DISCLAIMER: Gundam Wing belonged to Sunrise and co. I’m not making any profits out of this, so don’t sue. Oh, those you think you’ve never heard before belong to me. And feedback is very welcome, people! ☺
TIMELINE: The story takes place after “Survival of the Fittest”, I’d say almost two years. This is the second installment of the “Shattered” duology.
By Arayelle Lynn.
Dorothy paused at the door. She pulled her knuckle up to knock on the door, all the while fearing what she might find inside. But before she could do so, the door slid open, revealing the handsome face of her fiancé.
He looked at her, startled. She regarded him, noting his slightly rumpled appearance and red rimmed eyes. Even so, his good looks did not cease to take her breath away. “Dorothy?” he voiced, getting over his surprise.
She regained her breath, clutching the tray of food closer to her chest. “Uh… I remembered that you haven’t had lunch, so…” she let the sentence went unfinished as she stared into his cerulean eyes.
His expression softened as he took note of her gesture. He took the tray but instead of returning to his room, he placed it on the floor. “It’s been a long time since we had lunch together, right?” he hinted, taking her hand in his.
Dorothy started at that. Then she nodded. “The last was before you were kidnapped by the duke,” she answered.
“Yeah, those days seemed so far away,” said Quatre wistfully. His thoughts drifted to the moment when the only thing he could complain about was to get his work done to meet Dorothy in one of their regular lunch dates. He shook his head, offering his arm. “Well, shall we?”
Smiling at the amusement in his eyes, Dorothy linked her arm to his, letting him lead her towards the cafeteria. As they walked, they started discussing the preparation of their wedding. All thoughts of the current war and personal conflict were tucked far, far away from their mind. However, the moment didn’t last long.
Dorothy sensed rather than saw Quatre stared at her as she attacked her lunch. She looked up to see his food lay before him untouched. She paused, looking at him concernedly. “Quatre?”
He broke the eye contact, staring at his hands. His face was grim, with a touch of profound regret. “I’m sorry, Dorothy.”
She frowned. She hardly expected this coming from his lips, just as they were having fun for the first time since everything started. But before she could say anything, he continued. “I know that you’re hurting right now. Things had been so… crazy that I’ve barely had time to think about us.”
“Quatre…”
He reached for her hand. The one that was wearing the engagement ring. He stared at it hard, before looking at her. “I’m being a very bad boyfriend and I’m sorry for it.” He paused, struggling with his words. “It’s just that… I need to sort out something first. And I don’t know how.”
Dorothy’s heart ached at the pain and confusion in his eyes. She had known that he was hurting but didn’t really know to what extend. And she knew that judging by the ‘conversation’ she had with Kylie before, the girl had been everything but subtle.
“Shh…” she interrupted his next words, placing her finger on his lips. She looked at him gently. “You do not need to explain yourself, Quatre. I understand. She was your first love even though it was just a lie to her.” She trailed her hand along his delicate jaw line. “Don’t worry about me. I’m fine.”
“But I’m not being fair to you…”
“You got that right!” she declared, managing to receive a surprised look from him. Then her lips broke into a mischievous smile. “You hardly help out with the wedding plan. Do you expect me to choose the groom’s attire as well?”
At that Quatre blushed, making Dorothy fell in love with him even more. But before she could continue, Duo Maxwell ran to their table. “There you are!” he panted, looking at Quatre and Dorothy back and fourth.
Seeing the alarmed look on his face, Quatre stood up. “What’s wrong?”
Duo turned to his friend. “There’s a spy in the base. Lady Une wants to see us immediately.” He paused to turn to Dorothy. “She wants you to stay close to Relena.” The heiress nodded in acknowledgement.
“No, wait!” said Quatre as she was about to leave. He reached for something behind him and handed her a gun. “Just in case,” he said, staring at her hard.
She nodded in understanding. “Don’t worry about us,” she said, reading his expression well. She kissed his cheek, whispering, “I’m going to select my wedding dress the day after tomorrow. Maybe you’d like to do so while I’m at it.”
He squeezed her hand. “It’s a date,” he agreed, then watched as she left. He turned to see Duo looking at him teasingly. “Don’t say it,” he warned him.
“What?”
