Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction / Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Gangs Of Tokyo ❯ The Truth ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter 4: The Truth

~~~~~ Gundams ~~~~~

“Any word?” asked Heero Yuy as he spotted Duo Maxwell walk in the door to the basement level shooting range under the Gundam's house.

“Still nothing,” responded Duo. “I just can't understand why the Captors seemed to have just disappeared.”

It had been more than two full weeks since the Gundams had last had an encounter with the Captors. At first they had assumed the Captors were just being patient, perhaps setting up a strong attack, so Heero told all the Gundams to use their contacts to attempt to discern what the Captors might be planning. But as the days went on and they were unable to gain any information whatsoever, the Gundams began to think something else was going on. The Gundams had no idea that the decimation of the dozens of Yangs had been at the hands of the Captors, for there had been no evidence that the Captors had been at the secluded warehouse at all. All the information the Gundams had on the incident had come from the Police reports they had stolen, and without mention of their current enemy they just disregarded the entire situation.

“Just keep an ear out,” stated Heero as he unloaded a clip into the paper target at the end of the range. Heero reholstered his gun and pressed the return button for the target, quickly taking the piece of paper that had only one large hole in the center where each and every one of his shots hit, and throwing it in the trash as he headed toward the door.

“Got another date?” Duo asked with a mischievous grin. As he expected, Duo got no response from Heero as he continued to walk out of the room. “Both you and Ami have had more dates in these past two weeks than I can remember you having in the past two years. Not counting those midnight romps the two of you seem to enjoy so much, of course.”

This time Heero did stop and turn to face Duo, giving him a deathly cold stare in the process. However, the Gundams' resident joker was expecting Heero to react this way, and simply laughed as he walked past his leader and out the door. After Duo had left, Heero actually thought about his comment for a bit. In the past two weeks, he had been out with Sakura on either a day date or a night date at least ten out of the last sixteen days. “Guess he's right,” Heero said quietly to himself. Shrugging slightly, Heero walked out of the room and up the two flights of steps from the basement to the upper floor where his bedroom was located. As he was turning to enter his bedroom, Heero ran right into Ami, who was exiting his room with hair wet and her gorgeous body wrapped in a large white towel.

“Sorry, Ami,” apologized Heero. “What's going on?”

“I borrowed your shower,” answered Ami. “Mine's acting up and Trowa said he'd get to it in a couple days after he gets the parts he needs, but I have a date so I needed to get ready.” Ami paused for a moment. “I hope you don't mind.”

“Of course not,” answered Heero. “You know that anything you need, I'll always help.”

Ami smiled at Heero's thoughtfulness and gave him a quick kiss of thanks.

“So when's your date picking you up?”

“Actually I'm taking a cab to meet him so he doesn't know I live here,” answered Ami. “It's a little inconvenient but I think it's best for the time being.”

“Probably true,” agreed Heero. “But don't bother with the cab. I'm leaving pretty soon for my own date, so I'll give you a ride.”

Ami smiled again. “Thanks, Heero. That's sweet of you.”

“Well you know me,” responded Heero with a lopsided grin and a wink, to which Ami laughed and gave him another quick kiss on the lips. “So I'll meet you downstairs whenever you're ready.”

“Okay,” said Ami as she headed down the hall to her own room. “I'll try not to take too long.”

Heero stood in the doorway to his room for a moment, watching Ami's sexy form walking down the hall, hips seductively swaying side to side. Once she was out of sight, Heero finally entered his room, shaking his head to clear it a bit. After pulling off his shirt and tossing it into the hamper, Heero walked into the bathroom, immediately noticing the lingering scent of Ami's shower. Shaking his head one more time, Heero laughed at himself for a moment at how much Ami could still affect him before coming back to his senses and began getting ready for his date without any more distractions.

A little less than an hour later, Heero was sitting in a chair at the bottom of the stairs when Ami finally came strolling down the stairs, looking sexy as ever. “Wow,” complimented Heero. “You look great. You must really like this guy.”

“I really do,” said Ami with a very slightly dazed look in her eyes. “He's real sweet.”

“Well he better be a good guy,” responded Heero. “I'd rather not have to kill him because he hurt you in some way.”

“Don't worry,” answered Ami. “I highly doubt that will happen.” Ami reached the bottom of the steps and lightly kissed Heero on the lips. “But thanks for the concern.”

“So where am I dropping you?” Heero asked as they headed toward the garage and Heero's car.

“I told him to meet me at Tokyo Station,” answered Ami.

“Really?” said Heero rhetorically. “That works out perfect. I'm meeting my date at the same place.”

“You're not picking her up at her place?”

“No,” answered Heero. “She's a lot like you I guess. Doesn't want to reveal where she lives yet.”

“Maybe she's rich or something and doesn't want to let on in fear that you will just go after her money,” suggested Ami.

“I don't think that's it,” said Heero. “She doesn't seem like that kind of girl. But in any case, it doesn't really matter to me anyway.”

“So what do you have planned for your date tonight?” Ami asked.

“Got dinner reservations at the same place I took her to on our first date that got interrupted, and then was thinking of going to a club afterwards, but nothing else set in stone. You know what you guys are doing?”

“Not sure,” answered Ami. “Syaoran said he wanted to surprise me.”

“So your date's name is Syaoran?” repeated Heero. “What's his last name?”

“You know what,” said Ami as she scrunched her brow a bit. “I don't know. It never came up and I never thought to ask. What about you? What's your date's name?”

“Sakura,” answered Heero. “Now that I think about it, I don't know her last name either. So what are the others doing tonight?”

“Well, you know Duo and Minako are leaving for Taiwan tonight,” Ami said. “And Trowa and Makoto, and Wu-Fei and Rei, are going to a hot spring resort somewhere in the Kansai Region for the weekend. I think they are taking a little time off since it's been a bit quiet of late and nobody has had much time to relax these last few months.”

“I guess I can't really blame them,” said Heero.

“Especially since the two of us have been out more than any of the others in these last couple weeks,” Ami added.

“True,” conceded Heero. “It just still bothers me a bit that the Captors have been so quiet lately.”

“It bothers me a bit too,” agreed Ami. “But we've lost so many friends in the last few months, it would be great if this war could finally be over.”

Ami and Heero continued to talk as they drove through the city. While Ami was always conversational, with most people Heero didn't usually like to talk much. However, when he was with Ami, the conversation always flowed perfectly. Only when they reached they finally reached the station did their conversation pause as they looked around the area to see if they could spot their dates. “Are we early?” asked Heero as the two Gundam leaders exited the car to walk the short distance to the main entrance to the Station.

Ami looked at her watch. “About ten minutes,” she answered. “My timing for getting ready was based on the assumption I was going to have to spend the extra bit of time taking a cab. What about you? I didn't make you late, did I?”

“Not at all,” said Heero. “I'm not supposed to meet my date for over half an hour.”

“For a guy who never seems to care much about most other people's feelings, you certainly are chivalrous sometimes, Heero.” Heero turned to look down at the shorter girl, raising an eyebrow at Ami's comment. He was about to ask if what she said was supposed to be a compliment or an insult when he noticed her mouth turn up in a smile and her gaze lock onto a location. “My date's here,” Ami said casually.

Heero turned around to look in the direction Ami's date was approaching from, and instead found himself staring at his own date. “So is mine,” he said just as casually as Ami.

“This is an interesting coincidence,” stated Sakura as she and Syaoran walked up to where Ami and Heero were waiting.

“Not that much,” responded Heero. “We did both meet at the same club, if I'm not mistaken.”

“The guy's got a point. Name's Syaoran,” introduced Syaoran as he reached out a hand to Heero.

“Heero,” Heero answered as he shook Syaoran's hand.

“I'm Sakura,” said Sakura to Ami, as she too outstretched a hand of friendship.

“Ami,” said Ami with a smile, shaking Sakura's hand. “It's nice to meet you. You look beautiful, by the way.”

Sakura responded with a bright smile. “You look beautiful too. Syaoran sure does have good taste.”

Unlike Sakura, who just smiled in appreciation of Ami's compliment, Ami actually blushed a little bit. “He certainly does,” agreed Heero. “But I'd have to say I have just as good taste as him.”

