Afraid to Love: Chapter 10

[WingZero2118]

well it looks like once again ill be posting more of the story sooner than i had expected. apparently its even more of a success than i had thought which is fine by me. i still have 4 more chapters to post after this one so expect more and soon. enjoy!




Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing and Co. They belong to Bandai and Sunrise. This story is for entertainment purposes only. I am not making a profit from it.



Afraid to Love
Written by: Ra|nMan
Chapter Ten


Unknown to the ten friends as well as Quatre?s men, there were 30 armed men approaching the palace.

?Okay guys,? said their leader. ?This is it. We?ve been scoping the security on this palace for the last two weeks now, and now is the time to move forward with our plan. Hakim, take five men and lead them around to the south entrance. Johnson, take ten to the northwest entrance off the grand ballroom. The rest of us will go in the main gate. Everyone move out and wait for the signal to move in.?

The band of raiders moved into their positions and waited on their leader?s order to move in. Then came the flash of a light, and the raiders moved to the next phase of their plan. All three groups entered the palace successfully and without detection.

As the raiders moved about the palace, Heero, being the perfect soldier, woke from his light sleep and sensed something was wrong immediately. Quietly he got up and moved to the door, slowly opened it, and peered out into the hallway.

What Heero saw made his blood run cold. Armed men were moving silently up and down the hallway.

?What the hell is going on!? Who are these men and what are they doing in Quatre?s mansion? This is not good. I need to inform the others and the guards but I must do it with out being seen.?

Heero went to the dresser and pulled out his old, green tank top and black shorts, dressed, and made his way silently into the hall.

Coming to a corner he stopped to look around when a raider came around the corner. Heero kicked him in the neck, then put a hand over his mouth and put his arm tight around the intruders? neck until he had passed out.

?Great. What do I do with him now? If he?s one of their lookouts I?m in trouble.?

He dragged the unconscious man into an empty room, took his radio, then looked around to make sure the coast was clear before moving on. A little farther on down the hall the leader and two of his henchmen came to the room where Relena was sleeping.

Upon entering the room, the leader stopped and looked at Relena closely, then realized who she was.

?Oh my God! I don?t believe it! It?s Queen Relena! This job is getting better all the time. If we kidnap her we could get a huge amount for a ransom! This is almost too good to be true!?

Speaking quietly, the leader called into his radio.

?Hakim. Get over to my position pronto. I?ve just walked into the room of the former Queen of the World. Yeah that?s right, Relena Peacecraft is here in this very palace.?

At that same time, Heero had finally made his way to the security control room to find the guards had all been knocked unconscious.

?Great,? he thought to himself. ?I?ll see if I can locate some of the other guards to alert them. That is if they haven?t been knocked out already.? Then he heard a voice on the radio he had taken from the intruder he had knocked out.

?Hakim. Get over to my position pronto.?

?What is it boss??

?I?ve just walked into the room of the former Queen of the World.?

?What?! Relena Peacecraft is here!??

?Yeah that?s right, Relena Peacecraft is here in this very palace.?

?OH NO! They?ve found Relena?s room! I?ve got to warn the others and get over there!? Heero?s heart froze.

Frantically he looked for a clear way to get to Relena?s room when the door opened behind him. With the reflexes of a trained assassin, Heero rounded on the person entering the control room. Then, realizing whom it was, Heero stopped his attack in mid swing.

?Rashid! I?m so glad that it?s you,? Heero said, sounding rather relieved. ?Quick we have to alert the others. There are about 30 armed men in the palace and they?ve found Relena.?

?What!?? Rashid looked utterly shocked at these words. ?They can not be allowed to harm Vice Foreign Minister Peacecraft. The people of the E.S.U.N. still consider her to be a great symbol of our lasting peace.?

?I know Rashid,? Heero said dryly. ?We must find away to get to the other pilots and alert them.?

?Follow me Heero. I know of a way that we can go without being detected.?

???

?This palace is full of secret panels and passageways. We will use them to alert Master Quatre and the rest of the former Gundam pilots. Quickly, this way.?

Rashid pressed what looked like an ordinary screw on a light switch, and all of a sudden the wall opposite Heero began to move.

?Hurry, we haven?t much time.?

Rashid and Heero sprinted down the passage, when suddenly Rashid stopped and pulled a level opening away into someone?s bedroom. Running to the side of the bed Rashid roused the person in the bed.

?Master Quatre wake up. There are intruders in the palace.?

?What? How can this be Rashid??

?I do not know master, but we need to alert your friends and quickly resolve this dilemma.?

?Agreed. Quickly, follow me.?

?Quatre, you and Rashid go ahead and warn the others. I?m going after Relena,? Heero said sternly.

The serious look that was always on his face during the war was now back, accompanied by a savvier look of concern and fear.

?Ok Heero. The fastest way to Relena?s room is back down that hallway then make a left at the end. Please be careful Heero.?

?Same to you Quatre, and good luck.?

And with that Heero turned and sprinted back the way he had came leaving Quatre and Rashid to alert the others.

?Quickly Rashid. We don?t have much time. I trust in Heero?s abilities but it has been a long time since he?s had to use them. We need to get to the others, and go and help Heero protect Relena.?

?As you wish Master Quatre.?