>>>@@<<<
“He’s gone!” was the grim report Lady Une received when Sally came into her office. “His quarter is cleaned. None of the personnel had seen him the whole day.” She paused. “Zechs and Noin are still scouting the perimeters.”
“He must’ve caught on our suspicion,” said Trowa. He and the other Gundam pilots had just been briefed over what was transpiring. Lady Une was about to send Trowa, Duo and Wu Fei on the search as well but Sally’s abrupt appearance interrupted her.
“Since Zechs and Noin are covering the surface, he could still be inside the base, hiding,” Lady Une chewed her lower lips, thinking. She knew that she could trust the two Preventer couple to do their job well.
“In that case, let us try our luck,” said Duo, representing his friends.
“No, wait,” said Heero, stopping Duo from going to the door. “Before we go around searching aimlessly, we need to plan our move.” He paused. “Let’s divide ourselves to different sectors.”
“Right,” Quatre agreed. “Duo and Trowa, you search the quarters area while Wu Fei and Mylin’ll have the main building.” He turned to Heero. “Since Zechs and Noin have the grounds covered, we’ll check on other possible escape routes,” he said, referring to the base’s lowest floor.
“Good plan,” Sally approved, nodding. “I’ll have my people checking into the database and see if anyone has been accessing the network. Perhaps our spy is downloading information from our computers.”
“And use the database to trace his location,” Lady Une finished her sentence. “Good idea,” she nodded. “Go.”
>>>@@<<<
He found his target in the first place he suspected she would be. Nowadays, she had become so predictable that he could read her every movement. Maybe because she was losing her touch but he preferred to claim that he was getting better in the whole espionage stuff. But whatever it was, he knew deep in his heart that she would be in the hangar.
Right now, the girl was hunching over Epyon’s keyboard, installing the new system in Zechs’ Gundam. Her hair tied into a ponytail, though she looked quite comfortable in her usual turtle-neck attire. He found himself shaking his head. Hangars are well known to be the stuffiest and hottest place in the base, so how come she was always wearing outfits that completely covered her body?
‘How I’d love to see her in a tank top,’ he wondered, drinking the sight of her beautiful features. Once he achieved his goal, he planned to have some fun with her.
‘Focus!’ he chastised himself, remembering that he needed to get out of the base quickly. The Preventers was getting so close in finding him so he needed to be away now! But first, he needed to get the object of Winteridge’s desire. The Zero-Infinity system.
Squaring his shoulders, he casually approached his target.
>>>@@<<<
At the sound of footsteps from behind her, Kylie whipped the gun in her foot holster around. Her aim met the bewildered-looking young Preventer agent. He held up his hands. “Whoa!” he breathed as a bark echoed his surprise.
Kylie relaxed, recognizing the agent as the one who volunteered to baby sit Heero’s dog. The dog had been way too bored that he had begun to interfere with Kylie’s work by jumping on her and pulling at her clothes for attention. And since Heero’s been busy piloting, she was the one suffering from Adin’s boredom. She was only grateful when one of Une’s agents decided to help her walk the dog.
“What are you doing here?” she scowled, knowing only the Gundam pilots and Howard’s technicians were allowed in there.
The agent, Ryan, shrugged. “He dragged me here. One minute I was tying my shoe lace and the next his leash escaped my hand and I found myself chasing him here. I guess he misses you.”
Kylie messed the dog’s mane, only betraying her affection through her touch. She said nothing.
“You’re looking awfully jumpy,” Ryan continued, trying to prompt more conversation from the girl. Kylie realized that she was still pointing the gun at him so she quickly put it on the notebook that she had been working on. With a graceful movement, she pulled herself up onto Epyon’s pilot seat again and rechecked the reconfiguration progress.
He saw a look of satisfaction on her face. “You’re finally done?” he prompted, craning his neck to see the screen.
Quickly, Kylie turned to him, suspiciously. Ryan put his hands out in surrender. “Alright, so it’s a top secret stuff,” he said, flashing her his famous devil-may-care smile. “But you’re certainly looking very tense, you know.”
Kylie sighed. She was getting tired of his attempt at flirting. “Get out of here, agent,” she said, letting the threat seeped a little in her tone.
“Alright, alright, I’m going,” he said, tugging the dog along with him. “Let’s go raid the galley, Adin. Maybe they’ll have some good stuff to eat.” He waved good bye at her but she was already lost in her own work. Disappointed, he walked passed a technician who was returning from lunch, banging his knee on the toolbox that the technician was carrying.
