Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Catching the Past ❯ What Next? ( Chapter 6 )

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

WHAT NEXT?
CHAPTER 6



Duo awoke the next morning, feeling as if he'd been used for a punching bag. Well, he had been used for a punching bag but this was different. His head was clear and his stomach was at least under control which was a good thing considering that his sleep had been interrupted several times during the night. But with the lessening of his internal ill feeling came an increase in his outward. He felt much the same as the day after the beating. It didn't help a bit when Hilde popped in to check on him shortly and finding him awake, promptly went after Sally Po. He really didn't like needles. Who does?
Sally entered shortly and proceeded to give him a complete physical after much protesting on his part. He shut up for a whole five minutes when she threatened to fetch Heero to hold him down if he didn't cooperate. He was beginning to understand how she got on with Wufei so well. She just refused to acknowledge defeat. It wasn't in her vocabulary, period!!
"Aaahhh! Are you done yet? Sheesh, where do you keep that thing? In the freezer? What'd you do, pop it in the moment Hilde told you I was awak.....Gaaahhh!!!" Duo yelped.
"Ooohhh, no you don't, not in my veins, you're a bloody vampire is what! You couldn't have gotten anything bigger?!" with vast sarcasm.
Sally Po paused, hypodermic in hand and glared at him.
"Duo, if you don't shut your mouth this instant I will find the biggest needle in my kit... I'm trying to save your life so will you show just a little cooperation here?!" she glared at him furiously which soon softened as she saw the look on his face.
He turned to grab up his shirt. Slipping it on, he silently walked past Sally giving her a wide detour. He ran into Mt Heero at the door. With Mt Wufei right behind him. With Piedmont Hilde right behind him.
"Shall we do this the easy way or the hard way?" Wufei asked dryly. Duo backed up uneasily.
"Uhh...this is a conspiracy isn't it? 'Today would be a good day to gang up on Duo' right? Although I never thought you'd be in on this Hilde!" Duo threw a betrayed glance at her.
"She's the one who came and got us, Duo." Wufei again.
Why is he even here? It's not like we're buddies or anything!! Duo thought resentfully. He threw a glance at the window but before he could take action, Heero had slid around him to block that avenue of escape while Wufei planted himself firmly in the doorway.
"Guys..." Duo started.
"You're making this much worse than it has to be Duo. We're not leaving till Sally has everything she wants. I am not going to waste my good vacation here by having you die on us." Wufei stared at him implacably.
What was that supposed to mean?! Duo thought to himself furiously. I'm a waste of time am I? That's when Sally attacked, well, grabbed his arm and started swabbing away. Duo gave in to the inevitable. He was not going to get his hopes up. But if he wasn't going to hope, it was clear that the others weren't giving up. This was getting him nowhere, he had a mission.
Silently rolling his sleeves down when Sally was done with him, which included a fresh bandage for his fast healing hand, he was only half listening to her advice to eat a good meal while he started making plans. He needed more explosives. Besides, he hadn't been able to eat anything and keep it down for over a day now.


Avoiding the living room which had been converted into a lab with more equipment brought in, he made the den his war room. Having already had a brief session with Heero and the others to pool their knowledge, Duo was done talking and wanted some action.
Unusually quiet for him he started pulling out the duffel bag and taking inventory. He had to admit Rip knew his guns. But he was going to need more by way of explosives. After all, turn about was fair play. They level his place he levels theirs...if you can't take it, don't dish it out.
Heero entered just then, with a package in his hands. CN-4, good... wait a minute...just where was he keeping this stuff?
"Do you have a plan?" Heero asked Duo. He handed the package to Duo who winced when he reached for it. He seemed to be doing that a lot.
"Yep. Do what I do best. Sneak in, demolish the place, make sure I got the head cockroach, and run like a bat out of hell." Duo busied himself taking his chosen weapon apart and putting it back together again. He also had a sniper rifle laying next to him. He hadn't decided yet if he would take it.
"Then I'm going along." Heero said without inflection.
"As am I." Quatre spoke up from the doorway.
Trowa cleared his throat, "I'm going too. Wufei is going to stand guard here."
Duo looked up, brows drawn together. His mouth opened as if he wanted to say something when his gaze met Heero's.
"But you don't even know..." he started then trailed off.
"That's true, Rip isn't talking." Wufei admitted from behind Quatre who moved aside to let him in. And you aren't telling everything either...though you don't lie. Wufei finished in his mind. None of them knew just exactly what had happened between Duo and this Piper but whatever it was, it had become close up and personal.