Sakura gave Heero a wry smile before balancing on her tip toes and giving him a long kiss. “I haven't said `hi' to you yet, have I?”

“I think that will work just perfect,” responded Heero with a smirk, before bending down to give Sakura another kiss.

In the back of Ami's mind, she had always thought she would feel a twinge of jealousy if she ever actually saw Heero kissing another girl in front of her, however, now that the time had actually arrived, she strangely felt no resentment at all. But her thoughts didn't linger on Heero and Sakura for too long, as she instead mimicked the couple by giving Syaoran a long kiss on the lips. “I guess I didn't say `hi' to you either yet, huh?”

“Nope,” answered Syaoran with a lopsided grin. “I was beginning to feel a bit left out.”

“Sorry. Maybe this will make up for it,” responded Ami with a grin of her own before tilting up and giving Syaoran another deep kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him in closer at the same time.

“Hey now,” interrupted Sakura a few moment later. “Save that for the privacy of your own room or something.” At the interruption, Ami began to blush, while Syaoran turned to give an annoyed look to Sakura, knowing she had disrupted them just to irk him a bit, which was one her favorite hobbies.

“I suppose we should get going,” stated Syaoran, still eyeing Sakura for interrupting his moment with Ami.

“So where are we going?” Ami asked, having gathered herself and was now back to normal.

“It's a surprise,” answered Syaoran with a wink as he held out his arm, causing Ami to giggle at his formalness, and leading his date to his car.

“Have fun you two,” called out Sakura from behind them. “And don't get into any trouble.” Syaoran turned his head just slightly and gave Sakura another annoyed look, causing the auburn haired girl to giggle at how easy it was to irritate Syaoran.

Once Syaoran and Ami were gone, Sakura turned her attention back to Heero. “So what are we doing tonight?”

“I thought we could finish our first date,” answered Heero. “You know, the one you ditched me in the middle of.”

Sakura started to frown a bit, remembering that one of her good friends had been killed that night, but caught herself and instead turned it into a fake embarrassed face. “Sorry about that,” she said. “I'll make it up to you this time.”

“I was hoping you would say that,” said Heero with a devilish smirk crossing his lips. Sakura lightly slapped him on the arm for his comment before stretching to kiss him again. “And by the way, even though Ami beat me to it, I just wanted to say that you look absolutely gorgeous.”

“Thanks!” beamed Sakura as she took a step back and did a twirl to show off her backless sparkling silver, mid-thigh length dress. “I bought it special for tonight.”

“Must be my lucky night.”

“You have no idea,” replied Sakura seductively as she pulled Heero into a long, deep kiss. “Shall we go?”

“Sure,” answered Heero, a little dazed from Sakura's last kiss. “I'll just get them to seat us a little early.”

“Sounds good,” said Sakura with a smile as she and Heero walked toward his car.

~~~~~Yangs~~~~~

“You're sure?” asked Yin into the phone.

“Positive,” came the answer from the other end. “All of our taps confirmed that the only two that will be left are the two leaders.”

“Well done,” said Yin as she hung up the device. “Tonight's the night,” she said to her brother, Yang, who was standing right next to her.

“Good,” replied Yang as a wicked grin crossed his lips. “I can hardly wait.”

~~~~~Gundams & Captors~~~~~

“And how was everything this evening?” asked the waiter as he picked up the check with payment and tip for the meal.

“Excellent,” answered Sakura for both herself and Heero. “Thank you.” Taking his leave with a slight bow, the waiter left Heero and Sakura to their own business. “So what did you have in mind for the rest of the night?” Sakura asked as a mischievous smile crossed her lips.

“I was thinking of taking you to a club,” replied Heero. “But judging by that look on your face, you seem to have something else in mind.”

Sakura leaned across the table and gave Heero a long, lingering kiss on the lips. She then pulled away just an inch, before whispering right at Heero's ear. “Let's get out of here.”

Sakura was the first to stand up from the table, with Heero following suit right afterwards. The couple walked out of the restaurant and stepped into Heero's car, which the valet had already brought out front. “Where to?” Heero asked as he sped off into the night.

Sakura turned to her left and smiled seductively at Heero. “Your place.”

As dumb as it sounds, Heero actually contemplated if he really should take Sakura back to his place. Under normal circumstances, any guy in the world would jump at the opportunity to take a girl as beautiful and perfect as Sakura back home. But obviously, Heero's life was anything but normal circumstances. However, as he thought about it, Heero realized that he might not have a problem tonight. Since everyone except Ami and himself were out of town for the weekend, the Gundam's house would be mostly empty, and so his risk of being found out would be at a minimum.

“As the lady commands,” said Heero with a grin, to which he received a playful slap on the arm from Sakura. Sakura then leaned over and despite the fact that she was blocking his view of the road, gave Heero a long kiss on the lips before returning to her seat and resting her hand on top of his on the stick shift.

It wasn't long before Sakura and Heero reached the Gundam house. Heero decided to park in the driveway in front of the front door instead of the garage since the Gundams often kept weapons in the garage, and Heero was not sure if they were all stowed away and out of sight. Heero gave Sakura a short tour of the house, skipping the rooms he felt might contain anything suspicious, before the couple stopped in Heero's room. As soon as they walked into Heero's room, the phone on a table in the room began to ring. “Excuse me for a moment,” said Heero as he walked over to the phone and picked it up. “Make yourself comfortable.”

Heero answered the phone as he walked out of the room, however, the phone call was actually a trick. Installed at the front entrance to the Gundam house was a DNA mapping device, that took the DNA identity of each person that went through the door and comparing it to a database in the Gundam's computer system. The phone call that Heero received was actually a warning from the system that it had found a match with a file stored on the computer. Once in the hallway, Heero dropped the ruse of having a phone call, and walked over to a room two doors down the hall and turned on a computer screen. Typing in the required commands and passwords, Heero brought up the testing results, and what he saw caused his eyes to go wide. What Heero saw was nine identical markers. Nine of the thirteen DNA markers were a match. A match to Touya Kinomoto.

Heero withdrew one of his Desert Eagles as he walked back toward his room. As he entered he kept the gun behind his back and saw Sakura sitting on his bed. Sakura saw the change in Heero's facial expression immediately. “What's wrong?”

Instead of responding with words, Heero pulled the gun out from behind his back and aimed it straight at Sakura's head. For the first time in his life while holding a gun, Heero's hand began to shake. “Kinomoto,” he said with just the slightest bit of uncertainty in his voice. “Your last name is Kinomoto.”

“Yes…” answered a confused Sakura, more out of reflex than anything else, as her brain attempted to catch up with the situation. “How did you know?”

“DNA scan at the front door. You came up as a match to Touya Kinomoto. You are Touya Kinomoto's younger sister,” continued Heero, though his voice was wavering slightly as he spoke. “You and the rest of the Captors. You are the ones responsible.” It was getting more and more difficult for Heero to keep his hand from shaking uncontrollably, as the reality of this completely unexpected situation continued to sink in.

Sakura opened her mouth to speak, but her brain didn't know what to say. All she could do was stare in complete confusion at the gold plated Desert Eagle with the gold dragon engraved handle that was held by a guy with whom she held an unusual amount of trust in considering she had not even known him a full month. At that exact moment, her brain finally figured it all out. Heero knew she was a Captor. He also knew the name Touya Kinomoto and he was holding a .50AE Desert Eagle with a dragon engraved on the handle. “Oh my god,” Sakura gasped. “It was you. You are the new Gundam leader.”

Heero didn't answer. He simply held his gun as steady as he could manage, still pointing directly at Sakura's head.

“Please, Heero,” said Sakura quietly and sincerely. “Please put down the gun and let me explain first.” When Heero made no move to put away his weapon, Sakura continued. “I know you don't really want to shoot me. If you did, I'd already be dead, and your hand would not be shaking.”

The corner of Heero's mouth unconsciously flinched at the truthfulness of Sakura's statement. Slowly, Heero lowered his gun so that it was no longer pointing at Sakura, but still held it at the ready, unwilling to allow himself to be caught off guard.

