Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Duo's Dilemma ❯ Chapter 18

Disclaimer - Duo is not mine, although I wish he was. I don’t own Gundam Wing, or any of it’s characters. No money is being made, so there really is no point in trying to sue me.

A/N - Hello to everyone out there. I am glad that many of you have decided to stick around with me for the end of this little story. Thanks for your continued support.

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Duo’s Dilemma

Chapter 18

Organized Chaos

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Bella frowned as she walked into Mr. Artigues’ office a few days later, taking a seat directly across from her sister at the conference table. She was early, by at least twenty minutes, and had hoped that to beat her younger sibling. So much for that idea.

She had left the Preventors assigned to protect her right outside the door, telling them she would only be a half hour at the most.

“Let’s get this over with.” she said crisply, sitting her briefcase on the table and folding her hands in her lap primly. The attorney cleared his throat and pulled a manila folder of papers from a drawer near him.

“Your father’s will is quite clear and concise about where his assets were to be distributed after his passing, as well as your mother’s. To keep things simple, his and your mother‘s wills were put on a disk.” he said, nodding towards the warring siblings. Belladonna refused to make eye contact with Marguerite, which was fine with her. She had nothing to say to the witch anyhow. Mr. Artigues pulled a small disk out of the folder and popped it into the vid-cam along the wall.

The screen flickered for a few times before it was filled with the kind face of Kenneth Covington. Bella felt her throat tighten up and tears begin to fill her eyes at the sight of such a welcomingly familiar face.

“If you are watching this, then I am sorry to say that my passing has finally come to pass.” he said somberly. “I will come right to the point, as there is no need to drag out something like this. My assets are to be equally divided amongst my two daughters, Belladonna and Marguerite.

To Marguerite, I leave you the plantation home outside the city, as well as all the furnishings within it. The land will be changed over into your name just as soon as you are issued a death certificate for myself. Also, there are a number of insurance policies that I have taken out some years ago. You, Marguerite, are to receive half of that money, to do with as you please. It will be more than enough to allow you to live comfortably for many years to come. Also, there are some stocks within my portfolio that are to be transferred to your own upon my death. Most of it is invested in ore operations within the Pacific Ocean, and a few other minor operations that I had my hands in. Mr. Artigues and my accountant will see to the transfer personally.

Although I know the money will be welcomed, my greatest regret is that I will not be there to see you one day fill your childhood home with children of your own.

I love you, Marguerite, and I wish you the best of luck in life. Please remember that your mother and I are proud of everything you have, and will, accomplish. Take care, and remember that you will always be with us in our hearts.”

Belladonna chanced a look over at her sister, who seemed utterly complacent about the whole thing. Her sister’s dark eyes were narrowed down into angry slits, and Belladonna fought the urge to reach out and strangle her in order to get some kind of reaction out of her.

“And to Belladonna, my first love, I leave to you the summer home in Europe. As well as half the insurance settlements. Also, the stock investments in Saucier Corp. will be transferred over to you upon my death.

Bella, I am sorry to leave you alone to face the world in such a state it is in. I can only hope that you, as well as Marguerite, will one day find someone with whom you can spend you lives with, and be happy. As I said to Marguerite, I can not be there to see you live out your life, but I can make sure you are securely taken care of.

I love both of you dearly, and hope that one day you can eventually put aside whatever differences it is that has drawn such a line between you two in the past years. Always remember that you are family, and that family is more precious than anything else you could possibly hold in your hand.

Until I see you again, my beautiful daughters, goodbye. And good luck.”

Bella sat back in her chair, taking a few deep breaths to slow her beating heart. It just seemed so wrong to her, sitting here and listening to her father dole out his life’s work. Granted, it was his final gift to them, but it just made her feel so….cheap. Talking about money and material things less than a week and a half after his death.

“Mrs. Covington also has a message to the both of you.” Mr. Artigues said, pulling another disk from it’s safety packet and popping it into the vid-cam. A few seconds later, Rita Covington’s somber face filled the screen, and Belladonna finally saw some flicker of emotion in her younger sibling’s cold brown eyes. Bella saw her tilt her head back slightly, apparently hoping to staunch the small teardrops that were starting to form.

“My daughters, I am sorry to say that the only reason you would be watching this is because I am dead.” she said matter of factly. “There’s no getting around it, but unfortunately it seems that my time was up, and since you are watching this particular recording, I am to assume that Kenneth is no longer with you either.

