by Quicksylver
Part Two
Standard disclaimers apply Same warning as Part One
Finally got this page up and going! Yippee!
Enjoy!
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Every now and again he would pass Quatre in the halls, either talking to his friends or with his nose in a book. He would observe them, the five of them. The short japanese boy was dangerous, he would remember to stay clear of him. He was very suspicious, not like a normal school boy...even for here. The american played the idiot, distracting one's concentration with jokes and antics. He was also one to be carful of. That smile was practiced, too perfect to be real. this one would be unpredictable under pressure. The tall one was very well masked but still easy to read. Childhood trauma had forced him to retreat into himself, to put on a mask that one one could crack. It didn't do much good.
Anyone could see that he cared deeply for Quatre by the subtle changes in his speech, movements and even mood when the boy was near or the subject of conversation. The chinese was truly predictable to the point of being absurd. He was obsessed with justice and its pursuit...that was his weakness. he had seen how any threat to his honour or dignity would trigger him into action unfailingly. He could easily be manipulated to do one's wishes with a few well placed words. He would have to keep an eye on them...do some background checks.
He lay contemplating these things in the darkness of his room.Tomorrow he would get a chance to walk the ExTech Lab frelly. He had to get the info on the newest weapon in development and destroy the hard drive. It was a simple enough job...for his usual fee. He never met with his clients, too dangerous. Alaway kept in touch via computer. It was more convient and harder to trace.
Why did he have to show up when I'm on assignment? he asked the walls, a childhood habit he could never get rid of. Why does he bother me so? I'm not supposed to feel this way. Terri Vega died the day he broke his promise.
A.C. 190- Yasmine
In a shuttle...on the way to the colonies
She accepted the scotch and soda presented to her and swallowed it swiftly. She was a wreck. They were all furious with her, her father dissapointed that she had not come to him when she had given birth.the look that he gave her now made her want to cry. She sniffed pitifully and lokked into the bottm of her empty glass.
What had been decided after that was even more depressing. An inetrested few, namely her mother in law, her husband and some other relatives concerned with the family image had decided to take matters into thrie own hands.. This could never get out. They would be shamed by such scandal. They would take thre boy away, get him out of sight. It was the only way. They would keep the boy on Earth overnoght and arrange a little accident.
They could never tell. Mr. Winner would never allow it but the family was at stake. He would be kept in the dark for his own good. They had done an award winning job convincing her father that the boy needed his rest and would be on the next flight out. She closed her eyes. Oh Allah, I am damned to the pits of hell, she admitted, yet again I send my first born to die.
A.C. 190- Terri
Winner Residence
Alexarndria
He carefully packed his possessions into his small backpack, making sure not to take anything that he did not come with. He didn't want their things...he wanted a family. But they didn't want him. They had gone to space and left him. He had awakened to find them already gone. they said that it was because he needed his rest and that he would be going to meet them on the next flight but he did not believe them.They had talked that smae way in the train station the abandoned him. How could you do this Quatre? I thought you were my friend. How could you leave me Grandfather? Was last night just pretend, the pact we made? I was so stupid to think...to hope that I had come home...but this is not my home.I have no home. Why?...cause nobdy loves me that's why. I'm just a burden...better off dead.
He trudged down to the kitchen, hungry. The cook made him a delicious sandwich made with all sorts of fixings, his favourite. He savoured each bite, not knowing when he would eat like this again. He thanked the cook who, in secret, slipped two more into his backpack with a little money. The man winked knowingly, sympathy in his brown eyes. Terri hugged him tight, on the verge of tears. Then he ran out the back and down the block. He turned back only once, just to see it one last time. The dream of a house that was almost a home, of people that were almost family.
**************
"Welcome class to Experimental Technologies. We have two new students today...Mr. Valentino Scarboni from L4 and Mr. Ivory St. Claire from the Transvaal in South Africa.Let us welcome them to ur team."
The professor frowned at the poor response. Geiniuses always left something to be desired in the courtesy department. The upper class looking Scarboni, probably from some filthy rich Mafia clan who bribed someone up high for him to get in, sneered at every one and took a front seat. St. Claire looked around for a while; taking in his surroundings with those cold calculating eyes that gave him a serious case of the heebie-jeebies, before choosing the seat next to Heero Yuy. Another cold one, he thought as he sighed and cleared the whiteboard.