He muttered his sorry as the technician threw him a sympathetic look. Obviously, he had heard his entire failed flirtation. “Sorry, mate,” the technician said as he made his way towards his work station. Ryan scowled at him.
Kylie heard the entire exchange clearly, while lying under Epyon’s control board. Her hands worked expertly as she reconnected the wires to the circuits. Her work was almost done and once the reconfiguration was complete, Zechs would be able to use the new system as well.
When she heard a beep, she rose from the floor. Pulling the screen so it faced her, she nodded in satisfactorily. “Reconfiguration complete,” she said to herself, echoing the words on the screen. She then started to screw the panel close, having done reconnecting the wires.
By then, the hangar was quiet. Kylie found herself relishing the silence once again. Now that the work was done, she began planning her next move. ‘Find out more about the clones, of course,’ she thought to herself, recalling her unfinished project. Her eyebrow burrowed at the thought. She had found that there were some files missing from Dr. Randells’ folders. She didn’t know if it was intentional or if the files were lost during the transfer. And also, she needed to find out who had been training the clones. As intelligent as Winteridge was at tactics and strategies, he didn’t have enough experience to train soldiers. Especially to the point of perfection. No, there must be someone else working in the background. Someone who knew how to turn innocent children into heartless killing machine.
Her train of thoughts halted when suddenly the silence triggered the warning bells in her head. The hangar was too quiet. Hadn’t the…
She never got to finish her thoughts. A sharp pain pricked her neck, just above her shoulder as she whirled around. Her eyes met the technician’s, seeing his malicious smile. “You…” she said, surprised to find her words slurring. Her head began to swim. “What?” she gasped then saw the empty syringe in his hand.
‘No!’ she thought, crawling away, her numb hands reaching for the gun which she had placed on the floor. It seemed like it was so far away but she managed to grab it. “Oh no, you don’t!” said the technician as she swung the gun around. Something hit Kylie across the face and the darkness claimed her.
>>>@@<<<
He threw the toolbox aside. He had been caught by surprise when the girl aimed the gun at him. Luckily, he still had the toolbox nearby. Crouching, he checked her pulse, hoping that he hadn’t hit her that hard. At the same time, he marveled at her resistance to the drug. ‘Truly a Gundam pilot,’ he thought.
Then his eyes wondered around the hangar, checking to see if there was anyone there. Satisfied that the coast was clear, he hefted the girl onto his shoulder. Before he walked away, he looked back at Gundam Epyon, thinking if he should made his escape with it. Winteridge would be very pleased to have one extra Gundam, compete with the new system, in his hands.
‘No,’ he shook his head. He recalled that the Gundams were usually password-locked by the pilots. He would never get it started. And besides, it would draw more attention.
Adjusting the precious cargo on his shoulder, he made his way out.
>>>@@<<<
“No go, Quat,” said Duo through the comm. “Trowa and I searched everywhere, though we did find a radio transmitter in a secret panel in his room.”
“Then, report back to Lady Une. She would be very interested in the radio,” said Quatre. “Wu Fei? Mylin?”
“He’s not here. Not even in the control room or the hangar,” Wu Fei reported. “You?”
“We’re in one of the secret tunnels now,” he answered, jumping when a rat scurried passed him. He sighed, throwing Heero an embarrass smile. “But no one had been here before. I had suggested Sally to post some guards here since the spy hadn’t come this way.”
“Right, in that case, we’ll head there.”
“What’s that, Mylin?” Quatre prompted when he heard a muffled sound from the radio.
“I just said we’re wasting our time here,” she repeated.
“Look, no one asks you to join us, remember?” Duo’s irritated voice came in.
“Spoken like a true fool, Maxwell.” Then she quickly interrupted Duo’s angry retort. “What I’m saying is that we should figure out what in this base would the spy take with him when he rejoin Winteridge?”
“Well, duh! It doesn’t take a genius to figure that out,” said Duo. “Of course, our strategies and secret plans. I wouldn’t even be surprised if he already has the locations of the secret network we established in the colonies.”
“That’s true,” Mylin acknowledged. “But what is the more precious information than that? Secret plans and strategies Winteridge could do without. He’s been quite acute at countering our every move. No, what I’m talking about is the information that Winteridge cannot afford to not have.”