"Doesn't make a difference. Bioweapons are as bad as Mobile Dolls killing guilty and innocent alike. We took a look at that disk you had, Duo. As of now you're all working for the Preventers and you're mission is to clean this mess up. Well, all but you Duo, you're wanted right now but we're working on that. Puts you on kind of a suspended employment for the moment." Wufei leaned against the wall. Duo shrugged and nodded.
"If I see that man, I'm not holding back." Duo said flatly.
"Did we ask you too?" Trowa said simply.
Duo grinned his old grin briefly. I shall return! The thought reminded him suddenly that he hadn't seen hide nor hair of Deuce as he'd expected. Ah, well, he'd show sooner or later, Duo was sure of it.
"If I'm a Preventer than I want more explosives....lots of it!" he grinned again Shinigami was back in action!
Wufei rolled his eyes but pushed off the wall. He'd wanted to go but Sally had asked that he stay. Wufei, knowing Duo, had already started working on that request. Duo would get his explosives and plenty of them.
Hilde poked her head in the door.
"Duo, Sally said you should eat and I know you haven't been to the kitchen so I brought you something." she said brightly. There was a brittle undertone to her voice and Duo caught it but as he looked at the tray Hilde had produced he could feel the nausea rising.
"Don't mind us Duo we all ate already. Go right ahead!" Quatre smiled at him as Wufei prepared to go after the nearly forgotten bike
. Duo threw Quatre a dirty look, you gotta be so helpful dontcha? and then felt slightly ashamed. There was no way for Quatre to have known. Looking back to Hilde he sighed. She was trying to help, he would have to try and hope he could keep it down.
The others went about getting ready as Duo valiantly ate the scrambled eggs, fruit, toast and tea. The tea had been another of Wufei's ideas apparently. Hilde whisked it away when he was done and left him, Heero and Trowa in peace as Quatre had left to make a phone call.
Duo shoved the rifle aside, too long and clumsy, in favor of another smaller handgun and reached for some knives that had been laid out. That one looks good... Duo settled one down the back of his neck inside his shirt and started looking for one that would slide inside his boot securely. He noticed that Trowa had paused to watch him as had Heero who was looking at him with a raised eyebrow and Duo smirked back before he picked up one that looked like it would suit. So what if I'm not in Catherine's class....I'm not so shabby! Lessee, guns, knives, now for explosives. Uhhgg...knew I shouldn't have eaten it, but if I hadn't she'd of worried. And I don't want them to think it's worse than it is.
Wufei popped his head in looking troubled.
"Quatre and Relena managed to get all charges against Duo dropped. Now the party responsible is pinning everything on that McArthur. I don't know what's behind all this but it makes me uneasy." he informed them.
"Well, if they're out to get Deuce, they're not gonna get him." Duo said waving a hand at Wufei. "Don't worry about it. After tonight they'll have other things on their mind!"
"And then there's Quatre. That attack on him is a trail back to them and with the information Heero found, Quatre will be making things hot for them." Trowa added.
"As you say. Well, I'm going to go pick up that bike that no one seems to be able to keep in their possession for longer than a day! Hilde wants to go with me and pick up some more clothes for you so we should be gone for a couple of hours." Wufei turned and left. Duo, having forgotten a last minute request, jumped up and chased after him.
Wufei had already reached the outer door Hilde right behind him and just as he opened it, Duo called after him. Wufei turned back at Duo's yell just as a sharp crack rang out. Wufei's face twisted slightly and he staggered as a red spot blossomed on his chest. Duo, eyes wide in shock, sprang forward barely in time to catch Wufei and hold him upright. Hilde, let out a surprised yelp from behind as yet another crack echoed. Duo was already pulling Wufei back with him even as Heero and Trowa burst into the hall, guns in hand.
Casting a quick glance at Hilde who was clutching at a bloody burn across her upper right arm, Duo thrust an unsteady Wufei at Quatre who came up behind him panting a bit from his dead run.
Whipping about, outraged fury in his eyes, he snatched the sniper rifle that Trowa had been looking at and had conveniently neglected to put down. Turning about, Duo lunged through the door.
Rolling and scrambling, he made it behind the Preventers Jeep ducking a shot from the sniper that came too close for comfort only to realize Heero was right behind him and that Trowa was providing cover fire from a risky position just inside the door.