“Thank you, Heero,” said Sakura, who breathed a slight sigh of relief since she no longer had a gun pointed at her face. “Before I explain myself, can I ask you one question?”

“You can ask,” answered Heero. “But I cannot guarantee I will answer.”

“Fair enough,” Sakura conceded. “You know my full name. I want to know yours.”

“Yuy. It's Heero Yuy,” Heero responded. “Now, explain to me why I shouldn't kill you right now.”

“First reason,” began Sakura. “Is because I know you don't want to. But that reason is beside the point. I'm sure you have noticed that for the past two weeks, since our drug lab was attacked…” Sakura paused for a moment. “Attacked I guess by you,” she continued as the recollection of the surviving guards statements came back to her about how a single Gundam, armed with guns with a dragon emblem engraved on the handles, had destroyed the production line almost completely alone. “Anyway, it has been over two weeks since that incident, and I'm sure you have noticed that we have done nothing in an act of retribution for that attack.” Heero only moved his head in a slight nod of confirmation for Sakura to continue. “Well, the reason for this is because that following night, the night of our first date actually, we discovered we have been fighting the wrong gang this entire time.”

This time, Heero did respond. His face shifted from a still as statue expression to a look of surprise and confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“The Yangs,” stated Sakura, spite obvious on her tongue. “They tricked us all. That explosion a few months ago that killed Milliardo Peacecraft and the others. It was triggered by the Yangs, not by us, which is what I know you think happened.”

“Why should I believe you?”

“You have no reason to believe me,” answered Sakura. “But what would I have to gain from lying to you.” Sakura waited a moment for Heero to take in all the information before continuing. “That night I left you at the restaurant. I left because Yang and his cronies deceived us, and trapped some of my friends in a warehouse we were looking at as a possible replacement drug facility. He killed one of my girls in cold blood, and admitted from his own big mouth that he was the one who sent us each those invitations to that meeting, and he pushed the button that killed your people himself. I know it was you and, I assume, that Ami girl I met earlier today, that technically killed my brother, Yukito, Botan, and Naoko, and while in some ways I want to still blame you for that, I know in my heart that if I had been in your shoes, I would have done the exact same thing.”

“What would Yang have to gain from attacking us?”

“Power. Yang knew that if we thought you were responsible, and you thought we were responsible, then we would go to war. His hope was that we would cripple each other so severely that he could sweep in and clean up the loose ends. After we were both out of the way, he would control the city.” Sakura watched as Heero's hand gripped tighter onto his gun in anger. She knew this new anger was not directed at her, for she was still alive. “And he almost got away with it. But he was stupid. He wasn't patient enough to wait for us to finish each other off, and tried to do it himself. We wanted to contact you and arrange a peace between us, but figured if we invited you to another meeting, it was unlikely you would be very receptive to the idea, considering what happened last time.”

“We would have killed you,” Heero stated matter-of-factly.

“I want to offer a truce between us. It is only a matter of time before Yang either comes after us again, or comes after you guys, and we will both be much better off if we…” Before Sakura could finish her sentence, a beeping started coming from somewhere around the desk in Heero's room. “What is that?”

Heero didn't answer right away. Instead he walked over to the desk, finally holstering his gun at the same time. After Heero pressed a well hidden button on the underside of the desktop, three flat panel LCD monitors raised out from within the table. Getting up from the bed, Sakura walked over to where Heero was standing and looked at the screens, discovering that they were apparently connected to security cameras overlooking the exterior of the house. “What's going on?” Sakura asked.

“Someone tripped a silent exterior alarm,” answered Heero. “Usually the only way to do that is when you are trying to bypass our security systems.” Heero punched a few buttons on the keyboard that had popped up along with the monitors and the screens all shifted to different sets of cameras. “There,” said Heero as he pointed to the far left screen and the video of a person apparently cutting and bypassing wires in a box along the outside wall of the property. “As much as my brain is telling me not to, I am trusting that is not one of your people.”

“Definitely not,” answered Sakura, still staring at the screen. “Especially since that looks like Yin who is working on your security system. And besides, if we had known about this place and were planning an attack, we wouldn't have been so stupid as to go straight for the security bypass without checking for the redundancy system first.”

“I'm impressed,” said Heero. “You know your stuff.”

“I'm impressed as well,” said Sakura. “From what I can see from these cameras, the only way to disable the redundancy system seems to be from inside the property. And the only way to get over those outside walls without being detected would be to disable the security system. It is about as close to a perfect warning system I have ever seen.”

“Again, very impressive.”

“But even though you know they are here, what kind of systems do you have for defending the house?”

“Just whoever is here at the time,” answered Heero. “Mechanical defenses are unreliable, inefficient, and easily compromised.”

“How many do you have here right now?”

“Just me,” Heero answered.

“And me,” added Sakura.

“I don't know if I trust you enough for that yet.”

“Then give me a gun, and let me gain it,” stated Sakura. “And besides,” she continued when she noticed Heero's hesitation. “Based on how many men Yang had when he attacked us, there is no way you can fend them off alone, no matter how good you are.”

Heero looked deep in Sakura's emerald gaze, finding no lie, only absolute resoluteness. “Very well,” Heero finally said. “Come with me.”

Heero turned and walked toward the door, Sakura right on his heels. However, instead of leaving the room, Heero walked into his closet. “Why are you taking me to your closet?” Sakura asked in confusion, since she was assuming they would be heading to a garage or something to retrieve some weapons.

Heero had no need to answer Sakura's query verbally, as he pushed open the hidden door to his weapons closet. As Sakura followed Heero into the room, she was immediately awed at how complete an arsenal Heero had for just being one person. As she looked around in all directions, she saw countless boxes of ammunition of different caliber and style, a pair of bulletproof vests, at least half a dozen pistol holsters, what looked to be two quick-loaders, personal radios, fiber optic video equipment, grenades, plastic explosives, flashlights, gun cleaning supplies, knives, and close to two dozen handguns and assault rifles. As she was admiring the collection, one gun in particular caught her attention. “Is that the XM8?”

“Yeah,” answered Heero without looking, as he took on of his vests and strapped it on.

“Isn't that supposed to still be in the prototype test stage of development?”

“Heckler and Koch are still working on the full line for mass production of the XM8 for NATO,” answered Heero. “But there are a number of working models in the field already.”

“How does it handle?” Sakura asked as she pulled it down from the rack and tested the weight distribution of the weapon.

“On the semi-automatic setting it fires well. But I don't like the replacement extended length muzzle and the 100 round drum for fully automatic fire. It doesn't balance right so it begins to drift, loosing accuracy. But the attachable 40mm grenade launcher over there fits well.” After playing for a moment, Sakura placed the gun back on the rack, knowing that it would not be smart to use a gun for the first time in real action. “Take off your dress,” stated Heero without turning around.

“What?” responded Sakura in confusion.

“You can't fight well in that,” explained Heero. “You should be able to find something that fits you on the side rack back in the closet. Then put this on,” he continued as he handed Sakura a bulletproof vest. Inspecting the vest, Sakura realized that it was probably the perfect size for her, which meant it must have been much to small for Heero.

“This isn't yours,” stated Sakura.

“No,” Heero answered. “That's Ami's. Same with the clothes on the rack. She's pretty close to your size, so you should be able to find something that will fit you well.”

Sakura thought to ask why Ami's clothes and vest were in Heero's closet, but decided that it wasn't important at the moment. Instead she stepped out the door of the gun room and back into the main closet, unzipping her dress in the process. She easily found the rack Heero was referring to, and pulled down a sleeveless dark blue top and black pants. Dropping her dress to the floor, Sakura quickly took a glance over her shoulder, but found that Heero was out of view, either getting supplies from the corner of his personal armory, or purposely giving Sakura her privacy. She quickly pulled on the top and pants, finding that they were both only a tiny bit loose because of Ami's slightly more curvaceous body, but not so much that it was particularly noticeable. She also kicked off her heels and found a pair of short black boots which she slipped on, figuring she would need the better stability they would provide compared to the dressier shoes she had been wearing. As she walked back into the gun room, Sakura strapped on the bulletproof vest, finding that it fit pretty close to perfect and wouldn't limit her range of motion at all.