The class was uneventful by normal standards but for Heero and Ivory it was a perfect oppurtunity for recon. With sharp eyes and ninds they scrutinized each other, like two panthers, circling. When he was not sizing Heero up, Ivory was staking out the main lab. By the time class was over he had already psycho-analyzed the japanese boy. Heero was not the ordinary boy genius. His manner was that of a soldier, so trained to perfection that it was absurd in its flawlessness.
He would have to check him out some more. His initial searches were too limited and too clean...almost squeaky. His training was physical as well as psychological. the minute scars on his face, neck anf fore arms which were not covered by the school uniform, were easily spotted by the trained eye. He's almost all muscle. His face was controlled perfectly, a stone carving. His personality had been smothered to the point of submission. He was not alive...he merely existed ...to fight.
Kinda like me in some ways, he thought, like the pheonix...rising stronger and changed out of the ashes of its own destruction.
A.C 190- Terri
The streets of Cairo, Egypt.
Terri stared at the snake charmer with childlike wonder. It was an ancient profession: there were only a few of them left in the desert country. He had stopped off in Cairo on his way up the Nile through Beni Suef then onto El Minya before stopping for a while in Asyut. These river towns were so unlike the streets of Pune and the grand city of Bombay where his Mai had sometimes taken him. One time they had gone south to the coastal town of Goa, where men caught and laid out their fish to be sold.His Mai had hated the scent but he loved it, the scent of a people. They would call him ' barafee ' which was a white fudge like candy eaten at festivals. He liked the name and would smile at those who hailed him out when he went about his errands.
The desert dunes were vast and majestic and just as beautiful as the over crowded, noisy streets of his beloved India. The people were close knit and friendly...well, not all. Terri turned the corner, whistling a merry tune when he bumped into three hundred pounds of human blubber. He stammered his apology but his voice died as he looked into the big man's face. Big Red!
"You!" the man exclaimed, grabbing him by the collar before he could flee.
Terri was dragged into a nearby doorway and thrown unto a dingy threadbare rug. The huge man towered over him like a giant.
"I thought I killed you" he said, "you could finger me to the police...can't let that happen can we? Guess I'll have to kill you again...and do it right this time."
He pulled a long knife out of his robe, his eyes alight with bloodlust. Terri scooted back crabstyle until he reached the low window. Without looking , he lunged out and rolled as he hit the ground, jumping up to run away as fast as he could. He heard a shout behind him but did not stop. He leaped unto the bed of a nearby truck and hid under the tarpulin. Soon the truck rumbled to life and they were off, away from Big Red and the streets of Cairo.
after a while he dozed off in the tiring heat. He dreamt of dancing snakes with long knives for fangs and he was the charmer who had to play in order to live. He awoke to the sound of jet plane engines. What? How did I sleep through all this? Suddenly the tarp was pulled away. Oh oh I'm in trouble now, he thought as the grey eyed man favoured him with a hasrh glare.
"Looks like we have ourselves a stowaway" he growled , dragging Terri out of the truck.
Terri gulped, scared as hell. It was one thing to run away when you're on the ground...it was another doing it when you're thousands of feet in the air. The man shook him.
"What's your name boy?" he asked.
"Got no name." Terri replied, putting on his best 'Brave Timmy' face like he had seen once in an old cartoon.
The man chuckled and let him go.
"You got balls boy , I must say. the name's Pieter Luhr...remember it well."
That was the beginning of it all. His training...his time with Pieter...the death of Terri Vega. For the next five years he trained with Pieter to be a mercenary on a small compound just along the Lympopo river in the Transvaal in South Africa. His days consisting of rigorous training in various fields of expertise, his night's filled with 'special training'
His special training had begun when he was age twelve. He had been cleaning the pool cues in the game room when without warning, Pieter grabbed him roughly from behind and raped him viciously, to the point of bleeding. Terri struggled against him, screaming until he was hoarse, tears flowing freely from his eyes. The pain was intense but the betrayal was unbearable. As Pieter pounded him, his heart froze over from the trauma...his last shred of childhood innocence shattering like glass. Never let them see you cry, a voice told him. He stopped struggling and lay limp as he was ravaged.