Leaning out opposite sides of the Jeep, Duo and Heero lay down fire at the snipers position. The sniper fired back, blowing the tires. Duo and Heero huddled back a moment then they both rolled out from behind and zig zagged towards better and closer cover with Trowa once again covering them. The sniper wasn't bad as Heero discovered a new hole in the material of his shirt. Heero shrugged. He had plenty of shirts. Then Relena's security started responding to the ruckus. Heero and Duo had gotten as close as they could and still maintain shelter. Taking turns, they kept the sniper pinned down in their crossfire with Relena's home guard laying down supporting fire. Duo thought he could see a patch of something through the foliage of the patch of shrubbery and trees, sighted and fired; hearing the crack of Heero's gun at the same time. Then all return fire ceased. Once convinced it was stopped for good, Duo and Heero both warily came out from behind their respective cover to check on the body .
He was dead, two shots plainly fatal.
Heero growled silently to himself in a fury, angry that once again they were without answers. Duo turned back wordlessly, anxious about Wufei now that the present emergency had been taken care of.
Back at the house they headed for Wufei's room where Sally was working on him, trying to get the bleeding to stop. Hilde and Relena were just outside the door, a clean new bandage on Hilde's arm. As Duo walked up, Hilde turned to him. Then she drew her arm back and gave him a full armed slap. Duo looked at her taken aback, one hand going to his cheek.
"What the heck was that for??!" Duo asked her in stunned bewilderment. She glared at him and then broadened it to include Heero.
"That's for pulling a stupid stunt like diving out the door like that and you, Heero! You're just as bad! You know, that's what Relena's got security for and did you ever think about using windows??! But noo, you had to use the very door that man had targeted! You two are a couple of idiots!!" Hilde didn't let him get a word in edgewise. Having had her say, she just stormed off before Duo could come up with anything by way of reply. Dragging his stare from the hall where Hilde had disappeared, he found both Heero and Relena looking at him.
"What?" he asked defensively.
"She's right." Relena said and walked off. Duo looked after her in shock again and looked warily at Heero.
"Not you too! Don't start with me, you were right behind me!" Duo griped.
"Key phrase is 'right behind you'."Heero said blandly.
Miffed, Duo turned just as Quatre came out wiping his hands. Quatre looked at the both of them grimly.
"Wufei needs a hospital but won't leave. It's not a bad as it could be though and Sally has it under control for now. The bullet punctured his lung but it's a clean wound and as long as it doesn't collapse or get infected Sally says it should be all right." Quatre grinned a bit.
"And like Sally said, he's too stubborn for this to keep him down for long. Oh, and she got in touch with Lady Une who is sending some extra security from Preventer HQ. Like Zechs Merquise; I understand he's not happy with what happened." he added.
"Good." Heero grunted. Duo nodded a sharp affirmative.
"So is Wufei awake? I'd like to talk to him." Duo asked.
Quatre shook his head,"Sally gave him a sedative. He's pretty out of it for now."
"Then give him a message for me when he wakes up. Tell him the one who did this is dead and the one that ordered it soon will be too." There was a light in Duo's eyes that sent a ripple down Quatre's spine.
Quatre shot a glance at Heero who looked back steadily. Then as Duo moved away from the door, Heero nodded towards the room where Wufei lay.
"Take care of Wufei and the girls Quatre, at least till Zechs gets here. That sniper was after Hilde too. Check Relena's security, how did that sniper get through? And Sally could use your assistance. Trowa and I will look after Duo. And then there's your business..." he stared at Quatre meaningfully.
Quatre nodded quickly looking relieved.
"I will."
"I know." and with that Heero followed Duo out the door.
Quatre turned back to Wufei's room. Sally looked up, relief on her face.
"Do you need anything?" he asked her. Sally shook her head.
"No, Miller is picking up the slack on that PSD23 while I patch Wufei up." she told him as she finished and started cleaning up.
Quatre was quiet for a long moment.
"Do you really think you can come up with something?" he asked her.
Sally looked up her face tired.
"I just don't know Quatre but I refuse to give up. Given enough time maybe we can and that is where Duo comes in. You know, attitude has a lot more to do with health than you'd think. And normally I'd say that if anyone can do it, Duo would be the one but at the moment he's a walking dead man and until he decides to fight, his odds are way down. Our job is to give him a reason to try." Sally looked straight at Quatre who looked back, a hint of helpless dismay on his face.
"If Hilde doesn't give him something to fight for I don't know what we can do. He loves her." Quatre stated in downcast tones.
Sally looked at Quatre with a sharp nod.