“Pick what you feel most comfortable with,” said Heero the moment Sakura reentered the room, as he put on a double belt holster and secured his trademark gold plated Desert Eagles. He then attached his two quick-loaders, which were now loaded with six Desert Eagle clips each, to his belt. Sakura took just a fraction of a second to watch Heero get ready. His movements were so methodical, obviously knowing exactly what weapons he wanted and probably already having an attack plan formulating in his head.

However, Sakura didn't delay for long, quickly grabbing two pistol holsters and a pair of straps to hold the holsters on the outside of her upper legs. Once they were securely strapped into place, Sakura grabbed the pair of Beretta 92FS Vertec pistols, which were actually her friend Tomoyo's guns of choice, and after doing a quick check to find that they were already loaded and expertly cleaned, swiftly slid them into her holsters. She then grabbed six more clips for the guns and placed them in a belt which she wrapped around her waist. Once her pistols were securely in place, she took another look at the rack of semi and fully automatic weapons. She noticed Heero had pulled the two H&K G36C Ultra-Compact Carbines and had strapped them to the back of his vest, along with sufficient ammunition, and was now loading shells into a Franchi SPAS-12 shotgun. She noticed Heero wasn't bothering to take any extra shells for the SPAS, knowing it took much too long to load the shotgun and therefore was not worth the effort. On the rack, Sakura saw two different guns she would consider using; the Steyr AUG and the FN P90. There was not much use in taking both since they were of similar style, and would just be a waste of energy carrying the extra weight.

Before Sakura made a decision, she heard Heero speak. “Take the P90. It has a 50 round capacity magazine over the thirty, and a faster reload time than the AUG. It may not be quite as accurate in single shot mode, but in this case the advantages outweigh the accuracy difference.”

“How did you know which two I was deciding between?” asked Sakura as she followed Heero's suggestion and grabbed the P90.

“You weren't going to take either of the two sniper rifles, the M16 is probably too big to use in a house, and you said you have never fired the XM8. That left only the P90 and the AUG.” Heero paused for a moment as he grabbed eight clips for the P90 and handed them to Sakura as she inspected the gun sights. “That, and I also saw your eyes darting from one to the other.”

Sakura laughed lightly at Heero before leaning in to give him a kiss. However, unlike usual, Heero pulled away before Sakura's lips made contact. “We'll see when this is over,” Heero stated, knowing Sakura was wondering why he didn't kiss her.

Sakura, a little dejected, just nodded her head and secured her submachine gun ammo to her vest. Heero then handed her a radio headset and a small video monitor. “Stay in contact the entire time,” said Heero. “You can use the screen to switch between house cameras. It will help you locate enemies. Do you need firing goggles?”

“No,” answered Sakura as she clipped the video monitor to her vest and put on the headset. “I don't like the eye protection. It distorts my field of vision.” Heero nodded in agreement, his own reasons for not using glasses the same as Sakura's. “So what's the plan?”

“Given that there are only the two of us, and truthfully I am still not 100 percent sure I can trust you, our options are a bit limited,” answered Heero. Sakura was a little hurt that Heero had to state that he still didn't have total faith in her, but knew that the best way for her to gain his trust would be with her actions, and not with words. “Assuming that the Yangs are here specifically to kill me and Ami, they will probably do a sweep of the house looking for us as opposed to raiding the different rooms. Also, since they took the time to try to disable the security systems, they most likely will make an attempt at stealth to try to catch us by surprise. Therefore, our best option is to lay in wake in set positions and ambush them from an elevated position.”

“How many routes are there to this floor?”

“Two. The main staircase that we went up, and the emergency staircase at the other end of the hall. I will take the main entrance. You keep watch on the secondary one.”

“This plan of yours sounds very defensive,” pointed out Sakura.

“It is,” responded Heero. “I would much rather head down the back way and sweep around, catching the Yangs by surprise. But an attack like that with only two people takes a lot of teamwork, and I do not know if I can trust you enough to attempt it.”

“So instead you would rather take a defensive standpoint and just wait for them to overrun you?” countered Sakura. “I'm sure you know as well as I do that Yang and Yin have a countless number of people at their disposal, and they have never been short on sacrificing lives to attain their goals. Eventually they will have so many people heading up that staircase that you won't be able to stop them all. Plus, if they are smart, they will eventually have jumpers scaling down the walls from the roof of the house and entering through the second floor windows.” Heero stared hard into the eyes of Sakura Kinomoto, finding her emerald orbs were staring back at him with an equal level of intensity and a much stronger will than one would guess just by looking at her. “You know I'm right.”

It was the second time Sakura's resolve had overpowered his decision, and though he didn't like loosing, Heero knew they had no chance if they were completely defensive. “Alright,” he conceded. “We will head down the back stairs. We have a set of tunnels beneath the house that exit through different hidden openings on the lower floor. One such exit is near the front entrance, at the end of a hallway that appears to lead nowhere. This is where you will be stationed. Nearby in a similar direction is another exit from the tunnel system where I will begin the attack. I'll attack first, turning them around. I will then retreat back into the tunnels while you will continue to fire. I will then move around to their new flank side, and we will trap them in a bottleneck. If you get overrun, retreat before they see you, sealing the tunnel exit as you go. Hopefully this will confuse them. Then make your way through the tunnels to another spot. Each tunnel exit is marked with a different number. These numbers correspond to the set of cameras that cover that area. Check the monitors before exiting a new station. If the Yangs figure out how we are moving, it's over. Make sure you stay in contact the entire time.”

“Now this plan I much prefer,” stated Sakura.

“Then let's get moving,” Heero responded. “It looks like they have just cleared the outer wall. They will be in the house shortly.”

Heero exited his room and made his way down the hall, with Sakura close on his heals. They quickly descended the staircase down to the main level of the house, and after Heero placed his hand on an extremely well hidden fingerprint recognition pad, an almost completely invisible door slid open. The tunnels were not lit, so Heero turned on the flashlight mounted on the barrel of his shotgun and motioned Sakura do to the same with the flashlight mounted on her P90. Once they were both inside the tunnel network, Heero placed his hand on another keypad, this one easily seen, and closed the automatic door. Sakura followed Heero carefully as he descended yet another short set of stairs that led to a thin dark hallway. Being careful to keep her light continuously focused on Heero's back, Sakura followed the Gundam leader through the tunnels until they reached what looked like a small control room. Unlike the halls, this room was lit and had a full three walls covered with security monitors. Heero bent over a control panel located below one set of the security monitors and punched in a few commands, turning on the screens. On one set of the screens, Sakura could see that Heero's prediction that the Yangs would stay together and search the house in a group sweep was indeed accurate. They were currently about two thirds of the distance from the front gate to the house entrance, and from what Sakura could tell, the incursion force was quite large.

“Place your hand here,” commanded Heero as he motioned to another fingerprint keypad. “This will download your fingerprints into the security system, allowing you to open and close the doors leading to the tunnel system.” Sakura did as ordered, placing her hand firmly on the pad, and watching as the computer created a detailed map of her fingerprint topography. “Most of the doors leading to the network do not have a keypad to open and close them from the outside,” continued to explain Heero. “So make sure you reenter the tunnels through the same door in which you exit. Just place your hand on the keypad to open a door, and place it again on the pad to close it.”

“Understood,” said Sakura.

“I do not have a map of the tunnels beneath the house, so since you do not know the network, you will have to rely on your own internal navigation to figure out where each door is going to exit. We are currently directly underneath the main staircase in the house, and the door I am about to lead you to is at the end of a small hallway just to the left of the front door. Again, you can use the video monitor to get the feeds from the different security cameras, so I suggest you check the cameras to determine exactly where your position is before you open a door.”

“Have a little faith,” commented Sakura. “I know what I'm doing.”

“I hope you're right,” responded Heero. “Or else we are both in big trouble. Let's go.”

Heero picked up his shotgun again, and led Sakura back into the dark hallways. It was clear Heero could probably navigate these tunnels through memory alone, for he moved through the tunnels at a very quick pace, never needing to pause once to make certain he was heading the right direction.

Heero finally stopped at a T crossing. “That will be your position,” Heero explained, pointing down the left turn of the T. “The cameras at that exit are numbers ten through fourteen. Wait for me to fire, then let loose.”

