Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Catching the Past ❯ Coming Together ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

COMING TOGETHER
CHAPTER 5



Duo looked around at what would be his new headquarters. With Rip right behind him urging him on, he hobbled on into the room. It was pretty much spartan with one bed and a couch, a kitchenette with a folding table and not much else. Rip kicked the door shut behind him, arms full of supplies. Dropping them on the couch he then proceeded to lock the door and slip the key in his pocket. Duo eyed him in disgust. What did he think Duo was gonna do? And one handed too.
Duo was so tired and drained all he could think of was the bed. And there was a funny taste in his mouth too, not a good sign he thought sourly. Making his way into the bedroom he lowered himself gingerly to the bed. He lay there wishing he could go to sleep and instead his mind insisted on going in circles. He never knew quite when he drifted off thinking of Heero, Hilde and the others.
When he woke up it was raining. He had no way of knowing how long he'd slept. He lifted himself off the bed but sat back down leaning heavily. His head felt funny, the taste in his mouth was worse than ever, and he felt like he was floating. Looks like that crazy lunatic had given him the real thing. Oh, yeah and his hand was beginning to really make itself felt. That was one more thing he owed them.
Raising himself up he set out to take a shower and take care of his cuts and bruises. It took a while as he did the best he could; even if they'd quit early those two had still done a job on him. Some of his cuts he just gave up on. He also had never realized just how much you used your right hand until you couldn't any longer. Finally as done as he was going to get, he limped on into the living room, if you could call it that, having temporarily given up on his hair which was gathered in a band at the base of his neck. Braiding was a bitch with only one good hand. Rip wasn't there but Duo didn't have to wonder, he could see the door was securely bolted shut.
There was a computer set up on a small desk and Duo went over to check it out. It was all hooked up and ready to go so he booted it up and started checking it out. It was fully equipped. Duo looked around again, nope. No boogie men in sight and no Rip either.
Time to send a message. Quatre was closest, he'd be able to protect Hilde. Wiping sweat from his face he set about sending his message. He'd have to be careful, he couldn't let it be traced back to this terminal. Why is it so hot in here all of a sudden?

And somewhere else, in an office with a polished mahogany desk, sat a man with a dreamy half smile on his face; as he calmly gave directions to destroy Duo's life. And a photo with a pixie face girl with short black hair and an enthusiastic smile lay face down over an old fuzzy photo of a pilot with a braid slumped between two Oz soldiers.




It had stopped raining by morning and as Heero sat in the kitchen nursing a cup of morning coffee, the sun spilled through the lacy curtains creating a gentle glow in the room. He'd been up all night and had found a lot of semi-interesting but mostly useless information. Then Quatre swept into the kitchen.
"Good morning Heero! I'm so glad it's nice out, I'm going out first thing this morning to track down that locker. Can I get you anything?" the last was said in a muffled tone as Quatre had his head in the fridge. It was the cook's day off. The housekeeping staff had long ago learned to give Heero free reign and the same general attitude spilled over onto the rest of the boys whenever they visited..
Heero just glared at his back. If it's not Duo it's Quatre. How can anyone be so cheerful this time of the morning???
"No!"he said sharply. He promptly went back to his cup of coffee. That didn't phase Quatre in the least. Coming up triumphantly with some fruit, he reached for the teapot and a cup.
Trowa came in looking his usual self and headed for the coffee pot, nodding an acknowledgment to each of the others.
"Knowing you Heero, you probably stayed up half the night trying to get something. Did you actually come up with anyth....." Quatre paused and winced as a muffled yell sounded elsewhere in the house. Heero promptly held out his cup for more coffee and Trowa gave it to him seemingly not perturbed in the least.
Several minutes later Relena walked in looking troubled. She looked at Heero and it seemed as if she wanted to say something but changed her mind.
"How's Hilde?" Quatre asked in concern.
"As well as can be expected after a blow like that."Relena answered him honestly.
No one said anything for a long moment. She busied herself getting something to eat.
"And she's a bit bothered about not being told about it last night." Relena added. That was actually a major understatement.
A good fifteen minutes later, Hilde entered the kitchen dressed in Duo's black shirt and pants with the sleeves and pant legs rolled up.
After casting a glare at Heero that almost rivaled his own, she coldly ignored them all and hunted down the cereal and milk. Trowa looked as if he wanted to leave, Quatre was thinking hard and Heero just sat there nursing his drink.
"Hilde, really, Duo's tough. He'll pull through all right..." Quatre tried a bit timidly. Hilde clenched her teeth. That wasn't the point. Well, it was but it wasn't. She looked up at him finally, with a fake sugar sweet smile.
"Good! Great! Really, I'm happy you have so much confidence in him." she started out.
"So next time how about a little confidence in me?!" midway, she switched from smiling at Quatre to a glare that ended up on Heero. Heero remained supremely undisturbed. Or was that a twitch starting in his eyebrow? Nah.
"What?" this from Relena. Bad move as Hilde pinned Relena under her angry gaze.
"Could it have anything to do with information a certain someone withheld last night? I was a soldier too!!" Hilde snarled then returned determinedly to her food.
Heero glanced at Relena who just shrugged and looked pointedly at him. Your problem pal, not mine! Heero sighed.
"If I had told you last night you would not have been able to rest." he told her finally.
Hilde pettishly refused to acknowledge that he might have been right. Just then Quatre spoke up with an appeal to Hilde to calm down in his eyes.
"Look, Hilde, I am gonna try to track down that locker key and I'd assume you would want some clothes of your own so why don't we all go together and make a day of it?" Quatre looked at her hopefully. Hilde sourly considered her now empty breakfast bowl and decided that wasn't such a bad idea.