"Then remind him of what he has. And if you can do that, and if we can give him a solid hope, maybe we can win this war!"
The two looked at each other and nodded at each other, Sally pushing her sleeves up as if readying for battle. They left after Sally checked Wufei one last time, neither of them really noticing the faint pained smile on Wufei's face.


Heero entered the war room to find Duo getting geared up.
"Planning to leave without us?" he asked him. Duo didn't pause as he tucked another grenade under his coat.
"I can't stop you." he said briefly, not glancing up. Heero narrowed his eyes.
"But you weren't going to bother telling us were you?" Trowa asked from behind Heero.
"Look, this is my fight. No one should have to fight but me." Duo straightened grimly, usual grin absent."You, Heero, have Relena to protect. You, Trowa, have people back at that circus who care about you. You don't belong here. Someone else could get hurt. Go back before it's you, Trowa. Shinigami is going to play tonight and he doesn't need help!"
"So does that mean that Hilde doesn't enter in the picture at all?" a third voice threw in as Quatre entered. Duo almost flinched, then something passed over his face too fast for anyone to read.
"That's right, Quatre. She doesn't. I'm going to get his attention, then I'm taking him on and when I'm through with him he won't be hurting anyone else anymore." Duo said coolly.
"Except Hilde." Quatre added insistently getting a stubborn look on his face.
Duo just grinned at Quatre in a sort of cold amusement.
"You'll have to do better than that Quatre." and walked out snagging the Mustang's keys off the table on his way through.
Just outside the door, Duo's breakfast finally made itself known and with a hasty look backwards to make sure he was clear, he bolted for the closest bathroom where he proceeded to throw up until there was nothing left and then some.
Back in the den Quatre looked at the others in frustration.
"I just can't get through! Who'd have thought he could be so... so..."
"Determined." Trowa filled in calmly beginning to collect his weapons of choice. Duo's words had rolled over him like water off a duck. They were all Gundam Pilots and wether they liked it or not there was a sort of connection between the five. Hurt one and they all sat up and took notice. Or two as the case may be.
Heero grabbed his duffel, already packed, and started for the car. The surrounding area had been searched and security had been doubled but Heero was still wary as he made his way to the Mustang with Trowa right behind him.
Reaching the car, they waited for several minutes before Duo showed. Heero had been about to go looking for him, faintly beginning to wonder if Duo was foolish enough to try giving them the slip when Duo finally came into view dangling the keys from his hand and looking a bit pale around the gills.
Heero settled back against the seat ignoring Trowa's gaze.
"Dying in battle is one thing, dying inch by inch is another." Trowa said quietly.
Heero shifted slightly looking briefly at Trowa silently acknowledging everything Trowa said and didn't say.
Duo slid into the drivers seat then and started the car without a glance at either of them. He had a soul to send to it's maker.

The guard at the research branch of Kale's Chemicals knew something was up. Security had been doubled and he had heard rumors that there had been an attempted break in just a day or so ago. Of course that was just a rumor but there had been that busted window.
At any rate Dell Curran hadn't been hired for his good looks and tonight he just couldn't shake the feeling that something was up.
Keeping a wary eye out, he finished his rounds, reported in and started over again.
Passing Arima with his dog, he nodded but didn't bother to say anything. It would have been a waste of his breath. Arima never answered with anything but a grunt and that was if you were lucky. Sometimes Dell thought Arima spent too much time with his dogs.
Rounding the corner of the building, he thought he heard a growl from Arima's dog but he couldn't be sure as it cut off so quickly. Backtracking a bit, hand on his gun, he cautiously moved back around the corner to check on Arima. He never knew what hit him.
Duo caught the guard's body and lowered it carefully to the ground. Moving on around the building he paused in the shadows until Heero and Trowa showed themselves.
"This looks like a bit much security for just a civilian research plant for household chemicals." Duo observed in a hushed voice. Heero just grunted in agreement. Silently they split again this time heading off in different directions.
Once inside Duo started planting explosives in certain key places already picked out on his mental map. Moving along being careful to avoid tripping any alarms and staying within the shadows, he came to a hallway that looked vaguely familiar. And only a few rooms down was a pale, thin stip of light showing through the crack of a door.
With narrowed eyes, Duo laid his ear against the door to listen. Hearing a faint shuffling sound, he grinned to himself. His grin taking on a maniacal edge he carefully placed the next to last of his stash of explosives on the wall beside the door. Then taking a careful breath he pushed the door open and slipped inside.