“Understood,” answered Sakura.

Heero nodded in response before turning and starting down the other hallway at the junction. After he went about two steps, he stopped and turned his head around to look at Sakura. “Keep safe.” Before Sakura had a chance to respond, Heero had disappeared out of sight down the dark hallway.

Sakura turned and quickly made her way down the direction Heero had appointed her to go. As she was moving, she picked up her video monitor and punched in the numbers to get cameras ten through fourteen to show in the four corners of the small screen. The screen was too small to see many details on any of the four camera feeds, but it was clear enough for Sakura to visualize exactly where the exit she would be firing from was located. The cameras were located perfectly. They were all fixed in position, and Sakura assumed they were extremely small in size, making them likely almost impossible to notice due to the small size and the lack of noise that comes with the moving security cameras. The four feeds covered a perfect view of the area that would be of interest in respect to the doorway, with only the slightest overlap, but covering each angle.

“Test, test,” Sakura heard through her headset. “You in position?”

“In position. This is a very impressive security system,” said Sakura through the radio to Heero. “Between the tunnel system beneath the house, the redundancy systems, and these cameras, the security here is practically perfect. I might have to steal some of your designs and implement them back at our own headquarters.”

“Feel free,” Heero responded.

“By the way,” continued Sakura. “Where is the rest of your gang?”

“As you know, Ami's out with your friend, and most everyone else is taking a short vacation since we haven't had to deal with you guys in a while.”

“It seems like a strange coincidence that the Yangs would attack you on the specific day that almost your entire gang is unavailable,” commented Sakura.

“It does sound a little suspicious,” Heero agreed. “But it's hard to believe that the Yangs could know so much about our daily activities.”

“Normally, I would agree with you,” responded Sakura. “But Yang has a much better information network than we predicted. They already knew about Syaoran and myself, and though he didn't give us names, he said he knew about you and Ami as well.”

“Then they are about to learn something new,” said Heero. “They are about to learn never to cross the Gundams.”

“Or the Captors,” Sakura added. “And by the way, if you see Yang, don't kill him. He's mine.”

“Get ready to go,” Heero said as he saw the last of the troop of Yangs enter the house.

“All set,” replied Sakura as she chambered the first round in her P90 and placed a hand at the keypad, ready to open the door.

“Wait five seconds after you hear me finish firing,” ordered Heero. “If you can keep track, I am going to unload the eight rounds of the SPAS before moving to my new position.”

“I know what I'm doing,” said Sakura. “Just keep concentrated on your own job so you don't loose focus. I don't want you dying on me before I can prove myself to you.”

Unknown to Sakura, a grin spread across Heero's face. He was genuinely impressed and intrigued at Sakura's strength of spirit and tactical knowledge. “Here we go.” Heero placed his hand on the pad at his location and the door in front of him silently slid open. With shotgun at the ready, Heero noiselessly took a dozen steps through the hallway until he could see the backs of the group of Yangs who had infiltrated his home. “Now,” Heero whispered right before pulling the trigger to unleash the first spread of shotgun pellets into the troop of invaders. Before the Yangs could even react to the deafening boom of the powerful gun, Heero had pumped the next shell into the chamber and fired again. The first three shots alone wiped out five of the Yangs, and by the time the Yangs had realized where the shots were coming from, Heero had unloaded all eight SPAS shells, killing ten Yangs, and had retreated out of sight into the shadows and back to the tunnel network.

Sakura kept her eyes closed, listening intently for the distinct bangs of Heero's SPAS shotgun. As soon as she heard shot number three, she placed her palm on the pad at her own exit, and crept out into the hallway. By the time she got to a position where she had a clear line of fire at her enemies, Heero had already emptied his gun and was back racing through the tunnels beneath the house. Ducking most of her body behind an end table for cover, Sakura squeezed the trigger of her own semi-automatic machine gun. Since all the Yangs had turned around toward the direction Heero had fired from, Sakura found herself shooting mainly at the side profile of the intruders. At the sound of the automatic fire, the Yangs all ducked and scattered, diving for cover anywhere they could find it. Sakura purposely spread her fire to attempt to make it more difficult to pinpoint her own location.

Because of the P90's fast firing rate, it didn't take long for the 50 bullet magazine to empty. Sakura quickly popped out the expended magazine and reloaded a new one. Since she did not hear any fire from Heero during her short reload time, she had to assume he was not yet at his position. She knew that for their plan to work well, they would need a constant stream of fire between the two of them to keep the enemy from figuring out where the shots were coming from and also to keep them from determining the number of attackers were in the area. If they overlapped fire, then it would be clear there were more than one of them, but if it was one constant stream of only one gun firing at a time, then it would serve to confuse them. As she was reloading, Sakura took one step to the other side of the hall, just to change her angle a tiny bit. Once her new magazine was popped into place, she pulled the bolt to chamber the first shot, and then unleashed another round of fire.

While she was firing her second magazine of bullets, she heard Heero through her radio. “I'm in position. When your empty, retreat to a new position.”

Sakura didn't waste time answering, instead she concentrated on taking out as many of the Yangs she could see. By the time she had emptied a second magazine and was on her way back to the tunnel door, another dozen Yangs were dead on the ground, and another half dozen injured.

Seconds after Sakura was done firing, she was fairly certain she heard the distinctive sound of Heero's G36 Carbines. By this time, the Yangs had all been firing in different directions in an attempt to subdue their attacker. Because of the confined space it was very difficult to pinpoint any exact location of fire by sound, and with the flash suppressant on Sakura's gun, it was hard to find her by sight either. Sakura was impressed at Heero's ability to distinguish the sound of her firing over the interspersed firing by the Yangs. If she had been in Heero's position, she likely would have had to wait a few moments longer before beginning to fire to make certain that it was indeed she who had stopped firing.

But Sakura didn't spend to long dwelling on the issue of Heero's battle abilities, instead she concentrated on navigating her way through the tunnel system. Sweeping the light from her flashlight mounted on her gun across the walls, Sakura watched for a passage she felt would lead her to a good position. After running for a few seconds through the tunnels, Sakura finally found a passage she thought would lead her to a good position. Given that so far Heero and Sakura had attacked from opposite ends, she figured an attack from the side would be optimal. She found a pathway that appeared to lead under the current battlefield and over to the opposite side from her previous position. If she remembered correctly, there was likely to be an exit somewhere in the kitchen area, which was about ninety degrees off from where Heero was currently shooting. Moments later, Sakura discovered she was right. She found a staircase leading upwards, right about where she expected, and after doing a very quick check of the video cameras mounted at the exit, she discovered she was right at the entrance to the kitchen area and would be facing the Yangs from an angle between their back and side. Informing Heero she was in a new position, she opened the door and stealthily stepped out.

Due to her running around underground, Sakura had lost sense of which of the sounds were coming from Heero's guns and which were from the Yangs. However, luckily for her, Heero helped her out. As soon as he had emptied his current magazines in his SMGs, Heero spoke over his radio. “Fire.”

Sakura wasted no time in taking aim at the first target she saw and depressing the trigger. The Yangs were firing so chaotically they didn't even notice Sakura had opened fire and was casually killing each of their remaining members one by one. After taking out another half dozen Yangs, Sakura found herself without any more targets in sight. She also realized the sporadic firing from the Yangs had ceased as well. “We didn't get them all, did we?” Sakura whispered through her radio, figuring Heero would be checking the video cameras in search of targets.

“No,” answered Heero. “They are regrouping with another squad from outside and preparing for another incursion. They'll likely be substantially more careful this time, so come back to the security center. I have a new plan.”

“On my way back,” Sakura responded. Sakura reentered the door back into the tunnel network, making certain to close the door behind her. She worked her way through the tunnels at a quick pace, though not a full run since she figured she needn't hurry that much, paying close attention to her steps to make certain she didn't get lost on her way to the security station in the center of the network. Fortunately her internal navigation skills didn't let her down, as she found Heero in the security center without making one wrong turn.

“You're not hurt are you?” asked Heero when he saw Sakura enter the room.

“Not a scratch,” Sakura answered. “The Yangs had no idea where I was firing from. They were just shooting wildly. Nothing came even close.”