A warning bell rang in Heero’s head. He grabbed Quatre’s comm. “What are you getting at, Mylin?”
“Your Gundams.”
Quatre looked at Heero as he tightened his hold on the comm. “The Zero-Infinity system!”
“Kylie!” Without another word, Quatre sprinted back.
>>>@@<<<
He waited as the sound of running footsteps faded. The underground base was bursting with Preventer agents, on a search for the spy, which was him. But he wasn’t worried. He had already planned his escape very well. There was a small plane waiting for him in a hangar on the surface. Oh yes, of course Lady Une would’ve had every hangar in the base well-guarded but there was one she had overlooked. A small hangar at the back side of the base which was closed for maintenance. He had taken that to his advantage and stored his getaway there.
Once he was certain that the cost was clear, he stepped out of the room. This time, he had discarded his borrowed technician coverall and wore a white coverall, compliment from the man tied up nicely back in the room. To compliment his new role, he pushed a cart, where his precious cargo was in.
As he was moving, he pulled down his cap over his eyes and glanced back at the photo that he was holding. It was a picture of a woman and a little girl. He kissed it. “Be patient, my ladies. Daddy’s coming home and he’s coming back with big bucks,” he whispered, for a moment thinking of his wife and daughter living happily in an apartment on Mars.
Tucking the photo away, he began his journey.
>>>@@<<<
Quatre looked around him, desperately. It had been two hours since they had found Kylie missing and still they could not find any sign of her or the spy. Ryan, an agent, reported that he had left her in the hangar but when they got there she was gone. So was the technician that Ryan had mentioned. When Lady Une received the news, she had ordered a full blown search party both inside and outside the base’s grounds.
“This is useless!” Wu Fei slammed his fist on the wall. “They could be anywhere.”
“We have to try,” Quatre heard Duo said. He ignored the agents that ran along the corridor, who nearly collided with a laundry man. “We can’t let the system fall into evil hands.”
“The Preventers have all escape routes covered and the people in the command center haven’t reported any unauthorized launch,” said Trowa, his calming nature unfazed by the emergency. “So they must still be in the base. We’ll just have to find them.”
Quatre bit back an angry scowl. But before he could say anything, a voice interrupted him. “That man, he’s going the wrong way,” said Mylin, her eyes watching the retreating back of a man in white coverall.
“That’s only the laundry man,” Duo dismissed her off-handedly. “Today’s laundry day, remember?”
“He’s still going the wrong way,” Mylin repeated, frowning. By then, the other pilots were all looking at him. It was then they realized that the man was heading away from the quarters.
“Hey, you!” Trowa suddenly shouted, sprinting towards the man. Instead of stopping, the man bolted, pushing the cart vigorously. “Stop!” Trowa warned, drawing his gun. Behind him, the others followed in suit.
“Stop him! He’s the spy!” Duo shouted at the two agents guarding the other end of the hallway. Seeing that he was surrounded, the man suddenly grabbed the white bed sheet in his cart and flung it over the agents, trapping them. Then, he grabbed something from the cart. No, it was someone!
“Hold it right there!” the man ordered, pushing a gun against Kylie’s exposed throat. Duo and the others quickly halted. Heero quickly ran a check on his twin sister. She was unconscious, probably drugged but when a moan escaped her lips, he noted that she was slowly coming to consciousness.
“Ah, ah!” the spy warned, tightening his hold so strong that Kylie let out an involuntary cry. But it was enough to jar her from unconsciousness.
“Alright, I’m putting down my gun,” said Trowa, signaling the others to do so. He knew that the spy would kill Kylie if he was forced to.
The spy nodded. “Good,” he said, inching backward, dragging Kylie with him. “Don’t anyone follow us or I’ll kill her.”
Suddenly, he caught a movement to his left. Before any of them could cry out a warning, an agent sprang out from his hiding place. There was a gunshot and the agent fell, blood pooling the floor. “No heroics!” the spy warned, whipping his gun back at the Gundam pilots. “Especially from you.”
Heero and the others watched helplessly as the spy dragged Kylie into another hallway. Once they disappeared, the Gundam pilots quickly got into action. It wasn’t until the sound of a metal clattering on the floor gave off a mental warning.
