Masterminds
I've been planning to write this fic for a while now. The bunny bit me and wouldn't let me go. This is my try at a school fic with a twist. Hopefully it works. *bites nails*
Masterminds
Rating: R / M
Pairings: 1+2, 3+4+5, 6x9
Summary: Safety is only an illusion. Unexpected events can happen anytime anywhere. The key is learning how to deal with them, and face them head on.
Warnings: AU, School fic, violence, action. Sequel to "Shattered Glass".
Notes: Fusion with the movie "Masterminds".
Thanks a lot to Anne for beta reading.
___
Chapter 1
It was only a little after five in the morning. The sky was colored by a soft blue glow, leaving some stars still visible. Quatre kept his eyes trained on the window. Venus was shining brightly, signaling the immediate rise of the sun. Quatre always thought Venus was a lonely planet; it's only function was preceding the sun. When he had been in Mexico the year before, he had learnt that for the Mayas, Venus represented duality. For them it was a morning and an evening start that, after disappearing ninety days in the underworld, emerged again: Death and rebirth.
Quatre blinked a couple of times. His brain was never focused this early in the morning. He suppressed a yawn and straightened his posture. His father wasn't in a very good mood and Quatre wasn't going to give him more reason to be angry with him. That was why Quatre was standing in front of his father's desk, fully dressed in his school uniform, his hair combed away from his face and his chin held high. He had been waiting for the last ten minutes for his father to finish a business call. It wasn't a good day to be in trouble. His father was flying this morning to Boston to finish one of his bigger deals he had ever made. And for a company as big as Winner Entertainment, that was saying something.
His father finished the call and turned his attention to Quatre. "I'm very disappointed in you, Quatre. You should know better than pulling these stunts at your school. You are a Winner, my heir, and the only male in the family. You are supposed to set an example and for that, you need to be on your best behavior." It was a speech that Quatre knew well. Every time he got into trouble his father would remind him about who he was, his responsibilities and his family name. Quatre had learnt that it was easier to just nod and look repentant than to try to argue with his father; that never got him anywhere.
"Could you possibly tell me why you would try to steal parts from the principal's car? I did not raise you to be a thief, Quatre. You are lucky that she didn't report you and your friend to the police." Quatre nodded. He knew that telling his father that he and Duo were not stealing parts from Lady Une's car was useless. They were actually returning what they had borrowed earlier. No one was supposed to even notice that some parts had been missing for a few hours. It was too bad that the security guard had caught a glimpse of Duo's braid under the car. Lady Une hadn't been pleased with the news of what they had done. She had sentenced them to detention after and before school hours for the next week and she had contacted their parents.
"She says that you are in probation now. If you are even reprimanded, you will be suspended. Is that what you want, Quatre?"
"No, Sir."
"I just don't get it. You don't need to go around stealing things. You are smart and I have taught you well. Those investments you made with the money your mother left you well very well thought out. You got that bike of yours and have enough left in the bank. I just don't see why you didn't simply buy what you needed."
It wasn't a question of money but of necessity. Duo needed the parts at that precise moment and they couldn't simply skip school to go to the store. Well, maybe they could, but as Duo had said, where was the fun in that?
"I don't have time for this now, Quatre. My flight leaves in thirty minutes so I have to get going. I expect you to be on your best behavior while I'm away. I haven't discarded the option of the boarding school yet, Quatre. Think about it."
Quatre remained standing in the same spot until he heard his father exit the front door. "Great," he said with a heavy sigh as he loosened his tie. It was better that he stayed out of trouble for a while. If there was something he didn't want to do, it was leaving his home to go to a boarding school.
After stopping at his room to get his radio, Quatre went down to the dining room. A plate of cereal and a glass of juice was waiting for him on the table. He sat down and began to eat lazily. He still had some time before he needed to get to school. Thanks to his father he had woken up earlier than necessary. A wicked smile crossed his face and he pressed the talk button on the radio, bringing it close to his mouth. "Duo, if I have to be up this early then I demand that you get up too." Quatre waited a moment but no answer came. He wasn't expecting one; he needed to make a lot more noise before Duo would be annoyed enough to pick up the radio and reply.
"Zero Four to Zero Two. Come in Zero Two." It had been Heero's idea to give them code numbers. At first Quatre had thought that it was a bit silly but he had discovered that talking in code could be very useful sometimes; especially when they were in the presence of others. Of course, that only made the rest of the school look at them weirdly but Quatre and his friends were already used to that; they were an odd lot.
"I just got the lecture," continued Quatre after drinking a sip of juice. "At least it was a short one today. He is playing the boarding school card again."
"What? Over a stupid detention?" Duo still sounded a bit sleepy but it was obvious that he was concerned. "He is not serious, right, Q?"
"He said we'll talk when he gets back," answered Quatre. "He's going to be in Boston for the next week."
"He is not checking out boarding schools there, is he?" Trowa's voice was hoarse. He had obviously just woken up and was probably still in bed.
"No, he is handling a merger proposal with Romefeller Networks." Quatre leaned on his chair; the sun was finally coming up and the sky was turning brighter. He couldn't see Venus anymore.
"Quatre will talk him out of it. He always does." Wufei's voice sounded on the radio. "Now would you please stop this yapping? Some of us are trying to sleep."
"Oh, come on, Wufei. If Quatre and I have to be up, I don't see why the rest of you shouldn't." Duo still sounded sleepy and Quatre had no doubts that he was still under the covers and talking with his eyes closed.
"Because you were the ones foolish enough to get caught."
"A good day to you too, Heero. I thought you cared a bit more about your friends." Duo was trying to sound hurt but he couldn't keep the amusement out of his tone.
"Duo, just get up. Quatre will keep pestering us until you do." Heero was right. Quatre had every intention to keep talking until Duo decided to get up.
"But it's so damn early!"
"I'll be at your place in thirty minutes, Duo, and you'd better be ready." Quatre left the radio on the table and finished his breakfast. The rest of the guys were probably sleeping again for there was no reply, but he was sure that Duo was getting up and cursing about it too.
