Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Chimaera ❯ Chapter 116 ( Chapter 116 )

Please see previous chapters for notes, disclaimers etc.

 

"Chimaera"

 

October. 2003 ShenLong

 

Chapter 116

 

[Preventer Hospital]

 

"Oh God, NO!" cried Trowa as his skin paled, shock written in every line of his face.

 

The other three turned to see what was happening, the television screen showing a person falling from the Glasshouse. The picture wasn't all that close up or clear but to Trowa, who was completely familiar with every inch of his lover's body, there was no mistaking his husband's form as it also fell.

 

"Fuck!" Duo added his own voice to that of Trowa's as he watched the screen. "Oh, shit! Heero!" Duo's eyes widened as he watched the two men on the screen begin to fall and then stop as something grabbed them. Vaguely Duo could make out Heero's form, his head and shoulders hanging out of the window and holding onto Quatre for dear life.

 

But who the hell was holding onto Heero?

 

"Don't let him fall... don't let him fall... don't let him fall..." Trowa began to chant as his eyes remained riveted to the television and the drama unfolding.

 

Duo's blood ran cold as he watched his husband clinging to Quatre's arm, the only thing stopping the blonde and the other person hanging onto Quatre from plunging to their deaths. He knew Heero was strong, but he wasn't strong enough to hold on for too long, not with the weight of two people. Out of the corner of his eye, Duo could see the heart rate monitor attached to his body increase its recording of his heart rate, the blood pressure indicator also appeared to be climbing and Sally's warning came back to him. Duo tried his best to calm himself down but it wasn't easy and he wasn't having much success.

 

Sally's eyes were also glued to the screen, her heart in her mouth. Mentally she ran through her head the current status of the emergency section of the Preventer hospital. Two operating theaters and one doctor besides herself on duty. One of those operating theaters she would be needing herself for Duo the way things were going. Turning to the nurse she spoke softly but quickly. "Margaret, keep a close eye on Duo and the fetal monitor. I'll be right back."

 

The nurse nodded and raised a questioning eyebrow.

 

"I'm going to contact Une and get a status update on possible casualties. Then I'll assess our facilities, call in whatever staff is necessary and arrange for treatment of the possible casualties from there. I'll be as quick as I can. Keep Duo as calm as possible and page me immediately if anything changes."

 

"Got it," replied the nurse and turned her attention back to the pregnant man.

 

After one last check of the equipment, Sally left to finalize the necessary arrangements. Neither Trowa or Duo noticed the doctor's departure.

 

***

 

[Television Crew]

 

Jasmine's hand covered her mouth as she watched in stunned silence the two bodies falling from the window; beside her Paul continued to film. The picture wasn't as clear as he would have liked but the distance was too far for him to be able to focus and obtain facial details. There was only so much the camera could do and it appeared to be pushed to its limits at the moment.

 

Phil scrambled back to the van and fiddled with his equipment, trying to see if he could enhance the images any further. He wasn't having much luck.

 

"Oh, Christ!" Jasmine stared as the bodies halted in their descent. "What's happening?" she called to Paul who had a much clearer view through the camera. The shot on the small screen on the side of the van wasn't showing up too clearly so Jasmine couldn't make out exactly what was going on.

 

"Looks like they've grabbed onto something," muttered Paul. "Not sure what, can't make it out properly. Oh, hang on... Well, I'll be damned! It seems someone is hanging onto them, dunno who, how or what, can't get the zoom to work any better..."

 

"Shit!" Jasmine squinted at the small screen relaying the camera's view. "Viewers, it seems that the two people that were falling from the Glasshouse have somehow managed to be caught by a person or persons unknown," began Jasmine.

 

"Uh oh, trouble at two o'clock," mumbled Terry.

 

"What?" Jasmine made sure her microphone was turned off as she questioned Terry's words.

 

Terry inclined his head. "The local constabulary."

 

"Now what?" Jasmine smoothed down her skirt and put a smile onto her face as she prepared to greet the three officers approaching. "Keep filming," she hissed to Paul and stepped forwards. "Officers, is there something I can help you with?"

 

"Yes, ma'am, there is," replied one officer as the other two separated, one making towards the van and the other to Paul. "I'm afraid you will have to stop filming..."

 

"What? I'm sorry, officer, but this is headline news," began Jasmine, interrupting the officer as her eyes tracked the other officer who was now beside Paul with his hand over the camera's lens.

