Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Appleseeds ❯ Episode 7: The Last UNDIS ( Chapter 7 )

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Gundam Wing.

Episode Seven: The Last UNDIS (December 29-31, 279 AE)

Quatre sat in the small lounge area situated in the corner of the large basement office, tablet in one hand, a steaming cup of tea in the other. Across from him, Wufei sat lotus style on the low-backed sofa, eyes closed and breathing rhythmically.

“It just keeps getting worse doesn't it? Just when we think things are starting to change for the better,” Quatre murmured forlornly.

“We've already turned the tide; we must be patient until the other pieces fall into place. Justice cannot be rushed,” Wufei intoned solemnly, eyes still closed.

Quatre nodded thoughtfully at Wufei's wise words but before he could reply, the door to their office slammed open and Noin stormed in.

“Winner, Chang! I need you in the field!”

“What's the assignment?”

“I need you two to investigate a public disturbance that took place two nights ago.”

Wufei arched a brow. “You want us to investigate a public disturbance?”

“No offense Commander but… can't the other agents do that? We're still waiting for an update from Heero and Trowa about the UNDIS hideout and-”

“I can take over while you're in the field,” Noin barked. “This investigation takes priority. The incident took place at the Kushrenada Gardens.”

Wufei flinched visibly at the name. “What? That area hasn't been reassigned yet, it's practically deserted!”

Noin nodded. “And it's quite close to the government district. I don't need word getting out that a firefight occurred right under our noses.”

“Firefight?!” The two agents exclaimed.

“Yes,” Noin confirmed. “According to the rookies, there were two shots fired.”

“Rookies?” Wufei demanded, “What in damnation were two doing rookies doing getting mixed up in a firefight?”

“Never mind why, I'm dealing with that,” Noin growled, exasperated, “they heard the shots and interrupted the fight. They reported that there were three individuals involved, two apparently attacking the other. When they announced that they were agents, the one suspect immediately fled the scene with the other two in hot pursuit. At first I thought it was some sort of cock and bull story that the rookies made up as a cover up to one of their screw ups. I sent another team down to do a cursory check yesterday and they did find signs of some sort of struggle. This morning, a witness came forward saying that they had also heard shots that night.”

“Were the rookies able to provide a description of the suspects?” Wufei asked.

Noin fought a smile as she handed her tablet to the raven-haired agent. “Their first-hand report is in here, per verbatim.”

Wufei nodded in satisfaction as he accepted the tablet. Quickly, he scanned through the report, his expression changing from satisfaction, to frustration and finally, outright indignation.

“What is the meaning of this?” Wufei spluttered. “The attacking subjects -and this I quote- `had claws and fangs' while the fleeing suspect `had a tail'!?”

Quatre's mouth dropped open to form a perfect `O'. “Fangs, claws and a tail? Were the agents intoxicated?”

“No,” Noin replied wryly, “just hysterical with fear. Something seriously spooked those two agents. I checked their records; they're both clean. I need to know what happened; both the location and the timing are giving me a bad feeling. Now, do you have any more objections?”

Quatre and Wufei exchanged a glance and shook their heads. After fighting alongside Noin to overthrow the S.A., both agents had come to trust their new commander's instincts. And if Noin was worried, they should be too.

“We're on it!” Quatre announced, retrieving his kit from the lockers, Wufei right alongside him.

Before the agents could make it out the door, Noin cleared her throat. “Agent Winner, aren't you forgetting something?” she asked dryly, gesturing at her own short hair.

~*~

“What happened?” Dorothy hissed. “It was a simple intercept and terminate job! And why didn't you contact me immediately?”

“It was A's fault, he couldn't shut that damn trap of his. We had to lay low for a couple of days.”

“At least I wasn't the spoilsport who started shooting and got the Preventers involved.”

“I was under the impression that there would be no Preventers on patrol that evening,” the first voice spat.

“There wasn't supposed to be,” Dorothy replied. “Why didn't you terminate the agents?”

“The prey escaped. Orders were to catch and terminate the prey, pretty little thing,” the second voice cackled.

“You told us not to attract the Preventers' attention. Killing them would have brought attention to us,” the first voice explained logically.

