Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Family Ties ❯ chapter 47 ( Chapter 47 )

"Family Ties"

 

January. 2007 ShenLong

 

Chapter 47

 

Having made his call to emergency services and feeling a little better that assistance was on its way, the agent carefully made his way around the crumpled vehicle in the hope that the man inside was still alive. With the car crushed against the side of the bridge support and on its roof, he hadn't a hope in hell of getting anywhere close to the driver's side. The windscreen had shattered on impact so the agent made his assessment through the broken glass.

 

Swallowing the bile, he closed his mind to the horror of the injuries and managed to work his hand gingerly inside to press a couple of fingers against Jefferies' neck. As expected, there was no pulse. He shuddered as he withdrew his hand, mind ticking over as training kicked in.

 

He needed to secure the crash site, the major crash investigation squad would be involved as it was a fatal accident so it was of extreme importance that nothing be moved or touched until the appropriate services arrived. Then there was the safety of any other motorists that might happen to come along the road. Given the position of the crashed vehicle, the bridge and road had been reduced to one lane of traffic.

 

With there being nothing he could do for the victim, the agent scrambled back to the road where he had a clear view of each end of the bridge and thus any approaching traffic and would be able to direct such traffic accordingly. He would also be able to spot the emergency vehicles as they approached too.

 

With nothing to do but wait, the agent decided he'd better contact headquarters and report in what had happened. Pulling his communicator from his pocket, the agent swallowed hard. This was something he wasn't looking forward to.

 

* * *

 

It was almost dark when Murphy pulled up a short distance from the L3 ambassador's current residence. Duo cast his eyes out the window to the surrounding area as Duric spoke.

 

“We will take a slow drive past in a moment and then park. Here.” Duric handed Duo the same small, communicator unit he'd had when he'd visited the L1 ambassador. “Do I need to remind you of the communicator's capabilities?”

 

Duo shook his head, he remembered well enough what the device was capable of.

 

“Good.” Duric motioned for Murphy to drive on.

 

They took a slow pass by the ambassador's current residence, Duo noting the external fencing, complete with the obligatory razor wire. His memory drew forth the blueprints he'd studied and combined that knowledge with his recollections of the security system Preventer had installed. No doubt there would have been modifications made since the L1 ambassador's demise, but just what those modifications were, Duo wouldn't know until he infiltrated the premises. This time he would need to be extra careful.

 

Murphy found a dark spot further down the road to park and cut the car's engine. Duric pulled a knife out and passed it over to Duo; it was the same one he'd been given the last time. At least it was a little sharper than before, but not sharp enough in Duo's book.

 

“You have forty-five minutes,” Duric said. “Get in, do the job and get out. The ambassador is using the master suite.” Duric glanced at his watch. “He should be either in the study or the bathroom adjoining the bedroom. Don't forget the pictures.”

 

Swallowing his disgust along with the bile that seemed to be ever present, Duo nodded and exited the car. Moving silently through the shadows he let his mind drift off to a safe place, violet eyes deepening as the darker presence inside seeped through his limbs, flowed into his blood and took control of his soul.

 

* * *

 

Sitting still in his chair, Quatre's eyes closed and he let his empathy flow through his body. Tentatively he began to reach out, letting the feeling wash over him as he probed gently through space, seeking Duo's spiritual signature.

 

Trowa watched from across the room in his own chair, his face impassive but his eyes told a different story. His body was tense, ready to spring into action should his husband need his assistance.

 

It took a couple of minutes for Quatre to completely lose himself to his inner feelings, but gradually he slid further into that sort of meditative state which allowed him to seek out a lot further with his empathy. Suddenly he gasped as a flood of emotions hit him and he fought to keep his head above the rising tide that threatened to drown him. Slamming up as many mental shields as he possibly could, he tried desperately to see if he could get any sort of inkling as to how close Duo was. Gentle arms around him drew him back from the turmoil and Quatre opened his eyes to find a concerned Trowa gazing intently at him.

 

“Are you okay?” Trowa asked as he rubbed his hands briskly up and down the trembling arms of his partner.

 

“F-fine. I'll be fine,” Quatre managed to get out around chattering teeth. The experience of deep meditation usually left him feeling a touch disorientated when he returned to the current plane, but this...

 

“Did you find him?”

 

Quatre was about to answer when Sun arrived with their coffees.

 

Seeing that there was something amiss, Sun set the coffees down and turned his concerned gaze to the pair. “Is everything okay?”

