Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Family Ties ❯ Chapter 31 ( Chapter 31 )

Disclaimer: I don't own the G Boys, I just borrow them from time to time and return them a whole lot happier. I do own the plot line and any other characters that appear here that are not in the Gundam Wing Universe; please do not take them without permission. Written for pleasure not profit.

 

Warnings: Angst, sap, fluff, violence, Mpreg.

 

Rating: NC 17

 

Pairings: 1x2x1, 3x4x3, 5xS, HxOC

 

Summary: Sequel to Chimaera. Life in the Maxwell -Yuy household has undergone some big changes when Duo brings Keitaro home from the hospital. Hilde's wedding is approaching and the guys find there's more to this baby business than they thought. Struggling to raise a child, work at Preventer and keep the home happy is certainly a trial for both guys. Add an assassin's threats to prominent government officials' lives and both men find their lives are suddenly changed. Just how far will one go to protect the ones he loves?

 

Dedication: to all my lovely readers out there who enjoyed Chimaera and have since begged, threatened, pleaded, bribed and blackmailed me for a sequel. ^_^

 

 

 

 

"Family Ties"

 

January. 2007 ShenLong

 

Chapter 31

 

Duo kept himself in the shadows as he moved along the wall. He picked a likely spot and pulled the sweater off, tucking his braid down the back of his shirt for now. Tying the arms of the sweater around his waist, he managed to locate enough of the broken and jutting bricks to find hand and foot holds, the gloves he was wearing helping him to quickly scale the wall. When he was about to reach the top, He pulled the sweater from around his waist and tossed it over the razor wire. Heaving himself up, he kept low and took a look around.

 

The building stood just ahead and slightly to the left, below there were garden beds at the base of the wall with low shrubs in them. Duo glanced around and noted the foot guard patrolling the perimeter heading away from his current location. Sighing softly, he gingerly climbed over the razor wire and pulled the sweater free, letting it drop silently to the ground. The bricks weren't as broken on this side and Duo managed to get about half way down the wall before letting go and landing quietly amongst the shrubbery. He picked up the sweater and put it back on, keeping his hair tucked inside.

 

Crawling through the low shrubs, Duo observed the guard, noting his movements and waited for his chance. Once the guard had passed by, He slunk across the garden, keeping in the shadows and amongst the plants as much as he was able. He spotted the locations of the external cameras, having a fairly good idea already where they would be mounted. Working for Preventer had seen both Heero and himself assigned as bodyguards from time to time for visiting dignitaries and as such, they knew the basic camera layout used on most of the residences that the visitors stayed at. Although Duo had never seen this place before, he knew the cameras would be placed in the same, basic positions as all the other residences.

 

Sure enough, there was one positioned on each corner of the building he was now looking at. Duo smiled to himself and also made a mental note to let Une know they really needed to change and vary how security was set for such places. Knowing the range of the camera, length and duration of each sweep, also came in handy. Watching carefully, Duo waited until he knew the camera would be facing away from where he proposed to enter the building, then crept forth.

 

He paused by a window and snuck a look inside. There was an empty wine glass sitting on the table and the lights were low. Duo thought it a safe bet that the L1 ambassador had retired for the night. Using all his stealth skills, Duo crept to a side door and fiddled with his braid, pulling out the lock pick. It suddenly dawned on him, he'd meant to leave the lock pick for Nurse Brown. Just as well he hadn't.

 

Slipping the thin piece of metal into the lock, he jiggled it around and gave a grin as the tumblers fell into place and the door unlocked. Still keeping low, Duo slipped inside.

 

* * *

 

Heero's mouth was set in a grim line as Wufei turned the car around and drove to where Une had said the car fitting Nurse Brown's car's description was parked. His mind was working overtime, flooded with questions and none of the answers were forthcoming right now. “Where is the car?” Heero asked in an attempt to stop his mind from chasing itself.

 

“It's in a car park by the Sutherlands recreation reserve,” Wufei replied.

 

“Who found it?”

 

“I don't know,” Chang replied honestly. “All Une said was another agent had called in saying he'd spotted a car matching the description you gave her of the nanny's car.”

 

“Hn.”

 

Silence returned, each locked in their own thoughts of what they would find.

 

* * *

 

The door to the basement opened again and Nurse Brown looked up from where she was sitting next to the child on the bed. Keitaro had settled a little, only whimpering from time to time and that helped to soothe the nanny's nerves a little.

 

“Is this okay?” Murphy asked as he entered carrying a tray with several items on it. He set the tray down on the small, rickety table.