Duo was still working on his car. He wanted to make some customizations and that meant that for the moment he didn't have means of transportation. Quatre had been picking him up for school since Duo's house was on the way. Duo lived on top of his grandfather's shop. Howard didn't only have a hardware shop but could also fix anything from cars to an old betamax. He was also a locksmith and had taught Duo everything he knew. That made Duo the mechanic, locksmith and electrician of the group.
Grabbing his radio, Quatre got up from the table. He made a short stop to the kitchen to thank the maid for breakfast, and then headed upstairs to his room. After placing his books in his backpack, Quatre took off his uniform blazer and tie, folding them and putting them on the backpack too. He opened the first two buttons of his shirt and ran his hands through his hair, making it a bit messy.
The bells from the big old clock in the hallway announced that it was six o'clock already. Quatre and Duo had to be in school at six thirty so he should get going. He took his black leather jacket from the closet and put it on. After placing the radio in the inside pocket, he pulled the zipper up. Finding his keys on the bedside table and his helmet on the chair by the window, Quatre took his backpack and headed outside.
* * *
Duo Maxwell gripped the small metal bar at the back of his seat tighter. He would think that by now he should be used to Quatre's ridiculously fast driving, but he was not. Very carefully, Duo moved his right hand from the back, still keeping his death grip with the left, and put it around Quatre's waist. Duo didn't care if Quatre was having trouble breathing. The only thing in his mind was keeping himself from falling off the bike.
"Scared?" Quatre's voice sounded in the small speakers Duo had installed inside the bike's helmets. It was very difficult to communicate over the loud roar of the engine and the street sounds, so Duo had decided to install a small communication device. It was good to know that it worked, but not when Quatre teased him, chuckled, and then accelerated.
"For Christ sake, Quatre! Are you in a hurry to get to school?" Duo would never admit that he was, in fact, a bit nervous. He knew Quatre was a good driver, but his survival instincts were telling him that no man was meant to go that fast. Of course, none of that applied when he was the one behind the wheel. Duo didn't know why but he always felt a lot more confident when he was the one driving, and also, he was the only one crazy enough to race Quatre. The others could drive just as fast but they didn't see the need to do that on every day basis. Quatre and Duo, on the other hand, lived for speed.
"I always drive like this," answered Quatre, and it was true.
Duo could feel his heart calming down. This wasn't the first time he had ridden with Quatre and it wouldn't be the last, and Duo had to admit that he liked the speed too. Cool. Now that that small and embarrassing moment of panic was out of the way, Duo could go back to enjoying the ride. "I'm still in no hurry to see Une's face."
"And you think I am?" Quatre snorted. "But if we don't get there on time she'll give us even more detention. I don't know about you, but I don't fancy getting up at five am."
A yawn was the only answer Duo gave. This after and before school detention was certainly a cruel and unusual punishment, and Duo planned to tell that to Une as soon as he saw her. Duo could never be considered a morning person. He hated to get up early, especially if it was to get to school. They would need to get back at Druffus. It was his fault for ratting them out. Maybe if they put some laxative in his coffee... nah, they've done that before. They would have to think of something different. Duo hated not to be original.
Before Duo could ask Quatre for his opinions on the matter, the Saint Charles Academy came into view. Duo always thought it was weird that the school was named after a saint if it wasn't a catholic school. Quatre had explained something about the name giving it status but Duo still thought it was deceiving. With a campus like the one the school had, they didn't really need a fancy name.
The school used to be an old mansion that dated back to the eighteen hundreds. It had been transformed into a school roughly fifty years ago when a group of influential families joined together to buy the mansion to give their kids a proper place to study. The main house was surrounded by a big garden, part of it which had become the faculty and student parking lot, and the garden was circled by a two feet tall stone wall. From the outside only the tall roof tops could be seen, and none of the large stone structure that was the school.
The exterior had been kept the same way for aesthetic reasons but the inside of the house had been completely redone. It was now a three floor modern school with classrooms, labs, computer rooms, a gym and even a pool. Yes, Saint Charles Academy was a work of art and only the elite kids of the city attended there.
That's why Duo had been so reluctant to go there when he had been offered his scholarship. After all, what did he have in common with a bunch of snob kids who had a castle for a school? However, between his older brother Solo and his grandfather, they had convinced him that he couldn't miss an opportunity like that. Saint Charles could be a place for the snobs but it was also the best school around, with a great faculty, academic opportunities and connections with all the important colleges. Duo had thought that he would spend all his time in Saint Charles studying and playing basketball. He never thought he would make a friend there. The place was packed with rich kids who would never have anything in common with him. Duo's pessimism lasted about two hours, since he was fortunate enough to meet Quatre on the first day there. A grin spread on Duo's face. Stupid Quatre, he just had to prove Duo wrong.
The bike stopped harshly just a few centimeters from the school gate. Duo pulled up the visor of his helmet and noticed Quatre doing the same.
A fat man with glasses emerged from the security boot by the gate and glared at them. "Principal Une is waiting for you." An annoying smile appeared on his face. "Better not be late or you might have even more detention."
"A good morning to you too, Druffus," said Duo, trying to sound as cheerful as possible. "Been here for long?"
The man glared again. "My name is Dreifuss, Maxwell!"
"That's what I said, Druffus." Duo smiled, innocently. "You'd better check your hearing."
It was hard not to laugh out loud. Druffus had a way of turning an interesting shade of red every time he was angry. He looked like a tomato with glasses.
"Une won't be pleased if we are late because you didn't open the gate," said Quatre, calmly, before Druffus could say anything. The man gave them another glare and then pushed the button to open the electric gate.
Quatre accelerated and Duo turned and waved at Druffus. "Enjoy your coffee," he said as the bike moved away from the gate and into the school's parking lot.
"You didn't do anything to his coffee, right?" asked Quatre, sounding far too amused.
"Nah, but he doesn't know that."
Quatre laughed and parked his bike in the usual spot. Only two other people drove bikes to school and one of them was Heero, so there really was no problem with bike parking spaces. Quatre turned off the engine and climbed off the bike. He took his helmet off and walked to the back of the bike to collect his backpack. Duo followed and gave Quatre his helmet so he could put it away.
"There's Une." Duo pointed to the stairs leading up to the mansion. "She doesn’t look happy."
"Une never looks happy." Quatre walked towards the stairs and Duo followed.
