FUTURE HAUNTS
By ~ K.T.
Chapter V
Disclaimer: Don't own G.W. Own Sabriel, Shadow, Aerran, R'nal, Rina, Ryden,
and N'Brekk Forgive any offense.
Words surrounded by * are italicized.
"Quatre!" Relena waved to the blond and then squinted to see the auburn
haired girl
walking beside him. She began to run.
Catherine stared at the beautiful ex-queen of the world and felt a
little awed. Relena Darlian was very beautiful, her long hair and
gracefully curved body the envy of many women.
Relena stopped before the auburn haired girl and waited for Quatre to
introduce them.
"Relena, uh...this is Trowa's older sister, Catherine. Catherine, this
is Relena Darlian." Quatre watched Relena, hoping beyond hope that she like
Catherine. Then he looked at Catherine and hoped that Relena would be able
to see the hurt which lay beyond Catherine's expression.
"Why, hello, Catherine. I never thought Trowa's sister would be so
pretty." Relena took up Catherine's hand and gave the older girl a warm
smile.
Catherine found herself responding to Relena's kindness and smiled
back. Then she started at the dark haired woman who appeared by Relena's side.
Relena saw the look on Quatre's face and turned slightly to motion to Sabriel.
"Sabriel, this is one of my dearest friends, Quatre Raberba Winner. And
this is Catherine, Quatre's friend's sister. Quatre, Catherine, this is
Sabriel Arran."
Quatre stared straight across into Sabriel's eyes. She matched him
for height, and her hair was as dark as his was light.
*Like angel's of light and darkness*, Relena thought a trifle giddily.
"It's nice to meet you, Sabriel." Catherine spoke, her voice sounding
muffled.
Sabriel looked at the circus girl and then her head went to the side, as
a bird's might when a human is enticing it to some seed.
Relena blinked at her bodyguard's posture and then saw Quatre's face.
He looked extremely suspicious. Relena realized that Sabriel was going to
be a big deal among all the pilots and she was filled with a strong
protectiveness for her new friend. It was strange, feeling protective of a
woman who was taller, older, stronger, and supposed to be the one protecting
you; but, then, protecting the body and protecting the heart are two, very
different things...
"Perhaps we should go in..." Sabriel motioned to the drizzling sky.
"An excellent idea." Catherine smiled and matched her steps to the dark
haired woman's. Relena and Quatre stared after them and then glanced at
each other.
"Why is Catherine here?" Relena inquired without malice.
Quatre frowned at the circus girl's slim back.
"She was attacked by some people looking for Trowa."
Relena paled and Quatre caught the look on her face.
"Oh, no...nothing bad really happened...or, at least, if it did, she
didn't say so...but, it was rather..."
"Frightening?" Relena filled.
Quatre merely nodded and they began to follow the other two women.
"What of Dorthy?" She asked softly.
Quatre frowned at his shoes.
"She and Heero went out early this morning to check on...something...."
"Quatre." Relena stopped and looked at him, her voice holding a hint
of warning.
"Wait until we get inside. Then I'll show you everything." He told her
and walked on. Relena gave an un-lady-like roll of her eyes and
speed-walked to catch up.
------------------------------
"What exactly did you think you were doing?" The Shadow asked an angry
Dorthy Catalonia. She wrenched free from her captors hold and glared at the
dark-skinned man in the poncho and sombrero.
"I demand you cut me loose at once." Then she straightened her
shoulders and hooded her eyes with her eye-lids. "And I would like a drink
if it's not too much trouble."
The Shadow nodded to one of his men and the man who had brought Dorthy
in cut the ropes that bound her arms behind her back.
Dorthy readied to thank the Shadow when the man who cut her loose
brought his knife up to her neck.
"Try anything, and I'll...
"'Kill me,' I know already!" Dorthy stomped on his foot and moved away
from him as he danced about, holding his injured toes.
The tips of the Shadow's mouth crept up as he watched the blond girl
move with ease to a nearby chair. She moved like a cat, sensual, yet,
uninterested. Shadow wiped all expression from his face and then leaned
back in his own chair.
"Well, Miss....?"
"Catalonia. Dorthy Catalonia." She took the cup of water offered to
her and drained it.
"Miss Catalonia. Do you think your pilot will come looking for you?"
