Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Disappearances of Life, Love, and Truth ❯ The Search Begins, The Heart Urns ( Chapter 1 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

“I need the two of you to locate and recruit to the Preventers for the sole purpose of stopping Vurno Bindex, Duo Maxwell.” Those words still rang through Wufei’s mind. There had been over a thousand moments in the past six years when Wufei had wanted nothing more then to go on the hunt for Duo Maxwell. He never had though. There was never any true reason for him too. Other then what his heart kept telling him, and even that wasn’t enough really. He couldn’t just show up in front of Duo one day and profess his love for the man. Maxwell had said when he left, he’d had a better offer. And whatever that meant, Duo was probably living a nice normal life somewhere. And Wufei hadn’t wanted to wreak that for him. But now, now he had a reason. In fact now he didn’t just have a reason, he had orders. Orders to find Duo Maxwell. And while he was sure that it wasn’t Une’s intention to possibly end his six year search for true love, he also figured it was a great bonus to him.

There was just one problem, he had no idea how to start looking for Duo Maxwell. The man had made a more then clean get away six years past, now after all this time it was going to be impossible to try and find him. When the leads were fresh maybe, but six years past? It was likely to be the hardest task he ever faced as a Preventer.

“Hey.” Heero spoke out in greeting as he walked in to Wufei’s small office. Now currently overcrowded as Heero had moved in here too for the time being.

“Any leads yet?” Heero asked him. They had been making the first attempts at trying to get a hold of Maxwell for two days now. And so far nothing was giving them any help.

“No. And I don’t see how we could have any either. He vanished six years ago. After all this time this its worse then a needle in the haystack.” Wufei told him glumly. Heero just shot him an accusing look.

“Wufei, think about this logically. The reason Vurno Bindex took six years to move full force was because they were waiting for everyone to get complacent. To forget the past. The same thing is sure to be true for Maxwell.” Heero spoke out.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Wufei nearly growled at Heero. He didn’t want a run around from his temporary partner in this. He just wanted to find Duo and now.

“That means, that after six years with no one coming after him, six years of simply living whatever life he may have chose for himself, he probably isn’t doing much hiding out right now. He probably thinks that everyone has just forgot about him and passed him over. He wont be expecting anyone to come looking for him anymore then any of us were expecting something like Vurno Bindex to attack.” Heero explained to the currently temperamental man before him. He watched as his words sank in to Wufei. Finally the Chinese man let out a low sigh.

“You’re right. I get it. But that still doesn’t really give us any place to start.” He replied.

“Yeah, well I…” Heero was cut off as the intercom went off on Wufei’s desk.

“What?” Wufei shot back over the intercom as he held up a hand to stop Heero from continuing momentarily.

‘Sorry for the interruption Sir, but Lady Une would like to speak with Lt. Colonel Yuy right away.’ His secretary’s voice buzzed in over the line. Wufei glanced over at Heero, he just nodded his head.

“Tell her I’m on my way right now.” He said as he stood back up. “I’ll be right back, maybe she has a lead for us to start on.” He told Wufei as he left the office. Wufei just shook his head and let it collapse in to his hands on the desk. Heero was right, Duo could have grown just as careless as everyone else had in these last six years. But it was still going to be an impossible task for the two of them to surmount.

Wufei was poking around the net nearly listlessly as Heero walked back in a few minutes later. Wufei was about to ask him just what Une had wanted when he caught sight of the look on his face. Controlled rage was the nicest way that Wufei could think to put it, and seeing it made him wait to let Heero speak. Knowing otherwise he just might be putting himself in a dangerous situation. Heero simply walked over to the small side desk he had been using these past couple of days and started riffling through some papers. Then with the slam of a drawer he was storming over the small space to Wufei’s desk.

“Here.” he bit out as he threw the pile of papers on Wufei’s desk and spun on his heel. Wufei spared a brief glance at the papers before he realized Heero was planning on just leaving, with nothing else mentioned.

“Wait a minute.” He called out as the other man neared the door, going against his better judgment and possibly risking his life considering the mood that Heero was in. But all the same he needed something more then a stack of papers thrust at him at this moment.

“What?” was the answer that came back to him in a snarl.

“What’s going on Heero? And what the hell is this?” Wufei asked motioning the stack of papers now in front of him. Heero took a deep breath and steadied himself before he turned back around and faced Wufei. He knew it wasn’t Wufei’s fault that any of this was happening, but it didn’t make it anything easier.

