Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Lean On Me ❯ Veils of Mistrust ( Chapter 19 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing.

Chapter Nineteen

"I really don't think that is necessary," Trowa stated, glaring across the table at WuFei. "Locking her up in one of the other spare guestrooms won't help anything."

WuFei looked back at him fiercely. "We can't trust her. As I have told you before, the only way we can know if she is under that machines influence is if her eye colour changes, and when she opened her eyes, they were a bright blue."

"You also said that it takes an hour to wear off."

"But there is still the possibility."

Quatre sighed into his cup of orange juice, listening to Trowa and WuFei argue. Rarely had he ever heard Trowa so defiant. When silence finally filled the air, he looked up at the two. Trowa was staring, unblinkingly, at the wall to his right; WuFei was staring at the table, his hands clenched into fists.

Without a word, Trowa then stood up and walked from the kitchen, passing Duo as he went. Duo looked back at him over his shoulder before shrugging and sitting down in the chair Trowa had vacated moments before. He glanced at WuFei, noted his rigged posture, and didn't say anything.

"Would you like something to drink, Duo?" Quatre asked, breaking the silence that had fallen over the room.

Duo looked up at him. "Sure. Whatever you're having will be fine."

Quatre retrieved a cup from the cupboard, and filled it with orange juice. Duo took it thankfully before gulping it down. WuFei watched him through narrowed eyes. With a sigh of content, Duo set the empty cup back on the table, and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "That was good, thanks Quatre." He yawned as he got to his feet again. "Anyone know where Heero is?"

"Upstairs, guarding the door."

Duo looked at WuFei; he knew what door WuFei was referring to. "So now she needs a guard?" he asked sarcastically.

Quatre watched WuFei warily, knowing what was coming next. But it didn't come. Instead, WuFei left the room wordlessly, following Trowa's example.

The world spun as she opened her eyes, and she felt as if she was on an upside-down roller coaster that was spinning out of control. She placed a hand to her forehead, and closed her eyes. She lay like this for another five minutes before sitting up, and slowly opening her eyes again. Other than being light-headed and sore in a few areas, she felt perfectly fine. It was nothing a warm shower wouldn't fix, she reasoned.

She was getting to her feet when she heard something at the door. She frowned, then noticing that she was in a different room entirely. It had no balcony, and the room's colours were different, but otherwise it was much the same. Again, she heard something at the door, and went to open it, but it wouldn't open. She twisted the knob again; it had been locked from the outside. The feeling of loneliness overwhelmed her. Not even her friend's could trust her motives anymore.

Turning her back on the door, she looked around, searching for a change of clothes that she hoped someone might have left for her. She found none, but then went to search the bathroom. Though a change of clothes wasn't present, a robe was hanging on the back of the door, along with a pair of slippers and everything else she would need to take a shower.

A hot shower was exactly what she had needed, and after a relaxing fifteen minutes, she finally turned it off, wrapped a towel around her, and stepped out. The bathroom was steamy and the mirror was fogged up. Using a washcloth, she cleared an area of the mirror so she could see her reflection. Her wet hair hung limply down her back, and her green eyes looked lifeless. She turned her back on the mirror and pulled on the robe and slippers. She wanted to pull her wet hair out of her face, but there wasn't a hair band in sight.

She pulled open the door and walked back into the bedroom. She stopped short, seeing a tray sitting on the now made-up bed, and a change of clothes beside it. She found a note on each of these, and read the note on the tray first.

`Thought you might want something to eat for breakfast. It isn't much, but I think it should be enough. -Quatre'

She smiled and looked down at the tray. A simple glass of milk, a banana, and a bowl of warm cinnamon oatmeal were set up on the tray, and a spoon was lying atop a folded napkin. She smiled and shook her head, sending water droplets onto the note, blurring the words. She picked up the second note, lying on her change of clothes.

`I didn't think you would want to walk around in a bathrobe all day. -Duo'

Riley laughed, and set the two notes aside. She changed quickly into the outfit Duo had brought up for her, ate her breakfast, and tried the door again. This time it was unlocked, but someone was waiting for her. She stopped short, finding WuFei leaning against the wall to the left of the door. She looked at him warily. "Is something wrong?" she asked.

