Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Family Ties ❯ Chapter 49 ( Chapter 49 )

“Family Ties”

 

January 2007 ShenLong

 

Chapter 49

 

“Can you get a trace and recording on that?” Quatre asked excitedly.

 

“Ah, sure. Hang on a sec,” Agent Sky replied and shifted, pushing a few buttons. “It's recording now and the trace is set too. Trace could take a while though.” Sky paused and fiddled with the dial a little, typed some commands into the computer and then checked the computer readouts. “The message is coming through over the airwaves from an unidentified source, not a communications device that the computer is familiar with, that's why it will take a while to get a complete lock and trace on it.”

 

“I see. Just do your best please,” Quatre stated and then turned to Trowa. Aqua eyes sparkled. “We need Heero down here now to decode that message. I know you could do it, Trowa, but Heero knows the code, we don't and it would take longer to figure it out than it would to fetch Heero.”

 

Nodding, Trowa turned and spoke over his shoulder as he headed for the internal phone system. “I'll call him.”

 

* * *

 

“Take a left here,” Zaheer said to Sampson who promptly followed the order. “Third right.”

 

Richards ran a hand across his face, feeling the stubble on his chin. Where exactly they were headed, he wasn't sure, but he did know he needed a shower, shave and some sleep. Silently he prayed they would reach their destination soon so he could achieve all three.

 

Wainright was staring out the window, not that there was much to see as the sun had set and it was quite dark despite the occasional street light. He wasn't worried, just anxious. The sooner he could put some distance between himself and the ESUN, the better. He leaned his head against the glass window and allowed himself to doze.

 

* * *

 

Duo continued to tap idly at the speaker, he really didn't hold much hope of the signal being picked up, but he had to do something with his hands; his mind however, was quite happily racing around and didn't show any signs of slowing down at any time in the foreseeable future.

 

Nurse Brown's words played constantly in his head, like a broken record. He tried to recall exactly when he'd last bled but couldn't pin it down to an actual date. He was keeping a record, but that was all noted down in his diary, and that diary was back home.

 

Home.

 

Duo began to wonder if he would ever see his home again.

 

If it had only been himself abducted, Duo knew he would have been out of here long ago. He could have easily picked the lock and disabled the terrorists, but with Keitaro and Nurse Brown there, he couldn't risk anything happening to them. No, he had to find a better way to get them all out.

 

Duo frowned. With the suggestion from Nurse Brown that he might be pregnant again, it was even more imperative that he find a way out for them all. That brought his mind back to the beginning of the circle again; could he be pregnant? When was the last time he bled?

 

As he thought more and more on the possibility of being with child once again, his concerns were deepened further. He knew what Sally had said about falling pregnant again so soon after having Keitaro and that posed a whole new set of problems.

 

As Nurse Brown had reiterated earlier, his body was unlikely to be able to cope with the pregnancy. Many risks were involved, and in his case, doubly so. It was bad enough for a woman to get pregnant within months of having had a C section, let alone a man!

 

And if he were pregnant again, would he have to suffer through the morning sickness, the cravings and many other side effects he'd suffered through before when carrying Keitaro?

 

All this thinking was getting him nowhere, other than to give him a headache. Noting the lateness of the hour, Duo packed up the radio and hobbled to the bed to check on his son. Both the nurse and Keitaro were sleeping peacefully. Smiling, Duo pressed a kiss to Keitaro's forehead, hobbled back to the chair and tried to get some sleep himself.

 

His mind did draw one conclusion though. If he made it out alive and was indeed pregnant again, a baby brother or sister would be nice for Keitaro.

 

Providing his body could survive the experience that was.

 

* * *

 

“Mobile suit parts,” Une muttered.

 

“Mobile suits have been outlawed since the end of the war,” Heero stated.

 

“This isn't looking good,” Wufei announced.

 

“You don't have to tell me that!” Une snapped. “What we do need to find out is who this Barton person is that had the account, where these parts are, where this Barton person is and what the intent would be with those parts.”

 

Heero thought the intent bit was pretty obvious, but held his tongue.

 

“Yuy, use any and all Preventer resources that you need to find out the answers to those questions. Chang, you assist Yuy in any way possible...” Une was about to say more but her pager went off. Reaching for it, she checked the number. “Shit! I have to call my secretary, it's urgent.”

 

Chang raised an eyebrow at the expletive but didn't comment. Une made a beeline for the phone and dialed the extension to her office. The other phone in the corner of the lab rang and Heero got up to answer it.

 

“Yuy here.”

 

“Heero, it's Trowa.”

 

“You have news?” Heero knew from the tone of Trowa's voice that there was something up.

 

“Yes. We've just picked up on a strange transmission. It's a code of some sort, faint but audible.”

 

“Transmission? A code?” Heero said, clearly puzzled.

