Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Deadly Beautiful ❯ Kaboom ( Chapter 21 )

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

Deadly Beautiful - Chapter 21

By danse

Duo bounced into the Electives Building on Wednesday, as happy as he could ever be in the morning at a place where the cafeteria wouldn't serve coffee to students ('it's unhealthy!'). It was the last period before lunch, he had gym class, and life was good.

That morning, he'd woken up to a message on his laptop from G. Apparently there was a conference in Washington, D.C. extending from that Monday until Friday, and the Vice Foreign Minister was supposed to be in attendance. Obviously, Relena was with him. Duo was to stay at the school until she returned. This meant that he wasn't in trouble.

He entered the boys' change room, put on his gym strip (white shorts and a red shirt with the school crest), and jogged into the huge gym with the rest of his class. He noticed Hikaru out of the corner of his eye, tying his shoelace. The gym teacher stood in the middle of the group of students and blew his whistle to get their attention.

"Today," he said in a voice that projected into the corners, "We're playing basketball. Pinnies," he held up a fistful of yellow pullover pinnies, "versus shirts. Here we go." He started randomly tossing pinnies at people. Duo didn't get one; he was on the 'shirts' team.

This had to be the best class ever. If there was one sport that Duo loved, it was basketball. He'd played street games whenever he got the chance, and could remember watching older kids playing beyond chain link fences when he was seven or eight. Excitedly, he glanced around him, seeing who was on his team. A couple of girls who were examining their fingernails and talking, their shirt sleeves rolled up onto their shoulders; two guys who were just standing there, a skinny one with glasses and the other with biceps that were probably almost as big as Duo's thighs...and Hikaru. Duo frowned. He was a hard one to judge. You couldn't tell by looking at him whether or not he was athletic at all, or even cared what was going on.

His thoughts were interrupted by another screech of the whistle: game on. Duo watched Biceps move in for the tip-off and promptly lose it to a wiry blond guy on the other team. Promptly, Duo moved into a forward position and the game began.

The ball moved back and forth across the court aimlessly for a few minutes, as it was dribbled up, stolen or intercepted, and dribbled back down. Duo hung back at first, watching and calculating, but he got impatient and finally leaped to snatch a pass out of midair. He came down on his left foot with the ball in his right hand, and he was off. He shot down the court, dribbling the ball in front of him as he went, and wove right between two guards for a graceful lay-up, the first points of the game.

Now that the hard part was over with, the whole class got competitive. The other team drove harder, and the shirts' ineffectual defense (the two girls and Glasses) let four points through. Finally, Hikaru caught a rebound and took off up the court, in the same way that Duo had. He ran into opposition past the centre line that was about eight inches taller than he was, and had to stop.

Duo ran up to an open position and waited. Hikaru cast around for an exit, and finally settled on Duo. The pass had the velocity of a bullet, and it nearly knocked the wind out of Duo when he caught it at the chest. He dribbled it for four steps and grinned as he sank a jump shot to tie the game.

Now that teamwork, and Hikaru's ability, had been established, they became unstoppable. Both of them took off with the ball whenever possible, dodging and weaving around the opposition with a speed attainable only with their kind of training. They passed the ball back and forth so fast and hard that no one else would dare to put a hand on it. One particularly memorable play at the very end of the game started when Duo caught a rebound on their end. He only got two steps before he was blocked, and he looked around frantically. Hikaru was halfway down the court. Biceps was probably in his blind spot. Duo turned his back to the guard, crouched, and suddenly exploded into the air, lobbing the ball at Hikaru in midair. Not even stopping to see if he'd caught it, Duo took off down the court, fighting for the open.

Hikaru caught the ball on the tips of his fingers and moved like a freight train towards the basket. He was in a straight line with the backboard, and no one was getting in his way just yet. They were all two feet behind him. He suddenly saw Duo standing in front of the basket, and obviously saw the mischievous look on his face, because he didn't falter at all when Duo moved. Duo knelt down and laced his fingers together in front of him, creating a step in the air. Duo saw the feral intensity in Hikaru's eyes as he stepped on Duo's braced hands and was launched into the air. He pulled a tight somersault in the air, keeping himself up, and slam-dunked the ball. Duo watched as his roommate swung by his hands from the rim for a moment and then dropped to the ground as easily as a cat. With a brief nod of acknowledgement, he brushed past Duo and walked majestically to the change room. Duo noticed that he was favouring his right leg as he walked. They'd won by about twenty points, and the rest of the class was staring at Duo, and Hikaru's retreating back, with a mix of amazement and jealousy.

Duo shrugged and sauntered into the change room without looking back. They probably wouldn't be allowed on the same team for basketball again.

