Chasing Time
by heaven'sgirl

Standard disclaimer applies. Any names used in this story (that are not in the canon GW timeline) are fictional; they were randomly chosen for the purpose of this fanfiction.

Chapter VII: Ambush

[ December 7, AC 199 ]
[ Location: Hall's Residence, Anderlecht ]

For Relena, time seemed to slow down. She heard Heero call out her name, but her eyes were glued to the scene happening before her. As soon as the three of them stepped into the hallway, she saw Lydia clutch her chest before falling on the floor. Relena immediately dropped on the floor as Heero crouched down next to her.

"Heero, we need to get her to a doctor now," Relena said firmly, crawling on all fours towards Lydia Hall, who was hunched over. "Lydia?"

The older woman turned to her, her face pale and her cream-colored blouse soaking in red liquid. Relena's eyes widened, her hand reaching out to Lydia's hands that covered her chest. Heero helped Relena move Hall's widow to the kitchen and made sure all three of them were low enough to not to be easily spotted by their attacker.

Lydia's breathing became gasps for air. Her eyes were wide and focused on Relena, who cradled the woman on her lap with tears in her eyes. "Lydia…"

To Heero and Relena's surprise, the usually-hysterical woman looked calm even though her breathing was becoming more painful. "You must believe me… my husband… John… he's no murderer…"

"Lydia…" Relena said, her voice shaking slightly. She wasn't entirely confident if the woman was honest, but a part of Relena refused to believe that this woman wasn't telling the truth.

Heero grabbed his radio; his firm grip almost broke the device in half. "Duo, what's your ETA?"

There was a tense silence until they heard Trowa's voice from the other end. The growing static from their connection made his answers muddled, "ETA unknown… Ambulance exploded… In pursuit…"

Heero's voice lost its usual calm. "What?!"

[ Location: Outside Preventers HQ, Brussels ]

Duo and Trowa decided to wait in a Preventers-issued car in case of an emergency; Quatre opted to stay in HQ to coordinate communication since their group was divided to cover the multitude of tasks they had to tackle that day. As soon as Heero asked for backup, Duo stepped on the gas while Trowa radioed for an ambulance to follow them to Heero and Relena's location.

Duo made an annoyed pout. "Man, could this day get any worse?"

A deafening sound caused Duo to step on the break as he and Trowa witnessed the ambulance reduced to rubble behind them.

"It just did," Trowa said quietly as Duo continued to stare at the explosion in disbelief. From the corner of his eye, Trowa saw a figure inside a brown sedan lift a shiny object and pointed it in their direction.

"Duo, get down!" Trowa shouted as the figure started showering their cars with bullets. On instinct, both men ducked but felt immediately grateful when they realized that their car was bulletproofed. After what seemed like a hundred bullets pummeling their vehicle, they saw the car speed away.

"That was Greene," commented Duo as he narrowed his eyes to the retreating car.

Since Duo was a Preventer and was therefore licensed to carry and use a gun, he took his firearm from his holster and exchanged a look with Trowa. In quiet understanding, the tall man skillfully swapped seat positions with Duo. As Trowa accelerated their car to catch up to their attacker, Duo quietly stared at the weapon on his hand.

Duo's grip on his gun tightened – not from anger, but from hesitation. So far in his tenure with the Preventers, he never had to use his gun. There were a few close calls where his weapon was the only thing he could use to defend himself, but Duo never had to pull the trigger on another human being. But now… should now be any different? Could they catch the guy without him having to use his gun? His life and his comrade's life were threatened; shouldn't that be a good excuse for him to finally put the gun into good use?

Duo closed his eyes and exhaled loudly. Trowa's voice helped bring him back to reality. "You don't have to shoot him, Duo."

"Let's hope it won't come to that, Trowa."

Duo rolled down his window and aimed the gun at the car in front of them.

[ Location: ESUN Building, Brussels ]

Something felt wrong.

As a former Gundam pilot, Wufei had the natural instinct when something terrible was going to happen. He cannot explain how he sensed such things, but he knew from experience that he was almost always right. He felt unusually agitated as he stood guard near the doors with Sally and a squad of Preventers.

