Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Echoes of a Distant Past ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

Echoes of a distant past

By Gossamer Wings

Rating: R

Warning: language, violence, Shouen ai

Pairings: 1x2x1, 1+2

Disclaimer: The usual GW stuff. Any original content and characters belong to the author.

Summary: A suspicious accident leads to the secret of Duo's past that could destroy the world as they all know it.

Chapter 1

The old battered car careened and swerved, avoiding all obstacles in its path with the speed and agility of a cheetah. It reached it's destination with a screeching halt that would have unnerved any normal passenger.

Heero casually looked up from the report he was reading. Noting they were at Preventer HQ, he replaced the report into its folder.

Duo grabbed Heero's arm firmly, preventing him from leaving the car. He had the intense Shinigami look in his eyes, indicating he meant business.

"You are not, I repeat NOT to allow that harpy to talk you into another mission or even look at some new information for your esteemed opinion. I will not allow that conniving woman to delay this vacation one more time!" Duo said, in the most menacing voice that would make anyone else's hair curl.

"Don't worry Duo, I have everything under control. I shouldn't be more than two hours. I'll rendezvous with you right here." Heero reassured him calmly.

"You damn well better be here or I'll have your ass. We have two whole weeks of secluded fun and sun booked. I've made sure there are no communication links allowed at the resort. No interruptions or…."

"I know. You'll have my ass." Heero said as he pressed against Duo with an evil grin. "Again and again and again." He said before placing a hungry kiss on Duo's lips. The tension in Duo's body eased as he eagerly reciprocated the kiss.

"You devil, you really are ready for this vacation." Duo said huskily, pushing Heero toward the car door. "Now hurry up and go. I have to pick up the tickets and a few more supplies." Duo answered, as he wiggled his eyebrows. "I'll be back in two or less."

Duo pulled away, tires squealing, leaving Heero at the curb, smiling.

From the shadows of his vehicle, a lone figure watched the two young men through binoculars. He carefully compared a photograph to one of them in particular. Satisfied, he tossed the paper to the floor and followed Duo.

Keeping a discreet distance without arousing suspicion or losing him, the man followed Duo as he completed his errands. The man waited for the right opportunity to complete his objective. The time was now before Duo met up with Heero again.

At the next traffic signal, the man pulled alongside Duo's car. Rolling down the window, he honked the horn, gaining Duo's attention.

"Hey kid, you've got some damage to the back of your car and leaking a lot of fluid. You better pull over and check it out."

Duo knew better than to fall for that old scam. "Mister, I wasn't born yesterday." Duo called back, before speeding off as soon as the light changed.

A scowl creased the man's face. Angered by the young man's audacity, the man sped after him. "No more games kid. You blew your chance to make it quick and easy."

Checking his rearview mirror, Duo noticed the car from the stop light on his tail. "Not giving up so easy, huh? Guess I'll have to give you a run for your money… or should I say my money." Duo chuckled as he made a quick turn down a side street.

Duo picked up his speed, changing directions and streets frequently, often disregarding the stop lights and signs. He couldn't seem to rid himself of the guy and he had traveled further from headquarters than he wanted to be. What had started out as a little fun to get rid of a two bit mugger, this extended chase was starting to really piss him off. It was time to retrace his path and get Heero's assistance with this guy.

Duo slammed on the breaks, shifted into reverse and jerked the wheel, before shifting back to drive, quickly reversing direction. He floored the accelerator, screeching past his pursuer.

The man duplicated Duo's maneuver and was again in hot pursuit of his target with a vengeance.

Duo swerved and weaved to avoid people and cars. His pursuer bumped him frequently in an attempt to make him lose control. "What B movie, psycho flick did you come from?" a frustrated Duo hissed.

Up ahead, Duo saw his chance to finally lose the guy. The merge ramp for the expressway loomed a short distance away. Concentrating to time his turn just right, Duo failed to see a large street sweeper turn in front of him. As it sprayed water along the pavement, Duo's car began to hydroplane. Losing his ability to steer, Duo hung on for the ride as his car slid out of control, jumping a curb and finally crashing through a storefront window. Coming to a sudden stop, the air bag expanded instantly, pushing Duo forcefully against the window, his head made a cracking sound, sending him into oblivion.

Duo's pursuer followed Duo's path, colliding with him. The man jumped from his car to complete his objective. Entering the passenger side, he noted Duo's limp unconscious body leaning against the crazed safety glass, blood trickling down his face.

The man smiled as he released the gleaming length of the switchblade with an experienced snap of his wrist. He raised Duo's braid out of his way, preparing to slice the skin beneath, just like the others

"Hey buddy, don't move him! You might hurt him worse. Wait for the rescue squad to get here." A voice came from behind him.

It was too late. A crowd was gathering and sirens could be heard in the distance. He would have to wait for another chance at this one. The knife slid from sight as the man scrambled out and pushed his way through the crowd, leaving his vehicle behind.

****

Heero looked at his watch again. It was past the two hours they had declared as a deadline, almost three now. He had called the apartment getting no answer and was now checking with the travel agent to find out when Duo had left.