“I took one stray in the vest, but other than that, the same thing happened on my end.”

“So what's the new plan?”

“We use these,” responded Heero as he tossed Sakura a pair of night vision goggles. Sakura inspected the instrument, discovering they were of the same model they used in the Captors. It was the most advanced design on the market; very precise and very lightweight.

“Can you shut off the power to the lights from here?”

“Unfortunately I can not disrupt power to the lights alone. To turn off the lights, I need to kill power to the entire complex, including the security systems.”

“What about the doors for exiting the tunnels?” Sakura asked since all the doors seemed to be electronically controlled.

“Those will be down as well,” replied Heero.

“Then I assume you have another way out?”

“There is one exit that is not electronically locked. It is a trap door in the floor of a closet attached to the kitchen. The trap opens right behind the hot water heater, so is therefore almost unnoticeable, especially in the dark.”

“Do you have more weapons in here we can use?” inquired Sakura. “We are not properly equipped for a stealth mission at the moment.”

Heero nodded his head as he punched a sequence of commands into the keyboard. Silently, a drawer underneath the security monitors opened up. Within the drawer were six silenced H&K USP handguns and about two dozen extra clips of ammunition.

Sakura placed her P90 on the ground next to Heero's G36s. She then unholstered her unused Beretta handguns and unhooked her unused ammo and her video monitor, and placed them on the ground as well. Finally, she picked up two of the silenced pistols, checked to make sure they were kept well, and then holstered them where her Berettas used to be. She also picked up half the extra clips and placed them in the pockets on her vest.

Meanwhile, Heero was doing pretty much the same thing. He withdrew his pair of Desert Eagles and carefully placed them on the console next to the keyboard, and tossed his quick-loaders and his spare ammunition for his carbines on the ground. Then he too grabbed a pair of the German made handguns and placed them in his holsters, along with the remaining clips of extra ammo. Once he was done re-arming himself, Heero took a look back at the security monitors and saw that the Yangs had once again entered the house. However, this time they were moving in a much more cautious manner, not staying grouped up, with one gun always protecting another.

“You ready?” Heero asked, to which he got a nod of affirmative from Sakura. Heero nodded back before typing a few commands into the computer, at the end of which all the screens, the mainframe computer, and the overhead lights twitched and died. Sakura could only assume that above them in the main house, the power had also gone out.

Heero and Sakura both donned their night vision goggles, pulling the devices over their eyes and switching them to active. With an almost inaudible hum, the goggles powered up and a green vision of the room came into view in Sakura and Heero's eyes. “Lead the way.”

Heero nodded to Sakura and turned to exit the now dark security station, back into the tunnel network. Once in the small hallways again, Heero picked up speed until he was moving at a quick jogging pace. Because of his goggles his peripheral vision was limited, and since he couldn't hear her, Heero could only assume Sakura was following behind him. He made a few turns around corners until they arrived at the trap door. When Heero stopped running, Sakura stood right next to him and looked up. Just barely, she saw the outline of a panel in the ceiling of the tunnel with hinges on one end and two simple, yet effective, locks holding the door shut. Heero reached up to the two locks and silently popped them both open. Once the locks were open, Sakura noticed there was a small hole in the floor right above each of the two locks, which she assumed was so that the trap door could be opened from the other side, if necessary. Once the two locks had been popped, the trap door fell inwards into the tunnel, opening a hole in the ceiling of the tunnel, which doubled as the floor of the room above, that was about two feet by two feet.

Once the door was open, Heero knelt down and clasped his hands together to make a step. “Up you go.” Although Sakura could have easily made it up through the opening without the help, the boost made things easier for her, since it allowed her to heave herself into the kitchen without having to jump first, which she would have had to do without the help since she couldn't touch the ceiling of the tunnels from a simple standing position.

As soon as Sakura was through the hole, she drew both of her silenced pistols and took two steps around the water heater to allow Heero enough room to lift himself through the trap door. When they were both standing in the closet in the kitchen, they carefully scanned the room for any sign of their targets, finding that the Yangs had not yet entered the kitchen. However, even though there were no enemies present, to make certain they didn't give away their position, Heero and Sakura communicated through hand signals instead of with words.

There were two paths into the kitchen. Heero and Sakura nodded to each other, already knowing what they were each thinking and each moved to one of the two entrances. They each got down into a crouching position and carefully peeked out the doors. They looked in a full 180 degree spread, making sure they didn't miss anything. When Heero turned back around, he motioned to Sakura that there were no intruders in sight out his exit. Sakura, on the other hand, took her fingers and pointed them at her eyes. She then followed up by putting up two fingers and motioning down the hall to her left, and then put up two fingers again and motioned straight ahead, down a different path.

Heero pictured in his head what options they had. He weighed all the possible routes until he decided that heading straight out might actually be the best move. Heero moved from the doorway he had been at, over to where Sakura was stationed, and took a peak down the hall for himself. Just as he expected, he saw only the four intruders Sakura had previously indicated. Heero turned to face Sakura and motioned out his plan with his hands. He told Sakura to take out the pair straight ahead, and he would take out the two down the left hall. Then they would move through the house in opposite directions and meet in the middle, taking out all the Yangs at the same time.

Sakura nodded her understanding, and the pair pulled up their silenced pistols and aimed at their targets. Four almost completely inaudible pops came from the four silenced pistols, each shot mere microseconds apart. With muted thumps, the bodies of the four Yangs fell to the ground, having each been killed by a bullet through the forehead. Heero motioned them forward, and he and Sakura, quickly and silently, each moved through a different hall, looking for more targets.

Sakura reached the end of the hall her victims bodies were occupying, and peeked around the corner. She couldn't see anybody in the hallway itself, but there were numerous doors into different rooms where she figured Yangs could be searching. There were two rooms down the hall to her right, and over a half dozen down to the left. Sakura chose to check out the pair of rooms to her right first. It didn't take her long, since as she expected, the two rooms were empty. She then headed down the other end of the hall toward the next room, a bit slower and more cautious than before. She took a peak around the corner into the room, catching sight of a pair of Yangs. One appeared to be checking a closet, while the other searching along the walls, although Sakura couldn't really figure out why. But in the end, she decided she didn't really care what the Yangs were doing, and simply raised her guns and silently shot the two intruders in the head. Much like her two earlier victims, the two Yangs fell to the ground. Unfortunately, this time one of the Yangs fell on a table, breaking the glass vase and lamp on it, causing a loud crashing sound.

Sakura swore inaudibly under her breath at the noise, before stepping inside the room moments before about a dozen Yangs entered into the hallway from the various rooms near to her position. As the Yangs slowly crept down the hall toward the source of the noise, Sakura decided that the crashing vase wasn't quite as bad as she originally thought. She figured that this way she wouldn't have to search all the rooms for all her enemies, since they were all heading in her direction. So instead of panicking or anything, she simply popped out her slightly used magazines and replaced them with a pair of full ones. Once rearmed, Sakura did a roll into the hallway, popped up onto one knee, and began firing.

A few of the Yangs had noticed the moving shadow within the darkness of the halls, but before they could react to the movement, the spray of silenced shots from Sakura's two pistols had all the Yangs lying dead on the floor. With her targets disabled, Sakura stood up from her crouching position, and popped out her empty clips, having shot each target at least twice to ensure they were taken care of. She then reinserted her two clips from before, that were each missing two bullets, into her silenced guns. Still staying completely silent, Sakura checked each of the rooms down the hall, but as she suspected, they were all empty, their occupants all having entered the hall and met their demise.

When Sakura got to the front of the house, she found Heero already waiting casually against a wall. “Little loud weren't you?” Heero asked when Sakura rounded the corner to his position.

“Dead body fell onto a table,” responded Sakura. “It happens.”

“I'm fairly certain we got them all, but I want to do a quick sweep of the house, just in case.”

“Sure,” Sakura said as they started to walk through the house. “Did you happen to see Yin, Yang, or Zao?” Heero answered with a shake of his head. “What about that traitorous bastard Takaeda?”

“Who?” asked Heero, not familiar with the name.

“Takaeda Katsumoto,” answered Sakura. “He was one of our informants that turned out to be a double agent for the Yangs. He's the one who set us up two weeks ago.”