 

“Yes, thank you. He's a little concerned over a missing friend,” Trowa replied, opting to dodge the issue a little. “Would you mind giving us a few moments, please?”“Of course. I'll be in the next room if you need me,” Sun replied and left.

 

Trowa gave a sigh of relief. At least Preventer agents knew when to question and when to leave things alone. He turned his attention back to Quatre, the blonde having calmed a little by now.

 

“Did you find Duo?” Trowa asked again.

 

“Sort of,” Quatre replied and reached for his coffee. The warm liquid soothed his troubled psyche a touch and he felt ready to confront what is empathy had found.

 

“He's not too far away, I think our assumption to concentrate on the two states is correct.”

 

“Right. I'll suggest that to Sun and Sky. Quatre?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“What is it you're not telling me?”

 

Sighing softly, Quatre rubbed his hand over chest. “We need to find him fast, Trowa. I... I felt many conflicting emotions within him. Fear, pain, anger, self loathing, desperation... and...”

 

“And?” Trowa prompted gently when Quatre paused and stared out into space.

 

“Darkness, Trowa. His soul is tainted by darkness. He's not alone in his mind, Shinigami is coming through and that's not good.”

 

Trowa remained silent as he digested Quatre's words. They all knew how Duo had used his alter ego during the war to enable him to do the things he had to do, hell, they'd all hidden behind some sort of mask; but now in peace time they had cast aside those masks. If Duo was allowing Shinigami to come through again then it could only mean one thing.

 

Duo was in serious trouble - trouble so bad that he needed to shut down his own mind and let that of the dark one take over; and that was not good at all.

 

“Trowa, we need to concentrate on tracing that call as quickly as we can. Duo is close, definitely either Nevada or California. We need to find him before his psyche completely crumbles.”

 

“I'll go tell the other two agents to concentrate on those two states, you take a few minutes to compose yourself and then see if you can find Heero and Wufei, let them know what you felt and what we know so far about the trace.”

 

Quatre nodded.

 

Taking a quick glance around and noting the other two agents were currently busy, Trowa spared a moment to kiss his husband. “I love you, Quatre.”

 

Smiling, Quatre returned the kiss. “Love you too,” he replied. “Now, you carry on and I'll go find Heero.”

 

Trowa stepped out and informed the two agents of their hunch and immediately Sun went through to the small room and began to type into the computer, setting it to trace through the two states Trowa had suggested they try. Quatre disappeared in search of Heero.

 

* * *

 

Duo slipped silently through the shadows towards the residence of the L3 ambassador. His mind recalled the blueprints of the residence, where the study was and the master bedroom as he also concentrated on remembering exactly where the security cameras and infrared beams were located. Knowing that security was bound to have been upgraded, he knew he would need to take a little extra time and not get caught - the lives of his son and the nanny depended on him.

 

Finding a reasonable place to scale the wall, Duo slipped his sweater off, tied it around his waist and began his climb.

 

A couple of minutes later he was safely over the wall and inside the grounds. Putting the sweater back on and melting into the shrubbery, he watched carefully for the guards he knew would be patrolling. Once the guards had passed by, he continued on his quest, moving silently and swiftly across the grounds and to the residence.

 

Managing to avoid the cameras and infrared beams, he found himself at the side door to the place and withdrew the lock pick from his pocket. It only took a second or two for him to successfully jiggle the lock and enter the premises. Once inside, Duo strained his ears for the sound of anyone near. He knew there would be staff in the residence, but most of them would have retired to their rooms, their services being no longer needed. There would only be the butler still around and Duo had no wish to run into the servant.

 

Cautiously, he made his way through the utility room where he'd entered and to the kitchen door where he paused to scan the room. There was no sign of anyone around so Duo slipped inside. As quietly as he could, Duo searched the drawers and located a knife steel, taking a few moments to give the knife a sharpen. Satisfied his weapon was now as sharp as he could get it with the resources and time he had on hand and thus make the job a lot less painful for his victim, Duo moved silently through the residence in search of the ambassador.

 

* * *

 

Quatre located Heero and Wufei, the pair working their way through the databanks of Wainright's computer. As much as he disliked to interrupt them, he felt that they had a right to know what his empathy had discovered.

 

“You have news?” Wufei asked as he spotted the blonde coming through the doorway.

 

“Sort of,” Quatre replied.

 

“Explain,” Heero stated and continued to follow the tracks of Cropp through the maze of files.

