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Being Human	By : greengal48 Category: Gundam Wing/AC > Het - Male/Female Views: 1025 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don’t own Gundam Wing. Nor am I making money from publishing this! It’s purely for fun. I do, however, own Lea Zikamo and all the other original characters. Enough said.

Chapter List
- 12
- 13
- 14
Chapter 13: “Cry Havoc and Let Loose the Dogs of War”

Sound was muffled. Pain was concentrated in the head and left side. Something was tugging on his shirt, dragging him across some rocky ground. Each tug sent shots of pain through his skull and side. In his mind, his hands moved to release himself from whatever was pulling him. In reality, they dragged along side his body. He tried several times to see what his ears weren’t picking up clearly. Each time only amplified the pain in his head. Suddenly all motion stopped. The muffled sounds became louder but still not clearer.

Frustration settled in.   Using the techniques he learned from Doc J, Heero was able to trick his body into thinking it was all right. Well… Getting better at least. Although hearing wouldn’t clear up right away, his sight did. Slowly sitting up and blinking, Heero saw Brock standing over him. In his hands was a gun pointed at Heero’s head. Brock’s smirking lips moved. Heero didn’t need sound to know what he said.

“Goodbye, Mr. Yuy.”

An arrow appeared in Brock’s neck. The force of the impact knocked him sideways to land at Heero’s side. Brock’s body convulsed as the life drained from his shock widened eyes. The satisfaction in Heero couldn’t be contained. A smile formed on his lips. ‘Never liked the bastard, anyways…’

Quatre stepped into Heero’s view. In his hands was a bow. He, too, was glaring daggers at Brock’s lifeless form. Visibly shaking himself back to reality, Quatre asked, “Can you move?”

Again, sound wasn’t clear but Heero still understood. Wordlessly, he slowly rose to his feet and, in a staggered gait, followed Quatre through the panic stricken crowd to Trowa, who had a firm grip on his right arm. Blood was seeping through his tightly clutched fingers.

As the three of them merged with the fleeing crowd, Heero could only think of getting to Lea. He was so focused on that and trying to keep his consciousness, that he didn’t notice Wufei join them. He led them to a car, in which they sped away from the chaotic scene. Propped up against the door in the back seat, Heero gave in to the demanding blackness once again…

~::*::~

Relena groaned as she sat up. She was rubbing her head mumbling, “Oh, God! My head hurts.” She remembered three strange men walking up to Lea. She was so shell-shocked that she couldn’t do a thing. They grabbed Lea and was about to walk off with just her when Relena jumped on one of the men’s back. She had managed to land a few punches to his head while screaming at the top of her lungs before being knocked to the floor. Something opaque and shiny covering her face was the last thing she remembered.

“The gas will wear off in a few minutes,” Lea said softly. She was curled into a ball in the far corner of the room. Her face bore the look of muted fear as she stared at the door. There was nothing else in the small cubical room except the light fixture in the middle of the ceiling.

“Where are we?” Relena glanced at the door looking for anything close to a doorknob. There was none.

Lea sighed in a defeated tone, “I don’t know. My head was covered until they put us here.” She opened her mouth to say more but watched in confusion as Relena patted herself down. “What are you doing?”

“They took everything!” she exclaimed. Plopping onto the concrete floor, Relena checked both her shoes. “Yup. Damn. They’re good.”

“What are you talking about?” The question was barely audible.

There was a defeated tone that graced Relena’s voice as she moved to sit by Lea. “Quatre felt it necessary to put several tracers on me just in case something did happen.” She motioned to her body; “They’ve taken every last one of them.” Lea noted an earring, a button on her shirt, the belt to her skirt and the strap to her left shoe was missing. Relena gingerly rubbed her temples; “It was knockout gas. That’s the only thing that gives me a headache like this.”

Lea eyed Relena. Tears were stinging as she struggled with the day’s events. ‘I tried to tell them but … And now…’   She took a deep breath and shuddered. Beside her, Relena was eyeing the room for any other ways out. ‘She has to know. This isn’t fair but she has to know.’ “They’re dead,” Lea whispered. She pulled herself into a tighter ball when Relena eyed her funny. Lea’s body shook with fear as she pushed herself to continue. “We were put in the back of the van. They had knocked you out but…” Lea paused to regain some composer in her voice. “Those fuckers shot them. They… They made me watch as they…” What little composure she was able to find was spent. Lea buried her face in between her knees. Her shoulders shook.

