Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Family Ties ❯ Chapter 51 ( Chapter 51 )

“Family Ties”

 

January 2007 ShenLong

 

Chapter 51

 

“Commander?”

 

“Yes, Sky?”

 

“I think we have a lock on that call.”

 

Une walked over to the console that Sky was working at and looked over the man's shoulder. “Fill me in.”

 

“We did as suggested and transferred all programs to tracing the call to Nevada. We've managed to narrow the area of origin to a fifty kilometer radius.”

 

Une frowned. “That's still a large area to cover,” she stated.

 

“There's more,” Sky replied.

 

Agent Sun took over the conversation. “I also set the program tracing the terrorists' calls to search specifically Nevada and narrowed that down too. When we combine the possible areas together we can reduce it to a twenty kilometer radius.”

 

“That's better,” Une said. Whilst it still wasn't good, Une having preferred it if the agents could have gotten a radius of about one kilometer, it was much better than the original five hundred, or fifty for that matter!

 

“I think that can be further reduced,” Sky put in.

 

“How?”

 

“Satellite maps,” a voice stated from the doorway.

 

Une and the two agents spun around to see Heero entering the room, he'd obviously picked up on the latter part of the conversation. Trowa and Quatre were right behind him.

 

“What are the coordinates for the search?” Heero asked as he approached Sky.

 

The agent quickly gave Heero the coordinates and Heero noted them down. “I'll go pull up some satellite maps covering these coordinates,” he stated and left the communications lab.

 

“Good work,” Une commented and then left to follow Yuy and the other two.

 

“All part of the service,” muttered Sun as he watched them leave and then turned to his partner. “When Oak and Forest come back on shift to relieve us, I'm heading for the pub for a beer. You want to join me?”

 

“I think I will,” sighed Sky.

 

* * *

 

Heero moved quickly through the Preventer building and back to his office where he booted up the computer. Trowa and Quatre stood on either side of him, Une moved to stand directly behind.

 

Typing in a few commands, Heero soon had the satellite map site up and was feeding in the coordinates. The screen flickered, paused and then began to reload the page. A topographical map appeared and Heero zoomed in a little.

 

“How do you intend to do this, Heero?” Quatre asked as he studied the map on screen.

 

“Break it down into grids, note the positioning of possible residences a gang of terrorists could be using to hide out in and then move in to check those residences.”

 

Quatre hoped the area in question wasn't too densely populated or this could take quite some time.

 

Fortunately, fate was on their side for once and the grids showed not a lot of residences in the area the call had originated from. Using the knowledge they had gained over their war years and combining it with their experiences in Preventer, Heero was, with Quatre's tactical assistance, able to narrow down the most likely places to a handful.

 

Making note of the addresses, they briefly discussed a plan of action with Une and then prepared to take their leave. Une checked they had their communicators with them and wished them good luck.

 

With the three now departed, Une went back to her office to contact her team currently out investigating Jefferies' accident. Collecting another coffee on the way, she knew this would be another night she wasn't going to be seeing her home.

 

* * *

 

Wufei stared at the computer screen, his heart in his mouth. “Has anyone else seen this?” he questioned the agent.

 

“No, sir.”

 

“Good.”

 

“Sir?”

 

“This information is highly classified. I expect complete silence from you in relation to what you've seen.”

 

“Understood, sir.”

 

“Leave this with me and go through to the kitchen; the staff are all there and I need statements taking from them all. You know the procedure?”

 

“Yes, sir.” The agent stood and was about to leave when Wufei spoke again.

 

“You're a good agent. I'll be recommending you and your work on this case to Commander Une. Don't let me down.”

 

“I won't, sir. Thank you, sir.” Agent Cloud was doing his best to keep the grin from spreading across his face as he left to take the staff statements. Compliments from an agent of Chang's standing were rare and never given lightly. Cloud was feeling most pleased with himself right now.

 

Glancing around the room, Wufei noted the rest of the team were still occupied with their searching and cataloging of any and all evidence. He read the screen again and then unclipped his communicator. “I need to speak with Commander Une urgently.”

 

* * *

 

Une was contemplating ordering some take out when her phone rang. She grabbed the device and answered. “Une here.”

 

The voice down the line quickly passed on a message, one that had Une wide awake once more, hunger forgotten. “Thank you, Sky. I'll contact him now.” Hanging up, she grabbed her cell and called the number.

