Disclaimer: I dunno...duh...do I own Gundam Wing? Um lets see *quickly scans the employee list from Sunrise Asahi* no, my name doesn't seem to be on here. Maybe Santa'll give it to me for Christmas.

 

Saber's Kiss Chapter Five

He burst out laughing, brushing back hair as dark as hers was light, "Really Miss Dorothy! Where have your manners gone?" He tilted his head back mockingly, "Four years in court with the Vice-Foreign Minister and you lie there, not even bothering to stand up to greet me? Then you threaten to kill me? Why, you must be under the influence of that Gundam pilot, Heero Yuy!" There was a definite edge in his voice. He did not like that pilot.

Dorothy smiled savagely, rising upwards on her knees, "So sorry, sir. Let me remedy that!" She lunged towards him just as one of the men that had brought her yanked on the rope, slamming her back to the floor. He kicked her in her side and she glared at him furiously, wincing at the pain.

"Coward!" She hissed as the one that she assumed to be the leader squatted before her. A rough hand grabbing her chin as he turned her face this way and that, almost as if he were testing out a horse to see its good and bad traits. Unbidden, Dorothy felt a river of ice run down her back as she stared at his sneering face. That wasn't what scared her. It was the total lack of emotion in his eyes, the very blankness in his eyes that were not like Yuy's. In the pilot's eyes, there was a willful training to hold silent, to be calm. This man liked to hurt people, liked to cause pain, cause fear.

"Well...not the golden-hair dove of peace that I wanted," There was an absent murmur in his quiet voice, almost thoughtful, "but golden hair, nonetheless, aren't yout, Miss Catalonia?" Dorothy spat in his face, earning herself another swift kick.

"You fool! You'll never capture Miss Releena!" Despite the agony that burned from the ropes and the apathetic beatings she was getting, Dorothy managed to bare a twisted smirk of her own. Her long, platinum-blonde hair spread around her like a lion's mane, and her glittering blue eyes were slitted in feline hatred. "With the Preventors and the Gundam pilots there, do you really think that you'll be able to destroy the peace that she has worked so hard to earn?"

"My dear Miss Catalonia, you totally mistaken my objective. I merely wish to ensure that she will not attempt to interfere with my plans." He calmly wiped the spittle from his cheek, toasting her derisively with a glass of champagne twisting in his fingers. "I don't want the onslaught of war. No, no. Do you know how..." He waved his hands, pretending to search for the right words, "expensive that would be to me? No, this peace suits me fine. The only problem is...well, lets just say I've invested a lot of capital on ore refineries and here I find, to my great dismay of course, that I cannot get to the ore." His eyes gleamed, "You see, Miss Catalonia, I find that I cannot bring much machinery in here to mine this precious load of metals. They simply won't fit. The only way to extract the metal is manually." When Dorothy snorted disdainfully, he hissed, "One's hands Miss Catalonia. The hands! The first tool made by man to do menial labor, the only tool required to mine this ore!"

Dorothy laughed in counterfeit amusement, "So you're hiring individual miners to do the dirty work, yes?"

"Hire? Why hire? That would cause us to loose in capital, Miss Catalonia. Suffice to say, they've been...invited, to join our merry little group." Dorothy's eyes widened in ill-concealed horror. Slavery?! Such a thing was unheard of! Not here, not anywhere! The man smiled in satisfaction as he saw a flash of enlightenment cross her face. "So...you finally understand."

"You perverted son of a bitch!" For a moment, she broke loose from her captors, exploding to her feet and giving him a hard kick in the stomach. Her hands were still tied behind her back, a rope wrapped around her neck, so all she could do was grind her heel firmly into his abdominal muscles, releasing her anger in that one kick before she was beat again. This time, they were not content to hit her once, but pummeled her unresisting body continuously until they were called sharply to a halt. This time, Dorothy didn't bother to get up. She hurt everywhere, blood leaking from her clenched teeth to mix with the red dye of the carpet.

"That was stupid, Miss Catalonia." Was that pain in his voice? Good! Her bruised lips cracked, little runnels of red staining white skin even as they widened into a gratified sneer.

"How true, foolish man. I should have aimed a bit lower to be effective, don't you think?" This time he grabbed her himself, hauling her to her feet by the material at her chest and shook her violently.

"Do. That. Once. More. And. I. Will. Kill. You! Understand?" There was a blaze of dark fury across his cheeks before he threw her contemptuously away into the waiting arms of his underlings. "Make sure Miss Catalonia enjoys our hospitality here." He smiled coldly, once more under control. "She's sound of mind and body. When we reach Asteroid 68, put her to work. Refining, mining. I don't care. Just do it!" Snapping those orders out, he let the men haul her away.

Miss Releena's going to throw a fit. Darkness haunted the edges of her consciousness even as she struggled weakly against the bruising grip of those hands. As long as Yuy and Mr. Milliardo are there, she'll be fine. That much I know. Sable dreams rushed to meet her resisting awareness, ebbing away the pain and the humiliation. Somewhere, blue eyes in a round face watched over her anxiously, a hand reached out to protect her.

Don't worry Dorothy. It'll be all right. Sleep now, fight later.

But-

Please, Dorothy, just rest. You're hurt, you must rest or you will be in no position to strike back later. Trust me.

With those assurances from that vaguely familiar male voice, she sighed, capitulating to the inevitable fingers of insistent shadows. Her final thoughts, muttered in tired annoyance, berated herself for her ill-handling of the situation. At least I should have found out his name...

***

Quatre woke up, clutching his now ragged shirt in cold sweat, staring grimly out at the stars. Circles of weariness and exhaustion ringed his eyes, making him look gaunt and ill-fed. Then again, he was that too. He sighed, calming himself as he glanced around him at the shivering masses of bodies laying there in abject misery. He closed his eyes again, not wanting to see it. Heero...Dorothy, don't look for me. Don't try to find me. You'll only get yourselves killed. Protect Releena and please protect my sisters...

Author's note: U like? Yes, no? Write a review and tell me! Or if u want, email me at flamesofdarkness@hotmail.com and I'll try to get back to you.