Surely as the Sun
Chapter Nine
The earpiece in his ear was going crazy with Une?s confusing dialogue, Quatre not clearly able to register exactly what it was she was saying as she continued to state orders to others within her vicinity.
?Commander.?
She did not hear him, and continued. Duo looked pensively at him. They were in a tight spot, and footsteps could be heard around the other side of the hallway. It would not do for them to be heard at this point in the overthrow.
?Une, shut up.?
She paused and, for a moment, he thought she?d be completely quiet. But even as he took a step forward, her voice continued to leak out across the miniscule speaker in his ear.
?Duo, code Judas.?
Duo whirled around and stared at him, confusion clearly written across his face. Quatre?s eyes darted around the room as he looked for a place to take the conversation, but no sooner had he thought it then Duo had tackled Quatre to the ground. He placed his hands on his shoulders and straddled him to the ground, but Quatre quickly barrel-rolled him over. They went tumbling backwards across the hallway, and in the distance, yelling could be heard.
He looked around frantically for a place to hide, but Duo was intent on leaving him defenseless. He lifted his leg around Duo?s side and used the muscles of his thigh to effectively push him down, but Duo slipped out of his hold before he was completely pinned to the ground. Quatre lay flat on his stomach, but he pushed himself off the ground with his hands quickly. Duo?s foot against his back sent him face first back in to the concrete, and he ground his teeth together. Behind him, Duo cocked his gun and pointed it straight at the back of his head.
---
Dorothy swore as the skin on the back of her hand broke against the harsh cement of the ground. She had placed her hand behind the back of Heero?s head as he continued to have seizures and knock it against the cement. It wouldn?t do to have him kill himself before she could get any use out of him. Below her, she could hear his throat open and close in a sort of choking sound as his body attempted to process the chemical, the sweat soaking through the sleeves of his shirt and touching her skin. She sat still for a few minutes as he continued, and after a while he calmed down. His eyes opened slowly, Prussian blue quiet and calculating as he began to focus on her face. She smiled down at him.
?Hello.?
He sat upright and stared at her for a moment, then surveyed his surroundings. The look in his eyes was as methodic and calculating as an Eagle scanning for prey along the coast, and for a moment, Dorothy was truly afraid. If he wasn?t immediately on her side, this could get really ugly really fast.
?There?s someone coming.? He stated, and simply looked at her, awaiting her response. Good. He was at her beck and call.
?I know. They?re supposed to be. Are you all right??
He stood up slowly and continued to scope out the long hallway. He was noticing several small details that she was sure were far below her hearing capability.
He stayed still behind her as several guards rounded the corner with guns in tow, but when they saw them they did not react violently. One of them walked up to her, careful under Heero?s watchful gaze.
?Is everything going according to plan??
?Yes.? She said, glaring at him in the dim hallway lights. ?Is Alexei ready??
He nodded his head slowly.
?There weren?t supposed to be any young girls involved. It?ll cost him for that.? She ground out, mounting her gun against her shoulder as she started to walk off. Heero trailed behind her, but he paused and looked to the side as he caught a familiar sweet scent.
---
?Tell me exactly what is going on right now, Quatre, or I swear I will send this bullet straight through your skull.?
Duo dug the barrel closer towards the scalp of his head, and Quatre winced as the cold metal left its mark. He could hear frantic orders coming from Duo?s earpiece, but couldn?t make out what they were saying. He didn?t have to imagine much though. Duo yanked the piece out of his ear and glared once again at Quatre.
?You have one minute to tell me, or I have direct orders to blow your head off where you kneel. They didn?t even want to give you a chance to explain yourself, so I?m doing you a huge favor, buddy.?
Quatre smiled despite himself, but quickly frowned as Duo pushed his face into the dirt with his gun.
?Now!?
?Dorothy was wired during our briefing!? He sputtered, digging his fingernails into the ground. Duo paused. He clicked the safety off.
?Continue.?
?She didn?t realize it going in. Somebody must have tapped her. She didn?t want to blow her cover, so she called Alexei up and let him know that it was all part of the plan to get Heero back to him. She?s been in continued contact with Alexei since all of this started.?
?Why didn?t she just tell Une about it??
?Alexei didn?t give her anymore orders until she was on base, right when we stepped foot on this colony. She?s been wired ever since the briefing and Alexei would have known if she had tried anything sneaky. She also knew that you and Une and Relena would think it was unethical to inject Heero with the chemical again. We both knew that it would have to be a decision we made on our own. Heero?s senses were not as heightened without the chemical in his system, and we couldn?t risk everyone getting killed because of it. We couldn?t risk never finding a cure just because you wouldn?t want Heero to take the chemical again.?
?How do you know all of this??
He smiled in spite of himself. ?Out of all of you, I am the least involved with Heero. She trusted that my judgment wouldn?t be impaired out of concern for him alone. She told me, and then placed a transmitter on me so that I could hear every order she received from Alexei through the wire they have on her.?
The pressure on the back of his head lessened, and he sat up off the ground. Duo still held the gun in front of him. Quatre sighed and rubbed the back of his head.
?When Heero comes to, the first person he sees is automatically the one he receives orders from. Heero is following Dorothy and obeying her every command as we speak. When she is able to get close to Alexei, she will tell Heero to kill him.?
Duo holstered his gun and picked his earpiece off the ground, speaking into it quietly.
?Did you get all that, Une??
Duo pushed the piece back into his ear and then nodded, reaching out and helping Quatre off the ground.
?She was supposed to give me a little more leeway before she injected him. I was supposed to explain all of this to you before she did it, but I guess she grew restless. Just like her.? He snorted, and followed Duo quietly through the hallway.