Relena’s blood ran cold. In a forced calm voice, she asked, “What did they do?” Lea didn’t answer. Putting her arm around Lea’s shoulders, Relena soothed, “You can tell me when you’re ready.” A horrible idea of what Lea was trying to say was already forming in Relena’s mind. Every inch of her soul was praying Lea was wrong.

The cell door swung open and two strange men stormed in followed by a well-dressed, devilishly handsome man. The handsome man had a grin that Beelzebub would have been proud of. “Hello, Prime Minister,” he said in a smooth deep voice. The two men stood on either side of him as he straightened his suit before flashing a charming smile. “I’m sorry for the rough treatment by my associates. I pray that you were not injured?”

Relena sized up the two men before speaking. In a very leveled yet highly threatening tone, she said, “That should be the least of your worries. When word reaches my guards that you have kidnapped me…”

She was cut off by his bark of laughter. “Forgive me,” he managed through his laughing fits. “But I’m afraid that your guards are nothing more than nipping little dogs. If they were anything close to decent, then you would not have been taken and they wouldn’t be dead.” The blazing anger in Relena’s eyes made the smile on his face broaden. Beside her, Lea lifted her head. There was a moment of confusion in her eyes before they went wide with fear. “So, you do remember me, eh Ms. Zikamo?”

Lea scrambled to the wall and tried her best to merge with it. “No!” she mumbled shaking her head franticly. “Get away from him, Relena!” She snatched Relena from the floor and pushed her behind herself. “Don’t touch her,” she pleaded. “She’s innocent. She has nothing to do with this. If you let her go, she’ll take them with her.”

The handsome man and his two lackeys laughed. “There’s no one to take back with her, Ms. Zikamo.” He moved so that he was towering over Lea and Relena. “Don’t worry. The Prime Minister will be released with our demands. You, however, will not be so lucky.”

He snapped his fingers. The two men grabbed Lea. Relena watched in mute horror as they dragged Lea screaming and kicking out of the room. “Relena.” Her eyes snapped to the handsome man. He was grinning again. “Let’s talk in a more comfortable place, shall we?”

Someone in the hall screamed. A loud boom shook the room. The lights went out causing momentary darkness before the backup lights flickered on. Gunshots rang out. The handsome man’s face went from utter calm to fury in seconds. He grabbed Relena by her hair and used her as a shield as he inched towards the door. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something metallic. Something circular and metallic was pressed against her temple. She froze.

“Those damn…” he hissed as he peeked out into the hall. Smoke had reached the doorway. It was hard to see anything. He eased into the hall with his back to the wall and Relena in front of him. She tried to break free only to hear the gun click. “I have no problem pulling this trigger, splattering your brains all over the wall,” he growled into her ear, causing her to shiver in fear. “Play nice and you will live to see another day.”

“Promise?” a cocky male voice, asked.

The handsome man turned his head towards the voice only to howl in pain. The hand with the gun was yanked away from Relena. She dashed away to the other side of the hall. The figure in black and the handsome man struggled to gain control of the wrestling match. A hand grabbed Relena by her arm. It was Lea. “Come on, Relena!” she pleaded. “Let’s get out of here!”

The handsome man had managed to knee the figure in black and smash his fists into the figure’s back. “Boss!” an unmistakable voice called. There was a person standing just beyond the smoke. “There’s no time! We have to leave!”

Lea’s mouth fell open. “Alistair?”

Boss stepped towards Relena and Lea only to dodge more gunfire. The ladies dropped to the floor. Boss scampered to Alistair and into the smoky darkness. The figure in black yanked off his mask. A long brown braid tumbled down his back and hair fell over violet eyes. There was a huge scowl on the visible part of his face. After a few seconds of glaring down the hallway, he turned to the women and motioned for them to follow. “This place is gonna be crawlin’ with cops and I don’t want to deal with them right now!”

Relena followed without question. She was happy to be free and returning to Quatre. Lea had visibly relaxed but still looked worried. She was eyeing their rescuer as if she wasn’t quite sure of him. Once they were inside a car and moving away from the carnage, Lea found her voice. “Not that I’m not grateful or anything, but who the hell are you?”

The young man snorted and shot a disgruntled look at Lea through the rear view mirror. “You would’ve thought he’d say something!” Turning his attention back to the road, he said in a rather chipper tone, “The name’s Duo Maxwell. I’m…”

Lea gasped cutting him off. “You’re the one who got caught and had his Gundam blown up!”

“Geez!” Duo said frowning again. “Why does everyone have to remember that?!”