She nodded, not quite ready to give up on her gripe but finding it a chore to be outraged for long. It just wasn't her style. Everyone looked relieved with the possible exception of Trowa. Well, Quatre thought Heero looked relieved anyway.
"I won't be going with you." this from Heero.
"Ahhh! You did find something didn't you?!" Quatre crowed in delight. Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at them. Heero just grunted.
"Maybe and maybe not. I found a photo with what looks like one of the men that were in the shuttle port with Duo in some files connected to that port's security chief. I want to go check it out. Seems this chief has a couple of side businesses." Heero filled them in on what info he'd found.
"Right, then, lets get going!" Relena jumped up and grabbing Hilde, went to get ready to go. Quatre and Trowa each went their separate ways to get ready also. It wouldn't do to be caught unawares and unarmed.


It was taking longer than they would have wished but not so long as it could have until Quatre had found the locker. They checked all the storage rentals around the shuttle port but found nothing so Quatre and Trowa then figured the most likely route for Duo to travel to Howard's. That hadn't panned out either but it was soon after leaving there that Hilde spotted a rickety looking place that had a sign hanging from one corner that said 'Whooser's Storage Plaza'.
Quatre walked in and showed the man his key and instead of the different variations of "I don't know what you're talking about" or even "What are you trying to pull kid?!" the man, looking about as lively as a living rock, scanned it in, gave it back to them and waved his hand negligently towards the back of the lot.
"Lot C section 14." and then the man proceeded to go back to his tattered magazine.
Hilde sucked in her breath and Quatre shot a piercing glance at Trowa who nodded and headed in the direction the man had indicated.
"What a shoddy place!" Relena said in mild annoyance at the state the place was in.
"Yeah, but perfect for storing something risky. Look, these lockers are all solid but the place doesn't look like something I'd pick for safe storage of something so valuable people would be willing to kill to get." Trowa spoke up as he looked around. He couldn't decide if it was a stroke of genius on Duo's part or just a coincidence.
"Here we are."Hilde said unnecessarily. Quatre looked around casually as did Trowa and then inserted the keycard. It worked. Inside was a black case about the size of a briefcase. Quatre pulled it out acting casual as if it belonged to him.
"That's the SBE that Duo wanted, I'm sure of it." Hilde said in a low voice.
Closing the locker and leaving the key with the man behind the counter, they all piled into their car and waited anxiously for Quatre to open it. He popped the lid as they all hung over him and Hilde sucked in her breath. It was the SBE all right but it was the innocent looking case tucked into the corner where Duo had made room for it that held their attention.
"Well? What is it?" Trowa asked for once impatient as no one seemed to be moving. Quatre picked it up and looked it over carefully.
"It is...." they all waited for him to finish... "a small case of vials filled with a blueish liquid?" Quatre finished weakly.
Relena smacked him upside the head. Even Trowa looked at him disgruntled.
"OUCH! Well... how should I know what it is?? I'm not a chemist!!!" Quatre yelped in protest.
"Then lets find one!" Relena suggested. "That is, after we get Hilde some clothes!"
"Right." Hilde agreed. Quatre closed the case after tucking the vials back into their little corner and then tucked it in the trunk locking it securely. They had something! What, Quatre wasn't sure but it was a whole lot better than the nothing they'd had up to now!!!


Heero was getting nowhere fast. He'd gone back to the shuttle port only to find that the
Chief hadn't been in and in fact, no one had seen him for several days. He apparently wasn't answering at home either. He'd asked around a bit and even showed the photo to a worker he'd talked to before briefly but no one seemed to know anything. Another dead end.
He had tracked down the Chief's home address and had managed to get in with a minimum of fuss but it had been a waste of time. Outside of the fact that the man had left in a hurry, there wasn't anything remarkable there. Just some old worn out pants, rickety furniture that looked about ready to fall apart, some food spoiling in the fridge, dishes in the sink. The state of the furniture did surprise Heero considering that he was sure the Chief wasn't poor. Not with all his 'supplemented income'. There was an old TV in the corner and a broken vidphone but there was no computer, no papers, nothing. There was a square of dust free space on the shaky desk that could have been from a laptop. Whatever it had been it was gone now. He left the way he came making sure the door was locked behind him.
The neighbors didn't seem to be home except for one eccentric old man who had tried to sic a pet skunk on him. He'd come within a hair of shooting the creature but had managed to keep his trigger finger still all the while reminding himself that he had a missing friend and that if he shot it he'd be shooting his chances of getting any answers down with it. After convincing the old man that he meant no harm (he hadn't known he had it in him) which had taken a good twenty minutes, the man had then tried to talk his ear off. It hadn't taken long to realize that the man knew nothing.
What a waste of time...Duo you had better be worth this!!! And what crazy idiot would have a pet skunk anyway???
Heero was ready to strangle Duo when he saw him again. That would at least relieve the frustration of not getting anywhere. Of course, Hilde wouldn't like it none. Maybe he could just maim Duo a bit. What is he thinking to put Hilde through this? To put...us through this?
He had one more chore to take care of. He'd told Wufei that he'd take care of the bike's back fees. Unfortunately, the shops were already closing up for the night. With a sigh, Heero decided he would be spending the night so he could wrap up his business in the morning. But as always he'd brought his laptop. He could take another stab at unraveling the connection between the Chief and that one lackey. He almost had something there.......
That evening he hit the jackpot. With grim self satisfaction Heero stared at his computer screen. That Chief Shisekuri had two addresses. The first address was the one Heero had already been at but the other one was a fair distance away and in a section of town that was, if not in the wealthiest part of town, at least was modestly rich.
