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Chapter 2
By Sulia Serafine
Email: Silverwlng@aol.com
[Author’s ramblings: A semi-romantic comedy/ adventure of Gundam Wing.
Additional note: this may also fall under Alternate Universe Category. I’m screwing around the episode plot. That’s all. Standard Disclaimer!!! I don’t own Gundam Wing (darn it) and I’m not making money.
Don’t sue! It’s all for fun!
Send criticism to me at Silverwlng@aol.com]
Wufei rushed after Ellis, but he found it difficult to keep up. She moved much faster than he expected and easily eluded the guards that scattered the area. He ignored them and ran faster, cursing the formal Chinese clothing he had worn.
"Hey you! Woman! Stop!" he yelled, but Ellis did not. She turned a corner and almost escaped him if it wasn’t for the fact that she was at a dead end.
"Damn," she muttered. Then she noticed a ladder hanging from a fire escape. She jumped up and caught the last rung, pulling herself up and beginning to climb. Ellis couldn’t believe that she had been side tracked by these Earthlings! The Joker had run off and she couldn’t look for him if she was being chased. Finally, she reached the top of the ladder and leaped onto a ledge of an administration building.
Wufei slowed down and looked up. "Who is she?" he wondered and cast off his amazement to jump up and climb the same ladder.
Ellis watched him continue to follow her. She drew a handheld gun from her jacket and aimed for the part of the ladder connected to the building. Wufei saw her and gasped. The shot loosened the ladder, making him curse and speed up.
"Persistent is what he is," she thought to herself and nimbly ran along the building ledge. She was able to see a lot of the area from where she was. A few trees blocked her from public view as well. At the end of the ledge, she stopped and wondered where to go next.
Her phone rang. She immediately answered it.
"Ace!" Fitz’s voice said.
"Where are you, Ten? I’m kind of busy."
"I know. I’m in pursuit of two Jokers. They’re headed for the old warehouse at the edge of the area."
As he talked, she broke a window and slipped inside. Wufei came in time to see her and followed.
"Old warehouse?"
"It is shadowed by a larger, newer one where mobile suits of Gundanium Alloy are kept. You won’t be able miss it."
Ellis kicked the door in. A few secretaries leapt to their feet, some reaching for their phones. She immediately held up her gun. "Don’t anyone move!"
They all gasped and shrank back, terrified. Ellis didn’t like to resort to this, but if she had to, she would shoot the man pursuing her so she could resume her mission. One death would not affect her or her people. What the Jokers could do would.
Wufei entered just as she spun around and trained the gun on him. He froze. "Don’t do anything stupid, Woman."
She narrowed her eyes and backed away, watching everyone carefully. "Don’t call me Woman! Look, I just want to get out of here. If you persist, I will be forced to shoot you."
"Who are you? Why were you looking for that other man at the wedding?" Wufei demanded to know.
Ellis ignored him and dove out the room. The secretaries and other employees let out sighs of relief and continued to tremble as Wufei began to follow her again.
Ellis found a stairwell and practically flew down it, taking the steps two or three at a time, leaping and jumping from level to level. She tried to think of something to throw Wufei off her trail.
"Get out, get out, get out. Find Ten," she told herself. "No, worry about him later. Get to the Jokers before it’s too late."
She didn’t stop until she was at the warehouse. But by then, Wufei had caught up with her.
"Man… I’m gonna get whoever dumped that cake on me!"
Duo returned from the men’s bathroom to hear a loud explosion. He froze for a second in shock and confusion, then ran toward the noise. It was in the parking lot. Heero had barely found the briefcase in time before he sensed its danger and rushed to get it out of the banquet hall. Trowa and Relena also stood beside him as he watched the cinders and bits of falling flame scatter the whole lot. They coughed from the smoke.
"What happened?" Duo asked, clenching his fists, prepared to fight.
"It was a small bomb. It would have been terrible if it had been inside," Trowa said.
Dorothy and Quatre ran out, followed by Zechs and Aaron. Relena instinctively moved towards Heero.
"What the hell is going on here?" Zechs demanded. He snarled at the smoke and ashes across the parking lot. Several cars had been hit and were no longer operational.