---
Mariemeia ran a shaky hand across Trowa?s bandaged side, her breath coming out in puffs of white air. They had sanctioned the three of them inside of this room with nothing but antiseptic and a few bandages, and this wasn?t enough to hold Trowa together for much longer. The explosion happened so quickly that she didn?t have time to react, but Trowa did, and he had pushed her out of the way before she had received any real damage. Trowa?s side, however, had taken most of the impact. There was a gaping wound that ran the length of his torso, and he had long since lost consciousness. His breathing was labored, and the freezing temperature of this room did little to help with his breathing. He had grown pale and was losing too much blood. If someone didn?t come for them soon?
In the corner, Kale shifted. Something wasn?t right about the whole situation. They obviously knew that the three of them were working with Preventor?s, otherwise they would have simply stationed them with the other girls. How they knew, however, was yet to be discovered.
Trowa groaned next to her, and she wiped the sweat that had formed on his brow. He had a fever. Infection had set in.
---
Dorothy glanced around the large cafeteria they were being led through. Alexei stood at the front of it with a gun in hand and smiled sardonically at her from his position. His eyes lit up with something she could only describe as madness as Heero stepped up from behind her, shielding her against any form of attack.
?I see you?ve brought me a present, Dorothy. How nice of you to bring back what was stolen from me.?
?We agreed there would be no experimentation.? She ground out, stepping in front of Heero. Several of the guards immediately straightened and aimed their guns at her, and she took a step back, scowling. Heero stood cold as stone behind her, never taking his eyes off of Alexei.
?Honesty was never a strong point in our family. There really was no need for it, anyway. We Patrenko?s and Catalonia?s can handle well enough on our own, if I do say so for myself.? He grinned at her. ?Besides, what did you think we were going to do once we obtained our first successful experiment? Just let him be taken away??
He sauntered his way over to both of them, eyeing Heero up and down as he tapped his rifle against his leg. There were hundreds of young girls crowded around the room, staring wide-eyed and afraid, but too tired to do anything. The guards were stationed in increments so that there was no place she could run to and be safe.
Heero?s eyes quickly averted to a flash of golden hair that passed between the girls, but it was gone when he glanced that way. Something hitched in his chest.
?I have the antidote to the chemical.?
Dorothy?s breath caught in her throat, her hand coming up to her mouth in response.
?Although, I don?t see much use for it now. Those stupid scientists made it, right before they went back on their word. Right when we had revolution within our grasp!?
Her eyes widened as she realized something everyone had overlooked.
?You killed them.?
He threw his head back and laughed, clearly losing his mind. The guards shifted uncomfortably next to her, and Heero simply stood awaiting her orders.
?They didn?t commit suicide. You killed them. But?why, Alexei??
His eyes hardened and he looked straight at Heero, holding his gun close to his side.
?They only wanted to use the chemical as a threat. They never actually wanted to release it?all of those years of hard work, wasted?all for the cause of a governmental rebellion! Why, I ask you, would they stop there? It is not just the government that needs to be revolutionized; it is the world, dear sister!?
The guards had started glancing warily at one another, lowering their guns. They obviously did not realize what it was they were guarding these girls for up until then, and several of them were having second thoughts. This was to their obvious advantage, but Alexei, unfortunately, had begun to notice it too.
?What are you doing?! I?m not paying you to stand there gawking! There are three more of them wondering around out there somewhere, and we still haven?t found them! LOOK!?
Dorothy glanced up at him, confused. Duo and Quatre were the only ones given clearance to invade the premises besides herself and Heero. Three more?
She didn?t have much time to think about it, because the guards had all started to walk behind her. Alexei began to panic and wave his gun around in the air as he realized he was being overthrown, an unnatural gleam to his eye. She could not tell Heero to kill Alexei, because only he knew where the antidote to the chemical was. She had to find a way to disarm him and keep him alive?
She didn?t have much time to think anymore about it, because at that moment, Alexei had set it in his mind that he was going to get his way or die trying. He aimed his gun at Dorothy, and Heero instinctually whipped out his Preventor?s gun and shot at Alexei even as Dorothy screamed ?NO!?.
The moment was lost, however, as a flash of golden hair jumped out from somewhere to the left of Alexei and shielded him. Dorothy watched in shock as Relena?s small frame took the hit directly in the chest, her body wracked and falling backwards. Everything seemed to play in slow motion as Alexei stared disbelievingly at her as she fell, Quatre and Duo coming in from somewhere just behind him and watching the scene unfold in front of them in horror. Something seemed to visibly break in Duo?s face as he watched her hit the ground, hard. Quatre snapped out of his trance quickly and immediately disarmed Alexei from behind, slamming his head into the ground. His gun skidded across the floor.
Next to her, Heero?s eyes widened and he shook his head, taking a step backwards. He looked around for a moment, disoriented, but then glanced back at Relena. She would never forget the look on his face in that moment as he remembered.
He ran to her faster than any of them could imagine. Crimson seemed to stain everything around her as the blood pumped from her chest, covering her, covering him, covering everything. He held her in his arms as her eyes swam around the room.
?Relena, I??
She couldn?t seem to focus on anything, but she could hear him. His voice choked on something as he tried to recall everything that had happened, knowing in his heart that nothing was all right, and it never would be.
?If I could take back the years,? She gasped, her tears taking free reign down her beautiful face and landing in dark spots across the padding of his vest. ?If I could take back all the years??
His hands shook as he coddled her to him, kissing her forehead. His eyes stared down at her, more beautiful than she had ever seen. Liquid ran down his face as the man who never cried for anything cried for her.
?The years?? She whispered, her eyes drifting closed.
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