“Get down!” Heero cried, pushing Quatre onto the floor as an explosion hit them.
>>>@@<<<
When the whole underground headquarters shook, Lady Une was taken completely by surprise. Luckily, the base was a former nuclear shelter and was built to withstand big explosions coming from outside and inside the base itself. However, she was sure that the blast was powerful enough to rattle a few windows in the main building up on the surface.
“What the hell happened?” she demanded as Agent Grant picked himself from the floor.
“There was an explosion in the third floor, near the officer’s quarters,” an agent answered, assessing the damages.
Lady Une frowned. The last time the Gundam pilots checked in, they had been in that area! Could it be…?
“Grant,” she ordered. “Take your men and check the area. Weapons ready.” Grant nodded and five agents left with him. Lady Une leaned over a console, blowing a deep breath. Inside, she cursed the day she had ever heard the name of a certain duke.
>>>@@<<<
Duo coughed as someone lifted the heavy debris off him. Then that someone propped him up, assessing the bleeding cut on his thigh. “It’s not that serious,” said that someone he later identified as Mylin. “You’ll live but will be out of action for many days.”
Duo bit back a retort as he scanned the cloudy hallway for signs of his friend. Wu Fei was bending over the agent who was shot, staunching a gaping hole in his chest while Trowa was checking on the rest of the wounded agents. Heero and Quatre were nowhere to be found.
“Where’s Heero and Quatre?” he rasped then gasped when pain shot up his chest. He eyed a block of fallen debris not far away.
Trowa’s eyes followed his and he shook his head. “They’re okay. They went ahead to catch the spy.”
“Then go!” said Duo, sweat was beginning to show on his forehead. Mylin frowned in concern. “Go after them, Trowa. The spy is dangerous. They will need back up.”
Trowa nodded. “Roger that.” Then he ran, with Duo and Mylin watching him.
>>>@@<<<
Clarkson dragged his hostage mercilessly. Under normal circumstances, he would’ve preferred his hostage to be able to walk. But this particular hostage was not normal. And he was thankful that her paralysis enabled her to offer much resistance.
He glanced back over his shoulder. Sure enough, no one was coming after him. He smiled in satisfaction, knowing the hand grenade that he had thrown had provided him enough distraction to get away safely from the base.
“Won’t be long now,” he whispered to the girl, his arm tightening his hold on her throat, cutting off some of the air to her lungs. She choked, digging her fingernails in his arm but it was futile.
Then he saw it. The door to the old hangar where he had hid his plane. Beyond that he could make out the catwalk that led to the entrance of the plane. Quickening his pace, he dragged his hostage even more roughly.
As he was entering the hangar, he suddenly heard the unmistakable sound of running footsteps. Glancing behind, he cursed. “Damn! What does it take to stop these guys?” He aimed his weapon and fired. The two Gundam pilots dove aside, narrowly missing the hail of bullets.
Quickly, he scrambled along the catwalk, firing shots after shots at the two pilots. But still they kept coming. Fortunately for him as the pilots were nearing the hangar, the heavy door slid close, cutting them off. The pilots banged furiously at the door, one shooting at it while the other stared at the little peephole on the door. There was a look of pure horror in his blue-green eyes.
Clarkson almost jumped in glee. But he settled with a mocking salute at his two desperate pursuers. He was one step ahead into fulfilling his last mission and he could now imagine the faces of his wife and daughter greeting him at home.
That’s when he realized his mistake. While he had been busy with the two young men, he had totally forgotten about his hostage.
>>>@@<<<
Kylie smashed her head against Clarkson’s face, smiling satisfactorily at the sound of a sickening crunch his nose made with the contact. Crying in pain, Clarkson was forced to release her and she fell onto the floor in a heap. Cursing her, Clarkson whipped his gun at her, squeezing the trigger. Instead of the loud pop made by exploding bullets, he only heard the sound of empty clicking.
Expecting the empty round, Kylie raised her body by her arms and swung her useless limbs in an arc. Her feet connected heavily against Clarkson’s legs, tripping him. Recovering quickly, Clarkson twisted his falling body to land on top of Kylie. Gritting his teeth, he backhanded her and grabbed her exposed throat, choking the life out of her.
