Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Attempted Bystanding ❯ 05 ( Chapter 6 )

Five

The footage showed Ranger so clearly that Heero was almost amazed Lu herself hadn't seen the man following her. He'd pulled immediately into the parking lot after her, and had bypassed her, seeming to look for another parking spot. It hadn't taken him long to get into the store after that, and then he'd moved right along after her as she went to the aisle behind Matty's station. He hadn't been hiding from any cameras, he hadn't been acting overly suspicious...until he'd hung back and watched Lu.

...though, really, she'd been dancing around and posing. He could imagine himself stopping to watch someone doing something like that.

He hadn't even moved back when she'd gone forward to talk to Matty...though he hadn't seemed to see Matty at all.

After Matty had sent her toward the back of the building, the guy had followed slowly, watching for which door she took and stopping at the edge of the aisle.

He really hadn't seemed to be aware of Matty, because Heero doubted he would have just looked at the boy if he'd been intending to be seen. He'd watched Matty fall, then turned and ran straight back out of the store and directly to his car. He'd turned and disappeared out of the parking lot the same way he'd come...and that was all there was to it.

Poor Matty.

Heero held the boy to his chest. He'd been shaking so badly by the time that Heero'd arrived at the store, that Heero was wondering if he might not need to be seen by a medic.

Rick had brought the two security men into his office not long after. He'd explained how Matty had been on vacation, going to see the music-colony on his own. He'd told them how the shuttle he was on had been captured, and how Max and his friends had gone in with their forgotten military rank to save him and the other hostages—and he'd been singled out. He'd explained that the man on the tapes had scared and hurt Matty...which made the men understand why he'd left clients at his table and ran.

Both of the men, because only two of the store security had gotten involved in the situation...they'd both promised Matty that they'd do whatever they could to keep him safe if the guy showed up again. Good men stepping up to help another.

Heero really liked people...no matter how many times he heard his brethren complaining about them.

His phone screamed an alarm, and a half a second later, so did Matty's. Heero looked around wildly to Duo as the guy grabbed his own screaming phone...and looked at his own.

Zechs' phone had been taken from him.

Heero stared at the alert, then looked around to Lucratzia as she stared between them. He hadn't gotten the chance to put the program on her phone.

"Oh, shit," Duo muttered quietly.

"What is that?" Rick demanded as the police officer who'd been taking the story looked between them in confusion.

"Our phones have pax with a homemade patch," Heero explained quietly, studying the name that was scrolling across his screen with a fingerprint, picture, and full rank of a former military officer. "That patch..." he looked up to Noin again.

"No..." she said, sitting up straighter as her face paled. "No...Heero..."

Heero looked back to the screen.

"He's been grabbed," Duo said quietly, still studying his screen. The alarms had muted as soon as they touched their phones. "Either he's been grabbed, or he's gotten in some stupid trouble."

Lucretzia covered her face with her hands.

"What?" the officer asked.

"Just take your report," Heero ordered, raising his eyes to the man. "Do what you came here to do. I need to call Une."

"Une?"

"General Une," Heero agreed, flipping through his phone menu.

"You have to help, Brigadier," Lucretzia whispered, raising her face to look between them both. The tears had barely started streaming down her cheeks. "You...have...to help."

"We know, Lu," Duo reassured her quietly, moving over to pull her into a hug. "We won't leave him to hang."

That was bad word choice, and Heero knew that without thinking about it. It made her sob, and Heero could see Duo hadn't been thinking about his phrasing.

"Brigadier?" the officer asked quietly, looking between them.

"Brigadier General Yuy," Heero agreed, meeting his eyes.

The man stared at him...so did Rick. The two security men were exchanging a look that suggested they hadn't followed the exchange, but Heero could see that the officer recognized his name.

"This situation is strictly confidential," Heero noted, looking between them all. "I know you understand that," he indicated Rick. The man had kept his peace the three weeks he'd known about Matty's situation. "This information is not to be chattered to any other person...I need you to swear it to me."