"Do I need to remind you, gentlemen, that we have a dress code?" Une glared at Quatre's leather jacket, Duo's jean jacket and their lack of ties. "You can't be in school until you are properly dressed. I suggest you hurry up, or you'll be late for your detention."
Without wasting any time, both Duo and Quatre took off their jackets, got their ties from their backpacks, tying the knot quickly from experience. Then they put on their blue blazers and buttoned them up.
Une crossed her arms above her chest. "I believe the shirts aren't tucked."
Duo raised his hands. "Give us a break, you can't see them."
"Excuse me, Principal Une," said Quatre with that polite charming tone that could convince a dog it was really a cat. "Since we weren't in school when we dressed, as you said we couldn't be in school unless we had the uniform, and you can't see our shirts with our blazers on, you have no way of knowing if our shirts are tucked in or not." He dared to give her a smile.
Une raised an eyebrow and for a moment Duo thought they were in for a lecture. However, she just turned around and started climbing the stairs. "Follow me, gentlemen."
Duo and Quatre walked up the stairs after her. They walked slowly and without enthusiasm. Detention wasn't really one of their favorite pastimes, even if they seemed to spend a whole lot of time in it. Between the five of them they probably had earned a year's worth of detention. It wasn't that they liked causing trouble. They just had minor misunderstandings with some of the school rules.
The school was almost empty. The only people in the corridors were a few staff members. All of them greeted Quatre and Duo as they walked by.They soon reached the Assembly room, which was basically a classroom big enough to hold the entire student body.
"We'll be having an assembly this morning," explained Une. "The upgrades to our security system are finally complete and Mr. Tsubarov is going to give us all some information about how things will be working from now on." She gave them a look. "It's important that you and your friends pay special attention. Once the system is activated you could get seriously hurt by trying to climb the outer walls."
Quatre and Duo nodded, even if they knew that once Heero had finished hacking into the system, the new security would be nothing to worry about. It was good to have friends with skills. It made life a lot easier.
"Gentlemen," continued Une. "You have one hour to mop the floor of this room and arrange the seats. The students will be directed here as soon as they arrive, and I expect things to be ready for the assembly by then." She pointed at the two mops and the bucket of water that were in a corner of the room, near the rows of seats Quatre and Duo would have to arrange in lines for the students to use later. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have an early meeting with Mr. Tsubarov. Enjoy your detention."
Duo and Quatre remained where they were standing until Une left the room closing the door behind her. "Fuck!" Duo wasn't feeling very happy about his detention right now.
"I agree whole heartedly," said Quatre, walking towards the corner with a resigned expression. "This sucks."
Mustering the same enthusiasm as his companion, Duo followed. "It could be worse." Duo took the mop and soaked it in the soap water.
"I know. We are lucky Une has a soft spot for us." Quatre took off his blazer and left it on a chair before grabbing his own mop and soaking it. Duo still remembered the first time he had seen Quatre do that, and how he had waited for a disgusted look to appear on his friend's face. As it turned out, Quatre had had to mop the school floors since 5th grade -he wasn't really the well behaved rich boy he appeared to be- and he was very used to the task.
"You're telling me." Duo decided that Quatre had the right idea and took off his blazer too. "After all the times I've gotten in trouble, she has never threatened to take away my scholarship. Not even once."
"Don't even say that." Quatre grumbled something and loosened the knot of his tie. "I hate this thing."
Duo smiled. Quatre could be a brat when he wanted to. "So, have you made a decision yet? Who's it gonna be, Trowa or Wufei? Or are you going to listen to me, otherwise known as the voice of reason, and pick them both?"
Quatre continued working, never lifting his head from the floor, avoiding eye contact. "You might be many things, Duo, but you are certainly not the voice of reason."
"Avoiding the subject, Cat? You're not very good at it, you know I can see right through you."
Quatre sighed and this time he did stop mopping. "I haven't decided anything yet. And to tell the truth I don't really think it's my decision to make. I'm not even sure what Trowa and Wufei think." He took his mop and put it in a corner, and then started to place the plastic chairs on the assembly room floor.
"Don't kid yourself, Cat. You know they want you." Duo left his mop and began to work on setting the chairs too. "Wufei has been your friend since you were five, and you can read Trowa like a book, so don't pretend you don't know what's going on."
"So, have you tried that lip biting thing with Heero yet?" asked Quatre, trying to sound casual and not managing it at all.
Duo put a chair in the floor a little too loudly. "Fine, avoid the subject. You know you are going to have to face them sometime, right?"
"Sometime isn't now." Quatre looked at Duo. "Just drop it for a while. I'm thinking about it. I'm just not sure yet."
Duo smiled, dropped the chair he was carrying and gave Quatre a one arm hug. "I'm here if you want to talk."
Quatre returned the hug. "Yes, I know."
They worked in silence for a while. Duo figured Quatre needed a moment to think so he let him be. They were almost done when the first students started entering the room and taking their seats, pretty much ignoring Quatre and Duo; maybe because it wasn't a rare sight to see them punished or maybe because no one really cared about them. They weren't part of the popular crowd. They, Heero, Wufei and Trowa were seen as trouble makers at best, even if their offences were mostly harmless and they did fairly well in the academic area.
"Ok, let's scramble," said Duo as soon as the last chair was in its place. "I definitely don't want to stay here for the security talk."
They were almost at the door when a voice made them stop. "And where do you think you are going? Mr. Winner? Mr. Maxwell?"
Duo turned around and grinned at the woman. "To the bathroom, Miss. Noin."
Noin rolled her eyes. "This assembly is for everyone. Go and take a seat in the front row, now. And don't even think about leaving later, I'll be keeping an eye on you."
"We're fucked," Duo whispered, as they took their seats.
"Tell me about it," said Quatre. "This is gonna be boring."
* * *
Heero Yuy looked around to be sure that no one was watching him before opening the door to the school basement and walking quickly inside.