 

Quatre was quick to brief the pair on what they knew so far of the terrorists call trace and the result from his reaching out with his empathy. Both agents agreed that the trace should be centered on the states of California and Nevada given all the evidence pointing to those areas.

 

Heero was understandably agitated by the emotions Quatre had felt coming from his husband and demanded further information. Unfortunately, Quatre couldn't supply anything else and he didn't want to upset Heero too much; all he could do was relay his own concerns that they find the braided one as quickly as possible.

 

Heero was torn in two. Part of him wanted to go to the communications section with Quatre and do whatever he could to assist in tracing that call faster, but Une had assigned him to hacking Wainright's computer. Reluctantly, Heero decided to stay where he was, but urged Quatre to do his best in finalizing the trace on that call and to let him know immediately they had anything at all.

 

Agreeing to keep Heero and Wufei up to date with any progress, Quatre returned to his own husband and left the other two agents to their own investigation.

 

Heero turned back to the databanks and continued his hacking with renewed urgency.

 

* * *

 

Slithering his way along the wall of the passage, Duo paused outside the study door and listened carefully. He'd managed to avoid the security cameras thus far, dodging those he knew about and finding a few new ones too. The sound of soft music drifted out of the study accompanied by a gentle tap, tap, tapping of keys on a computer keyboard.

 

Peering through the small crack between the door and the frame, Duo located the L3 ambassador. He was sitting at his large desk completely absorbed in whatever it was he was doing on the computer. His back was to the door and he was alone.

 

Violet eyes darkened to a deep purple as Shinigami took over completely and Duo stole into the room.

 

* * *

 

Finishing his wine, Sampson placed the empty glass on the small coffee table and turned to the two senators. “If you are ready, then I suggest we start our journey.”

 

Wainright nodded and stood up, Evans following suit. They picked up their bags from the hallway and with Zaheer behind them, left the house and got into the small van that Sampson had driven there.

 

The bags were placed in the back and the four men got in. Sampson slipped the key into the ignition and started the engine, backing out of the driveway and into the dark night.

 

Zaheer sat up front with Sampson, Wainright and Evans in the back. Whilst Sampson drove, Zaheer navigated, using the information he'd managed to coax from the laptop belonging to the deceased man from the ESUN.

 

Wainright and Evans talked quietly amongst themselves and neither man noticed the other black van that joined them, following a discreet distance behind.

 

* * *

 

The ambassador never knew what hit him.

 

On silent feet, Duo crossed the room, knife at the ready. Reaching his target, Duo's hand shot out and applied a strong pressure to the nerve point between neck and shoulder, immediately rendering the ambassador unconscious. It was a move that Wufei had shown him during the war and never was Duo more grateful for the lesson than now. With his victim no longer on the conscious plane, Duo took a deep breath, grabbed the man's hair and pulled his head back exposing the neck.

 

“Please, forgive me,” he whispered as the light glinted off the blade.

 

Seconds later the deed was done, Duo had the demanded, photographic proof and had cleaned the blade. The computer hummed quietly, Duo glanced at it, warring with his mind. He only hesitated for a moment and with a quick look around to reassure himself he was not about to be disturbed for a few seconds, he grabbed the mouse, made a couple of clicks and then let his fingers fly over the keyboard.

 

The sweat was running down his back, adrenaline coursing through his blood and heightening his senses as he once again became one with the shadows and left the residence. Safely reaching the outside, he waited for the patrol to pass and then stole across the grounds to the shrubbery.

 

The bile rose in his throat, forcing him to take a moment to empty his stomach contents into the garden bed. Feeling a little better, Duo removed the sweater again and searched for the best spot to scale the wall.

 

Having made it to the top and tossed the sweater over the razor wire, Duo had just about completed his careful passage over the wire when all hell broke loose.

 

A dog barked and snarled, guards came running and floodlights were turned on.

 

“Fuck!” Duo whispered to himself as he spotted a rather large Doberman headed in his direction, guards hot on the dog's heels. Scrambling, he yanked the sweater free from the wire, tearing a bit of the material in his haste. Hands and feet scrabbled for purchase on the wall, Duo desperately doing his best to climb down a bit before he let go and dropped the remaining fifteen feet to the ground.

 

“Stop! You, stop!” yelled a guard.

 

Duo paid no attention, letting go of the wall and tumbling to the ground. His landing was awkward, one leg taking the brunt of his weight and collapsing beneath him. He caught his side on a bush, feeling the skin peel away as the branches scraped against him. Hauling himself to his feet, he began to run in the direction of the car.