 

Margaret stood up and took a look at the items. There were two large bottles of water, one hot and one cold, an empty jug, tin of formula and a small, plastic bowl with the baby food in it. To the side sat a small teaspoon. “Thank you, this should be fine,” she said and immediately checked the temperature of the food in the bowl.

 

Seeing he was no longer needed, Murphy beat a hasty exit, locking the door behind him. Whilst he didn't particularly like the woman, he didn't hate her either; more like he was a touch wary of her. He'd not been scolded in a manner like the nanny had earlier since he was a little boy and his mother caught him pinching apples from the elderly man down the street's garden.

 

With the smell of food, Keitaro's whimpering had started to rise in volume, he was hungry.

 

“Okay, little man. Let's get you sitting up a bit so I can feed you.” The nurse managed to arrange the pillow and prop the child against it, pushing her jacket and the baby bag on either side to prevent him from falling over. Keitaro could sit quite happily by himself and was just starting to find his hands and knees for crawling. It wouldn't be long and he would be mobile - then his parents would really know they had a child!

 

Happy that the child was as supported as he could be, Margaret fetched the bowl, putting the spoon in it and set it down on the side of the bed. She carefully sat herself, then reached for the spoon and began to feed the infant.

 

* * *

 

Duo glided like a ghost through the large residence, his photographic memory providing him with the layout and finding the L1 ambassador's bed chamber easily enough. He'd avoided the cameras thus far and only come across two menservants whom he was easily able to avoid. On his way through the residence, he'd stopped by the kitchen, pleased to find it empty and rifled through the drawers. Regardless of what Duric said, Duo was not going to use a blunt knife. He'd been lucky and found a sharpening steel. It only took him a minute or two to sharpen the blade up. It still wasn't as sharp as he would have liked, but it was a hell of a lot better than it had been!

 

Crouched low, Duo pressed his ear against the door and listened carefully. The only sound he could hear was that of low snoring. His eyes darkened, breathing deepened as Duo drew on all his inner strength. He closed his eyes and allowed the dark side of his persona to come forth, almost welcoming the other half of his mind. If he had to do this then he would utilize his alter ego. During the war he'd allowed Shinigami to take over, it had been the only way he knew to cope with the mass destruction and loss of life dealt by his own hand.

 

He felt the darkness well up inside, a soft caress against his troubled mind, soothing and easing him into the role he had to play. Mouth set into a grim line, Duo opened his eyes, the soft amethyst hue gone and replaced with a deep, purple fire. Carefully, he eased the door open and slithered inside.

 

* * *

 

Duric checked his watch again. It had been twenty minutes. So far there had been no communication between himself and Maxwell. Duric didn't know if that was a good thing or not. His mind moved on though, analyzing the reasons for being here and doing what he was.

 

It was a fact that L2 was not getting the help it so desperately needed, Cropp had managed to send through some proof of that - although it remained to be seen exactly what else he'd found before being terminated. Farrow had done his best, but he wasn't as skilled as Duric would have liked. Maybe if Cropp hadn't been discovered they would have the indisputable proof that all was not right and could have gone to the authorities through the right channels.

 

“Yeah, and pigs might fly too,” he snorted softly to himself.

 

He knew himself that L2 was always the last to receive anything from Earth or the other colonies alike. It was as if all the other colonies wished L2 to simply vanish. Sure, it wasn't the most profitable or affluent of colony clusters, but that wasn't the citizens' fault. Duric blamed the governments at the time of colony building for the state of L2.

 

When the colonies had first begun to be built, funding had been allocated up to a certain point and all colonies had benefited. Then the money had run out from the government and private industry had taken over to finish off what remained. The other four colonies had major investors sink funding into them, but L2?

 

L2, from what Duric had learned, attracted the less glamorous investors. Crime lords, drug barons and the like saw a chance and took it, investing in the L2 cluster. From there, L2's checkered existence began; and the rest as they say - is history.

 

Sadly, there was no escaping one's past and many of the L2 citizens took to a life of crime to survive. On each of the colonies contained within the cluster there remained small bands of criminals, drug users, whores and the homeless. The war had managed to wipe out a lot of them; although Duric had his suspicions in some cases that it wasn't just the war that had decimated the population. Now L2 had the chance to re-build, drag itself out of the poverty stricken cycle it had fallen into and make something of itself - only to be stalled yet again.

 

He could see Nolen's point, his reasons for doing what he was, and when Duric had been approached to join him in his cause, he hadn't hesitated. Whilst he knew in his own mind that killing wasn't going to be the answer, it would sure as hell get them the attention they desired and maybe, just maybe some good could come out of all this.