He'd also found a name, Chance Stuart. A punkish looking man that apparently did a certain amount of courier service. For a company called Kale's Chemicals. They specialized in household chemical cleaners amongst other harmless miscellaneous stuff. There wasn't anything obviously wrong with the company, just a medium size business that made a good profit. But there was something about the company that just didn't set right with Heero. And this Chance guy had been seen in the company of Chief of Security Shisekuri himself.
Carefully saving all the files and info he deemed important, he sent them all to Quatre to look into until he had time to do it himself.
The next morning Heero, wanting to get it out of the way, hunted down the address to Chief Shisekuri's town house first. Pulling up to the modestly huge almost mansion, he parked the bike and pausing briefly for a scan of the grounds and possible obstacles, walked up to the door and rung the bell. He could hear the buzzer going off inside but nothing stirred. Looking around, he decided to try an alternate route. Mr Shisekuri was going to talk to him wether he wanted to or not. No one in sight, Heero soon had the door open in the same manner as he'd opened Shisekuri's apartment door. For a security man, this Chief Shisekuri was either being awfully sloppy or Heero was missing something.
Slipping in the door he noticed that although there were deadbolt locks on the door they hadn't been in place. Something was wrong, Heero had this feeling at the back of his neck. He'd learned a long time ago to pay attention to it.
"Hello? Anyone home?" Heero listened intently. Nothing. Moving out he started checking rooms. Three doors down he pushed open the door to what appeared to be a study. He halted just inside the door looking at the bodies. There were two of them. One, the Chief himself, was collapsed part way behind the desk that was parked at the other end of the room by the window. He'd been shot three times. Once in the head and twice in the chest. All of them fatal and very professionally placed, the two in the chest clustered close together.
The other body was apparently the butler or man servant. He was slumped in a chair. His throat had been slashed, neatly and very bloodily. His face had a look of horror while the Chief merely looked surprised.
Heero looked at them calmly, he'd seen worse. Sighing to himself he groused internally that it didn't look as if he'd be getting any answers after all. Someone had apparently caught on to the tape switch or had at least decided the sloppy head of security was a risk which he was Heero thought to himself. He started checking the office over for anything useful after which he called Wufei, Quatre and the police in the order. He settled himself in for what would be a long day. It was.
It was late into the afternoon when he finally got around to taking care of the bike and he was ready to shoot the next person to ask him a question....any question. RED TAPE!!! Heero was beginning to hate it with passion. How does Relena handle this day in, day out?
So when he walked out of the bike rental after persuading the man (that had included pulling his gun out to check that it wasn't jammed in full view of the obnoxious manager) that he did want to be agreeable and let Heero have the bike as long as necessary; he was not happy to find a piece of paper stuck in between the seat and the gas tank.
Senses alert, he looked around but saw absolutely nothing but people going about their business. Pulling the paper out warily, he glared at it. An address of sorts had been scrawled on it and not a thing more.
Shrugging he thought to himself, Why not? Makes my day complete! At least this is fairly straightforward....sorta...after a fashion. Maybe something will go right for a change.
Pulling up some distance from the building, he made sure to park away from it far enough to avoid suspicion.
It was a fairly small, compact house that had been made over into apartments from the looks of it. Plain but serviceable. After observing it for some time and seeing nothing moving about he decided to see if anyone was home. It was getting on towards dusk and while he hadn't seen any lights, that didn't necessarily mean anything.
Walking up to the front entrance he looked for a name or something, anything suspicious. Nope, nothing. Opening the door, he entered a foyer that had two doors on either side. He paused to listen and heard sounds of movement on his right. Might as well start with the neighbors. Someone obviously wanted me to find something here.....
So he knocked on the door. All sound ceased. He knocked again, more aggressively. He heard the sounds of someone behind the door and then it opened to put him nose to nose with a badly startled Duo. They gazed at each other in complete shock and then Duo slammed the door in his face!
"HEY!" Heero yelled coming out of his stunned amazement. He raised his fist to pound on the door only to have it flung open again banging against his hand.
"Go away!" <banging shut>
"YOU..." <door in his face>
"Heero, for once in my life I'm asking you to ignore me!!" Duo hissed at him. <slam>
"DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING TO HILDE?!" Heero demanded to a closed door. <door swishes open again>
"HEERO....!!" Duo started to growl, voice rising in aggravation. A voice from behind him made him jump.
"Who is...." <slam> <thump> this time Heero had his foot in the door, determined that Duo wasn't going to shut him out again. Duo gave him a look filled with something undefinable and then whipped around as a man came up behind him from the dimly lit room.
"...this?" came a deadly calm voice.
"Uhh...just an old...acquaintance of mine....he..." Duo got no further as the strange man pulled a gun so fast and unexpectedly that both of them were taken off guard.
"Gundam Pilot 01." the man said flatly. Duo's face went completely blank. Heero gazed at the man in cool assessment. The man was no slouch with a gun.
"Come in 01." the man said. Duo backed up carefully to allow Heero entrance. Heero calmly moved in and paused awaiting directions. The man waved them towards the shabby couch. Moving carefully, they both sat down. The man looked at Heero and then switched to Duo.
"Explain. And I want it to be good." he said.
"He found me, I swear I never got in touch with him Rip. Ask him." Duo jerked a thumb at Heero all the while avoiding his gaze.
Heero switched his gaze from Duo to the man he'd called Rip. Apparently, the bartender had been right. Duo's hand was wrapped in a clumsy bandage, and somehow Heero didn't think it had been an accident. It was patently obvious that Duo and this man were anything but friends. And had he seen a bruise on Duo's face? Rip was looking at him expectantly.....