“Une pulled me from the case.” He said as he faced Wufei. The other man was about ready to start asking him more, but Heero held up a hand and gave him a harsh look. From Heero though one or the other would have been enough, both made sure that Wufei wasn’t about to even think too loudly.

“The board of directors threw a fit about the two of us both being put on the same case and ordered her to break us up immediately. So she deiced to only have one of us search for Duo while the other one worked from the offensive side and figured out the best game plan to get Duo in and out of Vurno Bindex the fastest and the easiest once we have him. She decided that I was best suited to work that angle.” Heero closed his eyes a second and took a deep breath. He didn’t need to see the relived look in Wufei’s eyes. The look that said he was glad not to be the one who was pulled off the case. Heero knew that Wufei wanted to find Duo with a desperation that wouldn’t be held back, but at the same time so did Heero. Duo had been a true friend and ally in some of the worst times of Heero’s life and above all he wanted to get him back. He wanted to be the one to find him and now Wufei was the one who would get that privilege.

“I’m sorry Heero.” Wufei said quietly, the hurt that he could read on Heero’s face showed just how far Heero had changed in the past six years. “I will find him, I will get him back. I can promise you that.” He told him, and put his whole heart behind that statement. Not just to comfort Heero but to further convince himself that it was the truth. Heero just nodded his head and slowly started to turn back to the door.

“What is this though Heero?” Wufei asked him before he could slip away though. Heero turned to face him again and noticed he was motioning the papers he had given him.

“They’re leads I was going to track down myself. Now you can do it.” He explained as he opened the door.

“How, what, where did they come from?” Wufei pushed him.

“They were places that I thought Duo might have had contact with. Places were I sent out the wedding invitations four years ago.” and with that the door slammed behind him and Wufei was left alone. Stinging from the tone of Heero’s words, and feeling like the slamming of the door was the sound of his own fate being sealed in. He knew in that instant, if Heero was going far enough to tear open barely closed wounds just to find Duo, that if Wufei didn’t find him, Heero would more then likely kill him. And that would be getting off easy.

“Umm, yeah, sorry Wufei but I haven’t heard for Duo in over six years now.” Hilde’s voice carried over through the vid screen, showing the young woman give an almost uncaring shrug of her shoulders.

“Well, thanks anyway.” Wufei told her, less then politely as he cut off the transmission. He allowed his head to flop down on to his desk with a rather loud thunk. The groan he let out the was only half due to the pain that shot through his head and neck. He had searched though nearly all of the leads that Heero had given him, and while he might have had more luck in actually talking to the people listed then Heero had the first time around, he still hadn’t had any luck in even coming close to finding the missing man. He raised his head as the buzzer on his desk went off, but instead of answering it he choose to simply glare the life out of it. But as it went off again he realized that he apparently didn’t have Heero’s patented death glare down quite yet.

“What?” he growled in to the damnable thing. The last thing he needed now was any more bad news, and yet he figured that was all he was going to get. He was a week plus in to this search but other then a lot of dead ends and a never ending migraine he didn’t have anything to show for it.

“Sorry sir, but there is an urgent voice only call coming in for you on a restricted Preventers line.” his secretary told him, her voice shacking. He had been snapping at everyone for just about anything these last few days, and working so closely with him, she was getting the worst of it. He almost felt bad for her, almost.

“Where is it from?” he asked her with both anticipation at something maybe panning out finally, and dread that it was just worse news.

“A secured hospital Sir, that’s all I know.”

“GOD DAMN IT! Put it though right away!” he snapped at the poor woman. If it was from a hospital it had to be either Trowa or Quatre, and he could only pray that they were both still doing good.

“Wufei? You there?” Trowa’s voice crackled over the line.

“Yeah, I’m here Trowa. What is it?” ‘Dear god don’t let anything have taken a turn for the worse with Quatre.’ He silently pleaded as he waited for Trowa’s answer. It was delayed due to the security on the line, and even though it was only a few seconds delay, right now that was way to long to wait.

“It’s good to hear your voice Wufei. Its been too long, and under circumstances like this, well…” His voice sounded strained and tired. And it was no wonder why either.

“I know what you mean. It really makes me think we should have stayed in contact better then we did.” Wufei told him, realizing that both of them were trying to have a normal conversation in an attempt to forestall what they knew was coming.

“So how is Quatre doing?” Wufei asked him. A long pause followed, longer then the security delay, and it set Wufei’s nerves on high.

