A Final Solution (5)

Caliborn · Post by **Caliborn** » Mon May 26, 2003 1:49 pm

<BIG><BIG>A Final Solution, 
Chapter 5</BIG></BIG>
The bus ride was the same as before. Silence filled the enclosed space,
and Relena sat, melancholy, in the front seat. Did she dare try to break
the iron silence, she was hushed by the driver. 
 
A glance to the back found two other passengers: the little boy she had seen
before, still curled up in that same position, and a teenage boy who glared
when she met his gaze. His dark blue eyes almost reminded her of a
certain someone, except they were angry, not blank, and far too young at
that. 
 
When Relena tried to pass time by looking out the window, she got a headache.
Not because there was blinding white light or anything like that, but
for a variety of reasons that made her feel as though she was watching a
movie. For instance, the road would suddenly sharply turn, and yet
the bus itself never seemed to jerk around the corner, continuing strait
instead. Or when the road seemed perfectly strait, and the bus suddenly began
jerking to and fro. What was really unsettling, though, was the way
they seemed to jump from place to place without any warning at all. One
moment, they'd be driving by an ocean. The very next, they would be
on a lonely mountain road. Moreover, one moment it would be dawn, the next,
midnight. The only consistent thing about the view was that there were never
any other cars. 
 
Relena quickly decided to give up on the window. 
 
She wasn't sure how long they drove. There were no clocks anywhere
and nothing to tell time by, so she lost all sense of such a concept. That
only made her feel more detached, though; more like what she assumed a ghost
must feel like, lonely and lost. She had to forfeit even the companionship
of time. 
 
So it was a surprise when the bus abruptly pulled to a stop, and the doors
opened. Relena blinked. When no one else moved to get off, she
stood. 
 
" . . . My stop?" she asked the driver warily. 
 
The driver nodded impatiently. "Hurry up, dear. Got lots more places
to go." 
 
Relena made way for the door, wondering, as she did, how the others seemed
to know when to get off and she herself never did. Just before she
stepped off, she turned back to the driver. 
 
"It would help if you could just tell me what I'm supposed to--" 
 
"You'll see, dear." The driver waved her off. She sighed, and
stepped down. 
 
"Good luck," the lady said helpfully before the doors swung shut and the
bus rambled off into the distance. 
 
"I'll need it," Relena finished, quietly. She sighed, turning to take
a look around. Where was she now? 
 
Oh. Back on earth. That was apparent from the expanse sky and
the absence of genetically-engineered plants and grass. She was in
some urban-district of housings, and apparently, it was around midday. 
 
No matter what they did, Relena thought as she walked down the side of the
road, synthetic-grass was just never grass. Absently, she wished
she could feel grass beneath her feet, or the cement of the sidewalk.
Feeling anything would be nice. She was missing smell and touch
a lot, right then. 
 
She tentatively tried to walk on the grass, reaching out almost cautiously
with a bare foot. She put a little weight on it, then yanked it back
with a yelp. The grass was hard. It didn't bend at all!
Relena eyed it in a pouting manner for a moment, before simply sighing
and deciding to be on her way--where ever her way was--using just the sidewalk.
God, but being a ghost was frustrating. 
 
Quatre nagged at her mind. She wondered how much time had passed
and how he was doing. She knew he'd move on; eventually he might even
come to understand why she had done what she did. She was sure of it. 
 
Walking and glancing around for he purpose here, she quickly left the urban
district, making her way to a rather up-scale city. Her eyebrows lifted.
She had been here before, and often. There was a building, part of
it made to look like an inside theatre, that she had given a lot of speeches
in . . . 
 
Suddenly suspicious, she immediately began to make way for that very place.
When images on the veiwscreens outside came to her attention, she knew
she was heading to the right place. Broadcasted for the entire city to know,
news people spoke of world representatives holding a meeting in the great
building in only a few moments' time. How much time had passed,
for this to be taking place? She doubted the meeting was over her,
despite her impact on the world. There was an edge of unease in the news
that made Relena's eyes narrow. Something bad was happening, or had
happened. 
 