"But...why?" the black security guard asked quietly. "Why does it matter?"

"Because the last thing we need is media attention," Duo returned. "If the media catches wind of this, it will be blown completely out of proportion."

"Hello?" Une sounded tired.

"Une?" Heero demanded. "This is Yuy. My phone just trilled its lovely little alarm to me that Peacecraft's phone was taken from him."

"Peacecraft?" the second security guard whispered, looking around to the first.

Une stayed quiet long enough for Heero to understand that she hadn't wanted it to happen. Her silence wasn't the confused type that meant that she had no clue. She gathered herself though. "But you said Ranger was there, right? Williams saw him? I thought you said he was following Noin."

"Your lack of surprise is telling me that Lu was put through a damn lot of heartache for nothing," he informed her darkly. "And yes, Ranger was here. He ran, though, and I haven't gotten the chance to look for him since I had to confirm the visual. Get your people on it, Une. I'm sure Barton and Winner are doing their end."

"Winner?" the guy hissed. "Barton?"

"Yuy," the black man returned, his eyes rounding as he looked around to Heero.

"Maxwell," Duo agreed in a mock of their respectful tone. "Chang...Noin...Poe...shit..."

"Don't be pissy," Matty muttered, pushing away from Heero and moving to sit next to Lu. "You don't need to be an ass."

Duo looked away, the turn of his head his consent.

Lucretzia started crying again, and this time, she moved into Matty's arms.

Duo studied her a long moment, then looked tiredly up to Heero.

"Let's go," Heero suggested, closing his phone. He pointed at the four men with them. "Not a word or I'll have you tried as co-conspirators."

"Right," Duo muttered, pulling Lucretzia up gently. "Matty?"

"What?"

"Until we know where Ranger is," Duo retorted, pulling him up a little rougher, "you're staying with us."

"Oh," Matty blinked at him blankly.

"Thank you for your time," Duo muttered to the officer and the security guards.

"I'll get people to cover your shifts," Rick muttered quietly, looking away from Matty.

"Thank you," Matty muttered as the others swept him from the room. "I'm sorry."

The man nodded...but the door swung closed behind them, and they headed for the cars.

- -

Wufei had hacked into the security for V08744, which was where Zechs' phone was. He was downloading their surveillance footage for the area the phone was supposed to be at. Ranger had most definitely seen him when they rescued Matty, so they wouldn't have quite the anonymity as Quatre and Trowa.

Weird to think that Ranger was on earth...how had he even gotten out of the colony?

Wufei frowned at the download. There hadn't been a way for him to get just the time he needed for the feed, he had to get it in two-hour chunks. The files weren't huge, but they were plenty large to be getting on with. According to the progress bar he still had ten minutes to wait.

When Matty had called, Heero had barely gotten out of the shower. Quatre had showered not long before, and they were all starting to talk about lunch. Matty's call had made Heero stop...and then had made everyone stop what they were doing.

Heero had called back with the plate number of the car Ranger'd been driving, and it had taken Trowa all of five minutes to find that it was registered to a rental area in town. The name was fake, but there was no guarantee that the address was. If they couldn't get the company to cooperate with them willingly, they hadn't dumped their rank yet. Dropping the rank took at least a month, and it hadn't even been a full one since they'd gone to save poor Matty.

How had Ranger gotten out of the colony? They had it blockaded.

It made the Chinese man wonder what Rabid thought he was doing. As soon as they'd lost their hostages, they should have folded. There would have been jail time, but it wouldn't have been long. It also wouldn't have been for the full colony, and if it was going to be, there would be better ways than locking them all up. Wouldn't it have been easier to surrender themselves and start working things the legal way? Wufei didn't particularly see their need to be an independent nation. Most of everywhere had joined the Earthsphere Alliance, and it wasn't like the other countries didn't cooperate with them.