He just stared at the white billard ball in front of him as his cheek lay pressed against the table. It was carved of solid ivory,from the massive tusk of an elephant. It was very valuable, being that elephants were now highly endangered. How white it looks, he pondered, even though it's been knocked around so much. It was then that the last of Terri Vega faded away and was replaced by Ivory St. Claire. Ivory for the loss of innocence- an elephant had to die for this one ball, Claire was for the ice which was now his heart and the St....that one was for the utter irony. A sinner in saint's clothing as it were.
Afterwards Pieter explained that it was part of the training because it could have been used as a weapon against him. It had been necessary to surprise him.That was part of the lesson, he would have to embrace his weaknesses and master them if he wanted to stay alive. Ivory calmly agreed and informed him of the new name .
He was a quick learner in special training. he would be given tests to seduce someone of Pieter"s choosing. Sometimes a beautiful high society woman, sometimes a greasy drug dealer. He learned all of thes things well...as he learned everything Pieter had to teach. By the time he was fifteen he was ready. On his fifteenth birthday Pieter gave him a beautiful stiletto called the Cold Flame because of the burning cold emitted naturally by the dark metal of the blade.
""You are alike...this blade and you" he said, pulling Ivory into his arms for a deep kiss.
They had become lovers over the years.
"Cold as ice...but burning within. Not so my beautiful one?"
Ivory nodded as he was led into the bedroom. That was the last night they spent together.
It was simple enough really...tracing them, learning about them. It was so easy he wondered why Oz hadn't found them as yet. Gundam pilots...hmmm...interesting. Little Quatre...a gundam pilot? this is turning out to be a very enlightening assignment. Using the library computer made tracing him extremly difficult. If they only knew what the students were doing with school property, he mused. He pushed away from the desk and stood at the window overlooking the quad. he raised an eyebrow...said pilots were currently sitting under a huge tree whose branches provided enough shade for the five teens.
With his lip reading prowess, honed by years of practice, he quickly determined what they were speaking about. The topic was, unsurprisingly ...him. I'm flattered. The Yuy boy had done some research but had come up with noting. As intended. They would keep an eye on him. Quatre spoke next. There was something about Ivory that he just couldn't place. His Soul of Outer Space felt it. Soul of outer space?
He turned away as Duo changed the subject with a well spoken phrase, making everyone smile. He made his way back to the dorm. Time was fleeting. He had to get that info tonight. he packed his things carfully, as he always did, making sure nothing of his presence was left. Tomorrow he would transfer...claiming mental anguish from being over worked. It was most convenient as it happened frequently among students. It was now seven o'clock. He would go in at nine when the guard made his final round before returning at eleven. Two hours was more than enough to et the job done. All he had to do now was wait.
A.C 195- Yasmine
Camaguey Airport, Bahamas
Ladies bathroom near gate twelve
Six Months ago
Yasmine popped another Proline and hastiliy drank the water from the sink. Her reflection stared back at her from the dirty mirror, haggard from the heavy emotional baggage she constantly carried. She was a damned woman. Three times she had tried to have a child with Kamal and thrice she miscarried. It was her punishment for killing her first botn. She could not even say his name without bursting into tearful prayer.Kamal had puther in a home for a while; she had been ranting about hell and the slaying of the innocent after her latest miscarrige. When her father died it only got worse.
Her life was a living hell. She knew that Kamal was having an affair...he no longer lived her as he did. Well...she was no longer the girl he loved so much. She was just a shell now, hollow and brittle.
"I am damned" she sobbed, bowing her head .
"Yes...You are" a voice hissed behind her. She gasped and turned.
It was an Angel of Hell with the face of her first born. She tried to scream but he held a knife to her thoat.
"No...you are dead!" dhe exclaimed.
"Yes" he taunted, "...you killed me yourself"
Nononononononononono, she sobbed, still in stubborn denial. He tilted her chin up so that they were face to face.
"Take a good look!" he commanded.
She did. Those eyes...those cursed eyes...they have come to take me to hell...oh Allah...accept your prodigal daughter.
She slumped in his hold, her illness and the shock too much for her weak heart. He let the body drop and stepped away.
"Goodbye forever Mai..."he said quietly "...see you in hell"
With those words he walked away.
A.C.195
C.Reigna
North Island, New Zealand
Four months ago.