"Heero! Heero!" Sally called breathlessly, as she ran toward him. "Thank goodness your still here. Une said you had already left."

"I'll be gone as soon as Duo gets here, but he's late." Heero said

"That's what I need to tell you Heero." Sally informed him, while trying to catch her breath. "The hospital has been trying to track you down. Duo has been in a car accident."

Heero's grip on the phone tightened, breaking it into pieces. He could feel his heart drop to the pit of his stomach fearing the worst. "How serious are his injuries?"

"They said he had a head injury, but that he was stable. Now let's get moving, my car is right outside." Sally said, pushing Heero along.

****

Heero hurried down the hall with Sally at his heels. His eyes darted franticly looking for the room number given them.

"Here it is Heero." Sally said, grabbing him by the shoulder.

Through the doorway they could see a nurse bending over Duo, shining a flashlight into his eyes. "Mr. Maxwell, can you hear me? I want you to try to squeeze my finger as hard as you can." The nurse instructed. "That's good, now rest. I'll be back in a little while."

"How is he?!" Heero asked anxiously, as he rushed by the nurse to Duo's side.

"Excuse me sir, are you a rela…." She began to ask, until she noted the matching rings on the joined hands of patient and visitor. "Are you Mr. Yuy? We've been searching for you."

"Information!" Heero growled menacingly.

"Heero, Calm down!" Sally admonished him, as the nurse backed away in fear. "Nurse, I'm Dr. Po, the Preventer physician. This is Mr. Yuy, Mr. Maxwell's partner. Just give us what you know to start with."

Looking nervously back and forth between Sally and Heero, the nurse began hesitantly. "He's had a brain scan and the usual x-rays. So far, no fractures or intercranial damage or bleeding were noted. Dr. Cook is pretty confident it's just a severe concussion. He's been drifting in and out of consciousness, but very incoherent. The rest of his vitals and neurochecks are within normal limits." The nurse finished with a huge sigh. "He's lucky he had an air bag."

"Thank you nurse, that is quite a relief." Sally said as she turned to Heero, who was now relaxing a little with the news. "Would you notify Dr. Cook we are here."

"Yes Dr. Po. I'll leave you alone with Mr. Maxwell. Call if you need anything." The nurse said, as she backed out of the room, keeping a wary eye on Heero, who had already brought his full attention back to Duo.

It still amazed Sally how tender and caring these two war hardened ex-Gundam pilots could be toward each other.

"Duo, I'm here now." Heero talked to him soothingly. He reached to gently push his bangs aside, noting the large bruised lump that had formed on the side of his head. "I'm sure you're going to have one hell of a headache, but please wake up soon."

It was imperceptible at first, but Heero began to feel a slight pressure from Duo's hand, which brought a smile of relief to Heero's face. "You're going to be alright Duo. As soon as you're up and around, we'll still go on our vacation. I promise."

"Excuse me, but there is a policeman here to see you both about Mr. Maxwell's accident." The nurse from earlier said. "He's in the visitors lounge."

Heero looked from Duo to Sally, not wanting to leave him alone.

"I'll be with him. I need to check his vitals again anyway." The nurse reassured Heero.

Heero nodded his assent. He needed to find out how this happened.

****

"Agent Yuy, I'm Detective Stewart." He said, showing his official ID. "I would like to get to the bottom of this high speed chase your partner was involved in. I'm aware that you are both Preventer agents."

"Duo was chasing someone?" Heero asked in confusion. "We were off duty, getting ready to leave on vacation." Heero answered.

"Agent Maxwell wasn't doing the chasing. HE was being chased. Witnesses recall his pursuer trying to force him off the road just before crashing into the building Do you know what he was doing around 18th street, near the expressway?" The Detective asked.

Heero stood silently as he absorbed some of the facts of the accident. `High speed chase, crashed into a building, lucky to have an air bag. What was going on here?' he thought.

"He shouldn't have been in that area at all, the travel agent is on the other side of town." Heero answered. "What happened to the person chasing Duo? Is he in custody?" Heero asked, the anger in his voice rising.

"Unfortunately, no. Witnesses have said the man entered Agent Maxwell's vehicle, but ran away shortly after a crowd started to gather. I doubt he was there to offer assistance. At first we thought he was trying to rob him. He left in a hurry, leaving his vehicle behind." Detective Stewart said.

Heero's Preventer instincts kicked in. "What information were you able to gather from the man's car and did you get a physical description of him." Heero demanded.

"Slow down Agent Yuy. It's only been a few hours. So far, we know the car was a rental. We're following up on the ID and credit cards used, but they will most likely turn up fake or stolen.

As Preventer Agents, I'm sure you both gained a few enemies. I could speculate that this was some sort of contract hit." Detective Stewart said.

"What leads you in that direction, Detective?" Sally asked suspiciously.

"A picture of Agent Maxwell was found in the suspect's car, but that in itself is something of a puzzle, if you're looking at it as a contract hit." Detective Stewart said, as he reached into his pocket, retrieving a folded paper that appeared to have been handled many times. Carefully unfolding it so both Sally and Heero could see it, they understood what caused the Detective's concern. "As you can see, the likeness that matches Agent Maxwell currently is a computer aged photograph, based on the actual photograph of him next to it. Our experts speculate that Agent Maxwell's age in the actual photograph as somewhere between four and five years old." Detective Stewart stopped, letting the final bit of information sink in. "Someone had been looking for your friend for a long time."

