CHAPTER XI- Staged Panic

"Let’s head in, Relena, I need you to do something for me." Mr. Kaliya said carefully.

Relena turned to face the masked man with marked caution, "What ‘something?’"

"You’ll see."

"I think we were ripped off." Sally stated coldly in the midst of the steamy jungle.

"They’re just machetes, woman," Wufei hissed back, examining the gleaming silver blade that was already stained green from the plants he had hacked aside.

Hilde nodded slightly, "What do you think about it, Duo?"

Heero turned back and glared at them, "We are making slow progress. Keep up the pace."

Duo put a sweaty arm around his girlfriend, which she promptly shoved off. He scowled at Heero with marked anger, "Look, Heero, I don’t know about you, but I retired from this business a long time ago. I was on the inactive roster and now I’m stuck away from home, up to my ears in gnats and edgy gundam pilots! If Jousan wasn’t a close personal friend I would have high-tailed from this a long time ago!"

Heero glared at him coldly.

"I mean, Heero, they probably just want to ransom her."

Heero looked away, "Not if her kidnapper is the one I suspect."

The conversation died in the humidity, and they pressed on with renewed energy.

"Sit still, please." The doctor said unnecessarily, well aware of the duct tape that bound the girl to her chair. He leaned over her and felt her stomach professionally, marking her side with a blue pen. Then he did the same to her shoulder and her leg.

"This is your job then, deciding the best way to kill victims?" Relena asked coldly, looking down at him with cold, accusing eyes.

"It’s one of my duties," he replied.

"And money is money, no matter where it comes from?" she asked harshly.

He glanced up at her, "My children need food, Ms. Darlain. I’ll do what they say if it means that they can go to sleep at nights with full bellies." He snorted at her appearance, narrowing his eyes at her European features, "But then, you have no idea what that is like, do you? You’re rich. I’ll bet you’ve never gone a day without a meal, never watched a loved one fall because morals stood in the way." He stood up, cleaning his glasses on a shirt corner, "I had morals and beliefs, Miss Relena, but those quickly lost their importance when my firstborn son died of malnutrition during the last drought. Quite frankly, I’ve learned not to care."

She smiled slightly at him, in that loving and believing way that only she could manage, "Then I suppose I can understand and forgive you."

It was her honest and complete absolution that shocked him. Relena remained silent and dignified, well aware of her current situation, expecting her impending death and embracing it. She would not show fear!

"Is everything in place, doctor?" Mr. Kaliya asked carefully from the door way to the black room.

"Of course, Mr. Kaliya, however, there is the matter of stimulating fear into her. If she looks as regal as she does now, there won’t be as much incentive." The doctor replied heartlessly.

"Ah, yes," The masked man replied, "That is being dealt with. Bring her in!"

Several servants forced forward a young redheaded girl. She fell, hands manacled, to the floor and tried desperately to pick herself back up.

Relena recognized her immediately.

"Mariemeia!" she hissed, "She’s just a girl! What do you monsters want with her?"

Mr. Kaliya stepped forward menacingly, pushing his masked face close to hers, "We want her, Ms. Darlian, because you are a very strange type of person. I already know that you would probably try and endure torture, keeping up a good face for your people. You don’t care about yourself." A smile could be heard in his voice, "However, when it comes to the pain of others, well, it’s just unbearable to you."

A video camera was brought in, and Mr. Kaliya and the doctor melted out of the small black room. The men holding Mariemeia began to beat her in earnest, and a gunman entered the room cautiously.

Relena couldn’t hold back her tears, knowing that a child was suffering for her sake. Horror and fear gleamed in her brilliant eyes, causing the anticipated and necessary effect. The gunman rose his rifle and took careful aim.

"Stop it! Stop it now!" she screamed in fury, "No! Oh God, oh please God…"

Bam.

Three shots. Her body jerked horribly under the sudden impact, and blood flew across the room, splattering the lens of the recorder.

The force had knocked Relena to the floor. That was all that was needed. A bruised and beaten Mariemeia was returned to her cell.

"Well, doctor?" Mr. Kaliya asked as he turned from the monitor in a neighboring room, "Was it done correctly?"

"If your gunman stayed to his mark, Relena will not die."