Again, Dorothy hooded her crystal-blue eyes.
"Who ever said anything about another pilot?" She asked,
tongue-in-cheek. Two could play this game.
Shadow smiled without humor. Dorthy held back a shiver and her eyes
widened in shock. This *man* frightened her. Like Heero first had. An
excited fear which coursed throughout her whole body. She saw the scar that
ran from his hairline to lower cheek stretch as the skin pulled tight from
his smile.
"That looks like it hurt." She said, and then blinked at her own words.
"Does it?" His eyes drilled into her own.
Dorthy blinked again, her body feeling strangely light. She nodded, her
head feeling suddenly heavy. Drugged! She had been DRUGGED!
"How dare...you...I...will...not...for...gi..."
The Shadow stood and moved infront of the sleeping blond's chair. He
crouched down at her feet and looked up at her peacefully sleeping face.
"She certainly is a tigress, this one." He said, nearly laughing as
he stood and motioned for N'Brekk to come nearer. "Take her to one of the
bunkers and keep an eye on her. I don't want her hurt."
N'Brekk nodded and lifted the limp body with ease. Shadow shook his
head as Dorthy's form was carried out and smiled to himself.
"Dorthy, you haven't changed a bit."
-----------------------------------
Duo gripped his own wrist tighter as he pressed into Heero's back. The man
was driving like a wild-thing. Of course, Duo wouldn't have it any other way.
"Where to now?" He hollered into his friend's ear.
They were getting rained on and the inquiries they had made around town
had all led to dead-ends.
"Une's." Came the reply.
-----------------------------------
The sky begin to darken as the rain came down harder. Relena took a
swig from her tea and then set the cup down steadily. She remained
perfectly poised even though inside she was shaking from rage.
"Are you sure about all of this, Quatre." She looked over the fax
sheets one more time.
"Positive." He assured her.
Catherine sat next to him on the couch and leaned back, fluffing her
short hair off of her neck and onto the back of the couch's head. Quatre
was leaning forward, his gaze intent on Relena. Sabriel stood behind
Relena, like a stone guardian. It made Quatre nervous.
Actually, it was beginning to make Relena nervous too.
"Don't tell me the party started without me." Duo exclaimed as he
burst into the sitting room. He stopped short at the look on everyone's
face. "Oh, yeah. I can see this is a very lively bunch. We're going to
bring down the house tonight."
"Duo." Une said laughingly from behind him as she brought in a tray
of snacks.
"Oooh! Food!" Duo said and moved to stick his grubby hand into the tray
of goods when Mariama moved into the room, her leg braces squeaking, and
pounced on him.
"Duo! Duo, Duo, Duo, Duo!" She rubbed her red head into his shirt
like a kitten and as Heero walked in he could have sworn he heard a purr.
"Hey!" Duo looked down at her. "I was here earlier, remember?"
She nodded, her eyes like a puppy's as she stared up at him.
Uh-oh. Duo had seen that look before...but, where? He glanced at
Quatre and saw his gaze fixed on...Relena! The look on Relena's face as she
looked at Heero, who was deliberately avoiding her gaze...
Duo picked Mariama up and she swung her legs around his waist as he
settled her on his slim hip.
"Duo, you would make a great mom." Relena laughed suddenly.
Duo gave her a mock growl.
"That is a distinct blow to my manhood." He lunged toward her, and
landed Mariama's upper half onto Relena's lap. Then he settled himself
beside her and reached for her cup.
"Any news?" Quatre asked Heero as Relena tried to peel her cup from
Duo's hand. Mariama laughed as Duo made faces at Relena and served to be
the dead weight holding Relena's slim legs down.
Heero finally looked at Relena, now that her disturbingly turbulent
gaze was elsewhere, and spoke slowly.
"We...didn't find much..."
Duo brought Relena's cup up to his lips and Relena's eyes widened in
laughter as he gulped down her tea. Heero's eyes narrowed as Duo laughed
and caught both of Relena's wrists in one of his larger hands.
"I think it's time to show Relena what a pair we are." Duo said to
Mariama while never taking his indigo eyes from Relena's blue-green ones.
"YEAH!" Mariama squealed as her little fingers walked over Relena's
stomach.