His eyes widened slightly in some small surprise as he found himself facing the business end of Deuce's gun.
"You!" Deuce growled in surprise.
"Yo, long time no see. Glad you made it out of Juke's in one piece." Duo grinned at him.
Deuce just glared at him, suspicion written allover his face.
"Sure I did. But what happened to you? Where have you been...? Plotting with Piper how to get my stash? Well, you can't have it!" Deuce cocked his gun.
"Why is it, I ask you, that I'M always the one who gets a gun shoved in my face?" Duo asked mildly raising his hands and rolling his eyes.
"And I'm not after your stash..." he added as an afterthought.
"Then what are you doing here?" Deuce demanded.
Duo grinned again and reached back slowly to pull out his last bit of high grade explosive. Holding it up, he watched in amusement as Deuce paled when he realized what Duo was holding.
"That... that's..." Deuce stuttered.
"Yes, it is."
"That's..."
"Are we articulate tonight or what? So how about you put the gun away and I'll put this back...."
Deuce reluctantly lowered his gun so Duo put the explosive back
"So what are you looking for?" Duo asked.
"Anything that I can use against him." Deuce replied.
"And... uh... I thought maybe... well, I knew you'd gotten caught and I figured you'd use the PSD23 to bargain with so I was looking to take it back." he added watching Duo closely.
"Sorry to disappoint you. I still have it and no one else is getting it." Duo said crisply.
"If that's all, I'd advise getting out of here cuz this place is about to go boom!" Duo suggested. Once he planted the last of his explosive this place was as good as gone. Besides, any information or files worth getting would be in Heero's possession by now.
Swinging his carry sack down off his shoulder, Duo was glad he was about done. His aches and pains were getting worse and the carry sack digging into his shoulder was becoming painful. Pulling the explosive back out, he attached it with a certain amount of glee to the familiar mahogany desk. Judging from the way Piper had seemed to like the desk so well, Duo figured this was adding insult to injury.
Standing up and slinging the carry sack over his shoulder, he pulled the detonator out noticing that Deuce had not moved.
"I gotta talk to you." Deuce said determinedly.
"Whatever but can it wait? I have a building to blow." Duo said carelessly checking his watch. The others should have theirs placed by now.
"I want that PSD23." Deuce said darkly. He had his gun lined up on Duo again.
Duo shook his head. He wasn't feeling so good and it was feeling warmer by the minute.
"Don't make me repeat myself. It's not good for my health." Duo looked him in the eye.
"Look, if I can't have it neither will you! You got two choices. Give it to me or I shoot you down and bring the building down on your body." Deuce was getting hot under the collar.
Duo just looked at him coolly.
"You shoot me, you're chances of getting it are nil. And you're just a few days late with that threat Deuce. You're not getting it."
Deuce lunged at him in a fury but was brought up short by Heero's strong hand. With a snarl, Deuce twisted trying to get at him only to come nose first against Trowa's pistol. He went very still.
"Wondered what was taking you so long." Heero grunted.
"What shall we do with him? Isn't this the one that was with you at the shuttle port?" Trowa asked his gun not wavering a bit.
"Yep. You can turn him loose. I still have a building to blow...what he does is his problem." Duo said abruptly. He headed for the door.
Swiftly taking Deuce's gun from him, Heero released him then followed Duo and Trowa who was keeping a wary eye on Deuce regardless.
Deuce hesitated a moment then took out after them.
"Hey! Duo! Wait, I still gotta talk to you!!" he yelled.
Duo's response was lost as Security finally made their presence known. A group of five guards turned the corner, saw them and opened fire. They ducked back around the corner they had just turned, Duo throwing a grenade around the corner for good measure and then Trowa blew the first of many explosives.
"This way!" Duo hissed and they lunged rolling and diving back across the hall to turn down a different corridor that only Duo knew where it led to.
"Give me my gun back!" Deuce hissed at Heero who ignored him.
"No reason to." Trowa said simply.
"You guys are crazy!" Deuce yelped as Heero pulled his automatic weapon around in response to yet another appearance of security and let loose.
"You just now noticed? I thought it was obvious." Heero dead panned keeping snug against the corner.
"Shit, Heero, don't do that!! I missed my shot!" Duo groused pulling back to reload. That done he paused gun in hand to lob another grenade down the hall.
"Don't blame it on me." Heero said flatly as he checked to see the guards scattering in response to the grenade. Trowa was firing steadily from the other side, Deuce ducked back behind Trowa for safety and kept a lookout the other way for more guards.