"It was his magnetic personality." Heero said with a perfect deadpan. Rip was not amused. Duo turned his head to gape at Heero.
"I see." Rip said and then lined his gun up for a head shot at Duo.
"Someone stuck a paper with this address on my bike." Heero said a bit quicker raising the paper for inspection. Rip paused. Duo started breathing again.
"Let me see." Rip reached for it. Duo exploded off the couch in a roll taking advantage of Rip's shift in attention. He heard the gun go off twice but then he was crashing into Rip's legs and Rip started to go down minus his gun which was now in Heero's hands.
Rip managed to kick free of Duo and surged up right into Heero's swing with said gun.
Rip was down for the count. Duo got to his knees sucking air. He was winded and dizzy again but was recovering nicely from the almost paralysis of having Heero show up at his door unexpectedly. He raise his head to find Heero looking down at him with narrowed eyes and holding a hand absently to his left shoulder.
"In his words, Duo, explain. And I want it to be good." Heero looked down at him.
Absently noting that his shoulder was bleeding but that it was mostly a superficial burn; he was also noting that Duo was moving stiffly like he'd been worked over and fairly recently. And there was his hand....that would explain the sloppy braid his hair was in. What else was wrong?
He watched as Duo made it to his feet with slight difficulty. He'd never met anyone that got beat up so frequently. But then again, he'd never met anyone with quite the mouth talent either. Duo paused, catching his breath.
"You all right Heero?" Duo asked as he went about finding something to tie Rip up with. He headed for the nearest closet; maybe there would be something there he could use.
"I'm fine! Now what about that explanation?" Heero scowled testily at Duo.
"Not gonna get one. Less you know the better!" Duo threw back over his shoulder. He buried his head in the closet then started digging through the junk. He came up with a handful of extension cords.
This will work nicely!!!! Duo thought with self satisfaction. He straightened up and turned only to find himself once more nose to nose with Heero. Heero glared at him. Duo looked back at him calmly holding up his hand full.
"If you don't mind....." Duo waited for Heero to move. Heero didn't budge.
"I've spent hours trying to track you down, Hilde was attacked, Quatre has spent days fretting over the keycard you probably sent him, Relena's spent the entire time worrying about you, and Wufei has been on call 24/7 trying to help out at Preventer HQ, and all you got to say is 'the less you know the better'???!!!" Heero wanted to strangle Duo in the worst way, like he'd contemplated earlier.
Duo's face went dark and grim as he stared at Heero. The fury Duo had kept carefully banked was starting to boil deep inside. So Piper didn't waste any time huh? So much for keeping up his end of the deal. But then, it's not as if I was gonna let him get by with what he's done anyway. And now that Heero's here, plans have changed. Can't say I'm sorry, Rip was worse than Heero when it comes to social interaction! <he grinned to himself> Wouldn't have believed it was possible!
"Is Hilde ok?" Duo asked in a distantly cool voice. Heero narrowed his eyes at Duo. What was going on with him? Heero had expected more reaction than this out of Duo.
"Hilde is fine." Heero informed him shortly. "But don't you think you owe us all an explanation?"
"Yep, but you're not getting one. Look Heero, have Quatre take that keycard to Whooser's Storage Plaza, get the SBE out of storage and dispose of the whole thing. I got something I gotta do. Just...please....protect Hilde. So, good bye and good luck."
Duo brushed past him to kneel beside Rip. Shaking the cords loose of each other, he started tying the man up.
"Aren't you even curious about Hilde? What's with you Duo?" Heero demanded studying Duo intently.
Duo paused, then finished up. Then he started going through the man's pockets.
"Heero, I know what I'm doing. It's for the best." Duo looked up. Heero wasn't done.
"Best for who? I can't just let this go Duo. I promised Relena I'd bring you back." Heero crossed over to the couch and sat down, settling in for a stay. He was beginning to feel the long days and lack of sleep but he wasn't about to show it let alone admit it.
Duo had an indecipherable look on his face. He started to get up and yet another wave of dizziness washed over him. He had to get rid of Heero. Glumly, he admitted to himself that his chances were slim; when Heero got stubborn it was next to impossible to budge him. He refused to let himself dwell on Hilde too much. He had to focus if he was going to get Piper. And he didn't know how much longer he would be able to. He was having dizzy spells more and more frequently and he was sure he had a low grade fever. And there were the aches and pains every so often that he hadn't had before. Forcing himself up and steady he pocketed a ring of keys and headed for the computer.
"Well, I'm not going back Heero so why don't you do the smart thing and go back to Relena where you belong? Just tell her you couldn't find me. No one else will." Duo threw that over his shoulder not looking at Heero. He sat down and started sorting files. He'd been doing this when the knocking on the door had interfered.
"Now you're asking me to lie. I'm not buying it Duo and I'm not leaving. So live with it. I won't break my word to Relena." Heero said coldly, staying stubbornly put.
Duo shrugged. Now that Rip was out of the way, he was free to openly copy over files he had sneaked under Rip's nose on Piper and his organization. He couldn't do much about Heero, except give him the slip at the earliest opportunity. He was aware of Heero's gaze boring into his back but refused to let it distract him. He had a time limit to meet.
Heero watched Duo in intense speculation. This was a side of Duo he'd known was there but was rarely seen... with an added dimension. No grin, no jokes, no running commentary, in fact he was almost acting possessed. There were times when he just didn't get Duo! Whatever it was, he didn't think he liked this new Duo. Which faintly surprised him for as many times as he'd wished Duo would shut up.