“Too late, you've got their attention M. That nuisance of a commander has ordered an investigation. I hope you've covered your tracks well. Midek will show you no mercy if you're caught.”

“Not our fault,” A pouted. “The pretty prey was getting away! And then he disappeared somewhere, just POOF! And he was gone… pretty pretty prey.”

“Those fools won't find anything,” M replied evenly. “And I would suggest controlling your spies better if you don't want to incur the wrath of Midek yourself.”

~*~

“Seriously?” Wufei chortled next to his colleague as they navigated their way towards Kushrenada Gardens.

Quatre tugged self-consciously at his shaggy dark wig and readjusted his sunglasses. “At least I don't have to wrestle my hair into submission every day. How tight do you have to pull it back to tie it like that?”

Wufei opened his mouth to retort but fell silent as the Kushrenada Gardens came into view. The colonial infrastructure of L1 dictated that gardens could only exist in greenhouses. In response, the Kushrenada family had created an open garden entirely from stone and marble. Intermixed with statues of historical family members were intricate carvings of delicate flowers and sweeping vines, the genuine love and respect for nature shining through the cold stone. At the center of the gardens was its crowning glory, a towering stone replica of an old oak tree with thousands of tiny glass leaves shining in the light.

“I always forget just how beautiful this place is,” Quatre sighed, drinking in the view.

“I should have realized,” Wufei whispered, clenching his fist. “I should have realized something was wrong when he let me win our last duel.”

“There was nothing you could have done,” Quatre reassured. “Treize believed he was destined to leave this world in battle, and more importantly, he wanted you to survive. You can honour that wish by remembering him with fondness and living your life without regrets.”

Wufei nodded mutely, his head still bowed.

“Come on,” Quatre urged. “We need to search the scene from top to bottom, uncover every shred of evidence we can. The rookies reported two shots fired, we need to find the bullets.”

“The rookies may have been mistaken,” Wufei countered, “we shouldn't let their report mislead us. We need to keep our eyes open for anything and everything.”

Quatre nodded, pleased that his friend was returning to his usual analytical self.

~*~

Another cough wracked Duo's body as he shivered miserably. Pulling his arms and legs closer to his body, he curled up into a ball, tucked neatly away in the shadows of a curving tunnel.

`I'll have to go up and see what I can scavenge once it gets dark,' he thought to himself before drifting off into a feverish sleep.

~*~

Agents Winner and Chang trudged wearily into their basement office after an entire day of combing through the Kushrenada Gardens, inch by inch.

“As beautiful as those gardens are, I don't want to see another stone flower ever again!” Quatre groaned, “And this wig itches!”

“I hope you found more than just stone flowers and itchy wigs.” Noin commented from Quatre's desk.

“Commander Noin!” Quatre gasped, “What are you doing here?”

“What I said I would do,” Noin calmly stated, “Manning the communications line to Heero and Trowa. Don't ever let it be said that I don't do my share of the work.” Noin shifted her boots off the desk. “What are your findings?”

“The first team was right; there was evidence of an altercation that took place recently. The scene was too compromised to get any footprints, what with the rookies and the other team and who knows who else traipsing through there. We did recover two bullets, one with blood evidence and a small bag filled with strange leaves; we gave those to Sally for processing.” Wufei reported.

“Good. Anything else?”

“Well,” Quatre hesitated, “the bullet with the blood trace… it was compacted, probably from impact with a very hard surface. Sally will be able to tell us for sure, but we think that the bullet came in contact with the blood after it was crushed.”

“So one of the suspects was hit by a ricochet,” Noin deduced.

Quatre nodded. “Yes, but the thing is, Wufei and I searched every inch of the garden from top to bottom, we found no evidence that the bullet had ricocheted off any of the surfaces in the garden.”

Noin frowned. “So at least one of the suspects was wearing some sort of armour?”

Wufei nodded, “That's the conclusion we came to as well. Whoever they were, they came prepared.” His expression turned grim, “at least one of the suspects is ex-military, maybe even linked to the S.A.”

“Damn,” Noin muttered, “this can't get out! The new government is just days from forming and-“ Noin broke off as all three agents heard rushed footsteps pounding towards them.