“He’s good. Really. In fact when they told him that neither one of us was going to be allowed to call out to either you or Heero, he proved he was in good enough condition to shove a 9mm in the face of one of the officers they have stationed here and threaten to shove it in a much worse place if he didn’t at least allow me to call out.” Trowa said, Wufei knew that if there was a picture with this call he’s be looking at Trowa’s bashful smile right now too.

“He has changed hasn’t he? The corporate world has hardened him.” Wufei said with a slight smile of his own.

“Yeah it has. Especially when you add in everything that he’s been through trying to keep the Winner Corporation a float. And now only to learn that it was all part of a master plan by some terrorist group. It really is unfair. I don’t think I’ve even seen that sweet smile of his since I arrived.” Trowa told him solemnly. It was obvious that he still had feelings, deep feelings, for the blonde man. And these events were sure to push both of them towards something now too. Whether that was together or apart only time could tell.

“How are you doing Trowa?” Wufei asked then. Knowing he could possibly be opening a whole new can of worms, but needing to know how his friend was holding up in these trying times, especially after the death of his sister.

“Well, not so good really. And I just want everything to get over with so that I can take care of, of everything else. But I don’t want to leave Quatre right now either.” He told Wufei.

“I can understand.” and that really was all Wufei could say. All of them had lost so much and so many friends and family during the war, but they thought that now after all this time they were safe. Only to turn around six years later and find out that nothing had really changed. That none of them were ever truly safe.

“Yeah. That actually brings me to why I really called. I know that you and Heero are working on bringing all this to a close. And that you guys are trying to track down Duo to help you.”

“Not Heero, just me. He was removed from the case.” Wufei interrupted him.

“That’s too bad. I know for a fact that Heero would really like to find him, and get at least that friendship they used to have back. But at least you still are on it, and you are looking for Duo right?” Trowa asked him, a slight sense of urgency creeping in to his voice.

“Yeah that’s right. But I’m sorry to say, its slow going. I can’t find any leads, and everything that I do find just brings me to a dead end and I’m back at square one.” Wufei filled him in. Knowing that it was supposed to be confidential Preventers information, but this was one of his best friends. And besides Une had told him that both Trowa and Quatre had been made Honoree 1st Lieutenants. If she wanted to get on his case about this, let her.

“Well, I think I can help. When Quatre and I heard that the plan was to try and find Duo finally, we stared talking. Quatre said that he remembered something that might be helpful. He said that during the war when he and Duo hid out with the Maguanac Corps. the whole time Duo talked non stop.” Trowa told him.

“Well, that doesn’t surprise me. That would be typical Duo.” Wufei laughed.

“Yeah, well he also said that most of his talking was about his past, his home and friends on L-2. And before you interrupt let me finish.” Trowa added quickly before Wufei could do just that. They all knew that Duo had been from L-2, at this point Wufei didn’t really think it meant anything though.

“Duo talked a lot about the town he was from on L-2, and the people he still knew there, even kids from his gang that had managed to survive. Now, Quatre was hyped up on a lot of morphine and codeine at the time, so I don’t know how much of this is real, but it can’t hurt to at least check it out.” Trowa paused, waiting for Wufei’s take of what he had to offer.

“Okay, it’s not like I have any better leads right now. Give me what you have.” Wufei told him as he hurried and grabbed up a paper and pen. And that was the truth. Maybe the ranting of a drug hyped patient could give him a lead, nothing else had yet.

“All right. He talked a lot about his gang, especially Solo, who we know is deceased, and a girl who called herself ‘Parka’, and some other kid too, but I don’t have a name of them. Parka, from what I could understand, was quite a bit older then he was, she’d be in her early to mid 30’s now if my guess is correct. But she seemed to be a big influence on him. He talked a lot about a church and orphanage, I’m assuming that would be the Maxwell church. I thought I also heard about them rebuilding it a few years back, so that could be a lead. But just about anything he mentioned was all centered in one area, the northern sector of the L-2 cluster, in a hole in the wall town. And here’s where the drugs kicked in big time.” Trowa told him.

“What do you mean by that?”

“All Quatre could come up with for the name was, well, Conan the Barbarian.” Trowa said, knowing that was definitely not the name of the town, but it was all he had.

“Conan the Barbarian? What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Wufei asked him in disbelief as his hand stilled over the paper.

“I know, I know. But it might lead to something even at that. If not the town, at least you have a general location and a name…”

“I have a part of a sector, and a teenage girls handle from nearly 20 years ago Trowa.” Wufei cut him off. As leads went, this wasn’t the best, hell it wasn’t even that good.