 

“Chang here.”

 

“Agent Fire, you wished to speak with me?”

 

“Commander, yes, I do.” Wufei went on to explain about the computer screen, Cloud's investigation and what they had found.

 

“What does it say, Chang?”

 

“One moment.” Wufei moved back to the computer. “It's a simple message, added onto the bottom of an email the ambassador was obviously writing at the time of his death. It reads: 'The reaper has visited. I much prefer black but will have to suffer with pink next.' Commander, I'm sure this was Maxwell's work again.”

 

“I see. What is your interpretation of the message and why are you so sure it was Agent Night who left it and committed the assassination?”

 

“In the war, Maxwell called himself Shinigami, or the god of death. We sometimes call that figure the grim reaper. The reference to reaper tells me it was Maxwell's work.”

 

“Okay. What else?”

 

“Maxwell always wears black when possible.”

 

“But what about the pink?”

 

“That's what I'm not too sure about. Commander, can I speak with Yuy? I'm certain he would be able to shed more light on this.”

 

“Yuy is out in the field with Barton and Winner right now.” Une brought Wufei up to par with the line trace and possible location of Duo.

 

“That does pose a bit of a problem.”

 

“He does have his communicator with him, although I don't know if you will be able to reach him.”

 

“I'll give it a try, Commander. Could you give me the frequency please?”

 

Une relayed the requested details and closed the call after having Wufei promise to call her back and let her know what Yuy had said.

 

Closing his cell, Chang reached for his communicator and fiddled with the machine until he had the required frequency. “Agent Day, this is Agent Fire, do you copy?”

 

* * *

 

With Trowa behind the wheel of the Preventer vehicle they'd been allocated to use, Heero and Quatre continued to go over the maps of the area narrowed down for their search. Grid by grid they worked through, discussing each possible place on their list and discarding some after a more intense 'look' at them. The list was narrowed down to most likely, possible and maybe.

 

Once that was sorted out, they then worked out their plan of 'attack', which places they would scout out first and the best way to move from one place to the next in the quickest time.

 

Heero had no doubt that time was of the essence here. Now that he had a pretty good idea of where his missing husband and son could be, he wasn't about to waste any time in locating them and bringing them home safe.

 

Having figured out the best route to take to cover the buildings in question, planning turned to the best way to approach each residence. They couldn't exactly go in with guns blazing and Heero didn't think the question; 'Do you by chance happen to have my husband, child and nanny held here?' would work either.

 

Quatre solved the problem by suggesting that they drive by first and then get Heero to go in alone and scope the place out. He would report back with his findings and if warranted, the three of them would then attempt to get inside. How exactly they would do that, they would plan out later, once they knew what they were up against.

 

Continuing to drive, Trowa added his own bits to the conversation when he had something worth adding.

 

Heero's communicator beeped and he hastily snatched it from his belt, flipping the thing from 'silent' mode to 'active'.

 

“Agent Day, this is Agent Fire, do you copy?”

 

The audio was punctuated with a touch of static, but Heero could still hear clearly enough.

 

“Day here.”

 

“Agent Day, I have some information which I need you to clarify if possible.”

 

“Go ahead, Fire.” Heero's brow furrowed.

 

Wufei explained about the computer in the ambassador's study and relayed the cryptic message. “I'm certain this was Agent Night's work, aside from the evidence and the manner in which the assassination took place, the words reaper and black in the message pretty much convince me of that. It's the reference to pink I can't figure out.”

 

Heero felt his blood run cold. “Fuck!”

 

Trowa almost drove off the road and Quatre paled.

 

“Agent Day? Can you suggest anything, any translation at all?”

 

Swallowing thickly, Heero found his voice. “Relena.”

 

“Relena?”

 

“Hai. During the war Relena always seemed to wear or surround herself with pink. Duo nicknamed her the 'Pink Princess'. Can you read me the message again, please?”

 

“One moment. 'The reaper has visited. I much prefer black, but will have to suffer with pink next'. That's all it says,” Wufei replied.

 

“Chang?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Double the guard on Relena. She is not to be alone at any time.”

 

“But...”

 

“Chang, if my interpretation is correct, Relena will be next on the hit list.”

 

“I see. I will get onto it straight away.”

 

“What else have you found?”

