Shattered Hearts

Chapter 3: A Traitor in their Midst

By: Liewe

Standard disclaimers apply; Gundam Wing belongs to Bandai and Sunrise.

Sally stared at Heero’s face, the glasses she wore when in disguise dangling from her fingertips. Her brow was scrunched in worry as Heero listed off the information they had been able to glean about Midii’s activities in the Preventer computer. The possibilities were too vast, the information the disc could contain too sensitive. She sighed, running a hand through the mass of sun-kissed gold she called her hair. She was getting to old for this kind of work; her heart couldn’t take betraying any more people.

“Sally are you listening to me,” Heero questioned, an expression of annoyance on his face, usually reserved for Duo.

“Yes I am, what did the girl look like?”

“Petite, Blonde, early 20’s late teens,” he said still keeping an eye on Sally’s facial expression, the slight tick originating from her temple told him all he needed to know.

“Ice came in a couple of hours ago, late last night from what Alonzo tells me, she was badly banged up, cuts all over the place. She was caring a disc, I couldn’t decode. Very pretty, ice-blonde, early 20’s, slight build, strong as an ox,” Sally said, her hand rubbing her forehead. She had hoped that it wasn’t Ice, but it was, and now the poor woman would have Heero hot on her trail.

“I see, what would be the best way to get to her,” Heero asked contemplatively.

“There is no way, she’s an emotional block, nothing gets in or out, I’ve never known her to show emotion. She was the first person I met in the game, she’s the most influential, there is no way to get close to her without the help of others.”

“I think it’s time to break your cover, we’ll be there soon,” Heero said closing the COM before Sally could protest, she looked over everything quickly a stray thought coming to mind. “He’ll kill her,” she whispered to herself, the thought was irrational, such harsh tactics were not allowed in the Preventers, but Ice wasn’t in good shape.

Alonzo moved away from the door, his face a mask of burning rage as he rushed to Midii’s room. “So Nikita was a traitor, no matter, she will be dealt with by the others, I need to get Midii to safety.” He thought as he ran through the halls, the soft plush carpet masking the sounds of his footfalls.

“Midii, we need to get out of here,” he said to the mound of sheets in the middle of the king size bed. Her blonde hair barely peeked over the top of the sheets, her pale form contrasting with the crimson color.

“What,” she asked sleep slurring her words as she struggled to rise, the straps to her tank top falling off her shoulders. The sudden weight of clothing landing on her stomach pushed the sleep away.

“There’s a leak, the people who you managed to shake are coming here! Move it Midii, if you want to live,” he cried vehemently his voice reaching the higher octaves as he flung his arms about wildly.

“Alright, alright, I’m moving. Why did you warn me anyway?”

“That’s what friends do, I don’t care if we were something more once upon a time, and I’ve always considered you my friend.” He said while stomping about the room, not caring that she was bare from the waist up, as she pulled on the clothes he had tossed her. He smiled when he saw the way the crimson silk shirt accentuated the blue in her eyes, and the way the figure hugging black pants accentuated her curves.

“I didn’t think you were my friend,” she whispered, her words coming out in a hiss as her movements further aggravated the wounds she had acquired during her escape.

“Well I am, now come on, we have to get going,” he said grabbing her arm and the disc she had risked her life for. His grip was bruising and Midii let out a small sound of protest before stumbling out behind him.

Heero glanced around the room, his eyes surveying the room as they all prepared for the full on onslaught they would stage on the sanctuary of spy’s. They were there huddled in their little protective alcove, snickering at the incompetence of those who chased them. He smirked at the thought of them cowering before him, their faces showing betrayal when they saw the Preventers weren’t as blind as they appeared to be. And the look on her face, when she saw them there would be priceless.

Trowa was lost in his thoughts, could she be the girl he had been searching for. The eyes had been so familiar, the same shade of blue-gray, the ice-blonde hair, but her face had been closed, her emotions locked within her. It couldn’t be her, but it had to be. She had disappeared on the road, her skill extraordinary, no way could have escaped a Gundam pilot unless they had extraordinary skill. He ran his fingers through his hair, his thoughts in a jumble. He was working on autopilot his fingers moving of their own accord to prepare his weaponry.

Sally sighed, her heart wrenching painfully at the thought of betraying the one person she was truly trying to help. Ice’s eyes were pools of pain and resentment, her heart so surrounded by a wall of ice that no one tried to get close to her anymore. Pushing back strands of golden hair, she moved along the hall, her hands in her pockets, and her soul in turmoil. She didn’t want to betray anyone, these people they weren’t all so bad, they did what they did to get through life. Ice was the classic example, from what information she had managed to glean without alerting the suspicions of those around her; she had found the young woman to have ample reason for having such a cold heart.