 

“Heero, I'm damn sure it's a code you and Maxwell used during the war. I need you to come to communications and decode it, now.”

 

Heero felt his heart skip a beat. A message from Duo? “I'm on my way.” Without waiting for Trowa to reply, Heero cut the call and spun on his heel, stopping dead in his tracks when he saw the look on Une's face.

 

Une dialed her office extension and waited for the secretary to pick up. “Une here, you paged me?” she snapped.

 

The secretary spoke, Une's brow furrowed. “I see. Put me through straight away.”

 

Une tapped on the bench top for a moment, then stopped as the call was redirected. “Commander Une here.” As the male voice came down the line, Une felt her blood run cold. Her eyes closed momentarily as she took a shuddering breath. “Oh, god no.” She blinked hastily and took another deep breath as the person on the other end of the line continued to speak.

 

“Yes, I understand. Thank you for that and I'll have my agents dispatched immediately.” Slowly, Une hung up the phone and paused as if gathering her thoughts before turning to the two men in the room.

 

“The L3 ambassador has been assassinated,” she stated quietly.

 

Heero felt the blood run to his feet. Wufei paled and his eyes widened.

 

“Are you sure?” Wufei ventured, his voice a little strained.

 

“Of course I'm bloody sure!” Une barked.

 

Wufei winced.

 

Closing her eyes, Une took a deep breath. “That was the chief of security at the estate where the L3 ambassador was staying. The butler found the body about a couple of hours or so ago.”

 

“Why the hell didn't they call us sooner then?” Chang muttered angrily.

 

“It seems that the butler found the body when going to check if the ambassador wanted anything else before retiring for the evening. The assassination had not long happened as the... the blood was still flowing.” Une paused to regain her composure. “The security staff spotted the assassin scrambling over the wall and they have been searching the grounds and surrounding area for that person.”

“I take it they didn't find them?” Heero quirked an eyebrow. If it were Duo that had committed the assassination then he knew it would be difficult for anyone to track him.

 

“No. They got away. The local police were called and did a preliminary of the scene. Given the similarities between the L1 ambassador's assassination and this one, they believe it was the same person and knowing Preventer is on the case, they asked the security chief to call us so we can take over the investigation if it should prove to be the same perpetrator.”

 

Heero noted that Une didn't say 'Duo'.

 

“Yuy, Chang, I need you both on this.”

 

“But, Commander, I've just had a call from Trowa stating they have a message come in to the computer room that they believe is from Duo.”

 

“They have? How do they know it's from Agent Night?”

 

“It's come through in code, a code Duo and I used sometimes during the war. I need to go there and decode it.” Heero wasn't asking for permission, he was stating a fact. He fully intended to go and decode that message, all other things could wait.

 

Une wasn't silly, she could see the glint in Heero's eye and knew the man wouldn't be available for anything else until he'd decoded the damn message. “Okay, fine. Yuy, you go and decode the message, with any luck it may lead us to Agent Night and hopefully these kidnappers. As we strongly suspect that Agent Night is the perpetrator of these crimes, it would help our case tremendously if we can get some sort of fix on their location.”

 

Heero's shoulders visibly relaxed. “Thank you,” he murmured.

 

Turning to Chang, Une spoke again. “Agent Fire, I expect you to get together the same team you had before when investigating the L1 ambassador's murder. Yuy will join you as soon as he's decoded this message. Contact me when you're ready to depart, I'll be in the communications lab with Yuy.”

 

“Yes, Commander.” Wufei left the room.

 

“Come on, Agent Day, we need to decode this message and quickly.”

 

Heero blinked and then quickly followed his commander from the room.

 

* * *

 

“You sure this is it?” Sampson asked as he pulled the van over to the side of the road and cruised slowly past the seemingly deserted farmhouse.

 

“Yes,” Zaheer replied and checked the laptop once more.

 

Sampson drove a little further down the road and then pulled over.

 

“Where are we?” Richards asked, this place didn't look like much to him.

 

“Just a small stop on the way,” Sampson replied as he got out of the van. “You two wait here. Zaheer, come with me.”

 

Richards looked at Wainright who shrugged.

 

“I thought we were being taken to a safe place before departing?” Richards questioned.

 

“We are,” Wainright replied. “There's also a little matter of some parasites to be taken care of. You recall our conversation a while ago?”

 

Richards scanned his memory and the conversation came back to him. Something about tracing the group that hacker had been working for. “Ah.”

 

“Shouldn't be long, just a couple of loose ends to tie up,” Wainright muttered.

 

With a sigh, Richards sat back in his seat to wait.

 

* * *

 

The black van slowed and pulled over just behind the first van, the driver cutting the engine and winding down his window. “This the place?”

