Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Chimaera ❯ Chapter 107 ( Chapter 107 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Please see previous chapters for disclaimer, notes etc.
 
"Chimaera"
 
October. 2003 ShenLong
 
 
 
Chapter 107
 
"I'll see you tonight," murmured Heero as he pressed a kiss to Duo's lips. "Make sure you get plenty of rest," he added as he straightened up.
 
"Yes, mom," replied Duo from his position propped up in the bed.
 
Heero rolled his eyes. "Anything you want me to pick up on the way home?"
 
"Don't think so. I've got another tub of ice cream in the freezer so I should be okay for a couple of days."
 
"You and your cravings. I'll be glad once they're gone, all that sugar can't be good for you, the baby or your teeth," muttered Heero.
 
"Who said I intend to give them up?" snickered Duo.
 
Heero simply shook his head and decided it was better not to argue. He glanced at the clock on the bedside table. "I've got to run or I'll be late. See you around five thirty."
 
"Take care. Love you," said Duo as he watched his husband leaving the bedroom.
 
"Love you too, little mother."
 
Duo sighed as he reached for the mug of tea Heero had brought him and sipped at the hot contents. He could hear noises coming from down the hall and knew that Trowa and Quatre were preparing for the day ahead. With another sigh he debated getting up and then sank back deeper into the pillows. He'd get up in a minute.
 
***
 
"Are you sure you don't need me to come with you?" Trowa asked his husband again.
 
"Honestly, Trowa, I'll be fine. There's really nothing for you to do other than sit in a chair and listen to a group of politicians discuss the final plans for these half-way houses. You would be asleep within minutes, and don't say you wouldn't, I know you," said Quatre with a grin.
 
Duo snickered. "He's got you there, Tro."
 
Trowa simply shrugged. "Okay, but when you get home all antsy from talking with these half wits, don't take it out on me."
 
"I don't take it out on you," replied Quatre as he slipped his arms into the suit jacket.
 
"Yes, you do. You usually come in with a face like thunder, muttering about idiots and then proceed to ravish me rotten, working off all that pent up steam," retorted Trowa with a grin.
 
"You enjoy it."
 
"Maybe."
 
"Ohhh... Now who's being coy? You know you love it, begging me for... Oh." Quatre suddenly stopped and went bright red.
 
"Don't mind me," snickered Duo with a wave of his hand. "Carry on as if I'm not here."
 
"I'd better get going or I'll be late," said Quatre, abruptly changing the subject. "I'll see you later. All being well I should be back around five-ish." Quatre bent to partake of a goodbye kiss from his husband.
 
Trowa kissed back and then gave his lover a squeeze to his ass. "I'll be ready," he said with a smirk.
 
"See you tonight, Duo."
 
"Catch ya later, Quat," replied Duo with a smile and a wave.
 
When the blonde departed there was only Duo and Trowa left sitting in the kitchen, Nurse Brown was still sleeping, having worked a couple of hours overtime the previous evening and not getting back until one in the morning.
 
"So, what would you like to do, Duo?"
 
***
 
Trowa and Duo spent the morning playing a couple of new vid games Duo had ordered online. They weren't bad and it took them a while to work through the many levels, the game they elected to continue playing requiring not only 'blowing shit up' but tactical maneuvering and problem solving skills as well. Once they had conquered the game they went outside for some fresh air and to give Miracle a run. The dog was overjoyed to have another person to 'play' with and let Trowa know it. Trowa spent a good hour playing with the dog while Duo watched, happy to see that the animal was getting some decent exercise for a change.
 
When both Trowa and Miracle were worn out from their exertions the three went back inside and enjoyed a healthy lunch of quiche and salad. Nurse Brown joined them and the conversation flowed, the topics ranging from Duo's pregnancy, Quatre's current business dealings to Nurse Brown's profession. The pair were intrigued with some of the stories the nurse related to them, not just from her time as a pediatric nurse, but also her time spent during her earlier, training years. One story in particular had the pair in stitches. Knowing how uncomfortable Duo was about having to be shaved for his C-section, the nurse thought this particular story might help him a little. It happened when Nurse Brown was on her surgical rotation; a young girl, about twenty, so Nurse Brown said, had been admitted for abdominal surgery following a car accident.
 
"They brought her up to the theater, she was still unconscious from a blow to the head she'd suffered during the accident and we moved her onto the operating table. The anesthetist gave her the anesthetic to make certain she would stay unconscious and as soon as he had confirmed she was out for the count, we, the other OR nurse and myself, got ready to prep her for the surgery," Nurse Brown related. "Seeing how she was having the abdominal surgery, we raised her hospital gown to swab the operation site. Well, when we did we nearly died of shock."
 
