Chapter Eight: He Came Out of the Ashes

 

            *Serena and Hilde kept a sharp eye out when the kids and teachers finally began to pour out. Serena knew that because Ben was on the last floor he would probably be out later than some of the others. Still, she kept her eyes peeled for him. Now it was nearly eight thirty, Ben’s bedtime. Serena only hoped he would be able to go to sleep at all tonight. Soon out of the hordes of children appeared a familiar face to both young women.

            “Quatre, hey Quatre!” Hilde called out to him. He spotted them and walked over to them.

            “Hello Miss Serena, and, Miss Hilde! What are you doing here? Duo doesn’t want you near any danger like this, he’ll be so upset with you.”

            “Oh Quatre, relax! I didn’t know it was so big that you guys were here until I got here. I came to support Serena. It turns out she knew you guys and me separately and we didn’t know it. Isn’t that strange?” Hilde nearly laughed. Quatre, too, cracked a grin, but it was more of a plastered and fake grin.

            “Quatre, how bad is it?” Serena finally worked up enough courage to ask.

            “Miss Serena, everything is going to be alri… the truth? It’s not good at all. This little gang of seniors was not little. Over thirty people, and almost none of them were younger then thirty years old. Before Hiiro could make it to the top floor, something happened, and he told us to just get the kids out as fast as possible.”

            “He’s still in there too.” Came a second male voice. Serena and Hilde turned to see Trowa, Wufei and Duo had joined them.

            “Hey Hilde babe, what are you doing here? I thought we agreed…”

            “I’m sorry Duo, I know we did, but I came to support Serena. I knew she had a son here, so I dropped by to check  on her. It just so happened that you guys were here too.” Hilde cut him off before he could yell at her.

            “You know Serena?” Asked Duo.

            “Yeah, we met at… work… and ever since then, we’ve been friends. She told m how she met you guys. Small world, huh?” Hilde, Duo, and Quatre chuckled.

            “So he’s still in there? And the sixth floor?” Serena bugged Wufei for information.

            “The entire sixth floor evacuated with the fifth. No civilian casualties.”

            “Momma? Momma!” came a tiny voice through the crowd. A little dark haired blur ran from three cops to hide behind Serena’s legs.

            “Hey! Stop that kid! He can’t be past the tape!” One of the cops yelled. Trowa stepped forward.

            “The kid is with us. Leave.” Was all he said.

            “But… hey, wait, aren’t you one of the guys that infiltrated the place? Wow! You guys did a great job! Ever consider becoming a full time SFPD cop?” the officer went on.

            “No. Leave.” It wasn’t really the way Trowa said it, but more the glare that went with it. The cop backed away slowly, then turned and ran.

            “Ben? Benjamin? Is it you? Oh baby! Oh my baby!” Serena swept her son up in a giant hug.

            “Momma! Momma! I was so scared! There were these three big men and this other really mean man. He threatened to hurt us. But then Mr. Hiiro came and saved us! He and the bad guys talked and the bad guy let us go but made Mr. Hiiro stay. Momma, Mr. Hiiro says he knows you! He knew my name! And he said to say to you he kept his promise. What promise Momma?” Ben spoke a million miles a minute. Then he stopped. “Momma?”

            “Yes baby?”

            “Are you ok?”

            “Yes baby. I’m just glad your safe.” And Serena continued to hug the living daylights out of her son, never wanting to let him go. She liked knowing where he was and that he was safe and warm and protected within her arms. Then she realized he must be starving. She had to let him go. “Ben, honey, did you want some pizza? It’s cold but I thought you might be hungry…”

            “Yeah! Pizza!” The energetic boy shouted and dove into the box is mother was holding out to him. She laughed and crossed her arms over her chest as she shivered in the cold night air.

            “I just love your son! He so sweet Serena!” Hilde gushed.

            “He is cute Miss. Serena.” Quatre added.

            “Where’s his father?” Duo asked bluntly.

            “His father?” Serena repeated as if in a trance. She did not want to remember him right now.

            “Woman, he has a father, does he not?” Wufei pegged her.

            “Oh, Ben has a father. A lying, cheating, good for nothing who left me when he found out I was pregnant father.” She said bitterly.

            “Duo you idiot! Did you have to bring Darien up?”