A year and a half ago, Duo had been busy following an electrical cord in the basement, - certainly with no good intentions in mind - when he had stumbled into a weird looking metal plaque in one of the far walls of the dark room. He wouldn't have thought anything of it if he hadn't stumbled quite literally, or so he'd said. The sound the plaque had made when he had hit it had been unusual; it sounded hollow. So, being Duo, he had brought his toolbox to school the next day and unscrewed the plaque from the wall. It turned out that Duo had been right. There was a staircase behind the plaque. An old wooden one that Duo had climbed with a bit of fear but that they had later found out was perfectly safe. On the top of the staircase, there was a door with an old lock. It was a good thing that Duo had known how to pick locks since he was ten, so he had been able to get inside without a problem. What he'd found was a broad windowless room that had probably been a storage room back when the school functioned as a manor, and was now their secret hideout.
Heero reached the metal plaque and took out his key, inserting it in the small lock that, in the darkness of the basement, practically couldn't be seen. They had fixed the metal plaque so it would work like a door and Duo had installed that lock and as well as a replacing the old one from the room upstairs. Heero had insisted on both locks. If Duo could find that storage room, there was a chance that someone else would notice the metal plaque.
He closed the plaque behind him, knowing that it would lock automatically, and climbed the dark stairs. There were sixteen steps. He had climbed them so many times that he didn't need the light. That was another thing he had insisted on. If they installed a lamp on the stairs then some light would be seen from the outside. That would have been a dead giveaway.
Using his fingers to find the second lock, a bigger one, Heero inserted the key and opened the door. He closed it behind him and turned the lights on. It had taken them almost a week to install their two lamps and the other electrical outlets in the room. Duo had to tap into the main electrical line to be able to do that. Little by little they had turned the room into a home. Besides the lamps, they had brought a carpet, some inflatable furniture and other little things that they preferred to leave there than take home everyday, and for the last four days, Heero had left his laptop.
It wasn't something he usually did, but he was trying to hack into the new security system and it had proven to be more difficult that he had expected. He had designed a program to decode highly secured systems, and it had been running for the last four days. It had been hell being without his computer at home. J would never let him borrow his own so Heero was stuck using one of the old ones that weren't nearly as good as his. Not many computers were as good as his. Heero had built it with J, and very few people in the world had the connections and knowledge J did, and even less would share that knowledge with their underage nephew. But J was a bit of an eccentric, which made Heero's life a lot more interesting.
The computer was still where Heero had left it the day before. He moved the mouse and the screen came to life, showing that the program was ninety-seven percent done. The sound of the door opening drew Heero's attention, and he turned to see Wufei walk into the room.
"Is it done?" Wufei asked, putting his backpack on the floor and gesturing to the laptop.
"Almost."
Wufei walked to the electric blue inflatable chair next to Heero, and sat down. "I guess Quatre and Duo didn't manage to escape the assembly. They would be here by now."
Heero nodded. "It's their fault for getting caught."
The assembly would probably take all first period. Heero didn't envy Quatre and Duo. To have to sit and listen to that old guy Tsubarov give a speech about the new security system couldn't be fun. "They are definitely going to get back at Dreifuss after this."
Wufei chuckled. "Knowing them, they are already plotting something."
"Hopefully they won't get caught this time." Heero frowned. "You think Quatre's father will go through with it?"
There was no need to specify. They all knew that Quatre's father had been threatening to send him away to a boarding school if he didn't correct his attitude. Apparently Quatre was not the perfect Winner child his father wanted him to be, and he was running out of ways to keep his son in line. Lately, the threats had become more frequent and Heero was starting to get worried.
"Mr. Winner has been talking about boarding schools since Quatre was thirteen." Wufei crossed his arms above his chest. "I doubt he'll go through with it. He might not like Quatre's behavior but I doubt he would want to be apart from him."
Heero was still frowning but he nodded at Wufei. Quatre hardly spent time with his father as it was but if Wufei said that Mr. Winner would not send Quatre away then Heero believed him. After all, Wufei had known Quatre the longest and his dad worked closely with Quatre's father. "Is your father in Boston too?"
"Yes. They are supposed to close a very big deal today. It's worth millions."
Before Heero could answer anything, there was a short beep from the laptop. He turned around and looked at the screen. "I'm in."
* * *
Trowa hit the brakes at the same time he opened the window and extended his hand to grab the ticket. He was pushing the accelerator again before the attendant had time to let go of the ticket. The mall parking lot was fairly empty at that time of the morning so Trowa had no problem finding a space. He took his backpack, put the ticket in his pocket, and ran out of the parking lot.
It was lucky that the school was only a block away, and that the mall parking lot was free. Four days a week Trowa found himself parking there. If he didn't want Dreifuss to report him for being late he needed to get inside the school unnoticed, which was difficult when you were driving a jeep.
The best place to sneak into the school was the southern wall. There wasn't much traffic on that road and the best thing was that it was right beside the pool heating machines, so no one ever went there. Arriving at the correct spot, Trowa took a running start and jumped. His right foot hit the wall while his fingers grasped the edge of the three foot tall stone wall. Trowa pulled himself up easily, and then jumped to the other side, landing safely on his feet. Trowa had to suppress the urge to bow. Old habits die hard.
His parents always insisted that Trowa keep up with his training, even if they wouldn't approve the uses Trowa had found for his acrobatic skills. And people thought that growing up in a circus didn't prepare children for real life.
Trowa started to walk slowly towards the main hall so he could sneak into the basement. He was almost there when he saw one of the school guards. He pressed himself to the wall, waiting for the guard to walk by. Trowa had already accumulated more tardiness that any other student. If he got caught sneaking into school late, he would be suspended, and Catherine, dear sister or not, would kill him.
The guard was almost gone when Trowa noticed a man he had never seen before, dressed in black, walk behind the guard. The man raised his hand. He was holding a gun. Then he shot, and a small dart lounged itself into the guard's back. The guard collapsed.
Trowa must have made a sound because the man turned towards him raising his gun again. Trowa ran, not daring to look back. Before him was a low roof. He headed towards it as fast as he could, jumping above it without difficulty.
The man in the ground was yelling at him. Trowa ignored him and used a pipeline to climb further up. He didn't stop until he reached the East wing roof, then he allowed himself to turn and look down. There were men dressed in black everywhere, and all of them were carrying guns like the first one. Trowa crouched, trying to hide himself, and leaned against one of the chimneys. He opened the front pocket of his backpack and took out his radio. "Heero, what the hell is going on!?"