“What happened to Quatre, Heero and Trowa?” Relena asked. “Lea said they had shot them.” Duo’s body stiffened. He wouldn’t look at her. “Duo, please!” Lea had leaned forward from the backseat again, intent on not missing a word.

Sighing, Duo mumbled, “They were shot at.” The women gasped in unison. He continued before they could flood him with questions. “Wufei went to stop them but was able to save Trowa and Quatre from getting hit. Scratch that. Trowa was hit in the arm but Heero’s still alive.” Duo added quickly before the women could puff up with anymore worry, “He’s got a graze wound to the head and a hit at his side. Nothing serious.” A cocky grin graced his features, “The guy’s probably walking around by now.”

This time both women sank into their seats in relief. It was short lived for Lea. Guilt swept over her. ‘I tried to warn him but was too late. He’ll leave for sure now!’ She curled up on her seat to bury her face into her knees. ‘Why does all the good things have to be ruined for me?!’

Duo continued, unaware of Lea’s inner turmoil. “I hope you don’t mind a slight detour before we head back to the house. They wanted me to pick up Janis and Pierce.”

“We’re going back to the house?” Relena exclaimed in shock. “Won’t they be expecting that?”

“Do you really think they’ll be expecting all of us to be there?” His smirk broadened when Relena sat back in a huff. “Dealing with one or two of us is bad enough but all?” Duo laughed as he added, “And with Heero pissed off! They’ll be wishing they never bothered the Dogs of War.”

The Dogs of War was the nickname they had called themselves… Or at least what Duo had dubbed them. Relena wasn’t too fond of the term but understood Duo’s reasoning. They did cause havoc. Mentally shaking herself from that depressing path of thought, Relena glanced at Lea in the back seat. She was balled up in a corner much like she was in the cell. A new look of worry was on her face.

Try as she might, Relena couldn’t help but mirror the look. More depressing thoughts ensued.

~::*::~

‘I remember shooting my arrow. It hit center. I had won the crown. Wasn’t there something else shooting? Yes. There was. Gun fire. Shouting and…’   Heero’s eyes snapped open and he sat up. Pain ripped through his head and left side. He groaned, hand unconsciously going to his side. ‘Someone shot at us! In plain sight of everyone!’

“You’ve been out for most of the day.” Standing at the window was Trowa, who was eyeing him. He frowned as Heero moved to stand. “I don’t think it’s wise for you to move just yet.” He was silenced by a warning version of the Death Glare.

The room was spinning a little more than Heero cared for. Instead of standing right away, he asked, “What’s happened? Where’s Lea?” Heero had a gut feeling he knew what was going on but wanted to hear it.

From the doorway, WuFei answered, “Those bastards beat us to the punch! We got word that something big was going to happen. Duo went to the booth and I went to the contest. I got there in enough time to stop them from causing too much trouble. Duo didn’t have much luck either. He got to the booth right when those assholes were kidnapping Relena and Ms. Zikamo.”

Heero stared at WuFei as if he had said he was pregnant with triplets. The fact that he was in Mead Colony on Mars hadn’t registered either. He was happy that WuFei was there but couldn’t shake the dread building inside him. “Who took them?” he asked when the shock wore off.

WuFei smiled a wicked grin at seeing Heero’s Death Glare in full force. “The three that started it all: Whitney, Evens and Tennessee.”

Quatre filed into the room looking just as pissed as Heero. Truly, Heero hadn’t seen Quatre this distraught since the whole Mercurius / Vayeate business. He found himself sympathizing with Quatre. ‘The possibility of loosing Relena must have hit him as hard.’ Subconsciously, Heero’s hand went to his heart. ‘Then this is what it feels… What Duo felt for Hilde and Quatre feels now…’

“Glad to see you’re awake,” the blond Arabian said, masking his worry with concern for Heero. “How do you feel? Good enough to get down to business?”

When Heero shot him a quizzical look, WuFei explained, “Rodecker was shot as well. He was able to get to safety but caught a bullet in the lungs. He’s stable and asking for you.”

‘How can that be?’ Heero lifted his arm to scratch the back of his head and winced. The wound at his side was announcing its presence. He ignored it. ‘Rodecker was a prime suspect. Why would those three assholes have reason to shoot him?’ The answer wouldn’t pop out of the foggy pain in his mind. The room had stopped moving and everyone was staring at him.

“Ideas?” WuFei asked.

Heero nodded. “Do I have clearance now or did he send you two here to bring Relena back?”