            “Hilde! Don’t say his name! I don’t want to remember him!” Serena sighed and sat back down on the trunk of the car to watch her son eat his pizza. She loved him so much. Hiiro had kept his promise. Hiiro. His promise. Oh no! Hiiro! He was still in the building! And the bomb threat!

>>>)(<<<

            “The children are gone. What did you want me for?” Hiiro said in his best monotone voice.

            “Simple. We wanted you to have a taste of what my men went through with you. Get him boys.” Said the shorter man. The three giant men stepped forward, foaming at the mouth. Hiiro wasn’t afraid, more disgusted. All of his other rivals had died with dignity, but if these men didn’t wipe that foam off, they would die without a shred of dignity.

            When the first guy began his moves, Hiiro quickly took note of the gun in his opponent’s hand and drew his own. In an old fashioned shoot-out  the townspeople would have cheered for Hiiro. He shot with such accuracy and speed that before his challenger had even fired his own shot he was dead.

            Next Hiiro had to fight a slightly taller and thinner man. The man stomped towards Hiiro and landed a good, solid punch right across the cheek. Trying to ignore the surging pain, Hiiro punched the man right back, sending he reeling back and falling flat on the floor.

            Hiiro’s last victim was a heavier man who was built like a jock. He tried to out class Hiiro in a number of moves, but made a fatal error when he let anger get the best of him. Instead of using his brain to attack, he used his head and charged full force at Hiiro. Dropping low, Hiiro preformed a ground spin kick, which tripped his attacker and sent him into the floor face first. When he didn’t move, Hiiro assumed he had been knocked out.

            “Impressive. But you’ve neglected one thing.” Came the voice of the last standing man.

            “Hn.” Hiiro grunted as if to say what.

            “The bomb I’ve set to explode in exactly sixty seconds starting from now. You had better run, there’s no way you could disarm it within that amount of time. I’ll see you in hell, Hiiro Yui!” Hiiro just stared at the man, who now was laughing hysterically over nothing. He was right, there was no use in trying to disarm the bomb. Even if Hiiro could do it within the minute, he would still have to find the bomb, and that was going to take time he didn’t have. Screw the man. Screw the bomb. He would go down, here and now, no qualms about it.

            But what about his ‘friends’? What would they do if he went down? Surely they could replace him with another, couldn’t they? After all, if everyone he got close to died, wouldn’t the world be better off without him wreaking havoc on it’s innocent inhabitants? And what about Serena? ‘What about her?’ nagged his conscience. He didn’t even know if she had found her son, or if he had gotten out of the building alright. He could have been trampled in the stampede to get out of the building, or he could be lost on the streets and unable to find his mother. Serena would be so heartbroken. She trusted him, of all people him to bring her son out safely, and if he died, he would never know whether or not he had fulfilled his promise to her. She would cry. He couldn’t bare the thought of her crying, or her son being scared and traumatized when his mother was so close by. She had trusted him, she had faith in him. No, it was not his time to die, not here, not now, not yet.

            Hiiro set his mind on escaping before the bomb wet off, and began to fly down the stairs as fast as he could, without paying heed to the dead bodies and school paraphernalia that littered the halls. Just as he was coming down the last stairwell, the sixty seconds timer went off.

>>>)(<<<

            At first no one knew what was happening. Serena felt as if it were a hazy dream, a nightmare reality that she was trapped in as she watched and experienced the events unfold. She saw the building flash bright orange and yellow, then saw it shudder and convulse as if it were being swayed by the Earth it’s self. The next thing she knew she saw Duo grabbing Hilde and shoving her down behind the car, covering her with his body to protect her from the debris that was flying though the air. She vaguely remembered making a grab for her son, but seeing that Trowa already had him covered beside Hilde and Duo, she retracted her arms. She herself felt a pair of strong arms encircle her own waist and drag her down. Judging from the sexist comment he made, it was Wufei who had grabbed her and yanked her down to safety. Quatre too, was hiding behind the safety of the car as they all watched in awe as the building’s top floor puffed out thick black smoke, papers, and other, more heavy debris.

            Finally, as the smoke began to thin out,  the crowd could see the sixth floor of the building was on fire. The mob of people and parents that had once been buzzing with conversation and noise stood silently. The shocked policemen and women were able to begin shouting out orders. The fire trucks that had been sitting idle since the early morning when the events had first begun to unfold were now unrolling their hoses and attaching them to the fire hydrants up and down the block. Desperately trying to save the rest of building, the firefighters, police, and volunteers from the crowd alike all rallied to help hold the hoses in place as they were shot at the building. Airplanes and helicopters from the local news stations shown down special spotlights, allowing the firefighters to see what they were doing. And out of it all, one tiny group of six people stared in horror at the main doors to the school, hoping and praying that their comrade, friend, and fellow human would come out of them alive.