What were they hoping to gain?

Granted, Wufei reminded himself, they had taken forty-seven hostages and called them 'prisoners of war'...and no one had ever said Rabid-Marsh had anything like 'common sense.'

If they had Milliardo...Zechs...whatever he called himself anymore...if they had the prince...then he knew his friends were going back to L-5.

He rubbed his forehead, then his eyes.

That meant that he was going back to L-5...again.

So maybe he would try to call those friends...the ones he'd grown up with.

Yes, why not? If they were going, he was waiting until he was sure, then he'd call them and get the initial unpleasantness over with. He'd always thought that any survivors would hate him, and that the memorial would lay out his role in the destruction. He hadn't been sure what to think or even feel since he'd gone to it.

Maybe they wouldn't hate him...maybe...

Wufei shook his head, focusing sharply on the computer.

He could get the flight information.

If they were going...it was going to be tonight.

- -

Ranger strolled cheerfully down the hall, stopping outside the door where the prince was waiting. Hoss had informed him that they'd taken the man's phone and left it on the road where they'd picked him up. He'd also noted that they'd had to knock him out, but he was awake again.

He shoved the door to the room open.

The prince turned his head to look at Ranger a long moment, then closed his eyes again, raising a hand to his temple.

"You think you'll live?" Ranger asked quietly. He'd never seen a person violently knocked out before that Gundam pilot had knocked out Jaden. When Jaden had woken up, he'd had a severe headache.

"I don't know," the man muttered quietly. "I've never had a concussion."

"I don't believe that, lightning count," Ranger retorted, moving to sit on the foot of the bed.

"Who are you?"

"You don't recognize me?" Ranger protested. "And here I thought your little Gundam friends would have cried to you about me."

"My little Gundam friends?" the man echoed in vague amusement. "So you obviously don't know us."

"Huh?"

"These...little friends...as you put it, haven't talked to me in probably three years."

"Ah," Ranger made an amused noise. "But still, you don't recognize me?"

"Now that I've been given a moment to think, I believe you are the former first lieutenant Deroy Hanger of the fifty-seven specials unit, correct?"

"Hanager," the man corrected levelly.

"Excuse me," Zechs returned, running his hand down his face.

"I'm called Ranger," the man added.

"Be that as it may, Mr. Hanager," Zechs muttered, "I do recall hearing that you broke the code. You caused undo physical injury to a so called prisoner of war," he moved his hand to look at the man. "A bit foolhardy, don't you think?"

"Sort of like this conversation," Ranger noted in a falsely pleasant tone.

"Had you realized that Mattox was the lover of Yuy? Or did you just grab a ship full of hostages?"

"The latter, unfortunately," Ranger returned, shifting back to lean against the footboard. "I can tell you want me to, but it was Rab that called them all prisoners of war. I know they were hostages, so I'm not going to argue."

"Wonderful," Zechs muttered. "I don't suppose there's any way you can get me some sort of pain-killer, is there? My head is throbbing."

"Let me turn on the light and look," Ranger suggested happily, jumping up.

The man cringed and rolled, covering his face.

Ranger laughed wickedly. He'd had some fun with J when the guy'd woken up, but he hadn't been fully aware of the migraine the man'd had when he'd started.

"Fair enough," Zechs muttered. "Can't expect anymore from a wannabe revolutionist who can't be bothered to take the time to submit a request for independence."

"Spare me, Mr. Marquise," Ranger returned, dropping onto the bed again. "I'm much more realistic than Rab, but I'm not in charge...you see the dilemma."

"I see you setting yourself up to get yourself killed," Zechs noted, looking back to the man. "I may not personally be friends with the Gundam pilots, but my girlfriend is. They'll come for me just like they came for Mattox."

"Mattox," Ranger mused. "Who is that?"

Zechs made an amused noise.

"Oh, that pretty boy," Ranger noted, studying the man's expression. "That little boy-child playing at being a man...funny, I've never seen a man cry like that..."