“I know its not much, but it’s the best I can give you. Look, once again we’re all in this together Wufei. Its just that this time instead of all attacking together, we have to come at this from every and all angles possible.” Trowa told him, gaining that slight edge in his voice that everyone who truly knew him, knew he meant business now. Wufei instantly shut his mouth on his next retort. He didn’t know what was getting in to him, he wasn’t one who was prone to outbursts normally. It probably just had to do with finding Duo after all these years, finally getting back a missing piece of all their lives. And even though he knew it wasn’t something that anyone should be asked to do, he knew in his heart that they were all counting on Duo to put all of their previously normal lives back together for them. They were asking him to come back to them and still be the boy they knew in the wars, the one that could fix any of their problems with a sarcastic comment and a big laugh. And Wufei was silently praying to whoever would listen that he could do that, that he could still be that boy that right now everyone of them needed so badly.

“I’ll see what I can do with this. Thanks Trowa.” Wufei finally said.

“Yeah. I have to clear off this line. We’ve already been on it longer then we were supposed to be. Security risks and all.” was the reply that came back to him.

“Alright, tell Quatre I wish him well, and I hope that this will all be over soon and we all can catch up with each other.” Wufei emphasized the word all, making sure that Trowa knew he wasn’t just adding Heero on to that list, but Duo as well.

“That would be nice. Goodbye Wufei.” and before Wufei could even say goodbye back, the line was dead. He shut off the connection from his side as well, but continued to stare at the screen for the longest time. Trying to decide whether to scream, cry, punch his fist through a wall, or just start throwing things. After a minute he decided none of those would actually get him anywhere ahead on his search, but just about everyone of them would make him feel a hell of a lot better.

“Damn it!” he screamed out as he finally gave in to his impulses and chucked a stapler across his office. It landed in a very satisfying thunk next to his door. And the surprised look on Heero’s face, who happened to be coming in through the door at that very instant, and nearly had his ear clipped by it, was enough to lift Wufei’s mood enough to even smile.

“What was that about?” Heero asked him as he carried the stapler back over to Wufei’s desk, wide eyes still pinned on the man behind it.

“Nothing.” Wufei told him as he took it back from Heero with a small laugh and a shake of his head.

“Nothing? I don’t think chucking a stapler in to a wall is ‘nothing’. Unless it just so happens to be ‘Mistreatment of Office Supplies’ day and I ignored the e-mail.” Heero told him as he sat down across from Wufei. Wufei just cracked up laughing.

“And Heero Yuy making jokes, well that has to be marked down in the calendar.” His spirits were lifting fast now. And maybe with the information that Trowa had given him, he could at least find a decent lead to track down Duo.

“Seriously though, what is it Wufei?” Heero asked his friend as he also began to privately wonder about the mans sanity.

“I just got off the phone with Trowa…” Wufei started to relate his recent news after he calmed down a bit, and before Heero interrupted him.

“Trowa? Is everything okay? How’s Quatre doing?” Heero instantly decided to make the conversation in to a game of 20 questions.

“Settle down, he’s doing as well as can be expected. Just anxious to get all of this put behind him, as we all are. And Quatre is improving everyday, and in no immediate danger.” Wufei assured his friend. Knowing everything that must have been going through Heero’s mind, as it was probably the same questions that had been going through his own mind thirty minutes ago when he first found out Trowa was on the line for him. He watched as Heero let out a sigh and seemed to lose some of the tension from his shoulders.

“That’s good.”

“Yeah, I know. I would have tried to get you, but it had to be a fairly quick call. The security they have to go through is rough.” Wufei told him, and he could see the disappointment in Heero’s normally closed off eyes. He knew he wanted to be in on the conversation more then he’d ever admit.

“Its okay. I understand.” Heero told him, and as much as he didn’t like it, he did understand. He would have loved the chance to talk to Trowa, to find out how he was really doing. The time the two of them had spent together during the war, no matter how far past it may have been, had formed a bond between them. One where they could understand each other, not necessarily better then the others could, but on a different level.

“Was there anything else?” Heero asked him then. Appreciating that Trowa called to inform them of how both himself and Quatre were doing, but also knowing that Trowa wouldn’t have jumped through all of those security hoops just to tell them that.

“Yeah. He gave me some possible leads on Maxwell. Information that Quatre spilled out while in the haze of a morphine and codeine cocktail.” Wufei told him, handing over the notes he’d taken while on the line with Trowa. Heero simply nodded his head and looked them over.