Inside one of ESUN's conference rooms, the official signing of Samuel West's contract as head of the defense program was taking place. He was surrounded by the DSD's top officials, the ESUN Secretary of Defense Matthew Price, and Commander Une as the Preventer's representative. They were also joined by a few select media outlets that would be broadcasting the ceremony to the Earth and the Colonies.

Wufei scanned the room and noticed the lights flickered so quickly that a person would miss it in a blink. He glanced at Sally who didn't seem to notice the change. Wufei felt that he's becoming too paranoid lately and that he was just seeing something that would be considered trivial. But the feeling of dread was still there, and it set him on edge.

His thoughts were interrupted when people applauded as Dr. West shook hands with each individual DSD representative as the service was coming to an end.

He heard Sally through his earpiece. "Get ready to move."

Wufei started to make his way to West's side when he suddenly found himself knocked a few feet from a sudden blast in the room. A ringing echoed in his ears and his vision blurred. He instinctively reached for his gun and - despite his temporary blindness – ran towards the section of the room where he heard screams. He caught Sally's voice among them and made his way towards her.

"Sally!" Wufei called out, his voice hoarse from inhaling too much smoke. He blinked rapidly and growled in frustration when his vision didn't improve.

Wufei heard Sally call out to him and followed her voice until he felt his partner took hold of his elbow, pushing him out the door as his vision slowly cleared. Sally's whole body trembled as she coughed heavily, her face covered in soot. There were also small gashes on her forehead and neck.

"Where's Une and West?" she asked in a loud voice as the screams continued around them. Outside the broken windows, numerous sirens could be heard while Preventer members scrambled in and out of the room as they started the evacuation.

Wufei and Sally instantly ran back inside and found Une cradling what looked like a sprained left shoulder. Despite her obvious pain, she was the one who started barking orders for her agents to begin the evacuation process as the fire within the room crackled loudly and started spreading to adjacent rooms.

Une made a quick sweep of the room to make sure it was cleared before she ran out of the room, followed closely by Wufei and Sally. A group of firefighters ran past them to put out the fire while the three of them were immediately surrounded by paramedics as they reached the ground floor. All occupants that were with them in the conference room suffered from minor burns and non-threatening lacerations from flying shrapnel, but there were no casualties.

Near Une's left, West was having his forehead wrapped with a bandage. She was about to ask how the doctor felt when one of her agents approached her with a Preventer-issued mobile phone.

"It's Mr. Winner, ma'am," informed the agent.

Une nodded as the agent walked away. "I hope you have good news, Quatre."

Quatre's voice was tense. "I'm afraid that is not the case, Commander Une. Heero and Relena were ambushed at Mrs. Hall's home."

"What?!"

"Duo and Trowa were on their way with a medical team, but the ambulance exploded. It was Agent Greene's doing…"

"Are Heero and Relena safe?"

"I'm having trouble contacting Heero, so their current status is unknown. I've sent Agent Rogers and his team to their location while Duo and Trowa are in pursuit of Agent Greene."

"And Zechs and Noin?"

"They just arrived at the Saint-Michel Hospital to escort Ben Anderson to HQ for the interrogation. The hospital has guaranteed that there is a guard on stand-by right outside his room until the team arrives."

Une lowered her face on her hand. "Keep me posted, Quatre."

"Yes, Commander."

Wufei and Sally were on either side of Une as they listened in on her conversation with Quatre. Wufei was shaking his head, his temper flaring at the sudden turn of events.

Sally placed a hand on his shoulder while she addressed Une. "It seems that our enemies are a step or two ahead of us."

[ Location: Saint-Michel Hospital, Brussels ]

Zechs and Noin were tasked to escort Ben Anderson to the Preventers Headquarters for questioning. The man who took part in the attempted kidnapping on Relena was finally conscious and was in a good enough condition to be transported to the interrogation room.

If it weren't for the seriousness of the situation, Noin would've laughed at the slightly smug look of Zechs, who would be one of the main interrogators once they made it to HQ. Zechs was fiercely protective of his sister, so it was no surprise that he would want to be one of the people involved to question one of her kidnappers.

As the two of them – together with a squad of Preventer agents – approached Anderson's room, a gunshot echoed throughout the hall. In an instant, the Preventers team sprinted to Anderson's room and saw a man donning a nurse's outfit take down the Preventer agent stationed to guard Anderson with a shot in the leg.