 

Wufei gave Heero all the information he currently had, which wasn't much, adding he hoped to have more once they'd finished their preliminary investigation. He then questioned Heero on the coded, cryptic message that had come through presumably from Duo. Heero briefly explained his translation of the coded message and added the bit where they'd narrowed the trace on the calls to a twenty kilometer radius. After promising to keep each other informed the connection was cut.

 

Trowa drove on through the still night, the first of the possible hideouts on their list still a good hour's drive away.

 

* * *

 

“What is it?” Sand asked when he heard the expletive come from his partner's mouth.

 

“A bomb by the looks of it.”

 

“Fuck!”

 

“I think you should get the Captain down here; let him know we need the explosives experts too.”

 

“On my way,” Sand replied and turned. Jogging back along the trail he'd made, Sand had several thoughts running through his head, and none of them were pleasant. Reaching the side of the bridge and scrambling to the road, Sand cast his eyes around for the captain. Spotting the man talking with a couple of other agents, he jogged over.

 

“Excuse me, sir,” he began.

 

The captain turned, a frown on his face at having his conversation interrupted. “What is it, Agent Sand?”

 

Catching his breath, Sand managed to speak reasonably coherently. “We found something under the bridge. It looks like an explosive device, wired with a detonator. Sleet is remaining in position, request the explosives experts to take a look and disarm.”

 

The captain's eyes widened with the news. “A bomb?”

 

“Correct, sir.”

 

Turning sharply, the captain located where his explosives personnel were and marched over to them. “Agents, it would appear we have an armed device under the bridge. We need your expertise.”

 

The three agents nodded and grabbed their gear. “Show us where it is,” requested Agent Rain.

 

“This way,” Sand said and led the team down the track beside the bridge to where Sleet was waiting.

 

“It's up there, that support to your left,” Sleet said and pointed to where the explosive was sitting attached to one of the bridge supports.

 

The team of agents shone their powerful torch beams in the direction indicated, illuminating the area.

 

Agent Rain cocked his head as he stared at the device. “I'm going up there to get a better look,” he told the other agents. “Keep your lights trained on it.” With that, he began to scale the bridge support.

 

Reaching the bomb, Rain gazed intently at it, a slow smile spreading over his face. “Well, well,” he muttered to himself. “I recognize this work.” Slipping a small pair of cutters from his tool pouch and reiterating the need for the light to remain on the device, he cut the wires to the detonator. Slipping the cutters back into the pouch, he carefully removed the detonator, added that to the tool pouch and then set about removing the remainder of what he deemed to be C4. With the task complete, he quickly made his way back down the support to the waiting agents below.

 

“Report, Rain,” the captain demanded.

 

“Device neutralized and removed, sir.”

 

The captain frowned. “I know you explosive experts are good, but wasn't that a little too quick?”

 

Agent Rain smirked. “Not if you know the bomb, sir.” Seeing his captain about to lose some of his patience, Rain was quick to continue. “I've seen this type of bomb before, sir. It's a simple, basic device, one we were trained on.”

 

The captain raised an eyebrow. “Care to elaborate?”

 

“One of our trainers in explosives showed us how to create a simple bomb of this type. This is the first time I've actually seen it in the field though.”

 

“Rain, who was the agent that did that part of your course?”

 

“Agent Night, sir.”

 

* * *

 

The light shone directly in Duo's eyes causing him to blink and duck his head. //Shit!// he thought.

 

“Well, well, well; what have we here?” Young asked as he stepped a little deeper into the basement.

 

Duo pressed further back into the wall, his mind racing as to how he could get out of this one.

 

“Drop any weapons and put your hands on your head,” Young ordered.

 

“I don't have any weapons,” Duo replied as he tucked the thermos to the side and placed his hands on his head. Best to play along for the moment until he figured out what was going on.

 

“Stand up and keep those hands on your head.”

 

Slowly, Duo raised himself, his ankle reminding him of its injured state in no uncertain terms.

 

“Who are you and what are you doing in here?” Young questioned, not missing the wince as the man stood up.

 

“Max is the name and as for what I'm doing here, I think that's pretty obvious.”

 

“Don't be a smart mouth,” Young snapped. “Answer the question or you'll have more than a sore ankle to deal with,” he added and waved the gun.

 

Duo sighed. “I'm being held hostage by some gang.”

 

Young cocked his head to the side and snorted. “Peterson, frisk him.”