“Well, I don't know what the guy looks like, but when we're done you can check the dead bodies back in the hallway and see if he's there.”

“I doubt he'll be here,” sighed Sakura. “He's too much of a weasel to be involved in an attack like this.” Sakura paused for a moment. “Is there a way to turn the power back on and just check the rest of the house via security cameras?”

“There is,” Heero answered. “But it takes two to do it. I can turn the power back on but, as a precaution, after a power shut-off, a self-destruct system for the house is set to go off ten minutes after power restart. It takes two Gundam ID prints to shut it off.”

“My print you put into the security system doesn't work?” queried Sakura.

“No. You have an ID for a different system. I need another Gundam to restart the power.”

“This place is a mess,” commented Sakura as she stepped around and over the puddles of blood in all the rooms and hallways. “What are you guys going to do now? Will you clean this place up and stay here? Or are you going to move to a new headquarters?”

“Move,” stated Heero. “We could clean this place easily enough, but I have a feeling the Yangs will send the Police here to try to arrest us. Given the time frame, it is unlikely we can dispose of all these bodies before the Police may arrive, so my plan is to pack what we need to keep and then leave. Finding or building a new place is not hard.”

“Where will you go in the meantime?”

“Most of my gang have a second or third place in addition to here,” Heero answered. “Those places are all spread throughout the city. The only ones without an apartment are Ami and myself.”

“You are not afraid that those places are compromised as well?” Sakura questioned as she put a bullet in the head of a Yang who was still just the slightest bit alive.

“No. Each of my gang has at least one place that nobody who is not a Gundam has ever visited. There is absolutely no way that anyone knows of their existence.”

“And what about you and Ami? Will you two stay at one of their places?”

“Maybe,” answered Heero. “First I have to find a place to stash all the things I need to keep from this place. It may be too noticeable to take a truck full of supplies to one of the safe houses, and I do not want them to be found.”

“Stay with us then,” stated Sakura. By this time, Heero and Sakura had done a full sweep of the entire house and were just ending up at Heero's bedroom.

“What?”

“Stay at the Captor's headquarters,” repeated Sakura. “We have plenty of space and can easily store your supplies.”

“I don't know if that is the greatest idea.”

“Why not? You still don't trust me?”

Heero paused before answering. “I suppose somewhere along the line I did begin to trust you.”

“Then you have my word. Stay with us. We have no reason to fight with you any longer. I guarantee your safety, the safety of Ami, and the full privacy of anything you need to bring with you.”

Heero stared long and hard at the beautiful face of Sakura. He was looking for even the slightest sign that she was playing him for a fool, but could see nothing but sincere truth in her expression. “Alright,” agreed Heero. “I'll trust you. As it stands, it would be advantageous for both our gangs if we worked together.”

“Good.”

Heero picked up a phone and dialed Ami's cell phone number. “Ami,” said Heero into the receiver after Ami answered. “I need you to come back immediately. Something has happened.”

“What's going on?” Ami asked from the other end of the phone conversation.

“I'll explain it all when you get here.”

“It's going to take me a bit of time if I have Syaoran drop me off a the Station.”

“This involves him as well,” Heero said. “Have him drive you here.”

“Are you sure?” asked Ami, beginning to get very confused at the situation.

“Trust me. And the power is out, so you will have to use the manual release for the front gate.”

“Okay. We're on our way.” Ami heard a click on the other end of the line, and hung up her phone as well.

“I'm sorry,” apologized Ami to Syaoran. “Something's come up and I need to get back right away.”

“No apologies,” replied Syaoran with a slight smile. “Where shall I drop you?”

“Actually,” said Ami. “I would appreciate it if you could take me all the way home. Heero said this concerns you as well.”

“Something to do with Sakura?” Syaoran asked, since Sakura was the only link between Heero and himself that he could think of.

“Unlikely. If something was wrong with your friend, Heero probably would have told me. This feels like something different.”

“But he didn't say what?”

“No. He said he'd explain everything when we get there.”

A little over fifteen minutes later, Syaoran and Ami drove up to the front of the house, having manually opened the front gate. At the front they found a black Cadillac Escalade, Hummer H2, and Lincoln Navigator. The three large SUVs had the backs open and were partially filled with supplies. Just as Syaoran stopped his BMW sedan next to the three trucks, Heero and Sakura walked out the front door. Heero was carrying a large crate, while Sakura was carrying a big metal briefcase that Ami recognized as one that was normally only used for transporting large quantities of cash. As soon as the car was stopped, Ami stepped out and walked over to Heero and Sakura. Ami looked into the trunks of the three SUVs and saw multiple briefcases used for transporting money, various crates that Ami knew held weapons and explosives, their entire set of backup computer servers, and Heero's collection of guns, which was sitting in backseat of one of the cars in plain sight. “What's going on, Heero?” Ami asked, more confused than ever as to what Heero was doing and why he was showing this much to Sakura.

“Ami Mizuno,” said Heero. “I would like to introduce you to Sakura Kinomoto.”

“Sakura…Kinomoto?” repeated Ami in disbelief.

“Yeah,” affirmed Heero. “Younger sister of Touya Kinomoto, and new second in command of the Captors gang, right under their new leader, Syaoran Li.”

Ami's head shot around to stare at Syaoran in disbelief. “You are a Captor?”

Syaoran looked back at Ami, his gaze shifting continuously from Ami to Heero to Sakura. “What is going on here, Sakura?”

“This is Heero Yuy and Ami Mizuno,” answered Sakura. “Leaders of the Gundams.”

Syaoran and Ami stood speechless. This new set of information was just so big that it was taking a bit of time for their minds to completely grasp the situation. The first to finally make sense of everything was Syaoran, who's first instinct was to grab a gun and start shooting. But as he moved his hand toward the back of his belt, he heard Sakura interrupt him.

“Syaoran, don't,” Sakura said when she saw Syaoran reaching for his guns. “They are not our enemies. The Yangs attacked here, just as they did us.”

“The Yangs attacked us?” asked Ami to Heero, since she could barely believe the statement or even make full sense of the situation.

“Yeah,” responded Heero. “They have declared war against both us and the Captors. That is why the Captors had been silent these last two and a half weeks. They realized they were fighting the wrong gang.”

“Are those my clothes?” Ami asked Sakura as her mind was still a little off target, and had as of yet not realized how inconsequential such a question was.

“Yeah,” Sakura answered. “I hope you don't mind. I couldn't fight well in my dress, and Heero said I could borrow these from his closet.”

“Sure,” said Ami. “How many Yangs were here?”

“Probably around seventy or eighty,” answered Heero. “We saw Yin on the security cameras, but she was not among the dead, meaning she, and probably a few more, got away.”

“So where are we headed?” asked Ami. “Duo's? Or Trowa and Makoto's place is pretty big.”

“The Captors,” Heero responded.

“What?” asked both Ami and Syaoran simultaneously in disbelief.

“They are going to stay at our place,” Sakura corroborated. “Heero doesn't want to lead anyone to the homes of your other members, and we need to figure out our next move. Having them stay with us makes the most sense for them and for us.”

“Are you sure?” Ami asked Heero.

“I am not going to risk exposing anything to the Yangs or the Police,” answered Heero. “There is no way we can clean this place in time to stay here, and there is too much equipment we need to take with us to risk staying at a hotel or some other public place. This is our best option.”

“That is not exactly what I was saying,” said Ami cautiously as he eyes darted between Syaoran and Sakura.

“I trust Sakura,” Heero answered, knowing what Ami was thinking.

“You have my word,” confirmed Sakura.

“And mine as well,” added Syaoran, staring hard at Ami and giving her a slight nod.

Ami stared back at Syaoran, but didn't make any movement. She liked Syaoran a lot, but after what she just found out about him, was not quite sure if she truly trusted him. She did, however, trust Heero unconditionally, and she knew that it was not easy to gain Heero's trust. So if Sakura had proven herself to Heero enough that he truly trusted her, then Ami would trust her as well. “Alright,” conceded Ami. “How much more do we have left?”