 

Sampson and Zaheer stopped before the driver's window. “Yes. According to the information that was hacked from the laptop Zaheer obtained that belonged to the infiltrator, these are the coordinates.”

 

“Any idea of how many?”

 

“Not completely sure. Best guess is four or five,” Sampson replied.

 

“No problem.”

 

“I'll leave you to it then. Rendezvous as arranged at twenty-three hundred?”

 

“You got it.”

 

“I'll catch you later then. Remember, the boss wants them alive. Good luck and happy hunting.”

 

A snort was all Sampson got in reply.

 

Zaheer and Sampson walked back to their van and got in. Starting the vehicle up, Sampson threw it into gear and drove off.

 

Four burly men stepped out of the black van once the other had driven off. A quick check of the area showed no other places of residence anywhere in the immediate vicinity.

 

“All ready?” the driver said.

 

“All set,” came three replies.

 

“Peterson, you and Tewson take the back. Young, you're with me, we're going in through the front.”

 

The three men nodded.

 

“Right. Lock and load, gentlemen, and move out.”

 

* * *

 

Duo was woken from his light slumber by the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. Something was not right. Keeping his eyes closed for the moment, he reached out with his hearing, listening carefully for any clue as to what could have woken him.

 

It was deathly quiet in the basement, but then...

 

Duo's eyes opened and he scanned around. Nothing was out of place that he could tell, the door was still locked, Keitaro and Nurse Brown slumbering on the bed.

 

Then, what?

 

There. He heard it again. A very faint sound, just enough noise to tell him it sounded like someone creeping around outside. Duo turned his eyes to the small window and their pathetic attempts to try and remove the crumbling mortar.

 

He really couldn't make out much at all as it was dark and the moonlight sporadic as there was a bit of cloud cover overhead. His instincts kicked in, soldier training took over and he quietly lifted himself from the chair. His body was stiff and sore from the 'beating' it had taken earlier in the evening but he ignored the pain and shuffled as quietly as he could across the room to where Nurse Brown and Keitaro lay slumbering on the bed.

 

He softly shook the woman's shoulder and put his finger over her lips as she woke and went to speak.

 

“Shhh,” he whispered.

 

Immediately, Margaret was on the alert. “What is it?”

 

“Not sure,” Duo replied honestly as he strained his ears again. “I thought I heard something outside.”

 

“It could have been an animal,” Margaret offered whilst trying to keep her heart from racing.

 

“I don't think so. My instincts are telling me we need to be alert, that something is gonna happen; and I trust my instincts.”

 

Margaret nodded. She wasn't about to doubt the man. Knowing what she did about Duo and his past, his instincts had kept him alive and she wasn't about to question them. If he said there was something wrong then she believed him. “What shall we do?”

 

Good question.

 

Duo thought for a moment, then spoke. “I think it would be best if you and Keitaro hide.” He looked around their cramped space and raised an eyebrow. There wasn't much available to hide them in, but he hadn't survived being a street rat on L2 for no reason. “Over there,” he said and pointed to the empty drums and paint tins in the corner.

 

“How?”

 

“Get into the corner and stay low. I'll arrange the drums and cans around you, then I'll toss some of the rags, blanket and such over the top. That should conceal you well enough.”

 

“What about you?” Margaret asked as she began to move.

 

“There isn't enough space for the three of us to fit without it looking suspicious. I'll be just fine out here,” he said with more conviction than he felt.

 

Margaret had to accept that, there was no point in trying to argue, there wasn't enough time. She picked Keitaro up, the babe remaining asleep despite the movement and soft talking around him and Margaret was thankful for that.

 

The pair crouched as far into the corner as possible and Duo moved the drums and tins around to conceal them as best he could. Draping the blanket over the top, he checked that they had enough air circulation - he didn't need them asphyxiating whilst hiding, it would defeat the purpose. Satisfied that they would both be okay, Duo tossed several rags around and over the pair, drums and cans and by the time he'd finished it looked like a pile of rubbish in the corner.

 

Pleased with the result, Duo looked around to see how best he could conceal himself. There weren't any real options. Guess it looked like he would have to try and hide in another corner. Looking for something he could use to protect himself, the only item he could find was the steel thermos that their hot water came in. Better than nothing, he thought to himself and grabbing it, he slid himself into a corner to wait.

 

No sooner had he crouched low than the sounds of gunfire exploded overhead and the night was torn apart with the sounds of fighting.

 

* * *

 

It didn't take long for Une and Heero to traverse the corridors and floors of the Preventer building and five minutes later they were approaching the communications section. The doors whooshed open and Heero stepped into a large area behind his commander.

 

Trowa looked up as the doors opened, Quatre following his eyes and letting a relieved sigh escape.

 

“Commander,” Both Sky and Sun said as they spotted their commander.

 

“Agents,” Une replied. “What's this about a message?”

