She couldn’t help it. She knew what it was she wanted to do, but also knew that it could possibly jeopardize her mission. All she was s’posed to do was break in, retrieve information, and leave. It was her option as to whether or not she would sabotage a few things in the process.
She grinned a feral grin as she heard the lock slide quietly to the unlocked position. She had learned this talent many years ago, back when she had to look out for herself and her mother. She winced at the memories that always flooded back at the first successful lock. She shook her head and opened the door very slightly, peeking into the room and looking around.
The room appeared empty.
She pulled out a small explosive from her pocket and attached it to the inside of the door. She pushed a few buttons on it, setting it, then entered the room stealthily, closing the quiet door behind her. She stayed in the shadows, making her way quietly to the large computer. She froze instantly when she heard voices, thinking her cover had been blown somehow. But the voices died away in no time.
‘Patrol’ she thought to herself. ‘Goddess, but I hate when they do that.’ She moved to the computer and inserted the disk to get as much information as she could, if not all the necessary data. She calmly typed and hacked the files, her gloved fingers not making a sound on the keyboard. Amethyst eyes coaxed the information from the mainframe onto the disk.
She covered her hacked trail and retrieved her disk from the computer. She knew she could not get caught, else the entirety of the mission would fail. Hers was a key role, but one that she didn’t relish. She returned to the shadows and made her way out of the room and the building, carefully placing small explosives along the way at crucial points.
She escaped and ran as fast as she could to her motorcycle, pushing down on the detonator button she carried. Explosions followed the whipping of her long braid as she sped away.
“”*~‘’~*“”
The slight form that lurked in the shadows was being watched. It hadn’t moved in over two hours. Dr. J was starting to get exasperated. He knew the form knew it was being watched, otherwise it would have continued about its business. He heard a small sigh of defeat breath from the shadow and the lurker moved towards him, into the light.
He had to suppress both a gasp and a grin when the girl hit the light. Emerald eyes bored into his robotic ones, her dark hair pulled back into a ponytail to keep it out of the way. But what amazed him was the height of the girl. She was small in every way. Slight of build and no taller than about 5 foot 4, she gave off an air of defiance.
“Why are you here?” he asked of her. She shrugged noncommittally. It reminded him of a young boy he had ‘raised’. He didn’t know how such a slight creature could be so cold, he could tell she hadn’t been raised as his boy had. No. If she were given a mission that wasn’t to her liking, Dr. J felt that she would turn it down in distaste.
“Who are you?” he ventured, not fully expecting an answer.
“I could ask the same of you. However, I seem to have a slight advantage, Dr. J.” She smirked slightly at his flash of surprise, then continued “As to what I’m doing here, you should know. After all, you and your companions supposedly sent us the missions.”
“What missions did we send you?” he pried. He had sent no missions, and neither had the other scientists. Of that he was certain.
“Tsk, tsk. You surely must know, for you apparently sent it.” Dr. J merely shook his head and she frowned.
“None of us have sent out missions in quite some time. Therefore I must know what mission was sent to you.” She grinned at him, and it didn’t look promising.
“She was sent for information. I’ve been sent for more…” she paused for a moment, searching for a good word, “delicate work.” She smiled an honest smile as she took his robotic hand to lead him away. She reached up and pulled him down to her so she could whisper in his ear. “I’ve been sent to kill the lot of you.”
He gasped. Then nodded. They had gone that far. She beckoned him down again to finish her whisper. “But I’m not going to fulfill this mission. They gave me no parameters. Simply put 'Kill the five Scientists Responsible'. I knew something was suspicious, so I’ve made a mockery of them. Now, assist me in getting the others.”
He quirked an eyebrow at her. She nodded. The other scientists were gathered and two shuttles took off, theirs hiding inside the larger one that was set to explode, their distraction to get away.
“”*~‘’~*“”
Duo followed. He could do no less. The way the braid flipped around in the wake of the rushing form intrigued him. A flash of amethyst as the form glanced behind at him, eyes wide with fear. The form was too slight to be that of a young man, to tall to be a boy. Duo decided it was female. But why she should be running, was beyond him.