* * *
TBC
Masterminds
Rating: R / M
Pairings: 1+2, 3+4+5, 6x9
Summary: Safety is only an illusion. Unexpected events can happen anytime anywhere. The key is learning how to deal with them, and face them head on.
Warnings: AU, School fic, violence, action. Sequel to "Shattered Glass".
Notes: Fusion with the movie "Masterminds".
Thanks a lot to Anne for beta reading.
___
Chapter 1
It was only a little after five in the morning. The sky was colored by a soft blue glow, leaving some stars still visible. Quatre kept his eyes trained on the window. Venus was shining brightly, signaling the immediate rise of the sun. Quatre always thought Venus was a lonely planet; it's only function was preceding the sun. When he had been in Mexico the year before, he had learnt that for the Mayas, Venus represented duality. For them it was a morning and an evening start that, after disappearing ninety days in the underworld, emerged again: Death and rebirth.
Quatre blinked a couple of times. His brain was never focused this early in the morning. He suppressed a yawn and straightened his posture. His father wasn't in a very good mood and Quatre wasn't going to give him more reason to be angry with him. That was why Quatre was standing in front of his father's desk, fully dressed in his school uniform, his hair combed away from his face and his chin held high. He had been waiting for the last ten minutes for his father to finish a business call. It wasn't a good day to be in trouble. His father was flying this morning to Boston to finish one of his bigger deals he had ever made. And for a company as big as Winner Entertainment, that was saying something.
His father finished the call and turned his attention to Quatre. "I'm very disappointed in you, Quatre. You should know better than pulling these stunts at your school. You are a Winner, my heir, and the only male in the family. You are supposed to set an example and for that, you need to be on your best behavior." It was a speech that Quatre knew well. Every time he got into trouble his father would remind him about who he was, his responsibilities and his family name. Quatre had learnt that it was easier to just nod and look repentant than to try to argue with his father; that never got him anywhere.
"Could you possibly tell me why you would try to steal parts from the principal's car? I did not raise you to be a thief, Quatre. You are lucky that she didn't report you and your friend to the police." Quatre nodded. He knew that telling his father that he and Duo were not stealing parts from Lady Une's car was useless. They were actually returning what they had borrowed earlier. No one was supposed to even notice that some parts had been missing for a few hours. It was too bad that the security guard had caught a glimpse of Duo's braid under the car. Lady Une hadn't been pleased with the news of what they had done. She had sentenced them to detention after and before school hours for the next week and she had contacted their parents.
"She says that you are in probation now. If you are even reprimanded, you will be suspended. Is that what you want, Quatre?"
"No, Sir."
"I just don't get it. You don't need to go around stealing things. You are smart and I have taught you well. Those investments you made with the money your mother left you well very well thought out. You got that bike of yours and have enough left in the bank. I just don't see why you didn't simply buy what you needed."
It wasn't a question of money but of necessity. Duo needed the parts at that precise moment and they couldn't simply skip school to go to the store. Well, maybe they could, but as Duo had said, where was the fun in that?
"I don't have time for this now, Quatre. My flight leaves in thirty minutes so I have to get going. I expect you to be on your best behavior while I'm away. I haven't discarded the option of the boarding school yet, Quatre. Think about it."
Quatre remained standing in the same spot until he heard his father exit the front door. "Great," he said with a heavy sigh as he loosened his tie. It was better that he stayed out of trouble for a while. If there was something he didn't want to do, it was leaving his home to go to a boarding school.
After stopping at his room to get his radio, Quatre went down to the dining room. A plate of cereal and a glass of juice was waiting for him on the table. He sat down and began to eat lazily. He still had some time before he needed to get to school. Thanks to his father he had woken up earlier than necessary. A wicked smile crossed his face and he pressed the talk button on the radio, bringing it close to his mouth. "Duo, if I have to be up this early then I demand that you get up too." Quatre waited a moment but no answer came. He wasn't expecting one; he needed to make a lot more noise before Duo would be annoyed enough to pick up the radio and reply.
"Zero Four to Zero Two. Come in Zero Two." It had been Heero's idea to give them code numbers. At first Quatre had thought that it was a bit silly but he had discovered that talking in code could be very useful sometimes; especially when they were in the presence of others. Of course, that only made the rest of the school look at them weirdly but Quatre and his friends were already used to that; they were an odd lot.
"I just got the lecture," continued Quatre after drinking a sip of juice. "At least it was a short one today. He is playing the boarding school card again."
"What? Over a stupid detention?" Duo still sounded a bit sleepy but it was obvious that he was concerned. "He is not serious, right, Q?"
"He said we'll talk when he gets back," answered Quatre. "He's going to be in Boston for the next week."
"He is not checking out boarding schools there, is he?" Trowa's voice was hoarse. He had obviously just woken up and was probably still in bed.
"No, he is handling a merger proposal with Romefeller Networks." Quatre leaned on his chair; the sun was finally coming up and the sky was turning brighter. He couldn't see Venus anymore.
"Quatre will talk him out of it. He always does." Wufei's voice sounded on the radio. "Now would you please stop this yapping? Some of us are trying to sleep."
"Oh, come on, Wufei. If Quatre and I have to be up, I don't see why the rest of you shouldn't." Duo still sounded sleepy and Quatre had no doubts that he was still under the covers and talking with his eyes closed.
"Because you were the ones foolish enough to get caught."
"A good day to you too, Heero. I thought you cared a bit more about your friends." Duo was trying to sound hurt but he couldn't keep the amusement out of his tone.
"Duo, just get up. Quatre will keep pestering us until you do." Heero was right. Quatre had every intention to keep talking until Duo decided to get up.
"But it's so damn early!"
"I'll be at your place in thirty minutes, Duo, and you'd better be ready." Quatre left the radio on the table and finished his breakfast. The rest of the guys were probably sleeping again for there was no reply, but he was sure that Duo was getting up and cursing about it too.
Duo was still working on his car. He wanted to make some customizations and that meant that for the moment he didn't have means of transportation. Quatre had been picking him up for school since Duo's house was on the way. Duo lived on top of his grandfather's shop. Howard didn't only have a hardware shop but could also fix anything from cars to an old betamax. He was also a locksmith and had taught Duo everything he knew. That made Duo the mechanic, locksmith and electrician of the group.