G was in his office, leaning back in his chair and looking out the window. He chewed a ham-and-cheese sandwich thoughtfully as he traced his gaze along the skyline. The lunchtime crowd was streaming out of office buildings in pursuit of their favourite bistros and coffee shops. He saw the swarms of people, but didn't really pay attention, nor did he really notice his food. He was thinking, trying to find an answer to a problem he'd noticed developing.

He hadn't failed to notice the feelings of rebellion starting to come from Duo recently. It had a little to do with his age, G knew, and a lot to do with the sudden presence of the girl. The best way to stop a revolution is to prevent it, or at the very least predict and prepare for it. But how to get to Duo so that he could keep him obedient? The boy would chafe under a short leash.

A sharp knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. He spun around in his chair, swallowed a bite of sandwich, and called, "Come in."

The wooden door swung open to reveal Helen with a short stack of folders.

"What's this?" he asked, setting the sandwich down and arranging himself at his desk.

"This month's recruits," she answered, setting the files on his desk and smiling at him. New agents to G's service spent an average of three months working in the cover office under surveillance while thorough background checks were done on them. Every month, four or five graduated from the front and started training as an agent.

"Oh, yes. Thank you." He picked up the top folder and started looking through it. He approved every recruit himself before they moved to agent status. He dimly heard the door close behind Helen as she left again.

Half an hour later, he'd gone through the seven files on his desk and rejected two. He sat for a second in the calm silence of his office, deliberating. How best to restrain a volatile, teenaged super-agent?

The same way you restrain any agent, he thought. Find out what they would risk their lives for and kidnap it. He couldn't think of a better idea, so he jumped in with both feet and picked up the file folders to take them out to Helen.

"These ones," he said, handing her the stack of two files, "are rejected. These," he handed her the stack of five, "are approved. Oh, before I forget, how has Hilde Schbeiker been doing?"

Helen looked surprised. "All right, I suppose. She's only been here for a little over a week. Efficient, hardworking, and sensible, I hear." Helen was overseer of the front operation, and knew about all of the staff they employed.

G nodded. "Good, good. Add her to the training group, will you? They'll all start tomorrow."

Her eyes went very wide. "Add her? To the training agents? Why?"

"Please just do as I ask. That's why I pay you, my dear." G walked away and left her sputtering in confusion. She'd do as he asked. Eventually he'd tell her why he did it.

Duo, my lad, you're stuck with me now. I'll turn your little friend into a killing machine, just like you.... She might even be a valuable asset to me, he thought as he shut his door behind him and went back to his lunch.

Lunchtime on the Eastern Seaboard was after dinner in the Mediterranean, and Trowa was just leaving the cafeteria when someone suddenly put a hand on his shoulder from behind. He stopped, tensed, and struck out with a kick to the rear, turning and bringing his arm around to pulverize whoever had been stupid enough to do such a thing.

The portly man who'd grabbed his shoulder had stepped back and caught part of the kick in his stomach, but he was still able to deflect the punch aimed for his head. He grabbed Trowa's wrist and held it to the side, twisting the teenager until he was doubled over for fear of breaking his arm.

"Nice to see you, too," the man rumbled softly in accented English.

"Let go of my fucking arm," Trowa snarled at the man's shoes, because that was all he could see. It was promptly released and he stood upright, rubbing his wrist. "You sneak up behind me, that's what you get. You should know better."

"Silence was a bit of an issue, and I didn't really expect you to be so violently paranoid." The man chuckled softly. "I have a message for you."

"From who?"

The man looked around and stepped closer, almost whispering the name in Trowa's ear. "Ms. Bloom."

"I don't know anyone by that name," Trowa answered, stepping back.

"I am sure that you do. Catherine Bloom, the woman who you have been looking for."

So her last name was Bloom. "What do you know about her?" Trowa demanded.

The man held up his hands in surrender. "I have a message," he repeated.

Trowa studied the man's face. "Tell me," he said finally.

Again the man stepped close and whispered in his ear. "Tomorrow night, at 2200 hours. The East Entrance on the first level. Your questions will be answered then. Tell no one, because it is very dangerous. Come alone, and be on time." With that, he stepped away, patted Trowa strongly on the back, and walked down the hallway, disappearing around a corner.

Trowa felt uneasy about trusting the word of someone who he didn't even know, but he wanted to find out what was going on. What other choice did he have? He sighed, shook his head, and started down the corridor, heading for the Playroom.