The fake nurse whipped around and Zechs and Noin immediately recognized him as Stephen Holt. With a small smirk, the red-head bolted with an irate Zechs hot on his heels. Noin shouted some orders to the rest of the Preventers before taking off after Zechs. She was not about to let Zechs pursue Holt by himself, especially since the man capable of inflicting damage on anybody.

As Noin maneuvered her way in the busy hallway, she was ordering the hospital staff to take cover as Holt fired a few rounds at Zechs and Noin. The bullets missed their targets and ricocheted off the walls, eliciting screams of terror from hospital staff and patients alike. One of the nurses pressed a button that automatically closed and locked every patient's rooms in case the gun-wielding man dared to use innocent people as hostage or body shield.

"He's going to escape through the emergency doors!" Zechs exclaimed. He fired a shot that hit Holt on his leg, but surprisingly, the young man kept running albeit with a limp.

Holt pushed his way amongst the throng of people scrambling for cover. He exited the emergency doors and ran near the sidewalk, where more people were running in every direction as they heard the gunshots from within the hospital. Spotting something from a distance, Holt ran in the middle of the street just as Zechs came out of the doors not far behind him.

The former Lightning Count didn't see the second gun pointed at him.

Two of Duo's bullets shattered the rear window of Greene's sedan. The former Preventer agent returned fire, forcing Trowa to swerve right and Duo to tumble back on his seat.

"Where do you think he's leading us?!" Duo asked his comrade as they instantly caught up with Greene's car.

Trowa took a quick glance at their car's GPS. "I think he's on his way to the hospital where Anderson is."

"What the hell?!"

"He's either going to take Anderson… or worse, kill the man."

"Zechs and Noin will be there."

"Then let's hope they're in a better situation than us."

Trowa stepped on the gas, the speedometer reaching almost 100 mph. In seconds, they were right behind Greene.

Duo pulled a red police beacon light from one of the car's compartments, placed it on the car's roof, and turned on the siren. "We have to do our best to limit collateral damage," Duo explained as other cars heeded their signal.

Trowa nodded wordlessly and accelerated, bumping hard against the back of Greene's car. Duo took that as his cue and accurately fired a bullet on each of Greene's rear tires, causing the tires to emit a cloud of smoke and a heavy smell of burning rubber.

Now at an advantage, Trowa pulled up so their car was side by side with Greene's. Greene steered right and slammed his car on his pursuers. Trowa kept a secure grip on the steering wheel as Duo leaped on the back seat to get a better angle on Greene.

Suddenly, Greene pulled an explosive and threw it at Trowa and Duo's car. However, because his own car was unstable, his aim was off, the grenade exploded a few feet behind the car and not within it as Greene had intended. Nevertheless, the impact sent the other car careening down the street until it hit a lamppost, with both passengers knocked unconscious from the blast.

With a triumphant smirk, Greene forced his car to go the final distance to the hospital. Not caring about other cars and pedestrians, he parked his damaged car on a sidewalk at the same time Holt runs out of the emergency doors, followed closely by Zechs Marquise with a gun aimed at the red-head. Greene took out his own gun and quickly fired a bullet that struck Zechs on his left side, causing him to hunch on the ground, clutching his wound. His partner, Noin, shot a few rounds at Greene but had to take cover when Holt returned fire.

After Holt's gun clicked as he fired the last bullet, he reached his motorcycle and waved wildly at Greene. The Preventer-turned-traitor joined him and the two leave the scene as people and emergency responders gathered where Trowa and Duo were in the near distance while Noin and a handful of nurses bring the injured Zechs in the emergency room.

While Heero tried to contact Duo and Trowa again, Relena decided to use her scarf to put pressure on Lydia's chest wound. She tried to ignore the red liquid that pooled around them as she heard the labored breathing of the woman in her arms.

"Damn it," muttered Heero. He looked at Relena, who stared at him with desperation in her eyes. "I think Duo and Trowa are in trouble."

"What's going on?"

"The ambulance that was supposed to be here exploded," explained Heero, scooting closer to Relena as they both applied pressure on Lydia's bleeding chest. "Duo and Trowa are in pursuit."