"Then you've never seen a man tortured," Zechs returned, starting to massage his temples.

"Will you make him cry?" Ranger asked sweetly.

"I doubt I'll ever meet the boy, Mr. Hanager," Zechs returned.

"Oh, but I'm fairly certain he's fucked that lovely little girlfriend of yours."

Zechs' hand only hesitated a moment in his massage.

"I'd like to get her in bed," Ranger mused, thinking of the woman. "You should have seen her...I followed her, you know? Was going to grab her so you'd come to us..."

Zechs started pressing harder at his temples, hoping it wasn't visible.

"She went into that hardware store that boy works at...was standing at the end of an aisle posing for him...hot shit, huh? You shoulda seen her bend over the table," he made an appreciative noise. "I bet that little boy can't get enough of her."

It was hard for Milliardo to keep in control of his breathing and movement.

"She was wearing this tank-top," Ranger noted quietly. "Low cut, total cleavage," he made another appreciative noise. "I was standing down the aisle, you know? And those jeans...damn that woman's fine..."

Zechs clenched his jaw.

"I bet that boy got an eyeful, huh?" Ranger purred. "I bet he's damn good in bed, too...that other man...Maxwell, I believe. Can you believe he bought that boy pax? He even paid the extra for the Chronus patch."

Zechs doubted that highly, not with Duo and Heero's programming skills. They wouldn't buy a patch, they'd make one themselves.

"I'd like to be their friend," Ranger purred, grinning slightly. He could see the tautness of Zechs' muscles, even though the man was pretending not to be affected. "I bet the two of them had that boy, huh? And then with your girlfriend there...mm...talk about a night of it...and how long has she been there now?"

Milliardo laughed coldly. "Actually, she got there yesterday afternoon."

"Plenty enough time, huh?"

"I dunno, how many marks were on her throat?"

"I'm sure she's pretending to be a good girl for you...probably taking care that there are no marks."

Milliardo laughed again. "Oh, but if they've had her and are having her...I mean...Yuy can't help but bruise. Maxwell can't help but leave hickies...there's no keeping away that evidence, no matter how hard they try."

Ranger fell silent, annoyed that the rise he'd gotten hadn't been volatile.

Zechs moved his hands to look at the man. "And as for Maxwell and Yuy sharing Mattox...they probably have. That's their business, though. That's always been their business. Truth be told, you thinking about how good they might be in bed is amusing to hear. You kidnapped and tortured Mattox. I'm not sure how you're not dead, really. Yuy's a vindictive fucker...you don't want to be seeing him again."

"He tried to kill me, but I'm better than him," Ranger growled.

Zechs laughed at that notion. "Then how did he get away?" he demanded, still amused. "If you're so much better than him, and the second hand of Rabid..." he laughed even more. "Oh, lord...did Rabid cry? Did he cry when they made off with his captives?" he looked to Ranger, his eyes dancing. "You don't have to tell me, I already know...Rabid can't do anything against those pilots...and he's tried all forms of violence, domination, manipulation, and legal devices he could ever think of...and if you really are his right hand-man," Zechs studied his eyes in amusement, "then he'd have cried to you."

Ranger rose slowly to his feet and moved to the door like he'd walk out, then turned and looked over his shoulder at the still laughing man...and turned on the lights.

Zechs' laughter stopped as he made a pained noise and curled up.

Ranger couldn't find his voice to make any last comment, and if the pain he was seeing was real, the man wouldn't hear him anyway. He moved through the door and slammed it as hard as he could.

"Get Rab on the line," he snarled at Hoss, moving back into the room where the security things were set up. "And make it fast."

Hoss blinked at him in confusion, then turned and started typing away on the keyboard.

"Yes?" Biden, the man who controlled the incoming calls, asked levelly.

"I need to speak with Rab," Ranger snapped.