 

"If you do not stop then I will be forced to arrest you."

 

"On what grounds?" growled Jasmine. "Haven't you ever heard of freedom of the press?"

 

"Have you heard of invasion of privacy? Violation of personal rights? Not to mention relaying public images that are in direct violation of rule 233, section 169 relating to underage viewing content? And that's just the start," snapped the officer.

 

"Ahhh..." Jasmine looked a little confused, not to mention cautious.

 

"Unless you wish to be arrested and charged with these breaches of the law and several others I have not as yet mentioned, I suggest you cease filming. You may continue to report verbally as long as you refrain from direct reference to anything that could be construed as suitable to an audience of mature standing only."

 

"I think roughly translated that means we're not allowed to say anything above a 'G' rating," muttered Terry helpfully.

 

"I know what it means," snapped Jasmine and then swallowing, she turned back to the officer and spotted the third one in conversation with Phil at the door of the van. Knowing there wasn't really much she could do, she sighed. "All right, you win."

 

"Good. Thank you for being so cooperative," the officer replied and then turned to face his fellow policemen.

 

"Hey! Hang on a sec, you can't..." Jasmine began, only to be brought up short by the icy look the officer gave her.

 

"I assure you, ma'am, I can. This camera is to be held in police custody as an assurance that there will not be any more televising of harmful images. You may collect the camera from Precinct 22 tomorrow." With that the officer spun on his heel and with his fellow officers, left the collective reporters to stew, the camera securely in their grasp.

 

"What the hell is rule 233, section 169?" asked the younger officer as the three walked back towards the Preventer base 'camp'.

 

"I have no idea," grinned the officer. "But it worked."

 

The younger officer shook his head.

 

***

 

[Outside the Glasshouse.]

 

As soon as Une had dispatched the police officers and 'F Troop' she turned her attention back to the drama unfolding on the twelfth floor. She trained her binoculars on the men hanging from the window and bit her lip trying to decide if contacting her agents would add any further problems to the ones they were already experiencing. Deciding she really didn't have much choice, she pulled the com unit from her belt and pushed the 'talk' button.

 

Static hissed down the line. "Agents Day and Fire, do you copy?"

 

Further static then, "Agent Fire, I copy. Agent Day is indisposed."

 

"Chang, what's happening? Keep it brief."

 

"Yuy is holding onto Winner and Jackson, we are about to retrieve them."

 

"I want a full status report as soon as possible."

 

"Roger."

 

"Any information on possible traps set in stairwell?"

 

"Unknown."

 

"Back up is proceeding through stairwells as we speak. Unsure of ETA due to possible traps. Will keep you advised."

 

"Roger that."

 

"Mother Earth, out."

 

"Agent Fire, out."

 

Une replaced the com unit on her belt and glanced at the building again, sending a silent prayer that all this would end with minimal bloodshed and her agents would come out relatively unscathed.

 

* * *

 

[Inside the Stairwell]

 

Agent Snow proceeded with caution to the next level, eyes and equipment scanning for possible bombs, traps, infra red laser beams or anything out of the ordinary. So far they had been lucky and not encountered anything. Snow had a feeling that they wouldn't but was hesitant to simply proceed without the necessary precautions. It was when you let your guard down that the unexpected happened. Snow doubted that given the building's usage by the public and the swiftness in which the terrorists had seized the conference room, that they hadn't had the time to lay any traps; but it was best to advance with caution.

 

Steadily he cleared each flight, the closest thing he found to a trap was on floor six; a suspicious looking bundle in the corner by the exit door. Turned out to be someone's laundry. How it got there and why it was there, Snow had no idea and after clearing it as a non threat he felt a bit silly about being made to sweat by a pile of dirty socks and some underwear. They continued upward.

 

[Preventer Hospital]

 

"What the hell?!" shouted Duo as the television screen went blank and was then replaced with an image of the channel's logo.

 

"What happened?" cried Trowa as he reached for the remote control the same time Duo did.

 

"Dunno," Duo pressed several buttons, scanning through various channels but none of the other channels were covering the currently breaking story. He flipped back to channel 9 only to find the logo still there.

 

"Maybe they're having technical difficulties?" suggested the nurse as she checked the monitors and frowned.

 

"That would be right," complained Duo and gave a slight grimace as he noticed the nurse's concern over his readings on the monitor.

 

Trowa seized the remote and took over, also flicking through channels but not having any luck. The logo came up again but this time there was a narrative to go with it.

