by Hex
In a dark, dank room, with no windows and a single door, slender wrists were encased in bands of steel. Strong metal manacles dug into pale skin. Chains held the manacles, and the wrists above their owner's head. The wrists strained, holding up a limp body. The legs had long ago given out from overwhelming pain and lack of food. What were once clean clothes, were now in dirty tatters. They barely covered anything worth mentioning. The prisoner's face was dirty, smudged by the filth that seemed to crawl off the walls to cover them.
The ones that brought the prisoner there were gone for the time being. They would be back, they always came back, the prisoner had learnt that already. But for now, the prisoner could think. Yes, they could think. Think of things to say when they were asked questions. Questions they wouldn't... shouldn't answer. They would think of other things. Things that would take away the hurt and protect the truth. Protect the answers they knew. So the ones that brought them here wouldn't know. Wouldn't know what they know. Secrets were meant to be kept and they always kept their secrets. And secrets like these were the best kind to have. They wouldn't share.
They would think of other things. Special things.
"You haven't?" Relena asked into her cell phone. She paused and listened for a minute. Today her honey coloured hair was pulled back from her face into a tight bun that sat at the nape of her neck. Her hairstyle and determined expression made her look older than her twenty-two years.
"I was hoping you had because I haven't heard a word in-" Relena stopped in mid sentence waiting patiently for the person on the other end to say their piece.
"Not in two weeks." Relena paused. There was no chatter squawking in the background from the phone attached to her ear this time. The pause was pregnant with concern and echoed more loudly then any sound ever could.
"I'm worried. Would…would you see what you could find out for me? I know this isn't exactly the type of thing the Preventers are supposed to do. And this seems like a ridiculous abuse of my influential power," Relena let out a small laugh, obviously at something that was said on the other end "but I have a bad feeling about this."
"Thank you for doing this for me. I appreciate it. Call me once you know anything. And don't worry about the time either, I can't sleep right now anyway." Relena said and flipped her phone shut.
Relena held the phone tight in her hand and closed her eyes. Those who did not know her well might have thought she was trying to regain her composure. Those that did knew she was actually concentrating on the problem at hand, letting everything else slip away.
Relena let out a quite sigh. Something was wrong.
A smile stretched across the prisoner's face. It was comforting thinking about Relena. There was so much clarity in her eyes. Even when things should have been confusing, she seemed to have some purpose. She always had determined and clear eyes. The prisoner wanted to see clear, blue, determined eyes. Clear blue eyes could rescue them, take the prisoner away from all the pain.
A rescue would be nice. The smile grew. There were people that would rescue the prisoner. Relena would have asked them for help. They would come, and hopefully shoot some people. Especially the one with the whip. Hopefully he would get shot in the kneecap. That way he'd be alive, for later. Once the prisoner was free. Oh, once free...
"Are you all right Noin? Sally asked as she walked into Noin's office at Preventers Headquarters.
"Not really." Noin replied and stared at the phone on her desk for a moment. "I have to go talk to Une."
"All right. Don't get offended Noin, but you look a little... emotionally involved. If it's about a case..." Sally trailed off.
She didn't want to press Noin, nothing good ever came of trying to force Noin into backing off a case. Sally had learned that the hard way, after a year of working as a team. But Noin really had a habit of taking all of her cases personally, not exactly a good thing, when the political powers that be were breathing down their necks. That was ignoring the media buzzards hovering around the entrance to Preventers Headquarters.
Possible abuse of power by the Preventers. Sally snorted mentally. The media was having a Field day with the reports filed against the Preventers concerning the use of unnecessary force in subduing a potential bomber. The case was currently making headlines Earth and Colony wide. Never mind they wrestled the man to the ground because he was waving an automatic weapon about while strapped up with enough plastic explosives to level a stadium. The Preventers were being labelled as a 'controlling military force', equal to that of the once repressive Alliance regime.
"Actually, I was hoping you would work this one with me if Une approves it. I don't think it would necessarily come across as... appropriate for Zechs to work it. At least not for now," Noin said, straightening her uniform. She ran a hand through her hair. Sally straightened her own uniform as she went. Somehow she got the feeling they'd need all the points in their favour they could gather.
"It's been a while since you and I have worked a case together," Sally mumbled as they left the room.
"Yeah. You still pack on your side right?"
"Can't keep expect me to keep my gun in a left shoulder holster when I shoot with my left now can you? I'm a lefty," Sally retorted.
"I've seen you shoot Sal, I know you're ambidextrous. You just like pulling from the right side because most people don't expect it," Noin teased.
