Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Attempted Bystanding ❯ 11 ( Chapter 12 )

Eleven

Quatre ran his hand through his hair as he moved through the deserted hallways of a building that had been fully inhabited two hours before. There was paper all over the floor, and in some of the rooms—ones with open doors, personal items were strewn across the floor.

How had they known?

Actually, Quatre sort of preferred it that way. His recon team had swept through the building to confirm its abandonment. Heero and Trowa were wandering through the rooms that had been offices while Wufei walked the second floor. Duo hadn't caught up with them yet, and hopefully the ship he'd stopped to investigate wasn't hostile.

Quatre moved to the door of a center room, feeling something from that place that he recognized. The light was on as he moved into it, and unlike the other rooms, it was not in disarray.

Actually, the only thing anywhere was an over-shirt hanging over the foot of the bed—and a remote comfortably setting on the coffee table in front of a small tv.

Zechs' room.

He looked around the area in disbelief as he lifted the over-shirt.

There had been a struggle...but that was all he could gather.

"Nothing?"

Quatre jumped hard as Duo stepped into the room. They stared at each other a long moment, then Quatre gestured at the room. "This was his room."

"That's the shirt he had on when they grabbed him," Duo agreed, indicating the thing with his head.

"What did you find out?"

"That ship?" Duo asked, shrugging as he leaned his back against the wall. "Just a civilian pilot. He was trying to hit 44 because 14 was out of docking. He was absolutely horrified."

"Did you check him out fully?" Quatre demanded, raising an eyebrow.

"He was hot," Duo agreed happily. "Cute face, good lips—kissing lips. He even had a nice ass," he made a gesture indicating a curve. "I think he was into me," he winked.

Quatre drew himself up.

Duo laughed, not sure why he appreciated that rise. He looked to the ceiling as he moved away. "He was fully marked out—you saw it first, did it seem off to you?"

"I don't appreciate you saying shit like that," Quatre informed him irritably. "Don't be so lewd."

"Why not?" Duo retorted, looking down the hall. He wasn't sure where the others were entirely, but he hadn't gotten the impression Quatre wanted them to know anything.

"Just because your mind is always in the gutter doesn't mean that mine is, too."

"But it is when you look at me, isn't it?" Duo met his eyes, smirking wickedly. "I'll make all the damn suggestions I want. I always have. You need to get over it. Now answer me. Did you feel anything off about their vessel?"

Quatre bristled a moment, then realized that Duo was serious. He crossed his arms, studying the man a long moment. "If I said I was interested in your offers, but admitted I was scared, would you respect me then?"

"Probably not," Duo retorted. "You have a nasty habit of avoiding answering questions."

"You're trying to change the subject!" Quatre snapped back. "What do I have to say to get you to stop saying shit?"

"You have to say you're my boy," Duo smiled a bit facetiously at him. "And that wouldn't even end it. It's how I am. Can you get back on topic now?"

"On topic?" Quatre demanded, his ire rising even more.

"I came to ask you about that ship," Duo snapped back.

Quatre settled where he was, blinking several times. "What about it?"

"Their registration was all in order, their flight number was in order—but all of that could have been doctored. Did you feel anything at all about it?"

"They were nervous," he muttered, thinking about it. "Not hiding or anything, but trying to hurry."

"So it could have been these idiots," he gestured toward the building, then ran a hand through his hair. "I'm going to contact HQ and make sure that ship is tracked."

Quatre watched him walk away, then looked the room over again.

He wasn't entirely sure what to do about that man...but the man who'd been prisoner in the room was something else entirely.

He started after the other, realizing he needed to let them all know that there was something weird with the room. The argument with Duo would have to wait—it really wasn't the time or the place.

- -

It was all well and good to think to just go up and enter a military compound, but the issue with that was finding one. Actually, finding the name of a colony itself without going into populated areas.

This was ridiculous.

Zechs groaned to himself, moving over to a stoop and sitting down on it, rubbing at his face.

This was ridiculous. He needed to find a payphone and dial the emergency number.

He looked up and around, then rose. No one seemed to have seen him, but that didn't really mean all that much.

He moved up the road again, realizing something.

He'd been here before. It was familiar.

How had he gotten so turned around?

Something was different about the building, though. There were a couple vans around for SWAT teams, not the same sort that were there when he'd ran for it.

"This is a restricted zone!" a soldier snarled, moving up to him as he came nearer the building.

Zechs met his eyes.

The man, and many around, actually, fell silent. They were all staring at him as if they didn't understand what they were seeing.