"Who's Deuce Kipling/Douglas McArthur?" Heero asked suddenly. Duo looked up distracted. For the first time Heero saw the old familiar grin on Duo's face but it faded quickly.
"Just a ghost from my past Heero old buddy, a ghost from my past. Well, I'm about done here. I'm gonna pack up, take a little nap, and hit the road in a bit. You can crash here if you want, no one else ever comes here. I'm leaving Rip to you, be careful. He's a very dangerous man; we just happened to catch him by surprise. It won't happen again. Maybe Wufei can get something out of him." Duo finished saving files to the disk he'd claimed for his own. After all, Rip wouldn't be needing it anymore; and headed for the bedroom. Heero looked after him in irritated calculation. He'd never imagined that Duo would be a bigger headache found than when he was missing.
Duo was feeling more and more nauseous as he collected what little he had with him. He'd made Rip buy him some spare clothes, shampoo and a hair brush but hadn't asked again. Rip hadn't liked it at all, playing errand boy and Duo had done some fast talking to convince him to do it the first time.
Going in search of Rip's duffel bag, he appropriated it and all the weaponry inside, ignoring Heero who had taken over the computer. Done packing, he flopped exhausted on the bed. He felt like he'd been running a marathon and he hadn't done anything except stare at the computer. He fell asleep grimly wondering how much time he had left.
A few hours later he came awake, barely making it to the bathroom in time to heave his guts out. Weak, spent, and lightheaded, he became aware that Heero was watching him.
"You're ill." that would be Heero.
No duh Sherlock! Duo thought furiously to himself. There goes plan A.
"Go... away." he managed. He really wanted some peace and quiet to curl up into a ball of misery about now. On the street you had to be tough or you didn't last. If you weren't tough you faked it till you made it, or you lost. Never show weakness, never let your guard down.
"Not a chance." Heero told him coolly.
"If I gave you that explanation you wanted, would you go?" Duo really hated this weakness, and having Heero there only made it worse. He was sure this would never happen to the Perfect Soldier! A long moment of quiet.
"Yes." Thank God! Duo breathed. Pushing himself up a bit he looked up.
"Ok, short version. Deuce, that blond guy, stole something from someone named Piper. This Piper happens to be the head of an organization called Blitzkrieg. Piper wants it back. Deuce passed it to me when I wasn't aware of it. I found it and stored it. Piper thinks Deuce has it, Deuce thinks I got it. Deuce, being the brother of an old friend of mine, got in trouble. I helped him out but got caught. Piper wanted me to find Deuce. That's where Rip came in at. So I'm gonna take Piper down. Before he can make anymore attacks on Hilde, before...before he goes after anyone else."
Duo finished up wearily, pulling his legs around so he was seated instead of leaning on his arms.
Heero looked down at Duo in impassive appraisal. Then he nodded once. Duo looked up just in time to see Heero's hand blur. Heero caught Duo as he slumped and pulled him up and over his shoulder.
"But I never said I'd go without you Duo." with that, Heero headed out the bathroom door. Detouring to the bedroom, he grabbed the duffel that was conveniently packed and ready to go. He maneuvered Duo and duffel through the door and to what was apparently Rip's car, a nice sky blue antique Mustang, where he dumped Duo into the passenger seat; belting him in after fishing the keys from his pocket. He made one more trip back after Rip, dumping him unceremoniously into the back. Rip hadn't come around yet. Duo was going to have help wether he liked it or not. Starting the car he headed back to the Darlien estate.
He was halfway there when Duo finally started to come around. Heero glanced over, hearing a muffled grunt as Duo groggily straightened up. In the dusk of the evening, you couldn't see it anymore but Heero had seen the flush of fever in Duo's face.
"I swear you must enjoy knocking me out Heero." Duo finally spoke up. He was calm, too calm. It wasn't in Duo's nature to be calm about things like that. Heero definitely didn't like this new Duo.
"If you weren't such a baka, I wouldn't have too." he spoke without looking over at Duo. There was the snap of a seatbelt releasing. He finally looked over to find Duo watching him with that unidentifiable look on his face.
"I said I wasn't going back. Heero, if you don't stop this car right now I'm going to bail and I don't care if it is going over 60." Duo put his hand on his door latch.
Heero slammed on the brakes and pulled over. Coming to a stop he slapped the automatic locks on. Duo raised his hand to punch his door lock open only to find himself being cornered by Heero against the seat.
"Just what is it you're not telling me Duo? This isn't like you. You're about the least suicidal one of us so why now are you all of sudden pulling this lone wolf stunt? You're not making sense. You'd get a lot farther a lot faster if you'd stop avoiding everyone." Heero snapped. Duo glared at him, his hand trapped by Heero's.
"Well, when you've only got two weeks, give or take a few days, to live things change so live with it Heero. I am!" with that Duo punched the lock open and pulled on the door handle.
Heero grabbed Duo's shirt front and pulled him around so they were face to face.
"What are you talking about?"
Duo's eyes blazed into his."I'm saying that they used an experimental drug on me. I don't have a chance. Everyone was better off believing me missing. So if you'll just kindly remove your hands I have a job to do. If I'm going down, I'm taking that bastard with me!" Duo slapped Heero's hands loose and Heero let go out of sheer shock. Opening the door, Duo had one leg out when Heero grabbed his arm. Duo looked back in angry exasperation... how many times do we have to go through this?
"Wait! Duo, they gave you something without an antidote?!" Heero said sharply.
"Oh, there's a cure all right. And it doesn't do me one lick of good. You see, I had a run in with this stuff once before and I nearly died. Isn't it ironic, I'm allergic to the only thing that could save me?" Duo said with vast sarcasm. He tugged his arm trying to free it only Heero wasn't having any.