Knowing that “he” was Zechs, WuFei smiled mischievously again. “Naw. He doesn’t know we’re here. When Quatre put out an A.P.B. on you, I figure I’d best keep my eye open for the nearest explosion. I had no idea you’d be in this area.”

“In this area…?” Heero frowned. “You’re on this case, too?”

“We all are,” WuFei answered. “There’s been talk about some big shot who’s built a weapon that can be used against Earth. We were getting close to who had the weapon and what it was until a couple of months ago. All leads ran dry.”

“What I don’t get,” Quatre said scratching his head, “is why they would shoot their own guys! Rodecker and those other three jerks are on the same side.”

Heero’s eyes widened, “Because they failed.” Everyone passed confused glances around as Heero slowly rose to his feet. “Brock was sent to get Janis. I stopped him before he could. Rodecker’s job was to get Lea on his side. He failed.” He winced as he put on the first shirt he could grab. Thankfully he still had on his jeans.

“But I killed Brock,” Quatre said with pure venom in his voice.

Heero nodded but quickly stopped when the room twitched, “That was his assignment. Kill me or be killed.”

“And how do you explain the M.C.C. Archers being shot at?” Trowa challenged.

The question made Heero stop looking for his shoes. “Was Alistair shot?”

Quatre shook his head; “None of them were hit. Brock was able to warn them in enough time. Why?”

“Just a hunch… I’m guessing that what happened to them was a cover up for us.” Heero plopped onto the foot of the bed gingerly rubbing the wound at his side. “We were supposed to be taken out, not them. Rodecker was punished for failing, of that I’m sure. Plus, the shooting was a distraction for the locals so no one would notice Lea and Relena missing for a while.”

“Their strategy must be to hold Relena and Lea hostage for the information on Janis’ disk.” Trowa shrugged, “But they really don’t need the disk when they have the key.”

“What?” Quatre voiced for all.

Trowa focused on Heero alone and watched with a grim satisfaction as Heero realized what he meant. Out loud, Heero said, “Lea’s the key. Persephone is built like the W.C.F.C.’s. The system would be the same as well. She’s the best Firefly out there. She would know how to run the system.”

“And Relena’s just insurance?” Quatre glanced at all of them for a glimmer of hope. None was given. That is until the front gate door slamming shut was heard. All of them froze as multiple voices were heard.

“HEY!” Duo’s voice boomed. “Where’s everyone?”

Everyone dashed into the front room. Heero more or less moved as fast as he wounds would let him. He was ready to assault Duo with questions but they were all forgotten. Standing defiantly in the middle of the group was Lea. It was apparent to him that the conversation that morning was still ringing in her ears. She held Heero’s gaze, challenging him to do something.

He did.

Ignoring everyone else in the room, Heero gathered Lea into his arms and locked his lips to hers. Lea was too drained mentally and physically by the day’s events that she didn’t want to push him away. Being engulfed in his strong arms made her feel safe. Having him kiss her with such passion made her feel wanted. Guilt crept into her. ‘I can’t fight him. It feels too right to be in his arms.’

His heart did a back flip as he felt Lea’s arms mold to his body. ‘It was just a front!’ She was trembling and broke the kiss. Tear filled eyes flickered between his Prussian blues and the wound on the side of his head. Cupping her cheek with one hand, Heero said sternly, “Don’t you ever scare me like that again.”

“Scare you!” she snapped. “God damn it! I watched them shoot you!” More tears were stinging the back of her eyes. “I thought…” Lea couldn’t finish. Instead she buried her face into his chest.

Heero didn’t mind the pain that shot through his side as she tightened her grip. He had his Lea back… and he was going to keep her. Someone clearing their throat made them snap to attention.

“I apologize,” Quatre said meekly, “but Rodecker…?”

Lea glanced at Quatre then Heero. She picked up something seriously wrong in the way Quatre said Rodecker’s name. “What’s going on?” she managed without a sniffle.

“I have to talk with him,” Heero explained as he headed for the door. “He may be able to end this without too much bloodshed.”

“You are in no condition to go by yourself,” Pierce boomed as he followed them out onto the porch.

“Who said he was?” WuFei growled at Pierce, who paled under the Asian’s glare.

Heero kissed Lea on her forehead, “If there’s any trouble, do as they say. I’ll be back soon.”

Lea nodded, still dumbfounded at the sudden change in everyone. Heero and WuFei climbed into the car and drove away. Turning to the crowd of people grouped on the porch, she pinned them all with a perfect version of the Death Glare. “Alright, people. Somebody had best cough up an explanation.”