"NooOO!" Relena jumped a little as Mariama poked her in the side. She
tried to pull her hands from Duo's grip but he leaned back and stretched her
upper body out on the settee. Mariama fell off a little and Relena brought
her legs up onto the settee trying to wriggled free from Duo's grip.
Quatre looked at Heero and recoiled from the looked on Heero's face.
Quatre glanced at Catherine and she looked at him, her own eyes mirroring
the fear of Heero that Quatre felt. Heero started towards Duo, hands
clenched, and Catherine threw her body forward into Heero's. They fell into
Duo who lost his grip on Relena. Her legs had swung back off the couch so
she could push against the floor with her feet and now her head went back
towards the corner of the lamp table.
Heero and Duo knocked heads and Catherine got elbowed in the cheek
bone. Mariama fell between the couch and the coffee table and luckily
missed the coffee table all-together. The three opposite Relena watched as
she flew back...and stopped. Sabriel leaned over the young girl, her arm
outstretched as she held Relena's head, scant millimeters from the table
corner.
Silence. Relena opened one of her eyes and looked at the tangled
three at the end of the settee. Something soft pillowed her head and then
brought her sitting up so quickly she felt dizzy. Sabriel settled a
hand on Relena's shoulder and bent down close the brown-blond woman's ear.
"Perhaps you should play somewhere without corners."
Relena felt herself blush.
Quatre and Mariama began to laugh. Relena looked up at Sabriel and
saw the dark haired woman's soft smile. Duo began to laugh and then coughed
as Heero elbowed him in the ribs. Catherine pushed herself off of Duo's
chest and out from under Heero's arm. She stood wobbly and then moved back
to her seat next to Quatre, silently nursing her bruised cheek. Heero got
up off of Duo and glared down at him. Duo stood and smirked back and then
started lacing into Heero about interrupting other people's fun. Heero gave
in and shouted back about responsibility to those around you.
Quatre stared at Sabriel, noting the beauty of her smile. He blinked
and then stared even harder. The smile was gone and the dark haired woman
looked as plain...and forbidding... as ever. Relena told him that she and
Sabriel had been out shopping and had visited a couple salons. Sabriel's
hair was now styled in a pixie-cut, the dark, disheveled locks peaked into
gelled points about her head. It made her face more heart-shaped and gave
her skin a translucent glow. Her dark, large eyes be-spoke a disquieting
calm that held Quatre's probing empathy at bay. He wasn't quite sure what
to make out of the young woman...yet. Quatre looked at Catherine to see if
she had seen anything but she had a hand up to one cheek and was turned
slightly away from him.
"You okay?" He asked her, concern for her spilling out of his ever
changing voice. Her head turned of its own accord and she looked at him,
her blue-violet eyes filled with a mixture of emotions.
Quatre reached up and took her hand from her cheek. The red mark was
fading but it was enough to rouse Quatre's anger. He turned to tell Duo and
Heero to shut-up when he realized that Heero was *shouting*! And not only
that, Heero was shouting at *Duo* and it was all over *Relena*!
Quatre felt his anger cool and grinned at Catherine. She grinned
back, knowing exactly what he was inwardly laughing about. When she looked
at Heero, she fought tears because of his likeness to Trowa. They were all
so young to have the burden of the world's fate resting on their shoulders.
Quatre had told both Trowa and Catherine much about the ex-queen of the
world and how she had been plunged into a strange world of assassins, deadly
politics, and fear for her very life. Catherine looked at Relena in
admiration as she talked softly with Mariama who was lying on her back half
under the coffee table.
"Hey, Relena." Duo broke off from his righteous shouting match with
Heero. "you would make a great mom." Tongue-in-cheek.
Relena blinked and then to everyone's astonishment, blushed; then, to
add to the astonishment, Catherine laughed. Quatre smiled at Catherine's
laugh and Heero felt a grin tug at his lips as he moved to sit beside
Catherine. Duo sat back down on the settee and Mariama sat between he and
Relena.
Une shook her head at the Vice-minister, Angel of the circus, Angel
of the Gundams, the God of Death, the Heart of Outer Space, and the would-be
ruler of the Oz organization. It would be hard...but they were strong and as
they stepped into adulthood, they would grow even stronger with the wisdom
of their experience.