"All right, but all that aside you're wrong you know! If you don't go back they'll always wonder what happened. Don't you think Hilde has the right to be with you till the end? To know? I thought you loved each other." Heero growled insistently. Duo stared at him angrily.
"That's a low blow Heero! Maybe this isn't about Hilde anymore, maybe it's about me! I was gonna ask her to go steady you know....I was gonna get a ring while I was on Earth and when I got back I was gonna ask her....why am I...YOU S.O.B.!! IF YOU'RE SO CONCERNED ABOUT HILDE THEN WHY DON'T YOU MARRY HER? ALL YOU GOTTA DO IS WAIT A COUPLE OF WEEKS!!" Duo finally got his arm free and started to storm off in a rage. What a jerk, and I thought he was a friend!! Guess I guessed wrong, I never knew for sure.
Heero scrambled belatedly out of the car and moved fast to catch up.
"Duo..." he started.
"Don't even start!" Duo snarled. Heero moved in front of him and planted himself in front of Duo who just moved around him and kept on going.
"I said once that dying hurts like hell. It does. If not the person who's dying, than the ones around that will miss him once he's gone. Don't do this alone." Heero threw after him.
"Oh, don't you know? I already know all about that part, Heero you have no idea!! Oh, and watch out Heero, this is starting to sound suspiciously personal here, you wouldn't want your reputation to slip!!!" Duo growled spitefully over his shoulder. Heero, fed up, shot back.
"Well, maybe it is! What do you want me to say? That you're my friend? That I don't want you to die? That I haven't given up that maybe someone can find a cure even if you have?"
Duo faltered to a stop out of pure disbelief at what he was hearing. Heero clenched his fists in sheer frustration. Relena was sooo not going to like this.
"All right! Have it your way. Crawl into a corner and die! Though if you're determined to die you could have done a better job of it during the war!!" Heero started back to the car.
Noticing that Duo hadn't moved he sighed internally and gave it one last go.
"Anything you want me to tell Hilde? .....Or do you have the guts to do it yourself?" he watched Duo out of the corner of his eye. Duo didn't move for a long moment, then his shoulders slumped. Without a word, he turned and started moving towards the car and Heero. Seeing him start to follow, Heero went on ahead and started the car; waiting for him.
Duo reached the car and climbed in slowly, slamming the door and leaning against it to look out the window. He was watching the stars. There was dead silence as Heero traveled the last distance to the Darlien Estate and pulled up to the garage. Just as Heero had his hand on his door latch, Duo finally spoke in a soft voice he had to strain to hear.
"You said....I... I won't be alone...."
"My word Duo." Heero heard Duo sigh than the sound of his door releasing. So he followed suit.



When the others had made it home, Relena and Hilde promptly went off to get Hilde squared away with her new wardrobe while Trowa took the case into the living room. Quatre had a phone call to make. He needed to get hold of Wufei. Wufei would have better access to better resources for dealing with whatever it was they'd stumbled on.
Finally getting through to him, Quatre quickly explained what they had found. Wufei had suggested that he come and fetch the mysterious case when Quatre said bluntly that he didn't think it was safe to let it out of their sight. Coming to an agreement, Quatre hung up still chuckling over Wufei's last comment that it had better not turn out to be aspirin! and went hunting for Trowa. He found Trowa, Relena and Hilde all gazing at the news in various degrees of shock and outrage. His own eyes went wide as he absorbed just what the announcer was saying.
"...criminal activities on the rise as police are searching for two suspects wanted for assault and battery, trafficking in illegal substances and suspicion of arson and fraud. These two young men are believed to be on Earth and Police are asking anyone who has seen them to contact proper authorities immediately. These young men are believed to be armed and dangerous and caution is advised. In further breaking news, today the shuttle Galaxy was found......"


There was a moment of complete silence as two fuzzy images of Duo and that McArthur guy flickered briefly before their eyes, than was shunted aside in favor of the shuttle story.
Hilde snarled under her breath and clenched her fists wanting dearly to pound something in her fury. Relena turned angrily as well.
"I don't believe this! They're trying to pin all that on him? They've made a mistake!! I'm going to see what is behind all this!!!" and headed for the nearest phone.
Quatre and Trowa exchanged troubled glances. This mess was just getting worse.
Before Relena could pick up on the phone it chimed. Relena stabbed the button and Jase's face popped up.
"Ms Darlien? Good, I finally got you! If you don't mind I really need to speak with Master Quatre as soon as possible....ah!" as Quatre popped into view. Relena moved aside to let him in.
"What is it Jase?!" Quatre asked sharply. Jase looked tired and troubled.
"Have you seen the newscast, Quatre?" he asked.
"Yes, I have, just now..."
"It's even worse than that. I was keeping an eye on that H&D Salvage place..."
"Yes...?!"
"There's been a condemnation notice slapped on it, a court order has been issued to have all business accounts looked into and all funds have been frozen. The reason being cited is suspicion of insurance fraud, arson and the fact that no one has been able to get hold of either of the owners." Jase informed him evenly.
"WHAT?!!!" Quatre cried out in anger, eyes flashing.
"It's as if it happened overnight, I had no forewarning! I've been trying to get a fix on the responsible party but I have hit nothing but dead ends and blocks Quatre. The business has essentially been shut down." Jase bowed in remorse.
"I'm terribly sorry that I wasn't able to prevent this Quatre sama!" he bowed again.