"Oh, Ranger," the guy grinned at him, then raised something to his mouth and started talking. "It'll be just a minute," the man added, starting to type away. "Anything interesting to report?"

"Why would I tell you that?" Ranger asked sweetly.

"Because I'll hear it anyway," Biden noted, smirking as he looked up. "You know I'll hear it all anyway."

Ranger rolled his eyes, blinking as the scene flicked to show more of the room.

"Ranger!" Rab greeted, bouncing into the area in front of the screen. "Please tell me you're not calling with bad news!"

"Well, sir," Ranger muttered dubiously, looking down. "Uh..."

"What happened?" Rab asked darkly.

"I seem to have gotten ahold of this prince," Rab admitted, raising his eyes to see comprehension spread across the man's face. He smirked slightly. "He's one fucking asshole, too...you want him? I have nothing to do with him now."

The man laughed wickedly, turning his head to look behind himself. "Hey, Biden? Why don't you get me the number of the beautiful Lady Relena?"

"Of course," Biden returned just as happily. "It should only take me a few moments."

- -

"We're heading up," Heero muttered. "We're going to find him. Chang says he got shots of all the men who did it..."

Relena covered her face with her hands, fear warring with anger.

"We're going to drop Lu and Matty off with Une for safe-keeping..."

"Matty?" Relena asked heavily, moving her hands to look at him. "Who is Matty?"

"My...boyfriend," Heero blinked. "Don't you know about any of this?"

"He was one of those passengers, wasn't he?" she asked, thinking back. "The one who got bruised?"

"Yeah," Heero agreed.

"That was why you went up?" she snapped, irritated and willing to focus on the distraction. "You went up to save your piece of ass?"

A young man appeared behind Heero, frowning at the screen. "If I was just a piece of ass," he muttered, "would he really have bothered?"

"You all piss me off," Heero snapped, obviously angered by this question. "You all...none of you understand anything! Save my piece of ass...as if I couldn't just get more," his expression was disgusted as the boy looked away.

"Yeah, Heero, yell at me," Relena snapped back. "Instead of using your time to do something constructive...like find my brother, yell and bitch at me because I called you out."

"Called me out?" he echoed, the disgusted expression crossing his face again. "Spare me the bullshit, highness."

He only called her that when he was pissed.

"Besides which," he added, darkly, "you honestly think we're all sitting here and doing nothing? Are you really that self-centered? Did I tell you it was Rabid?"

"Who is Rabid?" Relena spat back. It was times like these when she couldn't understand why she'd been chasing him around the planet—granted, that was teenage stupidity with money to burn.

"Colonel Gerrange," he snapped back. "From the forty-first MS unit..."

"Isn't that the man who took you to court the first time?" she muttered.

"He did it a couple times, highness," Heero reassured her.

Relena subsided a long moment, feeling the fear again and meeting his eyes. "You are...you will go after him?" she asked.

He looked about to snarl at her, then composed himself and nodded. "We have a flight planned to head back out to space already. We're looking into the people who grabbed him and the resources available from the black-market. We had our rank reinstated a few weeks ago, so we'll just take it and run with it. We'll get him back, Relena. We need you to let the ES monitor your lines, all right?"

"Why?"

"Because we want to know what you want for Christmas next year," he snapped, his eyes hardening again.

Relena looked away and nodded.

"Verbalizing would be a key factor to an audio monitoring, Miss Darlian."

"Okay fine!" she spat back at him. "Monitor my lines! I don't see what use it would be."

"In a hostage situation," Heero returned darkly, "it's usually family that is seen to first. They won't be calling Lu, because she's not nearly as high profile as the queen of the world."

"Sometimes I hate you," she informed him, wiping the tears that were streaming down her cheeks away. "Do you know that?"

"Sometimes I feel bad about that," he returned, studying her. "The line monitor connected to yours with my call. They'll have the connection set by now. I have to go, we have twenty things to do in ten minutes."

Relena nodded, wiping at her eyes again.