"A bomb," Heero answered. "We’ll investigate it right now. Everyone else go back inside! It’s safer."
"I’m not just going to walk away and let you handle this, Yuy," Zechs said roughly.
"Brother, please. Let him take care of it. Noin must be worried sick over what’s happened. Go reassure her that it was nothing," Relena prodded him, gently taking his arm.
He didn’t want to go, but he did know Lucrecia would want an explanation. He looked one last time at the pilots, then went inside. Dorothy seemed to be in deep thought, but followed Zechs. Aaron reached for Relena’s hand.
"Come along, Miss Relena. This is no place for you to be."
"But-" Relena looked at Heero.
"I’m sorry, Sir, but Relena promised to take a walk with Duo," Heero lied subtly. Duo’s mouth fell open, then promptly shut when Heero glared at him. "I hate for her engagement with him to be spoiled by this minor occurrence."
"Huh?" Aaron stood back.
"Uh, yes!" Relena nodded, taking Duo’s arm. "Isn’t that right Duo?"
Heero rested a hand on Duo’s shoulder and whispered to him. "I can’t watch Relena right now. I have to check this out. You stay with her. She hates that Aaron guy."
"Oh. Okay. Come on, beautiful! Let’s go," Duo smiled and walked away with Relena’s arm hooked with his.
Aaron glowered at Heero, then walked briskly inside. Quatre let out a low whistle. "That guy really doesn’t let up, does he?"
"No. Now, come on. We have to figure this out. Trowa?"
"I’m going to call Catherine right now and find the whereabouts of our Jokesters." Trowa still held the playing card in his right hand. "Perhaps they are spies or secret agents. A rebel group, perhaps."
"Whatever they are, they’re not going to get away with it," Quatre stated. "People could have been hurt."
Inside, Dorothy was sitting down. She still hadn’t spoken since she had been outside and could not speak. Sally Po came over with Hilde following her.
"What happened outside?"
"I can’t really say. Heero wouldn’t want many people to know, I’m sure," Dorothy replied in a dull tone, and continued gazing off into space. Sally turned to Hilde, who shrugged her shoulders.
"Well, I guess we better talk to Zechs."
"No, I wouldn’t do that. He’s still a little stressed. Unless, you want to make him angry," Dorothy started to smirk a little. She finally turned to look at them. "Did you see him?"
"Who? Zechs?"
"No. He wasn’t here at the wedding, but I saw him earlier on my way here. He was with that other girl as they entered the area."
"What girl?"
Dorothy sighed. "Never mind. I’m going to get some cake. If there’s any left that Duo didn’t get on himself." "Or should I say ‘got hit with’?" she thought privately with a little chuckle.
She stood up and walked over to the table. She took her time coming back to her seat and idly thought of the two mysterious persons that she had seen that morning.
From the limousine, she saw a young man and woman standing by a building, trying to look inconspicuous. They didn’t do it very well, for they were noticeably dressed. The girl wore a red dress shirt and a black jacket with weird pockets on her pants. She also had the strangest blond hair Dorothy had ever seen. The young man had brown hair. It was dark, thick, and wavy, reminding Dorothy of one of those idol singers. He wore a white dress shirt with gold buttons resembling spades and a black jacket with red spades covering the collar and cuffs. His pants were black and neatly ironed, but his boots went to mid-calf.
"Who are they? And what do they have to do with all this?"
Dorothy privately decided to do a little investigating of her own.
Duo whistled happily as he and Relena strode down the sidewalk.
"So, Heero admitted he liked you, right?" Duo asked mischievously.
"What?" Relena blushed. "No!"
"Aw, darn," Duo said. "I thought he would have done it by now. Well, it just comes to show how much Heero really chooses to care."
"What do you mean? I’m sure he would have-" Relena stopped mid-sentence and blushed again. "Look, Duo. He’s just not used to… to…"
"Sure. Whatever you say, Relena. He’s hopeless!"
"He is not! Just you wait and see Duo Maxwell," she said, pursing her lips and turning her head away as they walked. Duo rolled his eyes.
