer Wind, I'm afraid I'll have to request you return, indefinitely."

Milliardo sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose. "I understand. I'll contact Noin and have her come here as well."

"Wait." Treize held up a hand, stopping Milliardo as he turned towards the vid phone. "From what I have gathered, the Preventers help keep the peace and your field agents work in pairs, correct?" Une and Milliardo nodded, curious as to where Treize was going with this. He softly smiled. "Then will you allow me to be your partner, Preventer Wind?"

Lady Une was shocked. "Your Excellency…"

Treize quickly cut her off, taking one of her hands in both of his. "My dear Lady, I no longer can claim that title. You yourself told me that I have been listed as dead, along with Milliardo. Who better to pair up with a dead man than another dead man?"

Milliardo chuckled, his laughter growing as he watched Une. He finally calmed down after a few minutes. "He does have a point, Une. And this way I don't have to explain why a cat is constantly accompanying me." Milliardo turned and looked Treize in the eye. "If you can let the past go, so can I. We once worked well together." He held out a hand, face neutral.

Treize reluctantly let go of Une's hand. "To a new partnership." He firmly clasped Milliardo's hand, signaling their new beginning.

-

Heero straightened, stretching his sore muscles, finished setting the last of the sensors around their new hotel room. "Alright, we're as safe as we'll be. Debrief." He looked at Duo, silently ordering the braided young man to begin.

Duo stared at the red plants Shiva and Thor had directed him to. "Well, the kitchen led to a small flower shop; obviously closed for the day. It has a storeroom off to one side, no connection to any other part of the house. Shortly after Sally repeated what I had found, those two bolted up here. And thank you for warning me, Sal, `cause otherwise we'd be down two ame-neko." He glared at the two as they sat unconcerned on the sofa. They were staying in their feline forms, each having used most of their energy in the fight with the wolves. "Otherwise, nothing out of the ordinary." His face darkened. "Assuming, of course, you ignore the whole wrong year thing."

Trowa took up the narration next. "There are two floors above the first, each one divided into two apartments. I'd say that four men live, and probable work, there." He shook his head, thinking back on what he had found inside those apartments. "Each person has widely varied tastes and around our age. And each room has a small, hidden compartment."

Heero sat up straight, facts slowly falling into place. "Contents?"

"Empty. Also, each bathroom held a med kit similar to what we've all used during the war."

Sally frowned pensively. "Probe for bullets, material for stitches, trauma packs?" Trowa nodded as she named each item.

"So we have a house with a flower shop acting as a cover for a group of currently unknown operatives who were, thankfully, not present when we arrived in their basement." Quatre stared off, also putting the puzzle together. "What did you find in that," he hesitated, clearly reluctant to place the name with the object, "computer." The face Quatre made left no doubt what he thought of the monstrosity.

"The shop is a cover for a group called Weiß. They work for an agency called Kritiker, performing jobs similar to ours except they are not backed by the government." Heero paused, not liking what he was about to reveal. "Weiß's job is to eliminate targets that otherwise escape justice."

Duo looked as though he had swallowed something bitter. "You mean they're assassins."

"Aa."

Quatre rubbed his forehead, a twinge beginning that signaled a severe, crippling headache forming. "We know what year it is, or supposed to be, and everything we've found so far has only enforced that fact. We know where we are. Now we need to find out why we're here instead of where we should be." All eyes turned to look at Duet, still unconscious as she rested on the other sofa opposite from the ame-neko. Quatre closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose; the heralded headache arrived faster then anticipated. A slim, cream colored paw batted his hand, headache easing from that slight contact. Quatre lowered his hands, smiling in thanks at the ame-neko in his lap.

Duo threw himself into one of the two armchairs. "So Quat, does Salman know what we're supposed to do with these plants?" He gestured at the red-tinged vegetation currently resting on the small table.

The cream colored ame-neko twisted his head at the mention of his name, blue eyes, the exact same shade as Quatre's, fixed on Duo. Salman blinked and glanced at Shiva and Thor. `Why did you have that human take the sangualia plants?'

Shiva shifted, settling down on his paws. `Bright Star will need to drink when she awakes. It would be better if she drank blüt instead of blood.'

Salman's ears flickered, the feline equivalent of widening eyes. `You know how to distill blüt?'