Instead of letting herself fell in her weakening state, Kylie drew back a fist and smashed his broken nose again. Clarkson howled, staggering backward against the railing, holding his bleeding nose. Not wasting anytime, Kylie quickly launched herself against the spy, pushing him up and over the railing. Feeling himself dropping into a thirty foot drop, Clarkson quickly grabbed the edge of the runway. His deadly descent halted as his body hung perilously.
He looked up to meet the face of his hostage, now his only savior. There was a strange look in her eyes. “Help me!” he cried, struggling to maintain his hold.
“Please, help me,” he choked, feeling his fingers slipping.
She looked down at him, unfeelingly.
His fingers slipped some more. He fought to regain his hold.
“Please, I have a wife and a kid,” he begged, tears were starting to trail down his cheek. He recalled the faces of his wife and little daughter once more. “I’m doing this so I could feed my family.”
Still, she didn’t move a muscle. Instead, her eyes narrowed coldly.
One of his hands slipped, leaving him dangling with one hand. He started to sob.
“Please, my daughter’s only five.”
Kylie’s eyes remained cold and hard, like a goddess of death. But her response sealed his fate forever. “And somehow, I could not find enough heart to care,” she said, turning away.
Clarkson’s last sight was the pair of merciless winter blue eyes as his fingers slipped completely. His screamed died just as his body hit the bottom with a sickening crunch.
>>>@@<<<
“No!” Quatre cried, seeing Kylie turned away from her helpless kidnapper. It was then the door hissed open and he heard the sound of running footsteps coming from behind him. Ignoring them, he made his way to the spot where the spy disappeared to.
He had to close his eyes when they met one of the most gruesome sights he had ever seen.
“What happened? Why didn’t you help him? We could’ve made him answer a few questions about the enemy,” he heard Duo asked. Obviously, he, Wu Fei and Mylin had secured their last location and had come to assist Heero and him.
Instead of answering, Kylie propped herself up even more, ignoring Duo’s remarks. She also ignored Heero’s outstretched hands to carry her up. But the stress had been too much for her and the residue of the drug was finally taking its toll. Quatre turned around only see her slumped on the metal floor, unconscious.
>>>@@<<<
“Aside from the drug and some cuts and bruises, she’s fine,” said Tricia Farrell, slipping the stethoscope back on her shoulders. “Though I’m keeping her here overnight for an observation. She might be suffering from a mild concussion when she woke up.”
She turned to Duo, nicely bandaged and lying on the bed. “And I’d like to keep you too, Maxwell. I don’t like to hear that cough of yours. I think you’ve inhaled quite a huge amount of dusts.” She felt his forehead. “And will be suffering from fever throughout the night, judging from your temperature.”
Duo mumbled something incoherent as his eyes drooped even lower. He didn’t really care what happen now. All he wanted was to be able to settle in the nice, cozy, darkness.
The others watched as Duo slept. “However, I do have one good news,” said the doctor, breaking the silence. This time, she looked at Relena who was sitting on a nearby bed. “You’re fit enough to leave the infirmary tomorrow, Relena.” She smiled when the young woman brightened. “But you’re confined in your allocated quarters until such time when I declare otherwise.”
So happy she was, Relena seemed almost grateful for the confinement. Staying in the infirmary had been a very dull experience in which she was determined not to duplicate anytime soon. Her only console was having Dorothy to accompany her and discuss politics. She knew that the golden haired girl had been sent to the infirmary to safe guard Relena, just when the news came about a double agent on the loose. But Relena never minded a little security. She knew that her line of work demanded her of that.
“Great, so what do we do next?” asked Dorothy, her eyes never left Quatre who was watching Kylie silently.
Lady Une turned to regard the whole team. “We’re going to attack Jupiter. Again.”
>>>@@<<<
She heard the little girl cry. She was about five or six years old. Her clothes were worn and dirty. A prone body lay before her, over a growing pool of blood. His eyes were open and lifeless. His chest was still since his last breath had already escaped his lips a long time ago. In his slackened hands, there was a broken dagger.
She reached out her hand to touch the girl. She knew who this was. She knew exactly what had happen and what will happen next. And she wished to stop it from happening again.
There was a scuffling sound coming from the darkness. Both she and the girl turned towards the sound but only seeing a closed door. Obviously, the sound had come from something behind the door. And it sounded like a set of feet pacing on the floor.