"We're meeting the others in the parlour," was the reply, and he started down the hall.

She frowned, a dark look washing over her face. He doesn't trust me. She sighed and followed him, staying a foot behind him. She folded her arms across her chest as they entered the parlour a minute later, determined not to let WuFei's distrust shake her. As long as the others trusted her, what was one out of five? But, as she looked up, all her hopes were tossed aside. Everyone, excluding Quatre and Duo, was avoiding eye contact. Make that three out of five, she thought sadly. Limply, she dropped into a straight back chair and looked out the window.

"Is Relena joining us?" Quatre asked.

"She said she would come as soon as she could," Heero said. "She had something to do."

Silence fell over the room again. Riley fidgeted, twirling a strand of her wet hair around her middle and index fingers. Everyone in the room jumped a little as Duo unexpectedly jumped to his feet angrily, glaring at everyone in the room, minus Riley.

"What is everyone's problem?" he shouted. "She didn't do anything wrong! Is it her fault Dr. J did this to her? No! Trowa," he said, looking over at the Latin boy sitting beside Quatre, "she's your sister, and if I'm not mistaken, early this morning you were angry at everyone else for treating her like this, and yet here you are, acting just like them! Come on you guys; this is pathetic. None of you should be stooping this low as to turn your back on her when she needs us most."

The corners of Riley's mouth twitched. "Duo, it's okay. Just sit down," she said quietly, but loud enough for everyone to hear.

"It's not okay," he stated, looking at her. "We're your friends, and friend's don't just turn their backs like that."

"Let's drop it," she said. "If they don't trust me, that's their choice, but whether they trust me or not, we still have to figure out what we're going to do. You can cut me out of the original plans if you want to. I'll stay back here and you can chain me to a wall, but as we all know, not even chains can stop me, can they? So maybe then you guys will want to drown me, that way you don't have to worry about me anymore." She stopped; she was letting her anger and frustration come out. She pursed her lips. "Sorry, I didn't mean to go that far," she apologized.

"No need to apologize," Trowa said. "You have the right to be angry with us. You don't deserve any of this. Duo's right. We should be behind you all the way."

"My mother always used to say that friend's are closer than a brother," Quatre said with a smile.

Riley chewed on her bottom lip. "Can we put it behind us? I'd rather we just move on. We have more important things to talk about than my feelings."

"We still don't have everyone present," Heero said from the far corner of the room. "Relena still needs to get here."

"Where is she, anyway?" Duo asked, still standing.

In answer to his question, they could all hear the front doors opening, but not just one set of footsteps was heard. Heero and WuFei narrowed their eyes, as the many footsteps grew closer.

Riley frowned. "Whom did you guys invite?" she asked.

Quatre shrugged. "The only other person was Relena."

The doors to the parlour were swung open, and Relena stepped inside with a satisfied smile on her face. Behind her, three other girls followed in. Only two of which did Riley recognize, the third she had never met, but knew by name.

WuFei stood up, looking indignant. "What are they doing here?"

Meiran smiled cockily at him. "You didn't think we would let you boys have all the fun, did you?"

"Did you forget that we once fought in the war too?" Midii asked, folding her arms across her chest. "We may be girls, but that doesn't mean we're weak." Riley smiled, catching the unspoken jab at WuFei.

The third girl looked at each person in turn, but her eyes stopped when they locked with Riley's emerald green ones. "You must be Riley," she said with a smile, walking forward with her hand held out.

Riley stood and shook the girls hand. "And you must be Hilde," she replied evenly.

"You've heard about me?"

"I know about you, anyway." Riley dropped her hand.

"Again, what are they doing here?" WuFei repeated. Heero nodded his agreement.

"You can't expect to do this with just the six of you," Relena replied with a dignified flair. "Besides, I thought we needed some girls in on this."

Riley arched an eyebrow. "And what am I, a man?" she asked sarcastically. She smirked in satisfaction at the faint blush that crept up into Relena's cheeks.

"Where's Cathrine?" Trowa asked.