She moved quickly for the meeting place, passing unseen through the crowd;
the worried and waiting onlookers were collecting just outside. Everyone
seemed uneasy. Relena was able to sneak past guards at the doors with
no trouble at all-- benefits of being invisible--only to find, to her chagrin,
that of course the doors would not open for her. Glaring at them for
a moment, she sniffed, and then whirled around to try and find another way
in. A window, perhaps. 
 
Right then, though, she came face to face with none other than Lady Une. 
 
Choking back a startled exclamation, Relena stepped back again, quite a few
times. Lady Une, of course, ignored her; she was busy talking to the
Guards. Her expression was very stern, and Relena recognized it for
the one she wore when trying to deal with a big problem.She ended whatever
she was saying and the Guards stepped back to admit her access to the doors.
Lips pressed tightly together, she quickly moved past Relena and opened
the doors, entering the building. 
 
Relena then got barely a second to stare at who followed Lady Une
before she was forced to dart in after, squeezing through the shutting doors.
This, Relena noted, was getting annoying. This mission or quest
or whatever the heck it was supposed to be would be so much easier
if she could just open the doors herself. Still, she was inside, at
least. 
 
Inside, Relena was able to stare as Lady Une stopped just inside the doors
and turned to talk to her two followers-- Who, coincidentally, just happened
to be headed by none other than Quatre Winner and Trowa Barton. Behind
Quatre were two of his ever present bodyguard. 
 
"Quatre, I'll escort you to the conference. Trowa, you know where to
meet Wufei; he'll fill you in on the security measures." 
 
Both men nodded. They moved quickly, saying nothing more. Quatre,
the other men, and Lady Une headed strait forward, towards the meeting room,
whereas Trowa turned to the right and began heading up a flight of stairs. 
 
Relena paused. Which way? She didn't want to have to pass through
doors if she could help it. (There was no way of telling if she could
ever get out again) But she did want to see the meeting . .
. Relena had a feeling that it was important to find out what this was all
about. 
 
Wait. There was a balcony that overlooked the stage, wasn't there?
Yes, she was sure of it . . . Quickly, she moved after Trowa, darting
up the stairs. Reaching the top, she came to a long, darkened hallway.
She squinted down to the left. Light briefly bathed the walls
near that end, rapidly dimming. Groaning, she quickly dashed that way,
managing to barely squeeze through the shutting door. She was outside
again-- a balcony? No, a fire escape. She squinted against the
sunlight, looking left and right. Damn! Where had that green-eyed
Gundam Pilot gone, anyway? 
 
"Trowa. Glad you could come." Said a voice, directly above her. 
 
"Anytime." 
 
Relena looked up and sighed. Looked like she was going to be climbing the
fire escape. Grumbling, she did so, wishing she had just gone with
Quatre and Lady Une. She had learned a long time ago that it wasn't
wise to attempt to follow a Gundam Pilot when the person was apparently on
a mission. 
 
And now, oh joy, she wasn't going to be able to see the conference and whatever
it happened to be about. 
 
Making her way up the ladder, Relena slowly followed the step until she came
to the roof. She climbed of the ledge and immediately saw a team of
Preventers working with all sorts of equipment. Wufei and Trowa stood in
the middle of it all, bent over a map of some kind, laid over a make-shift
table. 
 
Relena glanced around, shifted her weight from foot to foot for a moment,
then made her way over to the two ex-pilots. She was careful to watch
out for loose wires and taped-down cables as she made her way across; the
Preventers were fiddling with what looked like two huge speakers. There
were cables all over the roof, and two were bent over a laptop computer,
working on something Relena couldn't see. Trowa and
Wufei'sconversation came into her hearing as she walked closer. 
 
"Where's the A-team stationed?" Asked Trowa, glancing at what was on
the sheet before him. 
 
Wufei grunted. "Inside. Don't worry; Sally's heading them. No
one is getting into that conference room but representatives." 
 
"And B-team?" 
 
"Emergency exits and gates. All of them were hand-picked by Une." 
 
"Which leave us to sky-watch." Trowa's tone had become almost musing.
He stared at the diagram on the table before him--which Relena had
now recognized as a blueprint of the entire building--almost pensively. 
 
"Why do you think they'll attack?" Trowa broke in, studying blueprint very
thoroughly. Relena blinked and perked up. Maybe they weren't
just going to discuss security measures all afternoon. Maybe she
was actually going to find out what this was all about. 
 