Pieter rubbed his hands together in the cold New Zealand wind. I'm freezing my nuts off her. Where's the assignment? We've ben waiting here for over two hours. He turned to ivory who was leaning against the truck, he seemed unaffected by the chill. Well...if he is...I can't see it. Ivory was his best student...his only student. He had seen that special something in his eyes that day on the plane. Those blue bottomless orbs that trapped you in thier intense gaze.
He had come to love those eyes. He had never been in love before...never even loved his parents. those rejects. But Ivory was his...and would be forever. His little cold flame that burned only for nim. He could see that fire burning whenever he took him in bed.Bruising his beautiful body with rough fucking. be it love or lust the boy felt...he didn't care.
He turned back toward the churning Pacific. It was a restless sea today, pregnant with unease. Ivory came to stand behind him... Pieter could feel his presence.
"When's the assignment coming?" he asked over his shoulder.
There was a pause. then a sudden jerk and an immence pain in his back. He fell to his knees, looking up in disbelief at Ivory. the knife that he had given to him as a present just two days ago was buried alomst to the hilt in his back, severing his spinal cord.
"What?" he gasped, falling to the ground.
Ivory twisted the knife so that wound wouldn't close, then pulled it out. Pieter lay gasping in agony as the blonde wiped the blade clean on his jacket.
"There was never any assignment" he confessed " I made it up to get you out here, It seemed like the perfect place...beautiful... serene...deserted. You can finally take that vacation you always wanted."
His voice was monotone but the fire ...the cold flame burned in his eyes. Pieter realized that it was never love or lust he felt when they had sex...but cool hatred.
"I...I...love you" he wheezed. The boy laughed...a chilling sound that froze Pieter's very soul.
"Love me?...you claimed me...I was your toy...your little plaything you could rape and torture all in the name of training. Were you ever going to let me go? no! I don't need you anymore Mr. Luhr, my life and my skills are mine now. Though...it does distrees me to see you this way... you see, you are the only person i could somewhat consider family...but there's no other way to end our relationship."
With his foot he rolled the dying man into the water but before pushing him all the way he added:
"Oh yes...before I forget...I'll remember your name Pieter Luhr...belive me ...I'll never forget it."
Pieter gasped, choking on the salty water. With distorted vision he saw Ivory wacthing him die...those cold eye unfeeling. They were the last thing he saw.
9:24pm
Ex Tech Lab.
Download 64% complete...charges set...good to go. the computer buzzed, burnig the data onto the small silver disk. 78%...85%... 96%...download comlete. He smirked in the darkness...now for the fireworks. He slipped quietly out the forth foor widow and easliy scaled down the brown brick wall. The buiding was old it's security poor something that housed such valuable data...well...that used to house such valuable data. The C4 he had planted was just enough to transform the old stucture into an instant parking lot. Now the professors won't have to park off campus. He smiled at that.
As he sprinted across the grass something caught his eye. A small figure was at the Lab's side entrance. A petite form clothed in black. Ivory ducked behind some nearby trimmed hedges. Short ...slim...blonde...sneaking into a supposedly secure building unseen...a building with valuable ar data...oh God ...Quatre!
His eyes widened as Quatre slipped into the building just before the guard came into view . His mind raced, the C4! He sprang into action, snapping the unfortunate guard's neck in his haste to enter the building. Where are you Quatre? he wondered frantically.
As luck would have it, Quatre was on the third floor, hacking into the lab's mainframe. They had been planning this mission for some time...both he and Heero. But Heero had been called away urgently only two hours ago so Quatre had to complete the mission himself. He had just placed the disk in when the door burst open and he was tackled headfirst by a very determined Ivory. The impact of the blow sent them both trough the huge window and out into the night. They landed with a dull thump.
Quatre lay dazed and breathless, his body demmanding rest but he got none. Strong hands grabbed his arms and hauled him along the grass. Just then the lab exploded, the shockwave sending them both flying. He landed roughly, a shapr pain coursing through his left arm... it was broken.. His head swam from his concussion. Dizzily he loked over to where Ivory was struggling to stand. Their eyes met and Quatre knew...he knew. His heart twisted and his world went blank.
Shards of light punctured the thick fog in flashes. Trowa calling his name...the swirling lights of the ambulance...the bright and frenzied atmosphere of the hospital emergency room...then blackness took over once more.