"There is one other thing too Quatre sama. Whoever is doing this knows you're involved somehow and has not only been checking into your financial status but has been trying to undermine your influence in several key areas. So far the majority of these attacks have been along the line of rumors that you were involved somehow with the fire. Those that know you Quatre sama are holding steady. Unfortunately, several malcontents are using this as an excuse to stir up trouble. This has also put a hold on negotiations with Hasaku Corporation. I have assured them that you were not involved and that you would like to speak with them as soon as you have dealt with the emergency you are covering now. But whoever these people are...I have been unable to find any one person responsible for this mess." Jase seemed troubled by this.
"Well, Jase, whoever pulled that little stunt had better be ready for a battle." Quatre snapped in anger. He wasn't going to let this slide!
"This is what you do..." and Jase listened and nodded.
After Quatre hung up, he turned to face the others. Hilde was furious, plain and simple.
"Don't worry Hilde! We will find out what's going on and this won't be the last word!!"
Quatre looked at her darkly but with reassurance.
Hilde nodded briefly. This was getting to be too much. And as much as she hated letting Quatre handle everything, she knew that she simply couldn't match Quatre's resources....and they still didn't know what had happened to Duo! And now Quatre was being threatened.....
Relena turned back to the phone with regal fury.
"My turn now! Hmmm... on second thought...I think something a little more official is in line. Cheer up Hilde, whoever is doing this can't possibly win with us on your side and Quatre knows what he's doing!" with that, Relena glided off, grim determination on her face, to freshen up and make a late afternoon call on some important people.
Trowa had gone back to staring in thoughtful distaste at the news even though he really wasn't paying attention to it. He didn't like this turn of events. Quatre was under attack now, who would be next?




It was early afternoon the next day when Wufei finally showed up and to everyone's surprise he'd brought two people with him. Sally and someone called Newman Miller. Miller was supposed to be a poison and toxin expert and was well versed in illegal substances. He was, Sally claimed, one of the best in his field. A research chemist who, although he'd studied bioweapons and it's history, was more interested in research on natural toxins and their affect on ancient people.
Greeting them warmly, Relena welcomed them and brought them up to date while she led them to the large living room. There she showed them the case of vials. The others gathered together while Sally and Miller studied it intently and started conversing back and forth with technical terms till the others started to focus more on Wufei.
Trowa leaned up against the wall next to Wufei and asked, "What made you bring them along? I thought you were going to come, fetch the case, and take it back with you?"
"It was Sally's idea. Sally wanted to come. Said since I'd wasted a perfectly good mission that she'd worked hard to get from Lady Une that she was going to come and see what was going on. Where she got this friend of hers I have no idea." Wufei grunted. He didn't have a very high opinion of this Miller. Trowa grinned a bit to himself. It seemed as if this was the rule rather than the exception with Wufei.
Then Miller had dug a mini lab out from somewhere and set about inspecting the vials more thoroughly.
Quatre standing next to Trowa, looked over to where Hilde was watching the whole thing with a distant look on her face from a corner of the huge sofa.
"Say, don't you think Heero is taking an awful long time getting back? He must have found something...." Quatre said to the other two.
Wufei grunted. Trowa nodded in agreement. It wasn't a half hour later that Quatre heard the front door open and shut. Wufei was listening to Sally and Miller argue, Hilde had fallen into a light doze, while Relena had gone off to get drinks for everyone.
So when they heard the crash of breaking glass and a muffled cry from Relena, they all snapped alert and moved for the doorway as one, with the exception of Sally, Miller and Wufei.
That's when a tired Heero came in with a bright eyed Relena tagging along behind a third person they had begun to wonder if they would ever see again!
"DUO!!!" Quatre cried out joyfully, starting towards him. Duo raised a hand to acknowledge him but barely had time to open his mouth when a slim black haired girl flung herself at him to wrap her arms around him tightly in a hug.
"DUO!! I was sooo worried, you were gone and no one heard anything from you and just where have you BEEN?!!!" Hilde's voice was getting higher and louder. Duo winced.
"Long story babe, do you mind...I'd like to...live to see... another day...." Duo couldn't breath from Hilde's tight hug. Then Quatre was there, a wide grin on his face while Relena and Trowa hung back a bit. Relena eyes were sparkling and Trowa looked pleased in spite of himself, his mouth curling at the corners in a faint smile. Wufei's face hadn't changed much but his stone face had softened slightly at sight of his comrade.
For just one moment Duo's eyes met Heero's and there seemed to be some message passing back and forth between the two.
"Duo! We knew something was up when Heero didn't come back..." Quatre was still grinning in delight but his eyes were taking on a look of hidden concern. His space heart was acting up and his friend's looks just backed it up. Duo looked pale, with a half healed scar mostly hidden under his bangs and a bandage on his hand that looked ragged. And was that a fever flush on his face? He wasn't moving freely either, like he had a number of bruises and was trying to hide them. And then there was that odd look in his friend's eyes.
Quatre looked back at Sally who was looking their way with a frown of concern on her face but as she was presently holding a couple of tools for Miller and was unable to move. Her eyes met his though and as she nodded he knew she was already checking Duo out and noticing the same things as he had.
Then, as Relena left to quickly clean up the drinks she had dropped and fetch some fresh; Hilde broke free and threw her arms around one startled ex-Wing pilot. Before he could free himself, Hilde had given him a quick peck on the cheek and whispered,
"Thanks for bringing him back Heero!" with that she turned back to her present object of affection, and at the moment, provocation. Heero looked distinctly relieved to be out of the embrace.
That's when Duo saw belatedly the case of vials that Sally and the strange man were working over. With a growl, he shook Hilde off and started determinedly over to them.
"What are you doing?!" he snapped moving forward and snatching the case that now only held four vials from Sally Po's hand. She looked startled. The man with her looked up indignantly.