`Our elders made sure all unbonded ame-neko knew, especially since no one knew for certain where Bright Song had hidden her child.' Thor crouched down, eyes fixed on the plants. `It was the eldest of the Klamert clan who made the information known to us. He knew that Bright Star had to be hidden from the Night Walkers on our side and that her thirst might prematurely awaken. If that were to happen without him or her father nearby, then we had to know how to protect her,' his right ear flicked backward, `protect her innocence.'

Quatre softly coughed, interrupting the mental conversation. "I suppose you'll explain what blüt is and how to get it from these plants, which I believe you called sangualia?" He looked expectantly at the three ame-neko.

Salman jumped down, form brightening as he shifted to his human form. A young slim, dark skinned male with straight black hair, loose and just brushing the tops of his shoulders, wearing a pair of loose deep green pants, chest bare and wearing woven sandals now stood before Quatre. "I'm afraid I cannot but I can relate to you what Shiva and Thor know, Bondmate."

Trowa twitched, knowing that he would have to get used to the ame-neko. It had been quite a shock when the slight ame-neko had appeared out of the shadows. He had barely managed to avoid getting killed by the hair-trigger agents. It had been Quatre's reaction that had stayed their hands; the moment he saw the ame-neko he had crouched down, arms open, a joyful expression on his face. The cream colored ame-neko rushed straight towards him, jumping into his arms. To see the two greeting eachother had brought a twinge to Trowa's heart; it had been the same way that Quatre welcomed him back after traveling off to see his sister. He knew that Quatre loved him and would never do anything to knowingly hurt him, but still; seeing another get that greeting had … ached.

"Alright. You won't need me here for that will you?" Quatre raised one eyebrow, intent on the ame-neko in front of him.

"No Bondmate, I'll be fine." Salman met Quatre's eyes. `Take care of your lover; he needs your reassurance.' Salman turned around, attention now focused on the red plants before him. "Shiva please explain how to distill blüt; we'll need it soon. Bright Star's bondmate is on her way." Salman knelt down, hands resting in his lap. Sally knelt on the other side.

"I can help. I take it that Duet will need to drink when she wakes up. And this blüt will take the place of blood, right?" Salman, Shiva and Thor all nodded. Wufei let out a breath, his suspicions confirmed, as Sally nodded. "I thought so, especially when I noticed that enzyme in her blood. So what do we do?"

While Sally and Salman worked to distill the blüt, Quatre pulled Trowa to his feet, taking him to one of the other room in the suite. Once they were alone, Quatre spun around, holding tight to Trowa, burying his face in his brown haired lovers chest. "I'm so sorry Trowa! You know that I would never knowingly hurt you again, not after all we've been through! I just," his breath hitched as Quatre fought to get his shields back up, "just wasn't prepared for the bonding. What Duet said was so true but didn't even begin to explain what happened."

Trowa draped his arms around Quatre's shoulders, leaning down to plant a kiss atop his head. "I know. And I know that I'll have to make room for Salman. Just, give me some time, okay?" Quatre nodded, face still nuzzling Trowa's chest. They stood that way until Duet screamed.

-

Four young men, one just on the cusp of adulthood, stumbled into the basement briefing room, all clearly exhausted from the night's activities. Two of them, the tall dark-blond and the brunette, headed up the metal spiral staircase, their footfalls soon lost in the distance. The short blonde turned on the computer, getting ready to type up the mission report while the tall red-head checked the smaller of the two TV's, rewinding a tape. After a few minutes soft swearing started to flow from the red-head's lips. The blonde stopped typing, shocked.

"Aya?" The blonde waited for the swearing to slow. "What is it?"

"Take a look at the tape," the red-head ground out, rewinding it once more. The blonde watched, immediately spotting what had triggered the outburst; he could feel one coming himself.

"How?"

"I don't know," Aya cut him off. "They weren't here when we left, yet there is no record of them entering, only leaving. I'll check upstairs; Omi, you see what you can find out about them."

Omi nodded, starting the transfer from the tape of his computer, wondering just how seven people could have broken into their home, especially if one was unconscious.

―

He sat up, blindly reaching for his glasses. A new vision came to him as he slept and the possibilities danced before him. Finding his glasses, he slid them on, his gold tinged eyes strangely amplified. A cold smile formed as he settled on a course of action. `Yes, now we will finally have our new order. And this time there is nothing Weiß can do to stop it. If they interfere, then the world will end. If they don't, then the world as we know it will end.' His smile widened as a chuckle escaped his lips, his teammates shuddering at the sound, delighted to once more hear their leader in such a good mood.