“Scaaaarrrreee,” Duo sang, voicing what everyone else was thinking.

Janis snorted, “You have no idea…”

~::*::~

Rodecker was hooked up to so many machines, Heero wondered if he was really alive. The Mayor looked like a ghost of himself. Gone was the bright, chipper, GQ image. It was replaced by gaunt pasty skin and hair, over all looking like he was leaning on death’s door frame. It didn’t look right for someone who had been shot in the lungs. Heero had seen several people pull through a shot to the lungs and look nothing like Rodecker did now.

Beside him, Kayhill shook his head. “The first thing he said when he woke up was, ‘Get Yuy.’ He wouldn’t say who shot him or even if he knew.” Eyeing Heero, Kayhill asked, “Do you know?”

Heero offered no response. He took the seat by Rodecker’s bed. On cue, Rodecker’s eyes popped open and focused on what had caused the squeaky noise. He regarded Heero with a sad expression. Then he focused on both WuFei and Kayhill who stood at the foot of his bed. “Good,” he said breathlessly. “More than one set of ears.” He turned his attention back to Heero. “I’m dead no matter what happens. So listen closely.” Taking a deep breath, Rodecker continued, “Boss has found where Persephone is. He needs the key. Was gonna get it with Lea and Relena. They’re free?” Heero nodded. Rodecker smirked, “Good. Persephone’s under Lea’s house. Destroy it. Destroy the key, too, if you find it. You’ve fond the disk?” Heero shook his head. Rodecker frowned, “Find it. Destroy it too. It has the plans.” Rodecker’s eyes fluttered close for a few seconds as he paused for breath.

“What were you shot with?” WuFei asked. “People can live from hits to the lungs.”

Smiling weakly, Rodecker said, “One of Boss’ specialties: poison dipped and injected bullet. Shatters on impact. Poison is irreversible. No cure.” Again, his eyes fluttered shut as he struggled to breath. Figuring it was best to leave, Heero stood. Rodecker’s hand grabbed onto his wrist, freezing him in his tracks. “Cicero Tallarico.” The words were hissed from Rodecker like someone’s last breath. Slowly, his hand released Heero. The machines still beeped with proof Rodecker was still alive.

Puzzled, Heero stepped out of the room. ‘Under the house? And who the hell is Cicero Tallarico?’ A quick glance at WuFei told Heero that he was thinking the same thing. “Kayhill,” Heero started to say.

“If you’re gonna swear me to secrecy, consider it done.” The Sheriff scratched his graying head, “I know when something is way out of my league.”

“Thank you,” Heero grumbled.

“Don’t thank me just yet,” Kayhill warned. “If you end up blowin’ this colony up in your quest to stop this Persephone chick, then I’ll happily flip the switch for the both of ya! This ain’t a battlefield.”

WuFei and Heero exchanged looks that could easily be translated into “Oh, brother.”

“We’ll keep the explosions down to a minimum,” WuFei said over his shoulder as he and Heero headed towards the exit.

“I’m comin’ with you to make sure you do!” Both men stopped and glared at the sheriff. Kayhill didn’t blink an eye as he stormed up to them. “My hands were tied when Doc Z was killed. I’ll be damned if I’m letting this chance to help Ms. Zikamo slip by.”

Heero was taken back by the sudden declaration. More pieces of the puzzle were falling into place. Rodecker had done everything he could to cover up such a brutal killing. Kayhill wasn’t blind but was either forced into silence or hit the preverbal brick wall whenever he investigated further into the case. The determination and regret in the cop’s face confessed to years of mental torment because of it.

‘Accept his help,’ the little voice suggested. ‘He would be a good ally to have.’

Logic was a little less enthusiastic about it. ‘He’s but one man! Rodecker owns all of the cops.’

‘You’re a soldier. Your friends are soldiers. Kayhill would be an extra gun. What’s the problem?’

From the look on WuFei’s face, Heero could tell he was having the same conversation in his head. Heero made a decision and hoped it wasn’t the wrong one. “Agreed.” WuFei shot him a “What!” glance. “But,” Heero added in a stern tone, “you follow our lead Understood?” Frowning, Kayhill nodded.

Figuring the matter settled, Heero led the way to the parking lot.

~::*::~

Lea sat on a blanket over a pile of hay. The fake sun had set. The cold night air nipped at her bare ankles. Snow would fall soon. The trees and plants were all saying the same. Normally, Lea liked this time of the year. She would look forward to curling in front of her fireplace with a cup of coco. Currently, she just wanted to survive another day.