Wufei relaxed on a bench in a neatly manicured park, basking in the sunlight. He was in Washington, situated thirty feet from the plaza of the building where the conference was taking place. He had spent the last three hours discreetly watching people walking in and out over a thick novel, studying their faces and trying to find any of four people in particular. According to the intelligence he'd paid for, one of them probably wouldn't be there, but the other three almost certainly would. He hadn't been able to spot any of them yet.

His attention was periodically distracted by a peaceful protest going on near a fountain in the middle of the plaza. A group of about twenty people was chanting their displeasure over the gouging they were getting on health care in 'the land of the free'. They had assorted maladies: four were in wheelchairs, one of them with a drip bag attached to the back, her helper keeping an eye on it as they both held signs. One middle aged man leaned against the fountain, bracing his leg cast on the pavement while his crutches leaned beside him.

One of the two people leading the protest, a tall, blonde woman with a high forehead, held a large sign portraying the medical symbol of a staff and snakes, altered so that it looked more like a dollar sign. Her hair hung in two twists down her front, and she carried a megaphone. A news crew was taping the demonstration and taking sound bites for a quick blip on the evening news. Wufei kept finding that his eyes wandered over to her. Strong and vocal,he thought.

At last, he saw one of his targets out of the corner of his eye: the Vice Foreign Minister, Edward Darlian. He was talking to a news crew as he walked inside the building. The crew had to stop at the doors. Wufei scanned the crowd again. She has to be here, too, he thought. Suddenly, he spotted her on the other side of the fountain. She was unnoticed by the press, who probably didn't know who she was. Her blonde hair was up in a bun, and she was talking to a taller woman whose hair shone blackly in the sunlight. Wufei squinted as he stared at the tall one. She looked familiar. Then he twigged. It's her! All three at once! The hair was entirely the wrong colour, and she wasn't wearing glasses like she was supposed to be, but it had to be Treize's assistant. The face was the same shape. He got up nonchalantly from his seat, putting his book in the backpack he carried and slinging it on as he walked away, slipping quietly through the people and greenery to get a closer look at Lady Une.

Relena scratched the back of her neck absently. Besides the weekend, when she'd had her dad all to herself to go sightseeing around Washington, this trip was kind of boring. She'd been left to wander around nearby while her father was in meetings. She was lucky to have found someone to talk to. She studied Maria's face for the umpteenth time. She was so pretty, and had such a glamorous job. Imagine being a reporter and being able to travel the world, always in the middle of the action!

Maria was telling her, in her husky voice, about a recent trip to Jordan, reporting on Middle Eastern strife. "...And the cameraman, Daniel, and I had to walk three miles to the outpost, looking for water. That wasn't as bad as the day before, though. We were trying to get some shots of the West Bank, and an Israeli soldier came out of nowhere and started yelling at us! He wasn't speaking any language I know, though, so we didn't understand a word of what he said. Then he levelled an Uzi at us and started gesturing to the side with it." Maria made motions with her hands as if she was the guard. "You wouldn't believe how they toss around dangerous weapons in those places! So we had to walk to the guard building with our hands in the air, and Daniel with his camera on his back when it's ninety-five degrees in the shade. He took the film out of the camera and burned it in a metal garbage can! Horrible. We got some stills on a little 35mm camera as we left, though, and they never noticed. We got our story," she said triumphantly.

Relena was captivated. What a brave woman! She'd been through the worst of situations and come out on top, suave and sophisticated all the time. I want to be like that, she decided.

Suddenly Maria's cell phone rang. "I'm sorry, Relena, I have to answer this," She excused herself and got up as she answered the phone, wandering around as she talked too low for Relena to hear.

Probably being briefed on her next assignment, Relena thought enviously as she watched Maria pace back and forth. I wish my life was more exciting....

Lady Une was grateful to hear her phone ring. It tore her away from the girl in front of her and let her get on with her assignment. "Talk to me," she said, a prearranged greeting.

Treize's voice filled her ear. "How is the operation going?" he asked.

"Smoothly," she answered. "So far, so good."

"During the press conference, Lady. You know the drill."

"Yes, sir. I'll leave the bomb in the bathroom directly behind the stage." She paused. "It will go through the wall?"

"Yes. It's strong enough to blast a hole through a foot of concrete. If you position it right, the blast will engulf everything within a forty-foot radius of the stage."

"And the girl?"

"If she goes, too, that's an added bonus. We'll have less to worry about with our other plans."

"Yes, sir."

"Good luck, Lady."

"Thank you, sir." She hung up the phone. It was 2:00 now. The press conference started at 3:00. The bomb would go off at 3:15, killing Edward Darlian and hopefully also the brat sitting on the side of the fountain.

As she tucked the phone back inside the front pouch of her purse, she surreptitiously patted the main compartment of the bag. It contained as big of a block of C-4 as would fit, as well as a tiny detonator with a five- minute timer.