"I'm telling you!" he was pretty sure that was Quatre's voice. "Something in that room wasn't right!"

"Until you can tell me what," Duo retorted, "I'm not overly interested."

Zechs moved toward the front of the building, feeling his heart start to thunder in his chest.

"Don't be an asshole," Quatre protested back.

Zechs moved to the door where the voices were coming from as the various soldiers around stared at him in disbelief.

"I'm not being an asshole, Quatre," Duo snapped. "We have to figure out where the hell they took the prince, so some weird room isn't going to do anyone any good—unless you can read minds. We have to find Princey."

Wufei, who was the only one properly facing the door of the five men, stopped and looked at Zechs. His expression changed to a wide and wicked grin.

"I know that," Quatre muttered.

Duo made a frustrated noise, gesturing toward the ceiling in his exasperation.

"Hey," Wufei said happily, looking between his friends. "Guess what?"

"What?" Duo snapped.

"I found him."

"What?" Duo asked blankly.

Wufei pointed at the door.

The group all turned to look at him blankly.

"Wow," Trowa muttered, blinking at him. "How anticlimactic."

"But I did find him," Wufei persisted.

Heero was blinking at him, too.

They were all confused.

"If you ask how he did that, I'm going to smack you," Duo noted to Quatre, whose mouth had opened.

The blond focused on him in instant anger.

"What are you guys doing here?" Zechs asked them all blankly.

"Considering that you were away," Trowa noted, "I think we can ask you the same thing. What the hell happened?"

Zechs pointed at Duo. "Your phone."

"It's pretty," Duo agreed, pulling the thing out so Zechs could see it. "What's your point?"

Zechs snatched for it, but Duo moved off backwards.

"Knock it off!" Quatre ordered Duo.

Heero looked to Wufei, then gestured pointedly with his head at Quatre.

The Chinese man shrugged slightly.

"You honestly need to knock that off," Duo retorted.

"If you piss me off," Quatre informed him in a severely firm voice, "then there's no way in hell I'll let you seduce me."

Duo froze to stare at him in disbelief as the others looked to the blond in utter shock.

"I don't need to know your twisted fantasies," Zechs noted, yanking the phone from Duo's hand since the man had stopped moving.

"If I'm going to seduce you," Duo noted, making an irritated gesture at Zechs, "then there's no let about it."

"Okay," Trowa muttered, amusement deep in his tone. "What?"

"Duo caught my attention yesterday," Quatre snapped back, his cheeks slightly flushed. "It's nothing to...you don't need to..."

"Caught your attention?" Duo echoed in amusement. "I gave you a handjob. I hadn't realized you were so naïve you didn't know the terms."

Quatre turned, his cheeks flaring more as he started hitting at Duo's chest.

Wufei blinked at Quatre, then looked back to Heero.

"I told you," Heero retorted to that look. "I said."

"But they're always weird," Wufei protested.

"Where the hell is Lu's number?" Zechs demanded irritably of Duo, looking up to him since he'd caught Quatre's wrist and they were face to face.

"She's listed as secret lover," Duo noted, still watching Quatre's eyes.

"Secret lover?" Zechs echoed darkly. "You know I hate you, don't you?"

"We'll have to find a quiet place to discuss it after you're debriefed," Duo noted, looking away from Quatre finally to meet Zechs' eyes. "Somewhere with no one to interfere."

"You're not going to fight him," Quatre snapped, trying to yank his wrists away.

Duo looked back to him fairly pointedly.

"So what made you lose your mind?" Trowa asked curiously, moving in to disengage the blond from the...shorthaired American's grip.

"What happened to your hair?" Zechs asked blankly.

Duo looked back to him, staring at him a long moment, then pointed at the phone.

"Oh, shit," Zechs hit the keys.

"Does he realize that we were about to go all rescue-y on him?" Wufei asked Heero curiously.

"If he doesn't at the moment, he'll realize it in a while," Heero reassured him. "I don't understand why he came back."

"So how did you lose your mind?" Trowa demanded of Quatre again, shoving Duo back.

Duo wanted to snigger, trying to move past Trowa. The fact that Quatre had so openly commented on what had happened meant he was released from the full respect of keeping the secret. He knew that he only had an hour or so of the play to get away with, and he didn't want to disappoint Trowa. On top of that, when he'd gotten ahold of Quatre, the blond hadn't reacted adversely.

He only had so much time to play.

"I'm so pissed at you!" Lucretzia announced loudly. They had, after all, left her behind. "You have no idea how pissed I am at you!"