Sally burst into the room, flustered and out of breath. “Is Heero still on L2?” she gasped.

“Yes, why? Did you find something in the L2 lab's-”

“Never mind that!” Sally snapped. “I just finished processing the bullet recovered today. The bullet was cobalt-tipped and the blood found on the bullet matches that of the UNDIS subject!”

~*~

Heero paced irritably in the main room of the UNDIS hideout. “There's nothing here!”

“I wouldn't say that,” Trowa replied calmly. “The improvised greenhouse and cloaking system are nothing to laugh at. Howard was certainly impressed when you sent him the specs…”

“That's not what I meant! There's nothing here that could lead us to him. I've run the life-scanning system over the entire colony, there's no one on this colony except for us! Do you think he could be…?”

“It's always a possibility,” Trowa said softly just as his com unit began to buzz.

“Yes Quatre?” he answered, clicking his com unit on.

“Trowa! You and Heero need to get back here ASAP!”

“Did something happen?” Trowa asked, sounding worried.

“Heero's UNDIS is here, on L1!”

“What!?” Heero snatched the com unit out of Trowa's hand and peered into the small screen at Quatre. “Are you sure? How do you know this?” he demanded.

“We found blood and a cobalt-tipped bullet at the scene of an altercation, Sally matched the blood to the UNDIS sample.”

“Is he hurt?”

Quatre shook his head. “I don't think so… at least not badly. We found no other blood at the scene so it was probably just a graze…”

“We're on our way,” Heero snapped the com unit shut, already heading back towards the Gemini shuttle, Trowa dutifully in tow.

~*~

“Heero took that well,” Noin commented sarcastically.

“Yes well, he almost seems to be emotionally invested in finding this UNDIS,” Sally commented. “Strange considering how he always keeps his emotions so tightly in check…”

A loud beeping broke Sally's train of thought as a light began to flash on the office's communications array. Checking the code Quatre announced, “It's Howard!”

The office's large screen flashed on and Howard's balding head filled the screen. “Woah! Whose funeral?” he asked, a wrinkled hand reaching up to scratch at his goatee.

“Just a little bad news,” Quatre replied wearily.

“Oh, does it have anything to do with Heero? I tried to reach him on his com but it's turned off. He sent me the specs to some juicy bits of gadgetry, said he found it in an UNDIS hideout of all places!” Howard crowed delightedly.

“He's en route from L2,” Noin replied tersely. “I estimate he'll be back by 2100 hours on the 30th but even then he'll most likely be occupied. You might have to put off grilling him about his findings for a while.”

“Boy's got a lot on his plate?” Howard asked, peering over the edge of his sunglasses.

“What has he told you?” Noin hedged.

“That he's out hunting for a surviving UNDIS. Seemed pretty damned insistent about finding him too if you ask me.”

Sally nodded, “Well, we've just discovered evidence that he's on L1.”

“And we still don't have a damn clue how he managed to get here,” Wufei added.

Howard nodded sagely. “That doesn't surprise me. From what Heero sent me, I can tell you that your mystery UNDIS has access to some pretty nifty gadgets. In fact, I might be able to help with your search, let me see if I can't cook something up by the time Heero gets back.”

“Thanks Howard,” Quatre smiled, “we could use all the help we can get.”

“Don't mention it. I'll talk to you kiddies later then!” Howard waved jauntily, his crow's feet wrinkling with his wide grin.

“I suppose we should start our own search for the UNDIS,” Wufei sighed. “And get some rest while we can. Yuy's going to want to hit the ground running the moment he gets back.”

~*~

Duo cracked his eyes open, wrenching himself free from his feverish dreams. Feebly, he reached into his coat and pulled out his small device, squinting at the screen.

“Damn,” he muttered, “it's afternoon already. I missed my chance to go find supplies.”

Groaning, he pushed himself up. “I'm in no shape to go up there anyways,” he grumbled, sluggishly shaking his gadget.

“Lemme see…” Duo squinted, “Unfit & Dispossessed. I'll say…” he laughed hoarsely.