"Sorry," he said. He leaned towards her and whispered, "To tell you the truth, the guys and I are making bets on how long it will take for him to hold your hand, let alone smile!"
She laughed out loud. "That’s great. Uh, just wondering, Duo?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you think he would ever…?" she trailed off nervously.
"Oh, yeah. Sure. Just don’t expect it to be any time this month. This bombing thing is serious."
"Oh. Okay, thanks," she smiled.
"I hope that Aaron guy doesn’t get in the way. He seems like a real drag."
"You don’t know the half of it! He spends his time doing everything my brother says, following my brother around, perfecting everything he can, and treating me like a demure lady of breeding… meant to marry, period! I am a very important person and I am not demure!" she suddenly lost her temper. "He tries to court me, bringing me practical gifts like a sewing kit and –get this- a copy of The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare!"
Duo started snickering. "Shrew? I wonder what that story is about."
"It’s really insulting is what it’s about!" she replied tartly.
"Poor Relena," Duo said, still grinning. "I hope I can do something to help."
"I don’t know. With this bombing incident, Heero probably won’t be able to make it to the Governor’s party with me tonight. That means I will be stuck with Aaron."
Duo patted her hand. "I’m gonna help you. Heero will proclaim his love for you by the end of this year, or my name isn’t Duo Maxwell!" He suddenly held his hand to his heart. "Starting with tonight! I’ll find a way to deal with the bombing and get Heero to go to the party."
"How?"
He froze. "I, um, haven’t thought of it yet. But it will come to me! I’ll figure it out really soon, I promise."
Relena smiled and hugged him. "Thank you so much."
"Anything for you, sweetheart," Duo said and hugged her back.
Meanwhile, Trowa was on the phone with Catherine. He told her about seeing the Jokester.
"Gosh, Trowa. I haven’t seen any of them all day."
"You haven’t? So it is possible that man is…"
" Oh, Trowa, I hope this won’t hurt anyone! Did you say that briefcase had a bomb in it?"
"Yes."
"That’s terrible! I’m going to tell the Ringmaster to keep an eye out for them."
"Thank you, Catherine. Please keep this secret."
"I will, Trowa. Take care of yourself, okay?"
"I promise. I’ll see you later."
"I love you, bro."
"I… love you too, Catherine. I must go now. Goodbye."
"Bye, Trowa."
He hung up and joined Heero and Quatre back outside.
"What did she say?" Quatre asked.
"She hasn’t seen any of them all day. It’s likely that it was him."
"Why would anyone…" Heero said quietly.
"A new rebel group or something. Zechs and Noin were OZ officers and most of the wedding guests were important figures of the Earth and the Colonies. Relena, the Parisian democrats, all of Zech’s and Noin’s friends in the military are all people that play a significant part in government and military affairs," Quatre pointed out. He pouted. "But to do this at a wedding. It’s so cruel. I feel so bad for them."
"They’ll be fine," Trowa said. "I want to talk to that girl that came in about the same time as the Jokester."
"I bet she could answer some questions," Quatre nodded.
"That reminds me," Heero said. "Where’s Wufei?"
Wufei grabbed Ellis’s arm, ready to restrain her. Ellis spun around and caught him off guard by her sudden action. She twisted out of his grip and punched him in the stomach. He felt the power and strength in her strike and was amazed that a female could do such a thing. He managed to sideswipe her, knocking her off her feet. He usually wouldn’t fight a woman, but this one was really starting to piss him off. It was a good thing he trained so much in the martial arts.
"Ah!" she hit the ground, but immediately rolled away before he could do anything else. Ellis couldn’t believe she was being so careless. She was the Ace of Spades! A hand-to-hand fight like this should have been over between them.
"I have no time for this!" She said and drew her gun hastily.
Wufei darted forward, wrenching it from her grip, but not before receiving a punch to the jaw. He grimaced, but succeeded in obtaining her weapon.
"Argh!" Ellis drew another gun.
Wufei fired at her feet, making her jump back. Ellis began to run, but not before he got off another shot and ran after her.