"I'm sorry," Zechs said quickly. "I really wanted to take you out for Valentine's Day...can you forgive me?"

The woman fell silent.

"Lu?" Zechs said quietly.

Lucretzia started crying.

"What's going on? Duo?"

"Who is this?" Zechs asked blankly, not recognizing Matty's voice.

"Who is this?" Matty retorted. "Where's...where's Warrick?"

"Who's Warrick?" Zechs asked blankly.

Duo snatched the phone from the man. "Matty..."

"Uh...War?" Matty asked uncertainly.

"That's the prince," Duo explained. "We...saved him," Duo raised his eyebrows slightly at the man, "so he was calling to check in."

"You did not save me," Zechs snapped, snatching the phone back. "I got away from them a couple hours ago and...well, I got lost on my way back here."

"Give me that," Heero snapped, reaching for the phone.

Zechs danced back out of arm's reach. "I came walking up here, and if anyone found me, it would be Chang Wufei. Where is Lu? Who is this? Are you Duo's boyfriend? Because if you are, he's been cheating on you with Quatre."

Duo froze entirely, his jaw dropping almost comically.

"Ooh," Wufei flinched appreciatively. "That's just fucking cold."

"That's my boyfriend," Heero snapped, yanking the phone away from Zechs.

Zechs froze.

Duo looked to be in shock for about three seconds—and then he jumped at Zechs.

"Oh, don't!" Quatre fretted, not actually moving at them.

"You are so lucky your condition is necessary!" Duo snarled as he made Zechs fall to the ground. "I'd kick your ass here and now!"

"That'd impress my girlfriend, wouldn't it?" Zechs snarled back, rolling them and slamming Duo down to the ground. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I was trying to save your ass," Duo snapped back viciously, rolling them and slamming Zechs to the ground. "Your girlfriend was damn distraught that you ran off right before Valentine's Day without saying anything to her! And your sister is working her ass off to gain independence for a colony of dumbfucks so you can keep alive!"

Zechs stopped trying to push him over.

"I think they stopped," Heero muttered thoughtfully. "Are you dumbasses done?" he added.

"For now," Duo agreed through clenched teeth, pushing himself up and yanking Zechs up after him.

"Duo..." Quatre started.

Duo pointed at him wordlessly, then shoved Zechs toward Trowa. "Give me my phone," he added to Heero.

Heero stopped mid-word and passed the phone over.

"So what does that...hello?" Matty asked blankly.

"He'll call you on his," Duo noted, and hung up.

Zechs, who'd expected more of the bickering arguments and possibly more wrestling, blinked as the man stormed off down the hall. "What's up his ass?" he asked blankly.

"Not him," Trowa noted with a wicked smirk, pointing at Quatre.

Quatre's cheeks flared and he moved forward to hit Trowa hard once, then turned to follow Duo.

"So, we need to start calling," Heero noted, looking around. "And get medical," he added, moving around Zechs and gestured at a few of the men who'd been clustered a ways out the door to the building.

"And you get to tell me a story," Wufei noted happily, messing with his phone a few seconds before extending it between them. "Recording by Chang Wufei," he noted happily. "Date, March twenty-fifth. As a follow up on reconnaissance, Brigadier Generals Yuy, Maxwell, Barton, Winner and I arrived on the colony V09613 at approximately one-thirty P.M.. As of now, approximately two P.M., Brigadier Marquise has been successfully recovered, unwounded. Brigadier, why were you not on the premise at our arrival?"

Zechs stared at him blankly a long moment, then rubbed at his face. "At approximately noon today, the former first lieutenant of the 57 specials unit, Hanagar, appeared in the room that was my holding cell with a syringe of something that looked like Procilian. I have no way to confirm the liquid inside of the syringe. He made a comment about not having time that I can't quite recall at this moment, and when I refused to submit to injection, he attempted to subdue me. We had a brief fight before I downed the man and injected him with the substance. To the last of my knowledge he'd fallen asleep, though I did not check his vital signs. I stole his coat and left the holding cell. The building was in chaos and no one realized I was the prisoner. I took a hat, then proceeded to the ground floor of the building and snuck out an emergency exit. I wandered around the colony trying to find the military depot without alerting people to my presence, and managed to get reversed in my direction." He looked up tiredly as Wufei smirked at him. "I ended up back at this building and found the afore mentioned Brigadier Generals."

"End statement one," Wufei noted, and hit the button. After a moment, he looked up to Zechs with a wider smirk. "You got lost?"

"Shut-up," Zechs retorted, turning irritably away from him.