Grabbing his radio, Quatre got up from the table. He made a short stop to the kitchen to thank the maid for breakfast, and then headed upstairs to his room. After placing his books in his backpack, Quatre took off his uniform blazer and tie, folding them and putting them on the backpack too. He opened the first two buttons of his shirt and ran his hands through his hair, making it a bit messy.
The bells from the big old clock in the hallway announced that it was six o'clock already. Quatre and Duo had to be in school at six thirty so he should get going. He took his black leather jacket from the closet and put it on. After placing the radio in the inside pocket, he pulled the zipper up. Finding his keys on the bedside table and his helmet on the chair by the window, Quatre took his backpack and headed outside.
* * *
Duo Maxwell gripped the small metal bar at the back of his seat tighter. He would think that by now he should be used to Quatre's ridiculously fast driving, but he was not. Very carefully, Duo moved his right hand from the back, still keeping his death grip with the left, and put it around Quatre's waist. Duo didn't care if Quatre was having trouble breathing. The only thing in his mind was keeping himself from falling off the bike.
"Scared?" Quatre's voice sounded in the small speakers Duo had installed inside the bike's helmets. It was very difficult to communicate over the loud roar of the engine and the street sounds, so Duo had decided to install a small communication device. It was good to know that it worked, but not when Quatre teased him, chuckled, and then accelerated.
"For Christ sake, Quatre! Are you in a hurry to get to school?" Duo would never admit that he was, in fact, a bit nervous. He knew Quatre was a good driver, but his survival instincts were telling him that no man was meant to go that fast. Of course, none of that applied when he was the one behind the wheel. Duo didn't know why but he always felt a lot more confident when he was the one driving, and also, he was the only one crazy enough to race Quatre. The others could drive just as fast but they didn't see the need to do that on every day basis. Quatre and Duo, on the other hand, lived for speed.
"I always drive like this," answered Quatre, and it was true.
Duo could feel his heart calming down. This wasn't the first time he had ridden with Quatre and it wouldn't be the last, and Duo had to admit that he liked the speed too. Cool. Now that that small and embarrassing moment of panic was out of the way, Duo could go back to enjoying the ride. "I'm still in no hurry to see Une's face."
"And you think I am?" Quatre snorted. "But if we don't get there on time she'll give us even more detention. I don't know about you, but I don't fancy getting up at five am."
A yawn was the only answer Duo gave. This after and before school detention was certainly a cruel and unusual punishment, and Duo planned to tell that to Une as soon as he saw her. Duo could never be considered a morning person. He hated to get up early, especially if it was to get to school. They would need to get back at Druffus. It was his fault for ratting them out. Maybe if they put some laxative in his coffee... nah, they've done that before. They would have to think of something different. Duo hated not to be original.
Before Duo could ask Quatre for his opinions on the matter, the Saint Charles Academy came into view. Duo always thought it was weird that the school was named after a saint if it wasn't a catholic school. Quatre had explained something about the name giving it status but Duo still thought it was deceiving. With a campus like the one the school had, they didn't really need a fancy name.
The school used to be an old mansion that dated back to the eighteen hundreds. It had been transformed into a school roughly fifty years ago when a group of influential families joined together to buy the mansion to give their kids a proper place to study. The main house was surrounded by a big garden, part of it which had become the faculty and student parking lot, and the garden was circled by a two feet tall stone wall. From the outside only the tall roof tops could be seen, and none of the large stone structure that was the school.
The exterior had been kept the same way for aesthetic reasons but the inside of the house had been completely redone. It was now a three floor modern school with classrooms, labs, computer rooms, a gym and even a pool. Yes, Saint Charles Academy was a work of art and only the elite kids of the city attended there.
That's why Duo had been so reluctant to go there when he had been offered his scholarship. After all, what did he have in common with a bunch of snob kids who had a castle for a school? However, between his older brother Solo and his grandfather, they had convinced him that he couldn't miss an opportunity like that. Saint Charles could be a place for the snobs but it was also the best school around, with a great faculty, academic opportunities and connections with all the important colleges. Duo had thought that he would spend all his time in Saint Charles studying and playing basketball. He never thought he would make a friend there. The place was packed with rich kids who would never have anything in common with him. Duo's pessimism lasted about two hours, since he was fortunate enough to meet Quatre on the first day there. A grin spread on Duo's face. Stupid Quatre, he just had to prove Duo wrong.
The bike stopped harshly just a few centimeters from the school gate. Duo pulled up the visor of his helmet and noticed Quatre doing the same.
A fat man with glasses emerged from the security boot by the gate and glared at them. "Principal Une is waiting for you." An annoying smile appeared on his face. "Better not be late or you might have even more detention."
"A good morning to you too, Druffus," said Duo, trying to sound as cheerful as possible. "Been here for long?"
The man glared again. "My name is Dreifuss, Maxwell!"
"That's what I said, Druffus." Duo smiled, innocently. "You'd better check your hearing."
It was hard not to laugh out loud. Druffus had a way of turning an interesting shade of red every time he was angry. He looked like a tomato with glasses.
"Une won't be pleased if we are late because you didn't open the gate," said Quatre, calmly, before Druffus could say anything. The man gave them another glare and then pushed the button to open the electric gate.
Quatre accelerated and Duo turned and waved at Druffus. "Enjoy your coffee," he said as the bike moved away from the gate and into the school's parking lot.
"You didn't do anything to his coffee, right?" asked Quatre, sounding far too amused.
"Nah, but he doesn't know that."
Quatre laughed and parked his bike in the usual spot. Only two other people drove bikes to school and one of them was Heero, so there really was no problem with bike parking spaces. Quatre turned off the engine and climbed off the bike. He took his helmet off and walked to the back of the bike to collect his backpack. Duo followed and gave Quatre his helmet so he could put it away.
"There's Une." Duo pointed to the stairs leading up to the mansion. "She doesn’t look happy."
"Une never looks happy." Quatre walked towards the stairs and Duo followed.