"How come?" Duo asked, his attention fully on the nurse.
 
"She had a tattoo just below her navel."
 
"Tattoos aren't uncommon," said Trowa as he took a sip from his coffee mug and nibbled on a piece of cake.
 
"No, I know they aren't, but this one said, 'Keep off the grass' and had an arrow pointing downwards towards her... pubic area." [1]
 
Duo snickered.
 
"Her pubic hair was dyed green."
 
Duo went into hysterical laughter and Trowa nearly choked on his coffee.
 
"You're joking?!" spluttered Trowa.
 
"No, I'm not. It was as clear as day, just the same as those little signs you see on people's lawns. Keep off the grass." Nurse Brown took a sip of her tea.
 
"What happened?" sniggered Duo as he tried to control his laughter.
 
"Well, we had to shave her for the operation and when it was all finished and she was stitched up and sent through to the ward to recover, the surgeon wrote a note out and pinned it to her surgical gown."
 
"What did it say?" asked Trowa.
 
"Sorry, but we had to mow the lawn."
 
Duo completely lost it, he was doubled up with laughter, tears rolling down his cheeks as he held his sides. Trowa wasn't much better, his body was shaking with the chuckles that came from his throat.
 
"Oh, man, that would have to be a classic," Duo got out in-between bouts of laughter.
 
"I have to agree there," said Trowa as he continued to snicker away.
 
Nurse Brown smiled. "You would be amazed at some of the things that go on when you're training."
 
"I don't think I really want to know much more," said Duo as he managed to get his laughter under control and rubbed his aching belly.
 
"I don't think you do either, especially the things the nurses get up to with the bed pans."
 
"Too much information!" Trowa said and cringed. "I think I might go watch some television."
 
"Good idea, Tro. I'll join you," said Duo, shaking his head in amusement.
 
"A spot of television, that's a nice relaxing idea. I think there's a nice movie on in about fifteen minutes," said the nurse as she stood up and followed the pair into the lounge room.
 
The three made themselves comfortable and Duo turned on the television, flicking through the movie channels until he found one that suited them all. The movie started and had been playing for half an hour when the broadcast was interrupted.
 
"We interrupt this movie to bring you some breaking news..."
 
"Oh my god, Quatre..." Trowa whispered
 
* * *
 
Quatre rubbed his temples, he could feel the dull ache beginning to spread and knew he was headed for a full blown headache, and soon. The debate had gone back and forth, costings, viability, projected success rates. He knew it was all a vital part of the process and his team had prepared a thorough report on each and every possible outcome. While the reports had been accepted they were now discussing the staffing levels and questioning the number and qualifications of those that would be needed.
 
Why the hell they couldn't simply agree to disagree and sign the damn papers was beyond Quatre and he was seriously beginning to get fed up with the petty arguments of a couple of the politicians and military personnel. He would have thought they would be happy to simply pass the whole deal over to WEI considering how the company was providing the basic funding to get the enterprise off the ground and running. Further down the track the half-way houses would begin to pay for themselves; of that Quatre was certain. It was almost as if these people wanted the project to fail.
 
Quatre was well aware that there was still a lot of hostility out there towards ex-soldiers, regardless of whether they were Romefeller, OZ, White Fang or the Gundam Pilots themselves and yet these soldiers had only done what they had been ordered to do and now that the peace had been won, no one wanted to know about the problems that ex-servicemen suffered from.
 
The provision of the halfway houses would help to alleviate the stress on the hospitals that dealt with the 'casualties' of the war and provide a safe place for those ex-servicemen to live whilst adjusting back into 'normal' life.
 
The thumping in his head began to get worse and Quatre reached for his glass of water. He took a long drink of the cool water and eyed the current speaker. Senator Proctor from L4. He was a tall, thin man, with a face like a weasel, or so Quatre thought. He'd been arguing the same point for the last fifteen minutes and Quatre had had enough. He was about to open his mouth to speak when the door suddenly flew open and there was a shout of "Freeze!"
 
Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing and turned to look at the door to see what or who had interrupted them. Four men, clad all in black spilled into the room and stood inside the doorway, each clutched a semi automatic. They moved to the side to allow a fifth person to enter and it was at that moment that Senator Proctor chose to voice his annoyance at the disturbance.
 
"I say, you can't just come barging in here. This is a private meeting," the Senator stated as he turned to walk towards the men.
 
"I said, FREEZE!" One of the black garbed figures raised his semi automatic and waved it in the air.
 
Senator Proctor was either very brave or very dumb; Quatre put his money on the latter, as he continued walking towards the uninvited guests.
 
"I don't believe you heard me. This is a private meeting," began the Senator again.
 