 

Muttering under his breath, Peterson did as requested, noting another wince when he patted the man's torso. “Looks like they roughed him up a bit,” Peterson murmured. “He's clean though.”

 

“Why are they holding you hostage? And what for?” Young had several other questions he'd like answers to as well, but they would have to wait.

 

Duo shrugged his shoulders. “Best to ask them that.”

 

“Take him up, I'll have a look around,” Young replied, clearly losing patience.

 

“Hurry up, Sampson is waiting for us and we have to make the rendezvous on time,” Peterson replied as he motioned for Duo to exit the basement.

 

“Yeah, yeah, hold your water,” Young snapped. The man stepped into the basement and began to shine his torch around.

 

Duo made it to the top of the stairs, biting his lip against the pain in his ankle and hoping they wouldn't search too deeply and find the nanny and Keitaro. He also sent a prayer that the pair would remain silent.

 

“Peterson? Young?” the voice of Tewson cut through the still air. “Matthews says to get your asses back now. Oh, what's this?” Tewson walked into the kitchen as Peterson and Duo were coming out of the basement.

 

“Found him down there. He claims to be being held hostage,” Peterson replied.

 

“Hmm. Matthews will be interested. Come on, we have to move out now.”

 

“Call Young then, he's still down there.”

“Young!” Tewson bellowed. “Move out, now!”

 

“All right, I'm coming,” Young snipped and flashed his torch over the pile of cans and rags. “There's nothing else down here anyway,” he muttered to himself and turned back to the stairs, closing the door behind him.

 

* * *

 

Nurse Brown had frozen in place when she'd heard the entry to the basement and Duo's discovery. Letting the conversation guide her in what to do, she could tell Duo didn't know these men. This was not good. Checking Keitaro was still asleep and praying he would remain so, the nurse breathed as quietly as she could.

 

Listening to the exchanges, she heard Duo and one of the men leaving the basement, she also heard the remaining one start to move about, checking the room. The light of the torch began to penetrate her hiding spot and she did her best not to shake with fear.

 

Then, just as it appeared her refuge was about to be compromised, she heard the other person demanding they leave and the light went away from her spot, the receding footsteps telling her they were leaving.

 

Hearing the door close, she hoped they hadn't locked it too. Letting a breath escape, the nurse closed her eyes and sighed in relief.

 

That had been too close for comfort.

 

* * *

 

“Who is that?” Matthews asked as Duo entered the room with the other three men.

 

“Found him in the basement. Claims to be being held hostage,” Young replied and shoved Duo towards the couch where Duric and Farrow were sitting, wrists bound with duct tape and another piece over their mouths.

 

Duo took in the scene, the pair sitting restrained and Murphy on another chair, partially conscious and sporting bandages. Whilst he was still a hostage, it was clear the others were too, and what this new mob wanted, Duo didn't have a clue. Not that he was giving a great lot of thought to it right now, he had another thing on his mind - namely his son and the nanny.

 

Obviously they hadn't been discovered and as long as the duct tape remained over the mouths of the other two, and Murphy stayed in his own world of semi consciousness and pain, Duo wasn't about to spill the beans either.

 

He could see the look Duric was giving him and he narrowed his own eyes. Glancing at the four new players and noting they were busy talking amongst themselves, Duo took the chance to whisper to his original kidnappers.

 

“Friends of yours?”

 

Duric shook his head.

 

“Any idea what they want?”

 

Another shake.

 

Checking on their captors again, Duo lowered his tone and added a menace to it. “They haven't discovered the other two and they'd better not. You or any of the others so much as hint that my son and the nanny are still here and I will personally cut off your balls and feed them to you.”

 

Farrow whimpered. Duric glared.

 

Violet eyes turned purple and carried within them the very real promise of a messy end. “Don't even try it,” Duo hissed, noting the gleam in Duric's eye. “You're a little incapacitated right now. Meanwhile, I have both my hands free and trust me when I say I can kill with my bare hands.”

 

Duric swallowed and nodded.

 

Duo's eyes shifted again to watch their captors. This was clearly something totally unplanned and unexpected. Duo didn't have a clue what was going on and he really had no choice other than to go with things for the moment. Glancing around, he thought about making an escape attempt; he was pretty sure he'd make it out in one piece, but there was one factor against him.

 

Keitaro and Nurse Brown were still hidden in the basement.

 

~ * ~

 

tbc...