As such, I have a few things that I would like to pass on to the both of you. To Marguerite, my heart and soul in this world, I leave the majority of my life insurance policies. Since our home is under your father’s name, and is going to you anyway, I need not mention it. To Belladonna, someone who I love like my own daughter. The remaining sum of the insurance money is to go to you. Kenneth’s accountant will handle the final sums for you both, as it changes with the interest rates from year to year.

I am so sorry for leaving you both in this state of affairs. I know not what has caused our demise, nor the consequences that surround whatever led up to it, but know for sure that you are both always in my heart. I love you both dearly, and sincerely wish that we were there to help you through this trial.

So, until the next time we may see each other, take care my children. Watch out for each other, and please try to find peace within your own hearts. I love you both. Goodbye, my darlings.”

With that final goodbye, the screen flickered twice, and went off. Artigues left his seat and retrieved the disk, sliding it into the case.

“There is some paperwork you need to sign, ladies.” he said, handing each of them a slightly thick stack of papers. “And this meeting will be concluded.”

“What is this?” Bella asked, skimming the first page quickly.

“A transcript of the videos, and a copy of the original will they had wrote up.” he explained. “There’s also a form in there if you wish to contest what was left to you, for whatever reasons.”

Bella took a few minutes to look over the forms, and finding nothing out of the ordinary, signed off on it. She wasn’t going to fight with Marguerite over what had been left to them. She had no reason to. She just wanted to get the hell out of that building.

“Is there anything else we need to sign off on?” Marguerite asked, turning to the attorney.

“Just the transfer and liquidation clause.” he said, gathering up the copies of the will transcript.

“The what?” Belladonna asked, looking at the two of them like they were speaking a different language. She’d missed that somewhere along the line.

“A clause that states should one of you pass on before the other, all assets inherited from him that are not invested will be liquidated and transferred to the other. It was in the paperwork you just signed, didn‘t you see it?”

“No, I must have passed over it, sorry.” Bella said. “What are the stipulations of that clause? Do you have a copy of that agreement I can read over?”

“There are a few stipulations that can stop the liquidation and transfer. I can’t recall all of them off hand, but Marie has a copy in her desk.” Mr. Artigues said, referring to his secretary and rising from his seat. “If you will give me a moment, I will retrieve it for you to look over and sign.”

“Thank you, Jonathan.”

“Of course, Ms. Belladonna.” he said, nodding to them as he exited the room.

“Why so concerned about the liquidation clause, sister?” Marguerite asked, cutting her gaze over to the other occupant in the room. “You don’t think I’d try to steal something from you, do you?”

“I’m not precisely sure what you would do anymore, sister.” she said, putting a venomous emphasis on the familial title. Marguerite just laughed and shook her head, reaching down to pick her purse up. Belladonna ignored her and shuffled through the paperwork Mr. Artigues had given her. She skimmed over the topics, looking for any fine print that she had missed, or that Jonathan had neglected to mention.

‘Of all the things I didn’t want to do on a night like this.’ she thought glumly, her thoughts turning instead to Duo. ‘I wonder what he’s doing right now? Probably getting his orders from Colonel Une.’

“Lost in thought, sister?” Marguerite asked suddenly, causing Bella’s concentration to waiver from the task at hand. She looked up at her sister, and blanched white at what Marguerite had in her hands. The younger woman had a gun in her hands, cocked and ready to shoot.

“Marguerite, what the hell is going on?” Bella asked, coming to her feet and flickering her gaze between her stepsister and the lawyer who had just stepped back into the room. “Have you lost your damned mind?”

“It’s quite simple, sister.” she said casually, attaching a silencer onto the barrel of the pistol. “I am taking control of the family name.”

“And controlling the family name means pointing pistol at me?” she questioned, standing up and taking a few steps backwards to put a little more space between them, not that it would do any good.

“More than just pointing I am afraid.” Jonathan said, quickly shuffling the papers at the end of the table and then returning them to the manila folder he had taken them out of earlier. Bella looked over at him and frowned.

“What’s going on, Artigues?” she demanded angrily.

“It is simple really.” he answered. “Taking care of business.”

“Business?” Bella asked. “And what type of business exactly are you running that causes my sister to hold me at gunpoint? And even worse, for you to go along with it?!”

“We are finishing up what I started a long time ago.” Marguerite said. “Jonathan, go make sure we have the paperwork we need. I’ll finish up here and meet you in a few minutes.”

“Will do.” he said, securing the latches on his briefcase.

“You can’t do this, Artigues, these rooms are monitored with cameras.” Belladonna said, trying to buy herself sometime to think up someway to get out of this mess.

“That we have cut off.” Artigues said. “We took care of the security cameras earlier today.”