"Stop!" he yelled uselessly. "You have no idea of what you’re getting into!"
"Yes, I do!" Ellis yelled back. "Stay out of my way!"
Ellis ran into the warehouse, but didn’t shut the door behind her. Somewhere distant, she could hear the sounds of a fight. It was Fitz, of course. He was fighting the two Jokers he reported earlier. That led Ellis to wonder: what happened to the one at the banquet hall?
"You!" Wufei fired at her. Ellis scrambled for cover behind some crates and fired back.
"I told you to leave me alone… unless you want to die!"
"Ha! You… kill me? I don’t think so!"
Ellis tried to listen to the sound of Fitz’s fight. She couldn’t hear. Her breathing was too loud. She took a deep breath and prepared for a suicide attack.
Before Wufei knew what was going on, Ellis had come out from the crates and was charging him, shooting her gun. He was barely able to twist out of the way, but another bullet grazed his cheek. He also began firing, but he didn’t seek cover.
"AH!" Ellis pointed the gun straight at him at the same exact time Wufei did the same.
They stood speechless for a few seconds.
"Back down," Wufei warned.
"Never."
"I bet you’re out of bullets."
Her eyes widened for a moment, then relaxed. "You wouldn’t just arrest me like that, would you? I challenge you. No weapons. Just you and me. Right here."
They stared at each other intensely. Time seemed to stop. All they could hear was their harsh breathing and the pounding of their hearts.
Ellis and Wufei dropped their guns and almost instantaneously began to fight. Wufei punched over and over again, but Ellis blocked and countered it all. Then Ellis started to kick violently, aiming for his head, abdomen, and knees. Wufei put some distance between them, but she closed the gap with a flying kick.
Wufei moved out of the way and tried to trip her up, but she tackled him in her fall. They rolled across the floor for a few seconds before they separated and fell into combinations of punches, kicks, and head-butts. Ellis was good at dodging. She had reflexes and response times that were off the chart. What Wufei lacked in speed against her, he made up in power. His hits were much more effective than hers if not more numerous. Ellis couldn’t ignore her ribs anymore.
"Not bad," Wufei said breathlessly, jumping back, "For a woman!"
"Woman?" Ellis gasped. "I’ll show you woman!"
She charged at him, yelling a battle cry. He was ready for her. They moved intricately, falling into another intricate dance of fury. It was almost as if they were equal in skill and ability. Ellis refused to accept this. She was the Ace of Spades! How could anyone beat her?
Wufei was having the same confidence. He would not lose to a woman. Never!
There was a whirring sound overhead. Ellis broke away at the cost of another bruised rib. She looked up.
A blue flash blinded both of them at the same time. They shut their eyes and held up their arms to shield them.
"A joke a day will keep the Spades away! Go back to your house!" a laughing voice said.
"What? What’s happening?" Wufei shouted. He was still blind from the light.
"Joker!" Ellis screamed with her eyes shut painfully. "Fight fair!"
"Never!" the voice screeched back.
All of a sudden, something metal clamped down on both their wrists. Ellis tried to pull away but the metal pulled right back. She cursed furiously.
Wufei could feel the tug of the metal. It was cold and smooth. He doubted if he’d ever felt anything like it.
The hurtful light disappeared. They blinked a few times, then stared at each other. Then their eyes eventually looked down at their hands.
At each of their wrists, there was a gold-colored cuff with a lock on it. Connecting their two cuffs was a black chain about a foot long. Ellis yanked with her right hand, causing Wufei to yank back with his left. They remained silent. She didn’t even notice that the sounds of Fitz’s fight were no longer happening.
All they seemed to notice was the cuffs.
"We’re…" she trailed off.
Wufei finished for her. "…Chained."
"Together," they both said with horrified expressions.
Fitz watched a bright blue light from the corridor. He almost didn’t see the fist preparing to come in contact with his face. He countered it and moved back, conserving energy. What was going on? Where was Ellis? If anything happened to her, Fitz would be in deep trouble. The wild girl always got him in trouble. No wonder he hated her.
The two Jokers weren’t worn out yet. They were men looking to be in their very late twenties with black hair and black clothes, despite the sunny weather. They swung chains and held knives and switchblades.