 

Duric sighed and looked at his watch again. Thirty minutes had passed. Maxwell should be returning soon. So far it seemed that all was going well. Duric hadn't heard any alarms, not seen any indication that his hostage had been caught so he had to presume everything was okay. He reached for a packet in his pocket and pulled out a cigarette. Lighting it, he drew back and then exhaled, eyes watching the shadows for the return of Maxwell.

 

* * *

 

“Over there,” Sally said and pointed.

 

Wufei nodded and slowed the car, turning into the car park and driving over to where there were a couple of cars parked. He brought the vehicle to a stop and cut the engine, Yuy and Sally hopping out as soon as the car stopped.

 

Heero strode over to the car only to be stopped by a police officer. A Preventer agent stepped up and addressed the officer when he recognized Heero. “Officer, this is Agent Day of Preventer. He's the one that notified us of the missing car and persons.”

 

“Agent Day,” the officer nodded. “I'm Constable Gilmore.”

 

“Pleased to meet you,” Heero returned and shook the officer's hand. “This is Agent Fire and Doctor Po.”

 

Sally and Wufei exchanged greetings with the officer. “Who found the car?” asked Wufei.

 

The preventer agent filled them in. “I was on my way home when I spotted the police car in the car park. I pulled in to see if I could be of any assistance and recognized the vehicle as being one of the two that matched the description that Commander Une had alerted us all to keep an eye out for. I called HQ to get a verification on the number plate and it matched. Apparently the police had a report of what appeared to be an abandoned vehicle in the car park from a nearby resident and so they came to look into it.”

 

“When I called the information in, we didn't have any reports of this vehicle being stolen, or reported as missing and I was about to call the captain to see what he wanted doing about it when this guy turned up,” Officer Gilmore supplied, nodding at the preventer agent.

 

“It hasn't been reported missing as yet to the police,” Heero replied.

 

Gilmore cocked an eyebrow.

 

Heero didn't elaborate, instead, he began to ask a few questions of his own. “Was there any sign of the occupants when you got here?”

 

“No. The car is exactly as I found it.”

 

Heero moved closer to the vehicle, peering inside and trying to see if there were any clues as to the nanny or Keitaro's whereabouts.

 

Chang took over questioning the officer and other Preventer agent, making notes in his notebook. Once he was satisfied he had all he was going to get, he thanked the officer and told him that Preventer would now be taking over the case. The other agent was dismissed after also being thanked and Wufei turned his attention to the nanny's car.

 

Sighing, Heero straightened and ran a hand over his face. “It's locked, no sign of a struggle or anything else to indicate a problem.”

 

Sally looked around and noted the paths leading into the park. “Doesn't Margaret bring Keitaro to the lake from time to time? I know she always used to go herself and feed the ducks.”

 

“Hai. She does.” Heero paused and swallowed, hard. “You don't think...”

 

Sally cut him off from that train of thought. “No, Heero. That lake isn't deep at all. There's no way either Keitaro or Margaret are in there. If by any possible chance Keitaro had managed to fall into the lake, Margaret would have had him out in two seconds flat. It's only about two foot deep so there's no way the nanny could be in there without anyone seeing her.”

 

Whilst that made Heero feel a little better, it still didn't solve the mystery of where the nanny and his son were.

 

“Got it.”

 

Heero and Sally spun around to face Chang who had spoken.

 

“Got what?” Sally questioned.

 

Chang gave a smirk and held up a piece of wire. He opened the car door. “Maxwell's not the only one with skills,” he smiled.

 

Heero didn't even want to know where Wufei had learnt to open car door locks with wire, but was grateful for the skill. The three rummaged around in the car, searching for anything that would give them a clue as to where the nanny and child could be.

 

“Stroller's missing, also the baby bag,” Sally said, sticking her head out from inside the trunk.

 

“Engine's cold which means its been parked here for a while,” Heero added.

 

“Nothing unusual in the interior,” Wufei said as he emerged.

 

Heero shook his head in frustration. “Where the hell can they be?” he asked, voice bordering on the hysterical.

 

“Easy, Heero,” Sally soothed. “We will find them.”

 

“How? We have no clue as to their whereabouts at all! There's nothing to work with, no clues, just dead ends!”

 

“Yuy, I know how difficult this is for you right now, but please, trust us. We will find them, all of them; and bring them home safe and sound,” Wufei said, his mouth set in a grim line.