"Since when did you develop a sense of humor anyway?!" Duo demanded.
Another group of guards could be seen at the other end of their corridor. Heero pulled his detonator out and set off a second string of explosives and Duo could have sworn he saw a faint grin on his face.
Yells and curses could be heard and throughout the building a few small blazes started. Then the building shook as part of the labs exploded.
Taking advantage of the rattled security Duo lunged down the hall in the direction of the first set of guards that had been routed and dived down a connecting corridor, the others on his heels.
Duo was feeling more out of breath by the minute but was determined to see this through. Setting off the final set of explosives, he reached his goal, a large plate glass window overlooking a nicely manicured lawn. Shrubbery and trees just outside provided good cover and was conveniently only a few hundred yards from their hidden transportation which now included the bike left behind at Rip's apartment.
Heero took the lead blowing the window with a short burst from his automatic weapon before diving through all without missing a step and the others didn't hesitate to follow in spite of the glass flying everywhere.
Explosions rocked the building and what security they did see was more concerned with getting out of there than the four shadows amongst the trees.
Running through the trees, Duo was seeing spots by the time he reached the clearing where the Mustang and Kuzi were tucked out of sight. Staggering to the bike which he'd ridden up, a wave of vertigo swept over him and he could feel a spell of unexpected and unwanted dry heaves sweeping over him along with his vision trying to tunnel down to nothing.
Gasping for air, he fought for control even as his legs gave out from under him. Dimly he was aware of Deuce's voice from a long ways away demanding to know what was wrong even as hands caught and braced him.
Struggling to catch his breath, he managed to fight the dry heaves back to something close to normality. He was distantly aware of Heero curtly telling Deuce that Duo had been telling the simple truth about his threat coming too late and then there was silence.
Recovering enough that he thought he could stand, Duo shrugged free of the hands bracing him. Angry that his body had given out and that it had given out in front of Trowa and Heero, not to mention Deuce, he pulled himself to his feet using the bike to brace himself with.
Not looking directly at any of them, though he noticed to his surprise that it had been Trowa supporting him not Heero, he managed to get his leg over the saddle.
"Scoot. I'm driving."that was Heero. Not feeling up to arguing, Duo scooted.
Back at the house, Duo walked in under his own power feeling drained and absolutely exhausted. He headed straight for his room ignoring Deuce when he started to call after him. Deuce was brought up short by Trowa's simple "Let him be."
Deuce wanted to argue but was getting the feeling that he was in over his head and as mild as Trowa seemed, Deuce wasn't going to underestimate him. Trowa had been with the others every step of the way.
Deuce had seen some quiet ones in his time that once they let loose, you ran for cover and he had the feeling that Trowa was such a one.
So tomorrow it would be. Then he watched as a young blond came up radiating concern. Sudden suspicion dawned on Deuce and he began to feel very uneasy. He started looking around half expecting a dark Chinese boy to pop up any moment.
How could I be so blind?! He asked himself. If his suspicions were correct the blond would be Quatre Raberba Winner himself, head of Winner Enterprises and as rich as they come. Also one you didn't want to mess with.
Looking back to the group he almost jumped when he realized that they had him cornered against the wall. None of them looked happy. I'm dead! he thought uneasily.
"Hi. I'm Quatre Raberba Winner. You're Deuce Kipling right?" Quatre asked politely.
Well, when I'm right, I'm right! Deuce thought with dismay.
"Errr... yeah."Deuce mumbled. Just how much do they know anyway?
"You were with Duo at the shuttle port listed as Douglas McArthur." Heero stated flatly.
"Yeah, you know, ancient North American General...'I shall return'..." Deuce forced a tentative grin and when it wasn't returned he sighed, "Or maybe not."
"So how about you give us your side of this situation?" Quatre asked still polite... but then he could afford to be. Heero and Trowa more than made up for his congeniality with their intimidation factor.
Deuce scowled, a mulish expression on his face. He really didn't know any of these guys and was definitely not ready to spill everything. So he hesitated frantically trying to decide how much he dare to hold back and how much Duo would have likely told them.
Heero grabbed his shirt and pushed him up against the wall and off his feet. Cold Prussian blue eyes bored into Deuce's blue ones with chill and deadly intent.
"We don't have time for games and we're not asking you to tell us... you will one way or another. Duo is dying and I think you're as responsible as that Piper." Heero told him softly. The deadly undertone chilled Deuce's spine.