“Northern sector, girl named ‘Parka’, possibly in mid 30's, Maxwell Church rebuilding, Conan the Barbarian? What the hell is that last bit supposed to mean?” Heero asked him skeptically as he handed the notes back over.

“That was what Quatre was convinced that the name of the town Duo came from was called. I know it’s not that, but it might be close all the same.” Wufei told him. Looking the page over again himself, and beginning to feel the desperation set back in.

“I’m beginning to see how the stapler ended up halfway through a wall.” Heero told him with a small smirk.

“What brought you in here anyway?” Wufei suddenly asked him. Realizing for the first time that Heero dropping by for a visit wasn’t the normal, but they had gotten so side tracked that he hadn’t even thought to ask about it before now.

“I was just letting you know how things were looking from my side of things. I’ve been doing some light reconnaissance to figure out how best to get Maxwell in to play once we have him. It seems that anyone who is anyone of Vurno Bindex is stationed on the Peacemillion. It receives a supply transport once a week, but never on a set day. And occasionally they get shuttles from earth and the colonies as well. My best guess is that its other members heading in and out of meetings, but nothing is definite. We still can’t figure out any set schedule either.” Heero told him.

“So how close does that put you to figuring how to get Duo into the mix?”

“We don’t actually have any solid information, which is what Une wants before anyone goes in. And if it was anyone, even the best undercover and double agents the Preventers have, it would be a couple more months at least. But if Duo is still anything like the Duo we all remember, we had more then enough information a week ago.” Heero told him, with an almost hidden smile on his face.

“Yeah, and he probably wouldn’t even listen to half of it anyway.” Wufei added in, sharing in that smile. For a minute they just sat there looking at one another, but not seeing anything. Lost in a moment where they could remember the past clearer then the present. For one moment out of time, they were 15 year old boys again planning the next attack on an Oz base. Waiting for the loud mouth baka to bust through the door and tell them that not only did he already have it figured out but was halfway though with the whole mission anyway. And as much as the both of them put the war behind them, the pain and the blood shed, moments like that, moments shared not between soldiers but instead friends, were something they not only could never get passed, but never wanted too either.

“So, what’s your next move?” Heero finally asked, breaking the moment before either of them got too lost in it. Being practical and knowing that getting too wrapped up in things like that could lead to heartache if this search didn’t turn out the way they were all hoping it would.

“I don’t know. Everything Trowa gave me is centered around L-2.” Wufei told him, coming out of the moment as well.

“So I would head out there and do some hands on digging If I were you.” Heero added in his unasked for opinion.

“But that makes no sense.”

“Why not? If that’s where all of your information is from or about, it’s the most likely spot to start.” Heero told him.

“And that’s the problem. Everything any of us ever knew about Duo was centered around L-2. If he really wanted to disappear, there’s no way he would go back there. It’s the most obvious spot that anyone looking for him would go.” Wufei explained to him.

“Exactly why he would go there.” Heero told him, and the skeptical look on Wufei’s face prompted him to continue. “It is the place that seems the most obvious, and knowing that anyone trying to disappear would avoid it. And anyone looking for that person would also recognize that it would be too obvious, and would start their search somewhere else. But on the chance that the person disappearing was one step ahead, that’s exactly where they would go. Because it does seem too obvious, and that alone would keep it off the search list.”

“And Duo was nothing if not always a step ahead. All right it does make sense in a very round about and messed up way. Two more things that Duo excelled at. Okay, even if I head to L-2, I still don’t know what to look for.” Wufei said, turning gloomy over the lack of leads once again.

“If I have to spell everything out to you, maybe I should be the one searching instead.” Heero told him. Slightly arrogant, and very serious.

“Look, I’m sorry. I’m tired and this is impossible. I go to L-2, then what? Duo could have changed his name, cut the foolish braid off, and not to mention no one has seen him in six years to know what he might look like as anything other then a teenage boy.” Wufei could tell he was beginning to snap again, but he was passed caring.

“Duo would never cut his hair. I remember one time we had to evacuate an area ASAP, and he ended up shutting his braid in the cockpit door of Deathscythe. He wouldn’t let me cut him free, instead he flew the entire two plus hours with his head twisted and half out of the seat. Just so that he wouldn’t have to cut his hair. I doubt that much has changed about him.” Heero told Wufei, with another hidden smile at the memory of how ridiculous Duo had looked that day.

“Okay, fine. He still more likely then not has the braid. But what about his name? What if he changed that?” Wufei asked him.

“Why would he? None of us did.” Heero told him simply.

