Note: Okay, folks, I think I’ve semi-gotten over my writer’s block. I don’t know why this story is being so difficult. Maybe I don’t know enough about politics to write it, but oh well. Here’s what I can do. Enjoy!

The Hit List

Chapter 5

By Starling

Brekken entered the crowd of people gathered around the roped-off crime scene. He peered over a few heads, looking as shocked as the people around him, at the body of Leland Corwin. It was not his normal practice to show up at the actual crime scene, but after his failure to kill Arys Walker, he needed to confirm that his target was dead. And judging from the amount of blood on the ground, he had done his job well.

"Terrible tragedy, isn’t it?" A little man standing beside him commented as the EMTs covered the body.

Brekken had to fight a smile when he realized that the man was speaking to him. "Yes, it is. He was certainly dedicated to his cause."

The little man shook his head. "The question is, was he willing to die for it?"

"Everyone has their own cause to fight for. However, not everyone gets to decide if they’re willing to die for it."

"I suppose you’re right."

Brekken did not want to get stuck philosophizing with this businessman so he said goodbye and melted away, knowing that the little man would forget about him within the next ten minutes.

"Brekken, you haven’t lost your touch." He headed back to his hotel room, a pleased look on his face. As much as he prided himself on the clean cut of his jobs, he had to admit that the situation with Arys Walker had made him wonder if he were losing his touch. Apparently, that had been only a fluke.

Heero looked back at the Archangel regretfully even as Wufei tugged on his arm. If Wufei tugged on his arm any harder, he would have been dragging Heero to the exit.

"Heero, we can’t concern ourselves with Arys’ behavior now. With this assassination, we have a Preventer situation on our hands." Wufei finally succeeded in getting Heero outside. He snapped up his cellphone and dialed up Preventer Headquarters.

"But she has the list, Wufei! Don’t you get it! If we can get that list out of her, we can get ahead of the assassin and prevent any more deaths."

"Heero, she’s not all there right now. We have to wait before…" Wufei began but stopped abruptly when the HQ receptionist picked up the phone. "Hello? Chief Une’s office please."

Heero leaned against the wall of the warehouse, listening as Wufei talked to their boss. Usually, he would have analyzed what Wufei was replying and would have been able to pick up on the gist of their conversation, but he was so tired… And his wife had barely recognized him. He was still attempting to get over the shock of that.

"Heero Yuy, you’re getting soft." He could almost hear Arys saying that to him right now. "You have a job to do, so go do it and don’t worry about me. You know I can take care of myself." And Heero knew that she could take care of herself. He just had to trust her. He glanced over at Wufei just as the Chinese pilot got off the phone.

"The Dragon Lady wants us at Headquarters yesterday. We have a meeting in ten minutes."

"Understood."

Heero could feel Wufei looking at him curiously. It had been a long time since he’d had to shut his feelings down in order to function. It felt strange, but oddly comforting. Heero straightened and glared at Wufei. "Let’s go."

Preventer Chief/Colonel Une was more than upset; she was stark raving mad, which wasn’t surprising. This was one of the biggest fires the Preventer Agency had experienced since the Infinity Counter more than a year before. For those who had known Une during the war, as enemy or as friend, knew that they were seeing the Colonel Une, the officer Treize often had had to rein in from being too ruthless.

"Do we have any proof that this assassin is in any way connected with the shooting of Arys Walker?" The way she addressed the group of agents gathered in the briefing room elicited an immediate answer that had better be affirmative.

Wufei raised a hand, holding a piece of paper. "Yes, Chief. We have a copy of a hit list. It’s partially encoded. The first name on the list is Leland Corwin’s."

Colonel Une strode over to him and took it, eyeing it warily. She looked at Heero. "Where did you get this. Agent Chang?"

Heero glared at her and for a few moments, Une actually appeared a bit cowed by what she saw in his eyes. The look quickly disappeared and her eyes hardened even more than before.

"Arys Walker gave it to Heero. She had managed to decode the first name while in her coma."

A few murmurs swept through the room at the mention of Arys’ name. Heero stood to his feet, taking the list from Une’s hands. "This list is why Arys was shot. It was faxed here by mistake and she paid for it. What the assassin doesn’t realize is that Arys has the encoded list memorized and that she is able to communicate it to us."

"And you’re saying that she can decode this list while she’s in her coma…" Une seemed to think it incredulous, but behind the disbelief, Heero could see a spark of respect in her eyes.

"She has taken refuge within her Gundam and is able to communicate with us through its computer system."

Wufei tugged on Heero’s arm, shaking his head slightly. Heero sat down, taking the hint that he had already said too much. If Une wanted more information later, she would meet with them privately. He handed the list back to the Preventer Chief. The less everyone knew, the more of an advantage they would over the assassin.

"Meeting dismissed. Agents Yuy and Chang. In my office." She turned to the rest of the agents. "All information verbalized in this room is not to be repeated anywhere in this building. Is that understood?"

The agents all nodded assent and the Preventer Chief turned on her heel and walked out of the room. There was an almost visible sigh of relief as Une’s commanding presence left and just as quickly, the agents converged on Heero and Wufei. The two former Gundam pilots fielded a few nonessential questions and then excused themselves.

Wufei swiped a hand across his forehead, flicking away a few drops of sweat. "The Dragon Lady strikes again."

"She did look ready to breathe fire," Heero said.

They knocked on Colonel Une’s office door and waited for her invitation to come in. When they entered the office, they saw that the Preventer Chief had taken off her glasses and was scanning her computer screen intently. For a few moments, she was silent.

Wufei cleared his throat and was about to speak when Une stopped him.

"Both of you are off the case."

Heero hid his surprise rather well, but he could hear the breath Wufei had been taking to speak coming out in a gasp of surprise.

"Go play football in the park or something." She rubbed a finger against her temple, and for the first time, Heero saw that she was tired to the point of exhaustion.

"Wait just a second…" Wufei was getting into position to pounce, when Heero put out his arm, blocking Wufei’s movement. Heero just ignored Wufei’s death glares.

"Why?" Heero asked.

"Because both of you seem to come up with your best ideas when you’re not officially working. I don’t want you back in this building until you can tell me how we’re going to get this guy."

"And why are you pinning this on us?" Wufei’s death glares ceased, but he still appeared upset.

Une put her glasses back on. "I will have other agents work on the case while you’re out there, but I doubt they can come up with something matching your experience."

"You want us to think outside the box," Heero stated flatly.

Une nodded. "Here are your leave papers. Sign out at the desk." She looked back at her computer screen, dismissing them from her thoughts.

Wufei and Heero left the office.

Wufei glanced at Heero. "So what do we do now?"

"We go visit Arys and Mei at the hospital. And then, we do what she said."

Wufei looked at Heero as if he had gone crazy. "Play football in the park."

Heero’s reply was short, as usual. "Exactly."

Wufei shook his head, looking hardly pleased. "I hate football."