"She returned to the circus," Meiran replied, but quickly added, "Trust me, she can take care of herself. Besides, I'm more than positive that your circus will have security."

"It does," Riley said. She looked around the room. "We're going to need more chairs. Hilde, you can feel free to take mine. Meiran, I think there should be enough room for you next to Trowa. Midii, you and I will need to go find some."

"You two stay here, I'll get them," Duo offered.

Riley gave him a look. "We can get them," she said pointedly. Duo got the hint and sat back down.

Out in the hall, Riley didn't even glance at the five chairs that were in there; she just continued to walk past them all to the front doors. Midii knew her friend wanted her to follow.

A cool wind was blowing when they both stepped outside, but neither of them paid much attention. They sat down on the steps side-by-side without a word. Riley pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them to her, as if trying to get warm. Midii merely adjusted her jean jacket and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. She pursed her lips and brushed a strand of blonde hair out of her face. She was waiting for Riley to say something, but a minute passed and still Riley said nothing. She looked over at her friend. Riley was staring at the ground, resting her chin on her knees; she sighed. "Do you know what happened?" she asked quietly.

Midii looked down at her hands. "Relena told us on the way here. I didn't want to believe it." She took a deep breath. "I still trust you, if that's what you were wanting to ask me. My trust and friendship isn't going to dissolve because of one stupid machine and its wielder. You've been my friend since we were young." She paused.

A wry smile crossed Riley's face. "If you think about it, that wasn't long ago; we're still young." Her hands tightened into fists. "We're only seventeen. Seventeen, Midii! Still teenagers, and yet we're thrown into a web of death and deceit. The world isn't supposed to be like this."

"Our innocent youth may have been lost years ago, but if we do something about it now, Riles, then we can at least give the teenagers of the future theirs. We can't be so selfless to where we dwell in our own misery and ignore everyone else's. We have the future to think about, and if we don't do anything about it now, then the future is spoiled. No child will be innocent. Every single kid will be a witness to the evil that surrounds us. We can prevent that. We may just be seventeen, but that doesn't mean we're helpless." She smiled and put an arm around her friend. "Now come on. You and I both know that Vienna would hate for you to be like this. I can imagine her now." Midii jumped to her feet and turned around to face Riley, a mock frown on her face. "Stop being such a baby, Riles," she said, imitating Vienna. "Get off that big butt of yours and do something about it. Sitting around isn't going to get you anywhere. Now come on!" She then stomped up the stairs and as she reached the top step, she pretended to trip and fall flat on her face.

Riley burst out laughing, hugging herself as she doubled over in laughter. "Are you sure you aren't Vienna, `cause that was exactly like her."

Midii got to her feet with a smile, and bowed low, sweeping an arm out. "Thank you, thank you very much. I'll be here all week!" She then helped Riley to her feet and hooked arms with her friend. "Now, are we ready to face the world and our problems?"

Riley saluted with her free hand. "Yessir, Commander, sir!"

"Do I look like a man to you?"

Laughing, the two friends headed back inside, and didn't even remember what it was they had meant to do until they walked into the parlour and everyone asked where the two chairs were.

------

"The only way Team 1 will be able to get onto Granger is if we can sneak onto a cargo ship that I think is taking supplies there."

It was an hour later, and everyone was gathered around a large card table that had been brought in. Papers littered the tabletop, pens and pencils were strewn about, an empty paper cup was set before each person, and a plate, which had once held cookies, was now empty and sitting in the center of the table.

Riley leaned forward. "You think?" she echoed. "We can't play a guessing game, Heero. We need facts, not assumptions."

He looked at her irritably. "Look, I'm almost certain that Granger is its destination. The coordinates are the same, and much about what is on that cargo ship is unknown." He waited a few seconds until continuing. "It leaves two days from now at six in the morning. They should begin loading it at around five. We need to be on board the second after they finish loading it," he said, looking at his other teammates: Riley, WuFei, and Meiran.

"Why not before they begin loading?" Relena questioned.

"There's the chance that there are no closets or any other hiding places in the cargo hold. If we wait until the second after they finish loading it, we can get on board and hide among the crates, but we will need to be fast. We can't be seen."