“But we weren’t trying to disappear, he was. And besides, we had real names. He just . . . ”

“Hold it right there.” Heero interrupted him. “You and Quatre had real names. The rest of us just took ours. ‘Heero Yuy’ was a code name J gave me. But I never knew any other name so I kept it. Trowa took his name from the man he replaced on the original operation, and he could have taken a different name now. He could have taken his real name, Triton Bloom, after Cathrine told him about it. But he didn’t, he kept the name Trowa Barton because that was the first identity he could say was his. Just like me, and just like Duo. From what I know Duo took his name in memory and honor of the only two good things in his childhood, I doubt he would throw that away.”

“Yeah, sure but . . . ”

“Look Wufei,” Heero interrupted one more time. “Either get your ass on the next shuttle to L-2, or I will go. You can have the recon. work instead.” And with that Heero stood up and left the room. Leaving Wufei alone once again with the nearly impossible task. But Heero did make one point, if he didn’t at least try he wouldn’t find out anything. And if he didn’t try, Heero would, and he might never get that chance to talk to Duo alone. And he didn’t know if he could deal with that opportunity being ripped away from him for a second time. He pressed the buzzer on his desk to get his secretary’s attention.

“Yes sir?”

“I need a flight booked for the soonest possible shuttle to L-2, northern sector.” He told the woman. He still didn’t know exactly what he was going to be able to accomplish, but he was at least going to try.


Two days later Wufei found himself in the northern sector of L-2, in a small town called Cannon Barrel. Which happened to be the closest town he could find with a name that was similar to ‘Conan the Barbarian’. And no matter how many people he talked too, or flashed old photos at, no one knew anything about Duo Maxwell, Parka, or any Maxwell at all for that matter.

“Damn it.” Wufei mumbled to himself as he checked his watch. It was almost two in the afternoon. He had been here for 36 hours and absolutely nothing to show for all of that time. He shook his head in desperation as he walked over to a nearby pay phone. It was about time he checked in and reported his defeat.

“Colonel Chang, 3-3-Niner-7-2-Alpha-Alpha-Niner, secured line only to Lt. Colonel Yuy.” He told the receptionist that answered the phone. After a few seconds of silence he heard the distinctive click that meant the line had been switched over to a secure one.

“Wufei? What’s up?” Heero’s voice came across the line then after another second or two.

“Nothing. At all. All I can find here is one giant dead end. And the way Duo talked about L-2, this whole area, much less this town, doesn’t fit.” Wufei told him. Knowing that he should have called Une to report in, but Heero could inform her later for him. Besides Heero would be able to hopefully give him more help then Une ever would.

“How so?” Heero asked him.

“It’s all fairly up class around here. All these people seem to have money, decent jobs, everything. Not starving on the streets like Duo always made it out to be.” Wufei reported.

“I was thinking that might be the case.” Heero told him.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, the Maxwell church isn’t anywhere near the Northern Sector. It’s in the lower Southern Sector. Which lead me to think that maybe Quatre had gotten the two areas reversed. So I did some checking for you. There’s a town about 200 km west of where the church was called Corner Barb.” Heero gave him the information he had been compiling, in hopes of maybe getting permission to go and check it out himself. But after being shot down twice by Une, he knew Wufei was the only other person who could put it to good use.

“Well, I guess that does make more sense. And I was going to stop by the rebuilt Maxwell Church before I left anyway. So What’s one more little detour, especially if it brings us closer to Duo. Thanks Heero.” With that Wufei cut the connection. Having an almost reawakened sense of hope now. The church and Corner Barb. Something inside of him was just screaming that this would be it. That he would find Duo, or at least a solid lead to him there.


It had taken him less then six hours to get from Cannon Barrel in the Northern Sector to the Maxwell Church in the south. Sure that did included breaking every speed limit and a few other not so important traffic laws, but Wufei didn’t care. He just knew that soon something was going to pan out, it had to.

“Hello Sister.” He greeted as the door to church opened to reveal a young woman in a habit behind it. “I am sorry about the late hour, but my name is Colonel Wufei Chang and I’m here on official Preventers business.” He told her.

“Oh dear, come in.” She said as she ushered him into the vestibule of the church. “Whatever it is you need, just let me know.”

“Well, were you here ever since the church reopened?” He asked her. He wasn’t in the mood for small talk. He just needed his answers.

“Yes. I have been the head Nun here for the last, oh, five years I believe it’s been. Ever since the reopening ceremony back then.” She told him.