"Oh my God," Relena whispered.

Lydia's breathing was coming out in short gasps as she continued trembling from pain. She was trying to say something to Relena, but instead, she coughed out blood.

"Lydia, please don't try to talk… you have to save your energy," pleaded Relena, placing a palm on the woman's forehead to soothe her.

"Don't… don't trust a man," Lydia croaked, grabbing Relena by her coat so she can whisper to the younger woman, "Don't trust a man… whose time is running out for him."

"What do you mean?" Relena asked as she felt the hand on her coat slacken. Lydia's trembling ceased and her head slightly tilted to her side. "Lydia? No…"

A familiar feeling of anguish washed over Relena as she stayed kneeling next to Lydia. It was similar to the sense of grief she experienced when she saw her father die right in front of her eyes when she was only fifteen years old.

Heero watched as Relena's eyes moistened and her hands balled into fists. His own features held an agonized look at his failure of protecting Relena and Lydia, an innocent woman who knew about John Hall's history. She was one of the few leads in their investigation which could've helped them answer some of their questions… but now, she was gone.

Another bullet whizzed near where Relena was sitting. Instinctively, Heero pushed her on the floor and used his body to shield hers just in time for a barrage of bullets to shower the room they were in. Relena closed her eyes while Heero's arms covered her face as the windows shattered around them.

Relena heard a short grunt of pain from Heero but was not able to move since Heero held her firmly in place. The seemingly endless gunfire left a loud, hammering sound in her ears. After what felt like an eternity, the firing ended, and Heero and Relena heard the screeching of tires as a car drove away.

They heard screams from outside the house, no doubt neighbors panicking from the scene that just happened. They also listened to the familiar sound of sirens approaching the scene.

Heero scanned the room before gazing outside through the broken windows. He took hold of Relena by the shoulders and helped her stand up. "Are you hurt?"

"No…" replied Relena in a low voice. She knelt next to Lydia's body and gently closed the elder woman's eyes as the tears started to spill down her cheeks. Relena stared at her bloodied hands.

Heero took hold of one of her arms. "Relena…"

She was still looking at her hands, marred by blood from trying to help Lydia. Some parts of Relena's coat were also covered in blood. "How did they know we'll be here? Why did they have to kill her?"

The grip on her arm tightened. "Because they wanted to eliminate everybody that will get in the way of their plans. Lydia had knowledge of her husband's whereabouts that could've led us to the location of his accomplices."

"But Heero… do you think she was telling the truth?"

"Maybe," Heero answered. "What did she tell you?"

Before Relena could reply, Preventer Agent Rogers and his team entered the premises, followed by some paramedics who ushered Relena and Heero out of the house. It was during that time that Relena noticed Heero's bleeding left arm.

"Heero, your arm!"

He glanced at his injury and gave a slight shrug. "Don't worry… the bullet only grazed it."

"Heero! Come in, Heero!"

Heero grabbed his radio. "Quatre?"

"You must go to Saint-Michel Hospital RIGHT NOW."

"What happened?"

"Zechs has been shot."

[ Location: Saint-Michel Hospital, Brussels ]

The first scene that Heero and Relena saw on their way to the hospital was the battered Preventers car and both Trowa and Duo being wheeled in the emergency room on gurneys.

While Heero checked on his comrades' conditions, Relena went to the nearest nurse to ask about her brother. As soon as she got the information she needed, Relena ran to the room where her brother was being treated and nearly collided with Quatre who was just exiting Zechs's room with two Preventer officers stationed outside.

"How is he?" Relena asked, out of breath.

Quatre gave her a reassuring smile. "He'll be alright, Miss Relena. Greene missed his vital organs. He'll recover soon enough."

Relena gasped. "Agent Greene did this?"

"Yes."

"What happened?"

"Holt was here and pretended to be a nurse," answered Quatre. He looked uneasy as he said the next words. "He killed Ben Anderson."

Relena closed her eyes in despair. The day's events were starting to take its toll on her emotional state. Quatre continued with the story. "Your brother was going to detain Holt, but Greene shot Zechs before he could."

"Can I come in?"

"Of course. Miss Noin is in there as well."

Relena gave Quatre a hug. "Heero's with Duo and Trowa."