She trembled. She tried to reach out to the little girl. But it was to no avail. She watched helplessly as the girl picked up the broken blade and walked over to the door. The look in her eyes were nothing but determination.
“No!” she found herself shouting, pleading. She tried to move her heavy legs but somehow, she felt as if they were rooted to the ground. No, she was only meant to see this happen, not stop it.
“Please, don’t!” she pleaded, still trying to change past. But it was already in motion. The little girl turned the knob and the door swung open.
It was then her legs were freed. Quickly she scrambled towards the girl. But as she was about to touch her, the door slammed close. Then, she heard the sound of a bloodcurdling scream. Only she didn’t realized that it was her!
Suddenly, the scene changed. She was standing in a grey meadow, overlooking a setting grey sun. A girl was there, talking to another girl, a perfect mirror image of herself. In fact, the two girls looked exactly like her!
She knew what was happening. She knew exactly what they were talking about.
“You still have a choice, you know,” said the girl. “We both know it’s not yet your time to go. Your past haunts you too strongly for you to ignore.”
“There’s no choice in that,” said the other girl. “I will have what I want.”
The girl shook her head. “But at this moment, your heart is craving for two different things. Both of which you can’t have without letting go of the other.”
The other girl frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“You know what I’m talking about. I’m you,” said the girl, in a way of an explanation. “So now, you must make your choice. Which is the one your heart most desired? Choose wisely because one could lead you to ruin and the other could lead you to many pains.”
“What are the choices you’re speaking of?”
“You know. It’s in your heart.”
The other girl hesitated. Then, she looked at the setting sun, a forlorn look on her face. “Love or vengeance?”
The girl nodded.
The other girl looked at her hands, clenching them into fists. She seemed to be recalling something. “There was never a doubt in my choices,” she said, her eyes flashed dangerously. “I’ve always known it deep in my heart.’
There was a sad look on the girl’s face, as if she already knew. “What is your choice?” she asked, quietly.
“I choose vengeance and renounce love.”
The girl shook her head. “May you find your peace.” She paused. “When you’re lost remember this, you’re not him, Kylie. You’re not a monster.”
Her vision swam again. The image of the two girls and the grey meadow disintegrated, only to be replaced by the beautiful sight of a garden. And a man talking to yet another mirror image of her.
“You’re not ready,” he was saying. “You have yet learned the most important lesson of all.”
“What’s that, father?”
The man trailed the rose in his hand along her delicate feature. He smiled, before turning serious. “This is by far the most important lesson of all,” he said, looking into the girl’s eyes. “For you to learn the first lesson, you must first learn mercy.”
“You’re not a monster if you could learn mercy, Little Fire.”
Suddenly, the man’s eyes widened as his body jerked. The man, the girl and she looked down only to find a tip of a blade that had went through his heart. Blood was already soaking his blue uniform as his eyes rolled and he fell to the ground.
She and the girl were too stunned to catch the man they had come to love as their father.
“No!” she screamed, the fog in her mind suddenly dissipated. She ran to his side, gathering him in her arms. She glared up at the towering figure that stood behind the man; the weapon in the hand betrayed the villain.
She gasped when she saw who it was. It was her!
“Show’s over, Rayden. You lose,” her mirror image was saying. No, not her mirror image. Her clone!
“Say bye to Winner boy,” said the clone, raising the blade. Before she could register what the clone was up to, she plunged the bloody blade into Treize. Only when Kylie looked down, he wasn’t Treize. Shocked, her eyes met Quatre’s lifeless ones.
“NO!”
>>>@@<<<
“No!” Kylie bolted out of bed. Her chest heaving for air as her heart beat went wild. Sweat drenched her as her mind recalled the terrible vision in her dreams. Still trapped in her nightmare, she didn’t even notice someone jumped to her side and held her shaking body.
“Shh…! Shh…! It’s alright. It’s only a nightmare,” said Quatre Winner, soothingly. He felt her jerked when he held her, knowing she was still in shock. “It’s alright, Kylie. I’m here.” He ran his hand along her hair, comforting her.
Kylie went slack in his arms, finally breathing normally. The trembling in her body eased a little as she sank into his arms. He continued whispering words of comfort to her. Neither remembered their current complication.