“All right, good. I am looking for someone who may have been present at that ceremony, or has had direct contact with the church since that time. They more likely then not would have been using the surname of ‘Maxwell’.” He told the sister.

“I’m sorry.” She said with a small laugh in her voice. “The day of the reopening we had two weddings and three children’s christenings here. And every signal one of those parties had at least one member whose surname was Maxwell.”

“How?” Was all Wufei could manage to ask. He knew his face was crestfallen, but he couldn’t help it. He had so much hope of finding out a solid lead on Duo from here.

“Before this church was destroyed in the war, it helped hundreds of children to find families. Hundreds of families to get back on their feet. And a lot of those people decided to pay homage to the church the only way they could, by taking Maxwell as their own name. So if your looking for someone with that last name, I could point you out to at least a hundred different people. Without more information, I can’t be of any more help to you.” She explained.

“Well, it would be a man, in his early 20's now. Blue-violet eyes, possibly keeps his hair in a long braid. He might be using the name Duo as well.” Wufei informed her. He could see the woman thinking, and only hoped that she would be able to come up with the answers he wanted.

“No, I’m sorry. That description doesn’t ring any bells.” She told him sadly.

“Well thank you anyway. If you think of anything else, please call me.” He handed over one of his cards, made a polite goodbye, and left. The church wouldn’t do him any good. Too many people from this area knew of it, or had been helped by it. Turning Maxwell in to a very common name for this area. He would have to wait and see what he could turn up in Corners Barb tomorrow. His hopes had fallen a little bit after the disappointment at the church, but he was still confident that something big was about to happen.


Wufei had chosen to spend the night in a motel about 30 km west of Corner Barb, and as he drove into the town for the first time, he realized that was probably the smartest thing he could have done. The entire town looked like it was ready to collapse and fall in on its self. All the buildings showed wear and tear not only from the elements but from the war as well. And yet it seemed like the residents didn’t care as long as they were still standing. In the ‘better’ areas, if you could call them that, he found some small markets and shops. But no one had ever heard of anyone using the name Duo Maxwell, Maxwell, Parka, or fitting Duo’s description. But Wufei had a new sense of determination that wouldn’t allow him to give up.

As he moved farther and farther into the more desolate areas of the town, he realized this place could easily fit with Duo’s descriptions of where and how he had grown up. There were people littered all over the sidewalks, sleeping behind dumpsters, selling gods know what on the corners. The graffiti on the buildings covered up most of the damage they had taken, but Wufei wasn’t sure if that could be considered good or bad. The park he passed was littered with trash and the only playground equipment left in it was nothing more then a huge pile of rust. Most of the buildings around him were labeled ‘condemned’ and yet it was obvious that they were still being used. The few shops that were scattered around had bars over their windows and solid metal doors.

Wufei also learned quickly that as soon as he mentioned the word Preventers everyone around him either clammed up tight or took off running. Even once he figured out how to ask what he needed to without scaring everyone off, he didn’t get very far. This whole area lived by a mentality of protecting themselves, and only themselves. No one knew anything of even their closest neighbors. Everyone kept to themselves in hopes that everyone else would do the same. And the few people that he could tell did know something more then they were telling, weren’t about to tell him anything. Even without using his Preventers authority, even the little kids sitting on the steps in front of their buildings could tell he didn’t fit in this area. And no one was about to turn in one of their own.

A few people did tell him that the name Maxwell sounded familiar, but nothing more then that. And that was really what hurt the worst. He knew inside of him that this wasn’t a dead end. That Duo had to be around here, or at least was around here at some point in the past six years. But if he couldn’t get any solid leads soon, he would have no choice but to abandon the area and move on. Knowing that Une was getting restless for some real information and soon, and wasn’t about to waste time on something that was only a gut feeling.

After exhausting himself on some of the worst streets he had ever seen in his life, he decided he had enough for one day and headed back to his hotel, and the only payphone he had seen all day that hadn’t had parts of it ripped out and still worked. His plan was to check back in with Heero. He would let him know what he found so far, and that he was going to spend at least the next day checking out this area more thoroughly before he moved on. Just after he dialed the number though, something caught his attention.

“Preventers main switch board. Name and clearance code please.” The voice on the other end of the line suddenly came across.