“We've got about half the cash and other documents, plus all the backup computer servers in the Escalade,” answered Heero. “And almost three quarters of the weapons and other equipment are in the Hummer. I was leaving the Navigator's storage room and the leftover space in the Escalade for clothes and any other personal effects we want to take. But first I need you to help me reboot the power systems.”

“After we reset the systems, you finish getting the weapons together and I'll pack up the money,” Ami said to Heero, who responded with a nod of his head.

“If you don't mind,” interposed Sakura. “I'll help you with the money. There's still a lot of it left to put into the cases.”

“Sure,” answered Ami. “In truth, I did want the opportunity to talk to you a little in private.”

“I had a couple things to ask you as well,” said Sakura before turning to face Syaoran. “Could you give Heero a hand with the weapons? I know he has some heavy stuff left.”

“Sure,” responded Syaoran, who had noticed that Heero was eyeing him, not suspiciously, but cautiously.

“Let's hurry up,” Heero said. “I want to make certain we get everything we need before anyone shows up.” Sakura and Ami nodded before heading back into the house as Syaoran followed Heero into the garage for the last of the weapons.

In a downstairs study room, Ami and Sakura were silently placing stacks of bills in metal suitcases. Ami had discovered that all the Gundams' documents, legal and otherwise, had already been put in cases and placed in the car. “Ami?” said Sakura, strangely tentatively given what Ami had just learned about her.

“Something wrong?”

“No,” Sakura answered. “I was just wondering if I could ask you a somewhat personal question.”

Ami temporarily paused what she was doing and turned to face Sakura. “Sure.”

“I just…” Sakura said quietly before pausing to apparently gather her thoughts. “You and Heero. I just wanted to know exactly what he is to you… and what you are to him.”

“He's the leader,” answered Ami. “And I am his second.”

“I'm not stupid,” responded Sakura. “I saw your reaction when I kissed Heero earlier this evening. I know it wasn't jealousy or resentment, but there was still something in your eyes. And I also know you keep clothes and equipment in Heero's closet. It isn't hard to piece the information together, but I want to hear it from you exactly what it is between you both.”

Ami sighed deeply before explaining. “I don't think there is a word to describe what Heero and I are. He is one of the, if not the, most important person in my life. But I give you my solemn promise that if Heero is as important to you as I think he is, or at least will be, then you do not have to be threatened by me in any way. However, in all honesty, I will never be out of Heero's life either. And he will never be out of mine.”

“Have you two ever…”

Ami nodded. “He was my first and only. And I was his.”

“Do you still…”

“No. Not since he started dating you and I started seeing Syaoran.” Ami paused for a moment to observe Sakura as she thought. “Do you mind if I ask you a question?”

Sakura looked up. “You want to know if I've ever been with Syaoran?”

“No,” responded Ami, shaking her head. “I already asked Syaoran about you earlier this evening. He said you two are best of friends who only occasionally flirt a little for fun.” Sakura nodded her head to confirm that Syaoran had told Ami the truth. “What I wanted to ask is… What is Heero to you?”

Sakura was visibly caught off guard by the question. She found herself speechless as she realized that she hadn't yet really put her feelings for Heero into complete perspective. “I'm not really sure,” Sakura truthfully finally answered. “I just don't want to let him go just yet.”

Ami could only stare in at Sakura in slight confusion as the girl restarted packing the money into cases, obviously attempting to keep her mind from delving too far into her feelings for Heero. Ami wanted to ask more questions, but before she got the chance, Heero entered the room.

“Weapons are packed up. How's it coming along in here?”

“We've almost got all the money packed up,” answered Ami.

“Good. Why don't you go grab some clothes and other personal items we should be taking with us. I'll help Sakura finish and then join you.”

“Sure,” Ami said, even though her mind wasn't totally focused on what Heero was even saying.

“Where's Syaoran?” asked Sakura.

“He's watching the front and listening in on the Police channels to see if any cops are on the way.”

As Ami left the room and Heero and Sakura finished up with the money, Syaoran was out front in his car, listening in on all the Police channels for any indication that someone was on their way. So far there had been no chatter on the Police bands so Syaoran stepped out of his car and took out a pair of night vision binoculars to scan the area. Everything looked clear until his third sweep of the area, when he noticed a phone company repair van parked in front of a house halfway down the block. It appeared to be tapped into the phone router box, which normally would be nothing strange, except that it was relatively late at night, and he didn't see any workers around attempting to fix whatever problem there might be. Pulling out his phone he dialed Sakura's number and asked to speak to Heero.

“Yeah?” Syaoran heard Heero answer after Sakura gave him the phone.

“Do you have people around the area doing reconnaissance, either electronic or visual?”

“No. Everyone's out of the area for a few days.”

“There is a van tapped into the phone systems for the area, but I don't see any workers around.”

“Is it a public telephone company van?”

“Yeah. Looks standard.”

“That's the Police. This area has private telecommunications networking. The Yangs must have called it in. We've got to get out of here now.”

“I can take care of them for you.”

“No. The last thing we need right now is the Police following us around.”

“You're not afraid they will follow us as we leave?”

“The Police always follow standard protocols. That van is for communications tapping. They want to know what we're talking about. But we need to leave before the rest of their units arrive.”

“Understood,” Syaoran answered as he hung up the phone.

“Can you go give Ami a hand with her clothes?” Heero asked Sakura. “We've got to get out of here. Meet me downstairs as quickly as possible.”

“Sure thing, Heero,” Sakura replied, placing the case of money she was about to take down to the car back on the table. Then after giving Heero a quick kiss on the lips, which this time he did not pull away from, Sakura left the room to assist Ami.

After Sakura left, Heero picked up all three of the remaining cases of money, which he had to strain a bit to do given their weight. Walking a bit awkwardly down the stairs because of the uneven weight distribution, Heero made his way to the Escalade and placed the last three cases in the back. He secured all the cargo in both the Escalade and the H2 and went back into the house and down the stairs to the underground security station. Heero then input the necessary commands into the computer to set up the protocols the Gundams had designed in case they ever had to evacuate their house. By the time Heero was back at the cars, Ami and Sakura were downstairs and just finishing packing Ami's and Heero's clothes, along with numerous personal effects from the various rooms the Gundam members occupied when they stayed at the main house, into the Navigator.

“All set?” Ami asked Heero when he was within earshot.

“Ready,” Heero answered. “Sakura, if you could drive the Navigator and lead the way, I'll be following you in the Hummer. Ami, you follow the Captor leader. He is going to head down the street to the left while we leave to the right. It should keep the Police from suspecting anything.”

“Alright,” said Ami and Sakura together. “Let's go.”

Heero, Sakura, and Ami all got into their SUVs and started down the driveway and out the front gate. Just as planned, Sakura and Heero turned right while Ami followed Syaoran's BMW to the left. They all kept a careful eye out from tails, but as Heero had predicted, there were no Police following them. About five minutes after they had left, Heero pressed the trigger he had brought with him, and with a thunderous boom, the entire Gundam complex exploded in a giant fireball. Plastic explosives had been wired all over the house foundation, and the simultaneous detonation of all the charges not only brought down the entire house structure, but left a giant crater in the ground where the house had once stood. The explosion was designed to leave no trace of the construction scheme of the house, and blow all materials into small enough rubble that it would be impossible to sort through the debris and find anything incriminating. The dozens of dead Yangs that were within the structure all burned to ashes in the intense heat, along with all the computer systems in the basement. Heero and Ami had taken all their data from the house on removable servers, as well as every weapon on site, so there would be nothing linking the house specifically to the Gundams.

Though Heero and Ami had never mentioned the self detonation procedure to Sakura and Syaoran, they had already guessed such a thing would happen. The Captors had a very similar evacuation protocol set up at their own headquarters, so were not surprised when they heard the explosion and saw the rising cloud of dark smoke in their rear view mirrors.

“So where are we headed?” asked Ami through her phone conversation with Syaoran.

“Our place is almost completely across town.”

“Did you tell the rest of your gang the situation yet?”

“I didn't tell them any details yet,” answered Syaoran. “But I called them all back to the house. It will be quite the scene when we get there.”

“It most certainly will,” agreed Ami. “It most certainly will.”