"Do I need to remind you, gentlemen, that we have a dress code?" Une glared at Quatre's leather jacket, Duo's jean jacket and their lack of ties. "You can't be in school until you are properly dressed. I suggest you hurry up, or you'll be late for your detention."
Without wasting any time, both Duo and Quatre took off their jackets, got their ties from their backpacks, tying the knot quickly from experience. Then they put on their blue blazers and buttoned them up.
Une crossed her arms above her chest. "I believe the shirts aren't tucked."
Duo raised his hands. "Give us a break, you can't see them."
"Excuse me, Principal Une," said Quatre with that polite charming tone that could convince a dog it was really a cat. "Since we weren't in school when we dressed, as you said we couldn't be in school unless we had the uniform, and you can't see our shirts with our blazers on, you have no way of knowing if our shirts are tucked in or not." He dared to give her a smile.
Une raised an eyebrow and for a moment Duo thought they were in for a lecture. However, she just turned around and started climbing the stairs. "Follow me, gentlemen."
Duo and Quatre walked up the stairs after her. They walked slowly and without enthusiasm. Detention wasn't really one of their favorite pastimes, even if they seemed to spend a whole lot of time in it. Between the five of them they probably had earned a year's worth of detention. It wasn't that they liked causing trouble. They just had minor misunderstandings with some of the school rules.
The school was almost empty. The only people in the corridors were a few staff members. All of them greeted Quatre and Duo as they walked by.They soon reached the Assembly room, which was basically a classroom big enough to hold the entire student body.
"We'll be having an assembly this morning," explained Une. "The upgrades to our security system are finally complete and Mr. Tsubarov is going to give us all some information about how things will be working from now on." She gave them a look. "It's important that you and your friends pay special attention. Once the system is activated you could get seriously hurt by trying to climb the outer walls."
Quatre and Duo nodded, even if they knew that once Heero had finished hacking into the system, the new security would be nothing to worry about. It was good to have friends with skills. It made life a lot easier.
"Gentlemen," continued Une. "You have one hour to mop the floor of this room and arrange the seats. The students will be directed here as soon as they arrive, and I expect things to be ready for the assembly by then." She pointed at the two mops and the bucket of water that were in a corner of the room, near the rows of seats Quatre and Duo would have to arrange in lines for the students to use later. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have an early meeting with Mr. Tsubarov. Enjoy your detention."
Duo and Quatre remained where they were standing until Une left the room closing the door behind her. "Fuck!" Duo wasn't feeling very happy about his detention right now.
"I agree whole heartedly," said Quatre, walking towards the corner with a resigned expression. "This sucks."
Mustering the same enthusiasm as his companion, Duo followed. "It could be worse." Duo took the mop and soaked it in the soap water.
"I know. We are lucky Une has a soft spot for us." Quatre took off his blazer and left it on a chair before grabbing his own mop and soaking it. Duo still remembered the first time he had seen Quatre do that, and how he had waited for a disgusted look to appear on his friend's face. As it turned out, Quatre had had to mop the school floors since 5th grade -he wasn't really the well behaved rich boy he appeared to be- and he was very used to the task.
"You're telling me." Duo decided that Quatre had the right idea and took off his blazer too. "After all the times I've gotten in trouble, she has never threatened to take away my scholarship. Not even once."
"Don't even say that." Quatre grumbled something and loosened the knot of his tie. "I hate this thing."
Duo smiled. Quatre could be a brat when he wanted to. "So, have you made a decision yet? Who's it gonna be, Trowa or Wufei? Or are you going to listen to me, otherwise known as the voice of reason, and pick them both?"
Quatre continued working, never lifting his head from the floor, avoiding eye contact. "You might be many things, Duo, but you are certainly not the voice of reason."
"Avoiding the subject, Cat? You're not very good at it, you know I can see right through you."
Quatre sighed and this time he did stop mopping. "I haven't decided anything yet. And to tell the truth I don't really think it's my decision to make. I'm not even sure what Trowa and Wufei think." He took his mop and put it in a corner, and then started to place the plastic chairs on the assembly room floor.
"Don't kid yourself, Cat. You know they want you." Duo left his mop and began to work on setting the chairs too. "Wufei has been your friend since you were five, and you can read Trowa like a book, so don't pretend you don't know what's going on."
"So, have you tried that lip biting thing with Heero yet?" asked Quatre, trying to sound casual and not managing it at all.
Duo put a chair in the floor a little too loudly. "Fine, avoid the subject. You know you are going to have to face them sometime, right?"
"Sometime isn't now." Quatre looked at Duo. "Just drop it for a while. I'm thinking about it. I'm just not sure yet."
Duo smiled, dropped the chair he was carrying and gave Quatre a one arm hug. "I'm here if you want to talk."
Quatre returned the hug. "Yes, I know."
They worked in silence for a while. Duo figured Quatre needed a moment to think so he let him be. They were almost done when the first students started entering the room and taking their seats, pretty much ignoring Quatre and Duo; maybe because it wasn't a rare sight to see them punished or maybe because no one really cared about them. They weren't part of the popular crowd. They, Heero, Wufei and Trowa were seen as trouble makers at best, even if their offences were mostly harmless and they did fairly well in the academic area.
"Ok, let's scramble," said Duo as soon as the last chair was in its place. "I definitely don't want to stay here for the security talk."
They were almost at the door when a voice made them stop. "And where do you think you are going? Mr. Winner? Mr. Maxwell?"
Duo turned around and grinned at the woman. "To the bathroom, Miss. Noin."
Noin rolled her eyes. "This assembly is for everyone. Go and take a seat in the front row, now. And don't even think about leaving later, I'll be keeping an eye on you."
"We're fucked," Duo whispered, as they took their seats.
"Tell me about it," said Quatre. "This is gonna be boring."
* * *
Heero Yuy looked around to be sure that no one was watching him before opening the door to the school basement and walking quickly inside.