 

White hot pain lanced through his ankle and up his leg, but Duo ignored it. He also ignored the trickle of blood he could feel on the inside of his partially shredded shirt. Spotting the car ahead, Duo hoped they would have the motor running.

 

Duric and Murphy were scanning the street, knowing their hostage should be returning any minute when light suddenly blazed behind the wall surrounding the residence.

 

“Fuck! Looks like he's been sprung,” Murphy commented.

 

“Damn useless piece of shit,” Duric growled and reached for his communicator to try and contact Duo.

 

“Hang on,” Murphy said and pointed down the street. “That's him.”

 

“Get the motor running and let's get out of here,” Duric replied as Duo approached.

 

Murphy started the car up and drove towards their returning assassin. Duric leaned across and opened the door to the vehicle, grabbing Duo as Duo dived inside as soon as he was level with the car. The door slammed shut and Murphy hit the gas, the car speeding off into the night.

 

“What happened?” Duric growled.

 

“Not sure,” Duo replied honestly.

 

“You obviously did something to alert them to your presence.” Duric's eyes narrowed. “If you've tipped them off…”

 

“I fucking well didn't do anything,” Duo snapped. “I was on my way back, almost over the wall when the lights came on and a dog came out of nowhere.”

 

“Did you complete the job?”

 

“Yeah. Here's your fucking pictures to prove it, bastard,” Duo snarled and tossed the communicator at Duric.

 

Catching the small device, Duric checked and smirked to himself. “Just as well you did, you little prick, otherwise there would be three bodies for the ESUN to try and identify. Where's the knife?”

 

Shaking with suppressed rage, Duo handed over the knife. His mind briefly thought about gutting the man before him with it, and whilst that thought was about the only pleasant one he'd had, he knew he couldn't do it, not if he wanted to keep his son alive. No, he would need to have something better planned out before he took these idiots out.

 

Duric pocketed the knife and communicator, making sure to keep his gun trained on Duo. Settling back in his seat, he watched the man beside him and the passing scenery, mind wandering to what Nolen would tell the ESUN next.

 

With Murphy driving them back to the hideout, Duo tried to take stock of his sore and battered body. His ankle ached like a bitch - probably sprained. His rib cage stung from the scrapes he'd endured when landing partially in the bushes. The bleeding had stopped so that was a relief. Duo's mind switched to thinking about Heero and wondering if his husband had managed to discover any of the clues he'd left behind, or if his attempts at transmitting had worked.

 

Guess all he could hope for now was that the simple message he'd left on the ambassador's computer would be found and interpreted correctly.

 

* * *

 

The 'phone rang and Une picked it up, her attention still focused on the computer screen and information before her. “Commander Une,” she barked.

 

Suddenly her head shot up, computer forgotten as she turned her full attention to the speaker.

 

“When? How? Are you certain he's dead?”

 

Une went silent as the voice on the other end of the line continued to speak.

 

“No! Don't let the police touch anything. This is a Preventer case and I'll dispatch the appropriate team. Yes, you can let the medics continue and remove the body from the car, but not until Preventer forensics has attended and recorded whatever they need from the scene.”

 

The voice came down the line again.

 

“Right. Remain there, I'll have the team dispatched immediately. I'll be in touch. Une out.” Une hung up the phone and gave a loud sigh. Looking at the four walls she spoke aloud. “Can this shit get any worse?”

 

No sooner were the words out of her mouth than the phone rang again.

 

“Commander Une.”

 

“Une, it's Agent Day.”

 

* * *

 

“Wufei?”

 

Chang looked up from where he was working on Evans' computer. “Yes?”

 

“I think you should take a look at this.”

 

Chang got up from where he was seated and walked over to his fellow agent. “What is it?”

 

“I've tracked Cropp as far as he went and it seems the credits have been skimmed off all right.” Heero typed in commands and displayed the appropriate data for Chang to peruse.

 

“I see. We have the proof there then that the credits were pilfered. Any idea where they were put?”

 

“Hai. I've traced them to a bank account on L1.”

 

“I see.”

 

“Chang, it gets worse.”“Ah. How bad?”

 

“The account has been closed, the credits have been withdrawn.”

 

“I see. And?” Wufei knew Yuy had more to say and patiently waited.

 

“The account was held in the name of Barton. The credits have all gone out in the form of payments.”

 

“Payments?” Wufei frowned.

 

Heero's voice lowered to a soft growl. “Payments for armaments.”

 

“Shit!”

 

~ * ~

 

tbc...