Painfully hauling himself to his feet, he began to shuffle down the tunnel. “Can't stay here,” he mumbled to himself, “Gotta keep moving. Near the heat vents would be nice…”

Coughing and gasping for breath, he pushed his protesting body forward, concentrating on placing one foot in front of the other.

~*~

“Run the scan again!” Heero demanded.

Quatre suppressed a sigh. Heero had been on edge ever since he and Trowa had returned from L2.

“We've run the scan five times already Yuy!” Wufei snapped, “We've run it over every inch of the colony that's classified as uninhabited and there is absolutely no sign of human activity! And if he's hidden himself in a highly populated area, we won't find him on the scans.”

“The most logical place would be the infrastructural tunnels,” Trowa pointed out, “the UNDIS hideout was situated in the tunnels of L2 so logic dictates that's where he would feel most comfortable.”

Quatre shook his head, “That is the most logical choice, but if he were in the tunnels, he would have tripped the life-sensors.”

Wufei nodded grimly, “And I've already checked the entire system for the tunnels. None of the sensors have been tripped, they're all online and none of them show any signs of being tampered with like the sensors on L2 were.”

“Give me the blueprints for the infrastructural tunnel network on L1,” Heero ordered Wufei. “There has to be something there!”

“I don't know what you expect to find in there,” Wufei gritted out, his patience wearing thin, “but I've just downloaded them to your tablet. Anything else?”

Heero merely grunted, his attention already fixed to his tablet.

Sally sighed. “Should we round up some agents and organize a door to door search? See if anyone's seen anything?”

Noin frowned. “Too risky, word of this mission can't leave this room. If word got out that we were looking for an UNDIS subject, on L1 of all places, and who may have been involved in a firefight, we'll have widespread panic. Not to mention, he would be terminated on the spot.”

Sally scowled. “I keep forgetting how close-minded these people are. What options do we have left? Our hands are tied!”

“We're not quite out of options yet,” Noin countered, “let's see if Howard has found anything.” Noin quickly tapped a code into the communications array and waited for the line to connect.

“Hey!” a grinning Howard answered, “great timing. I was just about to call you!”

“Howard?” Heero's head shot up as he stalked towards the screen.

“Woah! You back already? You better not have done anything funny to that Gemini on your way back here!” Howard narrowed his eyes at Heero over his sunglasses.

“The Gemini is fully operational Howard,” Heero growled, “I'm busy right now.”

Howard nodded, his fingers stroking his beard. “Looking for your UNDIS are we? Well, you can stop glaring at everyone Wonder Boy, this old man's found him for you!”

“What!?” six voices shouted in unison.

“How?” Heero demanded.

“Simple. Your UNDIS has got one beauty of a gadget on him. I found the basic specs in the data you sent me from the UNDIS hideout. It's a portable cloaking device, completely hides him from any type of life-systems scanner.”

“None of the systems showed any form of tampering,” Heero argued.

“Now, now,” Howard wagged his finger at Heero, “let an old man finish would you? It doesn't affect the sensors at all. Nope, this is a real piece of nifty work. It surrounds the individual in an electromagnetic field that obscures all the subject's life-readings. Basically makes him invisible to the sensors.”

“Genius!” Wufei muttered in awe. “To think such technology exists…”

Howard cleared his throat. “Anyways, I just reprogrammed the sensors to look for the electromagnetic pulse instead of scanning for life-readings, and…” Howard glanced down at a tablet clutched in his bony hand, “he's near the exhaust vents of the L1 government district generator. I'll send you the program over the link so you can download it to your scanners.”

Noin smiled, “Thanks Howard, we owe you one.”

“I think you owe me more than one,” Howard chuckled before his expression turned sombre. “You're not going to kill him are you?”

“No, for the moment it's a capture-only mission.”

“Good,” Howard smiled wanly, “it would be a shame to lose someone like him.”

“Do you know something that we don't?” Noin asked sharply.

Howard waved his hand nonchalantly. “Don't mind me Ms. Noin. I'm just a doddering old man with a sentimental side. Hate to see any loss of life, that's all. Good luck on the retrieval kids!” Howard gave one final wave and cut the line.

Noin turned to face her agents. Heero and his fellow agents were already reprogramming their scanners and assembling their gear.