Again, Wufei grunted. His tone was abstract; he was studying the blueprint
as hard as Trowa was. "Every clue we've gotten leads to this. It's
just too big of a target for them to miss." 
 
"If they do get in, though . . . " Trowa's voice trailed off in thought. 
 
"It's definitely an inside job." Wufei nodded in confirmation. Then
he turned his head to one of the Preventers working with the cables and speakers.
"Is that hooked up yet? The conference started five minutes
ago!" 
 
"Nearly! Just a sec . . . " The questioned Preventer went back
to fiddling with the cables. Relena eyed him. What were they
doing, anyway? And who was going to attack and why? 
 
After a moment of silence, Trowa suddenly broke the silence. "He
didn't come." His tone was off-hand, absent. But his eyes flickered
to Wufei's face in momentary interest. 
 
Wufei paused and glanced up. He met Trowa's gaze for a long moment
before sighing. "Damn guy won't be found." His gaze narrowed.
"Une is about ready to lose her temper over it. She's always been able
to find him if she needed to, but this time, he's just disappeared off the
map." 
 
Trowa nodded, glancing down again at the diagram. By now, Relena was listening
intently to the two. Again, Trowa spoke up, this time without
raising his gaze, "We could've used his help." 
 
"I know, damn it. But it's like he doesn't care anymore."
Wufei paused for a brief moment. Then he added, "He hasn't cared
or responded at all since she decided to be a fool and--" 
 
"Wufei, we've got it hooked up." Interrupted the previously addressed
Preventer. He stood in front of the speakers, questioningly."Shall
I start it?" 
 
Trowa had gone back to his work as if nothing had happened. Now, he
had picked up a pencil and was circling certain spots on the blue-print.
Wufei eyed the interruption irritably. "Jones, do you really have to
ask?" 
 
The Preventer blinked. "Um . . . No, Sir. Starting the system." He
glanced at the two who had been previously huddled over the laptop. They
both nodded back, in confirmation of something. The Preventer, Jones,
turned back to one of the speakers and flipped a switch. 
 
There was a pause, and static roared to life in the human-sized black boxes.
That was all Relena could hear for a few seconds when suddenly, a loud whiney
sound started up, growing louder and louder. It began to blare through
the speakers and Relena recoiled, wincing. It sounded like nails on a chalk
board. 
 
Jones quickly un-flipped the aforementioned switch. Slowly, everyone
lowered their hands from covering their ears. Relena simply stared.
There was a thin trail of smoke coming from one of the wires. 
 
Wufei suddenly spoke up from behind her, startling half of them. "Do
any of you," And his tone was rather irritated, "have any
knowledge of electronics what-so-ever?" 
 
Jones cleared his throat. "Sorry, sir. We'll get it fixed." He
saluted smartly, then turned away, calling to two other Preventers. "Check
those two wires! And you two, look at that . . ." 
 
As they waited for the Preventers to fix whatever had gone wrong, Wufei turned
his back on the table, leaning back against it instead and crossing his arms
over his chest. His gaze was on the sheepish Preventers, quickly checking
cables and un-taping and re-taping different sections of electronic nonsense
that Relena was confused to even look at. 
 
With Wufei's gaze on them, they seemed to work faster, if only to escape
his penetrating black gaze. Relena sighed and sat down cross-legged on the
cement roof. She wished the two pilots would start up that interesting
conversation again-- she'd never really been an eavesdropper, by hey . .
. what were ghosts for, anyway? It was weird, in a strange way . .
. here she was, a fully grown woman, sitting cross-legged on a roof in nothing
but a loose hospital gown surrounded by nothing but men, and she wasn't
embarrassed at all. Dying did that to a person, she guessed. 
 
After a few long moments of silence, Wufei finally snapped, quietly,
"What?" 
 
For an absurd moment, Relena thought he was addressing her. She blinked.
Then she sawthat Trowa had risen from his crouch and was staring, an
amused light in his usually blank eyes, at Wufei's back. 
 
"I said nothing." 
 
"I know you've said nothing. That's what's so irritating. What is
it?" Wufei turned around, now, and some of the Preventers breathed
sighs of relief to see his gaze taken away. 
 
Trowa's gaze has returned to it's usual seriousness. "I think you're
being too hard on her." 
 
