Love's Fool

Part Three: The Finale

by Liewe

...

A man stood in the shadows waiting for her, leaning against the dark hulking shape of the limo.

"Master Quatre asked me to escort you home, Ms. Une."

A sigh of relief escaped her lips and she smiled at the tall figure in front of her. "Thank you Rashid. I was beginning to wonder how I was going to get home."

"It is my pleasure Ms."

She smiled, as he opened the door and she slid into the dark interior.

++

He was working frantically, trying to find his way back into the database and ferret out the information his boss so badly needed. He was immersed in the intricacies of the Preventer database, insensible to the world around him. He never saw the small crack of light that filtered into the room as his wife opened the door. He never saw the startled look on her face as she glimpsed what she was doing. He did hear the sound of her gun clearing it's holster and the unmistakable click of the safety as it was removed.

"Those are classified files Trowa. You do not have the clearance to be viewing them." Her voice was steady, cold, devoid of emotion. Inside she was horrified and angry. Angry at herself for living in a dream, for believing that he had changed, that he loved her.

He turned to look at her, his hands still on the keyboard out of sight.

"I'm merely attempting to see how easy it is to hack the system." He said softly.

"I'm tired of this Trowa, you and I both know that's not what you're doing. Don't lie to me! Dammit, just don't lie to me anymore." Her voice had lost it's calm, the anger finally showing.

"I suppose I should have realized that you wouldn't be fooled for ever, but you have to admit that it took you a bit long to realize the truth. Aren't you meant to be some hotshot spy? I really have trouble believing that given the evidence of how easily you were fooled."

"So Quatre was right, you really aren't Trowa Barton."

"Well, he really wasn't Trowa Barton either, now was he? I'm merely recycling the name." He had moved away from the computer now, he was moving closer to her, invading her personal space. Moving her back.

"Shut up!" Her voice was shrill as her back hit the wall and she glanced frantically around, her one hand slipping out of sight. Hitting the send button on the cell phone. She sent a silent prayer that her call would reach Quatre in time.

"Can't face the truth? Can't face the fact that you've been living a lie, that no one could possibly love you for you. You were chosen by my boss because he believed that you would be the most gullible. How does that make you feel? Hmmm?" He leaned in, brushing his face against her cheek as he inhaled her scent. "Though I must admit that you were enjoyable."

The sudden, loud slap echoed in the small room. He grinned as he tasted blood; his laughter sent a shiver up her spine as she gazed at him in terror.

"Feisty," he quipped as he lunged for her, knocking the gun from her hands in the ensuing struggle.

"Mommy," her daughter murmured and she hugged her. Tears raining down her cheeks.

"Sorry sweetie, give me a moment and I'll be able to continue."

"Do we have to continue tonight?" The little girl asked softly.

"Yes sweety, the story is almost over. Daddy will get you some ice-cream when it's over, all right?"

"Ok."

"So, they struggled, and she lost her grip on the gun. She was loosing, he was just stronger and bigger than her, but she fought with everything she had..."

"I will not go down without a fight," she hissed as another punch connected and pain swam it's way to the forefront of her mind.

"You will loose," he grunted, dodging her kicks.

She could hear feet pounding up the stairs as she struggled to maintain her ground. To maintain consciousness. She did not want to faint, she couldn't afford it. She knew that as soon as gave in she was done for. He would kill her and leave her for dead. She felt the sharp sting of the tranquilizer dart hit her side, moments before she finally gave in and succumbed to the dark.

"I take it the little lady discovered that you were not what you seemed?"

"Yes, she came home earlier than expected."

"Well, we'll have to get rid of her then, can't have her knowing your secrets. I think I might have enough left to make a double of her to last until we're ready for the final stage of our plan."

"So we're taking her with us?"

"Yes, that would be best."

Trowa grunted as he lifted her into his arms.

"Come on boy, we have places to go, dark deeds to commit."

The cell phone remained in her pocket, finally connected to an anxious friend.

++

"Rashid, trace the phone that I gave to Ms. Une please. And call the Maguanacs; I think they might need to come out of retirement for a brief rescue."

"Of course Master Quatre."

Quatre sat in silence as Rashid and the rest of the Maguanacs bustled about him, preparing for what would amount to a small war. He cursed himself. How could he have let her return to him? How?

"Master Quatre, the phone is moving. They seem to be heading northeast, towards the mountains. I'm not sure how long the signal will hold up if they actually enter the range."

"Have the Maguanacs prepare to leave immediately then, we'll follow them." He responded, his grip tightening on the small phone that connected him to Midii. He could no longer hear her voice; he could only hear the tireless whine of an engine. But she was alive, he was certain of that. Just as he was certain that the Trowa Barton he had known in the war was no longer alive.

"You will be joining us then?"

"Yes. I will."

++

Pain. From the moment she woke she felt pain. A deep soul-rendering pain.

