Part Four
"Shora. What are you doing in here? What’s going on?" a deep voice said.
She stared up a the bulky man with gray hair covering his face, and low eyebrows, almost hiding his eyes.
"Um...nothing, father! Just...cleaning!"
He looked around suspiciously. "Shora...are you hiding boys?"
She blinked. "No! I mean...father, what would make you think such a thing?"
"...After the last incident with you home alone, it makes me wonder..."
"Oh, father, well...I was quite young then, and...well, people mature..."
"It was three months ago!"
She looked down. "...Well..."
"In any case, I still think I better have a look around..."
"No! Father, really that’s not necessary," she said, hands on his chest. "I-I’m sure your plenty tired. Here! Why don’t we go downstairs and I’ll fix us some tea! Then we can talk, I’m sure you have plenty of things to talk about..."
"Hm...yes, as a matter of fact."
"Great! Why don’t we go, and talk. Open the door and enlighten me, father," she said as they started down the hall. She quickly left his side for a moment to shut the door of the room, but hurried back to him. The closet door suddenly opened and Duo jumped out.
"Um...that girl’s a little too unorganized and obvious..." Duo sighed quietly.
"Kinda like you." Heero commented. Duo pantomimed him mockingly and then brushed himself off.
"So...what should we do?"
The door suddenly cracked open and a figure slipped through it. It shut again and Shora was leaning against it as if holding it shut, breathing heavily.
"I told him I had to go to the bathroom." she whispered.
"Oh, that’s original!" Duo rolled his eyes.
"What’s the plan?" Trowa asked.
"Well..." she said, wringing her hands. "I think...two of you should...ok, here it is. I’m having tea with him downstairs in the kitchen. It’s right to the left of the stairs; you can’t miss it. I’ll be sitting right under the window, and he’ll be sitting across from me, with his back to the door. Two of you will sneak in, hit him over the head with something, and we’ll have him."
"You’re kinda homicidal considering he’s your dad..." Duo said.
"I don’t wanna kill him!" she growled.
His voice suddenly called her from down the stairs and she flinched. "Ok, well....good luck!"
She slipped out the door again, leaving them all standing there.
"Ok then..." Duo shrugged and turned to Heero.
His head was lowered in thought. "...Quatre and I’ll go down. Everyone else make sure to stay up here and keep hidden." Heero pulled his gun and walked out the door, Quatre right behind him.
"Yes, father, they did eventually go back to school..." Shora’s voice floated up the stairs and reached them.
"And I don’t see why you have not done the same." her father said next.
Heero wasted no time in padding silently down the stairs, gun poised and ready in front of him. The voices got louder as he turned to the left and crept along the cold wall, barely able to hear Quatre right behind him. They finally made it to the kitchen doorway, the voices becoming their loudest. Shora was arguing with him about some kind of boarding school. Heero stepped into the doorway, holding the gun by the barrel, preparing to knock VanGuard out with it. Shora’s eyes flickered to him for but a second, and then refocused on her father’s face.
He sighed. "Well, Shora, despite your intelligence and knowledge...it pains me to have to do this..."
"Wh-what?" she asked.
"I am afraid you leave me no other choice."
Ignoring Shora’s confused face, his hand fell over to the side, and he snapped his fingers once. Before Heero or Quatre could even turn, they both suddenly received a sharp blow to the side of the head, rendering them both to two motionless heaps on the floor. Shora gasped and stood about, throwing her chair backwards in the process.
Everyone in the room jumped up, hearing a girls annoyed/angered scream..
"Huh?!" Duo asked, looking around.
"I think it was the girl..." Trowa said, eyes still on the door.
"Well, come on! Don’t just stand there!" Duo hissed, jogging for it. Wufei blocked him.
"No, Duo. It could be a trap. Wait it out."
Duo groaned as Trowa walked over to the window. The room was on the west side of the house, about the large driveway. Trowa motioned for the others as two men carried three people out, one by one, to a black van. The first, a light haired person, their arms dangling limp to the side.
"Quatre..." Trowa said quietly.
The next, a large dark haired person, who they automatically recognized as well.
"Aw, great, not Heero too!" Duo groaned.
The last was a long-haired girl, thrown over someone’s shoulder, her arms dangling down at the ground. They loaded all three into the back of the van, plus took a little extra time...to restrained them, the remaining boys guessed...and then quickly got into the van, tires screeching as gravel flew from below them. Apollo VanGuard was one of them.
"Looks like we got ourselves a bit of a problem..." Duo sighed, sitting down.
"We’re going to have to go after them." Wufei said, by habit checking for the gun at his side.
"Yeah, but...we don’t even know where to start looking for them!" Duo said in an exasperated voice.
"I know where they are." Wufei said, handing Duo a sheet of paper he pulled out of a folder. "It pays to pay attention to your job."
Duo looked over the sheet that was a small map, with latitude and longitude lines across it. There was a red dot on a certain building.
"Well, ok...but I’m simply takin' your word for it..."
"Come on. Let’s go check downstairs." Trowa said, cautiously opening the door.
They made sure to walk downstairs armed, but found no sings of anyone there. Duo was the first one into the kitchen, and he slowly looked around. Not a sign that anyone had been there beside a smashed tea cup on the ground with a brown puddle beneath it. He walked towards it, hearing small pieces crunching under his boot and studied the floor. Nothing really useful. He turned when he heard Trowa calling his name.
"Duo...one of them was hurt." Trowa said from the doorway.
Duo walked up and looked where he was looking, to a tiny puddle of blood on the floor. They followed tiny drips down the hall and to the front door, which was left swinging on it’s hinges.
"So what do we do?" Duo sighed, looking around them.
"We’re going after them." Wufei said simply.
Duo and Trowa each nodded in agreement and they headed for Trowa’s car.
"Now that’s what I call camouflage..." Duo mumbled, stepping out of the car and studying the building in front of them. In size, it wasn’t that large. Maybe about half the size of Shora’s home and three floors, although, it more than anything resembled a warehouse. The wood it was constructed out of looked brand new and there was a clean, but sloppy, dark green paint job. Leaves still attached to their large branches we spread across the flat roof. It wasn’t much of a road they had come in on either. The tire tracks were only just visible in the grass and the area was dense forest. They looked around and Trowa pointed out a familiar van, under the shelter of some small overhanging trees.
"Me ‘n Trowa’ll go check out the van. Wufei...do somethin with the car. We at least want the element of surprise on our side.."
In silent response, Wufei climbed into the car and Duo and Trowa armed themselves, walking cautiously to the van. They through the back doors open, finding the back empty. The only thing in their sight was a woman’s black, heeled shoe, on the floor in the back. Wufei was soon by their side, a gun in his hands.
"Well I guess now’s a good a time as any." Duo said, as the sun slowly disappeared beneath the trees.
"Let’s go." Wufei replied.
To be continued…