"As I understand it, you have a score to settle with this guy same as we do and it could only be to your advantage to work with us." Quatre threw in persuasively.
"We're going to take this guy down one way or another. At this rate, you'll miss your chance at revenge. You're a wanted man, how long do you think you can evade them and the authorities?" Trowa added.
"And what about Duo? I saw the telecast." Deuce mumbled. It was getting difficult to breath.... now I understand what Duo was talking about....he had to be referring to this guy!
"We take care of our own." Quatre said simply. "And we knew he was innocent."
"All right! All right! Let me down already, I'll talk!." Deuce managed to get out. Abruptly Heero let go of him and he hit the floor with a bit of a lurch but somehow managed to keep his feet. Smoothing his shirt, he glowered in a disgruntled fashion at the lot of them.
"How about we talk somewhere more comfortable?" Quatre asked already turning to head for the war room. As one body they moved towards the den, Deuce in the middle.
Once settled in they all looked at Deuce with varying degrees of expectancy, that is to say Quatre looked at him with expectancy. Trowa just gazed at him blankly while Heero had never let up on his chill stare. By now he'd figured out where he wanted to start and how much he figured he could safely say and not say so taking a deep breath, he prepared to make this good.
"Deuce Kipling is my real name, but my legal name is Douglas Kerring. Apparently, my blood parents were part of a rebel movement that was based primarily on L2 and were killed when we were very young. Somehow I got separated from my twin brother Solomon and ended up being adopted by a fairly well to do family. Then early on the war between the colonies and Earth, which my adoptive parents were involved in as well for the sake of the colonies, they were also killed. My father was killed right off but I was forced to watch as my mother was used for illegal experiments with bioweapons that were soon dropped in favor of the MS but only after she was left to die. I managed to get away mostly in one piece before they could get rid of me but I swore I'd find the ones responsible and take my revenge.
After I was old enough, I started hunting and when I finally found the one responsible I also found to my surprise, information indicating that I was adopted. Piper being my first priority, I found the primary research center and infiltrated it long enough to find out he was again playing around with bioweapons.
I managed to get my hands on the case of PC11 and was gonna get it checked out. Piper never missed it, he was concentrating on it's counterpart, PSD23. Then one of the scientists started questioning the records I'd doctored on the PC11. That man won't be showing up anytime soon. On the verge of being discovered, I grabbed the PSD23 on my way out. That's when Piper started hunting me. Of course, I didn't know what I had until later and then I wasn't sure what to do with it. I mean, it's dangerous. I had some nice dreams though..." Deuce sighed.
Then he continued, "I needed to find out what it was and still keep a low profile and so I headed to L2 where I know some people that know me and would keep quiet. That just happened to be where my last known relative had died so I figured to see what I could find. That's when I met Duo.
I didn't know he was heading back to Earth on the same flight. I was sure I'd been followed although I'd lost my first tail and halfway back to Earth, I got the idea that if I planted the case on Duo even if I was caught I would have a better chance of talking my way out of it. They'd never suspect him. And I'd have a perfectly good reason for visiting him later...only it didn't quite work out like I thought it would. Duo....took me by surprise." Deuce shook his head with a reminiscent smile on his lips.
Heero grunted a glint of amusement in his eyes while Quatre chuckled openly. Trowa even had a faint grin on his face.
"I guess you know what happened then..." Deuce said unnecessarily. Quatre nodded and leaned forward to clasp his hands together, resting his elbows on his knees.
"After that I figured to get the case back from him so I told him to meet me at Juke's Bar & Grill. I waited for him there until he showed up only to find out that not only had he found the case but that I wasn't getting my hands on them till he had some answers." Deuce paused a bit shaking his head at the memory and then continued.
"At any rate, when he found out what it was he turned funny and told me flat out that he was going to dispose of it at the earliest opportunity. Things were getting tense but what I didn't know was that the bartender was a stool pigeon and had sold me out so before we could really get into it, those two from the shuttle port showed up.
They forced us to leave and were going to take us by car only one of them got careless and I got free. We started to run but when I looked back Duo wasn't anywhere around so I found a place to duck low for a while. It was only later I found out that Duo had been caught. I found him after a while and went to see what was what. He had one of Piper's watchdogs on him and I almost got caught. I was on the run for a bit there and that's when I became aware that you were looking for him too." Deuce was looking straight at Heero when he said that.
"So you were the one that gave me the address where they were keeping Duo." Heero stated flatly looking at him intently.