"I drive, you fly?" Sally responded.
"Deal."
But they would come, certainly they would come. They would go to the house. They would see, know something was wrong. The prisoner's absence couldn't be missed for so very long. Relena would notice, Relena would fear. She would tell them, they would come. They couldn't leave the prisoner there. In the dark. In the quiet. All alone. Where it was dark and dirty. Where the darkness and dirt rubbed on them.
"This isn't exactly the first time this person has gone AWOL without consulting anyone. It's in this person's personality to come and go as they damn well please." Une said, an eyebrow raising to her hairline.
"We're just requesting permission to investigate the Vice-Minister's concerns." Noin stated. She would have phrased it more politically, but there really wasn't much point.
"We are not here to do favours for the Vice-minister. Nor are we here to baby-sit her "friends" simply because they decide to wander off without telling her." Une replied and began reading a report that she picked up from the pile on her desk.
"Une. Something is wrong here. You know it just like I do." Noin planted her palms on the desk, looming over the woman who sat with a very bored expression behind a large wood desk.
"I just wanted to be sure we were clear on what the Preventers are not here for. I never said you couldn't take the assignment. Just make sure you give me a good reason for your actions in your report Preventer Fire." Une replied, peering at Noin over her glasses.
"You were frighteningly quick to acquiesce, Sir." Noin observed, returning Une's earlier gesture of a raised eyebrow.
"Well, since I'm apparently a fascist tyrant who abuses her power and controls the fate of the Earth sphere and the Colonies. I've decided I might as well enjoy myself while my strangle hold of power is still in place. Go, find out what's going on. Keep it low key. Just go and take a look around. If you find anything suspicious report back and we'll decide how you should proceed. If anyone asks, you're doing a routine investigation regarding the disappearance of a civilian. Keep the Vice-Minister's name out of it if you can. Too many links to us could sink her political battle ship at the moment."
With that Une tossed the report back on her desk.
"Watch your backs, Ladies. If what you've told me is true, something is definitely wrong and I don't want a dead agent to top off a bad week."
Both women smirked at Une before saluting and leaving the room. Une turned her desk chair around to face the floor to ceiling windows.
"Now where did you go?" Une mused. She looked past her translucent reflection and out into the world.
They would come and then the pain would be gone. The prisoner would have water. Cool water to slide down the throat and make the parched, gummy mouth clean again. And food. Something to roll over the tongue. It would have a good, strong taste. Not too sweet or salty, just right. It would feel good in the stomach. The prisoner's belly would stop moaning in agony for being empty so long. And then there would be a bath. A glorious warm bath. Clean, the prisoner would be clean again. And then the prisoner could sleep in their dear, lovely bed.
Sally rang the doorbell for the third time. No one answered, just like the other two times. Noin and Sally were still rumpled from sleeping in their Preventer uniforms. They stood on the landing of outside a two-story home. The home was incredibly small
"Let's go in." Sally said, impatiently.
"But Sally, that would be breaking and entering." Noin said and leaned her ear against the door. "Why, did that sound like someone calling for help to you?"
"Yes, why I think it did." Sally answered the question in the same obviously feigned shocked tone Noin had used to deliver the question.
Noin nodded to Sally and the blonde woman took position next to the door. Noin backed up on the landing.
"I failed drama when I was in school." Sally muttered.
Noin snapped her leg out and the wood door gave a pathetic crunch before it swung open to bang against a wall.
"I never bothered taking it." Noin said as Sally swung into the entranceway, gun out.
"Clockwise."
Sally nodded to Noin and took point around the first corner, into the dining room. The women made their way around the first floor of the house. There proved to truly be, no one home. Sally cocked her head in the direction of the stairs leading to the second floor. Noin pointed up and nodded then pointed down. Sally nodded back and the pair split off in different directions. Noin heading for the basement, Sally for the second floor. Sally felt sweat tickle the back of her neck. She pushed open doors and systematically checked rooms to make sure no one was lying in wait anywhere. She breathed a sigh of relief when the last room was empty. Sally put the safety on her gun and went back down to the main floor. Noin shut the door to the basement and joined her at the foot of the stairs.
"Find anything?" Sally asked.
"One hell of a wine cellar." Noin replied. "We should invite ourselves over one night."
"Sounds good." Sally said, before sniffing the air absently. "Does it smell funny in here to you?"
"You mean other than the rather musty smell? Like no has been in here for at least a few weeks?" Noin responded mimicking Sally's actions of not only sniffing the air but opening her mouth wide to smack the taste on her tongue.
