Shattered Hearts

Chapter 1: Escape

By: Liewe

Standard disclaimers apply, sadly, these characters do not belong to me, but the story on the other hand does. Please don’t sue.

She moved with the ease of practice, her small frame darting from shadow to shadow, staying hidden from view. The Preventer Headquarters had the most complete database, the perfect place for her to find the information she needed to complete her task. The black form fitting jump suit allowed her to become one with the shadows, her short blonde hair tucked under the black cap, hiding it's brilliance from the prying eyes of the security cameras. She was used to covert operations; they were what kept her alive. The soft sound of footfalls approaching, caused Midii to react on instinct, one hand moving to finger the gun she always kept with her, while the other moved along the wall searching for a conveniently placed janitor's closet.

She saw the two men pass her by, the appearance of one tugging at a memory long buried; the profile something from memory. The other man was someone she had never seen before in person but she knew who he was. Oh, she knew who he was, like every other Spy or criminal worth their salt, she knew who he was. The Gundam Pilot Heero Yuy, a soft shake of the head and a sinister chuckle echoed through the room after they had passed. It would figure that the Gundam Pilots would be present in Preventer HQ, they were the poster boys of the New World order, and they had fought to preserve it and because of them people flocked to the Preventers everyday.

"This will certainly make my task harder," she thought in her mind, before slipping from the room again, her night vision goggles firmly in place as she continued to traverse the halls silent as a mouse, searching for her goal. Her mind worked on overdrive as she found the room, a quick check showing that it was empty, the camera would have to be dealt with first. A simple task for someone as experienced as she was. A few quick twists of the wiring, and a few quick keystrokes and the cameras were frozen, no one the wiser for the little glitch in the system. She allowed herself a small smirk at the simplicity of the task, one that many a spy had failed to master.

Her eyes widened ever so slightly as the information scrolled past her eyes, her fingers quivering slightly as she moved to place the disc in the drive. The pictures of the Bloom family looked so familiar, the angle of the face, the shade of green in their eyes. An image of a young and nameless boy flashed through her mind, a gun held in his hand as he threatened to kill her. With a ruthlessness, which would have shocked the young girl she was back then, she squashed the memory and shoved it back into the recesses of her mind, to be puzzled over another time. The sound of the alarm ran gin her ears as she pulled the disc from the drive, her fingers working with a mind of their own as her mind puzzled over escape routes. She would have to move fast to escape them; her mind was on red alert.

The quiet click of a gun being cocked forced her to turn around, the young man who had been accompanying Heero Yuy stood behind, his gun aimed at her heart. The fall of his bangs, struck a chord in her heart, she could feel it stirring, emotions long ago thought dead struggling to rise to the surface. The widening of his eyes surprised her, and she belatedly remembered removing her cap to get a better view of the information. He could see her, the soulless eyes, and the brilliant gold hair. He knew her, he was rooted to the spot his shock registering on his face as he gazed at her.

She barreled into him, knocking the surprised young man to floor as she hurtled down the hallway, her feet not making a sound as she disappeared into the shadows. She was used to hiding; her job required it. She didn't feel the pain as the bullet nicked her shoulder; she barely heard the shout of outrage as she ran. The route mapped out in her mind, her feet following it instinctively, the gun resting in her hand. The window, which lay at the end of the hall, overlooked a serene lake, the building edge resting on the shores, if she leapt with the right amount of strength she would land in the lake and those who pursued her, would loose her.

Throwing caution to the wind Midii leapt, her frail form arcing into the perfect dive as she crashed through the window. The sound of shattering glass, traveled down the halls to greet the ears of those who pursued the escaping nymph. Her eyes closed and her smile welcoming, Midii plunged into the icy depths of the serene lake. The sudden biting cold cutting through to her bone, the weight of her clothing pulling her down broke through her stupor. She briefly toyed with the idea of giving up succumbing to the cold, but her mind refused to give in, she still had a task to complete. With a strength that was hidden in the supposed frailty of her form she fought back the encroaching darkness as she struggled to the surface, each stroke each kick bringing her closer to the surface.