He grinned. "Good. We might need her for later. Now I must go call an associate. Take your money and return home."

He left, but for some reason, he felt like a traitor.

They had come across a small, depleted town in the middle of nowhere. Heero had wanted to press on, the others had explained to him that they were too tired to go on, forcing him to agree to rest so they could find Relena with clear, alert minds.

There was only one motel in the town, and it stank of animal excretions and buzzed with large black flies. Duo suggested camping in the woods, but the mention of possible predators had made the decision to stay unanimous.

Heero dropped his small bag onto the half rotten mattress he had been assigned to, and fell onto the blankets. He could feel her in his arms, taste her on his lips, hear her as if she was whispering directly into his ear. She was so very, very close, yet so very, very far away. It was typical. Perhaps he was cursed. How did he move so suddenly from caring for her safety to falling in love with her? It felt as if he was in love with her all of the time, but simply could not accept it.

He supposed he did not see her as a human being, but as a goddess that no one could touch. It was when she lost Pegan, when he was exposed to her vulnerability, that he realized that she was just as human as he. If she had faults as well, maybe then she could forgive some of his own less desirable traits…

The door flung open.

"Yo Heero, you look as if you could use a couple of drink to loosen up," came the jovial shout. Heero winced. Duo stood in the doorway, looking at his prone friend, "Man, you really are hung up on this chick, aren’t you?"

"Just go away, Duo."

"And let you think all night? It’s time to eat, drink, and be merry!"

What Heero would later discover was that when Duo said that, he meant the ‘drink’ part more than the others.

"Two beers please," Duo said in English to the bartender. It was only after he got two orders of peanuts, and a punch in the face that he had decided using his translating calculator.

Several minutes later, Duo and Heero sat hunched over the dirty bar, the T.V. in the corner blaring loudly. The bartender quickly switched it to the English channel for the benefit of the only two patrons.

Duo spat out his beer in terror, "Man! This stuff tastes like pee! Where’s your American brands, dude?" he shouted.

"Duo-" Heero began.

"I paid good money-"

"Duo, he can’t understand you when you speak in English."

He gave Heero a blank look.

"Oh. Shit!" he fumbled for his calculator desperately.

A sudden noise from the television forced Heero to look up. They had said her name.

"I repeat: This footage has just been released publicly. Specialists have confirmed with visual and auditory tests that the image you are seeing is indeed Relena Darlain-Peacecraft. She was shot three times, and the wounds seem fatal. We can only assume that Ms. Darlain is dead. No terrorist group has yet claimed responsibility for this action and relations between Earth and the colonies have become more strained than ever-" The film was grainy, but they saw the gun fire three times, watched her slump like a broken doll, blood splattered everywhere.

The bartender swore in his native language and muttered a silent prayer before running in the streets to tell others. Even in the small, isolated town, Relena had had an influence on the people there.

Duo looked over to Heero. The bottle of beer had been smashed across the table, and his eyes were colder than he had ever seen them before.

"Heero-" He got up and tried to leave, but Duo had grabbed him by the arm, "Heero! What are you going to do?!"

HE turned to his friend, and Duo knew that everything inside of Heero that had been human had just died with Relena. He looked insane. "I’m going to kill, Duo. Stand in my way, and I’ll simply kill you too."

He let go.

"Welcome to India, Ms. Yuy." The masked man said warmly, guiding her into an anteroom with the politeness of any good host.

"Thank you, Mr. Kaliya. How fares your business?" Ariel sat down on a chair with delicate grace.

"Well, Ms. Yuy. Quite well, thanks to my recent investment." He grinned, "I’m glad you could make it for the Masquerade."

She smiled, "I wouldn’t miss it for the world." She helped herself to a goblet of wine from the table and looked out the window and into the humid night, "What is it you want, Mr. Kaliya?"

He grinned at her straight-forwardness, "I want you distract your brother, my dear. My surveillance cameras have picked them up in the forest. They are currently in one of the farming villages. I need to make sure they stay away for a couple of days."

She had a wickedly clever expression on her face, "I can do so easily. Just let me use a some of your resources."

"What is mine is yours, good lady."

She rose quickly, "Good. Thank you."

A plan was already forming in her cunning mind.