The two of them raced down the dark corridor towards Trowa and Catherine?s room. Once there, they quickly and quietly woke Trowa and Catherine.

?Trowa wake up. There are dangerous men in the palace.?

?What? How did they get in.? ?No time to explain. We need to get the others and help Heero.?

?Right. Let?s move.?

Soon, Duo, WuFei, Sally, Zechs, and Noin joined them.

?Ok. We need a plan of attack,? whispered Quatre. ?Here?s what we?ll do. Duo, you go out in the hall and act like you?re on your way to the bathroom. When the lookouts spot you run back here and we?ll jump them. Got it??

?Yeah, yeah I got ya?? Duo yawned back.

Meanwhile, Heero was slowly making his way to Relena?s room on the other side of the palace. The grouping of armed men was becoming even tighter as he neared his target. Twice he was nearly caught, but managed to overcome his assailants.

?Only two more corners to go,? he thought to himself as he quickened his pace. But he had to stop short of the next corner when a shout rang out behind him.

?Hey, you there! Stay where you are!?

?Oh shit. I?ve been spotted.?

Stopping in the middle of the hall, Heero waited for the men to move in on him.

?So you thought you?d try and go sneaking around us to save the girl huh? Well looks like you couldn?t even save yourself,? said the intruder, giving a cold mirthless laugh.

?You have no idea who you are up against,? Heero muttered back.

"What was that??

?Hn.?

Moving at blinding speed, Heero took out the men one by one until they were all unconscious.

?They?ll never learn,? he said to himself.

Just then an ear-shattering scream pierced the night.

?OH NO!? ?I?m coming Relena!? he shouted, then tore off to her room.

?Screaming will do you no good Queen Relena. Even if you did wake any one they would have to get passed my men first, and it isn?t likely that will happen,? sneered her assailant.

?That?s what you think.?

?HEERO! LOOK OUT!?

?What?! How did you get passed my men??

?It doesn?t matter. Move away from the Vice Foreign Minister before I am forced to kill you.?

?Is that so? Hakim, kill this man at once.?

?Yes sir! You heard the man. FIRE!?

Heero jumped and rolled out of the way of the shots, grabbed a chair and threw it at Hakim. Hakim ducked and it hit the three men behind him, knocking their guns out of their hands. Hakim glanced back just in time to see Heero running at him, but it was too late to stop him.

Heero struck Hakim square in the jaw with his right fist knocking him off his feet, leaving him unconscious.

?Stop right there Mr. Hero, or the girl gets it.? Heero froze in his tracks.

?Just as I thought. Always so quick to eliminate a threat, but when it comes to making sacrifices to stop the threat completely, you can?t go through with it. So touching. But I?m afraid this is where it ends. Goodbye Mr. Hero.?

The assailant moved to pull the trigger, but Heero was faster. He rushed forward and struck the man in the stomach, making him stagger backwards. Heero moved in to keep him from shooting again, and a struggle broke loose for control of the gun.

?Haha! And not it ends,? shouted the assailant, breaking away with the gun in his hand.

But Heero was far from giving up. He rushed forward again, but this time the man got a shot off, but was immediately struck by Heero. The assailant fell down, knocked out cold. Heero turned to Relena, looking concerned and relieved.

?Relena are you alright??

?Yes I?m fine. What about you? Did you get hit??

He didn?t answer.

?Heero are you ok? Please answer me,? Relena questioned in a rather fearful voice.

But before she could utter another word, Heero staggered back a couple of steps, then fell to the ground, blood oozing visibly from his left side.

?HEERO!? shouted Relena as she rushed to his side. ?Heero, please don?t be dead. Please speak to me. You need to keep talking.?

?Relena,? he breathed. ?Relena I wasn?t strong enough. I have failed you.?

?No that?s not true Heero. You have never failed me.?

?Relena?..?

Just then Quatre and the others rushed in.

?Oh no, we?re too late!? he exclaimed.

?Hurry we need to get him to a hospital,? Relena urged. ?He can still make it.?

?Please, Relena, leave me. I?m not going to make it. By the time you get me to a hospital, I will have lost too much blood. Be strong Relena. I?..Love?..You.?

?No Heero, don?t leave me.?

?Guys let?s move. He needs to get to a hospital.?

As Heero swayed closer to the edge of death, the 9 friends tried frantically to stop the bleeding, while all hope seemed to be lost like dust in the wind.

It was not too far to the hospital, but the bleeding had not slowed, and Heero was showing signs of shock. An x-ray was taken and showed that the bullet was still lodged in his side, very close to his heart. He was rushed into surgery, as the bullet need to be removed immediately. As time wore slowly on, all the nine friends could do was wait and hope for a miracle.

[Kari]

Ah no!!! Please don't let Heero die!!! Please No!!!!

[Kari]

Ah no!!! Please don't let Heero die!!! Please No!!!!

[miz_lou]

An action scene! I'm impressed *nods* very nice description of events.

...you had him shot! *staggers*

This is an interesting way of showing how much Heero has changed. How he has moved away from being the Perfect Soldier and in that moving away allowed himself to love, but possibly become a little careless? *will read on*
Very nice dimensions to your character. Or, that's what I saw anyway.

It's serves as ironic that in his dreams she was always the one dying and telling him to go on. Now he's the one doing it in reality...I am very interested in seeing how the consecutive chapter unfolds.