She broke the surface, like something out of legend, her jumpsuit clinging to her form, hiding it from view, and allowing her to blend in with the shadows. Her hair once a brilliant gold, now a muted brown, she gasped once when the surface was breached, dragging the frigid air into her starved lungs. With another gasp of air, she went under water again and kicked her way from the castle to the area from which she could escape, her silver motorcycle lying hidden in the bushes. Her mind raced with possibilities as she passed through the murky waters, her face a mask, the frigid water numbing her body and hiding the pain. She hadn’t noticed the faint trail of blood, which hung in the water.

A string of curses erupted from the window, which had featured in the escape of the spy as a young braided man stood there, his gun trained on the water, his eyes alert. The grace at which the girl had punched through the window had not been hidden from him as he had raced from the other direction. She was not an amateur as so many others had been, she had come for a purpose and most likely, she had fulfilled it. A slight smirk settled onto his lips as he thought of the fate that awaited the spy. She would meet with the wrath of Heero and Trowa, both formidable when enraged.

The sudden rippling of the water caught his attention as he lifted his gun to take aim, he watched as the spy surfaced for a few moments, not long enough for him to get a shot off as the winds blew his bangs into his eyes. He kept his gun trained on the direction in which she was heading, the small communicator he always kept with him immediately bussing into life.

“She’s heading for the forest,” he whispered into the COM, the frequency turned to all the pilots. He watched them all nod in assent, before he turned all his attention back to the matter at hand. The spy. She could not be allowed to escape; they had no idea what information she had accessed. He took aim again, when the ripples appeared on the surface of the lake once more, considerably farther than the first time they had appeared. Duo held his gun in hand, his aim careful as the first shot rang out, the movements of the spy remained calm as she ducked below the water to surface again a few feet from where she had previously been, her movements calm but hurried. The air became filled with bullets as he continued to fire on her, the clip emptying in a matter of seconds, another already taking it’s place. Not one bullet made its mark, each one narrowly missing the escapee.

“Duo, where is she,” came the ever monotonous voice of the perfect soldier as Duo continued to fire, his pistol being shifted to one hand as he groped for the COM.

“She’s heading for the forest, shit she’s almost there,” he replied the shots still resounding through the night, the aim more exact as they skipped past her form. He held his breath as she emerged from the lake, braking into a dead run, her short hair clung to her head. The rips in her suit, showing torn flesh.

Midii glanced over her shoulder as she ran, her feet sure on the path, the cold permeating her body, clinging to her. There was one pilot shooting at her; his shot’s cutting it to close for comfort. She didn’t feel the protests of her body as she ran; her mind was occupied with thoughts of escape. She sighed a sigh of relief when her motorcycle was revealed to still be where she had left it. The deep blue metal hidden among the shrubs of the forest. Within moments, the helmet was sitting snuggly on her head, and the wind was rushing past her form as she escaped the scene of her transgressions. The pilots arrived a moment too late, their guns drawn, only able to eat her dust as she disappeared over the horizon.

“She’s gone,” Heero said into the COM, before turning away and slowly making his way back to the base. “Trowa, follow her,” were his last words before the perfect soldier too disappeared into the night. Quatre turned to follow his comrade in arms, a lingering gaze following the spy who had slipped through their collective fingers. He didn’t turn to stare when the silver motorcycle bearing his best friend whisked by him in hot pursuit of the spy.

“A woman, a weak woman made fool’s of us, pah,” the words rolling of Wufei’s tongue as a scowl made it’s way onto his face. She was admirable, whomever she was, her talents honed to perfection. That was the only way she had been able to escape from their clutches, his wounded pride offered, hoping to assuage the demon of justice which would soon pop its head into the dawn.

“That was close,” Midii thought as she speed down the deserted roads of Austria. The trees whipped past her as she continued her headlong plight into the unknown. The closing roar of another motorcycle forced her to put the pedal to the metal as she continued into the unknown, her mind coolly scanning the horizon for places of secrecy, havens for those in the game. She smiled when she spotted a familiar landmark; she was close to a place of sanctuary, the motorcycle groaned as she coaxed it faster and faster, the sound of approach slowly fading as the roar of escape filled her ears.

-To Be Continued…