"How easy can it get," he muttered.
"Time to die, Ten!"
"I’d like to see you try!"
"We don’t have to try," the Joker said. "We have only to watch."
"What?" he frowned, as a green gas suddenly floated in from the vents of the room. He turned back to the Jokers, who both now had gas masks on. Fitz turned to run, but the door was shut. He kicked at it viciously. The door did not break. Now he was holding his breath.
His eyes searched for a way out. He found none. Fitz could hold his breath for a long amount of time if he needed to. Now was no exception.
"Goodnight, sir." The other Joker slowly came forward.
Fitz looked past him. There was a window! It was a small window, old and thick. It would hurt, but hell, he couldn’t think of anything else. Fitz gathered his strength and ignored his burning lungs as he barreled past the Jokers. They grabbed at him, but he shoved them away and dove for the window.
He crashed through into the air, taking a deep breath as he fell.
Dorothy walked around the corner, back to the place where she had seen the two mysterious people from that morning. It was tough to sneak out of the banquet hall without being seen. She knew Heero, Quatre, and Trowa were probably still gathering evidence from the parking lot and conversing with crime experts, so Dorothy had excused herself to the bathroom and climbed out the window. It was tough. It was especially tough since her skirt got caught on the twining flowers that climbed the walls of the building.
She had lost her hat when climbing out, but she couldn’t find it. She hoped no one else would either. Now, Dorothy was free to explore the area. She wanted to know what was going on. If it was really important, Lady Une might give her an advance in her salary. She smoothed her hair down at the thought and rolled up her sleeves.
"I wonder where those suspicious people could be."
She ventured on down the street, towards an old warehouse. A large, newer one overshadowed it, but there were men with construction hats over there. She didn’t want to get caught and sent back to the banquet, so she crept along the wall of the old warehouse.
Suddenly, a flash of light came from a warehouse door. Dorothy froze in shock. She couldn’t make herself move towards the door even if she wanted to. Finally, she sighed and moved forward with a determined expression.
From the adjacent side of the warehouse, Fitz crashed out the window, falling to the ground surrounded by shards of glass. He had accidentally breathed in some of the green gas. His strength was failing.
Dorothy gasped and spun around, seeing Fitz fall.
"It’s him!" she thought to herself and began running towards him without another thought.
She knelt by his prone form just before hearing the Jokers shout to each other above. She observed the green gas coming out of the window he had fallen from.
"Got to get you out of here… stranger," she whispered as she dragged him away.
Dorothy took him to the back area of the new warehouse and hid with him in a maintenance storage that was already collecting dust. Fitz remained unconscious. Otherwise, he was unharmed. She gazed at his rich brown hair and his perfect eyes with eyebrows to match. His eyes were closed, but she could tell. His lips were like a Boticelli angel’s and even reminded her of Quatre. Not that it meant anything. Quatre was a sweet innocent young man, but this one? This one had the lips of an angel, yet dangerous aura of a devil.
"Where did that thought come from," she said to herself and examined him for any injuries. "Think of stuff like that later. Business always comes first."
She made sure he was in a comfortable position, propped up against the wall with her cardigan cushioning his head. She stood with her arms folded. Maybe she should contact someone. But whom could she trust? Obviously, Heero would take him into custody. Somehow, she always imagined he would be tough on people he took into questioning. The same thought appeared with Trowa, Wufei, and maybe even Duo. Quatre? No, that was a stupid thought. Quatre would offer him tea.
"Well, who else is there? Miss Relena would tell right away. I don’t want this mystery to end just yet. I want to know for myself what’s happening." Dorothy never got along with anybody anyway. The only person who put up with her was Lady Une and…
"Damn. Well, Quatre it is." He could question the stranger. And he could keep his mouth shut.
Dorothy glanced at Fitz. "I wonder what those angel-lipped boys would talk about."
Author’s ramblings: Can Duo get Heero to come to the party? Will Heero figure out who’s behind this? What happens to Wufei and Ellis? What will Fitz do once he wakes up? Keep checking back for more of Chained!