"Yep."Deuce grinned a little. "I mean he had my stash and I had no idea if he had dumped it or not but he helped me out at the shuttle port and I knew it would put a monkey wrench in Piper's plans so I went for it."
"Just a question but do you know what happened to Duo's hand? He didn't seem to want to tell us." Quatre asked curiously remembering the way Duo had avoided the question.
"That would have been Mohawk Man at Juke's. He was trying to make a point and pinned Duo's hand to the table with a knife." Deuce winced. Heero leaned back at that, no expression at all on his face while Trowa raised an eyebrow. Quatre cringed a bit.
"He's the same one that was making wisecracks about Duo's braid." Deuce added thoughtfully. At that, Heero raised his eyebrow while the other two looked at each other.
"He's dead." Quatre and Trowa said simultaneously. Deuce nodded judiciously.
"I figured as much." he chuckled. He was beginning to like these guys. But there was something he really wanted to know...should he ask them? Oh, well.....
"So what did happen to Duo? I mean Piper obviously got hold of him but..." he trailed off. This time it was Quatre who answered.
"Evidently, you took their stash but they had kept a sample of the PSD23 separate." he informed Deuce flatly.
Deuce was very still for a long moment as his face slowly lost color. Then Heero leaned forward and narrowed his eyes at Deuce.
"Which reminds me. Duo said you have the PC11. Some friends of ours are trying to come up with a solution and that PC11 could be the key. We're going to need it." he looked at Deuce with the knowledge that one way or another they would get it written all over his face.
Deuce slowly shook his head. He saw Heero tense as if to move and spoke up quickly.
"Even if I got if for you what would you do with it? Surely Duo told you what it's like. What do you expect to do with it? If they used that on him, he's as good as dead." Deuce protested.
"We are going to find a cure." Heero said flatly as if there were no other possibilities.
"A cure..." Deuce repeated skeptically. He looked at the three sitting opposite him
"That's right." Quatre said with a closed face.
"If he lives that long." Deuce said caustically. "All right, I'll get it for you. I can have it here by tomorrow noon."
"Anything else that would be helpful?" Quatre asked him with a nod of thanks.
"Haven't been able to pin the slick bastard down. I mean I can tell you what I saw but there's no proof except the PSD & PC11. But it's been shuttled around so much it can't be considered evidence anymore. And I didn't have leveling his lab as an option." Deuce said in frustration.
"That's were we come in. Tell us what you can and we will dig this man out." Quatre said reassuringly. Then he looked at Heero.
"Did you find anything while you were there?" he asked. Heero shook his head.
"Nothing. It was like he said, there's no proof, no records, nothing. Except Deuce and Duo as eye witnesses maybe..." but he shook his head again and they all knew that if either saw Piper outside of legal arrest, Piper was as good as dead.
Just then Sally Po poked her head in. She looked very, very tired.
"Just thought you all would want to know that Zechs and Noin have arrived and that Relena's cat just fell over dead. The milk was poisoned."
"WHAT?!" Heero snarled jumping to his feet; Quatre right behind him, shock on his face.
Deuce blinked rapidly in an effort to assimilate this new information while Trowa's face darkened.
"It was milk reserved in preparation for a tea that Relena was going to hold with a Commissioner or something. We still don't know how it was contaminated but we do know what the substance is and I believe we've managed to neutralize it." Sally sighed.
"Wufei's reaction was just as bad. Lady Une has also given orders that you five and the two girls be moved to HQ. She was afraid of something like this happening. Besides, if nothing else Miller and I will have everything we could possibly want including more personnel and a fully functional infirmary for Wufei." Sally added.
"That's twice!! How did they get through our security twice?!" Heero demanded in a icily controlled fury.
Sally shrugged and looked at Deuce. Quatre promptly shook his head.
"He's been with us the entire time. Not possible."Trowa asserted calmly.
"Then I don't know and I'm too tired to think at the moment." she told them.
"Where's Zechs?" Heero asked sharply. Sally moved aside in the doorway and pointed down the hall towards the kitchen. Heero left, Trowa right behind him leaving Quatre to settle with Deuce. Sally moved to go back to the makeshift lab.
"You look exhausted Sally." Quatre observed and with a faint smile he quoted, "You won't do anyone any good if you're too tired to function from lack of rest."
Sally glared at him in mock disgust but then smiled wearily.
"I know... but if we can't pull this off... well there is such a thing as too much sleep." she said cryptically shaking her head in discouragement before disappearing down the hall in the other direction.