Duo picked it up from there. "My team needs to be ready for the cold, `cause we're headin' for the Arctic. Relena will need to schedule a private jet to take us as close as we can get. From there, we're taking snowmobiles. When we get close enough, we'll have to leave them and walk the rest of the way." He looked down at the blueprint for the Gemini base. "It looks as if they have electric fences surrounding the area with a guardhouse on the north entrance. There's another at the south entrance, where we'll be entering, but we'll need a diversion at the north. A friend of mine, by the name of Howard, will be coming with us. He'll take care of that. While most of the attention is focused at the north entrance, we're going to force our way in through the south, drawing as little attention as possible." His team members -Trowa, Quatre, and Hilde -all nodded.

Relena stood up. "I'll go schedule that jet now. I don't really think I'm needed here much longer anyways." Riley waited until Relena had left the room before kicking her feet up on the vacated chair.

"Each team," Heero continued, "should arrive and get in the base by 3 P.M. Team 2 will be setting bombs throughout the base, scheduled to go off at exactly 3:45. You need to be out of the base and at least a mile away by the time they go off. You will go back to the jet and it will fly you back here to the mansion.

"At 3:40, my team, at Granger, will separate -Riley and I heading down to the prison cells, WuFei and Meiran going to the control room. Each of us will by hidden by our destinations by the time it's 3:45. When that time comes, the bombs at Gemini will go off, and sirens at Granger will sound. Half the soldiers at Granger will be rushing to their transport ships, while the other half should group in the main hangar. While this is going on, WuFei and Meiran will sneak into the control room, rid of anyone that is in there, lock the door, and get to the computers. They will then find the cell number that Vienna is being kept in and unlock it by using the computer. They will give us the cell number via our walkie-talkies. Riley and I will get Vienna out and head to the emergency escape pods on the second level. Meiran and WuFei will set up a bomb in the control room. They will program it to go off at 4:00. That gives them five minutes to get down to the escape pods, and for all of us to get off the base. By the time anyone knows that escape pods have been used, the bomb in the control room should go off, causing more mayhem. If anything goes wrong, Lady Une has already scheduled six of her fighter pilots and their ships to be waiting just out of radar range. They will proceed to attack Granger and prevent anyone from stopping our escape pods."

Duo let out a deep sigh. "That's a lot to remember, isn't it?"

WuFei looked at him. "And you better remember everything, otherwise you will ruin everything."

"He'll remember," Quatre assured WuFei. "If he doesn't Trowa and I know what to do."

Riley looked down at her watch. "Almost lunch. Is anyone up for going out?"

------

Rawthorne smiled to himself and flicked a switch, causing silence to wash over the back cabin of the shuttle. After the helicopter had brought he and his team to an abandoned area where their private shuttle had been waiting, they had gone inside and he had went directly to his cabin. He had been in there for the past hour and a half, listening for anything of importance. His wait had paid off. Ever since he had planted that listening device over four days ago, nothing of importance had been heard, until then.

He leaned back in his chair and smiled contently, the face of a familiar brunette forming in his head. He chuckled, breaking the silence, and whispered, "If only you knew, Riley, if only you knew what was coming."

A/N: YAY! You guys have no idea how glad I am to have this chapter finally done! It has been irritating me for the longest time, and has been pulling at me to finish it for the past week. I know, I know, this chapter was a bit of a bore, but it had to be done. Honestly, it took a lot of brain power on my part just having to think their entire plan through, make sure that it would work, and all that other hee-haw. Some of my friends helped me out on this one, and I thank them profusely. They're always there for my in a clutch. Well, as you can guess, some excitement is on the way, finally. Sorry for the lack thereof, guys. I'm not sure when chapter twenty will be posted. I have yet to write it, and I think it will take some time just getting the facts and all that straight. Thank-you so much for keeping up with it!

P.S. For my two new readers (sorry, I don't know your names at the moment `cause I'm up in my room, which, regretfully, doesn't have the internet) hello and thank-you for reading my story! I was so thrilled to see that I had two new reviews. *grin*