"I heard you," said the fifth figure from the doorway. "I don't believe you heard us though. Kill him."
 
Before the Senator, or anyone else for that matter had a chance to fully comprehend the words, one of the figures raised his gun and shot the Senator cleanly through the head. Senator Proctor's eyes went wide and then he crumpled to the floor, a pool of red spreading rapidly from his head.
 
The remaining people in the room watched, horrified as the drama unfolded.
 
"Would anyone else like to see how brave they can be?" The figure looked around the room. "Good. Now that I have your undivided attention I will introduce myself. My name is Jackson, Edward Jackson."
 
Quatre's mind was going a mile a minute, trying to identify the man that stood so arrogantly before them but he couldn't. He took the chance to glance across at the Major and saw that the man also appeared to be having difficulty in placing their assailant.
 
Jackson strode across the room to the plate glass windows and stopped to stare out. They were currently on the twelfth floor. Jackson rocked on his heels for a moment, hands clasped behind his back. "None of you have heard of me before, have you?" It was more a statement than a question.
 
"I'm afraid you have us at a disadvantage, Mr. Jackson," the Major began. "If I may be so bold, what is it you're doing here and what do you want?"
 
Jackson chuckled and continued to rock. "Believe me, Major, by the time this is over all of the Earth and colonies will know who I am." Jackson paused for a moment and then turned around to face the frightened group. An evil glint appeared in his eye as he scanned over the group. "As for what I want..." He paused again and his eyes narrowed as he looked directly at Quatre, a flickering of recognition in his eyes. "It's quite simple. I want the release of certain former OZ leaders currently imprisoned for war crimes."
 
"That's impossible!" answered the Major.
 
"Nothing is impossible," replied Jackson. "It's really very easy. You call your superiors and arrange to have those OZ leaders released and in return I will release all of you. I'm pretty sure that the government and the hierarchy wouldn't like to have the deaths of several noted politicians, military personnel and one Mr. Winner on their consciences. Would you?" Jackson moved to stand over Quatre. "And believe me when I say I will kill you all if my demands are not met."
 
Quatre turned his gaze to meet the cold stare of Jackson. He could see the man was serious, his eyes told Quatre as much and if he let his empathy seep forward he could detect the callousness radiating from within the other man. This Jackson meant business.
 
"You have a cell 'phone?" Jackson asked.
 
Quatre nodded.
 
"Good. Get it out and call the government head and then the local television station. You will tell the government exactly what I tell you to." Jackson spun on his heel and faced his men, organizing them quickly so the entire room was covered.
 
"I have the Deputy Governor General on the line," said Quatre, breaking the tension in the air momentarily. "What would you like me to say?"
 
Jackson handed Quatre a piece of paper. "Tell him that I have you all held hostage here and I will not release any of you until the people on that list have been freed from the various institutions they are being detained in. Once they have been released I want a 'chopper waiting with clearance at the Tobias air base. If the government complies then you will all walk out of here alive. If it doesn't then I will be forced to start shooting you one by one, on the hour, every hour until they do." Jackson inclined his head to the corpse on the floor. "I'm not joking either."
 
Quatre nodded and repeated the demands along with the list of names to the deputy, emphasizing the threat to their lives as best he could and explaining that one member was already dead. "He says he can't authorize that, he will need time to get the appropriate authorities together."
 
"Then tell him he'd better move his ass. I expect acall back within half an hour. Failure to comply will result in the death of one of the hostages."
 
Again, Quatre relayed the message and then cut the connection. "He will do his best and contact us as soon as possible."
 
"For your sakes I hope he does," growled Jackson. "Give me the 'phone."
 
Quatre handed the cell 'phone over.
 
"What's the number for the local television station?"
 
"I don't know," replied Quatre.
 
"Try directory assistance," snarled the Major.
 
"I think I will," sneered Jackson. Minutes later Jackson was speaking with the local television station, outlining the situation and offering them the chance to come down to the building and get first jump on the scoop. The television station was predictably skeptical, writing Jackson off as a crank caller; that was until Jackson had one of his henchmen fire off a few rounds.
 
The screaming of the hostages soon convinced the television station that Jackson was for real.
 
Cutting the call, Jackson tossed the cell 'phone back to Quatre who caught it and put it in his pocket. He strolled back over to the windows again and gazed out into the afternoon sun. Below him people walked along the streets, oblivious to the drama unfolding in the glass building that towered above them.
 
"Now, gentlemen; we wait."
 
~ * ~
 
tbc......
 
 
[1] Believe it or not this is true. A friend of mine who is a nurse was doing her surgical rotation and had a patient brought in with this tattoo and green pubic hair; and yes, they did pin on the note apologizing for mowing the lawn!