"Brigadier?" a soldier muttered hesitantly, moving toward him. "We're required to give you a medical exam."

"I'm not going anywhere with anyone but the Brigadiers unless Brigadier Winner tells me you're safe," Zechs snapped at him.

The man's eyes widened almost fearfully.

"Quatre picked everyone who's here," Wufei muttered, tucking his phone in the pocket. "Though if Duo really did...he may not be thinking clearly."

"Don't be absurd," Trowa muttered, gesturing irritably as he moved into earshot. He passed the phone to Zechs. "It's Une."

"Please, Brigadier," the soldier muttered uncertainly, looking around.

"Come on," Trowa ordered, then gestured at Wufei. Zechs moved with the pair of them out toward the waiting van.

"Wouldn't it suck if that van ran off," Heero started to comment, then looked around and realized there was no one with him.

He blinked.

"Heero?" Relena demanded, sounding breathless. "Heero?"

"Hi, Relena," Heero muttered, smiling very slightly. "You should probably sit down."

"What?" she gasped, sounding like she was about to start crying. "Une said you were...oh my god...Heero...is he dead?"

Actually, she was crying.

"He's getting a medical exam," Heero reassured her quickly. "We...got him...a short while ago."

Relena started to cry in earnest, wrenching sobs.

Heero wasn't sure what...he was supposed to say to that.

"He's okay?" she gasped a few minutes later, recovering herself. "Please?"

"He looked perfectly healthy," Heero reassured her. "He's in the med van getting an exam now."

"Oh my god, thank you!" Relena started sobbing again, but this time not the same wrenching sound. "Thank you so much! I've been so scared! I knew I could count on you! I knew...oh...you're not hurt? None of you are hurt? Does Lu know? I'm coming! I'm coming up!"

He could hear people trying to talk to her in the background on her end, but she wasn't acknowledging anyone.

"We're going to take him back to A02225," he noted quickly. "What are you doing?"

"I was about to go into another conference," Relena noted, then started laughing. "Oh! They'll hate me! Just a minute!"

Heero frowned, moving from the building toward one of the vans as the talking on her end gained in noise. "Turn the tv on, see if you can find Minister Darlian."

The soldier who'd been sitting around waiting for orders instantly turned to the array of televisions. He fiddled with things a moment before a screen came up, and he selected something from the list.

Relena had her phone very obviously in hand, and her people were scurrying after her trying to clean up her face as she marched to stand in front of the podium. "Ladies and gentlemen," Relena noted in a strong voice, a wicked sort of smile lighting her eyes. "As you know," she went on happily, "I asked you to gather today to hear a petition for the independence of the L-5 colony A02227. However, in light of recent circumstances, I no longer feel I am the right person to beg for this haphazard acknowledgement." She looked around as an uncertain mutter rushed the crowd. "I hereby rescind my request and petition on this matter. I apologize for usurping your time and energies for such a pointless excursion. Please, excuse me, and good-day all."

The crowd murmured again.

"Oooh," the man at the control muttered, grinning wickedly. "That was a slap in the face."

Heero smirked, pressing the phone back to his ear as the woman marched from the stage, raising her own phone again.

"Heero?" she asked curiously.

"I'm here," he returned.

"I'm coming," she noted as the camera showed her wiping at her eyes again. "I'll be there, to 25 as soon as I can manage it."

The news crew switched to their confused reporter as she looked to the camera and gathered herself.

"That's all," Heero muttered to the soldier turning away. "We'll be waiting for you," Heero noted to the female with a grin. "Though, you may beef up your security. Rabid's never been great shakes at controlling the pettiness in his nature. I wouldn't be shocked if there was an assassination attempt."

"Oh, that's pleasant," Relena noted darkly.

"Yeah, I need to work on my pillow talk," Heero agreed, moving to the medical van to look in and see that Zechs was zipping up his pants.

"Aw, I missed the show?" he asked, not thinking about it.

Wufei started laughing wickedly as Trowa gave him a dirty look.

Zechs' expression was confused.

"What?" Relena asked blankly.

"Sorry," Heero muttered quickly, shaking his head. "I meant to ask if you missed the show," he directed that to the prince.

Wufei laughed even more, though it was silent.

"What show?" Zechs asked blankly, obviously trying to catch up.

"Your sister just rescinded her...what was it?" he asked into the phone. "Her request for haphazard acknowledgment?"

Relena started laughing.

"That doesn't work," he noted thoughtfully to his friends. "You'll have to watch her...press conference."

Zechs started snickering wickedly, reaching forward and grabbing the phone. "Relena?"