Quatre and Trowa had explained that Lea was the key to the Persephone Project. Once “they” found out about it, “they” would be coming after her. Heero hadn’t returned from his visit with Rodecker yet. The fake sun, which was settling when Heero and Wufei left, was now gone leaving the beautiful yet equally fake stars and moon in the sky. The time gap made Lea worry that something have happened. The fears in her heart and seeing Janis and Trowa hurt made Lea feel like she was going mad. She retreated to the barn’s loft to contain what little sanity she had left.

Plopping back onto the blanket, Lea grumbled, “Why doesn’t life come with a rewind and erase button?”

“Because that would make life too easy.”

Lea sat up. Up the stairs came Janis. He was taking it slow. His injuries were getting better but not like he would have wanted… Janis eased himself onto the blanket and stared out into the night sky with Lea for a few minutes. “They say that there’s a shit storm headed our way.” Lea continued to stare out of the open barn door as if nothing could scare her. Janis shook his head, “Ya know something? Your father had that same pride. He, too, wanted to weather any shit storm that came his way but in the end…”

“Don’t lecture me about weathering shit storms, Uncle Janis!” Lea’s eyes burned with anger. “I’ve got my back against the wall. Everywhere I look, there’s someone close to death’s hand!” Lea refused to brake down even though huge tears were escaping from her eyes. “I don’t want to loose anyone, Uncle Janis. Not you or my friends or…” Her voice cracked. She paused long enough say softly, “I love him…”

Janis wrapped a fatherly arm around Lea’s shaking shoulders. “I don’t think you’ll loose him. Not after the way he kissed you.” The memory made Lea smile sheepishly despite the tears. “Now,” he said softly as wiped Lea’s tears away, “stop worrying about Heero and everyone else. We’re in good hands.”

“You really think so, Uncle Janis?” she sniffed, looking up at him. She didn’t realize just how much she reminded Janis of when she was a little girl.

Chuckling, Janis nodded, “Oh, yeah. I would doubt just like you if I hadn’t seen it with my own two eyes. The boy’s got connections. Ones that might be stronger than the connections this jackass has that’s after us.”

Lea rested her head on Janis’ shoulder pondering his words. Janis rolled his eyes at Lea’s uncertainty. “I’m not going to tell you not to be happy, Lea. Heero makes you happy.”

A small devilish grin graced Lea’s lips, “So, if we get married…”

“Baby steps, Lea-Bean,” Janis warned with laughter.

~::*::~

The most likely candidate for the GQ cover was pacing like a caged lion. His well manicured, jewel covered hands were clasped behind his back. Head was held high as to not show any sign of defeat. The room was filled with all his henchmen: Tennessee, Whitney, Evans, Damian, Robert, and Alistair. The news he had just heard from Alistair was grim and not getting better by the second.

Heero, WuFei and Kayhill –one of the few cops that couldn’t be bought – had visited Rodecker. The dead man had confessed before Alistair could get to him. With Heero and crew tipped off to his plans, chances of smooth sailing were gone. Alistair’s last bit of information had made that clear.

“So, he knew the location of the Persephone?” Boss kept his voice leveled but it was laced with anger.

Alistair nodded stoically, “He said as much.”

“But he didn’t tell you?” Boss stopped, eyes trained on Alistair. Those around Alistair took a step away from him.

Bracing himself for the worse, Alistair admitted, “He died before I could get it out of him.”

To Alistair’s surprise and delight, Boss took a deep and slowly let it out. All tension in his face left. “I knew I should have killed the little bastard myself,” he grumbled. He stood still, staring into space, looking like a well dressed mannequin. After a few minutes of silence, Boss turned to the troops. “Do you know where Yuy went?”

Even though Boss wasn’t looking at him, Alistair answered, “He’s gone back to the Zikamo’s place.”

Whirling on them, eyes shining with such intensity that everyone took a step back, Boss ordered, “Gather up everyone. We’re taking Mead, starting with Ms. Zikamo.”

~::*::~

TADA! Chapter 13. I hope it doesn’t feel rushed. I wanted to hop right into battle but there’s something else that needs to be done first. Thank you to all who have been patiently waiting for this. Please know that I have every intention NOT to let so much time slip between each chapter as this has. I think my muse is back and, I pray, here to stay.

P.S.: for those who have read this before… Yes, it was changed and added to. The last bit didn’t seem right in the next chapter. Plus, this made for a better cliffhanger…
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Being Human