 

"... apologize for the break in visual, we are working on it but meantime we will continue to report verbally on the current situation at the Glasshouse. Thank you for your patience." The logo changed to a still shot of the Glasshouse taken earlier with the news reporter standing out the front.

 

"This is Jasmine Marshall coming to you live from the Glasshouse. We do apologize again for the loss of the picture but rest assured we will continue to report the drama as it unfolds. We have had no further conformation from the authorities in regards to the terrorists' demands, nor what they plan on doing about them. Shortly before we lost visual transmission two people appeared to be falling from the window on the twelfth floor. Who they are and the reason for the fall is as yet undetermined. The people though appear to have been caught and their fall halted by persons unknown at this stage. It would seem that someone is holding onto one of the people, although I cannot confirm that fact for certain."

 

"Damn it all to hell! Why can't they show us what's happening?!" Trowa shouted in frustration and went to throw the remote only to have his arm caught by Duo's.

 

"You break that buddy and we won't even have the verbal," he said softly.

 

Trowa lowered his arm and turned his sad, green eyes to Duo's concerned violet. "I know, I'm sorry. Here I am carrying on over a stupid picture when we do have the verbal account."

 

"It's okay, I understand, Trowa. I'm as worried as you are."

 

/ Shit! / Trowa mentally cursed himself. Of course Duo would be worried as well, Heero was there and Heero had a lot more at stake than Trowa did. How could he be so selfish? He'd promised Heero he would look after Duo for him and here he was wallowing in his own self pity. Giving himself a mental shake, Trowa dropped the remote to the bed and turned to face the pregnant man fully. "I'm sorry, Duo," he began, "I know you're just as worried, in fact more so. You have more to lose than I do. I apologize for being so selfish and only thinking of myself."

 

"It's all right, Trowa. You have nothing to apologize for."

 

"Yes, I do. I made a promise to Heero that I would take care of you and it's about time I started to do just that." Trowa stood and took Duo's hand in his own, noting the cold, clammy feeling as his hand engulfed Duo's. "How are you really feeling?"

 

Duo lowered his eyes.

 

"No bullshit either, Duo."

 

Duo had to smile at that. "Okay, I won't lie. I'm worried sick over Heero and Quatre; Wufei too. I'm scared that this baby will be born before Heero can get here and I don't want to go through that alone. I know Sally and Nurse Brown will take good care of me, but..." Duo's voice trailed off.

 

Staring deep into Duo's eyes and noting the young man's body language, Trowa could clearly see the fear there and his heart went out to the other man. "You won't be alone, Duo. I know I'm a poor substitute for Heero but I will be here with you, every step of the way until he gets here."

 

"Thanks, Tro." Duo gave the hand holding his a small squeeze of appreciation. He didn't trust his voice to speak anymore, but he knew he didn't need to vocalize his thoughts, Trowa understood completely.

 

Behind them the nurse gave a small smile and adjusted the drip flow slightly. She sent a silent prayer to whatever god may be listening that all three men currently caught up in this hostage debacle would make it out safe and sound; the two men here needed their partners, as did the doctor, even if she wouldn't admit to it.

 

* * *

 

[Outside the Glasshouse]

 

"Agent Winter, status?"

 

"Approaching level ten now."

 

"Any welcome gifts?"

 

"None so far. All is clear at this stage."

 

"Good. Continue to proceed with caution. Contact me again once you reach level twelve. Mother Earth, out."

 

"Roger that. Winter, out."

 

Une tucked the com unit back into her belt again and reached for the binoculars. Her cell 'phone began to ring. She reached for it and flipped it open. "Une."

 

"Une, it's Sally. I need to confirm some stats with you."

 

"Okay."

 

"Firstly though, what's the latest news? I've seen a little on the television but nothing conclusive."

 

"I don't have a complete report in as yet from Agent Fire. Currently 'F Troop' is deployed and making their way through the stairwells to assist, removing any threats as they find them. Last report they were on level ten. Agent Day has managed to secure Winner and Jackson, Agent Fire is in the process of retrieving them."

 

"Casualties?"

 

"One dead inside the building. A Sergeant Wilcox from the military, deceased. Body has been collected and taken to the city morgue. Status of the others at this stage unable to confirm. Going off my own assumptions I would say that four terrorists are under the influence of the tranquilizer darts. Status of the rest is indeterminable but I would assume that Winner and Agent Day will have some form of injury that will require medical assistance, even if it's only pulled muscles. As for Jackson, that's anybody's guess."