Her white, unbuttoned dress shirt fluttered behind her as she ran. She turned and bolted down an alleyway quickly, but Duo was just as quick. He recognized the tell-tale signs of a life on the streets in her reactions. Quick as lightning, she disappeared down a small dark hole, Duo catching a glimpse of black under the white dress shirt and a retreating glance of amethyst.
He sighed, knowing it was futile to try to catch this rabbit when in her holes. He turned and left the alley, returning to the daylight world of normal people. He thought for a moment before remembering he had a meeting to get to. Hopefully this time, he wouldn’t be late.
“”*~‘’~*“”
Slowly, one by one, the boys trickled into the meeting room. Trowa was there first and he silently watched each of the other boys as they entered. Heero was next. He glanced solemnly at Trowa who dipped his head slightly.
Wufei was not far behind Heero. He entered, cast a look at the other two impassive faces and looked around the room suspiciously before taking a seat.
Quatre bounded into the room, his cheeks a touch pink and slightly out of breath from running. His eyes lit up as soon as he saw Trowa. His face got a bit redder as he avoided Trowa’s gaze. Trowa smiled inwardly. It wasn’t difficult for him to read the young Arab’s expressions or thoughts.
The four hadn’t been there long when Kain, the director of special information entered the meeting room.
“Hello, gentlemen. Uhm…where’s Duo?” Wufei rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh.
“That boy is nev-...”
“Right on time!” Duo grinned as Wufei spun around, as did Quatre. Trowa had watched, expressionless, as Duo approached the meeting room swiftly and silently. Trowa let his mouth twitch slightly in amusement when Wufei nearly shouted “DUO!!”
“Have a seat, Mr. Maxwell and we shall begin.” Kain stepped in before the scene could get out of hand. Duo seated himself and the meeting began.
“”*~‘’~*“”
Heero bored quickly. He glanced around the table and noticed he wasn’t the only one following his own thoughts instead of the meeting.
His eyes fell first on Wufei. The Chinese was glaring down the table at Duo. Heero let his mind wander over Wufei. The two of them had shared a few “affairs”. The two of them had done so in search of something that neither had found in the other.
Not that Heero didn’t like girls, he just hadn’t found the right one yet.
He had given Relena a chance, but things just sort of, fell apart. They remained friends, but that was it. Heero decided he needed a woman who could read his unreadableness.
His gaze wandered next to Trowa. The young man was as unreadable as himself, though Trowa would show emotion more often. The young man was studying Quatre with an intense, steady gaze. Heero could tell, barely, how much Trowa cared for the young Arab.
He glanced over at Quatre, who was in the process of turning various shades of red under Trowa’s steady gaze. Heero had always wondered what it would be like to be with the boy, but knew he was very much off limits to anyone but Trowa. The feelings they had for each other was palpable.
Duo met Heero’s gaze with his usual boyish grin. They, too, had enjoyed each other during encounters. So many encounters, in fact, that Heero had lost count. Especially recently. Duo was his best friend, and the closest to him of the other four. Absently, he wondered what Duo was thinking.
“”*~‘’~*“”
Duo watched Heero’s gaze move slowly from each of the other pilots to rest on him. He met the gaze squarely, with a grin. He let his thoughts run away with him.
The meeting was boring, so Duo eased the boredom by thinking back on the past couple of days. They had been filled with a lot of confrontations, mostly with Wufei.
His mind kept wandering between two memories, as if it couldn’t decide which it wanted to play back. One was of the recent ‘encounters’ he and Heero had enjoyed. The other was of a girl with hair the length of his and longer. He could barely recall anything more about her other than her long hair and amethyst eyes. Eyes just like his.
He snapped out of his thoughts when he realized the meeting was finally over. He glanced around the table one last time, toying with his braid. His eyes fell on Trowa and then on Quatre.
The smaller Arab had his gaze on the floor and was a different shade of red. Duo chuckled to himself as he noticed Trowa’s slight grin and vaguely amused look. He got up and followed the rest out of the meeting hall.