"Yeah, it almost smells like...solvent." Sally muttered. "Where are you going?"
Sally followed Noin into the sitting room.
"Something seemed out of place the first time we walked through here. I can't quite say what." Noin looked over the room. Everything seemed neat and tidy, other than the layer of dust coating everything. Things were placed perfectly and ordered just right. In most people's homes it would have seemed off but it suited this one. The relative order and flow of the room wasn't what was throwing Noin's rhythm off.
"Why would anyone clean to the point where the smell of solvent and lemon cleaner clung, then not make arrangements for the dusting or the plants," Noin observed, running her fingers over the shrivelled leaves of a plant, "to be maintained by someone?"
Noin focused in on it. She moved to the hearth and picked up the sword, gently cradling the blade with her hands.
"Un-sheathed," Sally muttered. "That's strange."
"Yeah, and it smells. Solvent again."
Sally took the sword and breathed it in deep. Just a hint of chlorine, enough to make her nostrils itch. She tentatively touched her tongue to the metal.
"Ack." Sally gagged, rubbing her back of her hand repeatedly over her tongue. "Bleach, definitely bleach."
"What first rate moron would clean a sword with bleach?" Noin muttered. In her mind any question of whether or not their missing friend went somewhere on their own terms was just eliminated.
"One smart enough to know that bleach destroys blood evidence." Sally returned, still trying to rub the taste off her tongue.
"Let's call Une. Time to get some troops together."
"It will take them a while to get here." Sally observed and surveyed the room.
"Guess that gives us time to figure out where in the hell the sheath is." Noin stated and put the sword back on the hearth.
"Names! We want names!" The voice snarled.
The whip cracked against the dirty skin of the prisoner's back. The prisoner was beyond screaming in agony. They merely hung limp, from the chains holding them up. The pain had become one blurry haze. It was almost enjoyable now. It hurt so much the prisoner's mind seemed to have exited her body. The prisoner was free to go somewhere else.
"What do you have?" Zechs asked, absently brushing his bangs back from his face.
"Well, the sword is useless. And nearly every inch of this floor has been cleaned." Noin replied.
She watched as Sally and Wufei moved a chair away from the back wall to take a look at a damaged baseboard. Other Preventers were shuffling around the room, bagging evidence and working in tandem with forensic officers.
"Does this look strange to anyone else?" Wufei asked, staring at the carpet. "It's like there was something there before, something smaller than the chair. "
Wufei gestured to a section of the carpet that was slightly darker in colour than the rest.
"Which would make sense. The chair probably used to be here" Sally said, gesturing to some faint dents in the carpeting. "And was moved over there to cover the damage and the obvious void."
"Yes, but was it moved by perpetrators unknown or not?" Wufei replied, eyeing the "void" and then the carpet.
"Has anyone tested the carpet for blood yet?" Sally asked, spying a few forensic officers doing print lifts on the mantel of the fireplace.
"You said solvents were used all over the house." Damian, a face fresh out of some university replied.
"You can't use bleach on a dark blue carpet without it being damned obvious! Check every inch of this flooring. Cut the rug out and take it to a lab to be processed, pull the floorboards up. Someone who wasn't supposed to be here cleaned this room and I want to know what they were trying to hide. Find it." Sally snapped. She jabbed her finger in the direction of the forensics team. Sally made a faint growling noise as she brushed a few stray strands of her hair from her face.
"Sally, when was the last time you or Noin ate?" Wufei asked, standing behind her.
"Before we came to the house," Sally replied. She crouched down on the floor to look underneath the chair. She ran her gloved fingers along the edge of the chair.
"Why don't you both take a break and eat?" Wufei replied. He gave her a little nudge in the backside with the toe of his boot. Sally gave him a withering look over her shoulder.
"Well, I suppose I could go pick something up for you." Wufei said, looking at the ceiling. Sally stared at Wufei who glanced down at her and jerked his head in the direction of the door. Sally opened her mouth to argue but thought better of it. She had worked with Wufei too often.
"Fine. I'll go eat." Sally muttered. She surveyed the scene once before walking from the room and out the front door. Noin followed her.
The prisoner sighed. They would be coming soon. It had to be soon. They couldn't possibly leave the prisoner there. It was impossible. It was against their nature. Relena would never let them do that. She would insist. Never mind the feelings of the others involved.
He would insist too. He would never let the prisoner rot like this, in the dark and dirty place.
"Is there anything else we should know, Relena?" Noin paused and listened to the Vice-Minister's answer.
"That's a good place to start. Actually, it's a great place to start. We'll let you know as soon as we have something." With that Noin clicked her cell phone shut.