Heero and Sally looked at each other in confusion and surprise. The photo of little Duo was obviously one of those professional studio shots all proud parents have taken of their children. Both knew Duo was an orphan, raised on the streets of L2 since his earliest memories. Duo always regretted not being able to remember his real name, his parents or anything before the streets. Now they had a perplexing situation confronting them.

"I'd like to ask Agent Maxwell a few questions, if he is up to it." Detective Stewart asked.

"I'm sorry, but Duo hasn't fully regained consciousness yet." Sally intervened. Heero's mind was going through the possibilities and implications this revelation could have.

"When he recovers then? Here is my card where you can reach me. Thank you for your cooperation."

"I'm sure our Director, Lady Une, will be in contact with you. Any incident which involves the Preventers and its agents is of great concern to her." Sally replied graciously.

"Detective Stewart, would you send copies of those photographs to our office." Heero added.

"You should have them by tomorrow Agent Yuy. In care of Lady Une I presume."

Heero nodded as they shook hands and the Detective departed.

"Heero, do you know if Duo ever had any pictures of himself as a child?" Sally asked.

"No, I'm sure he would have told me." Heero said, shaking his head.

The mention of Duo's name from nearby caught Heero's attention. Turning, he saw the nurse who had been caring for Duo come out from the staff room with another nurse.

"Why aren't you with Duo?!" Heero demanded, frightening the poor girl again.

"My shift is over Mr. Yuy. I just gave Greta report on Mr. Maxwell. She'll be his nurse for the rest of the night." The nurse explained.

"Has there been any change in his level of consciousness?" Sally asked.

"He's becoming more restless, but hasn't spoken beyond unintelligible mumbles." The nurse replied.

"And you left him alone?!" Sally said irritably, as she and Heero hurried for Duo's room.

****

When they entered Duo's room they were not entirely surprised to find Duo's bed empty.

"Duo Maxwell, you should know better than to be out of bed in your condition!!" Sally called out, as Heero headed toward the closed bathroom door.

"Duo, I'm coming in." Heero announced, as he opened the bathroom door. "Duo…" Heero stopped in mid sentence, the bathroom was empty. "He's not here."

Scanning the room, Sally picked up the dangling IV tubing, guessing that Duo had probably pulled it out while getting up. A blood trail led from the bed to the closet.

"Don't tell me he got up, got dressed and left!" Sally complained. "Do I always have to lecture you two about the dangers of head injuries? Just because you were Gundam Pilots does not make you indestructible!"

Sally's string of complaints stopped suddenly as the sound of soft whimpering came from the clothes closet.

"Heero." Sally whispered, as Heero moved slowly toward the unusual sounds. Heero opened the closet door, unprepared for what he found.

Duo cowered at the rear of the small area, his body trembling, tears and blood covering his panic filled face.

"Duo, what are you doing in here?" Heero asked, at a loss of what else to say at Duo's reaction.

"St…sta…stay away." Duo stammered.

"Duo, come out so Sally can examine you. You've been in an accident, remember?" Heero said slowly.

"Hurts." Duo whimpered, as he touched his head in pain.

"Come on Duo, let me help you." Heero said, offering his hand.

Duo stared at Heero's hand. He looked nervously back and forth between Heero and Sally confusion in his wide eyes.

Heero moved closer.

Duo panicked.

"NO! NO! " Duo screamed loudly, as he tried to claw his way out of the rear of the closet. "Mama! Mama, help!" Duo cried out. "Where are you? I want my Mama." Duo cried uncontrollably, curling himself into a ball, the tears coming faster.

"Heero, move! Let me look at him." Sally insisted, pushing Heero out of her way.

Nurse Greta rushed into the room in response to Duo's screams. "What is going on in here? Someone call security!" She called out as more staff entered the room creating more confusion to the situation.

Heero was upset with the growing crowd. It would only make Duo's reaction worse. "Get these people out of here and page Dr. Cook to come here immediately." Heero insisted. "We'll be able to handle him without your help."

The nurse agreed as she assessed the situation. People the patient knew could calm him better than a group of strangers. She ushered the staff out, closing the door behind her, then went to page Dr. Cook as she was told.

"Duo, calm down. Shh. Shh. Relax now." Sally repeated soothingly. "We're not going to hurt you. It's me, Sally. We're friends. Remember?"

After several minutes the quiet tone of Sally's feminine voice started to work its magic. Duo's sobs slowly gave way to sniffles and hiccups. He slowly sat up, but refused to move from the perceived security of his little sanctuary.

"If... if we're friends…" Duo started hesitantly, wiping at his tear stained face. "Why do you keep calling me Duo?"

"Because that is your name, Duo. Duo Maxwell." Sally stated slowly.

A long silence filled the room as Heero's hand gripped Sally's shoulder tightly, dreading the next words from Duo's mouth.

" No……" He said softly.

Tbc…