She turned back to Relena, who was still sitting on the edge of the fountain, staring into space. She'd been forced to get to know her in the hopes of getting some more information about VFM Darlian, to no avail so far. Instead, she'd been forced to make up stories on the fly to amuse the girl. It felt like trying to get a child to sleep.

She scratched her head irritably. Her wig itched with sweat in the bright, hot sun. Her normal brown hair was hiding under a styled wig so dark it was almost black. She had an artificial tan, pretending to be Hispanic. The only thing she liked about her disguise was her name: Maria Renada. The last name was a throwback to Kushrenada, a private joke devised by Treize and herself.

She whiled away the time until 3:00 by giving half of her attention to talking to Relena and the other half to watching the protestors on the other side of the fountain, then excused herself to go to the press conference. Relena said that she was going to that, too, to meet her dad when it was over.

"Oh," Une said. "Will you be sitting by the stage?"

"I think he said there's a seat saved for me off to one side of the podium, by the wall," Relena answered.

Une kept her smile from looking scary. "I'll watch for you," she said, before walking away.

She walked into the building, displaying her expertly-forged press pass and making her way to the hall where the conference was about to start. She slipped in near the back, watched the proceedings for five minutes with a tape recorder held out in front of her, and then excused herself past several people to go to the washroom. She'd seen both the VFM and his daughter sitting at the front of the room, well within forty feet of the podium.

She went into the ladies' room, used the toilet, touched up her makeup, checked every stall to ensure that it was empty, and went to work. The sinks were on the wall she wanted, so she'd just leave her purse on the counter. She checked a slim, gold watch on her wrist: it was 3:09. She would set the timer, leave the purse, and have enough time to get away from the building before it went off. First, she removed her cell phone and false ID from the small pocket: the phone to call Treize in case things went wrong, and the ID in case it didn't incinerate.

She pressed two buttons on the timer and heard it beep softly, illuminating the numbers '5:00', then zipped the bag shut and abandoned it on the far end of the counter, directly behind the podium. She dropped the phone and ID into her jacket pocket and smiled devilishly as she opened the bathroom door, stepping out into the hallway and walking briskly towards the front door, going for 'a little fresh air'.

Relena snuck out of the press conference after ten minutes, bored to death and needing to use the bathroom. She saw Maria walking down the hallway as she pushed open the bathroom door, and wondered why she wasn't in the conference. Shouldn't a good reporter be there the whole time, ready to catch every word said?

She was alone in the bathroom, and as clapping echoed faintly through the wall by the sinks, she noticed a handbag sitting on the counter. She picked it up to look through it for ID, but remembered as she touched it that she'd seen it already that afternoon--it was Maria's. She must've forgotten it! she thought, and ran out the door of the bathroom with it, hoping to catch Maria before she went back to the conference. Surprisingly, Maria was just pushing open the front door of the building, alone in the hallway while the guards took a quick coffee break in a room down the hall.

"Maria! Maria!" Relena called urgently, trying to get her attention. Maria stopped, and Relena skidded to a stop in front of her, panting a little as she held out the bag. "Your purse...you forgot it in the bathroom..."

Relena expected thanks, possibly a smile, but she was bewildered to see Maria's expression change like lightning from confusion to horror to abject, hysterical anger. She glanced at her watch quickly and her eyes went very wide. "You stupid little bitch!" she yelled, yanking the purse from Relena's grip. She stared at it for a second like it might explode or something, and then ran six steps in her black high heels and threw it as far as she could. It sailed through the air and skidded onto the floor, sliding for a few feet before coming to a stop just short of the bathroom door. With that, she pushed out the glass front door of the building and nearly tripped over her heels as she flew down the stairs, shoving past people. Relena trailed behind her, wondering what the hell was going on.

Maria was on the sidewalk at the bottom of the stairs, dragging herself a little more slowly through the crowd, and Relena was standing on the bottom step, staring after her in bewilderment, when a strange, prickling sensation suddenly tickled at her back. Before she knew what was happening, she was shoved through the air and landed flat on the pavement, groaning and with the wind knocked out of her. Her arm was underneath her face, flung out to protect it, and her sleeve felt wet. She lifted her head a little and saw that it was stained bright red. Her nose was bleeding. Her back felt hot, like she'd been standing in front of a fire. So dizzy... think I'm gonna hurl.... The world went black.

Une stopped as a unit with the crowds in the plaza, gasping at the sudden fireball with everyone else around her, for the benefit of nearby people. As soon as she could, she started moving through the crowd, weaving her way towards the street as she pressed a button on her cell phone, alerting Treize that there were problems. Someone would pick her up soon.