"Awake I see," the man said, and she struggled to remember his name. His voice was so familiar to her.

"Who are you?"

"You don't remember me? I'm so hurt. You spent a good deal of time under my care a few years ago. How easily you forget."

With each word, his voice became more familiar until her heart began to ache. How stupid could she be, of course it was the scientist that she had been dispatched to kill all those years ago.

"So the Trowa that rescued me was one of your clones?" She asked, trying to keep to the facts, to avoid emotion.

"Yes he was, a splendid specimen, if I say so myself. It was a pity that I had to kill the real one. He certainly was a beauty."

She cringed at his tone of voice, berating herself for her foolhardiness all those years ago. If she had waited, or asked for backup maybe this would have never happened.

"I'm afraid you'll also have to be taken care of, but at the moment you're useful. We'll be doing the same thing to you that we did to your comrade."

"He was a loner by nature, so it was easier to fool people. I'm not." She spat, trying to buy herself time.

"Ah yes, but I've improved the technique and process since then. You see, your dear husband has been smuggling me classified Preventer information since the moment you said I do. It's amazing the access they grant your personal computer my dear. And your encryption skills are laughable. You should have asked Yuy to protect your computer my dear. He at least has some skill."

"Actually Maxwell is the one to go to. My system wasn't as poor as you think. I knew Trowa was using my computer, and the files he accessed where ghost files. Devised for the express use of diverting hacker’s attentions and protecting the real information. Do you really think we'd be so lax?"

"You're bluffing."

"No, I'm not. I was a master spy. Espionage is my specialty. All kinds."

She had been watching the monitors through their exchange, watching and waiting.

"And if you'll turn around, you'll notice that your systems have been disabled and your base has been infiltrated. I regret that we didn't do this years ago, but oh well, we'll fix that now. You will not survive the explosion that will destroy this base. You will burn with all of your experiments." She hissed, leaning as close to him as her bonds allowed.

"You will die as well," he muttered.

"There are always casualties."

"You would sacrifice yourself?"

"To see you dead? Yes, I would. Because you're scum and you deserve to die."

"You'll have to go through me Ms. Une. I can't let you kill him; I can't let you destroy this."

"I see that you were unable to clone his sense of integrity."

"That would have made my life difficult. I needed an able soldier that would follow my every command."

"Are you just a toy soldier then?" she asked the Trowa clone, taunting him.

He never had a chance to answer her as a gun fired behind him, disabling him.

"Are you all right Midii?" Quatre asked as he stood in the doorway, his Maguanacs swarming the room.

"I'll live. Could you possibly deal with the cockroach while I untie myself?" She asked with a grin, as she began to wriggle, her movements loosening the knots, giving her the slack she needed to free herself.

"As my lady wishes."

She paused in her telling of the tale. Taking a deep breath, a hand rubbing anxious circles on her rounded belly. Should she continue she wondered? Should she detail the task of getting away from the lab, destroying it and locking away the man she had called husband for years?

"And they lived happily ever after?"

She jumped as the voice of her daughter intruded upon her private musings. Blinking as she struggled to understand the simple question asked of her.

“Mommy? Did they live happily ever after?”

She breathed a sigh of relief and took the cowards way out, leaving out the messy details of the months that ensued that one fateful night. One day she would tell her daughter the entire truth, down to every last detail but for tonight it hardly mattered.

"In a fashion yes. The clone currently resides in a maximum security prison. He will never leave nor will he ever see the light of day again. And the mad scientist died in the explosion that destroyed his base."

"And the woman and her savior?"

"They lived happily ever after, or as happily as one can live outside of a fairy tale. They were married several months later and then after another period of time she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. She was allowed to keep her job, though she was very carefully watched for a time. And her savior or should I say husband is now one of the most powerful men in the ESUN."

"It's you and Daddy isn't it?" the little girl asked softly.

"Yes, it is. I know you're a bit young to be hearing this, but I didn't want you to live in ignorance. I didn't want someone to let it slip one day, and have you find out that way. I wanted to be the one to tell you."

"Am I Daddy's daughter then? Or the clone mans?"

"You are Daddy's daughter, though some will say you belong to the clone mans."

"Why would they say that?"

"Because they are cruel and they have no notion of what really happened. But you are your Daddy's daughter; we can even do a blood test to prove it to you if you wish."

"No, I trust you. I love you Mommy."

"I love you too sweetheart."

++

"I really was Love's Fool," she murmured as she leaned back in his arms.

"But it has all worked out. The man who killed Trowa has faced justice, the clone man, as our daughter so cheerfully put it has faced justice, and we are married. And we have a wonderful daughter and another child on the way. It all worked out." He whispered, burying his face in her hair.

"Yes, I suppose it did." She smiled laying her head back against his chest, reveling in the warmth of his arms.

-the end