A year and a half ago, Duo had been busy following an electrical cord in the basement, - certainly with no good intentions in mind - when he had stumbled into a weird looking metal plaque in one of the far walls of the dark room. He wouldn't have thought anything of it if he hadn't stumbled quite literally, or so he'd said. The sound the plaque had made when he had hit it had been unusual; it sounded hollow. So, being Duo, he had brought his toolbox to school the next day and unscrewed the plaque from the wall. It turned out that Duo had been right. There was a staircase behind the plaque. An old wooden one that Duo had climbed with a bit of fear but that they had later found out was perfectly safe. On the top of the staircase, there was a door with an old lock. It was a good thing that Duo had known how to pick locks since he was ten, so he had been able to get inside without a problem. What he'd found was a broad windowless room that had probably been a storage room back when the school functioned as a manor, and was now their secret hideout.
Heero reached the metal plaque and took out his key, inserting it in the small lock that, in the darkness of the basement, practically couldn't be seen. They had fixed the metal plaque so it would work like a door and Duo had installed that lock and as well as a replacing the old one from the room upstairs. Heero had insisted on both locks. If Duo could find that storage room, there was a chance that someone else would notice the metal plaque.
He closed the plaque behind him, knowing that it would lock automatically, and climbed the dark stairs. There were sixteen steps. He had climbed them so many times that he didn't need the light. That was another thing he had insisted on. If they installed a lamp on the stairs then some light would be seen from the outside. That would have been a dead giveaway.
Using his fingers to find the second lock, a bigger one, Heero inserted the key and opened the door. He closed it behind him and turned the lights on. It had taken them almost a week to install their two lamps and the other electrical outlets in the room. Duo had to tap into the main electrical line to be able to do that. Little by little they had turned the room into a home. Besides the lamps, they had brought a carpet, some inflatable furniture and other little things that they preferred to leave there than take home everyday, and for the last four days, Heero had left his laptop.
It wasn't something he usually did, but he was trying to hack into the new security system and it had proven to be more difficult that he had expected. He had designed a program to decode highly secured systems, and it had been running for the last four days. It had been hell being without his computer at home. J would never let him borrow his own so Heero was stuck using one of the old ones that weren't nearly as good as his. Not many computers were as good as his. Heero had built it with J, and very few people in the world had the connections and knowledge J did, and even less would share that knowledge with their underage nephew. But J was a bit of an eccentric, which made Heero's life a lot more interesting.
The computer was still where Heero had left it the day before. He moved the mouse and the screen came to life, showing that the program was ninety-seven percent done. The sound of the door opening drew Heero's attention, and he turned to see Wufei walk into the room.
"Is it done?" Wufei asked, putting his backpack on the floor and gesturing to the laptop.
"Almost."
Wufei walked to the electric blue inflatable chair next to Heero, and sat down. "I guess Quatre and Duo didn't manage to escape the assembly. They would be here by now."
Heero nodded. "It's their fault for getting caught."
The assembly would probably take all first period. Heero didn't envy Quatre and Duo. To have to sit and listen to that old guy Tsubarov give a speech about the new security system couldn't be fun. "They are definitely going to get back at Dreifuss after this."
Wufei chuckled. "Knowing them, they are already plotting something."
"Hopefully they won't get caught this time." Heero frowned. "You think Quatre's father will go through with it?"
There was no need to specify. They all knew that Quatre's father had been threatening to send him away to a boarding school if he didn't correct his attitude. Apparently Quatre was not the perfect Winner child his father wanted him to be, and he was running out of ways to keep his son in line. Lately, the threats had become more frequent and Heero was starting to get worried.
"Mr. Winner has been talking about boarding schools since Quatre was thirteen." Wufei crossed his arms above his chest. "I doubt he'll go through with it. He might not like Quatre's behavior but I doubt he would want to be apart from him."
Heero was still frowning but he nodded at Wufei. Quatre hardly spent time with his father as it was but if Wufei said that Mr. Winner would not send Quatre away then Heero believed him. After all, Wufei had known Quatre the longest and his dad worked closely with Quatre's father. "Is your father in Boston too?"
"Yes. They are supposed to close a very big deal today. It's worth millions."
Before Heero could answer anything, there was a short beep from the laptop. He turned around and looked at the screen. "I'm in."
* * *
Trowa hit the brakes at the same time he opened the window and extended his hand to grab the ticket. He was pushing the accelerator again before the attendant had time to let go of the ticket. The mall parking lot was fairly empty at that time of the morning so Trowa had no problem finding a space. He took his backpack, put the ticket in his pocket, and ran out of the parking lot.
It was lucky that the school was only a block away, and that the mall parking lot was free. Four days a week Trowa found himself parking there. If he didn't want Dreifuss to report him for being late he needed to get inside the school unnoticed, which was difficult when you were driving a jeep.
The best place to sneak into the school was the southern wall. There wasn't much traffic on that road and the best thing was that it was right beside the pool heating machines, so no one ever went there. Arriving at the correct spot, Trowa took a running start and jumped. His right foot hit the wall while his fingers grasped the edge of the three foot tall stone wall. Trowa pulled himself up easily, and then jumped to the other side, landing safely on his feet. Trowa had to suppress the urge to bow. Old habits die hard.
His parents always insisted that Trowa keep up with his training, even if they wouldn't approve the uses Trowa had found for his acrobatic skills. And people thought that growing up in a circus didn't prepare children for real life.
Trowa started to walk slowly towards the main hall so he could sneak into the basement. He was almost there when he saw one of the school guards. He pressed himself to the wall, waiting for the guard to walk by. Trowa had already accumulated more tardiness that any other student. If he got caught sneaking into school late, he would be suspended, and Catherine, dear sister or not, would kill him.
The guard was almost gone when Trowa noticed a man he had never seen before, dressed in black, walk behind the guard. The man raised his hand. He was holding a gun. Then he shot, and a small dart lounged itself into the guard's back. The guard collapsed.
Trowa must have made a sound because the man turned towards him raising his gun again. Trowa ran, not daring to look back. Before him was a low roof. He headed towards it as fast as he could, jumping above it without difficulty.
The man in the ground was yelling at him. Trowa ignored him and used a pipeline to climb further up. He didn't stop until he reached the East wing roof, then he allowed himself to turn and look down. There were men dressed in black everywhere, and all of them were carrying guns like the first one. Trowa crouched, trying to hide himself, and leaned against one of the chimneys. He opened the front pocket of his backpack and took out his radio. "Heero, what the hell is going on!?"
* * *
TBC