Not for long. Before Quatre could offer Kylie something to drink, she shoved herself away from him. Her eyes cold and unfeeling. A far cry from the distraught girl just a moment earlier. “Stay away!” she warned, dangerously.
Thinking that she was still in shock, Quatre put up his hands. “Kylie! It’s only me. It’s okay, the nightmare is over,” he said, gently.
Kylie’s eyes narrowed. “Just stay away from me, Winner,” she repeated, her eyes searching the room. They landed on Duo who was sleeping peacefully on the bed next to hers and the five Preventer agents. ‘I’m in sickbay !’ she realized as the memory came back to her.
“Are you alright?” Quatre asked, handing her a glass of water.
She chose to ignore it. Instead, when her eyes spotted the wheelchair next to her bed, she began to reach for it.
“Kylie!” he placed the glass on the table and came around the bed to stop her. “What are you doing? You can’t leave now.”
Ignoring her protesting body, she gently lowered herself on the wheelchair. “And who’s going to stop me?” she snapped at him, her eyes seeing double. She glared at him, furiously willing her eyes to focus. “I mean it, Winner. Stay away from me!”
He was about to say something when suddenly Duo moaned. Quatre ran to his friend’s side, checking his fevered forehead before turning back to Kylie. But the girl was already gone.
“Hey,” he greeted Duo when his eyes fluttered open. His friend looked at him in confusion before the light of understanding flashed in his watery eyes. “How are you feeling?”
“Lousy,” he rasped, coughing. Quatre held a glass of water for him. “How long have I been out?” he asked, as soon as the water soothed his dry throat.
“The whole night and this morning,” was the answer.
Duo moaned. “Man, I feel so lousy,” he complained, massaging his throbbing head.
Quatre looked at his friend, sympathetically. He was a little relieved to find the worst was over. No one except him and Dr. Tricia had known how bad Duo fared the other night. His fever had been so bad that the doctor and he had taken shifts to care for the sick. Luckily, Sally was there to help them.
“Dr. Tricia would be around soon,” he told him gently. “She’ll give something for the headache.”
“Great.” Then, Duo’s eyes trailed to the bed next to his. “Where’s the Ice Queen?” he asked, using the nickname he gave Kylie a long time ago.
Quatre’s eyes strayed to the bed, worriedly. “She left. Dr. Tricia wouldn’t be pleased to hear this.”
Duo snorted, moaning as another wave of headache hit him.
“Perhaps I should get her back.”
“No!” Duo protested, grabbing Quatre’s hand in time. “Stay away from her, Quat. She’s bad news.”
He sighed, exasperatedly. Quatre knew all too well about Duo’s dislike of Kylie.
“Listen to me, Quatre. You’ve got to forget her,” he advised. “Stay away from her. She’ll only get you into trouble.”
“Duo…”
“No, listen to me,” Duo grasped his hand. “She isn’t the same person we met, Quat. There’s something about her that is off. I don’t know what but I could tell that she will get you into trouble… or worse yet, killed!”
TO BE CONTINUED…
AUTHOR REPLIES: Happy Birthday to me, happy birthday to me… yup I turned 20-something today. Just thought that I should reward my fellow, loyal fans with a new chapter. I really, really hope you enjoy the ride. It was a tense one for me.
Ookami Kage: Yeah, I found myself saddened for Kylie too. It’s like the more she tried to push Quatre away, the more her weaknesses are revealed. Only, we don’t know where this will lead. Maybe they’ll get back together or maybe not. I don’t know. My muse hasn’t revealed it to me yet.
About Destiny, yeah, I agree with you. I seriously think that the ending needs more work. I totally disagree on how they turned Shinn as the bad guy in his own show! I had thought that he would come around sometime nearing the end. So I was disappointed when he didn’t. But one thing I love about Destiny is that we’re finally get to see more of Athrun in action even though he was being kicked around in the early part of the series.
L.A. Une: He… he… well, wait no longer. Feast on this!
Surv: Thanks for the compliment. Glad to know you like it!
Arina K: Hmm… light New York City for a year?! I wouldn’t go that far. I think my stories need some more work to be considered THAT good. Anyway, thanks for your support and belief in Quatre-Kylie relationship. I hadn’t thought anyone would accept her as Quatre’s pair because she is an OC.
Just would like to wish all my Chinese readers a Happy Chinese New Year!