"So, what did she say?" Sally said leaning back from the table. The female agents had just polished off a pile of food and were beginning to look for any lead they could get their hands on.
"Well, it seems a small faction in the colonies, one of many rattling 'The War Sabre' so to speak, have taken a keen interest in our dear friend." Noin said, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms over her chest. Noin looked annoyed.
"Meaning?" Sally probed.
"Meaning they were snooping around." Noin replied and frowned.
"So what did they find out and what else did they want to know?" Sally wondered. The possible answers to those questions was cut off as Noin's phone buzzed again.
"Hello? Quatre? What can I do for you?" Noin paused. Sally could hear the faint low wah-wah-wahing that was Quatre's voice on the other end of the line. Noin looked increasingly annoyed. "You're sure. That was stupid, of course you're sure. That's why you didn't say anything until now. You had to be sure."
There was a dead silence before Quatre began speaking again.
"All right. We're on our way. Thanks Quatre."
With that Noin ended the call and closed her cell phone. She stood and paid the bill quickly. Sally followed her to the car. Noin started the car and whipped it into drive. She peeled away from the restaurant and headed back to the house.
"Well?"
"It seems the same group has been snooping around everywhere. They've been active around Winner Enterprises and their satellites. One in particular was apparently of interest." Noin sneered.
"Interest?" Sally questioned.
"After which they hacked the Winner Enterprises computer network. They accessed a load of files. Quatre has sifted through and found out which ones. A lot of them were resource satellites. But they also hacked a few of Quatre's personal files. He referred to them as 'rainy day' files. You can guess what they were."
"I can. Quatre is eerily well informed about those around him. I'm assuming they went for a specific file, on a certain person." Sally muttered.
"Of course." Noin ground out.
"Brilliant." Sally grouched.
"But Quatre has traced exactly where that information was taken from. And it seems to be one of his own satellites. One that some questionable types seemed to be interested in." Noin said, through gritted teeth.
"I'll call Une. Then I'll call the boys. Looks like our road trip just got extended." Sally said.
"And how." Noin muttered.
The one with the whip was gone but he would be back again. There were shorter and shorter amounts of time between visits. He was getting impatient. Someone had to come soon. They had to come and take the prisoner away. The prisoner couldn't last much longer before everything and anything came out. Hunger and pain were wearing away at the prisoner's mind. The prisoner couldn't hold on much longer. The prisoner needed to be released.
"Sally, can I ask you something?" Noin whispered as two armed guards wandered past their position.
"Sure." Sally replied, her tone as low and barely audible as Noin's.
"Why wouldn't you let Wufei buy us food?" Noin asked, nodding her head and counting off the seconds with her right hand.
"Because, the man eats like a rabbit." Sally muttered. "A burger, just once in a while isn't going to kill him. And when I'm really hungry, salad just makes it worse."
Noin shook her head and grinned. She held her hand up in a fist and Sally nodded. They slipped into the hall, Sally pressing close to one wall, Noin hugging the other. Sally pulled the small pad with the map of the satellite from one of the multiple pockets of her army vest. They both froze as they heard another set of footsteps coming down the hall. Sally glanced from the map to Noin before shaking her head.
The women backtracked a little, Noin ducking out of view down a hallway and Sally, slipping into a small adjacent alcove. Sally slipped her gun into the shoulder holster before pulling out a taser from it's spot on her thigh. Noin dug into her breast pocket and pulled out a taser of her own. Noin nodded to Sally. They both held their breath waiting for the swaggering, gum flapping pair to round the corner and wander past their hiding spots.
They each rushed a man. Sally grabbed the taller of the two. A middle aged man with a receding hairline. She let him step past her then grabbed him from behind. She clamped a leather-clad hand over his mouth and slammed her taser into his back. He thrashed as the surge of electricity coursed through him before going limp. He was a heavy weight for Sally to hold up with the taser and the arm she had thrown over his chest.
At the same moment Noin sprung from her hiding and rammed her taser into a slightly portly man's mid-section before firing it. His eyes went impossibly wide before he opened his mouth. Noin slapped her hand over his mouth, muffling his scream. She watched with a strange horror as a sheen of sweat broke out over his face and a slight froth formed at the corner of his mouth and oozed out past the tips of her fingers.
Sally grabbed her fallen man under the armpits and began dragging him down the hall. Noin did the same after wiping her hand on the fat man's shirt. They dumped both bodies in the small closet they had hidden in to avoid the earlier round of guards. Noin let out a sigh and made an exaggerated exhausted gesture before sniffing in disgust.