“Never mind.” Wufei said simply as he hung up the phone. He had a different idea now. He grabbed the phone book from the cubby hole under the phone, and was amazed to discover it was still mostly intact. He quickly flipped through the pages until he found what he was looking for. The white pages, Matthews to Mayne. And half way down the third column he found the name Maxwell. 26 names listed. He immediately crossed off the names that lived anywhere but in the Corner Barb area, which left him with 11. Knowing it was taking a risk, but willing to chance it he also crossed off any entries that listed two names or couples, making an assumption that Duo hadn’t paired up with anyone. That brought it down to eight. Then he crossed off any names that were exclusively female. And he was left with only six names. Three D. Maxwells, one Delbert Maxwell, and two James Maxwells. It was at that moment that he remembered the short note Duo had left when he first disappeared the morning after the party. He hadn’t signed it ‘Duo Maxwell’ but instead ‘D. Maxwell’. At that realization Wufei crossed out the other three names and focused on the three ‘D. Maxwell’ names listed.

The first number put him in touch with Ms. Denise Maxwell, age 67. Not who he was looking for. The second number was Reverend Donald Maxwell, age 32. Married with three kids. Again not the person the Wufei was hoping to find. The last number was looking like his last chance before he had to call his defeat in to Heero and Une.

“I’m sorry, the number you have reached has security blocker on its line. The number you are calling from is unauthorized and cannot be put through.” Was what Wufei heard when he dialed in the last number. And even though for most people that would have been another defeat, Wufei counted it as a victory. It only made sense that Duo would have security measures on his phone. So with more hope then Wufei had felt since this whole fiasco started he copied down the address that went along with the phone number and made plans to make that his first stop in the morning. Knowing in his heart that no matter what he found there it would lead him closer to finding Duo Maxwell.


Wufei had barely been able to sleep at all, his stomach was in knots. He just knew that this had to turn out something. So at barely after eight in the morning he found himself standing outside the apartment building that matched the address he found in the phone book the night before. It was centered in one of the worst areas of the town, but at second thought it was probably a very good area to disappear in. No one asked questions, and if they did they didn’t get answers. Wufei had learned that much the day before. He checked the name chart outside of the main door, and was surprised to find that it was in relatively good shape. Relative meaning that you had to ignore the fact that the name of the resident for 3-C had been crossed off and replaced with ‘Fuck You’. But he didn’t need that name anyway. What he was looking for was still in perfect shape. Apartment 7-F, D. Maxwell. Wufei didn’t bother buzzing the occupants, instead he just walked right through the broken outer door and after noticing the ‘Out of Order’ sign on the elevator started heading up the steps.

Seven flights later, and thanks that he was still in good enough condition that he hadn’t even broken a sweat running up them, Wufei was standing outside of apartment 7-F. An apartment that was rented to a ‘D. Maxwell’, the same D. Maxwell that had extra security placed on the phone line to prevent most calls from coming through. And Wufei was silently praying that it was also the same D. Maxwell that had left that note six years before hand, and the same D. Maxwell that they were all searching for desperately.

He took a moment to compose himself, to look more like the professional he was and less like an over exuberant teenager. Once he thought he had it as good as he was going to get it, he knocked loud and clear on the door and started waiting. And he didn’t have to wait long. It was only a few seconds after he knocked when the door opened. As it began to widen bit by bit from a small crack he could feel his heart pounding harder and harder. This was the moment he had been waiting for. When the door opened it would either be all his dreams come true, or yet another dead end and more heart break.

“Hello.” Came a chipper voice from inside the doorway of the apartment once the door had opened all the way. Wufei had never actually felt shock before. He had been a Preventer for six years, a solider and Gundam Pilot before that. He had watched his entire home colony blown up right before him. And none of that had ever caused him to actually go in to shock. That was until now. He had thought he knew what to expect when the door opened. He had been wrong.

Standing before Wufei was none other then Duo Maxwell, except for two details. He had the heart-shaped face, the slightly longer and pointed nose, and the ear to ear grin marked with twin dimples that showed off that little bit a baby fat he could never quite get rid of. His eyes were a brilliant blue violet that sparkled with constant mischief. He would have been identical to the 15-year-old boy Wufei remembered if it hadn’t been for those two differences. The first was the hair. Instead of a three foot plus chestnut braid, there was a short and shaggy, wild mop of pitch black hair on top of his head. The type of hair that you could tell he, or someone at least, had tried to style it into anything more then once, yet nothing ever held. And even at that Wufei could easily believe that it still was Duo. That despite everything he had cut, and even dyed, his hair. But it was the second difference that ensured the shock in Wufei, that made him realize that this couldn’t be his Duo. Because the second difference between Duo and this person was that this person that had opened the door to the apartment rented to D. Maxwell, was, at the absolute most, a seven-year-old boy.


TBC . . .