With a nod, Quatre left to find the other injured members of their group. Relena took a few calming breaths before she pushed open the door. Noin was standing next to a conscious Zechs. When his sister entered the room, both occupants gasped at Relena's appearance.

Noin was beside her in an instant. "Are you injured?"

Relena remembered the dried blood on her hands and clothes; she felt her heart sink. "It's not mine. It was Lydia's… Mrs. Hall." Her breath hitched as the scene earlier that day replayed in her mind. "Somebody attacked us during our visit. They killed her, Noin."

"Relena," Zechs reached out, "come here."

His little sister sat on the empty seat next to him and took one of his hands with hers. Relena placed her cheek on his hand to remind herself that her brother was okay and in no danger from his gunshot wound. Noin joined them and took a seat at the foot of the bed.

Zechs squeezed Relena's hand. "We'll get them. We will."

"We will," Noin repeated, smiling at Relena. "We've been through worse. I know we can handle this."

"I know," said Relena. "We're a good team." She closed her eyes as her brother wiped away her tears. "I just hope no one else will be hurt."

Nearly two hours after all the chaos, the group reassembled at Trowa and Duo's recovery room. While the former Heavyarms pilot has a sprained wrist and a few cuts and bruises, their braided comrade has a couple of bruised ribs after the blast sent him tumbling on the back seat of the car.

Une was wearing a sling from a dislocated left shoulder. Miraculously, Wufei and Sally only have scrapes and bruises, but the former could still hear a faint ringing sound in his ears. Heero's grazed arm was wrapped in gauze and a few, small bandages were on his cheeks for the cuts he received from the broken windows. Only Relena, Noin, and Quatre lacked any injuries.

There was a tense silence in the room until Duo spoke up, "I hate stating the obvious, but we're in deep shit right now."

Une winced, both from her injury and the truth behind Duo's words. "They were onto us."

"It's amazing how they knew where each of us would be," said Quatre. "It was all perfectly timed, especially when Greene and Holt met here at the hospital."

Trowa narrowed his eyes. "They're smarter than we give them credit for."

"So, what's our next step?" asked Sally.

Heero spoke up. "We have to continue with the investigation. I'll stay in the control room to find anything that could lead us to Greene and Holt." Relena looked at him but did not say a word.

"Wufei and I will join you, Heero," said Sally. "We will also start the investigation to the bombing at ESUN. I'm sure I'm not the only one here who thinks that the bombing is most likely connected to our case."

"But that doesn't make sense," countered Noin. "We all believe that someone at DSD was hoping that the Toxin X murders would force ESUN to expand the department's projects. Why would he or she plan this bombing if important people like West would be there?"

"That's a good point, but unfortunately, we have very little to go with to have a concise answer to your question," Une answered.

"Those of us who are able should go back to HQ as soon as possible." Heero's voice held an almost impatient tone; he wanted this meeting to end so some of them can get back to work. They needed to get back on track.

"Wait, some of us will have to take a day or two off… to recuperate," Quatre advised. They had been working nonstop for days, and while they were considered experienced war veterans, they still needed their rest.

Heero momentarily closed his eyes and concentrated on forming a plan. He nodded in agreement at Quatre's advice. "I suggest Zechs, Duo, and Trowa be sent somewhere else as they recover; some other place where we can communicate without risk of being overheard. This hospital isn't the perfect location."

"And a better place for each of us to stay while this investigation is still ongoing," added Quatre.

Duo nodded. His friend was right; for the past few days, those who did not have permanent residence in Brussels were forced to stay in the command center where they've been conducting their investigation. "There's no way I'm going to be sleeping another night in a sleeping bag!" Duo jokingly pointed out.

"My brother and Noin can take the spare room in my place as soon as Milliardo is released from the hospital," Relena suggested.

"I also have extra rooms in my apartment for Trowa and Duo to take as soon as they're discharged," Quatre said, who owned a modest, three-bedroom condominium in Brussels. The Winner heir, who has his family's home in the L4 Colony, bought a second residence in Brussels since he frequented the place. His job as a supplier for Relena's AH Project required him to be in the Belgian capital often.

"We'll add a Preventers squad for security detail at your place, Quatre," mentioned Commander Une.