“I guess it goes without saying that you four are going?” Noin asked, slightly exasperated. “Be sure to wear your body armour agents, the subject may still be armed. And don't get careless, I know the generator is only a few blocks from here but don't rush in and do anything stupid.”

Quatre smiled gently. “Don't worry Commander, we'll be careful.”

Sally picked up her tablet and headed towards the door. “I'll go prep the medical isolation room. I'm assuming you want to keep him down here?” Sally looked to Noin for confirmation.

“Yes,” Noin confirmed. “Do you have all the necessary equipment down here?”

Sally nodded. “Most, the rest I'll bring down from the medical wing upstairs.” She turned to the young men hastily donning their combat suits and checking their stun guns. “Low stun only, and try and avoid it entirely if possible. If he's as weak as I suspect he is, he won't survive the shock to his heart. I also suspect that he's running a high-grade fever if he's moved towards the heated area of the generator.”

Trowa, Quatre and Wufei exchanged worried looks.

“Trowa, do you still have that penicillin I gave you?”

Trowa nodded.

“Good, give him a dose immediately upon capture. And be sure to bring him straight to the med room once you get back.”

“Roger,” the four agents replied in unison.

“Alright agents, move out!” Noin commanded.

~*~

Duo shuddered awake, shivering miserably despite the heat coming from the vents of the generator. Groaning, he rolled over, trying to slip back into sleep and escape the agony of being awake. His senses wouldn't let him though, screaming at him that something was wrong.

Groggily, he pulled out his small device, squinting at the screen. `December 31, 0245 hours'. The screen blinked and new words flashed urgently at him.

`Unsafe Discovery'.

Mentally jolting into full alertness, Duo remained completely still and strained his senses. There! He hadn't dreamed it. Faint footsteps and voices were rapidly approaching. Lurching to his feet, he set off at a dead run. He needed to get out of there.

~*~

“Almost there,” Quatre spoke softly over the com link.

“Did the rookies provide any kind of description of the subject?” Trowa asked softly.

Wufei rolled his eyes. “Yes, according to those useless rookies, he has a `tail',” he snorted.

“Quiet!” Heero snapped.

“He's on the move!” Quatre suddenly shouted. All four agents checked their scanners. “Heero, Trowa, you try and cut him off. Wufei and I will cover the exits.

The four agents smoothly parted ways, each heading towards a different section of the underground tunnels.

Heero and Trowa surged ahead, intent on cutting off any escape.

Trowa glimpsed a retreating shadow. “He's retreating down C2, I'll cut off his entrance to C5, and steer him towards C8.”

“Roger,” Heero acknowledge and put on a burst of speed.

~*~

`Dammit he's fast!' Duo thought desperately to himself as he flung his exhausted body down the tunnel. Reaching into his jacket, he pulled out one of his knives and flung it behind him, hoping to delay his pursuer. The figure neatly avoided the flying blade and continued to gain on him.

`Damn damn damn!' he repeated in his head, desperately pushing his battered body to its limits. Seeing his pursuer move to block his exit towards the upper levels, he blindly threw himself around the corner only to find himself stumbling into the strong grasp of another body.

Wrenching himself free, he pulled out his last knife as the attacker reached for him again. Furiously stabbing upwards as he fell, he felt his knife connect with flesh and bone before the bulk of his attacker fell on him, painfully forcing the breath from his lungs.

Gasping for breath, he stared up at his assailant, his shocked eyes meeting deep blue.

“You are a very hard man to find Duo Maxwell.”

“You! You're that-” gasped Duo before his vision faded to black.

AN: Yikes this was hard! Duo just didn't want to be caught and kept insisting I could put it off for another chapter. But I did say lucky `7' was going to be the one so… the 5 boys are officially reunited! I just realized that I never really covered the characters' ages in this story, that will be remedied next chapter. (well.. I more or less hinted that they were older than in the series… keeping the balance between scattering hints and providing answers is harder than I thought it would be… grr)

Anyways, I hope this chapter didn't disappoint too much. Next chapter I hope to answer more questions, create some more intrigue and of course start fleshing the characters out a bit.

A very happy 4th of July to my southern neighbours!!