---------------------------------
Dorthy opened her eyes and tried to remember where she
was...prisoner! She was a prisoner of a new war about to be waged. She sat
up, anger feeding the frustration she felt with her slowly responding body
and swung her legs over the edge of the cot. She gripped the edges and
then struggled to stand. Swaying, Dorthy looked around the small
room...it...it was a tent! She blinked and the tent flap opened.
"Thought the drug might have kept you under a little longer." A tall,
broad man informed her. It was the same man who had brought her in from the
wreckage.
Dorthy's chin rose.
"Did you?" She blinked again, the room beginning to sway around her.
The man said nothing. He closed the flap behind him and came further
into the room. Dorthy noticed a canteen of water in his hand and was
suddenly aware of her dry throat and swollen tongue.
"What do you hope to get by keeping me here?" She asked, her voice
slightly slurred.
The man still kept his silence. Dorthy watched him as he set up a
strange sort of table. He wasn't all that bad looking, she decided. His
hair was obviously not blond, from the dark roots that showed, but the tips
were frosted. His skin was an olive brown and his eyes...
Dorthy leaned forward to catch his eyes but she misjudged her
balancing ability and began to fall over. Strong arms swept her up and
pressed her against a hard frame. Dorthy blinked startlingly and stared at
the man's chest, trying to wiggle out of his embrace. He loosened his hold
enough to allow her to pull back and she looked up into the man's eyes.
"Brown." She said, smiling.
The man frowned, his brows puckering in confusion. Dorthy didn't like
this man holding her. It was...it was...unsettling. But her head felt
heavy and her body felt heavy and he was warm...so warm. And safe. She
hadn't felt safe since before the Eve Wars...since before her father...
Dorthy rested her cheek against the man's chest and nestled her head
under his chin. Then she promptly fell asleep.
N'Brekk stood, holding the young woman in his arms and bent down to put
an arm under her knees. This was the second time in the past few hours he
had carried her. She was small. Small boned, small in proportion...like a
fairy. He shook his head at her attempts to show her disdain and laid her
back onto the cot.
Her hair had come loose from its braid while she had slept and the
silver strands spilled over the edge of the cot. They coiled on the floor,
looking like rippling, silver water. He knelt and gathered the renegade
strands, laying them beside her. He pulled his hand back in wonder. Her
hair was so fine it was like silk and slipped through his fingers like the
silver water it resembled. Again, N'Brekk shook his head. He had better
not let his mind wander from his mission; he had a job to do. Still, it
would be nice to make a few friends...to find someone...
N'Brekk stood, resolute in his duties. He set the canteen on the
table and left the sleeping beauty to rest.
-------------------------------
Sabriel's eyes narrowed as she stared into Relena's frowning face.
"I cannot take you with me."
"I want to find Dorthy, too and I wish to go with you." If Relena had
been anyone else, Sabriel was certain that the young woman would have
stomped her foot.
"I cannot take you with me." Sabriel said once again, her own anger
beginning to rise.
Relena looked away and crossed her arms over her chest. She felt like a
pouting child but couldn't help it! She had to find Dorthy! She had to
show Heero that she could protect and rescue people as well. That she was
willing to pay any price, even her life, for those she loved. And she did!
She loved Dorthy! When it had happened, she didn't know...she just...didn't
want anything bad to happen to the sad and companionable woman.
"Relena, that boy will love you for *who* you are, not what you do."
Sabriel said softly.
Relena's head whipped up as she stared at the darkly clad woman. They
were still at Une's, Relena being asked to stay since nearly everyone was
here. It also gave Sabriel the time to look for Dorthy while Relena was
surrounded by G-pilots.
"What...what are you saying?"
Sabriel leaned close to Relena, their noses almost touching. Relena
stared into the older woman's dark eyes and their darkness frightened her.
"You are going to stay here. I am going to find your friend. Then I
will come back and we will return to your mother's and plan for tomorrow."
*"I am going to go get Zechs. Then I'll go get Treize. Only then will
there be peace..."*
"Heero..." Relena murmured. She blinked and stared at the damask
curtains before her. The air brushed her skin and she shivered. The
window was open! Who had left the window open? She reached out, pulled it
shut, and then left the small guest room to join the others in the library.
She felt there was something she was supposed to do, but...couldn't quite
put her finger on it. She shrugged. Oh, well. If it were important, she
would have remembered it.
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Mary Paradis