She thought she heard someone yelling for a doctor as she reached the sidewalk, ripping off her press pass and stuffing it in her pocket. She never looked back once, moving with purpose. She didn't notice eyes in a hedge, watching her walk by.

Wufei watched Une flying down the stairs to the plaza and knew immediately that something very bad was about to happen. Nevertheless, he gasped and flinched with everyone else when the explosion ripped apart the front of the conference building. The shockwave pushed him back a little, and he nearly fell over from the sudden force.

He saw Une storming through the crowd and immediately jumped over one of the manicured hedges to watch her as she passed. There was a phone in her hand, and she yanked a plastic pass off over her head as she passed him. He followed at a short distance, hoping that she was meeting Treize, or at least that she was talking to herself, so that he could confirm what he thought: that VFM Darlian had just been assassinated.

Relena recovered after being unconscious for a few minutes, and realized that she wasn't sprawled on the pavement anymore. She was lying on her side on the manicured grass of the park, with jackets covering her and under her head. Her bloodstained arm was stretched out in front of her, and there were other minor scratches on her arms and legs. Several other people around her were lying in the same position, and some were unconscious.

Paramedics had arrived at the building, and one was patrolling around the people on the grass, checking on them every few minutes. One who examined her told her that a bomb had gone off and the roof of the building had collapsed, right over the conference hall.

She tried to sit upright at this news, but was held in place by the paramedic's hands. "Is-is my father all right?" she gasped.

"They're pulling as many people out of the rubble as they can," the man said soothingly. "There was a doctor in the crowd, and she's helping us out, having a look at people as they come out." He walked away, and Relena lay there until he came back ten minutes later, asked her some questions, felt her neck, and said she could get up. "You're not too bad. Go and find your dad. You'd better see a doctor as soon as you can, though," he cautioned.

She sat up quickly, threw the jackets off, and ran towards the building. The whole front was collapsed, and cordoned off with police tape. Paramedics and firefighters picked through the rubble, removing people and bearing them to the plaza on stretchers. She was stopped at the barrier by a police officer and watched anxiously as they pulled people out, trying to see the victims' faces, looking for her father. Suddenly, she saw him being carried out of the rubble on a stretcher and started yelling and pointing. "That's him! Let me through! That's my dad!" She ducked under the tape and escaped past the police officer, making a beeline for Edward Darlian's motionless form. A paramedic stopped her near a truck.

"I'm sorry, miss," the woman said. "I can't let you any closer to him right now."

"But that's my dad!" Relena gazed sadly at him. He looked very pale, and his chest looked a little flatter than it should have been.

"Why don't you just come over here with me," the woman said, leading her by the arm to the edge of the fountain. "Sit down for a few minutes and rest while we look at your dad."

The paramedics put him in a row of other people, checked his whole body, and felt for a pulse and breathing. They conversed with the firefighter who'd dug him out of the ruins, and then shook their heads. Relena heard the words 'crushed' and 'beam', and started to cry. One of the paramedics called to a woman who was bent over another body, and she came over to examine the VFM. After doing many of the same things the paramedics had, and listening to the firefighter's story again, tugging nervously at a twist of blonde hair that hung down her front, she shook her head and rechecked all of his vital signs. After a minute, she got up and spoke softly to the paramedic, who produced a tag and a pen from his pocket for her. He signalled to someone in a truck nearby and they hauled out a large, black bag.

Relena couldn't look anymore. She buried her face in her hands and bawled her eyes out. Her body shook with wracking sobs and she cried after the tears dried up, hiccuping and gasping. The police officer she'd slipped past earlier came over to sit beside her, saying nothing for a few minutes. After she'd calmed down and was taking shaky, gasping breaths, still occasionally choking on sobs, he spoke.

"I'm very sorry for your loss. Dr. Po asked me to come over and tell you that she's sorry, too. She'd do it herself, but there are still lives that can be saved," he said softly.

"Th-th-thank you," she gulped. "But that won't b-bring my f-father back, will it?"

"No, it won't," he said. A pause was filled with the sounds of her sniffling and others crying and yelling. "Ms. Darlian, I need to know your personal information so that we can get you out of here. This is a difficult question, but do you know who your father's next-of-kin is?"

Relena sniffed. "My mom, I guess. Her name's Allison." She gave their address and phone number, which the police officer wrote down on a notepad.

"Thank you," he said. "We'll get you back home as soon as we can." He walked away, and Relena leaned back on her seat to stare at the sky. There was still some smoke trailing away from the ruins of the building, marring the deep blue. She sniffled again and squeezed her eyes tightly shut, burying her face in her hands once more.