“What in God’s holy name do you want with me?” Bella ordered angrily.

“Just what is rightfully mine.” Marguerite said, watching as Artigues slipped out the door once again.

“Excuse me?” she demanded. “What is it exactly that I have taken from you, Marguerite? What have I done for you to hate me this bad?”

“What have you taken?” Marguerite asked. “What have you taken? Everything! You always done everything better than me. You even had to take away the one man I ever really loved!”

“I wasn’t the one who had Phillip killed.” Belladonna countered. “I believe you had more to do with that than I did.”

“So you did figure it out.” she said. “I thought you had, but I was never sure. I just wish that thug would have had a better aim and took you out with him.”

“I had my suspicions, but no viable proof beyond your drunken mutterings.” Bella said. “You loved that man, and he loved you more than anything! Why, Marguerite? Why’d you have him killed.”

“Because of you.”

“I didn’t…”

“You may not have, but you gave all indications that you were running around with him behind my back! What was I supposed to think? The late night calls, the slipping around at all hours of the day and night?” she demanded.

“You were wrong then, and you’re wrong now.” Bella said. “I wasn’t doing anything with Phillip. Contrary to what you may think, I never went out to hurt you on purpose…for any reason.”

“You may never have intended it, but you did.” she said angrily. “Always one to get in the way, aren’t you, Belladonna? Always taking what I wanted. What was rightfully mine!”

“Marguerite, you’re not making any sense.” Bella pleaded, backing away more as she drew closer with each step she took.

“Oh, I’m making plenty of sense.” she countered. “First it was Phillip, then it was daddy. He always did like you best. You, the accidental result of one pathetic night of adulterous passion with a woman he was never legally married to! And I, his own daughter, was forced into the shadows.”

“Marge, you’ve lost it, girl. Get a hold of yourself. What good is killing me going to do?”

“It will make me feel better to know you are no longer on this planet to torment me.” Marguerite said. “And no one is here to save you this time. Not even your precious Duo Maxwell.”

“Let’s leave him out of this, Marge.” Bella pleaded. “He’s got nothing to do with it.”

“He’s got everything to do with this!” Marguerite barked. “I told you to listen, to leave him to me. But would you listen? Of course not!”

“Marge.. You don’t mean…” Bella said, frowning as it all clicked together in her mind.

“Yes.” she hissed. “It was me. I’m the one who hired Fleck to ransack your office after your fired him and forgot to change the building locks. I’m the one who hired the drivers to shoot up the house to try and scare Maxwell off.”

“And our apartments on the colony?”

“Me as well. I got in touch with a young woman who he had dated….I can’t remember what her name was but she was more than eager to assist me in wrecking the places…after a little persuasion.”

“And you’re the one who told the tabloids about Joseph…and that I’d chosen Duo over my family despite repeated warnings.”

“Correct.” Marguerite said, nodding. “You’re catching on quickly, sister.”

“And our father? Your mother?” Bella asked, shaking her head. “You wouldn’t…not them…”

“It was an unfortunate accident, what happened.” she said coolly. “Who would have guessed the mechanic would accidentally slice the brake lines in half?”

“A mechanic you recommended, no doubt.” Bella said. “How could you? How could you stand there and tell me this without blinking an eye.”

“It becomes easy with time.” she said. “Not that it matters anyway. You’re not walking out of here alive.” The door behind them clicked open and Bella chanced a look over her shoulder to see Artigues slip back into the room once more.

“Is everything ready, Jon?” Marguerite asked briskly.

“Waiting on you. Let’s get a move on.” he said. “I took care of the three Preventors waiting for her outside.” Bella felt her heart fall somewhere into the vicinity of her feet when she heard him say that. Surely he hadn’t hurt Preventor Asher and the other two men that had been keeping watch over her for the past few days since Duo had left to go back to Europe. “I’m sure you understand, Bella. It’s all business, nothing more.”

“And what exactly are you getting out of this, Artigues?” Bella asked coldly. She never had liked trusting lawyers. They were always out to better themselves as opposed to really helping anybody.

And this just made her opinion of them fall even further into the garbage disposal.

“He’s getting a nice cut of the profits.” Marguerite said. “Enough to buy his silence.”

“Do you honestly think she won’t turn right around and do this to you, Jonathan?” Bella asked, trying to plead with the man she had trusted up until a few minutes ago. “Johnathan…think about this. People know I’m here. The appointments on the books for God’s sake!”

“The real appointment was set up for Thursday morning, love.” he said. “The cops won’t find you until in the morning, and I have assurances that you will simply be labeled as breaking and entering in order to alter the will’s contents.”

