Come in to my parlor...

Enjoy~

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Chapter 13

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Heading in the direction of where ever the flashlight behind him pointed, Quatre calmly walked down the dark hallways of the courthouse. He could hear the psychotic woman behind him humming like a carefree school girl. He recognized the tune to be one that he often played with Trowa in a duet.

Hearing it made a scowl form over his pale face. 'How dare she taint the piece I composed with Trowa...' The fact that she was his sister was beginning to matter less and less the more she continued to breathe.

It was getting to the point where it didn't matter at all. 'This bitch needs to be put down.'

"How exactly are you planning to escape? The security is increasing by the minute." he commented lightly as they made another turn.

Another giggle left Relena as she pressed the barrel of the gun into his back. "Don't worry your pretty little head, dearest Quatre. I have everything carefully planned. Oh, and before I forget, why don't you go ahead and take off that headset you're wearing? I know Heero gave you one."

Not surprised that detail didn't slip past her, Quatre reached up and took off the small headset that hugged around his ear. He looked at it for a moment, but when he felt the gun barrel press harder into his spine he let out a sigh and chucked it into the darkness around them. "This seems so unnecessary. You know, if you wanted to get me alone for whatever purpose, you could have just requested my presence. There was no need to get innocents involved." he pointed out in as bland a tone as he could manage.

When he thought of it, all of the plots were highly over done. If he had been the one to snap and go psycho over her, which turned his stomach completely, he knew he would have been able to do so with little effort. At that moment his mind was already categorizing different methods to regain control and neutralize the threat.

So far non lethal force was becoming an irrelevant requirement.

Relena hummed softly and allowed the barrel of the gun trail along his spine through his black jacket. "But innocents were needed... I was counting on that overbearing sense of self sacrifice. I wanted you to risk your life helping those people." She pressed the gun a bit harder. "I wanted you to die in the midst of being the saintly angel of mercy you so often are."

Quatre's eyes narrowed deeply. "You placed those people in danger in an attempt to get me to die in the line of duty?"

"That's right... But it seems as if I keep underestimating the power of your will. Such a stubborn creature you are. Like a cockroach."

Ignoring the pain when the gun was jabbed hard into his spine, Quatre resisted the urge to turn around and slap her. "So you wanted to make a martyr out of me.. Why?"

"All in due time, my darling. I wish for more attractive scenery before I speak any further."

He knew that he wouldn't get anything else from her without tempting her unstable anger, so he kept silent. But one thing kept grating at his mind. 'Where the hell are the security teams for this area? I know Zechs was supposed to have constant patrols...'

The moment the thought crossed his mind he saw a figure crumpled on the floor further ahead. He recognized the person as one of the members of the armed escorts that often accompanied any diplomat that visited the Preventers HQ. What rattled him the most was that this man had always proven to be a skilled and intelligent fighter. For him to have been taken out...

"What did you do to him?" he asked as he weakly attempted to see if the man was still breathing as they approached.

"Don't worry. He's not dead. Not yet at least. He put up quite the fight." She pushed him forward past the crumpled man and shone the light at a door at the end of the hall. "That door."

Quatre kept moving forward, but he noticed something on the fallen guard's thigh as they passed. It was small, but even in the darkness he recognized it. 'A tranquilizer dart... She has the power cut, and has her accomplice tranq the security teams so they'll go under without alerting the others...' It was clever. Too clever for his tastes.

He reached the door and took hold of the handle. Pulling it open, he winced slightly when the light from the sun poured in. He was nudged out through the doorway only to find himself in an alley behind the courthouse. One glance around the alley let him see six more Preventers uniforms scattered around the pavement.

He had to bite the inside of his lip to keep his expression calm. 'All this just to get at me... What the hell have I done? What deserves this mindless terror?!' His anger was now close to breaking through the iron clad restraints he kept it locked in, but he pushed it back. He had to keep his head if he was going to succeed.

Another nudge had him turning to the right where he quickly spotted a white limo awaiting on a back street. "Bit noticeable." he commented dryly.

"You sound as if there is anyone around to notice it." Relena countered coyly. "I've already taken care of one of the road blocks. We'll have no trouble leaving the area."

His eyes narrowed, but he kept moving forward. 'How many people does she have working for her...' At the limo he spotted a driver dressed in a suit, but holstered to his waist was a sidearm. The man didn't even attempt to hide it. He just kept staring forward obediently.

'Not good.. Can't reason with him. Should assume that all of them are like this. I'm on my own...' Of course he knew that he was going to be on his own since he devised this emergency plan. 'Sorry for lying to you, Heero. I really wanted to keep that promise.'

The only way he was going to stop this madness was from the heart of it. He had to understand how far Relena's reach went. How many people were involved. To what extent they were willing to go to carry out their objectives. Even though he appeared to be the ultimate objective, the plan apparently changed.

'Taking such a bold measure makes her involvement visible. So her goals must have changed. If she wanted me simply dead, she could have done something back in the circuit breaker room.' The moment he reached the limo, the driver moved to open the door. He took in the plush interior before climbing inside and scooting over. Relena slipped in beside him, but still kept the gun trained on him. A glance at her from the corner of his eyes let him see the look of barely contained excitement on her now wild features.

'She wants me alive now... Alive and in her custody...' Dark images began filling his head, but, instead of succumbing to the bitter knot that was twisting in his stomach, he kept facing the front of the limo and allowed his eyes to close. His hands folded delicately in his lap as he listened to the rumble of the engine starting.

"So calm... Putting up a brave face, my dearest?" Relena cooed, running a finger along the length of his black clad arm.

A soft snort left Quatre, but he made no other reaction. "I've encountered things far more terrifying than the likes of you. If you're expecting me to fear you, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed." Quatre suddenly felt cold metal tilting his chin harshly upwards. He cracked his eye open to see a barely contained rage in the woman's gaze.

Pressing the gun barrel hard against the pale skin beneath the man's chin, Relena's left eye was twitching as she glared at him. "Your life is in my grasp... Can you truly tell me that means nothing to you..?"

For some reason the question simply amused him. A wide smirk was curling his lips as he let his chin press harder against the gun. "Death means nothing. If you're going to do it, then go ahead. My troubles will be over, and you'll be persecuted for the rest of your miserable existence." His eyes became half lidded as his smirk became evil. "The evidence has already mounted against you, Relena. You may have a small army on your side, but I have over half the human population on mine... I've already won. And I don't have to lift a single finger."

The rage was literally boiling in Relena's face. Her skin was flushed bright red and her hand was trembling. Her finger was so close to pulling the trigger, but she jerked her hand away and snarled. "I will not let you win, Quatre... Before long I'm going to have that pretty face begging me for mercy..." She reared back her left hand and dealt a swift smack across the pale face.

Quatre made no reaction to the strike, which only angered her further. He knew he was playing a dangerous game, but it was a game he was a master of. 'You may be cunning, but you're a novice at psychological warfare. You'll break long before I will.' His smirk returned as he casually crossed his legs. "Such ugly actions, Miss Relena. Most unbecoming."

A high pitched growl erupted from her as she barked at the driver. "To the bunker! Now!"

'Bunker..?' Bunker suggested a possible underground complex. Sizes ranged from a few rooms to a full scale military operation. 'If she doesn't put me under I can memorize the layout even if I'm blindfolded... I just need to stall for time.. Allow the others to catch up.'

He glanced out the tinted window to the sky above. 'I'm counting on you, Wufei.. Everyone...'

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TBC

I wonder which one is the spider...

Later~