 

"If I know Heero it will be more than pulled muscles. Damn!" said Sally. "Duo really needs him here."

 

"What is the status of Agent Night?"

 

"Not too good. I'm worried, Une. This drama you have going on isn't helping him in any way, the worry and stress he's going through is causing his body to release more hormones into his system. I've given him the maximum dose of Ritodrine but it isn't having much effect at all. Given his current state I would anticipate having to take him through for an emergency C-section somewhere in the next hour. If we can get Heero back here it would certainly help a great deal."

 

Une sighed. "As soon as the situation is under control getting Heero back to the hospital will be the first thing I do, providing he's not badly injured. I'd prefer for him to arrive there in normal transport and not an ambulance." The word 'body bag' sprang to Une's mind as well but she quickly squashed it, determined that somehow she could will the agent to hang on and stay alive.

 

"Knowing Heero even something life threatening won't stop him from getting here," replied Sally.

 

"Too true," Une conceded.

 

"So, at this stage you know there are four drugged terrorists as well as Winner, Jackson and Yuy with unknown injuries. I'll start to make arrangements at this end for treatment of the injured. It would help if you can let me know the extent of the injuries as soon as you can and then I will be able to have the best help on hand."

 

"I'll let you know as soon as I do, Sally."

 

"Thanks."

 

"Please, I know this isn't much but let Agent Night know I will have his husband back with him as soon as I can. How's Barton?"

 

"Trowa's doing as well as can be expected."

 

Une translated that to mean the man was half out of his mind with worry. "And how are you?"

 

"Coping."

 

Une closed her eyes. "I'm sorry about all of this, I really didn't have a choice."

 

"I know that, Une, Duo and Trowa both know it too and they don't bear any grudges," the doctor replied softly. "Just do us all a favor and try to end this as quickly as possible."

 

"I will. I'll contact you as soon as I have further information."

 

"Thanks."

 

Une pressed the disconnect button and shoved the 'phone back into her pocket before reaching for her binoculars again and training them on the building. As she focused once more so she watched in horror as the two men began to swing, banging against the side of the building. She felt her own body wince in sympathy and then her heart leapt into her mouth as one of the men grappled and fell.

 

"Fuck! MEDIC!!!" she screamed and took off at a run, the bewildered medic trying to catch up to her.

 

* * *

 

[Television Crew]

 

"There doesn't appear to be a lot happening at the moment, viewers. The two people are still hanging from the window and as yet are to be pulled back in or rescued in some way. Wait a minute..." Jasmine squinted as she forced her eyes to try and see clearer. "I'm not sure what is happening but it looks like there is some movement up there. They might be being pulled in... wait, they're swinging a little..."

 

Paul, Terry and Phil were now all standing beside Jasmine, straining their eyes to pick out exactly what was going on.

 

"Yes, I do believe they are being pulled back inside the building," continued Jasmine. "Well, that's a relief I must say. For a moment there it looked as if - Oh shit!" Jasmine's words were cut off as a scream left her throat.

 

"Oh no, he's falling!" Paul's voice was picked up by Jasmine's microphone.

 

* * *

 

[Preventer Hospital]

 

Trowa and Duo continued to listen to the broadcast, even without the visual it was better than nothing.

 

"Yes, I do believe they are being pulled back inside the building," the reporter's voice echoed in the room.

 

"See, Tro? I told you Heero would look after Quatre and would make sure he didn't get hurt," said Duo softly as he rubbed a hand over his belly. The drugs Sally had given him seemed to have eased the contractions a bit and he'd only had another one since the last dose and that had been mild. Duo began to let his hopes rise a little. It would appear that Heero was able to get Quatre back up and inside the building to safety and that meant his husband would soon be on his way to the hospital. Maybe Heero would get here in time for Sunshine's delivery after all. Now if he could only keep his emotions in check so his body doesn't release any further hormones they might just come through this ordeal in one piece.

 

Beside his pregnant friend, Trowa let a small sigh of relief escape his lips and turned to face Duo. He gave a small smile. "I never doubted Heero for a moment," he whispered.

 

The reporter's voice continued. "Well, that's a relief I must say. For a moment there it looked as if - Oh shit!"

 

Both Duo and Trowa froze as a new voice came out of the television speaker.

 

"Oh no, he's falling!"

 

~ * ~

 

tbc.......