“You don’t honestly think that’s going to work, do you?” Bella asked.

“It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t.” Marguerite said, clicking the safety off the gun and taking aim. “By the time they find you, the two of us will be safely out of the country, en route to Switzerland. And after I present the transfer and liquidation papers to the judge, every bit of your money is going to be mine.”

“Marge...you don’t want to do this…”

“Sorry, but yes, I do.” she said, cocking the gun. “Goodbye, sister. It was nice knowing you.” Bella shut her eyes, waiting for the shot to sound, only to hear nothing but the sound of breaking glass and yelp of her sister.

A sudden sharp pain in her shoulder caused Bella to cry out in pain, dropping down. She could feel the shards of glass dig into her knees, slicing her pants and cutting her skin. There were sounds of a scuffle, and Bella looked up in time to see a the gun knocked from Marguerite’s hand. In a flash of green and brown, Marguerite was down on the ground face first, yelling and kicking at her attacker.

Behind her, the door to the conference room burst open, and Bella saw half a dozen Preventors come rushing in, knocking Artigues to the ground and slapping a set of cuffs on him. Bella tried to stand, only to have sharp pains course through her shoulder and down her back and legs. There was too much for her to contend with, too much to take in and comprehend.

It was sensory overload.

And the last thing she remembered seeing was a pair of worried blue eyes, and a plait of brown hair that was long enough to drape over her rescuer’s shoulder. She felt him reach under her and carefully lift her up.

“Hang on there, Belle.” his voice said calmly. “I got you.”

“Duo…”

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The bright morning sunlight was what caused Bella to stir from her welcomed sleep. She tried to roll over and get comfortable, but between the lightning sharp pains in her shoulder and back, and the hard mattress she was resting on, there was no way she was going to get back to sleep.

“What the hell happened…” she asked, sitting up slowly and reaching up with her good hand to grip her shoulder. She felt the thick bandages someone had wrapped around injured area. She looked around carefully, trying to figure out exactly where she was. It didn‘t take much to figure she was in a hospital, which one she didn‘t know precisely.

“Good to see you are awake, Bella.” came a friendly voice from the doorway. “You had me worried there for a while.” Bella looked over at the entrance into the room, seeing a very welcome sight. Duo Maxwell stood at her doorway, grinning from ear to ear and shaking his head in disbelief. He looked disheveled, hair falling out of his customary thick plait, the beginnings of circles under his eyes, and less color than she would have liked seeing on his normally bright face. But she was all the more relieved to see him.

“Duo?” she asked, shaking her head to try and clear the fuzzy feeling that was so prevalent. “What…how…”

“Take it easy, love.” he said, giving her a gentle kiss before stepping back. “Let’s get you something for that pain before you pop off with anymore questions.” He stuck his head out and told someone that she was awake. A few minutes later, a lady doctor in a white lab coat came in, carrying a syringe of some sort of clear liquid.

“Glad to see you’re finally awake, Ms. Saucier.” she said. “My name is Dr. Deveraux; I’ve been watching over you since you were admitted into the hospital last night.”

“What happened?” Bella asked, leaning back against the bed. “Where’s Marguerite and Artigues?”

“I’ll let your boyfriend answer that.” Dr. Deveraux said. “For now, you just need to get plenty of rest right now and let that shoulder heal up.”

“Thank you, doctor.”

“Call me if you need me.”

“Alright. Explain.” Bella said, turning her attention to the very disheveled looking Preventor standing at her side after the doctor had left them alone. “I thought you were supposed to be in Brussels. And where is my sister and Artigues?”

“I thought I was too.” he said, sitting down on the edge of the bed. “Come to find out, the phone call I got from Une’s office the other day was a phony.”

“A phony?”

“Yep. In fact, it was placed right from Artigues‘ office.” he said. “Anyhow, by the time I got back and went to Une to find out what my mission was, I found out that I wasn’t expected back for another couple days. It didn’t take long to figure out I’d been set up, so I jumped the first jet to get back here.”

“Where’s Marge?” Bella practically hissed.

“Preventor’s custody.” he said solemnly. “I had her and Artigues locked up until the city police could handle it.”

“They can’t do anything to her, Duo.” Bella said sadly. “There’s no hard evidence against her. The security cameras were off in the conference room. And unless you can provide some hard evidence, she’ll pay her way out of the trial and get off. She and Artigues know enough crooked judges to get out of it.”

“Oh yea of little faith.” Duo grinned. “I took care of that. The cameras were running.”

“But..”