Sky proceeded to fill the commander in on the coded message they had been receiving, Barton stepped beside Heero and did his best to explain to the Japanese man what they had found.

 

As Sky finished with his explanation he found an impatient Heero standing right in his personal space.

 

“Where is the code?” Heero demanded.

 

“Ah, we're recording it.” Sky shifted slightly and typed a few commands into the computer. “If you go to that terminal... Shit!”

 

“What?” five voices all questioned at once.

 

“The code, it's stopped transmission.” Sky tapped his earpiece and then reached for a couple of dials on the sophisticated equipment in front of him. “I'm not getting it any longer,” he stated.

 

“Damn,” Agent Sun sighed. “I'd just managed to get a lock on it too.”

 

“Did you have any luck with the trace?” Quatre asked.

 

Sun shook his head. “Not really. Not enough to make a positive fix on the location.”

 

“How much did you get?” Trowa questioned.

 

“Only enough to narrow it down to about a five hundred square kilometer radius.”

 

“I see. Better than nothing I suppose,” Quatre mumbled.

 

“The message?” Heero asked a little impatiently.

 

“Oh, right. As I was saying, if you take a seat at the terminal over there I'll send the information through to it.”

 

“Thank you.” Heero hurried over to the console and slipped the earpiece in. He typed a few commands into the computer and waited.

 

“Should be there now,” Sky stated.

 

Heero tapped a few more commands and the message began to relay through the computer to his earpiece. He listened intently to the steady tapping noise, eyes half closed in concentration. Once the code had passed through his ears a few times, he'd picked up on the cycle. He recognized the code all right, but he was a little rusty in remembering the translations for the many letters. He looked around for a pen and paper.

 

“Heero?” Trowa queried.

 

“I need a pen and paper, something to write this down so I can figure it out,” he replied.

 

Quatre was immediately there with the requested items. “You recognize the code?”

 

“Hai. It is one Duo and I used during the war on occasion. It's been a while but I think I can remember enough of it to translate.” Heero knew he would force his brain to cooperate if necessary and dig up the forgotten code from wherever it was hiding in his memory.

 

He replayed the code, jotting down the sounds as they came to him. It was something similar to the Morse code of old, only they had modified it a bit to suit their own purposes as well as throw anyone off the track should they have stumbled across it.

 

With the message now noted down, Heero set about decoding it as best he could.

 

Ten minutes later he had the message written out in front of him, having filled in a couple of the blanks with obvious letters. He frowned as he read the message.

 

“What does it say?” Une asked as she approached the agent. Trowa and Quatre also gathered around, looking over Heero's shoulder.

 

“It translates out to: 'God and angels compromised. Need help to play four one armed bandits. Could be a mirage.' At least that's what I make it out to be,” Heero finished and studied the words.

 

“Doesn't make a whole lot of sense,” Trowa said. “Are you sure you have it right?”

 

“Yes,” Heero replied wearily.

 

Quatre had remained silent for a while as he studied the words; being a tactician and having decoded many messages himself during the war, he had a natural aptitude for these sorts of things. Slowly, things began to clear in his head.

 

“God and angels compromised,” Heero muttered. “I'm assuming that would be Duo, Keitaro and Nurse Brown.”

 

“Well, Duo did call himself the God of Death - put the initials by themselves and you have G.O.D. or God for short. It would make sense to call the other two angels,” Quatre stated.

 

“Compromised?” Trowa thought aloud.

 

“I'd translate that to either they're being held where there's no possible way for them to escape, or...” Quatre wasn't sure if he wanted to voice his next thought, but went ahead anyway, whispering. “Or someone, probably Duo is hurt.”

 

Heero's blood ran cold.

 

“Need help to play four one armed bandits...” Trowa mused.

 

“Aren't they slot machines?” Une asked.

 

“I think so.”

 

“He's telling us they need help to overcome their kidnappers and that there's four of them?” Quatre offered.

 

“But what about the slot machines?”

 

“Could be a mirage... Hmmm.” Heero lost himself in thought.

 

“Mirage... Don't you usually get those in the desert, Quatre?” Trowa asked.

 

“Yes.”

 

“I'd still like to know where the one armed bandits come into it,” Une muttered. “Aside from saying these guys are armed, it doesn't make sense.”

 

“Yes it does!” Quatre squealed excitedly.

 

All eyes turned to the blonde.

 

“Mirage, that's in a desert. One armed bandits are slot machines, they're usually found in gambling halls.”

 

“And?” Heero was beginning to get impatient.

 

“Where do you know of that there's gambling in a desert?” Quatre questioned.

 

“And even has a hotel called the Mirage?” Trowa added as he began to twig, although he didn't think for one minute that Duo and the others were being held in a five star hotel.

 

“Las Vegas, Nevada,” Heero whispered.

 

~ * ~

 

tbc...