Ice’s mother had died giving birth to her youngest son, a child who had died shortly after the alliance had recruited the ten-year-old child. Her other two brothers had disappeared when Ice had reached her 13th birthday, never to be seen again. Her old and ailing father had disappeared around the same time leaving Ice alone in the world; her only family the group of Spy’s from whom she constantly hid her inner being. From what Sally knew, Alonzo was the only person who had ever gotten close to the apparently heartless spy. Who knew what the child had lived through growing up, having no one to care for her, to turn to. Sally knew that Ice had lived in the Alliance headquarters from the time she had first been recruited, but her family had still visited her.

She opened the door to Ice’s room and shock registered on her face; the bed was empty, the sheets thrown about the room. Her eyes widened when she saw the curtains blowing in the wind, Ice had left in a hurry. She checked the bedside table to find the medication and disc missing, the girl was gone and she had taken everything she would need with her. Sally let out a soft string of curses as she ran from the room, if Ice knew others would know, it was no longer safe to be in the sanctuary, the crimes she had committed worse than murder in the eyes of her so called comrades.

Alonzo dragged Midii along the walls of the once sanctuary her head pounding with the pain from her wounds. She stumbled over a tree root as Alonzo dragged her along, small whimpers escaping her lips. She suddenly found herself sprawled on the ground, her ankle twisted painfully beneath and the mask, which her visions of Trowa had begun to crack, firmly in place. No whimper came from her lips, just a defeated sigh, as she tried to rise but found she couldn’t. Alonzo turned to face her, his eyes filling with pity when he realized the pain that she must be suffering. He quickly scurried back to her, a sudden exchange and she found herself riding on his back like he were a horse, her legs firmly hooked around his waist. The motorcycle was a few more feet away, hidden under the branches of an ancient elm, their route to freedom.

“Who was it,” she asked him as the wind whipped past her ears, and her hair danced behind her. She couldn’t see the scowl on Alonzo’s face and the words were torn from his lips even before they left, she didn’t catch what he had tried to say as bullets began to whiz by them, far to early for the clean up crew to have found them. Far to early, but they had, she pressed her body closer to Alonzo’s ignoring the raging inferno of pain as they continued with their escape. Her mind sang with possible identities for the traitor, names floating up into the forefront of her mind as tree’s whizzed by her.

“This bloody machine,” Alonzo swore as the engine began to die out, spluttering and coughing, the jerky movements jarring Midii’s wounds as they abruptly came to a halt. He pulled the helmet off his head before turning to give Midii a sorrowful glance, his eyes full of pity as he leapt off the bike. She glanced at him once before the oncoming roar of motorcycles caught her attention, but when she looked back he was gone and only a revolver lay where he had once stood. “You jerk,” she whispered through clenched teeth, as she placed the black helmet over her golden mop of hair.

“Stop right there,” came the monotone voice of Heero Yuy as Midii straightened from her current position, the gun securely hidden in the pocket of her jacket. She was allowed to smile behind the dark visor, her emotions hidden from the prying eyes of those who had pursued her. She moved slowly towards her bike, the movements cautious her hands up in a gesture of surrender. Movement in the trees registered in the back of her mind, comrades or enemy’s she questioned softly.

“He said halt,” came the soft voice of the one person who she hated, the man who held her heart, the man who she had thought she loved. The blood in her veins burned hot with rage as she glanced at him, he was the same one she had surprised in the control room, the careless one, which had allowed for her escape. The rustling of the leaves went unnoticed by them but as the sounds became more persistent she continued with her journey, the bike would work, she hoped. Alonzo was a mechanical marvel and a trickster, hence the nickname he had earned in the trade, the Joker.

A single shot rang out into the still night air…

Back in the belly of the dragon as Sally was so apt to call her current predicament, she ran. The home housed an ample number of superior spy’s, all who held the code of which the game abided in the highest esteem. The sweat poured down her back as she slowly walked to the garden, her fear not registering on her face. She smiled tersely at those she passed, a simple nod of her head before continuing on when once she would have conversed at length with those she had once considered friends. The French doors, which led to the vast maze of greenery, had never looked so inviting as Sally turned the ornate handle, the familiar creak echoing in the halls.

“I wouldn’t go any further if I were you,” said the soft voice of Elise, a cunning spy in the game, often considered the second in command. Sally didn’t dare to turn around, her long legs unfolded as she began to sprint, the curses trailing her, pushing her further, faster. She let out a strangled scream as her body collided with a warm and unyielding barrier.

-To Be Continued…