"He wet himself," Noin muttered.
"Guess we scared him," Sally replied dryly.
It seemed inappropriate but Noin couldn't stop the snicker that came out. It was at that moment that the satellite gave a lurch and a fire alarm began it's shrill scream.
"Sounds like the boys have started the party early," Sally said.
"Yeah, so much for our stealthy entrance," Noin grouched.
"Let's go."
He was back, the one with the whip. He didn't ask anything this time. He just started with the whip. The prisoner gave in and screamed. Screamed with each lash. The prisoner just wanted to be away from there. The whip faltered for a moment as something made their chains rattle. The vibrations that rolled through the foundation of the room made the prisoner's arms burn.
He moved away from the prisoner, the whip trailing behind him. He fell back as the door exploded into the room. He was up and had his arm around the prisoner's neck as Sally and Noin burst into the room. A single blade was pressed against the prisoner's throat.
The prisoner felt relief and anxiety run through them at the same time. They were here.
Noin and Sally had a new low-grade plastic to blow the metal door. It had worked better then they had hoped. Blowing the door inward with a minimum force. Noin swept into the room, Sally following behind.
"Drop your weapon and step away," Noin said, she had a pistol raised and trained on them.
"Like hell," The man snarled, his arm coiled around the limp figure's neck.
"Drop your weapon and step away," Noin repeated. " You will place your weapon on the ground and slide it towards us. Then you will lay down on the ground face down with your hands behind your back."
"Even in a malnourished body, the heart can pump blood hard enough to shoot blood from the jugular up to ten feet."
The prisoner could feel him smile. It was probably a twisted, desperate smile.
"Step away or we'll shoot," Noin snapped.
"No you won't."
"Yes, they will," The prisoner croaked. "Take the shot."
He laughed, a pathetic and raspy sound. The blade pressed closer to the prisoner's throat and a small trickle of blood dripped down. The prisoner was tempted to press into the sharp metal. It would make everything fade away, but the prisoner was too stubborn for that.
The light from Sally's gun was as blinding, as the shot was deafening. A burning sensation ripped through the prisoner's shoulder. The man dropped to ground, gurgling and clutching his chest. Noin was on him in an instant. The prisoner wached with a sliver of satisfaction as Noin prodded the man and he didn't move.
"Are you all right?" Sally asked, pressing the tips of her fingers to the prisoner's jugular.
The body hanging from the chains merely gurgled for a moment then went limp.
"How is she?" A voice whispered in the darkness.
The prisoner knew that voice. Relena was close, very close.
"She's waking up."
The room was bright. After so much time in the dark the light hurt.
"Dorothy? Dorothy? How do you feel? Can you talk?"
Relena's face was hovering directly above Dorothy's.
"I feel like I've been tortured and shot, but I certainly can talk," Dorothy replied. Her voice was raspy.
The doctors were on her in moments, poking prodding and telling her how long her body would take to recuperate. Dorothy nearly snorted in disdain but graciously thanked the doctors for their input. She was not fond of doctors, and probably never would be. The swarm of white coats soon dissipated and she and Relena were left alone in the hospital room.
"Dorothy, I know you might not want to talk about it but..." Relena trailed off.
"I invited them into my home. Well, after a fashion. I'm a conceited woman Relena. It's no secret. I've faced a thousand frightening things head on and have always emerged virtually unscathed. I invited the monster into my home and it stole me away." Dorothy said and looked past Relena to the white wall. The wall was so white it almost hurt to look at. Everything in the room was so white. Except Relena's pale blue pantsuit and cream shirt.
"What did they want?"
The question was asked so softly Dorothy that thought she might have imagined it. Created in her head as the natural, expected progression of their conversation.
"They wanted to know the identities of the Gundam Pilots. Apparently the fact that I was on Libra with Milliardo Peacecraft isn't top security information. They may have guessed, or they might have been unusually intelligent, although I doubt it, but they somehow decided that I knew. They wanted their names. And I was expected to tell them."
Dorothy studied the white wall. It was strange how painted white walls, so bland and unattractive, could come alive and move when a person stared hard and long enough.
"Of course you never... you would never..." Relena swallowed. It was nervous, loud and unattractive. So completely un-Relena that Dorothy felt herself start for a moment before feeling her features school themselves into a practised and perfectly executed smug expression.
"My dear Relena, I thought you knew me better than that. If there's an axe to dangle over anyone's head," Dorothy's voice lost its sweet, patronizing tone and dropped in pitch. It became low, cold and vicious. "I want to be the one holding the handle."
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