****************
Hokkaido General Hospital
Japan
6:15am
"Excuse me Nurse" Dr. Takasaki called out in the hallway.
The young man turned to look at him...his cold blue eyes gazing at the middle aged man through thin silver spectacles. The doctor studied the tall male nurse, the man was pale and painstakingly neat. His uniform was spotless and his blonde hair pulled in a tight bun. They keep getting younger and younger don't they, he shrugged.
"I need some assistance with a patient in ICU ward"
The nurse nodded. "I've almost finished my rounds doctor...I just have one more patient then I'll be right with you."
The nurse turned away and the doctor watched him walk down the hall and dissappear. He shook his head.
"They just keep getting younger and younger."
*****************
Quatre opened his eyes slowly, squinting at the sun shining through the curtains. He blinked, listening to the birds outside.
"Quatre" a soft voice called to him. He looked up and gasped.
"Terri?"
"I had to see if you were ok"
Quatre grasped his hand, it was cold against the warmth of his own.
"Am I dead?" he was uncertin. The boy shook his head, his eyes offered assurance.
Quatre began to cry softly. The boy stared at the sparkling droplets with a sense of wonder. He brushed them away, amazed at the moisture on his fingertips. Was Quatre afraid of dying? Quatre shook his head, he had understood the look in his eyes.
"I missed you so much" he sobbed, his grip tightening.
The boy pulled his hand away, his eyes cold once more.
"You missed me?...You were the one who left me all alone...you broke our pact!" he accused.
Quatre's eyes widened in disbalief.
"They they told us that you were dead...that your shuttle had crashed...if we had only known..." he stammered.
"What...what would you have done?" the tall boy sneered.
"We would have searched for you...father was beside himself when we heard"
Quatre looked away in shame.
"I always believed that it was my fault...if I hadn't kept you up so late, you wouldn't have needed to rest...you would have come with us..you would still be alive...but you are alive Terri!"
"That's where you're wrong Quatre...Terri Vega died a long time ago...There is only Ivory now... you're too late to save him now...too late."
He tried to leave but the sandrock pilot had once again taken hold of his hand and refused to let go.
"Thanks again"he said.
"What for?"
"For saving me...it's the second time you've knocked me out of harm's way.
"Well ..." Ivory replied flatly"...I made a promise...my word is my bond,"
Quatre smiled as the memeories came flooding back
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"You awake?" he asked.
"No" Terri replied.
Quatre crept in and sat at the edge of the bed. Terrei smiled and Quatre climbed further onto the thick comforter. In hushed voices they talked, about nothing...about everything.
"Thanks" Quatre gushed,hugging him.
"For what?" Terri wondered aloud.
"For saving me Terri!" he answered, "I was pretty mad at you for knocking me down and taking my jacket like that but you were only trying to save me"
"It wasn't nothin" Terri blushed and Quatre giggled, his eyes sparkling.
"I know!" he exclaimed. Terri shushed him and they both fell into a fit of giggles. It was so late.
"...Let's make a pact." he fifnished, cracking up again from the look on Terri's face.
"What kind?" Quatre extended his pinky finger and hooked Terri's.
"OKAY...repeat after me...we'll always be be ther for each other...no matter what...Friends Forever!"
Terri repeated the words and they bobbed thier intertwined fingers three times to make it official. They both smiled at each other, the best of friends. Quatre hopped off the bed and made for the door.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
He looked at Ivory with joy in his eyes.
"We can be together now...a family again." He exclaimed hopefully.
The pale blonde just looked at him, his face now expressionless. Slowly he shook his head.
"I'm sorry Quatre..." he confessed "...but it can never be as it was "
He quickly injected a mild sedative into Quatre's IV, the boy's protests weakening and becoming more slurred. He watched as Quatre slipped out of conciousness then walked to the door. He stole one last glance at the sleeping boy who was his last chance at happiness. He smiled one last time, remembering Quatre's final words to him on that night.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"See you tomorrow friend." he said before slipping away.
"See you tomorrow...friend." Terri replied softly.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Good bye....Friend." He said solemnly.
Then...as quickly as he had come, he was gone.
...Finis...
Notes? none really
:: part I :: arc main :: email ::
Have a nice day and you come back now yuh hear?