“I got there just a few minutes before you did, actually.” he admitted. “I reset the cameras and audio recordings for the room after your lawyer friend had turned them off.”

“Why didn’t you call me and give me a warning about this?” Bella asked grumpily. “Save me a hospital bill.”

“I tried, about a hundred times.” Duo retorted. “But you wouldn’t pick up on your cell phone.” Bella frowned, remembering she had misplaced the phone the day before, and hadn’t been able to find it. Not the best time for her to get a case of forgetfulness to say the least.

“I lost it yesterday somewhere in the house.” she said apologetically. “So you got everything?”

“Including when he shot at the Preventors waiting outside the room for you.”

“They weren’t hurt were they?” Bella hadn’t even thought of the men she’d left outside the room. She prayed Preventor Asher and his men hadn’t been injured in the chaos.

“Nah, your lawyer is a lousy shot.” Duo said. “Just flesh wounds for the three of them, nothing serious. You okay, you look like you’re about to pass out again.”

“Just trying to absorb all this without losing my sanity.” she glumly. “I can’t believe she tried to kill me….again!”

“I’m just glad you weren’t hurt too bad.” Duo said. “Doc said you should be good to go in a few weeks. The bullet didn’t hit any bones, but it did come damned close.”

“I’m just glad you figured out what was going on.” she said. “How’d you know, anyways?”

“Well, after I got back to Brussels, and found out that I wasn’t due back for a while, I figured something was going on.” he said. “I couldn’t remember exactly when you said your appointment with Artigues was, but I knew it was Monday or Tuesday evening, so I called his office. The secretary said that you weren’t on the books until Thursday. But she said it had to be a mistake because Artigues was scheduled to go on vacation starting Wednesday. I thought it was odd, so I dug around some more. I found that your sister had bought two one way tickets to Sydney a few weeks ago, scheduled to leave out early today.”

“So they were gonna kill me and then hop a plane to Australia this morning?” Bella asked, completely incensed.

“That was the plan.” he said. “As a lawyer, Artigues knew that getting extradition papers from the Australian government would be nearly impossible if they were indicted in your murder. He was covering his tracks.”

“But how…”

“The one thing that tipped me off though was Marguerite’s purchase of some bullets for that pistol she was manhandling when we broke into the place.”

“How did you find out about that?” Bella asked. Not that she wasn’t grateful, but Duo had to seriously invaded Marguerite’s privacy to know all of this, not that she particularly cared at the moment.

“Preventor’s secret.” he said with a wink. “If I told you, I’d have to kill you. And I’m a better shot than those other two.”

“Funny.” she said dryly. Duo just snickered and smiled. “Don’t worry, love. We got’em.”

“It’s just depressing, knowing that Marge was the one responsible for daddy and Rita.” Bella said, shaking her head. “I knew she was cruel, but that’s just inhumane!”

“Some people are just off their rocker.” Duo said. He’d met plenty of them during the war. But even what Marguerite had done was inexcusable. To kill your own parents in cold blood…it was more than he could possibly fathom.

“No chance she’s going to get off the hook with an insanity plea, is there?” Bella asked.

“After the judge hears that tape, no way. She admitted to not only your parents, but that Phillip guy. That’s two counts of pre-meditated murder, not to mention the attempted murder of you! The only place she’s goin’ is the big house!”

“Excuse me, Ms. Saucier?” a nurse said, sticking her head into the room. “You have a call coming in from Preventor’s headquarters in Brussels. We told them you were not able to accept calls at the time, but she insisted.”

“It’s probably Relena.” Duo said, shrugging. “She said she would call to check up on you after I told her what happened. Your vice president guy called to. Told me to tell you to get better and come get the damned monkey off his back already. He said he‘d prefer you being overworked than shot up any day!”

“Sounds like Daniel.” Bella chuckled. “Would you put her through, please.”

“Yes, ma’am.” the nurse said, taking her leave quickly. The two lovers turned to the vid-screen that was on the wall of the small room, waiting for the call to come through.

Unfortunately, the person who came onto the screen was anyone but the former Queen of the World.

“Colonel Une!?” Duo asked, looking at the vid-screen with a look of unpleasant surprise. He definitely didn’t want to see her right now.

“Maxwell.” she said sourly. “I hope you have an explanation why you hijacked a Preventor jet and re-routed it two thousand miles off course!”

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A/N - Okay, that’s the latest chapter for your reading pleasure. Hope you enjoyed. Only two more chapters to go, and this little story will be all wrapped up.

Until next time,

A.A.

Oh, and please remember to review. I want to know what you think.