            “Momma?” A frightened voice came from below Trowa’s chest. He leaned back so the little boy whom he had been sheltering could crawl out. Wufei, too, dropped his hold around Serena’s waist and let her sit up to embrace her crying son.

            “Don’t worry Ben honey. Shhh, everything will be alright. I promise, everything will be alright.” Serena cooed, trying to calm her terrified son down. She rocked him back and forth, holding him tightly to her chest.

            “But momma, Mr. Hiiro is still in there.” He cried into her, burying his head deeper into her chest and crying harder.

            “Mr. Hiiro is very strong Ben. I’m sure he’s alright. And no one else was in there. It’s going to be ok, everything is going to be ok.” Her words did little comfort the rest of the group.

            “Yui.” One word was all Wufei needed to describe exactly how everyone felt.

            “That son of a bitch would not leave us He just wouldn’t.” Duo kept repeating. Hilde was trying to comfort him by letting him cry onto her shoulder, but he had almost lost it. She just held him tighter when he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled himself into her.

            “He’s fine Duo. Remember, that guy is practically inhuman. He’s immune to pain. He’ll come out of this just fine, you’ll see.” Hilde kept telling him.

            “Hilde’s right. We need to stop worrying. If Hiiro saw us all now he would skin our hides for showing such emotion over him. He’s come out of worse scrapes then this before.” Trowa added to her comments.

            “Poor Hiiro. I should have never let him go off on his own in that building. This is all my fault.” Quatre moaned, tears in his eyes.

            “It was no one’s fault Quatre.” Serena spoke up. “You did what you felt needed to be done. The only person I would blame is the lunatic who tried to take Hiiro on in the first place. And he’s gone, so blaming someone isn’t going to do us any good.”

            “The woman speaks the truth. Winner, it is no one’s fault but the bastard who tried to take over the school in the first place.” Wufei said.

            “Wufei, no cursing in front of my son.” Serena told him quietly, still holding her son and stroking his shaking back.  Wufei grumbled, but nodded. The group once again fell silent.

Serena felt Ben pull away from her as he tried to sit up. She let him go and watched as he rubbed his tired eyes. How foolish of her! Ben must be so tired after the entire ordeal, and here she was, worrying over some man whom she had only just met! She felt ashamed that she had spent as much time worrying over some man’s well being then her own son’s. But he wasn’t just some man now… no, he had saved her son’s life, he had saved her only reason for living, her had restored her faith and hope in humanity. No, he wasn’t just some man now, there was something more to him.

“Momma, look!” Ben cried out all of a sudden. Following his gaze, she turned to face the doors of the school. Coming down out of the ashes and smoke was a figure, Standing tall, the figure seemed to stop and stare out into the crowd, as if he were surveying the scene or trying to find someone in the crowd. Serena grabbed her son and hoisted him onto her hip. Holding her breath, she prayed.

Policemen and firefighters ran to help the figure on the steps, but when they got to the bottom of the steps, they stopped and stood back. The silent dark figure began to step down the stairs, one at a time, as if to suspend his identity form the crowd. As he reached the sidewalk, he turned slightly to his left and headed in the direction of the SWAT team Gundam.

As he drew closer to the group the lights lit up his face, the group let out a cheer and whoop. Duo was the first to run to the figure and pat him on the back. Quatre, Hilde, and Trowa raced up next, followed closely behind by Wufei. All of them were laughing and shouting as if there were no tomorrow. Ben squirmed in Serena’s arms, so she put him down and watched as he made a beeline for the dark soot covered figure. As Ben met the figure, the man picked him up and held in tightly. Serena just covered her mouth with her hand and fought back tears of disbelief. It was him. It could only be him.

>>>)(<<<

Hiiro was able to drag himself up off the cool marble floor of the lobby in the first floor of the school. He had had the wind knocked out of him. Looking around, it appeared as if most of the explosion had effected the top two floors. Only the shock wave had thrown him off of his feet and to the floor. After catching his breath, he stood to his tallest and tried to check himself over for any damage. He didn’t think he had broken anything. Maybe a rib or two, but it wasn’t so bad that he couldn’t walk. Reaching up to his head, he found a small gash on his right temple. Well, time would heal that, and it wasn’t bleeding badly, so he knew he didn’t need stitches for it. He could feel he had a cut on his right shoulder blade as well, but it only stung for them moment.

