Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Deadly Beautiful ❯ Everybody's Got a Secret ( Chapter 20 )

Disclaimer: Gundams are big, the moon is too, I don't own the series and neither do you.

Deadly Beautiful - Chapter 20

By danse

Six days after being dropped off near Athens by Quatre, Trowa strolled down a hallway of the base where he lived, whistling a tune and with his hands in his pockets. For two days after returning, he'd been subjected to the most thorough debriefing he'd ever experienced. He'd been kept in a little, windowless room containing a cot, a table, and two chairs. It felt like a prison--no belt, no shoelaces, and no weapons of any kind. When he woke up in the morning, the questions started and were interrupted only by meals. He'd decided on the drive from Athens what his story would be--after risking his neck (he would admit to that) to get the papers he'd brought back, he'd had to hide out in several different places as he made his way from Saudi Arabia to Egypt, where he'd stowed away on a cargo ship heading to Greece. He thought somehow that the mention of Quatre and the Maganacs would not be a smart move. Let S think what he wanted about who had assassinated the son of Dekim Barton.

Strangely, S hadn't bothered to explain away the circumstances of Trowa sharing a name with the dead man, although his identity had surely been all over the news. Trowa thought that it would be smart not to mention that, either. If S had wanted him to know, he would have said something.

Real food, a shower, and the more comfortable bed in his own room had been the most pressing issues after Trowa had been released from his debriefing. Now, though, he was ready to find out what had happened to Catherine while he was gone. This had been his task for the past three days, after taking care of his own comfort. He started out by asking the new secretary what had happened. She'd responded by snapping at him that she was just a temporary replacement, and how was she supposed to know anyway? If anyone knew what was good for them, they wouldn't ask too many questions.

Thus dissuaded from talking to her anymore, he turned instead to the rest of the base, thinking Catherine had been transferred. The compound was actually quite large. It was hollowed out of the inside of a small mountain, and consisted of two levels which were a maze of corridors. Taking his time and trying not to look too suspicious, Trowa spent two and a half days searching every room he was authorized to enter, and never found a trace of her.

He went to the Playroom often, hoping he'd find her in there throwing knives at the target on the wall, but he only managed to surprise three other agents who had taken up sparring in there. They were a little frightened of him, since he was something of a legend among the new recruits, and after he surprised them three times in two days, they stopped using that workout room in favour of the others, which he rarely entered.

Now Trowa was wandering down the hall towards the cafeteria, wondering what options were left to him. He'd asked as few people as possible for help, because he didn't want it getting back to S that he was looking for Catherine so actively. Nevertheless, word had gotten around in a few of the far wings and now when he walked into those rooms, he got negative answers before even asking his question.

Just as Trowa was about to push open the door to the cafeteria, it swung open under another power. A big, heavyset man in a dark beard and a red shirt walked into the hall and nodded cordially at him as they passed each other. Trowa went inside for food, not noticing the strange, calculating look that the big man gave his back before walking away.

Duo sat cross-legged on his bed in dorm room 217 at the school, with his laptop in front of him. It was just after supper, and he was composing his nightly message to G. Last night, he'd just given an 'all's well' message, saying that he'd arrived with no problems and not mentioning the lack of Relena. Tonight, though, he figured that he'd better come clean about it, and wrote this:

'Grandpa,' (this was G's code name,) 'No problems today, except one. Target's not here, went on vacation with Dad. Return time unknown. The roast beef is delicious. Reaper.'

Smirking at his little addition, he ran the encoding program and sent off the message. That finished, he put his legs straight out in front of him on the bed and leaned back against the wall as he started his music server. Quickly, he threw together a playlist of heavy rock music and cranked up the volume, staring across the room at the other bed as he sat quietly.

Hikaru was lying on his bed, reading the novel they were studying in English. Duo studied him absently, lingering mostly on his face, which wore an expression of concentration, and traces of annoyance at the bass that was suddenly thumping through the room. Hikaru's eyes were hard to see from this angle. Even though every time he looked at that frozen glare he felt cold and mangled, Duo couldn't seem to stop looking. Perhaps he wanted to see if it still felt the same every time. He switched his gaze to the ceiling and stared at it instead, completely ignoring his own English homework.

Although his new roommate had thought he'd fallen asleep the day before, Heero had been wide awake, plotting murder. How was he going to kill Scott (which probably wasn't his real name) in a school full of people? This opportunity had been handed to him, though, and he wasn't about to pass it up. His chance would come.

Relena still wasn't at school, though. The desk he'd judged to be hers in each class--surrounded by airhead girls--was being filled by Scott. If she came back, killing Scott would jeopardize his mission to get her. However, if she didn't come back...it was open season. He wasn't sure which he wanted more between the mission and revenge.

He was lying on his bed right now, right across from the boy he wanted to kill, reading the idiotic novel they'd been assigned in English class for a lack of anything better to do. Scott was sitting on his bed, typing away on his laptop, which was fine until he stopped. After that he started playing music too loudly. It sounded like Metallica. Heero growled like an angry tiger and glared at his roommate. Scott was staring at the ceiling, apparently lost to the world.

Heero turned the page of his book, exercising all of his self-control to keep himself from smothering the bastard with a pillow.

The sun was going down in northern Italy, and a pretty young woman sat on a bench in a park, reading a romance novel by the glow of a streetlight overhead. Couples and families strolled by, talking to each other in musical Italian as the woman read. Eventually, a heavyset man with a dark beard wandered into the park and sat down on the other end of the bench, opening a paper bag and throwing breadcrumbs at some straggling pigeons. After a moment, he spoke in a low voice.

"He's been looking for you," he said, watching the pigeons and the people.

"Is it worth the risk?" Catherine murmured, turning a page.

"He's been through the entire base. Searched every broom closet." His lips barely moved as he spoke.

She scratched her nose with a manicured nail. "Arrange a meeting for me. I'll get in."

His eyes widened, and he almost looked straight at her, but stopped himself. "That's a bit dangerous."

She stared steadily at her book. "On the threshold, then. There's a guard..." She trailed off. "I can do it."

"Where and when?"

A child laughed on the other side of Catherine, down the path. She looked at the happy family, walking joyously along in the evening light. "In two days. 2200 hours. East entrance on the first level." It was far away from S' office.

"Buona sera," he murmured, throwing the last of his breadcrumbs to the pigeons. He got up and left without saying another word.

Catherine sighed, stretched, and turned another page.