Quatre gave her a grateful smile but shook his head no. "There is no need for that, Miss Une. I contacted the Maganacs last night, and some of them will be arriving very soon. They will help with the security detail at my house, Miss Relena's, and here in the hospital until Trowa, Duo, and Zechs are released."

"Yeah, no offense Commander, but I think I'll feel safer with the Maganacs than some of our own people from Preventers," Duo voiced out, rubbing the back of his neck in slight embarrassment but flinched when he felt a rush of pain on his side.

"The Maganacs can also help us with the investigation, if they so wish," added Heero, "especially since some of us will be unavailable indefinitely."

"I'll inform them," said Quatre.

"That settles it then," Une finally said. "We'll have some of the Maganacs stay here, at Quatre,'s and Relena's. We will also need a couple of them to work at the control center. I'll meet with you all tomorrow at 0800 hours after the press conference with the media."

"Be on your guard," Heero said to them as he left the room before everyone else.

After exchanging a few words with Quatre and Une, Relena ran after Heero. "Wait, Heero!"

The former Wing pilot turned to face her. "Stay here with Quatre until the Maganacs arrive. They will be escorting you to your home. Wherever you go, have at least two of them with you at all costs, do you understand?"

"Yes," replied Relena. "Heero?"

"What is it?"

Relena had noticed Heero's guilty expression earlier when they were being ambushed at Lydia's home. "I hope you're not blaming yourself for what happened today."

Heero looked at her, slightly surprised that she knew of his inner turmoil. One of Heero's hands balled into a fist. "One error has caused a life today, Relena. It was my responsibility to protect you and Mrs. Hall. I failed you both."

"Don't do that to yourself, Heero," she admonished, shaking her head. She placed a hand on his forearm as if to reassure him. "I know you did your best to keep us safe. But some things are just out of our control. All we can do now is to find the people who are responsible, so they can be brought to justice."

They stayed in that position for a few seconds until Relena removed her hand, but the warmth of her touch and words never left Heero.

"Just be careful, okay, Heero?" Relena said softly as she moved to make her way back to her brother's hospital room, but Heero grabbed her wrist before she could go any farther.

"Heero?"

"Relena, I…"

A voice from down the hall called out their names before Heero could finish his sentence. It was Sally, who approached them with hurried steps. Behind her, they could see Quatre greet Rashid and the rest of the Maganac entourage who had just arrived outside Trowa and Duo's room.

The distressed look on her face was enough to make Heero and Relena tense. "What's wrong, Sally?" asked Relena.

"We just received a call from Preventers HQ," explained Sally. "DSD representative Dennis Webb is reported missing since this morning."

A/N:
- Longest chapter so far. It's probably just me… but damn, it's hard writing action scenes, especially car chase scenes.
- I had to make a slight change regarding when the Opening Ceremony at Mars is going to happen. Instead of in 10 days from Dec 5 (mentioned in Chapter IV, which I edited to reflect the change), I changed it to 7 days.
- The closing and locking of the hospital doors were from personal experience. I was with my mom visiting my sister at a small hospital when the fire alarm went off. The door to my sister's room automatically closed until a nurse opened the door when it was all clear. It was an interesting experience.
- Yes, that last scene with Heero and Relena is a nod to that famous scene from Gundam Wing: Blind Target. Y'all should know what I'm talking about (;

Special thanks to the following people for the reviews: dootadoot, Tatiasha, Yumi90, nawty, and guests! Y'all seriously keep me going! One of my guest reviewers has mentioned some important teeny details/questions about my story… don't worry, your questions (hopefully all of them!) will be answered in the following chapters. Also, it made me feel giddy that you mentioned those because it just means that you're really paying attention to this story. I hope I won't disappoint!

Reviews would be deeply appreciated.

Yours truly, HG

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Please stay tuned for the next chapter, Chapter VIII: On the Hunt.

Preview:

"What's on your mind?"

"We overlooked something again," replied Wufei. "Holt was in the hospital and Greene was where Duo and Trowa were. We guess that our ESUN mole was responsible for the attack at the ESUN building. Anderson is dead. Then who was responsible for the attack on Heero and Relena at Lydia Hall's home?"

"Then that means…"

"We're looking at a fifth accomplice."

Edited: 2/11/18