 

“But how, Chang? We don't have a fucking clue where the hell they are, or if they're okay. Not a word, a sign, nothing!” Heero knew he was being unreasonable, but he didn't care. Right now his heart was being torn from him, his grief over the disappearance of his family clouding everything in his mind

 

“I promise you, we will find them and bring them all home safe.” Wufei fixed Heero with his dark eyes. “Have I ever broken a promise to you?”

 

That brought Heero up short. He lowered his eyes. “No,” he whispered, his mind going back to several months ago when Duo had gone into premature labor and he'd been on an assignment. Chang had promised to have him at the hospital in time for Keitaro's birth, and his Chinese friend hadn't let him down.

 

“I won't break this one either,” Wufei vowed.

 

Sally waited patiently at the side for the two men to finish, allowing them a moment of silence. Once Heero had regained his composure, she spoke up. “I think it would be a good idea to get this car back to headquarters where the forensics team can take a look over it. I'd suggest after that, we all go home and try to get some sleep. Tomorrow we can return and do a complete sweep of the park and surrounding area, ask questions, talk to people. Heero?”

 

“Hai?”

 

“Can you dig up a recent photograph of Margaret, Keitaro and Duo? It would help if we have a picture to show people, see if they remember seeing any of them.”Heero nodded. As much as he wanted to stay and search the park now, he knew it would be futile. They couldn't see much in the dark and working with torches they could miss vital clues. Trowa and Quatre were also arriving first thing on the 'morrow and they would be an extra pair to assist in the search. Reluctantly, Heero agreed to return home. “How will we get the car back to HQ?”

 

“Leave that to me,” Wufei smirked.

 

“That's right, I'd forgotten you're the expert when it comes to hot wiring,” Heero replied with a hint of humor.

 

“One is only as good as his teacher,” Wufei replied. “And I had the very best of teachers,” he added a moment later. Wufei moved to the car and proceeded to hot wire it, Heero's thoughts once again drifting to a certain police car and Chinese agent that had managed to hot wire that and get him to the hospital in time for his son's birth.

 

* * *

 

Once inside the bedroom, Duo flattened himself against the wall and took stock of the room. His sharp eyes made a quick note of the lack of security cameras - fortunate for him, but unfortunate for the ambassador. His target lay underneath the covers on the large bed, the snoring a little louder now he was in the room with the man.

 

The ambassador's back was to Duo, one arm out of the covers and resting on top. Taking a deep breath, Duo forced himself to relax a touch and move silently across the room. Inside his head his other persona was taking stock, planning the best way to end the ambassador's life quickly and painlessly.

 

A gloved hand reached for the knife and tested the sharpness of it once more. The inner voice told him the best way to proceed would be to slit the man's throat, but in order to make it quick and painless, he would need to use quite a bit of strength. Had he had his own knives, there wouldn't be a problem; they were razor sharp. This one was going to take a little more strength behind it.

 

Feeling the soft caress of Shinigami against his mind, Duo surrendered to the dark presence and let him do his work.

 

The ambassador didn't have a chance. His head was pulled back and before his eyes could open or arm could move, the blade flashed down and across, red, life giving fluid pouring from the gash and being soaked up rapidly by the bedclothes. His eyes did manage to blink open for a second, but they saw nothing but darkness as his life force ebbed from within.

 

A soft gurgle indicated that the job was done and Duo released the man's hair, allowing the head to fall back against the pillow. His fingers slipped over the eyelids and closed them.

 

“I'm so sorry,” he whispered softly and wiped the blade clean on the end of the bed sheet.

 

Removing the small communicator, Duo took the requested pictures, trying to keep the bile in his stomach from forcing its way up his gullet. Putting the communicator away, he tugged at a few wisps of hair that had escaped his braid. He knew that Preventer would be called in to investigate the murder and he could only hope that Chang or Heero would be a part of the investigating team. Pulling the few hairs from his scalp, he twined them together and managed to slip them into the ambassador's hand, closing the fingers around them. Gritting his teeth and bringing his stomach back under control, Duo took the tip of the knife and dipped it into the rapidly disappearing blood. On the edge of the pillow he smeared the blood into a tiny message.

 

'02 + 2'

 

He sent a silent prayer that his small clue would be found and that Heero would understand.

 

For now that was all he could do.

 

Checking his watch, he realized he only had fifteen minutes to get back out of the house and to where Duric waited. Pocketing the knife, he exited the room.

 

* * *

 

Located deep inside Duo's abdomen, the cells were still multiplying, the small being beginning to take on a very crude similarity to that of a human child.

 

~ * ~

 

tbc...