Hiiro felt an incredible heat swiftly overtake his senses and he knew the building was on fire. Forcing himself to begin walking, he made his way towards the door in the dark of the sweltering room. The smoke was beginning to make it’s way down the stairs, and only just recovering from have the wind knocked out of him, Hiiro knew it wasn’t healthy to inhale too much of the smoke. Not that it was healthy any other time either… Moving the heavy display case that had fallen and smashed it’s self into the door, Hiiro reached for the handles. Ignoring the small cuts he received from miniature glass shards on the handles, he opened the doors and walked out as if in perfect condition.

He stood  on the stoop of the school for a few minutes, inhaling the fresh, cool night air and just taking in the atmosphere of the crime scene. He saw the parents reunited with their children. He saw firefighters and police finally doing their share of work. He saw the group of his comrades all staring directly at him, trying to tell who it was that had just walked out of the mangled school. When a few medics came up and tried to tell him to lay on a stretcher, he merely grunted and shook his head. Though the action made his head swim and eyes blurry, he would not rest. He had to complete his mission.

Making his way towards his friends, he saw a tear streaked Duo run up to him and embrace him tightly.  Did Duo really care that much about  his well-being? He would have to be nicer to the braided idiot for a while. The others, too, all crowded around him and patted him on the back. He winced invisibly when someone hit the cut on his shoulder. Maybe it was worse than he had originally thought. Then out of the rush of his teammates a little voice called to him.

“Mr. Hiiro! Mr. Hiiro! You’re back!” Hiiro looked down to see a young little boy. It was Ben. When Hiiro saw Ben’s arms out stretch towards him, he acted on his instincts and reached out to pick the child up. Swing him around then holding him tightly, Hiiro forgot the pain of his wounds and looked for Serena. He found her standing behind his car with her hand over her mouth and a strange glint in her crystalline eyes. Forgetting his friends, he walked forward towards her, Ben still in his arms.

Serena saw Hiiro begin to walk towards her and shuddered. He was looked fine, but she could see he had a deep gash on his left forearm, a small cut on his right temple, and probably many other little cuts up and down the rest of is body. Forget that! It was a miracle he was still alive! And in more than less than two pieces! He was even able to hold Ben. Truly, he was not someone an enemy of the law would want to reckon with. And here he was, saving her son. Before she knew it, he was right in front of her.

“Here is your son Serena.” He said in his same monotone voice. As if he had preformed a simple task, not an amazing life threatening feat.

            “Thank you Hiiro, for both returning my son to me safely and restring my faith in the impossible being possible.” She told him in her best imitation of his monotone voice.

“Mission Complete.” He finalized the moment. Silence fell among the group as they waited to see who would make the next move. Both Serena and Hiiro were gone, they had left on a one way ticket to the moon.

            As Hiiro stared into Serena’s eyes, he saw that she truly meant her words. He had helped to restore her faith? He found that next to impossible to think that she had ever lost her faith to begin with. She was so animated, so full of life that he sometimes wondered if she was really much younger than she appeared to be. She was so pretty, so beautiful, so perfect…

            She felt herself drowning in his deep, space-like eyes. They had seemed to hold an infinite amount of emptiness when she had first met him. However, no they were different. They still held the same bottomless quality, but now they held many different emotions. She could pick out confusion as well as  determination, but there was something else she had never seen before. Not in anyone’s eyes; not her parents, not Darien’s, not Hilde’s or her boss’s or even her son’s. No, it was different. It made her spine tingle with excitement.

            “Earth to space cadets, space  cadets do you copy, over.” Hilde said as she waved her hand in-between Serena and Hiiro’s gaze. Both broke their gaze and looked away, a slight blush lightly gracing their respective faces.

            “Come on, it’s been a long day. Serena, Hilde, we’ll drop you off at home on our way out of here.” Quatre persuaded them. With that, the group of five SWAT team members, one young mother and her son, and one girlfriend all packed up their belongings in Hiiro’s car and got in to head for home. But each of them held the same question in their minds: after this mission, would life ever be the same again?*