"What does it look like? Would you please be careful with that? In fact would you mind taking your hands off? We don't know what it is yet and it could be dangerous!" the man said in annoyance. Duo started to seethe.
"Seeing as how you got it from me I think you should just shut up, put things back the way they were and dump the whole lot as soon as possible where it can't possibly hurt anyone else!!!" Duo said a bit viciously, leaning over him intimidatingly. The man started back in surprise.
"So you know what it is?" Sally asked calmly.
"So it was you sent me that key!" Quatre exclaimed.
"Did I say that?!" Duo snapped at Sally. His nerves felt frazzled and he was beginning to feel really sick to his stomach. And that was aside all the other things that didn't feel so good. But he had to make sure no one else messed with the stuff.
Heero moved up while Hilde stood there, stunned at this new Duo, looking from Duo to Sally and back again.
"Duo, you've had a long day, why don't you get some sleep and I'll take care of things down here?" Heero spoke none too soon. Duo turned on him with a snarl and glared at him but it had it's usual affect on Heero, that is, absolutely none. Then the anger in his eyes slowly disappeared and he ran a hand wearily through his bangs, absently avoiding the scar that showed for a moment through his hair.
"All right." he mumbled. "Just...don't let anyone touch it."
Heero nodded, took the case from him, turned him around and pushed him towards the door.
Sally started to open her mouth but when Heero threw her a look that said very plainly, later! she shut it again. She trusted Heero to know what was serious and what was not.
Hilde just stood there looking slightly hurt and bewildered. Relena moved up next to Hilde and put a soothing arm around the girl's shoulders.
The minute they were out the door, Wufei looked at Quatre who looked back. Then they both looked at Trowa who just looked back blankly. They looked at Quatre again. He looked back and shook his head, a troubled expression on his face. His space heart wasn't helping him on this one.
"Can't help you." Quatre said regretfully.
"Then I guess we wait." Wufei frowned down at the floor. Maybe his trip here wasn't wasted. And from the looks of Maxwell, bringing Sally Po along looking better and better.
Sally looked thoughtful. Heero seemed to be taking an awful long time coming back.
Finally, the door opened and Heero entered. Everyone's gaze landed on him and a brief look of unease passed over his features only for his face to fall back into it's habitual blankness.
"First things first. Sally, I want you to get ready to do a complete physical and whatever tests you think you'll need on Duo when he wakes up. Apparently, we are dealing with two different solutions here. The one we have is called PSD23, the other is called PC11. They are both very dangerous and the PSD23, at least, is highly unstable." Heero could tell the name didn't mean a thing to Sally but the man at the table sucked in his breath, horror in his eyes.
As the implications of what he was saying struck them, Hilde clutched at Relena's hand so tight as to leave bruises. Relena didn't even notice, her attention being firmly fixed on Heero. Trowa's mouth thinned down while Quatre looked perplexed and worried. Wufei's eyes went dark with disgust. Bioweapons were a coward's way of fighting.
Sally, having noticed the man's reaction, turned and pinned him under her intent gaze.
"Obviously you know something about it Miller, so spill." she said brusquely. The man shook his head and turned to Heero.
"You're saying you have reason to believe he was injected with one or both of these?" he asked heavily. Heero nodded.
"The PSD23 to be exact. Duo knew exactly what it was. He thinks he's got about two weeks to live." he said calmly, looking at the man intently. Miller shook his head, frowning.
"He must be from L2. This is not good!" Miller muttered to himself. Hilde had paled to white but was trying hard to stand strong. TWO WEEKS?
Wufei pushed himself off the wall and walked up to Miller.
"Look, Miller, you're supposed to be the best in your field. So will you start doing your job?!" he growled. Quatre nodded sternly dismay still lingering in his eyes.
"Unfortunately, there isn't much I can do!"Miller said glumly.
"You did say the other is PC11, if he has some of that as well, we could try that...." Heero started shaking his head at that.
"Duo says he doesn't have it. He also said it wouldn't do him any good as he's violently allergic to the PC11. Apparently he's had a run in once before though he didn't give me any details."
Miller spread his hands.
"Then that's that. There isn't anything I can do for the young man." he said dismissively.
"What are you saying? There's always something you can try!" Sally snapped determinedly. Miller shook his head defensively.
"You don't understand Sally, this stuff is highly unstable, highly unpredictable and the creator himself ended up declaring it to be too dangerous to mess with. It's a classic case of the cure being worse than the disease! It's very nature makes it impossible to deal with it!" Miller growled back in frustration.
"There's got to be something we can try! So why don't you and me just sit down and you start going over the basics with me and if it means outhinking the inventor than that's what we'll do, do you understand me?!" Sally growled. Miller nodded in resignation. Looked like he was up in another all-nighter or three with Major Po again. They got to work.
Heero watched them a moment and then turned to the others who were still waiting for an explanation. He wished he had a better one to give them. Duo had been too out of it to give him much more than basic information on the vials. Oh, yeah, there was that Rip fellow out in the hall....he might be worth something. But in Heero's estimation, the man would be strong to resist interrogation. Heero didn't think that they'd get him to talk real soon and time was what they didn't have.




The man outside silently seethed in cold frustration. He'd been trying to get a fix on his target all day and hadn't managed it. The girl was constantly surrounded by people!! And things had gone from bad to worse, as he'd seen that long-haired nut with someone he'd recognized as another Gundam pilot and a third person tied up that he couldn't identify through his night vision scope.
And security here was a pain! It was time for him to leave, he had a report to make. He wasn't one to leave a job undone but the boss needed to know what was going on. Mr Piper was not going to like this!!!