Relena watched them with all of her attention. Were they talking about
. . . her? 
 
Wufei shrugged as if unaffected. "She was a woman. That explains it."
Relena narrowed her eyes at him. 
 
Trowa raised both eyebrows. "She's lead an entire country. She's
stopped wars and has put her life in danger many times for another's sake.
I wouldn't sell her so short." 
 
Relena stared at Trowa for a long moment, blinking. That had been the
most words she'd ever heard him say at one time. It had even been a
speech . . .sorta. Relena smiled at him, suddenly, wishing she had
gotten to know the quieter pilot when she had been . . . alive. God,
but it was weird to think of it that way. Weird to think that she was
dead now. 
 
"I'm not. Look at the Hell that has occurred after that one incident
when she gave into her weakness." Wufei's voice went abruptly flat.
"Weak people shouldn't lead countries." 
 
"She wasn't weak, Wufei." 
 
There was a long pause. Then, with an uncharacteristic sigh, Wufei
glances away and mumbled, "I know." 
 
Trowa watched him for a long moment. When it was apparent Wufei would
say no more on the matter, Trowa's eyes flickered back to the blue print.
"What about this Western entrance? Is it covered?" He rested
a finger on the spot. 
 
"We've got a man there." Wufei confirmed. "And sensor chips inside
the doorway. We're alerted every time any door in this whole complex
opens." 
 
"No, I meant the service entrance . . . here." 
 
Wufei paused. "We got guards on that quarter . . . but nothing specifically
on that. It's just for delivery trucks." 
 
Trowa silently raised both eyebrows. Wufei frowned. "Barton,
it's covered. The trucks all have to first come through a separate gate off
to the side. We've got some of the B-team covering every gate. Then
they have to have special clearance cards to open the garage there." 
 
Trowa said nothing. Finally, he nodded. 
 
"Sir?" Questioned Jones. "We've, ah . . . Definitely got it this
time." 
 
Wufei nodded to them, turning to watch them. Jones paused, turning
back to the switch. Relena prepared to cover her ears again, as did
some of the rest of the Preventer team. Slowly, the switch was flipped.
 
 
Again, static. But this time, no whiney sound began in warning.
Instead, voices began to filter through the static. Relena eyed
the speakers, fascinated. 
 
"We have visuals?" Wufei questioned. 
 
"Affirmative, Sir." At that, a screen slid down over what Relena had
before assumed to be the other speaker. A picture slowly came into
focus, revealing a man at a podium, his arms moving in passionate speech. 
 
Relena suddenly grinned. Looks like she wasn't going to miss the conference
after all. 
 
*********** 
 
Notes: End Chapter Five . . .Whee! I got it done. ^_^ How
was it? Anything I need to improve? What did you like? Anywho
. . . Yes, Heero -will- eventually be making an appearance . . . but
first, what great event has Relena's attempted suicide sparked? What
has Lady Une and the pilots so concerned . . . and what is the huge conference
about? Maybe that'll all be answered in the next chapter. ^_^
Bye for now!

Post by **blackrose** » Wed Jun 11, 2003 1:55 am

EEK! The suspense is good, but there needs to be some payoff soon. *pokes pokes*

So, where's ch 6?

Love,
Rose

aku_ryo · Post by **aku_ryo** » Wed Jun 11, 2003 9:25 am

wicked! I cant wait for teh reat of the mystery to unravel itself - eh eh eh that is what yoru plannign on the unraveling bit...

wicked cool story

akuuuuuuuuuuuuu

Numena · Post by **Numena** » Wed Jun 11, 2003 1:05 pm

Chapter Six?? *hint hint* When's chapter six?
I've bitten off all my fingernails reading this fic! So much suspense. I need chapter six!!
Must know what happens next...the suspense is killing me! (or at least my fingernails..

)
Wonderful fic! Don't make us wait too long!

SandDruid · Post by **SandDruid** » Wed Jun 11, 2003 2:12 pm

Great Story! I'm very impressed with your writing style! Please Continue!

AngelOfDeath · Post by **AngelOfDeath** » Wed Jun 11, 2003 3:42 pm

Yar! (Can't wait for Heero to appear) Trowa is lovely, with his little speech and all. Ah, Relena.... hope you learn your lesson soon. Looks like everything's going to heck in a handbasket.

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